Got to Meet Elder Dallin H Oaks

Good people! how we dern? :)

it's been such a great week here in Fallon NV! so many great experiences harvesting the field!

 

WHERE DID YOU ATTEND CHURCH YESTERDAY?

we had a special stake conference.. i'll tell you about it later on here. :) it was at the taylor stake center.

 

DID YOU HAVE ANY INVESTIGATORS WITH YOU AT CHURCH?

Yes! there was a special fireside on saturday night and 2 of the investigators we picked up this last week came with us to that and to the stake conference on sunday!

 

WHAT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK? haha well nothing too funny that i can remember other than the 4 yr old S and M's daughter let a whole box of baby chicks out in the backyard so we had to round em' all up as they were runnin around. that was pretty funny! oh and i better add this.. there is a drunk guy next to me at the library.. you have to punch in a 6 digit code to unlock the computer and he can't read his code he's so drunk. probably dangerous but he's laughing enough so i'll just laugh with him until he get's violent. ;) 

 

 

DID YOU GET YOUR BIKE? WHAT COLOR IS IT?  DO YOU HAVE A PIC?

no. I didn't get one yet.. i'm kind of on the fence because my thinking on it is if i'm going to get a bike, i want to get one that i'll use when i get home too. in other words.. i'm looking at downhill mountain bikes because i'd use it at home.. :) ha but i'm not really decided yet. i still have a car in my area so we'll drive until we can't anymore.

 

WHAT SCRIPTURE REALLY JUMPED OUT AT YOU?

D&C 112:10 wonderful. i studied a lot in patience this week in chapter 6 of preach my gospel. it's wonderful! also, humility in the same chapter. if you look at some of those scriptures.. you'll be glad you did!

 

 

WHAT WAS THE MOST SPIRITUAL MOMENT YOU HAD THIS WEEK?

Okay.. i was going to put it off longer but i'ma blow up if i don't tell you about our new investigators! they are the absolute best! and this is a good opportunity to tell you why. so i'm not going to say names because i wouldn't be surprised if they found the blog and out of respect for them i'll keep it private. we'll call them M (the wife) and S (the husband) then they have 4 kids. 13, 12, 10, and 4 yrs old. S is a return missionary, S and M were sealed in the temple. the temple really scared M and drove her away from the church. S wanted to still be a part of the church so M left him. S downhill spiralled after this occured and got into drinking/smoking and what not. M went back to drinking and smoking as well. they both did whatever they did.. you know.. got X'd. then they got remarried! they were only divorced for 8 months. they've been remarried for 3 years now.. about the same amount of time that they've been x'd right? so anyway they gave us a call on tuesday of last week and M told me the story on the phone. they just moved into our area and got our number from some other missionaries and reached out to us. M told me she and S are missing something and they know it's religion. I can honestly say i feel like this family is why i'm in Fallon right now. we met with them in person on friday and had SUCH a spiritual lesson. we talked about faith and having a real relationship with God. that was the most spiritual moment i've had on my mission, even more than the musical fireside.

 

 

DO YOU PONDER THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME YOU READ?

 Morning studies can be difficult for me so i tend to do more pondering than studying. I have been reading 30 minutes of the book of mormon focusing on the character of christ (which is easy for me to focus on), 4 pages a day in the bible, then the rest of the time in PMG, other than this last week. i stopped reading the bible and read PMG more. Pondering is very important in order to retain what we learn but also to enlighten us to what we should study next.

 

 

WHAT TALENT OF YOURS HELPS YOU THE MOST RIGHT NOW ON YOUR MISSION?

well you can call it a talent if you want.. or a spiritual gift.. but i think listening. The only person i have to compare to is my companion who really doesn't pay any attention to what people tell us. drives me crazy. but with all of our investigators.. (Jason, Amy, S and M) i do most of the conversing. I think he is a little bit insecure becuase he doesn't relate as quickly with people.. it takes him time to open up and to visit with people.. and to really care. so i think a combintaion of things have been really helpful to me.. and that's really caring about our investigators and listening to what they say.

 

 

WHAT WAS THE LAST TIME YOU READ YOUR PATRAICHAL BLESSING?

Yesterday actually! only the second time i've read it on my mission. so great to have a scripture for our lives! i know that my patriarchal blessing is an outline of my life from our father in heaven. i know because I'm experiencing some of what it talks about right now!

 

WHAT DO YOU KNOW FOR SURE?

I know for sure that the Lord hears our prayers. i know that If we humble ourselves enough to rely on him.. to really honestly put our trust in him and ask for guidance that we will receive it. Prayer is the avenue in which we align our will with God's. if we can master this i can't imagine how easy life would be! I KNOW that our father in heaven loves us so much. and i know he wants to hear from us.

 

WHO DID YOU GET LETTERS/PACKAGES FROM THIS WEEK?

I got a package from you momma! thank you, thanks for the pics. they are up in my room now. and i also got a package from pops! had my wedge and putter in it so if i can talk my comp into going to the course i'll be chipping and putting today. :) Mail from Grandma and Grandpa and a postcard from you as well! that's all for this week. :) oh and almost forgot, a letter from my lil homie NEWS! haha slick, i'ma write you back soon so look forward to it man!

 

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE US TO PRAY FOR?

Jason, Amy, S & M! haha heavenly father knows who they are.. don't be scared!

 

WHAT WAS THE CRAZIEST/DUMBEST THING THAT HAPPENED?

Well.. we'll go with craziest. I MET AN APOSTLE. Dallin H. Oaks came to the fallon stake center for stake conference. I shook his hand. talked to him about where i'm from. GOT A PIC. he's so funny. he took a pic with all the missionaries and it's horrible quality but i'll send it anyway. :)

 

ARE YOU KEEPING YOUR BATHROOM/BEDROOM SUPER CLEAN AND ORGANIZED SO THE SPIRIT CAN RESIDE THERE AND HELP YOU?
(MOM'S GOTTA KNOW)

yes. i don't have any shelf space or anything so all of my pday clothes stay in my suitcase on the floor but we keep it neat. believe it or not ladies and gentlemen, i have become kind of a neat freak.

 

well folks, i think that's all for the week. we have another great week coming up too! we'll have District meeting tomorrow, then our mission meeting is wednesday. Gavarret from the 70 is our area official and he'll be coming on wednesday to teach us a bunch of great things. next monday the library will be closed so i won't email again until tuesday. write me and send pics! i love you all!!

 

-Elder Sykes