S4 E2: koolkool its pretty kool

 (Elder Cummings)

大家好朋友！

So just yesterday we were about to start some companionship study after church and then we were like, "actually let's check the referrals we got this morning first". So we start sending texts to two of them, and then Elder Rands, the stud that he his, said, "Hey let's just straight up call Koolkool". So we did. We gave him a call, turns out his real name is Brian but his friends call him Koolkool...so we now call him Koolkool. We asked if he remembered submitting a request for a Book of Mormon and he was like "Man, you bet I did. With all this craziness going on and seeing where the world is going I need something like that". The man had only ever heard the name Book of Mormon and knew nothing about it, but I am sure was guided by the Spirit to find a copy of the Book of Mormon. We were able to talk to him and testify of the power that comes from reading the scriptures and learning more about God and His plan. Turns out he's working in St Louis for the next 1-2 months, but we're getting some missionaries over there and we'll stay in contact with him. God really is preparing people to hear the Word!

Also, this week our whole teaching pool besides like 3 people have gone off the map so that was kind of crazy. It was really disheartening for a bit knowing how much they are missing out and wondering if we could've done anything differently to have helped them accept the Gospel However, God heard our prayers this week and we found 8 new people! We're back to business thanks to the Lord! Please keep Dominique, J'nell, Jethro, Luis, Betty, Reginald, Regina, Jun, and Tasha in your prayers!

I've been thinking about the power of the Book of Mormon but let me preface it with some thoughts:

For those who struggle to accept anything but the Bible, good on you. Hold fast to that testimony and trust you have in it, don't let the whirlwind and the craziness take you away from God and the Word. But think about what the last verse of the Gospel According to John says and implies, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." (John 21: 25)

The Book of Mormon is a testament of just a few of the "many other things which Jesus did". It testifies of him, the Living Christ, and has only brought me closer to the knowledge and understanding that he is my Savior. It provides solace in times of discouragement and strength in times of need. Christ invites us, "learn of me". From the Bible I have learned more than any other book about the ministry and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the Book of Mormon I have learned more than any other book about His Atonement and infinite sacrifice for me and for you. Knowledge is power. "Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"(John 8:32). Please, read from the Book of Mormon. And I'm not just talking to nonmembers. Please read it if you're not, daily if you can. If you can't, then make time. "May we ever choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong".

 

I'll just leave y'all with one of my favorite Book of Mormon scriptures, 2 Nephi 10:23-25

"23 Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.

25 Wherefore, may God raise you from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the atonement, that ye may be received into the eternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen."

Elder Cummings

Colorado! That's a funny word!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

Happy Valentine's day! Hope you had a fantastic day! This week's title came from a member family we visited. They had the cutest little girl there that yelled, "Colorado! That's a funny word!" when I told them where I was from. I thought it was pretty funny.

We had to drop, or where dropped by, a lot of people we were teaching this week. A lot of them were not progressing. It hurts to leave them because of how much potential I see in them and how much I know the gospel will bless them. I love them. I love the people in Idaho! My love for the people has increased a lot recently. Whenever I feel the love God has for me, I realize that he has that same love for everyone, because we are all children of God. He is our loving Heavenly Father.

Even though we had to drop many people, we did see a miracle. We got a referral from some Salt Lake City missionaries. A return missionary referred us to his cousin named Dre and we started teaching her yesterday! It was a great blessing, and I think we can really help her and her family.

Love you all!

Pictures:

1. Taking a selfie for a mission wide zoom call

2. Elder Maunana made sardine ramen the other day. It looked like one of the nastiest things.

SNOW!

 (Sister Putnam)

 

Hello, all!

Monday: District Hike

We went on a hike on monday as a district for the last pday before Elder Knapp went into quarantine, and it was really fun, the scenery was really nice and I wished I'd taken more pictures.

Tuesday:

We had a social media meeting in the morning and that was really fun. We also had bishop's storehouse. Oh also I got flowers from an admirer! 👀 (lol my parents admire me, it was them)

Wednesday:

We had district council on Wednesday, and afterwards we taught a seminary lesson, so that was awesome!

Saturday: Into the Unknown

So it snowed on Friday evening and it snowed overnight.  We aren't allowed to drive if it's snowing in this mission, so we were stuck at home.  Of course, we went out and made a snowman with the Sisters in the hotel. I've never made a snowman. I didn't know what I was doing. But we did it anyway and we used candy lifesavers for the snowman's eyes. After thawing out inside, we went back outside with the elders and the sisters in the hotel and had a snowball fight and that was awesome cause I didn't know how to make snowballs so I mostly just yeeted snow powder from my arms at the faces of whoever I was trying to hit, or I would kick the powder up. It was awesome!

We also got a referral from a member in the area.  They said they had helped him get his car out of a ditch or something and that the guy was really humble (He's from Africa).  Were super excited to teach him next week! 

Okay, I love you all, hopefully this was a shorter email than usual. I hope to hear from you soon!

Sister Alyssa Putnam

Confused Stonks

 (Sister Putnam)

 

Hello, all! So much has happened this week, it's insane!

Monday:

I talked to the fam, and that was awesome! We also went to the mall and WinCo, typical pday activities. After pday we went over to Bishop's house and he talked about how important it is to be genuine, especially as missionaries.

Tuesday: Spaghetti Sandwiches

We had a lesson with Kristen! Wow that seems so long ago. But yeah we had a lesson with her, and it was great. We read 1 Nephi 1 with her and she is loving the Book of Mormon, so that's amazing!

We went to bishop's storehouse and while we were there a member of our ward texted us and said "hey, I'm feeding you tonight, what would you like for me to bring to you." and we were like "ummmm..." and while we were still deciding, we got another text from a random number saying "how about spaghetti sandwiches from dairy queen?" and then another one from the same rando numero saying "Spaghetti pizza?" "Spaghetti is yummy with anything" so we were like "um okay let's call her and see what's going on" so we call her and she picks up and it was an old lady with a southern accent. If you've ever heard me do an old person impression before, just imagine that. The interaction went like this:

Her: How about this, you bring the buns and I'll make the spaghetti and we'll eat at my house!

Us: um we can't go into member houses right now

Her: okay, well then we can eat on my back porch!

Me: *mentally prepares myself to have to force myself to eat spaghetti smashed between to bread slices in front of this old lady who thinks that's a good thing to eat*

Us: Isn't it kind of cold to eat outside right now?

Her: I think you just don't want to eat spaghetti sandwiches with me! *hangs up*

Us: 😬😬😬

Well, we went back to where we were before, with the other bishop's storehouse volunteers,  and they were all just laughing and we were like "lol you heard our end of the call didn't you" and they were like "um...yeah...that's the end of the call we heard...riiiiiiight..."

and we were like "what?" and turns out brother Davis, who works there, had texted us, but his number wasn't saved in our phone, so we just got pranked, or as Elder Delis said, "he played you like a fiddle!" On the district call that night we found out he'd accidentally texted the Elders we split a ward with first. So, the Elders texted him back like "oh we love spaghetti sandwiches, what time tomorrow will you be dropping them off?"

Wednesday: Confused Stonks

On Wednesday we went on exchanges and said goodbye to Elder Zalesny who is going back to Chile. Then we got Teriyaki and went to district council and then we tried to have a lesson with Jazmine but the internet wouldn't work, so we rescheduled. A member brought us dinner and then Sister Madsen wanted Churros so we went to Azteca and we were about to go inside and then lo and behold Brother and Sister Tennis (from back home in Saudi) came out and greeted us. Turns out Sister Madsen and my mom and Sister Tennis had all conspired to meet up there and that was awesome!

Sunday: Stake Conference

We had stake conference! We tried to send the links to Reba and our new friend Connie, but the link wouldn't let Reba in, so that was really disappointing. She was excited for church :(.  So we sent her the notes we took, even though that's not half as good as going to church. We had our last District Come Follow Me with Elder Knapp since he's going into quarantine next week so that’s really sad. We had a couple of lessons with ward members last night and that was awesome!

okay see you all later, I'll try to add a bunch of more pictures later!

Sister Alyssa Putnam

You guys make the best cookies!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

The title this week was from a man who ie the father of a girl we are teaching. We made them cookies and stopped by and gave it to them. The reason I think it was funny is because it was just from a tub of cookie dough you buy from walmart. (That's the way to go! I usually just grab a spoon and go at it!) Apparently we are good at cooking them though!  We have made a lot of cookies lately. I solemnly declare that food is the way to people's hearts!

Miracle moment of the week: We have been teaching a woman named Autumn for a while. Just recently, her washer stopped working and she desperately needed a new one. We encouraged her to pray about it. Meanwhile a member in the ward, Sister Coletti, had gotten a new washer and dryer several months ago, and kept her old ones in her garage. She had wanted to trash them and throw them in the dump for a while and had several opportunities to, but something seemed to always get in the way of it. Autumn went over several times to wash her clothes at Sister Coletti's but only after Autumn started praying about it, just one or two days later, did the clear impression go through Sister Coletti's mind, "The washer and dryer are for Autumn." We were able to help move them, and now Autumn has a washer and dryer that now work!

It seems like a simple story, a mere coincidence. But I know, and have faith in, a God that cares about us and loves us. Just as a loving Father would, he listened to Autumn's prayer and answered it. God is in the details of out lives. He cares about the things we care about, because he loves us, and we are His children. God knew that Autumn would need a washer, and so he kept Sister Coletti from trashing them.

I love you all! Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day! In this time of love and gratitude, I hope you can all remember and feel of the one who has the greatest love for us all. The one who layed down His own life so that we might live again. Namely God's only begotten son, Jesus Christ.

Pictures:

1. "Look! It's the ocean!", is what Elder Maunana said as he saw this giant puddle in the parking lot of one of the apartment complexes we cover.

2.Every morning we head to the church to exercise. It's pretty fun!

3. The tub of cookie dough!

S4 E1: A good ol' Crawfish Burrl

 (Elder Cummings)

Hey y'all!

Don't have a lot of time so I'll be quick. This week was awesome, my new comp Elder Rands is an absolute beast and the best greenie I could ever ask for. He makes training so easy and he pushes me and makes me a better missionary and that's all I can ask for. He's also a scrumptious cook and I didn't even ask for that so that’s wonderful.

One day this week we were calling a member that we hadn't talked to or seen in a long long time and we're just like "Hey! What's up how are y'all doing? How can we help?" And chatting it up. The whole shebang. Then she was like "Well...do y'all like crawfish?"

Next thing I know is I am biking, leaving Elder Rands in the dust on our way to his very first Crawfish Boil. Or as I learned from a drunk guy, pronounced "Burrl". Two r's or you're saying it wrong. It was awesome we get there, chat it up, get to know everyone and start chowing down on some handpicked Guatemalan crawfish. Though I guess you can't really chow down on crawfish. Sucking down on crawfish sounds weird so let's just say we were feasting on crawfish. Considering Elder Rands had just cooked some homemade fried chicken we were both amazed we ate so much and hadn't had the meat sweats yet. Good times.

Just remember y'all, Paul's message to the Corinthians, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase"(1 Cor 3:6). I have seen in multiple ways this week, too many to describe full, that planting seeds is a very real thing. The sister that had us over for the burrl only had us over because during Christmas time some missionaries in uptown New Orleans remembered their names and made their kids' day. A man we know, once swore to never talk to a missionary again, but after we did service for his daughter a couple times, he now contacts us and has us over to help him from time to time and is so much fun. It happens, we are tools in the Lord's hands. And then, eventually, when the time is right, people are in a position to fully and wholeheartedly accept Christ and His Gospel into their lives. We can plant, someone else can water, but in the end it's all thanks to God. 

Changing through the Savior's atonement

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends a family a person could hope for!

This week was great! We had zone conference, and a man named Shane Littlefield, from the church's missionary department, came and taught us. I learned so much! Most of all, I just gained an enthusiasm for improvement. I've been finding joy in making goals and putting all my effort into achieving them. If we set goals, and make plans to achieve them, we can see real improvement and change! Through the infinite virtue of our Savior's great atoning sacrifice, we can repent, change, and become better! As we come closer to Christ through change, we will be filled with joy! I am so grateful that I can be out here teaching this gospel and message of change to people.

Because of the trainings at zone conference, we decided to set a goal to put Autumn, someone we are teaching, on date for baptism. So after zone conference we visited her and committed her to make a goal to get baptized on March 13! We also found 2 new people to teach this week. Their names are Larry and Dina, and Dina said she would try to come to church this coming Sunday! The Lord is blessing us!

Love you guys! Hope you're doing well!

Sorry, not very many pictures this week.

1. A picture from a few weeks ago of us cleaning the dishes for someone we teach.