Called to Serve

Monday, December 30, 2013

Happy New Year!!! Good Luck Kylie! I love You!!!

Hey family!!
So you're in Utah right now? Crazy!! I want to talk to Kylie! How was the farewell?!! I am so excited for her. She is going to be such a great missionary.

So this week was really awesome. I cannot remember what I did and did not tell you on christmas but I will just tell you what I know. I went to the Millers for christmas eve! It was sweet because they have to family traditions that we have. 1. We ate mexican food for dinner. (very delicious) 2. They gave some pajama pants for a present. (very comfy) (I don't know if thats how you spell comfy) (I also am not sure if that's a word) But it was great. and Elder Spencer and I built a skyscraper of a gingerbread house.

So then christmas morning we woke up, opened some awesome presents (thanks for the sweater Kylie) and then went to the Souths for breakfast! Then we went to the Cookseys for lunch and then we went and worked until I got to talk to yall! It was great!

We have had some great lesson these past couple of days. My conviction that Heavenly Father has prepared specific people in every area of every mission grows stronger every day. Alma 13:24. I know there is people in Oregon waiting for Kylies sincere and unique testimony.

So as far as transfers go........I AM STAYING! Can you believe it? Elder Spencer is getting transferred. I am staying and Elder Soelberg is coming over here with me! He served in Searcy the first 7 months of his mission and trained Elder Tate. I'm excited because Elder Soelberg is awesome! So ya crazy stuff. Anyways I love you all and am so grateful for all your support. I am so grateful for everything that has been sent to me! Thank you Grandma Udall, Aunt Trisha, and badger for coming and skyping with me! I love you all. Have a safe drive to Utah and back. TEAR IT UP BEHI!! HOORAH FOR ISRAEL!!

NOTE TO KYLIE:

Kylie!!! How do you feel right now?  nervous much?
KYLIE!!!!!! Yes i am staying in Searcy! its crazy. i will probably be here for the next 2 1/2 years. How was the farewell? how are you feeling right now?!!

If I had to give you one tip it would be this.....dont drink the orange juice at the mtc. but if I had to give you 2 tips.....I would also tell you to be patient with yourself. One thing I know about me and you is that we are super competitive about stuff and we are hard on ourselves. Just remember who's work you are doing and the authority of your calling! You are going to feel overwhelmed at times but keep going! Your heart is like a ball of clay. if its soft and humble the lord is going to mold you into something great and you are going to bless so many lives. if you harden your heart or settle you will just be.....a ball of clay. ha ha I love you Kylie. You are going to do awesome!! Proverbs 3:5-7

Monday, December 23, 2013

Merry Christmas!

HEEEEEY!!!
How is it going family! Man what a week! I have a lot of stuff to tell yall about this week so I will just tell you when I call you on wednesday instead of typing it all out. This week has been something else though.

 First of all we had christmas zone conference on wednesday in North Little Rock. President Petersen is awesome. He is probably the next apostle. It was a good conference. And at the end we got to watch a movie. Ephraims Rescue. Ever seen it? Its quite the flik. I would recommend it! But enough small talk lets get down to the needy greedy. (Nacho voice)

 So when it rains out in Arkansas.....it rains hard. Friday night up until saturday night it rained non-stop. We had flash flood warnings right and left. The best part about this is Elder Spencer and I are on bike week. We promised ourselves that we were not going to let the whether stop us from working. Last week when it snowed we didn't skip a beat. So whats a little rain? Well let me tell ya  this was no walk in the park. It was more like a ride in a river. But we tried to have some sunshine on our cloudy day and make the best of it. So we rode to our appointments and it was pouring. We had 3 appointments and they were no where near each other. Well.....all of the appointments dropped! No one was there when we got there.  A good mixture of cold rain and frustration was working in its way in as it seemed like nothing was going on. It felt like we didn;t get anything done that day despite us being out the whole time. The promise in Ether 12:6 rang true though as we did not recieve a "witness until AFTER the trial of our faith."

The next day was sunday and it was impossible for our hopes to be too high for our investigators to get to church since we didn't get to meet with any of them on saturday. Well sunday morning we prayed for them all by name and then got a ride to go get all of them. We were able to reach our weekly goal and get 6 investigators to church! What a blessing. Also Jessica (our new convert) gave her first talk in sacrament meeting. She sounded like she had been a member her whole life as she spoke about the Book of Mormon. It was amazing!! The spirit was so strong. I was thinking about the growth she has had as I watched and listened to her testify in front of the whole congregation that she knows the Book of Mormon is true. The real miracles happened last night though.

On the way to one of our appointments I noticed I got a little ahead of Elder Spencer. So I stopped and waited right in front of this house. Now Elder Spencer and I have tried to do things other than knock doors at night because either people don't answer or they get mad. But I felt so strongly impressed to knock on this door that I really had no other choice it felt like! So when Elder Spencer caught up we went and knocked and were immediately let in! When we got in there were 2 mexican families of good size all sitting in the living room. We stated our purpose as representatives of the Jesus Christ and asked if we could say a prayer with them. We then asked what they would ask the Savior for if he was there with us. They said jobs and physical health. We prayed and asked for those things for them and we blessed the home. I noticed after the prayer one of the fathers had tears in his eyes. We briefly taught them about the restoration and set up return appointments with both families. They were so humble and loving. I know and can testify they have been prepared by the hand of the Lord to accept the message of the restoration because it was nothing other than the spirit of the lord and led us to them. We probably pass by that house 3 or 4 times a day and last night they were ready for us.

Every obstacle we faced this week as a companionship and the riding the the rain and wind and having appointment and appointment fall through was all worth these miracles we saw yesterday! And they truly were miracles. I know just as Joseph Smith said that "Sacrifice brings forth the blessing of heaven." I love you family. Thank you for everything you do for me. Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope we all take the time to think about what the best gift would be to get Christ for his birthday. See ya in a couple of days!


Merry Christmas!

HEEEEEY!!!
How is it going family! Man what a week! I have a lot of stuff to tell yall about this week so I will just tell you when I call you on wednesday instead of typing it all out. This week has been something else though.

 First of all we had christmas zone conference on wednesday in North Little Rock. President Petersen is awesome. He is probably the next apostle. It was a good conference. And at the end we got to watch a movie. Ephraims Rescue. Ever seen it? Its quite the flik. I would recommend it! But enough small talk lets get down to the needy greedy. (Nacho voice)

 So when it rains out in Arkansas.....it rains hard. Friday night up until saturday night it rained non-stop. We had flash flood warnings right and left. The best part about this is Elder Spencer and I are on bike week. We promised ourselves that we were not going to let the whether stop us from working. Last week when it snowed we didn't skip a beat. So whats a little rain? Well let me tell ya  this was no walk in the park. It was more like a ride in a river. But we tried to have some sunshine on our cloudy day and make the best of it. So we rode to our appointments and it was pouring. We had 3 appointments and they were no where near each other. Well.....all of the appointments dropped! No one was there when we got there.  A good mixture of cold rain and frustration was working in its way in as it seemed like nothing was going on. It felt like we didn;t get anything done that day despite us being out the whole time. The promise in Ether 12:6 rang true though as we did not recieve a "witness until AFTER the trial of our faith."

The next day was sunday and it was impossible for our hopes to be too high for our investigators to get to church since we didn't get to meet with any of them on saturday. Well sunday morning we prayed for them all by name and then got a ride to go get all of them. We were able to reach our weekly goal and get 6 investigators to church! What a blessing. Also Jessica (our new convert) gave her first talk in sacrament meeting. She sounded like she had been a member her whole life as she spoke about the Book of Mormon. It was amazing!! The spirit was so strong. I was thinking about the growth she has had as I watched and listened to her testify in front of the whole congregation that she knows the Book of Mormon is true. The real miracles happened last night though.

On the way to one of our appointments I noticed I got a little ahead of Elder Spencer. So I stopped and waited right in front of this house. Now Elder Spencer and I have tried to do things other than knock doors at night because either people don't answer or they get mad. But I felt so strongly impressed to knock on this door that I really had no other choice it felt like! So when Elder Spencer caught up we went and knocked and were immediately let in! When we got in there were 2 mexican families of good size all sitting in the living room. We stated our purpose as representatives of the Jesus Christ and asked if we could say a prayer with them. We then asked what they would ask the Savior for if he was there with us. They said jobs and physical health. We prayed and asked for those things for them and we blessed the home. I noticed after the prayer one of the fathers had tears in his eyes. We briefly taught them about the restoration and set up return appointments with both families. They were so humble and loving. I know and can testify they have been prepared by the hand of the Lord to accept the message of the restoration because it was nothing other than the spirit of the lord and led us to them. We probably pass by that house 3 or 4 times a day and last night they were ready for us.

Every obstacle we faced this week as a companionship and the riding the the rain and wind and having appointment and appointment fall through was all worth these miracles we saw yesterday! And they truly were miracles. I know just as Joseph Smith said that "Sacrifice brings forth the blessing of heaven." I love you family. Thank you for everything you do for me. Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope we all take the time to think about what the best gift would be to get Christ for his birthday. See ya in a couple of days!


Monday, December 16, 2013

Happy Birthday to Kylie!!!

Happy Birthday Kylie!! I can't believe you are 19.......that is a little weird. You seem to short for such an age. Well I hope it was a good one.

 Man I wish I could remember all that goes on during the week. My record-keeping has been pretty sub-par lately. I haven't cracked open my journal in a good minute. Things have just gotten so busy! This week we had Zone meeting which I was thankful for because I didn't have to be in charge of it. President and Sister Petersen came to it also! In the meeting we were being instructed on teaching and the ZL's called Elder Spencer and I up to role play teaching in an investigator about prophets as a demonstration. It went well too! Elder Spencer is really coming along as a teacher! All we do in companionship study is role play over and over and it has really helped! My son is making me proud!

Anyways we have had some miracles happen this week. On wednesday morning right before we left the apartment for the day we had a companionship prayer where we asked specifically for the Lord the lead us to someone who is prepared and to help us recognize them. Well 5 minutes after that prayer we went over to a potential investigators house and she opened the door and it looked like she had been crying. Well...she had. She said that right before she heard us knock on the door she was like talking to herself/praying and asking for something to change her. She explained to us how she always went to church growing up with her family and how everything was going great and then she made a couple of wrong choices. She got with some bad influences and things started spiraling down. She said she really felt like was at the point of no return. She couldn't forgive herself for what she had done so she felt like she couldn't be forgiven. We taught her about the atonement and the how it is able to take any burdens, guilt, and sin away from us. I really did feel the love Heavenly Father had for her as we taught her on her porch. She truly had what Christ requires of us in order to use the atonement, and that is a broken heart and contrite spirit. The lesson was awesome and she is reading the Book of Mormon right now. Heavenly Father is preparing his children for us every minute of every day! That experience estalished that truth for me.

One more awesome experience: Elder Spencer and I taught a woman and her two children the restoration last saturday night. In that lesson the spirit really helped us know what to say. I think it was the best lesson we have taught together up to this point. But anyways at the end we talked about baptism and she actaully asked us if she could get baptized!! It was insane! That never happens to us. It was awesome though and it is only because the spirit spoke to her.

Ok last cool story and then I am done. So we are teaching this guy that is going to Harding and he is majoring in bible ministry and in his senior year. So ya he knows his stuff about the bible. Anyways we were teaching him about how Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and bone. He quickly referred us to John 4:26 where it says "God is a spirit." Well we went to that and then saw the JST that says that its actually saying "God promised his spirit." Well naturally he did not believe the JST so he went to his back room and got his Greek translation bible which is older and more accurate and in that version it said the same thing that the JST said! The guy was so taken back by it! It was awesome! Its crazy how the changes in the bible have had that much of an effect. Where we can't even be sure of the true nature of our father in heaven. This is why the Book of Mormon is so important. It establishes the TRUTH in the Bible and expands on it. 1 Nephi 13:40-41.

Anyways thank you Grandma Udall and Nelson family for the letters! It means a lot! I love you all!


Monday, December 9, 2013

Bad Weather Week!


Hey Family!!

Hows the weather out west? It has been so crazy here!! It has just been a wild week. So to start off we had district meeting again on Tuesday where I decided to focus on PMG chapter 9. I really tried to emphasize working with the members because i know this area will never reach its full potential without are members kicking it into gear! So we decided to get a little creative with our finding and I am excited to try some new stuff! Anyways on wednesday it was like 80 degrees as a high, Thursday it 45, Friday it was 30. So it got cold pretty quick, not to mention Elder Spencer and I were on bike week. So it was snowing pretty hard on friday. President said he didn't recommend that we go out but it was up to us. So after it stopped snowing Elder Spencer and I got on the bikes and started working. There was no one outside! No one. This town shuts down when it snows. The roads and sidewalks were really icy though and it was no cake walk riding bikes on that stuff. Anyways we went to one appointment and when we came out my bike brakes were frozen. Then the back tire of my bike wouldn't even rotate anymore for some reason! So I couldn't ride it. By this point in time we were on the far side of town away from our apartment and our next appointment. No businesses were open and no one was driving so their was no chance of getting a ride. So I dragged my bike and Elder Spencer walked with his behind me and we walked across town in the snow to bike city where we locked them up in front and then walked 8 miles to our next appointment. It was unfortunate because we wasted a lot of time but it was alright. The next couple of days after that the roads were thick with ice! They don't have any snow plows or salt to get rid of it with here because this rarely happens. So getting from appoitment to appointment was quite an adventure!

Did I ever tell you about Kesha? Kesha who is an investigator we found, who really actually found us. We were knocking on her neighbors door when she came out and asked who we were and asked if we could come teach her! Since then we had not been able to get a hold of her but a couple of days ago she called us and said she really need us to come over. So we went over and taught her and her brothers the restoration. It was awesome. The spirit was so strong.

So anyways church was cancelled yesterday because of the ice and so President Berkheimer had a mini sacrament meeting at his house. It was just his family, Elder Spencer and I and Chris and Jess President wanted there but I asked if Kesha could come so she came too! So yesterday morning we had a sacrament meeting where me and Kevin (his son) spoke about being disciples of Jesus Christ. Jessica also bore her testimony of the restoration and it was so powerful. After the meeting was the best part because Elder Spencer and I were talking to Kesha about the Book of Mormon and then Chris and Jessica came and pretty much taught her all about it and told her how much of a comfort it is in their lives. I have't experienced more joy on my mission then in that lesson when I was just watching this take place. Jessica was just baptized last month, Chris is still waiting to get baptized. 2 months ago we were teaching them and they really were different people. Now they were teaching one of our new investigators about the restoration and inviting her to come over anytime to have study with them. What a blessing. I never felt so much pure joy in my life!! It was so great! Kesha now has a baptismal date for the 21st! So this week has been pretty awesome!

O and last night we were walking down the street and this guy picked us up and gave us a ride to our appointment and on the way their we taught him about the church. He said he had  bunch of friends that were returned missionaries. He owns the frozen yogurt factory here and said to come by on tuesday to tell him more! This last week we have found new investigators from helping from shovel their driveways, getting peoples truck unstuck, and getting rides from people! Its been sweet!  I love you all and thanks for everything. Thank you for the package!!  



Monday, December 2, 2013

Thanksgiving was a success!


WHATS UP AZ!

So this week was crazy. Full of meetings, food, revelations, eggs, and schizophrenia. Allow me to explain. So first of all I had district meeting on tuesday. We went over chapters 10 and 11 of Preach my Gospel. I tried to really emphasized overcoming concerns through listening and asking questions and finding underlying concerns. I did a demonstration where the missionary had to guide the investigator through an obstacle course to baptism. The catch was that the missionary only knew so many concerns (obstacles), and the missionary and the investigator could not communicate and the investigators had a blindfold on, and just for fun I threw and egg and a spoon in there. Anyways long story short the missionary was unable to get the investigator to baptism because he didn't know all the concerns because he didn't ask questions and listen. It was a really weird way of showing the importance of those two things. Anyways it was fun.

Afterwards I went on exchanges with Elder Soelberg who is my grandfather! He trained Elder tate and was in Searcy for 7 months!

So on Thanksgiving we had the turkey bowl in the morning! It was sweet! I wish I would have brought some cleets! It was fun a lot of fun though. Chris came and had a lot of fun. After that we went and ate our first meal with the rinners and berkheimers! Then we went and ate with chris and Jess! Then we went and at with the Raineys! We had 3 thanksgivings! It was quite a battle. The last place we went to, I was already full, and they made my plate for me and piled it up. It was a rough go but I did my best. We also had a lesson that night at the Raineys with 3 non members and it was sweet!

That night we went to teach an investigator. So he has social anxiety, bi-polarness, and schizophrenia. So It is kind of different teaching him. But when we went over thursday night he told us that he had gotten an answer and knows the Book of Mormon is true! So we set up a baptismal interview on friday night. Well friday night comes around and the zone leaders drive an hour and a half to get here and he never shows up. So the next day we see him at work and we stop in and talk to him and he said he had family issues to take care but wants to get baptized on sunday. So we set up the interview again on saturday night and he shows up 30 minutes late too it. Well right before the interview we go over the word of wisdom to refresh him on it and he commits to live it, right in front of the zone leaders. Then during the interview when they get to the word of wisdom he says he isn't going to live it anymore! And he just committed to me 10 minutes before to live it! Then my zl Elder Durham said that he must live it in order to be baptized and he got mad and walked out! So I was really dissappointed up to that point because we weren't having a baptism. So then he shows up to the church the next day and tells me he is excited to get baptized that day! I was like "you can't get baptized today, you are not ready." Then he got mad at me and left. Just as mysteriously as he came.....he left. It was a wild weekend.

I had my interview with President this week. It was awesome. He told me to read Alma 5 and Mosiah 5 at the end of the interview. I read it a few times this week and received some pretty heavy revelation! I love this gospel. Anyways I love you all and am grateful for your support! Thank you for the letter Nash! And thanks for your letter Uncle Dennis!