Trying New Things

Friends and Family, 

Happy Juneteenth! Lots of stuff happened this week, so I this week's email will be long. Long story short, life is good. Evelyn's baptism is being pushed back to the 30th at 6pm so that the Gilman Family can be in attendance. I'm SUPER excited and happy that she is finally getting baptized. Everything is going great for her. Exchanges were great.

Now, read below if you'd like the short story long.

While I was on exchanges with Elder Bird this weekend, we had a pretty interesting experience regarding Juneteenth. This past week I've been trying something new. In an attempt to contact an enormous amount of people, I've been on bikes in our area almost every day. It's SO much fun. I love biking, it is definitely the best way to be a missionary. While biking down in the streets, we noticed some ladies setting up for something at Martin Luther King Jr Park. We asked what was going on that day, and they told us that there was going to be a Juneteenth festival in the afternoon. I was really excited for multiple reasons. I think the history of Juneteenth is pretty interesting, and on top of that it was going to be such a different way to contact an enormous amount of people. After lunch, we biked to the park and saw an older gentleman walking with crutches. We immediately locked our bikes up and ran to go help him. He told us that we should just call him Rev because he was a reverend for a long time. As we supported him and walked him over to a table, so many people came up to us very confused and asked Rev if he was okay. He was so kind, and told each of them, "Oh yes, I'm fine. These two nice young gentlemen are just helping me to a table." His reaction to our presence made me even more excited for what was to happen as we talked to people at the park. 

Unfortunately, everyone else did not have the same reaction to us as Rev. I went up to a man wearing a hat that said "STOP HATE" and his opening line to me was, "I HATE WHITE PEOPLE." I learned a lot about first impressions from him. He told me that his name was James, and expressed to me a plethora of feelings against white people. I talked with him for a while and told him I'd be his friend, and he didn't like that too much. I just listened and nodded for a while as he ranted, and then at the end told him that I cared about him. His attitude changed. It didn't change much, but it did change a little. He said, "....I can't be mad about that." 

Everybody else wasn't as abrasive, but they were very confused about us being there. Kind of ironic. They spent a lot of time talking about unity in the community, and it felt very segregated. We tried talking to more people, but nobody really gave us much attention. I decided that in order to try and soften the people's hearts, we'd focus just a little on the kids. A group of children were playing soccer, so we went and helped them set up some tables for goals and coached them a little. They LOVED us being there. It was nice to feel wanted. After a little bit of that, we decided our efforts were better spent elsewhere. We were talking about if anything we did at that festival even made an impact, and on our way back to our bikes the oldest woman there called us over to her. She had oxygen tubes and gray hair and looked us in the eyes and said, "Thank you. Thank you for watching over the children. You two are great young men." We may have not found any new investigators at that festival, but at least we changed one person's perspective of the Church.

Also while riding bikes on exchanges with Elder Kiser, we knocked into this lady named Mildred Shoemaker. She was very old and had a hard time getting around. We talked with her and explained who we are and what we do, and she said that she wasn't very interested but did want to know if we knew anyone who would mow her lawn for cheap. We told her we'd do it for free. She didn't believe us and kept chuckling to herself. Why would two twenty-one year olds want to mow some old lady's lawn in shirts and ties for free? She couldn't even fathom it. We told her we'd return in the afternoon and if the lawn wasn't taken care of, we'd do it. We returned later and to no surprise, the lawn remained untamed. We knocked on the door and asked where we could find the mower. She was hesitant at first, but eventually opened up and told us it was in the backyard. We brought it out front and began to mow. Just as I was about to finish the lawn, this couple came up to us and introduced themselves. The man said his name was Jeremy and that he was raised in the church, but never baptized. He and his girlfriend were looking to change their lives, and when they saw us mowing an older woman's lawn they took it as a sign. We got their phone number and set up an appointment for the following week. It's always fun and exciting to see how Heavenly Father will bless us for our efforts and service. 

Laurette is doing great. We've had three lessons with her on family history, and she's just soaking it all up. She's beginning to make great friendships in the ward with the members we bring. We're planning on bringing Carolyn with us to our next lesson, hopefully they kick it off. It'll be interesting to see how Laurette progresses. She just said her first prayer with us today at the end of the lesson. She also made a comment to us on our way out that she thinks her husband (who recently passed away) brought us to her door so that we could show her "some fun new thing to do". Family Search should really use that in their marketing. FAMILY SEARCH: Some fun new thing to do. 

I love summer. I think it's my new favorite season. At least up here in Washington, summer in Texas is can be very humid and hot. 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

Apostolic Visit

Friends and Family, 

B_SY W__K. 

Care to buy a vowel?

It has been a very busy week! We had transfers on Wednesday, and on Saturday we had to get every single missionary from our mission (ranging from the Canadian border all the way down to Oregon) to the Stake Center in Richland, WA. It was quite the task. Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and President Donald Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy came and did a mission conference with both our mission and the Kennewick mission. Aside from the spiritual insights I learned, I was able to reconnect with Elder Stevens! He was an Elder I served with in the MTC in Mexico, and talking with him was so much fun. He's still the same Elder, hilarious and kind.

Elder Anderson shared some really interesting things with us, his visit wasn't entirely what I had expected it to be. He was very laid back and casual and discussed things in such an informal manner, it was fun and different. Towards the end of his remarks, he asked the question, "If you were stranded on an island for ten years, alone, with nobody else, would you say that you still believe Jesus Christ lived, died, and was resurrected?" I'd like to think that I would!

He shared the a secret that he's learned is to get the teachings of Christ deep into our bones. How do you do that, you may be wondering? His advice was to memorize ten scriptures from the Book of Mormon and ten scriptures from the New Testament and to call upon them anytime we need the Spirit of the Lord in our lives.

As I've been working on the challenge he extended, I have felt the power of the word of God in my life. There is so much power behind words, and especially when the words come from our Father in Heaven we can feel their power in our life. Try it out yourself! You'll notice a difference in how you think, feel, and behave. I'll share one scripture that I have been working on getting deep into my bones.

"And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith." (Alma 31:38)

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

1 Year in Yakima!!

Friends and Family, 

Transfers are upon us, and Elder Moser and I will be staying together for another transfer. This will be my eight transfer in Yakima, adding up to ONE WHOLE YEAR in the great city of Yakima. My heart is so happy. Little did I know, August of last year when I was reunited with Elder Wilson, that the next year of my life would be spent in the crazy gangsta hood that is Yakima, WA. It's also my last complete transfer in the mission, which doesn't seem real. I'll only be staying for half transfer next time due to this weird thing called 'college'.

Evelyn is getting really close to baptism. Her Mom says that she just wants to attend church one more time for all three house before she'll allow Evelyn to be baptized. Working with God's timing has actually been really beneficial. Because we've been patient with their family, Jessica has made tons of progress. She is praying every night with her kids and LOVES coming to church each week. She was going through a reallllllly hard time this past week with a lot of legal issues regarding custody over the kids. Elder Moser and I decided we'd write her a thank you note, expressing our gratitude for allowing us to teach her family and for being so supportive of her daughter's desire to come unto Christ. Jessica texted us later that day and told us how much she appreciated the kind gesture, and that it meant a TON to her. It was perfectly timed, exactly when she needed a little encouragement.

"...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6)

Matt expressed to us that his top desire is to get his family reading the scriptures daily. We've been working on it and we've helped them to set some goals and make plans on how they will accomplish the vision they have for their family. The biggest struggle we've seen is the oldest son, Calvin. Elder Moser and I have both agreed that the reason he is such a challenge when it comes to scripture study is because we were the same way not too long ago. It's been an interesting obstacle to overcome. If any of you have any suggestions or ideas on how to help teenage angst-balls gain the desire to read the scriptures, we're open to all help and advice!

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King 

Prepared

Friends and Family, 

Okay. I am actually really excited to write this week's email because so much has happened this past week and one of the coolest experiences ever took place last Tuesday and I'm eager to tell you all about it. I'll save that story for last, because just like my food I like to save the best for last. Maybe I'm the only one that does that, but I love to save the best tasting thing for last.

Last Monday for P-Day we went hiking out in Naches. The drive was really pretty, it reminded me a lot of Leavenworth. Once we got to the site where we planned to hike, we started on the trail. Our plan was to hike the trail and make it to some caves where we would go spelunking. We faithfully followed the Naches Elders along the trail, until we reached a dead end. Elder Moser and I decided we would be the Lewis and Clark of the group and with the mindset of manifest destiny, we trekked onward through the unpaved wilderness. We climbed rocks, leapt over trees, and scraped many knees. After a while of exploring, we determined that the trail actually ended back where the rest of the group was. We made our way back and delivered the bad news, and everyone began to make our way back to where we had parked our cars. As we made it back to the parking lot, one of the Elders went and used the restroom. While his companion was waiting outside for him, he noticed another trail that went off from behind the bathroom. Once his companion joined him again, the took a quick detour while everyone was preparing to head back to town. After a couple minutes along the hidden trail, they discovered that it was the trail we wanted to hike the entire time. Such is life. The path that takes us where we want to go can often be hidden behind smelly nature bathrooms. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

We have this one investigator named David who looks like Tarzan mixed with Jesus and his entire house is a garden and he only eats bananas, peanuts, oranges, and milk. He is the most interesting man in the world. When we first knocked on his door, his response was "You'll never convince me." He came to church two weeks ago, and actually really enjoyed it. He LOVES gardening and has taught Elder Moser and I so much about growing fruits and vegetables. He runs a non-profit organization where he creates community gardens for people in poverty, and we did service with him where we went out and worked with him on his garden. I seriously felt like Adam in the Garden of Eden being instructed by Jesus. It was a blast. He also taught us some cool gymnastic tricks on a set of bars that were for some reason placed near where the community garden was growing. Catch me on the US Men's Gymnastics Team and on the Garden Channel in a couple years.

Matt and his family are progressing really well. We've got him started on family history, and he's already caught the bug. He has his four generations on his Dad's side filled out, and he just started Thursday! It's spreading to his distant family as well as he asks them for information about his ancestors.

Alright, I'm sure most of you probably have just skipped to the end to read this story I've been hyping up. For those of you that have made your way through reading, congrats.

I was privileged to return back to my first area in The Dalles, OR for exchanges this past week. It's always fun to return to the areas where I have previously served, there is always some miracle that happens in my time back. My old ward mission leader had signed up to feed the Elders that night for dinner, so I was pretty excited to get to see him again and catch up with how the work has been going. He called us before dinner and told us to meet him at the hospital and that we'd be eating at the hospital cafeteria. We all chuckled a little at the interesting of idea of eating in a hospital. We showed up and met up with Brother Stewart and ordered our food. Brother Stewart was telling us about everyone in the cafeteria that he knew, and we said hello to everyone we could while we waited for our food to finish cooking. Once it was all brought out, we sat down at a table and I chose the seat that faced the door that opened to the kitchen. Throughout the meal, I kept seeing this woman through the little window on the door. She was working in the kitchen, and whenever she walked by she would stop and look at me and smile. I would smile back, and then she would move on. This happened repeatedly throughout the dinner. Once we finished eating, we said goodbye to everyone there and made our way out to the parking lot.

As we were standing outside the front entrance to hospital saying goodbye to Brother Stewart, I saw that girl from the kitchen come running out towards the entrance. She bolted through the doors and slightly out of breath looked at me and said, "Hi, can you teach me the steps to be baptized?" Without hesitation, I said yes. We were all in awe.

We talked with her for a moment, she told us that her name was Taylor we got her address and phone number. She explained that she has a friend in the tri-cities who she has been talking with a lot about the church and that she's been reading the Book of Mormon and really wants to be baptized. She had been praying the day before for an opportunity to see the missionaries and talk with them, and when we walked in and she saw us through the window, she knew her prayer was answered. Since then, she has set a goal to be baptized in June, came to church with two of her friends, and continues to read in the Book of Mormon.

People are prepared. They, like Taylor, are just waiting for the opportunity to accept the gospel in their life. To all you missionaries currently serving, missionaries that have returned home, missionaries preparing to leave, and member missionaries, don't be discouraged. There are Taylors all around us. As long as we're prepared for the people, the people who are prepared will be lead to us. Many have had a big impact on Taylor's life that brought her to that point. Each of you can do the same for someone else.

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

Mid-Church Snacks

Friends and Family, 

This week was such a fun one, we were able to go on exchanges up in Wenatchee and Omak. I LOVE going up to the northern part of our mission. It is so pretty up there, and the people are so unique.

While on exchanges with Elder Miles in Omak, we had a pretty cool experience.It was towards the end of the night, and we had just finished teaching their investigator Dmitri. We both felt the need that we needed to go tracting, but were unsure as to where we should go. Elder Miles just started driving and he noticed a trailer park that he has never been to, so we pulled over, said a prayer, and started to knock. The very first door we knocked, a man by the name of Tony answered. He told us that his father was baptized into the LDS church and moved to Wenatchee, and he always felt bad that he didn't support his father in his decision to follow the Savior. Tony opened up and explained that he has been going through a very rough patch in his life, and that he has been walking up and down the street praying to come closer to God. When he saw us walking up towards his door, he was so excited and anxious that we were going to knock on his door. He asked us for help, feeling distant from Christ and bad for the thoughts that he has and for mistakes he has made in the past. We promised him that with the help of the Savior, he can start again. We gave him a blessing, and left him with a pamphlet to read. His whole disposition had changed from one of fear and frustration to joy and jubilee. Helping people change, even in such short time periods, is one of the greatest blessings of serving a mission.

We've seen more progress with Matt and his family this week. The whole family hasn't stayed for the full three hours yet, because the older son Calvin doesn't want to. We brought over a young man and the young men's president to meet him and commited him to stay for all three hours so the family could stay. He mentioned that his biggest concern was how hungry he would get, so the young man we brought with us brought granola bars to church so he could have a mid-church snack! It's incredible to see the action spreading throughout the ward as the members start to do things with our investigators as well.

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

Stake Conference success

Friends and Family, 

This past weekend was Stake Conference and Evelyn brought her Mom and sister! Jessica, Evelyn's mom, has been hesitant to allow Evelyn to be baptized for a while now. She really likes the church, and LOVES having us teach her kids, but just isn't sure about Evelyn being baptized. I have been praying very hard for their family, and to see them all sitting together in the chapel was incredible. Jessica loved everything that was talked about. She was very amazed at how many loud babies there are! She told us that she plans on coming again next week, with her newborn baby Brooke so that way she can show off Brooke.

Matt and his family are still progressing insanely well. We gave Sarah a Children's Book of Mormon reader so that way she can read to Curtis each night before going to bed. She loves it. She gets to spend time with her son, and she understands more of the Book of Mormon. Matt told us the other day that he is convinced that it is only because of his ancestors that missionaries found him and that he has made so much progression in the gospel. He's been looking into family history, and discovered that some of his ancestors were members of the church! He told us that the timing of everything in his life has been too perfect, and that he firmly believes that it is because of his ancestors on the other side of the veil that we came back and started working with his family again. We've been praying to find people who have ancestors rooting for them to accept the gospel, and it was really cool to see one answer to those prayers!

We've got zone conferences coming up, and more exchanges. We had a couple exchanges this week with some exciting adventures that were truly indescribable. I'm so grateful for all of the friends that have been put in my life through the WYM. 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

"Are You from God?"

Friends and Family, 

Phew! Transfer week is over. Things have started to settle down, only to start to pick back up again. We've got zone conferences and exchanges galore, it's going to be fun. I'm very happy with the weather we're having. I wish I could live in weather like this forever. Elder Moser and I have been running every morning as the sun rises over the mountains and the fresh morning air is great.

A while ago while Elder Moser and I were filling up gas before heading home for the night, a gentleman in a small red car pulled up next to us and asked, "Hey! Are you from God?" We looked at one another and then back at him and replied, "Yes. Yes we are." He asked if he could talk for a minute, and so he parked his car and we locked ours and walked over to where he was.

We initially thought he was going to mug us or something, considering the atmosphere of the neighborhood, but to our delightful surprise he started opening up about his desire to change his life for the better. He told us about how his life is kind of in a dead end spot going nowhere, and he feels empty inside. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes and told him he was talking to the right people. We began to explain how Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and can fill the empty hole inside his heart. Just by listening to us quickly explain our purpose and how the Savior can help him, he already looked brighter. All because we were out and about, we found someone who needed to talk with us!

Looking back, I wonder how he knew we were from God? It was his first question. He saw something different about us. It caused him to approach us and ask us for help. When our lives are in harmony with the teachings of the Savior, it doesn't just bring us inner peace and joy. It radiates outward to others. Our example can have a powerful impact on others. I'm guessing we hardly even notice how our example effects those around us.

I finished reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time this week. I've begun reading it again, with a question in mind. What are the attributes of Christ, and how can I incorporate them into my character? I've already learned so much about becoming more Christlike. One insight I learned is that in 1 Nephi 2:7, it says "And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God." Lehi had just left all that he owned, traveled in the hot and unpleasant wilderness, set up his tent, and the first thing he does is give thanks. Probably not the first thing I'd want to do. Gratitude is one of the most essential characteristics of the Savior. When we're grateful for what we have and what the Lord has promised us, our outlook on life completely changes.

"When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives." -Gordon B. Hinkley

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King