11-12-2013

So today marks the last day of the transfer, and exciting things are happening! My current companion Elder Pili will be leaving me and he will be going to serve in Farr West, Utah! This will be his last area, as he goes home in February. I will be staying here in Preston, Idaho and will be getting a new companion, and by new, I mean brand new, fresh out of the MTC. This next transfer I will be training a new missionary! I do not know anything about him, not even his name. I will find out tomorrow morning when I go to Ogden to pick him up! It's pretty crazy! It's a lot of pressure when you receive a brand new companion. You don't want to mess them up and ruin the rest of their mission! Haha. I won't do that, I promise! There is more exciting news though! One of my previous companions, who is also one of my favorite companions, Elder Lima, is coming up here to Preston to serve in the North Stake as one of my Zone Leaders! This transfer will be very fun! The only thing is that it will only be 5 weeks long instead of the normal 6 weeks. It will end the week before Christmas!

In other news we have been working hard to prepare a few of our investigators for baptism. We should have a few baptisms this next transfer. One of them, a 16-yr old named Tristan came to us. He had been going to seminary for 3 years(he is a junior) and talked with the missionaries a couple times, but he finally decided that he wanted to sit down with us and take the discussions! In the first lesson we asked him "Why did you decide to meet with the missionaries?" His reply? "I know the church is true and I want to be baptized." This pretty much blew our minds. This kid is totally ready. He has been going to seminary for years and knows almost everything. We hardly have to teach him because he knows it all already. He will be getting baptized on either the 23rd or 30th of this month depending on his football schedule.

We have been praying for miracles this whole transfer and we have experienced a big one! There is a girl names Marti, she is 13 years old who has wanted to get baptized for years. However, her dad said that she can't until she turns 18. She was, obviously, upset about that. It always sucks as missionaries when you see someone get help back by something so stupid. One day, though, her dad changed him mind. He decided that as long as it's something she wants to do then he will let her do it. This may seem like a small miracle, but it isn't. It is huge! Her dad is a very stubborn man! He wants it his way or no way! To see him change is mind is clearly an act of God. I was so glad to hear that great news! We expect Marti to enter in the waters of baptism towards the end of December! :)

Love,

Elder Ervin

9-17-2013

The mission field is so awesome! We meet all sorts of cool people! Just the other day I was able to meet a super sweet lady and her husband! I was going with another elder in my zone, Elder Cole, to help some other missionaries find some work in their area. We went to some apartment complexes and started knocking doors. We were able to setup a few appointments when we got waved over by some lady. She invited us in and we started talking. Her husband had gotten baptized just over a year ago and had recently gone through the temple! As the conversation went on we found out that she was a member but didn't go because she had a smoking problem. Elder Cole and I felt inspired that we should talk to her about Jesus Christ and how he can help us through any problems we may have. She said that she had quit smoking before but she would eventually get angry at someone and start up smoking again.

To me it sounded kind of silly, but I was quickly reminded not to judge people for what they think or do or go through. We were prompted to share a story from Dieter F. Uchtdorf. The story talks about how when a baby is learning to walk the will, without a doubt, fall over. And when we are the parent of that child do we laugh at them for falling over? Do we tease them? Do we look down to them? No! We congratulate them! They are, after all, learning to walk! When they fall it helps them grow, it helps them learn from their mistakes! It's the same thing with our loving Father in Heaven! When we make mistakes, when we fall off the path, is he angry with us? Absolutely not! In fact, he is pleased! When we stumble and fall it means we can learn from that mistakes. We can overcome the trial and be even closer to our Heavenly Father!

That is an awesome analogy when it comes to making mistakes. We knew it would be helpful for her because the Spirit told us to do it. However, we did not know how big of an effect it would have on her. She told us that because of that story, and the other thoughts we had shared we helped her more in that 20-30 minutes period than all the missionaries had for the past year(That certainly made my testimony of following the Spirit and trusting that God knows best grow!). We then told her to pick a date to stop smoking for good! To pray about it to God and let him know and ask for him help! We also invited her to pick a date so that she herself could go through the temple! She agreed and said that she will keep it between her and the Lord. We left knowing that we would probably never see her again but we also left knowing that we had helped someone grow close to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now for smiley faces, because telling that story makes me happy!
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8-27-2013 It's a Great Day in the Utah Ogden Mission

Our little slogan for our mission is “It’s a Great Day in the Utah Ogden Mission”. If you call our mission office that is the first thing you will hear! It's such a true statement though! Every day in the Utah Ogden Mission is a great one! Now why are they so great you might ask. Well; I have an answer! Every day is a great one here because I'm here! Haha, no that's not it. It's because we have the opportunity, every single day, to make a change in somebody's life. We spend all day, every day teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Teaching the one thing in this life that can make you feel actual joy. Sure there are those worldy things that make you feel temporal joy. For example, you can be rich! So rich that you have everything that you've ever wanted. All of your dreams have come true. You have an amazing spouse. A big house. All sorts of toys; cars, boats, planes, ATVs, etc. You have tons of friends, everyone loves you. You're pretty happy right? But how long will that happiness last? It will last as long as you can keep up the bills. Keep your friends happy. Your spouse happy. That doesn't sounds like happiness to me. It sounds like a job. It sounds like an enigma. Let's spend our whole lives working at work, home and even when with friends. Who would want to do that. Sure life is meant to be enjoyed, but when you take it so far that other things are being ignored then it's not true enjoyment. That happiness is not eternal, that's for sure. However, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and through His atonement our happiness can last forever! Our families can be forever! The loss of a love one is still sad. But it doesn't have to be tragic, because I know that our Heavenly Father has prepared a way for us to see them again. And that is the message we share. That is why it is always a Great Day in the Utah Ogden Mission.

A few days ago, we were walking down the street and we saw a woman outside washing her car. Now this was no ordinary woman. She was the mother of one of our recent converts, Melvin. We had been trying to meet with her for ages when she introduced us to her son. Melvin was baptized and she had a great experience there. It had been a while since we've seen her so we went over and talked to her. She mentioned how much her son had changed since he started meeting with us. We told her that that change came from the Gospel. Once you feel the Spirit and you know it's true it changes you. That's what happened to Melvin and his mother noticed it. We were able to set up a lesson with this woman who we've been trying to meet with for over 6 months! It's amazing how the Lord has a time for everyone. You never know when it will be you just have to keep trying!

Love you all,

Elder Ervin

July 16, 2013 Life in the Utah Ogden Mission

Phew! So a lot has been going on lately! We had transfers last week and both Elder Lima and I survived, so we are still here in Kanesville. It's going to be a great six weeks! We have a lot of work going on and the members are starting to do some great work as well! We have members giving us referrals and introducing us to their friends left and right. We are going to have a real good transfer.

There is this woman, Linda, who has wanted to get baptized for months now, but she hadn't been able to come to church so the bishop didn't want her to get baptized quite yet. She was pretty down about it and said that she really needed it, so we talked to her about prayer and told her that if she were to ask the Lord then he would help her get to church. A few days later we go over to talk to her and she tells us that a lady at her work is having surgery and she will be off for 6-8 weeks and that Linda was covering her shift, which let her be off on Sunday. She was able to come to church every week while on that shift. Sadly, bishop said that it was only temporary and he didn't want her to get baptized and not be able to go to church(Those darn obstacles!) However, there is more good news. She was able to talk with her boss and work out a schedule where she would be able to get Sunday off at least once a month. The bishop texted us and said that Linda would be able to get baptized. My companion shouted for joy when he read it! When we went to go talk to Linda about it she had no idea. So when we told her that she would be able to get baptized her face lit up like a lightbulb! It was super awesome experience and it really strengthened my testimony of prayer. I know that He was watching over her and that he wanted to help. He was just waiting for her to show her faith and ask.

That is just one of the many amazing experiences I've had out here on my mission. It's truly the best thing ever to see the change in peoples lives when they accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can see it not only in their actions but in their eyes. They are just happier. You can see the joy and peace.

Love,

Elder Ervin

7-2-2013

These past couple weeks have been pretty extraordinary. We had a Mission Conference last Thursday where all the missionaries in the mission(nearly 250 of us) get together and have some fun and then receive some training. We had a service project at the beginning of the conference to help us learn to be charitable and loving like our Savior. We were sent to some assisted living homes where we would interact with some old peoples. We took them on walks and chatted with them and even played the most intense game of bingo I've ever experienced. Those old ladies play no games when it comes to bingo(haha, get it?). After that we went into a big field next to our mission home and played some games and then ate lunch. We were then herded in the chapel so we could hear from our honored guest. We were very honored to hear from Tad R. Callister of the Seventy. He gave an amazing training on the atonement and how we can apply it in our teaching. It gave me some great insights on how I can improve and we've already been able to apply this training.

Another awesome opportunity we had was that this past Sunday there was a huge broadcast on missionary work titled, "The Work of Salvation." We got to hear from the Prophet and apostles about how missionary work is going to be changing. First of all, missionaries are now going to be able to proselyte through the internet via Facebook, blogs and other means. In the near future we are all going to have to make Facebook accounts and we'll be able to teach lessons, follow up on commitments and make invitations through it. It's super cool that we are finally able to utilize the world of technology we live in. Our mission should be getting iPads and iPhones later this year or early next year in order to assist in this. Missionary work is changing. They said that missionaries should not be tracting anymore. They said that members need to be filling our planners with lessons. Missionaries are there to teach and to assist the ward/stake/branch with their missionary efforts but as it was it seemed that us missionaries were kind of leading the efforts. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

We also had a baptism this last Saturday. It was a 17 year old young man, named Melvin. He invited tons of his friends to the baptism, a lot of which were not members. I had the opportunity to share the message of the Restoration while he was changing. It was a super spiritual experience. His parents were sitting next to our landlords and after the baptism they turned to our landlords and said, "Well, I guess we're next." It is wonderful to see how the Spirit touched their lives and testified that what their son was doing was right. We have another baptism this next Saturday and I'm stoked to see how it turns out.

Love,

Elder Ervin