Monday, March 28, 2016

March 21st

Hey,

So this is what I have found over the course of my mission. I have found that when you go about doing missionary work, you have good days and bad days. The odd thing is, is that when you have a really awesome week where tons of things happened and missionary work is progressing, then the next week is just super un-progressive and you struggle teaching people and the work is super hard. Well, we just had one of those weeks. Last week we had the baptism of T. (which was really awesome) and we had a really successful week. Then this week we struggled a bit When we were in Cutbank. On Tuesday we had the zone conference in Helena, it was my final zone conference of my mission, so most of the missionaries I knew there, I would not see again until after the mission. Of course during the final zone conference of your mission (if the zone conference is on your last transfer) you bear your testimony in front of almost half the mission. I was not the only missionary to bear my testimony in Helena. There was another elder that I came out with, as well as a sister that is going home with us (she came out 6 months after we were out, so it lines up 18 months and 2 years). I thought the zone conference was great. I was the last of the three to bear their departing testimony. I stood up their and started speaking and then I just stopped for a second and I was fighting back tears. I accomplished not crying. But during that moment of silence. I looked out at the missionaries and I noticed that some of the sisters that I had served around were starting to tear up. I don't know why.... But when I was finished, I walked down and I sat down and looked at elder Archie (who was the other elder who bore his testimony) we looked at each other for a second and elder Archie said while everyone was still quiet, "this sucks man!" And everybody heard it and they all started laughing, it was weird to be bearing my testimony. 

After the zone conference was over we split up and went on an exchange with the district leader since we had not done one this transfer. During the exchange we met with a few people and one of them in fact was M. who we have not seen in about 2 months. We came back and finally met with her just on her doorstep. (You can probably see where this is going) as soon as she opened the door we didn't even really get a word out at the beginning, she said, "guys, I love my church and it was good to get to know about your church, but I just love my church and I am not going to join yours." So in other words, she dropped us.....hard. But I was actually fine with it. Usually when somebody drops us, I get pretty upset. But this time I was actually calm.  Usually when you stop going to someone weekly and then show up a few months later, the investigators usually either do two things. They either realize that they missed you and become super interested (and eventually get baptized), or the opposite happens, they harden against the church because of anti-Mormon stuff or they finally got the courage to say "not interested" to us. Which in this case was the latter of the two. 

After the exchange was over we tried to go to Browning the next day but when we did, Nobody was home. We tried so many different people but were unsuccessful. Sunday was pretty good. We spoke in church and everybody loved it. Also, when we went to browning. There was a old lady there that was coming to church. She said she is a member but we don't have her records. She said the last time that she came to church was 1987. We have no idea why she decided to come that Sunday. We asked her but she was keeping silent. She wouldn't even tell us where she lived so we could visit her. 


Anyways, it is winding down but I am still going strong to the end even though the end of my mission is nigh. Have a good week!

Friday, March 18, 2016

Last Good bye Mission accomplished

Dear Son!   I'm so proud of you! They say love grows fonder as your apart! It certainly has for me. We have missed you dearly! We have grown to love who you have become. We are so excited to see what the future holds for you.  This experience! well? When times got tuff you really pushed through!  And so did we! It really has brought out how much love we have for one another. I know you have learned to have a greater appreciation for us as your parents  and all we have strived to teach and provide for you as your stewards. Heavenly father defiantly blessed us with your presence. Your a kind obedient person and I truly love you. Your tenderness and love for those around you has always radiated like the bright sun. You have been able to accomplish sharing that light of the gospel through all your works and deeds. It was your turn to live by every word and your time to be called to serve, your time to shine! You did it! You will be forever blessed for your service. You took your turn to serve our father in heaven and his children and did it with a humble and willing heart!  I know you now know the blessings of service to your fellow man. You have always loved a uniform. It has always helped you to understand reverence! As you take off that tag  we will be by your side!  You will never forget the lessons you learned. Remember the way you felt as you were a disciple of Christ. It will help you forever when life gets hard you will know how to push through. Never give up when times get ,tough, and the storms of life encircle you! You are not alone! You know that. GOD IS REAL! He is there, he loves us! He is our parent! Every parent has unconditional love for there child! We love you we would never leave your side. And neither will he. Rejoice in your service. You did enough. Don't ever despise your youth! We truly loved riding this ride with you. I know you hate roller coasters but this one was AWESOME! Saturday will come! Just as death comes. Its unenviable.  I'm sorry your dying! hahaha killing of a missionary! I'm a little nervous for the next uniform you want to try on? I’m pretty sure you still want to be a police officer. But hey life rolls on. I love you! I didn't know if I had the words for this letter so I've added a poem. Written by a friend of mine named Anna, I met along this journey. I've mostly cried as I was typing! haha I'm totally going to be crying when I see you. hahaha I have a problem ok.       
  Hugs and kisses Till we meet again, Love Mom 



Your last goodbye-mission accomplished! 
By Anna Carbone
You left your parents, your friends your life. The hugs and tears from loved ones, you felt ready to go and serve God. But the day has come this is your last goodbye, mission accomplished!

You came here with fresh perspective. You had been trained-you thought you knew it all. But it was God’s training you received! Out to the field of harvest you went. You think of that now because it’s your last goodbye, mission accomplished!


A companion, every 6 weeks or so. A training ground for your future! What a great plan, God thought it allahead of time Even the tough ones! Now this part will help you with the difficulties of life ahead. All this learning will remain with you in college, your marriage and your kids! You are looking back at this now because it’s your last goodbye, mission accomplished!


The ward members you depended on for dinner appointments and referrals. You love every one of them. Now you reflect back because it’s your last goodbye, mission accomplished!


You had special investigators you loved with all your heart. You prayed for them, you fasted for them, you taught them well. Some you brought to the waters of baptism. Some you will leave for the next missionary. You will never forget them; they were a big part of your life. You look back on this now, because it’s your last goodbye, mission accomplished!


It is time to go. You don’t want to leave your mission! You have come to love it more every day. You will miss everything about it. Not every day was perfect but you learned so much! Your feet are tired; you have holes in your shoes. The clothing you brought are looking worn. As you board that plane you take one last look at all you have done and left behind. Tears are coming down, as you wipe them away, you can say I think I made the best decision of my life. I know I helped some and brought them to Christ. You are on your way home. You have said your last goodbye. Welcome home, mission accomplished, you have returned with honor!


Hello everyone!

As you know, this is my last letter as a missionary. It is a biter sweet moment for my final week of my mission.

 it is going to be hard to leave here as well as the whole entire mission.  I have heard many people say that a mission goes by so fast that you can't believe where the time went. At the beginning of my mission I thought 2 years was going to be forever. But I look back now and I say to myself, "where has the time gone. Yesterday in Sunday school we were studying the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob chapter 5. One of the verses stuck out to me more than it ever has. I attributed it to the fast that I was getting to the end of my mission. Here is what it says,"But what could I have done more in [his] vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh..." I have thought about it more than ever before. It's an honest question that I was asking. Since I don't have a lot of time left, I have been wondering what more I could have done in my areas that I have been in during my mission. But I believe that I have done all that I could in the area at that time. Just like the scripture says, "I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh." but obviously using other words than prune, dung, and dig. 

This week was pretty good. I new that I was going to be going home and I had a lot of stuff to pack up in my bags so I packed up all of the stuff that I am not going to use in the next week so I have an easier time packing before I go home so I can have time to see people. Even though I saw most of them Sunday at church. We actually had dinner with members the whole week! After district meeting on Wednesday we all went as a district to this Chinese place that was hidden around the corner in Shelby. The bathroom was pretty sketchy. It was all old and gross and there were curtains for the stalls! The restaurant didn't even have chopsticks so it definitely was not authentic Chinese, even if the food was super good. 

On Friday we went down to great falls super early in the morning because we were having interviews with the mission president. Since it is only a week away to the day. (And that the schedule is going to be hectic going to the temple and all the other stuff that day) we did my exit interview with President Wadsworth. It was a pretty good interview. We talked a lot about going home and getting back to normal life. He also gave me some pointers and some advice. After the interview we had some lunch and drove back to Cutbank, had a little break, and then went to Browning. After spending a little time in Browning we went to the W. and we had dinner with them and also rendered some service. We stacked hay again. And we also got to go out to the ranch and help them feed the cows. One of which was in labor and about to calf. 

On Sunday I had the opportunity to speak briefly and share my testimony before I went home because yesterday was my last Sunday. 

That was my last week and I will report to you all next week when I am home from my home email! 
I will also send my final testimony in a separate email                                                                                                                                                      





My Testimony

I want to leave with you my testimony of what I know to be true. I know that my mission was the best thing that I could have chosen to do at this time in my life. There is no way that I could be the person that I am now, if I did not serve my mission. I am grateful for the experiences that I have had over the course of my mission that have shaped me into what God would have me to be. I am grateful for the loving care of everyone around me and even the loving care of God to give me the hard times that I have had. My mission has meant so much to me. I did not catch the vision of missionary work near the beginning. But now I realize how much meaning my mission has to me. This is one of the hardest things that I have ever loved to do. If I did not serve, I would not have met certain people where only I could be the one that got them closer to God (with the spirit of course) I have been able to witness and see many people change their lives, and see the growth in their testimony. 
I also want to testify of the atonement. The atonement was the mission and ultimate purpose of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ willingly went to the garden of Gethsemane, and willingly took upon his own body, the pains, suffering, guilt, and everything else that we have gone through and experienced. He did not have to do it. But he did. He bled drops of blood. How many drops did he bleed for me alone? I hope he never has to bleed more than he has to, or any more than he already has. I would not want to watch him suffer any longer for me. But I am grateful that he did that for me because now I now how much he truly loves me, and each and every one of us. There is no greater love that a person can possess, than laying down their own life for those that he/she loves. I hope I can get to that point, and I know that I will someday. 
I know that the many companions that I have had on my mission, were companions with me for a reason. Sometimes I did not know the reason till after. We never know why we are chosen to be put to something. Sometimes it may be for the blessing and growth of us, or it may be for the growth of the companion. Either they were put with me because they had something that I needed, or I was put with them because I had something that they needed. Either way, there was always a reason that I was with the companions that I was with. I grew from a lot of my companions, and I know that some of them grew from learning something from me. Just as I said before, I am grateful for the trials that I have had during the course of my mission. They have helped me to grow stronger than I was before the trial. I have had many learning experiences on my mission because I did not know a whole lot at the beginning, and I still don't know a whole lot of stuff. 
I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book. I have had the opportunity to study It many times through my mission and I still learn something new. I also know that the other scriptures that we have a true as well because I have had the blessing of reading the whole standard works on my mission. I know that Joseph smith was the first prophet of this dispensation and that there was not a greater prophet than him, save Jesus Christ being the best. I know that all the religions around the world have bits and pieces of the truth. But the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth." There is no way that this church is not true. Everything that I learn in the scriptures, even the bible, clicks together so perfectly that there is no other way than to say that it has to be true. I have prayed about all the scriptures to know if they are true words of God. I have prayed about the Book of Mormon many times and I know that it contains the true words of God! I know that everyone can find out the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon if they pray about it with the "real intent, sincere heart, and faith in Christ" as put in words by Moroni in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon. 
I know that the leaders of this church today are men of God that speak to him daily and receive guidance daily in the way that God would have the church go. Every word that we hear out of general conference is prophetic. We look back 20 years ago when "the family: a proclamation to the world" was spoken. Back then they didn't think that it had much relevance to them, we look at the world today and the family is being attacked more than ever. 20 years ago, the leaders of the church saw that the family was going to be attacked viciously. Now today we see why we needed that proclamation. We heard in conference not to long ago about sustaining our church leaders. Then the church made a stance against a law passed by the government. Some members wanted to leave the church because of the stance made. That is not sustaining our church leaders. I testify that the leaders of this church today are watchmen on the tower. I testify that when we listen to them and heed their council when we hear it, we are blessed. We may not know why they give certain council to us. But I know that when we listen and obey, we will not perish. 
This is only a small portion of my testimony, if you got my whole testimony it would be a super long email. But Everything that I have testified of I know to be truth. And I know that you can know these things to be true as well, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Daniels.

baptisum

Hooray!

T. was able to get baptized and confirmed this last weekend! we were so excited. That is the first baptism that this branch has had in a long time, so that's really good. To start it all off we went to Browning on Tuesday and tried the R. first. If you remember about a month ago we got the R. as a referral. We have not been able to meet with them for a really long time. We have tried many times but they said they were sick or they had a lot of people over. But this last week we were able to meet with them. We shared more about the Book of Mormon and we are planning on teaching them the restoration and starting the lessons with them because we can see that they are interested now. They have been reading the Book of Mormon while we had not been meeting with them though, which is good! After meeting with the R. we went and saw brother M. to go help him understand how to teach Sunday school better as well as help him prepare a little bit. After brother M, we saw T. All we did there was get everything set in stone for what she wants at her baptism. 

On Friday we went out to the W. to go see how they are doing. It seems like every time we go to the W (which is not weekly) it's usually on the weeks that they didn't show up to church. It's almost like a bi-weekly thing. But when we showed up, They were going to load some hay on a trailer, so we helped them do that in our missionary clothes. (They provided jackets we could wear so we didn't get dirty though) after we helped them they fed us dinner and we played some games with them, one of which was Jenga. A few times we didn't get very far into the game before it fell over. But the last round that we played went for a long time. We were so careful and we ended up getting to 25 rows with only 3 possible pieces to move that were completely stuck. We later found out that the level of PRO gets up to 30 levels. So we were ALMOST pro at it. 

The baptism was really good on Saturday. Brother M. was the one who baptized her. He had never baptized anybody before. Then on Sunday we had the confirmation, brother R. confirmed her. Some other really amazing things happened that day as well. During sacrament meeting we sustained brother G.to be ordained to an elder. Brother G. has been wanting to be an elder his whole life but. Things happened and he was not able to get it till now. We (meaning the elders quorum) ordained him during priesthood. Then before everyone left after the potluck. Elder E. wanted a blessing and brother G. was able to stand in on a blessing for the fist time only two hours after getting the authority to do so. It was a really amazing day for the Browning branch. We will have to go over to his house this week and give him the basic instructions on how to do blessings and stuff. 

Have a good week!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Feb.29th

Hello, 

Well I guess I'll start off this letter by saying that T. was not baptized on Saturday. I have no idea why, but here is the story behind it. On Tuesday, We had the Conrad elders drive all the way up to browning since we were planning on working there after T. baptismal interview. Keep in mind that is an hour and a half drive from Conrad to Browning one way. So we went over to the church (which is where we told her we were going to have the interview) but when we showed up, there was nobody there. So we waited and waited. Finally we decided that we were going to go over to her house to see if she was there and if she forgot about the interview. But when we went over to her house, she was not there. Her father said that the truck was not there (which was quite obvious). But we figured that she might be with her boyfriend. So we called him and somebody else answered the phone and said that he forgot his phone. So we went over to brother M. home to see if they were there. But he nor she was not there either. It was starting to get frustrating. So we went back to the church and we got onto Facebook and tried to find her and send her a message via Facebook. We knew that she had a phone and we figured that she probably had the Facebook app and she would get a notification on her phone about the message. But we still have not got a reply to this day. We can see that she has not even looked at it either. So she basically dropped off the face of the earth. I'm not sure why though, we have been meeting with her every Tuesday and Friday for the past two weeks without missing an appointment, but when she has a baptismal interview scheduled, she is nowhere to be found?!? She knows she is ready because she said it. So we have no idea why. We have tried to contact her everytime we go to Browning now. But we still have not been able to meet with her. So this is a little wild goose chase. So Conrad drove up for no reason basically. Then they asked if they could hitch a ride to the zone training in great falls last Friday since they didn't have any more miles for the month. 

Zone training was really good. Near the end they said, "alright we are going to have a closing testimony by..... Elder so-and-so" And I thought it was going to be me because this is my last transfer and I have never heard of a closing testimony in a zone meeting unless someone is going home. but I didn't have to give my testimony. But I will have to give it in front of half the mission at zone conference in Helena in March. 

I am kinda jumping around what we did during the week but another thing we did was we made that super spicy 3-meat wrap that elder Wilson loved to make a lot when I was with him. It is super easy to make and it messes with your bowls for the next few days. It's super good tasting, but your body will pay for it later. 


We also hit a mile marker in our car (pun intended, see picture see if you can get it.) 

March 7 2016

Hey!This week was fairly stressful. To start off we went to Browning to try and meet with T again To set another baptismal interview date with her. Luckily she was home and we were able to set the date with her for the next Friday (which was last Friday). The rest of Tuesday was pretty slow, we tried to see many investigators and lots of less active members, but nobody was home or we couldn't find the house because in Browning there are no street signs so you don't know what street you are on and the address that we have are not regular addresses, they are coordinates. So that doesn't really help at all luckily our i Pads can give directions to coordinates! It was also elder Erickson's birthday on Tuesday so we had cake with them. Wednesday was slow. We had district meeting in the morning and we also went to see sister King in the afternoon since we have not been over there in a while Thursday was dreadfully slow because we tried to stay as focused as much as we could during our weekly planning. But I got sooooooo bored,but we got it done. Also the branch presidency made a plan to feed us more because we have not been getting fed by the members. So we are doing every Thursday, somebody is going to be assigned to feed us that day if nobody volunteers. They are going to start with the branch presidency first and then open it up to the members after. So this last Thursday we had dinner with the branch president. It was a good dinner but the main point of them doing the assigned dinners is to get the members to have us in their home and we can get to know them as well as they get to know us. Then we share one of the lessons that we teach so they know what we teach, so they can share that message with their friends and the members can me more missionary minded. One thing that I have noticed on my mission is that when the members of the ward/branch are not missionary minded, then the work for the missionaries is slow and it sucks. But when the members are missionary minded, then the work is amazing and the area progresses and there are baptisms. On Friday we had Conrad come again and give T. her baptismal interview. But when we showed up to the church in Browning, we waited for a little bit and she still didn't show up. The first thought that came into my head when she did not show up was, "great! She didn't show up again." So we left the church and went over to her house and we tried to see if she forgot again. But when we got there they,meaning her and her boyfriend, we already heading out to go to the church for her interview. So the interview ended up happening and she passed so now this Saturday is going to be the baptism. We got everything figured out on Sunday when she came to church. But I've also noticed that the week of the baptism, whenever you have one, is always super hectic. You are running around trying to get every thing ready and set and we are still doing that right now but we hope to get everything set in stone when we go to Browning tomorrow. That at was my crazy week. Have a good week as well.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Week One Last transfer

Hey!

This week was a pretty good week! It's the start of the last transfer and it flew by super fast. Ever since I got Elder Story on Wednesday, it has gone by super fast. I didn't realize it was Saturday and it had already been 4 days since I got Elder Story. I am trying to slow time down so I can enjoy the last of my mission, while still doing a lot of stuff to stay busy. It's pretty much impossible considering that I can't do both at the same time. It's either one or the other. Kind of like an oxymoron I guess. I want to take it slow while doing as much work as I can. 

Tuesday was hectic. We went to Browning and taught T. at brother M's home we are almost done with the lessons with her and her baptism is this Saturday! I am still so excited for it. We also saw a bunch of other people before we left to Conrad to stay the night so it was easier on us so we did not have to wake up super early to be in great falls for transfers. But the sad thing was that Elder Pett was not done packing, So we all stayed awake while he finished packing and he did not finish until about midnight. Then we finally had the opportunity to go to bed and I could not sleep until about 2 and then we woke up at 5 to get ready for the day, So I only got about 3 hours of sleep that night. 

We visited T. on Friday and we taught her the rest of the lessons and also went over the baptismal interview questions with her for her interview tomorrow. 


Nothing else really exciting happened this week. But there will be more to write about next week with the baptism happening this week. Hope you all have a great week and that all is well.  



My Birthday,  Transfer day,  Elder Masauo and Elder Story my companions, and my District and my whole Mission Pictures.








Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Last Transfer

This week and transfer flew by really super fast. I don't really want
to know what this next transfer is going to feel like. But it's
happening. It's going to feel super-duper-uber fast.
I've got some exciting news too! If you remember the person that said
she wanted to be baptized a few weeks ago. Well, we taught her on
Tuesday and Friday this past week and on Tuesday we talked about a
baptism date and we put her on date for baptism for the 27th this
month. So not this Saturday, but next Saturday! I am so excited! This
might be the last baptism for my mission, but I don't know. I am
pretty sure that It is going to happen though.
Something else that happened this week was my birthday!!! We saw on
Facebook that one of the members in the branch was having a birthday
party for their son and so we made a gift and went over to their house and spent the party with them. Then the found out that it was my
birthday the next day. So they celebrated it early with their family.
We also got the transfer news. I am staying and Elder Masauo is
leaving. My new companion is Elder Story.
Have a good week!