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10/2/17
Hey everyone!
This week just seemed to fly by!! There was some super cool things that happened though!
The week started with a zone p-day, which was super fun! We played Quidditch with the zone, kind of like what we did in Arvada! It was super fun (and super tiring). It was just good to be with everyone in the zone. We had "butter beer," a Harry Potter themed butterscotch soda. And we tried to take a picture of all of us in the air on our brooms. It was a pretty fun day!
Later that day, I had to start prepping for the colonoscopy that was going to happen the next morning. [When Elder Bird had his appendix removed and they biopsied it, they found a small tumor. So, they scheduled a colonoscopy to see if there were any more in his system.] I had to drink like 2 liters of this liquid stuff to get me ready for the procedure. It wasn't that fun for the rest of the night. Then the next morning I had to drink another 2 liters of the stuff. After drinking it all, I got a blessing from some Elders [missionaries] who came over, and then we headed out. Elder Hales and I didn't get too far though, because our truck had a very flat tire. The other missionaries gave us their car to take, while they worked on changing the tire and putting on the spare. That was so nice! We got to the hospital okay and the procedure went very well (I was out for the whole thing, so I got in a good nap). When I came to, they told me that I was all fine and that I didn't have to worry about any cancer. That was a huge relief! Elder Hales drove me home and I rested for the rest of the day. That night we had dinner at a family's house in the ward and then we had a 7pm appointment to teach an investigator.
On Thursday we went on exchanges with our zone leaders, Elder Bjerga and Elder Melchin. I know both of them really well and so I was super excited. Elder Bjerga was my companion for the day, and he and I worked in our area, which he had served in previously. That made the day pretty cool! I got to meet a lot of the people that he used to teach, and he got to see them all again! It was pretty fun to go out with him.
The weekend was filled with watching General Conference. Elder Hales and I got to watch all 10 hours worth which was awesome! General conference, while on your mission, is like the Superbowl, I always look forward to it. All the talks were awesome and many of my questions were answered. We were sad to hear about Elder Robert D. Hales [an apostle of the church] passing away. I liked the thought of Elder Hales "graduating" from this earth life though, just another step in Heavenly father's plan for all of us. We were also sad that we did not get to hear from our prophet, but we could feel his love for all of us through the other Apostles. Conference was a good break from the regular rigors of missionary work and put us back on our feet spiritually and ready to help others get back on theirs!
The last cool thing that happened this week was a car swap for us. We were driving a truck and the mission office decided that all of the zone leaders in the mission needed to have the trucks [it helps with luggage for transfers]. Anyway, Elder Brown down in Parker needed one! So we swapped cars with him. . . which means. . . that is right! I am back in the mini van baby!! I feel like such a dad out here. I've got my fanny pack on, and I'm driving around in a van, with my "baby boy" [missionary lingo] next to me in the passenger seat. And, I'm helping all the missionaries in my district. I have never been more proud as a missionary :)
Anyway, I'm glad this week went well and I'm sure this next week should be awesome too! I hope it is for you as well!
Miracles are happening in the work and in my life, and I have never felt happier. I hope and pray that your lives are the same.
I love you all so much!!
Elder Bird
9/25/17
Hey Howdy Hey, happy people!!
I hope everyone's week has been super awesome! Elder Hales and I had a fantastic week here in the Smoky Hill & Fox Hollow area! Lots of cool things and miracles that keep happening in the work!
Probably the coolest thing that happened this last week was having so many people to teach!! We did a lot of calling around, stopping by, and getting things set up last week, and so this week we were able to SEE a bunch of people! When we came into the area, there weren't too many people being taught, but now we are really starting to build up. We had some really good lessons! Now that we have our feet a bit planted, things are going just awesome!
Another really cool thing that happened this week was something called "Member School." This is where a lot of the zones met up (like a zone conference) and President and Sister Savage presented a really cool new member missionary work initiative to us. It is called "Invite to Ignite", and is really a great program. Members doing missionary work and inviting their friends into the gospel is the quickest, easiest, and most effective way to do missionary work. A lot of members want to help with the work and invite people, but don't really know where to start or don't have tons of time. Maybe they are afraid of hurting more than helping. The program is great because it is a lesson we can sit down and discuss with members about simply being an example in other people's lives and making small invites to church things once a month (like cub scouts or activities or just anything). It takes a lot of pressure off of the members and lets them know that missionary work is easy to do and shouldn't be something forced or scary. We love it! We have already sat down and did the discussion with one of our Ward Mission Leaders and he told us that it is his favorite member initiative he has seen! We are super excited to do it with our wards and just help them with the work.
We have already seen that member work is going to be the best thing down here. Yesterday, we met with two member referrals, a little girl and then a single mom, both in the member's home that invited them to listen to us. And just like that, with those natural invitations leading up to those conversations with us, we were able to start to teach them about the gospel. It is pretty cool stuff!
Elder Hales and I have also been doing tons of contacting and tracting this week. It has been great! We have been able to meet some super cool people and have some great conversations with them about their own journeys throughout life and how the gospel might be able to help them in the future! We have some appointments set up for next week and are super excited to keep working with them!
Last night as we were teaching, a member, Sister Torres, bore her testimony about the gospel to her friend, Maria. Sister Torres is actually a convert too, from Mexico and converted here in Aurora 15 years back. She has quite a story, and told of how much she's trusted in God and how blessed her life has been because of it. There were so many hard times in her life where she could have stopped or not lived the gospel to it's fullest, but through it all she kept the commandments and tried her hardest, and the Lord has poured out blessings for her. She had such a strong testimony of the gospel. It was so awesome to see how application of the gospel principles has literally changed someone's life. I know that the gospel is true, from my experiences, Sister Torres' and a million others. And I know as we live it, we will be blessed more than we can ever imagine.
I love you all so much!
Elder Bird
9/18/17
Hi Happy people!
What a week! Oh my goodness! So much has gone on!
Let's start with the new call. I have been asked to train again and to be a district leader for the Arapahoe district! I am currently serving in the Smoky Hill/Fox Hollow wards, and am training Elder Hales! It is actually super cool, because I am currently right across the street from the Cherry Creek and Piney Creek wards, which is the second area I served in. I get to see it every single day now! How awesome is that??
I was super happy to receive the news for the changes, but a little sad to be leaving the Parker area. We were teaching and were friends with so many cool people, and I had to say goodbye to all of them. That is what we spent most of Tuesday doing, saying goodbye to everyone. I was especially sad to say goodbye to Ryan, who was just a miracle right from the start. I think he will do great and I am hoping that he will be baptized in October.
With this new assignment came another assignment, and that was to sweep! Sweeping into an area [in missionary terms] is when the two previous Elders leave an area and two new Elders are put in. It is a little tough on the two incoming Elders because you don't have any relationships built up. Normally, one Elder leaves and one Elder stays, thus keeping the contacts they have been teaching and working on, and the new Elder just continues the work with the Elder that stays. But, when both Elders leave an area, the two new Elders basically have to start from ground zero and learn about the investigators from the ward members and ward Mission Leader. There essentially is no handing off from the previous Elders because they are off to their new assignment, and we don't get to talk to them before they leave. This is my first time doing this and so it has been an interesting last couple of days. We have been calling around and trying to get a feel for what was going on with missionary work here. Also, with my new call I am now in charge of nine other missionaries as their district leader, and have been trying my hardest to help them all out as much as possible, as well. They are all super awesome and have wonderful spirits. I am just super excited to learn from each one of them.
Elder Hales is awesome! He is from Mesa, Arizona. All of the missionaries in the district are either from Arizona or California (except one from Idaho). He came right from High school and is ready to work! I can already tell he is a great teacher and has so much desire to work hard and be obedient and just be a great missionary. He was a swimmer back home in Arizona and was also a lifeguard...I think he will miss the water a bit out here. He has already expressed to me that it is way too cold here (it was 120* in Arizona this summer) and wears a sweater everywhere we go! Wait until winter! He has a super strong testimony and conviction of the gospel, and I can't wait to teach with him.
As for people we are teaching and helping, there is honestly not too much. We have asked both of our Ward Mission Leaders to help set up lessons for us with any struggling families or less active members. I want to have Elder Hales teaching the lessons and practicing, so my goal is to try and teach 20 lessons a week with people. It is going to take some some serious work and building our contacts to do that. We did have had one real lesson so far, with a guy named Rego. We saw him last night and had a great talk with him about the Book of Mormon and Restoration. It went awesome!! I walked out smiling and happy, because things had gone really well.
There are a few other people in the works that I am also super excited to meet with and become their friend. There is going to be a lot on my plate with being a trainer, district leader, and leader of this new area, but I just can't stop smiling while I am here!
I love you all so much! Have a fantastic week!
Elder Bird
Pictures:
Me and Ryan with Jesus behind us!
Elder Brown and I and Rachel!
Elder Brown and I with Grace and Cameron
Elder Brown and I with the Legend, Brother Jones (the stake Ward Mission Leader)
Elder Hales and I at our first meeting!
9/11/17
Hello everyone!!
What a great week it has been! My last week here in Parker! I learned last Wednesday that I will be training a new missionary this next transfer. I don't know where I will be going yet, but I am super excited to be training a new missionary and to be getting a fresh start somewhere else in the mission. I loved training Elder Olson, and I am super ready to do that again. [We found out later that he will be going to the Arapahoe Stake in Aurora as a district leader.]
Elder Brown will be staying here and training a new zone leader. I know they will do well together! Elder Brown is a bit nervous, but he will do great! Our investigator Ryan is doing awesome! He came to the Saturday night session of Stake conference, where I sang a duet with a sister missionary and Elder Brown played the piano. He also came to the Sunday session of Stake conference, and then to dinner with our Bishop on Sunday night. We also saw him twice last week for lessons and he is still super committed. His baptism date is set for the 23rd, and we are working with him now to prepare for that day! We are going to take him shopping today to get a white shirt and tie! I am sad to leave him. I am unsure if I will be able to come back for his baptism, but I am just so glad to have been apart of his conversion process.
I will share a small miracle from the week. On Saturday, we were on exchanges with another set of Elders. I was with Elder Ochsner, our district leader. He is a superb missionary and I love him a lot. While we were out for the day talking with people, we met a woman named Rachel just sitting on the ground with her dog. We struck up a conversation with her and got to know her a little bit. She is non-denominational Christian and actually lives in Arvada. We talked to her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon, and I shared with her the verses in 3 Nephi 11:7-11. It was super cool, because we knew she felt the Spirit. It made her kind of open up. We asked if we could bring her by a copy of the Book of Mormon, and she wanted to let us, but just had a lot going on in her life. She and her husband are having a rough time and it is affecting their kids. She asked for our number and might let the missionaries in Arvada come by. She then asked us to pray with her. During the prayer, she cried while we asked for blessings upon her family and for greater peace and calmness from God. It was such a cool contact. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see Rachel again, but I love just being able to come into someone's life so quickly and bring the Spirit.
I love it out here and am so excited to continue on. I love you all as well and wish you well!!
Elder Bird
9/5/17
Hello everyone!!
What a wonderful week we had! Miracles happen every week, but we had some more this week, especially in the lives of a few people we are teaching! And, as always, Elder Brown and I had tons of fun going out and trying to help as many people as possible this week!
On Monday, we had a super fun zone p-day! Elder Brown and I had a fun idea planned, but had to scrap it and change it at the last minute last Sunday. Luckily, with the help of some really awesome members, we were able to throw a party together with pizza, ping pong, volleyball, pool, and a few other fun things to do. It ended up being a big success, and everyone loved it! We were so happy!
The rest of the week I will describe by the people that we taught!
Elle - About a month ago, we talked with a woman named Elle. We had a great conversation with her on the street. She wasn't super interested in the beginning, but after talking and laughing for a bit, she said that she'd meet up with us again. Well, we finally met up with her this week over lunch! We had a great conversation about what we do as missionaries and some of the core values of the church, mainly families. She is super nice and is interested in looking deeper into things! We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to start reading! She is pretty busy, but hopefully we will see her again in a few weeks. It was a pretty sweet conversation!
Aaron - we have been teaching Aaron for about two months now, and he came to church last month. He is an atheist, so is super interesting to teach! We had a lesson this week at a member's home in the family ward he lives in. There were four of us members there and we bore strong testimonies of God and, interestingly enough, how the Book of Mormon helped us receive our answer that God is out there. Aaron is very, very intelligent, and used to believe in God and actually deconstructed his belief system bit by bit using logic and reason. Well, after our testimonies this time, he told us that he didn't know if deconstructing his beliefs was the right thing to do. He wants to believe, but his logic and reasoning is holding him back! We put him on the spot to make a decision, to keep meeting with us and seek God, or to stop meeting with us. We will see what he says this week!
Rachel - This was a huge miracle! We were driving on our way back from a lesson out in Castle Rock when this woman named Rachel called us on the phone. Rachel is actually already a member, but hasn't come to church in about a year. We have tried reaching out to her previously, but hadn't heard anything back. She called us and asked if we could swing by that night! It turns out that she is wanting to come back to church because she feels a relationship with Heavenly Father will bring her peace and a sense of calmness (real happiness). We had a great discussion with her about regaining a testimony and a witness of Heavenly Father in her life!
Donovan - Donovan is one of our more solid investigators. He was found by another set of missionaries and passed off to us because he wants to go to church with people his own age. We are the YSA [Young Single Adult 18-30] missionaries. He is super nice and awesome, but has some mental problems and there are some setbacks holding him down in life. We had some great talks with him this week about the Restoration and the Word of Wisdom and other commandments that we have been given. He believes all the doctrines we have been teaching him, and now we are helping him prepare for baptism. He wants to stop smoking, and so that is the obstacle we are going to tackle this week! He came to church on Sunday and loved it, so he is really doing well!
Ryan - Last, but definitely not least, is Ryan. I've talked about Ryan a little bit in the past. He is doing so good! We had some great talks this week about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring) and also about the life and mission of Jesus Christ. Ryan, who didn't believe in God about a month ago, now believes in God! We are working with him to come to know that Jesus Christ is the Savior. Ryan is also pretty excited about baptism and entering into that covenant with God now that he knows that God is real! After testimony meeting at church, I turned to Ryan and asked him how he felt. He was smiling and was shaking his head, and told me that he just felt so happy. He said that he wished people could feel like this all the time. It was so cool!! We are so excited for him moving forward!
So anyway, that was just a little taste of what our week was like with the people we are seeing! It is so much fun to be out here and to be talking with and trying to help so many people here in Denver. I know that the gospel is truly sent from God, 1. Because of how happy it is making the people I teach and 2. Because of how happy I feel as I serve out here. I don't really have words to describe it.
I love you all so much! Thank you so much for everything you are doing to be a good person and a friend to me!
Elder Bird
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