Monday, August 29, 2016

Mission XP - 29 August 2016

Goooood Morrrning

So to start off this week's letter, my companion Elder Costa is from Brazil! He has been in America for three of the five months he has been serving. He only started learning English 8 weeks ago and is doing pretty darn good. I have witnessed him give a blessing in perfect English and many other thing that testify to me how much he follows the spirit. I love my companion. He is inspiring and I have such a love for him and a desire for him to stay diligent and keep this passion and love he has for those around him. He has so much I know he wishes he could say to people and I want to help him, as best I can, express it better through words.

Monday was good...but very boring. We didn't do much. Ok I take that back we played ping pong and I have gotten good at that. Haha, it seems I also do horrible at the being of playing something but I gradually get better and better the more we play even in just one sitting. So my
companion saw how bad I was and he said in his broken English, "Elder do you want to play for real and if I win you give me something Batman" he smiled huge, then I said, "wait what do I get if I win?" He replied with a shrug. I laughed, "how about whoever wins gives the other person something Batman..." "Ok" he said. So we played to 15. Thank goodness I learned the rules to ping pong from the Hermansens! I won. He smiled and said "2 out of 3"..."ok" I won again by a little more (and keep in mind he is actually good, I think he made the deal cause he saw he was better than me and it would be an easy acquire of something Batman...but come on! I'm playing for something Batman no XD it's on) he told me, "Elder I do not get it...you are good now..why?"
It was so funny. So we ended up playing best out of five and in the end I won 3 and he won 2 but I'm not going to make him get me something Batman I was just playing for fun. We also had a lesson with Laina!

Tuesday was district meeting day...yay...~sarcasm~ <-- that, by the way, is not the culture in Brazil I guess. Elder Costa had to get used to that in America haha. He has been learning a lot from me. We had another lesson with Laina!

Wednesday was District Leader Training and it was good but I have a very strange mind that I'm trying to figure out why and what I've been learning is I am motivated to do something. I have plans. But if I get trained on doing something a similar way I was going to do it, I get less motivated to do it because I feel like the only reason I would do it is because I was told. So the meeting wasn't as uplifting for me but then I snapped back into a good missionary and focused again. I am learning more and more about me. But I feel I'm handling things a little better now. For sure I'm more organized as a district leader. My first week was chaotic. So many new things and people I have to remember. Who is serving in what areas. Who is on date to be baptized. Who is solid and projected. How I can motivate my distict and always give advice...let me tell you I don't think I have ever been good at comforting someone. I usually am the one who gets awkwardly quite and prays that the silence somehow helps the other person 😶 I'm learning how to do it now though hats for sure. Anyway this week I got my white board. I got my dry erase marker. And boy I was on that board with details. We got to teach an awesome man who is trying to come back to church again. He is living with his sister who...isn't anti but isn't not anti...I talked to him about President Uchtdorf's talk on a shower of heavenly blessings. It came to my mind after he said something specific. It was a great experience.

Thursday we did...actually I thing District Leader Training was today? I can't remember but I know that we went out with Ward Mission Leaders again and we weren't abe to talk to anyone until the very end. We got into his car and saw sombody walking up the street and I asked him if he knew them and he said he wasn't sure but he might. So we got out and talked to them it. It ended up being less actives and they let us in and we talked for a bit then shared a message. We got home around 9:15 and my split felt bad because we made my companion and his split wait but I told him don't worry about it this is the Lord's work and this was His appointment they will understand. And understood they did! But it was a cool miracle.

Friday...let's not talk about the long day that Friday was.

Saturday we were able to witness Laina Turnbull get baptized today!!! She was beeming! It was a wonderful experience for her and her family who are inactive. That's right. She is 10 and her parents are inactive but she had such a desire to get baptized she has been comming to church
on her own, reading, praying, she is just so amazing and such an example for her family. She will lead them back to the blessings that come from obeying Heavenly Father.

Sunday we went to Laina's confirmation. I spoke in that ward...my thanks goes out to the Bishop that gave me 17 hours heads up lol but it was still good. We should always have the gospel on the tip of our toungue. Then we went to Stake Conference. Then we used the rest of normal church time to try and find a new investigator.

My studies were very good this week. I found President Gordan B. Hinckley's book, "Stand a Little Taller". We used to read that everyday. And I love the quote at the very front, "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day"...simple but powerful as it taught me of the importance and eternal principle of repentance in another way. Our physical body will die. It will degrade. However it will be ressurected no matter what with the gift that will be given to all mankind. But our spirits will not have a resurrection, rather we are strengthening them as we access the Atonement not just when we make a huge mistake, not just when we take
the sacrament, but as we truly learn to access the Atonement daily and allow it to change us. This principle is as eternal as God's plan for families. At least, this is what I understand from what I've been feeling more as I've prayed.

I love you all.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Mission XP - 15 August 2016

Two weeks ago the awesome miracle that happened was that a ward mission leader and I went out on Wednesday. While we were out we stopped by a house of a lady who often took kids in under her wing who
had been rejected by society or who didn't have a home. She had helped over 8. Well, we were stopping by for a young man about 23 years old. I didn't know him at all but the ward mission leader did. We talked, we taught, it was a great lesson anyway, but the miracle was at the end. We offered to say a closing prayer before we left and the lady asked the ward mission leader to say it. During the prayer he paused slightly then blessed the home that it would be a place where the spirit could dwell and that it could be a place of healing. When he finished he looked up and said that that had never happened to him before. He explained that he had felt prompted two times while praying to dedicate the home but he didn't know if he could during a normal prayer then finally he was prompted a again to do it and so he did. The lady and the 23 year old both felt the spirit because they told us that they had been talking about getting the house blessed but they didn't know how or who to do it. The lady specifically said she wanted it to be a place of healing which are the exact words the ward mission leader used. I know heavenly father loves us. He does have a plan for each of us. He needs each of us to constantly be listening for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. More often than not I've found those promptings (whether or not we understand what we are being asked to do) will lead us to those in need in some way.

This week has also been good. Its been slow but we have seen miracles!

Monday we had a white elephant gift exchange. I almost got some early glasses but alas they were stolen from me :( also please forgive me for using narly I...I don't know what came over me

Tuesday was funn! We did a missionary mutual night with one of our Ward's and the Spanish Sisters were there too and we did this q&a type of deal. The sisters had to leave earlier so we were trying to let them answer as much as they could they answered awesomely and we taught from preach my gospel great. Alot of our answers came from that and personal experiences.

Wednesday and Thursday were both kinda long.

Friday we had lunch with the blocks again! And we broke into the churches with the sisters help...the have keys...for some reason we don't 🙄

Saturday we went to the Stake Center and the Sisters were there singing so we left. We tried to contact all day but it was slow. But we did have a last minute lesson with Kayla and Nick!

Sunday is pretty much were all out lessons and our investigator came from. So Sunday was a very busy day. So many lessons. This next week looks awesome though.

Today. This evening is booked with lessons and we will be meeting with two potentual investigators!

I love you allll so much have an awesome week I know I will🙃

Elder Kremer
(\(^~^)/)

Mission XP - 1 August 2016 (week of 28th Anniversary)

Good morning my friends!
   This week was awesome! It normally is.

Monday we had p-day. We played risk until two elders quit. Haha in their defence they were the only two who hadn't played before and they kinda didn't defend two well XD once they quit we didn't really have a game anymore so the whole zone played a couple games together. It was real fun. We were playing "I love my missionaries" it's a game were we all sit in chairs and someone stands in the middle. They say "I love my
missionaries" and if what they say next applies to you, you have to sit in a chair that's not near you then whoevers left standing does it again. It's fun. Oh and it was Sister King's birthday and Elder Jiminez's birthdays this week so an Elder got them a cake and then someone said for each of them to take a bite out of their's. I guess this is Spanish tradition because Elder Jiminez's head bobbed to the cake and away so fast you almost missed it but Sister King (called Spanish assignment) didn't know so she went I. For a bite...lol...and her companion pushed her face in the cake 😂 then we taught a recent convert.

Tuesday we went on exchanges after district meeting. I went with Elder Jiminez into his area. We were trying to find Spanish in one of the previous Stakes I served in but no sucess. I only knew English so we didn't stop by people I knew. We had three lessons and one was in complete Spanish but two understood English so I would teach in English and Elder Jiminez would teach in Spanish...it actually went rather well. This is for one family specific I'm sending this email to but since I was with a Spanish Elder we didn't really visit English members. And it was so hard when the first thing we did on exchanges was drive from Elder Jiminez's house off Redwood, turn right on 98th pass through not one but two Stakes I'd served in previously then turn right on..well I'll say no more but this might look familiar.

My first Stake 😆 and I still knew my way around it thanks to Elder Needs. It felt so good driving through!

Wednesday we were ending exchanges and Elder Jiminez was told me that he wanted this exchange to be to tell me to make sure I teach my companion everything I knew before I went home...so since he was kind enough to remind me how long I had left I let him know that he should hurry up too since he only has three very short weeks left 😜 haha   BOOM take that. We also went out with Ward Mission Leaders and with one of them we set up an appointment for thursday at 6.

Thursday our District Leader came to Candy's house to interview her for baptism. She is super excited. We also taught a new investigator!

Friday was awesome because we taught Candy and in the evening we went to Temple Square with a really cool family!

Saturday was amazing! Candy got baptized! She was so excited and in her own words she said it was so overwhelming. It was greater than any of us said it would be. And we also went to an open house for the
Stake President's daughter.

Sunday Candy got confirmed and Nick came to church with his wife which is going to be rare because she works every Sunday but it was still legit 😎