BUILD YOUR HOUSE UPON A ROCK! - January 27, 2014

Hey fam,

So this week I was sick in bed pretty much the whole time. It sucked. I had some pretty bad migraines, and I was nauseous and all sorts of bad stuff! I even felt random sharp pains all over my body, so I was afraid I had shingles!! D: But I feel a bit better now, and all I have is major congestion and a slight sinus infection. I just felt bad for Elder Petersen. He really wanted to work, and I just wasn't feeling up to it, but we will make up for all that this week!

Saturday and Sunday, I got to go through the area a bit, and it seems pretty promising. It looks like a good area. And people are actually normal!!!! LOL This place reminds me a lot of Camas actually. I love it! Even the church building is almost an exact replica of the Parkers Landing building. Haha!  The members are awesome!

 Elder Petersen is my companion. He's a good kid. He's from Centerville, Utah. I challenged him to read the Book of Mormon in 20 days. So we're going to do it as a companionship. 

We are in a biking area, so I no longer have my precious car! Last week, when my old companions and I were riding bikes, I fell on the bike and broke something in my gears, so right now I'm riding my bike on one of the highest gears, cuz that's the only one that works. Haha! So we have a member who is going to fix that this week!

We went to dinner at this one members house who told us that their 6  month old granddaughter just passed away from what I think was a large heart. They were just heart-wrenched, and they said they were so proud of their son and his wife for their strength and their courage and their testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I couldn't imagine how they feel, but it is times like those where we need to have the solid foundation of the gospel, so when the winds and the tempests come through, our house is built upon a rock!

I love you all, and have a fantastic week! 

TRANSFERS - January 21, 2014

Family!

This week I got transferred! It's pretty funny. Sunday night we were supposed to get transfer calls. I was so expecting to leave the Binghamton Ward and on Sunday night, if you don't get a call, you aren't being transferred. So it got to be 11:30 pm at night and still no call. So I called the Zone Leaders to ask them if I was getting transferred, and they said probably not if I didn't get a call yet. I was sooooo upset. I so desperately wanted to get transferred. Don't get me wrong, I love love love the Binghamton ward, but there is just not much work going on in the Foothills area. So, I was pretty upset, so I text-ed one of our AP's and asked "are you serious?? I'm really not getting transferred??" He called me and said, "sorry, I forgot you guys!" Haha! So I did get transferred-  to the Tucson North Zone in the Countryside Ward. I'm training an Elder Peterson. I just met him today. He is pretty interesting. I think he a little struggly in grasping things. This transfer should be interesting.

So this last week, one of my companions had an interview with President Killpack and told him he no longer has the desire to do missionary service. He so desperately wants to go home, so he did. He left yesterday. It's a bummer when someone's pride gets in the way. They look only at what they want and what they need, and decide they don't want to serve other people. However, what they don't realize is that when we serve other people, we actually serve ourselves. It builds character and humility. It sucks that he went home. 

Also this week, we stopped by our investigator's house, and we walked in on him "huffing" on dust spray. That stuff is so dangerous, it can kill you in a heartbeat. He was as high as a rocket. So we took it away from him, and sat him down and asked him what was going on, and he said that he is just bored and has no school or work. We then shared with him a scripture that shares how we can gain strength from the Lord. But he was high and crazy during the whole lesson. So that was crazy. That was the last time I saw him. 

So I said goodbye yesterday to all of my Binghamton family; the Chesley's the Cannata's the Frederico's. They all are awesome and make my mission feel so much at home. (this does my heart so much good! I know we try to welcome our missionaries here and try to treat them like our own sons - it makes us feel like we are taking care of Micah when we are taking care of them. So...thank you to the Chesley's, Cannata's and Frederico's and all future families who will care for my son, and all missionaries!)

 I love you all! And hope you have a fantastic, wonderful, and adventurous week!!! 

THE LAST BREAKFAST

Sister Chesley had the Elders over for Breakfast as Elder Wise and Elder Faustini are getting transferred to Tucson North tomorrow. I will miss having Sister Chesley as a contact b/c she sends me pics regularly :)
Left - Right: Elders Faustini, Wise, Teichert, Kellogg and Porter

OBEDIENCE - GOT IT? January 13, 2014

Hey family!

This week was pretty exciting! Except for the fact that President Killpack text-ed us a day before the Conference in Phoenix and said Elder Holland's schedule changed last minute and would not be able to attend...? BUMMMER! I was looking forward to seeing and hearing from an apostle, but we got to hear Elder Jim Wright from the Seventy, so that was pretty cool too.

I'm glad I got to go to Phoenix and see Elder Parsons! (Elder Parsons is the brother of Elder Wise's sister in law. He is currently serving a mission in Phoenix, AZ. The two missions united to hear Elder Holland come to speak but apparently he couldn't make it) We got a picture together! It was good to see him! 

This week, we found a lot of new investigators. One of which, whose name is Terrance, has a background with the church, and we taught him the first lesson and he accepted a baptismal date. 

So I guess earlier this week, there was a huge cold front or something throughout the U.S., and guess who had the hottest temperature out of the whole United States?? THAT'S RIGHT! Tucson, Arizona! I'm starting to get used to the sun, but I'm not looking forward tot the summer. That will be an adventure. Hopefully I am in New Mexico with a car and AC. That would be nice. Haha!

Next week is transfers, and it is safe to assume that I will be leaving the Tucson stake. I love it here, and I have so many memories of my first area, and I love and will miss everyone here. But I know that my mission holds more adventures outside of Tucson.

Well, since we went to Phoenix this last week, President Killpack has asked that we cut down on our car miles. So starting tomorrow, my companionship and I are biking.....we have a huge area with very little people. So this will be fun. I just pray that the sun will be merciful.

This week, I have been pondering a lot on how why being obedient is important in being the role of a representative of Jesus Christ. Last p-day, my companionship decided to shop in JC Penny. One Elder - before going, dressed out of pros, and in normal clothes - without a name tag! I told him he needs to go in pros, and he flipped out at me. Then, once we get into JC Penny, another Elder just takes off! He just disappears out of nowhere. So I was just like okay, whatever. If they want to be disobedient, it's their mission. But then I see my district leader walk up, and behind him our two zone leaders, and to think it couldn't get any worse, President Killpack walks up behind them. One Elder jumps behind a clothes rack, and the other Elder is nowhere to be seen. So I'm stuck out in the open, and everyone sees me. President asked me where my companions were. The one Elder came out of the clothes rack. President asked me where my other companion was, and he comes up behind president and tries to hide the fact that he was in the mall alone (who also decided not to wear a name-tag that day) So president chewed them out, and discussed with us the importance of being obedient, always having the name "Jesus Christ" over our heart, and always always being with a companion. President told us how we can't preach other people repentance when we are disobeying the rules and guidelines Jesus Christ himself has set for us. So, I felt pretty bad, and my companions felt horrible. So I am recommitting myself to being an obedient missionary. And through that, I know I will have the spirit with me more throughout my mission.

I love you all and have a good week! 

OKIE DOKIE THEN... - Monday, January 6th, 2014

Family, 

This week was pretty productive! Our whole ward blitzed this huge apt. complex, and we found three newbies! This girl and her husband, Roy, who are super interested. and we knocked on this door, and an older man answered and just said "You wanna talk?" and waved us in. Haha! We didn't even say anything. We went in and found out he is a Catholic ministerial servant.We gave him the lesson of the Restoration, and we introduced him to the Book of Mormon, and we had him read Moroni's promise, and he just stared at it for like 3 minutes. The spirit was totally there. It was awesome.

We are meeting with Jack regularly now, but this week we got a referral from the MTC for a guy named John. So we went to visit him, and he invited us in, and we talked for a little bit, and I could tell he was mentally challenged in a way, so I asked him. He said he got in a car accident in college, and his friend died but he didn't but had major brain damage. I felt pretty bad for him, and we began to teach him. I introduced the Book of Mormon, and said "Jesus Christ actually showed himself to the people of America." and then he said "Christ was alive with the animals?"........ I didn't know quite what to say to that, but he was retaining nothing that poor guy.Then he tried to order some pizza with his phone, and he called and started yelling at the top of his lunges demanding pizza, and we heard the girl on the other line and say she was going to call the cops and then hung up. Then he went in the back room and came out with a pistol in his hand, and just watched out the window for 5 minutes in silence. I looked at my companions and they were so freaked out, and we didn't know what the heck to do. So I said "well we gotta go, so is there anything we can do for you?" And he said "Get me some damn pizza!" And I said ok. (I can just see Micah here sayin' OKIE DOKIE...in Tommy Boy style... LOL) So he let us leave and I went and bought a five dollar pizza and set it on his doorstep. So that was definitely the most scary part of my mission so far!

There are just so many messed up people in the world. I feel bad for John because he is unable to understand the gospel. It just made me think this week of how merciful our Heavenly Father is and how loving he is because I know that Heavenly Father will understand John's situation. People look at the world and see how much chaos there is and ask how can there be a God? But we need to look at how much good there is in the world, and then we will know without a doubt that there is a loving heavenly father watching out for us. There is hardship in the world, but it is meant for our growth and our understanding. And if we just lift all of our burdens through Jesus Christ and the atonement, we will know peace and comfort in this life. That's the beautiful thing about the atonement. It's a gateway to happiness. And I hope everyone has the opportunity to experience that. I love all of you and have a great week!