April 28, 2015

Hey Family,

That's awesome that Mom got to speak at a homecoming! I heard she did a great job! It is going to be so weird coming home; It's going to be so hard to leave Albuquerque, but at the same time it will be happy to come home and see you guys! I am loving the new area, and my comp and I are getting along so well! I am still in Albuquerque but I'm on the west side, so our stake is the Albuquerque West Stake! The stakes here are WAY bigger than the stakes in Utah!

I got to go on exchanges this week in the Ventana ward, with an elder named Elder Trump! We got to go see the Wynders, it was pretty awesome! Being a zone leader we get to go on exchanges every week so it's pretty fun! The Zone Leader life is super busy, but that's a good thing! I love coming in dead tired at the end of every day, it feels good!

So this week we found 3 new investigators! The first two are father and son, James is the father and Jacob is the son. We knocked on their door one time and Jacob answered and we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and stuff and we asked him if we could come by sometime and share more of our message with him and he said yes! So then we went by again and this time James came to the door and talked with us; So we basically talked with him about the same stuff and told him that we had met Jacob and he said we could come back, and he said that now wasn't a good time but we could come by at another time. So we have an appointment with him this week and hopefully it goes well! Our other new investigator is named Miguel! He had ordered a Bible from lds.org to give to his friend so we went over there to deliver the Bible to him, and we talked with him and asked him who he was giving it to and stuff, and he asked us "So where do you get the name Elders?" And we told him that we get it from the Bible and that it's a title for teacher or missionary, and then he asked a couple more questions so we ended up teaching him about the whole priesthood organization and the offices and stuff! Then we asked him if he wanted to learn more and he said yes! So we went back again and he had a ton of questions and we taught him about the church and about a ton of our beliefs and he loved it! So we set another appointment for this week and we are going to go back and teach him again. We also have an investigator on baptism date named Rihanna haha! Her date is for the 23 of May and we taught her a couple times this week. We are hoping to be able to get her brother baptized on the same day so we have been working with him to set a baptism date for the same day!

Anyways, I am loving the mish! It just gets better and better! Keep doing what's right and stay safe! I love you all so much! Talk to you next week!

Love Elder Summerhays

April 21, 2015

Hi Family,

First of all Happy Birthday to Sam!!! I hope he had an awesome time at Lagoon, and got some good presents! That's so sweet how Bishop Bednar can just get up and speak without writing anything down! He is a beast!!

So I made it safe and sound to a new area! The area I'm serving in is the Volcano Cliffs ward, and my new companion is Elder Mikesell (you pronounce it Mike and then Sell) There has already been a ton of comments from everyone that both of us have different and weird names haha! Elder Mikesell is an awesome companion and a good Zone Leader! The Wynder's live in one of the area's in our zone so there is actually a good chance that I'll see them!

Being a zone leader is crazy, but awesome at the same time! There is so much more responsibility but I love it! This week we have dealt with a lot of missionaries that are struggling with some things within their companionships and themselves, so that has been kinda tough to see. But it is great to be able to help and administer to them when they need it! Our days are way busier and that's the best part! We get to do missionary work and help the elders and sisters in the zone with whatever they need, so we are on the go nonstop! I haven't had a day yet where I didn't fall right to sleep at night!

As for the area, I'm still getting to know the investigators and the ward and everything, so next weeks update will be a little better! We met with a family this week and taught them about baptism, and committed them to come to church. They came to church and Elder Mikesell said it was the first time they had come to church so that was cool! We found a couple new investigators who have appointments this week so I'll let you know how they go next week!

I love my mission so much and I am so grateful to wake up every day and put on the tag that bears the name of our Savior Jesus Christ on it! I love Him with all my heart and it's an honor to be able to serve him full time! I love you all and I hope you are staying safe and doing well! Talk to you later!

Love Elder Summerhays

                                               

April 13, 2015

Hey Familia,

So we got transfer news this week and I am getting transferred. I also got called to be a Zone Leader which is crazy! We go to transfers tomorrow and that's when I get my new companion and get my new area so I'll tell you where I am next week! I had to say goodbye to some of the people in the ward yesterday, and it stunk. I also had to say goodbye to Avram, and the Loy's, that was so hard... I'm so glad to have been able to be a part of these people's conversion and to see the impact that the Gospel has had on their lives! It's crazy because I've been in this area for my whole mission and now I'm going to be in a new one. This is the first time my whole mission I have had to pack my stuff again haha! But I know wherever I go, that's where the Lord needs me, and I think it will be pretty cool to be a zone leader!

This week was pretty good! We were able to teach Raina again, and we read Alma 32 with her. She said that before she makes any big commitments like baptism, she wants to understand the Bible and the Book of Mormon better. We are trying to help her gain a witness of the Book of Mormon, and we told her that if she just plants that seed and does the things to help it grow then eventually she will gain a greater understanding of the Book of Mormon and the Bible! There is a quote by Neal A. Maxwell that says "Believe in order to understand, rather than understand in order to believe." I think so many people in these days as well as in days past have flipped that around! So many people want evidence and signs in order to judge if something is true or not, but like Moroni explains in Ether 12 "Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." The faith comes first and then the knowledge. But yeah the lesson with Raina went well, it really helped her. We also gained a new investigator named Brian! He is probably in his 20's and he lives alone. We went up to his door to set up a return appointment and he said he had time to talk right there on his doorstep. So we just started talking to him about the Book of Mormon and that kinda led into the restoration, and he kept asking a ton of questions and we basically taught the restoration and the plan of salvation right there on his doorstep! It was awesome and we are teaching him again tonight!

Anyways, that was pretty much my week! I'm loving every second out here and I'm excited to be a zone leader! My golden birthday is coming up on Saturday, and thank you guys for the song I loved it! Anyways I'll talk to you guys next week! Love you all!

Love Elder Summerhays

April 7, 2015

Hi Family,

First off Conference was awesome!! I don't think there was a single talk that I didn't enjoy! I really liked Elder Bednar's in the Saturday afternoon session! That whole session was just filled with good talks, but his talk about the difference between Godly fear and worldly fear was just awesome! Elder Holland killed it as always! That story about the brothers was intense, and the way he related it all in was awesome! I also liked Elder Pearson's talk on Sunday afternoon! He was speaking with so much power and authority! I don't know how anyone could fall away after hearing that talk! For the Saturday morning session Elder Gardner and I went over to Randy's and made eggs benedict haha it was awesome, and it actually tasted good! I made the hollandaise sauce and it was unreal!!

I loved that video that mom sent me of the "I love you because." It made me so happy to watch it! Thank you all for the things you said about me, and the things you said about the Savior! It was amazing to hear all of you say those things!

This week was alright. We didn't teach nearly as much as past weeks because we have been busy doing random stuff! We had a zone training this week which was sweet! We talked about agency and responsibility and what they have to do with each other. Our Zone Leaders talked about how Satan tries to attack our agency by making us think that we don't have to be responsible for our actions. That's when excuses and blaming others and complaining come in! They came up with an "Anti-faith list" and it was a list of all of the things that we do to avoid taking responsibility for things, and they left us a commitment to avoid the anti-faith list! It has been going really well and it has humbled me a lot more!

We were finally able to teach Raina yesterday and the lesson went really well! We weren't able to set another baptism date right now but she said once she gains a better understanding of the Gospel and the BOM and the Bible then she will probably do it! So we are just trying to help her recognize and understand the Spirit so that she can understand the Gospel better! We also found a new investigator named Gary! He lives in his truck and he usually parks in the Wal-Mart parking lot at night and so we have been just going over to Wal-Mart and teaching him in the parking lot haha! It's pretty awesome! He is a very humble guy and he loves learning about the Gospel and reading the BOM! We are going to get him to come to church and hopefully we can baptize him in the future!

Anyways, that's pretty much my week! This next week is transfers so I will probably be emailing on Monday! I am most likely going to get transferred so don't send any mail until I get my new address if I get one!

Since I wasn't there to do the "I love you because" I will just do it right now to all of you:  Dad, I love you because you have raised me to be a good missionary, and you have taught me how to be an amazing father. You always look at the good in every situation and you never say anything negative about anything! You've taught me how to be happy in life and to endure trials with a positive, faithful attitude.

Mom, I love you because you also have raised me to be a good missionary. You tell me that you love me all the time and you show me that too! You have taught me how to live righteously and stay strong even with all the temptations and evils of this world. You have taught me how to stay clean and organized;) and you have helped me become the person that I am today, I wouldn't be here without you!

Livie, I love you because no matter what the people around you are doing you still stay strong to your beliefs in the Gospel! You have been the sibling that I have known the longest and you've been one of my best friends since I was 2! You are a great example to me, and you will fight for the things you love and care about!

Annie, I love you because you are so happy no matter what and that happiness rubs off onto everyone around you! You choose the right at all times and live and love the Gospel! You do things for others to show them that you care about them. You are a peace builder and stop contention when it happens!

Sam, I love you because you are nice to everyone around you! You smile a lot, and you're really good at sports! You always want to play with me and I love playing sports and games and stuff with you! You do your best at everything you do and are a good example to your friends!

Charlie, I love you because you give hugs to everyone around you and show them that you love them! You play games and sports with me too and I love it! You always make sure everyone is happy and when someone is not then you help them to be happy! You are a good brother to me and to Livie, Annie, and Sam!

And last but definitely not least, I love the Savior because He has given me the infinite gift of the Atonement! He allows me to repent of every single one of my sins and shortcomings! He gives me someone to relate to me even if I feel like no one knows what I am going through! He loves me enough to take upon Himself every single big or little pain that I will go through in this life, and He died for me so that someday I can return to be with my Father in Heaven again. I feel His love every day of my life and I know without a doubt that He lives, and that he loves us infinitely!

I love all of you and I hope you are doing well! Stay safe and CTR!

Love Elder Summerhays

            Preston made our traditional conference breakfast, Eggs Benedict. Impressive!