Tuesday, August 29, 2017
August 29, 2017
He's home as of yesterday!! He's doing great and is already off to college today. (Already has a golf trip planned, too, with his Dad and Jared this evening :) We love you, Cam. We are so proud of how you have spent the last two years! Thank you~
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
August 21, 2017
Well, fam and friends-
it's my last email on the mission.
It's crazy how fast it
goes. I'm in an area right now where we drive a lot so I've had a lot of time
to reflect on stuff and I actually think this has been the best 2 years. It's
definitely been the hardest, and most frustrating, most fulfilling, etc but so
worth it. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve in New England
and to meet so many amazing people. I feel like when I hear the name "New
England" when I get home it will always hit me because it really is a 2nd home
to me.
I think one of the
biggest things I've learned on my mission is that I feel like I have actually
found myself and who I am supposed to be. At least at this time in my life.
Before my mission I wasn't very happy with who I was or things I did and I just
thought that was something I would deal with my whole life, and I definitely
have felt that on my mission, but I've learned that it's ok to make mistakes
and to have imperfections. I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of
people "find themselves" on their missions because it is a time where
you truly are participating in the work that is individually, and for the
people you serve, your way back to Heavenly Father. I've learned that Christ
can make way more out of my life than I ever could and the only way to find
that is through pushing in his service to our limits. It doesn't make sense
that through our big rule book we have, and all the things we do every day that
a lot of people think are restricting, I have found myself and that I'm
actually happy with who I am unless there is some sort of divine
intervention.
There's a quote that
has rang true to me for a while now and it's from Russell M. Nelson and it says, "Conversely, I promise that as you keep God’s commandments, as you live by
his laws, you will become increasingly free. This freedom will unveil to you
your divine nature and allow you to prosper personally. You will be free from
the bondage of sin. You will be free to be you." I honestly didn't think I
would find "freedom" on my mission but I've never felt it more, and
it's because the gospel is not a gospel of restriction but it's really there to
help us fulfill the potential that we have but we may not see in ourselves. It's
been my greatest blessing to live it more than I ever will in my life for these
2 years.
I'm excited to
continue to be a missionary even though I won't have my name tag on anymore.
There are so many opportunities that cross our paths back home where someone
needs the Spirit, or questions answers, or things resolved, and I have made a
promise that I'm going to try to act on it more when I get home so that people,
whether members or not, can find the Spirit in more of an abundance, and it's
all of our jobs to make sure we remain worthy of it so that we can be the
vessels for that Spirit. This last week on Monday before I was transferred, I
quickly learned that you never know what impact you have on someone, which is
why I feel like it's a big part of my testimony right now. We were saying
goodbye to a member that I've grown close with and she told me in a little gift
book that a couple months ago when we were there for dinner, she asked my
companion and I to bear our testimonies and give our conversion story. Mine was
short and I felt like it was just another part of a dinner, but she explained
that the testimony I bore of my conversion to the gospel gave her daughter hope
because she's been struggling with her testimony and that it had a strong
impact on her because she knows her testimony will come over time as long as
she works at it. I started to tear up a little because it really made me
realize my purpose was way deeper than just teaching non-members or less-actives,
but any testimony can have an impact, even if it's short.
I know I've rambled
and I have no idea what to say but I guess I want you guys to know that I've
loved my mission. Love you all and I'll see ya soon!
-Elder Webb
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
August 14, 2017
Yeah--the family we had dinner with yesterday is way cool. They are the best.
Well this week was pretty crazy! We had so many exchanges so I hardly was even in Nashua, but throughout the Zone we had some awesome miracles. I went to Lowell for the first exchange and it's a pretty big city so it was really fun! We made it a goal to be uncomfortable the whole day, like trying to talk to everyone even if they are behind a closed fence, or if you see movement in a house go and knock on it....it sounds kind of creepy but it's not bad. But yeah we were walking and we saw this mom playing tennis with her young daughter in the driveway and so it's always awkward to interrupt people's activities but we went for it anyway and we started talking with her and she literally was the coolest person ever, like super well put together, very successful career, but still is struggling and she said "Man, it's like the craziest thing you guys came over....actually kind of weird". So I was like, "A good kind of weird?" And she explained that yes it was a good weird and that she just barely started her journey to find more spirituality in her life but didn't know where to find it. She said she also was looking for a church that was family friendly. She cried most of the time we were there too, especially as we showed the Prince of Peace video. When we were walking away from the appointment it was honestly kind of a sacred experience...like we weren't supposed to even be in that part of town at that time and we were going to park at a different street, etc. It was honestly crazy to see how the Lord helped guide us to her. I wish sooo bad I could have stayed there to teach her, but she is so awesome! Those experiences are so cool to look back on and see how we honestly seemed like the Lord's puppets haha like we were just there and were guided without knowing it.
I then went on exchange with Elder Mann--he's an Elder I live with and so it was pretty ordinary, people just being people and not really listening, and then we ran into this guy named C-- and he's a black guy from the south but he claims he's from Utah. He said he lived there for 20 years. He then explained the only reason he didn't join the church when he was there was because of the doctrine of baptisms for the dead......so we taught him that and cleared up confusion. Haha it was so bizarre but literally he's like the coolest guy! He told us he graduated from institute multiple times too and has taken all the discussions and would go to firesides all the time, and he said he knows Jeffrey R. Holland. Hahaha I promise this guy isn't nuts--like he really knows a lot. We are meeting with him again this week. Pretty random but it was cool! Baptisms for the Dead.....it gets a lot of people confused. Classic.
Anyways. The week was pretty slow other than that, we just tried hard to get people at church and we had 3 come actually which was pretty cool! And our investigator R-- came again and he keeps hinting at joining the church.....but then he tells us not to push him too much hahaha he's such a funny guy.
Transfers came and I'll be leaving Nashua for the last little bit. I knew it was happening, President told me. So it's not really a surprise, but yeah I'm going to Peterborough literally in the same zone! I'm really excited. I get to be co-training a missionary until I leave so I'm excited to help him out as best as I can.
Honestly it's just crazy, everything that's happening, I can't believe I only have 1 more P-day. The past 3 months in this area has been the biggest blessing, it has pushed me harder than I ever have before with being in the Boston mission for half a transfer, and then merging the Zone from the Boston mission to ours, and all the things we've been able to do while here. The mission really has taught me a lot and in this area I think one of the biggest things I've learned is patience. It's ok to slow down and make sure everything is in its proper place and what I'm supposed to be doing, and it's ok that the people around me are imperfect because I'm more imperfect than they are. I've always struggled with patience, and I still do, but I think the plan of salvation would have ended at the very beginning if it wasn't for the patience of Heavenly Father. He knew we would make so many mistakes coming to earth, and we would constantly ask him to help us and forgive us, and then we would turn around and do it again over and over again! Honestly I've said so many prayers to Heavenly Father and asked him how he has so much patience for his children haha--like a lot. Because I'm so impatient with them sometimes! Especially myself. But it's ok as long as we are working on it then we will improve. And I actually do think I'm improving with my patience even though it's been a small improvement, but the improvement is what counts and I owe it all to Christ. Hopefully he can keep helping me haha.
Anyways I just ranted a lot so I'll stop. But I love you guys and I can't wait to see you soon! Last email coming at ya live next week. Love you bye!
Honestly it's just crazy, everything that's happening, I can't believe I only have 1 more P-day. The past 3 months in this area has been the biggest blessing, it has pushed me harder than I ever have before with being in the Boston mission for half a transfer, and then merging the Zone from the Boston mission to ours, and all the things we've been able to do while here. The mission really has taught me a lot and in this area I think one of the biggest things I've learned is patience. It's ok to slow down and make sure everything is in its proper place and what I'm supposed to be doing, and it's ok that the people around me are imperfect because I'm more imperfect than they are. I've always struggled with patience, and I still do, but I think the plan of salvation would have ended at the very beginning if it wasn't for the patience of Heavenly Father. He knew we would make so many mistakes coming to earth, and we would constantly ask him to help us and forgive us, and then we would turn around and do it again over and over again! Honestly I've said so many prayers to Heavenly Father and asked him how he has so much patience for his children haha--like a lot. Because I'm so impatient with them sometimes! Especially myself. But it's ok as long as we are working on it then we will improve. And I actually do think I'm improving with my patience even though it's been a small improvement, but the improvement is what counts and I owe it all to Christ. Hopefully he can keep helping me haha.
Anyways I just ranted a lot so I'll stop. But I love you guys and I can't wait to see you soon! Last email coming at ya live next week. Love you bye!
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
August 7, 2017
Hey, sorry, I definitely owe you a good email this week! I'll try.
Well--yup so the kidney stone is doing fine. I passed it the same day. Holy cow it was like the worst thing I've ever had to go through hahaha and mom!...l I have like 1 soda a week, and it's been like that for like 8 months! I've been doing good but yeah it really got me. Sorry Jared. I know what you feel like.
The past 2 weeks have been pretty exciting! So we get this referral named R--, and so we go to contact him and no one was there. So a few days later we decided to call him and see if he is still interested in getting a Bible, and he was, so we set up an appointment to go see him the next night. We had a priest-aged kid with us the next night (he was teaching with us) and we go to see R-- and he wasn't home again. So we called him while we were on his doorstep and he answers and in tears and a way-shaky voice he says, "I crashed my motorcycle into a kid and I think I broke my leg please come to the park!" ..... k alright so we headed over there and he's just like laying in the bushes grabbing his leg and his motorcycle is laying to the side of him and he explained he was coming back to his house to meet with us and then a kid ran into the middle of the road and he hit the kid and launched himself off of the motorcycle and wrecked himself. His brother pulled up and we helped him up and got him into his brother's car. Hahaha man I shouldn't be laughing but it honestly was really funny because the priest we were with was so shocked and just terrified and then after we helped R-- into the car with tears running down his face he looks at me and says, "Can you come back over tomorrow?" Hahaha so we said, "Sure! Of course, if you'll be alright by then." It turns out he broke his leg in 4 different places. But he still kept the appointment the next day--it was priceless. R-- is a good guy. We are going to wheel him to church on Sunday in his wheelchair. He lives like 1 minute from the church. Haha the poor priest we were with....honestly, it was so funny. Good stuff!
So we have really been working on rebuilding our teaching pool because we have a few great people, but not nearly enough so we've been working on that. It's always a frustrating process doing that but it will pay off and get back to running really well.
We have this less-active we are working with--his name is Brother J- and he has no leg and has struggled with coming to church because he was just really nervous to go back, knows it's a struggle for him to move around, hasn't been in over 2 years, etc. But he finally came! We tried so hard to commit him to come for like 3 months and he finally came.....the thing is he's perfectly worthy, and because of his disability people have been bringing him the sacrament at his house but since he is coming to church now he's ok to exercise priesthood. So it was a really cool experience for me because less-active work has been a problem for me my whole mission, I feel like I've worked with so many people who were sooo close to coming but never really made the final push. But Brother J-- did, and what made it truly a cool experience was I got to push him in his wheelchair around to pass the sacrament to the congregation. He was so happy to be able to do that again, and for me it was just way sweet to be able to participate.
I also was able to participate in a baby blessing! First time I've ever stood in on one. It was different, and the baby started to lose its mind mid-blessing. First time for everything! The past couple weeks have been good, we've taught a lot and found a lot, just trying to rebuild!
Love you guys! See you soon.
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
July 31, 2017
Hey thanks for the clubs!! That was a sweet email to get. Sometimes I
act entitled to stuff when I shouldn't be, sorry about that. They look
way sweet though. And yeah Trevor comes home this week and same with
Big Red! They are all coming home ha it's weird. But hey I guess it's
coming up for me too. I don't know if it was like this for you, but it
just doesn't seem very real ha like it just seems like it will be
another transfer. Oh well! I'm excited though. I love being a
missionary but definitely excited to see everyone again and get back
to life. And wow you're pretty far! Keep it up!
Hey also this email is for mom because I don't have like any time to
write, I know I'm lame, and she'll probably be mad at me but I
promise I'll send a good email next week. One thing though--so we were
driving back from a meeting and all of a sudden there was a big thud
on top of the car and I was so confused so I pulled over and saw my
iPad laying in the road....I left it on the roof! It was actually ok,
but I had to get the screen fixed because it has like my whole mission
on it. Definitely sucked to have that happen. Also, I had to spend a
little money the past 2 weeks because some of our investigators didn't
have clothes for church and my clothes didn't fit them so if you see
I'm a little lower than normal, that's why. Gotta go but love you and
thanks again for the clubs! I'm excited to see you guys in a few
weeks!
act entitled to stuff when I shouldn't be, sorry about that. They look
way sweet though. And yeah Trevor comes home this week and same with
Big Red! They are all coming home ha it's weird. But hey I guess it's
coming up for me too. I don't know if it was like this for you, but it
just doesn't seem very real ha like it just seems like it will be
another transfer. Oh well! I'm excited though. I love being a
missionary but definitely excited to see everyone again and get back
to life. And wow you're pretty far! Keep it up!
Hey also this email is for mom because I don't have like any time to
write, I know I'm lame, and she'll probably be mad at me but I
promise I'll send a good email next week. One thing though--so we were
driving back from a meeting and all of a sudden there was a big thud
on top of the car and I was so confused so I pulled over and saw my
iPad laying in the road....I left it on the roof! It was actually ok,
but I had to get the screen fixed because it has like my whole mission
on it. Definitely sucked to have that happen. Also, I had to spend a
little money the past 2 weeks because some of our investigators didn't
have clothes for church and my clothes didn't fit them so if you see
I'm a little lower than normal, that's why. Gotta go but love you and
thanks again for the clubs! I'm excited to see you guys in a few
weeks!
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
July 24, 2017
Hey fam! This week was a way good week. Wednesday was awesome, we were able to go to the temple with our investigator, J-- which was so cool! It was really fun and a super neat experience. Although we couldn't go into the temple past the front desk or anything we were able to spend a lot of time walking around and enjoying the temple grounds. We taught him all about the temple and told him how special of a place that it is. He loved it a lot. He had a lot of great questions and we were able to have a good conversation with him about how it really is the House of the Lord and a truly sacred place. J-- is a champion.
Another amazing thing about going to the temple was on the way we went to the city of Lexington, Mass., which was awesome to see all of the cool history there as well as just be in the place that the revolutionary war started. Then after we went to the temple she pulled over at a cool spot and we had and AMAZING picnic--she made all kinds of great food as well as different lobster and crab stuff too, it was purely amazing. I love seafood.
This week we also had Zone Conference and those are always super fun, because the spirit is always so strong as well as a bunch of my other missionary friends being there. Part of the meeting Elder Thorpe and I had to give a two hour training which was really fun. We were able share a bunch of stuff on working with members, building trust in the ward, obedience and consecration, and setting goals and working to accomplish them. The setting goals part of the meeting was by far my favorite part to teach on. We had all the missionary's go outside and then we had an interactive lesson using water balloons and chalk. We had them throw the water balloons however they wanted and then after went and drew a circle around where it hit and told them that they did great. Then we drew a giant target in the middle of the parking lot and had them throw the balloons at the target and taught the principle of setting targets to shoot for instead of drawing targets at where ever we hit. It was really fun and a great way to show the importance of setting goals. Preparing for it taught me a lot. It was basically from the talk by Dieter F Uchtdorf where he says life without goals is like shooting an arrow at the wall and drawing the target around it.
We had some really cool experiences walking the street and running into people that were really prepared! It's always a cool thing to turn back and think about the experiences and see how the spirit helps us. Like random prompting to go down certain streets and run into someone outside, or feeling that even though a person may not seem interested to keep pushing, and keep trying to get them to open up, and then they start crying because they explain that the reason they stopped believing in God is because their Dad committed suicide, and then being able to testify that they can see them again one day and that Christ can help everyone to know that, and see their countenance change and their burden lifted.....it just doesn't happen anywhere other than the mission. Well, at least not as often. I'm lucky I get to do it every day! Trying to take advantage of it while I can.
Love you guys! Have a good weeeeek
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
July 16, 2017
Hey fam!
Ok no problem for my homecoming, whatever works! And cool I'm excited
for that topic.
Well this week was way awesome but it also was super long. It started
with a leadership meeting Tuesday that went from 8:30-6:00, then
District Meeting the next morning, and then another leadership meeting
that afternoon with President. Then we were given the assignment to
put together a bunch of excel spreadsheets for our stake meeting which
happened the next day too. So up until Thursday we were completely in
meetings and I am not the biggest fan of meetings but oh well it
happened. It is hard to start your proselyting week on Friday because
you set these goals and then have so little time to try to accomplish
them but we went at it and saw some amazing miracles. We have really
pushed to get our investigators to Sacrament Meeting. Doing anything
and everything we can. So we had a church tour with our investigator
D-- and took him around and showed him everything and it was really
spiritual and we felt prompted to try to set a date with him and he
did! August 26! It was way cool. So we talked with him about the
importance of coming to church but he said he didn't have church
clothes so I gave him some of mine and I'll be honest he was looking
really good.
So we get to church and first D-- walks into church and we were
really excited, so we walked with him into the chapel and then we saw
our other investigator, J--, and we were like "hey cool" and so they
both came and sat with us. My comp and I then looked at each other and
were like "Hey, we called C-- last night, I hope she will be able to
make it." And we then look over at the door and C-- starts walking
in haha cool stuff, but then while we were sitting, maybe like 15
minutes into the meeting, a member comes up to me and says "Come with
me" and so I did I started following him and he took me to the back of
the congregation where he said one of our friends was sitting and it
was a guy we met a few days earlier--haha I was so pumped he came. Then
I realized we texted our investigator J-- to come, too, and thought
"Hmm pretty sure he said he would come" and I looked over and he's
there and he brought his little family too! Then I look over at the
sacrament table and G--, the guy that was baptized about 3
weeks after I got in this area, was passing the sacrament. It was such
a cool thing to look around and have the spirit testify to me of the
power of missionary work. Seeing a recent convert passing the
sacrament and our investigators at church. It was one of those moments
where I am kind of ashamed to admit (only because I don't like doing
it), but I got a little emotional just seeing these people fulfill
their potential. At least taking the first step to fulfill it. Cool
stuff! Definitely made my week.
I had interviews with President this week and it was really good
talking with him about stuff. It was really nice to know it wasn't my
exit interview haha-- I was able to have one last regular one! He is so
helpful and gives me good advice. Definitely lucky I have a mission
president like him. And his wife, too, she is awesome.
It was a good week! Excited for the one upcoming. Nashua is such a fun
place to serve--there really are a ton of good people here. There are
ton of crazy ones too which makes every day enjoyable. If I proselyted
in a place full of normal people I would feel pretty out of place.
Love you guys have a good week!
Ok no problem for my homecoming, whatever works! And cool I'm excited
for that topic.
Well this week was way awesome but it also was super long. It started
with a leadership meeting Tuesday that went from 8:30-6:00, then
District Meeting the next morning, and then another leadership meeting
that afternoon with President. Then we were given the assignment to
put together a bunch of excel spreadsheets for our stake meeting which
happened the next day too. So up until Thursday we were completely in
meetings and I am not the biggest fan of meetings but oh well it
happened. It is hard to start your proselyting week on Friday because
you set these goals and then have so little time to try to accomplish
them but we went at it and saw some amazing miracles. We have really
pushed to get our investigators to Sacrament Meeting. Doing anything
and everything we can. So we had a church tour with our investigator
D-- and took him around and showed him everything and it was really
spiritual and we felt prompted to try to set a date with him and he
did! August 26! It was way cool. So we talked with him about the
importance of coming to church but he said he didn't have church
clothes so I gave him some of mine and I'll be honest he was looking
really good.
So we get to church and first D-- walks into church and we were
really excited, so we walked with him into the chapel and then we saw
our other investigator, J--, and we were like "hey cool" and so they
both came and sat with us. My comp and I then looked at each other and
were like "Hey, we called C-- last night, I hope she will be able to
make it." And we then look over at the door and C-- starts walking
in haha cool stuff, but then while we were sitting, maybe like 15
minutes into the meeting, a member comes up to me and says "Come with
me" and so I did I started following him and he took me to the back of
the congregation where he said one of our friends was sitting and it
was a guy we met a few days earlier--haha I was so pumped he came. Then
I realized we texted our investigator J-- to come, too, and thought
"Hmm pretty sure he said he would come" and I looked over and he's
there and he brought his little family too! Then I look over at the
sacrament table and G--, the guy that was baptized about 3
weeks after I got in this area, was passing the sacrament. It was such
a cool thing to look around and have the spirit testify to me of the
power of missionary work. Seeing a recent convert passing the
sacrament and our investigators at church. It was one of those moments
where I am kind of ashamed to admit (only because I don't like doing
it), but I got a little emotional just seeing these people fulfill
their potential. At least taking the first step to fulfill it. Cool
stuff! Definitely made my week.
I had interviews with President this week and it was really good
talking with him about stuff. It was really nice to know it wasn't my
exit interview haha-- I was able to have one last regular one! He is so
helpful and gives me good advice. Definitely lucky I have a mission
president like him. And his wife, too, she is awesome.
It was a good week! Excited for the one upcoming. Nashua is such a fun
place to serve--there really are a ton of good people here. There are
ton of crazy ones too which makes every day enjoyable. If I proselyted
in a place full of normal people I would feel pretty out of place.
Love you guys have a good week!
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
July 10, 2017
Woahhhhh camping trip. And kkkk when did we get a UTV? Never got that
update. That's cool though! Glad the trip was good. Definitely the
group is shrinking but gotta keep it alive! Nothing better than
Wasatch. One of my favorite places in the world.
Well well well this week was a good week. We worked hard this week
trying to get people to church. We were able to find a few people that
seem really solid. One of them is named J-- and we picked him up by
shooting baskets with him in his driveway. He's a YouTube maniac is
how he explained it, he posts trick shot videos so I asked him if I
could try one and he let me so I went and shot from like 30 feet
behind the backboard and had to make it over and I made the shot and
he lost his marbles. He posted it to YouTube because he said he was
filming it and said we would get good publicity from it. So hey, not
complaining. He probably doesn't have any subscribers so no one
probably could even find it but hey I made it on the internet so I'm
officially cool even if no one sees it. He also became an awesome
investigator so we are excited about him.
So we really put a focus on sacrament meeting this week. We were
outside of our car at the very least a few hours a day and every soul
we met we invited them to church. Literally not a single person
crossed our path that we didn't invite to church haha we had some
awesome miracles come from that. They didn't necessarily come to
church but it was interesting to see their hearts soften to an invite
to church rather than an invite to meet with us....honestly from my
perspective I'd rather meet with any missionaries than go to some
random service I've never heard of, but hey whatever works I guess! It
was really good. We are going to continue to try that.
We did have some people come to church though! The A-- family
from Iraq. Well, the 3 kids came because the parents had to work. It
was so cool though, because we tried SO hard to get them to come and
they finallyyy came. And they loved it so much! The ward loved them
too. One is 16, the other is 13, and the youngest is 7. They are
planning on coming every week now. It was really cool to see people
come to church and the young women came and swarmed them and instantly
became their best friends. They even participated in the classes from
what we were told, so it was awesome. Definitely a good way to end the
week.
I've been seeking some advice from people about my last transfer and
it's been like the best thing for me. Legit--whoever reads this and is
on a mission, on your last transfer you need to find the balance of
preparing to go home but still staying super super focused, and asking
for advice is awesome because there are so many good ways to keep that
balance. I had a conversation with a rm in our ward last having dinner
at their house, and he got back like 6 months ago and we had a good
conversation. It was really helpful. So don't try to do it on your
own! Ask for advice--it's the best thing you could do.
Love you guys have a good week!
1. Nashua is full of crazy cool street art. Here's one example.
2. We have a sweet view outside of of our apartment window but you can
see it way better from higher up so I amped up my study desk🤘
group is shrinking but gotta keep it alive! Nothing better than
Wasatch. One of my favorite places in the world.
Well well well this week was a good week. We worked hard this week
trying to get people to church. We were able to find a few people that
seem really solid. One of them is named J-- and we picked him up by
shooting baskets with him in his driveway. He's a YouTube maniac is
how he explained it, he posts trick shot videos so I asked him if I
could try one and he let me so I went and shot from like 30 feet
behind the backboard and had to make it over and I made the shot and
he lost his marbles. He posted it to YouTube because he said he was
filming it and said we would get good publicity from it. So hey, not
complaining. He probably doesn't have any subscribers so no one
probably could even find it but hey I made it on the internet so I'm
officially cool even if no one sees it. He also became an awesome
investigator so we are excited about him.
So we really put a focus on sacrament meeting this week. We were
outside of our car at the very least a few hours a day and every soul
we met we invited them to church. Literally not a single person
crossed our path that we didn't invite to church haha we had some
awesome miracles come from that. They didn't necessarily come to
church but it was interesting to see their hearts soften to an invite
to church rather than an invite to meet with us....honestly from my
perspective I'd rather meet with any missionaries than go to some
random service I've never heard of, but hey whatever works I guess! It
was really good. We are going to continue to try that.
We did have some people come to church though! The A-- family
from Iraq. Well, the 3 kids came because the parents had to work. It
was so cool though, because we tried SO hard to get them to come and
they finallyyy came. And they loved it so much! The ward loved them
too. One is 16, the other is 13, and the youngest is 7. They are
planning on coming every week now. It was really cool to see people
come to church and the young women came and swarmed them and instantly
became their best friends. They even participated in the classes from
what we were told, so it was awesome. Definitely a good way to end the
week.
I've been seeking some advice from people about my last transfer and
it's been like the best thing for me. Legit--whoever reads this and is
on a mission, on your last transfer you need to find the balance of
preparing to go home but still staying super super focused, and asking
for advice is awesome because there are so many good ways to keep that
balance. I had a conversation with a rm in our ward last having dinner
at their house, and he got back like 6 months ago and we had a good
conversation. It was really helpful. So don't try to do it on your
own! Ask for advice--it's the best thing you could do.
Love you guys have a good week!
1. Nashua is full of crazy cool street art. Here's one example.
2. We have a sweet view outside of of our apartment window but you can
see it way better from higher up so I amped up my study desk🤘
July 1, 2017
Hey fam! Surprise! Our p-day changed because of transfers on Monday.
Ps. I'm staying in Nashua for another! My last transfer! I'm definitely
excited to stay in Nashua though! I knew I'd stay because President
basically told me in my interview but to get the final answer was
good. There are so many awesome people here so I'm way excited.
We had a crazy week, not too much finding. Which hasn't happened in a
while, but we taught most of the week! It was a good feeling to see
though because it shows that there finally is a foundation here with
the people we teach. Now it's just helping them progress and
continually rebuilding but we have some awesome investigators with a
lot of potential.
So I told you about J--, the kid who accepted a baptismal invite
this last week and really understood everything well. Well we went and
taught him again this week and his Mom came in and joined us. She knew
basic beliefs of the church because she has a friend in our ward, and
they were the classics about polygamy and blacks and the priesthood
etc, and then tithing. We were able to manouver it well back to the
restoration and she kept asking about tithing so we explained the
basics and then moved on. At the end of the restoration she of course
brought up tithing again, and she said she has a problem with the
money going to pastors and evangelists and how they are millionaires
and have the nicest stuff and yet preach to give to the poor. We told
her our church's tithing goes straight to helping people and she then
said "well I'm going to talk to Sister Favey (the member in our ward)
and give her my 10% so I can pay my tithing to your church. I'm
excited to read the Book of Mormon so I can really know!" First time
I've ever taught the restoration and then afterwards they commit
themselves to pay tithing! It was actually really cool. They are a
solid family. We are excited to help them move forward.
We also helped M--l download the gospel library app and he was
PUMPED. He's into technology, and as he was flipping through it he was like
"Wow, your church does well with the technology stuff". It's true! But
yeah he was way excited.
I finished the Book of Mormon again this week and so I'm going through
each book that I read throughout my mission and going through all of
the markings and taking notes on them and it's been way interesting.
I'm glad I did it that way on my mission. Picking up a fresh Book of
Mormon and marking it and then seeing how much different they are
because of the different positions I was in during each time I read.
Don't even know if that makes sense but hopefully-- lol. The Book of
Mormon is just crazy cool. Finishing the Book of Mormon always is such
a cool experience reflecting on what you learned.
Love you guys!
Ps. I'm staying in Nashua for another! My last transfer! I'm definitely
excited to stay in Nashua though! I knew I'd stay because President
basically told me in my interview but to get the final answer was
good. There are so many awesome people here so I'm way excited.
We had a crazy week, not too much finding. Which hasn't happened in a
while, but we taught most of the week! It was a good feeling to see
though because it shows that there finally is a foundation here with
the people we teach. Now it's just helping them progress and
continually rebuilding but we have some awesome investigators with a
lot of potential.
So I told you about J--, the kid who accepted a baptismal invite
this last week and really understood everything well. Well we went and
taught him again this week and his Mom came in and joined us. She knew
basic beliefs of the church because she has a friend in our ward, and
they were the classics about polygamy and blacks and the priesthood
etc, and then tithing. We were able to manouver it well back to the
restoration and she kept asking about tithing so we explained the
basics and then moved on. At the end of the restoration she of course
brought up tithing again, and she said she has a problem with the
money going to pastors and evangelists and how they are millionaires
and have the nicest stuff and yet preach to give to the poor. We told
her our church's tithing goes straight to helping people and she then
said "well I'm going to talk to Sister Favey (the member in our ward)
and give her my 10% so I can pay my tithing to your church. I'm
excited to read the Book of Mormon so I can really know!" First time
I've ever taught the restoration and then afterwards they commit
themselves to pay tithing! It was actually really cool. They are a
solid family. We are excited to help them move forward.
We also helped M--l download the gospel library app and he was
PUMPED. He's into technology, and as he was flipping through it he was like
"Wow, your church does well with the technology stuff". It's true! But
yeah he was way excited.
I finished the Book of Mormon again this week and so I'm going through
each book that I read throughout my mission and going through all of
the markings and taking notes on them and it's been way interesting.
I'm glad I did it that way on my mission. Picking up a fresh Book of
Mormon and marking it and then seeing how much different they are
because of the different positions I was in during each time I read.
Don't even know if that makes sense but hopefully-- lol. The Book of
Mormon is just crazy cool. Finishing the Book of Mormon always is such
a cool experience reflecting on what you learned.
Love you guys!
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
June 26, 2017
Well this week was a good week. We saw a lot of cool miracles with
teaching people. We had a lot of logistical things to take care of too
because we have a lot of work to do before a specific meeting we have
with the stake pres. For work when I'm older I could never sit behind
a desk and just type on a computer. I would lose my mind. So when we
finished I was grateful to get back out haha. We started the week with
a meeting with the Lowell Spinners baseball team. It was pretty cool
going into their office and chatting. They are at our mercy too haha I
had no idea how bad baseball parks want things like "MormonNight" to
happen. And the 2 days that are our tentative dates to do it on are
August 11 and 28. Hopefully we can do the 11th if you know
what I mean. It was fun though! Hopefully we can get the ball rolling.
We met with our investigator J-- the other day and it was one of
the best lessons I had been in. It's cool because he graduated just a
year ago so he's pretty close to our age and he's really mature which
is nice so meeting with him was cool. He asked us a lot of questions
about what we do and he was blown away when he found out our ages haha
we invited him to be baptized and he was like "oh yeah definitely like
when I come to know this is true definitely" the only obstacle is work
schedule for church and meeting with us so he is working it out where
he will have Sundays off. Hes a champ.
I went on exchange with one of the assistants E Nelson and it was a
blast. I went on exchange with him when we both were brand new and it
was so funny because we had no idea what we were doing. So going this
time and working together was so funny to see how different we both
are now. He's one of my best mission friends so it was a good time.
Things are good, we are finding a lot of new people now we are just
working on getting them to church and setting dates. It's been quite
the transition here haha but I feel like I'm starting to get the hang
of it a little now. I forget a lot of names though haha
Sorry I know I could be a lot better at emailing. I'm working on it
haha even though it's been almost 2 years still working on it LOL love
you guys! Btw happy birthday dad!
teaching people. We had a lot of logistical things to take care of too
because we have a lot of work to do before a specific meeting we have
with the stake pres. For work when I'm older I could never sit behind
a desk and just type on a computer. I would lose my mind. So when we
finished I was grateful to get back out haha. We started the week with
a meeting with the Lowell Spinners baseball team. It was pretty cool
going into their office and chatting. They are at our mercy too haha I
had no idea how bad baseball parks want things like "MormonNight" to
happen. And the 2 days that are our tentative dates to do it on are
August 11 and 28. Hopefully we can do the 11th if you know
what I mean. It was fun though! Hopefully we can get the ball rolling.
We met with our investigator J-- the other day and it was one of
the best lessons I had been in. It's cool because he graduated just a
year ago so he's pretty close to our age and he's really mature which
is nice so meeting with him was cool. He asked us a lot of questions
about what we do and he was blown away when he found out our ages haha
we invited him to be baptized and he was like "oh yeah definitely like
when I come to know this is true definitely" the only obstacle is work
schedule for church and meeting with us so he is working it out where
he will have Sundays off. Hes a champ.
I went on exchange with one of the assistants E Nelson and it was a
blast. I went on exchange with him when we both were brand new and it
was so funny because we had no idea what we were doing. So going this
time and working together was so funny to see how different we both
are now. He's one of my best mission friends so it was a good time.
Things are good, we are finding a lot of new people now we are just
working on getting them to church and setting dates. It's been quite
the transition here haha but I feel like I'm starting to get the hang
of it a little now. I forget a lot of names though haha
Sorry I know I could be a lot better at emailing. I'm working on it
haha even though it's been almost 2 years still working on it LOL love
you guys! Btw happy birthday dad!
Thursday, June 22, 2017
June 19, 2017
That's awesome about trek! It's good to hear the new ward fam is
treating you guys well! Also, hope Dad had a good Father's Day! Did he
get my letter?
Alright well this week was another one for the books. We got our new
companions and I'm with Elder Thorpe and he's a solid kid. He hasn't
been out for very long and is a brand new ZL so it's been fun to help
him out and to work with him. He served in Wolfeboro and Bedford,too,
so it's been fun to talk about the people there.
We had a good week though, we had an awesome zone conference with
Elder Snow from the 70, he came and gave us trainings. He interviewed
me after and wow he's a cool guy. After that we had a lot of time to
find. We had a really cool experience with a family that we found from
Iraq and we went in and taught them and the parents could speak
English better than they could hear and understand it, so the daughter
translated for us as we taught and it was UNREAL. We showed the Prince
of Peace video in the lesson and she translated it, and she got more
and more passionate as the video went on and it was so powerful. And
the family accepted it so well. One of the cooler experiences I've had
on my mission.
Sorry, once again I don't have a ton of time but hopefully you won't kill
me mom. Love you guys! Have a good week!
treating you guys well! Also, hope Dad had a good Father's Day! Did he
get my letter?
Alright well this week was another one for the books. We got our new
companions and I'm with Elder Thorpe and he's a solid kid. He hasn't
been out for very long and is a brand new ZL so it's been fun to help
him out and to work with him. He served in Wolfeboro and Bedford,too,
so it's been fun to talk about the people there.
We had a good week though, we had an awesome zone conference with
Elder Snow from the 70, he came and gave us trainings. He interviewed
me after and wow he's a cool guy. After that we had a lot of time to
find. We had a really cool experience with a family that we found from
Iraq and we went in and taught them and the parents could speak
English better than they could hear and understand it, so the daughter
translated for us as we taught and it was UNREAL. We showed the Prince
of Peace video in the lesson and she translated it, and she got more
and more passionate as the video went on and it was so powerful. And
the family accepted it so well. One of the cooler experiences I've had
on my mission.
Sorry, once again I don't have a ton of time but hopefully you won't kill
me mom. Love you guys! Have a good week!
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
June 12, 2017
Hey guys!
Crazy week. We have been working hard on trying to get everything
ready for the merge tomorrow and I'm just excited to get it rolling.
We've had a crazy amount of meetings with both mission's leadership and
also had a meeting with President Holland. Jeffrey's son. He is a
profound man like his dad. Definitely intimidating but way cool guy. I
went to a Boston Leadership meeting and it was really good, but I
realized how grateful I am to be serving in the Manchester mission.
I'm just really grateful for President Blair and Sister Blair and all
that they do and the way they do things. It's been a crazy couple
weeks but I have really learned a lot here.
I've been working on this idea since I've been here in Nashua and the
ball is finally starting to roll. So a lot of baseball parks have
"Mormon Night" where the baseball game is kind of themed that way and
they give a lot of tickets to the members and a famous Mormon will
throw out the first pitch and there are some other things too. I think
the Red Sox do it, I know the Dodgers do it, etc. So the Lowell
Spinners are in our zone, and we got their phone number and set up a
meeting to schedule a Mormon night at the baseball team's stadium in
July or August! It will most likely be a family night activity for the
stake and we will try to get our investigators and less actives to
come and have a good experience at the game especially being
surrounded by so many members and it being church-themed. And a good
thing to help member trust, too, hopefully. Our meeting is in about a
week and a half and it will hopefully go well. They seemed excited to
have us come to theme a game of theirs. We are coming up with other
ideas too but I guess we will see first with how the meeting goes.
Ok I really don't have a ton of time which is why I've been really
vague I'm sorry I'm just running out of time but I love you guys and
am excited to update you next week on our investigators! We found a
really cool girl that was fellowshipped by a member and she wants to
learn and to be a part of the church because she is realizing the
truth behind her studies of the Book of Mormon. Really excited to try
to set something up this week with her and the member. To be
continued! Sorry again, I'll be better! Love you guys!
Crazy week. We have been working hard on trying to get everything
ready for the merge tomorrow and I'm just excited to get it rolling.
We've had a crazy amount of meetings with both mission's leadership and
also had a meeting with President Holland. Jeffrey's son. He is a
profound man like his dad. Definitely intimidating but way cool guy. I
went to a Boston Leadership meeting and it was really good, but I
realized how grateful I am to be serving in the Manchester mission.
I'm just really grateful for President Blair and Sister Blair and all
that they do and the way they do things. It's been a crazy couple
weeks but I have really learned a lot here.
I've been working on this idea since I've been here in Nashua and the
ball is finally starting to roll. So a lot of baseball parks have
"Mormon Night" where the baseball game is kind of themed that way and
they give a lot of tickets to the members and a famous Mormon will
throw out the first pitch and there are some other things too. I think
the Red Sox do it, I know the Dodgers do it, etc. So the Lowell
Spinners are in our zone, and we got their phone number and set up a
meeting to schedule a Mormon night at the baseball team's stadium in
July or August! It will most likely be a family night activity for the
stake and we will try to get our investigators and less actives to
come and have a good experience at the game especially being
surrounded by so many members and it being church-themed. And a good
thing to help member trust, too, hopefully. Our meeting is in about a
week and a half and it will hopefully go well. They seemed excited to
have us come to theme a game of theirs. We are coming up with other
ideas too but I guess we will see first with how the meeting goes.
Ok I really don't have a ton of time which is why I've been really
vague I'm sorry I'm just running out of time but I love you guys and
am excited to update you next week on our investigators! We found a
really cool girl that was fellowshipped by a member and she wants to
learn and to be a part of the church because she is realizing the
truth behind her studies of the Book of Mormon. Really excited to try
to set something up this week with her and the member. To be
continued! Sorry again, I'll be better! Love you guys!
Thursday, June 8, 2017
June 5, 2017
Hey!!
This week was once again interesting. To sum it up I saw a dead guy, I
felt a dented head plate on a drunk guy, and I had a burrito that
tasted just like cafe rio❤️
Nashua is an interesting place, but I really like it a lot! It's so fun
to find people here because it reminds me so much of Manchester, you
just never know what you're going to find.
I went on exchange with a missionary from my mission which was cool
because I felt like I was with someone that understands missionary
work the same way I do haha. It's been very interesting being with the
Boston missionaries but it's been good. It was cool though, and we
found some really cool people! It was too bad because they all
committed to come to church and none of them did. Nothing to update
with them just yet, but there will be soon. For lunch we went to this
Mexican place and it was crazy because it was like the first time I
had real Mexican food on my mission❤️❤️❤️❤️ and it actually had
flavor❤️❤️❤️ I love New England but their food could use some spice.
Also on exchange we were walking the street and saw 2 cop cars. All
of a sudden they opened the door of the apartment that they were
parked in front of, and they were carrying a dead guy to this
van.....so we panicked and did the classic missionary thing and asked
if there was anything we could do to help. Pretty embarrassing moment.
They said "no", if you couldn't guess.
I met Aunt Miriam's sister and wow they look so similar haha-it was
funny to run into her. Miriam's parents were in town this week too! We
ran into them at 5 guys today also. It is weird seeing people that
know me. I'm so used to being unknown to everyone so when I see people
I have met or that I know, I get really awkward and I hate it haha but
whatever.
Gary S. got baptized this last weekend and it went so well.
He's such a cool guy. He bore his testimony at the end of the baptism,
and it honestly was one of the best testimonies I've heard. Good week
for sure.
I like the challenge to read the Book of Mormon by then! I'll follow
up with you when I get back and see how it went! Love you guys!
This week was once again interesting. To sum it up I saw a dead guy, I
felt a dented head plate on a drunk guy, and I had a burrito that
tasted just like cafe rio❤️
Nashua is an interesting place, but I really like it a lot! It's so fun
to find people here because it reminds me so much of Manchester, you
just never know what you're going to find.
I went on exchange with a missionary from my mission which was cool
because I felt like I was with someone that understands missionary
work the same way I do haha. It's been very interesting being with the
Boston missionaries but it's been good. It was cool though, and we
found some really cool people! It was too bad because they all
committed to come to church and none of them did. Nothing to update
with them just yet, but there will be soon. For lunch we went to this
Mexican place and it was crazy because it was like the first time I
had real Mexican food on my mission❤️❤️❤️❤️ and it actually had
flavor❤️❤️❤️ I love New England but their food could use some spice.
Also on exchange we were walking the street and saw 2 cop cars. All
of a sudden they opened the door of the apartment that they were
parked in front of, and they were carrying a dead guy to this
van.....so we panicked and did the classic missionary thing and asked
if there was anything we could do to help. Pretty embarrassing moment.
They said "no", if you couldn't guess.
I met Aunt Miriam's sister and wow they look so similar haha-it was
funny to run into her. Miriam's parents were in town this week too! We
ran into them at 5 guys today also. It is weird seeing people that
know me. I'm so used to being unknown to everyone so when I see people
I have met or that I know, I get really awkward and I hate it haha but
whatever.
Gary S. got baptized this last weekend and it went so well.
He's such a cool guy. He bore his testimony at the end of the baptism,
and it honestly was one of the best testimonies I've heard. Good week
for sure.
I like the challenge to read the Book of Mormon by then! I'll follow
up with you when I get back and see how it went! Love you guys!
Friday, June 2, 2017
May 29, 2017
Hey everyone!
This week has been soooo crazy, really full of miracles and a bunch of
new things learned. The Boston missionaries definitely have a
different mission culture and way of doing things, so it's been really
interesting to see and learn how I can improve. My companion Elder
Woodward is a really good missionary--it's been really fun! With our
area book and transferring it over and trying to learn the area and
stuff....it's really hard. But I'll get there.
We found a lot of success this week going around Nashua and just
talking with people on the streets. We had some really cool lessons on
the streets! We found a guy named M-- and his girlfriend who have met
with the missionaries before and knew who we were, so he let us teach
him on the spot and it was really cool! We gave him a Book of Mormon
at the end of teaching the restoration and he was like, "I'm really
searching, guys, like I won't let anyone's opinion get in the way
because I know that I need to know for myself" it was really cool to
hear--he seemed really excited to find out if it's true. And like 5
minutes after the lesson we were walking and came across a couple and
talked with them. The lady was faking a phone call and kind of
dodging haha but she heard us talking to her boyfriend and just
put her phone down and came and listened. She was like "wow ok this is
awesome!" And we taught the restoration and they thought it was really
interesting. I feel like we had a lot of contacts this week where
people were really hesitant but they felt the spirit of the message
and it softened their hearts. You could like see it on their face--it
was really neat to see.
One of the coolest contacts we had was this lady named A--. She was
coming back from the bus stop with her daughter and we asked some
simple questions about her religious background and she said lately
she has been reading the Bible and felt like it had helped her a lot.
So we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her it would add to her
blessings as she came to know this is true, and set up an appointment
for a couple days later. So 2 days later we go back and she had read
half of the Book of Mormon and was really sincere in letting us know
how grateful she was for stopping her and giving her this book. We are
seeing her again tomorrow! She is so cool.
We are teaching this guy that will get baptized this upcoming weekend
and he's so cool. Brother S--. Everytime we go over there to talk to him
he's so sincere and soaks up the
gospel and loves to bear his testimony about how he came to know it's
true. He is like a crazy successful and smart guy too, he is married
to a returning less active member and he is so cool to teach. This
area is a really great place! I'm really excited to serve here. I'm
excited for the craziness of this merge to finally stop and go back to
my mission haha rather than being in the Boston mission (no offense)
but it's just bizarre. I'm like cut off from my world aka my mission.
Like I don't have a ton of contact with them ha but it's been a good
experience for me.
Love you guys! This gospel is really powerful, I felt it this morning
really hit me because I was able to go to the Boston temple and do a
session and I was able to reflect on what the gospel has done for me
and the miracles we were blessed to see this week.
Have a good week!
This week has been soooo crazy, really full of miracles and a bunch of
new things learned. The Boston missionaries definitely have a
different mission culture and way of doing things, so it's been really
interesting to see and learn how I can improve. My companion Elder
Woodward is a really good missionary--it's been really fun! With our
area book and transferring it over and trying to learn the area and
stuff....it's really hard. But I'll get there.
We found a lot of success this week going around Nashua and just
talking with people on the streets. We had some really cool lessons on
the streets! We found a guy named M-- and his girlfriend who have met
with the missionaries before and knew who we were, so he let us teach
him on the spot and it was really cool! We gave him a Book of Mormon
at the end of teaching the restoration and he was like, "I'm really
searching, guys, like I won't let anyone's opinion get in the way
because I know that I need to know for myself" it was really cool to
hear--he seemed really excited to find out if it's true. And like 5
minutes after the lesson we were walking and came across a couple and
talked with them. The lady was faking a phone call and kind of
dodging haha but she heard us talking to her boyfriend and just
put her phone down and came and listened. She was like "wow ok this is
awesome!" And we taught the restoration and they thought it was really
interesting. I feel like we had a lot of contacts this week where
people were really hesitant but they felt the spirit of the message
and it softened their hearts. You could like see it on their face--it
was really neat to see.
One of the coolest contacts we had was this lady named A--. She was
coming back from the bus stop with her daughter and we asked some
simple questions about her religious background and she said lately
she has been reading the Bible and felt like it had helped her a lot.
So we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her it would add to her
blessings as she came to know this is true, and set up an appointment
for a couple days later. So 2 days later we go back and she had read
half of the Book of Mormon and was really sincere in letting us know
how grateful she was for stopping her and giving her this book. We are
seeing her again tomorrow! She is so cool.
We are teaching this guy that will get baptized this upcoming weekend
and he's so cool. Brother S--. Everytime we go over there to talk to him
he's so sincere and soaks up the
gospel and loves to bear his testimony about how he came to know it's
true. He is like a crazy successful and smart guy too, he is married
to a returning less active member and he is so cool to teach. This
area is a really great place! I'm really excited to serve here. I'm
excited for the craziness of this merge to finally stop and go back to
my mission haha rather than being in the Boston mission (no offense)
but it's just bizarre. I'm like cut off from my world aka my mission.
Like I don't have a ton of contact with them ha but it's been a good
experience for me.
Love you guys! This gospel is really powerful, I felt it this morning
really hit me because I was able to go to the Boston temple and do a
session and I was able to reflect on what the gospel has done for me
and the miracles we were blessed to see this week.
Have a good week!
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
May 22, 2017
Hey guys!
Well, this week was good! Sad news, but I'm getting transferred. I'mexcited though! It will be a whole new adventure for me.
Our mission boundaries are changing and we are getting a new stake here, and
President said I will be the zone leader to open it up! No one really
knows anything about it, even President said I'm basically on my own
so.....cool! I am getting a Boston missionary as my companion for 3
weeks and technically getting mission transferred but then I'll be
back lol, I have the 3 weeks to transfer our area book
electronically and then to learn my area and zone and then I'll get a
new companion. President said I will become his new best friend so I'm
guessing I'll be talking with him a lot ha it is going to get crazy
but it's ok-- it's good for me, I'm glad I'll be kept on my toes for my
last 2 transfers.
Not a ton happened this week, the JSM was unreal with A—though, he
loved it so much! That place is so cool to go to, I'll definitely miss
being in Vermont.
We met with T-- again. She is just about to finish 2 Nephi. She
will be baptized, just not sure when. Hopefully soon! Man I have no
idea what to write about haha I'm sure I'll have a lot to write about
next week.
Love you guys! I'd love
some prayers, too! Have a good week!
The Bishop's family
Horrible!
Ben and Jerry's!
Aunt Miriam's brother-in-law who
used to be Bishop in the ward Cam was sent
to in New Hampshire! He went looking for Cam
when he found out he was in the Nashua area!
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