Week 30. The great and the terrible

 I can't remember if that's a famous book title or not but it kinda defines the week. Not because the week was terrible, but because our bike broke 

Broken Bike - it was very funny because that day we went to a member's house to actually pump up the tires and tighten one of the brakes... and then on the way home the derailleur snapped off  and that was on Tuesday. 

Khimani- we had a lesson the next day with Khimani and luckily she was only a six minute walk away. It was pretty awesome and we committed her to read the Book of Mormon everyday!

Zone Conference! - it was so awesome, we talked about the Atonement of Christ and how truly understanding it can change everything because you can use it in every situation to make it better and receive Godly strength. Then we talked about sharing the joy of baptism and how if everyone knew the joy that came from it nobody would say no. So share your testimonies!

New Missionary Training - it was my third one and it was pretty fun, I got to see my old zone leaders and Elder Moake so it was pretty cool. 

Darlene - this was on Saturday and we finally got a replacement bike. We helped Darlene with a service and then shared a quick message and got her to commit to watch church except they changed the link on us so it failed, but we set up another time to meet with her. 

Pizza delivery boy - Saturday night we bought a pizza and rigged it to my bike. It was pretty fun and well worth it. 

Sunday - we had three lessons after church and they were all back to back. That was pretty fun. We had a really good CFM discussion with the Hemmings, an awesome dinner with another family, and ended the night at Destiny's house and she invited Khimani so that was awesome. 

I'll keep the spiritual thought short today, I listened to: Come what may, and love it by Joseph B Worthlin. And it talked about laughing when you feel frustrated or upset. Laughing helps you focus on the good and have a better attitude. It really does help and so y'all should try it out. The other thing was just trusting in the Lord. He has a plan for you and He does everything for your benefit(2 Nephi 26:24). 

Proverbs 3:5-6

  5 ¶ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

  6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

This is an amazing promise and I know that as we focus on Christ and rely on Him, that our worries can take a backseat and that we can see the path He has made for us to grow and become like Him. It won't be easy, but if we involve Him, He will make it bearable and worth it. The joy we can feel at the end of this life will far exceed all of the  pains we feel now. We just have to trust in Him. 

I love you all, and I hope you can feel the joy and learn to trust in the Lord to help you through your hard times. Talk to ya next week 

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Week 29. Why do you dress so nice?

 So we were at our apartment walking to our door and this person three stories up smoking, sees us and asks why we dress so nice? He always sees us leaving in suits and ties and he says, and I just look like a bum. We laughed and told him we were missionaries. Then he walked back inside  

This week has been pretty fun, here are the highlights:

Sick - yeah, I got sick. Had to cancel the day, it sucked. The next day I was fine tho and it actually gave me time to work on my talk

Davis - so we showed up at this dinner/lesson with no plan and Elder Albright was kinda freaking out. And I told him we are missionaries, we have the Holy Ghost to help us, we'll talk about General Conference. And then we proceed to teach an awesome lesson and he gives this great analogy. It's just one of those awesome moments when you put on those shades  and be like: oh yeah, I'm a messenger of God. 

Bikes! - so some Elders in Seattle got hit by a car. So they took our car and gave it to them and we got their bikes. And it's been pretty fun. Literally the first day three people talked with us as we were biking past. One dude thought we were carpenters since we followed Jesus Christ. Elder Albright struggles uphill but soon enough we will be large in stature like Nephi. 

The first time we rode them it was pouring, the ride went from 30 min to 50 min, and while going down a hill my bike tire decided it wasn't on tight enough, and fell off. Don't ask me how. 

Sunday - so we rode our bikes to church, the day was beautiful, sadly one of our friends backed out of coming but we sent her the zoom link. Then Elder Albright and I gave talks. We both talked about God's love. He talked about recognizing it during our trials/corrections and I talked about how God's love changes lives and we should share it. 

That night we had dinner at a member's house and she had invited this random lady to come over so she was there for our short lesson and accepted a book of Mormon. Pretty crazy. 

Miracles - This random lady called us and said she was not active and didn't want to have us over, but did want to know when young womens was so her daughter could attend. So we helped her out.  Another one was a text I had sent in December finally responded and she's reading the Book of Mormon now. Hopefully I can keep chatting with her and she wants to learn more. 

Spiritual Thought: so I just wanted to share a thought from my talk.

John 13:34-35 

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

The love of God sets us apart, it blesses our lives and changes us to be better. So we should want to share that love with as many people as possible, and share the Gospel because that helps us to build a stronger relationship with Christ. 

And to end Elder Nash, this last Conference said: "To know [the truths of the gospel] is life changing! When a person learns the glorious purpose of life, comes to understand that Christ forgives and succors those who follow Him, and then chooses to follow Christ into the waters of baptism, life changes for the better—even when the external circumstances of life do not."

The blessings of the Gospel are so abundant, and so fulfilling and we can share it with others. It's awesome and I hope you all can follow Christ and feel of his great love for you. I love ya all and I love all of your emails, thank you for sharing your love with me. 

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Week 28. Back in America

 Everything is so different. There are more people, cars, buildings, and fast food  one of the jokes me and Elder Moake had a joke about seeing the mainland and saying. "Hey look, it's America." And now I'm here. So here's the last week:

Last p day - so I sent some pictures of last p day last week, but forgot to talk about it so we went to a park near Deception, a different one and walked around. It was super cool and we found a huge crab. More pics below

Tuesday - this day was packed. Literally spent it all saying bye to people. And had like 6 meals. I was stuffed, but it was so awesome saying bye to everyone and knowing that I loved them so much and that they loved me too. Shout out to the Windsors, Martins, Shupes, BikerBob and Sister Bell, Taira (she is so sweet. She gave me a Lei of shells and nuts, she is so awesome), Hochs, and last but not least the Hymas'. I'm going to miss that ward so much. 

Transfer Day - So we couldn't use the ferry  so we drove 2 hrs around and it sucked. We got there and I met my new trainee, but I wasn't listening to where we were going so I was completely clueless for like 3 hrs. But now I'm in the Beverly Park ward in Lynnwood and it's a huge change from island life. 

New Area - Our new apartment is apparently the nicest one, and the cleanest because Sisters had just left. And when I say cleanest I mean cleaned out. They took everything   so despite the lack of food and the small mattresses it was good. 

Our district is small and our area is small but packed. It'll be very interesting to get used to it. 

Yo yo - my new comp, Elder Albright, is a great missionary and teacher. He is currently teaching me how to yo yo after 9 and I'm getting pretty good. 

Bloopers - so of course with a new area I start to mess up again. First mistake was buying the wrong blades for my razor, second was saying 2 members names wrong in a prayer, and just forgetting a lot of stuff in my last apartment. And those are all I can remember so there's probably more I didn't notice. 

Spiritual thought: so I haven't had too many thoughts this last week that I have thought about sharing, but that the Lord can carry you through your transitions in life. When you are changing houses, jobs, or maybe when relationships don't go the way you expect. I know that we each have our paths to take and when we trust in God, He will not leave us to face it alone. I encourage all of you to pray and I know that He can help you feel that peace and comfort. I love you all and I hope you are all doing alright. Talk to ya next week. 

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Week 27. "Wait... they're Mormons too?"

 This week was a blast and apparently I hit six months. I honestly didn't notice until some Elders I came out with did a post about it. 

Last p day -  it was Elder Carter's birthday and so I made an oreo ice cream cake with chocolate strawberries. It turned out pretty great. 

Carol - we did service for her again, the same lady who gave us a sword, and this time we got a super nice study table. Afterwards S. Shupe, the member there helping us, said she was going to Jim's hardware and so I told her to say hi to Becky and Bob for us and she says, "wait... they're Mormons too?" And then Carol said, "really? They're everywhere!" It was so funny. 

District Brunch - my last district council on Whidbey Island we made breakfast for lunch and it was awesome. 

Sick - then Elder Moake got sick and so the next day we couldn't do much. But we got to listen to some great talks. 

Gun Club - So the Shupes took us to this Gun Club restaurant and invited BikerBob and S. Bell since they just found out they were members too. The food was good, and we blew S. Shupes mind when we showed her the family tree app and how easy it was and all the cool stuff you can do. It was so funny seeing her get so excited about it.

Transfers - So I kinda already alluded to the fact that I am leaving the island, it's super sad. I have been in South Whidbey for 6 months now, 1/4th of my mission and it has been awesome. Being able to see the area change and grow and all the new friends we have now, it'll be super sad to leave them. I will be training again, and will be in a new area. I won't know what area until Wednesday, so look out for my facebook or wait for the next email to find out. The other crazy thing is that Elder Moake will also be training and will be staying in South Whidbey. 

Kyra - We were able to teach her the second lesson and we almost got her to come to church but she woke up late or something. I definitely think she'll come next week, but that's in Elder Moake's hands now and I know he'll do great.

Fast Sunday - Literally one of the coolest fast and testimony meetings ever. Before it started I had a feeling that I should share my testimony on love and then when we started people just kept going up one after another, and they were all talking about love. It was crazy awesome. I wanted to talk about two of the people that stood up and this will also kinda be my spiritual thought because I love it. Taira went up and bore her testimony on God's love getting her through tough times and how we can share that love with others to help them get through tough times. She shared this awesome story and then said, "and for my little talk I wanted to share this." It was so cute and funny, but she shared this quote from some talk about love being spelled with the letters t, i , m, e. Because giving your time to someone is how you show love for them. Then after her an Ukrainian lady stood up with a translator. She said she was visiting when everything started and had family back in Ukraine suffering. But that she was so grateful for the love she was able to feel in our ward as we welcomed her and the love she could feel as we fasted for her home, and her family. It was an awesome experience to have that happen and to see someone so moved by love from strangers. 

And so I wanted to just reemphasize the importance of love. The first thing we are asked to teach is that we have a loving Heavenly Father. Those three words change everything. It is the very root of what we believe. Because He is our loving Heavenly Father, He made the plan of happiness, He gave us bodies, He gave us agency, a world to live on and find joy, and He sacrificed His Son so that we could all live forever and gain eternal life. Knowing that He loves us, helps us push through our tough times, because a loving Heavenly Father wouldn't let us suffer anything we couldn't handle, He wouldn't let us suffer alone, He would help us. When we let that love change us, that is when we become more like Him, and all we need to do is ask (Moroni 7:48). There are many stories in the scriptures of the difference the love of God makes. The Anti-Nephi-Lehis knew that they had a loving Heavenly Father and with that strength they gave up their weapons, some gave up their lives because of that, but our Father in Heaven did not let that be the end. He blessed them for their faith and as we see from Alma, the Joy we receive from Him is greater than any pain we can feel (Alma 36:20). I know that God's love can change us, I know that it can help others, and I know that it is "the most joyous to the soul" (1 Nephi 11:22-23). 

I love you all, and I know that God's love for you is deeper than the expanse of the universe, and that's a lot. I hope you are all doing well and will turn to God during your good times and your bad. Talk to ya next week :)

pictures

I touched this. It tried grabbing my finger

I made this