Well, this was a good week. Thursday was Zone Conference and then Saturday/Sunday we went up to Gordon to invite the youth to the YMTC.
During the other days of the week we were able to see quite a few people.
The highlight would again be Tony Favela and Adrianna Salway. During Zone Conference I recorded an impression to ask them whether they had individually prayed to know that God lived. On Friday, we asked that question and the response was enlightening. The question alone opened their hearts as well as their minds and brought the Spirit suddenly and with power. We discussed their experiences with prayer, testifying that God does indeed know the answer to our prayers, that He does hear every one, and that each thought, whether spoken aloud or in the mind, is personally attended to by our loving Heavenly Father. We may not receive answers immediately, or they may come contrary to how we expect or desire, but they do come. We then discussed the Vision of the Tree of Life by Lehi. We read, and then explained, and finally expounded the scriptures. As we continually sought their involvement and asked both simple and thought-provoking questions, the Spirit continued to bear witness of the truth. It was a powerful testament to the impact of questions. Not merely quizzing a person on what they've heard, but questions that invite active participation and personal application. When we re-committed them to pray and read the Book of Mormon, it was not a half-hearted acceptance, but a resolute determination to seek a personal knowledge of God.
The trip to Gordon was nice, and we were actually able to accomplish quite a bit. We produced the invitations for the youth in the branch, and that numbered over a dozen individuals, at least half of which are relatively active. We also discussed with the Branch President and Mission Leader the situation for the missionary work in Chadron and Gordon. They were very understanding and we actually happy that the efforts would be focused upon individual missionary efforts of the members of the branch. They are very supportive and are willing to help in whatever way possible to motivate the members to share the gospel, in the current absence of missionaries as well as when they some day return.
My last Zone Conference was very good. I was actually quite grateful that the zone leaders called and asked me to play the piano for it. Then, while playing some pre-lude music, they asked if I would do a musical number as well. So I asked the four sister missionaries if they would sing an arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives with me accompanying. (I think that piano solos are fine, but that the impact of words is too great to be left out of such a hymn.) Well, then Sister Layton asked me to play "A Child's Prayer" for part of her training. This was another song that I had actually been practicing recently for a musical number in the Branch! So I was pleased to have one more opportunity to provide a service for my fellow missionaries. I had been regretting telling zone leaders no in the past, but had the chance to repent of all that.
Love,
Elder Callor
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Week 1, Transfer 17
Well, the first week of my last transfer...It was actually kinda lame as far as a normal week in Alliance goes.
We did a lot of things, but ended up with only 12 lessons, and 9 of those were to members, and weren't really the best. That is the real bummer, that of the 12, I really only felt like maybe half of them were actual lessons. Oh well, can't change the past, but the future can be better.
So, Sunday we had an awesome lesson with the Clark family. This is the second time they've been taught, but the first time since I've been here (so about 6 weeks between visits). We were able to have the Weavers with us, too. They know each other from work, sort of. Anyway, we watched the Restoration DVD with them and have another appointment set up for this coming Sunday to discuss the Plan of Salvation. So that was the missionary work highlight of the week.
Monday we had P-day and did laundry at a member's house. My clothes would NOT dry, so we ended up there until dinner time and just ate with them. Well, then the weather turned NASTY. There was a severe thunderstorm warning all that night, and even at 7:00 it was pitch black outside! We made it home safely around 9:00, when the sky cleared enough that we felt we would be okay to drive the 10 minutes to our apartment.
Tuesday was a good missionary day, too. We saw four families, all less-active. We visited with them, and just tried to be a positive influence in their lives.
Wednesday was a FUN day. We went branding that morning. We left about 4:45 and got back about 4:40. That is from A.M. to P.M. Elder Pape and I wrestled calves. There were about 6 sets of wrestlers, 6 ropers, 4 branders, 1 de-horner, and 2 steer-makers. (If you don't know what I mean by that last one, ask Isaac.) At the very end I was tired of wrestling, and asked if I could help with the steer-making, since that was the only other thing that we'd be allowed to do as missionaries. I did about 7 and then we were all finished. In total 836 calves were branded! After we got home, we sorta collapsed from being tired and napped for an hour or so. Then we went over and visited the Lewis's, another less-active family.
Thursday was pretty standard, made plans for next week (Thursday is the weekly planning day) and figured out when we wanted to go to places like Chadron and Gordon, since we need to now. Then we tried a bunch of people, but no one was home. That night we went out to the Weaver's for dinner, and yet ANOTHER severe thunderstorm warning was announced. The sky was yet again threatening a tornado, but thankfully didn't deliver on that promise.
Friday we had lunch with the Smith's. He is the pilot of the plane that I sent photos of. The one that needs a battery charger in order to start. :) Then we practiced for a musical number for Sunday, we changed the song during the practice, too, so that took a little longer to work out. (We ended up having a bunch of little girls singing the first part of A Child's Prayer with two moms singing the second part.) Then we were invited to a birthday party, but only two 8 year olds were there, so we left after a little while. And finally we went over to the Favela's for a BBQ. These are our top investigators right now. We just need to get them to church! Anyway, we played Uno and Spoons and Kaboodl and talked about the W.o.W. and commandments in general. It was cool, because two of their good friends were there also and participated in the discussion. They all agreed that the commandments made sense, but didn't quite commit to living them.
Saturday we helped a lady move apartments. That was okay, but I have a pet-peeve with people who don't pack BEFORE the moving crew arrives. We were all done by about 12, starting at 9. Then one of the other members who helped took us to a Chinese Buffet for lunch. It was good, but didn't agree with me at all. We tried some more people and again couldn't get in with anyone. Then we travelled out to one of the church ranches for dinner. It was a 40-45 mile trip out, but took 60-75 minutes to get there along the "pot-hole-iest" road I've ever seen. It was only one lane, too. Thankfully there are only maybe five people that travel that road, and only once a week, at most! (For church!) Anyway, we made it to the families house and had a great evening. All three ranch families were there and we played that Command game with them. They LOVED it and wanted to get a copy. Thankfully I had my memory card with me and was able to copy it to their computer pretty quick.
Sunday was branch conference and I played the piano for that musical number. It was chosen as the closing hymn, and we had an intermediate hymn as well. Okay, so funny thing: We started by singing Star-Spangled Banner, but NOONE stood for it. Then we had a sacrament hymn, and then an intermediate hymn, 243, and the conductor STOOD EVERYONE UP!!! and finally we did a musical number for the closing hymn. Now, isn't that the most backward music leader ever? After church we had potluck, since all the Stake Leaders were there, and that was great. Everyone brought enough food to feed two or three families, so there was a lot to choose from! We taught a lesson at an investigator's house, too. About temples and eternal marriage, trying to give him an incentive for investigating the church. It could have gone a lot better, but was okay. After that we went over to the Lewis's again and talked to them about church and things like that.
And now I'm emailing!
Love,
Elder Callor
We did a lot of things, but ended up with only 12 lessons, and 9 of those were to members, and weren't really the best. That is the real bummer, that of the 12, I really only felt like maybe half of them were actual lessons. Oh well, can't change the past, but the future can be better.
So, Sunday we had an awesome lesson with the Clark family. This is the second time they've been taught, but the first time since I've been here (so about 6 weeks between visits). We were able to have the Weavers with us, too. They know each other from work, sort of. Anyway, we watched the Restoration DVD with them and have another appointment set up for this coming Sunday to discuss the Plan of Salvation. So that was the missionary work highlight of the week.
Monday we had P-day and did laundry at a member's house. My clothes would NOT dry, so we ended up there until dinner time and just ate with them. Well, then the weather turned NASTY. There was a severe thunderstorm warning all that night, and even at 7:00 it was pitch black outside! We made it home safely around 9:00, when the sky cleared enough that we felt we would be okay to drive the 10 minutes to our apartment.
Tuesday was a good missionary day, too. We saw four families, all less-active. We visited with them, and just tried to be a positive influence in their lives.
Wednesday was a FUN day. We went branding that morning. We left about 4:45 and got back about 4:40. That is from A.M. to P.M. Elder Pape and I wrestled calves. There were about 6 sets of wrestlers, 6 ropers, 4 branders, 1 de-horner, and 2 steer-makers. (If you don't know what I mean by that last one, ask Isaac.) At the very end I was tired of wrestling, and asked if I could help with the steer-making, since that was the only other thing that we'd be allowed to do as missionaries. I did about 7 and then we were all finished. In total 836 calves were branded! After we got home, we sorta collapsed from being tired and napped for an hour or so. Then we went over and visited the Lewis's, another less-active family.
Thursday was pretty standard, made plans for next week (Thursday is the weekly planning day) and figured out when we wanted to go to places like Chadron and Gordon, since we need to now. Then we tried a bunch of people, but no one was home. That night we went out to the Weaver's for dinner, and yet ANOTHER severe thunderstorm warning was announced. The sky was yet again threatening a tornado, but thankfully didn't deliver on that promise.
Friday we had lunch with the Smith's. He is the pilot of the plane that I sent photos of. The one that needs a battery charger in order to start. :) Then we practiced for a musical number for Sunday, we changed the song during the practice, too, so that took a little longer to work out. (We ended up having a bunch of little girls singing the first part of A Child's Prayer with two moms singing the second part.) Then we were invited to a birthday party, but only two 8 year olds were there, so we left after a little while. And finally we went over to the Favela's for a BBQ. These are our top investigators right now. We just need to get them to church! Anyway, we played Uno and Spoons and Kaboodl and talked about the W.o.W. and commandments in general. It was cool, because two of their good friends were there also and participated in the discussion. They all agreed that the commandments made sense, but didn't quite commit to living them.
Saturday we helped a lady move apartments. That was okay, but I have a pet-peeve with people who don't pack BEFORE the moving crew arrives. We were all done by about 12, starting at 9. Then one of the other members who helped took us to a Chinese Buffet for lunch. It was good, but didn't agree with me at all. We tried some more people and again couldn't get in with anyone. Then we travelled out to one of the church ranches for dinner. It was a 40-45 mile trip out, but took 60-75 minutes to get there along the "pot-hole-iest" road I've ever seen. It was only one lane, too. Thankfully there are only maybe five people that travel that road, and only once a week, at most! (For church!) Anyway, we made it to the families house and had a great evening. All three ranch families were there and we played that Command game with them. They LOVED it and wanted to get a copy. Thankfully I had my memory card with me and was able to copy it to their computer pretty quick.
Sunday was branch conference and I played the piano for that musical number. It was chosen as the closing hymn, and we had an intermediate hymn as well. Okay, so funny thing: We started by singing Star-Spangled Banner, but NOONE stood for it. Then we had a sacrament hymn, and then an intermediate hymn, 243, and the conductor STOOD EVERYONE UP!!! and finally we did a musical number for the closing hymn. Now, isn't that the most backward music leader ever? After church we had potluck, since all the Stake Leaders were there, and that was great. Everyone brought enough food to feed two or three families, so there was a lot to choose from! We taught a lesson at an investigator's house, too. About temples and eternal marriage, trying to give him an incentive for investigating the church. It could have gone a lot better, but was okay. After that we went over to the Lewis's again and talked to them about church and things like that.
And now I'm emailing!
Love,
Elder Callor
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
News from the mission... Hey, anyone in need of a toilet?
Elder Callor writes: "Everything is going okay over here. Our top investigators have stopped investigating, but our next top are doing fantastic! Ironically, the reason for stopping was a rather prideful view of the Word of Wisdom: "We KNOW that green tea is good for you and since the Word of Wisdom claims it isn't, the Word of Wisdom must be wrong, and hence the whole church that would support that as doctrine." Pretty sad, huh? Anyway, the other investigators were taught the Word of Wisdom this week as well, but their reaction was "Well, if God wants me to not drink tea, then I guess I shouldn't drink tea." YEAH HUMILITY!!!"
"The weather has improved greatly. Still yucky at times (overcast, misty, windy) and then switches suddenly to Arizona (HOT, windy, HOT) which isn't too bad except when we are walking around all day because we wanted to save miles. New month=new miles, though. YAY!!!"
"So, funny story. Yesterday (memorial day) our toilet was running (the rubber thing in the tank hadn't closed right). So, I lifted off the tank lid, and reached in and fixed the rubber thing. Well, as I went to replace the lid, it slipped from my hands and fell right into the toilet bowl, punching a hole just thicker than my thumb in the side of the toilet. So, no toilet. We called the apartment manager, but he couldn't do anything without getting a new toilet, and that couldn't happen since the stores were closed for Memorial Day. So last night and this morning we just ran to a gas station to use their toilets. It is fixed now. Turns out he had a spare toilet after all, and was able to get it fixed pretty fast. He was just finishing when we headed over to the library to email this morning. Thank goodness!"
"The weather has improved greatly. Still yucky at times (overcast, misty, windy) and then switches suddenly to Arizona (HOT, windy, HOT) which isn't too bad except when we are walking around all day because we wanted to save miles. New month=new miles, though. YAY!!!"
"So, funny story. Yesterday (memorial day) our toilet was running (the rubber thing in the tank hadn't closed right). So, I lifted off the tank lid, and reached in and fixed the rubber thing. Well, as I went to replace the lid, it slipped from my hands and fell right into the toilet bowl, punching a hole just thicker than my thumb in the side of the toilet. So, no toilet. We called the apartment manager, but he couldn't do anything without getting a new toilet, and that couldn't happen since the stores were closed for Memorial Day. So last night and this morning we just ran to a gas station to use their toilets. It is fixed now. Turns out he had a spare toilet after all, and was able to get it fixed pretty fast. He was just finishing when we headed over to the library to email this morning. Thank goodness!"
Pictures from the Mish
You think it is hard to navigate where you live. Check out this street sign in Mandan.
This is the oldest tree in Alliance. It fell over during the tornado. Massive, huh? Elder Pape (who is 6' tall, doesn't quite come up to the top of the side.
Yes, this is a battery charger hooked up to an airplane. That is how they get it started.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Transfer 16
Elder Callor was just transferred to Alliance, Nebraska. He is now serving with Elder Pape who is about 3 months out on mission.
Monday, March 1, 2010
March 1st 2010
Elders Condie and Bahr tracting.
Yes, a truck is buried in snow!
The cold from the outside is refrigerating our things while our freezer defrosts.
Life after the Fall, blocked from reaching Christ by Death and Sin
Life after the Atonement, death conquered freely, but we must work to overcome sin
Week 4 Transfer 14
Well, this week was pretty normal, but had some bright highlights!
We are still teaching Morgan at the jail. The guards are funny, though. The women will always let us in to visit him, without any problem at all, but the men always tell us no and try to send us away. I had had enough on Friday when the man tried to claim that he saw the captain send us away. So I told him to call the captain up right then and she would tell him what had happened. She came up and asked to look at our ministerial certificates, and let us in. She had said that was the rule, and the guy had to eat his words for claiming she had sent us away once. Funny, she had a problem with the certificate being from Salt Lake, so she asked if we had anything from the State of North Dakota. We answered with, "That certificate is recognized federally and even internationally!" She swallowed rather hard at that and didn't make any more comments either! So funny how people try to make a big show of their authority, when if they would just be nice, we wouldn't have had to embarass them all. We didn't want to, but they were being jerks that day and keeping us from visiting Morgan, which we have a constitutional right to do, being ministers.
The actual visit with Morgan was great too! He understood that he couldn't be baptized while in jail, and we explained about parole and probation too. However, he still wants to know what else he needs to do in order to be baptized! He agreed with all the requirements, and had a momentary question about tea, but accepted our answer that it was what the Lord requires, and that was sufficient reason for him. Hopefully the imigration people don't make too big of a deal out of this. I think I mentioned that the whole stupid thing was a false accusation by his drunk girlfriend, right? Anyway, she even admitted in court that she made it up while drunk because he wouldn't give her money.
Anyway, we also got some new people to teach. The Danielson's invited Monica, Shawn and Brittany to dinner and we were there too. They also invited them to listen to our message, and thankfully we picked just the right one! I shared Jeremiah 1:5 and discussed how God loves each of us, explaining that "sanctify" means to set apart as special. Apparently Shawn and Monica had lost two children in early infancy, and Brittany had been old enough to remember. So this thought meant a lot to them, and they want to learn more about it. We have an appointment for Thursday.
On Saturday we had a strange experience too. Elder Jones wanted to eat out, so we went to a Steak Buffet. While there, I had this strong feeling to talk with one of the waiters. I asked him if we had met before (he looked very familiar) and he said he didn't think so. Then suddenly he asked if we were from the "Church of the Latter-day Saints" and what it was that we taught and believed! He wanted us to teach him right there! I asked if his manager would get mad at him, and he said it didn't matter, he wanted to know what we believed. He was very interested, and we gave him a pamphlet with our phone number on it.
We had a good visit with the Martinez's again. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and used a home-made visual aid to explain the role of the Atonement in getting us back to heaven. It was two cardboard walls: one for death, and another for sin. The Atonement put a doorway through death (Resurrection) and a ladder over sin (the gospel: faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, endure). It helped them to visualize the topics a lot better, and at the end of the visit, Sister Martinez asked for a blessing to help her do the things she needs to in order to get back to live with God with her family. It was very moving.
We have been doing role-plays with the families we eat with, and it has been having a good response. One of us pretends to be a co-worker or friend with a concern that we bring to the family. They address our concern and practice inviting us to meet with the missionaries. Some families spend a lot of time teaching directly, and others are very quick to invite people to ask the missionaries. Afterward we help them find that happy medium, where the person is helped and invited to meet with the missionaries and is encouraged to ponder the message. Everyone has had positive feedback for this little exercise.
Love,
Elder Callor
We are still teaching Morgan at the jail. The guards are funny, though. The women will always let us in to visit him, without any problem at all, but the men always tell us no and try to send us away. I had had enough on Friday when the man tried to claim that he saw the captain send us away. So I told him to call the captain up right then and she would tell him what had happened. She came up and asked to look at our ministerial certificates, and let us in. She had said that was the rule, and the guy had to eat his words for claiming she had sent us away once. Funny, she had a problem with the certificate being from Salt Lake, so she asked if we had anything from the State of North Dakota. We answered with, "That certificate is recognized federally and even internationally!" She swallowed rather hard at that and didn't make any more comments either! So funny how people try to make a big show of their authority, when if they would just be nice, we wouldn't have had to embarass them all. We didn't want to, but they were being jerks that day and keeping us from visiting Morgan, which we have a constitutional right to do, being ministers.
The actual visit with Morgan was great too! He understood that he couldn't be baptized while in jail, and we explained about parole and probation too. However, he still wants to know what else he needs to do in order to be baptized! He agreed with all the requirements, and had a momentary question about tea, but accepted our answer that it was what the Lord requires, and that was sufficient reason for him. Hopefully the imigration people don't make too big of a deal out of this. I think I mentioned that the whole stupid thing was a false accusation by his drunk girlfriend, right? Anyway, she even admitted in court that she made it up while drunk because he wouldn't give her money.
Anyway, we also got some new people to teach. The Danielson's invited Monica, Shawn and Brittany to dinner and we were there too. They also invited them to listen to our message, and thankfully we picked just the right one! I shared Jeremiah 1:5 and discussed how God loves each of us, explaining that "sanctify" means to set apart as special. Apparently Shawn and Monica had lost two children in early infancy, and Brittany had been old enough to remember. So this thought meant a lot to them, and they want to learn more about it. We have an appointment for Thursday.
On Saturday we had a strange experience too. Elder Jones wanted to eat out, so we went to a Steak Buffet. While there, I had this strong feeling to talk with one of the waiters. I asked him if we had met before (he looked very familiar) and he said he didn't think so. Then suddenly he asked if we were from the "Church of the Latter-day Saints" and what it was that we taught and believed! He wanted us to teach him right there! I asked if his manager would get mad at him, and he said it didn't matter, he wanted to know what we believed. He was very interested, and we gave him a pamphlet with our phone number on it.
We had a good visit with the Martinez's again. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and used a home-made visual aid to explain the role of the Atonement in getting us back to heaven. It was two cardboard walls: one for death, and another for sin. The Atonement put a doorway through death (Resurrection) and a ladder over sin (the gospel: faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, endure). It helped them to visualize the topics a lot better, and at the end of the visit, Sister Martinez asked for a blessing to help her do the things she needs to in order to get back to live with God with her family. It was very moving.
We have been doing role-plays with the families we eat with, and it has been having a good response. One of us pretends to be a co-worker or friend with a concern that we bring to the family. They address our concern and practice inviting us to meet with the missionaries. Some families spend a lot of time teaching directly, and others are very quick to invite people to ask the missionaries. Afterward we help them find that happy medium, where the person is helped and invited to meet with the missionaries and is encouraged to ponder the message. Everyone has had positive feedback for this little exercise.
Love,
Elder Callor
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