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6/22/2020
Hey everyone!! This week had a ton of ups!
Monday 6/15/20
-After about four days of looking for my wallet and many prayers, Elder Bryant and I came to the conclusion that we weren't going to find it. I called my mom to cancel my personal debit card and we figured we would have to call the mission office to order a new MSF card (the mission provided debit card on which we get like 35 dollars a week for food). Elder Bryant was on the phone with the mission finance coordinator about to ask about a new card when his eyes landed on my wallet! Turns out it was in the crook of the arm on my office chair, where I never would have thought to look. That was the last thing we were gonna do before leaving that apartment, so it was definitely a miracle that he saw it before we left! I was so excited! It literally made my week!!
-Our housing coordinators found us a new apartment and we get to move in tomorrow, [last Tuesday].
Tuesday 6/16/20
-Transfers!!! Elder Bryant and I are still companions. Two of the sisters in our district got transferred, so we have a new companionship of sisters, Sister Murray and Sister Sampson, and they are the new STLs (sister training leaders) for the zone.
-We got our move going! Our new apartment is at Pine Crest and is pretty nice. We got about half our stuff from the Aviator apartment to the Pine Crest apartment: bed stuff, Elder Bryant's bench press/weight stuff, food stuffs. We had a couple appointments and lessons in the afternoon, so we needed to get the rest of it the next day.
-We had a really good lesson with AnnaBelle!! We were able to have it in person at the church and the spirit was super strong. A member of the ward, Sister Harrison, was there as well, and she shared her conversion story. It was really good to get to know her a little better too, as she shared her current foster care situation.
Wednesday 6/17/20
-We woke up early to meet the Elders from Peterson at the Aviator apartment to get the rest of the the stuff - the big furniture. We coordinated with the APs to use the mission trailer, and with it we got everything in one trip. We got everything moved in and staged. Unfortunately, it already looks pretty lived-in because the desks and couches are super worn-out and old, but it's definitely nice to finally have everything we need now in one spot again.
-Our final project for this apartment was to make a big collage of Jesus pictures to put on the wall (see picture) Elder Bryant is determined to make one in every apartment he lives in throughout his mission. Good for him, but it's a lot of work. Maybe I'll discover a different tradition for my apartments/areas...
Thursday 6/18/20
-Earl called us out of the blue today!! (He's the one that was super engaged and interested in the Church, but wouldn't return our calls for a while.) He told us he was sorry to have missed a few (a lot) of our appointments, he just got really sidetracked with some other projects, but that he is still really interested in learning more about God's true church on the earth.
-Lisa, another person we are working with, was really eager to hear the rest of the commandments that God has revealed to modern-day prophets. After going through the rest of them, she was a bit resistant, but is really faithful and wants to keep all of the Lord's commandments, so we're setting her up an appointment with the bishop so that he can help her and give better advice for how to pursue these goals. Elder Bryant and I are excited for her progress.
Friday 6/19/20
-AnnaBelle wanted to meet with us again this week (!!) so we set up an appointment today at the church with Sister Bascom. We went through the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and when we got to baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost, we asked her formally if she would like to set a date for baptism, and she gave us an overwhelming Yes! She is so excited to finally be baptized and become a member of the Church after working with the missionaries in previous areas for so long. We were so excited!
Sunday 6/21/20
-We got news that the new Mission President and his wife, who are supposed to be coming here, the Maurers, are being reassigned. Apparently, a ton of presidents-to-be are having a lot of trouble with visa stuff right now, so we're getting somebody different from the States, the Eccles, who are from Salt Lake.
- I got to talk with my whole family today. We had a family call for Father's Day and it was great to see them all.
I read a general conference talk this week by Elder Holland about the importance of kind words. I love this scripture he used, Ephesians 4:29, 31-32:
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
I also liked his quote, "no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse." As we strive to be kinder in our words, we'll start to have kinder feelings for others and their situations.
Love you all, hope you have a good week!
-Elder Bird
Pictures-
-My district after transfers
-Beautiful sunset one night
-Our Jesus collage in the new apartment
-My call with my family on Father's Day
6/15/2020
Hey everyone!
I had a much better week than last week haha!
Tuesday 6/9/20
-We went to a Young Men's/Young Women's activity where we were introduced to AnnaBelle! She had just moved here from Limon (which is a bit east of Colorado Springs) and had been working with the missionaries over there in the past. It seems like they had made some really good progress because she really wants to get baptized!!!! We'll set up a time to get to know her and her circumstances a little better in the coming weeks.
-My back is healing really well! Elder Bryant gave me a priesthood blessing Sunday night and it's been a miracle with how much progress I'm making every day.
Wednesday 6/10/20
-We did our service at the Care and Share center and while we were signing out and washing our hands, one of the girls from another group walked up to me and asked if my last name was Bird. She looked vaguely familiar. I said yes, and she said we were in the same FHE group while at BYU-Idaho; I then immediately recognized her. We talked for a second and then we had to go, but that was a crazy coincidence!
Friday 6/12/20
-We learned today that the apartment Elder Bryant and I were going to move into fell through. It looks like we'll have to move in with some other Elders to make room for whoever will be put here in our temporary apartment.
Saturday 6/13/20
-We did a lot of service today outside in the hot sun and I got straight fried. I'm super sunburned on my arms and the back of my neck. We got some aloe vera from the Spanish Elders, so hopefully that will help. I guess I should have put sunscreen on.
-The transfer sheet dropped tonight!! Every three weeks we have transfer Tuesdays, where the missionaries get moved around to different areas. The transfer sheet has every missionary in the mission laid out and organized for where they're gonna go (or stay) for the next transfer. Elder Bryant and I are staying here to finish my training, and we get to keep our car even though this is usually a biking area!!
Sunday 6/14/20
-Today we were told that we are going to stay with the zone leaders in the next zone over, which is about 25 minutes (driving) from our area, oof. That's probably why we got to keep our car. We packed up most of our stuff today so that we don't have to worry too much about it tomorrow.
-I couldn't seem to find my wallet anywhere. I looked all over our apartment, our car, the church building, you name it. I'm a little bummed about the cards and the money I had in there, but I'm really disappointed that my driver's license is gone. At least I have a paper copy of it, but that's going to be a real pain to get back. We have prayed to find it so hopefully it will turn up as we finish packing stuff and moving stuff around. And luckily, we know the Elders who will be moving into this apartment, so if they happen to find it, they'll let me know.
Monday 6/15/20
-Today is p-day (preparation day). We did laundry and finished packing up. I still am looking for my wallet. Wrote letters and talked to my family. As we were on the phone with someone at the mission office, requesting a new msf card [credit/debit card missionaries use] for me, Elder Bryant spotted my wallet. It was in the little space of the lever of the office chair. Very excited! I am so happy!
I just want to say that I am doing awesome, and despite the minor setbacks or difficulties, (they are minor) I am loving it out here! Elder Bryant is such a great trainer and a really caring companion.
For my spiritual thought, I'll share a scripture, Ether 12:27, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."
I'm definitely learning out here that my memory is one of my weaknesses. Whether it be forgetting to put on sunscreen or not remembering where I put my wallet, I know that I have been given this weakness so that I'm not lifted up in pride, and so that I can remember the Lord when I seek guidance from Him.
Love you all, hope you have a great week!
-Elder Bird
Pictures-
-My district over facebook messenger video chat for 'family' prayer
-Benching it up!! (Not really haha)
-Police cars roaming around our apartment complex
-Can you spot my wallet?
6/9/2020
Hey everyone!
It has been a really interesting week to say the least.
Tuesday 6/2/20
-Early in the morning, around 8:30 after we had showered and were both making our beds, we heard some really loud bangs in our apartment complex. We figured it was probably gunshots and not fireworks because June 2nd isn't any holiday we know of, but you know, maybe it was somebody's birthday or something. Everything was fine after that, no police showed up or anything.
-Had a zone training after lunch which went really well! Our zone leaders (ZLs) are super funny and just really awesome dudes.
Almost immediately after that ended, like five or ten minutes later, we heard 6 loud gunshots, much closer than the ones in the morning. After the shooting, we heard somebody yelling in our hallway to get inside and take cover, so Elder Bryant and I ran to our bathroom and called our ZLs, who told us to call the mission president. He told us to stay put and that they would try to get us out of that apartment as soon as possible. He then gave us permission to stay at Elder Allen and Elder Whitted's (the ZLs) apartment for the night.
-There were a ton of police cars in the parking lot when we left for the ZLs place, and apparently, they had locked down the outside of the building so no one could get in, but we could still come out
Wednesday 6/3/20
-We did some service at Car and Share, where we sorted through some products from a ton of various donators. It was really nice to get out of our apartment for a time, and it looks like this might be a weekly thing, so that's awesome!
-Had some trouble staying focused while we were cooped up in our apartment, so we drove out to Palmer Park and got a really good view of the city and the mountains. From there, we made a ton of phone calls to try to find people to teach.
-We had a lessons scheduled with 2 different people, but they both canceled. We got cleared to do lessons in person at the church, and we were really looking forward to our lesson with Earl, who is on date to be baptized at the end of the month, but he called the Tanners (who are the ward mission leaders, and were going to be at the lesson with us) and they related to us that he had to postpone. It was a real bummer, but the Tanners bought us some ice cream at Wendy's as a consolation, they're so nice.
Friday 6/5/20
-We had a really great lesson with Lisa (which lasted for two hours!) where we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. She really loves how the Book of Mormon kind of clears up some of the more confusing parts of the Bible. At the end of the lesson, she committed to be baptized!!! She is such a sweet woman!
-Today we moved into a vacant missionary apartment temporarily until our housing coordinators find us a good permanent one. There are a couple problems with it, such as the bathtub drain is clogged, and our water heater doesn't stay on for more than five minutes, but I am definitely grateful to be somewhere safer than the old one.
Saturday 6/6/20
-In the afternoon, the Hudsons called us (they are a part-member family we're teaching) and said they were doing some yard work and asked if we would be able to help them. So we dropped everything we were doing (which wasn't much) and went over to do some service for them. They're big on gardening, so we were pulling some weeds for them. But when I bent down to pick one up, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back.
-Earl bailed out again on our lesson with him and the Tanners. We're not sure what's going on with him lately. Elder Bryant told me he was really solid before I came. Just had something come up again I guess.
Sunday 6/7/20
-Today was really hard because of my back. It actually got worse overnight. Maybe it was morning stiffness, but it hurt really bad. I woke up at about 4am and had to use the restroom, but I could barely get out of bed. It took me an hour to hobble around to grab some acetaminophen and use the bathroom.
-I stayed in bed all morning due to the pain. At one point I was trying to get up, but I just couldn't because it hurt so much. At another point, I was trying to do some stretches on the ground, but I couldn't get up for almost two hours. Elder Bryant really wanted to help me up a couple times -- he said it was really hard for him to watch me suffer trying to get up -- but it just hurt too much for him to help me as well.
-I was so exhausted in the afternoon that I accidentally slept through one of our lessons; Elder Bryant thought it would be best for me to sleep to get some energy back.
-As the day went on, I was getting slightly better.
Although I was having a really hard week this week, I got to put into effect the challenge I gave in last week's email, which was to list the things that I'm grateful for in order to invite the Spirit back into my life. I know that we all go through trials, and I was definitely due for a couple. As we go through these trials, it's really our attitude that determines how we are going to act: will we turn to God and seek his refuge, or will we forget that he is the one in charge and blame him for not doing more?
I've been really loving this scripture right now: 2 Nephi 2:24, "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things." I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me, and I will choose to thank Him for my trials so that I might learn and grow from them.
I am still loving it out here, and I am grateful for ALL the experiences that I have already had and will continue to have, whether they be good or bad.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week!
-Elder Bird
Pictures:
-Screenshot from video I sent for President and Sister Stevenson's farewell
-My office chair broke haha
-Buffalo Wild Wings dinner!!
-Shiny new bullet casing we found outside our apartment
-Bullet holes in the wall in the hall where the gunshots were fired
6/1/2020
Hey everybody!
I'm back! For those of you who haven't heard, I have been temporarily reassigned to the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission, at least until it's safe for missionaries to return to their original missions. I am hoping to go back to Brazil, but I'm just not sure if that will happen. And even if I don't go back, I would be more than grateful to finish my service here in Colorado!!
As of this email, I've spent as much time "in the field" here in Colorado as I had in the field in Brazil haha! And this time, we have smartphones, so we can at least do some finding and teaching while stuck in our apartments, and I am loving it so far!
I arrived in Colorado last Monday with a bunch of other missionaries. The Mission President, his wife, and the Assistants to the President (APs) met us at our gate and took us to a church building where we took some pictures and had lunch. Then they took us to a hotel that was close by, where we spent that night. It was a pretty uneventful night.
The next morning, we went back to the church building where the Mission President gave us an introduction/'orientation' and we all met our new companions. In order to keep proper social distancing, we were all spread out throughout the chapel and when President Stevenson announced who was with who, they just stood up and we waved to one another.
My new companion is Elder Bryant! It's kind of funny that two basketball player's names got put together. Sometimes we call each other Elder Kobe and Elder Larry haha!!
He's a stud, a super cool dude. When I told him I had only been in the field for six days, he got super excited to have the opportunity to train me.
We got to our apartment and I unpacked all my stuff. We had 3 over-the-phone lessons, but they all had to reschedule. So Elder Bryant pretty much just spent the rest of the day teaching me how to set up my phone and how to use the apps we use. To end each day, we have a video call with our district to say a 'family' prayer, which is awesome.
One really cool thing we had the chance to do this week was to drive to Elder Bryant's previous area, Cañon City, so that he could baptize a woman that he was teaching. We were only allowed to have a total of ten people at the baptism, but other than that, it went really well! I was able to play the piano for the hymns we sang, so I thought that was a nice way for me to participate, and Elder Bryant was the one to baptize Maureen. It was very sweet. After the baptism, Elder Bryant showed me some cool spots around Cañon City. We also visited a family that he had previously baptized, and we had a really good conversation with them.
As a spiritual thought, I just wanted to share something that our zone leaders brought up during our district council this week. Elder Whitted mentioned that a really easy (and I guess efficient) way to invite the Spirit is through feelings of gratitude. So he asked everyone present to just quietly and very intently think about something for which we were truly and undeniably thankful. After a minute or so, he asked a couple people to share what they were thinking about. As people shared, Elder Whitted pointed out how our voices had instinctively quieted down and our meeting had shifted from funny and laughing to more solemn and serious. In those moments, the Holy Ghost in that meeting became so tangible, and it was a real testament to me about how powerful having a grateful attitude in our lives is.
I would invite you to try this out! If you are ever feeling a bit lost or out of place, go somewhere quiet and think about or maybe list the things you are truly grateful for, and take a minute to pay attention to the atmosphere around you. I promise you that if you will do this, you will be able to feel the Spirit, and I know this because I have felt it in my life.
I've had a great week, I'm loving the work, and I'm so happy to be exactly where I am right now!!
I love you all!!
-Elder Bird
5/25/2020
Nathan leaves for his new mission assignment - Colorado Springs.
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