Two updates!! Dedication, a loss and gators o'plenty :)

weekly Email - March 10, 2014

Hope you guys are all well!! Looks like you had some fun ice skating. I don't think they know what ice skating is here, haha. It's getting hot already here. The summer is gonna be an adventure. This week was good. A lot of teaching and a lot of finding as well. Elder Jewkes and I kept the tracting up, we have a return appointment tomorrow with a lady that we found named L---. When we knocked on her door her son, who I'd say is around 14, opens the door and without saying anything to us yells 'Mom!.....Mormons!' and ran back in the house, haha. His mom came out and was really nice and we had a great conversation with her and she invited us back on Tuesday, so we are excited for that. We had a great lesson with J--- this week. He is the other guy we found tracting. We brought Brother Celeste with us who has an amazing conversion story. He was in school to become a Baptist minister then missionaries knocked on his door and he was baptized two weeks later. Amazing. He is an awesome teacher and was great in the lesson. J--- reminds me a lot of T--- when we first started teaching him. So open and curious and can recognize the Spirit. I am really excited for the next lesson. He is single but has a 8 year old son we hopefully can teach has well. He said he will read the Book of Mormon with him, which was really cool. Had a really good lesson with the S----- family. They are a part member family, Brother S----- is a member, a convert too actually. They always invite us in and ask us to share a message with them. Every time we stopped by it seemed we had an appointment in 10 or 15 minutes so we didn't have too much time. But this week we taught them the restoration and it really touched Sister S-----. In the past she has been very kind to us but has been kinda closed towards us. She really opened up this lesson and she said it's hard for her to change but she sees a change coming. It's was really touching. We had a good lesson with C-----. He is so so close to baptism. He told us he is afraid of change, which is understandable, it's just a matter of time with him. I know he knows it's true, we are just waiting for him to act on it. We did have some sad news this week. Brother Schoenburg passed away from a heart attack. It was pretty hard for me for a day or so. I have seen the Schoenburgs as grandparents since I've gotten into this area. We have spent so much time there working in their yard and helping them out. We have been there once a week since I got here. (5 months!!) We actually saw him the day before he passed, asking what we could help out with. I hope Sister Schoenburg is doing okay, we are going to stop by tomorrow to see what we can do. He was such a happy guy, lived a full life. Thank goodness for the Plan of Salvation. We teach people the peace the gospel brings but it's nice when we can take comfort in it ourselves. Other that that, spent a lot of the day with Brother Gaytan on Saturday. He took us out to a Mongolian bbq, that was super good, then visited some members and tracted some. We also went tracting with Brother Malupo and man that was an awesome experience. He is the guy who was a Mission president in Tonga. He was so bold yet so loving to people. I learned a lot from him. We plan on going with him once a week. Finally committed to writing in my journal every night, actually typing it on the type writer, haha. Been good at it for 2 weeks or so. I did it off and on before but I want to do it everyday. You guys get the stuff I mailed you? Love you. Awesome that you guys have been out with the missionaries so much, that is so awesome. Proud of ya, you guys mean a lot to the missionaries. Members who are aware of us and help us out and aren't afraid to share us with their friends make our day. Love you!!! One more lesson I forgot about, had a great lesson with T-- our new investigator. We brought Brother Gaytan and they hit it off. Him and J--- and C---- got to get wet before I leave this area, haha. ("get wet' means get baptized)

 

love

Elder Mountain

Weekly Email - March 3, 2014

Great to hear from you guys, glad you are doing good! Hope you feel better soon, Pa. So this week was awesome, full of small miracles. The dedication was yesterday, we were able to go to two of the three sessions, they were really awesome. I remembered the Atlanta temple re-dedication a little bit but glad I was able to attend another one. The Prophet and Elder Eyring were there, along with three members of the Seventy. The Prophet looks like he has aged quite a bit lately. The cultural celebration was on Saturday and the Prophet was there for that as well. It actually rained almost all day on Saturday, first time its rained in months. So all of the kids were pretty wet but it went smoothly and looked awesome. We were able to watch it at our ward mission leaders home. The local news station covered it, so it was on TV. Besides the dedication we also had a good week. We have found some great people from tracting. One guy named J--- we found was really golden, reminded me of T--- when we first talked to him. He accepted a Book of Mormon and we got a return appointment for next week. We also met a couple named A----- and J---- who were over at the members home when we had dinner there. They were super curious and also accepted a Book of Mormon and they want to learn more. They really enjoyed the temple and had some questions about eternal families. They are great people, very strong in their faith in Christ but are searching for a church for their family, what we like to hear, haha. We also met a couple B-- and M--- who are neighbors to some members who are super missionary minded. They invited everyone on their street to the temple and took quite a few of them. B-- and M--- asked about the Book of Mormon so we went over and dropped one off and gave an explanation of what it is and they asked several questions and are very open to reading and praying. We had our first lesson with T--, another neighbor of some members. He is an older man, 78 I think is what he said, we went over to give him a Book of Mormon and he invited us in and we had a great lesson. He ended up telling us his life story pretty much and some incredible experiences that have brought him to have a testimony of Christ, especially of prayer. We invited him to read and pray and we should see him in the next few days. Been an awesome week for finding new investigators, which we need. Elder Jewkes and I have been focusing on giving people Book of Mormons in our contacting. Our goal is 25 BoM's for the transfer and we ended up giving 10 this week. B---- is doing good, we had 2 lessons with her this week. She says she wants to finish a novel she is reading then she will read the Book of Mormon all the way through, haha, I guess that's an okay deal. We still have been busy with the church tours and taking the members of the ward on them. They are starting to catch the vision of it, just gotta give them that push so they will invite their friends. Other than that things are going good. Elder Jewkes and I are doing well, laughing a lot. One quick funny story from tracting, we knocked on a door and this lady that looked pretty distraught answers the door. She says I cant talk right now I'm preparing for surgery. I think then maybe she is a surgeon or something and she is studying. But then she says shes busy on the toilet. I could hardly keep a straight face, haha. It was pretty funny. It was either a really good excuse or she really was in the middle of something. Anyways, love you guys!! and miss you. Time is flying by. The church is true. The lord is a Lord of miracles, that is for sure. 

love,

Elder Mountain

Tracting, chapel tours and time in the temple

Weekly Email

Elder Mountain with Elder Jewkes. They are having a blast together!
This is one of 2 text messages/pics I received this week. Love that smile!!

Glad to hear all of you are doing well! That is so awesome about the L-----'s, man I am so excited about that. They are such good people, they are so ready for the gospel. I know it's easier said than done but you guys got to give them a Book of Mormon. That's how people find out if the message we know to be true, is true for themselves. There is so much power in the Book of Mormon. They are ready, I know it. Great job working with the missionaries so much. That makes me happy, haha. There are certain families in wards that can make it or break it for missionaries, I'm sure you guys are a strength to have for them. This week has been good. We have kept the tracting up, found a few more people that way. Had our first return lesson with an older lady named B-----. She read a few chapters in the Book of Mormon we gave her and found it to be very interesting. She is a Grandma Beve archaeological type, haha and when we were explaining the Book of Mormon and what it talks about by using the pictures in the front (which by the way is a super easy way to introduce the BoM to someone maybe for the L-----) she said 'I knew Columbus was not the first to sail across, no fair that guy gets all the credit' haha. Never had that response before but hey whatever gets their interest. We hopefully will see her tomorrow for another lesson. We took C----- on a chapel tour this week that was awesome. He really enjoyed it and we had a good lesson afterwards. He just has to read the Book of Mormon and pray, I know that he will receive an answer. At first he listened to us just to be nice and see what his son who is on a mission is teaching but now he is starting to question and want to know for himself. We found a part member family from tracting that we are super excited about. A few of their neighbors had mentioned them in the past but we had never met them before. They seem super ready and really open. They laid out their concerns right in our first conversation and they feel that if we can satisfy those they see nothing holding them back. Their concerns are about the three degrees of glory and continued revelation but that will all be solved by reading the Book of Mormon, which they never have before. That's all missionary work is really, reading and praying and everything else falls into place. On Saturday we had a really neat experience, helping clear out the furniture in the temple that was there for the Open House so that they can put folding chairs in for the dedication. It was a long day, we were there from 8am to 12pm, going up and down stairs with tables and couches and stuff. It was a really cool experience though. The spirit  there was so strong, even when we were doing work. It was cool to look around at your own pace and see all of the details. It was an awesome opportunity. excited to go to the dedication on Sunday, as well. Had a really good week of studies this week. One of the elders I live with, Elder Parsons, who has been out for a while, has shown me how to study differently and has shown me some really cool insights. It has been really awesome. You've got to know the gospel and live it before you can teach it. Wish I read more back home but luckily we can repent, haha but seriously, I love reading and what I have gotten out of it.  I want that to be the case on my mission and off. Looks like you guys had fun this week, glad you are all well!!! love you 

love

Elder Mountain

A bit of his email to me (Ma):
 "I know that Christ lives. I know that he knows and loves us. I know that he has shown us the way to have peace and joy in our lives. I know that the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. Anyone who reads its pages can not deny it to be so. I love this gospel!" 

New companion and 30 member in-home visits!

Weekly Email

Elder Mountain with his new companion, Elder Jewkes.

Man what a week! So transfers were on Wednesday. I know I would be getting a new companion, so I was anxious who it would be. In transfer meeting me and my buddy, Elder Jewkes, sat next to each other having a small amount of hope that there may be a chance we would be together. So president starts calling out all of the companionship's and Elder Jewkes and I realize we are some of the only ones that haven't been called out and we get excited that it might actually happen. Then president calls "Elder Mountain with Elder Jewkes" and we couldn't believe it, haha. We have been serving in the same district since I left the Spanish ward, so about 4 months or so. The next thing that happens, getting transferred in the same district. It has been awesome! We get along like me and Scotty or Sloan did back home. A lot of laughing, which makes it a blast. Elder Jewkes is from South Jordan Utah. He also came out the exact same time I did, both been out 6 months. I really, really hope we are together for a while. The work has taken off since he has gotten here, which has been amazing. We had a great lesson with K--, she went to the temple this week, she told her Pastor about it, and he gave her tons of anti-material. We showed her briefly how ridiculous it all was and it really is starting to discredit her Pastor in her mind. She doesn't understand why they would attack us so much and why what they say twists the truth so much. We taught a lesson about the Godhead which she really enjoyed. She is a logic thinker and she said it just makes sense that the Father and the Son are literally a father and a son, not one being. Our goal now is to get her to church. We are going to the temple with C---- tomorrow, super excited about that. We had a really awesome lesson with the M------- family. The mother of the family is in-active and her husband, her 14 year old son and her 11 year old daughter aren't members. Sister M------really wants her kids to learn about the gospel, They have never been to church and can make a decision what to do on their own. They are really bright kids and giving it some serious thought and are really sincere about finding out if it is what they want to do. We have been super busy with the church tours we have been giving. The members are starting to catch the vision of the idea. We've got to get all of these friends that they took to the temple in to the church. Elder Jewkes and I decided that every moment we aren't teaching an investigator to be in a members home sharing a message about the gospel, like a super quick 15 minute FHE. We ended up doing 30 of those this week, which was a lot, haha, but man does it build member trust. When they see us teaching and feel the Spirit, they are so much more comfortable about us talking with their friends. Elder Jewkes and I still can't get over the fact we are companions. It's gonna be a blast with him. I am so excited to still be in our wards, the members here are so awesome. Brother Gaytan for an example, one of our Ward Mission Leaders, went into Relief Society this Sunday and did this object lesson with this really good chocolate and compared how the gospel is sweet to the taste. He told this amazing story and testimony about his Grandfather, who just passed away, he was converted in Mexico by a friend who wouldn't stop inviting him to read the Book of Mormon. Then he had us bear our testimony, it was awesome. The members here are great. Man there was so many funny things that happened this week, like we were at dinner and this little kid who is 8 was making waffles and he said he was gonna make a 'nutritious' waffle. While we were talking with the parent, he piled chopped strawberries literately 6 inches high on one tiny waffle. When we looked over, he had the most excited face, like in a cartoon about to chow down, haha. But more importantly, the work is doing great, I feel the spirit more in my life than I ever have. Feeling the spirit many, many times a day, almost constantly, really amazing. It's incredible to see how the Lord leads and guides those who will listen and obey. I know Christ lives. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know anyone who reads it with a sincere heart will gain that same witness. I know that prayer is an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father. I love talking with him.

Anyways, hope you guys are well!!!

love and miss ya!!!

Elder Mountain 

Distric photo time! 

His famous hash-browns! Looks delish!
Still can't believe he cooks!

Baptism and staying at East Guadalupe Road :)

Weekly Email

E--- baptism day!

So the big news first, transfers!!! Found out last night that I am staying in the area and Elder Ault is being transferred. It will be my fourth transfer in the area, I am getting to know the wards pretty well, haha. I am excited to stay. We have a lot of potential and I really really love the wards and the members. Every companionship in the zone is changing one way or another so its gonna be a lot of new faces. Anxious, of course, to find out who my new companion will be. Elder Wilson is being transferred, who has been in the apartment for 3 transfers, we have got along great, sad to see him go. The baptism was so awesome!! E--- is the man, he took a week off work to study the Book of Mormon and prepare for his baptism. The ward he lives in supported him amazingly. There were some families from the ward we cover along with his ward that he lives in and there were over 100 people there! it was awesome to see. He really has become a great friend. You guys gotta meet him some day. The other guy in white in the picture is Brother Murphy, who lives in our ward, man is he a spiritual giant, haha. He has taught me a lot about teaching and improving as a missionary and just about life in general. I have really enjoyed being in their home often. E--- is still going to face a lot of trials but now he has so much more help, after being baptized people have such a stronger, more direct connection with Heavenly Father and the Spirit. Other than the baptism we had a good last week of the transfer. We had a good lesson with S-----, first one we had in a while with her. Talked about Nephi building the ship and how we can learn from how Nephi asks the Lord where the ore is to make tools, he does not ask where the shipyard is at to buy a ship or ask where the lumberyard is. He starts with the beginning step. A lot of the times in life we have problems and we ask the Lord to solve it but we forget to see what the first step is. We have to act and ask for help and guidance along the way. C---- was not able to go the temple this week but we are going with him tomorrow hopefully. We were able to go with some friends of some members who came in town from Tennessee, super country family, haha. But man they were so golden, asking a million questions and prying our brain about it all. Wish they lived here. We will get some missionaries over there somehow. It really is amazing to see how the temple softens hearts and really gets people thinking. Lately we really have been getting the chapel tours going in the wards. We are starting with the leaders in the ward to get them prepared for what it's like. It will be what the push is after the open house, especially in this stake. Had a meeting with the Stake President yesterday and man he reminds me a ton of Brother Steele (a Brother in our ward, was actually Nate's seminary teacher) in 20 years, haha, even is a car mechanic I found out. He just has a funny sense of humor and is very down to earth. Man all of the snow you guys got is crazy. It's in the 50's or 60's here, no sign of any rain at all. I heard from a member about the traffic jam in Atlanta, that's crazy. I can't imagine being stuck in that or being stick in school, haha, i bet that was insane. Love you guys and miss ya!!! 

love,

Elder Mountain

The 2 sets of missionaries that helped teach E---.

E--- and Brother Murphy

Attended Gilbert temple open house, a baptism and transfers both coming up!

Weekly Email

Gilbert Temple Open House 

Glad to hear everyone is doing well! This week was great, was able to go through the temple twice. Man that temple is absolutely beautiful, massive too. The stain glass and the mirrors are incredible. They have mirrors reflecting off each other all over the place, it's really neat. We went with the Murphy's and took E--- and C----'s wife through the temple. They loved it. C---- was going to come but he was caught up at work, we will go with him in the next few days. E--- is still good to go on Saturday, we had one last lesson with him last night. He is facing a lot of adversity (wife is leaving and his parents basically disowned him this week when he told them about his baptism) but his faith is so solid. He knows it's true and sees all of his trials as the devil's last effort to keep him 'dry' as he says. Last night was a very powerful experience, Brother Murphy gave him a blessing and we showed a Mormon message (called I hope ya know I had a hard time) Click on link to watch Mormon message mentioned: http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#hope-ya-know-we-had-a-hard-time  It's about trials, shared ether 12:4 and all of us shared our testimony with him. The faith of people such as him and T--- really amazes me. T--- blessed the sacrament for the first time on Sunday' that was really awesome. He was super nervous but he did great. He had a really cool experience with prayer this week. He is a garbage truck driver and there was an accident where the hydraulics on this 9000 pound loader broke and fell on top of his coworker and trapped him against the truck. He said he said a quick prayer out loud and the hydraulics started working again, the his friends only had minor injuries. It was a real testimony builder for him. Haven't met with C----- in a bit but we should see him in the next day or so to go to the temple with him. Transfer calls are on Sunday, can't believe they are here again. I have been here for over 4 months now so I could be on the move, haha, we will see. I would love to stay. Tell G'ma Hutchens thanks for the letters she sends, I got a letter in the mail to her today so she should get it soon. I got the cards from you guys, that was very nice of you guys. The pictures were hilarious, everyone got a kick out of them. Getting mail always makes the day, haha. Package hasn't gotten here, probably will be here today. I wouldn't send anything this week in case my address changes because of transfers. Still been doing the Book of Mormon challenge from Elder Wright, I love it. It has been awesome. Getting more from it than I ever have. Still working with the P--- family, we raked some leaves for her this week, hopefully she can make it to church next Sunday, she has a crazy schedule sometimes.

 Thanks for all of the love and prayers!!! Love you guys!!! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Anyone, anyone at all who reads and prays with a sincere heart will gain a testimony as well. It's simple as that. I know my Savior lives and I see his hand in my life and in the work every day.

love,

Elder Mountain

Temple open house starts and Rae's first vision picture :)

Weekly Email

Gilbert Temple Open House starts this week!!! :)

Thanks for all the emails and pictures you guys sent. Looks like you had a lot of fun this week. This week has been good. E--- is still on date for baptism on the first. Brother Murphy will be baptizing him, his good friend who lives in our ward. He is still really strong, we have one last lesson on Wednesday with him and the sisters in his home area will meet with him often until his baptism. The Murphy family is so awesome. They are really good friends with 3 of our investigators. On Thursday they are taking us to the temple with all three of them, along with 7 other nonmembers. With just a few member families like that that really make it an effort to share the gospel it can change the tone of an entire ward. We had another great lesson with C---- this week, he has been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, I know that an answer will come for him. I can't wait to go through the temple with him and E---, and for our investigators to meet each other, which is pretty cool. You've got to meet 
C----- some time Pa, he reminds me a lot of you. He has a plumbing company similar to Mountain Carpentry, loves old cars and some of the stuff he says reminds me a lot of you. There have been a lot of rumblings about one of our wards splitting pretty soon, along with our stake splitting. So next transfer, if I am still here, the wards we cover could change a bit. Both of the wards are massive, by the time the first hymn is over there is standing room only filled to the back of the gym. We had a lesson with a new investigator this week named M---, who is a pretty stanch baptist, it was a challenging lesson because he kept trying to bash, asking us to prove things. But we got him to see that it all comes down to humbly reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, unless we do that basic step it's really hard, almost impossible, for all that other doctrine to be 'proven'. We did unfortunately had some cancellations this week. We weren't able to meet with K-- because she was feeling ill but her fellowship (friend from church) was able to go over and visit on another day. We also weren't able to meet with 
S----- because of the same reason but we were able to get both of the appointments rescheduled. We haven't  been to the temple yet but we should be there several times this week. A lot of members have asked us to tag along with them and their friends, which is awesome. A perfect way to get to know them. Transfers are coming again already, not sure what's gonna happen. Hope to stay though, or go back to Spanish work to freshen up my Portuguese, would be cool. We were able to help with a move and do some yard work, which was nice. I like to be able to get out of proselytizing clothes when I can, haha. I really love how I have gotten to know all of the members here. They are awesome and are doing their best to help us out with the work.

First Vision picture Rae drew for Nate and
has became a favorite among the missionaries :)

So that picture Rae drew of the First Vision ( first vision Joseph Smith had, seeing God, the Father and His son, Jesus Christ) that she sent a while ago has gone 'viral', haha. Everyone has been taking a picture of it and setting it as the back ground to their phone, haha. All the missionaries love it! You are famous Rae-Rae, haha. Had another zone tie trade this week, my collection is still growing, haha. I have really enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon 10 pages a day. I would always read it everyday of course in studies but it was kind of more hoping around by topic. I have found I enjoy doing both, read in order and then study a topic or lesson. The Book of Mormon is true, aint a doubt about that, haha. I love how it speaks to me when I have questions. I have a new favorite chapter, at least for now, haha, 2 Nephi 9. It explains how we obtain salvation really, really well. I have been turning to it a lot in teaching lately. Hope you guys have a great week!!! Sorry about emailing a bit late its been a crazy day, haha. love and miss ya!!!!!

love

Elder Montanha

Saturday, Janurary  25th is Nate's 200th day of his mission!!
We sent him a fun celebration box! The girlies did great decoratating :)
Happy 200 days Elder Mountain!

Surprise, Elder Wright and "OYM's"

Weekly email

Surprise visit from a favorite uncle!! 

Man that's some crazy weather back home. Georgia weather is always a little crazy but that's pretty extreme. The weather is in the 50's for the most part here, pretty pleasant. Man it was a huge surprise to see Danny and his crew. I got a call from them and I couldn't believe it. It was awesome to see them again and chat with them. Could be the last time I see Daniel before he heads on his mission. Tell them thanks again for stopping by. This week was a great week. First Elder Holland couldn't make it to speak, that was some bad news, but we still had the 3 mission conference and the mission presidents and their wives spoke along with Elder Wright of the Seventy. I felt bad for Elder Wright, he got a call from Elder Holland only 48 hours before that he would have to take his place. He said no one is more disappointed he isn't here than he is, haha. He gave an amazing talk though, about taking advantage of our time here in the field and really experiencing the gospel we teach in our own lives. He gave the challenge to read 10 pages of the Book of Mormon everyday on the mission and for the rest of your life and you will finish it every 2 months. I'm gonna do it. We had a challenge in our zone to see who could have the most 'oyms' or street contacts in the week because the zone's numbers were a tad low. They offered a $15 gift card to the companionship who got the most to Red Robin. Elder Ault and I decided to make it a point to talk to everyone one we possibly can and we got a little more than double what we usually get. It was great. We met two potential investigators in our apartment complex from it this week. It's super easy to 'oym' with the temple too. Most people are really interested. But there is one church here that is telling their members not to go and we find out really quick that they have zero interest in talking to us or seeing our fancy building, haha. It's kinda sad their hearts are really that hardened, all we can do is invite. E--- is doing well, still good for the 1st. We had one last lesson with them and now we handed him off to the sisters in the ward where he lives to teach him until his baptism. He is so excited to get baptized, I can't wait for him. We had some really good lessons this week. We also made it an effort to bring a member to every lesson we had. The number of lessons we had went down a little but the quality of them was much higher. Members really do make lessons. We had one particular great one with C----- where we committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. The member who was at that lesson bore a very powerful testimony and I believe that really touched C----- and has led him to be ready to progress. We did some service this week, which I really enjoyed. Got to pick some weeds out of a garden for the Schoenburg's and dig up some cactus for some non members who are actually RLDS, never met anyone from that church before. Had some great conversations with them. I hope it will lead to something. I can't believe I have been in the area 3 1/2 months already. I love being able to call all the members by name and am starting to be able to know their kids names. It's really awesome. Probably means I'll be transferred soon though, haha. Looks like the monster truck show was fun. Glad Rae and Pa had a great time. Love and miss you guys!! Have a great week, hope the weather behaves itself, haha.

love,

Elder Montanha