May 19th & 26th, 2014 and photos

May 19^th, 2014

Dear family,

Every week I come here and I think that it was the busiest week yet, but here I am again, and this certainly was the busiest week because of transfers. 

Monday we didn't have much success, but we worked pretty hard.

Tuesday we didn't even have time to proselyte we were so busy. We left really early and had to get extra beds in the apartments that had new trios for the new transfer. There were a bunch so we spend a lot of time doing that. We also helped with the departing missionaries. They met at the chapel and we picked up all of their bikes and luggage, and we took their bikes to the bike shop to be shipped home, and we brought their luggage back to our apartment complex for them since they stay with the Assistants their final night. It was fun to talk with them. I loved it. I was so happy to see them complete their missions after all their hard work. We also had to set up our apartment for the incoming Sisters that would arrive the next day. It was a really long day.

Wednesday was a lot of fun. We had an equally busy day, but we also had a few lessons. We had a final lesson with the Rs before Elder N left and we also had a great lesson with Brother H. We weren't able to keep it very structured, but we answered a lot of his questions and left him with Elder Corbridge's talk (my absolute favorite talk ever) on Joseph Smith and Elder Adukaitis (or whatever it is) on receiving answers to prayers. He wants us to teach his pastor friend, so we'll see if that happens. We obviously had to spend the night with the Assistants since Sisters were in our apartment, and it was really fun to be with the brand new missionaries. They seem like a good group. Teresa said to look for an Elder D, and I talked with him a lot. We also had to figure things out for all the missionaries coming up from the Border for transfers. Super busy and long day, but it felt good.

New companion and Elder Pew

Thursday was definitely the most chaotic. We had to go pick up all the new missionaries bikes and bring them to the church for transfer meeting at 10. Then we had the San Antonio transfer meeting and I found out my new companion is Elder R. He was with Elder S (Timo's MTC companion) up in S and I was super excited to get him, more details later. After the meeting, chaos ensues. Luckily Elder N was going up to Austin, so he helped out a bit and Elder D was going up too so he was my little helper. We had to make sure all of the luggage, bikes, truck, two vans, and all the people being transferred to Austin made it there, as well as get missionaries things they asked for that isn't worth driving out to deliver. Once we got to Austin, we had the transfer meeting and I also found out that Elder D was going to be with us until Saturday to get surgery. That was fun to be with him again. Other transfers worth noting: Elder W (Timo's greenie) went to O, the ward we shared the car with, Elder V (Timo's trainer) is still in C, Elder T is in I which is really close to us so he comes to zone P-day, and Elder N went to S to be with Elder S (Timo's MTC companion), so him and Elder R switched spots. Elder R is sweet. He's been out three months (just finished training) but you can't tell. He is a really really good missionary. Like way better than me. He is from Lehi and graduated in 2013 too. He's an inch or two taller, but probably doesn't weigh more, so we are easily the smallest Moving Elders ever. He really gets what he's doing and is really good at teaching, testifying, planning, and he really understands his purpose and also is very motivated to change things up with our Moving Elder responsibility. I'm a little embarrassed at how good he is at everything, so my goal is basically to get out of the way and let him really develop. After transfer meeting we darted out to unload the luggage and bikes and get ready to take the missionaries, luggage, and bikes going back to San Antonio. They had about 26 swap from Austin to San Antonio, so it was a lot of stuff. We delivered those back to San Antonio and went straight to work deliver beds to the trios we hadn't been told about. We barely had time to eat, and didn't get back until about 10. 

Friday we left early too and picked up the things that the missionaries we are moving this Tuesday needed and then delivered some other things we needed to get done. Elder P also needed us to help him pick up new cars which was sweet! I drove us five down, and then I drove the truck and Elder P, Elder R, and Elder D each drove a brand new 2014 Corolla back to the mission office. Elder R had the GPS, Elder P had his phone and GPS, Elder D had our phone, and I had nothing. They had me lead since I know my way around San Antonio best (which is pretty weird) and it was so fun being in the front. I would purposely change lanes just to watch each one behind me change lanes individually. It was really funny to watch. Then when we were going to get off the freeway, Elder P didn't see me merge, so I watched him fly by right as he looked over his shoulder and realize he missed the exit. It was one of the funniest things I've seen. You'd have to know Elder Presser to fully understand, but we were cracking up when us three got back to the mission office and Elder P was who-knows-where. We were able to proselyte in the evening, but we weren't able to teach any lessons except one to Sister W after we talked about her friend that is in our area book and said to set something up with her. President Slaughter called and needed Elder D to come to the mission home after 9, so we took him there and the Assistants and Sister Assistants were there and the other two missionaries going home. We all had ice cream while President talked to Elder D. It was pretty fun, but me and Elder R were the awkward ones who didn't really belong. 

Saturday morning Elder D left for the airport and President told him that he would be back which was comforting for Elder D since he wants to come back. We tried to set it up so we wouldn't have to do any Moving Elder things, but we needed to take one desk to a new trio and then we got a call that some missionaries living with members needed some stuff taken out and moved urgently, so we had to do that instead. We had a lesson with a new lady named J, and she clearly felt the Spirit and was really nice, but didn't accept a return appointment. 

Sunday was a good day at church. Brother H came to church and he seemed to enjoy it.  A member's daughter and nonmember boyfriend just moved in and both came to church so we set up a lesson with the boyfriend. He has a stuttering problem, but seems like a nice guy and was following along the lesson in Elders' Quorum. After church we went searching again, but weren't able to find anyone to teach. We found some people with potential, but no one ready to be taught. It can be a little bit frustrating to not see success, but I know if we just keep working hard that things will work out and we will start to have the success we know we can have. I have such a strong desire to find and baptize a solid family that can be sealed in the temple, it sounds so incredible. I know this work is true, and that it's the best thing we can give anyone. I know that Restoration is a powerful message and those who accept it will be eternally blessed. Thanks for all the support and love!

Love,

Elder Pew

May 26^th, 2014

Dear family,

This was a fantastic week here! We were able to have a bit of success with part-member families and got three of them to church! I don't have very much time, but I'll explain what I can. Also, it is raining SO HARD here and I love it! We have been getting flash-flood warnings and the streets are basically flooded. There was a waterfall over the door to the mission office, so we got soaked going in. Anyways:

Bro H- Pretty good week. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he took it off on a few tangents, but he's progressing. Unfortunately he didn't come to church.

H family- Couldn't get a hold of them this week. We are going to try again this week and if we don't see results we will give them a break for a few weeks.

A family- This was probably the coolest one of the week. Me and Elder N went by and talked to Brother A (the member) and he didn't seem interested. This week when we were driving around I felt like we should go by again even though he didn't seem interested and it had only been like a week and a half. He was much nicer and we set up a time to come back. We had a lesson and they are an AMAZING family! He's super nice and his wife is practically a member. We taught them the restoration with the pamphlet and then talked about church, prayer, and reading as a family (they have a 3 and 1-year old that are super cute) and they accepted all the invitations and kept them this whole week even with one of the kids getting pneumonia (if that's how you spell it). We are going over on Tuesday for another lesson and dinner!

G family- Another active non-member, Bro G is Catholic and we hadn't been able to have a lesson with them until this last week. We taught them a similar lesson to the As and invited them to do each. They didn't come to church, but it was great to finally meet with him.

P- He is the boyfriend of one of the member's daughters and they just moved in with the member, Sister S. He is a really nice guy and had a rough childhood. He wasn't opposed to baptism, but religion is totally new to him. It will take a few weeks (and he has to be married to his member girlfriend) and he will get baptized, no doubt. He came to church again too.

Brother A- We met with Brother A and his wife isn't a member and he expressed her concerns and his concerns but he wants to come back, but he wants his wife with him. She had a bad experience with missionaries in the past, so she's pretty hesitant. We talked about the importance of faith and things we can do to see a miracle. He wants to do it and so do we, so we are probably going to fast with him and try some other things too this week.

J and K-- These two are in a physical rehab center after a nasty motorcycle accident. Kurt is in pretty bad shape and neither of them were active. They were a mormon.org referral, and we stopped by and gave them blessings. They think this happened to them because they have been neglecting God. They have a son who is 9 that they want baptized, but he's in Utah since they can't take care of him. We read 3 Nephi 17 which was powerful. I was getting choked up and both of them were crying too. Such a good chapter and a great visit. They will be there for a few months, so we will probably stop by every now and then. 

Moving Elder duties went pretty well. We were able to proselyte all day Saturday except when Elder R had a migraine for a few hours. We moved the South Zone Leaders and it was really tiring, but we finished by about 4:30. We went to Yorktown in the boonies and it was sweet! The missionaries live in a little trailer. Literally a mobile home. We also had interviews with President Slaughter and we talked about a second set of Moving Elders which it looks like is going to be the outcome. They would only be helpers, when we really needed them like on transfer week , but that would be great.

Photos from a P-day visit to the San Antonio Zoo!

for Zane

8 lb Pigeon, Elder Pew's favorite

for dad

We also took Elder R (one of the Assistants) ice cream for his birthday and had a fun time together one night and then came to our apartment at like 10:10 and there were two ladies trying to move in by themselves, so we helped them until 10:30 and then got the Assistants to come the next morning and they bought us bagels and were really thankful. It was cool to help even though they weren't interested in being taught.

Our mission now has the single standard of excellence of 6 investigators with a baptismal date. It's pretty daunting at times, but we are going to work hard to set these part-members with dates and to find more families. I have never had such a strong desire to find a family that can get sealed together. I know that this gospel is for families. The restored gospel helps us truly understand the importance of families and their true eternal nature. I know that this gospel is true and was restored by Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is true. Thanks for everything you do!

Love,

Elder Pew

p.s. I thought I'd just share an example of what President Slaughter emails us weekly, it's incredible: 

"Question #1: Why was the Fall necessary?
If there had been no Fall, by which came death; then there could have been no Atonement, by which comes life (1 Cor. 15:21-22).
If there had been no Fall, then "all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created... forever, and had no end (2 Nephi 2:22).
If there had been no Fall then Adam and Eve would have had no children, and the grand designs of the Lord would have been forever frustrated (2 Nephi 2:23; 1 Nephi 17:36).

Question #2: What was the great commandment given Adam and Eve in the Garden?
There was one great commandment given in the garden; one commandment that must be obeyed; if obeyed, man would be placed on the path to eternal life; if disobeyed, all the premortal spirits would have been damned in their progression.
This is the commandment given in the garden: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Genesis 1:28). This great commandment has remained in force to this very day (Family Proclamation).
Adam and Eve must choose to obey or to disobey this divine directive; the choice was theirs.
"Be fruitful, and multiply. Provide bodies for my progeny. Thus said thy God. Eternity hangs in the balance. The plans of Deity are at the crossroads. There is only one course to follow: the course of conformity and obedience. Adam... and Eve, our mother, must obey. They must fall. They must become mortal. Death must enter the world. There is no other way. They must fall that man may be.... And so Adam fell as fall he must." (Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, 221)

Question #3: Why did God forbid Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit?
In order to obey the great commandment given in the garden, a way must be provided that Adam and Eve can choose for themselves to Fall that man might be. The "fruit" is the way.
"And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Moses 3:16 - 17)
Let us understand this "prohibition." The Lord tells Adam that EVERY tree of the garden is given to him, and of EVERY tree he could FREELY eat, with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of that tree, the Lord said, "thou shall not eat of it" FREELY, meaning thou shalt not eat of it without consequence–without becoming mortal, without dying, without falling. "Nevertheless," the Lord says, "it is given unto thee;" "thou mayest choose for thyself." If you choose to partake, I forbid you to remain in the garden. You may eat of every other tree freely and remain in the garden, but if you choose to partake of that tree, you must Fall; it is your choice; I cannot make it for you.
Joseph Fielding Smith explained: "The Lord said to Adam, here is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you want to stay here then you cannot eat of that fruit. If you want to stay here then I forbid you eat it. But you may act for yourself and you may eat of it if you want to." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Address at Salt Lake LDS Institute of Religion, 14 January 1961; Improvement Era, April 1962, 231)
Joseph Smith, the Prophet, said, "Adam did not commit sin in eating the fruits, for God had decreed that he should eat and fall." (The Words of Joseph Smith, 63)

Question #4: Was the Fall a "sin" or a "transgression"?
"Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin–inherently wrong–but a transgression–wrong because is was formally prohibited. These words [transgression and sin] are not always used to denote something different, but this distinction seems meaningful in the circumstances of the Fall. (Dallin H. Oaks, General Conference, October 1993)

Question #5: Did God want Adam to fall?
Death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator (2 Nephi 9:6).
In response to the oft-heard question regarding Adam and Eve: "Did God set them up to fail?"
The question itself is akin to that asked of Jesus’ disciples: "Carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38). Such questions are evidence that the asker does not understand who God really is.
God, in His infinite wisdom, created an earth for Adam and Eve; He commanded them to "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth" (2 Nephi 2:24); He provided a way that they might obey the commandment given them (2 Nephi 2:15-16); He knew man would obey and inherit mortality, which would become a "preparatory state" for all men to prepare to return to God (Alma 42:9-10; 34:32); He provided, before the foundation of the world, a Savior, that man might know the joy of redemption and attain eternal life (Moses 5:10-11).
The Fall was not a fall "backward and downward" but rather a fall "forward and upward." We are grateful for the Fall; we are also eternally grateful to God that He sent His Only Begotten Son, whom we represent and whose gospel we declare to the world. It is the good news. May we declare it with the sound of rejoicing. Amen!"

May 5th & 12th, 2014

May 5^th, 2014

A member who knows Elder Pew's Aunt Amy posted this photo on Facebook of him and his companion (so fun when people do that).

Some members texted this photo to Elder Pew's dad.

Dear family,

I am going to apologize ahead of time if I repeat anything that happened last week, I honestly can't remember what happened when, it's just a big blur. Things are going well. I sit here and chuckle every week just thinking of all my thoughts and how to explain everything. Here we go again! 

Monday we stopped by a part-member family, the H family. Brother H let us right in and we sat down and talked to the family. His wife and 9 year old daughter aren't members but they don't go to any church and are open. We talked about priesthood authority and eternal families. They really liked that idea. I also said that "the church needs good families like you, but good families also need the church." Brother H really liked that for some reason. It's cool what some people really grab onto. It was a short and powerful visit, and they wanted to come to church and learn more, but were busy the rest of the week and didn't show up for church. We both felt like we should have invited them to be baptized after we came out, but we didn't and now we are kicking ourselves for not having the faith.

Tuesday we had to go up to Austin and we delivered a bunch of things, but we left a little later than we should have. We had to make it to a lesson with Sister H, the active non-member in the ward. It was a blast driving up though, because Brushy Creek is finally getting their new car, so the car person wanted us to take it up. So we drove separately and I got to drive a brand new 2014 Corolla. It was beautiful and definitely the only time I'll ever drive a new car. It had 68 miles on it when I got in. It was such a smooth ride. It was super hectic trying to get back on time because we had just enough time, but we were almost out of gas, our gas card was out, we had to wait for other missionaries to come pay for us, and then we hit downtown Austin traffic. We got back about 15 minutes late and the H's were really nice and had gotten us dinner. We ate and then taught a lesson on eternal families and tried applying our zone conference by committing them to a temple date, and then the obvious step for Sister H would be to get baptized so she could get sealed. She is really nice, but said she had some concerns and didn't allow us to come back to discuss them or help her, so it's going to be on her time when she decides to join the church. We were a little bummed that we couldn't commit her to baptism, but it's just not her time.

Wednesday we had to go back to Austin to do the things we hadn't finished the day before. We got to drive through Brushy Creek which was strange as usual. That evening we didn't get much done.

Thursday we had a slow morning with Moving Elder stuff but it felt like we didn't get anything done. We dropped off a washer and dryer to the Sisters we moved in last week. That evening we taught a former investigator L. He is like 60. He doesn't show any emotion and I could not read his thoughts for the life of me. I had no idea what he was thinking, but we explained authority and the Book of Mormon a bit. He seemed somewhat interested, but he liked talking to us, but said he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, but he wouldn't commit to church, and he set the next appointment until three weeks.

Friday was district meeting because the Assistants were busy since one of the leaders from the missionary department was with them Wednesday. We also planned to do exchanges with them after District Meeting. Oh yeah, so the Assistants told me on Wednesday that the District was being re-aligned. Also, President wanted to meet with me and Elder N after District Meting too. So Las Lomas was at District meeting. It's Sister J and Sister P. Sister J was in my MTC district so that's fun and Sister P is from Lone Peak. I think she's even from our Stake. Maybe the 6, 7, or 10th ward. They are both really cool and great missionaries. I'm excited to have them. Our district meeting was great and we talked about Preparation especially. It's been something on my mind a lot lately and it is SO important. I emphasized that we have been prepared, God is a God of preparation, faith and preparation removes fear, there are people being prepared, and how we need to prepare for them. God won't trust us with people who are ready for the gospel if we aren't ready to open our mouths, commit them to change, and teach them powerfully. After lunch we met at the mission office and I went first. It was a great interview. President Slaughter is the best. We mostly talked about Moving Elder stuff. He asked how much time we left the area and I explained the situation and he said that it is too much. I agreed and he asked what we could do to simplify things, so I shared a few of my ideas. He said that one reason I'm here is to help change things and make them more effective. We set up another meeting on Wednesday to meet with Elder Williams too to figure things out. We talked about the interviews and he opened up finally. We had a lesson with the Rs which went well. 

Saturday was our exchange. I went with Elder P in Deerfield and Elder N took Elder R in San Pedro. It was amazing. Elder P taught me what the missionary department taught them how to teach the Restoration in 7 minutes using the pamphlet. It's incredible! We used it a lot. He is a really good missionary. Just watching him made me feel more confident in my abilities and now I feel like I really know what to do. We had a lesson with a referral named F and taught him with the pamphlet. He had some questions so it took more like 25 minutes, but it worked perfectly and he accepted a baptismal date for the 24th of May. It was cool for him to ask questions that have always bothered him about religion and to know the answers. He has always not like the idea that if you are not baptized you go to Hell. What about the babies, people who don't hear about the gospel? Why would God want anyone to go to Hell? We explained Christ paying for children's sins, Spirit World, and the three degrees of glory. He liked it a lot. We had another really amazing lesson. We were leaving an apartment, and Elder P saw someone on their balcony going inside. He yelled to them and asked what they were cooking and then said that we were "his" missionaries and share a message about Christ's Church being on the earth. He said he only had 10 minutes and Elder P said we could do it in 7. We went up and taught him and his roommate the whole Restoration using the pamphlet in literally 7 minutes. We explained all the points of the lesson, it all tied together, we invited them to church, to learn more, to read the Book of Mormon, and to be baptized, all that they accepted. They were really into it and said it was a sign. It was sweet. I can't even explain all that I learned. Elder R and Elder N had a great time too and it really pumped up Elder N which was great. Elder R is super bubbly and energetic and no one can get mad at him. It was a great experience for both of us and got him excited. Sunday was good. Elder N forgot it was fast Sunday so I came out in the morning and he was eating a bowl of cereal, so I just walked past and waited for him to realize. Finally he's like, "oops it's fast Sunday!" It was pretty funny. We have a good friendship. Church was pretty good even though the H family didn't come. We went out and applied the things we learned from the exchange and it felt great. We didn't teach any first lessons, but we set up a few return appointments and it just felt to really do our best. People really respond well to "we are your missionaries, and we are here to help you." We had a few lessons with recent-converts, and less-active members that went great. 

I know that this church is true. I know that through the Atonement we can experience joy, peace, and comfort despite trials. I know that this gospel changes peoples' lives. I know that there are people who are ready to receive the gospel, we just need to work "all the day long" (Alma 26:5). I know Christ is our Savior and this is His church and gospel. I love you all and I am excited to call you for Mother's Day! 

Elder Pew

May 12^th 2014

Dear family,

I just wanted to start by saying that it was such a great experience to talk with each of you yesterday! It lifted my Spirit and motivated me to continue to work hard, so thanks! And thank you again mom for all that you have taught me, it has helped tremendously on my mission and I don't know what I'd be doing without it. I'll get on with the week.

Monday was a largely unproductive evening. We only had an hour or so to proselyte and then we had to set up our apartment for a bunch of sisters that were coming down for a Sister's Conference. We blew up a bunch of air mattresses and got it ready for them. It was weird since they got there right before we left and they were walking through our apartment and a few of them were sitting on my bed, it is just weird. It was pretty funny too because Elder N hadn't cleaned his toilet yet, so I had to distract them while he quickly went and made sure it was acceptable. We stayed with the Assistants. It sounded like the Sister's Conference went well. 

Tuesday was a good day. We taught a great lesson to a new investigator D. He lives with his cousin B, and yes we are teaching her too. She was in a different room but walked in and I invited her to join and she did. We used the pamphlet and taught the Restoration. It went well and they both accepted baptismal invites and accepted the 31st. Unfortunately we weren't able to have much contact with them the rest of the week and they couldn't come to church. We are still trying keep the momentum. D said that he read through 1 Nephi 6 though, so I'm still faithful things will work out there. We also had a bunch of lessons fall through, but we were able to teach Brother P. They came to church and are on their way back. There is also some potential with his daughter-in-law whose husband also just decided to start coming back. Not in our area, but still good to hear. 

Wednesday we had a bunch of deliveries to make and things to pick up from the furniture store. We also had that meeting with President and I sent him an email today with some of my ideas so we'll see if anything changes. We had a lesson with Bro H and it went really well. We've been pretty bold with him and he's responding well. He had read some of the Book of Mormon but he was more interested in what the Urim and Thummim was, which we just explained briefly. We also stopped by the H family and had an amazing lesson with them. We talked briefly and then the 7 and 9 year-old walk right in and sit down. We taught with the pamphlet and it was powerful. The Spirit was so strong! At the end we invited them to be baptized and the two kids said "yes" immediately. We have really clicked with them. Sister H said she's not sure, and she said she's pretty comfortable going back to her church. We should have been more bold, but we said okay and set a return appointment for Tuesday so hopefully the Plan of Salvation helps her. We invited them to church which the kids also accepted, but they were already going with Sister H's mom to their church for Mother's Day. They are an awesome family! I love them a lot. Brother H was grateful for us coming and we think he wants to come back he's just nervous to go against his wife at all. I think it will work out.

Thursday we had some more stuff we had to pick up and we got the Assistants and President lunch for transfer planning so we got to eat with him. He just asked us what we are studying and it just turned into asking him deep questions and he would answer. It was suhweet! We went to our storage unit to pick stuff up for deliveries but the Rs were there re-organizing their packed unit, so we decided to stay and help them which didn't finish until like 7:30. They were really thankful. 

Friday we had to help two sets of missionaries move, so that was the bulk of our day. We went and picked up a mattress and some end tables, and headed to their apartment. It was pretty dark skies and we ended up driving right into a HUGE storm! I wish you could have seen what it looked like. From a distance it looked like there was a line across two huge clouds where they separated, as we got closer it became apparent that these two clouds were crashing into each other, and at the slit the clouds were spinning on themselves. It looked SO COOL, almost like being under water when two waves hit each other and watching it spin. Like 20 seconds later there were huge clashes of thunder and enormous bolts of lighting and we got hit hard with rain. It was beautiful. The problem was that we ruined everything that was in the back of the truck, but whatever. We helped the Elders move and it wasn't too bad, mostly just the washer and dryer but President wants us to buy back braces and things to make it easier to lift. I cut my finger pretty badly on a screw, but it's fine. That evening we had another lesson with Brother H and this was great! He wanted us to watch something with him, and I was like "oh dear" but he started to pull it up and it was a discussion on 2 Nephi 9 from the Book of Mormon on BYUtv. That is basically what we were going to do anyways was read from the Book of Mormon so it was perfect. Wow those guys (BYU Religion Professors) were geniuses. I learned a ton and am an expert on that chapter now. Afterwards we talked about the Book of Mormon and Elder N brought up baptism again. He says he wants to work for that but he's not ready. Even though it was already 35 minutes in, I felt like we should go over the interview questions so we did and the only thing he has a problem with is the Word of Wisdom and whether or not Joseph Smith is a prophet (which can be answered the same way through the Book of Mormon) and he said he would pray to know that he was a prophet. We pointed out how close he was and explained how he would receive an answer and he said if he knew that this church was the only church with that authority as restored to Joseph Smith that he would definitely be baptized, so we have a much better picture of where he is at. We invited him to the Assistants baptism the next day and he came!

Saturday was the baptism. The guy's name is B and he is amazing! He's been smoking for 48 years but has completely quit and has been taught for like 3 years. He wanted to get baptized so badly and he finally could. He was crying and yelling hallelujah like the whole time which was awesome. The Spirit was so strong and he bore a very simple testimony on the spot, and he didn't really know what to say, but he knew that this church had what he had been searching for his whole life and gave him what he was looking for and no other church did. It was neat. We also had to pick up the bikes for the incoming missionaries which was fun. We stopped by a few more people and knocked, but didn't have any success.

Sunday was great. Church was so good, Bishop B gave an incredible talk on Motherhood. Brother H didn't come to church for some reason so that was frustrating but besides that it was a great meeting. We taught Elders' Quorum on a day's notice and I thought it went really well. We have a small quorum and no one really wants to participate but we were okay with awkward silences until someone spoke. We taught about Joseph Smith and read a bunch of quotes from the talks that President Slaughter gave us on him and I think it helped them. We got our transfer calls but we pretty well could guess what was happening, so I'm staying and Elder N is leaving. It's been fun to serve with him. He just looks more alive and happier since I got here. For the rest of Mother's Day we went to the F's and Elder N skyped his family but he went really long so I didn't have time which is why I didn't skype. Brother F gave me his copy of King Follet's Sermon so I read some of that while he skyped. We also dropped off some cookies for Sister H for Mother's Day. It's been an interesting transfer, but I've learned and grown a lot. I know that God knows each of us and I know that he doesn't give us something that we can't handle. I know that we have been prepared for everything we do and if we are prepared, we won't fear. When we are on the Lord's Errand we are entitled to the Lord's help. I know this gospel is true. It's amazing and eternal and brings us true happiness. Thanks for all of your support and your good examples!

Love,

Elder Pew

April 21 & 28th, 2014

April 21^st, 2014

Dear family,

My body is constantly sore from now on from all the serious working out and lifting we do. I'm benching about 100 lbs and I carried a dryer by myself for the first time, so I'm making progress. It is so weird to talk like that. I am just not a workout-er. It was another incredibly busy week, but I wish it was busier with missionary work instead of "Moving Elder" stuff. I really wish I could just sit down with President to see exactly what he wants, but that's not how he works. Monday we had an interesting evening. Elder N tried to start teaching B what we had actually planned but it was 8:50 at that point so I just ended the lesson and gave him the chapter to read and set up a return appointment to actually talk about the basics.

Tuesday we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and Elder M came with us. He went to Lone Peak and graduated with Taran by the way. He is really cool and it was a good exchange. We had to drop off a washer in Kerrville, but we were able to proselyte a little bit more. The Pressers (office couple) gave us a referral to a man at a stroke rehab center and we were able to have a lesson with him. He is this cool guy named B. We had a good lesson and answered his questions and then taught about prophets briefly. We were pretty bold because he didn't think there was one true church, but we held our ground and explained why and he really liked us and said a really cool closing prayer. He wanted us to come back and to come to church, but he was already going somewhere else for Easter but said he would come the next week. We found out though that he's moving back to his original home this week though. He's cool. We also had a lesson with Sister W, one of Elder T's recent converts. We talked about Patriarchal blessings and she is excited to get hers. She is a great member. 

Wednesday we had a bunch more deliveries to make and we didn't get back until dinner (as usual). We dropped off some things for Sonterra which is the Sisters in our district, and Sister R was pretty sick and I felt like we should give her a blessing which she greatly appreciated. We had a lesson with the Rs, other recent converts and we also talked about Patriarchal Blessings as well. They are solid too. 

Thursday we did an Austin run and it was crazy. We had like 8 stops and it was raining all day (which I loved). It was the most physically demanding day yet. We had to move this 200 lbs washer over a porch fence which was pretty rough. It might not actually be 200 lbs but it felt like it was made of cement and lead and the bottom was made out of knives that made it impossible to carry. We dropped a bunch of things off for Brushy Creek which was strange, but it got stranger. We didn't finish all of our deliveries until close to 10 so we asked the Zone Leaders what to do and they told us to spend the night, so we went to Brushy Creek. We basically just talked about all the investigators and how they are doing and it sounds like they have had trouble having lessons. M called and dropped them and S and J did too, and the Ss, Fs, and Fs all cancelled on them. Elder W's new companion is Elder L he's pretty cool.

Friday we got up early and left again for San Antonio. We made a few deliveries on the way back and arrived with enough time to go to District Meeting which we moved since the Assistants were gone during the week and Sister R wasn't feeling well. We talked about increasing our faith to see miracles and "break the ceiling" and set some goals as a district and I left a few commitments too. It was a really good meeting and I was satisfied. The Assistants like it a lot so that was comforting. I had everyone in the District write on a paper how I can help them this transfer. Elder P put what is basically my goal for the District- to help them see who they can become and how to get there. I have been praying really hard to know how to help Elder N see his potential and that the leaders of the mission are inspired with what they say. I told him I'm a firm believer in obedience to leaders, but he basically said if it's not from President's mouth he doesn't need to agree. I tried explaining that obviously the Assistants were chosen because they most closely fit what President's vision is for the mission and they represent him in the work, but he didn't really agree. So extra prayers would be appreciated. We get along well and he is trusting me more as he's realized I have a pretty good understanding of the gospel, but we can do better.

Saturday we had a bunch of deliveries and then stopped by a ton of people but no one was home.

Sunday was Easter (duh). Church was pretty good even though B decided to go to his other church. We have been going through teaching records and the ward roster trying to find places with good potential so we talked to a lot of members if they were written on the teaching record or in one case if it was their spouse. We also talked to the active nonmember Sister H and she is nice and said we could come by this week. We decided to stop by B and invite him to a Stake Easter Devotional, but he said he couldn't go but we had a really good lesson with him instead so it was fine. We talked about faith and he has a lot of interest in the Book of Mormon and gaining a testimony. We talked about how he can get one and talked about how we find truth and receive answers to prayers using verses from the Book of Mormon. He really wants the church for him and his wife, we just need to talk about the implications of a testimony and how if this is the one true church. We ate dinner with the ward mission leader and his family and his kids loved me for some reason. Brother and Sister C were talking with Elder N and the kids (ages like 6, 8, and 10) just kept asking me all sorts of questions and telling me stories. They are a great family. 

Well we are going to be super busy with Zone Conference, two apartment moves, and more this week, but we are going to really try to find those people in this area who are prepared for the gospel. I know that that promise is real and as we strive to follow the Spirit and do the Lord's work we will be guided. I know that this gospel is true. I know that Christ lives and because He lives we will all live again too. For much of my life I worried that I didn't have a very strong testimony of Christ because it always just made sense to me, that He is our Savior and that we will live again. It wasn't until recently while reading my Patriarchal Blessing that I realized that I have been blessed with a sure knowledge of Christ and His resurrection. I have never doubted it and I know it's real. I know He died for me and for all of you and that is why we can turn to Him in times of need. I know the Book of Mormon testifies of Him and His divine mission and Atonement. I know this work is true! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder Pew

April 28^th, 2014

Dear family,

So, I don't know if you have been able to tell (sarcasm), but I have a lot on my plate right now. Sometimes it's like "I'm in over my head" but I have felt a lot of peace and confidence, so I'm doing really well, but there is a lot going down. I'll explain more as the week went on, but first a few thoughts about being a Moving Elder and my new area that I'm not sure mentioned. 

-The airport is in our area, so we see and hear airplanes constantly which is kinda weird, but it's cool to see the huge jets and things. 

- Working out is hard, but feels good. I'm usually sore, but it's a good feeling sore, and I'm getting stronger. (It can't be said enough how weird it is to read myself write stuff like this)

- We drive past the neighborhood where President Slaughter lives all the time and see the Slaughter family fairly often. 

- We work closely with the senior couples who we are really good friends with. They are so cool! Elder and Sister Williams and Elder and Sister Presser. The Pressers are the ones who referred B and Elder Williams is the one we work the closest with. He is very calm and wise and has a lot of knowledge. He served in the TSAM nearly 50 years ago when it was huge and served in some of the same areas. He has some sweet stories and we ask him gospel questions all the time

- We've driven past the Alamodome and downtown San Antonio a few times which is pretty cool

- It is pretty interesting to be in so many situations like stores, restaurants, the storage unit, etc. where the radio, or TV is on and we just have to block it out as best we can, but of course it reminds me of home.

Well on to our crazy week. Monday night we had dinner with a family and the food was really good. I told them we had to leave after like 45 minutes. After we stopped by a part-member family, the Hs, and we were able to teach them a bit. Bro H is the member, but works for the oil industry and is going out of town for the next 13 weeks. They are super nice and Sister H is willing to learn and go to church if Brother H was there too, so we are going to send the Relief Society by. 

Tuesday was SUPER busy, but a great day. We left at 8 and went out to Lockhart and Bastrop to drop off some things and pick up some other things and I got to talk to Elder L so that was fun. We had to pick up a couch from a member at noon in a different ward and then had to be at our storage unit at 1 to help the washer guy pick up some broken washers. We grabbed something to eat, stopped by the office, and then had to run to both of the furniture stores to get the things we needed for the moves. We made it to our lesson with B at 4:30 and had a great lesson with him. We left him with a Book of Mormon and got his new address so missionaries can go by. He's a cool guy. We had dinner and helped the daughter and her less-active boyfriend move a couch after we taught them, and then had to finish getting things together for the moves. We went to Wal-Mart and we had TONS of stuff to buy for the two apartments. We stuffed two carts and it froze the register when we paid for it. I've been thinking and praying for opportunities to share the gospel with people even at stores, and sure enough the cashier asked about the church and since everything took so long to scan and then it froze, we taught her for like 15 minutes. She really liked us, but wasn't really interested in meeting with missionaries, but it was still a really cool experience and makes those activities feel more productive. It was a very tiring, but rewarding day.

Wednesday was Zone Conference which was amazing! President Slaughter is incredible. He gave a really good training on Revelation, planning, and then we did role plays on resolving common concerns before we invite to baptism and talked about different ways to invite people to be baptized so it's not so rote and more natural. In one he did with my group, he was just like, "so will you be baptized?" and that was it. During lunch, President sat next to me and we asked him all sorts of questions and he just knows so much about the church. He's great. He also explained about how important it is to learn to not be offended, and how leaders need to always look to their higher leaders and represent them to the people they are over, rather than represent the people to the leaders. It is so true. He also had all the district leaders stand and explained again how important he sees us in the mission and for everyone to heed the counsel from District Leaders. President closed the conference with a discussion on marriage with Sister Slaughter. It was interesting, but really cool. He explained how our missions are bigger than we realize and that they are really important for our future as well obviously. It was sweet. He also explained how the effective way to find people (through investigators, recent converts, part-member families, etc) is where we always see success, but the successful missions and areas are those who open their mouths and talk to everyone, and they are rewarded with success in those other areas. That is exactly what I've always thought. We were too busy with Moving Elder stuff to proselyte which was too bad.

Thursday we moved the Sisters in Boerne which is a really rich area, in fact, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and most Spurs players live there, although we didn't see any of their houses. The Sisters lived at a member's house and we pulled up with the big trailer and they told us to go to the left in the driveway, but there was no way for us to turn because of how skinny the path was and there was a tree hanging over too. We basically got stuck, so I had to back the trailer out of it which was one of the hardest things ever. Anyways we finished that and got home around 4 and we were exhausted from the scorching heat (it was about 95 degrees). We stopped by a part-member family that recently moved back into the ward, and had a good lesson with the member wife who is really sick but still wants to come to church. We talked to her husband who is really nice, and I feel like there is potential there even though she said he's not interested at all.

Friday we had to move the Elders in Buda but we were able to get that done really quickly, so we ran some errands up to south Austin which was close. Our gas card was out of money and we needed to fill up so we had Elder V come fill us up. He's a zone leader in Capital ward (the UT-singles' ward that everyone covets and Elder T served in and three former Brushy Creek Elders served there) and is loving it. It was a lot of fun to talk to him and he wants me to come up there for his last transfer to be his companion. I told him to finish his mission as a moving Elder with me. It would be a blast to be his companion again. We stopped by a ton of people that evening, but we didn't really have any success.

Saturday we helped the O family paint part of their house which was fun and they are a good family. We had a lesson with the Ws (Sister W is a recent-convert that Elder T baptized). I am so glad she got baptized. She is an amazing lady. We had the adult session of Stake Conference which we weren't planning on attending since we couldn't get B to go, but the Zone Leaders said we were invited to participate in a song with the youth and to go if we didn't have lessons, so we went.

Sunday was also Stake Conference which was really good. I really enjoyed the talks given and the Stake President is pretty cool and a great speaker. We were behind the Slaughters all the way to the Stake Center and he was driving like a California driver would (because he is from California). It was kinda funny to watch knowing it was him. We had lunch with a bunch of families in the ward and the O family (same one) brought their non-member friend which was great because we shared a great spiritual thought and the Spirit was strong as everyone shared their thoughts on obedience. We also had a lesson with B and it went really well. He loves the church, he just needs to see how important it is to act on that knowledge. It was a great Sunday. 

Our district is in a really interesting spot. I'm just trying to hold everything together and keep the work moving. I've been blessed with a lot of clarity of mind and peace with the whole situation and I have complete confidence. I would still love prayers for them, but this has been a good experience for me. I'm learning a lot of patience and it has been so neat to think how much better I am handling this than I would have at the very beginning of my mission. I know everything will work out. I know the Lord lives and loves us and that trials really are to help us grow. Thanks for everything you do!

Love,

Elder Pew

Photos

April 7th & 14th, 2014

April 7^th, 2014

Dear family,

Wow. I didn't think things could get much crazier, but they just did. Holy cow. Craziest week of my life. I'll go day by day so you can catch the full effects.

Monday we had a final lesson with J and R. Both of them were some of the best lessons I've had with them, so it was a good way to go out. 

Tuesday was crazy. Basically this whole week we didn't eat at a normal time and didn't take more than 10 minutes to do so. Tuesday we helped Sister D for a final time with her fence. We came back in a few hours and taught her the Word of Wisdom with Sister S and A too. It was a really good lesson. We committed her to live the entire Word of Wisdom (she just needed to quit coffee and tea) and she easily accepted. She said she doesn't even like either of them and it made sense that she would be more in tune with the Spirit. Yes! We tried committing her to baptism, but she wouldn't accept a date, but said when she gets there she will. We said good-bye and she was very thankful for all we did. She told me that I helped her understand things better than anyone has ever done in the past. She said the Book of Mormon has been much more powerful and meaningful since we've been teaching her. I'll send pictures of everyone when I have my camera and a cord (long story). We had a lesson with M as well on the Word of Wisdom. It went well too and she asked me if she can visit in a few years once I'm settled in Utah again. She gave me a really nice note and I think I'm one of three people she trusts. We brought Sister W and she was sad to hear I was leaving, but she started crying and thanked me for the things that I had taught her. She said she was so impressed by how much I have matured and she was thankful to know me. That was a little shocking from her, but it was cool. We ended up taking R out to dinner one last time which was fun. We had a lesson with S before mutual and it was a great lesson on baptism. We have been working with his mom to set a goal for his baptism and they should find out soon when her work schedule gets figured out. We had a lesson with the Ss too and it turns out that Sister S went and bought a cake that said "Elder Pew is the best." That was too nice and I felt really bad for Elder W. I've been getting so much attention. We had a great lesson on Easter and Sister S asked if I could say the opening and closing prayer and she just really loves me. We got picked up by McNeil because Elder J drove me, and Elder S down to the trainer/district leader meeting. That night I heard a rumor from Elder V down in San Antonio that I was going to be the new moving Elder. I'll explain more later. 

Wednesday we drove down to San Antonio because Elder J was training and me and Elder S were becoming District Leaders. It also turns out that Elder I was at the District Leader meeting so that was three of the eight were from our MTC district. After the meeting President asked me if he could talk to me and he confirmed the rumors that I was becoming a Moving Elder. I was absolutely shocked! The moving Elders are usually two of the biggest, strongest missionaries that travel the mission and pick up and deliver furniture, pick up new cars, new missionaries, run errands for the mission office, and do many other things. Basically we are the assistants to the assistants and mission office. President Slaughter told me that the moving Elders have developed a reputation for being disobedient because they do have more freedoms because of the assignment. We can go in sister's apartments, drive separately, wear normal clothes, miss studies, etc. as needed. He said that they wanted to pick someone they could trust with obedience to basically change the reputation of the assignment. He told me that I needed to be smart and safe and not hurt myself. It was cool too, because he said that even though we would have less time to proselyte that the Lord would bless us for our sacrifices and we would be able to have a normal area. I was kinda freaking out because it also so happens that my district will also be me, my companion, the assistants, and one sister companionship. He also told me that my companion, Elder N would be out longer than me but I'm still Senior Companion and District Leader. It was a little intimidating, but I was excited to do something new and that President Slaughter trusted me. The ride home was fun and me and Elder S talked like the whole way. That night we had a lesson with A and the S were sad to see me leave, and boy I love their family. They said I'm welcome back anytime. We had a lesson with the Ms, and then to close we had a really killer lesson with the Fs. We talked about the characteristics of Christ's church and actually had them build a house out of cardboard and each piece represented something from Christ's church. They liked it and I did start crying when I bore my testimony at the end and expressed my love for them. They got me a pie for all the times we gave them something and a nice letter. I also gave them a letter and we took pictures and I told them I'd be back someday. It was sad to leave them, but it ended on a really positive note. H was actually getting teary-eyed when I bore my testimony too so I know that she felt the Spirit and is really close to just giving it all a shot. I hope they do. I told them in my letter I hope to be there when they get sealed in the temple. 

Thursday morning I had to pack basically everything because I hadn't had a chance yet and I wasn't able to fit hardly anything in my suitcases. I had to leave out my blanket and my nice jacket, but I can easily get it sometime we have to go to Round Rock. When I said a final prayer in the apartment I was crying too as I thought over the great experiences I had in Brushy Creek. I asked a special blessing on everyone in the area especially those that are still investigating. I really am sooo thankful for the experience I had and I love the people so much and I'm filled with gratitude over all that I was able to be a part of. I don't think I could have the area at a bigger peak and I can't express my gratitude that I was able to make such an impact for these "precious souls" (Alma 31:34 I think). Elder W was almost near tears when we did our final companionship inventory which is unheard of for him. We had a lesson with E and we basically just bore our testimonies of the church and L was yet again considering baptism and asked about her family though that would hate her for joining. I told her that sometimes we have to make hard decisions but if we know it's the right thing to do, we should do it anyways. It was a good meeting. We went to transfer meeting and I think that EVERYONE was surprised to see me as the new moving Elder. Everyone was really excited for me, but it was a shocker. My companion is Elder N. He is from Gilbert, Arizona and has been out for one transfer more than me. He is really cool and of course really strong, although he's only a little taller than me. We had to go straight to work once the meeting ended and we put everyone that was going to Austin's bikes into the trailer. Yeah, I drive a huge Chevy truck with a trailer on the back, who would have thought? I always told myself when I came into the mission that if there was one thing I knew I wouldn't end up doing, it was being a moving Elder. You have to love working out, being strong, driving trucks, and carrying things. I still chuckle about it when I think about it. When we got back to San Antonio we had a bunch of things we had to deliver to missionaries all over, and we had to stop at the missions' storage units that I have to keep track of. We didn't even have time to proselyte that evening. Our area is the S ward, and we are in northern San Antonio, pretty close to the temple, mission home, etc. 

Friday we got up really early and worked out pretty hard. Elder V and Sister C were both saying that I better be 185 lbs of muscle soon. At this pace I probably will be. I'm still sore from working out. We are in the mission office a lot and we work with the Senior missionary over apartments and finances. We didn't even finish companion study and we had to head out to run errands. We didn't get back until about 5 for dinner. We proselyted that evening and we did teach a less-active guy. He said he was interested in coming back though. We really don't have a ton going on here, and we really have one investigator who is solid, but he already has a membership record but doesn't remember being baptized at all, so that situation needs to be figured out before we can baptize him. We have a few active non-members too, but I have the faith that those can get worked out. 

Saturday was just a Conference day which I absolutely loved! Conference was incredible! The talks that stuck out to me the most were of course Elder Holland's pulpit pounding, Linda S. Reeves, Richard G. Scott, Quentin L Cook (I was waiting for one on family history), Dallin H Oaks in Priesthood (that was a really cool talk), M. Russell Ballard (of course), David A Bednar, and my favorite was Elder Corbridge. That was such a good talk. I felt the Spirit very strong with the message of the Restoration. I can't wait to share that one with investigators. It was also pretty cool to see Brynn! I counted four times and everyone was asking about her, so that was fun to see! What a neat experience to sing in Conference! We didn't really have time to proselyte because the extra time we had we weekly planned. We watched all the sessions except Priesthood at the Stake Center, and we went to our building for Priesthood. I met a few people from the ward and they were really friendly. It was strange since I met a few of them before at the baptism me and Elder T went to, but I don't think any of them recognized me. 

Sunday was similar except we had time to proselyte afterwards. We were able to have a lesson with this cool less-active couple, the Ps. They seem pretty open to coming back, so hopefully they do. 

We have a lot of work to do. It's also tough because Elder N has been here way longer (this is his 4th transfer) and has been out longer, so he's led the way so far, and I'm not sure how to tactfully lead more. He's determined to do better this transfer and once I get the hang of things here I think he'll let me lead because I have a lot of ideas on how to help the area and he has done things differently in the past. He's a really good missionary though and has a solid testimony of the gospel and is really effective if he's doing the right thing and puts his mind to it. My point is, we need some extra prayers to know how to handle the situation and to pick things up in the area. I want this area to still be proselyting focused despite our other duties, instead of it taking the back seat, but it will take time to change the culture. Anyways, thank you for all the support and I know that if we have the faith we really can accomplish miracles. I know that we do have living prophets and Apostles and I loved hearing their words. It's up to us whether we will be quick to remember or forget their counsel. I know that God knows us and watches over us. Despite the crazy changes and heavy load ahead (pun intended) I know that In the Strength of the Lord I can do what is required of me like Elder Bednar said. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Pew

April 14^th, 2014

Dear family,

This was another crazy, crazy week, but that is the life of a Moving Elder. It has been pretty tough for me to not proselyte very much, especially since there is not much going on in the area and we don't have a ton of time to get things going, but it's been a fun new adventure. Basically every morning is the same. We get up at 5:50 and work out. Hard. I've put on a bit of muscle weight and I've already gotten stronger. Elder N calls it the Swol Factory and I am definitely swollen, but it does feel good to work out hard. My body feels great and awake. I bet none of you expected me to come home super in-shape and ripped, but that might be what happens. I know I wasn't expecting it. We study at 8 and then have to leave at 9 to go to the mission office. We talk to Elder W about things missionaries have called him about, upcoming moves, etc. and then we head out to do our deliveries. We usually aim to be back by 5 for dinner and then proselyte the rest of the evening. The hard thing is that there is no "set" rules or agendas for us. We have a lot of liberty and a lot of people who want things. One of my possible suggestions has been to go to each zone just once a month on a date they know and they can just request the things they need and we bring it out in one big load, that way we don't have to drive all the way to R just to deliver a shower curtain or something. My other idea has been to do a bit of companion study in the car and to call people in the area book, investigators, or less-active members while we are driving around to be more efficient. I want the area to be more focused on proselyting than Moving Elder stuff, and do that when needed. It will be a slow process, but I think it will work.

Monday night we stopped by a lot of people and ended up having a lesson with this less-active guy named B. He's like 64 but really energetic and funny. He has been coming to church off and on the past few months and his wife isn't a member. He said he's working on her, so that would be cool to teach her. 

Tuesday we had to run a bunch of errands. We organize everyone's orders and mail for each zone to pick up after MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference) and then we ran around picking up a bunch of things and buying supplies at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Office Depot. It's pretty strange going to stores like everyday. We had a lesson with our only kinda investigator Brother H. He is the one who we have records for him but he promises that he's never been baptized. He started trying out our church a few weeks ago and has progressed pretty well, but we need to have our bishop interview him and find out if he really remembers or not. If not, President Slaughter has said to treat him like an investigator. We watched a CES Devotional that I saw a few weeks ago on P-Day called "the Blueprints to Christ's True Church" by Tad R. Callister in January of this year. It is an amazing talk. Super powerful, I highly recommend it. Anyways, he really loved the talk and the only things holding him back is he is in leadership in his other church that's falling apart, his wife isn't interested, and he needs to know more doctrine. I asked him though at the end if he believed that our church is Christ's true church and he said yes. The more I've thought about the situation the more I've thought that he doesn't have a very strong testimony, but he loves missionaries and the way the church is run, so he's got a good start. We just need to help him understand our purpose, help his wife, and teach him doctrine. He's a good guy. Also a free-mason. 

Wednesday we had to deliver some things to East Zone and take some bikes different places. We were able to finish by dinner. We had dinner with the Ms, a super nice older couple from South Africa. They are really cool. They said they knew several Louws, but they didn't know for sure. They are really awesome. We had a lesson with a recent-convert J and he is a solid 20 year-old with a member wife and two kids. They are going through some rough financial situations but they are holding on to the gospel which is great. We had a good lesson and then we had a lesson set with a lady whose husband doesn't live with her and isn't a member but comes to church every week, so we were going to talk to her, and we asked J if he could come so we could go inside and he came. It was sweet and he bore some solid testimony. Sister G is really nice and has recently become much more active. She made a deal with her husband that they would go to church every week. He doesn't live with them because of conflict with the daughters. She is trying to figure the situation out and she said he's been taught before, but we asked if she would invite him to be taught again. She agreed and thought he would be willing, but I guess he doesn't like being pushed. We'll see how that one ends up.

Thursday we were really busy. We had to go to Lockhart and Bastrop, which is like an hour or more away. It was cool to drive and the cities are SO cool! They are really old and there are like these manor looking houses. I loved it a lot. We went to a super good BBQ place called Blacks. They have delicious brisket (?) that just melts in your mouth. Gotta love Texas. We also had to go to pick up all the furniture and supplies for the senior couple that moved into Eagle Pass on the Border because they needed to move in on Friday. We had a ton of stuff to do and then we had to go to East San Antonio again to pick up some more stuff and we didn't get home unitl after nine. It was a crazy day. We just have to eat whenever we have a second.

Friday we had zone meeting. Our zone is much bigger and it's really impressive. The Spirit was strong the entire time. As usual it was a bunch of things that I need help with. After the meeting we actually had a Zone Council with the leaders in the zone. There are a lot. There are the zone leaders, three district leaders, two sister training leaders, the Assistants, and the Sister Assistants. It was an intense meeting and they have a really high vision of what they want to accomplish. We were talking way above where I'm even at, so I came out of there feeling pretty insufficient and a lot of things to work on. Sometimes I do get discouraged hearing where the leaders of the mission want us and where we are. I know I'm not the only one who is far below the bar. President Slaughter has been talking a lot about "breaking the ceiling" which I basically explain as having the faith to work and witness miracles. I am curious to go on exchanges with the zone leaders and Assistants to see what they are like and if we are all just talking about a level that none of us are really at or close to, or what. I know that's bad to compare but I just know that the level here (at least talked about) is waaaay higher than the zone I came from, whether that's just a hope and vision, or a reality, I'm not sure. Anyways, we had to hurry out of there to make it to the Border at Eagle Pass. It was pretty exciting to get to go. You take the 35 south which is pretty well populated until you move out of San Antonio, then it's more country. Then you get off and take a little country highway the next 99 miles to Eagle Pass. There is absolutely nothing. There is lots of trees and shrubs and things, but no people. There is like 1.5 towns in between. Our car got caked with bugs. It was much different than I expected. Eagle Pass is a pretty nice place. It looked like any other city, unlike the shack, dirt road streets I was expecting. The zone leaders there did say it is much more ghetto once you leave the main city, but it was cool. You could see a huge Mexican flag waiving just across the border and we were about a mile away from it. The apartment was pretty nice and we got everything in and assembled by about 8. They got us Super Tacos which is a famous place down there and it was really good. Steak and chicken tacos. Also my pants ripped at the crotch while we were working which was pretty funny. It was super noticeable. We had to make the long 2.5 hour drive home afterwards. It was a little freaky flying down the one-lane road with no street lights at like 80 mph. We were about halfway back the 99 mile stretch and I got pulled over. The officer said I was going 84 on a 75 mph road which wasn't true since I had the cruise control set at like 78, but we were just really polite and he asked what we were doing and we just told him that we help other missionaries move their furniture and things and that usually we are suppose to be home by 10:30 but because we have a special assignment we have some leverage but that might be why we were in a hurry. He was a nice cop so I think he realized it would be ridiculous for giving someone a ticket for only going 9 over on a completely empty road and just gave me a warning, so that's three times getting pulled over with 0 tickets. Yes. We got back around 10:45 which just feels super weird.

Saturday we had to go up to Austin to deliver a book-shelf, filters, chairs, etc. to some missionaries up there. It was weird because we drove on the 45 which goes through Brushy Creek a bit and goes right next to the apartment. That was kinda freaky. We got back around dinner and headed out to proselyte for the first time in a few days. We weren't able to teach any lessons, but we made a lot of visits. There are a ton of less-active and part-member families that we don't know so we are hoping to find new people to teach through those, but no success yet. 

Sunday I had my first time at church which feels weird since it feels like I've been here for awhile now. It is a really cool ward and the bishop's funny and a great guy. It's a great ward and I'm excited to be here. We stopped by a bunch of people again to no avail. It's has been a little difficult because Elder N hates anything but stopping by those people and won't street contact or knock, so have spent a lot of time in the car driving to the next house. The few people I have been able to contact have been really nice and we taught one guy a bit about prophets, but he wasn't super interested and we left a pamphlet with him. I understand the effectiveness of member work over street contacting, but since we have so little time, we need to talk to as many people as we can. It's been difficult but I am confident that the Lord will bless us for the efforts we are making and things will pick up in this area. 

I know that this church is true and that this gospel brings us true happiness now, and in the eternities. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us and that everything they do is for our benefit. I know that trials are given to us to help us grow and develop into who we need to become.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true and is the word of God. I love the gospel and everything it teaches and I know it will help us through the whirlwinds of life. Thank you for being such a great support!

Love,

Elder Pew

p.s. I should be able to send pictures next week hopefully

March 24th & 31st, 2014

March 24^th, 2014

Dear family,

Alright the subject line (running over Elder W) is brought to you by probably the funniest moment so far of my mission. We were backing out of an apartment complex last night and Elder W stands right behind the car until there aren't any cars and then he backs up and I follow him. Well he started to back up so I put the car in reverse and started backing, but then I heard a smack on the car so I looked back and Elder W had ran up to the car and smacked it because there was car coming, but they saw that I was starting to back, so they were stopped, but I didn't see Elder W at first so I accidentally bumped him with the car and he had a water bottle in his hand and it made him spill it all over the car and a little on himself. I looked back to see the thumping noise right as I saw that I had bumped Elder W and watched him spill the water everywhere. The person in the other car was probably really weirded out and I was laughing hysterically. Of course he wasn't hurt at all but it was really funny to watch from my view in the driver's seat. We had a pretty good week. We found some new investigators, but struggled to have many lessons with our other ones, but had lots of RCLAs, but didn't get people to church, but half the F family came. I really hope I can stay here a few months longer.

Monday was pretty sweet. We dropped by the Ks to see how they were doing, and Brother K came out and we talked about his family history quest. He and his wife had caught fire in family history and his wife was able to trace her line back to work that had already been done that went all the way back to like 200 AD. Instead of just saying they were busy, he came out and asked us a ton of questions about the church, mostly about the temple. We explained eternal families, but he had some tough questions about people who are divorced, what happens to the righteous spouse in heaven if the other spouse is disobedient, etc. It was awesome for him to be open and immediately I knew it was going to end well with his daughter. Sure enough, his final question was, "My daughter is nine and she wants to get baptized, where should we go from here?" He said that he already asked her if she wanted us to come over, but she is really shy so they said she won't do it until she feels comfortable. He told us he was planning to come to church last week but he got confused about which ward to go to, but that they were going to come this week. Unfortunately he had a job interview so they didn't come, but hopefully we start teaching their daughter this week. That was such a cool experience! It went exactly how we had hoped! We were super grateful for that.

Tuesday we had zone conference and interviews with President S. He gave a really good training on the Restoration and explained the little-known four accounts of the first vision so that we would be armed with the facts. He has an amazing understanding and testimony of the Restoration. My interview went well and it was pretty short. We have continued to receive more referrals lately but I'll explain a few of them later.
Wednesday was a good day. We had a lesson with M and we invited her to bring her friend M. M is a retired Methodist minister. We were planning to teach the Restoration, but M and M and such big talkers that we didn't get to Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon so we are meeting this week. I don't think M is really interested, but we'll see what happens this week. We had a pretty slow day until just before dinner we contacted the referral that we got from a lady in W and this time the lady J was in better health so S (her brother) let us in. We sat down and we invited S and some other dude who was there to join us, but only S and J came. J is really sick, but she never said what it was. They are really nice people and we taught them about the Atonement from the Book of Mormon since that seemed like something that could help them in their state as well as show them the power of the Book of Mormon. They liked what we had to say and were grateful we had stopped by. We can't really set things up with them since J's health is pretty hit-and-miss. We stopped by Saturday with copies of the Book of Mormon and J didn't have the health to meet but S was pretty excited to get a copy of the Book of Mormon. They are great people. We had a lesson with the Ms and Bro R came since he is their home teacher. It went better than most weeks and Bro M actually warmed up to Bro R pretty well. We had a lesson with R and he was really grateful we didn't give up on him since he ran off to San Antonio again but we told him it's never too late. I gave him a bunch of those papers that mom gave me and he loved them, especially the picture of Christ. He's going to be alright. 

Thursday we had a lesson with J ith Bro C who has a TON of evidence of the Book of Mormon from South America. It was really really cool. Basically he was a retired CIA agent who stumbled on a book in a library in Peru that was written by a conquistador who wrote the stories of the natives. He recorded legends of four brothers who fought because the youngest brother could shoot his bow the highest, a white God who came to them after there was no sun for three days, and a few other Book of Mormon stories. He was shocked and decided to search out other books like the one he had found. He has collected more than 70 rare copies from these Spanish conquistadors and priests that wrote the legends and stories of the Native Americans and found so many Book of Mormon stories. I don't have time to tell all the evidence but he knew stuff about Hagoth the ship builder from the end of Alma, the Jaredite people, evidence of Jared from Genesis 10, what the Curelom and Cummoms are, etc. It was fascinating. He goes to conferences all the time with his research and has a book called Voices From the Dust about it all too. J really liked it and he had watched the Restoration DVD. I think he really wants to know this stuff, he just has a hard time and can be stubborn at times. Him and D (his wife) took us out to Denny's and they were hilarious. I love those two. We had dinner with the Ss and G remains nice and supportive but not interested. Oh well.

Saturday we were going to bring R to some lessons with us but he bailed on us. We taught S and Sis D. Our lesson with Sis D was interesting. She asked if we believed on Mormons were going to heaven. I told her the explanation wasn't that simple, so I explained priesthood authority and how everyone will have a chance and that just because someone isn't going to be condemned if they never had the chance and that it was authority, not Mormonism that mattered. She didn't really like that a whole lot and she seemed to think that was what I personally believed but she was happy that I believed it but she doesn't think it's true for everyone. We listened to Come, Join with Us, and she really liked that so that was good. She had to leave out of town so she didn't come to church. 

Sunday was eventful and pretty solid. Church was great even though only E, T, C, and Bro F came to church. We offered to make them breakfast again but they said it's too hectic in the mornings for them. They told us that Bro F was taking some of the little ones. It was good to see them in church and we heard from the Primary President that they seemed to enjoy it. Our meetings went pretty well and we were able to make some plans for the week. We had a lesson with B and he's doing alright despite the fact that he's missed church the past three weeks due to work. He is really trying to figure things out and he's at a huge crossroad in his life. He wants to find a real career and find a wife and be able to focus more on spiritual things like he wants. We talked about Prophets and Apostles and how he can receive answers to prayers at General Conference (by the way I am SUPER excited for Conference) if he goes in with faith and a desire to know what he needs to do. We also had a quick lesson with the Ls and they wanted us over for dinner today, so we accepted and then we realized we should try and get an investigator to come, so we invited S and his family and his mom accepted, so we are having dinner and a lesson with the Ls and the Ks tonight. Sweet! We contacted two pretty solid referrals and one was from J and it's his neighbor. She's a really nice older lady and she got choked up and was happy to see that there were still nice people who cared in the world. I testified that the things that we teach will help her through all of her trials and we set up a time to come by this week with J. It was really sweet to be an answer to someone's prayers. Oh we also had a cool experience where we were in a complex and I felt like we should talk to this lady that was pretty far away in her car, so we walked by but she didn't get out, but I felt like we should try again, so we looped back around and this time she came out and walked right up to us and asked who we were and we told her and she said she was from Utah and her sister is a member. She said she took it as a sign, but we weren't sure if she meant a sign to learn more, or a sign that she needs to move back to Utah, but she was really glad she saw us and we gave her our number so she can call when she wants to learn more. I hope she does call, she seemed really awesome. 

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ and that true happiness does come through living the gospel. I know that we are blessed when we are obedient and work hard. I know that with faith we can accomplish anything according to the Lord's will. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is the evidence of the marvelous message we have that God still speaks to us today. Thanks for all the support!
Love,
Elder Pew

March 31^st, 2014

Dear family,

Well this time we can pretty well know what happened, so I'm just going to get straight to it. This was my last full week in B. It was a good one. I'll just get right into the good stuff.

Monday night we set up that sweet lesson with the Ks and Ls, but when we went with the Ls to pick the Ks up, S wasn't there. It turns out he had baseball and they didn't know it. That was sad especially because that made it disobedient to have a dinner without a non-member there, but the L family sacrificed a lot to work everything out so we went with it and it was good to be able to teach Sister K and her daughter. The L family is awesome! 

Tuesday we had a lesson with Sister D and Sister S and it went really well. I really wanted to commit her to a baptismal date, but Sister D and S ended up side-tracking our conversation at the end so the Spirit wasn't really there. We did a lot of biking the rest of that day, but we were able to meet with the Fs briefly. We went over and Sis F, H, and A were gone, but they got back when we were talking with Bro F and E, and they had us come in even though they were busy. They sat us down and made us eat some of the Indian food they had just gotten and we talked. They are just the best family ever (The Indian food was good by the way). Like I said, they were busy but we asked if we could share a quick thought with them, so we talked about the Atonement. We also set up a final lesson before the transfer. That is going to be an intense lesson. 

Wednesday we had district meeting and we didn't have any lessons. So we did a lot of biking and not much teaching, but that's okay. 

Thursday we weekly planned which was strange to plan and finally know that I wasn't going to be there for all of the week. We had a lesson with M and we pounded the importance of the Book of Mormon. She is progressing ever slowly. We really emphasized praying to know if it's true. She accepted a commitment to pray about the Book of Mormon which is more than she would do before. I have a strange connection with her. Her friend M got basically eaten by a couple dogs so she's out for a few weeks. We had a lesson with J's neighbor and he came. She is a great lady. She isn't super religious so we taught her the Restoration and the Book of Mormon especially. She understood everything and that it would make sense for there to be a prophet on the earth today. She liked the part from 2 Ne 29:7-9 (I think) that talks about there being more nation than one and that God loves ALL people. She accepted invitations to read and pray and come to church, but she got sick Saturday night. J was great too.

Friday we had a lesson with this sweet dude named R. He did most of the talking, but he was asking for advice, so we just taught him principles here and there. We invited him to church and he really wants to try it and he wants his whole family to also. We later found out that he knows R and A who are members that live close to him and they are a cool family, so we told the Gs to work with them. He wants to meet every week.

Saturday we realized we were almost out of miles, and even though in the past we just went over, we decided it was more obedient to not, so we brought our bikes and then drove to the middle and biked around and then drove home when we were done. We had a lot of things fall through but we had an amazing lesson with R, one of the best experiences of my life. We talked about being consistent and staying firm in the faith. He said he has finally made a change of heart and no longer wants to sin (Mosiah 5:2). He said our dedication and not giving up on him has helped him more than anything else. He told us he was about to give up and take a bus as far as he could and start over, but it was us that made him come back. He got very emotional and said that if her were the only person we were to convert on his mission it would be worth it to us. He cried and said that when he finally makes it to the Celestial Kingdom he will be so proud to see us and that we will deserve so much for all that we have done. It was an absolutely beautiful thought and the Spirit was SOOOO strong. I was crying it was very powerful. I'm really going to miss him. It was a very tender moment and made me realize why I do what I do, to help people, motivated by love, come to Christ so that they can have eternal happiness in the Celestial Kingdom. I don't think it was moved by the Spirit, but he keeps getting discouraged so I told him that by the time I come back to visit he will be married to "his mormon girl" like he always talks about if he stays strong and is patient. Such a great guy. We had dinner with the B family which is the couple that speak different languages. Bro B is an inactive member who speaks only English, and Sis B is not a member and only speaks Spanish. It was the BEST dinner ever! We had chips and dip, then tostadas, then corn on the cob, then steak and potatoes, then smoked salmon, and finally...crab! We were in heaven and they are awesome. We shared an Easter thought and Elder W bore his testimony in English about the Atonement and how we can be cleansed from sin (for Bro B) and then I bore my testimony in Spanish as best I could about Christ and invited M to church at the Spanish Branch and to their baptism that was the next day for Sister S and A's dad. My Spanish wasn't too bad, but she just didn't see the point in going to a baptism. Bummer. We had a lesson with E and E was really sad about me leaving, but it was fun to see him again. 

Sunday was the day of days. At church both me and Elder W bore our testimonies and it was a good experience. I got a little choked up and it was cool to look around and literally know every single family. Elder W did a good job too. Of course everyone could guess that transfers must be rolling around and we had a TON of people come up and thank us and wish me well even though I never said I was leaving. In PEC Bishop thanked me again and everyone was asking about me leaving, but we just said likely, but won't know until tonight. I was very pleased that they asked what they needed to do to help some of these people we are working with. This meeting was great and they really want to help the F and S. It was sweet. They expressed the need to help the Fs since we wouldn't always be there. Bro A said, "yeah it will be tough now that the icon is leaving." It was a little uncomfortable but I'm glad I could have made an impact here. We had a lesson with the S family again. It went super well and they read the Intro to the Book of Mormon. We taught the Restoration and they understood it really well. They were excited to read from it and were open to watching conference and going to church. I felt really clear-minded with them and we explained things really well and the Spirit was strong. They are a great family! Bro J picked us up from there for an early dinner which was kinda awkward since it was fast Sunday. We had a good dinner and then for the spiritual thought, Bro J asked if I could bear my testimony and if Elder W could share some things he has learned from me. I bore my testimony and I was a little choked up thinking of all that I've learned since I've been here. It was a tender moment and the Js were crying, thanking us for the work we do. I got waaaay more attention than I wanted this week. We ended up getting back to the apartment really late from our lesson, dinner, and other visits, so we just decided to head back out instead of studying. We got our transfer call at 8:30from President S. He said that I was leaving, unsurprising, and that Elder W was staying and getting a new senior companion, also unsurprising. Then he said that I would also be a district leader in my new area. That was a little surprising. Of course I accepted, but it was strange to think about and I did feel like I was being prepared for something a few weeks ago. I am both excited and nervous to go to a new area and to be a district leader. I have a lot of thoughts and yet I'm not sure what I think. We had a TON of members that wanted to know what was happening, so we texted them all. I am so thankful for the many things that I've learned here in B. I'm grateful for the amazing relationships I have developed for so many people. I have seen the power of Charity, the pure and perfect love of Christ. I know that when that is our motivation, our effectiveness increases. I'm thankful for the members in this area and all they have done for me the past 8 or 9 months. I truly love these people. "Their souls are precious, and many of them are [my] brethren." (Alma 31:35) I will forever think of these people and what they have done for me and the friendships we have. I know that the gospel is true. It makes bad men good and good men better. It truly is what will bring true, eternal, happiness. I know that we have prophets and apostles on the earth today and we are so blessed to hear from them this weekend. I know that our message is true and a marvelous work and a wonder. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Christ lives and he knows each of us individually and perfectly and he loves us. Thanks for all the support!
Love,
Elder Pew