Email: June 24, 2013

Dear Family,

I don't even know what to say at this point!  I have loved this experience more than any other I have had and I learned more than I ever thought I could.  I love that I am not perfect and I get to figure out my weaknesses and work on them.  They asked me to get up yesterday and share some things that I have learned as a missionary and my testimony.  I thought I would do really good and not be emotional at all... nope.  I got up there and cried like a little baby.  I will do my best to not do that when I talk at home ha ha.  I just can't believe it has come to an end.   I honestly do not feel like I have been doing this that long.  I am going to miss it so much, I love these missionaries and these people.  The plus to having come to Oregon is that I can keep in touch with everyone for the rest of my life.  

This past week was good, we had a few good lessons with people in the singles branch, one in particular was awesome.  It was with a kid named Spencer.  He is good friends with someone on the branch who has recently become active again, and she shared the Gospel with him and he wanted to learn more.  She gave him a book of Mormon and he read some, so we sat down and taught the restoration to him.  He believes in a higher power as of recently but doesn't know if he believes in Jesus Christ.  Se taught him all about Christ and his role and in the end invited him to read and pray about the whole thing and he was very excited to do so.  I am excited to see his progress and I think he is going to get baptized very soon!  

Well, thank you all for supporting me as a missionary, I definitely couldn't have done this without all of that.  I Love you all very much.

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: June 17, 2013

Dear Family,

 

I am going to ask you to forgive me for not making these last few emails very long.  It is hard sitting here and thinking about not doing this anymore soon.  We did have really good week.  We found a few new investigators because I offered to change their brakes for them!  We had tracted into them a long time ago and then we tried back and they said that they needed their brakes changed, so I said I could do it.  We borrowed some tools and went over and did it!  It took me two days because the car was a little different that I had tried it on before but after I figured it out it went really fast.  The second day that we were there we started talking about the church and family history and it was an amazing conversation and Tamy was very prepared to hear the message that we were sharing with her.  She lives with her husband and sister and daughter, so the whole family is going to get involved!  They told us that they couldn't make it to church this week but that they were for sure going to be there the next week.   I love finding people who are prepared to hear the gospel, it strengthens my testimony a lot.  We heard from a returned missionary yesterday in sacrament meeting who has been home for 3 weeks, it was very emotional for me and I feel like I cried the whole time.  I love this work and being a missionary more than I can even express to any of you.  I love this gospel and I believe that the church was restored with all my heart.  I love you all very much!  

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: June 10, 2013

Dear Familia!

 

Well another week bites the dust.  It was a good one though.  It has been really hot here all week and I totally love it!  We got to go up and do a big service project on Saturday with the Singles branch at this place called Lake of the Woods.  Real original name I know, ha ha.  They have a girls camp up there that is owned by the church I think that needed to be cleaned up before they could use it in the upcoming weeks.  We helped clear up all the old logs and such, and Elder Perrine and I helped mostly with the mess hall.  We got all of the cob webs out of the rafters and then we cleaned the floor and painted it.  It was way fun and very pretty up there!  When we come through Klamath we will have to take a look around! 

 

Also, I was talking to Fawn and Charlotte on Sunday and they are both getting into their family history and so I want to go to the Medford temple with them to do baptisms for the first time when we come back!  They were both very excited to do that and so we are making it a plan.  Just thought that I should let you know.  I am so excited for those families, I love them so much!  We did a lot of finding this week and found 3 new investigators and one of them actually is related to a member in the ward which is awesome!  We met with a lot of less active people also and we had a bunch of them at church in both the branch and the ward.  We had like 7 altogether!  That was very exciting because some of them we have been working with for a long time and haven't seen much progress with until then!  We didn't teach a huge amount of lessons but that's okay, I still feel that it was a successful week.  We have lots of good stuff planned for this week and we have zone conference on Tuesday over in Medford that should be pretty fun!  I get to see a lot of people for the last time which will be super fun!  Well, we actually have a ton of stuff to get done to day so I have to jet, but I love you all very much! 

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: June 3, 2013

Dear Family,

 

Time is going extremely fast and it scares me to death.  I am sooooooo grateful for the opportunity I have to serve these two years and look for people who need help in their lives, and watch the Gospel bless them incredibly.  Thank you for always being there for me and supporting me, I could not have done this without you all.  I just want to share my testimony of the gospel with you all.  This has been an emotional few weeks for me and I have been trying to figure out why I am so emotional about it.  I love this gospel and my savior with all my heart and I know that without his sacrifice that I would be nothing.  I have come to understand better lately that the gospel is a message of hope.  It is not there to condemn and tell people that they are wrong and that they can't do anything right, it is there to help everyone and anyone to overcome the world and be better than they were before.  We all mess up no matter what.  It may be big and it may be something insignificant, but no matter what we have done or who we are, we always have the hope of our savior Jesus Christ in our lives.  The gospel is a message of HOPE.  I love that I have learned that.  Growing up I always thought that it was just to make me do things different and to tell me what to do, but this knowledge has blessed me a lot.  I have seen people who felt like they couldn't do anything right and asked why would god love me after everything I have done?  I have asked that same question myself, but the truth is, God, our Heavenly Father, LOVES us no matter what.  He is always there for us and wants the best for us. 

 

We have had a really good week, we got cut a ton of miles because they want everyone outside more during the week so we have been riding our bikes and walking a lot and it has really helped!  We were able to find 5 new investigators this week and they were in both the ward and the branch!  The work in the branch has been picking up a lot and we have had a lot more people to teach lately.  My goal now is to have it stacked with people for the next transfer for Elder Perrine and whoever his new companion is,so they can baptize like crazy.  The Gundersens and Charlotte are doing awesome, we are teaching two of Charlotte's kids, I think I told you.  Gary got interviewed to get the Priesthood this past week and is going to get it this upcoming week!  I am super excited for him and the funny thing is that he is very excited to start doing home teaching!  He said "I get to be a missionary like you guys??" ha ha.  I love that family so much, I am grateful that we were led to them.  I love you all very much.  Remember to have HOPE! 

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: May 27, 2013

Dear Family, 

 

This week was a slower one but we did find two new investigators and started teaching Charlottes daughter Candie a lot more and she is very receptive to it.  We haven't been able to set a baptism date with her because she hasn't felt like she has got an answer that they book of Mormon is true yet but she hasn't been reading very long at all.  We are doing a big memorial day BBQ with the singles branch that they do every year and we're playing softball and its missionaries against the branch.  We are totally going to win ha ha.  I knelt down yesterday and made some goals with heavenly father for things that I want to accomplish while I am here and things that I would do to accomplish them.  I love that I am better at setting goals now and making plans to accomplish them. 

We picked up another former investigator in the singles branch and started teaching him again.  His name is Jared Wilson, he has a lot of stuff that he needs to get over and stop doing before he ever gets baptized but he is awesome and wants to be happy and he says that hes not right now.  Not too much else to tell, more this next week after we start teaching those gators and finding more and seeing a bunch of miracles.  I love you all very much! 

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: May 20, 2013

Dear Family!

 

This has been an amazing week full of miracles that are hard to even explain.  I told you that there was a possibility of the Gundersons getting baptized this week and they did!!!!  It was amazing, we went over on Tuesday night and talked with them and Elder Anderson told them that he was leaving and that he loved them and was excited for them to get baptized sometime.  He wasn't trying to put pressure on them to do it before he left but they decided that that is was they wanted.  They made a decision right then and there that they would never smoke again and we came up with a plan how we could help them quit.  So they gave us their cigarettes and we threw away their ashtray that was outside on their porch and they washed all of their clothes that smelled like smoke.  The first two days we called them every hour to make sure they were doing okay and to give them some encouragement and let them know that we were there for them.  They did it!!! They haven't smoked since then and the baptism went amazing!  We had a really good turn out from the ward and they have been super supportive of this little family.  We also have started teaching two of Charlottes kids and they are taking everything really well!  Raphael her 15 year old son has become really attached to us and she texted last night after we left their house and said that he was super excited for church and loves the fact that we show him that we can have fun while still being a part of the church.  He has come a long way, he wouldn't really talk to us when we would come over there in the past.  Miracle! 

Elder Anderson is getting transferred and going to Redmond to be a zone leader still up there.   They released me as a zone leader because I am going home in six weeks and they want to have some down here that will be here longer than that.  My new companion is Elder Perrine.  He came out when I was in Roseburg last year and was trained there so I know him already.  The assignment that they gave me was to train him to be a district leader and we have two brand new zone leaders that are here now so they asked me to train them as well.  I am super relieved that I don't have to have all of those worries anymore!  I get to be a normal missionary again!  These last two transfers have been amazing and I will never forget these missionaries that have been here, they are amazing!  The assistants told me that I am the Grandfather of Wisdom here in Klamath, so everyone is calling me Grandpa or Abuelo ha ha.  I have to get going, Elder Anderson has to leave in a bit and we've got to get his stuff but I love you very much!  Talk to you all later!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: May 13, 2013

Dear Family,

It was super good to talk to you yesterday and I don't have much else to share because of that.  We had a really good week and found 6 new investigators and are starting to teach them this week.  Transfers are next week and Elder Anderson is leaving we just have to find out where he is going.  It will be interesting to see, I hope he goes to Roseburg!  He would love it there.  Charlotte got baptized on Saturday and Confirmed on Sunday and it was very cool.  Her whole family was there at the baptism and we are starting to teach her son and her brother this upcoming week.  It has been several weeks of miracles and we are very excited for them to continue.  I love you all very much, sorry this one is so short.  I will have more to tell next week!  

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: May 6, 2013

Hey Fam!

 

This week was kind of a hard one teaching wise.  It seemed that everyone and their dog decided to go out of town!  We went on exchanges twice also and so it felt like I wasn't even in my area for very long at all.  Just one of those weeks I guess.  We also had to drive to Eugene for Mission Leadership Council which now replaces Zone Leader Council.  They just changed that with the church and it was effective this month.  The difference is because there are more sisters they decided to have what they call Trainer sisters who go on exchanges with all of the sisters and help them just like we do with our missionaries.  We talked about a lot of administrative stuff because it was the first time but then we talked a lot about repentance and how important it is for us in our own individual lives and how we need to be better at teaching it to our investigators.  We have been told to cry repentance unto the people and we do that by inviting them to change but we also need to teach them better about the atonement and the blessings that come with it.  It is so much more than just being forgiven of our sins, it offers us strength and the opportunity to overcome anything we are put through.

 

I don't know if all four of our baptisms will happen this weekend, at least one of them will but we will see.  Charolette is doing amazing and is so ready to be baptized its awesome.  She was a little skeptical when we started teaching her but to see her progression is awesome.  She is best friends with Gary and Fawn and is now he one who is like the leader ha ha.  Gary and Fawn made a goal to quit smoking this week and have had a really hard time with it.  They kind of got down on themselves because they couldn't do it the first time.  We have been having members get a hold of them and go over and give them encouragement and help them to realize that this is a process.  We make mistakes and mess up, its what we as people do, but if we pick ourselves back up and go at it harder the next time then we are successful.  We had a really good lesson with Fawn and Monica their daughter last night, Gary was out of town, and we talked a lot about the Atonement and repentance and that this is more than just trying to quit a bad habit, this is a process to become better through the savior and our heavenly father.  We talked a lot about our heavenly fathers love for us and how no matter what we do that he loves us and is there for us. 

 

We don't really have any investigators in the Singles branch anymore.  The ones that we had have just flaked away and disappeared, its really frustrating.  We are planning to make our proselyting at OIT better though and make it more effective.  The LDSSA club at the school has a budget and we are making a banner that will catch attention and we are going to have competitions that they can get prizes for, all so that we will have a chance to talk to them. 

 

I love you all very much!  I am super excited that I get to talk to you all next week!  I think we will be calling sometime around 4 our time.  We have an hour and a half time limit this time.  I was pushing for 2 hours at MLC but president we decided on an hour and a half.  Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: April 29, 2013

Dear Family,

 

We had an incredible week this week full of miracles and awesome lessons.  We have been striving to have 30 lessons a week the past few weeks and we are slowly but surely getting there.  This week we had 24 which is a new record for us.  The work in the Singles branch has kind of died so our focus this week is going to be on getting them all excited about missionary work and inviting their friends to church and activities during the week.  That is the only way that we have seen success there so far.   We try and find apartments to tract that might be singles but it is hard because we never know if we will get singles.  We have a girl in the branch who is preparing to go on a mission and she is always doing missionary work and inviting people.  Sean who got baptized a few weeks ago was a friend that she gave a Book of Mormon to and he loved it.  He got the priesthood last week and is going to start passing the sacrament soon and is going to go to the temple this weekend to do baptisms!  So that's that for the singles branch.

 

I talked a lot about the Gundersons last week and guess what??  They excepted the invitation to be baptized on may 11th!!  I was on exchanges with the Spanish branch when they had the lesson with them and set the dates but they said it was super spiritual and they all were very excited about it!  There was two baptisms in the Spanish branch this past weekend so we invited everyone that we could to come and they came and so did Charolette and her son Raphael who is good friends with the two that got baptized.  They loved it and felt the spirit super strong and then were at church the next day and are developing relationships with the ward members and it is amazing!  Charolette if I haven't told you yet is Fawn Gundersons best friend and were teaching her before we even met Garry and Fawn.  Charolette has been a little reserved about getting baptized but we had a lesson with her on Friday night where we brought the stake patriarch who is in our ward and she had a ton of questions about baptism and we taught her and she felt the spirit and before we could even invite her to be baptized she told us that she wanted to!!  She is also getting dunked on the 11th with the Gundersons, it is going to be an incredible experience and I can't wait!  We also have been seeing a ton of miracles with our Zone this past week.  We didn't have very many baptisms as a zone this month and so I was wondering why that happened, and I came to the conclusion that it was because of my pride.  The month of March we led the mission in baptisms and I think that I let it go to my head and got a little prideful of that and the lord was chastening me and telling me that I need to be humble.  I repented of that and Elder Anderson and I sat down and figured out what we could do better as leaders and to serve and nothing else and things turned around almost instantly it was incredible.  We went from having 5 investigators with a date to 14 and 2 getting baptized that weekend.  I am using this as a good lesson to springboard from and not let pride get in the way again. 

 

Before I go I want to share one more experience we had with the Gundersons and Charolette last night.  I got a cold on Saturday and it got worse and I was feeling horrible last night so I told Elder Anderson that I wasn't going to do much talking because I felt like garbage.  We went about our night and tried some people, sat down with a less active couple and then at 8 we had the lesson with them and we started teaching and I felt fine.  I didn't even notice it until after we left and I started feeling sick again.  The lord took that away from me for a time so that we could teach in unity and clearly with the spirit.  We taught them about the Holy Ghost and the Word of Wisdom and they committed before we could ask them that they would quit smoking on the first of may and we are going to go and give them blessings on Tuesday night to help kick start their journey.  It was a miracle no doubt in my mind.  This is the Lords work and he wont let anything get in the way of that.  I Love this gospel with all my heart and I love you all very much. 

Love,

Elder Erickosn

Email: April 22, 2013

Dear Family,

 

This week seemed like it was slow until we got to the end and looked at what we had accomplished and it was a very good week.  I have mentioned the Gundersons before but I want to share more about them.  So the family is Gary the dad, Fawn, the mom, Monica the 13 year old daughter, and Gary jr who is 18 months.  We found them as we were tracting one day and they were taking a walk with their family so we talked with them and they invited us to their home and they live right across the street from a member.  We taught them the first time out on the lawn because it was a super sunny day, it was a little hectic because Monica had a few of her friends over and they were not listening and kind of causing some problems but they were super interested and liked what we were saying so they invited us back again.  The next time we came over it was Monica who was the most interested and had already been reading the book of Mormon.  Since then they have soaked everything in and have loved it.  We have another appointment with them tomorrow night that Bro Smith their neighbor is coming to the lesson and we are going to invite them to be baptized sometime in may.  I am very excited to seem them all baptized before I leave.  They are also best friends with another lady that we are teaching named Charolette so it works out perfect. 

 

We have also been doing this new thing instead of tracting and just knocking on doors and inviting people to hear more, we are praying with them on the doorsteps and invoking the blessings of heaven on them and their home.  Its not a priesthood blessing but just as representatives of Jesus Christ.  It has been providing miracle after miracle for us over the past few weeks and we are really excited about the whole thing.  I will share more of the miracles next week after we have a few more and about how it went with the Gundersons. I am doing by best to stay focused and work hard until the end.  Encouragement in that aspect would be nice from everyone.  It will keep me from thinking about home all the time.  I love you all.

Love,

Elder Erickson 

Email: April 15, 2013

Dear Family,

 

Not much to share this week.  We have two brand new missionaries in our zone this transfer, they are super awesome and ready to work hard!  One of them already set a baptism date with someone and he only got here on Thursday!  We had our Zone training meeting on Friday that Elder Anderson and I taught.  It went really well and the spirit was super strong.  We taught about using Baptism services as a finding activity and also using our gifts and talents that god has given us to help the people that we are teaching.  Funny story about that, at the ZLC a the time before last, the assistants asked us to prepare a few things that we thought the mission needed and bring them up to the group and decide what we should be teaching the mission.  So my idea and what I thought we needed was personality and using the gifts and talents that god gave us to do the best we can.  We are unique and we were all sent here for a reason.  Anyway, I shared that and Elder Mckenzie who was the assistant at the time totally shot me down and said that we shouldn't try to just be ourselves.  Ouch!  And then the next zone leader council we have, that's like one of the biggest things talked about!  What the heck??  I was pretty annoyed with Mckenzie but its all good, its what needed to be taught and now it is so that's all that matters.. and he's not assistant anymore ha ha.  That's probably super spiteful of me to say but I'm not too worried. 

 

We did a lot of finding this week and found 3 new investigators that seem pretty solid.  We had 3 of our investigators come to church yesterday as well which was super good, its been a long time since that many were there.  No one showed up to the singles branch which kind of sucked.  We are struggling with investigators there.  They are all super liberal college students who want nothing to do with us, its frustrating.  We go to the campus sometimes and set up a booth which worked at the beginning I guess but no one even comes near us, and we can't openly talk to them because they wont let us.  So our work over there right now is almost non-exsistent.  We are still teaching Dani and she is coming along slowly but surely, but we tried to set a baptism date this past week and she was not having it ha ha.  She said that she feels like she doesn't know enough.  We tried to plan a whole lesson to help her understand that she doesn't need to know everything right away and none of us know everything, but she still wasn't having it.  We are teaching her again today.  There is family in the ward, the Phillips who are going to Provo soon and I am going to ask them if they would be willing to take a few things home for me so I don't have to worry about sending stuff home.  I will let you know for sure if and when I do. 

 

Mom, your birthday is coming up soon right?? You're going to be 39 again?  How many times is that now? ha ha, I will send you something this week sometime.  Tell Matthew that he needs to write me a letter, I haven't heard from him in like 6 months.  I keep sending him stickers and stuff and he still doesn't write back.  Anyway, I love you all very much!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: April 8, 2013

Dear Family,

 

General Conference this past weekend was amazing!  I didn't want it to end!  There were so many incredible talks, its hard to just pick one to talk about.  That's way cool that they are putting a temple down in Cedar City and in Rio!  I have always wanted to go there, this will make me want to go even more!  The over all thought that I felt they were trying to get across this time was that God and his commands do not change.  The world is the one that changes.  I think Elder Nelson did a really good job of describing that when he gave the analogy with his hands.  The gospel is always and has always been the same.  Satan has changed the ideals of the humans and their nature and it is us that needs to change to meet Gods will and not for God to change for us. 

 

We had a really long week this week, we went to Medford to go to the temple on Wednesday which was Incredible!  I miss that feeling and being able to just sit in peace in the Celestial room.  I love the feelings of the spirit when they are strong.  That took up most of the day so we didn't get to do much else.  Then the next morning we had to get up super early and drive to Eugene for Zone leader council.  It was right before Transfers so they invited all the people that they were making zone leaders to the meeting.  We did it at the mission home, it was super packed.  We had one of our district leaders that they asked to come with us, he is a character ha ha, we spent a lot of time on the way there talking about harry potter and which of our zone and in the mission would be in which house.  I am in Slytherin apparently ha ha.  I am okay with that!  But we got the calls and Elder Anderson and I are staying together for one more.  I am glad that I only have one more companion to get to know and how to work with.  We get a long pretty well most of the time.  We argue sometimes about rules and following the spirit of the law.   He almost wouldn't let us email today because we couldn't sit right next to each other at the library.  Little things like that shouldn't bother me but it happens on a regular basis with stupid things.  If he spent half the time thinking about the work that he did on the little tick tacky rules, we would much more work going on. My patience is definitely being tested but I am trying really hard to be loving and kind and not worry about myself so much. 

 

We taught this family this week named the Gundersons, I don't know if I mentioned them last week, I was kind of rushed.  They are awesome and we are excited for them to come to church this next week!  Its a mom dad and two kids, a 13 year old and a 18 month year old.  They are very prepared and love the Book of Mormon.  They read several chapters in between our visits.  We are planning on setting a baptismal date with all of them this week which will be awesome!  Well I love you all very much!  Thank you for being awesome!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: April 1, 2013

Dear Family,

 

This week was a really good one here in Klamath Falls, we had a lot of really warm days that kept us wanting to be outside.  We went running almost every morning this week also, which was really good.  There is a park right down by the lake that is like a little beachy area and we run hills there, its been good for me.  This upcoming week is going to be very busy, we have a temple trip to Medford on Wednesday, so we had to switch our P-days, but its going to take up most of the day then so we are just emailing today so we don't have to worry about it then.  Then the next day, Elder Anderson and I have to get up and go to Zone Leader Council in Eugene which will take most of that day as well.  We didn't get back until like 7 last time, but I get to nap in the van most of the way which is pretty nice.  I am SOOOO excited to go to the temple, I haven't had the chance to do that since I have been out and I miss it a ton.  I really wanted to make it to the Portland temple but they stopped doing that the transfer before I got to an area where I could finally. 

 

We had an awesome week teaching wise this week too.  We were shooting to have 30 lessons this week and we ended up having 22 which is still better than we have had so far this transfer.  We have a mother and son that we are teaching that we reset a date with this week.  They are getting dunked on the 27th of April.  Then we have Mikeda who is getting baptized on the 20th of April, and we started teaching a little family this past week that has a lot of potential as well.  The Gunderson Family, we talked to them on the street one day and they invited us back and let us teach them on Thursday and then we came back last night and taught them again.  They have little religious background but they are open to all of it and they keep saying that it makes sense to them.  We read the first two chapters of the Book of Mormon with them and it was super powerful.  I forget sometimes the converting power that the book has in it.  I love reading it with people for the first time and seeing the stories come alive for them.  It is incredible.  The church and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the one thing that will save this world from itself.  I wish more people would just listen a little and let it into their lives.  We just heard yesterday that North Korea declared war on us? is that true?  The time is drawing nearer and nearer and we need to be more prepared than we ever have been before if we are to withstand what the devil is throwing at us. 

 

So President Young called me the other day and told me Officially that my release date is July 2.  I can't believe how fast it has gone by, it literally seems like it was just yesterday that I got on the plan and flew out here.  I looked at myself back then to now and seeing the difference is Incredible.  I know I was 21 when I left but it still seems like I was like Matthews age.  That's how I felt at least.  I will be forever grateful for the trials and difficulties that I went through to be where I am.  I am still far from perfect but I know that if I do my best to follow in the footsteps that Christ left us, that in the end, I will be okay.  I love you all very much, have fun watching conference and get a lot out of it! 

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: March 25, 2013

Dear Family,

It has been a crazy week!!  We have seen tons of Miracles down here in K falls.  We had another 2 get dunked this past weekend and we have 2 more this week.  We talk to the assistants pretty often about the baptisms and we are leading the mission right now!  I'm not being prideful...  I am just super impressed with our zone and the missionaries that are putting in good work!  This past week we didn't have much happen, it was finals and then spring break for OIT and so all of the students are gone until next week so we didn't get a chance to meet with any of them.  We did set a baptism date with a girl named Mikeda yesterday and she is going down the 20th of April.   I think that I mentioned her last week.  Dani is out of town so we didn't meet with her.  We have a mom and a son in 1st ward who were supposed to get baptized this weekend but they were "busy" the past two weeks so we didn't get to meet with them and they need to come to church more and develop their testimony.  We are hopefully going to meet with them on Tuesday but we will see what happens.  We are speaking in both the branch and the ward this next week ha ha.  That should be fun.  We are talking about missionary work, who would have guessed, and the resurrection. 

We went to these caves this past week down in California and I thought it was going to be really fun.... it wasn't.  We got lost and ended up getting stuck and it was the first time in my life that I have ever felt claustrophobic (don't know how to spell that).  I literally felt like I was going to get stuck and die.  We all came to the decision that we were never going back, the whole zone went and nobody enjoyed it!  We decided just to stick with basketball and soccer.  We are at 40 baptisms so far as a mission to reach our goal of 300.  I don't know what everyone else is doing!  If every zone in the mission got 10 this month, we would be at 140 already.  We did find out that there were a bunch more emergency transfers this week because of some stuff that went down in Medford.  There were a bunch of people who were just sitting inside all day and doing nothing, playing xbox and watching movies.  Clowns ha ha, I don't them wanting to just waste time i get so bored if I sit around all day.  Just go home and play xbox and watch movies.  I think one of them actually got sent home for but I'm not sure. 

We haven't been tracting a lot lately just because we have been so busy but we are going to do a lot of that this week.  We as a mission are trying this new thing where we pray with people on their doorstep and leave a blessing on their home.  It actually has been working really well.  I will let you know what happens with that next week.  I love you all very much.

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: March 18, 2013

Dear Family

 

This week was not good lesson wise, we had like every lesson that we planned fall through.  It was frustrating but it happens.  College kids are some of the flakeyist people on this earth!  It is finals week for them this week and then next week is spring break, so needless to say we are going to be doing a lot more work over in the 1st ward these next few weeks.  The upside is that the weather has been incredible the last few days.  It has been in the 70's and sunny and warm.  I LOVE it so much.  We had kind of a sad thing happen this morning though.  Its kind of a bummer.  We had our Zone Conference this past Friday and for some reason the Spanish elders stayed in Medford to talk to president and it threw off our schedule because we had to do interviews for three people who were getting baptized in the Spanish branch on Saturday.  So we get a call last night from President Young telling us what it was all about and that he had decided to emergency transfer one of the missionaries in the Spanish branch and that we needed to go and spend the night at their place and get him off in the morning.  He asked Elder Anderson if he would drive him up to Eugene and get the other Elder and bring him back (thank goodness ha ha) so they left about 9 and will be back around 5 hopefully.  It is sad to see him go and it was a long night, we spent a lot of time talking and trying to help the situation, he was pretty upset about the whole thing.  We didn't get to bed until like 1 and then got up at 530 to start packing and get everything situated and ready to go.  I wish there was more I could do to help, more words of wisdom that I could provide but he's got to work this out for himself.  

 

We had a baptism this past weekend in the Singles Branch.  It was very good, the spirit was very strong and we had one of our other investigators come and felt the spirit as well and she is hopefully going to get dunked sometime soon.  Her name is Mikeda, she is the girlfriends of the members in the branch.  She told us that the first time that she prayed she got an answer that it was true.  The only hang up with her is that she is really worried about the people in her previous church disowning her and not being supportive.  But we talked to her briefly last night and she said that she was feeling more at peace with the situation and that her prayers were being answered that it would all be okay if she put god first.  The singles branch is exploding right now, the members are sharing the gospel with their friends like crazy and we are being kept busy. 

 

Our zone has seen so many miracles the past few weeks.  We as a zone had 5 baptisms this weekend and then we have more this week and several more the last week in march.  They have really taken to heart the challenge to get 300 baptisms before the end of the 4 months.  We are well on our way of hitting our goal, we have to get 18 to do our part in the goal and we already have 6 two weeks into the month.  The lord has blessed us a ton and we just have to keep being good and working hard.  I love these guys down here.  Well everyone, Thank you for all your love and support, I love you all very much!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: March 11, 2013

Dear Family,

 

This week was a really good one.  I feel that I am finally getting the hang of things down here in Klamath.  The weather has been awesome and we have been outside talking with people as much as we can because of that.  We had an awesome turn out at the Singles branch this week it was very exciting.  It is pretty small and usually only has from 20-25 people at sacrament meeting but this week we had 30.  We have been doing a lot of work there and getting the members excited to share the gospel with their friends which they have been doing.  We have a baptism this weekend with Sean and it was because one of his friends Julia shared the gospel with him and he loved it.  We also had Dani, a newer investigator come and felt the spirit super strong and we are teaching her again tonight.  She is sooooo money.  We taught her the plan of salvation this last week, the first half on Monday and the second half on Friday and she was so excited and already felt that it was true.  We gave her Alma 40 and 41 to read about the spirit world because she really like that concept.  We had a really good Zone leader council and Zone training meeting this week.  So after every ZLC we come and teach what we learned to the zone in kind of a district meeting type setting (called zone training meeting).  We set a goal for having 300 baptisms in the mission before the mission splits which will happen July 1st.  We also found out the new boundaries of the Salem mission.  It is taking 5 of our stakes in the Northern part along with Bend and Redmond stakes.  Dallas and Albany with both be in the new mission.  We were told that to do our part in the 300, we as a zone would have to get 18 in the next 4 months.  We already have 13 with a date in the month of March.   We have some awesome missionaries that are doing a lot of good work here. 

 

The 1st ward that we cover also is doing really well.  We don't even have to do much because they are super good at sharing the gospel with people.  There was  a senior couple there before us and they were doing a lot of good work and we had lots to do when we got here.  There is a mom and son who will be getting baptized at the end of the month and then a 13 year old girl who has been coming with a friend for like a year now.  She told us that she wanted to get dunked soon.  We have just been seeing a lot of miracles here in Oregon and they will keep coming.  We are calling this next four months the "4 months of Miracles", real original right? yeah I came up with it ha ha.  Just kidding I really didn't.  We have a lot of good athletes down here and we've been doing some sports in the mornings and on p-day.  We are playing soccer today, two of the elders played college ball before so they will show us up, and the spaniards are all pretty good at it too.  We have 4 Spanish missionaries down here, it wasn't a racist comment.  I talked to president young about the release date thing and he said he will get back to me about it.  Well, I cant think of anything more to say.  I love you all very much. 

Love,

ElDeR ErIcKsOn

Email: February 26, 2013

Dear Family,

 

So the big news is.......... I did get transferred and that's why you did not get my email yesterday.  It was the longest day of my life!!!  I am now serving in Klamath Falls, which is at the Very Bottom of the state not very far from the California border and we actually cover a branch there.  I was made zone leader also which i didn't really want to happen ha ha but I will deal with it.  I got in the car yesterday morning at 8 am and I didn't get down here until 830, it was a fiasco.  I did get a ton of people that I haven't seen in forever which was awesome.  We got a flat tire with the trailer and they didn't have a spare so we had to wait for like an hour and a half on the side of the freeway til someone could bring us one.  My new comps name is Elder Anderson he says hi, and he thinks he's really good at beat boxing but he really isn't.  I knew him already which was a first for me.  Before this I had never heard of any of my companions before I was with them.  He is a super good kid and we are excited for the work that is going on down here.  From what it sounds like we will have between 3 and 6 baptisms in the next few weeks.   They have one with a date right now but several others in the works that we will set dates with in the coming weeks.  We cover mainly a YSA branch but just got a family ward added to ours and we cover lots of little branches until there is a senior couple coming in like a month or something.  It sounds like a sweet area and there are a lot of people that I know down here so we are going to have a ton of fun and get a lot of work done. 

 

The weather here is a lot like Utah. It is dry and there is snow and we are in the mountains.  We're at 4000 feet so its not very far from where you guys are at.  I definitely heard the news about the new Salem mission being announced and they announced it over the pulpits in sacrament that they already have a mission president called and they have the mission office set up but it wont start until the beginning of July.  President Young hasn't said anything to us about it which kind of bugs me but I'm sure that we will find out more and more information about it as time goes along.   I don't know much more than that about the area or any of the people but I'm sure that I will have more to say next week.  Our baptism on Friday with Teresa went really well.  The spirit was really strong and I was the one who got to baptize here which I haven't done in a while so It was cool.  They are going to go through the temple in about a year and be sealed which I am definitely going to be there for, I love those guys.  I liked Dallas and I was sad to see it go.  Well I don't have much more to say other than I love you all and I appreciate all you do for me and being in my life! 

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: February 18, 2013

Dear Family,

 

Hola!  This week has been a really good week both weather wise and work wise.  I don't know if the weather is like this every year but if it is I would be slightly tempted to move here.  We have been in the high 50's and sunny this whole week.  We have saved a ton of miles this transfer because we have been walking around a lot because everyone has been outside!  Also this transfer is coming to an end this week.  I told you that this one was a shorter transfer right?  They did it to match it up with the new schedule of the MTC.  President and Sister Young came to our Stake conference yesterday and spoke, it was really good.  They told us that there are 31 new missionaries coming in this upcoming transfer, a week from Thursday!  Its Crazy!  Also the Assistants came to our district meeting on Saturday and it went really well.  The Topic was Teach People, Not Lessons.  We did a lot of Role Plays on how to ask better Questions and make sure that we are Listening.   They called me later that day and hinted towards me being transferred which I am not excited about.  I like this area and I could be here til I leave. 

 

We also had an awesome miracle this week, there is a part member family that we have been working with since I got here.  The husband, Brandon, got baptized with Aragon and Henrie the transfer before I got here.  His wife Theresa has been coming to church almost every week since I got here and they have 2 kids that are 2 and 4, they are Crazy!  But anyway, we met with them last weekend on Sunday night and before we left, she told us that she had something that she wanted to talk to us about but that she would do it the next time we went over.  We went on splits with the ward on Tuesday night and Elder Cox went to their house and taught about the Sabbath day but she didn't mention anything then so we planned to go see them later in the week.  Well we were walking around Friday morning and we ran into Brandon and we asked him about what she was going to ask us.  He didn't know so we gave him a mission to go home and talk to her about it and then give us a call back.  So they called as we were eating lunch and told us that she wanted to get dunked before the end of the transfer and on of us leaves.  We were a little nervous that that was the only reason she was doing it so we went over that night and she said that she had made the decision before she knew that they transfer was coming up and she really knows that it is true.  It was a miracle, we have been praying so hard that she would get an answer to her prayer and that she would get baptized. 

 

Also our Baptism this past week went really well!!  Drayke was so ready for it and the ward mission leader Bro. Clift did a really good job of putting the program together.  His mom who has been less active for 20 years has been coming and reading and praying also and we talked with her on this past Saturday and she said that after the baptism she finally feels like she has a testimony again because of how strong the spirit was.  I am so stoked for the work here and how well it is going.  The last time I've had two baptisms in a transfer was back in Roseburg, when I was with Elder Mildenhall. 

 

Well I love you all very much, have a great week.  The gospel is True and this really is the only true and living church on the earth.  I know that Christ lives and leads and guides us today. 

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: February 11, 2013

Dear Family,

It has been a really good week here in good ol Dallas Oregon.  It has been sunny and warm and we have been soaking it up, it is awesome.  Its weird how good the weather has been here.  We drive over to Salem or Monmouth and they are getting really bad weather and then we get back to Dallas and it is sunny and warm its awesome. 

We have a Baptism tonight!  I am pretty stoked about that, we announced it for two weeks now at church and in all of the quorums and auxiliaries so hopefully most of the ward will be there to support them!  They definitely need it.  We met with this mother and daughter for the first time this week as well who seem like they are really solid.  Angel and Anna Hammond.  We found them when we were going through the area book like I talked about last time and we met with them at the church on Thursday.  They had met with missionaries lots over the course of a year or so, about 2 years ago and then the missionaries just stopped coming by is what they said.  They asked us what we wanted them to read and so we are reading 3 Nephi 11 and they are going to pray their hearts out this week and get an answer.  Its funny because she works for the city and her new boss is Bro Foggin and she said she didn't want to be going to the same ward as him because it might be weird, so its a good thing he isn't in our ward ha ha. 

Other than that, we found some new potentials that we are going to work with this week and we are excited about it.  Also the Johnsons, (the family that we were working with) will be back this week and we will be able to meet with them again.  They have been up in Portland this week and last because the youngest son, who is 4, has Sistic Fibrosis, don't know if I spelled that right, and he has to go up to Dornbeckers up there once ever 3 months or so to do a routine check up and what not.  They have to be up there for 2 weeks and they get back on Friday this week so hopefully we can get them to church this next week!  We had a change in the ward here yesterday.  The Bishop was released and we have a new bishopric.  It is going to be interesting but he seems like a good guy and we have talked a lot about missionary work with him in the past so we are hoping that he is missionary minded.   It has been a struggle to get this ward going and really wanting to do missionary work.  We finally were allowed to come into ward council just a few weeks ago and the members are really starting to trust us which is nice, they had a bad run of missionaries in the past. 

I have realized that I say So a lot before I say sentences when I talk and when I write, and I am really trying to not let it take over ha ha.  I now have to consciously think about what I am going to say and make sure I don't always start off with So.  I noticed it a few weeks ago when I was talking with someone on the street and I think I counted 25 times in just a a few minutes that we were talking.  Anyway that was random but I thought I'd share!  I love you all and hope that you all have a great second, minute, day, and week. 

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: February 4, 2013

Dear Family,

We had a pretty good week here in the good ol city of Dallas.  It was crazy weather, the sun was shining and it was up in the 50's almost everyday this week.  It's funny because it seems to only happen that way when we don't have the car ha ha so we get to walk and bike in the sun for our days!  We have the car Tuesday to Thursday and every other Monday.  Its nice becase we cover Falls City which is like 10 miles away and that would take all day to ride out and back and its a super sketchy road out there that we would probably die on ha ha. 

We have a baptism coming up a week from today.  Drake Melton, I think I have mentioned him in the past.  He is 9 and his mom was less active but is returning and doing everything she can to stay active.  It is very impressive the change that they have made.  He talked to his home teacher and told him that he wanted to be baptized and then the home teacher told us and it went really quickly from there.  So he is having the bishop baptize him and his home teacher confirm him and we are going to do that the same night I think, because we have stake conference the next week so he wouldn't be able to for 2 weeks. 

Other than that we felt prompted to go through our Area Book this week and find some old former investigators and see if we could start teaching them again.  We keep a record of everyone that is taught in the area and we update it weekly so that the people who follow in the future can see who you taught, what they have been taught and all that good stuff.  And we are not ever supposed to throw any of the old teaching records away.  So spent an hour one night and went through and found probably 15 names of people to go and see and did that on saturday.  We only were able to try like 5 of them so far but out of that 3 answered and all invited us back and said that they wanted to hear the lessons again.  It was definitely a miracle because we have been struggling to find new people to teach the last few weeks. 

Not much else to report, hope everyone is doing well, I love you all, thank you for everything you do for me!!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: January 28, 2013

Dear Family,

 

Can you believe that January is already gone this week?  I can't.  It is crazy how time flies when you are having fun!  This week was a good one.  My new companion's name is Elder Cox as I think I said last time.  He is a good kid, he's from Mesa Arizona and has been out almost 5 months now.  Its crazy to see the difference that companions play in how a missionary turns out.  He has had some not so good companions and is not as far a long teaching and study wise as Elder Aragon who came out at the same time. 

 

We have been trying to do a lot of finding and get a few people closer to the water.  We have 3 active non-members that come to church every week and one of them even has a calling.  It is so frustrating because I feel like there isn't much I can do about it.  We are praying hard and expecting miracles but it hasn't changed yet.  Hopefully before I leave this area we can get them baptized.  There is a part member family that we stared working with this week also.  They have 3 boys who are from 11-15 that haven't been baptized yet so we are going to hopefully get them in the water soon also.  This transfer is going to be interesting because Elder Cox hasn't been the most obedient missionary in the past because of the companions he has had but president told me about it and I am trying my best to be a good example to him and get him on the right track for the rest of his mission. 

 

The weather here has been weird here the last week or so, it is really sunny and warm one day and the next it'll rain and then it will be just cloudy and foggy.  It is so much more moist that everywhere else that I am used to.  When it is sunny and dry, my skin gets really dry because I have gotten used to it now.  I don't know how it'll be going back home at this point.  We are actually going to Lincoln City again today because we don't have much to do here in Dallas on P-days.  It's about an hour drive over there but it is still in our zone.  They took them out of my district and moved them to the other one in West Salem which is really weird but its all good.  I will take lots of pictures this time (last time my camera died right when we got there).  We have baptism coming up on the 11th of February that I am super excited about.  Drake Melton, he is 9 and he came to us wanting to get his mom back to church and get baptized.  His Grandma and Grandpa are on a mission right now in Switzerland and I think that is what changed it around for him.  He loves his Grandma and talks about her all the time ha ha. 

 

Well I love you all very much, thank you for being my family!!!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: January 21, 2013

Dear Family,

 

Sorry again for that short letter last week.  It was a way fun day though.  We went to this members house out there who is extremely well off and they fed us lunch and they live on whats called the "Shalishan Spit" it is a private community that is on a spit that goes out into the ocean around this little bay.  It was incredible, we got to see some seals and got like 5 feet away from them before they flopped away from us and went back into the water.  I'm pretty mad though, i got there and took one picture and my camera died.  The member that we were with also has a first edition copy of the Book or Mormon and he let us take pictures with us, I will forward those to you because he sent them to me. 

 

Transfers were this week, I don't know if I mentioned that last time or not, Elder Aragon got transferred and is going down to Grants Pass.  It is down by Medford just off of I-5.  Its almost at the bottom of the mission.  So he went from the top all the way down to the bottom.  We had a really good past two weeks though.  We have been having a lot of success here and President Young in his email to me today, challenged me to get 6 baptisms here before I leave this area.  I am going to take that challenge and we are going to get them.  We have been focusing a lot on the power of prayer in the mission.  There was a cool quote from President Monson that I actually heard yesterday that is simple but powerful.  He said "Miracles are Wrought by Prayer" and I have definitely seen that when I am praying sincerely and pleading with Heavenly Father, he blesses the work.  Especially when I don't pray for myself so much. 

 

I did get a letter from Amber and Troy this week with a TON of pictures it was awesome!  There were a lot of pictures of their house and the wedding and the ugly sweater party you guys had.  Those were pretty funny ha ha.  They were very good letters and have given me a big motivation boost.  Katie decided to go on a mission, that's way cool!  I am excited for her.  This work is amazing and she will love it. 

 

We didn't get to meet with several of our Investigators this week, it was frustrating.  Satan works very hard on those who are about to make such a big life changing decision that will bring them closer to their heavenly father.  My new companions name is Elder Cox, we are going to work as hard as we can and get them through the trials and into the water.  This transfer is only 5 weeks long because of the new MTC schedule so it is going to go by even faster.  I can't believe it is already almost the end of January.  AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!  I wish I could freeze time.  Well I love you all very much and hope it starts to warm up a little out there.  I am glad its not that cold here.  It's super foggy which is so coool!!  I don't know why I like it so much but I like walking through the fog.  Via Con Dios!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: January 14, 2013

Dear Family,

The weeks are flying by faster and faster, its sad to see.  We had a missionary kid who is leaving on his mission to Peru who gave his "farewell" talk yesterday and it got me really emotional.  It made me look back on the time that I have served and realize I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.  Its hard yeah, but sooooo worth it. 

 

Well this one is going to be short we don't have a ton of time today because we are going over to Lincoln City for our last p-day together as a zone.  Transfers are coming next week and we aren't sure who is leaving.  We had a week full of miracles though especially with the Johnson family.  It is a mom and 4 kids that are so ready for the gospel and they are already talking about being members before we have even set a date with them and we have only met with them twice.  We are going to set a date and three of them are going to be baptized soon. Sorry I can't say much more than that this week.  I love you all very much!!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: January 7, 2013

Dear Family,

So... Traci got married and didn't even tell me... How rude, I won't lie, I am kind of upset about that.  But there's not much I can do about it, they have agency.  Leah lives in Eugene huh?  That's really random, I thought they lived in like Alaska or something.  That is cool that Troy is going to Mexico!  Is that the same mission that Elder Tree is in?  Mom will you get me Jared's address, I would like to write him a letter, I haven't in a while because I think I lost his address. 

We had a really good week this week.  But before I tell you about that, I have a crazy story.  So on Monday we went and played tennis with a few people in the ward and the other missionaries came and were watching and were going to play.  Then out of nowhere, Elder Spicer decides to try and jump over the net after a ball and catches his foot on the net and slams face first into the ground.  It was scary, at first when we ran over to him he couldn't remember his first name and he was bleeding like crazy.  There happened to be a cop driving by at that moment so we flagged him down and he called the ambulance and got them over there.  Karlynne, the girl from the ward was super calm and got a towel and put pressure on his head and stopped the bleeding.  They took him to the hospital and they glued his head up, instead of stitches.  Luckily he was okay and didn't even get a concussion.  He didn't remember any of it afterwards though.  So that is my crazy story for the week. 

Missionary work wise, we had a really good week.  We found 7 new investigators and are teaching a lot of people now.  Its awesome!  We had 6 of them at church and had a really cool miracle happen yesterday.  We were planning Saturday night and we needed one more member present lesson to reach the goal we had set for the week and we couldn't think of anyone to get one with so we planned a "miracle hour" at 6 and prayed really hard that we would be able to have a lesson there like we planned.  At church we had a ton of our investigators there and this part member family showed up.  They had a recent death in the family that kind of shocked them.  It was a the father and the grand father of them and he was a very active member of the church his whole life.  So we were able to set up an appointment with them that night at 6 and go have dinner with them and invite them to hear the lessons again.  It was a definite miracle and I feel that things have been going so well because we are being obedient and working hard. 

I have had that on my mind a lot lately.  Sometimes it seems like the lord asks a lot of us, which he does in a sense, but he promises us so much more in return.  I have had to remember that when I have gone through hard times here and before in my life, that the Lord will never leave us wanting.  He is ALWAYS there for us as long as we are humble and willing to let him help.  I have come to better understand how important family is and how much I love you all.  I don't know what I would do if I didn't have a family as amazing as I do.  I really can see the people that care about me and I appreciate it so much!   Love you all!  Hope you have a really good week!!!!

Love,

Elder Erickson

Email: December 31, 2012

Dear Family,

Time is flying by.  Tomorrow is already the year 2013, its crazy to think I have been here in Oregon all of the year 2012.  I like that feeling!  I love this place and its going to be very hard to leave.  This week is the good ol' 18 month mark.  It scares me to death!  I don't know what I am going to do.  But i have taken the time to make some goals for this upcoming year and things that I want to accomplish in the future.  Now I just have to figure out my plan to accomplish them. 

 

We had a good week this week.  We have several new people that we were able to meet with and got some new investigators from it!  I was able to go on exchanges out to the coast on Friday to Saturday and I decided that I definitely want to live in Lincoln city someday ha ha.  There is a good size lake that is like a quarter mile from the ocean and it has a river that empties into the ocean that is the shortest in the world.  It is called the "D" river.  People have their houses right on the lake and it kind of reminds me of Cour d' Alene.  It is very pretty, I think we should go there when you come and pick me up. 

 

I was asked on friday to give a talk in sacrament about repentance.  It was a good opportunity to evaluate myself and how I am doing with everything and make some plans to change and be better.  The focus of the talk was on the change that repentance brings and how we can share that change with others.  The way that we invite others to repent and change is by sharing the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and allowing them to make covenants with their heavenly father.  There is a cool quote in Preach My Gospel that I liked a lot.  It says "only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of is own self destruction".  We can try and deny all we want but the world is becoming a horrible place to be in and we have to stand up for what we believe and be in the world but not of it.  We watched the 3rd Narnia with some members on Christmas and we spent most of it talking about the symbolism that is in that movie and how we could apply it to ourselves.  It was cool, you should do that for a family home evening or a Sunday night activity. 

 

Well, I love you all Very much.  Thank you for all the stuff you sent me and the presents I got!!  They were all amazing and it made a good Christmas!!

Love,

Elder Erickson