Week of November 21, 2014

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!

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! 

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!

Week of November 17, 2014

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.

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!

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

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!

Have a good one!

Week of November 10, 2014

Hey everyone! Life has been crazy here in Duncan, Oklahoma, but I've absolutely loved it here!

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!

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

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

Week of November 3, 2014

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 him 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!

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

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!

Things are great, great, great here :) Have a good one!

Week of October 27, 2014

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...

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.

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!

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?

Week of October 13, 2014

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Saturday: We had an investigator (the same one from Monday) come to a baptism while he was high.

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. 

That was basically the week... it was super good! I love life! Things are great!

Week of October 6, 2014

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!

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.

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!

Week of September 22, 2014

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.

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 :)

Hope you have a great week!

Week of September 15, 2014

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.

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 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 "Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live." 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?

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!

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!

Hope you have a good one!

Week of September 9, 2014

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!

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!

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?"

Well, that does it for me this week. Hope you have a great week!

Week of September 2, 2014

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.

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.

Sorry I don't have a ton of time! Have a great week!

Week of August 25, 2014

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!

I got a call on Saturday to be a trainer. I'll be one of 2 English speaking trainers, so I'm excited!

Well, that's about it for now. I get to see sweet miracles every day!

Week of August 18, 2014

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!!!

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!

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!

Week of August 11, 2014

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 :)

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!

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!

We gotta get going though, so love ya tons! Have a great week!

Week of August 4, 2014

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.

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.

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!

Week of July 28, 2014- Transferred!

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.

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!

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!

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 sense… "  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!

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!

Week of June 30, 2014- It's Hot!

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!

 

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!

 

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!

 

Well I'm out of time for this week, but those were the quick highlights. Have a good one back home!

Week of June 23, 2014

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

A member drew this actual size Goliath for Sunday School on Sunday

Week of June 9, 2014

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!

 

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!

 

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!

 

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!

 

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)

 

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!

Week of June 2, 2014

What's happenin fam?

 

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!

 

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!

 

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!

 

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!

 

Hope you all are having a good one! If not then start having a good one! Haha- until next week.....