Alex's letter home was kind of a short one a couple of weeks ago. From what he told us, he and his companion spent the last week working really hard and actually taught more lessons during that week than they have ever taught before. But other than that, the week was fairly uneventful. With all of the baptisms that they had during November and December, most of their teaching pool are now members of the Church. So as a result, they are now having to work at rebuilding their teaching pool back up again. But all of that is normal for a missionary. You have to take the up's with the downs and the famine after the feast.
Alex described a little bit about the crazy weather that they have been having in Kansas. First of all he told us about how the city of Manhattan was testing out the tornado sirens that day just as the do almost every week. I guess that is probably a good thing since Alex is sitting right in the middle of tornado alley. Anyway, Alex told us that a couple of weeks ago they were in the middle of short sleeve weather with the temperature getting up into the 70's. That is pretty far out of the ordinary for this time of year. But just as quickly as the good weather came, it all turned back to winter again. Alex said that within just a few hours the temperatures were back down in the 20's. He even started out his last letter by telling us that they were in the middle of a snow storm which didn't really make him happy. The storm really only dropped about 3-5 inches of snow on the ground but that was enough to shut down all of the schools and keep a lot of people from going outside. Oh well, there you go with having to take the good with the bad and the up's with the downs, whether it is with a teaching pool or the weather.
Oh, I mentioned in the last blog entry under a picture of Alex all dressed up in a cowboy outfit, that we had no idea where he came up with those clothes. Well Alex must have read his own blog because he answered that question for us in last week's letter. As it turned out, there is an Elder in his mission that is just a few months behind Alex. Both this Elder and Alex have been serving near each other for most of the last year. Alex didn't give us a lot of detail about this Elder but apparently the Elder must have a cowboy background because all of the clothes belonged to him. We still don't know what possessed Alex to want to dress up in cowboy clothes, but you have to admit that he does look good, right? :-)
There is another amusing story that Alex told us that must somehow be related to this whole cowboy craze. So one of the things that Alex and many of the other missionaries in the Manhattan area have been doing, is volunteering to help maintain the grounds at the zoo. One day about a week ago while they were working at the zoo, Alex somehow tore his AmericanEagle jeans. When P-Day finally rolled around, Alex and his companion decided that it would be a good idea to go to Walmart to buy a new pair of jeans. However this time he wasn't looking for a name brand like he had before. He decided that any old pair of jeans would work and Walmart just happen to stock some really nice Rustler cowboy cut jeans for $8.50 a pair. Since that sounded like a really good price and the animals at the zoo don't really care how well the missionaries are dressed, Alex decided that he should try them on. So he went into the dressing room, tried them on and then came out to see how they looked. While he was in the dressing room, his companion started up a conversion with a 50ish year old Walmart worker who's job it was to watch over the dressing room area. Once Alex emerged from the dressing room, his companion started asking the woman what she thought about the jeans and if she thought Alex looked good in them. Well, after being prodded a few times by Alex's companion for an honest opinion, she finally said, "well don't think that I am a pervert grandma or anything, but DANG those look fine!!!". They all got a pretty good laugh out of it and Alex is now the proud owner of a pair of $8.50 Rustler cowboy cut jeans. Wow, the monkeys at the zoo are going to go "Ape" over Alex's new look. ;-)
It's transfer time again and as it turned out, Alex didn't get transferred but he does have a new companion. This is the third companion that he has had since he arrived in Manhattan last September. He just keeps burning through companions like they are a pile of kindling or something. Actually this is his previous companion's final transfer and he decided that he wanted to spend it training a new missionary for his last six weeks. Well Alex's new companion is somebody that Alex actually new before his mission. Apparently, they were both part of a group date that happened during high school but neither one of them remembered until a friend of Alex's new companion wrote and reminded him of the event. The funny thing is that this whole acquaintance ties back to someone that I know is reading this blog and goes by the initials of H. Mac. Anyway, its a small world and true to form, Alex always seems to find ties back to his home whether it is with the people he meets or the companions he is currently serving with.
Alex also tells us that their teaching pool rebuilding is going really well. Several of the people that they are teaching have come to church and they are really excited about that. In fact one of the people who they are currently teaching told Alex and his companion that it had been over 14 years since he had been to church so by the fact that he is at church today, just means that the missionaries must be doing something right. Be grateful for all of the little things that go right and for some, even the little things mean a lot.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
A Christmas phone call
Alright, the last couple of weeks have been real crazy and I'm not just talking about Alex. In this blog entry I am going break from the usual and talk a little bit about Alex's family for a minute. Once you read the whole story, you will understand how a lot of what has been happening with his family, all ties into where Alex is current serving his mission.
So here we go. Alex has an older brother who just recently turned in his mission papers. Under normal circumstances, we would have expected a mission call about 2-3 weeks after he turned in his papers. Well things didn't quite go normally. Instead of just the normal envelope from the church, we received a called from our Stake President who informed us that the missionary department would like to know if Alex's brother would be ready to leave in 3 weeks. That's right, it's not a typo. They said 3 weeks, not 3 months! Our Stake President said that he couldn't tell us where Alex's brother was going at that time, but it was somewhere very important and of special significance. Thinking that we would have to wait another week for the envelope from the Church to arrive, we were surprised when it came the next day. When Alex's brother opened the letter we were all surprised to find out that he was being called to the Rochester, New York mission. That's right, the same mission where Palmyra, Fayette and many other very significant Church historical sites are located. With Alex now serving in the Independence Missouri mission and his brother soon to be serving in the Rochester, New York mission, we are going to have the greatest Church historical sites tour ever in about 2 years from now!! As you can imagine, trying to get a missionary out the door in 3 weeks has been crazy. I won't go into all of the details about Alex's brother's call here. I will save that for when I start his brother's blog in a few weeks. But needless to say, Alex is very excited, we are very excited and Alex's brother is extremely excited.
Back to what's up with Alex. Well this month has been pretty busy for Alex as well. I have already mentioned previously that Alex was expecting to perform several more baptisms this month and as of the last couple of weeks, those baptisms have happened. Alex wrote to tell us all about the most recent members of the church and their baptisms. He said that the baptismal services went very well and that the spirit was very strong. The only hitch that they ran into was that while they were filling up the baptismal font, they ran out of hot water and by the time they figured it out, the font was a bit chilly. Alex told us that during the baptismal service he and several other missionaries sang the song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" from the children's hymn book. Alex told us that with only two verses, the song was a little short so he spent some time during the previous week writing a third verse. He didn't tell us what he came up with for the words to this new verse, but he said that it all went very well. I'm not sure that adding to even a children's song is Church approved, but hey, if you are so inspired, why not. Alex is very excited to see these new members of the Church learning and growing along side of the other members of the Ward. Alex even talked about how one of these new members has already been interviewed to received the priesthood.
Speaking of musical numbers, in the last blog entry I told you that Alex and his companion had been asked to perform a musical number during Sacrament meeting, the following week. Well, the duet actually did turn into a quartet. Alex and his companion recruited a couple of other members of the Ward to help them out. They all sang "Guard Him Joseph" and according to Alex, it went pretty well. He said that the others who sang with him had pretty good pitch and that he was able to blend in ok. In Alex's words, "I didn’t think we sounded too horrible". I'm sure it was great, but I am still waiting to hear a real opinion from somebody who was actually there. ;-)
Since this last week was Christmas, we got the rare opportunity to have Alex call home and tell us himself all about what he has been doing. As always, it was great to hear Alex's voice and to catch up on some of the details about his mission. Not only did we get to hear from Alex, we also got to hear from his companion and some of the other missionaries that were accompanying them on Christmas. We talked to Alex for quite a while on Christmas as they were all headed from Manhattan to Wamego where they were going for Christmas dinner. Of course the Christmas dinner that they were going to wasn't the first of the day nor was it the last. Just like on Thanksgiving day, they ended up spending time and eating breakfast, lunch and dinner with several different families. In fact Alex had to have his companion call us earlier in the day just to tell us that Alex would be calling a little later than scheduled because they had a teaching appointment along with breakfast at the home of one of their investigators. That was all good though, because it gave us time to get through all of our Christmas morning traditions as well. We got a short letter from Alex on Monday after Christmas since we had just spoken with him a couple of days before. Alex filled us in on how the rest of his Christmas went and the fact that he and his companion attended mid-night mass also. If you remember from a couple of blog entries ago, Alex and several of the other missionaries have been spending their P-Day playing ultimate frisbee with a member of the local Catholic church. As part of this new friendship, this catholic member invited the missionaries to attend mid-night mass on Christmas. Alex told us that it was very interesting and that it was fun to see their friend give one of the readings during the mass.
We got a package from Alex just before Christmas. Along with the Christmas presents that were included in the box, Alex finally sent us the memory card from his camera. Out of the 150 or so pictures along with a few videos, here are some of the highlights:
So here we go. Alex has an older brother who just recently turned in his mission papers. Under normal circumstances, we would have expected a mission call about 2-3 weeks after he turned in his papers. Well things didn't quite go normally. Instead of just the normal envelope from the church, we received a called from our Stake President who informed us that the missionary department would like to know if Alex's brother would be ready to leave in 3 weeks. That's right, it's not a typo. They said 3 weeks, not 3 months! Our Stake President said that he couldn't tell us where Alex's brother was going at that time, but it was somewhere very important and of special significance. Thinking that we would have to wait another week for the envelope from the Church to arrive, we were surprised when it came the next day. When Alex's brother opened the letter we were all surprised to find out that he was being called to the Rochester, New York mission. That's right, the same mission where Palmyra, Fayette and many other very significant Church historical sites are located. With Alex now serving in the Independence Missouri mission and his brother soon to be serving in the Rochester, New York mission, we are going to have the greatest Church historical sites tour ever in about 2 years from now!! As you can imagine, trying to get a missionary out the door in 3 weeks has been crazy. I won't go into all of the details about Alex's brother's call here. I will save that for when I start his brother's blog in a few weeks. But needless to say, Alex is very excited, we are very excited and Alex's brother is extremely excited.
Back to what's up with Alex. Well this month has been pretty busy for Alex as well. I have already mentioned previously that Alex was expecting to perform several more baptisms this month and as of the last couple of weeks, those baptisms have happened. Alex wrote to tell us all about the most recent members of the church and their baptisms. He said that the baptismal services went very well and that the spirit was very strong. The only hitch that they ran into was that while they were filling up the baptismal font, they ran out of hot water and by the time they figured it out, the font was a bit chilly. Alex told us that during the baptismal service he and several other missionaries sang the song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" from the children's hymn book. Alex told us that with only two verses, the song was a little short so he spent some time during the previous week writing a third verse. He didn't tell us what he came up with for the words to this new verse, but he said that it all went very well. I'm not sure that adding to even a children's song is Church approved, but hey, if you are so inspired, why not. Alex is very excited to see these new members of the Church learning and growing along side of the other members of the Ward. Alex even talked about how one of these new members has already been interviewed to received the priesthood.
Speaking of musical numbers, in the last blog entry I told you that Alex and his companion had been asked to perform a musical number during Sacrament meeting, the following week. Well, the duet actually did turn into a quartet. Alex and his companion recruited a couple of other members of the Ward to help them out. They all sang "Guard Him Joseph" and according to Alex, it went pretty well. He said that the others who sang with him had pretty good pitch and that he was able to blend in ok. In Alex's words, "I didn’t think we sounded too horrible". I'm sure it was great, but I am still waiting to hear a real opinion from somebody who was actually there. ;-)
Since this last week was Christmas, we got the rare opportunity to have Alex call home and tell us himself all about what he has been doing. As always, it was great to hear Alex's voice and to catch up on some of the details about his mission. Not only did we get to hear from Alex, we also got to hear from his companion and some of the other missionaries that were accompanying them on Christmas. We talked to Alex for quite a while on Christmas as they were all headed from Manhattan to Wamego where they were going for Christmas dinner. Of course the Christmas dinner that they were going to wasn't the first of the day nor was it the last. Just like on Thanksgiving day, they ended up spending time and eating breakfast, lunch and dinner with several different families. In fact Alex had to have his companion call us earlier in the day just to tell us that Alex would be calling a little later than scheduled because they had a teaching appointment along with breakfast at the home of one of their investigators. That was all good though, because it gave us time to get through all of our Christmas morning traditions as well. We got a short letter from Alex on Monday after Christmas since we had just spoken with him a couple of days before. Alex filled us in on how the rest of his Christmas went and the fact that he and his companion attended mid-night mass also. If you remember from a couple of blog entries ago, Alex and several of the other missionaries have been spending their P-Day playing ultimate frisbee with a member of the local Catholic church. As part of this new friendship, this catholic member invited the missionaries to attend mid-night mass on Christmas. Alex told us that it was very interesting and that it was fun to see their friend give one of the readings during the mass.
We got a package from Alex just before Christmas. Along with the Christmas presents that were included in the box, Alex finally sent us the memory card from his camera. Out of the 150 or so pictures along with a few videos, here are some of the highlights:
This is during his NASCAR period while serving in Burlington, KS. We still don't know why he was so into NASCAR, maybe because there are some really "Nas-cars" (say that with a southern accent and you will get the joke. ;-)
While Alex was serving in Burlington, KS last summer, he told us a story about how he and his companion helped a neighbor do a little demo on their house. The problem was that Alex is a little shorter than everybody else that was working there. So in order for him to be able to reach the ceiling, Alex had to pile up some of the debris and stand on it to get a little extra boost.
No, this isn't a picture of Alex but you can see a faint reflection of his feet in the window. There is a zoo in Manhattan, KS where the missionaries volunteer most weeks to help out. Alex told us that according to the records held by the zoo, this chimpanzee is the second oldest in the world. How they know that, I am not sure. Alex also told us that if you remember the scene in the movie "Return to Me" where the gorilla plays handsies on th window with one of the stars of the movie, Alex did the same thing with this chimpanzee one day as well.
Just a couple of caged animals at the zoo. Nothing more to see here. We are walking, walking...
We have no idea where Alex came up with the cowboy outfit here. We certainly didn't send him with the hat, the big belt buckle, the boots nor those jeans. It looks like he is back at the Wamego apartment, but why he is dressed up as a cowboy is still a question to be answered. Maybe someday he will tell us. ;-)
"Look Mom, lunch!!"
Sorry for the joke if this is really your child's favorite pet chicken. But it does look good! ;-)
Alex told us that this is the picture that he and his companion are using for their Christmas card this year. If you remember the Christmas card last year, Alex and his companion at the time did the same thing except they were jumping off a snow covered rock. If you haven't received your Christmas card from Alex yet, "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!"
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A week of triumphs and tragedy
Alex opened up his letter from a couple of weeks ago by telling us all about a baptism that took place the Saturday before. The person who was baptized was somebody that they had met through a referral from a relative that actually lives in Utah. Alex told us all about the miraculous changes that this man made in his life to get from where he was previously, to becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In some of Alex's previous letters, he talked about several times over the last couple of months when they were teaching this man the gospel. He described watching a life change right before his eyes and how it has actually been one of the more eye opening and spiritual events that he has experienced so far on his mission. Of course Alex usually describes things in terms of sports and this is how he described this experience:
In his letter this week, Alex told us about an incident that happened to another missionary that nobody ever wants to hear about. Fortunately the accident did not cause any permanent damage but it was still very scary. Alex told us about how one of the missionaries in a nearby companionship and stopped suddenly on his bike which caused the bike to go end over end. Unfortunately, so did the Elder who was riding the bike and the first thing to break his fall was his face. Alex and his companion were in the middle of a teaching appointment at the time. Alex said that in the middle of the lesson they got an urgent text message to go to the hospital as quickly as possible. When they got there they found this Elder a bit beaten up and bloody. Since his face hit the pavement first, it knocked one of this teeth loose which he ended up have to have pulled later. Alex told us that they had to take turns sitting with the injured missionary while he healed for the next few days and that luckily all of the hospital tests turned up negative. It is a scary thing when something like this happens and fortunately in this case it appears that the Elder will be OK after his wounds heal up a bit more.
Alex and his companion had a great experience at church the other day. Not too long after Alex arrived in his mission, one of his companions introduced him to the guitar. Alex has always had a musical background but guitar wasn't this primary instrument. Well since then, no matter who his companion has been, they always seem to spend some of their time teaching through music. Alex has taught himself how to play the guitar and both he and his companion sing hymns. This time Alex and his companion were invited to play and sing for the primary children. Alex told us that it was a real blast and that he really loves the primary kids in his Ward. He told us that they sang a version of "Angels We Have Heard On High" and as they reached the end of the verse, all of the primary kids started singing along with them. Then after they finished singing to the primary, they decided to go into the nursery to sing to all of the little kids as well. The nursery kids didn't sing along with them like the older primary kids did, but Alex said that while they were singing, all of the little kids were very quite and really seemed to enjoy the music.
Ah, but here is the real kicker. After playing and singing for the primary kids, Alex and his companion were invited to sing a duet in Sacrament meeting next week. One thing that Alex did inherit from his mother is a musical talent. However, that musical talent only extends to playing musical instruments. His talents seem to stop abruptly when it comes to actual singing. So needless to say, Alex is a bit nervous about having to sing in front of everybody in Sacrament meeting. His last statement to us was that maybe he would try to recruit a few more people to help them out and maybe a quartet could drowned out a lack of talent. But hey, you have to give Alex points for trying. How many of you would actually have the guts to stand up in church and sing in front of 300 people. I told Alex that he needs to find a member of his Ward who would be willing to describe to us truthfully how it went. We would really like to hear about it.
So to finish out his letter, Alex told us a story that no mother of a missionary ever wants to hear. At least not until years after the missionary returns home. For some of us who have served missions, this story is really no big deal, but to the mother of a missionary, she can only imagine the worst. Alex told us about how they were traveling to Witchita one day and got stuck in a huge traffic jam. This traffic jam was so bad that apparently the highway was nothing more than a parking lot and it went on for so long that people started turning around and going back to where they came from. To Alex and his companion this traffic jam just presented them with yet another opportunity to spread the gospel. So they hopped out of their car and started talking to truckers that were stuck in the same jam. How they would do this was by climbing up on to the running board of the truck and then talk to the trucker through the side window. Here you might think to yourself, so what is the big deal? Sounds like a pretty good idea. Well this is where the mother of a missionary starts to cringe. Alex told us that since many of the cars were turning around, everytime a car would whiz by, they had to press themselves up against the truck just to keep from getting hit. Now of course every mother remembers teaching and warning their kids about the dangers of playing in traffic. Well guess what, you all forgot to teach them about how equally dangerous it is to teach the gospel in traffic as well. So let that be a lesson to you!! ;-)
I remember Grandma pulling me aside one day and telling me that as good as it felt to win state [wrestling], baptizing someone on my mission would be a much better feeling, and she was soooooo right!!! Seeing [this man] change his life and be baptized was a way better feeling than winning state, I love it!!! I love being a missionary!Alex spent most of his letter talking about the baptism and the Sacrament meeting the next day when they performed the confirmation. He talked about the strong feeling of the spirit that came over everybody that participated and also talked about the great testimonies that were given following the confirmation. This baptism was definitely the highlight of Alex's week if not his whole mission. Like I have already mentioned several times in this blog, every week for Alex just seems to get better and better. Alex is really looking forward to seeing more of the people that they are currently teaching, be baptized. Several of them are already attending church regularly and have really felt the spirit. Alex has really enjoyed serving for the last several months in Manhattan and really hopes to be able to stay there for several more months. He really loves the Ward, the people and the members of the church there.
In his letter this week, Alex told us about an incident that happened to another missionary that nobody ever wants to hear about. Fortunately the accident did not cause any permanent damage but it was still very scary. Alex told us about how one of the missionaries in a nearby companionship and stopped suddenly on his bike which caused the bike to go end over end. Unfortunately, so did the Elder who was riding the bike and the first thing to break his fall was his face. Alex and his companion were in the middle of a teaching appointment at the time. Alex said that in the middle of the lesson they got an urgent text message to go to the hospital as quickly as possible. When they got there they found this Elder a bit beaten up and bloody. Since his face hit the pavement first, it knocked one of this teeth loose which he ended up have to have pulled later. Alex told us that they had to take turns sitting with the injured missionary while he healed for the next few days and that luckily all of the hospital tests turned up negative. It is a scary thing when something like this happens and fortunately in this case it appears that the Elder will be OK after his wounds heal up a bit more.
Alex and his companion had a great experience at church the other day. Not too long after Alex arrived in his mission, one of his companions introduced him to the guitar. Alex has always had a musical background but guitar wasn't this primary instrument. Well since then, no matter who his companion has been, they always seem to spend some of their time teaching through music. Alex has taught himself how to play the guitar and both he and his companion sing hymns. This time Alex and his companion were invited to play and sing for the primary children. Alex told us that it was a real blast and that he really loves the primary kids in his Ward. He told us that they sang a version of "Angels We Have Heard On High" and as they reached the end of the verse, all of the primary kids started singing along with them. Then after they finished singing to the primary, they decided to go into the nursery to sing to all of the little kids as well. The nursery kids didn't sing along with them like the older primary kids did, but Alex said that while they were singing, all of the little kids were very quite and really seemed to enjoy the music.
Ah, but here is the real kicker. After playing and singing for the primary kids, Alex and his companion were invited to sing a duet in Sacrament meeting next week. One thing that Alex did inherit from his mother is a musical talent. However, that musical talent only extends to playing musical instruments. His talents seem to stop abruptly when it comes to actual singing. So needless to say, Alex is a bit nervous about having to sing in front of everybody in Sacrament meeting. His last statement to us was that maybe he would try to recruit a few more people to help them out and maybe a quartet could drowned out a lack of talent. But hey, you have to give Alex points for trying. How many of you would actually have the guts to stand up in church and sing in front of 300 people. I told Alex that he needs to find a member of his Ward who would be willing to describe to us truthfully how it went. We would really like to hear about it.
So to finish out his letter, Alex told us a story that no mother of a missionary ever wants to hear. At least not until years after the missionary returns home. For some of us who have served missions, this story is really no big deal, but to the mother of a missionary, she can only imagine the worst. Alex told us about how they were traveling to Witchita one day and got stuck in a huge traffic jam. This traffic jam was so bad that apparently the highway was nothing more than a parking lot and it went on for so long that people started turning around and going back to where they came from. To Alex and his companion this traffic jam just presented them with yet another opportunity to spread the gospel. So they hopped out of their car and started talking to truckers that were stuck in the same jam. How they would do this was by climbing up on to the running board of the truck and then talk to the trucker through the side window. Here you might think to yourself, so what is the big deal? Sounds like a pretty good idea. Well this is where the mother of a missionary starts to cringe. Alex told us that since many of the cars were turning around, everytime a car would whiz by, they had to press themselves up against the truck just to keep from getting hit. Now of course every mother remembers teaching and warning their kids about the dangers of playing in traffic. Well guess what, you all forgot to teach them about how equally dangerous it is to teach the gospel in traffic as well. So let that be a lesson to you!! ;-)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Developing your talents and other missionary preparations
So to start out with, Elder Scott of the council of the twelve apostles visited with the missionaries a couple of weeks ago. Apparently he was assigned to speak at a Stake or regional conference in the Topeka area. One of the things that the general authorities will do while on assignment is hold special meetings with the missionaries while they are in the area and this conference was no different. Alex spent most of his letter talking about the meeting with Elder Scott and about the things that were said. During the meeting Elder Scott allowed the missionaries to ask him any question that they liked. This was one of Alex's favorite parts of the meeting. Alex told us that there is a missionary from South America in their mission who primarily works with the spanish speaking people and really doesn't speak much english himself. During the meeting this spanish missionary got up and asked Elder Scott some questions about his relationship with Jesus Christ. Of course the questions that the spanish missionary asked were in spanish and Elder Scott was able to translate for the rest of the english speaking missionaries. But there was one point when the spanish missionary asked Elder Scott a very personal question about Christ and at that point Elder Scott stopped translating and continued listening very intently to the question. His answer to this missionary's question was very short but yet very powerful. Of course since Elder Scott was no longer translating, the rest of the english speaking missionaries had no idea what was said or what his answer was. Finally another missionary stood up and asked Elder Scott if he could finish translating the question and his answer. Elder Scott proceeded to do so and as Alex described it, everybody's jaw just dropped at the spiritual insight that Elder Scott shared with just his very simple answer. Not long after that, Elder Scott again bore his testimony about his relationship with the Savior. Alex told us that it was spirit talking to spirit rather than just words.
Alex told us about a scary experience that they had during Sacrament meeting. Alex and his companion have been teaching several people lately and some of them have been attending church rather regularly. Well on Sunday during Sacrament meeting, one of the people that they have been teaching suffered from a seizure during the closing hymn. Of course things stopped right there and they had to call an ambulance to take this man directly to the hospital. Alex told us that they were able to go over to the hospital a little later to give him a blessing and that this man is doing Ok now although he is still having some health issues. That is the type of experience that you don't see everyday unless maybe if you actually work in a hospital emergency room. But for a missionary, this is the kind of thing that is totally unexpected yet also something that they need to be prepared for spiritually.
Once again Alex started off his latest letter by saying "Well, good things continue to happen here in Manhattan". Alex and his companion had a really good Thanksgiving which usually means that they ended up enjoying more than just one Thanksgiving dinner. This is the time of year where if Alex doesn't watch it, he might really get fat. During the holiday season people really like to have the missionaries over for dinner and sometimes that might mean more than one dinner per night. Thanksgiving and Christmas always seem to be some of the multiple dinner occasions. Well, by the time Alex and his companion got done visiting everybody on Thanksgiving, I think they had visited at least three different families, held a church history DVD "movie night" with one of the families and just had a good time all around.
Alex also shared a story about a girl he met at one of the families that they visited during Thanksgiving, who has down syndrome. For any of you who attended high school with Alex, you will probably remember how Alex spent several months helping out in the seminary class for many of the down syndrome kids. As a result, there was one special girl that decided that Alex was her boy friend and from then on, that was the way it was going to be. Alex was always very kind to her and tried his best to make her feel special. Because of this seminary experience and other similar experiences with these special kids, Alex has always had a soft spot in his heart for them. This girl who Alex met during Thanksgiving was no different. Alex told us that she reminded him of his old seminary "girl friend" back in high school.
Alex shared another little tidbit with us as well. I'm sure you all know how much Alex likes sports and also how much he really enjoys wrestling in particular. Well in Alex's words, here is a realization that he has come to:
As has been mentioned several time on this blog, wrestling and his love of other sports has really had an impact on Alex's missionary work. From coaching at Wamego high school a year ago and developing a very good friendship with one of their wrestlers to using wresting stories in Sacrament meeting talks and even starting up conversations with people just through sports, it has made a difference.
Oh by the way, Alex also told us that he has received some really great letters recently from his friends back home. He is really sorry that he hasn't been able to write back but please don't let that stop you from sending the occational letter in the future. Alex has been busier than ever at this time in his mission and if he is able to find a spare moment or two, he will try to write. So he just wants you all to know that he is greatful for good friends.
Alex told us about a scary experience that they had during Sacrament meeting. Alex and his companion have been teaching several people lately and some of them have been attending church rather regularly. Well on Sunday during Sacrament meeting, one of the people that they have been teaching suffered from a seizure during the closing hymn. Of course things stopped right there and they had to call an ambulance to take this man directly to the hospital. Alex told us that they were able to go over to the hospital a little later to give him a blessing and that this man is doing Ok now although he is still having some health issues. That is the type of experience that you don't see everyday unless maybe if you actually work in a hospital emergency room. But for a missionary, this is the kind of thing that is totally unexpected yet also something that they need to be prepared for spiritually.
Once again Alex started off his latest letter by saying "Well, good things continue to happen here in Manhattan". Alex and his companion had a really good Thanksgiving which usually means that they ended up enjoying more than just one Thanksgiving dinner. This is the time of year where if Alex doesn't watch it, he might really get fat. During the holiday season people really like to have the missionaries over for dinner and sometimes that might mean more than one dinner per night. Thanksgiving and Christmas always seem to be some of the multiple dinner occasions. Well, by the time Alex and his companion got done visiting everybody on Thanksgiving, I think they had visited at least three different families, held a church history DVD "movie night" with one of the families and just had a good time all around.
Alex also shared a story about a girl he met at one of the families that they visited during Thanksgiving, who has down syndrome. For any of you who attended high school with Alex, you will probably remember how Alex spent several months helping out in the seminary class for many of the down syndrome kids. As a result, there was one special girl that decided that Alex was her boy friend and from then on, that was the way it was going to be. Alex was always very kind to her and tried his best to make her feel special. Because of this seminary experience and other similar experiences with these special kids, Alex has always had a soft spot in his heart for them. This girl who Alex met during Thanksgiving was no different. Alex told us that she reminded him of his old seminary "girl friend" back in high school.
Alex shared another little tidbit with us as well. I'm sure you all know how much Alex likes sports and also how much he really enjoys wrestling in particular. Well in Alex's words, here is a realization that he has come to:
"Isn’t it crazy how wrestling has allowed me to share the gospel with people? Legit! Yesterday in Sunday school we taught a lesson on developing our talents, and it really made me think about how wrestling has been a lot more for me than just a sport. It has helped me to reach out to people and help them. J.R. sent me a really nice letter, and I was only able to meet him because of wrestling. It made me feel really good!"
Oh by the way, Alex also told us that he has received some really great letters recently from his friends back home. He is really sorry that he hasn't been able to write back but please don't let that stop you from sending the occational letter in the future. Alex has been busier than ever at this time in his mission and if he is able to find a spare moment or two, he will try to write. So he just wants you all to know that he is greatful for good friends.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Teaching the gospel in all places and at all times
Ever since Alex became a zone leader, "busy" seems to be one of the main topics each week. Not that all missionaries aren't very busy all the time, but on top of an already busy missionary life, Alex and his companion have even had to resort to scheduling appointments on their P-day just to keep up. A couple of weeks ago Alex wrote us and said that they had traveled more in one week than ever before. Here is how he described just one day in a whole week of meetings, exchanges and conferences:
So here is a rather interesting story that Alex told us. This story actually spans over the last couple of letters that he wrote. Alex starts out by telling us that he and his companion actually attended mass at the local Catholic church. How this all came about was that one of the favorite activities for the missionaries around Manhattan is to play ultimate Frisbee for a couple hours on their P-day. Well it so happened that while playing ultimate Frisbee, the missionaries came in contact with someone who is a very good member of the Catholic church. While talking with this person, he invited Alex and his companion to come on over and take a look around his church building. Alex and his companion thought that since they regularly invite people to take a tour of the LDS church buildings, this would be a good opportunity for them to do the same at a Catholic church. Of course in return this good man also agreed to accompany the missionaries on a tour of an LDS church building as well. As it turned out, Alex and his companion also ended up attending mass at the Catholic church and agreed to come back the next week and teach a class to some of the church members there.
So the next week Alex and his companion went back to the Catholic church just as mass was ending so that they could teach the class that they had agreed to. Except this week there was a different Priest in charge whom they hadn't meet before. As they walked into the lobby of the church, they immediately ran into the Catholic Priest who was obviously dressed in his normal Sunday robes. The Priest walked up to Alex and his companion, looked down at their name tags and told them “looks like you boys are at the wrong church!”. Alex said that the Priest had a pretty good sense of humor and that they all got a good laugh out of it. Then just to top it off, as the Priest was walking away he commented to one of the other parishioners "I'll bet they are going to convert". Alex told us that it was obvious that he was being sarcastic and that the whole experience was pretty funny.
Alex went on to tell us about the class that they taught while they were visiting the Catholic church. He said that there weren't very many people who stuck around for their Sunday school class but there were a few. Alex told us that it was kind of hard to teach the class for obvious reasons. Walking into another denomination and basically telling them that what they believed isn't the whole truth, kind of puts you in a confrontational position. But Alex and his companion were very sensitive to that fact and really tried to be as non-confrontational as possible. During the class Alex told us that the people who attended,were very courteous except for one man who wanted to bible bash a little. Of course the missionaries tried the best that they could be resolve his issues with a few scriptures and after that Alex said that the rest of the class went very well. Who knows what will come from this experience but Alex said that at the very least, it taught him a lot about what their investigators must be feeling when they attend the LDS church meetings for the first time. Through this experience, Alex can now be much more sensitive to their investigator's feeling and help them to feel more comfortable.
Of course, later on that same Sunday Alex and his companion also attended their own church meetings at their Ward building. Alex told us that it felt wonderful to be back at church that day and it was even more exciting because not only were they at church, they also had many of the people that they are currently teaching, attending church with them. Things seem to be going very well for Alex right now. Of course there are always ups and downs and Alex has also included a few of the downs in his letters as well. But he is very excited about everything that is happening right now and every day and every week just seems to bring more stories and new experiences.
Oh one last funny story. Through Alex's studies he seemed to have run across an interesting verse. In Alma 56:27 Alex claims that the scriptures are telling us that we should be sending him more packages more often. Looking up the scripture it says:
"But Thursday was an absolute nightmare! We had to drive to Wamego to switch back from exchanges early in the morning. Then we made a quick stop in Junction city on our way down to Salina for their district meeting. We got to Salina and had a great meeting down there. We had to drive all the way home from Salina, and then that night we had to turn around and drive clear down to Wichita for our leadership conference that was on Friday! Just on Thursday alone we drove over 400 miles!!!"All of their hard work seems to be paying off and from what Alex has told us, many of the people that they are teaching have already decided that being baptised and becoming a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the right thing to do. Over the next several weeks, Alex told us that he and his companion have about six baptisms scheduled. Of course a lot can happen in just a few weeks for a missionary but they have been working hard and doing everything that they can to bless the lives of those that they are serving. Alex just keeps telling us just how great all of the people are that they are teaching. He loves going to their homes, talking with them, teaching them the gospel and getting to know each one them better.
So here is a rather interesting story that Alex told us. This story actually spans over the last couple of letters that he wrote. Alex starts out by telling us that he and his companion actually attended mass at the local Catholic church. How this all came about was that one of the favorite activities for the missionaries around Manhattan is to play ultimate Frisbee for a couple hours on their P-day. Well it so happened that while playing ultimate Frisbee, the missionaries came in contact with someone who is a very good member of the Catholic church. While talking with this person, he invited Alex and his companion to come on over and take a look around his church building. Alex and his companion thought that since they regularly invite people to take a tour of the LDS church buildings, this would be a good opportunity for them to do the same at a Catholic church. Of course in return this good man also agreed to accompany the missionaries on a tour of an LDS church building as well. As it turned out, Alex and his companion also ended up attending mass at the Catholic church and agreed to come back the next week and teach a class to some of the church members there.
So the next week Alex and his companion went back to the Catholic church just as mass was ending so that they could teach the class that they had agreed to. Except this week there was a different Priest in charge whom they hadn't meet before. As they walked into the lobby of the church, they immediately ran into the Catholic Priest who was obviously dressed in his normal Sunday robes. The Priest walked up to Alex and his companion, looked down at their name tags and told them “looks like you boys are at the wrong church!”. Alex said that the Priest had a pretty good sense of humor and that they all got a good laugh out of it. Then just to top it off, as the Priest was walking away he commented to one of the other parishioners "I'll bet they are going to convert". Alex told us that it was obvious that he was being sarcastic and that the whole experience was pretty funny.
Alex went on to tell us about the class that they taught while they were visiting the Catholic church. He said that there weren't very many people who stuck around for their Sunday school class but there were a few. Alex told us that it was kind of hard to teach the class for obvious reasons. Walking into another denomination and basically telling them that what they believed isn't the whole truth, kind of puts you in a confrontational position. But Alex and his companion were very sensitive to that fact and really tried to be as non-confrontational as possible. During the class Alex told us that the people who attended,were very courteous except for one man who wanted to bible bash a little. Of course the missionaries tried the best that they could be resolve his issues with a few scriptures and after that Alex said that the rest of the class went very well. Who knows what will come from this experience but Alex said that at the very least, it taught him a lot about what their investigators must be feeling when they attend the LDS church meetings for the first time. Through this experience, Alex can now be much more sensitive to their investigator's feeling and help them to feel more comfortable.
Of course, later on that same Sunday Alex and his companion also attended their own church meetings at their Ward building. Alex told us that it felt wonderful to be back at church that day and it was even more exciting because not only were they at church, they also had many of the people that they are currently teaching, attending church with them. Things seem to be going very well for Alex right now. Of course there are always ups and downs and Alex has also included a few of the downs in his letters as well. But he is very excited about everything that is happening right now and every day and every week just seems to bring more stories and new experiences.
Oh one last funny story. Through Alex's studies he seemed to have run across an interesting verse. In Alma 56:27 Alex claims that the scriptures are telling us that we should be sending him more packages more often. Looking up the scripture it says:
"And now it came to pass in the second month of this year, there was brought unto us many provisions from the fathers of those my two thousand sons. " Alma 56:27Of course this scripture is talking about the 2000 stripling warriors and the provisions that their families sent to them while they marched with the armies of Helaman. Alex being a missionary is like being one of the stripling warriors and I guess that since we are his parents, we need to make sure that provisions are sent to him regularly to help sustain him in the Lord's work. Funny thing is, his Mother just sent him a package the week before. So if any of you who are reading this feel that you would like to help re-provision a missionary, the address to the mission home where you too can send provisions is at the top of this blog. Thanks in advance. :-)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
One down, one to go
Alex started out his letter a couple of weeks ago by saying that the previous week had been the best week ever. It seems like we hear that every week. Can you imagine having your best week ever, every week? Most people can't even imagine a life like that. Alex is apparently living it now on his mission.
Alex told us all about a baptism that they just performed a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately for these missionaries, they have some really good people in their Ward who really love to help out with the missionary work. A brother in their Ward who together with his wife, played a big part in fellowshipping the person who was being baptized, was asked to perform the baptism. From what Alex told us, the name of the person who was baptized was kind of hard to pronounce. So in order to make sure that the name was pronunced correctly during the baptismal prayer, Alex wrote down her name with all of accents and pronunciations on the back of a pass along card and taped it to the front of the baptismal font. Alex told us that the baptismal service went off without a hitch and said that everybody felt the spirit. The next day (Sunday), Alex was asked to perform the confirmation during Sacrament meeting. You would think that since Alex has been out for a year now, performing a confirmation wouldn't be a big deal. But Alex told us that he was really nervous mainly because now it was his turn to make sure that he pronounced her name correctly. This time there was no pass along card with the proper pronunciation taped to the front of anything, so he spent most of the morning before Sacrament meeting practicing the pronunciation to make sure that everything would go as smoothly as possible. He told us that at one point before the meeting, he was so nervous that it felt like the same nervousness he used to feel right before a big wrestling match. Well being nervous must really suit him because he wrestled very well in high school and he told us that the confirmation went very well in church.
I mentioned that Alex has been out on his mission for a year now. He just past his year mark about a week and a half ago, if you can believe that. Just as a personal note: when you send your son out on a mission and you go through the experience of dropping him off at the MTC, that goodbye moment on the curb can be really rough. Knowing that there are two long years ahead before you will see him again, seems like forever. This last year seemed to fly by. Now instead of two long years ahead, there is only one more to go. Right now even one year still seems like a long time, but given that the last one went by so quickly, I'm sure that the next one will as well.
During this last year, Alex has had a lot of great experiences. Some much better than others and some that were really tough to get through. I won't go into any of them again here because you can just read back through the previous blog posts to review many of those experiences. There are many experiences that Alex has told us about in his letters that we haven't talked about on this blog. The reason why is because the experiences just seemed to personal to be published in a public forum. But like I have mentioned before, if you want to hear more about these experiences, just come on over to the house and we will be glad to fill you in on more of the details.
For the last couple of weeks and probably even longer than that, Alex has been telling us all about a new missionary program that they have been using. It probably really isn't that new, but it is something that they have been doing lately and has proven to be a turning point for many people that the missionaries are teaching. The program that they have been using is really kind of like going on a church tour at Temple Square or any other church visitor's center. Except, rather than going through an actual visitor's center, the missionaries introduce people to the church by showing them around the church building itself. From what Alex has said, it allows some of the people that they are teaching to really see what the church building itself is like without having to feel nervous around all of the other church members who might be there during a regular Sunday meeting. It also allows them to feel the spirit that is always present in a church building. Alex has shared several great stories about the experiences that he and his companion have had while introducing new investigators to the church through one of these tours. During one of these tours, Alex told us that the person that they were teaching asked them if the building had an extra room that they could rent because it felt so peaceful just being there. Of course they were just kidding about wanting to rent a room, but they very serious about the peaceful feeling. According to Alex, these "Intoduction to the Church" tours are probably one of the best teaching tools that they have. Introducing somebody to the church in this way, really makes a big difference in the way that people feel about the church, its teachings and especially about attending a regular Sunday meeting and being baptized.
Alex told us a interesting yet funny story that happened this last week. While he and his companion were out tracting, they tracted into a girl who claimed to be a "Campus Crusader for Christ". If you remember, Manhattan KS is the home of Kansas State University. Anyway they were invited in and taught the first lesson to her and a friend. Alex said that she seemed interested in what they had to say but seemed to just want to ask a lot of questions more than listen to what was being taught. Later, Alex and his companion were invited back to teach them again. But in the back of their minds they kind of knew where this next teaching appointment was heading. During the next appointment this girl told them that she wanted to share some of the things that she had been studying lately. Alex and his companion knew at that point that this would probably lead to a bible bashing session so instead of engaging in that, they just sat quietly and listened. At one point she wanted to read some scriptures from the New Testament and asked Alex if she could borrow his bible. Of course Alex said yes and she went on flipping through the pages of the New Testament and reading scriptures. Then when she had finally gotten through everything that she wanted to say, she turned to Alex and his companion and asked them if they would read the bible, pray about it in order to find out if it was true. Like these missionaries have never heard a request like before. The funny part about this story is that while she was flipping through the bible that she had borrowed from Alex, she apparently didn't notice all of the underlined scriptures in various rainbow colors that were a result of all of the reading and studying that Alex had already done. I guess it didn't really dawn on her that if the missionaries really had a problem with the truthfulness of the bible, why did they carry one around, study it constantly and teach from it regularly. Interesting in sort of a funny way.
Alex told us that he has a pretty crazy week coming up. He said that they have a lot of zone meetings, a leadership conference and some traveling to do over the next few days. In fact things were so busy that he told us that they even had teaching appointments set up on their P-day just because that was the only time they had. Things seem to be busier than ever but he feels like that are being blessed a ton in everything that they do.
Alex told us all about a baptism that they just performed a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately for these missionaries, they have some really good people in their Ward who really love to help out with the missionary work. A brother in their Ward who together with his wife, played a big part in fellowshipping the person who was being baptized, was asked to perform the baptism. From what Alex told us, the name of the person who was baptized was kind of hard to pronounce. So in order to make sure that the name was pronunced correctly during the baptismal prayer, Alex wrote down her name with all of accents and pronunciations on the back of a pass along card and taped it to the front of the baptismal font. Alex told us that the baptismal service went off without a hitch and said that everybody felt the spirit. The next day (Sunday), Alex was asked to perform the confirmation during Sacrament meeting. You would think that since Alex has been out for a year now, performing a confirmation wouldn't be a big deal. But Alex told us that he was really nervous mainly because now it was his turn to make sure that he pronounced her name correctly. This time there was no pass along card with the proper pronunciation taped to the front of anything, so he spent most of the morning before Sacrament meeting practicing the pronunciation to make sure that everything would go as smoothly as possible. He told us that at one point before the meeting, he was so nervous that it felt like the same nervousness he used to feel right before a big wrestling match. Well being nervous must really suit him because he wrestled very well in high school and he told us that the confirmation went very well in church.
I mentioned that Alex has been out on his mission for a year now. He just past his year mark about a week and a half ago, if you can believe that. Just as a personal note: when you send your son out on a mission and you go through the experience of dropping him off at the MTC, that goodbye moment on the curb can be really rough. Knowing that there are two long years ahead before you will see him again, seems like forever. This last year seemed to fly by. Now instead of two long years ahead, there is only one more to go. Right now even one year still seems like a long time, but given that the last one went by so quickly, I'm sure that the next one will as well.
During this last year, Alex has had a lot of great experiences. Some much better than others and some that were really tough to get through. I won't go into any of them again here because you can just read back through the previous blog posts to review many of those experiences. There are many experiences that Alex has told us about in his letters that we haven't talked about on this blog. The reason why is because the experiences just seemed to personal to be published in a public forum. But like I have mentioned before, if you want to hear more about these experiences, just come on over to the house and we will be glad to fill you in on more of the details.
For the last couple of weeks and probably even longer than that, Alex has been telling us all about a new missionary program that they have been using. It probably really isn't that new, but it is something that they have been doing lately and has proven to be a turning point for many people that the missionaries are teaching. The program that they have been using is really kind of like going on a church tour at Temple Square or any other church visitor's center. Except, rather than going through an actual visitor's center, the missionaries introduce people to the church by showing them around the church building itself. From what Alex has said, it allows some of the people that they are teaching to really see what the church building itself is like without having to feel nervous around all of the other church members who might be there during a regular Sunday meeting. It also allows them to feel the spirit that is always present in a church building. Alex has shared several great stories about the experiences that he and his companion have had while introducing new investigators to the church through one of these tours. During one of these tours, Alex told us that the person that they were teaching asked them if the building had an extra room that they could rent because it felt so peaceful just being there. Of course they were just kidding about wanting to rent a room, but they very serious about the peaceful feeling. According to Alex, these "Intoduction to the Church" tours are probably one of the best teaching tools that they have. Introducing somebody to the church in this way, really makes a big difference in the way that people feel about the church, its teachings and especially about attending a regular Sunday meeting and being baptized.
Alex told us a interesting yet funny story that happened this last week. While he and his companion were out tracting, they tracted into a girl who claimed to be a "Campus Crusader for Christ". If you remember, Manhattan KS is the home of Kansas State University. Anyway they were invited in and taught the first lesson to her and a friend. Alex said that she seemed interested in what they had to say but seemed to just want to ask a lot of questions more than listen to what was being taught. Later, Alex and his companion were invited back to teach them again. But in the back of their minds they kind of knew where this next teaching appointment was heading. During the next appointment this girl told them that she wanted to share some of the things that she had been studying lately. Alex and his companion knew at that point that this would probably lead to a bible bashing session so instead of engaging in that, they just sat quietly and listened. At one point she wanted to read some scriptures from the New Testament and asked Alex if she could borrow his bible. Of course Alex said yes and she went on flipping through the pages of the New Testament and reading scriptures. Then when she had finally gotten through everything that she wanted to say, she turned to Alex and his companion and asked them if they would read the bible, pray about it in order to find out if it was true. Like these missionaries have never heard a request like before. The funny part about this story is that while she was flipping through the bible that she had borrowed from Alex, she apparently didn't notice all of the underlined scriptures in various rainbow colors that were a result of all of the reading and studying that Alex had already done. I guess it didn't really dawn on her that if the missionaries really had a problem with the truthfulness of the bible, why did they carry one around, study it constantly and teach from it regularly. Interesting in sort of a funny way.
Alex told us that he has a pretty crazy week coming up. He said that they have a lot of zone meetings, a leadership conference and some traveling to do over the next few days. In fact things were so busy that he told us that they even had teaching appointments set up on their P-day just because that was the only time they had. Things seem to be busier than ever but he feels like that are being blessed a ton in everything that they do.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The work goes on even if you have to do it alone
Alex has had a exciting last couple of weeks. On top of it all, he has had one of the more unique experiences a missionary could have. One of the basic rules of being a missionary from the day they are set apart until the day they are released is to never be without your companion. Well, Alex has been without a companion for almost a week and a half. Of course he wasn't really physically alone, but as it turned out, his current companion was called into the office as the new assistant to the President. This new calling as an assistant required that Alex's companion needed to leave immediantely for the mission office in Independence which left Alex without a companion until the next transfers. That also left Alex as the only zone leader in Manhattan, juggling two zones and trying to schedule Ward members or other missionary companionships who could be temporary companions so that he wasn't left entirely alone. Alex told us that it was one of the most stressful weeks of his mission but his Ward members really stepped up to help him out and he even had some help from a Wamego friend.
When he wrote to us on his P-Day during this time, he told us that he had gone jogging in the morning as part of his daily exercise program. Being a little confused since he didn't have a companion to go jogging with, we wondered who accompanied him on his run. He told us that he had talked a couple of other Elders into going with him that morning but not exactly in the way that you would think. Of course Alex laced up his running shoes for a nice long jog while the other two Elders started up the car engine. It turned out that both of these other Elders ended up following Alex in the car rather than actually jogging along with him. In fact it was even worse than that. As one of the Elders drove the car, the other Elder brought along his pillow and blanket and slept in the back seat the whole time. Well these two Elders may not have enjoyed the same run along some new dirt roads that Alex found near their appartment, but at least they were good sports to get up early and go with him so that Alex could enjoy a good run on a P-Day.
Alex has really had a good time serving in Manhattan, Kansas. There are several reasons why he has been enjoying this assignment so much. One reason is that Manhattan is not too far away from Wamego where he first served almost a year ago. During that time in Wamego, Alex met a lot of really good people and it has been fun for him to go back there and spend some time as a zone leader. Alex told us that he recently got to spend the whole day in Wamego with one of the youth in the Branch, as his companion. This is the same kid that Alex used to wrestle with back when he was a voluteer coach at Wamego High School and also the same kid that spent spring break last year with Alex and his companion in Lawrence. Anyway, one thing that they were able to do while in Wamego was go back and revisit some of the people that Alex and his former Wamego companion had started to teach. Alex didn't really go into detail about how any of the visits went, but his said that they visited a lot of people, worked hard and had a really good day. He also said that the Elders that are currently serving in Wamego are doing well and are close to having a baptism there as well.
Alex wrote us this week and told us that he finally got a new companion after spending almost a week and a half without one. Alex only got to spend just a few weeks with his first companion in Manhattan and he said that he really learned a lot about missionary work and how to be a good leader. Alex was really sad to have to lose his companion when he was called to be an assistant because Alex said that they both really got along great together. But from what Alex said in his last letter, his new companion is going to be just as good and Alex is really excited about it. In fact Alex told us that a lot of really good missionaries were transferred into his zone including his old MTC companion who is one of the new district leaders. Alex is really looking forward to working with these new Elders for however long he is allowed to serve in Manhattan. Of course when it comes to new companions, one of Alex's first criteria for determining how well they will get along is how much does the new companion like to exercise. Of course that isn't the only criteria, but whenever Alex has gotten a new companion, right along with telling us just how good of a missionary and hard working they are, is something like "plus he loves sports and we get along really, really well". That's Alex, he isn't satisfied working hard doing missionary work during the week, he also needs a companion that is willing to workout hard on P-Day as well.
Despite all of the work that is involved with being a zone leader, the proselyting work is moving forward for Alex and his companion in Manhattan as well. Alex told us this week that they are planning on a baptism this weekend and that they have also found some new people to teach. He also went on to tell us a little bit about some of the people that they have recently met and how tough some of their lives have been. Alex is hoping that as they are able to teach these people some more, that they will be able to feel the spirit, recognize how the gospel could make a difference and really change their lives for the better.
Here is a bit of a funny story that Alex included in his last letter. Apparently during the week and a half while Alex was without a companion, the Relief Society President called and ask him if he would come and teach the sisters about faith for a few minutes. Of course Alex said yes and started to prepare the short lesson while trying to handle everything else that was going on. Well Sunday came along and Alex attended Relief Society meeting rather than his usual Priesthood meeting. Alex said that he was a bit nervous because the Ward that he is serving in now is huge which means that the Relief Society room is usually packed. So he started off the lesson by explaining to the sisters that since he has been on his mission, he has taught every auxiliary organization in a Ward except for the Relief Society. He got a good laugh out of the sisters when he told them that not only was this the first time that he has taught Relief Society, it was also the first time that he has ever attended a Relief Society meeting in his entire life. Alex said that the lesson went very well but the funny part of the story was that the following week Alex was invited back to the Relief Society meeting again to talk about the new missionary program and the pass along cards that they use. So after never having attended or taught a Relief Society meeting ever before in his life, Alex has now taught back to back weeks in the Manhattan Ward. Of course he joked with the sisters that now he would have to find a new excuse to come back to Relief Society next week.
Oh one last note, to the Hinds family, Alex says that you are one of his favorite families. But then I am sure Alex says that to everybody. ;-)
When he wrote to us on his P-Day during this time, he told us that he had gone jogging in the morning as part of his daily exercise program. Being a little confused since he didn't have a companion to go jogging with, we wondered who accompanied him on his run. He told us that he had talked a couple of other Elders into going with him that morning but not exactly in the way that you would think. Of course Alex laced up his running shoes for a nice long jog while the other two Elders started up the car engine. It turned out that both of these other Elders ended up following Alex in the car rather than actually jogging along with him. In fact it was even worse than that. As one of the Elders drove the car, the other Elder brought along his pillow and blanket and slept in the back seat the whole time. Well these two Elders may not have enjoyed the same run along some new dirt roads that Alex found near their appartment, but at least they were good sports to get up early and go with him so that Alex could enjoy a good run on a P-Day.
Alex has really had a good time serving in Manhattan, Kansas. There are several reasons why he has been enjoying this assignment so much. One reason is that Manhattan is not too far away from Wamego where he first served almost a year ago. During that time in Wamego, Alex met a lot of really good people and it has been fun for him to go back there and spend some time as a zone leader. Alex told us that he recently got to spend the whole day in Wamego with one of the youth in the Branch, as his companion. This is the same kid that Alex used to wrestle with back when he was a voluteer coach at Wamego High School and also the same kid that spent spring break last year with Alex and his companion in Lawrence. Anyway, one thing that they were able to do while in Wamego was go back and revisit some of the people that Alex and his former Wamego companion had started to teach. Alex didn't really go into detail about how any of the visits went, but his said that they visited a lot of people, worked hard and had a really good day. He also said that the Elders that are currently serving in Wamego are doing well and are close to having a baptism there as well.
Alex wrote us this week and told us that he finally got a new companion after spending almost a week and a half without one. Alex only got to spend just a few weeks with his first companion in Manhattan and he said that he really learned a lot about missionary work and how to be a good leader. Alex was really sad to have to lose his companion when he was called to be an assistant because Alex said that they both really got along great together. But from what Alex said in his last letter, his new companion is going to be just as good and Alex is really excited about it. In fact Alex told us that a lot of really good missionaries were transferred into his zone including his old MTC companion who is one of the new district leaders. Alex is really looking forward to working with these new Elders for however long he is allowed to serve in Manhattan. Of course when it comes to new companions, one of Alex's first criteria for determining how well they will get along is how much does the new companion like to exercise. Of course that isn't the only criteria, but whenever Alex has gotten a new companion, right along with telling us just how good of a missionary and hard working they are, is something like "plus he loves sports and we get along really, really well". That's Alex, he isn't satisfied working hard doing missionary work during the week, he also needs a companion that is willing to workout hard on P-Day as well.
Despite all of the work that is involved with being a zone leader, the proselyting work is moving forward for Alex and his companion in Manhattan as well. Alex told us this week that they are planning on a baptism this weekend and that they have also found some new people to teach. He also went on to tell us a little bit about some of the people that they have recently met and how tough some of their lives have been. Alex is hoping that as they are able to teach these people some more, that they will be able to feel the spirit, recognize how the gospel could make a difference and really change their lives for the better.
Here is a bit of a funny story that Alex included in his last letter. Apparently during the week and a half while Alex was without a companion, the Relief Society President called and ask him if he would come and teach the sisters about faith for a few minutes. Of course Alex said yes and started to prepare the short lesson while trying to handle everything else that was going on. Well Sunday came along and Alex attended Relief Society meeting rather than his usual Priesthood meeting. Alex said that he was a bit nervous because the Ward that he is serving in now is huge which means that the Relief Society room is usually packed. So he started off the lesson by explaining to the sisters that since he has been on his mission, he has taught every auxiliary organization in a Ward except for the Relief Society. He got a good laugh out of the sisters when he told them that not only was this the first time that he has taught Relief Society, it was also the first time that he has ever attended a Relief Society meeting in his entire life. Alex said that the lesson went very well but the funny part of the story was that the following week Alex was invited back to the Relief Society meeting again to talk about the new missionary program and the pass along cards that they use. So after never having attended or taught a Relief Society meeting ever before in his life, Alex has now taught back to back weeks in the Manhattan Ward. Of course he joked with the sisters that now he would have to find a new excuse to come back to Relief Society next week.
Oh one last note, to the Hinds family, Alex says that you are one of his favorite families. But then I am sure Alex says that to everybody. ;-)
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