Elder Jansen Hall - January 27, 2014

Hey Yall!

So I dont got to long to email this week. But its been one cold week here! Ive gotten used to it but no one else has hahaha everyone down here is freezin there tails off. But nothin to much other than that has changed. I want football season to come back so that this town will come back alive again! But this week was my one year mark! We had a celebration. The zone leaders came down and we had exchanges. One of my zone leaders, Elder Johnson, was in my MTC district so we got to be together and party on our one year day! Kinda fun. But we were on exchanges to do 2 baptism interviews. One was for a little girl down in another area, which i did. The other one was for our investigator Carl, Elder Johnson did that one. But it has been a great week!

My one year mark party! haha they were tryin to get me to drink the sparklin cider, but i cant have 

carbonation or caffine. I havent in 7 months and tryin not to for the rest of my mission. Lets just 

say it was brutally hard but i managed to come away successful in not drinkin it:)

Just a couple of highlights this week. One is that as im sure yall know the news with Grampa Hall and know he is partyin it up with the rest of our family, the big family reuinion in the spirit world! ha Just a little bit about that day and a really cool testimony buildin experience. That day we were super busy. I got the call from Pres Hanks around noon, and didnt have time to think about it to much. I was able to call home and talk with my family just for a minute. Then we had more apts. Then that night when everything started to settle down I was just thinking about Grampa, Khrii, Telaii, an just about family back home. Well after bein strong all day and tryin to not get emotional, i just broke down. I couldnt hold it in any longer. My comp came an sat down next to me and just put his arm around me. Then I asked if he would give me a priesthood blessin. So we got a chair, I sat down, and he asked if there was anythin that he would want me to say. I told him no, youll know what to say, just listen to the spirit. So as he put his hands on my head, immediately I felt the love and peace of the spirit! He hadnt even said anythin yet an i was already calmed down. It was the best feelin ever. Then he continued to give me a blessin. Everything he said was exactly what I needed to hear at that time. I did not want the blessin to end, but it did and we went on with our night. I again have a strong testimony of 1. Heavenly Father and how he knows an loves each and every one of us! 2. He loves us so much he gave us his priesthood power to bless each person on this earth. 3. Each male that holds the priesthood needs to be worthy and ready to be able to bless others. As we do that, all we need to do is simply place our hands on there head and Heavenly Father can do the rest!

The other highlight of my week happened on Saturday. We were able to perform a baptism for Carl! It went so dang well! Us and the sisters got to sing I know that My Reedemer lives, which helped me with the past events. Also our ward mission leader, Bro Posey conducted and kept tellin Carl that the veil was thin and angles from his family were there to watch him. Well i felt the exact same way with Grampa Hall! So onto the baptism. I had gone over everythin with Carl. Then we get down into the font, I say the prayer and as i try to get him to bend backwards he really didnt wanna go. So I had to then slowly force him under the water as he was fightin me back haha well i guess his elbow came up cuz we had to do it again. Well the 2nd time I thought to myself, im gonna get him under this time. So I said the prayer, then basically threw him under and threw him back up! He definalty went under haha everyone afterwards kept commenting like "man you really wanted him to go under. I saw him hit the floor." haha things like that. But the 2nd one was a lot smoother then the first time haha i just had a little more power into it. Which I actually felt like Grampa Hall was there helpin me the 2nd time to get him under. But none the less it was a great experience and felt so good after all the hard work that has gone into this area! The next day Sunday, we were able to confim him, the bishop did that, then in Elders quorum we gave him the Aaronic priesthood! I was able to give him that. But Its amazin to see the change in a persons life as they let it over to Christ and follow His gospel! After the baptism, Carl looked so much different. He looked happier and brighter and seemed to have more peace about him!

This is me, Elder Hullinger an Carl!:)

Well I just wanna say that the Lord is amazin! I tesify that through his Atonement we can be changed! Thats what the gospel is, a gospel of change. We dont need to judge others, but look for ways to serve them. I know that as we do simple things every day we can bring about a marvolus work and a wonder. We can help Christ in His work! It all starts now! "We dont need the faith to move mountains, just the faith to move our covers in the morning." Jack R Christensen. Just do little things every day and youll be so happy! I love yall! Hope yall have a great week!

Love Elder Hall

Elder Isaiah Williams - January 24, 2014

Hello EVERYONE! i have lots to say so i'll condense it a little!

-All the elders and Sisters are AMAZING

-The teachers say things that blow me away each day.

-My testimony is growing faster than i can keep up with!

-I thought i couldnt love anymore than i already do..

-I was WRONG

-Im not afraid to CHALLENGE people

-I truly know my PURPOSE as a missionary

-The spirit is STRONGER in companionship. 

-My companion is AWESOME!

-Personal study and Companion study are very IMPORTANT.

-IM A ZONE LEADER!

-Leadership is all about serving people, and that's how Christ leads.

-Im already use to waking up at 6:30 and going to bed at 10:30

-The time is FLYING BY and it just keeps going faster and faster

-Im so greatful that i am here

-i don't have anything on my mind but serving the people of illinois!

-the food is oh my goodness oh so amazing, i'll try not to get fat, we'll see how that works out.

-all i do is eat learn eat and learn some more.

-My sacrament is at 7 30 in the morning :'(

-Zone leaders meet at 7 10 :'(

They're kicking me off but i love everyone and hope everyone is doing great! haha Dont worry about me im gonna do just fine! ;)

Isaiah entererd the MTC on January 22, 2014

Elder Jansen Hall - January 21, 2014

Hey Yall!

I swear (Even though if anyone should not be swearin its a missionary, but im gonna do it anyway.) every week keeps goin by faster an faster and gets busier and buiser! I dont know how it does but every week its another suprise! This week has been full of rainy, sunny, freezin cold, warm days and everywhere in between. But cant complain none the less! Me and Elder Hullinger are gettin a long great! We have been happy and really doin a lot of work and helpin the area and ward progress! Again I forgot to take a pic with him but ill get it one of these days when i remember!

So now just a little about my week. It was pretty much a normal week, nothin to out of the ordinary happened. Which is actually a suprise seein that you can do a variety of things here in Alabama but from what I can remember nothin to fansy. We were able to have interviews with president Hanks this week as well. Mine went well, and can i just say that i love that man! He has done such great things for me. We have been teachin a ton this week which has been really good! We had swapped investigators with the sister missionaries and got to teach our new investiagtor Walter. The lesson was good, but it kinda was all over the place. We are plannin on teachin him more which is good. The 2 I wanna focus on a little bit is Mike and Carl.

So Mike, we were able to teach him a couple of times at the Lewis's home. He still has a ton of questions and we are tryin to get them all resolved. We had a cool experience with showin him one of the Joseph Smith movies. After we bore testimony that he was a prophet of God! The spirit was strong and i know he felt it. Know we just need to help him to not over analyze everythin which is kinda what he is doin. He was able to come to chruch on Sunday, and he loved it! It was our ward conference and Mike loved President Johnson, our stake president. Mike is a great guy and I love workin with him. He is commin along great! Slowly but surley.

The other investigator we have is Carl. O man, i dont even know where to start with carl. He is just so amazin. We were able to go over and teach him about the Plan of Salvation. He loved it. We then went over the next day, Saturday, and the ward had a service project for his aunt and helpin her make her house more safe and have less junk. We helped with the service then got to teach him afterwards. We were with our ward mission leader, and we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith, repentance, baptism.... Those things. Then we wanted to talk to him about the word of wisdom and chastity just to make sure that he didnt have any problems with those and if he did we could help him with them. Well when we taught him those things and asked if he had any problem with them, he said the only thing he was doin was smokin. He went on to explain just a little about it. Well I had the impression to promise him that if he wanted to be baptized on the 25 of January, he could and would stop smokin immediately. Well as I thought about it I wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do. Then I got a spiritual confirmation to tell him. So I looked him in the eyes then asked, "Carl, do you want to be baptized on the 25th?" "Yes sir." He replied. "Well then if you have the faith that God will preform a miracle, I promise you that you and your body will no longer have the urge to smoke. Cigarettes will have a bad taste to you and you will no longer enjoy them." Right after that I asked if he would like a blessin. He told me yes, so me and my companion gave him a blessin. In the blessin, I told him some of the same things as well as other added blessins. We left and I felt good about what had happened and had hope for the future and put my trust and faith in God. Well the next day at church we were able to teach him again. I asked him what he did with the rest of the night and how the smokin was coming. He said, "Last night I went outside to go smoke. I started with a half a cigarette, right after I got done with that little tiny one there was a huge pinching feelin in my side, a very big cramp like i've never felt before. I became dizzy and hurt. I looked up to the heavens and told God that, that would be the last cigarette i would ever smoke. I only had one left, but crushed it up and threw it away. The next mornin one of my neighbors asked me if I wanted a smoke, and the very smell made me sick to my stomach." I was so happy to hear that! Heavenly Father really does know all of his children and their desires! He can really help us. The priesthood power that we have in our Church is real and we can preform miracles!

We are gonna do his baptism interview as well as a couple other ones for our district this week! I cant wait!:) That was the big thing for this week. This week we are goin on exchanges and again is another busy week. I wanna leave yall with one quote. "If you want things youve never had, you have to do things youve never done!" If you want new missionary experiences try new things. Dont be afraid of anything and you can do so many great and marvoulus things! I love yall so much and hope ya have a great week!! Remember to be Happy too:)

Love Elder Hall:)

O p.s. I wanna shout out to my awesome brother Isaiah! He is gonna be an amazin missionary and effect tons of lives!:)

Brad's latest email

Hey Guys!

Well this week has really gone by quickly! We have been really busy with working and I am really exhausted and have been really tired.  Like today we woke up a little early and we drove to the church, and we got to the church at about 6:20 and started running at 6:30.  Our goal was to run from the Kimball building in Caldwell to Marsing and it is about a 10 mile run!! We got to the house in Marsing at 8:45 so a little bit slow but it was cool to be able run that far after only a month. 

We have been doing alot of member visits and we are going from our ward list.  Yesterday we went to 25 houses and only 2 let us in to talk to them!  So some of the members here are really less active and don't want to come back to church! Something we will be working on.  Well I am excited for the 25th because our ward is doing a big huge chili feed so that will be fun! It's been really cold here and I am so tired of the cold! I just want it to be warm again! 

This past weekend I went on exchanges with the Aps ( Assistant to the President ) and we taught alot of lessons. He said that he was really impressed on how I teach and he thinks that I am ready to be a district leader! So maybe when transfers come I might be a district leader! So that would be really cool and so it went good and I guess we will find out!

Well I lost my wallet! Kinda sucks because I need to go grocery shopping and now I can't cause well I dont have any money so we will see how that goes! Haha wish me luck! 

Well I gotta go now I miss you all

God Speed!

-Elder Riley-

January 13, 2014
Elder Dana Sorensen -- Logrono, Spain

This has been a great week. We´ve been pretty busy this week with visits and contacting. Logroño is very nice. I enjoy contacting here because it´s fun to walk through the streets.

 Here´s a little history about my companion; he´s a great example to me. He´s Romanian but he´s lived in Madrid since he was 15 (12 years ago). He was baptized 2.5 years ago by two missionaries that stopped him in the street. He left for the mission a year later. His family doesn´t share his beliefs, so he doesn´t have any family support. He served in Romania for 8 months, then was transferred to the Barcelona mission. He speaks almost no English, so we communicate in Spanish. (Romanian and Spanish are actually very similar.) He´s a great example to me because he understands that we are working on the Lord´s time, so we work all day and don´t waste any time.

We ate out today with a less active. We went to a place where they have 100 different kinds of these "montaditos" (little sandwiches), and on Mondays each one costs 50 cents. It´s very traditional Spanish food.

We live in a piso with Elder Perkis from England, and Elder Westfall from California. It´s not a very big piso (it only has one bathroom), but it´s right across the street from the chapel. The man who owns it is actually an area seventy that lives in our ward. There are also two Hermanas that work in Logroño. Hermana Haglund is from Alpine, and Hermana Foncubierta from... not sure.

The ward here is great. We have the area seventy and the stake president living in our ward. We found a new investigator that came to church this week, and the members just took off with her. She´s good friends with at least 4 relief society sisters now, and they have invited her to all their activities.

Logroño is not very big, so there´s no tranvía or metro (tram or subway). They have a bus system, but we don´t travel to the other side of the city so we just walk everywhere (around 8 miles a day). They only speak Spanish here, as opposed to most of Spain. There are about 7 languages unique to Spain, so although almost everyone speaks Spanish, depending where you are there are other languages as well (Euskara, Catalá, etc.). But here in Logroño there´s only Spanish.

It´s great that you met the McArthurs. I met them in Barcelona when I came in (they were on their way out of the mission). I've heard a lot of good things about them from other missionaries.

I´ve talked to Ander. He says Logroño is about 1hr 15mins from Zarautz, so he can come and visit some time. I´m thinking about inviting him for a preparation day when we go hiking in the mountains with some members (there are very beautiful mountains around here, or so I've heard.)

       

There are some nice mountains in the back there... maybe we´ll go hiking there with Ander this month!

I finished D&C today for the first time. It´s been great to recognize more closely the blessings that come from having modern prophets and apostles. It´s really what sets us apart from other churches. If we didn´t have prophets (the priesthood) and modern revelation, we´d be just another church. I´m grateful for the opportunity to share that message with others.

Thank you for your support, prayers, and letters. I will send some pictures later today when I take them.

Love,

Élder Sorensen

Latest from Elder Clement: 

We had a pretty good week although we weren't able to teach many lessons. 

The hospitals here are like the ones back home. Where we went it was more like a doctor's office building but they still call it a hospital. And yes, I think Elder Chamberlain was surprised when I passed out although I did tell them beforehand that it would happen :) 

I am not quite sure if we are going to get iPads here in Mexico. We haven't heard anything yet but I hope so. It would really help a lot in the work. 

Sorry I am writing two days late, last P-day we went to Guaymas to pick up our visas and we didn't have time to write. It is kind of unfortunate because we had 6 hours of bus rides there only to find out that the system is down, eat a little caesars pizza, and return for 5 hours on a bus. We are going to go next week again to see if we can get them. 

Our new investigator Alejandra is what we call an "escogido". Or in english words, "chosen". She has enjoyed everything we have taught her and she has felt the peace that the gospel brings in her life. She feels that it is true and she has her baptismal date for February first. I believe very much that she will be baptized this day. Thank you for your prayers and help, we have really felt the blessings here in the Centro ward in finding those who "are only kept from the truth because they know not where to seek it. 

We had a great lesson with Liber last week. After we entered his home and sat down we asked him how his family trip was to Culiacan. He said it was good and after he told us about an experience. I think I have already mentioned that with Liber we had the goal of stopping smoking and drinking and drinking coffee and everything by the January first. He told us that the first week was really hard while they were on vacation. He was going strong until one day when he and his girlfriend had an arguement and he was feeling really down. He asked a family member for a cigarette and right as he was in this process, he got a text. The text was from Elder Chamberlain and I. "Hey Liber how's it going? How are you doing with your goals and everyting?" In this moment he said a prayer that he might find the strength to overcome this temptation. Right then, two clean cut young men in shirts and ties came walking around the corner. They were the missionaries in Culiacan. He asked them if they could say a prayer with him and they did. He didn't smoke that day and last Sunday he told us that he has not smoked nor drinken this year. I know that the Lord works in small and simple things to bring about his great and marvelous works. I know that He loves all of His children and that He will help them as they ask for help. I testify that He is there. I testify that He loves us, and I know that through Him we are made whole. 

I have been much more calm recently in the mission. I think I started out really stressed about all of the responsibility that we have and all the people that are relying on us and especially that if everything I was doing was the very most will of God. I think I've found that stress, in the bad sense, can be a form of fear. It is hard for the spirit to dwell in someone who is stressed out. I read a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that helped calm this stress. In section 58 verses 26 and 27 it explains that we should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and that we should do good by our own will. Then in verse 28 it says, "for the power is in them, wherin they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward." I realized that I was trying too hard to focus on the very best thing to do that I wasn't being my own agent and acting in faith. I was too stressed about doing everything perfect that the spirit was not able to dwell inside of me as abundantly and I think this cut off the connection that I have enjoyed so much in my life. Heavenly Father has given us everything we need to accomplish what He asks, even if at times it doesn't seem like it. But he wants us to be calm and happy, not hurried and stressed. 

Thanks for your support and love! I am doing very well and I hope you all are too! 

I love you, 

Elder Clement

Brad Riley's Mission Life

Hi All!!

Well I feel better today! (Brad has had the flu bug for a few days). I thought of something that you guys could do, If you see missionaries at all walking ask them if they want a ride cause its really cold! Or if you see them in a restaurant and they are there for lunch pay for their meal and if you see them in the grocery store give them some money or something or ask them if they need anything! That is really helpful and is always so unexpected, though I really doubt you guys will see missionaries in Alpine because its such a big area, but anything helps! 

This past Sunday we got to teach gospel principals and it was on service and how the season is perfect for service! This is the time of year when we need to be thinking of others and to be more Christlike! People think that the service that they have to do has to be huge, but it doesn't.  It doesn't matter as long as we are thinking of other people and ways we can help them! To go out of our way to make a difference and to touch other peoples hearts is the best thing we can do! 

This week not much really happened! We had been doing a lot of service and had the chance to teach the teachers quarom about welding! That was fun! The people in this ward are really awesome and I love being around them! We are hoping it will snow this week just because the snow here is really really ugly and its been really really smoggy! We are in an area that is huge and the mission doesn't give us enough miles and our ward covers 2 other towns, Greenleaf and Notus. and its farmland and is really really spread out, so that's always tough but at the same time I love it cause I love driving in open country!

So there is a kid out in Notus that lives in the middle of nowhere and it takes us forever to get out there, but he is 15 years old and is extremely less active but he is alot like me minus the earrings and red tips on his hair, but I have been talking alot with him, and I can relate to him really well, but on Wednesday the elders and the teachers are doing a welding activity again so I asked the teachers if he could come. so they are letting him and so I think he will have fun.  His situation is pretty tough, his mom cant keep a guy to save her life, the past 3 years she has had 5 husbands all divorced, one cheated on her and so that sucks but her new fiance is a super cool guy and hes way funny i think that he will be good for her, but they also like to take stray homeless dogs and cats and there house smells like a pet sore and its super gross and there ceiling has tons of spider webs so I try to stay outside.

This past week has been a pretty dang good week! We got a lot accomplished and we had a Baptism on Saturday that was really good.  We felt prompted to ask a very less active member to talk at the baptism about Baptism, and he did such and amazing job.  He had everyone on the room crying, (including me, you guys know how I am) but the spirit that was felt was so amazing. This guy's name is Chuck and he hasn't been to church in 26 years and on Sunday he was there. I asked him when I saw him on Sunday what made you come to church? ( we have been trying to get him to come forever) and Chuck responded to me and said "Elder Riley, when I gave that talk yesterday I felt something, something that touched my heart, something that I haven't felt in over 20 years and it made me realize whats missing in my life". So Chuck has promised us that he is going to not miss a single Sunday unless he is really sick. 

so we are excited to see if he hold up to his promise!

So this week went by pretty quick except Saturday.  I think Saturday was the longest day of the mission, I don't know why, but it was. I was homesick and missing everything and everybody at home and I just wanted to come home. It was a tough time but I'm doing a lot better now!

Last night was way awesome! It was about 7:30 and we thought hey lets go hike Lizards Butte.  So we got our flashlights and started hiking its only a 30 minute hike, but it was really cool because we had companionship study at the top of this butte and it was really, really cool something that I will want to do again! 

So one of the things that made this week so good was the weather.  I It's been a tiny bit rainy but it has been in the 40's and 50's all week! It has been awesome! I'm still trying to get the mission home to give us a Jeep cause we keep getting stuck, but no luck yet.  I'll keep trying though.  When Elder Short sees the car and asked me why the car is all muddy, he will know why and hopefully he will listen too me cause its been hard to get around. 

What I have been reading and studying is the Joseph Smith History! I love it! I love Joseph Smith so much I have such a huge respect for him and what he did for our church and what he went through! Joseph Smith means so much to me! I always get asked, how can you believe Joe Smith? You think he's God and you worship him and the Book Of Mormon is a fake book.  I will bear my testimony and say, "why would someone die for a fake book?" That gets them thinking, so read it its so awesome!!! 

I am hoping that this week will be more interesting! haha

I love you guys,

Elder Riley :)

Sister Erin Jones. The Week Church Attendance Doubled (1.13.2014)

Zdravo!

So this week was fantastic!  A lot of weeks this last transfer were a little slow, but it's really starting to pick up.  We've been meeting with more and more people, finding more people, and seeing a lot of miracles!

One of the most exciting things about this week was that English class started up again.  And guess who came: our good friend Jon Benjamin, that 19-year-old who stopped us on the street a week or two ago!  He came with a friend, and said he'll be inviting more.  On Thursday he came again and stayed for the spiritual thought (this time a church tour).  After that he was asking Sister Flanders and I a lot of questions about the church, and he agreed to accept lessons!  I'm super excited--he's definitely getting baptized!

All of Thursday itself was evidence of the fact that things are starting to pick up.  We had 5 lessons, PLUS English class!  Normally we only get 2 or 3, so 5 was exciting!  There were a lot of great things that happened in the lessons, as well.  Last week we gave Medina a stop smoking program and asked her to read through it so we could go over it the next time.  We went back on Thursday, and she had started it on her own!  Today will be her week mark, and she hasn't smoked one cigarette since last Monday!  We also taught an inactive member named Renata.  The last time, we had assigned her to read Alma 36.  She did, and she told us she had felt the Holy Ghost for the first time!  She told us like she had felt that she wasn't alone, and she heard a man's voice telling her that she could call that feeling back whenever she wanted.  She also told us that she knew it would come back if she read again!

Friday we had Zone Conference.  It was a really good one!  We talked about baptism, why it's important, and the importance of invitations.  We practiced explaining why we want people to be baptized, and it was really good.  I'm excited to study and practice more and get some baptismal dates this week!  ;)

Sunday was absolutely amazing.  Last week, attendance was sparse; only about 15 people came.  This week, there were 33 people at church, including 4 investigators and 2 visitors!  Jon Benjamin came (after simply inviting him at the church tour and sending him a reminder text the night before), plus Jolanda and her partner, Igor.  It was Igor's first time at church, and he said he really liked it and felt very good!  It was a good week for people to come, too.  The district president and one of his councilors came, and it was a really great meeting.  

I've also started a little book where I write at least one daily miracle and one hard thing I've done that day (one of our standards of excellence is to do something hard every day).  It's been a really cool experience.  I've noticed that the more hard things I do, and as I make a conscious effort to work hard, the Lord gives us even more miracles.  And the Lord always gives multiple miracles for even just one hard thing.  His hand is ever-present in our lives and in missionary work.  I know He is with us!

Things are looking up--it's going to be a great week!

 

Na svidenje!

Sestra Erin Jones

PS: I forgot to mention this, but we found out about transfers!  (I may or may not have mentioned that Slovenia is on a 9-week transfer schedule now.)  I'm still in Celje with Sister Flanders, and Elder Hunt is coming here from Maribor to replace Elder Benson, who will be in Ljubljana.  I'm going to be the only one still here from the "original" Celje district when I first got here.  Weird!

Elder Jansen Hall - January 6, 2014

Hey Yall!

Wow its been quite a year! I cant believe its already 2014! But what a great time of year to look back on your life and reflect. On all the good that you have done, and how you can even add more to that in the next year! Its been really cold here in Bama the past couple of days hah the wind blows hard but missionary work goes on none the less! An interestin fact about alabama is that about 90% of the people here dont celebrate the New Years haha im not sure if that percentage is right or not, but with all the people ive talked to no one said they stayed up and celebrated haha how lame! But Hey i guess i cant complain, I was only able to celebrate til 10:30 then it was bed time for me haha:) Also some important news. This wednesday is transfers. I will be stayin in North Port and gettin a new comp, and Elder Bean will be goin. So ill be here for at least 6 more weeks!

This week has been a great one though. It went by super fast! We have done a ton of service, mainly movin people, but a couple things i wanna share are the lessons we have had this week with some investigators. So the first one is Mike. He is doin great! We were able to see him on Tuesday, and also on Thursday. Both lessons were great, but somethin I want to point out is that one was with a member and the other wasnt. The one on Thursday we were able to go out with Bro Lewis and see Mike. Bro Lewis not only taught a little bit of the lesson, but he helped answer questions, He brought in personal experiences and the spirit was so strong! We could tell that Mike was feelin the spirit stongly, as his eyes were tearin up a lot durin the lesson! We have been able to answer alot of his questions. The only sad thing is that he was sick yesterday an wasnt able to come to church. He is plannin on commin next week though so we are gonna do everythin we can to get him there!

We were supposed to see Stephanie, our other investigator, when we went over to her house, she said she had to get over to her daughters house to help with her sick grand children. We are gonna do a service project for her as a ward and we are gonna go back to see and teach her. We were able to introduce the sister missionaries to her as well so that they could also go an teach her! An the last person is actually a members nephew. Now he is in his 50's but came to church the first time yesterday. We had never met him, he is movin from Baltamore. He said he really loved our chruch and wants us to teach him. So we will be goin over this week to teach him with a member!! We also have done some tractin and maybe have a couple other investigators. I dont know how strong those ones are though.

The last experince of this week I wanna share is on New Years. That mornin we had gotten up and played basketball with our ward. Then went over to a sr couples house, the Champions, and ate lunch with 2 sr couples. After that all of our apt fell through for the night. We literally had nothin for the rest of the night an didnt know what to do. Well Lee, a less active member that we have done a ton of service for, called us up and wanted us to come to his house. We went over and at the start it wasnt the best. He wanted us to get some stuff to eat then said just come up stairs when you get your food. Well we went up there and he had the TV on, his girls were downstairs watchin TV and he is a man you dont wanna offend or make mad. But ther was just a lot of noise we were tryin to talk to him and nothin was workin. He just wanted us there to hang out basically. Well that was good cuz it got us out of our apt, but not the best thing. Time was gettin late and we needed to wrap things up. Usually when we go over for service, thats all we do. We dont really leave a spiritual message or anythin. So we had talked about how to help him that way. Well I just asked him, "Lee what can we do for you spiritually? Part of our purpose as missionaries is to teach people and help people grow stronger in there testimony of Christ." He said he wanted a blessin cuz he was sick, we also got him to let us come over an  read the BOM with him. But anyway we got him to turn off the TV and I gave him a blessin. Right after he said, "Hold on one sec." Then he called his daughter up, who isnt a memeber. He said these 2 need to give you a blessin, as she was sick as well. We explained to her what would happen and she finally allowed us to do it. When I got done with the blessin, he looked at her and said, "Do you feel that?" She was cryin and he said I dont know about you but after my blessin I felt better immediatly! She said she felt the same way. Then he went on and expalined the preisthood to her and basically taught her the first lesson without knowin! It was such a great experience for him, her, and us! I know that apt didnt start out the best way but it sure did end great!

Member missionary work is so important! I know that God will keep his promises with you as you honor your covanents with him! Pray for missionary opurtunities! Open your mouth and youll be successful! I love yall so much! Have a great week! Remember to be happy!

Love Elder Hall:)

Here is me dressed yup in my cowboy stuff haha i got a gun holster, from a less active family in my last ward.

Yes, I'm sendin it home just incase anyone says anythin haha and the black cowboy hat was from them as well:)

Elder Tanner Clement, 01-07-2014

Latest from Elder Clement, 

We had a crazy week. But unfortunately it wasn't filled with lessons, rather visits to the doctor. We had to go to the hospital a few times because the doctor wasn't there, etc. But finally they were able to take my blood to see why I had red polkadots all over. The doctor said he thought I might have a disease called 'Dengue' that is really bad from mosquitos, but he said it was probably the non-lethal one so that made me feel alright. Although, they had to take my blood for a second time to do more tests and I gotta tell ya I think I've gotten more brave out here on the mission because after what happened the first time (poor Nurses and Elder Chamberlain who had to help me...) I wasn't too excited for the second (ok yeah, I passed out). But actually one tender mercy of the week is that the second time went very well. No blackness. No suffering. The nurse just took it right up and everything was fine. The bad news is that I had Dengue, but the very good news is that it is indeed the non-lethal kind. It went away in a few days and my skin is now spotless (or to the degree of spotlessness of which it was at before anyway). 

It was a crazy new years here in Mexico. Well, I suppose. I slept through the whole thing but apparantly it is a really big down here to shoot your guns up into the air and drink at midnight, which is probably not the best combination. Luckily our roof is made of concrete so we were safe and sound. 

I had a picture of the Armenta family with whom we ate on New Years Eve but the virus on my chip said that I would not be sharing any pictures this week... sorry. I just gotta put in the chip without the virus. Pictures will come next week. 

Our new investigator, Alejandra, is doing very well (cousin of the wife of the counselor of the mission president. The counselor lives in our area which is great). She left her old church because she saw some things she didn't like but she has soaked up everything we have taught her so far. She said she really wants to believe what we are saying and she is excited to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. I am convinced that we were very blessed to have been able to find her from our obedience. If all goes well, she has her baptismal date for February first. She didn't go to our ward this last week but her counsin, Sister Cruz, said she went to a different one so that is good. 

We had a very good lesson with Gloria and Minerva last week with a very enthusiastic member. He is the son of President Cruz who is the counselor of President Munive (the mission president). He talked for a while about how he gained his testimony of the Book of Mormon and he helped us out by explaining that if it is true, all doubts are washed away. We found out that her doubt is still about the seventh day worship. Ay. Despite all of the scriptures we showed her that show 'proofs' of why it was changed to Sunday to remember the Resurrection of our Savior, she still is unsure. I learned something very important, that I was right in the beginning, that even though the Bible really contains the doctrine that we teach, the same problem still stands, that every church has their own interpretation of the Bible. And because of this, I think of two reasons of things we have in these latter-days. First of all, this is why we need a prophet; to tell us how the Bible is to be interpreted. And second, this is why we have the Book of Mormon. Where the Bible is unclear or interpreted in different ways, it is ok, because we have the Book of Mormon. And if this book is true, and if it was really translated by a prophet of God, where can we doubt? Where is the confusion? If the Book of Mormon is true, every word that the Spirit carries from our mouth is true. And it is true. The glorious fact is that the Book of Mormon is true! It is the very word of God. And through all of the people who died to get it here, we have it in our hands, for the single purpose that we might know God and return to live with and be like Him someday. I know that this is true. And that is why I am here. 

We invited Gloria and Minerva to fast with us this last Sunday to be able to find an answer and they accepted. Gloria wasn't able to make it to chruch. After church started we didn't have any investigators there which was too bad. But after a few minutes, Minerva walked in. Woohoo! :) Horrah for Israel! She told us that she was indeed fasting for the answer she was seeking. I fasted for the same, that she and her mom might gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon as they seek it diligently. I know that God will give them the answer in His time. 

I had a lot of cool experiences in teaching with the Spirit this last week. With one brother in the ward who is inactive we talked about the importance of the priesthood and being an example as the head of the family (it was a very bold lesson as you can tell). He is a nice man but refuses to go to church with the rest of his family. He has some of his own ideas that hurt a growing testimony. But as we were talking he said that God would bless him for being a good person whether or not he went to church. Immediately the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants popped into my head about how we receive blessings. We shared a scripture on the Sabboth Day and how it is a commandment then we showed him the scripture from D&C that explains that the law based in heaven is that we receive blessings as we obey the laws on which they are founded. So we explained, Yes, you might be able to receive a few blessings without going to church by doing other things, but you won't receive the blessings reserved for those who go and "offer their sacraments unto God on His Holy day", which are many. Not to mention the importance of renewing out baptismal covenants every week to have the very important companionship of the Spirit with us in every moment of the week. 

Also with another investigator who didn't quite understand the cooralation between "If the Book of Mormon is true" and "that means that God has restored his only true church on the earth today". The spirit really gave me the words to say so I could explain it in a way so that he could understand the relation between the two things. In the end he understood and he committed to read and pray about it. 

I also was able to interview a woman who got baptized yesterday which was great. It was so cool being able to feel the spirit telling me that she is ready and it was amazing to hear the sacrifices she has made to be able to more fully follow Jesus Christ. She left her work so she could attend church every week which is pretty big here. 

Despite the time we spent in the hospital it was actually a good week and Elder Chamberlain and I are working very well together. He is a really good guy with a great testimony. I know that as we stay focused and obedient that we will do our part and that the Lord will be able to do everything to fulfill His will in the conversion of these people. 

I know that the church is true and that our Heavenly Father lives and loves us, as does His son Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be here as the work is hastening and I am so happy and honored to be a servant of the Lord. I would also like to invite you guys back home to support the missionaries in any way possible (if you ever see them as they have a few stakes that they cover haha) to answer the call of President Monson. "Now is the time for members and missionaries to work together. We are one". We have felt the blessings of this revelation here in Los Mochis and I am sure the missionaries in Utah will feel the same.

Elder Clement

December 30, 2013
Elder Dana Sorensen, Valencia, Spain

Great to hear from you all! Thanks for the news and pictures.

I´m going to keep it a little shorter this week since we talked on Wednesday.

We've been eating quite a bit for Christmas, that is, 2-3 meals with members a day for a few days there. I´m feeling a bit bloated. Since we didn't really eat any of the food we bought last week I just bought about 6 liters of juice instead  this week. Mmmm... juice.

Élder S____ from our piso went home this week. He blew up his meniscus and tore his ACL playing ultimate frisbee a few weeks ago. (He didn't even hit anything or step on his leg wrong, he just went down). We got up at 3:30 in the morning on Saturday and took him to the airport. He should be back in 3 months after the surgery. Because of that we're in trio this week until transfers next Tuesday.

We're planning on jump starting our areas this week: three way split (each missionary with a member) contacting and visiting. That way we can get three times the work done, in theory.

I´m really enjoying the Christtmas package. Those caramels are great, the sweater makes me look good, and the bands make me look even better. Honestly I was a little skeptical about the pedometer but I've been using it and it's great! It's fun to see how far we´re walking every day. (We´re averaging about 5 miles a day or so.)

I´m still working on the D&C. I read section  98 today about forgiveness. If we bear our trials patiently and forgive our enemies, we are blessed. If we forgive again a second time, we are blessed an hundredfold. And so on and on. A recent convert we are visiting is passing through the hardest time of this life. He has been taken advantage of  for 8 years, and now has nothing. It's difficult to try to teach someone forgiveness and patience when you've never been through trials so difficult, but I know that the Lord is always in control and that all those things will "work together for [our] good".

Thank you for your support and prayers, they mean a lot to me. Enjoy Christmas break and don´t get too lazy!

Hasta el lunes que viene,

Élder Sorensen

December 23, 2013 -- Elder Dana Sorensen, Valencia

¡Hola Familia!

This has been a fun week. I'll dive right in.

Monday night we had another family home evening with the bishop, E____, and A_____. We ate a TON. Next morning we ate breakfast with a less active, later lunch with a member family, and then dinner with a member from the other ward who we thought was a less active from our ward.

In other words, I'm getting fat.

I wish the members would give us more opportunities to teach their friends instead of so much food.

As if as an answer to that wish, we went out with a member to meet all her friends. She had given out 7 (!) Book of Mormons to friends, and we got to go out and meet them all. She's going to be a good missionary.

A____'s (our recent convert) Dad (first councilor in the ward) took us to meet one of his friends. His name is F_____, and he´s had a very hard life. But, we feel like now is his time. He is very prepared to receive the Gospel. We've been meeting with him, and he (and another friend) have come to church the last 2 weeks.

Friday night we had the ward Christmas dinner. There was a musical program first, then a ton of paella. It went so late that we barely caught the last bus back to the piso.

Christmas is practically here. The other night P____ dropped by and gave us about 40lbs of oranges for Christmas (he picks oranges for work). We gave him two church DVDs to send to his family in Nigeria who he's trying to convert. We printed out and framed pictures of A____'s and E____´s baptisms to give to them for Christmas. Tomorrow we're doing a white elephant gift exchange with the missionaries. It's a fun time of year, I just miss the snow (trees are only now starting to loose their leaves over here).

I'm attaching a sheet the office gave us that has all the missionaries in the mission on it. In case you'd like to see some of the missionaries I'm working with.

I'm really enjoying Doctrine and Covenants. I've never read it all the way through before. I really like this scripture from D&C 84:88

 88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

It´s really true. When we are really focusing on the work, working hard, and putting our trust in God, we see success and we are comforted in whatever happens.

I´m out of time now. Thank you for your support and prayers! Have a very merry, white Christmas,

Élder Sorensen

PS  It was fun, but it´s actually a mission rule to not play soccer (too competitive with the Spaniards). We played American Football, then Ultimate Frisbee, and then Capture the Flag in a nearby park.

About the package, it´s still in Madrid. They´re still waiting for Madrid to respond if the release request has been accepted or not. So, I´ll probably get it, but in another few weeks. But it´s no problem.

If there are any problems with the call we can communicate by email to fix it.

¡Feliz Navidad!

Latest from Elder Clement, 01-02-2014

We had a great Christmas here in Los Mochis. Elder Chamberlain and I are doing very well together and we are enjoying the area very much.

There I was. Gasping for air. Not knowing if I could survive another moment of it. As I thought back to how I got into this situation I thought of the night before, *flashback*. We had just finished eating our Christmas Eve dinner with Victor and Perla. It was delicious. We had arrived at our next appointment with the Bojorquez family. The older couple had a few of their children and grandchildren at their house to celebrate. We shared a spiritual thought about giving something to our Heavenly Father for Christmas by improving ourselves in something that would make us more Christlike, which was the invitation extended by Presidente Munive. We checked the clock. 8:40. Yikes. We had an appointment with Gloria and Minerva to eat a second dinner. We told the Bojorquez family that we would have to continue on to our next visit, that was when Sister Bojorquez explained that she had already cooked dinner for us which we did not know. (*sidenote: The people here in Los Mochis take a lot of pride in their food. If they offer you food, you just gotta take it) I tried to explain quite politely that we were already late for our next appointment and that although we would love to eat, we just could not stay (we figured the family would eat plenty so nothing would go to waste anyways). But Sister Bojorquez would not budge. I thought fast. "Would it be alright if we came back tomorrow?" She said that would be alright, so we got away, but at a price. The next day was Christmas. After we enjoyed a nice, long conversation with my parents and grandparents we went to lunch with Sister Chaparro. There was a ton of food for Christmas. It was good, but after I finished my plate, I make a rookie mistake. "Elder, would you like more?" "Just a little bit please, Gracias." I foolishly forgot that 'A little bit' doesn't exist here. PLOP. The other two sister missionaries and my companion wisely declined after seeing the double portion size. It was tough, but I got through it. After, we went to give a blessing to a nonmember brother of a sister in the ward at the hospital. It went very well and he was very grateful. After, we had to keep our promise with Sister Bojorquez. The food was alright, the problem was that I was already filled to the brim. I struggled a bit but I got it all down. I finished and didn't make the same mistake again, keeping something daunting in mind. We still had round 3. We walked (hobbled) to Jerson's house (a priest in the ward) a bit later to spend our Christmas night with them. Jerson, his mom, and his sister are really good people and we enjoy our time with them. After talking for a bit, they set the table. Tired, spent, and full, I stared at my plate. And it stared back at me. ...I've come this far, I can finish one more Christmas plate! I ate for what seemed like an eternity. Bite after bite. I took a break to blow my nose. Everyone had finished. Slowly and carefully I finished the last few bites and I had eaten it all. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do. 

This week we had some good and hard times. Unfortunately the prologue (does the 'prologue' comes after the story?) to this story includes being quite sick that night and staying home the entire next day, which was kind of a bummer. Also right now my skin is covered in red dots which is new... we're gonna go to the doctor after we finish here. Also another bummer was a lesson last week with Gloria and Minerva. The lesson went very well about the Godhead but at the end Gloria and Minerva told us that they have chosen to stay in their church for now. We didn't see that coming. We are still going to teach them and find out what could possibly be holding them back. I was a bit confused afterwords and I asked a bit in my mind why they hadn't received an answer. They had sought it diligently and openly we had thought. I couldn't think of why they hadn't received it. Then a quote from Elder Christopherson popped into my head from a Mormon Message, "I am the Gardener here, and I know [what I am doing]." I felt in this moment that everything was ok, because Heavenly Father has a plan for them, and they will find it as they are genuinely ready. I know that is true. 

We actually had a pretty cool week of finding great people to teach. We have one new investigator, Jesus, that has a lot of potential. We only taught him the first lesson of the Restoration yesterday but it went very well. He is excited to read the Book of Mormon to find out if it is true. He was born into a Christian family but he saw things in his church that he didn't like a few years back so he and his wife left their church. He believes in Christ and everything already and he is very open to the things that we say. He said he would love to meet with us again next week. ChaCHING! Booya! Blessings from obedience! 

We are really excited to work with these new people! The work goes well here in Los Mochis. Thank you for all your support and love. It is great to hear how things are going with everyone. I appreciate all you do. You make it easier for me to do the work here. 

Thanks again, 

Elder Clement