Subject: The miracles are coming (Auburn week 3)
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2012
Hello everyone!
I hope that things are going great for everyone back home! How are all of you doing? I'm thinking about and praying for you all everyday!
Wow, tons has happened over the past week. I won't be able to include everything in the limited time that I have, but I am having so many experiences here in Washington. Some great, some not -- but I've been able to learn something new from all of them. First of all, I want you all to know that I am having so much fun doing what I'm doing. Cory and Aubrey gave me a journal (I've been using it every single day) right before I left, and something that Cory wrote had a great impact on me. He said that you need to enjoy the work you're doing and have fun with it, not simply endure it. I have definitely taken that advice to heart, and I have been enjoying every minute of my mission. I've now been out for over a month, and the time has just flown by. Part of the reason for that is because I love doing what I'm doing. I love talking to people (whether they accept our message or not), and I love sharing the gospel. I had a strong love for the Book of Mormon before I came out, but now that I am here literally preaching about it every second of every day, my love and respect for this book has multiplied many times. Life is good here in Auburn, and things are going great!
First off, you could all use some humor in your stressful lives, right? So Elder Gilbert and I were tracting up in Lakeland Hills last night, and on our way back down to the valley, Elder Gilbert had to go to the bathroom extremely badly (let's just say it was not #1 if you know what I mean). He couldn't handle it any longer, and so he ran up to this man working out in his yard and said: "Can I ask you a huge favor?" The man smiled and asked what it was, and Elder Gilbert asked: "Can I use your bathroom?" The man was outside with his daughter, and her friend, and also some neighbors. Me and all of them just started busting up laughing (poor Elder Gilbert...) The man was awesome though and said: "Yeah, of course. Make yourself at home." Elder Gilbert sprinted inside to use the bathroom while I hung out and talked with the man. His name is Jim, and he was a stud. He works for someone who is LDS, so he is familiar with missions and what we do. He asked me where I was from and how I enjoyed being out serving. He was such a cool guy, and I had tons of fun talking with him, his daughter, and her friend. He's not really interested (yet) in the message that we share, but it was just great talking with him while Elder Gilbert was relieving himself, haha. Elder Gilbert may not want to go to that house again, but it was a good experience, and very humorous as well.
We were out making visits on Saturday morning, and we came across this woman named Verna. She grew up in a foster home in Montana (her foster parents were LDS), so she grew up as a mormon. Once she left the home, however, she stopped going to church and eventually married a Protestant. We asked her if she'd read the Book of Mormon, and she told us that she strictly only reads from the Bible now and that she had no interest in reading the Book of Mormon. At this point, we asked her if we could sing her a song, and she agreed. We sang "I am a Child of God," and the spirit hit her SO strongly. It was the coolest thing in the world. While we were singing to her, her eyes filled with tears. She even joined in singing the last line with us (she remembered singing it as a child). After we sang, we just stood there and let the spirit fill her heart. She was overcome with emotion, and she looked me directly in the eye, her eyes full of tears, and said: "Thank you for reminding me." Oh my goodness, that was such an amazing thing to witness. She asked us if she could have a Book of Mormon (remember that at first she said she had no interest at all in reading it). We happily gave her a copy and she told us she'd read it. She was visiting her son at the time, so she doesn't live in our area unfortunately, but I'm very hopeful for her. God led us to her that day. We were trying to visit another investigator, but she wasn't home, so we knocked on the next door (which was Verna). The spirit definitely directed us there.
You all are probably aware that I hate singing in front of people (it scares me to death), but I have sung for so many investigators since getting to Washington, and it is amazing how it softens people's hearts. Plus they all compliment Elder Gilbert and I on how beautiful we sound -the spirit must soften their ears too- ;) We met with the woman at the bus stop yesterday coming back to our apartment for the day. She saw us and said: "Nope. Not interested. Go away." We asked if we could sing to her, and she agreed. Once finished, she thanked us and completely opened up and started talking to us. We gave her a website card and she promised that she would look at it. It was another awesome experience. So if anyone is reading this who hasn't served a mission yet, don't be afraid to sing to those you meet! We've sung to drug-dealers, gang members... you name it, we've sung to them. No matter who they are or what their backgroud may be, the spirit can always touch them! Don't be afraid to let it!
We had two investigators come with us to Stake Conference yesterday (Selina and Tysen), so that's great! We'll keep getting more out. Selina is Rosa's daughter (I mentioned Rosa in my last email. Selina is eight), and was begging us to let her come to church. We happily took her along! I was pretty nervous considering her first experience going to church would be a stake conference (two hours of sitting, eight years old, etc.), but it went very well. I made her a bunch of church-related word searches to keep her entertained. It was great. We're hoping to put her on-date for baptism tonight! We'll see how everything goes.
The kids in our area love us. It's such a diverse culture here (I've talked to so many people from so many different countries). There are tons of people here from the Marshall Islands, so I've picked up a little bit (not much) of Marshallese. The kids always yell out to us "yokwe" (pronounced yah-quay) which means hello in Marshallese. We yell it back, plus some other Marshallese greetings, and then they'll always run up and give me high-fives. They're awesome. I've picked up and talked to some people in Spanish too, so that's pretty cool. This area is definitely not highly English-speaking in the valley, so we've had to take it as we go.
Well, life is going great and things are definitely beginning to progress here in Auburn! I hope that things are going very well with all of you. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! I love and miss you all. Write me!
Love, Elder Giles
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Subject: Auburn Week 2!
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2012
Hello everyone!
First off I would like to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day yesterday! I hope that your day went very well and that you were able to spend time with the family. I was thinking about you yesterday, and I'm so thankful for you and everything that you have done for me. Thanks for everything dad, I love you! Also, a very Happy Birthday to you tomorrow! A card is on it's way for you! I hope that tomorrow is also great, and that you have a wonderful birthday. I'll be thinking about you!
First off I would like to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day yesterday! I hope that your day went very well and that you were able to spend time with the family. I was thinking about you yesterday, and I'm so thankful for you and everything that you have done for me. Thanks for everything dad, I love you! Also, a very Happy Birthday to you tomorrow! A card is on it's way for you! I hope that tomorrow is also great, and that you have a wonderful birthday. I'll be thinking about you!
Speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday to Becca Smith on Thursday! I hope you have an amazing day Becca, and know that I'll be thinking of you. I have also sent a card out for you, so hopefully you get it soon!
Business items for today. I've been given the okay to give out my personal address. You can either send it directly to me, or you can still send it through the mission office and they'll get it to me. Pros for sending mail straight to my address is that I will receive it a little sooner (maybe a day or two earlier than I would if it was sent through the mission office), and it may be more convenient. Cons could be that in case there is an ET (Emergency Transfer) or another unknown event where I move for an unexpected reason, the mail probably wouldn't find me. That's not too big of a concern, but I guess you never know. So feel free to send it to either address, and I will let you know in advance when I will be moving areas. My address is:
Elder Stephen Owen Giles
1120 37th SE #E101
Auburn, WA 98002
United States
or you can still send it through the mission office:
Elder Stephen Owen Giles
Washington Seattle Mission
10675 NE 20th St.
Bellevue, WA 98004
United States
Here we go. This week has been a tough one, but that's what happens on missions, so it's all good! Like I mentioned in my last email, I am serving in the Mill Pond Ward in Auburn. Downtown Auburn and the majority of the city is in the valley, and a bunch of neighborhoods are up in the hills. My apartment is right at the base of one of the hills, and so our tracting efforts and teaching have mostly occured in the valley so far. The part of Auburn that I am in right now is a little sketchy. There is lots of diversity among the people that live here, and hardly anyone we've talked to speaks English. I don't know any Spanish, and my companion only knows how to say a couple of words and phrases, so it's been a struggle. But hey, with adversity comes blessings!
It was funny because we were tracting last night and we came across yet another man who didn't know any English. My companion tried telling him that we were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Spanish, but he butchered it and the man we were talking to was completely lost. I started to laugh a little bit, and the man looked at me (we were both thinking the same thing -- Elder Gilbert should stop trying to speak Spanish) and both me and the man just started busting up. Apparently Elder Gilbert didn't appreciate that much, and so he told the man: "Elder Giles stinks" because he knew that he wouldn't be able to understand it. The man just smiled and acted as though he knew what had been said. I smacked Elder Gilbert in the head with my missionary planner after he had shut the door. I smelled pretty dang good, actually. It was just a funny situation.
It's funny the people that we run into. We have talked to SO many people over the last week. There are so many people just walking around, and we've knocked on countless doors. Some people listen to us, and then kindly tell us that they aren't interested. Some people listen to us, and then yell at us, and then shut the door. Some people just yell at us until we leave, some just slam the doors in our faces, some try to get us to read anti-mormon literature, etc. It's funny seeing the reactions that the people have. Yesterday was rough, we had about a half-hour stretch where every door was slammed in our face, to which I kindly say under my breath: "Jesus loves you." All these experiences are great though! While there have been many rough bits, there have also come blessings.
Unfortunately we haven't been able to meet with Tyson since our first night. We have an appointment set up for Wednesday that I'm praying will work out. His family seems to be constantly busy, so we haven't been too successful in meeting with them. Keep him in your prayers! Also, we met two girls a few days ago that are awesome! One's name is Rosa, and the other's name in Monique. They are both searching for a purpose in life, and we got the chance to meet with them again yesterday. They asked tons of questions, and really are awesome people. We have another appointment with them tomorrow, so I really hope that we can guide them along the path to Christ and His gospel. Keep them in your prayers also. We are trying to set up a church tour for them. We had one set for last Saturday actually, but when we went to get them they weren't there (stupid Satan...) But we'll keep working on them!
The ward is good. We got to meet a lot of the members at church yesterday. The last missionaries here didn't leave a very good impression though (I had a few members come up to me at church and tell me how great it was to have me because they didn't like the last elders.) They apparently got ET'd, so something happened that shouldn't have. I'm not meaning to bring attention to that, but Elder Gilbert and I are both brand new to the area, and because of past circumstances we came in not having anything to work off of, so we've had to start from scratch. We're hopeful that everything will come together soon, and that we can get the work progressing.
Well, I've got to get going. I'm working my hardest, and come to the apartment every night exhausted, so things are great! We'll get the ball rolling here in Auburn soon. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts on my behalf. I love and miss you all, and hope that everything is going great back home! Dad, I got to meet Elder Tichenor at a Zone Meeting on Friday. When I heard that he was from Mesquite, I asked if he knew Jen and Spencer or the Griffiths. He said he did, and that he was especially good friends with Brett. So it was cool to have that connection. Anyway, watch for my email next week! Love you!
-Elder Giles
It's funny the people that we run into. We have talked to SO many people over the last week. There are so many people just walking around, and we've knocked on countless doors. Some people listen to us, and then kindly tell us that they aren't interested. Some people listen to us, and then yell at us, and then shut the door. Some people just yell at us until we leave, some just slam the doors in our faces, some try to get us to read anti-mormon literature, etc. It's funny seeing the reactions that the people have. Yesterday was rough, we had about a half-hour stretch where every door was slammed in our face, to which I kindly say under my breath: "Jesus loves you." All these experiences are great though! While there have been many rough bits, there have also come blessings.
Unfortunately we haven't been able to meet with Tyson since our first night. We have an appointment set up for Wednesday that I'm praying will work out. His family seems to be constantly busy, so we haven't been too successful in meeting with them. Keep him in your prayers! Also, we met two girls a few days ago that are awesome! One's name is Rosa, and the other's name in Monique. They are both searching for a purpose in life, and we got the chance to meet with them again yesterday. They asked tons of questions, and really are awesome people. We have another appointment with them tomorrow, so I really hope that we can guide them along the path to Christ and His gospel. Keep them in your prayers also. We are trying to set up a church tour for them. We had one set for last Saturday actually, but when we went to get them they weren't there (stupid Satan...) But we'll keep working on them!
The ward is good. We got to meet a lot of the members at church yesterday. The last missionaries here didn't leave a very good impression though (I had a few members come up to me at church and tell me how great it was to have me because they didn't like the last elders.) They apparently got ET'd, so something happened that shouldn't have. I'm not meaning to bring attention to that, but Elder Gilbert and I are both brand new to the area, and because of past circumstances we came in not having anything to work off of, so we've had to start from scratch. We're hopeful that everything will come together soon, and that we can get the work progressing.
Well, I've got to get going. I'm working my hardest, and come to the apartment every night exhausted, so things are great! We'll get the ball rolling here in Auburn soon. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts on my behalf. I love and miss you all, and hope that everything is going great back home! Dad, I got to meet Elder Tichenor at a Zone Meeting on Friday. When I heard that he was from Mesquite, I asked if he knew Jen and Spencer or the Griffiths. He said he did, and that he was especially good friends with Brett. So it was cool to have that connection. Anyway, watch for my email next week! Love you!
-Elder Giles
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Subject: Hello Seattle!
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2012
Hello everyone!
How is everything going with all of you? I hope that things are going great, and know that I'm thinking and praying for you. First off, now that I'm in Seattle I have a new mailing address. It was included in my last email, and is the correct one to use. The mission asks that we have everything sent to the mission office, and they will forward it to us. We do have our own addresses, but are told to have everything go through this address. I would love to receive mail from all of you! My address is:
Elder Stephen Owen Giles
Washington Seattle Mission
10675 NE 20th St.
Bellevue, WA 98004
United States
Hopefully I'll hear from some of you soon. I'm sending this email today because for transfers (every six weeks), the P-Day gets shifted. My P-Day is MONDAY, so that is the day on a weekly basis that you can expect to receive emails from me. Because of transfers, emails weren't able to be sent until today. Alright, here we go. I'm finally in Washington! My time at the MTC flew by, but it's great to finally be here where my real work is. Our flight yesterday went very well, it was just a short flight (less than an hour and a half). It was sad to separate from the elders that were going to Halifax, but we were all very excited to get to our missions.
I was lucky enough to get a window seat, so that was cool. I was the only missionary on the flight not sitting by other missionaries (I guess that means I'm the best! --Nah, that makes me sound prideful). I sat by a girl about 20 years old, non-LDS, who was heading to Seattle for school at UW. She saw all of the missionaries and turned to me and asked how old we were. I told her that we were nineteen and she was shocked. She thought that was a very young age to leave home for (awhile). I put that in parenthesis because she then asked how long we'd be gone. She assumed we'd only be gone for about two or three weeks, so she was stunned to hear that we were actually serving for two years. Before leaving the MTC we are told not to proselyte or talk about the gospel in the airport or on the flight unless someone else asks us about religion, so I didn't tell her much about the gospel, but even still, it's cool how much people respect us for leaving our homes for two years to talk about Jesus Christ.
Flying over downtown Seattle, a flood of memories from Choir Tour came to mind. I got a great view of downtown Seattle (especially the Space Needle) and I felt so happy to be back. I don't know what it is about Washington, but I love being here. The weather was typical, overcast skies with a light rain. Once we got to the baggage claim, we were greeted by President Larkin and his wife, plus his two missionary assistants. President Larkin likes to take tons of pictures (which I can't stand), but it was all good. He's a great president and I'm looking very forward to working with him. We were then taken to the mission home where we had a nice lunch, had interviews with President and Sister Larkin, plus some orientation. We then got to meet our new companions.
My new companion and trainer is named Elder Kurt Gilbert. He has been out for four and a half months, and it will be great to serve with him. He is also from Orem, so I have another connection back to home! He's an awesome elder, but I had to dock points from him because he went to school at Orem High. Other than that though, he's great. We left the mission home soon after meeting our new companions and were all taken to our separate apartments. We had about half an hour to unpack some things, and then just like that we were out proselyting. Crazy right?! I hadn't even been in Washington for a few hours before I was out on the street preaching the gospel. Just in one night we had all of your typical experiences. Doors slammed in our faces, people just wanting to Bible bash, and people who were interested in what we had to offer. Our mission president gave us a challenge to commit someone to baptism the night we got there (I was very nervous when I first heard this), but guess what? We did! His name is Tyson, and he is 9 years old. He comes from a part-member family, and his little sister is planning on being baptized the same day. They've received one or two discussions already (so I guess we can't take all of the credit), but it's still pretty cool.
My first area is the Mill Pond Ward in Auburn, Washington. Auburn is a few miles (not sure how many) southeast of Seattle. It's between Kent and Puyallup for those of you who know the Seattle area, and for those that don't, check out a map! It's a great place. It's a biking area, but neither my companion or I have bikes yet so we've been walking. There are tons of hills in Auburn so we got quite the workout last night hiking tons of hills. We don't walk in this mission, we run. Literally. So we were running from door to door. We get more done that way, and it reminds me of cross-country and track, which rocks.
My first apartment is pretty nice. It's just me and Elder Gilbert. You'll receive pictures of it eventually. Well hey, I don't want to bore you by writing too much, but know that I'm doing well and am working extremely hard. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of last night. I love and miss you all, and hope to hear from you all soon! Thanks for everything, I hope that all is going well!
Love,
Elder Giles
How is everything going with all of you? I hope that things are going great, and know that I'm thinking and praying for you. First off, now that I'm in Seattle I have a new mailing address. It was included in my last email, and is the correct one to use. The mission asks that we have everything sent to the mission office, and they will forward it to us. We do have our own addresses, but are told to have everything go through this address. I would love to receive mail from all of you! My address is:
Elder Stephen Owen Giles
Washington Seattle Mission
10675 NE 20th St.
Bellevue, WA 98004
United States
Hopefully I'll hear from some of you soon. I'm sending this email today because for transfers (every six weeks), the P-Day gets shifted. My P-Day is MONDAY, so that is the day on a weekly basis that you can expect to receive emails from me. Because of transfers, emails weren't able to be sent until today. Alright, here we go. I'm finally in Washington! My time at the MTC flew by, but it's great to finally be here where my real work is. Our flight yesterday went very well, it was just a short flight (less than an hour and a half). It was sad to separate from the elders that were going to Halifax, but we were all very excited to get to our missions.
I was lucky enough to get a window seat, so that was cool. I was the only missionary on the flight not sitting by other missionaries (I guess that means I'm the best! --Nah, that makes me sound prideful). I sat by a girl about 20 years old, non-LDS, who was heading to Seattle for school at UW. She saw all of the missionaries and turned to me and asked how old we were. I told her that we were nineteen and she was shocked. She thought that was a very young age to leave home for (awhile). I put that in parenthesis because she then asked how long we'd be gone. She assumed we'd only be gone for about two or three weeks, so she was stunned to hear that we were actually serving for two years. Before leaving the MTC we are told not to proselyte or talk about the gospel in the airport or on the flight unless someone else asks us about religion, so I didn't tell her much about the gospel, but even still, it's cool how much people respect us for leaving our homes for two years to talk about Jesus Christ.
Flying over downtown Seattle, a flood of memories from Choir Tour came to mind. I got a great view of downtown Seattle (especially the Space Needle) and I felt so happy to be back. I don't know what it is about Washington, but I love being here. The weather was typical, overcast skies with a light rain. Once we got to the baggage claim, we were greeted by President Larkin and his wife, plus his two missionary assistants. President Larkin likes to take tons of pictures (which I can't stand), but it was all good. He's a great president and I'm looking very forward to working with him. We were then taken to the mission home where we had a nice lunch, had interviews with President and Sister Larkin, plus some orientation. We then got to meet our new companions.
My new companion and trainer is named Elder Kurt Gilbert. He has been out for four and a half months, and it will be great to serve with him. He is also from Orem, so I have another connection back to home! He's an awesome elder, but I had to dock points from him because he went to school at Orem High. Other than that though, he's great. We left the mission home soon after meeting our new companions and were all taken to our separate apartments. We had about half an hour to unpack some things, and then just like that we were out proselyting. Crazy right?! I hadn't even been in Washington for a few hours before I was out on the street preaching the gospel. Just in one night we had all of your typical experiences. Doors slammed in our faces, people just wanting to Bible bash, and people who were interested in what we had to offer. Our mission president gave us a challenge to commit someone to baptism the night we got there (I was very nervous when I first heard this), but guess what? We did! His name is Tyson, and he is 9 years old. He comes from a part-member family, and his little sister is planning on being baptized the same day. They've received one or two discussions already (so I guess we can't take all of the credit), but it's still pretty cool.
My first area is the Mill Pond Ward in Auburn, Washington. Auburn is a few miles (not sure how many) southeast of Seattle. It's between Kent and Puyallup for those of you who know the Seattle area, and for those that don't, check out a map! It's a great place. It's a biking area, but neither my companion or I have bikes yet so we've been walking. There are tons of hills in Auburn so we got quite the workout last night hiking tons of hills. We don't walk in this mission, we run. Literally. So we were running from door to door. We get more done that way, and it reminds me of cross-country and track, which rocks.
My first apartment is pretty nice. It's just me and Elder Gilbert. You'll receive pictures of it eventually. Well hey, I don't want to bore you by writing too much, but know that I'm doing well and am working extremely hard. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of last night. I love and miss you all, and hope to hear from you all soon! Thanks for everything, I hope that all is going well!
Love,
Elder Giles
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Subject: Last Email from the MTC!
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2012
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2012
Hello everyone!
How is everything going? Things are continuing to go great here at the MTC, but it will be very nice to get to Seattle soon. I leave the MTC this Tuesday (June 12th). I report to the travel office at 5:00a.m., and will shuttle to SLC from there. Our flight leaves at 8:30a.m. (Mtn. Time) and arrives in Seattle, WA at 9:34a.m. (Mtn. Time). Seeing as Seattle is an hour earlier than our time here, we we will be leaving SLC and arriving in Seattle at pretty much the exact same time. For family, expect a call home sometime on Tuesday morning. I believe that I will be calling from the airport in SLC, so you can probably expect the call between 6:30-7:30ish. I may be able to call from Seattle as well, but I'm not completely sure yet.
From what I know so far, once I'm in Seattle my new mailing address will be:
Elder Stephen Owen Giles
Washington Seattle Mission
10675 NE 20th St.
Bellevue, WA 98004
United States
If any mail happens to reach the MTC after I'm gone, I'm not sure if they'll forward it on to Seattle, or send it back to you. So just be aware if they send it back to send it to the new mailing address. If it changes or is different, I will let you know. But once I leave the MTC, send it to the address I've written and it will get to me. I think that is all the business items I have, so here we go.
This last week has been another busy one. We continue to teach everyday, so we've met with all of our investigators multiple times. Because I told you all about Alexandre in my last email, I will talk about him first. Elder Meldrum and I have taught him twice more since my email last week. We met with him for the third time on Monday, and it was very cool to see how interested he was in what he was reading in the Book of Mormon. He was so excited about how it was a personal guide for him. He mentioned to us that he simply thought that the Book of Mormon was all about Christ (which it is) but what he didn't quite comprehend was the magnitude that it had on a much more personal level. He read all of Alma 32 multiple times, as well as lots of other verses throughout the book and was amazed at how incredible of a guide it is. He told us over and over again how amazing the verses were, and how they aren't just about Christ, but about our own personal lives as well. I love being in situations like this one, because I simply sit back and let them talk and let the spirit work on them. Not only are they teaching themselves while explaining things to us, but they are also teaching us.
During our fourth lesson on Wednesday, things began to shift a little bit. Alexandre believes in God, and he believes in Jesus Christ, but he doesn't understand why we pray in the name of Christ, nor why we get baptized in the name of Christ, when God is the greatest of all. He kept asking us why everything had to go through Christ, and that instead we should do things directly to God. We answered his questions as best as we could, and when he would ask a question that was too difficult to answer, I simply told him that we don't have all of the answers as to why God does things the way that He does, but if we put our faith and our trust in Him, we will know all things in His time. I think that statement had a profound effect on him. Unfortunately it was our last time teaching him, but I trust that the next sets of missionaries who teach him will be able to strengthen the message that we left with him. He's a great man, and it was a privilege to teach him.
This week we also go to teach our less-active investigator in the TRC. His name is Alfred. Wow, he is definitely one of my favorite people I have ever talked to. I believe that he is in his late 70's or early 80's, and he explained to Elder Meldrum and I that the reason he stopped going to church was because he was lazy. We told him of the importance of church attendance and enduring to the end. He accepted our challenge to open and read again from the Book of Mormon, and to pray with a sincere heart, and real intent, about the importance of church attendance. When we taught him after that, he told us that our challenge changed his life. He opened up the scriptures randomly the night after our first lesson and simply pointed to a random verse and read it. That verse happened to be 2 Nephi 33:14 (you'll all have to read it). He immediately noticed the importance of church attendance, and was so excited to share that with us. It was a similar experience to Alexandre's lesson where I sat back and let Alfred speak the words of his heart. The spirit was working on him so strongly, and I definitely learned a lot from Alfred that day. He promised us that he will go to church every week with his wife, and he had such a happiness about him. It was a great experience. After the lesson he gave us both a huge hug and thanked us for leading us to what is now changing his life. What a stud.
Well, there are obviously many more stories and experiences, but my time is now up. If you want to write me and ask about the other experiences, I can let you know through that. Hope that everything is going well! I miss and love you all, and can't wait to hear from you again soon!
Love,
Elder Giles
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How is everything going? Things are continuing to go great here at the MTC, but it will be very nice to get to Seattle soon. I leave the MTC this Tuesday (June 12th). I report to the travel office at 5:00a.m., and will shuttle to SLC from there. Our flight leaves at 8:30a.m. (Mtn. Time) and arrives in Seattle, WA at 9:34a.m. (Mtn. Time). Seeing as Seattle is an hour earlier than our time here, we we will be leaving SLC and arriving in Seattle at pretty much the exact same time. For family, expect a call home sometime on Tuesday morning. I believe that I will be calling from the airport in SLC, so you can probably expect the call between 6:30-7:30ish. I may be able to call from Seattle as well, but I'm not completely sure yet.
From what I know so far, once I'm in Seattle my new mailing address will be:
Elder Stephen Owen Giles
Washington Seattle Mission
10675 NE 20th St.
Bellevue, WA 98004
United States
If any mail happens to reach the MTC after I'm gone, I'm not sure if they'll forward it on to Seattle, or send it back to you. So just be aware if they send it back to send it to the new mailing address. If it changes or is different, I will let you know. But once I leave the MTC, send it to the address I've written and it will get to me. I think that is all the business items I have, so here we go.
This last week has been another busy one. We continue to teach everyday, so we've met with all of our investigators multiple times. Because I told you all about Alexandre in my last email, I will talk about him first. Elder Meldrum and I have taught him twice more since my email last week. We met with him for the third time on Monday, and it was very cool to see how interested he was in what he was reading in the Book of Mormon. He was so excited about how it was a personal guide for him. He mentioned to us that he simply thought that the Book of Mormon was all about Christ (which it is) but what he didn't quite comprehend was the magnitude that it had on a much more personal level. He read all of Alma 32 multiple times, as well as lots of other verses throughout the book and was amazed at how incredible of a guide it is. He told us over and over again how amazing the verses were, and how they aren't just about Christ, but about our own personal lives as well. I love being in situations like this one, because I simply sit back and let them talk and let the spirit work on them. Not only are they teaching themselves while explaining things to us, but they are also teaching us.
During our fourth lesson on Wednesday, things began to shift a little bit. Alexandre believes in God, and he believes in Jesus Christ, but he doesn't understand why we pray in the name of Christ, nor why we get baptized in the name of Christ, when God is the greatest of all. He kept asking us why everything had to go through Christ, and that instead we should do things directly to God. We answered his questions as best as we could, and when he would ask a question that was too difficult to answer, I simply told him that we don't have all of the answers as to why God does things the way that He does, but if we put our faith and our trust in Him, we will know all things in His time. I think that statement had a profound effect on him. Unfortunately it was our last time teaching him, but I trust that the next sets of missionaries who teach him will be able to strengthen the message that we left with him. He's a great man, and it was a privilege to teach him.
This week we also go to teach our less-active investigator in the TRC. His name is Alfred. Wow, he is definitely one of my favorite people I have ever talked to. I believe that he is in his late 70's or early 80's, and he explained to Elder Meldrum and I that the reason he stopped going to church was because he was lazy. We told him of the importance of church attendance and enduring to the end. He accepted our challenge to open and read again from the Book of Mormon, and to pray with a sincere heart, and real intent, about the importance of church attendance. When we taught him after that, he told us that our challenge changed his life. He opened up the scriptures randomly the night after our first lesson and simply pointed to a random verse and read it. That verse happened to be 2 Nephi 33:14 (you'll all have to read it). He immediately noticed the importance of church attendance, and was so excited to share that with us. It was a similar experience to Alexandre's lesson where I sat back and let Alfred speak the words of his heart. The spirit was working on him so strongly, and I definitely learned a lot from Alfred that day. He promised us that he will go to church every week with his wife, and he had such a happiness about him. It was a great experience. After the lesson he gave us both a huge hug and thanked us for leading us to what is now changing his life. What a stud.
Well, there are obviously many more stories and experiences, but my time is now up. If you want to write me and ask about the other experiences, I can let you know through that. Hope that everything is going well! I miss and love you all, and can't wait to hear from you again soon!
Love,
Elder Giles
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Subject: Hello from the MTC!
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012
Date: Thu, 31 May 2012
Hello everyone!
First off, I have some business items that we've been asked to pass along. First off, for family using email, the MTC asks that you use DearElder.com to send messages rather than long emails. When you use that it allows the MTC to print the message the day after you send it and put a hard copy of it in the mail. That way we can read what you wrote all week long, and we won't have to worry about reading a long email and having a shorter amount of time to respond to it. For shorter emails like you've been sending, that's no problem because I was able to read through them quickly. Just in case you all were wondering.
First off, I have some business items that we've been asked to pass along. First off, for family using email, the MTC asks that you use DearElder.com to send messages rather than long emails. When you use that it allows the MTC to print the message the day after you send it and put a hard copy of it in the mail. That way we can read what you wrote all week long, and we won't have to worry about reading a long email and having a shorter amount of time to respond to it. For shorter emails like you've been sending, that's no problem because I was able to read through them quickly. Just in case you all were wondering.
We also have to be cautious of what we as missionaries write, because emails can basically be read by anyone who wants to intercept them. Just so you are aware.
Last item, if you (dad or mom) can look on my Facebook page and send this (and all other emails) to those who posted their email address on my status, that would be great. They are posted under a status I made last week, just scroll down and you'll find them. Thanks!
Okay, here we go. It's only been eight days now and I have already learned so much. Right from Day 1 they immediately threw us into teaching lessons, and so we were teaching people immediately. It's cool the way they set things up here at the MTC. They have volunteers come in to listen to the messages that the missionaries have to share. Some volunteers are faithful members, some are less active, and some are non-members that just come to volunteer. Literally. So we never know if we are teaching an actual member or non-member, so it's a really cool thing to be a part of.
Now to tell you a bit about my district. I am in a district with nine other elders. Four of us are going to Seattle, and the other six are going to Halifax, Canada. My companions name is Elder Shawn Meldrum. He was converted to the church about a year ago, but he knows lots about the gospel. It's interesting teaching with him, because there are obviously things that he doesn't know yet, so I've been able to be a guide for him. The other elders going to Seattle are Elders Orr and Brogan. Elder Orr is from a suburb of Dallas, Texas (McKinney) and Elder Brogan is from Idaho. They are both great guys, and it's been easy getting along with them. The elders going to Canada are Elders Sloan, Gross, (Parker) Hadley, Draycott, Wolsey, and Beckert. Elders Sloan, Gross, Draycott, and Wolsey are all from Canada, and the rest of our district is from the states. Elder Hadley and I are from Orem, and Elder Beckert is from Payson.
I love my district. We are all a funny group of guys, and we get along so well together. We've all learned tons and have been able to have lots of fun at the same time. Because our district splits between Canadians and Americans, we always tease each other about their home countries. Of course we Americans always win. Silly canadians... So basically we are always walking around singing the Star Spangled Banner, and O Canada. It's very entertaining. It's so much fun to be in the same district as Elder Hadley. In the MTC you are with your district about every minute of every day, so we're almost constantly around each other. It's great to have that connection to home here at the MTC.
Quick funny story. We spend most of every day in our classroom, so obviously the days can get kind-of long and we love any break that we get. A few days ago we had been in the classroom for about five straight hours, and our teacher saw that we were all in desperate need of a break. He told us that we could take a quick break and go outside and take three laps around the building. The words that I caught were "break" and "laps." I immediately looked up, made eye contact with Elder Sloan, we both got grins on our faces, and we jumped up immediately and proceeded to sprint out of the classroom, down the stairs, and outside to run our laps. The other elders were being lame and just slowly walked their laps. Silly canadians...
Like I told you before, we've been teaching constantly. We have a lot of investigators here at the MTC, and just like in the field, some investigators are easier to teach than others. I do want to share a very cool experience that happened last night. At the TRC (Training Resource Center - I think), we are teaching a man named Alexandre (pronounced Ah-lex-ahnd). He is known throughout the MTC as the toughest investigator to teach. Our first lesson with him went alright, but he asked tons of questions and was hesitant about what we were telling him. But when we taught him for the second time yesterday, you could tell that he was listening intently and taking in everything that we were telling him. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and then specifically taught him about baptism. The spirit was incredibly strong and he told us that he was ready, and that he wanted to get baptized immediately. We committed him to reading the Book of Mormon, Praying, and to baptism. It was incredible. Everyone else was shocked, because none of them were able to commit him to those things as we did.
Well, my time is up, and it will kick me off if I don't send it now. I'm doing great, and learning tons. Hope all is well with all of you. I love you tons, and love getting your letters! Thanks for everything, and I will talk to you soon. Elder Giles
