Las Vegas Temple

Wednesday, 29th May 2013

This week you will probably notice is it a Wednesday and not  a Monday! This is because it was Memorial Day on Monday so the libraries were closed. 

Sam went to the Las Vegas Temple today for an endowment session, he said it was a great experience and that the temple is beautiful!

 

 

Yesterday he found a bird on the road outside of his apartment, he was on his way to a lesson so he put the bird in some bushes where it was shaded, when he came back the bird was still alive, so he took it in and give it some water and tried to feed it, but when he woke up it was dead.

So far Sam has taught 14 lessons, he is wanting to get more than 60 lessons this transfer! One of the missionaries in his apartment got a new companion, they seem to be getting along really well, they are laughing and talking all the time, before now Sam had never heard Elder Harper talk to his companion!

 

Since Elder Blanco has been made District Leader, Sam will be going on exchanges a lot more often, so he will get the opportunity to serve with a lot more missionaries. There are two missionaries they both get on especially well with, Elder Golden & Elder Reel, yesterday they nearly flooded Elder Harper & Elder John's bathroom, which Sam thought was pretty funny!

 

Sam is starting to appreciate the atonement a lot more now, he has been learning more about it and he doesn't think anyone will ever fully comprehend what Jesus did for us. 

Weather Forecast = 40°C on Sunday!

 

 

 

 

Investigators Galore!

Monday, May 20th 2013


A lot has happened this last week, Sam has 4 new investigators and 1 new potential investigator. They looked at the former investigators list, and there was someone who had been receiving lessons from the missionaries 1 year previous, but had stopped. Sam and his companion decided to visit them and they were really receptive, their names are Shaun and Amy, they have a 4 year old son. They told them after they had left that Shaun studied the Book of Mormon for 3 hours straight. One of the members invited them over for dinner, everyone got on really well, especially their sons! They also attended church the next day and they are getting on really well with the members in the ward.

Also there is a lady called Linda Wells and her husband Fredrick, they had Sam and Elder Blanco over for a lesson, she said she has read the Book of Mormon 3 times, once in the 90's, once recently and she is currently in Alma reading it again! She knows its true, but she has a hard time accepting that our church is the only one with true authority to baptise. Sam thought the lesson was really entertaining as they are both really enthusiastic. He said that they are the living stereotype of black church goers, saying 'Amen' and 'Praise the Lord' all the time! Sam thinks its great! Since they had a lesson with them, they are no investigators and no longer potentials.

 

This is a photo of some really heavy clouds that were coming over the mountains, Sam thought it was going to rain, but it only sprinkled a little bit then stopped.

Last night Sam had a great experience, as he was cycling home Elder Blanco suddenly had the idea to visit Brother Neff (he is fellowshipping another one of their investigators, Adrian) as they started walking to his house, they started talking to a man called Chris who was sorting some stuff out in his garage. He said he is familiar with what they teach but doesn't like how they 'worship Joseph Smith as a God', they explained that they don't, and he had some other misconceptions that they also explained, then he asked them for a Book of Mormon! As Sam and Elder Blanco both bore testimony, his whole attitude changed, and he asked them for specific scriptures which has really helped them out. He said his girlfriend is about to be baptised into the church, and he needs to understand it better. He went from being sort of anti, to really receptive within the space of a few minutes, it was a real testimony builder for Sam. He prays every day that he will be prompted to find those who are prepared to receive the message of the restored gospel, and it just goes to show that it does happen!

Just for an FYI, last transfer they taught a total of 60 lesson, not including lessons they taught to members as well. Elder Blanco showed Sam one of his planners where he had taught over 100 lessons in a transfer (6 weeks) He also has been called as District Leader, so Sam thinks it will be fun AND he gets an extra 2 hours of study a week!

Sam will be with Elder Blanco for another transfer, Sam thinks he will stay in this area for 1 extra transfer and Elder Blanco will probably be transferred back to one of the Spanish speaking mission areas.

The forecast for this week is going to be above 30 all week but peaking at 35 tomorrow!

 

Just to finish this post with a photo of a spider which Sam thought was pretty cool! It was at a night time but you can see it better on the camera than he could see it!

 

 

3 x 3 x 3

Monday, May 6th 2013

This week has been a great week for Sam, he had a great experience when he was out knocking doors. He does this thing called 3 x 3 x 3, where he tries to visit a less active family, if they aren't home then he will knock on the 3 doors to the left, 3 doors to the right and 3 doors on the opposite side of the street.

Him and his companion started knocking on the doors and on house that Sam knocked on a lady called Annie answered the doors, she told him that she was Catholic and went to a different church, she said she couldn't speak with them because her daughter was crying, but they could come back the next day to talk more with her. They finished off the 3 x 3 x 3 and as they were unlocking their bikes a car pulled up near them. Sam said to Elder Blanco that they should go and talk to them but it turned out to be Annie! She said she had been looking all over for them, then she started crying and told them that 10 minutes before they knocked on her door, she found out her mother had died (which is why her daughter was crying) her daughter then asked her why she didn't invite them in, because what they had to say would probably make her feel better.  She realised her daughter was right, so she got into her car and started looking for Sam and his companion. She gave them apples and water which was nice and they explained to her that their message would make her feel batter and comfort her, and they confirmed the appointment for the next day!

 

Sam said it was an amazing experience, and it goes to show that Heavenly Father really does prepare people to receive the message of the restored gospel. They haven't been able to contact her yet, since she had a family emergency (which is to be expected) but they are definitely going to follow up ASAP!

 

He also had another good experience last night, him and Elder Blanco were riding home and Sam hit something on the road, he had no idea what it was, but he got pinch flat (flat tyre) LIterally 20 seconds later some members from another ward pulled up and asked if they would like some brownies. Elder Blanco told them Sam had just punctured his tyre, luckily the family lived 2 minutes away, so the husband dropped his wife off at home and came back to pick them up. They both had to share one seat which was funny, but the timing was so perfect it was like something from a movie!

 

 

This week Sam also had the baptism of Hunter and Connery Hardcastle! Sam was asked to give the opening prayer and Elder Blanco was asked to talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. Sam said it was a great baptismal service, and a lot of people were crying. The chapel they were in looked like it had no money spent on it, there was no hot water for the font, so they had to boil pans of water and tip them into the font. (In this photo Sam is obviously much taller than Hunter so he was trying to squat so he didn't have to lift his arm so high but he was too tall!)

After the baptism they helped one of their investigators Adrian move in with his room-mate. Her stuff was made out of granite, and it was really heavy, but luckily they had lifting belts which made everything a lot easier. It was still really hard work for them though, it would have been impossible to move the stuff without it! Adrian bought them a Hawaiian BBQ which was really nice of him, it took them from 2:30pm-7:30pm to move all of the stuff, then immediately afterwards they had to go to another house and pull weeds for another 90 minutes! It was a great day of service for them and Sam felt like they had really bonded with Adrian and got to know him much better!

On Friday Sam and his companion got to help out at the Nevada Special Olympics, they were there from 7am until 1pm. Sam was in charge of gathering together the people who were competing, guiding them to the check-in, then to their sears, then to the track. It was another great experience for Sam, it was a really hot day as well which he loved!

 

 

Sam was teaching Hunter at a members house called Brother Law, he brought down a lizard and a snake! Sam said it was one of the easiest snakes to handle, it pretty much just sat in his hand. Also in the background of this photo you can see a wooden Facsimile from the book of Abraham!

Even though all week was a great week for Sam and Elder Blanco, they did have some bad news! One of their investigators Devonte, told them he didn't want them to visit him anymore and another investigator Pedro, decided he was more comfortable at his own church. Overall the experiences he had this week had more than made up for that!

 Sam wants to let everyone know that he loves his mission more and more, he actually sometimes forgets he is on a mission as its just what he does now!

 

 

Guns and Gifts

Monday, April 29th 2013


Sam has a target of 20 lessons per week, this includes investigators, less actives part member families and member families. This week he taught 5 lessons to investigators with a member present, 3 other lessons with investigators, 4 lessons to less actives and 4 member lessons for a total of 16 lessons, that is the most he has taught so far! The attendance for his ward is 250 members a week and the support from the members is amazing! They help him out so much with meals and member missionary work, Sam loves getting to know the members in the area.

Sam loves the view from his apartment because you can see for miles, at a night time it looks amazing because there is a hotel/casino which fires a beam of light up into the sky which you can see from miles around.

He was excited to hear that his sister was on a big TV screen in London at Charing Cross for the Mormon video, he had met a girl who was in one of the Mormon Message videos that will be coming out soon! He also met Elder Christianson from 'The District 2'.

Also, some of his British terminology is rubbing off on his companion Elder Blanco, he called the vacuum cleaner a hoover the other day, so he was happy about that! Sam confirmed to us that he is NOT becoming American, he is still using a knife when he eats!

The temperature is in the 90's now so its really hot but he has found that if he wears long sleeve shirts it works better than short sleeves since he doesn't burn. It doesn't matter how much sun block he uses, the sun still burns him!

Sam has a short meeting every week with his companion, Elder Weekes and Elder Harper (the other 2 missionaries who stay with them) and the meeting is called 'Gratitude and Compliments' this is where each person says something they are grateful for and give each person a compliment, Sam finds it pretty funny but Elder Harper is the only person who gets his sense of humour.

Elder Blanco said its great to see how happy Sam is on his mission and that it rubs off on him and keeps him going as well, because he said he really struggled for the first week of his mission and he was depressed but he is happy to see how Sam has adjusted really well to mission life. Sam is really loving it out there and it already in his 4th week, he will be in the same area for 12 weeks in total but probably 18 weeks before he is transferred.

Sam was teaching a recently reactivated person called Austin, he is a prison guard and was telling Sam that there was a fight in the prison, people had razor blades, mops, dust pans, whatever they could get their hands on. He told him that is not part of his job to risk his life, so if somebody is going to get killed there is nothing he can do, that is part of the price they pay for being an inmate! He then asked Sam if he wanted to see the guns he had, Sam told him he had never held a real gun before, so he handed him a revolver and showed him how you get the barrel to come out. He then handed him two 9mm pistols so he could have a photo taken, its funny how casual people are about guns!

They also visited the Kalina family, their daughter who is about 6 or 7 gave Sam and Elder Blanco a copy of the Book of Mormon as a gift, Sam didn't realise until he got home that she had written inside an experience she had. Sam said he will give it to her Dad to keep since its something he probably wants to keep a hold of!

Overall, it was a fantastic week!

Whats that?!?

Monday, April 22nd 2013


Sam has had a lot more success this week than last. He has taught 12 lessons and even got a new investigator! It was the guy named Devonte who they tracted into last week. He told them he used to be Pentecostal, but he has since stopped going to church and is looking for something new, but he isn't sure what. The good news is that he is really receptive to the message about the restoration and he even accepted a Book of Mormon. They will be visiting him again in two weeks time!

Sam is also teaching two boys called Hunter and Connery, Hunter is 11 and Connery is a bit older. Sam gets on really well with Hunter, he likes Sam's accent and he plays Minecraft all the time so they have a lot to talk about. It seems as though he doesn't pay attention during the lessons but then suddenly he says things which show he actually is!

Sam and his companion were walking with Hunter to a members house to teach him, since it helps him concentrate better, and on the way they saw something hanging from the tree....it was a HUGE beehive!

Sam also visited a guy called Jim Davenport, he is a veteran from the Korean war, he lost both his legs and was in the marines, he said he was in G3. Sam said he was the most interesting person he had ever talked to, in fact, he could have talked to him all day! He just has had so many experiences he could write a book (which Sam thinks he might have already) He is also an amazing artist, he showed Sam one of his drawings of a pub he visited in Ireland, he did it in pen as well which made it even more impressive. 

Sam visited a family who had him and his companion over for dinner, Brother Russell, he has a degree in Physics and Astrophysics, he is from Birmingham so it was nice for Sam to hear a British accent! Of course they talked a lot but about science and religion, Sam thought it was great that he was able to discuss the Schrodinger equation and the n-body problem over dinner!!!

Sam found something interesting that he noticed in his scripture study, in the Book of Moses, when Moses tries to cast out Satan, on the first two attempts it didn't work, but on the third he did it in the name of Jesus Christ and then Satan was forced to depart, Sam thought that it was pretty interesting.

Since the area Sam is in is a cycling area, this means he has to cycle in his suit in the hot weather, but the area is pretty small so not too much cycling to do! This is the area he has to cycle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Week in the Field

Monday, April 15th 2013


Sams companion in the field is Elder Blanco who is Mexican but from Utah. He gets on really well with his companion and he thinks he is an excellent trainer. Sam's first area to serve in is the Highland Hills Zone which he loves! He will be in the same area for another 11 weeks (12 weeks total) He lives in Palmilla Apartments on Neuvo Leon Street. 

The weather is so nice, its in the 80's but should be going into the 90's soon! The evening is great because its warm and you can hear the crickets. 

The first day Sam arrived in his area he had to order a bike. Luckily one of the members who he had only met for a few minutes, trusted Sam enough to lend him one of his bikes, which he said he never does AND paid for his new bike online before he gave him the money. Sam didn't take his wallet to the members house as he wasn't expecting to be buying anything!

The bike is a steel, single speed road bike which he got cheaper than most missionaries paid for their mountain bikes! He says its a really nice ride and since it is so dry over there the bike doesn't even get dirty. The reason he chose single speed is because there is nothing to maintain apart from the brakes and oiling the chain. 

Sam was knocking on some doors and he got in on his first door!!! The guy answered and said "I'm not interested, come in" which was a little confusing but it turned out that there was somebody in whose parents were members of the Church who he thought might be interested. Sam isn't nervous when tracting and he managed to get his first return appointment with a guy named Devonta who is Pentacostal. The only thing he doesn't like about knocking on doors is that it takes up a lot of time and there isn't a load of success. He had an experience which would never happen in England, he was knocking doors and one of the houses turned out to be a members home who invited them in and then invited them back for dinner for subway sandwiches!

Sam and his companion get fed by a member family every single day so they only need to buy food for lunch and breakfast. After writing emails on a Monday morning they have to go food shopping. Sam gets the pasta sachets which are really nice and really filling, also he gets 'real' pasta and some different soups which he can mix in as a quick meal. The budget is $25 per week for food, but there is stuff left over from the week before so food isn't a problem!

Sam also got his first 'soft' baptismal commitment, this is to ask someone when they know what we are teaching is true, and ask if they would commit to be baptised. Sam was a bit nervous about asking since the lesson was going so well and he didn't want to make Sean feel uncomfortable, but he accepted and he seems really receptive to what they are teaching him.

The Elders spend a lot of time trying to contact less active and part member families, they also get given lists by Relief Society and Priesthood leaders of people to contact, so they don't really spend a lot of time tracting. This seems to be why the work has more success over there as plenty of people are already familiar with the Church.

They are also going to start teaching member families and give them a Book of Mormon to place with someone, then they will follow up with whoever they give it to. Sam is hoping to see some success by this method!

Sam wanted to let his family know not to worry about him as he is not homesick!

The MTC

Thursday, April 4th 2013


Sam arrived safely at the Provo MTC at 11pm due to getting lost on the way there. When he arrived at his dorm, Elder Nakatsuka from Japan started getting dressed really really quickly thinking he was late for class as he thought it was 11am not 11pm! 

Sam had to play 'musical dorms' as he got moved from a temporary dorm to another temporary dorm in a different building. Then at 4am he had to move dorms again since the people in his dorm were leaving, then when finally assigned to a permanent dorm he had to move AGAIN!! The good news is that the new dorm is designed for 4 missionaries but it is just Sam and his companion so they have loads of room for everything! 

His MTC companion is Elder Trent Whiting from Grantsville, Utah who is going to the Toronto, Canada mission. 

There was a meeting with around 300 people in the room, a list of countries was read out and people from that country had to stand up. Sam was the only person from England so he had to stand up on his own and tell everyone where in England he was from! 

Sam loves the gym at the MTC. He used some of the weight equipment, one of them was a squat machine and he managed to push 300lbs but one of the Elders in his district (Elder Karl) managed to push 400lbs as if it was nothing! They had exercise bikes and Sam managed to cycle 1 mile in under 2 minutes which he was happy about!

On a Wednesday and a Sunday they have ice cream days, so he had ice cream with hot fudge, caramel, crushed oreos and m&ms which was the nicest thing he has ate at the MTC!

Sam is looking forward to doing another endowment session at the temple.

Sam has had a lot of practise teaching so he is much more confident talking in front of people now, however he does have in-field orientation soon which means he will be tracting and street contacting.

Here is Sams group from the MTC and also the photo that every missionary does in the MTC which is pointing where you are serving your mission on the huge world map!