Springtime is Jesus Time

Hello Family!

Another crazy week. It seems like it hasn't slowed down a bit since I've been here. But it's been really great too. The weather is getting very nice. I actually don't have to wear a sweater everyday now! I love the spring time! With Easter and General Conference coming up. In the words of Sister Ware: "Spring time is Jesus time!"

We're meeting with a bunch of amazing people in this area. And we were able to have some amazing lessons this week with a few of our investigators. We were able to meet with Jason almost everyday this week which was really cool. He was having some really bad emotional problems that we were able to help him out with. He's still struggling with the word of wisdom, but he's been reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and he's been praying. And he even came to church! He did tell us something yesterday though that wasn't too fun to hear. He's moving out of our area into a different ward! So we'll have to pass him off. So it's been pretty crazy with teaching Jason. And before we knew that he had LOTS of trouble with the law, so bad, in fact that he won't even be able to be baptized soon. I'm still praying for him though that he will continue to make those good changes in his life. 

We've also been meeting with this guy named John. He is 77 years old. I've never taught anyone on my mission as old as he is. He's lived a pretty crazy, reckless life though. So it's pretty hard for him to accept change. But he wants to be baptized and be a better person. We had a little fiasco with him this last week. We found out he was in the hospital! So we visited him in the hospital and he had pneumonia. But he is fine now and back at his house. He doesn't take is health very seriously. We keep joking with him that he needs to get baptized before he dies!     

We also had our first zone meeting of the transfer this last week. It was SUPER awesome. We talked all about more effective ways of working with members. I was able to learn so many wonderful things through the Spirit about member missionary work. I'm so excited to be able to work with the members here and help them to do their missionary work. And something very valuable that I was able to learn is that even after my mission and I have to take off the name tag, I can still be a missionary. I still have the same purpose and have the same commitment to invite others to come unto Christ. It's just that after my mission I will have to do that in different ways. Knowing that is so comforting. That member missionary work is what this church is all about.

Next Sunday the church is releasing their Easter initiative video. It is the best video that the church has put out in a long time. And what a great missionary opportunity for us all to share this video with everyone. I'll be sure to tell you more about it next week! 

And my scripture for this week is Mosiah 5:2

"And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually."

Thanks for all that all of you do for this great work. I know that this is the Lord's work and that this gospel is true. 

I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Scott 

El Pasco

Hello Family!

This new area is really great. It's required a lot of adjusting. But overall it's a really great area. It's so weird being moved around so much. The last four transfers I've been in four different areas. But in each one of those areas I've seen so many miracles. So I know that it's where the Lord needs me. 

So I'm here in the Pasco 2nd ward in the Pasco Stake. And this stake is BOOMING with missionary work. So that's really great to be apart of. And, I've always been hearing about Pasco and how there's a TON of Spanish people--and there are! They actually have a Spanish Ward, not just a branch. So it's really weird serving in one of the English wards but I still have many opportunities to us my Spanish throughout the day. 

I'm still getting used to this whole zone leader thing. It seems like ever since I got here it's just been non-stop craziness with meetings, trainings, and SO much planning. But it's just another thing to get used to. But it's been a lot of fun too. Throughout my mission I've been able to receive so much joy out of serving other missionaries. Almost as much joy as serving investigators. And so I'm very grateful to be able to have this opportunity to serve other missionaries and help them so that they may help their investigators. 

My new companion is Elder Cordon. He's from upstate New York. And I'm going to kill him. Well, from off the mission. This is his very last transfer of his mission. I've never killed a missionary off before so it should be pretty interesting. Thankfully he's not too trunky. He's super great. I've been learning so much from him. Because he's not only the oldest in mission age I've had for a companion, but also the oldest in life! He's 27 years old. So I feel like a child when I'm with him. But like I said, I've been learning so much from his example and we get along great.  

This area is very special. It seems like every day we're able to meet these amazing people who are being prepared to accept the gospel. One in particular, his name is Jason. He recently just got out of jail and he's looking to change is life for the better. He has a pretty big smoking problem that we've been helping him out with. And this last weekend there were several baptisms in the zone so we were able to have him attend one. And he loved it! He really felt the Spirit and I'm really looking forward to continue to teach him. 

Here's my sctripture for rthis week: D&C 50:24

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."

I love how much I've learned on my mission. And everything has been little by little, precept on precept. And at times it's hard because you feel like you're not growing because the progression is so gradual. But when you look back and realize how far you've come, you realize that you are progressing. And I look forward to continue to learn and progress throughout my mission and for the rest of my life. I know that his gospel is true and I know that I wouldn't be the person I am today without Jesus Christ and His gospel. 

I love you all! And have a great week!
Elder Scott

 

Baptism

Humberto y Martha

Another insane week. This has probably been one of the fastest weeks in the mission. Every single day just flew by. But it was a really great week. 

And probably what made it so great was that Humberto and Martha got baptized last Saturday! It was a really amazing baptismal service. And it's also what made this week stinkin' stressful. Usually it's the members responsibility to organize the baptismal service and everything. But earlier in the week we found out that that would not be the case. So we pretty much had to organize everything ourselves and make sure everything ran smoothly. So that was very stressful because most of our efforts this week were to make sure that the baptism was going to happen. But it all happened and it was great. They were also confirmed at the service too because we had stake conference this last weekend. The Spirit was very strong. Especially when Humberto and Martha bore their testimonies about why they made the decision to be baptized and how they felt. They are both such humble people and it was an amazing privilege to be able to teach them. Another really cool thing that happened was right after the baptism was over, Humberto walked up to the branch president and handed him a tithing slip. They really are so converted to this gospel and they've been able to undergo such an amazing change. And now, the branch president is working with them to get them to the temple. There's a branch temple trip this Saturday to do baptisms for the dead and we're working towards getting them recommends so they can attend.

So last was a very joyful day. There really is no feeling like it when you see someone, being so humble, enter the waters of baptism and making that covenant. Then after the baptism Humberto and Martha invited us over for dinner! So it was a really amazing day all around. 

We're now hoping to be able to start teaching the rest of their family. They have two sons who live with them but they aren't very interested--at all. But their daughter who's a bit older told us that she would like to start meeting with us. So we have an appointment tomorrow to meet with them and their daughter.  

Some more crazy news. Transfers are this Wednesday. And I'm being transferred. Again. I really can't believe it! I hat having to say goodbye to areas. I love this area so much and we were able to see so many amazing miracles. Elder Schaefermeyer will be staying though. So I'm going to Pasco, so I'm not moving very far. But what really crazy is that I've been assigned to be a Zone Leader in an all English area. I've never been in an all English area before so it will be pretty different but I know that it's what the Lord needs of me. 

Here's my scripture for this week: Alma 29:1 

"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!"

Thanks for all that you do for this great work and for all of your love, prayers and support! I love you all and have a great week!

Elder Scott 

Prayer. Answered.

Hello Family and Loved ones!

Another week full of miracles and the Lord placing people in our path and softening the hearts of those who we teach. I'm pretty exhausted though. It seems like everyday when we got home I was just dead. All apart of being a missionary! I love it! 

Well first off with Humberto and Martha. A LOT has happened this week with them. At first, it was just Humberto who was on date for baptism and was progressing. But at the beginning of the week when we saw them, we were following up again on baptism and seeing how they felt about it. And then out of the blue Martha told us, "well, I've been thinking a lot about this church. I've searched around a lot in this area and none of the other churches are like this one. So, I'm pretty sure I want to be baptized." 

Prayer. Answered. 

We were very happy at that moment. We've been praying a lot for this family. Especially that Martha's heart would be softened so that they could be baptized together. So now they are both preparing for this Saturday to be baptized! We're very excited for them. In another lesson we had with them we asked Martha more about how she was feeling and she was telling us about the moment when she decided to she need to be baptized. It was after she had attended church last Sunday she had had a dream where Elder Schaefermeyer and I came and knocked on her door and began teaching her. The feeling she had during that dream lingered as she woke up late in the night and at that moment she knew she needed to be baptized.

Last week we were also able to set up a dinner/lesson at their fellowshippers home. It was a great lesson and everything went perfectly. Everyone please keep Humberto and Martha in your prayers that they will be ready for their baptism for this Saturday!

We had a regional conference yesterday that was super great. It was broadcast in from Salt Lake and Elder Renlund spoke. Really amazing talk and Humberto and Martha really enjoyed it too. 

Here's a scripture I read this morning in my personal study that I've never noticed this week but hit me very hard: Mosiah 4:26

"And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants."

I love King Benjamin's message so much about how if we want to be healed on the inside and be made whole, we need to forget of ourselves and render service unto others. Because that's when we truly become the Lord's tools and be able to teach others' lives. 

Thanks for all that you do for this great work! I love you all! And have a fantastic week! 

Elder Scott 

Living Water, Bread of Life

Well if you remember me saying last week was pretty rough and it seemed like no one was home and we didn't find a whole lot of new people. This week was pretty much the opposite. It seemed like everyone was home and we were able to see a bunch of miracles and find some amazing people! The Lord truly blessed us this week!

I turned out to have a really awesome birthday. We ended up going to IHOP for lunch and as we were eating, some members came in and sat right next to us. They ended up paying for our meal and having the everyone else in the restaurant sing happy birthday to me. Haha it was kind of embarrassing but it was fun.

We were able to see Humberto and Marta almost every single day this last week. His baptismal date for the 20th is coming up fast. But they're both doing really great though. At first Marta wasn't really all that interested. But now she's progressing a lot they BOTH came to church yesterday. We're planning to have a lesson at their fellow-shippers home this week and we're just so excited for both of them. We're really praying that we will be able to set a baptismal date for Marta soon. And she also said that she may have some trouble  giving coffee. So please keep her in your prayers!

We also had another one of our investigators come to church, Noe. He's a part-member family we've been meeting with for a while and he expectedly came to church! Which is super awesome because he's working swing shift right now so he doesn't get home until very late at night, but he still came. And we have an appointment with him and his family tonight that I'm really excited for.   

We were able to see a miracle yesterday at church during sacrament meeting. We had branch conference and the place was packed. I've haven't seen that many people there before, so that was really cool to see. So when Elder Schaefermeyer and I were preparing the sacrament, we usually have two trays with each tray partially filled and a couple slices of bread. We noticed yesterday how many people there were so we put a few extra cups and another piece of bread to make sure there would be enough. As we were sitting at the table waiting to bless the sacrament, the people just kept coming in. And we realized, there was no way that there was going to be enough for everyone. So I just started praying that there would be enough. And if we would have to bless some more water, it wouldn't be a big deal, but I kept praying. As the two young men started to pass the sacrament, I noticed after the first two rows of people, the water appeared to be almost gone. I was thinking that we probably needed double the amount of what we had. But then something interesting happened, the young men kept passing the trays and people kept taking of the water. Once everyone had partaken, the two young men came back to the table and between the two of them there were five cups left. Just enough for the two young men, Elder Schaefermeyer, me, and one left over. I couldn't believe it.

As I looked at that one lone cup sitting in the tray, I thought of the Savior's miracle of feeding the five thousand. Once everyone was fed, there were still 12 whole baskets left over of bread. And during our sacrament meeting, there was still one cup leftover, even after everyone was fed. The miracle that happened yesterday in sacrament is no where near to what the Savior did. But it was a small tender mercy from the Lord. It also helped me to realize how essential and important it is to take the sacrament. I love that sacred time each week to remember Christ and His Atonement. Because he truly is the living water and the bread of life.      

Here's my scripture for this week, I can't remember if I've picked this one before, but it's a good one: 1 Nephi 3:7

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know 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."

I love this great work. There's always ups and downs and always good times and hard times. But when you see those small miracles and tender mercies it's just enough to keep you going.

Love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Scott

Happy Birthday to ME!