Hello Everyone,
We are officially the Arizona Scottsdale Mission! Which doesn't mean a whole lot just yet but it's kind of neat to say that I will have served in 2 missions. A lot has happened this week so let's get started...
Things are picking up the pace and members are really excited about helping us as much as they can. We've picked up 7 new investigators this week and many came from member referrals. They are all excited and interested in learning more, and I feel like I'm a lot more effective at helping them find truth that I was even a week ago. Teaching by the Spirit is unparalleled by any other experience. I'm able to promise amazing blessings to people for obedience to God's commands. When they do what they need to receive these blessings I get so excited.
We have a baptism this Saturday that will be fantastic. The man getting baptized is such a wonderful person. We're teaching his brother who also has a baptismal date. It will be amazing to see this man who is fresh in the Gospel receive the priesthood and baptize his brother. The Spirit of that occasional will be undeniable.
We've given a lot of service this past week. We helped a man move to a 2nd floor apartment on Saturday when it was over 118 degrees (still in shirt and tie and suit pants). We had to go back to the apartment to change our clothes before our next appointment, which was helping a woman reorganize her apartment (she has a hoarding issue and also has low mobility). I feel like we were able to give her a lot of help and comfort before she goes in for surgery. Not only were we able to render a lot of temporal service, but we gave a lot of spiritual service. In 2 days, we participated in 4 Priesthood Blessings; 3 of these blessings I was asked to personally administer.
We've been working closely with leadership of our wards to help the work be more effective in quality and quantity. We plan on teaching a combined Sunday School or third hour class on how members can effectively do their own missionary work and share the Gospel. I'm really looking forward to seeing the effects of this.
We had exchanges this week so for 2 of the days, I was left here and my companion swapped places with another missionary in our district. That meant that I was in charge of our area 2 days this week because the other missionary has never been there. I did quite well if I do say so myself. We were able to get a lot of work done and I didn’t get too lost.
Best story of exchanges though: We were going to eat dinner with the Clines family and so I flipped through our directories to find their address. Dinner time came around and we went to the address. Knocked on the door and they said, "Come in!" We walked in, and they said, "Oh, we're not interested." The problem was that in my mind, this was the family that was going to be feeding us...the look of confusion on my face had no hope of being ignored. I awkwardly stammer over my words asking if this was the Clines' home to which they gave the affirmative and promptly said once again, "We want nothing to do with the church." Again I stood in a silent state of disbelief before asking if they had any relatives in the area to which they said they didn't. Then, they sternly asked for us to depart, and we complied. We called the number we had for the family and got the real address (which was on the other side of our area). By this point we are 30 minutes late for dinner and thoroughly embarrassed. Regardless, it made a great story during dinner at the real location.
Things are moving forward and as missionaries we are all excited for the things that lie ahead. I miss you all but I wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world. Take care and know you're in my prayers.
Things are picking up the pace and members are really excited about helping us as much as they can. We've picked up 7 new investigators this week and many came from member referrals. They are all excited and interested in learning more, and I feel like I'm a lot more effective at helping them find truth that I was even a week ago. Teaching by the Spirit is unparalleled by any other experience. I'm able to promise amazing blessings to people for obedience to God's commands. When they do what they need to receive these blessings I get so excited.
We have a baptism this Saturday that will be fantastic. The man getting baptized is such a wonderful person. We're teaching his brother who also has a baptismal date. It will be amazing to see this man who is fresh in the Gospel receive the priesthood and baptize his brother. The Spirit of that occasional will be undeniable.
We've given a lot of service this past week. We helped a man move to a 2nd floor apartment on Saturday when it was over 118 degrees (still in shirt and tie and suit pants). We had to go back to the apartment to change our clothes before our next appointment, which was helping a woman reorganize her apartment (she has a hoarding issue and also has low mobility). I feel like we were able to give her a lot of help and comfort before she goes in for surgery. Not only were we able to render a lot of temporal service, but we gave a lot of spiritual service. In 2 days, we participated in 4 Priesthood Blessings; 3 of these blessings I was asked to personally administer.
We've been working closely with leadership of our wards to help the work be more effective in quality and quantity. We plan on teaching a combined Sunday School or third hour class on how members can effectively do their own missionary work and share the Gospel. I'm really looking forward to seeing the effects of this.
We had exchanges this week so for 2 of the days, I was left here and my companion swapped places with another missionary in our district. That meant that I was in charge of our area 2 days this week because the other missionary has never been there. I did quite well if I do say so myself. We were able to get a lot of work done and I didn’t get too lost.
Best story of exchanges though: We were going to eat dinner with the Clines family and so I flipped through our directories to find their address. Dinner time came around and we went to the address. Knocked on the door and they said, "Come in!" We walked in, and they said, "Oh, we're not interested." The problem was that in my mind, this was the family that was going to be feeding us...the look of confusion on my face had no hope of being ignored. I awkwardly stammer over my words asking if this was the Clines' home to which they gave the affirmative and promptly said once again, "We want nothing to do with the church." Again I stood in a silent state of disbelief before asking if they had any relatives in the area to which they said they didn't. Then, they sternly asked for us to depart, and we complied. We called the number we had for the family and got the real address (which was on the other side of our area). By this point we are 30 minutes late for dinner and thoroughly embarrassed. Regardless, it made a great story during dinner at the real location.
Things are moving forward and as missionaries we are all excited for the things that lie ahead. I miss you all but I wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world. Take care and know you're in my prayers.
Much Love,
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