Staying in Gainesville

Hi!

 

Transfer calls came last night.  Elder Grant is moving on after 6 weeks with me and I will be staying in the Gainesville 2nd Ward for another two transfers to train a new missionary.  I've never spent more than 4.5 months (3 transfer cycles) in a single area before and have reached that here, so I was dead certain I was going to move.  Now that the anticipation of moving is gone, I'm not sure how I'm going to adapt to being in a single area/ward for 7.5 months (5 transfers). Hopefully, I don't get complacent, but it will definitely put a new spin to the work -- we've already visited all of the people in the area book and will have to get creative with finding. President also released me as a zone leader and called me to be the district leader over the most struggling district in the zone.  Yikes.  This will be an adventure for sure.

 

Thankfully, we have some great people to work with now!  After 6 weeks of absolutely nothing happening, Elder Grant and I had dropped all of the people we were working with just two and a half weeks ago.  Now we are blessed with several families, two college students, a single mom, a high school student, and a part member and have one solid baptism scheduled for early October.  Haha, that's probably why President chose to keep me here to train - give the new elder some good experiences to start his mission strong.

 

Interestingly enough, one of my favorite things has been ministering to people in hospitals lately.  There has been a hospital in each of my last four areas and I've really come to enjoy receiving phone calls to visit people there.  Elder Grant and I have had a couple of opportunities to be at both Shands Hospital and North Florida Hospital here in Gainesville this week. Health problems are pretty tragic, but it seems those situations can soften hearts and help people realize what is really important in life - family and God.
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#moments-that-matter-most

 

So when did Gabe get old enough to go on dates?  (weird)  Lol, he's probably driving too?  The Howell family is forever on the Manti history books with the sheer number of races that were won in that county by our family.  Congrats on a race well run and ending the legacy strong!  It sounds like the extended family is doing well with a flood of engagements, marriages, and job offers.  It sounds like Matt would really enjoy a job that takes him back to Germany so frequently.  I was also glad to hear that Alecia is singing with the institute choir.  That was one of my favorite stress relievers outside of dancing when I was there in Logan.

 

I received several letters today from friends in Logan, so here's a warm and hearty shout-out to Jon, Kristen, Amy, Becky, and even Kariann Nielson in Rexburg!  I'm not sure if I'll be able to write replies today, but hopefully I'll have letters coming back to you in the next few weeks!

Much Love!

 

Elder M.

 

Seattle Update

FAMILY!!!!

Well, I am writing super late on a Tuesday because we had our temple trip today.  After a temple session, taking pictures, Deseret Book, the distribution services, and eating with the district, and driving up to Bellevue it doesn't leave much time for anything else.  It has been a super spiritual and fun filled day and I have enjoyed it.

The story of your move was pretty epic and I may actually translate it into Spanish and share it with investigators.  We have some people that need faith to act and I think it could help them.  Trusting in God and still loading up the U-haul the night before sounds crazy.  So Mountain Crest is a 4A high school right?  And the mascot it the mustang and the colors are orange and white I think?  I think I remember driving by that high school several times when I lived up in Logan.  Sounds 100% different then going to Manti High.  I think that Gabe and Joe should enjoy it though.  Speaking of Joe, I realized that it was his birthday yesterday.  Don't give me too much credit... I didn't realize until about noon yesterday and was trying to think why August 20 seemed like something happened that day.  Joe, I have a b-day present I want to send (that is if I can find what I am looking for, and I will most likely not get the time to look for it until next pday).  If I do find it, I think you will like it.

The house that you moved into sounds like it is pretty big.  And it has a lot of land. Sounds like the town size hasn't changed just that everyone has bigger land lots. Still not sure what to think about you telling everyone you have 6 single boys. Hopefully with McKay going home first they will all be after him and I won't have to worry about that when I return :P JK

Mom, do either you or Dad have a job yet?  It seems like Dad got a lot of work by word of mouth down in Manti. Just wondering how his start up in a new town is going.

Jacob, way to rock everyone on the race!  It was exciting to hear that Howell tradition continues.  A couple of times a week we get up and go to the local high school track that is literally in our back yard to run a couple laps.  Nothing fast though and nothing as long as a half mile.  I might not even be able to breath at the elevation that you guys are at when I get home.

McKay, I was actually stunned by your tracting experience.  I think it gave me some hope.  I have never seen that happen on the mission.  We maybe get one or two return appointments in a day of tracting, but A WHOLE STREET!!! QUE MILAGRO!!!  We do a pretty good amount of tracting, and it is cool to hear a good success story like that.

Well, as for my week, it was pretty nice. Our golden investigator still seems golden to learn, the only problem is finding a time to teach him when he isn't working. He goes to work really early and doesn't even get home most nights until after we have to go back to our apartments.  Kind of a hard situation.  We got a great referral from some English missionaries in our zone though this week. They just said that they talked to a Spanish man and set up an appointment for us because he didn't speak English. We go to the lesson and this couple and their four kids are so open and loving it was crazy.  We didn't even have to really ask them anything before they told us their life stories.  He is from Costa Rica and she is from Ecuador.  We taught the first lesson only to find out in the middle that the wife is a less active member. They moved here from California about a year ago, but she hasn't been to church for about 10 years. They didn't have a car in California, so she just went to the nearest church which was a baptist church. They are excited to come to church though and get the kids involved in the activities.  We showed up to their house before church just to remind them and found out that Steve (the man) hurt his hand and would have to go to the hospital instead of church. Satan seems to always get in the way of everything, but we are looking forward to this next Sunday and them coming to church.

Well, not too much else new in my life. Love you all and thanks for the update.

Elder Ben

 

100% Tracting Success!

The family moved to Wellsville, huh? Lol, it seems like everyone migrated to Cache Valley: us, the McGarry's, Jessica.  It's just the place to be!  It's strange  to think that Gabe and Joe will be going to high school where Jake and I used to teach dance...  Your story of moving on faith was pretty inspiring.  God always pulls through! (whew!)

See if you can hit up Bear Lake at least once before the summer ends - I love making that trip up the canyon and would go pretty frequently the last few years.  May I also recommend the Crimson Trail in September and perhaps the Wind Caves.  Ask Jake about them.  Jessica Halling and I hiked up the Wellsville mountain a couple years ago - it's a pretty steep hike, but the view is incredible from the top.  You can see all of Cache Valley, Rattlesnake Canyon, Brigham City, up into Idaho, etc!

Does Wellsville have it's own stake or is it combined with Hyrum, Paradise, Mendon, and all those other itty bitty towns I used to drive around in? I'm glad that you have social neighbors, but you made me somewhat nervous with that comment of introducing yourself as having 6 single sons.  Don't you dare be giving out any information on me!  =P  I expect to be fully anonymous without anyone knowing a speck about me when I return in March!  Then again, a horse farm with 2 acres sounds like a good place to hide out....

Ok, so I have a story for you.  Elder Ben may appreciate this one more than the rest of you.  Last night, Elder Grant and I were not finding much success until we went to tract around our ward mission leader.  We started with a house where a super nice guy came out and asked us to return on Tuesday and then referred us to his next neighbor. On we went, from house to house, each one responding positively and referring us to the next neighbor as well until we had gone through the entire street with a 100% success rate!!!!!  EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE TALKED WITH INVITED US BACK!!! That NEVER happens!!!!  Haha, especially with tracting which is well known as being one of the least effective ways of finding new investigators. Tomorrow evening is looking to be pretty productive when we return to that area to teach all of these people.

Saturday night I received a call from President Barry asking me to train a new missionary this next transfer cycle. We have a huge incoming group of 20 missionaries from the MTC and next time it will be almost as large with 17.  There is a 12 week (2 transfer) training program so in another six weeks, over half of the mission (74 missionaries total) will be involved in the training program.  Yikes!  Lots of green fire and enthusiasm throughout the mission I'm sure!  Not sure yet if I'll be staying here in Gainesville or not for that.

My thought for this week:  I've realized how often the scriptures reference "remembering" what the Lord has said and done in the past (Luke 24:8).  Both Nephi (1 Nephi 11:1) and Joseph F. Smith (D&C 138:1-2, 11) received visions as they "sat pondering" the ways of the Lord and as they did so the Spirit rested upon them, enlightened their understanding, and gave them revelations that are now recorded in scripture.  ...."treasure up in your minds continually the words of life" (D&C 84:85).  "thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (Joshua 1:8).  These have given me a greater awareness and desire to reflect, ponder, or meditate throughout the day on the things I've learned during studies in the morning. Hopefully I'll be able to keep a greater measure of the Spirit with me in my contacting situations and teaching opportunities as I do so.

Have a great first week back at school!

Lovies,

Elder M.

Ben's Friend Surprise Visit

Family,

Well, I had the wonderful surprise of seeing Michael Kellogg and Melissa yesterday at church.  As you all most likely know, his sister just moved up to the West Seattle area (about 25 minutes away) so he was here in the area visiting. He must have looked the address and time of the Spanish branch up on the internet.  I was standing in the hall of the church and had to do a double take to make sure my eyes were working correctly.  It was very weird, but nice, to see him.  He was only there for about 3 minutes and then left.  He picked a perfect time to visit Seattle because it has been nothing but sun for a week straight.  I was able to hear from him that you did a successful move though.  Since I didn't receive an email from Mom, I am guessing that you were really busy with the move/unpacking and settling in to the new house to write.
 

This week was we did not see as much success as the week before, but several good things did happen.  After a very spiritual but short zone meeting with President Larkin giving everyone a spiritual boost, we went out and found several new investigators in several hours. One of these lessons was the easiest lesson I have ever taught in my life. The investigator was really open right off the bat and it made it super easy for the spirit to guide the lesson.  And she loves to read!  Which is a miracle for us because most people have a hard time sitting down to read the Book of Mormon.

I was standing at the grocery store checking out today and the lady bagging asked me if I was in a Spanish area. I said "yes" and then she said that she has a relative from California that has been called Spanish speaking here and is entering the MTC this Wednesday. That was actually pretty exciting to hear because we have 6 Spanish elders leaving in the next 4 months and could really use some more.

Everything is going great in the Evergreen state. Thank you for your support and prayers.

Elder Ben

Encounter With Drunks in FL

It's my companion's birthday today.  Oddly enough, I was able to celebrate it last year as well.  Last summer when we were serving together in Brunswick, Elder Graham, Elder Jensen, and I kidnapped him, threw a blanket over his head and forcibly dragged him to a surprise dinner at a BarBQ restaurant. Today, I think it will be much more low key - maybe some brownies, a trip to the natural history museum, and possibly the butterfly gardens.

So this week was rather fun.  Elder Grant and I were tracting out in the ghetto in the town of Archer on Saturday evening when we encountered the grand gathering of all drunken people.  Quite the soused party.  Anyway, one of them recognized us as we had talked with him before and came over to say hi, other people came with, and soon we had the whole party around us.  One of them started slurring out something about Jesus being black and demanding that we describe what color he was.  Playing it safe, I just said that "Christ lives in glory in heaven."  This just made him mad though, and he pulled out a knife and got rather belligerent.  That was about the time we decided to invite them to repent and then left until we could meet them another day when they were all sober. Haha, I think that was the first time I've ever actually been seriously threatened as a missionary. John 15:18

Friday, during weekly planning, we made the tough choice to drop all of our investigators and then trusted that the Lord would lead us to those who were truly prepared. On Saturday, we fasted for the same. By Sunday, we had found four new investigators, have three more potentials coming to a family history night on wednesday, and after 6 weeks of no one coming to church, we finally had one of the people we were working with come to sacrament meeting!  Fasting + Prayer = Amazing!

Love you all.  Good luck with the move.

--
Elder M. Howell

Fasting as a Tool

Hey family,

It was pretty crazy to hear that you will be moving. It seems like after 12 years in Manti that that was pretty much the place to be.  It seems like everything has fallen together pretty nicely and now all that needs to happen is to find a house in the area that you want to move. Mom, once you know where you are moving you need to send me the address.  I have to notify the mission office if anything like that happens. Thanks.

This week has been a week of MIRACLES!!!  We had an amazing week here in Renton.  And the secret behind it is the faith of the branch.  Both us and the Hermanas have been struggling to get anything really rolling in the work so we decided to start a 40 day fast in the branch.  The branch president and us started the first couple of days of the fast and then the members signed up for the other days.  We have had someone continuously fasting in the branch for the past 2 weeks. McKay, you should try this idea it is sweet!  One of the English wards did it and had a lot of success as well.  It is crazy to see.  Literally, we would go out and do the work and people would just seem to come out of the wood work that are prepared. One man is golden.  I never thought I would use that word for an investigator, but this man is SO prepared and ready to learn. We were tracting the last half of an apartment complex that we had tracted last week, finished up and were walking back to our car, when all of a sudden I had a strong impression to turn back and go to and apartment that we had tracted the week before. We only met the man in this apartment briefly when we tracted there last week and got his name because he was busy on a phone call.  I told my companion that we needed to turn around and go to this apartment. We did and instead of finding the man we were looking for we found his roommate. Knowing we were there for a reason though we started talking to him and he let us right in to his house and we taught his a lesson.  He grew up catholic (no surprise, he is from Mexico) but has not gone to church for awhile, loves reading the Bible, but was interested to read the Book of Mormon.  He agreed with everything that we taught in the lesson and said that out of all of the doors that we could have knocked on that it was amazing that we would knock on his because he has wanted to start going back to church and strengthening his relationship with God.  In the lesson with him we mentioned briefly that we would be having a Noche Familiar (family night) activity at the church Friday night and that we would have a spiritual lesson and then a small dinner afterwards.  The next day he called us and said that he had work off and was coming to the noche familiar!!! That is the first time that an investigator has called me on the mission the day after we met him.  The lesson at the noche famililar was great!  A police officer from the Renton police department came and got to know the members a little bit and to tell them that the police were there to help them in anyway they could. This police officer then shared several experiences from his mission in Mexico that were super powerful and then his wife (from Mexico) shared her family's conversion story.  After Carlos (our investigator) asked us when the next noche familiar would be and said that we was coming to church on Sunday. He came to church and really enjoyed it as well!!! :)  All thanks to the Spirit and him prompting us  to turn around and to back to his apartment.

I don't even think I have time to write all of the things that happened this week. In a two day time we were able to find 5 other people who are pretty prepared and interested in learning.  All of their work schedules are up the wall crazy though so we will see how effectively we can get appointments and teach them.

Lots of love,

Elder B.

Family Search as a Tool

Exciting moment of the week: we were wrapping up a great lesson with a family of 7 and everyone was super involved.  We were just about to leave a commitment when the dad and I both noticed something crawling along the top of the couch towards his wife.  We both jumped for it and she screamed in horror as she turned to see a scorpion scuttling towards her face. It definitely took a moment to restore focus after we had taken care of the critter, but no one wanted to sit on the couch anymore.

Elder Grant and I have had a rather interesting week. We have gone through a LOT of finding ideas in the past few weeks, and strangely enough, the only one that is helping us to find new investigators is Family History.  We have given one tour of the center already and have several more scheduled with various investigators that we found this week who expressed a strong interest in genealogy work.  With all the time that we spent at the center, I linked my own familysearch.org account with a fan chart generator (create fan.com) to create a pretty cool visual of 9 generations.  It definitely looks like the area to do the most work on is Grandma Howell's line, but I was very surprised at how filled out the rest of it is.

Good luck with the move.  It sounds like miracles are happening in Manti for everything to fall into place so quickly. Gabe and Joe will get lots of practice moving boxes.  =P  When we moved last time we got it all into one U-haul.  I hope I don't have too much stuff up there in the attic.  Do whatever you need to do with it.

Love ya!

Elder M.