WEEK 3 KALKASKA (WEEK 21 OF MISSION)

hey everyone! another great week in Kalkaska!

Parker and his Jeep

so i spent monday night - thursday morning in cadillac on trade offs with elders in my district. it was great and i really enjoyed it. we have some great elders up here and they are working hard. i was on trade offs with elder farris first and then elder fox. it was great and we met a lot of great people in a very short amount of time. 

this weekend was district conference (same as stake conferences for you Utahns). It was awesome to be around so many Saints again. sooo cool!! sister hess and president hess both spoke and it was a great meeting. elder boswell and i sang in the choir. it was hard for me cuz i usually sing "solo"... "so-low" no one can hear me! haha lame joke, i know. thought it was worth a shot though.

we also had a great week here in kalkaska! we were able to set some baptismal dates with Carla (steve's wife) and a few others as well. Carla is doing really well, and her struggle was understanding that the priesthood authority was lost. it is amazing the way the scriptures open up to you as you learn more about them. events that once seemed trivial to read about become obviously important things. One example for me this last week was when Jesus goes up to the Mount of Transfiguration and Moses and Elijah come to Him. Before when I read that, it was cool, but it didn't really mean much. But this week it opened up to me. As i am sure many of you already understand but it took me this long to figure out, Moses and Elijah were giving Christ the Keys of the Kingdom; of the Gathering of Israel and Sealings and things, just as the keys had to be restored to Joseph Smith in the exact same manner. Sister Hess said that one of their sons used to occassionally say, "the church is WAY true!" i loved that and guess what: the church IS way true!! love it. 

This week we met Ethan and his little brother James. James has a very light form of autism and ethan used to be in the army before he was bitten by a brown recluse spider. we door knocked into them and came back a few days later to teach the Restoration. it was an awesome lesson because we got to explain the Atonement and the need for it to Ethan. it was so awesome because he discussed a time in his life when he went to jail and felt so ashamed to see his dad afterwards. we discussed how that was EXACTLY the reason we needed Christ. we all violate laws, eternal laws that is, and we are in bondage. we are all ashamed to go and see our Father again, and would give anything if those crimes we committed could be blotted out. we then read alma 7:13 with him. it was an awesome lesson. they both committed to baptismal dates and we are very excited for them. 

"Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me."

we also door knocked into a lady who told us she doesnt talk to mormons cuz they are a cult. i asked her how she knew that. she said she had a book on it and invited us in. she didnt wanna have to go get her glasses to read the book so i read it instead haha it was very interesting how nice it was about us in the beginning and we read some of the very complimentary parts of the book, put it away before things got ugly, and talked about the Restoration. she wanted a BoM, so we got her one and set a return appointment haha that was a very funny situation. 

things are going really well in kalkaska and it is great weather today! although it snowed all last week... haha elder fox is from california and literally had never seen slush before. he had no idea what it was. he also was freaking out saying, "i didnt know it could snow this hard! its like its raining snow!" haha it was barely even snowing at this point.

anyways, love you all. remember, Heavenly Father does not send thunder when a still small voice is enough (elder Maxwell)

have a great week! 

elder green 

WEEK 2 KALKASKA (WEEK 20 OF MISSION)

What a week!

No explanation given. You tell me, haha!

Kalkaska is great, it has been raining or hailing for like.. the past 3 days straight and i love it. i also went up to traverse city this week for a trade off with the zone leaders and that was awesome. i hate sending home pictures of how amazing it looks up here because the pictures never do it justice!! but seriously, there are sooo many trees, so much open land, and sooo many beautiful green hills. anyways, traverse city was cool and this week ill be conducting 2 trade offs, so i wont be in kalkaska much this week, sadly.

but here is a quick run down of what happened this week. we picked up a few new great investigators and had 2 people come to church, which was awesome. we have been seeing a lot of miracles and some really cool things happening here. everyone in the branch is so excited about the work and about how many investigators we have and things. its awesome.

a few nights ago, we went over to sandys a few days after having taught her about the plan of salvation at the church with a member. we were heading over to invite her to church the next day. and for various reasons, we ended up teaching her the Word of Wisdom. she said she understood it but wasnt sure she wanted to live it right now. we started talking about her going to church and thats when things got crazy. she started talking about how she got super offended during our lesson the other day because of something a member had said and how she will never go to church. she enjoys our meetings but does not want to go to church because of it. it was so weird because the thing she was offended about was really not a big deal, but for various reasons she was very upset. after we tried for a little while to resolve the problem, she just said she didnt wanna talk about it anymore. so we left. it was terrible. verrry rough night.

Rain Storm in Traverse City
Parker says the pics don't even come close to doing any of the scenery justice!!!

but the next day was sunday and we had 2 people come to church. one of which has been being taught for a year and has never come! but he came this week and he loved it. that was a huge blessing. and the Lord always provides a way for success in some way if you work hard. We may have had a bad lesson with sandy, but check this out. one of the new guys we have been teaching is named Steve. he is an awesome guy and gives us eggs from his chickens haha but we havent met his wife before. well he told us the other day she has been reading the book of mormon every day. like 60 pages everyday. so we went out to see steve with our branch president, and instead (as we were hoping to do) ran into his wife and we talked to her for about an hour and a half. she was talking about how the bom has answered questions she has had her whole life. it really was an awesome lesson and i am so grateful that our Heavenly Father hears our prayers always. Things are going so well here in Kalkaska and they will continue to if we will work hard.

We have also been chosen to be one of the first electronic missions! so we are going to get digital planners, area books, the whole 9 yards. it will be awesome. not sure when these changes will be taking place however.

we are going to have another great week this week and pick up more new investigators and keep this area moving!

A Place Where They Door Knock by a Lake

one thing that was spoken about in church was forgiving others. it was a great talk. and one quote he used that i loved was that, "forgiving is giving up the hope that the past could be different." what a beautiful phrase! how true is that! i really do love that. if someone offends you, or you feel you have been wronged, why should that have to affect your testimony of 

the gospel?? give up those feelings that only weigh you down. holding a grudge is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will get hurt because of it.

last thought. funny thought. so one of the ladies i was teaching in bay city, suzette, apparently was having some struggles with her new testimony of joseph smith. she eventually said that deep down, she knows he is a prophet. when the missionaries in bay city asked her why she knew that, she said, "because why would donny osmond lie?!" SHE LOVES DONNY hahahahaahah thought that was too funny.

anyways, love you all! have a great week!

elder green

ps

picture with the lake is a place we were door knocking. everywhere up here is named after the lake it is built near haha. soo many beautiful lakes like this one.

other one is a pciture of a rain storm in traverse. cant get the full feeling with either picture.

WEEK 1 KALKASKA (WEEK 19 OF MISSION)

Parker and Elder Boswell

Beautiful Fall in Kalkaska

Dont have a ton of time this week, but Kalkaska is great!! i love it here. the branch is so focused on missionary work and it is amazing! elder boswell is great and we get along very well! we set 2 baptismal dates this past week, and this area hasnt baptized in over a year i think? so that was exciting! it really is such a small town, especially compared to bay city! but i love it here and i am actually kind of excited for it to snow? im sure i will regret that as soon as it happens haha.

it is beautiful here! the branch is super tiny here, but that is ok. quality, not quantity. they used to meet in an old restaurant for church! they just built this building like a year and a half ago, so it is brand new. we better start filling it up with investigators! i will be going on a trade off with the zone leaders in traverse tonight, so that will be fun. it has been a great week and i am excited for more.

one of the new invesitgators this week is named sandy. she is very excited to be talking with us. she was texting us after we met and was just dying for our next visit and to learn more. soo cool! nothing like when members wanna help in the work as well! (hint to all the members reading this email: help in the work!) haha

i will send some pictures home! elder boswell looks exactly like toby mcguire! haha no wonder we get along! gotta love spiderman.

When i looked at this pic bigger, Elder Boswell does kind of look like Toby McGuire but I wouldn't say "exactly."  I think Parker is just really missing Spiderman. We zoomed in on his sunglasses that I said looked like they were from the Dollar Store last week and they were Spiderman! He has always been his favorite Super Hero!!!

have a great week!

elder green

FINAL WEEK IN BAY CITY!!! WEEK 18

Let's start with a picture.
Have you ever seen anyone getting such a kick out of a cat?!?
This cat went door to door with them one day and Parker
apparently thought it was hilarious!!!

so this week was great. we got transfer calls a few days ago on Friday and looks like i will be heading to Kalkaska for the next 6 weeks! I will be the district leader there with my companion being elder boswell! i am very excited and am looking forward to it. although it has been very difficult to leave behind all these awesome people here and to leave behind all this work that is about to happen! but it'll be alright!

Chanielle and Justin and their boys.
Hard to say goodbye.

Last time at their house with this little guy!

Cobb Family Home the night before leaving Bay City

Suzette and Jacob
came to watch General Conference

One of the many bridges they cross all the time.
If you don't time it right, you will be waiting 15 mins.

conference was great! i have always loved president uchtdorf’s talks and this week was no different! we watched conference at the church with the investigators who came and a few members. it was a great experience. its funny being out here, cuz seeing salt lake and all the thousands of saints gathered there, it seems like this mystical, magical place and almost seems fake in a way that there are that many mormons haha its like... i want to go there and see for myself that its real haha. so i can only imagine how our investigators feel, sitting in a near empty chapel watching this amazing scene on a 24 inch tv haha. it was awesome to hear all of the many talks on missionary work! especially elder gifford nielsen!(former BYU football player and then Houston Oilers) soo cool to see him speak at general conference! especially on missionary work. its not going to slow down any time soon, so we might as well get involved! remember that as a member in missionary work, you should not keep your mouth closed because you are afraid someone will say no. success is not if they get baptized, but if you give them the opportunity to use their agency. if you extend and invitation, then you have already been successful, regardless of the answer! so pray each night as families for opportunities to share the gospel. leaders of the church have promised the Lord will provide opportunities that are not awkward or difficult, but will be natural for both parties. so what are we waiting for?

Parker with his District

The poor Sister Missionaries!!!

It's like they don't quite know what to do with these guys.

this week was great though, but not a whole lot changed from last week. we have quite a few people on date to be baptized right now, and it has been awesome to see the work grow and progress here in Bay City. I am so grateful for the Lord's Hand in His work.

something WAYY funny happened this week. so we pull up to our apartment the other night. and this guy pulls his car right in front of ours and gets out and asks if we will pray with him. his name is bob and he just got out of surgery.  after relating to us his life story, he takes our hands and tells me to pray. as i prayed, he was saying, "mmmhmm! amen!" and stuff like that. after that, he asks elder bass to pray. at the end of the prayer he asks if elder bass is ahead in his studies, and then goes on to say he asked because his prayer was better than mine. he said that i needed to keep working and listening to him and things. it was soo funny. we were busting up about it forever.

well, that’s not the end. so this morning, we got to our apartment after we did laundry and he was down the street. he walks over and asks us if we will come preach at this party he is having for children...? haha anyway, he asks us to pray again. so i went first. and i was saying a prayer full of scriptural language and quotes and things and then i finished my prayer. he says that was pretty good... and then he asks elder bass to pray. well in the middle of elder bass' prayer, he paused for a second, and when he paused bob said, "err! times up!" he then told us that I was better today and that i must have been working hard cuz my prayer was just better today hahahahaha. he said he will ask us to pray with him whenever he sees us. so elder bass and i were laughing cuz it has turned into like.. a rap battle with prayers. we are both praying to try and impress bob and stuff. and you have to bring your "A" game every day haha it was super funny.

one thing i loved really quick was from president uchtdorf: “doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.”  the adversary would have us doubt what we know to be true over some foolish thought he puts into our minds. so always doubt what you haven’t tested through time and study and prayer, rather than doubting your faith that has sustained and guided you through so much.

love you all! have a great week! 

I think the River of Time was the most fun they
have had in a while haha!!!