Week 81: We had a Baptism!

 

This week we had the baptism of Jordan Gibby! It was so awesome. Everyone was so pumped. On Sunday I confirmed him and I was also able to stand in for his ordination as he received the Aaronic priesthood. I have never seen someone so happy to be able to pass the sacrament. It was incredible. 

We set another baptism date with a girl named Destinee Aker. She had been studying with the RLDS but felt something was off and then she moved to Lawton. When she moved she met one of our members in the hospital there. She then told us that she would love for us to come by and visit. In the first discussion, she shared her testimony with us on the key doctrines that we believe. She has a testimony of it all. We met her 2 weeks ago and she is already in 2 Nephi 10 and has read 3 Nephi! I have never seen someone so prepared.

Transfer calls were this week and I am staying in Lawton another transfer. One cool thing that is new for me is that I will be going to Fort Sill Army post on Sunday and will be attending the branch there. I will be teaching the basic trainees the lessons. That is going to be such a cool experience.

For P day last week, we went to Mt. Scott the tallest and only real classified mountain in Oklahoma. It is a mountain by 50 feet. It is more of a large pebble hill. We hiked to the top of that. The wind was really strong. It was fun to get out and do something outdoors.

Elder McMinn

"Be a hand that reaches out. Be a smile for those who have no reason to smile. Be a light for those who live in darkness. Show them what it means to truly love."

Week 80: Solid Week

We had a really cool lesson with a part member family. They are on a Keto diet. They fixed us a keto meal which actually I was pleasantly surprised by how good it really was. Part of their New Year's resolution this year is that they are going to read the Book of Mormon together every night. They are going to pray about it together too. I am so pumped for themWeWE had exchanges with the Zone Leaders so they came to our area. We had a lot of fun and we were able to see a lot of people that we had not been able to see. This week we decided to venture from our house to the edge of Fort sill and back. That was a good distance for us and that was fun. We have a baptism this week on Saturday and I am so pumped for Jordan. He is 11. We may be setting another this Thursday too. Lawton is so awesome.

God is preparing people to receive your testimony of the restored truth. He requires your faith and then your action to share fearlessly what has become so precious to you and those you love. 

- Henry B. Eyring

Elder McMinn

Be patient with yourself. Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life. Don’t demand things that are unreasonable, but demand of yourself improvement. As you let the Lord help you through that, He will make the difference.

-President Russell M. Nelson

Week 79: A Visit from Some General Authorities

Elder McMinn hit his 18-month mark this week! 

My week out here is going to be interesting. I have exchanges with the Anadarko missionaries on Wednesday. On Friday I am going to be with the Witchita Falls missionaries for exchanges so this means there will be a lot of switching around but we will be in our area most of the week. We have some pretty cool lessons with investigators coming up. A new one is a member referral and her name is Destiney. She is the coolest lady ever. She was looking into the RLDS church when she lived in Kansas but she was sharing a room in the hospital with a member of the church and that member talked about our church and invited her to come to one of our services. Now she told us that she is never going to stop coming. We are meeting with her again on Thursday and we are going over the restoration with her. The previous lesson we went over the Plan of Happiness and she loved every minute of it. I drew it out on a piece of paper and she told us she looked at it everyday and read the Book of Mormon everyday. Another awesome thing is that a part member family came to church. His name is James McQuillen and he is so awesome! They invited us over Tuesday night to visit with them. A lot of fun things are happening out here. 

With patience and persistence, even the smallest act of discipleship or the tiniest ember of belief can become a blazing bonfire of a consecrated life. In fact, that’s how bonfires begin as a simple spark.

-Elder Dieter Uchtdorf

This week we has 3 general authorities come to our mission. They gave the best talks about giving up your will to the Lord. Then they shared ways that will help us grow a deeper conversion to the Savior and to grow our relationship with our Heavenly Father. It was Elder Ochoa, Elder Harris, and Elder Teixeira. It was a whole mission conference! That was the same day that I hit 18 months on the mission so we got a picture with all of the missionaries still out after that 18 months. It was cool to see so many of us. We still hold the record for the largest group coming into the mission at one time!

“Doing better does not always mean doing more!” -Sharon Eubank

Elder McMinn

Week 78: Snow and Ice

The new Come Follow Me program was so awesome! We had such a great time and there was a lot of participation. If only our investigators would participate as much as the members did at church missionary work would be easier. Oh well, it's not and I learn a lot more that way too so I am grateful for that. I have been doing my studies in the new CFM manual too. We each have our own so I take one of my day's personal studies trying to knock out as much of it as I can but still take in as much as I can too. I continually review it throughout the week too.

Oklahoma was icy this week and I was stuck inside the house while my companion was in a different town for a missionary leadership conference. I was with the Lawton first elder for about 3 days and I was going stir crazy and about ready just to run outside and do something because we were inside studying and contacting on the phone for a majority of the time. 

We are teaching three people Lisa Atchinson, and Joseph and Sarah Schroder. They are so awesome. We had lessons with both of them but they never showed up to church so we called them out on that. Then we had another lesson with them which was so much fun. The Schroders had a lost puppy at their house and it was the cutest golden lab I have ever seen. I was holding it and made sure that my name tag was in the picture that Joseph put on Facebook for the advertisement of the lost puppy but right as he was about to take the picture, the owner drives by. I was happy and disappointed because I wanted to keep it but I knew that I couldn't. It was so much fun.

I had a really cool study on desire this week and linked it to so many scriptures. It all stemmed from Alma chapter 29. I think that is one of my new favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. You should look over that one. It talks about gratitude and also our desires and how they ultimately drive our destiny.

Elder McMinn

Week 77: New Year's Eve

With Christmas this week, we had so much fun! We had our Christmas Zone Conference where half of the mission gets together at a time and we listen to the musical talents of missionaries in Oklahoma, which are better than all others. We had a cello, violin, flute, etc. Along with the Christmas Zone Conference, we had a gingerbread house making the competition. My companion and I ended up cutting all of the parts of the house up and making a teepee instead. Christmas Conference is a highlight of the year. 

That Saturday we had a pretty cool experience. We were attending the baptism of John Chormanski, someone the sisters taught, and after the baptism was finished we had someone come up to us and say "if you guys teach me then I will be baptized." Just imagine how pumped I was about that. We have started tracking him now. 

Christmas the next week was so much fun. That morning we got together with all three missionaries in Lawton and opened all our presents together. Then we split up on the homes that we had to go to call our families and have meals at. The highlight of all that was definitely being able to talk to my family. There is nothing better than that. 

The day after Christmas felt like we were in a monsoon! We were biking back to our house from an appointment and it just started to pour rain on us. The lightning came next. When we were biking back there was a bolt of lightning that struck the tree right next to us with a deafening crack. Our adrenaline got kicked up to a 100 at that moment. There were moments when we were biking and the water was so high that when our feet were on our pedals the water was above our ankles! 

The rest of the week was filled with contacting people and reactivating. Now we have 4 lessons set up with new people because of all that so I am pumped for this upcoming week. 

“It is in the doing, not just the thinking that we accomplish our goals.”

-Thomas S. Monson

Elder McMinn