Crazy Times

June 17, 2013

So I was on the phone with another missionary because he was having some problems with his companion and he needed to talk to me, and he says "hang on." And this lady comes up to him on the other line saying how wrong they are about telling people they need to change. She said "those missionary friends of yours on bikes (elder Wallace and I) told some of my tenants that they are going to hell!" (We didn't.   I told this lady that in order to get baptized she needed to get off probation and quit smoking. I guess she took that to mean I was telling her she's going to hell  -- ha ha)  This other Elder was being reasonable with her but she was drunk and I could just hear the conversation getting more and more vicious on her part. She started cursing (a perfect indicator that she knows she is losing control of the conversation) and telling him never to bother her tenants. So she storms off (cursing like a sailor) and I told the missionary to stay on the phone and tell me what she was doing. She goes to a shed, picks up a hammer and a little revolver and starts marching back to the house. I'm getting nervous now and I told this elder that if she gets within 10 feet of the house to call the cops. Well, one of the neighbors saw her and convinced her to let go of the gun and the hammer. So crisis averted. So that's my crazy experience of the week.

We also picked up a very strange new investigator who calls himself "toshy" (A name given to him by a sensei of his). Well, we met this guy at City Market, and asked if he wanted a Book of Mormon and he said yes.  So we went over to his house the next day and WOW, this guy is crazy. He's a self declared communist and he's considered Satan as his Savior.  Oh and did I mention that he said that everyone that doesn't benefit society should deserve to die? Yeah we have some work to do with him.

Well that's my week. Neither Roberto nor Bill showed up to church.  How sad. But we will keep moving!

Elder Bringhurst

 

 

 

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

 

Transfers

May 20, 2013

This week the transfer news was pretty much expected. Elder Nielson was expected to leave and he is, so tomorrow I will be getting a new companion. It should be pretty fun. But there was another surprise. President Maynes has asked me to be the district leader for next transfer! It's my first time doing it, so I hope I do a good job. He told me that I have "proven to be a diligent missionary" so he issued me the call. So we will see what happens with that.

We also got a new less active to teach. She hasn't been to church in 9 years, but we contacted her because her daughter tried out for the college's music program headed by Dr. Atkinson, who is also President Atkinson, the western stakes mission president who has similar authority to President Maynes. He encouraged her to meet with the missionaries again, and she agreed so now we will start teaching her. It should be pretty neat, she seems like she really wants to go to the temple. I want good things to happen for this area, and I have an opportunity to make it happen now, so things should really get going here pretty soon.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Elder Bringhurst

 P.S. I did my piano solo yesterday as well and it went really well. I didn't make any mistakes and the next speaker choked up a little at the beginning of her talk because of it. We also hiked a mountain called Mt. Garfield today in the morning. It's a 2 mile hike that ascends 2000 feet. DAH!! It was super steep. But I outlasted all the other missionaries up it (a couple gave up) and was the first one up there. So I guess I'm still healthy even though I'm fat.  Ha ha

 

Stuff

May 13. 2013

We were teaching an investigator named Frank the other day, and then some people came out to talk to us including a recent convert that I taught clear back when I was serving in the 9th ward at the beginning of my mission. Come to find out, he stopped going to church, fell off the bandwagon, and started attending another church. I talked with him a long time while we were there. I told him that he knew that our church was true, and he knew it because the Spirit had told him. I told him he was an Aaronic Priesthood holder that has a responsibility to fulfill his calling, and that he needs to return. It was a powerful moment, and finally he admitted that he still had a testimony but was just having a hard time quitting smoking. I got his phone number and he committed to once again start attending church! It was cool.

Also a Baptist minister-in-training pulled over to talk to us with the intent that we needed to be saved. A couple of funny moments: him - "Are you saved?" me- "Are we in heaven?"  him - "No.“ me - " Well, I guess I haven’t been saved yet because I'm still here."   Another one:  him - "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior by confessing him with your mouth?" me -  "Yes."  Him -  "When?" me -  " At my baptism." him -  "Well,  baptism isn't essential for going to heaven."  me -  "What about the Savior's declaration 'he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned?' " .... no comment on his side. Anyway, I got him to admit I was "saved" and that opened up for me to ask him to read the Book of Mormon. "I only read the Bible." was his reply "it’s all I need." I felt inspired to say "but what if it is true?" No comment and he drove off. It was funny. That's an abridged version but still it was pretty humorous.

We also had this family move in that apparently is black listed so I get a call from at least 4 people telling us not to associate with them at all.   Whatever. It all is confusing. So I hit my 18 month mark last week! Crazy. Well that's all I have this week. I love you all and have a great week!

Elder Bringhurst

 

What Happens When Drugs and Christianity Collide?

So a couple days ago we received a referral from some other missionaries for a17 year old looking for positivity in his life. We had some time yesterday so I suggested we check it out. 

We enter into this trailer park called Riverview, probably the most low income place in our ward (It was kind of like the "scary" neighborhood from "The Blind Side"). We had never been there before so we got a little nervous. Well anyway we bike around the park to the trailer he lives in, and out he comes, ready to meet us. Totally drunk and stoned, he starts going on and on and on about government conspiracies and (I kid you not) the impending Zombie apocalypse. I wasn't exactly sure how to take this kid. He was extremely Christian and very much what you would call a "believer." He said, "I've been saved by the grace of God, I'm good." I'm sitting there thinking, “well you got a ways to go,”  Anyway, after about a half hour of this (and a couple of random prayers thrown in there) I started to tell him we could help him get off drugs but he needed to meet with us regularly. I said "I have two conditions, 1. That you are sober, and 2. That you read what we ask you to read and pray about it. He consented and we will be seeing him on Wednesday. I'm super excited to teach him.   Think about it.  What if we manage to get him off drugs, stop drinking, coming to church, and straightening out his life? That's amazing! Not only that, when we were about to leave, the OTHER 19 year old we met a few days ago pulls in to that same trailer and recognizes us. Small world!

The ringing in my ear is still there, but not as bad as it was. Sound is a lot clearer so everything will be good. After I sent my letter last Monday I mentioned what happened to President Maynes in that letter. Not 10 minutes later I get a phone call from him. He said "Elder Bringhurst, couple of questions. 1. Why were you playing with a potato cannon?" I felt really stupid at that point. "Because a member of our ward wanted to show us his potato cannon so it perked my curiosity.” Then he asked if I actually got hit by the tennis ball inside. I said no. Anyway he wanted me to go to a doctor (President, you realize that there isn't anything they can do for this type of injury?) So we went to a member doctor who looked at it for free. He said I had some minor hearing loss (doc the problem isn't hearing loss, is hearing bamboozlement) but my eardrum wasn't ruptured. So everything should calm down soon in the ear.

Well that's my update this week.  Hope everything continues to be Awesome!

Elder Bringhurst