Duluth week 24

So transfers are in! Elder Zerkle and I are finally splitting.. he is finally leaving the nest! I am with Elder Goertzen, a missionary who is in an area about an hour north of me right now. So I am excited to work with him. The district leader position was also moved so i am a normal missionary. I have only been a normal missionary once my whole mission, and that was over a year ago, so i have a lot of free time on my hands! 

For the next 6 weeks if you desire to send me mail you might as well send it to my apartment address: 510 N 40th ave W #206 , Duluth MN 55807 it takes like 10 additional days when you send it through the mission office because of how far up i am. Sometimes it even takes 3-4 weeks.

The K family was baptized this week! It was the most spiritually powerful experience of my whole mission, I kid you not. This family was super prepared. Elder Zerkle and I really didnt do a whole lot for that one. Gotta love those gifts! The father in law drove up from Iowa to baptize the family. He was beaming the whole day. He has been waiting 15 years for this and you could see the joy in his countenance. When they got into the water his voice was full of emotion and he said the prayer and dumked Bro K. The Spirit just slammed everyone in the room and Bro K got up and embraced his father in law. You can tell that Bro K has a powerful testimony that these things are true. While they were getting changed the Sister Missionaries showed the Because of Him and Because He Lives Easter videos. Then Bro K bore his testimony of this being the true church of God and how he has seen so many blessings in the last 3 months he has been investigating. Then told the congregation that he and his family WILL be sealed in a year. So legit :D

We had a service project helping a member tear down a wall inside their home this week. Elder Zerkle leaned against a pipe on their heater and broke it so we had to leave that and go to the hardware store to buy stuff to fix that. he has now broken a lot of stuff in our apartment and stuff in 4 member homes... oh boy

So on Saturday during our correlation meeting with our WML, Brother Faerber, Elder Zerkle asked him what the qualifications for getting into the middle tier in the celestial kingdom. Bro Faerber said be endowed members who are also BYU fans... ouch. Later that day we saw him again and I gave him a hug of consolation over his precious University of Utah being knocked out of the tournament. 

We had a drunk guy asked Elder Zerkle and I when we were setting our marriage date... that was awkward. 

helives.mormon.org 

Check out the new easter video if you have not done so yet! I love all of you Have a great week

Elder Damron

Duluth week 23 pics

Duluth week 23

So first off, the K family all passed their baptismal interviews!!!! The father and two kids will all be baptized this Saturday! Elder Roose did the father's baptismal interview and he told me that Brother K is the most solid person he has ever interviewed. 

We had a cool lesson with a LA, GL, this week. He joined the church like ten years ago. We were asking him about his testimony and he told us he didnt believe in God until he met the missionaries. When they got him to pray and read the BoM he said that he felt something he had never before felt in his life. His faith was thus born.

We had a wonderful lesson with the R family. They came to church for the second week in a row! They hadnt been to church before that in a year. Sunday night we went and set a baptismal date with the 9 year old daughter for the end of April. The father wants to baptize his daughter but he feels like he cant be ready. We boldly testified that if he acts in faith and gets his act together that he will be able to. IT was powerful.

Last Thursday was cloudy with a chance of hellfire. There were also a few reports of brimstone falling from the sky. We taught like 4 lessons on repentance and we also had a district meeting on using Preach My Gospel (which everyone in the district had stopped using regularly). So much repentance was preached. Gotta love it! 

We had a great lesson with a LA, PB, who also came to church for a second week in a row and the second time in the last year. He really wants to quit smoking and we taught repentance (it was definitely a Thursday lesson). He asked us if he had been forgiven of his smoking and we read Hel. 5:10-11 and told him complete repentance could be his when he quit. Then we hardcore testified to rely upon Christ to quit. He is our Savior and we can do all things through him. Why try to do it alone? IT is really cool because i have been seeing this LA for the last 6 months and for the first time i see a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Isnt the gospel cool?

We had a hilarious dinner appointment where a member announced that In'n'out was probably the most abominable burger joint on the planet. Elder Zerkle had a facial expression similar to someone who just saw their dog get hit by a car. So they jawed at each other for a few minutes and i calmed things down (all in good fun, of course). Then Elder Zerkle gave a spiritual thought on opposition in all things. The member smiled and told us he agreed completely. Then he said, "for example, if a boy grows up out west eating at sub-par burger joints his whole life he may be fooled into thinking the burgers are actually quality. He needs to leave Eden, or the west, to come to minnesota to experience what real burgers are like." ha ha ha man so good. so flippin good.

I went on an exchange with Elder Foggin this last week!!! This is the first time i have ever gone on exchange with a previous companion. Elder Foggin is also the first companion i have ever served around after we were companions. cool stuff :D

Yesterday was Zone training, which is why P-Day is today. President taught us about the Because He Lives Initiative. CHECK OUT THE NEW VIDEO THIS SATURDAY!!!!

So for my spiritual thought I want to do something a titch bit different. 

 

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/jesus-is-tried-by-caiaphas-peter-denies-knowing-him?lang=eng 

Here is the video of Peter denying knowing Christ. Peter, who just hours before, had professed that he would do anything, even die, for the Savior succumbed to fear and made mistakes. I am sure he was wracked with guilt and torment because he never really got a chance to talk to the Savior before he was killed. There was no restitution. 

 But Peter was able to overcome his weaknesses, repent, and become one of the mightiest men to ever walk this planet!

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/peter-and-john-are-judged?lang=eng 

Look at the difference in Peter in these two videos. In one he is full of fear and isnt acting in faith. In the other he is a bold man of God! He teaches with power and authority! He tells the people that killed Christ that Christ is the Messiah straight to their faces!

Just like Peter we can all overcome our weaknesses to become effective and powerful tools in the Lords hand through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement!

I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Damron

Our district

Lake Superior!

Duluth week 22

Have I mentioned how much I love Duluth? This place is so great :D Miracle city all day every day!

So Elder Zerkle managed to get me onto the bike this week. It was 60 degrees and he loves being on a bike more than pretty much anything. So we biked to an appointment. It wasnt half bad! 

So we taught BG this week and we felt like we were getting away from teaching how the Lord wants us to be teaching by basing our lessons off of PMG, not trying to convince people this is true. So we talked quite awhile about finding out if the Book of Mormon is true and he admitted he hadnt put his efforts into the Book like he should be doing. So I am pretty optimistic for the future :D

We had a pretty sweet miracle where we went to go teach a returning member and we started talking to a woman right outside of his home. She had actually met with missionaries about a year ago and she asked us for a Book of Mormon because she couldnt find hers. Then the member we were visiting came outside and the woman we talked to was actually good friends with the member! So we all went inside and had a fantastic lesson. 

A 14 year old kid asked if we had holy oil and Elder Zerkle told him no we did not but we had consecrated oil. The kid was doing some profane things and I may or may not have threatened to use the oil to exorcise a demon out of him...

Sunday was a big day of miracles. The R family came to church!!! They are a part member family who we have been working with. Their daughter is 9 and she really wants to get baptized. They came for the first time in 14 months!!! On Saturday we had a really cool lesson with them. We made a pro/con list of church attendance and they listed off all of the things that hindered them from coming to church. Then we went through the blessings. Elder Zerkle stopped and said, "i thought of a really great blessing of coming to church." Then the father said, "let me guess, ER can be baptized?" we smiled ear to ear. Then i said, "yes! a great blessing of you all coming to church is having your daughter receive an ordinance essential to her salvation." That hit them nice and good. Them committed to church pretty quickly after that. 

We had a pretty sweet lesson with a man named PB who has been less active for over a year. We read out of the BoM of the cycle where people forget God in times of prosperity. Then he stopped us and broke down a little and told us that he was very guilty of that and he needs to change and he wants to change and be happy. Needless to say, for the first time in a year he came to church :D

I hope that you all took time out of your day to recognize and appreciate the glory of this last saturday. It was Pi Day!!!1 But not just any Pi day, the Ultimate Pi day! 3/14/15 3.1415 :D dont worry, i ate pie

  Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

I love this scripture! The Lord is with us always, even when we feel abandoned. Fear is the opposite of faith!

I love you all! Have a great week 

Elder Damron

pics from Duluth week 21

Michigan!

Tallest Native American statue in the world!

Duluth week 21

I had a great week! 

On Wednesday I exchanged with the Ashland Elders and we went to Michigan! They are the only area in the mission that covers a portion of Michigan. So that means I now have served in 3 states. i also exchanged in Carlton and ended up being gone from my area from Tuesday-Friday. then we spent the night at the ZLs for two nights. So last night i finally got to sleep in my bed for the first time in foreverrrr. IT is all about the small and simple things. 

Sickest news ever!!! WE ARE GETTING iPADS!!!!!!! WOOT WOOT. Since June of 2013 they have been telling us we would be getting them soon. Having iPads will be sweet because we can study with a lot more resources at our hands, we can download all sorts of videos and use them in lessons, and other stuff like that. So I am pretty pumped. It gets better, though. Two General Authorities are coming to the mission to give a Mission Conference on how to properly use media and technology in missionary work!!!! They will be coming on May 26th!!! ... oh.. wait. What do i care? 

So on my exchange in Michigan I met a European man who married a native american woman (who is a member) and he is a Thor worshiper. He also only wears kilts. Yep. He doesn't own a single pair of pants. He also is a weapon specialist and had all sorts of weapons all over his house. He is about 6'7" and has a massive dwarf beard. pretty cool stuff.

We were also at the Davis' family's house for dinner last night and the daughter was showing us pictures of baby elephants and going on and on about how cute they were. I definitely mentioned how my sister Alyssa had a baby animal picture looking addiction for awhile. Anyway, Elder Zerkle said, "that thing doesn't have any hair on it! It looks disgusting!!" Then Brother Davis, who happens to be bald, looked E. Zerkle in the eye and said, "are you telling me I look disgusting?? I let you into my home to eat a meal and you call me disgusting?" I was crying i was laughing so hard.

So now that all the great stories are written, we did missionary work too! The K family continues to be doing super well. They will be baptized on March 28th. We taught a powerful lesson on receiving a witness of the Book of Mormon by the power of the Holy Ghost. They believe it is true already, but I want this family to receive the fullness of the blessings they can receive. I don't want them to just have a testimony, I want them to be converted. And that all starts by praying about the Book of Mormon and asking God the Father, in the name of Christ, if that Book and this Church is true. I'm excited to hear about how this week goes :)

We also had some great lessons with our blind investigator, BG. He came to church again and he told us that he had quite a few concerns. Well we had a particular member give him a ride to church today. What we did not know is that this member also brought someone else to church who had an interview with Bishop after church. So BG and this member talked for like 40 minutes and this wonderful member missionary, who is a  convert, was able to solve and answer every single one of BG's concerns. Later, BG told us that it was a "stroke of genius" that we brought this member. We call that revelation in the Church :D

Luke 22: 41-44 

41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast,and kneeled down, and prayed,
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven,strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

This week I gave a district meeting on discouragement. I found quite a few examples in the scriptures of when we are discouraged and perhaps feel abandoned by God, but the Lord sends an angel to help His servant in a time of need and they are able to complete a task. The Savior, in the darkest hour that one could possibly imagine, was probably a little down. He pleaded with the Father to remove the burden, but He was obedient and continued onward. Our loving Father in Heaven sent an angel to strengthen the Savior. Not only that, but modern revelation speculates that this angel was Michael, or Adam, who is mostly likely a very dear friend to Jesus. 

The Lord knows everything we go through and is in the details of our lives. I know he sends angels to us in those times of need to help us. Most likely these people are not literally angels from heaven, but people around us the Lord sees fit to use to our aid. 

Show some gratitude this week! Reach out to someone who has had a profound influence upon your life in some way and say thank you.

I love you all!

Have a great week.
Elder Damron

pics from Duluth week 20

Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Zone P-Day

Slumber Party!

Duluth week 20

So we had zone conference last Monday and that night we had 10 Elders in our apartment. Thankfully some members let us borrow some air mattresses so that they didnt have to sleep on our hardwood floor. It was a lot of fun. Perhaps too much fun... we got some sleep dont worry! The next day we had a zone P-Day and played lazer tag. It was pretty epic 

We are teaching a blind man named BG and he came to church yesterday! He brought his service dog and all of the little kids were absolutely flipping out about having a "puppy" in Church. it was pretty adorable. He also loved church, so that is a plus :D we taught him the plan of salvation last week and at the end of the lesson he said, "you know, it makes sense that we needed to leave God's presence to experience mortality. How could we truly appreciate immortality if we did not experience the opposite?" It was a pretty powerful statement. He is a beast!

Elder Zerkle and I have been working very hard at putting up everything on the alter of sacrifice and becoming consecrated missionaries. And you know, I think we are close to achieving our goal because this last week we went and walked on water. Thats right. We just walked out onto Lake Superior. okay, we cheated a little bit. The lake was completely frozen with about 11 inches of ice, but baby steps, right? We will work on a more marvelous miracle when the lake unfreezes. But yeah! we ran out onto the lake and ice hut tracted. SOOOO fun. All the ice fishermen just sit there in their little hut all day just waiting to be talked to! We had a decent amount of success, too. They are fishers of fish and we are fishers of men so it all worked out!

So I was standing in our bedroom tying my tie and i see out of the  corner of my eyes a spider hanging in the doorway. my hands were occupied so i asked Elder Zerkle to kill it. He is a big guy and thinks he is tough sometimes so I figured he would be able to hand it. Well i turn around and he has a paper towel and he carefully tries to pull it out of the air. THen he opens up the paper towel and the spider leaps at him a little bit. I thought there was a 7 year old girl in the apartment from his little shriek so then i had to go and kill the spider on the ground. For heavens sake he reminded me of Alyssa waking me up at like 5 in the morning to kill a spider in her bathroom. ha ha

We had a pretty sick lesson with a less active named JH this last week. I have been trying to contact him for some time and then the EQ president asked us to go over and see if he wants home teachers so we decided to go again. So we got in the door for the first time and he opened up about all his trials. We read about the atonement of Jesus Christ in Alma 7 and told him that Christ felt all of his trials already so he didnt need to go through this alone. He told us he realized and that after he started feeling healthy again he would make God more of a priority. Well obviously I didnt agree with the way he wants to go about the situation so I opened up to 3 Ne 13:33 and told him that the quality of his life was only going to improve once he put God first, not last and then we committed him to pray every night for the next week, read the Book of Mormon, and then look back to see how his week was different. He said, "you know, that is completely reasonable. Ill do that." #repentance

Abraham 3:25 

 25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

One of biggest lessons I have learned since coming to Duluth is learning to accept the will of the Father with humility.I have had opportunity after opportunity up here in the Duluth to either be humble or resist what God wanted me to do. This is exactly why we are here on earth! To learn to accept God's will. When we try to do God's will the grace of His Son, Jesus Christ, fills our souls and we can accomplish absolutely anything He wants us to do.

I love you all! Have a great week. 

Elder Ethan P. Damron