Monday, June 7, 2010
June 7, 2010 -- Saving souls
Hello! It has been a fantastic week! I'll just give you the details.
Monday it was Memorial day. The reason I didn't email that day. We went and did service at the church. They had a big thing for the vets there. It was pretty cool and I enjoyed running around keeping myself busy. I had a lot of fun and met a lot of cool people. They had some really wierd performers though. It was odd, kinda cool, but odd.
Tuesday we had more service. We taught Donna and her 17 year old daughter in the morning. While teaching I noticed all the leaves in her back yard. So we showed up that afternoon with rakes and shovels and cleaned up 5 years worth of piled leaves. The yard looked great. They are going to have a birthday party Saturday so we were just in time. I also fixed their screen door. Donna is a single mom and we take good care of her.
Wednesday we had even more service. Some other elders needed help doing yard work for their investigators. It ended up being a waste of time. It was a 2 man job and there was 10 of us there. Oh well.
Thursday was zone conference. It was awesome. I learned so much. It was more interactive than usual and I loved it. I really was able to grasp and apply what we were taught.
Friday I can't even explain how amazing. Friday we went to the LA temple to be there for a recent convert who was getting his endowments. It was so amazing! The feeling I felt standing in the Celestial room waiting for him to come through is hard to describe. I was nervous, but excited. When he finally came in to find us and 6 couples from our ward there waiting for him it was truly amazing. I gave him a big hug and welcomed him home. I learned a lesson on missionary work that day. Standing in that room with those ward members was something else. While we were there there was no division. We weren't just members who happened to go to the same ward. We were family happy to see another sibling had made it. That's the purpose of missionary work. It's not about a baptismal statistic. It's about getting all of our siblings home safely.
Saturday and Sunday were also awesome. Saturday consisted of service and some pretty amazing lessons. Sunday consisted of what's become my favorite 3 hours, church.
Today we had a cool experiance. For our studies we hiked up next to a giant cross on the hill. It was an awesome view and it was very peaceful. I could study and not worry about the world. It was far below. It truly has been an amazing week.
Well, I'm off to go save souls. I love you! Hope all is well!
Love,
Elder Tingey
Monday it was Memorial day. The reason I didn't email that day. We went and did service at the church. They had a big thing for the vets there. It was pretty cool and I enjoyed running around keeping myself busy. I had a lot of fun and met a lot of cool people. They had some really wierd performers though. It was odd, kinda cool, but odd.
Tuesday we had more service. We taught Donna and her 17 year old daughter in the morning. While teaching I noticed all the leaves in her back yard. So we showed up that afternoon with rakes and shovels and cleaned up 5 years worth of piled leaves. The yard looked great. They are going to have a birthday party Saturday so we were just in time. I also fixed their screen door. Donna is a single mom and we take good care of her.
Wednesday we had even more service. Some other elders needed help doing yard work for their investigators. It ended up being a waste of time. It was a 2 man job and there was 10 of us there. Oh well.
Thursday was zone conference. It was awesome. I learned so much. It was more interactive than usual and I loved it. I really was able to grasp and apply what we were taught.
Friday I can't even explain how amazing. Friday we went to the LA temple to be there for a recent convert who was getting his endowments. It was so amazing! The feeling I felt standing in the Celestial room waiting for him to come through is hard to describe. I was nervous, but excited. When he finally came in to find us and 6 couples from our ward there waiting for him it was truly amazing. I gave him a big hug and welcomed him home. I learned a lesson on missionary work that day. Standing in that room with those ward members was something else. While we were there there was no division. We weren't just members who happened to go to the same ward. We were family happy to see another sibling had made it. That's the purpose of missionary work. It's not about a baptismal statistic. It's about getting all of our siblings home safely.
Saturday and Sunday were also awesome. Saturday consisted of service and some pretty amazing lessons. Sunday consisted of what's become my favorite 3 hours, church.
Today we had a cool experiance. For our studies we hiked up next to a giant cross on the hill. It was an awesome view and it was very peaceful. I could study and not worry about the world. It was far below. It truly has been an amazing week.
Well, I'm off to go save souls. I love you! Hope all is well!
Love,
Elder Tingey
June 2, 2010 -- sickness
Well hello. The reason this is so late is because of Memorial day. The library was closed. Last week was rather odd. I spent most of my time last week sleeping. Now before you read further just know I'm doing just fine now and there is no need to worry. ;) 2 weeks ago I devolped what I thought was a common cold. My nose was stuffy and by that Friday I was couging. Well the cough got worse and wasn't going away. In fact it was keeping me up at night and I was getting any sleep. So last Monday I went to the doctors. I stumped the doctor and she gave me an inhaler and some antiboitics. Tuesday I wasn't suppose to go work, but I went that morning anyway. It was with a new investigator. I couldn't stay home. After the morning meeting though I was forced (by the Stewarts and Sis Benson, our mission doctor) to stay home. So I just hung out. Well that night the cough got even worse. By now I would get episodes at night around 9:00 Pm that would leave me fighting for air. This also kept me up all night Tuesday night. Wednesday I wasn't allowed to work at all. So I stayed in my PJs and just hung out around the house. I could do stuff and I didn't feel sick. So staying home while my comp went out with people to work was a killer. It drove me crazy! Well wednesday night I had another episode. The worst yet. I ended up around 9:00 pm talking to a doctor in Salt Lake that covers and takes care of over 2000 missionaries. He called me in a prescription that I had to pick up the next day. The time off wasn't that horrible. I spent the whole time with Bro Stewart. We're rather close and very much a like. His wife says we're cut from the same mold. Anyway, Thursday I got my new drugs. Which was prescription cough syrup with codeine in it. I'm a light weight when it comes to drugs. So I slept from noon to 6 pm. Then fell asleep on the Stewarts couch at 8:00 pm and woke up 6:00 am the next day. Friday I worked a little and Saturday I felt better. The cough is pretty much gone now. No one could figure out what was wrong. I stumped 3 doctors. Saturday was pretty cool. We helped an investigator redo his kitchen sink. We pulled up the old tiles and laid new ones. All that work I did as a kid is really paying off. Sunday was real cool as well. Sunday the speakers ended way early. So the bishopric told us (over the podium) that we were to be the concluding speakers. My comp bore his testimony and than I gave a 10 minute talk on faith. Shot from the hip and it worked wonderful. It was cool because I wasn't nervous. I wasn't worried. I just stood up and started talking. Well, I'm offf to go save souls. I love you and hope all is well at home.
Love,
Elder Tingey
Love,
Elder Tingey
May 24, 2010 -- a crazy, busy week
Hello it's been a crazy, busy week. It's the end of the 1st week of a new transfer. It's been a crazy 1st week. I really don't know where to start with it. I guess I'll start with the coolest stories.
First, last week we met this 15 year old kid named Gabriel. He was playing basketball outside a members house. We invited him to take lessons and he accepted. This week on Saturday we took him to a baptism. It was a very powerful baptism and it was a baptism of a girl who had been waiting for 5 years to be baptized. Her parents wouldn't let her be baptized. So she has been an unbaptized active member of the church since she was 12. Her parents caved finally and let her get baptized before she was 18. After this very amazing baptism. Our investigator Gabriel couldn't wait till he could be baptized. Up to this point we had only taught him once. So we met with him Saturday evening and taught him a lesson. The spirit was very strong and it was an amazing lesson. We set him with a date and now he will hopefully be baptized in 3 weeks. He came to church Sunday and felt the spirit very strong. Now Satan of course had a fit. We found out today that his mother wont let him get baptized till he is 18. So begins the fight against Satan. I have faith that all will work out like it should. Who knows, maybe we will end up baptizing the mother also.
Last week we were talking to a member at his house. He had weeds in the back that were 3+ feet high. He was talking about his desire to cut them down and to till up his front yard. So I called around and this Saturday I called him. I let him know that we were headed over to his house with a weed whacker and a tiller to take care of his lawn. He was surprised and very happy. We got it all taken care of and it looks wonderful now. While we were working though I got a phone call from a Mr. Bowman. He told me my clock was ready. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about and then I remembered the story. 3 months ago we met an old man making clocks in his garage. He made them out of California Redwood. I admired his clocks and struck up conversation with him. He than asked if I wanted one. I told him I wouldn't say no to one, but wasn't going to ask for one. He than asked for my name and phone number. Then we left. 3 months latter I get a call and he has made me a clock. I picked it up Sunday and it is rather beautiful. The challenge is going to be how to I get it home. Oh well, I'll figure that out later.
Well, I've got to run, but I love you.
Love,
Elder Tingey.
First, last week we met this 15 year old kid named Gabriel. He was playing basketball outside a members house. We invited him to take lessons and he accepted. This week on Saturday we took him to a baptism. It was a very powerful baptism and it was a baptism of a girl who had been waiting for 5 years to be baptized. Her parents wouldn't let her be baptized. So she has been an unbaptized active member of the church since she was 12. Her parents caved finally and let her get baptized before she was 18. After this very amazing baptism. Our investigator Gabriel couldn't wait till he could be baptized. Up to this point we had only taught him once. So we met with him Saturday evening and taught him a lesson. The spirit was very strong and it was an amazing lesson. We set him with a date and now he will hopefully be baptized in 3 weeks. He came to church Sunday and felt the spirit very strong. Now Satan of course had a fit. We found out today that his mother wont let him get baptized till he is 18. So begins the fight against Satan. I have faith that all will work out like it should. Who knows, maybe we will end up baptizing the mother also.
Last week we were talking to a member at his house. He had weeds in the back that were 3+ feet high. He was talking about his desire to cut them down and to till up his front yard. So I called around and this Saturday I called him. I let him know that we were headed over to his house with a weed whacker and a tiller to take care of his lawn. He was surprised and very happy. We got it all taken care of and it looks wonderful now. While we were working though I got a phone call from a Mr. Bowman. He told me my clock was ready. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about and then I remembered the story. 3 months ago we met an old man making clocks in his garage. He made them out of California Redwood. I admired his clocks and struck up conversation with him. He than asked if I wanted one. I told him I wouldn't say no to one, but wasn't going to ask for one. He than asked for my name and phone number. Then we left. 3 months latter I get a call and he has made me a clock. I picked it up Sunday and it is rather beautiful. The challenge is going to be how to I get it home. Oh well, I'll figure that out later.
Well, I've got to run, but I love you.
Love,
Elder Tingey.
May 17, 2010 -- Staying put
Hello again. So we just got our transfer calls about 15 minutes ago. Looks like I'm staying put. I've got another 6 weeks here in the Santa Susana 1st ward. I'm happy about it. I was kind of psyched to leave, but there is a lot here I still need to get done. It will be an awesome 6 weeks.
I've had a really odd week this week. We've done tons of service. One of our odd days was Friday. We were asked to help set up a wedding reception. I agreed and we showed up at the building by 10:00 am. There were 15+ people there. I figured it would be cake and we would be done by noon. Well my companion and I were given the job to string plastic from the 20 foot ceiling in the gym to the walls. It was to make a fake ceiling. While we worked on it we noticed that out of the 15+ people there there was maybe 6 working, my comp and I, the bride, the groom, the mother, and a member from our ward. Grrr.... The rest sat at tables and hung out. By the time 3:00 PM rolled around they started to leave. Guess they got tired. By the time we finished all of the draping and hanging it was 5:30 pm and us and the groom were the only ones still there. It was pretty fun though.
Another fun story. Thursday we went to go check on a potential. She wasn't home, but here husband was. He talked to us at the door for a bit and then we went into his house. He was drunk and Hispanic. We started talking to him and he told us he was an alcoholic and that he wanted to change. He than told us that last night his neighbor ticked him off. So he, around 2 am, grabbed his neighbor pinned him to a tree and stuck a machete to his throat. Than yelled at him for 20 minutes. Than let him go. Don't worry about us though. He likes us a lot and my companion is a Tongan warrior. We could take him done if we had to. I don't think we'll ever have to.
It's time for me to take off, but I love you tons.
Love,
Elder Tingey
I've had a really odd week this week. We've done tons of service. One of our odd days was Friday. We were asked to help set up a wedding reception. I agreed and we showed up at the building by 10:00 am. There were 15+ people there. I figured it would be cake and we would be done by noon. Well my companion and I were given the job to string plastic from the 20 foot ceiling in the gym to the walls. It was to make a fake ceiling. While we worked on it we noticed that out of the 15+ people there there was maybe 6 working, my comp and I, the bride, the groom, the mother, and a member from our ward. Grrr.... The rest sat at tables and hung out. By the time 3:00 PM rolled around they started to leave. Guess they got tired. By the time we finished all of the draping and hanging it was 5:30 pm and us and the groom were the only ones still there. It was pretty fun though.
Another fun story. Thursday we went to go check on a potential. She wasn't home, but here husband was. He talked to us at the door for a bit and then we went into his house. He was drunk and Hispanic. We started talking to him and he told us he was an alcoholic and that he wanted to change. He than told us that last night his neighbor ticked him off. So he, around 2 am, grabbed his neighbor pinned him to a tree and stuck a machete to his throat. Than yelled at him for 20 minutes. Than let him go. Don't worry about us though. He likes us a lot and my companion is a Tongan warrior. We could take him done if we had to. I don't think we'll ever have to.
It's time for me to take off, but I love you tons.
Love,
Elder Tingey
May 10, 2010 -- Happy to have talked with you!
It was lovely talking with you! It was a lot of fun! I've had a pretty good week. It had a lot of hard work and service involved with it. So a bunch of stories I didn't get to tell you on the phone:
Monday we were at a members house. I was talking to the husband while my companion was talking to the wife. The husband was working on a computer and I asked a technical question. The wife than yelled across the room, "you speak geek too?!" It was funny. It brought a smile to my face, and everyone got a good laugh out of it.
Wednesday was Cinco de mayo. It was also the day of our district meeting. So for the district meeting we had a sombrero. Whenever someone went up to speak they had to wear the sombrero. It was a pretty fun district meeting. I really love the district I'm in. I'm pretty sure though that a lot of them will be transferred next week. I kinda think I'll be transfered next week as well. :(
Thursday we had 3 dinners. We had a super late lunch at 3:00 pm. Right after lunch we went to an less actives house and he had cooked us some chili burgers. They were huge!!! So we smiled and ate them. Then an hour later we went to dinner with Bro Reelfs. He took us to a all you can eat Japenese/Chinese buffet. I tried a lot of the food. I had crab, 3 different kinds of raw fish, mussells, and a variety of other things I'm not sure what they were. It was crazy!! My stomach has shrunk and now I barely can eat one meal let alone 3.
Friday I got to go work in the YSA ward. That was a lot of fun. It was wierd working with people my same age. The other odd thing was that most of the people we say that day were 19-21 year old, very attractive, single females. Each meeting had another male present. It was a change. Most of the people I work with are 40+, are male, and have done jail/prison time. Sweet!
Saturday was a day filled with service. We started the morning by going to a park and cleaning up. The Stewarts and my companion were in charge of cleaning up dead trees. So we broke dead limbs and had a blast doing it. We actually felled a whole dead tree with nothing but our hands. It was great fun. We did that for about 3 hours. Than right after we went and helped a guy move out of a storage unit into his giant house. That was 2 hours worth of service. Than at 3:00 pm we went out and worked. Longest day ever. I was so exhausted when I got home.
Sunday I called home. Woot!!!
Finally, answer to the question I got asked yesterday on the phone, "what have I learned." I've learned that:
Charity is a gift from God and is the only way you can do missionary work.
You don't have to talk every minute of every day with your comp in order to be friends with him.
Catholic Bibles make the best weapon when your killing giant bugs. ;)
Pray for those you love, and pray to love those you don't already love.
It takes only one simple act to make or break someones day.
Well, hope all is well back home.
I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday we were at a members house. I was talking to the husband while my companion was talking to the wife. The husband was working on a computer and I asked a technical question. The wife than yelled across the room, "you speak geek too?!" It was funny. It brought a smile to my face, and everyone got a good laugh out of it.
Wednesday was Cinco de mayo. It was also the day of our district meeting. So for the district meeting we had a sombrero. Whenever someone went up to speak they had to wear the sombrero. It was a pretty fun district meeting. I really love the district I'm in. I'm pretty sure though that a lot of them will be transferred next week. I kinda think I'll be transfered next week as well. :(
Thursday we had 3 dinners. We had a super late lunch at 3:00 pm. Right after lunch we went to an less actives house and he had cooked us some chili burgers. They were huge!!! So we smiled and ate them. Then an hour later we went to dinner with Bro Reelfs. He took us to a all you can eat Japenese/Chinese buffet. I tried a lot of the food. I had crab, 3 different kinds of raw fish, mussells, and a variety of other things I'm not sure what they were. It was crazy!! My stomach has shrunk and now I barely can eat one meal let alone 3.
Friday I got to go work in the YSA ward. That was a lot of fun. It was wierd working with people my same age. The other odd thing was that most of the people we say that day were 19-21 year old, very attractive, single females. Each meeting had another male present. It was a change. Most of the people I work with are 40+, are male, and have done jail/prison time. Sweet!
Saturday was a day filled with service. We started the morning by going to a park and cleaning up. The Stewarts and my companion were in charge of cleaning up dead trees. So we broke dead limbs and had a blast doing it. We actually felled a whole dead tree with nothing but our hands. It was great fun. We did that for about 3 hours. Than right after we went and helped a guy move out of a storage unit into his giant house. That was 2 hours worth of service. Than at 3:00 pm we went out and worked. Longest day ever. I was so exhausted when I got home.
Sunday I called home. Woot!!!
Finally, answer to the question I got asked yesterday on the phone, "what have I learned." I've learned that:
Charity is a gift from God and is the only way you can do missionary work.
You don't have to talk every minute of every day with your comp in order to be friends with him.
Catholic Bibles make the best weapon when your killing giant bugs. ;)
Pray for those you love, and pray to love those you don't already love.
It takes only one simple act to make or break someones day.
Well, hope all is well back home.
I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 3, 2010 -- Partly cloudy, partly sunny
Hello, from party cloudy, mostly sunny, California. ;) I've had a wonderful week. I have really focused on making my lessons count instead of counting my lessons. It's made a great difference. The spirit has been much stronger in our lessons. One thing I've noticed this week is how miserable less active members are. I walk in the Lord and spend all my time serving him, and I find myself smiling all day long. Now when I go to less actives though they are grumpy and miserable. Everything gets them down and just our presence makes them feel awkward. We've called a lot of people to repentance this week. We've done it out of love, and it has made a difference.
So, an interesting story. Friday we were walking around and we started talking to a guy named Bob. Nice guy, but hated our church. I told him we were sharing a message about the Book of Mormon and how he could come to know it's true. I asked him if he would read and pray and his response was, "Why would I read a false book?" I asked him why he thought it was false and he told me his pastor told him it was false. I couldn't believe it. He was going to pass up a book from God, because a man with a degree in religion told him to. What a sad world we live in.
Another story. Wednesday we went over to a house for dinner. Single lady with a 17 yr old daughter, and 3 younger sons. We took a young man with us so that we could get into her house. She made sure that the missionaries sat one on either side of her 17 yr old daughter. It was funny. Then the mom would ask us questions about past jobs, our testimonies, etc... Whenever we said something that she liked she would look at her daughter and give her that look. Her daughter apparently has bad dating choices. I'm not sure if we were just suppose to be examples of good dating choices or if we were suppose to eligible dating choices. Overall the whole situations was very funny.
Well I've got to run. I love you!!!!!
Hope all is well at home.
Love,
Elder Tingey
So, an interesting story. Friday we were walking around and we started talking to a guy named Bob. Nice guy, but hated our church. I told him we were sharing a message about the Book of Mormon and how he could come to know it's true. I asked him if he would read and pray and his response was, "Why would I read a false book?" I asked him why he thought it was false and he told me his pastor told him it was false. I couldn't believe it. He was going to pass up a book from God, because a man with a degree in religion told him to. What a sad world we live in.
Another story. Wednesday we went over to a house for dinner. Single lady with a 17 yr old daughter, and 3 younger sons. We took a young man with us so that we could get into her house. She made sure that the missionaries sat one on either side of her 17 yr old daughter. It was funny. Then the mom would ask us questions about past jobs, our testimonies, etc... Whenever we said something that she liked she would look at her daughter and give her that look. Her daughter apparently has bad dating choices. I'm not sure if we were just suppose to be examples of good dating choices or if we were suppose to eligible dating choices. Overall the whole situations was very funny.
Well I've got to run. I love you!!!!!
Hope all is well at home.
Love,
Elder Tingey
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