Yes yes, sorry I forgot last week to warn you that the GPS was going to show up last week. It broke after using it for a couple weeks. Sad story considering I had our ward's focus people programmed into it.
Well I am now the oldest in the zone. Wow, I'll be 22 this year. I am getting old. Other members of my zone were thinking how crazy it is that missionaries born in '91 are going to start showing up. I kind of chuckled.
Also Elder Sanders is one of my zone leaders. His cousins are the Jeppson's in Hurricane. Thought that might be worth mentioning.
This week has been pretty intense. Got my new companion who is Elder Walker from Pocatello Idaho and he is AWESOME. God had to put him with me to tell me whats up if you know what I mean. Because of his own personal struggles and experiences in the mission he is accelerating me through mine. Intense too, I tell ya.
Felt a massive release of emotion in one of our talks last night and started to 'laugh with great joy' you could say. It was quite the relief.
Friday was out of control. We were both fearless contacting machines. It was awesome. We made sure every one that passed us didn't get by without going through the Gospel first and we were on fire. One lady even said about the Book of Mormon (while jogging) that it goes hand in hand with the Bible and we have an appointment with her tomorrow. Glory.
We had a way good zone meeting and our area that we cover is about to explode. We just need to tap into it and all will be well. About 2 weeks ago I was informed that there was a of couple girls that have been coming to Church for a few months with a member family. Investigating a little further, we found out all we could about them and it is ridiculous how they flew under the radar. So we met them at mutual Wednesday night, pulled them out of their class and asked if they wanted to be baptized. The older girl's answer was "well I have been pondering and praying about it for a while now and yes I do." However her mom doesn't want her to get baptized into another Church just to get baptized. The response on our part was the quick message of the Restoration and told them to pray and talk to their mom. I hope and pray that they will be baptized very soon once their mother approves them talking to us.
Another family that we have been trying to get committed has been so incredibly close for months now. Its driving me crazy. Her work schedule is overloading her enough to not have time for missionary appointments. Ahhhh what to do. It's hard to get someone to baptism without teaching them and its hard to teach them when you feel like they are being pressured.
It's been fun playing the 'hey we have a new missionary' card. We are getting one of our eternegators very close. Its crazy how many obvious answers he is getting and how well he recognizes them yet is still worried about making the step of faith without anymore knowledge.
Our Gospel principles class continues to grow thankfully and our recent converts are being nourished very well. Felipe is back in town but Vanessa has been sick. However the blessings she receives always give her comfort and peace. Very spiritually sensitive person. Still, every time we go over there its a battle against the time disappearing. Awesome.
Elder Walker and myself have already been told that we are a perfect match. He said he plans to drive me to the ground this week so it should be fun. If its anything like the fearless days we have already had together then I look forward to the joy that will be experienced. I don't know what it is about this Elder but I have a lot of trust in him so I am pretty excited.
There was one day this week that we talked to a guy on his doorstep and he was anti. My reaction was a little sarcastic and I was bothered by the situation for a bit. Elder Walker read me like a book. It was fantastic. We identified the problem, proposed some solutions, prayed and moved on. Its almost like nothing can get trapped inside because he simply will not let it happen. I guess [personal] you could say a lot of my trust for this great new companion comes from his own strong and developing connection with the Spirit. Anyone who I come in close contact with tells me the same thing, along the lines of 'Satan is working on you hard...for good reason.'
Sweet, so this week should be a good one. We are going out to create opportunities and find some miracles. No doubt they will be found. This transfer should become a great shift in direction, belief, and thought processes for me that I highly look forward to even knowing it might be a challenge at points. Pray for me.
Well love you all. Let me know what happens with the GPS that got destroyed and can't wait to hear from you soon
Love Elder Metcalf
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
See ya next year, Tony!
First of all I feel drained this preparation day and not really sure why. Probably this constant battle in my mind that I think I am starting to overcome. Once I start to realize the difference between false revelation (which has come a lot in the past) and the revelation from God, it starts to turn things around.
My best move of defense when negative or impurity shows up in my brain is to ask myself "where did that come from?" and the quiet answer is usually from the wrong source and now he is starting to realize the battle is beginning to end.
Actually I got the advice from Brother McDonough who is probably one of my favorite members of all time (up there with all the converts and the members we live with) we talked about how revelation comes from different sources and to only act on one.Grandpa will probably be satisfied to know that I finished the book, 'hearing the voice of the Lord' and it was awesome. Cleared up some principles of revelation. I know reading books outside the mission library is against the rules but I only pick them up when there is a few minutes between appointments and P-days. They never interfere with personal study!
Well my companion is gone.Elder Stettler is being transferred and I am getting all the area information that I don't know about into my hands so this could get interesting since I haven't faced this situation before. I get the new guy tomorrow at 9 so I am crossed between nervousness and excitement. We had Golden Corral this morning for lunch with the Nesmiths as the farewell feast so it's kind of sad to see him go considering how obedient and how hard of a worker he was. Yuhni (member we live with) has told me that the new guy is going to be super nice and considering how incredibly close to the Lord she is, most my fears evaporated.
We had another great Sunday with a few investigators showing up to Church that I have high hopes for. The 2nd ward has a unique Spirit about it considering we're baptizing future leaders. Pretty stoked on that. I am setting my goals high this transfer so pray for the righteous desire.
Elder Thurgood (one of 2 of Elders I consider to be my best friends) and I had a long exchange last week and read over Gene R Cook's sermon (can't think of what we call them anymore) called the '40 day Fast' which is essentially fasting from habits that deprive me of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I fasted for a day to see what the Lord wants gone. Immediately one was very clear and is extremely hard already...popping my knuckles and joints. Anyone who knows me personally, knows just how much of a habit I have made out of this! Yikes! So far so good and I'll be over it in a month. There was more on the list like biting at my lips and other things I didn't realized just how extreme the habits were! Pray for a little extra assistance if you don't mind me asking.
We had an awesome lady come to Church yesterday who I am very excited to see her really come to a recognition of the Spirit. We have been teaching her for a couple of weeks now and I may be the only one who has high hopes of success with her. Although she just kicked her 17 year old daughter out of the house for drugs, I think that it's a small obstacle. The lessons are more peaceful now.
I started reading dad's suggestion of 'The Challenge' by Alvin R Dyer (one of my favorites in this dispensation) and it's awesome. It is definitely renewing my strength of being a testifying missionary and letting the world know (or at least the people in Frisco and Little Elm) just how the truth feels. Fantastic.
I look forward to having a lot more Spirit directed discussions. Its quite obvious how ready people are to begin their journey with entrance into the Church once they recognize the Spirit in their lives and the Spirit testifying of truth.
Well I am dead tired and I really appreciate your emails of love and support.
Love you all
Elder Metcalf
Well my companion is gone.Elder Stettler is being transferred and I am getting all the area information that I don't know about into my hands so this could get interesting since I haven't faced this situation before. I get the new guy tomorrow at 9 so I am crossed between nervousness and excitement. We had Golden Corral this morning for lunch with the Nesmiths as the farewell feast so it's kind of sad to see him go considering how obedient and how hard of a worker he was. Yuhni (member we live with) has told me that the new guy is going to be super nice and considering how incredibly close to the Lord she is, most my fears evaporated.
We had another great Sunday with a few investigators showing up to Church that I have high hopes for. The 2nd ward has a unique Spirit about it considering we're baptizing future leaders. Pretty stoked on that. I am setting my goals high this transfer so pray for the righteous desire.
Elder Thurgood (one of 2 of Elders I consider to be my best friends) and I had a long exchange last week and read over Gene R Cook's sermon (can't think of what we call them anymore) called the '40 day Fast' which is essentially fasting from habits that deprive me of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I fasted for a day to see what the Lord wants gone. Immediately one was very clear and is extremely hard already...popping my knuckles and joints. Anyone who knows me personally, knows just how much of a habit I have made out of this! Yikes! So far so good and I'll be over it in a month. There was more on the list like biting at my lips and other things I didn't realized just how extreme the habits were! Pray for a little extra assistance if you don't mind me asking.
We had an awesome lady come to Church yesterday who I am very excited to see her really come to a recognition of the Spirit. We have been teaching her for a couple of weeks now and I may be the only one who has high hopes of success with her. Although she just kicked her 17 year old daughter out of the house for drugs, I think that it's a small obstacle. The lessons are more peaceful now.
I started reading dad's suggestion of 'The Challenge' by Alvin R Dyer (one of my favorites in this dispensation) and it's awesome. It is definitely renewing my strength of being a testifying missionary and letting the world know (or at least the people in Frisco and Little Elm) just how the truth feels. Fantastic.
I look forward to having a lot more Spirit directed discussions. Its quite obvious how ready people are to begin their journey with entrance into the Church once they recognize the Spirit in their lives and the Spirit testifying of truth.
Well I am dead tired and I really appreciate your emails of love and support.
Love you all
Elder Metcalf
One More Email:
I found a great spark and I love to write so this letter will act as a self spiritual journal.
Watch Elder Uchtdorf's video called "Create" on youtube.
Our lives are simply about creating! We walk around faced with many thousands of opportunities to create. Elder Jardine and I were talking about how some missionaries allow themselves to entrench each other in the negativity of a bad zone or area. However, we are the creators of our own opportunities. It is our God given right to become supreme creators. Think about it, Satan's plan was and is to destroy our self power to create. Christ gave us a phenomenal desire deep inside and opportunities to create. We are the creators of our futures both temporal and in the lives to come. We are "free to choose between eternal life or death" or in other words, "We are free to choose to create endless opportunities or none," to follow either Christ or Satan and you soon discover how your creative power accelerates or dies. Either now or eternally.
Me desire as a missionary is to create an opportunity for the spirit to testify to all I may come in contact with. I am only able to do this if I create. I need to make opportunities for others to feel the way we do as members of the truth!
It's exciting.
Hope y'all create opportunities in your lives for the Spirit to manifest himself to you. You create this by going to Church, opening the scriptures and listening to prophets and apostles.
You renew your creation possibilities each week with 3 conditions and a unlimited creative possibility.
1-Take upon His name
2-Remember Him always
3-Keep His commandments
PROMISE
That His Spirit may always be with you (and exponentially give power to create)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Not one, but TWO
fantastic.
well cant really report as strong as last week sadly. the spiritual high drained me but that is OK and not really much of an excuse for not having a higher output.
Definitely I have become way too complacent and comfortable with the mission. Automatically last week I assumed that 'hey, I must be changed a lot like the Lord wants me to be.' When in reality I was struck down pretty hard at just how much more there is and that I have barely scratched the surface.
We had a District meeting this past Tuesday on humility, how many are called but few are chosen, and also decisions in the 'critical moments.' Needless to say I was called upon to give the humility talk because my pride had slowly gotten bigger, yikes! I am talking about the pride that is "well, we could knock doors right now or we could see if so-and-so is home instead" or the pride that keeps my mouth closed because I am not humble enough to open it. Quite frankly its kind of disturbing how much greater of an experience a mission can be if I will humble myself to dust and trust God.
Well defined by Elder Thurgood, was a talk about the 'critical moments' in our lives, especially as a missionary. The critical moment of decision comes when you are faced with a decision that requires choice between 2 obviously different choices and carrying one out. Bad example "I'll hit the snooze just one more time" good example "well, let's knock this street since this appointment just canceled." Sadly I could be doing much better! However I am grateful how intensely this has been brought to my attention.
We had the sweet opportunity to speak in sacrament yesterday which always gets me excited. Not to boast of myself but to boast of my God. Essentially I came up with 3 questions, who are the righteous? what qualifies them to be called the righteous? and what are their characteristics? Ultimately it came down to one topic...yep you guessed it, hearing the voice of the Lord. We find the voice of the Lord in many ways but I listed 3 specifically. 1- His servants (prophets, apostles, etc...) 2- The scriptures (if you want to talk to God, get on your knees. If you want God to talk to you, open the scriptures) 3- The Gift of the Holy Ghost (we all have the divine gift of a God for assistance!). However the commandments must be kept to qualify us as well.
We had some awesome new investigators at Church yesterday. In Gospel Principles, he introduced himself and said he was thinking about joining the ward. Little does he know exactly how much of an eternal impact that has... The family's work schedule is by far the biggest obstacle but we are way stoked. They are close. The wife has been attending for a while and the response to "Do you feel this is true?" was "Yes" followed by one of the most sincere prayers I have ever heard. Ultimately she says she is working towards her baptism which gets any missionary a little giddy. Glorious.
We tried to teach an Atheist for the 2nd time this week but he keeps kicking against the pricks so there isn't much to do. All of his friends have tried to save him with, quite frankly, false doctrine so one kind of understands the confusion he has. Kind of taught myself a powerful principle during the lesson though which is 'if God exists then there is 1 truth, 1 religion for all human kind.' We pulled out a Joseph Smith card out of context that fit quite well. He said what keeps him motivated is his family and love and not any religion would do that for him, to which our reply was 'that is our religion.' Glory
We met a less active in the ward going through some really tough struggles but a really nice guy none the less that knows the Gospel is restored. One of his concerns was 'they give us too much work and expect too much out of us.' Even myself, may draw this conclusion but what must be understood is that we are all in training to become perfect leaders! If that's what you want, you've got to learn first. I forgot how the saying goes, something like how we are not about believing or doing but becoming. Fantastic
Well Felipe is on a business trip in Brazil right now for 2 weeks sadly. We said bye to him on Wednesday. Transfers are in a week so who knows what is going to happen. Vanessa is staying but not much 2 missionaries can do about it for obvious reasons. (we have a home teaching lesson tomorrow though).
We did some serious long and detailed planning for this coming week and having been praying about certain streets we have chosen to tract. Were expecting miracles in any way that they will come so wish us luck and pray that I make the correct decision in the 'critical moment' when it really counts. I am desperate to convey the Spirit to someone els'es heart with the message of the Restoration.
Thank you for your letter and email
love you
elder mark metcalf
well cant really report as strong as last week sadly. the spiritual high drained me but that is OK and not really much of an excuse for not having a higher output.
Definitely I have become way too complacent and comfortable with the mission. Automatically last week I assumed that 'hey, I must be changed a lot like the Lord wants me to be.' When in reality I was struck down pretty hard at just how much more there is and that I have barely scratched the surface.
We had a District meeting this past Tuesday on humility, how many are called but few are chosen, and also decisions in the 'critical moments.' Needless to say I was called upon to give the humility talk because my pride had slowly gotten bigger, yikes! I am talking about the pride that is "well, we could knock doors right now or we could see if so-and-so is home instead" or the pride that keeps my mouth closed because I am not humble enough to open it. Quite frankly its kind of disturbing how much greater of an experience a mission can be if I will humble myself to dust and trust God.
Well defined by Elder Thurgood, was a talk about the 'critical moments' in our lives, especially as a missionary. The critical moment of decision comes when you are faced with a decision that requires choice between 2 obviously different choices and carrying one out. Bad example "I'll hit the snooze just one more time" good example "well, let's knock this street since this appointment just canceled." Sadly I could be doing much better! However I am grateful how intensely this has been brought to my attention.
We had the sweet opportunity to speak in sacrament yesterday which always gets me excited. Not to boast of myself but to boast of my God. Essentially I came up with 3 questions, who are the righteous? what qualifies them to be called the righteous? and what are their characteristics? Ultimately it came down to one topic...yep you guessed it, hearing the voice of the Lord. We find the voice of the Lord in many ways but I listed 3 specifically. 1- His servants (prophets, apostles, etc...) 2- The scriptures (if you want to talk to God, get on your knees. If you want God to talk to you, open the scriptures) 3- The Gift of the Holy Ghost (we all have the divine gift of a God for assistance!). However the commandments must be kept to qualify us as well.
We had some awesome new investigators at Church yesterday. In Gospel Principles, he introduced himself and said he was thinking about joining the ward. Little does he know exactly how much of an eternal impact that has... The family's work schedule is by far the biggest obstacle but we are way stoked. They are close. The wife has been attending for a while and the response to "Do you feel this is true?" was "Yes" followed by one of the most sincere prayers I have ever heard. Ultimately she says she is working towards her baptism which gets any missionary a little giddy. Glorious.
We tried to teach an Atheist for the 2nd time this week but he keeps kicking against the pricks so there isn't much to do. All of his friends have tried to save him with, quite frankly, false doctrine so one kind of understands the confusion he has. Kind of taught myself a powerful principle during the lesson though which is 'if God exists then there is 1 truth, 1 religion for all human kind.' We pulled out a Joseph Smith card out of context that fit quite well. He said what keeps him motivated is his family and love and not any religion would do that for him, to which our reply was 'that is our religion.' Glory
We met a less active in the ward going through some really tough struggles but a really nice guy none the less that knows the Gospel is restored. One of his concerns was 'they give us too much work and expect too much out of us.' Even myself, may draw this conclusion but what must be understood is that we are all in training to become perfect leaders! If that's what you want, you've got to learn first. I forgot how the saying goes, something like how we are not about believing or doing but becoming. Fantastic
Well Felipe is on a business trip in Brazil right now for 2 weeks sadly. We said bye to him on Wednesday. Transfers are in a week so who knows what is going to happen. Vanessa is staying but not much 2 missionaries can do about it for obvious reasons. (we have a home teaching lesson tomorrow though).
Thank you for your letter and email
love you
elder mark metcalf
A new year and all is well
How can you describe just how personal the mission is to someone?
How do you describe a single ounce of joy to someone who hasn't been here?
How do you convince someone they need this in their lives, being the greatest privilege in our existence?
Simply stated is the reply I can only come up with...you cant.
Felipe and Vanessa were baptized and confirmed yesterday and quite frankly gave me more meaning in my life then I ever thought possible in my existence. This week has been the most fulfilling week of my life. I cant describe it! Like the story of trying to explain how the Spirit feels or how salt tastes to someone who hasn't experienced it. Felipe and Vanessa got up in sacrament meeting and bore their testimonies. Simply put (yet again) this is one of those mission stories that will have a huge impact on eternity. Vanessa's mom, in Brazil, quit smoking and went to Church. With all the testimonies her mom felt, she recognized the Spirit and bore her testimony (mind you this is the first time she has been to the true Church) and when she was done, they were all in tears. We were all worried about whether Vanessa's mom was going to have a good experience or not going to Church yesterday but the Lord took over making it to the point where words cannot describe. Felipe's son is coming to live with him soon and we already have someone his age (17) in the ward excited to meet him. The 17 year old in our ward has basically turned around. About 2 months ago, he was kind of hesitant about driving us around and helping us with appointments. The Lord showed him what missionary work really is (something you cannot describe in words) and now he is excited and well on his way to become a missionary monster. He even ditched a date at the last minute to help us get to Felipe's and Vanessa's baptismal interviews.
This work is the most fulfilling of my being!
His mom came to the baptism (it was a massive turnout, the Chapel was full) and afterwords thanked us so much for helping her son get motivated for missionary work. We didn't do anything! The Lord has us all, personally at His attention.
I cannot tell you how amazing the baptismal service was! We had 8 other missionaries there, that were involved in some way (all the Sister's were crying, fantastic). Bishop was on a high all day long and it was so fun to work with him. You bet there was a big hug at the end of the service.
Felipe surprised me big time at the end of Church and before his baptism. He has been so incredibly accelerated by God and His Spirit that I still don't really understand the impact he possibly has in his future. He said he recognizes another characteristic of this true Church. It is a Gospel of leadership. I didn't fully understand that until a week ago and here Felipe has it already internally figured out by the Spirit! Heavenly Father is accelerating them for a purpose... it's going to be exciting to watch. However, don't get me wrong, it's always pending on the keeping of commandments so pray for them frequently!
GLORIOUS.
We taught them 4 nights in a row this week preparing them (who am I kidding, they were prepared and living the commandments before we showed up) for baptism. Felipe was joking around about how he is getting rid of all of his way nice Wine by tipping random people like the cable guy. We had Bishop Martin with us during that teaching appointment and Bishop commented that we shouldn't provide our fellow brother's and sister's with sin! The next night we had a lovely "pouring the wine down the drain" party and Felipe had a big smile (as always) when he was doing it. Vanessa is a phenomenally spiritual individual. She knows the true Spirit.
Well who the heck cares about anything else that went on this week.
We had an incredible zone conference and President Smith helped me out so much! He is a very big, if not THE, reason I was put in Texas. Quite an amazing man of guide and very guided. He knows, He listens, He obeys, and for that reason I have every ounce of respect for my President.
Zone conference gave us perspective on our goals. We had 750 baptisms in our mission in 2009 (its gone up about 100 each year for 5 years) and President let us know how great we all are. "everyone in this room has divine characteristics" he said, and proceeded to tell us that for 2010 we have a small goal that should be easily eclipsed. 950 this year. That translates to 10 per companionship so Elder Stettler and I are well on our way. SWEEET. I love reaching goals and potential.
As Grandpa Metcalf says (and what I bore my testimony on at zone conference) 'May the Lord make you equal to every challenge'
I'm way too excited. Glory, Glory.
This morning really summed it all up. I was reading my patriarchal blessing and listening to the MoTabs. Quite frankly I was so at peace that I was feeling a bit selfish and daunted by the task of being a missionary. The hymn "I know that my Redeemer lives" came on and I stopped reading and just listened. 'what comfort this sweet sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives' how do I explain this in words to all the people I am supposed to talk to? How on earth am I going to be able to complete the task of bringing others to the Living Christ?
I cant.
It's bigger then me. However, the Lord makes us equal to every challenge based on the commandments and His will. I suppose my greatest task at this current time is to figure out the best way to testify to each person as an individual, of how I know that my Redeemer lives and pray that the Spirit will fill in the gaps but more importantly, their hearts.
It's a big task...how do you prepare for each person who is so much more individually diverse then the next? The Spirit will know. My job is to learn, listen, and obey His voice. It takes work...so delicate are the promptings.
Well I love you all, I am way preachy in this email but I'm pretty euphoric from this previous week.
Thank you for all your letters, love and support. I definitely need it and love it.
Love Elder Mark
Thank you sooo much for your love
How do you describe a single ounce of joy to someone who hasn't been here?
How do you convince someone they need this in their lives, being the greatest privilege in our existence?
Simply stated is the reply I can only come up with...you cant.
Felipe and Vanessa were baptized and confirmed yesterday and quite frankly gave me more meaning in my life then I ever thought possible in my existence. This week has been the most fulfilling week of my life. I cant describe it! Like the story of trying to explain how the Spirit feels or how salt tastes to someone who hasn't experienced it. Felipe and Vanessa got up in sacrament meeting and bore their testimonies. Simply put (yet again) this is one of those mission stories that will have a huge impact on eternity. Vanessa's mom, in Brazil, quit smoking and went to Church. With all the testimonies her mom felt, she recognized the Spirit and bore her testimony (mind you this is the first time she has been to the true Church) and when she was done, they were all in tears. We were all worried about whether Vanessa's mom was going to have a good experience or not going to Church yesterday but the Lord took over making it to the point where words cannot describe. Felipe's son is coming to live with him soon and we already have someone his age (17) in the ward excited to meet him. The 17 year old in our ward has basically turned around. About 2 months ago, he was kind of hesitant about driving us around and helping us with appointments. The Lord showed him what missionary work really is (something you cannot describe in words) and now he is excited and well on his way to become a missionary monster. He even ditched a date at the last minute to help us get to Felipe's and Vanessa's baptismal interviews.
This work is the most fulfilling of my being!
His mom came to the baptism (it was a massive turnout, the Chapel was full) and afterwords thanked us so much for helping her son get motivated for missionary work. We didn't do anything! The Lord has us all, personally at His attention.
I cannot tell you how amazing the baptismal service was! We had 8 other missionaries there, that were involved in some way (all the Sister's were crying, fantastic). Bishop was on a high all day long and it was so fun to work with him. You bet there was a big hug at the end of the service.
Felipe surprised me big time at the end of Church and before his baptism. He has been so incredibly accelerated by God and His Spirit that I still don't really understand the impact he possibly has in his future. He said he recognizes another characteristic of this true Church. It is a Gospel of leadership. I didn't fully understand that until a week ago and here Felipe has it already internally figured out by the Spirit! Heavenly Father is accelerating them for a purpose... it's going to be exciting to watch. However, don't get me wrong, it's always pending on the keeping of commandments so pray for them frequently!
GLORIOUS.
We taught them 4 nights in a row this week preparing them (who am I kidding, they were prepared and living the commandments before we showed up) for baptism. Felipe was joking around about how he is getting rid of all of his way nice Wine by tipping random people like the cable guy. We had Bishop Martin with us during that teaching appointment and Bishop commented that we shouldn't provide our fellow brother's and sister's with sin! The next night we had a lovely "pouring the wine down the drain" party and Felipe had a big smile (as always) when he was doing it. Vanessa is a phenomenally spiritual individual. She knows the true Spirit.
Well who the heck cares about anything else that went on this week.
We had an incredible zone conference and President Smith helped me out so much! He is a very big, if not THE, reason I was put in Texas. Quite an amazing man of guide and very guided. He knows, He listens, He obeys, and for that reason I have every ounce of respect for my President.
Zone conference gave us perspective on our goals. We had 750 baptisms in our mission in 2009 (its gone up about 100 each year for 5 years) and President let us know how great we all are. "everyone in this room has divine characteristics" he said, and proceeded to tell us that for 2010 we have a small goal that should be easily eclipsed. 950 this year. That translates to 10 per companionship so Elder Stettler and I are well on our way. SWEEET. I love reaching goals and potential.
As Grandpa Metcalf says (and what I bore my testimony on at zone conference) 'May the Lord make you equal to every challenge'
I'm way too excited. Glory, Glory.
This morning really summed it all up. I was reading my patriarchal blessing and listening to the MoTabs. Quite frankly I was so at peace that I was feeling a bit selfish and daunted by the task of being a missionary. The hymn "I know that my Redeemer lives" came on and I stopped reading and just listened. 'what comfort this sweet sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives' how do I explain this in words to all the people I am supposed to talk to? How on earth am I going to be able to complete the task of bringing others to the Living Christ?
I cant.
It's bigger then me. However, the Lord makes us equal to every challenge based on the commandments and His will. I suppose my greatest task at this current time is to figure out the best way to testify to each person as an individual, of how I know that my Redeemer lives and pray that the Spirit will fill in the gaps but more importantly, their hearts.
It's a big task...how do you prepare for each person who is so much more individually diverse then the next? The Spirit will know. My job is to learn, listen, and obey His voice. It takes work...so delicate are the promptings.
Well I love you all, I am way preachy in this email but I'm pretty euphoric from this previous week.
Thank you for all your letters, love and support. I definitely need it and love it.
Love Elder Mark
Thank you sooo much for your love
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Let the games begin!
I have no notes written down for the letter this week so I will have to dictate from memory... yikes!
Well it was way good to talk to y'all, really weird too. I was pretty much totally transformed back home and then hung the phone up and I was in Texas again! Awesome. I love it here. Went home and opened the rest of the presents. Good heavens I am sooo spoiled.
Bro. Gills came out with us on Christmas Eve and surprisingly it was his first time teaching with missionaries. What the heck, he was awesome. One of those people that knows the voice if you know what I mean so it went really well. Hopefully much good will come from that appointment, sure seems like it.
We spent Christmas evening with the Mcdonoughs and their family and it went pretty well. They played the wii a lot which was sad because we couldn't! Bro. Mcdonough hooked me up with even more valuable skills for life. It went really well. Sadly, I wasn't too homesick.
Obviously the highlight for the week was Krystin's baptism. It was awesome! The font was basically hot tub temperature after Elder Metcalf figured out how to use the controls so it was a bit tempting filling it up to re baptize myself. Kidding.
We had about 40 people there and half were non members, the Spirit was there and you could tell she was excited. We got permission to have her confirmed on the same day too and we were able to participate in that so it was exciting. The service was really solid. Her boyfriend baptized her and his mom gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. Funny how I know everything but you can learn so much from a simple convert baptism. NEVER deprive yourselves of an opportunity for learning. I think I just overwhelm myself too much because it's soo much information to comprehend.
Felipe and Vanessa's baptism is this coming Sunday and it's going to be huge... The bishop calls us everyday with things like 'make sure you call me when you know what the program is' so it's way exciting to see so much involvement from the entire ward. If we had that with every investigator we would be unstoppable.
We had another nice long day at church but both PEC's were canceled in the morning so we had Bro. Nesmith give us a ride around 10. He apologized for making us go a little early and we laughed.
Sis. Nesmith is having a friend down from Oklahoma visit for a couple days and she is staying with us. She is a senior minister at a Methodist church so it should get good... She is already reading "our heritage" and the Book of Mormon has been placed. The Lord is planting a seed, my friends and it's fun to watch.
We had a way good week this week and our numbers are reflecting it. On Wednesday we had interview/trainings with the president and he admonished us on competition within the mission so I have been humbled. My competitive attitude will have to be subdued. We did talk about setting a standard for our personal selves so I will always seek to gain an edge over what I have done in the past as a missionary so I suppose it all works out. The interview with president went well, nothing out of the ordinary this time around (probably because prayers have been answered) so all is well with Elder Metcalf so far.
We went to the mall today for p-day which was weird. Elder Thurgood (district leader) and I walked around most the time talking about our futures and how crazy life is going to get. He is one of 2-3 elders of the whole mission that I have felt like we have been best friends our entire lives. Soooo cool. We have a good time and he knows the voice.
Well mother the Dr Suess book is AWESOME. I can't wait to use it with kids. Read it twice now. The calendar is still my favorite present because I love you all very much and I am from royal blood so it's exciting to see y'all more.
Hmmmm, can't think of anything else so I am going to dive into my other emails.
Love you a lot mom and family
Well it was way good to talk to y'all, really weird too. I was pretty much totally transformed back home and then hung the phone up and I was in Texas again! Awesome. I love it here. Went home and opened the rest of the presents. Good heavens I am sooo spoiled.
Bro. Gills came out with us on Christmas Eve and surprisingly it was his first time teaching with missionaries. What the heck, he was awesome. One of those people that knows the voice if you know what I mean so it went really well. Hopefully much good will come from that appointment, sure seems like it.
We spent Christmas evening with the Mcdonoughs and their family and it went pretty well. They played the wii a lot which was sad because we couldn't! Bro. Mcdonough hooked me up with even more valuable skills for life. It went really well. Sadly, I wasn't too homesick.
Obviously the highlight for the week was Krystin's baptism. It was awesome! The font was basically hot tub temperature after Elder Metcalf figured out how to use the controls so it was a bit tempting filling it up to re baptize myself. Kidding.
We had about 40 people there and half were non members, the Spirit was there and you could tell she was excited. We got permission to have her confirmed on the same day too and we were able to participate in that so it was exciting. The service was really solid. Her boyfriend baptized her and his mom gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. Funny how I know everything but you can learn so much from a simple convert baptism. NEVER deprive yourselves of an opportunity for learning. I think I just overwhelm myself too much because it's soo much information to comprehend.
Felipe and Vanessa's baptism is this coming Sunday and it's going to be huge... The bishop calls us everyday with things like 'make sure you call me when you know what the program is' so it's way exciting to see so much involvement from the entire ward. If we had that with every investigator we would be unstoppable.
We had another nice long day at church but both PEC's were canceled in the morning so we had Bro. Nesmith give us a ride around 10. He apologized for making us go a little early and we laughed.
Sis. Nesmith is having a friend down from Oklahoma visit for a couple days and she is staying with us. She is a senior minister at a Methodist church so it should get good... She is already reading "our heritage" and the Book of Mormon has been placed. The Lord is planting a seed, my friends and it's fun to watch.
We had a way good week this week and our numbers are reflecting it. On Wednesday we had interview/trainings with the president and he admonished us on competition within the mission so I have been humbled. My competitive attitude will have to be subdued. We did talk about setting a standard for our personal selves so I will always seek to gain an edge over what I have done in the past as a missionary so I suppose it all works out. The interview with president went well, nothing out of the ordinary this time around (probably because prayers have been answered) so all is well with Elder Metcalf so far.
We went to the mall today for p-day which was weird. Elder Thurgood (district leader) and I walked around most the time talking about our futures and how crazy life is going to get. He is one of 2-3 elders of the whole mission that I have felt like we have been best friends our entire lives. Soooo cool. We have a good time and he knows the voice.
Well mother the Dr Suess book is AWESOME. I can't wait to use it with kids. Read it twice now. The calendar is still my favorite present because I love you all very much and I am from royal blood so it's exciting to see y'all more.
Hmmmm, can't think of anything else so I am going to dive into my other emails.
Love you a lot mom and family
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
