June 16, 2015

Dear Family,

So it sounds like girls camp was a success! I remember boys camp being some of the most spiritual experiences of my life! They always exceeded my expectations! I love the story of the iron rod and how applicable it is in our lives today! Though we can't see the way before us right now, and there are so many temptations that are getting harder and harder, Heavenly Father can, and when we put our trust in him and hold tight to the rod we make it to the tree of life which is the greatest blessing he has to offer!

My week was pretty good! We had a zone conference this week and Elder Mikesell and I gave a training in it about chapter 10 in Preach My Gospel. I love training, so it was a really good experience! We also got to hear from President Miller which is always good. He is such an amazing man! We also found a new investigator this week named Tyler Hudson. He is from California and he is only going to be here for about 4 weeks. We taught him the Restoration and the Spirit was really strong while we were teaching, and at the end of the lesson we invited him to say a prayer to know if what we have taught him is true. After he prayed we asked him how he felt and if he got an answer, and he said he felt good but he is going to need to pray some more. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and committed him to read and pray about it! We have an appointment with him tonight so hopefully that goes well! We also stopped by a potential investigator the other night whose name is Rick. When we knocked on his door, he let us in and told us to go out to the backyard while he grabbed a clipboard that he had. So we went out and sat in the backyard and waited for him. When he came out we talked with him for a little while and taught the Restoration. A little bit before we finished he started throwing out a ton of objections and started bashing us with scriptures in the Bible and stuff. So we lovingly responded to all of his objections and we ended up taking him to the woodshed... Haha so that was fun but it is sad to see how hard his heart was. We are going to go back and meet with him again and see if we can soften him up a little!

Anyways, the New Mexico Albuquerque Mission is the best mission in the world! I love it so much! I hope all of you are doing well and staying out of trouble! Love you guys!

Love Elder Summerhays

                       Elder Summerhays and Elder Mikesell were able to golf on P day

June 9, 2015

Hey Family,

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIV on the 13th!!! I can't believe you're going to be a senior this year. Live it up but get good grades too! Thanks for being an awesome sister, Love ya.

So this week was good! It was my second zone training. We trained on teaching more simply which was something that we think the whole zone/mission needed! It seems like when missionaries are out for a long time they have learned so much about the Gospel that they just want to pound everyone with everything that they know, and they don't simplify it. So it was a good reminder for everyone to teach simply so that those who don't have as much knowledge about the Gospel, can understand. There is a quote by John Taylor in PMG that says "It is true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious and great in itself, and to unfold and simplify it so that a child can understand it."

Also this week we were able to meet with Damion again. We talked with him about how important it is to not let satan tempt you and try to lead you astray. We explained that as it gets closer to his baptism that satan is going to be working hard to sway him but that if he does the little things to build his foundation on Christ that he won't be able to bring him down! We also met with one of our investigators named Amy New. She is a super solid investigator that wants to be baptized but the only problem is that her husband is abusive and he wont let her get baptized into the Mormon church because he thinks we are a cult... So we are just praying that her husband's heart is softened.

This week was also stake conference and we were able to hear from Elder David A. Evans of the Seventy! He spoke a lot about marriage and family and how important the family unit really is! It was great! Our Stake President right now is President Lewis and he is awesome! He talked about eternal marriage as well and he is just really profound!

Anyways, that's pretty much my week! I'm so grateful that I am a missionary right now! It is the best thing ever! I love you guys so much and I'll talk to you later!

Love Elder Summerhays

June 2, 2015

Hey Family,

I'm sure everyone is getting excited for summer. It's starting to get super hot here! The days are longer which is good because then we can stay out longer! I hope you all had the chance to watch the LIFT video, I know that mom did! It's super inspiring and awesome!

This week was pretty good for us! We were able to set a baptism date with Damion, Rhianna's brother! He is set to be baptized on the 4th of July! We are super pumped for him and we are confident that he is going to make his date! We have done a lot of street contacting this week, and we have almost tracted our whole area haha! We went on exchanges with the AP's this week and I went with Elder Ah Loy. He is originally from Hawaii but he lived in Utah before the mish. We were able to find a new investigator named Aaron! He is a 7th day Adventist. We knocked on his door and he said we could come into the backyard and talk with him, so we did and we talked a lot about his religion and a lot about ours. We basically just explained the Book of Mormon and why we need it and also shared the Because He Lives video with him. He loved it and he said we could come back any time and talk again, so we are going to try again this week and hopefully we can see him!

Anyways, I'm so grateful to be part of this church and to be a representative of Jesus Christ! There is know greater happiness than knowing the Gospel is true and living it in your life! I love you all and I'll talk to you later!

Love Elder Summerhays

May 27, 2015

Hey Family,

So the reason that I'm emailing today was because yesterday was transfers so they had to switch P-day to a different day. But it sounds like you guys had a good memorial day! Ann told me you didn't eat at griper sunders. It's the best sandwich place in the world! It's on the mission when you realize how much you miss family traditions. But anyways, that's awesome that Char is getting baptized soon! I'm really excited for him!

Anyways, so we got transfer news this week and Elder Mikesell and I are staying together in Volcano Cliffs so we're excited about that! We didn't find any new investigators this week which kinda stunk... but hopefully we can find some more this week! Rhianna got baptized on Saturday which was awesome! Her brother is thinking about being baptized pretty soon now too so hopefully we can set a date with him this week! His name is Damion and he has also been investigating for a really long time! He's about 13 years old and sometimes it's hard to keep him focused in the lessons but when he focuses he really feels the Spirit! He knows it's true but the only problem is that they are living with their grandparents right now and he wants to get his dads permission before he gets baptized so we are just waiting on that. We weren't able to meet with Chris Gomez this week but we have an appointment with him soon!

There is an awesome new Mormon Message that is out right now called Lift! It's about a lady with MS whose husband left her and now some of the guys in her ward help her with things that she needs! It's really inspiring and I challenge all of you to watch it! There is a great quote by D. Todd Christofferson at the end that I love, but I wont spoil it for you!

Anyways, I know the church is true and there is nothing better to do than to preach the Gospel!! I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with all my heart! I love all of you so much and hope you are doing well! Talk to you all later.

Love Elder Summerhays