E-mail 08/27/2012

Hello wonderful family of awesomeness!!

This week has been great. We have been working hard and getting a lot done.

My new companion is Elder Briggs, from Nevada. He lives in Overton, right outside of Las Vegas. He is a great missionary.

We taught Bro Robert this week. He is getting really excited to be baptized. He is facing a lot of resistance, but he is staying strong. He loves to expound on the things we teach him. We will say a statement of truth and he will take it and devour it. Oft times while he speaks he will be sharing an experience and a scripture will come to my mind, which I will share with them and it will be exactly what he was saying. He is a really good guy.

We are teaching Sis Donna, who is an older lady. We found her while tracting. This last time we brought a member with us and the member offered to bring her to church. She came to church and loved it. We gave her a large print Book of Mormon, because she said the normal print is to small. The large print Book of Mormon is a phone book. It probably takes a whole tree to make one. I wonder how many trees the Bible would take.

Something awesome happened this past week while we were tracting. We received a phone call from a neighboring area; they are teaching a family that I had taught while I was there. They are getting baptized this Saturday and the little boy, named Avery, when he was asked who he wanted to baptize him he said he want me to do it. That was a year and a half ago, but he remembered me because I had drawn him a picture, so he wants me to baptize him. I was amazed. That's what happens when you plant seeds, they grow, even ones that you think aren't seeds.

This has been a great week. Next week is looking to be awesome. This is the best area in the mission! This is the best mission in the world! May the Spirit be with you!

Elder  Durrant

 

Elder Brezenski, Elder Durrant, Elder Briggs

 

E-mail 08/20/2012

Hello AWESOME family!

What a week this has been. It was different from all of our other weeks. It was a good week.

We did a lot of "finding," we had a lot of success. Most of the new people we met with let us in, we taught the Restoration, invited them to be baptized, and they accepted. One day we had to go tracting in the morning, so we biked there, lock our bicycles up and went to the first doo, to start knocking. Before we could knock on the door, the lady came out and we started talking with her. We really taught most of the Restoration on her doorstep and she said we could come back and teach her more. She said she is looking for a church to go to. The best part is we didn't even "tract." :)

Another one we were tracting and this lady was busy and said we could come back that evening. We intended to but Elder Judkins got a flat tire so we had to change our plans. By the way, duct tape is a great temporary fix for a punctured tire, however it is very short term and hard to remove once placed, for future reference. We stopped by to talk with the lady who said we could come back a couple days later, she let us right in and we taught her whole family. Her boyfriend was there, who was prepared to meet with us. He was very opened minded, he had studied with missionaries from another church, and work was very stressful; all of his questions, that he asked, we told him we were about to explain that in the next principle we would teach. It was just like Alma who told the people that he was just about to explain a certain doctrine, it was awesome.

We met with Bro Robert this week and he came to church as well. He told us that he is ready to become a member of the Church. We were very excited. Bro Robert is a very sincere and loving man. The best way to describe him is a big teddy bear. He loves to preach the word of God. He can go on and on. He has also taken on what his wife has been calling us; He started calling us "our sons." Sis Anderson told us she has been trying to figure out for nine years how she would kidnap the missionaries. I just thought how my Mom would come and find me.

Oh yea, I almost forgot; we received transfer calls. Elder Judkins is leaving and I will be staying here. I will be here for the next two transfers, just so you know. Transfer meeting will be Wednesday, so I will let you know next week who my next companion will be.

I love you all! May the Spirit be with you!

Elder Durrant

Pictures 08/13/2012

Elder!

That's how they do it in Indy!

Elders behind a really fast car.

mmmmmm.....Ice-cream

The District behind the Lucas Oil stadium

Yea! that's cool!

A bridge...

It's a cannon

Soybean pig!

E-mail 08/13/2012

Hello Fantastic family!

What a busy week this was! We taught a lot of people, we went on two exchanges, and we had a zone conference.

Last Monday we went to the fair. It was a lot of fun. We got a free milk shake. It was nice because it had cooled off so it wasn't as hot as it had been.

Tuesday was funny because we taught people all morning, than in the evening all of our appointments canceled. One which we went to, we were dropped off at. When we went to the door, they weren't home, but our ride had already left and they didn't have a phone so we walked the three miles home. We were able to talk with people on the way home which was good. We turned this potentially ineffective walk into a productive one.

Wednesday I went to Green Castle with Elder Brezenski, the missionary I had trained. We had a good exchange. We were able to teach a nine year old. We taught Obedience by blindfolding them and telling them where to go so they wouldn't run into the table or chair and get safely to the other side. It went awesome.

Thursday we met with someone we call Grandma Alice. It was our first time sitting down with her, because we had to have another man there. We had given her the Restoration DVD to watch. She loved it. In fact she watched it three times. We are meeting with her this evening. It will be great. We invited her to church. At first she declined, but as the member we brought encouraged her to come she decided she would. She ended up not going though because she wasn't feeling well. She is a really nice lady.

Friday we had our Zone Conference and we were trained by Elder Golden. It was a great meeting. President Collins trained us as well. They both talked about our calling as representatives of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost. Our visions have been raised of what we can accomplish. Elder Golden said it is inconceivable not to have at least a goal to baptize one person each month. We put limitations on ourselves. The Lord can do whatever he wants to do. Our mission has the highest convert retention in the missions in our area. When the Lord trusts us with His children and we show that we are responsible for them, he will bless us with more. Miracles happen.

That evening we taught Vhir and Josie. They are Filipino. We brought someone who spoke Tagalog so they were able to converse with each other. It was a really good lesson. We are going to strive really hard to get them to church.

Saturday we saw a lot of people. We met with Bro Dave and Talked about the Priesthood with him. He loves it. We only brushed the surface of the priesthood. He is doing well.

Sunday we met with Brother Robert in the Evening. He has not gotten an answer that the Book of Mormon is true, but that is because he is not asking a specific enough question. Once he does and recognizes his answer he will know through the Spirit.

This has been a great week. I love serving here. May the Spirit be with you!

Elder Durrant

Pictures 08/06/2012

Elder Judkins, Bro Dave, & Elder Durrant

Elder Judkins, Bro Dave, & Elder Durrant

 

E-mail 08/06/2012

Hello Stupendous family!

This week has been crazy! Saturday was super hot and humid, then we had a huge rain storm, now it is cool outside.

We have been teaching a lot of people. Bro Dave was baptized and Confirmed this past week. It was a great baptism. At first we were in the Relief Society room, but we had to move to the Chapel because there were so many people that came. Someone counted, (including children,) seventy-two people. There were many speakers that gave excellent talks. Dave was baptized by his brother-in-law.  He was also confirmed by him the following Sunday. A lot of good things have happened to him since his baptism. His desires to do good have increased, such as reading as a family every night; and his desire for bad has almost disappeared. I don't remember if I told you, but he was able to arrange to have a two hour break on Sunday so that he can come to sacrament meeting. He is an awesome guy. We have fun lessons with him, too.

We taught Bro Tom this week. It was awesome! We started to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but he still doesn't like the Book of Mormon. When I testified of it, he started disputing and bringing up anti like he had done in the past. Normally we just brush most of it off, and tell him he has to read the Book of Mormon for himself; this time the Spirit prompted us that we needed to defend the Book of Mormon and contend righteously with him, so we did. When we were finished, Bro Tom started to say "so, the Bible might be wrong and the Book of Mormon right, or the Book of Mormon might be wrong and the Bible be right, or they might both be right." at this point he had placed the Book of Mormon on top of the Bible, but stopped when he saw our sudden looks of amazement and excitement. "did I just do a no no?" he said. We replied "no, that is fulfilling prophecy what you just did." We both got the same thought at the same time, Ezk thirty-seven: "They shall become one in thine hand." (yea for scripture mastery!) We shared the scripture with him and I showed him my book, how they were "one in my hand." You could tell he was struck by the Spirit. We then promptly prayed and left. It was awesome!

We are starting to teach a young girl as well. We have taught her twice and have had awesome lessons. She loves the Book of Mormon and has set aside a time to read two chapters every night. Once she comes to church and starts making friends there, she will love it even more.

This was a good week. A lot of good things are happening. The ward here is great. The members are awesome. My companion is awesome, too.

I love you all! May the Spirit be with you!

Elder Durrant