Week 29: Exploring Downtown OKC

Downtown Oklahoma City

I have been able to wander around downtown Oklahoma City because it has been a lot warmer. People have actually been outside so that has really made things nice. OKC has some really weird landmarks. They have a banjo museum and T-Rex sculpture made out of old computer parts and other weird things like that. The city is such a cool place. Chesapeake Arena is in my area so I am trying to see what I could do before a game to go and talk to people. It is going to be way fun.

Taking a break at the park

We were able to have another one of our investigators at church this week. Her name is Tishila and she is way cool. She may have gotten scared away a tiny bit because the Gospel Principles class was really just focused on her and not a whole class discussion like it should have been but that is alright. If she has felt the spirit and we help her recognize what it is, then she can not deny it and she will be able to find truth easier. I really need to practice my teaching simply and I feel that may help but I also need to remember that talking is not teaching and that the spirit is really the teacher so don't get in the way of him.

 "God is mindful of every people"

Chesapeake Arena (Go OKC Thunder!)

"Missionaries leave their homes to preach His gospel, their goal is not to increase the number of Church members. Rather, our missionaries teach and baptize to bring joy to the people of the world."

- President Russell M. Nelson

Elder McMinn

Week 28: Still in The Village

Elder McMinn and Elder Hardy

My week has been good. It has pretty much just been bouncing around to go visit as many members as possible so that Elder Hardy gets to know a lot of the ward members. We had stake conference this week. President and Sister Mansell spoke so that was so awesome to hear them. They are seriously the best people ever. I haven't had anything crazy happen this week to me. I saw an incredible car. We had an investigator at church, and I got to talk to a potential about the Book of Mormon and he was so pumped about it.

So one cool thing that happened as well is, the investigator Todd Walker, he was in a serious car wreck a few years back that affected the ability of the use of his hands so he has limited movement in them and he had us help him fix up a VW Thing that he has been working on for a little while. That has been fun.

The Zone 

Elder McMinn

"Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save." - President Monson

Week 27: Snakes in Oklahoma

I really am going to have to pick up the tracting because well... we only have one real investigator and she is a really new one too! Her name is Tishila and she is so cool. She is really young and super nice. She has 2 little boys named Liam and London. Liam is 16 months and London is 6 weeks old. Her boyfriend's mom wanted her to explore religion more and so the kids have a life where they grow up with Christ in it and coincidentally (jk there is no such thing as a coincidence) she requested a Bible and Book of Mormon from us. She also attended church this week and she enjoyed it and her little son loved it as well. The best part was that she is hardcore fellowshipped and has like 5 real friends in the ward so that is a massive bonus.

This past week we have had 2 different members who have had pet snakes and my fear of snakes has decreased as well so I decided to put those snakes around my neck while I was doing the dishes of the members who made us dinner. 

So this last week was the last week of the transfer and I am actually staying in the Village ward at least another transfer but for my companion, Elder Wright, he is getting sent down to Texas. My new companion is named Elder Hardy and I don't know anything about him except that he is quiet and that he has been out one transfer less than me. I am super pumped though.

An awesome quote I found is "Choose carefully the paths you walk, for others will follow you." -Jayne B. Malan

Elder McMinn

"Our greatest happiness in this life will come as we follow God's commandments and obey his laws."

- President Monson

Week 26: Cars and Coffee

So the baptism is not a go this week because Ray did not make it to church this last week.His neighbor passed away and the funeral was on Sunday so we will meet with him this week and see if he is still down to get baptized. I am pretty sure that he will say yes to being baptized because he was so pumped about it the first time. 

Todd was super sad and depressed this week but I was able to cheer him up because he LOVES cars.  I can relate to him really well and his love of cars. This helped him cheer up because there is no point in trying to change someone if they don't trust you or if they are depressed and just want to be happy. We talked for a little bit about what's new in the car world and he filled me in on a lot of classic cars that he loves.

Speaking of cars. Oklahoma City puts on an event called Cars and Coffee. It is a car show that happens every first Saturday of the month. We went to that and talked to the owners of the cars and the people that showed up to the car show. It was so awesome I loved it. (I am sure that Kyle was in heaven walking around admiring all of the cars on display. Missionaries are blessed for serving!)

So with the passing of President Monson this week I have tried to study some of the stuff that he spoke on. My trainer, Elder Bowman gave me a book called, "We're With You." It is a book that is filled with BYU devotionals and other young adult setting talks. There were a few from President Monson and it was so cool to read a lot of the things that it has taught.

Love,
Elder McMinn

Wonderful, glorious things are in store for you if only you believe, obey, and endure.

- President Monson

Remember that you are never alone.

Never forget that you are loved.

Never doubt that someone surely cares for you.

- President Monson

It's in the doing, not just the thinking that we accomplish our goals.

-President Monson

Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, "I'll try again tomorrow."

- President Monson

Week 25: Happy New Year

These past few weeks have been really fun! The temperatures have dropped to between 5 and 25 degrees and it has not been above that much at all. That has been fun...

I had a fun Christmas. We woke up and went to our church building and opened our presents with the whole district. There was about 10 of us there and we all ate breakfast there. After church, we went to lunch at a member's home and then went to a different member's home and got to Facetime my family. That was really weird to only be able to call them but it was also a lot of fun. We ended up spending the rest of the night back at the church and being with those same missionaries and playing a few games.

Service with a smile! Just in time for Christmas!

We had a really fun New Years as well. Our church starts at 2:30 and that is so late. (We are changing to 8:30 this next week). So after church, we went and had dinner with a member who actually competed in the Olympics when it was in Sydney so that was way cool to hear about that. Then our mission president invited the missionaries that live close to his home over for the New Years Eve. We ended up playing ping pong and a game called signs. It was a way fun holiday.

New Year's Eve at the Mission President's home

We actually have 2 good investigators. One is named Ray Roberts and he actually has a baptism date set for January 13 which will be so awesome!! He has only been taking lessons since the week that I got to The Village but there haven't been too many speed bumps with him. Just the usual Oklahoma things like smoking and drinking coffee but that will be easy for him to quit those habits. He is so close. The other investigator has actually been investigating off and on for about 20 years now so that is kinda worrying me but he has made more progress in these last few weeks than the past few years. His name is Todd Walker. He was in a car accident a couple years back and he is mad at God because he thinks that it was His fault. We are helping him recognize that it is not and that he can actually be happy again through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that it can once again give him a purpose in life!

Dinner with the Sturgeon family

Mission life is great!

Elder McMinn

 Kyle loves the older homes in his area. His days of watching HGTV are really paying off!

  

Now is the best time to start becoming the person that we eventually want to be.

-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Week 24: Merry Christmas from Oklahoma!

Elder Wright and Elder McMinn

Kyle is doing great! We had so much fun talking to him and seeing his face on Christmas day! Mom only cried when it was time to say goodbye. We sure love him! He is right where he needs to be and he loves his mission.

 Best Christmas present of the year!