River Falls week 18

Transfer calls! Elder Cole and I are staying in River Falls. 

Elder Mattison, my zone leader from Mesa is leaving. He is in our ward and I am actually really, really sad. I know missionaries get moved around a lot, but we cannot write other missionaries in our mission and he has become a good friend.

So this week was pretty crazy. Basically every investigator we have dropped us except one. So we have nothing on our plate. We will be doing a lot of finding this week... But last night we were tracting at 8 pm (which no one likes to do because people get quite irritated) and at 8:35 we knocked on this woman's door and had a wonderful restoration lesson. She looked at the picture of Joseph Smith's first vision and told us she believed it. So hopefully that pans out well. 

On P-Day Elder Cole and I played chess to some classical music. I won the first game, he won the second, and I absolutely dominated his soul in the third.. sort of. So he takes FOREVER to play so the last game we played timed chess. He didnt like that much. Anyway I systematically eliminated all of his pieces off the board until he had his King left. I began setting up the board to annihilate him when he realized he couldnt move anywhere because anywhere he moved would mean he was in check. Apparently this is a stalemate in chess. So the game was a tie. He got up and was like, "man it feels great to both have the same record at the end of the day doesnt it?" with a big grin on his face. Revenge will be mine today. 

So we got a call from a friend of a man we know to go and help this woman he knows. So we show up at her house and she was like oh, not me! Help him! She is a caretaker for this elderly man. SO we went over to his apartment and cleaned the place for him because she didnt have time. She said it "looks like a crack house" and oh man, I had to put some elbow grease into it but that apartment looked absolutely beautiful after we got done with it. We will try and go back and teach the man soon. 

We went over to a member's home to give a spiritual thought and then give them invitations to the primary program to hand out. We get in there and the one son wants to play me in chess, the father volunteered me. So I started playing him. I just moved random pieces to let him win. Elder Cole kept on taking turns on me to try and beat the kid, but he had been playing chess for a week and he was only 7. I was not going to beat this little kid at chess. Elder Cole is merciless, oh man. Anyway, Elder Cole was trying to share a thought while I tried to let this kid win at chess. Then the other son started riling up their little dog. He went berserk and started running around the room, up the couches, jumping across the furniture, and snarling the whole time. Imagine this scene: I am playing this kid at chess, the dog is going berserk, the daughter is growling at the dog and trying to cling to Elder Cole's leg as the father is yelling at her to get off, Elder Cole is trying to share a message, and the mother just has her hands on her head. Oh man. So much chaos. Ha ha. 

On Thursday Elder Sharp got emergency transfered to our area. He is also from Mesa and is best friends with Elder Mattison from back home. He was with us till saturday and we had a lot of fun. Working in a tri-companionship is pretty difficult, though. 

So we came out from an apartment complex and Elder Cole had a note on his bike that said, "HI. You should lock up your FRAME, at least. I could totally steal it. YA DANGUS." He had locked up only his tired to the rack. The person had also loosened his bike tire as if they were going to take it off. He was pretty spooked that his bike was almost stole it... YA DANGUS. ha ha. I have no clue what a dingus/dangus is. Hopefully it isnt offensive.. if it is.. I apologize and will go repent. 

So we were teaching a less active in this trailer park. He daughter comes in and tells the LA that someone just committed suicide. That was awkward for us. Then she talked about her schizophrenic neighbor that calls the cops on santa every other day and some other crazy stuff. She looked at us and said," the next time you come there will probably be a shoot out or something, ha ha. I dont know what you would do, maybe hold up your Books of Mormon." I said," actually, that would be the best thing for us. After all, nothing gets through Second Nephi." ZING. She laughed pretty hard at that one. That is the first time I have used that joke in conversation. (Shout out to my wonderful mother for telling me that joke)

So our zone leaders sent out a challenge this week to use Mahonri Moriancumre in conversation 5 times one day (to promote us talking to a lot of people). It was quite difficult teaching people and keeping a straight face while saying," there are prophets in the BoM just like in the bible, In the bible you have Moses, Abraham, Jeremiah. In the BoM you have Alma, Nephi, Mahonri Moriancomre." Oh man. SO much lulz. 

Yesterday we helped this man move who has a lot of faith. He is the second person I have met on my mission who believes God is a woman because men aren't nice enough or something like that. His girlfriend called us to ask us to come over (i gave her my number two weeks ago and she didnt actually believe I would come) and she asked me if I was Jesus. That one got a good chuckle out of me. But I told her no, I am not Jesus. 

Spiritual thought: D&C 93

12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the ^afulness at the first, but received ^bgrace for grace;

 13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from^agrace to grace, until he received a fulness;

 Christ received grace for grace. And if we received his fulness over time, wouldnt that mean we need to work even harder to receive grace for grace? So many people we meet deny works, and yes we cannot get to heaven on works alone. But Christ did good works to reach his fulness, we must too. We cannot sit idly and pretend to be faithful. Faith is an action word. 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Elder Damron 

River Falls week 17

So I had quite the entertaining week. We contacted on campus and met this guy who seemed interested in our message. On our return appointment we quickly realized he was there to try and disprove the existence of God through math and philosophy. I learned quite a few good arguments to keep in the back of my mind for the future, but needless to say things didn't go super well. We have had roughly 8 lessons in the last 3 weeks with bible/belief bashers. We must be magnets to these people or something, ha ha. 

On Tuesday we went off looking for this man named Jim that we met in a parking lot like 3 months ago. His house was pretty close to ours (1.5 miles) so we took off on bikes after studying the GPS. Two hours later we were lost in the middle of the woods with a bunch of dairy farms and horses around us. It was quite beautiful, but we had absolutely no clue where this house was, ha ha. Our district leader happened to call us and he then looked up the address on his GPS. We had taken a wrong turn like 4 miles previous. WE basically we got quite the scenic ride. And a lot of time wasted. The guy wasnt even home when we finally got to his house... Elder Cole just kept on muttering things about me not bringing the GPS. ha ha

While teaching a woman that we have been meeting for about 4 months, she went off on a 20 minute tangent about how she was mad that Christ's second coming did not occur in the year 2000. She told us that was the millennium! That is when He needed to come! WE tried to explain what the millennium actually was but it didn't go well. 

We went on 48 hour exchanges withe Zone Leaders this week. Basically we just switched companions for 2 days. We blitzed their area and just stayed at their house with them. I have not had a more interesting 48 hours on my mission. As I said earlier I am a bible bashing magnet and of course we had 3 bible basher moments in that time period. Elder Mattison told me he had never met a missionary who gets himself in these positions more. Anyway, one of these instances was a family, the Bots. We walked in and they had their bible on the table. That is never a good sign. They wanted to hear our message "in case they got something wrong." After every principle we taught the husband would say "only if it is in accordance with the bible." After we finished the restoration they were like alright, question time. They grilled us. Elder Farnes is a good example of how to handle these situations. He didn't argue a single question. He just kept telling them to pray about it, over and over and over. It was powerful. At one point the husband picked up the BoM and said he couldnt accept the book because it contradicted the bible. He tried looking up a scripture in Alma, but couldnt remember where it was. Then he told us that Alma says there was 3 days of darkness when Christ died, but the bible says 3 hours. Therefore, our book must be rejected. Elder Farnes and I just looked at him with faces that said, "honestly? THAT is your issue?" THis is where the lesson got amusing. I turned to 3 Ne 8 and read the verse that talks about the destruction ended in 3 hours. I told him the BoM totally agrees with the bible (yes I know which passage in Alma says 3 days and later in 3 Ne 8 it says 3 days, but I wont go on that tangent now). His face was priceless. He stammered a little bit, totally confounded. He didn't try to bash the BoM the rest of the lesson. Hilarious? Yes. Should I have done that? Probably not.

Elder Mattison has a tiny little bike (he isnt very tall) that I used while on the exchange. The brakes didnt work, my knees almost hit my chest as I pedaled, and the chain came off like 3 times. I looked like a clown riding one of those mini cars. At one point E. Farnes stopped to talk to someone and I hit my brakes to talk to him too. Usually when you hit the brakes you expect to stop, right? Well I managed to say a hello to the man and then just kept going for like 40 feet. Dumb bike. Elder Farnes found that pretty amusing. 

Last night we rode our bikes 6 miles out of town to do some member drop bys to commit people to invite people they know to the primary program. On the way back we were riding our bikes through the woods in pitch darkness with our little bike lights. It was super pretty! One thing I am not used to yet is the whole no mountains thing out here. I could see the horizon for the whole 360 degrees. So many stars! I still miss mountains, though.

 

Spiritual thought: 

2 Ne 9:45

45 O, my beloved brethren, turn away from your sins; shake off the ^achains of him that would bind you fast; come unto that God who is the ^brock of your salvation.

 I love this scripture! The imagery is amazing. We are literally shackled by chains that will keep us bound by sin. Yet as we turn to Christ we can "shake off the chains." To me that shows the power of the Atonement that was made. We can literally shake off our iniquities and return to live with God. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

-Elder Damron 

Pics from River Falls week 16

River Falls week 16

On Monday we had district P-Day. Once a transfer all the missionaries in the district can get together and have some fun. So we went bowling! Man I am terrible. One Elder, he is from Mesa too, bowled a 219. He knocked down every pin but 4 in the last frame on a 3rd roll. He said he has never done anything like that before in his life, ha ha. Then we had Elder Lotulelei, who I mentioned last week, who basically started throwing bowling balls down the whole lane and getting strikes. It was insane. That kid is a BEAST. 

While contacting at a college apartment area I met a girl who has been to Montana. She had the nerve to call South Dakota better than Montana! Blasphemy! I told her she had just plunged a knife in my heart and she chuckled and went back inside to finish her agriculture homework. Fun. 

We went to dinner at a member's house this week and while waiting for the food to be ready E. Cole and I started talking to one of the daughters, who is 9, about school. She mentioned she had not gotten any tickets yet at recess. Then her father walked into the room and said she broke the record for tickets in a year last school year. We then asked her how to get tickets. She got a big smile on her face and said," by punching people until they get bruises, by hitting people in the face, by pushing people to the ground and kicking them really hard, stuff like that." E. Cole and I stood there mortified as she started laughing and went into the other room. Oh man. 

We went to to a New Missionary Training meeting in Bloomington for Elder Cole on Wednesday. We got a ride with some other Elders, the driver was Elder Silva. While driving down the high way there were tons of people on the bridges over the road waiving flags for 9/11. Elder Silva kept rolling the window down and screaming/yelling "MURRICA". It was an interesting car ride. Anyway, President talked about how we need to stop being so critical of ourselves. Some self criticism is good. But if we are always dogging ourselves this is actually being very selfish and prideful because we are always thinking of ourselves. I had been thinking about this for a few weeks so it was a nice reminder. I just want to be President someday. That would be cool. He knows everything. 

We also got in contact with some old investigators, an unmarried couple in their late 20s. They were outside so we talked to them. The man told us life was going ok but they were moving at the end of the month, so things might get tricky. That was the first time we had heard anything about moving. Unfortunately, that was also the first time the girlfriend had heard anything about moving (they live together). Needless to say it got quite awkward when they started arguing and so we told them we would drop by later...

We went to the River Falls campus and contacted a little bit. Something cool happened! This girl named Anna walked up to us and said asked us if we were the ones that stops by her apartment every once in awhile (we have talked to her roommate a couple times). We told her yes. She got excited and told us that she had been to Nauvoo and wanted us to go over the next day to talk with her. E. Cole and I were ecstatic! So we went over. The moment my foot stepped into the doorway of that apartment I knew it was a trap. They were sitting at a table with their bibles out and ready. They had a carefully laid out game plan on how to trip us over our words. They asked all the perfect questions to steer the conversation the way they wanted it to go. They even had read a lot of JST stuff and told us to look at the JST footnotes in some places. They then proceeded to absolutely rail us for about an hour on our beliefs on grace and whatnot. I kept trying to explain our beliefs but they didn't listen too much and just kept on going. At one point Anna told us she was sorry for what she was about to do, and then she turned to Moroni 10:32. I know that scripture quite well and I told her I loved that scripture. She read the second half of it and told us that we contradicted ourselves about being by saved by grace alone. I told her she skipped the first half. There is a clear if-then statement in the first half of that verse. IF you come unto Christ and deny yourselves of ungodliness, THEN you are saved by grace, or something like that. The more creative argument that her friend, Hannah, made was one I had never heard before. We talked of being here on earth to grow, experience, and learn to be like God. She opened up to Genesis and told us we sounded like Lucifer and the First Lie. Eat of the fruit and ye shall surely not die, but become as Gods. I almost wanted to give her a slow clap for the creativity of that one. But I didnt know that trying to develop the Christ like attributes of patience, humility, knowledge, etc was of the devil... anyway, E. Cole got pretty heated up and so I kneed him really hard under the table. He realized his error and then bore a very humble, powerful testimony that while we did not know everything, we did know this was true by the power of the Holy Ghost. We left with a prayer. During the prayer I said Anna started crying because she felt so sorry for us. Anna truly wanted to help us see the truth. Hannah didnt like us at all. Then Hannah informed us they would say their own prayer because "we do not worship the same God." And I might agree. The God they described is a deterministic God who choses who he saves, therefore he is not all loving. The God they described was also slightly vain, and I am not trying to be blasphemous. I walked out of the encounter absolutely dumbfounded over the words which they had spoken. They had not shaken my testimony at all, they have strengthened it. We have the truth about the nature of God in this Church. There is no doubt in my mind about this. I just don't understand why more people don't realize what they are actually saying when they declare their beliefs to us. Later on in a phone call with Elder Mattison he asked me if they had called me  "Elder Damwrong," then he burst into laughter. Kudos Elder Mattison, I have never actually heard that one before. 

We also brought a couple investigators to a baptism in the ward on saturday. One of the investigators had not wanted to be baptized until a special day such as Christmas, her birthday in march, or July 25th (we have no clue why the latter is special, ha ha). But after going to the baptism, she woke up the next morning and knew she needed to be baptized. She will be baptized November 9th. If you ever have friends you want to share this gospel with, bring them to a baptism. Like 80% of people who attend a baptismal service join the church. The Spirit at a baptismal service is so powerful. 

We talked to this guy named Herbert for awhile on Sunday and he went off on a rant about how God is a woman because there is no way a man is that nurturing. We opened up a Restoration Pamphlet and showed him a picture of the First Vision and we told him this is God the FATHER and HIS son Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith. Our next appointment with him might be quite entertaining. 

In 1 Nephi 1:19 the Lord tells Nephi he is blessed for being diligent and lowly in heart. Diligence is so critical for becoming converted to the Lord. Not just having a testimony, but being truly converted! These are two separate things. Go read E. Bednar's talk on conversion from the 2012 general conference (fall, I believe). Anyway, think about all Nephi went through and how diligent he was. Twice he and his brothers went unto Laban to try and get the brass plates, and twice they fled for their lives. His older brothers were about to go home and Nephi said no, the Lord will provide and on that third visit, he did just that. The Lord blesses those who are diligent. But we must also be diligent because we want to honestly serve the Lord. What is our intent on following God's commandments? The Lord looketh upon the heart. 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

-Elder Damron

Pictures from River Falls week 15

Ethan and Elder Cole (his trainee?) weekly planning

River Falls week 15

So on Monday Elder Cole and I went up to Hudson (our church building is there; it is 10 miles away) to play some ball with the zone leaders. We went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (the missionaries in this mission are totally obsessed with that place) and Elder Cole and Elder Farnes did the Blazin Challenge. 12 wings in 6 minutes with their hottest sauce. They tried to get Elder Mattison and I to do it with them but we laughed at them and said heck no. Besides, we ate 5 pounds of ice cream two weeks ago. The ensuing scene was quite hilarious. They brought out the consent forms and it mentioned death on it. Elder Cole and Farnes freaked out. So funny. But the wings were on the grill. It was too late to quit. So then the wings finally get out and the waitress comes and starts the timer. Elder Farnes went to town. He just started chowing down like a mad man. He started turning beet red and his eyes were watering. He started sweating too. His face was covered in the sauce and then some of it splashed into his eye. Elder Mattison and I are just sitting there enjoying our Honey Barbeque ribs laughing. Elder Cole didnt think the wings were too hot, he just cant eat very fast. Elder Farnes finished with about 30 seconds left. Then he just started yelling and basically screaming. The waitress was like, "shhh SHHHH". His eye started to swell up super big and he said he lost feeling in his face and whatnot because of the sauce everywhere. He looked like he got beat up or something. But hey, he got a free T-shirt. 

I went on exchanges with an Elder Lotulelei this week. His brother is Star Lotulelei, who played football at the U of U and is now on the Caronlina Panthers. E. Lotulelei has a scholarship to play at the U when he gets home. He is a 6'5" 340 pound Tongan. What a man. Anyway, we knocked on this guy's door and he came out and we started chatting. He is actually a horse trainer and he goes to Missoula, Montana a lot. So I talked with him about that. He also goes to Mesa a lot! He was like," yeah I work on Lindsay road in mesa a lot." I was like wUt. I told him that is where my house is. He trains at the Arabian place right next to Lavender and Old Lace. Small world, right? He saw E. Lotulelei's name tag and joking said, "is Star your cousin?" Then he chuckled. E. Lotu said, "no he is my brother." The guy's face was pretty amusing. 

We also taught a lesson around a campfire this last week. That was cool. We were up in a trailer park meeting with an investigator at about 8 pm and she had a fire going so we read the BoM by fire light and taught a good lesson on the foundation of Christ. That was unique. 

I fell for the first time on my bike this week... So E. Cole and I found this crate of sports equipment that someone was throwing away. So I picked it up to take home. I was trying to balance it while riding my bike at a greater speed than I should have and then... boom. That was like a long 3 seconds where I realized that I was about to hit the pavement pretty hard. The crate went flying and I went down. Luckily I managed to roll and I landed on my side bag and rolled over. I didnt even get anything on my white shirt. Still hurt a little. Oh, and it was super awkward and embarrassing... lulz. 

We visited this man named Tori this week. He wants us to come back and help him move some stuff around, so we told him we would love to. Then he said," do you like hamburgers? We can grill some up and have some Coke too or something." We said yes. Then he said," yeah that's cool, I'm actually a vegetarian." We both looked at him a little funny and then began to say" Oh ok..." He then said,"of course I'm not a vegetarian you fools! I love the freak out of meat! I'm a carnivore!" That was pretty funny, ha ha. 

When visiting a less active lady in a nursing home one of her friends called. She did not want to talk to the friend so she said, "there is someone here who wants to talk to you," and handed me the phone. I was a little surprised but then started talking to the lady. She was pretty nice. I tried to teach the restoration over the phone. Needless to say "tried" is the key word there. At least she took our number down and might call us. 

We taught a college student named Jake last night. It was such a sincere, spiritual lesson. He really worries about whether or not he can truly even plant the seed of faith in his heart (we read alma 32 with him and he REALLY liked it and talks about it every lesson). We shared a talk by Elder Faust on how to build a relationship with Christ. Toward the end he really opened up and told us all his concerns. Elder Cole and I started to teach him and the things I was saying were things I have never even thought of before. The Spirit took over. I learned just as much as Jake did in that conversation. I love lessons like that!

Spiritual thought: Mosiah 2:5-8

 5 And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his^afamily, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another.

 6 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his ^atent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;

 7 For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a ^atower to be erected, that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them.

 8 And it came to pass that he began to speak to his people from the tower; and they could not all hear his words because of the greatness of the multitude; therefore he caused that the words which he spake should be written and sent forth among those that were not under the sound of his voice, that they might also receive his words.

Mosiah 2 is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon, I read it frequently. These verses stuck out to me this time. In verse five it talks about how the whole family came to listen. Every member. Salvation is a family affair! This is part of God's plan! They also stayed in their tents and listened. We must allow the words of our prophets into our homes. We must worship within our own homes, not just once a week during church. This is so critical. And then in verse 7-8 King Benjamin made sure that EVERYONE could hear/read his words. The words of the Prophet are so important. I read this week in the ensign or something that even if we had the fully translated plates, all of the sealed portion too, even if we had all the prophecies of John the Revelator, without prophets and apostles salvation would be impossible.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! 

-Elder Damron 

River Falls Week 14

Hello family and friends! My letter this week may be a tad short because we are emailing from member's homes because of the holiday. 

So this week was pretty brutally hot and humid. The temperature would be in the high 80s or low 90s and I would think, oh, that wont be bad. I lived in Arizona. Wrong. The heat index put the temperature at like 105-110. The dew point was in the 70s. Meaning it was so humid that at 70 degrees dew would form. It looked like it rained when we got home one night because of all the condensation appearing. We bike everywhere so it was a lot of fun. We put between 20-25 miles in a day. So bueno. Most missionaries gain a ton of weight on their mission, I have lost about 10 pounds. ha ha. 

So we are teaching this exchange student named Jessica. She super awesome and soooo prepared. This truly is the Lord's work. Well anyway, all young single adults must be referred to the University of Minnesota ward because that is best for them. The problem is that it is an hour from where we live. Anyway, so after a lot of... discussion we will teach her in the week and the YSA elders will have her at church each week and then baptize her. We are super sad that we cant attend her baptism. We really care for the people we teach and always want to see them make that commitment to God. The Dinkytown (college campus) Elders feel bad that they are basically taking away our baptism. But all that matters is that it happens. 

So while looking for a less active this last week we talked to this lady watering her lawn. We told her we were looking for her neighbor. She cut me off and said "you're lying." I said,"no! really! She lives right there! Her name is Gayle!" The woman kinda stumbled over her words and then just yelled she didnt know anything so we left. It was amusing to us. 

We also taught a woman that we meet off and on this week. We would meet more, but her husband hates us. So that creates problems. After we taught her she whipped out her accordion and played it for us for like 15 minutes. SO LEGIT.  Maybe I'll pick it up when I get home. 

So I think Elder Cole and I should open up a moving business as a side job. We participated in 3 moves this week and helped an assortment of people move random couches, beds, and other furniture. For one of the moves we were the only people to show up to help besides one 16 year old. It was about 93 outside with a dew point in the 60s. so... gross. And we were in full pross clothes. We moved about 3 hours in the middle of the heat of the day and oh man. So much blood sweat and tears. Oh well. I like helping move, actually. 

We helped this one guy named Omar move. We stopped on the side of the road and saw a some people moving boxes and whatnot up stairs, so we helped. At the top of the 3 story building we met the man to whom the stuff belonged. Turns out he is Muslim. He thanked us for the help, then basically yelled at us the rest of the time about how we were basically going to hell and that obedience to the law is what brings salvation. It was an interesting experience, that is for sure. I still like him, though. 

In a role play one morning I pretended to be a yak herder from Mongolia. Elder Cole was not quite sure how to respond to that one. Oh man it was so funny. 

Mosiah 4:11-12 speaks about joy and remembrance. When we take the time to remember all of the blessings the Lord has poured upon us, we will be so much more happier than we are now! Try it out this week. Go read the 2nd verse of hymn 241 Count Your Blessings as well. 

Have a wonderful week everybody! I love you all!

Elder Damron