Fallon

Here we go again! 

So new area! I love it here in Fallon! A lot of fun! Really really different from Ely! It's strange to have a Walmart again. And it's in our area too!!! Its a lot of fun being around here. Elder Jackman is really great! He is a super nice guy! Really just a giant teddy bear. We are figuring out how to work together. It's going pretty good so far. A lot of good things! The work here is going. It's pretty similar to how it was in Ely when I first got here. So I am excited to see what the Lord will bring to us. 

I'm excited to still be a district leader. I enjoy it a lot! Every week it's a challenge to be able to work with the spirit to create a training that will benefit those in my district. I love being asked to grow and stretch. The district is just us and another set of Elders. Elders MgGee and Ruiz. Elder Gamble trained Elder MgGee. Elder Ruiz was trained in Spring Creek at the same time I was training Elder Gailey. I'm excited to be with Elder MgGee and Elder Ruiz. They are both good Elders and know how to do the work. 

I can't really tell you a lot at this point about the work, because I can't quite figure out who is who. We cover two wards. Fallon 3rd and 4th wards. They are the two smallest wards area wise in the Fallon zone. 4th ward is about the size of my ward in Sparks. 3rd ward is about the size of my ward in Spring Creek.The boundaries of who is in 3rd and who is in 4th ward is tricky, but it works out. I am relying a lot on Elder Jackman to help me out with every thing. 

I am excited to see what this area and transfer will bring

I love all y'all and each y'all! 

Elder Miner 

Ely to Fallon

So this week was very very very bittersweet. Brother Romero got baptized, but I'm getting transferred! I will be going to the Fallon 3rd and 4th wards! I leave tomorrow morning to drive across highway 50! The loneliest road in America. My new Companion is Elder Jackman. I am still a district leader. Elder Jackman is going home this transfer, so he will be number two companion that I will have killed. 

I love this place so much! I love Elder Rivers! We have had so much fun and such a good time together. I really have enjoyed these past two transfers! I am excited for what will come in Fallon! In Elder Lathams old area too! But I love Ely. I have learned so much here about myself and who I am. And how inadequate I am. Elder Harmon(who is coming with me to Fallon with me as the other DL) asked me this week in DLC what I have learned from being a leader. I told him "That I can't do it alone. I don't know what they need. I have to rely on the Lord or else I fail." And that Applies to everything in my life. I know that I will fail if I don't rely on God. And so I will. Forever and always. 

But this week has just been great! Brother Romero was baptized on Saturday, and confirmed on Sunday! He is such a solid guy. His whole Catholic family came! They are completely supporting him and loving him in everything! I will be sad to leave him. But he is in good hands with Elder Rivers and the ward. I could spend and hour and a half telling you all about the baptism, but I won't. I will just say this: That the Spirit was there. Everything that was done was testified of. The Spirit testified of the words spoken. I felt the witness of what we were doing there. And I know that everyone who was there felt that witness too! I love these people. And I could not have left on a better note. 

At the baptism, everyone kept thanking us. This has been a long time coming. 20 years of work by family and friends. When they thanked us, we told them the same thing. It wasn't us. All we did was teach the material to his needs. He was the one that was converted. He was the one that read the material and prayed. He was prepared by family and friends. We just had the great privilege of being here when he was ready. He found us week 2 of this transfer. And week 6 he was baptized. 

We still have 5 others who are all set for March 4. They are doing good. I know that they will enter the fold of God. They are a good bunch of kids, and I'm sad I won't be here for that. But they are in the best of hands. I would trust Elder Rivers with the world. And they are in God's hands. He knows them and he loves them.

I do not know very much, but I do know that God loveth his children. 

I love all y'all and each y'all
Elder Miner

Brother Romero's baptism

Jake and Faith

Getting ready to teach

Random dog

Not the same dog

Splits with Elder Stotts

Cleaning the Apartment before transfers

Week Number ???

This week was good! We had a lot of stuff going going on! Brother Romero is progressing super well! On Tuesday we had went over the baptismal interview questions and the only ones that he had a little trouble with was question 2. His response was "I'm getting there". We had anticipated this, so we had brought last Aprils general conference ensign. We committed him to read a talk by President Monson. "Choices". And this guy, he is so great! Anything we tell him to do, he does!!! He did just that! And he hasn't stopped praying about it since! He wants to get his answer reaffirmed! On Thursday we were able to teach him and his family about the temple! His active wife hasn't yet received her endowment. She wants to wait for him. So we were able to explain about the temple! About the things that are to come! He had an issue with the ordinances for the dead, because he thought that we were forcing the dead to be Mormon! So we explained to them that they still got the choice to accept or reject! So that was super cool! Now he thinks that Temples are super important and he understands why we have them! He is excited to see the Cedar City temple! Gospel Doctrine on Sunday was all about personal revelation and the teacher, our ward mission leaders wife, geared the lesson to Brother Romero! He loved it a ton!! He is figuring out how to use the Gospel Library app and he loves it! His baptism is still planned for the 18! 

The Rowleys are doing good! They are still on date for March 4! They are a crazy bunch of kids! But they like church and they love primary! We retaught the Plan of Salvation yesterday. Sometimes teaching them is like pulling teeth. They are a rowdy bunch sometimes. But we love them! 

Jake and Faith down in Lund seem to be doing good. We are seeing them tonight and we are having them teach us the restoration. 

I went on exchanges with Elder Stotts this week. He is doing good! It was a super good exchange!  But I think Elder Stotts and I have become lifelong friends because of our exchange. He is super awesome and he is doing great!!!

Elder Rivers and I have been doing so great these past two transfers! I love this guy! He is a great Elder! I have seen him grow a ton since he got here. He is not the same Elder who got here 3 months ago. He is a good man and a good friend. I don't want to leave Ely. I don't want to leave Elder Rivers or this district. I love them all! 

We were able to do a youth fireside in Lund last night! We told them all about the Book of Mormon initiative! And then let them ask any questions they wanted to. We got a lot of super good questions from them about studies and just missionary stuff in general It was super cool! We put 3 of them to sleep haha. But a lot of them were really engaged and wanted to hear from us. I love the members in Lund!!!!! 

I love all y'all and each y'all! 

Elder Miner 

Another Week Gone

This week was super good! 

A lot of really good things happened! 

On Tuesday we had a super good lesson with Brother Romero, the man with the baptismal date of February 18. We taught the Laws of Tithing and Fasting. Before the lesson he had a few things about them that he wasn't sure about. He didn't have the full picture. But we were able to fill in all the gaps and help him better understand why we do both. He accepted the commitment to pay tithing and fast offerings! We are using the pamphlets and focusing on the blessings that come and tieing it all back to the fact that our Father wants to bless us. 

On Thursday we were able to teach both the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. Again he had a little bit of confusion at the Word of Wisdom, but by using the pamphlets and putting it in a perspective that him, as a coach, could understand, we were able to explain everything. We focused heavily on the blessings and he completely understands. He doesn't drink alcohol. He hasn't had coffee in 3 weeks. And he said he would start looking for herbal tea substitutes before we even committed him to live the commandment! He said "this is the easy commandment". I guess the praying and reading as a family is a little bit harder haha. But the Law of Chastity went very smoothly. he loves that commandment for his daughter's sake. They are 14 and 17. He thinks the standards of the church are great! He was curious about the way missions work and transfers and all sorts of different things because you were there last week. He thinks it's super cool with all the organization we have. We explained how we came up with the baptismal date of February 18, and he thought it was super cool! He loves that we pray for him and for his family. He is so awesome and he came to church for all three hours yesterday! He came to priesthood for the first time! He fits right in. Many in the ward are his friends. I love this man and he is sooooo cool!!! He really is the best and has so much potential in the gospel!!! I love that man!!!!!

This week has been a lot of fun and just good things have happened Brother Romero is a huge focus of ours because his baptism is in 12 days. So thats why its all about him

I love all y'all and each y'all

Elder Miner 

The Rowley Family

Splits with Elder Davis

Zone Conference and Interviews

Hello everyone!! 

This week was super great! 

P-day was longer, which was weird! But we liked it! 

Tuesday I got to train on how to learn by the spirit! I think the district meeting trainings are more for me than others. I learn so much as I try to prepare for them. Those are some of my best studies that I have!! 

Wednesday was the missionary broadcast. I loved the missionary broadcast that we had this week! It was all about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. All about how the different principles of the gospel all work together. Something that I really liked in it was that they said that a testimony is not just what we say, but it is who we are. It reminds me of what a member said down in Lund. Sometimes we are the only scripture that others ever read, so what are our scriptures saying about us? It just reminds me that people are watching not only what we say, but who we are. We have to be so good, because when we falter, others do too. I do not want to be the reason someone falters. So we had some super good things come out of that! I really liked it a ton! 

Fridays Zone conference was great too! The drive to Elko didn't kill us, nor did anyone go off the road, so that was great! I think I'm a really bad driver? I don't know? I think I was going waayy to fast in the fog. So it was probably through God that we didn't die. I had to watch for the Elders behind me or else I would've gone waaayy too fast. They were what kept us going good. I loved the trainings and the different things we were able to learn! All about the ways we study and plan and prepare! It was super good and really enjoyable. Then Costa Vida after is always great!!!!!

So we had about half of our lessons fall though this week. But we saw sooooo many miracles!!! On Saturday we found out that our investigator, Brother Romero, knows that everything is true. He knows it to the extent that he told his devout Catholic Mother about it! He is wholly committed to being baptized on February 18! That was huge!! This week we are teaching the law of tithing, fasting, word of wisdom, and the law of chastity. We aren't seeing an issue with any of them! He has a good wife who has kept him clean. We had a different investigator that same day who told us that he knows that Joseph Smith had divine help with the Book of Mormon. He said he is a rock, but that he is getting softer. He will come. It's only a matter of time! The work truly goes on. My companion and I are just here to help. It is only by divine providence that we are here at this time. It could easily be any other missionaries. But God in his infinite mercy and wisdom has given us the opportunity to experience this. These will be days that are not to be forgotten! 

On Sunday we had an amazing sacrament meeting! The Bishops son gave his homecoming! And President and Sister Chesnut were there! Everything that RM said was what our President has said. And he kept smiling at us the whole time! It was great to be able to be with the Chesnuts. They are the best!!! We then had interviews! My interviews have been strange lately. The focus is not on me anymore. The first question I got was "hows Elder Rivers doing". Then I got a bunch about the other members of the district. The focus is on the people we care for. And it should always be like that. I like it! So my focus should always be others. For the rest of my life. I will have to focus on my callings. On my children. On my family. Siblings. Friends. making sure that I am who I need to be, so that I can help them when they need it. 

I had a cool insight in the shower today! It was that p-day is on Monday, so that we can have as much time to prepare for the Sabbath as possible. On p-day we are distracted and not sure what we are doing. But we have so much time to prepare to be enlightened! 

I love all y'all and each y'all!!

Elder Miner 

Just a little snow storm

I can't believe he drives in this

An icicle after the storm

Pretty

Elder Lyman

Ely Zone

1 Year!!!!!!

Hey Everyone! How are y'all doing?

This past week has really been great! Lots of really good things happened in our area! That miracle that I mentioned last week got even better! We met with the Romeros both Tuesday and Thursday! Mickey Romero is now set for February 18! He is super prepared! So we are super excited! And so is the ward! We have had tons of members out with us to the lessons! We are going to keep meeting with them and we are so excited!

Jake and Faith down in Lund are set for March 4 along with the Rowley kids. Things are moving ahead! We had the Rowley kids, Brother Romero, and Jake at church yesterday! And Jake brought a non-member friend! Not only are we helping people, but our investigators are helping too!  I love this area so much and I don't want to leave! 

So this is the big secret for all the missions of the world! Most already know! Our nightly planning is now in the morning. After that is personal study. Then everyone is out by 10. Lunch at 12-12:30. Then comp study and then language study. Dinner MUST be done by 6:30 now. It should be from 5-a6. So be aware of that all y'all at home! This new schedule is different but good! I feel like our planning is more effective now that it's in the morning. We aren't half asleep when we make our plans. There has been a lot of times where I've said the next day, "why on earth would we decide to do this today" And so far that hasn't happened with this new schedule! We have been able to set up lessons at 10 almost every day now! It has been super cool to see that change! Everyone seems to be enjoying it! It is keeping us more productive! 

Our next week is super stacked with appointments! We have appointments every hour for almost the entire week! We are going to Elko on Thursday night and then we have ZONE CONFERENCE on Friday! We are super pumped for that!!! Also on Wednesday we are having the missionary broadcast to all the world about the scheduling stuff and who knows what else! 

So on Friday I hit my year mark. January 20, 2016 is when I entered the Mtc. That day has now passed in 2017. Super crazy!!!!!! But to commemorate that event, my parents(who are arguably the best on the planet) sent me a box full of CHICK FIL A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So that was pretty dang cool!!!  My Dad had a huge part to play with that! He is the BEST! 

On saturday I was on exchanges with Elder Gamble (for the 6th time) and we were able to see something really cool! Our neighbors are a less active and non member. My last companion Elder Anderson tried them and they were not interested. But we tried them and they are super duper down! He wants to come back to activity! She (studied with the JW's for 30 years) wants to learn more about the church and what we teach! We saw them saturday at 8 and they were planning on coming to church the next day at 9! We don't know yet if they came, because we were in Lund for Church.

But the work is moving forward! It is growing! our board now has 26 people on it! It has room for 32. We will fill the board up!! It will be great!!! I love this place so much!!!!! So many miracles! 

Thats all folks! 

I love all y'all and each y'all! 

Elder Miner 

Planning

Driving

Whats left of the Chick fil a

The Romero Family

Good Week

So this week has been super good! On saturday we got to drive up to Reno in a very small car. I did not drive. I was not happy about that because the Elders that did drive are not good drivers. We hit the sleeper rails about every 2 minutes or so. But that's okay. We made it  alive!! we had an extra hour of time and the other elders wanted to go hang out with some missionaries who are not the most obedient, but after some impressions about what we should be doing, we made it to where we were supposed to be with our zone. 

Then we had an amazing experience with Elder Christofferson. I really really loved being with Elder Christofferson on saturday. I had some questions answered that have been very near and dear to my heart. I got revelation that I needed. It was a very uplifting experience for me. We got to be in the presence of an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then after that we drove right back home! We got home about 12:30 that night. It was a very long long car ride! And I didn't drive any of it. Which made me very uncomfortable. If i'm going to die in a car, I want it to be my fault haha. 

Yesterday a miracle happened!! A man, Mickey Romero, who is married to his active wife, with two active kids in their teens, has softened his heart and is ready to hear from us. He broke down after the second hour and told everyone that he was ready! He is ready to make steps in his life to unite with the Church of our Savior. This has been something that people have been fasting and praying for, for many many years. He has had a valiant home teacher since 1999 who has visited him consistently. His wife has had the stake president's wife as her visiting teaching companion for 12 years. Diligence in our service and duties really pays off!! Miracles happen!!!!  Home teaching and visiting teaching are so critically important! He is already more active than most members. So we will be meeting with him this week, and we plan on setting him with a date. We are super excited for this!!!!!

The Rowleys are on date for march 4. And for the kids in Lund, Jake and Faith, we will find out more on wednesday. They canceled our appointment last week. So we will see what happens! I am super excited for what miracles we will see this week in our area!!! 

The work is progressing!! When I got here we only had 5 families on our board of people that we work with. Now we have 24! THe work is moving along and Elder Rivers and I are just trying to hold on so that we don't miss it. We are seeing everything go well! The Lord has humbled us and we are trying to be better. We've had some people drop us and that has not been fun, but the Lord has given us people who are more prepared. We are hoping to see more miracles and we are praying for them! I love this work, and the stone cut out of the mountains really goes on without us. So we will hold on for dear life! 

I love all y'all and each y'all! 

Elder Miner  

The whole mission with Elder Christofferson

Zone P-day

Jenga in the apartment

View from Austin Summit

Ely Zone

Elders in his apartment