A Tiring Amount of Service

November 18, 2019

Well everyone, here we are again. I hope the last 7 days have treated you well, as they have me.

We did a whole bunch of service this week, which was great. Tuesday we helped someone with wood. Wednesday we helped someone else with wood. Thursday we raked someone's leaves. Friday we raked someone else's leaves. And Saturday we helped someone load stuff, such as broken down 4 wheelers and lawn mowers and dirt bikes and car parts and other miscellaneous junk into a trailer, which we then unloaded after it was moved to its destination. That service also included moving several stacks of tires from one area of a dirt lot to another. And the only sensible way to do that is by rolling them one by one of course. So that was a fun time. It was pretty tiring though. Luckily we were wearing appropriate attire for the job. 

Other than that we were able to visit with lots of people, both members of the Church and people who aren't members of the Church alike. We talked to someone out in Concho, who told us that she has a grandson who is not a member of the Church and who potentially had some interest in learning about the Gospel. And his name is Joel, not to be confused with Joel's dad who is also named Joel, but who also goes by Tim. Well so we talked to Joel (grandson Joel not Tim Joel) and he said he would be interested in us teaching him. So that'll be cool.

I really just love all the opportunities there are to teach about Jesus Christ and bear testimony of Him. Sometimes I look back on my day and realize that I have missed some opportunities to share what I know, and I feel bad about that. But something I've learned is seriously that no one is perfect. And the Savior wants us to follow Him and be His disciple and to participate in His work, which means more than just serving a full time mission. And He doesn't expect that we will be perfect as we strive to do that, or as we strive to live any aspect of the Gospel. That's why the Savior came to earth in the first place. Because we aren't perfect and without Him we never would be, and since no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God, we would all be hopelessly doomed to be cut off from God's presence forever. But because Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and weaknesses, we can overcome those things and become clean and we ultimately will be able to return to God's presence. So when we feel like we're trying our best but we keep falling short, and we feel like we keep falling back into old fears and weaknesses, we can take those things to the Savior and He can make our weak things strong. He wants us to follow Him and live His Gospel and He wants us to be a part of His work, and it is possible for us to do that even when we might feel incapable. In the Book of Mormon there's a story of a person named Nephi, who was asked by the Lord to go and get this record of scripture. He couldn't see at that moment why it was so important and the impact it would have on so many of God's children down the road, but Nephi knew it was important that he followed this command. So he and his brothers had tried twice to obtain that record, the second time they returned unsuccessfully their lives were put into serious danger, and there was no foreseeable way they could be successful if they tried again. So they had every reason to be afraid and to give up. They had already shown a lot of faith just by trying a second time, and so it is no wonder that at this point two of the brothers had decided they had trusted the Lord enough but that now they wanted to not go and get themselves killed by trying a third time. Nephi however, had the faith beyond what his brothers had, and beyond what most people have. It wasn't conditional upon what circumstances would come up, how dangerous it got, or how reasonably afraid he was. His faith was centered on Jesus Christ and he knew "that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7) So Nephi went and did what the Lord commanded him to do, even though he had those fears and he couldn't do it on his own. He had the faith to go and do even though he didn't know how it would be done. This story just stood out to me recently, even though I've heard it many times before, and I had a personal experience of how true that principle is. I know that following the Savior is not an easy road. I know that we have things in our lives that are difficult. But I know that the struggles we have, all of which are different from everyone else's, we have them so that we can be humble and so we can recognize the need we have for a Redeemer. And I know that Jesus Christ has experienced every one of the struggles we have, for each one of us personally. And because of that we can come unto Him with those struggles, and if we have the faith to follow Him despite the struggles that keep us from where we want to be, He will strengthen us and give us peace and give us the assurance that He will provide a way to accomplish the thing He has commanded us to do, that we could never do on our own. 

I just want you to know that this is something I've learned to be true. I love my Savior and His Gospel. I know that our Father in Heaven has a plan for us to be happy both in this life and in the life after. And I'm so grateful for all of this.

And that is my email for the week. 

See you laters alligators,

~Elder Oswald

A (Not So) Historically Short Email

November 11,2019

Well my friends, I'm about to make history. 

This will be the shortest email you've ever seen written by Elder Oswald.

I'll start by saying it was a great week as always. We served people. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people. We got free food from people. The usual. 

Something really cool from the last couple months, is that there is this lady we stop by every once and a while just to see how she's doing and to see what we can do to help her out. And it has been really amazing because literally every time we stop by, she's doing something she needs our help with, and we show up just in time. We've got there while she's unloading groceries from her car a couple times, when she needs things moved from one place to another, and just the other day we stopped by while she was planting tulips and another flower I can't remember. So we were able to help her dig some holes to plant the flowers. 

It's just so awesome how we always show up at the perfect moment. And she has said so herself how she is so grateful that we always come right when she needs our help. And it's just so amazing to me. The Lord really is mindful of every one of His children. And He blesses us, many times through other people. He can make us instruments in His hands to touch other people's lives. He will place us in the paths of those who need help. And He can inspire us with what to say and do to help His children. And I just love that so much. I know that it isn't an accident or a coincidence that we think to stop by that lady's house when we do. And neither is it a coincidence any of the other times we cross paths with people and have opportunities to share God's love with them and be a light in people's lives. I've seen it so many times where I have met people, it doesn't matter who they are, what religion they belong to, or anything like that, where they have made a positive impact in my life. It's no coincidence that there are so many good things that come into our lives. 

"And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is." (Moroni 10:6, the Book of Mormon)

I know that all of the good things, the things that make us happy, the things that brighten our day, all of the people we meet and the families and friendships and relationships we get to have with others in our lives, all of these we have for a reason and a purpose. God has blessed us with these things so that we can be happy, and so that we can learn to acknowledge His hand in our lives.

Well, we've come to the end of yet another email. And it turns out it wasn't as short as I thought it would be. Anyhow, tune in next week for more exciting adventures.

~Elder Oswald 

Round Valley Zone 

Got to reconnect with my first companion in the field, Elder Bess.

Lyman Lake

A Spooktacular Week

November 4, 2019

Yes, I did just say the most basic, overused Halloween pun in existence. Am I ashamed? Yes. But is it a fitting title? Sure.

For those of you who don't know, Halloween fell on the 31st this year, and so we had that this past week. It was a ton of fun. You see, almost every day of the year, missionaries around the world enjoy stopping by people's houses unannounced. However, there is one day of the year where the roles are reversed. On this day, normal every day people enjoy stopping by peoples houses unannounced, and the missionaries are asked to stay inside for the night because of safety reasons.

It was a fun day though. We had Zone Conference in the morning and afternoon, which was really good. And then we got back into town in time to go to Dollar General and drop $20 on snacks, before stopping by a Halloween party, before heading home for our fun evening indoors. 

Now for a couple spooky stories for this Halloween season:

Spooky Story #1:

The other night we decided to stop by someone's house. It was dark, and as we approached the house we saw lights on in the car, and we could see that they were in the car talking. So we did the sensible thing and walked up to the window and looked inside. They were deep in conversation and didn't notice the two dark figures standing out in the dark. And we didn't think to knock on the door, so Elder Fonnesbeck shined his flashlight in there, which got their attention. And to our surprise they started screaming! Then they realized it was the missionaries and they started laughing. But it was hilarious. Because we had no intention at all to scare them. But yeah we spooked 'em good.

 

Spooky Story #2:

It was a cold Halloween evening. The sun was just beginning to set on the lonely town of St. Johns. And as I said earlier we had stopped by Dollar General. Well when we were there someone stopped me and asked "Are you an actual missionary or are you a kid dressed up as one for Halloween?" It didn't have anything to do with anyone scaring anyone, but I will be haunted by this for the rest of my life so I'd say that that's a pretty spooky story.

Besides those terrifying events from the week, the rest of our week was really good too. 

We went out and found a whole bunch of houses we never knew existed. We saw Tyler again. We taught a kid named D.J. who wants to be baptized. We helped with wood. We helped move large rocks from someone's yard. And we did a lot of other things too. 

Another really cool thing from the week was talking to an older couple named the Summers, who have been learning about the Church for a little bit now. What was cool was how the husband was talking about coming to Sacrament meetings, which is the main meeting we have at church, and how every time he goes, he has a powerful experience of some kind where something is said or there's a line in a hymn, that's exactly what he needs to hear. And what I really got out of that is how every time we go to Church we have the opportunity to have amazing experiences that will help build our faith in Jesus Christ, and the Summers are a great example of being open to those experiences. Because as much as I wish that I could say I've had amazing powerful experiences at church every single time I've gone, that just wouldn't be true. And I think in those cases it had a lot to do with just me, not having my mind open to the experiences God had to give me. Because He always answers our prayers and He always is reaching out to us. But sometimes we just don't see it. And I know that attending Sacrament meeting is an amazing blessing in our lives if we open our minds to the experiences God has for us. Part of that is that we're able to gather together and learn from each other and help each other as we all work to grow our faith in Christ. And another part of that is that there is real power in being a part of the Sacrament ordinance, which is entirely here to help us grow closer to our Savior and strengthen our faith in Him, and to renew our commitment to follow Him, and to feel God's Spirit more abundantly in our lives. And that is something I know is real and is true and I am so grateful for it. 

Til next week everyone,

~Elder Oswald

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...

October 28, 2019

We actually were back at the ranch!

You see, on Saturday we continued the project that we started a week previous, of helping someone put up barbed wire fence around their ranch. This took place in Concho, the land of dirt roads and pig riding, and the people we were with were mostly all a bunch of wise and experienced ranchers. And I learned so much. I never knew how much went into barbed wire fencing. You have to have corner posts, and you have to have smaller posts everywhere in between, and you have to string the barbed wire all the way down one side, and you have to tie the wire to each post, and you have to do that one strand at a time, for each strand in the fence, and you have to do all of that for each side of the fence too. Also, I learned that lunch is a very important part of a day at the ranch. One of the guys foolishly suggested that we eat in shifts, to which another guy said "No, when it's time for grub, we all eat together." And that's what we did.

Meanwhile, back at St. Johns, the missionary work is going really well. In addition to fence putting up, we did a lot of other service this week, everywhere from volunteering at the food bank, to hauling wood, to moving furniture, to helping build a house. 

Teaching has been going well also. I've talked about Ladonna before, she's doing really well and will be being baptized at the end of November. 

Tyler is also doing great still and he wants to be baptized so bad but he's still just waiting on that one thing. But he's awesome. He just has such a good positive attitude about it all. Fun fact, Tyler went to a high school rivaling the high school that LeBron James went to, at the same time as each other, and they actually played against each other in high school basketball. And I played against Tyler this week. Which means that I played basketball against someone who played basketball against LeBron James.

Something else exciting from the week is that there is a lady named Malena who has also been waiting on one thing before she could get baptized, and now that one thing is happening and she's getting baptized in November! She's been learning the Gospel and coming to church for like 5 years now, and she knows it all so well. So it's really exciting for her because she's been wanting to be baptized for a while now.

It's always just amazing to see the Lord's work happening around us. I see it all the time, but whenever miracles and things come out of nowhere like in Malena's example, and in the case of anyone who finds themselves ready to come closer to Jesus Christ and follow Him and be baptized, it's just another reminder of how it all is the Lord's work. And all the blessings and miracles and everything comes from Him. And it's just a joy to be a part of it all and to be made an instrument in the Lord's hands. 

I know that my testimony of Jesus Christ has grown and my knowledge and understanding of His Gospel has grown as well, as a direct result of the experiences He has blessed me with and the people I've been able to meet. I know that Jesus Christ does live and His Gospel is true. And this truth blesses our lives so much more than we can imagine, and it allows us to find all the purpose and meaning and happiness in life that we could ever search for.

Well, that's what I've got for you today. I wish you all the best.

Til next email,


~Elder Oswald

An Arizona Elder

Of Pigs, Prayer, and Pitbulls

October 21, 2019

There you were, casually checking your email. When all of a sudden, the page refreshed and you see a new email, a moderately clever title, and it misleadingly says it's from someone named Amy. "Could it be?" You ask.

It could. And it be. 

Your weekly email is here.

It was a great week here in St. Johns. 

I rode a 1200 pound pig named Wilbur this week. I just wanted to say that right off the bat cause that was awesome. I'll send a picture, even though it doesn't do it justice.

Let's see what else is new. We also had a shotgun pulled on us this week. That was exciting. We were trying to find someone and that happened. So you can bet we booked it out of that drive way as fast as we could, after completing a 3 point turn of course. 

And I think that's all I have for random stuff from the week. 

Now, sit back and relax, because I have a story.

So when I was on exchanges with Elder Wilhelmsen a couple weeks ago we were trying to track down a referral for someone we could teach. It began a couple nights earlier with a member telling them that they knew someone who knew someone who wanted to be taught. We didn't know the person's name though. So we first went to that first member and figured out the name of the person they knew. Her name is Debra. So we went and found Debra who is also a member. And sure enough, Debra had a friend who she said has a lot of interest in the Church. And her name is Carol. Unfortunately Debra didn't know Carol's address, so she gave us some directions with some landmarks that would help us locate her house. Except for they were the most unhelpful directions ever. She said "Go out this exit here, then go straight until you come to a street on the right, and you'll take that first right and then it's the second or third house on the left." She then told us that we couldn't miss it because it has a white pickup in front, some dark colored cars, and a "mother of pearl" colored car whatever that means. She said it also has a fence with pit bulls inside, and that "they look mean but they're actually really friendly." 

So we set off on our bikes, since we were riding bikes that day, and we followed the directions perfectly. The only problem was that there was only one house on the left and it didn't fit all the other landmarks aside from the white pickup. We reasoned however that over half the landmarks were relative since cars move and we don't know what mother of pearl means. So we tried a couple different houses around that we thought possibly could be it. They weren't. It just turns out that everyone in St. Johns owns a white pickup. So after a little bit more biking around and looking around, we decided to go back to the first member and see if they knew where Carol lived because we didn't want to tell Debra that her directions didn't make sense. So we went back, and they told us that they know Carol, but they don't know where she lives. So they called Debra and said that the missionaries couldn't find Carol and they asked for better directions. So finally we had some new directions. And we realized that apparently by "take the first right" Debra actually meant "take the second right." Silly us for not figuring that out. The new directions were pretty much the same except they included some other helpful hints such as "it's near the burnt out trailer" which didn't exist and "past where the old barn used to be" nevermind that we don't know where the old barn used to be since it isn't there now. 

Finally, after following the new directions, we came to a house that we thought must be it. The white pickup wasn't there, but there was a car of indeterminate color which I now have to assume is "mother of pearl," and there were also three mean looking pit bulls. But we now faced a new dilemma: The one and only door to the house was inside the fence in which the bloodthirsty pit bulls roamed. As scary as they looked though, I trusted Debra's assurance that they are in reality friendly. So with a stupid amount of courage, I approached the gate. One of the pitbulls approached the gate as well, barking angrily in defense. And I then began reaching to open the gate, the gate that would release those bloodthirsty monsters, when I thought to stick my hand in first to see if the pitbull would sniff it and become friendly. So I did that. And as soon as I did so the pitbull lept up with its terrifying teeth bared in an attempt to eat my hand. Luckily, gratefully, thankfully, I pulled my hand back in time to not lose it forever to that terrifying beast. 

At that point we decided to not open the gate. 

As we were walking away a guy came out of the house telling us not to mess with the dogs because they're dangerous. We also recognized him as the guy who works at Subway who I used to think was cool. We asked him if Carol lived there and he was like "She's not home" and paused before saying "she actually lives down the street" completely contradicting himself. 

So then we went across the street to some members to see if they knew their neighbors. And sure enough, Carol lives in that house with the pitbulls and so now we know for sure that that guy was lying through his deceitful little Subway worker teeth.

Those members also informed us that we should not under any circumstances open the gate with the pitbulls and that we should just knock on the side of the house if we really needed to because those dogs "will literally tear you apart and eat you." 

So I was glad to hear that after having been a split second away from opening that gate and bravely waltzing in to meet my complete and utter death. 

The day ended only 30 minutes later when after a tragic decision to run home real quick so Elder Wilhelmsen could properly get rid of a tiny yet destructive hang nail, the derailer on his bike broke off and went through his spokes causing him to be thrown off his bike as we were going super fast down a hill. He's okay but we were in the rest of the night due to his injuries. 

And that is the story. 

And now here I am, writing this email with both of my hands. 

It is about time for me to scedaddle, but I wanted to quickly share a little something about prayer because I was thinking about that. 

There's a scripture which says:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5)

I've learned a lot about prayer recently. And there's so much to say but not enough time to say it all. So I just want to say that I know that God is our Father, and that He really does love us. And He does hear and answer our prayers. I have learned that these things are true as I have prayed about them to really seek that "wisdom" for myself. We can't do that without faith however. The scripture continues:

"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

I know that as we pray with faith and with "real intent" like the Book of Mormon talks about, we will find answers to our prayers. Sometimes the answers are more spectacular than others. But when we have faith in Christ our minds can be opened to all the miracles and answers to prayers that we might not otherwise realize. And as we keep that pattern of prayer going every day, we will continue to have experiences and miracles that will strengthen our faith more than we can imagine. I know that God has things for us to learn and experiences for us to have if only we just ask. And those things will bless our lives so much.

Til next week,

~Elder Oswald

P.S. - I just want you to think about this again: 

I ALMOST LOST MY HAND!!!!! Literally centimeters away from having it eaten off by a ferocious dog.

Okay I'm done. 

P.S.S. -Pictures

1. Wilbur the 1200 pound pig 

2. Taming Wilbur

3. Some dang good Root Beer

4. What do you do when a little girl invites you to her birthday party? You show up at her party!

How Much Wood Would an Elder Chuck if an Elder Could Chuck Wood?

October 14, 2019

An Elder would chuck all the wood he could chuck, if an Elder could chuck wood. 

Now, I don't know the exact definition of the word "chuck" that the original tongue twister originally intended, but in this case I mean "chuck" as in "throw with vigor." 

And I have learned that we definitely can chuck wood. I'll attach a picture to prove it. 

Here in St. Johns, firewood is a necessary part of staying warm in the winter for most people. And a necessary part of obtaining firewood, is cutting down trees. So we went with someone this week to help them with that. We aren't allowed to use chainsaws though and so we didn't help with the actual cutting down trees part. But we did help with lifting and loading and stacking and of course, chucking wood. 

That day was crazy though, because it was cold. In Arizona. So cold that I had to wear a jacket. In fact when we woke up it was 18 degrees. 

I certainly am not in the valley anymore, that's for sure. 

Anyhow, it has been a great week. Transfers is also tomorrow. And our transfer news is:

We're all staying! No changes in St. Johns. 

Now, I have an exciting and humorous story to share with you all. 

Just kidding. I have sadly run out of time, and so I will keep you in suspense until next week. 

I have to go but I just want to say before I do so, that I have learned more than ever how we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, and that we have a Savior who has made it possible for us to find strength over our weaknesses and find peace and lasting happiness in our lives. I've had answers to prayers and amazing experiences throughout my mission, but most recently this last week. I know Christ's Gospel is true and we will find so many blessings as we strive every day to live it. 

I hope you guys have another great week!

~Elder Oswald 

P.S. - Pictures 

1. Wood being chucked