December 30, 2014

Hey Family,

It was so awesome to talk to you guys on Christmas! You all seem like your doing awesome and that's great! Thanks to everyone that sent me a letter in that package, it was the best present ever!! I wish I could come skiing with you guys, I think when I get off the mission skiing is something I am going to get into! Anyways, this week was pretty good! My district meeting went well, I threw down on the elders in my district and my zone leaders said it was the best district meeting they've ever been to, haha! There are a lot of elders in the district that are being disobedient right now and that aren't focused on their purpose, so this week has been pretty stressful with trying to help all of them out! President Miller even had to come and talk to some of them... But yeah hopefully I can be an impact to all of them! Elder Gardner and I are getting along so well, we are teaching and finding with more and more unity and power each and every week! Our investigators are doing pretty good, we got a new investigator named Ilva this week. She is from Sweden and she grew up Lutheran. We taught her the Restoration this week and she took it in very well! We gave her a Book of Mormon and a chapter in it to read and she said she would! We also invited her to baptism and she said yes so we set a baptism date in February and she said that she was going to need some more time so we set a date for April 19th!! If everything goes well that would be the best birthday present ever haha! Randy is doing well he hasn't smoked for 2 weeks now and he is still on his January 18th baptism date! All is well over here in Cherry Hills and I love being a missionary! It is the greatest work that any of us can do in this life and it's an honor to be wearing the name tag with the Savior's name on it! I hope you all are doing well, keep doing the right things and the Lord will bless you! I love you all

Love Elder Summerhays

December 23rd (This week we talk to Pres!)

Hey Family!

Those videos and pictures were awesome! Congrats Bamuel and Josh for taking the W in the dessert contest! The prophets in the nativity look like the real deal, and Bar was a cute shepherd! First things first FaceTime will be probably at 1:00 on Thursday but I will send a quick text to let you know. I got the package and it is awesome!! I love it, thanks so much to everyone that helped with it! That's great that it's Christmas break for 2 weeks! 

This week I became a district leader which is crazy! That means I have to give a training each week for district meeting! Haha I'm kinda nervous but I think it will be pretty awesome! This week was full of cancellations... But we went caroling a lot and had a lot of miracles happen from it! We gained a ton of potential investigators and we are going to go contact them this week! Elder Gardner and I are getting along super good! We teach with good unity and we have a lot of similarities! We taught Randy this week and he said he wants to start meeting with us only once or twice a week. That wasn't good to hear but the best news of the week was on Sunday when we called Randy to invite him to church he said he hasn't smoked in 5 days and that he's quitting for good!! We went absolutely nuts when we heard that! We are so excited and proud of him and we know without a doubt that the Lord is watching over him and strengthening him! This Christmas is going to be different but I can say one thing, that I didn't know the true meaning of Christmas until this year! I always knew that Jesus Christ was what we needed to focus on during this Christmas season but I never fully gained a testimony and fully understood why. I know that Jesus Christ is the greatest gift that has ever been given to any of us, and I know that He is the only way we can receive peace and happiness and joy in this life! I know that without Him we would not be able to be with each other forever, and we wouldn't be able to return to Heavenly Father! I also know that no matter what pain what trial what temptation we are going through in this life, Jesus Christ can give us strength, He can help make our burdens light and He can free us from guilt and shame! I am so incredibly thankful for Jesus Christ and for all He has done for my life! I know I can never repay Him but what I can do and what all of us can do, is show that we are grateful for what he has done for us! And the way that we do that is by serving others! I am going to give Him all my heart, might, mind, and strength this Christmas and I know if you all do the same it will be the best Christmas ever! I love all of you and I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas! Stay safe and keep doing the right things!

Love Elder Summerhays

December 16, 2014

Dear Family,

The Christmas tree looks good, and I wish I could see it in person! Liv I hope you had fun at the Christmas dance. I miss doing the candles with you guys, and reading all about the saviors birth. I still read about it and it's awesome to read about and to feel of the Christmas spirit! Yes missionaries do use the "He is the Gift" video a lot! We actually were given pass along cards at the beginning of December and we were told to pass out 10 of them a day, so we each got a stack of 125 cards and we have to get rid of them all by Christmas! It makes OYM's a lot more fun and also more effective! We have shared the video with a lot of people and every time I watch it I wish it lasted longer! It's an awesome video and to all of you that haven't watched it, watch it!!  Anyways, This week was pretty good, I got my new companion, his name is Elder Gardner! We actually came out on our missions at the exact same time, so we knew each other in the MTC and we came on the same plane to Albuquerque together! When we heard that we were companions we both were going nuts! We work really well together so we are super excited for this transfer! We had three lessons with Randy this week and during the first one he had a seizure... We were watching a video on LDS.org  and he just had a seizure. Luckily we had a member of our ward with us who knows a bit about seizures so he was able to help him and keep us both calm haha. Later in the week we found out that it was from the new medicine that he's taking to help him stop smoking. He said the doctor took him off a couple of the meds that he was taking before but now his depression is coming back and he started smoking again and it's just going downhill... We have been praying hard for him and we follow up with him every day to help him out with everything, but it's going to be hard. We actually set another baptism date with him since he missed his last one, so if he can go 2 weeks without smoking then he can be baptized on January 18th! We also had a lesson with Rebecca! She came to dinner one night to a member's house and we were able to teach her there, and also we went over later in the week and showed the "He is the Gift" video, and she loved it! She still wont come to church and she wont get baptized until she moves so idk what we're going to do with her... We also had a lesson with a lady named Jackie who is one of our investigators! We have been trying to get in and have a lesson with her and every time she makes us stay out on her front porch. So we shared a scripture with her and gave her a priesthood blessing because she is going in to a surgery, and we also set a return appointment with her for this week so hopefully we can get in and teach the Restoration to her! 

I am loving every second of the mission and it seems like time is just flying by!! I feel like it should be December 1st and not the 16th! It just makes me realize that I'm not going to be a missionary forever and I have to make the most of every second of every day! I love being able to wear the tag with the Saviors name on it and I can't wait to bring people into the kingdom! Love you all and hope you're doing well! Thanks for all the support and everything! Talk to you later

Love Elder Summerhays

Pres with new companion Elder Gardner

(they need to clean their bathroom mirror)

December 8, 2014

Hi Family,

It's good to hear that you guys are doing the candle tradition! I miss that so much. That's good that Christmas break is in 2 weeks, I am so glad I'm out of school haha! We will be able to Skype on Christmas and I can't wait for that! Tell Granny that that fantasy score she sent us was crazy and that I'm rooting for her! Also tell her and Grandpa thanks for all the letters they send I look forward to getting them each week! Also thanks to everyone else that sends me letters and stuff! I appreciate them more than anything and I want you all to know how grateful I am for everything that you guys do for me! Anyways this week we got some bad news. Elder Harral is getting transferred... I am super sad to see him go but I know that it's where the Lord wants him to be! So I will be getting a new companion this week and I will be taking over the Cherry Hills area! I'm kinda nervous but I know that the Lord will help me with whatever I need help with! Randy cried and cried when he heard Elder Harral was leaving... He is going to miss him so much but I hope that me and my new companion can continue to help him progress towards baptism! A miracle happened this week with Randy's smoking! So he got a hernia so he has to have surgery to get it out, and the doctor said he only has one week left to smoke so he can do the surgery, and Randy said after that week he is done for good! When Randy told us that we went nuts and we couldn't believe it!! It was definitely a prayer answered! We also picked up two new investigators this week! They are mother and daughter named Maria and Kelsey! Maria is Hispanic and she's probably in her 50's and Kelsey is her daughter probably in her 20's! We taught them the Restoration this week after finally setting a return appointment with them, and it went really well! It was one of our more powerful lessons, and at the end we invited them to be baptized! They said they weren't really ready yet and they needed to learn more, plus they have been Catholic their whole lives and they said they had to make sure it was a change they wanted to make! So we testified to them and left them with a Book of Mormon and challenged them to read it and pray to know if it and our message was true, and they said they would! So me and my new companion are going to go over there this week and teach them again and follow up! Oh and also we had a zone training this week and guess what we have to do for all of December...? We have to carol one door per day... Hahaha I don't know what President Miller was thinking but oh well I guess some people will be going deaf this Christmas... Haha! Also we are now allowed to tract which means along with OYMing we can now knock doors! We are pretty pumped for that! The mission is the best! It's crazy how amplified my sensitivity to the Spirit is! I've learned so much already and I've only been out 3 months! I would have never guessed my knowledge of the Gospel and testimony would grow so much in this little of time! I'm so grateful for my mission and I know this is where I need to be right now! My outlook on life has completely changed and I know that the most important thing we can do in this life is preach the Gospel! I love you all and I hope everything is going well! I'll talk to you next week!

Love Elder Summerhays

December 2, 2014

Hey Family,

It made me happy to think about thanksgiving and it sounds like you guys had an awesome time! I miss ping pong and I actually played it at our bishops house the other day haha! I played their sons and I took them to the woodshed! I can't wait to get home and keep my undefeated streak alive!! That's tough that the kids lost the turkey bowl. Hopefully they weren't too upset. I wish I could have been there for thanksgiving, I missed thanksgiving at home. That's sweet that Zack's farewell was last week, I have a feeling that he's going to be an awesome missionary. Tell him I wish him luck and that he better e-mail me! I heard about you guys running into Riss and friends at Station Park. Sounds like a good time! 

This week was pretty good! We weren't able to get in with Evete but we got to teach Randy a couple times! Every time we go over there we leave a scripture out of the Book of Mormon with him to read, and he loves the scriptures! Every time he reads it he says "How did you guys know exactly what I need?!" Haha it's incredible! He also said the other night that he was "hungry" for that kinda stuff! Haha what investigator says they are hungry for the scriptures, Randy is amazing!! He already has a super strong testimony and he is so inspiring! We are still trying to get him off smoking and this week we talked about fasting with him. We shared a Mormon Message called the hope of God's light, and we talked about fasting and it really hit him hard. We also took him to a baptism, and after it we asked him what he thought about it and he said "It was inspiring man, it made me jealous!" Haha so we are going to make it so he doesn't have to be jealous anymore! We also picked up two new investigators this week whose names are Lenora and Serena. They live together but thankfully unlike Alfreida and Shauna, they are mother and daughter! We went over there to teach them the Restoration after we found them, but during the lesson the Spirit prompted us to share Omni 1:26 and so we did and they really opened up to us! Serena shared her testimony about how she knows that God is there and he puts us through trials for a reason, and it was so powerful!! The Spirit was there so strong and we taught with power and authority! Anyways that's about it for the week. Next week is transfer week, so P-day will be on Monday, that's when I'll email. I hope you guys are doing good, I think about you guys and pray about you! I love and miss you! Keep doing the right things and know that Heavenly Father loves each one of you!

Love Elder Summerhays

November 25, 2014

Hi Family! 

I can't believe I won't be spending thanksgiving with my family for the first time ever! It's crazy and I'm going to miss you guys like crazy! But know I'm thinking about you all and I'm thankful for each and every one of you and the impact that you've had on me! Kids, good luck in the turkey bowl, but it's going to be a tough one this year! Hopefully you guys can keep a winning streak alive for the kids! I'll be rooting for you from the Duke City!! Thanks to Annie, Bam, and Bar for the video, and Puppy Boo is getting uglier and uglier hahaha;) I wish I could send you guys one back but these computers don't let us send videos:/ Thanks to Danny for the video also, it was awesome! Hope the golf game is doing well. I can't even describe how much I miss golf! Dad that is awesome what President Strong said about repentance, I've never looked at it that way. We actually had a zone conference this week and Elder Corbridge of the 70 came and gave a talk! It was super good, and one of the things he talked about is that the reason people say no to baptism is because they don't understand. They don't understand how important it is to be forgiven of our sins, to be free of all guilt and shame and everything that sin brings, and to have eternal life after death! Once people know the importance of all of that, how could you turn that down? It hit me really hard and I'm trying to change my teaching to help people understand the importance of the Atonement and the impact that it has on us. this week was pretty good. Not too much happened but we met with Randy a couple times, and we also got a new investigator named Evete, she is a 60 year old lady who says she's "Trying to get back to Jesus" We were like, "We can definitely help you with that one!"  We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and invited her to baptism at the end of it. She was debating it and kinda said a prayer out loud to Heavenly Father, asking him if this was what she needed and she said yes! So we got another person on baptism date which is sweet! We met with Randy on Tuesday Friday and Sunday, and on Friday he was in a ton of pain because he is disabled because of his back. That was sad to see him like that, But on Sunday we went over after church and had a lesson about reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and it went really well! He said he would and he also said that we just have to be patient with him, and that he is truly trying to quit but it's going to take some time. He said he wants to get baptized a ton and that we were the best thing that's ever happened to him in his entire life! It was so humbling to hear that, and it made me so happy and thankful to be a missionary! We love Randy and we know he will get baptized! I'm so blessed to be a seeervant in the Lords vineyard right now! This work is the best work that any of us could do, at this time and I'm loving it! Thanks for all of your support and for everything that you do for me! I love all of you guys, and I miss you! Let me know how the turkey bowl goes!

Love Elder Summerhays