July 25, 2011 Back from Bear Lake - To Pops

Hey Pops! Sounds like Bear Lake was a success, and a Blast! I am glad it had a good turn out. So Do you think the water level will stay the same for next year? I have to ask are there any new additions to the cabin? Don't tell me. i want to be surprised for next year. I just want to know if there are some good ones. Well this week has been good!! Its really starting to slow down a bit now that it is summer. I hope we can still have some success though. As of now we really have one promising Investigator, but we will just have to see what happens. I don't know if i have ever told you about Nicole, and Nathan. They are a Couple we accidentally ran into. We were totally in the wrong apartment complex, and we were looking for a referral, so we knocked on the right apartment number, in the wrong complex, and they let us in! We never would have ran into them if we didn't make that mistake. Nicole is the non member. She is a very very nice African American lady who is either dating, or engaged to Nathan. Nathan is a less active member, but his parents are really really active, and Nicole just loves Nathans family. Anyways last week Elder Faulkner, and Elder Ramos bumped into them on the street, and they taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she then shortly afterward called us, and said she had Questions about baptism, and she has a desire to do so, so we will hopefully be meeting with her on Wednesday. We are still in the works with some other people, but i am excited to work with Elder Bingham in teaching others. I cant wait to see the growth that will come through him!

  

Sadly Edgar is off the Radar for a little bit his Parents don't really want him meeting with us, but we are hoping that is going to change. We will just have to see.

  

So far all is well at the moment. I did receive the package very quickly i was able to be at the mission office for a leadership meeting on Wednesday, so i got it 2days after you sent it. Well the mission Presidents are doing great!! They have transitioned very well. I think Elder Holmquist has probably been a large help in everything for them. He is still AP, and he will finish his mission AP. He is the oldest missionary out now he is around 23 months out now, and he is very Experienced.

  

The New garments are great! They are Perfect! If you could send me two more pairs in the next package that would be great, so i can wear them every day during the week throughout the summer. Ive got all i need, but Ive been craving a nice stock of snacks. Everything you have ever sent me has been great! Its just been a while since i have had a chance to snack on anything good a the apartment. what you do send usually lasts for quite a while. If you could Al mounds is my one request. Well i g2g love you ttyl

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Hello Son, well it has been a busy week and a half for me but it has been fun and tiring. I enjoyed your email last week, it sounds like your new companion Elder Bingham is a new experience for you. I could tell you are doing well at getting to know and understand him, that is great and I know it will make him feel more comfortable. I received a letter from President and Sister Smart they seem like a great couple and will be great for the mission. They sent two letters, one to let us know you have been called to be a trainer and that it is one of the most important callings for a missionary, the other letter was to introduce themselves and it also had a pic of you and Pres. and Sis. Smart. They also mentioned in there letter that they have created a mission blog so I checked it out and it looks to be a great addition for parents and family to see all that is happening in the mission. It had a pic in it of your zone. Well that's to bad about your new investigator ya contacted out but hopefully he will continue to learn and receive a testimony of the truth and get baptized, you will know that you had the opportunity to start him on the path. Also I thought it was real interesting that Pres. and Sis. Smart are from Highland so there right in our back yard so to speak.
     

Well things went well last week, it did get of to a rough start, my truck was not running quit right it actually started acting up when I was up at Bear Lake with my teachers but it made it back home fine, I don't think it is anything serious it is just missing a bit on one cylinder. So Mic had to pull the trailer with his truck but we didn't get away till Tuesday afternoon but it was all fine. Ya and most everyone was there at sometime or another, Ken and Marilee came up on wed but had to leave on Friday he was having a ward party at his house on Saturday. Most everyone else made it up on Thursday ( Patrick, Durrants, Hamonds,Butlers) only Jonathan, Allie and Aburey Austin were not able to come. We have had a boules tournament the last two years, Ron and I were the champs last year, we made it to the championship game again but lost to Mic and Christian it was fun. I told them they better watch out next year Aaron will be back.
     

Well Son I better finish up I am running late as usual, but I am very happy and proud of all your trying so hard to do in moving the Lords work forward. I know right now it is a new challenge for you and a great opportunity for you to grow and learn, stay close the the spirit and listen intently to know the Lords will. He will guide and help you to know how to best lead, inspire, and train your new companion, put all your faith and trust in the Lords help. I have no doubt you will succeed, you have a great heart and love for others and I also know the Lords hand is in all things in our lives and He has put this companion with you knowing you are the best for Him. Take good care of yourself and your health, I know the heat and hard work is draining, also it may be a little added stress or worry being a district leader that has an effect. Also I hope you received  my package I hope to send another soon with Truman Madsen Cd's on the prophet along with other things, let me know if there is anything else you would like, cloths, food or whatever. Well I do hope it has been a good week for you I always pray for your happiness and success. May the spirit of the Lord strengthen, lift you, and inspire you always. May you footsteps be guided, may you find those who are searching for the truth and may your week be joyful and spiritual.

                                                                                 LOVE POPS

July 18, 2011 Bear Lake bound to Pops

Hello Popeeeoo. WOW. Family Bear Lake time again? That's crazy to much for my noggin to wrap around i cant believe that! That is nutz. Well My New Companions Name is Elder Bingham from Boise Idaho!! He is a real nice guy. He is great! I am soo looking forward to getting to know him a little better, and work with him some more. I would have to say so far on my mission he is the companion that i have the least in common with, but we have been finding more, and more commonalities day by day! He is a very very quiet guy, unlike Elder Moore. It is really quite a change, but i think all is going to go well. Elder Bingham loves to read. He is a smart guy, and he wants to be a writer when he gets back home. He wants to write sci fi fantasy type books. So far he has been super chill! very mellow... I need to get him burnin a bit with missionary greenie fire. :) He loves the work though. this week we were really blessed, because we picked up an awesome new investigator on Elder Binghams first day. Actually it was amazing the first house we knocked on while tracting on his first day we were kindly invited in, and we taught a whole 1st lesson, and left Matt (our new investigator) with a Book Of Mormon! three days later on Saturday we stopped by, and Matt had already read up until Mosiah, he said he loves King Benjamin. Sadly Matt is going to move to Perris, which is close to Hemet at the end of this week! we are going to meet with him again soon this week, and we are probably  going to give his info to the Elders over there. Well the University Heights ward is continuing to be awesome!!  I love all of our recent converts, and Elder Bingham has enjoyed meeting with them all this week. We are currently in the finding mode at the moment, and we hope to pick up more, and more new investigators while still remembering our teaching pool at the moment. With me training Elder Bingham i will have an extra hour of companionship study for the next 12 weeks. Its all apart of the new Training program.

   

Well things are really looking good right now i hope with this new missionary i can catch my second wind, and receive the boost i need. Recently i have been pondering, and stressing of the the smallest things. Since i got transferred from Arlington to University Heights i have dropped a few pounds. I am am around 170-173 right now, and i am hoping to try, and gain some back. Its hard with the heat, and all, its mainly been some muscle mass, its been hard to keep up the workout I've been drained alot. I have been trying to eat better,and more since i have noticed the drop. Sometimes when you try and eat too healthy you can over do it, and not get enough calories for all them you bee burnin..

  

Well i am glad the cam pout went great, and that the Fam is in preps for the new Bear Lake. That's awesome that the water is up that high again!!! I've heard that alot of lakes in Utah are like that, but nobody had told me about bear lake. I'm glad its up that high. i hope it stays that way! So how is all planing on going? The whole crew our just our family?

  

Well i g2g soon. I will be sure to send you some pics of Elder Moore, and Elder Bingham, and as always i will keep you up to date on the latest news about who we teaching. Love you all! Be sure to send the Package soon please.

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Hello Son enjoyed your awesome email, sounds like some hard but good changes. It is always hard to see a good companion go but it is an opportunity for them to grow and become stronger. Well I am excited for you,training a new Elder, I understand your nervousness sometimes ya never know what things will turn out like. But you definitely have the right attitude, faith in the Lord and hard work will do lots. And just think how things went last time you trained a new Elder, you must have done well he was a trainer real quick. I was visiting with Brother and Sister Clark today( He came by home teaching with his wife) and Sister Clark said that they only make the very best missionaries trainers. And by the way they have been called on another mission, they are going to the Scotland, Ireland mission, I think they will be working with a youth center. Also the Kites are home off there mission and spoke in church today, it sounds like they had a great mission.
     

Well things are good but busy here at home, I had my varsity scout super activity last week and it turned out great. I took them to Bear Lake, we found an awesome place to camp in the mountains close by and I know the Lord guided me in finding it. It was so perfect a nice big green meadow surrounded by pine trees and nobody else around. And the name of the place says it all, Temple Flats, I told them they could tell there parents they went to the Temple. Everybody else is doing well, Mic has been real busy with work trying to get everything done so he can take this week off. Ya were heading to Bear Lake on Monday and everybody was able to get it off, Mic and Kay, Matt and Keira
     

Well it is late and I need to get up early tomorrow to get things done so we can go. I have a package I WILL SEND tomorrow, it has some socks, garments, pic's of Keiras wedding and sun screen and such. I will make a copy of the CD's when we get back and send them to you. Well let us know how things are with your new companion, who he is, were he is from and such. I know you will do a awesome job of loving, teaching, inspiring and making a good Elder great. Seek the Lord and look for His guidance and inspiration in knowing what to do, He will guide you through the spirit. I pray always that the Lord will guide your thoughts and  your footsteps to find those seeking the truth in there lives. I love you very much and pray all has gone well for you this week, be happy,enthused, and fully engaged. May Gods Love and Blessings be upon you I pray.

LOVE POPS

July 11, 2011 to Pops (Abury is Married to Austin)

Hey hey hey Pops. Well i've got some exciting news for you, and the family! I will be blessed to have the opportunity to Train another Missionary!! I am soo Excited! Right before President Reeves left he choose me to help President Smart out by training! i received the Phone call from President Smart on Saturday, and sadly Elder Moore left this morning he did get transferred to a great ward though! He got transferred to Murrieta in the los Altos ward, and the singles ward. His area has recently been the highest baptizing area in the Mission! Well the elders in my last ward have been teaching some of the people Elder Combe, and i found, but well just have to see if any of them get wet. A few seem close

 
Well i wont be receiving my new companion until Wednesday, so i will probably have to let you know more about him next week. This has been a great transfer! On Sunday all three of our baptisms were confirmed. Well I hope everything goes well when i pick up the new missionary. Sometimes in a mission you can get a little stressed, and Nervous, but i just need to look forward with an eye single to the glory of God, and forget myself. Everything will be alright as you put your faith in the lord. :) I feel as if this new calling is going to be great for me. I am needing to feel some more greenie fire! i hope i can be rekindled.

  

Seems like the family is almost as busy as i am. haha I am always super glad and Happy to hear that the family is being blessed, and doing great! I am glad that Aubrey was able to have a great wedding i hope it is all that she wished for.

  

Well i think i may have heard a little of that cd its awesome. I would love a copy of that! if you could send me some spray sun screen. That stuff comes in handy when you use it along with the regular sun screen it picks up what you miss sunscreen is much cheaper in Utah I've heard. Well I g2g soon, but it would be great if i could get some more emails from the rest of the family. I haven't heard from the others in a while! Well i love you soo  soo much. Thanks for always being there for me.

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Hello Son as always it is a joy to receive your emails and hear what is happening in you life. I am happy to hear Xraoli and Shannon were both baptized, it is so gratifying to be a part of helping bring Gods children into his church and kingdom. It sounds like you have a lot of investigators to teach but not to close to getting wet. Well you have been in the searching mode many times on your mission and have been successful in finding and baptizing so you know what it takes and how to do it. By the way have you heard if any of your investigators in your last area have progressed to being baptized? Also I received several emails from Pres. Smart that was suppose to have a picture attached but it  must not have worked. I need to respond back to him with an email. So it is getting HOT there well it has heated up here also, I am going to run up this morning  and get you some garments in mesh and try to ship them tomorrow. This week is going to be very busy, on Wednesday we are taking the teachers to Bear Lake for there summer activity and I am trying to get everything together and ready for that. I am going to focus my message to them on the Prophet Joseph Smith, my theme is " You need not be a prophet to live like one" , I am going to share story's of the prophet with them. I have also downloaded all the Truman G Madsen CDs on my I touch so I can play some of that for them. By the way have you listened to those CDs? If you would like a copy of them I can send you one they are awesome to listen to.
      

Well like I said it is a busy week and I better get running. Things are good here at home Mic was gone all last week to football camp at Snow college and he came back tired. On Saturday  it was Aubrey's wedding at the Hammond home, it went very well and was nice. Red was one of the bride maids she looked great but was very nervous, she walked with Autin's older brother. Keira made the wedding book for Aubrey . We are all fine and doing well and really couldn't be more blessed, the Lord has been very kind and merciful to us.
       

Son I want to let you know you are awesome, a Dad could not ask for a greater son than you. I hope things have gone well for you this past week and you are having success in your efforts. Most of all I hope you are happy and still enjoying the work ( greater joy hath no man than this in bringing souls unto Me) you have been blessed to be a part of bringing many souls unto Him and I feel you will bring many more. Enjoy all the Lord has in store for you, time will go way to quick for you, give all you have and a bit more and you will continue to be blessed greatly. I Love you very much and am so happy and excited for you, you are creating  memories for eternity, and experiences that will bless you for all your life. You are GODS ARMY, may you be blessed in doing his work, I pray you will have  a great week and feel the spirit in all you do.

LOVE POPS

July 4, 2011 to Pops (July 4)

HEY Dad! Hows it going? Thanks again for another great email. This week for me was fantastic! Everything was very pleasant, except for the weather! :P Hot.. Xiaoli, and Shannon were both able to be Baptized on Sunday! It was a neat experience! Elder Moore baptized Shannon, and Xiaoli's husband Bing was able to come down from Northern California to baptize her. I was able to have a neat experience Meeting with President Smart! We found out last minute that Shannon, and Xiaoli needed to be interviewed with Pres Smart to be Baptized, so Saturday evening we were able to schedule an Interview for them, and we got there early, so we could meet, and talk with him. Just Elder Moore, and I. He is a real neat guy. President Smart is Very smart, he has mainly worked in the Computer Science field for most of his life, but he owns his own company now dealing with investment. I think its Smart investing, or something. He has worked for Novell, and he helped develop Word Perfect. We officially met him with the Riverside zone today, and i am excited to be working with him.   Elder Moore, and i are now in Finding mode! We will still be teaching alot of lessons, but we defiantly will be trying to find some new people to teach. Now that i am District leader not too much is different! i am so used to having a District leader companion, and having to help with District leader responsibilities. The only thing that is new that comes along with being district leader is Exchanges, and Baptismal Interviews. i Haven't had to do a baptismal interview yet, but maybe soon, because my district is hoping to have some baptisms coming up.

  

My 4th of July was way fun yesterday, because it was so chill. It was a P day, which made it even better. We went over to the Johnstons for dinner at 6. They are a very friendly, and Pleasant older couple, and in the evening time we went over to the Durans to hang out with Matt. Matt is a 14yr old whose brother just left to Australia on his mission. His Brother Chris is in the MTC, so we were able to read a letter of his that he sent to his family. Ohh the MTC what good memories. Well things here continue to go great! I am soo looking forward toward all the work that lies ahead this summer, but i am not super excited for Heat Bleh. Well i g2g now. i am Glad everyone back home is still going great! I love you all ttyl

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Hello Son I enjoyed your last email it sounds like things are going well. It sounds like Kevin is an amazing young man, I hope he can continue and go on a mission. Well how was your week did your baptisms for Xiaoli and Shannon go well for you? I hope things are still going well with all your investigators, I suppose you are very busy teaching which is what you want to be doing. So how are things going with the new calling as a District Leader? I am sure it takes a bit more of your time. Well I guess you now have a new mission pres, what is his name and have you been able to meet with him yet? Well are you and Elder Moore still burning up the streets on your bikes trying to keep up with everything? I am not sure if you will be able to email today but I thought I better email you just in case.
     

Well things are about the same here, I am getting busy with preparing for our scout camp next week. Mic is going to Snow College for football camp this week he takes off tomorrow. Everybody got together as usual at Kens for the fourth it was nice everybody asked how things are going for you. That is cool ya heard from Parker he is a great young man  I am sure he is going to do great things. Well Abury is getting married this Saturday, I hope it all turns out well, they are having it at there house.
     

Well as you can see I got started late today, holidays seem to threw everything of for me. I just wanted to let ya know how very happy I am that things are doing well for you and your able to have such great success in your new area. I know the Lord is blessing your life because of your hard work, your charity, and love for other people, you have such a good heart and always have. Well I hope you have an awesome week and that you are able to bring those you are teaching into the waters of baptism. I love ya very much may the spirit of the Lord guide and bless you.

LOVE POPS