October 31, 2011

Hold off on all letters and packages!!! I'm being transferred!

I'm going to the Midlothian area in the Midlothian zone. It's actually pretty close to Burkeville so I'm excited about that. I'm going to be with Elder Manibidor (mon-IH-bih-door). He's from Africa. So this is gonna be cool! Midlothian is a city/suburb area, which is gonna be a bit different for me since I've been in country areas for an entire year of my mission. But it's exciting. I'm not going to be a district leader but my new companion is. Elder Harrison is staying here and the elder who's in Midlothian now is switching me spots. It's pretty neat.

I don't know what my new address is but I will let you know when I get it. So hold off on all packages and letters until then.

You know, you realize you've been out on a mission for a long time when you look at all your stuff and think to yourself, "how in the world am I gonna be able to pack all this stuff?" That's what I said to myself when I was told I was being transferred. I've collected a lot of stuff over the year and a half I've been out. It's nuts!!! But, with faith I can do it.

Other than that, I'm doing great! I'm excited to be going to a new area. I have a feeling that I have maybe one more area I'll be in before I go home, after this one.

I had a neat experience this morning. When I was saying my prayer before I started to study, I had the very strong urge to read Kings in the Bible. I had no idea why but I did. I read the part where Solomon asked the Lord for understanding and a wise heart and then the Lord blessed him with that and more because Solomon was humble. I felt I needed to ask the Lord to help me out too. As many of you know I don't do that well with large groups of people in a crowded place. I've become used to the country out here and whenever I do have to go into a city area I feel boxed in. So I prayed that the Lord will help me because He knows I have a hard time with those kinds of places. After I finished praying I had this peace and excitement about me. I knew me going to this new area is for the best. Everything is going to work out.

I love y'all and hope and pray you're doing well.

-Elder Ricky-dude

P.P.S. (prior to post script) Don’t forget to Look up

--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God


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October 24, 2011

So.... here's the update...

So, just yesterday, the people we had set for baptism dropped us and decided to go back to their old church. So, that was a bummer.

But you know what, I've been working harder for the past little bit than I have in a while. So there's that looking up for me. But really this past week has been a test of how well I handle certain situations, such as investigators dropping us when they were doing so well.

We did find a new investigator. When we knocked on her door, she looked at my name tag and the first thing she said was "The Churhc of Jesus Christ? Well, that says it. I need to get back into church." That surprised the crud out of us because we instantly had an in with talking to her. We eventually gave her a large print copy of the Book of Mormon, which we just happened to have. We set up a return appointment and when we went back to see her she had read the chapter that we had left for her to read. We had a pretty scattered lesson but we committed her to read and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. So there is a miracle for us.

This past week my scripture study has been even more fruitful than ever before. I guess the biggest thing that is helping me is that I'm really focusing on what I need to know to be a better missionary. For instance, the past little while I was studying Chapter 8 in Preach My Gospel. I had never studied it before, but now that I have I've realized that there are some things I need to be doing that I haven't been. It's really helping me. Today I read from Jarom in the Book of Mormon. In there it talks about how the people were blessed because they kept the law of Moses AND KEPT THE SABBATH DAY HOLY. That was what stuck out to me because I know that Jarom knew that people wouldn't be keeping the Sabbath day holy when they received his record. There are so many things in the scriptures that help us even today and in every situation we may be in. So read them. That's a commandment from God that we need to read them.

I love you all and I hope and pray y'all are doing good.

-Elder Ricky-dude

--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God

October 17, 2011

Halo!

So this past week was pretty...... I don't know. It went by so fast I really don't remember it. What's really crazy is that on the 21st of this month I will have been in country areas for an entire year of my mission. Yeah, and then on the 26th of this month I'll have been out 17 months! Yeah............ It's going way too fast. It's really not fun.

It's really nuts to see how fast time is going and how things are starting to get really crazy in the world. Being a missionary right now is the greatest thing I could be doing right now. Even though there have been days where I've wanted to start bawling and felt like everything I've work so hard at is collapsing, where people we're teaching want to "take a break" from learning, or something like that, I keep going. Why? That's a good question.

Here's the answer: when everything seems to be slipping away from me, where the people I've been teaching want to take a break, when I feel like everything in the world is against me, I remember that I CAN'T do everything on my own. I have absolutely no idea what to do in those tough times and I know that I can't get through them on my own. When I get to that point I just pray and say, "I'm at my limit, I can't do any more by myself. I need help". I turn it over to God because I know I can't make people listen to me or fix every problem I'm having.

When you've hit a dead end in almost every direction, look up. That's where you'll get the most help. I know that to be true and I know that God will help. You just have to look up.

I love y'all and hope and pray y'all are doing good.

-Elder Ricky-dude

--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God

October 11, 2011

So this past week was fun. We found new investigators and set two people for baptism. All-in-all, it was a good week. The people we set for baptism were people we found on accident really. (I know that there are no such things as accidents. I just using that example as what I would look like to someone on the outside looking in). We were going to find this former investigator and we went down this really long and rough driveway and there was a house way back there. So we talked to the guy there and found out that that wasn't the house we were looking for, but we shared the Gospel with him. He said we could come back. A week or two later, Elder Harrison went back when I was at leadership training and talked with the guys fiance. She said we could come back. So when I came back from leadership training, we went back. We set up an appointment and then at that appointment we set them for baptism. It was really awesome because the lady immediately said "Yes" to the baptism invitation. That was AWESOME!!!!!

We had president interviews again this past Tuesday. I really can't believe it's already been three months since my last interview with him. Elder Harrison pointed out that I have two more interviews with President Perry before my departing interview. :S I can't believe it's October really. I remember that when I hit my year mark I knew it was going to go faster, but I swear someone hit fast-forward a few too many times! It's already been five months since then!!! Where is time going!! What's even crazier is that now I'm 21, I know it's not too long and I'll be home. Crazy!!!

Anyway, I'm going to focus on my mission until the day I go home.

So Elder Harrison pointed something out to me today. For the past little while, a good portion of the people we talk to have been agnostic (basically believing in a higher power but that's about it, if I understand it correctly. If I'm wrong please let me know). And what's really crazy, is I've learned about as much about life, and teaching people, and stuff like that, from them as I have from members out here. That's pretty cool, to be honest. It just re-enforces the fact that people have pieces of the truth. They may not have all of it, true, but they do have some parts of it. Then you get some really crazy people who talk about how God uses light technology to travel through time and that we have that technology now (yes, someone has actually talked to us about that....)

Anyway, this mission is the greatest experience I've had so far. Not only do I get to meet lots of new and... a lot of the times, unusual... people. Then there are those experiences where you find that one person who needs the Gospel, and you're the person God wants to give it through. I wouldn't trade any amount of prestige, wealth, or recognition for those experiences that I've had and that I'm going to have. I always remember how the Lord said to people who bring one soul unto Christ: "how great shall be their joy in the Kingdom of my Father" (I don't know if that's exactly what it says, but that's the jist of it).

For those wondering about if they should share the Gospel with a certain person or just people in general, remember what the Lord taught Ezra in the Old Testament:

Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and DO IT. (Ezra 10:4, emphasis added)

Right there we have the promise that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost will be with us. We just have to go out and DO IT.

I know that God will bless us as we share the Gospel. We not only help others come unto Christ when we do that, but we help ourselves come closer to Him also. I know that to be true. That's my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love ya,

-Elder Ricky-dude

--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God

October 3, 2011

So this past week was awesome!!!

This last week was leadership training!

It's where President Perry invites about 65 missionaries to come and learn how to be better missionaries. It's awesome! We go over the eight fundamentals of Preach My Gospel, which are:

1 - The Doctrine of Christ - The missionary purpose
2 - The role of the Holy Ghost in conversion
3 - Revelation through prayer
4 - Revelation through the Book of Mormon
5 - Revelation through church attendance
6 - Teach people, not lessons
7 - We invite, they commit, we follow up
8 - How to begin teaching

Basically we spend about two and a half hours discussing each one of these and then role playing them. It's really a spiritual boost. Then add conference into the mix and it's freaking amazing!!!

The missionaries I stayed with during this were really fun. One of them looked like Sheriff Woody from Toy Story. It was really fun. We had a lot of miracles those four days.

Here's a really cool one.

Tuesday night, the elders whose area we were in dropped us off at this apartment complex to contact some former investigators. So we were talking to people and going around and it started raining. There were three of us walking around and we were with the sheriff Woody elder, Elder Giesick. Elder Trotter (the other missionary) and I were kind of worrying about the rain when Elder Giesick said that he was found by missionaries during a thunderstorm. So we said a prayer, in the rain, and went searching. We were going back to try and contact a former investigator again for the second time that night because that's what we felt we needed to do. Well, it started raining harder so I knew we were on the right path because everything gets harder right before the miracle. The former investigator we tried to contact wasn't home. So we decided to go contact another person. As we were walking across a street I felt we should go down that street. It was raining even harder now. So we got under this awning in front of this door to a section of the apartment complex. I felt we should knock on those doors. When we got inside I felt really strongly that we should go to one of the apartments on the second floor. So we did. All three of us were soaking wet. There are puddles of water collecting around us because of how wet we are and all three of us have the biggest smiles on our faces. When we knock on the door a girl about our age who was putting extensions in her hair opened the door and saw three soaking wet missionaries with the biggest smiles on their faces. So we just started talking to her about..... I don't remember what we talked about. I do know that we gave her a Book of Mormon and got her contact information. She made the comment that that was the only day she was home that early because she plays volleyball and doesn't get home until about 9:30 or 10pm.

When we got out side under the awning again, we stopped and gave a prayer of thanks and then ran across the parking lot to another section of the complex. Running through the parking lot and hurdling over small rivers of water (well, my companions hurdled the whole distance. I somehow managed to step in almost every single puddle in between where we were and where we were going) we got to the apartment complex to find..... no one home. Then we decided to run to another street. So I led the way and with every step I was "parting the Red Sea" as Elder Trotter said because every step I took made a little area of dry ground that he could step in. So his shoes didn't get that soaked. Elder Giesick was running and almost took a tumble. Elder Trotter said that Elder Giesick was literally sideways about to fall over, but was back upright like nothing happened. I believe angels were helping him because of our diligence. Anyway, as we were running, the other elders who had the car pulled up and got us. They told us that right before they saw us they were like "great how are we going to find them in this weather?" And then all of the sudden they see me just booking in around the corner. They were like "Oh, found 'em".

That was just one of the many miracles that happened last week.

I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!! No one else would have had that much fun running around in the rain unless what they were sharing was the truth. I testify that this is the truth and that no other church or organization has the fullness of the gospel, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Loves

-Elder Ricky-dude

--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God

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The first picture is of the elders I was with.
Left to right: Elder Beardall, Elder Trotter, me, Elder Nielson, and Elder Giesick

and Jake, I thought you'd get a kick out of the next picture. (just remember it's a song by Weezer)