Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Today, at one point, I was actually giddy


Wednesday: I have become completely addicted to studying church
history. I have been reading the institute manual for it, and it is
sooooo goooood! I spend all the time I can reading it. I suggest it to
anyone who wants an awesome story that spiritually uplifts as well.
We went on splits in the night, I went to Thomas's lesson, and he wasn't
there at first, which was so meant to be, because I needed to talk to
his fellowshippers to understand what we can do better to help him. It
was perfect, then we had a good lesson with him. Went to Madison as
well, we read the introduction, she doesn't seem to have much desire,
but she seems willing to think about it... That's something at
least....
 
Thursday: So a big majority of our investigators are 14 year olds that
want to get baptized, but their parents won't let them. I think we
have 4 investigators in the same situation. Always the Dad that
doesn't live with them, because they are divorced. So tonight, Elder
Rupp and I went to go visit with Scott, one of the Dad's. Elder Rupp
has visited him before, so what he does, (because it is the only way
that Scott answers), is he opens the door that goes into the Garage. I
was just like, "Elder Rupp!? What are you doing??" He knocks on the
door to the house inside the garage. Haha. Scott does not like the
church at all, he wants his children to be 18 before they decide to
join. The only way I think that will change his mind is if his
children bare their testimonies to him, but they are terrified of him
:(
 
Friday: 3 New investigators! Just what we needed! A part member
family, the parents are just boyfriend and girlfriend, but they are
wanting to get back active. Ashley, the girlfriend isn't even sure if
she was baptized, she was told by her mom she was, but we can't find
her records, and she doesn't remember it. So she may need to be
baptized as well, which she is fine with. So it could be 4 baptisms. 2
of the children are twins, they are super excited to be baptized, like
jumping off walls excited. Then the other, Aiden like to think a lot
more, which I think is cool. All throughout he asks questions about
the Plan of Salvation. He is so smart :)  When we got to talking about
Jesus Christ and how he was baptized, we told them that baptism is the
only way to live with their heavenly father again. Aiden responded, "I
want to be baptized... what about those who don't get baptized?"
 
Saturday: Had the wonderful opportunity to do some service in the
morning, for a old couple who don't like the Word of Wisdom. However
while doing service for them, the wife told us she was waken in the
middle of the night by the Holy Ghost and was told by words, that the
Word of Wisdom is true. So that was pretty cool! However, the husband,
who is the non-member still does not feel that way....
 
Sunday: Today, at one point, I was actually giddy. I was so excited
with happiness! The reason behind it? Gospel Doctrine class. It has
been about 3 transfers since I have attended a Sunday School class. I
like them a lot. We studied Isaiah. Then even better, we had a primary
program in one of our Sacraments! That is always cool too!
 So in the other Sacrament Meeting, one of the talks didn't happen
because apparently he got sick, so what we did instead is that anyone
from the congregation could come up and tell their favorite hymn, then
the congregation would all sing just one verse of the hymn. I thought
that was a super good idea :)
We didn't have any lessons scheduled, except for one, but that fell
through. Sunday's are good days to talk to auxiliaries though!
Everyone is home! Haha, they can't escape us!
 
Monday: We visited the crazy guy that thought there was the guy living
in his attic, he wasn't crazy anymore :) He was a normal dude. He is
really smart as well. He is working towards getting to the temple now.
Must have just been a phase or something... Madison, our investigator,
is not looking to good for the 8th. She doesn't seem to have a desire
at all, her sister who is 8 is ecstatic for it though. Their parents
don't really set a good example for them though, they don't go to
church or do anything really religious. They go to church with their
grandparents. Madison didn't even go this week :(
I looked up Allison's companion in LDS tools, and she isn't in ours, however, we don't cover all Tremonton, there are 4 companionship's covering Tremonton. (Allison's last companion is going home this week to Tremonton) We don't have much plans, I got free dry cleaning :) Much needed, we are mostly going to play board games, there isn't much to do up here. I have not given a talk here yet, I think that we should though, it would help build member trust a lot.
 
This morning when coming out it was 38 degrees apparently, but it didn't feel cold at all.
 Haha,  thanks for the package by the way! I love the socks! I am in desperate need of socks as well, so that was perfect. All my socks have holes in them. My shoes are starting to get worn out a bit, thank goodness they have the missionary mall warranty!
The food does sound good to me!(Allison's birthday breakfast) I like cheesecake a ton now, don't get it very much. I regret all the times that I didn't like cheesecake when you made it all the time! Haha
Thanks for writing me!
Love you!
Elder Wrathall
The new apartment

 

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

I live in the country with the cows!


I live in the country with the cows! My new address is: 9216 N, 11600 W. Thatcher, UT 84337

 

     Wednesday: Transfer Day. This has probably been the best transfer

day that I have had, it hasn't taken too much time. I got all the way

up here in Tremonton by 10:30. I was super surprised! Once I got here,

it seemed like there was nothing here. It is so weird that all it is,

is pretty much farms. It is so dang gorgeous in the night though! You

can see the stars so clearly, driving on the open roads is really

nice. (Well, me not driving :( but Elder Mika.) Makes me want to live

in the country. We were able to pick up a new investigator, a 14 year

old. So weird to be teaching children again. Haha. They don't really

show any interests at all, however, when you pop the question, "Will

you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone

holding the priesthood authority from God?" They perk up and say,

"Yeah!" I don't get it... Haha, I'm pretty sure they don't even

comprehend it, I guess just other children at school just tell them

what a great thing it is. Good missionary work children!

 

     Thursday: Day 2 in the boonies! Well... I have learned what our

number one enemy is... MILES! We have 1,350 miles a month. Which seems

like a lot, but when you are out in the country, and everything is

super far away from each other. You have to plan carefully. I don't

like it. Haha. Wish we just had unlimited miles.

 

     Friday: Had a lesson with Jessica, whom is about 30, and it was

super good lesson, she felt the spirit, she shed a few tears. She

knows it is true, set her date for the 8th of October. It was one of

the best lessons that I have had on my mission. Now the sad part, I

was on exchanges and it wasn't in my area :( It did lift my spirits

higher though.

 

     Saturday: We met a dog breeder, whose mother dog is #1 in the

world for breeding Schnauzer. Sell the puppies for about 4k a pop.

That is the picture of all the puppies! The breeder told me to tell

you to go to RoyalSchnauzers.com. All of our lessons fell through, but

puppies make everything better right?! Haha

 




    Sunday: Man... The sacrament talks were really rough, it was super

difficult to not sleep during them. Haha. We had a meeting with the

Stake presidency, seems like they are pretty missionary minded people.

That is always a help, then we also had correlation with every Ward

Mission Leader. We got a lot of referrals. It is pretty funny here

though, because Mika has been here for over 6 months. He knows

everybody haha. We were driving down the street and there was a house

that just had the foundation built and a couple of walls, he points to

it and says, "That's the Hudson’s" in response, "Wait what? You know

who lives there before they even moved in?" "Yep"

 

    Monday: Had one of the weirdest lesson today. Mika says he has

never showed any weirdness before... but this lesson... Haha. When we

came in it was like pitch dark, and it was in the middle of the day.

All was pretty normal, but there were a whole bunch of wires going to

the table next to his chair. We asked him how he was doing and

whatnot, he is doing good. The normal things. But a weird noise came

from the ceiling, don't really know what it sounded like, other than

weird. He suddenly said, "Do you hear that!? That's the guy living in

my attic!" We were just like, "Wait, what?" "Yeah! There is a guy in

my attic trying to kill me, he has been trying to drill a hole so he

can shoot me." "Oh, well that isn't good..." "The FBI told me they are

coming tonight to get him out. He has been up there for 9 years" He

then pulls out this heat sensor with a laser pointer on it, and he

points it at the ceiling and says, "He moved!" Then points with it

over in the kitchen ceiling, "He is right there...". We just continued

and were like, "Well, can we start with a prayer?" "Oh, Of course!"

   So we pray, and start with the lesson. Shortly after beginning, he

pulls out another device thing and points it out the window to the

sky, "This is a (Big Words) it measures frequencies. I see drones

flying over the town and they submit around 60 frequencies. The

universe everyday at 2:30 sends out a frequency of 20." "Really, Oh

Wow..."

   Continues on with the lesson, the refrigerator turns off. He

shouts, "There he goes again! That guy in the attic controls all of my

electronics!" He presses a button on the table next to him and the

refrigerator turns back on. In a few minutes it happens again, "See!

That dumb guy wants my food to go to waste!"

   We prayed and left. I don't know if he is crazy... or telling the truth. Haha

 

Love my new area! Though it doesn't have much work going on, we will change that! We don't cover much of the city, just like a sliver.

I don't know my Job Description for District Leader. Minister unto people in the District Haha. On Sundays I get numbers from them and report to the Zone Leaders. I Call them as well weekly to see just how they are doing, how solid their investigators are, ect. We give a 2 hour training every week. That's about it.

That is cool Noelle and Corey are 30 min away, I still think that is close!

Yeah, they told us that Meet the Mormons is coming to Netflix, won't be too long, but I guess they wanted to receive some revenue from it. Just know that you are supporting it! I'm surprised it was even showing in the Mall of Georgia!

Thanks for writing!

Love you!

Elder Wrathall!

 

I forgot, did I tell you we get unlimited cereal? Haha It is super nice, free eggs to! Unlimited Fruits and Vegetables as well, so many gardens. (He says Malt O’Meal is there so there a lot of people employed there so they get the free cereal.)

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Transfer news: I am leaving!


Transfer news: I am leaving! The new area where I am assigned is
Tremonton West, and will be serving as Co-District Leader. Elder Mika
is my new companion. I'm going to the boonies!
 
Wednesday: Usually I look back at my planner to help me remember these
days. Unfortunately my planner has been synced with my new area, so I
don't remember much. I think we had a lesson with Junior, he was
pretty cool. His girlfriend requested that we talk about the plan of
salvation and temple... What a good girl friend :P
 
Thursday: So in the planning session last night for this day, in the
planner there was written "Katie & Armando". I had no idea who they
were. I know that I was the one that put it in. However, no idea who
they are. So I prayed, that Heavenly Father could help me remember
them, because they must be important. Well I couldn't remember them
last night, however, when we were in the institute, I was talking with
this girl, and asked her for referrals. Her name was Katie, I hadn't
quite recognized, because there are a ton of Katie's. Shortly soon
after though, her boyfriend came up, I asked him what his name was,
"Armando"!!! They probably thought I was a mad man, because I gasped
loudly when he answered. Turns out they just needed to be followed up
on a referral they gave us last time, but it was cool God answered my
prayer :)
 
Friday: I received word that Tom Greenwood was going to the temple, so
immediately I asked permission for if I could go with them to do that.
Elder Simpson was able to come down as well. Baptisms for the Dead was
great. The temple president at the Ogden Temple allows us to
participate. So I baptized Elder Simpson, and He baptized me. T'was
pretty cool.
 
Saturday: Went to the temple again with Erika today though! This time
it took soo much time! It took us 3 hours to do baptisms for the dead,
we waited forever :( Sad that it was Erika's first time and that
happened. She told us she enjoyed it still which is good. Went to go
eat at Hug-Hes afterwards... Last time eating at Hug-Hes :( There is
when Elder Coronado & Peterson gave us the news, what are we doing,
and where are we going. Elder Alsterberg is going to West Valley, and
he is getting a step-son. Elder Holland was out for 3 weeks, and his
trainer went home, so he was in a threesome for the rest of the
transfer. Elder Alsterberg is going to train him correctly!
 
Sunday: I love fast Sundays they are by far the best! I learned so
much about how much about how our lessons influence members. Issa, a
ward missionary got up an bore her testimony about how she was at a
lesson with us, and when we shared the first vision it helped her with
her testimony a lot. Then right after, Brianna, a fellowship of one of
our investigators, came up and she said how much having us, the
missionaries around has helped her understand how important it is for
her brother to go out and serve, and she never really wanted him to
leave, because she is so close to him.
 
Monday: It was a sad day, but a really good day. We had a lesson with
Sal the Muslim. He such a cool guy, it was really sad telling him that
we can't meet again.
I spent most of the time in MLT though. (Mission Leadership Training).
It was a super good training for me. I learned that Elder Farmer is
going to be my Zone Leader again! :) So excited for that. Elder Mika
seems like he is a lot like me, so I think we shouldn't have too much
trouble with each other. Haha. I was concerned that there wasn't going
to be too much work up there, because all of the rumors of the North,
however I heard some good things from Mika! The rest of the day, we
had lessons galore, like about 8 all back to back, some of the people
I was surprised at their reactions to me leaving. I didn't think we
really had that strong of a connection or something, but when I tell
them that they are getting new missionaries, they are completely
devastated. Makes me feel loved. Haha. Still Sad for them though.
Love Elder Wrathall