Hey Everyone!
So, once again, another week has come and gone. It seems like a day ago when I was here writing last weeks blog. I’m pleased to say that I have a little more time that last week so I’ll try and update a little more on what’s been going on.
This week was a very interesting one. For the most part it was really good but I definitely had one of the lowest points of my mission so far. Starting off with last Thursday. Elder Bingham and I got a phone call from Obispo Rivera (our Spanish ward) in which he had asked one of us to speak. Me, being the Junior Companion and the one with the phone, talked to him, got the topic and hung up thinking that I’ll let Elder Bingham know that HE was going to be the one speaking. Little to my knowledge, the moment I said “Obispo wants one of us to speak on Sunday” I get Elder Bingham’s “Sounds to me like you are going to do a great job” smile. I’ll admit, I was a little upset mainly because I already felt weighed down with about 8 million other things I wanted to get done and also I didn’t feel that my language abilities would permit me to do such a “hard” task (the funny thing is, I’m one of those people that likes to speak and really don’t get nervous but, this would be the first time I would have to give a talk in spanish). So, I called Obispo back, let him know that I was going to be the one speaking, then got to work on preparing the beast. I took 2 days of Personal study then about an hour Sunday morning to put the finishing touches to get it done. Sunday when I was called to the stand to speak, I seriously got hard-core SCARED! However, when I got up to the podium, I did my little introduction then started speaking. I think I used a third of what I had planned to say and looked at my paper maybe 3 or 4 times during the whole thing. It was such a powerful testimony to me that I am on the Lord’s errand and that, if I simply exercise my faith in him, he is going to sustain me when I need it the most. The talk went well and I sat down just feeling really relieved that it was over. The best part of it was Hector, one of our Recent Converts, looked at me, stuck his hand out and said “Muy bien mi amigo. Muy Bien.” That was something really special.
It’s interesting how the gospel works. Really, the principles that we teach as missionaries are quite simple. In fact, most EVERY aspect of the gospel is really simple. The trick is to not be like the children of Isreal and lose our faith because a solution is so simple. Really, if we need guidance all we need to do is pray then search the scriptures for the answer. If we are trying to help someone, we can pray and fast for them. If we are in need of help, all it takes is exercising our faith in Heavenly Father, being obedient to the covenants that we’ve made, and he will bless us with what we need. It may not come in the time frame we think it needs to come but it will come when Heavenly Father sees fit for him to give it to us.
I hit a really low point this past Saturday. We had gone over to one of the Spanish members homes for dinner (to which we were on time) and had dinner. Afterward, we were talking and she had brought up that we were really early to dinner. We told her that we were there on time. We then got into a little bit of a “discussion” about Hispanic time (to which I was well aware that in the Hispanic culture, there really are no set appointments) and I made the comment that we are missionaries and that we are supposed to be punctual. Anyway, as we were leaving she came right up to me and said “You need to stop being so prideful. You are a missionary and you are supposed to be humble.” She turned to Elder Bingham and said (in Spanish as if I wouldn’t understand) and said “You need to pray to have a lot of patience with him.” After which, she turned to me and said “Just remember that you are here to learn from him, to learn from the people, and that, right now, you don’t know anything.” Elder Bingham jumped in and mentioned that I was speaking in church on Sunday to which she responded by patting me on the back and telling me again that “I didn’t know anything.” This was extremely hard for me to face, especially at the moment that I was facing it. I have tried not to make too much of a mention of this in my blogs because I’ve wanted to keep them filled with all the positive experiences I’ve had but I had really been struggling with myself for the past couple of weeks leading up to this point. And, at that moment, the camel’s back broke and I just broke down. I had felt like I was failing. I was losing the trust of the members, I just…I was really low. That night we got back to the shack and I went outside and just sat and thought for about 45 minutes. I can’t really explain what happened but, when I got up I felt so much better. I was at peace about the whole situation and I had honestly forgiven her for the things that she had said. Since then, I have had a much more positive outlook on the things that I do know and know that, with time, I will be able to speak fluently, understand what people are saying to me, and will be able to teach in a way that Heavenly Father needs me to. So, there’s the experience of the week for you.
In other news, we have a baptism scheduled for Next Saturday, for which Elder Bingham and I are really excited for. We are continually being blessed down here and are doing our best to keep up with the work that we have. That and Halloween is this week so, whatever your plans maybe, please be safe and smart!
Well, my time is up for the week. Thank you again for all the prayers and support. They are felt Know that you all are loved, missed, and are always in my prayers. So, until next week, ADIOS! :D
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Blog Post
Hey Everybody!
So, this week was full of ups and downs. Last week we met our 20 lessons taught-10 tracting hours-2 Recent Convert/Less Active lessons which is always nice to meet. But, we had 3 of our investigators come to church out of the 10 we have been teaching. It’s really interesting how Sunday’s change over time. In high school Sunday’s were a day that were kind of dreaded because there was school the next day but it was way nice because you didn’t really do anything but go to church. In college, Sundays were filled with meetings (at least for me) but were incredibly good to have. In the mission it is completely different. Sunday’s are by far the most frustrating and hardest working day of the week. Frustrating because, more often than not, your investigators find some excuse not to come to church so then you have to go find out what happened, talk to them about it..It goes on. It’s the hardest working day because it starts an extra ½ hour early, church meetings from 7 am to about 4:30 pm then you spend the rest of the day tracking down investigators and teaching until about 9:00 pm. Needless to say, it isn’t hard to fall asleep on a Sunday night.
On the brighter side though, Sunday’s are really rewarding because even one investigator at church is a success. It’s one of the coolest feelings seeing someone you are teaching, not a member of the church, go to church and just love it. Gosh it’s AWESOME!
This week has also been filled with lots of progress with our investigators. We are just so blessed down here in Montana Del Sur. There are so many people that are just waiting to have what we teach. Elder Bingham and I almost don’t have enough “good” time (I’ll explain what I mean) in the day to visit everyone. Now, “Good” Time is the time that we teach from about 11:00 am to about 5:00 p.m. (About dinner time) Anytime from about 6:00 is a pretty good time too. But, the time from 7:00 to 9:00 is just a devil to fill up. Mostly because people don’t want to be taught that late, we can’t go tracting ANYWHERE because it’s dark and late, and we can’t really visit anyone without an appointment. So, we’ve really been struggling to find a way to fill that last bit of time. We’ll figure it out eventually but for now it’s just a real pain. But for now we’ll take what we have. Elder Bingham and I have 6 baptisms planned for next month so we’ll see what happens!
In other news, we had interviews yesterday with President Beck. Mine lasted about a minute and a half. Just really fast. But, it’s probably a good thing that it is short and not have any problems than have it be long and have things to discuss. I don’t know, they will probably get longer as my time here grows. Oh, and I feel I need to clarify the picture of my shower. That shower is not in the house but is outside in a little shed. We don’t use the shower in the house for 2 reasons: 1) The drain doesn’t work really well and; 2) It’s more disgusting looking than the one outside. The outside shower is made out of concrete with gray paint over it. There is no mold, there are leaves, scorpions, and spiders sometimes, and YES I do wear sandals. So, no worries. In all honesty, I have had some of the best showers in that thing (Better than the MTC showers I think). But, just to clarify any concerns that you all may have.
But, that’s it for this week! I’ll try and send some pictures next week. I hope that all is well and remember that you all are loved and are in my prayers!
So, this week was full of ups and downs. Last week we met our 20 lessons taught-10 tracting hours-2 Recent Convert/Less Active lessons which is always nice to meet. But, we had 3 of our investigators come to church out of the 10 we have been teaching. It’s really interesting how Sunday’s change over time. In high school Sunday’s were a day that were kind of dreaded because there was school the next day but it was way nice because you didn’t really do anything but go to church. In college, Sundays were filled with meetings (at least for me) but were incredibly good to have. In the mission it is completely different. Sunday’s are by far the most frustrating and hardest working day of the week. Frustrating because, more often than not, your investigators find some excuse not to come to church so then you have to go find out what happened, talk to them about it..It goes on. It’s the hardest working day because it starts an extra ½ hour early, church meetings from 7 am to about 4:30 pm then you spend the rest of the day tracking down investigators and teaching until about 9:00 pm. Needless to say, it isn’t hard to fall asleep on a Sunday night.
On the brighter side though, Sunday’s are really rewarding because even one investigator at church is a success. It’s one of the coolest feelings seeing someone you are teaching, not a member of the church, go to church and just love it. Gosh it’s AWESOME!
This week has also been filled with lots of progress with our investigators. We are just so blessed down here in Montana Del Sur. There are so many people that are just waiting to have what we teach. Elder Bingham and I almost don’t have enough “good” time (I’ll explain what I mean) in the day to visit everyone. Now, “Good” Time is the time that we teach from about 11:00 am to about 5:00 p.m. (About dinner time) Anytime from about 6:00 is a pretty good time too. But, the time from 7:00 to 9:00 is just a devil to fill up. Mostly because people don’t want to be taught that late, we can’t go tracting ANYWHERE because it’s dark and late, and we can’t really visit anyone without an appointment. So, we’ve really been struggling to find a way to fill that last bit of time. We’ll figure it out eventually but for now it’s just a real pain. But for now we’ll take what we have. Elder Bingham and I have 6 baptisms planned for next month so we’ll see what happens!
In other news, we had interviews yesterday with President Beck. Mine lasted about a minute and a half. Just really fast. But, it’s probably a good thing that it is short and not have any problems than have it be long and have things to discuss. I don’t know, they will probably get longer as my time here grows. Oh, and I feel I need to clarify the picture of my shower. That shower is not in the house but is outside in a little shed. We don’t use the shower in the house for 2 reasons: 1) The drain doesn’t work really well and; 2) It’s more disgusting looking than the one outside. The outside shower is made out of concrete with gray paint over it. There is no mold, there are leaves, scorpions, and spiders sometimes, and YES I do wear sandals. So, no worries. In all honesty, I have had some of the best showers in that thing (Better than the MTC showers I think). But, just to clarify any concerns that you all may have.
But, that’s it for this week! I’ll try and send some pictures next week. I hope that all is well and remember that you all are loved and are in my prayers!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Hey All!
So, the week…It was rough. It just kind of seemed that all the investigators we had just hit a HUGE wall and slowed WAY down. Two investigators we were going to commit to baptism are now on the verge of being dropped. Another investigator with a baptismal date wants to move it back another 3 weeks. One investigator that we thought was REALLY ready didn’t come to church so now we have to move her date back. Our recent convert of a month is struggling with the “church is more important than work” thing (at least that is what it seems like)…So, it was a tough struggle. To add to the mix, my companion and I only had, like, 2 or so hours of tracting for the whole week last week (our goal was 10) so, yeah, pretty crazy. It’s interesting though because it really humbles you and makes you realize that there is more that you can be doing. Plus, it really makes you remember that this is Heavenly Father’s work and you simply have to follow the guidelines and schedule he has set for your investigators and for you. The important thing (and the hardest thing I fought this week) is to not get discouraged because that is exactly what Satan needs us to do before he can work is magic. My companion said something pretty profound on Sunday when we were trying to contact all of our investigators. He said, “Satan works EXTRA hard on Sundays to try and prevent our investigators from progressing. So, that just means that we need to work even harder.” It’s simple but, really means a lot when referring to missionary work. Satan knows that the message we have will bring massive amounts of blessings into the lives of those who accept it. He is going to do everything in his power to make sure that our investigators will never achieve them. All we can do is be strictly obedient, exercise our faith in Heavenly Father, and keep pressing forward (even when you feel like nothing is going right).
On a happier note however, it is possible to overcome Satan’s “darts”. I actually had the opportunity to witness that this past Saturday. I had my first baptism of the mission! It was a little girl named Jackie (she was about 9) and the service was something really special. Pretty much her WHOLE family was there, I was able to speak on the Holy Ghost, and Elder Bingham and I sang “Senor, Te Necesito” as a special musical number. One of the best parts of the whole thing was we had one of our investigators there at the baptism. He liked it a lot and I am pretty sure that he is pretty excited for his own on the 7th of next month. This was a huge milestone for us…especially in such a tough week.
In other news, we went on splits with our Zone Leaders yesterday, so that was pretty fun (and extremely tiring) and the weather is just fantastic. We hit about 90 degrees on average with a cool 75 or so in the mornings (which makes running really nice ). That and we have collected enough change off the sidewalk from tracting to go get a pair of socks from the dollar store (which are pretty nice if I do say so myself). So, there are some exciting things going down in South Phoenix!! But, I am out of time for this week. Remember that you all are always in my prayers and I hope that you enjoy the pictures!!
“The Shack”-Complete with scorpions, Black widows, and numerous “hormigas”, the shack is my home for this transfer (the place rocks)
“Weekly Planning”-After a hard days work…Weekly planning just ended in song lyrics.
“Sunsets and long walks on the…streets”-We were tracting a couple of days ago and this is what we saw. Pretty tight right?
“I will go the distance”-Last P-day, Elder Bingham and I went on a hike up South Mountain in South Phoenix. We stopped to get a couple of snapshots.
“Yum”- We were really busy one day but our dinner appointment decided to feed us anyway. It definitely beats cereal!
“Fruits of our Labors”-This is Jackie and some of her family. My companion performed the baptism and I spoke. This was a special day…People are ready so let’s go out and find them!
So, the week…It was rough. It just kind of seemed that all the investigators we had just hit a HUGE wall and slowed WAY down. Two investigators we were going to commit to baptism are now on the verge of being dropped. Another investigator with a baptismal date wants to move it back another 3 weeks. One investigator that we thought was REALLY ready didn’t come to church so now we have to move her date back. Our recent convert of a month is struggling with the “church is more important than work” thing (at least that is what it seems like)…So, it was a tough struggle. To add to the mix, my companion and I only had, like, 2 or so hours of tracting for the whole week last week (our goal was 10) so, yeah, pretty crazy. It’s interesting though because it really humbles you and makes you realize that there is more that you can be doing. Plus, it really makes you remember that this is Heavenly Father’s work and you simply have to follow the guidelines and schedule he has set for your investigators and for you. The important thing (and the hardest thing I fought this week) is to not get discouraged because that is exactly what Satan needs us to do before he can work is magic. My companion said something pretty profound on Sunday when we were trying to contact all of our investigators. He said, “Satan works EXTRA hard on Sundays to try and prevent our investigators from progressing. So, that just means that we need to work even harder.” It’s simple but, really means a lot when referring to missionary work. Satan knows that the message we have will bring massive amounts of blessings into the lives of those who accept it. He is going to do everything in his power to make sure that our investigators will never achieve them. All we can do is be strictly obedient, exercise our faith in Heavenly Father, and keep pressing forward (even when you feel like nothing is going right).
On a happier note however, it is possible to overcome Satan’s “darts”. I actually had the opportunity to witness that this past Saturday. I had my first baptism of the mission! It was a little girl named Jackie (she was about 9) and the service was something really special. Pretty much her WHOLE family was there, I was able to speak on the Holy Ghost, and Elder Bingham and I sang “Senor, Te Necesito” as a special musical number. One of the best parts of the whole thing was we had one of our investigators there at the baptism. He liked it a lot and I am pretty sure that he is pretty excited for his own on the 7th of next month. This was a huge milestone for us…especially in such a tough week.
In other news, we went on splits with our Zone Leaders yesterday, so that was pretty fun (and extremely tiring) and the weather is just fantastic. We hit about 90 degrees on average with a cool 75 or so in the mornings (which makes running really nice ). That and we have collected enough change off the sidewalk from tracting to go get a pair of socks from the dollar store (which are pretty nice if I do say so myself). So, there are some exciting things going down in South Phoenix!! But, I am out of time for this week. Remember that you all are always in my prayers and I hope that you enjoy the pictures!!
“The Shack”-Complete with scorpions, Black widows, and numerous “hormigas”, the shack is my home for this transfer (the place rocks)
“Weekly Planning”-After a hard days work…Weekly planning just ended in song lyrics.
“Sunsets and long walks on the…streets”-We were tracting a couple of days ago and this is what we saw. Pretty tight right?
“I will go the distance”-Last P-day, Elder Bingham and I went on a hike up South Mountain in South Phoenix. We stopped to get a couple of snapshots.
“Yum”- We were really busy one day but our dinner appointment decided to feed us anyway. It definitely beats cereal!
“Fruits of our Labors”-This is Jackie and some of her family. My companion performed the baptism and I spoke. This was a special day…People are ready so let’s go out and find them!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Past Week
Hey everybody!
So, this week has just been a fantastic week. The area I am in is just on fire! Heavenly Father has really blessed us this week. As of now, we have 3 investigators with a baptismal date, hopefully 8 or so more by the end of this week, and we are finding someone new every day. One of our baptismal date investigators actually has a cool story I want to share. Last Monday, Elder Bingham and I were tracting on a road named Romely Ave. when we came across this lady working in her flower beds. We offered to help her (which she kindly declined) but then started doing the missionary thing and talked to her a little bit about the church. During the course of our discussion (which lasted about 25 minutes or so) she had said that she was really at a point in her life that she was questioning the Catholic faith and wasn't really sure what to make of her life any more. She said that everything just seemed like so lost and there really wasn't any guidance anymore. So, we told her what we had to offer her, set up a return appointment, and went on our merry way, just excited for the future. At our next appointment, we taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel, told her about baptism, and asked her if that was something that she would be interested in, to which she excitedly replied "Yes" and set a date for the 24th of this month! It was such a testimony to me that there are definitely the Elect out there, waiting for this message and waiting for the hope it can bring into our lives. It's so awesome to be a missionary and see how Heavenly Father puts you in the path of those that need this message. I just love it!!
On other news, General Conference was just amazing this past weekend!!! I loved Elder Holland's talk and would encourage anyone who hasn't watched it to watch it when it comes available. It will strengthen anyones testimony of the gospel, hands down. We also had Zone conference yesterday (which was uplifting) and got new cell phones!! Woot Woot!! :) It was really exciting.
Lastly, P-day today...It Was AWESOME!!! Elder Bingham and I decided to take a hike up South Mountain (just a mountain on the southern part of Phoenix) to the look out point and check out the valley. We started about 11:30, made it to the top at about noon 30, then started to walk down. Well, we actually wandered from the trail to walk down this cool dry creek bed thing. To make a long story short, instead of hiking the trail, we trailblazed and climbed down the mountain. Boulders, cactus, lizards, sand, you name it, we went through it. It was awesome.
But, my friends, I need to head out. Groceries are calling. I'll send pictures of my endeavors next week so they can go up. Remember that I love you all and hope to hear from you all in the near future. The mailbox has been a little empty for the past while :( Love you all and take care!!
Elder Andrew Bryce Klemme
18001 N. 79th Ave Ste. C50
Glendale, AZ 85308
So, this week has just been a fantastic week. The area I am in is just on fire! Heavenly Father has really blessed us this week. As of now, we have 3 investigators with a baptismal date, hopefully 8 or so more by the end of this week, and we are finding someone new every day. One of our baptismal date investigators actually has a cool story I want to share. Last Monday, Elder Bingham and I were tracting on a road named Romely Ave. when we came across this lady working in her flower beds. We offered to help her (which she kindly declined) but then started doing the missionary thing and talked to her a little bit about the church. During the course of our discussion (which lasted about 25 minutes or so) she had said that she was really at a point in her life that she was questioning the Catholic faith and wasn't really sure what to make of her life any more. She said that everything just seemed like so lost and there really wasn't any guidance anymore. So, we told her what we had to offer her, set up a return appointment, and went on our merry way, just excited for the future. At our next appointment, we taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel, told her about baptism, and asked her if that was something that she would be interested in, to which she excitedly replied "Yes" and set a date for the 24th of this month! It was such a testimony to me that there are definitely the Elect out there, waiting for this message and waiting for the hope it can bring into our lives. It's so awesome to be a missionary and see how Heavenly Father puts you in the path of those that need this message. I just love it!!
On other news, General Conference was just amazing this past weekend!!! I loved Elder Holland's talk and would encourage anyone who hasn't watched it to watch it when it comes available. It will strengthen anyones testimony of the gospel, hands down. We also had Zone conference yesterday (which was uplifting) and got new cell phones!! Woot Woot!! :) It was really exciting.
Lastly, P-day today...It Was AWESOME!!! Elder Bingham and I decided to take a hike up South Mountain (just a mountain on the southern part of Phoenix) to the look out point and check out the valley. We started about 11:30, made it to the top at about noon 30, then started to walk down. Well, we actually wandered from the trail to walk down this cool dry creek bed thing. To make a long story short, instead of hiking the trail, we trailblazed and climbed down the mountain. Boulders, cactus, lizards, sand, you name it, we went through it. It was awesome.
But, my friends, I need to head out. Groceries are calling. I'll send pictures of my endeavors next week so they can go up. Remember that I love you all and hope to hear from you all in the near future. The mailbox has been a little empty for the past while :( Love you all and take care!!
Elder Andrew Bryce Klemme
18001 N. 79th Ave Ste. C50
Glendale, AZ 85308
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