Happy Halloween

I apologize in advance for the long email. For those who appreciate light reading, I am very alive and well. I’m enjoying my last Halloween and I’m having a blast! Check out the pictures!

It’s been another exciting week in Oz!

Last week we drive to Manhattan, KS to hang out at the institute building. That place is SO very neat! The building was erected in the nineteenth century making it the oldest building in Manhattan. The church bought the home and refurbished it to match the needs of a YSA branch meetinghouse. All of us have a blast playing pool. I introduce a lot of missionaries to the game of scum. Some had played it before, but it never became as intense as it has this day. It can’t be more fun!

The following day at district meeting is great. In a training of bringing the Spirit into our lessons, our district leader Elder Fluckiger (flu-kih-grr), makes a sculpture out of a broken plastic fork to keep his hands busy. He lays the small idol on the desk in front of him out of reach. Without warning the fork sculpture bursts apart! Elder Fluckiger (we call him ‘Fluke’ for short) did not touch it! Paranormal! We have a good laugh about it. After the training, Fluke and I proceed to explore the incredible institute building. We come across some very interesting models of a tabernacle and an altar of burnt offering.

While knocking doors in Manhattan with Elder Richins, I stumble across a recently deceased snake. Because I am bored, I take a selfie with it.

“And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).

However, I am not bored long! Upon knocking a certain door, Elder Richins and I make the acquaintance of a wonderful woman named Rachel Shivers. Rachel, prompted by my companion and I, shares she knows some rather incredible things about our beliefs. The very first thing she mentions is a belief she shares with us concerning the renewal of the Earth. That’s deep! Elder Richins and I direct the conversation to the restoration of the gospel, the priesthood, and the Book of Mormon. After not much time, Rachel’s adopted son Malek (muh-leak) approaches us and says, pointing to the Book of Mormon, “That’s a holy book!” Somebody give this young man a cookie! Rachel and her son happily receive a copy of the Book of Mormon and commit to reading it!

“I love it when I win!”

— Atlantis

It’s Wednesday by this time. Elder Richins and I suddenly find we garner a great responsibility to work with a member of the church experiencing an immense trial of faith. I will call the name of this member Bobby. In recent months Bobby has taken it upon himself to fellowship a reckless less-active youth I will call Jake. Bobby and Jake are converts to the church, both have been baptized in recent years, and they live with only one house between their homes. Bobby has become immensely irritated with the behavior Jake is exhibiting. Though Bobby makes every effort to help Jake, it amounts to more frustration for both parties. The aggravation festers into a temptation in the mind of Bobby: request a release from the calling in the elders quorum presidency and remove his records from the church. Blessed be the name of the Lord because Bobby shared our concerns with Elder Richins and I.

Quick comic relief...

Look at the size of a single copy of the Book of Mormon in Braille!! Each binder is very full and there are a total of eight binders constituting the Book of Mormon with footnotes. Stacked one on top of the other, the binders reach nearly reach a height of the waist of an average man!

Back to the story..

After some serious study, prayer, and a sleepless night, revelation comes to us concerning Bobby. We organize a time to meet at the church near the font and ask Bobby about his experience in being baptized. In recounting the sacred experience, Bobby’s heart was softened. It became clear walking away from the church would not be a solution. Bobby is not about to let the poor decisions of an individual affect his salvation. All of us, like Bobby, can remember powerful spiritual experiences when in a time of trial.

In a “bodaciously small town” (Better Off Dead) called St. George, Kansas, we meet a man named Micah Breshears. Upon Elder Richins’ saying we would like to share a message, Micah accepts. I begin to introduce the Book of Mormon and Micah, wide-eyed, says, "Ohh no, I don't want nothin' to do with no Mormons." Very quickly, Elder Richins and I teach the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ anyone who professed to be Christian would, at the least, experiment in reading. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, Micah accepts the challenge. He wants to change his life because he's felt he has strayed too far away from God. He converted his wife to Christianity and is sure it's the hand of God that caused us to cross paths. Micah has two really cute kids: Ryan, his daughter, and Luke, his son. Elder Richins and I make our return after stake conference. After sharing a few scriptures, Micah is really excited about the Book of Mormon. We make an appointment to meet with the family next week. I’m ecstatic!

The Wamego Ward Trunk or Treat is a blast! I zombie up and stay in perfect character the entirety of the night. I take a plethora of selfies with all the costumes I really like, and a dab for fun.

Our Sunday night is concluded by an inspired decision to visit a former investigator in the records named Trina Howard. Trina has three tireless fun-loving children I distracted in the yard for the majority of the lesson while Elder Richins provided a wonderful overview of the plan of salvation. I have a blast with the kids. I’ll never grow up!

Love all of you so much! Have a wonderful week!

Still looking for that yellow brick road..

Guys! Wamego is great! I love it!

Saying goodbye to Bel Aire was heartbreak but it made for some fun moments like...

Cheesing with Sister Setoki..

(Elder Folwell’s photobomb game is ferocious)

Saying goodbye to the Conrady’s after ice cream at Braum’s. Love these amazing people!

And a white girl selfie at Krispy Kreme and man-card-restored-thug pic

(That’s for you Grandpa Wilkinson!)

with Elder Bischoff demonstrating his pole dancing skill.

Transfers were a blast! Guess who I saw there?

Oh yes! The Three Amigo selfie at transfers once again! Love these fools! Crazy how much we can change in *almost* two years (Eep)!

After transfers it was off to Wamego with Elder Andrew Richins! Elder Richins is really into parkour so we made sure to take a selfie on top of a wall surrounding the church.

One morning I caught glimpse of this awesome sunrise on the way to the gym!

Awesome news from Bel Aire! Ian Englebright went the Kansas City temple to do baptisms for the dead for the first time on the Saturday the 21st! He was able to supervise the proxy baptism of his late mother there as well. Here is a picture he captured for me of the KC temple:

As far as the work in Wamego, we’ve seen some wonderful success bringing some members of the church struggling with their activity to the primary program. All those kids are s’dang fedorable! Also, there were a few members that brought their neighbors to the program. What an experience! As the bishop of Wamego, Bishop Hall, said, “There is nothing more beautiful to hear than that of a concourse of children’s testimonies through song!”

In our teaching pool we have a family. The mother of this family is the nonmember 4th great granddaughter of George Q. Cannon! How cool is that?! She has two daughters, 10 and 8. Her husband is not a member either. Working on that!

My first night here we contacted a referral given us by a former denizen of Wamegonow living in Idaho. The referral’s name is Aimee Ralph. She has an 8-year-old boy named Jackston. With the magnificent Brother Ballard, an RM of a Michigan, Elder Richins and I taught Aimee and Jackston the beautiful message of the restoration and left them a copy of the Book of Mormon with a children’s copy too! We are excited to meet with them again.

 

Quick funny story for you: Elder Richins and I went to Sonic because that’s where you go when you’re hungry in Wamego and we had coupons! Both of us ordered cherry limeades because they are fire, right? Well Elder Richins takes a sip, holds it in his mouth and looks at me. I look right back at him with a look like, “Why in the world are you looking at me like that?” He nonchalantly opens the door, I’m thinking, “He’s either throwing something away or giving someone a card” and he just leans over and ralphs on the asphalt. “Richins!! The heck are you doing? That lady just watched you do that!” I say, laughing. “That!” Elder Richins exclaims, pointing to the cherry limeade he just regurgitated, “has Sprite in it! I haven’t had soda for eight years and I’m not breaking that streak today!”

Alright! I’ve rambled enough. Tell me how you are doing! I would love to hear from you. Love you guys so much! Have a great week!

New address is:

2009 Henry Drive #6, Wamego, KS 66547

Dixon Winn roping with his brother Shad before dinner

Selfie in the new apartment

Welcome to OZ!

Transfer news: I’m heading to Wamego!! Aw yeah!
Elder Bischoff is shipping out to Junction City so we will be in the same zone! Whitewashing outta here! His training is complete. The 12 week call was officially completed on Saturday.

Our district meeting was profound this week! Each of us is assigned to study one attribute of Jesus Christ. The characteristic I’m asked to learn is diligence. Each of us, in turn, present the attributes we’ve reviewed. My presentation went something like this:

Wise is the man who knows his best efforts are the most exceptional to the Lord. Wrote an ancient philosopher, excellence is not a act but a habit because we are what we repeatedly do.

In modern day revelation we learn men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause. God intends for us to find joy in work. “Men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25)!

The work of God is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Christ taught disciples of the early church, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work" (D&C 4:3), the very same work in which the God of Heaven endeavors tirelessly.

The moment Elder Bischoff and I roll up to our apartment after district meeting, we identify a U-Haul truck with two men loading cargo into the vehicle. “Wanna go help them?” my good-natured companion asks. “Yeah, let’s!” I respond. We approach our brothers asking what service we can be. One of them is hammered. “Hey man, that would be great if you guys could help us. You guys are awesome! I’ve been drinking a little so I’m not much use right now.” The other hunches over, holding his lower back, then looks to the sky as if to say, “Thank you, God!” Elder Bischoff and I gladly jump in and do what we can and learn the man’s names: Wade and Matt. The drunken Wade slovenly requests we ‘talk Jesus’ when the job is finished. Elder Bischoff and I take our seats with these two men at a picnic bench and begin to unfold the beautiful gospel to them: how God loves us so much, made a miraculous plan, sent His son to die for us, calls prophets to teach us and continues to instruct us and care for us. “If you guys believe in Jesus *hiccup* Christ, why do you believe in John Smith?” Wade asks. Matt turns and says in almost disbelief, “Bro! They literally answered that question like three times! Joseph Smith is a prophet like Noah who was called to restore Jesus’ church!” Thanks Matt! You the man! The Spirit dominates our words. Two skeptic men, first hesitant about our message, now hold their own copy of the Book of Mormon in high regard.

Among the following days, Elder Bischoff and I assemble a bunk bed for our African refugee family with Brother Conrady. We are out until nearly 10:30 trying to put that blasted thing together. Here’s a valuable lesson in life: follow the directions closely!! What are those directions you ask? The scriptures! The words of our priesthood leaders! The admonitions of living prophets, seers, and revelators! The gospel of Jesus Christ! Learn the easy way by musing the difficulty that comes from not following bunk bed assembly instructions with precision rather than causing yourself unnecessary troubles.

This week possessed the ultimate Friday the 13th! Friday the 13th in October! This is an exciting day for us. Ian asks Elder Bischoff and I if we would like to join him for a laser treatment to remove his tattoo. Hard to say no! That sounds like a blast! The woman treating Ian’s tattoo is married to a member of the church. She instructs us to put on these stylish shades and she goes to work on Ian’s tattoo.

She is kind enough to even let me try the laser!

I’m excited to go to Wamego! I’ll let you know about my experience there next week! My love and prayers to all of you!

Pennywise? (Name the movie)

Elder Bischoff: “Dude! You should totally go down there!”

Elder LaMont: “I am definitely NOT going down there!”

New tie! Matching with Elder LaMont 2.0 and the man, myth, and legend: my dad!

‘Wisdom’ in Hebrew. Said something like ‘Hoke-mah’.

Much Opportunity...

Much opportunity was had this week for Elder Bischoff and I to teach about priesthood power and authority restored. Wrote Charles Wesley:

How easily are bishops made

By man or woman’s whim:

Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid,

But who laid hands on him?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland answers, “In responding to that challenging question, we in the restored Church of Jesus Christ can trace the priesthood line of authority exercised by the newest deacon in the ward, the bishop who presides over him, and the prophet who presides over all of us. That line goes back in an unbroken chain to angelic ministers who came from the Son of God Himself, bearing this incomparable gift from heaven.”

I know the priesthood of God is very real. I know it is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It truly is “Our Most Distinguishing Feature” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Our Most Distinguishing Feature, General Conference Priesthood Session, April 2005).

Our encounter of the week was shared with Ian in contacting a referral we received from other missionaries. We knocked on the humble door of a small, white house. A woman answered the door and we asked for the name we had been given. Antagonistically, the woman responded, “What do you want with my son?” With a deep breath I calmly explained our purpose. Reluctantly she allowed the young man a seat on the porch as she stood in the doorway, listening intently as we introduced a lesson. Elder Bischoff placed a copy of the Book of Mormon into the young man’s hands to be quickly interjected by the mother. “He don’t want that! He don’t want no bible other than the King James! That’s what I was raised on! King James!” I smiled and proceeded to tell this excited woman the origin of the Book of Mormon. As the testimony of both my companion and our Ian was borne we could see, through the woman’s squinted eyes, a heart slowly softened. The discussion became less hostile as we taught from the scriptures. The woman was smiling. She would not give us her name, she asked us not to return, but she did request a Book of Mormon for her and for her son saying she knew it to be more of God’s word. I walked away happy. Though we may not see her again, I knew we had done a good thing.

Troy is a man the sisters are teaching. Troy began to research the church by checking out a copy of the Book of Mormon at a local library. It was not long before Troy found himself at the mission office asking to be taught by missionaries. Elder Bischoff and I became involved when the sisters offered to provide Troy a blessing to aid him in his effort to live the word of wisdom. On another occasion Elder Bischoff and I were present for a lesson of the Plan of Salvation. Troy’s heart was touched in learning there is a merciful plan of our Heavenly Father. In this divinely created plan, each of God’s children has the opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and return to live with God again with our families for eternity in a fulness of joy. Elder Bischoff and I continue to follow up with the sister missionaries having much faith Troy will progress well.

Amie and Steven are working to kick their smoking habits. The lollipops are helping! Vaida, as adorable as ever, is cheering them on.

Love from Wi-Chee-Tuh!

Cooking steak with an iron actually works! Yeah, we did that.

Organizing a pantry. Yay service!