Never a Dull Week

Dear Family & Friends:

5/22 Monday
Today was a good one. We spent a lot of our p-day in the office and then we went shopping. We went to Smith's and we were talking to the lady that gives out samples and she was super nice. While chatting it up with her, a man came up to us, apologizes to the lady and then starts praying that the scales over our eyes would be removed and that we may see that what we are doing is wrong and a bunch of other stuff. Haha, he walked of saying a bunch of stuff. I felt super bad for the poor old lady that had to listen to that but it was fun to see her light back up as we started talking to her as if nothing had happened! Every time opposition arises, my testimony is strengthened of all I know, especially the scriptures! 2 Nephi 2:11 ("For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.")

5/23 Tuesday
What a day! What a day! What a day! Today we got a text from Josh and Amanda! We were stoked to hear from them again because the last thing we had heard was that Amanda was sick and in Michigan. Josh is the one that texted us and said that they were still in Michigan and Amanda's father was sick, so they were afraid they would be staying there for a while. A little later in the day we went and taught a lady named Tinisha. She is great and willing to learn more. After Tinisha, we were walking to our next visit and sure enough who did we see? Haha, Josh and Amanda! They straight lied to us. Haha it was a little disappointing but what can ya do??? We went to our next appointment and had a wonderful lesson with a lady named Maria! We saw Dylan again tonight and he already has a testimony of prophets, which was cool! We also talked with this older man that lives in a living home. He always is outside and had been taught by missionaries before but he said that the missionaries were inviting him to be baptized and that wasn't the missionaries right to do that haha. He wasn't interested at all and started to talk about politics and so Elder Evanson suggested he moved to Canada and then he started to go off about how great Canada would be. He liked the idea of living in an igloo and having a dog sled!

5/24 Wednesday
I was on exchanges with Elder Nemrow from New Mexico. He is a great missionary and we had a lot of success today. We talked to so many people that were super nice but just not interested which was a little frustrating because this is how the conversation would end:
"Could we set up a time to come by and share a message with you?"
"Nah, we aren't interested, but you are welcome to stop by anytime."
"Oh, ok, well have a good one."
"Hey, but put us down as a recommendation. We want you guys to stop by."
We had a couple conversations just like this haha... frustrating. But at least they were super nice and hopefully we will be able to meet with all of them eventually!

5/26 Friday
We had several meetings today and some office things to take care of. Missionaries were complaining a ton this month because it was a 5 Monday month and they are out of MSF so we had to come up with a way to give out some money to missionaries. It was more complicated than you might think haha. Conclusion came out to be just give the missionaries 20 extra bucks. I was all about leaving them be, but the Walker’s felt really bad for the missionaries! We had a drunk dude start yelling at us for knocking on his neighbor’s door late at night (who is a member). We told him that we knew the people real well but he wasn't buying it, he was upset, haha. The members didn't answer so it made the situation a little more awkward haha.

5/27 Saturday
We were on exchanges with Elder Jensen and Elder Ebert today. Elder Jensen and Elder Ebert have been companions for 9 months! Crazy how long they have been together. They are so awesome and Elder Jensen and I had a blast today. We were teaching these two ladies and they asked where Elder Ebert was and so I said that Elder Jensen was teaching me how to be a missionary and so they were convinced I had only been out a short time! Haha just the way I like it. We had a bomb lesson with them and they are super excited to read the Book of Mormon! We also taught a man named Joe. Joe is an interesting guy.  He is straight paranoid about homeland security and thinks that he needs to protect everyone in his neighborhood. His neighbors hate him haha! Tonight right before we exchanged back we felt we should knock one more door. We did! We met a super nice Hawaiian man who said that he would like for us to come back! It was a great way to end the night!

5/28 Sunday
Today we spoke in church! We had 7 investigators come and support us! I thought the talks went well. We spoke on the Restoration of the Priesthood and the Blessings of the Priesthood! It was a fun week folks!

Lots of Love,
- Elder Call NLVWM

Haha so here we go....

The other day we were walking down the street at like 8:30 and there was a garage that was open and so classic missionary move, we headed straight for that bad boy! Haha sure enough it worked again! There were two guys in the garage that were father and son. We started talking to the dad and we asked about his garage because this guy had a lot of music stuff. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into.... he spent the next thirty minutes telling us about his band. He has what he calls a full studio in his garage and him and his son run the band "The Reflextions" after describing and telling every story the man has about his band we started to talk to his son who is in his thirties. The son probably hadn't showered in a solid couple weeks! We were a good ten feet away and our noses were on fire. Anyway they tried selling us their first actual sale on a cd but they didn't quite talk us into it. So they just gave us a cover haha.

Never a dull day in Las Vegas!
Love you all!

Exchanges

Dear Family & Friends:

5/15 Monday
Today was a lot of fun. We went to the outlets and went shopping for a little while and then played some ball! It was a crazy cool night too! We had another missionary with us tonight who is headed out tomorrow morning to the Boise Idaho Mission. He is a super awesome missionary. We were in a large apartment complex that is gated and super nice, so we weren't able to knock random doors, but, as we were walking away this Elder got prompted to challenge Elder Evanson to knock on this random door that was half the way open. Well we did and the lady was pretty nice and come to find out her and her husband are less actives and they know a lot of this Elder’s family back in Utah! It was nuts!

5/17 Wednesday
Today was an exchange with Elder Couch! It was a blast! It was fun to be reunited after all this time! We have changed and grown so much over the last 10 months. We still like fishing and hunting haha. We taught this guy that used to be taught a while ago but was never baptized. He struggles with a few of the commandments. We testified of the blessings and importance of keeping the commandments of God. We almost set him with a date but he isn't quite ready unfortunately. Thankfully, Elder Couch and I have gotten a little better at teaching since the MTC!

5/18 Thursday
Powerful day! We taught Joseph and Janice tonight. Joseph is a return missionary from Chicago. He was an AP for a long time in his mission. He hasn't gone to church for several years. He married Janice a few months ago and she is not a member. We taught about the Book of Mormon and at the end Joseph asked Janice to pray. She said that she wouldn’t and then after a little more encouragement she said she would do it if we each took a turn. Joseph prayed for the first time in their marriage and during her prayer she started crying as she asked if the Book of Mormon was true. It was so awesome!

5/19 Friday
I was on exchanges with Elder Paige today. We found a super cool guy named Martell. He felt the spirit and wants to continue being taught. It was in the toughest area in the mission, so it was super good to have the Lord bless us with a man in our path!

5/20 Saturday
Today, I was on exchanges with Elder Van Vleet! He is a super good missionary! He serves in the Franco's old ward and so it was fun to meet some of the Franco's friends at a luau! (Note:  The Franco’s are Aunt Maria and Uncle Daryll. Pictures are thanks to the friends via Aunt Maria.)

Elder Van Vleet and Elder Call

Friends of Aunt Maria and Uncle Daryll & Elder Call

5/21 Sunday
Brandi, Zion, and Salah came to church!!!!!  It was way sweet! (Note: Some Primary children made a sign for Elder Evanson and Elder Call.  A member sent the picture.)

Pueblo Ward Primary Class

Lots of love,
- Elder Call NLVWM

Best Referral!

Dear Family & Friends:

5/8 Monday

What a day... we got a lot done today and even got to play basketball for a short while! We met with a member family tonight and it went well.... sort of. This family has five real young kids that are super smart but full of energy. We asked them what blessings had come to their family thanks to the Gospel and while the dad was talking their son says "Boys aren't supposed to marry boys."  Wow, it was something else. Also, after we asked who they knew that could use the gospel their oldest daughter (8) blurted "Satan does."  That was the best referral I have ever gotten. Haha Satan most definitely needs the gospel in his life. I love the little story thing that talks about how we need to be the type of person that when we wake up and when we walk out the door Satan just cringes because he knows we will be doing all we can to fight against him and bringing others unto Christ!

Dream Come True!

Almost forgot to mention that while shopping today I found Lofthouse sugar cookies for 50 cents. If you know anything about me and Lofthouse cookies, you would be proud to know I only purchased two boxes. This was also funny, I got a haircut from a lady in my last ward today and when we walked into the salon Sister Walker was there getting her hair done! It was so crazy that we were there when she was there!

5/9 Tuesday
Zone Conference is this week and the first one was today. Today was the Rock Mountain and Las Vegas Zones. The conference went super well! Elder Evanson and I had it super easy. We only had to give one training on being happy.... haha it was way fun!  We had Sister Walker film everyone singing "If Your Happy." I think missionaries were a little surprised because our training wasn't a normal AP training but they loved it!  We also got to watch a video that was put together of a bunch of the baptisms in the mission! We taught Brenda and Tracy tonight and Brenda is doing super, super well! She has been reading and things have started to look up for her! She told us that she is happy again! I know that God does answer prays and he keeps promises! Brenda had been reading every day and she knows it is because of that that she has been able to overcome her challenges!!

Matching suits.

5/10 Wednesday
Another full day of zone conference! We had a couple lessons tonight and those went well! We are teaching an 11 and 13-year-old that are straight energy. It is super hard to keep them on track. Their mom is a convert and doesn't really want them to be baptized because she doesn't think they know enough but missionaries have taught them a lot. We are trying to get the mom on board so it will take some work.

5/12 Friday
It is good to have zone conference all done and be back to proselyting. We had to meet with President today and it is crazy the amount of things that change.

5/13 Saturday
We went on exchanges today! It was great. I was with Elder Rasband from Alpine, Utah. He has been out a transfer longer then me and he is such a great missionary. We were in their area and we did a lot of finding! We talked to some super nice people! There was one group of people that were outside with a basket of laundry that had white stuff all over their clothes they told us that they had left a little pack of tissues in their pockets. It made a mess. Haha reminds me of the gum in pocket days!

5/14 Sunday Happy Mother’s Day!
Church was great and got to see the family, so that was great. Just want to say I have the best mom. Love her to death!

The work is going well! There is another family that I didn't mention in the call--a lady and her sons that we are starting to teach this week. We have taught them once and they want to know more. They have a crazy story, the mom is scarred all over because her and her husband got caught in a house fire, her husband didn't make it out and now she is really having a hard time with all of the struggles that she has had. The amazing thing is that you the Gospel can help her so much. The knowledge of Christ's Atonement and the ability to repent and make and keep covenants with God can change anyone's life!

Love,
- Elder Call NLVWM

Editors Note:  On Sunday, during the Mother's Day phone call, Ben was asked what his favorite thing to teach/testify about was and his answer was “Testifying on the power of the Book of Mormon and how it changes a person’s life for the better and brings the person closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”

100% Honest

Dear Family & Friends:

Did you see the temperature??! (pic from May 8, 2017)

4/30 Sunday
They came to church and loved it! We are teaching them on Saturday!! We had a couple other investigators show up as well! Things are picking up the n the wards!  Before church today we had some time so we thought we would go into a classroom to prep for the MLC (Mission Leaders Conference) meeting this week. As we were kneeling and in mid prayer a primary class came barging in and it surprised them but not only them... we hurried and got up and headed on our way so they could have their room. The teacher loved it though, and said "well class that is some 'real time' missionary work there." We found a different class and continued our preparation haha!

5/1 Monday
I am going to be 100% honest here... I am going to start by going back to my very first week in the mission. The first week on the mission was probably one of the longest weeks of my life or so I thought at the time. I remember every morning hearing the alarm after a long night of listening to snoring and just cringing because the days felt so long. I remember clearly waking up Monday morning after a whole week in the field and staring at the ceiling and thinking that I was so worn out I didn't want to move, but in my last moment of despair, I remembered that Monday was p-day and I was going to have a break. I thought to myself "I don't care what anyone says miracles still happen."  I thanked Him that morning in prayer for His kindness in letting it be p-day haha.  After that, the weeks have just flown by and I have loved every minute. What I am trying to get at is this week was another one of those "first" weeks haha. I am glad it is p-day!

5/2 Tuesday
Went to Elder Knowles district meeting and Elder Chadwick was there! It is so weird to be around someone that you have known for so long! We talked about goals. I love the quote in Preach My Gospel (PMG) “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” –Elder M. Russell Ballard.  It is so true even on a daily/weekly basis on the mission!

Star Valley Elders: Call & Chadwick

We had a few lessons tonight that went well. We also did some prep for our first real training we will do together for the MLC group. We are excited about it. We saw Brian and Tracy for a few minutes tonight and we could see such a difference with them! The first time we met them they were very standoffish but as they have felt of the spirit they have completely changed! It is exciting to see.

5/3 Wednesday
Haha what a day! Today was MLC. It didn't go quite as well as we were hoping. There was a miscommunication and President thought we hadn't prepared anything for the second training we were supposed to do and so he pretty much scrambled and did his own thing which he is super good at doing! It all worked out but we definitely were a little stressed about it. One of investigators that has been progressing super well has hit rock bottom... we were supposed to meet with her and her friend tonight but only her friend showed up. Her friend told us that she is not the same right now. She had some stuff go down with the mortgage company and she hasn't slept in a long time and was super depressed and it was just some crazy stuff! We don't know what to do besides just pray that she can do what's right. It was a crazy day!

5/4 Thursday
We saw Brenda today-the one that has been struggling- she was doing a little better today. She told us she isn't as happy as she used to be and we were prompted to promise her if she read the scriptures daily and she was praying she would be happy! She is a great lady! We met a man in the ward that is from Belgium, he has quite the conversion story. For years he was a tour guide and he would take groups from Europe and he would travel the USA and so had to study a lot about each place they went and one stop was in Utah. He said that he would always tell his group that there were three things Utah was founded on Mormons, Mormons, and Mormons. People would ask questions so he would research about the Mormons so he could answer the questions. He noticed something so different about Mormon people it intrigued him a lot. He moved to America walked into a Mormon church and told the missionaries he wanted to be baptized. He said that the missionaries were like, "uhhhhhhhh well uhhh I think we could help you with that" They were pretty shocked then, 35 days after moving to the states he was baptized.

5/5 Friday
We went on exchanges today! I was with Elder Woffinden in his area. Every lesson that we were supposed to have fell through but we were able to have a great day! We scared a lady super bad. We were at a door and we pressed the doorbell and it must not have worked because a lady came cruising out of the house and then seeing us when she opened the door she nearly fell to the floor.  We felt super bad.  Scaring people isn’t a great door approach. Haha

5/6 Saturday
We taught Josh and Amanda and they loved it. They won't be coming to church tomorrow because they don't want to straight up abandoned the church they are attending now. They read a lot and ask great questions. Amanda is getting her doctorate degree in child psychology and he is a financial advisor! They are great!

5/7 Sunday
Church was great! Two teenagers that we have been working with came to church today and we taught them tonight. It was great.

Love,
- Elder Call NLVWM

Busy Week

Dear Family & Friends:

Elder Evanson and Elder Call at Las Vegas Temple

There is so much to do and so little time to do it!  I am very busy all the time and we usually don't have time to eat! I lost 10 lbs in like 3 days! It is great though and I love being able to work side by side with President Walker!  He is such a great guy!  He and Sister Walker remind me of Mom and Dad so much it isn't even funny!  I love Elder Evanson!  He is a great missionary!  We are all about working as much as possible in our area so we only go to the office like once a week! We have a lot of training's to do and meetings!  I have never been so tired in my life, but all is well and I am happy and loving life!

4/25 Tuesday 

Spending today with the new missionaries! It all started off by receiving a call from President and being told we needed to be ready in ten minutes so we could take a missionary to the airport. We got ready as fast as we could and headed off. I didn't know it was possible to shave so fast haha. At the airport we needed to drop this missionary off quickly so we could be there when the new ones arrived. We ended up at the wrong terminal and barely sent him off before the new missionaries arrived! Seven missionaries came in and they all are great missionaries! We are excited for them! We went to a ward party that supposedly was canceled. No one told us so we kept driving around this massive park looking for a group of Mormons but didn't see any and so we called a member of the ward and he said it was canceled because of wind.... there was no wind. 

4/26 Wednesday

 We had a powerful lesson with Brenda and Tracy tonight about the Plan of Salvation. Tracy's daughter passed away a couple years ago and she has been the guide to bring them to the church! During the lesson, Brenda said that she keeps getting the chills and things were making sense! It was great! They are on track to get baptized on the 13th! We also taught a man and his girlfriend and that was a little awkward haha but what can you do! We will be meeting with them on Friday! 

4/27 Thursday 

Today we went to the temple! Our ride over to the temple was a really nice mustang and so that was a good time! The temple was great and very uplifting! It was nice to be able to take a breath from all the craziness this week! We had a couple lessons tonight and one of them was with a lady named Jenny. Jenny is an older lady that is anti "religion" but loves the gospel of Jesus Christ. She has been taught that it wasn't the church that was restored is was the gospel. She has a baptismal date for the 20th and we are really trying to get her to come to Sacrament meeting this week! 

4/28 Friday 

Today was another busy day. We started off in a meeting with President so we could plan out the upcoming MLC (mission leader conference) and zone conferences. After that we had a meeting with all the new missionaries and their trainers that went well. We had to go to the office and and do a bunch of stuff this afternoon.  Afterwards we went and taught a lady (Brandi) and her two sons named Zion, and Salah. They are a great family! The mom used to be a minister with her husband but he passed away so she doesn't do that anymore. 

4/29 Saturday 

We went on a four hour exchange with some missionaries that are struggling a little bit. I thought it went really well and I tried my best to build this missionary up as much as I could! We are praying for him and hoping the best. We had a lesson with a man named Pat this morning. He is a deep thinker and questions everything and so that was fun! Today we got a text from some potential investigators that said they were coming to church! Miracles happen daily! 

4/30 Sunday 

They came to church and loved it! We are teaching them on Saturday!! We had a couple other investigators show up as well! Things are picking up in the wards! 

Love you all have a great week! 

- Elder Call  NLVWM