Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Email: February 27, 2012
Dear Family,
How is everyone doing? It has been getting colder here in Roseburg the
last few days. It was really sunny one day and then it will get
really cold and rainy the next. The sun has been coming out but it
doesn't warm it up very much anymore. We live at the top of this
pretty big hill so going down in the mornings, especially on Sunday
when we go early for meeting, is freezing! It definitely wakes us up
in the mornings. I am getting pretty good on a bike though. I have
been teaching myself to balance while I'm stopped so that I don't have
to get off when we are at stop lights or crossing streets. And I am
getting pretty good at doing wheelies ha ha. We had a good week and
met some interesting people. We have been trying to go up north more
often because that area hasn't been tracted much. We went up on
Wednesday, I think it was, and we found an awesome guy. His name is
Gents Gamelguard. Kind of interesting but he had talked to
missionaries over in Coos-bay before so he kind of knew a little about
the Church already. We talked about the Book of Mormon and he said
that he had been researching and that it totally fit in with what he
already had found out about the people here in the Americas. Only
down side is that he has two wives..... He understands that the
Church doesn't practice pologamy anymore but he is super interested in
reading and learning more so we will do our best to fix that and help
him progress. Kind of a crazy experience though. We had the
Priestly's drop us this week because they felt like the Bible is very
firm on saying that we aren't to add anything to it and that we
shouldn't believe when we see angels because they could be from Satan.
We tried to explain that it was talking about adding to the doctrines
already taught but they just wouldn't see it. It's very sad to see
when people let the influence of the adversary into their hearts. We
were pretty bummed about that.
I had a cool experience with prayer though this weekend. I said a
prayer Saturday night and the only thing that I asked for was the
spirit to be poured out upon those we wanted to see at Church so that
they would have the desire to be there and they would come. I had a
few people in mind but the lord had someone else in mind. None of the
people that I was thinking about came but one that we had talked to in
the past came with his son. His name is Tim Divine and he is a member
but hasn't been since he was like 12. We have gone over and talked
with him and his family a few times before and invited them to Church.
Its been a few weeks so we kind of lost hope with him because he hadn't
come yet but he brought his son with him and was there!! His wife is
not a member and he has two kids that are baptism age. It was a
miracle and an answer to my prayer in a way that I did not expect. It
showed me that the Lord is truly in control and I just need to open my
eyes to prayers being answered all the time. I love you all very
much. Thank you for all being supportive and for the letters and
emails that I get. It helps me keep going when I am discouraged. Have
a great week, and Matthew don't get knocked out again.....
Love,
Elder Erickson
How is everyone doing? It has been getting colder here in Roseburg the
last few days. It was really sunny one day and then it will get
really cold and rainy the next. The sun has been coming out but it
doesn't warm it up very much anymore. We live at the top of this
pretty big hill so going down in the mornings, especially on Sunday
when we go early for meeting, is freezing! It definitely wakes us up
in the mornings. I am getting pretty good on a bike though. I have
been teaching myself to balance while I'm stopped so that I don't have
to get off when we are at stop lights or crossing streets. And I am
getting pretty good at doing wheelies ha ha. We had a good week and
met some interesting people. We have been trying to go up north more
often because that area hasn't been tracted much. We went up on
Wednesday, I think it was, and we found an awesome guy. His name is
Gents Gamelguard. Kind of interesting but he had talked to
missionaries over in Coos-bay before so he kind of knew a little about
the Church already. We talked about the Book of Mormon and he said
that he had been researching and that it totally fit in with what he
already had found out about the people here in the Americas. Only
down side is that he has two wives..... He understands that the
Church doesn't practice pologamy anymore but he is super interested in
reading and learning more so we will do our best to fix that and help
him progress. Kind of a crazy experience though. We had the
Priestly's drop us this week because they felt like the Bible is very
firm on saying that we aren't to add anything to it and that we
shouldn't believe when we see angels because they could be from Satan.
We tried to explain that it was talking about adding to the doctrines
already taught but they just wouldn't see it. It's very sad to see
when people let the influence of the adversary into their hearts. We
were pretty bummed about that.
I had a cool experience with prayer though this weekend. I said a
prayer Saturday night and the only thing that I asked for was the
spirit to be poured out upon those we wanted to see at Church so that
they would have the desire to be there and they would come. I had a
few people in mind but the lord had someone else in mind. None of the
people that I was thinking about came but one that we had talked to in
the past came with his son. His name is Tim Divine and he is a member
but hasn't been since he was like 12. We have gone over and talked
with him and his family a few times before and invited them to Church.
Its been a few weeks so we kind of lost hope with him because he hadn't
come yet but he brought his son with him and was there!! His wife is
not a member and he has two kids that are baptism age. It was a
miracle and an answer to my prayer in a way that I did not expect. It
showed me that the Lord is truly in control and I just need to open my
eyes to prayers being answered all the time. I love you all very
much. Thank you for all being supportive and for the letters and
emails that I get. It helps me keep going when I am discouraged. Have
a great week, and Matthew don't get knocked out again.....
Love,
Elder Erickson
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Email: February 20, 2012
Hello Family!
How is everyone doing? The weather here in Roseburg has been great! It rained slightly one day this week but other than that it was very dry and sunny. It is very nice to not have to ride a bike in the rain. So transfer calls were on Saturday night and we did not receive one so we are both staying here in the Newton Creek ward. I don't know if I ever told you that that is what our area is called. We did a lot of tracting this week. It was a lot of bike riding and walking. I slept very well last night. We had a lot of return appointments set up but all of them fell through for one reason or another. We did find one lady though that actually seemed interested in what we had to say. She was the second to last house that we knocked on on one of the streets. She listened and accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. She told us to come back anytime and so we set up a time to go see her yesterday. When we got there she and some family were heading out the door to go somewhere but she apologized and we set up a time to go back and see her this week. I still struggle with getting potential investigators to progress. People just don't keep commitments! It's very frustrating. We invited probably ten people to Church last week and not a single one was there.
We had a young man from one of the other wards come out with us last night and go to some appointments. We went to see a part member family. The wife isn't very interested but we are trying to get him to come back to Church and be a good example. We got talking about the Book of Mormon and how if everyone would read it, the Church membership would increase dramatically. There are so many misconceptions out there about what it really is. It's insane. We talked to a lady this week who didn't know what it was and then we explained and she said "oh, well now I am more inclined to read it because I didn't realize that's what it was". Just open your mind and heart and you will be able to learn the truth! We met with Marcus and Shannon this week though and he committed to reading the whole thing in 3 weeks. We didn't even ask him to he just said that he wanted to. He is a very logical person and so we need to get him to understand the Spiritual side rather than just the theology. I told him I would give him a copy of the October Ensign all about the Book of Mormon but I forgot to take it this past week so we will take it to him tomorrow when we go back by. I want that family more than any of the other ones we are working with to join. They would be a perfect member family. They are already living the Gospel standards. They need that witness from the Spirit though to feel that it is true.
I cant believe it is already almost the end of February. I say it all the time but time really does go by too fast. I don't like it! Well I love you all very much. Seek missionary opportunities everyday!
Love,
Elder Erickson
Email: February 13, 2012
Dear Familia,
How the heck are ya? The work here is going pretty well. We have a
baptism tomorrow night which is going to be pretty cool. It is the
son of a less active family and because he is getting baptized they
have been coming back to Church. It is awesome. We also have Abby's
coming up on the 3rd of march. This past week also we actually sat
down with this other part member family, who is just a single mom with
a nine year old child. They have lived in Roseburg for about a year
and have not been to church at all so we had them on a list of people
that we were supposed to contact for the High Priest group leader. We
were riding by their house one day and they were outside and so we
started talking with them and I was playing catch with a football with
Ian, the son, and we set up a time to come back because she wanted him
to have the opportunity to choose to be baptized. We took a member
who lives around the corner from her and went and invited him to be
baptized and he said he wanted to and was super excited. He also
showed us his Nerf gun collection which is insane!! He has more of
them than anyone that I have ever met. It's awesome. We did have
zone conference this week and it was really good. We talked about
becoming and staying clean and pure all the time so that we are not a
hindrance to the work. It was very spiritual. President Young is
an amazing man. I love that guy. Elder Ludlow was sick again and so we
stayed in most of one of the days. I just did some more reading and
cleaning, It was really fun...... let me tell ya. It has been a bit
more rainy the past week too. It is not very fun riding in the rain
and getting everything soaked! I have to keep everything in a plastic
bag so that it doesn't get soaked through. I have been studying about
miracles lately and I realized that they go on everyday in everyone's
life. We just have to open our eyes and see them. People say that they
don't happen anymore, its bologna. We see it all the time. We also
had a good lesson with Priestly's. It was the son and mother I told
you about last week but we taught the father this time also. Jared is
going to come and play ball with us on Wednesday night so that will be
sweet. We found out last night he has a scholarship to U of O to play
up there. Apparently, he is pretty dang good. We explained to them
about being led to the Spirit and they felt the same way. I
love those guys! Well hope you all have an amazing week. Open your
eyes to the miracles that go on daily. Love you.
Love,
eldeR ericksOn
How the heck are ya? The work here is going pretty well. We have a
baptism tomorrow night which is going to be pretty cool. It is the
son of a less active family and because he is getting baptized they
have been coming back to Church. It is awesome. We also have Abby's
coming up on the 3rd of march. This past week also we actually sat
down with this other part member family, who is just a single mom with
a nine year old child. They have lived in Roseburg for about a year
and have not been to church at all so we had them on a list of people
that we were supposed to contact for the High Priest group leader. We
were riding by their house one day and they were outside and so we
started talking with them and I was playing catch with a football with
Ian, the son, and we set up a time to come back because she wanted him
to have the opportunity to choose to be baptized. We took a member
who lives around the corner from her and went and invited him to be
baptized and he said he wanted to and was super excited. He also
showed us his Nerf gun collection which is insane!! He has more of
them than anyone that I have ever met. It's awesome. We did have
zone conference this week and it was really good. We talked about
becoming and staying clean and pure all the time so that we are not a
hindrance to the work. It was very spiritual. President Young is
an amazing man. I love that guy. Elder Ludlow was sick again and so we
stayed in most of one of the days. I just did some more reading and
cleaning, It was really fun...... let me tell ya. It has been a bit
more rainy the past week too. It is not very fun riding in the rain
and getting everything soaked! I have to keep everything in a plastic
bag so that it doesn't get soaked through. I have been studying about
miracles lately and I realized that they go on everyday in everyone's
life. We just have to open our eyes and see them. People say that they
don't happen anymore, its bologna. We see it all the time. We also
had a good lesson with Priestly's. It was the son and mother I told
you about last week but we taught the father this time also. Jared is
going to come and play ball with us on Wednesday night so that will be
sweet. We found out last night he has a scholarship to U of O to play
up there. Apparently, he is pretty dang good. We explained to them
about being led to the Spirit and they felt the same way. I
love those guys! Well hope you all have an amazing week. Open your
eyes to the miracles that go on daily. Love you.
Love,
eldeR ericksOn
Email: February 6, 2012
Hello Family!
I keep having to go back and look at what week it is. Time is going
by so fast. We had an awesome week this week. We only had a few
investigators that we were teaching so we didn't have too many
appointments so we did a lot of tracting. I have actually come to
enjoy just getting out there and talking to as many people as we can
even if they don't want to hear us out or tell us to go away. You
meet so many crazy people and some amazing people I love it. We had
an awesome day on Saturday. We had a lesson in the morning with Abby
at the Adam's home, then we went out and did some tracting in the
afternoon. We had selected a street earlier in the day that we were
going to go and knock doors like we always do but as soon as we got
there we had an awesome experience. It was a very sunny day, it got
up to almost 70 degrees so there were a lot of people out just soaking
up the sun. There was this lady and her son who were just standing by
a truck talking and their dog was running around. We went over there
and started talking with them about the Gospel and they were
interested because they know several members of the Church here in
town. The son is about 17 and he plays baseball and basketball at
the high school and he is best friends with one of the members of one
of the other wards who has talked to him about missions and BYU. They
are a very Christian family and they were asking us what we believe
and we explained and they said we believe those same things so what's
the difference? So we explained about the Priesthood and how we have
a Prophet and the Book of Mormon. They expressed that it all made
sense and both of them excepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and
invited us to come back and share more with them. It was amazing. I
also had the weirdest feeling like I knew them from somewhere. It was
very easy to talk to them and we have a ton in common. Who knows
maybe I knew them in the life before this one. We also had a good
lesson with Marcus and Shannon. I might have mentioned Marcus last
week but he was someone that we tracted into and had a lesson set up
with this week. We went over and taught both him and his wife and
they have two little children. He had a ton of questions and we were
there for a long time answering questions. We gave him a Book of
Mormon and he said that he is going to read it and pray about it. We
have another lesson with them tomorrow. He also is good friends with
one of the ward members that we had dinner with this past week. We
have zone conference tomorrow down in Medford again so another long
day tomorrow! Hope you all have a good week! Love you all,
Love,
Elder Erickson
I keep having to go back and look at what week it is. Time is going
by so fast. We had an awesome week this week. We only had a few
investigators that we were teaching so we didn't have too many
appointments so we did a lot of tracting. I have actually come to
enjoy just getting out there and talking to as many people as we can
even if they don't want to hear us out or tell us to go away. You
meet so many crazy people and some amazing people I love it. We had
an awesome day on Saturday. We had a lesson in the morning with Abby
at the Adam's home, then we went out and did some tracting in the
afternoon. We had selected a street earlier in the day that we were
going to go and knock doors like we always do but as soon as we got
there we had an awesome experience. It was a very sunny day, it got
up to almost 70 degrees so there were a lot of people out just soaking
up the sun. There was this lady and her son who were just standing by
a truck talking and their dog was running around. We went over there
and started talking with them about the Gospel and they were
interested because they know several members of the Church here in
town. The son is about 17 and he plays baseball and basketball at
the high school and he is best friends with one of the members of one
of the other wards who has talked to him about missions and BYU. They
are a very Christian family and they were asking us what we believe
and we explained and they said we believe those same things so what's
the difference? So we explained about the Priesthood and how we have
a Prophet and the Book of Mormon. They expressed that it all made
sense and both of them excepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and
invited us to come back and share more with them. It was amazing. I
also had the weirdest feeling like I knew them from somewhere. It was
very easy to talk to them and we have a ton in common. Who knows
maybe I knew them in the life before this one. We also had a good
lesson with Marcus and Shannon. I might have mentioned Marcus last
week but he was someone that we tracted into and had a lesson set up
with this week. We went over and taught both him and his wife and
they have two little children. He had a ton of questions and we were
there for a long time answering questions. We gave him a Book of
Mormon and he said that he is going to read it and pray about it. We
have another lesson with them tomorrow. He also is good friends with
one of the ward members that we had dinner with this past week. We
have zone conference tomorrow down in Medford again so another long
day tomorrow! Hope you all have a good week! Love you all,
Love,
Elder Erickson
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