July 26, 2010

 Sorry about the delay!  Here are Andrew's last few emails.  I was out of town/extremely busy the past few weeks.  Enjoy!

¡Buenas tardes a todos!

Well another week down! Time just flies incredibly fast when you are busy. BUT I wouldn't have it any other way!!

This week was an INCREDIBLE week. I wish I could explain all that would happen but I just have time to hit the highlights

1-It's hot...I posted a picture of our temperature gauge. For all those who think that 96 degrees is hot I must politely disagree. At this temperature you feel like your skin is going to fry right off your arm. Thank goodness for SPF 50 sunscreen :)

2-Revelation is our key to success. We had a 4 day leadership training this past week on new curriculum that they will be teaching in the MTC starting May of next year. It basically takes out 8 KEY (I say key because they are key to having the spirit in your lesson) principles from Preach My Gospel and expands on the way to effectively use them. They sent all of the curriculum to the mission presidents throughout the world to start the transition process so that when next May rolls around they missions will be running on all 8 cylinders. President Beck took all the leadership for 4 days and gave us 24 hours worth of training on it. It was incredible. After the first day we began to see the difference in the way we teach. It was incredible to say the least. W are really excited to see the increase in baptismal success as the mission begins to implement the new things we've learned.

3-God sustains those who work hard. Even though we were out of our area for a MASSIVE chunk of time, Heavenly Father blessed us with some incredible experiences. We had no tracting time yet we still found 4 new investigators through the members, we only had our nights to work but we were able to fill them with member presents, and even though time was short we were able to set a baptismal date for this Saturday. It was such a  testimony to me to see that, if you have the desires to do all the Heavenly Father commands you to do, he will bless you with the things you need.

My friends, I know that this gospel is true. The miracles I see every day are a constant reminder and testimony builder that this is the Lord's work. As Joseph Smith stated in the Doctrine and Covenants, "Shall we not all go in such great a cause?" I know that this work is true, Jesus Christ is our Savior, and I am his representative called to preach the gospel here in the Arizona Phoenix Mission. I pray that each and every one of you have a great week. Have great, spiritual experiences and be safe. I love each and every one of you and until next week, iQue Dios les bendiga!

Elder Klemme

 

See #1

July 19, 2010

Hey everybody!!

 

Well, I don't have a lot of time to write this so it will to short. Hope you don't mind! :)

 

As everyone is aware I was transfered this past week. But what you all didn't know was that I was extended the call to be a new Zone Leader in the mission. I felt pretty overwhelmed and sad to leave my old area but I knew it was what Heavenly Father needed me to do.

 

Well, transfers came and I didn't even leave our Zone!! :) I'm actually serving only seven miles from my last area. My new companions name is Elder Miles and he is just awesome. I look up to him a lot. I'm now serving in the Encanto 1st Spanish ward and, I tell you what, we have seen some pretty incredible miracles. I wish I had more time to explain what happens but, it "sufficeth me to say" that I have really come to appreciate the power of obedience. I know this is the Lords work and he will do what he wants to do. What we need to do is put our will in line with his so we don't miss out on the things he will do. It has been an incredible week for sure.

 

Apart from transfers not a lot of things have changed. I still love the mission and cannot believe how incredible it is to be a missionary. There really isn't anything else like it in the whole world. I would encourage every worthy young man to do what I'm doing right now. You have no idea how much you will begin to change and grow. the miracles are incredible...the experience is difficult but fantastic!

 

Well, that is about all the time I have for this week. I love each and every one of you and I know this message is true. Have a great and safe week!

 

Sincerely,

 

Elder Klemme

July 12, 2010

Hey Everyone!

Well, here we are again at the end of another week. I didn't have any e-mails to respond to this week so I actually had some time to write the post. Some pretty interesting things happened that's for sure.

I guess to start off, I'll mention a little bit of the news I received today. To those who have been faithfully following my blog, you all know that I have been serving in Montana del Sur for seven transfers now. I started working in this area when I entered the mission field back in last September. Well, we received transfer news today and I will not be making Montana del Sur the home of transfer #8. I have been called to serve in another part of the Lord's APM vineyard to spread the gospel to those who are in need. I am sad to say goodbye to this ward and the people I have grown to love but I am very excited for what the future has to bring. I look forward to taking the knowledge I have gained from all my time down in South Phoenix and taking it elsewhere to help those in need.

Well, that was the biggest news I had to share but here is a rundown of the past week anyway. :)

Last week was crazy! I started off feeling a little sick Monday and Tuesday which made it a little hard to work to my full potential. It's a little hard to ride bikes when you feel like you are achy all over. But, just like many other instances in the past during my mission I was sustained by the hand of Heavenly Father. As I fought to get through the days I always had enough strength to push it for one more lessons until *bam* the end of the day was there. In truth, both Monday and Tuesday turned out to be our best days of the week.

Wednesday was Wednesday. Tracting, teaching, and loving the people.

Thursday posed a different set of challenges. I won't go into all the details but it will be enough to say that Elder Mortensen and I were called to exercise our sacred Priesthood authority to remove demons from a home. As crazy or radical as it sounds it's true. I have always wondered what it must be like to have to do something like that, to realize that you are the only one fighting against the very real power of Satan. After our experience on Thursday, one time is enough for me. We weren't in any serious or perilous danger but I can testify that I know that the influence of Satan is real. It was very much present when we went in and was very much gone when we left. An experience and testimony builder I'll never forget.

Friday was another day. Tracting, teaching, and loving the people.

Saturday was a great day. It started out a little more difficult than usual but it really picked up in the end. We had our 4th baptism of the transfer Saturday night. To those who remember Maria, the lady we found tracting in the dust storm, her 17 year old son Jesus was baptized this past Saturday. He showed up a little late because his soccer game went into extra time but every was very patient through it. We had an incredible turnout. There were members from the ward, the entire Young Men's Presidency, Investigators from at least 3 sets of missionaries...the room was just packed!! The service itself was great as well. The talks were perfect, the ordinance was....so powerful....All in all (I think I say this every time) it was probably the best baptismal service we have had. What was really special about the whole experience was the ability to see a mother and a son who have both gone through so much together accept the gospel of Christ together as well. I know that they will remain strong and inspiring members of the Church and Jesus has already started preparing to serve his own mission in a couple of years. I look forward to seeing him open up his mission call. :)

My friends, I want you all to know that I love you and that I know that this gospel is true. I have seen so many people just take ahold of the simple message we carry and allow it to change their lives completely. I have never had a greater joy in my life than that I've had when I see people enter the waters of baptism. This gospel is true, Jesus is the Christ and through our obedience we can return to live in the presence of God after this life. Have a fantastic week and until next time, iQue Dios les bendiga!

"Mother and Child": Maria and Jesus with a few of their teaching missionaries. It was such a sweet feeling to know that they are now on their way to eternal happiness together. All we have left to do is get her kids in Mexico here and baptized and then we'll REALLY be in business :)

"Bargain Shopping": YAY FOR DISCOUNTS!! Now we just have 96 trail mix fruit and nut granola bars...welcome to breakfast, lunch, dinner, noonday snack, afternoon snack, and midnight snack!! :D

July 5, 2010

Hey Everyone

 

Well, it seems like once a national holiday happens everyone goes haywire crazy and closes things down. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if everyone worked like a missionary... :)

 

This week was a great week. Even though it is getting hotter it seems as if the work is following the same trend. Allow me to explain.

 

As of Monday we only had one baptismal date because we had baptised all the other people who had one. We were teaching some pretty awesome people but, as a whole, we weren't quite sure where the other dates were going to come from.

 

Monday we were able to set another date with our investigator Edgar. We found him while street contacting and, WOW, what a kid. He has gone through a lot in his life and was really looking for some stability when we found him. We invited him to a family home evening and he just loved it. One week later, after he attended a baptism, we committed him to baptism which he, smiling, accepted. We have it set for the 31st of this month.

 

The other two dates we were able to set came off a media referral we recieved on Tuesday. Ironically (or maybe not) we were dropped by two of our investigators not 2 hours before. This family has been going to church in the Mesa mission for the last 4 weeks and basically told us, "When can we be baptized?" It is going to be a little bit more of a struggle with them but we are very excited for the things that will happen.

 

The week was filled with miracles like this but, it is time to go...Until next week!! Love you all and be safe!!

June 28

 Hello again!

Another week has come and gone and quite frankly, I'm glad I didn't melt. There were some real scorchers this past week but, Heavenly Father sustained. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing!

As a whole we had a very busy week. We found a new investigator named Edgar that, quite frankly, is just a spiritual powerhouse. He's about 23 years old and he's gone through some pretty tough things in his small lifetime. He lost both of his parents about 2 years ago and is just LOOKING and PLEADING for guidance. We were given the opportunity to have 3 lessons with him this past week (all of which were in a member's home) and, well, I think it will only be a matter of a couple more visits and he will be ready to enter the waters of baptism. He actually attended our baptism this past weekend and he just told us afterward, "I...I can't wait. All I could do was just think what was going through her head, how she must be feeling...I don't know I just...I don't know what to think." We are just so excited for him. We look forward to continuing teaching him.

We also had the baptism of one of our investigators Maria Guadalupe Flores Carrasco (talk about a mouthful :)). That is one thing that has definitely taken some getting used to. In the Hispanic culture most everyone has 4 names. It gets a little confusing sometimes but I feel like I am finally getting the hang of it. Anyway, we found this hermana tracting this HUGE trailer park in the middle of a duststorm. We were about to end our tracting because, after an hour and a half, nobody answered their door to us. We decided to tract one more house and, lo and behold, we found her. Our whole experience with her has just been....incredible to say the least. We are now teaching her son who has a baptismal date for the 10th of July (next Saturday). He has already begun to ask us what it takes to be a missionary and even told us that, to prepare, he decided that he needed to go to Mutual Night activities on Tuesday instead of playing in soccer tournaments. I may have mentioned that before but, I felt like it was worth mentioning again.
But her baptismal service was incredible. The moment she left the water she was just glowing with joy (and she is terrified of water mind you). A definite testimony builder for sure.

In other news, I learned how to cut hair today! I look forward to saving millions of dollars throughout the years not having to pay for my own or my kids haircuts. I'll just do it myself :)

Well, that's about all for this week! I hope that everyone is doing well and that you are enjoying the summer. Know that each and everyone of you are loved and are in my prayers. Have a fantastic week and until next time iQue Dios les bendiga!

"Power in Purity": The baptism of Maria Guadalupe Flores Carrasco. Talk about an amazing lady with an amazing story. She will definitely be a life long member for sure. Next stop: Her son Jesus!

 "Go Bring Them In": Sometimes you just need to tract. We tract when it's hot, cold, raining, pouring....we're like the postal people! :)

June 21, 2010

Here we are again!

Finally! I have some decent time to write a decent post. The past couple weeks have been a little squirrly but hopefully this week will make it up. To get the max amount of detail I'll be going day by day (journal style almost). Strap yourselves in!

Monday: A typical P-day: Fast a Furious. We were able to get all of our stuff done and have a little bit of time to play some indoor soccer. We also had a couple of awesome lessons that evening that, really, made it a great start to the week.

Tuesday: We had our Zone Conference up in the Phoenix North Stake. Can I just say that it was INCREDIBLE!!! We had a massive study of the Small Plates of Nephi in the Book of Mormon in relation to teaching the Restoration. Holy smokes it was just awesome!! I seriously love the Book of Mormon. Not only that but we were able to practice teaching ALL of Lesson 2 in 10 minutes. Can you imagine that?? The entire Plan of Salvation I 10 short minutes. I can tell from experience, it is a super powerful tool. To be able to teach something like that in 10 minutes has just brought our gospel knowledge to a whole new level. After the conference I had the opportunity to do an evening exchange with one of our spanish assistants. It was an AWESOME night. We had a shortened dinner because of so much street contacting, went to check on a referral but we ended up tracting the street. We tracted for 2 hours and found nothing. It was starting to get dark and there was a couple more people we wanted to check up on before we had to go in but we felt like we should knock the first door again. As a result, we taught all of Lesson 1, at the door, in 10 minutes. She is now a very solid new investigator. To end our night we felt, again, that we should go check the referral from before one more time. They were home, they were interested, and man are they searching. They have tons of promise. Heavenly Father blessed us with the opportunity to really witness his hand in the work. It was just an incredible night.

Wednesday: A pretty normal work day all in all. We were able to find a couple of awesome potentials that we are excited for and (as a bit of a segue into Thursday) we stopped by another potential to close off part of our night. Their names are Blanca, Bianca, and Jose. We found them a little over a week ago and they are just solid. They have heard the missionaries talk before but have never had a chance to ask the questions they had. When we found them they were extremely receptive ( for being young [Bianca is 20 and Jose is 19. They with with her mother]). Anyway, Wednesday we met Blanca for the first time and had an extremely powerful door lesson. She was very excited for us to come back and told us to be at their house at 4:00. We wrote it in our planners and prepared for the lesson.

Thursday: As usual, we took our time to do our weekly planning. At 3:45 we took off to our appointment with Blanca, Bianca, and Jose. We were riding as fast as we could (safely) in order to get there on time but, as we hit the corner of 7th Ave and Baseline, I look down south to see black smoke. Immediately the spirit told me "*That is their house on fire*". I knew that it was there house before we even showed up. We hit the corner of their street at 4:01 and...their house had a fire truck out front, firefighters trying to break in, and smoke billowing out of the place. Long story short, nobody was home but we stayed until everything settled to offer our help. When I recapped the story to Blanca she just looked at me and said "How...How did you know it was ours?" Then two seconds later answered herself "God sent you here...I know he did." It was quite an experience. We are currently doing all that we can to help them get on their feet. I am pleased to say that they are very excited to have us in their home when they finally get themselves all settled.

Friday: I had a split with another missionary in our district. Long story short, we tracted a lot and found a couple of great potentials. The highlight of Friday was when our investigator Maria Flores (aka Maria Mendoza) passed her baptismal interview. It was such an incredible feeling of joy...I can't even describe it. We found that lady tracting doors, on a Sunday afternoon, in the middle of a Phoenix dust storm. She was the last house we hit....but she will be the first baptism I have with which I found the person tracting. Her baptism is set for 7:00 this Saturday and we are looking forward to it like nothing else.

Saturday: We had our baptism for Oscar and Stacy Mendieta. These kids have been taking the lessons for 2 years and, finally, entered the waters of baptism. The service was great and well attended and I was given the opportunity to both baptize and confirm them members of the Church. It was a great day to say the least....We put a lot of work into that family. That and the 11 other missionaries before us :)

Sunday: Another great day. The highlight however came at the very end of the day. We had a lesson with Maria and Jesus (The same Maria with her baptism this Saturday). Maria is just so....humble and excited for this Saturday. I cannot even begin to explain the change of spirit that has happened in that house. Every time we enter we just feel the spirit so strong....The first time we talked to them we thought...you know, this one might be interesting. As a whole, this experience has taught me to forget judgment and just give people the chance to listen. Anyway, at the end of the lesson we wanted to set up a time to meet with Jesus to try and prepare him for his baptism. We wanted to do it Tuesday but he had a couple of futbol matches to play. But, we we brought them up he just told us, "That's OK. I'm not going to them." I asked "Why not?". He simply told me, "I read that talk from the Elder who talked about how we as jovenes need to prepare ourselves for our missions and that we should prepare by getting ready to give everything up for him. So, I decided that I need to go to the church to mutual on Tuesdays than play soccer because I need to start preparing and give somethings up." My friends who know me know quite well that I have a big passion for futbol. I love it. I KNOW how hard it is to give up something like that. I KNOW what it took him to make that decision. I was...almost brought to tears when I heard him say that. This 17 year old, non-baptized joven deciding to give up a piece of his heart to start preparing to serve the Lord. Talk about incredible.

Well everyone, here is my re-cap for the week. I hope that you all know that you are loved and missed. I hope that you enjoy the pictures and, until next time, iQue les vaya bien! :D

 

"That is their house": A picture of the firefighters at the front of our investigators house. Not the most pleasant experience but, everything is turning out alright.

"The ninos": These are the two kids, Oscar Jr. and Stay Mendieta, who we baptized on Saturday. The service was really good and we have great hopes for the family!!