Week 77 - Zone Conference and translating is stressful!

This week was definitely colder than the last one. On Wednesday it snowed at least 6 inches, but it was still in the 30's, so it was a very wet, slushy snow and we got soaked! We had to ground the cars because of the terrible driving conditions so we had to walk everywhere. But it was a good week.

Our Zone Conference on Tuesday went really well! We received some trainings from President and the Assistants about being "all in" as missionaries and about the importance of members. Elder Weese and I gave a training about our purpose as missionaries and Ch. 1 of Preach My Gospel. After, Pres. Cleveland said it was a great training and all the missionaries loved it as well. 

On Wednesday, we were tracting close to our apartment and we knocked on a door and found an 18 year old kid named JC. He told us it was his house and he lived alone and we were impressed with how well he managed himself in his own house at the age of 18. He told us that his mom came to visit occasionally, but that she doesn't speak very much English at all. He said he had gone to church when he lived in Virginia for many years, but he couldn't remember if he had been baptized or not. We talked to him for a bit and he said we could come back another day. Well, the next day, we walked past his house and noticed that he had tons of snow in his driveway, so we started shoveling it. As we were shoveling it, a lady drove up and pulled into the driveway with her van. She asked us why we were shoveling and we said that we were doing it for service. She told us her son should be home and invited us in. A bit confused, we entered and started talking. Well, it turns out that for whatever reason, J.  was lying to us the day before! It was his mom's house and she spoke perfect English!! We could tell he felt a bit awkward while we were in there because he probably figured we had realized he was lying. But his mom said that they went to church for about 2 years in Virginia and she said she would have been baptized if they wouldn't have moved away 9 years ago. They now attend a community church close by and she is very active in that church. But she said she would love to have another Book of Mormon and she wanted to start reading it again. We got her one and we're hoping that something can come from it. 

Yesterday, we had a very stressful day at church, but it was great! We had an old investigator, D. show up to church randomly. We hadn't talked to her in weeks! She came with her son and her daughter in law. Her daughter in law is white and doesn't speak any Spanish at all! So we had to hurry to set up some translation equipment I had to translate and it was sooo hard! It was a stressful sacrament meeting. After the meeting I translated in Gospel Principles as well, and they loved it! They said they'll come back next Sunday. Sadly, R and her family didn't come to church, and we haven't been able to contact her for a while. She is now off of a baptismal date until we can meet with her and teach her again. We're praying that we can help her with whatever she is going through. 

That's it for this week! We'll have transfers next week so I'll let you know if I'm getting transferred or not. I love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Thayne

After Zone Meeting

Week 76 - An intoxicated musician, NOT a good idea.

Yeah, it was suuuuuuuper cold here last week, but this week was heavenly!! It was up in the 60's!! I loved it! But this week it's getting back down to winter weather and it's supposed to go back down below 10 -_- so that's unfortunate. 

This week was good! We have been going out with Bro. Rodriguez a lot ever since he's been reactivated and he loves it!! He gave a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday and he did really well! He's on fire as he comes back to the church and his testimony.

This week we met with the G. family twice. The first time, we invited them to come to the church for a tour with us and they said maybe, and honestly, I was doubtful they could come. But at 6 pm on Wednesday they called and said they wanted to come at 6:30, so we hurried and miraculously found 2 members that could come with us and do the church tour. It was great! They liked it and I thought for sure they'd finally come to church! But, sadly they didn't come yesterday and they are still very hesitant when it comes to attending church. Step by step we're hoping they start warming up to the idea.

On Thursday we drove down to Warsaw to do exchanges with the Elders down there and it was a lot of fun! The very first lesson I taught with Elder Howlett on our exchange was to a drunk man that approached them a few nights before. We went to his house and he was definitely drunk again, but he let us in. His name was B. and he said he really wanted to be able to stop his addiction to alcohol. As I walked into his house, I saw his guitar and asked him if he played. He replied in the affirmative and I told him I do too a little bit. Well we got to talking and talked about addictions and the Atonement and how he can overcome it, but soon enough we had to get going because it was getting late. We told him we had to go and he said, "Well you guys can't leave until someone plays a song on the guitar." I told him we had to go, but he was very persistent, as most intoxicated people are, so I finally agreed. Although I was very rusty, I began to play "The General" by Dispatch (shout out to Michael Rosenberg) and he turned to Elder Howlett and said, "Do you know how to play the tambourine?" Elder Howlett said no and Ben yelled, "I do!!" And he picked up his tambourine and started hitting it with no rhythm whatsoever. He then handed the tambourine to Elder Howlett and grabbed another one out of his closet and fell to the ground and started dancing.... Well, in order to stop the madness I stopped playing, put the guitar down and we left. He said we could come back anytime though!! It was definitely a journal worthy experience.

Sadly, R. and her family couldn't make it to church, but we were able to teach them. They're still doing really well, but sometimes R. tends to put work over church so she wasn't there which means we'll have to push her date back.

That's all I have for this week! We'll be having Zone Conference tomorrow, so we're looking forward to that. We have to give a training in front of President Cleveland, so I'm a little nervous, but it'll be all good. I love you! Have a great week!!

Doing Service at Lake Winona

Week 75 - A Finding Miracle

This week was great! Sadly, R. and her family weren't able to come to church because she had an event for work. But they're still reading the Book of Mormon and they're still way solid! Her kids are pretty young. Like 13 and 10 I think. 

It's been soooo cold lately! It snowed almost ever day this week and I'm struggling not to slip and slide every where in the snow and ice. I am definitely ready for winter to leave now! 

This week we got to go on exchanges with the Assistants to the President. They usually try to go with all the Zone Leaders, and it was a great experience. I went with Elder Clark from Colorado and he's a really good missionary. After our exchange, he read a scripture from Jacob 2:7-8. In verse 8 it talks about how the people came to "hear the pleasing word of God", "the word which healeth the wounded soul." He invited me to use more scriptures while teaching and since then, I've been trying to do just that. We'll see how it goes! 

We had a great miracle recently! Last week, we came in contact with an inactive member that nobody in the branch knew. It was cool how we found him! In every area I'm in, I usually try to send out a daily mass text to members and investigators and I usually just send a scripture. Last week, I sent a scripture and someone named Rene Rodriguez texted back and said "Gracias Elderes". We had no idea who he was, or that he was even on our texting list, but I had the impression to give him a call. So I called him and he said he had some referrals for us! We were pumped! He was busy, so he told us to call him the next day. Well, we couldn't get a hold of him until last Thursday, when I called him and he invited us to lunch. We went out and ate together at Applebee's and we talked a lot. It turns out he's a convert who's been a member since he was baptized at 18 years of age in El Salvador and he's a returned missionary! We invited him to come to church and he said he would. I don't even know why he wasn't going to church for so long! He's so sweet! He has a strong testimony and after church, he already received an assignment to give a talk next Sunday and he's so willing! He said he's willing to come out and teach with us and he also said he wants to give us a lot of referrals! I'm stoked!!

Well, I don't have much more for this week! I love the work and I can't believe how fast it's goin by! I miss you all and I pray for you constantly! Have a good week!

Week 74 - Be cautious and always watchful for Satan's deceitful tactics

This week was good! We had a lot of success in the zone and it was great to see our zone reach a lot of the goals we had set. We're looking forward to the rest of the transfer with these diligent missionaries! 

Soo.. the lesson with the G family didn't go as well as planned. We had a good lesson about baptism as we taught from 2 Nephi 31 and they seemed to understand baptism and the importance of baptism by the proper authority. So I proceeded to invited them to be baptized when Felipe (the father) said, "Well we've already been baptized." Which led into a conversation about churches and authority and the restoration where we basically sat there and watched as the member we had with us went on and on. I'm not gonna lie, it got a little contentious, and a few times Felipe said, "I think I'll just stay in my church." But by the end, we had explained that he can know for himself the truth of these things and he said we could come back. So we're planning on watching the 20 minute restoration video with them next time to solidify that principle and help them grasp it. Hopefully it sticks. 

We were able to teach R again this week and it was great! We taught her about half of the Plan of Salvation and she enjoyed it. She really just eats it all up. She's been reading in the Book of Mormon and is already 5 chapters into 1 Nephi. She even made the 45 minute trip from Warsaw to Elkhart for church on Sunday and she liked it! She and her 2 kids, D and R, came up with some members that live in Warsaw. We had a great sacrament meeting and there was even an investigator from Elkhart that went up and bore his testimony. Elder Shepherd and Elder Labrum are teaching him and he's so prepared. 

We also have another investigator that we visited who we hadn't visited for a while. His name is LM, and he accepted a baptismal date when we first found him, but he's on house arrest until July so he wouldn't be able to get baptized until after he clears all that up. We had given him a Book of Mormon and stopped visiting for a while, but last week we went by and he had already read 8 chapters in the Book of Mormon on his own! And he remembered it all! He talked about Nephi and Lehi and the stubborn brothers Laman and Lemuel and the tree of life. He's loving it! We just have to get him to church and hopes he keeps progressing until he can finally get baptized in July. 

Yesterday we visited a member family and shared with them the story of Lehonti from Alma 47. I love the principle that Lehonti's experience illustrates. Satan, just like Amalickiah, beckons us to come down from off the mount and speak with him. Sometimes seeming harmless, we lower our standards and stoop down to his level where he slowly "administers poison" unto us until we die. He is so subtle in his ways and I've seen his effect on so many faithful members of the church. We must be cautious and always watching for his deceitful tactics.  

I love you! I hope you have a wonderful week! I pray for and think about you all often and I hope all is well. I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Josh

Week 73 - excited for these last 6 months of my mission and the opportunity I'll have to give Him my all

This week was great! We're finally seeing more and more success and we are being greatly blessed in the work. 

On Tuesday, we had a lot of new missionaries come up to our zone. One of them was Elder Shepherd! It's good to have my "son" (since he was my trainee) up here with me.

On Wednesday, we had a great lesson with the G family, a family of 7 that we're teaching. In the past, they hadn't really kept their commitments or progressed at all, so we actually almost cancelled the lesson to attend another lesson we had. But we felt impressed to go through with it. When we got to the lesson, we followed up on their reading assignment, which was Alma 32. To our surprise, their 9 year old daughter named R pulled out 2 pieces of paper and timidly gave it to us. Not only had she read, but she copied down the verses word for word! Being 9 years old, I doubt she really understood a lot, but she was so excited about it. Well, it appeared to us that nobody else had read, so we went on with the lesson. To start off, I asked the family, "What is faith?" As soon as the words left my lips, their 16 year old daughter M immediately quoted Alma 32:21 word for word! She read too! And she quoted that scripture better than I could have done it! We were both so happy and excited about the progress they had made since the last time we saw them. The parents didn't read, but by the pride that we saw in their faces of their kids' examples, I wouldn't be surprised to find that they read the next commitment. Now they just need to come to church! We plan to commit them to a baptism date tomorrow, so I ask your prayers on their behalf. 

Thursday, we spent the day in Warsaw again because we had a lot of appointments down there.  We had a lesson with an investigator named R. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and talked a little about prayer. At the end of the lesson, I started inviting her to baptism and as soon as she heard me say "will you be baptized" she cut me off and said, "Oh, yes! That's exactly what I want!" We committed her to prepare for March 5th. We're excited about it! :)

On Friday, we had a zone meeting to start out the transfer. President Cleveland wanted us to set some goals as a zone. So Elder Weese and I put together a zone meeting and it went great! The Spirit was so strong and we had a lot of participation from the missionaries in the zone. We set a goal to have 12 baptismal dates as a zone, 12 people at church on average weekly, and to be perfectly obedient and diligent to the proselyting schedule. Some of the missionaries even said that it was one of the best zone meetings they had ever been to! We all left the meeting excited and motivated to do more. At the beginning of the transfer we had 1 baptismal date in the zone. Since we set the goal, we have 5. So we're seeing the fruits of our labors come forth before our eyes. 

On Saturday, we had to wake up at 4 a.m. which was painful, but it was worth it because we got to go down to the temple! We went with Antonia Alvarado and Senobia Cruz, a couple of recent converts in our branch, to do baptisms for the dead. They loved it! After we finished, the temple workers there asked us to stick around until noon to help them with ordinances and stuff. So I got to baptize in the temple for my first time and I got to do it in English and Spanish. And then another Elder and I did confirmations for about 2 hours straight! It was great! 

This week was a successful one and we're excited about the stuff that's happening here. I love the Lord and His work. I'm excited for these last 6 months of my mission and the opportunity I'll have to give Him my all. I love you! Have a good week!