Hello!
I want to start by apologizing. We're going to the temple on Wednesday, so we have to switch our P-Day to that day. I only have a few minutes to write a quick e-mail and I won't be able to write back until next Monday. Anyway, life is awesome and I love being a missionary SO much! Transfers are next week and I've already been in Scotch Plains for 4 transfers now so we'll see what happens.
This week has been super awesome! We have 3 more people set with baptismal dates and have found some really cool new people to teach. I'll have to go into greater detail next week. A couple of days ago I had to interview a missionary due to an inapropriate relationship that was going on with a member. It was the first time I had to do that so it was pretty weird. Nothing bad happened, but he'll have to be transferred for his protection. Sorry but I have to go.
Love Elder Tilley
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Book of Mormon has the Power to Change People for Good
Hello family!
This week was packed full of stuff and it was a great week! Tuesday we went on an exchange with the assistants, Wednesday we had an all-mission conference and on Friday we had Summer Scrub day. Unfortunately the Bahrs are leaving in like 2 weeks and then the Jepsons are coming. That was the reason for the conference on Wednesday. It was the last time most of the missionaries will see President and Sister Bahr while they are missionaries. Luckily I will get to see them a few more times because of the meetings I have to go to. They really are such amazing people and they have inspired me in so many ways. I will miss working with them, but I know I will grow to love President and Sister Jepson as well. On Friday we cleaned more than I ever have in my entire life! We scrubbed all of the walls mopped all the floors, cleaned all the carpet and cleaned pretty much anything you can think of. It took us about 7 hours, but we had a lot of fun doing it. Our exchange was also really great and I learned a lot from Elder Potter.
It's funny that you asked about Nikki Sixx, because she kind of went crazy on us. While I was gone on the exchange, they had a church tour/lesson. When she saw a picture of the first vision she flipped out! She was saying that we worship graven images... She refuses to believe that God and Jesus Christ are separate, and does not believe that anyone has ever seen God. She said she'll read the Book of Mormon but she won't pray about it. Me. is doing great and we set him with a baptismal date. That also happened while I was on the exchange and we haven't seen him since but I'm excited to keep teaching him. Jo. is about 36 and his wife and step kids are all members. He has been taught for about a year now and hasn't progressed too much. They have a lot of family issues and can't seem to ever get along and so we've been trying to help them all out. The mother, A., might get deported and so they are facing a lot of trials. We have found that the best thing for all of them is to go over and read from the Book of Mormon with them. Last week we were able to get the whole family to sit down and read together. It worked miracles! Later they told us that after we left they were able to sit to talk as a family without fighting for the first time in a long time. We're going to try and do that with them 3 times a week so they can develop the habit of doing it on their own.
Our experience with them has really strengthened my testimony of family scripture study. I LOVE the Book of Mormon. It has the power to change people for good and to give direction to those who are lost. I know that it was written for a wise purpose and specifically for the people of our day. Those who are strongest spiritually are those who thirst for and rely on the Book of Mormon. Study from it every day, every day. I have an undying love and testimony of that great Testament of Jesus Christ. If all I ever had to study from was the Book of Mormon my soul would be content. I am grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith and for his role in bringing forth those great words spoken out of the dust. Our Bishopric has issued a challenge to the ward, to read the entire Book of Mormon in three months. I have seen a change in many of the members who have taken on this challenge.
I leave with you my humble testimony that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I echo the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith himself "... the Book of Mormon (is) the most correct of any book on earth,... and a man (will) get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." I know that the Book of Mormon changes lives. It plays a vital role in our salvation. I pray that you will all read from it often.
Our experience with them has really strengthened my testimony of family scripture study. I LOVE the Book of Mormon. It has the power to change people for good and to give direction to those who are lost. I know that it was written for a wise purpose and specifically for the people of our day. Those who are strongest spiritually are those who thirst for and rely on the Book of Mormon. Study from it every day, every day. I have an undying love and testimony of that great Testament of Jesus Christ. If all I ever had to study from was the Book of Mormon my soul would be content. I am grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith and for his role in bringing forth those great words spoken out of the dust. Our Bishopric has issued a challenge to the ward, to read the entire Book of Mormon in three months. I have seen a change in many of the members who have taken on this challenge.
I leave with you my humble testimony that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I echo the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith himself "... the Book of Mormon (is) the most correct of any book on earth,... and a man (will) get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." I know that the Book of Mormon changes lives. It plays a vital role in our salvation. I pray that you will all read from it often.
Love,
Elder Tilley
Monday, June 13, 2011
I am Eating Good Enough to Get the Job Done
Hey hey hey!
How is everyone? Things are great where I'm at. Sorry that I haven't told you about the people we're teaching. We're still teaching J., I'm not sure how much you know about her but she keeps all of her commitments, is always at church and enjoys the members, but for some reason just won't quite fully commit. We've invited her to baptized several times, but she always says "I need to learn more before I get baptized". She'll definitely be baptized eventually, but she is a slow mover.
Jo. hasn't really changed much since I've been here. Right now he really can't progress until his family starts being a better example and start to help him out more. Everyone else in the family are members. We stopped teaching T. and L. for a while, but we started teaching them again. So far I haven't seen to much difference in their willingness to change, so we'll see if they start progressing. M., a recent convert from Liberia, has a friend and his uncle is living with him now. We set up an appointment to see how M. was doing, and when we went over we had met both G. and Me. and started teaching them. It was really unexpected and was a really cool miracle. G. has been out of town for the last couple of weeks, but Me. has been reading the Book of Mormon. He always has a list of questions for us to answer which shows that he really wants to know if it is true. It surprises me how specific his questions are. Last time we visited he asked us, "What is the relationship between Alma and Gideon?" Who asks something like that??? It was kind of funny, but it does show how much time he's spending to understand the Book of Mormon.
We also just picked up a lady that was being taught a couple of years ago named Nikki Sixx... No, I'm not joking. She literally bought the name in court back in the 80's. She's a cool lady in a crazy kind of way. We've only met with her once so far. I'm not sure how much you know about some of our investigators I just mentioned, so ask questions if you want to know more. Right now we don't have anyone scheduled to be baptized and are trying to find the elect.
The zone leader duties are... well, they're duties. It's really great to be able to work with the other leaders and with the Mission President often and I'm learning so much. We have great opportunities to see how the church is run as we attend meetings such as stake correlation. We work with the stake leaders and get to learn how to successfully run a stake, and even how to unsuccessfully run a stake. We have to sacrifice a lot more of our time, but that doesn't really bother me at all. Being a zone leader gives you such a special opportunity to serve other missionaries on top of the members of your ward and the investigators that you teach. I think I'm healthy... I feel like I always do. I'm eating good enough to get the job done which is all I need. Who needs to feast all the time when there's so much work to do.
My companion Elder Breur is from Cedar Hills Utah. He is a great missionary and is always working hard! We both push each other to be better and are very unified. We have seen some miracles together already and are really enjoying working together. He was a wrestler in high school, and some how we all end up battling at night as we're getting ready for bed. We live with Elder Vidmar and Elder Strong. Elder Strong also went to Orem High, but he graduated a year before me. He's a really cool kid. We have some good fun in our apartmentship.
We met this guy from India yesterday that we started talking to, and then all of a sudden he starts going off about how he's a vegetarian and everyone else should be a vegetarian too. He exclaimed,"You know something, every night 35 million chickens are killed!... slaughtered." It was sooo funny. Maybe you had to be there, but my comp and I thought it was hillarious the way he said it. We quoted him all day long.
LOVE YA!
Elder Tilley
I thought the name Nikki Sixx sounded familiar, like it might be someone famous, so I looked it up. Nikki Sixx was the bassist for Motley Crue. I wonder if this woman was obsessed with him and had her name changed. I sure would like to know the circumstances of thet one!!
How is everyone? Things are great where I'm at. Sorry that I haven't told you about the people we're teaching. We're still teaching J., I'm not sure how much you know about her but she keeps all of her commitments, is always at church and enjoys the members, but for some reason just won't quite fully commit. We've invited her to baptized several times, but she always says "I need to learn more before I get baptized". She'll definitely be baptized eventually, but she is a slow mover.
Jo. hasn't really changed much since I've been here. Right now he really can't progress until his family starts being a better example and start to help him out more. Everyone else in the family are members. We stopped teaching T. and L. for a while, but we started teaching them again. So far I haven't seen to much difference in their willingness to change, so we'll see if they start progressing. M., a recent convert from Liberia, has a friend and his uncle is living with him now. We set up an appointment to see how M. was doing, and when we went over we had met both G. and Me. and started teaching them. It was really unexpected and was a really cool miracle. G. has been out of town for the last couple of weeks, but Me. has been reading the Book of Mormon. He always has a list of questions for us to answer which shows that he really wants to know if it is true. It surprises me how specific his questions are. Last time we visited he asked us, "What is the relationship between Alma and Gideon?" Who asks something like that??? It was kind of funny, but it does show how much time he's spending to understand the Book of Mormon.
We also just picked up a lady that was being taught a couple of years ago named Nikki Sixx... No, I'm not joking. She literally bought the name in court back in the 80's. She's a cool lady in a crazy kind of way. We've only met with her once so far. I'm not sure how much you know about some of our investigators I just mentioned, so ask questions if you want to know more. Right now we don't have anyone scheduled to be baptized and are trying to find the elect.
The zone leader duties are... well, they're duties. It's really great to be able to work with the other leaders and with the Mission President often and I'm learning so much. We have great opportunities to see how the church is run as we attend meetings such as stake correlation. We work with the stake leaders and get to learn how to successfully run a stake, and even how to unsuccessfully run a stake. We have to sacrifice a lot more of our time, but that doesn't really bother me at all. Being a zone leader gives you such a special opportunity to serve other missionaries on top of the members of your ward and the investigators that you teach. I think I'm healthy... I feel like I always do. I'm eating good enough to get the job done which is all I need. Who needs to feast all the time when there's so much work to do.
My companion Elder Breur is from Cedar Hills Utah. He is a great missionary and is always working hard! We both push each other to be better and are very unified. We have seen some miracles together already and are really enjoying working together. He was a wrestler in high school, and some how we all end up battling at night as we're getting ready for bed. We live with Elder Vidmar and Elder Strong. Elder Strong also went to Orem High, but he graduated a year before me. He's a really cool kid. We have some good fun in our apartmentship.
We met this guy from India yesterday that we started talking to, and then all of a sudden he starts going off about how he's a vegetarian and everyone else should be a vegetarian too. He exclaimed,"You know something, every night 35 million chickens are killed!... slaughtered." It was sooo funny. Maybe you had to be there, but my comp and I thought it was hillarious the way he said it. We quoted him all day long.
LOVE YA!
Elder Tilley
I thought the name Nikki Sixx sounded familiar, like it might be someone famous, so I looked it up. Nikki Sixx was the bassist for Motley Crue. I wonder if this woman was obsessed with him and had her name changed. I sure would like to know the circumstances of thet one!!
Monday, June 6, 2011
There is Nothing Better Than Quality Prayer
Familia!
How goes it??? Life out in NJ is great for me right now. This past week was really great. That stinks about Matthew's finger. How long is the recovery time? It's a good thing that you got things figured out. It seems like doctors never get the right diagnosis. Why can't he still go on his trips? Tell him that now he can write me lots of letters since he has nothing else to do. I know I stink at writing back, but I will try to do better. Cameron just turned 5? I thought his was going to turn 6. I can never remember how old everyone is.
My new companion is E. Breur. I get along with him very well and because of that all aspects of my life are completely different. It has really taught me how important unity is, not only in missionary work, but in life. It's good training for when I'm married. We have seen a lot of miracles already, because we are one in purpose. I am back to having a positive outlook on things and I feel so much better.
We have a lot of opportunities set up to find new people to teach. This past week we focused on being guided by the spirit in everything that we did. We started off by following every thought that came to our mind, even if we weren't sure if it was a prompting or not. By doing this we proved to the Lord that we were willing to follow the spirit and we received more and more specific direction as we gained his trust. We should really seek revelation more in our lives and when we do receive instruction from Heaven, we need to treat it as the sacred treasure that it is. Being on a mission is the perfect training ground for how to receive personal revelation. Our Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves, and it's such a comfort to know that we are doing what is best for us.
I love you so much and I hope that you will do all that you can to build a stronger relationship with your loving Father in Heaven. Remember that prayer is a form of work. It takes great effort to communicate effectively with God and it is spiritually demanding. There is nothing better, however, than quality prayer.
Love ya all! Elder Tilley
Cameron really did just turn 6. Turns out it's the mom who can't remember how old her children are.
How goes it??? Life out in NJ is great for me right now. This past week was really great. That stinks about Matthew's finger. How long is the recovery time? It's a good thing that you got things figured out. It seems like doctors never get the right diagnosis. Why can't he still go on his trips? Tell him that now he can write me lots of letters since he has nothing else to do. I know I stink at writing back, but I will try to do better. Cameron just turned 5? I thought his was going to turn 6. I can never remember how old everyone is.
My new companion is E. Breur. I get along with him very well and because of that all aspects of my life are completely different. It has really taught me how important unity is, not only in missionary work, but in life. It's good training for when I'm married. We have seen a lot of miracles already, because we are one in purpose. I am back to having a positive outlook on things and I feel so much better.
We have a lot of opportunities set up to find new people to teach. This past week we focused on being guided by the spirit in everything that we did. We started off by following every thought that came to our mind, even if we weren't sure if it was a prompting or not. By doing this we proved to the Lord that we were willing to follow the spirit and we received more and more specific direction as we gained his trust. We should really seek revelation more in our lives and when we do receive instruction from Heaven, we need to treat it as the sacred treasure that it is. Being on a mission is the perfect training ground for how to receive personal revelation. Our Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves, and it's such a comfort to know that we are doing what is best for us.
I love you so much and I hope that you will do all that you can to build a stronger relationship with your loving Father in Heaven. Remember that prayer is a form of work. It takes great effort to communicate effectively with God and it is spiritually demanding. There is nothing better, however, than quality prayer.
Love ya all! Elder Tilley
Cameron really did just turn 6. Turns out it's the mom who can't remember how old her children are.
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