January 26th, February 2nd & 9th, 2015 and some photos

January 26^th, 2015

Dear family,

Mayhem is kinda what this week felt like, but it was a great week! I am so grateful for the great learning experiences I've had this week and on my mission, especially seeing some great missionaries go home has made me grateful I still have tons of time left. 

Monday night was great. We had a first lesson with these two younger people. Neither of them were very religious, agnostic at best. We basically talked about prayer and the Book of Mormon and how they would help them know there is a God. We finished the night filling up with gas and Elder T cried a little bit because it was his last night to work. He was a great example of enduring to the end, and it was sad to see it end.

Tuesday we got up really early and drove up to Austin and picked up all the departing missionaries. It was a fun drive. It was Elder H's first time going to Austin. By the way he is from Gilbert Arizona and I think you can see what he looks like in J's baptism picture, we haven't had time to take a picture together yet. He is a really great missionary. He's helped me step up my planning especially and he is very driven. Anyways, we dropped off the departing missionaries and finished up everything we needed to logistically for the transfer (getting vans, luggage, locks, air mattresses, etc. in the right places at the right times). We had a really good evening. We had a lesson with the Gs. We had a lesson with P that was amazing. We taught him about eternal families and he really likes the idea. He's really determined to become converted so that he doesn't fall away. He is so cool. He was really excited for his baptism. We also had a lesson with the M family.

Wednesday morning we took the departing missionaries to the airport. It was sad to leave Elder T and we only cried a little bit. He will do great things though. We had the new district leader and trainer meeting and President told us he couldn't come so the LSTLs ran the trainer meeting and we trained the district leaders. It went really well. We picked up the new missionaries from the airport, and it's so cool how you can tell who the leaders will be so quickly. The gift of discernment is amazing. We had one new missionary named Elder N who is a convert to the church and he is going to be an incredible missionary. He blew me away. We took them to the temple and then to the church for lunch. We had to pick up the Mexico MTC missionaries and we took them all straight to the Alamo. It was a little chilly so it wasn't as busy, but it was a great experience. I went with a couple different people and we passed out about 5. Every time I absolutely love sharing the Book of Mormon with people and I still don't think I will ever be able to express my feelings for it with words. We took the new missionaries to the Slaughters for dinner and they were zonked. We tried to have some discussions with them, but they were totally zoned out so we left at 9. It was a good group. 16 total.

Thursday we got up really early again and took the new missionaries to transfer meeting. They were really excited to hear who their trainers were. I conducted the San Antonio transfer meeting and announced the transfer changes in Austin. It is fun to conduct. Probably my favorite thing ever is when everyone starts singing "Called to Serve" really loud right before we come in with the new missionaries and then we walk through the door and everyone stands as we enter. It is such a humbling experience. It was raining really hard after the meeting which made the chaos of luggage more chaotic, but everyone cooperated really well. We had 31 missionaries going to Austin which is a big group and only 18 areas were unaffected by transfers. It was fun to drive with a big group of missionaries. I took the 15 seater and Elder H took the other van. We had a pretty slow evening, but we did teach J about the priesthood and got him really excited for that. 

Friday we planned our next transfer with the Sisters and then made the org card, so we were in the office until the evening. We met some cool new people and families, and we have been trying by a lot of part-member families, but we didn't have any luck teaching that night.

Saturday we were able to work for a lot of the day which felt great. We have one less-active guy who has a non-member girlfriend that seems like she could be interested, so hopefully that one pans out. We had a lesson with H on agency and revelation. Basically the goal of the lesson was to help him see he didn't need a miraculous experience to know to be baptized. He can choose. I think we helped him see he needed to change the attitude of his prayers to "this is my decision ____, help me to know if this isn't what I'm suppose to do." If he is willing to decide like that, he will be baptized.

Sunday was great. Church is always good. H came again, and P came just to Gospel Principles. I think he just wants to make sure he really believes it, and he's reading the Book of Mormon, so it should be a fast process. A returning less-active lady brought her friend who is really interested which was awesome so we are teaching him in her home on Tuesday, but he will be in a different area. A recent-convert family moved into the ward this week too, so we had a lesson with them after church. They are really solid. I was so impressed with them. They were baptized in November and we are helping them with family history on Wednesday because they are excited to go to the temple. That was exciting to see their excitement for the gospel. Our meeting with President was amazing! We planned out the things we needed to, and then we ended up talking about the difference between remission of sins and forgiveness, the gift of the Holy Ghost being the vehicle for the blessings of the Atonement, and the gathering of Israel. It was great. He just has so much knowledge. I love being able to work with him. Also, if you are wondering, forgiveness and remission of sins are usually used synonymously (I can explain that further if you want later). 

Anyways, I'm just full of gratitude for the chance I have to serve the Lord. Thank you for your love and support. I know everything we share is true. This is the way. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Pew

February 2^nd, 2015

Dear family, 

This was a fantastic week! I can't remember if I told you last week, but Elder Nelson came with Elder Foster and Elder Wright to speak to us on Saturday. It was amazing and I will tell you more details later.

Monday we didn't have much going on. We stopped by H and gave him a bunch of scripture verses. 

Tuesday we had District Meeting. Elder W is our district leader now which is such a neat experience and he did an amazing job. He knows the gospel really really well. He is a study junky and everyone in the district really got a lot out of it. We had a meeting with the Area Leaders to define what their responsibilities are. They are basically going to be traveling assistants who will be focused on helping the Spanish in the mission improve. They will be a good addition. We had a lesson with the Gs and they are slowly progressing, but it is really hard to know how to help people like them. I've wondered my whole mission how to help low-commitment people break their cycle and stay committed. I still don't know the secret, so if somebody does, I would love to know it.

Wednesday we had a chance to weekly plan and do some other work we needed to in the office. We had a great lesson with P about following the prophet and he was excited for his baptism and loved church last week. They made us these delicious hamburgers too. I love that family. We had a lesson with the recent convert that just moved into our ward, the B family. Wife is a member, husband is a convert of two months. They are really solid. We helped them get started on their family history on familysearch. It was really neat. We went back as far as he knew and we hit a line that had already been done. He is going to go in and put the rest that he knows and tonight we are hopefully going to help him find some more names. It was a great example of being involved in all aspects of the work of salvation. We were helping retain a new member, reactivate a less-active one, do work for the dead, and teach the gospel all at once. Lots of people see missionaries only being a part of conversion (baptism), but that is not our only focus and purpose. We are involved in all five aspects and each member should be too. It's not the high priest's responsibility to do family history, or the elder's quorum to reactivate. We should all do all of them. 

Thursday we went on exchanges. I was with Elder W. He's a really good missionary and he's pretty young. He has only been out 13 months but he will be a great zone leader. He is a great teacher and very urgent. I felt bad because all of our lessons canceled and I could tell he was slightly nervous, but one of my goals is to be very approachable. We had some good discussions.

Friday I was on exchanges with Elder N. It was kinda chaotic since Elder H planned the day on his previous exchange, but it was fun to be with Elder N. He's the new zone leader here in our zone, so it's fun to have Elder W as my district leader and Elder N as my zone leader. We had a lesson with P and reviewed the interview questions. He is ready and excited. We set up his interview with Elder W for Saturday.

Saturday we had a lesson with Sister M's friend in her home. She is so awesome. She invited him to come to church and he came and loved it and they have been reading scriptures together this week too. The lesson was great and he committed to baptism, but wouldn't accept a date. He came to church again though and liked it and we had another lesson Sunday that he also enjoyed. Elder Nelson was suppose to come at 3:30 so we told the mission to be there before 3, and then President told us he was going to be early, so we had everyone there by about 2:45 . It was amazing to see the reverence that our mission has for the chapel and for a member of the Twelve. We ran around helping President until Elder Nelson pulled in and we came and sat down. There is nothing like being in the presence of one of the Brethren. They are such inspiring men. I was so impressed with how genuine he was. He would sit on the edge of his seat so he could see the person's face that was talking. Then he would stand and thank them afterwards. He, Elder Foster, and Elder Wright talked about the importance of family history and it was impressed upon me how important that is. Elder Foster explained how those who have passed on are doing everything to prepare their descendants and lead us to them so their temple work can be completed. It really clicked how the hearts of the fathers will turn to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. It's amazing and sometimes we forget that it is all the same work. It was also neat to watch the unwritten order of the church and how President Slaughter treated a presiding authority (also you should always stand when they enter the room and stand after they stand when the meeting is over and wait until they leave to move). P had his interview right after and passed with flying colors. It was great.

Sunday was a great day. P came to all three hours of church and so did J. P had some more interactions with ward members which is great. We had a great lesson with the M family. They are part-member and the 9 year old isn't baptized. I think it will just a little time, so that is a family that you should pray for. Also, we fasted today that H would decide to get baptized on the 21st of this month, if it is the Lord's time. 

This week I am especially certain that we have living prophets and Apostles. They hold all the keys of the kingdom. We will never go astray if we follow their counsel. This is the true church. Thank you for all that you do and for your faith!

Love,

Elder Pew

February 9^th, 2015

Dear family,

This was a fantastic week! So many great things happened, hopefully I can put it all into words.

Monday we had a great lesson with P. He said some things that couldn't have made me happier. He was really excited to invite his family to his baptism and he just loves the church. He opened up to us a lot more and he said that "the high standards of the church are just so important to our family, and staying strong. We just hold them in such high regard." We also helped the B family again with family history and now we have his membership number so we can request the ordinances. We are excited for them.

Tuesday we got up early to go to Kyle for the trainer/trainee meeting. There were 16 companionships and they are doing great. President asked me to give a training on being faithful to God rather than faithful to rules. I had to throw it together Tuesday morning, but it went well. Really obedience is simply a baseline for all that we do, it's the minimum. The missionary handbook even says so (pg 1). Everyone says exact obedience brings miracles, but if you read what the scriptures say, you see that obedience brings blessings (Mosiah 2:41, D&C 130:20, D&C 132:5, etc) and faith is what brings miracles (Ether12:12, Moro. 7:33, etc.). I compared the missionary handbook to the law of Moses and went through what the scriptures teach on that (Gal. 2:16; 2 Ne 25:24-25, 29-30; Mosiah 13:28-32; and Alma 25:16) and you see that salvation does not come by the law, but by Christ. Yet, we still keep the commandments because they serve to strengthen our faith which is what makes us alive in Christ. Obedience is simply one evidence we are faithful to God. Laman and Lemuel were obedient and not faithful, and they didn't see the miracle of getting the plates. Consecration is another big part of being faithful. We must give up all that we have and be consecrated in order to have sufficient faith. Being faithful requires we live principles, not rules. I also focused on how being faithful requires doing things for the right reasons. There are a lot of reasons to serve, but if we really want to be obedient, the first great commandment is to love God with all of our hearts, might, mind, and strength, so that should be our motive. Elder Nelson also counseled us to only marry someone who loves God much more than they love you. Serving out of love rather than for earthly or heavenly reward, out of duty, or anything else. Elder Oaks gave a great talk on that and Elder Osguthorpe did as well. It is something that applies to our whole lives too. We went on exchanges and they were great. I was in New Braunfels which might be the most beautiful area in the mission. It's so scenic. We had some great lessons and we found a new family of four that is super solid. I am really excited for those Elders to teach them. 

Wednesday we another lesson with P and he was even more impressive. He said that "there is something inside me, that just pulls me to do what's right. It's something I've always had." He is incredible and I feel like us and the N family are really good friends too. We had district meeting and Elder W is doing well. He has been impressive. I went on exchanges with Elder T and we had a great day. We are just so similar. I've almost convinced him to go to BYU. We had a really powerful lesson with a part-member family. They aren't interested but we just astonished them. I know they felt the Spirit, but they just don't want to change yet.

Thursday we ended up in the office almost all day because of how far behind we were from the rest of the week. We prepared for MLC on Friday and we didn't have any lessons in the evening.

Friday was MLC. It was one of the best ones I've been to. President gave a training on discernment like I asked for and it was incredible. Surprisingly (not really) it's not reading minds and it comes from the light (Spirit) already within you. A few of us sang that arrangement of "Come, Thou Fount" arranged by Sally DeFord and it was powerful. The Lead Sister Training Leaders gave a great training about who we are. It really hit me about the difference between choosing God and God choosing you. We must choose God always, but God also chooses His children to be His leaders. It was powerful. President got up and answered any questions and we got into some incredible discussions and President shared his experience of when they lowered the age for missionaries and he realized they were going to be called. It was really neat. 

Saturday was P's baptism. It was a great service. A's parents flew in from California to be there and Paul's father-in-law member was suppose to baptize him, but when we got there he was like, "well, he's not here yet, and Elder Pew I'd rather have you do it." It was hard to know what to say since I'm pretty against missionaries baptizing investigators since it ties them to the church better if it's not a missionary, but I couldn't say no and at that point I was the only one who could have an extra pair of clothes that could be brought, so I had the moving Elders bring extra clothes and towel while I changed into a jumpsuit. So I surprisingly had the opportunity to baptize him which I'm so grateful for. He came out of the water and just stood there. I didn't know what to do, but he was really happy. I went to change and the bundle the moving Elders left didn't have a towel (of course), so I had to use paper towels to dry, but besides that the baptism was incredible. He bore his testimony and he's just so advanced for a convert. He even said that he knew the church was true. Sister N offered a sweet prayer to close and thanked God for the missionaries and their diligence in teaching their family.

The ward did a good job of supporting and his confirmation went well too. I am so excited for them! 

Sunday was great. J came to church again and H of course. We had a great lesson with J after church on the gospel of Jesus Christ and he is loving the church, he just needs to commit. We are working with him though. We had a lesson with a new family. They live across the street from a member in this really nice gated community. We found them a month ago when they were just outside and we talked to the wife and it turns out they are interested. We had a great lesson with them and there three kids. The father travels a ton for work so we have a return appointment in two weeks, but we are really excited for that. We let their neighbors know too and they are also excited. We had another lesson with the M family, and we talked about the importance of commandments. I think they are close to committed to really investigating. They are a good family. We also had a short lesson with J and Sister P got moved back to work, so Joseph missed church, but he's doing pretty well. 

This work is true and I know that P's baptism was a true baptism. Even a great person like him can receive so much more by being a part of Christ's true church. Thank you for everything!

Love,

Elder Pew

3 Weeks January 5, 12& 19, 2015 and a photo

January 5, 2015

Dear family,

This was a fantastic week! So much happened, I hope I can remember it all. 

Tuesday was the meeting for the new trainers and trainees and we did it up in Kyle, so we got up early to make the drive. I felt like the meeting went really well. The purpose of the meeting was to cover some really important points while they are still new and to really build their trainers in their eyes so they will listen to them. We also split off the trainees and trainers so they could ask open questions and it was good. There are some really good missionaries. I gave a training on talking with everyone, which is certainly something really important to learn at the beginning of your mission. I had four main points:

1. We must have faith in Christ and trust in His promise that there are people ready and treat them like it until they prove otherwise.

2. We must give everyone the best chance possible. Recently 2 Ne. 2:27, Jacob 5:41, and 2 Ne 26:24 have really stuck out on how God has done EVERYTHING in His power to help us accept the gospel and PMG says that "we are called to represent Jesus Christ in helping others become clean from their sins," so we must give everyone an honest effort.

3. We declare and then invite. No one will accept the invitation to learn unless we have declared restored truths that help them become interested in the gospel.

4. Our goal is to find new investigators. That is our end goal, so we can't simply pass out cards, we must try to persuade others to listen. It was a fun meeting. Afterwards we went on exchanges. I went with Elder W and R in Seguin, a country town. We had an awesome day. Within 30 minutes we found a new family simply from clearing the blind spots with a 17 year old LA boy they have been teaching, so now they are teaching his parents who aren't members. We taught pretty much all day long and they have two great investigators that hadn't been set with a date yet and I've been working on inviting to baptism with scriptures so with one we read 2 Ne. 31:8-11 (I think) and then Alma 5:62, my current favorite verse from the Book of Mormon and they both easily accepted for the 17th. It was fun and it was cool to see the change even from when they picked me up to the time I left. 

Wednesday morning we drove back in time for our District Meeting which was fun since we have a huge district. We had to do some office work to get ready for MLC and some other things. There was a Spanish Conference up in Austin and President thinks I have pretty good Spanish so he had me drive a couple missionaries from San Antonio to go since we have unlimited miles, and there wasn't a lot of proselyting on New Year's Eve anyways, so it was worth the drive. We saw some fireworks which was pretty fun on the way up and to see Austin. The Spanish conference was great and I'm in the process of taking the Spanish test to see where I'm at. So far I'm hitting about 40% which isn't terrible without any studying since you only need 75% to pass. 

Thursday we had to finish everything up for MLC and unfortunately no one was really home, but we talked to a lot of people on the streets but no one was interested.

Friday was MLC and it was incredible. President decided to have us go to the temple as an MLC, so we got to do a session. It was so cool and I learned a lot. I love the temple sooo much. It was cool to be in the Celestial Room with a bunch of other missionaries. Me and Elder T were the last ones in there and we talked about a couple things and then prayed on our own and it was just a great experience. The actual MLC was really good too, and not stressful since I didn't have to give a training. Our evening was pretty sweet. We stopped by this guy named L that really wants to join the church. He was miraculously home and he is still totally on board with joining the church. I had never heard of him before then, so I was super excited. It's just a matter of time before he joins. He's just waiting for his wife, but they have a ton of member friends and we are hopefully going over for a lesson this week. He asked us to find a convert family of about 3 years that has been integrated into the church, and there is this sweet family that joined about 2 years ago and are PERFECT for them. It is exciting.

Saturday we had a great day. We dropped off some departing missionaries at the airport at 5:30 in the morning. We hadn't heard from P since the first lesson, so we stopped by and had an amazing lesson. He is SO COOL. He asked us "after I'm baptized, what do I need to do to stay worthy?" Best kingdom-building question ever. We read from the Book of Mormon and it's just a matter of time until he is baptized, things just need to slow down. We also had this killer lesson with this new family whose name is the R. They are really young and really awesome. They haven't been very religious which is great so we didn't need to unteach them anything, and they understood the Restoration really well. It was great. They accepted the 29th as a baptismal date and they really look forward to being cleansed of sin and having a new start. V's prayer was really touching and she asked that us and the Book of Mormon would help them accomplish their "family goals." It was great. We also had a lesson with a part-member family that has a 9 year old that hasn't been baptized. We read a chapter of the Book of Mormon. The mom isn't really interested right now, but hopefully they come along. We also talked to another new family, the A, and they are super interested and we were going to teach them after church and they were super excited to come to church, but the dad got called into work at8:30 but he let us know beforehand, so we are still excited to teach them. J texted us and told us that he got a new job that will let him off every Sunday, so this was his last week not at church, so he should be baptized pretty fast. I It's amazing how much we got done when we actually had a whole day to be in our area. Also, we taught this other new lady about the Book of Mormon and she was super interested, but her boyfriend came over after and told her to never meet with us again, so she called and said she would read, but we wouldn't be able to come back now.

Church was awesome. H came again and this ward is really supportive. So H is doing great, P and J are doing well, and we have the A, R, and Mi families on the radar, and W from last week that we are teaching tonight. The work moves on and it's been amazing to see that this really is the Lord's work. If we do it in His way and have faith in Him we can see miracles. Thanks for all you do!

Love,

Elder Pew

January 12, 2015

Dear family,

This was possibly the best week of my mission! It was incredible! Before I forget though I have to tell you about our tennis match this morning. I played Brother S the one who is really good 1 on 1, and lost a heart-wrenching match. We won our serves until it was 4-3 I was up, and then I broke his serve so I was winning 5-3 and only had to close out on my own serve and we went to deuce 12 and I had 8 set points but Brother Smith pulled out his "dad power" and somehow hit ridiculous shots to stay in it and eventually won the game, and then won the next three games to win the set. It was awful and I'm so sore, but it was super fun. On to relevant things:

Monday we worked in our area and nothing really happened. We had bad luck in the evening and no one was home.

Tuesday we had zone conference in Austin, so we left early with the Lead Sister Training Leaders and it was great. The trainings were really well done. I had a hard time since we were low on time and I didn't know how long it was going to take to say what I wanted, so I don't think I was very clear, but Elder T said he could visibly see missionaries see the big picture. I trained on the importance of inviting everyone to baptisms and confirmation since it is such a great way to find. Basically the theme of the conference is that finding people to teach is a principle of faith and action, and that we should ALWAYS be finding. In our lessons, with members, less-active members, recent converts, baptisms, etc. always asking for referrals. I talked about how to invite family and friends of the baptismal candidate to get them interested and a bunch of other things. I went on exchanges in Palm Valley in Round Rock which is a Spanish area, so that was the start of my Spanish exchanges. It was a good exchange and we taught a recent convert in the branch that me and Elder W found street contacting in Brushy Creek and the wife spoke English, but we asked if we could teach her family and she said he spoke Spanish so we had the Spanish missionaries go by and I guess her and her husband got baptized. It was sweet! I guess she said she recognized me, but it was in Spanish and I guess I missed that, and the Elders I was with were confused, but that was a great experience.

We left early Wednesday for Kyle, which is in between Austin and San Antonio and had another zone conference. Each zone conference has gotten better as we have seen what works and what doesn't. I went on exchanges with Lake Austin in Austin, another Spanish area and we had a great day. It was really fun and we found a family applying some of the stuff we learned at zone conference. I understood everything going on really well, but I still struggle to speak. 

Thursday was our one semi-normal day but we had to catch up on all the office work we had missed, so that took up until dinner. We had Brother L (WML) with us in the evening so we stopped by the Ns and had a great lesson on scripture study. They are just the coolest couple to teach. 

Friday we left really early in the morning to drive down to the border. It was a blast. Our car looked like it was a family vacation because we had so much stuff. Oh, quick story, the East Stake president sent cereal for the whole mission on Monday, so we decided to hand it out at zone conferences and it has been really funny because each time we ask a couple Elders to help us carry some "boxes" inside and everyone starts freaking out thinking it's iPads and then when we walk in everyone is disappointed. It's hilarious. So our car was full of cereal boxes too. The zone conference went great and I found out my new companion will be Elder H. He was on the Border. I didn't know much about him, but he has a great reputation and he goes home with me. He is Spanish called. He loves sports and he's kinda quiet like me. He's really great and we brought him back to San Antonio so he can help us transfer plan this next week. I went on exchanges again in a Spanish area with the Zone Leader that will replace Elder H and it was a blast. I love the border. We were like 3 miles away from the border and I really wish I would have taken a picture on this one street. It just looked awesome and like Mexico. It rained too so that made it even better.

Saturday we drove back and we have a really fun time together. We had a lesson set up with the Ns and they asked if we wanted dinner too, and we didn't have one so they fed us too. They are like my idols. Also, P's mom is from Chico. (No I don't know her). We had a great lesson and told him we wanted to set a goal for baptism and asked about the 31st of this month and he said "sounds like a good goal." Then we stopped by the P family, which is L's (from San Pedro) sister and brother-in-law, the one that me and Elder R found when she came to our lesson and sent the missionaries by. Anyways, J has been wanting to get baptized but has had to work on Sundays, so he hasn't yet. We stopped by and Sister P was just beyond excited because they both finally got Sundays off and J got a great new job that pays better, is closer, and gives him more time for church and family. It was a miracle. So we had P, J, and H all committed to come to church.

Church was amazing! All three came and loved it. The ward was good with them. Sacrament meeting was incredible since it was ward conference and our bishop and Stake President just threw it down with some great talks. We had a lesson with J afterwards and he was so excited to have Sundays off so we just got him really excited about getting baptized this next week, so we have a baptism next Sunday at 7, so we get to practice my training of getting tons of non-members there. We set up the interview and Sister P was crying she was so happy. It was such a touching moment and it was just amazing to be a part of. It was great to see how much the Lord blessed their family for their faithfulness and their desire to do what was right and just plopped the perfect circumstances right when they needed it. On top of that, it is so cool that I have the chance to be here when he is baptized after finding him in a different area several months ago. And to complete the S family especially since she joined the church so her daughters would grow up in a strong church and then they all fell away and now have come back. On top of that Elder T gets to leave with one last miracle baptism that I know will mean tons to him. It has truly been a humbling experience. Our meeting with President was incredible again and words just can't explain it well enough. He's just amazing. 

Thank you for all the support. This work in true. "So as much as in me, I am ready to preach the gospel." Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Pew

p.s. Here is a list that President Slaughter made of the qualities of TSAMers. He did a great job and this was probably my favorite part of the zone conferences. It's amazing how he's helped to develop this culture in the mission, and there really aren't any missionaries who don't have these qualities, it's incredible.

Here they are:

1. Knows and trusts the promises of the Lord.

2. Quiet dignity mixed with a deep sense of urgency.

3. Always moving forward in constant, unshaken faith.

4. Line in the water at all times.

5. Preaches "by the way."

6. Seeks to "lift and build."

7. Is never offended.

8. Seeks to please God first.

9. Understands who he/she is and acts accordingly.

10. Relies on Preach My Gospel.

11. Looks outward; not focused on self.

12. Faithful to God and quick to observe.

Notice the emphasis is on faithfulness to God, not simply obedience. Obedience is the bottom-line.

13. Immovable testimony built on the four cornerstones (Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, Priesthood keys, and Jesus Christ).

14. Blood of the Restoration flows in veins.

15. Proactive. Finds a problem; seeks a solution.

16. Trusts in the simplicity of the message; short and powerful.

17. Speaks with confidence and understanding.

18. Understands agency and uses it appropriately.

19. Has a deep sense of collective foreordination instead of competitive individualism.

20. Fully consecrated. All in! 

January 19^th, 2015

Dear family,

It was a great week!
Monday night we had a lesson with the Ss again, a pastor and his wife.
Tuesday we started transfer planning. I was able to contribute a lot more since I know the missionaries a lot better now. It is inspiring to see President and how well he follows the Spirit as well as just uses judgment. Even transfer planning he is always moving in faith. We created a new zone since one zone is getting pretty big so that will be exciting. In the evening we just went crazy inviting everyone we knew to the baptism and for them to invite their friends and family. We had a lesson with this part-member family, but there isn't much there.

Wednesday we finished transfer planning and it went great. We had a good lesson with B and he's doing well. I went on splits with a member and we stopped by H. I told him that we already had a baptism set up and he was ready so he could tell us whenever if he wanted to be a part of it. He's such a good person. From the lesson I think I saw that one thing he thinks is that he has to receive some miraculous answer to join the church, even though he already knows it's true, so that is what our next lesson will be. 

Thursday we resumed zone conferences and we had a really good group. The trainings just got better each meeting. It was fun. We had to go straight to the office and work on a bunch of paperwork. We had a few hours to invite tons of people to the baptism.

Friday we had our last zone conference. It was great and it was relieving to be done. Elder T went out to dinner with President Slaughter, so it was just me and Elder H. We had to do a bunch of office work, but the Ns invited us over for dinner, so that was amazing. They are really good cooks and they really like us. It was fun. We taught P all four of the commandments he needs to know and follow for the baptism interview. He had been wanting to know about the commandments so we just laid them all out simply and powerfully and he really enjoyed it. He was excited for church and the baptism, but for some reason they didn't come to either. They are such a good family. We asked him if he was excited for his baptism and he said he is, he just wants to make sure he goes "all in" which is awesome. Basically I interpreted that as he doesn't see anything against joining, but he wants to be converted and be on fire so he never falls away. He's great.

Saturday we were able to work a lot of the day, but we didn't see a lot of success.
Sunday at church was good. H and J came and everyone was excited for the baptism. Everyone was really sad to see Elder T leave since he's been in this ward for almost 10 months, so hopefully they are okay with me and Elder H taking over. We spent a lot of time calling every area and telling them if they are getting transferred or staying. It was fun to talk to everyone.

The baptism was great. Such a good experience. The family was really excited. I was bummed that P and L weren't able to make it, but it was good. The ward supported them really well. He was so happy after his baptism and Sister P was crying. It was touching. She said the closing prayer and was crying and thanked the missionaries for finding them and never giving up on J. It was so awesome. It was a great way for Elder T to go out too. We finished up transfer calls and met with President. He made me say a prayer in Spanish that I think I butchered. Sorry it is a little short, we have a lot to do today!

I know this work is true and I am so so grateful to be a part of it. Thank you for your love and support!

Love,
Elder Pew

December 29th, 2014 and photos

Dear family,

You already heard about a lot that happened this week, so I'll try and keep this pretty short. This is just the best time to be a missionary. 

Monday we went bowling with the Moving Elders and it was pretty fun and Elder T beat me by one point. Of course. In the evening we found this new guy named W that is really cool. He is like 28 and lives with his fiancee and their three kids. We introduced our message and he was just like, "any chance to talk about God I'll take it," We tried to get in to teach his fiancee too, but he was sure it would be best to wait until next lesson. He understood the Restoration really well and seemed genuinely interested. He is really cool and just has a great light about him. He was really interested in the Book of Mormon, but they are busy with the Holidays, so we are teaching him again tomorrow. It was great.

Tuesday was Smithmas. So I read 2 Nephi 3 and it was pretty amazing. One thing that stuck out was that the restoration was not just to restore truth but to help people have salvation. I was also on exchanges with Elder G and Elder H was with Elder T back in my old area. We had a lot of lessons set up but of course they all fell through. We did have our lesson with P. He is a really cool guy. He is a big basketball fan and he is really interested. He is really excited and really likes the lay ministry and how much our church reaches out to each other. It was a fun exchange and I like Elder G.

Caroling as a district

District eating

Wednesday we had district meeting and we have a huge district. It is so funny to be back in the same district that I was over, but now not having to worry about being the Assistant's District Leader. It's strange how your mindset changes. We drove up to Austin to make sure everyone got their Christmas packages on time because Sister Williams in the office was stressing out about that. We had a lesson with J and he is doing great. He should get Sundays off at the first of the year and then he can get baptized. They are such a good family and it has been so easy to love them since it all started with P's baptism. We went caroling as a district in the evening and I forgot to tell you, but we stopped by T and B and it was one of the most amazing experiences. T was so happy to see me and when B recognized me she started crying and hid behind T in her wheelchair. After we finished B said it was her "new best Christmas memory." She said she would hunt me down if I didn't hug her. I was pretty much crying and T really liked the gift you sent him. He's doing super well and hasn't missed a week of church. The Moving Elders slept over and that was pretty fun. 

Christmas morning

Christmas gifts

Anniversary gift they made for the mission president and his wife

Christmas morning was great. I was just really grateful for all the great things I got. Thank you to everyone who sent something, it was the best Christmas. We went to President Slaughters for brunch and he gave us fried mush. I guess it's an Oklahoman tradition. It's basically deep fried gritz, but it was pretty good. It was just us and the Lead Sister Training Leaders and it was a blast. They are just a good family. We are so lucky to be around them so much. We also gave them the gift that we made for their anniversary and they really liked it. It was great. We took treats around to our investigators and it went great. The Ps and P were really thankful. We had dinner and then skyped, and then we went to President's house again for a presentation on the translation of the Book of Mormon. It was incredible. Basically Joseph Smith made it very clear that the Urim and Thummim was the means of translation, not some seer stone. It was a fantastic Christmas.

Friday Elder T got super sick, so I just studied all day which was good since we have MLC coming up this week, a trainer and trainee meeting, and Zone Conferences next week. So, hopefully I'm ready for those. I got a funny picture of him.

Elder T sleeping all day, he was sick.

He literally just slept all day.

Saturday we visited a lot of people and invited them to church, but we didn't have much luck. We did set something up with the M family, so hopefully that goes well.

Church was great. H came to church again, so that is 22 times. We had a lesson with him too and we asked him to accept baptism. He just loves the church and is a great almost member missionary. We read Alma 22 and invited him to give up all his sins to know God, but he just still says he "has doubts." Our meeting with President that night was incredible, and I don't even know how to put it into words. President just talked about when he was the Bishop and his stories are just incredible. He just really ran that ward well. He's amazing. 

It was great to talk to y'all and hear from you, but I'm especially glad I was able to bear my testimony of this work to you. I really know that this is the greatest gift we could give the world. The gospel is true and this is Jesus Christ's church. Love you all!

Love,

Elder Pew 

December Letters 1, 8, 15 & 22nd, 2014 and photos

December 1, 2014

Dear family,

Well this was a crazy crazy week, so I'll get right into it. 

1. J- Cancelled all the lessons on us again for whatever reason and still came to church, so that was good and we told him we need to teach him some more things before he can get baptized, so hopefully a lesson stays this week. He still wants to get baptized.

2. S- Had a great lesson with him one night when we caught him by himself. Talked about how he only needed to quit smoking and drinking tea and he could get baptized. He said that he would definitely think about it and he's been watching old general conferences on BYUtv, but he couldn't make it to church.

3. D- Had an amazing lesson before Thanksgiving and basically his new wife was bawling during the prayer and thanked us for our patience with them and for our "genuineness." 

4. R family- Had an awesome week. Taught D about baptism. He said maybe, but they came to church which is a huge step for them and Brother C was great. The kids loved church and Brother C invited them over for FHE tonight for a lesson too. Sweet!

5. C- Guy who referred himself on mormon.org and wanted a bible. We went by and taught him and he was super sweet. We committed him for baptism on December 20. He was going to come to church but I guess his family are against it so he said he can't meet anymore. Bummer.

6. K- Was out of town for Thanksgiving but got back last night and we talked to her for a little bit and set up a lesson. 

7. A- Was super stressed out this week, he just needs to find a job before the new year. 

8. We found this new guy named R  yesterday as he was sitting out on his porch.We taught him the Restoration and he loved it and was really excited to read the Book of Mormon. We set a return appointment for tomorrow and we wanted to make sure his girlfriend is in on that one. He said that we just glowed and he could see the peace and happiness in our eyes which is a great sign.

This week we also were introduced to "He is the Gift," the Christmas video the church made. We are suppose to use it a ton in our proselyting and we track how many people we find and teach because of it. If you haven't watched it already, you must see it. It's incredible. It's at christmas.mormon.org and they have the hashtag #sharethegift because the church wants this to be exposed to as many people as possible. Reminding others of the true meaning of Christmas and also to get people interested in the gospel. This is a great way to share the gospel with others!

Wednesday we had District Meeting and it was awesome. Elder L opened it up for testimonies at the end and everyone just sat there so I thought I would get up and give a simple testimony, but I just felt overwhelmed by the Spirit and I ended up getting emotional and crying for the first time while testifying on my mission. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my mission and I was kind of embarrassed to start off a simple testimony meeting like that, but it felt good.

Thanksgiving was a little stressful. We had a really good Thanksgiving dinner with the C which is the ones that Sister Gage knows. Bishop's family was there too and it was good.  We made a bunch of goodies for our investigators and delivered them for most of the day and then we did stewardships in the evening. 

Sunday was good. I woke up with a really sore throat and of course I had to speak in church. I spoke on how covenants make us happy. It was fun to study. I also met the Schoens (they live in our neighborhood in Utah) and the C spoke with me too. I felt well enough to work luckily and we taught R. At like 10:15 President Slaughter called me. He said that he was going to be losing Elder S here pretty soon and he needed a new assistant. He said he picked me and asked if I accepted. I think I said "sure I can do that." He said I would need to be there for transfer planning starting Tuesday so I would need to be ready to go to Deerfield. I was in absolute shock. So, I packed everything real quick this morning and came to the mission office. I was up all night with the cough and then plus thinking about my new assignment was pretty crazy. I got like 4 hours of sleep. I am actually writing this from the mission office and I'm with Elder T and Elder S. I am really excited to be with Elder T again, but I'm also really nervous and I know I will have a lot of weaknesses exploited, but it will help me to learn. I am really trying to focus on just bringing what I have to the table and recognize that I'm still not going to be the best at anything, but to just keep working hard and being diligent. We already have a lot going on and it will be a fun adventure. I just hope I can accomplish what God wants me too.

I know this work is true and that the gospel in the only way to eternal happiness. I know that Jesus Christ loves us. He is the gift. The greatest gift we could ever have. I am so thankful for the sacrifice our Heavenly Father made to send Him and for his willingness to follow His Father. Because of Him all things are possible, including returning to live with him in eternal happiness. Thanks for all the support!

Elder Pew with the APs

Love,

Elder Pew

December 8, 2014

Dear family,

Wow what a week. I have no idea where to start, but it has been fast, furious, fun, nerve-racking, etc. I will just go through the major events if I can remember.

Transfer planning- We transfer planned on Tuesday and Wednesday and we basically just sit in President's office with the board open and just stare at it until we know where people need to be. Well actually we start with Zone Leaders, then District Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, Sisters, and then everyone else. I had a horrible cough all week, but besides that it was really cool to see how President works. It was fun to see how much he trusts our advice as well. There are several changes that I felt strongly about that he just listened to and agreed with. I guess it went way smoother with less mistakes and a shorter amount of time than normal which is great. 

MLC- I was super nervous for MLC because I found out Tuesday I was going to be giving a training, so I had Wednesday morning to figure that out and it was suppose to be on contacting, definitely my weakest area which was good though for me to work on. It went way better than I was expecting and I was so grateful for the help of the Lord. It was cool to see my prayers really simplify because I didn't have anything grand or inspirational to share so my prayers became "just help me to teach what you would have them learn" and I was much more myself and comfortable than I thought since I made everyone laugh a couple of times, especially demonstrating in front of everyone three different scenarios of contacting. Then Elder S asked me to get up since we had an extra 15 minutes and I basically just had to wing it so naturally I talked about the Book of Mormon and it went well enough I don't think people could tell I just made it up. Then President asked me to bear my testimony at the end and everyone was just dead silent and I almost got emotional, but not quite. I was so grateful for the help with that. I think a lot of people were surprised to see me as the new Assistant so hopefully I was able to gain some of their trust. 

We spent a lot of the rest of the week doing paperwork for transfers, but we were able to simplify some things and all week we were able to work in the evening. We had a lot of great experiences with He is the Gift, but none have turned into solid investigators yet. We have a cool family that was found back when I was in San Pedro so I met them a couple times that we taught, but they flaked on church and a second lesson. We are teaching a man named H that is really cool and comes to church every week. We are also teaching the P family.  J totally wants to be baptized, but he works on Sundays and that is the last thing. In the lesson he said, "everyday I try to do something better in the church." That was awesome. He should have Sundays off soon he hopes. 

Elder Wright and Elder Corbridge with the APs & STLs

Elder Corbridge's visit- I don't remember if I told you all but Elder Corbridge came on Saturday, so that is when it was unveiled that I was the new assistant. We got to wait outside and meet him and Elder Wright when they arrived. They were both super nice and I really loved it a lot. We got to walk in and everyone stood for Elder Corbridge and we walked up to the stand. It was a neat experience. Elder Corbridge gave another incredible talk, he is definitely my favorite General Authority. He talked about how the one thing that is more important than anything else is to have the power of God in our lives and having access to the fruits of the Atonement. It was amazing. It went right along with the study I am doing right now of the Book of Mormon studying the need for a Savior, the redeeming power, enabling power, fruits of the Atonement, and how to access it. It has been incredible and the Book of Mormon does such a good job of teaching how to access the Atonement. We also got to eat with Elder Corbridge after the meeting which was really cool, although they didn't have much time for questions, but I would have asked him if he could have the rising generation of the church change one thing about the church, what would it be? It was such a neat experience, I am so lucky. It was just the Slaughters, us, the Williams (office couple), and the STLLs (one is Sister J from the MTC so that is pretty fun). 

Sunday we did transfer calls and it was really fun. We went to the Slaughter's home and watched the Christmas Devotional and then made the calls. We meet there every Sunday night and talk about things for the upcoming week and then ask doctrinal questions or they tell us awesome stories from their marriage, or life, or whatever. It is amazing to see. It is such a privilege to see President as more than just our Mission President and as a father and a husband. They are great examples. They were telling us some hilarious stories from their dating.  

I really like the Deerfield ward and area. We have amazing members who are very helpful. We have people sign up to go on splits almost every night. The ward mission leader, Bro. Lowry is incredible. We also played tennis this morning with some members which is also a weekly tradition that I am really looking forward to.

Making transfer calls

I am so grateful for the chance to serve a mission, especially around this Christmas season. Christ really is the gift of Christmas. Without the Savior we could do nothing, we could not be saved, there was no Plan B of Salvation. We can access the Atonement and the power of God through having faith, repenting, being baptized by someone with God's authority, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Thanks for all that you do!

Love,

Elder Pew

December 15, 2014

Dear family,

This was an INSANE week. It was like being a moving Elder all over again, just being in charge of everything. I'll try and walk through the week day by day.

Monday- We play tennis every Monday so that was really fun. Had a great P-day and we went to the Mercado, a little Mexican street shop place. Our evening was fun and had a couple lessons so it was a great final night for Elder S. He was incredible. Such a great example. 

Tuesday- Got up really early to drive the van and trailer up to Austin and we picked up all the departing missionaries up in Austin and took them to the church. We were suppose to go to our zone meeting, but our car got a flat tire from a screw, so we went with the Moving Elders and we were suppose to give a training but I had 0 time to prepare for it, so I just came up during the meeting about how when we offer "the Gift" the difference between our church and other churches is that we don't only know about Christ and who He is, but we know "how to come unto Him and be saved" (2 Ne. 15:14). We set everything up for the departing missionaries sleeping over and then had some time to proselyte. We don't have a lot going in the area and I think it gets neglected sometimes due to our other duties, but we can do much better at least staying in contact daily with our investigators like Preach my Gospel says. The departing missionaries stayed at our apartment for the night and it was fun.

Elder Pew with his companion and Sister and President Slaughter at the temple

Wednesday- Also had to get up super early to take the missionaries to the airport and said a final goodbye. We got back and I had like 30 minutes to prepare for the new Trainer meeting and the new District Leader meeting that we had to go give trainings at. I was able to jot some thoughts down and we mostly just led discussions and answered questions for both. I feel like we can improve that meeting. It was fun to be with them. Elder W was at the trainer meeting and Elder N, J, and O were at the District Leader meeting. We went straight from there to pick up the new missionaries at the airport. It was super exciting to see them come down the escalator. We go with the Slaughter family and the STLLs. We did their first abrazo with them and bring their stuff in the van and trailer. We drove them straight to the temple which is a new tradition and it's amazing. President talks to them about beginning with the end in mind, and how the temple is really our goal. We have some fun new missionaries. Elder T and the STLLs took those missionaries to the church for lunch and President Slaughter had to go with someone to pick up the four missionaries coming in from the Mexico MTC, so I went with him. It was fun to have one-on-one time with him. Elder T met us later at the airport to grab them and their luggage and we went straight to the Alamo. It was SO fun! Now that I actually know how to talk to people I was just eating it up. I went with an Elder named Elder N and we passed out 4. One family was actually pretty interested and we got their info and missionaries are going to go by in Houston. We passed out three and just had the one left, and we were going to be done and this man was walking passed with all these cameras so I just commented that he had nice cameras, and he stopped and we ended up getting into a 20 minute discussion with him. He was super cool and interested and he asked a lot of questions and I just shared Book of Mormon verse after Book of Mormon verse with him and he was really interested and all the other missionaries were done so they were just watching us. We went back to the Slaughters for dinner and a slideshow and then the new Elders stayed with us for the night.

Thursday- Also had to get up really early to get the new missionaries ready to go to transfer meeting. They have a special meeting before where we tell them their area and their companion. It was fun. I conducted the San Antonio transfer meeting which was a little nerve-wracking and President wanted me to bear my testimony too. It is a really cool feeling when we hear Called to Serve playing in the chapel and then we walk in briskly with the new missionaries and everyone stands until the song is over. We drove the vans separately with missionaries getting transferred to Austin and it was fun to talk to different missionaries. I did the call-outs at the Austin transfer and moved the podium up and down. Call-outs is just where we read off where everyone is going and they stand and hug there new companion. It was really fun to do. It is such a humbling experience to look around for those missionaries you always idolize and realize they are all home and now everyone is looking at you on the stand. It's cool though. We drove back down to San Antonio with missionaries getting transferred down and I talked with a very young, newly called District Leader Elder E. He has been out 4 transfers and he was just picking my brain the whole ride down so that was fun. We had time to work in the evening, but didn't see much results.

Friday- We were in the office a lot of the day doing paperwork for the new transfer. It kinda dragged out and we also planned the upcoming transfer with the STLLs and it looks like I'm going on 4 Spanish exchanges since Elder T doesn't speak Spanish and there are 4 Zone Leader Spanish areas. That will be fun. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we had a lot of time to work, but we had a lot of member lesson showing members how to use the "He is the Gift" pass-along cards as more than just a card, but a way to get people interested in the church. Brother L our ward mission leader has been setting those up for us. He is pretty awesome. 

Church was great Sunday. This is a really incredible ward. B, the sweet

with the Sister Training Leaders 

recent convert was at church and he is so funny. He was freaking out about becoming like Heavenly Father though in our Sunday school class. Hector came again, but we haven't been able to teach him. He is meeting with the EQ President first, and we aren't sure why. We worked super hard after church and did find a couple people that seemed promising, including someone who told us he was about to get baptized 3 years ago but bailed out at the last second. I think now could be his time. 

I am so grateful for the chance to be a missionary during this Christmas season. Christ really is the gift of Christmas. Placing Book of Mormons at the Alamo just made me even more in love with the Book of Mormon, the message it contains, and all that it has done for me. It truly teaches us not only who Christ is and "how to come unto Him to be save (2 Ne 15:14). It's all true and real. Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Pew

December 22, 2014

Dear family,

This was another eventful week full of great things. I'll try my best to go day to day.

Monday was just a normal P-day and we played volleyball as a zone. It was fun.

Tuesday we had to do a bunch of stuff in the office and we met with President Slaughter to discuss Christmas and what our policy would be for the missionaries. We decided that since the Missionary Handbook says something like "Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are great opportunities to find and teach families." So we are encouraging everyone to be considerate, but to find time on Christmas to be out and about, Sharing the gift of Christ. We had a lesson with the M family and they are really cool people. They both have thick Boston accents and we hit hard on the importance of scripture study. We also taught B and tried to explain the Plan of Salvation to him. 

Wednesday was Christmas Conference. It was really fun, such a great experience. We took pictures first thing and then had a little program. President Slaughter taught about what would the world be like if there were no Christmas and the infinite reach of the Atonement. It was amazing. There were a couple great musical numbers by the missionaries. It was so humbling to look out on all 250 missionaries and to see their great faith. We have such a great mission. We had Texas BBQ for lunch and we got to go around passing out candy canes and talking with the missionaries. I still feel inadequate in this position, but I'm picking a couple missionaries that are struggling and I'm going to really focus on helping them. After lunch was the talent show which was really great and I conducted that. We went back into the chapel and President talked about the plan for 2015. He really just talked about really being completely consecrated. It was really motivating and then the closing hymn was "Angels we Have Heard on High" and we sang so loud with such good pace, it was SO powerful. I love that President has us sing loud and fast paced it is so much better. The rest of our day was pretty slow, mostly trying to just Share the Gift.

Thursday we spent a lot of time putting together this gift that we planned for the Slaughter's anniversary on the 27th. It is pretty sweet, I'll send pictures. We had everyone in the mission send us something they have learned or love about the Slaughters. Brother L our ward mission leader came out on splits with us and we had a great lesson with J. He had questions about garments so we watched the video the church made and then we talked about daily scripture study with him. He is just waiting to get Sundays off. We had a lesson with that man that said he was almost baptized a couple years ago and he understood the Restoration well and seems like he has good potential. We had another lesson with him yesterday and he is really stressed about his finances, but we had him convinced that the gospel will help him through his trials. We had another lesson with B trying to clear up his questions and I think he's good now. 

Friday we went on exchanges. I went with Elder C in Hill Country and Elder R went with Elder T. I had a great day with Elder C. We found an amazing family of 5 , but a super kingdom building family. All five of them were just glued to the screen for the "He is the Gift" video and they were all over the Restoration. I can't wait to hear what happens to them. In Deerfield Elder T and R got a text from Bishop about a family that just moved in and the wife is active and the husband is a non-member and they wanted missionaries over ASAP, so they met them and set up a lesson for Tuesday and they sound super solid, they just had a baby this last week, so that will be the only thing slowing them down, and they are a really young couple. Super exciting.

Saturday we weekly planned for the first time I've been here and it was great to put a plan and set some goals. We had a pretty slow afternoon and evening, but we had dinner with a returning less-active lady and her non-member boyfriend. He's not super interested yet, but I think he's starting to realize that he has to join if he wants to stick with her because she is getting more and more involved. 

Sunday was great. I always love the Christmas program at church and they have a pretty good ward choir.  H came to church and Sister P since she had work off, but that was it for church. Our meeting with President was amazing. A RM from the TSAM was there and she was talking about how she felt disappointed because she doesn't have the same spiritual high as she did on her mission. President just comforted her and said that's normal and to lower her expectations of what the "after-life" would be, but he was just so loving and kind in his answers. He's great. I am so lucky to be in his presence so often and to see him as a father and husband too. He's such a great example. 

I love being a missionary during the Christmas season, sharing "a more excellent way" to discover and embrace the gift of Christ. He is the Gift. I know this is His work and He leads it. He is in the vineyard working with us. Thank you for all your examples, I am excited to see and hear from you on Christmas!

Love,

Elder Pew