Week Six: Revamping the Blog

Sam recently reviewed the "Online Missionary Work" guidelines and came across the following:

"Please ask your parents and family not to repost your emails home and not to post pictures, confidential information, or details about people you are teaching in their online blogs or on their Facebook pages. In your emails and letters, do not share confidential information about your investigators."

Well. That puts a damper on this blog, doesn't it?! I was already editing his e-mails to remove sensitive information, but in an effort to help Sam be exactly obedient, I will no longer be posting his letters. Instead, I will summarize his weekly updates in my own words. Hopefully it's better than nothing. Sorry about that!!

Sam's Martin side of the family will appreciate his borrowed tag in this picture. :)

This week...

Sam is obviously being well fed. I'm not sure exactly how much he weighed when he left, but he's already gained somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 pounds. At this rate, he'll be growing out of his clothes pretty quick! Yikes! 

On the plus side, he's getting a nice tan. :)

Sam had a couple of difficult "dark" days. He asked his companion to give him a blessing which was "very inspired" and it chased away the darkness. (He's definitely experienced some personal opposition in the past couple of weeks. There must be great things just ahead!) 

Sam is now using an iPad mini which is a lot more portable. I'm sure that will open up a lot of options for teaching and sharing the gospel. :)

Sam and his companion had 5 less-active members and 4 investigators at church on Sunday! Wow!!! One of those at church was a new investigator they just found last week who is very excited about the gospel. 

And my personal favorite: Thank you, Mom, for teaching me how to clean. It's so satisfying. I cleaned while Elder M. slept last P-Day. :)

Love,

Elder Stowell

Week Five

This week was interesting. I've come to realize that missionary work is just that - work!!! It's been pretty rough for awhile, and I've been struggling emotionally. Yesterday Elder M. sat me down and we ended up talking for nearly an hour. I came to realize how prideful and childish I was and was in tears. It's really been tough giving my all to the Lord and overcoming my shortcomings. But then, after I came to terms with it, and having been humbled by God and kneeling and praying to Him, He blessed us tremendously. 

We went to a dinner appointment right after our talk, and we ended up being there for 3 1/2 hours talking to the non-member who's member girlfriend was feeding us. He poured out his innermost fears and doubts, how he is a broken man inside but hides it. It was interesting to see how just a couple hours before I had a similar experience. He prayed for the first time in 20 years, and accepted a Book of Mormon and promised to read it cover to cover. He's happy to have us come back. It was a huge blessing.

We also found an investigator on Saturday night. We were feeling down, and then we found this guy who asked several questions about the church, almost like he was trying to trap/stump us. But the Spirit was there, and we shared the First Vision and the Restoration with him, and he said we could come back. Another great blessing. 

I've officially reached one month on the mission. :)

Have you seen the new Mormon Message about the man who overcame addiction? It's really good, and we've used it already with a returning member.

It's tough giving my all to God and leaving everything behind. One thing I miss the most is probably my music. That is very tough. I need to realize who I am as a Son of God. One great thing that really stood out to me was when we talked with the non-member last night. He said something that struck me. He said could I play him a C on the violin? I said yeah. He said this work that I do is just playing a C on the violin. I'm learning God's word so I can teach it. I'll know it just like I know a C. It's easy. No need to be afraid. I'm just playing a C on the violin. I really liked that analogy.

Sister Evans caught a little 2 1/2 inch striped gecko the other night. She brought it over to us, and she let me hold it. That helped me cheer up some, because I love lizards. It was so cool! :)

Love you!

Elder Stowell

{The Mormon Message Sam refers to is below. In Sam's Week Three letter, he referred to a talk by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ." I found a talk that may or may not be the one he heard, but it's at least similar and it is excellent! (Like seriously, you should read it!) A printable copy can be found here or you can listen to an audio version here.}

Week Four

Sam with his Mission President and Mission Mom

Ok. So this week was great. Elder M. is really pushing me, but making it fun at the same time, which is great. I met an investigating couple, one who is a self-proclaimed prophetess and her husband is a professional Santa with a mouth worse than a sailor. They're super nice though.

In sacrament meeting, there were three talks given by members who were moving in and moving out. They were on building faith, and very good, but the thing that stood out to me personally was the musical number. It was three girls about 11 years old, best friends, who were going to be split because of the move. They sang a beautiful song about the Savior, and their voices were so pure and on pitch. They even did harmony, and it was spot on. It really brought the Spirit in.

On Friday, Elder M. got a migraine and took a 4-hour nap. I finished a great personal study, then Elder Martin and Elder Dickerson came over to help me take care of Elder M. and help me with weekly planning.

Something I didn't mention last week that I learned... The average Arizona Mesa missionary gains 35 pounds. Yikes.

I've been present to find 11 new investigators so far... only one in our area though. It's amazing what happens when you open your mouth and trust in God.

The priests out here are awesome, they come out with us all the time.

We have bed bugs. My arms are covered with bites, and we got them from visiting an investigator's home with bed bugs. They're really small, and hide really well, so it's hard to see/get rid of them.

I went to the temple on Thursday. The Mesa Arizona temple was the 7th to be built, and is modeled after Solomon's temple. Some of the hallways are beautiful stonework, and it feels like you're walking through Solomon's ancient temple. It had been closed for a few weeks to finish some remodelings. I get to go there once a transfer.

The visitors' center next the temple is a great resource for investigators. We're so lucky to have it. It has been dedicated like the temple, which I found interesting to say the least. There is a nineteenth-century Christus in the lobby and I love it.

Life is good. Always tired. The missionaries rock. I played violin at my very first dinner appt. out here, and get to borrow it today to play during P-day. I'm super pumped about that. :)

Love you all!

Elder Stowell

Sam and his companion/trainer :)

Week Three: Somewhere in Mesa

Dinner with members on Sam's first day in Mesa. He's in good hands! :)

Sam is now in Arizona. He forgot to tell us exactly where he is serving, but I know it's somewhere in Mesa. His letter this week is super newsy and it sounds like he's doing really well. I'll stop worrying now... 

Dear Mom and Family,

Things are going well! I'll start from the end of my MTC experience to now.

The musical number went very, very well!!!! [Sam played a violin medley for a senior couples orientation at the MTC last week.] For our investigator, we did commit her to baptism, and she was actively trying to change necessary things before we left.

Ok. So the Sunday before we left, we watched the video "Character of Christ" which was given by Elder Bednar on Christmas Day several years ago. It's only shown at the MTC. It was the most amazing thing. The whole idea of it is about turning out instead of in, how we need to be as selfless as possible, no matter what we're going through. We need to serve with everything we have as the Savior did. An example is He suffered everything for us, and immediately after Gethsemane he was betrayed. Instead of asking why, or getting mad, he didn't think about Himself but turned outward and healed the man's ear. By losing ourselves in the service of others, we obtain the Character of Christ and find ourselves. It's incredible.

Sterling, yes, I smelled the tree. It legitimately smells like vanilla!!! Crazy! [There's a tree at the MTC that they say smells like vanilla or cream soda. Apparently it's true!]

I got up at 3:15 a.m. MTC time to get up and leave for the airport. We flew over the Grand Canyon (very cool).

Now. My trainer is legitimately the best missionary in the mission. Every missionary has said that about him to me. His name is Elder Moschetti (pronounced 'machete') and he is 24 years old and has been out for... 15 months? He leads by example, and wants to help me become the best missionary I can be.

I found 2 new investigators with him on the street. We take turns initiating conversation, and it was my turn. We walk up to these two girls, about age 19. They were smoking in their car, and as I walk up and start talking, one of them asked if we would pray for her. She's having a rough time with family matters, and so Elder M. explained the power of prayer, and asked if she would pray. She wasn't comfortable with that, so Elder M. said one first, then she did. When asked how she felt, she replied it felt like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It's amazing to see the power of prayer. I then gave her a Book of Mormon and we set up an appointment for the elders whose area they are in. 

Then when I was on exchanges with another elder (my comp's a zone leader) I felt impressed to knock on a door behind us while we were visiting investigators. I did, and a little girl about age 12 answered. We talked briefly about Jesus Christ, and she smiled and said she believed in Jesus. A man rode up on his bike and just watched us as we talked. When we finished, we went by him, said hi, and he said he was her father. We set up another appointment for the sisters who are over that area. It was a family; the dad, his wife and I saw 3 kids. 

Testimony meeting went well. Both Elder M. and I bore our testimonies. 

We are visiting a 73 year old lady. She absolutely loves the missionaries. She smokes and doesn't have faith that she can quit forever. She picked her own baptismal date for Oct. 1!!! We visit her everyday, and we love her.

Ok. Impressions and thoughts and facts so far:

Tired 24/7. It's hot. Saguaros and other cacti everywhere you look. Also lots of palm trees. Our apartment has a gym. Members love us, pay for our food, give us food, feed us always. Almost always have a member present at planned lessons. Never go tracting. I need to learn to not be afraid to open my mouth. I sleep well. Writing in my journal everyday. Apartment is GOING TO GET CLEANED TODAY. It's disgusting. We spar with foam swords occasionally for morning exercise. Water is absolutely disgusting here, I bought bottled water today so I don't have to drink the tap water.

If I forgot anything, I'm sorry. Love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Stowell

P.S., There's an old man in the ward, absolutely adorable, but he was super anti-Mormon, then got Alzheimers and forgot he hated the church. Now he loves it :)