24 February 2014 "Ask and ye shall receive..."

Hello ya'll!

Ever have one of those weeks where you work really hard and accomplish nothing?  Well,. this was one of those weeks. I feel like the effort does not reflect in the results. However; can I say this week was a waste?  NOOOO!!! I know that this week has brought me many great lessons.  I have been able to observe parenting styles and understand that the most effective parenting styles.Seems that those parents who love there kids have a better outcome then those parents who love to make a point. I don't know what its like to parent, but I know guilt trips don't ever work as well as a lesson of hope and love. 

I feel like this will be a weird blog for people to read, but honestly Missionary Work is not easy.  It can be discouraging. I do know that if we push forward, we can have everything that our Heavenly Father has in store for us. I am so glad that I have the parents I have.  They taught me how to smile through tough times. They taught me to be strong to push forward.  I am nothing without the things my parents taught. I don't feel down too much because I know that it just means I need to try harder and that God has something to teach me. I can do great things my Patriarchal Blessing says so. :) 

 I was able to meet two Schizophrenic guys this last week. I realize just how easy my life is after working with them. One of them is in a care facility that he was dropped off at 7 years ago when his parents moved back to Utah. He takes it in such stride. He knows what is going on and is able to stay calm. The other one has never gone to a facility and probably needs to.  He talks about being in Afghanistan for 5 years, he says he is 21, and got baptized in our church at age 6.  It does not add up and he seams really angry. 

I learned that we need to help ourselves become stronger.  No one can strengthen a testimony of someone who does not search for it. "Ask and ye shall receive knock and it shall be opened unto you."  To "knock" we have to search.  To find we need to be able to search it out for ourselves.  We can only help strengthen others if we ourselves are strong. Seek first to obtain my word, then seek to teach. There is no other way. We need to help ourselves in order for our Heavenly Father to help us. 

Tying that back into parenting, we need to think about those we are over.Are we assisting? or enabling?  Are we helping someone who does not want the help? or are we helping those who have a true desire? This is something I am working on and trying to figure out the balance. I believe if we can find that balance, we can be fantastic in any aspect of life.

Seminary is great!  We taught the story of Samuel the Lamanite.  We had each person in the class shoot at a pen cap aka Samuel.  This was truly entertaining! 

On a really good note, we might have a baptism next week.  We have been teaching a lady who has leukemia.  She is unable to make it to church. This is where we really have to work to represent Christ. We need to look on her heart and her intentions, not on the outward appearance of her not coming to church. The name on my tag (No, I am not meaning my own name, but I mean the name I took on at baptism) means so much more to me now than ever. I love the Lord.  He has helped me to grow and to become who I am now.

Sincerely,

Elder Caldwell

18 February 2014 GOALS are IMPORTANT!

Well, I don't even know what to say about this week except another big WOW! 

One thing that really has been cool is how much the people of the Nixa ward love us. We have been working hard with a few families.  We also have been working on getting Members to as many appointments as possible. 

I have had the opportunity to set goals and try my hardest to hit those goals. Some silly and some meaningful. 

One silly one is I want to knit myself a sweater before I come home.

One Meaningful one is get out of the apartment before lunch so that we can just dive into the work.

Another Meaningful one is that I want to attend Seminary as much as possible during my Mission.  The members are great and if I can create a relationship with the youth, we can get participation from the parents and from there, we can get the participation from the ward. 

I know this is kinda just a whatever email, but I know that Goals are important.  It's not bad to have temporal goals, but we really need to focus on the spiritual.

The seminary teacher out here said something kinda interesting.  He said "sometimes we worry too much about being Mormon and forget to be Christians." I know I have been guilty of this.  We get so busy in our doctrine that we forget Charity, Love, and all the Teachings of Christ.

I would Challenge everyone to seek first to be Christian.  To believe in Christ's teachings and to follow them with all your heart and soul. 

I am so excited for the upcoming week and the goals we set.  It has been an interesting week.

Love,

Elder Caldwell

P.S.   Ya'll ought to all be jealous..... I got Steak and Sushi on Valentines Day!   Never thought I would get that on a Mission!  :)

Elder Marriott & my creation called Mission Mush!  Top Ramen, egg, mixed veggies, tuna, and soy sauce. All Stir fry style.  It just kinda happened.  Elder Marriott had tuna and veggies and I had eggs and Top Ramen. MISSION  MASTERPIECE!

10 February 2014 In the Spirit of Valentine Day...

Hey, so this week was a little different.  We were able to teach 12 lessons which is not bad considering that Elder Marriott got sick.  We were down for like 2.5 days.  He is better now and we are hitting the streets up again.  We were able to teach a few new investigators and we almost got one of them to church but his daughter got sick.

I love this Mission.  It is the best thing for me.  I can not imagine a life without the gospel. 

 I know that we can do great things and that we can bring this ward up.  We have set goals to have 70% member present lessons and also to get 2 referrals a week.  This will make the work boom in the area as long as we put the effort in we will get the payout double. 

I know that Our Heavenly Father loves us and in the spirit of Valentines Day. "Love one another as I have loved you." That is the truth of the gospel right there.  That is how we can become like our Heavenly Father through loving thy neighbor as thy self.

Love you all.

Elder Caldwell

The snow in Missouri...BEAUTIFUL!

Elder  Marriott & Me

The Evening Skies....WOW!!

03 February 2014 Challenge for the week-PRAY

Ello everyone!

I have had quite the week this week! I have been out for one Transfer with Elder Hughes as my trainer. Then all of a sudden, I get a new companion named Elder Marriott. This means that now I (the Trainee) still having 6 weeks of Training  and am leading the Nixa MO Area!

The first few days I had never felt so inadequate for a calling. Now I realize how inspired that switch really was.   I can see how our Heavenly Father has blessed me in making me stretch. All of this so I can be the best missionary I can be.  For those of you not familiar with this, I would say it is most like going into a new job and getting trained halfway. Then having a new hire from a different company come in to train you. I do a lot of training him and he in turn trains me. I train him on the area, and he trains me how to be a better missionary. 

I have had so many opportunities in this Mission to serve and to help less actives. Now I realize that my focus was a little off. I need not focus on less actives or on investigators, but I need to focus on those who go to church every week. The Members do so much and I have not met half of them in this area.... Why???  Because I was not really focused on what helps Missionaries do what they need the member to do.

If you are in the church or not I want to challenge you all to do something this week. PRAY. Sounds simple but can be very complex especially if you want an answer and are diligently seeking to bring someone closer to Christ however that may be.... JUST DO IT!!!!  

I can not express how important it is for everyone to strive to move forward to help others, to love others, To become a Missionary of Christs Gospel. Everyone can be a missionary.  

The world would be a better place if people thought before they speak if they lent a friendly hand out to those in need. 

I have had such a great time. I would not give this up not even for Snowboarding and working fast food!!   Which you know I Love!!!    I really really do enjoy those things, but more so I enjoy sharing what I know and bringing the same happiness I know into others lives. 

I love you all.  Have a good week.

 

Elder Caldwell