Hello Family and friends!
I like your emails there is so much to comment on! Yikes OK I have quite a bit to say to and no time! Well first of all let me say congratulations to Mama on the job! Your going to love the extra work. Second of all I can't wait to have Dinner with Nana and Tara! Ha! So I spoke to Elder Brand (assistant) and he said that is one of the benefits of this mission, he ate with his Grandma as well at one point. Although any visit of a close friend or family has to be approved by the mission president. He said don't ask President Laney since he won't be here on June 3 but to wait and ask President Miller in my interview on Friday. So hopefully he has the same feelings as President Laney did in regards to these visits. Excited! I will be giving them a box of things I don't need!
Let's see I don't have any big stories to tell but quite a few small updates. First July 3 will be the best day for us! Dinner with Nana and at from six to nine at night we get to hang out with our zones at our zone buildings! Can't wait. Get to do whatever we want really, play basketball, watch Disney movies! But me and E. Gilliland (DL) have organized a jam sesh. He is bringing a drum set and I have guitar and violin! So stoked, plus the piano there! Elder Ng plays violin so we are set, I'm so jealous that he does by the way. So thats this Saturday because of July 4, independence day thing they all go buck for.
I was at the Roosendaals (Sis. Christensian's daughter, lady we baptized) the other day to help the ward missionaries with the new member lessons and Bro. Roosendaal was showing me his sons blog, Chase. Then he wanted to scope mine so he google'd "Elder Blake Pizzey Blog" and found it! Man that's a legit blog! I love it, although the airport pictures of the family was a little sketch, we weren't looking the greatest I'll just say. But thanks Kams that's unreal and it looks really good. I'll be sending home some pictures on a jump drive with Nana so you will have a few more to add! Also in that package I'm going to be sending home a DVD for the family to watch. Dave will be proud of me. Remember the Joseph Smith video we watched downtown Salt Lake, well that's it. Perfect quality, DVD menu and everything and it's not even being sold yet. How did I do it? Can't say, I'm just a baller and get things done even when I'm in the mission. SO watch it in the theater room one Sunday and make sure Lindsay is there! And Breanne.
Tomorrow I teach district meeting, hopefully that goes OK. A little weird trying to teach missionaries who have been out 18 months and sisters who are on the down slope. Good opportunity though.
Yikes! Got to type fast! So the reason I don't have much time today. We are going up to the Brighton Branch today to move a huge pile of logs and chop some too I believe. So we are getting picked up at two, driving up their, doing service until five, eating dinner, then visiting some less active families, and part member families with the Branch President, he's great. I guess there is really good potential up there, he's married to a member and has a goal set to be sealed in the temple! Seems golden, but maybe not we will see. It will be so fun can't wait, I love being in the mountains. And we also have hair appointments at one! And we need to go get our mail, so it's a extremely short Pday but going to be well worth it!
So I will try and share one quick story. I told you Danny (18 yr old) was inviting his friend. Well we had the first lesson last night! And it went great. His friend Taylor has some great questions and a real desire to know God, or even know if there is a God. His biggest question is, are we really here on the Earth for a purpose? Or is this just it. !! Well we have the questions to that! So the lesson went perfectly, we had Danny involved big time and Taylor was completely open to sharing his feelings on the questions we asked him. At the end when I asked him to be baptized on July 22, on the condition the Lord answers his prayers and he FEELS that what we have taught is true! He was a little hesitant but we addressed his concern and any doubt he had and re-committed him and Bang O! Basically if people say no in the end there is no point in even teaching them, who wouldn't? If they received a answer from God. So that was excellent, he's a cool guy too. Wakeboards!
Sorry if your reading Elder England, but he always told me he never had nothing good come from FHE's so I stayed away from them for awhile. But we thought it is better to stay busy so we started to do them. We are calling every family in both our stakes who has children within the ages from 12-20 to schedule one and man it's the best! Tomorrow we have another lesson scheduled with a new investigator from these family home evenings. We go into the homes, get to know them, feel them out, see what we think they need and pull out a few scriptures and have a gospel conversation. After we let them feel the power of our testimonies and they trust and love us we talk about their friends. Make goals together and teach them how to invite! It's great! So things are working out and I hope we continue to have success finding, the scariest thing ever!
I am loving the mission. It's like a laboratory, I'm in a laboratory for two years! Taking all these things we learn and putting them to test, seeing if they work. The results are what we have been told they should be. I love it, the gospel is true. Sometimes I wonder why I am so happy? What's difference from at home? Well I'm a being exactly obedient, being true. Not that I was doing anything terrible at home, but out here this is your life, the life that really matters. The worlds a joke, ha! But seriously not only do the commandments that we have been given make us happy and prepare us to live in God's presence. But we can keep the greatest gift god has given us, our agency, if we follow the commandments. Satan tries to rob us of it and he does. If we fall into temptation it's gone. Love how simple it is!
Bye family and friends! I love you.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
June 21, 2010
Hello family and friends!
Well I miss you guys. I can't believe they don't let us call on fathers day! What a scam that is. This week was weird. Everyone we are teaching was out of town and some still are! That means we had very few lessons. So alot the days we would look at the planner and it's blank, nothing but time to fill. So this week the days seemed extremely long, yet the week flew by. I think it's because everyday was just filled with work, work, work. It's good though we had some time to work with the members. It seems like the more you dig into each ward you realize how much potential there really is. Every auxiliary leader we go by has someone, then we follow up with the lead we got from them and it keeps going until we find the right person to invite the person we are tracking down. And Breanne! That's nuts! Your going to be excellent, man those kids are going to be lucky. Don't forget about the people not of our faith though! Always invite them, every person you talk to in your neighbourhood invite their kids. Its a good way to spark an interest, the Primary Presidents here are unreal at it here. And Taren with her calling, well you will get good at it, hopefully. You've got a husband who knows what he's doing in that area, that's for sure. But it looks like this is evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow!
So in short that was my week. We didn't find anyone new to teach but we have alot of potential. Maybe I'll share a few stories.
Well after a long day of working I was writing in my journal. I was expressing how sometimes you feel you efforts are wasted. For example. Going from member to member, trying to get into their home and share a message and teach them how to invite. If the majority of the family isn't home then we try and set up a family home evening. So we were doing this for the entire week and it wasn't yielding much fruit. I mean we keep track of the people they are inviting and follow up any spare time the next week. Anyways, I was discussing in my journal with myself if there wasn't something else I could be doing. But I closed my entry and I'm sure it was a little pouty (sp?). I had half hour before bed so I started to study my sticks, and five minutes into my study of 2 Nephi 2 the phone rang! Unknown number. Well it was this priest Danny Hanna we had a FHE ( Family Home Evening) with earlier in the week. He said, "I told my friend what we talked about and invited him, he wants to meet with us next week." He was going away for a few days but we are meeting this week! BAM! Smack in the face! I flipped open my journal (which is almost done! First one ever!) and added to that entry and corrected myself.
HM what else. Well I locked my keys in the truck, that wasn't fun. But I got a coat hanger and managed to break in pretty easy. Ohh! I lost my CTR ring you bought me mom right before I left and man was I devastated. I had nothing to play with, my one thing I wore that ties me to my mommy was gone! And I never take it off! Well after FOUR days of prayer! Your probably laughing at me for praying for my ring but why not?! Anyways after four days. We were doing our weekly planning session one morning and the Smart's "grass crew" came and cut the grass. Well just after they did I was walking out to our truck to leave. For some reason I stopped, in the middle of the yard and looked at the view of the valley and just thought. Wow... Lets go to work. But before I took another step I looked down and in between my feet was my ring, laying in the grass. That the huge ride a' mower just mowed over! Prayer answered, cha ching!
I hope this email will satisfy your needs for the week, I promise next week there will be better stories and more excitement! And Happy Birthday Kamry and Taren! How old you are guys? Sometimes I meet people who are in YSA ( Young Single Adult) who are maybe 24-28 and I think are 20-22. It's crazy you guys aren't that old yet seem so mature? Weird, well I love you two! But here's my favorite scripture of the week, Alma 57:21
"Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them."
I'm going to change mothers to fathers, not because you didn't teach me anything mom but because it's fathers day. It was sad not being with the family yesterday. All we had to do was visit families and most of them seemed a little to busy for us but that's understandable it was fathers day. But it just made me remember our family and how close we are. Dad I love you, you have taught me alot. A perfect example, we have alot of memories. Our Lego projects I would make you do each Saturday morning, the snowboard rail you helped me build so perfectly, the basketball games were I played terribly and you knew just what to say, the list goes on and on but I appreciate all of it. I see alot of kids who aren't as blessed as I am to have a father who has so much to offer their son. Thanks Dad, I love you.
I forgot to mention! We also had zone conference, the last one with President Laney. It's weird because I love him and feel pretty close but at the end of my mission I will feel like I hardly new him. He's a powerful powerful speaker and total scriptorium. The entire zone conference was about Christ and his ministry. OK MUST RUN. LOVE YOU GUYS AGAIN
Well I miss you guys. I can't believe they don't let us call on fathers day! What a scam that is. This week was weird. Everyone we are teaching was out of town and some still are! That means we had very few lessons. So alot the days we would look at the planner and it's blank, nothing but time to fill. So this week the days seemed extremely long, yet the week flew by. I think it's because everyday was just filled with work, work, work. It's good though we had some time to work with the members. It seems like the more you dig into each ward you realize how much potential there really is. Every auxiliary leader we go by has someone, then we follow up with the lead we got from them and it keeps going until we find the right person to invite the person we are tracking down. And Breanne! That's nuts! Your going to be excellent, man those kids are going to be lucky. Don't forget about the people not of our faith though! Always invite them, every person you talk to in your neighbourhood invite their kids. Its a good way to spark an interest, the Primary Presidents here are unreal at it here. And Taren with her calling, well you will get good at it, hopefully. You've got a husband who knows what he's doing in that area, that's for sure. But it looks like this is evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow!
So in short that was my week. We didn't find anyone new to teach but we have alot of potential. Maybe I'll share a few stories.
Well after a long day of working I was writing in my journal. I was expressing how sometimes you feel you efforts are wasted. For example. Going from member to member, trying to get into their home and share a message and teach them how to invite. If the majority of the family isn't home then we try and set up a family home evening. So we were doing this for the entire week and it wasn't yielding much fruit. I mean we keep track of the people they are inviting and follow up any spare time the next week. Anyways, I was discussing in my journal with myself if there wasn't something else I could be doing. But I closed my entry and I'm sure it was a little pouty (sp?). I had half hour before bed so I started to study my sticks, and five minutes into my study of 2 Nephi 2 the phone rang! Unknown number. Well it was this priest Danny Hanna we had a FHE ( Family Home Evening) with earlier in the week. He said, "I told my friend what we talked about and invited him, he wants to meet with us next week." He was going away for a few days but we are meeting this week! BAM! Smack in the face! I flipped open my journal (which is almost done! First one ever!) and added to that entry and corrected myself.
HM what else. Well I locked my keys in the truck, that wasn't fun. But I got a coat hanger and managed to break in pretty easy. Ohh! I lost my CTR ring you bought me mom right before I left and man was I devastated. I had nothing to play with, my one thing I wore that ties me to my mommy was gone! And I never take it off! Well after FOUR days of prayer! Your probably laughing at me for praying for my ring but why not?! Anyways after four days. We were doing our weekly planning session one morning and the Smart's "grass crew" came and cut the grass. Well just after they did I was walking out to our truck to leave. For some reason I stopped, in the middle of the yard and looked at the view of the valley and just thought. Wow... Lets go to work. But before I took another step I looked down and in between my feet was my ring, laying in the grass. That the huge ride a' mower just mowed over! Prayer answered, cha ching!
I hope this email will satisfy your needs for the week, I promise next week there will be better stories and more excitement! And Happy Birthday Kamry and Taren! How old you are guys? Sometimes I meet people who are in YSA ( Young Single Adult) who are maybe 24-28 and I think are 20-22. It's crazy you guys aren't that old yet seem so mature? Weird, well I love you two! But here's my favorite scripture of the week, Alma 57:21
"Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them."
I'm going to change mothers to fathers, not because you didn't teach me anything mom but because it's fathers day. It was sad not being with the family yesterday. All we had to do was visit families and most of them seemed a little to busy for us but that's understandable it was fathers day. But it just made me remember our family and how close we are. Dad I love you, you have taught me alot. A perfect example, we have alot of memories. Our Lego projects I would make you do each Saturday morning, the snowboard rail you helped me build so perfectly, the basketball games were I played terribly and you knew just what to say, the list goes on and on but I appreciate all of it. I see alot of kids who aren't as blessed as I am to have a father who has so much to offer their son. Thanks Dad, I love you.
I forgot to mention! We also had zone conference, the last one with President Laney. It's weird because I love him and feel pretty close but at the end of my mission I will feel like I hardly new him. He's a powerful powerful speaker and total scriptorium. The entire zone conference was about Christ and his ministry. OK MUST RUN. LOVE YOU GUYS AGAIN
Monday, June 14, 2010
June 14, 2010- It's a long one!
I love writing your guys! Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are the best! AND this Wednesday we have Zone Conference so it can't get any better. Plus today we had the best breakfast ever! What a nice treat and surprise! Love the May's. And P.S. I was still obiedent. Got there at 7 and left at 8. Did PST to 9:15 and CST to 10:15. And NOW PDAY! Bought a dictionary today! And going to get some ball in later. Get ready for a good letter!
So I gave a talk yesterday in the Willow Creek 7th Ward, 15 minutes long and all I had was a Q Card with 7 bullets on it! Let me tell you how I started my talk, now I think all of you are going to think I'm a goof and this wasn't funny. But it was hilarious! So Bro. Jones (WML) spoke briefly first and during his talk he asked everyone to raise their hand if they had a son or daughter on a mission. About eight parents raise their hand, only in Utah. So I get up their and say something along the lines of, "Now I'm sure alot of you who raised your hands would love to hear your son/daughter speak in sacrament while their serving. Well that dream has came true for my mom and I would like to start by introducing her, Mom (while extending my hand to the back rows) please come up here........." Peoples faces! It was excellent! They all turn around slowly, then I pulled the just jokes, I wish. Let's just say people died and loved it. I'm sure Taren and Lindsay are think ah Blake you're such a looser. No I'm a cool guy, they love me. OH bye the way Bro. Jones (I love him, hilarious old man and our WML of WC7) turned to me after a hymn and said you have a unreal voice and hope you sing somewhere. He was serious too! First time in my life did anyone ever say that! He said I could stay on key really well? I like it.
So as usual this week has ups and downs. Some days it was rainy and cold, others its hot and I want to tract in gym shorts. It seems like anytime the work is hard or disappointing it's dark and gloomy out. This work has become my life. I was just randomly flipping through my scriptures during sacrament yesterday and flipped open to P.264 of the Old Testament and read the scripture in the top corner (Deut. 6:7) "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." This was weird. First of all I was sitting in a sacrament meeting all bummed out, because our investigator who was suppose to meet us their didn't show up. I mean this we focused on getting all our investigators to church and did everything in our power to get them their. Four out of six did show up but its upsetting when they don't, they can't progress. We get members to pick them up, visit them the day before and remind them but then they go over there and they are gone or sleeping. It's hard to decided when you give up and stop carrying them everywhere. But this scripture describes my feelings, I have no clue the background to it The Old Testament is way confusing, but they are all I care about. I pray for them constantly morning, day and night, and when I got to sleep their on my mind. How can I help them. It's like when they don't do their part, keep the commitments we leave with them do I just let them be, leave them out their to dry up and die? Teach them diligently. HM. Its hard some people just dont' understand how important this message is and think the values of the world are more important.
On the other hand there is no greater joy than bringing someone closer to Christ. Out of those six people we are teaching only two have baptismal dates. One of them being Adam(20 yrs old), know he's a true baller. Here's his story. He has grown up in the Valley and never been religious but recently his family has had some troubles. Divorce, he lives with his mom and his younger brother (16 yrs old) lives with his dad. His relationship with both his parents are slowly falling apart and he says his mom isn't the same. So he just kept noticing something in common with the LDS families at work and around the neighbourhood, THEY'RE STRONG! Of course we still have difficulties but we are the ONLY religion that has doctrine supporting how important the family is and how we can have eternal families. The families is being attacked today by the adversary but there are prophets, just as ancient times, that act has anchors to God and help us out! By their fruit ye shall know them! Look at the families, its obvious.
OK sorry I got distracted there. His story. He was out mowing the lawn and saw his neighbour Sis. Quinney (late 50's) walking to church. He shut the mower off and walked over to her and said, "Mrs. Quinney... I've been reading the Book of Mormon on the Internet, but I want to hold it in my hands.... Can you help me get a copy." She was shocked and speechless. We got a call later that day and bang we had a lesson the next day. On the first lesson he had already read 6 chapters into 1 Nephi. He shut the mower off and walked over to her and said, "Mrs. Quinney... I've been reading the Book of Mormon on the Internet, but I want to hold it in my hands.... Can you help me get a copy." She was shocked and speechless. We got a call later that day and bang we had a lesson the next day. On the first lesson he had already read 6 chapters into 1 Nephi and prayed about the Book of Mormon and I extended a baptismal date of June 29th to him obviously. These lessons have been the highlight of my mission. The second lesson he said, "I can't deny it, I know this is God's word and I'm 99% sure I'm getting baptized on the 29th, I can't offend God. Let's set a time." It's to good to be true, he explained to me I can't believe people are just to lazy to read this, I can't believe I was! He said nobody even has a clue of what it is. Yeah everybody reads blurbs on the Internet but do they ever actually pick it up and ask God? Do it.
He can't get enough what we are teaching him, "It's like one big puzzle coming together" he said. He wants to meet with us every second day! No one wants to do that! On the third lesson I just felt prompted to ask him to serve a mission, and I did... I told him the Lord has blessed you with certain talents, one of them being great personal skills and you need to multiply them in his service. Think of the effect you could have on others. He said he has put some serious thought into it already. But I told him to take it to prayer. I can guarantee you he will and one year from now I will be with him going through the temple for his first time and listening to him give his farewell talk. I'm sure most of you are thinking right now, he's probably some weirdo. NO. Seriously if I was a girl, yikes! No just kidding that's a joke. But he's one of the coolest guys I've met while I've been here. Parents are from Romania too! I'll send a picture next week hopefully and you guys will see what I mean. He has already shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon during the Gospel Essentials class that Bro. Brown (previous Provo Mission President, our ward mission leader for the WA5 ward!) teaches! I wasn't there but a member told me.
Like I said, there's no greater joy than helping someone come closer to Christ. The power the Book of Mormon holds as is testifies of Bible and Christ's ministry is unreal. I believe it's due to the obedience that I have been given this privilege to teach Adam. He has helped me understand the basics that no one wants to do. Read and Pray. I love my family and I'm grateful for the knowledge the Lord has given me by his Holy Spirit that His church has once again been restored. The knowledge that has been brought back to us today truly does strengthen our families. Let's be a faithful echo of the Brethren of the Church!
Love Elder Pizzey.
Have you got our package?
No, maybe today. I really hope!
Was the light tie to light in color?
Can't wait to find out!!!
Breanne was wondering if you got her photos etc.?
You bet! Her letter was unreal.
So how is it being a trainer?
Hard! You have to be way obedient and always leading the lessons.
Are you enjoying being the driver, no more shot gun, that was funny!
You don't understand, I can't handle shot gun. Finally in control.
I was wondering if you wear the same suit everyday or if you need to buy another one?
To be honest not a big fan of my suits, but its all good I'm a missionary. The Mr. Mac one will be to small soon and I'll prob get a new styling one! hehe but I only wear suits to meetings.
Have you bought another pair of shoes?
Nope! I will wear these shining kicks until they are dead, then I'll get some new ones.
Kelly,
What a fun, fun morning! Thank you so much for letting me do that! What a great way to celebrate Dave's birthday. Your son and his companion are such wonderful missionaries (as well as great young men!!)
I got up early and made both the cinnamon knots and the scone dough. We had fruit and a breakfast casserole, bacon, juice and milk. We actually had it at my next door neighbors because she has a big nice deck--but then it is cold and rainy, so we ended up just serving informally at the bar in the kitchen. A few of the boys were heading off to a high adventure camp, so they ate quickly so they could leave. Our bishop stopped by before the camp send off, too. So we just had people in and out all morning!
It was just a really nice informal morning.
I was so impressed that they wanted to stick to their missionary schedule. We had breakfast at 7 so they could get home by 8 for their study before their p-day began.
Elder Ng will be a very good, sharp companion for Elder Pizzey. They seem to be a good companionship. I think Blake was a little surprised when I handed him your little note and told him the scones were your recipe!
Before they left, Elder Pizzey asked if they could leave with prayer. He offered a beautiful prayer and asked the Lord to bless my son and to protect him. It was tender and sweet and really meant a lot to me.
I'm sending a couple of pictures. We were really done eating, but made them sit back down for a minute to take their picture! We didn't get one with everyone who was there because they had all started to disperse by then.
What a treat for me to be able to spend that little bit of time with them today. I am so glad you gave me the breakfast idea. The scones and cinnamon knots turned out good (we couldn't get the scones to brown up very fast!) But I'm sure they didn't look like you usually do.
Elder Pizzey was cute--when we were trying to figure out why they wouldn't cook as fast as we thought they should, he came over and looked and said, "My mom makes them a little smaller. Maybe that would make a difference." It did!
He said you have just been called to be the Relief Society Pres. I was just sustained as ours yesterday. I am a little terrified right now! I may be emailing you for a little advice!
Thank you again. It was a great day to share with two great missionaries.
Bonnie
So I gave a talk yesterday in the Willow Creek 7th Ward, 15 minutes long and all I had was a Q Card with 7 bullets on it! Let me tell you how I started my talk, now I think all of you are going to think I'm a goof and this wasn't funny. But it was hilarious! So Bro. Jones (WML) spoke briefly first and during his talk he asked everyone to raise their hand if they had a son or daughter on a mission. About eight parents raise their hand, only in Utah. So I get up their and say something along the lines of, "Now I'm sure alot of you who raised your hands would love to hear your son/daughter speak in sacrament while their serving. Well that dream has came true for my mom and I would like to start by introducing her, Mom (while extending my hand to the back rows) please come up here........." Peoples faces! It was excellent! They all turn around slowly, then I pulled the just jokes, I wish. Let's just say people died and loved it. I'm sure Taren and Lindsay are think ah Blake you're such a looser. No I'm a cool guy, they love me. OH bye the way Bro. Jones (I love him, hilarious old man and our WML of WC7) turned to me after a hymn and said you have a unreal voice and hope you sing somewhere. He was serious too! First time in my life did anyone ever say that! He said I could stay on key really well? I like it.
So as usual this week has ups and downs. Some days it was rainy and cold, others its hot and I want to tract in gym shorts. It seems like anytime the work is hard or disappointing it's dark and gloomy out. This work has become my life. I was just randomly flipping through my scriptures during sacrament yesterday and flipped open to P.264 of the Old Testament and read the scripture in the top corner (Deut. 6:7) "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." This was weird. First of all I was sitting in a sacrament meeting all bummed out, because our investigator who was suppose to meet us their didn't show up. I mean this we focused on getting all our investigators to church and did everything in our power to get them their. Four out of six did show up but its upsetting when they don't, they can't progress. We get members to pick them up, visit them the day before and remind them but then they go over there and they are gone or sleeping. It's hard to decided when you give up and stop carrying them everywhere. But this scripture describes my feelings, I have no clue the background to it The Old Testament is way confusing, but they are all I care about. I pray for them constantly morning, day and night, and when I got to sleep their on my mind. How can I help them. It's like when they don't do their part, keep the commitments we leave with them do I just let them be, leave them out their to dry up and die? Teach them diligently. HM. Its hard some people just dont' understand how important this message is and think the values of the world are more important.
On the other hand there is no greater joy than bringing someone closer to Christ. Out of those six people we are teaching only two have baptismal dates. One of them being Adam(20 yrs old), know he's a true baller. Here's his story. He has grown up in the Valley and never been religious but recently his family has had some troubles. Divorce, he lives with his mom and his younger brother (16 yrs old) lives with his dad. His relationship with both his parents are slowly falling apart and he says his mom isn't the same. So he just kept noticing something in common with the LDS families at work and around the neighbourhood, THEY'RE STRONG! Of course we still have difficulties but we are the ONLY religion that has doctrine supporting how important the family is and how we can have eternal families. The families is being attacked today by the adversary but there are prophets, just as ancient times, that act has anchors to God and help us out! By their fruit ye shall know them! Look at the families, its obvious.
OK sorry I got distracted there. His story. He was out mowing the lawn and saw his neighbour Sis. Quinney (late 50's) walking to church. He shut the mower off and walked over to her and said, "Mrs. Quinney... I've been reading the Book of Mormon on the Internet, but I want to hold it in my hands.... Can you help me get a copy." She was shocked and speechless. We got a call later that day and bang we had a lesson the next day. On the first lesson he had already read 6 chapters into 1 Nephi. He shut the mower off and walked over to her and said, "Mrs. Quinney... I've been reading the Book of Mormon on the Internet, but I want to hold it in my hands.... Can you help me get a copy." She was shocked and speechless. We got a call later that day and bang we had a lesson the next day. On the first lesson he had already read 6 chapters into 1 Nephi and prayed about the Book of Mormon and I extended a baptismal date of June 29th to him obviously. These lessons have been the highlight of my mission. The second lesson he said, "I can't deny it, I know this is God's word and I'm 99% sure I'm getting baptized on the 29th, I can't offend God. Let's set a time." It's to good to be true, he explained to me I can't believe people are just to lazy to read this, I can't believe I was! He said nobody even has a clue of what it is. Yeah everybody reads blurbs on the Internet but do they ever actually pick it up and ask God? Do it.
He can't get enough what we are teaching him, "It's like one big puzzle coming together" he said. He wants to meet with us every second day! No one wants to do that! On the third lesson I just felt prompted to ask him to serve a mission, and I did... I told him the Lord has blessed you with certain talents, one of them being great personal skills and you need to multiply them in his service. Think of the effect you could have on others. He said he has put some serious thought into it already. But I told him to take it to prayer. I can guarantee you he will and one year from now I will be with him going through the temple for his first time and listening to him give his farewell talk. I'm sure most of you are thinking right now, he's probably some weirdo. NO. Seriously if I was a girl, yikes! No just kidding that's a joke. But he's one of the coolest guys I've met while I've been here. Parents are from Romania too! I'll send a picture next week hopefully and you guys will see what I mean. He has already shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon during the Gospel Essentials class that Bro. Brown (previous Provo Mission President, our ward mission leader for the WA5 ward!) teaches! I wasn't there but a member told me.
Like I said, there's no greater joy than helping someone come closer to Christ. The power the Book of Mormon holds as is testifies of Bible and Christ's ministry is unreal. I believe it's due to the obedience that I have been given this privilege to teach Adam. He has helped me understand the basics that no one wants to do. Read and Pray. I love my family and I'm grateful for the knowledge the Lord has given me by his Holy Spirit that His church has once again been restored. The knowledge that has been brought back to us today truly does strengthen our families. Let's be a faithful echo of the Brethren of the Church!
Love Elder Pizzey.
Have you got our package?
No, maybe today. I really hope!
Was the light tie to light in color?
Can't wait to find out!!!
Breanne was wondering if you got her photos etc.?
You bet! Her letter was unreal.
So how is it being a trainer?
Hard! You have to be way obedient and always leading the lessons.
Are you enjoying being the driver, no more shot gun, that was funny!
You don't understand, I can't handle shot gun. Finally in control.
I was wondering if you wear the same suit everyday or if you need to buy another one?
To be honest not a big fan of my suits, but its all good I'm a missionary. The Mr. Mac one will be to small soon and I'll prob get a new styling one! hehe but I only wear suits to meetings.
Have you bought another pair of shoes?
Nope! I will wear these shining kicks until they are dead, then I'll get some new ones.
This is the e-mail we got from the May's. They fed Blake the yummy breakfast!!
Kelly,
What a fun, fun morning! Thank you so much for letting me do that! What a great way to celebrate Dave's birthday. Your son and his companion are such wonderful missionaries (as well as great young men!!)
I got up early and made both the cinnamon knots and the scone dough. We had fruit and a breakfast casserole, bacon, juice and milk. We actually had it at my next door neighbors because she has a big nice deck--but then it is cold and rainy, so we ended up just serving informally at the bar in the kitchen. A few of the boys were heading off to a high adventure camp, so they ate quickly so they could leave. Our bishop stopped by before the camp send off, too. So we just had people in and out all morning!
It was just a really nice informal morning.
I was so impressed that they wanted to stick to their missionary schedule. We had breakfast at 7 so they could get home by 8 for their study before their p-day began.
Elder Ng will be a very good, sharp companion for Elder Pizzey. They seem to be a good companionship. I think Blake was a little surprised when I handed him your little note and told him the scones were your recipe!
Before they left, Elder Pizzey asked if they could leave with prayer. He offered a beautiful prayer and asked the Lord to bless my son and to protect him. It was tender and sweet and really meant a lot to me.
I'm sending a couple of pictures. We were really done eating, but made them sit back down for a minute to take their picture! We didn't get one with everyone who was there because they had all started to disperse by then.
What a treat for me to be able to spend that little bit of time with them today. I am so glad you gave me the breakfast idea. The scones and cinnamon knots turned out good (we couldn't get the scones to brown up very fast!) But I'm sure they didn't look like you usually do.
Elder Pizzey was cute--when we were trying to figure out why they wouldn't cook as fast as we thought they should, he came over and looked and said, "My mom makes them a little smaller. Maybe that would make a difference." It did!
He said you have just been called to be the Relief Society Pres. I was just sustained as ours yesterday. I am a little terrified right now! I may be emailing you for a little advice!
Thank you again. It was a great day to share with two great missionaries.
Bonnie
THANK YOU BONNIE!
(Breakfast looked AWESOME!!!)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
June 7, 2010
SO! Living on the mountain is pretty fun. There are a few creeks that flow in between the houses during the early summer, one of them bigger than the rest. Fifteen years ago it go to hot and they started to get out of control, flooding the neighbourhood. It took about five basements, destroy the house and serious damage on several. Well last night were walking in the WA5 ward and people were getting a little panicked. Long story short were were there from 8-10 in our proselyting outfits with boots on building dams out of sandbags. Firetrucks, Police cars and the whole sha-bang, plus the entire ward. It's unreal how strong the support system is with the church. Well they had it under control so we thought we would hurry home to get to bed on time. BUT six in the morning we got a call from Bro. Mortimor (WA5 Bishopric) and we were there till 11, hauling sandbags up the mountain. I liked it although I wish Dad and Jordan was there. To many people trying take control of the situation and not enough engineer minded people. Being a missionary I couldn't speak my mind and save us some time! It was so cool though to see families just working together, the church just makes sense. If the whole world was organized like this, all would be good. Even if a serious disaster hit here I think we are ready for it.
That's awesome Elder England called Lindsay, its so weird to think he's home. I can't picture him doing anything but wanting to baptize people. Going to miss him. So here in Utah if your a good missionary and your heading home I guess people offer you their daughters. Ha! the Stake President and his counsellor both offered Elder England their daughters or dates with their daughters I should say. It was hilarious. So I better be a good missionary! No I'm just playing but I thought it was pretty funny. Love yeah Elder England.
I'M A TRAINER! What the heck! I thought I was going to be district leader not trainer! That's a way big responsibility! You don't understand how much their is to do, training is alot of work. Its great though its a constant reminder to be perfect, I have too. I have truly and finally understood "loose yourself in the service of others." I have literally lost myself this week, this is my life now. Matt. 16:25 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." It's true my friends. I enjoy what I'm doing and have completely forgotten my old worldly self or least I think so.
Elder Ng is a great guy, very comfortable with everything. He's completely different from E.England but not in a bad or a good way. We have similar taste in music, or at least we both enjoy Arcade Fire. He likes a few weird bands like Phoenix I think it is and more of the screamo genre but that's cool. So yeah he grew up in Montreal Quebec and lived there for close to ten years then has lived in San Diego since and he attended BYU Provo for a year just prior to the mishy. Maybe I'll send a picture of us, if I can find some time.
OH the best thing about being the senior companion is driving, no more sitting shotgun for weeks. Its scary being the trainer not going to lie. I don't want the numbers to fall and then people just think since E.England's gone everything just fell apart. So as the days went on this week I was getting pretty nervous. Alot of the people we are working with either need to be married or they are on probation and the others are sketchy. So we didn't have to many lessons because every one's super busy because summer just started and I was starting to sweat. And of course I've told you about the daytime hours, how pointless your feel your work is but being exactly obedient we continued to work. Now we always teach people pray specifically and you will receive a specific answer like "Is is the Book of Mormon true?". So I decided to do that this week Each night we pray and ask for find a family who needs the blessings of the gospel principles in their life, and of course who are willing to actually listen to us. Well after about five days of persistent prayer it was answered. We were going by Primary Presidents and finally this wonderful lady gave us our first two "legit" referrals of the week. So we went by the family first, a single mom (30's) and her three children (10, 8 and 5). At first the mother was very hesitant and I felt the door was about to be closed, but as I explained to her what we do as missionaries she listened to me. Then she asked if we wanted to teach her children! Of course! So we did and it was the greatest lesson I have ever had with children. They understood everything AND were so excited! You should see some of the analogies I use, kids eat them up. So we have a return appointment and we are going to bring this family together.
Then yesterday were driving to another sacrament meeting and some random number calls. Answer it and its some women, her neighbour was out cutting his lawn, shut the mower off and came and asked her if she could set up a lesson with us. His names Adam and he's 21 and he has been reading the Book of Mormon on the Internet but wants to hold it in his hands! WHAT! So we meet with him on Tuesday at 2:30. Remember pray specifically!
That's awesome Elder England called Lindsay, its so weird to think he's home. I can't picture him doing anything but wanting to baptize people. Going to miss him. So here in Utah if your a good missionary and your heading home I guess people offer you their daughters. Ha! the Stake President and his counsellor both offered Elder England their daughters or dates with their daughters I should say. It was hilarious. So I better be a good missionary! No I'm just playing but I thought it was pretty funny. Love yeah Elder England.
I'M A TRAINER! What the heck! I thought I was going to be district leader not trainer! That's a way big responsibility! You don't understand how much their is to do, training is alot of work. Its great though its a constant reminder to be perfect, I have too. I have truly and finally understood "loose yourself in the service of others." I have literally lost myself this week, this is my life now. Matt. 16:25 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." It's true my friends. I enjoy what I'm doing and have completely forgotten my old worldly self or least I think so.
Elder Ng is a great guy, very comfortable with everything. He's completely different from E.England but not in a bad or a good way. We have similar taste in music, or at least we both enjoy Arcade Fire. He likes a few weird bands like Phoenix I think it is and more of the screamo genre but that's cool. So yeah he grew up in Montreal Quebec and lived there for close to ten years then has lived in San Diego since and he attended BYU Provo for a year just prior to the mishy. Maybe I'll send a picture of us, if I can find some time.
OH the best thing about being the senior companion is driving, no more sitting shotgun for weeks. Its scary being the trainer not going to lie. I don't want the numbers to fall and then people just think since E.England's gone everything just fell apart. So as the days went on this week I was getting pretty nervous. Alot of the people we are working with either need to be married or they are on probation and the others are sketchy. So we didn't have to many lessons because every one's super busy because summer just started and I was starting to sweat. And of course I've told you about the daytime hours, how pointless your feel your work is but being exactly obedient we continued to work. Now we always teach people pray specifically and you will receive a specific answer like "Is is the Book of Mormon true?". So I decided to do that this week Each night we pray and ask for find a family who needs the blessings of the gospel principles in their life, and of course who are willing to actually listen to us. Well after about five days of persistent prayer it was answered. We were going by Primary Presidents and finally this wonderful lady gave us our first two "legit" referrals of the week. So we went by the family first, a single mom (30's) and her three children (10, 8 and 5). At first the mother was very hesitant and I felt the door was about to be closed, but as I explained to her what we do as missionaries she listened to me. Then she asked if we wanted to teach her children! Of course! So we did and it was the greatest lesson I have ever had with children. They understood everything AND were so excited! You should see some of the analogies I use, kids eat them up. So we have a return appointment and we are going to bring this family together.
Then yesterday were driving to another sacrament meeting and some random number calls. Answer it and its some women, her neighbour was out cutting his lawn, shut the mower off and came and asked her if she could set up a lesson with us. His names Adam and he's 21 and he has been reading the Book of Mormon on the Internet but wants to hold it in his hands! WHAT! So we meet with him on Tuesday at 2:30. Remember pray specifically!
OK well we better go, our Pday has been cut short today because the crazy river! Missed our studies and we need to do some role plays so Elder Ng is comfortable for tonight, three lessons. I love all of you! And Paige I'm glad your grad was good!
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