Week 8

AREA: North Las Vegas (Deer Springs/Waterfall)

COMPANION: Elder Steward

I don't have a whole lot of time so I'll have to make it short. Sorry

This week I have been able to teach a new investigator named Jen Mujick and she's a gardener.  She wants to be baptized soon so we have to teach her 2 to 3 times a week so it should be interesting.  We also gave other lessons to Sara and Kash.  They are still progressing and working towards their dates.  We should be able to get 3 baptisms next month which is awesome.  My companion always says, "if something bad happens it almost always his fault, if something good happens, it's always because of God."  Something like that.  I like that though because it's true.  Everything that happens in our life that's good, it's cause of God.  I see blessings in my life everyday.  

Scriptures I've found I come to enjoy

Moroni 7:46-48

Moroni 7:13, 16-17

John 15:13

2 Nephi 7:10-11

Alma 6:6

Love you guys!

Week 7

AREA: North Las Vegas (Deer Springs/Waterfall)
COMPANION: Elder Steward

Monday-  Today was a typical P-day.  We had dinner with a family and they had a referral for us and she said she'll try to set up a teaching visit for us.  We also contacted a referral we got yesterday and he answered the door and said to come by on Saturday to teach a lesson. 

Tuesday-  Today we had zone meeting and we talked about using appropriate missionary language and setting higher standards.  We set a goal as a zone to try are hardest to get 15 commitment given to non-members each day.  That is a really hard goal because we usually get around 4 or 5 a day.  Later that night we went to a members house for water and the family was crazy big.  They had 11 kids in the range of 8 months to 12 years old, all of them are adopted.  All of them were were very different from each other but they all seemed to get along.  The ten year old from Africa yelled, "mommy, when I grow up I want to go on a mission like them!" So that was cool to hear.  We taught them a short lesson and it was a cool experience.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of all of them.

Wednesday-  Today we went to the DI to do service.  It's a thrift store and we sorted clothing that came in and it's pretty nasty stuff.  You'll come across gross used underwear and socks so not the funnest service.  Later we went to Brother Stevens house (less active old guy with corvette) and we taught him a quick lesson but mostly he showed us all the cool things he makes and his 1975 corvette.  We talked about his life and he said he is getting to weak to take care of his yard so we offered to come over to trim bushes and cut the grass every Wednesday.  He has quite a bit of land so there's a lot to do.  He also said we could help him fix his corvette and motorcycle, so that will be cool.  We also taught Joe Downing today and he's been investigating for 3 years now and he asked a pretty common questions we thought he would know by now.  He asked what's the difference between being baptized in a baptist church and ours.  So we talked a lot about the priesthood. So that was cool to teach him something new.

Thursday-  Today was weekly planning and it went well.  I lead it for the first time so it was interesting.  Then we did a lot of street contacting and tracking with not much luck.  

Friday-  Today we taught Cash and Sara, unfortunately we had to push their baptismal date back a little for both of them.  There wasn't enough time to teach all the lesson because not all the lesson happened that we planned for.  We taught Sara CPR (church, prayer, and read) and it went well I bore my testimony a lot and spirit was strong in the room.  Then Cash we taught law of chastity and he's eleven so we taught it pretty simply.  

Saturday-  Today we had exchanges, and I was with Elder Flores.  He is really into cars and is from Mexico.  He mostly like muscle cars and I'm more of a All Wheel Drive car kind of guy since I'm from Minnesota.  It was a long day of lessons canceling but we had 6 successful street contacts/ door contacts.  We had dinner with a family from Minnesota, around Coon Rapids area.  They were an interesting family.  Then we did some more street contacting.

Sunday-  Today was a good Sabbath day.  I enjoyed the talks in both sacrament meetings.  They were about the articles of faith and the importance of them.  They had a lot of stories that go along with it and it strengthened my testimony on the AofF.  After church we did some street contacting and went to the ward mission leaders house to report our work we have done.  Then we went to dinner at the Stevenson's and they have a exchange student from Spain there and we taught a lesson towards the end on keeping the Sabbath day holy.  Then we played apples to apples while Sister Stevenson mad dessert. Then the day came to an end.

This week I have been able to grow a lot in my teaching and contacting skills, I hope to continue to have a steady growth.

I love this true gospel and I know if I continue to have positive thought and work hard and set goals I will be a successful missionary.  I know the gospel is the only thing that can bring me eternal happiness.  I know nothing else can make me happy forever, not even a car.

Love you guys!

 

Week 6

AREA: North Las Vegas (Deer Springs/Waterfall)
COMPANION: Elder Steward

Monday- Today we played volleyball again.  It was fun to email
everyone and hear from them.  After all the fun we had a Family home
evening with a less active family, it went really well.  We talked
about sincere prayer and it was awesome to see how much lesson seem to
help their family.
Tuesday- Today we had district meeting and we talked about knowledge
and it seemed to help me study more efficiently in the mornings.  The
lesson gave me more of a want to build my knowledge more about our
true gospel.  Later that day we taught a family we found last week,
their name is the McDonald family.  They have three kids and the dad
is a inactive member but the wife is not.  We taught them the
restoration and they all seemed very intrigued while we taught and had
a lot of questions.  It was a great lesson and we set up a return
appointment for next Tuesday because they are a very busy family and
Tuesday are the only day that works for them.
Wednesday-  Today we did a lot of finding with not much luck.  We also
had a lesson with Joe Downing (has been investigating for 3 years
now).  We read out of Alma 32 and it went well.  He was talking about
baptism and seemed interested to be baptized sometime soon.  Which
means maybe 3 months for him.
Thursday- Today at the gym I ran a 6.05 min mile and that's as fast as
the treadmill will let me so from now on I will try to continue to
build on the mile.  Today was weekly plan so it was long but pretty
good.
Friday- Today we taught Cash (11 year old boy) the Ten Commandments
and it went pretty good.  He has a date to be baptized the 24th and
same with are other investigator Sara.  While we were street
contacting tonight there was a dirt biker doing a wheelie down the
street for a long time, so that was cool.  After that another cool
thing happened.  There was a Hummer H1 driving down the road and then
just drove off the road and started going up straight up hills and
going down.  They ended up stopping to talk to us and asked if we
wanted a ride.  My companion said no thanks when I was going to say
yes!  They were members so they were cool.  Unfortunately we didn't
find anyone to talk to for the 2 miles we walked.
Saturday- A lot of finding today, we had a quick lesson with a
semi-active family.  It went pretty good and they all came to church
the next day so that's good.
Sunday-  Today we had 5 hours of church and it was good.  Lunch/dinner
after church was like a family reunion it seemed like.  They invited
all there family to come over and that was good because we got a lot
of referrals from them.  Today was 9/11 and we went with a family to a
flag memorial for each death that happened for 9/11. So a lot of
flags.
I'm so happy for the opportunity to serve for two years in Las Vegas.
It's an awesome place with a lot of nice people.
I just want to share a scripture to express my gratitude to our Savior
Isaiah 53:4-6
Love you guys!

Week 5

AREA: North Las Vegas (Deer Springs/Waterfall)
COMPANION: Elder Steward

Sunday- Today we went to the Deer Springs ward for the whole 3 hours
and then went to the Waterfall ward for the rest of the time.  We
switch off wards each week so we don't favor one ward more than the
other.  I was super tired for some reason it felt like a long day.
Monday- Today was P-day and we just went grocery shopping and
Ross(Marshall's).  Then we go to the church to hang out and write our
emails and play volleyball or basketball.
Tuesday- Today for morning workout ran a 6.27 min mile, in the morning
I am trying to push myself to go faster and faster.  The treadmill
maxes out at 10 mph so the mile I can get is 6.00 so I'm working
towards that.  I have ran a mile every single day since I've been out
in the field, I started at a 8.25 min mile so I've improved.  Today we
had district meeting which was good. It was about diligence and he
quoted my favorite scripture in the lesson (D&C 58:27).  Then we
taught a investigator named George Segala and his family's religion is
the Sydney R. branch off of the Mormon church(The Church of Jesus
Christ). He has a testimony that our church is true but his family
isn't on board to switch churches (his wife).  Now we are just trying
to encourage him to come to church once and see how he feels.  After
that we went to a less actives house and he has a 1975 Corvette.  We
left him with a spiritual thought and asked him if he could read a
chapter of the BOM so hopefully he does.
Wednesday- Today we taught Sara for the third time, she is 16 years
old.  We taught her the plan of salvation.  We asked her to be
baptized and she said yes.  She has been attending seminary because a
young women invited her to come when she was a church on Sunday.  She
is an awesome investigator, she is following up with the commitments
we give her.  We also got a referral from another set of missionaries,
her name is Jen and she has three kids and she said she wants her and
her kids baptized but we haven't been able to contact her yet.
Thursday- Today was weekly planning, we planned out our week for about
3 and a half hours.  We did a pretty good job on staying on task. We
plan for an hour then take a 10 minute break then and so on.  Also
President Walker asked us in the month of September to show our
gratitude towards people by giving them thank you cards.  So he has
asked us to give out 2 thank you cards out a day.
Friday-  Today I had a 6.17 min mile on the treadmill and I was
motivated because I was racing Elder Steward.  Not a whole lot
happened today. It was a lot of finding and there was nobody to find
because everyone was out of town for Labor Day weekend.  I attempted
to ride a unicycle at a members house, it was pretty fun but hard.
Other than that pretty slow day.
Saturday- Today was also a pretty slow day because of the same reason.
So we were knocking doors for a along time today.  We talked a
potential investigator, she didn't seem to interested but she was
happy to invite us in.  She asked if we wanted a beer and we said no
thanks with a grin haha.  We just showed her a video and left with a
prayer and set up a returning appointment.  Then for dinner we had BBQ
chicken sandwiches.  Then the member asked if we wanted to milk a goat
and we were excited to try so we did haha.  We have videos below.
They also had like 6 cars, they were big fans of old Volkswagens.
They had an old vw bug dune buggy and an old jeep.
This week has been pretty busy.  It was a good week.  We had about 5
lessons so it's been fun getting to teach people the gospel.
Scripture I found this week I like.  Moroni 7:13, 16-17
In life try to see how the Holy Spirit guides you.  Whenever you are
making bad decisions that's Satan tempting you.  Recognize when the
devil is tempting you and make a plan to push him away if he does.
Also thank the Lord for blessing us with the Holy Ghost.

Black widows everywhere at night

Drift race teams semi truck

My typical lunch haha. I haven't gained any weight yet. I get fed almost everyday for dinner by members.

Week 4

AREA: North Las Vegas (Deer Springs/Waterfall)
COMPANION: Elder Steward

This week has been great, better then last week.  This week it was
when school started so everyone was out of town the week before on
vacation so we were able to meet with more people.  Right now we are
teaching g a 16 year old girl named Sarah and a 11 year old boy named
Cash, they are both interested in the church.  Cash has a baptismal
date on the 21st of September.  We have had 2 lessons with Sarah, one
on the Restoration and the BOM, both awesome lesson withe the spirit
strong.  I'm still getting the hang of teaching back and forth with my
companion but I'm improving.  On Saturday we knocked on an inactive
family's house and they were having a bday party for there daughter.
They welcomed us in and we found out that they haven't been active
since college so all of there kids weren't baptized and they have 3
kids ranging from 8-15 yrs old.  They were talking us to us for a
while and we asked if we could come by another time to teach a lesson
and they were okay with it. This will be a great opportunity to get a
family back to church and baptize 3 kids.

My favorite scripture I put on my plaque is D&C 58:27 continues to be
my favorite scripture.

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do
many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much
righteousness;

I like how it says to be anxiously engaged in a good cause by their
own free will.  I like this because I try my hardest to do thing that
are right because I want to not just to make your family proud.  I
know that I am serving in Las Vegas to serve God not just to make my
family proud.  I'm doing it because I want to.  I know I came to Las
Vegas for a reason, the Lord wants me here because I know it's the
right mission for me.  I'm so excited for the future of my mission.

Kevin's mission apartment

Week 3

AREA: North Las Vegas (Deer Springs/Waterfall)
COMPANION: Elder Steward

My first week out in the field has been good. I'm serving in North Las
Vegas and covering two wards, the Waterfall and Deer Springs Ward.  My
companions name is Elder Steward and he is from Calgary, Canada.  He
has been out for 13 months.  He towers over me at 6'4 and looks like
he is 27 but he's 19 almost 20. My area is pretty slow a lot of
finding, and almost all the neighborhoods are gated so we don't have
all the codes to get in.  The second night we were street contacting
and someone grabbed our bags and said give me your bags and my Elder
Steward almost dropped him but found out it was the first counselor in
the bishopric playing around with us. Other than that we did a lot of
meeting with members and trying to get referrals.  We have had only
one lesson last week and it was with a former investigator named Joe.
He's been investigating the church for 3 years but never gets
baptized.  One of the doors we knocked on was pretty funny, Elder
Steward knocked on the door normally and a little Asian guy came to
the door and started yelling at us for knocking on the door so loud
and said we were forcing the gospel on him when we didn't say anything
to him.  He was really mad so just said sorry and left.  Yesterday we
had a guy we talked to on the street saying he has been saved already
so he doesn't need the gospel.  He also said he has died and went to
heaven and saw his mom, dad, and uncle in white robes and we're all
young, like late 20's.  And he said he couldn't talk and then he woke
up in the hospital and that's all he remembers.  Yesterday I also gave
a blessing to a member struggling with an infection.
       
I know I'm doing the right thing by being on my mission, there
are some days I'm struggling to be an effective missionary.  My memory
isn't the best and my knowledge of the Book of Mormon is not the best
and I'm working hard in my studies.  Everyday I feel the spirit in my
life and it's awesome to share the gospel with people even though we
have only had one lesson, but we are working on goals to get more
investigators.  I know this church is true and that Joseph Smith
restored it through guidance from the Lord.  I know our Heavenly
Father sent his only begotten son to die for us. This gospel makes me
more and more happy everyday!

Week 2

AREA: Provo MTC
COMPANION: Elder Jensen

 

So first off out of the 12 Elders in my district all but 4 are going to Las Vegas West mission.  The other 4 are going to Rancho Cucamonga, California mission.  My companion, Elder Jensen, is from upstate New York. All the other Elders are pretty spread out, only 4 out of the twelve are from Utah.  All of them I get along pretty well, there are some things they do that annoy me but we have a good district.  And I have been able to go to the temple 2 times so far and did endownment sessions.

Friday- Today I didn't do a whole lot.  We had class in the morning and had really long planning/ personal study for a good 4 hours so I had a good solid hour and a half of study and comp study and took a nap for about 45 mins in my desk I was at and I woke up with both arms and legs completely asleep so I could barely walk.  It took about an hour to go away.  Then went to dinner and had pizza.

Saturday- One of my investigators for TRC excepted to be baptized, even though he is a fake investigator I believe we still strengthen his testimony.  It was our 4th lesson with him, we went over the restoration, plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ and asked him to be baptized. Are other investigator was a Japanese lady and she believed in many Gods so it was hard to teach her but we got her to believe in one God in the end.  Someone in our district named Elder Wood was struggling in the MTC, he came out not cleaning everything up but he had an awesome testimony of our church he was just waiting to here from the mission president if he is going home or not.  We prayed on our knees as a district for him to be comforted and that the mission president can make the best decision for  Elder Woods life.

Sunday- Good day for me, it was fast Sunday and I fasted for Elder Wood that he would be comforted and come back out on his mission if he goes home.  Also today I grew a stronger testimony of sacrament and that we are renewing our baptismal covenants  with God and it just helps when you take sacrament seriously and think about all that Christ did for us.

Monday- Elder Wood got the news he is going home, but it's not end of his mission because he really wants to come back out and if he does he'll go straight out to Vegas so he wouldn't have to go to the MTC again.  I really hope he comes back out because he has gone through a lot and has a strong testimony in Jesus Christ and prayer, I know if he comes back out he will help many people in there lives.  The Lord knows what is best for us and he knows that.  

Tuesday-  We taught new TRC's(investigators) and one is Samoan guy name Kainoah and he doesn't believe in God but he wants to be happier. He always has tons of questions.  Are other TRC is Dominic and he a nice old Italian guy and he was raised Catholic but he is really interested in our church and reads the B of M and prays a lot so that's good.  For exercise today I rode on a stationary bike for 55 mins and went 15.5 miles at a hardish setting. I was sweating a ton and ended up burning 750 calories.  The workout made me feel good.  Towards the end of the day we had a devotional and Elder Anderson spoke and it was really good.  He talked about being a more effective missionary and what I got the most out of it was "be clean" "be obedient" "be busy" Three things that make a good missionary.  Also he talked about opening your mouth more to investigators because you never know if what you have to say could change their life.

Wednesday-  The lesson with Kainoah was okay, we went in thinking we were going to talk about the plan of salvation but he got stuck on prayer because he has had bad experiences with prayer so we focused on that the whole lesson.  We got him to commit to pray that night.  Our lesson with Dominic was good, he has a lot of comments and stories throughout the lesson so it's hard to get through it. Some things that happened today that was funny were me and Elder Jacobs were teaching each other to their needs.  We were trying to find a classroom and found a small little classroom and right when we shut the door we both farted at the same time and they stunk really bad.  The worst part was that 2 seconds later two attractive Sister missionaries knocked on the door and said that they were already using the room so we left the room laughing because you could tell on their face that they smelled something nasty haha. It was hard to stop laughing.  Also that same night Elder Jensen had a towel in his hand in our room and I bending over and he nails me in the balls and I dropped to the floor in pain so I got to get him back but had 3 failed attempts. So he let me punch him in the arm the next day.

Thursday- P-day, I was able to do laundry and go to the temple.  Every time I go I learn more and more and I feel peaceful and comforted there.  Wrote e-mails today.