Spring is on the Way!! Brad Riley

Hi all:

Well this week has been a pretty good week! I think I am getting a head cold because it feels like my head is going to explode! haha but things here are good.   It's raining a lot and we are going hiking today so that will be fun! It has been really nice here! The weather needs to stay like this! So this week Elder Fuller and I were walking through the church building and Sister Cannon (mission president's wife) came out of nowhere and she asks Elder Fuller and I if we will sing at zone conference! So I am singing the bass and melody so I'm a little nervous but I think it will turn out!

We have several investigators right now and we have committed 2 of them to baptism! We are excited for them and to watch their progress. We have been working really hard and trying to contact some more people! So, there is this new thing in Idaho that when someone sees a missionary they yell hail Satan! So that's always strange to hear but at least they aren't cussing at us! 

This past week has been a week filled with giving people blessings and I love giving blessing because Christ gave blessings!! It is so cool to see how they affect the people and how strong the spirit is! Well this week has kinda been slow because everyone works during the day so we can't do anything until the evening so that is always a struggle!

I will talk to y'all later!!

Love 

-Elder Riley-

Pictures will come soon.  My camera is getting fixed!!

Elder Jansen Hall - March 10, 2014

Hey Yall!

So this week has been another crazy weather week! We have had rain, hott, cold and everywhere in between! I just wish it would be sunny every day, but at the same time am not excited for the summer haha good thing its the last one ill have to spend down here as a missionary! But this week it feels like i havent been in New Albany too much because I have gotten to go on a couple exchanges with diffrent elders in my district!

I first wanna talk about the exchanges I had. The first one I went to Amory, Mississippi with Elder Harris. They just opened up the area about 6 months ago and they are tryin to get started. Well everything we had kept fallin through. No one was openin up there doors, or we would get lost on our bikes and be bikin for ages haha but we didnt let that get us down. We picked up carts at wal mart and talked to alot of different people. We went to a few different stores and just got to know people and breifly explained about the church. It was very simliar with the next exchanged I had in Tupelo with one of the Zone Leaders Elder Mckay. We exchanged later that evenin and when we tried to get into the one apt we had they werent home. So we went to the mall and contacted again. We had 10 really good conversations with people where we shared what we were doin as missionaries and gave them a mormon.org card and got there number. The cool thing is that we go around to stores or gas stations or banks and just open our mouths and talk. When you do that and just be happy and friendly you may get some no's but you will be able to find the one person that needs you. So the one thing I learned on our exchanges is to just open your mouth. Not to be scared but just share what is so important to you! "Dare to be a mormon, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known!" President Monson.

One cool story is that right before we were gonna exchange, the ZLs told us they were gonna be late. Well that gave us around 30-40 minutes where we didnt know what to do. So I told my comp that we were gonna go walk around our neighborhood. We did and ended up runnin into a few little kids playin b ball outside. Well I stopped and asked if we could play with them. They said yes and we had such a fun time! We played for a while until we had to go back home and go on exchanges. Even though we didnt get a chance to share the gospel with them, we still made friends and left an impression on them. They loved playin with us.

Other than that, we have just been tryin to look for service and new investigators. We have a couple of potentials that we are gonna visit this week! But life has been great and i cant complain. The other thing i wanted to share was that of love and charity. I have been workin on this alot! Our mission prez always says, "Point your arrows outward." I know that as we have love and charity and serve others we will be blessed. As we give literally our all to the Lord he can and will bless us! We wont need to worry. He gave his all for us, let us give our all for him!

I hope yall have a great week! Be happy and remember, "Sure is a beautiful day!"

Love Elder Hall

Elder Isaiah Williams - March 10, 2014

New week new things :)

It has been another great week here in Elgin, Illinois. Birds are chirpin, my feet are hurtin, and the snow is finally melting! Haha it's finally starting to warm up! It is about time!!! Missionary work goes along much smoother when the sun is shining. I don't know what the cold does to people hearts, but It makes them cranky 24/7. The high have been getting in the 40's and the low has been in the 20's. That's good enough for me though, I won't complain. Cause as soon as I complain a snowstorm from somewhere will hit. Always seems to happen. This past Saturday is the first Saturday it hasn't snowed since I got here. Hopefully that's OVER!

   

The members here are great! They remind me of people back at home. They take care of us and all our needs which is awesome. I think that's why I'm not homesick at all. Haha we are in a car share, so every other week we depend on the members to take us places. I feel bad most of the time cause I hate asking people (who aren't my family) for things. I feel like they get annoyed with us and why members aren't motivated to drive us around. What can we do as missionaries to make the members not feel burdened!??? I had my first greeny meal haha the Sowa family made me and my companion dinner and dyed it green

hahaha it was pretty funny. There's lots and lots of diversity here which I love. Lots of Filipinos, Hispanic, and Polish people. I love getting to know different people and learning about what different cultures do, how they live, and mostly what and how they eat! The Filipino culture loves rice and meat! They cook sticky rice, pinch it with their fingers along with some chicken, dip it in Filipino ketchup, called mang thomas, it's brown, and it's dang good. I don't want to say that I have a favorite family cause I love all the families here but I click best with the Payo family. Its none stop laughing when we go to their house, no joke. This past week they made me eat Belot, it's fertilized duck egg! I'll send some pictures of it. There's a video of me eating it as well. They take a picture of it and put it on the wall of fame in their kitchen! Go to an Asian store and buy Belot, boil it for 10-15 min, than yum yum yum yum. It's delicious. Haha

   

My p-days are pretty good. We get up at 6:30 still. But that's no problem. We work out until 7:15, shower, put laundry in at 8, and study and do laundry for about an hour. Shop and get groceries. Then we hit up (go to) other places and find cool stuff! We go to thrift shops, antique places, Salvation Army, and good will. I call of them DI and people look at me like I'm dumb. I've gotten a few toys. :) hehe I bought an old blow dart gun. I'll send it home whenever I get in trouble. After wee do that we go to the church. Our mission president has said that we can email as long as we want. Well until 6. Which is cool, lots of missions don't do that. We have wi-fi in our church. So we play sports and email. That's basically it. It's a good day. :)

   

Anyways, the mission is awesome. I'm staying busy and staying true to the faith! I'm Inviting others to come unto by helping them receive the restored gospel through having faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism and recieving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end! You can do the same!!!

    

From now on I'm going to end with a spiritual thought so you guysdon't think I'm goofing off out here lol :)

D&C 4:5-6

  ^       ^

These attributes are Christlike attributes. Those attributes are what we are here on earth to learn and apply in our lives. And everyone has the capability to do so. If you are not applying those attributes in your life, then you should start. And watch how your life change. :) the gospel of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring) is a process! So don't judge yourself to hardly. :) just have a self evaluation every here and there to see where your at. ;) love you all!!! :)

-Baptizing Like Cray Cray

Elder Isaiah Williams - March 3, 2014

Here I am once again!!! :) how is everyone doing!? I'm doing great!

This week once again has been super fast, anddddd super cold! The high

of is week has been 12 degrees. The low has been about -15. Because

the Weather is so cold the work has been kinda slow. We don't tract.

Because after about five minutes we walk like penguins. Haha when it's

below zero we can't be outside anymore. So we've been teaching lots of

Facebook lessons. Which gets kinda boring. -_- I like looking into

people's eyes so the spirit can go directly in theirs souls! Haha

sounds kind of scary but it's the truth. When we're not teaching, we

re studying. Which is my favorite time of day. I'm in mosiah in the

Book of Mormon. I read the Book of Mormon stories first to know who

everyone is haha and it worked! I'm not confused anymore! I'm at the

part where abinadi is ripping into king Noah and his priests. Haha

   We call lots of people and get rejected by lots of people but it's

what I expected so it doesn't hurt to much. Most of my investigators

are progressing, which is great! I love seeing people change their

lives. Makes me so glad to be here in Illinois. Ummm I haha have

gained some weight definitely. We get fed every night which is bad but

nice. ;) so these next couple of weeks I'm gonna be watchin my belly.

Haha if you want to send me letters and stuff my address is 1319

butterfield rd. Downers Grove, Illinois. 60515. I love when I get

stuff!

    I've caught on fast with pretty much everything. I have like 7

weeks of training left. Transfers are coming up but I think I'm

staying here in Elgin. Sorry this letter is so short. Love you all so

much though! ;)

-Baptizing Like Cray Cray

Elder Jansen Hall - March 3, 2014

Hey Yall!

This week has been so cold, and rainy. Which is really unsual for this time of the year, but im enjoyin it before the hott of summer comes and i start to melt again! None the less we were able to have a great week and have many good enjoyable moments! Just a few cool things about our area. Its the biggest area in the mission, we do have a car. Um the towns are pretty small but i love it here. Elder Black and I are gettin along great.

We still dont really have any investigators. We have an investigator right now that basically is at a stand still and wont do anythin. We are tryin to work with her and help her progress. But right now we are just tryin to get the branch presidency and members excited again about missionary work. Its been really rough here for them and they are gettin down a little bit so we need to pick it back up. One thing were gonna start doin is going to visit every member and have a family home evenin with them! That'll hopefully help us gain there trust and get them excited about missionary work again! Right now basically all of New Albany has been tracted upsidedown and backwards so we are goin around and tryin to just talk to people. Its amazin how many people will talk back if you just open your mouth. Sometimes you dont get to talk for very long or not even about the gospel, but its showin people your friendly.

But the highlight for sure of my week was on Saturday. We got special permission to go see a man up in Corinth. That was my first area. Now this mans name is James. He is in his late 70's and has had a pretty rough life. He has been through many surgeries, even while i was with him and many times he literally died and they had to bring him back to life. While I was up in Corinth at the start of my mission he had a surgery like that. Well he has had many more since i left. About 2 weeks ago he had another surgery. Half way through the Dr's stopped the procedure because he would've bled out on the table and died. Then they basically gave him a termination date. Which James showed me when we went up there on paper. Well I got to go up with my trainer Elder Galorath. I love him so much haha and we had a great time going around seein all the people we used to see, and talkin with everyone we would pass. But back to James. So we went to see him. He is in super happy spirits. He hasnt been active his whole life, but while we talked with him, he said he loves the church and is basically active in his heart. Well before we left he told us a couple things that i wanna pass on.

1. Be Happy and Positive.

The most successful people in life are the happy ones, that view everything with a positive outlook.

2. Remember to keep learnin.

If there is a word that you come across in your scripture readin or other books, stop and look up the definition. That way you will learn more. Knowledge is power!

3. Find your mark, and leave it behind on the world!

His mark is this, "Sure is a beautiful day!" James. He made his own foundation the "Sure is a Beautiful Day Foundation". Im now gonna initiate yall into it. Step 1. Wake up every day and say the quote found on the line above. Step 2 Do everything you can to make it a beautiful day even if it may not seem to be.

Ive learned that life is what we make it. James told us that he isnt scared of dyin. He isnt mad or sad because he has chosen to be happy and to make each day a beautiful one! What a great lesson that is to all of us! Even though things may be dark and gloomy and sad we can still make it what we want!

Well we had a great time with James and what a great man and influence on my life. I have now looked back on my mission and what ive done. I have picked out things that i can do better and ive started to change. I invite yall to do the same with your individule lives. Look back and see all the good youve done. Now try to pick some things you can improve on and follow the council of King Mosiah!

Mosiah 4:10, And again, believe that ye must ^arepent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in ^bsincerity of heart that he would ^cforgive you; and now, if you ^dbelieve all these things see that ye ^edo them.

Start now! Act now! The time is now! I hope that yall have a great week and keep bein happy! Find your talent God has given you and act upon it and share it with others! Love yall so much!

Love Elder Hall:)

Brad's Six Month Mark

Hi All:

(I asked Brad a few questions and these are his answers). (What do you do when the members are home where you live?)  We stay in our room pretty much which we don't really like.  It's really good when they're gone.  We only have one shelf in their refrigerator so we don't buy much at any time.  Elder Fuller really likes fast food so I guess it's a good thing I'm on a bike so I can work off the food that we eat and thank heavens for the dollar menu haha!!  He especially like McDonalds. Me not so much.  

This week has started off slow Elder Fuller was sick last P day and so we had to stay in all day but I got to exercise the Priesthood because he asked for a blessing and after I did he fell asleep and when he woke up he was feeling really well and it was an awesome experience! 

It's has kinda been a slow week!   We were able to talk to alot of people that were nonmembers and I tried something totally different. Elder Fuller and I had a street meeting and we got to stand up on the edge of the fence and preach the gospel! haha It worked out really well! I was kind of scared at first but then I was calm and said what needed to be said! We are really working with the members and try to get them to actually work with their friends that are less actives so that's slowing starting to roll! I'm sorry that this weeks letter is really short but its been kind of a relaxed week! We both have colds and are both pretty weak! I'll will let you know if anything really interesting comes up!

(This is a letter Brad sent to me for my lesson on the Atonement.  I thought I'd share it with you.)

The atonement is amazing.  It has helped me in my life so much especially because I made a lot of really dumb mistakes and dumb choices.  But that is why we have the Atonement.

The Atonement means a lot to me and it should mean a lot to you. There have been many times in my life when I didn't think about what the Atonement even meant, but now that I have really been studying it, I now know and have a stronger testimony of it.  God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.  What Christ did for us was amazing.  He bled through every pore.  The pain was so great that there was a moment when Christ didn't want to go on, but he did it for us out of love so that we can return and live with Him.  

We all do dumb things, but that's why we have the Atonement so we can repent.  Why would Heavenly Father send his Son to die for us and we don't even use it? So use it!!

I love the Atonement.  It has changed my life and I have seen how it changes other people's lives and how it has blessed them.  

I love this gospel and I love having the opportunity to serve our loving Heavenly Father.  I have learned so much and have been very, very humbled.  I love the work.  It's hard but I love it.  Press forward . . .

Love you guys

-Elder Riley-

Elder Clement, 2-24-2014

We had a great week!  That is so cool that grandpa and grandma are gonna head off to the MTC!  They should enjoy it, and Texas. It is already cooking down here so I imagine they will be launched right from the frying pan and into the fire.  They are trying to spark the family history here too because they have a trip to the temple at the beginning of March (they have to take trips a few times a year to go to the temple, Ha, what a blessing it was to be able to go before school like every week in Utah). 

Whew! Finally a week of success! 

We had a super slow start to the week with hardly any lessons but we put in the pilas (put in the batteries) and got goin' the second half and we got a lot done. Our investigators are progressing very well and I feel like we will have a few baptisms at the end of this exchange. 

This week I had the opportunity to baptize Octavio, an 8 year old boy. He is really great and is happy to have made this covenant with his Heavenly Father. We are teaching his dad who has his baptismal date on the 15th of March. He is great too and wants to be sealed to his wife. 

The most important moment of the week was last Monday. Elder Chamberlain and I were visiting a few people in the las memorias section of town and we decided to visit someone that we bumped into a while back. Ricardo is an older man who has had a lot of trials in his life but he lives with his wife and one of his many sons. He has only one leg. I'm not sure when he lost it but I think it was in the last year. He finally had time for us this day and let us in (he had been busy on other ocasions). He was really happy to talk to us. We had one of the best lessons that I had ever had as a missionary and he committed to read, pray, and be baptized when he knows that it's true. It was amazing and the spirit was so strong. At one point in the lesson he explained to us that he always lets people in from other religions from Jehova's witnesses to Adventists but he said he has never joined any of them because he feels something special with our church. His daughter got baptized a few years ago and Ricardo has loved what he has learned about the church. He explained that at the end of last year is when he really began to search for God in his life. 

But this story has a backstory to it. When I had very little time in the mission field in September, one day Elder Richards and I were walking in the streets of Las Memorias. I was a bit tired and I can't remember why but there was a little bit of discontentment inside and all of the sudden we passed this man in a wheel chair with only one leg. I had the impression to talk with him and shrugged it off a bit. Later, we passed him again, and I had the same thought. As I battled inside as to whether or not I should tell my companion we walked further and further from the man until finally we were well out of reach when I finally blurted out why I was angry, because I had not followed the prompting when the Lord told me. Elder Richards told me to tell him when I get a prompting but we kept going forward. 

This man might have been baptized 5 months ago if I would've followed the prompting that the Lord gave me the first time. That night I prayed that we would have the chance to contact him again. Luckily, at a much later date, we did, a few months ago. I am so grateful that the Lord answered my prayer and gave me a second chance. I am a bit ashamed that it took a few times for me to do it. I stand by President Monson when he says, "And I always want the Lord to know that if He needs an errand run, {Elder Clement} will run that errand for Him." As my good friend Elder Cook said in his last email, we gain his trust when we show him that we are willing to obey. And when we are willing to obey, he will give us more. I have a testimony of this. 

Elder Clement 

P.S. For those of you that have seen the picture with the Savior looking over Jerusalem entitled "O Jerusalem", this picture is entitled "O Los Mochis"