November 15, 2010

So things are going pretty good here. We had a good day at church yesterday and had 3 investigators so that was pretty awesome. 2 in English and 1 in Spanish. We had an amazing lesson the other night with Evalina. We had assigned her to read from 3rd Nephi 11. So she was just telling us what she had learned then all of the sudden she pretty much came right out and said "tengo que bautizarme" saying that she needed to be baptized. So as of right now she has a baptismal date for the 27th. But there is actually a Spanish Branch party that night so we will try and change her baptism to the 26th. So she is progressing really well. I felt bad for her in sacrament meeting yesterday. She was holding her little girl on her lap the little girl wet her pants. So we pretty embarrassed. Then the other ones that were in church were Megan and Jessica. Megan I think I have told you about. She has been coming to church for like 6 months. Her fiance is a member, he is the one who works at Olive Garden and always hooks us up. Well she will be baptized in the new year because they are getting married on the 31st of December. She is so awesome. I can't remember if I told you or not, but she got up last Sunday and bore her testimony. It was sweet. It was probably a slap in the face for some of the members because they won't even get up and do it. And she's not a member yet and she did! She's awesome and always gives her input and everything in classes. It's cool. And she's already doing missionary work and went to another ward yesterday too with a friend who is less-active. So it's awesome to see her progress and really love the gospel. Then Jessica I know I have told you about. Her boyfriend is a less-active member but has a testimony. We tracted into him one day and he invited us back to visit with her. This was back in September I think. And she was able to make it to church for the first time yesterday. I'm not sure how it went for her, because we haven't talked to her. She went to a different ward with her boyfriend's Grandma. So those were our investigators in church. I know I told you about Brian Cooper and how we had a miracle in finding him last week. Well he is really good friend with Jessica and her boyfriend. So that's cool to see them talk about the gospel together. Brian needs to be baptized. Every once in a while he bails on our appointments. But we also randomly run into him. He is a great kid and we are excited for him. He committed to coming to church next week. He couldn't make it yesterday because something came up. So that was pretty much the week. We had a rough week as far as finding new people, but we have some great appointments set up for teaching people this next week. Mom you asked what we did for service. We just do whatever we can find. But we don't have anything set at all like Tyler had at the YMCA. In area's that have food banks I know the missionaries usually go there. But we don't have anything like that in our area. So we just do what we can as we run into people. One thing I was thinking if you could send me was a copy of Jesus the Christ in spanish. I'm going to take on the task of reading it in spanish because this week I will finally have finished El Libro De Mormon. So I want to start on Jesus the Christ but I don't have time to read it during my personal study cause we study so much from The Book of Mormon. So I will just have to read it in Spanish during language study. I know this church is true an I am so grateful to be a member of it. Yesterday, Cody, Megan's fiance, gave the lesson in Elders quorumn. Well it was about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Well I am so grateful to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost to lead and guide me. It truly is such a great feeling to walk in a home and feel the spirit. I know that we can all have this constant companionship of the Holy Ghost to help us through all things as long as we remain worthy and strive to be better and align our will with the will of our Savior. I love you all. Have a great week!!!!!


Oh yeah, and I need to give a shout out to Weston because he is turing the big 20!!!!!! Happy Birthday my man.

November 8, 2010 E-Mail

So it's been a good week and busy. We were able to do a lot of service and still teach a lot of people so that was nice being able to help out in more than one way. I was excited to hear that Ethan had stopped by and he is doing good, also that Greg and Judy are going to have a child, and also to hear that I was having a nephew! That was all very exciting. You also asked if I knew any Beutler's, yeah, I knew one who is like a year younger than me. That really is to bad that there house burned down. And that's pretty cool you got to go to the Jazz game and sit that close. Mom, I can't picture you at a Jazz game. But I'm sure it was a blast.


So the work this week went great. Evalina wasn't baptized because she doesn't feel ready, but she is still meeting with us and it will be a decision that she shortly will make. We also tracted into her brother the other day, Jesus, and teach him. So that was really cool. Hopefully they will come to church together. Then the ward sent us to visit a family in the ward boundaries who aren't members and who are going through a very hard time with the economy. So we went and visited them and they told us how they are really seeking for direction in there lives. So that was really cool. But the even cooler part was we were about 15 minutes from the church and we were supposed to be at the church at 6:00 to meet a guy named Hermano Castro. Well by the time we left there house it was 6:05. So we called Hermano Castro to come pick us up but he had left his phone at home. So in other words, we were on foot and we had to book it to the church so he didn't leave. So we were forced to walk. But in the mean time we were on this little side street where no one ever walks or anything. And we ran into our investigator Brian Cooper who we have been teaching and he was really progressing. Well over the last week or two we haven't been able to meet with him and we have felt like he is avoiding us. Well there was no avoiding us walking on this little street. So we were able to make a return appointment and go teach him on Saturday night and have a really good lesson. And he committed to coming to church next week. So that was a definite miracle that we got to meet with him. I was also blessed with the gift of tongues for sure this week. I don't know if you remember Alondra. Well she is the one forever ago that yelled at us to come and talk to her because she wanted to know when and where the church was. Well we were able to teach her this week. She talks faster than anyone I know and her husband does not like her meeting with us. So we try to meet outside but it was freezing so we had to go inside. Well she said he could come home within an hour or 20 minutes. So I was a little worried. Plus we had Brother Pedersen with us who doesn't speak spanish but we had to have a man with us because it was a lady we were teaching. Well anyways, we all understood everything she was saying. Including Brother Pedersen, and my companion and I were really able to communicate with her very well. So I have definitely noticed the Lord's help when it comes to teaching hispanic people. It's been awesome. So that's about it for this week. The other day we were walking down the road and I felt something land on top of my head. So I thought it was a rain drop. Let's just say we were under a power line, and a bird took advantage of me. I wasn't to happy about that. Sounds like it will be a crazy thanksgiving for everyone if everybody is going to Kristin's. It will be fun though. I'm excited to be able to stay here in this area. We will for sure be taken care of. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and I had the opportunity to stand and bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon. I know you have heard me say a million times I know it's true. But the more I'm able to testify of it, the more true it becomes. I'm so grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith and all that he suffered so we could have the Book of Mormon to clearly understand what we need to do to have peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come. I love you all so much and thank you for your love and support. Have a good week. I love you.

November 1, 2010 E-Mail

So our transfer calls were last night and I will be staying here in East Wenatchee again. Which I'm excited about. My new companion is from Texas. His name is Elder Weidman. And this next transfer will be his third. We get along really well so it will be a good transfer. It was sort of hard sweeping into an area that had absolutely nothing going on. But this next transfer we will see some of the hard work pay off. Evalina came to church yesterday and she is still planning on being baptized on Saturday. It's so hard though because they really don't decide for sure until like the day before. It's crazy. So please keep praying for her. She is so much happier now her boyfriend has moved out. He keeps calling us though to tell her that she needs to get back with him and stuff. And he's baptist so he calls and always wants to bash. We were finally able to teach Jesus again. He is doing good but hasn't been to church for awhile. He still wants to be baptized he just kinda quit doing the stuff that was helping him to progress. So hopefully we can keep working with him. Then this past week we found a few more new investigators while we were tracting. So we are excited about them. We had like 8 people say they would come to church but only a couple did. So we are going to continue to work with them this week and have them in church next Sunday.


Saturday night there was a tri ward and the branch had an activity. It was a chili cook off and a trunk or treat. Well we invited all of our spanish investigators. Two of the families came, and there was no one there from the branch! It was horrible. Because we really needed to have fellowshippers there for them. Luckily there are a few ward members who speak spanish who helped out. And then towards the end like two families from the branch came. So it turned out to be okay. It was a good activity though and there were a lot of people.

Yesterday was pretty much just a lazy day. Because of Halloween they didn't want us to tract at all. So all we could really do was visit members. So that's about all we did after church. So it was fun, it just felt sort of weird not being out knocking doors. The weather was sort of bad anyways so it wasn't all that bad. Sounds like Dad really is going to Tokyo. That's way cool. East Wenatchee has a sister city thing in Japan, and the mayor is in our ward. So he goes to Japan quite a bit so I was talking to him about it yesterday. He said Dad will be fine. That's way cool though that he really gets to go. When does he go? Sounds like you're getting ready for the winter and snow if you moved the chevelle and got the tractor. We can see snow from our house here so I have a feeling it will be here soon. But that's alright. I'm ready for it.

Who is Wess Schvaneveldt? I know I can remember the name but I can't put a face to it. A member here knows him. Also I talked to a guy who grew up in Preston and his brother was about Grandpa's age, so I'm sure Grandpa would know him. His name was George Eames. It's interesting how you can always find people who know your family or something. Although a lot of people up here did come from the Cache Valley area.

That's about all I have for this week. I feel brain dead right now and can't think of much to write. Just know that I love you all and thank you for all of the support you give me. And yes Mom, tell Lori thank you so much for the package. I know this is the true church. Church yesterday was all about missionary work. We all need to do it whether we are formally called as missionaries or not. So do missionary work and you will be blessed! We are so fortunate to have this gospel with all of it's blessings in our own lives. We need to share it with others. Have a good week!! I love you all.

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.

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!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!