We received word from Alex last week that transfers came and went and guess what… he is still in Manhattan. I mentioned before on this blog that Manhattan has been one of Alex’s favorite places to serve. Since he has been there for about seven months now, he was guessing that this would be the transfer when he would go. He told us that the last week leading up to transfers was kind of nerve racking. Alex told us that on the night that the assistants were supposed call, he was very nervous because he just knew that he was going to be transferred out. Then when the assistants finally did call, it was just Alex’s luck that he happened to be in the bathroom at the time. When the phone rang, Alex rushed out of the bathroom, hopefully dressed, so that he could hear what was going to happen. When Alex heard that he was going to be staying in Manhattan and not only that but he would be staying with his current companion, he was super excited. Of course as many things go on a mission, the Lord needs you where he needs you and apparently the Lord still needs Alex in Manhattan.
There is one small interesting fact about this transfer however. The fact that Alex’s companion is also staying in Manhattan makes the next transfer a little interesting. The reason why is because Alex’s companion will complete his mission at the end of this transfer and will be heading home. This might mean that Alex could be in Manhattan even longer or who knows what. Again, the Lord needs missionaries where he needs them. Of course Alex wouldn’t mind staying in Manhattan even longer, but it will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months.
In both of Alex’s last couple of letters, he has told us about all of the great events coming up in the next few weeks. They have been teaching some people that have really come a long way and have made a lot of changes in their life. Alex said that it has been really exciting to see all of the changes and to also have them come to the Stake center to watch general conference. After attending the general conference broadcasts, the new investigators told Alex that they really learned a lot and enjoyed the talks that were given and had set a date for baptism. In Alex’s last letter home this week, he told us all about the baptism and how it was the most exciting news of the week. Normally Alex tries to have one of the Ward members perform the baptism but this new member had specially requested that Alex perform the baptism and that his companion perform the confirmation. This was a very special experience for Alex and something that I am sure, he will never forget.
Alex actually has a temple trip coming up in the next week. He wasn’t really sure how many of the newest members of the Ward would be able to make the trip. However, this week Alex told us that several of the people who have recently joined the Church are also planning on making the trip to the Winter Quarters temple. This will be the first time that Alex has had a chance to attend the temple since he left the MTC almost 18 months ago. He is very excited for this trip and I am sure that we will hear all about it next week.
Since we are on the subject of the temple, the temple has been something very special to Alex for a long time. Alex mentioned in his most recent letter home that there was one point during general conference when President Monson was talking about baptisms for the dead and how the youth have the opportunity to go to the temple to help with this work. Alex told us that this talked reminded him of the time back in high school when he and several of his friends would get up early in the morning before school, just so they could attend the temple and perform baptisms for the dead. Those were some very special times that he has never forgotten and probably never will.
According to everything that Alex has told us, things are going really well in Manhattan as well as throughout his whole mission. Alex was able to meet up with his old Lawrence and Burlington companion during transfers a little while ago and catch up on what each of them have been doing. Alex told us that it has been amazing how fast time has gone by. It was just a year again when Alex and his former companion were being double transferred out of Lawrence to Burlington. Those were some great times with some great successes. Speaking of successes, Alex says that they have some more baptisms coming up and that they have finally been able to build up their teaching pool and are teaching some really great people as well.
I haven’t done this very often in this blog mainly because this blog is supposed to be all about what Alex is doing on his mission rather than about us or his family. But I would like to share with you an experience that is very much about a mission, missionaries, Alex and his family. I am currently writing this blog entry as I sit in the mission home in Quito, Ecuador. This is significant because I served my mission in Guayaquil, Ecuador thirty years ago. My wife and I are here because my wife’s cousin and her husband are mission presidents in the Quito, Ecuador mission. This experience being here in Ecuador, has brought back so many memories of my mission and being a missionary. In our short time here my wife and I have been able to see missionary work take place from a mission president’s perspective. One of the most significant experiences that we had in our short time here was a visit to a city on the Ecuador/Columbia boarder called Tulcan. The reason why this experience was so significant was because of what happened on Saturday night just after we arrived. This experience allowed both my wife and I to participate in missionary work in exactly the same way as both of our missionary sons, Alex and Christopher.
We traveled to Tulcan with the mission president and his family to attend a district conference in the small Tulcan branch. Saturday evening before the conference, several of the branch leaders in Tulcan including both the Priesthood as well as the Relief Society, paired up to go out and visit some of the less active members of the church to invite them back. I had the privilege of going with one of the counselors in the branch presidency as well as the district president. We traveled to a very humble home of one of the members, not too far from the small chapel in the city. There we met with a less active member of the church where I was invited to share some of my missionary experiences as well as give the prayer before we left. This was a very special experience for me for several reasons. Those reasons include being back among the people who I had served thirty years ago, using my Spanish language which I still remember and because this is exactly the same experience that both our sons Alex and Christopher share with us in their letters home each week.
My wife had a very similar experience that evening in Tulcan as well. She accompanied several of the Relief Society sisters on visits and was able to experience what missionary work is like as a full time missionary. Since she was not able to serve as a full time missionary when she was younger this has been a new and very exciting experience for her. Even though she does not speak Spanish, she was able to understand and feel the spirit that was present in each of her visits. She was even asked to give a prayer, in English, several times during the two days that we were there. For us, this whole trip to Ecuador has been all about missionary work even though we are not currently called as full time missionaries. It has been an experience that has brought us very close to our missionary sons even though we are thousands of miles apart. Our time here in Ecuador, we will never forget. Whether we will ever be back, I don’t know. But we will follow in Alex and Christopher’s footsteps and serve as full time senior missionaries one day in the future.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Big gooey donut monster
Time just keeps flying by. It seems like I just wrote on this blog and here it is a couple of weeks later and more news from Alex. Alex has been in Manhattan KS, for about 7 months now. Over that time he has had a lot of great successes as well as other great experiences. He wrote us this last week and sounded a bit nervous because transfers are coming up soon and he doesn't want to leave Manhattan. Everywhere that Alex has served has been great but so far Manhattan has been his dream area. There are probably a lot of reasons for that which include the members of the ward, the people that Alex has taught and baptized, being there for 7 months as well as also being the places where some of his relatives lived and grew up. Even though transfers come up in just over a week, we probably won't hear anything for at least a couple more weeks.
Alex told us all about another great experience that he recently had during an area conference. Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy visited the Wichita area recently and of course all of the missionaries who are serving near there were able to attend a special missionary conference. Alex said that about an hour before the conference actually started, he and several of the other zone leaders were able to meet with Elder Pearson for a special training meeting. Alex described it as being a once in a lifetime experience to be taught on almost a one-on-one basis by a member of the Seventy. He also told us that he learned a lot from that special experience as well as from the rest of the conference. Alex said that Elder Pearson was very blunt in telling the missionaries exactly what needed to happen in their mission. He gave the missionaries a lot of valuable information that should help them make some changes and experience even more success.
We have only heard bits and pieces of this next story so I am going to try to fit some of the pieces together and see how it turns out. For the last couple of months, the Young Men's presidency in the Manhattan Stake have been planning a special mini missionary activity for the young men. This activity actually took place about two weeks ago in which many of the young men actually got to spend a couple of days with the missionaries while they went through a regular day as a full time missionary. As it turned out, part of this activity actually carried over into the regular missionary P-day. Because of that, the normal P-day was switched to Tuesday rather than Monday so that the young men could spend Monday working and tagging along with the missionaries. Of course we didn't know what the plan was and were wondering all day Monday why we hadn't heard from Alex like we normally do on a P-day. Anyway, once we finally did hear from Alex, he told us that the young man that he was suppose to pair up with, didn't show up. But that didn't bother Alex. He went and found another young man to pair up with and share the missionary experience. Alex and his companion had been visiting with one of the families that they are currently teaching and talked their 15 year old son into joining them for the mini mission activity. They found an old suit that happened to fit the young man that one of the former missionaries in the area had left behind. Through this activity, this young man was able to meet the mission president, the Stake president, the young men's president as well as all of the other young men in the Stake. I'm sure that after meeting all of those "presidents" and hanging out with the missionaries, he must have thought that everybody in the church is either called "Elder" or "President". From what we heard about this activity, it all went really well and the young men in the Stake came away with a good understanding of what missionary life is like.
Alex included in pretty funny story in his last letter that he said would be even funnier when we get the pictures. We actually did receive some pictures from Alex this last week, but apparently the picture that Alex is talking about in this story must have happened after he sent home his memory card. Alex has always really loved little kids and we have seen videos that he has sent home where he plays games with some of the families and then rewards the winners with Klondike bars, cookies or some other type of goodies. Alex started out this story by telling us that each week he and his companion go to one of the Ward member's homes for a weekly correlation meeting (I'm assuming that this Ward member is the Ward mission leader). The Ward member that they meet with has some young kids so before they start their correlation meeting, Alex and his companion conduct a room inspection to make sure that the kids are obeying their parents and keeping their beds made and rooms clean. Then if they pass the room inspection, they are rewarded with some kind of treat. So before they arrived, Alex and his companion stopped by the store on the way to their correlation meeting to pick up the reward. They decided that they would treat the kids to some giant donuts. These donuts weren't just any old giant donut, they were the kind that were HUGE. Once they got to the family's house and before they were able to conduct the room inspection, the littlest child (about 1 1/2 years old), reaches into the box of donuts and picked out the largest one of the dozen. Alex said that this donut was so big that it was basically the size of this child's head. One of the funniest things was that even though the donut was obviously too large for a kid this size, this little 1 1/2 year old almost ate the entire thing. But there came a point when the donut was just too much to handle and finishing it off just wasn't going to happening. I'm sure you can picture this whole event in your head even without the picture that Alex has promised to send. Seeing this tiny little mouth biting into this huge donut while the rest of her face is hidden behind nothing but mounds of sticky, gooey glaze. YUM...
So as promised, here are a few pictures that Alex recently sent home.
Alex told us all about another great experience that he recently had during an area conference. Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy visited the Wichita area recently and of course all of the missionaries who are serving near there were able to attend a special missionary conference. Alex said that about an hour before the conference actually started, he and several of the other zone leaders were able to meet with Elder Pearson for a special training meeting. Alex described it as being a once in a lifetime experience to be taught on almost a one-on-one basis by a member of the Seventy. He also told us that he learned a lot from that special experience as well as from the rest of the conference. Alex said that Elder Pearson was very blunt in telling the missionaries exactly what needed to happen in their mission. He gave the missionaries a lot of valuable information that should help them make some changes and experience even more success.
We have only heard bits and pieces of this next story so I am going to try to fit some of the pieces together and see how it turns out. For the last couple of months, the Young Men's presidency in the Manhattan Stake have been planning a special mini missionary activity for the young men. This activity actually took place about two weeks ago in which many of the young men actually got to spend a couple of days with the missionaries while they went through a regular day as a full time missionary. As it turned out, part of this activity actually carried over into the regular missionary P-day. Because of that, the normal P-day was switched to Tuesday rather than Monday so that the young men could spend Monday working and tagging along with the missionaries. Of course we didn't know what the plan was and were wondering all day Monday why we hadn't heard from Alex like we normally do on a P-day. Anyway, once we finally did hear from Alex, he told us that the young man that he was suppose to pair up with, didn't show up. But that didn't bother Alex. He went and found another young man to pair up with and share the missionary experience. Alex and his companion had been visiting with one of the families that they are currently teaching and talked their 15 year old son into joining them for the mini mission activity. They found an old suit that happened to fit the young man that one of the former missionaries in the area had left behind. Through this activity, this young man was able to meet the mission president, the Stake president, the young men's president as well as all of the other young men in the Stake. I'm sure that after meeting all of those "presidents" and hanging out with the missionaries, he must have thought that everybody in the church is either called "Elder" or "President". From what we heard about this activity, it all went really well and the young men in the Stake came away with a good understanding of what missionary life is like.
Alex included in pretty funny story in his last letter that he said would be even funnier when we get the pictures. We actually did receive some pictures from Alex this last week, but apparently the picture that Alex is talking about in this story must have happened after he sent home his memory card. Alex has always really loved little kids and we have seen videos that he has sent home where he plays games with some of the families and then rewards the winners with Klondike bars, cookies or some other type of goodies. Alex started out this story by telling us that each week he and his companion go to one of the Ward member's homes for a weekly correlation meeting (I'm assuming that this Ward member is the Ward mission leader). The Ward member that they meet with has some young kids so before they start their correlation meeting, Alex and his companion conduct a room inspection to make sure that the kids are obeying their parents and keeping their beds made and rooms clean. Then if they pass the room inspection, they are rewarded with some kind of treat. So before they arrived, Alex and his companion stopped by the store on the way to their correlation meeting to pick up the reward. They decided that they would treat the kids to some giant donuts. These donuts weren't just any old giant donut, they were the kind that were HUGE. Once they got to the family's house and before they were able to conduct the room inspection, the littlest child (about 1 1/2 years old), reaches into the box of donuts and picked out the largest one of the dozen. Alex said that this donut was so big that it was basically the size of this child's head. One of the funniest things was that even though the donut was obviously too large for a kid this size, this little 1 1/2 year old almost ate the entire thing. But there came a point when the donut was just too much to handle and finishing it off just wasn't going to happening. I'm sure you can picture this whole event in your head even without the picture that Alex has promised to send. Seeing this tiny little mouth biting into this huge donut while the rest of her face is hidden behind nothing but mounds of sticky, gooey glaze. YUM...
So as promised, here are a few pictures that Alex recently sent home.
Here's the whole district.
Just looking at them you can tell that they are all out-"standing" in their field.
Watch out Elder. Remember Eve was tempted by a serpent too.
Alex with his Aunt and Uncle during their visit to Manhattan
That's our boy!!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The successes are great
In the last several letters that we have received from Alex, he is constantly telling us how things are really picking up for them. Alex and his companion have been working really hard to build up their teaching pool and with the news that we got this week, they might have to work even harder at that. The news was really good. This past week two more people that they have been teaching for a while, were finally baptized. Baptizing people that you are currently teaching is a good way to have to go back to rebuilding your teaching pool. The people that Alex and his companion had been teaching weren't the only ones getting baptized that day. In fact Alex said that there were so many people in the changing room after the baptismal service, that he had to wait out in the baptismal font for the changing room to clear out. Here is how Alex was feeling at the time:
This seems like a never ending theme in Alex's mission. Alex is constantly telling us stories about how someone he has met or some experience that he has had, ties him back to people or places he knows from Utah. Well this week was no different and the experience that he recently had, following a Stake conference meeting, brought him even closer than just Utah. Alex told us that following Stake conference a couple of weeks ago, the Stake Patriarch's wife walked up to him and asked if he was Elder Nicholes. Of course Alex said yes. The Patriarch's wife then proceeded to tell Alex that she had just received a call from western New York. If you remember a couple of months ago, I wrote on this blog about how Alex's older brother had just been called and recently left to serve his mission in Rochester, New York. As it turns out, the Patriarch and his wife have a son who lives in New York and had called to tell his parents that Alex's brother Christopher was at their house in New York eating dinner. So here they are, hundreds of miles apart yet sharing some of the exact same missionary experiences. How cool is that?!!
So here is an interesting story that came from Alex's Aunt and Uncle who had recently returned from Manhattan, Kansas. I wrote about this whole experience in the last blog entry but this time we got the other side of the story directly from his Aunt and Uncle during a Sunday dinner at our house. They told us that while they were on their way to visit some of their friends who live near Manhattan and before they had actually seen Alex, they decided to stop by the church building in Salina, Kansas. As they pulled up to the church, they noticed that there were several cars in the parking lot which were all similar models with Kansas license plates. They pulled up the building, got out of there car and went inside the church to take a look around. While they were walking around, they could hear some voices coming from one of the rooms in the building. Once they finally tracked down the voiced to the Relief Society room, they cracked open the door and saw several well dressed young men in the middle of some kind of meeting. Well of course these were the missionaries from the Salina district in the middle of their weekly district meeting. Alex's Uncle quietly walked in the back of the room just to see if maybe Alex happened to be there. As he looked around at the Elders, he didn't see anybody he recognized and decided to quietly step out before he caused any kind of disturbance. Later on after his Aunt and Uncle finally met up with Alex, they told Alex the story about how they stopped at the church Salina and saw some several missionaries there conducting their weekly district meeting. To everyone's surprise, Alex told them that as a zone leader he just happened to be visiting the Salina district that day and was at that district meeting. Apparently Alex was sitting just out of sight on the other side of the room where his Uncle couldn't see him. Since all of the missionaries were so focused on what was going on in the meeting, they really didn't notice the visitors that had momentarily poked their heads in to the room.
In addition to that story, they also told us that once the members of the church in Manhattan found out about Alex's relation to their former Stake President, the members told his Aunt and Uncle all about the great job Elder Nicholes has been doing in their mission. I can't tell you just how proud that makes us feel as Alex's parents to hear stories like that.
Well there are a lot more stories that Alex has told about some of the great people that he and his companion have been teaching. Most of the details are a little too personal to share here but they are great experiences. Every week Alex shares more about the teaching moments that they have had and the spirit that is present during these moments. The response towards the gospel message that the missionaries share, has been very positive at times. Of course there are ups and downs and not everybody is as receptive as others, but from the letters that Alex sends to us, he is having a great time and that time is rushing by too fast.
"It was a very neat experience to just sit there in the font by myself with all the doors closed. The spirit was really strong. It was a very good weekend for us."Sometimes when you are in tune with the spirit, even some of the seemingly insignificant experiences can be powerful.
This seems like a never ending theme in Alex's mission. Alex is constantly telling us stories about how someone he has met or some experience that he has had, ties him back to people or places he knows from Utah. Well this week was no different and the experience that he recently had, following a Stake conference meeting, brought him even closer than just Utah. Alex told us that following Stake conference a couple of weeks ago, the Stake Patriarch's wife walked up to him and asked if he was Elder Nicholes. Of course Alex said yes. The Patriarch's wife then proceeded to tell Alex that she had just received a call from western New York. If you remember a couple of months ago, I wrote on this blog about how Alex's older brother had just been called and recently left to serve his mission in Rochester, New York. As it turns out, the Patriarch and his wife have a son who lives in New York and had called to tell his parents that Alex's brother Christopher was at their house in New York eating dinner. So here they are, hundreds of miles apart yet sharing some of the exact same missionary experiences. How cool is that?!!
So here is an interesting story that came from Alex's Aunt and Uncle who had recently returned from Manhattan, Kansas. I wrote about this whole experience in the last blog entry but this time we got the other side of the story directly from his Aunt and Uncle during a Sunday dinner at our house. They told us that while they were on their way to visit some of their friends who live near Manhattan and before they had actually seen Alex, they decided to stop by the church building in Salina, Kansas. As they pulled up to the church, they noticed that there were several cars in the parking lot which were all similar models with Kansas license plates. They pulled up the building, got out of there car and went inside the church to take a look around. While they were walking around, they could hear some voices coming from one of the rooms in the building. Once they finally tracked down the voiced to the Relief Society room, they cracked open the door and saw several well dressed young men in the middle of some kind of meeting. Well of course these were the missionaries from the Salina district in the middle of their weekly district meeting. Alex's Uncle quietly walked in the back of the room just to see if maybe Alex happened to be there. As he looked around at the Elders, he didn't see anybody he recognized and decided to quietly step out before he caused any kind of disturbance. Later on after his Aunt and Uncle finally met up with Alex, they told Alex the story about how they stopped at the church Salina and saw some several missionaries there conducting their weekly district meeting. To everyone's surprise, Alex told them that as a zone leader he just happened to be visiting the Salina district that day and was at that district meeting. Apparently Alex was sitting just out of sight on the other side of the room where his Uncle couldn't see him. Since all of the missionaries were so focused on what was going on in the meeting, they really didn't notice the visitors that had momentarily poked their heads in to the room.
In addition to that story, they also told us that once the members of the church in Manhattan found out about Alex's relation to their former Stake President, the members told his Aunt and Uncle all about the great job Elder Nicholes has been doing in their mission. I can't tell you just how proud that makes us feel as Alex's parents to hear stories like that.
Well there are a lot more stories that Alex has told about some of the great people that he and his companion have been teaching. Most of the details are a little too personal to share here but they are great experiences. Every week Alex shares more about the teaching moments that they have had and the spirit that is present during these moments. The response towards the gospel message that the missionaries share, has been very positive at times. Of course there are ups and downs and not everybody is as receptive as others, but from the letters that Alex sends to us, he is having a great time and that time is rushing by too fast.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The secret is out
Well, it has been a few weeks since I have written anything on this blog. It wasn't because I am lazy or procrastinating or anything, it is because over the last several weeks Alex has been so busy that he hasn't had much time to keep us up to date. He has written to us every week although with the library being closed on President's day and the various snow storms that passed through the area, Alex has had to write to us on a day other than his P-day. Because of that, he doesn't like to spent a lot of time writing because they have so much work to do. But it is always good to hear from him no matter how brief his letters might be.
Not many people knew this but I guess the cat is out of the bag now. Alex has an Uncle or rather his mother has an Uncle, who used to be the Stake President in the Manhattan Stake several years ago. They now live in Salt Lake but just recently travel back to Manhattan to attend the dedication of a new church building in the Manhattan area. This presented a rare opportunity for Alex since he is now serving in the Manhattan area as well. Alex hadn't told many people about his Manhattan, KS relatives mainly because the conversations would usually turn to reminiscing about old times rather than focusing on missionary work. Not that reminiscing is a bad thing but for a missionary, focusing on your mission is the number one priority.
So now that you have a little background, here is the funny part of the story. A few weeks ago when Alex's Uncle and Aunt were visiting the Manhattan area for the building dedication, the local Ward members held a potluck open house for them. A little later in the evening after Alex and his companion were finished with their teaching appointments, they dropped by the open house to say "Hi". As Alex described the scene, there were quite a few people talking and mingling with his Uncle and Aunt. As Alex entered the cultural hall his Aunt spotted him and immediately came over to give him a big hug. Normally missionaries aren't allowed to hug someone of the opposite sex while they are serving as a missionary. But in this case, since this was his Aunt and it had been almost a year and a half since they had seen each other, a big hug was the appropriate thing to do. Of course since Alex hadn't said much about is Manhattan relatives, most of the people there had no idea why this former Stake President's wife was hugging this random missionary. This drew a lot of funny looks and dropped jaws from the people in attendance. So like I said, the cat is now out of the bag and now everybody knows that Alex has some roots in Manhattan, KS. Ever since then, all kinds of Ward members have been giving Alex a hard time about not telling them about his Uncle and Aunt. Once again, it is a very small world. Alex didn't have a lot of time to chat that evening, but with the next day being P-Day, they were all able to meet up again and catch up on everything that has been happening at home and in the mission field.
Another transfer day has come and gone and Alex is still in Manhattan. He was lucky enough to be able to stay with his current companion, but he told us that almost every other companionship in their zone experienced a change. I'm not sure what kind of challenges or opportunities this presents for Alex, being a zone leader, but from the tone of his last letter, there are new experiences to be had by everybody. Alex has been serving in the Manhattan area for six months now and really loves it. He and his companion have been working really hard to build up their teaching pool since many of the people that they had been teaching were actually baptized around Christmas time. Alex told us that they are currently teaching some really great people and has shared with us many of his most recent experiences. He also shared with us some really funny stories but they are all a little too personal to recount here. Needless to say, Alex is very excited that he is able to spend at least one more transfer in Manhattan and wishes that he could stay forever. Of course, forever is a long time and we would like to see him come home once his mission is done so that we can give him a big hug too, just like his Aunt did.
Not many people knew this but I guess the cat is out of the bag now. Alex has an Uncle or rather his mother has an Uncle, who used to be the Stake President in the Manhattan Stake several years ago. They now live in Salt Lake but just recently travel back to Manhattan to attend the dedication of a new church building in the Manhattan area. This presented a rare opportunity for Alex since he is now serving in the Manhattan area as well. Alex hadn't told many people about his Manhattan, KS relatives mainly because the conversations would usually turn to reminiscing about old times rather than focusing on missionary work. Not that reminiscing is a bad thing but for a missionary, focusing on your mission is the number one priority.
So now that you have a little background, here is the funny part of the story. A few weeks ago when Alex's Uncle and Aunt were visiting the Manhattan area for the building dedication, the local Ward members held a potluck open house for them. A little later in the evening after Alex and his companion were finished with their teaching appointments, they dropped by the open house to say "Hi". As Alex described the scene, there were quite a few people talking and mingling with his Uncle and Aunt. As Alex entered the cultural hall his Aunt spotted him and immediately came over to give him a big hug. Normally missionaries aren't allowed to hug someone of the opposite sex while they are serving as a missionary. But in this case, since this was his Aunt and it had been almost a year and a half since they had seen each other, a big hug was the appropriate thing to do. Of course since Alex hadn't said much about is Manhattan relatives, most of the people there had no idea why this former Stake President's wife was hugging this random missionary. This drew a lot of funny looks and dropped jaws from the people in attendance. So like I said, the cat is now out of the bag and now everybody knows that Alex has some roots in Manhattan, KS. Ever since then, all kinds of Ward members have been giving Alex a hard time about not telling them about his Uncle and Aunt. Once again, it is a very small world. Alex didn't have a lot of time to chat that evening, but with the next day being P-Day, they were all able to meet up again and catch up on everything that has been happening at home and in the mission field.
Another transfer day has come and gone and Alex is still in Manhattan. He was lucky enough to be able to stay with his current companion, but he told us that almost every other companionship in their zone experienced a change. I'm not sure what kind of challenges or opportunities this presents for Alex, being a zone leader, but from the tone of his last letter, there are new experiences to be had by everybody. Alex has been serving in the Manhattan area for six months now and really loves it. He and his companion have been working really hard to build up their teaching pool since many of the people that they had been teaching were actually baptized around Christmas time. Alex told us that they are currently teaching some really great people and has shared with us many of his most recent experiences. He also shared with us some really funny stories but they are all a little too personal to recount here. Needless to say, Alex is very excited that he is able to spend at least one more transfer in Manhattan and wishes that he could stay forever. Of course, forever is a long time and we would like to see him come home once his mission is done so that we can give him a big hug too, just like his Aunt did.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Missionary work can be challenging in many different ways
The weather was a factor this time in delaying Alex's weekly letter home. When he was finally able to write home, he told us about the severe storms that they have been experiencing in Kansas. Apparently the weather was so bad that it shut down the library for a couple of days. Alex said that the temperatures had been around minus twenty degrees. So due to the delay in writing home, Alex wasn't able to write a very long letter again. He did tell us just how much he liked his new companion and how well they get along and work together. Alex also told us that he is heading out to Wamego again for a few days to help the missionaries there build up their teaching pool a little more. He expected to be doing a lot of tracting over the next few days in Wamego and hoping that the Lord would bless the Wamego Elders with some new people to teach.
Tracting always sounds like a lot of hard work with not very much to show for it. But for Alex, his opinion of tracting is completely different. In his last letter home he talked about some of the tracting that they had done and the success that they have had just by going door-to-door meeting people. Here is what he had to say about all of the door knocking that they did while in Wamego:
What Alex is saying here is very true. Going door-to-door trying to talk people has always been one of the hardest ways to meet people and one activity that missionaries would probably like to avoid if possible. However, talking to people is what missionaries do and if done right and with the guidance from the Lord, it can be very effective and obviously Alex's personal experience with tracting has proven just that. Alex went on in his letter to tell us all about some of the teaching success that they had while tracting. He told us about some really great people that they met and some of the opportunities that they have for continuing to teach these people the gospel. During the two days that they were in Wamego, they taught nine lessons and most of those were people that they had met through tracting.
Alex included some exciting news about a temple trip that is coming up. One of the people that Alex taught and joined the church not long ago, will be going through the temple for the first time. As a result, Alex gets the rare opportunity to accompany this member to the temple. The other thing that is special about this experience is that the Independence Missouri mission does not have a temple within the mission boundaries. The closest temple is near Omaha, Nebraska in Winter Quarters which means that Alex would actually be leaving the mission boundaries by special permission. This will be the first time that Alex has been able to attend the temple since he left the MTC over a year ago. I'm sure that we will hear all about this temple trip and the special experience that surrounds it.
Alex told us a funny story this week in his letter home. Everybody in the mission knows that Alex is a bit of a heath nut. Every opportunity he gets, he tries to exercise and keep in shape. Also, as hard as it is sometimes on a mission, he tries to eat healthy as well. So apparently he made a bet with one of the other Elders in the Manhattan area. Of course a missionary betting with another missionary is probably not the most sanctioned mission activity, but in this case it was probably OK. As it turns out, a group of missionaries decided that they wanted to visit the local Mongolian BBQ restaurant in the area. While they were there, one of the other missionaries bet Alex that he could eat more BBQ than Alex. Well if you know Alex, he doesn't normally back down from a good challenge so the bet was on. Of course the more interesting part of this story is what the loser of the bet had to do. Well, knowing that Alex is a health nut, the other Elder decided that if Alex lost, he would have to eat a roll of Oreos and a piece of cake. That might be a consequence that Alex wouldn't want, but I think you would agree that most of us wouldn't mind losing that bet. Of course there is always the other side of the bet as well. If Alex won the bet, then the other Elder would have to workout with Alex for the next three days and finish every workout no matter what. Knowing Alex and the kind of workouts that he is used to, this Elder was going to regret that he ever threw down the gauntlet on this one.
So both Elders sat down with their very large portions of Mongonian BBQ and the contest started. Again knowing Alex, there was no way that he was going to lose and this other Elder never knew what hit him. As Alex explained the outcome in his letter, he really didn't have to eat that much BBQ in order to win the bet. All he did was eat as fast as he could which really messed with the other Elder's confidence and resulted in the other Elder giving up before either one of them had really reached their limits. What a strategy! If you can't break them physically, messing with them mentally can be just as effective. ;-) But the story doesn't end there. I guess this Elder didn't quite learn his lesson the first time so he made the mistake of challenging Alex again to a water drinking contest. This time the bet was who could slurp a cup of water through a straw the fastest. No problem again, Alex won that one too. Well apparently this Elder is a slow learner, but then again maybe not. After losing both of the previous challenges, he again came back with a third one. This time the challenge was who could make the most free throws. Doesn't sound like a big deal until you consider that Alex is a wrestler and this other Elder played on the varsity high school basketball team. Smart move Elder, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. ;-)
Tracting always sounds like a lot of hard work with not very much to show for it. But for Alex, his opinion of tracting is completely different. In his last letter home he talked about some of the tracting that they had done and the success that they have had just by going door-to-door meeting people. Here is what he had to say about all of the door knocking that they did while in Wamego:
"So we have been doing a lot of tracting and street contacting lately, and we have been having some pretty good success from it. I really, really hate the missionary mentality that tracting is a waste of time. I think it can be very effective if you have good people skills and the spirit. I think that is a big problem in why missionaries never have anyone to teach. All they do is try to contact former investigators and wait for their ward to give them referrals rather than actually going out and being proactive. I just hate the stigma that is around tracting, its ridiculous!"
What Alex is saying here is very true. Going door-to-door trying to talk people has always been one of the hardest ways to meet people and one activity that missionaries would probably like to avoid if possible. However, talking to people is what missionaries do and if done right and with the guidance from the Lord, it can be very effective and obviously Alex's personal experience with tracting has proven just that. Alex went on in his letter to tell us all about some of the teaching success that they had while tracting. He told us about some really great people that they met and some of the opportunities that they have for continuing to teach these people the gospel. During the two days that they were in Wamego, they taught nine lessons and most of those were people that they had met through tracting.
Alex included some exciting news about a temple trip that is coming up. One of the people that Alex taught and joined the church not long ago, will be going through the temple for the first time. As a result, Alex gets the rare opportunity to accompany this member to the temple. The other thing that is special about this experience is that the Independence Missouri mission does not have a temple within the mission boundaries. The closest temple is near Omaha, Nebraska in Winter Quarters which means that Alex would actually be leaving the mission boundaries by special permission. This will be the first time that Alex has been able to attend the temple since he left the MTC over a year ago. I'm sure that we will hear all about this temple trip and the special experience that surrounds it.
Alex told us a funny story this week in his letter home. Everybody in the mission knows that Alex is a bit of a heath nut. Every opportunity he gets, he tries to exercise and keep in shape. Also, as hard as it is sometimes on a mission, he tries to eat healthy as well. So apparently he made a bet with one of the other Elders in the Manhattan area. Of course a missionary betting with another missionary is probably not the most sanctioned mission activity, but in this case it was probably OK. As it turns out, a group of missionaries decided that they wanted to visit the local Mongolian BBQ restaurant in the area. While they were there, one of the other missionaries bet Alex that he could eat more BBQ than Alex. Well if you know Alex, he doesn't normally back down from a good challenge so the bet was on. Of course the more interesting part of this story is what the loser of the bet had to do. Well, knowing that Alex is a health nut, the other Elder decided that if Alex lost, he would have to eat a roll of Oreos and a piece of cake. That might be a consequence that Alex wouldn't want, but I think you would agree that most of us wouldn't mind losing that bet. Of course there is always the other side of the bet as well. If Alex won the bet, then the other Elder would have to workout with Alex for the next three days and finish every workout no matter what. Knowing Alex and the kind of workouts that he is used to, this Elder was going to regret that he ever threw down the gauntlet on this one.
So both Elders sat down with their very large portions of Mongonian BBQ and the contest started. Again knowing Alex, there was no way that he was going to lose and this other Elder never knew what hit him. As Alex explained the outcome in his letter, he really didn't have to eat that much BBQ in order to win the bet. All he did was eat as fast as he could which really messed with the other Elder's confidence and resulted in the other Elder giving up before either one of them had really reached their limits. What a strategy! If you can't break them physically, messing with them mentally can be just as effective. ;-) But the story doesn't end there. I guess this Elder didn't quite learn his lesson the first time so he made the mistake of challenging Alex again to a water drinking contest. This time the bet was who could slurp a cup of water through a straw the fastest. No problem again, Alex won that one too. Well apparently this Elder is a slow learner, but then again maybe not. After losing both of the previous challenges, he again came back with a third one. This time the challenge was who could make the most free throws. Doesn't sound like a big deal until you consider that Alex is a wrestler and this other Elder played on the varsity high school basketball team. Smart move Elder, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. ;-)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Delayed letters home
With the holiday falling on a Monday, the library was closed which meant that Alex wasn't able to write home on his P-day like he normally does. Then apparently he and his companion had a zone leader conference that they had to attend so we didn't end up hearing from Alex for a few days later than we normally would. But it is always good to hear from your missionary and when we finally got his letter, he told us about many of the things that have been happening lately.
As I mentioned in the last blog entry, Alex and his companion have been working really hard to find additional people to teach. Sometimes that can be a little frustrating because some of the appointments that they set with people that they are just starting to teach, tend to fall through. But this is kind of expected when serving a mission even though knowing that, doesn't really make it any less frustrating. Through all of that however, Alex did tell us about some good things that have been happening with the people that they are currently teaching. His letter was short since they weren't able to write during their regular P-day time and they were a little short on time since they had another teaching appointment coming up.
In his next letter, he started it out with a lot of exclamation marks. If his punctuation alone could paint the whole picture, Alex was probably dancing around the library in excitement while writing home. You can probably imagine the librarian having to walk over and with a big "shuuuush", telling Alex to quiet down. The reason for all of this excitement was due to some news that he had received about a friend from back home. It all had to do with a decision to go on a mission. Alex told us that this was the biggest highlight of his whole week and it felt just as good as watching someone being baptized.
Alex did write us a little longer letter this last week but much if it was about experiences that can't really be shared through a blog. As I mentioned before, while serving a mission, there are times when things are going well, and other times when things get to be a little frustrating. The ups and downs are all just a part of the whole experience. He did tell us all about a priesthood meeting that he attended in the Salina branch and how wonderful and powerful the teacher was. Alex said that he felt a little "rebuked" after the lesson but it was a good kind of rebuking, if that is possible. Well it must be, because Alex said that the lesson was fantastic and probably the best priesthood meeting that he had ever attended.
As I mentioned in the last blog entry, Alex and his companion have been working really hard to find additional people to teach. Sometimes that can be a little frustrating because some of the appointments that they set with people that they are just starting to teach, tend to fall through. But this is kind of expected when serving a mission even though knowing that, doesn't really make it any less frustrating. Through all of that however, Alex did tell us about some good things that have been happening with the people that they are currently teaching. His letter was short since they weren't able to write during their regular P-day time and they were a little short on time since they had another teaching appointment coming up.
In his next letter, he started it out with a lot of exclamation marks. If his punctuation alone could paint the whole picture, Alex was probably dancing around the library in excitement while writing home. You can probably imagine the librarian having to walk over and with a big "shuuuush", telling Alex to quiet down. The reason for all of this excitement was due to some news that he had received about a friend from back home. It all had to do with a decision to go on a mission. Alex told us that this was the biggest highlight of his whole week and it felt just as good as watching someone being baptized.
Alex did write us a little longer letter this last week but much if it was about experiences that can't really be shared through a blog. As I mentioned before, while serving a mission, there are times when things are going well, and other times when things get to be a little frustrating. The ups and downs are all just a part of the whole experience. He did tell us all about a priesthood meeting that he attended in the Salina branch and how wonderful and powerful the teacher was. Alex said that he felt a little "rebuked" after the lesson but it was a good kind of rebuking, if that is possible. Well it must be, because Alex said that the lesson was fantastic and probably the best priesthood meeting that he had ever attended.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Cowboy up and git 'ur done
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.
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.
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