A Turning Point

"Well, we had a pretty interesting week. Once again it was slightly depressing with zero investigators at church this Sunday... Yeah, it's been tough, it's now been three weeks without an investigator at church, and it's been slightly frustrating, nevertheless we continue working and moving forward trying to get better at teaching and trying to tell our investigator the importance of church.

"We had a really good lesson with an investigator ... this past week. On Saturday we had a powerful lesson about the importance of church, and she commited to come. Unfortunately when Sunday came around we ran by her house before church to try and get her there, no one answered, she didn't come to church, and we ran by afterwards to see what happened, and she wasn't there. We haven't been able to contact her since then either, so we're not entirely sure what's going on. We'll have to keep trying with her though, hopefully we can help her receive an answer to her prayers and find what it is that she's looking for in life.

"This last Monday was also a particularly significant day for me. ... Needless to say three weeks without any really solid investigators was starting to take its toll on my confidence, and I definitely got a little discouraged. Thankfully the Lord does indeed answers prayers. I'd been looking for answers, trying to see how I stood before the Lord, what it was I needed to change, if I was failing to meet his expectations. Well, our assistants to the President are indeed inspired. They gave a workshop that I really needed to hear. It was actually from a talk given by George Durrant when he was a mission president. He talked about a missionary that was in a situation very similar to the one I was in. He said, the hard reality is that if we aren't baptizing our missions truly cannot be called successful, since that is in a large part what a mission is about. However, if the mission wasn't successful in the sense of baptism that does not mean that you are not a successful man, a successful person. This missionary struggled, and fought, and worked to try and help people come to baptism, to try and find a family that would accept the gospel. He gave it everything he had, full of faith, and yet he never did find that family. George Durrant said, yes, he will probably always regret that he did not baptize more on his mission, we all probably will, but what we should be able to do is have that regret while still knowing that we gave everything we had to try and reach that goal.

"It reminded me a lot of Cross Country, I wanted to be so much faster, so much better, but it didn't happen. However, I know with a surety that I honestly worked as hard as I possibly could to achieve that goal. So now I look back on that experience saying, man I wish I had been faster, but man I sure did try! So that has become the goal for my mission. It does not matter how many people I help bring to baptism, what matters is that I be completely dedicated to my purpose as a missionary and that I become a good man. A man that is dedicated to the Lord in heart and mind. A man that will work, no matter the discouragement or disappointment. I trust that the Lord will guide me, and that if I am doing his will, it'll all turn out alright. So I have a new resolve, I will be disappointed over and over again when people fail to keep their commitments, and I will be so happy when people keep their commitments, but no matter the outcome I will never be discouraged, and I will never let up my resolve to serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. So. that was honestly probably at least one turning point in the mission.

"This week while we still have no new investigators, and all our old ones have dropped us, or we've been unable to contact them, we continue to work, and we'll continue to work until our time here is done. I don't know, it's been a refining week, and I hope I come out of it a little stronger, and a little more able to do the Lord's work. It's amazing how much your testimony grows when it's tried, when you're forced to ask yourself over and over again if what you're saying to these people is the truth, and each time you ask you find that confirmation that this is God's work, and that the Book of Mormon is undoubtedly the word of God. The trials make me realize in a small way what our Savior must have gone through, and what our Father in Heaven goes through. He works hard, and he's perfect, and yet people still reject him, they turn Him away, and keep on their same path. Why should we be any more priveleged to have each person accept the gospel when we speak to them?

"One of the Sisters said it really well, she said that she's serving her mission in a large part because she wants to come to know Christ, and it's in serving a person that we come to know them. That is most definitely the truth, we have such a rare opportunity to place ourselves for a brief moment in part of the path that our Savior walked. We get to share his message with the world, and because of that we get to experience some of the joy and sadness that He himself experiences. It's crazy, I really have come to know my Savior more, and it's a beautiful experience.

"Well, that was pretty much the week I guess, kind of intense in terms of learning spiritually, kind of less so in terms of numbers and such, but it was still a good week!"

Not transfered

"Well, transfers aren't too exciting for this week, Elder Lee and I will be staying together in Olney!"

"...the District was cut in half which will make things a lot easier for Elder Lee and I. Now there are only two companionships which means Elder Lee will be able to focus more of his energies on our area rather than on the other companionship's areas, not to mention the fact that now we'll be able to plan our days rather than me just chilling while he does all the nightly call ins. It's going to be a lot better and I'm pretty excited for the transfer, hopefully we'll be able to work pretty well and bring people to Christ.

Unfortunately this week was also kind of a tough one... We lost almost all of our investigators, and I don't know if it was our fault or what. This is what happened. We ended up doing a ton of service, one of which we were definitely supposed to do. We helped out this lady that had gone through some really tough problems recently, and we were able to help her move and help her out. It was really an awesome experience to see how much such a small service meant to her, and how much it really touched her. She also became extremely open to the gospel because of her circumstances and our opportunity to serve. It was awesome, and we could feel the Love of God and Christ for her so strongly. Hopefully she now takes the time to come to know the gospel, because that is really what will make the difference in her life! The next day we also did service all day for a less active lady, unfortunately I'm not entirely sure if that was the most productive thing to do with our time. That combined with some sickness this week resulted in kind of a tough week... Honestly for some of it I didn't even feel like a missionary, it wasn't that great, but hopefully we'll be able to refocus this week and focus our efforts more on our area, our investigators, and on helping the members.

Oh this Saturday we also had a ward mission activity which was awesome, but definitely a different type of missionary work then normal teaching. It was still pretty good though. Other than that, not too much happened, it was just a really hard week...

Oh, and the 4th of July was just a normal day, haha we couldn't even see fireworks from where we are since we're pretty far from the city, but it was still good, our Bishop threw us a barbecue so it was nice!"

Gracias a todos y les quiero! Buen suerte con esta semana que viene! (Thanks to everyone and I love you, Good luck with the upcoming week!)

6 Months is Gone!

"Well, it's official, I'm now 1/4 of the way through my mission, super weird, slightly terrifying, and it kind of makes me want to throw up when I think about it. Luckily I still have a lot of time left, but I'm afraid before you know it I'll be home and it'll seem to you guys like I never left...

Anyways, update for the week.... We had no investigators at church again, which is always pretty depressing, but luckily some of that depression was taken away by the fact that one of our less active's we're working with came to church! We had an extremely spiritual lesson, and he showed up! While he only stayed for Sacrament meeting it was awesome to see him there! Other than that it's been pretty slow for the past few days...

There was one cool spiritual experience that I'll share though. One night I was ... a little frustrated with myself because I feel like I've been losing a lot of focus. I was praying to really know where I stand with the Lord and what it is He wants me to be doing, as well as if He's pleased with what I've been doing. The problem is I've felt rather inadequate recently, where I just haven't felt like I'm a good enough tool in the Lord's hands. Well, I was praying for some direction, an answer, and it came. The next day in District meeting we had an experience where we taught another missionary one on one just based off of what we felt like the spirit wanted us to say. My zone leader managed to nail it right on the head. He said exactly what I needed to hear. The Lord knows that right now I'm not a perfect tool, and he knows that I'm trying as well. Because of that He'll perfect me, and He'll use me to the best of my abilities wherever I am if I'm willing to work and put myself to the Lord. I just shouldn't be too worried about being the perfect missionary, just being as good as I can be with the knowledge and abilities I have right now. In other words "be content, but not satisfied" as my good old captain Jason Lynch says. So that was really cool, and much needed! I still have a ton to work on, but I feel like right now the Lord is pleased with what I'm doing, and he expects me to do better, which is how it should be!

Anyways, that's about it, a really slow week, and rather unfortunate that it's the last week of the transfer now. It goes by way too fast! There are some interesting rumors going on about transfers this next week as well, I'll be sure to let you know what happens. My personal theory, Elder Lee and I will both be staying in Olney. Oh, today we also went to the temple, always a wonderful experience! It's amazing the difference you can feel as soon as you enter the House of the Lord!"

"The baseball game was sweet, and the Nationals actually won which was cool! Haha, I'm still not a big fan of watching baseball, but it was fun to talk to everyone! And yeah we were all in white shirts and ties, haha we were all on the jumbo screen three times!"

"Anyways, that's about it, sorry it's so short, and possibly incoherent. We just played a bunch of basketball and we played king of the court and the team I was on was on the whole time, I'm slightly tired, haha but it was sweet! Anyways, keep it real! ;) The church is most definitely true, the priesthood is on the earth, and I have no doubt in my mind that Jesus is the Christ and that He directs this church and this work! If there's anything that I've been realizing more this week it would be the meaning of having an eye single to the glory of God. I'll try and remember to let you guys know my insights next week when I've had a little more time to think about it. Have a good week! I love you all!

Time flies - late post

Derek sent this on June 23. I was out of town most of the week and forgot I never posted it.

"So time is going by way too fast, I'm now officially a week away from my six month mark... It honestly feels like Christmas was a few weeks ago.."

"Some of the coolest things that have happened this week, I learned some Swahili! We ran into this guy from Kenya so I got to use my limited knowledge of Swahili, it was cool, plus he taught me how to say I know Jesus Christ lives in Swahilie. Najua Yesu Kristo anaisi! We also had a cool miracle where it was raining and we were standing at the door of this Less Active's house. He wasn't answering and it was raining really hard. We sat there debating what to do, and it just started raining harder and harder, and then magically the Less Active guy opened the door and let us in! Right after the rain stopped, it was crazy, God works in mysterious ways. Thanks to the rain we were able to talk to this guy.

Haha, then there was this super funny experience where we were talking to this one old lady who said her name was Grammy. She shook both our hands, but when she shook mine she stopped, put her hand on my shoulder and said "You're really cute!" Slightly flustered I said thank you and then tried to talk about the gospel with her but she just started to walk away. Well I went after her to give her a card, she turns around, grabs my hand again and then starts to move in for what looked like a kiss... Hahaha I was super flustered and actually gently pushed her away and said "m'am we're actually not allowed to do that, have a good day!" Meanwhile Elder Lee is about dying of laughter. Haha, it was really weird, but pretty funny.

Later this week we had some incredible miracles though. We had an incredible lesson with a less active family, I've rarely felt the spirit that strongly in lessons, and they should be at church this week!"

"Then we talked to [another] lady. She's been going through some tough times as well and has really now been prepared to receive the gospel. We had an awesome lesson about the restoration, but then because of some miscommunication we didn't extend a baptismal invitation. We felt really strongly after we'd left that we had to return and invite her to be baptized, so we did. We drove back and while she didn't right now accept, it was definitely the right thing to do, and she'll be baptized soon I'm sure! It was cool to be able to feel the promptings of the spirit and then be able to follow them and see the blessings come as well. In short, the work is really starting to pick up in this area, and we've got a good teaching pool going, crazy that the transfer is almost over though... Oh, and sorry this email is a day late, we're going to a baseball game today as a mission so they changed the P-Day. That's the week though, it was a good one, and I'm excited for this next one as well!"

"The work is great, and the gospel is true, talk to you soon!"

A Good Week and a Baptism

"So this week was pretty good! Definitely the highlight would be that the baptism ... did in fact go through! Man, it was such a cool experience to be able to baptize him, haha and for hours I couldn't stop smiling. It was really cool, he was a little nervous beforehand, but definitely ready to make the covenant. The thing that most excites me is that he truly understood the commitment he was making, and he's committed to the gospel and one day going to the temple. It was good to talk to him about it all. He felt very peaceful, which is very different from his normal everyday life, and the last thing he said as he walked away was that he walked away clean and a new person. It was amazing to see the hope that was in his eyes, the purpose in his step, because he knew that he had done God's will and that God would continue to help him through all the trials ahead. Now I just have to trust the ward that they'll completely welcome him into the fold and support him in the trials that will undoubtedly come. Still, it was an incredible experience, and reminded me once again of the reason why I'm out here. I'm here to help... people come to know Christ, to feel His love, and come to Him. [The man who was baptized] truly did come to know Christ and it was an incredible thing to see!

Other than that we had some cool little miracles. ... Oh, we had another super awesome experience with a lady we met just talking to people. We were on exchanges, and I was with Elder Williams in our area. We were going to an investigators house but we stopped to talk to this one lady.... We offered to help her plant flowers in her yard and in the process of course talked about the Gospel, about God, etc. We ended up teaching the entire first lesson in the course of planting flowers because she was honestly one of the most prepared people I've met. She asked all the questions that just led the lesson right along. Then afterward she began to cry. Apparently she's been going through some tough times and she recognized us as an answer to her prayers and a sign that God truly is aware of her. Again, if there's one thing that's been drilled into me so far it is how very much aware God is of every single one of His children. Of all their private struggles, fears, and doubts. Not only is He aware, but he works to fix them. We may not see Him working all the time, but He most definitely is. He cares about every single fear and doubt, and He wants us to overcome them.

We had some other cool finding miracles, so our teaching pool has finally gone up. Now we'll be able to start preaching the gospel instead of just trying to find. Oh, the English sisters in our district gave us this one guy they'd been teaching as well. He's from Brazil and so speaks Spanish, Portugese, and English, but better Spanish than English. So we'll be teaching him. He's also very prepared and very humble. So that was my week. The days seem to go by a lot slower in a car area though... The weeks still fly, but the car is just horrible. Haha, it's a lot harder to stay awake!"

"Anyways, I've got to run, but I hope you guys have an awesome week! The gospel is most definitely true!"

Another Week

Sorry, I forgot I hadn't posted Derek's June 8th letter.

"So, another week went by, I honestly have no idea what happened... haha that's definitely not a good sign. I'm trying to think of any cool experiences, but they seem to be in short supply this week. We'll start with the bad news. Well, [the investigator] wasn't baptized this Sunday, but hopefully he will be this Sunday.... As for our [two] other baptismal dates, ...well, we lost them... We can't get in contact with [one] and [the other] moved to Baltimore. So, we're kind of in bad shape there. Actually it's been rather frustrating, we honestly have 1 investigator this week, that's it! It's super hard to find people here, and we've been trying to work with members and less active members as well to find people to teach, unfortunately nothing is happening so far. In Langley Park I felt like I could feel when we were working the area correctly. We tried a variety of things and eventually we changed what we were doing and things clicked. Here, since we're both pretty new in the area it's proving to be a lot harder to determine how to get things to work out, or how to work the area, especially since for me it's completely different from Langley Park. Hopefully things start to pick up a little bit though, and hopefully we can receive the knowledge and revelation we need. We do have one baptismal date though... we're not too sure how solid he is right now since we've only had one lesson with him, but he seems pretty cool and willing to progress so we'll see what happens.

Other than that, we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders the other day! It was cool to get to learn from them, and we saw some cool miracles in their area. Haha, that day we got four b-dates, 3 new investigators and an incredible miracle besides all that! It was honestly an incredible day! The cool miracle was we were walking by this one apartment town house complex and this lady called us over. The first thing she says to us is that she wants to change religions because the one she's in doesn't have enough light for her, as in spiritual light. Needless to say we were slightly taken off our guard and stunned at the miracle! She was very open, and even asked us if we had any literature for her to read about our church, haha yep a question that makes every missionary super happy! She was an english speaker so we passed her off to the English missionaries, and after their first meeting she now has a baptismal date for the 18th of June. Haha, I think the Lord just does that some times to remind us that he's there and that it really isn't our work at all! She said to us that as we walked by she heard a voice say to her, "ask those guys about their church". God definitely works with his children, I guess he's just biding his time in Olney ;)"

"...one thing I never anticipated before the mission was beginning to not trust people, to not want to talk to some people because you just feel like they're lying to you because they seem to do it so often. Nevertheless, we must talk to everyone, we have no right to deny... people any chance of coming into His restored Gospel. Yeah, thankfully the Lord definitely reminded me of that."

"Over here it has been pretty hot, 90 degrees or more and humid! Luckily since I'm now in a car it doesn't bother me too much!"

"Unfortunately here it seems like I have allergies... It's horrible, every once in awhile my eyes get super red and I can barely keep my eyes open. I had this weird thing happen where I honestly could no keep my eyes open as I was biking, it was really weird. Not too enjoyable, but I bought some allergy pills so hopefully they help!"

"It's really sad, I found out I've gained 15 pounds since I entered the MTC, I now weigh 163, yeah, fat! Still, I don't feel like I gained 15 pounds, I'm definitely heavier, but I didn't think too much."

Derek visiting a museum on P-Day.

First Week in Olney

"So, what to say, this week has been a pretty good one, but a little longer feeling! Some pretty cool things happened this week... [My new companion, Elder Lee] has a lot of faith and a lot of fire, so hopefully we can keep that burning for the whole transfer. He says he's prayed a lot and feels like we should set a companionship goal of 12 baptisms. I admit, I have faith, but perhaps not that much faith... It's crazy, and it's definitely possible if the Lord decides to let it happen and if we're 100% obedient, but still it sounds crazy! Nevertheless I've definitely been trying to pray for more faith and the Lord's been blessing us.

We found a family this week that accepted a baptismal date on the first lesson, as well as another girl! Crazy! ... Still, awesome! Other than that it took us the first couple days to really determine how to work the area. The first day we spent a lot of time knocking and just talking to people, which is good, but if there's one thing I learned from Elder Castillo it's that we have to work with the members! Consequently we switched up the way we were working and it got a lot better, we started finding people, and hopefully we've planted some seeds in the members that will result in some super cool references within the next week or two.

The area is a lot different than Langley Park though. Number one is that it's huge, it probably takes 45 minutes to an hour to drive from one end to the other, second would be that it is a much much higher class area than Langley Park. Consequently there are less Hispanics, and a lot of white people with houses. It was honestly kind of a culture shock for the first couple of days, haha being in houses was super weird! The District is also a lot different. Elder Lee is District Leader and then we have two companionships of English missionaries and another Spanish companionship. Two of the companionships are sisters as well which has added a new dynamic to the district. ...for some reason the Sisters really do have more of the spirit than Elders it seems... The ward is different as well. It's a little smaller than Langley Park, but from what I've seen so far the members seem to have [strong] testimonies founded on scripture study... They also love the Elders because last transfer was the first time they got Elder missionaries for a couple of years, so we've been fed a lot! Definitely saved money on food!

Other than that not too many cool things have happened, the District is doing amazingly, no doubt due to Elder Lee's incredible faith! The district has 13 baptismal dates on the first week of the transfer, it's slightly ridiculous and amazing!

Oh, one other super cool thing happened! I don't know if you remember me telling you guys about...the guy I'd been teaching in Langley Park that has the girlfriend that's a nonmember that was going to be baptized soon. Well, he didn't get baptized this last week, but he's officially being baptized this Sunday! It's super exciting, and I hope it's not selfish, but I was really excited because apparently he asked if I would baptize him! So I'll be able to baptize him this Sunday! It's so amazing! It's been incredible to see him change as we've taught him the gospel. A light has definitely come into his life, and it's so cool to see him look forward to one day going to the temple, having an eternal marriage and an eternal family. Not to mention the fact that he definitely needs the Holy Ghost in his life. He's experienced so many sad things, and as he's told us many times he just feels weighed down, tired. Not bodily tired, as much as spiritually tired. It will be so incredible to see him receive the Holy Ghost into his life and to see that burden be lifted! Ah, when I heard the news it immediately made the whole two years worth while if just [this man] had come to know Christ, and the [family in Langley Park] should be being baptized soon as well! I hope I never lose the joy that comes from seeing people be baptized."

"Hm, that's about all I can think of for this week though. It's been an interesting one, having to get to know an area again, trying to build relationships with the members and everything, still, it's been good! Hopefully I can find some of the faith that Elder Lee has and we can do our best to have twelve baptisms happen (by the way, we had no investigators when I got here, hence why I lack/lacked the faith) yeah, I'm working on it, still, I'm definitely going to do all that I can to make sure that it happens if it's the Lord's will!"

"...the work is great, and the church is undoubtedly true. I thought my testimony was pretty strong when I came out, I thought it was pretty strong when I left the MTC, little did I realize how much it can just keep growing. This truly is God's work, and it really has changed me, though you probably can't tell too much just from my letters. While I still have a long way to go, I'm grateful that the Lord is helping me progress, and allowing me to help his Children progress as well! Ha, you should all pray for me to be humbled though, I need it."