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.
Monday, May 23, 2011
"Give Your Heart"
Dearest Family,
I am doing very well actually. I would say that I am doing better than I have in quite some time. We've had some very tough times here in Scotch Plains, but this last week was really good. Yesterday we found a potential family which was very exciting! Right now we don't have a lot of people to teach so hopefully it develops into something great. By the way transfers are tomorrow. My companion E. Rosas is being transferred and I'm staying.. again... I think I'm going to be here forever. There must be a reason for it, so hopefully I figure it out this transfer. I'm pretty excited to have a new companion. It's always crazy wondering who it's going to be. This Sunday we had a regional broadcast for stake conference and it was awesome! We got to hear from Russell M. Nelson and President Eyring who both gave awesome talks. Thats cool that Josh and Jackie moved to St. George. I'm sure they love it! What else is going on with the family. Yeah I got Matthew's Graduation anouncement. It's crazy that it's already summer vacation. I hope you have a lot of fun things planned.
I'm really looking forward to this upcoming month in the mission. In our last Zone Leader Council, we decided that we needed to focus on becoming true Disciples of Jesus Christ. We're calling it "Give Your Heart" month. We will work out the details on Friday in our next council, but basically it will be a month of 100% concecration. It's going to be awesome! With the great effort we will put forth we will see amazing miracles. It's also going to be a sad month, because it is the last month President and Sister Bahr will be here. They are SO amazing and will be greatly missed, but change is part of life. Anyway got to go, because my companion needs to start packing. Love ya!
Love Elder Tilley
P.S. Missionaries never really know what's going on sooo.. I was wondering.... Did the world end?
I am doing very well actually. I would say that I am doing better than I have in quite some time. We've had some very tough times here in Scotch Plains, but this last week was really good. Yesterday we found a potential family which was very exciting! Right now we don't have a lot of people to teach so hopefully it develops into something great. By the way transfers are tomorrow. My companion E. Rosas is being transferred and I'm staying.. again... I think I'm going to be here forever. There must be a reason for it, so hopefully I figure it out this transfer. I'm pretty excited to have a new companion. It's always crazy wondering who it's going to be. This Sunday we had a regional broadcast for stake conference and it was awesome! We got to hear from Russell M. Nelson and President Eyring who both gave awesome talks. Thats cool that Josh and Jackie moved to St. George. I'm sure they love it! What else is going on with the family. Yeah I got Matthew's Graduation anouncement. It's crazy that it's already summer vacation. I hope you have a lot of fun things planned.
I'm really looking forward to this upcoming month in the mission. In our last Zone Leader Council, we decided that we needed to focus on becoming true Disciples of Jesus Christ. We're calling it "Give Your Heart" month. We will work out the details on Friday in our next council, but basically it will be a month of 100% concecration. It's going to be awesome! With the great effort we will put forth we will see amazing miracles. It's also going to be a sad month, because it is the last month President and Sister Bahr will be here. They are SO amazing and will be greatly missed, but change is part of life. Anyway got to go, because my companion needs to start packing. Love ya!
Love Elder Tilley
P.S. Missionaries never really know what's going on sooo.. I was wondering.... Did the world end?
Monday, May 9, 2011
I Try Hard Not to Take Anything for Granted
Dearest Family,
How are you? It's been so long... Not much has changed in the last 24 hours. Just doin the regular P-Day thang. It would be awesome to see Randy! I don't know if I would be able to unfortunately. I'll ask President if I can. It might be good if Randy calls the mission office to see if it's possible, but he shouldn't call my number. Hopefully it will be ok but I guess we'll see what happens.
We're starting week 5 of this transfer and time continues to fly! I try my hardest to not take any of my mission for granted. I want to be able to look back and know that I worked to my fullest capacity at all times. It can be difficult to stay consistantly focused on my purpose, but the Lord helps me out a lot. I love ya lots and will have a lot more to say next week.
Love, Elder Tilley
How are you? It's been so long... Not much has changed in the last 24 hours. Just doin the regular P-Day thang. It would be awesome to see Randy! I don't know if I would be able to unfortunately. I'll ask President if I can. It might be good if Randy calls the mission office to see if it's possible, but he shouldn't call my number. Hopefully it will be ok but I guess we'll see what happens.
We're starting week 5 of this transfer and time continues to fly! I try my hardest to not take any of my mission for granted. I want to be able to look back and know that I worked to my fullest capacity at all times. It can be difficult to stay consistantly focused on my purpose, but the Lord helps me out a lot. I love ya lots and will have a lot more to say next week.
Love, Elder Tilley
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
I Couldn't Do it Without God's Help
Hello Family
Happy Mother's Day!!... in a week. I am SO excited to talk to all of you! I'm not sure when I'll be able to call yet, but it will probably be like Christmas. Hopefully I will be able to call you the night before and tell you when I'll call. We shall see. Sounds like you had a crazy/fun weekend. I didn't realize it was Christmas time already, but whatever. I know you love TSO (a little too much). Life is good out in Dirty Jerz. It's starting to get hot and it rains like every day. The summer will soon be here and then I get to enjoy the scorching heat. Yay. I'm going to send two memory cards and a couple of CD's full of pictures and videos, so get excited! I know it took forever and I feel terrible but I do what I can.
Things are not going too well as far as missionary work is concerned. Pretty much everyone we were teaching either moved, fell back into drugs or is avoiding us. When I say everyone I literally mean everyone except two people. It all happened in about a week so we're pretty much starting at ground zero. Oh well, we keep working.
Happy Mother's Day!!... in a week. I am SO excited to talk to all of you! I'm not sure when I'll be able to call yet, but it will probably be like Christmas. Hopefully I will be able to call you the night before and tell you when I'll call. We shall see. Sounds like you had a crazy/fun weekend. I didn't realize it was Christmas time already, but whatever. I know you love TSO (a little too much). Life is good out in Dirty Jerz. It's starting to get hot and it rains like every day. The summer will soon be here and then I get to enjoy the scorching heat. Yay. I'm going to send two memory cards and a couple of CD's full of pictures and videos, so get excited! I know it took forever and I feel terrible but I do what I can.
Things are not going too well as far as missionary work is concerned. Pretty much everyone we were teaching either moved, fell back into drugs or is avoiding us. When I say everyone I literally mean everyone except two people. It all happened in about a week so we're pretty much starting at ground zero. Oh well, we keep working.
B is having troubles with her family right now. They were fine with her meeting with us and even getting baptized, but Satan has worked really hard on them. She hasn't been confirmed yet, because her family hasn't let her go to church since she was baptized. Her mom told her that if she joins the church she has to leave and they won't pay for her college or anything anymore. She said they wouldn't have anything to do with her anymore and they will disown her. She has great faith and is willing to leave everything behind for the church, but that is kind of a last resort decision, so she's hoping everything will calm down and that her family will be reasonable.
"Everything that can go wrong will go wrong" should be the slogan in this area. Nothing surprises me anymore, and I automatically assume the worst. It REALLY stinks. It's nearly impossible to get referrals from members and they only get involved when asked. I have been here for quite some time and I feel as if I've tried everything I could and still nothing changes. The ward is still lacking excitement. and due to neglect by previous missionaries there hasn't been really anything recorded in the area book, so there is nothing to really work with. We need to find new investigators but all we can do is knock doors because that's the only option we have and are given. So we truck on doing the most unproductive thing you can do as a missionary.
Ward units not functioning properly is nothing new, but for as big as the ward is it should be run a lot better. It's hard to get along with my new companion, for some reason we just don't click. We are very different and because of the lack of success we are having right now, we have an even harder time getting along. Being here has been one of the greatest trials in my life. It's hard to have so many negative things going on and still stay positive. I know that I couldn't do it without God. When I get on my knees and talk to my Heavenly Father before I go to sleep, I feel his reasuring love. Very often that is the only good thing I experience all day. I find myself thinking often thinking of Moroni who watched a whole nation perish. He was constantly surrounded by terrible things and yet he always had his Father in Heaven. I hope you don't think I'm depressed or anything like that, because I'm not. I love life and I love being a missionary! Right now we're focusing on getting the ward excited. For whatever reason there are a lot of reserved people here. LAME. The root of the problem are the leaders in the ward. Just to give you a taste, our Elders Quorum President has us come home teaching with him every month and expects us to set up the apointments with the families he teaches. He literaly leans on us to do home teaching and he's the Elders Quorum President! One of the recent converts here is supposed to be home-taught by a member of the Bishopric but never has. This is not a recent convert who fell away and is avoiding the church. This is a recent convert who is more active than any of the members here. He wants to learn and continue to progress in the church SO badly, and hasn't ever been home taught. An active member of the Bishopric living beneath his Priesthood privelages. How sad. Anyway, I love you lots and can't wait to talk to you! Love you all!
Love Elder Tilley
Love Elder Tilley
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