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.

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Love!
Elder Myers