May 24, 2017
Wednesday, Day 426
Day 66 back in NY
Pday!
I remember slowly opening my eyes to see my companion standing in the doorway of our room, as I came to from waking up, he said "should we get our laundry going?" I had no idea what time it was because I never heard the alarm and I was more tired than usual, I reached for my glasses to see the clock, it was 6:15am, but it felt like 4am. Elder Murray realized if we did laundry first he wouldn't have a towel to shower with so he got in and I laid back down till he was ready. When he got out, I got up, splashed my face, and we loaded our laundry. We then realized we had no money on our card, so we quickly went down the road and filled our card then went back to start our load. We came back, I got ready, and then we studied for half an hour. We went back, put our clothes in the dryer and went grocery shopping. Then we quickly made a trip to the church, we sent off quick emails explaining our day and the little time we would have to email because we were going to the temple! We rushed home, grabbed our laundry and dropped it off in the apartment, grabbed our suit coats, and out to the car we went. We were putting our stuff into the car and Elder Murray said, "You've got your recommend right?" I said "yep you?" He responded, uhhh I don't think so… so we ran back to the apartment, pushed open the door and immediately he realized he didn't remember where he put it. I started laughing because of course this was bound to happen. So I joined in helping him search for it, I turned over his scriptures and shook them around, nothing fell out so I flipped through some pages and nothing! He kept looking through his stuff, I went through his bag, and other things on his desk... he then went to his scriptures and he opened just the cover and found it right there. He put it in his pocket and back to the car we went. We were about 10 minutes behind and had a 30-minute drive to make, so we went as fast as we could without TIWI telling me to "Check your speed". We finally got to our ZL's apartment where Ray Smith and the Elders were patiently waiting. Then we began the nearly 2-hour drive to the city.
While at the temple I happened to see Sister Orhn. She's the lady who, while I was with Elder Tatafu, she took us out to eat after the temple. And while I was home for my “intermission” she visited the Sacramento Temple and I came to the front desk to surprise her. She was excited to see me and to see me back in the mission.
After our session, which was wonderful! We came down to the front desk to meet with a recent convert from Elder Murray's previous area in Yonkers. His name is R, he had just recently received his recommend and hadn't been to the temple yet. (Yesterday, Elder Murray was on the phone with him and tried to plan to have him come do baptisms, well it was late notice and we weren't sure if we would need an appointment with the temple, but we tried it anyway). So we came down after our session and met R there! He said he had been here since 9AM doing family history! His first time doing it and he found 7 names!! 3 males and 4 females!! It was so awesome! It was a miracle and a huge blessing to be apart of and for him of course! It was such a neat experience! He felt the Spirit and really enjoyed it! The 3 names he found and was able to do were his great grandfather, his great-great grandfather, and his great grandfather’s brother! How flippin' sweet is that!!?? After the temple we went to meet up with the group for lunch and drive back to our areas.
May 25, 2017
Thursday, Day 427
Day 67 back in NY
This morning we got up at 5:30am. Quickly got ready and went to the Precour family home for seminary. Our lesson this morning was out of Revelations, which is always an interesting book. I laugh when I say this, but sadly today was the last day we had to teach seminary, school is coming to an end… I now know just a little bit of what it's like to be a seminary teacher… and if any of my seminary teachers read this I want you to know how sorry I am for being late so often and sleeping in class.
In this seminary class we have 4 kids. The 3 sisters and B. It's a small class and I love these kids, they are all so awesome, but we've experienced a hint of what it's like, and to be among zombie-like teenagers, who don't always want to be here, and would rather not participate. These kids fortunately opened up more and were more awake and willing to participate with each week we taught, but like I said we caught a glimpse of the seminary teacher life… and knowing the kind of student I was. I apologize for even showing up! But I want to also express my appreciation for what you seminary teachers do. I know now what a blessing seminary is and what a blessing it is to be a teacher. As hard as it may be at times and as unrewarding as it may seem just know you’re making an impact on the kids that attend and that one-day they will look back and realize how important and necessary it was to attend. So once again, thank you!
After coming home from seminary we had our planning session and personal study, then we went to the church to begin weekly planning. When we finished planning we went over to Brother W’s and shared with him one of our more recently found favorite talks. "Write down a date" given in General Conference in October 1984. (If you are or are trying to be more missionary minded, I invite you to study this talk! Otherwise read or listen to this talk anyway!)
The rest of the night was having companionship study, look-ups, dinner, and finishing the night off with daily contact.
May 26, 2017
Friday, Day 428
Day 68 back in NY
This morning after studies we had the miracle line conference call! We took the call to the car and we listened as we drove. We planned to make a couple of stops to drop off some stuff to Salvation Army and do a couple looks-ups. When we finished, we came back for lunch and made some phone calls. Then we drove to SUNY New Paltz College for an APF. We had a white board with the question "How do you find truth?" written on it. We would take turns as companionships (Elders and Sisters) taking the shift at the white board. While the other companionship walked around the campus talking to everyone they could. It being the summer and graduation was just last week there weren't very many students on campus, just the few that were taking summer courses… we had some great conversations with people. The first person we talked to was pretty nice, her name was C. It was kind of funny, (I say this without confidence that it really happened this way) but, we approached her as she was at this large vending machine looking to buy something; when we began talking to her, the item on the screen of the vending machine was a tea drink of some kind. By the end of our conversation we thought it was safe to say that she felt the Spirit and desired not to buy the tea, because after talking with us she walked away without buying anything from the vending machine. Later in the day we were asked by Brother H to make a stop by this old person care home and check on a member of the church who hasn't been seen for some time. We stopped by and met Brother M. We made an appointment to come back and visit him on Sundays to bring the sacrament and a message.
We then went to the church, we were supposed to have branch correlation but our leader never showed up... we each, the sisters too, had called Brother W 3 times. After 6 attempts to contact him and receiving no response, we conducted our own meeting and went home.
May 27, 2017
Saturday, Day 429
Day 69 back in NY
Last Monday Elder Vieira, asked me to give a training during district meeting on "Trusting in the Lord". So throughout the week I was trying to be mindful of the topic and I began thinking of experiences that I've had where I have put my trust in the Lord and where I have been fearful and put little to none of my trust in the Lord. Well this morning I wasn't thinking much at all about the topic or district meeting, but I was reading in the Book of Mormon, in 2Nephi 18. (Some of the chapters of Isaiah, which I can never understand with out the Institute manual). So as I'm going along reading this section, I came across this scripture, 2Nephi 18:17 and in the manual it said this:
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the spiritual strength that follows when we place our trust in the Lord:
“As we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we must battle our pain day by day and sometimes hour by hour, even moment by moment; but in the end, we understand that marvelous counsel given to the Prophet Joseph Smith as he struggled with his pain of feeling forgotten and isolated in Liberty Jail:
“‘My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
“‘And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes’ (D&C 121:7–8).
“My dear brothers and sisters, when pain, tests, and trials come in life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord, … look for him’ (Isaiah 8:17; 2 Nephi 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way; be patient” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 19; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 17).
It was perfect. I wasn't thinking about the topic at the moment but I was able to find answers and insights on the topic.
After our studies we went to sister P's to help her. She was having a Sauna delivered. When the couple delivering it showed up we helped unload it and place it in her home. It didn't take long at all, maybe 15 minutes, so we stayed and put it together with her. It's pretty sweet, we told her we'd have to come by some pday and test it out, lol.
She so kindly made us lunch while we wrapped up the last bit of putting light bulbs in and setting up the radio and plugging everything else in. We took our sandwiches to go and went to the home of a brother in our Branch. We shared the talk “Write down a date” with him and invited he and his dad to pick a date and be prayerful to have the Lord show them who would be prepared at that time to receive the gospel.
We had some look-ups to do, so we did some tracking around them. Then we went to the church to do our progress report and meet with Brother W for correlation.
May 28, 2017
Sunday, Day 430
Day 70 back in NY
Happy birthday Shua!
Church was great! Elder Murray and I taught gospel principles, it was a great lesson. After 3rd hour we went home for lunch and companionship study. We then prepared ourselves to visit Brother M and take him the sacrament. Before leaving we shared a message with him about the sacrament and showed a children's bible video about the sacrament. The rest of the day we did look-ups, met with J, and had dinner. At J’s we showed up while he was outside finishing up some yard work. Before he left he asked if we would be available tomorrow morning to help move the chassis of a Datson onto a trailer when someone from Virginia comes to pick it up. We put it in our plans and went to dinner.
May 29, 2017
Monday, Day 431
Day 71 back in NY
This morning we went over to J’s, the guys picking up the car had their trailer all lined up and ready. We each got on an end and picked it up and placed it on the trailer. With the 4 of us it was very light, much lighter than we expected. It took all of 15 seconds. Before heading out we shook the guys hands and said goodbye to Jackson. The guy who bought the Chassis from J came up to us before we left and offered us EACH $20 for helping out. $20 for 15 seconds of work!!?? He was very generous and persistent, even with our effort to nicely decline is offer, but we were able to talk him into us just sharing a $20. He told us to get some breakfast or something so that's what we did. Elder Murray wanted Mickey D's McMuffins so we had breakfast a Mickey D's and then we went home. We got ready, and had studies. After lunch we had a handful of look-ups. Brother J asked us this morning if we wanted to have family Branch game night. Well since it was so late notice for everyone else it was just he and Elder Murray and I. So we met at the church, made popcorn, had some root beer floats, and played this game called The Crazy Cat Lady, which, I sadly won... and became the crazy cat lady.
May 30, 2017
Tuesday, Day 432
Day 72 back in NY
Instead of having district meeting yesterday like usual we had it today. So after studies we went to the church and had companionship study, then at 11 we had district meeting it was pretty good! Today I gave my training on trusting in the Lord. And here were my notes for my training.
What is trust?
A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength in somebody or something.
Are trust and faith related? If so, how are they?
Trust is like having faith and confidence. Neither of them just appears, but by experience we increase them.
What are some examples or experiences you've had that involved putting trust in someone you know?
Simple: I leave my wallet on my desk around people I trust.
In what ways have you put trust in the Lord?
Less simple: I left my family expecting to be away for 2 years, after a year I returned home for a brief intermission. Prior to going home I feared what my family and others would think of my return, but after much prayer and preparation I eventually was able to put all my trust in the Lord. And he blessed me beyond my comprehension.
2Nephi 4:34
O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
After reading this scripture I think, how different and possibly how difficult would my experience have been if I had put my trust in the arm of flesh? How different and difficult would my experience have been if my trust wasn't in the Lord?
Ask yourself these questions:
Do I trust in the Lord and His Atonement?
Am I taking full advantage of the redeeming power of repentance in my life so that I can have greater peace and joy?
In what ways can I put more trust in the Lord?
How can we have greater faith and put our trust in the Lord?
I think of all the blessings the Lord has promised me and covenants that I've made with him. And I trust him.
2 Nephi 18:17. “I Will Wait upon the Lord”
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the spiritual strength that follows when we place our trust in the Lord:
“As we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we must battle our pain day by day and sometimes hour by hour, even moment by moment; but in the end, we understand that marvelous counsel given to the Prophet Joseph Smith as he struggled with his pain of feeling forgotten and isolated in Liberty Jail:
“‘My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
“‘And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes’ (D&C 121:7–8).
“My dear brothers and sisters, when pain, tests, and trials come in life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord, … look for him’ (Isaiah 8:17; 2 Nephi 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way; be patient” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 19; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 17).
Now I of course am still working on always putting my trust in the Lord. But in certain moments I know that I can fully trust in the Lord. And I think that's where we can draw the line for ourselves to know where we have a testimony and in what principles of the gospel we are fully converted too. Our district leader said to take whatever time I needed. I wasn't sure how long I'd need or how long it'd take, but it created a 30-minute discussion on trusting in the Lord.
After District meeting, we had lunch, more look-ups for the week, and dinner. But before we went home for dinner we stopped by this former investigators home, he called us his morning actually and asked if we could help him with his computer. When we finished we stuck around the neighborhood and knocked a few doors. The first door we knocked had one of the sisters pass along cards in the door... lol the sisters beat us here. Well we went to the next house and knocked, when the door opened for a very brief moment a large man stood in the doorway, we heard the words "not interested!" And the door SLAMMED shut…
Making our way to the car we saw a man mowing his lawn, we approached him and he quickly killed the mower and walked our way. We introduced ourselves; we learned his name and a little bit about him. We briefly shared a message and set an appointment to come back. (His name is K).
Then we came home for dinner. And ended the night with some look-ups and phone calls.
Working on the rest! Love y'all!
Saturday, Day 429
Day 69 back in NY
Last Monday Elder Vieira, asked me to give a training during district meeting on "Trusting in the Lord". So throughout the week I was trying to be mindful of the topic and I began thinking of experiences that I've had where I have put my trust in the Lord and where I have been fearful and put little to none of my trust in the Lord. Well this morning I wasn't thinking much at all about the topic or district meeting, but I was reading in the Book of Mormon, in 2Nephi 18. (Some of the chapters of Isaiah, which I can never understand with out the Institute manual). So as I'm going along reading this section, I came across this scripture, 2Nephi 18:17 and in the manual it said this:
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the spiritual strength that follows when we place our trust in the Lord:
“As we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we must battle our pain day by day and sometimes hour by hour, even moment by moment; but in the end, we understand that marvelous counsel given to the Prophet Joseph Smith as he struggled with his pain of feeling forgotten and isolated in Liberty Jail:
“‘My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
“‘And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes’ (D&C 121:7–8).
“My dear brothers and sisters, when pain, tests, and trials come in life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord, … look for him’ (Isaiah 8:17; 2 Nephi 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way; be patient” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 19; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 17).
It was perfect. I wasn't thinking about the topic at the moment but I was able to find answers and insights on the topic.
After our studies we went to sister P's to help her. She was having a Sauna delivered. When the couple delivering it showed up we helped unload it and place it in her home. It didn't take long at all, maybe 15 minutes, so we stayed and put it together with her. It's pretty sweet, we told her we'd have to come by some pday and test it out, lol.
She so kindly made us lunch while we wrapped up the last bit of putting light bulbs in and setting up the radio and plugging everything else in. We took our sandwiches to go and went to the home of a brother in our Branch. We shared the talk “Write down a date” with him and invited he and his dad to pick a date and be prayerful to have the Lord show them who would be prepared at that time to receive the gospel.
We had some look-ups to do, so we did some tracking around them. Then we went to the church to do our progress report and meet with Brother W for correlation.
May 28, 2017
Sunday, Day 430
Day 70 back in NY
Happy birthday Shua!
Church was great! Elder Murray and I taught gospel principles, it was a great lesson. After 3rd hour we went home for lunch and companionship study. We then prepared ourselves to visit Brother M and take him the sacrament. Before leaving we shared a message with him about the sacrament and showed a children's bible video about the sacrament. The rest of the day we did look-ups, met with J, and had dinner. At J’s we showed up while he was outside finishing up some yard work. Before he left he asked if we would be available tomorrow morning to help move the chassis of a Datson onto a trailer when someone from Virginia comes to pick it up. We put it in our plans and went to dinner.
May 29, 2017
Monday, Day 431
Day 71 back in NY
This morning we went over to J’s, the guys picking up the car had their trailer all lined up and ready. We each got on an end and picked it up and placed it on the trailer. With the 4 of us it was very light, much lighter than we expected. It took all of 15 seconds. Before heading out we shook the guys hands and said goodbye to Jackson. The guy who bought the Chassis from J came up to us before we left and offered us EACH $20 for helping out. $20 for 15 seconds of work!!?? He was very generous and persistent, even with our effort to nicely decline is offer, but we were able to talk him into us just sharing a $20. He told us to get some breakfast or something so that's what we did. Elder Murray wanted Mickey D's McMuffins so we had breakfast a Mickey D's and then we went home. We got ready, and had studies. After lunch we had a handful of look-ups. Brother J asked us this morning if we wanted to have family Branch game night. Well since it was so late notice for everyone else it was just he and Elder Murray and I. So we met at the church, made popcorn, had some root beer floats, and played this game called The Crazy Cat Lady, which, I sadly won... and became the crazy cat lady.
May 30, 2017
Tuesday, Day 432
Day 72 back in NY
Instead of having district meeting yesterday like usual we had it today. So after studies we went to the church and had companionship study, then at 11 we had district meeting it was pretty good! Today I gave my training on trusting in the Lord. And here were my notes for my training.
What is trust?
A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength in somebody or something.
Are trust and faith related? If so, how are they?
Trust is like having faith and confidence. Neither of them just appears, but by experience we increase them.
What are some examples or experiences you've had that involved putting trust in someone you know?
Simple: I leave my wallet on my desk around people I trust.
In what ways have you put trust in the Lord?
Less simple: I left my family expecting to be away for 2 years, after a year I returned home for a brief intermission. Prior to going home I feared what my family and others would think of my return, but after much prayer and preparation I eventually was able to put all my trust in the Lord. And he blessed me beyond my comprehension.
2Nephi 4:34
O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
After reading this scripture I think, how different and possibly how difficult would my experience have been if I had put my trust in the arm of flesh? How different and difficult would my experience have been if my trust wasn't in the Lord?
Ask yourself these questions:
Do I trust in the Lord and His Atonement?
Am I taking full advantage of the redeeming power of repentance in my life so that I can have greater peace and joy?
In what ways can I put more trust in the Lord?
How can we have greater faith and put our trust in the Lord?
I think of all the blessings the Lord has promised me and covenants that I've made with him. And I trust him.
2 Nephi 18:17. “I Will Wait upon the Lord”
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the spiritual strength that follows when we place our trust in the Lord:
“As we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we must battle our pain day by day and sometimes hour by hour, even moment by moment; but in the end, we understand that marvelous counsel given to the Prophet Joseph Smith as he struggled with his pain of feeling forgotten and isolated in Liberty Jail:
“‘My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
“‘And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes’ (D&C 121:7–8).
“My dear brothers and sisters, when pain, tests, and trials come in life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord, … look for him’ (Isaiah 8:17; 2 Nephi 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way; be patient” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 19; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 17).
Now I of course am still working on always putting my trust in the Lord. But in certain moments I know that I can fully trust in the Lord. And I think that's where we can draw the line for ourselves to know where we have a testimony and in what principles of the gospel we are fully converted too. Our district leader said to take whatever time I needed. I wasn't sure how long I'd need or how long it'd take, but it created a 30-minute discussion on trusting in the Lord.
After District meeting, we had lunch, more look-ups for the week, and dinner. But before we went home for dinner we stopped by this former investigators home, he called us his morning actually and asked if we could help him with his computer. When we finished we stuck around the neighborhood and knocked a few doors. The first door we knocked had one of the sisters pass along cards in the door... lol the sisters beat us here. Well we went to the next house and knocked, when the door opened for a very brief moment a large man stood in the doorway, we heard the words "not interested!" And the door SLAMMED shut…
Making our way to the car we saw a man mowing his lawn, we approached him and he quickly killed the mower and walked our way. We introduced ourselves; we learned his name and a little bit about him. We briefly shared a message and set an appointment to come back. (His name is K).
Then we came home for dinner. And ended the night with some look-ups and phone calls.
Working on the rest! Love y'all!
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
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