Wednesday, Day 468
Day 108 back in NY
Pday!
Today was just all right and for once I'm actually writing in my journal the day of, instead of a week from now. We spent way too much time at the church because I am horrible at writing in my journal; I just come home and want to be home. I want to wind down and enjoy my time... but then I do that everyday and cram 7 days worth of writing into 2 and half hours… so I'm taking a stand for myself lol…
We decided to get up at 6 this morning so we had time to plan and study for more than 15 minutes. We planned for 30 and studied for 30. We then went and did laundry, got groceries and got a text from J asking for help right now. So we went to help J. We got to his house and he said he just wanted us to pick up some heavy equipment because he needs to take pictures of it all so he can try to sell them. It was pretty quick then we were on our way to he church where we spent the rest of pday… Elder Murray was having trouble sending emails and on top of that he probably didn't like me very much today because I spent a lot of time writing my journal, but he can't complain…he never said anything about it and he was emailing the whole time too so I don't think it was a big deal. But I'd rather not waste time like that anymore.
We came home about 5:15pm, made some quick dinner and got ready to go look up M. He wasn't home, so we knocked a couple doors, no one was home. Then we stopped by the W's, Sister W was home but Brother W is still in Atlanta. We chatted with her for a bit and then noticed she had a box of books siting by her door, we asked if she'd like us to do anything with it for her. She said yea, if you could actually take it to The Salvation Army that would be awesome. So when we left we suck it in the back of our car. On the way to the church, we stopped by the Salvation Army but it was closed. We went to the church and got on Facebook, we found M on Facebook but the wifi was trashy so we couldn't get a message to send to him.
When we left the church we stopped by J's again, he wasn't home. Jake (his dog) wasn't in his kennel so he was probably on a walk with him. We then drove towards Brother P's and remembered he was on a camping trip with his kids… we flipped a u-turn and then headed towards the church again, but we stopped on the way to visit Sister M. She's a sweet woman who woke up Mother's Day this year and felt the need to go to church. She hasn't been active for 20 years and she got her 2 girls ready and came to church. Every week since she's been at church. It's been awesome to see her grow. So we stopped by and chatted at her doorstep wit her for a minute.
When we got to the church we did daily contact, our Gospel Minute for today was:
By Elder Juan A. Uceda Of the Seventy
“When you pray, are you really praying or just saying prayers?”
3Nephi18:15:21
15 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him.
16 And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.
17 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto his disciples, he turned again unto the multitude and said unto them:
18 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.
19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;
20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.
21 Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.
· Prayers must show forth the desires of our hearts. We cannot expect answers or any timely solutions to our life's misfortunes if we are not praying unto the Father, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. Pray always and with patience and you may expect the Lord to reveal great things unto you.
July 6, 2017
Thursday, Day 469
Day 109 back in NY
This morning we got ready and planned. Then we took off to the Poughkeepsie chapel for interviews with President! When my turn came I went into the room, President asked me to offer the prayer, I did. Then he told me it was my interview and to lead it how I'd like. (In an email to the mission we were told to come to our interviews prepared to share our goals). So I opened up my iPad and had my goals out, I started talking about my view on goals as a youth. I shared an experience while playing baseball growing up. I told him all my time in little league my “goal” was to hit a homer in a game... now looking back I realized I never achieved that goal. I shared with him that as I reflected on my “plans” to achieve that goal, there were none... I had hoped I would hit a home run, but never took extra time to practice or work out to build strength or anything. I had no plans to achieve my goal.
Well he then had some things to share and we went on for a few minutes about goals. Then as always, he was inspired to ask a simple question, which led to a different topic but very relatable to goal setting and achieving. I believe these interviews with President Smith to be sacred to me, so the details I will hold to my heart and hand written in my personal journal. But I will share that President Smith is very inspired and was able to bless my life today, in ways only possible if there were a loving Father in Heaven… many experiences in my life allow me to know for a surety that God does exist and that He hasn't abandoned us by placing us on earth. He's real, He lives, and He for a surety loves each of us.
Today's Gospel Minute was:
By Bishop Gary E. Stevenson Presiding Bishop
“The miracle of the Atonement can make up for imperfections in our performance.”
John 14:18
18 “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
· The Lord has blessed us with this miracle called the Atonement. We should study it and learn of it, that we may know how it can be applied in our lives. We must experience the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives to truly appreciate and understand it.
July 7, 2017
Friday, Day 470
Day 110 back in NY
Today was pretty good; we started off with a run. We ran the same route we do every time we run. Down John st. Then down Manheim Blvd. over Main st. And to SUNY college, through the college, down the stairs then back up to South Manheim Blvd. on Plattekill Ave. till we are back home.
We got ready, planned and I had some good studies this morning. I reread over Jarom then read Omni. Great chapters!
We went to the church and created an invitation/poster to send out about a Game Night we out together. Next Saturday we are having a FHE game night at the chapel, should be fun! We made the invite, sent it out, and then had lunch. We watched a lot of the Homefront videos while we ate.
A member from the branch asked if we could meet him at his storage place and help him move some things to heavy to do by himself, so that he could reach some other things in his storage unit. We helped him out with that, the weather wasn't all that great, hot and sticky, humidity is a joke out here. Your sweat sweats...
Later in the evening we stopped by Sister P's. I made some puppy chow and we did a doorbell ditch delivery. We wrote some notes for her and stuck them on her door. And we left her the surprise.
Today's Gospel Minute was:
By Elder Shayne M. Bowen Of the Seventy
“Because of Him, even our Savior, Jesus Christ, those feelings of sorrow, loneliness, and despair will one day be swallowed up in a fulness of joy.”
2Nephi 31:20
20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
- Because of Him we CAN experience the feelings of sorrow, loneliness, and despair be swallowed up in a fullness of joy, but we MUST press forward with a steadfastness in Christ… when we do our part, God is bound to bless us with the promises He makes.
July 8, 2017
Saturday, Day 471
Day 111 back in NY
Today felt pretty good! We started off the day at the church, wrote up our progress report, sent that, then had companionship study, ate lunch and we drove up to Brother K's. The drive to his place is about 30 minutes. While up in his area we looked up a few others. We met with another member of the branch up there; we shared a message with them about following God.
Our time was short and we had to be back in New Paltz for an APF. As we were coming to a stop in the parking lot, it started to rain lightly. We had our APF and it was raining a little more and for the whole time we were outside.
We then came home for dinner. Afterward, on our way to an appointment we did a quick look up. Then we met with Chris, our investigator. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ; Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. The last thing on our schedule was to meet at the church for branch correlation.
Gospel Minute today was:
Richard G. Scott Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
“Precious truth comes a small piece at a time through faith, with great exertion, and at times wrenching struggles.”
Ether 12:6
6 “And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”
· Seeking for truth takes time and effort. Just as we would, in conversation with a friend, if we had a question we would ask our friend our question and wait for his/her response. In conversation with our Heavenly Father to learn of precious truths, we must also ask our questions and wait patiently for His response. Often times we may not recognize the answers quickly, but they are always near, so remember that and continue to search for truth.
July 9, 2017
Sunday, Day 472
Day 112 back in NY
What a wonderful Sabbath! This morning after sacrament meeting we were asked by the 1st counselor to give the lesson in YM during 3rd hour. We agreed to, as we were getting ready for Gospel Principles, which we planned on teaching we realized that Brother W’s in-laws were here visiting so he taught the class in Spanish so they could understand. So we were off the hook for his week. It was awesome, we didn't have to teach and we got to sit back and enjoy trying to pick out what was being said in Spanish.
After priesthood opening exercises, we went to the YMs room to teach. Well we sat down and just before we started with anything, guess who comes walking in. The 1st counselor… confused we asked if he was teaching? He said “No you guys are” we responded, “we thought you said you weren't going to make it and that’s why you needed us to teach?” He then replied “No, I just needed something off my shoulders.”
(Oh my… I love the members, the branch is great, but if the missionaries never came to church this place would burn to the ground lol.)
After church we went home and had lunch, went to pick up some food from the M's, took the sacrament to Brother M, then had an appointment with another member in the branch. The D’s are so great, brother D actually had a stake meeting in Newburgh, somewhere we showed up it was just his wife and daughter. We waited outside, she brought us some lemonade then said he wouldn't be home for about 45 minutes; she then brought us out some pizza. We ate shared a message with them and were on our way. As we were leaving their driveway we passed Brother D down the road.
The Gospel Minute message of the day was:
By Elder Neil L. Andersen Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
“Don’t let the whirlwinds drag you down. These are your days--to stand strong as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Helaman 5:12
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
· When we have done what is necessary for us to do in this life to have our foundation built on Jesus Christ, when the devil attacks we can laugh at his attempt because we will be strong enough to say no and make the right decision.
July 10, 2017
Monday, Day 473
Day 113 back in NY
Today was one of the best days! It was most definitely the 2nd best split I've ever had. The best was just a couple months ago when Elder Tabor and I went back to the Bronx... This split with Elder Busby was so awesome!
Our split began this morning right after district meeting. We split up, Elder Busby and I went home, and we changed. Then we drove to Grandma W’s home where we helped her out for a couple hours. We chopped wood and pruned back some bushes. She fed us lunch and then we headed home to change and get ready for companionship study and daily contact.
At 5 we had dinner, Elder Busby said, “are there any good restaurants around here? Do you have a favorite? Dinner is on me, we will go anywhere you want?”
I didn't have a favorite; I haven’t eaten out around here. But I said that P&G’s is a restaurant that Elder Murray talks about all the time.
He said sweet lets go! We hopped in the car, drove on down to P&G’s and ordered Mac Truck burgers. It's a burger patty in a grilled cheese sandwich with Macaroni and Cheese inside. Delicious!
Then we went back home changed and went to SUNY New Paltz University and went to the soccer field to play a pick up game with this guy named C and his brother and friends. C ended up not being there but we played with his brother F and these other few guys.
Afterward we went and did a couple look ups and went home. Elder Busby is so awesome; he and I have a lot in common and similar views on life and missionary work. Nearly everything we talked about he had similar views and comments to make about the subject. We loved this split together!
Our Gospel Minute today was chosen by Elder Busby:
By President Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency
“We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available--all the time!”
Psalms 118:24
24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
July 11, 2017
Tuesday, Day 474
Day 114 back in NY
Today was pretty good too! The majority of today was spent at the church helping out at the bishop’s storehouse, unloading the truck and filling orders for people. We were there from about 2-5pm. It was a great time! I love opportunities like this, you serve with so many people and it's so fun!
The sisters went out to eat with a member the other day and had left over pizza, so they gave it to us, so we went home and had pizza for dinner lol. We did some looks up and ended the day with our Gospel Minute:
By Carole M. Stephens First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
“When you love, watch over, and serve others in small and simple ways, you are actively participating in the work of salvation.”
Alma 37:6-7
6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
- What a beautiful thing it is to serve the children of our Heavenly Father. We are all in need and if we can focus more on those around us and less of ourselves we will be blessed with someone in our life to in turn be served by. Let us serve and be served.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
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