Monday, February 17, 2014

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!!!!!!!!!

February 17, 2014
So.... I'm not in Nebraska anymore!
There was an emergency transfer, an Elder went home, among some other, crazier things. And to make a long story short (about 2 sentences), I was moved to Wichita, Harrison Park Ward!
So now I'm with Elder Blaylock, he's a fantastic missionary! He's got to the field just a few weeks after I left for surgery, so that's cool :) We're working hard and having lots of fun too! He seems like a bit of a practical joker though, so I have to be wary, things may get out of control pretty quick! Haha
So what happened was just last week on Wednesday, Elder Peterson and I had to drive ALL the way down to Wichita (about 4 hours) and then I got my new companion Elder Blaylock, and said goodbye to my (almost) son.
After that, we saw that the office is expanding, and they had a TON of work to do to get things set up, so we rolled up our sleeves and got started. We worked mainly in the supply room, getting all the shelves put together, and then the supplies onto the shelves. It was a huge task! We were there until dinner time, and then we came back the next day to finish. Totaling about 8 hours of work, but if we hadn't done it then the office would still be a mess, so we're pretty proud of our work.
This week was a blast though! We did a lot of great work, and we saw a fantastic miracle yesterday! Our zone is working on finding new investigators and so there was a huge push to find, Elder Blaylock and I set a goal of 3 new Investigators just yesterday, so that we could hit our weekly goal. We asked the Lord to bless us to know where to go, and we went! When we got to the area we were going to find people at, we knocked and knocked and knocked. Eventually by the end of the day we had found 7 new investigators! More than doubling our goal! AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
I'm loving the work out here, and I'm loving being a missionary again. Nothing else like it.
Love you all, and write me!!!!!!
Elder DeFreese
P.S. I was reading a talk given by Elder Bednar just this morning, he said that the Full time missionaries are called to Preach and to Teach the Gospel. And it is the MEMBERS job to FIND the people to teach for the missionaries. So let that sink in for a minute, and then go and talk to some people! This doesn't mean that you have to get out and knock doors like a missionary, it just means that you need to open your mouths and talk about the gospel to your friends, family, and coworkers. If you really think about it, it's ridiculously easy. So get up and get it done.
If you're still having trouble with that, just remember that it's a commandment and God needs you to help his children. :)
 
 
 
1. The purple house!!! (I wanted to find someone to teach there so bad! But nobody was home)


Monday, February 10, 2014

Nebraska, home of...Arbor Day??

February 20, 2014
Greetings from the land of Nebraska! And yes, you read that right, it's the home of Arbor day. Is that the one about trees? I don't remember, because it's not a real holiday... anyways. Hope that made ya laugh :)
So, what's happening with me right now is that I'm a District Leader here in the Hiawatha branch, (Hiawatha Kansas) but Elder Peterson and I are stationed in Falls City Nebraska. Also, I am training Elder Peterson, a brand spankin' new missionary! AND, we're opening up this area for Elders! So it's a MASSIVE responsibility, and I would ask all of you to pray for us, because it's definitely very stressful to have all of those things at once. But I do know, and take comfort in the fact that the Lord is with us, and he called us here specifically. But prayers from you all wouldn't hurt. :)
I think my dad would be happy to know that this area is a full time car area, AND the car that we have is a BRAND NEW 2014 corolla! And it's white too, just like his! The only difference is my dad's car has just about every optional item for the car, whereas the one I get to drive is completely stock. But that's OK :)
The branch boundaries here are fairly large, very similar to when I was in Concordia, if any of you remember that. There are about 20 active members here, and there's 9 full pages to the branch roster, so there's potential for a ward here. Hopefully we can get that rollin'!
Things are a little slow around here right now, with starting a new area there's a lot of groundwork to lay before you can really get into the heavy lifting of missionary work. So I'm trying to be patient with that. Hopefully this week we can get out and start to work hard. The doctor did mention to ease into some things, so I'm trying to be careful with me knees, we may need to take the occasional break every so often in the day, but that's alright.
It's really cold out here! I forgot just how cold it can be with the wind chill and everything, the temp. says around 7 or something but it definitely feels colder. But we're doing alright, we take breaks when we need to so we can get warm, can't knock doors if you're literally frozen! Haha, but it's good, we're having fun out here.
Our apartment here is HUGE! I'm fairly certain that it's the best apartment in the mission, it's really nice! We have a ton of space and not a whole lot of stuff to fill it, so that's kind of funny. But we love it, it's really sweet!
Anyways, I think that about does it. We're about to go shopping and then probably play some board games or something. The church here doesn't have a gym, and it's way too cold to play ball outside.
Love you all, and please remember, "Every member a missionary!"
Elder DeFreese
 
Elder Peterson and I


The District! Sister Cassady, me, Sister Lueders, Elder Peterson, and Sister Forsgren
 

Monday, February 3, 2014

Guess who's back!

February 3, 2014
IT'S ME!!!!
Anyways, I want to write real quick because, quite frankly... I don't want to be e-mailing right now. I want to go out there and DO STUFF!
So, the plane(s) were awesome!!! I had a TON of leg room, so I wasn't in any pain at all. The two hour layover wasn't bad at all, I had lunch at Quiznos. It was good.
When I finally got to Wichita, President and Sister Bell were about 20 minutes late to pick me up, that was fine. I needed some time to think I guess.
On the way back to the mission office President Bell told me that I had 2 options, serve in Bel Aire with some REALLY frustrating, disobedient missionaries, or serve in the Office with Elder Kempter and Egan again! So I chose the lesser of two evils, and I'm with Elder Kempter now!
But, the good news is that I'm going to make Mission History this coming transfer! I'm going to train a new missionary, Elder Peterson I think, I'll be a District Leader, but most of all, I'm going to be the first missionary from the KWM to be assigned to NEBRASKA!!!!!!! I'm super stoked!
Anyways, with all this excitement I need to get up and do some stuff!
Love you all, thanks for your support!
I'll try and talk a little bit more next time I guess :)
Elder DeFreese
 
Elder Kempter and I


Pres. Bell and I