Week 23: The Village is awesome!

The Village is so awesome! The area is a lot different than Moore and I am actually thankful for that. I am in the heart of Oklahoma City some days and it is the most fun things. There are neighborhoods that have homes built in the 1930s and 1940s and a lot of them have been restored and redone and they look so awesome! My days of watching HGTV have helped me notice some things around the area. 

Soccer on P-day

We have a lot of investigators and there are so many people who are down to talk. We had some interesting experiences this week. There is an investigator named Trudi and we have tried to get ahold of her every day this week and last week. We were in the middle of our companionship study and we get a text from a member of the ward telling us that Trudi is ringing the Salvation Army bell at Walmart. Right when we saw that we both hopped in the car and drove up there as fast as we could and saw her! Turns out her phone was broken and she is now living in Chickasha with her son. We finally got a hold of her and she is doing way good. 

So we met with another guy named Todd Walker this week and he has been investigating the church for about 18 years now off and on and this past week we actually tried to set a baptism date and he was so close to doing it but had one little hang up and then backed out but he has been coming to the ward every week for all those years. He has been helping the older single sisters with service and comes to all the ward activities. He is seriously a member without being baptized. He is so close. He is the nicest guy ever too. 

Todd Walker with Elder McMinn

The coolest thing that we did this week was that we set up a free hot chocolate stand at the Walmart and handed out hot chocolate and Mormon.org pass along cards. We were out there for maybe 3 hours and we handed out hot chocolate non-stop! We had to run into Walmart 2 times just to buy more cups. There was a lady who worked for the local news station and she took a picture of us and a picture of her and posted it on twitter and it made it up on Mormon.org so that is so awesome!! This week has been stellar!

It is starting to feel just like normal life when I wake up in the mornings too so it doesn't bother me anymore. I honestly love it now. I was super hesitant about the whole missionary life but now it just keeps getting better.

Elders Christmas Card

Christmas time is so awesome. There is a lot less commercialism that we see and there is a lot less that we have to deal with when we are cut off from the world. I like it a lot. This Christmas is going to be very different but a really good day. I read Jesus the Christ chapters 7 and 8 and those have some of the greatest things that I have ever read on the birth of the Savior. 

As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him, we shall have the Christmas spirit, not just for one fleeting day each year but as a companion always.

Thomas S. Monson

Elder McMinn

Week 22: Welcome to The Village

Elder McMinn has a new address:

1301 W. Hefner Rd. Apt # 3502
Oklahoma City, OK 73114

This week was transfer week. I had to say goodbye to a lot of the people in Moore those last few days but the Village is way cool. The top of my area is in Edmund and the bottom is in South OKC. You get a little bit of everything. Edmund is the richest and the South is not. We have an area called Nichols Hills and that area has some of the largest homes that I have ever seen. There are so many more people here outside for us to talk to then there were in Moore. 

Joe 

JT

My new companion is way cool too. His name is Elder Wright and he is from Nephi Utah. We have both been on our missions the exact same time so that is fun to be both learning the new things. I have a feeling this transfer is going to be awesome so I am way excited! I am really excited to be in the Village. It is way cool and I like it here so far. There is a lot of investigators but also a lot of people that we can just talk to outside because there are more people outside here than there was in Moore and I love that. I saw Elder Riley at transfers the other day so that was way cool. I am pumped for my new area because the people here are so cool. My new zone leader, Elder Berrett, was actually the first missionary that I spent the night with when I got here in OKC. 

The Village apartment

Elder McMinn and Elder Wright New Companions (both in the back)

He who gives money gives much. He who gives time gives more but he who gives of himself gives all.

- President Thomas S. Monson

 Have a good week.

Elder McMinn

Week 21: Last Week in Moore

Oh, you know...just out here chasing storms in Oklahoma!

My week has been a good one. It almost just felt like we were going through the routine but it was still a good week. We have been looking for part member families and have had good success with being invited in and teaching them. 

We were able to set a baptism date for Joe Ferrera. December 16th. Sadly I am getting transferred out before then. He has been looking into the church for 6 months now. I am super excited for him. I never thought that I would love and care for someone who was a total drug addict but when you look at them for what truly matters it doesn't matter what they did before only who they have the potential to become with the help of our loving Heavenly Father.

I am going to the Village. I have no clue where that is but it should be good I hope. I really didn't want to leave but thats how it goes. JT Alvarado and I both were almost in tears when I went and saw him last night. He is the recent convert that I myself baptized back in September.

The Alvardos with Elder McMinn

Today for P-day we are going to see the Native American man who helped us finish the flutes last time and the other elders in the area are going to make some before they leave. Should be good to see all the other missionaries before we all leave.

I have loved Moore so much and the people here are seriously the greatest people ever. I am going to miss it. 

Love,
Elder McMinn

Heavenly Father loves all His children. No matter where they are on or off the path. He wants them back home.

- Linda K. Burton

Week 20: Happy Thanksgiving

It was a really good Thanksgiving out here! We started the week off with our P-day activity. We made Indian flutes with a Native American man. It was so much fun!

Making a Native American flute

The next few days we have been working with part member families and trying to see if the spouse or family is interested in taking the discussions. It has actually been really successful. We picked up two new investigators from it. One of the investigators is the boyfriend of my first baptism here on the mission. His name is Kaleb. It was so much fun teaching him because his answer to almost everything was, "Wow, this all makes so much sense." It is so awesome! The next one is named Jayme and she is the fiance of a recent convert who is looking to have Jesus Christ in their relationship and he said that there is no other church that he will attend because he has been involved with the spirit too strong and he WILL NOT go anywhere else. Go Clifton!!

Thanksgiving with Elder Munns

Our Thanksgiving was super awesome! We started the day off with having pancakes at a members house and then going to play some football with the ward. It is was cool because there is a member here who grew up in Pocatello so it is way fun to talk to him. At noon we went to the Drury's home to help them cook Thanksgiving dinner. This family feeds us every Thursday and they pride themselves on their cooking so the food was incredible even though I helped make some of it.

Dinner with the Drury family

The work out here is awesome and plus the weather is so nice! It is actually 70 degrees outside right now so I still get to wear short sleeves most of the time!

One of our investigator's name is Rady. She is from Bolivia and she has been coming to church and taking missionary lessons for the past year and a half! The only thing holding her back is her husband who is Lutheran. She is the sweetest lady ever. We also have been doing work with two part member families. We picked up 2 more investigators from them. Jasmine, my first baptism of my mission has now introduced her boyfriend to the church and we taught the first lesson to him and he loved it. The common answer for him was, "This just makes sense to me." You can't imagine how pumped I was for that! We have been working with a guy named Joe and he loves the church and he wants to become a member so bad but he is getting held up by drugs. I never thought that I would care about someone so much who was hooked on drugs. The amount of love that I actually have in me surprised me. It is so awesome. I love it out here in Oklahoma.

The only thing that I can think of for a Christmas present is a guitar. I really don't know why but I have been wanting to learn how to play one really really bad. I was thinking maybe I should just wait until after the mission too. There really isn't anything that I need out here. I have been taken care of pretty well. (It is amazing to me to see the change in our missionary in just 4 short months!)

 Elder McMinn

Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love.

-President Thomas S. Monson

Week 19: More People in Moore

This week has been a pretty good week. We did A LOT of finding during the week and now have 7 potential investigators we are meeting this week and 2 part member families that want us to come back after the holidays are over. 

This week is bike week so we were not able to use the car at all. So every day we had no option but to bike and I loved it! It feels so much better to be biking an finding that to be in a car driving to areas. My companion doesn't agree sadly but I am pretty sure he is going to have to hop on my bandwagon of the bikes haha. Our area now is really organized and we have split areas up into small 2x3 mile areas so it is a lot easier to work in one area and we also have all the names of active members, part members, and less actives divided up into those small areas as well so we are working a lot smarter than harder now. Moore really is a blessed area with a lot of people and it seems like the weeks that we struggle finding people are when I am focused on myself and not on finding because there really is a lot of people here.

This week on Thanksgiving we have another all day P-day but on this one I can't email. The ward is having a turkey bowl at 8:00am at one of the high school stadiums (which looks and feels as big as a college stadium). We then are going to see part member families and less active members to deliver cookies and thank you cards. Its been a great week and is going to be another great week.

Elder McMinn

I apologize for no pictures, I totally forgot.

Week 18: Times are slow

It has been a pretty good week. We have been trying to do a lot of finding but not very many people are interested at all but that is how it work. We have been trying to work a lot with less active members and that has been pretty good. We have had a little success with them recognizing why the church is so important and we are helping them bring back the memories and thoughts of the truth that is here! It is tough sometimes but it is worth it all in the end. Today for P day we are going to see an investigator who is Native American and he is teaching us how to make Indian flutes and then helping us find our spirit animals! Have a great week. I apologize for lack of pictures but someone stole the SD card for my camera. 

Have a great week.

Elder McMinn

Week 17: Elder McMinn's Birthday

 Happy Birthday Elder McMinn

JT and his wife made a cake to celebrate!

This week has been really good. I have come home exhausted every day and I like it that way. We are slowly figuring things out as a companionship but it's going to take time.

My comp and I are organizing our new area. We have been doing a lot of finding as well. We actually found a super solid guy named Marcos. We found him while he was playing on the putting green in Dick's Sporting Goods Store. There has been a lot of walking and knocking and not much finding that way. 

We have been working a lot with less active members. We have had a lot of success with that which means we need to balance it out with more finding. 

Our P days have been so awesome! Last P day we went to a church building, had a nerf gun war for 3 hours, ate Chinese food, and did finger painting! This week a member took us out mountain biking to Lake Thunderbird! We put in about 20 miles. It was such beautiful riding with the fall colors and a thick layer of fog over the lake. That is why I am emailing so late, because we barely just got back! Such a great week. Oklahoma is so beautiful. 

Thunderbird Lake

Love, Elder McMinn

Whoever you are and wherever you may be, you hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can imagine.

- Elder Henry B. Eyring

We become what we want to be become by consistently being what we want to become each day.

-Richard G. Scott