Oh, the fun things you learn

I planted a garden this week. We asked an older couple in the ward if they needed any help and he said he needed to get the garden in. So we came over and did just that. We raked rocks out of the sand they call soil and planted like 20 tomato plants, peppers of all kinds, 5 squash and zucchini plants and a few other things I can't remember. We made an irrigation system for the whole thing and called it good. Then a few days later in an unrelated event, we sodded a lawn with complete strangers! We saw them preparing to do the job one day and asked if they needed any help. They said they were done until the next day. So we said we would come back. They looked at us like "sure you will". You should have seen their faces when we showed up ready to work! We helped them get the job done really fast and we did a great job, if I do say so myself. I can now add those things to my list of skills.

 Oh the fun things you learn.

Well, my first week as the district leader here was better than I expected. The new district is super awesome and all of the guys seem really hard working. This is going to be a good experience, though conducting and planning meetings is still a pain.

This Monday we had a Nerf battle in the stake center again and it was awesome. We all had PVC blowguns and a bunch of sore legs to show for it. We came up with all kinds of games, my personal favorite being team elimination. It was great to have all the guys together and to all laugh and just have a good time. It was a great stress reliever as well. You should have seen the place, all the tables turned on their sides for cover and guys running through the gym in the dark. Super funny to watch.

This week we were able to find more people and even contact some of the ones we found already. Lots of appointments and more on the way. In short, things are picking up.

May 21, 2012

It is official. I am staying in Greeley and so is Elder Van Ausdal. We are both really happy. I got a "promotion" to be the district leader, which I am not so thrilled with, but I can deal with it so it's not that big of an issue.

We have a lot of appointments and a huge number of potential investigators that seem really interested. Hopefully that translates into more teaching and helping people progress.

It has been interesting to see that as we have consistently put in hard work that the Lord just keeps upping the success rate. It has started to feel like a train ride and we are building momentum. All we have to do is keep stoking the fire and adding fuel.

I am looking forward to this transfer is about all I have to say. Biking here is easy and things are looking up. I will probably be here until I come home.

I said it before, but talking to you guys was such a breath of fresh air. I am looking forward to doing that more often.

Mother's Day 2011 & 2012

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day

We got to talk to Reid for nearly 3 hours on Mother's Day. The next time we talk to him will be at the airport when he comes home! It was so good to hear from him and he sounded happy and strong. He loves Greeley and his companion and is hoping that he and Elder Van Ausdal stay. He was able to send us some pictures of himself, Elder Van Ausdal and the place he lives. He lives in the Jacob's basement and is really happy there. It is so much better than most of the places he has been. 

May 7, 2012

A huge Blue Heron outside our window during study time. 

Well, this week has been interesting. We have been busting our butts trying to find people to teach and haven't been met with actual results. We have tried about all the part-member families, former investigators, tracting and everything else we could think of and have just felt our wheels spinning. 

Zone Conference rolled around this week and the topic of our discussion was finding yet again. Basically the message delivered over an 8 hour period was, be obedient, have faith and work hard and you will find. That depressed me because we had been incorporating all of those elements into our efforts and that promise had yet to be fulfilled. So I went home in a terrible mood. I took some time to think about what I needed to do and decided that at this point it was up to the Lord to bless us with people to teach because we had done all that was in our power. So I called on the Lord to increase my faith in his promises and felt reassured that we would find. 

I had prayed before this several times to know if He would help us find and He had promised me a few weeks ago that we would be successful.  So we went out and biked to dinner. After dinner we had planned to tract because there was nothing left to do, when I felt a strong impression to go to a part-member family's house in the area. They were not usually home, but I trusted that that was what He wanted us to do and we went with it. We not only found them at home, but they welcomed us in! We talked for a bit and finally she said that she was interested in learning more and wanted us to come back for dinner! We set it up for a few days later and had a great experience. It was a bit interesting as far as teaching was concerned based on some off topic questions and our teaching was a bit rusty, but the Spirit was there and I felt the assurance that the Spalding family is one of the reasons I am here. They are a young couple with a 2 1/2 yr old boy. He was raised LDS and she was brought up Baptist. They aren't married, but we can fix that and it is very clear to me that they are on Heavenly Father's short order list.

But it gets better...

So the night we set things up with the Spaldings, we got a call from another set of missionaries. They said that a family that is super ready was moving into our ward the next day and that the family needed help moving. We go the info and were ready to help the next morning. The member that was working with them from the other ward filled us in on the details. He said that he has been working to help them come to the gospel for a long time now, but that things had gotten interesting in the past few weeks. She was diagnosed with cancer 3 weeks ago and got an infection from a dog bite too boot. So the friend offered to give her a blessing and she accepted. So after the blessing was administered, she went into surgery. Not only was the infection gone but also the cancer and the symptoms Silica's disease. A miracle. Needless to say they are interested in knowing more. Oh, and the move went well.

100 Days left!

Our sign says 100!

Reid has 100 days left to serve today. I have been counting down the days. We are so very proud of how he has worked so hard and done his best to be obedient and faithful. The Lord couldn't ask for a better missionary.

I love to see the seconds count down on his clock. 

The chart I keep is almost full!

April 30, 2012

One ridiculous truck!

Well this week has come and past and I can say that I a stronger than before. There was a lot of biking this week and this is the first time in a long time I can remember being sore from riding. We tried hunting down all of the former investigators this week and it seemed like nobody was home. We would bike to one house, knock and wait for a few minutes, figure they were not home and bike to the next place. There were a couple of days where that was how it was all day with no answers. Frustrating, but we got the impression that this was what we were supposed to do and still feel it was the right call. Plus we were blessed with at least one or two interested people.

The most interesting prospect is a guy from Saudi Arabia. We tracked into him and he said, "Oh, sorry guys, I am Muslim." And we said, "That is really super cool. Where are you from?" and then he just invited us in. He explained that most people religiously don't want anything to do with the fact that he is Muslim and was impressed that we were not put off by it at all. He explained that he tries not to close his mind like some people do to his faith and wanted to hear what we had to say so he can expand his knowledge and strengthen his beliefs. He freely accepted a Book of Mormon and wants one in Arabic so he can properly study it. We don't know that he is interested in conversion, but I have faith in the scripture's converting power, especially the Book of Mormon.

I am getting really good at ping pong. We have a table in the basement and it has been nice to release stress playing a game most days. I can really put a spin on the ball. Yes, that is a challenge Dad. :) One of the missionaries in the zone spent $50 on a paddle. It seemed a little excessive, but I felt the grip on it, nice, but it is still just a ping pong paddle. Oh the funny things we do.  

The Book of Mormon in Arabic