Well, today marks 2 months I've been out here serving a mission and let me tell you, it only feels like it's been 1 month so far. Time is just flying! The weeks feel like days and the days feel like weeks, I cannot describe it. I really wish I had something interesting to tell you that happened this week but not too much happened. I have a couple good stories, but nothing too exciting, so sorry about that. It did snow all this past week though, and it was my first time ever driving in the snow. It was pretty exciting! I promise I'll be careful though! Oh, and I slipped and fell on my butt the other day walking to my car, it was pretty funny, my companion was like what the heck, where did he go. He was already sitting in the car when I fell.
Something interesting that happened this past week was that there were transfers. We got a whole bunch of new Elders in our zone, and they are all really good at basketball. So yeah, basketball just got a lot tougher. And we also got one new sister in our district, she's pretty cool, doesn't really like how we play during basketball though, haha. Oh, our new zone leader is super tall! Holy cow, he is 6' '7". He isn't very good at basketball though, which I thought was weird. But, he is super cool, I can tell I am going to like the new Elders in our zone! :)
Tuesday was a horrible day, no luck on anything. However, we did go visit our potential investigator Janay. We weren't able to teach her though, because she had to take her 2 year old to the hospital. We asked if she needed a blessing, and she said we could give her one. So we did, and after she thanked us and we left. I don't know what she thought about it, I hope she felt the spirit. Anyways, we are going to go back there this week, so I hope everything works out all right.
Wednesday we visited a bunch of less actives, and no one answered the door. Thursday was fun though, because we went on exchanges again! :) This time it was Elder Robison and I (2 Junior companions) and I was in their area again. We taught 2 lessons, one, to one of their investigators and one to a member after dinner. With the investigator, we taught a 15 minute lesson on the Plan of Salvation, which was so hard, because that should be a 45 minute lesson. He had to go to work, that's why, but he was very interested in what we have to teach, so hopefully they baptize him, haha.
Friday, I went back with my companion, and this was our miracle day. We went tracting to find somebody's apartment number that the bishop gave us. Nobody answered the door, except for the person we had to find, it was so crazy! And the same thing happened Saturday, only we handed 5 Book of Mormons out in the process and gained 2 potential investigators. The Bishop was pretty proud of us. :)
So, Sunday was the day where I had my most interesting story to tell you. So a spanish lady in our Ward comes up to us, and asks us if we can bless her home, because she feels evil spirits in her home. Never thought I would have to cast out devils on my mission, haha. But, we agreed, and went over to help her. My companion and I both said a prayer to bless the home so the Spirit of the Lord can reside. It was so weird, I didn't feel any evil spirits in there, but they did. Anyways, it was pretty interesting, she was so grateful after we had done so.
Anyways, that's all I got this week, hopefully next week will be more interesting! I hope everybody has a wonderful thanksgiving this week without me, haha. I love you all, and I am so thankful to be out here serving the Lord for 2 years. Hope all is well back at home!
Elder Greer
"But, Behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; and then ask me if it be right, and if it be right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it not be right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me." -D&C 9:8-9
Monday, November 25, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Great Week But Not So Successful (Week 6 In The Field)
So the week started Wednesday because my P-day was last Tuesday. It didnt start off so great, our appointments on Wednesday, with our potential investigators, all fell through except for one which I will talk about later. Oh, by the way, this potential investigator's name is Janay, how weird is that?? She's black though haha.
Anyways, there was this one potential investigator we had an appointment with, so we go there and her two little kids answered the door (she's a single mom). So, her kids tell her mom we are at the door, and her mom tells her kids to tell us one moment. Anyways, 10 minutes later she still hasn't come out, so we knock again. Kids answer the door, same thing. We ended up standing out there for 40 minutes! At that point we were just like forget it, and we left. We came back the next day though, and we knocked, no answer but we can hear them inside. We knocked again, and no answer. Needless to say I just think she wasn't interested, haha.
Even though this week was pretty unsuccessful, it was a great week because, on Thursday night we had a devotional for the missionaries, and all the ward auxiliary leaders, with a guest speaker from the 1st quorum of the 70. Elder Bowen! He is such an amazing speaker! Dad, I wish you were there, because this devotional mostly pertained to the ward auxiliary leaders and ward missionaries. He talked about how important it is for members to work with the missionaries in sharing the gospel. Then he asked the missionaries, how long we are going to be here for. We replied 24 and 18 months. Then he asked the members, how long they will be here for. Longer than that for sure. He then said, we are the part time missionaries, and the members are the full time missionaries. Just because you dont wear a tag, doesn't not make you a missionary. Paint one on your heart and remember the baptismal covenants you made, one of them was to stand as a witness of God at all times, so that makes you a missionary for life! :)
The next day we had a mission tour with Elder Bowen again, but this time it was just for the missionaries. He stressed on the importance of keeping all the covenants we made so far. And then he talked about how when we are baptized we are adopted in the Abrahamic covenant and how we can receive all the blessings Abraham received if we continue to stay righteous. Anyways after we all got to meet him, we talked for a little, while which was awesome! I got to talk to a general authority!
Afterwards, when he was leaving, I went up to him and said, this will be the last time I ever see you again huh? He smiled and responded, until the next life. I was kinda bummed and said okay, well say hi to Elder Holland for me! He laughed and said okay, I actually work on the same floor as him. I was stunned and said no way, so since I know you personally now, does this mean I get an in? He laughed, looked at me, pointed up and said, your only in...Is through Him. It was awesome, I will never forget that, such words of wisdom haha.
On Saturday I attended my first funeral ever. Some elderly lady I didn't, know who served a mission here in colorado springs, died. It was kinda sad, but happy at the same time, because you know she is in a better place now and she received all the necessary ordinances to make it to the Celestial Kingdom. So yeah, that was interesting. But what made this week even more fun, was the fact that I got to see a lot of my friends that I came out with from the MTC! :) But not all of them, because some were hours away. The mission tour had to be split into two days.
Anyways, I'll end with Curtis and Janay. We got to see Curtis on Saturday, he is having 2 surgeries this week, one for his eye, and one for his stomach. He isn't doing so well right now, so please continue to pray for him, and that his baptism will go through.
Janay on the other hand, we gave her a book of mormon and told her to read and pray about it. She accepted the invitation, and we have a follow up appointment with her tomorrow! Please pray that that will go through also haha.
I hope you all are doing well and aren't missing me to much. ;) I absolutely love it out here, every day is a growing experience, and I become closer to my Heavenly Father as I learn to rely on him more often.
I love you all and miss you so much!
Elder Greer
"The formula for faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours - real or imagined - fall away in the abundance of the final reward" -Jeffery R. Holland
Anyways, there was this one potential investigator we had an appointment with, so we go there and her two little kids answered the door (she's a single mom). So, her kids tell her mom we are at the door, and her mom tells her kids to tell us one moment. Anyways, 10 minutes later she still hasn't come out, so we knock again. Kids answer the door, same thing. We ended up standing out there for 40 minutes! At that point we were just like forget it, and we left. We came back the next day though, and we knocked, no answer but we can hear them inside. We knocked again, and no answer. Needless to say I just think she wasn't interested, haha.
Even though this week was pretty unsuccessful, it was a great week because, on Thursday night we had a devotional for the missionaries, and all the ward auxiliary leaders, with a guest speaker from the 1st quorum of the 70. Elder Bowen! He is such an amazing speaker! Dad, I wish you were there, because this devotional mostly pertained to the ward auxiliary leaders and ward missionaries. He talked about how important it is for members to work with the missionaries in sharing the gospel. Then he asked the missionaries, how long we are going to be here for. We replied 24 and 18 months. Then he asked the members, how long they will be here for. Longer than that for sure. He then said, we are the part time missionaries, and the members are the full time missionaries. Just because you dont wear a tag, doesn't not make you a missionary. Paint one on your heart and remember the baptismal covenants you made, one of them was to stand as a witness of God at all times, so that makes you a missionary for life! :)
The next day we had a mission tour with Elder Bowen again, but this time it was just for the missionaries. He stressed on the importance of keeping all the covenants we made so far. And then he talked about how when we are baptized we are adopted in the Abrahamic covenant and how we can receive all the blessings Abraham received if we continue to stay righteous. Anyways after we all got to meet him, we talked for a little, while which was awesome! I got to talk to a general authority!
Afterwards, when he was leaving, I went up to him and said, this will be the last time I ever see you again huh? He smiled and responded, until the next life. I was kinda bummed and said okay, well say hi to Elder Holland for me! He laughed and said okay, I actually work on the same floor as him. I was stunned and said no way, so since I know you personally now, does this mean I get an in? He laughed, looked at me, pointed up and said, your only in...Is through Him. It was awesome, I will never forget that, such words of wisdom haha.
On Saturday I attended my first funeral ever. Some elderly lady I didn't, know who served a mission here in colorado springs, died. It was kinda sad, but happy at the same time, because you know she is in a better place now and she received all the necessary ordinances to make it to the Celestial Kingdom. So yeah, that was interesting. But what made this week even more fun, was the fact that I got to see a lot of my friends that I came out with from the MTC! :) But not all of them, because some were hours away. The mission tour had to be split into two days.
Anyways, I'll end with Curtis and Janay. We got to see Curtis on Saturday, he is having 2 surgeries this week, one for his eye, and one for his stomach. He isn't doing so well right now, so please continue to pray for him, and that his baptism will go through.
Janay on the other hand, we gave her a book of mormon and told her to read and pray about it. She accepted the invitation, and we have a follow up appointment with her tomorrow! Please pray that that will go through also haha.
I hope you all are doing well and aren't missing me to much. ;) I absolutely love it out here, every day is a growing experience, and I become closer to my Heavenly Father as I learn to rely on him more often.
I love you all and miss you so much!
Elder Greer
"The formula for faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours - real or imagined - fall away in the abundance of the final reward" -Jeffery R. Holland
One of Andrew's New Ties We Sent Him
He and His Companion Got A Kick Out of This Old VW Bus
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
My Roller Coaster Week (Week 5 In The Field)
Wow, this Week really had its ups and downs, let me tell you. So, starting with last monday when I last talked to you guys. It was our p-day obviously, so we played basketball with everyone. In the middle of the game, I have the ball, and my Zone leader is defending me hard core. He swings to knock the ball out of my hand, misses, and upper cuts me in the jaw! I bit my tongue in two places and it was bleeding everywhere. Needless to say, I didn't eat that night because my jaw was super sore. But everything is okay now, I got a blessing from my Bishop and that made me feel better. So yeah, thats how my week started, which was horrible, but it did get better. :)
We went on exchanges for the fist time, and I went with my district leader in his area, and his companion came in mine. That was the most fun I've had so far, and I learned a lot too. So we went to a members home for dinner, and they had a super nice home, and they cooked an amazing dinner. But anyways, my district leader shared the ward mission plan with them and we had a lesson on how to invite others to church. They were an older couple who served as missionaries before, but we still talked about the importance of it. She told us how she has this really good friend of hers, who's actually their neighbor, and every time she brought up the Book of Mormon or anything about our church, her friend would stop her and say, "Stop now, before we lose our friendship forever." She cares about her friend a lot and she was really sad because she read a quote from a general authority basically saying anybody that knows about the gospel, and has a chance to accept it, but does not, is damned essentially. This made her tear up because she loves her friend and doesn't want that for her.
I then told her, look, you have to know that everything will be okay in the end. Sometimes it takes a while for people to accept the gospel. I then told the story about Great Grandma, I told her how she knew about the gospel ever since Grandma was a kid, and how we tried getting her to be baptized, but she never did. Until last summer, she decided she was finally ready, and she's in her 80s now. Anyways, I told her that there is always hope and to never give up, it will all be okay in the end. That made her really happy, and made her tear up. She thanked me and then we closed with a prayer and left. That was a really cool experience that I'll never forget. I told Great Grandma that story when I wrote her. I hope that makes her happy :)
So after that, the week kinda started going bad again. Our investigator won't be able to get baptized until next month because you have to attend church 3 times and he's been going to the hospital 5 times a week because of his diabetes and other medical issues. My companion and I are really bummed and we don't know what to do. Guess we just have to continue to keep praying for him and hope it works out. On the bright side, we had 9 less actives come to church last Sunday, don't know how, but they did, and it was awesome!
And yesterday was such a good day. It was supposed to be our p-day, but it was a holiday. But I'm glad they switched it to today, because we had such success yesterday. We gained 3 potential investigators and have return appointments with all of them. We gave 2 of them a Book of Mormon too. It was awesome! So hopefully they turn out to be something good :)
Anyways, I love all of you, please continue to pray for Curtis, he really needs it. I hope everybody is doing well, I'll update you next week!
Elder Greer
We went on exchanges for the fist time, and I went with my district leader in his area, and his companion came in mine. That was the most fun I've had so far, and I learned a lot too. So we went to a members home for dinner, and they had a super nice home, and they cooked an amazing dinner. But anyways, my district leader shared the ward mission plan with them and we had a lesson on how to invite others to church. They were an older couple who served as missionaries before, but we still talked about the importance of it. She told us how she has this really good friend of hers, who's actually their neighbor, and every time she brought up the Book of Mormon or anything about our church, her friend would stop her and say, "Stop now, before we lose our friendship forever." She cares about her friend a lot and she was really sad because she read a quote from a general authority basically saying anybody that knows about the gospel, and has a chance to accept it, but does not, is damned essentially. This made her tear up because she loves her friend and doesn't want that for her.
I then told her, look, you have to know that everything will be okay in the end. Sometimes it takes a while for people to accept the gospel. I then told the story about Great Grandma, I told her how she knew about the gospel ever since Grandma was a kid, and how we tried getting her to be baptized, but she never did. Until last summer, she decided she was finally ready, and she's in her 80s now. Anyways, I told her that there is always hope and to never give up, it will all be okay in the end. That made her really happy, and made her tear up. She thanked me and then we closed with a prayer and left. That was a really cool experience that I'll never forget. I told Great Grandma that story when I wrote her. I hope that makes her happy :)
So after that, the week kinda started going bad again. Our investigator won't be able to get baptized until next month because you have to attend church 3 times and he's been going to the hospital 5 times a week because of his diabetes and other medical issues. My companion and I are really bummed and we don't know what to do. Guess we just have to continue to keep praying for him and hope it works out. On the bright side, we had 9 less actives come to church last Sunday, don't know how, but they did, and it was awesome!
And yesterday was such a good day. It was supposed to be our p-day, but it was a holiday. But I'm glad they switched it to today, because we had such success yesterday. We gained 3 potential investigators and have return appointments with all of them. We gave 2 of them a Book of Mormon too. It was awesome! So hopefully they turn out to be something good :)
Anyways, I love all of you, please continue to pray for Curtis, he really needs it. I hope everybody is doing well, I'll update you next week!
Elder Greer
**My Bishop and his family
**Finally wearing winter clothes
**Gorgeous view the night we went on exchanges
Monday, November 4, 2013
5 Weeks In!! (Week 4 In The Field)
So this week nothing really happened too much. Other than Halloween, which by the way, I hope everybody had a great one! :) Us missionaries had to be in at 6:00PM on Halloween night. :/ Which was kinda a bummer because there was a chili cook-off, and trunk or treat in our ward going on. Not only that, but it would have been a great missionary opportunity because there were 7 non members there! Ugh, such a bummer, but it's alright I guess. Oh, and the trick or treating in our neighborhood, is absolutely horrible! Haha! There were only 3 kids that came to our door, nothing compared to how many kids come to your door in Florida.
Oh, not only that, but my companion had never even heard of Halloween, so for this being his 1st time, was kinda a let down since only 3 kids came to the door. He told me he doesn't like the idea of Halloween, and then he said if he was to hand out anything to kids at the door, it would be a Book of Mormon! I got a good laugh out of that! :)
So like I was saying, nothing too exciting happened this week. However, we did manage to get 4 less active members to come back to church this past Sunday! Hopefully they will continue to come every Sunday.
Oh, our investigator is still committed to baptism on the 16th of this month. We need to plan for that ASAP, because we haven't even started, haha. :p Guess this next week we'll be super busy! Continue to pray for him, because he is really sick with all the meds he has to take, and how many times he has to go to the hospital for a kidney dialysis. So please pray for him, and that the baptism will pull through!
Oh, another cool thing that happened this week is that we gained a potential investigator! We met him the same way we met Curtis (the one who is getting baptized). He is another elderly black gentleman, and he told us to come back this Wednesday to share our message! :) So hopefully that works out as well!
Anyway, like I said, nothing really too much happened this week, but I'll continue to keep you updated! :) Hope you are all doing well! I'll continue to pray for all of you! Have a good week!
Love you Guys!
Elder Greer
P.S. This weeks scripture thought: Mosiah 18:9 "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life"
Oh, not only that, but my companion had never even heard of Halloween, so for this being his 1st time, was kinda a let down since only 3 kids came to the door. He told me he doesn't like the idea of Halloween, and then he said if he was to hand out anything to kids at the door, it would be a Book of Mormon! I got a good laugh out of that! :)
So like I was saying, nothing too exciting happened this week. However, we did manage to get 4 less active members to come back to church this past Sunday! Hopefully they will continue to come every Sunday.
Oh, our investigator is still committed to baptism on the 16th of this month. We need to plan for that ASAP, because we haven't even started, haha. :p Guess this next week we'll be super busy! Continue to pray for him, because he is really sick with all the meds he has to take, and how many times he has to go to the hospital for a kidney dialysis. So please pray for him, and that the baptism will pull through!
Oh, another cool thing that happened this week is that we gained a potential investigator! We met him the same way we met Curtis (the one who is getting baptized). He is another elderly black gentleman, and he told us to come back this Wednesday to share our message! :) So hopefully that works out as well!
Anyway, like I said, nothing really too much happened this week, but I'll continue to keep you updated! :) Hope you are all doing well! I'll continue to pray for all of you! Have a good week!
Love you Guys!
Elder Greer
P.S. This weeks scripture thought: Mosiah 18:9 "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life"
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