Hello Y'all
Sorry this letter is late. Our schedule today is a little backwards, but we did get to go play hockey. Roller hockey, they have no ice in Florida.
This week was soooo much better than the last week. We found this kid named Alex on TCC. He was very nice and talked with us for a while. We find out that he has talked with the missionaries before us and knows a lot about the church and the book of mormon. We decided to look up his teaching records, and it turns out he had a Baptismal date last November!! We looked at the history and he was taught everything, right up until his baptismal date, but two days before he feel off the face of the earth. Or so the other Elders put it when they couldn't contact him any more. We found out that he has a problem with Brigham Young and the Mountain Meadow Massacre. He also thinks that Brigham Young is an egotistical freak who was seeking power and taking out anyone who got in his way. His Girlfriend is R-LDS so that might have something to do with it. We're teaching him on wednesday and we'll see how that goes.
Rachel got Baptized on Saturday!! The day finally came. She was interviewed by our Mission President on tuesday and qualified for baptism. (I'll talk about Pres later) She was very excited and we told her everything she needed for baptism and that she could invite everyone. She was really excited. She told us who should be in the program, who she wanted to Baptize her (Elder Merkley) and who she wanted to confirm her (Elder Krieser), and that she wanted it to be at 4 on saturday. Well, saturday morning came and the Sisters gave her a call to check up on her and to ask if she would need any help. Turns out she taught the Baptism was at 6 instead of 4. I'm not sure where the communication went wrong on that one, but we got it straightened out and everything went fine. Hillary, her friend was there for the Baptism as well. We think we might try to get her a baptism date this week. Rachel is now a member and we get to teach her on tuesday.
Ok. Time for Pres. After he interviewed Rachel he came out and gave his usual
greetings, then told Elder Krieser and me to step it up in tracting. He said
that members had seen us and were questioning out companionship. It just so
happens that the other day I sent him an e-mail about our lack of hard work. I also told him I didn't know what to do since Elder Krieser is my trainer and I'm supposed to follow him. President was all over it and made up the story about other members to give us a spark. We went tracting that night and almost every night until saturday. We found so many people this week it was awesome. 10 new investigators to our previous 3. We didn't find them all from tracting, but by getting it into our mind to work hard, we were able to be successful in finding people in many areas. We have a lot of return appointments (most fall through) and some new ways to find more people who are ready. We're starting a 'scripture study' on TCC. We are using the time we usually spent with Rachel on Tuesdays and Thursdays and while keeping it permanent, we are inviting all on TCC who are members to join and bring their friends. There's not a lot, but we have one new investigator who is coming on tuesday already. It seems like missionary work picks up when you start to pick your work up. It feels so good and I love it.
I don't think it would be a good idea to go after my companion mom. He's not
that bad, just not motivated like I am. If we get put together for another
transfer it'll be okay. I'm no longer a youngin' and he's no longer my trainer. It'll be two missionaries working together, and I'm going to try some new tactics to make our work ethic increase. It'll be a lot better than our first six weeks.
Anyways, I'm glad y'all had fun in Sunny California. I'm in Sunny Florida. Its been so hot lately. We walk outside and start sweating. I'm almost used to having my shirt stuck against my back all day. Its when I forget my 'sweat rag' that makes the day miserable.
I didn't know it was Nates Farewell!! ugh, I'm going to have to wear my tie
tomorrow just for him. Has Cam turned in his papers? How is Clark? Is he still in Virgina?
One more thing. How is my i-pod coming. :) haha. We are aloud to listen to a
wide variety of music. If its instrumental, Disney, EFY, Hymns and any thing
else worthy. I really like 'goofy movie' for my morning workouts. We have a CD with a few songs on it. Every morning at 6:30 'Stand Out' starts playing. Its awesome!!
I love y'all and I hope you are doing ok.
Love Elder Call.
Elder Call
Off to the MTC
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tallahassee Community College - Week 4
Hey Y'all,
This week was awesome, but at the same time not awesome. I'm not sure what we should start with, but i'm thinking I'll save the best for last. This week was horrible in respect to our own efforts. We found one investigator the entire week. We spent a lot of time talking with members, hanging out at FSU's and trying to find people to teach on campus. We didn't go tracting once from Monday until Saturday. Not once. I know tracting isn't the most effective way or the most pleasent, but it shows your commitment to the Lord and to the members of the Ward. They see us riding our bikes, knocking on doors and they feel like they can find someone too. There old missionary self is sparked and they feel an urge to share the gospel too. Thats why we go out each day. To show EVERYONE that we're dedicated. I'm still a 'young' missionary, so I'm waiting until next transfer to make my move. Right now I'm just following my companion around trying to be as productive as possible, even when he's not.
Ok, bad news is out. Time for the good stuff!! Rachel is getting baptized this week!! or so we hope. We're not sure if she has quit smoking yet, but she told us she had. Remember those blessings I promised her? Yeah, we'll never know if I have the 'gift' to give promises yet. She didn't even try to keep them last week. It was finals for TCC and she was stressed out of her mind. She didn't read the Book of Mormon, she continued to smoke through her finals and she even had to walk out of a class to take a smoke. Ugh. If only people would recognize that putting the important stuff first makes the less important stuff so much easier. Even if she just read a little bit each day she would have known that. Oh well. Agency, agency, agency. Its everyone's gift.
Hillary is doing great too. She is learning fast and even teaching Rachel basic truths. Not necessarily from the Book of Mormon, but she understands that humans make mistakes. She went with us to a baptism this saturday and we're going to show her how to truely pray. How to get down on your knees and say a true, convincing prayer from the heart. I'm excited.
Zone conference was on Tuesday. That is probably the highlight of my mission so far. President Summerhays is awesome. We had a short one on one meeting where we talked about missionary stuff and he also discussed my companion. He said he gave him some words of advice and told me to continue to work hard. He said some more stuff before I left. We then had a two hour meeting, followed by a great lunch and ended with another two hours of meetings. It seems like a lot, but it was so amazing to hear President speak and to hear all the other missionaries speak as well. I felt right at home. With all the other Elders and Sisters sharing their struggles and success. It was quite a feeling.
Well I'm glad your adventure landed you safely in Cali. I'm glad Grandma Clement is doing better, I'm glad Grandpa Call is doing better, I'm glad Susan is doing alright, I'm glad Nate found an awesome job, I'm glad Jen is chillin in St. George, I'm glad Tanner and Weston miss me so much (I miss you guys too :D), and I'm glad that its not humid today. haha.I love you all and hope you are having fun, being safe and sharing your testimony with everyone who is willing to listen.Love Elder Call
This week was awesome, but at the same time not awesome. I'm not sure what we should start with, but i'm thinking I'll save the best for last. This week was horrible in respect to our own efforts. We found one investigator the entire week. We spent a lot of time talking with members, hanging out at FSU's and trying to find people to teach on campus. We didn't go tracting once from Monday until Saturday. Not once. I know tracting isn't the most effective way or the most pleasent, but it shows your commitment to the Lord and to the members of the Ward. They see us riding our bikes, knocking on doors and they feel like they can find someone too. There old missionary self is sparked and they feel an urge to share the gospel too. Thats why we go out each day. To show EVERYONE that we're dedicated. I'm still a 'young' missionary, so I'm waiting until next transfer to make my move. Right now I'm just following my companion around trying to be as productive as possible, even when he's not.
Ok, bad news is out. Time for the good stuff!! Rachel is getting baptized this week!! or so we hope. We're not sure if she has quit smoking yet, but she told us she had. Remember those blessings I promised her? Yeah, we'll never know if I have the 'gift' to give promises yet. She didn't even try to keep them last week. It was finals for TCC and she was stressed out of her mind. She didn't read the Book of Mormon, she continued to smoke through her finals and she even had to walk out of a class to take a smoke. Ugh. If only people would recognize that putting the important stuff first makes the less important stuff so much easier. Even if she just read a little bit each day she would have known that. Oh well. Agency, agency, agency. Its everyone's gift.
Hillary is doing great too. She is learning fast and even teaching Rachel basic truths. Not necessarily from the Book of Mormon, but she understands that humans make mistakes. She went with us to a baptism this saturday and we're going to show her how to truely pray. How to get down on your knees and say a true, convincing prayer from the heart. I'm excited.
Zone conference was on Tuesday. That is probably the highlight of my mission so far. President Summerhays is awesome. We had a short one on one meeting where we talked about missionary stuff and he also discussed my companion. He said he gave him some words of advice and told me to continue to work hard. He said some more stuff before I left. We then had a two hour meeting, followed by a great lunch and ended with another two hours of meetings. It seems like a lot, but it was so amazing to hear President speak and to hear all the other missionaries speak as well. I felt right at home. With all the other Elders and Sisters sharing their struggles and success. It was quite a feeling.
Well I'm glad your adventure landed you safely in Cali. I'm glad Grandma Clement is doing better, I'm glad Grandpa Call is doing better, I'm glad Susan is doing alright, I'm glad Nate found an awesome job, I'm glad Jen is chillin in St. George, I'm glad Tanner and Weston miss me so much (I miss you guys too :D), and I'm glad that its not humid today. haha.I love you all and hope you are having fun, being safe and sharing your testimony with everyone who is willing to listen.Love Elder Call
Monday, July 13, 2009
Tallahassee Community College - Week 3
Hello family and friends,
This week was so much better than the last two. Rachel is getting ready to be baptized. We're teaching her friend Hillary the Restoration, we have two more investigators, Vanessa and Mary and we sent Emily over to the FSU Sister Missionaries. First Rachel.
She is having a hard time with the Word of Wisdom. She know that all this is true and she has seen what it can do for her life and she wants it. She is excited to be baptized, but she is going to have a rough week. She is trying to quit smoking and drinking while studying and taking finals. Yeah, that's going to be tough. She told us that she would try to quit after finals, but we decided it would be better if she quit now. She didn't know how to feel about it or if she wanted to. This is where the cool stuff kicks in.
Have you ever a conversation where you start saying something else? Something that you never recognized before or even thought of before? Yeah, that's the Holy Ghost kicking in and at about this time it really came in. I started promising blessings to her. Blessings I've never seen or thougtht about. I read with her D&C 121 about Liberty Jail and promised her that if she could make it these two weeks until her baptism she would do well on her finals. That she wouldn't have to worry about if she needed another cigarette while she studied. That if she followed the commandments she would taste of Eternal Life and the heavens would open themselves and bless her. That's quite a blessing froma 19-year-old-boy. But I have complete faith that she will do it and be blessed. Hillary is Rachel's friend. We just got done teaching her the Restoration about an hour ago and promised her that if she read the chapters we gave her and sincerely prayed about it, she would come to know for herself that these things are true AND she would taste of the blessings to come.
Vanessa is a girl we met on campus. She is a freshman and lives at the Homeless shelter. She wanted to come to church, but she felt like she needed to study a little more before she would feel comfortable. We gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a time to meet again. She read the chapters, but forgot to meet us for our meeting. We're going to meet with her tonight. Hopefully all goes well. Mary is a girl we tracted into last week. She knows about the church and actually went to church with one of her friends in the Tally 2nd Ward. She has never read the Book of Mormon though, so we gave her one and we are meeting with her tonight too. She has a background with the church. One of her best friends is a member and she grew up with Mary. So if we could get her friend to come to the lesson and get her to read? Oh! that would be awesome!
Emily is not progressing. Well at least not with us. We are sending her to the FSU sister missionaries to hopefully help Emily progress more. She is a great person and loves the Book of Mormon and coming to church, but she just won't open up to us and tell us what she's thinking. We feel she'll be more comfortable with the sisters.
Me and my companion are getting along a lot better. I'm not exactly sure what changed, but to be honest, I don't care. We're really moving now and finding a lot of people to teach. We ask everyone for referrals and when we tract we usually can find one or two people who will listen. Not everyone shows up to the appointments, but every person we talk to gives us hope. This week we found 8 g'ators.
I'm sorry your California trip isn't going to be the same without the best looking member of the Family. You'll just have to do without me. ;) I'm glad Grandma is doing good and feeling better. To be honest, I'm not really startled. If my companion can walk away from getting hit by a taxi, Grandma is tough enough to walk away from a car crash. ;D
I haven't figured out how to send pictures home yet. When I go to Wal-Mart this week I'll see what I can do.
When does Erik leave? get there? Can I get his address or e-mail?
When is Nate's farewell? I need to wear my tie.
Megan..... why in the world are you in my ship? You know I'm skilled enough to take you out even when I'm out manned. There's no way I'll loose. I'll send you the results this week.
I love you all and pray for you often.
Elder Call
This week was so much better than the last two. Rachel is getting ready to be baptized. We're teaching her friend Hillary the Restoration, we have two more investigators, Vanessa and Mary and we sent Emily over to the FSU Sister Missionaries. First Rachel.
She is having a hard time with the Word of Wisdom. She know that all this is true and she has seen what it can do for her life and she wants it. She is excited to be baptized, but she is going to have a rough week. She is trying to quit smoking and drinking while studying and taking finals. Yeah, that's going to be tough. She told us that she would try to quit after finals, but we decided it would be better if she quit now. She didn't know how to feel about it or if she wanted to. This is where the cool stuff kicks in.
Have you ever a conversation where you start saying something else? Something that you never recognized before or even thought of before? Yeah, that's the Holy Ghost kicking in and at about this time it really came in. I started promising blessings to her. Blessings I've never seen or thougtht about. I read with her D&C 121 about Liberty Jail and promised her that if she could make it these two weeks until her baptism she would do well on her finals. That she wouldn't have to worry about if she needed another cigarette while she studied. That if she followed the commandments she would taste of Eternal Life and the heavens would open themselves and bless her. That's quite a blessing froma 19-year-old-boy. But I have complete faith that she will do it and be blessed. Hillary is Rachel's friend. We just got done teaching her the Restoration about an hour ago and promised her that if she read the chapters we gave her and sincerely prayed about it, she would come to know for herself that these things are true AND she would taste of the blessings to come.
Vanessa is a girl we met on campus. She is a freshman and lives at the Homeless shelter. She wanted to come to church, but she felt like she needed to study a little more before she would feel comfortable. We gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a time to meet again. She read the chapters, but forgot to meet us for our meeting. We're going to meet with her tonight. Hopefully all goes well. Mary is a girl we tracted into last week. She knows about the church and actually went to church with one of her friends in the Tally 2nd Ward. She has never read the Book of Mormon though, so we gave her one and we are meeting with her tonight too. She has a background with the church. One of her best friends is a member and she grew up with Mary. So if we could get her friend to come to the lesson and get her to read? Oh! that would be awesome!
Emily is not progressing. Well at least not with us. We are sending her to the FSU sister missionaries to hopefully help Emily progress more. She is a great person and loves the Book of Mormon and coming to church, but she just won't open up to us and tell us what she's thinking. We feel she'll be more comfortable with the sisters.
Me and my companion are getting along a lot better. I'm not exactly sure what changed, but to be honest, I don't care. We're really moving now and finding a lot of people to teach. We ask everyone for referrals and when we tract we usually can find one or two people who will listen. Not everyone shows up to the appointments, but every person we talk to gives us hope. This week we found 8 g'ators.
I'm sorry your California trip isn't going to be the same without the best looking member of the Family. You'll just have to do without me. ;) I'm glad Grandma is doing good and feeling better. To be honest, I'm not really startled. If my companion can walk away from getting hit by a taxi, Grandma is tough enough to walk away from a car crash. ;D
I haven't figured out how to send pictures home yet. When I go to Wal-Mart this week I'll see what I can do.
When does Erik leave? get there? Can I get his address or e-mail?
When is Nate's farewell? I need to wear my tie.
Megan..... why in the world are you in my ship? You know I'm skilled enough to take you out even when I'm out manned. There's no way I'll loose. I'll send you the results this week.
I love you all and pray for you often.
Elder Call
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tallahassee Community College-2nd Week
Hey y'all,
I've decided that I'm going to start talking as much 'south' as I can. I haven't picked up on 'fixin' yet, that is my next goal. I'm really sorry Grandma, Sara, Aryn, and Quinn got in a car crash. I hope they are all doing alright. I'm glad y'all had a good 4th of July and that sounds like something Brennan would totally do.
My bike is here with me in Tallahassee and it's great. My legs have never burned so much. The Church is 3 miles away, uphill both ways, and we ride there at least once a day, if not 2 or 3. My legs are going to be ripped. ;)
I don't know about pictures yet. Should I send the card home once every two weeks and you can send me a new one out here? I don't know where a walgreens is, but I can ask other missionaries how they get their's home this week.
I got Shannon's e-mail and I was very happy to get it. It sounds like dance is getting harder but more rewarding at the same time. I miss Boondocks too. The slick track is my favorite. How did y'all like Spencer? He's a crazy boy if you ask me.
This week had it's ups and downs. My companion got hit by a car. To be exact, a taxi. I went across the intersection and was half way when I heard a 'thump' and a big, long scrape. I turned and lo and behold my companion was in the middle of the intersection on his side. The taxi
t-boned him and sent him flying across the road. We would've kept riding like it was no big deal, but a lady behind us called 911 and wouldn't let Elder Krieser or me leave. My companion is alright now, he has really high blood pressure, but the mission health person has an eye on him like a hawk.
This week we are still teaching Rachel and Emily. Rachel has a baptisimal date for July 25 and Emily is an investigator who we're trying to get a baptisimal date with. We'll start with Rachel first.
She is doing great! Tuesday was a little step backwards, she wasn't sure if this was right and she didn't want to make it become a mistake. Her faith was shot, right out the window. We tried to comfort her, but it was really hard for her to see the light. On Thursday we met with her again. This time was so much better. We had Tyler, a member, come with us an he helped us out a lot. Rachel also brought a friend, Hillary. So, with two extra's for this lesson I thought it would make it harder, but it was so good. Tyler is AMAZING at teaching and made everything so simple and easy to understand. Rachel now feels the spirit and is doing great. She is getting really excited for her baptism. Hillary, Rachel's friend, is now one of our new g'ators! Talk about a great lesson!
Emily isn't doing as good as Rachel. She still keeps her commitments and continues to read from the Book of Mormon, but she is really shy about sharing it with us. She hides behind her book every time we ask her a question and doesn't answer a lot of them. She doesn't trust us yet. We're going to turn her over to the Sister's an hopefully they'll be able to help her share her feelings. I know Emily knows it's true, she just needs someone she trusts to share it with.
Tuesday was probably the craziest day ever. We were tracting in some apartments because one of our appointments fell through. It looked really dark outside so we decided it would be best if we rode home. Once we got on the main road we look down the road and you could literally see a wall of water coming at you. It would've been really cool, but that was the way home. We rode as hard as we could, with rain drops the size of gum balls hitting us. We turned the corner and you could see the light to where our apartment was, when my tire went flat....sniff. I had to walk my bike home in the pouring rain. The Lord still blessed us though. It didn't start thundering until after we made it home. Watching rain is cool, riding through rain sucks.
I think that's all for this week. Maybe I'll find more g'ators by next time. I love y'all and hope y'all will keep sending me stuff. ;)
P.S. if you could send me an i-pod or an mp3 player that would be great! If you could put 'Kolob', 'I Believe in Christ', 'Spirit of God', 'Praise to the Man' and five or six of each of your favorite songs too. Oh, and guess what? Old Disney songs are allowed so they count too!!
Do I need a message for the Boys? Or is that a monthly thing?
Love, Elder Call
I've decided that I'm going to start talking as much 'south' as I can. I haven't picked up on 'fixin' yet, that is my next goal. I'm really sorry Grandma, Sara, Aryn, and Quinn got in a car crash. I hope they are all doing alright. I'm glad y'all had a good 4th of July and that sounds like something Brennan would totally do.
My bike is here with me in Tallahassee and it's great. My legs have never burned so much. The Church is 3 miles away, uphill both ways, and we ride there at least once a day, if not 2 or 3. My legs are going to be ripped. ;)
I don't know about pictures yet. Should I send the card home once every two weeks and you can send me a new one out here? I don't know where a walgreens is, but I can ask other missionaries how they get their's home this week.
I got Shannon's e-mail and I was very happy to get it. It sounds like dance is getting harder but more rewarding at the same time. I miss Boondocks too. The slick track is my favorite. How did y'all like Spencer? He's a crazy boy if you ask me.
This week had it's ups and downs. My companion got hit by a car. To be exact, a taxi. I went across the intersection and was half way when I heard a 'thump' and a big, long scrape. I turned and lo and behold my companion was in the middle of the intersection on his side. The taxi
t-boned him and sent him flying across the road. We would've kept riding like it was no big deal, but a lady behind us called 911 and wouldn't let Elder Krieser or me leave. My companion is alright now, he has really high blood pressure, but the mission health person has an eye on him like a hawk.
This week we are still teaching Rachel and Emily. Rachel has a baptisimal date for July 25 and Emily is an investigator who we're trying to get a baptisimal date with. We'll start with Rachel first.
She is doing great! Tuesday was a little step backwards, she wasn't sure if this was right and she didn't want to make it become a mistake. Her faith was shot, right out the window. We tried to comfort her, but it was really hard for her to see the light. On Thursday we met with her again. This time was so much better. We had Tyler, a member, come with us an he helped us out a lot. Rachel also brought a friend, Hillary. So, with two extra's for this lesson I thought it would make it harder, but it was so good. Tyler is AMAZING at teaching and made everything so simple and easy to understand. Rachel now feels the spirit and is doing great. She is getting really excited for her baptism. Hillary, Rachel's friend, is now one of our new g'ators! Talk about a great lesson!
Emily isn't doing as good as Rachel. She still keeps her commitments and continues to read from the Book of Mormon, but she is really shy about sharing it with us. She hides behind her book every time we ask her a question and doesn't answer a lot of them. She doesn't trust us yet. We're going to turn her over to the Sister's an hopefully they'll be able to help her share her feelings. I know Emily knows it's true, she just needs someone she trusts to share it with.
Tuesday was probably the craziest day ever. We were tracting in some apartments because one of our appointments fell through. It looked really dark outside so we decided it would be best if we rode home. Once we got on the main road we look down the road and you could literally see a wall of water coming at you. It would've been really cool, but that was the way home. We rode as hard as we could, with rain drops the size of gum balls hitting us. We turned the corner and you could see the light to where our apartment was, when my tire went flat....sniff. I had to walk my bike home in the pouring rain. The Lord still blessed us though. It didn't start thundering until after we made it home. Watching rain is cool, riding through rain sucks.
I think that's all for this week. Maybe I'll find more g'ators by next time. I love y'all and hope y'all will keep sending me stuff. ;)
P.S. if you could send me an i-pod or an mp3 player that would be great! If you could put 'Kolob', 'I Believe in Christ', 'Spirit of God', 'Praise to the Man' and five or six of each of your favorite songs too. Oh, and guess what? Old Disney songs are allowed so they count too!!
Do I need a message for the Boys? Or is that a monthly thing?
Love, Elder Call
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