Wow, 90 weeks. Super crazy!! This week was good. It started slow but we ended up with pretty good numbers by the end of it.
So, Monday we had zone activity. It was okay. I found out Elder Crandall and Elder Summit are both in my building at Heritage for BYU!! That's gonna be so fun! That night we had dinner with the Michelas’. Sister Michela made ham and asparagus strata just like dad makes on Christmas morning so we ended up talking about Christmas and holiday traditions a lot.
Tuesday we had a kinda frustrating day with lots of cancellations. We ended up having the opportunity to meet with three people though, so it was a decent day. The zone leaders came by our apartment in the morning to grab some stuff for the mission office from us. We had Panda Express for lunch, then went to Brother Cusic’s afterward. He's doing well. He was watching his 2-month-old nephew. Then we went to the Chamberlains for a bit because they wanted to see us and we had some time. We had dinner at the Grange’s house. It was super good and super fun to be with them. After that we had about an hour and a half and nothing to do. I had texted and tried everyone I could think of trying to find something to do, so I was just going on faith and said, okay, drive towards this area and I'm sure someone will be able to meet with us by then. I was going on faith that someone would respond to our texts and calls. Well, Elder Summit called us and asked if we'd like to come with him to visit one of the returning members in his ward who really likes Elder Williams and me too. I really saw the blessing of acting on my faith that Heavenly Father would give me something to do if I did all I could and stay true to trying to work as hard as I can.
Wednesday it was finally starting to get kinda warm outside so we all went on a 2 mile run for our exercise. It was fun, but the wind added a cold factor we didn't expect. I actually still have a cold from it, so we're holding off on running till I get over that. During the afternoon we tried to contact a couple of referrals. Found out that one of them got evicted and a couple others don't live there or aren't interested. Then we met with Sue Washington. I'll tell what we shared with her at the end, because I like it and think it'd be a good way to finish out my email. We met with J- after that. She's so funny. We're doing the ward Book of Mormon read with them for lessons now, and making sure she understands and is praying about what she reads. Then we went to Noah's basketball practice and the Chamberlains took us out to dinner for Elder William’s and Noah's birthday! Elder Van Wagoner slept over that night because he didn't want to go to specialized training.
Thursday we had a lesson cancel in the morning, then we had zone district meeting. I got my new suit!! Thanks mom!! We took Elder Van Wagoner home and then went to ward night of ministry. Our Elder’s Quorum President, Brother Van Slyke and I went to SJ. I actually think that was perfect because Scott and Brother Van Slyke talked about home teaching and the temple and progressing to the Melchizedek priesthood! Heavenly Father puts us with people we need to be with when we prepare!
Friday was cool. A year ago that day I was put into the ASL program. It was good to think about that time in my mission and reflect on the things I learned. We went up to Ceasar’s for lunch. It was good to see him again! Then we had dinner with the Hales’. It was so good. They took us to Fuddruckers. I love the Hales’. Then we drove way down to Newburg and visited with A-. We were able to give him a blessing for his flu then share a lesson with him.
Saturday we went to Noah's basketball game! His team won 49-12!! He scored and it was super cool – kind of proud big brother moments for me. Then we went with them birthday shopping and to dinner! It was so much fun. Elder Gipson, Elder Summit and Elder Talbot were able to make down to their house as well. It was Elder Gipson’s last Saturday. It was a really good day!
Sunday was awesome. We had church. We talked about fellowshipping in priesthood. It was a good lesson. I liked the Gordon B. Hinckley quote that says all new converts ( I like to put in all members) need three things at church: a friend, a calling, and to be nourished by the good word of God. We visited with A- after church because we hadn't seen her all week. We went to Brother Palmer’s after that. He's going to start redoing his basement so he asked us to help. We get to do demolition in his basement as soon as he figures everything out! Next, we helped Brother Cusic move a few things around his house. It was fun. I'm their official attic guy. We had dinner with The Barrow’s. Again we had another night like Tuesday where I wanted to keep working but used up all our resources. Elder Summit was again the answer to my faith with inviting us to a member of their ward again. It was good to visit them and have something to do.
Today we didn't do much other than I got to see Bryce (Elder Paul who is a friend in the mission)!!!! It was so good to catch up with him! He's going to try to make it to my airport/homecoming! So, our spiritual thought that I want to share for the week is 2 Nephi 9:39. It's a chapter that talks about sin and consequences of transgressions. Then in verse 39 Jacob reminds us to be carnally minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life eternal. If you take the first letter of each word in spiritually minded is life eternal it spells smile, so amid all these trials and sadness you get the opportunity to smile with the help of the gospel and the spirit. That was a good comfort to me in the midst of hearing about Eric Longhurst*. I hope that can give you guys some solace as well. I love you all and I pray for you everyday!! Have a good week!
*Eric Longhurst is the eleven year old brother to Bennie’s good friend Brian who is also serving a mission in the Rochester NY area. Sadly, Eric was hit by a truck while crossing a street last week and did not recover from his injuries. He passed away when his family made the choice to take him off of life support. We had gotten word to Bennie about the accident in hopes that he could send a message of love to Brian.
So, Monday we had zone activity. It was okay. I found out Elder Crandall and Elder Summit are both in my building at Heritage for BYU!! That's gonna be so fun! That night we had dinner with the Michelas’. Sister Michela made ham and asparagus strata just like dad makes on Christmas morning so we ended up talking about Christmas and holiday traditions a lot.
Tuesday we had a kinda frustrating day with lots of cancellations. We ended up having the opportunity to meet with three people though, so it was a decent day. The zone leaders came by our apartment in the morning to grab some stuff for the mission office from us. We had Panda Express for lunch, then went to Brother Cusic’s afterward. He's doing well. He was watching his 2-month-old nephew. Then we went to the Chamberlains for a bit because they wanted to see us and we had some time. We had dinner at the Grange’s house. It was super good and super fun to be with them. After that we had about an hour and a half and nothing to do. I had texted and tried everyone I could think of trying to find something to do, so I was just going on faith and said, okay, drive towards this area and I'm sure someone will be able to meet with us by then. I was going on faith that someone would respond to our texts and calls. Well, Elder Summit called us and asked if we'd like to come with him to visit one of the returning members in his ward who really likes Elder Williams and me too. I really saw the blessing of acting on my faith that Heavenly Father would give me something to do if I did all I could and stay true to trying to work as hard as I can.
Wednesday it was finally starting to get kinda warm outside so we all went on a 2 mile run for our exercise. It was fun, but the wind added a cold factor we didn't expect. I actually still have a cold from it, so we're holding off on running till I get over that. During the afternoon we tried to contact a couple of referrals. Found out that one of them got evicted and a couple others don't live there or aren't interested. Then we met with Sue Washington. I'll tell what we shared with her at the end, because I like it and think it'd be a good way to finish out my email. We met with J- after that. She's so funny. We're doing the ward Book of Mormon read with them for lessons now, and making sure she understands and is praying about what she reads. Then we went to Noah's basketball practice and the Chamberlains took us out to dinner for Elder William’s and Noah's birthday! Elder Van Wagoner slept over that night because he didn't want to go to specialized training.
Thursday we had a lesson cancel in the morning, then we had zone district meeting. I got my new suit!! Thanks mom!! We took Elder Van Wagoner home and then went to ward night of ministry. Our Elder’s Quorum President, Brother Van Slyke and I went to SJ. I actually think that was perfect because Scott and Brother Van Slyke talked about home teaching and the temple and progressing to the Melchizedek priesthood! Heavenly Father puts us with people we need to be with when we prepare!
Friday was cool. A year ago that day I was put into the ASL program. It was good to think about that time in my mission and reflect on the things I learned. We went up to Ceasar’s for lunch. It was good to see him again! Then we had dinner with the Hales’. It was so good. They took us to Fuddruckers. I love the Hales’. Then we drove way down to Newburg and visited with A-. We were able to give him a blessing for his flu then share a lesson with him.
Saturday we went to Noah's basketball game! His team won 49-12!! He scored and it was super cool – kind of proud big brother moments for me. Then we went with them birthday shopping and to dinner! It was so much fun. Elder Gipson, Elder Summit and Elder Talbot were able to make down to their house as well. It was Elder Gipson’s last Saturday. It was a really good day!
Sunday was awesome. We had church. We talked about fellowshipping in priesthood. It was a good lesson. I liked the Gordon B. Hinckley quote that says all new converts ( I like to put in all members) need three things at church: a friend, a calling, and to be nourished by the good word of God. We visited with A- after church because we hadn't seen her all week. We went to Brother Palmer’s after that. He's going to start redoing his basement so he asked us to help. We get to do demolition in his basement as soon as he figures everything out! Next, we helped Brother Cusic move a few things around his house. It was fun. I'm their official attic guy. We had dinner with The Barrow’s. Again we had another night like Tuesday where I wanted to keep working but used up all our resources. Elder Summit was again the answer to my faith with inviting us to a member of their ward again. It was good to visit them and have something to do.
Today we didn't do much other than I got to see Bryce (Elder Paul who is a friend in the mission)!!!! It was so good to catch up with him! He's going to try to make it to my airport/homecoming! So, our spiritual thought that I want to share for the week is 2 Nephi 9:39. It's a chapter that talks about sin and consequences of transgressions. Then in verse 39 Jacob reminds us to be carnally minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life eternal. If you take the first letter of each word in spiritually minded is life eternal it spells smile, so amid all these trials and sadness you get the opportunity to smile with the help of the gospel and the spirit. That was a good comfort to me in the midst of hearing about Eric Longhurst*. I hope that can give you guys some solace as well. I love you all and I pray for you everyday!! Have a good week!
*Eric Longhurst is the eleven year old brother to Bennie’s good friend Brian who is also serving a mission in the Rochester NY area. Sadly, Eric was hit by a truck while crossing a street last week and did not recover from his injuries. He passed away when his family made the choice to take him off of life support. We had gotten word to Bennie about the accident in hopes that he could send a message of love to Brian.
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