So...

July 29, 2013

This subject line is more because of last weeks general e-mail. I didn't get a whole lot of responses concerning Home Teaching. So I'm assuming that you ALL used your time wisely and got out there and got it done. Thanks :)

Anyways, I'm sure some of you are wondering and MAYBE even worried about my knees and everything. I will tell you that I have been stuck in the apartment all this past week on bed rest, so that I don't hurt my knees worse than they already are. I have to stay in the apartment even still, because my Doctors appointment isn't until Thursday. So, that's the update as of right now. 

So this past week has been really slow obviously, so if you're expecting a long e-mail I'm sorry, because we weren't able to go out and have any experiences.

But I can tell you that we were in the apartment this whole time, studying, cleaning, and basically just trying to stay sane. There's only so much work you can do from the apartment. I hope that this coming week we can do a little bit more, but I don't really know what all to do. We have been talking as a companionship and we have compiled a list of 17 things to do, and we have accomplished somewhere around 15 of them already. So this coming week could be jam packed with study time! 

Again, I'm sorry that this e-mail is short. I wish there was something cool that I could talk about, to entertain you folks back home for a little while. But that's about all I got.

Make sure to keep up the challenges, and do what the Savior would have you do. Remember, He has commanded us to teach each other, part of that is coming to church to be taught, another part is baring testimony to others, and another part is reading your scriptures, to let the prophets of old teach you as well. Please, please, just DO IT! This is what we have been commanded to do, and there is no excuse on this planet that gives you the ability to disregard it completely. I honestly don't care what is happening in your life, the Lord WILL provide a way to accomplish the things that he has commanded us. So don't ever tell yourself that you're just too busy to read your scriptures, to go to church, any of that. You aren't too busy, I promise. 

I will also make you another promise, the Lord will bless you immeasurably  for your obedience to His commandments. Remember that he has said that he is bound when we do what he says, and that obedience to these commandments is the ONLY way to receive blessings. D&C 130:20-21. Don't forget that, no matter what, keep the commandments. The Lord will back you, so it shouldn't matter who stands in your way, because you have Him at your side. Don't lose faith, press on, and you can do it.

I love you all,

Elder DeFreese

Eh?

July 22, 2013
This subject line is very near and dear to my heart. And.... the spirit constraineth me, that I speak no further. So shall it be.

Anyways, I suppose I'll talk about this past week. And I'm going to be honest with all of you, this past week has been probably the hardest, physically, of my entire mission.

As most of you know, I have really terrible knees. This problem has been going on for a loooong time. And so far on my mission, it has only gotten worse, to the point that I couldn't work for most of this week. I've tried to tough it out and say to myself that I can get through it, it's just something that I need to get through on my own. But just last night I finally had the Zone Leaders come over to our apartment to give me a blessing. I now know that I need to seek medical attention, talk to my Mission President, and see what the best course of action is. I have no clue what is going to happen in the next few weeks. But I do know that whatever happens, happens for a reason. I know that no matter what, the Lord is going to put me where I am needed most. I don't mean to worry or upset anyone. (Especially you, Mom) But I do want all of you to know what is actually happening on my mission. I don't want to sugar coat it all the time and say how amazingly fantastic a mission is ALL THE TIME. Sometimes a mission is the hardest thing ever. BUT, what I can tell you, is that this is the most rewarding work that we can possibly do on this Earth. I know that for a fact.

Anyways, this past week has been really slow, because of my problems, so we weren't really able to work all week. So to be honest, I don't really have any cool stories or anything this week to share with you. 

However, I want to share something with all of you that has been really bothering me lately. I have come to realize that Members in this Church, see us missionaries as the "men on the front lines" whenever there is a problem or concern or anything, they ask the missionaries instead of Home Teachers, the Bishop, etc. In my own personal opinion, I think that this is not how it needs to be done. Missionaries are like.... the specialists. We are not the front line infantry, we are the tanks, and aircraft, the support for YOU members, who SHOULD be on the front lines. There are MILLIONS of you, and only thousands of us. It is your responsibility, now more than ever, to get out there and DO what you have been called to do! Every member a missionary. I am not asking that all of you get out there and start tracting or something ridiculous like that. But what I am saying, is that you ALL have been given a divine, and sacred calling. The Lord Jesus Christ has told us repeatedly to feed his lambs. Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching/being neighborly, these are all things that we as a church SHOULD be doing. How is your Home Teaching going? Are you really making an effort? Or are you making excuses? Distance does not matter, time does not matter. The Lord will help you with whatever you need when you are doing His work. Do you really think that you don't have time to visit someone? Do you really not have the time to help one of Gods children? Ask yourself that question. Can you honestly look the Savior in the eye at the last day, and tell Him that you did your best? I sincerely hope so. My time here on a mission has shown me that most everyone hates home teaching. Why? It absolutely angers me more than anything. You have been commanded by the Lord Himself to do this work. It should be JUST as important to you as following the Word of Wisdom, the Law of Tithing, and so forth. Even if you have that house that never answers the door, or they just don't want to listen. Does that mean that you should just not go anymore? Really? Would the Savior give up on one of his sheep? If you say "yes, in some cases" You are a liar. Flat out. The Savior will never give up. And neither should we.

I thank all of you for your love and support, and I ask that you please remember me in your prayers, and remember the challenges that I have extended to each of you. 

Love,

Elder DeFreese

P.S. I hope you don't get offended to my comments, If you're doing your home teaching, and doing a good job with all of that, then you shouldn't be offended in the first place. And if you ARE offended... well... Book of Mormon prophets got stoned and persecuted when they told sinners the truth so.... take what you will. Just know that In the Doctrine and Covenants it also says that whom the Lord Chastises, he loves. So when I say these things, it's not because I'm angry with you, it's because I love you, and want for you to follow Him as close as humanly possible!

 

 

1. Me and Bro. Gile on Transfer day

2. Elder Kempter and I on Transfer day

 

 

The weekly Semana....?

July 15, 2013
I stole this weeks title from Don... who stole it from Adam I believe... but no. This is not the weekly Semana. Even though it seems a bit appropriate now that I'm in an area with a TON of Spanish speaking people!!!!!!!!! But I'll tell you about that in a second.

This week was Transfer week! I had to leave Concordia on Wednesday, say goodbye to Elder Kempter and all the branch members that I happened to see on the way out, and then head on out here to Garden City Kansas! This area was in the Colorado, Colorado Springs mission, and I am here with mostly those missionaries who were a part of that mission! So it's really interesting to see the differences in rules and policies and such. 

Anyways, this area, Garden City, and the Ward that I'm serving in... has 4 companionships just to the one ward. Also, the population here is about 50 percent Spanish. So... I'm really glad that we have a companionship here that is Spanish speaking. So they get to handle all of that stuff :) 

I am still the District Leader, and the Zone Leaders here are a part of my District, so I get to hold them accountable, humble them a little bit ;) Nah just kidding, but it's nice having them in the District. 

Oh! My bad. Some of you are probably yelling at me (Maybe it's just my mom) wondering who my new companion is. His name is Elder Heppler, and he is from American Fork Utah! So that's cool, he's a real good guy, funny, and easy to get along with. We're having a good time already.

But, when I first got here, we immediately got home, and I had to change into my service close because we had a dinner appointment/service opportunity in about 10 minutes! So, I changed and got the heck out of there! We went to the families home, (I'm forgetting their names right now... my bad!) and we pulled a bunch of weeds, and laid some mulch in the garden. It was fun, and a good way to get to know the other elders (and sisters) right off the bat. All of the companionships were there at dinner, so that was good for me to get to know them.

Then after that we finally came back to the apartment, where I was able to really take stock of things. The whole place was a gigantic MESS!!!! Super gross, so we spent all the next day cleaning up the whole apartment, taking out garbage, vacuuming, stuff like that. And to be honest, that's how it's been pretty much this whole week. We have had to spend a TON of time cleaning up the apartment, the area book, and just making sure that WE are organized and ready to get out and work. I very strongly feel that we can't be very effective missionaries if we can't even keep our apartment clean. 

So that about does it for this week!

OH! One funny thing did happen actually 2 nights ago. Elder Heppler told me in the morning that he was trying to get to sleep when I started to kind of mumble nonsense in my sleep, he tried to talk to me to see if I was awake or not, and then all of a sudden I sat straight up, and yelled at him, "It's UNLOADED!!!!!!!!!!" then I laid back down and went to sleep like normal! I don't remember a dang thing!!!!!!!!! Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!! :) Fun stuff.

We're having fun out here, doing the work of the Lord. Please keep me in your prayers, as I keep you in mine. I love you all, and I want you to know that I know, that our Savior lives. That Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Harvest. This is His work, and we are all a part of it. 

Elder DeFreese

P.S. Write me this week and tell me how you're doing with "the challenges" that I've given you! I want to know how it's going!  And if you haven't done it, then maybe you should. Wanna know why? Because a prophet of God has said that every member is a missionary. So, that means that you need to get out there and do some missionary work. If you aren't, can you really look the Savior in the eye at judgment and say that you've done your best? Think about that...

Elder DeFreese

July 12, 2013

 

I am Regine Thompson, the Relief Society president in the Concordia Branch (Salina, Kansas, stake).  I thought I’d take a minute to let you know how fortunate the branch feels to have had your son serve as a missionary in our area.  He is so thoughtful and nice to everyone and very enthusiastic about teaching the gospel.  I just wanted to let you know that you should be proud of what an outstanding young man he is – plus, we’re keeping him fed!

On another note, my dad grew up in Springville -

It's A Wonder to Behold!

July 8, 2013

This is sort of an inside joke with my little brother Braden. So.... yeah. Any questions, concerns? Well... just ask Braden! He'll probably tell ya :)

So, this week has been crazy! And I've got some... news... at the end. So stay tuned!

On Tuesday, we didn't have ANY set appointments, so we decided that it would be best to get out and see the Less Active members of our Branch, as well as the Active members. Hopefully we could get some referrals out of it, and get some New Investigators! So, we drove ALL over the place, our area covers around 2600 square miles or so, so we had a lot of ground to cover. We were able to talk to a bunch of our Less Active Members and had a great time with them! It was a good day.

Wednesday...

On to Thursday! :)

On the 4th of July, which also happened to be my older brothers birthday, Don. Shoutout to my bro! Happy Birthday, hope it was a good one! Can't believe everyone did ALL those fireworks JUST for your birthday! :)

Anyways, our 4th was pretty good, we were invited over to the Harris' for a BBQ and to watch their fireworks! It was really great, they had ribs, burgers, dogs, brats, potato salad, all the good stuff! Then we had the fireworks show, and they have some COOL stuff out here! A lot of things in the air, and stuff that explodes! Michael made a bomb out of sparklers, you can probably look it up online. I got a video of it. It was sick! Oh... should I have mentioned that? Don't care, it was awesome :) What's the 4th without a little bit of explosives?

On Friday we had our District Meeting and then we went on exchanges! I stayed here in Concordia with Elder Holt, one of our Zone Leaders, while Elder Kempter went with Elder Moyle to Manhattan. It was great! Our appointments for Friday afternoon all fell through, so that was a bit of a bummer. But it's OK!

Then on Saturday we had a huge service project out in Mankato, with a non member named Mark. He just bought a huge house that needs a lot of work done, and so we got there and got to cutting down a bunch of trees that had grown around his cast iron fence. It was hard work, but it was real fun, I enjoyed it. Elder Holt is a farm boy from Idaho, so he enjoyed it as well. After that we got back, showered, changed, and headed back to Salina so we could exchange back! Headed home, and went right to an appointment with a new investigator, David. It was great, he met Brother and Sister Gile, and now he's got a solid fellowship in the church! Sad story is, David is in a retirement home. He's 48, and he's paralyzed from the waist down. He was an EMT, riding to the hospital in an ambulance, when a speeding car (who was being chased by the police) ran into the back of the ambulance where David was. Killing 3 and leaving David in his condition. He's a really great guy though, and he likes having us over!

On Sunday, we were able to get David a ride to church as well, so that was awesome! He really enjoyed it, and he's anxious to see us again. We'll be seeing him tonight.

So.

Here's the news.

I'm being transferred out of Concordia, to Garden City. That's a new area that we have picked up because of the mission split. The Kansas Wichita Mission has part of the Colorado Springs mission, and the Missouri Independence Mission. So... I'm going to an area that I would have never been able to go, barring this mission split. So I'm excited! But at the same time I'm really sad. I've grown to love the crap out of the members here and I wish I could stay just a little longer. But I know that the Lord is sending me there for a reason, and It's my job to find out why. Wish me luck!

I love you all, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Elder DeFreese

P.S. remember the mission office address? It's 7011 E 13th st. North

                                                                     Wichita, Kansas
                                                                           67206

Holy Moses!

July 1, 2013

Holy Moses is probably my most frequented subject line. However, I think it's important that we recognize that it's fun to say!
So... this past week I didn't write down any high points to cover so I'm just going through my planner trying to find some of the highlights. So if this ones a bit boring... well... then you don't appreciate missionary work :) I'm just kidding, this past week was a bit rough as far as the "numbers" go.

Anyways, on Monday we were able to get some service done for our Recent Convert Diane Milhomme, with our Recent Convert, Michael Harris, and his family! It was great! We had a lot of fun, and we got a bunch of work done in her garden. It was a great time, and it was cool to see how readily they got out and got to work! Even though it was weeding... and I hate weeding with a passion. But we still made it fun, and we got a lot done! :)

Then on Tuesday morning we got some more service done for a Less Active family in our branch, we did a ton of yard work for them. I mowed their big lawn while Elder Kempter edged it. It was really fun, I like to mow actually, it's nice to see the finished product.

On Wednesday we had team ups with a few of our Branch members and I went with Bro. Matthews to meet with Mark and his family, Mark is on date for the 14th of July if I'm remembering right... but anyways. He's doing really well and we had a great lesson with them! He's got a few W.O.W. issues that he's working out, but other than that he's doing really well, and we're excited for him!

On Thursday we had dinner with a recently activated family, the Russels, they have a few grand-kids who are very less active and we taught them about the priesthood, they got more and more involved as we got more into the lesson, and they even came to church yesterday! It was awesome, we're making some progress with them, and we're very happy about it, it's awesome!

On Friday we had our District Meeting and I gave a training on our Personal and our Companionship studies. One key point that I think is important is that we share EVERYTHING that we have learned with those that we know. Even if those things seem trivial to you, it just may be that the other person doesn't know about it, or, even if they do, the conversation could lead on to help you learn 3 or 4 OTHER new things. So keep that in mind, share what you learn when you study, it helps you learn even more.

After District Meeting we went on exchanges, I went with Elder Hamblin (Who is from... I can't spell it but I'll try... issikwa Washington) Anyways, I went with him to Salina where we had several Baptismal Interviews set up, I interviewed a little girl, Selena, and her dad, Sam. They're awesome!!! They were baptized on Saturday and it went really well. Good stuff :)

Anyways, other than that.. this week was really slow.

Elder Kempter and I have been getting dropped left and right all week, as well as last week. It's been a rough time. But it's alright, we're still out here working hard!

Remember to keep going with those challenges of mine! Invite someone to church, this week could be the week! Read your scriptures! And BEAR TESTIMONY!!!!!!!! You can do it, I know you can.

Love,
Elder DeFreese

 

1. The monster sandwich!

2. Elder Hamblin and I after exchanges :)