Season 2: Clark Lake. Episode 15: Success

Here are some letters arranged in words, sentences, and paragraphs.

 

First off, here is this talk from Richard G. Scott that had some awesome correlations with the goal stuff I mentioned last time.

 

"Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge)

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1993/10/acquiring-spiritual-knowledge?lang=eng

 

On the 20th I went on exchanges. I went and served with Elder Green and Elder Takoa in the Scenic Hill area and Elder Thomas (my District Leader) went are served with Elder Buchanan in Clark Lake.

Elder Green is a very awesome dude. I sung in a quartet with him around Christmas time. He sings and has tons of ties! He has 56 haha. Way more ties than I have and any other missionary I have known so far. He has been out just one transfer less than Elder Buchanan.

Elder Takoa has been out the same amount of time on his mission as I have, but he had to learn English in the MTC. He is from Kidibush (Probably not spelt, but its part of Micronesia). He is so cool. He was going to go on a mission sooner, but he actually ran with Husaine Bolt (spelling?) and so went in the same time as me. He is the fastest runner from his whole country. He is a convert and did I mention he is just so awesome? :D Language study was really fun to do and it was a first for me.

I woke up with it just being another day and I didn't even realize it was the 20th until later on in the morning. It was honestly a really good day. Most of the time was spent driving around trying to visit people when they cancelled appointments.

 

I have been learning and having some great realizations about missionary work. Its tough when it is not appointment after appointment (which I have been blessed to have pretty often in Clark Lake), because you do get the feeling that you aren't doing your best. BUT, your best is not measured by numbers or what others do, its measured by what you personally do and try to do.

A very very important thing to do is to learn (and remember) what true success is as a missionary (Preach My Gospel Chapter. 1. The section entitled "A Successful Missionary")

I hope that made sense and didn't seem out of place. Simply put, Success is measured by what you do and what honestly try (and would) do.

 

"Are we not all beggars" by Elder Holland address that last bit if you would like to understand that "what we try (and would).

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/are-we-not-all-beggars?lang=eng

 

Another great mark for me in my life is that today (23rd) marks a year for me of holding the Melchizedek priesthood. I am so very grateful to hold this priesthood and to have the opporotunity to use it to serve, an opportunity to act as Christ would. The priesthood gives a great opporotunity for the worthy holders of it, to exercise it on others behalf's. The priesthood is Gods power and is used to blessed others.

 

 

Love you all!

Have a good week.

Elder Sumsion

Season 2: Clark Lake. Episode 14: Some thoughts on goal setting

I had some of these thoughts and I thought I would like to share it. I am not 100% sure how to cohesively include it into my email, so here it is plugged in.

Recently I have been working on some ways to achieve goals. I have thinking about ways and steps to do it, so with some prayer and inspiration these 5 steps are ways to achieve some of your goals if you are having issues achieving them.

Step 1: Choose a goal or something that you would like to accomplish.

Step 2: Brainstorm ideas about how you can achieve this goal.

Step 3: Plan on what you are actually going to do.

Step 4: Do what you actually planned.

Step 5: Review how you are doing with your plan and make new plans to do better.

Its a continual process where you review and try to do better. I don't know if it will work for you, but feel free to try it out.

I also have this great talk by Richard G. Scott that goes along with goal setting, but I can remember the reference. I will send that out next week.

This week has been pretty swell. Still adjusting to being in a companionship and being without Elder Graham.

Yesterday was a mission devotional. That was super nice. They showed the video "Because He Lives." I didn't get to see it because I was sitting up in the choir stands, but I heard the nice music a long with it. I really do love these media initiatives the church is having.

Recently we went over and taught some members about charity. We shared the story of The Red Coat. We watched that video. That video always touches me so deeply and I teared up as I talked about it. I love it so much and would encourage you to check it out. I hope that it can inspire you to do one charitable thing throughout the week. You don't need to be 18 years old and on a mission or and adult doing service to do good things. You can do it no matter how old or young you are.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/collection/kids/the-coat-1

I don't have lots more time left to write today, but I would like to share a super powerful video I just watched.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/his-grace/pornography-addiction-is-there-hope?cid=HPWE031115754 

Its called

 Pornography Addiction: Is There Hope?

Love you all,

Elder Sumsion

Season 2: Clark Lake. Episode 13: More Sunshine is nice‏

I never fully appreciated the sun as much as I do now. I have such a new great appreciation for it. It has been super bright and sunshiny these past weeks. I am grateful that I have an appreciation for the sun and the rain. Great combos when you are living in Washington :D

I don't have lots of time today, so this will be shorter. I would like you to think about what I say today, as it will be less. Kind of like when you have a really nice piece of candy, instead of just swallowing it whole, let it sit and savor it for a little while.

I had a great experience with Bob on Sunday. We went by and visited him because he didn't make it to church. We came to find out that he didn't make it because he was out with his family very very late (6 am) the night before. When we spoke to him he had not much sleep at all and was exhausted.

As we were speaking and chatting about when we could come back by when he was not so tired, I felt prompted to ask him if he had taken or had any coffee to help him stay awake and he said he hadn't.

I asked him if he would normally have some coffee if he was this tired (like he was then) and he said he would usually take it to help him stay awake.

I asked him why he didn't have any. He said he didn't want to have any. He didn't really have the desire to drink coffee. He had that goal of becoming a member of the church and he was set on it.

That was so amazing and inspirational to me that a man who wants to progress in the gospel and to join the church would overcome his natural desires and actually start to change. This man is literally changing into a better person and I was filled with an amazing love for him as he tried to overcome the "natural man" (Mosiah 3:16) inside of him.

I would encourage you all to seek after this change of nature over behavior. If you truly want to, read Ether 12:27 to start you on that process. Prayerfully make goals, and then plans (to achieve your goals).

Love,

Elder Sumsion

Season 2: Clark Lake. Episode 12: Bad things, Good Results.‏

Haha I feel like I would see that title that I made for this email be on a John Bytheway book :D

 

I would like to share some recent experiences that have happened to me.

 

Hugh dropped us this week. If you don't know that what that means, it means that he no longer wishes to visit with us or investigate the church. During the week on Wednesday I believe we were calling Hugh to see if he would be able to come to a members house for an appointment we had. I was assigned to make that call. It was during the call that it happened. As I talked to him he passed the phone to his therapist. As we talked she relayed to me that he doesn't want us to visit him any more and that he cant afford to be a member of our church. We talked to Hugh and he supported what the therapist had told us.

While I was taking that phone call I realized that something was definitely up. I thought of that possibility of him dropping us. As I listened I realized I was the person to talk and speak by the spirit and say whatever the Lord would have me say. I was also the person to relay the information that I was getting to my companions. I prayed and asked for help that I would be able to do those things with grace, patience, and that I would be able to understand and relay the information to my companions in a patient manner.

I tried and did my best in the call.

And I was able to patiently and lovingly relay that information to my companions. I am grateful for an answered prayer and that as I have been on a mission I have been able to change and handle situations. I am also grateful for my preparation that I had for my mission. I am much more able to handle stresses and using the phone after working at Vivint last summer. As I have served my mission I am able to be better qualified to do the work I need to do. I would encourage you to study D&C 4:5 and D&C 11:32-24, 30.

Another experience is concerning the dishes. Elder Buchanan loads the dishes in a certain way that really bothered me. I would ask him to not do it for this and that reason. I didn't chew him out or yell at him because of the way he did it, but it did annoy me. During the week I opened the dishes to see that Elder Buchanan had loaded them in that certain way again, but I wasn't annoyed. It didn't matter to me anymore that he did it that way.

Before I would have talked to him, but this time it didn't matter to me at all. As I have grown and become more Christ-like my very nature has changed and I have, and still am, becoming a "new creature in Christ."

I hope that makes sense and that you understand.

 

Transfers are today and Elder Graham is leaving us. Elder Buchanan and I will stay in Clark Lake. Its going to be very different with Elder Graham being gone. He is my trainer and has helped me through my first 12 weeks of my mission. Even though I was disagree and be grumpy to him, he would still love and serve me. He has sacrificed a lot and I am grateful for him. Because of Elder Graham my mission is that much better. He is a wonderful example of obedience and I wish him well.

(The great thing though is I still get to see him at least twice a month for the rest of my mission :D Every month there is a mission devotional put on by the missionaries and a missionary choir sings at it. And the other time is once a month during a P-day we get to practice all together)

 

Love you all, and thank you for your support.

 

Elder Sumsion

Season 2: Clark Lake. Episode 11:‏

Its hard to tell, but our theme for our ties that day was "pastel" :D

In the future, I am pretty sure I want to try like a one sentence email. It would be something maybe 10 words, but I would have thought a ton about them a whole bunch and will have carefully crafted it together.

Currently we have 3 solid progressing investigators.

Hugh, Bob, and Kevin. 

Hugh is progressing super great. He has been solid on the word of wisdom and keeping it. He is still trying to get Sunday off for work so he can go to church. Our ward employment specialist is helping and Hugh is having great results. We are praying for him to be able to obtain a great job that allows him to attend church or for the necessary changes to happen so he can go. Hugh fully recognizes that church is important and that keeping the Sabbath day holy is a commandment and is trying to make the changes to live that commandment.

Bob is brother Jamias' father in-law. He is really awesome and very close to being baptized. He wants to be baptized and has had tons of influence with the church already. He understands a lot and comes to church. We are helping him understand more about the gospel and inspiring him to live the commandments. He has some Word of Wisdom issues that we are trying to help him through.

Kevin is a very intelligent and analytically. We are helping him understand and recognize The Holy Ghost and helping him exercise some faith. We have finished the first 3 lessons with him and we are very excited to start teaching him the commandments to give him those opportunities to show some faith and act. We had a great lesson on Saturday after a baptism we attended with him where he really expressed himself and we were able to gain a greater grasp on his progress. It was amazing.

I was sick yesterday. I woke up in the morning and didn't feel super great and after we got back from church for lunch I rested. Since we were in a trio, I was able to be dropped off at our Ward Mission Leaders home (the Smith's) and rest while Elder Graham and Buchanan were out and about. I am feeling pretty good now and am excited to get back to proselyting missionary work. It was a very different experience to be not going out and about. Its so different and I am very glad to be back up and out and about. 

Things are wonderful and I am growing and progressing so much.

I hope all is well in your spheres.

Love,

Elder Sumsion

Season 2: Clark Lake. Episode 10: Priorities.‏

Howdy! I don't have a lot of time today like usual, but I will definitely try to write you something of substance. I will ultimately pray and follow what the spirit prompts me to write.

Hugh did not end up getting baptized, but that is all good. He fell back on the Word of Wisdom, but is trying again harder with a new conviction to try harder and do better this time. One of the big things that our mission goes for is conversion before baptism. We don't want to baptize people if they are just going to go inactive or deny the church. As missionaries in the Washington Federal Way Mission it is one of our standards of excellence to help those we teach experience a lasting conversion and endure to the end.

There are most definitely people that we meet and see that we could baptize, but baptism is not the destination we have in mind. Baptism is a gate that everyone has to take on their journey exaltation.

We are helping Hugh experience a true and lasting conversion, and he is making excellent progress in that direction. I want Hugh to endure to the end more than I want a figurative gold star on my chest for getting another baptism on my mission. Currently we have Hugh working towards the goal of March 7th.

The weather is really great! Its been really sunny and shiny the past couple of weeks. I hear that throughout the country that some places are experiencing the worst storms since the 1790's or sometime old like that.

Zone Conference happened recently! If you don't know what that is, imagine a wonderful (not sarcasm. I loved it.) about 7 hour spiritual feast. Our mission president teaches us and we get to talk, role-play, discuss, and be taught by the spirit. I loved it so much! My hands could not keep up with how much I was learning and wanting to remember. Those notes I take give me a great idea of things I can improve on and practice.

One of the great things I was able to take out from it is more ideas and goals about how to improve my prayers.

 

My prayers have improved so much. Not that I didn't like saying them before, but now I really want to! I have such a desire to communicate with my Father in Heaven like no other time before in my life!

 

I would encourage you to study the bible dictionary entry for prayer and Preach My Gospel pages 93-95. The section is entitled "Pray with Faith."

I would love to hear some of your thoughts and things you learned when you get to study it.

 

I love being on a mission. Best decision and thing I have done in my life.

Love,

Elder Sumsion

 

 

Season 2: Clark Lake. Episode 9: Good 'ol Nature

Elder Buchanan really really likes dogs and puppies. There are members in the ward and they just had a whole bunch of Mini Bull-Terrier's (the Target dog) and he was hugging and playing with them for a little bit. On exchanges we went in a home that had two Greyhounds. I have never really seen them in person, but they are definitely running dogs. One of the less active families we visit occasionally has three Lion Head Rabbits (pretty much very fluffy bunnies). We definitely have a lot of interactions with wildlife. There are so many crows in Washington. Every morning while driving around we see bunches of crows surrounding the garbage containers. They sure know how to dumpster dive well because they always seem to find something.

Elder Buchanan told us a story of when one time when he and one his other companions were walking past a pile of garbage where there was a whole bunch of birds pillaging. They then watch as a seagull digs its head down and comes back out with some Raman noodles on its beak. He made the remark of something like "Look at that noble animal." Haha :D

Elder Buchanan is pretty funny. We were walking past some goats who were locked up in someone's fenced off yard and he decided he would try to give one a pass-along card. The goat just took the pass-along card and ate it haha. In the morning there are a whole bunch of birds around our apartment complex, and I discovered one of the most entertaining things. I took some old hamburger buns we had and threw one out into the midst and watched as one crow flew off with the whole thing with many other crows and a couple seagulls followed in hot pursuit.

 

We have a baptism coming up for one of our investigators. It is going to be set on the 21st. His name is Hugh. We have been teaching him for over a month. We actually contacted him right before the one contact I mentioned with the kid who had a Minecraft sword.

Hugh is a little slow in speech, but definitely not in intellect or thought. He has schizophrenia and has a social security income that he lives off of with a little income from work. He has made a lot of sacrifices to come closer to Christ as we have been teaching him. We have taught about everything to him besides the Law of Chastity, some other commandments, and laws and ordinances.

He has been so faithful to the word of wisdom since we taught it to him. The only things he struggled with were coffee and alcohol. When we taught it and asked him if we could take any coffee or alcohol away, he said no and that it was his choice. Later on, maybe 3 weeks later, after he had been living it without going back to using those things we asked him again if we could take it away. This time his response was a lot different. He said something like "Sure, I don't even care about that stuff anymore."

He currently works about 2 hours a day 5 days a week. He works on Sunday and has tried getting it off, but is unable to. He has taken a couple days off and sacrificed making some money to come to church. He is so amazing and has had amazing steps while coming closer to Christ. The ward employment specialist is currently helping him find a new job where he wont be required to work on Sundays. Elder Graham, Buchanan, and I would really appreciate you praying his behalf that he might be able to get Sunday off somehow.

 

I am doing very well. Today marks 2 months of being in the field. I have grown so much then and am so much closer to Christ and of being the fourth missionary. I am grateful for your support and wish you well.

 

One challenge I extended to some members we taught was to read one general conference talk from the last general conference. I would extend that challenge to you as well. Prayerfully approach Heavenly Father and ask him what talk would best benefit you.

Amos 3:7

"Whether by mine own voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same."

Those words are Gods words, and He has a message for you. Find out what He would like to tell you by reading from His words from last General Conference.

 

Love,

Elder Sumsion