October 20, 2015

Hey Family,

That's horrible news about the Green Monster:( Definitely going to miss that car. I would say she's in a better place now but the shop isn't a very good place for cars. Hopefully you guys can find a good replacement! And I'm so glad that Liv is ok too! What street was she on when she crashed?

This week was awesome for us! The zone is doing super well! We got a call from the Assistants last night and they called to tell us that Rio Rancho is doing the best that they've seen ever! We were pretty excited about that! Elder Worley and I are kicking it into turbo and finding people out the wazoo! We taught a ton of lessons last week and we have planned to teach even more this week! We did have to drop Caroline though which kinda stunk... She wasn't really all there, and she said that she wasn't going to go to our church but she still wanted us to come by and teach her. We invited her to baptism and explained it as simply as we could, she said that she didn't really understand it and she asked "Would I have to go anywhere to be baptized?" and we said "Yes." but she said that she didn't want to go to our church and that she likes the church that she just started going to like a couple weeks ago... Haha so that was kind of a bummer. But we found a couple YSA's last week that are pretty solid and we are excited to teach them this week!

Anyways, I have definitely learned this week that when we show diligence and faith God makes us instruments in his hands and we can see miracles in our lives! I love this work and the people that I get to serve! Be safe and keep doing what's right! I love all of you and hope everything is going well, I'll talk to you next week!

Love Elder Summerhays

October 13, 2015

Hey Family!

That's sweet that everyone is on fall break and even better that they get to clean and organize!! :) I totally forgot that in Utah they do Stake Conference right after General Conference! That's not how they do it in NM but I think I like it better the first way! It sounds like the Stake Conference had a theme of acting for ourselves and being anxiously engaged! That's definitely a subject that I love and one that my mission has definitely taught me! I'll admit that I was kinda lazy before my mission and it's so much better to get up and just do it! Agency can make or break you.

Our week was sweet!! We had the baptism of Alissa, and it went really well! I was able to confirm her and that was the first time that I have ever done that so it was an amazing experience! Alissa is awesome and she is definitely going to be a kingdom builder! Bringing people into the waters of baptism is the best thing ever!! We were also able to find a couple new investigators this week. One of them is named Caroline, she is probably in her 50's and she lives alone. We are over the YSA branch and another ward in the Rio Rancho stake called the High Range ward, so we teach any YSA in the stake boundaries and anyone in the High Range boundaries. But we met Caroline while tracting and she told us that we could come back and share a message, so we brought a member and went back to teach her. We taught her the Restoration and she talks a TON!! The lesson got off track multiple times but we were able to bring it back and we committed her to read and pray about the BOM and she said she would. She is going to a christian church right now that she really likes so hopefully that isn't too much of a block for her!

Anyways, I love serving in Rio Rancho and being able to go out every day and invite others to come unto Christ! It brings so much joy into my life and into the lives of others around me! It's the best thing in the world! Love and miss all of you and hope that you are all doing what's right! Talk to you later!

Love Elder Summerhays

October 6, 2015

Hey Family! 

So I got transferred to Rio Rancho serving in the High Range ward and the Rio Rancho YSA branch! My new companion is Elder Worley!! He was my companion in the MTC so we are STOKED!!! The High Range ward is full of golfers and Ute fans so it's probably the best ward! A ton of members have offered to take us golfing now that they know who I am hahaha and they all keep me up to date on the Utes! Speaking of that's so sweet that they are ranked 5 I heard Travis is killing it!

We have a baptism coming up this Saturday of a girl named Alyssa in the YSA branch. She is super solid and her whole family and a lot of her friends are against her being baptized. They throw anti at her left and right like all day, but her testimony is crazy strong and she knows without a doubt that it's true! It's way cool! We have a couple solid investigators in the High Range ward and we are excited to find a ton more this week! Last week we had a zone training which went really well! I love giving trainings, it's super fun to get up there and just testify and throw down on missionaries! Haha we have a zone conference coming up this week which we will be giving another training at! It will be really good to hear from President Miller as well! 

General Conference was boss!!!!! I loved all of the talks but my favorite was probably President Uchtdorf's in the Priesthood session! He just kills it every time, It was sweet how he related the story of Daniel to us! We need to always be worthy and defend our faith! Anyways, thanks for the emails I love and miss you all! I'm pumped to be in this new area and for the work that I will be able to do here! Talk to you all later!

Love Elder Summerhays

September 28, 2015

GO UTES!!! That's so beast that they beat Oregon! Does that put them at 4-0? So we got the transfer news and I'm being transferred! I'm kinda bummed but excited at the same time. I'll miss Amy's baptism but I will get to serve in a new area so that will be fun! I won't find out my new area until the transfer meeting on Tuesday! The YSA branch got reopened and the are getting sister missionaries in it!

This week was good! We went out with our Stake President last Tuesday, and a couple weeks ago we had a meeting for the leadership in the stake and we were able to go to that. They put a big push on members going out with the missionaries to meet with less actives, part member families, children over 8 who haven't been baptized yet, and prospective elders. So the appointment that we had set up for President Lewis to come with us to was a family who had called us asking if we could visit with them and their 16 year old son who was looking for some direction in his life. They told us that he is very anti-social and that they haven't been to church in years, so we were really excited to meet them! We went over there with President Lewis and were talking to the family and the family consists of Bundimae (great grandma) Valarie (grandma) and her husband,  Jayce (16 year old grandson) and Logan (11 year old grandson). So we asked them some questions about why they called us and what their background was with the church, and they said that neither Jayce or Logan had been baptized and that they had been less active for like 30 years!! Haha so it was a less active part member family, with a child of record over 8 who hadn't been baptized, and almost a prospective elder! We were super excited about that and we ended up teaching them the Restoration and inviting Jayce to read the Book of Mormon which he said he would! Hopefully they will continue to progress in the Gospel! We had some other teaching appointments and got in some tracting time as well this week so overall it was pretty awesome!

Anyways, I'm excited to see where my new area will be and to be able to serve there! I'm so grateful to be on a mission! It's the best calling in the church by far! Thanks for all the support and the emails! I love all of you guys and I'll talk to you next week!

Love Elder Summerhays

September 22, 2015

Hey Family,

Everyone in my ward is talking about college football now that the season is starting. I heard BYU lost by 1 this weekend haha brutal! I didn't hear anything about the Ute game but hopefully they won! I'm guessing Tyler is going to be married in 6 months haha! That's sweet that Bamuel had a comeback in his football game! 

Transfers are coming up next week and we get the transfer news on Saturday. I have a big possibility that I'll be transferred. I hope I stay at least one more because the area is doing really well right now and the ward is catching the vision of missionary work! There are rumors that they are going to reopen the YSA branch in our stake to missionaries. It was closed down a while back because we lost a lot of missionaries and there wasn't much work going on there, but now a lot of new missionaries are coming in so they may reopen it! Elder Burton and I are hoping that we can take over the branch! Who knows what will happen though?

This week was pretty good. No Amy did not get baptized... So we had a lesson with her last week and we kinda came up with a plan to let Shawn know about the baptism. We were with a member and the member suggested to write him a letter letting him know her feelings about it and her decision. So she decided that we would postpone the baptism to this Saturday and give him the letter on the Saturday of last week. So she wrote up the letter and we all fasted and prayed a ton that Shawn's heart would be softened, and we all said that whatever happens it's the Lord's will. So she gave Shawn the letter and he ripped it up and threw it in her face and cussed her out for a couple hours before he left the home to go get drunk at a casino or something... So she and the kids left and stayed at her parents house for a while and they ended up coming to Church on Sunday even with everything going on which was amazing. But we realized that this Saturday is not going to work for the baptism because her daughter will be with her dad on a campout. So we have set the date for Oct. 2nd the day before conference! We're still deciding what to do about Shawn but Amy will be baptized whether it's on the 2nd or later!! I really hope I don't get transferred so I can be here for it! She said that she wants me to be the one to baptize her so I hope I can be here! The rest of our week was pretty crazy as well haha! We ran into a lot of crazy people while tracting and we had a lot of cancellations but that's ok because most of them moved their appointments to this week so we have a lot going on this week! Tonight our Stake President is coming out with us to some appointments so that will be sweet! 

Anyways, I love and miss all of you and I hope everything is going well! Keep choosing the right! I'll talk to you all next week! 

Love Elder Summerhays