Elder G went home last week and we welcomed Elder M from Texas. He has been out 17 months and the day after he got here he had minor surgery. Nothing serious, he is back to work already, but what a way to start out. We have an awesome stake so they arranged to have someone to work with Elder P while Elder M stayed with a family during his recovery. Lots of people have been blessed by this little setback and they still managed to teach 20 lessons this week.
I was talking with a member of the stake presidency tonight and he said that he got in trouble for keeping the missionaries out too late. The good news from that is that since the elders are so busy they have requested that we get another set of missionaries in our stake. How cool is that? I told them that they could house 2 sets of elders here on a temporary basis, but I think that it would be best that they stay separate. I think more work would get done. It would be pretty nice to get double the blessings with twice the elders though. Maybe they could stay here. Wait, what if they get sister missionaries? Nope they can't stay here with elders.
Well that's about all for this report.
Until next time.
Keep praying for our missionaries, both male and female young and old.
Helaman had 2,000 warriors, today we have more like 60,000. Keep sending your best!
This is a blog about my experiences hosting Elders who are full-time missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also called Mormons.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Should I try again?
It has been a year since I last blogged. I guess I have been too lazy to write, but I think it's time to try again... mabye. Today I saw on another blog that two of my favorite Elders are now companions. Elder B(the first) and Elder M ( I haven't mentioned him before). Elder M is from Texas and he was part of a threesome but only stayed here a short time ( I think it was only one transfer). It made me sad when he got transferred, but it's great to hear that these two Elders are companions.
Right now we have an Elder G from Boise ID and Elder P from California. We have two extremes, Elder G goes home in 4 weeks and Elder P has only been here 8 weeks. Elder G is not at all sitting on his trunks waiting to go home, he is working hard and training Elder P like a pro. I always take a week off from work in April to work on my yard to clean up after winter. So this week I have had some free time, and just by coincidence last Friday Elder G asked me what I had planned for this week. I told him that I was off the whole week. He said good because it is the end of the month and they don't have a lot of miles left they can drive. I have been driving them around this week so that they don't have to do too much on their bikes at night. Tuesday they had a training at the mission office with the assistants to the mission president, Thursday I picked them up after they visited the temple and today I took them to their Zone meeting. I have met some of the other missionaries in the district and have to say that they are all very high quality young men. The news would have you believe that today's generation of youth are self centered and just a bunch of trouble, but I see these wonderful young men and I believe that there is definitely hope for the future. (By the way, I have been able get some work done on my yard and it is looking pretty good).
I think that we might be able to continue to host the missionaries, a couple weeks ago I received a call from a member of the stake presidency and he asked if we needed them to find a new place for the missionaries to stay. I told my mom about this call and she almost cried. I told them that as long as they need a place for the missionaries to stay there is a place for them here. I hope it can continue.
Please help bring the miracle of the gospel into the lives of your friends, coworkers and neighbors by inviting the missionaries to meet with them. The missionaries can't do it alone, they need your support and prayers. They are giving up two years of their life, the least you can do is give them a few hours of your time and support.
Right now we have an Elder G from Boise ID and Elder P from California. We have two extremes, Elder G goes home in 4 weeks and Elder P has only been here 8 weeks. Elder G is not at all sitting on his trunks waiting to go home, he is working hard and training Elder P like a pro. I always take a week off from work in April to work on my yard to clean up after winter. So this week I have had some free time, and just by coincidence last Friday Elder G asked me what I had planned for this week. I told him that I was off the whole week. He said good because it is the end of the month and they don't have a lot of miles left they can drive. I have been driving them around this week so that they don't have to do too much on their bikes at night. Tuesday they had a training at the mission office with the assistants to the mission president, Thursday I picked them up after they visited the temple and today I took them to their Zone meeting. I have met some of the other missionaries in the district and have to say that they are all very high quality young men. The news would have you believe that today's generation of youth are self centered and just a bunch of trouble, but I see these wonderful young men and I believe that there is definitely hope for the future. (By the way, I have been able get some work done on my yard and it is looking pretty good).
I think that we might be able to continue to host the missionaries, a couple weeks ago I received a call from a member of the stake presidency and he asked if we needed them to find a new place for the missionaries to stay. I told my mom about this call and she almost cried. I told them that as long as they need a place for the missionaries to stay there is a place for them here. I hope it can continue.
Please help bring the miracle of the gospel into the lives of your friends, coworkers and neighbors by inviting the missionaries to meet with them. The missionaries can't do it alone, they need your support and prayers. They are giving up two years of their life, the least you can do is give them a few hours of your time and support.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Finally Something to Say
I'm sorry for not posting for such a long time, but I just don't have much to say lately. This changed yesterday as a few very strong impressions came into my mind that I have to share with you.
Yesterday was Father's day and so in our Sacrament Meeting we had a father and son speak. The father was our Bishop who was released just 2 months ago and his son is a missionary who is serving in the Romania, Bucharest mission. The guy who was conducting made kind of a joke that Elder Peterson came all the way from Romania just to speak to us. :) The actual story is that he tore his ACL and had to come home for surgery and is now on a medical release and hopefully he will be able to go back to Romania in September or October. I keep hearing about missionaries who have to leave their full-time missionary service for a time. I just heard that Elder C. (I haven't talked about him much, but he was in my home for a while and he had to go home for a while) just returned and there have been others. It is very cool to hear about these awesome young missionaries and their dedication to the Lord. If I had left part way through my missionary service, I would never have gone back and that's sad to think about. But these young men are totally devoted to giving the Lord their all for 2 years and they are serious about it. I am so impressed with their strength.
Well, Elder Peterson had successful surgery on his knee and is now going through some intense physical therapy. But, when he spoke yesterday I was impressed at how well he is dealing with being back home. He is working with the Single's Ward in our City and encouraging many young men to get ready to serve missions and he is working 3 days a week at the MTC helping teach Romanian to a Senior couple who will be going there soon. His talk was a little random at times, but that's how my brain works so I connected with his message perfectly and one of the things he said that really impressed me was that he recommends getting a journal that you can take to church with you and then in Sacrament meeting write down, not notes on what the speaker says, but what the spirit is teaching you. That is so cool! I am going to try that.
So, now reason number two on why I had to write on the blog and it also happened yesterday. I woke up about 6:30am (I know, I kind of slept in, but it was Father's day so I took advantage). When I looked out the window to my back yard I saw a flood of water. I thought, at first, that I had left the sprinklers running all night, but there was way too much water for it to be from the sprinklers. So I went out and investigated. The city I live in is kind of rural and there is about 10-20 acres of open field behind me and that neighbor had opened the gate to the irrigation canal Saturday night. That's not uncommon, farmers will often flood their fields to water their hay so then they only have to water weekly. But the problem that happened Saturday night is that one of the dams, which was built up to divert the water into his property failed and the water went into the vacant field behind me and then into my back yard. The water went through my garden across the weeds and onto my next-door neighbor's driveway then onto the street. We got the irrigation gate closed and the water finally stopped coming, and when I investigated, there was no real damage to my yard or basement. The only thing that really happened is that I lost some topsoil from my garden.
I told the guy who did the landscaping on my backyard that he graded the lot so well that all the water was diverted away from the house. In talking to him, I said that it would not have been a huge problem, because my basement is mostly unfinished, except for the missionaries apartment, so I guess it was lucky. Then the landscaper said something that was very cool, he asked me if maybe the reason that the water diverted away from the house was not so much his landscaping but maybe because the missionaries were down in the basement and the Lord protects His missionaries. I like that reason better.
Wow, this was a long one. Maybe next entry will be sooner and shorter.
Keep strong in your faith. The Lord loves you and wants to bless you. Share your testimony with someone you care about and do it soon.
Keep praying for our missionaries. Elder U and Elder T are still great and the pranks continue. Until next time.
Yesterday was Father's day and so in our Sacrament Meeting we had a father and son speak. The father was our Bishop who was released just 2 months ago and his son is a missionary who is serving in the Romania, Bucharest mission. The guy who was conducting made kind of a joke that Elder Peterson came all the way from Romania just to speak to us. :) The actual story is that he tore his ACL and had to come home for surgery and is now on a medical release and hopefully he will be able to go back to Romania in September or October. I keep hearing about missionaries who have to leave their full-time missionary service for a time. I just heard that Elder C. (I haven't talked about him much, but he was in my home for a while and he had to go home for a while) just returned and there have been others. It is very cool to hear about these awesome young missionaries and their dedication to the Lord. If I had left part way through my missionary service, I would never have gone back and that's sad to think about. But these young men are totally devoted to giving the Lord their all for 2 years and they are serious about it. I am so impressed with their strength.
Well, Elder Peterson had successful surgery on his knee and is now going through some intense physical therapy. But, when he spoke yesterday I was impressed at how well he is dealing with being back home. He is working with the Single's Ward in our City and encouraging many young men to get ready to serve missions and he is working 3 days a week at the MTC helping teach Romanian to a Senior couple who will be going there soon. His talk was a little random at times, but that's how my brain works so I connected with his message perfectly and one of the things he said that really impressed me was that he recommends getting a journal that you can take to church with you and then in Sacrament meeting write down, not notes on what the speaker says, but what the spirit is teaching you. That is so cool! I am going to try that.
So, now reason number two on why I had to write on the blog and it also happened yesterday. I woke up about 6:30am (I know, I kind of slept in, but it was Father's day so I took advantage). When I looked out the window to my back yard I saw a flood of water. I thought, at first, that I had left the sprinklers running all night, but there was way too much water for it to be from the sprinklers. So I went out and investigated. The city I live in is kind of rural and there is about 10-20 acres of open field behind me and that neighbor had opened the gate to the irrigation canal Saturday night. That's not uncommon, farmers will often flood their fields to water their hay so then they only have to water weekly. But the problem that happened Saturday night is that one of the dams, which was built up to divert the water into his property failed and the water went into the vacant field behind me and then into my back yard. The water went through my garden across the weeds and onto my next-door neighbor's driveway then onto the street. We got the irrigation gate closed and the water finally stopped coming, and when I investigated, there was no real damage to my yard or basement. The only thing that really happened is that I lost some topsoil from my garden.
I told the guy who did the landscaping on my backyard that he graded the lot so well that all the water was diverted away from the house. In talking to him, I said that it would not have been a huge problem, because my basement is mostly unfinished, except for the missionaries apartment, so I guess it was lucky. Then the landscaper said something that was very cool, he asked me if maybe the reason that the water diverted away from the house was not so much his landscaping but maybe because the missionaries were down in the basement and the Lord protects His missionaries. I like that reason better.
Wow, this was a long one. Maybe next entry will be sooner and shorter.
Keep strong in your faith. The Lord loves you and wants to bless you. Share your testimony with someone you care about and do it soon.
Keep praying for our missionaries. Elder U and Elder T are still great and the pranks continue. Until next time.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Ninja Wars
Okay, so I have been a little afraid to post this story, but I'm going to post it and hope that I don't get in too much trouble.
Over the past year and a half, I have been trying to make the elders feel as comfortable as I can in my home. They have their own apartment with a separate entrance and separate driveway, so if they want to come and go with out being bothered, they can. There are some missionaries who interact more than others. Now I think I have finally broken down some small barriers and that's a good thing. Here's what's been happening. Remember back with Elder U and Elder B2? They came charging into the apartment one night when I was doing some touch-up work on the wall (see post on 9/11/2011). That opened the door for me and I took the chance. I have randomly taken the opportunity to leave little reminders in the apartment. It will usually be something little like a glow in the dark alien or ninja figure (no bigger than an inch). The ninjas go in the refrigerator -of course, because they are cool. ha ha ha.
Anyway, on occasion, I have seen odd little things hanging on pictures or lamps etc. It's the elders way of returning my little reminders. The Easter Bunny even left Nerf guns in their baskets on Easter so we had a battle with my nephews one day.
I guess somewhere along the way it came to be known as the Ninja Wars. I guess you could say there was a big battle last week. Remember, last week was Mother's Day and that's one of the rare days when the missionaries get to call their families. So while one elder was talking with his family, the other elder had a little free time. They had a dinner appointment at 5pm and we had family dinner about the same time, so we left for my sister's house and left the missionaries to lock up the house. That's fine, but when we got home there were ninjas, flamingos and aliens all over the house. Those elders move fast! But the coolest was the picture of my nephews (notice the picture at the top of this blog) had post-it notes with the elders' names on them. I loved it. Anyone in a leadership role or otherwise who takes offense to this story, please understand that I totally encouraged this behavior and it doesn't take away from time that could be spent on missionary work.
Transfers were Wednesday and, as expected, Elder B has been transferred. He will be district leader in his new area. I know he will be awesome. The hard part is that he is assigned to an area that starting in July will be part of a brand new mission. Yup, you got it, he is no longer in our mission. That makes me kind of sad, you get to know these guys and then they get transferred and don't come up to report on their week. Welcome to Elder U from Pennsylvania. Elder U has been out about 9 months, in fact he was companions with Elder W while at the MTC. Pretty cool huh?
So, this was not a very spiritually motivating post this week, but I thought you might like to read about the human side of our elders.
As always, remember to be awesome this week. I will try to do the same, though some weeks are harder than others. Share the gospel with someone this month, they will be blessed for your efforts and so will you.
Over the past year and a half, I have been trying to make the elders feel as comfortable as I can in my home. They have their own apartment with a separate entrance and separate driveway, so if they want to come and go with out being bothered, they can. There are some missionaries who interact more than others. Now I think I have finally broken down some small barriers and that's a good thing. Here's what's been happening. Remember back with Elder U and Elder B2? They came charging into the apartment one night when I was doing some touch-up work on the wall (see post on 9/11/2011). That opened the door for me and I took the chance. I have randomly taken the opportunity to leave little reminders in the apartment. It will usually be something little like a glow in the dark alien or ninja figure (no bigger than an inch). The ninjas go in the refrigerator -of course, because they are cool. ha ha ha.
Anyway, on occasion, I have seen odd little things hanging on pictures or lamps etc. It's the elders way of returning my little reminders. The Easter Bunny even left Nerf guns in their baskets on Easter so we had a battle with my nephews one day.
I guess somewhere along the way it came to be known as the Ninja Wars. I guess you could say there was a big battle last week. Remember, last week was Mother's Day and that's one of the rare days when the missionaries get to call their families. So while one elder was talking with his family, the other elder had a little free time. They had a dinner appointment at 5pm and we had family dinner about the same time, so we left for my sister's house and left the missionaries to lock up the house. That's fine, but when we got home there were ninjas, flamingos and aliens all over the house. Those elders move fast! But the coolest was the picture of my nephews (notice the picture at the top of this blog) had post-it notes with the elders' names on them. I loved it. Anyone in a leadership role or otherwise who takes offense to this story, please understand that I totally encouraged this behavior and it doesn't take away from time that could be spent on missionary work.
Transfers were Wednesday and, as expected, Elder B has been transferred. He will be district leader in his new area. I know he will be awesome. The hard part is that he is assigned to an area that starting in July will be part of a brand new mission. Yup, you got it, he is no longer in our mission. That makes me kind of sad, you get to know these guys and then they get transferred and don't come up to report on their week. Welcome to Elder U from Pennsylvania. Elder U has been out about 9 months, in fact he was companions with Elder W while at the MTC. Pretty cool huh?
So, this was not a very spiritually motivating post this week, but I thought you might like to read about the human side of our elders.
As always, remember to be awesome this week. I will try to do the same, though some weeks are harder than others. Share the gospel with someone this month, they will be blessed for your efforts and so will you.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother's day. Today Elder B got to skype with his family and I hope Elder T gets to tonight. I told him that if he didn't get a chance to during the day, he could use my skype account to call. I hope all you missionary moms got a chance to have a great visit with your missionary.
This Wednesday is transfer day. I love almost everything about having the missionaries live in my home, but there is one thing that I don't like so much. I always hate transfer day. You spend all this energy getting the elders comfortable enough to think that this is really their home, then they go and get themselves transferred. Not fun! I keep praying that both Elder T and Elder B get to stay here for another transfer, but it's not my call to make and so, if the Lord wants one of these guys transferred, then I have to respect that call because someone needs them more than I do.
I am amazed at the growth that occurs in these young men is such a short time. It was about a year ago that Elder B was here and he was great then, but now he tells us of the things he is studying and it's great. He just finished the Book of Revelation in the New Testament and talked a little about what he learned there and it's so cool to hear what he has learned. Now he is starting the Old Testament - I didn't even get to the Old Testament until AFTER serving a mission. I love to hear his insights because it's just a little glimpse of what it might be to sit in on one of their companion study sessions. What a blessing that would be to be a regular part of that spiritual feast.
That's it for this week. Happy Mother's day to all. Remember to be awesome this week. God Loves You.
This Wednesday is transfer day. I love almost everything about having the missionaries live in my home, but there is one thing that I don't like so much. I always hate transfer day. You spend all this energy getting the elders comfortable enough to think that this is really their home, then they go and get themselves transferred. Not fun! I keep praying that both Elder T and Elder B get to stay here for another transfer, but it's not my call to make and so, if the Lord wants one of these guys transferred, then I have to respect that call because someone needs them more than I do.
I am amazed at the growth that occurs in these young men is such a short time. It was about a year ago that Elder B was here and he was great then, but now he tells us of the things he is studying and it's great. He just finished the Book of Revelation in the New Testament and talked a little about what he learned there and it's so cool to hear what he has learned. Now he is starting the Old Testament - I didn't even get to the Old Testament until AFTER serving a mission. I love to hear his insights because it's just a little glimpse of what it might be to sit in on one of their companion study sessions. What a blessing that would be to be a regular part of that spiritual feast.
That's it for this week. Happy Mother's day to all. Remember to be awesome this week. God Loves You.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Lemons or lemonade
This might have been a rough week for the missionaries, but it's all in what you make of it. The Elders are required to report in with their statistics for the week and last week Elder B and Elder T were late reporting in because they were late getting out of an appointment. The district leader wanted to teach the importance of obedience, so they lost their car for p-day and cut the number of miles they could drive. They could have been upset and complained and used that as an excuse to do less work. No, that didn't happen. They spent many more hours on their bikes and even said that they were able to get more work done because of the bikes. They were able to tap into the awesome members here and get rides from them. Well, after a while, the district leader reevaluated his decision and gave them back their miles. So, today is p-day and they have saved up over a hundred miles on the last day of the month. They made the best of a difficult situation and they are better for it.
Good news, remember when I told you about going out teaching with the elders a few weeks ago? Well the person we taught was baptized this past weekend. Next week there are three more baptisms. What a wonderful plan the gospel is.
If you ever feel like it's tough sharing the gospel remember the recent convert who would go home to a non-Christian country and face persecution for their membership in the Church. Won't they make it hard for you when you go home?
Yes.
How will you deal with being rejected by your family?
The Church is true, isn't it?
Yes.
Then What else matters?
Want to grow your testimony? Share it.
Be awesome this week.
Keep praying for our missionaries.
Good news, remember when I told you about going out teaching with the elders a few weeks ago? Well the person we taught was baptized this past weekend. Next week there are three more baptisms. What a wonderful plan the gospel is.
If you ever feel like it's tough sharing the gospel remember the recent convert who would go home to a non-Christian country and face persecution for their membership in the Church. Won't they make it hard for you when you go home?
Yes.
How will you deal with being rejected by your family?
The Church is true, isn't it?
Yes.
Then What else matters?
Want to grow your testimony? Share it.
Be awesome this week.
Keep praying for our missionaries.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Great blessings are here for the taking.
The work here is going great. Our missionaries are serving a fairly large area comprising two stakes. Last Winter I was in a stake leadership meeting and our Stake President mentioned that he did not like the fact that we have to share our missionaries with another stake. Lots of meetings resulted in the twelve wards in our stake and we are now keeping Elder B and Elder T busy enough that most of their time is being spent in our stake and there is little time left for the other stake. Good four us, bad for the other stake. There may be some changes and other missionaries might be assigned to that stake. Our Stake President will be happy for that.
The baptisms are happening fairly regularly now and that is pretty cool. Last week there was a baptism that Elder W wanted to attend because he helped teach the lady who was being baptized. I got to take him back to his new area and we had a great visit, but the fun part is that Elder W asked to borrow my phone to text his companion to find out where we were to meet them. Well, I don't know if you remember me mentioning that my phone is about 10 years old.... It has the old style 9 key texting keyboard and so Elder W tried for a while to text, but finally gave up and said that he would just call when we got closer. I guess my phone is just too old, but I love it when my nephew teases me about how old it is. So I'm not getting a new phone any time soon.
Well I found out that I get to teach the priesthood lesson at the last minute, so I am going to cut this one short.
Be strong in your testimony and stay awesome this week. Take good care of your missionaries and I will do the same for mine. God loves us, it's up to us to share that love with others.
The baptisms are happening fairly regularly now and that is pretty cool. Last week there was a baptism that Elder W wanted to attend because he helped teach the lady who was being baptized. I got to take him back to his new area and we had a great visit, but the fun part is that Elder W asked to borrow my phone to text his companion to find out where we were to meet them. Well, I don't know if you remember me mentioning that my phone is about 10 years old.... It has the old style 9 key texting keyboard and so Elder W tried for a while to text, but finally gave up and said that he would just call when we got closer. I guess my phone is just too old, but I love it when my nephew teases me about how old it is. So I'm not getting a new phone any time soon.
Well I found out that I get to teach the priesthood lesson at the last minute, so I am going to cut this one short.
Be strong in your testimony and stay awesome this week. Take good care of your missionaries and I will do the same for mine. God loves us, it's up to us to share that love with others.
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