The Lord Loves His Servants

This new guy is intense (one elder said "uptight"), but that is NOT a bad thing.  This p-day they went to another missionary apartment and studied for the morning (can you say missionary geek squad? -STILL not a bad thing!)  I am amazed at how much hard work is going into the missionary effort in our area.  There is not much of a teaching pool right now, so the elders are meeting with bishops and other leaders in the area.  Their area comprises 13 wards (one stake), so they have plenty of people to work with to get help finding people to teach.  But right now there isn't much teaching happening (at least that is what I understand).

One of the previous elders inspired me to try to get in shape.  I have been a couch potato for too long, so I have been swimming twice a week to try to build up my cardiovascular system.  (Yeah, boring background stuff)  Anyway this week I got on the scale at the recreation center and it showed that I have lost some weight, not enough to be scared, but it could be a little concerning if it keeps going down.  (Still background)  So, when I got home I went down to the apartment and asked to elders to borrow the scale they keep in the apartment.  It confirmed the weight loss.  I told the elders about it and I didn't think much more about the subject.  Well that evening when they drove up Elder B2 offered to help with my weight loss problem, I looked confused and he pulled out a plate of brownies and offered me one.  Too funny!  (Of course I didn't take one, those were made special for the elders.) 


Motivation to exercise is not the only thing that has changed in me since the missionaries have come to live in my home.  Two days ago I went up to watch a movie at my sister's house.  It wasn't a bad movie, but as I was watching it I became very uncomfortable with some of the things said and implied in the movie.  I was very glad that we weren't watching the movie at my house.  I have noticed that my music choices and television programs have changed too.  I just don't want to do anything to offend the wonderful spirit that the missionaries bring into my home.  It really is special.


These elders haven't settled in yet.  This past P-day mom did their laundry, as usual, but because they waited so long to pick it up mom had already gone to bed.  I texted them and told them they could come up and get their laundry, but they said that they would wait until the morning. (Both Elders' sheets were in the laundry so I don't know how they slept.)   The previous guys knew that this is their home and they were welcome to come up at any time of the day or night.

I think we might make a little breakthrough some day.  I asked about music, (because Elder U.'s mother is a very accomplished violinist) and Elder U. said that he plays the piano.  I told him that he is welcome to play our piano anytime.  He said that he might on one P-day.  I think he doesn't yet feel like this is home.  I guess because he and Elder B2. are both here for less than 1/2 month they don't yet feel comfortable.  I am working on that.

Elder B2. plays guitar, so I told him that my nephew plays and they should have a family home evening with my sister's family so they can play guitar.  Hopefully that will happen too.  Hey, if the members aren't comfortable with who the missionaries are, they aren't going to be comfortable introducing their non-member friends to them.  (did that last sentence make sense?)

Prospective missionaries who might be reading this, please be seen by the members of your area.  They need to know you care (and that you exist).  The better they like you, the better success you will have getting them to provide referrals.

Have a great week.  As always, PRAY for our missionaries.  The Lord loves missionaries and missionaries love referrals.
 
Love to you all.

Not an easy transition

So I told you that Elder B. got transferred Wednesday.  It is good that he gets new opportunities and new challenges.  I hope that things go better for him in his new area.  I do have a few regrets, one was pure selfishness on my part.  I told him that I wanted to go on splits with him so that he could get a ride in the Crossfire (that's a two-seater sports car), but the real reason was that I wanted to hear his testimony and listen to him teach.  He said that he was sorry that I didn't get to go mountain biking with him.  I would have loved to do either of those activities, but that's the way things go.
 

(This part in a different font is not important so skip it).

When my nephew was born and I met him for the first time, we bonded INSTANTLY.  I don't know what it was, but there was an instant connection that hasn't been broken.  I joke with my nephew that we are twins from different generations.  Well, when I first met Elder B.  I had that same feeling, he is like an "old soul" in a young body.  I will really miss him.

I am going to do things a little different from now on (if I can) and that is to try not to get too personal.  When Elder B. came he was fresh from the MTC and this was his first area, we tried to make things comfortable for him and make him feel at home.  That hurts too much.

One of the things am trying to do that is taught in Preach My Gospel is to have the Holy Ghost guide me in what to pray for.  I have been trying to let the spirit guide my prayers but it is harder than it sounds.  As I have been feeling maybe a little bittter about this change, I have felt the need to pray for the new elders and hold no resentment towards any anyone for any part of this change.  I even put some of their names on the temple rolls.  That's okay, isn't it? 

Elder U. is still here (he has only been here a week) and he got a brand new elder fresh from the MTC.  The new elder is from Arizona (another Elder B.  maybe I can call him Elder B2).   These guys are very busy and never seem to be home.  No chance to get to know these elders, I never see them.  They are very polite and respectful and I will love them like all the rest, just a little more distant. 

I did learn that these new guys are human.  P-day came and went and they might not have planned very well, so they ran out of toilet paper.  They came upstairs to borrow a roll, they promised to go to the convenience store and replace it, mom would have nothing of it.  She gave them a six-roll package and said to keep it.

I lied about never seeing them.  As I was on my way in to work Saturday at 6:30am I did see them, they were running in the neighborhood for their morning exercise.  I waved to them and they waved back, I doubt they recognized me, but that's okay.

The Lord loves all his missionaries!  May we pray for all of them, and especially for those that you care about.  Life is good!  Time is short.  Smile at the next person you see.  Hug someone you care about.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is restored on the earth and He leads his church.  Be thankful for an inspired prophet who is President Monson.

Thanks for reading my blog.  May the Lord bless your efforts to support the missionaries and their work (oops, the Lord's work).  Keep those missionary referrals coming.

Noooooooo!!!!!

I got home from work tonight and the dryer is running, that's funny I think, so I ask why there is laundry being done on a Tuesday.  Mom tells me that Elder B. is being transferred tomorrow.  Wait!  Not Fair! We just had an unscheduled transfer last week.  So mom tells me that Elder U. will be getting a brand new missionary tomorrow.

Like I said a while back, the parents of these awesome young men get to have their missionaries for 19 years, give them up for 2 years and then they come back home.  For us, we get them for just a few very short months and then we will probably not see them again.  Mom was almost in tears when she was telling me.  I asked her if she cried and she said "What do you think?"  Yeah, she cried.

If Elder B. ever reads this, I want him to know that he will always have a home with us. 

I know that the mission president is inspired in what he does and I am sure that this transfer is in the best interest of the people who need to hear Elder B. and for Elder B. himself, but I can't help but be selfish and want him to stay.  Of course it was the same when Elder K. left and also when Elder M etc. etc.

May the Lord bless you all.  Always remember to pray for our missionaries. 

Expectations of Greatness

I just reread my last post and now I have to apoligize for making it sound so bad here.  It wasn't as bad as I made it sound and I am sorry to anyone I may have upset with my negative post. 

As expected there was a change in elders here, the unexpected part was that transfers came to our home a week early.  Elder L. is now in a different area of the mission and Elder B has a new companion, Elder U. who is fresh off serving as a zone leader.  Elder U. jokingly said that he was getting demoted from zone leader, I told him that I thought that getting Elder B. as a companion is anything but a demotion!  I told him that he better get ready to work hard, because Elder B. is used to getting baptisms, there were 4 baptisms in 5 weeks, a week off and then 3 more baptisms.  Then I said that he would have big shoes to fill here (Elder B. said "yeah, size twelve" - what a goofball). 

Elder U. is making a great impression; yesterday as they were on their way out my mom was on the back deck reading. She stopped them and asked where they were headed,  He said "we're going out to preach the gospel valiantly!"  Now that's what I call expectations of greatness. 

I am more than a little afraid of this companionship.  So now we have two Polish elders serving together.  The similarities don't end there, they are both oldest sons each with one older sister.  And they are both from the South.  What was the mission president thinking???  (okay, just kidding about being worried.  I am totally excited to see how well the work will progress with this "super-power companionship").  I only hope they can stay together for a long time.

I can already tell there is a difference in the spirit in my home.  I don't know how to explain it, except to try to describe it like there is a kind of missionary work "hunger" in their eyes.  On the day I met Elder U. he was already asking me for referrals and Elder B. is there writing their information down, they are serious about this work.

As I told you on Tuesday, I have been reading about trying to learn better how to pray with the spirit.  Well, I can tell you with total confidence that the Lord does hear prayers and He answers them too.  Thank you to all for your prayers for my missionaries.  The Lord guides His work, and nothing can stop the gospel  work from progressing, not even a discouraged blogger.

Oh, by way of tying up loose ends:  The heavy bag never came to be.  The story of the birds is even more tragic.  There were some pretty heavy wind gusts the other evening and the bike and helmet with the nest in it went down. Two casualties immediately occurred and despite our attempts (my sister and her kids rescued the nest and the baby chicks) the mother robin had trouble finding the nest after it got moved out of the wind, so the next day the other chicks died too.  We are all very sad about that, but that's nature.  Next year I will put up some baskets (or bike helmets) in a better location so that it doesn't happen again.

Thanks for reading my blog. 
As always, keep praying for our missionaries wherever they might be serving.  May the Lord bless you and strengthen your testimony.  What these missionaries do is of great worth, help keep them busy wherever you are.  Do something good for your missionaries, give them a referral (that's a recommendation you give to them for someone they can teach), now that's spoiling the missionaries.

Pray Always

I have been struggling lately with a little discouragement.  I usually try to post on Sunday, but this week I'm mixing things up and will take a break for the weekend.  Last night I went to a dance recital for my niece.  I hate going to those things they are noisy and the music is offensive, but I go to support my family.  Anyway I have a copy of Preach My Gospel on my i pod, so I decided to read from that on the times while my niece wasn't dancing.  The subject I was reading was on how do I recognize and understand the spirit.  The section I read was on using the spirit to pray with faith.  What a POWERFUL lesson.  There was a quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley:

Every morning ... missionaries should get on their knees and plead with the Lord to loosen their tongues and speak through them to the blessing of those they will be teaching.  If they will do this, a new light will come into their lives.  There will be greater enthusiasm for the work.  They will come to know that in a very real sense, they are servants of the Lord speaking in His behalf.  They will find a different response from those they teach.  As they do so by the Spriit, their investigators will respond under the influence of the same Spirit.

I have been a bit concerned that Satan is working overtime to slow down the work in our area.  I would ask all of you to please pray on your knees for our missionaries and then while you are out and about during your daily activities, keep a prayer in your heart for the missionaries, they need the extra protection. 

If you know a missionary, pray for him or her.  Pray for them individually mention their name, ask for specific blessings.  They need the help.

That's about all for now.  I might write something next Tuesday night.  Transfers are the fifteenth - (sad to say, I am kind of looking forward to that). 

Sorry for the negative post, I promise the next one will be more upbeat.

The Lord loves all of us.  Keep praying. 

What to write today?

I don't have anyting even close to a theme today.  So I will just put down a few odds and ends from the past week or so.

While I was at work one day this week, the missionaries came up to borrow the DVD player and TV.  Mom was just fine with that, (what's she going to miss, reruns of old game shows?)  So the missionaries put in a dvd that the church puts out for training missionaries, I don't know what it was, but I must admit that I am a bit jealous that mom got to participate in that.  After the dvd was over, they told mom about some of their plans for finding and teaching new people.  I just love the spirit that these elders bring into my home, it is a great blessing to me and my family.

Elder L. borrowed the hose and washed their truck this week, when mom asked why he wasn't getting any help washing the truck, he said that he is the driver so he should clean it, and besides his companion was in the apartment cleaning.  I think Elder B. likes to keep the apartment cleaner than some of the other missionaries we have had.  Good on him.

I learned that there must be guardian angels out there watching over the missionaries.  This past p-day one of the elders went with a few other elders and a priest from the ward to go mountain biking.  I was not expecting what I saw when they got home, one of the elders kind of crashed on his bike and scraped up his shin and hands, he looked pretty beat up.  We got him all cleaned up and there seems to be no serious damage.  What got me thinking about guardian angels was that yesterday, when I was at work, we had a guy come into the emergency department who had run into a tree while mountain biking and flipped over the handle bars and seriously bruised his thigh requiring surgery.  I told our elder about it and said that there must be some extra protection out there for the Lord's missionaries. 

So here's a kind of cute story... my sister's family came down today to help me pull weeds.  One of my nephews asked me if I knew that there was a bird's nest on the patio outside the apartment.  I said no, so he showed it to me.  There in one of the bike helmets hanging on one of the bikes is a robin's nest with five eggs in it.  So I guess there won't be much proselyting on bikes for a while.  -It's kind of interesting, one bike is covered in mud and the other has a bird's nest on it.  It just goes to show you how different two companions can be and yet they still keep the work going.  The Lord loves His missionaries.

Also today the missionaries had just driven into the driveway and were waiting for two other elders to come for an appointment the all had for dinner.  While they waited they came out and talked with me.  Elder L. grabbed the shovel and helped me dig out a dead rose bush and plant a new one.  These guys are great!  While we were talking, Elder B. mentioned how appreciative they were for such great "land..." he just couldn't say landlords, he said that just didn't sound right.  I told him, that he could just call us family, that works for me.

That's enough randomness for this week, I hope I can give a better report next week.

May our Heavenly Father bless your missionary wherever he or she is serving.  If you get a chance to spoil a missionary, DO IT.  It will make your day. 

As always, keep praying for our missionaries and I will do the same. 
All the best, as you try to get closer to the Lord.