Week 62

Sorry I haven’t written the group in so long. It’s been crazy busy!  Since we use our Shoeberoos, Lamborfeeties, Chevrolegs, Nissandles, Ford F1feeties, Legus, Mitshibishoes, Kawasocksi’s, Ishoezu’s (Isuzu), Pontislacks, Kia souls, Footieraris, Ford legspidition, Kneesans

OUR FEET so much we have to leave thirty minutes early most of the time, and all the productive times in the day get cut down.. though we still talk to people on the street.  Lol,  when I was with Elder Conley, we came up with all of those feet analogy’s. Haha it was super fun!

I want to share one neat experience that happened because of my ignorance. It was actually last night. Elder McKinney and I had gotten so busy on Friday that we didn’t have time to Weekly Plan. So we were finishing it up last night. Eventually somehow we started talking about (a topic) and then that led to an argument which led to some yelling, which led to Elder McKinney storming out of the house. I kept the phone. So he had nowhere really to go. A lot of the argument came because of me. 

The problem was that I wasn’t trying to understand his point of view. Instead I was trying to push my point of view on him. 

You see, that’s the key, the key to a healthy companionship is “understanding” if I had understood where he was coming from then less yelling would have happened.  Because I understand some of his other flaws I get less impatient with him as a person.

Moral of the story OH I totally forgot to say that he came back shortly after with another set of elders that live right next to us, and he was totally okay. He told the other elders that he was not even mad when he stormed out.. :/ 

Any way.

Sly, (Sure Love You)

Elder Minson

 Pictures!

 Here we were helping with a food bank that Bishop S started. It was amazing!

Baptism of J.

Lunch at Taco Bell :)

We went to the temple last Monday! Yay! ALSO SUPER COOL THING. Yah know how I trAined Elder DeAlba? Well his brother was at the MTC going to the temple the same time as us! So I met him! That was crazy awesome!

This is A. She is the daughter of someone we teach. She is crazy adorable and kept asking me to take pictures of us. Lol

Week 61

My district at District Meeting,

Saturday we had a baptism of J. It went phenomenal! J is amazing, he really wanted to bear his testimony during it but he was not given the chance. He is a very solid convert! WOW.

 SADLY it hasn’t snowed yet!

Week 60

We were going to have a baptism but we moved it to this Saturday. And he wants me to baptize him. So yay!

 

This week we put M on date to be baptized second Saturday in January. She really wants to be baptized so we are super excited. She even went to church last Sunday. 

We also met and taught D who also wants to be baptized and went to church on Sunday. He is super humble and and cool. He wants to understand everything before he get baptized. So it will be slow with him. Haha :) 

 

At service a few days ago

At the mall

 

Week 59

For Thanksgiving we got to sleep in, and had a Turkey Bowl with our zone,  then had Thanksgiving dinner with the Aranda's and the Balls.

Spoke in church yesterday in Freedom 4th Ward and I noticed a girl from my home ward right before I gave my talk. So as I was saying I’m from queen creek I looked at her and we both smiled super big. It was crazy! 

We have a baptism for a super man on December 9th!

Me and Elder McKinney at a dinner appointment

My favorite shoes are all taped together now.

Week 58- Provo Freedom and Elder McKinney

Hi every one! I didn’t write last week due to a series of unfortunate events. But here is the email I drafted last week.

Dear people who listen.

Hi everyone! Right now I’m sitten by a lake fishin.

You can very easily compare this to missionary work. We are told to teach those who will listen. Similarly in fishing we are to catch those that will bite.

Here is a quote from Preach my Gospel, it uses fishing in its analogy so I thought it was fitting.    None of us should be like the fisherman who thinks he has been fishing all day when in reality he has spent most of his time getting to and from the water, eating-lunch, and fussing with his equipment. Fishing success is related to how long you have your line in the water, not to how long you are away from the apartment. Some fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the Water for ten hours. Other fishermen are away from home for twelve hours andhave their line in the water for only two hours. This last type may wonder why they do not have the same success as others. .

This week has been super eventful. My new area is Provo Freedom, and my new companion is Elder McKinney from Arkansas! We are in a walking area so it is super different trying to have multiple lessons every night. Our area is large and people’s schedules are tough. It’s been a good experience in managing time and resources. It’s also been super fun to talk along the way as we walk, share cool lessons and ponder about the things of God.

I’ve recently studied the tree of life a lot lately. It’s been really neat to see the similarities between it and the life we have right now. Also, at church Sunday we spoke on member missionary work and received several referrals.
Sly,
Elder Minson

Here is me and Elder McKinney:

This is what our new area looks like:

Week 57- Transfers!

We just got back from fishin!

As far as transfers I’m moving to Provo to train a new missionary. Y Mount Zone. Most likely in a walking area for winter. (We are not allowed to bike in winter.) Elder Conley is staying in Payson. I feel good about it. Email is being very wonky for the whole mission. I might not get any other emails out.

Sly,

Elder Minson

 Fishin at the lake!

Week 56

Lots of pictures this week! Two baptisms on Saturday and some fun leaf-raking for service.

"I stand at the door and knock"

Baptism of A and L

Baptism of T. One of the coolest ones I've had!

Raking leaves for a service project

Me and Elder C after church

Dinner appointment

Week 55

Hello hello! Thanks for being my generous audience today!

Also today is Halloween! Sooo that means all the missionaries get locked in a chapel and we are forced to watch the new Beauty and the Beast movie! Also today is Preparation day if you can’t tell.

I would like to share one cool experience that we had this week. It occurred at A’s home. 

A is a woman we have been teaching. She has two young children and is preparing to be baptized on November 25th.

One day we were having a lesson with her, teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. At the beginning she mentioned how she was receiving chills when ever she would read the Book of Mormon. We very excitedly helped her understand that it was the Holy Ghost. She Proclaimed “WOW, how can I have that feeling forever?”  So we were terrifically excited to teach this inspired lesson. 

Then one of her friends walks in (V) and kinda totally dominates the lesson. Not a bad thing necessarily.. because V is now preparing to be baptized December 2. But that is besides the point.

She is asking a ton of different questions, and A is answering most of them and testifying to what we had taught! It was amazing, I guess there wasn’t entirely a point to sharing that specific story. But it is quite cool to see how god is preparing all nations to hear the truth.

The church is true. 

Sly,

Elder Minson

 K got baptized this Saturday!

With Elder Moser and Elder Conley

Zone training

Week 53

Last week I had my Hump Day, 1 year in the mission! Last week we had a fab lesson with a golden woman, where I really felt the spirit! She is now on date for baptism November 25. We have a few other baptisms coming up as well. We also had a very funny lesson. We were teaching a 13 year old and reviewing some lessons. And we brought up the law of chastity. He remembered it, and spoke about it. Then we brought up the word of wisdom. He felt like since he was on a role he could probably get this one too. He said it was a law that could only be spoken of by really smart people in the church. I busted out laughing and so did Elder Conley. We laughed/cried for 5 minutes straight! He was super confused. But it was extremely memorable! This week we are doing two separate exchanges with two different companionships. Here are some pictures:

We went to the Payson Temple with some members, it was great. the son did some baptisms.
He seemed to enjoy it.

I fell in love with this cat at a dinner appointment.

Doing some woodworking for Pday.

Where are my legs?

After J's baptism

Week 52- Facial Novel

Picture at General Conference

Hi all!

If you can’t tell from the title our mission has started doing Facebook! The assistants are going to give us a training on it tomorrow for more info, but for now be prepared to accept a friend request and what not. 

It is an exceptionally weird feeling having this mobile connectivity with all y’all. I’m not sure yet if we will be doing missionary work amongst y’all back home as well as here, but who knows? These are exciting times! 

I do have a few qualms about it, and there are some things that sound like fascinating ways of doing missionary work. 

I’m trying right now to mainly accept the Lords call for us to start this. He knows best, and face book and other social media are an excellent way to work in the lords vineyard. 

We attended a baptism of an elderly man with a bad hip on Saturday, and we helped him into the water. It was quite the cool experience. He was in the West elders area, so they taught and baptized them but needed us to help. Elder Moser and I gave a talk on the restoration of the church afterwards. It was a very cool and touching experience!

Anyway folks that’s about it! Email with your questions!

Sly,

Elder Minson

Week 51- Transfers, conference and my sister

Transfers are here! And GUESS WHAT! Nothing is happening. I’m staying with Elder Conley, in the same area for another month and a half. That’s new. So far I've only had one companion that I stayed with for more than one transfer. But that has changed. Different right! But anyway back to NOTHING IS HAPPENING, Haha but at the same time everything is happening! Meaning the work of the Lord. And let me tell yah, it is moving forth! Apparently lots of changes are coming and we have no idea what they are!

But anyway back to the exciting things in the area.! 

We go to go see General Conference at the conference center on Sunday morning. MY FAVORITE TALK WAS ELDER CALLISTERS!! He always does amazing!

Soo we have been teaching a bunch of people, and preparing a bunch for baptism, specifically Wand C. Their grandfather has a very strong testimony of the church, specifically the priesthood. We have taught them two lessons, the grand pa sits in. He has also recently gone less active in the church. It was work. But he has started coming back, and with his grandsons! It is amazing to me, he is such a good example. I love that family dearly.

Well folks, this is probably my last transfer as a Zone Leader. Haha but that’s okay. I’ve learned a tone of very valuable lessons in courage, boldness, and leader like love. It has been a tremendous blessing. 

I still have a year left, and it I’m chugging along! 

Oh! And guess what! I got to see my beloved sister! It was such a blessing, we ate a quick lunch at Arby’s, right after the Saturday morning session of conference.  We talked for a bit, and people kept giving us weird looks, it was a good time for the whole family.

I love you all! Keep up the good work back home!

Great visit with my sister :)

 Our district after District Training Meeting (We took in a new Sister. She is evacuated from Puerto Rico! from the hurricane Maria)

 A member had a swing In their home!

Week 50- A baptism

One day J and his family moved to Payson, within two day of them moving in, 22 of the members in the ward stopped by said hi, and offered help and assistance! J then saw his father in law, who is a member, give his wife a blessing, and desired to be able to do that.

When the missionaries came over for the first time, they taught about eternal families. He absolutely loved that idea. They challenged him to read the Book of Mormon every night. 

For a week he did. He said he went to bed angry every night because he did not understand what he was reading, but he persisted! It is very remarkable, how determined he was. 

From there everything else fell in place. He was baptized on Saturday.

J's baptism!

If there is one thing I'm going to do when I go home is to friendship and strengthen the new converts and less active members. I've really come to a deep understanding that thereis a lot more to life and this gospel than myself.

Also! We gave talks on the Book of Mormon in the HighLine Ward. Afterwards a woman came up to me and said I should be a pastor! Lol. I’ve been feeling very comfortable on the stand. God has really changed me out here on the mission.
I love nature. This is Payson Canyon up aways. 

 

A pretty sunset.

Week 49- The Plan of Salvation

Hi every one!
I really don't have too much to write today, but I'm praying that the
spirit will guide my fingers, and thoughts to create a message that
would benefit each of you as it has benefitted me.
The thing that has stuck out to me the absolute most this week, would
be gods woulderful, merciful plan for the salvation of each of his
beloved children. That would be us just so you know.
We have recently taught it a lot, and I've been doing a lot of reading
and pondering about it in the scriptures.  And as some of you know
when you ponder things of God, the spirit testifys to you.
I will give you a brief run down of the Plan Of Salvation just so you
can get a taste of the same love I feel is evident in it.

It all starts In heaven, where we lived with our loving heavenly
mother and father. AND like most kids, we wanted to become like our
heavenly parents. We wanted a physical body, and to learn, to be wise
like them.
So god created this Plan Of Salvation to nurture and grow his children
into wonderful beings of creation.
He gave us agency or the freedom to choose to come here on earth. Our
spirits inherited the body's Adam and Eve created. Thus fulfilling the
commandment for Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth. As
we live here with our family's we can grow and learn the same way god
did. We make sacred covenants or promises to stay true to the loving
god that created us. Then we die. Most of us are scared of death, but
if you could see through gods eyes you would be at peace, it takes a
lot of thinking and studying to know that physical death is absolutely
necessary. And that our spirits will never die, just this temporary
temple we dwell in.
After death our spirit rises to a higher level, it is called the
spirit world. This step can get complicated, so I'll put it simply. If
we made good choices according to gods commandments on the earth, we
will be at peace and not afraid of what's to come, there will only be
good consequences awaiting for us. If you made poor decisions your
soul will be restless, like a really poor nights rest, you will be
anxious and unsure of your future position.
Eventually god will reunite or beloved body's and spirits again! Where
this time there will be no sickness, or physical death, sort of like
melting plastic together, there will be no seams to which it could be
pulled apart.
After which we get to dwell with god, the important thing here is to
realize that god will not put you anywhere you won't be comfortable.
Like going to a swimming party in a ballroom gown, would you be
comfortable? God will judge you where you need to go, but that doesn't
mean you won't regret your decision for the eternities if you go to
the lower kingdoms. In ALL of this god is trying to prepare us to come
live with him like the prodigal sons and daughters we are. It is what
he wants most. And should be what we want most as well.
So voila! This plan is absolutely gorgeous to me and very perfect. You
can tell a very loving hand created it. And I want ALL of gods
children to know, so they can choose for themselves where they want to
fit in.
I want to challenge each of you to try with your might to find a fault
in this plan, and then pray about it. It is my humble promise to you
that you will not be able to find a fault to which god had not
foreseen and prepared for.
I love you all!
Sly,
Elder Minson

Pictures:

At the Payson temple today:

 

At a dinner appt Thursday. Turns out this guy was my Uncle Craig's mission companion 20 years ago!

A member caught some photos of us at Walmart this week :)

We and some of the missionaries in the Zone went to an awesome family history thingie! It was super cool!

Week 48

Me just chilling.
The unicorn behind me is the one from Despicable Me.
Some elders found it in a dumpster, bleached it, and then left it in the apartment.

An adorable kitty we found!

Sorry I haven't sent out a weekly email lately. I have decided to send out an updated version of an email that we send to our ward and stake leaders.  Tell me what yah think of our awesome experiences!  Also, this week we taught the Zone Training Meeting, and we got to go on exchanges with the Nephi elders, I went with elder Morgan, he is fresh out the MTC. People are treating us great here in Payson.

S- We have had a few lessons with him this week, mainly all to continue preparing and informing him of what will happen at his baptism. He has a good desire to continue going to church. We have discussed it with him, and felt that the 16th would be a good day, but he was wanting to change it due to scheduling issues. We will have a lesson/baptism interview with him today that will determine his date. He has testified to us that he feels the power of the spirit at church. It is really cool.


M- Had another lesson with M it was just dandy, he was very attentive, and had good questions, we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are almost done with the recent convert lessons.

W- We haven't been able to have a lesson, as they have canceled a bunch. We have a lesson today in which we will talk about his concern. He still is struggling with accepting a date to be baptised. We have testified several time in the sincerity of our heart that he needs faith first, but no such luck.. we are at this moment planting seeds.


T- We are usually have lessons every Sunday at about 12:30. So this Sunday we invited him to regional conference , he said they would be there and then there for the lesson following it. The lessons we have been giving have mainly been review. He was taught several times by missionaries in the past.


R-We had an other lesson with R on wednesday, it went really well. He felt good about what was taught. The R's didn't manage to make it to this appointment. We were very bold and said that he should not get baptised if they were not going to be good about going to church. We explained that when your baptised you make a covenant or a sacred promise to god that for your life you will follow him. We talked, and suggested they contact and talk with the bishop, as he would be the one to interview R.

J- He is doing very well, we have had a lesson with him, and we moved his date back a little, to accommodate a few schedule issues. He would like to be baptised on the 23rd of September! We need to have a baptismal interview, but that will be about it. He has been taught all the lessons, and is well prepared for his baptism, the Ward is very excited!

T-- We got an online referral to visit T.. He recently moved in and talked with a member about the church at work. He works a ton, so it's hard to catch him. We called him on the phone and he said he was interested but he would call us when he's not at work. UPDATE: we stopped by and talked to him through his doorbell. It sounded like he had guests over. They were laughing and joking around saying that they didn't need us, and to go away. We aren't giving up on him yet, we will be over again.


G- We met this past Thursday. It went well. We hope they make it to regional conference. Sister H came with us, so hopefully they will go to Primary the next Sunday! If they do they spirit will testify to the power and blessings of it!

K- A senior couple told us about K. We had a lesson with him on Thursday. We talked about baptism and his desires. We even put him on date for baptism for October 14. His mother said they will be able to go to the regional conference. The spirit will benefit this family tremendously!.


K- They gave us him as well. We were excited to see the family at church! We had 2 lessons set up with the,, but both fell through, this week. The mother is trying to have her father be at the lessons, but he has had other plans, and they have had to cancel. We are going to try and stop by tonight to set up another visit.

S- We talked with Brother S for 30 minutes, with his wife, and kids, joining for about 5 minutes. Very nice family. Brother S said he had been offended in his early 20s. We asked a couple of the kids if they want to go to church and they said yes. It seems the parents are holding them back, a bit. He said he will think about if he wants missionaries to teach his kids, and for us to come back in 2 weeks (this was last Monday). We feel this family has very good potential!

Elder Minson