Week 52 (10/21/2019) Hello From Canada

Hello everyone!

As I think I talked about last week, C__'s girlfriend from Canada was flying into town this week for C__'s baptism. We met with them almost every day this week to make sure that everything was all ready. It has been such an awesome journey with him. He is definitely one of the most prepared people I have ever taught. He is probably even going to be speaking at a missionary fireside next week. 

We were on exchanges on Tuesday, and I had one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission. The man in question had recently lost one of his adult sons to cancer, and we were teaching him the Plan of Salvation. As we testified that he could be with his son again, the spirit was palpable in the room. It was very powerful. I am so grateful for the knowledge and perspective made available to us by the Restoration. 

Wednesday we had what was definitely the most interesting zone conference of my mission. On a zone leader call Monday night the assistants told us to tell everyone to bring their p-day clothes...so after a spiritual morning, we got changed and "built mission unity". In other words, we played dodgeball and had a spikeball tournament. Elder Ewell and I got beat in the championship game by the assistants, so we don't talk to those goons any more. It was a lot of fun! Even President got in the dodgeball game and got pegged in the head. 

Thursday night we had probably the best dinner message of my mission. We were just talking about what the Book of Mormon has helped us with and our favorite scriptures, and the spirit was super strong. One of the members began to cry and said that she knew who she needed to share a copy with, and that it was exactly what she needed. It was super powerful. 

On Saturday we had C__'s baptism! The service was beautiful, and everything went smoothly. He was confirmed the following day in sacrament meeting. His family came to the baptism, which was super good. Their local missionaries will be going over to talk to them as well. 

Also on Saturday the Astros beat the Yankees and will be playing in the World Series. In case anyone was curious. 

Anyways, it was a great week, gave a talk in sacrament meeting and had two members of the stake presidency there to watch, fun times. 

Have a great week, day, and life,

Elder DeFord

Week 51 (10/14/2019) Cold Front

Dear everybody,

That is right, a cold front blew through. There were a couple of days when the highs were only in the sixties. The sad part is that I actually felt cold in the sixties, though ;) the heat has ruined me for regular weather. We did have some incredibly pleasant days, though. Highs are back in the 80's now, though. 

This has been a very good week! Of course, God only makes good weeks, but I was on board and actually saw the good this time ;)

So as I said, we had transfers last week, and brought a lot of new missionaries into our zone. Most of them I have never served around before, so it has been fun getting to know them a little. For one of the Elders that came here to the Fairmont ward, it is the third time on his mission he has served here! Crazy. My mission son (in mission lingo, when you train someone they are your son) got transferred to Baytown, so I will get to see him a little more often too. 

The first week of the transfer always has a hefty dose of planning to go along with it. Elder Ewell and I had to plan everyone's miles, our exchanges, and the zone vision. The big focus right now is baptism! Of course, that is always the focus ;) but the mission is trying to baptize 100 people in 100 days - finding 100 people in the last 100 days, so that is the focus we are helping our zone with. Essentially that is 1.3 baptisms per companionship, and we want to help them achieve that goal. 

This is actually going to be a really good transfer. We have a lot of great missionaries in the zone, and some awesome things planned. In November Elder Kyle McKay of the Seventy will be touring the mission, and we will also, I think, be having another temple trip. 

Anyways, back to this week. We had an awesome lesson with C__, our YSA friend, on Wednesday morning. We taught him the plan of salvation, and I guess I really thought about how important that plan and that knowledge that we have is. It is amazing that we do know, as President Oaks emphasized at conference, that we can "trust in the Lord". We might not know everything, but we know enough. Wednesday night we had a dinner and a lesson with a very sweet family. The mother had previously been dating a member of our church, so that was how we came to know them, and they have really welcomed us into their home. 

Friday we attended the district council of one of our new district leaders, and he did a great job. We went to Sam's club for lunch at their deli...and then a cashier kicked us out. And then a security guard said we were good to go in and walked in with us. And a manager kicked us out again. It was a fun time. But we went to Wendy's as a backup plan, and a member from Wenatchee came and paid for us, so that was pretty cool. 

Saturday was an awesome day. Beautiful weather, out biking. Not hot or cold, just really lovely. While we were talking to people on the street we met an awesome lady, she shared that she and her husband were looking for a church for their family, and they had actually talked about the Mormons! He said he had gone before, and really missed it. And then she stepped outside just for a minute, and we rode by. Miracles!

On our way to our next appointment I got a flat tire, so that was less than ideal, but we were pretty close, so we walked over and had our lesson. Afterwards Michael Dinsdale came and picked us up in his truck, so that was better than walking all the way home. 

Also on Saturday we had a couple of former Elders come down to visit, Elder Brown and Elder Dowdle. Elder Brown was my ZL and AP for a while, Elder Brown was a ZL when I came out, I think. It was fun to see them again!

Sunday C__ came to church, and told us he would be free for lessons this next weekend because his girlfriend from Canada is in town...Elder Ewell and I looked at each other, and told him that we could move up his baptism. So he is getting baptized this saturday! It is going to be sweet!

It was an awesome week, lots of miracles, things going well. Hopefully the good weather returns.

From the heat of Texas,

Elder DeFord

Week 50 (10/8/2019) Pasadena Part 2

10/8/2019

It is hard to choose a subject line that could uphold everything that went on this week, so we will just go for the easy out-I didn't get transferred. Elder Ewell and I will be staying another transfer together here. Of course, the rest of our zone got pretty shaken up. We will be getting ten new missionaries this week into the zone, two areas are being opened up, one here in Pasadena and one in Baytown. So a lot of new people to come to know and love!

We will go back to the beginning of the week, though. It seems like an eternity away! Tuesday was our Mission Leadership Council, so all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders gathered to discuss the needs of the mission. The big goal for the mission is 100 baptisms before the end of the year, so we are focusing on that. 

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with a set of our Elders...we had had then planned earlier, but Imelda threw a wrench in a lot of our plans. We didn't even make it on exchanges with another set. 

Exchanges went well, I was with Elder Bell in Broadway. We talked with a recent convert, she was just baptized two weeks earlier. She is very sweet, and clearly loves the missionaries. 

Thursday we had an incredible lesson with C__. We met C__ on the Sunday before. His long distance girlfriend had invited him to church, and so he showed up on his own! We taught him a little after church, and then had a more full lesson on Thursday. He is quiet, but super awesome. As we were teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, I wasn't sure how much was getting through to him (I stress a lot during lessons, sometimes). However, as we were reading, the spirit touched me strongly, and I knew that if I was feeling it, he must be too. We invited him to be baptized, and he said emotionally that he wanted to, so we set a date with him. He also expressed his desire to be an example to help his family return to church. We wanted to watch conference with his family, which didn't work out, but he watched and enjoyed it. He was also at our YSA FHE yesterday! 

On Friday we taught our district training, on how an understanding of our identity helps us to fulfill our purpose. As an object lesson we had everyone write what they felt that their purpose was on a piece of paper, put it in a balloon and blow it up. Then we tossed a streamer between us in a circle, forming a web. As the streamer got to you, you stated a spiritual gift or part of your identity, then passed it on,eventually forming a web. The balloons were then placed on the web, and because of our identity our purpose was supported. It went pretty well, and I only popped one of my balloons ;)

That night I went to Faith Meets Family for the first time. The mission reserves the temple baptistry for the first Friday of every month for recent converts or returning members, but I have never been able to make it. We went with a recent convert from the YSA, and it was awesome. The feeling inside the Temple is definitely different from anything else you can experience. We are probably also going at the end of this week for the YSA temple trip. 

Saturday and Sunday, of course, were general conference! I loved hearing the messages of the Prophets, Seers, and Revelators of our day. The thing that stood out to me most was that our focus has to be on Jesus Christ, and then everything else will take the appropriate place in our lives. Definitely a lot to reread and learn from! Also, the changes to the young men and young women were pretty unexpected to me, but hopefully they will help our youth! 

Things are going well, a cold front is moving in so highs are only in the 80s ;)

Lots of love,

Elder DeFord

Week 49 (9/30/2019) Tear Down These Walls Between Us

9/30/2019

Or just tear down walls in general, as the case may be. This week has been a lot of that. Monday night we drove out to Vidor, got assigned to our lodgings for the night, and then crashed in preparation for the work ahead. 

Tuesday through Friday we had a pretty set schedule. Breakfast was at the Ross complex from 7:15 to 8:20 (we had six people to run through one shower, so we usually didn't make it until about 7:40) then we would head out to a work order at 8:30. It would usually take us until about 12 to muck out a house, then we would have lunch and move to the next project, working until between 4 and 5. Then we would head back and shower (still six people and one shower, it takes time) and then dinner. After dinner we would have a devotional with someone President Ross asked to speak, and then head to bed. 

Working on the houses was fun, but it was also pretty sad. A couple of the people had just finished remodeling from Harvey when their house flooded again. Some of the stuff we were tearing out was brand new. Of course, some of the other stuff we tore out was the opposite. One house flooded in Harvey, and the people who owned it at the time skimped on fixing it, so when we started tearing up the walls we found that instead of drywall they just slapped plywood on the studs. Took off the plywood to discover black mold all the way up to the ceiling. I felt so bad for the owner-she had just bought the house 9 months ago, not knowing about all the problems. So in some ways it was a blessing to be able to discover the problems and start on correcting them. 

One night we had a devotional at the house of the Orange Stake President. After the devotional, he said, who wants to see the tunnels? And the guy has literal secret passages in his walls, complete with a slide and everything! After everyone had explored them for a bit, they started a competition for who could run through them the fastest.  Two other Elders and me all slammed through it in 21.6 seconds. And I mean slammed, bouncing off the walls and ceiling. My rug burn still hasn't healed from it. It was a lot of fun, though. Unfortunately, at one point my car keys slipped out of my pocket. Luckily someone else found them, so we were okay. Didn't have to stay the night in the tunnels...although that would have been pretty cool. 

You know, it was crazy seeing how fragile a house is. A team of us could tear it apart pretty well in a couple of hours. I used to look at walls and feel like they were pretty solid...now I know that if I wanted to be the Kool-aid man, I could. (For those that don't get the reference, did you even have a childhood?) 

On Saturday we were just dead, but we did our best to get out and proselyte. It was weird being back in the shirt and tie after a week of jeans and yellow Helping Hands t shirts. We got a call on Saturday from a member in Canada, who told us her boyfriend was coming to the YSA the next day. The best part of that story is that he actually showed up! We taught him about the Book of Mormon after the services, and he seems pretty interested. 

Sunday night we also visited some potentials...the mother used to be dating a member, which is how we knew them. They were super welcoming to us, and we left them with a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon. 

The mission did a special fast to achieve our goal of 100 baptisms through the end of the year, and we were already seeing miracles from it. Just the time we have had since we got back has been super effective, we have seen several people who we had struggled to contact before. 

So all in all it was a great week, a long week, a lot of moldy drywall and carpets and tearing up tile and kicking doors off the hinges. I will try and get some of the pictures, I have been terrible at that the last transfer. 

Hard to believe that this is the last week of this transfer, and general conference!

This week is going to fly by, because we have a mission leadership conference tomorrow, then exchanges, then interviews, then we teach district training this Friday, then general conference, and then it is next week and transfers. I anticipate staying here, though. 

Well, everybody be safe, and don't flood!

Elder DeFord

Week 48 (9/23/2019) Imelda

9/23/2019

"And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind."

Ether 6:6 

Ah, no, actually the storm wasn't bad at all in Pasadena. We got a little bit of rain, but nothing too severe. Some parts of the mission were hit as bad as when hurricane Harvey blew through, though.  We are taking our whole zone up to Vidor until Friday night to help muck out houses that flooded over there. They got over 40 inches of rain! I feel really bad for the area- some of those people just moved back into their houses after rebuilding from Harvey. And there are six more hurricanes swirling around right now, hopefully none of them get us. 

The week was really good, though! On Tuesday we went to the temple with the Dinsdales and other missionaries. It is always a wonderful experience to be in the house of the Lord, and it was a little longer since we had gone this time because of the temple closures. One of the recent converts in the ward, J__, also went during the session, and it was only his second time, so that was cool. He received his endowments only last Saturday. 

Tuesday night the rain started in pretty good, so we canceled some exchanges we were supposed to go on, we didn't want to drive in the rain at night. 

Wednesday the rain kept up, but it wasn't bad. As zone leaders we sometimes do a companionship study with a set of our Elders, just to minister to them, see if there is anything we can do to help them. So we went up to Broadway and took those elders out for lunch and then did a study with them. 

We had dinner with the S__'s that night, Angela invited a friend she had made that week, and we answered a lot of her questions about the church, she is really interested. 

Thursday a text came in from President that missionaries are not to leave their apartments without permission from him. It was hardly raining here, but the rest of the mission was getting hammered. It was a weird day being stuck inside. The Spanish elders live in our complex, so we had them over. After reading almost all of Genesis I was about done studying ;) by evening we were super stir crazy, so we snuck out to Bishops house since he lives close. 

Friday was back to regular schedule, that night we exchanged with the Deer Park elders. 

Saturday I was up in Deer Park, so biking all day. We dropped off a Book of Mormon to a referral, and then the rest of the day was just trying to contact people. I think it is cool that people are drawn to the Book of Mormon when they want to improve their lives, even when they don't know what it is. 

Saturday night we got the call from President that we were all going to Vidor to help with storm cleanup, so we are excited to help out there. There will be about 45 missionaries up there working, so it is going to be a party. 

Sunday we had our services, then we went up to Baytown to go on YSA visits with a member. We didn't end up seeing a YSA, but we shared a message with a member. The cool part about that is that it was all in Spanish. I feel bad for Elder Ewell not knowing what was going on ;) but it is a cool experience to be able to communicate with them. 

And now we are here! We are headed out tonight, so we are maybe picking up some cheap jeans to work in. Also maybe a stop at Boot Barn, who knows. Gotta be ready. 

Dad asked about the quality of the soil...it is soft and sandy, and does not absorb any water at all. The runoff is okay, but it is not good soil to be rained on very much. 

Wish me luck on my butterfly stroke this week...

Elder DeFord

Week 47 (9/16/2019) Oh, Remember, Remember

9/16/2019

This has been a crazy week!

We were supposed to do exchanges with one of our companionships Monday-Tuesday, but we got told Sunday that we were teaching an hour segment of zone conference Wednesday, so we rescheduled our exchange to prepare. 

Our segment was on extending baptismal invitations, and it went really well...although we did go a little over, whoops. We tried to emphasize the importance of having faith and walking by faith, not by sight, being anxiously engaged in the good work of helping people progress. 

During zone conference, President did a pretty cool object lesson. He had us stand with our arms outstretched as he read the account of the Savior's 6 hour crucifixion, stretched over 6 minutes. With just those six minutes, my shoulders were burning and cramping up, and it took great willpower to keep them from dropping. It is incredible to think of the agony that the Savior endured, agony that he could have ended in an instant had he desired. Just as lowering my arms would have stopped the pain, he could have lowered himself from the cross. But he didn't. He exerted His all, imposed His will over the flesh, and He endured so that we could all be saved. That is incredible. It is unimaginable. Whereas all of us would eventually have lost our grip, He held on-not because it was somehow easy for Him because He was divine, but because He knew who He was and what His purpose is. As each of us understand our identity and purpose, that can drive us as well. 

Friday and Saturday we were on exchanges with another companionship. I went out to their area, so I got to be riding the bike. It was a little strange, honestly, to be conducting an exchange with a missionary who I had looked up to when I first came out. We had a good time, though, biked a good 20 miles and had some good contacts. After we finished with the exchanged on Saturday, Elder Ewell and I had a companionship study with another companionship in that district. They were pretty low on their goals for that week, so we blitzed their area for the rest of the day. So back on the bike for me, goodie goodie. It was a lot of fun, though. 

Sunday was Stake conference, we were singing in the stake choir, so we got to sit up on the stand. The messages were good, all focused on the temple. Our temple president shared the tender experience from when he was 5, when his father reactivated and his family was sealed together. That night the YSA had a get together at J__'s house to watch the YA Face to Face. It was good to be there, and after it was over J__'s mom and I talked about what we liked from it and from stake conference. The reason that is cool is that that conversation was conducted in Español. I am super grateful that I can communicate with so many people. 

We had another cool Spanish experience this week. Elder Wooden and I were out biking when a gentleman pulls up next to us in his car, and starts speaking to us in Spanish. Turns out he wanted to know where the church was, and when services are, so I got to talk to him about it all. There is a very large Hispanic population here, so it is a big asset to know a little Spanish. 

I have been studying about remembering. Something I have always noticed reading the Book of Mormon is how often it used the word remember, so I am now going through and marking every instance of the word. It is something I always wanted to do, so I'm glad I am getting to it. I would highly recommend it, if you are looking for something to study. It just teaches you a lot about the importance of holding on to what we have experienced as a part of building our faith. 

This upcoming week should be really good, we have a temple trip tomorrow so that is exciting. P-day does end at 2 today to make up for it, but I'll survive. 

Dad asked what a rescue visit is. The idea is that a member of the ward goes with the missionaries to visit those who aren't fully active and invite them to return. They are very important here because the activity rate, overall, is under 30 percent. In the Fairmont ward we have something like 1200 names on the rolls, with only 150 there on Sunday. Just in the last couple of weeks, the missionaries have identified almost a hundred names that are confirmed moved from the address on the records, so that is a process too. 

Everybody have a great week, take care, pray hard!

Elder DeFord

Picture: the Broadway North Elders didn't have an extra bike helmet, so I had to wear the hard hat!

Week 46 (9/9/2019) Where Does the Time Fly?

9/9/2019

I can't believe it is already the third week of the transfer. This week has been jam packed with things to do. Unfortunately, not a lot of it was proselytizing, which is what I like to do. Instead, we had to do a lot of the administrative stuff that comes with leading the zone. 

Tuesday we had mission leadership training, so all of the district leaders, zone leaders, and sister training leaders gathered together in Kngwood to talk about the mission. Thankfully Elder Ewell and I weren't asked to present a segment, so we just got to sit back and relax. The big thing President has planned for us right now is 100 baptisms in the last 100 days of the year, so we are all going to be working towards that goal. 

Tuesday night we went out on rescue visits with the 1st councilor in the YSA, Javier. I really like him. Also, his brother, Edgar, served in the Kennewick mission! We were trying to decide if he had ever eaten at our house. We thought maybe, since he served in the Spanish branch at one point. But we know some of the same people, and both of us remember Elders Aydelotte and Smith. Actually, he reached out to Elder Aydelotte, and he remembered the DeFords! Edgar's family wants to go back up to visit his mission in the next year sometime. 

Wednesday we were on exchanges with the assistants, I stayed in our area with Elder Nelson. We had a long day of just contacting, but it all went well. We talked a lot about vision and goals, which have been on my mind for quite a while. 

Thursday we had to plan for our district training. We were speaking on obedience and sanctification. Oh-so, after every mission training, the Zone Leaders teach each district in their zone. So on Friday we spent a good 6 hours teaching meetings. Woohoo. It went well, though, so no real complaints here. 

Saturday...man. We went on rescue visits with Jed, who is about to go on a mission, tried to see some people, visited a nice woman in a nursing home who sadly doesn't remember when anyone visits, so she feels like she has been forgotten about. But she was glad to see us. It was cool that even though she has forgotten a lot, she remembers how important the temple and the scriptures are. 

Sunday we attended the Fairmont ward and the YSA branch, then we had a meeting with the stake president and President Hewlett to talk about the missionary work in the stake. It went well-we really just get to go to so they can ask us questions as the hands-on guys. 

Man, I wish i had more stories to tell, but unless you want to hear all the details about my district training there isn't too much to tell. I hope this next week we get the chance to teach a little more. We do have zone conference, and Elder Ewell and I are teaching a segment on baptismal invitations, so that should go well. 

Everyone be jealous, we just passed a gas station. Gas is only 1.99 right now. I would say it makes up for the heat, but I don't know about that. 

I'm really enjoying Pasadena, I like the ward and everything. We are singing with the stake choir, and the Bishops son and I should be singing in sacrament meeting coming up here sometime. Gaining weight here, so that means they are feeding us well! I love southern cooking. 

Well, we are driving out to Beaumont, so I will let y'all go. 

Take care,

Elder DeFord

Week 45 (9/2/2019) Pasadena

9/2/2019

My first week in Pasadena was busy, but fun. Technically the ward is the Fairmont ward, the Pasadena ward is Spanish speaking. But the city is Pasadena ;) 

Just as I was told, we have been fed every night since I got here. That already endears me to the ward, for obvious reasons, but I also love all of the people I have gotten to know here already. 

It was such a long, busy week that by the time Sunday rolled around I couldn't believe that it was my first week in the ward and in the branch. I know I won't remember everybody's names, but one step at a time. 

Dad was asking about the responsibilities of the zone leaders. Well, like when I was a district leader, we do nightly follow ups every night, except instead of the companionships in my district it is the district leaders in the zone. We have a small zone, though, only three districts, so that isn't too bad. We also conduct exchanges with all the district leaders and trainers, which, this transfer, is every elder companionship in the zone. So we had to plan those out this week. 

We attend district councils in different districts to provide guidance and make sure everything is going well. We also attend a meeting with President at the beginning of each month where we get training and talk about the needs of the mission, and then we teach all of the district councils that week to relay what we learned. So both of those things are coming up this week-I only had a one week break from teaching those, and now I have to teach three in one day!

We develop a zone vision that sets some goals for what the zone will do during the transfer, and we got that squared away on Wednesday and Thursday. We have things to report, just like the district leaders, but we report to President and to the stake. Other than that, our biggest job is to solve problems that arise. And there are always plenty of those!

Elder Ewell, my new companion, is a great guy. I had been hearing his name throughout my mission, as I served around people who knew him, and also he was serving in Port Arthur before he went zone leader, as well. In any case, we are getting along well, and assuming he isn't hiding his loathing deep down, we both like being companions. 

I need to see if anybody else asked me any questions, because there isn't a lot of commentary to be made about what happened this week...

Aha, mom asked me questions. The introduction to  the ward went well, in bits and pieces. I met our relief society and elders quorum councilors in charge of missionary work on Wednesday, we bothered Bishop at work on Friday, met YSA and members throughout the week. I have really liked the people I have gotten to know a little, so I am excited. 

Dad asked what email platform I use, it is just gmail. Also if anything changes for labor day-Bishop invited us for a BBQ (mmmm, brisket) but that is about it. 

Well, if any one else has questions I will try and answer them, if not,

Elder DeFord, signing out. 

Week 44 (8/27/2019) Charity

8/27/2019

This week was bittersweet, leading up to transfers. While generally you stay with the person you are training for the full 3 months, I had a feeling that I was leaving. Sure enough, in a little bit we will be driving to drop me off as one of the Zone Leaders in the Houston East zone, serving in the Pasadena (Fairmont) ward and the Houston East YSA, with Elder Ewell as my new companion. 

I am sad to be leaving an awesome district and an awesome companion, all of whom I have really come to love. That idea of coming to love is the reason for my subject line, in fact. 

Being a missionary and getting moved around is interesting, because you only get to know the people for such a short time. But I have found that even in that short short time you come to love them. I have really found family here, and am sad to be leaving them. They will always be a part of my heart. Each area I have served in it has been the same way. Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it is such an amazing gift. I wish, and am striving for, charity for everyone. I want to just love people, whether or not I think they do lovable things. Each person I speak to is worth so much, and worth loving. I am trying to develop that charity for all of them. 

For those keeping track at home, P__ is still excited for her baptismal date in November. I will have to make the trip back to Port Arthur for it. Also, D__, who I taught in Cleveland, has a scheduled baptism for this Saturday! I am excited for that, hopefully I get to attend! 

Each week we set weekly goals for what we will accomplish, and this week, on Sunday, we had reached all of our goals except for our new people to teach. We had only found 1 during the week, and we had set a goal for five. Well, we knew that the Lord would help us achieve our goals, and so we prayed and asked for His help, and we set out. I have never seen former finding-going by people that were taught previously- to bear fruit like that. We found them, we talked to them, and they accepted invitations to meet with Missionaries again. By the end of the day, we had found the 4 people we needed. It truly was a little miracle. 

During that experience, there were a couple of times that I pulled back a little bit. Satan whispered in my ear that it really didn't matter about the goals, no one would care if I didn't work...well, I shot back, it did matter, to me and to the Lord, and I cared about whether or not I did all I could. And in the end it was all the sweeter for having to overcome those things. 

Well, it was a great week, but my journal is all packed up and I don't remember what else happened. Packing is always a little depressing, as you see the physical manifestation of you living there just disappear into a couple of bags. But good things ahead, as well as behind!

Emailing from Port Arthur for the last time, 

Elder DeFord

Week 43 (8/19/2019) My First Exchange

8/19/2019

Hold up, Elder DeFord, your first exchange? As of this last week, you have been on a mission for 10 months, and you haven't gone on any exchanges? It seems like you talk about them every other email! 

Okay, so it wasn't my first exchange. But, it was the first exchange I was in charge of conducting. As the district leader I am supposed to conduct exchanges with every Elder in my district. Well, my first couple of transfers as district leader, I only had sisters in my district. And funnily enough, I don't conduct exchanges with them. Anyways, when I came to this area, I did have Elders in my district, but last transfer I just got busy and am bad at planning, so it never happened. But I managed it this time. 

So on Tuesday I went to the Nederland bike area with Elder Wright, who came out with my trainee Elder Larcom. We biked around all day, it was some good times. My experience on Tuesday really prepared me for the rest of the week. As we were doing a little tracting, I guess I was just feeling a little extra bold, or the spirit was pushing me, because when people said they weren't interested I just kept talking to them. And it ended up being really good. We didn't get to start teaching any of them, but the contacts got longer and more spiritual, and I at least really enjoyed it. 

We will come back to Wednesday, I just want to continue with this theme. On Thursday, Elder Larcom and I had not yet found any new people to teach this week. So we set a goal, had a vision, that during our Hour of Power in the evening, we would find two people. As we prayed to begin that hour, we felt good about that goal, and set out. In less than half an hour, four people had invited us back! However-each of those people initially said no! And because we taught them anyways the spirit had a chance to testify and their hearts were softened, and two accepted copies of the Book of Mormon. 

And that takes us to Friday, where the district council topic I was assigned to talk about was teaching for understanding and resolving concerns. And due to the preparatory spiritual experiences I had had, I was able to better see that when someone says no it really just represents an underlying concern, resolve the concern, and the no will melt away. I love that. 

I love how the Lord prepares us in diverse ways to learn and understand His doctrine. For me, I needed the experience on exchanges to have the experience with Hour of Power, and then that experience helped me teach with power during district council because I had a recent personal experience with it. It is so cool how the Lord works!

Back to Wednesday, we had new missionary training in Kingwood. President and Sister Hewlett taught some great things about goal-setting, which were focused on the new missionaries but had great application to me too. I still have a lot to learn, after all! Maybe one day I will know all the things and have all the skills, but I kind of doubt it. It is okay, though, I kind of like relying on the Lord more than relying on me, anyways. The Lord is just a lot better at everything. His way is a very good way. 

On Friday evening the classes for those Spanish-speakers who wanted to learn English had their graduation fiesta, all the Spanish branches in the Beaumont stake were invited. Well, we didn't have a dinner that night, and I am practically a Spanish missionary, so we dropped in.;) It was fun to get to practice my Spanish and mingle with them, I love the richness of their culture. And the richness of their food! That reminds me of an event that I forgot to include. 

On Tuesday while I was on exchanges the Spanish Elders called us and told us their dinner had invited them to bring other missionaries if they were available, so we went with them. However, the Spanish elders were on exchanges with the zone leaders, so only Elder Wade spoke Spanish. That meant that when we taught the lesson afterwards, I got to participate, which was a cool experience. Mi testigo, y tambien el poder de el Senor,  es verdadero en qualquier idioma. I declined the offer to pray, though. I have only prayed in Spanish once, and it was a stressful experience. I need a more extensive gospel vocabulary for that one. 

On Saturday was bike day, and I think Elder Larcom and I logged in about 25 miles on our bikes. Which, honestly, wasn't that bad. Without any hills or having to rush, riding bikes is pretty nice, even when your area is 7 miles away from your apartment. I remember in Jasper riding bikes was terrible because of all the hills. No problem with that here! The only "hills" are the slightly raised sections when you cross railroad tracks. Although, I amend that statement. We did find one hill by the lake, man made, but it was fun to ride down. Of course, I hit a huge puddle at the bottom and splashed mud all over my shirt. Whoops. It was fun, though. 

On Sunday we were excited to have P__ at church, but she texted us saying she was sick. We intended to go visit her afterwards, share what the speakers talked about, but when we called she said she just wanted to rest. Well, we prayed about where to go, and we felt like we needed to minister to her. So we went to Sister Jolly's house- Sister Jolly is the sweetest, most compassionate woman, and she loves crafts, especially making cards. So we told her we wanted to make a card, and out came the boxes and we got to work. We made a beautiful card and all signed it, and delivered it to P__. We were trying to doorbell ditch it, but she saw us through the window ;) 

Anyways, it was a great week, probably lots more happened but my thumbs are tired of typing. 

Love,

Elder DeFord