Love from Elder Louw

 

Love the Members in Malone!

This fast Sunday was a great one for me. I didn't mind fasting because out here on the mission you can never fast too much. I'll take every blessing I can get, or get for my investigators/less actives we are working with. A lady yesterday got up and bore testimony that she use to be scared when people would come over when the missionaries were at her house cuz she didn't know what her friends would think but that the other night when we just happened to stop by and it was her daughter's b-day and people were coming and going she didn't feel a bit embarrassed. In fact she said that she was proud to have us in her home. It just made us feel so good. The lady who said that has only been a member for 7 years and they have the most wonderful fam (young couple, three kids...a missionaries dream fam.) The branch here is small but has some of the greatest members. They are really good to us. Not very often but if we don't have anything to do besides tract and we are tired of doing that, we will stop by a members home to warm up, grab some water and share a spiritual thought. Missionaries are a part of members lives out here. Not like home where you only see the missionaries once a year if your lucky.

Bizarre Foods in Greene

Fact: Tripe (cows stomach) always tastes like cow pies even when it is deep fried because you have to chew it and the batter gets swallowed first.

Why am I eating this? Why am I smiling? Why does my breathe still taste like a cow pie now that my plate is empty?

Thanks for the dinner invite!

One More Good-bye to Elder Williams and Goodbye FOREVER to Tripe

 
 

Moving to Malone 11-30-2009

It’s hard being in Malone now. I feel so far away from everything and since I had been in Greene so long it was like I was leaving home again and going to a far away place were I would know nobody. But it’s all working out. My new comp Elder Johnson is a cool, really funny guy from California. He is trying to make me feel at home. The branch is really small, about 30-40 people show up. I had a ten min talk yesterday for my first Sunday (didn’t know I was speaking till five minutes before sacrament, it was great.) Then Elder Johnson and I taught the combined meeting (the missionaries always teach every 5th Sunday.) So they put me to work fast in this branch. It’s sort of weird though cuz pretty much all the people are converts to the church and so most of them don’t really know the system of things. Our teaching pool is pretty small, only like 5-6 investigators but we have been doing a lot of finding so hopefully we will be able to pick it up soon.

Good-bye Greene

 
 
 

Envying the "Greeny" 11-24-2009

Transfer time…I’m going way north… all the way to the Canadian border…a little town call Malone. About the really cool lady and her 4 boys we have been teaching. Well let me put it this way...she has read the Book of Mormon, the 2010 manual for gospel principles, a few Ensigns, and is now working on the D&C/Pearl. She is just eating it up. She has a date for baptism for the 19 of December. I’m really sad I’m not going to be here for it. This same thing has happened in every single one of my areas I have been in on my mission. Work my buns off…find someone…start teaching them and then I get transferred and they get baptized without me. O well at least the "greeny" will have something to look forward to with Elder Williams.

Are Missionaries Supposed To Model?

 
 
 
 

Finally...A Baptism...11-16-2009

We finally have a lady with a baptismal date and she came to church yesterday and she is eating it up and loves it. I'm so excited for her!

Fun With Friends

 
 

November 9, 2009

Well I need to make this brief because I need to go home and get some water. Yesterday I had a 101.5 fever so I got a hold of a doctor the is LDS and helps the mission and got a prescription. Hopefully I'll start feeling better. No I don't need any shirts but I do need a new credit card... I had to use it to get into the Binghamton Elders' apartment last week and I broke it.

Great Moments in Greene

 
 
 
 

October, 26, 2009

Today we are cutting off part of our p-day to go help some people move a piano, then dinner, then a lesson with different girl. The spirit was guiding us to a lot of people and we have had a lot of really good lessons. We are planting seeds in this area right now. We are just waiting for them to blossom. Too bad I'll probably be gone by then but that's OK. The Lord will put me where he needs me.

Mission Conference 10-19-2009

 
 
 

Amazing Mission Conference 10-19-2009

At the mission conference, Elder Marlin K. Jensen and Elder Cook of the Seventy and their wives spoke to us. It was so amazing. Elder Jensen knows so much about church history. We learned about faith. Pistis-(faith) a mutual trust or loyalty between two persons based on a contract, backed by collateral. Pistis is the Greek word for faith, so when St. Paul or Peter or any one in the New Testament was talking about faith they were probably referring to that definition. It’s good to think that faith in God is not a one way thing. The collateral part is HUGE. When we put up more collateral (are willing to obey more of the commandments) we are given more faith by God. That’s a very simplified version. Alma 32:27 plays a big part in the teachings. Also at the conference there was a competition about who knew their companions best... Elder Williams and I won!

Good Times in Greene

 
 
 
 

6 Months in Greene 10-13-2009

I'm going to be staying here in Greene another six weeks so that will make it a 6 month stay here. Thanks for the package. Don't send me any more candy though. To tell you the truth I'm not huge on candy any more. Well I don't really have the time or attitude today for writing all the stories that have been going on this week. Sorry, just not in a writing mood today. I love you and appreciate you! My testimony continues to grow!

Same 2 Elders

 

I LOVE THIS CHURCH! 10-5-2009

Conference was wonderful. I loved it so much. Missionary work in between was terribly slow but the messages were so good it didn’t even phase me. As a whole I felt as though about 90% of the conference was directed toward "LOVE" and every aspect of it. Love with in our families and to others. It was really inspiring. I liked that father son talk in priesthood session. I know that this church is true because the spirit has confirmed it to me time and time again as my faith has been tried (Ether 12:6). I know that the messages we share (the restoration, the plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, etc.) are true because of the answers they give to life’s greatest questions in a simplistic form along with a confirmation of the Spirit. I have a firm testimony and knowledge of the need in our lives of the constant companionship/guidance of the Holy Ghost in every step of our lives. I would not dream of doing missionary work without it or making any other decision in my life without it. I LOVE THIS CHURCH! The plain and precious truths about the nature and divinity of god have been restored. The keys of the priesthood needed to seal families are on earth again and the simple plan of happiness is readily available to all who seek it. We have a prophet on the earth! This is my testimony, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

2 Elders

 

2 Small and Simple Things 9-28-2009

1. We went to see this 17 year old girl. We had tried her about 3 other times but she was never home. This time her mom answered and said she was in the shower but then all of the sudden she popped around the corner and started talking to us. She and her mom came out on the porch and we all sat down and had "porch party" (as they called it here). We answered their questions about why bad things happen to good people and talked about making good decisions in life. Then her older sister walked out and started asking us more questions, really direct ones like, "what makes the baptism so holy? is it the holy water? or what?" We spent another 20 minutes answering her questions and explaining the symbolism of baptism and why we do it. She said that she really needed to do that, ha ha, we were really excited.
2. While going to another appointment, we decided to knock on the next door apartment. A guy answered and said, "Hey I recognize you guys. Don't you drive a red corolla?" We said yes and then he said, "You guys have waved to me twice...nobody ever waves at me! Why don't you guys come back next week. I'm busy right now doing business but I would like to talk to you guys." It was such a neat experience because it was by such a small and simple thing. Alma 37:6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

Joseph Smith, The Prophet

 
 
 
 

Good in Greene-September 21, 2009

Everything is going pretty good. Elder Williams is a great companion. He makes the work joyful. I'm learning a lot right now. We have been blessed lately. Friday this cool old guy who is retired took us around for 5 hours to places that are far away that we don't get to very often unless we have a specific reason for going and we ended up finding two new people. One of them invited us for dinner this Friday. I love watching people progress towards coming back to church and going to the temple and watching people accept the gospel.

Bowling in Greene 9-14-2009

 

September 14, 2009

I don't think I have been getting enough sleep to compensate for being so active and stressed and now I have a sore throat. Sundays are so busy for us. We never get a break, but the Lord has been blessing us a lot lately for working diligently. We are going bowling today to have a little fun and get the stress off my mind. I try not to get stressed but some times I just can't help it. O well, I'm loving it.

Working Hard ...Walking Tall

 

Naps and a New Companion

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed that I think I might as well just keel over and die. If I thought I knew what stress was before I came out on my mission I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong I love what I’m doing out here even though the outcomes are very sparse. Sometimes I feel like they are expecting me to literally be superman and remember and do a million things at once. Once I feel like I’m starting to get a hold of things they ask us to do ten more things on top of the rest. Yesterday I just had enough. I couldn’t take it any more so I decided not to write anyone and just go take a nap. I feel like I could use another nap right now. We were trained by our zone leaders today for about 3 hours and now I’m trying to remember it all. Days like today can be very overwhelming.
Elder Williams is a great companion and missionary. He is constantly trying to do things go serve me and make things easier for me. He is really enjoyable to serve with because he has been out just as long as me, he is a hard worker, I feel like we carry an even load, he is very knowledgeable, I learn scriptural things from him every day, he is really easy to talk to, he is not afraid to talk to people, he is a super cleaner/organizer (which is such a change from living with other missionaries…I love it), and the list goes on.
We are meeting new people and having a good time doing it, teaching some really good meaningful lessons and trying to help people progress.

Teaching the Gospel

 

Impromptu Teaching

It’s so cool to teach people about the gospel when you are living your life worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I had to do an impromptu lesson in church yesterday because we had an unexpected investigator show up (which was great). So during the last fifteen minutes of sacrament I went out and started to prepare a lesson on the plan of salvation tailored to her needs. (She is the one with all the weird concerns like excommunication but hey at least she comes to church). She had been taught the plan of salvation about a year ago by missionaries but since we have picked her up we have been working on her concerns rather then basic lessons. So I conjured up a lesson as fast as I could, taped some things on the chalk board, wrote some scriptures up there and had a prayer in my heart. When the lesson began I had inspiration "flowing through my bones." ha ha. I had Elder Westra go get a video we recently acquired about questions of the soul and life in general. And from then on out I taught the plan of salvation with detail of various parts. Some members came in so that helped a lot. It was a great experience to feel like I could relay that beautiful information using scriptures I had just found 2 minutes before and be completely comfortable because I was trying to follow the Spirit.

New Mission President

My new mission president is AWESOME. I love him. He has more scripture smarts then anyone I have ever come into contact with in my whole life. He has an amazing way of teaching the scriptures as well. He has helped me a lot and I feel very close to him. I really think I’m going to enjoy the next 10 months. We have had two district meetings with him and just had our first zone conference last week. It was great. He gave a wonderful talk on pride by President Ezra Taft Benson. I think it was a conference address in 1989. Check it out.

A picture and bio of President Kevin M. Bulloch can be found at:
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/56826/New-mission-presidents.html

No! I did not go swimming!