Alooooo-HA!
THAT'S SO EXCITING THAT DAD GOT THE JOB!!!
I figured first thing's first.
Oh, and Mom, look on the bright side: You could have worked in the library in a branch. I've only seen that once so far, but the poor lady spent the entire time making sure their collection of Ensigns that go all the way back to when Peter, James, and John were doing the First Presidency Message were in chronological order. I walked in there to look around and was startled to find there was an actual librarian. The poor lady was disheartened to find out that I didn't really need anything. I probably should have asked her to make a copy of something unimportant, just to break up the monotony.
Anyway.
Oh, and yes, I got both the truffles and Zyrtec and the Cakes! All were still amazing tasting. Besides the Zyrtec, that never tastes good. I was surprised you didn't get more of the Costco 365 tablet bottle but that's cool!
Ok, so now for me and my stories.
It is heating up and humidifying up as well. I'm leaving little pools of sweat beneath my forearms on this desk when I pick them up. Yeah. It's gross. I can barely breath riding my bike around in it. Not that I'm complaining. It's just fact.
What DID I do this week? Um....
Well, we were unable to visit the place the music died last week. I will at some point, I can promise that.
Tuesday: Did community service at the soup line...I'm sorry, community kitchen...like we do every week, and then went to some members' home for dinner after doing some tracting and then went to an elderly couple's home to visit them. They've been taught a tad in the past, but mostly they just would have the missionaries over for playing cards. So, I'm just trying to figure out how to change it from playing rook or Phase 10 to teaching them about the gospel. Wish me luck there.
Wednesday! Oh, man, I can't believe I forgot about Wednesday! Ok, so, last week we went with some members to visit this guy that owns this tiny (and by tiny I mean MINUSCULE) little restaurant and answered his questions about the church. (Little side note. I accidentally pressed just the right buttons on these stupid DELL keyboards to erase my entire document. Such a good thing that myLDSmail.net went to google so it automatically saves drafts every few seconds.) Basically, what he got from it, was he wasn't sure why his Baptist Pastor thought Mormons were going to Hell, because we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, and for Baptists that's all you have to do to be saved. So, he went back to his pastor, who had had whole sermons on how Mormons are going to Hell, and was able to convince his pastor that we are not, in fact, going to be thrust down. WOO!! You don't know how excited I was about that!! To actually be able to convince not only one man but effectively an entire congregation that Mormons aren't Hellians (well, for the most part) is a huge thing! So that was AWESOME.
Thursday. Traveled down south and visited an investigator there and a referral. Gave the investigator a blessing which he really appreciated and the referral's sister asked us how long it takes to become a member. I REALLY wish I could have said "Right now! You have some white clothes? A creek nearby?" but instead I told her the real answer. They both accepted copies of the Book of Mormon and are committed to read and pray and watch the Restoration and Finding Faith in Christ and a return appointment. That night we stayed in Hampton to save time for the next day which was Zone Conference.
Friday. Went to zone conference. Way cool. All of it was on teaching, either with power, or with the Spirit, and committing people on first lessons to baptismal dates. Way scary, but it's definitely possible. Now we just have to get into those appointments to get those dates set!
Saturday is a Special Day. Don't know why, probably because it's the only free day us law-abiding-Mormons have. Ended up with two dinner appointments. Lots of leftovers.
Sunday we spent most of the day going over the Ward list with members. But I did discover what my dream job is. Forget Psychologist or Columnist. Now my aspirations are set towards...drum roll please...a Sales Clerk at the Lego Store in the Mall of America!! After some members told me about that store I knew it was the job for me. Oh yeah. I know how to make my parents proud.
Well, that's about it. Just lovin' it.
Peace out homeskillets.
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
For As Small As This World Is I Should Be Able to Jump Higher
Hello!
So, I think it's hilarious that you had to talk about me in Sacrament Meeting on short notice yesterday, mom, because basically the same stuff happened in our ward here. The missionaries here get to talk once a month, which I think is awesome, right along with the stake high councilman. The problem arose when the stake high councilman called saying he would not be able to make it. So what did they do? They had all the moms of missionaries in the ward stand up and talk about them. I couldn't help but think of you, mom. It's funny to think that a couple hours after I saw it happen here you were doing it back at home.
And speaking of odd connections to this branch, I seem to have a multitude of them.
#1-Elder Heyborne's first area was here. Way tiny connection compared to the rest.
#2-There is a member here with the last name McLane that looked a lot like a member with that same last name in Yankton. Turns out it's his brother. Bro and Sis McLane were some of my favorite people in Yankton.
Just wait, it's getting better.
#3-Also, in Yankton, there was another member who I loved who apparently once lived in this ward and is good friends with some members that just moved back from China. Very sweet people.
Now here's the real kicker.
#4-A member who's my age was going to BYU-I for school. He had not gotten an apartment yet, so he was going to be staying with his younger sister who is married. I decided to leave him with some good parting advice. There was this girl while I was there that I had met at a party and had fun hanging out with that night at a couple different movie parties but had never heard from again. So I told him to watch out for a girl with her name just in case she did the same thing to him. He replied "Well, I sure hope not, that's my sister's name." And then he froze. And began interrogating me. Yep. That's right. It was his sister, as he found out after calling her, a former member of this ward. And now, as all absolutely hilarious stories do, is spreading through the ward like wildfire. But, as all wildfire tends to do, it's getting misconstrued. So everybody keeps hearing that I dated her. Great. I actually think that would be less embarrassing than the actual story, but I still can't help but set the matter straight.
Sometimes I hate how small this world is.
Anyway, missionary work is going good, just trying to find people to teach. Found a cool lady who has had all sorts of deaths in her family and knows the bible so when we taught her the plan of salvation it didn't even seem like any surprise to her (kind of funny how when people really study the Bible, all we teach fits perfectly in). She's also a civil war reenactor(?).
Anyway, that's about it. Hope you laughed as hard as I have (you probably won't turn as red as I do) about #4.
Love you all,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
So, I think it's hilarious that you had to talk about me in Sacrament Meeting on short notice yesterday, mom, because basically the same stuff happened in our ward here. The missionaries here get to talk once a month, which I think is awesome, right along with the stake high councilman. The problem arose when the stake high councilman called saying he would not be able to make it. So what did they do? They had all the moms of missionaries in the ward stand up and talk about them. I couldn't help but think of you, mom. It's funny to think that a couple hours after I saw it happen here you were doing it back at home.
And speaking of odd connections to this branch, I seem to have a multitude of them.
#1-Elder Heyborne's first area was here. Way tiny connection compared to the rest.
#2-There is a member here with the last name McLane that looked a lot like a member with that same last name in Yankton. Turns out it's his brother. Bro and Sis McLane were some of my favorite people in Yankton.
Just wait, it's getting better.
#3-Also, in Yankton, there was another member who I loved who apparently once lived in this ward and is good friends with some members that just moved back from China. Very sweet people.
Now here's the real kicker.
#4-A member who's my age was going to BYU-I for school. He had not gotten an apartment yet, so he was going to be staying with his younger sister who is married. I decided to leave him with some good parting advice. There was this girl while I was there that I had met at a party and had fun hanging out with that night at a couple different movie parties but had never heard from again. So I told him to watch out for a girl with her name just in case she did the same thing to him. He replied "Well, I sure hope not, that's my sister's name." And then he froze. And began interrogating me. Yep. That's right. It was his sister, as he found out after calling her, a former member of this ward. And now, as all absolutely hilarious stories do, is spreading through the ward like wildfire. But, as all wildfire tends to do, it's getting misconstrued. So everybody keeps hearing that I dated her. Great. I actually think that would be less embarrassing than the actual story, but I still can't help but set the matter straight.
Sometimes I hate how small this world is.
Anyway, missionary work is going good, just trying to find people to teach. Found a cool lady who has had all sorts of deaths in her family and knows the bible so when we taught her the plan of salvation it didn't even seem like any surprise to her (kind of funny how when people really study the Bible, all we teach fits perfectly in). She's also a civil war reenactor(?).
Anyway, that's about it. Hope you laughed as hard as I have (you probably won't turn as red as I do) about #4.
Love you all,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Monday, May 10, 2010
Hello from Mason City, or "River City", Iowa
You don't know how excited I was to find out that I am currently residing in a town near where the music died!! I actually went out past Clear Lake just yesterday! I had no clue I'd ever be so close to such a historic location. I'll need to find out if there's some monument there marking where the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and Ritchie Valens died in that plane crash. So not only do I live where the man who wrote the Music Man is from (they even have The Music Man Square just across the street from where I am with a statue and all sorts of other things claiming it to be "River City" from the play) but I get to be where that music died. Way cool. Chris Williams must be jealous of me.
For all those who get these updates, Mason City is my second ward that I've served in during my mission, the largest area in my mission, and the largest town I've served in yet. It even has a mall and a Target and other stores besides Wal-Mart! I never thought I'd miss having places to shop. I'm just sick of Wally-World/The Chinese Warehouse/The Happy Place or whatever you want to call it.
The ward seems great and very nice. They all walked up to me to shake my hand, which is a big change from having to be the one to take the initiative in most places. Maybe what one member told me will be true. She said, "This will be your favorite area." Sort of presumptuous, but I like it.
They just had a baptism here the day before I arrived and so really right now is rebuilding the teaching pool. Fun stuff.
Well, sorry that's not much of an update, but I kind of just talked to my parents yesterday.
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
For all those who get these updates, Mason City is my second ward that I've served in during my mission, the largest area in my mission, and the largest town I've served in yet. It even has a mall and a Target and other stores besides Wal-Mart! I never thought I'd miss having places to shop. I'm just sick of Wally-World/The Chinese Warehouse/The Happy Place or whatever you want to call it.
The ward seems great and very nice. They all walked up to me to shake my hand, which is a big change from having to be the one to take the initiative in most places. Maybe what one member told me will be true. She said, "This will be your favorite area." Sort of presumptuous, but I like it.
They just had a baptism here the day before I arrived and so really right now is rebuilding the teaching pool. Fun stuff.
Well, sorry that's not much of an update, but I kind of just talked to my parents yesterday.
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Transfers: God's Way of Teaching Us To Never Assume
So, yeah, I got a call this morning, as we usually do the day before transfers. I picked it up, pen in hand, ready to write down Elder Jameson's transfer directions, only to be told I'd be writing down my own transfer plans. Yep. I'm moving again. It's not because I'm doing anything wrong, President is just transferring people how he would have if it hadn't been for the emergency transfer.
So, I'm getting the wonderful opportunity to pack. Again. I guess I'll send you the address for my new place as soon as I know, so you can send the cake. Please send it quickly this time. Who knows how long this will last.
But, instead of getting down about it, I'm going to be my ingenious self and make a list of positives:
1) I'll be one of the few missionaries who can say they've had as many companions as they've had transfers,
2) I'll be one of the few missionaries who can say they're on their 7th Transfer and their 5th Area.
3) I'll get to see more of the beautiful state of Iowa.
4) I get to have it beat into my head even more how to break attachments to people.
5) I might just be moving to greener pastures (while this is just a phrase in Washington, out here it's quite literal).
6) I get to perfect my packing style.
7) I get to go to Burger King tonight on the way to Des Moines so I can get myself a Kid's Meal and an Iron Man Action Figure.
8) There is no number 8
Let's see, this week...um...really it's just been normal stuff. I know, a really lame answer to the question of how my week's been. Um...let's see....
Well, Elder Jameson crashed his bike. We were riding along and I looked down to make sure I hadn't just flung mud on myself and when I looked up he was all of a sudden on the ground. He cut open his pants and his leg, but both are fixed now.
I went and did some work in Corning, Iowa, which, as you should know, is the birthplace of Johnny Carson. I even got a picture of his house.
Oh, actually, one important thing! Last week, after district meeting, Elder Jameson went to a little place called Mt. Pisgah on the way back home. Ever heard of it? It apparently was a Mormon Trail way station (Creston, by the way, is right on the Mormon Trail, which is pretty cool) and cemetery. It's on a hill with a beautiful view of a valley to the west of it. Apparently when Parley P. Pratt reached the crest of this hill and saw the panorama before him, felt like he could view the promised land and thus named it after the mountain that Moses saw the promised land from. There's an obelisk that was set up with a few of the names of the people who died there, and a fenced in area where the cemetery is. All the actual markers have completely deteriorated, though. There's also a little cabin that is like one of the ones they would have built there. It was just a small little place for this little piece in LDS history that I had never heard about. I was left in awe of being able to visit it and see it basically as the pioneers had originally. But another marker was left, this one commemorating deaths that had occurred much more recently. On a little plaque on the ground was engraved the faces and names of four missionaries who had served here ten years ago and had died while traveling either to or from the cemetery. They had tried to pass a car only to end up crashing head on into another. Much like those videos they show you in drivers ed, seeing this plaque with the beautiful flowers beside it, accompanied by the picture of the four of them that was set up on the table inside the cabin, and the newspaper clipping of the accident in the apartment in Osceola, help us missionaries remember how important it is to drive safely. It really left my companion in a thoughtful state. I think it might have made him realize why I drive as safely as I do. I mean, he is from Utah, after all. But anyway, this was just a cool little place that seemed very spiritual. Before I ever visited the Mid-West, I never had much of a desire to visit Adam-Ondi-Ahman, but now that I am here, I really look forward to being able to go there someday. There really is a spiritual atmosphere to these places, even if to most people they are just another place in the midst of a bunch of grassland and farms.
Speaking of grasslands, my allergies don't seem to appreciate it here. I've been really congested and junk this week and I'm pretty sure it's just due to the allergies. And I think it may have given me a sinus infection along with it. But whatever. I just push forward doing the work of the Lord. We don't have much of an excuse to stay inside due to most sickness.
I think that's about it, though. I know I'm not updating you much on investigators, but there's not much to tell. Well, there's one that was pretty cool. We showed him the Restoration and it really seemed to help him. He said, in his own words, "I believe more now." I think he's really coming a long way. I just hope he comes to church! I think he will now.
But yeah. Whew. I think I'm now excited to move on. I just hope that at some point I get to be one of those missionaries that stays in an area for six transfers. Maybe God knows better and wants to keep me from being too attached. Or maybe he just wants me to learn how to break attachments by doing it over and over and over and over.... Either way, I know being transferred is what needs to happen.
OH! And I got another missionary update packet from Sister Little. (THANK YOU SISTER LITTLE!!) But I was saddened to notice that the highlight of the week listed, the one where I was emergency transferred out of Knoxville, was missing. Maybe it was just too depressing. I thought it was quite exciting (ok, so what if I cried when I found out it was happening? It's exciting to look back on....). But anyway, it's fun to see how everyone else is doing, and also get a chance to look back on my letters home and realize how entertaining they are. Not to give myself kudos or anything. I like Chewy Granola bars better than Kudos anyway.
I love you all. And if there's nothing else you pick up from my emails, just learn what I am: what the Lord has in store for you and what you want aren't usually the same thing. But as we all know, He knows better. And also that adversity brings forth the greatest blessings. I'm learning so much and being able to spread the goodness the Lord's doing through me to a lot of people throughout Iowa (wow, that sounded both cocky and not-so-straight at the same time, but you know what I mean. And I pay really close attention to Ammon who tells his brother, Aaron, that he is not boasting in himself but in his God who has done a great work through him).
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
So, I'm getting the wonderful opportunity to pack. Again. I guess I'll send you the address for my new place as soon as I know, so you can send the cake. Please send it quickly this time. Who knows how long this will last.
But, instead of getting down about it, I'm going to be my ingenious self and make a list of positives:
1) I'll be one of the few missionaries who can say they've had as many companions as they've had transfers,
2) I'll be one of the few missionaries who can say they're on their 7th Transfer and their 5th Area.
3) I'll get to see more of the beautiful state of Iowa.
4) I get to have it beat into my head even more how to break attachments to people.
5) I might just be moving to greener pastures (while this is just a phrase in Washington, out here it's quite literal).
6) I get to perfect my packing style.
7) I get to go to Burger King tonight on the way to Des Moines so I can get myself a Kid's Meal and an Iron Man Action Figure.
8) There is no number 8
Let's see, this week...um...really it's just been normal stuff. I know, a really lame answer to the question of how my week's been. Um...let's see....
Well, Elder Jameson crashed his bike. We were riding along and I looked down to make sure I hadn't just flung mud on myself and when I looked up he was all of a sudden on the ground. He cut open his pants and his leg, but both are fixed now.
I went and did some work in Corning, Iowa, which, as you should know, is the birthplace of Johnny Carson. I even got a picture of his house.
Oh, actually, one important thing! Last week, after district meeting, Elder Jameson went to a little place called Mt. Pisgah on the way back home. Ever heard of it? It apparently was a Mormon Trail way station (Creston, by the way, is right on the Mormon Trail, which is pretty cool) and cemetery. It's on a hill with a beautiful view of a valley to the west of it. Apparently when Parley P. Pratt reached the crest of this hill and saw the panorama before him, felt like he could view the promised land and thus named it after the mountain that Moses saw the promised land from. There's an obelisk that was set up with a few of the names of the people who died there, and a fenced in area where the cemetery is. All the actual markers have completely deteriorated, though. There's also a little cabin that is like one of the ones they would have built there. It was just a small little place for this little piece in LDS history that I had never heard about. I was left in awe of being able to visit it and see it basically as the pioneers had originally. But another marker was left, this one commemorating deaths that had occurred much more recently. On a little plaque on the ground was engraved the faces and names of four missionaries who had served here ten years ago and had died while traveling either to or from the cemetery. They had tried to pass a car only to end up crashing head on into another. Much like those videos they show you in drivers ed, seeing this plaque with the beautiful flowers beside it, accompanied by the picture of the four of them that was set up on the table inside the cabin, and the newspaper clipping of the accident in the apartment in Osceola, help us missionaries remember how important it is to drive safely. It really left my companion in a thoughtful state. I think it might have made him realize why I drive as safely as I do. I mean, he is from Utah, after all. But anyway, this was just a cool little place that seemed very spiritual. Before I ever visited the Mid-West, I never had much of a desire to visit Adam-Ondi-Ahman, but now that I am here, I really look forward to being able to go there someday. There really is a spiritual atmosphere to these places, even if to most people they are just another place in the midst of a bunch of grassland and farms.
Speaking of grasslands, my allergies don't seem to appreciate it here. I've been really congested and junk this week and I'm pretty sure it's just due to the allergies. And I think it may have given me a sinus infection along with it. But whatever. I just push forward doing the work of the Lord. We don't have much of an excuse to stay inside due to most sickness.
I think that's about it, though. I know I'm not updating you much on investigators, but there's not much to tell. Well, there's one that was pretty cool. We showed him the Restoration and it really seemed to help him. He said, in his own words, "I believe more now." I think he's really coming a long way. I just hope he comes to church! I think he will now.
But yeah. Whew. I think I'm now excited to move on. I just hope that at some point I get to be one of those missionaries that stays in an area for six transfers. Maybe God knows better and wants to keep me from being too attached. Or maybe he just wants me to learn how to break attachments by doing it over and over and over and over.... Either way, I know being transferred is what needs to happen.
OH! And I got another missionary update packet from Sister Little. (THANK YOU SISTER LITTLE!!) But I was saddened to notice that the highlight of the week listed, the one where I was emergency transferred out of Knoxville, was missing. Maybe it was just too depressing. I thought it was quite exciting (ok, so what if I cried when I found out it was happening? It's exciting to look back on....). But anyway, it's fun to see how everyone else is doing, and also get a chance to look back on my letters home and realize how entertaining they are. Not to give myself kudos or anything. I like Chewy Granola bars better than Kudos anyway.
I love you all. And if there's nothing else you pick up from my emails, just learn what I am: what the Lord has in store for you and what you want aren't usually the same thing. But as we all know, He knows better. And also that adversity brings forth the greatest blessings. I'm learning so much and being able to spread the goodness the Lord's doing through me to a lot of people throughout Iowa (wow, that sounded both cocky and not-so-straight at the same time, but you know what I mean. And I pay really close attention to Ammon who tells his brother, Aaron, that he is not boasting in himself but in his God who has done a great work through him).
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Monday, April 26, 2010
"This is the Right Place"
Hello Everybody,
So yeah, as ya'll found out last email, I'm in the Lenox area now but residing in Creston. For those who are up on pop culture, Lenox is now famous for being the location of a recent movie called "The Crazies," a movie about zombies or something. I think it's a pretty cool thing to be famous for. It did raise some questions in my mind, however, when a lady in a nearby town, Corning, informed me that she couldn't let us in because she was "Infected." Yep. Scary stuff.
Anyway, the area is about the same size as my first area, Muscatine. That doesn't help much, huh? Oh well. It goes a little north from Creston, down the Missourah border, and out west to the edge of the mission, or a ways past Corning, and about 15 or more minutes east of Creston. So much bigger than Knoxville but not as big as Yankton. The church building is actually a converted house, a fairly long rambler with a basement and converted garage, complete with parking lot and giant satellite dish in back.
As I brought up with Mom and Dad in my recent letter home, there's work to be done here, for sure, as I'm sure anybody who knows anything about missions can guess from a mid-transfer transfer. Transfers are next week, though, and my current companion knows he'll be moving along as well. His name's Elder Jameson. He's a good kid and will be good to serve with, but he doesn't know the area that great because he'd only been there four weeks before I came in. So it's been great.
But we did have two baptisms here this week!! They were Steve and Cindy. Steve had been picked up during this last transfer. He had been taught in the past but they started teaching him again. He seemed really great until this last sunday when he talked to his former minister who told him he would go to hell if he was baptized as a Mormon, and then he started doubting EVERYTHING. Great. But his wife, Cindy, was way solid, which was cool because she had originally not even wanted to listen. But as soon as she knew it was true, she knew. And nothing could dissuade her. But Steve kept having problems this week. So he was our main focus, trying to make sure he was ready to be baptized on the same day as his wife, Saturday. We met with them every day and brought recent converts who bore testimony to him and let him know they all had doubts but that they know that their baptism was the right thing and wouldn't trade it for anything. But he kept having doubts about authority on Friday, the day of his interview, I was led by the Spirit to be really bold. I like being bold. Nobody can argue with it, because true boldness comes from God and not from me and people can tell the Spirit's there. But I only feel prompted to be bold like I was with him every once in awhile, testifying and promising blessings in the name of Jesus Christ. It seemed to help him a little, along with the testimony of the member who was with us that had doubts up until he was baptized and received a stronger witness than ever that it was true. But he still wasn't fully convinced, but was willing to be interviewed. By this point, actually, I had the feeling that he did know but wanted to keep arguing because he was stubborn. Not sure. But he went and was interviewed by Elder Nelson, my trainer. Nelson told him everything we had but took it a next step and did what I felt we should have done but we didn't: gave him a blessing. That really showed him the power of the priesthood in action. After that, he was able to put the fact that he knew the Book of Mormon to be true to action and realize that because of that, everything else must be true as well. So he was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. But, as he shared in Gospel Principles, he still had his doubts until he walked into church that day and felt a drop of water hit him on his back. He looked around for a source for the water to have come from and could find none. Finally, Steve had received an answer in a way he could understand. "This is the right place," he said. (Did enough sentences in that last paragraph start with "But?" Hmmm....)
I also spent a day and a half this last week in Osceola, the next town over with missionaries, on exchanges with them there. That, along with the baptism and baptismal interview questions that were in Osceola, I feel like I've spent most of my time in Osceola this week. Or driving. I'm so sick of Iowa driving. Give me some turns in the road or something to keep me awake!!
And a bad thing that came along with the transfer is that now I have no money on my support card (the one from the mission office that gets restocked with $150 every month for food and cleaning supplies and that). I had been assuming (I know the problem with when people assume, but still) that I would be in the same area for an entire transfer (crazy thing to think, I know) and that having very little money because I did some eating out would be no problem because we have plenty of food in our apartment in Knoxville. But now I'm in a house (YEAH! We live in a house! Rented just for us! Complete with basement and everything! WAY cool!) that had no food. Great. And then all the getting together with missionaries this week with district meeting and baptism and all led to more money to spend. But then, a blessing came. This week we were tracting and knocked on a door that, not surprisingly, had an uninterested christian answer. Politely, I asked her if we had interrupted dinner, and she said no, but (and this is the crazy part) invited us in to eat what was left over from dinner! So we spent awhile talking with them as they fed us! They were still not interested, but we got on very good terms with them and had a great time. She said she couldn't think of anybody to refer us to that needed help but would call us if she could think of anybody, and told us to call her if we needed help. Her son, who's in his senior year, said that he would like to play disc golf with us on Mondays and would bring his friends. So while they might not be interested, they seem to be a good way to meet people in the town! And she ("she" or "the christian," which, for once with all the people who claim to be so, is true, is Jane, a woman who I'm guessing is about forty and has three kids, one being out of the house, one being James, her teenage son, and Ryan, her daughter who's about to graduate from middle school) took it one step further: She came by last night with GROCERIES!! Really! I'm pretty much set until next month!! I probably will still have to pick up some Rice Milk (I really think I'm lactose intolerant. I've tried cutting out milk stuff and I've been feeling a lot better. Yeah, kind of stinks...), though.
Well, that's about it. Hope all's well. I'm so glad that I've decided to be a consecrated missionary because now that I'm in an area where it really matters and could be hard, the decision's already made, so all the daily ones aren't so hard. It's been VERY stressful this week, but I'm trying to stop having myself allow it get to me. I'm doing fine, no worries. As it says in Preach My Gospel, work is the only way to not get homesick or bogged down. So work I will. Nephi's last three words apparently were "I Must Obey." And so must I. And the way I think and knows he means it is not in the way of "Ah Crap I guess I have to obey," but "It's what I should, and, thus, need, to do." Obedience brings blessings. Whoa, I'm starting to get all Soapboxy and preachy. So I'll stop here.
Love,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
So yeah, as ya'll found out last email, I'm in the Lenox area now but residing in Creston. For those who are up on pop culture, Lenox is now famous for being the location of a recent movie called "The Crazies," a movie about zombies or something. I think it's a pretty cool thing to be famous for. It did raise some questions in my mind, however, when a lady in a nearby town, Corning, informed me that she couldn't let us in because she was "Infected." Yep. Scary stuff.
Anyway, the area is about the same size as my first area, Muscatine. That doesn't help much, huh? Oh well. It goes a little north from Creston, down the Missourah border, and out west to the edge of the mission, or a ways past Corning, and about 15 or more minutes east of Creston. So much bigger than Knoxville but not as big as Yankton. The church building is actually a converted house, a fairly long rambler with a basement and converted garage, complete with parking lot and giant satellite dish in back.
As I brought up with Mom and Dad in my recent letter home, there's work to be done here, for sure, as I'm sure anybody who knows anything about missions can guess from a mid-transfer transfer. Transfers are next week, though, and my current companion knows he'll be moving along as well. His name's Elder Jameson. He's a good kid and will be good to serve with, but he doesn't know the area that great because he'd only been there four weeks before I came in. So it's been great.
But we did have two baptisms here this week!! They were Steve and Cindy. Steve had been picked up during this last transfer. He had been taught in the past but they started teaching him again. He seemed really great until this last sunday when he talked to his former minister who told him he would go to hell if he was baptized as a Mormon, and then he started doubting EVERYTHING. Great. But his wife, Cindy, was way solid, which was cool because she had originally not even wanted to listen. But as soon as she knew it was true, she knew. And nothing could dissuade her. But Steve kept having problems this week. So he was our main focus, trying to make sure he was ready to be baptized on the same day as his wife, Saturday. We met with them every day and brought recent converts who bore testimony to him and let him know they all had doubts but that they know that their baptism was the right thing and wouldn't trade it for anything. But he kept having doubts about authority on Friday, the day of his interview, I was led by the Spirit to be really bold. I like being bold. Nobody can argue with it, because true boldness comes from God and not from me and people can tell the Spirit's there. But I only feel prompted to be bold like I was with him every once in awhile, testifying and promising blessings in the name of Jesus Christ. It seemed to help him a little, along with the testimony of the member who was with us that had doubts up until he was baptized and received a stronger witness than ever that it was true. But he still wasn't fully convinced, but was willing to be interviewed. By this point, actually, I had the feeling that he did know but wanted to keep arguing because he was stubborn. Not sure. But he went and was interviewed by Elder Nelson, my trainer. Nelson told him everything we had but took it a next step and did what I felt we should have done but we didn't: gave him a blessing. That really showed him the power of the priesthood in action. After that, he was able to put the fact that he knew the Book of Mormon to be true to action and realize that because of that, everything else must be true as well. So he was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. But, as he shared in Gospel Principles, he still had his doubts until he walked into church that day and felt a drop of water hit him on his back. He looked around for a source for the water to have come from and could find none. Finally, Steve had received an answer in a way he could understand. "This is the right place," he said. (Did enough sentences in that last paragraph start with "But?" Hmmm....)
I also spent a day and a half this last week in Osceola, the next town over with missionaries, on exchanges with them there. That, along with the baptism and baptismal interview questions that were in Osceola, I feel like I've spent most of my time in Osceola this week. Or driving. I'm so sick of Iowa driving. Give me some turns in the road or something to keep me awake!!
And a bad thing that came along with the transfer is that now I have no money on my support card (the one from the mission office that gets restocked with $150 every month for food and cleaning supplies and that). I had been assuming (I know the problem with when people assume, but still) that I would be in the same area for an entire transfer (crazy thing to think, I know) and that having very little money because I did some eating out would be no problem because we have plenty of food in our apartment in Knoxville. But now I'm in a house (YEAH! We live in a house! Rented just for us! Complete with basement and everything! WAY cool!) that had no food. Great. And then all the getting together with missionaries this week with district meeting and baptism and all led to more money to spend. But then, a blessing came. This week we were tracting and knocked on a door that, not surprisingly, had an uninterested christian answer. Politely, I asked her if we had interrupted dinner, and she said no, but (and this is the crazy part) invited us in to eat what was left over from dinner! So we spent awhile talking with them as they fed us! They were still not interested, but we got on very good terms with them and had a great time. She said she couldn't think of anybody to refer us to that needed help but would call us if she could think of anybody, and told us to call her if we needed help. Her son, who's in his senior year, said that he would like to play disc golf with us on Mondays and would bring his friends. So while they might not be interested, they seem to be a good way to meet people in the town! And she ("she" or "the christian," which, for once with all the people who claim to be so, is true, is Jane, a woman who I'm guessing is about forty and has three kids, one being out of the house, one being James, her teenage son, and Ryan, her daughter who's about to graduate from middle school) took it one step further: She came by last night with GROCERIES!! Really! I'm pretty much set until next month!! I probably will still have to pick up some Rice Milk (I really think I'm lactose intolerant. I've tried cutting out milk stuff and I've been feeling a lot better. Yeah, kind of stinks...), though.
Well, that's about it. Hope all's well. I'm so glad that I've decided to be a consecrated missionary because now that I'm in an area where it really matters and could be hard, the decision's already made, so all the daily ones aren't so hard. It's been VERY stressful this week, but I'm trying to stop having myself allow it get to me. I'm doing fine, no worries. As it says in Preach My Gospel, work is the only way to not get homesick or bogged down. So work I will. Nephi's last three words apparently were "I Must Obey." And so must I. And the way I think and knows he means it is not in the way of "Ah Crap I guess I have to obey," but "It's what I should, and, thus, need, to do." Obedience brings blessings. Whoa, I'm starting to get all Soapboxy and preachy. So I'll stop here.
Love,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Monday, April 19, 2010
Life Happens and You Just Have to Deal With It As It Comes" -Dad
So, ready to hear about a roller coaster of a week?
Before I start, just so you know, I am fine, and it is not a lie to say that I'm doing wonderfully. But with great things that happen...come not so good things....
So.
At the beginning of this week, things were great. I was over the whole missing my sister's wedding thing and reconsecrated. All was well.
Monday was crazy busy, seeing as we were giving up Saturday as a prep day so we could go to the temple. We did a lot of running around to a bunch of appointments that ended up falling through. No biggie, just missionary work. Had a good dinner at a member's home. We still had to do laundry and such but it was no big deal.
Tuesday was any normal missionary day. Nothing big to report on there.
Wednesday we taught a 81 year old lady who we had dropped for awhile but picked back up again. She wasn't too interested in the gospel, which we found out pretty quickly. But she was interested in something else. ME. She hit on me. WAY creepy. "You charge me up, Charles." "You could be a pin up." Yeah. I couldn't even tell what was going on at the time. I thought I just didn't hear her right or was misinterpreting it. But when we left my companion kindly informed me: "BAH!! She was TOTALLY hitting on you!!! HAHAHA!!!" Sometimes it does suck being this really really really really really really ridiculously good looking. Right after that we went down to Centerville for exchanges. The rest of the night was spent standing around looking like we were helping to move their only investigators to Texas, trying to fix the MLS program, and having a Book of Mormon Study Class which included us and the Branch Mission Leader.
Thursday we got up and went and did service at a farm herding cows. It was a lot of fun. I might not mind working on a farm (if only I had a better back). We herded them all up onto the truck to be shipped off. We had to do a bunch of shipments because there were quite a few cows. But they got riled up at one point and broke through a fence and got away into the pasture and so we had to spend awhile trying to get them wrangled back up. That night we taught one of our main investigators who wants to be baptized and now wants her children baptized, too, so we have to see how much they want it.
Friday was another normal day. We taught a person we had met on the street and her cousin, and they seemed pretty interested, which is awesome. At night, however, we called up President Talbot to remind him that we were going to the temple the next day and found out that there was a miscommunication there. Apparently the Des Moines Stake is in the Winter Quarters Temple District, not the Nauvoo Temple District, and we were only allowed to go to our stake's temple district. SOOO, we were unable to go.
Saturday. With all of our plans shot for the day, we spent a day walking around the town talking to people and looking at apartments for a senior couple that might come here. No such luck.
Sunday we found a member referral from Oskaloosa and taught him. He seems pretty cool and open. None of our major investigators came to church, though. But that night, while I was talking to our Branch Mission Leader on the phone, I got a bunch of phone calls and just ignored them because the conversation I was having was pretty important. One of those phone calls was from President Talbot who had to call through another phone, letting me know that today, monday, I am being transferred, or as we call it in the mission, Emergency Transferred. No, it's not transfers, there's just a situation that requires missionaries to be moved around. And no, it's not from anything I've done, but somewhere else. I know really nothing about it besides that at 2:00 o'clock today I will be heading for the Lenox Area. Not much time to pack and do everything else and say bye to everyone. So, I guess, Goodbye Knoxville....
Love you all,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Oh, and i forgot to add in my last email my list of possible jobs that I could apply for after all of my experiences on my mission.
-Plumber: Fixed our toilet. The mechanism in the tank was broken so I got to replace it. I did get water all over, though, when turning off the water somehow made it come out of the pipe. Luckily I had my wrench for my bike to tighten that up and stop the water.
-Cowboy: From herding the cattle
-Realtor: Looking for that apartment
-Private Investigator/Bounty Hunter: Finding people who don't want to be found.
-Professional Mover
-Coach: from coaching the YMCA kids soccer team in Muscatine
-Bike Mechanic
-Landscaper: It's a stretch from mowing someone's lawn, but whatever
-Painter
-Counselor
-Addiction Recovery Specialist
-Remodeler
-Waiter
-EMT
-Pro-Bicyclist
-Custodian
-Librarian
-Editor: all of my companions need me for spell-check
-Columnist: From doing these emails home!
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Before I start, just so you know, I am fine, and it is not a lie to say that I'm doing wonderfully. But with great things that happen...come not so good things....
So.
At the beginning of this week, things were great. I was over the whole missing my sister's wedding thing and reconsecrated. All was well.
Monday was crazy busy, seeing as we were giving up Saturday as a prep day so we could go to the temple. We did a lot of running around to a bunch of appointments that ended up falling through. No biggie, just missionary work. Had a good dinner at a member's home. We still had to do laundry and such but it was no big deal.
Tuesday was any normal missionary day. Nothing big to report on there.
Wednesday we taught a 81 year old lady who we had dropped for awhile but picked back up again. She wasn't too interested in the gospel, which we found out pretty quickly. But she was interested in something else. ME. She hit on me. WAY creepy. "You charge me up, Charles." "You could be a pin up." Yeah. I couldn't even tell what was going on at the time. I thought I just didn't hear her right or was misinterpreting it. But when we left my companion kindly informed me: "BAH!! She was TOTALLY hitting on you!!! HAHAHA!!!" Sometimes it does suck being this really really really really really really ridiculously good looking. Right after that we went down to Centerville for exchanges. The rest of the night was spent standing around looking like we were helping to move their only investigators to Texas, trying to fix the MLS program, and having a Book of Mormon Study Class which included us and the Branch Mission Leader.
Thursday we got up and went and did service at a farm herding cows. It was a lot of fun. I might not mind working on a farm (if only I had a better back). We herded them all up onto the truck to be shipped off. We had to do a bunch of shipments because there were quite a few cows. But they got riled up at one point and broke through a fence and got away into the pasture and so we had to spend awhile trying to get them wrangled back up. That night we taught one of our main investigators who wants to be baptized and now wants her children baptized, too, so we have to see how much they want it.
Friday was another normal day. We taught a person we had met on the street and her cousin, and they seemed pretty interested, which is awesome. At night, however, we called up President Talbot to remind him that we were going to the temple the next day and found out that there was a miscommunication there. Apparently the Des Moines Stake is in the Winter Quarters Temple District, not the Nauvoo Temple District, and we were only allowed to go to our stake's temple district. SOOO, we were unable to go.
Saturday. With all of our plans shot for the day, we spent a day walking around the town talking to people and looking at apartments for a senior couple that might come here. No such luck.
Sunday we found a member referral from Oskaloosa and taught him. He seems pretty cool and open. None of our major investigators came to church, though. But that night, while I was talking to our Branch Mission Leader on the phone, I got a bunch of phone calls and just ignored them because the conversation I was having was pretty important. One of those phone calls was from President Talbot who had to call through another phone, letting me know that today, monday, I am being transferred, or as we call it in the mission, Emergency Transferred. No, it's not transfers, there's just a situation that requires missionaries to be moved around. And no, it's not from anything I've done, but somewhere else. I know really nothing about it besides that at 2:00 o'clock today I will be heading for the Lenox Area. Not much time to pack and do everything else and say bye to everyone. So, I guess, Goodbye Knoxville....
Love you all,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Oh, and i forgot to add in my last email my list of possible jobs that I could apply for after all of my experiences on my mission.
-Plumber: Fixed our toilet. The mechanism in the tank was broken so I got to replace it. I did get water all over, though, when turning off the water somehow made it come out of the pipe. Luckily I had my wrench for my bike to tighten that up and stop the water.
-Cowboy: From herding the cattle
-Realtor: Looking for that apartment
-Private Investigator/Bounty Hunter: Finding people who don't want to be found.
-Professional Mover
-Coach: from coaching the YMCA kids soccer team in Muscatine
-Bike Mechanic
-Landscaper: It's a stretch from mowing someone's lawn, but whatever
-Painter
-Counselor
-Addiction Recovery Specialist
-Remodeler
-Waiter
-EMT
-Pro-Bicyclist
-Custodian
-Librarian
-Editor: all of my companions need me for spell-check
-Columnist: From doing these emails home!
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Monday, April 12, 2010
"And In the Last Days, Even Men's Own [Postal Services] Will Fail Them"
Hello Everybody,
Well, no, I didn't get the tie on friday. I did get it on Saturday, though. It was disappointing to not have the tie I would have been wearing Friday at Cari's wedding on the day I would have worn it, but I wore one of Elder Heyborne's all-pink ties and went to work. The going to work part was probably the worst part of the day, but I knew I'd feel worse if I didn't. I got it the next day, though, rubber-banded to a package sent from Elder Heyborne's family. His was sent two days after yours. For those who do not know much about geography, let me explain a little something. Vermont is farther away from Iowa than Utah. Not sure if you (or the postal service) knew that. So, by normal calculations, my package should have reached me sooner than his. False, apparently. I figure that what happened was that they got word in their computer network that another package of the same size was coming out and figured to just hold onto mine until his was there, too, to make it easier for the postal workers (Heaven forbid they have to carry two packages that weigh less than a pound on two separate days). Strangely, that was also the only day that week that we got mail. Hmmm.... Not that I'm bitter or nothin. The tie was great, though, and it was wonderful being able to talk to you. James does sound like he'll fit right into our crazy family just fine.
Despite missing the wedding it's been a pretty good week. We got some good work done and taught some great lessons. Our main investigator that we've been teaching for awhile even came to church for the first time, which was awesome. We hope to set a baptismal date soon with her.
But, the bigger news is that we are going to the temple this coming saturday. There's a branch temple trip to Nauvoo and a couple of our recent converts are going, so we got permission to go as well. That'll be three times on my mission, when most don't get to go by now. Once in each area! I'm hoping to be able to hop on through a session before the baptisms, but I'm kind of doubting it. We might just end up having to hang out with all the teens and converts while the teens' parents go through a session or something, or we may not even end up getting there until it's time for the baptisms. I'm looking forward to going through a session in Nauvoo, even if it doesn't end up happening until my end of mission temple trip.
So yeah, that's about it for updates.
Love you all,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Well, no, I didn't get the tie on friday. I did get it on Saturday, though. It was disappointing to not have the tie I would have been wearing Friday at Cari's wedding on the day I would have worn it, but I wore one of Elder Heyborne's all-pink ties and went to work. The going to work part was probably the worst part of the day, but I knew I'd feel worse if I didn't. I got it the next day, though, rubber-banded to a package sent from Elder Heyborne's family. His was sent two days after yours. For those who do not know much about geography, let me explain a little something. Vermont is farther away from Iowa than Utah. Not sure if you (or the postal service) knew that. So, by normal calculations, my package should have reached me sooner than his. False, apparently. I figure that what happened was that they got word in their computer network that another package of the same size was coming out and figured to just hold onto mine until his was there, too, to make it easier for the postal workers (Heaven forbid they have to carry two packages that weigh less than a pound on two separate days). Strangely, that was also the only day that week that we got mail. Hmmm.... Not that I'm bitter or nothin. The tie was great, though, and it was wonderful being able to talk to you. James does sound like he'll fit right into our crazy family just fine.
Despite missing the wedding it's been a pretty good week. We got some good work done and taught some great lessons. Our main investigator that we've been teaching for awhile even came to church for the first time, which was awesome. We hope to set a baptismal date soon with her.
But, the bigger news is that we are going to the temple this coming saturday. There's a branch temple trip to Nauvoo and a couple of our recent converts are going, so we got permission to go as well. That'll be three times on my mission, when most don't get to go by now. Once in each area! I'm hoping to be able to hop on through a session before the baptisms, but I'm kind of doubting it. We might just end up having to hang out with all the teens and converts while the teens' parents go through a session or something, or we may not even end up getting there until it's time for the baptisms. I'm looking forward to going through a session in Nauvoo, even if it doesn't end up happening until my end of mission temple trip.
So yeah, that's about it for updates.
Love you all,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
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