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!