Week 72 - carrying the Spirit UNTO the hearts of the children of men

Yeah, p-day seems to come around faster and faster each week. This week flew by!

It was a pretty busy week with a lot of meetings! Wednesday, we had the opportunity to go to the stake center and watch the worldwide mission broadcast at the Stake Center in Mishawaka. The broadcast was only 2 hours long, and we heard from Elder Andersen, Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks, Elder Clayton, and more general authorities. One of the biggest things I took out of it was from a discussion that Elder Bednar had with missionaries from the Ogden mission. One of the missionaries said that it's our responsibility to bring the Spirit and take it into the hearts of the people. But he emphasized that we can't take it "into" their hearts, because they have to let it in. Just as 2 Nephi 33:1 says, we carry "it unto the hearts of the children of men." Sometimes we try so hard to forcefully push the Spirit of the gospel into the hearts of our investigators, but we need to help them recognize the Spirit so they can let it in. 

On Friday we were able to go back down to Warsaw to some appointments we had set up last week. We taught E and brought a Hispanic member from the Warsaw ward with us, Hno Viera. It turns out, that about 3 years ago, Hno Viera had already been to her house to bless her home! They remembered each other and got along great! We taught her a lot about prayer and she really wants to learn more about God and the gospel. She's not too interested in coming to church yet, but we'll keep working with her. We also went by an investigator named R.   She lives in a trailer park and said she wants to turn her life over to Jesus. She said that as she has learned more about God, she's seen changes in her life for the better and she wants more of that for herself and her family. We're excited to teach her again next week, and hopefully we can bring a member with us this time. 

We had a really early morning on Saturday. We woke up at 4 a.m in order to head down to Indy at 5 a.m. so we could get there by 8 for a meeting we had at the chapel by the temple. We went down for the "JustServe" training. All the MLC (Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders) attended along with all the members of the stake council from the various stakes in the mission. "JustServe" is a new initiative the church is taking in order to get members and non-members more involved in service in the community. They emphasized to us that it's not a proselyting initiative, but solely to get people more involved in service opportunities. The website, justserve.org, is a website where you can get on and find/volunteer for local service opportunities, but we're not going to be able to get it started until each individual stake starts posting service projects. I don't know if they've started it in Utah yet, but they said they did it in many parts of California and it was a huge success. So I'm looking forward to this opportunity for us as missionaries to participate and find more ways to do service in the community. 

That's all that really happened this week! We're still trudging along in the cold and working hard as we hope for success. Have fun with the nephews in the house and I hope you have a great week.  Love you!

Elder Thayne

Week 71 - A ton of snow and spreading the love by shoveling

Woooow this week was cold! It got a little below zero a few of the days but we trudged through it! This week was pretty good! Sadly, none of our investigators came to church :( not even Javier! We stopped by Saturday evening just to invite him again and he said for sure that him and his wife were going to come, buuuut they didn't. So that was a little frustrating. There were a lot of less active members there, so it was good. 

We had a great lesson with the J family! We talked about Christ-like Attributes from Preach My Gospel and we each prepared a little 2 minute thought on each attribute. They all seemed to enjoy it, and it was spiritual, but afterwards, Brother J told us that they didn't really have time for us to be coming over every week so he said we'd have to call him and set something up in a couple weeks. So we're not really seeing any progress yet. 

On Tuesday I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Dean and it was fun! It's great serving around him since he's a high school friend of mine. We've definitely gotten closer and I think we'll be good friends after the mission. We taught an Indian guy that Elder Weese and I found and it went so well! His name is J and even though he doesn't have much of a Christian background he is interested in learning. It's definitely different teaching him. We were reading in the intro to the Book of Mormon when it talks about the Holy Ghost, and as I finished reading I asked, "J, what did you understand from that?" he replied, "Oh, so the bad spirit will tell you things to do and we shouldn't listen to it... right?". Haha I had to explain to him that the Holy Ghost was the "good spirit" and it's the one we should listen to. He's so kind and humble. We're excited to see if the other elders can help him progress.

On Wednesday it snowed a ton! So halfway through the day we had to ground all the cars because the streets were so bad. When it got to be night time, we didn't have much to do without the cars (since we're not allowed to tract when it's dark) so we went with the other four elders in Goshen and just walked around shoveling snow for members and investigators. The English Elders in Goshen were the ones who had an investigator with that HUGE dog. 

On Thursday we tracted a ton! We had a lot of success. We tracted for about 3 hours, and literally every lesson we taught was to a 18-22 year old Hispanic girl which was strange... but one of them was really interested! Her name is L. She told us her parents are Catholic, but she doesn't really like it because she thinks that we shouldn't pray to saints and stuff but we should only pray to God. We told her she was right and we taught her about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. She was kind of a funny girl haha! After the lesson I asked, "L, how do you think you could know for yourself if this is all true?" And her response cracked us up. She said, "Hmm.. I don't know I'd probably just have to die and then come to life or something like that." Haha we couldn't tell if she was joking or being serious, but it was way funny! I told her there was a much easier, risk-free way to find out, through prayer. She said she doesn't really want us to come over while her parents are home because apparently her dad has bashed a lot with the missionaries in the past. So we haven't been able to meet with her again yet but we'll see what happens.

Friday morning we drove an hour south to a city called Warsaw to do exchanges with the Elders down there. I went with Elder Hensley from Taylor, Arizona and we had a lot of fun! There are actually a ton of Hispanics in Warsaw! So since it's in our area, we decided we're going to go down there once a week to proselyte as long as we have enough miles. While we were there, we found a lot of people that are willing and interested in learning more! It was kind hard to teach all the Spanish lessons myself since Elder Hensley is an English missionary, but I'm excited about the people we found there. 

Sunday was good. I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting, and I'd say it went pretty well. But if you ask the members they might say something different ;) haha who knows. I based my talk on the talk Pres. Uchtdorf gave called "Are You Sleeping Through the Restoration?" and I related it to sharing the Gospel and missionary work. 

After church, we had to go up to Mishawaka to the stake center for a stake meeting with the Stake Presidency and Pres. Cleveland. It was such a good meeting! We talked about the upcoming baptisms in the stake and any concerns that need to be taken care of. Pres. Jones, the stake president, had some powerful closing remarks in regards to missionaries spending time with and fellow shipping members. He said, "When you cross the threshold of a home, as ministers of Jesus Christ, they will feel it." and also, "Spend time with them, shake their hands, look them in their eyes, and watch as pure virtue flows from you." He talks a lot about the authority and mantle of our calling and he's a very spiritual and powerful speaker. After the meeting, Elder Weese and I had our interviews with President Cleveland, in which he told me that all departure dates will be pushed back so I'm scheduled to go home a week later than planned. I told him about school and he said I'd have to go home a week early then. Sooo.. I guess I'll be going home the same time haha. 

Yesterday we didn't have a p-day because President and Sister Cleveland came up for interviews in our zone. As Zone Leaders, we had the opportunity to help with interviews and we were there from 1:30 to 7! It was a loooong day. But most of the day we were waiting for things to do, so we just spent a lot of time with Sister Cleveland in the hallway. She is such a sweet lady! Interviews were great! We have a really good zone!

That's it for the week. I love you Mom! Have a wonderful week and keep sharing your testimony! 

Love,

Elder Thayne

This was the biggest dog I had ever seen. A bullmastiff mixed with a great dane. The picture doesn't even do it justice.

Week 70 - Showing love and kindness goes a long way

This week was pretty good! We had a lot of member help which is great! Winter has finally decided to come full fledged and it's freezing!! We got a bit of snow last week too. I'm already counting down the days until April comes! 

On Monday, we were able to visit the J family, a very inactive family who claim to still have a testimony but they haven't been to church for about 3 years because they chose to be offended. The dad was even the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency for a time. We were talking with them, and it was hard for me, being the impatient person I am, to not be too bold with them and tell them to grow up and let it go. But I restrained and we showed love and kindness and they agreed to let us come over every Monday night for family home evening. So, gradually we will start including members of the branch with whom they are on good terms and see where it can get them. We're excited for it. 

On Thursday, we did exchanges with some English missionaries in our zone and it was great! I was with Elder Ellison from Wyoming and we had a good time. I was able to go to my very first dinner appointment with an American family since I left on my mission! I can't believe it's been that long even though I'm serving in the States! We ate with the Urednick family and I loved it. They all had such a sweet spirit and righteousness in their home. I'd never left a meal appointment so uplifted and edified. 

Saturday was suuuuper rough. We were tracting for 3 hours straight and didn't teach a single person. We were discouraged, but kept working through it and we decided to visit a former investigator close to our next appointment. We knocked on what we thought was her house, but she didn't even live there! We taught a man named J and he didn't seem to interested, but was willing to listen. When we asked if we could come back another time he said next Sunday at noon. I told him we wouldn't be able to because we'd be at church, and he straightway said, "Oh, I'll come to church with you then." We were shocked! We didn't even invite him to church yet and he said he'll come! So we're looking forward to this Sunday and seeing him there. 

We're still working with A's husband, C. For the past 4 months he's been going to Sacrament meeting, then gospel principles, and then he'd wait in his car for the third hour. Yesterday, I walked into the cultural hall for Priesthood during the third hour, and C was in there sitting in the back! I went and sat by him and thanked the Lord for the miracle of seeing him in there! 

That's it for this week! I love you so much and I hope you have a good week! I'm always praying for you and the family. 

Week 69 - Mission Leadership Council Meeting - getting the members involved

Our week was pretty good! We had a good new years and I can't believe it's already 2016! One of my New Years resolutions is to continue working and finish my mission working harder than ever. I want to make the most of my time as a missionary while I have this opportunity to serve.

It was kind of a rough week, but we're pressing onward! We met this really cool guy on Tuesday named L. We taught him about the Restoration and then set him on a baptismal date in the first lesson and he accepted! We were so excited and we set a return appointment for Saturday. Saturday came around and we called him to confirm the appointment. He told us he couldn't meet with us and I asked if we could come another day. He said he didn't want to be baptized anymore and that he didn't want us to come over. He didn't give a reason, but it was definitely hard to have such high hopes for him and have him drop us like that. But I know he felt the Spirit of the message and we definitely planted a seed in his heart. 

Wednesday night we drove down to Indy and spent the night with the Assistants so we could attend MLC (Mission Leadership Council) at the mission home the next day. So, our New Year's Eve consisted of a flippin long, but powerful meeting and a lot of driving back to Elkhart. At MLC, Pres. Cleveland and the Assistants gave trainings and discussed the things that they feel the mission needs to improve on. As Zone Leaders, we are to relay that information at our Zone Meeting this Friday. We're looking forward to putting these things into practice. One thing we're going to try out is a new program for members. We will talk to the bishops and branch presidents in the units and ask them to prayerfully pick 3 families in the units and invite them to participate in this program. The missionaries will visit these families and teach them all the lessons and principles of the Gospel. After teaching the families, we'll invite them to start looking for ways to invite their friends and family to investigate the church. We're hoping that this way we can get the members and bishoprics more involved in the work across the whole mission. We're really looking forward to it!

On New Years Day we had the whole day off. We went to the stake center in Mishawaka and played basketball with our zone and the South Bend Zone. Afterwards, we had dinner with Karina and her family who are the newest converts in the branch. They are such a converted and strong family and it's good to see such committed converts. 

I know Jesus Christ lives and that we represent him in this work. I love being a missionary and I love the joy the gospel brings. Have a good week! Love you!

Elder Thayne

New Years Eve Party with the Alarcons