Homecoming

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26 March 2019

Thank you

20 March 2019

Sister Jones,

Thank you for your very thoughtful email. I so appreciate it. Elder Jones is a remarkable missionary and really has done everything that has been asked of him (which is a lot) with optimism and faith. I could not be more proud of any missionary for how they have served. There has been no missionary that has trained more missionaries in this mission then your son. That to me is the biggest reflection of what kind of disciple of Jesus Christ he is. We are excited that you will get to see him soon and to feel the powerful spirit he carries with him.  We love him and know he has a very bright future. Thanks again for taking the time to share such kind words and for raising such a wonderful young man and sending him on a mission.

With much thanks,

President Evans

18 March 2019

See you soon!

Wanderers in a strange land

We had exchanges with the Pittsford/Fairport Elders this week. I got to go with Elder Lawton in their area. We video-chatted a recent convert and her daughter. They are going to fly out to watch general conference.

Elder Griffiths and I after our exchange went out to find in the city. The first person we talked to was a man that was pretty distraught. We helped him find where he was going and got his information. He is struggling with depression  and is looking for something to hold onto. We called him that night and he read the pamphlet we gave him and left it at the office he was going to so other people could read it. We were able to stop by on Friday and visit with him and give him a book of Mormon. He then came to church. He shared a thought in Elders quorum that was so sharp. He already has baptism in mind and, thanks to fast and testimony meeting, he already knows most of the word of wisdom. Looking forward to teaching him.

Elder Blosch got back to be with us on Wednesday night, which was his birthday. We bought little Caesars, root beer, and ice cream for his birthday.

The busiest week of my mission

Starting with the zone conference on Tuesday we finalized our training and enjoyed the conference. The Wednesday conference was all the way in buffalo so we had to wake up early to drive there and a snow storm hit on the way and it didn't let up until the next day. On Thursday the conference was awesome as well. It was good to see Elder Clinger and Elder Blackham the two missionaries that i trained in the mission. Friday we had a mission leadership council so we had to do a training for that as well and then we had an exchange with Niagara Falls.

I was over in the falls with Elder Brown whom I haven't served around at all. We gave an awesome church tour to a girl they are teaching. She is from Poland. When we got back from exchanges Elder Blosch one of my companions was gone. Apparently President had him go fill in for an Elder who had to get his appendix removed. 

Then the next day it was stake conference which was fire. We had a French speaker from Africa that we are teaching come to conference. A recent convert from our ward spoke on conversion as well as a missionary that just returned from France two weeks ago in our ward. Our mission President got to bear his testimony. It was a great conference.

Elder Blosch should be back by Thursday and we will have another exchange this week with the Pittsford/Fairport elders.

That's it for me.

Godspeed

And great was the fall thereof

So much change has come about since I got on my mission. Finally at the end they have pulled back some of the restrictions for missionaries and we can now have a lot more communication with family back home which is a great change. I think it will help missionaries not feel as distant. 

This week has been pretty crazy. We had to pick up the new elders which their flight was cancelled on Tuesday so they flew in on Wednesday and we got to give them some inspiration at the mission home. We then had dinner with them and President Evans and got back to work. 

The work is super busy here. The Lord definitely has trust in this area. We have a lot of people placed in our path that are looking for more. My companions are sooo awesome. Elder Blosch and Elder Griffiths are great missionaries and I'm learning a ton from them. Elder Griffiths has a lot of passion for the work and Elder Blosch has incredible faith. It will be a good transfer.

Dinner!

Latter-day Saint Missionaries Can Now Call, Text Home Weekly, First Presidency Announces

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday an update to guidelines regarding communication between full-time missionaries and their families.

Effective immediately, the Church’s 65,000 missionaries are authorized to communicate with their families each week on preparation day by text messages, online messaging, phone calls, and video chats, in addition to letters and emails.

“Regular communication with their families is an important part of a missionary’s service,” said the First Presidency in a statement. “One of the major purposes of this adjustment is to encourage families to be more involved in their missionary’s efforts and experiences.”

The significant adaptations to missionary communication are the result of the “options, possibilities, and technologies now offered in some parts of the world,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chairman of the Church’s Missionary Executive Council.

Communication should occur on the missionary’s preparation day and be initiated by the missionary. Missionaries are asked to use good judgment in determining the length of phone calls and video chats and to be considerate of their companions.

With the new advances in technology, this communication should take place at little or no cost to the Church, the missionaries, or their families.

In those few locations where families or missionaries do not have access to computers or phones, missionaries are encouraged to continue using their current means of communication.

In addition to weekly communication, missionaries are also encouraged to contact family on other special occasions such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, parents’ birthdays, and other culturally significant holidays.

“We encourage missionaries to communicate with their families each week using whatever approved method missionaries decide,” said Elder Uchtdorf. “This may vary based on their circumstances, locations, and schedules for that week. It is not expected that all missionaries will call or video chat with their parents every week. The precise manner of communication is left up to the missionary as he or she decides what will best meet their needs.”

Which gate to enter?

Well I'm down to my last transfer and President has asked me to spend my last 6 weeks in Gates/Chili! I'm finally going to Rochester. 

I'm going to miss the recent converts here in Batavia. Their kids will be taught this next transfer and we just put a members husband on date for baptism in March as well. 

Elder Clausen has been great to be with. We learned a lot this transfer and I finally feel like I can teach a little simpler. He will be training here in Batavia as well as Elder Hawes the district leader will be training and Elder Winward up in Brockport will be training. We don't know if the sisters will be training but we will see.

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Hawes down in Warsaw this week and I saw Nate Harris once again. He showed us a sick handguard he has forged for a sword he is making. Elder Hawes is one of my favorite Elders. He is solid.

Arctic America

Hello. I'm still well. We had a cold week this week as a cold wave came down and blasted the north east. The worst part is that we meet with most of the people we are teaching on Wednesday and Thursday which were the coldest days. There was a travel ban in the county that we are over so we had to cancel some of our visits.

It has since warmed up and its now really warm. This is what it did last year too so it's pretty normal.

We unfortunately had to stop teaching one of the families we were meeting with. They had made the decision that they weren't going to change religions but we are still good friends with them. 

People are still being prepared for the gospel everywhere. We met an awesome soon to be father who let us in to share our message. He just got out of prison and wants to come closer to God as he starts his family. 

Deja vu

Well this week we got a call partway through the week from our branch President and he wanted me to speak again. So I got to speak again after four weeks. The sister that was supposed to speak with me last time was asked to speak again as well so it was basically a rerun of what was supposed to happen last month.

This week we had some awesome lessons. We gave a church tour to one of the families we are teaching which went well. Their little girls had colds but they should be doing better.

We got back I to contact with a guy we were meeting with and had a great lesson with him. He doesn't understand why he would need to go to a church building to be religious or to know God. We read alma 32 with him and invited home to read 33 and 34.

We finally got to meet with the recent convert family on Saturday and they are still doing very well. We have set up weekly meetings so we should have better contact for teaching their kids. They both got their temple recommends this sunday and they have a lot of names to bring to the temple.

My companion thought I looked like Joseph Smith with my collar popped so he wanted a photo for his email and we also saw a falcon eating something in a parking lot when some members took us to a Chinese buffet.

Frigid wind

Well the week was great. We went on exchanges and I got to be with Elder Kawamura in Warsaw. It was pretty warm and by warm I mean it was below freezing but above 0 but a storm rolled in Saturday night and dropped the temperature and a lot of snow. The wind now peels the skin off your face.

We met some awesome people this week but we haven't been able to start teaching them. 

One we met on Saturday night and she let us right in and wanted to meet but because there wasn't anyone else home we had to leave. She is was very open and wants to come closer to God. She was planning on finally getting into the bible and so we gave her the book of Mormon and she asked if she could come visit the church!

Church unfortunately was cancelled but we are looking forward to meeting with her.

The family that we are meeting with that has three daughters are doing well. The father is kind of feeling some hesitation but the mother is very open and definitely wants to know if this is true! We will be giving them a chapel tour today :)

Elder Clausen is a great companion and he is always looking to help me out. We are having a great time here in Batavia.

Doing fine

Since President Evans will be finishing his mission in July they are going to merge the Utica mission with ours. I will be off my mission a little before that happens though so it won't affect me much. The mission will cover all the way over to the edge of New York city now. 

The week went well. There is an awesome family that we are teaching that are doing well. 

The recent convert family got sick this week though so we didn't get to visit them.

We did get to start teaching a man that is married to a member and he is finally looking into the church so that's exciting.

We feel like we are building a lot of trust with the branch here which is great. There is a lot of potential in this area.

I'm finishing up the new testament and so I'm in revelations. I'm also in the 21st chapter of Alma.

I just recently read through a breakdown of the book of Enoch in the ensigns by Hugh Nibley which was a good read as well.

A jolly companion

This week went well. It was the first week of he transfer and I now have Elder Clausen with me. He is really upbeat and does great at talking with people so it has been really fun. We have seen some really awesome change in our area since we've been working. We get let in a lot and get to know the people better. The harvest continues.

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Jones in Pittsford during transfers for one last time as well. He is one of my favorite Elders and he is going to be a huge help to the Lord's work.

We recently found out that our mission will be being merged with the Utica mission. I will already be released but it's an exciting change. Our mission will be more normal sized since our mission has been pretty small.

Elder Clausen had a doctor's appointment this Friday so I got to drive up to Palmyra and eat at the subway for lunch again. It's going to be a great couple months.