Christmas

We had much more success this week. We put in more effort to find more people which always, in my opinion, demonstrates more ways for God to trust his missionaries.

We got back into the family's home on Thursday after much prayer. She had misinterpreted some things, so we were very happy to see them resolved. Unfortunately, like the rest of North Dallas, most all of her questions were from some anti movies. They may be sincere but it is evidence of the adversary and fulfilled prophecy that "the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." We had a fireside last night with investigators in the Stake and the Stake President spoke. She attended with her son and apparently it went really well. I was on splits with a couple other missionaries because we didn't want 8 missionaries in the room at once and so we went out to another appointment while Elder Hall worked his magic.

It was funny though because once again there was a connection made. We were at the Fisher's home in one of the Allen wards and his uncle is Bro Peterson.

We had an appointment this morning with a 28 year old who came to church yesterday. He stood up during introductions and said he had investigated the church in Canada and his best friend is a singles pastor of another church but that "This is it, this is the true church, y'all have it." Come to find out, he was already member though. He had a cool story but that was extremely tough. He was engaged to be married but when the family found out he was Mormon they did everything they could to get him to deny the faith. He of course began politely to say no but eventually one person became 50 and soon they all were trying to cast out 'mormon devils' from him. People were coming over to beat him up as well. The wedding was terminated. Tough! But like Elder Andersens and President Hinckley's talk "it's true isn't it? then what else matters?"

We have been working on our goals as a mission for next year. I have had a specific number of people to help baptize in 2011 in mind before leaving (wait...what??) the mission. It is interesting, setting goals is like setting a covenant. It is like I am being revealed what I can do and how to do it. I have a sweet way to help accomplish this goal and push my spirituality more. It is that each week, to focus on how to strengthen my 4 key relationships, set goals and make plans to accomplish it. Reference president Uchtdorf's last talk.

Anyway, sorry this is short. I will look forward to talking to you Saturday! Should be somewhere around 11:00 our time 10:00 yours.

Well love y'all
Elder Metcalf

This last week was full of meetings meetings meetings. Tuesday was my first zone leader council which was pretty sweet. Basically all the zone leaders hop in a room and discuss the needs of the mission. It was good to see some old longview out east buddies. Wednesday we had a zone council where the zone got together and Elder Hall and I trained on Revelation through Church Attendance. Thursday we had to wait for an exchange back from Greenville then weekly planning and Friday we had a specialized training from President Smith.

Our week was a bit rough in some ways that proved to be a bit humbling. Our tire went flat on the way home from Dallas on Tuesday so our afternoon was eaten up with a trip to pep boys for a repair. Later in the week after we got the mail at the end of the day the steering went when our alternator died which translates to having our car towed away and now were on bikes! No complaints (other than the cold) because our area is 7 square miles compared to Nac's 1500. Saturday we were good to go without a car until my companion's tire decided to complain and we had to walk around to get a new one. Oh, and the golden family we found and committed last week announced that they were offended by the Book of Mormon and for the strength of youth pamphlet. Odd.

Now on to the good news!

President Smith gave an awesome training on Friday which was very centered on the true meaning of Christmas. He went on to say that as we go out preaching the Gospel that we would see windows with trees, presents and families and we would yearn to be a part of that. Sharing the Gospel is the greatest gift anyone could give and this sacred time that we have here in the mission will no doubt be some of the most precious. At the beginning of the meeting we all practiced singing called to serve the same way the motabs do which was awesome considering there were 168 of us belting it out.

We had a couple exchanges this week. The first was with Elder Haslem from a little town called St George Utah who lives by desert hills high school. He is about to die in the mission so it was fun to be with him. We tracted in an apartment complex and the first guy to answer the door was actually a less active member who invited us to come back. The 2nd person to answer the door almost immediately brought up baptism as something she would like to do but didnt feel ready for it at this time. We did offer our help of course to make that a reality which she accepted.

The 2nd exchange was with Elder Harris up in Bonham. Man, that place was a lot like out east minus all the pine trees. It was kind of crazy how similar we were. He left on his mission late, came from a family of 4, etc etc... It was a great exchange. We were talking to one of his investigators on the porch before he let us into his home. I asked him 2 very direct questions "Dwayne, do you believe Joseph Smith was a prophet?" he answered in the affirmative. Then "Do you believe the Book of Mormon is true?" Yes he answered. He was then committed to baptism. We also met with a former investigator in a heart breaking situation, she wants to be baptized but her staunch catholic husband is opposed. She was awesome and very happy. She attributed it to her reading of the Book of Mormon.

Yesterday we met with a long time investigator who allowed us to come in and teach unannounced. Elder Hall taught the Atonement very well, then I taught more towards how the Atonement relates to Life's eternal purpose. He was pretty stoked on that and for a few seconds I actually forgot he wasn't a member. The Spirit was pretty strong.

Sunday we also had a miracle call in which one of our members had stopped by the family who said they were offended but come to find out they were just a bit nervous with the whole sudden baptism thing. That is what happens when you don't read the Book of Mormon! Faith declines, fears increase.

Love Y'all

Elder Metcalf

Christmas Miracles!

After dedicating an hour every night to our wonderful "FFT" (Finding Family Time), we had a miracle. We had leadership training meetings 2 full days this week and were asked to provide our own lunch the night before the 2nd day. So after much ,we went to Wal-mart to pick up something fat and sugar free (I am still in the lead of the Biggest Loser). We were looking pretty gloomy at the soup cans in one of the aisles when a lady approached us asking if she could buy us some gloves. Initially, of course, we thought she was a member but as the conversation went from one question to about 30 minutes in Aisle 6 at Wal-mart, we soon discovered tears that humbled us and brought spiritual relief. We got her info and were very scared to look it up on the GPS for fear that this golden daughter of God may turn into a referral but it just so happened that she lived exactly on the border. We finally had an opportunity to set up a return appointment later in the week for Sunday evening. While in Church however, we received a text telling us that she had 'stuff' come up and would be unable to meet. My finger was on the phone ready to type the rescheduling reply but my companion stopped me and said we'll go over anyway. So after dinner we had coordinated for a couple to meet us there for the lesson. After minor talk on the doorstep and apologizing for getting her message and still coming over she let us in. After sometime and tears directed towards the member wife that was with us, we helped her do some cleaning around the home and then shared a short message. It was a humbling experience. All cards were in our favor. She has been told all the Anti, experienced both good and bad members and knows what we're about but wants to be baptized with her 4 kids in January. The better part of this report is that many members are already taking action. A phone call at 7:30am this morning from a Sister in the ward explained that she would be taking her kids over to meet their kids so they would feel comfortable going to youth night on Wednesday. Glorious

Leadership training was awesome this month. We had an amazing first day especially when one of the trainings done by a new district leader, was caught off guard. He was told to give his training on "Revelation through prayer" when someone had already given it and it was really supposed to be on "Revelation through the Book of Mormon." Things got exciting when the young district leader stood up, explained the dilemma and then went on to say "Well the Spirit is strong enough so I am just going to do revelation through the Book of Mormon training." It was one of the best trainings I've been in. It was unique to hear powerful testimonies (especially since President Smith was present - an extremely passionate man when it comes to the Book of Mormon.) We had an awesome role play that same day and I felt grateful to be a part of it probably because I needed it the most. The situation was that we had a person who didn't want to pray because of intense family opposition to the Church. I have no idea where I heard or read this from but it really built my testimony as I testified in this role play "Think and feel how much Heavenly Father loves His Son Jesus Christ. Their relationship was outstanding. All that love is incomprehensible to our finite minds, the love is so pure and infinite. Now understand this, Heavenly Father loves you as much as our Savior Jesus Christ."

Well already I am running low on time so I will do my best to sum up the rest of the week. We had a fun exchange with the assistants this week and we did splits so I was with one assistant and Elder Hall with the other. We went to an appointment and had with us a member who has a brother in the 70. Needless to say, this troublesome investigator was in for a surprise. Halfway through the conversation he explained that going off feelings is such a dumb idea. The member looked at him and said "Do you love your wife?" Later in the conversation I asked "If you knew the Holy Ghost was speaking to you, would you believe it?" Then the Assistant went on to explain the Holy Ghost.

We set another date with someone on the first lesson who sadly lives out of our boundaries but it was such a fun lesson. Elder Hall and I went in there with so much passion towards the Book of Mormon that it could almost be said it was like Nephi who's words could not be disbelieved.

I love y'all
Elder Metcalf

Thanksgiving Texas Style

Thanksgiving was a bit (just a little bit) tough on the diet we are doing. We decided to have a Biggest Looser challenge and for some reason set it up a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Mom you'll be happy to know that in the first and second week's weigh-in, I am in the lead with a weight loss of 8.4 lbs achieved thus far in the first week alone. Thanksgiving was awesome, we planned out 4 meals to attend and pacing myself proved to be quite the struggle. I must admit that Texas food is in definite competition with the family's. We ate breakfast at the Harty's who were baptized earlier in the year. You couldn't really tell though because of how golden they are. (Kind of like when my 2nd born son in the wilderness thought Jody was a life long member). The breakfast reminded me of Aunt Kris' cooking so homesickness never existed all day. We were going to play football after, but a Texas 40 degrees is like a Utah 20 to say the least. Our next meal appointment was with a part member family who had awesome food. Our 3rd meal was with a part member family who had probably the best pie I have ever tasted. Our 4th and last meal was with an active family and that is when I had trouble getting anything down.

Anyway, now that the food journal is out of the way.

We have a young man named Ricky that we are teaching who was supposed to be baptized this past weekend but unfortunately bailed out. He keeps his commitments and we fasted for him but when it comes to agency regarding particular commandments, then we have no control. He believes the Book of Mormon to be true and Joseph Smith to be a prophet so it is only a matter of time. We look forward to meeting with him tonight and will have him set his own date within the near future.

Yesterday we had a random guy walk into Church during the 2nd hour and we are pretty sure he was homeless. Once the member who was helping him located a missionary (me) then I became his fellow shipper for a couple hours trying to meet his spiritual needs. Although it was a bit impossible probably because of certain Word of Wisdom issues. He was a bit surprised when he figured out that he was in a Mormon Church with all the Christian pictures and things all around the building...

Today we taught new guy named Robert in the 5th ward area. He received a Book of Mormon from the last companionship that was here and expressed that we could come over but that he had only read through 1st Nephi and a little of 2nd Nephi. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and around the Spirit World part of the lesson he mentioned that he thought there must be 3 different places where people would go once they were judged. We finished the lesson and set up a return appointment to meet with him again but it was a bit to his reluctance. He really wants to read the entire Book of Mormon and ask God and wait to make sure it is His word.

We met another Anti Mormon guy that we knocked into and within 40 minutes he had a Book of Mormon in his hand and committed to read it. The odd thing about this contact was that he was directly across the street from the atheist guy from last week that ultimately accepted a Book of Mormon to read. We look forward to the return appointment. We are sure that they will both have many questions. I am down with the super critical thinker though.

We got a call from a less active member who just barely showed up on the records after we knocked into them accidentally. He was baptized nearly 20 years ago which is odd because that is the average time in the Church that someone remains inactive. So now he wants back in with a calling and a fellowshipping friend.

I would report more but we are running out of time. P-day was cut short because we were asked to help set up the "Cresh". They basically go nuts setting up like 500 nativities in the stake center (ask Katie). The rest of the week we had a road trip or 2 for baptismal interviews and lots of tracting for FFT aka Finding Family time.

Love y'all
Elder Metcalf!!!

Happy Thanksgiving....Already????

This week was both eventful yet uneventful. We had many lessons that fell through but I had some pretty sweet experiences.

We met with the Allen Stake President, a couple of high councilmen, and President Grant from the mission presidency. It was, as I call it, a fun power meeting discussing the missionary work in the stake. It was only my first week here so my companion did most of the talking but it was pretty sweet. It has been an interesting ride to understand more fully how priesthood and church government work. It is an odd thing to hear others declare their opposition to organized religion but in my mind I think, you have know idea what organized is. Thank heavens for revelation.

Monday, last week was quite strange. We did our laundry, emailed, shopped, played basketball and still had time to do stuff. Why is this surprising? Because in my previous are,a we never had any Elders within 40 miles of the 4 of us and everything was too spread out to do that all at once. Hence, my golfing skills died.
We had our 5th ward Bishop offer his services in coming with us to the family we tracted out who committed to baptism but sadly there was no answer even knowing they were inside and the following day they explained "yes, I talked to my friends and they told me that the Mormon religion is not the true religion." Elder Hall and I surprisingly held our cool pretty well. It is quite interesting to see people when they express why the Church is not true (or utterly evil) because they heard or read such and such and then ask them "Well, did you pray about it and ask God?" The answer, after a long pause is always no. Of course the vast majority of people think we're false! Its because it's true.

On Tuesday we had our first district meeting in the area and it was strange not to prepare for it since I had been doing district meetings in Nac for 18 weeks. It was actually kind of a relief to tell you the truth. (then of course later that day, we had to spend a few hours preparing the stake president report.) It was an interesting experience because I was now around totally different people rather than the same Elders I had been seeing for 6 months.
We met with a lady that day who we had set an appointment up with earlier in the week. We began with our "refined Allen approach" of linking Families and the Restoration. After the prayer and the first couple of questions you could see the Holy Ghost working with her. She had many great questions. Those are the best people, the sincere seekers of truth. We placed the Book of Mormon and she was glad to have it.
That night we also met with a man named Tyson. It was the first time in a couple weeks that I had taken total control of a lesson so it was a bit rough around the edges. It is amazing how if we don't keep using are skills, how fast we can lose them.

Wednesday was fun, we did some service in the morning which was nice because our area is tiny and it's all families, so usually no one is home during the day. You know how I am, building and fixing are some of my favorite things! It wasn't long before we were both on the roof of this one ladies house trying to fix a rain gutter.
We met again with one of our newer investigators and the Spirit helped pump him up on the Book of Mormon. Inspired questions are my absolute favorite thing to accomplish in a lesson. It is a process of first waiting and pausing for the Spirit to prompt you, second asking a very short clear question ("Kevin, what wouldit be like for you to meet the Savior?") third waiting for the response as the Spirit dictates then fourth testify! ("that is why we have 3rd Nephi 11. Imagine you and your family just survived a hurricane 10 times more powerful than when you experience Rita and Katrina...")

Thursday we had a ton of planning to do. Planning for our area and the other missionaries. We went step by step through Preach My Gospel planning so we could get every last drop of revelation that we could qualify for.
We have been teaching in every dinner lesson, the Restoration. A line in PMG states that teaching the Restoration will build Faith and trust in all the members to share the Gospel. It works! The Spirit always comes in strong when we hear their testimonies of the First Vision then the timing is right to think about names they are working with.

Friday was awesome, we did a lot of random parking lot contacting. We have dedicated also an hour every night to FFT which is Finding Family time. (of course we ended up finding a YSA girl who wants to know more about the branch though.)

Saturday was sweet, we tracted into a guy who was such a critical thinker that he thought himself into Athiesm. However within 30 minutes of discussion he accepted the Book of Mormon challenge.

Sunday was stressful, no investigators came. We are struggling with our last and only baptism date who hasn't dropped us yet. We are praying for some major miracles. Of course that night is when I met the Anderson's relatives. They were pretty funny. "ya they live on Sugar Leo" "I live on Sugar Leo" "across from their bishop who owned Lins" "that's my bishop!"

Anyway my time is running short, they kick us out of here at noon.

Love y'all
Elder Metcalf

Allen 5 & 7

Back in the big city and it is a little bit of a culture shock. My new companion Elder Hall said it was pretty funny to watch me, with blank stares and looking around the apartment when I first got there. The ward boundaries are tiny. We do cover a singles branch as well, which covers a massive area. It has been pretty cool to see how the Lord is helping me with my faulty memory. Maybe I am just getting used to a transfer finally since I didn't see one for a third of my mission. But the area we cover is much like Frisco. Funny thing about Elder Hall is that I replaced him when he left Frisco. We had a few similar spiritual experiences in Frisco as well which was kind of a joy to rekindle. As far as investigators go, we are working hard to set dates like crazy. We prayed for the opportunity to set 3 baptismal dates on Thursday and the Lord answered our prayers the following night with a family that we tracted in to. The sad challenge still seems to be getting these people to Church. We will be enlisting a lot of help from the members. There is much more success when they do the knocking and inviting to make sure they come Sunday. The YSA ward starts at 3:00 which was kind of a shock getting out at 6 and finding it was dark.

One of the first things I noticed was all of the people. There are so many contacting opportunities that kind of gives me a lot of energy and little direction. There was a car parked in a driveway with its lights on and when I saw it, a thought flashed in my mind to "go towards the light." The guy got out of his car and seemed to enjoy us having us get a hold of him. He had been taught in Mexico and made references to the Joseph Smith story and seemed to really like it. We got his info then referred him to the Spanish missionaries in the area.

We had a blitz on Saturday and I was sent to a richer area with a fairly new missionary. We offered some pleas for help and a dismission of fears and started knocking. Man, I kind of forgot that there are a lot of hard hearted people in North Dallas but for the most part it was a great experience. We knocked on one door and the guy came out and started talking to us. We asked if he had ever read the Book of Mormon to which he said "Yes, I like it a lot and it complements the Bible really well." I asked if he was a member and he responded "of what?" But we got his info and made a referral to the Elders in the area. Another man we knocked into went to SFA in Nac which was pretty sweet because we talked and connected real well about the area. He accepted a missionary visit and we took off.

We have a YSA named Ricky that Elder Hall has been teaching for a couple weeks and he and his member friend are really into video editing (the advantages of being a nerd as well as a ski bum are awesome). He is pretty well committed to be baptized this month but keep him in your prayers. The YSA branch is awesome and many referrals seem to be received each week. The branch presidency is very supportive as well because we teach a lot in their homes so it seems. Ricky has been reading and he described the few short verses we left him as "when I read them, I felt like I couldn't get enough of it. I needed to read more." The faith developed through the converting power of the Gospel is something I always have needed to work on. I am always impressed to hear the results of someone's sincere reading of the Book of Mormon. The faith required to do that seems very simply but miraculous every time it happens. Faith is a manifestation of one's desire.

I definitely miss Nac a lot. It is interesting now that I have so many joyful memories to choose from those precious 8 months. It helps me get through sometimes challenging, difficult or even tempting times. I really do feel strongly about the area I am in now. There has already been a few times where I am nearly brought to tears thinking about the massive amount of families here in the area and just to think of one, just one that may join, really puts a sense of urgency into myself. It has been unique to knock just a couple doors yet talk to so many people that are somehow outside already.

We had a meeting with the Stake President and the Zone on Saturday and he is stellar. He said "there are many many many people that are ready here." It is kind of driving me nuts really. WHERE ARE YOU! Thankfully when we have asked God, we have been lead exactly where we need to go. I would never be able to do this on my own. My own intellect has been challenged and failed every time I have used it. But, when the Spirit is involved, the wise become confounded.

Pray me some luck in Allen 5 & 7.

Love, Elder Metcalf

Tough Joy

Tough joy is one of the ways to describe missionary work.

Tyler was baptized yesterday and the baptism, I don't think, could have been any better. To set it all up we (I say 'we' because I have been here long enough) got a new Bishop who is actually Brother Nicholas. It wasn't a surprise to many of us though, because he is pretty stalwart. Uniquely enough, he and his family have fed us probably double or more then any other member here. He is also Tyler's Spanish teacher at the High School. So, at the baptism, Bishop (or Mr. Nicholas) had several of his students,because they were all Tyler's friends, in attendance. He bore a strong testimony which I don't think could have been more perfect. Within a couple hours of Bishop Nicholas' setting apart, one of his students was baptized whom he had helped teach the entire time. Coincidence? Ya right... Especially considering we postponed the baptism 2 weeks for the 31st.

Tyler asked me to do the baptizing which surprised me. Quite frankly, I think I was the most nervous one in the biggest audience we have ever had. We had mostly youth take care of the baptismal program and a of couple young women sang "When I am baptized." If any of you know me well enough, then you would understand that hands down, that is my favorite hymn and scripture. I think more than any other part of the baptism, that is when I felt the Spirit the strongest. Maybe it was because my nerves were running a bit high walking into the font. Ahhh, baptism. The central invitation of all my teaching. He'll be confirmed next week, I am curious to hear of anything that may be asked in Bishop Nicholas' Spanish class today.

Saturday night was pretty intense. We had a booth at the cities "Scare on the Square" which was packed with families. Bishop Nielson came down to help and him we always have hilarious discussions. The question he asked me when we were filling pales, pumpkins, and bags with candy, pass-a-longs, and pamphlets was "What do you think President Monson would say if he saw us down here supporting a holiday like this?" Another funny thing to note is there were about 30 other church booths around us. We had the spanish Elders with us so I sent out the 2 Jr companions while the old guys manned the booths. Apparently Elder Jones went out and contacted half the church booths and in the process a lady came up to him and Elder Beihl and said "You ready to walk with me?" After a brief conversation he had met someone that knows the Book of Mormon to be true and loved to Spirit on temple square. You cant go wrong with a companion that has tons of fire which I attribute most, if not all, our success too. At scare on the square we gave out over 1000 pass-a-longs, and about 400 pamphlets, 20 copies of the Book of Mormon. The interesting thing about this is that we ran out of all our supplies. It is a unique situation to be in...

I wrote in tough joy at the top because we have been meeting the most prepared people I have taught the entire mission. The spirit in the lessons has been obvious. The investigators feel the truth and accept baptism. The odd thing about it all is, that we never hear from them again. No phone calls answered or messages returned. In some cases they send their friends out the very next day after the lesson to tell us they aren't home. It is sad when they leave the blinds open and then we wave at what I thought was the golden investigator at that point. I think there is a process which Satan goes through with each investigator that ultimately destroys Faith in the message of the Restoration. After a very powerful lesson I am sure he laughs and says "Really Elder Metcalf? is that all you got?" then goes through the normal routine of some anti from close family or friends then whispers into the ear of the golden contact "come on... seriously, no way. Baptism? that would mean you would actually have to do something..."

As of now I am pondering more battle tactics against my enemy. A stronger testimony? Yes. Better teaching skills? Yes. More Faith and boldness? Yes. The game has been set, the field is white, and the opponent is growing stronger. What can I do to better my team?

A big success this week was a man named Willy that the Spanish Elders tracted into and referred to us. He is wanting and desiring more spiritual satisfaction in his life. We went to his home and it was a bit odd because he didn't let us in and we talked on his doorstep for half an hour. He agreed to a Church tour after using some "How to begin teaching points" from Preach My Gospel. The unique thing about this is that he actually came! He loved the Church. He felt the Spirit. He came to Church on Sunday! Loved it. Felt it. i ended up teaching Gospel Principles (a calling that was extending 40 minutes before it happened) and I felt the Spirit actually working through me and Willy participated a lot. He answered many inspired questions in a way that the Spirit entered into his heart more. I look forward to the next lesson we have with him because we talked a lot on baptism!

Another joyful experience Elder Jones and I have had is that we got on our bikes to contact. Ha! Its fun. Tracting is becoming a activity that is less routine. We have had great experiences getting out there and finding where that Spirit, that we all desperately want, may be.

Love Elder Metcalf

Bitter Sweet

Saturday afternoon the air was cool and we had finding time scheduled. We took off on the bikes and went down to the border of the college area after contacting many people. We were sitting at the corner for a while talking about life and the mission when the phone rang. The ringer, which is rarely heard, but obviously very different, identified the caller as President Smith.

"Elder Metcalf, looks like your time in Nacogdoches has come to an end..."

1/3 of my mission in Nac has finally come to an end. Saying goodbyes was a bit strange. The hardest of course was at the Bennetts last night. They came home around 8:30 and so we talked for about an hour then the awkward "All right, we need to go" was said. Man, sure am going to miss that family. They were my first and last 'lesson' in Nacogdoches. The difference was awesome. Very strong friendships were developed.

Tyler was confirmed yesterday and with each confirmation, the Holy Ghost became more and more noticeable when someone receives it. Because it was fast Sunday, we challenged him to bear his testimony which was awesome because even with the opposition he did it. He described that when he woke up he didn't want to come, but did. He had a migraine and was a bit weary when coming up to be confirmed. Although when he was confirmed he said that all physical problems disappeared.

We set a baptismal date with Willie this week who is solid as a rock. He met with us the day after so we could set up a calendar with him with the events leading up to his baptism. He told is that his goal is to read 3 chapters a day. He said that he feels so good in the Church and it is like a little glow that gets brighter and brighter each time it comes inside of him (We referenced Alma 32). The missionaries coming in have many notes on his teaching record.

Elder Jones is getting transferred as well which is rough because the new missionaries wont know the area at all! I'll probably take a picture of the desk so y'all can see the million notes I've left. 8 months of knowledge is coming with me. Elder Jones will be transferred to another out east area and I am going back into the city, which I have not seen for 8 months. I am excited though because I haven't been to the temple since March. Hopefully I can go soon.

When I gave my last testimony in sacrament meeting I hit record on the digital recorder because I wanted to hear what I sounded like on the fly. It was hilarious when I did play it back because with the recorder in my front pocket you could hear my heart beating super strong and then slowly fade when I calmed down.

Well mom, you will like this story. For my last dinner we ate with a family that I really like (well, I like all of them of course) but they asked for my favorite food for a last supper. My response was "Chicken Roll-ups" (or chicken pillows) I think I had about 12. Not sure if you might be able to send that recipe.

Well it is pretty rough leaving Nac town for a while. I highly doubt I'll ever have a area as long as this but I loved it and being here as long as I was. It was super rough saying bye to the Bennetts. Most certainly the greatest joy felt was when they made the decision to be married and Jody getting baptized in the same weekend. AWESOME. (See y'all in the Temple!)

Farewell Nac-a-baptize. Nac-a-Metcalf. Nac-a-Nowhere. Nac-a-fat. Nac-town. Nac-a-contact. Nac-a-joy.
Off to the Big D.

Love Elder Metcalf

New Photos

Tough joy is one of the ways to describe missionary work.

Tyler was baptized yesterday and the baptism, I don't think, could have been any better. To set it all up we (I say 'we' because I have been here long enough) got a new Bishop who is actually Brother Nicholas. It wasn't a surprise to many of us though, because he is pretty stalwart. Uniquely enough, he and his family have fed us probably double or more than any other member here. He is also Tyler's Spanish teacher at the High School. So, at the baptism, Bishop (or Mr. Nicholas) had several of his students, because they were all Tyler's friends, in attendance. He bore a strong testimony which I don't think could have been more perfect. Within a couple hours of Bishop Nicholas' setting apart, one of his students was baptized whom he has helped teach the entire time. Coincidence? Ya right... Especially considering we postponed the baptism 2 weeks for the 31st.

Tyler asked me to do the baptizing which surprised me. Quite frankly, I think I was the most nervous one in the biggest audience we have ever had. We had mostly youth take care of the baptismal program and a couple of young women sang "When I am baptized." If any of you know me well enough, then you would understand that hands down, that is my favorite hymn and scripture. I think more than any other part of the baptism, that is when I felt the Spirit the strongest. Maybe it was because my nerves were running a bit high walking into the font. Ahhh, baptism. The central invitation of all my teaching. He'll be confirmed next week, I am curious to hear of anything that may be asked in Bishop Nicholas' Spanish class today.

Saturday night was pretty intense. We had a booth at the cities "Scare on the Square" which was packed with families. Bishop Nielson came down to help and we always have hilarious discussions. The question he asked me when we were filling pales, pumpkins, and bags with candy, pass-a-longs, and pamphlets was "What do you think President Monson would say if he saw us down here supporting a holiday like this?" Another funny thing to note is there was about 30 other church booths around us. We had the Spanish Elders with us so I sent out the 2 Jr companions while the old guys manned the booths. Apparently Elder Jones went out and contacted half the church booths and in the process, a lady came up to him and Elder Beihl and said "You ready to walk with me?" After a brief conversation he had met someone that knows the Book of Mormon to be true and loved the Spirit on temple square. You cant go wrong with a companion that has tons of fire which I attribute most, if not all, to our success. At scare on the square we gave out over 1000 pass-a-longs, and about 400 pamphlets, 20 copies of the Book of Mormon. The interesting thing about this is that we ran out of all our supplies. It is a unique situation to be in...

I wrote in tough joy at the top because we have been meeting the most prepared people I have taught the entire mission. The spirit in the lessons has been obvious. The investigators feel the truth and accept baptism. The odd thing about it all, is that we never hear from them again. No phone calls answered or messages returned. In some cases they send their friends out the very next day after the lesson to tell us they aren't home. It is sad when they leave the blinds open and then wave at what I thought was the golden investigator at that point. I think there is a process which Satan goes through with each investigator that ultimately destroys their Faith in the message of the Restoration. After a very powerful lesson I am sure he laughs and says "Really Elder Metcalf? is that all you got?" then goes through the normal routine of some anti from a close family or friends then whispers into the ear of the golden contact "come on... seriously, no way. Baptism? that would mean you would actually have to do something..."

As of now I am pondering more battle tactics against my enemy. A stronger testimony? Yes. Better teaching skills? Yes. More Faith and boldness? Yes. The game has been set, the field is white, and the opponent is growing stronger. What can I do to better my team?

A big success this week was a man named Willy that the Spanish Elders tracted into and referred to us. He is wanting and desiring more spiritual satisfaction in his life. We went to his home and it was a bit odd because he didn't let us in and we talked on his doorstep for half an hour. He agreed to a Church tour after using some "How to begin teaching points" from Preach My Gospel. The unique thing about this is that he actually came! He loved the Church. He felt the Spirit. He came to Church on Sunday! Loved it. Felt it. I ended up teaching Gospel Principles (a calling that was extended 40 minutes before it happened) and I felt the Spirit actually working through me and Willy participated a lot. He answered many inspired questions in a way that the Spirit entered into his heart more. I look forward to the next lesson we have with him because we talked a lot on baptism!

Another joyful experience Elder Jones and I have is that we get on our bikes and go out to contact. Ha! Its fun. Tracting is becoming a activity that is less routine. We have had great experiences getting out there and finding where that Spirit, that we all desperately want, may be.

Love Elder Metcalf

Yesterday was the Sunday that missionaries dream of. After Gospel principles class I went out the opposite door that I never go out of. More than likely because I was fighting a cold half the week and that door was the closest to the nearest tissue box and hand sanitizer. I noticed in the foyer a man who I didn't recognize and thought it was a bit odd because I have been in Nac long enough to know all the members that show up. More strange, was that he was around all the Spanish speakers. So I followed him as he left the building to go home. I lost sight of the man so I approached a less active member that was skipping out a little early. The man then came to me and introduced himself as Barry and that he wants to be a member of this Church.

You can imagine how many replies went through my mind.
"Hmmm, I think we can arrange that."
"Where's Ashton?"
"Very funny Elder Jones."
"Thank you Heavenly Father."
"What size are you in 'white jumpsuit'?"
"Are you sure you came to the right place?"

However after a small pause I asked him if we could meet. He said "Yes, I'll be here next week."
"How about sometime this week?" was my reply to which he said yes. "How about right now?"
So after we finally found a available room and talked to this wonderful soul - here are the details. He has read the Book of Mormon cover to cover already, has been dating an active member for a while, wants to kick the habit of smoking and coffee, wants more spiritual satisfaction, wants to be baptized. So we set up another appointment for tomorrow and he offered to take us to lunch. Needless to say I was a little floored.

The rest of this week went well but not without some challenges. We had interviews and specialized training on Thursday which was pretty sweet. President Smith remembered the Lake Powell invite that somehow he magically received from a known source... His reply was that he'll probably take y'all up on it. Thursday night was rough because my body started to give up in the fight of having a cold. I decided to give up trying to sleep around 4:30am so I took a shower, made my eggs and breakfast then started my studies. Luckily it was a planning day so I was able to relax a little before going out. I got the guts to call Sister Smith for some advice and thankfully a 'quarentine' wasn't necessary. So we went out contacting and a parking lot came to mind that we could find a lot of people to contact. The first 7 or so people were pretty 'sloshy' contacts to say the least but once the Spirit found me worthy enough to help out I actually felt healthy and could talk normal. We found a lady that was pretty excited to test out the Book of Mormon so we placed one and got a return appointment.

Tyler's lesson was pretty fun. We taught keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and really hit on Church attendance, then the Word of Wisdom and then my all time favorite, the Law of Chastity. I don't think many details will be included here but yes, his baptism is still on for this coming Sunday which will be Elder Jones' first so we are pretty stoked. He is a remarkable 16 year old (Tyler, not Elder Jones)

The happy hour with the Bennetts on Friday was pretty funny and entertaining (what's new?). We got over there and both Brother Bennett and I had voices that were about lost. We talked about the weird article about the Methodist church that didn't allow Mormon scout leaders because of the accusation we're not Christian as well as polygamy, etc etc to which Sister Bennett replied "I haven't had that lesson yet."

We had a funny experience tracting in Garrison this week. We knocked the first door and the lady nearly had a heart attack when she saw us, she was way mad. We got in the door on the third contact with a sweet lady (luckily we had a member with us) and right after we said the prayer, she got a phone call from a friend on a different street in town letting us know that the ever so dangerous Mormons were here. Apparently the neighborhood watch was on us pretty quick. It was a great lesson though. She asked us because of her husbands and sister's recent deaths if she would see them again or recognize them. The spirit helped out a lot.

Well hope y'all are havin' fun. Keep prayin' for your favorite Texas Elder.

Love Elder Metcalf

Congrats, holy cow to the 2nd grandchild of the family. What the heck, that is all pretty surreal that I am a double uncle now. Although I see that everyone had to wait for me to get on the mission before I could teach them the ways of rebellion. Eh, I buried those a while ago I think anyway. We'll see. Good luck Matt and Ashley! That is pretty sweet y'all brought in a new investigator into the world!

Another Sweet Week

President Smith and the leaders of the mission have been hitting really hard on contacting. It seems the more we implement this the stronger the opposition becomes (surprise!) Although at the end of the week my thoughts are always turned to the Savior and what He had to endure. It seems strange but amidst the battle we seem somehow to come off victorious with some awesome new investigators.

The first to mention would be Ron. He has been dating a member for a while now and referred himself 6 times to us on mormon.org. Unfortunately the media referral took about 5 weeks to get to us. In his own words "I pass by the Church multiple times going to work and I have tried to stop and pick up a Mormon bible but the door always seemed to be locked even with cars in the parking lot." Elder Jones was out on splits with another member that night setting a baptism date while Brother Cox and I met with Ron. He's awesome. When I was explaining that the 'Book of Mormon is our keystone' he replied "That makes a lot of sense, I grew up with the bible being the cornerstone so if you were to take it away not much would happen." He was pretty excited over the first lesson and gladly accepted a conditional baptismal commitment (they always seem to surprise the members when the response is "Yes, of course"). His work schedule is being on call 24/7 so it is hard for him to get to church. We'll keep praying.

Next would be Ceaser, this was an awesome contact. We got done doing our weekly planning session on Thursday and had scheduled to do some tracting afterwords. The thought came to mind to just 'go to SFA' and I acted on it because we had minimal time to get 10 people to contact. We got to SFA, parked the car, got out of the car and the very car next to us rolled his window down. He asked if we would teach him. We set up a appointment Saturday evening at the Church which he kept. He has said for some reason he loves the Mormon church, has always loved the members and for some reason has been drawn to it. He feels that we live what we preach. We started the lesson at 8 and he loved how the Book of Mormon answers his questions. We went til 9:15. He told us "when can we get together again? I will take you out to dinner." His week is extremely busy so we set up an appointment much further out than any missionary would like but he is hungry for that spiritual satisfaction.

In nightly planning on Saturday I looked at the map with a small sigh of "where haven't I tracted?" So after the prayer I closed my eyes and put my finger right on 'Jefferson' street. Yes, it was a very crude technique and one that if I had observed my companion doing, I would have questioned his guidance by the Holy Ghost. When we got to the street the next day it was an extreme battle with the natural man. I was tired and thirsty. Quietly, I reached back for my favorite Blue Book and read Mosiah 3:19 to rebuke myself into action. My companion knocked the first door. It was a man who invited us to sit down outside. "whats your message?" he asked. Elder Jones replied "...and there is a prophet on the earth today." "Whats his name?" the man asked as if interrogating him. "President Thomas S. Monson!" my companion testified. "Get out of here!" was the mans pricked response. The next door (there were only 2 houses on the street) let us in after some talk. At first she explained that she was sick. But then went on to say "I have been meeting with the Jehovah's witnesses and disagree with them. I am desperately looking for a church." Some time into the conversation after introducing the precious, dear to my heart book that I love so intensely, we turned to Alma 7. She has experienced many pains and heartache in her life. We read verses 11-13 and she talked some more and asked "but how can I get over it all and leave the pain?" "read the next 2 verses" was my response. (I'll let y'all look those up.) We have an appointment tonight, pray us some luck!

And I haven't even gotten into the regulars!

The Bennetts were fun during the week. Jody took time to slave over feeding us poor little missionaries which was much appreciated. (yes, Jody, hello again!) The lesson was actually simple but pretty awesome. We went through some of the cross references of the Bible mentioning the Book of Mormon and so on. It rekindled my joy for the simple scriptures that I hardly ever use because I think they are way too common.

We taught Tyler on Tuesday night the plan of salvation. He liked it although his member friends already explained it to him so he practically taught it to us. He didn't come to church Sunday which worries me a lot but we are still on for our lessons and resolving some stumbling blocks.

The Smith family is Elder Jones' family. I have only been over there once but usually we just split up and I let him do his testifying over there. So far it has been awesome because Elder Jones is an outstanding missionary (not greenie!) and has already set a date with him. The mom was in the hospital Sunday so he couldn't come to church. We pray that she will heal quickly!

Lewis is still golden. We taught him up til the Restoration principle in the first lesson and we had to leave. We gave him the Restoration DVD and he replied "dang, y'all always leave at the good part when everything becomes really interesting."

I love serving and I love the people I am around. The Lord is blessing us like crazy.

Love y'all
Elder Metcalf

Monday night we tracted out a street that yielded some results but I have to admit the best door was the one that we left a note saying "Hey, we want to buy your desks please call..." The home had 2 huge desks sitting out on the porch. Since we're all the way out in Nac-a-nowhere we cant request sweet items like that. So he called us back and we got massive desks now. We threw away one of our couches just to make room.

We had a lesson that night with a lady who is dating a guy that works on oil rigs. We seemed to teach the lesson well but we kind of had the impression that she may be taking the lessons out of some boredom. Regardless, we are in the door and testifying with members. She couldn't get to church because of a vacation to meet parents but we think she has great potential with the right members.

Tuesday we had some appointments set up but most canceled. Elder Bhiel (one of the spanish elders) was super sick so I sent my son out on exchanges with his companion because of his really bad cabin fever. I spent the time making about 25 phone calls and talking to some excellent referrals. One guy (appropriately named Ron) is engaged to a member. He was telling me that "ya, I want one of y'alls mormon bibles. I tried to go to church last week to meet y'all but couldn't make it cause of work. I know my fiancee is what ya call a less active but she wants to be active again and from what I've heard about the church, I like it." He works on oil rigs so its been a bit of a hassle trying to set up an appointment. Needless to say I am itchin' to get out there.

That night we met with Tyler who seemed to have some concerns. As we read and likened 3rd Nephi 11 to him for the whole lesson, the concerns dissolved away. It is a very interesting thing when investigators actually read from the Book of Mormon that there doesn't seem to be much of a problem. The spirit was strong and he requested his baptism on Halloween. The teenage ideas for the baptism were a little less then sacred but funny nonetheless. I suggested that everyone show up in white.

Before that lesson we taught a young man that we had met right before conference. As we were talking to him he said "can we just skip all the awkward smalltalk?" So we said a prayer and got right into the true nature of God. Elder Jones and our ward mission leader who was with us could tell he was getting way into it (it is interesting some of the reaction you get when you explain that God has a physical body.) Just as we were moving into the next principle his mom opened the door and was livid mad. She promptly kicked us out with a less than happy tone. That definitely created some tension. We were all scared out of our minds.

Wednesday was probably the most eventful day of the week. We met with the whole zone and had a training in the morning and then Elder Cabrera, our zone leader came on exchange with us for the day. We started off right and got some BBQ at a gas station off Highway 21. We then headed up to Garrison to start knocking on some doors before dropping off a free bible referral. We met a guy who seemed to want to 'tell us the real truth' first but actually turned out to be pretty cool (just on a lot of pain killers.) We then tracted into a family who after a brief conversation at the door let us in. I felt inspired to use the cups lesson which miraculously got the kids to leave their video game and watch what happens to truth when Apostles die off. We only had 30 minutes which worked out perfectly so we could come back.

Thursday was fun. In the morning Elder Cabrera still didn't have a ride back to Longview (75 miles away) so we skipped out on planning and went out contacting. Man it was a tough crowd to teach! It was a more difficult battle to fight off discouragement. We taught the Restoration to a couple whose apartment manager tried to kick us out. It went well. That night we zipped over to another referral from the Spanish elders. He explained that he was no longer interested because of contradictions with the Bible but after we got him talking we discussed the priesthood, origins of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, etc before we ran out of time, he invited us back next week. It was pretty cool. If i can ask the right questions as inspired by the Spirit then people teach themselves.

Friday was more difficult knocking which tested my Faith and tried my charity but the Lord rewarded us because we got a call to go to the hospital to give a baby a blessing who's father is not [yet] a member. When we showed up the baby was fussing around. After the blessing he was laughing and wanting to play and when we left he began to cry again. You cant help but wonder if he really wants a true Gospel centered home and knows it at 10 months of age.

We had happy hour at the Bennetts and Elder Jones did a fantastic job teaching from 3rd Nephi 27. Interesting part was when Jody read a scripture on prayer and I flipped open my planner to show a scripture that nearly replicated the one she had read only this one was from the bible. It was cool because I wrote down the reference 12 hours earlier.

Saturday for some reason was a bit stressful because of the many appointments we had scheduled. I said a prayer to calm down and it helped out a lot. It may be a blessing that my watch band broke again so I wouldn't keep looking at it. Sadly, half the appointments fell through even knowing we had confirmed them that same day. The highlight was a lesson with a man named Lewis who let us right into his home. He had been given a Book of Mormon by Elder Cabrera and was reading it. He shared an experience he had as a kid when right after a heavy rainstorm he saw a white dove land in front of him. After some thought about what to read with him that may correlate with that experience we read the first 8 verses of 2 Nephi 31 then I quoted the song "when I am baptized" He was stoked.

Sunday was sweet. We tracted alot in a white rich baptist area so I have nothing to report other than someone accepted a Book of Mormon because they were part American Indian.

Elder Jones has done an awesome job. He even got an 11 year old to come to church with us and went to pick him up with a member while I reported in PEC. It has been fun.

Love y'all
Elder Metcalf

My 2nd born son is awesome. Ready for this... He is Elder Jordan Jones from Kanab. Yes he knows the family. He has one of the best attitudes I have seen from anyone on the mission. He is definitely training me and it has been quite fun working with him. We graduated 4 years apart from one another but we have a lot in common. Tracting is very fun because we both easily dispel each other's fears.

For conference this year I was firmly determined to have a fully spiritual feast. I looked at what I did last conference that I took notes on. (yes, I love journals) I looked at things I could do better to be more prepared. Last time I remember simply going to the Church after companion study and 'waiting' for the onslaught of investigators to show up. I felt I could have been more developed to enjoy the messages so this year, the plan of action was to contact.

We had a referral on the west side of town and knowing that when we get a referral it usually means the Lord wants us in that area for a reason, whether it be the referral or to find someone else. We gave the lady what she had ordered but she claimed to be too busy to meet with us so we set up an appointment and immediately began finding in the area. Eventually after knocking a few select doors that didn't look inhabited by our Spanish brothers and sisters, we got to a young man and young lady who were having a small yard sale that day. After some initial conversation she told us that she has a member grandmother and has already been to church with her elsewhere. We set up an appointment and made a mad dash for conference because we were running a bit behind. I love it! It seems that once studies are over in the morning, the Spirit says "Alright I'm outta here. Come find me." And once we are out contacting and inviting others to learn more, He jumps out from behind them and says "Found me!"

We had about 80 miles left over on our car allotment for the end day of the month, yet we got on our bikes anyway and rode to an appointment. As President Smith would say "We are in a jungle of people who think we're crazy." We rode through the campus on our route to the appointment and Elder Jones commented on how much we were stared down. We made some contacts that were fruitless but always they produce an increase measure of the Spirit.

On Thursday we tracted a bit of an older more well established neighborhood. As we got the first door slammed in our face Elder Jones looked at me and said "wow, that was actually kind of painful." But his attitude stayed strong and we pushed along talking to others. I have noticed my own attitude change with my new companion piece by piece. The talk by President Benson gave "Beware of Pride" sits on my desk regularly. It was awesome to hear President Uchtdorf resurrect it so to speak. Brother McConkie's talk was very eye opening to me when he explained that the attitude of the teacher and the love he has is what makes great teachers. Immediately as I have applied that at doors in between sessions I felt a difference. Instead of the prideful need of proving that 'come on, just listen about how we're right and you can know it' it is like a burden has been lifted and its OK to accept failure to not enter into a door. Just love them enough to move on while they become more prepared.

When Elder Nelson asked all the missionaries to stand up in Priesthood session I felt very proud yet humbled by my calling. I appreciated all the comments on accountability and time because it seems like getting home every night, I have to explain to my Heavenly Father why there was a certain time of the day we essentially did not use to all of our benefit. The more effective and planned out our time is, the more satisfied and self appreciated I can feel.

This first week I must admit was a trial of Faith in some respects. It seems as though I had not a single investigator lesson planned for my new son for his first week. Regardless, he was excited to tract and find, teach, and baptize. My prayers have been answered because I needed a renewed diligence in my life as a missionary. Yesterday, after conference we skipped both lunch and dinner to go teach and to find. We taught a lady on her doorstep and committed her to baptism on the 7th of November. It was technically the first full restoration lesson we taught together to an investigator and it went surprisingly very well. The excitement in Elder Jones eye got me excited.

I loved conference. I was determined to feast spiritually and the Lord answered my prayers. I felt stronger as a missionary to have confidence that the Spirit was directing me in my efforts. I remembered very clearly from one of the talks directed towards the youth to what I now interpret "pray your fears out of you." I chose to tract a rich neighborhood in between yesterday's sessions and when we pulled up we both were genuinely nervous, scared, fearful. But I knew we had already prayed for that to go away. We got out of the car and after a couple of contacts the Spirit filled us with love, trust, confidence, etc... I sure hope I can apply more of the messages and hidden treasures from conference into my life as a missionary and in the future. Direct prayers were answered, my patriarchal blessing was nearly quoted word for word 3 times this weekend. Questions were answered.

Isnt the restored Gospel exciting?

Love Elder Metcalf

transfer calls

Some great unexpected things happened this week in Nac. I wont have very much time to write today though (there is never enough time.) Elder Taylor and I will be heading up to Lindale today for the transfer...

It was a interesting thing. I have been in Nac for 30 weeks now and with transfer calls and Saturday, I almost got out my suitcase early to get a head start. "For sure I am going this time" I thought to myself. Although Friday night I had an interesting dream that I would stay and train another missionary. "That was unique, but wont happen. I have been here too long!" Yet on Saturday night the call came... "Elder Metcalf, I am calling in behalf of President Smith, you will be staying in Nacogdoches and training a new missionary." So by the end of this coming transfer I will see all 4 seasons change, have had 4 companions (2 greenies) and watched conference twice in the same area. I love Nac though. I think they are talking about moving my records here as well...

This past week was awesome and lots of fun. We had another 3 day training in Longview that I had to attend. President Smith explained that much like the sacrament, we have to refresh ourselves on the same things. It was a good training though because he actually assigned the missionaries to run the show instead of President himself. Wednesday night we had a small miracle. Elder Christensen and I paired up (we always do, he is a Hemphill missionary and we get along well) and we only had 30 minutes to complete the Assistants challenge to give out a Book of Mormon to somebody. With that short amount of time and realizing that the neighborhood next to the church had been knocked out recently (some of which was my doing) we said a prayer that we would be able to give a Book of Mormon to someone in a car. With the prayer said we stood on the curb waving at people. That definitely didn't work so we moved down to a 4 way stop. It seemed like the closer we got, the more obvious California stops became. So we walked up the street a ways yet much to our disappointment no one was around. We were out of time so we began to walk back. At that moment a car broke down literally right next to us. We gave him a push home which was close by and handed out our copies of the Book of Mormon after some conversation.

We had a baptism yesterday for a 17 year old named Kontessa. Everything went well, the talks were good and the ward was supportive. Elder Taylor performed the baptism. She choked on some water and got scared but other than that all went well! We had a short testimony meeting while we waited for them to dry. Some great testimonies were shared. I think my favorite was when I looked back at Jody and then looked at the front of the room. It wasn't long before she gave a very spirit filled testimony.

Well I need to make a Book of Mormon booth for our open house tomorrow. I am way excited to be in Nactown still and pray for me to find those that are spiritually dissatisfied!

Love Elder Metcalf

PS CONFERENCE YES!!!

Good luck in the marathon dad!

out with the old in with the new

Howdy,

This past week was pretty fun, the mission has been contacting like crazy with some sweet results. Indirectly from our efforts, the Lord blessed us with an awesome new investigator named Tyler. He has had a lot of contact with friends in the church and even his Spanish teacher has helped out. Cant go wrong with an investigator that already has a big support group. We taught the first lesson to him on Thursday night and it went really well. He is 16 so the members actually set up the lesson at his place so his parents wouldn't be too shocked when he decided to get baptized. At the very beginning of the lesson, he asked for his Book of Mormon then said "man, I need more of these so I can turn others into Mormons." When we got to the first vision, I was super excited to teach it. Lately I have been working on quoting it with more power and more conviction. Needless to say a few seconds after explaining the significance of the first vision he, without reluctance, accepted a baptismal commitment.

The first vision is something that lately has become more important and more significant in my life. When you consider all of the fruits that have come from it, it is almost like all of our beliefs summed up. It is an extremely bold claim (two personages, not one) and brings many comfort when they know of its truth. In most of our 'dinner lessons' I quote the first vision and ask them "Why is it important in your life?" and the answers have strengthened my testimony. Think how children feel the spirit when a parent reassures them that 'yes, they really did appear to him.' Man, this Church desperately needs more testimony in the home.

Contacting this week was an experience. As I look back now I see that I tried to avoid tracting. It seems like when you trust that the Lord is the greatest micro manager ever, that the person in the gas stall next to you (or the furthest one away), the cashier at the checkout, the one who asks "hey do you work here?" just may be the one that is totally prepared to talk to you! It still gives me some butterflies but there really is no reason to be scared. I think there may be a reason that I wasn't foreordained to speak massonically like Isiah, I would probably start writing "good heavens people, just open your mouth. and NO is better then not trying at all."

The lesson with the Bennetts this week was awesome, my voice started to get shaky when the Spirit and feelings in the room were more personal and powerful. But its one of those lessons that is very special to me as a missionary that I cant type up! I want to share it with everyone but my heart, their heart, must be prepared to receive such a sweet lesson (I learned it from another missionary in Hemphill.) Twice that day I used that message and both times it brought tears, comfort and the Spirit. Yes, straight from the Book of Mormon.

This week I got a way sweet letter from Patriarch Edwards and it had some sweet, comforting messages in it. I will share only one. He wrote, "You will only be serving those who are dissatisfied spiritually." It has been something that I have been pondering over frequently. Is the reason we don't get into many well established Christian doors because they are satisfied with their beliefs? Can we truly be satisfied spiritually without the restored Gospel? Can someone accept parts of truth and be satisfied? Hmmm... (Get back to work Elder Metcalf was my response, find 'em!)

On Saturday we gave a church tour to Tyler and it went well. Elder Taylor led the way in a "Lance Starling" like tour guide voice. Hemphill used our building for a baptism with the lady I gave my first interview too. It was a good motivator.

They called a new ward mission leader with a man named... Brother Burr (I've already asked him). He's been in the ward for about a month and I had a feeling he would be called. With Bro Hughes no longer at the head of this thing here in Nac One, I am beginning to wonder with transfer calls this week if its out with the old, in with the new.

Anyway, open your mouths.

Love Elder Metcalf

They changed our email to today because of the Holiday.

Monday night after preparation day proved to be a bit funny. We had knocked on a door last week of a less active in the ward that we thought livde there. They let us know that she had moved to a different street. With no address and only a street name we went out to find her. On the records she was labeled as "Do not contact" but Bishop said we would be fine. Before getting out of the car we said a prayer asking that we would find her. As we got out we asked a man who was pulling in his trash can where she lived. He pointed us to the house and as we were walking there, she and her family pulled into their driveway. At this point you may be expecting some sweet story but she and her husband were actually pretty mad and wouldn't speak a word to us. But God did answer our prayer and reached His hand out to them, through us.

Tuesday night 'happy hour' with the Bennetts was awesome as usual although when I walked in she let me know that she had read my blog and it scared me for some reason. So since she is probably reading this right now, Hi Jody! We read Alma 46 together about Moroni going down the streets with the title of liberty and my question to y'all is "what would you put on your flag?"

Wednesday we had a tough lesson with one of our closest investigators. She wants to join the Church, loves the Book of Mormon and the teachings. For a while she had expressed concern about joining for fear of the temple ordinances. However she desires them and that seems to be enough to get over any concern - desire. The concern Cheryl has is that her family sat her down and explained all the reasons she shouldn't become Mormon. Her son is actually a pastor up in Sacul. They made her promise not to join. She said that she was disappointed in the choice of her family to dislike the Church so much and compared herself to Joseph Smith who, in some cases, received heavy persecution for no apparent reason. She did tell us that she crossed her fingers when she made the promise by saying "I wont join the church...right now." So pray for her. I imagine that this is one of those unique events that make missions tough...

Thursday's highlight was the backlot bash at SFA. Essentially all the new freshman had a giant meeting then were 'released' into the back lot of the arena where there was about 50 booths set up. We, of course, set up our booth (like trade days a few weeks ago) and attempted to lure in some hapless freshman. Before the event even started we had a young guy from the Bahama's approach us while we were finishing the set up. He asked about the difference between our Church and everyone else. He requested a Book of Mormon and we set up an appointment at the Church this coming week. I swear he's elect. He left and as soon as he was gone the thought crossed my mind 'I forgot to get a phone number...' so he walked back by again and said "I knew you would want this." and gave us his number. Other then that we gave out 10 copies of the Book of Mormon to those that took us up on the challenge to read and pray about it. Bishop is a professor at the college so he joined us. He made a funny comment that he only got to hand out 75 pass along cards whereas Elder Rice and I gave about 250 each out. Spread the word!

Friday we drove up to Timpson making various stop bys on the way up. Our first home we got into was actually an excommunicated family that is looking forward to rebaptism someday soon. Unfortunately he claims that he has trouble with crowds... Another stop was with a lady who said that missionaries always end up at her home when she needs them. We committed them to church.

Probably one of the coolest miracles this week was on Tuesday night when Elder Taylor and I did splits after dinner. Isaac who was with us needed to go to the bathroom so I made a couple phone calls on a list the Bishop gave us Sunday. The list was names on the directory of people with no address and no phone number. Well in one phone call I made contact with the mother who actually was the mom of half of our list. She was very happy that we had called and were 'checking in.' She has a non-member fiance who is interested in the Church and wants to learn more. Sadly they wont be back from working on pipelines until the end of October. Can anyone stay 9 months in Nac?

Anyway thank you for the pictures, I love them very much. That baby I swear always radiates happiness and energy. Awesome

Love y'all
Elder Metcalf

The past week was almost like fighting the natural man each day. Pulling up to a well established neighborhood in the air conditioned car with comfy seats and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is always something of an opportunity to either grow spiritually or damn myself with complaints. Once out of the car, the battle continues. The sun beats down its rays upon you with bug like beads of sweat rolling down your back attempting to torture you with the thought of a cool apartment. Yet somehow, for some reason we move on from door to door inviting others to come unto Christ. Most the time the reactions are "I'm already in [such an such] church" to which well devised and clever questions are asked, "Well don't you want to come closer to Christ?" Usually the response is negative and the door separates us from the potential member of the restored Gospel. Next door. The anxiety moving to the next door increases as you look over the house checking to see if they are staring at you and the book that you dare to hold. The bell rings, the door is knocked and the Spirit seeking process begins all over again. At the end, walking back to the car, the satisfaction and confirming pat on the back from the Spirit is almost as much as a huge success as each door was failure, making the energy spent, the Holy Ghost felt, the rejected testimony, totally 100% worth it.

We had a funny experience yesterday when we set up a visit to a active part member family that has had bad experiences with missionaries in the past. I have been in the area 6 months and this is the first time I have been in the home. The nerves were a bit high and my social skills were challenged trying to reestablish trust between a member and a missionary. The funny part of it all is that we had a dinner appointment right after this appointment who was under the impression that we had asked her to feed us dinner. So yes, the Elders had 2 dinner appointments on Sunday in Nac. It was a very interesting experience referring to the first dinner. I didn't feel welcome and yet the situation felt familiar, like I had been there before. She preferred that we didn't share a spiritual thought, so we didn't, and no miracles occurred. She had an excommunicated daughter there with extreme animosity towards the Church. Hmm, not sure what the Spirit was trying to teach me but I recorded the experience in my journal. As I was writing in my journal I realized that I had let the opportunity for testimony slip away for fear of a negative reaction. This should never phase me again. Lesson learned. Whether I was in that situation supposed to share a testimony or not, I was taught by the Spirit. And yes, was very very full by the end of the night.

On Saturday one of the members of the ward was buried, Brother Johnson. He was a member that would come out with us missionaries at a moments notice. I think he averaged teaching with us 2-3 times a week. He had served something like 4 missions. I don't think I have seen very many members like him who were serving so well in building up the kingdom. He certainly, in my opinion, sealed his Celestial exaltation. No doubt he was asked to fulfill big assignments in the next life that will continue to fill him with joy and commitment to always say yes to the will of the Lord. It was certainly a shock and depressing to hear of his passing but he had served well and it was a great privilege to witness his example and see his response when the call was made.

We had a very interesting lesson on Friday night with a 17 year old that has a baby and wants to be baptized. We knew that we had to teach the Law of Chastity but I think the fact that we taught her in front of her dad and grandparents may have caused some embarrassment on all of our parts. Yet she committed, no problem, and reconfirmed her desire to be baptized. We will continue to teach and check for testimony. The last thing I want to do is baptize someone who is doing it out of pressure. We invite, they commit, we follow up. Agency is a role that is hard to understand at times. Especially when you teach a great week yet 1 investigator comes to church. The stress piles up and 'whys' begin to pour out. Then the Savior tests your commitment to always remember him and engage in the greatest work ever.

We have been working with a few people who all believe the Book of Mormon to be true (who can dispute after reading and praying about it) the issue resides in the opposition they get from close range, family, friends, leaders. They know its true. But leaving life and relationships is so difficult. Sometimes hard for me to understand. My inward response tends to be "It's true isn't it? Then what else matters?" So the challenge for us has been to connect the dots with the center piece of the Restoration. These are wonderful children of God as we all are. I pray hard every night to know how to best serve them. Some of are most disgusted doors tell me that I was an instrument in my Saviors hands in reaching out to that person in a time of need in their life.

On Tuesday we did something a bit unusual. We opted not to tract and instead we stayed inside and called every single Less Active member on our list. As the Stake President put it "there is plenty of work to do within the ward itself." So we worked the list all day. It is amazing to me to hear such bitterness on the other end of the line and one phone call later hear "ya know Elders, I have been wanting to get active for awhile. Come on over." The choice to act and not to be acted upon will definitely assure you of happiness now and eternally.

Well as I reflect on the first year of the mission it surprises me to see how much change and refining I have been put under. I am very privileged to have recorded one page per day for the past year so I can feel who I used to be. Yet this doesn't satisfy me. Yes, awesome, its good but I see the first year as ground work of certain patterns of success that have been instilled in me that will help me become more efficient and grow much more substantially. I am not looking for a better person for me to become but for my very nature and innermost desires to become intimately closer with those of the Savior's. My desire is to become like Him isn't it?

Anyway thank y'all for your letters, love and support. I sure am sad to know I only have a short amount of time left to fill in what goals and experiences the Lord wants me to have but I am happy for the time nonetheless. Let the Battle continue and the Lord make me equal to every challenge. As I testify, he supports - no matter the pain, heat sickness, tiredness, and sadness.

Love Elder Metcalf

Never Again

I think I may have been the "Oh Elder what did you do to deserve that?" 26 weeks ago but it whipped me into shape!

This past week was pretty fun but its about the hottest most exhausting week of my mission. On Saturday we opted to set up a booth at the famous "Nacogdoches Trade Days" where about 6 people show up every 3rd weekend. Well in all seriousness it was a good experience. We had zone conference on Thursday and I remember President Smith talking about how we need to sacrifice personal comfort and go through the trials of our Faith to receive a witness. As the first hour or 2 went by I think we had a couple of Spanish people walk in and talk for a bit. By that point, we had about 10 "FREE" signs everywhere and still nothing was happening (the vendors next to us were noting how the swap meet customers here are terrible.) So I decided that I should put in my part a little bit more. I thought I could just stand up and give out pamphlets. There was just one problem... In between the padded chairs and the walkway filled with people was a 3 foot strip of death. They call it the "Texas Sun in summer." With one small sigh I stood in the thing handing out pamphlets and getting contacts for a couple of hours before finally switching out and getting a fairly priced $4 lemonade. Although no huge miracles happened, I can be satisfied knowing I committed a little bit harder to get the message (and 200 pamphlets) out there.

As for Kontessa (the girl that wants to get baptized) we had an interesting concern come up. She lives about 25 miles east of the church and comes with her member grandparents each week. We teach in the grandparents home as well. The 'something' that came up was her grandfather getting into a car accident, totalling his truck, and spending a few days in the hospital. That was crazy enough for us to step back for a few days. It was funny when we visited him in the hospital and he told us "just go on down and teach!"

Sacrament meeting yesterday turned out to be extremely interesting as far as the speakers go. It was high council Sunday and his speaking buddy wasn't able to come. About 4 minutes before Sacrament had begun, he came to us and shook our hands and the usual exchange of pleasantries was made. To which he then informed us that we would both be speaking...today...in 20 minutes. In all seriousness, it was fun and Elder Taylor and I both enjoyed it. I spoke on the how we all have fears or nightmares or are scared at some point in life. It happens to all of us whether we are totally faithful, sinful, or just trying to get along in life. It reminded me of Joseph Smith, who was totally faithful by praying to Heavenly Father, was overcome by the powers of Satan or Alma who brought upon himself the 'inexpressible horror' or Amulek who had to watch faithful saints die. No matter the story, they all have the climax of Jesus Christ and the Atonement and all is well. "I saw a pillar of light..." "joy as exquisite as my pains" "they were received unto God."

We have been doing everything we can to find a family to teach and baptize. We pretty much only tract in 'family' type neighborhoods, using the power of prayer and fasting, and desperately trying to teach. The results have been awesome. On Sunday we had a part member family move their records into the ward and expressed a desire to get back to Church. We have had some good referral experiences, as well as some great progress with some of our investigators. The Lord will bless us somehow, but in His way and his time. I don't doubt it at all. It does create a unique burning desire though to never really waste any more time.

Well we have some new investigators that will be fun to teach and see how and where their commitment is. I try not to spend as much time with those that don't really commit at all anymore. Somehow it will give us more opportunity to baptize!

We have been working with a couple of different investigators for a while now that both believe the Book of Mormon is true. The problem that they are having is the close ties to their own churches for over 5 decades. One of them we stopped by to teach had company. He responded by saying "I believe the Book of Mormon is true but next time tell me why your church is the one I need to join." The other, in one of our lessons, knows that the reason she is receiving so much opposition is because of the truthfulness of our message. Her pastor actually prepared a whole sermon on 'going down the wrong path.' When she expressed this in her last lesson my response was "Forget about the words that were said and remember how you have felt." She said she knows it's true, it is now the acting on her part that is making her nervous... Pretty unique. Just writing about it gives me some sweet ideas for the coming lessons.

Well its hot but not really. If I sit down or have a "extended dinner message" I am in lots of pain and totally exhausted but as I go out and work,the Atonement takes over. No pain, not tired. As President Monson said, When you are doing the Lord's work, you are entitled to his help. Wow how true that is...

Love Elder Metcalf

You said it, Buzz

Sounds like another eventful life in the Metcalf home. Hopefully I can match that.

Nope, I am not getting transferred which I am stoked on because I love Nac so much. Apparently the Stake President put in a word for me to stay which gets me excited. My time in Nac will be at least 7 1/2 months which means the Lord has much more work for me to do apparently and the pressure is on. Like Grandpa Metcalf says, may the Lord make you equal to every challenge. Although I think most of the time I make up a lot of the pressure in stress.

This past week was awesome. We had a missionary with what may be some mental blocks in the ward come home early so Bishop promptly assigned him to be with us as much as possible. It has been a big help to me and I am not entirely sure why. He was only on his mission for about 6 weeks so it's almost like double training in a way (Elder Taylor is staying too.) It just does not seem like a burden though and for some reason it feels like I am receiving a lot of help from unknown sources (I'll take it!)

Last Sunday we had a couple bring their 17 year old Granddaughter to church so we promptly set up an appointment to see them the following Thursday. The lesson began kind of weird (for lack of a better term) and you could tell that she was extremely shy towards anyone so after a little silent prayer, we simply stopped any teaching and started just a normal conversation. Well it wasn't long before she started to open up and really want to know what made our Church so special compared to all the others. She then accepted a baptismal date for the 29th of this month. Why wait?

We went on exchanges on Tuesday after district meeting and Elder Woodward came with me and Isaac. We mostly did some tracting and got into a few doors. A interesting experience was when someone didn't let us in and simply replied "come back tomorrow." So in my mind it was oh well... For some reason the next day we went back anyway. She let us right in. We taught the restoration and asked, "Why would the Book of Mormon be important to you if it is true?" Her response was interesting, "It would mean that I am in the wrong Church." So she committed to read.

We have been teaching a lady who I swear we know from before this life. I tracted her out with Elder Braford several months ago and she was dropped for a while but we picked her back up again. She came to Church. She knows the Book of Mormon to be true. She loves all the members. But her husband is the concern and is filling her up with doubts. Let the games begin... There is something about resolving concerns that is fun yet frustrating all at the same time.

Another lesson this week was with an older man named George. In one of our lessons about a month ago he asked for us to give him the gift of the Holy Ghost because he felt like we had the authority to do so. "George, you have to be baptized first." That planted some interesting seeds so we were considering for a moment if we were to drop him or not. When we got to the lesson he immediately prayed (something we could never get him to do in front of us before) and began to explain to us that he is reading and praying diligently to know the truth but still is finding his answer. He explained that it will be a tough choice to make since he has had one Church 70 years of his life...

Well that is a few of the fun things going on. I am excited to not get transferred but it does put the pressure on to really do well this transfer. I have no excuses. A great ward with missionary trust, an area that I know well and a good companion and district. Wish and pray me luck!!!

By the way, where are all the baby pictures???

Love Elder Metcalf

Transfers coming up...

The baptisms the past couple of weeks were awesome but they are now over so in the words of Elder Metcalf..."Get back to work!"

Jody was confirmed yesterday and it was awesome. She said she could actually feel it and was pretty overwhelmed by the whole experience. Now that our number 1 family has an eye of vision towards the temple, our investigator pool doesn't seem quite as awesome as it should be. Not too mention transfer calls are on Saturday so we shall see what on earth will happen. Hopefully I can stay an extra transfer because Nac-a-nowhere is the promised land (at least to me anyway.) Apparently Bishop Nielson spoke with President Smith yesterday and put in a word to get me to keep working in the Nac-a-baptize area.

This week was physically exhausting with the heat index some what in the 110 area. We had an exchange on Friday and we tracted for what I thought was an hour that actually turned out to be about 4. Needless to say I was ready for bed around 8. Sometimes you debate if you want it to rain or not because it usually rains for a few minutes then the steam from the pavement is enough to give you pneumonia.

We had a cool experience today and I think the Lord had His hand it. A part member lady offered to cut our hair for us and she is totally active yet her husband is not. He kind of dodges the missionaries and the whole subject of religion but it just so happens that the salon's air conditioning broke and he came in to fix it. He is going to cook us some sweet steaks this week he says. The funny thing is that he comes off as the "Bishop type."

This week's finding has been interesting. We have had some great experiences in teaching people yet I don't think more than one kept a return appointment. We will have to readjust our teaching strategy maybe. I think we always have to keep ourselves out of routines simply because the adversary picks up on them and it is easy for him to thwart. I suppose that is the awesome part about the Spirit, that if we follow him, every lesson will be completely different.

We have been teaching a lady for about 3 months now who came to church a couple weeks ago and knows everything from the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, to authority is true. We extended the commitment to baptism when the Spirit seemed to be the strongest but a really interesting concern came about the wearing of the temple garment. That is a bit beyond me so I asked President Smith what to do and his answer seemed all too obvious, have the relief society president fellowship her, you're a guy and that is not your topic.

We taught an awesome guy this week and apparently one of our inspired questions really got to him. "How do you know the Bible is true?" Then he proceeded to tell us that he believes there is more than just the Bible out there. As we were about to introduce the Book of Mormon his brother pulled up and he had to leave. Just like that, the adversary won a small battle and now we cant get a hold of them.

We had an awesome Sunday when 4 non-members showed up to Church that I have never taught. Lucky for us, we got some great return appointments and I am stoked. This ward has a ton of potential in it that is just waiting to be tapped at the right time. I think Nac will more than likely take off (especially since I will probably be transferred next week!)

Well I have had some pretty phenomenal experiences but I cant get enough, it is a serious craving that has to be worked for!
So much to do, so little time...

Love y'all

Elder Metcalf

Holy cow the baby pictures were awesome!!!!!