Final weeks in Yerington

Mon Feb 6 2017

We started P-Day off by going and emailing which was good. We then went and cleaned out and washed our car. We then drove up to Fallon. We met at the church and carpooled over to a dairy. We got to do a hay maze and that was pretty intense. We then toured the dairy where we milked cows and saw baby cows born that day. We then went and played some games at the church. We drove back and showered and tried to visit some people.

Tue Feb 7 2017

We had District Meeting of course and that was pretty good. It was on studies again. After the meeting we went over to Fernley to start our exchange. I am with Elder Smith and Elder Soto up here in Fernley. We stopped by this less active guys house to drop off a map and share a spiritual thought. We had a lesson with a less active member about the power and importance of faith. We then taught Rick the end of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been a good day!

Thu Feb 9 2017

Today has been really good. Elder Gurr was regular sick, but he pushed through and we had a good day. We went to the Greenhouse and had a good time helping out there. We have been listening to some Hank Smith talks and that has been great. For one, they are funny, and two, they are motivational. I think we have had some real bonding listening to those talks. We listened to one last night before bed and we listened to half of one this morning. We finished it up at lunch. We then had Weekly Planning which was good. We are getting faster. We again had a really good companionship inventory. We talked about what Elder Gurr is stressing about now and it’s about me leaving and him taking over the area. This was good in my mind, it’s a problem focused on the now and one I could really relate to. I felt prompted to not tell him what I thought but to roleplay it and have the spirit work on him. I pretended to be a person with a lot of questions about the plan of salvation and I showed him how to apply the concepts into his mission. It was really good and I felt really close to him again. We then went out and took a survey in preperation for a mission tour in April.

Sat Feb 11 2017

Today was pretty interesting. I woke up at 6 this morning to get ready so that I could still have my full hour of study. After study and planning and whatnot we headed up to Fallon for interviews. President said that I will be transferred, so now it’s official. We then came back and had a really good lesson with the Jackson family. We read “A Witness of God” by Elder Anderson. Brother Jackson really liked it. We then did lunch and comp study and then headed out. We walked the town and set up a couple of appointments so that was good. We then went and saw the Freemans and set an appointment for… the night after transfers. I told them I was leaving and Karen promised cinnamon bread so I’m 5 pumped for that. We then went to the Christensens for dinner and it was Hawaiian haystacks and I think I haven’t had those since I left to come here so that was pretty cool. We were able to help Brother Christensen bless one of his children and that was really cool, he was really grateful.

Sun Feb 12 2017

Meetings were good, church was good. I especially liked one of the talks about tolerance and having love for all of God’s children. I also really liked the third hour about having a good attitude, it really important that we are always positive.

Mon Feb 13 2017

Today has been real good! We had a great P-Day where we got a lot of good things done. We started the day with studies, of course and that was good. We then went over to the church and emailed, which, guess what, that was good too! We then came back and went ham with the cleaning of our apartment. Our pipes have been clogged for like 3 weeks and I think we got it unclogged today! So mission accomplished on that! We then did haircuts and I think that Elder Gurr is my best mission barber and I think I am getting better at doing the back of his head for him. So that was good because +3 style points. We then napped which was definitely good. I then wrote a letter to Sister Buker and Elder Gurr played with his puzzle. I’m glad he likes puzzles. We then sent the letter and he sent some of his Christmas stuff home. We bought McDonald's and ate that at the apartment and had a Bible Video movie marathon! That was really cool! We then headed out and saw the Bryants and this was probably the last in mission time that I will see them. That was pretty sad, but I know they are going to do great progressing in the Gospel! We then walked and tried to set some stuff up but no one was home. We then went and did the BoMI with the Christensen family and that was good! They were pretty excited to do it! I can see now how the BoMI and how active member lessons can increase member trust! Now we are here. Oh! And super cool miracle! Gale Jacobson texted us back! We have an appointment with her tomorrow! We are super excited for that!

Tue Feb 14 2017

Happy Valentine’s Day! Or in other words, happy half birthday eve! Jk. It’s been a super awesome day. We had District Meeting and that was good. The topic of it was still studies, this time with a focus on answering people's questions. The Fernley Elders also made like over 100 cookies and so we ate those with lunch and that was cool. We then came back and went to teach Gale! It was kind of a stressful lesson because we brought Brother Rowley and he talked the whole time and we didn’t get to teach. He also went way too deep so that was no bueno.. We then went to Jim Button and that lesson was quite miraculous. He had a realization that he needed to repent. That was pretty cool to see and we testified that he could repent, and that all things are possible through Christ’s Atonement. We then went to dinner with the Hunt’s and had fondue and it was super good. We then did the BoMI with the Jackson’s and that was pretty good. We then went to Silver Springs to start exchanges so now I am here with Elder Bentti. It will be another good day tomorrow as it has been today!

Wed Feb 15 2017

Today has been pretty good! We had studies and a big breakfast, we always do some intense breakfast on exchanges. We then went to the Greenhouse and did some service there. It was pretty good. We then came back and did lunch and then we did Companionship study and Language study. We then went out to Smith valley and tried to see everyone. We only saw the Smith family, and they were good. We followed up on the Book of Mormon with Brother Smith and he is still reading it so that is awesome! We left from there and we were going to try a family far to the south when we got a call from Sister Tate in the ward. She said that Brother Adams, a older sick man that lives with her needed a blessing. During studies I had read about Alma and Amulek IMMEDIATELY going and healing Zeezrom when he asked for it. We decided to do that and immediately go. We got there and I felt like I should do the anointing so I did. Elder Bentti then gave the blessing and he felt like Brother Adam's life was up. He was scared to say he would die but he worded it in a way that the blessing would make sense if he lived or died. It was a very spiritual experience. It is amazing how important that when we get a prompting that we immediately go and do as the Lord commands us, through the Holy Ghost!

Fri Feb 17 2017

Today has been kind of weird. We started off with a good morning, my personal schedule allotted me a lot of extra time and that was cool. Brother Rowley called during studies to ask to change coordination to 1. So we went and worked at the Greenhouse and today we got rid of useless, broken, and drawn in books. They had one book, for example called how to use a small computer from the 80’s and the “small computer” was almost as big as my desk. We then came back to the house to have lunch. After that, we went over to the church and made our copies and by then we should have had coordination but Brother Rowley was half an hour late. The meeting itself was good, nice and fast. We then came back to do companionship study and 12 weeks. After we had planned to go to Susan but we decided to call first. She talked for about and hour and during that the Cirones, who we had dinner with today, called three times. After Susan hung up we called them and rushed over for dinner, which was good. We then came back. Our lessons for the night had cancelled and Elder Gurr is starting to stress again so we walked around town, trying to set up appointments, but no one was there. We then came back and did language study.

Sat Feb 18 2017

So today has been pretty interesting. A good interesting for sure. We started off with all the good ol’ morning stuff. We had a lesson with Eric Soto set for 3 today where we would be reading 1 Nephi 11 and 12. In my second copy of the Book of Mormon, my leather one, I was in 1 Nephi 3 so after I did reading in my other copy and some stuff in Preach My Gospel I went ham reading my leather copy. I was adding all the tabs but still reading fast, I thought. I only got through 1 Nephi 8 but that was still good. I definitely “feasted” on the words of Christ. We then left to go see Susan, but she wasn’t home. We then went to try Janna who was eating breakfast or something. So we went to try the Thompsons. They are definitely warming up to us! We left feeling good and smelling like cigarettes.. :P Then we headed up to see the Nish family who is going down to Texas next week. We shared part of Lehi’s dream and talked about holding fast to the rod. We got out of there “behind schedule” so we went to go do lunch and all of the rest of our studies. Oh, and also Eric Soto cancelled again. By the time we finished studies we had time to change, grab some handouts and go to Schurz for their missionary open house. The branch over there is like 5 cute. We got there and no one really showed up for the first hour. President and Sister Chesnut showed up about a half hour late, they got super lost. We stood at the door, waiting for people to come and then we decided that we could check out the other rooms to see what they had set up. When we were in the primary room, President came in and said basically that I was leaving and asked us if we were both prepared for that. He then pulled me out and called me to be District Leader…. Gulp. I don’t think that has sunk in yet all the way, but it will. Probably when I am giving my first district training… Yep. That was cool though, I am excited to have another way to learn and grow and to serve my fellow missionaries. After that, it seemed like no one was showing up so we did the talks portion of the program anyways. They called us up to speak and thank goodness I studied 1 Nephi 8 this morning. I used that and talked about how converts will be rooted in the Gospel when they have a testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon. It was good and I can tell that my talking in front of everyone skills are developing, even though I still sweat buckets. President and Sister Chesnut spoke as well and that was super good. After the talks an investigator family showed up! We introduced ourselves to them and that was super cool! After that, people started leaving and we stayed and talked to the members for a bit and now we are back here! This next transfer will be one of growth!

Sun Feb 19 2017

So today has been pretty good. I was trying to keep my leaving on the DL (down low), but that didn’t work out too well… In PEC this morning Brother Rowley announced it, and then he did again in Gospel principles, and then Brother Boxley announced it in Elder’s Quorum. So yeah, so much for slipping away without anyone seeing me. Classes and sacrament meeting were good. What stood out was just saying goodbye to everyone. I said goodbye to Brother Rowley and that was way sadder than I expected. We did the BoMI with the Boxleys after church and we talked about how I am leaving and they said they would miss me. Brother Boxley said the closing prayer and got super teary when he prayed for us. We all got pretty teary. Boy am I going to miss it here. After church we did lunch and companion study which was pretty good. I taught Elder Gurr how to teach the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation together and that was pretty cool. We then went out to Susan’s who wasn’t there but we dropped off a large print copy of the Book of Mormon. We then came back and walked around, trying to set up appointments. We do that a lot, it helps Elder Gurr not stress and he sure was today, enough to where he was starting to get sick. So yeah, today was mitigation… At least I think that is the right word. We had a good dinner with the Christensen family, the parents of Brother Christensen. We talked about the scriptures which was 5 cool. We then went up north to try peeps, no one was there, so we came back and did 12 weeks and Language study. Language study was regular, but 12 weeks was good. We did the self assessment and reviewed all of Chapter 1 in Preach My Gospel. I thought it was pretty good, all really just to assure Elder Gurr that he is a successful missionary. Now he is done with training and that’s pretty cray cray. Now we await transfer calls >.< *butterflies* Ohh! And one miracle was that Jim Button came to church and we had given him Pero and now he has given up coffee! That was so cool to see! He says he is getting more Pero and throwing out his coffee! What a miracle!

I just got called to Gardnerville! It will be pretty interesting to go and serve there! My new companion is Elder Jones, he came out with Elder Gurr so it will be cool to see what these next transfers hold!

Stress and Refiner's Fires, Better, & Getting Better!

Jan 16 - Jan 22- Another great week, though filled with plenty of stress and refiner's fires. Here are a few of the highlights-

Tue Jan 17 2017

Today….Was intense to say the least. We started the day with a little personal study which was good and I studied about church tours to refresh my memory on that. We then had to leave at like 8:40 and that was weird. We had to go to District Meeting early because of the new schedule changes. We were getting ready to start talking about the changes when President walks in. That equals intensity intensifying. We then talked about the changes and they are pretty intense to say the least. From the time we get up to 10 o’clock it is up to us what we do to prepare ourselves for the day. Like, if we want to take a long time to take a breakfast or take a long study. So yeah, they want all of us outside at 10 AM every day. I guess its going to help with missionaries who have depression and stress and stuff. After that, we had District Meeting and it was really good! President came to that too and we talked about casual and exact obedience and it was a really good check for me to make sure I was doing all I could to be obedient. We came back and had a church tour with Jim Button and Brother Rogers and that was good. Brother Rogers basically took lead and that was good because I think it helped their friendship grow more.

Oh yeah, also, when we got back to the apartment a drunk lady waved us down and was saying that she needed Jesus. We were like “Is there something we can do to help you?” And she was like, “If you don’t get on your knees and pray you are Satan’s people” Also, because we smiled we were satanic… So yeah, then she got down and said the Lord’s Prayer. Then the cops got her.

Wed Jan 18 2017

Today has been pretty awesome! We started out the day with the new schedule and that was 5 weird. We did a little bit of exercise and then got ready and chilled for a bit. It was super weird because we did all of that and it was only like 8 and then we made a big breakfast. Still really weird. Then we planned after that. Weird. Then we had personal study at 9. Weird. Then we left and all that. It was so weird because I felt terrible doing all of that and it was a battle of what I have always known and what I now know. It was weird. It really is cool. Yeah, it will get some getting used to but it is what the Lord wants. Elder Gurr and I went over to Mason Valley Residency to give Elizabeth Wellman a blessing. She was in a ton of pain because she fell and broke a leg at age 92. We gave her the blessing and she was so thankful.

Thu Jan 19 2017

8:38 AM

I just had a really cool experience that I wanted to put in. My oil vial popped yesterday and spilled out all my consecrated oil. Today, I decided one of the things I could do “to bring to pass much righteousness” with my time this morning would be to consecrate more oil. I am not the best at consecrating oil because I have only done it twice before. Today I did the prayer but I jumbled through it a bit. I closed the prayer and I was wondering if Heavenly Father had accepted it. As I stood there pondering I felt the spirit wash over me, testifying that that was acceptable. It was a wonderful experience because now I understand more what the scriptures mean when they say the Holy Spirit of promise. It was a wonderful feeling and it really brought that knowing that what I had done was acceptable.

Jan 23 - Jan 29

Mon Jan 23 2017

So today has been really good. It’s the first time that we have done the new extended P-Day and that was pretty good. I think it will be even better when I get to a bigger city again. Then, we stayed in for a bit and then went thrift shopping and I found a tie and some sick flags so it was chill. We emailed and then came back and napped for an hour or so. We then went to dinner with the Iveys. Brother Ivey is the Stake Patriarch and dinner over there is always really good. I especially like dinner there because they are just so missionary minded so conversations are always on point. We committed them to do the Book of Mormon initiative and they were pretty pumped to start that! We then went and tried some people over in Mason and no one was there except the Thompson family. They let us in and we were just trying to set up a dinner or something. We ended up talking to them for quite a while, and it was really neat because we got to talk to Brother Thompson. He never comes out, he usually stays in the back room. This time and he came out and actually talked to us about his work which was really cool. He watches the acid ponds here and is de-aciding them. That was cool to find out.

Wed Jan 25 2017

Today has been pretty good. We had exchanges and we also had a worldwide missionary broadcast and that was super cool. We saw most of what they talked about coming like the new schedule that we are already using. That was pretty cool. We had a good day down in Silver Springs, and a couple of good lessons. I decided today that I would rather live in Sun Valley than Silver Springs, it’s pretty ghetto. Anyways, the whole day was kind of weird because it felt like I was a junior companion in a new area and I haven’t felt like that in a while. It was also super weird to try to be switching off with a trio again. It was still a super good day, Elder Smith, Soto, and I all bonded really well and Elder Smith planned more of the 2k18 summer trip. It was pretty good and now I am down in Yerington again!

Thu Jan 26 2017

Today has been really good! We went over to the Greenhouse and went ham sorting the books and they are looking better and better. It was funny because there was a ton of JW’s (Jehovah's Witness's) there. It was cool because we were all doing what we could to help and serve as the Master served.

Fri Jan 27 2017

That lady that came up to Elder Bentti and I last week and said that we are going to hell knocked on our door today. She needed help activating her phone and she was really nice now that she wasn’t drunk! That was a cool little miracle!

Sat Jan 28 2017

Today has been awesome! We got to go see Susan, first thing in the morning and she was really happy to see us. We stacked her firewood for 3 hours and got a nice big pile. We had a pretty cool experience. We were going to do a lesson with her but then I realized that it would be super awkward and forced, so we decided to invite her to church, because that felt better, more right. She was super excited when we invited her! We got a ride all set up and everything and she is coming tomorrow! I set a goal on Thursday that I would exercise portion control and so since then, everyone gives us tons of treats! -_- I don’t know if I am happy or sad…..

Sun Jan 29 2017

Today has been sooo good! We had church and studies in the morning. Susan came to church! So did Sister Bryant! Also, we had 8 investigators at church! That was sooo cool! It was sooo great to see them all there!

Jan 30 - Feb 5

Mon Jan 30 2017

So today has really been good! We had an interesting P-day to say the least… We had planned to leave to Fallon at 10 to go to racquetball and we were like 5 pumped for that. We went over to the church to email and I forgot all my pictures and stuff and was like 5 bummed about that. We got a call from the Zone Leaders saying we were banned from doing racquetball… forever…. We call Sister Cliften and Nathan Johnson to let them know and they were super bummed too. We decided we would hike Wilson Canyon at 11. We show up and Sister Cliften still is super bummed and doesn’t want to even do the hike. Nathan said he knew about some arch down at the bottom of the valley that we could try. We all decided to do that instead. We drove like 10 miles south past the last home in the valley. We eventually found the arch. It wasn’t that bad of a hike, super short, super steep. We got up there and took pics which was sweet but Elder Gurr and I hiked to the summit. Tough is the word for that part. It was steep and snowy and wet, and I had running shoes on. Not the best for snow. Anyway, I also haven’t used a lot of hiking muscles, I usually use my preaching muscles. We get up there and it was cool for a lot of reasons. One, it was just so peaceful up there, there is something special about feeling the spirit at the top of a mountain. The snow made it so silent, talk about truly being out of the world. It was also really cool because we could see both Smith and Mason valleys… at the same time. That was cool, and it was fun sliding down as well. When we got to the bottom, we hiked along a riverbed and saw a frozen waterfall. All this hiking in frozen/snowy/muddy terrain reminded me of home and that was pretty funny.

Wed Feb 1 2017

Today has been pretty good. We are currently on exchanges. Elder Bentti is down here with me and it is pretty sweet. Also, I got my bag and it is pretty sweet. It is super big so more room for more stuffs! We had a pretty good lesson with Jim Button. We talked a lot about prayer and he liked that a lot. He still is pretty non committal about coming to church still. He was very happy to see us. We then went to see the Funks and we got to see Sister Funk. She gave us a cake and we talked about a trial they are going through with one of their workers. We talked about fasting and prayer and that was good. That’s about it besides I saw a porcupine.

Thu Feb 2 2017

Today has been pretty good! We had the end of our exchanges and that was pretty good. Elder Bentti has a point, a 24 hour exchange in Yerington is kind of useless. We don’t get that much done because of all the travel we have to do so that’s weird. We were doing our morning stuff and all and for studies Elder Bentti decided to rearrange/clean Elder Gurr’s desk. We then had to go and drive up to Fernley to end exchanges. I felt all depressed on the ride home and I don’t know why and it was pretty weird. We then weekly planned and got that done. We had another really good companionship inventory just about helping Elder Gurr cope and that was great. I felt really close to him after that. We then went to the Bryant’s house for dinner and a lesson. Brother Ehly’s car was there and I was pretty confused and then it clicked that Brother Ehly was their new home teacher! We were pretty excited about that. We had french toast for dinner and it was awesome. After that, Brother Ehly got to know them better and by then it was time to leave. We went over to the church to print out copies of the weekly planning for this week and then we came back here to do language study. Today has been awesome!

Fri Feb 3 2017

Today has been pretty good. We had to basically get up and go to Zone Conference. When we got there our zone was there, but the Carson City zone wasn’t there yet and that was kind of weird. They showed up kind of late. The conference itself was good (see notes). It was cool to see Elder Franco and Elder Abbott and talk with them. We went over and saw Gail Jacobson, she was a referral from Brother Bohner. She has been feeling like she should investigate the church for 5 years now and now she is starting. She literally said to us “I’m interested”. That does not happen. That was so cool! We then went and tried knocking on a couple less actives door’s and no one was home. We then went  to the Cliftens and picked up some dessert and then we went to the church to have a little dinner. Then we came home and did our studies. It has been a great day!

Sat Feb 4 2017

Today has been pretty good. We had coordination in the morning and we gave a typed copy of our weekly planning to Brother Rowley and he kind of fan-girled about that. That was funny. He also signed up to feed us again today. We then went up to the Landa’s house for a quick lunch and the Book of Mormon Initiative. That was really awesome, they were the first family that had someone in mind and it was really cool to see the drive that came from that. We then left and went to Smith Valley. There, we ended up seeing the Funks and Brother Schofield. We saw him first, he was making a couple of doors outside and we talked for a bit. We haven’t been able to see them in about 2 months so it was good to invite him to church. He says he feels so sad he wants to cry in there and that he feels really lonely. It was good in a way to find that out so hopefully we can help him come back now. We saw the Funks and set up an appointment with them. We then went over to pizza with the Rowleys and that was good. It is hard to portion control with pizza.