Week 72: Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving was really fun. That morning we played football with the two wards here in Lawton. We had about 30 people show up and we had to sub out a lot of people but I got lucky and didn't have to sub out at all. That day we had an interesting meal. We had the turkey and all the regular things with it but with the bonus, we had fried chicken and other southern dishes. It was a fun experience. 

We did a lot of finding this week and found 3 really solid people who we set up lessons with. Johnathan, Cindy, and Julius. Julius was able to make it to church because his friend was speaking in sacrament meeting. We had two people ask if he was going to make it next week and he was so pumped to come back next week. We are working with him. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder McMinn

“I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are the Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we ever believe it was going to be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him?”

- Jeffrey R. Holland

Week 71: It's Getting Cold in Lawton!

This week was pretty fun. We went and did a little bit of knocking and trying potentials. It was a lot of fun. We had a few investigators come from it. There will be a lot of potentials that we have to go see this week so I am pumped to see where they will go. There is one family that we are going to see and they were pumped the first time around so we will see how that goes this next time.

 Light the world!

There have been a few baptisms in the area so we now have a goal for just one person in the area to be on a baptism date. We have few who are close but none that are ready yet.

For Thanksgiving this week we are going to play football with the 2 Lawton wards. Then we have 2 dinners that are set so we are all good that day. It will be another P day which will be fun. We are just going to be with other missionaries later in the day too.

The members here are so awesome and they love missionary work. We have a lot of members that want to come out and work with us that makes things really good.

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”

-C.C. Milne

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder McMinn

Week 70: Birthday Week and Transfers!

“You hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can imagine”.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

McMinn and Hymer

My new area of Lawton is so awesome. It is a military town with the Fort Sill Base as part of the city. It is a fun area to be in and there is a lot of work. I am still trying to figure out the area and to see if I can get all the people and roads figured out.

My role is to get to know the members and to be with investigators at sacrament meeting. My companion goes and teaches church on Sunday on the base while I go on splits with another elder from the Lawton 1st ward. Then I go to that ward for church. We meet up again right after all the church services. It is a fun dynamic and really different but works well.

My new companion is Elder Hymer and he is from Queen Creek, AZ. He is the coolest guy. We came out of the MTC together so I am pumped to be with him.

I am splitting the area with a set of sisters and the way it works is you find, you teach. It is a free for all and the dinners are really fun. We have a few investigators but none that I could tell you about yet because I don't konw much about them because we haven't met them. Something cool about the area is that on Sundays I go to church alone while my companion goes and teaches on a military base. The base sounds awesome. He had 3 baptisms on Sunday and should have 3 more next Sunday. That doesn't count for our area but it is still awesome.

It's been a great week in Oklahoma!
Elder McMinn

“God knows you. You are His child. He loves you. Even when you think you are not lovable, He reaches out to you. This very day — every day — He reaches out to you, desiring to heal you, to lift you up, and to replace emptiness in your heart with an abiding joy. He desires to sweep away any darkness that clouds your life and fill it with sacred and brilliant light of His unending glory.”

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Sister Collier called me earlier this week to ask me for Kyle's favorite meal and treats. She took really good care of him and made him chicken pillows. He was pretty excited about that. We appreciate all of the special families that watch over and take care of our missionaries!

Birthday dinner with Kathryn (Hanks) and Greg Welch. Kathryn is Kyle's Grandma McMinn's cousin. They drove all the way from Edmond to celebrate his birthday with him. She also met Rob while he was serving in Tennessee many years ago. It was such a fun connection for them.

Birthday treats from Sister Barbara Collier while serving in Cushing. She spoiled the missionaries while they served there. 

Elder McMinn and Blocker on Kyle's birthday!

 Gifts from Sister Collier

Week 69: Happy Birthday Elder McMinn!

I know that you all heard from me on Thursday but things are going pretty well. We had a lesson with the Laws and that was so cool. We started to re-teach the lessons and had taught the restoration with an emphasis on the Bible. It was really good and we had a fun time teaching them too. They came to church as well too. We had another lady and her husband come to church and they are so awesome. They came up to us right after church was over and asked us when the next time we can come over would be.

I am getting transferred to Lawton this week and my new companion is Elder Hymer. He was my district leader when he was on UCO. I was in the MTC with him too. My new address is...

4016 SW Sunflower Ln
Lawton, OK 73505

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 we truly are and who we can become.”

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Week 68: Happy Halloween

The most powerful thing you can do is believe in yourself.

This past week, for our P day we ended up going down to Edmond and playing football and soccer on the UCO practice field. We had exchanges with the district leader on Tuesday so we just stayed the night there. It is fun to do missionary work on the campus because you have so many people around you and they are more willing to listen most of the time.

Back in Cushing, we have been doing a lot of knocking and have had some good opportunities to find people who are actually looking for truth. We have two people who are interested. Inetta, who is a former Jehovah Witness who no longer believes in that but is really curious about us. She had neighbors in Arkansas that were members of the church. They seemed to have planted a seed that has now started to grow 40 years later. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she was really excited about all of it. "These things just make sense and I thought it should always have worked that way." She told us after it all. Brooke Matteson committed to being baptized in our lesson this past week. She and her mom are going to pray about the day of the baptism and then get back to us on that.

One of the members in our ward got a doe this past week. We visited him when he was butchering it. He ended up giving us the heart to cook. It was really tough and chewy but didn't taste too bad. I never imagined I would eat a deer heart but I guess it is normal for other people.

Elder McMinn
  

"The purpose of the gospel is ... to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature."

-David O. McKay

"For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment may we choose a positive attitude."

-Thomas S. Monson

Week 67: Cushing Life

We have a good list of people that we are teaching. We were able to have a lesson with a girl named Brooke Matteson. She really understood the restoration lesson because it turns out that she had been going to primary up until the time before she turned 8. Then they had a family situation so baptism just slipped through the cracks. We are still teaching the Laws and we are going over the lessons with them again but this time we are going to be focusing on the Bible this time. 

We have been doing a lot of tracting this week. We have been trying to find a lot more people. We have been knocking a lot which actually has been a lot of fun. Cushing is a good area.

Elder McMinn

"The Lord never asks the impossible. Often the difficult, but never the impossible."

-David B. Haight

Week 66: It's Getting Cold in Oklahoma

The weather out here has been dropping. I know it as not as cold as up north but 38 is pretty cold for me. The common phrase we have heard is... "You guys have chosen a terrible day to come outside and do this." Well, we don't pick our days, so oh well.

Things have been going really well out here in Cushing. We have 9 set appointments this week and have a lot of promising new potential investigators so that is nice to work with. We have had 4 more Book of Mormon referrals but they are a good drive away so the ward has been willing to step up and help us out. I am thankful for that.

It's been another good week in Oklahoma!
Elder McMinn