Missionary Life

Nov. 24, 2008

Wow, you were in North Edwards and Boron!? What day was that? Because I was there on Friday. That area is in our Zone and Elder McCleve and I had a meeting over there. Crazy. Anyway, this week has been interesting. A lot more meetings and a lot less missionary work, but we were still able to get a lot done. We had meetings on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday... I'm not used to that at all. Yet we were still able to teach 14 lessons and have an investigator at church. For the desert, that's pretty good, so I was pleased with it. And it was fun going to the meetings... some of them. It's a lot different, but I'm excited. We have a really good zone as well. We set some really good goals, and I think everyone is motivated to do them. The sisters are already off to an amazing start this transfer (of course), so we'll see how it goes.

Dec. 1, 2008

Thanksgiving was great here! Elder McCleve's aunt lives in Palmdale so we got permision to eat with her. But yeah, you could say that it was a bit more traditional this year than last. We'll just say there was gravy on the plate this year. But we had a great time. We had to make a bit of a roadtrip though after dinner and drive two hours north to Ridgecrest and spend the night with the Elders there, do a baptismal interview there, and then drive another two hours north to Bishop and do a baptismal interview there. Our Zone is huge, it covers about 2/3 of the mission. So it can be a little rough on our area because we spend a lot of time traveling to other places, but I'm enjoying it so far. Elder McCleve is an awesome guy. I've really enjoyed being with him so far. He's a hard worker and a real mellow guy.

We have Zone Conference next week and we're starting to get our training all put together. We're doing it on Unity, within a companionship, a district, a zone, a mission, and within the whole church. We're going to show a few clips from the movie Miracle, when they come together, and quit saying which school they are from, and start saying that they represent team USA. Then show the part where the coach gives them the speech about how they can take down giants together, and then the end, "Do you believe in Miracles?!" I'm excited about it.

Dec 8, 2008

I agree, Dad, being a Zone Leader is alright. However, I feel like I'm lacking in the sleeping department right now. With all of the Exchanges, Reports, meetings, trainings and things like that, I'm feel pretty beat up. But somehow the Lord blesses us and we have plenty of work in our own area, even though we have all the other stuff on our plate. We found 4 new investigators this week and They all have good potential. So I'm excited to see what comes out of it. Another cool thing is this week I get to go to a Baptism in North Edwards for someone I taught Back in the Spring. So that will be very cool. It's nice to be able to plant some seeds and see them harvested. We're also going to North Edwards tonight for a FHE with the Singles Branch. We're going to eat dinner with the Job family, and have P day with the Elders there before FHE. So that will be fun.

Dec 15, 2008

Anyway, Things are going really well here. We had our Zone Conference this last week and that was good. It was weird sitting at Zone Conference as one of the people giving trainings and not one of the people taking notes at their tables. We had a pretty good training, got everyone pumped up, and hopefully some of the things that were said will stick with some people. A few members of the zone called us though afterward and told us how they were doing on some of their goals, and how they had used our training in lessons and in relationships with the members so that made us feel good. It's cool when we can use each other's experiences to get better and improve.

The North Edwards trip was a lot of fun too. We got to go up there twice actually this week. One for the Singles Branch FHE, and another time for a Baptism. Joe Mott, someone I taught in California City got baptized. Elder McCleve and I did a musical number where he sang, and I played the piano and sang. It was "Nearer my God to Thee," so a pretty easy song, or else I couldn't have sung while playing. It's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. And while we were there I was talking to his sister, asking when she was going to get baptized, and she told me Jan 20something... and then she asked if I could baptize her! So We'll get to go up there again for that. It is a lot of fun though getting to go up there from time to time and see members, old investigators, friends, and just see the nothingness of the Mojave Desert.

Dec 22, 2008
Wow, you guys did get some snow! We did too! It was crazy. And the funny thing was we were on exchanges that day with the Palmdale ZL's. So that was crazy because I was back at my old apartment complex, where Julio and Danae live. So I got to have a great snowball fight with them. Then, the Flores family, the family that got baptized down in Sylmar, moved to Palmdale not too long ago, so I got to have a snowball fight with them too! Two of my favorite families from my mission in the same town now, having a snowball fight! It was a fun day. President told us not to go out driving so I actually got stuck in Palmdale for a few days, so this week was somewhat unproductive as far as missionary work goes.

Jan 5, 2009

I can't believe that Alyssa is married, but I guess that's something that I expected. Heather is next for sure. Any word on Ashley Hoffman? They're all gonna be married by the time I get home. I guess I'll just go Ice Skating and to Red Robin by myself. I'm sure Nic Barnes and Kolton will have a good time with me.

Yeah mom, I've gotten back into the swing of things a little bit as far as music goes. Hopefully when I get home I can repent a little bit and really start playing the piano. I wouldn't mind taking some piano classes or music theory or something in college.

Jan 12, 2009

We had an awesome week here. We taught 19 lessons! So close to the goal that Elder Perry has set for the California Missions. The Quorum of the 12 want 20 a week, which is really really hard, especialy here in the Desert. But we're getting close. We also set a Baptismal Date for one of our investigators, Larry Dementer, for Jan 25th. Speaking of Baptisms, it's been exactly a year since Julio and Danae's Baptism/Wedding Day. Next step, Temple!

Jan 19, 2009

Howdy ya'll. I went on splits wit a missionary from Texas dis week and he got me ta'kin all funny. Actually I'm fine. I speak funny anyway because I don't know the difference between English and Spanish anymore. I asked somebody if they had assisted another church before. I didn't think anything of it, but they gave me a funny look, then Elder McCleve fixed it for me and asked if they'd ever attended another church before. I had no clue why he was correcting me and why the person understood him but not me. Then it clicked in my head that I was speaking Spanglish.

Another pretty good week. We taught 19 lessons again... so close to that 20 that Elder Perry wants us to get. It's gonna come soon, I know it. Somebody said the other day that the harder we work the luckier we get, and that's what we've seen. We had another awesome lesson with Larry, but then he didn't show up to church. That was kind of frustrating. We tried to go over to his house after church but he just yelled from behind the door, "now isn't a good time." So we're a little concerened because he was supposed to get baptized next week. So we'll definately be moving his bapt date back, and trying to work through whatever is going on. But we do get to go to Mary Mott's baptism this week, someone who I taught in North Edwards. So I'm excited to see that.

Jan 26, 2009
As far as life goes here, we've been having a lot of fun here. Zone Conference was awesome, and we were also able to go to North Edwards again. I got to perform the baptism for Mary Mott. However, while I was there I realized that some of my shirts have faded into a yellowish color. When I put on my baptismal pants I noticed that they were a very bright white, and so was my tie, but my shirt, not so much.

Feb 2, 2009
I had exchanges with the AP's this week too and that was a blast. We have awesome Leaders and they teach us a lot. I love learning from them, and then applying it. Then it was cool because I got to play leader and go on exchanges with some of the other missionaries and teach them what I had just learned. It's pretty cool how the church works. How in reality, we all are getting counsel from the Prophet through the grape vine. For me, President Monson counsels with his counselors, them with the quorum of the 12, them with the 70, them with the area reps, them with President Goodrich, to the Assistants, to us. So it's really neat.

Feb 9, 2009

Man, Megan looks good in that uniform... Especialy with #20! That's my old number! That's really cool. Haha, The Best Two years describes mission life pretty well. Well, My new Companion is named Elder Garcia. El es de Peru. Se Bautizo hace dos anos, entonces es converso. Me va a ayudar muchisimo con mi espanol. He's a good guy though, I really like him.

Things are going pretty good here . I had an amazing week, but especially last night. It was crazy because Elder McCleve's parents were in town, and also, Stephen Novak, a young man in our ward, had his farewell and was set apart as a full time missionary this week. His mom invited us to sit in while he was set apart. It was amazing to hear some of the blessings and promises given to missionaries. Elder McCleve also spoke on Sunday since it was his last one, and then Sister Novak spoke and said some really nice things about us. That family has been an amazing one to be around. Sister Novak is the Primary President and her and Stephen went to the temple last week to receive their endowments. They also have a 16 year old Daughter, and the Dad isn't a member. But He came to church this week and it was obvious that he was touched by the spirit. I just hope he recognizes it for what it is. I've been praying so hard for that, because that family just needs to be sealed in the temple. But first things first, he needs to take the lessons so he can be baptized. We also had a few other really amazing lessons. It's so awesome to have good strong members who will come and teach with you. They help so much bring the spirit into the lessons. If you guys have the chance to go teaching with the missionaries, do it. Members help a ton.