Monday-Thursday we just did work and visited lots of our less-active members. I can't remember if anything cool happened but I'm sure something did. On Thursday night I started an exchange with Elder Doyle. He came into our spanish pool for Friday, starting at Thursday follow-up. So that went well, we taught a couple of less-active families and I got to talk to Elder Doyle so that was fun. He's really cool. And It turns out that he sold Security Systems with Siron and he knows Jared and Paul. He met Jared when he was selling in California. Elder Doyle is an awesome missionary and we've become good friends in the past couple of weeks. He's 23 and he and I both came to New York at the same time but we have never served around eachother until now. Anyway, so it was a good exchange.
Then on Saturday morning we went to the Falcon's home for lunch/breakfast at 11:00 sister Falcon is from Northern Chile and her husband is from Peru. She made us empenadas and pancakes. It was nice. Also on Saturday the English ward had an activity that the Relief Scociety pres. put on. They had a lunch for all of the investigators and all the missionaries and some members were invited. We stopped in to say hi to Bob Tut. He is doing great. The elders visited him the other day and he wanted to be be baptized that day, but they told him he has to learn some more first and they set a Bap. date for the 30th. I talked to him about when I talked to him on the street during the "street sweep". I had tried to talk to him in spanish but didn't know what I was saying and told me he didn't speak spanish. It was fun to talk to him at the party. It will really cool to see him baptized. He's the coolest Egyptian soon to be mormon in the whole world.
Sunday was a really great day. We normally have about 80 people at church on Sundays. But almost every less-active family that we work with came to church! Elder Gamez and I counted the people and there were 124! We felt like we had really accomplished something amazing, with the help of the Lord. It was awesome! And the Ramos family from Little Neck came to our branch this week and they said they are going to start coming every week because they can't go to Little Neck at 9 so they will come to Flushing at 1:00. After Church we went over to the familia Carpintero for a family home evening. It was really nice and they had invited a less-active family as well. It was great. We talked about the stripling warriors. Then we had some hot chocolate and some taquitos.
Today we are going to go to the Queens Center mall. and we are going to go teach 2 less-active families later tonight.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011
We had a really good week this week. We visited a lot of less-active families and lots of them came to church! One of the families has a 9 year old daughter that has not yet been baptized and she told us that she wants to be baptized. Her parents are not very active but they said it was ok and her and her older sister come to church each week. She will be baptized on Jan. 23.
My new Egyptian friend, Abdulwahab Ahmed(Bob Tut) came to the english branch this week and he has already read almost half of the Book of Mormon. The english elders are going to his house to teach him today. We went to the english/chinese ward's sacrament meeting because a Spanish high councilman was giving a talk and they needed us to translate to english then the chinese elders translated to chinese. pretty cool. I sat next to Bob Tut and answered his questions. He's pretty much my best friend... well I'm his best friend.
My legs are getting accustomed to walking all day but yesterday we had to run to an appointment and my lungs hurt a lot after. I think is the "bubble asma" from the bad air quality at the AFFC.
We had a really good week this week. We visited a lot of less-active families and lots of them came to church! One of the families has a 9 year old daughter that has not yet been baptized and she told us that she wants to be baptized. Her parents are not very active but they said it was ok and her and her older sister come to church each week. She will be baptized on Jan. 23.
My new Egyptian friend, Abdulwahab Ahmed(Bob Tut) came to the english branch this week and he has already read almost half of the Book of Mormon. The english elders are going to his house to teach him today. We went to the english/chinese ward's sacrament meeting because a Spanish high councilman was giving a talk and they needed us to translate to english then the chinese elders translated to chinese. pretty cool. I sat next to Bob Tut and answered his questions. He's pretty much my best friend... well I'm his best friend.
My legs are getting accustomed to walking all day but yesterday we had to run to an appointment and my lungs hurt a lot after. I think is the "bubble asma" from the bad air quality at the AFFC.
January 3, 2011 Queens NY
I've been very lazy about posting any of Stephen's letters. Rather than trying to catch up I'm just going to start with January 2011. A couple of days before Christmas Stephen was transferred to the Flushing Queens area. It is the first time in his mission that he won't have a car. He will be walking or riding the bus. He hasn't sent any pictures of this area yet but I will post them when we get some.
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This week we spent a lot of time walking to peoples apartment to see if they were home and they were NEVER home. So we just kept walking and walking. Luckily I bought some nice boots on Monday and they kept my feet dry as I tromped through all of the slush and snow. We had a lot of good visits with some less-active members this week and two of the families came to church this week.
For new years eve we had to be in our apartments before 6:00 p.m. So we worked until 6 then went back to our apartment to update our area book and make plans for the upcoming week.
On Saturday, new years day, we had a "Street Sweep" with the whole zone. I spent the whole morning boiling water and pouring it into a big cooler for our free hot chocolate stand.
We filled it up with about 8 gallons of watter and then dumped 2 buckets of cocoa and I don't know how many little packets we put in, but it was a lot. I will show you a picture of the kitchen full of cocoa boxes and little cocoa packets. The street sweep went pretty well. It actually turned out to be a pretty warm day. We started at about 11:45 and it was probably 45 or 50 degrees outside. but it cooled down and everybody started taking the hot chocolate and we talked to lots of people. I talked to a man from Egypt for about 45 min. He told me that he was King Tut's great grandson but I wasn't so sure about it. He said you could tell because of the shape of his eye's...Anyways he has been in New York for about 2 months. He was interested in a book of mormon so I gave him a pass along card to call and order and he call the number right there and handed me his phone. So I talked to some girl in the referral office and we decided that it would be easier if I just gave the man a book of mormon right there. So I found one that another missionary had and gave it to him. He wanted one in Arabic so I picked up an Arabic copy from the church yesterday and we'll bring it to his house today or tomorrow. Then the English elders will hopefully start teaching him. He said his country is Muslim but he believes that we all worship the same God. He was very nice and he told me that when his daughter comes from Egypt that I can be her "friend"... Supposedly she is a gymnast and has the best grades in her Egyptian college. I told him I was leaving in July so it probably wouldn't work out. He gave us his number and told me to call him Bob Tut because his first name was Akawhajadab or something and it was to hard to say. The cool thing about New York is that there really are people from all walks of life and from any country you can think of.
My companion and I don't have too many investigators right now that we are teaching but we are really trying to do work with the less actives and all of the members so we can gain their trust and teach their friends and family. At the same time though we have to keep talking to everyone and trying to find people on our own. But there are lots of great members here and I have high hopes for the future. There are a couple of Chilean families in our ward so that's pretty cool. One of the Chilean members, Hermana Falcon, told me she was going to make me some empenadas so I'm excited for that.
Today we are going to go get some food from target for the week and we have a zone activity. For the zone activity we are going Ice skating, hopefully I don't hurt myself. I'll let you know if i do. I also forgot to bring my camera so I won't send any pictures this week. Next week I'll send you some pictures so don't fret.
Everything is going great. It's a little cold, but I got the package from and Ann with my Thermals in it so hopefully they will help keep me warm. Have and awesome week and have fun and all your camp outs!
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This week we spent a lot of time walking to peoples apartment to see if they were home and they were NEVER home. So we just kept walking and walking. Luckily I bought some nice boots on Monday and they kept my feet dry as I tromped through all of the slush and snow. We had a lot of good visits with some less-active members this week and two of the families came to church this week.
For new years eve we had to be in our apartments before 6:00 p.m. So we worked until 6 then went back to our apartment to update our area book and make plans for the upcoming week.
On Saturday, new years day, we had a "Street Sweep" with the whole zone. I spent the whole morning boiling water and pouring it into a big cooler for our free hot chocolate stand.
We filled it up with about 8 gallons of watter and then dumped 2 buckets of cocoa and I don't know how many little packets we put in, but it was a lot. I will show you a picture of the kitchen full of cocoa boxes and little cocoa packets. The street sweep went pretty well. It actually turned out to be a pretty warm day. We started at about 11:45 and it was probably 45 or 50 degrees outside. but it cooled down and everybody started taking the hot chocolate and we talked to lots of people. I talked to a man from Egypt for about 45 min. He told me that he was King Tut's great grandson but I wasn't so sure about it. He said you could tell because of the shape of his eye's...Anyways he has been in New York for about 2 months. He was interested in a book of mormon so I gave him a pass along card to call and order and he call the number right there and handed me his phone. So I talked to some girl in the referral office and we decided that it would be easier if I just gave the man a book of mormon right there. So I found one that another missionary had and gave it to him. He wanted one in Arabic so I picked up an Arabic copy from the church yesterday and we'll bring it to his house today or tomorrow. Then the English elders will hopefully start teaching him. He said his country is Muslim but he believes that we all worship the same God. He was very nice and he told me that when his daughter comes from Egypt that I can be her "friend"... Supposedly she is a gymnast and has the best grades in her Egyptian college. I told him I was leaving in July so it probably wouldn't work out. He gave us his number and told me to call him Bob Tut because his first name was Akawhajadab or something and it was to hard to say. The cool thing about New York is that there really are people from all walks of life and from any country you can think of.
My companion and I don't have too many investigators right now that we are teaching but we are really trying to do work with the less actives and all of the members so we can gain their trust and teach their friends and family. At the same time though we have to keep talking to everyone and trying to find people on our own. But there are lots of great members here and I have high hopes for the future. There are a couple of Chilean families in our ward so that's pretty cool. One of the Chilean members, Hermana Falcon, told me she was going to make me some empenadas so I'm excited for that.
Today we are going to go get some food from target for the week and we have a zone activity. For the zone activity we are going Ice skating, hopefully I don't hurt myself. I'll let you know if i do. I also forgot to bring my camera so I won't send any pictures this week. Next week I'll send you some pictures so don't fret.
Everything is going great. It's a little cold, but I got the package from and Ann with my Thermals in it so hopefully they will help keep me warm. Have and awesome week and have fun and all your camp outs!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Happy Birthday Stephen - June 10th
I had a good birthday week. We taught lots of people and found some new investigators. On my birthday we taught a man named Hector in the morning. The lesson went very well. Later in the afternoon we went to sis. Martinez' home for dinner. It was a good day in the mission field, but it didn't feel much like a birthday, but it was a good day. I got your package that night so we put the hats on and took some pictures at our apartment.
We started teaching a Dominican girl that I think is really going to progress quickly. We've only met with her 2 times, we teach her on her front porch in Queens Village. Last time we read the Intro and 1 Nephi Chp. 1 with her. I asked her what it would mean to her if the Book of Mormon was true, and she said something to the effect that, It would mean that there really was a prophet and that this would be the only true church. For some people it's hard to get them to make that connection. So i was super excited when she said that. She is going to keep reading as far as she can until we see her on Friday. We'll probably stop by the McDonald's she works at and say hi, sometime before Friday. So i have high hopes for her.
We have some other investigators that are interested but are kinda busy. And they call and cancel appointments. We know that they are interested because they call and tell us instead of just not being home when we come over for our appointments. Elder Reyes and I have been working hard and I think we're going to see some success very soon. Bro. Stephen Allen, who is over all of the missions in the world, and he also headed the making of Preach My Gospel, came to visit our mission. He said that our mission was the most prepared place he had seen and he believes that we can baptize a lot more that we are. We just need to "Consecrate" ourselves as missionaries. I myself have been trying to be better and always talk to people wherever I go. It's easy just to walk passed people on the street and not say anything, but all i have to do is open my mouth and that person might be willing to except the Gospel and gain eternal life. I have discovered that me feeling kinda stupid for stopping someone and trying to talk to them really doesn't matter. Because if they listen it could change their life and the lives of their family, for eternity. It's not fun to be rejected, But its worth it when you find someone willing to listen.
I hit my 11 month mark tomorrow, that means i need to get to work before time runs out! Time just keeps on going even if we don't pay attention to it. I wish you all a wonderful week, and Dad, A Happy Fathers Day on Sunday!!! Your the best dad a boy could ask for. Have a great week!
Well we had a pretty good week. We didn't teach a million lessons but it was a good week. We met some cool people and had some good lessons with them. We are teaching a lot of people that haven't really had much of a religious experience in their lives. So we've been helping them understand who Heavenly Father is and that they can communicate with Him through sincere prayer.
The end of the Transfer is July 6. Next transfer I get to go to the temple for my 1 year mark. I'm excited for that. Elder Reyes and I are pretty sure that one of us is leaving. We will know for sure on Saturday. I hope I stay here. I really like the ward here in Little Neck.
I will probably take the Subway for the first time on my mission on our way to the Temple next transfer. It's kinda funny that I have been in New York for almost a year and still haven't taken a Bus or a Train! I will some day.
The end of the Transfer is July 6. Next transfer I get to go to the temple for my 1 year mark. I'm excited for that. Elder Reyes and I are pretty sure that one of us is leaving. We will know for sure on Saturday. I hope I stay here. I really like the ward here in Little Neck.
I will probably take the Subway for the first time on my mission on our way to the Temple next transfer. It's kinda funny that I have been in New York for almost a year and still haven't taken a Bus or a Train! I will some day.
June 21st Little Neck
On Friday we had a good lesson with our investigator Roberto. He told us that he asked his boss(who is jewish) if he could have sundays off and he said yes! and he told us that he prayed about the book of mormon and felt peace in his heart. so we're excited for him. He told us he wants us to keep teaching him and he will come to church and that he eventually wants to be baptized. So that was great to hear.
We had a good Sabbath day yesterday and it sounds like you guys had a good father's day. Have a great week, and try to share the gospel, even though most people are members in Utah.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Coming up on the 1 year mark...
Over a year ago, Stephen lost his wallet somewhere on the property of his BYU roommate's home in Heber. They looked for hours for it. This spring his roommate's father found the wallet while working in a pasture. Stephen was so excited because it had a $50 PF Changs gift certificate in it and...there is a PF Changs near his apartment. He had us send it to him. You can see from the photos that he was excited about it!
There's not too much to report this week, but everything is going fine. I realized this week that in a little over a year I am going to have to take my name tag off, and i won't be able to wear it again. This is the only time i will ever have to walk the streets of New York preaching the gospel, so i can't waste a minute. I feel re-motivated to work hard and to always be looking for people to teach.
There's not too much to report this week, but everything is going fine. I realized this week that in a little over a year I am going to have to take my name tag off, and i won't be able to wear it again. This is the only time i will ever have to walk the streets of New York preaching the gospel, so i can't waste a minute. I feel re-motivated to work hard and to always be looking for people to teach.
Memorial Day 2010
Elder Reyes and I saw a lot of success.Elder Reyes and I have been really working hard and we found some new investigators this week. And we taught the most lesson that we have ever taught together.
Thursday was an interesting day. We had an appointment with a old Potential investigator and we visited them in the late afternoon after weekly planning. It turned out that they were not interested at all. It was a puerto rican family that only spoke english, they had two teenage daughters that had their boyfriends over when we came. The fact that they only spoke english made it so everything fell on me. I could tell that they were not going to take anything seriously so i did my best to share a short simple, uplifting message. The mother sat down and listened a little, but they really didn't care. It was awful. They really didn't give a hoot about what we had to say and it was sad. after we left i felt terrible inside. I really didn't feel like doing anything. I felt like Lehi when the Jews mocked him, or something like that. It was no fun. But we kept working and ended up teaching 2 other lessons and setting up return appointments with 2 people that seem very prepared. I felt very happy at the end of the day and will always remember that day. I felt sooooo discouraged. but kept going and the Lord provided the miracle.
Wednesday was 98 degrees outside and we spent the morning looking up former investigators in Queens Village. we walk a lot and it was really hot. And after a while a man an woman from Guyana let us in. They were hindu but like all religion, we taught them the restoration and then she made us Curry and Rice. I was so grateful to get out of the sun and have a home cooked meal. it was really cool. I didn't even know that Guyana is in South America. They were very kind and we gave them a book of mormon and they plan on reading it. At least the Husband, but he just wants to read not have the english elders come and teach them.
Something kinda funny happened the other day. We talked to this guy who was having a BBQ in his backyard and his first name is ELDER. I almost started laughing when he said it, but luckily i was able to hold it in. At first he was excited to meet two people with his same name, but we crushed his hopes when we told him it was just a title that meant missionary. Elder Reyes and i think that his mother must have known some missionaries and decided to name her son Elder. Anyway we are teaching Elder, and who knows what will happen if he gets baptized.
Thursday was an interesting day. We had an appointment with a old Potential investigator and we visited them in the late afternoon after weekly planning. It turned out that they were not interested at all. It was a puerto rican family that only spoke english, they had two teenage daughters that had their boyfriends over when we came. The fact that they only spoke english made it so everything fell on me. I could tell that they were not going to take anything seriously so i did my best to share a short simple, uplifting message. The mother sat down and listened a little, but they really didn't care. It was awful. They really didn't give a hoot about what we had to say and it was sad. after we left i felt terrible inside. I really didn't feel like doing anything. I felt like Lehi when the Jews mocked him, or something like that. It was no fun. But we kept working and ended up teaching 2 other lessons and setting up return appointments with 2 people that seem very prepared. I felt very happy at the end of the day and will always remember that day. I felt sooooo discouraged. but kept going and the Lord provided the miracle.
Wednesday was 98 degrees outside and we spent the morning looking up former investigators in Queens Village. we walk a lot and it was really hot. And after a while a man an woman from Guyana let us in. They were hindu but like all religion, we taught them the restoration and then she made us Curry and Rice. I was so grateful to get out of the sun and have a home cooked meal. it was really cool. I didn't even know that Guyana is in South America. They were very kind and we gave them a book of mormon and they plan on reading it. At least the Husband, but he just wants to read not have the english elders come and teach them.
Something kinda funny happened the other day. We talked to this guy who was having a BBQ in his backyard and his first name is ELDER. I almost started laughing when he said it, but luckily i was able to hold it in. At first he was excited to meet two people with his same name, but we crushed his hopes when we told him it was just a title that meant missionary. Elder Reyes and i think that his mother must have known some missionaries and decided to name her son Elder. Anyway we are teaching Elder, and who knows what will happen if he gets baptized.
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