Week 94: There is a New Guy in Town

This was a really fun week. We had a few lessons this week but a lot of contact with people that we had not been able to get in contact with before. I think it is the power of being with someone who is right out and has no bias on anything and he is enjoying his time here. I am really enjoying him being here. I really scored with the missionary that we are training. His name is Elder Spillman and he is from Kaysville, UT. 

We had 4 people at sacrament meeting this week and 3 of them are really close to baptism which is awesome. It was Riley and Tanner Belanger, Megan, and Athea. They are all unbaptized children and we may have found another one last night named Olivia. She is awesome. She is 9 and has such an awesome personality. 

We had a lesson with a guy named Joe and Elder Spillman took the lead on the lesson already. He bore powerful testimony and kept the lesson in line and spiritual. Joe is searching for truth and he wants to search without including faith in the equation. He thinks it is an easy answer that is not exclusive. 

We have a lot of lessons coming up this week so I am excited to explain those later.

Elder McMinn

"My dear brethren, you were chosen by our Father to come to earth at this crucial time because of your premortal valor. You are among the finest, most valiant men who have ever come to the earth."

-President Russell M. Nelson

Week 93: Training in Shawnee

This past Monday we went to the OBU campus and did a little bit of rock climbing with one of the students who go there. He is a member of the church and is on the football team and he is willing to hook us up with whatever we need and is helping us turn OBU into BYU-O! That night we had a really good impromptu lesson with Jon Herrera and his family! They aren't good at giving us time on when we need to be at their place so we just drop in and teach a lesson then. They have had a lot of death in the family so we went straight to the plan of salvation for them. They loved it. The daughter in law even jumped in asking questions so that is a potential new investigator.

On Wednesday we helped one of our investigators, who is in a wheelchair, clean up his garden so that way he can plant vegetables. It was so much fun honestly. He has really softened up to us and has been listening to a lot more. He does not keep large commitments well but the small stuff he is willing to follow and commit to so we are working on getting him big steps now.

Friday we found a really cool guy. We had been tracting for 2 hours and found no one but at the last house, we found Joe. He has an agnostic belief but has a lot of questions. He is not convinced by faith at all and wants all logic so we were trying to help him know that logic can only get him so far and faith has to play a part in it all too. I am excited to show him more. We taught him a good chunk of the restoration too! 

We got transfer updates for my last transfer. Elder Capron and I are staying but... We are trio training. This is going to be so fun!

Elder McMinn

"We are on His errand. Let us learn from Him. Let us follow in His footsteps. Let us live by His precepts." 

-Thomas S. Monson

Week 92: The Work Moves On

We had a really cool opportunity to get in contact with an awesome part member family called the Squires. He has been a member his whole life but she grew up never attending a church at all. We are pretty much starting from scratch with teaching her so that will be so awesome. They had us over for dinner on last Tuesday and they are having us over for dinner again tonight. We will start the real lessons tonight.

We had a really good lesson with a guy named Victor Ewing. We have been visiting with him for a while. Missionaries, in general, have been visiting with him for a long time but now he is getting really close to being ready for baptism. He was talking about how he believes in the messages that the Book of Mormon contains but is not quite sure yet if Joseph Smith is a prophet. For me those, go hand in hand so we are just needing to help him realize that one.

Saturday was a total downpour and we had to help a family move. It was not the most exciting move and it was actually extremely cold. I had to come home after the move and take a hot shower just to warm up. The rest of the day we had members who were willing to go out on visits with us and to see people in our area. When we do splits on Saturdays we focus on part-member families and less active members. It was nice to stay our of that weather.

Elder McMinn

“My dear brethren, you were chosen to come to earth at this crucial time because of your premortal valor. You are among the finest, most valiant men who have ever come to earth.”

-President Russell M. Nelson

Week 91: General Conference

This was a really great week. On Monday we had a day filled with trying new potentials. We had a great lesson with this girl named, Brandie Wright. She told us that she wants to be baptized she just wants to know some peeps in the church first so we are bringing sisters with us to the next lesson. Then she will be at church this next week! We had a good meet up with the wife of one of our potentials. She has some family members who are members of the church. She was very kind and willing to let us come over again. We are going over on Wednesday this week for a lesson.

Thursday this past week was our interviews with the president. While we waited for our turn to be interviewed we played a role play bingo game where you are given a topic and then have to explain it and set a return appointment in 5 minutes. Some of the topics were, explain the Trinity, how do I recognize answers to prayers, what's so special about your church?, etc.

We had exchanges with the district leaders right after. We had a really cool opportunity on Friday to get a tour of a Catholic Abbey. It was so cool to see the insides of another church building and learn to appreciate their religion. We had a friend of ours, who is a monk there, give us a tour. It was cool to see.

General conference was incredible. There were so many powerful talks and so many that had such powerful testimonies of the Savior. The testimonies are my favorite part. I don't know if I have a favorite. I love Conference. This was the last General Conference for me in the mission. It was a great week.

Elder McMinn

“All Heavenly Father asks of us is to do the very best we can every day.”

-M. Russell Ballard

Week 90: Still in Shawnee

 

This week, we did not have any lessons sadly and our contact with new people was really slow but it was still a really good week. We had an opportunity to go to a multi-faith convention on how we, as Christians can come together in a divided world. It was a very exciting forum and it gave everyone present insight on how to interact with each other. We were hosted at a Presbyterian church so it was also fun to have the experience of being in another church.

We had two people come to church this week. Megan and Riley. They both have come quite a bit in the past but it was nice to see them there again and for us to have someone at church again. In all, it was a really good week. 

Elder McMinn

"Of this be sure: you do not find the happy life. You make it!"

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"To testify is to know and to declare. The gospel challenges us to be 'converted.' Which requires us to do and to become."

-Dallin H. Oaks