October 12, 2015

So ya this week had its ups and downs, I am going to go with the downs first then we can jump back to the ups.

Ok so first down. So we have a investigator named Tony who has been struggling with keeping commitments and such. We rechallenged him to baptism date and that went great you can tell he wants it but then he didn't show up to church this Sunday which was due to a sick kid so its excusable but this is the 3rd or 4th time that this has happened. We are starting to worry that he is slipping.

Ok so second down. One of the Spanish people we met who wanted us to come back to teach the family turns out doesn't even live there in the house, and the people who lived there were incredibly nice but explained that she was only watching the house and lived out of state contrary to what she said. Gahhhh

Ok so third and final down. I had to give a talk this week. Yep I had to give one and afterward was followed by the Stake President yikes. But it was good the talk was about conference and so I focused on President Monson's talk concerning being a light and example for the world. I had the impression to share a few of Grandpa Olsen stories about serving in the Philippians (Japanese POW story), and Korea (giving up his bed to lady and son). I then related that while we do not live in a war in the traditional sense we do live in a war of sin and decreasing morality but that we can always show forth Christ like attributes and in so doing do as the Prophet has emphasized "A light unto a world, that men may see your good works and glorify your father which art in heaven."

So now for some good stuff. There are still some delays with the plans to have a English class and that is still underway but it is progressing.

I had the pleasure of meeting one of the Spanish members who speaks perfect Spanish but her mother does not, and she is not a member. I decided to talk with her and get to know her and we had a blast. She asked some questions about the Church specifically the services which led into a perfect discussion of the Book of Mormon or Libro de Mormon. I gave her the run down of the story and she wanted to get a copy to read. To her surprise I gave her mine (not mine personally but the ones we give out to people, I always keep a few in my bag in English and Spanish just in case) she truly was flattered and excited. When we left she was flipping through the pages and examining it. Awesome.

The other cool thing is that we got to meet one of the other members of the branch that can speak in English but prefers Spanish. We now have steady appointments set up with him and his family who are not members. This week has truly been fantastic for the work in Spanish and I am both nervous but also super excited.

I forgot to mention I think, my mtc companion/Oregon brother/best friend in the mission is in Lafayette. So for the last several P-days we have been hanging out and partying, its awesome. If you remember from my earlier letters Elder Ryan is from Brookings and he truly is a bro. Our dream is to serve together one day. Oh and he is serving with another bro of mine in the mission his name is Elder Baird. And truly if a miracle could be performed it would be us three being put in a trio together. That is a missionary dream. Probably and most assuredly wont happen but who knows.

Well as always I love and miss you guys. Take care and keep partying on.

October 5, 2015

This week was pretty boring if we go into the terms of the work. Nothing to exciting happening. There is a man by the name of Tony who we are teaching and is at the point of baptism though he needs a spiritual conversion rather than a intellectual conversion. So we are working with him on that. There are a lot of less actives here that need to pull it together. So we will continue to work a lot with them. I also have plans to start a english class here. It has never been done before and I have help jump start a couple. Specifically in Elkhart which was intimidating but fun to do, though I guess when I left it fell apart soooo ya. Lots of stuff on the barbecue I am still trying to figure out how to best serve the Spanish people here.

The branch here is awesome. Its has a solid group of families that are really just good people. We also have a ton of food donated to us. Not many if any dinner appointments, but a lot of food given to us. We seriously have probably more mac and cheese than the whole stake of missionaries do. Its pretty funny.

Well lets get down to business. This week we were blessed to hear from our Prophets, Apostles, Seventies, Relief Society Leaders, and others. Who was your favorite?

I personally enjoyed the emphasis on women and there divine and essential roles in the plan God has for us.

I loved the testimony and reiteration from Elder Bednar of the service and sacrifice of the departed Apostles. I love his emphasis on the fact that the leaders of the Church are not perfect, but its head Jesus Christ its corner stone is.

I enjoyed the very first talk of President Uchtdorf concerning the beautiful simplicity of the gospel. How we to often enough over complicate what the Lord has given us and in so doing blind ourselfs to the simple truths he has restored.

Many wonderful and powerful talks were given. I will have to reread and study all of them in order to fully comprehend and choose my favorite. It is notable that we have three new apostles of the Lord. Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Renlund.

I found it humbling to watch as President Monson give his testimony, and with time begin to lose strength. He truly will continue to work and strive to finish the work the Lord has given him till he has breath in his body. I feel sadden that he has finally reached that point, but also encouraged in his divine calling to be a special witness in these last days of our Master Jesus Christ.

Many things have happen this conference. With talk concerning the calling of Apostles, the departure of Apostles, Spiritual guidance, the Importance of the Mother/Women, and the understanding that at the helm of the church leading us on is Jesus Christ.

I hope we all will have a chance to review, and pray about the things we have been taught. For these things are what the Lord wants us and needs us to know. Truly I love General Conference, it is a time for me personally to be rebooted and reinvigorated in the sacred things we know are true.

I hope your week was excellent for all of you. And I hope you came out of Conference like I did. I love you all and miss you. Lets see what this next week brings shall we.

September 28, 2015

So my computer crashed and due to library restrictions they wont let me extend my time though I wasn't on. So this group email is quick and to the point.

 

I am in Logansport, Indiana serving with Elder Scribner. I am a striped elder now working with both Spanish and English. Its been a little hard of a transition but all is good.

 

Today is my birthday which interesting enough is also the day of the Blood moon and the Jewish feast of tabernacles/ or trumphets not really sure only that a member explained it to me.

 

I love Logansport there is a lot to see and a lot of work to do. So I am going to get on that. Again sorry this is short but I make up for it by having downloaded finally all my pictures and videos to the dropbox.

 

Next week I will give a much more indepth overview of the area and what is going on.

 

I am twenty now so only one more year for me to go on my mission. I will probably return home and by ammunition to celebrate.

 

Well I love you all and miss you all so much, thank you for the letters, emails, and packages you have sent. They have all made it a happy birthday.

September 21, 2015

So this week was something. With the idea that I and elder cruz would stay here and continue the work here potentially even till Christmas we were not prepared for the call presidente gave us. "Elders your all out"

That is correct, I Elder Trapp am once again leaving a area just after 6 weeks. So if you have any mail of any sort wait till I can give you my new address. 

ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT PLEASE PAY ATTENTION. The mission office is being moved. So if you had plans to send stuff through there please be aware that they are moving. Here is the official letter.

Dear Elders & Sisters:

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

When you email your families this week, please let them know the new Mission Office address:  

777 Sunblest Boulevard, Fishers, Indiana 46038-1167.

This change goes into effect on Monday, September 28^th.  

Sister Anderson

Secretary to the President - Baptisms & Referrals

INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS MISSION

I hope that is clear, it was fairly unexpected we thought we still had another three weeks or so till they would change but nope.

Now back to me leaving the area. Its a bit emotionally wearing, and a pain in the rear to pack every six weeks. I have done this for pretty much the entire summer. Not that I am complaining only comenting on how much I dislike packing and leaving many families and converts so quickly. But where ever the lord wants me to go I will go.

As to where I could go there are a few options. In a email to me President told me that I would be going stripe (english/spanish) in an area that has not had a spanish elder in a long time if ever. However the call he gave us this Saturday he said that I would be going straight Spanish, and Elder Cruz would go to a stripe area. As such I lean more to his call Saturday as it was more recent though reading his email did throw a curve ball. 

If I do a stripe I have no idea where I would go (this seems unlikely now) but if I went straight spanish (very likely) there are really only two options. I could return to Lafayette where I could serve with Elder Baird (good guy) or Elder Ryan (mtc comp). Or the other option is that I go and open a new area.

A few weeks previous President did say that something super weird was going to happen and this is it. I am not sure how well this will turn out but its what the Lord wants so ok.

As always its hard to leave areas. Expecially when there are many things going on. Recent converts who still need a lot of fellow shipping

We are having problems with one convert who has bad health and a smoking issue. She is a really nice lady who unfortunately has gone back to her bad habits and it is making things harder and worse for her.

And one situation is one I would love to write about but cant till after my mission probably. Lets just say it involves the police, a con artist, smuggling of illegals, and a lot of money. Fear not the missionaries have no strings to this only that we are the un involved witnesses.

 So I will wrap up with what happened with our branch part we had this Saturday.Only want to share a little about the Branch party we had this last Saturday. It was a blast with all the food, music, dancing, and to quote are BP a "Dance War". We were elected judges (because we cant dance). And by a landslide the primary kids won, it also help they were the only ones that didnt try to bribe us with money or meals. But while that was all very good and fun the best came from our Investigator William. 

William we met on the street who ran up to us wanting to shake our hands and all that good stuff. We were very confused till he explained that he had lived in Provo for 20 years, hanged out with the missionaries a lot, and has attended most of the wards activities and etc. But for some reason he is not baptized. We invited him to come to the party not really expecting that he would come only for him to show up, dance with the members, and even performed a solo song for all of us (he was actually pretty good). He shows a lot of promise and we are excited for the work the missionaries will do with him. We are excited for several people here to be taught by new missionaries.

But we will see how things go with everything. Well lots of stuff to do and so little time. There are more pictures and videos in the dropbox and I and inserted some here for you guys to see.

As always I love you all and miss you. I will let you know where I am in a few days.