Thursday, October 28, 2010

October 25 E-Mail

So things have been great this week.  We were able to invite an investigator to be baptized.  Her name is Evalina Sandoval.  She is really progressing and came and watched the primary program yesterday and she really liked it.  It was pretty cool.  We also are teaching a guy in our ward who's family are all members but he isn't.  He has had some life changing experiences and has had a softened heart and is ready to accept the gospel so that has been really cool to see.  Brian Cooper is also really progressing.  Oh yeah, I guess the big news of the week is that my companion got his Visa and will be leaving tomorrow.  So I will get another Elder who hasn't been out very long at all.  He will be here until at least next week.  Then who knows what will happen with transfers.  I'm curious to find out.  This last transfer just flew by.  What mission is Kyle Hoopes going to?  My companion is going to Mexico City North.  So he is sad to leave but also very excited.  It will be a lot different there than it is here.  We had our zone conference this last week and it was all on the Book of Mormon.  It is so essential to our faith, the keystone.  Without a witness that the Book of Mormon is true, our investigators get no where.  It really was a testimony builder for me that we need to study it every day.  Our mission President gave us the same challenge I know some of my friends have been given.  To get a brand new copy of the Book of Mormon and mark everywhere that it refers to the Savior.  It really is another testament of Jesus Christ.  So it was really good and a motivating conference to make sure our investigators are reading from the Book of Mormon and specifically praying to know if it is true.  Which our investigators are starting too.  We have some really amazing investigators right now.  I am very excited because I know some of them are going to be baptized.  Jesus hasn't had his interview yet, but he will soon.  He is back to only working one job so his life will slow down a little bit now.  Something crazy happened this week.  We met this bi-polar guy who would change the subject like every 30 seconds.  Well it turns out he is like one of the worlds best cage fighters.  Anyways, he was a nice guy but it felt like at any second if we would have said one thing wrong he would have flipped out and killed us.  It was nuts.  He has a plan to go high up in the Jehovah's Witness church and then start preaching mormon doctrine.  It was very interesting lets just leave it at that.  The scariest part is he lives right down the road from us!  So we are trying to lay low when we go into our house so he doesn't see us.  So that was pretty much our week.  One day we had zone conference and then the next I went into a different area on exchanges.  So my companion did most of the work with our investigators.  So hopefully I can pick up where he left off.  He is an amazing missionary and I wish he could stay.  But he needs to go to Mexico.  Yes Mom, I had to get an ultrasound.  When I got my blood test, my liver counts were a little high.  But quit freaking out cause they aren't that high.  So I had an ultrasound and everything looks fine.  So I had another blood test today, if he can't find anything on that then I go back in in like a month and have another blood test.  Long story short he said it's something he wants to get to the bottom of but it is nothing to freak out about.  So I'm fine.  I have a copy of it that I'm gonna send to Kristin in the next couple weeks depending on when I have time to go to the post office.  We might go to Leavenworth today because my companion wants to see it before he leaves.  And we are already running late because of the Doctor then we went to lunch with the Pedersens.  So I really don't have much more time.  I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  So read it.  Cause it really will bless your lives!!  Our challenge was to read it by the end of the year.  So I give you all the same challenge.  I love you so much.  Thanks for everything.

Monday, October 18, 2010

October 18, 2010 E-Mail

Sounds like you and Dad should be getting home right about now.  I hope you had a good trip.  Really not a whole lot happened this week.  We have had a lot of appointments bail on us lately so we have done a lot of tracting.  We did have a really good lesson with our investigator Ryan.  We were able to teach him in a members home and that always helps a lot.  He is finally making a little bit of progress and the member who's home we were in told Ryan that he would go to his baptist church if he would come to our church.  So that should be a good trade.  We also found a member last night who was a baptist.  She isn't active right now in the LDS church because of health issues but she still said she would come on an appointment with us.  So that should be a good thing.  We are still working with Jesus and he still really wants to be baptized.  He should be meeting with the mission president this week so hopefully we will know more about that pretty soon.  His wife in Mexico (They aren't legally married) doesn't want him to be baptized.  But he still really wants to and she has no control over it since they aren't legally married.  We were able to meet with a hispanic lady named Evalina this week.  I can't remember if I told you anything about her.  Well her and her boyfriend were living together and have two kids.  We have been teaching them a while now, but they have been fighting and she wouldn't come to church with him, and he said he would only go if she did.  So we went over a couple of times and they would just start fighting and it was all in spanish and he would try to get my companion and I to take his side and it was just a mess.  So we said we could come back with the Branch President and he could talk to them.  So one night the boyfriend called us, Ramon, and asked if we could come by with the Branch President because he wanted to work things out but if they couldn't get worked out then he was going to leave.  So we went by and introduced the President and then we took off.  So we stopped by a few days later and it turns out the boyfriend had left but she wanted to learn more.  So we set up and appointment and then we went over with the Branch President and his wife.  Well his wife looked through the window and saw this little boy, Alex, who she had taught in school previously.  He was like the most meaningful student to her and one day he was just gone and she never saw him since.  So long story short, we went in and the Presidents wife was able to make that connection with them, and Evalina and the two kids came to church yesterday!  So we were way excited about that and we are going to invite her to be baptized this week.  So that was exciting.  This past week we invited Brian Cooper to be baptized.  He is a 20 year old kid who is seeking for religion and has made big changed in his life.  He accepted to be baptized once he knows these things are true.  So that was cool.  And that was pretty much our week.  We met with a lot of less-actives also and a few of them came to church.  And then we did a lot of tracting which we have been struggling with.  We aren't seeing much success out of it and it can be discouraging.  But, it's just a trial, and trials bring forth blessings.  So we are going to work through it and see miracles come to be.  We have been talking a lot about Jesus Christ this week and the love he has for all of us.  I just want you all to know, that I know Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He took upon Himself the sins of all mankind.  Through Him, we can find great comfort in our problems and sorrows.  I love you all so much!  Have a good week!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

October 11, 2010 E-Mail (Sorry I'm Behind!)

So it's been a good week here. I think the highlight of it was that I got a sweet haircut this morning by an in-active guy. He like shaved my neck and stuff the old school way with a straight blade. It was cool. Mom I liked how in the newsletter thing you put happy birthday to me on the 20th of September. Well my birthday is actually on the 12th just to remind you!


Well this last Saturday was supposed to be the baptism for Jesus. He wasn't able to get baptized. He didn't pass his interview and might have to wait a couple of months. We're not sure yet. The mission president is going to meet with him next week sometime and interview him. So we will see what happens. But three girls that we were teaching that moved out of our area into another area were baptized! And Jesus came and watched the baptism so that was pretty cool to see. He will be baptized for sure it's just a matter of time now. He works at Mcdonalds and we went and saw him at work today. He was way excited to see us.

We have been really trying to effectively use the hours of 5:00-7:00 to tract and find new investigators. We have been focusing on listening to the spirit on what to say. It's really made a difference in our door approaches. Some missionaries love tracting and some hate it. I'm in the middle. But we have to do it so we might as well have a good attitude about it and make the best of it and trust in the Lord while doing so. And we did a lot of tracting last week because a lot of our appointments fell through. But we have a lot of appointments set up for this week and a lot of them are with members so that will be good. Members really do make such a huge difference in the work.

I can't believe Brady left the MTC already. Where was his companion from? He mentioned the name and I went to school with someone who had that last name. It felt like I was in the MTC for like years. He will be glad to get out in the field I'm sure.

That's about it for this past week. I'm learning to love to study. I know as we study, and as we prayerfully study that our relationship with our Father in Heaven will greatly increase and we will come closer to him and have a greater desire to do what he wants. So either keep studying, or start studying!! I love you all!!!! I hope you will be able to read this Mom and Dad, if not I'm sure Mom will freak out. I was also way way way excited to hear that I'm going to be an uncle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

October 4, 2010 E-Mail

So I've been thinking alot about Weston, and I'm quite jealous of him. Not because he found like 40 cockroaches, but because he doesn't have to wear a suit coat! And yes, until next conference, I have to wear a suit coat. Which absolutely sucks when you have never even worn a suit before in your life until your mission. And the weather here has been about like how you have described it at home. Which is too hot to be wearing a coat. But oh well. I will get used to it. It's been a crazy week because I had to go to Moses Lake on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for most of the day to go to a training. It was a very tiring week because we had to get up extra early to get there. Then by the time we got home at night and went and worked out areas then came back we were just beat. But I was able to learn a lot of good training things that will hopefully help our areas out. We have been having a little bit of a hard time finding new people to teach. So hopefully that will change. Mom I laughed when I got your letter and you confessed that you didn't e-mail me last week. Sounds like you and dad are to old to get new technology. That new computer is just killing you guys. Hopefully you will get used to it pretty soon. Now that dad has 4 DVR recorder things, he should be able to record all of my car shows for until I get home! You said you went to Olive Garden on Saturday, we usually go there once a week. I can't remember if I told you that or not. One of the members here is like the manager or something so we always get hooked up. It's nice. That will be cool to go to the Dominican Republic next week. I better get some sort of cool souvenir.


I really don't have a ton to report on because I wasn't in my area half the week. But we did have an investigator come to conference yesterday. It was Jesus. He is still looking like he will be baptized on Saturday so keep praying for him. He has his baptismal interview on Thursday. We did have a really good lesson with Garret and Lea. They are way cool and were sort of questioning if there was a God and stuff. But they committed to say a sincere prayer about the message that we brought. So we are excited to go back and find out how that went. Conference was good. We just watched it all at the church. There was a lot of good talks. I'm excited to get the ensign and actually be able to go through and read them all. I have a hard time just listening. I need to have it in front of me. Allen Avra didn't come, so he won't be able to be baptized on the 23rd. But pray he will come to church next Sunday. They had a really good lesson with him this last week while I was in Moses Lake.

Yes mom I want you to keep sending me my friends e-mails like you do. Maybe send Colby's too. I know how he feels being transferred into a new area like that. I found out this past week that one of the investigators in Warden was baptized and also that a family I was working with has accepted a baptismal date. So I know what he's talking about. That's crazy though he is on like an island.

That's about it for this week. I'm so glad that we have a living prophet who can speak to us and give us the counsel that we need from our Heavenly Father. I know that as we follow that prophet we are doing what God wants us to do, and we will be blessed. I love you all so much. Thanks for all you do!