Week 63 - Aloha

Not that it is warm at all, just thought I would switch it up for you all. I feel like when all is said and done.. the Lord is very aware of what we go through and our prayers never fall on deaf ears. This week was honestly full of miracles. We have things that have transpired over the last 7 days that I thought were nearly impossible.. never doubt the power of God.. or that sometimes there are things that just have to happen in the Lord's timetable.. I feel like when I have thought about that in the past it usually is said in the same breath as patience as you are usually having to wait.. but sometimes the Lord gives you someone he has prepared literally overnight.. and that leads us to Laura. Laura is a former investigator we contacted the last week Elder Laceste was here.. she wasn't really interested in our message. We ended up getting talking and she is actually working on some addiction struggles, so we brought up the ARP program and scheduled a time to come back. Elder Pitts and I then came back that weekend dropped off the book and just a simple Mormon.org pass-along card if she had any questions.. Monday rolls around and we were at the local Dollarama when we get this media referral, that is from her referring herself.. that is where the miracles start. We go over and talk with her, she just says that she started reading the ARP book, then went online to the website and then looked up temples, our beliefs, etc.. kept going and she downloaded all the hymns to her phone, the Book of Mormon, and she said she just sat there and started crying from the music.. she said she then prayed for the first time in a long time.. and she felt the spirit just overwhelm her.. The spirit has been working on her so hard! Honestly I have never seen such a change in a person in a weeks’ time! This week we taught her 4 times.. every time at the end of our lessons she asks, okay when can me meet again!?! She has read numerous chapters in the Book of Mormon, she goes above and beyond our commitments.. honestly I have never come across anyone who truly hungers and thirsts after righteousness as she does. We were constantly talking about baptism.. she was constantly talking about how she couldn't wait for that day.. she is now on date for baptism on the 22nd of February.. super soon.. but she chose it through prayer. We said that was the earliest she could, and she says yes! She is just so excited, she already feels the joy this gospel has brought into her life and she loves it, she can't wait to learn more.I could go on and on.. but I am just filled with so much gratitude to be the Lord's instrument at this time.

Okay also, one really powerful experience with a member family-the Olsens. We had challenged them to teach us lesson 1-the Message of the Restoration. Brother Olsen, who is one of the greatest guys I have met my whole mission was totally game, and then he helped his daughters who are 7 and 4  to be a part of the teaching.. for some reason as those little girls bore testimony of first the Book of Mormon, which was from the 4 year old and then Prayer from the 7 year old.. I can honestly say it was one of those moments that I have needed. To hear someone so pure bear testimony of the Book of Mormon, helped me grow my testimony to a new level. I absolutely love children and how they help each of us understand what it really means to become as a little child. 

Well, that is all for now.. my keyboard is the worst thing ever and I want to break it. I love you all! 

Love, Elder McFall

 

Week 62 – What's good fam!

Okay so a lot of times when I say there isn't much to say, there seems to be a flow of things that come out and then you have a lot to read.. but this time I think it is for real. 

Since the new companion there have been a lot of adjustments.. one that is strange is just being confined to such a small area again! Back when we were covering the entire city we could go anywhere anytime. If we didn't really have anything going on in one area.. we just went 15 minutes over into a completely different part of the city.. now things are well okay we can go over a street and try those people.. strange times. Okay not really, it is kinda nice to not have that stress of the whole city anymore. Our work is definitely starting back from scratch. We used to have in our Filipino work, close to 15 investigators or so, and easily found 1-2 new ones each week.. the work was just picking up like wildfire, but now we are working on getting things back in order here in Bearspaw. In a way, it is much like opening an area again, except this time I already know all the members and know the area.. so that has been good. We spend the majority of our days just trying former investigators, potential investigators, or just talking to people. We have been blessed with some nice weather though, that helps so people aren't so depressed and haven't locked themselves completely inside like they usually do. I don't know how people survive winters up here when it is so cold.. inside life is too boring. So really all we do right now is just talk to people. We have a couple return appointments for this week, so hopefully by this time next week I can return and report some real epic teaching moments. 

Elder Pitts is a good man for sure. He is a bit older, older than my big brother even which kinda blows my mind.. it is like I could be serving alongside Chase.. anywho, he really has great desires and wants to work hard.. so we do. He is different than what I had heard, seems to always be that way. He can tend to be on the more serious side at moments, so I find myself making lots of jokes and having a good time, but I can honestly say by the end of the week we have had the spirit with us all throughout our work. I think that is the most gratifying feeling. To be able to say at the end of the day, even when you may have not had the "success" you were hoping for, you know that you were doing what the Lord needed you to be doing. That is really what defines our success, something that I had to learn for myself since I have been out. I am just filled with gratitude for the moments where I can feel of my Father in Heaven's gratitude, and know at the end of the day that I sought His will. 

Here is an interesting thought for you all to ponder. My dad and I were discussing the topic of perfection and he asked me the following: “ Have you ever pondered the difference between Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" and 3 Nephi 12:48 "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect"?. Keeping in mind that Christ was without sin, why does He not refer to Himself as perfect until after his resurrection? There is a subtle difference between the scriptures; in Matthew, Christ was in His earthly ministry and states that our Father is perfect, but in 3 Nephi He is a resurrected being and says that both He and the Father are perfect. So why is this important? Too many people get discouraged because they cannot live up to a perceived expectation that they must be perfect. The point is that the way we think of the word "perfect" is not how it was intended. Christ was not telling us to be perfect in this life and never sin, rather he was telling us that if we do all that we can do in this life then our Father in Heaven will make us perfect. It is not an adjective such as "a perfect man", but rather a verb as in "perfect yourself". It took Christ returning to the presence of the Father to have this action completed.  We cannot be so hard on ourselves and we must allow the atonement to have power in our lives. If we mess up, apply the atonement; learn from the experience, and look only forward, not backward.”

Funny my dad should ask this question because we deal with that a lot in the mission field. I did think of the difference between the two scriptures.. just maybe not in the same way. All I could think of was in 3 Nephi that Christ then includes Himself and not in the Matthew scripture.. So I guess I am pretty close! The whole topic of perfection has been an interesting one to me my entire mission. Mostly because it is something we deal with so much. But it isn't something that you can really comprehend. I got thinking about this a lot when I decided to really study my "missionary scripture" and figure out what that really means.. Well that being more of the use of "perfect" or "perfection" in the scriptures.. I think people so often tend to just hyperventilate sometimes over the idea.. in some cases it actually leads people to stop reading scriptures, praying, attending church, etc.. which really means they stop repenting, which is the ONLY way we can achieve perfection. How grateful we are that we know that we have a Father who is merciful, kind, and looking to forgive in all cases. Not many understand this true relationship in which we stand towards our Father, or really understand the role of our Savior, but I guess that is part of my job eh? 

Had ourselves a real nice Ward Conference this last Sunday.. our Stake President, President Hardy(super good man) gave a talk and basically told the members to do more missionary work and make us their friends. Hopefully people will do it. I mean we aren't that hard to get along with, maybe a little awkward sometimes, but we deal with it. I think there is just simply no way that we could be successful without the members. We can try, but we will run into struggles over and over again. Work will happen, just won't be as fruitful as it could be. Hopefully they will realize that the "The Hastening" is more than a catch phrase, but a reality that is unfolding before their eyes. 

Well, I sure do love ya all. Stay righteous and stuff. 

Love, Elder McFall

 

My new companion, Elder Scott Pitts

Zone pictures

Week 61 - Happy Monday!

Too much has happened this week, I guess that is a good thing though? I will start with some really bittersweet news.. So I will no longer be a Tagalog Missionary for Edmonton. It really does break my heart in a way. I have sort of gotten attached to these Filipinos.. I love their culture, I love the way they interact, I really have just enjoyed being such a part of their family's and lives since this all began. I have really liked serving with Elder Laceste, he is a good man. Probably gotten along with him better than a lot of my companions, okay actually I have been super blessed. I'll definitely miss serving with him though. It has just been really nice to be working alongside someone who desires the same things, but you also have a very similar work style. We have spent a good 3 transfers together, so 4 1/2 months together. We will see what happens in this next stage of missionary life I suppose. I will be back to just the Bearspaw ward, working at my 4th transfer as a Zone Leader. It has been a real good experience so far as a Zone Leader, I have learned a lot more than I feel I have taught. I look forward to more though. Usually you only go for about 6 months, so this could be my last transfer here in the zone.. only time will tell. My comp will be Elder Pitts. Pretty sure he is going to be an apostle someday.. he is super righteous and a really hard worker. This is all good and such, we will see what kind of work we can accomplish. I look forward to it though. 

This week we have really been focusing on teaching doctrine over principle & application. Which is a good note of where we should be focusing our own studies and our own conversions. It has helped me at least! This week with our investigators things have gone well, well with all things considered. We taught Taylor, passed him over to the YSA missionaries.. finally! So hopefully that will continue to progress and they can really get things going. But really one that I thought we would focus on was Joy, another Filipino lady that we tracted into the other day. We found her just after we had a cancellation and so we headed up to the area just north of where we were, then I got a small prompting to go try this block of condominiums where we had worked a couple days earlier. We had one solid conversation then I remembered the other house that we knew had Filipinos in there.   Knock the door and she says to Elder Laceste, "Filipino ka ba?" (Are you Filipino?) says yes, then she says oh come in come in! ha she had no idea who we were yet, but we got in and we began teaching. Things went really well, we taught the lesson of the restoration, and the spirit filled the room. She invited us back, and we will go over there tonight again.. Hopefully that will turn into something really good also.. I will try and keep up with all the Filipino 'Gators. 

Met with Abner.. well to just skip all the mumbo jumbo.. we had a really great lesson there. We brought a solid fellowshipper, who has known him for some time now.. The fellowshipper ended up being super bold and it was good because the spirit was there! We testified, and testified some more. Abner says okay, I will be at church and I will make my decision. We really are working on this whole "real intent" thing right now.. proves to be a lot more difficult than you would hope. Well, no Abner at church yesterday. They will probably teach him one more time.. but there will most likely be a break to be taken there. Too bad honestly. His concern is way more social than doctrinal, just not ready yet to make that separation from his family.. even though they already go to different churches. He says he knows the Book of Mormon is true, it is the word of God. Therefore the Church is True... but not willing to sacrifice his current religion because that is the one that helped him find his way back to Jesus.. we will see what time does to this situation. 

You are probably tired of reading.. well go get a churro and gatorade because there is more! We taught S. Soriano again.. gosh she is solid. She has a testimony of this gospel, she is helping family and friends into the gospel, but she isn't actively participating herself. We are brutally honest and blunt with her, but it has been in such a way that it is genuine.. because truly it is. We shared the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. One thing led to another, and we ended with a teary end of knowing that we must be more than saying the words, but must be doing and living the gospel each and every day. The spirit was so strong in that room, I know it bore powerful testimony to her heart of what she needs to do. Miracles are happening my friends. 

Okay, one last thing. You should all go read the talk.. okay actually here is the link.. 


http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng&query=safety+for+the+soul

I hope it works.. if not copy and paste just be wise. But I invite each of you to find for yourself a conviction towards the Book of Mormon that will not, and could not be shaken by anything that we come across in the world. If you don't have a testimony, get one. If you have one, strengthen it. If you once had one and lost it, rekindle that flame. Honestly, that book has brought me more joy, satisfaction, peace and comfort than anything else in this world. The entire scripture testifies of our Savior, it helps us learn more of why he was so willing to give His life for us. It urges us to recognize God's infinite and personal love for each and every single one of us. And all of that comes from a holy volume of scripture, 531 pages that help us on our journey back to our Heavenly Home.. Okay no more preaching today.

Well done, you have reached the end of this book.. I love you all! Have a real nice week! Stay warm and stay classy. 

Love, Elder McFall

Week 60 – Happy New Year!

Well 2014 is upon us already, weird to think that the last year has already come and gone. It really doesn't seem right! We will have to see what happens this year. 2013 was really great though in many regards, for one I was on my mission for the entire year, miracles are truly occurring in all of our lives right now. I think often we don't notice all of that which is happening, but when we take a moment to step back and think about all the good that is happening, we can't be anything less than grateful for how much the Lord blesses us each and every day. 

This last week was definitely full of some neat experiences, hopefully that comes as no surprise though. We were able to see a couple of the less-active members we have been working with. The first was with Sister Soriano. She is a returned missionary and everything, has been living here for a little while, just working and everything. We just got a hold of her a couple weeks ago because of a member family that lives on the other side of the city knows her and sent us her way with a card that we HAD to hand deliver.. pretty clever eh? So we ended up meeting her this last week and we got talking about what we can do that allows us to come closer to Christ. What steps we must take not just once in a while, but consistently to allow ourselves to feel of the spirit and be walking in the path that leads us back to our Father in Heaven. We shared Moroni 10:32 with her.. and allowed her to then take lead of the conversation. One thing led to another, and she herself (okay it was the spirit!) came to the conclusion she needs to attend church, that is her ungodliness, that is what separates her right now. Even in the lesson I couldn't help but smile, she was like, "Why are you smiling?!!" Then just started laughing, she knew exactly why! I am just so grateful for the spirit and what it does in the lives of all of us really. So grateful that regardless of my inability, that so long as I rely on the Spirit in this work that lives will be effected. I know that is a promise, not just something we can vaguely hope for. The spirit is what we need in our lives every step along the way. 

We also saw Rolando this week.. Sometimes I would say that the world seems to take precedence over this gospel, fortunate for Rolando he is beginning to see this and he is doing what he can to find his way back. He has a testimony, which is evident. It is now just about taking that testimony and have it be known through the actions that take place in our lives. He is really doing magnificently with all things considered. A great blessing of LA's, they always have friends that we are introduced to the gospel through them. We met at a non-members home this last week and may have something in the future with that man, we will see. 

One of our investigators, Charlie brought his wife over from the Philippines this last week, and we got the chance to meet her on New Year’s day, hopefully that will turn into something more and not be something that deters him from meeting with us. He is full of potential, well okay everyone is, but hopefully this week we can pick things up and step it up.

Our lesson with Abner went really well this week.. now that is about where it ends though. We have all these great lessons, we reach these conclusions and he makes decisions of what he needs to do to take it to the next level while he prepares for his baptism in February. We taught the doctrine of Church, really the what & why of attending, all while comparing any random church to what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints offers for him. We reached an end point, said okay we will see you at church tomorrow.. but no show. FRUSTRATING! I guess we will just keep working on that there!

Well, other things happened this week, but I don't feel like writing much more today! I love you all! I hope you have the greatest week ever. I hope you know, regardless of any situation, whatever is occurring in your life, that God loves us, He is magnificent, pure, and good. Our Heavenly Father is very aware of your situation, however common or however unique; he listens to your pleas. Our prayers are never voiced onto deaf ears. Jesus Christ knows exactly how to succor you, he knows how to cure your ills. Never doubt the reality and eternal truth that He loves you so dearly, so personally. Each time you turn to our Savior, he rejoices, "And how great is His joy in the soul that repenteth!" Repentance is change, change that is brought about because we have our Redeemer, our great Shepherd, that being our promised Messiah. I know He lives, I know that as we turn to him our lives are enriched and our souls filled with peace. 

Love you!

Elder McFall

Week 59 - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a real Merry Christmas, didn't get fed too much like I did, and just enjoyed the season and the spirit that it brings. My second Christmas out as a missionary was a good one, one that I won't soon forget. I'll be honest, it terrifies me not knowing if I will truly be able to have Christ at the center of the season as I have. Yes, it is in my control, but as a missionary so many of those variables are taken away and you can just simply focus on what really matters. I hope you were all able to remember the true meaning of Christmas this year and be able to feel yourselves drawing closer to our Savior. We always talk about New Years Resolutions.. well I hope you all can make a new years resolution this year of a more spiritual sense. I think the whole, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven" has brought on a new meaning. Think about it, when was the last time you set a goal to "Be more Healthy", "Manage Finances Better", "Take a Family Vacation", etc. etc. etc... I mean these are all righteous goals I think, they are going to help you become better, to do better, will probably even improve the quality of life you are living.. but think about that on an eternal perspective. When was the last time you set a goal to "Read my scriptures every day", "Be a full-tithe payer with the right attitude", "Come to really know my Savior", etc. etc. etc.. Which is better? This isn't tough to see on paper, but why is it then so difficult to apply this in our lives? 

This week was honestly a bit of a patience developer.. once again I think it is because I am holding myself to such a high standard..I just know that there are so many things to still accomplish, running out of time to do that though! We did find a new investigator, well technically two this week. They were a mother, son combo.. they are real nice. Jerome and Yolanda.. more Filipinos. Basically the mom, Yolanda, wants her son to understand Christ and believe in God.. but he won't listen to her so hopefully he will listen to us. So far so good.. we have started right from the start.. currently he is atheist, because in his mind he believes that way is easier. We are working on that, and it all starts with prayer.. we will get it. 

Ah. Abner.. too frustrating.. I am REALLY working on patience with this one. We had a solid lesson with him, ended up being able to get him on a solid commitment with his baptism for Feb. 22.. but here is the kicker.. we can't get him to actually come out to church. He says he wants to come to bad, and knows that is the missing piece.. he commits, we get him a ride.. then he has something come up each week right before. It has been mildly frustrating.. we are doing our best though! We are just trying to figure it of where he really is and how we can help him from where he is at. 

We, okay I say we but really is is the Spirit and Jesus Christ, got S. Lopez to come out to church this week.. she is the LA we have been just recently in touch with.. it was honestly a miracle of sorts how that has all occurred. The most neat part about it all, there is a Filipino family that is real solid that lives just around the block from her that can give her a ride to church every week.. I am just so happy we have been able to help her get back onto that path.. definitely helped me realize how important this gospel can be for our lives.. and just as Christ left the 99 to find the one.. that that one you can find that great joy when they return. So while we may have had a bit of a trying week when it comes to the ministry.. it is those moments where you are just filled with joy.. no other way to put that. 

I love you all! Have a real nice New Years! 2014.. Here we come! 

Love, Elder McFall

Week 58 - Maligayan Pasko!

Merry Christmas to you all!! I unfortunately won't be able to see you all via Skype on Wednesday, so I will just get you a little early! I hope you are all having a great holiday season and enjoying the Spirit of Christ that emanates through the activities we enjoy. It is definitely weird to be thinking that we are going to be together in a year from now for Christmas, even more strange to me to think this is my second Christmas away from home. This Christmas for me is definitely been different already.. just the whole season has felt different than it did last year. I think last year I was feeling of more of what it was going to be like my first Christmas away.. I had a lot of fears, anxiety, amongst the other feelings surrounding the season in its entirety. This year a lot of those feelings are gone, it is more along the lines of focusing on our Savior, focusing on the glad message that it allows us to enjoy in our lives. Lately my thoughts have been focused on what came because of the birth, rather than the birth itself.. even had a thought while teaching a lesson this week on the birth and life of our savior.. we look around us and we see how we need to be serving, we hear it over and over, but often times those opportunities to serve are never in a convenient or comfortable situation.. it was then that I realized this connection all the way to the Babe being born in the manger.. I don't imagine it was very comfortable for Mary to give birth among the sheep, goats, and cows. And then fast forward to all of Christ's life that he lived, ending (well at least his mortal ministry) on the cross near Golgotha, can you imagine that service to us being very comfortable and convenient? Now I realize that is easily answered, so then why is it so hard for us to realize that and act on it? 

This week was a lot more busy than I had anticipated! We were able to meet with Taylor twice.. so that was really good. We are going to hand him over to the YSA soon though and try to get him going to that, get him wifed up hopefully! Okay and get a testimony...

We had our Christmas Conference this week, that was a great experience also. So we were there with about 130 other missionaries, and then Pres. and Sister Manion.. I love those two! They areally do become like your parents while you are out on your mission. It isn't something that you really begin to notice develop, until it's already done. Don't worry Mom & Dad you are not being replaced, just a substitute for a little while. No, in all seriousness the conference was real good.. had a few different trainings on somethings and ideas that I have been thinking about lately, but I think that extends to the whole zone.. inspired maybe? 

We met with Abner this week again right? man, too frustrating sometimes. We have this great lesson it seemed on the Restoration, he says you know I really do believe this.. It seems that you do have the prooff.. sometimes it feels like I am selling the gospel, but don't worry we always make sure they have a spiritual confirmation over anything else.. and he says, I know what you are saying is true. I just need to prove it to myself before I can be baptized. And to prove it I need to be going to church... Great! Wonderful! Super! Except, then he doesn't come to church even when he says he will be there no matter what! AH! We will work on it. 

One miracle that I feel needs to be told.. so when we started doing all this Filipino work we met this SUPER nice Filipina over at the Walmart while shopping on p-day.. she says come find me at my house here is my address.. so we have been trying every week for 2 months now.. and nothing. Finally this week we find her home and get to talk to her.. One thing leads to another and she starts crying and telling us how much she has been praying we will find her home and be able to talk to her.. her family doesn't really like the church and won't answer the door so she just needs to be home. She told us how much she has missed the church, that she doesn't have family support, she doesn't even know what ward she belongs to anymore. But because we were able to find her, we now have things on track, she just expressed her gratitude and love for the gospel and how much she misses it and how glad and grateful she was for us.. now call that a humbling experience. It definitely made me very aware of the real power of this gospel, and as Christ said.. "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd".

Last but not least, we sang in Sacrament meeting! You missed out a real nice experience.. let's just say we had some angels singing with us because it got waaaay better than our practices before!!

Well, I hope you have a real Merry Christmas! I love you all!!!

Love, 

Elder McFall

Week 57 - Well, here it goes

To say this week was frustrating would probably not even do it justice. Good way to start right? You are all excited and full of energy now! But for some reason people refuse to answer the phone or the door.. they need to just slow down or something. it seems right now that people are all so caught up in the season, they are slowly pushing Christ further and further out of their everyday lives. The problem we are having right now is mostly coming from the time that is spent at work by the Filipinos.. they are picking up the pace with more and more expectations from back home. They are pretty much expected to supply for the family back home, the more they make, the more they send home. Kinda of  a vicious cycle. But because of that, they are picking up more shifts and in some cases more jobs to just cover their basics. We will see what happens in the future, hopefully it will improve once Christmas passes. 

Now to bring light to this email, we are seeing miracles with the Less-Actives we have been working with.. honestly they are feeling the love of our Savior more and more and beginning to understand the love our Heavenly Father has for them. We have been working with Rolando still, he has just come from a life of close depression, to now a life that he appears to be at greater peace and happiness, even though the things in life financially and physically may not be necessarily improving. He is seeing the Holy Ghost more evident and becoming more aware of those promptings. But also he is seeing that this gospel is not so much about being perfect, as obtaining perfection. This is a trial that many go through that I have come across, they feel either they aren't good enough to pray, or not free from sin so they cannot go to church, the list go on and on. It breaks my heart in all honesty. But it does not have to be so! Another lady we are working with is named Nora, she is so sweet to us and honestly just super nice. She has gone from great activity in the church, to what appeared to be complacency and acceptance of a lack thereof. Recently we have been seeing her weekly, and she said in our last visit how much she has been thinking about the gospel, how much she misses the blessings of weekly attendance and the temple.. we went on to talk about the Love of our Savior, to the divinity of his mission, and ultimately the opportunity we each have to turn a new leaf of sorts and begin wherever we are and commence on our path to discipleship.. I love being able to help these people, seems like they are helping me a lot more than I could ever do for them though! 

Met with Lisa and Allen! A miracle! Okay that is a bit aggressive, but it had been too long. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, they had so many good questions. They know this is the right path, but things have just been hard for them as of late.. mostly due to the pressures of the season unfortunately. It has still been so rewarding to see someone who knows this will improve their family's lives, that this is a path that will lead to greater unity.. once again it feels that my testimony of this gospel just flourishes when I am teaching these type of prepared individuals. They are working on just making this a part of their everyday lives.. they are getting so close to just having things fall into place, hopefully it will continue to work out for them.. The problems have been real, the trials have been troubling, but seriously Satan oughta just back off.. Why do the hard things come to those who are trying so hard to do and be good?!

Well, we have Christmas Conference this week, it should be good! Definitely a good time of year to be representing the Lord. Hopefully you all will do all that you can to bring Christ into your Christmas.. What will you give Christ this year?

Love, Elder McFall