February 23, 2016

Hey Family!

How is everything going? Sounds like everyone has been pretty good! 

This week was pretty good for us! It started out with a ton of tracting and contacting! Elder Olsen is getting super good at teaching and finding, and we are getting along really well! We weren't able to meet with a lot of our investigators this week but we met with some of them! Anthony was one of those! We went over to his house on Wednesday and we got there and he came out and told us that he was just on his way out to go to McDonalds to get some food, but we started talking to him and asking him if he read the pamphlet that we gave him last time and he said that he did. So we asked him what he thought about it and he said that he couldn’t remember a lot of it but he remembered that he liked it! So we kept talking with him and told him that we wanted to share our message with him, and we told him that we knew that he was busy and if he had any other time that we could share the message with him. Then he was like “Oh no I have some time right now go for it!” So we were like sweet, and we started talking about the Restoration and how God is our loving Heavenly Father and then his wife walked out with one of their babies and started talking with us. She was super nice and she liked us! So then Bro Benson (Who was the member that we brought with us) started talking about families and how the Gospel can bless our families and how it’s blessed his family, and then he basically told his conversion story cause Anthony was asking questions, and it hit Anthony really hard while he was talking! Then Bro Benson handed it off to us and we started teaching again, and we talked about Christ when he set up his church and how we need that authority to do that. And earlier he had wondered why there are so many churches today, and how we can know which one is true, and so then we explained the Apostasy and how that authority wasn’t there during the Apostasy so that’s why we have so many different churches. After we said that he was like “Wow man that’s powerful, like wow that’s super powerful!” And we saw that he could feel the Spirit so then we kept teaching and led into the Restoration through Joseph Smith and stuff and we asked him what he thought about the first vision and if he thought it was true and stuff, and he said “That’s pretty crazy, and awesome!” and we testified of it and then we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it’s kinda the proof of our message and of Joseph Smith being a prophet, and we stressed how he has to read it and pray about it for himself to know if it’s true. He told us that he really wants that change in his life and he really wants to know if it’s true and he knows that he needs to act in order to find that out. So we committed him to read the BOM and pray about it and also to come to church and he said he would do both of those! At the end of the lesson he said “Man I feel good now like wow!” And we explained that that was the Spirit testifying of truth. So it was a super good lesson, and we are excited to keep teaching him and baptize him and hopefully his family!

It's super cool to see how the Spirit works in peoples lives and truly changes their hearts! You meet a ton of people on the mission who struggle a lot with things going on in their lives, and choices they have made, and they really just don't know how to overcome their problems. A ton of people get to a point where they just feel like all hope is lost and they feel that that's just the way life is, hard, sad, and discouraging and there is nothing they can do about it. But then they hear about the Gospel and they find that hope, and then they act and live the Gospel and their whole life flips around and they become a new person! It is so awesome to see and be a part of that! And we can apply that into our own lives as well. Sometimes we make choices that bring sadness and hardship into our lives, and sometimes those things just come, but we always have the promise that if we live the Gospel and keep the commandments that we will be happy and we will be blessed! I love the scripture in Alma 41 that says wickedness never was happiness, because that is so true! The only way to be truly happy in this life is through the Gospel! I see that every day in my own life and in the lives of everyone around me, and I know it's true!

Anyways, I love and miss all of you guys and hope everything is going awesome! I'll talk to you later!

Love Elder Summerhays

February 16, 2016

Hey Family,

Sounds like things are going well with you guys! That's crazy that the Reading ward is changing so much! There has probably been so much that has changed since I've been gone and it's nuts! It's crazy how fast time goes too! 

Our week was pretty sweet! First of all, Stephanie got baptized!! Before the baptism she was talking about how the week before the baptism had been super rough for her, she actually said it was the worst week of her life, and she was super nervous leading up to the baptism, but she said that right as she came out of the water she completely forgot all of the things that had happened the week before and she said she felt like a new person! She said that she couldn't find words to describe how she felt! It was super cool! D&C 84:20 rang true! She also said that she wants to serve a mission when she can, so that was super awesome! 

We found 4 new investigators this week! The first one's name is Cody, and he is kind of like a conspiracy theorist haha! He talked about all of these things that he thinks is going to happen with the government and we were trying to teach him the Restoration but every time we asked him a question he would go off on something that is completely unrelated to the question... So it was kinda hard to teach him but he accepted the invitation to be baptized so that was good! Not sure how far we are going to get with him but we will do our best! The next new investigator that we got is named Anthony Carter! He is married with two kids who are really young, and he smokes, and has a ton of tats. We knocked on his door and he came out and talked with us. He was a little reserved at first but then we talked about what the Gospel does for people and why we share our message, and he really opened up! He talked about how he has done a ton of things that he regrets in his life and how he has been going down the wrong path for too long and wants to turn around. He talked about how he wants his kids to grow up, and not make the same mistakes that he did and stuff, and he wants to raise them in a church. So we talked a little bit more about what we share and testified to him about how we know that the Gospel can help him, and he said that he wants to learn more and he will definitely read the Book of Mormon and pray about it! So we are going to go back again this week and teach him! Another one of our new investigators is named Reyna. She was referred to us by some members, and she is dating a less active guy in the YSA branch! We went over to the members house for an appointment with her and we taught her the Restoration! She had already read the first two chapters of the Book of Mormon when we got there and she had some questions about it! So we answered those and taught her and invited her to be baptized and she said she would when she knew that it was true! So we are excited to keep teaching her as well! 

We also went to Holly's Baptist church last Wednesday and it was sweet! We were on exchanges so I was with one of our zone leaders named Elder Carruth. We got into the parking lot and we were waiting for her to get there and Elder Carruth was getting kinda nervous haha! I was a little nervous too, but she got there and we went in and I have never gotten so many stares on my mission! Haha but the people there were really nice and welcomed us, and we really did have a good time! We started out by going to kind of a “Sacrament Meeting” where the main pastor did some announcements and we sang, and he did a prayer over some people on a prayer roll and then they passed around the donation tray for anyone who wanted to donate! Every once in a while when the pastor would say something, someone would just yell out "Praise the Lord!!" or "Amen!" or something like that haha! After that meeting they did what they call discipleship classes, where we went into a class with Holly and an instructor and they just went through some scriptures in the Bible and talked about their doctrine! Their doctrine is super close to ours! They believe in the Plan of Salvation and they call it that, they believe in the Godhead not the trinity! It’s super cool, but there are just some minor differences! They believe that being born again is just accepting Christ and then you’re saved, which is almost right but they just leave out the “after all you can do” part that Nephi throws in there! But overall it was a super good time! 

Anyways, that was pretty much my week! I hope everything is going well for you guys! Keep choosing the right, and know that I love and miss all of you! Talk to you next week! 

Love Elder Summerhays 

P.S. The shoes are sweet but they are just one size too big. Do you guys have the receipt? I could send them back this week, just let me know right now so I know! Thanks a ton Mom Love you!:)

February 9, 2016

Hey Family,

I was pretty bummed to hear that the Panthers lost but I guess that's good for Peyton to have won the last super bowl of his career. It sounds like you guys had a good time on super bowl Sunday with the family! 

This week was sweet! Elder Olsen is getting used to the mission life and he is loving it! He is a really hard worker and is going to be a great missionary! We get along really well and we've seen some sweet miracles this week! First of all we taught one of our new investigators named Holly. We had contacted her a couple weeks ago and she had some good questions about our beliefs and some objections but they were sincere. So after that we set up a return appointment with her for this week. We taught her the Restoration and she had a lot of questions and a couple more concerns. It was a really good lesson and we were able to answer her questions and concerns and invited her to read the Book of Mormon. She said she would read it and study it thoroughly and next time we came she would have a lot to talk about! Then we invited her to church and she made us a deal that if we came to her church this Wednesday that she would come to ours! So tomorrow we are going to a Baptist church so that will be a good time haha! 

We had zone training this week and it was a little weird sitting in the audience haha, but it was a great training on referrals and contacting! We set goals as a zone for this month and Elder Olsen and I set a goal to get 2 baptisms this month and in order to do that we needed to move Stephanie's date forward a couple weeks, and so we set a goal to do that, then the next day on Saturday we got a missed call from Stephanie and in the voicemail she said that she has been thinking and praying about things and she keeps having this recurring dream that is telling her that she needs to get baptized sooner and she is ready!! So we were pumped and we called her back and asked when she feels like she should be baptized and she said next Saturday!! Haha so Stephanie will be getting baptized this week! It is so cool to see how when we set a righteous goal and work hard to achieve it, the Lord provides a way for it to happen! This week was awesome, and this next week is going to be even better!

Thanks for all that you guys do for me and I love all of you and miss you! Keep doing what's right! 

Love Elder Summerhays

February 2, 2016

Hey Family!

Sounds like things are going well at home for you guys! Granny sent me a sweet video of Grandpa laughing and It was hilarious! 

This week was pretty sweet! We were able to teach quite a bit and find a couple new investigators in the YSA so that was good! We have a ton going on in the YSA right now and not so much going on in High Range so that's what we are working on! Robert and his family were renting the house that they are living in, but the person who they are renting from is trying to sell the house so they are trying to clean up and find a place to live and it's just a big mess haha. But we are going to help them with it today after Pday! 

I got my greenie yesterday!! His name is Elder Olsen and he is a funny guy! He is pretty shy, and he really likes singing and dancing, so it should be a good time!;) He also said that he likes video games and I asked him what his favorite one was and he said Just Dance! Haha so I told him that I am unbeatable at that game and challenged him to a match when we get home! But he taught his first lesson to Anthony yesterday and it went really well! We taught him the Plan of Salvation as part of the new member lessons and he is going to be a good missionary! I am super excited and humbled to be able to train him! It is going to be a good transfer, and it's sweet because I stayed in High Range and the YSA so it will be a sweet area for him to start in!

I hope everything is going well with all of you guys! I am loving my mission more and more every day! I love and miss all of you! Stay safe and keep doing what's right! 

Love Elder Summerhays 

January 26, 2016

Hey Family!

 BOOM!!! Panthers in the Super Bowl!! It stinks that I'll miss it but I'm rooting for them! 

This week was pretty sweet! Anthony was baptized and it went awesome!! He was able to bear his testimony after he was baptized and it was awesome! He shared Helaman 5:12 in his testimony and told everyone that he had had a pretty rough couple of weeks before his baptism but that Christ got him through it and he knows the covenant that he made and how important it was for him to get baptized and how much it has blessed his life! He’s super awesome and definitely going to be a kingdom builder! He wants to serve a mission as soon as he can so that is super awesome! 

 We also met some sweet new investigators this week! We knocked into a lady named Jamie who lives right across the street from a member and we talked to her about the Book of Mormon and she said that she knows some Mormons, including the ones across the street from her, and that she is definitely interested in learning more about the church! They have a church that they go to that is over in Albuquerque and they love it but they definitely want to talk to us. So we asked her when a good time would be for us to come by and talk more, and she said “The people across the street said that you guys don’t really have a home or places to eat? We would love to feed you guys sometime this week!” Haha so we gave her an open day that we had and told her we would come by for dinner on that day! So later in the week we went by for dinner and the husband answered the door this time and he was like “Hey guys come on in!” He was super nice, and we talked to them about the church and a little bit about our missions and basketball and sports and stuff because he likes sports. Then after we ate dessert we asked them if they had any questions for us about what we believe and stuff, and they had a lot of questions. Most of the questions that they had were questions that people use to bash us usually, but they were really nice about it and genuinely interested. So we had a really long discussion about salvation and how we are saved, and they kinda have a born again Christian view about it kinda like all we need to do is accept Christ and then we are saved and kinda how God picks who is saved and he does it all and there is really nothing we can do except let Christ into our hearts. So we talked a lot about agency and how we need to keep the commandments and stuff. They are really knowledgeable about the Bible and stuff so it was a really good discussion, and we talked for a pretty long time, but eventually we had to go so we asked them if we could come back and continue later, and they said that they would love to have us over for dinner again! So we are going to go back hopefully sometime this week! They are a really nice family and they would be perfect Mormons! They have 8 kids and they all have really good standards, and they really believe in Christ! So that was a cool experience!

 Other than that, we biked a lot this week because our miles in our car got cut, but I love biking so that was sweet! Our area is big and hilly so we got some good exercise! Last night we got a text from President Miller that said “Elder Summerhays please give me a call when you get the chance.” So we called him and he called me to be a district leader and a trainer!! So I get to train a new missionary this next transfer and I’m pumped!!:) So that probably means I’m going to get transferred this transfer. I’m super excited though, it’s going to be a sweet experience and I’m going to work him like a rented mule!! Haha anyways, that was my week! I love and miss all of you guys, and hope everything is going well! Talk to you later!

 Love Elder Summerhays