Sam's "Homecoming" Talk and Open House

On Sunday, 13 September 2009
welcome Elder Bostwick home:

"Homecoming" Talk
hosted by the Country Park 2nd Ward
9:00am - 10:15am
South Jordan Country Park Stake Center
2447 W 11400 So
South Jordan, UT

Open House
hosted by Darrel and Lisa Bostwick
11:00am - 5:00pm
Darrel and Lisa Bostwick's home
10528 Hemisphere Ct (2060 W)
South Jordan, UT

for more information on these events
contact Lisa Bostwick
801.254.8682

very little

I have very little to say today. I feel as though all of the things that I would tell you can wait a little bit more.

The Mesa Zone is doing really well. The assistants thanked Elder Snyder and me last night because, as they say, "we're carrying the mission." In truth, the success we are seeing in the different areas of our zone is a blessing from God and has very little to do with us two. Blessings are obtained by being worthy and focusing on the things we want to be blessed in. I have learned a lot of the great value of goals and praying for what you want/need. "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you" is a phrase repeated some 120 times. I think the next most common promise in scripture, thanks to the Book of Mormon, is if you are obedient to the commandments, you will prosper in the land. It is my continual blessing to be surrounded by dedicated and obedient missionaries who, through their actions and attitudes, make great things happen. I have also learned a lot about a good spirit of competition. Throw down a challenge, and watch the results skyrocket. What a concept.

These are going to be a great last few weeks, I can tell. I am excited for the challenges that face me, and I can't wait for the Lord to show his hand, like he always does. The gospel is great.

Well, I think that's just about all I have for today. Thank you for the patience of everybody that has made it possible for today to not be the day I come home. I still feel that the decision to stay was the best thing for me in every way. I love you all, take care.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

3

It's so great to see how the Lord puts everything together so perfectly. We've been really blessed to see more people coming to make and keep commitments and prepare for baptism. At the end of trials come great blessings, if we endure well.

In many ways, last week was just hard. Everything felt very heavy and wearisome. We just felt a lot of weight due to the sins of the world I guess you could say. We spent a lot of time meeting new people and every time it was just a discouraging result, time and time and time again. We went through a kaleidoscope of feelings and moods. It was a test, and we had to struggle through it. I normally don't feel down about life. I am a positive person, but even moreso when I know I am doing my part, and having trust in God makes me even more positive. But in many ways, we were running short on hope. After making a point to work hard until the very end, knowing the trial would soon be over, an almost physical weight lifted. On Sunday, from one moment to the next, we just felt better, back to normal. Now, I might not know the reason, or the whole effect, but we made it through some kind of test of our diligence. We didn't break, though it was hard. And now we see blessings. The Lord will take us to where we feel like it is our last effort we can give, and then He provides His strength. The Gospel is true.

I hope you're all well. My time is gone. I love you all.

-Elder Bostwick

great weather

It may be that after so long in Arizona, I've finally just adjusted. It might be that Brother Brown has left the air conditioner on a higher temperature recently. Or maybe the temperatures have been unusually merciful for the month of August, but I have felt like the last week has had great weather. I mean, I still stink at the end of every day and it is still the greatest relief of my life to kick off my black leather shoes (which are definitely tired of Arizona, and tired of being worn for that matter), but in many ways there has been a lot of ways that my attitude is improved by the weather.

The forecast looks good too, white in the city of Mesa. I'm happy that I can be here every last day, seeing as up until the last Saturday I will be attending memorable baptisms. We've been teaching a whole family that is excited for everything. They're excited for Scouts, for Relief Society, for the priesthood in their lives, and for the temple as their goal. They're excited for four future missionaries and a whole congregation of family and so much more. We are excited for them, and it is amazing how much the Lord lets us love the people we work with.

On Sunday, I felt like a dad. The elders' quorum president and young womens' president, the Gilgens, had a baby a few weeks ago and they did the blessing on Sunday. The surprise was when Sister Gilgen turned around to beckon me to join in the blessing, and I turned behind me to see who she was looking at, and after some confusion, she made it clear she really did want me to join in the circle for the blessing of her son. I feel a strong admiration for so many dedicated and consecrated members I have met in the mission and their friendship, as much as anything, will be an eternal blessing to me. They show me how the gospel must be lived, and I make notes for the future. Then, afterward in the same meeting, the large, long-haired, three-year-old, half-Native American son of an investigator lady, was going back and forth from one side of the room, where his mom was seated, to me, and being very noisy about it. When it was clear that our little Samson would not be still, and after getting a look from the branch president, I took him out of the meeting. In the hall, we looked at the pictures of Jesus and we talked about how to be good in the chapel. Kids have to adjust to coming to church even more than their parents, but it was strange that it became my job to orient this kid of church behavior. I felt very parental. And it worked! He improved significantly, and every time he forgot to sit quiet with his mom, he would see me standing in the back of the chapel, and I would point to his seat, and he remembered.

Elder Owens and I got to go on an exchange last Thursday and we had a great day together. It was fun to get so much done, but have a good time doing it. It was even fun to be on a bike for the day. I feel more like a missionary on bike and enjoy the extra travel time to think about what we are doing and pray for the people we see and are teaching and sing primary songs. That, too, is a gift from God. It's cool to make connections with American investigators too. Even in one lesson, or one baptismal interview, I feel like I get to know these great people so well. I love them almost as much as I love my own investigators. The Lord brings such wonderful people into his church. We need to work extra hard to keep them fed and loved, because even the strongest of people can become frail and weak after their baptism. The Lord, when we come to him, shows us our weaknesses so they can be strengths. But being humbled hurts when we don't have friends to help us through it. Let's fellowship new members! Elder Owens is a great missionary. His family should be so proud of him. He's always been good, but he has become great.

I don't think I mentioned this, but we're back in the Employment Center. The Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency wanted us to extend the pilot program. So we still work there every Tuesday morning, reporting our progress to Salt Lake. It's very interesting, we meet all kinds of people there. Mostly members who need to repent and draw themselves closer to the Father. It's a hard thing to see, and sometimes I sorrow for justice, but God has his law. When we don't obey his commandments, we don't qualify for his blessings, and it shows. Our English class was fun yesterday as we learned to command people and be powerful. We practiced positive and negative commands. It would be so confusing to try and learn a language without a formal study of it. But our students do good. We even have some non-members that came to English class first, but now come to church on Sundays too, and we've been invited to their house for dinner, though their husbands won't let them get baptized, or that's the story. In any case, it's a success to a certain point.

I love being a missionary. I know life will get better and better, but I cherish every day here. A group of missionaries from my transfer (that started the mission with me) including Elder Rutt, went home today, almost a full 30 days early. That's weird to me. How did time go by so fast?

I'll write you again next week. Be good, have fun. Make good choices ... and all that stuff.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

dear family

Things are well. Elder Snyder and I laugh a lot. We are working very hard and are happy in our work. My time on the computer is gone. Sorry for the short email today.

Love,
Elder Bostwick

time to change

Well, transfer week has come again. Change wouldn't be unfamiliar if I hadn't spent so much time with Elder Argyle, but Elder Argyle flew home to Seattle this morning—it was inevitable—and I had to get a new companion (Elder Rands, not being a Zone Leader, wasn't going to stay with me, we knew that from the beginning).

This last transfer continued our trend of breaking records. We destroyed the zone baptism record and a few other ones also. In our area we also broke some significant records. It is proof of the dedicated service of the great missionaries that I serve with. I am honored to be with them every day.

Elder Argyle's last week turned out to be a really nice one. We had some great investigators show a lot of faith in the Lord and get baptized. It will be my blessing to be able to stay here a while longer and watch the heavens open up and pour blessings on them, because great blessings always come with great sacrifice and faith. I also found out how to buy a marriage license and we had a nice wedding for one of the couples that was baptized. On Sunday, the branch president asked Elder Argyle to come up at the end of sacrament meeting and share his testimony before leaving. Since he has been in this area quite some time, his testimony was emotional for him, and for most of the members and investigators and recent converts in the branch. We all cried. I've really been grateful to serve with Elder Argyle for so long. I learned new things from him every day.

So the transfer news. We have two awesome district leaders, one is the same from last transfer, and the other, Elder Owens (still in Mesa Zone) is the new district leader. I'm so excited, and he'll do great. Two of our junior companions went senior companion, and we have one brand new greenie and a few companionships staying together. Elder Rands was transferred down to San Luis, and he was so excited. As for my companion—the ridiculously unlikely has happened again and I am companions with new zone leader Elder Snyder, otra vez. All the missionaries in the transfer meeting expressed their awe in some great satisfactory "oohs" when our companionship was announced. I am ecstatic. The Lord has let me serve a long time with some really great people.

Right after transfer meeting, I had to announce loudly to a lobby-full of missionaries that "this is my grandma, nobody panic" before I hugged Grandma Jean. The Lunts took Elder Snyder and I to lunch and picked up another suitcase of things I won't need for the rest of my mission, as well as Elder Argyle's guitar. Elder Argyle will get all his things when I get home, just keep it all in my room for now.

I love you all. I am increasingly grateful for every new day in the mission field. Grandpa Terry asked if I had thought about extending—I wish I could. Each day is so rewarding, I would hate to miss any one of them. The friends I am making here mean so much to me, how can the Lord be so good?

I hope everything is well at home, viewing life through streak-free windows. Sometimes the view is great enough you just have to overlook some spots and appreciate what you see. Until next week!

-Elder Sam Bostwick

loving my mission

I am loving my mission. We have four great baptisms this Saturday, and six others in the zone, which will break our record for baptisms in a transfer—a good way to send Elder Argyle home. We do well in our threesome. The hardest part for me is to try not to compare myself with such great companions. I am definitely dwarfed in the presence of giants.

-Elder Bostwick

this crazy week

I feel like we have been really busy this week, and today is only evidence of that. I already have to be done with emailing. I have spent too much time working on college stuff in the little time I can spend online. Hopefully, step by step some progress can be made. I love you all.

-Elder Bostwick

P.S. Congrats Cecily, that is so exciting! And thanks to whoever was in charge of letting me know the same day!

turn up the heat

While it has been consistently hotter than it would be in Utah, the weather had been for quite some time, surprisingly cooler than a normal Arizona summer. We're talking only 105 as the norm instead of 115. But at last the heat has returned, and Elder Rands just shouts out "I love the heat!" To be honest, it is not quite as impacting the second summer as the first—I survived it once, bring it on.

Due to a lot of things that have to get done with a new missionary (new Spanish missionaries get a "training hour" and a full hour of Spanish study; normal Spanish missionaries only get a half hour daily to study Spanish) it feels sometimes that we spend a lot of time inside our house. Add in last week's zone conference, our service in the Employment Center and English classes, meetings on Sunday with stake and branch presidencies, and our two-hour weekly planning session on Fridays, and I am sick of all of these required hours that we are not proselyting. Elder Rands is learning a lot, and we learn a lot from his great attitude about life and missionary service. Elder Argyle and I keep reminding each other that God had a reason in giving us a new elder at this time in our missions, and so we are patient with all the time inside.

In the end, I want to work. The times I have been happiest on my mission, is when we have worked the hardest. There is no secret to happiness in this life, it is written all over the scriptures to be declared by everyone. Be diligent in your duty to the commandments God gives, and you will be happy. I have found considerably increased happiness on my mission than I ever had before because I have been serving other people, rather than catering to my own ever-selfish wants and desires. We went to the temple today and I am pumped to work, not just here for the rest of my mission, but to continue working hard after the mission, for the rest of my life.

The gospel is so true on so many levels and I feel honored and blessed to learn new things every day, to wonder at the works and wonders of our Father in Heaven. My time's out, but I love you all. Take care.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

some pictures

These are the Bingham buds. Elders Owens (mid) and Meldrum (right) were companions at the time in my Zone in Mesa.


Jose is about to turn in his mission papers. He comes to a lot of lessons with us. Then me, Elders Snyder, Reynolds, and Argyle.


These are all future missionaries. When I took the picture, the one on the left was a recent convert, and the other three weren't members. Now they are all members and will pass the sacrament on Sunday.


At work.


Elder Argyle, Elder Rands, and me.


The branch campout that we got to go on.

clouds, but no rain

We had a great week this last week with an amazing baptismal service. I was able to confirm a ten-year-old kid, which was a first for me. I had never given a blessing of any kind for a child, and it was unique to listen to the language our Father has for young children, so that they can understand what He wants to tell them. With each of our baptisms, we just keep finding new people to teach, whether it be referrals from converts or people that members just start bringing to church or those miracle findings. Our teaching pool just doesn't run dry and we keep a constant flow of new and great people to teach. I am humbled to serve in Mesa.

We've had a few cloudy days, and a bit of wind, but no rain. It has been almost cruel. Although, I am told that monsoon season is near (I missed it last year because I was in San Luis).

We gave one of our final reports to our "boss" in the Employment Center yesterday. We will be serving there until near the end of July, but it seems like we have really gotten a good idea of the potential of the program. In the following weeks, the missionaries and employees in the center are going to help me develop my own resume to begin communicating with a few places in Provo. While I'm there, I might as well make good use of the time, and I know that God with provide for my needs. He provides for us and has promised us time and time again that he that obeys His commandments will prosper in the land.

I am happy here. As much as the heat may rise, and the sun beat down almost as though you could feel it hitting you with physical force, it feels good to spend my time in the service of other people. As I teach the gospel, its wonders open up more and more. Thanks for helping to get me on my mission!

Love,
-Elder Bostwick

!animo!

Someday, I'm going to have to figure out how to type in Spanish. I don't know how to use the language settings on the computer ....

Animo means desire, enthusiasm, or drive and it defines our new missionary. Elder Rands, from the suburbs of Chicago, is huge. He wrestled at Northwestern University in what is a very reputable wrestling program. Physically he is huge, but even better is his huge excitement to be a missionary. With other newer missionaries not having very much drive to learn Spanish well, we have been really grateful and happy to see that Elder Rands wants to talk in Spanish as much as he can. He knows he can't really do the Lord's work until he can speak to the people. Though his speech is now slow, his desire to communicate is visible and endearing and he gets many compliments on his Spanish. By example, he is teaching Elder Snyder's old companion, Elder Reynolds, to step up the passion and speak. It is easy to be happy for Elder Rands's success as he learns many new words each day and gets excited about everything, and telling us how great of missionaries we are. We laugh and tell him he is great too. Truly, his animo is contagious and we have all become more dedicated to the work and we definitely have seen the miracles in even just one week.

We will be having another baptismal service on Friday. Maria Zavala and her kids had their interviews last night and all is ready. We found out that the other area, Elder Reynolds and Elder Burt, will also have a baptism on that day! Elder Burt is good for this area, with a positive way of thinking. Elder Snyder's corneal ulcer weighed down on him and he would say negative things about the area that we knew weren't true, and Elder Burt is proving it. In this first week since he arrived, they have put four people on date.

We were walking in an apartment complex on Friday night. I randomly saw a convert from my days in Queen Creek and we called her mom right there to seek legal help (we need to get a lady divorced and this girl's mom was a judge in Mexico). It was a nice reunion, but even cooler was the fact that as we talked to them, two couples came outside to sit and relax in the early evening that was almost cooling off. As we finished with the girl from Queen Creek, we walked over to talk with the two couples. One couple is from the Pentecostal Church, and they have been taking the other couple to church with them. As we talked, we touched on many doctrinal points, teaching all four of them of the will of God in their lives. Happily, the other couple invited us to come to their home and teach them, and they have remarkable potential to progress rapidly. They were Catholics, converted to another Christian church which turned out to be disappointing, and have just recently started to look to define their faith again. The Lord has prepared them and brought them a long way.

Monday night was supposed to be full of appointments. We needed to have a double exchange to help us teach all the lessons we had scheduled, but after calling everyone in the whole branch, we were supremely denied by every single person. I hope they were all having their Family Home Evening .... Once we got closer to our appointments, they all started to call and cancel. One by one until we almost had nothing to do and we were overall disappointed. Early on, when we had had an appointment scheduled previously, we were contacting an investigator family in an apartment complex that is closed to proselyting. We had received the information for our investigators by referral—the most that is allowed in that particular complex. When our investigators weren't home, we began to leave and were only stopped by an American lady shouting out, "Elders!" She came to us, said she was a member and that the Spirit had her come over to us and she wanted to take us to meet some of her neighbors. We met one neighbor, then another, then went to another, she walked us around and we got several new potential investigators. Even more, she knew our actual investigators and as we finished with her visits, we saw that our investigators had come home so we took her to contact them too. To our surprise, this American member started speaking Spanish when our investigator opened the door, we went in and taught a whole lesson, felt the Spirit strongly and made our investigator's day. There was no doubt that we had made our plans for the day, but that God had made His own plans, and they were better than ours. That lady is a member missionary! And we were so blessed to have her help, even if for just an hour and a half.

I think the gospel gets more true every day. As I discover new truths, my testimony shoots roots deeper and deeper into the soil of the doctrines of the gospel. I find so much happiness in serving these people. It feels so good to sink into bed at night with the spirit as my companion, tired from a full day's work, and ready to sleep truly sound.

I love you, and am happy for the great things you all do. Keep being great! Until next week,

-Elder Sam Bostwick

the unexpected

My mission has been kind of full of rather unexpected things. That seems to be Heavenly Father's plan for me: to train me to sit back and trust Him. Speculation is futile, as has been proved to me over and over and over.

Transfers came again. Elder Snyder, after a long time in Mesa, has been sent to the branch in Tempe, where he will enjoy a car and a closer proximity to the doctor's office. In reality, it is a change that I believe should have been made as an "emergency transfer" but I don't make the calls around here. Elder Argyle and I had been together quite a long time and we were not anticipating anything else but for one of us to be transferred. However, as I said before, speculation is futile. I will be seeing Elder Argyle to the end of his mission, making us the longest companionship in known Tempe history. Even more wild and unexpected, President Craig has asked the two of us to train a new missionary together. We set up the bunk bed last night in Brother Brown's house to accommodate another bed and we are all set and very eager and excited to get to work—too bad today is P-Day and we have to relax. Elder Rands is on fire to be here and he will definitely be a powerful addition to our companionship and help us to be proud of our work here in the mission field.

It is nice to hear updates from home. I love the family, and think about you all fondly. Sometimes I even imagine what it would be like to be there, but I know that time goes on as it should and I will be able to pick up right away with all of you. I wish Steven the best, and most of all, that our Father will guide his steps. I've learned a lot about the reality that all of us have a different path, and should go forth confidently. I know this gospel is true. I have very powerful feelings about the plan of salvation, especially in light of Grandma Rose's funeral. I know all that comes to us is for the better, and all the bad that we get or that we bring to ourselves can be turned around for our upbringing and learning. I know that no pain is wasted and no frustration is in vain. Joy is the purpose of our life, but it comes at certain cost.

We went on a trip to the temple visitors' center last night with the youth for a mutual activity. We work with so many youth investigators that this was a powerful missionary activity. My testimony of the mission of Joseph Smith grows every day. By their fruits ye shall know them, and I could spend the rest of my life marveling at the fruits of this great prophet.

Okay, my time really is out. I love you. Take care.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

records defeated

Dear Readers,

Elder Argyle and I are a good team. We reviewed the area book and the past records for each of the stats that we turn in and realized that we held several records from the time we have been companions. After looking at the remaining unbroken records, we decided to defeat the records and set new standards for our area. This last week, we defeated the last record we had planned to break (there is only one remaining record, but in order to break it, such as the week it was set, we would have to not teach any lessons and spend all of our time in the street talking to people—we'd rather have lessons). Achieving a goal is a sweet feeling. I have learned a lot from Elder Argyle, and am especially grateful for this last transfer we have had together, since it has done wonders to train me to be a better missionary, and a better man.

This transfer has also included caring for Elder Snyder. His eye slowly recovers, and he goes to the doctor frequently where he, each time, gets a different explanation of why it isn't healing more quickly and a new medication. Supposedly, if it were being treated correctly, it would disappear in a matter of days. After so many blessings and medicine, I am unanswered in why he must go through this, but we are doing all we can to help him get out of the house (he can't ride his bike, so him getting out of the house means going on an exchange with us in the car) and spending a lot of time scrambled up with different companions. God knows why this is happening, and that is the end of questioning.

Yesterday, just before sitting down to dinner with our Relief Society President, President Craig called with the news of Grandma Bostwick. I will miss her. This makes both of Dad's parents whose funerals I was not able to attend due to my missionary service. Again, God knows the reason. I feel that I don't have an emotional need to go to the funeral. Death in the gospel has such a clear perspective that I don't feel much sadness. However, all change has effects, and I feel the effect of a change in our family. I love Grandma Rose and I will be very glad to see her again someday, happier and stronger.

We had a great youth baptismal service on Saturday with a lot of involvement with the youth of our branch. In giving talks or extending welcomes, it was a good opportunity to teach a few of the kids some practical gospel skills. I see it as more evidence that the Church is true, that young people can prepare a talk and present it to a group with clarity, confidence, and testimony. The three kids that were baptized (Jessica, Christian and Alan) are very happy, and we finally began to teach their parents, though they will likely progress much more slowly than their children. We always are happy to see continual progress in our investigators as well as the investigators that other missionaries are working with.

We had a cool experience with a recent convert. He was baptized two weeks ago and the Saturday after his baptism, we went to his house for a lesson, to teach him about the priesthood (he had already been ordained a priest and we wanted him to really understand his duties and privileges as a priesthood holder). When we got to his house, he said he was going to invite a neighbor to hear the gospel, which he did, she came, and he himself began to teach her the about the Restoration, bearing testimony, using the scriptures, and teaching the true doctrines of the Church. This miraculous change from our "so-so" investigator to our new powerful fellowshipper came so quickly as a result of acting on faith. Raul took a leap of faith to be baptized, and his life now is continual evidence of the faith he has to act. The spirit is with him and he is a new man. We took him and his neighbor to the temple visitor's center and he again, bore his testimony with more conviction than we thought was in him. God is great, and this is His work. For as much as we do, we do very little. This change in Raul that is so surprising to us, is exactly the change that He had planned all along, by no accident or chance to the One who really taught Raul to have faith.

I love you all, as I always say, and always mean. I care about what is going on in your lives. Thanks for everything you do to teach me. I have little hope by myself, but I have all reason to hope in the great examples and teachers who surround my life and in the mercy of our Lord, who truly is mighty to save.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

birthday

Querida Familia,

After two birthdays in the mission already, this third one is rolling around about the same as all the other days. It's funny to think that I've passed the magic line from unofficial adult, to official adult. I can now legally do things that I'm not going to do anyway. Most importantly, I'm told that my brain is supposed to be coming back today, though I think it is hesitant to return to work after eight years of vacation. We are going rock climbing to celebrate (not real rock climbing, but to a rock climbing gym) as a combined Mesa and Tempe Zone activity. We even invited the Assistants, though they didn't sound too enthusiastic about it. It'll be their loss if they don't come. This evening we have a good night lined up, full of good lessons with people who don't know it is my birthday—perfect.

Our meeting with Richard G. Scott was great. It began with technical difficulties—four or five men from the host stake ran around crazy trying to set up a projector that we didn't ever use anyway. Elder Scott also wanted a body microphone so he could walk around, and it took a while to start working. The whole time I kept thinking, "We're losing apostle-time." In the end, Elder Scott wasn't too worried about keeping all the time for himself anyway. Nor did he worry about ending on time, so it turned out all right. One thing I have noticed about presiding authorities is that they know they can do whatever they want. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Elder Scott gave time to our mission president, and Sister Craig also had some time to speak to us. Accompanying Elder Scott was a new member of the first quorum of seventy, Elder Ringwood (or something like that). He also gave us great counsel and encouragement. We spent some time on a roleplay to better our teaching, and then Elder Scott had the last words. He talked about staying active after our missions. He talked about setting our temple sealing as the number one priority in life after the mission. He reaffirmed so many things I think about. But truly, I wish all the missionaries were prepared enough to have received a higher message.

When Elder Perry came, our leaders talked to us about coming to the meeting prepared to be taught, prepared to feel the Spirit and be inspired. We did prepare ourselves and we were filled that day. We looked as we should have, we acted as we should have, we prayed as we should have during the meeting. We were humbled and honored to be blessed. People forget so quickly. Many missionaries did what they should have to come to the meeting prepared and open to receive Elder Scott's teaching, but so many missionaries needed to be told not to go inactive after their missions. This is a tragedy to me. Of course, it is right that he direct his focus on the weakest of us. There was no wrong on the part of Elder Scott, but I lament that as a mission, we have not strengthened the weak among us enough to know that each one of us will do at least the bare minimum to obey the commandments upon returning home. It is, therefore, the duty of the stronger to strengthen the weak, that they too become strong. If only we had learned this before Saturday, we might have heard more than powerful affirmations of what we have already heard, but rather had the mysteries of God revealed to us.

Elder Snyder's eye, which has not healed from before Mother's Day, was finally diagnosed with a corneal ulcer, a very painful and expensive illness. A white ball of bacteria has been eating his eye. The treatment is about as painful as the original sickness, involving acidic eye drops (the most expensive eye drops in existence according to the doctor) that would be poisonous to a normal eye and dilate his eye intensely. Because of the pain he has had before and during the treatment, he and Elder Reynolds have been unable to work. We've spent some time on exchanges to help Elder Reynolds get out of the house and not go crazy. Elder Snyder and I were together for all of Sunday, going to an hour of church, and nothing else all day. It is good to have such a good friend here in the mission, even if his eye is eating itself.

Satan uses every attack he can to prevent people from getting baptized. One of the kids that was going to be baptized on Saturday had an allergic reaction to a new laundry soap on Friday and the emergency room doctor forbade him from getting wet for the next four or five days. When he realized he could not get baptized as scheduled, he began to cry and his Catholic mom just had to say, "Don't worry, you'll get baptized, I promise." He and his brother and sister will be baptized this Saturday instead, assuming Christian doesn't meet up with a nasty bucket of rash-inducing laundry soap. We still had some fabulous baptisms and God continues to bless us in the branch.

I should go. I love you all. I hope you are well. Enjoy the nice Utah weather. And we'll enjoy the heat wave. I always longingly gaze at the clouds that so faithfully stay away from the Phoenix valley. Someday.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

the master's hand

This morning was a temple day, which we scheduled to help get our zone ready for Saturday. Saturday will bring a meeting with Elder Richard G. Scott. He is assigned to a stake conference in Gilbert, and called our mission president. President Craig says the conversation was something like this, "Robert, I'm going to be in your mission doing a stake conference at the end of May, and I would like to meet with your missionaries on the morning of May 30th. Does that sound all right?" And in the obvious response to anything an apostle asks, President Craig said yes. I'll let you know how the meeting goes. When Elder Perry came, he was accompanied by a pre-apostle Elder Anderson. The two of them together took two hours. Elder Scott has requested three hours all to himself ... I'm very excited.

An amazing gift is to be able to look back in retrospect. The coolest part about it, is that a retrospect view changes every single day. We are able to see the Master's hand in everything we do, as long as we look for it. Even frustration of plans works to the overall benefit of the Father's purposes. Let me tell you some stories.

As a commitment to the Assistants and to help find new investigators for all areas in the mission, we are contacting inactive families, especially where it is likely that the inactive member has immediate family members (like spouse or children) who have not been baptized. This has been called the "low hanging fruit" though that might be less than true in many cases. We contacted a brother in the branch, and it turns out that he is the oldest in a family with three inactive brothers, two non-member brothers, and five non-member wives. The youngest brother is 11, and all the brothers want to get him into scouts and baptized. Being a pretty normal 11-year-old, Jorge (the youngest) didn't want to go to scouts until he found out that one of his friends from school goes to scouts too. This friend happens to be an investigator who will be getting baptized this Saturday, who was a referral from the recent-convert neighbor next door, and this chain to get a non-member kid to church to help reactivate his whole family and baptize all the non-members is in no way a coincidence or a stroke of luck, rather a calculated plan that our Father has always intended for each person involved.

One day, before getting out of our car to make some contacts in an apartment complex, another missionary called us with a minor problem that we had to fix immediately. We spent a few extra minutes in the car making calls to make sure everything would be okay. When we got out, I was disappointed that the time we could have used to contact some potential investigators and maybe have a quick visit and lesson had been used up fixing other people's problems. As we passed the mailboxes in the apartments, we met a lady named Manuela. She had been going to her apartment and was not planning to go to the mailbox, but kept getting the idea to go check the mail. In the end, she finally gave in and headed for the mailbox. When we met, she told us how she had had a phone number for missionaries in her house for a few years, but that she'd always hesitated to call. When she finally called, the number didn't even work anymore and she lost hope of talking to missionaries that spoke Spanish. She talked about how much she admired the members she had met and how she loved our style of life. She asked us if we had a Book of Mormon with us (which, of course we did) and if we could come by and talk to her and her husband. But then she said, well, we aren't married and we drink and I smoke so we have things we have to change .... If any returned missionary can imagine this kind of conversation on the street where somebody asks all the right questions and volunteers all the necessary information to know how to get this person baptized into the church, you'll understand how amazed we were. Each lesson we have had with Manuela and her soon-to-be husband, Jaime, we have had a different fellowshipper. This would normally be a bad thing, and we have tried to prevent it. But in the process of bringing various members into their home, each new friend has fortified this couple and been an essential step in their conversion. When they finally came to church on Sunday, both Manuela and Jaime felt like they were coming home and were so warmly welcomed that they left after their first time at church with a kind of conversion I have only read about in the scriptures. Both immediately committed to leave behind old habits and get married to prepare for baptism. A miracle that only the Master could provide.

I know this gospel is true. I don't believe it to be truth, or think it's true, but I know it. I have seen it in action, and seen it change lives, including my own. It really is all true. What did I do to deserve this blessing in my life? Or a better question, how do I make sure it doesn't go to waste? I love you all. Have a good week.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

a busy week in mesa

We have been very busy this week. Busy weeks feel really great. It feels so productive, so planned out, so valuable. It means we didn't lose any of the last week. It also makes time zoom by. I'm going to have to accept it, I can't be a missionary forever.

I'm so sorry, but I really don't have much time today, I had other emails to write. But I'll write quickly.

We are working to prepare some people for baptism. We have a family that we are teaching. The kids speak better English, and the mom speaks better Spanish. This means that we usually split up when we teach the lessons. The kids love stories from the scriptures, and it is so fun to choose a story that will teach a specific principle and talk about it to them. They love hearing about Jesus. Meanwhile, the mom just absorbs true doctrine. One time she had confusion about Jesus Christ and Jehovah being the same person, and she was questioning us. A member from work cleared it all up for her and she decided never to disagree with what we taught again. We still invite her to pray and study for her own answers, that she doesn't just have to blindly trust what we say just because we say it. However, her sincerity and humility is touching and she is a noble example for her kids.

We went to the visitor's center with an investigator on Monday. After watching the movie about Joseph Smith, he threw his arms into the air and almost shouted (in Spanish), "It's all true! Isn't it?" The Spirit was thick as we testified of the Savior, the Restoration, and the temples. What an experience.

God has blessed me with a really strange gift. It is the ability to keep my cool in the face of another person's anger. When somebody gets upset, I find it almost impossible to get upset myself. We had a recent convert who was stressed about new callings her and her husband were receiving and the sacrifice of time "demanded" of them, and she was getting herself worked up. She then started to blame people and her husband for silly things and it could have been a disastrous situation. But Elder Argyle and I, coolly and calmly testified of the Jesus Christ, and that life, though a delicate balance, can be maintained as we are dedicated to righteous living. We taught them to cleave to teachings of modern prophets. In the end, we were blessed with a very spiritual lesson that began with her being upset. It was truly the work of God.

Okay, my time is up. I love you all and I hope you are all well. I constantly pray for you, but I don't constantly think about you.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

maybe a little preachy ....

Dear everybody,

Well, it's been just a few days since I talked with the family (most of the family) on the phone for Mothers' Day. It was very nice, though there was a lot of business to discuss. I love the chances to talk home, but it does make me wonder just how different am I from two years ago? Whatever the case may be, I know the changes have been for the better, and I know that I still have a lot to learn and a lot of progress to make. Good thing I'm not coming home for a really long time still—I need every moment I can get.

Elder Argyle and I make a good team. We have such good relationships with other people as a companionship. We gave a referral to the English-speaking elders for a man we met in the street, but we keep seeing the man, and we teach him on the spot just as much as "his" missionaries teach him. He is so prepared for the gospel; seeing how much he loves to read the Book of Mormon and how much joy he finds in the restored gospel truths is just a joy. Other missionaries' investigators we meet once, maybe twice on exchanges with other elders remember us and want us to be part of their baptismal services. Even the youth in our branch trust us so much that we feel like we can teach them obedience and other gospel principles so easily, because they will respect what we say to them.

It is amazing to watch people's hearts open to change. To see a person come to repentance and grow closer to Christ in any way by small and simple things brings me to a higher plain of joy. Active members can still be uplifted and taught, and I feel so honored that God has put us two in the position to help so many people. Even in silly ways, we have found so many doors to invite people to hear of the gospel and to change their lives. At times it feels comical that as we, two kids, invite people to change habits and repent, that they actually do it. The trust that can be developed as we live honorable lives does so much for the glory of God, and for the furthering of His work. It is a lesson to all. As we model our lives after Christ, the loving, trust-filled relationships we form will be maximized and we can uplift those we love. Only as we become like the Savior and obtain this honor and respect, can we find ourselves being a positive influence in every life we touch.

Of course, we all have flaws and weaknesses, and being truly Christ-like feels so far away, at times even unattainable. This is how we, as Latter-day Saints understand the atonement so well. We understand that it is not only the power by which we become clean of really big sins, but even more it is the force that enables us to modify our lives and move away from imperfect desires. We understand that just because a person is not bad, does not mean they have become like the Savior. The absence of bad does not automatically constitute good, and neutrality can never be a permanent state. The absence of bad, and the everlasting presence of righteous thoughts, actions, and habits is what makes a person like Christ. As we invite people to come to Christ, we don't simply ask them to empty their lives of bad practices, but then at the same turn fill it with uplifting activities. We understand that the quickest way to eliminate sin from our lives is to occupy all our time in righteous pursuits. We must fill our lives to maximum capacity with daily scripture study and prayer, magnifying our callings, serving our neighbors and others, and providing acts of charity to the needy. Only then can we avoid the sins of slothfulness, gluttony, and other temptations that come to us as our hands and hearts are unoccupied. This purifying process is the atonement in action.

Understanding this process also reminds us that mercy is essential. Perfection is not achieved in one day. And we definitely should not put off righteous action until we have been cleaned from all imperfection, for that is not how it works. The day to start is today, understanding our weaknesses and having hope in the process of the atonement. We are each at a different level, and the only one we can afford to evaluate and judge is our own self. Let us be engaged in a righteous cause and leave the old self behind. We must fight the good fight and declare by our actions that we are disciples of Christ, not merely students of his words.

I love you all. Be good.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

not transferred, no, not one

Transfers are always a hard time for me, and have become even more so recently. Even if you get to stay in your area, and stay with your companion that you get along great with, there are inevitably other missionaries that you have made great friendships with who will be transferred. It gets more and more nerve-wracking each transfer as I realize the possibility of serving with my friends again in another zone in the future is getting slimmer and slimmer. I reaffirm my decision to never come home and stay in the mission forever. Look, it was counted for righteousness for John and the Three Nephites, why can't my wish be granted too?

Elder Argyle and I are, in fact, staying together, as are Elder Snyder and his companion. Elder Argyle and I were surprised to be staying together for a third transfer (if you remember from the famous Elders Bostwick and Snyder companionship, two elders usually serve together for two transfers tops), though we think the decision was influenced by our assignment in the Employment Center, or maybe because we are a great team teaching investigators, members, and other missionaries, or perhaps because we keep finding and teaching amazing new people. All in all, we are happy with the results, and we will have yet another strong zone for the coming weeks.

We, of course, look forward to Mothers' Day and will call on Saturday to make arrangements for a time to call home. We are on the afternoon church schedule, so we'll have to coordinate this like clockworks.

As of Monday, I left for Nauvoo over two years ago ... can somebody shove a broom handle in the Hudsucker Industries clock and stop time from moving so fast?

To respond to a comment Mom made in her email to me about el Cinco de Mayo, I would like to clear the record. We had no fiestas on 5 May, and I assure you that there were very few fiestas on 5 May in Mexico, not necessarily because of the Swine Flu, but rather 5 May is a trivial memorial to some revolutionist somewhere in Mexican history. In the United States, we have a concept that Cinco de Mayo is something like the Mexican Independence Day, and we feel we are honoring our neighbors to the south by celebrating with them. This is merely more evidence to prove how silly we can be in the United States. El Dia de Independencia is on 16 September, a day worthy of note and celebrating. It is a huge celebration accompanied with dances, fireworks, killer food, music, and at night, it is traditional to fire a few bullets into the air (a practice which is illegal nowadays in populated areas because what goes up must come down and people were being killed by bullets falling from the sky). Yesterday was a completely normal day, which we only celebrated as the day before transfers, getting tasty 40-cent buffalo wings for lunch after the Employment Center, and then taking an eight o'clock dinner with Elder Snyder and Elder Reynolds at our house to watch Legacy (which we are allowed to watch, of course). Thank you for listening to my brief cultural history lesson!

So, resume sending mail to my previous address.

All right, I've gone on enough. I look forward to talking with whoever I get a chance to talk to on Sunday. I love you all and I do look forward to seeing you. Thank you for your prayers, love, support, and mail ... it is all greatly appreciated and needed.

Love,

Elder Sam Bostwick

P.S. Our baptisms this weekend all went awesome. I got a lot of surprising compliments on a talk on the Holy Ghost I gave at an English baptism (long story) and the good news is I still remember how to share my testimony in my own language.

transfers coming

To knock out the first item of business right away, transfers are next Wednesday. Therefore, in case of a transfer, send all mail for the time being to the mission office at 1871 E. Del Rio Drive, Tempe, AZ, 85282. Thank you.

A few weeks ago, I asked again what type of news would be welcome in these weekly updates. I was told stories of conversions, and specific lessons that we had. Almost as if in response, we had an astounding week with some amazingly memorable lessons, and I would be happy to share a few of them. As for conversions, I will do my best, but the nature of conversion means that I could be sharing the conversion of a nonmember who never gets baptized, or a conversion of a bishop or ward mission leader, who we would have normally thought had "converted" a long time ago. Conversion is endless and continuous, and we could talk for ages about stories of different levels of conversion. But as for some lessons:

Dino is a 23-year-old single guy who left his home in El Paso to start his life over, looking for something better. On his way to Colorado, he took a wrong turn and ended up in Tucson, where he got a job, had success and was quickly transferred to Phoenix to work for the same company here. When he arrived at his new apartment in Mesa, the first people he met were the missionaries. We helped him move in and got to know him a bit. The next day, we helped him return his U-Haul truck and invited him to come to a Spanish singles activity with us. He is hysterical, and has liked getting involved with the single adults, but we hadn't officially taught him until Friday. We took a member with us and they bonded immediately. We taught him the message of the Restoration at the church and the Spirit was so strong. I love teaching the Restoration, it's like a history lesson, but way better. The history of God's kingdom, before Christ, during Christ's life, and in modern day. Super cool, and the Spirit helps us every single time we quote the first vision. It was a particularly powerful lesson with Dino, and we all were amazed at how impacted we were, especially after a strong testimony from our member exchange (who since then has been a perfect fellowshipper, spending time with Dino and making sure he came to church and all that good stuff). I loved it.

We are teaching some kids, a 15-year-old girl named Jessica and her two little brothers, Christian (13), and Alan (12). They are super cool, and especially the two boys just look up to us. They have been impressive at actually learning the doctrines of the Restoration, memorizing the steps to the gospel and the names of the three kingdoms of glory, or remembering all ten of the ten commandments and what we shouldn't take into our bodies because they are temples. It's a joy to teach them and, though I don't have a specific lesson to tell about, they are just great investigators, and we'll get their parents soon ...

We have started with a family who is looking for a church. It is a single mother and four kids. They have been looking for a church that they all like for about a year, and when we told them what time sacrament meeting starts, they all cheered because they can sleep in two more hours. The boys are already active in scouts or cub scouts and love it after just a few weeks and we really are happy about how well the youth do to embrace our investigators and involve them as new friends. They look very promising, and it really is just a matter of time. In our last lesson, the oldest son asked him mom when he could be baptized. I might have seen Elder Argyle pass him a five dollar bill, but I think it was just my imagination ... j/k.

Luis Moegel has progressed fast. His story is a good example that we need to invite everybody to hear the gospel. We received a referral for a girl in this trailer park. When we got to her home, she wasn't there, but we started to teach her parents off-handedly. During the talk, the dad's brother walked in, who they had told us was not religious. We weren't feeling really impressed with the parents, but we left them and the brother a copy of the Book of Mormon, with assigned chapters to read. And really, we didn't hear more about it, until by chance a few weeks later we went back and talked to the uncle of our referral who had in fact read the chapter and others, felt the Spirit, went to the Easter Pageant and was waiting for us to come back to learn more. After very few lessons, he is going to be baptized on Saturday, evidence that God prepares people to receive the gospel and He will work in a round-about way to get it to "the elect." When we asked him if he wanted to be baptized, we said he was going to ask us if he could earlier, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to be baptized yet. It all turned out perfectly, and we all felt the Spirit really strong as we set his baptismal date. Luis is awesome, and has a huge desire to serve his fellowman and brothers in and out of the Church. We're already trying to get him a calling in the Branch.

That's just a few, but I'd like to keep talking about more. The work is going very well in Mesa right now, and we are abundantly blessed to be able to help people learn of the truth. I love you all, and I hope you are sharing your testimonies with everyone. Just because somebody is already a member, doesn't mean you can't be their missionary. Conversion is a life-long process.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

a practical-ly perfect church

Good things are happening in our zone every week as we see companionships working harder and harder to see success in their areas. Elder Argyle is quite talented at coming up with ideas to inspire and motivate others, and we have seen a lot of progress with planning and results in each companionship's area.

My eyes have been opened up recently to many ways that the Church is so perfect with all of its practical programs. We received a new assignment this week, which started yesterday. As a pilot program, four companionships in the United States have been assigned to work in the employment resource centers of the Church, one of the companionships being us. The other missionaries are located in Ogden, Spokane Washington, and Las Vegas. We will spend every Tuesday morning for four hours working to help people search and prepare themselves for better job opportunities. The employment centers were originally created to help members become better tithe payers, but the results have shown that more non-members are using the centers than members. Naturally, the idea is to invest on this opportunity to teach the meek and humble. The local senior missionaries are instructed to not proselyte in the center, but Elder Argyle and I are to follow the Spirit to make contacts, and get referrals for the other elders in the valley, inviting people to hear of the gospel. We also will serve as translators for the Spanish-speakers that come to use the resources in the center. We make a report every week to Salt Lake City on the work we do and success we see, and it is just a totally new type of task. It seems like quite a bit of hubbub has been made to get this program going, and we have a lot of specific instructions coming from Salt Lake just for us. That, as well as teaching English classes at the chapel during the week (I love teaching English, it is one of my favorite things I have done on my mission because I understand English so much better now that I have learned Spanish), I have a testimony that our church produces fruit worthy of noting. These assignments are so practical, yet evidence to me that we are guided by a living prophet. Even in conference, so much practical counsel was given from prophets of God on how to handle our money and manage our family stresses. I feel strange counseling others about how to find jobs, and I think in the end, I will know much more about it than I could have learned in any other way, which will hopefully prove to be intensely useful in the future.

I will include stories of more individual people from now on, but as for today, time is up. Thanks for the comments from last week.

Love to you all,

Elder Sam Bostwick

easter aftermath

Sometimes I feel like I am just repeat myself over and over. I hope you don't feel like that ....

We had a nice Easter. Elder Argyle and I performed our own arrangement of an Easter hymn in sacrament meeting and shocked all of the members who had no idea we even like music. We do make a great team after all the practice we have during companionship study jam-sessions. We then had a nice dinner at the branch president's home (President Richardson started learning Spanish when he got called to be the president of the Spanish branch almost six months ago) and we really enjoyed the "almost funeral potatoes" and honey baked ham, fruit salad, and fresh baked dinner roles! Dinner was topped off with two desserts, a carrot cake and a cherry pie-ish dish. President Richardson made sure to tell us that if we were wondering what qualities to look for in a perfect wife, we should just look for a younger version of Sister Richardson. She's always been so kind and motherly to us, as well as loving to all the members of the branch whom she can't even talk to, that I really feel like President Richardson is right.

We've got some good baptisms going on in our zone and it is always a joy to meet new people and start teaching them. We have almost an entirely new pool of investigators from when I got here and we continue to find new people to teach. I love it, and I really do feel love for the people we teach. The work is always exciting.

We went to the temple today, and it is a nice refresher to remember the eternal perspective of why we are here on our missions. Our potential is so grand and our view is so small without help. Let's keep the big picture.

I love you all. I'm going to request that you tell me things that you want to hear about from these emails, so I don't feel repetitious. Keep praying, and don't go out of the country again before I get home, so I can go with you.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

easter

I wanted to take the chance to wish everybody Happy Easter. I blew it on Dad's birthday, and didn't realize it until the day of (by the way, happy birthday Dad!) but I won't miss this holiday.

General Conference was such a treat. I was so sad when I realized how many members in our branch did not watch the conference. It seems like so many of those talks are specifically applicable to people who aren't even watching! All right home teachers, go get 'em. I enjoyed the spirit of the words in conference and felt only mildly ashamed to be sure to keep tissues with me during each session.

To make this last week even better, we were blessed with a chance to go to the Easter Pageant. We were not asked to help usher the event, but we are able to go with investigators. So on Friday, we arranged a trip with an investigator (who is not an investigator anymore because he got baptized the next day) and his family, who are all members, to watch the Pageant. Elder Snyder also had investigators going that night, so we carpooled together with our investigator's 18-year-old pre-missionary son. When we arrived, we found out that all of the investigators wouldn't be getting there until right before the show (we had planned to arrive early and walk around the visitors' center a bit), so we had a bit of extra time. As we waited, Elder Snyder and I started to see people from the Queen Creek Ward. It was such a fun reunion with many of the dear friends we have in that ward and everyone just laughed that Elder Snyder and I have practically been inseparable our whole missions. We enjoyed the show very much, as did our investigators and we hope to go again this week at least once.

I went on exchanges with Elder Owens this week, and someone should tell his family he is a great missionary and thriving in the work. The changes we have both made since high school just shine as we spend time together. The more time I spend in the mission, the more I feel like the comparison of being clay in the hands of a master potter is inspired and inspiring. If only we were able to glimpse the potential of each person and find joy in even little progresses.

I am more determined than ever that I will not be coming home from my mission. I don't remember normal life being as gratifying as life in the mission field. I'll just stay here, let everybody know. Thanks.

I love you all, I pray for you constantly. Serve others, and be happy.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

good things coming, and good things to come

Dear family and friends,

We are looking forward to General Conference with great anticipation. It's just so cool when you realize what General Conference is, it becomes a really exciting thing for missionary work. I hope I will always be able to find people who are not members to watch General Conference with, as it naturally draws the interest of most nonmembers. It is interesting to think that we really do take our blessings for granted. I remember what Conference used to be like for me: "Great, we don't have to go to church and Tylor can spend all weekend at our house playing games. And to top it off on Sunday morning, we get waffles." It is sad that I repeatedly missed the real treat in not paying attention to the words of modern prophets of God. Surely, my attitude will never be the same again.

We have been having really good things happen in our area, which if I wrote to you about all of them, it would be too long and extensive to captivate your attention. But we constantly see the blessings of God poured out on us as we try to become more righteous and humble servants. As God's children, He will always bless us for our diligence. It is true, I know it.

The Arizona Tempe Mission really is the greatest mission in the world. Did I ever tell you about when Elder Anderson, the President of the Presidents of the Seventy, told the missionaries of our mission that he thinks we really are the greatest mission the world? It is for the work that is done here by members and missionaries alike. The church leadership is so aware that we are the best mission in the world, that they are taking missionaries out of other missions and sending them here to help where the work gets done. The number of missionaries in our mission is increasing more than 30 missionaries since the beginning of the year to June. That's more than 15 new areas! We just had to create a new zone in the last transfer because there is so much work here. And that's the truth. That's my brag moment.

Well, I have to go, but thanks for reading. My love goes out to each of you who take time to read up on my mission. If you care about me, it must mean that I care about you. Thanks a lot.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

P.S. Letters that aren't about college and get sent snail mail are really really nice ....

transfers

Much of the email time in the last few weeks has been dedicated working on college stuff. I apologize that the blog entry has taken a slacking. I hope you all understand.

I did want to give an update for transfers. Elder Argyle and I are happily staying together for another transfer (if one of us gets transferred, it will be to an English area, and neither of us want that) and Elder Snyder is also sticking around with us. In fact, it is exciting because Elder Snyder's got another new greenie, fresh from the MTC. We'll get to know him better as time goes on.

The work goes well and we had a really great week, with some great missionary activities in the branch. I hope you are all well and that your lives of faithful service are receiving due blessings. I love you all. Be faithful.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

a great week

I love Mesa! We just have a good time here. Week after week proves to get better and better. The Lord definitely blesses us as we are committed to serve Him.

It was our privilege to get permission to go out and eat with Grandma 'Jean and Grandpa Terry. We had a great, and perfectly obedient time with them, and of course got some pictures. It was so nice to see them and to talk about life in the gospel. I feel as though I still have yet to figure out how to be a good "normal" member of the Church. I didn't necessarily have very great desire to follow the commandments before my mission, and now that my testimony is much, much bigger, I will need to learn to live life as a regular person in accord with the testimony I've gained. I'm sure many missionaries face the same challenge when they return home.

The branch had some great baptisms on the Saturday, and then confirmations on Sunday. One of the confirmations was done by Elder Snyder's greenie, Elder Scott, who has been on his mission about four months. He was very nervous for the confirmation, but the sister had asked that he do it. I remembered the first times I was asked to give a blessing in Spanish, thankful that those occasions were in the privacy of people's homes, in the comfort of people I knew and trusted well. I thought about how much my ability to communicate myself has grown in Spanish, as well as in English, and was thankful for the gifts the Lord has blessed me with. Elder Scott did just great, though Sister Hernandez said she could feel his hand shaking the whole time. What an honor to participate in such amazing ordinances!

Elder Argyle and I teach well together, we work well together, and doing missionary work just comes so easily and naturally between the two of us. One of us is always ready to speak, at all times and we can jump back and forth between the two of us seamlessly, without breaking a smooth connection of thought. I've learned a lot from him, and it is great to work together. Plus, we jam at the beginning of companionship study on the piano and guitar in our own arrangement of hymns. Brother Brown, the man we live with, has now started coming to the kitchen or living room at that time just to listen to us--it's very fun.

We trained the zone on Monday morning, and it was a good chance to talk about how to better the work in our zone. We had great participation from everybody, and there is now a higher enthusiasm to work hard, and we see the results every night when we hear about each companionship's day.

Now, this weekend, we will be going on a branch campout (we don't get to stay the night, but we are going both Friday and Saturday) and then to a special musical missionary fireside presented by the 5 Browns (a member family of 5 siblings that play concert piano and have gotten to be quite famous) at the ASU Institute. It will be a great weekend, and I'm excited for all the events.

Well, I should go. The gospel is true and we have so much evidence. The highest proof that God lives is to do His will and see how He will bless us. Faith is gained by acting on faith--and interesting concept, but true. I love this gospel and teaching it to everybody we meet. I love you all, thanks for reading every week. I hope you feel my love for the Lord and for serving Him. Now go and do likewise!

-Elder Sam Bostwick

warmin' up

Slam on the brakes! Time is really starting to go too fast. It couldn't have been a week ago that I was writing my last email! This has been a great week, and my enthusiasm for the work just gets increasingly larger the longer I am here. Both Elder Argyle and I agree that the end of our missions will come too soon.

The heat is coming back already! I miss Utah weather. We're getting up to the 90s .... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can ....

I am really loving getting to know the missionaries in the Mesa Zone. There are some great, powerhouse missionaries that just pump out good results. They're out meeting people and teaching and extending commitments and seeing the fruits of their efforts. I am grateful for the chance to see their work and learn from it in how I can improve my own missionary skills. And then there are others that just don't seem to understand the gospel. Their lack of understanding affects their work ethic, their effectiveness, their desire, their results, their spirit, and attitude. I often wonder how this will translate over into the rest of their lives. President Craig says that everything we do in the mission is a foreshadowing of the rest of our lives in almost 100% accuracy. I wish these missionaries would understand correct principles of the gospel, so their future will be sound with their Father. I worry for some ....

Then I begin to think, "How can I avoid falling into the same traps as other people?" This is a question that has been in my mind since the beginning of my mission with my trainer. I saw his actions and began to worry about my mission. He was teaching me how to be a missionary like him, which I frankly didn't want to be. I thought a lot about the moves and tactics I had to take to avoid the same pitfalls. "What will I do to avoid the same self-destruction?"

This introspection has helped me a great deal. As we learn truth, we must stick to it as exactly as we can. It is a tragedy every time we justify ungodly behavior. If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. Christ clearly was not teaching about self-mutilation, but rather self-discipline and self-instruction. What is the source of offense? Identify it, and cut it out of our lives. I am highly grateful for the Atonement of our Savior, that allows us to seek support in finding a better way--a more god-like life. No impure thing can enter into the presence of God, so we have great need to purify, refine, work, and beg for the mercy of God in helping us change. Otherwise, we have no hope, for alone we will never be pure.

Miracles do happen as we act on our faith. I've seen it and I know it is true. We have faith, we act on it (naturally) to pass the trials of our faith, and miracles are wrought as a result of our faithful action. It is the recipe for a miracle--that simple. We have no need to doubt the power of God, and that's the truth. There is no fear in faithful living, and no sorrow in true understanding.

There's another rant--I apologize if you want to hear about my mission .... I end up just going on spiels fairly often. I hope you gain something out of my blabbing. I love you, family. It will be joyful to see you again, even though I don't want to rush anything .... Thanks for the examples you have always given me. Bye for now.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

another mesa week

Dear Everybody,

So I love being a missionary. It makes me sad when other missionaries don't love it. That's all.

This week, I had a monumental sighting--a Terry sighting. On an exchange with another missionary, we were riding past an Ace Hardware on Gilbert Road and I saw a very familiar old man. I shouted, "Terry!" and we talked for a few minutes. He assured me that he already had the mission president's number and they were going to call for permission to take my companion and me out to lunch one of these days. I can't wait to see Grandma. Terry says she is doing very well, and that the "good old MarJean is back, though she didn't say hello when she got here." In Mesa, I feel so much closer to reality than I ever did in San Luis, and I am grateful for it in many ways. I am also grateful that I did have time to take myself out of the real world and focus on what I am here for, it helps me out now that I am here, back in Babylon.

We went to the temple this morning, a privilege I didn't have in the Yuma Zone, and it was wonderful. We've got a great group of missionaries in the Mesa area, and it is great to work with them.

Elder Argyle and I have been going to a lot of meetings. Almost a month and a half ago, Elder Perry came to the Arizona Tempe Mission to talk with the stake and ward leaders about missionary work. We have now been visiting each of the local ward missionary coordination meetings to ensure that they are putting into practice the principles that Elder Perry taught. We are so blessed with strong members who are willing and enthusiastic to serve the Lord. I have enjoyed very much meeting them and learning from their examples as we help their missionary skills improve. Someday, they'll just rearrange the letters in Arizona, and change the state name to AraZion. It seems like we're getting pretty close ....

I learn a lot every week about how to be a better missionary, a better friend, and a better disciple of my Savior. It is so wonderful to be a missionary, and I thank all of you for influencing me, and tricking me to do good things, and getting me on my mission. Your influence can never be forgotten. Keep on chugging!

-Elder Sam Bostwick

week 1 in mesa

Dear Family and Friends,

I love Mesa! This last week was sooo different from all the time I spent in San Luis. We are very blessed here with a strong area, a great branch, a good zone of missionaries, and it is so nice to be in a high-population area again. It is very nice.

One interesting thing about our area is our home. We live with an old widower, Brother Bill Brown. His wife passed away over five years ago and he has lived alone ever since, until just last week when we moved into his home and it has been great ever since. He is funny to talk to, and he has a piano and everything else we could need. He even made us home-made popcorn the other day after we got home. Elder Argyle and I get along really well and we like our new place a lot. Every morning, to begin our companionship study, we sing a hymn or two, accompanied by the piano and guitar, and it is always a great new arrangement ... very fun.

The pace of life is different here and we meet completely different kinds of people- unlike Yuma, which consists of Snowbirds and Mexicans. We met some strange characters in this week, people of all kinds of faiths and lifestyles. It breaks up the monotony, and is a great blessing to see and testify that the gospel, the true gospel, is for all people, of all races, and all ages. Our message is true, and I am anxious to share it.

I have so much I could say, but I'll keep it at that. I love you all, I hope you are well. I will keep praying for you, always.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

transferred to the valley

That special time came again and transfers has happened. Unlike all the rest of the transfers, though, I actually got transferred this time. It feels strange to be out of San Luis, and to not be going back later today or tomorrow. I really have left, and I hope that my labors will not be for vain. Elder Rutt from the MTC went down to be with Elder Villasenor in the San Luis Branch, and I sincerely hope all goes well there. I love the Branch and care very much about its progress. And I promised to go back to visit the people I knew, a promise I am committed to ....

Elder Snyder, when he left San Luis, was transferred to the Mesa Branch. Mesa has a mission all on its own, but our mission includes one Spanish branch in the city of Mesa. He is still there, riding a bike in the great winter weather. But the branch has two areas and that is where I've been transferred to. This will be the third ward/branch of four I've served in that has two companionships—which is kind of rare. I was so happy to be transferred to a place I've heard so many good things about. Even more, my companion is a missionary I've heard great things about—Elder Argyle. We really haven't even had a chance to talk yet, we came straight from transfers to the library. I am excited to get to know a new companion and it will undoubtedly be a great transfer of great work and great teaching. I am very optimistic and enthusiastic about the future, and I am thankful for the blessings I have given so abundantly.

I was able to see many mission friends today at transfers and it feels good to be in a larger zone where we will have more missionary contact. I love it. Another cool thing—Elder Tyler Meldrum (Kelly and Kirsten's nephew) and Elder Isaac Owens are companions in my zone. I will for sure be seeing a lot of them in the coming weeks. This is going to be awesome!!!

I love you all, and I will let you know how things go in next week's email. Take care.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

blue skies

Dear Everyone,

Mom mentioned that she hoped we have blue skies like the ones that you have been enjoying up in Utah. The truth is that this time of year is the reason people live in Arizona. It is almost unreasonable how comfortable the weather is right now. It is definitely a counted blessing to feel the warm sun and the cool breeze.

I am with an elder who is preparing to go home this next Wednesday. He served in San Luis last year for six months and is now serving as a zone leader in Yuma. Consequently, he has taken the opportunity to visit San Luis various times on companion exchanges to say goodbye to his converts and friends in San Luis. This is his last day emailing and he says the term to describe it is "surreal." I am thankful I have a long time before I go through that surreal experience of going home. I definitely to not feel ready, nor do I want to come home. There is so much still to learn and do—I hope I can make good use of my time.

As you all go through a longish winter and I enjoy an Arizonan paradise, I think of the other blessings I am enjoying as a missionary. Our world is in a difficult situation. We can't help hear of the crises and of all the news that is happening around the globe. As a missionary, while wintry blizzards rage around, it seems so unfair to calmly enjoy an untroubled life. This elder next to me is about to ship off to the storm, and the interesting thing is, I'm not even sure if he remembers that he lives in a dream. Like all the Arizona natives around, we climatize to our surroundings and somehow make good seem bad and bad seem worse. Though we are so blessed and so protected, we find reason to complain and wish we were somewhere else. The grass may look greener on the other side, but chances are in this case it's just astro-turf. I hope that no matter where I am, I can be grateful to be there. Though I will someday come home to suffer, I am glad for the challenges that lie en route to help me learn and grow and overcome. As bad as the cold around us is, I know we will be taken care of. Consider the lilies in the field, they grow and are clothed by the Lord. Consider the birds in the sky, they fly and are fed by the Lord. Our worries, though legitimate, must be taken into perspective. If we have done the Lord's will to the best of our ability, we shall not fear. Let us keep faith in the promises of the scriptures and the teachings of our modern prophets. Our goals should be focused on the simple ends of preaching the gospel, redeeming the dead, and perfecting the saints. I know the gospel is true and that the Church is the Church of Christ on the Earth. I never imagined myself being so happy, or being who I am and I am so grateful for God's mercy and love in changing us into better people.

The work goes very well in San Luis. We are making big steps in improving the member missionary work in our branch, and it looks like a new branch mission plan and a new branch mission leader will be my last marks made on San Luis. We have found many new investigators with real, sincere desire to learn and know the will of God for their lives. We are continually blessed and the only unfortunate thing is that I am likely being transferred next Wednesday and my work in San Luis will end. I have loved being here and have grown oodles. San Luis is an agricultural town and I have learned that it is a cycle of sowing and harvesting. Much has been reaped while I have been here, and as for sowing, I have done the best I could, or near it. I pray the harvest of my labor here will be great and that the glory of the Lord will go on and on without end for the people here. My blessings are great; God is good.

-Elder Sam

the foothills

Yesterday and today I am on exchanges in the Foothills. Right as you enter into the Yuma Valley, there is a large section of town called the Foothills which is chuck-full of snowbirds. It is a rarity to meet somebody under the age of 55 here.

The concept of a snowbird seems quite pathetic to me. A husband and wife work their whole life to build up savings and establish themselves and work towards a worthy retirement only to abandon everything they have and blow their money on a ridiculous motor home or a sad trailer in a place where they have no attachments and nothing to do but go to the casino and play shuffle board and bingo with all the other old people who don't have lives either.

The gospel teaches us to establish a righteous lifestyle of service, of sacrifice, and good works and to "endure to the end." This wave culture of snowbirds works against the gospel of Jesus Christ and frustrates years of righteous service to their fellowman. Especially in the Church, it must be viewed as unacceptable for healthy, financially stable elderly people to desert their responsibilities for unworthy ends. There is a "Snowbird Branch" in the Yuma Stake which has at least 700 members who are not serving in significant callings, not serving in the temple, not serving missions and losing their last years of mortal life to selfish and useless endeavors. It is a true tragedy.

I hope that we, as a family will remain faithful until the end. That we will spend our lives, our whole lives, in the service of God is my prayer for our family. It is such a rich blessing to serve others, and anyone who wants to use their life to achieve happiness will seek in the service of their brother. I love this Gospel and know it is true. I am so blessed to be on a mission, and I love you all. Take care.

-Elder Sam Bostwick

P.S. I realize this ended up sounding strong, but I really do feel strongly about it.... In the end, the Father knows the heart of each one of His children and He will be our final judge. Where I might lack mercy, He holds it abundantly. Good thing I am not the judge.

slow

For some reason, time has slowed down a lot. For a long time I had been whizzing along the time warp of mission life and I was frantically searching for time sufficient to accomplish all the things I needed to do. I don't know why, but all this warp-speed has led up to a standstill, though nothing significant has changed.

I have been in San Luis for close to 8 months, roughly half of my mission and things continue to go well. It is remarkable how we always always, always find new and fruitful things to do. I know everything about almost all the member families we have on the branch list—I have personally visited 95% of them. We find new potentials and new investigators as we go about doing our things, we have success in teaching and I have witnessed further conversion to the gospel in myself and in several others in and out of the Church. It has been a miraculous time spent here and I just wonder why God let me be here for it. I continually feel that, though we go about doing good all day every day, the greatest good that is done is completely out of our hands and the credit can go to nobody else but our Father in Heaven. I told the mission president in a weekly report that I didn't know whether to beg to stay or beg to leave San Luis. We'll see what happens.

Elder Villasenor and I are almost comically different. While on an exchange, another missionary told me, "You two are quite the pair." Our opinions very rarely agree and we are always struggling to understand the others' point of view. It has been such a blessing to be with such an extreme opposite of me and find middle ground. We find happiness together in doing the Lord's work, because nothing else would make us both happy. It is a joyful challenge, and we are blessed.

My time is almost done, and I better sign off. I love you all. Be good this week, and as always, I'd love to hear from you. Bye!

-Elder Sam

quickly

This week has passed rather quickly. We had a good week lesson-wise last week, teaching more than we normally do. I think that helped move time along.

We also had a week full of exchanges and baptismal interviews, a zone conference and a lot of fun new things for me. I have really enjoyed the new experiences that have come my way, it makes me very grateful for the ability to cope with it all. We constantly work to improve our area, find new people to teach, and help our current people progress. With so much time in this area, I really, really want to leave it considerably better than I found it. I wish I had a small view of the grand scheme of things and see if my efforts are being wasted in unfruitful activities.

One of the best things that happened this week was finishing up with all of the college headache. All my applications, auditions, essays, resumes and everything have been completed and sent off. All I have to do now is just wait. And I am so ready to be done worry about it all. Hooray! Thanks one last time to everybody who helped with sending me stuff and reviewing my essays and deciphering all of my poorly-explained requests. It is done now!

My time is gone, I love you all. Keep doing good. I am doing well and happily engaged in the work we do. Much love!

-Elder Sam Bostwick

new year

Holidays are just great. In our world, there is so much to get discouraged about. We lose hope and happiness every time we see the news or the papers or check the mail (the only thing that would be worse than getting no mail, is getting bills in the mail!). It is an unfortunate situation that we find ourselves in, feeling smaller and smaller in a world that seems to get meaner and meaner, with demands that grow higher and higher. God, in His knowledge, surely knew this hopeless and sad day would come, and therefore gave us a reason to celebrate. In this country, we even are blessed with federal recognition of God-sent celebrations. We have been so blessed this year to lift our spirits and our cheer, to first give thanks to God, refocus in the Savior, and then make new goals and plans to be better. What a wonderful flow, inspired to bring us joy!

As much as I don't want 2009 to be here, it has come. I continue to try harder and harder every day, praying that my pithy efforts will be accepted in the end and counted to me for righteousness. I even still feel as though I don't know how to do as much could as I should, but it is a daily process, and I imagine we all go through similar feelings of inadequacy from time to time. Each time we jump one hurdle, another one comes into our path to help us with our eternal progress. I wonder if the day will ever come in this life where I am completely content with myself—I imagine not. We are commanded to be perfect, even as our Father or Christ are perfect and the Lord will never give us a commandment without providing a way to accomplish it. I love that principle and I rejoice in our eternal potential as children of God to become all that He is, and receive all the joy that He has. Our message is true and it must be shared. Why did I wait until a call came before I began to preach the gospel? Did I not remember the promise I made and remake every week to witness of the Savior? Our call has already come and we must worthily endeavor for the glory of God. I love you all, thank you for doing good in the world and for always setting the example for me. Let's always do better.

-Elder Sam Bostwick