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
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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 ....
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 ....
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