Week Eighty Six

This week was full of a lot of work.  We had a lot of different things planned, but random things kept throwing off our plans. I think when that happens, that's the Lord's way of switching up our plans for better things to happen. That definitely is true in our case, because we were able to put another two people on date to be baptized this April! One of them is the daughter of some people to we are helping come back to church named Saphira. The other is a guy named Patrick. He came with us to the Saturday night session of Stake Conference, and we also wrote his work a note and acted like old minister dudes, and got him all Sundays off so he also came to church on Sunday. The note was very official, and we hit it with some bomb signatures.

This week it hit 50 degrees!!! So I got to bust out the short sleeves for a little bit in the afternoon. I felt so blessed. It's amazing how much easier the work becomes when it warms up outside. People become way nicer, more people come outside, and just in general more happens. Also it's staying light till 6:45 now. Buuuuut that means it's just the beginning of mud season. I have a pic of a spot where we just about got stuck. I love me some good dirt roads.

I am grateful for all of the miracles we are receiving here in Winthrop. It's one of the many things I love about being a missionary. I get the opportunity to see God's hand so often in my life, and I am learning more day by day about all the small miracles He performs. I hope all of you can learn to recognize all the ways our Heavenly Father truly influences our life. It's easy to forget when we get caught up in the world.

Anyways have a good week everyone! 

Mud seasons begins......

This dog is named Joey and he works at the copy center. He jumped up on me when I sat down.

Week Eighty Five

This week was pretty awesome! We had interviews with President Blair, Zone Conference, Keira's baptism, and Stake Conference! So we were pretty busy.  The beginning of the week was normal though. We had a little miracle while finding. Since there are not many ways to find out here we were tracting for most of the day. We were about to call it quits on finding and go chef up some quesadillas for dinner. But we decided to knock one more street, and we came across this little run down apartment building with like 4 rooms. And that was how we found our boy David and his son David.

During interviews this week President was telling me and Elder Ricks about how when we first got into the mission he was really concerned about Elder Ricks, and how he thought I was just a wild dude. He said it's one of his favorite things to watch missionaries grow, and become amazing missionaries. Its always a good time with President Blair. 

I was chilling having  a good time at Zone Conference when Sister Larsen told me she had a surprise for me! Then she pulled out an African shirt! My African sisters in Revere got me an African shirt, and had Elder Nielsen deliver it to Sister Larsen for me! It's awesome becsuse I wanted one the whole time I was there, but no one sold them, and you had to wait for someone to get back from Africa to get one! So when it randomly showed up when I was in Maine, I was so happy!

The baptism went really well, and we were able to have one of the people we were teaching show up. Things are going a lot better now since when I first got here a month ago. I know that if we work hard, smart, and rely on the lord, he will bless our efforts, and give us the strength we need to keep working!

Week Eighty Four

I got to start off the week as a classic dad in a mini van. We picked up the Augusta Sisters, and Saco Elders, and drove down to Manchester for MLC. It was awesome! Shout out to sister Larsen (office worker) for getting me buffalo mac and cheese. We got some sad news there though. We are not allowed to leave the mission boundaries for any reason now. So that means we are not allowed to go to the temple for our last day in the field😭 It was really sad news and a lot of the older missionaries and Sister Blair were crying. It's ok though. Sacrifice brings blessings.

My companion Elder Ricks had a new milestone this week. This Wednesday we were walking into a ZLC, and he slipped on some ice, and when he landed he busted his pants open. Like the worst tear I've ever seen. We had a good laugh and one Elder just so happened to have a pair of pants he felt like he should randomly put in the car. #miracles But to top it off when we were at district council, he was in the other pants that matched that suit, and he stepped up on a chair and they busted too. This time in front of a bunch of sisters. Good times.

This weekend was great. We had 3 baptismal interviews and the Sisters in Auburn had a baptism. It's a very exciting time around the zone! We have our very own baptism coming next Saturday! 

We had the most investigators at church this ward has had in over a year this past week! It was 4😂 It was awesome though, and a lot of people thought one of the ladies we brought was a member. 

Anyways it's getting better here in rural Maine! Hopefully we can see some awesome things happen in the next few weeks. I'm having a good time as a missionary, and want to use the most of the time I have! Have a blessed week 

Week Eighty Three

This week was alright. We started out by exchanging with the Farmingdale Elders. I spent the time in their area. We taught a few lessons, and found some cool Mainers. I was with Elder Jensen and we had a good time together. He's been out a transfer longer than me, and I didn't know him really. We spent the last year and a half in opposite sides of the mission, and I finally landed next to him. It's crazy how many missionaries you will never meet because you always live so far from each other. 

 It's been pretty snowy out here, so it's made for some fun proselyting. Whether we help people shovel, or take their sleds and go bomb some hills with them, it's been fun being around the snow again. This area of Maine feels a lot more like the woods than the Rockland area. It always feels like we're driving to someone's cabin or campsite. We are, but a lot of people actually live in the woods next to the campsites.

But luckily we live between two alright sized cities. This Saturday we had a booth over in Lewiston that did really well, and I was able to find a lot of Africans again. These ones are basically refugees from Somalia, and Congo. It was good to see diversity again. I can't believe I went almost a whole year without seeing anything but white people. Anyways good time. 

We are working more and more in this area to build it back up, and I think the key to this area will be part member family's. So we are going to do a lot of work with them, and try and find lots of children of record. Things are going well out here though! 

 

 

Week Eighty Two

Well I'm back in Maine now. The area I got is definitely going to be a challenge. When I loaded up the area book I had a flashback to when I first loaded up Colebrook's area book. Not too much planning was happening, or teaching, or finding. There was an unmotivated missionary who was in the area for his 5th transfer of the area and the final transfer of his mission. So I went into straight rebuild mode. We've already been able to set up a few reoccurring appointments with our investigators, and gotten in with a few less active part member families. So hopefully we can start getting down to work here.

One of the few people we are teaching is pretty cool. We teach a couple where the boyfriend is a less active member and the girlfriend is learning about the church.  We also are teaching a young girl who's mother just decided to come back to church. So #pmfforthewin Her grandma helps us teach her!

Besides that I'm living the country life again walking around in the beans.  Anyways, I'm excited to see what comes of these next few months, and how things end up. Elder Ricks and I have a vision for this area and we are excited to try and make it a reality!