Week 1 in Parker
- Feb 2, 2016
- 5 min read
Well everyone,
Week 1.5 in the field is amazing. My P-day in the MTC was on thursday, and in the field, it is on monday. I got to the mission home monday so I feel I got cheated out of a P-day but it's all good. I'm writing this email now and I am super stoked!
Just some information about my mission: 9 stakes The elevation here goes from 4500 feet - 7600 feet at the highest point Right now I am at about 5900 feet which is roughly 5800 feet higher than back home and boy, I could feel it on day 1! It is slowly gotten better. I have not yet fully acclimated to it yet but I am taking extra Iron to help get accustomed to it. I think the first time I really felt it was when I did Insanity for the first time with my companion. Wow was that hard!
In my mission, there is an average baptism rate of 1-2 baptisms per missionary. I was slightly disappointed by this when I first heard it but then I realized why I cam on my mission. I did not come out here to baptize people. I came out to convert people to the gospel whether they are members of the church or not. Every person can be come more converted to the gospel than they now are. Something my mission president's wife said on the first day regarding obedience: "If you can't do the llittle things right, you will never be able to do the big things." She was actually quoting a Navy Seal regarding making the bed every morning to military standards. I believe this with all my heart and I can't say I am perfect at it, but it is a work in progress. Another point made in that first meeting was the following: Missionary work can't happen until you find someone to teach. You can't teach someone you haven't found. An invitation that was extended to me right before I left the MTC was to make it a life-long goal to understand the spirit. The promptings of the Holy Ghost can't be completely understood. We can always do our best and keep on trying.
Now on to this week actually in the field! I will begin with my stellar companion. He is originally from Alaska, but moved to Florida in 2012 with his dad. He came on his mission to please his dad. He didn't have a very strong testimony but he has changed so much. He knows the discussions, and has such a powerful testimony. He has not been the most obedient missionary. (Nothing he could get sent home over) Just the simple things. But I have tried to help him recognize how important it is to be obedient to the little things. He and I are now waking up on time to the second, and working on getting to bed on time. It feels like there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish what you want to. We are currently teaching one recent convert (Naomi) who is going to the temple in the next couple months. Brother Ekstrom is a part-member family. His wife is active. Cool experience. My companion and I went tracting for the second time on my third day, and before we got out of the car, we said a prayer that those who were looking for the truth would be led to us or we would be led to them. I promise you - as soon as we got out of the car, this guy walked up and had his eyes on ours like he wanted to engage in conversation. Elder Johnson began talking with him and he still had 4 Books in his hand when he began the conversation and he handed me 3. Haha, it was kinda funny. We talked with him. Shared a brief message about the Restoration, and he was super interested in learning more. We had a return appointment and his fiance was there. There are both super nice. They are high school sweethearts and have been together since they were 15! Crazy! They texted us the other day saying they had no interest in being converted but they still wanted us to meet with them so we have an appointment with them tomorrow! That was not by accident. The only set back so far is that of course and the fact they are Wicken which is very difficult to explain. They basically believe all gods exist, from The sun gods to Jesus Christ. It's hard to teach sometimes. We taught the Restoration and they basically already knew it all besides the points specific to our gospel. (The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.) Hopefully something good will come. I have faith that it will.
Elder Johnson and I have set goals to really focus on the quality of our lessons. Focusing on conversion and not as much on baptisms. Obviously we are still extending invitations for baptism, but true conversion is our goal in those investigating the church as well as those who have been members their entire lives. Elder Johnson and I have begun Insanity for our morning workouts with our Ward Mission Leader. He is ex-military and is doing it with us! My companion has done about 3 weeks already but we decided to start over and start from the beginning. It is INSANE, but I love it and it is keeping me in shape and the pounds off haha. He and I actually were very sick on Saturday. We couldn't really do much but we studied and I was sick Friday. We kept to the schedule, just took a little breather in the middle of the day. Saturday was rough but both of us are mostly recovered. We believe that I got it from the flu shot I got at the end of my stay at the MTC whether I had a small cold before or not... I still got sick haha. We are better and ready to kick this week out of the park.
Spiritual Thought for this week: Prayer When you pray, if you are not receiving answers ask yourself this: Am I studying the scriptures? Am I being obedient? Most importantly... Am I willing to act on the answer I am given? A lot of missionary work is helping people realize their answers to their prayers are there they just have to recognize them. This can be difficult at times, but I know it will change. I know the gospel can be difficult at times, but through faith and trust in the Lord, you will be blessed. Food for Thought: We all hear about selective obedience and how bad that is. What about selective trust? Why do we only trust Him in some things? If He created the earth, and all things on it as well as man. If he calmed the seas, I promise you with all my heart that he can calm our trials. I know this. Trust him. Invitation: Read the First Presidency Message for February https://www.lds.org/ensign/2016/02/landing-safely-in-turbulence?lang=eng Love You All! Stay Strong! -Elder Soller
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