First week as a Traveling Missionary!!

Super full week, but tons of fun.

This was the first week spent driving around the mission, and it was a definite learning experience. The biggest thing I've learned thus far is that this mission has some amazing missionaries; I've been constantly impressed with the caliber of the Elders I've been spending time with. I've been learning way more from them than they are from me.

 

Every night during planning, I ask the missionaries what they'd like to work on, what they want help with. Every companionship has been the same: talking with people and teaching simply. To get over the fear of talking to people, I've had the missionaries contact the first three people we see, no matter how ridiculous the situation. With one companionship on bike, we saw this tattooed biker dude pulled over on the side of the road on his cell phone. We were going to pass him, but I reminded them we promised to talk to the first three regardless the situation, so we circled him on our bikes and waited until the end of his phone call. Imagine that for a second...it was really awkward. Eventually he finished his phone call and one of the elders started to talk to him; turns out he works with a lot of Mormons, just moved into the area, and is looking for a church to attend with his wife. We rode away from the Harley-Davidson with a name, phone number, address, and a return appointment. Biking away, one of the elders said, "I would have never talked to him!". I told him, "I wouldn't have either!". Serving in this capacity has helped me to become more confident and honest with people; there's no hidden agenda, no tentative approach. I'm sharing truth with these people, truth that will change their lives, and if I tell them anything other than that truth then I'm wasting their time and mine.

 

I was with two other elders in a lesson with a less-active member trying to quit smoking. What we planned earlier that morning was to ask for his last pack of cigarettes at the end of the lesson, yet during the lesson I kept feeling prompted to ask for just a couple of cigarettes instead. We got to the end of the lesson and one missionary did a great job and boldly asked for the mans last pack. He denied, saying he couldn't go without them. I asked for just two of his cigarettes, a small act of faith to show the Lord he's serious, and he complied. He reached down to his last pack, opened it up...and there were just two cigarettes left. We all froze, he chuckled looking down at them, yet he took them out and handed them to me. Incredible experience. We all learned that whenever we meet with someone, we have to invite them to act. It's not enough to just share information; it's about how they use it. We have to invite - it's the only way people will change.

Amazing week, excited to have another starting tonight. Keep praying for the missionaries in your ward!

Love you so much,

Jesse

Mt. Charleston Snow!!

Hey everyone -

This week was our preparation week; we got to proselyte with Elders Hunsaker and Lane as they took over our area as the new Zone Leaders. The only problem was that they're such good missionaries that getting them used to the area took about half the week, and for the last half of this week Elder Tunney and I have been doing our best not to just sit around. I guess it isn't a problem (it's actually a really good thing - I feel good about leaving this place in the hands of these guys), we've just been chomping at the bit to get started. And we get started tonight.

So, tonight I'll be with a companionship in Highland Hills stake and spend Tuesday with them; Wednesday I'll be with some elders from Tule Springs; Thursday, Elkhorn Springs; Friday, Lone Mountain; Saturday, Meadows; Sunday, we'll be back at our apartment to go to church and recuperate for a bit before we start again Monday night. I'm really excited to get started and go to work after this weird week; it's been a week in limbo. Four out of the five companionships I'll be spending time with are on bike, so I'll finally get that janky (but trusty) purple Trek the attention it deserves.

This morning we got up at 3:30am, worked out, and then headed up to Mount Charleston (in the dark) with Elders Hunsaker, Lane, Tews, George, Park, Marshall, Torgersen, and Jones. It was so much fun, but soooo cold - snow everywhere and not a soul in sight. We found some mats up there and slid down part of a ski slope and it might have been one of the scariest things I've ever done.

The rest of today will probably be spent on making sure we have everything lined up. I'm not expecting everything to go smoothly this week; there has to be some things we haven't thought of yet, or some pitfalls awaiting us on our first week. Hopefully we'll have all of the kinks worked out before the transfer ends and we can have an efficient system up and running in no time.

Next week, I'll be emailing you from Mesquite!

I love you all and pray for you daily!

Jesse

We are here...

Traveling Elders!!

Sorry for not emailing earlier today; it's been an absolutely crazy Monday.

I should start with two Thursdays ago. Elder Tunney and I were transfer planning for the zone, planning out exchanges, trainings, and p-day activities, when we starting talking about what it'd be like if all we did was go on exchanges with other missionaries. As we continued to talk about it, it sounded better and better; we talked about the challenges that you'd face, the sheer logistics of the whole thing. Eventually it sounded so good we decided to call President Ahlander and set up a meeting with him. We sat down and laid out the entire idea with him the next day. Our idea was that there would be a companionship of "traveling elders" - their entire purpose would be to go on exchanges with companionships all across the mission (at President's discretion). Five days out of the week they'd go on exchanges in a different zone every day, then finish the exchange around 9:00pm, drive to the next apartment, and begin the exchange with the next companionship. Sundays would be normal proselyting days and Mondays would still be preparation day/planning day for the coming week. This isn't a new idea; in fact, Elder Holland was a traveling elder in his mission in England. The method we presented, however, would better fit a mission much more dense like ours. Through the traveling elders, President could get a better idea of what's happening around the mission and missionaries could have personal interaction with someone sincerely dedicated to help them improve. Overall, it'd be a great way to increase mission morale, obedience, and discipleship. 

To our surprise, he loved it. He said he'd think about it and get back to us. Three or four days later (last week), he brings us into his office and says he wants to try it...and he wants us to be the two traveling elders! We were taken aback, but accepted the assignment and assumed that we'd start at the beginning of the next transfer (March 10th). At the end of our meeting in his office, he turns to the transfer board (a board with all of the pictures of the missionaries in the mission) and says, "Well, we just have to make a few emergency transfers and you can start on Monday". 

We were shocked. "Monday?!"

He said he didn't want to wait - he'd double-transfer two new Zone Leaders to take our place on Monday and give us a week to help them acclimate to the ward. Then, on the 17th, we'd hit the road and start doing our back-to-back exchanges. Today at 10:00am Elder Hunsaker and Elder Lane, the new Meadows ZL's, moved in to our apartment and we moved into the AP's apartment with them. We'll only be spending Saturday night and Sunday night in the AP's apartment - otherwise, we'll be sleeping in apartments all across the mission, a different place every night (our bishop gave us a couple of sleeping bags...we're covered).

It's been crazy. The whole mission is buzzing about the mid-transfer transfer and our new assignments. I'm really excited; miracles happen on exchanges, and now my mission life is dedicated to them. My job will be to provide uplifting experiences for these missionaries and help where I can, and I hope I can do that effectively. I'm nervous as well, because no one's done this before; there's no manual, no training. We're flying by the seat of our pants. I know I'll be exhausted, but I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I have no idea how long I'll be a traveling elder - it could be until I go home - but I'm going to work as hard as I can. 

I'm sure I'll have more details next week. No idea how this week of floating will work out. Anyways, awesome week, I love you, and I'll talk atcha later!

Jesse

Lessons learned...if you're paying attention

 

Hey guys!

 

This was an interesting week, for sure. Not too much happened in our area, but I definitely have learned a lot through several different experiences and exchanges.

One good learning experience I had was Saturday during exchanges with the assistants. I was with Elder Torgersen, a past companion, in his area. His area just so happens to be right across Jones Road from ours, so it was a familiar area and we were having a really good time. We knocked on this door and the person Torg was looking for wasn't there, and so as we were standing there a man walking on the sidewalk behind us. We could have let him go, but in my mind I was like, "Nah, Dowdle, you said you'd talk to everyone, and this guy is included, so go talk to him", so I did. He was extremely rude, haha. Chewed us out and went on his way; we laughed it off and headed back to the truck. However, before we climbed in, a woman walked out of her apartment, headed for the dumpster, and we starting talking to her. She was extremely nice, interested, and when we asked if there was anyone she knew that would want to talk to us, she answered affirmatively and that she had family living in Utah. Driving away from the complex, we came to the realization that if we hadn't stopped to talk to the crustiest dude on Lake Mead, we wouldn't have been delayed enough to talk to the incredibly nice woman. Talking to the man took faith, action, and the immediate result wasn't what I desired. What I learned this week is that God doesn't often use immediate results to reward us. Blessings come in many forms and at many different times; the only fail proof plan is to be as Christ-like and obedient as possible in an effort to further His purposes. The good things will come.

 

This upcoming week will be fun - we have a lot of appointments scheduled and some exciting meetings, so we're looking forward to it. Thanks for all that you do and know that I love you!

Jesse

With the Guesmans at the Las Vegas Temple

Hey everyone!

Don't have a ton of time to email today; it's transfers again, so we're way super busy today. It's also Serre's birthday, so we're going to go have birthday lunch with her soon! Then we set up some pick-up baseball at some nearby ballfields for the zone p-day activity, so just in case you wanted to know what my planner looks like today, there you go.

 

This transfer has a lot of changes happening in the zone! Three of our wards are being double-transferred, which is crazy. That means three brand new companionships are coming in tonight and taking over an area they know next to nothing about. Hopefully the missionaries leaving have updated all of the records necessary so that the new elders can pick up right where the old ones left off. We're kind of excited about the "facelift" we're going to be experiencing here in Meadows shortly; it'll be a new start, and a fresh one, at that. One of our favorite missionaries, Elder Tanner, has about 4.5 months left and so he's dropping from Zone Leader and becoming one of our district leaders! He also happens to be Tunney's trainer, so we're really excited to have him here with us. All in all, the zone will be well-equipped to find, teach, and baptize at quite an efficient pace. That's the plan, at least.

 

We've been able to teach some good lessons this week and meet some new people. Our stake has organized a basketball night at the stake center on Saturday nights, opening it to missionaries who have investigators/less-actives who like to play basketball. We play for a couple hours and then have a little lesson at the end. We got three kids to come out with us this weekend and we had a great time; I've been blessed (or cursed, depending on the viewpoint) to have a couple companions that are really good at basketball (Tunney, Herlin...), and so that comes in handy in this instance. It's all about the unorthodox finding methods nowadays, and this is definitely one of them.  

 

The most amazing thing that happened this week (saving the best for last) was Tuesday. Tuesday night, I got to go to the temple and be there when Susie and Johnny Guesman received their endowment. That night has been the absolute highlight of my mission to date. It was an incredible blessing to be able to witness these two worthily enter the temple of God and make covenants with our Father in Heaven - it was almost surreal. The entire ward (Logandale 3rd) was there as well, and so being in the temple with all of them together was pretty much like being in Heaven; everyone was so happy, there wasn't a dry eye in the room, and the spirit was as strong as I've ever felt it in my life. Standing there with them in the temple, my mind raced back to that night in 2012 where we knocked on the door we've knocked plenty of times, not expecting anyone to answer. Susie opened the door and let us in. Now they're temple-attending latter-day saints. Nothing I've ever felt before can compare to the joy that filled me when we hugged in the celestial room (for more info on LDS temples, visit http://mormon.org/faq/church-and-temple). I understand now the pure happiness that will come when we're reunited with our loved ones who now reside on the other side of the veil.

 

Awesome week. Love you all.

Jesse

 

With the Guesmans at the Las Vegas Temple

 

Another Amazing Week

This past Saturday, Serre Splond was baptized! It was an amazing service and she was so ready; she's BEEN so ready for weeks! Always reading her scriptures, asking us questions about what she's been reading, praying for guidance and answers and receiving them...it's been incredible to see her journey thus far. It's been incredible to be one of the missionaries witnessing her journey; Ben Manning drove down from Provo for the baptism to give a talk and it was great to see him (we played 9 holes at a local golf course on Monday while Manning was in town - shot a 50, not great, too many three-putts...anyways, this isn't about golf, it's about Serre!). Her mom and grandpa came to the baptism and seemed to have a good experience as well; just an overall great night. The next day I had the honor of blessing her with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and now she's a fully fledged member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She'll be able to help so many who are looking for a knowledge of the truth and I'm really excited for where she'll be in five or so years.

 

As per usual, when someone is baptized or leaves our teaching pool, the Lord provides somebody to take their place. A man was riding his Razor kick scooter by the church on Sunday and decided he should go inside and see what it's all about. He stays for the entire three hour block, making comments in all of the classes, and then sets up an appointment with us and off he goes on the scooter. We go by later that night and teach him and his cousin (we think) and they have both committed to baptism for mid-February! We're so excited and so happy and so are they. It's been three days and we've had two lessons already; we're having a church tour with them on Thursday as well as a lesson about the Plan of Salvation. A young couple also moved into ward boundaries last week and the non-member girlfriend wants to be baptized this spring; her husband is in the music production business and does some work with some hip-hop artists and Disney, so that'll be a great way to better get to know them. Basically, things are amazing here in Meadows 1st ward, and Elder Tunney and I are way happier than we deserve to be.

 

Thanks for all of your support! I love you and pray for you.

Jesse

 

Elder Tunney, Serre Splond, Elder Dowdle

 

A Great Week!!

Happy thirteenth!

This week was great, mostly due to the baptism of Vilma Carrillo and Andrew Gargiulo! Two absolutely amazing people, so ready for the covenant of baptism. Vilma asked me to baptize her and Elder Tunney to baptize Andrew, and so we were also in white with them sitting on the front row. There was a great turn out; the ward hadn't had one in who knows how long - no one could remember the last convert baptism. After ten year old Andrew was baptized, he just about floated out of the water with the biggest smile I've ever seen on his face. Elder Tunney and I were at the top of the stairs, still wet and in our whites, and Andrew says, "I feel so good right now!". I'm never, ever going to forget how happy those two were immediately after their baptism, and hopefully neither will they; while we were all getting changed, we had those in attendance write down some thoughts for Vilma and Andrew on notecards and we put them in a little photo album for them. When things get tough in the future, they can read the words of those who witnessed them enter into a covenant with God and they'll remember the feeling they had on January the 11th, 2014.

This week will now be spent helping Serre get ready for her baptism THIS Saturday! We're so excited and so is she - it's amazing how prepared she is and how much she wants to learn and do. She's always texting us with questions and comments about parts of the Book of Mormon and I absolutely love it. Serre came to the baptism and really felt the Spirit; she said she held her breath when Vilma went under the water to see what it would feel like! Haha she's amazing and her baptism will be just as wonderful this Saturday.

Incredible week - so very blessed. 

I love you and pray for you daily!

Jesse

 

Elder Tunney, Vilma, Andrew, & Elder Dowdle