Elder Myers Christmas 2010

Elder Myers Dec. 13, 2010

Hello one and all! I hope everyone is doing ok and enjoying the holiday season!

Christmas Service
This past Saturday our zone had the opportunity of handing out bags of canned food donated from the bishops storehouse. The pulblic affairs director for the LA area was there and he told us that this was a very unique opportunity because the church usually doesnt do this type of service- welfare style/handing out food for free... He explained that in the churches welfare you dont get stuff for free- you have to trade your skills/whatever you can do etc so that everyone grows. Anyway it was at this African- American church in South Central LA. There was a huge turn out- around 5,000 people. One of the reasons the Public Affairs guy said that we were doing this was to increase awareness/acceptance of missionaries in this area because it was going to be a very well publicized event. We had the opportunity to meet and take pictures with: the mayor of LA' Danny Trejo- movie star in Spy Kids, Machete and others, Beyonce's sister, a VH1 football model lday, another young famous black supermodel, director Robert Townshend and some other people that I cant remember who they were haha. It was quite an expierence doing service (which I have really come to love on my mission) and meeting famous people all at once!

Random Stories
As part of working hard at not having unrealistic expectations of myself/being too hard on myself- I am beginning to recognize the small examples of the Lord's hand in my life/the promptings of the Spirit.

One example is last week when we were out tracting I saw this black lady across the street putting up Christmas lights. She looked busy with that and taking care of three or so little, energetic kids. I thought to myself we should go help with the lights and talk to her. I brushed it off saying nahhh she looks like she doesn't want our help, we are tracting this side of the street, she doesn't speak Spanish and we had just talked to a Latin family on this side of the street etc. But then the thought came again and so after the next house I told Elder Franson we should go help. After a short convo we found out Ms. Watkins wasn't really interested in the gospel and didn't need our help, she was polite but not overly friendly. For some reason we kept talking and we found out she wanted us to pray for her uncle who was very sick in the hospital (this is not unusual for random people to ask us to pray for them- even hobos on the street sometimes ask us to pray for someone) but then we said we could do it right then (more unusual- I have only done that a handful of times...) Anyway she invited us in and we met the family and said the prayer with her mother (whose only brother is the sick uncle) in the prayer the mother started crying and I felt the Spirit a lot. I know that this was God directing the work through me even though they didnt even accept a return appointment let alone were that "golden investigator" ready for baptism three weeks after you meet them. I have no idea what the affect of that visit/prayer was- whether small or life changing that leads them to accept the Gospel later on- but I do know we were lead by the Lord to meet them.

Another one was a miracle we witnessed. A couple of weeks ago one part member family we are sort of working with asked us to give her two year old daughter a blessing so she could sleep through the night without nightmares. I could see how much faith they had in the Lord and even Priesthood blessings even though the very inactive dad could hardly remember what they were called etc... I relied on that strong faith as I voiced the blessing... A week or so later we asked them how she was sleeping and the were very relieved as they told us that she is sleeping very well with no more nightmares thanks to the blessing. Even though they haven't come to church and are pretty hard to contact/teach this was another example of the kinds of things I hope I can be more receptive to and recognize.

I know that I have probably missed a lot of these kinds of things because I was looking for a bigger, more grand miracle/display of the Lord's hand in my life.

The Area/My Thoughts
As I alluded to above- I am realizing that my efforts and desire to serve the Lord and follow his direction through the Spirit is more connected with successfully accomplishing my purpose than I thought. I have been measuring my success as a missionary in comparison to others/outward fruits of our labors- not necessarily baptisms but things like that. I know baptism, church attendance, number of progressing investigators are all part of my purpose but I know that as long as I am honestly doing my best to invite people to come unto Christ- through a return appointment, baptismal commitment, or some other way act on or hear the Gospel I am doing my purpose... It has been hard because I have been in tough areas in terms of outward results of following my purpose. I have alternately beat myself up over not seeing results and used it as a mental excuse to not try as hard- sometimes both at the same time haha.

Anyway we are still doing a lot of finding- mostly through tracting and checking former investigators/less active/part member families... We found a couple of people that have some potential but not too much else is going on. I am doing a lot better at not judging myself when I go on splits and see how much work the other missionaries have... or when I go to a baptism of 6 people for two companionships. I know I just need to work hard and do my best. I am very happy for the other missionaries though by the way... I know that I am here to learn patience with myself among other things. An Elder talked in a District Meeting about President Uchtdorf'sconference talk "Continue in Patience". I loved it.

We are probably going to drop the Flores family (Jorge, Manuel and Elsa) even though they are very nice and love having us over even after some heated discussions about his unwillingness to accept some new and different things. ) He is not very accepting of the Book of Mormon and said that as for him- the only way to "prove" the Bible is true is because it has changed his life and others... I loved it because I was able to bear strong testimony that the Book of Mormon changed my life/is the reason why I repented and went on a mission. He still was pretty hard heated even though I bore powerful testimony and provided his method of "proof" in a very specific way. Nevertheless Jorge (Elsa cant read and Manuel is mentally challenged) said that he will read the Book of Mormon and pray about it but on his own time and would like us not to come by and ask him how it is going- which is what missionaries do... : We will see what happens because they invited us over for Christmas dinner hahaha

I am working hard to catch up on the mission goal of finishing the Book of Mormon in 2010... I am on page 205ish and I am loving reading it! It is amazing how much it seems to change, even since I have been on my mission, as we receive different revelation for different times in our life. Awesome. Good scriptures Mosiah 4:3. Mosiah 26:30, King Benjamin's address, 2 Nephi chapters 2, 4, 9.

Still haven't seen the Christmas devotional which I am sad about...

I am still trying to focus my goals and not worry too much about other things because it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the different ways to grow and change personally that the mission makes apparent in oneself. I am doing very well at not feeding my doubts, and anxieties by thinking about them and instead feeding faith etc by acting like reading the BoM and saying better prayers...

From Our Old Area
We found out from the new missionaries in our old area that Sergio broke the Law of Chastity again this past weekend... They are trying to get him to church, he has only been to a Fireside since Thanksgiving...

We also found out that the twins, Kaela and Korey, are getting baptized after the Holidays and they want us to perform the baptism!

Alex Ortiz is solid and active with his family, his brother is now accepting missionary lessons after we got to know him very well and tried to teach him...

Elder Myers Dec. 6, 2010

I love you all!

Today we had a really fun, intense dodgeball game as a zone that Elder Franson and I organized in the church parking lot (I was hot in my shorts and a t shirt- I just thought I would rub in the weather here because I love doing that....) I love doing sports, I have really come to realize how much I need a good excersice... and it is amazing how much you start to love P day when you get out over a year haha

The area
Well the area is tough and I know the only thing to do is not complain and get to work. I know that I am still struggling to work my very hardest despite my trials at enduring to the end. However I know that this is where it counts and that just because its tough I will not give up. I know that I will learn a lot from this transfer.

As for the people, we basically have no one worth reporting in terms of their progression but I have faith that that will change! I know that if I work hard the Lord will bless us with a miracle- and that is what this area will need! The Segura's canceled on us for the second time on the Visitor's center. We did start teaching their extremely less active (hasnt been to church since she was baptized...) 17 year old cousin named Sally. She isn't super committed though. We are doing some tracting/checking formers. We have only gotten some nibbles, no one has really caught on... wow that was a lame fishing joke... I don't even like fishing...

my thoughts
well i dont have time for that, until next week
I am happy but struggling I would say

Elder Myers Nov. 29, 2010

Hello everyone! I love you and hope you had a great Thanksgiving break!!

Thanksgiving
We got permission from President (which was a little bit of a surprise) to leave our zone to eat dinner with the really nice member family from our old area that we had already signed up with. It was a really nice dinner and we had a great time! It was very rushed though because we were coming from a baptismal interview in the Knolls/South Central area (like 80ish streets N/closer to the city...) so we were a little late (we called before dont worry mom haha) but that didnt matter because we diddnt start eating until like 30-45 mins after we got there. Anyway we had to rush out before dessert to get Elder Franson to a leadership meeting. Besides that we spent the morning playing some cool games with the other Elders in our zone (there are no Sisters in our zone which is a first for me...) anyway while some Elders did some baking. Then we took the cookies and what not over to a Senior Care Home thing or whatever they are called. It was pretty awkward not going to lie. I'm not sure they really understood why we were there... most of the people I talked to did not really get entirely that it was Thanksgiving haha. It was a little bit sad but felt nice and warm to give them some love! It just reaffirmed my desire to never get older than 75ish or until my organs/brain stops working, whichever comes first haha

The new boundaries to my old area
The new (well because we are splitting the area with other elders we don't get any new parts, so basically we have the same area as last time just 75% smaller...) area is a little tough to be honest, but I have never said no to a good challenge! The other missionaries (including us) didn't really work in this part of the area. As a result there are only 9 former investigators in the area book and we have already contacted/tried to contact all of them. So it looks like we will be doing a lot of tracting! We were/are working with three families though so that is good! They are not super solid in terms of baptisms etc but especially with the part mem families- we are working on developing really good relationships with them... They are all very nice though!
Manuel's parents surprised us by going to church last Sunday. I don't know how much they liked it though. They kept making comments that there weren't any "alabanzas". They come from a heavy Christian background and as a result love all the singing, dancing, praising and preaching done by the preacher. We will continue to work with them as long as they keep commitments (which they are doing better at as of late).

The other two families are part member and less active families. They are very nice and things are going very well, if a little slow with them. The Segura family (9 year old daughter is a recent convert and the parents aren't members) are coming with us to the VC tomorrow.

my thoughts
Nothing really new to report besides that I am continuing my attitude of worry less and do more! Still trying to endure to the end and keep that diligence and enthusiasm up. I am still discovering that there really is no secret/formula/"way" for missionary work. Its just go and do, charity and the Spirit!

I am still loving the Book of Mormon challenge read thing... I love 2 Nephi 4, I forgot how amazing that chapter is...
--
Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers Nov. 22, 2010

I love you all! Stay warm! (haha I do think I am turning into a wuss though, I suddenly have to wear a sweater vest and a long sleeve shirt in 60 deg weather! The "cold" here is def easier to escape- don't have to wear five jackets to feel slightly less cold!)

We also played the annual turkey bowl football game today! Our zone won one game and lost one. We lost one to a zone with three huge Polynesians (one who played as a freshman on the U of U team!!) I love being active, but don't get much time to do it!

transfers!
President was nice enough to let us now in an interview that we will be staying together. He usually doesn't do that unless there are changes in leadership which there weren't for us... Also, per the ward boundary changes our area will change too. We will switch with some of the ward members over to a Spanish ward in Inglewood. We will be in the same apartment but we will be in a different zone... Both Elder Franson and I are pretty excited to tackle a (semi) new area again together! I think it will help us keep up the upward slope in hard work. So the only downside is we don't know how thanksgiving dinner is going to work... I bet we just take over for the old elders and eat with someone we don't know. We might ask a family we are very close with- there are two potentials who would feed us with only a day or two notice if they don't already have plans....

A snapshot at the area
finding
We are still doing finding, on Sunday we found one guy who looks pretty promising in the trailer park of Manuel and his family. He lives north of Rosecrans so that means it will probably be in our new area.
Manuel and co. (investigators)
As for Manuel and co. we checked them around three times this past week to no avail. We decided that if they haven't kept their commitments to read and pray we will drop them. We did talk to him once but he had no time and to call him. We think that learning about the true gospel is low on their priority list, which is always sad.

Oscar (16yr old investigator)
We will have to refer our investigator Oscar to the new elders because he lives south of Rosecrans. He is still keeping his commitments and seems very sincere in his interest in discovering and following truth. His mom still isn't really letting him go to church though.

Sergio (16yr old recent convert)
We have officially been forbidden by Sergio's mom (same lady who burned the copy of the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago...) to come over any more. After weeks of trying to get on her good side by doing everything from offering to help around the house (which she denied all but 3ish times) to making brownies for her. She also said that he couldn't go to church anymore. He will probably be in our new area so we will keep praying and thinking creatively to help fix this very sad situation.

Me
I am basically not worrying about anything right now. I have found that if I just do stuff instead of think of stuff (ie just read the Book of Mormon and pray and not think about my testimony or just go out and do work instead of worrying about if I am a good missionary...) it all works out.yeah that sound silly but I cant really describe what is going on in my brain.. I am pretty sure that I always knew this but now I am finally putting it into practice.
I love reading the Book of Mormon right now for the mission challenge to read and highlight all references to the Savior by New Years. Well I guess I lied, I do worry about whether or not to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish or English... haha I think I am going to switch over to Spanish...
I am really trying to focus on good habit making as part of my "just do-it" attitude. This one seems a little more tough than just not worrying as much... ie I am trying to keep up to date on my journal and have better study habits besides just reading the BoM

LOVE
Elder Myers

Elder Myers Nov. 17, 2010

The People
We picked up a pretty solid former named Jorge (the man we drove home from Zone Conference to teach last week) We have had two lessons with him and he has kept his commitments to meet and read... He did show us up once last week so we are trying to contact him again. We started teaching his niece too though. She seems pretty interested and has some problems to overcome but if she works hard and has that desire I know it will all work out...

We are continuing to work with our recent converts even though they live outside of the new Hermosa Liahona ward boundary.

-We are still meeting a lot of resistance with Sergio's mom not liking the church. He is still slowly starting to be a little more self sufficient. He has retained a lot more doctrinal information than he used to. He is still firm (as of a couple of days ago) in his answer to his prayers and answer to his specific question about the truthfulness of the restored church.
-Alex is doing really well. We have been watching the District 2 DVD with him because he likes learning from movies and we are preparing to go out on splits with him... He still makes some jokes about being Mormon (mostly pressure from his older brother who doesn't like religion but likes us as missionaries...) but deep down he is pretty converted to the gospel! Which I love!
-Jamson still doesn't want to come to church and says he was only baptized because the missionaries and his dad bugged him. Not going to lie, his situation makes me kind of sad, but we will continue our once a week visits to invite him to church and to read/pray etc....
We are still trying to find new solid progressing investigators- our only one's (oscar age 16) who is now on his 6th or so chapter of the Book of Mormon, parents are not too keen on him going to church with us. They say that they love him learning with us but are wary of him diving into it without "exploring other churches and faiths". We will see how this all turns out, in the mean time we are trying to invite his parents to join us in the lessons...

As for Less Actives, we are very excited that the active daughter (sister Monge) of recently reactivated parents is very enthusiastic and is being very helpful to contact, reach out and reactivate the names of people in our area that we feel would be good for her. She is helping develop longer relationships and contact some people that have 'fallen through the cracks"

As for me...
I am loving the new mission challenge to read the Book of Mormon (in English) to highlight references to the Savior. We are reading it by our mission wide conference on New Years day. It is really strengthening my testimony of the Gospel, the Savior, the purpose and role of the Book of Mormon as a foundation for a testimony and as a testament of the Savior. I am really grateful we have this tangible evidence we can pray about to know the Church, the prophets, the Lord and his dealings with us etc So yeah that (in Spanish for language study) is taking up most of my study time.

I am also very happy and am worrying less despite the difficulty that I definitely did not anticipate before my mission of enduring to the end. Elder Franson and I agree that the newness has definitely worn off and it seems like we never see new problems/ideas/types of people etc. The days are the same etc. Even getting transferred to a new area doesn't seem new and exciting anymore. I am trying to focus on developing and radiating a deep love for the Gospel. I also know that despite all this I love, serve, understand (that especially) and am patient with the people I come in contact with/am teaching. So yeah you could say that my dedication to this cause and the people I serve are the only thing that is getting me through this. That and I still feel like I have more to learn and grow...

I am also excited for Turkey Bowl next week! And a little less so- thanksgiving (holidays are just not the same on the mission.... but we will get a good dinner at a members house... so I am grateful for that!)

I love you all!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers Nov. 8, 2010

The work is going pretty well. We are still trying to find a solid progressing investigator. Manuel's (the mentally challenged man we talked about) parents were our biggest potential to complete last week's goal of setting 1 new baptismal date. It looks like we might drop them this week. They LOVE Christianity, but it doesn't seem like they want to progress or really get what we are trying to teach. We struggle to apply the trainings with them. They are very nice but always too busy to complete the recent commitments... We will see what happens with them! We don't really know what to do with Manuel either... It seem like he isn't very adept at making conscience adult decisions. We can persuade him to go to church but that isn't the way it should be.... He is gone a lot too so we don't talk to him much.

We are still struggling to help our recent converts become more self reliant. Sergio is showing very slow progress. We are still experiencing a lot of conflict with his mom. She seems to blame us for all of Sergio's lack of responsibility/more so- problems that she herself creates... As a side note Sergio said that his mom burned his copy of the Book of Mormon to ashes because he was trying to read it...... wow. To think that she once had a baptismal date and went to church twice... The story might not be true though because we don't really know what to believe anymore- we think that Sergio is a compulsive liar. Jamson is hardly showing any. He hasn't come to church in two weeks because he doesn't want to and his dad is apparently not forcing him anymore... Anyway, I don't want to sound to negative, we love both Jamson and Sergio a lot and that's why we have so much patience in helping them fully accept the gospel and gain strong testimonies. We truly desire their full and self reliant conversion in the gospel. Like Elder Hinckley said- we want them to BECOME something different not just understand what we are teaching.

Again on a more positive note- we did find a couple of very promising formers that we have appointments with this week!

As for me, and as I am sure you already know- the biggest thing I am working on is not worrying as much and just doing the work with love. I have made a lot of improvement, especially the past couple of weeks but I still have a ways to go! I am overall very happy, despite how appearantly negative my letters sound.

IN RESPONSE TO LUCYS COLLEGE ESSAY:

wow that was a good essay. I didnt know I had that much affect on you guys... I dont want to say that you based your essay on something bad but I didnt mean for those sentances to be that Important... I dont know what I am trying to say... I guess I was just complaining that I am still a junior companion... ahaha I feel like I accidentally said those things but the Lord works in mysterious ways haha maybe you were meant to make something of them... and you did!!!

also- I am only STARTING to realize that I have changed... Sometimes I just feel so discouraged at the long way I still have to go. But you seem to be learning a lot too!! dont worry and just lkike you said- just keep your head up and work! I am finally realizing that there is no secret to missionary work. Just work. Love the people. Serve. rely on the Lord and the Spirit and its all good so dont worry.... so basically dont you worry that I am going to be that different when I get home because I think youll realize its still me! :) I hope I change a lot (in a good way) but I am not worrying about that anymore....

also- you made me realize that you guys are probably really lost as you read my emails! haha I'm really bad at telling stories, probably as a result of my ADHD...

I love you!!!

Elder Myers November 1, 2010

Hello one and all!!!!! I love you!

We had a pretty fun Halloween. We had to be in by 6 (and for good reason too- there were a lot of scantily clad girls coming out already...) so we watched the Journey of Faith documentary as a Zone... Other than that it was a normal holiday in the field- almost non existent haha. Oh and it was weird to have it be 74ish all day on Halloween...

THE AREA

The work is going well. We are still struggling to turn some of our contacts (technically new investigators- by the accepting a return appointment definition- but I would call them potential investigators) into solid, progressing investigators with baptismal dates (per this weeks mission goal). We have a couple of people with that potential but they are very hard to contact. Oscar (age 16) is one of them, we have only talked to him 3 times and taught him once on his doorstep (because of time constraints...) but he read 3 chapters of Ether as a commitment and seemed to have really liked it. We are still working with Manuel and his family. His dad kept his commitment to read and pray about a chapter of the Book of Mormon but still hasn't been to church. He needs a pretty strong spiritual witness/testimony/conversion of the Book of Mormon in order to convert from the church he is currently very active in.

The other people we work with Sergio (RC)- although he told us he "had to drink" because it was Halloween- he said at least he told us!, Cesar (LA) have shown some (small) improvement at being self reliant and calling their own rides etc... Our relationship with Sergio's mom is only worsening because Sergio went to a Youth Standards night but didn't want to come home at 8 when his mom said to be home. Long story short it got blamed on us and she thinks we are not responsible and wont talk to us... We are going to bake brownies and apologize. We both know that we need her support in order for Sergio to stay active.

We went LA/visiting teaching list contacting with a very missionary excited member and so we are all excited to be working with the members more to help on the LA front so our efforts can be mainly concentrated on strengthening/handing off our RC to the ward and of course finding and teaching investigators. As always I am coming to realize that a lot of missionary work is successfully juggling a lot of different people with a lot of different needs that can all be met by applying the gospel individually to their lives. I think that a lot of my worry comes from feeling like it is hard to keep my head above the water with the amount of people to work with. I know that the secret is hard work and handing it over to the Lord. I feel like I have been trying to do too much on my own...

We also had a baptism!!!! haha it was a freebie though. The bishop told us at the missionary/ward correlation meeting on Thursday that there was someone in our area that was an active member of 10ish years that had been baptised (well we take her word for it) in Mexico but they couldn't find the records. After them talking with the Stake and SLC for two months prior and us with President Baker- she was baptized the next day on Friday. It was so short and simple. I really felt the spirit- even though she wasn't really our investigator. I think it was because we didn't have to stress and run around to make it all happen. As we were confirming her (which they usually do the next Sunday...) I thought man I wish I could have that reassurance that comes with being baptized again as an adult of being clean and forgiven for all my past sins. Then I had a duh moment! I can, by taking the sacrament each week. So that was a neat random testimony builder!

MY THOUGHTS
Overall I am happy and healthy! (although I am not my skinny self I once was... the scale says 145 but I think it is a ghetto missionary scale haha)

Right now my biggest goal is to submit myself to the Lord more. I am working on really working hard but still having fun too. I love the mission and I am learning and growing a ton, especially my testimony but I feel like it is a little more difficult to just relax and have fun. I know that I will regret not working my hardest, worrying (especially about me- how I can improve as a person etc...) too much and not just enjoying life/laughing/having fun. I know that worrying wont do any good but applying that is harder said than done I think. I am def getting better at being more diligent- in having effective studies and all that. I know I can do better but at the same time I know I am worrying too much and being to hard on myself.

We got to see a setting apart/ordination to High Priest of the new bishopric. Kind of neat! I don't know how that will work out with Sergio talking with the Bishop as part of his repentance process- which he hasn't been too diligent at.

Also Elder Franson and I have been talking a lot about faith vs. perfect knowledge and how that relates to a testimony- especially with receiving answers from God ie if the BoM is true or not. How can we still have faith and KNOW something is true- here on this earth before we go before God at the judgment bar. I know I am being wayyyy too analytical when I say something like maybe its like gravity- we know something makes my pen drop to the ground but there has to be more-some eternal absolute truths, non relative and earthly truths (ie people used to know that the world was flat until that was changed haha...) that we cant know until we die. Yeah I cant really accurately depict my thoughts on that... Point being I know that we need to ALWAYS be working on our testimony- I used to think of it that I would have to at all after my mission, but that is how people go Less Active...

Anyway I love you all!

Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers October 11, 2010

Hello everyone! How are you?

The people

Our area is mostly going great and I am very grateful for the miracles and baptisms we have seen. I know that the Lord is really blessing us. Again notwithstanding the present blessings we are receiving we are of course experiencing some discouragement. We both feel like we are babysitting a lot of the people we work with. Sometimes the less fortunate areas really provide some difficult and very frustrating problems. A lot of this is due to the many dysfunctional families, difficult economic situations, lack of opportunities and the overall culture. We are experiencing a lot of this especially with Sergio and his family. We are praying and really trying to know what to do and how we can help. At the moment he is slipping into inactivity for a myriad of different reasons despite our efforts. It seems like every day his relationship with his family, especially his mom worsens. About a week ago we dropped her as she was not keeping our appointments. Now it looks like she doesn't support him going to church, but then again we don't know because they are saying so many contradicting things and don't know what the truth is. I know it will all work out if we have faith and pray for revelation but we feel a little overwhelmed trying to get him self sufficient- at just getting to church/finding rides by himself.

On a brighter note, we have been teaching the twins, Kaela and Korey. They have committed to baptism (still working on a date), came to church (Kaela came to General Conference too) and are keeping their commitments (they are very bright and I was astounded at how much they remembered from 1 Nephi 1- they even inferred that the 12 people mentioned in the scripture were the 12 apostles)! We had been teaching them at their best friends house, who is part of a less active/part member family, because they were always over there. The only thing is, we had to refer them to the Zone Leaders as they cannot speak Spanish. It was hard to refer them over and not be able to go to church with them yesterday. At least they will still receive the gospel, which is what matters. So we are still excited for them.

What is going on the brain of Elder Myers?...

(....who knows? Not me!)

Elder Franson and I are doing really well. To be honest though, I feel like I could be working harder. I feel like I have sort of hit a slump where I am just coasting, if you know what I am mean. I know that I have a lot of love for the people I work with and I really want whats best for them (the gospel). In that sense I am really getting into the work/people and starting to really understand missionary work (not just teaching lessons and baptisms but changing lives for eternity).

In addition to starting to really learn more about the mission and myself; my testimony has grown a lot as of late. It has been steadily growing since I came into the mission, but I feel like it has turned a corner or something these past couple of months. This makes everything a whole lot better-from tracting to more spiritual power in lessons to all around enthusiasm for the work. At the same time I feel like I am coasting the mid mission slump and I want to snap out of it... I know what I have to do to get out of it so now I just have to do it.

My goals:

1) Read doctrine and covenants in Spanish by mid November (I have it all mapped out, 10 pages a day...)

2) Rely on the Lord more especially through prayer. I am trying to get better at recognizing the promptings of the Spirit and at knowing how exactly I can receive specific personal revelation for myself and the area.

Although I am getting a lot better- I am still worrying too much/over thinking things... Sometimes I worry about what people think/the world/stupid things/things I cannot control/if I am learning or growing/what I am going to be like after the mission/if I am a good missionary etc.... I know I need to just turn my life over to Him and stop resisting/thinking too much myself. If I forget myself and go to work to change others, I will actually change myself.

3) Be more diligent.

4) Argue less, or just not get worked up. Elder Franson and I both like to debate and that's ok, but sometimes we both get too into it. We have only come away sour from one debate but that was good month ago. So I know the spirit of contention but if you have a good, healthy, calm, logical debate that seems ok to me...

5) Somehow simplify and limit my goals so I am not so overwhelmed...

I am really trying to find out who the Lord wants me to be (not what others say I should be). OK no, that is a bad way to say it. I am working on becoming/creating/defining who the Lord wants me to become. I guess its not so much of searching as it is becoming. The only thing is that, like I said before I am really trying to get the specifics of personal revelation down... Sometimes it is hard to know how to recognize the Spirit/answers to your prayers...

Love!

Elder Myers

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!

THE WEATHER

was really really really hot last week, we had an ALL TIME record high in LA of 113 this past Monday... It is raining for the first time in a loooong time today, but it will probably die out soon.... How is it in Chicago?

CONFERENCE:

First off, I loved conference. I thought that it was too short though. Before the mission I thought it was wayyyy too long, now it is too short... kind of cool. I cant wait to read the conference Ensign! I LOVED the talks by:

-President Uchtdorf- I loved his message on simplicity, it is really for me.

-Elder Oaks- I have really been working on getting better at receiving revelation (I also like Elder Bednar's talk on the Holy Ghost) It will also come in handy when I TRY for the millionth time to explain why we need to go to church and that we need more than that "personal line"
-Elder Kearon- with the scorpion story
-President Monson- gratitude
-President Packer

-Elder Scott- character (I will need to really look at this talk later, it was a little confusing and hard to take notes on... It was more like my talks and less laid out and structured like Elder Oaks or Elder Bednar.)

I noticed a theme of following the Prophet, our power over Satan, Alma 41:10, the Holy Ghost, the world vs things of God/revelation.

I also noticed that (this might be more of just a personal message) is the importance of faith in casting out doubts and concerns. I loved hearing a reminder that faith is what makes it so that we are not troubled when people throw all kinds of doctrinal, personal, emotional, logical attacks against you and the church... Its not like people throw pies at us as they drive by but it seems almost everyday my testimony is tried in someway... I know this an important growing process for my testimony and me on my mission. I know it is part of the reason I am in LA- there are TONS of different kinds of peopleranging from the rich, very well educated (in terms of the world) to the less fortunate all with A TRILLION different beliefs.

I also thought of Malibu with a double whammie- from the point from Pres Benson's old talk that the rich and the well educated (from the world) are the two groups of people who will have the hardest time listening to the prophet.

THE PEOPLE:
Conference kind of came at a bad time though in terms of missionary work, we just had to drop 3 LAs and one investigator (I'm pretty sure I have already written about the Archundias and Elisleidi-Sergios mom). We are in the process of picking up two-three new ones, but it was too short to get them to conference and so only one came. Getting people to church, like always, is one of our biggest struggles. It is a good way to measure people's commitment level though.
We are trying really hard to get our recent converts to be self sufficient- by having them become converted to the gospel, like Elder Packer said. I think I am going to read over my notes about that Zone Conference. This is a really big struggle in this area though, especially because we are working with a lot of teenagers right now.
Our companionship is going really well. We work well together- we help each other out, providing what the other lacks. That's how it is supposed to be (that is my thinking anyway)
TO COLE:

I am so glad you are taking that mission prep class and you are so converted to the gospel! I sometimes wish I had gone away from home before my mission- I always dismissed that possibility because I knew I didn't need to get used to living away from home because I knew that I would not get homesick- but now I see why I should have done that. It is all about becoming converted to the gospel, really truly converted- without relying on your parent's testimony for support. Learning how to rely on the Spirit is also VITAL for a mission. You are already doing GREAT missionary work! Stuff like that is like the field! (minus friends from home) Those kinds of commitments (promises) are exactly what we do every day (or try to) Bear your testimony a lot and feed it everyday. Don't be ashamed of the gospel.... btw were you talking to kenzie about Paul? haha how is she doing?

Sounds like you love BYU! To be honest I'm really apprehensive about going to BYU. I haven't had a companion yet (well I'm only on my third comp) who likes it. (to be fair none of them have actually attended school there...) My comp now is from Michigan but for the past ten years has been living with his fam in provo. Needless to say he strongly dislikes BYU and would NEVER go there... (little bit stronger than my feelings of local Northwestern... Basically he says there are a lot of fake girls, a lot of self righteous people and the parties STINK (he didn't drink in high school and wont obvi when he gets back, so its not in that way- but he said they were boring) and some other stuff... Also I DO NOT WANT TO GET MARRIED TO A BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL BYU GIRL THE MONTH I GET HOME- OR EVEN THE YEAR I GET HOME... So I am kind of scared in that way too....
What are your thoughts on that? Oh and its in Utah and of all the stereotypes I have gotten over (ie hating the South because of their accents....) that one is hard for me- just from talking to comps etc Utah is not far from the way I pictured it....

MY THOUGHTS:

my 3 goals:

1) Application of my studies, what I learned at conference, the Gospel etc I am really working on following up with my self in terms of goals and accomplishing my to-dos. Also not dominating conversations/arguing

2) Diligence- in everything from having effective studies, to Spanish, to being up to date in my journal, to using the Lord's time well

3) Learning about myself- how to know who I am based on what God has in store for me (humility in prayer) as well as being confident in myself and in God/ not letting others define who I am.

-the Holy Ghost/personal revelation/personal relationship with God/my testimony- especially basing it on the Savior and the BoM (this one is kind of like an all time goal so it doesn't count as one of the 3)

Looking back I just cheated- those are not just 3 goals.... I need to apply Pres Uchtdorf's talk on simplicity more...

I am happy and healthy so Mom dont you worry! Although I am still working on worrying less.

Elder Myers Zone Picture

Elder Myers Oct. 25, 2010

Hello one and all!

The area:

Our work is going well. We found about 4-6 new people to teach last week on splits but only one was there for the return appointment when we went on Sunday with Elder Franson. That is a little sad. The guy who was there is a 16 year old named Oscar. He is very nice and we talked to him for a while the first time we met him when we were checking a referral. He seems like a pretty inquisitive guy who asks honest questions. He was really easy to get to know and befriend.

We are teaching Manuel and his parents. We knew that Manuel was a little different, but we found out this past week from his dad that he is 37 and still is pretty dependent on them (still lives with them in their trailer. Whats more is that he has Schizophrenia. I am not 100% for sure about that based on the way he acts because I am sure there was some translational errors on my part and probably on the dads hearing it from probably less than Beverly Hills qualified doctor. At any rate he definitely does have a mental illness. We talked to the president for a while about him and we will be working closely with him because if baptism does come up on the radar he will have to have his interview with him. I know that he is willing to learn and be baptized and follow the Savior but his comprehension and commitment level are less than amazing. We did have a lot of success on splits when we taught a very hands on/visual aids friendly restoration lesson with Elder Western who is in the ASL program. The ASL elders have good experience teaching visually and to people who get confused VERY easily. Our main goal right now is the parents though. They LOVE, and I mean LOVE the gospel (the TV is permanently on a weird Spanish Christian channel haha) We had an ok return appointment lesson with them (I had taught the dad on splits once). It was very very very easy to slip into a discussion that bordered an argument because the dad has such a strong belief in the Bible and only the Bible. By the end of it he committed to read and pray about the BoM though. I know the underlying feeling felt was love and friendliness by all of us because we were sincerely laughing at times but it was very passionate. I know though that this reiterated D&C 42:13 (I believe it is) about how important it is to ALWAYs during the lesson have the Spirit...

Overall we are trying to make our teaching pool bigger right now because we don't have anyone as of right now who has solid baptismal potential in the month of November. We get a lot of return appointments from tracting, street contacting, we get a lot of referrals from different sources (about one a week), we check a lot of formers but all of it does not seem to result in any solid people. Most people say one thing and do the opposite and don't keep commitments. I know the important thing is to keep working with faith and a smile so that is what I'll do...

As for me:

I am really learning a lot about humility and confidence in yourself and the Lord. They do not oppose each other. I need to worry less (I worry about "good" things like if I am learning enough, being a good missionary etc) but I know that I am over thinking it, as always. I need to chill out, get to work, love and serve the people, strengthen my testimony and those around me and just all around turn my life over to the Lord! I know if I do this it will all work out and I will learn the things I am supposed to learn not the things that I feel that I need to learn. I was way to controlling and not humble when it comes to my life even. I feel like that is the secret to life- turn it over to the Lord. It is so obvious but I feel like I am just starting to get it. I know how important the Spirit is in my life and for missionary work and I am only just starting to really, in a specific way, to recognize His Influence.

--
Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers September 27, 2010

Hello everyone!

Boy is it HOT here! We are getting a heat wave and it has been like 95 the past three days and we heard it is here to stay for a little... It is wayyy hotter than it ever was this past summer!

The people

We are both doing very well here in Centinela East. We had to drop our investigator this passed week. As you know from the DDM you went to, she wasn't keeping her appointments and she did not come to church this passed week. We will continue to have contact with her though because we are going to keep teaching Sergio (her son/RC). We plan to pick her back up when she comes to church/keeps commitments that we will give to her and Sergio. She hasn't smoked in a while, which is good! Like we said, it is weird that she kept her big commitments but not the easy ones like appointments...

We also found out that Jamson Chuc- who was baptized the second week Elder Franson and I got into this area- does not have a testimony of the Church and he had many doubts that he was holding back this whole time. We went by weekly since he was baptized but we thought the only reason he was being not interested at church/in appointments was because he is really really shy. We have been applying the trainings since we received them and he has started to open up, until this passed week when he really opened up. Needless to say I know that the things we learned in the trainings really work and that they are the by far the best approach to missionary work. We now know how much help he needs even though it was discouraging to find out how unconverted he is to the gospel. I was pretty down after the appointment because I really want to help him and I know the only way is through the gospel. I didn't let it get to me too much though.

my thoughts

yep it is official my biggest struggle is personal diligence you could say. I am working on having more effective studies, to be honest a lot of the time Elder Franson and I get into a conversation (most of the time it is strictly gospel related) during comp study which bleeds into Spanish study. I know I could be doing more to get better at Spanish like actually studying my vocab pocket notebook thing throughout the day...etc I wouldn't say I am struggling with the language and I think it has been improving but I wouldn't say I am fluent either, just really conversational... I am really trying to get over the excuse of it being hard to learn Spanish being bilingual and in the states, and no one under 25 wants to speak Spanish- even to their parents a lot of the times, which is weird and kinda sad...talk about parent to teen communication problems...

Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers Sept. 20, 2010

I love you all!!

The work:

This past week we had to drop a less active family and a referral that seemed very solid. I have never liked dropping people but this past week it really got to me. I feel like time and time again I get very into/excited for new or current people and then we have to drop them or they drop us. I have so much faith in them and then I find out they were just being two faced the whole time and leading us on. I know what preach my gospel says about "no effort is wasted" and we are planting seeds but still.... It seems like people just tell us what we want to hear and it is very hard for people to just be open and sincere with us. It seems like the more I put into the relationship the more I fall. Oh well... Better love and lost than to never have loved at all or whatever. I don't really know how to explain my situation- I guess the classic frustration with a Latin area as well as the classic being sad when you drop someone. I also really want to see true conversion- where, as Elder Packer explained, they become someone and you can stop babysitting them because they are self sufficient.
Sergio is becoming more and more truly converted/self sufficient... slowly but surely. His mom, Elisleidi, has a very strong desire to be baptized/converted/live the gospel but the past couple of days she has not been showing that with her actions. She canceled two appointments and didn't come to stake conference. She had "good" excuses of her baby being sick, her being sick(ish) but they are still excuses. I know people slip up on their way to conversion/baptism but at the same time I don't know how to help them be more self sufficient. I know I can't change any one's desires/agency but still I would like to see her/the people in general back up their words/desires with action. In general however, she is keeping her commitments and doing not just saying.... We came by and found her sick in bed. We were going to leave after following up/seeing if we could help with anything etc... but she told us to stay and we had a short lesson.
I had two or three amazing experiences this past week applying the training. One of which was one of the most spiritual lessons I have had on the mission. It was very random because we were at our dinner appointment. After asking some questions we found out the hostesses sister in law (the one we had the lesson with us) was not a member but was investigating. We asked some more questions and before we knew it she was pouring out her soul with her doubts/concerns about why she wasn't baptized yet and the spirit was very strong and we all recognized it... So that was a really big testimony builder for teaching by the spirit and following the training by asking inspired Qs, listening, discerning and teaching to their needs....

My thoughts:

I think I am finally consciously realizing that I am not going to come home perfect. I am really trying not to worry myself too much because I am really trying to tackle too much/expect perfection out of me. For one I am realizing I can only work on 3 (I'm thinking that is the number right now) goals per week/at a time... I cannot have a huge list of things I want to change about myself or accomplish... I just feel overhwhelmed at how much I want to do...

That being said- I am starting to more fully realize that it is not who I want to be, it is who God wants me to be. The trick is just finding that out.

I know that the things I am starting now are going to be things I work at for life- being more fully converted to the Gospel with a rock-solid, fool-proof, 100% for certain testimony, seeking and recognizing promptings from the Spirit, recognizing God's hand in my life, developing and showing charity, serving people, relying on God and not "leaning unto mine own wisdom", seeking the kindgdom of God first and not the riches of this world, not caring about worldly approval/compliments etc- just not worrying about what others think of myself, being better at not argueing or wanting to be right, making decisions better and faster, being diligent, being studious- esp in the gospel, being obedient, having better/more specific prayers, more faith in God. The list goes on and on...

My theme right now/I am thinking for life though is: charity and the Spirit. I think those two are just vital in life and in missionary work. I know if I seek the Spirit I will be guided and it will all be ok (kinda like faith....). I know how important service is and caring for other people... At the same time I know that we need to develop all the Christlike attributes (which are conviently laid out in a chapter of PMG)/follow the whole gospel not just parts of it... I do feel like I am lacking in the diligence section. I just dont like hacving goals/to-dos to go undone, but they always seem to... This worry is biggest in my studies. I want to be better at Spanish/more efficient/diligent at Studying it. I still have to finish the Old testament and D&C but I also want to read PMG/the BoM everyday....

Love,
Elder Myers

Elder Myers Sept. 13, 2010

Hello everyone!

How are you all? I love you!

The work:

Alex Ortiz was baptized yesterday! That was a HUGE relief for us. He has definitely tried our patience and many other missionaries too. His older brother came to the baptism and has shown some potential for starting to prepare for baptism. He has not shown any interest in learning in the past so we are excited about that!

I don't know how much I told you about Sergio's mom, Elisleidi Avila, but she came to church yesterday! She is progressing amazingly. We had some speed bumps with her in the beginning being to stressed and busy as a single mom for us to teach her too much but we had a couple amazing lessons (just understanding her was a miracle in of itself because she is from Cuba and speaks extremely fast) the past week. She also told us that she has a drug problem, but didn't give us anything besides that, but she talked with the bishop yesterday about it. She also smokes cigarettes a lot. Right after Sergio's baptism we asked her if she wanted to learn about what Sergio learned. To be honest we didn't have too much faith because she hadn't shown any interest previous to his baptism and we had been told by Sergio that she practiced a spirit worshipping religion from Africa. To our astonishment she was very excited to learn, wanted to come to church and even said she wanted to be baptized and asked us what she needed to do that. Her baptismal date is for Oct 10. Since then she had a slow start with appointments and being busy but now she is keeping her commitments and understanding everything well. We are excited to complete Sergio's family! His sister (7yrs old) is also coming to church and loves it!

We are going to the visitor's center with her family, their neighbors- the less active Archundias family who haven't recently slipped back into not coming to church because they are too busy with their friends...., and their felowshipping family in the ward.

Aside from that we are working activating/completing the part member Ferman family. Cesar came to all three hours of church yesterday and we are hoping that his siblings will follow his example.

My thoughts/goals:

I am over my year mark and I think I am starting to realize what people were talking about when they said it was hard to endure to the end. I know that I have learned a lot and become a better missionary. I am still a junior companion and I feel like at this point I'm just learning humility and patience because I feel like I have passed the stage of learning by being trained- officially, I know we should always be learning- so I feel like I now need to learn through having more responsibility etc placed on me, but we will see what the Lord has in store. I do know this has something to do with me learning to not worry so much about what others think about me- just about what God thinks about me. I am learning to ask God what He wants me to become instead of just asking for help with MY goals and ideas.

As for our companionship- it is going quite well. We both learn from each other a lot and we work well together. We both like to talk and debate so as a result we are trying to not get into silly arguments/debates that we seem to have once a week. They don't get in between us because we like debating but still we both feel badly because it makes us loose our focus and sometimes the spirit.

I am also trying to debate/argue less on a personal level, which has been a goal of mine for a long time now on my mission. I just want to not have the attitude that I am trying to prove my point. It is not very charitable- which is another thing I am working hard at recently. I am also trying to apply the scripture in Proverbs 3:5-6 too because I know that I rely too much on the wisdom/learning of men that I was taught at school etc. and not enough prayer/relying on God. This also relates to my goal to not worry so much about what people think about me.

Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers Sept. 7, 2010

Hello one and all!

As usual I will start with a comment on the weather here in SoCal. For the first time in a very long time it isn't sunny (and I don't know if the clouds will burn off by around 12 like they usually do...) But none the less I wish everyone a happy (late) Labor Day!

-My semi laborious feelings/thoughts as of late....

Well.... my greenie fire as officially worn off and now I am in the endure to the end phase (I loved the camel and the letter mom wrote, where did she get the idea? It was kind of bad timing but I found a beanie baby camel with endure to the end written on it in our apartment like two days before I got the package... but I didn't really understand the meaning besides that I was over the hump... It was a great letter! I learned a lot, tell mom...)

This past transfer I really learned to have charity and really teach people not lessons. Now I am going to keep focusing on that but also amp up my diligence/efforts that seem to have suffered a little at my cause of getting to know my investigators etc. I need to apply the ideology that the greatest thing I can share with someone to show them my love is the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement. We both feel like we need to teach "the lessons" to PEOPLE more but keeping in mind the trainings we just received. As Elder Franson is the District Leader he is in charge of helping the American Sign Lang (ASL) Elders to overcome their huge struggles to apply the training to a VERY different audience.

Elder Franson and I get along really well. Besides one silly argument that we had one p day about BYU (he is from Provo and as a result has some pretty strong feeling against it) we work amazing together. He is very patient with me and others and he is very worry free/"chill" as the teenagers these days would say (coming from a wise old 20 yr old like me, so far removed from this rising generation by a full 3 weeks of experience and maturity)

So, he is helping me to not worry as much as I do, not care so much about what people think of me, overcome my VERY secular education/years of resistance to Gospel learning combo that I was doing in high school (aka he is helping me "lean not unto thine own understanding etc- Proverbs 3:5-6 and trust God) It has been really good for my testimony and to really put my doubtful thoughts/fears behind me. I am also trying to really lean, rely upon and recognize the promptings of the Spirit.Additionally, I am really trying to be "chill" and work hard at the same time. I am also really learning humility and the power of prayer...

Also I am trying really hard not to be a "story seeker" looking for crazy things from spiritual miracles to ghetto stories of drive bys etc...

-A little about the great labor of the Lord....

The first week of this new transfer we spent mainly visiting some potential baptismal dates/formers and tracting a lot around them, a lot of recent converts, our baptismal date Alex Ortiz and contacting some referrals we got. As always we balanced keeping current people going with finding new people.

Alex Ortiz has his baptismal interview today at 7. It was amazing because last night, when we were going over the baptismal questions (for the third time since we have been teaching him and his probably 20 billionth time with missionaries in general) he admitted that he does finally believe that the church of Jesus Christ was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that President Monson is a Prophet of God today. I feel badly because I wasn't as patient with him as I should have been in the beginning but since we have been praying for charity and patience it has been going much better. I know that part of the things that I am supposed to learn in this area is just that. Elder Franson is very patient.

We are also working to support and make our recent converts more self sufficient/rely on God more. (aka not babysitting them as much) We were very happy when Sergio is extremely shy with grown ups got his own ride home from church without us even telling him he had to find his own ride... We are making daily contact and committing them to read the Book of Mormon daily. I am learning a lot, especially since Elder Packer talked about it, of how important following up is.

We plan to go to the Visitors Center with Sergio, his neighbors the Archundias kids and the active member family that gives them rides. I know that the trip will really help them to become more self sufficient in the church.

We are also still trying to prioritize the amount of contact the Less Actives families that the past missionaries were working with need on a weekly basis...

My studies are going well, this week I will be making the transition to having almost 100% of my studies be in Spanish- starting with reading the Doctrine and Covenants in Spanish and then finishing the Old Testament in Spanish after, to complete my reading of the Standard Works and the Missionary Library...

--
Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers August 30, 2010

Hello everyone! I love you!

Summer is pretty much over! It sure doesn't feel like it though here in sunny southern California!

Elder Packer came to Zone Conference, which of course was pretty neat. He interviewed Elder Franson (among other missionaries semi randomly selected by President Baker) He talked a lot about the trainings in general and the Spirit in the work/revelation and how missionaries need to work efficiently instead of "the brute force technique" of just finding more people to get more baptisms- apparently they did a world wide study that showed that to double baptisms you needed to double new investigators but they also found if you work smarter (with teaching etc) you don't have to have double new investigators to 4x the baptisms... (I don't really have enough time to explain that in a better way...)

Investigators:
-We are now just starting to work with Sergio's mom. We have recently made a better relationship with her. She comes from a different religion from Cuba, originally from Africa, where they worship spirits, so that might be a little interesting. She has recently opened up and expressed a desire to learn what her son learned, go to church and without much direction from us- said she wanted to be baptized. We haven't had a formal sit down lesson with her yet but she'll have a date after tonight's lesson!

-Oscar is the sibling of a member in the ward. He passed a baptismal interview when Elder Webber was here but then he flaked out and fell of the face of the earth. We contacted him my first couple of days in this area but didn't have much success (besides three lessons and him going to church once) We had one amazing lesson with him and we thought we had gotten to the bottom of his concern with baptism (which was his parents, who are fine with him being baptized it turns out) but he didn't come to church and he is back to not following through with return appointments and commitments (well he only didn't keep one but we cant contact him again...) She is hard to understand because Cuban's talk super fast with a thick accent...
-We are having the same problem with contacting another woman and her kid that we tracted into a month ago... Kind of sad how people fall through the cracks for various reasons...

Recent Converts:
-Sergio is doing well with his repentance process (he had sex with a drunk girl at a party on "accident" according to him- she snuck up on him basically when he was asleep and he succumbed to temptation) (he met with the bishop and he is going to meet with him every three weeks- so the silver lining is that he will have a good relationship with the bishop...) He didn't come to church though this past week because his mom said he was sick. We are meeting with him tonight though. It is sad because the people around here are exposed to drugs, drinking, crazy parties, sex etc so young. The high school has a lot of problems from what we here (more than the average high shcool I mean...) The girls especially are so desperate, Sergio was telling us how a lot of them send them naked pictures of themselves even without the guys asking. It is sad that people think they need to go that rout for affection/attention...

-Jamson Chuc is doing well too.

Less-Actives:
-Still working with the Archundias (Sergio's neighbors), they haven't come to church in two weeks...
-We were very happy that Cesar Ferman decided to go to church this past Sunday after going over to his house that morning. His siblings (most of them are recent converts...) will hopefully follow in the Sundays to come... There is a lot of potential in that part member family and their two friends that are always over...
-We are in the process of prioritizing the work and deciding which Less Actives need a weekly visit (if that) and who just needs a phone call reminder to go to church. We are discovering that this area cant support finding, investigators, recent recent converts and the amount of less active work that was going on before...

--
Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers August 16, 2010

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

from another email:

(from my mom's journal from when I was 2)

-wow!!!! I loved hearing about me as a little kid! I am going to see if I can print that here at the library.... If not I might be asking for a copy of it soon...
-Thank you so much for the package! the APs made a very special delivery (I don't even know if they usually do this) and delivered the package to me on a street corner in my area....
-I cant believe Cole is already using the Melchizedek Priesthood! WOW! I gave someone a blessing last night too! I love doing that. It really strengthens my testimony.

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!

Thanks Sarah for the package! I am so excited to eat the salsa with chips! I am surprised you remembered that was my fav! (or did you just pick it out luckily?)

Q:(from Dad) how does it feel to be 20?

A: AWESOME! but in truth not any different. Same as any passing of a year. I just love the fact that I am not a teenager even though I don't feel any different.

I got to celebrate my birthday by

1) performing a baptism!

2) eating AMAZING homemade tacos and come cake (that I actually liked because it was from a bakery and it was just angel food cake, whipped cream and strawberries...

3)opening up the packages and having a small nerf fight! and testing out the vacuum bags (so cool!)

Having such a chill birthday helped me to stay focused on others and the service/why I'm out here rather than myself.

I also ate lunch with a TV star! yay! Her name is Chelea Hightower from Dancing with the Stars... the story: Elder Ellett (the AP/my good friend - who I just told to look up Kenzie at BYU because he goes home this week) randomly invited me to go on splits with him to a lunch appointment while everyone else continued to work on the Temple grounds as part of our zone service activity. So I got to duck out early and go way up in Beverly Hills (on the way he pointed out the back gate of the Playboy mansion...) ANYWAY, she was very cool, I loved having a lesson (on the power of testimonies) slash talking about the gospel with a pretty cute and famous girl in Beverly Hills (and her female roommate and the male Ward Mission Leader...) I love how she can be a strong member despite all that...

WHAT IS UP IN MY AREA....

We have been exceedingly busy these past weeks between working two areas (every other day) because I went on splits because Elder Franson was at those leadership training meetings all day and preparing for baptisms-which is never something to complain about! We also got to go to the visitors center- which was very cool!

I am excited to go to the trainings this week even though they will be from 9AM-3PM Tues-Fri this week. I have heard a lot about them from Elder Franson (they got trained this past week by President and Sister Baker and now they will be training us this week) Anyway worldwide the missions are going to be more focused on the person and the spirit, asking QUESTIONS by the spirit, getting to know them and their doubts. All in all the General Authorities feel like most missionaries are not really good teachers because while they can explain the doctrine amazingly and the check off everything on their teaching record, they just don't help the investigators, as real people feel connecting to the gospel, they just don't help their personal testimonies progress, they are afraid to ask Qs and let them talk etc. I feel like I need to work on following the spirit more but Elder Franson said that I was ahead of the game in terms of being personable and asking Qs etc. I feel like I need some training at what a lot of the other missionaries are good at- just expressing their thoughts in an organized manner...

Investigators:
-Jamson Chuc was baptized on Aug 8th! You went to his baptism. It went very well! I think I already wrote about it in last weeks email so I don't think I will do so again here.
-Sergio Avila was baptized on Aug 15 and I was lucky enough to be chosen by Sergio to perform the actual ordinance on my birthday. Obviously I could not ask for a better gift to see a baptism. We always like to have people in the ward to be the ones to form that bond between the person being baptized and the person performing it that comes from baptism because they stick around and we don't. Anyway, he would not have it and he insisted that one of us do it.
We were a little worried about his preparedness for baptism. He had to have two interviews with President Guiliani but in the end he passed him and both he and Sergio were excited for his baptism. We were nervous only because his testimony is not as strong as we would like (only strong enough to basically answer the baptismal questions but we know that he doesn't really truly understand or believe) that wasn't the biggest concern though because we know it is a journey and that Elder Franson and I did not have any stronger testimony at age 8 than he does. The real concern was that just the way he was talking to us about some things that we confronted him about and from the stuff that his friends were saying about him, we believed that he is lying about some of his worthiness. We did the best we could though and there is no use trying to call him out after we directly confront him about it. If he was lying than it is on him, as bad as that sounds...
Anyway, after much praying and talking to our leaders we decided that we cannot hold back a baptism based on suspicion of worthiness and lack of testimony, as long as they understand why they are being baptized (even if they don't understand 100% because none of us do, but if they understand enough...) and as long as they have that desire. We know that it will probably be more of a struggle to keep him active because he does not have too much support from his family (although we heard just this past Sunday that his mom is trying to leave her spirit worshipping religion that sounds to be heavily Satanic influenced... so we are going to try to start teaching her...!) Anyway, I am sorry I am rambling so much, we will work hard to have him have a good relationship with the bishop, the young men and his leaders to get him that support that he needs...

Less-active work:
We continue to work with the less active members and 5-5-5 people. They regretfully got pushed pretty far back on the back burner this past week because of the limited time we got to work in our area and because of preparing for Sergio's baptism. We are seeing some success there- a couple of members have come back to church for the first time in many years and some we are close to having them come back.

We did go to the Visitor's Center with Jamson and his family and Alex (who has a baptismal date of Aug 29) and his family. I am so excited to be able to have it as such a powerful teaching tool! I was thoroughly impressed!

My studies:
I have recently revamped and organized/planned/outlined what I will study each day and for how long. I am excited to keep putting it into practice and follow-up with myself, just like I do with investigators (I find that helps...)

oh also- you can check out the bishop of the palisades ward/the building on mormon.org under one of the top tabs under service....

Elder Myers August 9, 2010

Hello everyone!

Today we had a fun p day activity of playing pool at the local bowling alley (we tried to go bowling but they were all full) I decided I really love pool haha. Elder Franson was kind of stressed out planning his first P Day activity as a District Leader but it all went smoothly! We were going to go to Denny's and have a nice deep doctrine discussion (haha) but we decided because of the ASL program being in our district it would be too hard to translate with the deaf elder in the district... After that we played basketball at the Spanish ward building that I went to downtown that we sometimes play- the invite is open to the whole mission... Anyway that is what I was up to today.

Now for the past week:

Our new area is going really well, kind of different without the extra companion now that Elder Weber is home but it is still going very well nonetheless. Elder Franson has a lot of meetings (especially with the meetings for the new curriculum every day this week), baptismal interviews (always a good thing!) splits and just general duties of a District Leader to attend to so that always keeps us on our feet! I love teaching in Spanish even though a lot of the people we teach prefer to be taught in English but still go to church in Spanish because of their family.

Our Investigators:

-Jamson Chuc: Yesterday as you know because you were there, Jamson got baptized! There were a lot of people from the ward there and everything went fairly smoothly. I know that Jamson and his family felt the spirit as us as missionaries spent most of it running around making sure it goes ok. I am glad that Jamson has taken the first step in following Christ and I know that even though he might not show it because his personality is reserved I know that his life has already and will continue to be changed because of that decision. Brother Chuc in particular was so proud of Jamson! Now all we have to do is get some Home Teachers over there!

-Sergio has a baptismal date set for Aug 15 because he did not pass his interview with Presiden Guiliani because of his involvement in the Crip gang from ages 12-14 and because he sold marijuana two weeks ago... Sergio unfortunately did not come to church last week (and neither did the two less active Archundias girls didn't attend either...) We checked up on them and we found out that Sergio stole money from his mom and she grounded him- which included church. We think that maybe it has something to do with her dislike for our religion, but we thought that we had sorted all of that out. She is fine with having him be baptized but we still should clear all of this up before his baptism. Right now we are just keeping him on track for this Sunday with an increase in his daily Book of Mormon reading and introducing him to the bishop... We love working with teenagers because they are usually more honest with you but sometimes you have to pay the price of them making bad decisions and not following through on some commitments.

-We might be picking up Alex Ortiz as an investigator again because he says that he is willing to get baptized but we are still not sure if he is only saying that because his parents are pressuring him to. We will work with him to figure out his motives and to strengthen his testimony that he is not willing to admit he has about modern day prophets/Joseph Smith. He is being very very stubborn but we think he might be turning a corner with his testimony etc. This has been a struggle for about 6months with the past Elders.

Less-Actives:

-the Monge family went to church last Sunday for the first time (besides the active adult daughter) in twenty years! We were just checking up on them last week because they were on our lists... It was a normal everyday thing except that the daughter came up to us and starting balling. She said that she had just finished praying, asking God to bring in 3rd party help to assist in reactivating her parents. I love witnessing miracles like that, it strengthens my testimony of God's hand in aligning His children's paths of life to do His work. It is always random like not leaving right away and stopping to talk to the guy on the bench that stalls us enough to fulfill His purpose of us being there. I know that we are nothing but instruments in His hands when after one contact two people come to church for the first time in twenty years!

-the Archundias girls are still reading their Book of Mormon and besides this last Sunday are really showing that they have made some HUGE changes in their lives... I love seeing people overcome the pressures of the neighborhood they live in to live the Gospel.

My studies are going well, I have started to put less focus on finishing the Old Testament by the end of the summer so that I can dedicate some of my study hour to reading PMG because I feel that is the most effective use of my time instead of pushing to reach my goal that I have no adjusted to match my plan...

Also, I cannot wait to see the new visitor's center! We are trying to get some investigators a mode of transportation to go see it! I know how helpful the VC is in conversion!

Love!
Elder Myers

Elder Myers Aug. 4, 2010

Updates from Centinela East:
We will be having twobaptisms this Sunday!! Jamson Chuc is the 15yr old son in a PMF. We are very excited for him to be baptized! He passed his interview last night and is all ready for this Sunday. He is a really really quiet guy but is slowly but surely warming up to us. Not too much else to say here, except his recently reactivated dad is really happy he is making this decision.

Sergio did not pass his interview entirely last night with our district leader so we have one scheduled for this Thursday with President Guiliani. He used to be a member of the gang "Crips" from age 12-14. He used to sell a lot of marijuana and beat people up as a result of his membership. He stopped his gang activity when his friend was shot and killed last year. He is a good kid and is commited to the gospel and loves progressing within it so we are confident he will pass his second interview. I love all the new experiences that I am
having on my mission, especially being exposed to different walks of life. I loved hearing about the huge change that my investigators/recent converts made/continue to make as a result of accepting and following the gospel.

We are also working with some less active members/recent converts. Six of them came to church last sunday, and we hope that the Ferman family will join of them this Sunday! The Archundias girls, who are good friends/neighbors to Sergio, have come three times in a row! They even stayed with Sergio for two hours of church this past Sunday. They are also coming to all of it this Sunday. We are very happy with the progress they are making. One of the girls is in Jacob in her Book of Mormon reading after five days of reading!

We are also still trying to juggle six other people that are kind of shakey in their desire etc. one of them being a family of 5. We will sort it out this week and hopefully they will all be at church with solid baptismal dates! We are also looking to pick up 3 investigators as part of three different PMFs... We also are going to pass over a really cool African-American family to the English elders.

I am loving all the work to be done!

I am diong great and I love my new comp and it was really really weird to send a missionary home!

Elder Myers July 27, 2010

Well I am in my new area Centinela East and it is way different, which is good! It is a mix of Latin and black people, mostly black. It is very fun and very different than both of my last areas. The borders are N: El Segundo S: Marine E:110 highway W:Prarie. It is like the area around ETHS highschool but busier/bigger streets. It is safe though so dont worry mom! We are in a car area because Elder Franson (my black comp from Provo) is DL. I love both my companions. Elder Weber is a convert and he is going home next week. I started to do a diet with him but now I will just watch what I eat because I dont want to dedicate my life to his Nazi (he is a self proclaimed workaholic) regiment until my 6 month to the end mark... 
 
We have a lot of work to do which always keeps every day busy! As of Friday of last week we had 10 baptismal dates but because some people did not come to church we said we only had 4. That was kind of disappointing but it happens on the mission. This means this week will have to do some prayer, planning and sorting out of who we should drop and who deserves another chance to come to church. 
 
                      Work with our baptismal date people.... 
We are teaching Gabby and her three daughters Denise, Lily, and Nancy. They are very nice and very interested in the gospel! Nancy and Lily came to church (Gabby had a very last minute call to go into work and Denise couldnt come either) Nancy and Lily stayed for sacrament meeting and all through a rather deep Old Testament youth class...! They also made friends with a YW in the ward who is coming with us for our next appointment!
 
We are also teaching two other families (the Chuc's and the Ortiz's) . The parents are recently reactivated and come pretty regularly. Both of these have sons that have baptismal dates!
-Alex Ortiz comes to church every Sunday but he his having some trouble accepting the testimony that I know he has about modern day prophets and Joseph Smith. We (and the previous Elders) have tried a lot of different things to help him out. We might drop him in a week if he doesnt keep progressing. We will just give him assignments etc when we see him at church every week. 
-Jamson Chuc is a very quiet kid who is progressing very well towards his baptismal date on the 8th of August. We had one speedbump where he missed church this past week for the first time out of three times becasue he was out too late but he will be back on track this Sunday! We are working really hard to be friends with him so that he will open up to us. This will help us discern (not judge) how is progress/understanding and testimony are doing. So far we have made improvement. We teach engaging lessons with lots of real-life examples- from everthing from testimonies to movies/books he has seen. I love teaching that way, I have always used that style of teaching and I got a lot of practice with it in Malibu. Lessons are always more REAL/personal when you do it that way. The downside is they tend to be less focused/structured, but we are learning how to plan for them in advance specifically so we avoid that problem. 
 
                         Work with Less Actives...
Two of the daughters from the less active Archundias came to church last week so we are excited about them. The two friends of one of the daughters did not come to church and they were two of our baptismal dates.....
 
My studies in the Old Testament are going well, I am a little behind but I am working hard to catch up!