June 25, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine

Hello!

This week was pretty strange, we were out of our area or doing random stuff all week.

We had new missionary and trainers meeting on Tuesday which was really good. It is beautiful at the Joseph Smith Birthplace Monument! The meeting was really great, as always. That’s my favorite meeting. 

Wednesday we went on exchange in Nashua NH. We did that because of a meeting the following day, so rather than drive all the way up back, we went on exchange. We had a GREAT time! We talked with these Elders and decided to go hard! On just Wednesday alone, we found 14 new people! They ended up getting just over 30 for the week! We were so busy and met so many great people. Nashua is a bigger city, like Manchester, so that was really fun.

Thursday we had our meeting and it was awesome! Elder Bennett of the 70 came and talked to the whole Mission! He didn’t have time to take a group picture or to talk to other missionaries, but we got to wave! He talked about lots of things, several of which he had talked about when he came to the Mission when I was a new missionary. The most important part in my mind is helping people do things to learn in-between visits. If they only act or progress with us there, then they will never gain the spiritual traction needed to keep moving when we leave.

We played in Phillip’s softball tournament this weekend. It was great to have the ward help us out and I believe it made a big impact on P. :) 

We think life is relatively more smooth now, so we’re excited to get things going in our own area again!

Have a great week! :)
Elder Branch

June 18, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine

Hello!

I’m convinced every time I think it’s really summer here, it’s a trick. It’s like April fools, but each week! ;) It gets warm and we’re sure we’re about to die because our apartment has no ac, nor does it have any windows that would work with an ac. (We have 3 mighty fans though 👍). Then, just when we’re sure the end is near, it’s chilly again the next day and we’re wearing jackets. What a blessing! :)

We did have a splendid week! A. was baptized!! 😃 She worked so hard and she did it! I’m amazed at the true conversion she has had. I’m 193% convinced that if you want to know the church is true, you NEED to read the Book of Mormon. M. read religiously and got all the way to 3rd Nephi before her baptism. A. has read the Book of Mormon almost 2 times through! She brought her copy to the church to have people mark their favorite scriptures at her baptism. We asked if she wanted a new copy, but she said she wanted to use hers! :) When I got to mark mine at the baptism I was so touched. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a classic missionary blue copy of the Book of Mormon that was so worn! It wasn’t worn because of poor care, it had been seriously searched. I have to say again, I was so touched. I hope I’m as awesome as A. when I grow up. :)

We were so busy with that and the Mission tour this week I don’t have a lot more to report. I have been considering how to work smarter, rather than harder as a missionary. Elder Stanfill said we work hard as missionaries. We plan, contact people, and do all we can. What we need to do to move from a good Mission to a great Mission is work smarter.

We have an insane week with New Missionary and Trainers Meeting tomorrow, then exchanges down there the next day before some other big event and meeting we’ll be helping with. So, we’ll get back late Thursday. Then Saturday we are doing the Softball tournament for P. We have dropped his date to be baptized because of how busy he is, but we did a little dtr and decided to take a break for 2 weeks from trying to meet because of his busy schedule. We’ll still send little inspirations though. :)

Life is good, lots of things going on. Hope you all have a great week!
Elder Branch

June 11, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine - transfers

Hello! This week has been great!

Elder Dayley headed up to Vermont, I was sad to see him go. He’ll do well though!

I received Elder Lockwood who is just starting his mission! He is from Ohio and is super awesome! He loves sports and is really kind. He’s doing a super good job and we’ve had some great experiences together already! :)

A. gets baptized Saturday!! She has been getting hit with things still but has done a great job! She’s so excited and so are we! She had us over to celebrate her birthday and gave us lobster, fiddleheads, Maine ginger beer, and a Friendly’s ice cream cake, so it was an authentic 100% Mainer meal! ;) So nice of her!

P. is good, we weren’t able to see him this week but have had good contact. He reached out to us and said he’s really excited for us to visit tomorrow, so that’s a great sign! The ward and we are going to participate in his softball tournament, so we’re pumped to support him and his cause, as well as play some softball! :)

J. is good, we’ve got a good idea of what he needs, and what we can share the next several lessons to help him most. He was busy this week for church but we want to get him to A.'s confirmation.

G. is a really great lady who is RLDS. She had family in town so she missed church, but we’ll see her tomorrow and try to set a baptismal date with her! :)

We, as always, want to emphasize finding this week and find at least 10 new people to teach. It’ll be a busy week, as we have a General Authority (a church leader) coming to speak to us this week so we have to travel.

The weather is getting warmer and we’re loving how nice it is! We’re going to go hike this afternoon to get the most out of this beautiful part of the country.

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Branch:)

Elder Lockwood and I at A.'s "party"!

D. hazing my tadpole

I caught a tadpole!

June 5, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine - transfers and we're speaking espanol this time!

Hey everyone!

It’s been a great week!!
We were able to find a bunch this week and have some solid people from it!

A. is still working hard to get baptized next weekend! She had a rough week with Satan fighting against her, but she is amazing and is still going! We shared the Mormon message “Spiritual Whirlwinds” with her yesterday which she really liked! We also gave her a little drawing on a piece of wood that she liked.  :)

Spiritual Whirlwinds

J. came to church!! :) He showed up for second hour and checked out primary and Sunday school. The lesson was the Word of Wisdom, which is a health code given to us by the Lord, just like He’s always given His followers. The lesson was going really well but then it took a few turns onto things that are not in the Word of Wisdom. Luckily he seems to be ok and not scared off, we’ll be visiting him again tomorrow. It’s always good to remember that everyone is at different points in their gospel learning so we should be careful with what we say in cases of opinion rather than doctrine. If we stick with the Lord's word and simple doctrine, with the promised blessings, we know we will be safe.

A lady named G. has been doing really well! She hasn’t been to church in a while, but has read and believes the Book of Mormon because of past religious affiliation! She loved our chapel and we’re visiting with her again tonight with some members.

Others like P. and A. have been hard to catch, but we have appointments with both this week.

We have a few less active families who really just need friends in the church. We’re hopeful we can find members who will minister to them and be friends. We can only do so much because we come and go. Members in the area reaching out in love can help people make the changes they need. If you don’t know who needs help in your area or community, ask the missionaries! :) They will have some great ideas of those who need a friend and can introduce you.

We got transfer calls and I will be staying! Elder Dayley will be heading off to Vermont. I’ll be training a new missionary who speaks Spanish! It’ll be an adventure for sure! :) Not sure how that will work since I’m just English speaking, but maybe I’ll pick up a little more Spanish, I guess we will all see!

Have a great week! :)