Hey All!
First off, I apologize that this is a day late. My companion and I were down with a pretty bad case of 24 hour flu yesterday. We basically called into to Sister Beck letting her know that we weren’t going to be able to work and then slept ALL day trying to kick the thing. When we woke up this morning we were still a little achy but are doing a lot better. I hope you forgive me for the delay ☺
I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas! Mine was pretty awesome. Christmas Eve we went over to a members house and spent a couple hours over there eating beans, menudo, pretzels, candy…all sorts of stuff. Christmas Day was pretty awesome. Early in the morning our whole zone came down to our area and we climbed South Mountain. It took us about 45 minutes to climb up and about 15 to “walk” down. There were actually three of us (Elder Huston, Elder Sieber, and myself) that decided to run the trail on the way down so we cut down a lot of travel time. After our venture up the mountain the elders in our district got together and we played some Christmas Day Shackball that was pretty intense ☺. I’ll attach a picture next week of the event. After Shackball we spent the afternoon with Elders Parkin and Snook (two of the English elders in our district) where we went and had a real Haitian lunch at one of their Recent Converts. Afterwards we ran over to a family in one of their wards where we took the FANTASTIC opportunity to call our folks.
Being able to call home was an interesting and incredible experience. I have to be honest; about 30 minutes before we were supposed to call I started to get pretty nervous to call. I’m not really sure why but I did. When I finally called it was probably one of the best Christmas presents I have ever had. You really don’t realize how much you miss something until you go so long without having it. ☺ After the call home, we spent the rest of the night with the family then called it good.
Other than that, not a lot has happened. We have been fighting some annoying bike problems this past week but think we have finally fixed everything. That and this past Sunday was the last with the massive ward we were in. If you remember from one of my past posts, Montana del Sur ward was split into two and the changes go into effect the new year. So, come this Sunday, our ward will go to the size of 12 active families. Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do!
But, I am about out of time. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and that you all have a safe and Happy New Year! For all those BYUins that will be going back to school next week, travel safe back to school and best of luck on your first week of the semester!! Know that you all are loved, missed, and are in my prayers!!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Hey everyone!
OK, so this week was filled with changes. EVERYTHING was turned upside down basically. I'll do the 3 most important in list order:
1-I was transferred. BUT, I am still in Montana Del Sur. I will be covering a 6-9 (I can't remember) square mile area on Bike. Pretty excited there
2- I am no longer living in the Shack. Myself and my new companion became the first Spanish missionaries to live with a Spanish family EVER in the mission field. Once again, pretty pumped
3-I actually found out this fact before my last e-mail but I couldn't tell you until this week. For those who aren't familiar with mission time, a missionary's first two transfers in the field are his training transfers and the transfer following that one we call "Greenie Breaking." Afterward, you are just a straight up Jr. Comp. or Sr. Comp. Well, I have been out in the field for two transfers thus completing my training time. But, last Monday about 7:00 am I received a call for President Beck informing me that, in his words, "The Lord would have me fulfill the call as a Trainer." So, I have opened a bit of a new area, with a missionary fresh out of the MTC, on a bike. His name is Elder Giles and he is just a HUGE ball of energy. He is just ready to go, smart as a whip, and is a blast to be with.
Those are the big changes that happened within the past week. The past few days have definitely been a little overwhelming...I have definitely be kicked out of my comfort zone. I was kinda used to having someone older and smarter than me make the shots...now I'm the "older" and "smarter" one that is filling that position. Kinda weird, really stressful, but good nonetheless. I have grown an incredible amount these past few days. It has been a real testament to me that the Lord QUALIFIES who he calls. So, yeah, I'm training. Nuts.
The past few days have brought us success however. We set 2 baptismal dates within the past couple of days. The Lord has really blessed us with those things we have needed during this transition process. But, our hope is to set 2 or 3 more within the next couple of weeks so hopefully we will have a very "WHITE" January. :) We'll see what Heavenly Father has in store!
But, seeing that this is Christmas week (and that I am running out of time) I wanted to include something a little more spiritual. When I found out that I would be training this transfer I became very nervous. You could probably say I was as scared as a kid his first day of school. But, I truly know now that Heavenly Father KNOWS our needs. He KNOWS our desires. HE KNOWS US INDIVIDUALLY. Never feel like you are alone out there in the world. There is always someone there that is there...that want's to listen to you. He will put things into your path that may be difficult and will stretch you beyond what you think you are able to do. BUT, he has a plan for you individually you and, if you allow yourself to be clay in his hand he will mold you into the individual he needs you to be. With his help, we will become the best possible individual we can.
Well, sorry this is a bit short but we need to go help move a fridge into our new place. I wish you all a very safe and merry Christmas! You all are in my prayers and are missed. LOVE YOU ALL!!! :D
Elder Klemme
OK, so this week was filled with changes. EVERYTHING was turned upside down basically. I'll do the 3 most important in list order:
1-I was transferred. BUT, I am still in Montana Del Sur. I will be covering a 6-9 (I can't remember) square mile area on Bike. Pretty excited there
2- I am no longer living in the Shack. Myself and my new companion became the first Spanish missionaries to live with a Spanish family EVER in the mission field. Once again, pretty pumped
3-I actually found out this fact before my last e-mail but I couldn't tell you until this week. For those who aren't familiar with mission time, a missionary's first two transfers in the field are his training transfers and the transfer following that one we call "Greenie Breaking." Afterward, you are just a straight up Jr. Comp. or Sr. Comp. Well, I have been out in the field for two transfers thus completing my training time. But, last Monday about 7:00 am I received a call for President Beck informing me that, in his words, "The Lord would have me fulfill the call as a Trainer." So, I have opened a bit of a new area, with a missionary fresh out of the MTC, on a bike. His name is Elder Giles and he is just a HUGE ball of energy. He is just ready to go, smart as a whip, and is a blast to be with.
Those are the big changes that happened within the past week. The past few days have definitely been a little overwhelming...I have definitely be kicked out of my comfort zone. I was kinda used to having someone older and smarter than me make the shots...now I'm the "older" and "smarter" one that is filling that position. Kinda weird, really stressful, but good nonetheless. I have grown an incredible amount these past few days. It has been a real testament to me that the Lord QUALIFIES who he calls. So, yeah, I'm training. Nuts.
The past few days have brought us success however. We set 2 baptismal dates within the past couple of days. The Lord has really blessed us with those things we have needed during this transition process. But, our hope is to set 2 or 3 more within the next couple of weeks so hopefully we will have a very "WHITE" January. :) We'll see what Heavenly Father has in store!
But, seeing that this is Christmas week (and that I am running out of time) I wanted to include something a little more spiritual. When I found out that I would be training this transfer I became very nervous. You could probably say I was as scared as a kid his first day of school. But, I truly know now that Heavenly Father KNOWS our needs. He KNOWS our desires. HE KNOWS US INDIVIDUALLY. Never feel like you are alone out there in the world. There is always someone there that is there...that want's to listen to you. He will put things into your path that may be difficult and will stretch you beyond what you think you are able to do. BUT, he has a plan for you individually you and, if you allow yourself to be clay in his hand he will mold you into the individual he needs you to be. With his help, we will become the best possible individual we can.
Well, sorry this is a bit short but we need to go help move a fridge into our new place. I wish you all a very safe and merry Christmas! You all are in my prayers and are missed. LOVE YOU ALL!!! :D
Elder Klemme
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Hey Everyone!
So, this week turned out to be a pretty good week. Lots of special things happened that I am excited to tell you about.
Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to have a special Christmas Zone Conference and do a temple session at the Mesa Temple. The Conference was really good. Sister Beck talked about the Nativity Story and how each of the characters pertain to missionary work. After Sister Beck, President spoke on the importance of the Book of Mormon in missionary work and especially now during the Christmas season. After the talks we had a very nice lunch prepared by some members of the Glendale stake and watched a slide show of pictures from the past year.
After the Conference, we ran over to Mesa and did a session in the temple and walked amongst all the Christmas lights they had set up. I'm sending some pictures that I hope all of you will enjoy. The Temple was incredible. I love the powerful spirit that resides within it's walls. You can just feeling it succoring and lifting you up. A type of healing effect to sort of explain it. All in all, Tuesday was a very special day.
Wednesday and Thursday were hard working days. Tracting, teaching, contacting referrals...the works. Wednesday, we had an appointment with this New Inv. named Guerrardo. He's 23 years old, has been in some trouble in the past, and is looking for a way to change around his life. During the course of our lesson, we extended a soft baptismal commitment, to which he accepted. Also, his mom became interested in listening to us too. That evening we checked on some RC's and did some other stop by's and called it a night. Thursday was another hard working day. We actually moved our Weekly Planning to Friday because we were so busy. But, Thursday we visited with our RC's Margarita and Melissa and tracted some more. That was our day! Tracting, Tracting, Teaching! ;)
Friday was weekly planning day PLUS we had a pretty full night of appointments. I have to be honest here, it is really nice to have appointments to go to again. For a while we had a lot of empty teaching slots. But, slowly, they are starting to fill up again.
Saturday was another day of work. We set another soft baptismal commitment with a lady named Lucia, had another appointment with Guerrardo's Mom (Alicia), Knocked some doors, and met with Natanael. That night, we went over to a family in the English ward (The Aldarete's) and made tamales with them. It was a blast! I'll post some pictures so you can see the excitement!
Yesterday, everything went crazy. We had Stake Conference in the morning where they split our Spanish ward. The new ward still covers a lot of area but a lot of it is richer developments with Mexican's sprinkled in there. So, it will be a little bit harder to tract but it will be nicer to deal with a smaller ward. Then yesterday we tracted, had a couple of lessons, went to dinner, and stopped by Yolanda's and a RC family from the English ward. Last night, things went nuts. For those who know the missionary schedule, every six weeks something called Transfers is held. This is where some missionary companionships are switched up and missionaries move from one area to another. Well, I received the notification that I am being transferred to another area. I'm not sure where but I have my bets. There is actually another crucial piece of the puzzle that was added this morning but I won't divulge that until next week's post. So, it turns out I will not be having "Christmas in the Shack" this year. I am actually pretty sad but I guess if that is what the Lord sees fit for me to do then so be it.
All in all, things are going really well. Working hard and some days fighting frustration and other whatnot. I tell you what...this stuff is tough. No joke. It is SOOOO worth it but it is a daily power struggle between Satan and your will. He is VERY aware of this work, of the things that we are doing, of the people we are teaching, and the power of this message. It's an experience unlike any other and am eternally grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a part of it. But, that is about all for this week. I hope that you all enjoy the pictures this week. I hope you know that you all are loved, missed, and are in my prayers every day. Thank you for the prayers that have been offered in my behalf. Be assured, they are felt. But, I love you all and have a great week!
"Such a lovely day...": We had a pretty awesome sunrise the other day that I would like to share with you. It was REALLY cold but nice none the less. :)
“Holiness to the Lord”: A nice shot of the temple from our temple trip on Tuesday.
“Rain, Rain, Rain”: Last Monday it rained all day. Needless to say, I was EXTREMELY happy as were the others in our district. We played in it for quite a while.
“Who needs Martha Stewart?”: Our Tamale-Making Adventure with the Aldarete’s. I believe they make about 60 dozen a year. In two hours we made 16. Still got a long way to go…
So, this week turned out to be a pretty good week. Lots of special things happened that I am excited to tell you about.
Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to have a special Christmas Zone Conference and do a temple session at the Mesa Temple. The Conference was really good. Sister Beck talked about the Nativity Story and how each of the characters pertain to missionary work. After Sister Beck, President spoke on the importance of the Book of Mormon in missionary work and especially now during the Christmas season. After the talks we had a very nice lunch prepared by some members of the Glendale stake and watched a slide show of pictures from the past year.
After the Conference, we ran over to Mesa and did a session in the temple and walked amongst all the Christmas lights they had set up. I'm sending some pictures that I hope all of you will enjoy. The Temple was incredible. I love the powerful spirit that resides within it's walls. You can just feeling it succoring and lifting you up. A type of healing effect to sort of explain it. All in all, Tuesday was a very special day.
Wednesday and Thursday were hard working days. Tracting, teaching, contacting referrals...the works. Wednesday, we had an appointment with this New Inv. named Guerrardo. He's 23 years old, has been in some trouble in the past, and is looking for a way to change around his life. During the course of our lesson, we extended a soft baptismal commitment, to which he accepted. Also, his mom became interested in listening to us too. That evening we checked on some RC's and did some other stop by's and called it a night. Thursday was another hard working day. We actually moved our Weekly Planning to Friday because we were so busy. But, Thursday we visited with our RC's Margarita and Melissa and tracted some more. That was our day! Tracting, Tracting, Teaching! ;)
Friday was weekly planning day PLUS we had a pretty full night of appointments. I have to be honest here, it is really nice to have appointments to go to again. For a while we had a lot of empty teaching slots. But, slowly, they are starting to fill up again.
Saturday was another day of work. We set another soft baptismal commitment with a lady named Lucia, had another appointment with Guerrardo's Mom (Alicia), Knocked some doors, and met with Natanael. That night, we went over to a family in the English ward (The Aldarete's) and made tamales with them. It was a blast! I'll post some pictures so you can see the excitement!
Yesterday, everything went crazy. We had Stake Conference in the morning where they split our Spanish ward. The new ward still covers a lot of area but a lot of it is richer developments with Mexican's sprinkled in there. So, it will be a little bit harder to tract but it will be nicer to deal with a smaller ward. Then yesterday we tracted, had a couple of lessons, went to dinner, and stopped by Yolanda's and a RC family from the English ward. Last night, things went nuts. For those who know the missionary schedule, every six weeks something called Transfers is held. This is where some missionary companionships are switched up and missionaries move from one area to another. Well, I received the notification that I am being transferred to another area. I'm not sure where but I have my bets. There is actually another crucial piece of the puzzle that was added this morning but I won't divulge that until next week's post. So, it turns out I will not be having "Christmas in the Shack" this year. I am actually pretty sad but I guess if that is what the Lord sees fit for me to do then so be it.
All in all, things are going really well. Working hard and some days fighting frustration and other whatnot. I tell you what...this stuff is tough. No joke. It is SOOOO worth it but it is a daily power struggle between Satan and your will. He is VERY aware of this work, of the things that we are doing, of the people we are teaching, and the power of this message. It's an experience unlike any other and am eternally grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a part of it. But, that is about all for this week. I hope that you all enjoy the pictures this week. I hope you know that you all are loved, missed, and are in my prayers every day. Thank you for the prayers that have been offered in my behalf. Be assured, they are felt. But, I love you all and have a great week!
"Such a lovely day...": We had a pretty awesome sunrise the other day that I would like to share with you. It was REALLY cold but nice none the less. :)
“Holiness to the Lord”: A nice shot of the temple from our temple trip on Tuesday.
“Rain, Rain, Rain”: Last Monday it rained all day. Needless to say, I was EXTREMELY happy as were the others in our district. We played in it for quite a while.
“Who needs Martha Stewart?”: Our Tamale-Making Adventure with the Aldarete’s. I believe they make about 60 dozen a year. In two hours we made 16. Still got a long way to go…
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Short Post
Hey everyone!
So, I realize that it has only been a couple few days since I posted last so this weeks is going to be fairly short. But, I made up for it in pictures :)
Wednesday was a pretty awesome day. It was a normal P-day so it was relaxing PLUS we had the baptism of Melissa Mendoza that night. It was pretty cool and special. We have completed the family and cannot wait to see her take off. Actually, from that baptism we found out that her cousin now wants to meet with us and be baptized as well so when we go to visit them this week we need to get her information and contact her. Who knows, we might have another baptism really soon! :)
Thursday was an interesting day. Weekly Planning for most of it and then some appointments with Hector and this little girl named Maria. Her parents are kind of less active (actually, I guess "Returning Members" is the correct term now). Anyway, we went to teach her lesson one, which we did, but also set another baptismal date for the 26th of this month! If all goes well, December will be a 3 baptism month for us! :) So, Thursday was pretty exciting. At 9:00 that evening, Elder Bingham and I met the Zone leaders and started a split that lasted all of Friday.
Elder Beames, Elder Bingham's step-trainer, was my companion for Friday. We worked HARD! We really didn't have any appointments to go to during the day so we ended up tracting for 4 hours, dinner, a couple of appointments with Hector and Manual ( a ninito that we have been teaching; also has a baptism date for the 26th) then did our switch back.
Saturday was filled with tracting. Elder Bingham and I tracted for 5 Hours...4 of which were straight. We were cold and TIRED after that! We didn't find a ton of people but we did find a few that we are going to check up on this week. That night we had an appointment with Natanael and Abigail, passed out some flyers for the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple, then came in for dinner.
Yesterday was a big disappointment. Miguel and his family didn't show up...a big blow to us. They had expressed some concerns from last weeks meetings and we feel that that played a significant part of their non-attendance this week. But, we have a member present appointment scheduled for today so we are hoping to resolve the issue.
Well All, that's all for this week. This coming week is filled with all sorts of excitement so next weeks will be a tad longer :) Know that you all are loved and are in my prayers. Also, travel safe during your planned vacations and my friends who are reading this at BYU, MS&T, etc. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FINALS. YOU ARE IN MY PRAYERS! :) Alright, love you all!
"How great shall be your joy!": The baptism of Melissa Mendoza. It was actually performed by Marco Daugherty, a 19 year old Elder preparing to put in his mission papers. It was a pretty cool experience! :)
"Mexican Hat Dance": We have about 5 or 6 sombreros lying around the shack. I had to make a posed picture with one of these guys. Viva La Shack! :)
So, I realize that it has only been a couple few days since I posted last so this weeks is going to be fairly short. But, I made up for it in pictures :)
Wednesday was a pretty awesome day. It was a normal P-day so it was relaxing PLUS we had the baptism of Melissa Mendoza that night. It was pretty cool and special. We have completed the family and cannot wait to see her take off. Actually, from that baptism we found out that her cousin now wants to meet with us and be baptized as well so when we go to visit them this week we need to get her information and contact her. Who knows, we might have another baptism really soon! :)
Thursday was an interesting day. Weekly Planning for most of it and then some appointments with Hector and this little girl named Maria. Her parents are kind of less active (actually, I guess "Returning Members" is the correct term now). Anyway, we went to teach her lesson one, which we did, but also set another baptismal date for the 26th of this month! If all goes well, December will be a 3 baptism month for us! :) So, Thursday was pretty exciting. At 9:00 that evening, Elder Bingham and I met the Zone leaders and started a split that lasted all of Friday.
Elder Beames, Elder Bingham's step-trainer, was my companion for Friday. We worked HARD! We really didn't have any appointments to go to during the day so we ended up tracting for 4 hours, dinner, a couple of appointments with Hector and Manual ( a ninito that we have been teaching; also has a baptism date for the 26th) then did our switch back.
Saturday was filled with tracting. Elder Bingham and I tracted for 5 Hours...4 of which were straight. We were cold and TIRED after that! We didn't find a ton of people but we did find a few that we are going to check up on this week. That night we had an appointment with Natanael and Abigail, passed out some flyers for the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple, then came in for dinner.
Yesterday was a big disappointment. Miguel and his family didn't show up...a big blow to us. They had expressed some concerns from last weeks meetings and we feel that that played a significant part of their non-attendance this week. But, we have a member present appointment scheduled for today so we are hoping to resolve the issue.
Well All, that's all for this week. This coming week is filled with all sorts of excitement so next weeks will be a tad longer :) Know that you all are loved and are in my prayers. Also, travel safe during your planned vacations and my friends who are reading this at BYU, MS&T, etc. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FINALS. YOU ARE IN MY PRAYERS! :) Alright, love you all!
"How great shall be your joy!": The baptism of Melissa Mendoza. It was actually performed by Marco Daugherty, a 19 year old Elder preparing to put in his mission papers. It was a pretty cool experience! :)
"Mexican Hat Dance": We have about 5 or 6 sombreros lying around the shack. I had to make a posed picture with one of these guys. Viva La Shack! :)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The Weekly Post :)
Hey Everyone!
So, this week was just one huge roller coaster. To be honest, it started out pretty bad but as the week went one it got a lot better.
First off, Friday was a standard work day. We tried to find some kids that, according to our records, haven’t been baptized yet. However, we found one out of, like, 13. But, the one we did find has a lot of promise and we will try and set a baptismal date this coming week. The rest of the day was pretty slow in terms of work but in the evening we set a tentative baptismal date with a little nino we found from the aforementioned record. That was pretty nice and we are excited for that!
Then Saturday rolled around…Wow, it was a TOUGH day. I started off feeling really bad…like, really dizzy and sick to my stomach. We had taken a little bit of our morning to try think of ways to improve the work in our area. For those who are familiar with missions, it was basically a 3 hour long companionship inventory. We resolved a lot of things and came up with some pretty sweet ideas to hopefully jump start the area and pick up the pace. But, the day didn’t agree. That afternoon, we went and tried to do some stop bys on some former investigators that have been in our area book for a while. Out of all the one’s we had, we actually talked to one, and quickly discovered that they weren’t ready to have us back. This took about most of the afternoon. At 5 that evening we had an appointment with an investigator that we had recently dropped. To put it simply, it was a disaster. When we showed up to his house his “esposa” (they aren’t really married but they’ve been living together for 23 years or something like that) answered the door, invited us in and, as we walked through the door, found our investigator coming in with another women. Completely unaware of the situation that had been brewing, a bit of a verbal battle broke out between Abi (his esposa) and himself. Come to find out, the whole reason why Nato was not married and did not want to be baptized at the time is because he has been cheating for about 20 years on Abi with like…tons of different women. Now the interesting part was that he knew what he was doing was wrong and he felt extremely guilty about it but he just didn’t know how to stop. By the end of the 45 minute explanation they gave about the situation, both Nato and Abi were crying and were basically asking us to help. I can honestly say I have seldom felt the amount of disgust and distrust as I did in that room that appointment. Elder Bingham spent the next half hour acting as marriage counselors and, by the end, gave a bold proclamation of repentance to Nato. We explained the repentance process, how to change, and told him straight out that, because he has children with Abi, he has an obligation for their care and well-being. When everything was finally taken care of, we set up a return appointment then left. It was by far one of the weirdest experiences of my life. On the brighter side, we found the source of his doubts on becoming a member of the church. Now, all we need to do is rebuild them and hopefully things will finally fall into place. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful and we eventually went in to do our numbers.
Sunday was the turning point for the week but it started out pretty rough. During our weekly correlation meeting with Hno. Barrios, we came to find out that he had seen Hector, one of our recent converts, buying beer on Thanksgiving day…pretty devastating for us seeing that we have been trying our best to help prepare him receive the priesthood. After the meeting we went back to the Shack and I seriously went to my desk and started reading conference talks. I can’t remember what talk it was but it referred me to a scripture in Mosiah that really hit me hard. Basically it said that there are those who are ready to accept the gospel and there are those who are ready to accept it, but will deny it. As a result, they will be judged the same as those who accepted the gospel or now. As I pondered this idea, I had this thought come to my mind. I began to realize that, as missionaries, our purpose is to act like Christ and knock on the door and bring the message to those who are ready. We are to teach the doctrine as we have been taught, and help bring others to the fold of Christ. However, we are not able to remove the agency of others. They still have the opportunity to accept or reject what they been taught. So, judging by the way the take the message, they will receive their deserved reward. As for the missionaries, as long as they teach the message to the best of their ability, we can take comfort that we have done all that we can. From that point on, I had a very different perspective of the trials we were facing. Not too long after this, we went to the church to find that Miguel and his entire family was at the church along with 2 other of our investigators. Elder Bingham and I were just ecstatic. We had been praying for them so much to come that, to see them there, almost brought tears to my eyes. From that point on, the week has been incredible. The rest of Sunday was fairly busy which made for a fantastic night’s sleep.
Monday went very well. We went split tracting with a couple of the presbiteros in the ward and found 4 more potential investigators. Afterward, we did some tractback checks (none of them went through). At 6:00, we ran over to Melissa’s with the AP’s to have her baptismal interview. While she was having her interview, Elder Clarke (note to Ciarra Larsen, I believe Elder Clarke is VERY familiar with your family. He is a Spanish elder but he served in your ward in about May/June) and I went knocking on doors. Nothing really happened but, the best part is, Melissa passed the interview and now we are having her baptism today! We are just really excited for her. After the interview, we ran over to Miguel and His family for our lesson. It went well but we realized that we still have a lot of work with them. Miguel has some doubts about the Book of Mormon and they really didn’t have anything fantastic to say about church but, we are hoping and praying that things will go better this week. We gave a very powerful and promising commitment to him to read and follow the example of Joseph Smith and the council in Moroni and pray to know if the Book and our message is true. In the meantime, we have been praying very hard that he will receive that witness and that he will recognize it. I guess we will find out the result next week.
Yesterday was interview day with President Beck. Mine lasted a little bit longer than last time and I set some pretty good goals with him. However, the interesting part actually happened in Elder Bingham’s interview. President asked him if he felt I was ready to step train. He didn’t say when or give any idea to who but, Elder Bingham told him yes. So, there is a chance that I may be training next transfer. But, we will find out in a couple of weeks! I really don’t know how I feel about it. It’s an honor to train but…I just don’t quite feel ready yet. But, if Heavenly Father sees the need, I will meet the call.
Whew, there’s the low down for this last week. In other news, this part is important, we were informed yesterday that our P-day has now been CHANGED TO MONDAY! So, from now on, the days you all will receive letters will change. We will have our first Monday P-day next week so, step lightly! Also, we will be going to the Mesa Temple next week (Tuesday to be exact) to do a session at the temple! I am way excited and cannot wait to go. It’s been almost 3 months from the last time I went. Also, we will be looking at the Christmas lights they have set up so I will be sure to send some pictures out next post. But, I think that is a bit all for this week. Thank you all for the prayers you are giving for my sake. They were definitely felt this past week. Know that all of you are loved, missed, and are in my prayers. One last thing, to my dear friends at BYU, GOOD LUCK ON FINALS! I will be praying for each of you! Alright, until next week my friends, iHasta Luego!
“It’s the most Wonderful Time…”: This was Elder Bingham and I’s first present of the Christmas season. Margarita (our newest convert on the West side) bought us some mugs, hot cocoa, and cookies to keep us warm in the cold Arizona mornings. Pretty sweet huh!
“’Tis the season…”: For high electricity bills! HAHA! I’m telling you, the Mexicans go ALL OUT when it comes to Christmas lights. Here is one of the best we have seen so far. It might be a little blurry but you get the idea.
So, this week was just one huge roller coaster. To be honest, it started out pretty bad but as the week went one it got a lot better.
First off, Friday was a standard work day. We tried to find some kids that, according to our records, haven’t been baptized yet. However, we found one out of, like, 13. But, the one we did find has a lot of promise and we will try and set a baptismal date this coming week. The rest of the day was pretty slow in terms of work but in the evening we set a tentative baptismal date with a little nino we found from the aforementioned record. That was pretty nice and we are excited for that!
Then Saturday rolled around…Wow, it was a TOUGH day. I started off feeling really bad…like, really dizzy and sick to my stomach. We had taken a little bit of our morning to try think of ways to improve the work in our area. For those who are familiar with missions, it was basically a 3 hour long companionship inventory. We resolved a lot of things and came up with some pretty sweet ideas to hopefully jump start the area and pick up the pace. But, the day didn’t agree. That afternoon, we went and tried to do some stop bys on some former investigators that have been in our area book for a while. Out of all the one’s we had, we actually talked to one, and quickly discovered that they weren’t ready to have us back. This took about most of the afternoon. At 5 that evening we had an appointment with an investigator that we had recently dropped. To put it simply, it was a disaster. When we showed up to his house his “esposa” (they aren’t really married but they’ve been living together for 23 years or something like that) answered the door, invited us in and, as we walked through the door, found our investigator coming in with another women. Completely unaware of the situation that had been brewing, a bit of a verbal battle broke out between Abi (his esposa) and himself. Come to find out, the whole reason why Nato was not married and did not want to be baptized at the time is because he has been cheating for about 20 years on Abi with like…tons of different women. Now the interesting part was that he knew what he was doing was wrong and he felt extremely guilty about it but he just didn’t know how to stop. By the end of the 45 minute explanation they gave about the situation, both Nato and Abi were crying and were basically asking us to help. I can honestly say I have seldom felt the amount of disgust and distrust as I did in that room that appointment. Elder Bingham spent the next half hour acting as marriage counselors and, by the end, gave a bold proclamation of repentance to Nato. We explained the repentance process, how to change, and told him straight out that, because he has children with Abi, he has an obligation for their care and well-being. When everything was finally taken care of, we set up a return appointment then left. It was by far one of the weirdest experiences of my life. On the brighter side, we found the source of his doubts on becoming a member of the church. Now, all we need to do is rebuild them and hopefully things will finally fall into place. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful and we eventually went in to do our numbers.
Sunday was the turning point for the week but it started out pretty rough. During our weekly correlation meeting with Hno. Barrios, we came to find out that he had seen Hector, one of our recent converts, buying beer on Thanksgiving day…pretty devastating for us seeing that we have been trying our best to help prepare him receive the priesthood. After the meeting we went back to the Shack and I seriously went to my desk and started reading conference talks. I can’t remember what talk it was but it referred me to a scripture in Mosiah that really hit me hard. Basically it said that there are those who are ready to accept the gospel and there are those who are ready to accept it, but will deny it. As a result, they will be judged the same as those who accepted the gospel or now. As I pondered this idea, I had this thought come to my mind. I began to realize that, as missionaries, our purpose is to act like Christ and knock on the door and bring the message to those who are ready. We are to teach the doctrine as we have been taught, and help bring others to the fold of Christ. However, we are not able to remove the agency of others. They still have the opportunity to accept or reject what they been taught. So, judging by the way the take the message, they will receive their deserved reward. As for the missionaries, as long as they teach the message to the best of their ability, we can take comfort that we have done all that we can. From that point on, I had a very different perspective of the trials we were facing. Not too long after this, we went to the church to find that Miguel and his entire family was at the church along with 2 other of our investigators. Elder Bingham and I were just ecstatic. We had been praying for them so much to come that, to see them there, almost brought tears to my eyes. From that point on, the week has been incredible. The rest of Sunday was fairly busy which made for a fantastic night’s sleep.
Monday went very well. We went split tracting with a couple of the presbiteros in the ward and found 4 more potential investigators. Afterward, we did some tractback checks (none of them went through). At 6:00, we ran over to Melissa’s with the AP’s to have her baptismal interview. While she was having her interview, Elder Clarke (note to Ciarra Larsen, I believe Elder Clarke is VERY familiar with your family. He is a Spanish elder but he served in your ward in about May/June) and I went knocking on doors. Nothing really happened but, the best part is, Melissa passed the interview and now we are having her baptism today! We are just really excited for her. After the interview, we ran over to Miguel and His family for our lesson. It went well but we realized that we still have a lot of work with them. Miguel has some doubts about the Book of Mormon and they really didn’t have anything fantastic to say about church but, we are hoping and praying that things will go better this week. We gave a very powerful and promising commitment to him to read and follow the example of Joseph Smith and the council in Moroni and pray to know if the Book and our message is true. In the meantime, we have been praying very hard that he will receive that witness and that he will recognize it. I guess we will find out the result next week.
Yesterday was interview day with President Beck. Mine lasted a little bit longer than last time and I set some pretty good goals with him. However, the interesting part actually happened in Elder Bingham’s interview. President asked him if he felt I was ready to step train. He didn’t say when or give any idea to who but, Elder Bingham told him yes. So, there is a chance that I may be training next transfer. But, we will find out in a couple of weeks! I really don’t know how I feel about it. It’s an honor to train but…I just don’t quite feel ready yet. But, if Heavenly Father sees the need, I will meet the call.
Whew, there’s the low down for this last week. In other news, this part is important, we were informed yesterday that our P-day has now been CHANGED TO MONDAY! So, from now on, the days you all will receive letters will change. We will have our first Monday P-day next week so, step lightly! Also, we will be going to the Mesa Temple next week (Tuesday to be exact) to do a session at the temple! I am way excited and cannot wait to go. It’s been almost 3 months from the last time I went. Also, we will be looking at the Christmas lights they have set up so I will be sure to send some pictures out next post. But, I think that is a bit all for this week. Thank you all for the prayers you are giving for my sake. They were definitely felt this past week. Know that all of you are loved, missed, and are in my prayers. One last thing, to my dear friends at BYU, GOOD LUCK ON FINALS! I will be praying for each of you! Alright, until next week my friends, iHasta Luego!
“It’s the most Wonderful Time…”: This was Elder Bingham and I’s first present of the Christmas season. Margarita (our newest convert on the West side) bought us some mugs, hot cocoa, and cookies to keep us warm in the cold Arizona mornings. Pretty sweet huh!
“’Tis the season…”: For high electricity bills! HAHA! I’m telling you, the Mexicans go ALL OUT when it comes to Christmas lights. Here is one of the best we have seen so far. It might be a little blurry but you get the idea.
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