Redneck Ingenuity

The good ol' South

Buenos!

Well this week definitely had its highs and lows, but we tried our best this week, so that's what counts. Right now we are having this re-occurring problem of finding new investigators, setting up returns,going back to see them, and they fall off the face of the earth (so to speak) and we can't ever find them again. Also, none of our main people are keeping their commitments right now, so that's been a little frustrating. But, we still had lots of positives this week! We weren't able to meet with some of our main people this week, but Tuesday night we had a great lesson with E all about keeping commitments, and we really felt the spirit guiding us to address his concerns and needs. We also met with K, our excommunicated member who wants to come back, and we started teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. Also this week, we saw A after church and had another great lesson with him.

Wednesday was a busy day. In the morning, we had a meeting for new missionaries and their trainers in Knoxville, so that was fun. We had lots of great trainings by the AP's and Pres. Griffin. After the meeting, we went on exchanges with the Chatt Valley elders. Our DL, Elder P, went with Elder M back to Dalton, and I got to spend a day in Fort Oglethorpe with Elder W, who is also a greenie. We had a good day, got to do some tracting, visited some less-actives, and then had dinner with an older couple in the ward and they made us a southern feast! Deep-fried chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and biscuits, with brownies/ice cream for desert. It was probably one of the best meals I've had on my mission.

This week we had a lot of random opportunities to help people with car problems. We were teaching a family on their porch when all of a sudden the neighbor came running over explaining that she needed to get her friend to the hospital, but her car wouldn't start, so we hooked up the cables and jump-started the car. That was fun. Other story from this week: we were driving along when we saw a truck that had gotten stuck in a ditch with the back-left tire stuck up the in the air. So, they had us hop in the back of the truck to see if we could weigh down the back tire so that they could back out. Well, everyone passing by stopped to help, so pretty soon there were about ten of us in the back of the truck and we finally got the tire down, and they were able to back out. One of the guys said, "Well, with enough redneck ingenuity, we'll get 'er done!" Haha.

This week, we have really been focusing on how to get members more involved and more excited about the work. We have been working hard, trying to get these members pumped up, and we are seeing a change in the attitude of the ward. People are starting to come out with us more, and everyone is getting excited about the next Ward activity, telling us about all the people they're going to invite. Things are looking good here in Dalton. One example we've seen is our members the G family. We had dinner with them and their friend Y and her daughter G. After teaching them the Restoration, we invited Yaneth to go to Women's conference with Hermana G. Well, Y went and she loved it! We are really hoping we can continue to teach her more! We never know what can happen when we invite! That's the key: Invite!!!

Sorry that was a lot of stuff. Anywho, my ponderizer this week comes from Jacob 1:7-8 which says, "Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest...Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ..." Sometimes missionary work is so hard because we just wish that everyone would be persuaded to keep their commitments and accept the gospel. But, all we can do is labor diligently and keep inviting people to Christ. Just invite! Invite, invite, invite! That's my invitation to y'all this week: invite someone you know to hear about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! Invite someone to watch conference this weekend! We have the greatest message on earth, and this world needs it! Even if people say no, just keep inviting! I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Some of his old district at the trainer/trainee meeting.

All of them are training now.

Last p-day they went on a hike in the "mountains" outside Dalton

Calling Dalton to repentance

Elder M enjoying the view

Part of his district

Help!!

Led by the Spirit

Tracting to a goat?

Buenos!

Well, we had a pretty good week here in Dalton, there is a lot to report. This week we were once again able to teach a lot, and we are having lots of success in finding new people. The only problem we are   having is finding people who are genuinely interested and are going to progress. But the work keeps rolling on here in Dalton.

This week started off with a bang: Zone Conference!! It was pretty great. We had lots of good trainings, and I got to see my old comp Elder C, which was awesome! I really enjoyed Pres. Griffin's training about the spirit. He taught us a lot about how the spirit works and how we need to react to promptings. This week we tried to apply some of the teachings, especially in our finding efforts. There were a few instances this week where we would go to a street to tract it, and we would pray for confirmation to know if we were in the right place. Then, the spirit would guide us to another street, and we would find new investigators! It was pretty cool.

Another cool thing this week was our Ward activity. I guess September 15-17 is Independence Day for a lot of Central/South American countries, so we had a fiesta to celebrate! It was lots of fun, there was sooooo much food! Everyone brought traditional dishes from their country, and some people even wore traditional clothing. After eating, we had a "talent show" where different people got up and performed traditional dances/songs. Elder M was joking with me that we should get up and sing something (haha, fat chance). Then, Hermano Sierra asked us to come up and represent the USA, so we got up and sang "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was a blast haha, USA! USA! (We are trying to find out out if any members filmed it, so there may or may not be a video coming soon).

As for our investigators this week, we couldn't meet with E or with D/O, but H is still doing well. We had another good lesson with him this week, and the Sierras came with us again. Best lesson this week was with A and R! Things have been crazy for them lately with R expecting their second child, but this week they had their baby! They welcomed a new daughter, and she and R are both healthy and happy. So, this week we read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" with them, and the spirit really hit home when we talked about eternal families. We also talked about temples, and how to prepare for the temple, we first need to be baptized. Even though A and R both say that they want to be baptized, they just won't commit to a date right now. But, they are progressing really well, and we are way excited about them!

Last thing from this week: We got a call from an excommunicated member, K, who told us that she wants to get back into the church and be re-baptized. We met with her this week and started teaching her and her less-active husband J. K has such a strong testimony, but she just got lost along her way, and she wants to have the spirit back in her life. And, this week, K and J came to church, it was great!

My ponderizer this week is Alma 13:28, "But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering." It's simple. As we humble ourselves before the Lord, and plead for his help in our lives, he will bless us with the power to resist temptation, the guidance of the Holy Ghost, and the ability to develop Christ's attributes. As we follow the spirit in our lives it will help us to become more like the savior, and that's what it's all about, becoming more like Christ. I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Seeing Elder C at Zone conference

The Ward party

Checking out Steak and Shake!

See Yourselves in the Temple

Buenos!!!

Oh man, what a week it has been. My boy Elder M and I went to work! This week we were reaching like crazy, trying to find them new investigators, and hitting up tons of less-actives this week. We worked hard, and the Lord blessed us with success. We were able to meet or exceed nearly all of our weekly goals, and finished the week with 27 total lessons! (Which is way more than I've ever taught in a week before). Here's some highlights from this crazy week:

Tues-Had a lesson with E about the law of chastity and the spirit was super strong. He accepted it really well. We thought that he might have some problems with this, but it turns out he doesn't! So, we might be able to move his baptism date up, we'll see.

Thurs-We picked up a new investigator, C, who seems way prepared for the gospel. She grew up in a home where her dad was Mormon and her mom was Catholic, so she was really confused as a kid, but she really wants to know more about the church. She's got a lot of potential.

Sat-We were able to see D and O, and had a good lesson on baptism. D has some things to work out with getting divorced from her ex-husband, but hopefully we can get that resolved soon. We also taught H. We brought Hermano and Hermana Sierra with us, and they were the perfect fellowshippers for H. We didn't even make the connection, both the Sierras and H are from Honduras, and they just immediately hit it off and became instant friends. H still won't commit to a baptism date, but he's got great member friends now. (By the way, Hermano Sierra is a former mission president/area 70, so he is a stud).

Sun-H came to church! And not only that, but he brought his whole family along too. The Sierras helped them feel so welcome, and they really enjoyed church. During sacrament meeting, Hermano Sierra gave an awesome talk about temples and eternal families. He talked about the sacrifices he and his wife made to be sealed in the temple. At that time, there was no temple in Honduras, so they had to travel all the way to Arizona to be sealed. Then, he turned his focus right on H and his family and said, "When you become members of the church, you will see yourselves in the temple. And we will be there with you, and we will see you in the temple." It was way powerful.

Anyways, yeah, it was an awesome week; hopefully we can keep it up! My ponderizer this week is Romans 8:14 which says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." If we are to become effective servants of the Lord, we have to be led by his spirit. As we are led by the spirit, we will see miracles occur. Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

They went to visit A, a new convert, at work

On p-day they went to Chattanooga

More sleeping pics

Bienvenido Elder M

His new companion has nicknamed their car "Rosy the Riveter."

Buenos!

Well, this week has been a pretty good one! Monday and Tuesday we were busy getting ready for transfers, saying bye to people, and then, Wednesday morning I met my new greenie! My new companion is Elder M!! Just a little about him: he is from Mesa, AZ, is the second-oldest out of 4 boys, age 19, he did a year of college before the mission at BYU/UVU, loves just about every sport out there, and he is absolutely stoked to be a missionary! He is just full of fire, ready to share the gospel with everyone! His Spanish is pretty good too, since he studied it in high school, so he's doing good with that. We had a pretty good first day after getting back from transfers. We were able to work hard, knock a lot of doors, and right at the end of the day we found a solid new investigator, M, who has a lot of Joseph-Smith-type questions. It was great. This week we were able to teach a lot, find some new investigators, and work with a lot of less actives, so it was a pretty good week.

This week we did have some trouble meeting with some of our top investigators. We couldn't meet with E this week, and R is about to have her baby any day now, so we weren't able to meet with her and A this week either. We did have a great lesson with one of our solid guys, H. We finished teaching him the Plan of Salvation, and invited him to baptism on October 8th. He told us that he wants to be baptized, but he wants to keep learning more before he sets a date. But, he's doing really well.

Probably the highlight from this week was our lesson with our long-time eterni-gators D and O. I figured we'd just go in and explain that we were dropping them, but the spirit led us another way. We followed up with D on her Book of Mormon reading, and she told us that once again, she hadn't read. We laid down the law with her, explaining the importance of keeping commitments, and how we need to put God first in our lives. The spirit was so strong in that room, we felt it guiding the words that we should say, and it really touched her heart. That lesson was exactly what D needed. I think this will really start to change things with her, and we are already seeing that. This week, D and O came to church!! We are hoping that they will continue to progress, and we're excited to see what happens.

My ponderizer this week is 1 Nephi 3:5. In the church, we always read 1 Nephi 3:7, but check out verse 5! It says, "And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord." This was one of the scriptures we were prompted to share with D, and it teaches a powerful lesson. It's so easy to feel like we have to do so many things as members of the church. We’ve got to pray, we’ve  got to read the scriptures, we’ve  got to go to three hours of church each week, pay tithing, and live the high standards of the church. If you're a missionary you’ve got to get up at 6:30, stand outside the car when you back up, etc. But, we need to recognize that the Lord is the one who requires these things from us. He expects us to keep our commitments, live the commandments, and honor our covenants. As we do so, he will bless us with the power to accomplish anything that he requires of us! I know that's true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Elder J saying goodbye to the T family

With his new companion Elder M

He probably got up pretty early that day!

Code Green

Visit to Rock City--Fly like an eagle?

Buenos!!

Well, to start things off, this week is transfer week! We got some exciting news: This transfer I will be training a new missionary!!! Yup, I will be getting a brand-spankin-new greenie. I'm absolutely stoked. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve, and that President Griffin and the Lord have enough confidence in me for this assignment. So, I will meet my new trainee on Wednesday. This transfer should be a good one! As for Elder J, he is off to Sevierville! Sevierville is pretty much mini-Las Vegas, so he'll have a good time for sure. I'm thankful for the chance I had to serve with him, and I've learned a lot from his example of hard work, diligence, and obedience. He will do great out in Sevierville.

As for what happened this last week, I'll start with last Monday. For P-day, we went to Rock City, a little ways south of Chattanooga, which is famous for its view. From the lookout, you can (supposedly) see 7 different states! It was pretty cool, lots of pics coming. Then, we went up and spent the rest of the day in Downtown Chattanooga, and did some exploring down by the waterfront. It reminded me of Portland a little bit. Anyways, it was a super fun day.

The lessons were few and far between this week, but we were able to have solid lessons with E and A. E has a real desire to be baptized, but he has a LOT of things to work through, but we set a goal for him to be baptized on the 22nd of October. Our lesson with A went great! We taught him all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and really hit home with baptism. He told us that there's a lot of things in his past that he wants to be cleansed from, and he has a sincere desire to change his life. He won’t set a date right now, but we think that after his wife R has their baby in a couple weeks, things will be less stressful, and that we will be able to set a date with them. I really believe that A and R are going to be baptized, and it'll be soon. Now, we just got to get these investigators coming to church! Neither  E or A came to church this week, so that'll be a big focus this week, focusing on how we can get them to church.

My ponderizer this week comes from Jacob 5:13, 71 which says, "And these will I place in the nethermost part of my vineyard, whithersoever I will...that I may lay up fruit thereof against the season...And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come." After having been called to the Nashville mission, being here in Dalton sometimes feels like the "nethermost parts" of the mission. But, this transfer has been a testimony to me that my change to the Knoxville mission was inspired. If I'd never come to Dalton, I would've never met all these wonderful people, or served with Elder J, or trained the new missionary that will be coming this week. I know the Lord makes things happen for a reason. I also know that as we work to save our lost brethren, the Lord will guide us to those who are ready, and help us have joy in our work. I am learning to have joy in laboring in the vineyard everyday!I hope y'all have a good one! Wish me luck! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

More pictures from Rock City--what a view!

Titanic?

Calling the world to repentance...

Holding up the world!

Downtown Chattanooga

At the soup kitchen where they volunteer once a week

 

His district this transfer

Tracting a goat?

Another sleeping pic

You Win Some, You Lose Some

The only other Oregon fan in Dalton!

Buenos!

Well, this week was kind of up and down, but kind of flipped from last week. See, last week, we found a ton of new investigators, but couldn't meet with any of our progressing investigators. This week was the opposite. We had a few really solid lessons with some of our top investigators this week, but we could hardly find a new investigator to save our lives. We went out, tracted up a storm, but we found all the interested people last week haha. Well, you win some, you lose some, I guess. Here's what happened this week:

On Tuesday we had Zone Meeting in Chattanooga! It was pretty great, we had trainings by the ZL's and STL's, and then President Griffin gave a bomb training. He used the example of Samuel and Saul (in 1 Samuel 15) where Saul was commanded to utterly destroy the people of Amalek, and so he went up and destroyed the people, but he spared the life of the king, and took back the best spoils off the flocks. Anyways, just go read it. President was able to teach us a lot about obedience, breaking down every verse, it was cool. After the meeting, we got Pres. to throw up "ball is life" haha. Then, later that day, we met with some of our new investigators, a young couple, A and R. They seem super solid. They have been attending different churches, and praying to find the right one, but they just feel like they haven't found the right one yet. So, they were able to connect really well with the Joseph Smith story. They told us that they really want to attend church, but that they wouldn't be able to this week. Next week though!

On Saturday we were able to get back in with H, who is just eating up the Book of Mormon right now. Last time we met with him, he'd read the intro and the testimony of Joseph Smith, but now he's in 1 Nephi 16! He told us he had questions about Joseph Smith, but all of his questions were like, "So, Joseph Smith did this, this, and this, right?" Yup. "And then he did this, this, and this, right?" Yup. So yeah, he is just understanding everything super well too, it's awesome to see. Plus, when we went to see him, his mother-in-law was visiting from Honduras. She'd never heard of the Book of Mormon/Joseph Smith, so H started teaching her! He explained everything about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon to her perfectly. It was super cool.

Sunday was pretty great. The ward has been putting a big emphasis on home teaching lately, and it's working. Yesterday in sacrament meeting we had 15 less-active members come to church!! Hopefully we'll be able to catch up to the ward and have that many investigators at church too haha. We did have one investigator at church, E. He is the boyfriend of a less-active member, Hermana C, and he has a sincere desire to learn more about the church and to change. It worked out great, since the gospel principles lesson was on baptism, so we were able to a least softly commit him to be baptized during class. Later that evening we had dinner with O and his family, and they had invited the C's, so we got to teach E twice in one day. Then, we had another lesson with A! (Just A though, R wasn't feeling well). The lesson went great though. After teaching the Plan of Salvation, we committed him to baptism, and he said yes! He really wants to be baptized, but he wouldn't set a date right now, but told us that once he feels ready that he'll get baptized. It was great. It truly feels like the Lord is helping us to finding those who are prepared for the Gospel. We have a lot of people who are making the first steps of progression, and now hopefully we can get them working towards baptism. There are a lot of great things brewin' here in Dalton!

My ponderizer this week is Alma 31:34-35 which says, "O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee." There are many who have not yet come unto Christ. They are our brothers and sisters, and their souls are precious. As we pray in faith, and labor diligently, the Lord will bless us with the power and wisdom to bring those lost sheep into the fold. Hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Pres. Griffin throwing ball is life

There was a much needed rainstorm, but they got soaked.

So they got some pupusas while they dried off.

Some pics from around Dalton