Wow-- has it really been a whole 3 months out on a mission? Wow-- it sure doesn't feel like it.
Well, my predictions for an arctic winter are coming true. Worked all day yesterday outside in the single digits, and woke up today to a balmy -16 degrees. Brr! It's a really weird feeling to walk outside and instantly feel your nose hairs freeze! Hopefully temperatures will approach freezing toward the end of the week. Luckily I have 5 layers, and have found creative ways to keep my hands warm.
Well, I am excited to announce that we now have an investigator with a baptismal date! She is pretty solid, and actually takes the commitments we leave to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.
It's funny that we never have to worry about whether people will receive an answer-- just about whether they will take the few minutes out of their lives to read and ask God. It really is remarkable how complete the promise is. If people will sincerely read scriptures from the Book of Mormon, and humbly pray and ask God if it is true, they WILL receive a witness from God-- a spiritual litmus test, I guess.
The only problem is, 9 times out of ten, people don't even bother to crack open the book, let alone read a few verses, and so they never know. But if the commitment of reading for five minutes is too much for them, they certainly are not ready for the other commitments this Church and God expect of its members.
Transfers are next week-- I'm pretty worried-- I've really come to love the people here, and the ward members especially. We have an eternigator that I really want to continue to visit, and I want to see our baptismal date investigator progress more. I'm starting to learn the ward members' names and coming to know them well. President, if you're reading this, please don't transfer me!!! =)
But, from what I've heard, coming to love an area is the first sign of a definite transfer. Oh well-- I'll go where the Lord wants me to go, I guess.
Thank you everybody for all your letters and packages-- my poor companion is tired of throwing letters at me. =)
I know this Church is true, and that anyone who will test its fruits (the Book of Mormon, modern revelation, etc), and prays sincerely to God, asking if it is true, will receive an answer. We literally call God as our witness to the truths we proclaim and the principles we teach. God bless you all. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The Church is true... and so is Google
Well, it's been another week. It's crazy how time goes here. It's cold, too. Today, there's a high of 22 and a low of... 3. Tomorrow, high of 18 and a low of 2. Brrrr!
Well, I have exciting news to announce: Pres. Monson must have heard my grumblings while knocking doors and my suggestions and have taken my advice to heart: the Church is ditching the ineffective, unreliable Novell client email system that runs the current myldsmail.net service, and switching to...... GMAIL! That's right, Google hsa signed over a copy of its apps to Church servers, and within a month I will be back at home in a familiar inbox.
Also, it's rumored that this new myldsmail.net service will soon be opened to Church members worldwide, if you're interested in signing up.
Unfortunately, the rest of the missionaries responded to this news with blank stares, and when I excitedly explained to them why it was so awesome... they continued with the blank stares, once again pointing out the fact that I am the new mission geek.
Well, on other notes, I hope everyone's holiday season is going fantastic. It's great to the decorated houses (though there are very few primary-colored C9 bulbs-- sorry, Dad). There is a HUGE population of Jews roundabouts, so it's not exactly all around, but the ones that are decorated look awesome!
We're still working with some OK investigators, but still we're getting in 30+ hours of tracting per week-- ouch. Oh well, the work is good and the Church is true, so it's worth it. Well, I miss you all and I'll write later.
Happy Holidays!
Well, I have exciting news to announce: Pres. Monson must have heard my grumblings while knocking doors and my suggestions and have taken my advice to heart: the Church is ditching the ineffective, unreliable Novell client email system that runs the current myldsmail.net service, and switching to...... GMAIL! That's right, Google hsa signed over a copy of its apps to Church servers, and within a month I will be back at home in a familiar inbox.
Also, it's rumored that this new myldsmail.net service will soon be opened to Church members worldwide, if you're interested in signing up.
Unfortunately, the rest of the missionaries responded to this news with blank stares, and when I excitedly explained to them why it was so awesome... they continued with the blank stares, once again pointing out the fact that I am the new mission geek.
Well, on other notes, I hope everyone's holiday season is going fantastic. It's great to the decorated houses (though there are very few primary-colored C9 bulbs-- sorry, Dad). There is a HUGE population of Jews roundabouts, so it's not exactly all around, but the ones that are decorated look awesome!
We're still working with some OK investigators, but still we're getting in 30+ hours of tracting per week-- ouch. Oh well, the work is good and the Church is true, so it's worth it. Well, I miss you all and I'll write later.
Happy Holidays!
Happy Thanksgiving
Hello all!
Well, the weather's getting colder and colder here in Denver. Could be worse, though. Forecast says in Gunnison it's a balmy -1 deg F. Here, it was 25 waking up.
So the work is improving still. We've had to sort of drop a lot of our flaky investigators. They don't show up for appointments and don't return or answer our calls, so we can only hope they'll be more committed when more missionaries come by. It's not that they don't like the message; rather they refuse to find out whether or not it's true. If we ask them to do anything read 1 chapter in the Scriptures, come by Church one week, or even simply pray once in a while, they can never "find time" to do it.
It's really frustrating because we know how important it is to do those simple things. No man can ever know for himself whether our message is true and gain a testimony of it until he has begun to keep his commitments to find out.
This has been something my comp and I have been working on: helping people to realize the importance of reading and praying and keeping commitments. Everybody enjoys our visits and thinks we're really nice and all, but don't understand that we mean business when we promise that reading and praying about the Book of Mormon WILL give you a witness from God.
We have one investigator that has actually decided to take us seriously and take that challenge. When we asked if she had read the two chapters we left her, she said no, but that she'd read the one before it as well. Our jaws almost dropped to the floor. She felt something as she read, and Moroni's promise was coming true, and she is gaining a testimony. We are SO excited about her progress.
Unfortunately, I don't have very many funny stories to share today-- we've been focusing our efforts on non-Colfax areas mainly, and so we meet less crazy people.
To all ward members, on behalf of all missionaries, I beg you to keep us in mind and look for missionary opportunities with your family members and friends. Members are SO much more effective at this work than we could ever dream to be. Members living the principles of the Gospel bear a far more powerful testimony by their examples and actions than any full-time missionary could ever dream to share with his words. We've learned that if someone actually opens the door to us and talks to us, it's a sure-fire bet that they know a member.
Also, to all those who are afraid that mentioning your nonmember friends to missionaries will destroy any friendship you have, simply tell the missionaries what street to tract, and that will be good enough. =)
Well, I love you all, and I know that this church is true. I've never found so much joy in work and rejection. =) I know that this work is indeed the work of God. To this I bear testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Well, the weather's getting colder and colder here in Denver. Could be worse, though. Forecast says in Gunnison it's a balmy -1 deg F. Here, it was 25 waking up.
So the work is improving still. We've had to sort of drop a lot of our flaky investigators. They don't show up for appointments and don't return or answer our calls, so we can only hope they'll be more committed when more missionaries come by. It's not that they don't like the message; rather they refuse to find out whether or not it's true. If we ask them to do anything read 1 chapter in the Scriptures, come by Church one week, or even simply pray once in a while, they can never "find time" to do it.
It's really frustrating because we know how important it is to do those simple things. No man can ever know for himself whether our message is true and gain a testimony of it until he has begun to keep his commitments to find out.
This has been something my comp and I have been working on: helping people to realize the importance of reading and praying and keeping commitments. Everybody enjoys our visits and thinks we're really nice and all, but don't understand that we mean business when we promise that reading and praying about the Book of Mormon WILL give you a witness from God.
We have one investigator that has actually decided to take us seriously and take that challenge. When we asked if she had read the two chapters we left her, she said no, but that she'd read the one before it as well. Our jaws almost dropped to the floor. She felt something as she read, and Moroni's promise was coming true, and she is gaining a testimony. We are SO excited about her progress.
Unfortunately, I don't have very many funny stories to share today-- we've been focusing our efforts on non-Colfax areas mainly, and so we meet less crazy people.
To all ward members, on behalf of all missionaries, I beg you to keep us in mind and look for missionary opportunities with your family members and friends. Members are SO much more effective at this work than we could ever dream to be. Members living the principles of the Gospel bear a far more powerful testimony by their examples and actions than any full-time missionary could ever dream to share with his words. We've learned that if someone actually opens the door to us and talks to us, it's a sure-fire bet that they know a member.
Also, to all those who are afraid that mentioning your nonmember friends to missionaries will destroy any friendship you have, simply tell the missionaries what street to tract, and that will be good enough. =)
Well, I love you all, and I know that this church is true. I've never found so much joy in work and rejection. =) I know that this work is indeed the work of God. To this I bear testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
It's a Small World after all
Hey all!
So, another P-Day, another week! Here's what's up:
I severely underestimated the intelligence of stupid dogs. We tracted (knocked doors) at the Lofts at Lowry townhouse complex-- a really nice complex with 2-3 story residencies. There's the entrance, a 2nd story wood patio above it, and an attic.
There was one with a dog on the second story that really didn't like us. I thought as I walked over that if the dog was smart enough, he could easily urinate on us from above, but dogs aren't that bright, right? Wrong. I ended up with a small measure of dog piddle on my head, and a companion laughing his head off at my misfortune. I just hope the dog's owner didn't train him to do that =)
So, Leah reminded me that I have yet to mention anything about my mission president! Well, President Christison is amazing. He's one of those people that you love the moment you meet, and you can tell they love you. I knew from the moment he spoke that he was the man called of god to lead this mission.
His wife (our "mission mom") is no less awesome. The love that they can show for this ragtag bunch of 19-21 year-olds is astounding. I don't know how they can love 200 missionaries all at once!
OK, so my folks may remember the time that we bumped into our cousins completely by random coincidence in front of "It's a Small World" at Disneyland? I've had a few moments like that in my mission.
One of the Elders serving here (Elder Brooks) went to my Junior High school, I bumped into another one (Elder Guthrie) at the MTC, and Elder Sax is from our home stake in NC!
Also, I met a returned missionary, Elder Bouldon, who just a few months ago was serving in the Cary 1st Ward, and recognized me from Institute class.
Oh, and remember that New Era article that the Church did about the Young Men in our ward? Well, one of the APs at the office happened to be looking through that issue and swore he recognized one of the people in the article, and now everybody knows about Elder Watkins-- the Church magazine missionary.
Anyway, time's up, and I gotta get back to work. I know that the message we share is true. I wish I could sit down with everyone on the face of the planet and spend a few hours talking about what I know and why, and how wonderful a message it is. I love the Gospel, and that motivates me to WANT to share it with everybody I see. I just wish they could see how much I love it and know that there must be something in it.
I love you all! Have a beautiful winter, and enjoy the temperature (it reached 9 degrees here). I close with the traditional Colorado farewell, "Stay warm!"
So, another P-Day, another week! Here's what's up:
I severely underestimated the intelligence of stupid dogs. We tracted (knocked doors) at the Lofts at Lowry townhouse complex-- a really nice complex with 2-3 story residencies. There's the entrance, a 2nd story wood patio above it, and an attic.
There was one with a dog on the second story that really didn't like us. I thought as I walked over that if the dog was smart enough, he could easily urinate on us from above, but dogs aren't that bright, right? Wrong. I ended up with a small measure of dog piddle on my head, and a companion laughing his head off at my misfortune. I just hope the dog's owner didn't train him to do that =)
So, Leah reminded me that I have yet to mention anything about my mission president! Well, President Christison is amazing. He's one of those people that you love the moment you meet, and you can tell they love you. I knew from the moment he spoke that he was the man called of god to lead this mission.
His wife (our "mission mom") is no less awesome. The love that they can show for this ragtag bunch of 19-21 year-olds is astounding. I don't know how they can love 200 missionaries all at once!
OK, so my folks may remember the time that we bumped into our cousins completely by random coincidence in front of "It's a Small World" at Disneyland? I've had a few moments like that in my mission.
One of the Elders serving here (Elder Brooks) went to my Junior High school, I bumped into another one (Elder Guthrie) at the MTC, and Elder Sax is from our home stake in NC!
Also, I met a returned missionary, Elder Bouldon, who just a few months ago was serving in the Cary 1st Ward, and recognized me from Institute class.
Oh, and remember that New Era article that the Church did about the Young Men in our ward? Well, one of the APs at the office happened to be looking through that issue and swore he recognized one of the people in the article, and now everybody knows about Elder Watkins-- the Church magazine missionary.
Anyway, time's up, and I gotta get back to work. I know that the message we share is true. I wish I could sit down with everyone on the face of the planet and spend a few hours talking about what I know and why, and how wonderful a message it is. I love the Gospel, and that motivates me to WANT to share it with everybody I see. I just wish they could see how much I love it and know that there must be something in it.
I love you all! Have a beautiful winter, and enjoy the temperature (it reached 9 degrees here). I close with the traditional Colorado farewell, "Stay warm!"
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