Tuesday, December 16, 2014

TRANSFERED AGIAN!

Hey guys,

This week was pretty good. From Wednesday to Friday I was on yet another exchange with the zone leaders this time. I was able to be with Elder Griffith. The Hawthorne ward is having a rough time. There was not a lot of people to teach, so we ended up doing a lot of Tracting. But the lessons that we were able to have were really good. I thought that the exchange went great regardless. We went into a dinner appointment not knowing what we should teach them, Elder Griffith gave me the opportunity to share the message. I had no idea what to teach. so I came to the conclusion after much thought. I shared the message about letting the savior be our guide in life, from Elder Ballards talk. I  had a lot of thoughts go through my mind, but during the lesson the thoughts were totally different. I realized that I was teaching by the spirit. 

After the exchange me and Elder Graham went over to an investigators house at 8. He always lets us inside. But this lesson was quite a bit different. during the lesson, the investigator, came back at us with a comment. Then the conversation went downhill from there. we tried to keep teaching. But he would be arguing. It came to the point where he would keep talking and we would have to leave, so we asked him if we could say a prayer but he kept talking.  He kept talking and trying to combat with us. We ended up walking out of the house without turning back. The whole conversation and lesson was just a contentious battle. We taught and did the best that we could to help him understand, I dont think that we are going to go back soon. 

Speaking of not going back soon....yet again I have gotten transferred. haha! but its not a bad thing. I like seeing all the different sorts of people throughout the mission. I am grateful to be going to Cody Wyoming. I  have had a good time in Roundup, I will miss this place. but I  am looking forward to meeting the people in Cody. 

Hope you've had a great week. Because mine was pretty good overall. 
-Elder Daniels

first week in December '14

This week was a pretty rough week after the zone conference on Tuesday. First off, when we were driving in to the Christmas zone conference, the Shepherd Elders called us to see if they could get a ride into town since we would be going the same route pretty much. So it seemed like a good idea to pick them up after meeting at a gas station and carpool together to the conference. I had a great time at the zone conference for my first Christmas on the mission. I really enjoyed playing an arrangment of o holy night for everyone. I practiced as much as I could, when there was time, but the nerves still got to me. But I thought that I did pretty well. The Christmas spirit was definitely present during the whole zone conference. One of the best parts I thought was when they showed pictures that missionaries families had sent to the mission home in secret. Luckily mine was not that bad. It was just a family picture, from the begining of this year. Most of the other missionaries pictures were some embarresing ones from when they were kids. They were pretty funny because all you would see was the persons picture without the name. and the missionary in the room quietly say, "OH NO..." then their name would show up and everyone would laugh. Because some would not even look like them! 
 After the zone conference we returned to the gas station to drop the Shepherd Elders off and to also switch so we could do an exchange. But, when we got to the gas station the Shepherd Elders car was not there. So we walked in and asked what happened to the car? They said that the car got towed a while ago, because it was sitting in a spot where you were not supposed to park. So we called the towing office and they said that they were closed for the day. So we had no idea what to do, so we called the zone leaders and did a miniature exchange for the night. Where just I would go with the zone leaders home, so each companion ship had one car and a tripanionship. Then the next day we got together again and went down in the morning to the towing yard to get the car. We didn't have any cash on us, and the problem was that they only accepted cash. So Elder Scott (the vehicle coordinator) came down and paid the fine. All of the fees added together was roughly $260 dollars! When we were waiting for Elder Scott to show up. I made the comment that, "it is easier to get into sin, but it is really hard to get out of it!" Which is true in this case because we simply parked wrong, and 260 dollars later we finally got out of it. 
 
Other than that, the exchange with Elder Wolf  went pretty well. we taught quite a few people and shared the "he is the gift" video with a lot of people. Everyone that we have showed it to has either gotten teared up or was crying at the end of it. that video is a spiritual powerhouse. I  love that video a lot because it softens even the toughest peoples hearts. But in Worden where shepherd elders live. and where I used to serve. There was a christmas stroll. Which is where you walk around town going to all the buisnesses and getting stamps on a paper and then turning it in. We went to a christmas tree selling business.They gave us a really good REAL christmas tree for free. They are not members but they always donate a tree to the Missionaries. It was good though because we walked around town and talked with people and got seen by alot of people. I think that we are the only missionaries in the world that have an actual pine tree. ha-ha There was a few churches like a free mason church and a Lutheran church that was on the list. We went inside and we thought that they were going to kick us out for being Mormons in their church. But they didn't, We talked a lot about gospel stuff and they were really friendly. 
Last night on Sunday we went over to the Dimmicks. We had a really good lesson with them. they pretty much believe everything that we believe. From the mouth of their own they said, " your church is trying to keep the gospel the way it is supposed to be and not changing it to whatever the worlds standards are." Which we both thought meant that he believed that this church is the only right church with the right beliefs, He just doesnt get the concept of the need of the book of Mormon. He absolutly LOVES having us over, but as long as he is progressing, then we will keep going over.

well that was this hectic...fun...week that I have had. I hope yours was fun as well.

-Elder Daniels

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

It's Cold Outside!

Well this week was Thanksgiving! (as all of you should know. ha ha) We had 3 dinners on Thanksgiving! I am pretty full! I could hardly eat the rest of the day. For our last dinner, which was at the branch presidents house. We showed up for dinner and the branch president was laying down taking a nap. He was holding an ice pack on his stomach. He told us that he woke up and had a really bad feeling wrenching his stomach. So he went to the hospital and he got an appendicitis surgery. But he was able to come home the same day. It would be terrible to get an appendicitis on any day but a holiday? They got a pretty good sized deer in the morning too. When we went over, they were cutting it up. They were going to make liver and onions!

As we left their house we had to walk down a ramp that was iced over with a little bit of frost. On the way down the ramp. We both slipped and fell. And sadly enough, Elder Graham hurt his ankle. Me being an eagle scout, evaluated the situation. I came to the conclusion that he sprained his ankle pretty bad. He could not walk on it, so i had to carry him out to the truck. Oddly enough everyone inside did not see or hear it happen? But we went home and I got some ice packs and we did what is called "rice." which is rest, ice, compress. and elevation. I guess it was a good thing that I was an eagle scout. Because every day till Saturday we stayed at home and took care of Elder Graham. We were able to have lessons though. Even though we did not see them in person, we would text them and teach them a lesson. So we were still doing missionary work, even though elder graham was out of commission until he could walk on it again. He is walking now with a little bit of a hobble. He was able to get a blessing by me.
 

The winter is here for sure I think. The weather is about -12 in the morning and the night. And gets to about 15 degrees in the afternoon. There is a picture attached on the way to Billings on Wednesday on what it looks like.

Other than that. Since Elder Graham was out of commission for a few days. I decided that I wanted to read the New Testament and read about the Saviors life since it is getting to Christmas. I hope to finish the New Testament by Christmas. I am already just about finishing up Luke. Now I just have to read from John to Revelations. Then I will probably work on the Old Testament. So I  would have read the whole Bible once and the book of Mormon many times on my mission.. My overall goal for my mission is to read all of the standard works before my mission ends. Its a pretty big goal, but I know that I can accomplish it.

Hopefully y'all have had wonderful Thanksgiving and a Happy Holiday season.
-Elder Daniels