What a great week!

Hey hey -

GREAT week. This week happened to be the most fruitful this area has had as far back as our records go! The potential I saw in this ward when I first got here is starting to rise to the surface and we ended up teaching all sorts of lessons and gaining several new investigators.

On Tuesday, we had a lesson with the couple that showed up to church the previous Sunday. In thirty minutes we taught the message of the Restoration and answered a lot of the nonmember girlfriends questions, and her last question was perfect: "How can I know this is true?". We taught about prayer and invited her to offer up the closing prayer and find out for herself. This time, we told her that after the prayer we weren't going to say anything until she feels she received an answer. She begins to pray and starts to cry when she asks if what we've taught is true. After the prayer we sit there for maybe a full minute while she quietly cries, and then she turns and looks at us and smiles. She said she doesn't have to worry about choosing a church anymore; she would get baptized. It was an amazing experience; we set her for the 14th of December, although it's probably going to be pushed to 2014 because her and her boyfriend have to get married first. They came to church again on Sunday and were warmly welcomed by the ward - they're on the right track.

Throughout the week, we also received two referrals from the Church and found several people to teach through street contacts and knocking doors. We taught a lot of people the first lesson and have a ton of return appointments this next week - things are really moving. I feel pretty strongly that things are moving along because we have faith in this area and in the ward. It's easier for the Lord to bless us when we respect the stewardship he's given us, whether that be a quorum, a family, or an area. When we make the best with what we've got, we find out we've got a lot more than we thought we had. I hope that made sense haha. I love this work and the miracles associated with it - it's humbling to be the warm body working in His stead.

Love you tons,
Jesse

 

p.s. when you see someone you don't recognize at church, go introduce yourself. Makes all the difference in the world.

Humbling week with lessons learned

Hey, guys!

This has been a pretty humbling week in a lot of different ways; it's neat to sit down at the computer and reflect upon the lessons the Lord has been teaching (or trying to teach) me throughout the week.

 

I mentioned a little about the area last week, about it's location/makeup. When I arrived on November 4th, there wasn't really anyone the missionaries had been teaching regularly, no one progressing. Our ward mission leader can't remember the last convert baptism in the ward; meanwhile, the ward a block to the west of us is baptizing and teaching like crazy. Elder Manning and I decided to work our hardest to find people to teach. Whether it's knocking doors, talking with everyone we see on the street, hitting up part-member family lists - we're down to do whatever it takes. Well, early in the week, we started to get excited; people were talking to us and some seemed interested - interested enough to set up appointments with us later in the week. Almost one by one, we'd set up an appointment, bring a member, and it'd be a no show. Every single contact punched out on us this week and we only got to teach three lessons. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was starting to get a little frustrated at the area, the ward, the people, and just about anyone and anything that gave me a wrong look (reminding me I was my father's son). Then, in the middle of our sunday school class, a member comes in and grabs us, telling us that there's a couple in the foyer that we should talk to. We get out there and it's an inactive member and his non-member girlfriend, showing up to church for the first time. He told us he's been thinking about coming back for the longest time and now it's time. The non-member girlfriend wanted to learn more, asked questions, asked us when WE can stop by (doesn't happen often (ever)) and we set up a time on Tuesday.

I share this experience because it reminded me of an eternal principle that I had forgotten for a short amount of time: when we do what the Lord asks, we'll be blessed. The blessings will almost never be how we expect or want them to be. I was expecting to talk to a golden contact on the street, or tract into a perfect family waiting for the truth. That didn't happen. Instead, the Lord saw Elder Manning and I express our faith and inspired a young man and his girlfriend to show up to church. I am so thoroughly convinced that them showing up is a direct blessing and outcome of our efforts spent finding people. The Lord is waiting to bless us - always - and we just have to give him a reason to do so.

I love you all and pray for you several times daily.
Jesse 

First Week in the Meadows

Hello from Meadows!

So, this area is much, much different from my last one. Last night we sat down to plan and were drowned out by the sound of a police chopper flying over our little complex. Apparently this is a normal occurrence. The area is actually pretty cool and there are a ton of humble people living within it's boundaries. I'm amazed at how many people are willing to converse with us as we walk around and contact; I can already tell that it's going to be a lot easier to find people to talk to. That's always the first obstacle - if we can talk to people, we can talk about restored truth and give the Spirit the opportunity to bear witness of it. If we can't say anything or bear testimony of anything, then the Spirit can't soften their hearts and let them know we're messengers of the truth. Upon entering the area, there weren't any people that were being taught or that were progressing, but since Monday we've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people and set up some return appointments. This is a traditionally slow area, but I'm pretty confident that with a good attitude and work ethic, this place can be pretty dang fruitful. It's just a matter of time. I love being in new wards and getting to meet all of the members; there are so many stories and lessons to be learned in each ward. I'm looking forward to the time (and this time always comes - usually right before transfers) where I can name every person that walks through the doors on Sunday at church.

 

On top of learning a new area with a new companion, Elder Manning and I are preparing our "team" for the annual mission Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving! It oughta be a fun one this year; we have 12 zones this year instead of nine last year, so they're doing the brackets a little differently. It'll be a flag football tournament and I'm excited and nervous about it, but it'll be fun, regardless. Last year I wore a santa hat as a declaration that I wasn't taking it seriously. This year, Elder Manning and I are thinking about wearing suitcoats from DI. We'll see. 

 

I keep thinking about a scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about the fall of Adam and Eve and the state of mankind as we are today. It's in 2nd Nephi, chapter 2, verse 25: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy". In an area like this, where the work can seem daunting and the teaching pool seems exhausted and barren, it's been important for US to remember that we are to have joy. We're supposed to be happy, and to find happiness in righteousness and in everything that we do. We all need to step back from the day-to-day junk sometimes and ask, "Am I happy?", and if the answer is no, reevaluate what you're doing. Everything is better when our attitude is positive.

 

Life is good and I'm happy. What more can I ask for? :)
Love you all very much,

Jesse

Transferred!!

Hey family!

Got the call on Saturday - I'm getting transferred to the Meadows Zone, and my new companion is Elder Manning! I'm bummed to leave Lakes and Elder Herlin...it's been a great six months here. Six months is the perfect time to stay in an area; I was in Tule Springs for six, six in The Lakes, and now I'm hoping for six more in Meadows. My ward will be the Meadows 1st ward and my boundaries are Jones on the west side, Decatur on the east side, Washington to the south, and Cheyenne to the north. It's a little bit different than the far west side I've been serving in so far, so I'm excited for the change and challenge. Elder Manning has a reputation as an overall stud and he only has one more transfer left, so it's going to be awesome to "kill" him off and learn everything I can from him.

Not too much more to report: next November, Larry is getting sealed in the Salt Lake temple; Sam will be going to the temple next June, so I'll be in Vegas for that. I love that these converts have their sights set on the temple. Last night, Elder Herlin and I took one of our investigators, Simon, to what's called the Zions Youth Symphony. It's a choir/orchestra comprised of LDS youth from Las Vegas and they were phenomenal. I found out last night that I'm not done playing the clarinet and being involved in performing; I'd miss it way too much.

Anyways, I have yet to pack (surprise surprise). I love you guys and will let you know about Meadows and Elder Manning next week!

Jesse

Larry Doxie's Baptism

Hey, everyone!

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes and gifts! They made what was already an awesome week even better. It's been a really busy one, so I'll do my best to do it justice in writing.

This Monday, we went on exchanges with that guy from the missionary department, Brother Glazier. Turns out his name isn't even Travis; still confused where we even got that information. Anyways, we had him from 4pm to 9:30pm, so we did our best with setting up appointments and making sure we were busy. Well, our 6:00 appointment cancels. Then our 7:00 appointment cancels. I'm sweating bullets, driving around our area with this guy in the backseat with nothing to do, so we go to visit some part-member families and less-active members. I'm so glad those appointments fell through, though, because he taught us so much during that time - it was remarkable. He taught us how to actually be missionaries. At the end of the night, Herlin and I were like, "What were we DOING out here before?". It was incredible. We talked about our purpose, how we best achieve it, how to effectively teach and contact. On Wednesday, we had a long leadership training meeting and Brother Donaldson and Glazier taught the leadership what we learned on exchanges. I recorded it on my dictaphone and I'm in the process of transcribing it so the entire mission can have it - it's about 11/12 pages of material. I'll email it to you when I'm done. It was such an amazing training that we're cancelling district meeting this Tuesday and having an impromptu Zone Training Meeting so we can teach what we learned from them. We've already applied some of the things that we've learned this week and seen amazing results. Most of the changes stem from teaching very simply and in short amounts of time, and it's working. 

Larry's baptism was amazing. I was sitting next to the second counselor in the bishopric during the baptism and he leans over to me and whispers, "He's going to be our bishop by the time you go home". Larry is on fire and ready to learn everything he can. His wife's family came from out of town to baptize him and support him, so that was really neat to see. A lot of people came from the ward to support him as well, and that was REALLY good, seeing as this was Nevada Day weekend (yes, there's a holiday called "Nevada Day", and people celebrate it) and tons of people were out of town. On Sunday, immediately after sacrament (where he received the gift of the Holy Ghost), he was given the Aaronic Priesthood and ordained to the office of a Priest - he's not wasting any time. It's absolutely incredible to see the stark contrast between several weeks ago, when he told his wife he'd never join her church, to yesterday, where he received the priesthood of God. The ONLY explanation is that he came to a firm understanding of truth given only by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost - there is no other earthly force that changes the heart of men with such power and conviction. Logic can only do so much; the spiritual witness seals the deal. On Wednesday, the most powerful thing that was said from the brethren of the missionary department was this: we need to understand that the only way that someone can fully access the Atonement of Jesus Christ in it's entirety is through us and the church we represent. We are, as missionaries, the gatekeepers of the atonement. The power of Godliness is manifest through ordinances, and that's what we're providing the children of God in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is no greater work.

I love every little stinkin' thing about this. And I love you.

Jesse

 

Larry Doxie, with his family, at his baptism

 

Larry's Baptism, The Lakes Duck Trophy, and Jesse's Birthday

Hey guys!

I know, I know - I'm emailing way earlier than normal. The reason behind that is that our (Elder Herlin and I) p-day is being pushed back two hours because of what's going on tonight. So this Wednesday (on my birthday), some people from the missionary department in Salt Lake City are coming down to our mission to give us a Leadership Training Meeting. They came down to Vegas a couple days early and have asked President Ahlander if they can go on exchanges with a pair of Zone Leaders for a night...Pres picked us :( We're really nervous haha. Brother Lee Donaldson, a higher-up in the department, will be going with the Assistants; President Ahlander is going with Sandstone Zone Leaders, and a guy named Travis (don't know anything else about him other than the fact that he works at the missionary department) will be going with us. We're picking up Travis at the mission home at 4 p.m, which means we lose two hours of p-day, but that's okay; tonight should be pretty cool, if everything works out. We've only had a couple days notice, so we're somewhat freaking out trying to set up appointments for tonight. We don't necessarily want to take a representative from Salt Lake City, someone who communes with the brethren, tracting...so we'll see how this all shakes out!

Larry is all set for his baptism on Saturday! We're so excited and so is he. He's so prepared and on fire, ready to do whatever is required of him. It's been amazing to see the faith of this man; his logic has been "I know this is the true church, so what am I waiting for?". He's in the process of memorizing the sacrament prayers so he can exercise his priesthood the moment he receives it...it's humbling. We love him and the Lord does too.

Last weeks stats from our missionaries weren't the greatest, the standout being there were more lessons taught withOUT members present than WITH members present. That's not good. You want a member at every lesson. So, to offset that trend and get our LTM (lessons taught with member present) to Other Lessons ratio better, we made a Lakes trophy for overall lessons! We total it up by LTM's being 2 points, Other Lessons as 1 point and RC/LA's (recent convert/less active lessons) as 1 point as well. The companionship with the most points at the end of the week is presented with the Lakes trophy at district meeting, which happens to be a wooden sculpture of a duck we found at Goodwill (lol). They also get free lunch on the Zone Leaders, so there's some serious incentive. The zone cast ballots for the name of the duck - the name "LeBron" was chosen. Don't know how I feel about that haha. Anyways, the sister missionaries won LeBron this week with 18 points! We were curious if LeBron the Lakes Duck would help out with overall stats, and then we got the numbers in last night - EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY increased - nearly doubling in lessons. It worked, and we're happy about it.

Good week, and it's looking like this one will be better. Can't believe I'm turning 21. I've thought about it, and I don't think I want to grow up. 20's a pretty good age, I think I'll stay here for a couple more years.

Love you guys so much!
Jesse

A great week teaching

Hey family,

With Conference at the end of last week, it seemed like the days leading up to it lasted forever. This week was the complete opposite; it just about flew by. It's amazing fast time moves - this whole week feels like a blur in some ways. Looking back at my mission thus far, some transfers seem to do the same. Some drag on for what seems like two years, while others are there and gone before you know it. Those are the ones that scare me. 

We had some great lessons this week, one of which being with a lady Elder Torgersen and I tracted into months and months ago. We've been trying and trying to set up a time to meet with her and she finally relented and set up an appointment. The lesson was pretty amazing; this woman knew the bible pretty well and with every point we'd share, her eyes would widen, she'd grab her bible, and flip open to a verse or passage of scripture that supported our doctrine. Usually it was a verse she had just studied that week. By the end of the lesson she was in tears, telling us that everything we've said resonates with her. She asked a final question about the gifts of the Spirit, asking if we believe that the miracles found in the scriptures can still happen today. Instead of just answering her question, we turned to the Book of Mormon, in Mormon 9:7-11:

 

 7 And again I speak unto you who ^adeny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the ^binterpretation of tongues;

 8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the ^agospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not ^bunderstand them.

 9 For do we not read that God is the ^asame ^byesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no ^cvariableness neither shadow of changing?

 10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

 11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of ^amiracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same ^bGod who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.

She was amazed and became even more emotional. It was another reminder to me of the absolute truth of the Gospel - our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has not changed and will not change, and it makes so much sense that we would have the same organization that the early church had - 12 apostles and a prophet. It makes so much sense that we'd have the power and authority to perform real saving ordinances. It all just makes sense. I love what I'm doing out here, what I've been allowed to be a part of. Keep on keepin' on!

Jesse

 

Elder Herlin and Elder Dowdle with their new hats!