12-2-13

Family,

I erased all that I had typed on accident and was almost done. I feel like a retard. So I will give you a summarized version of what I said in my bigger e-mail because I have no time to type that all again. I appreciate all the time you spend sending me big e-mails and sorry this won't be as big.

So on Monday I got a great haircut by Sister Greenlaw even though she has little experience. Tuesday we were blessed with a miracle. 3 of our 4 appointments fell through so we tried where we thought a less active lived. We didn't meet him but we did meet someone who was waiting for us. Good thing we opened our mouths because she had many of the same questions Joseph Smith had and accepted the invitation for baptism right away. So that was super sweet. This week has been tough for me. Satan has been finding the weak links in my armor. My weakness right now is not having a desire to work. I feel super discourage right at this moment of typing because I erased the whole thing I spent an hour and a half typing. He had been getting me to think that Kingman is slow on work so you shouldn't work that hard. But whenever we do work hard, we are actually blessed with people to teach. For Thanksgiving, we went to Pratt to our Branch President's house. After finishing a huge plate of food, I played with 5 of his 6 kids playing a game where they threw pillows at my face yelling something random followed by the word "pie". For example: "Mud Pie!!!!" or "Cow Pie!!!!!!" It was so much fun. I love those kids a ton. Yesterday I gave the elders quorum lesson. I want to teach in an entertaining way but my way that keeps everyone in the class awake. Any thoughts? I taught on the first presidency message from December. I related it to what kinds of things make us happy. But anyways, that's my week in a summarized manner. I am soooooooooo so so so so so so so so so sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy that I can't write more. I feel so bad that I deleted everything on accident. I think I hit ctrl/A/backspace thinking I hit the wrong key. But I need to get going. I may have time later to e-mail you more but I would like to write letters during that time. Well anyways, I have a journal and will relay some of these memories in the future, I'm sure.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something to say. I do need more zit stuff. Oh, and Mom if you want to send homemade cookies to my current address you can so that they don't go bad as fast. My address is:

433 Lincoln #4

Kingman, KS 67068

Well anyways, I love you so much. Especially for your patience with my non-typing skills. Elder Clay and I are getting along well. A little too well, frankly. But he's the best companion for me right now. I know it. And I know the Lord knows it. Love,

Elder Sutherland

11-25-13

Family,

Let me respond to Mom's questions before I get too far into my weekly dialogue. As always, I really enjoy your e-mails. I am loving it here in Kingman/Pratt branch so far. All the members are so generous and giving. Members do a lot of different things. Our Elders quorum president is a foot surgeon. Our branch president is a dentist (just like my boy, brother Belnap), a member of the branch presidency is a manager at taco bell. So we have lots of things. Most people here in Kingman and all the outlying cities are super nice. But there are some people that aren't so nice. Like last night we were tracting when it was like 22 degrees (it got suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper cold here this week. More on that later.) when we knowcked on this one door and an 87 year old woman opened. First she seemed nice but timid. We talked about the weather and she was like: "do you want to come inside?" I responded to: "Are you sure? It's up to you." Because I don't want to force my way into homes unwelcomed. Then she said: "Well who are you?" We told her who we were and what we have to share. She was then like: "Well you can just stay out in the cold, then." I was like: "What!" I didn't yell or be rude, so I didn't. That was pretty rude but whatever. It comes with the badge. Who knows, she may not have even known what she said. 

Yes, our branch president will be providing dinner for us on Thursday. We're going to be having 3 Thanksgiving meals this year. We had one on Saturday and we're having one on Wednesday and Thursday this week. So I am a happy man. That's awesome that you're having the missionaries over for Thanksgiving! I bet they'll love it! But anyways, most people are nice even if they're not that receptive to the gospel. There is no youth program in the branch at all. There is only one young man who comes about once every three months and everyone else is in primary. So we're just waiting for the youth program to boom here. Sister Hodson is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. I am writing this e-mail at the Kingman Carnegie library. Nobody ever uses these computers so I just take my good old time. Our P-days here are similar to Wellington. We e-mail here and eat lunch before going to Pratt to do laundry at a member's house and shop and stuff. I'm so jealous that you're having a turkey bowl. We're not having one here. I had one last year and I will definitely miss it. So hopefully y'all destroy everyone. Where is the turkey bowl going to be? And Dad, could you give me the Chen's address? I would like to write them. If you can't give it to me, then that's fine. Okay now let me get on with my week.

Monday was just another rushed day. Elder Clay didn't even have time to finish his laundry at the place we took the picture at. Today I will be getting a haircut. My hair is super long. It's actually touching my ears.... I even trimmed it back a bit. But we had a good time that night having dinner and passing the sacrament at a disabled person's home. That night we talked to a PMF/LA family. The husband is a pastor at the Cunningham Christian church. Cunningham is about half-way in-between Kingman and Pratt. He's a super nice guy and they're a super nice family. But they don't have the full blessings of the gospel. 

Tuesday we had specialized training in Wichita. The spirit was felt quite powerfully especially as our mission president addressed us. He is making a huge emphasis on the Book of Mormon and I agree that we haven't been using it as much as we should. It reminds me of words in church history by early church leaders and apostles of today when they say that the Lord is expecting us to use it and hasn't been blessing us as a result of the lack of it's use. Sorry I can't remember the exact wording but I hope you get the picture. I also had leadership training. That night, we had an appointment with a less active part member family here in Kingman. The lesson went well but they're kids were literally bouncing off the walls. It annoyed me because of how much energy they had. We need to work on the husband and getting him to church. He works on Sundays. 

Wednesday was a walking day. We had appointments in the early afternoon with some members here. One works a lot and wanted us to give her son a blessing the previous Sunday. We were in Pratt so that didn't really work. So we apologized and continued to work today. We later met with one of the families here in town and stayed for a long time. They're probably the nicest family on the face of this Earth. They will be feeding us this Wednesday. Thursday was an absolutely freezing day. When I mean freezing, I mean FREEZING! Wednesday was like upper 50's/low 60's and Thursday was mid 20's with high north winds...which made it even colder. I wore all my winter clothes and even that wasn't enough. But we made it through the day without freezing to death. I'm used to the cold now but the weather says it's supposed to warm up to the upper 40's by the end of this week so we'll see. I don't really like all this fluctuating weather temperatures but whatever Kingman needs to be hit with, I'm all for it. 

Friday we went to zone meeting in Wichita. Elder Johnson lost track of time in his training and spoke for like 30+ minutes and ended at noon when he was supposed to finish at like 11:30. So I guess he spoke for a long 45 minutes. It was good stuff, but I drifted off into la-la land for a little bit there. It was cold that day too. Elder Clay wanted to get Krispy Kreme doughnuts after but we couldn't find a place that sells them. So he resorted to Taco Bell. So that was pretty much the extent of that day. Actually, we did meet with the investigator we have on baptismal date. His testimony is definitely not there quite yet. But we'll help him get it. 

Saturday we went to Pratt because there was a baptism for the sisters. They had been teaching an excommunicated member that is ready and willing to be baptized again. It was a great service. The spirit was felt strong especially in one of the sister missionary's singing. We have some good singers in our district. After, we did some studying and stuff before going with the sisters to team-teach an older 85 year old man. They were passing him on to us. It was super awkward sometimes because he opened the door a crack with no clothes on, then in the middle of the lesson he got up to tuck in his shirt but it looked like he was doing something else. He also thought one of the sisters had a boyfriend because she's cute. She turned bright red after that. It was kind of funny. But anyways, he is an interesting man that will be difficult to get to church. But don't worry, we'll do it. 

That night we had a thanksgiving with lots of people. The turkey was amazing and everything was awesome. They also fed us Indian food last night. Yesterday we had a good day walking around in more cold. I enjoyed it today because we were walking around. I like walking in the cold and being all bundled up and warm in my jacket. 'Twas fun. We got home late last night (after 9:30) because we gave a blessing then had to walk for 40 minutes back to our car at the church. We gave 2 blessings yesterday. It was awesome being able to use the priesthood to bless the members of the church. So that was pretty much my week! Thanks, Dad, for your faithful e-mails and all of your wisdom in them.

Well I think I answered if not all, then most of your questions and desires in the paragraph at the beginning. But hopefully you all have a great Thanksgiving! I have some questions for you: How are the current family/ward missionaries doing in their areas? Jeremy, Kenny, Michael, etc. I love you and wish you the best! Love,

Elder Sutherland

11-18-13

Family,

 

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, it's a little late. I was so swamped with transfers and other stuff last week that I totally forgot that I didn't tell you that. Hopefully you can continue to get better and overcome your doubts and fears that you will not be able to serve a full-time mission. Satan is very very smart (duh, you know that). I just want to let you know something that I was thinking about yesterday. All the missionaries at our member dinner last night shared their favorite scripture. I shared the one on my plaque (Alma 43:19-20). After sharing, I was pondering about how righteous and firm men like captain Moroni was and Nephi, and Alma (younger and Elder), and Helaman, and Mahonri Moriancumr (the brother of Jared), and so many other scriptural powerhouses. As I pondered over them and their works, I felt like I wanted to be like them. I want to be so righteous that I will be able to have pillars of fire encircle me (see the story of Nephi and Lehi in the book of Helaman). I know that I will falter and sin often because of the natural man that is in me. But just the thought that someday I will be among such men in the afterlife boggles my mind. The Lord wants us all to strive to be like them. So I will be praying for you this week to be able to be like them and therefore more like the Savior.

 

This week was a little stressful for me. Monday was a "meh" P-Day and Tuesday was a super slow day because I was just focusing on transfers the next day (probably shouldn't have been that way). I also said bye to those investigators who refused baptism. Oh, Dad, you were wondering what I did to help them progress further, I was just there to be their friend. They really enjoy us coming over and just talking to them. So we shared a brief message and just chatted most of the time. 

Wednesday was a big big day. I hadn't finished packing by the time transfers came around. So we went to the 13th street building with a couple other Elders and I left my stuff there, intending on coming back later to get it. I wouldn't've been able to fit it all anyways because just this one Elder's stuff took up the whole car. We went to the transfer station and I met my new companion, Elder Clay. As I said before, he is from Syracuse, Utah and is 21 years old. Just like Elder Andrus, he was inactive for the longest time until God smacked him into shape (according to his words) and told him to serve a mission. What a motivational story he provided. He likes to talk...a lot. But I'm totally fine with that. That makes him who he is. At the transfer station, we expected to get a car to go out there but upon asking the mission vehicle coordinator about it, we weren't assigned one to use. I was baffled because we need a way to get to church and other meetings. It was actually up to President Bell's and the AP's discretion about who needs a car this transfer. I was about to give up when one of the Pratt seniors came in and said we can't function without a car. I agreed and persuaded President Bell to give us one of the reserves. He agreed that we needed one out there, I didn't force him to give us one. So we installed a bike rack, drove to our old apartment, picked up my stuff, and we headed out to Kingman. We also stopped in Goddard to get some groceries. Our apartment is nice and requires that we walk through the bathroom to get to the bedroom. 

The town so far is not that receptive to us. But we are still working hard and putting our shoulder to the wheel. You're going to be proud of me, Mom, we are needing to have to cook our food out here most nights. I actually made pancakes with the microwave on Friday. That's how great my skills are. Thursday and Friday we walked all over tarnation trying to find this one particular address. We still haven't found it. The Auburn Hills sisters gave us a sheet with some names on it so we've been trying to visit those. We have very few members here in Kingman and we're working with those that live here. 

The Pratt branch officially changed yesterday and Kingman is now a part of the Pratt branch. I tell you, that is a super small building. You should look it up or something because it doesn't even look like a church. It's really, really small. On Saturday, we went and saw one of the members that we found here. He wanted us to teach his brother in-law. So we taught him standing up outside for like 15 minutes. My companion invited him to baptism and he said yes! So miracles are abounding here in Kingman already! He didn't come to church yesterday, though. So we're going to have to work on that. 

Later on Saturday is when I met some of the members of the Pratt branch presidency. They took us to Wichita for leadership meetings so that I could attend My baptism as well. It was great to be able to feel the spirit of her testimony as she got down into that water and was baptized by someone holding that proper authority. She is now clean. She has the gift of the Holy Ghost. She then had us all over for some treats afterwards. After, we went home. 

The Pratt branch has huge boundaries that extend to Medicine Lodge and other cities like Greensburg. We're mainly in Kingman but the Pratt sisters let us proselyte in their area as needed. So we now have 6 missionaries serving in the branch. It's now us, the Pratt sisters, and the Pratt senior couple. Elder Greenlaw is the branch mission leader and we're working hard to bring people into the gospel. There's actually one person who is excommunicated that is being re-baptized this coming weekend. She hasn't been a member for a very long time. The branch itself is super excited that they're getting elders again and we can see lots of enthusiasm beginning to blossom for missionary work here in the branch. We passed the sacrament yesterday. I love being of service to the branch and hope that we can bring many people to the gospel even in that tiny little building.

 

Okay let me answer some questions now. And ask them too. How is Jeremy doing with all the storms and stuff in the Philippines? I hope he's okay. I heard that not one missionary has died there. So that's a miracle in and of itself. Dad, yes the members are giving us referrals. One at a time. There's an average sacrament attendance of about 50 A week here (maybe less). Serving in Wellington, we've had days less than that. But there's more that attend there than in Pratt. There lots of inactives here that the senior couple and some others are trying to work with. We'll be working with those mainly in Kingman itself. I would say that yes, I left Wichita better than I found it. But I should've left it even better. 

Oh, every day in Kingman around noon, they test the tornado alarms. I just heard it, so that's why I had to say it.  I loved the pictures you sent to me. Sounds like Cody had a great B-Day! Oh, and would it be okay if you gave me the Chen's address? I would like to write to them and invite them to come back to church. If not, that's okay. I think it might be better if it would be a personal visit. But whatever you think. Well, I need to go. I wish I could write more. I really can't think of what to say. My struggles this week were really just teaching by the spirit. I need to do a lot better. I think I focus a little too much in lessons or something distracts me. 

You all have a great week and let me know if you have any questions about anything. I'm sure I forgot to ask you something. Could you send me some simple recipes and cheap too that I could use? I can't live on microwaved pancakes, haha! I know you just sent me some, but I need to be reminded a little and can't remember what you suggested in what e-mail last time. But I love you all so much and hope you have a good week this week. Love,

 

Elder Sutherland

11-11-13

Family,

Sure sounds like y'all had a stressful week. I got sick last Monday (just a little sore throat with my voice cracking with it. I also had a cough) but am better now. Lots and lots of missionaries in the zone are getting sick. Some worse than others. I just hope that they don't get so bad that they'll have to be hospitalized because there's this one Elder who is at that point. Anyways, let me get to my week.

On Monday at P-day sports, we had a less-active come play with us. He is only less active because he didn't know where the church was. He moved last week to Phoenix, Arizona. But it was good to have him there. Last Monday night, three of our investigators took us out to eat at Carlos O'Kelley's. It was super good. We took them on a church tour after with a member present and invited them for baptism. They gave the typical "I've already been baptized" response. I knew how to explain it but the spirit was telling me to go no further. So we ended our church tour and gave them the assignment to read the Book of Mormon. I think they did a great job in that regard. More on that later.

On Tuesday, it was a really really slow afternoon. In the morning, we planned on doing service for Habitat for Humanity, as usual, but they were all done with their project. They won't need any more volunteers until March when they begin work on a different site. So that was kind of a bummer. But we found things to do until we had dinner at 6 with another one of our investigators and her member boyfriend. She is getting baptized this Saturday and is super excited. I can tell the difference from the first time I met her until now. She has made almost an Alma the younger turnaround. Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but she has changed a lot. I can tell she's happier and ready to commit. As for the recent convert from early October, she told us last week that she planned on being at church this week but she didn't show up. To be honest, I think Satan has gotten a hold of her and her RM boyfriend's heart and pride has crept in. They've been away from church for so long that they rationalize that they can't come back now. That's just my opinion, though. From the time we met her to the time she was baptized, I didn't see much change in her; just a desire to be baptized. The person that will get baptized this week is so much different, though. The October baptism, however, loved general conference and anything she's gone to since. So I'm confused. ANYWAYS, the one that we had dinner with fed us shrimp cocktail. It was really good. We then taught her and she accepted it all.

Wednesday was a special day. Not only was it the day that we had a general authority visit, but I found out that Elder Evans (my most recent son) received his visa and will be traveling to Brazil today. In fact, he's probably on the plane in the air right now. He'll go to Atlanta, Georgia then to Sao Paulo, Brazil, then to Forta Leza. I'll sure miss him. The conference with Elder Nash was way good too. The spirit was there as he spoke about his days as an area president down in South America. He told us lots of stories in which he loved the people, less actives, youth, and others so much that it made them want to be better. So that's what I'll be working on: just loving everyone in such a way that my kindness will assist in their conversion. Especially as I take on this new assignment. He also mentioned that since we are called of God, there's no need to worry about what we need to say, but if we just open our mouths, people will recognize us as true messengers and advocates of the truth just because of our mantle. He also gave the definition of bold: "Love, clarity, confidence, power of His spirit, and not overbearing." I loved some of his comments and counsel but he spoke for over three hours total. I was pretty bored by the end of his talk. Another thing I loved was not to let anything distract you from the work. For example: the cold, the rain, mud, girlfriends, girls (or boys for sisters) in general, and any other irrelevant distraction. It reminded me of something one of my favorite AP's said. Elder Casper said: "Our missionary recipe for success is arise at 6:30 and go to work." I am proud to say that I have done that with exactness. That was pretty much the bulk of our day that day.

Thursday was the day I found out about transfers. But in the morning, we had an appointment with an investigator up in Maize that fell through. This one lady was outside doing some yard work raking leaves. It looked like she was struggling. So we went over and offered to help. She was a little taken aback by the offer. Elder Johnson just took the rake and started to work. She was so happy. She was raking because she couldn't get her lawnmower started. So I went into the shed and got it started up for her and mowed a good portion of it (I miss mowing the lawn!). We then got to talking and she almost broke down in happiness because of our generosity. We told her we love doing service. So we said we'd come back and try to see her later. We had MLC to go to for zone and sister leaders. We discussed the mission training plan and how to improve it. I thought it was fine the way it was but apparently not. 

After the meeting, President Bell told me that I am opening up a new area (Kingman) and will be training as well. Talk about pressure! Looking at this assignment, I can tell that the Lord trusts me to work hard to rear up my new companion and get the area rolling. Missionaries go there once a week to proselyte but now it will be a great blessing to be able to get full-time missionaries there and in the Pratt branch. That is where we will go to church. That branch apparently needs a lot of priesthood. So this will be good to be able to have us there to strengthen and support that area. I am up to the challenge, though. I've done hard things in the past so why not this? This means I will probably be there until February, unless the Lord has other plans. But that's what President Bell told me. That means I will have been in the Wichita stake for 10 months! I got here in April. We'll see where my mission takes me after this area. But I shouldn't be thinking too far ahead because we still have work to do in Kingman. We will get a baptism. We will. I've had one in every single area and that's not going to change. The zone leaders here will be Elder Johnson and Elder Hamblin. You remember Elder Hamblin, right? He was my first companion in the Fleming Park ward. This will be a great zone with lots of missionaries.

Friday was exchange day. We went on exchanges with the Auburn Hills Elders. Elder Chun came with me in the Maize 1st/YSA ward. We had lots of appointments today. They all went well. We also had an appointment with The sister that will be baptized this Saturday. It was a good lesson but I don't think our investigators understand the whole exchange thing. So that was the only thing. Later, we had an appointment with the people that took us to Carlos O'Kelley's. It was fun as we read a section in the Book of Mormon with them. They read all of 1 Nephi and didn't understand any of it. So we read some verses in 2 Nephi 1 with them and really slowed down to understand it. I think that was good for them and us.

Saturday we had a trainers meeting at the mission home. Thanks to a marathon, we were late. But they started late so it's all good. I found out that I will be training Elder Clay from Syracuse, Utah. I'm so excited to train again. I love love love training new missionaries. It just makes me so happy to see their desire to work. He's not a visa waiter, either, so he will be my posterity in this mission forever. After the meeting, we got some supplies and went to a baptism in the Maize 2nd ward. It was also one of the Elders first baptism there too. I think that was a special day for all of them because their investigator was baptized on the same day as an 8 year old. The water was super low, though. So the girl had to be dunked twice and the investigator 4 times.

Sunday was fun. Both Elder Johnson and I gave talks. Mine was on Timothy J. Dyches talk from conference. I tied it to forgiveness and how we all ought to forgive ourselves AND each other for our trespasses. I'm pumped for the baptism coming up and excited to be a part of this sacred ordinance. But YEAH! That was pretty much my week. Only 2 more days of having to go work out with Elder Johnson. Only 10 companionships in the entire mission are staying the same. Crazy, huh?

Wow...someone tried to commit suicide like that?! That's pretty crazy. I'm sorry you had to witness that. Hopefully she can get better. That's super fun that Jayce did the MC fun run! I remember doing that! I remember Kyle Nuzzolo (Is that his name? I can't remember) cried because I beat him last second. But good times, good times. I remember doing the 5K for the first time in middle school there. I thought that took forever. I finished close to last. Thanks, Dad and Mom for your consistent, weekly e-mails. I feel so blessed to have 2 righteous parents to have reared me in the gospel because I know that many kids didn't have that opportunity. So thank you. I best be off but you have a fantastic week and in the words of Elder Nash: "Make it rain" blessings and revelation. Love,

Elder Sutherland

11-3-13

Family,

Sounds like y'all had a good week. I feel super bad for Cody, though. I hope that you can work out a way in which he can get better before his mission. He will definitely need that knee before he goes and I think the fastest he can go out on his mission, the better. What was the plan again? Was he planning on going to one or two semesters at BYU-Idaho before his mission? My opinion is that he should do one, but that's just me. Let me get on to my week and then we'll see how much time I have to elaborate on yours.

So this was a week full of miracles. So on Monday, we had to play sports at the stake center. Ironically, the gym at the stake center was smaller than the Westlink building so it wasn't as fun. But we had a good old time. That night, we had a lesson with a new investigator that has shown interest in meeting with us for quite some time now. She is a friend and co-worker of a member of our ward and goes to the Assembly of God church. She had lots of questions and we did our best to answer them. I feel like if we just share the entire restoration with her, her questions will all be answered (other than those about the after life). She said all she wants to do in meeting with us is find out what the church is about. I feel like next time we should really lock down and invite her to make and keep commitments like baptism and coming to church. For our purpose isn't merely to teach people what our church believes, but to invite others to come unto Christ and partake of His salvation. So just some revelation for me before we had to go home and have our weekly conference call with all the zone leaders, AP's, and mission president.

Tuesday was a super busy day. We did service in the morning by doing more priming and painting the interior of a newer house. It was pretty boring but we got it mostly done. I enjoy scraping the cement floors, though. I just scrape off any dry paint spots. At 2, we had an appointment that fell through and another one that fell through at 3. So so far, our goals did not look like they were going to be fulfilled that easily. At 4:30, we went to the member home we USED to stay in and moved everything out of the room we were staying in. The accumulation of 2 years worth of missionary stuff was quite the project. But we got it done. The member later told us that it took her over an hour to clean the shower. Sorry, I didn't know how to clean it. I know that's sad to say but whatever. The housing coordinator guy that was helping us was ticked that we hadn't packed any of it. I hate packing and stuff because it takes time away from proselyting.

After the move and making the room look nice, we went to dinner and then the lesson I was looking forward to all day. This lesson I will remember forever. The spirit was stronger in that room than in any lesson I've had in a long, long time. She wanted to commit to baptism at the start of the new year but after much praying and guidance by the holy ghost, she knew what she had to do and accepted a date for November 16th. That is when my next baptism is. Elder Johnson and I were so pumped especially since this will be Elder Johnson's first baptism on his mission. She feels guilty because she doesn't feel like she's repented of her sins. We assured her that she can be. At the end of the lesson, she had a personal prayer for like 8 minutes straight. That is when she knew it was right to be baptized on that date. So that was an awesome experience that I will always remember.

Wednesday it rained like crazy. When I mean rain, I mean rain with hail. It was coming down hard. As we knocked at a house where we had an appointment, it was crazy to see the rain flowing down the street like it was. The appointment fell through and I'm glad none of my clothes got ruined  It was cold, too. We had an appointment fall through that night, too. The church had a trunk or treat that night that we caught the very end of. It was super cool to see some of the costumes that some people came with. The sister missionaries serving in our ward wore mustaches.

Thursday was Halloween. Also on this day, an Elder in the zone got emergency transferred out to Garden City. I am pretty sure I know why, I just don't want to tell anyone. So we were with another Elder all that night and for the next few days. I didn't mind that because he is super cool. Let me tell you how busy we were that night: at 5, The Maize 2nd ward Elder that we were with had an appointment that ended up actually being 5:30. We had dinner at 5:45 that we arrived at 6 and then we had a meeting with the stake president at 6:30 that we arrived to at 6:40. Then we had FHE at 7 back at the bishop's house: the same place where we ate dinner at. So it was a super busy night. There was a sister in our ward that got her mission call too. Our stake president showed us a picture of her holding her call. The anticipation was super high. We tried calling her twice without her answering her phone but she came to FHE and told everyone that she was going to (wait for it.......) Carlsbad, California!!! I was stoked! Yesterday, I told her all about her mission and what it's like. I also told her about the vista stake center that has 2 stories and 2 chapels with a full sized basketball court. I'll have to look at her mission map because I'm not sure how close that mission gets to ours. Do you know if the Poway or Del Mar stakes are in that mission? I'm pretty sure Escondido is. But anyways, I was super excited for her. I also told her about how there are lots of Samoans in Oceanside. She got a kick out of that and is super excited. She enters the MTC on January 15th. So look out for someone from Wichita, Kansas! She's coming! I know we live in the San Diego mission but our stake borders that mission.

There were lots of trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood where we were. That night, we had an appointment with a less active of ours and invited her back to church. She said she would but didn't show yesterday. Hopefully she's doing okay. It may have been because we forgot to text her some scriptures to read, I don't know. Hopefully she can come to church sometime.

On Friday, we did the zone mileage report before attending a district meeting. Then I went on exchanges with the Spanish Elders! I was super excited to speak some Spanish. The first appointment we went to, they were talking so fast so I didn't know what they were saying and then all of a sudden, my exchange companion looked at me as if it was my turn to speak. Let me tell you, that was tough. I didn't know what we were talking about and then it was my turn to speak. I just bore my testimony, pretty much and invited him to come to church. I don't think I made sense but was glad to get that experience. After another lesson with some Spanish people that I could understand a little better, we went to dinner with a family where the parents only spoke Spanish but the kids spoke English. So that was a little better for me. We then did some biking and by that time, I was worn out from speaking all the Spanish and biking everywhere in the cold weather. I'm not complaining because it was fun; I am saying that it would be tough to do another day of that. That was super fun to be able to be a part of that.

Saturday we helped move another member in the Spanish Branch before going to a correlation meeting with my regular companion in English. I was tired but it was good to be able to get some progress in the ward and dinner calendar. In fact, we had dinner with them that night and had a good time telling stories about sleep walking and stuff. I told about how Cody once peed down the stairs. Good times. Good times. We stayed super late, though. I regret that. We'll do a better job next time, I promise. Before we went home, we were quite limited on the mileage use for the day. But we went to see one of our investigators anyways because I knew that they needed what we have for them. When we got there, it was 3 teenage girls (18-20 years old) doing their nails before the male came home from getting something. We had a great conversation and invited them all to church. There was 4 of them and they all said yes. I was pumped about that. They all did come too! They may not have been too reverent during the service, but they came. I was in the other ward when they came. Elder Johnson said we have some teaching to do with them. The investigator that we taught on Tuesday bore her testimony, apparently. that was super exciting. I feel like she's more solid than the most recent baptism that we had last month. Speaking of her, she hasn't been to church for a very long time and I am very concerned for her and her RM boyfriend. I will be praying for them. Yes, I did bear my testimony too. It was about the work of salvation. Sorry, nothing about Cody's patriarchal blessing. After church, we had a linger longer then saw a little bit of the boy scout broadcast celebrating 100 years of scouting in the church while at dinner. I thought it was cool to watch. That night we watched the CES broadcast by Russel T. Osguthorpe: Sunday School General President. it was a good talk which talked about using our will to become our Father in Heaven's will. It was way good. After that we just concluded our day and week. So that was our week full of miracles!

Okay, I have time to elaborate on your e-mails. ACL surgery, huh? Have you set an appointment with the surgeon to get that fixed yet? Hopefully you can soon because there needs to be some way that Cody can heal quick enough for stuff. Dang, Jayson. Only 9 pounds of candy? Oh well. You can do better next year. Did Caitlin bear her testimony? If so, then we all did! Woo! Where in Ohio is Dallin moving to? Is it Akron? Do you know what mission that's in? I was just wondering because Whitney might be serving there. Oh I keep wanting to tell Caitlin about something. So apparently Billy has a cousin that lives in Queen Creek (I think it's a cousin) that you (Caitlin) hang out with a lot. So there's a member of the singles ward here where his last area on his mission to Tempe, Arizona that served in her ward. Named Elder Phillips. So you should ask her about him. There's one connection to family that you didn't expect, is it? haha. Anyways, I best be off. Y'all have a great week! Ours will be great! We have zone conferences this week with Elder Nash (1st quorum of the 70). It should be a great meeting. This will be my second general authority visit of my mission. The other was Elder Gavarret back in January. I love you all,

Elder Sutherland

PS: "Can I stay with you?"

"Huh?"

"Can I stay with you...please?"

"Of course!"

"Really?"

"No."

"Oh c'mon! You have no idea what it's like out there being a freak! Well, maybe you do. But that's why we gotta stick together. Just let me stay with you, please?!"

"Okay! but one night only."

"Ah! Yes."

"We'll stay up late, tell some manly stories and in the morning, I'm making waffles!"

10-28-13

Family,

The church of the NFL is in full effect. Everyone has taken hold of it including some people in the church. I say that because this morning, as Elder Johnson was working out, I was eavesdropping on a conversation of some people nearby talking about it. One guy said: "The NFL is all I do on Sundays." Or something like that. I also heard what's up in the world series right now ironically in a talk yesterday. Now, I don't want to know who wins, but I also eavesdropped this morning and heard someone say who's winning and who was losing. On the happy side, however, I am so so so so excited for Cody's blessing. Isn't it amazing to have such a priesthood holder in our family as Grandpa is? Sounds like he has some pretty great promises in store for him as he journeys on through life. Oh, Dad I have something to say to you. Jayce is right. It's 3 FLAGS up not flies. That's what we've called it our whole lives. I'm pretty sure that's what people and others have said growing up in school and stuff. Anyways, let me get on to my week.

Last Monday we were busy shopping and stuff until a little before 4. So we only had about an hour of P-Day sports. That is totally fine with me. I got really sweaty anyways. On Tuesday, we did service by installing some shelves in a shed that's attached to this house and also installed another mailbox. The same kind that Elder Eliason and I did. We did a better job last time. It wasn't quite 100% level but nobody wanted to dig sideways. If I didn't have a blister on my hand, I would've gotten in there and made it level. Digging the hole is the hardest part. But it was fun. I enjoyed having that blister as a reminder of hard work and dedication. We had to rush home and have some quick studies and lunch because we had an appointment with this investigator who recently has never been home. But he actually held his appointment today. The main thing that was lacking in that lesson was a team-up. I think the spirit would've been much more powerful and meaningful had we had a member there to fellowship him. We have another appointment with him tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. 

I was a really clumsy driver too. After getting gas, I forgot there was a curb to the side of me and just drove straight over it, hitting the underside of the car on the curb making a loud bang noise. Later, after an appointment fell through, I was driving out of a parking lot and didn't bother to look straight ahead of me to even see if there was a median or not. I saw the median just in time and swerved left to avoid hitting that and oncoming traffic. Fortunately, the Lord has been watching over me all the times on my mission where I've been an awful driver. I've gotten in one small accident and like 10 close calls. That's a blessing right there. But getting 2 in one day really made me feel stupid. 

We had two appointments fall through that day too. But later that night after dinner, we had our team-up come and pick us up for a lesson with one of our newer investigators. We answered their questions most of the night and taught as much as we could. They were very impressed by what we sacrifice to serve missions and by the boldness of our testimonies. They tried to come to church yesterday but texted us and couldn't find it. That was a super big bummer. But that lesson on Tuesday went great. It didn't go along at all with what we planned, but that's what the spirit tells you to do sometimes. I really enjoy teaching through the spirit and knowing that it is there to guide me through the toughest of times. 

That night after the lesson, we were informed that the members that we live with need us to be out before Halloween because they are putting their house up for sale. In fact, we moved out on Saturday. More on that later. But Elder Johnson was super bummed out because he loves the members that we live with. They plan on moving to Manhattan and then eventually getting a super nice fifth wheel to live in for the rest of their lives. 

Wednesday we had an appointment with a guy who loves the missionaries but is a die hard Catholic. We didn't bring a team-up yet again. As a result, the lesson lacked in something that was obviously the spirit. Hopefully he can open up more and come to accept the gospel. Nothing else much happened that day. As always, we went to Friends University and walked around a bit. we try to talk to as many people as we can about the gospel. we go on campus. Nobody from the University staff has stopped us so far so hopefully we will be allowed to continue. (That reminds me, we forgot to call that one guy we contacted. I think I'll do that today sometime.) 

That night, after dinner, we were going to go out with a member who speaks mandarin to this Asian guy that speaks only mandarin and very little English. He was being taught by missionaries in New York for like 2 years over skype and stuff. But now they finally decided to hand him off to us. We don't speak a lick of mandarin so fortunately we had the member there who went to Sydney, Australia mandarin speaking for his mission not too long ago. It was so cool to hear them communicate one with another. This guy is an illegal immigrant and is looking to become a citizen but can't really do that if he doesn't know English. He loves the missionaries, I could tell, and is interested in the gospel. The only hindrance is his uncle who is Buddhist and doesn't want anything to do with us. So we'll be working with them. That was a super cool experience. Hopefully we can continue in fellowship so that he can get dunked. 

Thursday was a day in which we had a church tour with this one guy. His friend (who is a member) invited him to learn more about the church. (I have a terrible memory. I forgot to text him too to invite him to church). So we gave him a church tour and it went okay. The spirit was there but not as powerfully as it has been in the past. Then after the church tour, we did stake reports for the next several hours because we had our stake correlation meeting with President Williams and President Bell. It was a good, short meeting. 

After the meeting, we went to FHE and played musical chairs (with EFY music) and sardines. Sardines got pretty crazy at times. But it was super fun. It's where you play hide 'n' seek but one person hides while everyone else tries to find them. On Friday after district meeting, we went on exchanges. I went with Elder Kempter into the Rolling Hills area and Elder Heppler to our area. I first went and taught their investigator with a baptismal date. His huge hang up is tithing. He doesn't have the faith to commit to pay tithing. So I relayed to him every scripture I knew, every minute detail of a testimony of tithing that I had. I think that helped him to come closer to accepting it. He gets a retirement raise at the beginning of next year so he wants to set a date then. Now that I think about it, I don't think that would be a bad idea. Maybe I'll tell the Elders that. Oh, the revelation you receive as you e-mail home. That was a cool experience, haha! 

I enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to our district leader and help him out in regards to his leadership abilities and training opportunities. I wanted to make sure he and Elder Heppler are obedient and loving to each other and to the missionaries in his district. They are doing great! 

The next day, we had a huge meeting where all of the missionaries in the zone were to gather at the Westlink building where there would be a youth training meeting. Only 6 youth showed up. So all of the missionaries got to help prepare them for missions. I think it helped. We weren't there for the whole thing. We did a little training that I did not prepare for and then departed. I left one of the district leaders in charge because we had to go help with a service project up near maize. We were putting branches onto several trailers for this lady who is super old and an investigator of the sisters. I am used to pulling out branches thanks to the big storm that Argonia got hit with back in July. So this was a breeze. We then all unloaded it into a waste pile in Colwich, Kansas. 

The bulk of the rest of the day was spent moving all of our stuff to the apartment that I just moved out of last transfer. So now we are living there again. That took a long time too. Once we got all settled, it was already time to go to dinner. A member took us out to Subway. That night, we went on team-ups with the member that we just moved out of. He took us to see some of the less actives that I thought we should see and then one of our investigators. That took the rest of the night. We had nice visits with all who answered. 

Sunday I was fasting, of course. It was a tough Sunday for us. We didn't have any investigators come today because the one that usually comes stayed home with the kids. An even bigger bummer was that our recent convert didn't come because she had family in town. I think she could've made it for an hour of sacrament. But I was super bummed about that. Then, in priesthood, the wife of a member of our bishopric brought in these delicious-looking cupcakes. I really wanted one so asked if I could take them home with me. He accepted. I just have to give the container back to them. Then as we were proselyting after church, we were walking and saw these three people working in a ditch. They were trying to fix a leak in the foundation of their house. The guy that she hired bailed once he hit the water line. So it was up to her to get it done by hand before the freezing air came in to freeze the line. So we went home and changed and came back to help them. All they needed help with was lifting up buckets of dirt/mud so that she could get to the base of the foundation. She was super grateful for our help. I enjoyed doing service and gaining a stronger testimony of what the sabbath day is really all about. So I enjoyed doing this and still feeling the spirit of what Christ taught in the New Testament. That was pretty much the highlights of my week! Sorry, I don't have much time.

I got your package on Saturday and love what you went me, so thank you. Although, the autumn mix candy corn is not one of my favorites. I'll still eat it though. Yeah, I still want that USB. That would be super helpful as a zone leader. Dad, I always appreciate all that you say to me in your e-mails. I want to write more but am limited when it comes to time. I just want to let you know that I love you and am grateful for your diligence in writing me. Keep up the good work!

Love,

Elder Sutherland

10-21-13

We met this guy in the hood of downtown Wichita. He is traveling from Indianapolis, Indiana to San Diego, California by foot. He started out with no money and plans on going to Denver next followed by the Grand Canyon and the San Diego. He is also writing a book titled: "Kicking Rocks". I thought he was super cool. He said he'd put this picture in his book. So you know what that means right? I'm going to be famous! Just kidding. He was super cool though. I love talking to homeless people downtown. It reminds me of my brother. Just kidding, I like it because the people are just so down to Earth and so curious as to why we come down in a place where no religious people dare to enter. 

Family,

This was a good week. And it sounds like y'all had a good week too. I hope Cody's MRI results go okay this week. What does his knee feel like? I hope that it isn't too bad that he can't even work out at all. But I guess we'll see. About your question regarding Christmas stuff, if you want to send me something, go for it. But I don't really want anything else that I have to pack in my suitcase come transfer time. My suitcases are so packed whenever I get transferred, it's unbelievable. So I guess you can just save your money for me for when I get home because I will need to get some stuff for when I go up to college (running shoes, basketball shoes, etc.). That way you can get me stuff for my birthday next year AND Christmas. I don't want to be thinking ahead that much either but one more thing about school and stuff. Have you looked into housing at all at BYU-Idaho? I know Nauvoo house gets booked pretty quick. But whatever you want to do is fine with me. Okay now on to my week.

Monday was great! A little chilly but great. I won a game of chair soccer (which is very difficult to do with so many missionaries playing at the same time) and out of 3 games of dodgeball, my experience helped in a one on one showdown with me and another Elder. I beat him, hehe, and my team won 2 of the games. I loved those pictures from the pumpkin patch too. Hopefully Jayson doesn't turn into a pumpkin because he loves them so much. Those chickens remind me of a member who fed us dinner last week and has like 4 chickens in their backyard. We always made jokes about eating them but their daughter would have none of it. Those are her pet chickens. " 'Twas funny. 

Tuesday we painted for our service assignment this time. Later on Tuesday night, Elder Johnson felt inspired as to send a message out to the zone and encourage them to find one more person before the night ended. We had a boatload of miracles, including us. We talked to literally everyone we could that night and taught 5 lessons and got a new investigator. In fact we were driving along and Elder Johnson saw this lady outside smoking. So we decided to stop the car and talk to her. She turned out to be pretty interested in the gospel and accepted a return visit. She was working at this smoothie bar but was temporarily outside. We'll try to see her later this week. It was awesome to see the Lord blessing us as we went out of our comfort zones and talked to everyone that we possibly could. 

Wednesday was a kind of slow day just up until later at night time. We had a long weekly planning session in the morning and then had an awesome appointment with one of our most progressing investigators. She said she wants to be baptized and knows that she should but just doesn't know when. She's told us that she'll get baptized once she knows like us that the church is true. We promised her that that would come and that she would have to show her faith in the Lord by taking this step. Hopefully she can accept a date. So we don't have anyone on date to be baptized anymore but are soon to fix that. Elder Johnson has been out for a year and hasn't had a single baptism. So that will change immediately.

Thursday was another long morning of staying inside and doing paperwork and stuff. We had stake reports and then prepared for zone meeting that would come the next day. That was the day we went downtown and talked to as many people as we could. We ended up talking to quite a few people and even an inactive that wasn't on a ward roster! So that was an amazing find. We then talked to that one guy that was going to walk across the nation. He was funny and cool. That night we had a good correlation meeting with a member of our stake presidency (the guy we live with) and received several assignments to follow up on. Thank goodness Elder Johnson was there because I forgot them all even though I wrote them down, haha! That night we met with our singles ward mission leader for the first time in like 6 weeks. He works from midnight to 8 at the mall as a mall cop and sleeps most of the day including Sunday. So he just goes to his home ward and then leaves to go sleep in preparation for the next night of work. But we caught him just as he woke up before we went home. 

Friday was absolutely FREEZING!!!! It actually SNOWED a little bit! It stayed in the upper 30's most of the morning and into the early afternoon. None of the snow stuck. I'm just saying. We had our zone meeting today. It was a great meeting and I enjoyed training them all on chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel on finding. We had great involvement and great preparation for this meeting. I discussed our duty of missionary work and finding and showed President Monson's story about Rupert finding the green emerald, the King's jewel. I love that story. After the meeting, I went on exchanges with Elder Waite: an Elder who is currently serving up in Newton with Elder Nerdin. He came down with me and Elder Johnson went up to Newton with him. We had a good time together and found a new investigator. He's a good teacher. Something that I want to get rid of in the zone, however, is gossip. I feel that my companion and I gossip all the time and that should stop. I bet we're not alone too. We had a good day together. 

The next day was nice because we actually got to sleep in until 6:30. Normally Elder Johnson wakes up to go workout and drags me along. But Saturday was great. It was a hectic and regretful morning, however. After a meeting with our ward mission leader, he took us up to Newton to exchange back and witness one of their baptisms. The service was great and the candidate was happy. Both of our appointments today fell through and it was a rather slow day. But we had a great dinner delivered to us by our recent baptism! It was great! 

Sunday we had ward conference in the Maize 1st ward. Our stake president is so awesome! He just knows what he's talking about whenever he speaks. He is so wise and aware of everyone's needs. He is also centered on sharing the gospel. Actually, he is also a candidate to run for mayor of the city of Wichita. If he wasn't a stake president, I think he might take it. Anyways, we went downtown again yesterday and were amazed that people were actually coming up to us and asking us questions. That's what I spoke of earlier. We handed out a couple copies of the Book of Mormon and a few pamphlets. After dinner, Elder Johnson argued whether or not the non-member that came to dinner should count us as a member present. I said no, it shouldn't and he said yes it should. I need to lose myself because I feel like I need to be right every time. But that is not how successful companionships work. So that's what we'll be working on this week.

Mom, that's sad that that kid tried to commit suicide. That's exciting that Elder Mendoza is engaged! Tell him hi for me! I miss that guy a lot. I can't believe he's been home from his mission for 2 years now. Do you know when he's getting married, by chance? Well I think I should probably get going. We still have lots to do. Thanks for everything and I can't wait for that Halloween package! I'll probably be sending a package here soon too. But anyways, I love you and the whole family! Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Sutherland