26 March 2012

It was one of those weeks that just flew by but then i look back and im not sure what happened.
on Tuesday we helped this guy named Lenny move. hopefully we'll be able to start teaching him soon.
wednesday morning we woke up really early and went to a seminary morning-side. it was cool. as a zone we sang a couple songs for the kids. we did okay. somehow me and one other kid ended up being the only tenors and the part we were supposed to sing was ridiculously high. which would have been okay except that it was early in the morning and we didnt warm up lol. we pulled it out. everyone there was half sleeping so it was okay. the rest of wednesday we were on splits with the zone leaders. that was pretty cool. we always have a good time on splits.

thursday, we thought we were going to have a 1st lesson with lenny, but when we showed up to mikes house (where we thought the lesson was going to be), lenny wasn't there. so we had a lesson with mike and his fam. it wasnt a very good lesson. mike is a bad student and thinks that he is a better teacher than we are, so when we were trying to teach his kids he kept interrupting us and talking about things that dont matter. but its okay! him and his family came to church for the first time this sunday, that was pretty cool!

and joe came to church again this week! we're going to challenge him again to be baptized.

on saturday we ate Durian fruit (google it) it smells really really bad and tastes only a little better. everyone should try it if they get a chance.

this coming week is transfers, so next monday i'll know where im going to be and who im going to be with, so stay tuned for that.

also this week we are moving from our current home and into someone elses house. i dont want to, but the members really want us to live there, so the mission people tell me i have to. mostly it shouldnt change my life too much. just one more thing we've got to do this week.

im really looking forward to Conference! it should be awesome! it'll be my second conference on my mission, thats kinda crazy!

well thats all ive got for y'all this week. be good :)

love,
elder donovan :)

ps. check out the song "you love me anyway" by Sidewalk Prophets, its awesome

19 March 2012

Highlight of my week: I got to go back to my last area inTule Springs and see Rick get baptized. that was awesome! it was cool to see him finally make that big step in his life and it was cool to see some many of my favorite people from my last area.

Elder Larsen got a really bad toothache this past week and that slowed us down a lot. he wanted to rest a lot cause it hurt so bad. i dont blame him. an old root canal that he had got infected :/ fortunately we know lots of dentists and he was able to get that fixed this morning.

Sylbi didnt get baptized this past week :/ her life is crazy! the people that she was living with basically kicked her out because they dont like Mormons. so she has to move and the only place she could find an affordable place was in another ward. so she is moving this week and then once she gets settled in wants to get baptized there. i hope everything slows down for her soon!

from what i here it is actually warmer in ohio than it is here. kinda weird, but i'm sure it wont be that way for very long. its hot enough right now. im hoping i get assigned to the reno mission. but that probably means i'll stay in vegas.

im ready for transfers. they arent for a couple weeks but im ready for a change. my companion is starting to get on my nerves and im beginning to get bored so its probablly time for a change.

had a really good lesson this week with joe and ailee this past week! we talked about prayer and did our best to get them excited about progressing. they didnt come to church though :/

words of wisdom:
when life is slow,
and you know not where to go,
pray oft,
silent, loud, or soft,
and God will hear,
He'll be more than happy to steer.

-Donovan

i was going to just say this but i flt creative so i wrote a poem :)

i hope you all have a wonderful week :)


love,
elder donovan

12 March 2012

Kinda a slow week this week. well  maybe not slow, but fairly uneventful. one of those weeks when you get to the end and youre like "oh dang, the whole week is gone!"

but here's what happened...

tuesday night we met a really cool family! the parents names are Joe and Ailie (ale-ee) and they have 2 little kids.  they are neighbors of the bishop and have talked to missionaries before, but ran into some concerns and life kept getting hard and they stopped investigating. but this past week we had dinner with them and resolved some of their concerns and they came to church this week! and they want us to come back this week and teach them more! so we're pretty excited about them.

on thursday i went on splits with an elder who has been out for about 6 months. hes kinda a different kid. and he talked a lot about how he didnt want to be here. he told me that e felt like his dad had made him come and that he wasnt ready to be here. he said he wanted to go home, get a job, study his scriptures, and then he would come back out on a mission later. this kid has no motivation, there is no way he would go home and study, he probably wouldnt even get a job. I tried to talk some sense into him/ give him a pep talk, but i dont think it sunk in. we'll see what happens, so far he's still here.

saturday our new investigator, Silbi (who is supposed to get baptized this coming saturday) went to the hospital! Im really tired of all the people I teach going to the hospital!!!!!! She crashed on her bike and hurt her knee/ankle :/ we're praying she recovers quickly!

yesterday, at church, this guy was telling us about this catholic man that he used to know who was married to a woman with chrone's disease. he was telling us about how he used to go to visit them but they would never come to church. and then this ast week he gt a phone call from them and the husband is getting baptized this weekend. well what this guy didnt know is that i know this catholic guy too! he was talking about Rick Wood! so this guy in my current ward is going to give me a ride to rick's baptism on saturday! im pretty excited for that! its going to be cool to see everyone from my last ward again!

funny story of the week: this guy told me about how he found a vampire! we were standing on the side walk in our shirts and ties and this guy walked up and said, "you 2 look like religious men". he was very observant! he continued to tell us this story about how he found this monster (he called it a vampire, but said it was a god)  he said it was about 5 feet tall  and had short brown fur. one of its feet had a hoof and the other one was like a giant ape foot lol. he also said it could make itself invisible! he gave me a copy of his hand written scientific paper that he wrote about it, which also included and hand drawn picture of the vampire. awesome! lol he also told me that he used to be a professor but the college kicked him out for his radical ideas lol. it was a pretty funny conversation.

my quote of the week:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

-Maryanne Williamson

I hope everyone is doing well! its 76 degrees here today. so far i havnt burnt up yet, but i think its gonna come soon. im going to buy sunscreen today lol

much love!
-elder donovan :)

Photos

us eating chicken feet

at the temple (me and elder mendez)

at the temple (me and elder mendez)

street named chambersburg

showing off my guns

giant hamburger w/ pastrami i ate. really good!

me, bro acension, nelson, elder larsen, 2 random little girls from the ward that thought they should be in my picture lol

5 March 2012

so first of all: nelson got baptized. it was great! logistically, not everything went as smoothly as i would have hoped but that doesnt really matter! what matters is that he has made a really important step in his life! its cool to see!

second: we met this wonderful lady named Sylbie. She is Brazilian. she just moved here from Idaho. in idaho her and her husband were taking the lessons from the missionaries. but then, about 4 weeks ago, her husband got sick and passed away :/
she had to move here very quickly because she found a job, and she wasnt able to get baptized in Idaho. we talked to her on the phone this past thursday. met her on friday. had an interview for her baptism on saturday. and then she came to church sunday! already people in the ward are making friends with her and really taking care of her!  She is so strong to make such a big change so soon after her husband died. but she says a new start will be good for her and she is really excited to be here. I'm just excited i got to meet her. shes awesome!

The other big news that we got this week is that on July 1st the nevada las vegas west mission is basically getting split in half! instead of having 2 missions in nevada there are going to be 3. so i could be stuck i the heat of las vegas for the rest of my mission, or i could spend the rest of my mission in the cooler northern parts of nevada (what im hoping) we'll see! that'll be in a couple transfers.

so heres a funny story for you: this past weekend both the mens and womens BYU basketball teams had games in vegas and all the players ended up coming to my ward! it was cool to see them all at church along with them (who i kinda recognized) i also kinda recognized someone else. he was an old man. i thought he might be from ohio. so i went up to him and introduced myself. we spent a little bit trying to figure out how i knew him. finally he said that his name was Samuelson and that he worked at BYU. It was President Cecil O Samuelson! the president of BYU! i was pretty embarrassed lol. i apologized and told him it must be because im a missionary and am focused on other thing. he said that was a good excuse. It was really funny!

I hope you all have a wonderful week this week. dont get blown away by any tornadoes!

love,
elder donovan :)

New Missions Created

They are taking the two missions in Nevada and creating a third: the Nevada Reno Mission.  We have not received any word yet on which mission Donovan will end up in.

For more information you can see the article on the church website: LDS Church News Article

29 February 2012

so the biggest news of the week: the dragon (my bike) gave up on me. hes officially done. we were on our way to meet up with president black for a baptismal interview when my pedals stopped turning my tire. having pedals that dont turn the wheel is really quite useless. so we called nelson and he came and picked us up. and then the next day we went garage sale-ing! it was really quite successful! we went to Goodwill and Salvation Army and then about 6 garage sales and ended up running into a member of the church who knew someone with a bike! and they gave it to me! it was awesome! my new bike is named "Jebadiah" because it says hillbilly on the side of it. its a lot better than my old bike. (i think ANY bike would be better than the dragon)

also this week: we had a really good sunday! nelson finally made it to our ward! he was able to meat everyone and hes going to be baptized on saturday! elder larsen and i might sing a song.... not sure yet

and joe came to church! it was his first time. i think we had a good time. Dylan definitely had a really good time in nursery.

and we say willard witham! his wife and kids have moved back in :) and his sister-in-law (some of the problem) has moved up. he seemed in much much better spirits :) that was really good to see! now we just need to get church back into their family and their family back to church and it'll all be good :)

and we went to the temple today! it was so good. i hadnt been for like 3 months, so it was good to be there. it really is the most peaceful place i've ever been! i cant wait till i can go more often.

 i really hope the weather stays cool here. people keep telling me its going to get real hot real fast. i really hope im in reno before then lol. if not i might die. just a warning :) i dont think i can bike up this hill if its over 100 degrees. but so far its not over 70, so i should be okay until at least next week :)

 heres a new quote i added to my Book of Truth this week:
"be the change you wish to see in the world"
-Ghandi

Ghandi is smart

Me and another missionary got into a discussion/fun argument about the death penalty. anyway, he ended up saying something like, "even if your position is right (which of course it is :P ), it doesnt matter, because not enough people agree with you. things will never be the way you want them" i told him thats stupid! and Ghandi agrees :) we just have to keep doing the things we believe in. at the very least we are going to affect the people immediately around us.

i hope everyone is having a wonderful week and i'll talk to you soon :)

love,
elder donovan :)