Hey Y'all!
This week I went on exchange with Elder Blanco!!!!! Super fun. We went down to their area in Matthews, which borders Providence which was pretty weird. While we were out finding we found a guy named Stephen who was basically just waiting for missionaries to come. I guess he was baptized when he was 8 and hadn't been to church since then, but while we were teaching him he asked when he could be rebaptized. We explained the sacrament to him and he sounded like he was going to come to church, hopefully he did. Elder Blanco is from Columbia and
doesn't have a license so I had to drive and the assistant's Chevy Silverado. I've never driven a truck that big, and we had to go from Lexington down to Charlotte and back. I hate Charlotte traffic....city traffic in general isn't my thing. While we were driving Elder Blanco and I talked a lot about the premortal life. I feel like there's so much we don't know about it. He brought up a theory a lot of people believe in that makes sense to me. If our actions in this life determine what quality of life we'll get in the next life, then perhaps our actions in the premortal life determined what quality of life we have on earth. Like maybe the reason people are born into the covenant is because they accepted it more fully in the pre earth life and the reason some people still need to be converted is because they didn't? Like for example, there wasn't a ton of agency in me being baptized when I was 8. Like yeah I made the decision to get baptized, but it wasn't until I was older that I fully understood what that means so maybe the reason I was born into a family where the gospel was taught was because I already accepted it in the pre mortal life? Interesting things to think about.
Today we went golfing!!! It was super hot, but still pretty fun. I averaged a bogey on most holes, not too bad after not playing for an entire year. The course was pretty cheap but looked really nice. It was really open like the one in Madras, but there were lots of thick forests in some parts. It looked like the course Harley makes on Lost. We played with the sister training leaders and one of them was really good and whooped us all.
So our investigator Shirley got the job she was hoping for and came to church Sunday!!!! I'm so excited for their family. The mom is doing really well with all the commandments, but the kids really like sweet tea. Everyone here likes sweet tea, but these kids especially. So today we got some Gatorade for them to drink instead of tea. Pray that works because it would be really great to see a whole family get baptized. Our other investigator getting close to baptism is Josh who has some bad nerve damage and can't let water go down his throat so he's scared to get baptized, but we're going to work with him and hopefully he'll be baptized in the next few weeks.
On Friday we were able to go do service at a recent convert's home named Colleen. She's in an electric wheel chair and can't keep her home up very well, so she let us come and sweep and vacuum and even do her dishes! It felt good to do something nice for someone else. We seem to do a lot of service here. There's been a few people baptized in the last few months that weren't really receptive at first but as the Elders did service their hearts were softened and they basically asked if they could be baptized. Has the Cline Falls Ward done much with Just Serve? They want us to do at least 7 hours a week of community service as missionaries so we go to a soup kitchen every week and make food for homeless people.
Oh yeah, I've been out a year now! Which is funny because I still feel super new... But I've learned a ton over the past 12 months. A lot about humility and pride. It's been so interesting to observe all these different people and their different lifestyles and the attributes that come along with how they live. It's made me really reflect what kind of lifestyle I want to live, which I suppose is a huge part of going on a mission. But now I'm really looking forwards to what the next year has to offer for me. Hopefully many more baptisms and spiritual experiences.
Well I sure love you guys! Till next week,
Elder Earnest
Monday, July 25, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
Hey Y'all!
This week I went on exchange with Elder Blanco!!!!! Super fun. We went down to their area in Matthews, which borders Providence which was pretty weird. While we were out finding, we found a guy named Stephen who was basically just waiting for missionaries to come. I guess he was baptized when he was 8 and hasn't been to church since then, but while we were teaching him he asked when he could be rebaptized. We explained the sacrament to him and he sounded like he was going to come to church. Hopefully he did. Elder Blanco is from Columbia and
doesn't have a license so I had to drive the assistant's Chevy Silverado. I've never driven a truck that big, and we had to go from Lexington down to Charlotte and back. I hate Charlotte traffic....city traffic in general isn't my thing. While we were driving Elder Blanco and I talked a lot about the premortal life. I feel like there's so much we don't know about it. He brought up a theory a lot of people believe in that makes sense to me. If our actions in this life determine what quality of life we'll get in the next life, then perhaps our actions in the pre mortal life determined what quality of life we have on earth. Like maybe the reason people are born into the covenant is because they accepted it more fully in the pre earth life and the reason some people still need to be converted is because they didn't? Like for example, there wasn't a ton of agency in me being baptized when I was 8. Yeah, I made the decision to get baptized, but it wasn't until I was older that I fully understood what that meant so maybe the reason I was born into a family where the gospel was taught was because I already accepted it in the pre mortal life? Interesting things to think about.
Today we went golfing!!! It was super hot, but still pretty fun. I averaged a bogey on most holes, not too bad after not playing for an entire year. The course was pretty cheap but looked really nice. It was really open like the one in Madras, but there was thick forests in some parts. It looked like the course Harley makes on Lost. We played with the sister training leaders and one of them was super good and whooped us all.
So our investigator Shirley got the job and came to church Sunday!!!! I'm so excited for their family. The mom is doing really well with all the commandments, but the kids really like sweet tea. Everyone here likes sweat tea, but these kids especially. So today we got some gatorade stuff for them to drink instead of tea. Pray that works because it would be really great to see a whole family get baptized. Our other investigator getting close to baptism is Josh who has some bad nerve damage and can't let water go down his throat so he's scared to get baptized, but we're going to work with him and hopefully he'll be baptized in the next few weeks.
On Friday we were able to go do service for a recent convert named Colleen. She's in an electric wheelchair and can't keep her home up very well, so she let us come and sweep and vacuum and even do her dishes! It felt good to do something nice for someone else. We seem to do a lot of service here. There's been a few people baptized in the last few months that weren't really elect at first but as the elders did service their hearts were softened and they basically asked if they could be baptized. Has the Cline Falls Ward done much with Just Serve? They want us to do at least 7 hours a week of community service as missionaries so we go to a soup kitchen every week and make food for homeless people.
Oh yeah, I've been out a year now! Which is funny because I still feel super new... But I've learned a ton over the past 12 months. A lot about humility and pride. It's been so interesting to observe all these different people and their different lifestyles and the attributes that come along with how they live. It's made me really reflect what kind of lifestyle I want to live, which I suppose is a huge part of going on a mission. But now I'm really looking forward to what the next year has to offer for me. Hopefully many more baptisms and spiritual experiences.
Well I sure love you guys! Till next week,
Elder Earnest
This week I went on exchange with Elder Blanco!!!!! Super fun. We went down to their area in Matthews, which borders Providence which was pretty weird. While we were out finding, we found a guy named Stephen who was basically just waiting for missionaries to come. I guess he was baptized when he was 8 and hasn't been to church since then, but while we were teaching him he asked when he could be rebaptized. We explained the sacrament to him and he sounded like he was going to come to church. Hopefully he did. Elder Blanco is from Columbia and
doesn't have a license so I had to drive the assistant's Chevy Silverado. I've never driven a truck that big, and we had to go from Lexington down to Charlotte and back. I hate Charlotte traffic....city traffic in general isn't my thing. While we were driving Elder Blanco and I talked a lot about the premortal life. I feel like there's so much we don't know about it. He brought up a theory a lot of people believe in that makes sense to me. If our actions in this life determine what quality of life we'll get in the next life, then perhaps our actions in the pre mortal life determined what quality of life we have on earth. Like maybe the reason people are born into the covenant is because they accepted it more fully in the pre earth life and the reason some people still need to be converted is because they didn't? Like for example, there wasn't a ton of agency in me being baptized when I was 8. Yeah, I made the decision to get baptized, but it wasn't until I was older that I fully understood what that meant so maybe the reason I was born into a family where the gospel was taught was because I already accepted it in the pre mortal life? Interesting things to think about.
Today we went golfing!!! It was super hot, but still pretty fun. I averaged a bogey on most holes, not too bad after not playing for an entire year. The course was pretty cheap but looked really nice. It was really open like the one in Madras, but there was thick forests in some parts. It looked like the course Harley makes on Lost. We played with the sister training leaders and one of them was super good and whooped us all.
So our investigator Shirley got the job and came to church Sunday!!!! I'm so excited for their family. The mom is doing really well with all the commandments, but the kids really like sweet tea. Everyone here likes sweat tea, but these kids especially. So today we got some gatorade stuff for them to drink instead of tea. Pray that works because it would be really great to see a whole family get baptized. Our other investigator getting close to baptism is Josh who has some bad nerve damage and can't let water go down his throat so he's scared to get baptized, but we're going to work with him and hopefully he'll be baptized in the next few weeks.
On Friday we were able to go do service for a recent convert named Colleen. She's in an electric wheelchair and can't keep her home up very well, so she let us come and sweep and vacuum and even do her dishes! It felt good to do something nice for someone else. We seem to do a lot of service here. There's been a few people baptized in the last few months that weren't really elect at first but as the elders did service their hearts were softened and they basically asked if they could be baptized. Has the Cline Falls Ward done much with Just Serve? They want us to do at least 7 hours a week of community service as missionaries so we go to a soup kitchen every week and make food for homeless people.
Oh yeah, I've been out a year now! Which is funny because I still feel super new... But I've learned a ton over the past 12 months. A lot about humility and pride. It's been so interesting to observe all these different people and their different lifestyles and the attributes that come along with how they live. It's made me really reflect what kind of lifestyle I want to live, which I suppose is a huge part of going on a mission. But now I'm really looking forward to what the next year has to offer for me. Hopefully many more baptisms and spiritual experiences.
Well I sure love you guys! Till next week,
Elder Earnest
Monday, July 11, 2016
Transfer to High Point, NC
So this week I went to a luau, got attacked by a flying cockroach, ate a pig's intestines then went back and ate it's foot, and I got a call from President telling me I'm getting transferred.
The mission president in Raleigh has some in-laws that live in Hawaii and they came and did a bunch of dancing and ukulele shows here for the missionaries and members to bring friends to. Ours was Thursday night at the Charlotte Central stake center in East Charlotte. We were getting worried because in order to go we needed to bring an investigator and it looked like no one was going to be able to come. Then at the last minute we called up the Cannons, a part member family we're working with, and they came through hard core to save the day and even offered us a ride. It made me so happy! The show was pretty neat, they did Hawaiian, Native American, and Fire dances. It was this giant Polynesian Mormon family of all ages with a ton of ukuleles, what could be better?
Speaking of Polynesians, my new companion is going to be Elder Toki. I haven't talked to him much, but everyone says he's a great missionary. So I'm pretty excited about that. It'll be weird; this will be the first time I'll be the junior companion since Elder Clarke trained me. Oh yeah, you'll never guess where I'm going! High Point North Carolina!!!!! I'll be serving as a Zone Leader. I'm beyond stoked! Elder Leach is taking over as district leader and will be training at the same time. I'm not terribly sad to be leaving this place, but there will be some people I'll miss.
We went over to Allen's last night to say goodbye. He made us a true southern meal: chitlins, pigs' feet, kale greens, fried chicken, sweet potato casserole, Mac 'n cheese, and a big glass of red Koolaid. Yeah, I know. The pigs' feet were actually pretty good, just super fatty. The chitlins on the other hand were absolutely disgusting. We walked into the house and I was like, what is that smell? (Smelled like poop). I almost threw up. It literally tasted like pig poop. I could only take one little bite and I was done. Grossest thing ever. The fried chicken was super good though.
Today we had district activity. We all went to Sky High (trampolines, etc), like the one we went to in Boston. It was really fun! We went up to the dodgeball area and there was just a ton of little kids and we were like "dang we can't just wreck these little kids" but then they started trash talking us and we were like "wanna go?" And they were like "yeah!" So thirteen Mormon missionaries took on 25 small children at a dodgeball trampoline court and it was actually a pretty close game. Then we played laser tag and did the basketball stuff. Very fun time.
Alright, I love ya'll and can't wait to hear how life is in Oregon!!!! Peace.
**A note from Mom: We have some really good friends, Richard and Alana Yeoman, who live in High Point, NC. I've known Richard since I was 11 or 12 and when Alana moved to Virginia in high school we were best friends. We lived next door to them when we were first married and Alana and I worked together while the men finished school. We have lots of great memories withe the Yeoman's. I've been hoping that Sam would find himself there at some point on his mission. The evening he arrived in High Point, NC, Richard and Alana knocked on Sam's door with warm chocolate chip cookies and a bunch of love for this kid they've never met. I'm so grateful for them and for the pictures they sent me!
The mission president in Raleigh has some in-laws that live in Hawaii and they came and did a bunch of dancing and ukulele shows here for the missionaries and members to bring friends to. Ours was Thursday night at the Charlotte Central stake center in East Charlotte. We were getting worried because in order to go we needed to bring an investigator and it looked like no one was going to be able to come. Then at the last minute we called up the Cannons, a part member family we're working with, and they came through hard core to save the day and even offered us a ride. It made me so happy! The show was pretty neat, they did Hawaiian, Native American, and Fire dances. It was this giant Polynesian Mormon family of all ages with a ton of ukuleles, what could be better?
Speaking of Polynesians, my new companion is going to be Elder Toki. I haven't talked to him much, but everyone says he's a great missionary. So I'm pretty excited about that. It'll be weird; this will be the first time I'll be the junior companion since Elder Clarke trained me. Oh yeah, you'll never guess where I'm going! High Point North Carolina!!!!! I'll be serving as a Zone Leader. I'm beyond stoked! Elder Leach is taking over as district leader and will be training at the same time. I'm not terribly sad to be leaving this place, but there will be some people I'll miss.
We went over to Allen's last night to say goodbye. He made us a true southern meal: chitlins, pigs' feet, kale greens, fried chicken, sweet potato casserole, Mac 'n cheese, and a big glass of red Koolaid. Yeah, I know. The pigs' feet were actually pretty good, just super fatty. The chitlins on the other hand were absolutely disgusting. We walked into the house and I was like, what is that smell? (Smelled like poop). I almost threw up. It literally tasted like pig poop. I could only take one little bite and I was done. Grossest thing ever. The fried chicken was super good though.
Today we had district activity. We all went to Sky High (trampolines, etc), like the one we went to in Boston. It was really fun! We went up to the dodgeball area and there was just a ton of little kids and we were like "dang we can't just wreck these little kids" but then they started trash talking us and we were like "wanna go?" And they were like "yeah!" So thirteen Mormon missionaries took on 25 small children at a dodgeball trampoline court and it was actually a pretty close game. Then we played laser tag and did the basketball stuff. Very fun time.
Alright, I love ya'll and can't wait to hear how life is in Oregon!!!! Peace.
**A note from Mom: We have some really good friends, Richard and Alana Yeoman, who live in High Point, NC. I've known Richard since I was 11 or 12 and when Alana moved to Virginia in high school we were best friends. We lived next door to them when we were first married and Alana and I worked together while the men finished school. We have lots of great memories withe the Yeoman's. I've been hoping that Sam would find himself there at some point on his mission. The evening he arrived in High Point, NC, Richard and Alana knocked on Sam's door with warm chocolate chip cookies and a bunch of love for this kid they've never met. I'm so grateful for them and for the pictures they sent me!
Lexington, NC
Hey there!
Hope y'all are doing okay. Super jealous I can't go on the fifty miler!
So I'm in Lexington now! It's a great place with great people. Lots of country land which makes me sooooo happy. We cover a pretty large area that goes all the way up into High Point and way down to High Rock Lake and even a little part of Winston-Salem, but we spend most of our time around Lexington because the Sisters in our ward live in High Point and cover that part of our area. Ward council yesterday was amazing. They're super missionary focused and the ward is really nice. Sister Yeomen came by my vary first day here! She made us super good cookies.
My new companion is pretty great; he's Tongan and is from West Valley Utah. He likes to sing and is pretty good at football. We get along pretty well.
So there's tons of people playing Pokemon Go here and I'm crazy jealous, so today we went on our own Pokemon adventure trying to find stuffed animal Squirtel, because it's Elder Toki's favorite. Sadly, because of all the Pokemon hype, it's pretty hard to find them. Actually so far it's been impossible, but we're gonna get our Squirrel one way or another.
Another great thing about our area is the teaching pool. I've never seen so many part member families in my life! Our list is crazy long. I replaced Elder Smith, who was actually my first zone leader in Greensboro zone, and he and Elder Toki have been baptizing like crazy. I'm planning on keeping that up. We've got a family who'll
probably be baptized next month. Just pray that Shirley, the mom, gets a job that allows her to have Sundays off. And we have a wife of a recent convert that wants to be baptized but just hasn't felt an answer to her prayers, so pray that Mati will be able to know the Book of Mormon is true. Also, we've got someone named Josh who will be baptized as soon as he heals enough form his concrete mixer accident to get his stomach feeding tube removed, probably in September.
Tomorrow I get to go on exchange with the Assistants [to the President] who are some of my favorite missionaries in the whole mission: Elder Clarke and Elder Blanco. Elder Blanco just got called to be an Assistant when I came to Lexington. He was my zone leader in Charlotte south and he taught me a ton about missionary work. (In case you forgot Elder Clarke was my first companion)
For real I'm loving it here. I've got an area I love with nice people to teach and a great companion, couldn't really ask for more.
I can't really think of anything else that's going on. Just trying to adjust to a new area. It's weird not knowing anyone's name anymore. Hope to hear from you soon, love ya!
Hope y'all are doing okay. Super jealous I can't go on the fifty miler!
So I'm in Lexington now! It's a great place with great people. Lots of country land which makes me sooooo happy. We cover a pretty large area that goes all the way up into High Point and way down to High Rock Lake and even a little part of Winston-Salem, but we spend most of our time around Lexington because the Sisters in our ward live in High Point and cover that part of our area. Ward council yesterday was amazing. They're super missionary focused and the ward is really nice. Sister Yeomen came by my vary first day here! She made us super good cookies.
My new companion is pretty great; he's Tongan and is from West Valley Utah. He likes to sing and is pretty good at football. We get along pretty well.
So there's tons of people playing Pokemon Go here and I'm crazy jealous, so today we went on our own Pokemon adventure trying to find stuffed animal Squirtel, because it's Elder Toki's favorite. Sadly, because of all the Pokemon hype, it's pretty hard to find them. Actually so far it's been impossible, but we're gonna get our Squirrel one way or another.
Another great thing about our area is the teaching pool. I've never seen so many part member families in my life! Our list is crazy long. I replaced Elder Smith, who was actually my first zone leader in Greensboro zone, and he and Elder Toki have been baptizing like crazy. I'm planning on keeping that up. We've got a family who'll
probably be baptized next month. Just pray that Shirley, the mom, gets a job that allows her to have Sundays off. And we have a wife of a recent convert that wants to be baptized but just hasn't felt an answer to her prayers, so pray that Mati will be able to know the Book of Mormon is true. Also, we've got someone named Josh who will be baptized as soon as he heals enough form his concrete mixer accident to get his stomach feeding tube removed, probably in September.
Tomorrow I get to go on exchange with the Assistants [to the President] who are some of my favorite missionaries in the whole mission: Elder Clarke and Elder Blanco. Elder Blanco just got called to be an Assistant when I came to Lexington. He was my zone leader in Charlotte south and he taught me a ton about missionary work. (In case you forgot Elder Clarke was my first companion)
For real I'm loving it here. I've got an area I love with nice people to teach and a great companion, couldn't really ask for more.
I can't really think of anything else that's going on. Just trying to adjust to a new area. It's weird not knowing anyone's name anymore. Hope to hear from you soon, love ya!
Elder Toki and the search for the elusive Squirtel...
Monday, July 4, 2016
Hey there!
Right now I'm at our 4th of July zone party playing basketball with Elder Everett like good times.
We've had a super busy week. On Tuesday I went on exchange with Elder Dortch. He's going home in a week so. It was fun to chat with him and learn the most important things he's learned. Then the next day we went on exchange with the Assistants. I went with Elder Clarke. It was his birthday, and he never even told me. I was so mad. On Thursday we helped the Weddington Elders move some people. The family consisted of two Hispanic ladies that spoke no English and kept yelling at each other and their son that was high as a kite. He kept laughing to himself and was acting super weird. Also they had a ton of stuff and just one little moving van. It was pretty rough. We helped them move all their stuff in the van and then helped them haul it off to their new place which was really far away. The only fun part was hearing the son, Frankie, talk about all the crazy places he's been. He likes to just get a backpack and take off to live in different countries for a few years. He's been all over the world and can speak a ton of languages. It was pretty neat. If I didn't want a family and a house, I'd totally live that life.
While we were talking to Frankie about backpacking around the world Elder Watson and I got the idea of going backpacking somewhere foreign. His mom works for Jet Blue and can get us tickets super cheap. We're thinking maybe Ireland or India or something. Could be a fun place to go backpacking.
We also found quite a few people this week! The mission has been pretty focused on finding lately, but we can't seem to find anyone that'll come to church. Kinda stinks. Also I don't think we'll be teaching Allen anymore. He's really great and all, but won't keep any commitments. We're still going to keep stopping by, but as of right now he's not really teachable. We haven't been able to contact Erica this week either, not sure what's going on there. But our one lady on date is progressing really well! Her name is Patti and she would have been baptized a long time ago but she can't really walk. She's had tons of surgery on her hips and she's finally walking and coming to church this upcoming week. She's also coming to this big stake luau we're having on Thursday. We're pretty excited for her.
One of the other cool people we met was a boy named Taye. He's 19 and the night before we met him he said he had a dream missionaries came to him. Then the next day he was praying we'd come, and we did. However, we were on our bikes and didn't hear him calling out to us so he gave us a bird call. Like his hands around his mouth and went "caw caw!!". He's reading and praying, but won't come to church and has a lot of other hold ups.
Also this is story I sent to Chase Earnest. He messaged me and wanted to know what the mission was like. I'm not sure if I already told you about this is, but it's pretty neat. It's really cool to see how the Lord works in mysterious ways. I've seen many unexpected ways Heavenly Father has brought the gospel to others. For example: when I first got into the mission I met this guy in my ward named Brother Farmer. Brother Farmer was a recent convert that had lived a pretty rough life and sadly got pulled back into his old ways and ended up in prison about two weeks after I got there. So flash forwards 8 months and I'm leaving my first area to come down to Charlotte. We had a ton of success teaching and baptizing there and one of the people that got baptized was a lady named Quill. Quill had a boyfriend named Sean that we'd tried to teach, but he wasn't really into church stuff. Well, some stuff went down in their neighborhood (it felt like there were shootings there every other week) and Sean got accused of being involved and had to go to prison. Out of all the people in the prison, Sean's cellmate just happened to be Brother Farmer and now he and Brother Farmer are reading the Book of Mormon together everyday and Sean wants to join the church when he gets out of jail! It's crazy how Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone.
Zone activity! See if you can spot me:
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