Attending the Columbian River Temple

 I absolutely love going to the temple and feeling the Spirit that's there. It's such an amazing testimony builder for me of this church. I've also noticed the profound effect that attending the temple has on the work. After leaving the temple, all I could think about was how much I wanted our investigators to have this knowledge as well. Having that perspective is so nice to have and really gives me the motivation I need to keep working hard.

try out an ol' childhood favorite for lunch

A week of miracles!

I've had a pretty amazing week this week. I'm pretty sure I say that every week. But it's true! Every single week just seems to get better and better. The work may not get any easier, but it sure does get better.

Last Wednesday was our temple trip day! It was so great! Since out area is the farthest north, it also takes us the longest to go down the Kennewick, so it was a VERY long drive. But definitely worth it! I absolutely love going to to the temple and feeling the Spirit that's there. It's such an amazing testimony builder for me of this church. I've also noticed the profound effect that attending the temple has on the work. After leaving the temple, all I could think about was how much I wanted our investigators to have this knowledge as well. Having that perspective is so nice to have and really gives me the motivation I need to keep working hard.

It's been getting easier and easier taking over the area now. At times it's still pretty tough, but I'm definitely learning! Thankfully Elder Helzer and I are getting along very well so that makes it a lot easier.

We had a very unexpected church attendance yesterday! One of our investigators, Dustin, told us that he was going to be out of town this weekend and he wouldn't be able to attend church. So we didn't even talk about him in Ward Council at all! But about a half hour before church started we decided to call him up anyway. Turns out he got back from out of town the night before and he said that he would love to come to church! Thankfully we were able to find a member to pick him up and everything. It was very unexpected, but it was so great to have him there. He really enjoyed it too. After each block though he asked if he could run out for a smoke, haha I kind of just avoided the question and told him, "Hurry! Lets go to the next meeting!" Haha Dustin is a super great guy, keep him in your prayers!

Another miracle we experienced this week is that we were able to get six new investigators. I'm especially excited for Jared and Candy. For a pretty long time they have just been potentials but last night we were finally able to get in with them and teach. We had such an amazing lesson with them and we found out that Jared's mom and brother have been baptized into the church. He's been very receptive to the message so far. Another new investigator is Maria. She also came to church yesterday but we didn't even know her then. She is 13 years old and she was tagging along with this other family. After she had gone to young women's we had gotten a call from the young women's adviser telling us that she had wanted to join the church! Considering she's 13, it's difficult to tell how serious she is. But she's a very sweet girl and we have an appointment with her this Wednesday at a members house for dinner, so we're hoping it goes well!

Elder Helzer is still helping me a ton with learning Spanish. It's still very tough though not being immersed in it, so it makes it very hard to retain everthing--but I'm getting better!

We have a dinner appointment tonight with a part member family and the one who's not a member is very solid. So we're really hoping to get him on date for baptism tonight. Please pray that we will be able to do so!

I love you all so very much! I love being a missionary and I know that this church is true,

Elder Scott

 

Sharing the Book of Mormon with the world

At the Canadian Border

Valentine's Day

 Hello there everyone!

Man well it's been an interesting week! It's been really great though. Really looking forward to this next one. 

Well I had to say good bye to Elder Pullman. After being together for three transfers it all came to an end. It was very bitter sweet saying good bye, he was a great trainer and I'm going to miss him! My new companions name is Elder Helzer, se's from New York City. He's been out for about 18 months and he's super great, his last few areas have been completely, 100% Spanish. So he's literally fluent in Spanish. And I've been learning tons from him! Even though there's barely any Spanish work here in Omak, he's been helping me a lot with the language. A lot of the time when it's just us two we'll speak Spanish to each other, at first I hated it. But now I'm really appreciating him and helping me learn this language. I'm still pretty awful at it haha, but I know that it will come around! 

It hasn't been nearly as hard taking over the area as I thought it would be. Since we're in such a huge area there's pretty much always something we can be doing. We're always able to keep busy and I'm very grateful for that! In fact it's been pretty fun taking over the area. My confidence in being a missionary is growing a lot. 

I had a great Valentines Day. I didn't even realize it was Valentine's Day until we walked into our Zone Meeting and it was written on the board. Haha I guess it goes to show it's kind of a lame holiday. But I had a great day! 

We had Adolfo come to church again yesterday. I can't really remember what I've mentioned about him. But we've been meeting with him ever since I got here, and it seems that within these last few weeks he's really been making a lot of progress. The only big problem with him is that he's been drinking and smoking for over 50 years. He wants to quit. But it's going to be hard. We're going to do everything we can to help him though. Please include him in your prayers. 

We had another amazing lesson with Gena and Chris. We talked more about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how they can come to know that it's true. The Spirit was very very strong with them and we even committed them to coming to church. Unfortunately they didn't make it and we're not really sure what's up with them. We have another appointment with them this week. So PLEASE keep them in your prayers as well! 

We've been meeting with a recent convert who moved here from Wanatchee a few months ago. Yesterday he introduced us to his girlfriend who was interested in learning more. We had a super good talk with her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon, and she even accepted baptism. The only thing is that she's living up in British Colombia right now, so she's in another ward boundary--so we can't really teach her anymore! But the thing is, it doesn't really matter because as long as she eventually does accept the gospel, it doesn't really matter who gets to teach her. So I'm so happy for her! 

It's been crazy warm here. Midday it's usually in the 50's. I love it! 

I'm so very grateful for this gospel. This week I've really learned to rely on prayer to help me. Prayer is something I've been doing all my life but now I've learned to rely on and now I wouldn't be able to live without it. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers. 

I love this church, I know it's true. And I love to be a missionary!

Love you all!

Elder Scott

The Children of the Lamanites

Hello everyone!!! 

Once again, it's been a roller-coaster of a week! Lots a crazy things happened. But all in all it was a great week. 

Well, first things first. We got our transfer calls last Saturday... (Drum roll please)... And I'm staying in Omak! And Elder Pullman is being transferred to Moses Lake, it's about two hours south of where we are, so it's actually not too far away. It's pretty crazy that it actually is happening. We've been together for as long as I've been in the field! So it will be pretty sad to see him off. But it will definitely give me the opportunity to grow and learn. Overall I'm pretty excited! As far as my new companion goes, no other missionary has ever heard of him before, so I literally have no idea what to expect. I'll be sure to tell you ALL about him next week. 

We had a pretty cool experience with one of our investigators this week. We've really been wanting to get some fellowship for Gena and Chris. We thought about it for a pretty long time and we both decided that this one family in the ward, the Berthelson's, would be perfect! We had an appointment with Gena and Chris for them to meet the family. Brother and Sister Berthelson came and they also brought their son, Triston, along. When we knocked on their door Gena answered and she wasn't looking too well, she told us that they would have to reschedule because she was pretty sick. But then all of a sudden Chris came up to the door to see who was there, and the second he saw Triston, he freaked out! Turns out they are best friends at school and they hang out all the time. I thought that that was so amazing that the Spirit prompted us to choose the right family to meet our investigators. I'm so excited to continue teaching them, they're such an amazing family and the gospel is going to bless their lives so much. 

Yesterday we had an amazing turn out at church--too bad we weren't there to see it! Haha since we cover two wards we have to switch back an forth between which one we'll go to on Sunday. This week we went to the Oroville Ward because we got a commitment from our investigator, Erik, that he would be there--and he was! He had a really good time too. But then later on in the day we heard that another one of our investigators came to the Omak Ward, and he didn't even commit to come that week! And there were TONS of less actives who normally never show up. Somehow the word got out that the missionaries weren't going to be there so they decided to come! 

We got some disappointing new from one of our most solid investigator, Karen. Her granddaughter, Abby, called us one day and told us that Karen is going to Arizona, so we wouldn't be able to come over that night. Then I asked, "Oh, well, how long is she going to be gone?" Expecting only a few days or a week, but then she said, "She'll be gone for a few months." My heart kind of sank. She was doing so well and she was on date for baptism--she loves the gospel! I guess her conversion will just take a little more time. 

Lately we've been having tons of success while finding on the Indian Reservation. Most people are just drunk and mean and think they're superior to all these ignorant Americans. But then we'll run into these people who are so incredibly and nice and humble. And they are very prepared to hear the gospel. One of our new investigators this week is one of these people. His name is Avery and he was very excited to hear about the Book of Mormon. He called the Lamanites his ancestors haha. I'm vert excited to teach him.    

It's been CRAZY warm this week. And I love it. There was a point where it almost got up to 50 degrees. It's also been raining a lot, which I also love!   

Thank you for all of your love and support. It's going to be a pretty nerve racking week with taking over the area and getting a new companion. I appreciate all the prayers I can get! 

I love this gospel and I love this church, and I LOVE to be a missionary!

Elder Scott 

My birthday was great!

Hello there family!!

Great week this week! Just when I think that the work can't get any better--it does! A lot of very amazing things happened that I was so very grateful for. 

My birthday was great! I was really happy that this year it landed on a Sunday, because I absolutely love Sundays as a missionary! Since it was the Superbowl yesterday we had permission to do our weekly planning session on Sunday instead of Friday because it would be pretty much impossible to get in with anyone on Superbowl Sunday... So we mostly visited by a few less actives and other members then went back to the apartment! So it was a pretty nice birthday. And thank you so much for all of your birthday wishes:)

Anther thing that made yesterday so great was our testimony meeting during church. Haha it seemed like all of my favorite people in the ward bore their testimonies. It was a very powerful meeting. And something that I love about this ward (maybe it's just a Utah thing), the members don't go up to the pulpit and tell these long stories. Everyone keeps it very simple and sticks with bearing their testimony of this gospel. This ward has set a goal this year for every member to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. Most of the testimonies were centered around that. About how much strength they have received from reading in the Book of Mormon. In turn, it strengthened my testimony so much. The Spirit was so incredibly strong. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it's the word of God. I've been able to receive so much comfort and peace from reading its pages. And I'm so grateful for the chance that I have to share that with others. 

We had an amazing lesson with our investigator Erik. Last week he was able to finish the entire Book of Mormon (he started about a month ago). We asked him what he thought of it and how it made him feel. We also asked him if he knows it's true. It took him a while to answer, but when he did, he looked both of us in the eye and said, "Yeah, I think it's true." After he said that I just couldn't stop smiling and neither could he. We read with him 3 Nephi 11. As we read with him he told that that same feeling came back to him. That feeling of comfort, peace and joy. Elder Pullman and I are both so excited for Erik. We still have a few barriers with him that we will need to hurdle, but he'll make it there eventually. 

Last Saturday one of the family's daughter in the ward was baptized. We thought that it would be good for our investigator, Martin, to see a baptism and to feel that Spirit. So we invited him to it and he came! He even took his son, Lofa, along. Afterward when we asked him what he thought he told us that when the little girl went under the water he could feel something warm and peaceful inside. Hopefully we can start getting him progressing again. 

We had two new investigators this week. One of them is Gena, she is the mother of one of our other investigators, Chris. Gena is a single parent and only lives with her son. They just barely moved into an apartment here not too long ago. They are such a sweet family and when we were able to teach the Restoration to them the Spirit was very strong and they were very receptive to it.  Our other new investigator is Dustin. We met him on the indian reservation. Very young, energetic, super nice guy. He was very excited to see us when we knocked on his door. So we'll see where it goes!   

We could tell by the solemnity of Omak that the Seahawks lost... Oh well...

We went on exchanges again this week! And I was able to take over the area again! Thankfully things ran MUCH smoother than they did last time. I made sure to have plenty of gas in the tank;) 

I'm grateful for this chance that I have to be a missionary. To be able to bear my testimony of this restored gospel and about the Book of Mormon. I know that it is true, and I know that this is the Lord's work. Boy do I love being a missionary!

Love you all!

Elder Scott