Email Update: 11/25/2013

Dear Everyone,

 

 This week has been even crazier than then last one, because of all of the things we have been doing to get ready for a church open house that is coming up in just a few weeks. We are going to have 4 different rooms set up, using the four different lessons from Preach my Gospel as the bases for each room. In Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, we are planning on having the Mormon Message "the Restoration" playing in the background, with a Q&A table set up with the most common questions about Joseph Smith, etc. The Plan of Salvation room is going to have the different principle of the lesson set up as before life, during life, the Atonement, and after life. The rest of the rooms are set up in similar styles. We spoke to our High Councilor and our Ward Mission leader, and with a few suggestions from each, we got it set up really smoothly.

 

Along with the Open house, we have Emily's baptism coming up. She already has asked a man named Jerry to baptize her, so what we need to do now is--everything else.

 

Nichole is doing well, with just one problem, one which I will keep confidential. Other wise, things are going great there.

 

We have been spending a lot of time at Jason's home, and just this last time we were over there, his father actually showed us a Masonic Ceremonial Sword, that had to be at least 1890's. I feel like the family is really growing to trust us, and feel comfortable around us.

 

That about does it for this week. Thank you for all of your prayers.

 

Love Elder Stuver 

Email Update: 11/18/2013

Dear Everyone

This week went by way too fast. I honestly am not sure what happened this week, and what was last week. However, Elder Myers and I did get to speak in 2nd ward yesterday, and we ended up taking the whole sacrament meeting....

The good thing out of it is that when we went to see a family named the Burbanks, Sister Burbank said that she had planned on leaving right after we spoke, so that kept her at church for the whole meeting.

Other than that, not much really happened this week. We had a really fun Thanksgiving Zone Conference on Thursday, and the Fast and Feast that was part of it really helped to get me at least in the right mind set to listen and learn. Saturday was our district meeting, and we discussed searching for people to teach, and the times when it becomes necessary to drop and investigator. That stuck out a little stronger to me because there is a lady who we have been teaching on and off that I really don't see moving forward with any real intent. She says that she wants to be baptized, but doesn't take the steps that she needs to in order to be ready. She'll also change her mind back and forth whether she wants us to even stop by or not, from one hour to the next. I'm still thinking of what I should do, but i'm feeling more and more like if she's not going to do the work to be ready and able to move forwards, we are going to have to focus on others, to her exclusion.

 

Well, that's about it for this week. Thank you so much for the things that you all do for me, and for your prayers.

 

Love Elder Stuver

Email Update: 11/10/2013

Dear Everyone,

As far as Seth and Keely's baptism is concerned, everything went really well, at least according to all the people who said something to Elder Myers and me. Sharelle ended up already having planned most of it, and the parts that she hadn't pretty much fell into place. Sharelle's brother did end up still being there on Sunday, so that went well. The baptism ended up being so well attended that we needed to move from the baptismal room to the chapel for most of the program! It was great to see Justin help out where he could during the baptism, and we made sure to have him sigh the paperwork approving the baptism, so that he had a major role in the baptism.

Emily is still amazing. We were able to have Jason, a less active man that we have been working with, come to her appointment with us on Friday, and the lesson went really well for the both of them. She is coming to the Second ward regularly now, and Gospel Principles class was really smooth yesterday. She had been having a little trouble before, because a few people had been trying to get her opinion during the class, and she really does not like to be put on the spot. That fact was something that had been making her nervous about her baptism, but then something really cool happened...

Nichole, who we've been having a hard time getting a hold of, was finally able to set another appointment with us for this last Thursday. We went and taught her and Lane (her boyfriend) the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Within the first ten minutes of the lesson, we asked if she would be willing to be baptized on December 7th, and she said that her boss had just asked her the same thing earlier that day, and she had said that the only reason that she hadn't was because nobody had asked her. Then, when we posed the question again (just to be sure), she said that yes, she would be baptized. After she made that commitment, Elder Myers asked Lane if he would be willing to prepare himself to be the one to baptize Nichole, and, after some doubts were taken care of, he agreed as well. 

All in all, it's been a really good week. 

I hope that your weeks have been going well for you too, and that they will continue to do so.

Love your Crazy Corespondent,

Elder Nathanael Stuver

Email Update: 11/4/2013

 Dear Everyone,

Yes, i did get the coats, and i really like them. I still like Elder Myers so things are still going well. I'm glad things are going well for all of you.

We had a really good Halloween this year; we had 7 lessons with members present on just Halloween!! That made it so that we broke our record of 26 lessons in one week be a full 7 lessons, for a total of 33 lessons this last week.

We were hoping to get in contact with Nichole this last week, but whenever we went over to visit her, she was either not home or didn't answer the door. We think that she probably started to work swing shifts, so that she is sleeping during the day. We are going to keep trying to have another appointment with her this next week, so we hope that we can catch her at home/awake.

Emily is still going great, though she says that she's getting a little nervous; her baptism is only 4 weeks away. We have been working on taking care of any comments or concerns she has, and i feel like she is going to be perfectly fine on the day of her baptism.

This Saturday is Seth's and Keele's baptism, and i have to admit, i'm getting a little frazzled. I've never planned a baptism before, and i want to make sure that it goes smoothly for everyone involved. The kids' mom, Sharelle, is a reactivating member, and their dad, Justin, is a nonmember, so i want to help it be a good experience for them as well as Seth and Keele. Along with that, Sharelle's brother is the one who has been planning on doing the confirmation, and he wont be able to be here Sunday, which is when convert confirmations are supposed to take place. One of our Ward Missionaries told us that he'd gotten a call from Sharelle's mother telling him this in tears, so i want to know what to do to follow the appropriate layout for the confirmation, but i want it to fit for the Rose's family as well. I'm confused, and i don't know what to do to make it fit.

Well, that pretty much sums up my slightly hectic life for now. Thank you again for all of your prayers and for your love.

Elder Nathanael Stuver

Email Update: 10/28/2013

Dear Everyone,

Things have been going pretty well out here, aside from Nichole having to be at the hospital for her sister, so that we were unable to have our appointment this week. She really does seem like she will be baptized, all i am worried about is her and her boyfriend, and her and her boyfriend's smoking. i think that we will probably extend another baptismal invitation this week when we see her. I say it again, i have never seen anyone as glued to what we teach as Nichole, except maybe for Emily Traveno. I don't think, once she makes the decision to be baptized, that anything will get in her way.

Speaking of Nichole, we were able to take a less active member named Jason Fisher with us when we were headed to her appointment, and even though the appointment ended up falling through, we were able to teach him a little, and to talk to his non-member family. It went really well, and i think that they like us a lot because of the work that we have done with Jason. Even his Baptist sister was happy to meet and talk with us. Jason has just decided to give up smoking, and i feel like if we continue to have him be involved with Nichole and her lessons, he will be able to keep that commitment.

We also visited a man named Conrad Burbank, who we have been talking to for quite some time ourselves, and the missionaries have been talking to for even longer. (if Dad knows the term "eternal investigator," that's what Conrad is.) He is hilarious, loyal to a fault, strong with his family (though he clashes with one half brother) and the most honest man that i have ever met. He only has three real problems; he drinks like a fish, smokes more than he breathes, and could teach a sailor with some of his language. He knows that the church is true; he told us so himself. He also told us that his wife would have him baptized after he was dead... So, what we are going to try and do is ask Conrad if, since Elder Myers is new, we could practice going through all of the lessons with Conrad. We hope that this will get the Spirit back in the home more often, especially since his wife and one of his daughters are already members. Eventually, we hope that we can work on the smoking and the drinking, bit by bit, so that any withdrawals don't kill him off.

Well, those are the major points of this week. As for how Elder Myers is a clone of me, he knows all of the internet stuff i do, he has all of the same interests i do (to varying degrees) and we frankly sometimes finish each other's sentences. So, turn me Latino, and you have Elder Myers.

Thank you Mom for trying to remember the coat and boots; just when ever you do and get the chance to send them, i would appreciate it. There hasn't been any snow so far, and the coldest it has been is 30 degrees, so i'm not too worried just yet.

Love your crazy corespondent, 

Elder Nathanael Stuver

Email Update: 10/21/2013--Greenie Companion

Dear Familie,

Yeah, i was surprised at my training as well. Yes, our mission is getting a lot of new missionaries, and will keep doing so for about 3 more transfers, according to President Cannon. My trainee (or Greenie, as all of the missionaries call them--along with a lot of the families that we teach and eat with) is named Elder Josh Myers, from Layton California. To save you the trouble of looking that up on Google Maps, Layton is right around Fresno, and is even smaller than New Plymouth. Elder Myers is 19 years old, and is pretty much a clone of me, if you made me a white Latino--his mom is from Argentina. I'll see if i can send you a picture of him today. 

This week has been really cool, and it has flown by really fast. We've been working almost non-stop from the time that we got back on tuesday, to last night at 9:00. We were able to get a hold of one of the people that Elder Rogers and i had tracted into while on exchanges, named Nichole (i may have already tole y'all about her a while ago), and we were able to teach her and her in-active member boyfriend, named Lane, the Plan of Salvation. It went really well, and we were able to get to know her a lot better, not to mention meeting the boyfriend for the first time. They were both really attentive, and seemed to understand everything really well. the only problems that i can see are that she doesn't want to pray with us, they both are heavy smokers, and they are living together. Those things aside, i have never seen anyone so glued to the lessons that we teach as Nichole, and Lane was paying close attention as well (once Nichole had convinced him to come and listen to us).

Other than that, we've been doing a lot of meeting the leaders in the ward and introducing Elder Myers to all of the investigators that we already have. That, plus organizing the Area Book (the great big book of everything about our area---depending on how well it was filled out by the missionaries before you) has filled up all of our time for the past week. All in all, it's been a really good week. 

In answer to the rest of your questions, no, not a lot of missionaries are going home, so our mission just keeps getting bigger and bigger.I went on exchanges so much because Elder Jarvis was the District Leader, and he wanted to take some time with all of the Elders to say good bye, because he was pretty sure that he was going to be transferred. As for winter gear, all i need is a coat and some boots. 

I love you all!

Elder Stuver

Email Update: 10/14/2013--Transfer 3: Training and Pictures

Dear long distance acquaintances,

Tell everyone that i say hi back, and that i'm doing fine.

We just found out about transfers on Saturday morning. I am staying in New Plymouth, Elder Jarvis is moving to Middleton, and i am going to be training. It's really weird to think about; i've only been out a few months, and feel like i don't know enough to be trying to teach someone else how to do it. Well, i guess it's a good thing that i'm not in charge of where i'm supposed to go; i wouldn't know what was best. We are moving around today, so i will be staying with the Elders in Ontario until tomorrow, when all of our trainees fly in. I don't know what we are doing until then, i will try and keep you posted. 

As for this week, things have been going pretty well. I went on Exchanges for most of the week, once with the Ontario Elders from Tuesday to Wednesday, and once with the Elders in Fruitland from Thursday to Friday. On Wednesday we got to have District Meeting (where everyone from one district plus the Zone Leaders get together and teach each other) in a tree house; I'll send you some pictures with this email if i can. In between those, Elder Jarvis and i were getting ready for him to be transferred; he had a feeling that he was going to have to move. We went and saw a lot of the people he wanted to say good bye to yesterday, and then we spent some time having fun with the 2nd ward Bishop's family before heading home.

Saturday was especially cool. We got to go to a baptism in Fruitland for a mother of two of our young investigators named Seth and Keele in New Plymouth (she got divorced from their dad, and the kids go back and forth). Along with that, Emily has a baptismal date for December 9th, and came with us to watch the baptism. She is so ready to be baptized, and she knows it too. The only thing holding her from doing it right now is getting everyone's schedule lined up. Things are picking up around here, and i feel like it will just keep going higher.

Well, that should cover most of it. Thank you for your letters, and i hope that you keep going well.

Elder Stuver

District Meeting

District Meeting

Elder Jarvis and Sister Brown, the Second Councilor's wife in the New Plymouth First ward

Random Cat

Albino Squirrel