9-15-14

Hey Guys!!!

Anthony your fro is look'n good man, keep it growing! And thanks for the beautiful mug shot of Walter, he's look'n good too. Can he grow facial hair yet? Ha-ha

This week had been really awesome. One of the best on my mission. Can you guess why? I was able to see a family member that I haven’t seen in quite some time, and his name is Daylon!!! I was able to see him on Saturday night at the place he's staying at. He actually lives super close to us, like only ten minutes away, if even that. He still has the blue Dodge Ram that he had in Montgomery, which was how we found his house when we were looking at all the mail boxes for the house number. He is doing good! He's doing plumbing and side jobs all around Carlsbad and Vista. We were able to do a lot of catching up, I think the last time I saw him was Christmas in Sierra Vista almost 5 years ago. He said that he didn’t know you were getting married and then he saw the pictures on Facebook and was like 'what?!' ha-ha, he said he's very out of the loop. We talked about Logan coming home from his mission, everyone at Woodstock, and about the rest of the family.

We were able to have an awesome discussion about the gospel. What kind of missionary would I be if I didn’t, right? He told me that he was thinking a lot about Logan and I on our missions a few months ago and he said that he got an impression that he should really say a prayer. He said that it was the first time in 4 years that he actually got on his knees and prayed. He told me that there was a lot said in that prayer, and he was getting kind of chocked up talking about it. I was thinking what I could share with him, something simple and that would get him to feel the spirit. The spirit is what prods people to do things, not so much people’s words. I shared 2 Nephi 32: 8-9, the one that talks about praying always. We were able to explain that Heavenly Father wants to hear us, to be a part of our lives, and that we never need feel like we can’t or are unworthy to talk to Him. Prayer is an essential part of feeling the spirit in our lives and developing our relationship with our Heavenly Father. He told us that he loves the church, but he has doubts about Joseph Smith. We were able to share our experiences we had with gaining our own testimonies and were able to bear our testimonies to him.

I was able to give him Book of Mormon with my testimony in it and a picture of the first baptism I had. When we were about to leave he said that he really needed that visit and that he was going to try to come back to church. I honestly believe that seeing Daylon was one of many reasons why I was called to serve here in this mission. I don’t think it was a coincidence. Hopefully we were able to spark a glimpse of light in his heart that will grow into something bigger.

 On Sunday three of our recent converts were able to get up and bear their testimonies of their experiences they had at the temple. They were able to do baptisms the night before at the San Diego Temple. It was hard not to cry, I was so proud of them, and my testimony was strengthened as these young men, only members for a few months, have found the true joy that the gospel brings, so awesome.

I have more to say but I’m getting kicked off the computer.

I love you all,
Your son, big brother, and friend,

-Elder Daniel

  Recognize this guy?

 

 

 

 

 

9-8-14

Que Pasa!!!

I wasn’t able to see Daylon this week, he got called into work and had to reschedule. I should be seeing him in the next few weeks here though. I got a packet with letters from everyone at Woodstock, it was pretty awesome! Put a big smile on my face.
This week we had our first on many missionary booths on Palomar Campus. The institute had a student association on campus so we get to set up a tent on the plaza with all the other clubs on campus. It’s freakin sweet! It is a little odd though, being a missionary and doing missionary work on a college campus in Southern California. (My eyes have never beheld such immodesty in my entire life.) Haha. It’s all good though. We talk to hundreds of people and are able to hand out boxes of church material in the space of only 2 hours. We actually picked up a new investigator from the booth, his name is Nick. He actually found out about the church from the Broadway play, but he was intrigued by it and had really sincere questions about what we believe. (That’s how one of our recent converts actually found out about the church as well, maybe it’s not such a bad thing at all.) It’s more of a strength than it is a hindrance to the work in some cases. Anyway, we should be meeting with him sometime this week.

We had Stake Conference yesterday and the 1st Councilor in the Stake Presidency said something that I had never heard before. He said that you can look at the Atonement as the "At-One-Ment". Because that’s what the Atonement does for us. It helps us to become at one with our Heavenly Father and our Savior. The Atonement does so much for us, it redeems us, it enables us to get back on our feet, but I think we sometimes forget to focus on the fact that it is meant to strengthen our relationship with our Father in Heaven and Christ. Remember that.

I love you all,

Your friend, son, and big brother,

-Elder Daniel

 

 A member's cruiser board (Literally everyone and their dog has a Penny board here in SoCal)