Monday, May 29, 2017

4 Minute Restoration

So Elder Tanner and I have been practicing teaching the first lesson
in 4 minutes and we have seen some crazy awesome miracles from hard
work. A few days ago we were out tracting and I saw these 3 younger
people out smoking on their porch. I definitely wasn't going to talk
to them because they were playing weird loud screamo music and didn't
look like they wanted to be bothered. Thankfully Elder Tanner walked
right up and offered them a card because we had a super awesome lesson
with them. After handing one of them a card we asked if we could share
a message and they agreed (they also turned off their weird music
thankfully). We shared the Restoration with them in 4 minutes and
during those 4 minutes each of them put their cigarettes down and were
listening intently. By the end, all 3 accepted a copy of the Book of
Mormon and said they would check it out!! We've been able to teach the
4 minute restoration to a lot of other people as well!

Other than that though this week hasn't been super exciting. We did a
lot of tracting in the rain which is always fun, I'm getting a solid
callus on my knuckle from knocking. We also dropped our investigator
Jordan, when we came over and told him we weren't going to meet
anymore he looked like he was going to cry haha. It stinks but he
wasn't willing to read on his own or come to church so our time is
better spent elsewhere.

We hiked Humpback Rock today for the second time as well so that was
fun, I'll include some pictures.

This week I have been thinking a lot about the first vision and making
sure I really believe it and take my time when I tell it to people. As
I have tried to truly understand the experience Joseph Smith had I've
noticed an insane difference in the way I recite it. I feel the spirit
every time I say it and I know that those I share it with feel it as
well. I think the fact that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ is
something we just take at face value a lot. Do we really stop and
think about how God literally appeared to Joseph Smith?? That is the
coolest thing ever!!! I know that as we stop and think about what
really happened our testimony of the restoration of the gospel will
grow, because mine definitely has.

Love you guys!!

P.S. Next Monday we have a General Authority coming so our P-Day is
being moved to that following Wednesday, so I'll talk to y'all then

Pics
1-4 Humpback Rock

5. Cool houses in downtown Staunton







Monday, May 22, 2017

Savage Staunton

Man I can't even think of what happened this week, it definitely was one of the less eventful ones out here. We have been trying really hard to develop a solid teaching pool, we don't really have many investigators right now. We have Cheyla who is doing awesome but she can't come to church so she can't be baptized, and Jordan believes the Book of Mormon is true but he also thinks that God told him he doesn't need to be baptized. So those are the only people we have right now. 

There's this guy named Jeremy who has been coming to church for 2 years who isn't a member, we call people like that eternigators (eternity + investigator). He has some things in his life that need to change before he can get baptized but there is nothing the missionaries can do at this point, it's all on him. So we decided to drop him and hand him off to his home teachers....yes this guy isn't a member and he has home teachers, I'm pretty sure half the people in the ward think he's a member. 

So due to our very small teaching people we get to do a lot of finding!! It's gonna be tough but I know that there are people out there who are ready for us, we just have to find them!!

A scripture that really stood out to me this week is Alma 7:15

 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

I just love how simple this scripture puts it. We don't have to be afraid to lay aside the sins that easily beset us because if we show God we are willing to change, he will help us!! The scripture talks about being baptized, but if you read the sacrament prayers we "witness" to god that we are willing to do these things every week by taking the sacrament!! I love my mission so much and I love helping people come closer to Jesus Christ. Love you guys!!


No photos this week so I'll include two funny videos. I'll have pictures next week though!!



Monday, May 8, 2017

Bye Bye Burila

Well we got transfer calls this Saturday and Elder Burila is headed
out. I'll be staying here in the good old Shenandoah Valley!!! Its sad
that Elder Burila is leaving cause everyone loves him here but I'm
pumped I get to stay, I love this place!!

Okay so last week we got our hair cut at this tiny barber shop in
Staunton. It's run by just one black guy named Jerrod, he's super
sick. There were 8 other people packed in there and we had to wait at
least an hour to get our hair cut. We were also the only white people
there which was fun, all of Jerod's homies would just stop in and he'd
stop his hair cut and talk to them. I quote directly from one of his
friends who walked in "Aye Jerrod, what's up ya filthy animal! Yo ima
swing by in an hour and you can gimme a cut" It was pretty funny haha.
Another guy came ina me looked at us and said "aye preacher boys!
What's good!?" I guess he had seen us around town haha. I brought my
Rubiks Cube so I could play with it while we waited and as I was
solving it Elder Burila said he wanted to time me, naturally the
entire group at the barber shop wanted to watch as well so everyone
stopped what they were doing as I cranked out a solid 45 second solve,
which is actually a horrible time but it's my new record lol.

So you guys remember Cheyla at the mental hospital?? Well she is doing
awesome! On Sunday we went to see her and had an interesting
experience. When we go we give the front desk our drivers licenses and
they give us a key card, then security comes out and wands us. We then
walk a long hallway, using the keycard twice to get through locked
doors. Once we end up at 1 Oak (her Ward) we press this door bell
thing and they come open the doors for us. The doors have windows and
you can see in to part of the ward but usually you can't see anyone.
On this particular day though we looked through the window after
ringing the doorbell to see two security guards wrestling a lady to
the ground, we could hear her screaming through the doors. So we had
to wait like 5 minutes till it all calmed down and let us in. When we
asked Cheyla what happened she said "oh that's Video Game Grandma, she
loves playing the Wii and wasn't too happy when they told her that her
time was up" lololol we were dying when she told us that. Western
State is pretty nuts!

Okay so I'll do a nice spiritual thought and I'll end the email, if
you've made it this far kudos, thanks for not forgetting about me lol.

So we had a Stake Conference Broadcast this Sunday that involved 129
stakes in the North East Region. Elder Oaks and some other GAs talked
but my favorite was from Bonnie H. Cordon, one of the counselors in
the primary presidency. She told the story of Elder Perry coming to
her childhood home, he went out in the dark with her to feed the
chickens, but she was the only one with a flashlight. She skipped
ahead of him and jumped over a ditch. Elder Perry didn't notice
however and since he didn't have his own flashlight he stepped right
into the ditch which was filled with water. He groaned and exclaimed
"I need my own light!". Sister Cordon went on to talk about this
phrase "I need my own light", each of us in this world need our own
light or testimony to guide us through this mortal life. However, a
candle isn't lit through osmosis, just being in the same room as a
roaring fireplace doesn't light the candle. We have to be ACTIVE in
the gospel and in the journey of gaining our own testimony. Being
surrounded by those with strong testimonies isn't enough, we have to
gain our own!!

Alright y'all well there's my novel for this week, thanks for reading,
hopefully you laughed or something. Stay savage!


Pics
1. Solid 2-3 minute video of a member giving us a tour of his backyard
(it's like 23 acres)
2 & 3 The final pics with The Sistrict

4.  Apparently there's an album cover that looks like this?