Well, there's little point in avoiding it: I am back in Colorado, home from my mission
due to medical reasons. This was unanticipated, to say the least. By
way of brief explanation, I have been dealing with some health problems
for several months that recently became particularly acute, and I simply
was unable to continue serving in my capacity as a full time
missionary. I was very sad to leave; there was no better way to spend
these past 6 months of my life, and I am so thankful for Christ's
restored gospel and the opportunity I had to share that with others. I
had a great last week, and while I don't really know what the future
holds at this time, I am optimistic and looking forward.
Thank you for all of your support--letters, packages, pizzas, and prayers. I have appreciated it all so very much. See you soon!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Do you think I'm an athlete?
This week has been lovely.
We had several lessons with Kenny. We extended a baptism date to her, which
she is praying about. The language barrier has been brutal still, but we're
working hard to figure out ways to get past that.
She says she feels the Spirit when she reads the Book of Mormon, and she
made it to our Gospel Principles class yesterday. She's really progressing
well, despite the difficulties.
We also started teaching the sister of a recent convert in our ward.
She's seen big changes in him since he's found the church--he's more
selfless and compassionate, calmer, etc--and so she's very interested in
learning what brought that about. She's super open, and her boyfriend is
also interested, although he had to spend most of the time herding their
child around, so we need to figure out how we can help him listen too).
And so on. We've got some really wonderful people in our teaching pool, and
we're optimistic about the future. We're consistently meeting great people,
we're building member trust, and it really feels like this area is ready to
just explode. It's a great time to be here! Hope y'all are doing well--have
a great week!
We had several lessons with Kenny. We extended a baptism date to her, which
she is praying about. The language barrier has been brutal still, but we're
working hard to figure out ways to get past that.
She says she feels the Spirit when she reads the Book of Mormon, and she
made it to our Gospel Principles class yesterday. She's really progressing
well, despite the difficulties.
We also started teaching the sister of a recent convert in our ward.
She's seen big changes in him since he's found the church--he's more
selfless and compassionate, calmer, etc--and so she's very interested in
learning what brought that about. She's super open, and her boyfriend is
also interested, although he had to spend most of the time herding their
child around, so we need to figure out how we can help him listen too).
And so on. We've got some really wonderful people in our teaching pool, and
we're optimistic about the future. We're consistently meeting great people,
we're building member trust, and it really feels like this area is ready to
just explode. It's a great time to be here! Hope y'all are doing well--have
a great week!
There's Room for Everyone on the Nice List!
This was a great week (we learned that the Pizza Fairy visits NH too!). We
got perhaps our second real snowstorm of the season on Thursday, which meant
our cars were grounded, consequently forcing us to cancel all of our
appointments. It was very sad. So we planned, and ate, and studied, and
tried to contact some people in the apartment building. And ate. I
remember snow days being much more fun as a child.
Anyway, during the second half of the week we got to teach many lessons,
which was great. One exciting development is that we began teaching Kenny,
a woman from the Marshall Islands whose sister, brother-in law, and daughter
are all LDS. She's wonderful--super nice, loves to read (and in fact was
already reading Daughters in my Kingdom); the only problem is that her
English is not the best. We tried to have her daughter translate, which was
rather rocky business.
Nevertheless, we're thrilled to be teaching her, and she seems eager to
learn.
Almost all of the lessons we taught this week were first lessons, meaning we
got to teach all about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I
love teaching that lesson. It's wonderful to hear people ask us, "So why
are there so many churches today? How are we supposed to know which one is
right?" and be able to answer, telling them about Joseph Smith, and how he
saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It's marvelous to share with them
that we have living prophets and additional scripture, and that we want them
to find out that it's true for themselves. This is such a special message
that we share, and I'm so glad I have the privilege of doing so. Missionary
work is sublime.
Have a superb week!
got perhaps our second real snowstorm of the season on Thursday, which meant
our cars were grounded, consequently forcing us to cancel all of our
appointments. It was very sad. So we planned, and ate, and studied, and
tried to contact some people in the apartment building. And ate. I
remember snow days being much more fun as a child.
Anyway, during the second half of the week we got to teach many lessons,
which was great. One exciting development is that we began teaching Kenny,
a woman from the Marshall Islands whose sister, brother-in law, and daughter
are all LDS. She's wonderful--super nice, loves to read (and in fact was
already reading Daughters in my Kingdom); the only problem is that her
English is not the best. We tried to have her daughter translate, which was
rather rocky business.
Nevertheless, we're thrilled to be teaching her, and she seems eager to
learn.
Almost all of the lessons we taught this week were first lessons, meaning we
got to teach all about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I
love teaching that lesson. It's wonderful to hear people ask us, "So why
are there so many churches today? How are we supposed to know which one is
right?" and be able to answer, telling them about Joseph Smith, and how he
saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It's marvelous to share with them
that we have living prophets and additional scripture, and that we want them
to find out that it's true for themselves. This is such a special message
that we share, and I'm so glad I have the privilege of doing so. Missionary
work is sublime.
Have a superb week!
The Pony in my Soul goes Clip Clop Clip Clop
This has been another great week. We've seen several miracles,
especially through service. Early last week, we met Christine while
knocking on doors offering service. She didn't need anything, but she
referred us to her friend Sandy whose mother just passed away. We
called Sandy, who promptly invited us over and said, "I have one
question: where is my mother now?" We read from Alma 40 with her and
were able to answer her question, and she's invited us back to teach
more, and she referred us to her father. We'll be teaching both
Christine and Sandy this week, and we hope to get in touch with
Sandy's father today. Yay!
On Saturday we went to the home of Jane--a returning member--and her
daughter Amanda--who belongs to a different church but is very
supportive of her mother--to do yardwork. We were raking leaves on
what might have been the windiest day of the year when we met Andy,
who lives in the apartment in their home. We chatted briefly and
invited him to church, which he said he'd consider. A bit later as we
were leaving we saw him again. Jane offered a ride to church, and he
readily committed to come. Sure enough, he was there yesterday and
stayed for all 3 hours! He's been religion hopping for a while, and
is curious about what we believe, so we hope to start teaching him
this week.
Alas, time allows only such a a small sampling of the great things
that are happening here, but we are truly seeing miracles. I love it
here; we're working hard, we love the people, and there are great
things in store. Have a great week!
especially through service. Early last week, we met Christine while
knocking on doors offering service. She didn't need anything, but she
referred us to her friend Sandy whose mother just passed away. We
called Sandy, who promptly invited us over and said, "I have one
question: where is my mother now?" We read from Alma 40 with her and
were able to answer her question, and she's invited us back to teach
more, and she referred us to her father. We'll be teaching both
Christine and Sandy this week, and we hope to get in touch with
Sandy's father today. Yay!
On Saturday we went to the home of Jane--a returning member--and her
daughter Amanda--who belongs to a different church but is very
supportive of her mother--to do yardwork. We were raking leaves on
what might have been the windiest day of the year when we met Andy,
who lives in the apartment in their home. We chatted briefly and
invited him to church, which he said he'd consider. A bit later as we
were leaving we saw him again. Jane offered a ride to church, and he
readily committed to come. Sure enough, he was there yesterday and
stayed for all 3 hours! He's been religion hopping for a while, and
is curious about what we believe, so we hope to start teaching him
this week.
Alas, time allows only such a a small sampling of the great things
that are happening here, but we are truly seeing miracles. I love it
here; we're working hard, we love the people, and there are great
things in store. Have a great week!
I'm a pilgrim, I'm a stranger cast upon the rocky shore
So you may not have heard, but I'm in Maine. It's
pretty sweet. We finally are getting some snow--not the great Maine
snow I was promised, but at least now I don't feel ridiculous wearing a
down coat, so that's good. And it looks like it may snow today as
well--not that I would know; I don't get the weather or anything, I just
look at the sky. At any rate, in consequence of the snow and
accompanying ice, I am now quite well bruised and I think I lost two
toes. Good times.
So this week Sister Page and I got 4 new investigators. 3 are actually formers--a couple called us out of nowhere and asked us to come visit, and then we tracked down this man who'd been dropped because he left town for a while, and we are now teaching them again. Our last new investigator we met at the home of a lady we were teaching (and have since had to drop, boo), and they are all pretty sweet. The week prior we got a new investigator, and then she dropped us the next day, but we're not thinking about that anymore. This is all very exciting to me, but I think it's losing something in the telling. Hmm.
And missionary life rolls on. Met some mean people, met some nice people. Walk in the snow a lot. Eat Ramen and rice (my companion doesn't even believe in the pizza fairy; my faith too is waning). Go share the gospel. It's pretty rad. You might notice I cannot think of anything to say--I think the library has that effect on me. It takes away all my good stories. Nevertheless! Still enjoying the work, still plowing onward. Have a great week!
So this week Sister Page and I got 4 new investigators. 3 are actually formers--a couple called us out of nowhere and asked us to come visit, and then we tracked down this man who'd been dropped because he left town for a while, and we are now teaching them again. Our last new investigator we met at the home of a lady we were teaching (and have since had to drop, boo), and they are all pretty sweet. The week prior we got a new investigator, and then she dropped us the next day, but we're not thinking about that anymore. This is all very exciting to me, but I think it's losing something in the telling. Hmm.
And missionary life rolls on. Met some mean people, met some nice people. Walk in the snow a lot. Eat Ramen and rice (my companion doesn't even believe in the pizza fairy; my faith too is waning). Go share the gospel. It's pretty rad. You might notice I cannot think of anything to say--I think the library has that effect on me. It takes away all my good stories. Nevertheless! Still enjoying the work, still plowing onward. Have a great week!
There are no flowers, no not this time
So this week was a bit underwhelming in the way of
the work. One of us (me) may have become ill on Monday night, resulting
in us staying in all week. Well, not quite true--we had a specialized
zone meeting on Tuesday, so I go to go party (sleep) in the nursery room
all day while my companion went to all the meetings. It was weird to
be alone. Beyond that, we did not leave the apartment until Friday to
see a doctor (prognosis: I'm not dead yet), and finally Saturday
afternoon we were able to get back to work. In case you were wondering,
being sick as a missionary is no bueno. You can only watch Together
Forever so many times before you go crazy.
Nevertheless, a good weekend. We had a great turnout at church on Sunday, which I think is helping some of our investigators to really start progressing. We also got several members who haven't been in a long time, so that was great. And yep, Bill continues to be solid and awesome. Now that we're back in action, this week should be great.
So, Topsham is awepsome, and hopefully I'm not infecting everyone by being out. Have a great week!
Nevertheless, a good weekend. We had a great turnout at church on Sunday, which I think is helping some of our investigators to really start progressing. We also got several members who haven't been in a long time, so that was great. And yep, Bill continues to be solid and awesome. Now that we're back in action, this week should be great.
So, Topsham is awepsome, and hopefully I'm not infecting everyone by being out. Have a great week!
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