Crazy Week! (Week 51 In The Field)

Okay, so many out of the norm things happened this week. I don't have much time, so I got to make this short.

So, on Tuesday we had specialized training with our mission president. They focused on what makes a successful mission. It's not about the number of baptisms you get, it's about how much you gave to the Lord. So basically if you're giving it your all and working your hardest, that's what makes a successful mission. It was a really good meeting, I got a lot out of it.

So that night, an Elder in our district, Elder Jordan, got emergency transferred to fountain and we got a new Elder in our district, Elder Parry. I actually came out with him, so it's pretty exciting to have him. So my companion had to drive Elder Jordan all the way to fountain and pick up Elder Parry. So I was on exchanges with Elder Mogle that night.

The rest of the week consisted of multiple doctors appointments, because Elder Mogle broke his pinky the other week playing basketball. We have to take them everywhere because they dont have a car, so thats been pretty fun haha.

As far as teaching opportunities go, we had barely any this week with all the craziness that's been going on. But we did meet with our less active Deb and that's a cool story. That morning we were debating on what to teach her and we both decided on family history. Well we get there and she told us she met with the bishop and the bishop wants to call her as a family history consultant. When she told us that, I was like holy cow that's exactly what we wanted to talk about today. So she is progressing really well. Still hasn't come to church yet, well at least our ward. She is able to make it to the 1 o'clock ward though, so she goes there.

In other news, I am officially on the downward slope of my mission. My hump day was Thurday and my wonderful parents sent me the greatest package ever. Thank you everyone who participated in that, made my day. :)

One more interesting thing that happened was a service project we did on Saturday. We went to the W flying ranch to help build back up the forest after the fire that happened there a couple years ago. So we were basically on the foothills of the mountains raking the sides so they can start planting seeds there to help the forest grow again. It was pretty fun and we got pretty dirty. I got some pretty funny pics of that.

Anyways, that was my week, not much else happened. I hope you have a good week this week! I love and miss you all! :)

Elder Greer

1 Year Mark! (Week 50 In The Field)

Well it's official! I hit my year mark this Thursday!

I cannot believe the time that has already gone by. I have met so many amazing people, and have had so many spiritual experiences in the past year. It's sad to see them all come and go. But I look forward to many more great experiences, and to meet many more people in the coming year. Serving a mission has just increased my testimony of the the truthfulness of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day saints. I know without a doubt in my mind, that this is the one and only true church, and that the work that I get to participate in is God's holy work! I am excited to finish my last year off strong and to help as many people as I can as possible. It's so amazing to be out bearing testimony to everyone you meet of Christ, and all that he has done for us and his infinite amount of love for us! 

So as you know, I went to the temple last week Thursday and I had such an amazing experience. I actually only went with just the Elders that I came out with, President and Sister Rehm, and the assistants. We started out by doing baptisms for the dead. And that was probably one of the best experiences I have ever had, because I got to baptize my MTC comp and he got to baptize me. For those of you that dont know what baptisms for the dead are, it is when we stand as proxy's for those who have passed away who were not able to receive the necessary saving ordinances of baptism and confirmation. So, we do it for them, and they can have the opportunity of being baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. I am so thankful for the temple and how it allows us to help those who have already passed on who need work done in order to enter into Heavenly Father's kingdom after this life. 

We were at the temple from noon to about 5. Then we drove back to the Springs where we had dinner at the mission home, and a testimony meeting as well, before we all departed back to our areas. That was probably the highlight of the week for sure. Being able to see all the Elder's that I came out with, and the growth that they have made in the past year. 

So not much happened the rest of the week except for Saturday and Sunday. Those were our busiest days. On Saturday we did a huge zone service project helping a member that lives in the black forest clean up after the fire that happened a year ago. Haha, I got so black and nasty after that. 

On Sunday We had church and our Ward put on a primary program, and there were so many non-members there it was crazy! After church we had an appointment with an active member helping them set up a family mission plan and then we had dinner, and after that we went to the Curtis' house. The less active that I told you about in my last email, and we did a family home evening with them. We taught about how we can be so caught up with daily activities that we forget to see the good and the difference we make in people's lives. After, we did an activity where we had to stack 5 apples on top of each other in under a minute! I only got 3, my comp got 4. It was so hard. We were able to stack 5 apples in under 5 minutes haha. Anyways, that was a good time. They are slowly but surely making progress. 

After that, we had mission prep and we talked about the atonement and how it can cover all aspects of our lives. It turned out to be a good lesson, we bore powerful testimonies at the end. You can tell everyone was feeling the spirit.
 
Anyways, that was my week! It was amazing  I hope you all had an amazing week as well! I love and and miss you! 1 year left! Got to make it a good one! :)

Elder Greer

Elder Greer's MTC Group At The Temple

Being Goofy!

Family Home Evening Activity

Temple Jubilee This Coming Week (Week 49 In The Field)

I just found out today that my temple jubilee is this week thursday! Totally caught me by surprise because I don't hit my year mark until next week. But I am super excited to go soon, and I cant wait to tell you all about it and send some pictures.

This past week has been really good. Wev'e actually been able to stay pretty busy here in our area. Of course it was transfer week this past week so thats always busy. We helped some of the sisters that were transferring pack and clean their apartments. After that, we all went out to lunch and then we had to get back to do a service project for a member in another ward. It was the usual, pulling weeds haha. That took up most of our day on Tuesday.

Thursday was crazy! It got down to like 40 degrees and when it hit nightfall, it snowed a little bit! What the heck! It was a pretty eventful day being out in the cold all day. It kinda scares me because it reminds me of when I first came out. I cant believe I'm about to go through winter again already. Anyways, that thursday morning we had an appointment with a less active that we have been working with a lot lately. She is progressing so well and actually came to church on Sunday. We showed her the video the Hope Of Gods Light which is on Mormon Channel if any of you want to watch it. It's a really good video, I think I mentioned it before. She totally related to the video and felt the spirit so strongly. We've really been focusing on the atonement with her and how we can use it in our lives to carry us through our hard times.

Friday we had District Meeting which is always so much fun. We all bore our testimonies of Christ and what he means to us in our lives. The spirit was so strong in that meeting. Probably one of my favorite district meetings we've had. After that we went to the mall to eat. And one of the Elders in our district decided to buy a banana board after. We didn't think he was actually going to do it but he did. If you don't know what a banana board is, it's a smaller version of a long board. It's funny because when he first got on it, he failed. And then I tried and was a natural at it haha. It was pretty fun.

After that we went to do service, pulling weeds again. But this time it was in the cold weather so that was fun. Thursday and Fridays were the only cold days. Now it's back up to 80 degrees and sunny. It is so strange haha.

On Saturday we blitzed the other elders area again. Not much really happened there to report on, but we did end up helping them out a lot.

Sunday was really good! We had an appointment with a less active family that night, the Curtis'. We helped them set goals to progress spiritually. They said they really wanted to start back up family home evening again, so we are going to try and do that with them this Sunday. They aren't progressing as much as we would like them to, but they really enjoy having us over.

Anyways, that was my week. It's been a really good one. And it's been nice because we've been finding a lot more work to do in our area lately. :) I'll let you all know how my temple trip goes! Talk to you next week! Love and miss you all!

Elder Greer

Don't worry, didn't ride it ;)

Transfers! (Week 48 In The Field)

Well everybody I am staying in the Cordera Ward with my current companion Elder Mcghie! I am super excited to stay because there is actually some work to do now here. This transfer and next transfer are going to be a little different though. This transfer will only be a five week transfer, instead of a 6 week transfer. And next transfer will be a 7 week transfer. I forget the reason why it's happening that way, but I guess I'll just have to roll with it. 

Sorry I didn't email everybody last week, I ran out of time.  Looks like this one will have to be a pretty short one because I'm running low on time. But I have to let you all know that I am alive and well! 

We had a pretty good week this week. I'll start out with the bad news I guess. Tommy, our 9 year old investigator whose family is less active, lost his baptismal date for September 22nd. Well at least it will be post-poned for now. We had troubles contacting their family again, but we went over there yesterday and talked to the Mom. Sounds like they are having some more family issues, so we will have to wait on him getting baptized until another time.  Please keep Tommy and his family in your prayers. The family's last name is Townsend.

On the bright side we had dinner with a less active a couple nights ago and that went really well. They are the Curtis family that just moved into our ward a month ago from Montana. So they joined the church a year and a half ago in Maryland, and had a great experience with the church there. They have 5 kids and 2 of them are a Priest and a Miamaid (or however you spell that haha). Everybody that was of age got baptized. But they moved to Montana shortly after and had a different experience with the church. So they are concerned if they joined the Church for the people, or if they really knew if it was true or not. So we read with them Moroni 10:3-5 and told them that if they really wanna know if they joined the church for the right reasons then they need to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We ended with our testimonies and the spirit was super strong. We also invited them to church but they said they aren't ready yet. So please pray for them as well! They are a super nice family and they love the missionaries. Our goal is to help them so that they can be ready to be sealed together as a family. 

Those were the 2 major things that happened this week. I am so excited to be here another transfer again. Good things are going to happen this transfer, I can feel it! :) I hope all is well with all of you! I love and miss you and hope you have a great week! :)

Elder Greer

Alice In Wonderland Themed Park Nearby