Service Fun, Dropped on my Face, Salvation for my Toe: April 15, 2013

Hey my eternal family,

Had a half and half week of sad and good. We have been doing good trying to find new investigators. We call it the "potential/tract:" we go to find potentials in the areabook and see if they are interested in being taught. If they are, we go back and if not we update a very old record. It’s been time consuming which is good because we have a lot of free time on our hands. It’s been fun, actually. We found two new investigators through this method, by tracting these areas that I didn’t know existed. They are nice people, but I don’t know how far they will go with the information we teach them and with the gospel. We have been meeting with a lot of people who missionaries have talked to a while back. One of them is Lucy. She used to live in Lawrenceville but now lives in an apartment complex tucked in some trees in South Hill. We were on our way to visit a less active member but she came out of her apartment when we went by because she recognized our attire.  She asked us to come into her house to pray with her. Lucy and her son Jed have been through a lot of. She knew about us and believed that through our prayers we could help her. She talked our ear off some but we were able to give her another Book of Mormon and pamphlets to read on eternal families since the murder of her husband really hurt her.

I finally got my toe fixed for good and now it doesn’t hurt anymore. The doctor told me that it was getting bad and if I hadn’t gotten anything done on it I would have lost the foot. But now it’s all better.

Well, sadness struck when we were talking with S. Pearce; Tiffany, our baptismal date, texted us and told us she was no longer interested in seeing us but might still come to church. This hit me hard because we’ve helped her quit smoking and were around when she and her boyfriend made the decision to get married.  Actually, we think the boyfriend might be the problem. It’s also hard because she felt the Spirit and we know she felt the Spirit so she is now held accountable for getting a witness but not following through. I didn’t want this to happen but I hope she will come to her senses.

Last Saturday we got to do a whole day of service for Nick Russo and the Raplees. For Nick we helped cut boards and board up a stall near the pasture so it will be easier for the mom and baby horses to get out.  It will also protect the baby from predators. We had fun and most of the time there Nick was looking for a box of nails but after leaning on a pole, I found them on a step stool, so it was funny. We got the job done and he appreciated it. We cut and chopped wood for the Raplees and help rake leaves. This guy named Buck there is 69 years old and he splits them pretty easily. He’s really funny at it too. We also helped move a lot of pork for some members and we got a giant bag full of meat when we were done.

Sunday was good from seeing a few less active families at church.  We helped Marcus, a recent convert, pass out flyers advertising a church breakfast.

That’s about it for this week!  Love you all!

Elder McClure

General Conference, Surprise Marriage, and a Baby Horse: April 8, 2013

Hey Ya’ll!

This week was nothing to brag about. We did see some crazy stuff lately. On Monday we played games like Monopoly Deal with B. Rogers, one of the members.  That night I set up some Saran wrap in the bathroom to prank Elder Low and Chapman the next morning. The next day it worked out. We had a lesson with Tiffany where she gave her boyfriend an ultimatum to marry her the second time and we were just trying to get it in her mind that she wants someone that can take her to the temple - that is most important for marriage.  It’s not just so she can have a legal relationship. We had a Nerf war at the end of the day and I got a lot of people out with my pistol. It rocks from it being modified. We also got this new lady we are teaching, Latesha Verrar, who was grateful and knew there was a purpose for us talking to her.

 

Thursday was just trying to see people. We saw Jerritt King before he left on a 9-month tour in Afghanistan.  I gave him my military version Principles of the Gospel booklet for him to have. He loved it because he lost his a time or two ago. We said our last "MY MOM" jokes before he left.

 

On Thursday we also had district meeting, during which I gave a training on relationships with your companion. Elder Atkinson, the district leader, just had us watch a 5 minute video of the district 2 for his training.  Later, we did an exchange with Elder Bird and we were just trying to find things to do. When we came back to the apartment early, we saw the guy a level below us in the apartment complex halfway out the screen door smoking with no pants on so we got a very graphic image to blind us and then it made us all die laughing. He walked back inside when he saw us coming.  One of my old companion’s (I won’t name him) shirts don’t fit him anymore because of him drinking so much soda and gaining weight.

 

On Friday we exchanged back and Elder Chapman didn’t like it. We talked to Tiffany again and she now is marrying her boyfriend after the ultimatum. She put this temple picture I gave her in her bathroom so we’ll see where that goes.

 

Saturday was conference, and we spent the second session alone. I made a gallon of Tang to drink during the conferences to stay focused and awake. Really loved what they had to say to us. I am unable to write even a 100th of what they said, it was so great but I can say “Catch the Wave.” We were able to eat chili for lunch with one member and pizza for dinner with another. We had a fun time with the branch during priesthood since the branch is very funny about pointing things out.

 

Sunday was cool to since we saw a baby horse at Nick Russo's farm and we talked to a potential named Jo-Jo who was so buzzed that she tried to smoke an unlit cigarette.  She said she will test us by having us make a lesson according to her. Later on for dinner, I ate the pizza of my picky childhood (Freschetta). Still good.

 

Well, love you all!

Elder McClure

 

 

Zone Meeting, Virginia Beach, Easter: April 1, 2013

Hey People in the Idaho Area and Beyond,

This week was a pretty hard one as far as teaching lessons because everyone cancelled our appointments.  Here are the fun parts of the week: 

On Monday we had dinner with a less active lady named S. Hardy. Got into a Nerf war with her sons and it was brutal. We played this game with her little girl, Ari, where she holds onto this metal pole we hold between us and we lift her up and randomly she lets go and hits the ground.

On Tuesday we tried to see people but it just wasn’t happening. We did get to go to Applebee’s using a $25 gift card a member gave us. It was great to get fancy food for a change. We caught Tiffany in Arby’s and she told us on the 1st of April she is going to court for getting caught 3 times with an expired driver’s license, so there is a possibility that she could go to jail for 10 days to a year. I’m hoping she doesn’t have to go to jail at all, but we’ll see what goes on. Very disappointing for her and it may impact her baptismal date quite a bit, which makes us sad. 

On Wednesday it was same thing except we got to deliver a Gospel Principles book to S. Raplee's son Michael. He’s not a member but is showing some interest in becoming one. We played a game where we hit a soccor ball with golf clubs really hard. Elder Chapman and Jerritt had a fun time talking about an anime show called Naruto. They went off on it and it was hard to listen to their conversation and stay on track. Later that day we spoke with a lady named Dotsy.  She was puzzled why the Book of Mormon didn’t start out like Genesis in the Bible.  She thought the Book of Mormon was another version of the Bible, so we had to set her straight on it being a different book. We had the same problem the next day with this guy who owns a thrift shop. I guess that’s a common misunderstanding – that the Book of Mormon is a retelling of the Bible, but the same information. 

On Thursday, Elder Chapman and Low got haircuts. That night B. Rogers took us out for pizza and we got fried chicken pizza and it was delicious.  Sounds weird, but really good! 

On Friday morning, B. Rogers took us to Waffle House for breakfast.  I got chocolate waffles.  Afterward, we went to our zone meeting. Zone meeting focused on dis-establishing causalness in missionary work. The only thing I will not do is wear a suit constantly (other than church or a meeting).  I can’t do it! After the zone meeting, we got Taco Bell with B. Rogers. We had a lesson with an investigator who is upset about how lust has become a controlling factor in her life. But we are going to always help her get through the struggles she has. 

On Saturday we took a long trip to Virginia Beach for Elder Chapman to go to a baptism. It was so nice to be near the ocean again. B. Rogers bought us lunch, which made 5 meals that he bought for us.  What a great guy! The baptism was nice.  We found out that every companionship in the Virginia Beach area has a baptism scheduled. That was crazy, but awesome! I got to see a battleship and later spent the day with the Kings.

Sunday was good since it was Easter. We watched The Lamb of God during the last hour of church.  What a wonderful video!  After church, we had a lesson with Juanita and George. Juanita was just stating hard core that she didn’t understand all too much but will still listen. Then we had dinner with the Evans which was filling.  They asked us how to increase faith in Christ. We talked about remembering the service that Christ performed during his mortal life as a way to increase faith in him.

Although we had many cancellations this week, it was a productive few days and we had some enjoyable conversations and experiences. 

I love you all,

Elder McClure

Setback in Baptism, Crazy People, RM JT: March 26, 2013

Hello Friends and Family,

We had a pretty interesting week this week. Elder Chapman is talking more and found out he loves the show Naruto. It’s really funny talking to him about it because of all the Japanese words and stuff in it. We had a fun time last Monday but it was super cold and rainy despite the earlier warm days.

On Tuesday we had a baptismal interview set up for Tiffany and I hoped that Elder Atkinson would schedule district meeting on the same day to save miles. He didn’t.  We ended up being in Petersburg for the interview, but didn’t have much else to do.  A return missionary in the area, J. T., and his mom drove us to Petersburg and we went to Walmart so J.T. could get a phone.  It was funny to watch J.T. walk around Walmart since it was the first time in 2 years that he’s been in a store like that. We had lunch with JT and he showed us his mission pictures, which was cool.  We then had Tiffany’s baptismal interview and her baptism was approved by Elder Atkinson. We spent the rest of the day just seeing people. Marcus introduced us to a referral named James Taylor. It was sweet. 

Wednesday: everything we had planned fell through so we just tried to stay busy. We did play a bit of basketball with Marcus at the church, thinking James Taylor would show up there, but no. We talked with two of three teenage black girl potentials:  Teona and Kayona. Teona was asking us questions about our living arrangements and gave us a very weird look when we told her we were all unmarried and living in the same apartment. J

On Thursday we had our district meeting. Elder Atkinson was scared stiff. I gave a training on member missionary work that was okay, but I always get jumbled around when I talk because no one else will talk during the training!!!! Afterward, we went on splits.  I went with Bro. Lewis and Elder Low and Elder Chapman talked to B. Astrop. B. Lewis is such a funny guy that we went to the Pearce’s and just joked around with them. One of the daughters, Daisy, wants to go to the temple which made B. Lewis really happy. B. Lewis owed one of the daughters lunch so he bought Sonic for her.  We also got a 25 dollar gift card to Applebees for dinner.  Yeah!

Friday was the best and worst day of the week.We got to teach this lady named Jeanie who wants to be baptized, which is wonderful!  We talked to her outside in the cold. Our discussion ended when one of her dogs carrying a chicken away still alive. That was weird. We also got to teach Tiffany with our branch president. She pushed her baptism date back a month which would be on April 20^th, my B-day. Pres. Tetto kept bringing up Tiffany getting married to her boyfriend but I don’t think she'll take that option. After this interview, we met with Doris and found out her daughter read the Book of Mormon all the way up to Mosiah! Really sweet!

The rest of the week involved a service project with too many people and only a few of them doing any work. We also saw Junior and found out he will be gone for a couple of weeks. We had a delicious dinner at the Kings and a Nerf sword fight after.  I dominated. Palm Sunday was good. We got to teach gospel principles. A less active member named Sister Raplee brought her nonmember son, Michael. The next day Michael was really interested in getting a Gospel Principles book. We gave a blessing to Nick Russo and when I was about to anoint his head, I felt an overpowering love for the guy.  He was amazed that we had the kind of authority to provide a blessing for him. On Monday, the library closed for a little bit in the morning so we did laundry and helped Marcus out of a ditch (he got stuck in a ditch).  We also played Republic of Rome with B. Rogers. Really fun game!

Well, I love you all and have fun in the real world.

Elder McClure

New Companion, Crazy Amount of Potentials, A Trio, and Shenanigans: March 18, 2013

Hey People,

We had a fun week this week. Monday was boring because Elder Zollinger isn’t around. We taught 3 lessons on Tuesday with 3 of the best investigators here. We got to teach Junior the gospel (I had taught him some time ago, when I was first out) and he said he will commit to a baptism date sometime in April, which is awesome! He remembers so much and I actually remember being one of the first missionaries talking to him. We had a lesson with Tiffany, which helped us get most of the lessons out of the way with 10 commitments. She actually chose me to baptize her!  It was sweet. Then when we were teaching Doris we also talked with Raquan and Doris’ daughter, Tyesha.  Tyesha has held onto the pain of losing her brother 15 years ago. I gave her a blessing and I felt the spirit so strong working through me as if I had personally talked to her from the Father. We got fed by a member and later, another member took us out to McDonalds.

Wednesday, we tracted with a member named Jerritt.  We found a bunch of people to talk to next Wednesday about the Book of Mormon.  We had this joke that day where we would say, "You know who else does ____? My mom!" We also talked to a former member and her boyfriend and he asked us what we believe in, so I gave him a 13 Articles of Faith card and explained to him what they meant.

 

Well during the rest of the week we got dropped by a part-member investigator family.  Boo! Bro. Lewis and I picked up my new companion, Elder Chapman, and Bro. Lewis broke him in by playing the Monte Python and the Holy Grail soundtrack.

We had an Easter activity on Friday where we did funny activities. I did pin the tail on the rabbit blindfolded and when the blindfold came on, all the kids started hitting me and Elder Chapman laughed. We also burst balloons and one zapped me hardcore when I sat on it. We had a fun game of Nerf swords with the Kings in their backyard. I was on Nate's team and he hit me right across the face at the end. Really lame. Elder Chapman and Elder Low are really quiet since they have been here, but Elder Chapman has a funny personality once you get it out of him. I guess I just bring people out of themselves when I am their companion. Elder Chapman has been out for 3 months and is from Lehi, Utah.

 For the rest of the week, I gave a bunch of pass along cards to kids with Jesus Christ on them and they love those cards. We did service for Nick Russo by pulling down boards and putting up new, non-rotting ones in their place. We found more people that were interested in listening. Elder Chapman got to throw a football with a small child. On Sunday, we got chastised for having Tiffany commit to baptism because the branch president thought she wasn’t ready and that we were going to baptize her into damnation. Crazy, but amends were made when there was an after church lunch where chili was served.

Cool thing:  a missionary named J.T. returned home from Uruguay.  He loved his mission, but lost a lot of pounds. He is super skinny.

 

Enjoy the email.  I love you all!

Elder McClure

 

 

Service, Zone Meeting, Temple Sealing: Received March 11, 2013

Hello People,

I only have a short amount of time, so I’m going to sum up the week quickly. My trainer companion (E. Carter) came back to Virginia for a really cool event. Sister Seeley, my first baptism in Wakefield, got sealed in the temple to her husband and her parents. Elder Carter came back to work as the proxy for the husband and the spirit was very strong there (according to the Hoskins, who attended the sealing). The temple ordinance worker said it was the most spiritual sealing he’s done and that he felt impressed that S. Seeley's mother was in the room when it happened. It was such a cool experience to hear about for S. Seeley. I was super happy.

 

Well the rest of the week was just lessons here and there. We were able to take a few youth to do splits with us and with one we were able to visit an investigator who wants to be baptized. We share him with another set of elders because he goes up to Charlottesville regularly for work. The other elders are pressuring him to get baptized soon, but we just want him to get baptized when he feels it is right.

 

We did a lot of service on Saturday, which was a clear, sunny day. I even got burnt in the sun which is weird for March. We are helping out more with this particular family because they are a part member family and we are working with getting the family more active. We tore up a fallen tree which was very fun and I had a lot of fun breaking rotten branches and burning them. We also are trying to help out an investigator with service since he doesn’t have a lot of time to do chores. His name is Nick Russo and he’s really contemplating becoming a member of our church since it follows the teachings in the Bible. He'll come around.

 

We had zone meeting which was mainly a bishop of one of my old areas who spoke to use and compared us to brass:  staying bright for other people and helping them.

The transfer situation is that Louisville is getting a third missionary, Elder Chatman. We’re also getting a new District Leader and I’m worried because he doesn’t like to encourage tracting and that’s how we’re getting a lot of our work done in this area right now.  And it’s really the only way we can get work done, since there aren’t many members in the area.

 

Love you all,

Elder McClure

 

 

Member Presents, Fruitless but Funny Tracting, Men's Breakfast

Hi Everyone,

This crappy computer is out to get me. I hate it! Well, with the remainder of time that I have, I’ll tell you about my week, which was pretty good. We had another boring p-day but got to write a lot of letters out to people. The rest of the week was summed up in tracting and member presentation lessons. We had a few random areas in a couple of cities to tract.  The first was Broadnax on the way to South Hill. We tracted so much in this one part and everyone said no. We were actually circled by two dogs, but by walking backwards and threatening them with my keys they kept at bay. We also got to talk to these two older ladies. Elder Low calls everyone brother and sister so they were both Sister Crenshaw. We asked if they had read the Restoration pamphlet and we tried to teach them about it but they just said, “Oh, it’s a nice book. I like it.”  We also went out to La Cross and came across a black Jehovah’s Witness in a wheelchair.

We just have been tracting and trying to find new people. On Feburary 28, we had 100 extra miles so we went to Valentines, Virginia to check it out. There was just a post office, but there were some people taking pictures there because of its name. We went down to Lake Gaston and tracted but everyone was gone there, too. We had a fun time with a member presentation where we brought B. Jones with us to teach Tiffany about scripture study. Her little boy was taking things out of my backpack and giving them to me and when I would put them back in, he would take them out.  Pretty cute!

We brought Marcus to Dorris' and she went off on him about bad influences – for her, she thinks this just indicates weakness. She talks a lot about her life and everything she has gone through – it’s interesting. She also had her fridge break down and then got another one. I was able to give a blessing to a member’s daughter, Daisy, who had some problems with her ear and has mono. After the blessing, S. Pearce, the mom, said she could feel the spirit, which made me feel good. We also got to talk with a less active family, the Raplees, about how they are doing and how we can help them out. The mom came to church the next day and it was pretty sweet.

We had a men’s breakfast, at which there was a lot of food. Not a big turn-out but people came to it. One of the members brought a lot of bacon in order to test his theory that there is such a thing as leftover bacon, but we established it doesn’t exist.  J  

Church was really cool because all these people came:  a few of the less actives and Tiffany (right on, Tiffany!) and she even bore her testimony. It was really cool to see a lot of members at church again. After church, we got to have a cool discussion with a guy named Nick Russo who said if he received a witness he would join the church.  Of course, we hope that he does and that he will.  He’s a great guy.

Anyway, that’s my week!  I love you all!  Thanks for your letters and prayers.

Elder McClure