Bring on the heat!

June 10, 2013

I don't understand it, but I'm pretty sure a month ago it was below freezing... Well today it is supposed to be in the triple digits! ouch. Needless to say, it’s been hot. Kind of embarrassing to go to every appointment with sweat going down my back like a waterfall. I have to drink an incredible amount of water, and my milk cravings have gone up as well, up to 3- 4 gallons a week! So I'm definitely in drinking water and milk mode.

We've had a "separating the wheat from the tares" week as well. We had to drop a few people that weren't progressing and a few people dropped us as well because they didn't want to talk "religion." (interesting that you let Mormon missionaries in with the intention NOT to talk religion) anyway, we have been praying for new investigators. I really thought it was turning hopeless until we get a text from bishop that literally says "Hey I got a new investigator for you, he will be in church on Sunday." This was Bill, a slower guy who lives alone and works at home Depot. He was introduced to the church by a mystery less active member who we don't know and he showed up yesterday and stayed all three hours. We will be seeing him on Saturday and hopefully will get something out of it. I was dumbfounded, I couldn't believe it. I was hoping God would provide but not THAT miraculously and instantaneously. I call these types of investigators "manna from heaven" because they seem to come out of nowhere. I really was grateful for this.

Also, this Hispanic guy named Roberto has been coming to church and staying all three hours each time. He speaks a little English, but this time he surprised everyone. He showed up to church and (just to be clear this guy waxes floors for a living, not a rich guy) he tries to pay his tithing! We had to explain that since he wasn't a member he did not need to pay tithing and he said "well then I want to be a member." Sweet! (only problem is he doesn't live anywhere.. so that will be a little bit of a stretch to get missionaries to him.) But once he gets an apartment we can assign him the appropriate missionaries. That is really awesome! Talk about a solid investigator with real intent. This guy understands about half of what he hears, but he stays all three hours, awake and attentive with a big smile on his face, and he felt the need to pay his tithing. Those types are rare. But we got his number and will follow up as soon as we can!

Well that's all I have for this week. It has been a roller coaster but we did manage another week with 20 lessons, so things are still rolling!

Elder Bringhurst

 

 

Another Week

Well I don't have anything this week of too much consequence in highlight, other than some news we got at zone conference this week. Apparently The CDSM (Colorado Denver South Mission) has been chosen along with only 3 other missions to pilot this new church program called "JustServe." The point of the program is intended to show the world that we don't just talk of the Savior, but strive to follow his example. The basis of the program is to have full time missionaries and ward members work together to do community service every week in conjunction with charity organizations and other faiths. We are required to strive to do between 4 and 10 hours on non proselyting community service each week in an attempt to have a bigger impact in the community and to dissolve misconceptions about members of the church. It will begin to be implemented in a couple of weeks (the idea is just in its infancy so we will have to fix all of the kinks and other minor glitches as we go along). JustServe.org will be the main site for us and members and zone leaders will post a bunch of projects going on in the community there and we can sign up from there. It is a really neat new program and I think it will work out pretty well.

Also the new mission president conference being held at the MTC later this month has always been a closed circuit program for new mission presidents, but this time the first presidency has asked that everyone with a calling associated with missionary work be a part of the proceedings. It’s a historic new development and everyone is actually really excited for it all!

 On the missionary front we had a couple of exchanges this week that went pretty well, and we found 2 new investigators this week! So were doing well on the numbers front.

The weather has also gotten pretty warm, with a high of 90 predicted for today, so I'm carrying a lot of water. I also got into my first boxing match of my life last Monday. I've never really boxed in my life so it was interesting. I boxed Elder Nadauld in about a 2 minute round. None of us really won but it was still pretty fun.

Well that's all I have for this week and I'm really excited for the coming events!

Elder Bringhurst

 

New Companion, New Day

May 28, 2013

So I received my new companion a last week on Tuesday. His name is Elder Wallace, he's from a microscopic town called Paint Rock in Texas. (217 people) He's pretty awesome. We liked each other from the get-go. He is only one transfer behind me so we are both pretty experienced missionaries. So things will be pretty good. Elder Nielson left to serve in Montrose.

This first week was pretty slow because I decided to stop seeing all of the OUP's (old useless people) that occupied a good amount of our time. But being district leader is already a good challenge. Day 2 of the transfer I get a call from another missionary saying that they cannot stand their companion and they want to go on exchanges. So it looks like it will be fun.

As district leader I conduct district meetings, go on exchanges with every missionary in the district and with the zone leaders (which the zone leaders are a part of my district meeting).  We also have a senior couple in our district so, in all, there are 10 people in the district: 4 elder missionary companionships (including myself) and the senior couple.

The first district meeting went really well. We did a fun game getting to know each other and it was pretty cool. I also drew 9 dots in the pattern of a 3x3 box, and had them think of ways that they can draw one continuous line that only changes direction 3 times and will intersect all 9 lines. They have to be straight lines. There is only 1 possible solution, and they kept trying to make it work. (The trick is you have to think "outside of the box".) While they were thinking, I wrote the quote "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Albert Einstein. So while they are doing this, they look at the quote and start laughing because they can't figure it out. So I showed the correct solution and the lines go "outside the box" to make it work. It was an effective training. I told them missionary work is the same. If you find out something is not working, it will continue to not work. We can't be stuck in a rut and we want to try something new.

Well Elder Wallace and I are doing pretty good. Things are going great and I'm excited to see what happens for the transfer.

Elder Bringhurst