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

November 10, 17 and 24, 2014 and some photos

November 10, 2014

Dear family,

We had a great week here in the TSAM. Some awesome things happened.
Monday night we taught J.

Tuesday we had a lot of zone leader stuff to do and had a baptism interview. Elder L has a SWEET investigator getting baptized. We also had a lesson with A, that less-active guy we just met.

Wednesday we also had a lesson with Sister M. Sister Marshall is excited and committed for her baptism. We tentatively set Saturday for the interview. 

Thursday was MLC so that was incredible as usual. President laid down some sweet doctrine and we basically counseled for like 2 hours on how we could apply the things we learned from Elder Hamula. I think the Assistants (and probably President) were impressed that we hit our goal again for baptisms and we led the mission too. It's really paid off to track the investigators in our zone so we can be so accurate and then work hard to make them happen. Our goal for the month is to go on lots of exchanges and really work to find. We have a goal to find one new family in each area we go on an exchange. I'm really excited. I just want to help the Elders so badly and give them a great experience with a new family. Elder Hamula said that we usually have more success in other missionaries' area if we are really trying to help them and raise their vision. 

Friday we went straight to work on exchanges and I went with Elder J in Cibolo. He is a great missionary and they have a very country area but are on bikes. That was fun to ride Gimgimno again (that's my bikes name, named after the city destroyed in 3 Nephi 8 I believe), and we talked to a ton of people. We even worked through dinner and talked to probably 100 people. We taught these two ladies who were very religious, but they weren't ready and so we moved on just making sure we are finding those who are ready. We were exhausted and starving by the end of the day and a little sad to not find a solid family, but we did our best.

Saturday we were trying to get a hold of Sister Ml and finally we called Sister B and talked with Sister M because I guess her phone broke, so we set up the interview for 4 and then had to call Elder L to see if that even worked for him. He said it worked so we went to pick him up and then we couldn't get a hold of Sister M again, so we just showed up and luckily she was ready to go. Sister M passed her interview with flying colors, so it's all set for the 14th at 6:30. 
Sunday was awesome. Sister M came to church and the H family did too. J and his wife came to Gospel Principles and the Ts did a great job of helping them to feel welcome. They loved it and they were making some really impressive comments. I don't think people were expecting J to be like that, but he was on the money with his comments. We were talking about the role of parents in a family and he even brought up how your kids should know you are a father first, then your friend, so they understand the importance of listening to their counsel. He said he would love to have an eternal family and it was just 40 minutes of heaven for us. They had to leave partway through priesthood because the kids were getting really fussy. We were very pleased to see both Sister M and J at church and for the successes we have seen with them. We worked really hard to find some new people, but didn't have any luck this week. The gospel is true and it really is such an amazing experience to see others experience the joy that we feel. Thanks for all the support!

Love, Elder Pew

November 17, 2014

Dear family,

First, we have a family that is just here for 2 months at Randolph AFB and they were at dinner yesterday with the V family and their last names are the Bowns. Super nice young family and gave a great talk in church last week. I recognized the name, but when Bro. Bown asked where we were from and we said Cedar Hills, he asked if I went to Cedar Ridge. I said yes and he asked if I had Mr. Bown. Turns out it's his dad. Small world! He took a picture to send to his dad. Anyways, I'm going to just write this by major events:

First,

the baptism. We had a ton of drama this week trying to get all the details worked out for the baptism—normal for most baptisms! The baptism itself went super well. Her whole family came except R and the ward was very supportive. Sister B gave a great testimony and Sister M bore her testimony too. We told the M about the baptism and K really wanted to come and she loved it! We had dinner with them Friday and Sunday with the Vs too. We had everyone write a congrats to her. Anyways, the Hs came too and J really liked it and the ward has been awesome with them too. Their heater went out and it was almost Utah cold this week being in the high 30s and low 40s with wind and occasional freezing rain, and the ward helped a ton and Bishop was actually the one to invite them to the baptism. Later Sister M told us she wouldn't be at church (something came up) and we were able to talk her through it and at least consider coming and she finally understood that she needed to be confirmed. She didn't want everything to be a waste, so we told her that the confirmation and activity in the church would close that out. We kept the Bishop well informed and he handled it super well. He's awesome. We are still in contact with her and will confirm her next week if she starts doing better, or we might just do it during the week. Either way it was a challenging experience and Satan is working really hard against her. Prayers would be great. It's been interesting to notice how peaceful though I've felt through it all. Every now and then it hits me how bad that is, but it's always followed with peace and assurance that it will work out. 

Second, the Hs also came to church and even brought J's brother M that we met. The talks seemed like they were really good, so that should help J. He's loving the church and is really on fire. We got them a piggy bank to put their money into instead of buying cigarettes or beer. Hopefully that will help.

Third, we had zone meeting this week but the Assistants and STLLs were coming, so as a zone leadership we only had an hour to train, so I just had 15 minutes to present our plan to implement Elder Hamula's trainings. We are really going to strive for doubling our finding since by the numbers 4 new investigators a week would put us at 1 baptism a month as a mission and as a zone we are even doing better and it would be 2 baptisms a month. We had 15 minutes before lunch and the Assistants asked me to give some thoughts, so I basically had to get up and give an on-the-spot training, but I had something in mind so it wasn't a crash and burn. We also had interviews with President but nothing really to report from that. President Slaughter is just incredible. It was fun to talk to Elder Thorn during lunch.

Fourth, I went on exchanges in Highland Hills, the Spanish branch and that was an adventure. I wasn't able to contribute much, but I understood almost everything going on. They have some awesome investigators. We also found a new lady and her son at like 8:30, so we accomplished that goal.

Fifth, we moved this week! I forgot to warn you all. We just moved to a bigger, nicer apartment (strange I know) so that Cibolo could move in once their lease ends to save the mission money, but that means for now me and Elder Hughes have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment to ourselves. I realize that that was bad timing since my birthday is coming up, so hopefully nothing gets lost in the mail. I forgot my birthday was so close. We had to spend almost all day Thursday packing everything up since we had to be out of our old apartment by the end of Friday, and it was also the first day the new apartment would be ready. We got everything moved over pretty well and are settled in the new one. So from everything going on, we didn't have as much time to find this week as we'd like, but we did teach a first lesson to a lady named E that seems fairly promising.

 

Sixth, A, is one fire too. He's been a really cool experience to be a part of. I can't remember if I even told his story, but basically late one night we were walking past his house and we saw him inside painting and we walked past, but I figured we might as well talk to him and knocked on the door and he told us he was LA and was wanting to come back to church. He loved church and wants to meet everyday if we can. His daughter E is like 4 and is super cute and she really loves us. 

Overall it was a great week despite the little hiccup we are still working out. The work is true and it's real. It's more than a good idea or a nice fantasy. It really works and really changes lives. Jesus Christ is the way to true joy. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Love,
Elder Pew

November 24, 2014

Dear family,

Happy birthday to "Zane the President of the USA and Pompeeface Sr." today!

This was an eventful week. 4 exchanges, driving to San Antonio twice, and becoming two decades old. 

I first want to start by saying thanks for all the birthday cards and wishes! It helped "another day" to be a good day. I also want to give thanks for each of you. Thank you for being such a great family. I am so grateful to be a part of the crazy, pompeeface Pew family. I am thankful to have such great parents who have taught me so well. I still brag about you guys to every missionary who ever talks about their parents and the counsel you have given me comes back to help on a weekly basis. One example was this week on an exchange, teaching a recent convert that after 40 days of quitting drinking, slipped up and fell back into alcohol. The missionaries have been lost how to help him. In the lesson when he retold his story of drinking again, a question that dad once asked me after making a dumb decision came into my head, "Did you read the Book of Mormon today?" So I asked him. He sat there, and realized that it was the first day he missed reading in a long time. We testified that it would give him the daily power to give it up again. I'm thankful for growing up in a home where the gospel was the center. Even if no one listened to me that little kids only have a 20 minute attention span and FHE shouldn't go any longer, I'm grateful for the consistency of daily scripture study, prayer, and weekly family night. Thank you for helping me to gain a testimony of this gospel.

Monday was a hard working day. No one was home and it got into the mid 30s, and we ended up knocking for a lot of it.

Tuesday I left on a two-day exchange, the first one being with 1st Ward. That is where P and L moved, so I got to have a lesson with them. It was awesome! P was super excited to see me! The lesson went great and hopefully they are more motivated to go to church. I accidentally interrupted a drug deal in that area. We racked up a lot of referrals just by asking everyone. My goal to find a new family was accomplished. We went by an old media referral and the lady let us right in. Her name was G and she said that missionaries had stopped by before and gave her a "Merman Bible." We clarified to make sure it actually was the Book of Mormon and she still had it and said she knew she should be reading it. We asked what she was looking for in life and she said "humility" so that was cool. We read part of Alma 32 and she really liked it. In the closing prayer she thanked God that she was able to open up her "Merman Bible" again. Those Elders have been struggling so hopefully that helped to find a new person for them to teach.

Wednesday I was with Mission Creek. I went with them to their district meeting. Elder S in Mission Creek is the District Leader and he's pretty great. We spent most of the day teaching and they have some really cool investigators. They didn't have a clue it was my birthday until President texted at like 10 to say happy birthday. It was just how I wanted. A normal working day serving the Lord without any attention. It's weird to think that on a mission a birthday just doesn't mean that much and I honestly kept forgetting. 

Balloons and poppers for Elder Pew's birthday

Thursday I returned and found that Cibolo had moved in with us. While I was gone they had a lesson with J and he was super excited about his baptism, so they talked about the 29th but we haven't been able to teach him again, so we will need to move it to the 6th since he hasn't quit smoking. We had to take Elder S to the mission home and it was weird being there again. I feel like I'm always the one who ends up at President's house and it was clear that I was the only one who felt comfortable there. I asked him about Sister M and he said it's not a huge deal. He said he will only start to worry if it's been 3 months and she still hasn't been confirmed. We stopped by to give them some goodies just so they knew we were thinking about them.

Rainstorm

Friday Elder H was on exchanges and so I was with Elder J double working Randolph and Cibolo. Not much happened other than a lesson with the L family (the one who loves the Cowboys). Me and Bro L get along super well, it's too bad he's just not interested in religion still but he was the one who wanted us to show him a mormon message. We also found out Elder J was getting a new companion Saturday. He was super stressed about it because they don't have anything going on in Cibolo and I think he was looking forward to working with us and having some help, so I helped him go through their record and get a ton of people to go by and I just talked up the potential in the area and I hope it helped him, he seems to be doing much better.

Saturday we had to go to the mission office and saw Elder T and President again. We picked up Elder J's new companion Elder R, who is from PG. He has been out 6 months and totally reminds me of Elder V. Knows tons about every subject and is pretty funny. Good addition to the apartment. We got Elder H back and went to work. We had no luck for a Saturday and I have really exhausted this area. We have gone by nearly every single former and potential investigator, as well as every less-active member. It's just hard that everyone we are working with can't have lessons. It started to rain at about 8 and turned into an absolute typhoon. It was awesome!! We were at a less-active member's house and it started coming down soooo hard. The entire street was flooded so we decided we needed to quickly leave if we wanted to make it back. Driving home was the funnest, most dangerous thing I've ever done. It was insane. In some places there was a feet or two of water and at one point it nearly stopped us and I had to floor it pretty good to get out. We made it safe and were done for the night and I loved it. The rain here is just amazing.

Sunday was pretty good. Church was great and the Hs came again, but only for sacrament meeting. They didn't really have a reason to leave other than fussy kids and being tired, so that was too bad, but we have a lesson tonight that hopefully won't fall through. J's brother Mo did come with, the same one we referred to the missionaries in Castle Hills and he moved in with the Hs. I told him we were happy to have him at church and he gave me a big smile and said "you'll be seeing a lot more of me around here, I love it!" Of course if he's there tonight we will start teaching him too, although he might be better in the Singles' Ward. We had another unsuccessful night trying to find new families to teach, but we are talking to lots of people everyday. We know it will turn around soon.

Out of all things I'm thankful for, the thing that I treasure the most is my testimony of this gospel and of Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful that it's always been firm and that I know how to keep it that way. I am thankful for the peace and joy it has brought me despite whatever hardships we face. I'm thankful for the direction it has given me in life. I'm thankful for the knowledge of the Atonement and of repentance. I'm thankful for the knowledge of eternal families. I'm thankful for the example Jesus Christ set for us to live joyful, successful lives, and to return to live with Him again forever. Thank you all for all you do!

Love,

Elder Pew