It has been an interesting week. We've had a pretty decent amount of success with knocking doors but the best one was when we were actually stopping by a less-active in a town that we can rarely get to due to miles. We knocked on the door and a girl named Stephanie (that we later found out) said "Hi! Come on in." We were all kinda confused and then we asked if there was a male in the home. There wasn't so we had to set up an appointment for the next day and when we came back the next day we tracted before the lesson and found some more potential for that area. It was pretty neat, the best part though was the lesson with Stephanie, she seems pretty genuinely interested. She's also got an adorable daughter named Riley. Sadly though we haven't been able to see her again because two of her co-workers up and quit so now she has to work a lot more. There has been a few other people that have been a little interested recently just from tracting. Also we went to a place called Chopin Hall. Its a service place in our area and it is a pretty good place to contact people we have about 2 minutes to talk with them and then invite helps me keep on my toes it was pretty cool.
So...there has also been some awesome weather this week. We were actually in the middle of a lesson when hail started falling from the sky some of them being bigger than golf balls (probably the size of a billiard ball), we had to cut that lesson short but we did get a new investigator out of it though her name is Lisa. She's a cousin of a less-active member. Anyway we ended up having to stay inside the rest of the night because there was about 5 funnel clouds that opened over Findlay (according to a member) non of them touched down but it was pretty epic weather. The hail damaged a lot of cars all over the place leaving lots of dents on the roofs and also breaking some windshields. Anyway it was awesome.
Love you and happy birthday Dad and Amanda!
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
J-Yes the letter J
The week started out with a drive to St. Marys to drop off the car down there so that we can get a cheaper price on fixing the car from a recent deer hit. It wasn't to bad and we were able to stop by Lima as well and play some b-ball with them.
Zone Development Meeting was on Tuesday. It was pretty good, Elder Ehlert said some stuff and I said some stuff and then we commited everyone to work harder as well as ourselves. Later that night we were able to teach Charlie pretty much everything else he needed to know and then we picked up and dropped off some missionaries in our zone and we drove them to Westlake where the mission home is near Cleveland. We able to spend the night there because of the following days activites.
Leadership Training the next day very much appreciated and pretty much awesome. I especially enjoyed a workshop by Sis. Golightly, she really put a lot of thought into it. Basically she tried to help feel the spirit by removing some of the 5 senses we had. The first time she had a missionary bear his testimony and then another bear his while the light were turned off. Then she had one missionary hold up a picture of the Savior and then stand inbetween Elder Perkins(he was in my first district and ward with me) and I. She then had me bear my testimony and then gave Elder LaBar(playing the investigator, he was also in the same distirct as me when I was in Ashland) some earplugs and had Elder Perkins bear his (Because we happened to volunteer for that one). Then she had another missionary bear his and the next missionary just gave another missionary playing the role of an investigator a Book of Mormon. It was pretty cool.
On Friday we were able to go down to Lima with Bro. Lawrence in the ward and teach Charlie and one of his roomates. Satan had been working hard on Charlie this week and he brought up some concerns but they were just evidences of repentence and his sincerity in joining the church.
The next day he was interviewed.
Then on Sunday Charlie was baptized and confirmed after church. It was a great experience and his mother, step-father and father were there (plus some friends that I didn't get to meet). His father has been taking the missionary lessons down in Columbus. They were all touched by the spirit and I'm hoping that they continue to feel those feelings. Yup Charlie is pretty much awesome and I'm super excited to see his progression in the church as time goes on here in Findlay. Oh and by the way at his baptism I discovered that Charlie is actually his middle name that he goes by because his first name is J. Yes the letter J. No not Jay just J.
It has been a pretty decent week otherwise, we are back to finding and I know someone or some family will turn up soon.
Love you all.
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
Zone Development Meeting was on Tuesday. It was pretty good, Elder Ehlert said some stuff and I said some stuff and then we commited everyone to work harder as well as ourselves. Later that night we were able to teach Charlie pretty much everything else he needed to know and then we picked up and dropped off some missionaries in our zone and we drove them to Westlake where the mission home is near Cleveland. We able to spend the night there because of the following days activites.
Leadership Training the next day very much appreciated and pretty much awesome. I especially enjoyed a workshop by Sis. Golightly, she really put a lot of thought into it. Basically she tried to help feel the spirit by removing some of the 5 senses we had. The first time she had a missionary bear his testimony and then another bear his while the light were turned off. Then she had one missionary hold up a picture of the Savior and then stand inbetween Elder Perkins(he was in my first district and ward with me) and I. She then had me bear my testimony and then gave Elder LaBar(playing the investigator, he was also in the same distirct as me when I was in Ashland) some earplugs and had Elder Perkins bear his (Because we happened to volunteer for that one). Then she had another missionary bear his and the next missionary just gave another missionary playing the role of an investigator a Book of Mormon. It was pretty cool.
On Friday we were able to go down to Lima with Bro. Lawrence in the ward and teach Charlie and one of his roomates. Satan had been working hard on Charlie this week and he brought up some concerns but they were just evidences of repentence and his sincerity in joining the church.
The next day he was interviewed.
Then on Sunday Charlie was baptized and confirmed after church. It was a great experience and his mother, step-father and father were there (plus some friends that I didn't get to meet). His father has been taking the missionary lessons down in Columbus. They were all touched by the spirit and I'm hoping that they continue to feel those feelings. Yup Charlie is pretty much awesome and I'm super excited to see his progression in the church as time goes on here in Findlay. Oh and by the way at his baptism I discovered that Charlie is actually his middle name that he goes by because his first name is J. Yes the letter J. No not Jay just J.
It has been a pretty decent week otherwise, we are back to finding and I know someone or some family will turn up soon.
Love you all.
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
Monday, May 16, 2011
5=2+3
It has been kind of a different and unexpected week here in Findlay. First off Elder Haines and I had a pretty good last couple of days working with each other. We had a good lesson with Charlie on Monday and sadly we haven't been able to see him the rest of the week because of school/finals week, his new job, and something I only recently learned about was that his mother was getting remarried yesterday. So he's been really busy, although we have been able to keep in contact with him over the phone.
Tuesday was a pretty awesome p-day. Nick Rackley a member out here came with us to a driving range. It was the first time I've ever been to one and I kinda enjoyed it, I'm still not super good but after Nick gave me a few pointers I was able to drive it about 125 which was sweet.
Transfer day was a good day, I worked in the walking Elders area with Elder Scovill. We went to one of the Recent Converts home in their area named Mellissa Garcia. She needed us to bug bomb her place and we kinda wanted to help her do it really badly. She had nine bug bombs so we went out and bought some bandanas so we could be moderatly safer and look like gangsters while we set the things off. Right when we started Elder Scovill sprayed one of the bombs directly in his face. So the whole time we were setting off the bombs he was super confused. Later that night when I found out that we would be in a triple-up with Elder Ehlert and Elder Conlin. Elder Conlin works in a town called St. Marys (its the farthest area away from the mission home you can be). His companion got sent home for medical issues the day of transfers. Normally Elder Conlin would serve in his district but we couldn't do that either because the missionary in his district is training and he needs to do that just more of a one on one thing. So we are now with him I was a little shocked although it has been fun having now 5 missionaries in the apartment, just a little cramped though. We went down to St. Marys that night and got Elder Conlin the stuff he needed for his extended stay and came back and moved the couch into our room so he would have a place to sleep "In the same room but not in the same bed." (As it says in the missionary handbook).
On Saturday was the most exciting thing that happened this week. We were able to teach our new investigator named Joshua. He has been recently going to another church and that has been bringing up a lot of questions, he met a member that goes to the Lima ward on-line and started talking to her about religion and she referred him to us. We had a very good first lesson with him and are planning on setting a Baptismal Date with him the next time we teach him. He almost came to church but didn't feel totally comfortable yet because it was Stake Conference.
Stake Conference was awesome by the way. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake with Elder Eyering, Elder Ballard and a couple other church leaders. They urged the members and missionaries in the north eastern part of the country to Repent and not justify sin, to do missionary work better and in more of a hurry because we are in the last dispensation and to be Optimistic. Also Pres. Eyering said something cool which was a quote from either the scriptures or another general authority. He said that the church would be ready for the second coming, so as long as your in it and trying to be better (having faith, repenting, keeping covenants, following the spirit in enduring to the end) all the problems would be taken care of because the church will be ready for the savior. I thought that was cool.
Well I love you all ta bits.
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
Tuesday was a pretty awesome p-day. Nick Rackley a member out here came with us to a driving range. It was the first time I've ever been to one and I kinda enjoyed it, I'm still not super good but after Nick gave me a few pointers I was able to drive it about 125 which was sweet.
Transfer day was a good day, I worked in the walking Elders area with Elder Scovill. We went to one of the Recent Converts home in their area named Mellissa Garcia. She needed us to bug bomb her place and we kinda wanted to help her do it really badly. She had nine bug bombs so we went out and bought some bandanas so we could be moderatly safer and look like gangsters while we set the things off. Right when we started Elder Scovill sprayed one of the bombs directly in his face. So the whole time we were setting off the bombs he was super confused. Later that night when I found out that we would be in a triple-up with Elder Ehlert and Elder Conlin. Elder Conlin works in a town called St. Marys (its the farthest area away from the mission home you can be). His companion got sent home for medical issues the day of transfers. Normally Elder Conlin would serve in his district but we couldn't do that either because the missionary in his district is training and he needs to do that just more of a one on one thing. So we are now with him I was a little shocked although it has been fun having now 5 missionaries in the apartment, just a little cramped though. We went down to St. Marys that night and got Elder Conlin the stuff he needed for his extended stay and came back and moved the couch into our room so he would have a place to sleep "In the same room but not in the same bed." (As it says in the missionary handbook).
On Saturday was the most exciting thing that happened this week. We were able to teach our new investigator named Joshua. He has been recently going to another church and that has been bringing up a lot of questions, he met a member that goes to the Lima ward on-line and started talking to her about religion and she referred him to us. We had a very good first lesson with him and are planning on setting a Baptismal Date with him the next time we teach him. He almost came to church but didn't feel totally comfortable yet because it was Stake Conference.
Stake Conference was awesome by the way. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake with Elder Eyering, Elder Ballard and a couple other church leaders. They urged the members and missionaries in the north eastern part of the country to Repent and not justify sin, to do missionary work better and in more of a hurry because we are in the last dispensation and to be Optimistic. Also Pres. Eyering said something cool which was a quote from either the scriptures or another general authority. He said that the church would be ready for the second coming, so as long as your in it and trying to be better (having faith, repenting, keeping covenants, following the spirit in enduring to the end) all the problems would be taken care of because the church will be ready for the savior. I thought that was cool.
Well I love you all ta bits.
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Epic Story.
We went through some pretty difficult experiences this week but they seem like nothing when we're working with Charlie Palmer. To let you know we had found a family last week and we were going to start working with them, the Anknee family. Well they were actually just trying to get money from the church and when we couldn't get to them, they dropped us. Also we had a lot of failed appoinments. So all that was a bit dissapointing but on Sunday the Lord showed us a blessing through an experience that Charlie had. Thursday he was at Wal-mart and when he came back to his car after shopping he discovered that someone had hit his car and knocked off his back bumper. Friday night he was coming home from a date with a member and he was praying to know what getting involved with the church will bring him. When he finished his prayer he realized he just missed his turn. So while he was flipping back around his car died on him. At this point he was getting very unhappy with how long it was taking him to get home. He went to go look under the hood of his car and then he heard somebody crying, he looked to see who it was. He saw a man walking around in some trees completly drunk and the mans car stuck on the train tracks. He then called the cops to tell them a car was stuck and they said that a train was going to be there in about 5 minutes and they weren't going to be able to stop it. So Charlie ended up having to do something about it. He went and grabbed some rope from his car tied it around the other car and came back to his car and realized that because the bumper of the car got smacked off by somebody in the walmart parking lot he was able to just tie it right on the metal bumper right underneath quite easily. He did so and somehow his car started so he could pull the other car off the tracks. He suceeded and then the train was coming. When the drunk guy saw this he started running toward the train to commit suicide. Charlie tackles the guy and save his life. Then when Charlie stood back up a rock that had been knocked up because of the car on the traintracks flew and hit Charlie right around his bottom right rib knocking him right into the ground. He went to the hospital and miraculously the rock hit in just a place where it wasn't going to cause any damage. He took this experience as an answer to his prayer and it built his testimoney quite a bit. Yeah...Charlie is awesome and I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father guiding him to the church. I loved talking with you all on Sunday as well. Transfer information came out last night. Elder Haines is being transferred in the same stake so I'll still get to see him a little bit and I also found out my most likely 99% sure next comp. His name is Elder Ehlert, he's another Zone Leader up in Toledo Ohio and his getting transferred in the same stake and Findlay is the only other Zone Leader area in this stake. So unless he gets released. I find out later today. Well I love you all.
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
Monday, May 2, 2011
Taka Taka Time!
Had a pretty good week. There was quite a bit of potential for a Findlay flood this week. Findlay has a river that runs through it and I've heard of the town flooding more than once so its not to much of a surprise. It actually gives the church a very good name in the town. So we spent quite a bit of time helping a member prepare for it and then we helped him fix it back up when it was not going to flood anymore. We were able to teach Charlie twice this week. The first lesson with him was just awesome and the spirit was very present, plus the lesson just seemed to be perfectly adapted to him and all the concerns he was bringing up. The next lesson he had asked a question about church organization and priesthood organization so we spent quite a bit of time going over answers to those questions. Elder Haines and I decided the spirit needed to be more present in the lesson so we're gonna try to answer his question but also bring the spirit more. Another cool thing that happened is a we got a lesson in and a baptismal date with Tom Anknee. A couple weeks ago we got a call from a member in North Carolina about his brother that lives in our area and his family. His newborn twins were having breathing troubles so they requested a blessing for them. Elder Haines and I (with the help of a pre-missionary named Curtis Wilkerson) went and gave the blessing, when we left Elder Haines asked if we could call them in about a week and see how they are doing. So we did and we were able to get another appointment, plus the newborn's haven't had any trouble since(it's a different experience giving a baby a blessing). This time we went over there with (Father and RM) Bro. Kregar. The lesson went rather well Bro. Anknee accepted a baptismal date for June 11th and his daughter Lannie(11) sat in the lesson. At the end of the lesson his wife came home and we were able to talk to her too. All around it went pretty well and we'll be seeing them later on in the week. Also to give props to Elder Haines he wailed on Elder Scovill and I playing Risk a week ago. This week I was also able to go on an exchange with Elder Quarnberg in my zone. He's pretty great the weird thing was that I had gone on an exchange with him and Elder Perkins almost exactly a year ago in Fairlawn.
Well I love you all! Happy Mothers Day coming up here soon.
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
Well I love you all! Happy Mothers Day coming up here soon.
(*)<~Elder Sumsion
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