Dear Family,
First off, I'm perfectly safe, and healthy (so you don't have to freak out). This week has been awesome! My new companion and I are working hard, and getting alot done. We have several new investigators, we have had a couple investigators come to church even, and they said that they would be there next week as well! Ok, that's the spiritual part of my e-mail, short, but awesome.
So you may have heard about some of the stuff that has been happening in Oklahoma lately...well, it's all true (I think, but I don't know for sure, because I can't watch the news...). There was recently a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in a small town near Sparks, Oklahoma. This is a little north-east of me, but I still felt it. I had gone to bed and was just about to fall asleep when I felt like my bed was shaking! Uh-oh....It felt alot like some of the seizures I would have when I was little so I was a little bit worried.....Then I heard the apartment shaking and l knew that it wasn't my brain going haywire, which was a relief....and then I realized the apartment was shaking! WHY WAS THE APARTMENT SHAKING?! So I still laid there in bed, what can I say, I was tired, and I listened and I heard the stairs outside the apartment shaking as well....I finally made the connection that it was the same thing that happened to us when we lived in Illinois and made the connection! THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE IN OKLAHOMA! WHY?! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW OKLAHOMA HAD EARTHQUAKES!!! So, I sat up and asked my companion if he felt it, and he said that he had...hmmmm. He was pretty freaked out, but I was mostly just tired...so I went back to sleep....
One good thing about earthquakes though, is that it makes door approaches alot more interesting! They go to slam the door on us and we ask them about the earthquake and all the sudden they're willing to talk!!! So it has turned out to be a blessing kind of...That's about all that has happened with me this week...Sorry, it's not that interesting or long...
Love you all mucho much,
Elder Raymond the Younger
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Senior Companion!
Dear Family,
Yes, I'm alive. I didn't e-mail last week because I wasn't able too...sorry. Anyway, Transfers were last Wednesday and my companion got transferred. My new companions name is Elder L. He's from Utah....so many Utahans.....anyway, he has been out for a transfer less than I have and I'm senior companion...ugh.....
We are doing amazing! We have an investigator who accepted a baptismal commitment, and now we just have to go back and set a date! It's freaking awesome. We are working hard and I can already tell that this is going to be a good transfer.
Not much has happened on my end....sorry, but it's true....I had a Pentecostal woman tell me that I was confused and didn't know what a soulful church felt like....hmmm....
I'm trying to think of what to write about but there isn't really anything. I built a well house last week, tore down a wall, repaired a chicken coop, and didn't have to chase down three horses :).
It sounds like there's lots of fun stuff going on at home right now! Caitlin is not allowed to drive....she's 12! heehee...We had a ward trunk of treat on Saturday that was fun. My companion and I dressed up as the Mormon Missionaries. After all, what is scarier than that! Suffice to say, we went and we ate all the food. It was pretty good.
Thank you all for your letters and support!
Love you all mucho much,
Elder Raymond the Younger
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Oops forgot one...
This was sent August 26, 2011:
This week has been interesting....My new companion loves to do service! It's not a bad thing but it takes up a lot of time. This week I've installed a door, painted a barn, mucked out horse stalls, moved someone twice...and various other things. This week has been really good. Guess what I got to do?! I got to ride a horse!!! It was awesome!!! Anyway, that's about the sum of my week. Sorry I don't have anything interesting to tell. I'm doing well (thanks for sending the pants mom, and I don't need shirts or anything) and I'm loving the new area. Thank you for all your e-mails!
Love you all!
Elder Raymond the Younger
Feeling Yucky...
This week has been uneventful. I was sick for the first half of the week and my companion was sick for the last half....so we didnt' get anything done....it's upsetting. General Conference was amazing! I loved the talk on everyone learning their duty and carrying it out. It was awesome to hear from you all and it's awesome to hear what is going on with the family. Thank you for the e-mails!!
Love you all,
Elder Raymond the Younger
Monday, September 19, 2011
Transferred...
Dear Family,
Transfers were this week. I'm in an area called Pauls Valley, which is south of Oklahoma City, north of Ardmore. My new companion is Elder J. He has one transfer left ...great...."Sigh"...
This week I've been doing a lot of service. In this one week, we've already helped someone move twice, mucked out a horse stall (it's actually better than cleaning a catbox...), and dug up a sewage tank...gross, huh.....
I'm in a small branch of less than 80 people, so it's really nice to be able to get to know all the members relatively quick.
That's literally all that's happened with me this week. Thanks for the e-mails.
Love you all,
Elder Raymond the Younger
P.S. Mom, could you send me another pair of jeans please?
Transfers were this week. I'm in an area called Pauls Valley, which is south of Oklahoma City, north of Ardmore. My new companion is Elder J. He has one transfer left ...great...."Sigh"...
This week I've been doing a lot of service. In this one week, we've already helped someone move twice, mucked out a horse stall (it's actually better than cleaning a catbox...), and dug up a sewage tank...gross, huh.....
I'm in a small branch of less than 80 people, so it's really nice to be able to get to know all the members relatively quick.
That's literally all that's happened with me this week. Thanks for the e-mails.
Love you all,
Elder Raymond the Younger
P.S. Mom, could you send me another pair of jeans please?
Smitten with Smiting...
Dear family,
This past week has been interesting. It's kind of hard to remember what went on though because the days seem to blend together. This week I tracted with my companion all day, every day. It was fun...Alot of interesting things have happened though. We were at a members house and they have this kitten that mysteriously arrived at their house after the May tornadoes. So they took it in and called it Twister. So anyway, this family is an elderly woman and her husband. So we were over there for dinner on Wednesday (the food was amazing) and she decided to show us what her cat can do...So she runs into the garage and brings out this small cat. She is holding it vertically under its front legs and having it walk on the ground. Then she takes the glasses off this tiny Santa figurine and she puts them on the cat! She then proceeded to make the cat dance around and sing (while wearing the glasses) and after it's "performance" she had it bow and then released it (and it promptly tried to climb on my head....). It was probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my entire life. It was amazing. The next day we had District meeting (which was good) and we went to this Chinese buffet afterward. The best part though is that they had an all you can eat Mongolian grill INCLUDED in the price of the buffet!!! WHOA IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!! I loved it. Alright, the next day we had the opportunity to go to a baptism that someone in our district was having. It was for a woman I had taught before when I was on exchanges with the district leader, and she was extremely happy and even more emotional. It was interesting but really cool to see how excited she was to be baptized. So, at the baptism after she was baptized and she was pulled out of the water she exclaimed "HALLELUJAH, I'M A MORMON! I've waited 30 years for this!!!". Suffice to say, It was hilarious. Some of the more "traditional" woman at the baptism were mortified but I thought it was awesome that she was so excited and so happy. It was an awesome experience. So that was on Saturday and her confirmation was the next day and she wanted all the missionaries to stand in for it (there were 6 of us)! So we went to the sacrament meeting and stood in the circle for the confirmation. It was awesome. So we were in our church meeting (our zone leaders and us are in the same ward) and our zone leaders had an investigator there. He was sitting there and after the sacrament prayer for the water he turns to my companion and said "This is holy water! We could burn vampires with this!" It was funny. Then in priesthood they asked him to introduce himself so he awkwardly stood up, said his name and asked if there was anything else they wanted to know. One of the members in priesthood asked him if he was investigating and this was his response: "Investigating? NO, I'm ready to go! I'm ready to just dive right in! I would do anything for y'all, I'd smite someone if you needed me to!". It was also awesome. Then after the priesthood meeting (we talked about baptisms for the dead) He came up to my companion and told him: "Baptisms for the dead are awesome! But when do I get to smite someone?!" I don't know what it was, but this guy was bound and determined to smite someone....Anyway, that was my Sunday. Something else that happened on Sunday...Transfer information...I'm getting transferred! I'm leaving El Reno and I'm going to a place called Paul's Valley. My new companions name is Elder J. I don't know anything about him but I'm pretty excited. Transfers are on Wednesday. That's about all that has happened with me this week. Thanks for the e-mails, although I would still like Emma's new address so she doesn't think that I have forgotten her...Thank you for your letters and stories, they are definitely one of the highlights of my week.
Love you all,
Elder Raymond the Younger
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
It's MY Peanut Butter!!!
Dear family,
This week was interesting...it flew by uber, uber fast. Something interesting happened today though. We are teaching a less active, part member family. The mom is living with her boyfriend and wants to get back to church, so we are teaching her and her boyfriend, however the boyfriend closes up instantly like a clam if we push too hard so we have to be super careful. So anyway, we were tracting when we knock on a certain door and an elderly woman answers the door. She let us in and started telling us how she grew up a member and was baptized but she didn't raise her son in the church....It turns out that this lady is the Mom to the aforementioned boyfriend! mwa-ha-ha-hah....now we can teach the mom and have her work with him! Ha! When nothing else works, involve the mom!
Thursday we had zone conference! It is when the entire zone gets together and we have kind of a fireside and lunch from our mission president. It was awesome! At lunch they told us that mail and packages were on the stage and I had read in a previous e-mail that you sent me that you sent me something, so I hoped that one of them would be mine...AND ONE WAS! :D! I was uber excited! Thank you for all the awesome things in the package, and all the awesome t-shirts, food, random things, and SPUD!!! Spud now has a permanent home on my desk.
So now I have a story for you and it's about peanut butter. My last companion (Elder N.) got transferred out and the only thing I asked him to leave was the Peter Pan peanut butter. So he went to transfers and he left me the peanut butter. Well, then he had to pass back through here to get to his new area so he stopped at the apartment one last time and he told the zone leaders that he thought, "what can I steal? ", and he stole the peanut butter...jerk....so then I was mad about that for a while and when zone conference came around they stayed in our apartment which was pretty cool, and Elder N. was telling me how specifically took the peanut butter because I wanted it, so of course I had to get him back somehow....So this is what I did. The zone leaders (who I happen to be friends with...) were going down to his area to do an exchange with elder N. down in his area because he's the district leader, and so I asked them to steal my peanut butter back! So they did. The peanut butter has a permanent home in this apartment where it belongs. The zone leaders accidentally stole some of the peanut butter that he bought though, so I have to send that stuff back, but the rest is mine!!! That is the story about the peanut butter....juvenile, but funny.
We went to the temple on Friday as well! It was amazing as usual. I'm so blessed to be able to have a temple in my mission boundaries. We still just tract every day, so I don't really have any cool teaching stories sorry....
Thank you all for the package again, it was more appreciated than you know.
Sorry I missed Caiti's birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
It's good to hear all the news from home, and that you are all doing so well. Thank you for all that you do for me and all the wonderful things you have taught me! Keep being awesome!
Love,
Elder Raymond the Younger
This week was interesting...it flew by uber, uber fast. Something interesting happened today though. We are teaching a less active, part member family. The mom is living with her boyfriend and wants to get back to church, so we are teaching her and her boyfriend, however the boyfriend closes up instantly like a clam if we push too hard so we have to be super careful. So anyway, we were tracting when we knock on a certain door and an elderly woman answers the door. She let us in and started telling us how she grew up a member and was baptized but she didn't raise her son in the church....It turns out that this lady is the Mom to the aforementioned boyfriend! mwa-ha-ha-hah....now we can teach the mom and have her work with him! Ha! When nothing else works, involve the mom!
Thursday we had zone conference! It is when the entire zone gets together and we have kind of a fireside and lunch from our mission president. It was awesome! At lunch they told us that mail and packages were on the stage and I had read in a previous e-mail that you sent me that you sent me something, so I hoped that one of them would be mine...AND ONE WAS! :D! I was uber excited! Thank you for all the awesome things in the package, and all the awesome t-shirts, food, random things, and SPUD!!! Spud now has a permanent home on my desk.
So now I have a story for you and it's about peanut butter. My last companion (Elder N.) got transferred out and the only thing I asked him to leave was the Peter Pan peanut butter. So he went to transfers and he left me the peanut butter. Well, then he had to pass back through here to get to his new area so he stopped at the apartment one last time and he told the zone leaders that he thought, "what can I steal? ", and he stole the peanut butter...jerk....so then I was mad about that for a while and when zone conference came around they stayed in our apartment which was pretty cool, and Elder N. was telling me how specifically took the peanut butter because I wanted it, so of course I had to get him back somehow....So this is what I did. The zone leaders (who I happen to be friends with...) were going down to his area to do an exchange with elder N. down in his area because he's the district leader, and so I asked them to steal my peanut butter back! So they did. The peanut butter has a permanent home in this apartment where it belongs. The zone leaders accidentally stole some of the peanut butter that he bought though, so I have to send that stuff back, but the rest is mine!!! That is the story about the peanut butter....juvenile, but funny.
We went to the temple on Friday as well! It was amazing as usual. I'm so blessed to be able to have a temple in my mission boundaries. We still just tract every day, so I don't really have any cool teaching stories sorry....
Thank you all for the package again, it was more appreciated than you know.
Sorry I missed Caiti's birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
It's good to hear all the news from home, and that you are all doing so well. Thank you for all that you do for me and all the wonderful things you have taught me! Keep being awesome!
Love,
Elder Raymond the Younger
Friday, September 2, 2011
Planting Seeds...
This week was interesting...again.....
On Tuesday, I was hugged by a drunk Indian...yes, you read that right...We were teaching this guy, his name is L., and the whole time we are talking this guy is totally drunk....He is WASTED!!! Anyway, we get done with the lesson, and the whole time he is offering us water, and then forgets and offers us more water, and then forgets again, this happens over and over, and at the end of the lesson we ask him if there is anything that we can do for him. He told us that he was good, but he wanted us to pray for him. So we did and he nearly started crying. He then proceeded to tell us how awesome we were and how "we were the best people he's ever met" and then he ran inside and grabbed his sister so that she could talk to us too! Sweet! Anyway, Elder S. was teaching her and I ended up distracting L. so that my companion could teach effectively without constantly being interrupted with water offers. Elder S. finished teaching B., L.'s sister, and offered to say a prayer with her as well. After that prayer L. started to cry a little bit and then he walked up to me and hugged me!!! AUGH!!! You all know how much I like hugs........"shiver"....anyway when he finally released me he went after Elder S. and hugged him too! So that is my story of getting hugged by a drunk Indian....
We also found an investigator who is serious about meeting with us and accepted a baptismal commitment after the first lesson! There are still kinks being worked out with that though....more to be posted later.
The next day we were supposed to get a ride from a member to an area in our area that is in the middle of nowhere.....unfortunately he never showed up, or called us......So we went and tracted! We met a guy that had just recently gotten out of jail, and he was reading the Book of Mormon while he was there, but when he got out he was unable to get hold of one, so I gave him one! I find that the people who just recently get out of jail are those who are most likely to listen. Then we had dinner at a members house. It was pretty good.
Someone gave us a cantaloupe and a cucumber on Friday! So now I am trying to grow a cantaloupe....it's not working so far.....hmmm......
Another tracting story....I have lots of these. We were tracting a street when we come to a house and it sounds like there is a party going on inside (not a rare occurrence). Anyway, we knock on this door and this 6 foot 6 inches guy comes out. This guy looks like he might be Indian, or Mexican, we're not quite sure....anyway, this guy is also completely drunk....(another non-rare occurrence). He asks us how we're doing and if he can help us. Because this guy is so drunk Elder S. just looks at him and in this uber happy and peppy voice says, "We're here to talk about Jesus!!!" This guy goes off about how great Jesus was and how he is in his heart and he already knows him but he appreciates us coming by, la dee da dee da.....yada yada....and then he walks away and he pretty much told us that we need to go take advantage of some women because it will make us braver.....WHAT THE HECK?! Anyway, those weren't his exact words, but I won't type them because if I do I think I might be struck by lightning....(or sucked into a tornado because it's Oklahoma...). Yeah, it was weird.....Anyway, after that we tracted into a couple kids who were standing outside their house smoking. We start to share the message with them and the whole time there's this kid with a switchblade that is just flicking it in, out, in, out, in, out. We gave him a Book of Mormon anyway. Then we were tracting in a different part of El Reno the next day when we reach a certain house....we knock on this door and this teenage girl answers the door. We ask her if her parents are home and she tells us " Yes, my mom is in my backyard swimming with my youth pastor...." hmmm.....alrighty then. So we gave her a mormon.org card and moved on. The next house we knock on is an older guy who is living with his Ex-mother in law....yeah, lots of interesting things happen here...That's about the sum of my week.
Thank you all for all your letters, I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! The gospel is definitely true and it blesses people's lives in more ways that they can imagine. Keep being awesome everyone.
Love,
Elder Raymond the Younger
P.S. I haven't gotten my box yet. :(
On Tuesday, I was hugged by a drunk Indian...yes, you read that right...We were teaching this guy, his name is L., and the whole time we are talking this guy is totally drunk....He is WASTED!!! Anyway, we get done with the lesson, and the whole time he is offering us water, and then forgets and offers us more water, and then forgets again, this happens over and over, and at the end of the lesson we ask him if there is anything that we can do for him. He told us that he was good, but he wanted us to pray for him. So we did and he nearly started crying. He then proceeded to tell us how awesome we were and how "we were the best people he's ever met" and then he ran inside and grabbed his sister so that she could talk to us too! Sweet! Anyway, Elder S. was teaching her and I ended up distracting L. so that my companion could teach effectively without constantly being interrupted with water offers. Elder S. finished teaching B., L.'s sister, and offered to say a prayer with her as well. After that prayer L. started to cry a little bit and then he walked up to me and hugged me!!! AUGH!!! You all know how much I like hugs........"shiver"....anyway when he finally released me he went after Elder S. and hugged him too! So that is my story of getting hugged by a drunk Indian....
We also found an investigator who is serious about meeting with us and accepted a baptismal commitment after the first lesson! There are still kinks being worked out with that though....more to be posted later.
The next day we were supposed to get a ride from a member to an area in our area that is in the middle of nowhere.....unfortunately he never showed up, or called us......So we went and tracted! We met a guy that had just recently gotten out of jail, and he was reading the Book of Mormon while he was there, but when he got out he was unable to get hold of one, so I gave him one! I find that the people who just recently get out of jail are those who are most likely to listen. Then we had dinner at a members house. It was pretty good.
Someone gave us a cantaloupe and a cucumber on Friday! So now I am trying to grow a cantaloupe....it's not working so far.....hmmm......
Another tracting story....I have lots of these. We were tracting a street when we come to a house and it sounds like there is a party going on inside (not a rare occurrence). Anyway, we knock on this door and this 6 foot 6 inches guy comes out. This guy looks like he might be Indian, or Mexican, we're not quite sure....anyway, this guy is also completely drunk....(another non-rare occurrence). He asks us how we're doing and if he can help us. Because this guy is so drunk Elder S. just looks at him and in this uber happy and peppy voice says, "We're here to talk about Jesus!!!" This guy goes off about how great Jesus was and how he is in his heart and he already knows him but he appreciates us coming by, la dee da dee da.....yada yada....and then he walks away and he pretty much told us that we need to go take advantage of some women because it will make us braver.....WHAT THE HECK?! Anyway, those weren't his exact words, but I won't type them because if I do I think I might be struck by lightning....(or sucked into a tornado because it's Oklahoma...). Yeah, it was weird.....Anyway, after that we tracted into a couple kids who were standing outside their house smoking. We start to share the message with them and the whole time there's this kid with a switchblade that is just flicking it in, out, in, out, in, out. We gave him a Book of Mormon anyway. Then we were tracting in a different part of El Reno the next day when we reach a certain house....we knock on this door and this teenage girl answers the door. We ask her if her parents are home and she tells us " Yes, my mom is in my backyard swimming with my youth pastor...." hmmm.....alrighty then. So we gave her a mormon.org card and moved on. The next house we knock on is an older guy who is living with his Ex-mother in law....yeah, lots of interesting things happen here...That's about the sum of my week.
Thank you all for all your letters, I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! The gospel is definitely true and it blesses people's lives in more ways that they can imagine. Keep being awesome everyone.
Love,
Elder Raymond the Younger
P.S. I haven't gotten my box yet. :(
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
8/25/11 WRONG Enviroment
Dear family,
Wow...this week was a blur and I'm not quite sure what happened...Monday night, Elder S. and I were tracting and we got invited into this house and we were talking to this lady who we think was possessed but we're not quite sure. Neither one of us could feel the spirit and there was something definitely WRONG about the environment we were in. It shook my companion up badly and we got out of there and called our mission president. We explained what happened to him and how we felt and he told us that "we just suffered a full on attack by Satan"....yikes....we're both fine. It was definitely a new experience....Then we ran into a drunk guy named L..no joke...he showed us his drivers license and it said L...On Thursday I taught district meeting on Revelation through church attendance....it was good, but could have been better. After the District meeting I went on splits with my district leader and I went with his comp. back to their area. We taught a couple lessons there and it was pretty good. I finally got back to my area on Sunday night where me and my companion tracted for a while....nothing much happened this week. Hmmmmm....wow.....I really don't have anything to write about...Thank you for the pictures mom. Kimmee isn't allowed to wear make-up because it makes her look way to old!!! NO MAKE-UP FOR KIMMEE!!! You're not allowed to grow up...sorry Kim....Thank you all for your letters and I'm sorry to hear about your cousin mom...Thank you all for your many e-mails! they are very much appreciated!
Love,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
Wow...this week was a blur and I'm not quite sure what happened...Monday night, Elder S. and I were tracting and we got invited into this house and we were talking to this lady who we think was possessed but we're not quite sure. Neither one of us could feel the spirit and there was something definitely WRONG about the environment we were in. It shook my companion up badly and we got out of there and called our mission president. We explained what happened to him and how we felt and he told us that "we just suffered a full on attack by Satan"....yikes....we're both fine. It was definitely a new experience....Then we ran into a drunk guy named L..no joke...he showed us his drivers license and it said L...On Thursday I taught district meeting on Revelation through church attendance....it was good, but could have been better. After the District meeting I went on splits with my district leader and I went with his comp. back to their area. We taught a couple lessons there and it was pretty good. I finally got back to my area on Sunday night where me and my companion tracted for a while....nothing much happened this week. Hmmmmm....wow.....I really don't have anything to write about...Thank you for the pictures mom. Kimmee isn't allowed to wear make-up because it makes her look way to old!!! NO MAKE-UP FOR KIMMEE!!! You're not allowed to grow up...sorry Kim....Thank you all for your letters and I'm sorry to hear about your cousin mom...Thank you all for your many e-mails! they are very much appreciated!
Love,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
8/15/11 I Was in the Middle of a Freaking Tornado!!!
Dear family,
This past week has been insane!!!! On Monday, we were helping a woman move stuff from a storage unit into her barn when the wind went cold....uh,oh...So I look up and directly above me the clouds are swirling.....even worse....so the other elders and I get into the truck and drive as fast as we can away and out of a storm that built up out of nowhere. The wind is blowing all around us and we can barely see because of the winds, dust, rain, and other things flying through the air. We get out of the storm and I look behind us and I see what looks like a storm cloud, except it was touching the ground...It wasn't until I saw it move across the road behind us, suck up a gas station, and go back up into the sky that I realized that it was a tornado!!! I was in the middle of a freaking tornado!!! So, the other elders and I go to a members house (we're all fine by the way) and on the news it says the storage unit that we were at was destroyed and that they were experiencing "high winds"....SERIOUSLY?! HIGH WINDS?! No. It was a tornado. no one would believe us, despite the fact that five of us saw it, until about a week later the news people apparently said that they were more than high winds, there was actually a tornado.....OF COURSE THERE WAS A TORNADO!!! We were running away from it. It was pretty funny.
My zone leaders (Elder O., and Elder K.) are training this transfer so they are in a trio. Their Trainee's name is Elder D. and he is from California. One day we were talking about the area that he was in and he mentioned San Bernandino, so I asked him if he had ever met Dustan B. guess what? He has! Him and his family and some other families would get together with the elders and have kind of a mass family home evening! It was pretty cool to hear that Dustan is doing alright. It's amazing how small the world is when you move around alot.
One of the elders in my district is super-uber competitive and for p-day he bought a 50$ nerf gun....50$!!! it was ridiculous. so the zone leaders asked him why on earth he would do that and he said "so that I can win"....of course when you say that everyone is going to do all that they can to make sure that you lose. So the zone leaders, my companion and I, all bought 3$ nerf guns from wal-mart and we are going to dominate him later today :) It's going to be awesome.
Anyway, my area has been really, really, slow lately and we've done lots of tracting and service. I don't have any super cool stories that apply to missionary work this week though.....
Our mission is getting infested with bed-bugs though from elders accidentally spreading it to each other's apartments when they go to sleep over....It's unfortunate, and I'm not going to let them spread to our area hahaha. That's about all that has happened with me this week. Thank you all for your many e-mails and I appreciate them greatly.
Mom, If you could send me Emma's address that would be great, then I could send her letters. That's super sad that she had to leave, but it will be better for her to actually be with her family.
Love you all uber much,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
This past week has been insane!!!! On Monday, we were helping a woman move stuff from a storage unit into her barn when the wind went cold....uh,oh...So I look up and directly above me the clouds are swirling.....even worse....so the other elders and I get into the truck and drive as fast as we can away and out of a storm that built up out of nowhere. The wind is blowing all around us and we can barely see because of the winds, dust, rain, and other things flying through the air. We get out of the storm and I look behind us and I see what looks like a storm cloud, except it was touching the ground...It wasn't until I saw it move across the road behind us, suck up a gas station, and go back up into the sky that I realized that it was a tornado!!! I was in the middle of a freaking tornado!!! So, the other elders and I go to a members house (we're all fine by the way) and on the news it says the storage unit that we were at was destroyed and that they were experiencing "high winds"....SERIOUSLY?! HIGH WINDS?! No. It was a tornado. no one would believe us, despite the fact that five of us saw it, until about a week later the news people apparently said that they were more than high winds, there was actually a tornado.....OF COURSE THERE WAS A TORNADO!!! We were running away from it. It was pretty funny.
My zone leaders (Elder O., and Elder K.) are training this transfer so they are in a trio. Their Trainee's name is Elder D. and he is from California. One day we were talking about the area that he was in and he mentioned San Bernandino, so I asked him if he had ever met Dustan B. guess what? He has! Him and his family and some other families would get together with the elders and have kind of a mass family home evening! It was pretty cool to hear that Dustan is doing alright. It's amazing how small the world is when you move around alot.
One of the elders in my district is super-uber competitive and for p-day he bought a 50$ nerf gun....50$!!! it was ridiculous. so the zone leaders asked him why on earth he would do that and he said "so that I can win"....of course when you say that everyone is going to do all that they can to make sure that you lose. So the zone leaders, my companion and I, all bought 3$ nerf guns from wal-mart and we are going to dominate him later today :) It's going to be awesome.
Anyway, my area has been really, really, slow lately and we've done lots of tracting and service. I don't have any super cool stories that apply to missionary work this week though.....
Our mission is getting infested with bed-bugs though from elders accidentally spreading it to each other's apartments when they go to sleep over....It's unfortunate, and I'm not going to let them spread to our area hahaha. That's about all that has happened with me this week. Thank you all for your many e-mails and I appreciate them greatly.
Mom, If you could send me Emma's address that would be great, then I could send her letters. That's super sad that she had to leave, but it will be better for her to actually be with her family.
Love you all uber much,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
8/8/11 Hard Work and Miracles
Alec, Mom, Dad, Caiti, Kimmee, and anyone else you show this too,
This week has been interesting.....First off we had transfers on the 3rd of august. My breaker (my second companion) is Elder S. He's from Utah, and he wants to be a doctor after his mission. He's awesome and we like alot of the same things and have the same opinions and views of alot of things. Everyone told me that I would hate my second companion because he was not my trainer...well they were wrong......sorry, it's true.....Elder S. is awesome. So we had to scrap all of our old investigators because none of them were progressing and the area book hadn't been updated since June....(sigh)...so pretty much we're trying to shotgun (start over) El Reno. Within the last five days I've gotten 3 flat tires but it was all worth it. I was witness to a miracle this week. We have a less active guy in our ward who doesn't really go to church anymore, and we (the missionaries) have been helping him fix his farm up after those tornadoes that hit Oklahoma in may. He lost pretty much everything so we've been trying to put up fences and T-posts...and while he was working he tore a major part of his upper arm up. I don't know exactly what was wrong with it but he couldn't use his arm or put any weight on it. Anyway, I get a call from a sister in our ward asking if we're going to go give this guy a blessing.....WHAT....? Apparently he had told her that he had asked us and we had told him we would....so I called this less-active guy and asked him if he actually did want a blessing, and he said he did because he was to go into surgery the next day around 2:00. So Elder S. and I drove out to his house, and gave him a blessing. We left and went about the rest of our day, not really thinking anything more of it. Anyway, the next day, we get a call from that same sister who called us the day before and what does she tell us? She tells us that the guy who we gave the blessing too went into surgery and when they did x-rays or whatever, his arm was fully healed!!! WHOAH!!! MIND ABSOLUTELY BLOWN!!! It was an amazing testimony builder of that the church is true and that the priesthood really is the authority and power to act in god's name. I was extremely grateful to the Lord for allowing me to be an instrument in his hands to bring something so amazing to pass. That's all that happened this week, but it's so awesome it literally made my week, and I'm still in awe.
Love you all,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
P.S. Never let anyone tell you the church isn't true, because it most definitely is.
This week has been interesting.....First off we had transfers on the 3rd of august. My breaker (my second companion) is Elder S. He's from Utah, and he wants to be a doctor after his mission. He's awesome and we like alot of the same things and have the same opinions and views of alot of things. Everyone told me that I would hate my second companion because he was not my trainer...well they were wrong......sorry, it's true.....Elder S. is awesome. So we had to scrap all of our old investigators because none of them were progressing and the area book hadn't been updated since June....(sigh)...so pretty much we're trying to shotgun (start over) El Reno. Within the last five days I've gotten 3 flat tires but it was all worth it. I was witness to a miracle this week. We have a less active guy in our ward who doesn't really go to church anymore, and we (the missionaries) have been helping him fix his farm up after those tornadoes that hit Oklahoma in may. He lost pretty much everything so we've been trying to put up fences and T-posts...and while he was working he tore a major part of his upper arm up. I don't know exactly what was wrong with it but he couldn't use his arm or put any weight on it. Anyway, I get a call from a sister in our ward asking if we're going to go give this guy a blessing.....WHAT....? Apparently he had told her that he had asked us and we had told him we would....so I called this less-active guy and asked him if he actually did want a blessing, and he said he did because he was to go into surgery the next day around 2:00. So Elder S. and I drove out to his house, and gave him a blessing. We left and went about the rest of our day, not really thinking anything more of it. Anyway, the next day, we get a call from that same sister who called us the day before and what does she tell us? She tells us that the guy who we gave the blessing too went into surgery and when they did x-rays or whatever, his arm was fully healed!!! WHOAH!!! MIND ABSOLUTELY BLOWN!!! It was an amazing testimony builder of that the church is true and that the priesthood really is the authority and power to act in god's name. I was extremely grateful to the Lord for allowing me to be an instrument in his hands to bring something so amazing to pass. That's all that happened this week, but it's so awesome it literally made my week, and I'm still in awe.
Love you all,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
P.S. Never let anyone tell you the church isn't true, because it most definitely is.
8/1/11 1st Transfer Panic!
To all those that read this at one point or another,
Thank you all for your e-mails. I love all the stories and experiences that you guys have! Not much has happened with me this past week. I have my first transfer coming up in august 3rd. My trainer is leaving me!!! AUGH!!! It means that I will be in charge of the area until my new companion learns the area and the investigators! I'm terrified....Anyway, my new companions name is Elder S. I've never met him before, but everyone tells me that he's really cool and I'm going to have a really good time with him as my new companion. all the investigators that I have written to you guys about previously have pretty much dropped us or stood us up so many times that we're going to have to drop them because we can never reach them anyway.....grrr....uber frustrating. We've found a couple new people though that are interested so it makes it better.
Dad, I love your letters. They are officially awesome.
That's literally all that's happened with me for a while and I don't have anything else to talk about.....wow.....anyway, love you all!
Love,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
Thank you all for your e-mails. I love all the stories and experiences that you guys have! Not much has happened with me this past week. I have my first transfer coming up in august 3rd. My trainer is leaving me!!! AUGH!!! It means that I will be in charge of the area until my new companion learns the area and the investigators! I'm terrified....Anyway, my new companions name is Elder S. I've never met him before, but everyone tells me that he's really cool and I'm going to have a really good time with him as my new companion. all the investigators that I have written to you guys about previously have pretty much dropped us or stood us up so many times that we're going to have to drop them because we can never reach them anyway.....grrr....uber frustrating. We've found a couple new people though that are interested so it makes it better.
Dad, I love your letters. They are officially awesome.
That's literally all that's happened with me for a while and I don't have anything else to talk about.....wow.....anyway, love you all!
Love,
Elder Raymond the 2nd
7/25/11 Mormon.org
I have a mormon.org account. It's under Bryan. You can also find it if you just type in Oklahoma. I would e-mail Sophie, Shanika, and Stella, but I don't have their e-mail addresses. I sent a letter to Sophie and Shanika today, but I don't have Stella's address. I'm doing pretty well. Nothing e-mail worthy happened today....except that Elder N. was attacked by a Chihuahua..."sigh"....I'm glad to hear that you're doing well :).
Love you mucho!
-Elder Raymond the 2nd
Love you mucho!
-Elder Raymond the 2nd
7/11/11 This Week Was... INTERESTING...
Dear Family and everyone else that sees this,
This week was interesting. The last time that I e-mailed was last Wednesday because I couldn't on Monday or Tuesday. Interesting things that happened with me this week.....hmmmm......OH! I met a crazy native American guy the other day! We were just leaving an appointment when this elderly guy beckons to us to come talk to him. I think he may have been drunk however I'm not quite sure. Anyway, we bike over introduce ourselves and ask how we can help him. He tells us that he's "looking for a bible study..."...great....We told him that we don't do bible studies however we'd be happy to talk to him about our church and the book of Mormon and answer any questions that he had. Anyway, we talked to him for a while and then we asked how we could help him, he asked that we pray for him. So we prayed with him right there on the side of the street. Anyway, in the middle of the prayer this guys just breaks down in tears! I was the one that was praying and I started to worry a little bit....After the prayer he kept telling us how he admires us for what we're doing and this whole time tears are just running down his face and he keeps repeating "I'm looking for a bible study"....It was a really cool, really weird, and frankly, flat out strange experience....poor guy...Now that I think about it I think that he was definitely drunk.....
I don't know if I've told you about D. and D. yet....so I'm going to :). My companion and one of his other companions were out tracting and talking to people when they encountered a couple on the street. They went through the whole schpiel and asked if they would be interested in learning more. Unfortunately they said no, however that's usually what happens so they just moved on to the next people that they saw. Anyway, Elder N. (my companion/trainer/dad) and I were on exchanges and Elder N. and the person he was with were tracting and they were knocking on a door and lo and behold, IT WAS THE SAME PEOPLE AGAIN!!! So they once again talked to them, however this time they said that they could come back and were willing to learn more. So Elder N. and I went to their house (this was my first time meeting them) and knocked on the door and the wife answered it and she yelled into the house, quote "D..., your Mormon friends are here!"...It was quite funny....Anyway we got into the house and we talked to D. and D. and they had some really good questions, which we eagerly answered, and afterward they said that we were more than welcome to come back anytime! SWEET!!! So, we recently went back and talked to them some more. This time we extended the invitation for them to go to church, and they said that they would and they invited us to go to their church which Elder N. agreed to....It could be interesting, however I don't know, so I'll be sure to tell you how it went when we go at some point...They're a really nice couple and they told us that they love talking to us and we're always welcome to come back again! So, our discussions have been going really well with them and I'm always excited when we go and teach them.
Another cool investigator that we have is B. He's an older guy who's around high 50's low 60's, and he's interested in other religions. His family has been Baptist for over 100 years, so he said he wasn't looking to be converted or looking for another church, however, because we're missionaries we just take that as a "work harder"....anyway we've gone over to see him a couple times and he's always willing to talk and listen. Elder N. and I just figured that we were going to have to do a little Covert Conversion on this one....mwahahahaha...anyway, we're still working on him and he's reading the Book of Mormon, so we'll just keep going back to see if there's anything that we can do to help him.
Something else........did you know that we get more food offers and dinner offers from investigators and non-members than actual members?! It's ridiculous...oh well...
Elder N. got a piece of Iron stuck in his eye.....That was interesting....One day he starts telling me how his eye is bugging him, and he goes and looks at it in the mirror and there's a tiny bit of something stuck in the iris of his eye. Anyway we try and get it out using a variety of tools, don't ask.....Suffice to say, it didn't work. So we called Sis. T (the mission pres. wife) and asked her what we should do. She told us to try and get it out (which we already did...it didn't work) and when we told her that it wouldn't come out, she told us to wait and DON'T RUB IT!!! She called us back about 5 minutes later and told us that we needed to go to the doctor...great....So we went to the doctor, got into the office, and this is Elder Naisbitts first time at the eye doctor since he was really young so he's a little apprehensive, and the doctor looks in his eye and says he has a small piece of iron in his eye! What?! How on earth that go there I don't know...I guess that means we can't smack each other in the face with iron pans...dang it....anyway, the doctor said it would relatively easy to dislodge, but he would have to numb his eye....ok, no problem....The doctor leaves and comes back with the eye drops and what does he do? HE PUTS IT IN THE WRONG EYE!!! At this point I'm laughing my head off (silently of course) and thinking about how well this doctor was doing to inspire Elder N. confidence.....Anyway, we tell him he put it in the wrong eye and so the doctor puts the numbing stuff in Elder N. iron contaminated eye. Then he pulls out this tool that looks like one of those picks that dentists use to clean plaque off your teeth....At this point, after the doctors mistake with the eye drops, I'm seriously concerned for the safety of my companions face!!! He approaches Elder N. eye with the pick of doom and Elder N. gets this uber-worried look on his face and asks "Whoa! What are you going to do with that?!" The doctor just used it to scrape the surface of his eye and get the piece of iron out of his eye and tells him, "you have a hole in your eye now, but just use these drops and it won't get infected, however it will hurt for about 24 hours..." NO DUH IT WILL HURT!!! You just used a dental pick on my companions eyeball!!! Anyway the doctor did a good job and Elder N. is fully healed from the iron incident....
So that's about all that's happened with me. Thank you for the family letter e-mails! Hope your all doing great, and I now have alot of time to e-mail so e-mails are good now :)
Love,
Elder Lord Byron of the Swamp
This week was interesting. The last time that I e-mailed was last Wednesday because I couldn't on Monday or Tuesday. Interesting things that happened with me this week.....hmmmm......OH! I met a crazy native American guy the other day! We were just leaving an appointment when this elderly guy beckons to us to come talk to him. I think he may have been drunk however I'm not quite sure. Anyway, we bike over introduce ourselves and ask how we can help him. He tells us that he's "looking for a bible study..."...great....We told him that we don't do bible studies however we'd be happy to talk to him about our church and the book of Mormon and answer any questions that he had. Anyway, we talked to him for a while and then we asked how we could help him, he asked that we pray for him. So we prayed with him right there on the side of the street. Anyway, in the middle of the prayer this guys just breaks down in tears! I was the one that was praying and I started to worry a little bit....After the prayer he kept telling us how he admires us for what we're doing and this whole time tears are just running down his face and he keeps repeating "I'm looking for a bible study"....It was a really cool, really weird, and frankly, flat out strange experience....poor guy...Now that I think about it I think that he was definitely drunk.....
I don't know if I've told you about D. and D. yet....so I'm going to :). My companion and one of his other companions were out tracting and talking to people when they encountered a couple on the street. They went through the whole schpiel and asked if they would be interested in learning more. Unfortunately they said no, however that's usually what happens so they just moved on to the next people that they saw. Anyway, Elder N. (my companion/trainer/dad) and I were on exchanges and Elder N. and the person he was with were tracting and they were knocking on a door and lo and behold, IT WAS THE SAME PEOPLE AGAIN!!! So they once again talked to them, however this time they said that they could come back and were willing to learn more. So Elder N. and I went to their house (this was my first time meeting them) and knocked on the door and the wife answered it and she yelled into the house, quote "D..., your Mormon friends are here!"...It was quite funny....Anyway we got into the house and we talked to D. and D. and they had some really good questions, which we eagerly answered, and afterward they said that we were more than welcome to come back anytime! SWEET!!! So, we recently went back and talked to them some more. This time we extended the invitation for them to go to church, and they said that they would and they invited us to go to their church which Elder N. agreed to....It could be interesting, however I don't know, so I'll be sure to tell you how it went when we go at some point...They're a really nice couple and they told us that they love talking to us and we're always welcome to come back again! So, our discussions have been going really well with them and I'm always excited when we go and teach them.
Another cool investigator that we have is B. He's an older guy who's around high 50's low 60's, and he's interested in other religions. His family has been Baptist for over 100 years, so he said he wasn't looking to be converted or looking for another church, however, because we're missionaries we just take that as a "work harder"....anyway we've gone over to see him a couple times and he's always willing to talk and listen. Elder N. and I just figured that we were going to have to do a little Covert Conversion on this one....mwahahahaha...anyway, we're still working on him and he's reading the Book of Mormon, so we'll just keep going back to see if there's anything that we can do to help him.
Something else........did you know that we get more food offers and dinner offers from investigators and non-members than actual members?! It's ridiculous...oh well...
Elder N. got a piece of Iron stuck in his eye.....That was interesting....One day he starts telling me how his eye is bugging him, and he goes and looks at it in the mirror and there's a tiny bit of something stuck in the iris of his eye. Anyway we try and get it out using a variety of tools, don't ask.....Suffice to say, it didn't work. So we called Sis. T (the mission pres. wife) and asked her what we should do. She told us to try and get it out (which we already did...it didn't work) and when we told her that it wouldn't come out, she told us to wait and DON'T RUB IT!!! She called us back about 5 minutes later and told us that we needed to go to the doctor...great....So we went to the doctor, got into the office, and this is Elder Naisbitts first time at the eye doctor since he was really young so he's a little apprehensive, and the doctor looks in his eye and says he has a small piece of iron in his eye! What?! How on earth that go there I don't know...I guess that means we can't smack each other in the face with iron pans...dang it....anyway, the doctor said it would relatively easy to dislodge, but he would have to numb his eye....ok, no problem....The doctor leaves and comes back with the eye drops and what does he do? HE PUTS IT IN THE WRONG EYE!!! At this point I'm laughing my head off (silently of course) and thinking about how well this doctor was doing to inspire Elder N. confidence.....Anyway, we tell him he put it in the wrong eye and so the doctor puts the numbing stuff in Elder N. iron contaminated eye. Then he pulls out this tool that looks like one of those picks that dentists use to clean plaque off your teeth....At this point, after the doctors mistake with the eye drops, I'm seriously concerned for the safety of my companions face!!! He approaches Elder N. eye with the pick of doom and Elder N. gets this uber-worried look on his face and asks "Whoa! What are you going to do with that?!" The doctor just used it to scrape the surface of his eye and get the piece of iron out of his eye and tells him, "you have a hole in your eye now, but just use these drops and it won't get infected, however it will hurt for about 24 hours..." NO DUH IT WILL HURT!!! You just used a dental pick on my companions eyeball!!! Anyway the doctor did a good job and Elder N. is fully healed from the iron incident....
So that's about all that's happened with me. Thank you for the family letter e-mails! Hope your all doing great, and I now have alot of time to e-mail so e-mails are good now :)
Love,
Elder Lord Byron of the Swamp
7/6/11 First Letter from "The Field"
So, I'm doing pretty well. I got the first stages of heatstroke a couple days ago but I'm fine now. The weather right now is anywhere from 103-110 degree's and it's humid....augh......Let's just say that bottled water has become my best friend. We don't drink the tap water here because when it comes out there are suspended solids in it...disgusting....it's white....."shudder".....We have 3 new investigators, and things are going really well down here. Alright...about my bike....So when I got to Oklahoma they told me that ctr bikes had broken the derailer (an important part) on my bike and they were going to send me another one for free so that we can fix it and I should get my bike by the end of the week ( I've been using a rental bike). Anyway I wait and wait and wait...and the AP's finally arrive with my bike AND IT'S STILL BROKEN!!! Apparently the elder who was supposed to fix my bike just broke it some more.....augh.....So I haven't ridden my bike yet because it's stinkin' broken because everyone keeps trying to fix it....fortunately we're going to just take it to a bike shop and have them fix it for us and if they break it, I'm going to be quite upset.....very upset....like unto a whale that had to spit out Jonah.....Tracting is an interesting experience. I met my first elderly educated person who actually believed that we practiced polygamy.....this is how the conversation went...
-Elder N., "hi, we're from the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints.....have you ever talked to missionaries before?"
-old guy, "yeah I don't believe in what you teach!!!"
-Elder N., (my trainer) "like what?!"
-old guy, "Like the unholy practice of having multiple wives!"
-Elder N., "we don't believe in polygamy..."
-old guy, "If your Mormon you do!!!"
All I was thinking was wow....thanks for telling me what I believe......raurgh....crazy person.....Anyway my companion is awesome. As I said before in a previous letter, his name is Elder N. and he's from Utah. He's been out for about 7 months and he's my trainer. He teaches me alot and I learn alot from him. We get along really well despite the fact that we're polar opposites...The other day while tracting we were nearly attacked by a Chihuahua and Elder N. was about to smack it with a Book of Mormon...as funny as that would have been I had to stop him and we just walked off...Anyway we got a referral from the sisters in our area for a couple and we went and checked it out. Turns out it was the house with the Demon Chihuahua, and the lady who owned it really like her dogs....I can only imagine how that contact would've turned out if Elder N. had smitten that quadrupled spawn of Satan with the word of God....(It sounds so much funnier when you say it that way)...
The food here is awesome. I haven't eaten anything weird yet because it's mostly like mom's cooking. although sadly our apartment is sadly lacking in ingredients....so I stick with LOTS of pb&j's...We don't get many dinner appointments because no one loves us....I'm just joking....our area doesn't have many members in it so we just double up dinner appointments with the elders from an area next to ours call Yukon. Anyway sorry about this e-mail taking so long, the 4 of July was on Monday which is our p-day and the college who's computers we hijack was closed on the 4th and the 5th. Thank you for the e-mails and I'm uber excited to get the letters from you guys! I'm doing great and I'm loving it out here. I'm learning so much and I'm so glad I have this opportunity.
Love you all,
-Elder Lord Byron of the Swamp
-Elder N., "hi, we're from the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints.....have you ever talked to missionaries before?"
-old guy, "yeah I don't believe in what you teach!!!"
-Elder N., (my trainer) "like what?!"
-old guy, "Like the unholy practice of having multiple wives!"
-Elder N., "we don't believe in polygamy..."
-old guy, "If your Mormon you do!!!"
All I was thinking was wow....thanks for telling me what I believe......raurgh....crazy person.....Anyway my companion is awesome. As I said before in a previous letter, his name is Elder N. and he's from Utah. He's been out for about 7 months and he's my trainer. He teaches me alot and I learn alot from him. We get along really well despite the fact that we're polar opposites...The other day while tracting we were nearly attacked by a Chihuahua and Elder N. was about to smack it with a Book of Mormon...as funny as that would have been I had to stop him and we just walked off...Anyway we got a referral from the sisters in our area for a couple and we went and checked it out. Turns out it was the house with the Demon Chihuahua, and the lady who owned it really like her dogs....I can only imagine how that contact would've turned out if Elder N. had smitten that quadrupled spawn of Satan with the word of God....(It sounds so much funnier when you say it that way)...
The food here is awesome. I haven't eaten anything weird yet because it's mostly like mom's cooking. although sadly our apartment is sadly lacking in ingredients....so I stick with LOTS of pb&j's...We don't get many dinner appointments because no one loves us....I'm just joking....our area doesn't have many members in it so we just double up dinner appointments with the elders from an area next to ours call Yukon. Anyway sorry about this e-mail taking so long, the 4 of July was on Monday which is our p-day and the college who's computers we hijack was closed on the 4th and the 5th. Thank you for the e-mails and I'm uber excited to get the letters from you guys! I'm doing great and I'm loving it out here. I'm learning so much and I'm so glad I have this opportunity.
Love you all,
-Elder Lord Byron of the Swamp
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