12 August 2013

for all of you who are close to ohio. my family is having an open house (at our house) Wednesday at 7. check facebook or email me for details.

...because im flying home tomorrow! crazy.

see you soon.

-elder donovan

5 August 2013

this is one of my last emails ever as a missionary. kinda weird, kinda sad. kinda exciting.

i'll be home next Tuesday evening! this week will be full of lots of goodbyes and "see you laters". I really dislike goodbyes, but they always seem to be happening. and lots of packing, which I also dislike. (and im going back to paying bills and doing hw, which are also on my short list of things I hate. im trying to remember why im coming back lol) AND this week I have a birthday party, a interview with the mission president (when he will talk to me about going home and getting married), a temple trip with all the other guys going home, and a few "last suppers" with some cool members. and my last ward council meeting, hopefully for a long time! *knock on wood*

and my list of things to do in the short time im home is getting bigger and bigger.

everyone should be a missionary. its great! most of the time lol. and the times when its not are good for you!

psalms 118:24

love,
elder donovan

29 July 2013

last week I had a lot of updates for y'all. this week I don't think I have very many.

it rained again this weekend, second weekend in a row. that was exciting.

and I got to go down to Pahrump for a baptism, that's always fun. a few of us carpooled down. almost crashed into some wild burros. good times.

and we volunteered at the zoo one morning! that was fun. the zoo is super small and kinda ghetto. but the guy wants us to come back so we can help him repair some stuff, should be fun. im going to try to get a picture with the chimpanzee :)

elder titus is doing great. we are having a lot of fun and have taught a lot of really great lessons recently.

its weird to think im almost done. two weeks left. a week and a half until I turn the big 21. and then a month until school starts. crazy.

remember: God is good! always. He has to be.

sorry this email is short.

love,
elder donovan

22 July 2013

really great week this past week. we were able to stay really busy and get lots accomplished.

mon: we had a successful fun pday of seeing old companions and old members! (an old member made a few of us that are leaving soon a big dinner. it was lots of fun)

tues: we had district meeting, a made everyone sit on the floor and we raced to put together puzzles. one group had a little bit of time to prepare their pieces before they started, the other group had no prep time. needless to say, the first group kicked trash. we then read some scriptures about preparation and we talked about why being spiritually prepared for everyday life (as a missionary and after we're done with our missions) is so important. I think it was fun!

wed: we helped someone move and then had a great lesson with the hjerpes at the bishops house. Bishop's son recently return from his mission in Kenya (aka where the hjerpes are from) so we looked at all his mission pictures. and then we ate cookies!

thurs: we were on exchanges with the Span-Ams. I went to their area, so I just did a lot of nodding and smiling, and didn't say a lot lol.

fri: we had a leadership training meeting for most of the day. I got to see some of my friends and say goodbye to a lot of people. (anyone that isn't going to be at transfers in a few weeks, this was the last time i'll see them)
sat: we had a ward breakfast first thing in the morning. then we had baptisms for Brandon and Ness! that alone would have made it a great week.

sun: Brandon and Ness were confirmed! and then we had great meetings all day!

I don't think this week will be as exciting, but im sure we will find some way to make it fun and get a lot done.

hope you all have a great week!

love,
elder Donovan :)

1 July 2013

its a weird feeling going into my last transfer. but we've got a lot to keep us busy in the next transfer.

elder till is getting transferred up to the meadows zone.  my new companion is named elder titus. hes from Washington and has been on his mission for 3 months.  hes like 7 feet tall. that's all I know about him haha. i'll meet him tonight.

we had another lesson with tyszon yesterday. not sure if ive told you about him: hes 17, and dating a girl in the ward. we've had two lessons with him so far. he's doing great! in this past lesson we had with him, he was telling us all about the great experiences hes been having reading the scriptures. that's always great to hear as a teacher.

Brandon, leslies son, is doing great! he is working towards the 20th for baptism, which is a miracle, because a month ago we never thought he would even listen to us.

we met a new guy named Juan this week. he seems super excited about the things he is learning and had a great time at church this week. I think hes moving soon though. we'll see what happens.

and the hjepes are still doing great. they are awesome people!

I hope all of YOU awesome people are doing great as well! life is going good here. even though its 1000 degrees.

love,
elder donovan

15 July 2013

things are going great here in vegas! we've got a big week this week! 2 days of exchanges with the other elders, leadership meeting Friday, ward-missionary activity and 2 baptisms on Saturday! if all goes as planned it should be one of our best weeks yet!

we had interviews with president ahlander this past week. it was weird to have an interview with someone who isn't prez black. but it was fun, we had a good time playing games while we were waiting for our turn.

elder titus and I are doing great, we've been working really hard and having lots of fun.

not sure what else to write. I've never been very good at these emails because I don't know what yall want to hear about. we have lots of fun doing our thing out here teaching and talking to people, but then I sit down to type it out and nothing stands out as interesting.  but it really was a great week!

I hope everything is going great for all of you. keep on keeping on!

-elder donovan

8 July 2013

great week this week! elder titus is the man and the work is going well!

Brandon and ness are going to be baptized in a couple weeks. everyone and their brother is excited for that.

we had a super lesson with brian this week. first really good lesson we've had with him in a long time. not sure what made the  difference, but i'm glad it happened. we've been worried about him.

sakina and her family finally have moved out of the shelter and into an apartment that's close by. we are super glad about that!

this week we have interviews with Prez Ahlander, and we'll probably do a couple exchanges with the other elders.

I feel like I have 1000 things to get done, and not very long to make it happen. its good to be busy, kinda sad to be running out of time.

hope all is well! be good :)

pray for my grandpa, he needs it today.

-elder donovan

24 June 2013

im feeling pretty sick right now. ive got a head cold from straight from the devil. But that's not going to keep me down, because we had a great weekend! I was privileged enough to baptize both sakina and Sharon. its very humbling to do the actual baptizing because that's the moment where these peoples' emotions and faith are at their highest, and as the baptizer you get to be closest to them at that special moment. sakina and sharon are wonderful wonderful people and it was so great to see their excitement. I hope I get to be their friend for a long time.

transfers are a week away, we're expecting elder till to get sent to a new area and i'll get a new companion. but as always, we'll have to wait and see. i'll let you know next week!

also this week, president and sister black go home and we get to meet our new mission president. we're having a meeting with the WHOLE mission to meet president and sister ahlander on Friday. should be exciting!

hopefully all is well with all of you. remember, God is good!

-elder donovan

17 June 2013

I cant believe we're already half way through june. time is flying. and life is going good!

this past week was full of finishing up exchanges with the district. (I have to do it once a transfer with every elder in the district, so that's 5 times a transfer) it's kind of fun to go to the other areas and see what they have going on. it also means I miss half the things that are going on in my ward. turns out my presence isn't necessary though, because we had a great week in the ward.  we had a combined lesson with Brian and Claudia and a couple of members in the ward. they discussed some of their reservations and the questions that they have. the lesson went really well. hopefully it helps them both progress.

the biggest thing we spent our time on last week was getting Sakina and Sharon ready for their baptism. They are doing great! and are both going to be baptized on Saturday!

President and Sister Black go home in a week and a half, and then we will welcome in President and Sister Ahlander. its weird to say goodbye to the Blacks. they have been here the whole time I have, and I wont have very much time to get to know the Ahlanders.
Its like all my missionary friends are growing up!

Hopefully all is going well! it's going greatful here :)

love,
elder donovan

10 June 2013

we had a couple days over 110 degrees this week. good times.

On Tuesday, with the other missionaries at our weekly meeting, I threw a Humility Poetry Slam. it was awesome! the winning poems closing line was, "humble is to Superman, as pride is to not Superman". haha, we aren't the best poets but everyone had fun.

on Friday we helped someone  move, and It took almost all day. there was one tiny pick up truck and it took about 8 trips. but we had fun.

our new favorite family is Sakina, Sharron, Ness, and Sasha. they are awesome! we're going to have a baptism for them on the 22nd, if all goes well. (knock on wood)(crossing our fingers)(praying as hard as we can). they might have to move. AGHHHHHHHH. story of my life. somebody suggested we just start building houses. im about to do it.

this morning we all piled in a big van and drove into the mountains. its always a fun time when we can get out of town and go explore a little bit.  we went about 3 miles and found a "water fall" (water drizzle coming off a cliff).

hope all is well.

love,
elder donovan

3 June 2013

its been a couple weeks since I've had a chance to send y'all an email.  im sure lots has happened since my last email, but im not sure what those things would be. all the days tend to run together and I don't remember whats happened when. so if I tell you something ive already told you, sorry. haha

we have a car now! for the last week and a half or so. red corolla. air conditioner works well. life is good. especially good because its officially hot out. our car said it was 108 yesterday on our way home from church.

both David and Vivian, and Richmond and Tomeko have bounced and we don't know where they went. none of them will answer their phones. that can be kind of frustrating.

but awe met a great family last week! the mom is from Kenya and she has a 21 year old daughter, a 17 year old son, and a 5 year old daughter. they are all super excited about the gospel and have been to church 2 weeks in a row now. they are awesome! we are hoping and praying that they stay long enough that we can help them get baptized and established in the church. we've had bad luck with that recently (keeping people HERE)

we're all getting together to play soccer this afternoon, on an artificial turf field. no clouds today. there's a high of 101. hopefully no one dies.

I tried playing a cello not too long ago. it was BAD! my fingers and arms didn't remember what they were supposed to do. luckily, I did still remember how to read the music, so maybe i'll be able to figure it out again someday. but that's why you should PRACTICE your talents! otherwise they'll disappear.

good luck to everyone who is still in school this week. congratulations to everyone who has completed another year. have a fun summer! I will :)

remember, God is Good,
-elder donovan

20 May 2013

transfers are today. but nothing is changing for elder till and I. we both get to stay in the 7th ward and we are still riding our bikes.  (they promised me again that a car is coming to us in the near future, we'll see)  there have only been a few days over 100 degrees so we've been okay so far.

the sisters and Spanish missionaries in the district are being transferred, but I know everyone coming in and it should be a fun district. I don't think we'll have any problems.

we went to the mission office earlier in the week and when I got there, the older sister missionary, who is secretary in the office, started talking to me about going home! haha, she leaves the end of june and might be more excited about college football games than I am. she was telling me all about when tickets go on sale, and where the student section is going to be. it was pretty funny.

we spent a lot of time this past week working with Richmond and Tomeko. they came to church last week and then again yesterday. they have a baby on the way and seem really interested in righting the course of their lives. unfortunately they are fairly transient, and so we aren't sure how long they will be around. we tried to give them as much information as we could while we had them.

remember, "today is the day which the Lord has made... rejoice and be glad in it!"
-psalms 118:24

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!

-elder donovan

13 May 2013

hey everybody! hopefully you all had a wonderful mothers day. I know I did! and a wonderful rest of my week for that matter.

on Saturday, 4 of us road-tripped down to Pahrump to be at the baptisms of Lore and Nicole. not only did it feel really great to be back in Pahrump (Pahrump is far from clean and wholesome, but it feels better than vegas lol) but it was amazing to see two women I have grown to love make another step in following Christ. and we got to visit with some of our favorite people in the wards down there. it was a good good day!

on Friday we helped a guy move. we thought it was going to be an easy short move. it took us 6 hours. the guy had a bunch of old movie props. we're talking 7 foot tall mummies and zebra chairs. it was ridiculous. but fun because it was so ridiculous.

the rest of our week was filled with teaching and crazy fast bike riding.

next Monday is transfers. I might get a new companion, we'll see what happens.

hope you all have a wonderful week! be good :)

-elder donovan

6 May 2013

Elder till and I had a great week this week. probably our best yet as a companionship. we put a lot of miles on our bikes and talked to as many people as we could. and had a lot of fun while he did it!

Zone Conference was on Friday. that's always a good time, to see the other elders. and learning how to teach better is always a good thing. we focused on the characteristics of Christ, and how we can strive to follow His example in our work.

We met these cool people named David and Vivian this week. they are from southern California and have only been in vegas for a few weeks now. david has been a member of the church for a little bit over a year and Vivian wants to learn more. they are both super excited about getting integrated into the ward here. its good to see!

this week we have lots of fun things scheduled. Saturday we are going down to Pahrump with a couple other elders to go to 2 baptisms. should be really fun and then on sunday I get to Skype my mama! cant wait for that. don't forget your mamas on sunday!

be good everybody, remember the things that really matter!

love,
elder donovan

29 April 2013

good morning everyone!

we're pushing 100 degrees today. good times there :)

the missionary work is going well. we've had some success in finding new people. we'll see what materializes (not sure that's the rights word), but so far we are feeling good about the prospects.

the bike is still working well, which is truly a blessing! remember all the trouble I used to have with my bikes?

not sure what else I have to report on. we're kinda just doing our thing, talking to people, teaching the same people. not sure what kind of progress we made this past week. im pretty sure we DID make progress, because we are trying to do our best to do what we're supposed to do, we just haven't seen the results yet. we'll just keep on keeping on. I guess if you have any questions for me, you'll just have to email them to me, because I cant think of anything else to write.


heres a couple quotes I came across this week:

"you can be a minority of one, the truth is still the truth"
                                                       -ghandi
if more people thought this way, we'd be a lot better off!

"a man who whispers down a well on goods he has to sell, will never sell as many dollars as a man who climbs a tree and hollars"
kinda clever

love you all, be good!
-elder Donovan :)

22 April 2013

happy Monday everyone!!!!

lifes good here in Vegas. its weird, because its still ugly and hot and brown here, and its the desert and nothing living actually enjoys living here. but I LIKE living here! at least for right now its great to be here!

I think im getting the hang of this new area. im still working on remembering everyones' name in the ward, that'll take me another month, but ive met everyone we're teaching and i've learned a lot of the streets already. (when you ride a bike, the penalty is big for a wrong turn, so you learn quickly) And my bike is still working! two whole weeks and no problems yet *knock on wood*

Elder till and I are doing well. we, along with the district, are pushing to find new people to teach. all of us have some really promising people we are teaching, but a lot of them have been "really promising" for a long time, so we need to find some new ppl. so far so good though, we're doing pretty well at meeting our goals.

as a zone we are playing flag football today, should be fun, except that its 90 degrees out!

oh, and i finished reading the Book of Mormon again! good news: its still true! the end of the book always amazes me. how Mormon and Moroni (father and son) are the last two people following Christ, probably in the whole continent. the love of Mormon for his son is what struck me this time. He writes a letter to his son and basically says "The rest of our people have fallen away, this brings me great sadness. the one thing that brings me joy is that you, my son, are still strong in your faith" he then pleads with his son to STAY strong, so that when their lives end they can be reunited in the presence of our God.  I sure hope that in the end of my life i can take solace in the fact that my children are faithful to the Lord.

God is GOOD, remembering that makes life good :)

I hope all of you are doing well!

love,
elder donovan :)

15 April 2013

so far things area going great up here in vegas 7th ward!! i think I'm going to love it here. Ive met a lot of interesting characters so far. all different walks of life. all different levels of sanity. so far far its been great!
and it feels good riding my bike around! even if everyone cancels their lessons and we dont actually get to teach, it still feels like  we're working our butts off, which is good! plus there are so many people that honk and wave at us, its almost ridiculous. everyone time i hear a car horn i just assume its someone saying hi to us lol.
elder till is the man. hes got a good hold on the area and knows what needs to get done, ive just been following him around this last week. its been nice.
we're teaching a guy named brian. dudes super classy. he is the CEO of  ...  here in town. he is super smart. (we often need a dictionary in order to decipher his text messages) he loves people and loves the Spirit.
the apartment we live in is in a pretty safe area (right next to the Las Vegas Metro police station) we hear sirens constantly. it kind of adds to the atmosphere haha. but the apartment is nice. we cleaned it up, threw out a bunch of junk, and now it's looking pretty good
in my district there are 4 english speaking elders (including elder till and I), 3 spanish speaking elders, and two sisters. its a much bigger, more diverse group than we had down in the Rump. I havent met the rest of the zone, but my district is pretty cool. i dont know a lot of the elders now. a lot of them got to vegas while i was in Pahrump. this past transfer meeting i knew almost no one. the mission is very young. last july we had 102 missionaries, this july we will have 250!

all of you in utah, look out for a job for ol' Donovan. i only have class tuesday and thursday afternoons and i need a job that'll give me as many hours as possible!

all of you with moms, remember that mothers day is in a month!

everyone else, remember i think youre great!

love,
elder donovan :)

8 April 2013

welp, the good times in Pahrump will soon come to an end. today i'll be heading back over to vegas again. . Elder Till and I are going to be working together in an area that is right in the middle of vegas. apparently we have a good mix of people in the area. Brandon Flowers (lead siger of the Killers) is in our ward. other than his neighborhood its a rougher area, which is good for missionary work! i havent been there yet, but everyone is telling me its a great area. we will be riding bikes for at least the next couple weeks until new cars come in.

Leaving an area is always sad. ive had a really good time here in pahrump and met a lot of great people. last night we had a good time chillin with randy. he played his guitar, we sang freebird. haha, good times, i will always remember randy and the trouble he has caused lol.

nicole still wants to be baptized on mothers day, so hopefully i'll be able to come back for that. baptisms for Andy and Lourie should also be happening soon, so hopefully i have a few return trips to Pahrump in the near future.

this week did lots and lots of service for people. im getting to old to do all this physical labor. we helped a lady move. for 6 hours straight. that was 4 days ago and im still hurting.

General conference was great! hope y'all were able to enjoy. i especially enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk in the priesthood session. he gave each of us 4 titles and expounded on each:
1. Child of God
2. Disciple of Christ
3. Healer of Souls
4. Heir to All of God's Gifts

"Healer of Souls" was especially powerful to me. i've got to think carefully about what i am already doing and what i need to do better to live up to that title.

hope y'all are doing well! i'll give you more info about my new area next week. be safe!

-elder donovan :)

1 April 2013

we"re just chugging away here! we started teaching a few new people this week. 3 new people in fact! all had really good first lessons and all showed up to church! cant ask for much more than that!  The other elders in pahrump had similar results this past week and there is much excitement!

No more word has been received on whether or not 2 more elders are coming to pahrump next week, or if they will have a place to live. I am expecting to get sent back up to vegas next monday, but who knows what will happen. we will find out for sure this week and i will let you know next monday.

easter here was a good time. elder bloomfield and I along with 2 teenagers were all assigned to speak at church. the 3 of them talked for a combined 15 minutes, kindly leaving me 25 minutes to talk. luckily i brought a couple stories (time fillers) and all went well.

lets see what else happened...

we went on a hike last monday and found a little family of 9 wild horses, that was pretty cool!

i bought a nice dark gray suit for $3.50

i got signed up for the classes i want to take in the fall. all is set for school except for a job. im happy about that.

o hyeah! and i was able to go to the temple with brother wood and brother lamphere as they went through for their first time. that was AWESOME. it was so good to see that they are still both strong in the faith!

i hope all of you are well! feel free to let me know how youre doing ;)

love,
elder donovan :)

25 March 2013

sorry i couldnt get y'all an update last week! i was busy trying to set things up for school. big old hassle. made me want to stay out here lol.

heres whats been going on in pahrump:

the mission office called us last week and told us we needed to find another place for missionaries to live in pahrump, as there will be 6 of us instead of 4 starting in two weeks. so far the new ones will be sleeping in their car lol. im pretty sure i'll be headed back over to vegas in two weeks anyway.

nicole has had a couple really great lessons recently. we have been bringing an older couple with us and they have connected with nicole really well. they can kind of  tell her the way things are a little more bluntly than we can get away with, which must be what she needed because she decided to get baptized on mothers day! we are excited for that.

i dont know if i told y'all about andy, but he came to church a few weeks ago and said that "God had led him here". then he didn't come for a few weeks and we thought he might have moved on but he came back this week and asked what he needed to do to be baptized. we of course were happy to tell him :) we dont know him very well yet but he seems pretty genuine.

this coming saturday Brother Wood and Brother Lamphere (baptized in my first area) will be going through the temple for the first time. i'm lucky enough that i get to go through with them! it'll be really good to see them!

those are the big things recently. summer is coming on, i feel it. heard y'all back home had snow! i dont think i miss late march snow lol. be safe! make a snow man for me!

love,
elder donovan :)