Week 33: Ice Storms and Transfers

Surprise update! I am getting transferred. Both Elder Hardy and I are gone. The Village ward is turning into a sister area. I am convinced that it is because our apartment is too nice for elders. So I am going to Guthrie 1st and 2nd ward. It is only 30 minutes away from my old area. I am pumped for it.

So the coolest experience happened this week. Back in Moore when I was companions with Elder Bowman we found this woman who was in her car while we were out tracting. Her name is Camila. We talked to her twice while we were down in that area but then she moved. We didn't know where she moved so we couldn't do anything about it at all so we just moved on with our lives. It turns out she had moved into Edmund 2nd ward which is the area that borders mine. We got a call from Elder Bowman and he told me Camila was getting baptized!!!!!! We ended up being able to go to the baptism. It was the coolest thing ever. It was fun to see how that all worked out.

This week we had a massive ice storm come through and we were in the Myriad Botanical gardens when someone came in and told us that they were shutting the place down because of the storm and the below-freezing temperatures. We got caught in it on our way home. It was so bad that we ended up being stuck inside for 2 days. It was rough and I had cabin fever but it was fun to see an ice storm. Mark that off the mission bucket list.

Love, 

Elder McMinn

"If we look at ourselves only through mortal eyes, we may not see ourselves as good enough. But our Heavenly Father sees us as who we truly are and who we can become."

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"As you lose your life in the service of Father in Heaven's children, Satan's temptations lose power in your life."

- Richard G. Scott

 

Week 32: Valentine Week

Bike Break

This week has been good. Not much crazy stuff has happened but we still had a good week. I LOVE my companion. He is seriously so funny and is the best to be around especially when I am having a rough day because somehow he makes it positive which is so much fun. 

We have been teaching Vickie. She is a single sister, so on Valentines Day, we had a lesson scheduled with her and we stopped by Wal-Mart to buy her some flowers.  There is no chance that I would have gone to Costco to get the flowers.... That would have been a nightmare.... again.

Zone

We were able to pick up 3 potential investigators this week that are pretty solid, in my opinion. My favorite one is a guy named Chris. I was on exchanges with my Zone Leader, Elder McGill, when we were biking down the road and I saw a Mercedes Maybach. I am sure you don't know what that is but here is a quick summary. It is a V12 Mercedes Sedan priced at around $200,000 so obviously, I had to stop and talk to him. He was so cool and was super down to hear what we had to say so that was awesome! We are going back later this week but we can only go on stormy days because he works on all the good weather days detailing cars. Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you. It's 
not his car, but it was his client in Nichols Hills. 

Not my apartment!

Nichols Hills

This was an up week. Our P-day was super cool too. We ended up going to Top Golf!!! I love that place and they make a super good Chicken and Waffles so nothing to complain about there. It was a solid week.

Top Golf

Love,
Elder McMinn

"When you do God's work, you get His help."

- President Thomas S. Monson

"Man's greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others."

- President David O. McKay

Week 31: Valentine Booth

Elder McMinn and Elder Hardy

This week we did another booth at Walmart which was way cool. We ended up handing out Hershey Kisses and pass-a-long cards. We probably stood out there for 3 hours handing them out. It was fun. We got a call from a less active member that we were working with saying she needed our help so we hopped on our bikes and rode to her house. We helped her out with some service in her yard and then read and discussed the Book of Mormon. That night we got a call from the other elders in our district saying that 15 minutes after we left, 4 waitresses from Hooters came outside and tried handing out coupons to them and recording them trying to get them to try and slip up and say something. Elder Hardy and I took it as a miracle that we didn't have to see that.

Look Mom, no hands...or feet!

This week was bike week. Bike week is usually the 3rd week of the transfer and it is where we are not allowed to us the mission vehicles and we can only bike, walk, or get rides from members. I always like this week because it is just another excuse to be on bikes.

Relaxing on P-day

Our investigator Todd came to church for the first time of the year so I got pumped. I was handing out the weekly bulletin at church and my back was facing the entrance when I heard someone yell "MCMINN" loud in the church so I turned around fast and I saw Todd! My first response was to say "Todd" and I think that I might have matched his volume but I was pumped to have him at church. In Gospel Principles class he learned something new about the church he didn't know and he told us "wow, this is another thing that I love about the Mormon church." Yes, Todd, there is a lot to love. It was a slow but fun week.

Elder McMinn

Go and serve, knowing that you do not go alone.

-President Henry B. Eyring

 Hope you have a "Cheesy Valentine's Day"!

Week 30: More Cars and Coffee

Serving in Oklahoma

This week was Cars and Coffee again so I was so pumped about that! There were some incredible cars and we met some really cool people there. We handed out a few pass along cards and one pamphlet so let's hope something good comes from that. Other than that there really has not been anything that really has been out of the ordinary in the missionary work. 

Lamborghini Huracan - Kyle's dream car

We had a referral from the Sisters in Guthrie, OK and the lady is super cool. Her name is Vickie. She is investigating because she promised a missionary almost a year ago that she would study for a full year and if she didn't make a decision by then that she would be done investigating. Her year mark is on March 17 so we are on kind of a time crunch to help her out so we will see what happens. She came to church this Sunday so that was awesome but she only came to sacrament meeting but hey, that is better than nothing at all so we were pumped to see her.

I didn't even find out it was Super Bowl Sunday until we called an investigator to see if we could come by and visit. She said that we couldn't come by because she was going to be at a Super Bowl party. We tried tracting a little bit too but we had no luck with that because people didn't want to talk during the game so we ended up going and visiting people that we knew didn't have a TV or were not fans of football and that is really minimal out here.

Anyone who knows Kyle, knows of his love for Raptors!

Elder McMinn

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

3 Nephi 5:13

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