I would like to thank all of you who have had Josh in your prayers as he has valiantly struggled with this illness. This has been a challenging time for our family as we wrestled with the best way to handle Josh's situation. I can only say that a sense of peace came for me last week as I recognized and admitted my own limited ability to "solve" this problem and finally just put it in the hands of the Lord.
Josh was given permission to call us yesterday to discuss his options. Clark and I both feel strongly that it is time to bring him home for needed medical attention and, of course, some rest and TLC. As you can imagine, it was difficult for Josh to "give up". He has tried so hard to hang in there and work through the pain. However, once the decision was made I think we all felt better.
We look forward to seeing him again and to finding the source of and solution to his illness. We pray that it is something that can be taken care of quickly so that he can return to the missionary service in Minnesota that he has come to love. I know that is what Josh desires and we pray that the Lord wants that for him as well.
Thank you again for your love and support. I know that Josh appreciates it so very much..,as do I! Following is his email from today.
Love,
Stephanie
Hey!
So it looks like I will be coming home tomorrow or Wednesday. It really is so hard to think that I have to be home for a little bit. I wouldn't change this experience for anything though, I know it has really helped me grow. Besides that, I just checked my sent messages from the first day I got here within the first hour and I said I had headaches and dizziness. Hmm. so I don't know that it is MN related after all.
It will be nice just to come and get everything figured out so I can serve with full strength in 6 weeks or so. I just hope it only will take 1 transfer until I'm back out. Well, I am so grateful for you all. Thank you all for the letters and the support that you have given me. I know that we didn't plan on me having to come home and I've used just about every excuse to not get sent home, but the lord may indeed have bigger plans.
As I was pondering this morning I had the impression come to me that I should try and see Alex Tamayo, the one that Tanner Williams said he had that experience about in the temple - that he was ready for the gospel. Well, Matt and I were supposed to do that and we never really got around to it. I am going to go talk with him when I get home. I'm not saying that's the reason for me having to come home but it definitely helps and will keep me productive. I look forward to going on splits and studying with everyone back home. Tell Tyler we are going to have to go out to do missionary work a lot. That would be a lot of fun.
So we went and visited the Will's family last night. That great family who helped us with everything. I am so grateful for them. I got their info and we will keep in touch. Also, there is a less active lady in our ward who started crying when I told her I was leaving. I felt bad but I think I'm going to go have one more lesson with her early tomorrow and also a lesson with Lynch and the Kolbes tonight. It will be my opportunity to leave my final testimony with them until I come back! Hopefully when I come back it will be to Andover sometime.
It's comforting to know that I will be back. It's weird how you get attached to places that you serve like this. I can't even imagine how much more I would love my mission if I was in full health!!! I really love just talking to people now. I love that we have the knowledge that can bring so much happiness. However, it has made it that much harder when people push you away.
I love you all so much and look forward to our time together to grow closer as a family, especially on our spiritual side! It truly is amazing what the gospel can do for us in our lives. Have a great day and it looks like I will be seeing you soon.
Josh
K TOWN MISSIONARY MEMOS- A collection of letters from LDS missionaries from the Kaysville, Utah area.
Showing posts with label Elder Josh Terry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elder Josh Terry. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Elder Josh Terry--October 17, 2011
Message body
Thank you to all who have been praying for Josh. The latest word from the Mission President is that after the apartment cleanup was complete he would give Josh a few days to show signs of improvement (It has been a day and a half - nothing yet. Clark's employee has a son who suffered from a mold allergy who exhibited the exact same symptoms as Josh...it took a week before he showed signs of improvement after being completely removed from the source of the mold). If he does not improve quickly he will be transferred to a new area and given a few more days to improve. At that point, if he is not on the road to recovery, President Clements plans to send him home for testing and treatment.
Please pray for a miracle. This week will be critical in determining the course that is taken. As you know, Josh has such a desire to stay and serve. We want to see him restored to health - no matter what it takes!
Thanks again,
Stephanie
Family
How are we all doing this week?? I love to read all of your letters and emails. it is what gets me through the hard times and the trials.. So, about the mold... they mainly found the black mold on the shower curtain which was nasty. So i chucked that as soon as i could. I was shocked that people had let it get that bad in there. You would be so shocked at all of the stuff we did to that apartment..
Before i get carried away i should probably tell you that I am not feeling much better. But I am not coming home either. I am determined that I will work through this, no matter the trial. . I've heard more times this week through sacrament and other meetings as well as letters that our god is a fourth watch God. There is someone that the adversary doesn't want me to find. I know that eventually everything will be ok, so try not to worry too much on my behalf. And if they end up making me go home i will try to make it a quick recovery. This has all been a huge learning experience and though it really has been probably the biggest challenge, I wouldn't change a thing. I've grown so much from this. I've learned that you have to bear all you can and give the rest to the lord. So even if they force me to come home for a while I will never forget that.
So there is this family (the Wills) that has us over for dinner about once a week. they are such a nice family. Anyway, i told him that i may have to go home and he didn't like that at all. He gave me a lot of compliments on the work getting done here. He is so nice. Anyway he came over and inspected the apartment. I was shocked at how much he did for us. He said his main focus right now is keeping me on my mission and in Andover. So he came and had the carpet professionally cleaned, threw away all the cloth furniture, donated us his couch, bought us new mattresses, painted the entire apartment, bought us new lamps, bought us a new shower curtain and had like 10 people come over and lysol the whole place. Also, he put a dehumidifier and an air purifier in our apartment for the next little while. Now all we have to do is get that tilex stuff and finish the bathroom. but he is such an amazing person for doing that. I am so grateful. We should be good in that apartment.
So, one thing Elder Watkins said the week before last, when I was trying to get more rest, was that as long as the Lord sees that we are doing our best he will still provide us with investigators. I found that hard to believe seeing as we wouldn't be out hardly at all. But, one day as we were taking out our garbage this lady stopped us and asked what we were all about. We got talking and she told us (without us asking) to stop by sometime and talk to her about religion because she needed all the help that she could get. It really goes to show that the Lord works in mysterious ways and he is always aware of the situation of everyone. That was a real testimony builder for me that the Lord is preparing people for us as well as preparing us to find them.
It's really cool to see all the little miracles that happen each day as a missionary. I keep running into surprises as I'm reading, that talk about being patient with faith and the Lord will lighten your burden and give you success. I feel like he is talking directly to me sometimes. It really is crazy how the scriptures can talk to you when you go in with the intent to learn.
Well, thank you for all you guys do for me. I love you all so much. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here spreading the word of God. Thank you for everything. I always look forward to Mondays when I can hear from you. Love you! Talk to you next week.
Thank you to all who have been praying for Josh. The latest word from the Mission President is that after the apartment cleanup was complete he would give Josh a few days to show signs of improvement (It has been a day and a half - nothing yet. Clark's employee has a son who suffered from a mold allergy who exhibited the exact same symptoms as Josh...it took a week before he showed signs of improvement after being completely removed from the source of the mold). If he does not improve quickly he will be transferred to a new area and given a few more days to improve. At that point, if he is not on the road to recovery, President Clements plans to send him home for testing and treatment.
Please pray for a miracle. This week will be critical in determining the course that is taken. As you know, Josh has such a desire to stay and serve. We want to see him restored to health - no matter what it takes!
Thanks again,
Stephanie
Family
How are we all doing this week?? I love to read all of your letters and emails. it is what gets me through the hard times and the trials.. So, about the mold... they mainly found the black mold on the shower curtain which was nasty. So i chucked that as soon as i could. I was shocked that people had let it get that bad in there. You would be so shocked at all of the stuff we did to that apartment..
Before i get carried away i should probably tell you that I am not feeling much better. But I am not coming home either. I am determined that I will work through this, no matter the trial. . I've heard more times this week through sacrament and other meetings as well as letters that our god is a fourth watch God. There is someone that the adversary doesn't want me to find. I know that eventually everything will be ok, so try not to worry too much on my behalf. And if they end up making me go home i will try to make it a quick recovery. This has all been a huge learning experience and though it really has been probably the biggest challenge, I wouldn't change a thing. I've grown so much from this. I've learned that you have to bear all you can and give the rest to the lord. So even if they force me to come home for a while I will never forget that.
So there is this family (the Wills) that has us over for dinner about once a week. they are such a nice family. Anyway, i told him that i may have to go home and he didn't like that at all. He gave me a lot of compliments on the work getting done here. He is so nice. Anyway he came over and inspected the apartment. I was shocked at how much he did for us. He said his main focus right now is keeping me on my mission and in Andover. So he came and had the carpet professionally cleaned, threw away all the cloth furniture, donated us his couch, bought us new mattresses, painted the entire apartment, bought us new lamps, bought us a new shower curtain and had like 10 people come over and lysol the whole place. Also, he put a dehumidifier and an air purifier in our apartment for the next little while. Now all we have to do is get that tilex stuff and finish the bathroom. but he is such an amazing person for doing that. I am so grateful. We should be good in that apartment.
So, one thing Elder Watkins said the week before last, when I was trying to get more rest, was that as long as the Lord sees that we are doing our best he will still provide us with investigators. I found that hard to believe seeing as we wouldn't be out hardly at all. But, one day as we were taking out our garbage this lady stopped us and asked what we were all about. We got talking and she told us (without us asking) to stop by sometime and talk to her about religion because she needed all the help that she could get. It really goes to show that the Lord works in mysterious ways and he is always aware of the situation of everyone. That was a real testimony builder for me that the Lord is preparing people for us as well as preparing us to find them.
It's really cool to see all the little miracles that happen each day as a missionary. I keep running into surprises as I'm reading, that talk about being patient with faith and the Lord will lighten your burden and give you success. I feel like he is talking directly to me sometimes. It really is crazy how the scriptures can talk to you when you go in with the intent to learn.
Well, thank you for all you guys do for me. I love you all so much. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here spreading the word of God. Thank you for everything. I always look forward to Mondays when I can hear from you. Love you! Talk to you next week.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Elder Josh Terry-- Oct 3, 2011
As you know, Josh has been sick for most of his mission. He got a virus in the MTC that went through his entire district. After arriving in Minnesota, the stomach virus subsided but not the severe headaches and dizzyness. He has had extensive testing. He was treated several weeks ago for a sinus infection - given 5 pills - to be exact. We (along with our wonderful Bishop and Stake President) were contacted by the Mission President regarding the situation. We were given permission to contact Josh directly to assess the situation and to determine a course of action.
Thankfully, we were able to have a wonderful family friend (who has been a mission president and is a doctor) talk with Josh and evaluate the situation. He has started Josh on a strong antibiotic and feels that with this medication and much needed rest he should be able to kick the worst of this in 7 - 10 days. Josh's companion has been wonderfully supportive and helpful. Between him, the Bishop, and the Ward mission Leader, they have said that they will do all in their power to help Josh through this and allow him the time he needs to heal. They plan to have members come in to be with Josh and do splits with Elder Watkins. We are so grateful. The mission president expressed his love for Josh and his confidence in him as a missionary. It is Josh's greatest desire to heal quickly and to get back to work!
Thank you for keeping him in your prayers. With God's help, some good medication and rest he will hopefully be much better the next time you hear from him.
Warm regards,
Stephanie
hello!
this week as the family knows has been one of the most emotional and toughest yet of my whole mission. before i go into how the work has been moving i want to share that experience with everyone else wwho didnt hear. i want to bear my testiomony of the power of prayer, and that god will always be there to answer. being sick this past month has been so hard, especially when all you want to do is get out there and get things moving. the lord has definately humbled me. almost 2 weeks ago i decided to just see if it was all in my head and started telling everyone including the mission president that i was doing fine. i wanted everyone to stop worrying. so for the next week thats what i did. however at the end it was still unbearable so i went to mission president and told him. he told me that he was worried about me and that the next step would probably to go home and get it checked out. that thought killed me, i couldnt stand the thought of going home. i JUST got out here. so i asked him for another week to try and get better and finally friday i just slept trying to do anything i could to not have to go home. finally, feeling defeated i called the mission president and we decided i probably will have to head home. i have never been down on my knees praying for so long in my life, multiple times throughout the day. i wanted more than anything to know if i should go home and get better or if i should stay and see if i just get better out here. i had a strong feeling that if i just kept that question in mind it would be answered after conference. as i watched each session and prayed as much as possible in between sessions. after conference was over i didnt feel like i had an exact answer yet on what the lord had in store for me. so i felt like he just wanted me to go home and figure it out. after a long day we headed back home for weekly planning at about 745. a little while after being there i decided to offer up one last prayer on the subject. it was simple. i just said god if you want me to stay, just please let me know, and if not i will go home and get this all figured out. i stood up took not even one step when my companion comes running out the door with the phone saying that someone from utah was calling. naturally i thought it was the mission doctor that lives in utah and i wasnt super excited to hear from him again. however i answered, and on the other side was dad. words cannot even describe to you how i felt at that moment. i can honestly say i have never felt as at peace as i did at that moment when i heard my dad say 'elder terry how are you doing? is everything okay??' that experience will forever be with me in times of trial. i know that god is with me and hears my prayers. i want all of you to know that god listens and answers your prayers as well. he will just do so in his time. i cannot thank my heavenly father enough for that experience. i still don't know that i will be better soon but at least it gives me some hope of getting better!! Thank you dad for being so inspired to call me in that exact moment of trial. i know that was god asnwering my prayer that he is there and he knows what i am going through. there is just no way you can write that off as a coincidence that you would get a call from home(approved by stake president :) ) at that exact moment. thank you so much for living you life in tune with the spirit.
well as you can tell this week has already been an interesting one. The days really all blend together. so one quick story that i don't know if ive told you before. i think it was this last week. So we were out tracting. yes thats where all the fun stories come from, and we get to this ladies house with 2 barking dogs on leashes out front. i wasnt gonna let to dogs get in my way of my call to preach the gospel to every house on that street. so i just walked past them and rung the doorbell. this lady answers the door and i say hi and tell her we are the missionaries and before i can get any further she starts yelling and freaking out at me saying that im crazy for walking past her 'vicious' dogs and they could have attacked me. she said she was going to sue me for tresspassing. hahaha i really would like to see that. but anyways we just told her to have a nice day and she freaked again so we decided to leave. her dogs were honestly not even big at all i think she took to much pride in them. oh well. also on the same street this huge guy came to the door without his shirt on. i will never be the same after that. im scarred. anyways on a more spiritual note, we had 2 great things happen through all the trials this week! my companion challenged lynch to be baptized after the plan of salvation lesson and he said he would! we are shootin for about a month from now. we just need to get him to church. ALSO we had a lesson with Tim. i challenged him to be baptized after a really spiritual restoration lesson and he accepted! he is also going for about a month from now. so i hope those two both work out! and lynch has 2 daughters that would be baptized as well. so keep them in your prayers. i sincerely hope that i am here to see it. this week has definatly had its highs and its lows. what a wonderful week to have conference. i am so blessed of the timing of this. i dont think anything is quite as encouraging as hearing from your leaders. also just before conference i ran into the scripture DC 122:7 ' and if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murders, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, MY SON, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. I dont think it was a coincidence that it was said twice in conference. i know that was for me.
im so happy to hear that everything is going well back home! we got the ties and elder watkins says a big thank you. that is so thoughtful of you. im a little jealous that mom got to go hang out with mckenna to get them but i think i will get over it haha. i love the pictures you sent me. thank you. nicki and lane, im sad to hear you dont find out until TOMORROW meaning i have to wait another week to find out if it is bambino or bambina. you better let me know asap! thats so awesome im excited for you :) JARED! that is so awesome that you got your call to Africa. your a stud. i cant wait for you to join the work out here you are going to be such an amazing missionary. and is it just a rumor or is it true that you are all coming to visit k-town right when i leave! haha anyways i love ya. Jake howard i am so glad to hear you are doing well. i sure love you bro! your making a great missionary out there i can tell just through your letters. argentina is blessed to have you. I love you all so much. tell tj gert and the crew back home i love them as well. thank you everyone for your prayers and letters. they mean so much to me. well until next week!! i will leave a scripture with you that you will have to go read. its definatly one of my favorites. 2 nephi 32:9. i love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!
Josh
Thankfully, we were able to have a wonderful family friend (who has been a mission president and is a doctor) talk with Josh and evaluate the situation. He has started Josh on a strong antibiotic and feels that with this medication and much needed rest he should be able to kick the worst of this in 7 - 10 days. Josh's companion has been wonderfully supportive and helpful. Between him, the Bishop, and the Ward mission Leader, they have said that they will do all in their power to help Josh through this and allow him the time he needs to heal. They plan to have members come in to be with Josh and do splits with Elder Watkins. We are so grateful. The mission president expressed his love for Josh and his confidence in him as a missionary. It is Josh's greatest desire to heal quickly and to get back to work!
Thank you for keeping him in your prayers. With God's help, some good medication and rest he will hopefully be much better the next time you hear from him.
Warm regards,
Stephanie
hello!
this week as the family knows has been one of the most emotional and toughest yet of my whole mission. before i go into how the work has been moving i want to share that experience with everyone else wwho didnt hear. i want to bear my testiomony of the power of prayer, and that god will always be there to answer. being sick this past month has been so hard, especially when all you want to do is get out there and get things moving. the lord has definately humbled me. almost 2 weeks ago i decided to just see if it was all in my head and started telling everyone including the mission president that i was doing fine. i wanted everyone to stop worrying. so for the next week thats what i did. however at the end it was still unbearable so i went to mission president and told him. he told me that he was worried about me and that the next step would probably to go home and get it checked out. that thought killed me, i couldnt stand the thought of going home. i JUST got out here. so i asked him for another week to try and get better and finally friday i just slept trying to do anything i could to not have to go home. finally, feeling defeated i called the mission president and we decided i probably will have to head home. i have never been down on my knees praying for so long in my life, multiple times throughout the day. i wanted more than anything to know if i should go home and get better or if i should stay and see if i just get better out here. i had a strong feeling that if i just kept that question in mind it would be answered after conference. as i watched each session and prayed as much as possible in between sessions. after conference was over i didnt feel like i had an exact answer yet on what the lord had in store for me. so i felt like he just wanted me to go home and figure it out. after a long day we headed back home for weekly planning at about 745. a little while after being there i decided to offer up one last prayer on the subject. it was simple. i just said god if you want me to stay, just please let me know, and if not i will go home and get this all figured out. i stood up took not even one step when my companion comes running out the door with the phone saying that someone from utah was calling. naturally i thought it was the mission doctor that lives in utah and i wasnt super excited to hear from him again. however i answered, and on the other side was dad. words cannot even describe to you how i felt at that moment. i can honestly say i have never felt as at peace as i did at that moment when i heard my dad say 'elder terry how are you doing? is everything okay??' that experience will forever be with me in times of trial. i know that god is with me and hears my prayers. i want all of you to know that god listens and answers your prayers as well. he will just do so in his time. i cannot thank my heavenly father enough for that experience. i still don't know that i will be better soon but at least it gives me some hope of getting better!! Thank you dad for being so inspired to call me in that exact moment of trial. i know that was god asnwering my prayer that he is there and he knows what i am going through. there is just no way you can write that off as a coincidence that you would get a call from home(approved by stake president :) ) at that exact moment. thank you so much for living you life in tune with the spirit.
well as you can tell this week has already been an interesting one. The days really all blend together. so one quick story that i don't know if ive told you before. i think it was this last week. So we were out tracting. yes thats where all the fun stories come from, and we get to this ladies house with 2 barking dogs on leashes out front. i wasnt gonna let to dogs get in my way of my call to preach the gospel to every house on that street. so i just walked past them and rung the doorbell. this lady answers the door and i say hi and tell her we are the missionaries and before i can get any further she starts yelling and freaking out at me saying that im crazy for walking past her 'vicious' dogs and they could have attacked me. she said she was going to sue me for tresspassing. hahaha i really would like to see that. but anyways we just told her to have a nice day and she freaked again so we decided to leave. her dogs were honestly not even big at all i think she took to much pride in them. oh well. also on the same street this huge guy came to the door without his shirt on. i will never be the same after that. im scarred. anyways on a more spiritual note, we had 2 great things happen through all the trials this week! my companion challenged lynch to be baptized after the plan of salvation lesson and he said he would! we are shootin for about a month from now. we just need to get him to church. ALSO we had a lesson with Tim. i challenged him to be baptized after a really spiritual restoration lesson and he accepted! he is also going for about a month from now. so i hope those two both work out! and lynch has 2 daughters that would be baptized as well. so keep them in your prayers. i sincerely hope that i am here to see it. this week has definatly had its highs and its lows. what a wonderful week to have conference. i am so blessed of the timing of this. i dont think anything is quite as encouraging as hearing from your leaders. also just before conference i ran into the scripture DC 122:7 ' and if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murders, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, MY SON, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. I dont think it was a coincidence that it was said twice in conference. i know that was for me.
im so happy to hear that everything is going well back home! we got the ties and elder watkins says a big thank you. that is so thoughtful of you. im a little jealous that mom got to go hang out with mckenna to get them but i think i will get over it haha. i love the pictures you sent me. thank you. nicki and lane, im sad to hear you dont find out until TOMORROW meaning i have to wait another week to find out if it is bambino or bambina. you better let me know asap! thats so awesome im excited for you :) JARED! that is so awesome that you got your call to Africa. your a stud. i cant wait for you to join the work out here you are going to be such an amazing missionary. and is it just a rumor or is it true that you are all coming to visit k-town right when i leave! haha anyways i love ya. Jake howard i am so glad to hear you are doing well. i sure love you bro! your making a great missionary out there i can tell just through your letters. argentina is blessed to have you. I love you all so much. tell tj gert and the crew back home i love them as well. thank you everyone for your prayers and letters. they mean so much to me. well until next week!! i will leave a scripture with you that you will have to go read. its definatly one of my favorites. 2 nephi 32:9. i love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!
Josh
Monday, September 26, 2011
Elder Josh Terry--September 26, 2011
Hey everyone!
Its been another week.. crazy how fast the weeks go by and how slow the days go. i love it out here but i am definatly excited for christmas and things where i can hear your voices and see you all. :) so mom to answer your list of questions.. :) my health is okay. im still a little sick... i got my eyes checked and they said that they are almost perfect so they dont think that is the problem.. however them being off a little might be. so as of now i dont need to get contacts! that was some really good news. the bad news was i still didnt have any idea what the sickness was. I went to the doctor and he said i have a pretty good sinus infection. so i think that could contribute quite a bit. also i talked to another member and he said when he first moved here he got sinus headaches from allergies to something that was only in minnesota.. he described to me the exact symptoms of everything that i have been feeling. so i think that might be it. im going to go get some claritan stuff or whatever its called to see if that will help any. but im honestly doing okay, its hard to work all day bein real sick but ill be fine. so dont worry about it :) My comps favorite colors are red, dark blue and yes he likes paisley. yes i did get the calendar that you sent. it is pretty funny! haha
So, our lessons have been going pretty well. we have two people that are pretty golden and some others that the lord will have to work on a little more. the first ones name is lynch. He is such a nice guy. he has gone through a divorce recently but has full custody of his kids. so thats good. but we have taught him the restoration and part of the plan of salvation. he is really understanding it. He is the type of person that has been searching for the gospel his whole life. The spirit that we felt there as we were teaching made it all worth it to be out here. i think that he will make it. the next ones name is tim. He is a friend of one of the guys in the ward. he is 19 or 20. i feel really bad for him. when he was little he got ran over by a car so his legs are really messed up. what comfort it could bring to him to know that in the next life his body will be restored and he will be able to run around and be free of that trial. we taught him last night and he committed to reading the book of mormon. he said he would read a chapter or 2 a day until we met next. so i really hope that holds true.
Before i forget i have to tell you a story about last Thursday. This less active lady in our ward asked us if we would come and dedicate her home that she just moved into, so we agreed and headed over. well we got there about an hour early so we decided to tract for an hour. This is the story of Tulip Street. its in a part of town that is just below middle class. not to bad. So we walk up to the first house and they answer the door and its this black guy in just his underwear. before we could even say anything he told us to come on in and talk. . anyone who has been tracting knows that this is rare so we ran in. we sit down and we get talking and after like 5 minutes of talking he tells us he is a member of the church he just hasnt gone for years. It was crazy. He had somehow slipped through the cracks and was forgotten. but we found him and he agreed to let us come and teach him all the lessons again and to teach some of his family that hadnt heard the gosped. he is a nice guy. so we leave his house and start walking to the next house. there is this lady goin for a nice powerwalk so we stopped her and started to talk. she accepted our card, but then my comp said " we believe that throught the prophet joseph smith god has revealed more scripture" and before he could finish she chucked the card at his face and said that God would never do that and ran off. i was absolutely shocked at how rude a "christian" would be towards that. oh well. we moved on to the house we were going to and in the window it was painted all sorts of bright colors.... yup they were gay. needless to say they told us to leave and didn't want anything to do with our church.
Then we knocked the next door.... And this is where we get the story of Lennart Larsen.... So we knock on the door and he comes out wearing a robe.. just a robe. and some moccasins, and holding a bowl of some kind of soup. so he walks out and says "hey your lookin sharp what are you sellin" haha we told him we were the missionaries and he told us a story of when he was young his mom would always yell for all the lights to be turned off and everyone hide when the missionaries knock on their door. ohh by the way lennart is like 60. he is all stumbling around i swear he had just taken meds or was drunk or something. but he started talking and forgot he was holding his bowl of soup and it slowly poured all over his feet and he had no idea because he wasnt all there at the time (i think) then he leans up against the door and as he is talking his eyes glaze over and he falls asleep mid sentence. i couldn't help but laugh. i honestly lost it and started laughing. eventually we did the loud clear our throat thing and he woke up and continued talkin like he had never fallen asleep. wierdest thing i have ever seen! well we gave him a book of mormon and a restoration pamphlet and he gave us his card, and we left. we decided that we shouldn't knock any more doors on that street. they were all crazy! so we went and dedicated the sharps home and left :) that was a good experience. another interesting thing happened. we were driving down the road and we passed this car that was on fire in the middle of the road. . the people were all safely out of it thank goodness but i have a few pictures ill try to attach to this email..
That was all probably to much information but it was a really funny day. Nate and natalie thank you for the emails. you are all awesome. some of the funny words you use :) haha anyways yes nate i do remember that part of Hot Rod and that will be the first thing that i do to you when i get home! haha dont let me forget. thank you everyone for all the emails that you have sent me it means so much to me! nate and nat i will get you your letters as soon as they get here. :) i had a couple interesting thoughts that are random but i liked them from study today. so ill share a few
"Character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation, that is when it is intended to be used"
"Humility isnt thinking less OF ourselves, it is thinking less ABOUT ourselves."
"Happiness isnt getting something, its becoming something"
i wont bore you with all the other quotes ive found that i really like but i wanted to end with a story i read this morning. I was reading about Abinidi. He went and told the whole city that they would die if they didn't change there ways, and eventually they all killed him. When he died he must have thought that he didn't make a difference, seeing as they put him to death. but alma was converted. basically thats a long story short but as a missionary that story really helps me. as we are out here we get made fun of and looked down upon and some days feel like we didn't make a difference. but we dont always know the influences that we have left on people, even if it is just planting seeds. I love how though he only converted one person look what came from it. We really need to put it in perspective that even if you only effect one persons life, think of all the peoples lives that they will effect. its an on going chain. i regret that i didnt share this gospel with other people back home. i challenge you to do so. find ways that you can help bring other people unto christ. as it says in DC 16:6 the thing that will be of the most worth unto you in this life will be to bring others unto christ. i want to leave my testimony with you that this is true. the happiness that you feel when you see someone come unto christ is incredible. well i have to go but i love you all and i hope to hear from you this week! stay strong in your faith.
Its been another week.. crazy how fast the weeks go by and how slow the days go. i love it out here but i am definatly excited for christmas and things where i can hear your voices and see you all. :) so mom to answer your list of questions.. :) my health is okay. im still a little sick... i got my eyes checked and they said that they are almost perfect so they dont think that is the problem.. however them being off a little might be. so as of now i dont need to get contacts! that was some really good news. the bad news was i still didnt have any idea what the sickness was. I went to the doctor and he said i have a pretty good sinus infection. so i think that could contribute quite a bit. also i talked to another member and he said when he first moved here he got sinus headaches from allergies to something that was only in minnesota.. he described to me the exact symptoms of everything that i have been feeling. so i think that might be it. im going to go get some claritan stuff or whatever its called to see if that will help any. but im honestly doing okay, its hard to work all day bein real sick but ill be fine. so dont worry about it :) My comps favorite colors are red, dark blue and yes he likes paisley. yes i did get the calendar that you sent. it is pretty funny! haha
So, our lessons have been going pretty well. we have two people that are pretty golden and some others that the lord will have to work on a little more. the first ones name is lynch. He is such a nice guy. he has gone through a divorce recently but has full custody of his kids. so thats good. but we have taught him the restoration and part of the plan of salvation. he is really understanding it. He is the type of person that has been searching for the gospel his whole life. The spirit that we felt there as we were teaching made it all worth it to be out here. i think that he will make it. the next ones name is tim. He is a friend of one of the guys in the ward. he is 19 or 20. i feel really bad for him. when he was little he got ran over by a car so his legs are really messed up. what comfort it could bring to him to know that in the next life his body will be restored and he will be able to run around and be free of that trial. we taught him last night and he committed to reading the book of mormon. he said he would read a chapter or 2 a day until we met next. so i really hope that holds true.
Before i forget i have to tell you a story about last Thursday. This less active lady in our ward asked us if we would come and dedicate her home that she just moved into, so we agreed and headed over. well we got there about an hour early so we decided to tract for an hour. This is the story of Tulip Street. its in a part of town that is just below middle class. not to bad. So we walk up to the first house and they answer the door and its this black guy in just his underwear. before we could even say anything he told us to come on in and talk. . anyone who has been tracting knows that this is rare so we ran in. we sit down and we get talking and after like 5 minutes of talking he tells us he is a member of the church he just hasnt gone for years. It was crazy. He had somehow slipped through the cracks and was forgotten. but we found him and he agreed to let us come and teach him all the lessons again and to teach some of his family that hadnt heard the gosped. he is a nice guy. so we leave his house and start walking to the next house. there is this lady goin for a nice powerwalk so we stopped her and started to talk. she accepted our card, but then my comp said " we believe that throught the prophet joseph smith god has revealed more scripture" and before he could finish she chucked the card at his face and said that God would never do that and ran off. i was absolutely shocked at how rude a "christian" would be towards that. oh well. we moved on to the house we were going to and in the window it was painted all sorts of bright colors.... yup they were gay. needless to say they told us to leave and didn't want anything to do with our church.
Then we knocked the next door.... And this is where we get the story of Lennart Larsen.... So we knock on the door and he comes out wearing a robe.. just a robe. and some moccasins, and holding a bowl of some kind of soup. so he walks out and says "hey your lookin sharp what are you sellin" haha we told him we were the missionaries and he told us a story of when he was young his mom would always yell for all the lights to be turned off and everyone hide when the missionaries knock on their door. ohh by the way lennart is like 60. he is all stumbling around i swear he had just taken meds or was drunk or something. but he started talking and forgot he was holding his bowl of soup and it slowly poured all over his feet and he had no idea because he wasnt all there at the time (i think) then he leans up against the door and as he is talking his eyes glaze over and he falls asleep mid sentence. i couldn't help but laugh. i honestly lost it and started laughing. eventually we did the loud clear our throat thing and he woke up and continued talkin like he had never fallen asleep. wierdest thing i have ever seen! well we gave him a book of mormon and a restoration pamphlet and he gave us his card, and we left. we decided that we shouldn't knock any more doors on that street. they were all crazy! so we went and dedicated the sharps home and left :) that was a good experience. another interesting thing happened. we were driving down the road and we passed this car that was on fire in the middle of the road. . the people were all safely out of it thank goodness but i have a few pictures ill try to attach to this email..
That was all probably to much information but it was a really funny day. Nate and natalie thank you for the emails. you are all awesome. some of the funny words you use :) haha anyways yes nate i do remember that part of Hot Rod and that will be the first thing that i do to you when i get home! haha dont let me forget. thank you everyone for all the emails that you have sent me it means so much to me! nate and nat i will get you your letters as soon as they get here. :) i had a couple interesting thoughts that are random but i liked them from study today. so ill share a few
"Character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation, that is when it is intended to be used"
"Humility isnt thinking less OF ourselves, it is thinking less ABOUT ourselves."
"Happiness isnt getting something, its becoming something"
i wont bore you with all the other quotes ive found that i really like but i wanted to end with a story i read this morning. I was reading about Abinidi. He went and told the whole city that they would die if they didn't change there ways, and eventually they all killed him. When he died he must have thought that he didn't make a difference, seeing as they put him to death. but alma was converted. basically thats a long story short but as a missionary that story really helps me. as we are out here we get made fun of and looked down upon and some days feel like we didn't make a difference. but we dont always know the influences that we have left on people, even if it is just planting seeds. I love how though he only converted one person look what came from it. We really need to put it in perspective that even if you only effect one persons life, think of all the peoples lives that they will effect. its an on going chain. i regret that i didnt share this gospel with other people back home. i challenge you to do so. find ways that you can help bring other people unto christ. as it says in DC 16:6 the thing that will be of the most worth unto you in this life will be to bring others unto christ. i want to leave my testimony with you that this is true. the happiness that you feel when you see someone come unto christ is incredible. well i have to go but i love you all and i hope to hear from you this week! stay strong in your faith.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Elder Josh Terry--September 19, 2011
The story at the end of the letter refers to a sign on the restroom door at the MTC that refers to closing the facility due to the "vandalism". I have attached a picture of the sign as well as the "criminal" involved - and no, it was not Josh. I'm thinking maybe he didn't explain to building maintenance what happened?.....
Also, I've separated his email into paragraphs and added capital letters at the beginning of sentences for easier reading - but tried to maintain the "flavor" of Josh's writing. :) ---Stephanie
Family!
How are you all doing on this fine day?? Weather here in minnesota is great. I was shocked to find out that 40 degrees here and 40 degrees in Utah are so different though. The humidity freezes straight through you. So I will definitely have to start putting on some layers come winter. Unfortunately the fall has kinda been skipped here. The first day i was here it was 90 degrees and the next day was down to 45. Hopefully we start to get more of a fall here soon.
Anyways, the work is coming along great. I spent some time at the doctors to try and get feeling better but i just feel sick still. I will have it all figured out soon enough and all will be well soon. So no worries there. It just starts to be frustrating because i just want to get out there and work more!
Well this week we have picked up a few investigators, which is great! We also recieved a referral and went to meet him on friday. He is such a good guy. I know that if he actually reads like he said he would then he will be baptized. He really has so much potential. So the events of tracting this week: we knocked an entire nieghborhood without one single door opening. The next we had guys answer with their shirts off- sometimes more. Ahhhh. We had someone yell that they dont want to buy any knives and slam the door. haha! there are just so many funny things that will happen as you are out tracting. You just have to not take anything personal when they slam the door in your face :)
I went to a baptism on saturday from some other area. That was awesome to go and see someone take that step. I hope to see that many times throughout my mission. Sorry that there isn't much news. I've been busy a lot with the doctor and stuff but i hope we can really pick things up in these upcoming weeks.
Mom i loved your package that is so funny! I wear that john deere shirt everynight to sleep. When we get packages here we just pick them up from the apartment so its really easy. I'm grateful for that. We have lots of member support here. Since we have been here the dinner calendar is completely full every week. the first week we only had about two but now we get lots. We have such a nice ward.
Mom either of those two things to send would be fine. I'm eating pretty good out here with all the members feeding us.
This week has been a really trying week on me. God is humbling me in so many ways. I have realized as I've been feeling sick these past few weeks that without God i really cant do much. It has really put that into perspective for me. Now i just hope that he sees that i have learned that and will let me get better!! :)
Tell grandma thank you for the message she sent. It means a lot. And i love that definition. When it gets hard out here you just have to look at the big picture and everything is fine. I truly do love it here and i know that when i am better i will even more so! Thank you for all you do.
Anyways I'm glad you got the SD card okay. I had to force it into the mail slot cuz it was so fat so i was a little worried it wouldn't make it. Oh and to clarify. The big one with glasses, the one in front of the door with the sign, is elder hemmelgarn. The story of that sign is that we were waiting outside of the bathroom for him and we hear this scream. so we go in and he apparently had gone number 1 (he specifically told us that) and flushed the toilet and it started to overflow, so he jumped backwards to not get it on his pants and shoes. And him being a big guy in a small stall, when he jumped back the door broke off. That is when we ran in to see him standing there over a broken out door with the toilet just flowing over. Funniest thing i had ever seen.
Anyways i need to go but i love you all so much. thank you for all you do and have done for me.
Josh
Monday, September 12, 2011
Elder Josh Terry-- September 12, 2011
We are shocked and amazed at the length and detail in his email! Angie Koski, that Josh refers to in this email, is the daughter of the ward mission leader in Clark's favorite mission area (28 years ago). Her husband is now the ward mission leader there in Virginia, MN, and her brother-in-law was made the ward mission leader a week ago yesterday in Andover, where Josh is serving. Josh had dinner at his home his first night in his first area. That was not a coincidence, but a tender mercy for both Josh and his poor, worry-prone mother! The next day he met Elder Smith who had been serving in Angie's ward - she has asked many people to keep an eye out for Josh. We feel very blessed to have this "insider information"!
Hello!
I made it to minnesota safe and sound! I cannot explain how many wierd looks i have gotten here. i got off the plane and you wouldve thought i wasnt wearing clothes or something cuz EVERYBODY stares at you. After i talked to you at the airport i got on the plane. seemed to be the longest plane ride ever! i was so excited to go to minnesota but at the same time it was hard to make that step knowing how far im distancing myself from my family and friends. Odd thing is i have never felt closer to you all in my life. So just a quick message to nate and to natalie, DONT TAKE MOM AND DAD FOR GRANTED! I thought i loved and appreciated you before. My respect and love for you has grown so much since i have realized all that you do for us each day. mom with her taking care of us and a spotless house and dad with his selfless service working everyday to provide. so guys just make sure you appreciate it cuz one day when you are gone you will regret every mean thing or act of disrespect that you have ever done towards them. i sure love you all! anyways, i got off the plane and it is very humid. it was nice to be greeted by a familiar face (Pres. Clements). i am glad that we got to see him before he left. After that we headed to the mission home and did some orientation then decided to go out street contacting. i told you a little about that early. It was pretty scary. ive always felt comfertable just talking to random people but sharing something as important and sensitive as the gospel with them is a little hard. We then went to the assistants apartment for the night and returned back to mission home in the morning where i met my companion. he is a stud. His name is Elder watkins. He is from California and his family just moved to hawaii so he has to go back there. mom dont get any ideas... :) anyways after i met him there was a couple hundred missionaries outside and one of them ran up to me and gave me a hug and said angie koski says hi. she is such a nice lady!
We made the drive to andover! my new area which im sure you already new. anyways it is a nice area, definatly some ghetto parts but we do okay. yes i got the bike. its so nice! thank you. we are in a car area but i will be biking a lot once i am not sick to save miles. yes mom i am going to the doctor this week just to be careful. haha. So our area has just been white washed. which means both my companion and i are new here meaning we don't know where anything is! and we just got a new ward mission leader. it is the koskis brother! small world in the church :) so basically we had started with absolutely no investigators, and no idea where anything was. basically starting completely from scratch. there hasnt been a baptism here in over a year but we hope to change that! we have already tracted in to a few people and taught a few lessons. so we now have 2 investigators and about 4 that are possibilities. It was crazy the first 2 doors we knocked on gave us their info and said we could come back. i was thinkin to myself this wouldnt be as intimidating and hard as i thought. we then got every single door shut in our face for the next 2 days straight. just about being in the right time at the right place. we will get things moving it will just take some time. funny story, we were talking to this 22 year old girl on her front lawn and her husband pulls up and jumps out of the car and runs over saying you better not be hitting on my girl. he is a body builder. so kinda intimidating. however we left him with a book of mormon and restoration pamphlet and went on our way. hopefully he reads! thats the thing if you can get them to read and sincerely pray about it they will know. another funny story, we tracted into this inactive ladies(sister rutherford) house and she had been taken off the ward list so no one could find her. we found her :) haha anyway we left her our number and she said she would call us later and the next day we got a call. elder watkins answered and then i hear "oh hey is this jeremy?" turns out sister rutherford has a pretty deep voice hahaha. we have a sister who is from grantsville that knew jake howard too. crazy. oh btw HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! we have already recieved a few member refferrals as well so things are picking up. i hope to turn this area around.
Im sending my SD card home so be looking for that. i have a little video of a ringtone i thought nate would really like so expect that soon :) let me know when you get that. Im glad you have our address, i dont know if it matters but some of the random mail our apartment gets says Andover as the city. and some say Coon Rapids. we technically live in coon rapids. but its right on the border. so hopefully i still get your mail! keep me updated on nicki and lanes baby. i still want to know how close i am to being an uncle! haha i was very happy to hear mom has been visiting with the mckenna and momma sherri a bunch. i hope you continue to do so! they are so great huh??? told ya. not that you ever doubted or anything. that is way cool about the whole pratt reunion. good call natalie :) haha how is nate doing with school? being president and everything! ahh i miss that boy. haha i miss all of you. dont ever fight because you will regret it when your gone. deal? if you ever have an argument just blame it on me :) haha i hope i get your letters that you have sent soon. they really are so important here!!! its a way i can know that their is still a real world out there haha. i am getting more comfertable talking to people and hopefully im better at teaching! we have a bunch of appointments this week so i will have to let you know how it goes then. its kinda nice to have a little more time to email out here. in the mtc its 30 minutes and it cuts out haha. know that i love all of you so much. mom take comfort in the promise in DC 84:88. the lord is helping me out here. i really do appreciate all you have done for me. oh i forgot to tell you about the apartment! so, we walk in and literally mom would have dropped dead from the sight/smell of the place. it smelt like fungus, and just so so filthy. i guarantee no one had cleaned any of it especially the bathroom in a long, long time. so we get there and we get a knock on the door with a flier that said apartment inspection is in a few days. wow. so we have been deep cleaning that place. it is so nasty. really mom i should have takin pictures. but its clean now. and i have a little video of it on the chip im sending home. did you get those ties off to jake howard? sorry this email has been all over the place i just keep remembering things randomly. know that i am in good hands. we have a really nice ward here. they are taking care of us. and they trust us enough to give us some referals. thats good. i will probably be here for 3 or 4 months. i love you all so much. thanks for all the letters. thank you mckenna and momma sherri for the letters you have sent to me, i miss you so much! but this is going to be so good for me. im definately glad you havent forgotten me! haha i hope to get the letters in the mail soon :) after this im going to send you one. Well until next week!! LOVE YOU!
Josh
On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Joshua Terry wrote:
P.s family you are the greatest family ever. i love you all more than you can imagine. one of the biggest things my mission has already taught me is how important family is. i regret every argument and all the times we didnt get along. i hope when i get home we can change that. family really is our support system. without you i dont know where i would be in life. when times get tough i just think of the warm loving embrace i will get when i get home and see all the people i love so dearly. i am ever grateful for this gospel. it has changed me spiritually. i am grateful for the knowledge that my heavenly father loves me. and you. i know that god has a plan for us and the only reason i am able to make it out here is the thought that i will be helping people know that they can be with their families forever. that is so important. i am so grateful to know that i can be with you all forever. our savior loves us so much that he has provided a way. never forget that. so be strong, and be true. and know that i am praying for you and love you so much. thank you for all you have all done for me.
P.s.s sorry i forgot to put this in there too. mom, please write matt and corbin and tell them i am so sorry i didnt get to say goodbye. that was so hard. i wish i could have. tell them i love them. give them my address and tell them that they can write me letters. thank you. i love you so much.
Hello!
I made it to minnesota safe and sound! I cannot explain how many wierd looks i have gotten here. i got off the plane and you wouldve thought i wasnt wearing clothes or something cuz EVERYBODY stares at you. After i talked to you at the airport i got on the plane. seemed to be the longest plane ride ever! i was so excited to go to minnesota but at the same time it was hard to make that step knowing how far im distancing myself from my family and friends. Odd thing is i have never felt closer to you all in my life. So just a quick message to nate and to natalie, DONT TAKE MOM AND DAD FOR GRANTED! I thought i loved and appreciated you before. My respect and love for you has grown so much since i have realized all that you do for us each day. mom with her taking care of us and a spotless house and dad with his selfless service working everyday to provide. so guys just make sure you appreciate it cuz one day when you are gone you will regret every mean thing or act of disrespect that you have ever done towards them. i sure love you all! anyways, i got off the plane and it is very humid. it was nice to be greeted by a familiar face (Pres. Clements). i am glad that we got to see him before he left. After that we headed to the mission home and did some orientation then decided to go out street contacting. i told you a little about that early. It was pretty scary. ive always felt comfertable just talking to random people but sharing something as important and sensitive as the gospel with them is a little hard. We then went to the assistants apartment for the night and returned back to mission home in the morning where i met my companion. he is a stud. His name is Elder watkins. He is from California and his family just moved to hawaii so he has to go back there. mom dont get any ideas... :) anyways after i met him there was a couple hundred missionaries outside and one of them ran up to me and gave me a hug and said angie koski says hi. she is such a nice lady!
We made the drive to andover! my new area which im sure you already new. anyways it is a nice area, definatly some ghetto parts but we do okay. yes i got the bike. its so nice! thank you. we are in a car area but i will be biking a lot once i am not sick to save miles. yes mom i am going to the doctor this week just to be careful. haha. So our area has just been white washed. which means both my companion and i are new here meaning we don't know where anything is! and we just got a new ward mission leader. it is the koskis brother! small world in the church :) so basically we had started with absolutely no investigators, and no idea where anything was. basically starting completely from scratch. there hasnt been a baptism here in over a year but we hope to change that! we have already tracted in to a few people and taught a few lessons. so we now have 2 investigators and about 4 that are possibilities. It was crazy the first 2 doors we knocked on gave us their info and said we could come back. i was thinkin to myself this wouldnt be as intimidating and hard as i thought. we then got every single door shut in our face for the next 2 days straight. just about being in the right time at the right place. we will get things moving it will just take some time. funny story, we were talking to this 22 year old girl on her front lawn and her husband pulls up and jumps out of the car and runs over saying you better not be hitting on my girl. he is a body builder. so kinda intimidating. however we left him with a book of mormon and restoration pamphlet and went on our way. hopefully he reads! thats the thing if you can get them to read and sincerely pray about it they will know. another funny story, we tracted into this inactive ladies(sister rutherford) house and she had been taken off the ward list so no one could find her. we found her :) haha anyway we left her our number and she said she would call us later and the next day we got a call. elder watkins answered and then i hear "oh hey is this jeremy?" turns out sister rutherford has a pretty deep voice hahaha. we have a sister who is from grantsville that knew jake howard too. crazy. oh btw HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! we have already recieved a few member refferrals as well so things are picking up. i hope to turn this area around.
Im sending my SD card home so be looking for that. i have a little video of a ringtone i thought nate would really like so expect that soon :) let me know when you get that. Im glad you have our address, i dont know if it matters but some of the random mail our apartment gets says Andover as the city. and some say Coon Rapids. we technically live in coon rapids. but its right on the border. so hopefully i still get your mail! keep me updated on nicki and lanes baby. i still want to know how close i am to being an uncle! haha i was very happy to hear mom has been visiting with the mckenna and momma sherri a bunch. i hope you continue to do so! they are so great huh??? told ya. not that you ever doubted or anything. that is way cool about the whole pratt reunion. good call natalie :) haha how is nate doing with school? being president and everything! ahh i miss that boy. haha i miss all of you. dont ever fight because you will regret it when your gone. deal? if you ever have an argument just blame it on me :) haha i hope i get your letters that you have sent soon. they really are so important here!!! its a way i can know that their is still a real world out there haha. i am getting more comfertable talking to people and hopefully im better at teaching! we have a bunch of appointments this week so i will have to let you know how it goes then. its kinda nice to have a little more time to email out here. in the mtc its 30 minutes and it cuts out haha. know that i love all of you so much. mom take comfort in the promise in DC 84:88. the lord is helping me out here. i really do appreciate all you have done for me. oh i forgot to tell you about the apartment! so, we walk in and literally mom would have dropped dead from the sight/smell of the place. it smelt like fungus, and just so so filthy. i guarantee no one had cleaned any of it especially the bathroom in a long, long time. so we get there and we get a knock on the door with a flier that said apartment inspection is in a few days. wow. so we have been deep cleaning that place. it is so nasty. really mom i should have takin pictures. but its clean now. and i have a little video of it on the chip im sending home. did you get those ties off to jake howard? sorry this email has been all over the place i just keep remembering things randomly. know that i am in good hands. we have a really nice ward here. they are taking care of us. and they trust us enough to give us some referals. thats good. i will probably be here for 3 or 4 months. i love you all so much. thanks for all the letters. thank you mckenna and momma sherri for the letters you have sent to me, i miss you so much! but this is going to be so good for me. im definately glad you havent forgotten me! haha i hope to get the letters in the mail soon :) after this im going to send you one. Well until next week!! LOVE YOU!
Josh
On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Joshua Terry
P.s family you are the greatest family ever. i love you all more than you can imagine. one of the biggest things my mission has already taught me is how important family is. i regret every argument and all the times we didnt get along. i hope when i get home we can change that. family really is our support system. without you i dont know where i would be in life. when times get tough i just think of the warm loving embrace i will get when i get home and see all the people i love so dearly. i am ever grateful for this gospel. it has changed me spiritually. i am grateful for the knowledge that my heavenly father loves me. and you. i know that god has a plan for us and the only reason i am able to make it out here is the thought that i will be helping people know that they can be with their families forever. that is so important. i am so grateful to know that i can be with you all forever. our savior loves us so much that he has provided a way. never forget that. so be strong, and be true. and know that i am praying for you and love you so much. thank you for all you have all done for me.
P.s.s sorry i forgot to put this in there too. mom, please write matt and corbin and tell them i am so sorry i didnt get to say goodbye. that was so hard. i wish i could have. tell them i love them. give them my address and tell them that they can write me letters. thank you. i love you so much.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Elder Terry-- September 5, 2011
Josh is doing great! He leaves for Minnesota bright and early tomorrow morning. Here's today's letter....written like a giant text! Enjoy!
Hello everyone!
Wow i cant believe that i have already been here another week. time really does go by so fast. except for sundays. thats when i think about the family and close friends the most for some reason. all is going well though! for the most part anyway. I never imagined that my job as district leader would be so hard at the mtc. sadly if i could describe my experience here for the most part would be babysitting. Dad you told me that my biggest dissapointment while being a missionary would be to see those who dont care about the work and are wasting the lords time. i feel like there are a lot of kids in my district that are like that. Ive caught kids with cell phones, stealing, not only stealing but stealing the book of mormon, and doing other things that i dont want to mention but i am just really disappointed in some of the people that come out here and are representing our savior. make sure that all of you who are going out soon dont ever do that! Elder Holland came and spoke to everyone on Tuesday. that was one of the most powerful talks. I knew it was for the kids in my district. His main point was that we dont have the right to disgrace the image of a missionary! Perfect topic for a bunch of punk kids that need to shape up. However i have loved my experience here and my testimony has grown so much! im just excited to get out into the mission field and get started in this work.
it was interesting to me as i was reading the first verse of 1 nephi chapter 1. it says having suffered much Afflictions. the footnote for afflictions is blessings. i thought about that for a minute and it is so true. i know that when we go through the hard times it will just make us stronger and God will bless us for it. thank you everyone for all the letters! it is so nice to here from you out here. And thank you mom, The whittles, and the einfeldts for the packages! so nice of you. This past week everyone is getting pretty sick. my comp. and i got pretty sick a few days ago, personally i think it is from the food here. nothing compared to moms cookin! i sure miss that already. yesterday during our devotional the opening song was two sisters singing 'his hands' that one that mckell and mindy sang. it made me miss jake so much! how is he doing in Argentina? keep me updated. let me know about the ties too. last night i went and hung out with elder whittle and elder moore in his apartment for a little while. it was so nice to get back with the group again. sad that i will be leaving them tomorrow morning but so exciting as well!! Sorry that my letters here are pretty boring. everyday blends together because we are going to class and learning all day. just know that i am loving it. there was a quote i really liked i heard yesterday 'equally as important as what you do to get the spirit, is what you do not to lose it.' that applied very well with our district. Nate make sure you can be the best missionary you can be, never slack off and disrespect the work! i know you wont though, your a stud. sad news, the temple is closed for my last P-day. i wanted to go one more time! hopefully i can go in St. Paul. mom, before i forget i leave at 5 am from here so expect a call between 6 and 8am. i have no idea when it will be. but i am going to go by a calling card today. Cant wait to hear from you! and happy birthday to nate tomorrow! i wish you could come out to minnesota and join me. thank you mckenna and momma sherri for the quick email :) i will be sure to get you my address when i get it!! for the rest of the family i hope you are having a tun of fun out in Park City! miss ya. We will have to go up there again when i get back. mom, i saw that you said you took out all the personal stuff. i decided i realy dont care if people read anything. its ok. haha but thank you! Dad, thats sad about not being able to go up to northern MN in virginia. hopefully they will re-open that before i leave so i will have the chance. when we go back on our trip we should do splits with the missionaries up there. that would be awesome i think. nate, nicki, natalie, lane. i will hopefully get a letter to you off today. but i have to pack up completely so if i cant i will in MN! however i have the next 10 hours to do nothing so i hopefully will be able to find time. one more quote ' when obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.' i love that. anyways time is out. I love you all so much. Family i look forward to the call tomorrow!!!
Hello everyone!
Wow i cant believe that i have already been here another week. time really does go by so fast. except for sundays. thats when i think about the family and close friends the most for some reason. all is going well though! for the most part anyway. I never imagined that my job as district leader would be so hard at the mtc. sadly if i could describe my experience here for the most part would be babysitting. Dad you told me that my biggest dissapointment while being a missionary would be to see those who dont care about the work and are wasting the lords time. i feel like there are a lot of kids in my district that are like that. Ive caught kids with cell phones, stealing, not only stealing but stealing the book of mormon, and doing other things that i dont want to mention but i am just really disappointed in some of the people that come out here and are representing our savior. make sure that all of you who are going out soon dont ever do that! Elder Holland came and spoke to everyone on Tuesday. that was one of the most powerful talks. I knew it was for the kids in my district. His main point was that we dont have the right to disgrace the image of a missionary! Perfect topic for a bunch of punk kids that need to shape up. However i have loved my experience here and my testimony has grown so much! im just excited to get out into the mission field and get started in this work.
it was interesting to me as i was reading the first verse of 1 nephi chapter 1. it says having suffered much Afflictions. the footnote for afflictions is blessings. i thought about that for a minute and it is so true. i know that when we go through the hard times it will just make us stronger and God will bless us for it. thank you everyone for all the letters! it is so nice to here from you out here. And thank you mom, The whittles, and the einfeldts for the packages! so nice of you. This past week everyone is getting pretty sick. my comp. and i got pretty sick a few days ago, personally i think it is from the food here. nothing compared to moms cookin! i sure miss that already. yesterday during our devotional the opening song was two sisters singing 'his hands' that one that mckell and mindy sang. it made me miss jake so much! how is he doing in Argentina? keep me updated. let me know about the ties too. last night i went and hung out with elder whittle and elder moore in his apartment for a little while. it was so nice to get back with the group again. sad that i will be leaving them tomorrow morning but so exciting as well!! Sorry that my letters here are pretty boring. everyday blends together because we are going to class and learning all day. just know that i am loving it. there was a quote i really liked i heard yesterday 'equally as important as what you do to get the spirit, is what you do not to lose it.' that applied very well with our district. Nate make sure you can be the best missionary you can be, never slack off and disrespect the work! i know you wont though, your a stud. sad news, the temple is closed for my last P-day. i wanted to go one more time! hopefully i can go in St. Paul. mom, before i forget i leave at 5 am from here so expect a call between 6 and 8am. i have no idea when it will be. but i am going to go by a calling card today. Cant wait to hear from you! and happy birthday to nate tomorrow! i wish you could come out to minnesota and join me. thank you mckenna and momma sherri for the quick email :) i will be sure to get you my address when i get it!! for the rest of the family i hope you are having a tun of fun out in Park City! miss ya. We will have to go up there again when i get back. mom, i saw that you said you took out all the personal stuff. i decided i realy dont care if people read anything. its ok. haha but thank you! Dad, thats sad about not being able to go up to northern MN in virginia. hopefully they will re-open that before i leave so i will have the chance. when we go back on our trip we should do splits with the missionaries up there. that would be awesome i think. nate, nicki, natalie, lane. i will hopefully get a letter to you off today. but i have to pack up completely so if i cant i will in MN! however i have the next 10 hours to do nothing so i hopefully will be able to find time. one more quote ' when obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.' i love that. anyways time is out. I love you all so much. Family i look forward to the call tomorrow!!!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Elder Josh Terry- Aug 29, 2011
Hello family!
Looks like another week has gone by. So crazy. Dad said it best when he said that the days go slow but the weeks absolutely fly by. So, I guess I will tell you what an average day is at the MTC. Wake up at 6:15, go get in the shower and get ready for the day. Then you leave the residence to be to class at 6:55. you then have personal study from about 7 to 8:15 then you have breakfast until 8:50. then, depending on the day you will either go teach a fake investigator from the community that comes in or you will have companionship study. After that we have lunch at 1 oclock. we then have class for 3 (hours), then personal study for an hour, then dinner for half hour. then we end the day with another 3 hour class. By the time 9:30 comes around I cant wait to get back to the room and go to bed by 10:30, even though that is really our only time to really unwind. You would think that being constantly so busy would get really old after a while but I love it.
Natalie to answer your question I leave on the 6th of September, Nate's birthday! Haha looks like you will get a happy birthday phone call. :)
So, interesting story. Nate and dad, do you remember that kid on the plane ride home from Alaska? Elder Christiensen? Well, he just got to the MTC Wednesday and he is in my zone. So crazy. And what makes it more funny is that we had a branch counsel leadership meeting and the departing district couldn't come so it was just the 2 district leaders from the zone. So I walk in to the meeting and there is Elder Christiensen. Just him and I in that meeting. I never would have guessed that on our plane ride home a few weeks ago. Small world. Oh and tell Steve Eller that people are freakin out about his book. I have had everyone from my district say they want one haha. Even the branch presidency said that. Before I forget, the plaque scripture that I want is DC 68:4-6. I hope that's right, I have read so many lately :) it's the one that in verse six talks about being of good cheer.
I want to thank everyone who has been sending me letters. you have no idea how important that is out here. I love it. and it's fun because as district leader I get to go pick up the mail. It's a very exciting part of the day :) and mom, yes I am getting your dear elders. I love it. So yesterday I had an interesting experience. I was feelin a bit homesick on Sunday just because during sacrament I was thinking about you all back home and how much I love you. I had the distinct impression that at that moment someone somewhere was praying for me. I have never felt it quite so strongly. So I want to thank you all for your prayers. It really does help. especially when sometimes you start to feel alone.
My companion and I are getting along pretty well. He's a nice enough guy. However, he doesn't really like to associate with the rest of the group which is kinda annoying. and his teaching style is different than mine. We have been on some interesting tangents...,oh, and the fact that he spent 5 hours writing letters last pday. Wow.. oh well I kinda understand. I want to communicate as much as I can. So I have seen Matt (Whittle) about 6 times a day! We have all the same eating times and gym times and I see him walkin around a lot. He is so great. I love him. And I saw Corbin (Moore) 3 times yesterday! I usually don't see him so everytime I give him my goodbye in case it is my last for the next 2 years. I can't wait for the rest of the crew to get out here. The district has come a long way. It is sometimes hard to manage them because they get so roudy but I started doing 2 interviews with them a week and it has really made them be better seeing as they know I am going to be checking up on them in a few days. They are a good bunch. Some of the just need to remember why they are here and who they represent. I want to leave you with a scripture I read yesterday when I felt homesick. D&C 31:3,5. I particularly like the very last line. It was what I needed to hear. the Lord works in mysterious ways. I am so grateful for this opportunity of serving a mission. and btw, yes dad I am living out of my suitcase, figure if im only 3 weeks I dont need to unpack ;) haha but I love you all so much. my testimony has grown immensely. I hope you all stay strong in faith and know that I will be back shortly! I love you all and I hope this upcoming week is great. Well time is up, so until next week!
Josh
P.S. Dad since I've been out here I have realized how much that Alaska trip meant to me. Thank you. I love you!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Elder Terry - August 22, 2011
Dear Family,
Where to begin. this has already been such an amazing experience. so since i have written you last i have already grown so much spiritually. The second day we were here they already had us teaching "investigators" it has been really difficult. I thought that i knew the gospel pretty well but when you are trying to explain it to someone else who knows nothing about it, it can be kind of hard. So i had struggled with that. However, i said probably the longest prayer of my entire life just prayin that if i will use all 9 hours of study time that i would be able to teach better. the next day was so amazing. I taught this lady the whole restoration. God answers prayers. i know that i could have never done that without him.
Right now its about 630 and im in the laundry room so i thought i might as well get my email sent early. we have 12 missionaries in our district. 8 elders and 4 sisters. My companion and i and one of the sisters are going to minnesota, 3 others to jamaca (however you spell that) and the rest are going to carlsbad california. Same as Matt! except they are english speaking. I have seen Elder Whittle about 6 times a day since i have been here. since we arrived on the same day we have the same eating times and more importantly GYM time! they have a little soccer field so i am excited to get out there and play. except the ironic thing is we arent allowed to go exercise on our P-day. Oh well i have some letters to write anyways. So some new news for ya. On thursday i was made District Leader! fun stuff. It really does get so hard to keep all the missionaries in line though because they are all the type that just like to party. Soon they will realize the reason they are here. Since i have been here i have realized how important mail is. It is literally your only communication with the outside world! haha. So a big thank you to all of you who have sent me letters. means a lot. They let you pick up your letters morning and evening so you can read them at night.
The spirit here is so incredible. Its crazy to me that i have only been here for 5 days. it seems sooo much longer than that. but from what i hear after your first sunday you lose track of time. Glad to hear that. Leaving everyone i love back home was one of the hardest things ill ever have to do but im thankful to know that this is what im supposed to be doing. I cannot stress enough the importance of being prepared. i thought with all the preach my gospel and reading everyday that i would be prepared. you can never be prepared enough.
I cant wait to get out to minnesota. as far as i know my departure date is on nates birthday sept. 6! So that should be fun. wow time goes by fast while writing these emails. i better send this off while i still have time. I love you all. thank you for supporting me in this. Let me know how all your weeks have been!
Josh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)