Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Holy Moses!!!!

February 25, 2013

What the heck!?? I have so many conflicting emotions right now... it's ridiculous! The reason for my title this week is one of shock. Holy Moses, Don DeFreese, not Elder anymore... I'm way happy that Don is home, but at the same time I feel sad that his mission is over. I am the only DeFreese serving a mission.... what in the world is going on! But that's so cool, i'm happy for him.
Well, this weeks letter is going to be pretty short. I apologize for that, but let me tell you why!
This past week we had P-Day, super fun! We visited a part member family that night and taught them a lesson, asked for referrals, the usual. Then on Tuesday Elder Cowdin had to get some dental work done, and we went to Liberty to do so. It was supposed to be more of like a check up, and then he had to get 2 crowns done! So that took about 2 or 3 hours. Me and Elder Wadsworth went and got lunch while he was in there, and then we came back to wait for him. Afterwards, we went and had dinner, and then visited a few families. (Members/Part members/Less actives) Then on Thursday we had a HUGE snowstorm, well... not Utah huge. But Missouri huge. It was almost a whole foot of snow! *GASP!!! Hahahahahaha, the people here FREAK whenever snow hits, it's funny. But they just aren't as equipped to handle it as us Utahns are. But anyways, with this big storm we were snowed in to our apartment that whole day, then Friday we were still snowed in until about 3 or 4. Then we went out and tried to dig some people out of the snow, it was a service day really. But we got an investigator out of it! So that was sweet, we are supposed to visit her tonight, so I guess I'll let you all know what happens there.
After that we got back to normal, we have done a lot of tracting, with not too much success. But it's all good. The Lord sees us working, and He will bless us, in His own due time, and in His own way. I'm so grateful that i'm here as His servant.
Anyways, that about does it for me. Oh! We are supposed to have another huge snowstorm today so I guess I'll let you know about that next week too! Haha, but yeah. This week has been kind of slow, but hopefully we can get back out there and bring others the light and life of this gospel. I love you all, and I hope all of you remember my challenges to each and every one of you. This may be a general e-mail to a lot of people, but I think about some very specific people when I challenge you to do these things. Read your Book Of Mormon, pray about it. Seek sincerely for the answers and desires of your heart, the Lord will show you. I promise, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder DeFreese

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Holy Moses!

February 19, 2013

I figured this weeks title would be appropriate, lately I have been reading a TON from the bible, and in particular i'm learning a bunch about Moses. So yeah! Gotta love that Bible!
Anyways, I'm going to TRY to make this e-mail longer than last one. I only have like 5 minutes though so we'll see how much I can get done.
This week we had a couple of fun door approach experiences, Elder Wadsworth was leading in both of these.
First, we were in some apartments and one old lady answered and asked who we were, after we answered she said, "well I don't dig missionaries" As me and Elder Cowdin were about to reply with something kind, ask for referrals, something. Elder Wadsworth comes back with, "well do you dig Jesus?" Hahahahaha! Sorry to say... the lady got a little upset and shut the door. But it was a fun experience, and he needs the practice, so it's all good.
And the second experience, we were tracting a street by Golden lane, looking for some Golden Investigators of course. And we knocked a certain door, an unhappy man answered the door, not uncommon, and said can I help you? Elder Wadsworth was leading, and he of course introduced us as the missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints. Very good! Then the man replies with, "I can tell from your badge..." So we come back with asking how his day is, and further explaining what we do. And finally he says, "I was sleeping" Because Elder Wadsworth was leading this door approach, we let him handle it. So there is a long pause, and Elder Wadsworth finally looks to me and whispers, "HELP! He was sleeping!!" Hahahaha! Super funny, so I talked to him a bit and he eventually let us know that he wasn't interested. We were able to give him a pamphlet about the restoration and were able to bear our testimony to him. So that was good.
A cool experience that we had not too long ago, we were about to go and meet with one of our investigators. As we were walking towards her door, Elder Cowdin and I felt that we needed to direct our attention to a young man sitting on some steps drinking a beer. As we went over to talk to him, we learned that he has been having a very rough time and that he needs Jesus in his life. We talked for a good half hour to an hour about how he can do that best, and we shared with him our feelings about the church and so on. Unfortunately he has to moce away from our area so that's a bummer, but I know that from our expereince, and how he reacted to what we taught him, the missionaries will find him. The Lord had us talk to him for a reason.
The ward is getting super excited about missinoary work, from everything that has been happening I can see how much it has improved since I got here. I'm loving this ward, and I can't wait to see what happens in the coming weeks.
Just to close real quick, I want all of you to know that I know that Independence Missouri is where i'm supposed to be right now. I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer, and the only way back to our Heavenly Father is through Him. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I know that because of him, we have the Book Of Mormon. And I invite all of you to re-dedicate yourselves to find that truth again. Your testimony is so much more powerful when you can testify how you came to the knowledge of these truths when you prayed about it just that morning. I love you all and I hope to hear from you real soon. Keep praying for me, as I pray for you. Together we are all a big part in the literal gathering of Israel. Lets get to work!
Love,
Elder DeFreese

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

So...

February 11, 2013
I guess this letter is going to be pretty short! Sorry about that.
Nothing too special happened this week, it was another rough one. We got dropped by a bunch of our investigators and we went tracting a TON.
But it's all good! We have planted the seed, it's now their job to help it grow. I really wish they could wake up and just accept it already! Hahaha, but oh well.
Anyways, the tripanionship is still going strong, and i'm still loving it! Things are really cramped in our tiny apartment but we get by. We are supposed to be moving in to some member housing sometime at the end of the month, so hopefully that works out! But yeah, our tripanionship is probably the best in the whole mission! Nah, just kidding. Kind of....
So I saw Elder Lee just last night! It was way awesome! He was in the MTC with me, and I freakin' love that elder! He is super good at basketball, and we got a chance to catch up a little bit. It was really good to see him and it gave me a boost.
So this last Friday I was able to meet with President Keyes and he has said that there is a 90 percent chance that I am going to train a new missinoary this next transfer! So i'm betting that i'm going to be going to a whole new area, and training too! It's going to be awesome. I'm super excited for it!
But yeah, that's actually all the news for this week. Nothing really exciting happened, we are trying our best to get the ward more involved in missionary work, but things are going really slowly over here. We are doing our best though! And we will NOT give up! We can't, giving up is not something a missionary does. EVER. So if you see or hear of a missionary giving up on something, hit 'em. Remind them who they represent, because it bugs the crap out of me when a missionary says they are too tired, or the situation just doesn't seem good enough for the missionaries to handle. Freakin' do it! Don't you have any faith?!
Anyways, that's my rebuking moment for the day. That's been on my mind for a while now. So let's hear about you guys! How have you been doing on inviting others to come to church? How about bearing testimony? I sure hope you people are doing good with that, I don't challenge you just because i'm a missionary, it's because even though i'm far away, I want to help all of you come closer to Christ. And those are some of the best ways to do it, by bringing others to Him. I love you all, and I know this Gospel is true, and that it was restored by Joseph Smith by the power of God.
I'll hear from all of you REAL soon right?
Elder DeFreese
 
 
 
 
psssssst.....
 
 
 
 
write me!  (when in doubt... write a missionary!)

Monday, February 4, 2013

My Mission Review

February 4, 2013
Well it seems as though this weeks winner is my very own Grandma Odekirk!  So I suppose My Mission Review for this week is as follows:
Transfers was this past week and I got a new companion, and stayed in the same area! So that's way exciting! 3 companions, 3 transfers! Haha, but my new companion is Elder Cowdin, he is a super cool missionary, and he's a great person too. He used to be a Zone Leader in Olathe and now he's the District Leader here! So i'm super excited to be working with him, and so far we are busy non-stop! I'm way happy about that, the last little while has been a bit more relaxed than I like and so it's really good to have a companion like him. But we also got another companion, so we are now in a tripanionship! It's way cool, the other Elder is Elder Wadsworth, and he is a visa waiter, going to Brazil! So he's going to be with us until that visa comes in. He's a great guy, from Idaho, and he just came out from the MTC! So Elder Cowdin and I are training him basically. It's definitely a different situation. But we are loving it!
So other than that, this week has been kind of uneventful. BUT we had a sweet experience last night! We had just gotten Elder Wadsworth from the Assistants and we immediately went to work! We went and tracted in some apartments and we found a very cool lady, Tanya. She has a firm belief in God and Jesus Christ, and she has had a very difficult past. But she hasn't lost her faith one bit. She lost her son, a 3 month old to infection a little over a year ago. Which definitely still stings. And she lost her husband in an accident. But she still has that strong faith that keeps her going. So we taught her the restoration, and about the Book of Mormon, and she was totally receptive to it! It was super awesome! As we were talking, we felt the impression to invite her to be baptized, and she accepted! We could definitely feel the spirit working on her through us, and we set her on a baptismal date for the 9th of March I believe, so we still have a little ways to go, but we are working on her for sure. We also invited her to the visitors center and she accepted that of course, so we will be seeing her on Wednesday.
We also had an experience with a lady who is a numerologist (or, she believes in numerology) So I just want to see what somebody can find on that, and tell me about it!
Anyways, I know i'm here for a reason. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that only through him can we be saved! I know this to be true, and I share that with all of you! Make sure you invite people to church this week, ok!? I love you all! See you soon
Elder DeFreese