February
10th, 2014
Dear
family,
Can
you believe that?! This Friday is my year mark for my mission call.
That seems like a few months ago. Holy cow. This was another great
week although not as much happened as last week. We put up similar
numbers but that means less and less to me. We have had so many
lessons lately that I have developed some new key indicators for us.
We just split the member present and other lessons into two
categories: progressing and not progressing lessons. A progressing
lesson counts if we feel we helped them be motivated to act on their
commitments. It's one thing to meet the requirements for a lesson,
and another to help them be persuaded by the Spirit to act. We were
fairly successful at that this week.
Monday
we had a quick lesson with the Ds but A wasn't home like he said he
would be so we just taught his mom really quickly and set up a return
appointment. We stopped by S too and shared a thought with him and
worked things out for a lesson and mutual the next day.
Tuesday
was pretty solid. We had a lesson with M and she is coming along
fairly well and it has seemed to really help to have fellowship for
her. We were suppose to help the Ds with their fence but it was cold
and muddy so we postponed it for later. We had dinner with the As and
they brought S to dinner too and then we had a lesson with him. We
taught him the Restoration and then had some extra time before our
ride was there so we reviewed with him and made up a game in the gym
where he played around the world against me but you had to answer a
question about the lesson before you shot. He is doing awesome and he
really liked mutual. He is such a good kid. We also stopped by the
Fs.
Wednesday
was pretty good. We had a lesson with E and he was doing much better.
He was happy to see us and we taught him about seeking the kingdom of
God first. He said us coming over really helps him and brings the
Spirit so we set up a time to come back on Friday. We went with Bro J
that night and got Bro F a cake and took it to him for his birthday
and shared a quick scripture with them. They were really thankful for
us bringing that by and we left Bro J to continue to develop a
friendship with them.
Thursday
we had a lesson with the Ds and we taught them the Restoration. It
went pretty well and they seemed to understand everything that we
taught. Sister D is a really good lady and I think she will catch
fire. She loves God and is constantly helping people around her. She
said she has no use trying to please people and all she cared about
is pleasing God. It reminded me of Mosiah 18:10 so we read
that and I invited her to be baptized but she said she is Methodist
and has different beliefs (we haven't found any yet) but she is
open-minded and is willing to learn more. They committed to come to
church and to read from the Book of Mormon. That was really all that
we were able to accomplish on Thursday.
Friday
was a fun day. We had exchanges and Elder W came here (he is our
district leader). We had a pretty solid day planned but the lessons
didn't go as well as we hoped. We had a lesson with J. He listened to
the CD so we made him a new one, so I guess we'll see how he likes
that. We had a lesson with E and we felt like we should talk about
Joseph Smith and watch the Restoration DVD. We showed up and they
were really happy to see us and I just love those two. We got talking
about Joseph Smith and he was like, I just want to see kinda where he
started and what his story was. Me and Elder W just looked at each
other and we put on the Restoration. The Spirit hit me pretty
strongly so I hope they felt it too and they enjoyed it. We were
expecting to have to commit him to pray to know he was a prophet but
he just told us he accepts him as a prophet. We also had lessons with
R and J.
Saturday
we helped the Ds with their fence again because someone keeps
knocking parts of down as we finish other parts. We were patching a
part by S's trailer and he came out and helped and then we asked if
we could share a lesson with them. We went back to the D's house and
the five of us had a sweet lesson about the importance of scripture
study and they all re-committed to read and come to church. It was a
neat experience to teach two investigators at once.
Sunday
was pretty stressful. We spent a lot of time on Saturday making sure
everyone had rides and everything and then 5 minutes into church we
realized our WML was there but he was suppose to have S. We were
pretty worried and right after the sacrament we ran out and called
the Ds to see if they left yet and if they could get S. Sis D said
she was going to come anyways but she felt really sick and she
sounded like she was so we let them off the hook. We decided to just
go back in and we went back in the chapel and Shane was actually
sitting on our row. A (a really cool 16 year old) went to pick him up
and waited for him to get ready and brought him. The deacons seem to
like him and he likes them. It's great to see. The Fs were a no-show
again and E had to stay home and take care of L. At church Bro R
told us his non-member daughter was with them for the day and that he
was worried that she wasn't baptized and he asked what to do to help.
We weren't sure what to say since she usually lives in C and we
didn't really know the situation but I felt prompted to just ask if
we could meet at like 4 that day. We went there after church and his
daughter was there (she's 14) and she was quiet but she said she
loved church. The Mia-Maids did an amazing job fellowshipping her and
saw her after sacrament and went up and introduced themselves. She
loved that and she wants to learn more. It was a tough situation
since we had no idea what to do going in, but we really followed the
Spirit and everything naturally came up and we got her address so
missionaries can go by. We had a lesson on the Book of Mormon because
it sounds like her mom likely won't support her going at all so I
figured if she isn't able to consistently be taught, the Book of
Mormon will give her a great place to start and a solid testimony and
things will work out. She is a great young women and I could easily
discern that she is ready for the gospel. She easily accepted a
commitment to read the Book of Mormon and to be taught more and work
towards baptism. It was cool. We felt prompted to go by the L family
and they were so glad we stopped by. They said it was the perfect
time. We listened to part of the "Come, Join with Us" talk
and talked about the blessings of the gospel. The Spirit was really
strong as each of them bore testimony of the church and you could
just feel their desire to experience the full blessings of the
gospel. We asked for referrals and they didn't have anyone specific
except Sis L described someone at work that is a less-active member
that I immediately recognized as Sis K (S's mom) and she actually
works with her has given her a few rides home and they talked about
how they are members. She also found out that day she is her visiting
teacher. It's awesome! What a testimony that God has a plan for
everyone. We finally get to teach her son, she warms up to the gospel
and then a sweet lady moves in and works with her and develops a
great relationship with ends up being her visiting teacher. This is
their time! Anyways, that was a cool experience and they are the
nicest family and such a good example. They remind me of the Ss a
lot. Very humble and obedient and desire the gospel to be everything
for their family.
In
other news we tried by the Hs and texted them almost every day this
week and we didn't make any progress but in ward council a few
leaders said they asked Bro H and he is crossing his fingers that
everything works out this time. We need to get her interviewed and we
can pretty much do the rest so hopefully it works out this Saturday.
I
know that this church is true and we have the fulness of the gospel.
The Book of Mormon is true. Christ is our Savior and He lives, and
that is the glorious news of the gospel. Joseph Smith is a prophet
and we have the priesthood power and authority to act in God's name.
Thanks for everything you guys do!
Love,
Elder Pew
Love,
Elder Pew
February
17th, 2014
Dear
family,
This
was such an eventful week and I don't have a lot of time so I am just
going to blow through some of the very crucial things that happened
this week. Amazing week though!
So
I'll start with the baptism of T. We were able to make very slow
progress throughout the week and we found out that the family didn't
want any program at all and we got an official time so we coordinated
all of that with the ward mission leader and Bishop. We set up the
baptismal interview and she easily passed. We got everything
together for the baptism on Saturday and set up the G
building. The Spirit was really strong at the baptism. It was a
small baptism, but it worked. It was just us, Bishop, Bro R, and
their family. We had a prayer, baptism, confirmation, and closing
remarks and that was it. Like I said though, the Spirit was really
strong and it was evident that despite the families struggles in the
gospel they really loved each other, so that was cool. I felt a
total feeling of peace and fulfillment. The Spirit also confirmed
that this was one reason me and Elder W were together when we were
because we handled the situation the way it needed to be handled.
Next,
we had a great week with the Ds. We had a lesson on the Plan of
Salvation and they followed everything well and Sis D didn't really
agree with Resurrection or the kingdoms of glory but we showed her
evidence in the Bible and she seemed more sold on the idea. We had
things set up with her to take S to church to knock out two birds
there but S had baseball. She still came to church and had a great
experience and the Relief Society did a great job. We had a lesson
with S and he enjoyed mutual and he's coming along really well except
this new baseball problem. We will have to figure out that one. M
had a great week and we had two lessons with her including a FHE last
night with the Ts that went well. At church the lesson was on baptism
and she broke down and basically talked about how badly she wanted to
get baptized but she has to wait because of some issues. A few women
who were in there did a great job of comforting her including J, the
recent-convert who has recently come back to church and wants to meet
with us regularly. She is amazing! I love her a lot and I have barely
started to get to know her. I just can't say enough about her. After
class she went over and hugged M and comforted her despite the many
trials that J is going through. It was beautiful. Then she texted us
later and told us to let her know if she could help in any way.
E
and J are still struggling to progress and we will likely discontinue
visiting them frequently.
We
had a lesson set up that we had to cancel because the ward and stake
leaders set up a visit to their house. We were excited about that but
when we went over the next day they told us that no one had stopped
by and they never got a phone call. They were just sitting there
until 9 p.m. waiting for someone to come! That broke my
heart. We found out in our meetings with the ward that there was
scheduling mess-up. That was a bummer, but we had a great object
lesson on the gift of the Holy Ghost. We had a bunch of paper balls
spread over the floor and blind-folded the kids and the first time
someone would give them directions but only every 30 seconds. It took
them a long time and sometimes they would touch the paper anyways and
lose. Then we had them do it again, but this time the person giving
them direction could do it the entire time. This illustrated the
difference between the power and gift of the Holy Ghost. There are so
many parallels to draw and the kids loved it. H was actually
listening very intently and at the end we asked them each about
baptism again. E said sure, A said no, but H said she wasn't sure. I
could see it in her that she wanted it. She was torn because she
doesn't know what would happen but I could tell for at least that
minute she thought it would be worth it. We invited them to pray on
that. They have got to start coming to church though to see how it
will help them. They are so amazing!
On
a much better note we had a really cool experience in our PEC
meeting. Everyone pretty much knew that I was going to leave so when
they were going around the circle asking if anyone had anything they
needed when it got to me Bishop H said "thank you Elder Pew for
everything you have done. Your service has been much appreciated."
I said thanks but then it was still quiet and I was looking down, so
I looked up at everyone and everyone was looking at me and nodding
and looking at me intently with looks of gratitude on their face. It
was kinda awkward so I just smiled and thanked them.
We
sat around waiting for our transfer call and it didn't come until
like 9:30. I was starting to get second thoughts about the
possibility of staying, but I thought I was just telling myself that
because that is what I wanted. Finally we got the call and it went
something like this: me "Hello this is Elder Pew." them
"How are you?" me "good" them "any
predictions?" me "I don't even want to" them "what
do you want to happen?" me "I think we both want to stay
but.. them "well let's do that then." me "okay."
them "alright have a great night." me "okay, you too."
them "bye." I hung up and I was super confused. The whole
time I was waiting for them to tell me they were kidding but they
never did. Elder W even called them back and asked if they were
joking and they weren't, so we are staying! I can't believe it! It
is so crazy. No one we have talked to has ever heard of this
happening. I am super excited and we are going to work hard to get
tons done. Our entire district is staying the same. It's so crazy! I
am so grateful. We found out today that President Slaughter is making
some major changes too. One of the assistants is now just a normal
missionary training a new missionary, a few zone leaders are becoming
district leaders to lead out in example districts, as well as some
other shocking changes. President Slaughter is really raising the bar
here and sometimes it's pretty overwhelming because of how far below
his bar I am but he is so incredible. He has changed the culture of
the entire mission. Crazy stuff.
I
know that God lives. He knows us, He loves us, and He is aware of
each of our needs. I know that the gospel and the Atonement has the
power to change lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of
God and I have read every page yet again and I know that it is true.
I know that this is Christ's church and living the gospel brings true
happiness.
Love,
Elder
Pew
