Transfer 12, Week 6, Meadows Zone, Meadows 1st Ward‏

Dear Family,

Today I am being transferred to Lakes Zone! I will be with Elder Herlin, who was made a zl the same time I was! His companion, Elder Dowdle, will be coming and taking my place. So we are just switching spots for a while! I am very sad to be leaving Elder Manning! I've learned so much from him and I hope his last transfer in the mission goes great! However, I'm excited to be getting Elder Herlin!

This past week we received a referral from the bishop. We taught her this last Friday and it went so well! This is our first new investigator since the training by Brother Donaldson from SLC so we could start using the teaching ideas that he gave us! The lesson went so well and I could tell a difference between this lesson and the previous lessons we have taught together. Her name is Latricia and she committed to being baptized when she knows that its true!!! so Fun!!!

We had the opportunity to go to the Zion's Youth Symphony. It was a great performance! Every year the youth from the Vegas area do a show that people can bring investigators or friends to. This year they did "How Firm a Foundation", which was themed after the founding fathers and American history. It was so great! Almost like listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! It's ironic that we were listening to the '100 Years' cd of MoTab and most of the songs that Zion's Youth sang were on the cd we listened to that day!  

I almost forgot! This past Saturday was the 100 years of Scouting in the lds church and we were asked to help cook breakfast and lunch for over 5,000 scouts! We woke up at 4a.m. to be there by 4:30a.m.! It was a blast!!! but seriously it was cool... except the whole waking up at 4 thing. It was really fun to work and cook! Its amazing what being on your feet for over 12 hours will do! We were very thankful for daylight savings, once we figured out that if you put your clock one hour behind you gain an hour! At first we thought that it was the opposite so we were pleasantly surprised!

Well that's about it for this week!!! I love you all!!!

Love,

Elder John

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails whole daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."  - Theodore Roosevelt

Transfer 12, Week 5, Meadows Zone, Meadows 1st Ward‏

Dear Family,

This week we had the privilege of having Leadership Training by President Ahlander and Brother Donaldson (from the Missionary Department). It was very spiritual! one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission so far! (I will send the transcription from the meeting to those who ask). 

We are teaching Jeff, a man that our elders quorum found and he is progressing well. He said that he is not ready to come to church but that he will take it step by step. One way to ask people to read the Book of Mormon, that we learned from Brother Donaldson, is to ask them how long it would take them to read a 500 page book, then ask them to read the book of Mormon. Jeff said 1 week but that may be because he hasn't ever read a 500 page book yet.

We lost Elder Hart, the missionary that was with us last week. He is going back to his area with a Visa Waiter that we stole from Highland Hills Zone. It will be difficult for him because he has only been in the area for five weeks and one week of that he was in sick because of his companion.

We have started to go into members homes and train them on missionary work. Our ward mission leader, Brother MV Smith, has come up with a great way to report and to help the ward members progress as to their own member missionary work.

A few weeks ago I made a decision to memorize a parable each week. So far I have memorized the parable of the tares (matt 13), the unmerciful servant (matt 18), and I am almost done with the laborers in the vineyard (matt 20). I want to continue that for the rest of my life! Someday I may have the whole thing memorized!

So last pday Elder Manning bought a spider man sweat shirt for our trunk or treat. while we were walking away from the clothes section we passed a mom and her 14ish year old boy. I heard the mom tell the boy, 'I told you that sweater was cool'. haha it was awesome! So elder manning also bought a tag from another missionary Elder Parker. Elder Manning was going to wear this with his new spider man sweat shirt so he could be Peter Parker. To our dismay the trunk or treat was cancelled this last Saturday and moved it to Halloween night... they said it was because they couldn't get enough people to participate. We cannot attend because we have to be in by 6pm on Halloween. However, President has approved 17 Miracles and The other side of Heaven for Halloween night only. that should be fun!

Well that's pretty much my week!

Love you all!

Elder John

"We may at times, I we are not careful, try to pray away pain or what seems like an impending tragedy, but which is, in reality, an opportunity." - Neal A. Maxwell

Trasnsfer 12, Week 4, Meadows Zone, Meadows 1st Ward‏

Dear Family,
This week was very interesting and exciting!
First off, this past Friday, a missionary went home for medical purposes. So his companion is with Elder Manning and I. We got back to the apartment Friday night around 10:50 so we were running on low fuel for the weekend.  It has been very interesting to deal with going back and forth between areas for various reasons, since our areas are at opposite sides of the zone! It has been fun however, since Elder Hart is a cool guy!
We also had a 'fun' experience this past week! So there has been a missionary in the Zone that has had some trouble keeping some of the rules and just having a hard time with certain things. We had some reports from members concerning various activities so Saturday night, after Stake Conference, at 9:35 we had the opportunity to have a chat with him. In my head I was thinking of all of the things that we needed to call him on. (imagine me counting with my fingers) I imagined how we could tell him of the things that we know he is doing and how we would tell him to stop. Mostly I was just angry that he had done some of the things that he did. However, I learned a great lesson that night. Elder Manning pointed out that we wouldn't get anywhere if we just pointed out all of the things that he's done wrong; we would only make an enemy. The first thing that Elder Manning asked him when we arrived and proceeded with our conversation was, 'how do you feel your mission is going so far?' We then proceeded to talk about how he feels about what he has done and how his actions not only effect himself but also everyone around him. As we started to come to the close this particular elder said, 'there was a passage in my patriarchal blessing that talks about my influence on others and how it will spread and affect many. I never knew what that meant until now.'
I am so grateful that one of us, Elder Manning, was willing to follow the spirit that night because I sure wasn't. I just wanted to go in and tell them how I might have perceived him currently and not how he could become. 
Our most promising investigator finally got back in town this past week and we were able to teach her! She went to LA for a few weeks and was able to find an agent. She has had a few auditions for modeling and has received a few call backs already. Things seemed to just fall in to place and work out perfectly for her. She said that 'all of the people that I have met there are 'spiritual' and they all say that it was 'me' that got me here but I tell them that it was God.' We explained how hard it will be to be firm in her faith but that God will always be there and members of the church are all over the world to provide strength. 
This week we were able to teach Jeff, a man that our elders quorum has found with our survey. He seems promising in that he is willing to pray and read from the Book of Mormon! It is great to slowly get a teaching pool! and we are so grateful for our ward mission leader and Elders quorum for trying to find people! Its funny because they say, 'ya getting the appointments are no big deal but then we get there and they don't keep them, they aren't home, or they are just busy. We need to come up with something for that aspect of the work." haha we laugh because that is every second of our day! Show up to a lesson and they cant meet! but it is great to have people with such high expectations :)

We also had the opportunity to sing Hark all ye Nations and Called to Serve for Stake Conference. It was pretty fun and we got to sit on the stand the whole time!

Love you all!
Love,
Elder John

"Patience is, therefore, clearly not fatalistic, shoulder shrugging resignation. It is the acceptance of a divine rhythm to life. It is obedience prolonged. Patience stoutly resists pulling up the daisies to see how the roots are doing." -Neal A. Maxwell

Transfer 12, Week 3, Meadows Zone, Meadows 1st Ward‏

Dear Family,

Wow! General Conference is such a blessing and the Apostles are definitely inspired. I recall as I listened to Elder Hollands talk, it was not what I expected. Usually he speaks on a scripture or something like that. But this last conference he spoke on mental issues/depression. I definitely loved the talk but I admit that I was not too excited about it! However this last week we met with a man that our members found. He has severe PTSD and has had thoughts of suicide being the only way out. We told him of the conference and helped him look it up on his computer. I am so glad that the Apostles speak for our problems today and I am grateful that we can use the insights that they share with us to bless others, even if we may not see an immediate need.

I also had the opportunity and blessing to go back to one of my previous wards, San Miguel, to see the baptism of Melinda Bulmer. Her baptism was on the 12th and it was 10 months ago on the day that we knocked on John and Melinda's door. I am so happy for her and for her husband. I know that this gospel will bring them closer as they continue to follow the commandments and continue in faith.

It was so great to see all of the people in the San Miguel Ward! A sister that I saw there said, "when I saw you its like I'm home... and I'm already home". It is great to have such an amazing ward for the Bulmer's to be apart of!

This last Saturday was our Stake Day of Service. From 9 to 3 the missionaries were in charge of preparing and cooking all of the good for everyone. I was blessed with a nice sun burn but it is slowly turning into a tan. I was wearing an apron all day so I have a white streak on my neck. It's pretty hilarious!

This past week we also met with all of the Ward Mission Leaders in the Stake. We were asked to prepare a training on 'what is expected from ward mission leaders and how we can correlate our efforts to work in harmony.' I will list some of the aspects that we touched on just incase you can get some ideas from them:

-Weekly Coordination meetings with a progress record. -Ward missionaries informed on their role and motivated. -members of the ward mission working each night with the exception of Monday and Sunday nights - if needed call more ward missionaries. -during weekly coordination meetings, give missionaries new names to visit. - help find members that can go to teaching appointments. - creating a ward the Lord can trust by: making the investigators feel welcome (each ward missionary should introduce the investigator to a member of the ward) and creating a good learning environment in the gospel principles class (including supervision of the teacher and ensuring that 'principles' are being taught).

Well I hope some of that helps. It seems that it would be the perfect ward if that could happen but I know that some ideas can trigger revelation!

Love you all!!!

Love,

Elder John

"We are not always the already tempered and helpful hammer which is shaping and pounding another. Sometimes we are simply the anvil." - Neal A. Maxwell

Transfer 12, Week 2, Meadows Zone, Meadows 1st Ward‏

Dear Family,

General Conference was great! I love the talks on the Atonement and how we can find strength to be lifted out of despair! Great Stuff!

This week we had F.H.E. with a part member family! We did a few object lessons that were really fun and they seemed to love it!

We have 16 names that we are working with from our ward finding survey! Hopefully we can get some good prospects from that!

Our investigator Myah has been out of town until next week so we are really sad about that! Hopefully she will still want to be taught when she gets back!

That's pretty much all that happened this week!

Love you all!

Elder John

"How marvelous it is when we see people who are not so swallowed up in their own suffering that they cannot still manage sympathy, even empathy, for those who suffer far, far less. How many of us here may have undergone the embarrassment of being comforted by those who had more reason to be comforted than we? Yet we recognize in that act of theirs a saintliness to which we would so gladly aspire." -Maxwell

Transfer 12, Week 1, Meadows Zone, Meadows 1st Ward‏

 This is a painting that one of our ward missionaries painted.

Dear Family,

Yet another exciting week in Meadows! the weather is finally cooling down! its been in the mid 80's consistently for the past two weeks so its nice to get a break!

Because of the nice weather and the size of our area we have decided to break out our bikes! It is so refreshing to have it be cool enough outside to feel the wind in our faces! Usually it feels like a blow-dryer.

We had a great lesson with our new investigator from last week, Myah. We walked in and she did not seem happy. She said that all this has made her doubt that she even believes in organized religion at all! After a long discussion, answering questions and so forth, she started asking questions concerning where she was going after this life and what happens next. When we first prepared for the lesson we just decided to go in and share a few short videos on the introduction to the church then answer a few questions. However, as Elder Manning pointed out, as we followed the Spirit and actually taught what we were supposed to teach (the Plan of Salvation) we were better able to help her understand. She said 'you are right on the money'. That's the Spirit for ya!

Myah finally came to church this week too!!! Everyone was very welcoming and so friendly to her! The Gospel Principles lesson was very basic and so great!  Hopefully she loved it and was able to recognize the Spirit!

We met a man this week from our survey, Enrique. He is in his 30s and her has a wife and a few children. Years ago he felt the weight of his previous sins and he felt that he should change his life. He goes to a church now and is converted to Christ. His wife, however, does not seem to have the faith that he has. He said that we are welcome back anytime and that hopefully we can teach his wife about Christ and make a believer out of her as well.  

The survey is going very well! we are getting new people every week! On Saturday/Sunday the Elders Quorum set up two appointments for us for this next week. The goal that our ward mission leader has set is to have 18 appointments from finding every week!

Well that's about it! Thank you so much for your support and I wish you all well!!!

Love,

Elder John  

"True humility is intelligent self-respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves... it makes us modest be reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be." - Ralph W. Sockman

September 23, 2013

Dear Family,

There is a Balm in Gilead! (Jeremiah 8:22) The drought of people to teach seems to be in the process of lifting within this past week! We have already found a degree of success in the survey that our ward implemented a few weeks ago. This past Saturday we taught Maria, someone that our elders quorum found. She speaks and understands English pretty well, however we gave her a Book of Mormon in Spanish so she can comprehend it fully. She is willing, at least, to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray to know that it is true.

We had another ray of light this past week! We contacted a referral that we received not too long ago; Myah is 20 years old and she really wants to learn what the Lord wants for her. We taught her the first lesson and when we came back her mom sat in on the lesson and we discussed the Book of Mormon and explained the background. In an earlier lesson, Myah posed a question regarding how  the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is different from other religions. We explained that the church has the fullness of the Gospel and the restoration of the priesthood. She also came to the conclusion that the difference between 'Mormons' and other Christian churches is that the LDS Church practices what the Bible actually teaches. It was so exciting because her mom actually came to the same conclusion!

We have been meeting with Reese for a while now and we finally had the opportunity to explain and read the Book of Mormon with him. Unfortunately, he may be moving to Arizona. He has really good intentions but he seems like he has been misguided throughout his life and is paying for some previous bad decisions that he has made.

There was only one incident that when wrong this past week; Gary, who was set to be baptized on the 5th of October, is out of town in California until the end of the month. We are going to have to push the baptism back and get him to recommit to follow Christ in being baptized.

And Best for last!!! Elder Manning and I are staying together!!! We are obviously excited to stay together and to keep working on helping this area progress with its missionary efforts.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder John

"Some seek to brush aside conscience, refusing to hear its voice. But that deflection is, in itself, an act of choice, because we so desired. Even when the light of Christ flickers only faintly in the darkness, it flickers nevertheless. If one averts his gaze therefrom, it is because he so desires.
Like it or not, therefore, reality requires that we acknowledge our responsibility for our desires. Brothers and sisters, which do we really desire, God’s plans for us or Satan’s?
Whenever spiritually significant things are under way, righteous desires are present. Meek desire characterized those awaiting baptism at the waters of Mormon. With their baptismal commitments spelled out specifically, “they … exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts” (Mosiah 18:11). The Nephite multitude, enraptured by the presence of the resurrected Jesus, knelt in humble and intensive prayer, yet “they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire” (3 Ne. 19:24)."
-Maxwell

September 16, 2013

 

This week went fairly well... We were able to meet with our investigator that is set for the 5th of October and he seems to be progressing well. He did not end up coming to church however, so we will have to push his baptism back another week. It's probably a good thing so now we don't have to work around doing the baptism in between General Conference sessions.

We had a ray of light this last Sunday which has turned into a small flicker of light. We received a referral Saturday night for a man that wants to come to church. We set up a ride for him and we met him the next morning. He seemed eager to learn and wants to come to our church. We met with him last week and we found out that he was Muslim. We knew that there were some restrictions concerning Muslim individuals because they could be in danger if someone back home found out that they joined the church. Well we decided to teach him the first lesson and then we called our mission president afterward.  Our mission president said that he cannot be baptized if he has family back home or if he ever plans to go back to Iran. It is a tough situation because this man wants to be baptized but he has a lot of family back home. We explained that he cannot be baptized and we are still working on having the mission president come to a lesson with us. We can still teach him and he can still come to church. We told him that he can receive all of the blessings of the gospel that are available to everyone, however he may not have the opportunity to be baptized in this life.  

Last week we had Elder Neil L. Andersen and Elder Tad R. Callister come to our mission. The meeting was with the Las Vegas mission and the Las Vegas West Mission!!! It was a great experience! (We were a little put out because we didn't get ipads but that's coming next summer haha)

I love you all and hope that all is going well in your lives!!!

Love,

Elder John

September 9, 2013

Dear Family,

This was a very great week! We were able to teach the first lesson to Gary. We have taught him the Plan of Salvation and we have read with him in the past. We have also previously discussed baptism and let him know what we are going to shoot for. This week we were able to set him with a date for baptism!!! October 5th! we realized that it was General Conference that day but we will try and work it in sometime because this guy needs to get baptized!
Our ward has started to go out and knock doors every Saturday morning and they have come up with a great way to contact people. A brother in our ward created a 5 question survey. We knock on the door and say that we have a survey that will take 2 minutes of their time. We ask them 1. What church do you belong to? 2. Do you believe in Christ? 3. How often do you read his word? 4. How often do you attend church services? 5. If there was solid evidence that Christ visited the earth less than 200 years ago and gave us a message for today would you be interested in that event and hear His message?
We vary rarely get people who say 'no' and we have been able to get a few return appointments from it! As I said our ward is doing this as well and they have already given us a few referrals! We knocked doors for less than 20 minutes yesterday and we got a return appointment. This system is very effective!
I got permission to go to the baptism of Anthony in my last area. The ward seems very helpful in providing fellowship to him and his family! I'm so grateful that they are in a great ward!

We had a hilarious experience Saturday. This man called us over to him after we got out of our car. He said "Hi Elders, Do you know who I am?" to which I said "no" He answered, "yes you do... I am Raphael. Tell Bishop Wong 'one million dollars'... no '250 thousand' and that's all you need to know. good day". So we felt pretty happy that we saved the church seven hundred and fifty thousand :) We meet a lot of interesting people here :)

Well love you all!!! 

Love,

Elder John 

September 3, 2013

Dear Family,

This week went pretty slow. We did not have that many lessons but there work is doing well and we have had some good experiences. Monday we helped an investigator move from one ward in the stake to our ward. It was a late notice move so we got all of the missionaries in the stake together and moved them with 5 or so trucks. As I said they are now in our ward and they have only met with the missionaries a few times so we were able to go over there and formally meet them. We discussed Gods love for them and how prayer is instinctive when we realize our relationship with Him. They don't seem too ready to change but they know they need to so that is a great first step.

We had the opportunity to do one of the worst service opportunities that I have ever done on my mission. We knocked on a potential investigators door and she said that she was busy. So we naturally asked if we could help. After we finally convinced her that we could help we changed into our regular clothes and rushed back to her house. When we got in she had us move some things. She then asked us to tear out carpet from a particular room. This room had been housing 10 cats, from my estimation, and contained the foulest stench I have ever experienced. We started to tear up carpet and there were still puddles on the concrete. Of which she said, "Yep, that's urine!"  Needless to say we were very happy to take showers after that!

Well sorry I don't have too many spiritual experiences in this letter but I promise them soon! My mind is a little off track because I'm not used to emailing on a Tuesday night. Because of labor day and our busy schedule today we were not able to email until today!

Well I love you all and thank you so much for your support!!

Love,

Elder John

 

"Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek.  He does love you, and he knows your fears.  He hears your prayers.  He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed"- Elder Holland