Season 13: Skyway. Episode 4:Happy Skyway Days!

I love this week! I don't have tons of time to cover it all, so I hope you enjoy these 

pictures that tell the story!

On Tuesday morning we went out of our apartment to discover that our car window had been broken throughout the night. It looks like someone had a sparkplug and string and threw it at the window during the night. We found the spark plug when looking through the mess. Only two packages were stolen as the others were concealed by the Liahona magazine you can see there. It was basically like where people didn't steal the golden plates because they were concealed by beans haha.

As a result we are borrowing a another car from the mission. It just happened to be a very brand new one. I was able to drive the car right off of the Toyota lot at 6 miles. A different experience that I wont have very often in life.

Elder John did get emergency transferred and is now serving as an Assistant with Elder Nelson in the Clark Lake Ward in Kent. We met at the Auburn Stake Center on Thursday morning and I am now serving with Elder Rex and I in the Skyway ward. Things are still super duper busy, but I enjoy the hard work!

We were blessed with Ric being baptized on Saturday! It was a very powerful experience. After he was baptized he bore his testimony in Tagalog. It was about 3 or 4 minutes long, but very very powerful. The Spirit was present and everyone attending could feel it. Everyone on the Earth may speak different languages, but the Spirit speaks and testifies in one universal language that everyone can understand.

Starting on Left from heads, Bishop White, Sister Sablan, Estrella, Princes Joy, Reymark, Ric, Elder Jiao, Elder Jones, Elder John, Elder Rex, Elder Lappalainen, Elder Davidson, and Elder Bonney.

It was a great week and I am excited for the coming week!

Love,

Elder Sumsion

"Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost." -Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Season 13: Skyway. Episode 3:Blessed!

I was doing family History today and I found someone who I can do the ordinance work for! I love it! Lets go Spirit of Elijah!!!

The discovery center is in a church building right next to the temple, so we were able to walk over and take pictures.  Starting on the left Sister Chamberlain, Elder Knowles, Elder John, Elder Rex, Estrella, Princes Joy, Ric, Sister Knowles, Reymark, and Elder Sumsion. Reymark and Princes are 2 of their 7 children who live at home. Only those two we were able to take with us. All of their children are members and so is Estrella, except for Ric and one of their daughters.

This is the family search logo.

This is a shot that I was blessed with!
So I am going to be having well over a "thousand words" with this email!

In short we have had another busy week with tons of blessings! 

First off here is a curve ball! Due to a missionary heading home, Elder John is being transferred away (probably tomorrow) to be with that missionaries companion! We only found out like 1 hour and a half ago so its shocking news for Elder Rex and I. Elder Rex and I will be companions (hopefully unless something else happens haha) for the rest of the transfer and then I will be back in Skyway B full time with my new companion.

We went to the Family History Discovery Center in Bellevue right next to the Seattle Temple on Saturday with Ric and part of his family. It was such a blessing and fun experience. I am thankful for family history and the amazing effect it has one those who do it. We got to test of some of the features there and I loved it as well. It was a very fun time and I learned some cool things about my own history. One cool thing was that my first ancestor to be baptized was a man named Cyril Call. Others may have him as well because that was Elder Johns first ancestor baptized as well.

Afterwards we walked around the temple grounds. The Spirit was strong and it felt great! Ric and his wife want to go to the Temple and are setting a goal for 1 year from this Saturday. His wife is a member and has been for a little while. She has been praying and fasting for Ric's heart to be softened and it happened. As a result of her faith and many others, he is set for being baptized this Saturday. Its going to be a wonderful blessing to take part in that. 

Last night we had a lesson where we talked to him about Prophets and Tithing. As we asked him if he believed if Thomas S. Monson was a prophet afterwards he basically said "I dont know, I just heard about him for the first time." We invited him to pray on the spot and to ask God if he was. He said a beautiful prayer in Tagalog (the members that came said it was very sincere) and The Spirit bore witness right there. I love that family so much and I am so excited for this time to 

-- 

Sincerely,

Elder Sumsion

"Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost." -Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Season 13: Skyway. Episode 2: Lots of Work in the Skyway Ward!

This is us three this morning getting our haircut at Sister Chamberlains (I just feel taller being in Elder Johns and Rex's presence :) )

The Renton Zone at Zone Conference!

All starting from the left.

Front Row: Elder Christianson, Elder Richards, and Elder Stucki.

On Chairs/2nd row: Sister Knowles, Sister Chamberlain, Sister Beck, Sister Livingstone, Sister McClellan, Sister Bailey, Sister Wilkinson, Hermana Pineda, and Hermana Yost.

3rd Row: President McKinney, Elder Sumsion, Sister Eaton, President Eaton, Elder Williams, Elder Hunter, and Elder Sanders.

4th Row: Elder Knowles, Elder Mitton, Elder Northrup, Elder John, Elder Rex, Elder Boyack, Elder Covington, and President Layman.

This is us on Sunday with Bishop White. He is moving soon so we are going to be getting a new Bishop for the ward sometime soon.

Comusta! (That is "Hello" in Tagalog. It is pronounced "Coh-moo-sta")

There has been a switch around of companions recently, actually the day after I sent my last email. Elder Murphy had since needed to head home for personal reasons, so for the rest of the transfer I am going to be in a trio with Elder John and Elder Rex serving as a Zone Leader Tri-panionship. I haven't been in a trio since I was with Elder Buchanan and Elder Graham over a year ago.

We are covering ALL of Skyway ward and there is a lot of work going on here! I have never been so busy as I have been now because we just combined two full teaching pools of investigators who are progressing towards baptism.

 

Ric who I talked about last time is still progressing really well! He is still really ready to be baptized on the 28th. We have had several lessons with him and his family and they all go really well each time. One of the struggles is the language barrier as he doesnt understand everything we say in English, but there is a couple who comes with us every time who speak Tagalog. They are both returned missionaries and they help out a lot.

Walter is an investigator who is very very curious and we are doing our best to continue to ground him in The Book of Mormon. To help him understand and know for himself if there really were golden plates that Joseph Smith translated into English through the gift and power of God. When you come to know that, all other things fall into place. 

(Read Chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel to discover more of the "why" behind that statement 

https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/what-is-the-role-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng )

Jean is a great investigator who really is progressing. When Elder John asked her why she wanted to get baptized during a lesson she said "Because I want to get closer to God." She had a date for baptism on the 3rd, but we need to postpone it due to her not attending church. So when we meet with her this week we will have the opportunity to meet with her and talk about that.

Those are 3 examples of the many people we are being blessed to work with here in Skyway B. In Skyway A there are great investigators as well.

We had a Zone Conference on Friday at the Kent Stake Center and it was all about Repentance. Let me tell you, I LOOOVE Repentance! If you think about it Repentance is one of those plain and precious truths that has been lost in its purity during the Apostasy. Even now in the church, there are myths floating around about this essential Doctrine.

One of these myths that Satan tries to get us to believe is that Repentance is only for the very very bad sins that we make in life and that is not correct. We need to repent for every mistake we make in life.

Another Myth is that Repentance is a bad thing, but it is not! Repentance is less like bitter medicine that we have to take, but more like a sweet victory over our natural and carnal selves. President Eaton shared a quote that says (paraphrased) "Repentance is not the back up plan of life, it is the plan!" Repentance is a sweet thing that aligns our will with God and helps us become more like Christ.

For additional resources that are great for Repentance are 

True to the Faith on Repentance

https://www.lds.org/manual/true-to-the-faith/repentance.p1?lang=eng

and
The Bible Dictionary on Repentance

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bd/repentance?lang=eng&letter=r

I love Elder Rex a lot! He is from Orem, Utah. He is also super tall as well. Its really wonderful :D

I had the opportunity to sing in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. I sung "A Poor Wayfarring Man of Grief." Its a really easy way to invite people to attend church or a good excuse to remind people to come. I am grateful that I was able to share my testimony and witness through that beautiful Hymn. Singing has been such a great blessing throughout my mission and life.

I have got to go, but I love y'all alot!

Elder Sumsion

"Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost." -Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Season 13: Skyway B. Episode 1:Its Not About Titles

This is what you see when you walk right into the apartment.

This is our apartment building. Underneath it is a parking garage where we park our car. We live on the 5th floor and the 6th floor is the roof. It has a great view.

This is my desk area and how I have it set up.

​Howdy!

As I mentioned last week I have been transferred in Zone and in-ward to the Skyway B area! Its really great. The apartment where we live is really awesome. The whole area where we live is just right south of downtown Seattle. We live around the Columbia City or Hillman City area. Its all really nice and there are tons and tons of people. It is probably the most populated area or one of the closest populated areas in the mission.

Things are going great we have a wonderful row of investigators who are progressing towards baptism. The one who is closest is Ric. He is the father of a large Filipino family. One of their daughters was baptized a couple of years ago and ever since then one or two at a time more of the family has been getting baptized. Ric is set to be baptized on the 28th at 6:30 pm. He wasn't interested at all in being baptized just a couple months ago, but his heart has been touched and he is very ready! For our second lesson even we taught him the Word of Wisdom and invited him to live that and come to church every week and he committed to do that. He is willing to do all of those things to follow Christ and to be united with his family forever. The family is so kind and charitable! Last night we had a lesson with him and his family and they gave us a whole Apple Pie. I love them a lot and I am so grateful to be teaching them.

2 others are committed in the area. Jean is the Grandma of McKenzie who is 9. They are both committed to baptism for the 4th of June. Jean hasn't been committed before, but we are worried she may fall of date because she hasn't attended church yet even when she commits to do it. So we are going to be working with her on that and just helping her take this one step at a time. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!" 

This next man is one that I love SOOO much! Walter is his name and he is just the most curious and sincere investigator I have ever met! He is fascinated by all of the doctrine. The biggest struggle for him is coming to church though. It was pretty funny because last week he didn't attend church because he was doing family history. Elder Jones and Elder Murphy taught it to him and he just absorbed it all! He loved the idea of it soo much! So he has been doing a lot on familysearch.org and just a lot of other things. We have been focusing on church attendance and also helping him focus on the "big question" of whether or not the Book of Mormon is the word of God and if Joseph Smith really was a prophet. The reason why I say big question is because the Book of Mormon is really what every question about the gospel can be boiled down to on whether or not it is the word of God. Because if it is the word of God, Joseph Smith was really a Prophet from when he was translating it with Gods power from "Reformed Egyptian" into English.

Anyway, we love him a lot! We are excited for coming progress from him. Even though he has concerns and doesn't understand everything, he is still meeting with us and willing to learn. When someone is willing to take the time and ask and learn, The Spirit can work with that and help you overcome concerns.

Lastly, President Eaton sent out this great message to the mission about not being so concerned about titles. Basically about how it doesn't matter where we serve in the church, but how we serve. Heavenly Father doesn't look at whether or not you served as a Bishop, Relief Society President, or an Assistant to the Mission President. He looks on the heart and on if we truly throughout our life exercised Faith in Jesus Christ, changed as you sincerely repent, made covenants with him, and you strive constantly to keep them and to obey the 2 great commandments. He doesn't have a special tier of the Celestial kingdom for those who served as a Prophet or any other position. In the end, God looks on the heart and what we have become.

This is what President Eaton shared

Our transfer is quite unusual. We have only 2 missionaries arriving. We’re closing some areas. And for a variety of reasons, some missionaries who had been serving as senior companions will be serving as junior companions for a season. And as always, there will be people who had been serving in certain leadership positions who no longer will be.
Such changes test our discipleship. Are you willing to go where the Lord asks you to go and serve how he asks you to serve? Or will you feel slighted or underutilized? Will you murmur because your area got closed or you got moved? Will you coast because you didn’t become senior companion or a leader or are no longer one of those things? In short, will you go where the Lord wants us to go and serve as he wants you to serve?
These changes provide tremendous training for the kinds of changes you will face throughout your life. Ward boundaries will be realigned, a guy you didn’t especially like will be called to be your stake president or bishop, your roommate will get called to serve as Relief Society president when you secretly thought it might be you, and one day you will be released from every leadership calling you hold. What we do in such circumstances will be revealing about our character and our faith. 

In the coming months, Sister Eaton and I will experience such a test. Will we serve God with as much love and diligence in some quiet corner of a ward as we strive to when we are on center stage of a mission? Elder Robert D. Hales has written, “How we serve when we no longer find ourselves in the gospel limelight may be even more important than how we served when the whole ward or stake seemed to be watching us.” I remember with sadness seeing one man become less active after being released as elders quorum president. It was almost as if he wasn’t willing to come to Church if he couldn’t be a star. He was addicted to titles, and withdrawal was rough.
Elder Glenn L. Pace served in the Presiding Bishopric before being one of the few General Authorities called to serve as a mission president. One day as a mission president in Boise, he drove through the pouring rain to the mission office, which was part of a multi-use building the Church owned. He hurried to the back door, hoping to go in there instead of walking through the pouring rain to the front of the building. But the back door was locked, and somehow he wasn’t someone who had been trusted with the password to get in.
For a moment, President Pace found himself thinking how ridiculous it was that as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, he used to have responsibility for every single building in the Church, and now he wasn’t trusted with the key code for the building where the mission office was. Then, in his frustration, this thought pricked his soul: “Glenn, who are you when you take off your stripes?"
In the military, everyone has a rank, and rank is everything. Your rank is shown by the number of stripes on the shoulder of your uniform. Everyone can see it. The Spirit was asking Glenn Pace who he was without his title.
Do we define ourselves by our titles? Do we draw our self-esteem from our stripes? If we do, we may go through some painful readjusting when we are released as we reconnect to the true source, Heavenly Father.
Many years ago, President J. Reuben Clarke served as the first counselor to two Prophets. But when President David O. McKay became the Prophet, President McKay called him as his second counselor instead of his first counselor. In the General Conference where he was sustained as second counselor, President Clarke taught this simple truth that is important for all of us to learn: “In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines.”
I invite you to show your humility and faith this transfer by serving with all your heart, might, mind and strength, regardless of your title and regardless of your area. As you pour your heart out in loving service, you will show God your true colors, and you will be blessed.
-- 

 These lessons on titles is something that I have been learning for the past transfer and I am grateful for the way the Heavenly Father prepared me for my release as a Zone Leader. In a world where people rely so much on compliments and the accolades of men, its just like being plugged into a power outlet with no power. The light, charger, or any other device wont work. The only true source of power that lasts is from God. Seek for his approval and what His opinion is. Plug yourself into the outlet that truly does have a source of energy that never ends. I certainly am not perfect at it, but I am trying every day to care more about what Heavenly Father thinks and approves of rather than what man does.

If you are wondering about what Heavenly Father approves of, check out these different resources.

• Read the scriptures. God will speak to you through His words.
• For the missionaries check out Preach My Gospel pages 10-11. Its the simplest and most clear explanation.
• For everyone, overall the best resource is to ask Him in prayer for His approval. Ask him specifically to "Are my actions pleasing thee?" "Am I doing what thou wouldst have me do?" He will answer that. As I have asked that on my mission I receive an answer every time. Whether its been immediate, the next day or so on has varied, but the consistency of Him answering is every time.

Love you all so much! Mission life is great! Thank you for your prayers and support.

Elder Sumsion

"Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost." -Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Season 12: Skyway A.Episode 6: Blessed With Those Who Progress.

My district from last transfer. From Left: Elder Cook, Elder Mitton, Elder John, Elder Sumsion, Hermana Huhem, and Hermana Pineda.

Us with Gin yesterday

We had another amazing miracle of teaching a former investigator exactly one year from his last lesson. We didn't even plan that on purpose.

Howdy Howdy!

Pictures are worth a thousand words, so don't forget that I have "written" at least 3000 words this time :D

Yesterday we were blessed SOOO much! It was definitely the best day in Skyway A. We taught Gin, a new investigator Tasha, and another new referral Lin. We also had several other great experiences that I don't have time to share.

The news though is that I am getting transferred! I have been assigned to serve in Skyway B which is the other area in this ward! I am so excited to have the opportunity to labor in this amazing ward for at least 6 more weeks. Elder Murphy will be my new companion. He is great. I love him a lot already. I have already been serving closely in the same ward with him for 3 months.

I got to go, but I love you all!

Have an amazing week!

Sincerely,

Elder Sumsion

"Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost." -Elder Kevin W. Pearson