Ahhh....The Mission Life!

After talking with the fam last Pday, we got our suits on and did some contacts until we had our mission wide video conference with President and Sister Maurer. Because they are unable to go around the mission for “in person” zone conferences, they have planned out three or four virtual conferences spread throughout the entire transfer. It has its ups and downs, but the conference went well. It was only an hour long and they basically talked about all of the missionaries that will be returning to their missions and they gave them the chance to give their parting farewells. They also gave everybody who wanted to share what they learned from general conference the chance to do so with the entire mission. Let’s just say the majority of the people who had comments were sisters (as usual) haha. It was pretty neat. They also made sure to let everybody know that if you are getting the vaccine, or you know you won’t get it, to let the mission nurse know so that she can get a head count.

Tuesday morning, we went over to bishop's house for a "fun" service project. He had us carry a bunch of wood down to the end of his 300ft dock. By a bunch of wood, I'm talking about 40 sheets of treated oak and 100 2x6x20ft treated planks. It’s all fine though, in return from destroying our bodies, we got some lunch. Fair trade.

The next day, we had in person interviews with the Maurers in the nearby town of Kinston. Things went well and I'll tell y’all the deets in our next call. I also have been grinding out my Japanese with Elder Farley Sensei! I now have all of the kana in the hiragana alphabet memorized and now I’m going to start working on reading and hopefully understanding kanji. It's a beast and I hope to get a good foundation so I can further my language studies for when I'm home and don't have a companion that speaks it!

To end the week off right, I was able to watch (over zoom) Sophia's baptism!!! It truly was quite an experience to remember. Ever since the first day I spoke with her back in Fuquay, I knew that she was going to be baptized. The elders in Apex did an amazing job getting her some fellowshippers and friends in the ward as we all waited for her mom to let her enter into Christ's fold after she turned 15! It was an amazing service and Sophia is sooo happy! I was texting her and she is just so glad to have been baptized and she feels even “amazinger” now that she has the gift of the Holy Ghost. Who knows, if the temples start to open up here, maybe I can go do baptisms with her (and maybe even Sean)! 

I have a lot to look forward to in this up and coming week and I hope the best for y’all. Love you!

Find, Serve, Teach, Love (and Play)

This week blew by faster than you could say the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Speaking of the preamble, boy am I sooo happy to be a citizen in God's country – #PresOaks2024.

I finally tried doing some dry calls this week and it was actually super productive and we even found 3 new souls to teach! What we do is we pull up a google doc that has the phone numbers of people in our area, and then we just call away. If a number doesn't work, we write that it's invalid, and if it does work, we say it does work and we call back and so on. When somebody does pickup however, that's where the real fun begins! I usually say something like, “Hi, I'm a missionary here in the local area going around sharing a quick 30second message of Christ. Would it be alright if I shared a scripture with you?” A lot of people either yell at me for invading their privacy, or they might be interested. Either way, it's a blast!

This week has been pretty rough for Sean. For some reason the devil had truly taken control of his mind and made him believe he can't do anything. The saddest part is that he isn't really doing what is needed to take control again. It's like he wants to just be the victim in things... but on a brighter note, Sophia is still going strong! As well as Sharroya and Ejay! Sharroya has been super busy, but she still has the desire!

We have been working to clean up our area book also – to find out if the people in it have any real interest in the church or not. We ended up dropping Nick because he just doesn't want anything to do with Christ's restored church. It's all Gucci though. We tried to do some fun finding as well. We pulled up to a park and started to play some Kubb (a game where you throw some sticks at blocks, kind of weird, but yeah...). It is a very interesting game and we did it in hopes of starting a conversation with strangers and maybe have them join the game. It didn't really work out, but it was a blast!

We went over to brother House's place again this past week and continued our work on his greenhouse. It is starting to come together and it looks pretty dope! I got to move cinder blocks, put up some planters, and transfer a whole pallet of 60lb cement bags! Super fun stuff, I know. I keep getting compliments from brother House about how I should be a professional greenhouse builder after the mission. Yeah, suuuuure. He's a really great guy and we are mostly there to be good examples to his grandson who isn't a member yet, cause his parents want him to wait until he’s like 14 to be baptized. So I won’t be dunkin him anytime soon haha.

Elder Farley has been preparing to go to Japan even though he has no faith in him going, but I am doing my part and making sure that he DOES HIS LANGUAGE STUDIES. I have been improving on my studies of the Japanese language and even have all Hiragana (main kana, dakuten kana, and combination kana). I still don't know how to speak at all or translate but at least I know how to sound out words! My comp is so good at it though! He hasn't even been to Japan and he could probably be fluent after a week of being there. He’s a baller and is just too afraid to own up to it. 

Frisbee golf has been super fun and I’m going to become a pro at it so I can show y’all the ropes when I get home, but yeah... I’ll catch ya next week!!

Baptism in USA!

Hello my friends hello! I have officially finished my first week here in New Bern, North Carolina (aka BEAR CITY). My new companion is Elder Luke John Farley. He's from Frisco, Texas and loves video games, anime, and having a good time. He is a funny dude and loves to be productive in the Lord's work.

All I can say is wow! My first day here, I had a lesson with Sean and we taught him a few of the remaining ordinances and commandments that he was missing. He is such a beast and goes out of his way to promote the church and share with others what he has been learning on his social media feeds. Along with him, I was able to get a feel for the others we have in our teaching pool. There is one guy, Nick, who has been meeting with the missionaries for almost a year, but hasn’t been baptized yet. I talked with him for a little and he agreed that if he received an answer that he would be baptized on the 17th, so be sure to keep Nick in your prayers!!! 

One day this week, we had over 4 hours of service that consisted of building a greenhouse all the way to moving bricks around to construct a wall! It was really hard and hot work, but it was a good time lol. Along with being outside, we have played soooo much Frisbee golf and I am learning from the masters themselves! I really like being with these cool elders that know a good balance between working diligently and having fun! This is going to be the best way to finish my mission :)

Elder Farley was originally called to serve in the Tokyo North mission, so I'm doing my best to keep him diligent in his language studies!! I have taken up learning Japanese along with him and I am loving it! I'm so close to having the entire Hiragana alphabet memorized, so I guess you can say I'm fluent, jkjk.

This past Saturday I had the awesome chance to take part in the baptism of Sean Stansberry!! My companion baptized Sean and I confirmed him right after it. His mom even came and she was really feeling the spirit. I looked at her after the confirmation and she was crying, tears of joy, of course haha. I just hope Sean continues strong and keeps being a baller.

That's it for my week y’all, I'll catch ya on the flipside!

God is Great!! So Many Great Experiences!

Spring is in full effect here in North Carolina and I have actually been taken by surprise with it all! There is a bunch of moss that grows in every nook and cranny that isn't filled on roads or buildings. On top of the merciless moss, the pollen here has covered all of the roads and cars, and my comps haven't stopped sneezing! It's hard for me to remember to say "bless you" every time lol.

Earlier in the week, we had a small zone council in Goldsboro where we just got together and made some goals for this next month. For an activity, they had us say what some of the struggles of being a missionary are and they would write them on a chalkboard up front. It was funny because they had to stop us from listing TOO many complaints haha – but anyways, they had us then list off gifts that we can receive from the Spirit through our obedience to the Lord's commandments, standards, and safeguards. It was a good perspective to see how the Lord can and will bless us with just the thing that counteracts the things that are hard or annoy us in the mission.

Sharroya had a family emergency and sadly was out of town until this past Saturday. Everything is okay and she was actually able to watch most of General Conference on Sunday!! That family is just so awesome! It sucks that they couldn't come to the BBQ this last Friday at the Reid's house. There were just 3 families there, and the main point behind it was because Elder Hansen (who finished about 5 months ago) was coming to visit the mission with his family, so Sharroya not coming wasn’t toooo bad, but it would've made things even more lit. While there I entertained the kids with my vast knowledge of Pokémon and was looking at Kendru's cards with them all. My collection is bigger, but who’s counting, am I right?? jk

This general conference was definitely one for me to remember! We actually stayed down in Wilson for 2 days to watch it all in their chapel as a district. The first session had me like... speechless. I legit cried you guys. I haven't felt a spirit that strong probably for this entire transfer up here. Especially during Elder Eyring's talk, when he spoke about his little girl replying with an enthusiastic "Yes!" every time the temple worker asked if she could do more. It made me think of my life, have I replied with a "yes" every time the Lord or His servants have asked for me to do something? Have I taken heed to the challenges they give me? I looked back on an experience I had, before my mission, in the temple that was quite like that. There was an older lady that came in with family names, and because I was the only young man present, they asked me to be baptized for all 20+ people! I said "yes" that day, even though I thought I might be losing time to be with friends later that day. But because I decided to stay, I had an amazing experience that I hope I never forget! 

Right after the first session, the sisters in Wilson had a baptism! It was AMAZING! They had fantastic speakers and people in attendance that have been so supportive to the family being baptized. The father, who used to be a pastor, was baptized a couple of months ago and was actually able to baptize his family himself! It wasn't perfect and there were a lot of things that were unexpected, but the Spirit was ever present through it all and the Maurers even came to watch! It was an 10/10 experience and I want to make sure my future baptisms are as well prepared and hyped up as the sisters made it. 

I got transferred and I am really excited to head out to the coast and finish my mission strong out in New Bern. I actually received a phone call from president yesterday where he reminded me to "leave it all out in the field" and continue strong for the remainder of my time here in the NCRM. I’m guessing I’m going to "die" as a DL out there and try to keep the party boppin' out there for whatever time I have left. It sucks that I won’t be able to teach Sharroya and her family, but I hope to be able to attend their baptism here in the future!!! Have a blessed day y’all!