July 7th, 2014
Dear family,
I just want to start by congratulating
mom and dad on their anniversary! Both of you are great examples of
both husband and wife, as well as father and mother. I'm grateful for
the lives you have lived that led you to the temple so our family
will live together in the Celestial Kingdom as long as we keep our
covenants. Thank you for that and for your living testimonies of the
importance of eternal families! This was an incredible week!
Monday we taught the Ks. They still
hadn't watched that talk we gave them, so we decided to just watch it
with them. B really liked it and she's really on to the idea that we
have a modern-day prophet. T is just awesome. We invited them to the
4th of July breakfast and handed out a bunch more invitations for the
breakfast. We finally had a lesson with D. Her husband just ran off
and she is feeling alone. She has a great attitude and has been
praying that God's will will be done. We taught her the Restoration,
and she knows the Bible well. She committed to read the Book of
Mormon and pray, return appointment, and we told her we would help in
the yard.
Tuesday we had to go out to Kerrville
and Fredericksburg which was a fairly long drive but we were back
before 3 and had a lesson with P. We taught them the Restoration
again and he likes his new job. We also talked about people they know
who would be receptive, but they basically said no one, so we went
through the list of people invited to the baptism and got a few
people to keep an eye on that aren't in the area but seem decent like
K. We did a bit of tracting and stopped by some people but didn't get
much else.
Wednesday was awesome. We had district
meeting and our district is awesome! Soo big. We practiced teaching
lesson 5 from chapter 3 because the church came out with a statement
that investigators should be taught it before and after baptism now
and missionaries will lead the new member lessons. It was fun and
it's just a lively group of sisters and us and the Assistants. We had
some errands to run, but we finished by dinner. My stomach was giving
me grief, but I really wanted to visit Brother H. We stopped by and
he was able to answer the door. He was doing really well and he said
he felt normal. He re-read all of Moroni and has just been eating up
the Book of Mormon. I love it! We had a really good discussion and I
asked him if he believed the Book of Mormon was true and he said, "I
surely do" (that is such a thing he would say if you knew him).
A couple minutes later after the Spirit was really strong he said he
has been reading this sticky-note in his Book of Mormon that says
"pray to know if you should be baptized by the priesthood."
He said, "I found my answer. It's yes." We were surprised
but super happy. We asked him if he wanted to set a goal and he said
probably the end of July or the beginning of August. We are SO
excited! We walked out of there happier than ever and I was so
thankful for that! He has really grown to love us. We talked with
bishop and PEC and Bishop wants to go ahead and baptize him. Brother
H went out of town, so he missed the breakfast and church, but we are
visiting him tomorrow.
Thursday was kinda crummy. We spent a
lot of time figuring out our truck because Elder P wanted us to. The
estimate for the hood and the windshield came out to about $1400 and
the bed-liner will be about $500. It's pretty crazy. It was really
hot and we had three lessons that all fell through. It was definitely
Satan attacking us after a great day with Brother H, but we got
through it okay.
Friday was the breakfast. My stomach
was feeling terrible again, so I didn't even eat which was sad
because there was more breakfast food than I've ever seen before.
Sister O made a barrel, literally a huge barrel of beans with tons of
eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, pancakes, syrups, muffins, etc. Lots of
members brought their friends. T and B really liked it. Tons of
women were really good to B and Sister W sat with her the whole time.
We just need a solid friend for T who will do the same. We had
planned to go to Austin since there were a couple things that are
pretty urgent up there, we felt like we should work since the white
handbook says to maximize holidays since families are home. I don't
really agree with that since no one wants to talk to missionaries on
their one day off, but we did it anyways, and as I knew would happen,
we had a lousy day where no one was home and the people who were
didn't really want to talk to us. We came up with some pretty cool
ideas to tie the 4th of July to the Restoration, but no one was
interested. We did get to visit N. She really loves us a ton. We
listened to a talk we left her and she said she had a Book of Mormon
in Swahili. She has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. We tried
talking about baptism, but she's wanting her eyes to get better
before she does anything and she wants to learn more first, so we
told her we would need to come by more often, she was totally okay
with that! We went in at 8 to be safe.
Saturday was awesome. We ended up
helping the Rs clear their storage unit for the whole morning. That
was tiring, but a good workout and we were able to proselyte the
evening. We had a lesson with P. We had an awesome lesson with T and
B and we brought Brother D. We taught fasting and tithing and they
really liked the idea of fasting. They both wanted to do it, but only
T did it. T finished 1 Nephi, and I've never had such a good
investigator, he has just brought us a lot of joy.
Sunday was pretty great too. T came to
church and stayed for all three hours and liked it a lot. He told
everyone that we were "God-sent" and he loves changes he's
made. He's getting more fellowship and members are starting to get
excited about who we are teaching. We had a lesson with a new guy
named S, who is about 20 and really nice. I don't know how interested
he is, but he was really curious about the Book of Mormon and he
committed to read and we have an appointment Tuesday.
So it was a really incredible week and
we are hoping to cement Brother H's date and set T with one too this
week, which will be awesome! I am so thankful for all that God has
blessed us with. Sometimes I really don't feel like I am worthy to
have such great things happen, but it has brought me a lot of
happiness to see how much Brother H and T have changed from the first
time I met them. This gospel is a gospel of change, and happiness,
two things very evident in each of them. I know it can do the same
for anyone who will live it. Thanks for all the support, it helps a
bunch!
Love,
Elder Pew
July 14th, 2014
Dear family,
Thursday I finally went to the temple
again! It was incredible! The new movie I saw (no idea which one) was
awesome. It was like going through for the first time again since I
have forgotten everything and it was a new movie. It felt good to be
in the House of the Lord again and to feel the Spirit that was
present. Really sweet to reflect on the past year and ponder and pray
in the Celestial Room. The San Antonio temple is really beautiful.
Monday we had an awesome lesson with H
and his wife. We taught them the Restoration again so his wife J
could be in on the Book of Mormon. H had read quite a bit and she was
pretty receptive. H was just like, "man, there is a lot more I
could be doing to be a better dad and husband and leader of this
family." He is just super cool. He doesn't do anything out of
the ordinary, but he's just really cool. We are having a hard time
meeting regularly though, and church at 1 is hard for their crazy 2
year old son, plus J is like 8 months pregnant. I think in time they
will be baptized.
Tuesday was awesome. We had to go to
Austin and we made a bunch of deliveries up there including one to
Elder W, so I got to talk with him for awhile. Strange that he's been
out more than 8 months already. We had a lesson with Brother H and
taught the Word of Wisdom. He thought it was strange that we can't
have coffee or tea and he drinks both, but he said he'd give it up
and he's on like day 6 now without coffee or tea. We had a lesson
with the Ks and we brought both Brother and Sister W. It was an
amazing lesson. T easily accepted August 2 for a baptism date and B
said she's not ready but then gave this whole speech on how we have
made her re-think things and question herself. She said the fact that
we actually walk the walk is incredible and rare, especially in youth
and it makes her want what we have. I told her I would tell her the
secret, and then I just wanted her to know the church was true sooo
badly I ended up bearing one of the most sincere testimonies I have
on my mission. I almost cried and I told her it was nothing we do,
but that God leads the church, the priesthood is on the earth, and we
have the Holy Ghost to guide us to help others and become better
people. We were really pleased with the results of the lesson. It was
awesome for the Ks to have the ward support like that.
Wednesday we had to start clearing out
an apartment that no one is living in that the STLLs are going to
move into with a ton of bunk-beds so they don't have to stay in our
apartment every transfer. We thought it was going to be an easy
project, but it turns out the last missionaries left TONS of stuff
there and we have been chipping away at it the rest of the week. It's
going to be quite the process. We had a lesson with N and tried
explaining the importance of the Book of Mormon and we aren't sure
what to do with her. She really likes us, the Book of Mormon, and
supposedly the church, but hasn't come to church yet. At this point,
I just want to be persistent with her and see if we can see a change,
otherwise, we will move on.
Thursday we went to the temple and I
got a couple pairs of garments since some of mine are getting wrecked
now (sorry I've been using my debit card a lot lately, that's just
been the life of a Moving Elder). We had another lesson with Brother
H and taught him tithing and callings. We brought Brother D. Man he's
awesome. Anyways, we had to run a few errands in the evening because
we are over-loaded on Moving Elder jobs.
Friday we had zone meeting which was
really awesome and our zone is sweet. Again it was exactly what I
needed to work on. We had another lesson with the Ks and Sister W.
The lesson went really well and we went over the baptism interview
questions for T and he's totally ready, and B asked a bunch of
questions about each one that we answered and she brought up her main
concern being that it seems like a man-made church to her, so we
explained the roles of prophets and Apostles in revealing the truths
about God and keeping things pure and organized. I think she's making
a ton of ground. We also had a lesson with P and prepared him to
receive the Aaron Priesthood.
Saturday we had to do some urgent
things like take a bed to where Elder D is coming back to, which I'm
really excited about. We had another lesson with Brother H to review
the baptism interview questions and fill out a form that President
Slaughter needed for the interview set up for after church Sunday. We
also stopped by H and J with Brother and Sister C who live just down
the street to invite them to church. It was incredible! They got
along super well and when we were talking on their porch H came home
from work carrying his phone, laptop, and Book of Mormon. His
bookmark was like 1/10 of the way in. They were happy to meet someone
and we didn't even really have to do anything. Unfortunately they
didn't come to church, but it was a super productive stop-by.
Sunday was crazy and awesome. T and
Brother H came to church, and T really liked it again. The talks were
super good. All on Joseph Smith and I was really impressed with all
of them. Brother H had his interview during Gospel Principles, and
then right when they finished, priesthood was starting and we took
part in P getting the Aaronic Priesthood. It was really cool to see.
We had dinner with Brother and Sister S, a couple in their early 50s
and they invited the Ks. It was awesome! It was just amazing to see
members being proactive in member-missionary work. They were super
helpful for T and B and they really enjoyed it. B said Sister S made
her excited to read the Book of Mormon. I really hope she does!
Things just go SO much better when members are involved. I'm not
worried about them once we are transferred, the ward loves them. We
went to their house early this morning and mowed their lawn and
trimmed some bushes since T hasn't been able to do much. It was fun
and we really love the Ks. Well again, it was an incredible week and
we are really excited for T, B, Brother H, H, and J. Even if there
are only five solid people, it's amazing to see how they have been
prepared and how the gospel is changing them. I know that this church
is led by Christ, not man. I know the priesthood is real, and the
Gift of the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift we could have in this
life. Thanks for the love and support!
Love,
Elder Pew
July 21st 2014
Dear family,
This was a great week, although the
past few have been very similar. Great things with the Ks and Brother
H, but little success elsewhere, but we keep trying.
Monday we had a lesson with Brother H
and we read Mosiah 5 with him to keep him in the Book of Mormon and
he enjoyed it.
Tuesday we had zone conference. It was
super sweet! President Slaughter is just incredible. Lately I've been
studying the scattering and gathering of Israel and what does he give
a 2 hour training on? The scattering and gathering of Israel. He
dropped so much knowledge on us and he answered all of my questions.
He said that possibly the most important answer to who we are is
Israel, the Lord's chosen people. He explained that it is a huge
misconception in the church that we are adopted into the House of
Israel when we get our Patriarchal Blessings. He explained that we
are literal descendants of our tribes and not adopted. Rarely do
people come into the church that are not descendants of Israel, and
that is fulfillment of prophecy as is the fact that most people are
from Joseph. God knew they would be those ready for the gospel in
this dispensation and one reason the House of Israel was scattered
was to strategically place His people where He needed them to build
His kingdom. He talked about the "four systems of salvation"
that shows how our church believe more people will be saved than
anyone else. First is children who die before the age of
accountability (close to 50% of all people who have lived) Also
included is those who are not accountable- those with mental
disabilities. Second is the would-haves, those who will accept the
gospel in the Spirit World and never had the chance here (he
referenced 2 Nephi 10:4 ). Third is those in the Millennium, a time
when children will grow up with out sin unto salvation (don't
remember what the scripture was for that). And fourth, the scattering
and gathering of Israel. Pretty cool stuff. We had a lesson with the
Ks and we brought Brother C. We read 3 Nephi 27 and it went well. T
continues to fly through the Book of Mormon, and B actually read the
testimony of Joseph Smith. We explained the importance of a prophet,
which is what she's having a hard time with, she still thinks it's a
man-made church. We also had a lesson with T and he is still going
through some rough stuff, but we talked about putting God first
(basically what we always talk about with him) and this time he
finally got it. He said he realized he needs to not worry about this
other stuff and make sure he's putting God first no matter what. The
Spirit was strong and it felt so good to hear someone finally
understand for themselves what they need to do. He wants to be fully
active in church again. He's cool and it's cute how he's our little
buddy. He will randomly text us and ask us how we are doing and will
just call to talk to us. He's awesome.
Wednesday we finished clearing out the
Stone Oak apartment so now it's ready for the 5 bunk-beds or whatever
we decide to put in it. We also found someone for the Las Lomas
sisters to teach in their apartment while we were throwing stuff
away. We had another lesson with Brother H and Brother N came. We
watched the Restoration DVD with him and he really liked it. He is
just doing so well. He also managed to get his wife to watch it, and
she liked it fine, although he told her yesterday he's getting
baptized and she was pretty upset with that, so we aren't going over
there until he can clear some things up with her. He doesn't flinch
though, he's super determined to get baptized.
Thursday we went up to Austin in
separate cars to take one to Pflugarville. It's a really long story,
but we solved a huge problem they have had that the Assistants,
President, and the office couples hadn't figured out yet. That was
pretty intense driving separate, but since I know Austin and Round
Rock so well I didn't have the GPS and just got around fine. We
stopped at the Zone Conference up in Round Rock to drop a few things
off including mail that the Assistants were suppose to bring but
forgot. I saw Sister B from Brushy Creek and she was wondering what
we were doing in normal clothes, so I explained to her what we do,
but it was fun to see someone from Brushy Creek. We went in the gym
to talk to some of the missionaries during lunch. We got back in time
to proselyte but we had no success finding new families.
Friday was a little frustrating. We had
the hardest time getting anyone to our lesson with Brother H and the
Ks, and then P and L cancelled on us, and then B was in a bad mood
and wouldn't join us in the lesson, so it was a little awkward. T is
still doing well and excited for his baptism. The lesson with
Brother H was a great ending to the night and he has been reading a
ton from the Book of Mormon again and has a couple friends from his
old church he wants to be taught.
Saturday we had to deliver a dryer to
Bastrop since theirs broke and Elder W wanted them to have a new one
by Monday, so we drove the 1.5 hours to their place, but it was fun
to see Elder L again. We did a lot of contacting, but still not much
success. We did meet this one lady that I think we really got
interested. Elder R didn't think she was receptive so he just asked
for referrals before we really taught anything, and she said her
husband needed a message about Jesus Christ. She was outside watching
her little kids play in a pool, so I swooped in and talked about how
our message is aimed at blessing families and read the paragraph from
the Family: A Proclamation to the World about happiness in family
life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of
Jesus Christ... By divine design fathers are to lead in their home in
righteousness. She was like, "wow that sounds awesome!" We
got her info and set up a lesson Wednesday when her husband would be
home, but she's not sure if he will be at all receptive.
Church was awesome on Sunday. T and
Brother H came, but T left after sacrament meeting to check on B.
Brother H was fellowshipped very well and he really liked the talks
in sacrament meeting. We had a lesson with P and L about baptisms
for the dead and P seemed to like the idea and hopefully we can get
him to the temple soon. Him and L are so cute and I love how much
faith they have that things will work out despite their rough
situation. They are awesome! We contacted a lot more and still didn't
have any success. I've really been trying to think how we can get the
ward more involved in actually finding people. I've thought about
trying to teach a Preach my Gospel class, because I feel like members
don't know how to study from it and they could apply those things
into their member-missionary work. Well, either way, I know there
are families here in this area ready for the gospel, and if we are
diligent we will find them. Miracles still happen, and God knows each
of us and has a plan for us to return to live with him. The Book of
Mormon is true, and Christ is our Savior and this is His church and
His work. Thanks for all the support!
Love,
Elder Pew
July 28th, 2014
Dear family,
This was absolutely the busiest week of
our lives, and it's not going to stop until after transfers (unless I
stay, then it will probably continue). We have been incredibly
blessed though and it has reaffirmed that this is the LORD'S work,
not ours, which is an awesome and humbling experience. Hopefully I
can remember everything...
Monday like right after I finished
emailing you Elder W called and told us he forgot that the lease some
missionaries' apartment up in Austin ended that day, and so we needed
to miss our P-day and help them. We didn't have our truck because we
took it in the morning to get fixed finally, but Elder P happened to
have an extra truck that we were able to use, so I've driven in about
10 different cars since I've been in this area. We had set up a
lesson with H for 1:30 even though it was P-day, so we went to that
first. It was INCREDIBLE. He is such an amazing guy. His wife wasn't
there and he explained that she is pretty hesitant about the church
and feels more comfortable in the Catholic church. But he said he is
LOVING the Book of Mormon. He said he feels like a better person
every time he reads it. He says he never reads but something told him
to read it and he is hooked on it and can't stop. He said he feels
like he's such a better father and husband because of it, and he
knows it's from God. He really loves meeting with us and he says we
have helped him a lot and he feels like he's known us longer than the
actual month it's probably been. As he was talking it reminded me of
Moroni 7: 16-17, so I shared it with him and he said it is exactly
what he has been feeling. So, he knows the Book of Mormon is true and
so is the church. He really wants to come to our church, but he
doesn't want to upset his wife. he said he's going to support her,
but he would love to continue learning and hopefully she would join
us for those and if not, he wants to see this through. I love that so
much, you have no idea. He was really excited to come on a church
tour on Saturday with the O family, but his wife had their baby girl
on Friday or Saturday, so he couldn't make it but the Cs and us are
going to bring them something. The lesson made it a lot easier to
just give up the rest of our P-day, because I thought that this is
really why I'm here and if that's going well, then who cares about
the rest. Since we didn't have our truck, we didn't have any CDs or
flash drive, so it was pretty boring, but whatever. We got the
sisters there moved out by about 6:30 and by the time we finished
everything and got home it was 8:55.
Tuesday we had to go down to the Border
to Uvalde. It was really hot down there, but we got back in good time
and we had a lesson with the Ks about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. B
is really struggling. She isn't even listening to us.
Wednesday we helped D in her yard and
her lawn was like 3.5 feet tall and it didn't have a shield on the
side so I got CAKED with grass. We brought T since he knows how to
fix pipes and we started fixing her leak in her yard. We had to stop
so we could run home, shower, and get to District Meeting. We had a
great meeting and it's awesome to have so many sisters. They gave
some good suggestions for working with female investigators. They are
all really hard workers and I'm impressed with all of them. We went
back with T and finished fixing the leak and then we had to pick up
like 100 things from the furniture store for the incoming Sister's
apartment (which by the way Elder W found that the original lease was
signed by grandpa Pew when he was here). We had to unload it all into
the storage unit which was really tiring because bunk-beds aren't
light. We also carried like 6 mattresses and a couple wooden boards
at a time to save time. We were exhausted and got home at 9, so
didn't even proselyte.
Thursday we were on an exchange with
Elder T, our zone leader. He is really cool, and a really good
singer. He's on scholarship at Utah State for his voice. He is a
great teacher and just a solid guy. We had to take care of some bike
issues and we were able to be out by 5. We had a lesson with Brother
H and taught him about family history and temples. He likes the idea
a lot and wants to take his dad to the temple. He's awesome. We had a
lesson with N and we just emphasized the importance of church and
Elder T did a great job of resolving her concern, validating her
trails, and building her up in like three sentences and she said she
would come. We had a lesson with the Ks as well and taught the
importance of baptism by priesthood. Sister W has really helped
Barbara, but she's still just floating along. We basically taught all
night which was awesome.
Friday we we had to go to Seguin and
Lockhart which are very similar and they have some awesome houses out
there. Look like big, southern plantation houses. We made it back for
dinner and we dropped a present off for B's birthday. We drew a card
that she really liked. We forgot to take pictures. We dropped off a
bunch of invitations to the Pioneer Day celebration for Saturday
morning.
Saturday morning was the stake Pioneer
Day celebration and it was pretty awesome. They had a ton of
activities. Brother H and T came, but B was up partying with her
friend too late and they didn't come. Brother S talked with Brother H
like the whole time which was awesome. P and L went too. Our ward was
defending their three straight tug-of-war titles and we watched them
march their way to the championship. We went against Sonterra for the
championship and Sonterra looked pretty good and big, and the ward
finally convinced me and Elder R to help, but we ended up winning
really easily. It was fun and T and Brother H had a great time. After
we had to run to San Marcos to do a preliminary move because they are
moving into DeZavala's apartment and DeZavala is moving into a new
apartment. We moved San Marcos big stuff out and looked at the
DeZavala apartment to see what we have to take to the new apartment
and what we need to get for the final move this weekend. We made it
back for dinner and T had his interview with President Slaughter. He
also got a haircut and he looks sharp. It was a really short
interview, so I think President could tell he was ready pretty
quickly.
Sunday was awesome. Brother H, T, N,
and N all came to church. T, Brother H, and N really liked church
and T invited everyone in Gospel Principles to his baptism. We had
like 16 people in Gospel Principles. P, L, Sister S, the O family, S,
Brother H, T, N, and us of course. P passed the sacrament for the
first time which was awesome to watch. Sister S led the little army
of women to relief society. We also met this kid named T and his mom
who just moved into the area and she wants to come back to church and
he's 12 and hasn't been baptized. So we set up a lesson for Tuesday
night to start teaching him. He's a nice kid and it will be good
review for his mom, she doesn't remember anything. We also had
another member say their grandson is visiting for summer and they
want us to teach him since he's 15 and not a member. So we have that
this week too. We were super-blessed and those are the experiences
that really reminded me this is the Lord's work. We can work as hard
as we can, but ultimately, He's in control. We had dinner with the Fs
who are pretty sweet. Brother F cooks some ridiculously good steaks
and he's a huge Jazz fan. We had a lesson with T since he had the
house to himself. We explained the Aaronic priesthood and he seems
excited to participate. I also felt like we should stop by this older
couple that we met like 2 months ago that wanted us to pray for them
before their trip (I think I told you about them when we first met
them) and they said they were getting back in July which was forever
away, but I felt prompted to go back, even though Elder R was certain
they weren't interested, and they let us right in and were so
impressed with remembered them and were checking up on them. We got
talking about T getting baptized and they started asking questions
and we ended up teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them and
answered a lot of questions. They seem more intellectually
interested, but P (the wife) said she felt "so good!" after
talking with us, and that she loves Mormons. We have another lesson
tonight so we can see more where they are at. I know this is God's
work we are in. Working to restore His people (Israel) to the truths
of the gospel. The Book of Mormon is the tool to gather the elect
(Moses 6:62 I think) and it is so powerful, as we've seen with T,
Brother H, and H. It's amazing. Christ is our Savior and loves each
of us. Thanks for all of the support!
Love,
Elder Pew
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| moving Elder extraordinaire |
