tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23196242964658540102024-03-12T19:15:29.359-07:00Elder Tyler OttOklahoma Oklahoma City MissionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-45817045628546501532014-11-30T09:56:00.002-08:002014-11-30T09:56:28.853-08:00Week of November 21, 2014<div>
So this week was a good one! Man, I'm so thankful! Things are going well
though with my new companion. Transfers were such a good time! I have so many
good friends out here! I heard from C
from Del City, he's going to the temple in January, and there's just so many
members here I just love! It's just been such a good experience!
I feel like I have a second home here and it's so fun!</div>
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We had a really good week though. We're teaching a 9 year old named W.
She's so cool! Her mom's a member, but not active. She's getting baptized on December
13th. She's really cool and for sure going to be looking out for her! </div>
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I'm short on time this week. I've just been super thankful for all the
amazing friendships I have! I'm listening to Mitt Romney's devotional he gave at
BYU and he's talking a lot about how the best part of his campaign is all the people he's met. It's true! It changes your life!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-22805559771825960652014-11-30T09:52:00.000-08:002014-11-30T09:52:02.418-08:00Week of November 17, 2014<div dir="ltr">
Man it was an interesting week for sure out here.... The baptism didn't happen.... J didn't tell his wife they
were just going to go ahead and do it, but she found out because we asked her if
she was coming....We thought she knew but
I guess not. She wants him to try her church first and
then go to ours if he doesn't like it. He told us it won't be too long until
he's baptized.
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We had interviews with President this week. We had a
real good talk about prayer! I asked him, "You have a lot of things to pray for.
What do you pray for?" He told me in his morning prayers he tells God what he's
planning on doing and for help to do them, during the day he prays for continued
guidance, and at the end of the day he prays accounting for what he did, what he
didn't do, and asks for help the next day. He told me he was talking to a member
of the 70 who said he would pray pray pray, then at the end of every prayer he'd
say, "Bless mom, dad, Aunt Sally, the cat, the dog, and the bird." As he got more
experienced he realized that he needed to make it more of a day to day
conversation. "Does the cat, the dog or the bird need anything that day? What
are Mom and Dad up to that they need help with?" He said as he did that his
prayers got more day to day and more meaningful, making our Heavenly Father more
of a Father than a wishlist. I thought it was a great insight! </div>
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The
snow and ice made it here quick... It was 75 degrees on Monday and now it's in
the 20s and there's snow everywhere. Weather sucks. Haha</div>
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There was a funeral for that man I told you about last week. Boy oh boy did
that make me think. I was so happy for him to be done with his hurting and
struggling and next step- exaltation! There was something someone said about
him, and it made me think really hard about my life. They said, "If ever there
was a warrior for the Lord, it was that man." He was a remarkable man! LDS Funerals are really cool experiences! It was very enjoyable! That's
weird to say, but true!</div>
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Have a good one!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-14485493479521892822014-11-11T12:50:00.002-08:002014-11-11T12:50:51.908-08:00Week of November 10, 2014Hey everyone! Life has been crazy here in
Duncan, Oklahoma, but I've absolutely loved it here!
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This last week was pretty eventful! On Monday we had a lesson with a couple
of our investigators R and M. We thought that they weren't too interested
in changing their lives, they just wanted a feel good message. Well they called
us Sunday and said they had been out of town, but wanted us to come over the
next day, so Monday we went over and had a lesson on the Law of Chastity. They
aren't married, and R is married to someone else right now who refuses to
divorce him. So rather than just deal with all that drama he's just living with
M. They have 2 kids together. Anyways we had a really good lesson, and they
agreed that they need to work toward marriage so they're on the right track! Then we
invited them to come to a church tour on Friday night. They came and we had
another really good lesson about the sacrament. They really enjoyed that. They
came to the chili cook off on Saturday night, and joined us at church on Sunday!
They really loved that as well! It was cool to see how quickly they responded
when we invited them, lovingly, to make changes in their life and how much
they've enjoyed trying to change!</div>
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Wednesday we drove an hour down to the bottom of the ward boundaries to
help a lady out with a painting project in Ryan, Oklahoma. Ryan is the birthplace
of Chuck Norris, so that was pretty cool! They have an autographed picture and
everything mounted there. It's a tiny, tiny town about an hour away from our
church building, but yup! Chuck Norris was born in the Duncan Ward Boundaries!
Haha</div>
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Thursday was a crazy day for us as well, but we just drove all day. We
drove for about 3 or 4 hours of the day, had a couple of meetings to go to here
in the zone, and then had a dinner way out in the middle of nowhere. We also had
weekly planning all morning, so not much got done that day as far as getting out
to work.</div>
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Friday we had an exchange with Elder W and Elder M, the zone
leaders here. Elder W is a football player at the University of Utah,
and Elder M played basketball at Salem Hills. They're great guys! Anyways
we worked them pretty hard and met some interesting people... Haha it gets
pretty fun sometimes when your area is a giant meth lab, but we do what we can!
We had a lady stop and talk with us in the middle of the road for about 15
minutes. She wouldn't pull over and park she just waved the cars around. haha It
was pretty weird but funny. She got a phone call and handed it to us and said,
"Answer it! It's God and he wants to talk with you!" I wasn't going to answer
that phone so Elder M answered it and it was a guy she was supposed to pick
up, but was too busy talking to us to go get. We
had a good day though and a fun time!</div>
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Saturday was the Chili Cook-off. All four of us missionaries chipped in and
bought a HUGE can of chili, sprinkled some red pepper in it and entered it. Haha
we made the finals.... The lady who won got up to the mic and said, "I made
canned chili and just added some ingredients so I didn't think I was going to
win!" Haha she did the exact same thing we did! She just added a couple more
ingredients... Haha that's why the judges had such a hard time of picking
between the two of ours! Haha there were tons of better chilis though! We had a lot of
members bring friends though, and one of them called us over and asked us tons
of questions, then we ended up showing her around the church and teaching her
and it was super good! She had a lot of questions and will be looking to learn
more!</div>
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Sunday was busy. We had a few people come to church, which is awesome!
Especially when it's ward conference and the super powerful stake president
speaks. It was super good! They all loved it! We spent most of the evening over
at J's house. He and his daughter are still planning on getting baptized this Saturday, and hopefully the rest of his family will be following
close behind! He's awesome! He's made HUGE changes in his life, and is so much
happier now! He told us one night, "Fellas don't be mad at me, but all those
times the kids came out and told you I wasn't home, I was home. I just wanted to
see if I was just another guy on your route that you'd stop seeing or if I
actually meant something to you. When you kept going I was touched that you
actually kept coming back. You had every reason to give up on me, but thank you
for not giving up on me!" So for all you home and visiting teachers out there
who have tough families to visit, keep going! They feel your love when you stop
by!</div>
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That's been about it for us lately! The Lord keeps blessing us, I keep
learning, and life gets better and better! Hope all is well for all of you
guys!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-2398570168766876872014-11-11T12:41:00.002-08:002014-11-11T12:41:16.504-08:00Week of November 3, 2014<div dir="ltr">
So this last week was crazy!!! We had a couple HUGE miracles! So J, the guy that
reminds me of Darius, is going to get baptized on the 15th! He came to church,
and has taken work off on Sundays in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. He's
been alcohol free, and he's excited to be baptized!!! His daughter K will
be joining him as well :) He's awesome though- I love J! He told us a little
about his story. He said that he was sitting on his porch one day drinking a
beer and he saw Elder N (who I replaced) and Elder M walking down the
street and something told him to call them over, so he called them over and
started talking to them. Well then around the time I got here he would always
send his kids outside to tell us he wasn't there. Anyways he told us last night
that he was just seeing if we actually cared about him and would keep coming
back or if we'd just move on. When he found that we were actually there for <u>him</u>
it touched him. He told us we had a lot of chances to give up on him, and we
didn't and he's so thankful for that, and he's found his church home! It was a
humbling experience for sure!
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The other HUGE miracle was we've been teaching W and R
for a long time now. They've actually been steadily taught for about a
year now. They sort of live with each other, but not really, but President wants
them to be married before they get baptized. Well they've been praying lately,
and they fasted last week and they decided to get married!!! They're just
praying about when now, but they're going to do it!!! I was speechless it was so
unexpected. We've been talking to them forever and they haven't budged an
inch and now the only question they have is when to do it! It was so cool!
Anyways it's just fun to be a missionary :D</div>
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That's about it for me here... Things here are picking up!
Oh we're also teaching 2 high school basketball players (soon to be 3) and I'm
going to start doing workouts with them in the mornings at the church. It's
going to be so much fun! One of them was at the clinic thing I did for the Stake
President's son's team. It was cool! We saw him out on Saturday and he asked us
to play with him, so we played with him for a little bit, then taught him and
he's going to be coming to church with us on Sunday! I got a call from his mom
today asking if I'd really be willing to work out with him. So that was
cool!</div>
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Things are great, great, great here :) Have a good one!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-62014495256577702942014-11-11T12:33:00.001-08:002014-11-11T12:33:31.212-08:00Week of October 27, 2014<div>
The work this week was pretty good. I hate late October and Halloween. The
decorations are gross. So I'm excited for that to blow by- haha... </div>
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The L family has to finish 3 more temple classes before they
can be sealed (one per week) so that should be coming up in a month or so. I
can't wait for that! I went out teaching with A Saturday night as well and
it was crazy! It was so touching to see how powerful his testimony was, and how
much he loves the gospel and the peace it brings! It's also been so humbling to
be around his in-laws. His father-in-law is always so appreciative
every time I see him, and J, A's wife, always is too. Like I can see
it in their eyes that they are so thankful he is a member, and it's such a humbling experience to be a part of
that.</div>
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We were biking last night and saw a few people sitting outside and so we
thought we'd talk to them. We asked them if we could take 10 minutes and talk to
them about prayer. They accepted so we started talking to them. They're probably
around 50 or so. We asked them what role prayer plays in their life and they
said it hasn't really. They grew up Christian, but they haven't prayed in a long
time. We taught and testified that God wants to hear from them, and we taught
them how to pray. Then we invited him, Mark, to pray and he said such a humble
prayer it was awesome! He thanked us for teaching him, and said, "It's been a
long time." The spirit was strong there! It was so powerful and humbling to be a
part of bringing a Son back to his Father. It's such a fun a beautiful work
we've been asked to serve in!</div>
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So a couple of interesting stories, we were biking and a couple was walking
down the street and they were yelling at each other and stuff. Well the lady
asked us to walk her to her Grandma's house to stay the night, so we walked her
about a mile to her Grandma's while she was absolutely out of it. She was
so stressed she was freaking out and she wasn't making any sense. It was
weird. Then we were biking and we saw another fight, and then in the distance
(it was in an area we were around but not in) we heard 3 gun shots. Haha and it
was super dark and we were just biking around about 7 miles away from our
apartment so we kinda decided that we would work our way back to the apartment
when Elder Matthew's tire caught a flat. Haha so we called the other Elders and
they came and got the keys to our car and came back, we threw our bikes on the
rack and called it a night. We also had a super drunk guy give us
some home made candles... haha what a life huh?</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-53054607370258736232014-10-14T06:48:00.003-07:002014-10-14T06:48:30.080-07:00Week of October 13, 2014<div dir="ltr">
What a week! I've had some interesting events transpire this
week.... I'll list it out in a list today. Bare with me on this. Some are pretty
freaky... Haha
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Monday: We were trying an investigator and we saw him.... well breaking the
law of chastity with his girlfriend we can put it that way to keep it simple.
But after we left there we had a good lesson with some other people! They had
bought a Family Proclamation that was framed at a thrift store, not knowing
anything about it other than it said family on the top, and they were mad
because it was colored on. Then we showed them that it was from our church and
they freaked out and we replaced it for them!</div>
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<br />Tuesday: I beat a little girl in a race at dinner (she's 5) because she
was talking smack. haha And I had a good lesson with a lady who believes
in Christ but hates Christianity because her son is gay.</div>
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Wednesday: We met a man named Billy. We set a baptismal date with him
and he told us about how one time he was smoking dope and Satan appeared to him,
and then Jesus came and shocked him with lightning and chased him away and he
saw Jesus. Drugs are bad.</div>
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Thursday: I don't remember Thursday... Oh yeah we gave a blessing to Sister
G who had to go to the ER. It was good
spiritual experience.</div>
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Friday: District meeting and we met with Billy again. He told us a guy tried to make him
sell his soul to the devil, and to show him how much power he would get he made
the truck they were driving in fly.</div>
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Saturday: We had an investigator (the same one from Monday) come to a
baptism while he was high.</div>
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Sunday: I bore my testimony and had a super great time at church, and after
had one of the best lessons I've had on my mission. It was super powerful! And I
found out I'm staying in Duncan. </div>
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That was basically the week... it was super good! I love life! Things are great! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-20481450422423111232014-10-14T06:39:00.000-07:002014-10-14T06:39:04.742-07:00Week of October 6, 2014<div>
Holy Cow what a week!!!! So we got to see the movie Meet the Mormons on
Tuesday because they don't want missionaries going to the theater, so they sent
President a copy to show to all the missionaries. IT WAS SOOOOOO
GOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!! You have to go see it! It was one of the best movies I've
ever seen. They do an amazing job of capturing members as they really are, and
showing not so much what our beliefs are, but showing who we are because of our
beliefs. They showed it in Salt Lake to a trial group of non-members and 75% of
the people said they would be more receptive if the missionaries came to their
door. It's so powerful I loved it! And during the Navy Football coach part....
Haha I haven't felt adrenaline like that in 15 months! Haha just the whole
sports atmosphere.... I miss it. Haha but it was such a good movie go see
it!</div>
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So conference was ok for me. It was just back to the basics, which was good
and it made me think about ways I can tighten up. </div>
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Not much else is new here. Just keep pluggin along :) We're going disc
golfing so that will be fun! I'm excited! Have a good one!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-81684123793144669602014-09-29T17:05:00.002-07:002014-09-29T17:05:38.582-07:00Week of September 22, 2014<div>
Well this week was a good one! It went quick. May I just say that I've
learned that a loving, straight forward and head on approach makes all the
difference in the world? We're teaching a guy named J and he had a lot of reasons why he couldn't come to church today. I said
"J, let's look at this all like it's football. It's 3rd down right now. You
need to move the chains!" I read Isaiah 58:14 with him and explained that riding
on the high places of the earth means carried about from week to week by a
forgiveness of sins, or in other words a "first down." I told him that the
defense was going to do all they could to stop him from scoring a touchdown, or
in other words getting baptized, and that they would throw every trick play at
him in the books, and that if he didn't come to church before he knew it he'd be
facing a 4th and long situation. He clicked with that, so we had a good time and
he came to church! It looks like he's going to get baptized and he wants to do it before I leave
Duncan. So we'll see how it all goes! His date is for November 1st. </div>
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So we were shopping at Homeland last week and I found some canned seasoned
octopus in the dollar aisle. Haha so I bought it and everyone in the district
tried it one night. It really didn't taste horrible, like it was bad but not
horrible, but the texture was terrible! One sister couldn't swallow it, and
one of the elders almost threw up. But no one got sick so we're all winners
:)</div>
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Hope you have a great
week!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-9144480360689114562014-09-29T17:01:00.000-07:002014-09-29T17:01:00.825-07:00Week of September 15, 2014<div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
We had a General
Authority in the mission this last week. Elder Foster. He was awesome that was
one of the most powerful meetings I've ever been in! Let me tell you what I've
learned from it, and then show as to why we keep the commandments. From that meeting I realized that I know what our Bishop's goal is, but not
his vision. We scheduled a time to sit down and talk with him and get his
vision. He told us he wants everyone moving toward the temple ordinances of
exaltation. Then we got to council as a district about how missionary
work will help them get there. We realized that what missionary work does is it
makes the gospel mean more for us, and we develop a greater love for God. So what missionary work will do for
that vision is it will create more converted disciples of Christ. By the members doing
missionary work they will become what bishop's vision is for them.</div>
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We had dinner with a member of the stake presidency's wife
last night. It was my turn to share the spiritual thought so I asked her what
her vision was for her spiritually. She's a <span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">regular temple attending person, she does
her visiting teaching, she's a great member. She said she would love to be a
better wife and mother, and just a better person overall. I read D&C
31:5 with her and it says "<span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;">Therefore, </span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;">thrust</span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;"> in
your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are </span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;">forgiven</span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;"> you,
and you shall be laden with </span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;">sheaves</span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;"> upon
your back, for the </span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;">laborer</span><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; line-height: 22px;"> is
worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live.</span></span>" Sheaves could mean baptism, but I think the sheaves are a
personal testimony of the gospel. As we continually thrust in our sickle, our
testimony will continue to grow whether or not there's a baptism. I've been
working hard on my mission and I wouldn't say that I've had a ton of sheaves,
but my testimony has become stronger. As our testimony grows, we will
naturally want to be better, we will naturally change and be more like Christ,
because we'll want to. That's why
we are commanded to do missionary work, because let's face it the Lord does all
the work in conversion anyways. Nothing I said has ever converted anyone, it's
always the Spirit. He has us do it so that we become like him,
and change. It's a beautiful thing isn't it?</div>
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As far as the
work went, we're blessed! Things were slow, but things are picking up again. I've realized that
working for the members and helping them out is the only way to do missionary
work. If we just do our own thing and invite the members to help us we'll
continue to see no results. So I'm excited to see how the ward grows from
this!</div>
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I wish I could really put into words exactly how much this
gospel means to me. I've tried but I just can't say it adequately. I know its not the black name tag
that's changed me. It's been sharing the gospel. I've been rejected a ton out here,
and I know it's not about others' agency. It's about what sharing the gospel can
bring into my life that I'm excited about. It just has to constantly be a part
of us or else it just will never work. It really has been such a
joyful experience. I just feel so blessed and to
sing the song of redeeming love. I love it!</div>
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Hope you
have a good one!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-20846469826035222282014-09-29T15:59:00.002-07:002014-09-29T15:59:42.768-07:00Week of September 9, 2014<div>
My new comp is from Spanish Fork, and he's younger than McKenna. That's so
weird to me. He turned 18 in June.... I actually understand what it feels
like to be old... He's going to be a great missionary. I'm excited to see what big things he
does!</div>
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A proposed to his girlfriend this last weekend. He had us meet him at
a party on Friday night and he proposed to her there. It was one of the most
powerful experiences I've had in a long time. I didn't expect it to be such a spiritual experience it was
crazy... But they're getting married in October and sealed next
year! I don't know that I'll be able to come back out here for that, but I for
sure would love to!</div>
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So I've had a ton of things running through my mind lately. I taught a
mission prep class on Tuesday for the youth. I taught on the Plan of Salvation.
The Plan of Salvation just makes so much sense, and it's the framework that
everything else is held up by. The better knowledge and understanding we have
about the Plan of Salvation, the easier everything else will be, and the more
sense things will make. Well I was teaching them the Plan so that they could
teach others. The answers to the questions such as "What's my potential? How can
I get there? Why am I on this earth?" Those questions have been answered to me
in such deep terms. I've taught the plan of salvation so many times in the last
couple weeks, and it's been on my mind a lot. As I've studied the commandments
it's helped me understand how every single commandment has a "Why?" to it, and
it makes it a ton easier to follow the commandments when we understand the
"Why?"</div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
Well, that does it for me this week. Hope you have a great
week! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-1980709878108934832014-09-29T15:54:00.000-07:002014-09-29T15:54:07.887-07:00Week of September 2, 2014<div>
Looks like I'll be staying in Duncan to train. This week was pretty good. We traveled a ton, so not much happened, but we
started teaching a new guy named K. He's an ex con. He came to church and says he wants to get baptized and he's super awesome so that is exciting! Other than that not much
else happened.</div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
I'm excited to get to know this new missionary! He probably just got to
Oklahoma a couple hours ago... So crazy. Seems like just last week. </div>
<br /><br />
<br />
<div>
Sorry I don't have a ton of time! Have a great week!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-64984392611500374342014-09-29T15:50:00.000-07:002014-09-29T15:50:11.328-07:00Week of August 25, 2014<div dir="ltr">
<div>
So the baptism was GREAT! So powerful! I asked A how it
felt when he was about to get changed and he just looked at me with a huge smile
and was speechless. He was so happy and felt so good it was amazing! He's a
stud! I got to do the confirmation on Sunday, and that was a powerful experience
as well. The priesthood is so humbling.... Like I was able to play a role as a
tool to giving A one of the greatest gifts of this life. How can that not
humble you? And you just know that there's no way that this could be of man,
because it has too much of an impact, and too much power behind it. I love it so
much! Truly in the ordinances thereof the power of godliness is manifest!<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I got a call on Saturday to be a trainer. I'll
be one of 2 English speaking trainers, so I'm excited!<br />
<br /><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
Well, that's about it for now. I get to
see sweet miracles every day! <br />
<br />
<br />
<span id="goog_272374404"></span><span id="goog_272374405"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-32571164879155493912014-09-29T15:37:00.004-07:002014-09-29T15:40:32.420-07:00Week of August 18, 2014<div>
This week was very good over all! A is getting baptized this week, and
went out teaching with the other Elders in the ward (There's 4 elders and 2
sisters, 3 companionships, in this one ward) and he loved it and is
pumped!!!</div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
Ordaining C to the office of Elder and giving him the
Melchizedek priesthood was super humbling, but very powerful for me! It was a
special experience! I learned a lot from the stake priesthood meeting before it.
The stake president, President Bean, gave a great talk on the Work of Salvation,
and how sharing the gospel strengthens our families, and the Work of Salvation
in the home. Anyways he gave a sweet quote that I love! "Salvation is a personal
matter. Exaltation is a family matter.... Your priesthood will only go as far as
your spouse." It was sick! He talked about how the church was restored for
families, and he did a great job of helping us (me especially) understand the
role of husbands and wives, and the importance of a unified marriage and
treating your wife like a queen. It was very powerful! President Walkenhorst
gave a great talk on obtaining the blessings of the seed of Abraham. He opened
up to Genesis 17 and read a few verses, but he stopped and talked about verse 7.
Jehovah is promising Abraham and his seed that he will be a God to them forever.
He posed a simple question. "What does it mean that Jehovah will be a God to you
forever?" Anyways just something to ponder on! He basically said we must share
the gospel and live in unity as a family if we are to have the blessings of the
seed of Abraham. It was awesome!</div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
One more quote from President Monson in one of the issues of the conference Ensigns you sent to me. He said this in the General Relief Society meeting. "Do
not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your
tasks. Then the performance of your tasks will be no miracle, but you will be
the miracle." I LOVE THAT!!! The works we do change us, so if we pray to do
greater works we are made greater!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-66506018305792713472014-09-29T15:33:00.003-07:002014-09-29T15:33:53.424-07:00Week of August 11, 2014<span style="font-family: inherit;">Holy cow school is started and summer is over..... That's so weird.... Where is
my life going? I had a dream the other night that I was going home from my
mission with all the other Elders that I came out with and you guys picked me up
from the airport and I was just bawling my eyes out because I didn't want my
mission to be over.... haha... and you guys were driving me around and I was super
happy to see you guys, but I was still just bawling because I didn't want to be
home! And that's basically how I feel right now... I'm super excited to be out
here and there is literally nowhere else I'd rather be! So that makes it
exciting! I LOVED the talks you sent me! "The Miracle of a Mission" by Elder
Holland has been exactly how I've been feeling lately. I read that talk and just
thought to myself, "What am I doing to make the spirit I feel out here a part of
my everyday life? Am I changing my actions or am I changing my nature?" Our
mission gives all the missionaries "Lock Your Heart" and "Consecrated Missionary",
and we read them every transfer. So those were good refreshers :)
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So we had a HUGE miracle! We've been teaching a guy
whose girlfriend is a member of the church. He told us in our last lesson he
felt drawn to being baptized, and knew he should do it, he just didn't know
when. So we invited him to pray and think about it, and we'd do the same and
we'd get back together later on and see what we think. My companion and I prayed
over it and decided on
August 23rd. So that's what we put down as when we thought he should do it. It
was weird because it wasn't an overwhelming answer, but it just kinda felt right. Anyways we met with him last night and he told us he had
gotten an answer and he felt like the 23rd was when he should be baptized. It
was pretty crazy! I opened up my planner and showed him that we had had that
date and he was like "woah wait up. How did you know that?" Haha it was cool!
He's 20 and he could be a potential missionary! So this baptism is finally going to happen!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div>
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also we had an interesting situation. We
were biking down the street and I saw this lady on her porch so I pulled over on
my bike and started talking to her. She was super open to us talking to her, and
she asked a ton of good questions. We talked to her for about 45 minutes. We
went back over Sunday after church and met up with them. Her boyfriend (we don't think they're married...) was there and invited us in. We
walked in the house and it just felt empty. It was weird to explain but you just
felt hollow when you walked in. Well they told us that they have had some pretty
scary things happen in the home over the last 2 or 3 weeks, and then the day
when we stopped by it picked up big time. They said it was really scary. So we
offered to dedicate their home and we did so. It was so interesting because as
soon as we dedicated the home that empty feeling was replaced. And as we kept
talking it just felt so good. They even noticed it! It was
super cool though because she was asking us what the purpose of this life is.
She said that all these other churches teach once saved always saved, but she
doesn't see how there's any purpose in our lives if we don't have anything to
work for until after we've been saved. So we explained the first half of the
Plan of Salvation and they LOVED it! They are super excited! He really wants to
get to the point in his life where Christ is a friend, not just someone to call
on when you're in trouble. And when we were leaving they said, "It feels so good
in this house. Thanks for blessing it!" They told us that they have been trying
to call other religious people to help them with it, but they couldn't get
anyone to answer the phone. Then the next day we show up! They said it was a
sign for them, and they're super interested! So it was another big
miracle!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We gotta get going though, so love ya tons!
Have a great week! </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-41831531743522774302014-09-29T15:24:00.002-07:002014-09-29T15:24:42.252-07:00Week of August 4, 2014<div dir="ltr">
The baptism that was scheduled was put off again, but the
recent convert in Del City just told me he'll be getting the
Melchezidek priesthood on the 17th and would like me to be the voice for that.
So I'm hoping I can work something out with President to get my way up there and
go help him with that.
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The work seems to be going well here though! The members of the ward seem
to like the missionaries so not too much to complain about! Life keeps
moving on. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I learned a ton at church yesterday and it
would take forever to put it all down. But it was good! And we had a couple of
great lessons, and a good looking week coming up so I'm excited! </div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-88272695070675705212014-07-28T16:46:00.002-07:002014-07-28T16:46:26.398-07:00Week of July 28, 2014- Transferred!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How's it going! I think it's been a while since I've had time to email everyone, but I have time today! Haha the library here is much less packed.</span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So I left Del City after 6 months and made here to Duncan and I'm excited! The ward here seems to be great! The work has been slow historically but there seems to be a lot of work to do, so I'm excited about that!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me tell you about a little spiritual impression I had this week. We were trying someone and they weren't home so we were driving to the next place and I looked over and saw a lady walking her very young child inside. I just felt a pressing feeling to knock on that door. But we were in a hurry so I just pulled over and wrote down the address, then drove off. The next day we were back in the area and so we went to go knock on the door and these older people walked out and so we started to try to talk to them and they like completely denied us. Haha so we just kept walking and they got in their car and drove off, but I still felt like knocking on the door. So we did and the lady I had seen the day before opened it with a huge smile, and she invited us to come back and teach her! Then we went back and her husband talked to us and he was super prepared for us!!! So it was an awesome miracle, and it was just a thought that pressed on me until I did it. So it was cool!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Another cool story is about a part member family that has been hard to get in contact with I guess. Well after district meeting we stopped by and they invited us in and we had a good talk with them for a while. They have been married for 16 years now. So I shared a message with them from Genesis 2:18 and 24. I said, "Why would God say it's not good for man to be alone in the garden of Eden, and command them to marry, and then after we die all of a sudden change his mind and not let us be married? It doesn't make senseā¦ " Haha then I went to Ecclesiastes 6:14 and said, "Now God must have married Adam and Eve because He was the only one there to do that, and this scripture says whatever God does, he does forever. Therefore Adam and Eve must have been married forever." Then we talked about how God has given the sealing power to servants to marry others for Him like it says in Matthew 16:19. Then we talked about how when they were killed, that power was gone. Then we taught about Joseph Smith (so yes, we taught the Restoration without them even knowing it until this part. Haha and they were already enjoying it so it was too late for them to stop us!) and how it was restored through him, then we invited the member to testify of Joseph Smith. He started going off about how he knows Joseph Smith was a prophet and he did an awesome job. It was super cool to see that it clicked with him that they need to be married by that authority or else they can't be together forever. It was just interesting because we kinda winged it and it went super well! I'm glad but it was a sweet miracle because I guess he's been not too keen on missionaries teaching his wife, so this will be good! It will be a process but it was exciting nonetheless!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, that's about it for me here. I love the area, and there's a lot of work to be done and I'm excited to do it! It also looks like I'll be headed back to the Midwest City/ Del City area this Saturday for K's baptism, who I've been working with for the past 6 months, so I'm very excited about that as well! Hope everything is going well back home!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-18280944772051493812014-06-30T10:20:00.000-07:002014-06-30T10:20:04.570-07:00Week of June 30, 2014- It's Hot!<div>
Man it was a hot week this week! This was the first week I truly hated
being in a bike area. Haha it was super humid too with all the rain, but man it
was a fun one! It didn't help that most of our investigators were
out of town, so we were outside most of the time. But it's all good! It was a
good week!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
We found a guy named Rock on Tuesday. He was just standing outside and it
was probably the most prompted I've ever been to talk with someone. So we went
and started talking with him and he said, "Normally when you guys ask to talk I
say no thanks but for some reason this time I feel like I should take your
card." So we talked about his church for a while and then things naturally
flowed into sharing some restored truths. So it was pretty cool! We ended up
giving him a Book of Mormon, and then we went back and saw him two days later
and he had read a couple chapters and has really liked it! He seems like he's
just a great guy as well, so we'll see how things go with him!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
We also had a member bring their friends for a church tour on Saturday. It
was super awesome! It was so powerful to be able to show them around the
building, and to testify of Christ and the prophets as we walk by all the
pictures! Talking about baptism by the baptismal font is cool, but the best part
always is taking them into the chapel and talking to them there. As the member
bore testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith in the chapel the Spirit was so thick
it was crazy! They all recognized it and appreciated it! It was an awesome
experience!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
Well I'm out of time for this week, but those were the quick highlights.
Have a good one back home! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-32060063310975759072014-06-23T19:13:00.001-07:002014-06-23T19:13:38.565-07:00Week of June 23, 2014<div>
How's the life? Hope you had a good week like me! I'm just happy to be
alive lately! My studies have been great, the work is moving, and the beat goes
on! And I hit my year mark on Thursday...... Insane.... haha</div>
<br />
So not much has been new with me here. Just workin ;) Haha it's been good
though! We set a baptismal date with a newer investigator named Joyce. She's 80
years old and is the coolest lady ever! She just loves everything and everyone! W
e're so excited about her!<br />
<br />
I was on an exchange and we were trying someone and a guy answered the door.
We started talking to him and he's going to play wide receiver for OSU this next
year. We got talking and stuff and I told him I played college basketball so we
talked about college sports for a bit, then I told him why I was out here and we
started talking about Christ. He was a cool guy with a strong faith in Christ.
So we started talking and the conversation naturally went to
Joseph Smith and he was like, "Wait a second, this is exactly what I've been
going through! I've been praying a ton lately because I'm getting so sick of
going to all these different churches and being confused. Like I just want to
know truth!" So he invited us in and we talked some more and he seems real
solid! It was cool because I don't think I've ever connected with someone so
quickly before on my mission, and like it all flowed so naturally. The
gospel has gotten way natural to talk about, it's been cool, but that was just a
cool connection. He's in the other elder's area so the only time I'll see him
is at church but it was just a cool experience! His name is Landon
Harper. He wants everyone to remember the name when he's playing WR for OSU!
Haha<br />
<br />
We've been having a lot more success with members lately. I just
realized that I hadn't been building a relationship with any of the members I
was just superficially getting to know them. But as I've talked to them
more and started to get to know them they've been great at helping us out with
the work! And I'm building relationships, so it's all good!<br />
<br />
Our ward mission leader is about to have a baby, and he'll be taking us to
the zoo in 2 weeks or so, so we're excited about that as well. Other than that
not much else has been going on. I'm serving around a bunch of old men and
they're all injured, so sports on p-days has been pretty low key. Haha But life
is still good!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Well that's about it for me here. We keep teaching, finding new people, and
playing basketball on the streets! It's been pretty warm here the last few
days, but it's been good! Hope everyone back home has a great week!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FOpsTGbMtsM/U6jel27j0eI/AAAAAAAAAFM/BR4LBV1N5q4/s1600/DSCF0752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FOpsTGbMtsM/U6jel27j0eI/AAAAAAAAAFM/BR4LBV1N5q4/s1600/DSCF0752.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A member drew this actual size Goliath for Sunday School on Sunday</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_1436972295"></span><span id="goog_1436972296"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-31375519879189792002014-06-09T11:59:00.001-07:002014-06-09T11:59:52.200-07:00Week of June 9, 2014<br />
<div>
Another 6 weeks in Del City comin up! I'm super pumped about it! The
district here is on fire and it's going to just be a sweet transfer!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The area is picking up! We found 10 new investigators this week, and we
feel that for the most part they're solid! They'll meet with us more than once a
month at least.... haha so it will be great! We didn't have any crazy
experiences, but just a ton of awesome little ones!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We went over to talk to a couple of people on their porch. The lady was
like "I'm Baptist and I'll always be Baptist so you're wasting your time and I'm
wasting mine." So we just started talking about Christ and she was bearing her
testimony about Christ and I said, "You know we aren't wasting our time because
you just built my faith!" Then we kept talking and she said, "I know it shouldn't
be like this, but I always find I'm on my knees more when I'm in a hard spot,"
and I said that Christ did the same thing in Gethsemane when he was suffering
for us. She loved that and we started talking more, then we talked about
prophets, and then we left her with a pamphlet and she wants us back and wants
to know if there's a prophet on the earth today! It was sweet!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We also have a family that lives in our apartment complex set up a dinner
with a member family (they also live in our apartment complex) and they wanted
us to come eat with them and teach them.... Haha and they've been wanting to
come to church for a while now but no one has invited them so they haven't. It
was so cool! The family has tons of potential and we're super excited about
it!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I'm feelin old now.... I never thought I'd turn 20. Haha and I'm starting
to think about how crazy it is that my mission is just about half way
over........ So yeah. Life does really keep going. Haha and it's been going
fast! I'm enjoying it though and I've been finding a ton of joy in the work
lately. So yeah my life is good. Really good. (Nacho Libre voice)</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Well, I hope everyone back home has a good week this week! I know that God
lives, and He knows us personally and He wants us to get to know Him personally.
So find out something new about God this week! As you seek to get to know Him
better, he reveals more of himself to you. Keep the faith!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-27497493763892954332014-06-02T17:55:00.001-07:002014-06-02T17:55:05.421-07:00Week of June 2, 2014<div>
What's happenin fam?</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
Man I hope everyone's week was as good as ours! We had a fun one! It rained
a lot early on in the week, and it's raining today, but that's good because the
state needs it. It looks like we went a whole May without even having to get to
a shelter, so that's good! But school is out so there are plenty of people to
talk to, and people are out and about! The weather is getting really warm and
humid, so I'm excited about that!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
This week went by real fast. We had a great week though so it was good!
Nothing too crazy happened, but oh well. Sunday was probably the highlight. We
had a recent convert out with us and we were able to get in and talk to a lot of
people with him! The coolest thing though was we were driving from one house to
another, and Chris sees a lady out in her driveway sweeping. He pulled over and
was like, "Lets go talk with her." So we got out of the car and walked over to
her and started talking to her. She turned into a new investigator and when we
recited the first vision to her she said, "I really hope that's happened or that
it will happen soon." So we'll see her in the next day or 2 and get to talk with
her. It was way cool to see the member have the desire to literally talk to
everyone he saw!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
I was able to play some more ball this week. We picked up 14 potential
investigators from stopping and playing basketball with some people. Haha- the
first time there were 3 guys out playing and I'm in a trio for a bit and so we
went and played them 3 on 3. We beat them really bad (and they told us they
thought we were joking when we asked if we could play, and they thought they'd
kill us) and so the old guys stepped out to play us. We beat them 10-8, and
afterwards we talked to them a lot about who we are and what we do. We prayed with
all 12 of them and then they invited us back! Haha- it was fun we had a really good
time with them! The other time was there were a couple kids who were high school
age and we saw them out playing so we started talking to them and I said, "Maybe
next time we're here we'll have to stop by and play against you guys." One of
they guys said, "You may not like what you see." Haha- so I said "Alright well
lets play a quick game to 5 to see what's up." So I gave him the ball and
he started dribbling and he tried to go around me and I stole it from him and
his friend started freaking out. I ended up beating him and we had a good time.
They said next time we can talk to them about Christ so we're excited! Haha- and
we found an investigator last week from playing basketball with them, so looks
like an effective finding tool! I've never had to work so hard for investigators
though. :) It's been fun!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
Other than that not there isn't too much going on. All of our solid progressing
investigators have been on vacation or busy, so we haven't been able to make too
much contact with them, but we were able to find a ton of other people to teach
so it wasn't a huge deal! Life has been good out here!</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
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Hope you all are having a good one! If not then start having a good one!
Haha- until next week.....</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-62731482110011158112014-06-02T17:41:00.000-07:002014-06-02T17:41:29.600-07:00Week of May 26, 2014<div>
What's goin on?</div>
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This last week was an interesting one. We had some good things and some not
so good, but overall not a bad week!</div>
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I guess to start it doesn't look like KB is getting baptized this weekend.
She still isn't married and said they probably won't be married until late July.
We're going to keep working with them and hope that that gets moved up because
the way that Satan works something will come up then too. So we'll see what
happens.</div>
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Other than that no big news. We were able to find quite a few new
investigators this last weekend, and it's the first week of summer out here so
we're hoping that it will be a good week this week as well! Our car was taken
back. I guess another missionary broke a limb and they think they need it more
than us so we're back to being a bike area, and with Elder Carter's bike being
broke that means we're on foot. We walk an average of 11-15 miles a day, so it's
fun! And it's been raining here pretty good lately so we've been doing wet walks.
Haha- double fun!</div>
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Not much else to report on here. Serge Ibaka coming back and the Thunder
winning the other night was the buzz of the city here and so there's life again
in the city! Haha so that's a good thing! Still haven't had any tornados
anywhere close to where I am, and haven't heard of any coming soon. So still
good weather here this year!</div>
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Hope everyone has a great week! Keep the faith!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-70458811526923888262014-06-02T17:36:00.002-07:002014-06-02T17:36:43.919-07:00Week of May 19, 2014<div dir="ltr">
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What up family and friends? Hope life is going well!</div>
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This was an interesting week here in Del City. We had a couple sweet
miracles, but for the most part it was pretty quiet. KB is a girl that's
been taught by missionaries since September, and could never get baptized
because she wasn't married. They wanted to push it back until July, but Elder
Carter and I had a good lesson on faith and invited them to pray about whether
or not they should get married now. Moving out isn't really an option because
they have a 3 month old baby with each other. Well they prayed and they feel
that they need to get married, so they're getting married in a week from today
if not sooner, and she's going to be baptized on May 31st! She's been waiting
for this for a while, so she's excited and so are we!</div>
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The other sweet miracle was we were teaching a referral from a member in
the area. His name is M. M has come to conference and church, and so we
went over there and asked him straight up if he feels that these things are
true. We talked about it for a while, and we helped him recognize and identify
the spirit. He feels the spirit very strong when it comes to the temple. Every
time he sees it he says that his heart jumps and he feels good. Well we had a
really good chat with him, and he wants to get baptized shortly! At the end of
the lesson we were talking about the church and he said, "So our church is world
wide then?" And we were like super stoked that he said "our church" haha. It was
awesome!</div>
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<br />Well that's mostly it! We had an investigator come to the baptism, and
she's wanting to get baptized now as well, but that will be a bit of a process.
But life and the work has been good! Hope all is going well back home. Keep the
faith! Love ya'll!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-90607834367854573742014-05-05T19:30:00.000-07:002014-05-05T19:30:12.958-07:00Week of May 5, 2014<br />
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Well, another week went by in Del City, and it FLEW! Time is moving fast
out here! Dad always told us, "Time does pass. No matter what, time passes. So
what are you going to do with it?" It always made sense, but it's really coming
alive how inspired that statement is. The mission is going by! And it says in
D&C 58, "This is his mission, and I only give it to him once." Its dawned on
me lately that it will never be the same.... So I better work hard and enjoy it!
haha</div>
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So we're not so sure that K is going to get baptized. Financially they
don't think they are ready to get married, and we can't baptize them until
they're married. They have a 2 month old together, and so we don't want to break
up the family for her to get baptized. So we're just praying that they'll have the faith to keep the commandments, and let God take care of them! But we'll
just keep working with them until then.</div>
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We had an interesting experience with C and K. They had another
argument and split up again. We went over to visit them and K was so
exhausted that Elder Carter and I thought he was under the influence of
something. But he told us that C left the night before. He told us
he needed us to hold his hand so to speak, and visit him every day for about a
week. So we stepped in to hear what was going on. While we were sitting there
listening to him tell us what happened, a thought popped in my head to have him
kneel down and pray and ask for a spiritual experience. I said a quiet prayer
and asked if we had K kneel down and offer a prayer if he would be granted a
spiritual experience. I felt very strongly it would happen. So we knelt down and
he asked to feel God's love and to feel the spirit. We basically just sat back
and watched him cry for a couple minutes, and then he didn't even look like the
same person. He now had a sound mind, and was no longer super exhausted. It was
unreal to see the transformation that took place with him! We told him that any
time he needs it he can do that. We visited him a couple days later and he
looked like such a happier person. We asked him if he had had any more spiritual
experiences and he said he's had 2 since we left! It was amazing to see the
change in him as his relationship with our Heavenly Father grew! Things in his
relationship are also moving in a more positive direction, so we're
excited!</div>
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We found a couple other people that we feel are solid. Last night
we visited an investigator we haven't been in contact with. We felt we should try her,
even though it was at a time that usually isn't good for her. We went and she
was outside with her sister. Her sister had told us about a month or 2 ago
that she wasn't interested in what we had to say, but she was still nice.
Well the sister, J, started rattling off questions, and so we answered
them. We answered her questions for about an hour and a half, then we basically
taught the restoration. She said that most of the questions she asked was to see
if we had a good knowledge about the Bible or not, and whether or not to listen
to us. Haha she said we've passed so far! She said she is really interested in
learning more, because she's been looking for the full truth, but she didn't
think any church had the full truth. She really wants to take this seriously! It
was a super awesome miracle because she turned us down a month ago, but now her
heart has been softened and she might just find the truth she's been looking
for! It was awesome!</div>
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The other cool miracle we had is a member invited a friend of hers to
conference, and he loved it! His name is M. He's a super humble guy, and is
just the nicest guy you'll find. He's looking for something, and he seems to be
drawn to our church. We haven't been able to get in contact with him though.
Well one night we just stopped by his house and he invited us in. He has been
reading the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price,
and Preach My Gospel. Haha he was full of questions. He started asking a lot of
questions, and all of them were pertaining to the Plan of Salvation. So we just
went through the Plan of Salvation and he said, "This all makes sense, and it
answers all of my questions!" We're going to be meeting with him sometime this
week hopefully. We're excited for him! He has a lot of potential!</div>
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That's mostly what happened around here this week. It was a good week!
Elder Carter and I are excited about this next week, so we'll see what happens!
Hopefully things keep picking up!</div>
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Thanks for all the support back home! I hope everyone has a great week and
a happy mothers day!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-81846823472861955882014-04-30T07:06:00.003-07:002014-04-30T07:06:59.368-07:00Week of April 28, 2014<br />
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Hello Hello! So it'll be another 6 weeks in Del City coming up! I'll still be
with Elder C it looks like, so that will be exciting as well!</div>
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This week was a really good one! It FLEW by though- it was crazy! Tuesday we
were visiting one of our investigators, D. He's a nice guy! He's a seeker of
truth. He gets sick of a lot of the religions out here because they teach a lot
about Revelations and the end of the world, and he wants to know how he can live
more like Christ. He also said he sees stickers all over the place that say, "Invite someone to church this month" but we're the only one of any of the
hundreds of churches around that have actually done it. So he's excited and
progressing slowly but surely. We set a baptismal date for May 24th with him. It's a great goal to work
towards.</div>
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Wednesday was a bit of a longer day. Not much happened. I got to do a
baptismal interview for a 14 year old girl though! The other elders in our ward
are teaching their family. The dad is a member, but his wife and 2 daughters
weren't, but they've been going to church with him for a long time. Anyways the
youngest daughter decided it was time for her to get baptized, so we're hoping
her mom and sister will want to follow her example! It was fun though. She has a
great understanding for a 14 year old!</div>
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Thursday night was awesome! We taught 2 families. One is a family of at
least 6 (there might be a couple more kids we've missed the 2 times we've been
over there) and the other is a family of 5. The family of 6 has a ton of
potential! We can see them becoming members of the church eventually, and we're
hoping that we're the ones who get to help them with that! The other family is
nice, but they aren't really too excited about religion in general so we'll
see.</div>
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Friday was fun. I was on exchanges with Elder V. He's a great guy!
We had a good time! We were able to teach K. She's doing great! She hadn't
been to church in a couple weeks and right when we sit down she said, "I feel
awful I haven't been to church!" We had a great lesson with her and she's still
on board to be baptized on the 10th! She still needs to get married though, but
we hope that will happen.</div>
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Saturday and Sunday were awesome! We saw C and K. They were
the ones we were teaching and they split up after a fight. Well they're back
together. On Saturday they were in another little argument, but we taught the
Doctrine of Christ and that settled them down. We went back on Sunday and they
took the Doctrine of Christ to heart! They didn't even look like the same
couple! We set a baptismal date with them for June 28th, and at the end C prayed about that date to know if it was the right one. She broke down in tears
and we all felt like it was the right date! It was a super powerful
moment!</div>
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Well, I gotta get going, but I just want everyone to know that I know this
is the Lord's work, and I'm thankful for the chance I have to be a part of it!
Have a great week and we'll try to do the same!</div>
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PS We haven't had any tornados around me yet, so nothing to worry about!
Haha</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2319624296465854010.post-49541260253653222212014-04-21T15:49:00.002-07:002014-04-21T15:49:59.176-07:00Week of April 21, 2014<br />
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Hope everyone had a happy Easter! We had a good one out here! We had a
great turnout at church.... Apparently there are a lot of "Easter and Christmas"
only Mormons out here.... Haha but we were glad they came! We had to sit on the
stage in the gym in the back actually. The chapel here is super skinny though,
and the court is width not length in the overflow, so there was probably like
around 275 people. It was cool!</div>
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We were sitting down and this black guy walked in and took a seat. After
the sacrament a member came back to us with him and said, "He would like to talk
to you." So we went to another room and sat down and he said his name was
T and he had been to 2 or 3 other churches that morning and he got kicked
out of both of them. He was walking down the street and saw ours so he came in.
He said he loved the service, and he wanted to be baptized! And so we talked to
him a little more and he told us a little bit about himself. He has had a rough life and he's looking for a better life. He
said he feels safe and at home in our church and he wants to join. He seemed a
little.... interesting.... so we'll see what happens, but it seemed like a pretty
sweet miracle! Hopefully it all works out! He was a hoot though! He brought the
Southern Baptist to the gospel principles class! Haha- it was great! The lesson
was on the Priesthood, and he kept saying, "Amen!" The teacher asked, "Can you get to heaven without being baptized?" and he was like "No, man, no!" It was just too cool! He volunteered for everything too! So we had a good time with him. We hope
he comes back!</div>
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Other than that not too much else has happened. The couple we had a super
powerful lesson with a few weeks ago has gotten back together, so we're going to
start working with them again on Wednesday! Hopefully their marriage will be
able to hold up so we can keep working with them! We'll see
though. K is going to get baptized on May 10th. She's doing extremely well and
is very excited about it! We also started teaching a family that seems to be
pretty humble, so hopefully they'll progress here soon as well! We have a pretty
good teaching pool now of 25 investigators, and it keeps growing. We just need
to see a few more progress. We seem to be dropping them as fast as we're finding
them lately. Haha but we'll keep it up.</div>
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Well, hope everyone has a good week this week! I'm thankful for all the
support from everyone back home! It's much appreciated!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11836483799554117195noreply@blogger.com0