Splitting the Ward...and My Pants

There are many things that are great. For instance, the Great Wall of China, the Great Barrier Reef, the Great Lakes, the Great White Shark, and Great Value brand stuff at Walmart to only name a few. And much like all of these things, this past week was very great.

The week began with Zone Conference on Tuesday. Last Zone Conference supposedly was President and Sister Robinson's last Zone Conference, however, the one we just had on Tuesday actually was his last one. The previous one was where we were broken into smaller groups and were able to talk more one on one with President and Sister Robinson. And this one on Tuesday was a big conference of all the missionaries in the Valley. It was really cool. It's also really sad to see President and Sister Robinson leave next week. 

Then the rest of the week was pretty much normal after that. 

Thursday was particularly crazy busy and awesome. We just had a lot of people we were able to visit, and the people we tried to contact actually were home and we were able to talk to them! 

Things have been going well with the Ward being split with the Sisters as well. We're figuring out how to coordinate and balance things better. So that's good. 

This is just a good ward. There are such great people here. 

Also, as the title of this email implies, I split a pair of pants. Luckily it was while in the apartment and not while in public. But yeah so after this, the cactus incident, and another incident involving bleach, I am now down to only 3 pairs of slacks.

Also, Elder Salter is great. As I mentioned last email, he is from Canada. He says "eh" every once and a while so that's really awesome.  He's also just a great missionary and we have been working super well together. It's been a fun couple of weeks. 

Oh yeah so we are pretty much foreign language missionaries also. In one of our visits, it was with a guy named Reza, and he speaks English well, but his first language is Persian, and he was like "I really want to read the Book of Mormon, but I prefer to read in Persian because it's easier. I know you probably don't have anything for that though." And we were like actually we do, give us a week. And so we obtained a Persian Book of Mormon today, and we'll be able to give him that which is cool. 

Then with Omar, his first language is Spanish, and our first visit with him he expressed that he struggled to read in English, and I just so happened to have a copy of El Libro de Mormon in my bag that I could give him. And since then, in almost every visit with him when we read from the Book of Mormon, we read in Spanish. So that has been really cool. 

Speaking of Reza though, sorry I'm all over the place today, when we we visited with him, after the prayer was said to close the lesson, he says, "Wow, I feel really good, I'm not superstitious or anything, I just feel like I was hit with something, I feel very good." It was pretty amazing. 

I know that God knows us and hears our prayers. And I know that we can feel His Spirit testifying to us of Him and of our Savior. I know They live. The wonderful feelings we have when we come to Church and read the scriptures and pray, are powerful feelings that come from God. He blesses us with those experiences that strengthen our testimonies and help us learn for ourselves the love that He and His Son have for us. In our last visit with Omar, he was talking about how good he feels when he reads the Book of Mormon and when he prays and when he hears the speakers at Church. And in his awesome accent he said, referring to the Gospel, "I see it, I feel it, I love it. And I'm not gonna give up." There is so much wisdom there because we can have the spiritual experiences and the testimony strengthening things, but if we give up and don't do anything with what we've been given, then it will "be taken away even that which [we] hath." We have to keep doing the little things in our lives to continually deepen our conversion to Jesus Christ. And when we do that, when we "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ," then no matter what, everything will be okay, and we will see so many blessings in our lives.

Have a great week! Til I write again,

~Elder Oswald

Nightmare on Elm Drive

Well, judging by the emails in my inbox and the food in our refrigerator, it's P-day once again.

This week was a good one. My new companion, Elder Salter, is great. He's from Canada. So that's really cool. It's been a fun couple of days with him. It's gonna be a good 6 weeks. 

In other news, my glasses broke the other day. We were playing indoor soccer during exercise time, and I scored several goals but that's unrelated. At one point though another Elder was trying to get the ball from me and I guess his shoulder went into my face and it broke my glasses. It's inspired me to write a poem though. So I hope you enjoy. I've titled it "My Glasses."

Oh how much I loved my glasses

Though they broke playing soccer, I still made some great passes

Not tape, not glue, not even molasses 

Could fix my poor little pair of glasses

It's still a work in progress. Obviously it's not ready to publish yet, but it'll get there. 

Anyway, it's been interesting adjusting to now only covering half the Ward and to sharing the Ward with Sister missionaries. 

We also did a ton of service this week as well, which was a lot of fun. We helped an organization that provides food for those in need, provide food for those in need. We also raked up some weeds another day. And another day we helped some people get rid of some junk. That pretty much consisted of going through junk, and finding out which junk the lady wanted to keep and which junk she actually wanted to recognize as junk and throw away. This is actually the third time we've helped her with this. There is just so much stuff in that yard it's unbelievable. It was a nightmare you might say. She also lives on Elm Drive. Hence the title of this email. 

We've also been trying really hard to stop and talk with everyone we can. We've also been trying to contact a lot of people we have in our records. 

We had many teaching visits scheduled this week, and we had many teaching visits cancel this week as well. So that's always too bad.

The highlight though was definitely when we taught Omar on Friday. After making and eating fry bread, we had a really great conversation/lesson with him. We talked about his baptism and he's still committed and really looking forward to it. He also really loves the idea of working towards baptism alongside his daughter Lousiabella, who's also being baptized the same day. It's just super awesome. 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is just so wonderful. I've seen many times on my mission and many times in my own life how following the Savior and His teachings, brings joy and peace into our lives. It's the joy and peace that we have made possible because of Him. We just need to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and those blessings will flood into our lives. We don't need to be perfect, we aren't going to be perfect, living the Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't require perfection. Because if we understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ we understand that central to it is the Savior and His Atonement, which makes possible forgiveness. That if we constantly do our very best, despite our shortcomings, if we humbly seek the Savior we can have the strength to change and do better. That's what repentance is. It's a part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it's something we do every single day as we try to do better and be better a little bit at a time. 

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I love my Savior. I know He loves me and He loves each one of us.  

Well, we have come again to the end of yet another email, and the beginning of yet another week. Let us make it a good one. 

Til next week,

~Elder Oswald

P.S. Pictures

1. An artsy photo of a hummingbird 

2. Elder Salter looking cool next to an old VW bug

3. Me trying really hard to look cool next to an old VW bug

4. The frog/toad that peed on me

5. I was going to attach one of us on our bikes except upon further examination I realized that I look disappointingly like a 7 year old learning how to ride a two-weel bike for the first time, so I'll hold off on that one. 

Miracles on 74th St. (and the Surrounding Area)

WHAT A WEEK!!!

Sorry I just had to get that out. There are so many things, and the only possible way I can think to organize this email is to do a "Top Ten Highlight Reel of the Week." So enjoy.

⚡🏆Top Ten Highlight Reel of the Week🏆⚡

1) Exchanges on Tuesday

As I explained last week, as a District Leader, I go on exchanges with Elders in my District and the Zone Leaders go on exchanges with District leaders in their Zone. So on Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Lott, one of my Zone Leaders. We had such a great day. And I learned a new thing that I am beginning to use. It happened when knocking on someone's door and she was very polite and she said she was Christian but not interested in hearing our message, but Elder Lott just goes, "well would it be alright if we read a quick scripture with you before we go?" And he shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon and we had a nice conversation about God and Jesus where we could share our beliefs with each other and it was just really a positive and uplifting conversation. It was really cool. 

2) Latoya Jones!!!

So Wednesday was another fantastic day! I went on exchanges with Elder Larsen that day. So we did back to back exchanges those days which was super crazy busy. But it was so good. Elder Larsen is super funny, we had such a fun day. Interestingly enough Elder Larsen had a personal goal of using the Book of Mormon more when teaching, and I had recently been thinking a lot about that as well so we made it a goal for the day to use the Book of Mormon every time we had a teaching opportunity. So to kick off the day, we were biking to an appointment but we had some time, and we saw a lady sitting at a bus stop with her head down. I thought she might be asleep so I didnt want to wake her up, but as we began to pass her, her head shot up and I slammed on my brakes. So we talked to her, and she was super nice and is very Christian and she had a lot of interest in talking to us. And her name is Latoya Jones. I just really like that name. And then remembering our goal I asked if we could share a scripture with her, and she said she would love that, and we asked what she knew about the Book of Mormon and she said she didn't know much but that she believes it's good because she knows it's about God and Jesus Christ. And all of a sudden I realized I didn't know what to share with her, but then right before I went to open the Book of Mormon the scripture Helaman 5:12 popped into my head, which says, 

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

So I read that and shared my thoughts and feelings about it, and Latoya just started crying and said that recently she had been through a lot of trials like losing her home and some other very difficult things, but she said that she started praying more again and reading the Bible more, and that her faith has helped her through those trials and so she knows how true the scripture is. And she said that she felt like that scripture was meant for her. It was really powerful. And it was another thing that added to my testimony and my knowledge that the Book of Mormon is God's word, and that it's a gift from God to bless our lives and help us come closer to Him and to Jesus Christ. 

3) Another Miracle

So flash back to a few weeks ago, the day that the whole cactus incident happened. I mentioned that we successfully contacted a family we had been trying to contact for a while. Well after that happened, they became hard to contact again. She's very bad at answering texts, and we just couldn't find her home. Well this particular family was originally being taught by Elder Larsen a couple of months ago, but they moved into our area. And so Elder Larsen really wanted to be able to teach them again. So had planned to go by and we were hoping to find them home so that we could maybe actually teach them something, which is something Elder Bess and I hadn't been able to do. So we prepared some stuff we wanted to share, we were so hopeful they'd be home. And we were just praying that we'd actually catch them at a good time. And there was a part of me that was worried because based on the recent past, it almost didn't seem possible, which was a doubtful and negative way to think about it, and so I tried to silence those thoughts by continuing to pray that we could teach them. And so we went over to their home, knocked on the door, and the mom answered the door and immediately invited us in because her whole family was home and it was a good time. It was so amazing! God really does answer our prayers. Sometimes it isn't always the way we think or want, because God has a plan, but sometimes our prayers are answered the way we hope. Again, not from anything of our doing, but because God knows what's best and sometimes He blesses us with miracles. Miracles do happen. And in this particular case, it was a miracle and a blessing that we were able to teach that family, and specifically for Elder Larsen that he could teach that family again. 

4) Lessons on lessons on lessons

So on Thursday alone we had a ton of teaching visits or "lessons" if you want to use the slang termuntil. I was back with Elder Bess again, it was weird not being with him for two days. But it was just awesome teaching so much. We were so busy. It was wonderful. Our teaching skills improved a lot just in one day just because we got to keep doing it over and over and evaluating over and over to find ways to improve. It was a lot of fun. I love teaching about Jesus Christ and His Gospel and I love the scriptures. They're so good. 

5) Omar!

I told a little bit about Omar and his family last week. He is just doing great though. We met with him on Monday night and also on Saturday night. Also, his family is out of town and he came to Church yesterday BY HIMSELF and he was ON TIME. He's really awesome.

6) I turned 19 and a half

That one's not actually that important, I'm just running out of things to go on the top ten list.

7) TRANSFERS!!!!!!

So this is where things got crazy. Much to our surprise, we learned that one of us would be leaving and going to Mesa. Of course to make things unnecessarily suspenseful they wouldn't tell us who until the next day. It was just sad though because things were just going so well, and Elder Bess and I were just loving life, and then Transfers had to come along to bum us out. We're thinking positively now though. As we realized, it is just prideful and selfish to think it's unfair that one of us had to leave because transfers always ends up being for the best. We did find out the final news though. Elder Bess is leaving me and Elder Salter will be joining me as my new companion. I am no longer the District Leader either, that will be Elder Salter. He seems cool. He's been out for about 4 and a half months, so less than me. And that's all I know about him. It'll be good though.

In other transfer news though, we learned that we will be sharing the Ward with Sister missionaries again. And that's all I'll say about that because I just said some profound things about not being selfish and prideful and I don't want to contradict myself. 

8) Elder Larsen and I found a lizard while doing service and so I've attached a picture

Yep.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the

⚡🏆Top Eight Highlight Reel of the Week🏆⚡

Tune in next time for more exciting updates!

Have a great week!

~Elder Oswald

P.S. Pictures:

       1. The promised picture of Elder Larsen and I and a Lizard.

       2. Turns out that's the only picture I have from the week

Happiness Can Last Forever, But Bread Apparently Can't

Well, once again we find ourselves on a Monday. Whoever you are, whether you are a family member, a friend, and I guess that's it just family members and friends, but whichever of the two categories you fall under, it doesn't matter, because you all have something in common: you're about to read the most recent update in the life of Elder Oswald. And so from the screen of my electronic device to yours, here is yet another email. Enjoy.

T'was a good week we had. Full of teaching people, and talking to people, and burritos, and a digestive system that reacted poorly to the burritos and other such adventures. 

Also, the other day I got out my bread to make a sandwich to find that my bread was exceedingly moldy. I've attached a picture for your enjoyment. 

So I'm short on time today, but I did want to share a recent experience. So one night we had an hour left in the night. We were trying to decide whether to try and find a couple new people we could start teaching by contacting a family who seemed to really be interested or to try contacting a member who we've been trying for weeks to find home and who hasn't been to Church in a long time, whose name is Rolland. We had first decided to just try visiting the member since it'd been so long since we've visited with him, and we sort of doubted he'd be home anyway since he hasn't been home all of the other times we've tried. Which was wrong of us to do. But we soon changed our minds however and decided to try the family first, thinking that the worst that happens is that the family doesn't answer and then we could go try Rolland. So that was the new plan, but then sort of to my surprise Elder Bess asked which we should do first. I was just feeling super indecisive, because we'd been back and forth about it already and in my mind I was sort of thinking it didn't matter because if the one didn't answer then we could just try the other person, and if one did answer then we'd just visit with them and we would try the other person another time, and so I didn't see why to try and switch up our plan. And this all happened in my brain in like an instant, and when he asked me I was about to say the family, sticking to our plan, but then the members name, Rolland, came to my mind seemingly like that was the conclusion I came to. But it was different than just me having my own indecisive thoughts like before. Because I somehow felt confident enough in that decision to say it, and I hardly ever am that confident in decisions like that because I tend to just way over think things. But we went to Rolland. And he was home. And we were able to have a nice visit with him. He's an amazing guy and has had incredible experiences and seemed to benefit from the visit. Immediately I realized that it wasn't a coincidence that I had the last second thought to go to Rolland rather than the family. The way it worked out was just so perfect. But it was a while later, a couple days later actually, that I realized a seemingly small detail. That Rolland's fiance was there, and that she was just about to leave for work when we got there. But she joined in the conversation for the first part and we got to know her and stuff and she also has had amazing experiences. But right before she left she requested a spiritual/uplifting message. So we did our best and we had a nice short discussion about it and she left for work. And I didn't think much of it until much later, like I said. And what I realized is that it did actually matter which order we tried visiting people that night. Because if we had tried the family first, sure we would've been able to still visit Rolland, but his fiance would have already left for work. And we never know what people are going through. But the fact that she requested an uplifting message makes it seem that it was something she at the very least wanted, if not something that she needed to hear. I wish I could adequately describe to you my feelings. We plan for all sorts of things as missionaries, and as human beings as well. But things don't always go as planned. And that is because we don't always know everything, and the Lord does, and sometimes He puts us in the paths of people we can help. There was no possible way for us to know that Rolland would be home that night, that his fiance would be as well, that at 8:14 pm she would be about to leave for work, but that there was something she needed to hear. We were one indecisive, second guessed, moment away from going to the family first. Which would've been great I'm sure, again, even if they didn't answer we would've made it to Rolland in time to visit him. But we would've missed his fiance. So I don't believe that was a coincidence. I absolutely do not. 

I can't express this any more than I have. So I just will leave my personal testimony and witness that the little things in our lives matter. And they matter because there is a God who knows us and loves us and cares about the details of our lives. He knows what we need and will put people into our paths that will help us with what we need, whether that be comfort, peace, or love, all things that have been made available to us by Jesus Christ. We've been blessed with families, and with joy and happiness in our lives. And we've been blessed by our Savior who makes it possible for that happiness to last forever. It's true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, it's been restored to the earth with all of its original clarity, authority, and power found in Christ's original Church, and when we live this Gospel, the way Jesus wants us to live, we will draw nearer to God and to Jesus Christ, and we can access that peace, comfort, joy, and love, and all other blessings that our Savior makes possible for us. I know that God is our Heavenly Father and that He knows us and He knows what we need and He has a plan for us. I know that. I know that Jesus Christ is His Son, that He lives, and that He is our Savior. And I know, and I promise, that as we have and exercise faith in Him, we will come to know Him. And I leave this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Til next time.

~Elder Oswald