Week #61 - Bah

HI!

I'm pretty limited on email time today, because for some reason my ldsmail account isn't working. So, I can't read my email from President, I can't read any emails that were sent to that account, and also I'm frustrated. But, this week was spectacular. I actually didn't really get to do much missionary work until Thursday, but even so it was excellent. Tuesday we had our leadership council with President in Santa Rosa which was AWESOME and it went from about 9 to 4. Then, the next day we had our zone conference which was incredible as well. President blew our minds and topped himself again this transfer. I think it's safe to say no one was disappointed. We've been extremely busy and doing all we can to get the work rolling in Ukiah. On Saturday we were greatly blessed and picked up a new investigator, some solid contacts and referrals, and overall, things just went really well. We were pretty excited. At this point we're at a spot where we know there's a lot of good potential work, and we're just praying that it doesn't all fall through and end up being a disappointment (which unfortunately seems to always happen when you think life is great). So, we'll see!

We set some goals for our zone on Tuesday and went around presenting them to the districts as well as teaching some things that President wanted us to. Our zone used to be two and it's now combined, making it the biggest and it covers an insane amount of area (about three hours from one end to the other). So, we can't really get the whole zone together, and Elder Berry and I made a zone tour on Thursday and Friday. Well, the first two districts were great and very excited about everything- pumped and motivated to make stuff happen. The last district, however, caused our meeting to be the most ridiculous one I've ever been to. About ten minutes in, one missionary informed us that nothing we said was motivating. Then, when we talked about our goals, NO ONE in the entire district thought it was reachable. They said how they'd prayed for baptisms before and didn't get them. All in all, that one's going to be a struggle. The sad part was they all agreed with each other. Eight Missionaries. That's pathetic. Other than that though, the gospel's still true, prayer works (I KNOW it does), unity brings miracles (I know that too) and we're reaching our goals!!!

Elder B

Week #60 - Barbies

Hey Everyone!
I made it through the first week of Ukiah. I was a little disappointed to realize out that my expectations of cooler weather up north were completely wrong. It's pretty toasty up here...and it sounds like this week will be even hotter. But, hopefully the winter weather will settle in soon. It's been great to take over the area- whitewashes give you plenty of work to do and they also give you a great excuse to go meet everybody in the ward. We were able to set a baptismal date with an 11 year old yesterday which was excellent. We went through the interview questions and he knows his stuff. Other than that, there's really not a whole lot going on in the area all of the "great potential" left for us in the area wasn't nearly as golden as the missionaries made it sound...haha. Many people dropped us right on the spot and others mentioned the fact that "the other missionaries just came over and messed around with us" but they weren't interested in learning anything. The area's good though- I'm sure things will happen soon!

We've got some good ideas for the zone this transfer- I'm pretty excited. We have our leadership council tomorrow so we'll see what all President's got up his sleeve this time. He never ceases to amaze us and get us way fired up each time he speaks. Then on Wednesday we have our Zone Conference which I'm sure will be awesome as well.

My highlight of the week was probably being asked to go to a dance club with a woman in her mid thirties. My companion an I went for a walk at the end of the night last Thursday and a group of ladies were standing outside of the club- and the one asked me if I'd go in and be her partner. At first I figured it was another clever joke by someone who obviously realized we were missionaries and we would never do that, but I quickly realized she was totally serious. The beer in her hand may have had something to do with it, but either way, it was a tempting offer. Something about people with fifteen years on me...if only I weren't a missionary.

Our new apartment is small and I found an unopened can of Grizzly (chewing tobacco) in my desk. Anyway, things are great! Ol' mission life is fantastic, and also- my first son (Elder Bush...the first one I trained) just got called as a district leader in this zone- so that's been way cool. Have a good week- much love!

Oh and just so everyone knows, in his first week in the new area, my companion received seven letters. Mail EVERY DAY. Something to keep in mind.

Elder B

Week #59 - You Kye Uh

Looks like my stay in Santa Rosa has come to an end. I'm headed up to Ukiah (way up north) on Tuesday morning- I'm pretty excited.

So, most importantly, make sure all mail is sent to the following address:
875 South Oak St Apartment #2Ukiah, CA 95482

Anyway, it's been a good week to finish off the transfer. We picked up a pretty solid investigator who called us over and said he wanted us to teach him. He's very humble and just says he wants more happiness for him and his family- he also just wants to be closer to Christ. He's in his late twenties and he's a really cool guy. We taught him for about an hour and left him some stuff to read and he was pretty excited. We also set a baptismal date with one of our investigators- hopefully I'll be able to come down for it. I don't know though- my new place is about four hours north. Either way it'll be cool to hear about whenever it happens! I had a pretty intense experience when I was in somewhat of a bash (but not really) with a woman. She showed us a book that she had called "Kingdom of the Cults" which (what a shock) talked about Mormonism. She raised a few points and we ended up talking for about an hour. I've definitely bashed before and just gotten fed up and annoyed (which I kinda started to) but I've never really had a moment where I felt totally overcome by the Spirit. Usually I'm more concerned about correcting false ideas and thowing in a testimony at the end. But this time, near the end, I asked her if she would ever read the Book of Mormon. She said no, because she's afraid she could be deceived. Without a second thought I just started talking and testifying and I've never really felt the spirit that strong as I spoke with someone on a doorstep. Everything just came out without a second thought and I explained how plenty of things can deceive us, yes- Kingdom of the Cults being a perfect example- but what it comes down to is our willingness to rely on the Lord rather than the wisdom of men. I told her how she knows just as well as I did that God answers our prayers, and she had mentioned that she had prayed recently for help to come closer to Him. I said that us knocking on her door was the help and direction that God was sending her, but the only way she would know is if she'd open her heart and give it the chance. I then asked her if she would accept a copy of the Book of Mormon again and she just stood there. She didn't say a word for about seven or eight seconds- then she hesitated and said "I just...don't think so...no." AGH! Sorry the ending of that story sucked. But, the main point is this: she knew that what I said was true. She knew she should have accepted and that's why she actually hesitated like she did. Long story short, it felt pretty awesome even though she didn't accept. I got to a point where I was finally less concerned about just being right and more concerned about her happiness, which unfortunately isn't THAT common for me when people try and fight.

Anyway, that about wraps it up, I'm about out of time. Have a good week! The gospel's true!!
Elder B

Week #58 - Transfers...Just kidding!

Hey everyone! And Happy Birthday the Vreg!!!

Sorry to disappoint, but transfers aren't this week. One more left. But, it'll be exciting to see what happens- I don't know if I'll be sticking around here or not. Our area's been a little slow lately, so I'd feel kinda bad to have to leave when it's at a low point. But, we'll see- I've been here over four months. This week was pretty good- we're making some good progress with a few of our investigators so life is good. We ran into a lot of bashers this week which is always a blast (ugh...) but it was still nice.

I kinda wish I had a bit more to update everyone on...it really was a good week though. We're still working to set a few baptismal dates with some investigators. James W. (the one living with his girlfriend) sounds like he's going to be a while- but he knows what has to happen. His girlfriend is unwilling to be married regardless, so she told him to allow her time to find another place to live. Probably a couple more months at the minimum...but I guess it's at least a work in progress now. We have another investigator named Wally who's read pretty much everything and developed a very strong testimony- but his work keeps him from 9am-1pm every Sunday so he can't make church. As soon as he does he's getting baptized- he really wants to. We're praying for him! Well, that's about all I've got. Sorry it's a little short this week.

I hope all is well at home and the gospel's true!
Elder B