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!

Elder Myers July 20, 2010

Hello everyone!

I am saying good bye to the 30 miles of scenic coastal beauty of Malibu and Pacific Palisades. Saying farewell to an AMAZING ward! It will definitely be different no matter where I go, there are no movie stars (we think we saw Orlando Bloom at a trailer across the street when we were at a members house in Paradise Cove- they said he goes there a lot, it sure looked like him, I also think I saw Sacha Bron Coehn (sp) at Chipotle in Santa Monica and I did meet Ricky Schroder but that is all neither here nor there because we definitely don't hang out where the stars do..)., surfers, houses, glam etc quite like there are in Malibu. There are definitely not huge open spaces/mountains, valleys, the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) summer traffic and especially farm animals to take care of (we moved Susan Swenson's chicken coup- home to her 20 chickens- down her hill/mountain on Saturday with two other Elders, it was a project and it was very fun).

In response to my Dad:

haha yeah I hate surprises, I have somewhat gotten over other people running my life, with rules, always asking for permission for everyday things etc-the only hard part is when it is hard to see it as the Lord running my life and it is easier to see humans running it... Sometimes it gets blurry but the only way to live is to trust in the lord.

Interviews went well, it was really rushed though, he seems like he is doing what ALL new missionaries try to do- drink out of a firehose (Michael and Peter ! yay!).... Interviews are ALWAYS behind schedule and it just seemed that President Blackburn was a little more ok with being behind the clock for interviews...

I have to write to the pres/the weekly update email though now.

I am getting transferred, I will be in a trio for two weeks and then with Elder Franson, he is a black elder from Provo. He was in my district for my first transfer in the field. I don't know exactly where I will be (we are not supposed to know until tonight but I hate surprises and the Zone Leaders find out from the APs this morning and I worked that much out of them) I believe I am in Willowbrook/Hawthorne. It is def a lot more ghetto than Malibu. It is right under Watts and South Central. I don't know if I will be speaking Spanish or English yet. I am so excited! I love being able to get both sides of the picture in more ways than one because I am serving in such a huge, diverse city as LA. Apparently I am supposed to balance it all out because Elder Franson is a great Elder but has recently started not working as hard and the other Elder is going home on Aug 4 (so early- like what I might do for BYU) and he works VERY VERY hard- Elder Bigler knows him really well.

letter to the President...

Recently it has been a little up and down... Alan Beck no longer has a solid date because he really wants some family and ward members to fly in and be their for the event. He is still progressing and we are confident that he will be baptized before the end of the summer. He just needs to build up his confidence a little more. We want him to realize that this is the Lord's time not our time (speaking both about his time and even our time as missionaries- meaning our goal is to represent the Savior not us with our personal opinions doubts etc...). He keeps saying that he will be baptized on his own time. We feel like we have built an amazing relationship with him. He trusts us a lot and he knows that we love him and his family so much and only want the best for him. Because of this relationship we have started to push him a lot more recently. We know from comments from past missionaries, the ward and especially the Bishop that he does not respond well to pressure. We have worked really hard to develop that open relationship where we could discuss the things that needed to be discussed openly. It has worked very well, but we have hit a little speed bump where we might have pushed him a little too far. Not far enough to damage our trust or relationship but far enough that he has slowed down his rate of progression a little. We still have faith that he will be baptized though.

It is sort of the same case with many of the other people we work with, less because we pushed them too far but more because we are starting to get to the plateau point if you will- where now they are just exercising their agency and sometimes not in the best way according to God. I don't know if that makes sense- I'm not trying to say we have taught them all their is and now the ball is totally in their court and we can just sit back and wait for them, but I do know that they get more and more prepared to make that decision, through their words and actions, of whether we are going to follow the Spirit of God or the evil spirit, to accept the restored gospel and live by it's teachings or reject. We will all have to make that decision at some point with baptism etc but more importantly we ALL make that decision as we go about our daily lives.

I have learned so much about the stark contrast between good and evil, God and things of the world etc on my mission. It really is black and white thanks to the knowledge we have from the restored gospel. I also know that it is only through humility in doing the Lord's will for us that we can lead a happy successful life.

--
Love!
Elder Myers

Digging a Hole

Elder Myers July 13, 2010

Hello everyone!

The work seems to be both picking up!- mostly because of the 40 day ward fast that is just coming to an end. At the same time however, with transfers coming up on July 21 (everyone, including the Zone Leaders, have told us that there is a 99.99% that one of us will be leaving) and going on splits twice this month to my District Leaders Spanish area in Culver City/Marina Del Ray, it has been a struggle now more than every, especially for Elder Bigler I think, to not get frustrated with the nature of this area. All areas are different but while this one might not be very physically demanding, it does try your creativity/intellect, focus, personal dedication and diligence, patience, work ethic and testimony a little more than others... But do not worry Mom! We are both very happy/cheerful still, from past experiences I know that it is much more fun and just better to be happy. I can speak for myself, and it would probably be the same for Elder Bigler, it would take more than this for me to fold and be unhappy. It is very powerful to think of it as me folding rather than someone or something making me unhappy- I really loved hearing about that psychologist that I forgot's theory on "the Last Human Freedom" (essentially the eternal and God given gift of agency) Not to end this paragraph on an unhappy note but speaking of agency- that is one of the things that we tend to get frustrated over the most...haha

In response to an email from Mom-

It sounds like everything is A ok at home! Does Michael sound like I did in the MTC or like I do now? I am finally getting over my anxiety about whether or not I am changing as much as I would like to be and trying to ignore myself/thoughts and just work. It is hard for me to focus though as you know but I think that I am doing pretty well especially considering the area I am in right now. A member brought up at a dinner lesson recently how bad complacency is and I know that of all of my "Achilles heels" in the gospel I don't think that is it, I always have at least a little anxiety over the amount of stuff I think I need to improve on. I'm happy though so don't worry!

Elder Bigler and I have been focusing a lot of our efforts for the past couple of transfers and especially now on the Beck family. Alan Beck is an investigator who has been going to church with his wife and now two year old daughter for the past five actively. He has recently taken a huge turn towards baptism. He does not like committing to dates- it has always been a struggle with all the missionaries, including us, but with a lot of help and preparation on the Lord's part the time is finally approaching for him to get baptized. We recently made a calendar, detailing everything that he would need to do to be ready for baptism on July 17th, so that he could be sealed to his family on July 23, 2011 (their anniversary date). We told him that we are starting from square one and treating him as if he were a brand new investigator, which he thought was a great idea. We had an amazing lesson with Bishop Bolander of the Pacific Palisades ward and Brother Beck said that after much prayer and discussion his wife and him decided that he would definitely get baptized. The only problem with the date of July 17th is that his step-father is going to have a very intense surgery on Friday and he also wants a lot of his wife's (all members) family to fly in for the baptism. We are praying and talking with him about him getting baptized as soon as humanly possible and so we will see how this all works out!

We also recently picked up an former investigator, named Renate Hecht, that had previously shown little interest in taking the discussions. We have had some amazing lessons with her and she is showing, albeit slow, progress. She has expressed that she thinks that the Catholic church (her family is all from Austria and so she comes from a very devout Catholic background) is not the one true church on the earth. She said that she is currently searching for the truth! She has grown up around the church through friends, colleagues etc. She said that she would be baptized into the LDS Church but it was only a matter of time- to figure out how to minimize the pain that it would cause her family and to be 100% for sure of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Church. We are very excited about her! The only problem is that she is progressing VERY slowly because of those two setbacks and the fact that she is so busy that we can only meet with her one or two times a week.

We have been working with many less active and part-member families/people, three of whom came to church once and we are still trying to work with them to make that more consistent. Two of them suffer from fairly severe bi-polar disorder and one from depression so that is proving to be somewhat of a hindrance, but they are making progress!

My studies are going quite well! I am trying to read the entire Old Testament by the end of the summer because I have never read it cover to cover before. It is very interesting and I love how it strengthens my testimony of the restored church. I love studying about the Lord's chosen people from ancient history and thinking about that in light of today. Right now I am reading in Judges. Some scriptures I have liked in the past week have been Judges 6:14-17 when an angel appears to Gideon and calls him to deliver Israel. The Lord really calls us in our weakness and qualifies us for the work- sort of the other way around in the business, sports etc world. I also loved Deuteronomy 2:7; 4; 29: 3-4...

ps I would like everyone to know that just because I am exceedingly slow at getting back to you doesn't mean your letters are not very appreciated! (In other words thank you so much!)

Elder Myers July 6, 2010

As you have undoubtedly figured out by now since it was the fourth on Sunday we couldn't email yesterday which is why I am doing it now...

Yesterday on P day I played soccer for most of the day before we went out to work. It was a mission wide activity at this park out in Bell Gardens- where Elder Cooley is serving right now... (the city that is almost the farthest east city in our mission, while way out in Malibu is the farthest point west in our mission..) so it was a trek through south central LA to get there. Before the activity Elder Bigler and I decided to buy some cheap cleats so that we wouldn't roll our ankles anymore etc. They will be useful because we play soccer every morning now at the temple with the APs (I am really good friends with one of them- Elder Ellett, he is from small town Loa Utah- sort of near richfield, he is going home soon, but we have some tentative plans to room together at BYU provo... I don't know if I have talked about him before, he is the Elder with one arm...) anyway it is us four verses about 8-12 sisters, it is very fun! We only live about 4-6 minutes away from the temple on the highway.... by the way the LA freeway system/traffic is out of this world insane! There is literally ALWAYS traffic and I have seen 10 lanes in one direction at merge spots and regular 6-8 lane traffic in one way... and there are crazy connecting (like spaghetti haha) highways to others.. I am from Chicago and I am impressed, I know Elder Bigler (who drives because he is the senior companion) doesn't like it...

Anyway, Alan Beck has a baptismal date for the first time in his 5ish years of investigating the church!

A lot of things worked to help him make that HUGE step.

-First off he has a "calling" to teach part time, the Elders quorum, which is helping him gain confidence in the doctrine/himself.

-The ward is doing a 40 fast for missionary efforts. This is really helping to strengthen my semi weak testimony of fasting (you know how much my world revolves around not having a ravenously empty stomach, I am really trying to get past the natural man...) It is strengthening my testimony because we are finally starting to see the success rate (for lack of better terms) pick up since they have started it- with Alan, with less actives finally coming to church (although non have come for more than one Sunday... we are still working on that- they look promising!)

-Like I have said before, we are focusing on the family and how this will be a blessing for Angelica (his daughter) and making a goal with him to get sealed in the temple on July 23, 2011 (their anniversary...)

-We also made this funny, color coded calendar that outlines in detail the appointments we have and the assignments they need to do as a family before then. We decided to go back to the basics with him and reteach him everything like he was a new investigator. He loved that idea because he said that since the Elders see that he has been coming to church for 5 years they assume he knows everything and don't teach the basics as much. He says he thinks that he has holes in his gospel education, while there is some truth to that statement (according to him he has never seen the 20 min long first vision movie- we watch that with everyone and their dead dog...haha) so that was a shock, but we are mostly doing this to build his confidence and have him see that he has been ready for forever to take that leap of faith...

As a zone we "celebrated" the fourth by having a mini testimony meeting at 7 on Sunday and then watching some parts of the new PMG DVDs which were filmed in San Diego and they are supposedly 100% for real, no cuts/edits basically documenting missionaries. They are really funny and educational... They haven't even come out yet but one the privileges of working in an affluent part of LA is that you guessed it-a member in one companionship of sisters in my district's area-Brentwood, worked on it so they have a rough copy of it that they lent to us for the night. It was very fun! I almost felt like I was off my mission, reminiscing about my mission watching a documentary of missions... That feeling of being off my mission very RARELY happens, which I know is good... But it returned back to normal when we fell asleep at around 10:30 to fireworks outside haha

PRESIDENT and SISTER BAKER our new mission president just arrived this past week. It was sad to see the Blackburn's leave but he gave a really good last talk at zone conference and all the elders got to hug sister Blackburn goodbye! It was kind of weird... like hugging you mom... haha but I didn't get all emotional so don't worry! They are now living in Provo.

As for President and Sister Baker... Everyone says that he is me in 50 years. Graduated from BYU provo in econ, went to business school at Northwestern- downtown- so he went to the foster building in 79-81ish for all those horrible/historic snow storms... he has a lot of energy and said that he gets on a lot of tangents because he has ADD... He is really funny and very personable- he moved our interviews to next week so he could spend longer interviewing each missionary to get to know us. (we met him as a zone last Sunday...) Although Elder Bigler and I met him briefly at the mission home last week when we had to stop in to get a loner car because ours was in the shop (no we did not wreck- they were fixing the locking mechanism of one of the doors...) Anyway I am very excited to have him as our mission president. I think he will understand my personality a lot more than President Blackburn did, not that he didn't like me or anything.... I don't know if that makes sense...

I LOVE YOU ALL!

New Mission President for the CLAM

Stephen Reed Baker, 58, and Tamara Toolson Baker, four children, Riverton Farms Ward, Riverton Utah Central Stake. Brother Baker serves as a ward mission leader and missionary for the Perpetual Education Fund and is a former counselor in a stake presidency, bishop and counselor, high councilor, ward Young Men president and missionary in the Argentina South Mission. Retired managing director for multinational bank. Born in Whittier, Calif., to John Frederick and Lucille Taylor Baker.

Sister Baker serves as a ward missionary and is a former counselor in a ward Relief Society presidency, and teacher in gospel doctrine, institute, Relief Society and Primary. Born in Brigham City, Utah, to Landell Vern and Wylene Millet Toolson.