Monday, February 22, 2016

Rockin' and Rollin' in Rocky Reach Vol. II



Friends and Family, 

I am fortunate enough to get to stay in Wenatchee for this next transfer! There has already been so many cool things and craziness these past six weeks, especially with being doubled-in. I'm so excited to see what will happen in these next six weeks. Also, I heard that there were technical difficulties last week with emails, and some emails did not make it out last week. If you didn't receive my email last week, let me know and I will try and resend it! 

One of our investigators, Miguel, was baptized this Saturday. He is so cool, and all of his family came to support him which was awesome to see. The service was in English, since Miguel's speaks English and most of the people who came speak English, so I got to translate for his Mom. She hasn't showed much interest in the past, but it was very cool to answer all of her questions and explain everything that was going on and how Miguel and the rest of her family were going to be blessed for his decision. 

We found this new investigator this week, Reyes, who told us his crazy life story. He used to be involved with the Mexican Drug Cartel and was loaded with a ton of drug money and one day his wife got mad at him and told him that he didn't want him bringing dirty money into the house because she was afraid that their family might get attacked or something. Sometime later, Reyes was attacked and had a machete in his jaw and was put into a coma for 8 days. He woke up and instantly knew that he had to change his life for the protection of his family. He started making an honest living, and changed a lot and moved to the United States to work honestly to make a living to provide for his family in Mexico. As we talked to him and shared our message with him, he told us that he knew we were saying the truth and asked us to please keep coming and seeing him because he feels something different when we are there. He told us that he knew that we could help him become a better man. 

I used to have this theory, that people are only capable of 15% change. But I have come to the conclusion that I was completely wrong. The entire purpose of this life is to change and to become better people. Even the little quirks we have, we can change for the better. Saying "Oh that's just the way I am, I can't change that." denies the enabling power of the Atonement in our lives. 

I also ate a baby octopus this past week, this Korean woman offered it to me and as a missionary, I couldn't deny it. It was very rubbery and chewy, would not recommend to most people. With that said, I'd probably eat another one again sometime in the future. 

I love you all! Stay tinsel! 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King





Monday, February 15, 2016

Happy Valentine's Day

Friends and Family, 

Happy (day late) Valentine's Day! You are all my Valentine's. 

Things here in East Wenatchee are going great. One of our investigators, Miguel, is planning on being baptized this Saturday. He's so cool. He's this 18 year old kid who made a New Year's Resolution to get closer to God. One day he just decided to download a Bible app and start reading the book of Genesis, and the next day we knocked on his door. He told us that he knew that God put us in his path so that we could help him fulfill his resolution. 

We took a trip up to this little town in the mountains named Waterville this week. It's this awesome little town that is literally stuck on top of the mountain that's also stuck in the 50's. It was such a cool little town, but Elder West got altitude sickness or something while we were up there. His face got super pale and he was very out of breath and was feeling some nausea, so we only spent about 30 minutes up there before he asked if we could go back to the apartment so that he could rest. While driving back through the mountains, he asked if he could pull over for a little bit. I pulled off to the side of the highway and he got out and took a couple steps down the mountainside and crouched over. I started looking through stuff in the car and figured that I should probably look over and make sure that he hasn't rolled down the hill or something. Right as I looked, I got a grand ol' view of him spewing his guts. Just like us finding Miguel, the timing was perfect. 

We also had the opportunity to move this little old lady out of her old house and into her new house. Her name was Debbie, and she had SO much stuff. It took a total of around 8 hours to move everything and her garage was completely filled. After we finished, she fed us pizza and cookies. She told us how grateful she was and called us her 'little dear ones', which made all of the soreness from moving so worth it. 

This past Thursday we planned to teach a less-active member and his wife, and the Stake Patriarch had agreed to come out with us to teach them the Plan of Salvation. We showed up and knocked on the door, and the wife answered looking extremely distraught. We asked her how she was doing, and she explained that her mother in Mexico was sick with pneumonia and she had her family over and they were waiting for a phone call from the hospital. We gave her our condolences, and explained that the message we share could give them hope and peace in their time of sorrow. She asked that we come back another night, to which I felt prompted to ask if we could say a prayer with their family. She agreed and invited us in, and we shared our testimonies and gave a quick lesson on prayer. She admitted that her family doesn't pray as often as they should, and when we asked her who she would like to give the prayer she asked the Stake Patriarch if he would give it. He said such a powerful prayer, it was very cool.
I attached a picture from our adventure in Waterville on top of the mountain with nothing but snow for forever. There is also a picture of Hermana Villa and her family, they are so awesome. She made us homemade tortillas this week and tried to teach us how to make them. Rafael, our investigator, kept telling us that we have to be careful with tortillas made by the hands of a woman because they are addictive and will give you a big belly. 

Les amo mucho! Have a great week! 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King




Sunday, February 14, 2016

Thawing in the Northwest

Friends and Family, 

The snow is starting to melt, and East Wenatchee is more beautiful than ever. I get to do service for the city two times a week where we do things like shoveling snow and picking up trash and it is such a blast. Service always feels so good, no matter what it is.
We had Zone Training Meeting this past Saturday, and I was able to reunite with Elder Wundelich and Elder Kiser, two of the five members of the Yak Pak, also known as the lost tribe of Mexico. It is always so much fun to see other missionaries and catch up and share stories.
One of our investigators, Miguel, is doing so awesome. He is 18 years old and has come to church the past couple weeks and went to mutual on Wednesday and when we asked him about it on Thursday he told us, "I did donuts in the parking lot with the Bishop. Not many people get to say that they've done that." I laughed at the truthfulness of the statement. I guess whatever it takes to make someone feel comfortable!
Another one of our investigators, Josue, is so much fun to teach. He asks some of the best questions and takes notes during our lessons! At the end of each of our lessons he always asks us to make sure that we'll come back to visit him. He loves leaning more and more and really wants to know if it's true.
Despite the roughness of this past week, it is such a blast serving up here. I learn something knew everyday, sometimes something new about myself. The hard times may outnumber the good times, but the good times definitely outweigh the bad ones.
I've attached a picture of myself in what I call 'delinquent mode' as I do service for the city. The other picture is with Elder Kiser (left) and Elder Wunderlich (middle).
I hope your February has started off great, and continues to get better. I love you all. If there is anything you are curious about that you'd like for me to include in my weekly letters, please let me know and I'll do my best to improve!
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder King 



Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Aloha everyone, 

It seems like just yesterday we were starting January. Even crazier it seems like just yesterday I was getting on a plane to head to Mexico City. Has time always moved so quickly?

This past week I have really been focusing on loving and serving everyone here in our area. Earlier this week we were tracting in an apartment complex when we noticed that the basketball court was covered in snow. We decided to serve the people by shoveling all of that snow. A couple days later, we were back at the same apartment complex when we saw a father watching his two children kick a soccer ball on the court. We talked to the Dad and asked about his family and explained that as missionaries, part of our message is the importance of families. He was impressed by the values we had and invited us to come back and teach his family the following Saturday! If we had not had the attitude of Ammon, we would have never decided to serve the people by shoveling that snow, and in turn we would never have found that man and his family. 

On Wednesday, we had Zone Conference, and I was able to see Elder Wilson again! It was such a blessing getting to see him and catch up with him. He was with his new greenie, my mission brother, Elder Kinnear. Elder Wilson's trainer, Elder Woodward, was also there, so there was 4 generations of missionaries there. I'll do my best to explain the family history of our mission family, because it's somewhat hard to understand if you aren't a missionary. 

Elder Hudson trained Elder Woodward, and Elder Woodward trained Elder Wilson. When a missionary trains another missionary, the trainer is referred to as the 'father' and the trainee is referred to as the 'son'. I met Elder Hudson my first day in the field, and got a picture with him and Elder Woodward, my great-grandpa and my grandpa. Elder Wilson trained me, making him my Dad. Since he is now training Elder Kinnear, Elder Kinnear is my brother. Elder West is my son, so Elder Wilson is his grandpa. We all got a picture together, Elder Woodward is in the middle. I hope my explanation makes some sort of sense! 

The Rocky Reach area and the Wenatchee River ward are so great. I am truly becoming like Ammon, "Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die."

I also was blessed to run into a fellow longhorn this week! It was such a tender mercy. Her name is Sister Hill. She majored in Biochemistry and got a Master's in Library Science at UT, so we sang the eyes of Texas together. Hook 'em! \m/

That's all I have for this week! I've started taking notes in my planner of the things that happen during the week so I can remember to write about them on Mondays, but of course I forgot my planner at the house today. I love you all, stay frosty my friends! 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King