July 15th...

Howdy Fam and Friends!

it has been such a solid week. sure lovin' this mish of mine. i've neglected to mention it before but thanks to Grandma Sue and Grandpa Monte for sending me stamps! :) also, that packet that came with it is awesome and enlightening. thank you! on to the questions y'all!

WHO DID YOU ENJOY TEACHING THIS WEEK?

The Ward Family. they are very devout christian people. i think i've mentioned them before but i don't remember. we have taught them a few times and they kinda think they are teaching us.. hahah. they have been throwing a lot of anti material at us and we just bear testimony through it. anyway, last lesson we had with them, Elder shaw felt impressed to leave a copy of preach my gospel with them. they are very smart people, Brother Ward is actually a pastor for a christian church in town.. so they know their stuff. anyway, after we left the pmg with them we got a text from Claire-Marie (she's 21 and in college, just home for the summer) saying that she and her younger sister would like to buy a copy of the book of mormon from us. hahaha! i told her i was feeling generous so i would actually give each of them a brand new copy. ;) we are going to see them tonight and give them their boms! :) we've got high hopes for them. 

WHAT SCRIPTURE(S) JUMPED OUT AT YOU? WHY?
I've been studying in the new testament and finding all the verses talking about the gospel as we know it.. Faith, repentence, baptism, the holy ghost, endure to the end. i came across a scripture in matthew that i love! chapter 23 verse 12. jus check it out and you'll know why!

WHEN CAN YOU GO TO THE TEMPLE NEXT?

as soon as i serve in reno or sparks again! they are the only ones that get to go to the temple every quarter. i miss it so much! i can only hope i even get to go once on my mission. 

WHO SENT YOU LETTERS/packages THIS WEEK?

Steph P sent me a letter and grandma sue and grandpa monte and my grandparents sykes! thanks as always! :) 

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY FOR P-DAY?

there's a navy base in fallon that most of the district is going to with some crazy investigator but i'm not going! i'm going to play ball. :) 

ARE THE YOUTH IN YOUR WARD/STAKE INVOLVED IN MISSIONARY WORK? some are and most aren't! the ones that are involved are powerful forces for good! youth age people are so impressionable and if they see that someone they care about cherishes the gospel they will want to learn about it! my first baptism on my mission was a youth aged kid and his friends did more of the teaching than the missionaries!

WHAT HAS SPIRIT TESTIFIED TO YOU THIS WEEK?

welp, that the book of mormon is true! i find myself praying to confirm the truth quite often. not something i'm even ashamed of. Elder Holland said in a talk at a mission presidents conference that salvation is not a cheap experience so faithfulness in the church is not easy, being baptized isn't easy, studying isn't always easy, prayer isn't always easy. i continually pray to strengthen my testimony and after hearing some of the anti material i had to search out the answers! all of which i found answers too. the church is true! my testimony was strengthened by studying in the new testament recently.. the spirit continually bore witness that the bible once contained the fullness of the gospel as does the book of mormon in these the latter days! 

WHAT WAS THE CRAZIEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK?

Definitely having claire-marie ask me for a book of mormon. she has been so against reading it from the beginning of the time that we started talking with her. I'm grateful elder Shaw followed the prompting the spirit gave him to leave PMG at their house. they looked it over and i'm sure they want to reference the verses they found in there.. also in PMG chapter 3 section one it talks about praying to find the truth for yourself. We are hoping and praying that they read that and the spirit is working on them! :) they are such a rad family.. i'll keep you updated on what goes on!

okay so another great week has come and gone. just pluggin right along in this great work! it's crazy the dynamic of time.. days go by slow but weeks just melt by. at the end of next transfer, that begins next week, i'll be 1/4 of the way through with my mission. that's bizzare! life is good out here. thanks for the continued support and love. :) hope you all have a super swell week! talk to you soon.

-Elder Sykes (stooooz)

Happy Monday Fam and friends!

 

First of all, Happy birthday Grandma Millie! :) hope you have a super good one!

 

This week has been pretty good. this computer is lagging super hard core so i'll just get to the q's and try to finish by the end of my time!

 

WHAT DID YOU DO FOR THE 4TH?

Did some service for S and M then we had a barbeque at their house and played horse shoes! :). Fallon is a navy town so for the few hours that we went out contacting we didn't get a single person to visit with us!

 

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING YOU READ THIS WEEK?

something that helped me was in the teachings of somebody.. i don't remember. i took a picture of it so i could share it this week! welp.. nevermind! couldn't find it on my camera. one thing i liked alot was chapter 40 of Jesus the Christ. it's about the great apostasy and was super super interesting!

 

 

WHO SENT YOU MAILBOX LOVE?

Grandma sue/grandpa Monte and my dad!

HOW DID YOU KEEP COOL IN. THE HEAT HIS WEEK?

on wednesday we had zone conference and after that we talked to the guys that work at fast glass (it's a company that we live behind) they are technically our landlords, anyway, this whole time we've been suffering in the heat they have had a swamp cooler disconnected sitting outside of a big garage behind our house. long story short, we asked them if we could hook it up and we called S (you know, s and m ) he's quite the handyman and he came over and helped us get it all squared away. we are totally kosh now.. when i woke up this morning it was 56 degrees in our house. it works perfect and now we are comfortable! :)

 

WHAT A SCRIPTURE JUMPED OUT AT YOU?

Moroni 7:33 . when times are tough, this is a good one for missionaries!

 

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOUR MISSION PRES SAID TO YOU ?

He texted me last night and asked me how many bathrooms we have in our apt. i told him there is one.. he then asked me if that makes it tough for us to all get showered and be studying by 8am. i told him some of us take turns showering in the evening so that it's not so hectic in the mornings and that we dont' have any problems studying by 8 am. he then said thanks. so that's that! in person the last thing he said to me was he thanked me for bearing my testimony during our small testimony meeting in zone conf.

WHAT WAS THE CRAZIEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK?

well nothing really jumps out at me today for the craziest thing.. we had a pretty intense meeting with a new family that we met. this girl Claire-Marie (that's her first name.. don't ask me) she is super cool, i was on splits with the district leader and his head was too big for my companions helmet so we were walking this day last week... Claire marie was jogging and she stopped when she got by us and asked us to teach her stuff. she turns out to be a very devout Christian.. non denominational but very stern beliefs. anyway, she told us to come back another time. we've tried a few times and haven't been able to catch her there, but the last time we went there (last thursday i think..) we caught her mom and dad and little sister at home. they are such good people.. but they brought us in and really tried to throw the church under the bus. they threw so much anti material at us it was crazy! elder shaw and I just stood our ground and kept bearing testimony of what we know to be true. the conversation wasn't disrespectful at all.. well not intentionally anyway. and they invited us to come back another time. i would write out all the stuff that they threw at us but i don't want to try anybody's faith! ;) kidding, but there was a lot. we prayed about them and felt impressed that the next time we see them we need to explain the resurrection and judgement, and just what we know to happen after we pass on in this life. they get confused because they think that because we rely on our "works" we don't rely enough on the sacrifice of our savior. they phrased it like "you'll rely on your ""works"" and then let the sacrifice do the rest" and their stance is like we are absolutely nothing without the sacrifice of our savior and brought up a scripture in isiah that says your best works are like dirty rags.. blah blah anyway i'm sick of talking about that so i'm moving on! :)

 

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS TODAY?

Going golfing with brother Brown! :) then having a bbq with a few families from the ward.

 

DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS LOVE YOU??!!

I have a pretty good idea! i just love my family and friends! life is good. I hope and pray things go well for all of you this week. Love you so much!

 

-Elder Sykes

July 1st Still in Fallabama

Family and friends,

 

I'm pleased to live another week in Fallabama! it's been so crazy hot but not quite as hot as AZ. hope y'all are staying indoors!  let's get to the q's.

 

HOW ARE YOU STAYING COOL?

smokes okay so it depends on the day. we sweat all day long on bikes then we get home and our house is warmer than outside. the first thing we do is open all the windows and point all 4 of our fans out the windows and doors to get the hot air out. then, after we plan for our next day i'll take a cold shower.. as cold as i can take it. then i get dressed while wet still and go lay on the floor until i start dozing off. then, i get a wet wash clothe and put it around my neck and lay on my bed. some nights are worse than others.. it usually get's bearable by 12 or 1 ish but sometimes i can trick myself into falling asleep before that. during the day while biking around there is no way to stay cool so i just drink lots of water and thats about it!

WHEN ARE TRANSFERS?

July 23rd. chances are i'll stay in this area at least for another transfer because Elder Shaw will be half way done with training at that point.

WHAT WAS THE YUMMIEST THING YOU ATE THIS WEEK?

La Fiesta! it's a super good mexican restaurant in "downtown" fallon. we helped move some couches for an investigator and he offered to take us there for dinner. i had 2 enchiladas and a taco and i hate to say it, but the food was better than mama chus AND, that one restaurant on guadalupe that i loved. it was the best mexican food i've had ever!

WHO SENT YOU (LETTERS) MAILBOX LOVE THIS WEEK?

smokes, this was a way good week for mail box love! i got mail from Nan, Stan, Don, Sadie, Grandma and grandpa sykes and bonella, and i think that's it.

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU TEACHING THE GOSPEL TO RIGHT NOW?

a million! not really but we have 11 total people in our current investigator pool right now. now we have only 3 considered progressing, which means they are keeping commitments, but we are working at it! :) the numbers are just numbers.. We are here in invite others to come unto christ and that's definitely more than just teaching discussions!

WHERE DID YOU ATTEND CHURCH?

Tolas PL building. the tiny church! it's pretty solid though.. the AC works so we're happy with it. :)

WHERE DID YOU EAT DINNER YESTERDAY?

Brother and Sister Browns house! they are the best.. I'm golfing with Brother Brown next p day!

WHAT WAS THE STRONGEST IMPRESSION YOU HAD ?

this week? hmm.. that's a hard one. we actually had a great lesson in gospel doctrines about the Holy Ghost and Instead of answering this question i'll tell you what i learned. There is a chapter in PMG about recognizing the promptings of the spirit and applying that to your teaching.. it's the most important chapter probably! the whole book is important but if you are in tune with the spirit you are teaching by the power of God! I really can't say i had one impression that was stronger than any other.. but what i can say is that as a representative of the Savior, i and any other missionary, receive constant promptings and guidance from the Holy Ghost. not just a still small voice but really just thoughts and impressions that come to mind. for instance, the guy who we moved couches for. we had only met him once before so we just moved him into the investigator pool. but he wasn't home when we went to his house on tuesday last week. we were running way ahead of schedule and we didn't really know where to go next. i was going through the ward list on the side of the road and i had a thought that we should just wait for a minute. no more than 2 minutes of sitting there, getting a drink of water from my back pack, RJ pulls into his driveway about 2 tenths of a mile down the road. so we cruise down there, have a great discussion with him, and he asks us to help him move some couches later on in the week. so that was that! E. Shaw reminded me of a talk in the MTC by Elder Bednar (becuase he's the best! ) about the spirit. the main point in the talk was " who cares if the thought came to you by the spirit or if it was you!? " basically stop worrying about if you're receiving promptings or if it's just your own thoughts. Trust as a representative of Christ, that we are constantly being guided. that mindset on the spirit really helps me in missionary work. too often i've found myself caught up in thoughts that i'm not a good enough missionary to receive constant guidance and promptings. i felt like i couldn't recognize them in the beginning. now i've learned that if i just trust the thoughts that i have that 9/10 times it's the spirit! this is truly the Lord's work so like i've said so many times before, if i just put myself in the right spot at the right time, the spirit does the rest! obedience and faith my friends. that's it!

WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO SEND YOU THIS WEEK?

oh i know! mom, i would like the ingredients to that peanut butter dip for apples! remember that stuff i love!? just like raisins and whatever else i'm supposed to put in it. if it's not too expensive of course!

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING YOU READ THIS WEEK?

This week i was ALL over the place. i really liked Alma 18 though, talking about King lamoni. we have an investigator that when we met, he didn't believe in God. that chapter has really helped me understand how to relay the message that there IS a God and that he loves us! of course that, and my favorite chapter in the book of mormon which is Alma 32.

DID ANYTHING SCARE YOU THIS WEEK?

funny you should ask! yes, something scared me pretty good this week. i was taking the garbage out with my comp and we live right behind a business called fast glass and our home is owned by the owner of the company. anyway we use the dumpster that the company pays for so we have to walk over to the dumpster behind the building. not too far but just far enough. anyway we dumped the trash and we were chatting with an employee at the business and telling him about our house how it's super hot. then! something stung/bit my big toe. i was wearing these little slide on shoes.. like flip flops basically and i just moved my foot way fast when i felt the pain. i didn't even see what it was! it wasn't a bee sting because there aren't very many bees around and i would have seen it. it was kinda sandy and hilly so i don't really know. anyway, the sting was comparable to a bee sting.. maybe just a little more intense. we went inside and by the time i got back to the house my big toe was pretty swollen. i started icing it and before i know it i can't really move my big toe because it's so fat! i took a picture i'll include but the picture i have was taken about 5 minutes after the sting/bite or whatever it was. so you'll see how swollen it got that fast. anyway, i texted our mission mom and told her what happened and she didn't get back to me so i figured it wasn't a big deal.. i put socks and shoes on and this was saturday, the day we went and moved couches for RJ. i just stopped paying attention to it and after we moved couches and some other stuff for a couple hours we went over to S and M's house. their house feels like home based on how much we are teaching them. they took pretty good care of me.. made me take some medicine and put some allergic cream stuff on it. anyways i didn't get a picture when it was at it's worst but my entire foot was swollen. swollen to where i couldn't put it back into my shoe. haha the mission mom called me after a few texts and i told her what was up. she said that we won't send me to the doc unless the swelling spreads to my leg, which it didn't. we still have no idea what got me and the swelling has gone down a bunch so it's only a little swollen now. but i'm totally fine! i was thinking it was brown recluese or something.. i didn't want to lose my foot becuase that would mean no more golf! or no more bball! or no more anything! hah so i'm grateful it wasn't anything serious. :) but it scared me! and.. that was rambly haha sorry for anyone that is actually reading this whole thing.

HOW IS THE COMP?

eh, we're hangin in there. we are just two differnt people trying to help people! I'm truly learning the virtue of patience and I'm hoping to do my part in helping him learn missionary work too. we work hard and we're teaching a lot of people but most of the time i'm quiet to keep the peace. he is just the type of guy that likes to argue about a lot of things. it stinks, S actually put him in his place this week and he was feeling pretty bad. he will learn though! i'm just praying for the patience to help him when all i want to do is ignore him!

WHAT DO YOU KNOW FOR SURE?

oh my goodness. I know for sure, that missionary work is the Lord's work. I know that when i was set apart by President Trent, i was literally set apart as one whose responsibility is to represent our Savior. Though i'm worlds away from the caliber of Man the Savior is and was, i've been called of God to spread the message of the restored gospel. As a representative of Christ, I KNOW that God will not let me, or any other missionary fail. I know that he loves me, and more importantly, he loves every one of his children individually. I'm so grateful to be a part of this work because i get to feel the love he has for them every single day! what a great blessing! :) it's not always easy, or ever easy really.. but the joy that comes from serving other people is so tangible! in the hard times this is what i try to remember. i also know, that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. the church is absolutely true!

DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH YOUR FAMILY LOVES YOU??

I just know how much i love my family! and my friends for that matter! i've been so blessed with the people in my life. so so so grateful!! :)

 

well fam and friends. another week! thanks again for your support and prayers! I love you all so much and i'm so grateful to be serving the Lord at this time. :) I hope all things go well for y'all back home this week. until next time!

 

-Elder Sykes