Week 17

So it is already week 6 of this transfer. I know I have said it like every week but I just really don't know where time is going. So anyways, This past week was a really good week. We started teaching an investigator the sisters had before we got in the area. So we are going to work with her. We had one less active member come to church that we have been working with the entire time we have been here. It was so amazing to see him there. It was Don Spencer, the man that lost his wife about 3 weeks ago. So he is working towards doing those things that he needs to do to be able to make it to the temple so he can be sealed to his wife. He seems super serious about doing those things that he needs to. But I was filled with so much joy to see him seriously acting upon those things that he knows to be true. Like I have no way to express my happiness I felt for him. I don't think I will ever be able to really understand how I come to love the people here so much. I know it is a blessing though. 

And yes once again today is Tuesday. But today is P-day. We had a very special Zone Conference yesterday. And it had to be on Monday. Elder Arnold of the quorum of the Seventy came and taught us. So we had to drive 2 and half hours to Ivins, which is on the other side of St. George from where we are so it was far, to get there. Then the Conference was from 9:30-2:30 but he took way more time then that. So we got done around 3:30 and didn't get back to our area until 8:00 that night. But we had a great training. He taught with such authority and power. I am still amazed at the authority that he taught with. I felt like it was truly after the manner of the Savior that he taught. But he talked about a lot of different things. But he was very uplifting. He told the Sisters to stop having Guilt trips and talked about planning. But it was super good. 

So for Thanksgiving we headed over to Hurricane and stayed the night Wednesday with our District Leader. We got up Thursday bright and early and went and played football with some of the members. After that we had home made cinnamon rolls at a members home. Then we went and hiked one of the washes in Hurricane, and I failed to take my camera with me so no pictures of that but it was super awesome. Then after that we went and had lunch with some other members in the area, then after that we went to another members home and ate more! :) No complaints there. So after our second lunch we went and hiked the highest peak in Hurricane, And this is the actual name and everyone out here calls it that, but it called Molly's Nipple. It is an old Cinder cone if my earth science memory serves me correctly. But we hiked up to watch the sunset. It was gorgeous. And! I took my camera that time!! So after we hiked back down we went and had dinner at another members home. So it was quite the food filled day. But we were starving after all the hiking. We were all sore the next day. But it was totally worth it. 

So that was my week in a nutshell. I quite enjoyed Thanksgiving. I love you all. 

-Elder Valentine

Week 16!

I am having such a hard time believing that it has already been 16 weeks. Or 4 months since I have been out. Time is just flying by! It is crazy. So this past week we were still really slow. We have been struggling in this area. And it isn't that there isn't any work to be done. It is just the people who are not members or not active are just hardened. It is crazy. So we have been trying to working more with less actives. And we talked to our mission president and he said to start teaching lessons to the members. Because other then them we have zero investigators. It is hard being in this area. I am doing ok overall. But I just don't know what is going to happen to this area. The missionaries that had been here before us had also been struggling. I kinda think this might be a last push for this area before they consider just closing it down for the winter. There is a lot more work in the summer. So we are just trying to find ways to stay busy. It isn't easy but so long as we are anxiously engaged the Lord knows that we are doing our best here. 

But we spoke in 2 sacraments yesterday and then taught one of the priest quorums. It is kinda sad, but that is the most teaching that we have done this whole week was yesterday. After church we had 2 appointments where we taught less actives. It is hard to believe but I really miss teaching, I never thought I would find myself saying that. But It just comes down to the truth that we have to share is so important. As we share that the Lord will bless us.

But great news as far as my last area goes! (It is amazing how you just come to love people you teach and how even when you move on you still have that love for them even when you move on.)

Billie, one of the people we were teaching in Hurricane got engaged to her boyfriend. She really wanted to get Baptized but they were living together. So they got engaged. The other Elders in that area sent me a message letting me know. So I was super excited to hear that. 

It is exciting this work that we are engaged in. Some of the greatest joy I have ever had in my life is helping others to come unto Christ and repent. I know that as we all strive to help those struggling and bring them to the Gospel we will all be blessed to also experience that same joy. It is a promise that God has made to us. And He will never lie. I love you all. And I hope every single one of us remember those things that we have to be so Grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Until next week.

-Elder Valentine

I stole some pics of Elder Valentine from his gf's facebook.  See below

Week 14

So this past week was week 2 of my 3rd transfer! That is just crazy! Time is just flying by. So this past week was an ok week. A little slow as far as lessons and teaching people. We have gotten to meet a lot of the members in the area. So we have gotten to get to know them and they have in turn been helping us. We have a decent number of appointments this week. So we hope to fill out some more of our schedule and meet some new people to teach also. We basically did service all day saturday and then spoke in evening session of stake conference here in the stake we are serving in. Not really too much to report back on overall. So this will be a short email. Hopefully there will be more to report back on next week.

One cool thing I almost forgot to mention. I met one Douglas Heaton. He served in the Canada Alberta mission back in the late 60's. Which just so happens to be the same mission as My Uncle Bobby. Turns out they were both companions almost 50 years ago. The last place I ever thought I would ever come to and be able to hear the name Lehrschall pronounced correctly would have been the tiny mountain town of Alton Utah. So cool. But anyways that is all for this week. Until next week! I love you all!

-Elder Valentine

Week 13

So this past week has been quite the adventure. I was transferred to the Kanab 2 area. Which is the 4 northern wards in the Kanab stake. So we cover Orderville 1st and 2nd wards, The Glendale ward, and the Alton ward. We got to our area on Tuesday. On our way up the mountain it began snowing and sleeting. The most north part of our area, Alton, got 6-8 inches of snow. The members here said they can get anywhere from 2-4 feet during the winter. That amount is mainly up in the Alton area. Glendale and Orderville don't really get that much snow. Which makes me glad that I am living in Orderville. So the area we cover was being covered by sister missionaries. They have had sisters for the last 18 months or so. So my companion and I are completely new to the area. We have been meeting as many members as we possibly can. Which has been a lot. Sadly most of the investigators the sisters had do not want to meet with us. Some of them have been friendly but most of them have been very uninterested. So we have pretty much had to start over from square one. Which is fine. It is like we pretty much are having to open the area. We even moved into a different house then the one the sisters where living in. So we had to deep clean that one too. It was filthy. But I guess all that cleaning at Express really prepared me to do that. So thanks Steve!

But onto my companion. His name is Elder Greene, pronounced just like the color but with another e on the end. He is from, drum roll please!, Lexington, North Carolina! Crazy I know. He has been out 9 months. So he served in the same area that entire 9 months so this is his second area. Just like it is mine. It seems we have a lot of the same interest. His goal after the mission is to become a mechanic. Kinda funny huh? 

But anywho, we have been getting out and pretty much just meeting all the members. The residents in our area don't reckon things by addresses, they use landmarks like trees and rusted cars or other peoples houses. There are pretty much like 6-8 main families and almost everyone has the same last name. There are so many Esplins, Spencers, Maxwells, Coxes, Heatons, and Roundys and I am sure some others that I can't think of right now. So you have to get peoples first names here, otherwise you have no idea who they are talking about. But when you are trying to get around they just tell you to go to this persons house then turn right and go to the second house on your left with the big tree out front. I think addresses are easier but what can I say? If it ain't broke don't fix it right?

But anyways that is all for this week. Until next week!  I love you all!

-Elder Valentine

P.S. Here are some pictures of the snow and frozen lake. When we get a lot more snow I will take some more. I think the red rock with snow is beautiful though. I took these like 2 days after it snowed.

 

 

Week 12

So this past week was the last week of my second transfer. My trainer will be going home tomorrow. So he is done. Yesterday (Sunday) I received my transfer call. I am leaving Hurricane and headed out to Kanab on Tuesday morning.  So that is what is happening this coming week. So I will report back on that next week.

This past week was a great week. We had some great lessons with our investigators. And all the investigators that we have been working with for awhile went to church yesterday! All of the ones that have been struggling finally made it out to church. It was awesome to see them there. We even have one that is getting baptized this Friday! So the area is starting to pick up. We have been having a lot more help from the wards which is awesome. They have been reaching out to those that we have been teaching. Which is amazing. So now I just have to go and get this next area going. 

 

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to get to serve here in Hurricane though.

You always hear missionaries talk about how they have come to love the people they teach. But you never really understand it until you come out and really go through it yourself. I was sitting at an investigators house. The one that we have been working with for so long. And he just looked at us and said he didn't know how we could be so patient. That through all his struggles we never condemned him or stopped coming by, or gave up on him. And as I was just sitting there it hit me that it was because we love him and his family and we know that he can do it. That he can push through those things that he is struggling with through the Power of the Atonement. And I told him that. That it was because we love him. I almost cried as he said the closing prayer. But I am grateful that I was blessed to meet Alvin and his family. And I am grateful that I was able to meet all those people that we taught. I look forward to this next area that I am headed to. But until next week!

-Elder Valentine

P.S. As promised! pictures from Our mission conference held on Sept. 7th!!!!!

 

 

Week 11

So this past week was a pretty good week. We found another investigator and we put 2 investigators on date this past week. So November is shaping up to be a pretty good month. We are continuing to go out and find more people to teach. But since we have been going to ward councils and really focusing on spending more time in each ward we have seen them be more willing to participate and help a lot. Which is great! I love the way my companion put it when he said "we are assigned to the members, they are not assigned to us." So he said that in church yesterday. 

I almost forgot, we spoke in Sacrament yesterday in the 16th ward. It went really well. Next week we are speaking in the 5th ward. It is kinda weird how they numbered the wards because there are like 21 or 22 wards in Hurricane. And there are 2 stakes. So we cover the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 15th, 16th, 18th (branch), 19th, and the apple valley wards. So all the other wards are covered by the other elders here in Hurricane. (I just thought that was an interesting side note how they are split up).

But my companion and I are continuing to do everything that we can to get the members more excited and build them up. When it comes to working with members the expression "you can catch more flies with honey then you can with vinegar" comes to mind. When we work to build them up and uplift them rather then chastise and admonish we get better results. They are more excited and receptive to helping. Chastisement and admonishment really just causes them to shut down and not want to help. So that is something that we have been working on. So moral of the story! Help the Missionaries! I regret not having done more before my mission. When members get involved the work becomes more effective. We can help more souls have the opportunity to get back to Heavenly Father. Otherwise though things are going well. It really just takes time to build the relationships that we need with the members. And a lot of patience. But that has been the past week. Until next week. I love you all!

-Elder Valentine

Week 8

Another week has come and gone! It is hard to believe that in another 3 weeks I will be finished training. So that is pretty cool. Otherwise though, not too much happened this past week. We went to Zions again on Monday, which apparently is the last day it was open because of something going on with Federal funding, (which is something I am not supposed to discuss as a missionary, which is super difficult for me as I am sure most of you know, so I will leave it at that) but it was cool to get to go one last time.  We had a couple of unplanned service opportunities that were great. But other then that it was a slow week.  A lot of the people that we are teaching are only able to meet once a week. So when they cancel we have to go to our back up plans. Which is kind of a bummer. But! Conference was great! President Monson couldn't have said it any better when he said that this is the time for members and missionaries to work together. I have stopped calling what I do missionary work. Rather I like to think of it as the work of Salvation. I feel like a lot of the time when members call it missionary work they think of us, The missionaries, and just say well its missionary work and they are the missionaries, so it is their job not mine. Which is partly true because it is our job. But it is not just our job but the work of all the members! Missionary work, or as I like to call it The Work of Salvation, Is the work of building the Kingdom of God on the earth. Which really is the work of every single one of us that are members of the Church. But Other then that it was an ok week. This next week we are going to focus our efforts on 2 wards and try to get to know the members in those wards better so we can build their confidence in us up and try to get the work moving in those two wards. Well hopefully I will have more to report back on next week. Until then I love you all!

-Elder Valentine