Week 78: In which we find Laura, teach David, and I anticipate Thanksgiving in a new area!

Umm...
(written Nov 20, 2017)


I don't know what it is here, but I don't seem to have enough time ever. I'm already out of it, but I hope you can forgive me. I don't have time for a main email this week. Partially, that's because of some technical difficulties sending so many pictures. It won't happen again, sorry. My deepest apologies.

Love you all,

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom

How's your week been? I can't wait to hear about some of your experiences! - It's been super fantastic! At the same time, though, I've had some profound disappointments. Well, mixed feelings, anyway. Read on!

Any plans for Thanksgiving? - Yes, but I don't know what they are. I will probably find out soon, though. Continue reading to find out why I don't know.

What, if any, changes are in the wind? I'm, of course, looking forward to hearing what is in store for you this transfer. - I'm really quite sad to report that Elder Rigby will no longer be my companion. Neither will Toppenish continue to be my area. I'm being transferred to Moses Lake 9th North. (Moses Lake 9th is the Spanish Branch). I've been assigned to be the new District Leader there. The District has 2 companionships of Elders and 1 Sister companionship. The District consists of all of the Spanish missionaries in Moses Lake. I will be companions with Elder Shoemaker. I hear he likes to eat a lot. I guess we'll get along just fine.

I will arrive on Wednesday. That means that my first full day there will be Thanksgiving. Grrr. That's super unfortunate. Oh, well, it's not the end of the world. :-) That's why I don't have any idea what the plans are, since I'll be going to Moses Lake, the good 'ole "prophet's puddle", for this year's holiday season.

What is the best thing that happened to you this week? - Finding Laura, probably. Also, David is doing really well. David is an investigator of ours who suffers from memories of his past. He served as a Marine in the Gulf War, and it really scarred him. Pretty sure he has some serious PTSD. He's married to Priscilla, a nice lady. She was feeling ill, but David came to church with two of his boys, Albert and Bubba! They did great. Laura is a new investigator who wants to be baptized, feel forgiveness, and give up drinking for good to be a better mom for her 6-year old daughter, Anayi. Laura's mom, Maria, and her brother, Alfredo, also have a lot of potential. We had a great lesson with Joshua Brownowl (AKA Marvalous) as well, and he wants to be baptized! He's doing pretty well, too, but doesn't have a very supportive family.

How about the most challenging thing that happened to you this week? - Being told I was going to be transferred. Elder Rigby is staying to train a new missionary. The only thing that took the sting out of leaving was being assigned to be District Leader. That will add some welcome extra spice to missionary life. I'm still really, really, sad to go, though. Toppenish has been one of my very favorite places to be. It's been a wild, wild, ride.

What is the name of the hymn you played at zone conference? It starts out like "Pioneer Children..." but then goes somewhere else. (I liked it, by the way, and you've gotten lots of thumbs up on Facebook from people we don't know--parents of other missionaries, I presume). - It's the BYU Vocal Point arrangement of "Savior, Redeemer". Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

What are you most thankful for in your life right now? - I'm very, very, grateful for Elder Rigby. He's been a great companion. I've seen him grow a lot, and I feel like I've grown as well in our time together. I'm also super grateful for President Lewis and the rest of the mission leadership. They're all so very supportive and helpful.

Most of all, I've learned to be grateful for Jesus Christ and what he did for us. I'm so glad that thanks to Him, our lives can be filled with light. I'm incredibly grateful that I can start fresh all the time, that tomorrow can be a new day, and that I can have a family as wonderful as all of you. I love you, and wish you the best.

Elder Adams

Pictures

Sister Macintosh and I. She's from the Philippines, speaks Tagalog, and makes amazing egg rolls that remind me of Cambodian egg rolls home. We had dinner with her a few times, and the other Elders were teaching her to help remind her of what she learned when she joined the church and rekindle her testimony.

Bro. and Sis. Barney and I. They're really nice. He's a Ward Missionary here. He is a farmer, and has a little bit of a stubborn streak, but is a good man. He's stubborn enough, though, that when he fell of a ladder onto cement, he didn't want to lay down and rest, but got up and started acting normal again. It's taking him a long time to get over that, as a result. In some respects, it reminds me of when Mom, after getting knee surgery, was standing on chairs washing windows and doing all manner of things.

Bro. Compton and I. He's nice, and a member of the bishopric here. Sister Barney is in the background.

Bro. Shannon Thorp. His brother is a less-active member of the church. Their dad used to be bishop. While I was here, he moved back to Toppenish because his house burned down. He's absolutely fantastic with us in lessons. He also has an enviable beard.

Adrian Maravilla and I. He's the Elder's Quorum President of the Branch. He's a nice guy, and at college.

President Kendall! He's amazing. He's the Branch President of the 2nd Branch here in Toppenish. He's a really fun man, with a great personality. He likes to talk a lot, and our meetings often get off track a bit (i.e. a lot). He's also very accident-prone and has some back issues, so often has to miss church. Still, he tries his best

This is Hermano Maravilla and I. He's the 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency and in charge of Sunday School. He's an amazing man, and very humble.

Los Ibarra! They're super solid members of the Branch. We are teaching their daughter, Jamie (3rd from the right) because for legal reasons she can't get baptized until she's 18, but her birthday is on December 10th! She's really excited, and has waited a long time.

Our legendary Lower Valley District. Elder Rigby and I are in front.

Back, left to right: Elder Sanchez (our District Leader), Elder Wright, Hermana Brenchley (she scares me a little), Elder Gallacher, Hermana Hernandez, Elder Alonzo (being trained by Elder Sanchez in Sunnyside).

Elder Sanchez, Elder Rigby, Me, and Elder Alonzo after exchanges Saturday morning.

Elder Rigby posing in front of one of the many murals in Toppenish, this particular one being on a church. Elder Rigby makes a good companion, doesn't he?

Joshua Brownoul showed us a really cool trick with a piece of paper that separates like so. He folded up the piece of paper, called it a "ticket to Heaven", and told a story about a good guy and a bad guy. The good guy had the ticket, and the bad guy kept asking for pieces. He would rip off a bit of the ticket each time. At the end, the bad guy ended up with all the pieces which spelled you-know-what, and the good guy ended up with the cross. It was pretty cool, and very Joshua Brownowl.

 

 

Me with a rake.

 

Week 77: In which we anticipate #LIGHTtheWORLD, welcome Marvalous to church, and Elder Rigby likes my puns

Another (VERY) Cool (COLD) week
(written Nov 13, 2017)

Cello solo at Zone Conference

Hello Family!

It's been a great week. We found several new people with whom we can work, and it's been great.  Here's an excerpt from my letter to Pres. Lewis: 

We found some incredible young new investigators, Dante and Yamelet. The lesson we had with them was probably the single most amazing first lesson I've ever had on my mission. That's saying a lot, too. The are now on-date for baptism, but we're quite nervous because we haven't been able to really contact them since that first lesson. Pretty much the only contact we have had from their end was to say they would have to reschedule our return appointment because he was working a lot. While a bit frustrating, we still hope we can get back in contact and figure something out. They were in tears at the end of the first lesson. They had been to a Christian church before, and felt the Spirit there. They've been looking for that feeling again ever since. When we came, the Spirit was super strong.

They're super promising, but we've got to contact them again. We haven't been able to teach Cris and Cassie this week, sadly, but we did find Germaine again! She's been really busy lately with some hard things happening in her family.

It's been good. It's been also super busy. Sorry for not leaving enough time to say a lot more.

Some thoughts:

Well, #LIGHTtheWORLD is going to be awesome again this year! Also, we're working on being even more consecrated to the Lord, and letting go of anything that might hold us back from "taking the plunge". One of the biggest take-aways, though, was that we should try even harder to get to know the Savior. President Lewis extended the challenge to us to read the Gospels of Matthew and Luke before Christmas in the effort to get to know Christ even better. By reading about what He did and taught, we can know even better who He was. Also, we should pray with greater fervency. If we want to get to know someone, we talk to them, right? Therefore, by talking with our Father in Heaven, we can get to know Him and His Son better as well. 

Marvalous came to church! Heck yeah. Our good friend (Elder Rigby says that all the time, by the way) Joshua Brownowl (known on YouTube as "Marvalous") came to church! He was bummed out he had to leave a little early and couldn't be in the choir, but wants to come back and stay for choir. He's a good guy.

Love you all!

Elder Adams

P.S. Shoutout to Sister Susie Roberts for her letter, as well as to the girls from Activity Days! I really appreciated your letters, and am glad you're thinking of us out here in Toppenish. Thanks!

Questions from Editor Mom

So, do you have plans for Thanksgiving, assuming you stay in Toppenish? - I don't honestly know. I guess that means we don't yet. We'll probably eat with 1 or more members that day. We have a ban on tracting that day, so we're just focusing on doing service, visiting choice investigators and members, and other related activities.

How's the weather been? Are you staying warm? - The weather has been nice and chilly! I love it! I'm starting to wear my winter coat every day, and I'm very, very, grateful for the boots you sent. I'm wearing them every day now.

Do you still do a lot of walking, even though you have a car? - We don't walk a ton, honestly. We have a lot of lessons, so we are usually rushing around from place to place. It depends on where the lessons are. I would say we walk an average of 1.5 hours a day.

Do you have a favorite Book of Mormon story? What is it? - I really like a lot of Book of Mormon stories. Some of them are also particularly useful to us missionaries in teaching situations. One of my favorites is when Nephi and Lehi (the brothers in the Book of Helaman) were teaching, they got put in prison. Then, the Lamanites came to put them to death, but some crazy stuff happened, and there were angels, and fire, and darkness, and confusion, and fear (on the part of the Lamanites), until finally an ex-member helped the other Lamanites out by telling them they had to turn to Christ for help. Then, angels came and ministered to them. Needless to say, they did not put Nephi or Lehi to death. On the contrary, the Lamanites became converted, were baptized, and thanks to their testimonies, nearly the entire Lamanite people ended up joining the church and GIVING UP LARGE CHUNKS OF LAND to the Nephites. What the heck?!? Why doesn't that work now? Man, I wish we were thrown in prison sometimes if it would result in that kind of conversion! Still, if we can avoid the whole prison-thing and still bring people to a knowledge of Christ, all the better.

What inspired you this week? - Something that definitely inspired me was Zone Conference. I feel even more motivated to follow the Savior's example and get to know Him better.

How is Elder Rigby surviving your puns? - 

ME: "Elder Rigby, how are you surviving my puns?"

ELDER RIGBY: "I think they're funny."

See? See? Did you hear that, Mom? He thinks they're funny.

Do you know how much I love you? :-) - Probably not, but I think I have a pretty good idea. :-)

√-1 ♥ U 2,000₤

Elder Adams

Pictures from Zone Conference

Spot Ben:

 

Week 76: In which we "Fall back", prepare for snow, and bless a house

Another Good Week
(written 6 Nov 2017)

Hello!

Today, I mainly want to talk about Chris and Cassie, two amazing new investigators. They are now preparing to be baptized on December 16th, but they're not sure they can make it. Still, they're willing to try.

Here is an excerpt from my letter to President Lewis, with unnecessary parts edited out:

We found Cris when we walked by him outside his apartment. We went up to him and felt like saying, in essence, "We know you are going through a trial in your life right now, and we want to let you know that God wants to help." We then went on to have a brief discussion about the Plan of Salvation. During the course of the conversation, he told us that his best friend had just barely died. We then shared with him a scripture from Alma about the Spirit World and set up a return appointment.

We called him back to confirm, and learned that his girlfriend, Cassie, was also super interested in learning more. Apparently, our very first contact with him really impacted him. He was shocked, and thought that it was very strange how we first met him and began answering all of the questions he had before he had even told us what was going on in his life. He thought it was very strange, and took it as a sign that he is supposed to take us seriously and get closer to God. Cassie also thought it was strange, and was very interested in meeting us. We ended up rescheduling the appointment so we could talk with them both.

We then went back for our appointment, and had a lesson on parts of the Plan of Salvation as well as the Joseph Smith story, mainly focusing on how he was searching for answers to the same kinds of questions. At the end of the lesson, we gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited them to read a few specific chapters. They agreed. After the lesson, they asked if we had felt anything weird about their house. We weren't quite sure how to answer, as we hadn't really been paying attention. After pausing and listening for a moment, we answered that the spirit there wasn't exactly the best, but it wasn't really terrible either. Both Elder Rigby and I later agreed that the Spirit, while there, felt (according to both of our descriptions) as "muffled".

They then told us about how their two-year old had been acting really strange, and had apparently been seeing spirits in the past few days. We both felt at that moment a very strong impression that we needed to bless the home. We offered to do so, and they both seemed very relieved that we could. I felt Elder Rigby should perform the blessing. He did so.

We then had another appointment last night, and it was incredible! We brought Brother Thorpe with us. He recently moved back to Toppenish because his house burned down. We had a fantastic lesson, and we talked about the Holy Ghost and the Plan of Salvation. They love it, and want to come closer to God.

Vanessa and her family have been out of town for a little bit, but we look forward to teaching them again soon. Sadly, Germaine is ignoring us for some reason. We think she's going through a very hard time with some court cases with one of her friends. Even her husband isn't entirely sure what's going on with her. We're going to give her some time to get through it, since she definitely doesn't want to talk with us right now. Jose Larious is leaving to Mexico for 3 weeks. Jose Campos is picking apples from 5 AM to 10 PM until mid-November. However, even with all of that, some things are definitely picking up here.

It's going to be a great week.

Love, 

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom

Does WA change their clocks this weekend? If so, did you remember to do it? - Yes, they changed, and yes, we did do it.

Are you OK after having been shoved off the porch? Ouch! Do you need to visit a chiropractor? - Yeah, I'm fine. I stayed standing upright, so it wasn't really a problem. It just surprised and angered me and made Elder Rigby afraid. It was interesting.

Sounds like you sometimes work in pretty rough areas. Do you take any precautions to stay safe? Has it been eye-opening, or not so much, since you've seen Soweto and other tough neighborhoods? - It's not anything particularly new to me, considering my experiences seeing rough neighborhoods before. Toppenish is probably comparable to Lowell as far as general toughness level. We don't usually have anything to worry about, but we try to follow the Spirit as best we can with regards to that. Also, if we get a bad feeling about a place or a person, we immediately and quickly work our way back to the car, but in a very roundabout way to make sure no one is following us. We try to vary our routes if we feel it is necessary. Usually, that's pretty hard to do, because there are only a few main roads that get you pretty much anywhere. Still, we try to stay in the light and on more public roads while varying our routes, especially if we feel we are in a bad neighborhood. For me, thanks to you, it's practically instinct.

Has Perla been able to move? - We're not sure. She told us she was living with her sister in Sunnyside, but then, a few days later, when we asked where she was, she told us she was homeless in the streets of Toppenish. She has a car, so it's not like she has no shelter at all, but still. We haven't seen her here, though. We told her to talk to us at church, but she didn't come. We don't know where she is now.

How's the weather? Has it snowed yet? - It's getting really cold. It technically snowed for the first time yesterday, but by the time it hit the ground it melted. We've been told it's going to be unusually wet this week, and temperatures are dropping fast. 

Pictures

Week 75: In which we strive for perfection, we start teaching a rapper, and I am pushed off the porch

Editor's note:  Want to send Ben a card or letter, or even a care package?  His address is:

Elder Benjamin Adams 
1006 S. 16th Avenue
Yakima, WA 98902
United States

 Another week full of crazy...
(written 30 Oct 2017)

Dear Family,

As crazy as it is, I think I'm starting to get used to the insane amount of miracles we are seeing almost daily in Toppenish. Of course, we have our fair share of bad experiences, too, but they are dwarfed in comparison to the mountain of blessings being poured out on us. Yesterday, I even started to get incredibly overwhelmed by the sheer number of appointments and people we have to visit. There's just not time for all of them!

We also had an amazing trip to the Temple Thursday. It was inspiring. We've also started a district "40-day purification". Basically, for 40 days, we're being incredibly strict on ourselves, and we're making a giant list of things to do to be the most obedient, consecrated, missionaries we can be. We're basically trying even EXTRA hard to be perfect. It's going very well! We're still not quite perfect yet, but we've already made a lot of improvement. We even started it out with a fast... while we were at the Temple. It was epic-ly, wicked awesome.

Here are some updates, person-by-person:

Narida - She didn't really want to set specific times for us to go by because she is so busy. As amazing as she is, with as much potential as she has, we just don't have the time to continue working with her.

Yahaida - Sister Ibarra went by today and invited Yahaida's family to a Family Home Evening at the Ibarra home tonight! We're super excited!

Jose Larious/Family - They're doing really well. They couldn't come to church this week, because he had promised to do his friend a favor. Still, he's slowly reading through the Book of Mormon! We're excited to keep working with them.

Perla - She's moving today. It's okay, it's definitely going to help her out. She came to Sacrament Meeting yesterday with some of her kids.

Germaine - We've lost contact for the last week. We're trying to find her. She's still awesome, but it's getting really hard.

Jobana - She's doing well. She accepted the invitation to let us help her find a new job where she doesn't have to work on Sundays.

Jesus Estrada/Family (mainly daughter Vanessa) - They are so amazing! Vanessa and her family came to church yesterday, and they loved it! Vanessa is in 1 Nephi 3, and we're really excited to keep helping them. Jesus, Vanessa's dad, is recovering from some addictions, and they're all super willing to change and follow Jesus Christ even more.

Melody/Jose Campos - He's working a TON. He's gone from 3 AM to 10 PM. Melody keeps missing appointments, so we're not going to go back until Jose is done working such crazy shifts (mid-late November). He's picking apples, by the way.

Eleah - We found Eleah, and she was initially not very open to us talking with her. However, she then opened up and told us she needs peace in her heart because she recently lost her mother figure.

Jesus - He's a referral from Quincy. He is dating a lady who is looking into the Gospel up there. We had a great lesson with him, but when we went back, his mean brother angrily shoved me off the porch after we told him we had an appointment with Jesus. I've never wanted to hit someone as badly as I did then, but you'd be proud of me: I didn't! I read the scriptures and calmed down!

Chris - Chris is amazing. He lost his friend super recently, and was incredulous when we showed up and shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon that helped answer a question he had. He later told his wife, and now they are both super excited to talk to them tomorrow.

We also have many more people with whom we are working, but it's crazy.

I've got to go. Love you all!

Elder Adams

 

Questions from Editor Mom

Hi Elder Benny Boy (just have to remind you that you will always be our Ben. :-) - Hi Mom! You'll always be my mom :-)

What are you doing for Halloween? Do you have to be in earlier than usual, for example? - We can't tract after 5 pm (but we have a member dinner then, anyway) and we have to be in the house by 6 pm. We'll be studying and staying busy until 9.

What made you laugh this week? - Hmm, good question. We met a great guy named Joshua Brownowl. As it turns out, he is a musician with a particular kind of music which he calls "poetry". He played/sang some for us, and it was really... soothing. It's really unique. It's not exactly rap, but it's a strange mix of rap and singing. His "musician name" is Marvalous (no, that's not a typo). Feel free to look him up on YouTube. He played/sang along to us his song called "Beautiful City". It's so appropriate it's even missionary appropriate. I'm not sure sometimes if he's trying to hit micro-tones, but they worked out either way (he may or may not have been intentionally right in between notes at some points). You should definitely look it up so you can have a little bit of the experience we did. He was constantly He's now a potential investigator. We'll be giving him a church tour this next week.

Are you still crazy busy with investigators that have a lot of potential? - Yes. I hit a point Sunday where I was so overwhelmed I wasn't sure what to do, since we didn't have time in our schedule to go by everyone. We are just having to raise the bar even more for who we can visit. Now, we're pretty much limited to people who come to church, we believe will come to church that next Sunday, have a date for baptism, or we plan to invite to have a specific date.

Has Perla been able to move away from her horrible situation? Please tell her she is in my prayers if you see her again. - She hasn't moved away quite yet, because she doesn't have anywhere to go, but she has to be out of her place today (technically yesterday, but whatever). She's moving out right now.

Any car stories? How do you feel about driving these days? Confident? Have you ever scared your companion? - Nope, no car stories. I feel quite confident driving. Elder Rigby says not so much any more, but last transfer yes (because I hadn't been driving for very long again). More than being scared, he wishes I didn't always get super lost and not know where I was.

What is your favorite suit? - Definitely the blue one. I like the black one because it's really loose, but the blue one is definitely my favorite (and fits well, btw, it's just not as loose as the black one).

What are you looking forward to this transfer? - Baptizing people and finding people who will be baptized next transfer.

BTW, I've known about the bat since Dad posted it on Facebook the next day. (No, I didn't go on Facebook, but Sister Lewis told me she read the story and loved it.) I really appreciate the two packages you've sent so far. It's been great! I also got a great package and card from Grandma and Grandpa Adams.

Love you!

Elder Adams

Pictures

 Me, Perla, Jose (her son), Elder Rigby, and a picture of Jesus.

 

 The Temple!

Elder Rigby and me.

Delicious enchiladas at a member dinner with Hermana Roselia Guzman. Yum.

Your guess is as good as ours...

... and a video