So....

June 30, 2014
I got emergency transferred! 

So I gotta get through lots of crap. But I only have like 10 minutes or so. 

Things were going really great this past week, Elder Goodsell and I were working really hard together and getting a lot accomplished. Until President Bell called just as we were entering into an appointment. I took the call and President said, "Elder DeFreese! Are you earning your wages as a servant of the Lord?" ..... "Uhh.... yes?" I replied. He says, "Have you baptized anyone?" sort of questioning I reply, "Yeah we had a baptism just this past weekend... why?" Then the hammer dropped. "Oh! Well in that case, the Lord has called you to come back to Derby zone and be a Zone Leader." 

Aaaaand I won't tell you the rest of the conversation. But to put it simply, I was pretty upset. Just got into this area, having tons of fun, working hard and seeing lots of success... and then I have all these responsibilities!  Sigh... so I accepted the call.

Good news is that I'm with Elder Kempter now! He's training me to be a Zone Leader, so it's really cool and real weird at the same time. But we're getting along as if we'd never stopped being comps the first time, it's going really well. 

I'm learning a lot and the Lord is reeeaaaalllly showing me my weaknesses. I don't know if I've ever been so humbled so quickly. BUT. I do know that the Lord will soon strengthen me so that these weaknesses may be strengths.

Buuut, that about does it really. I don't know what else to say. More next week? 

Love you all! Do missionary work, because it's the best!

Elder DeFreese

Holy Moses!!!!

June 23, 2014
So this past week was pretty good, I guess we'll go through just a couple things that were awesome before we get to what was really awesome about our week!

 

First off, last Monday evening we had just finished dinner and were about to go out and knock on some doors, when I saw a man doing some yard work! So I figured I'd go and talk to the guy, as I do, he seems immediately into it and is asking tons of really good questions and this guy just seems so cool and so ready to hear the gospel! After a 20 minute discussion, and just before I got to share the First Vision, the guy stops me. It's at this point that he finally tells me that he's Brother Wangsguard from the first ward. Hahahahahaha, suuuuuuuuper funny experience!!! I got punked pretty good, and that was fun. 

 

So then another cool thing that happened was that we went on team ups with a young couple in the ward, the Moberlys. Get this, Brother Moberly is the grandson of Brother Gile from Concordia!!!! Whaaaaat?!?!?! AWESOME!!!!!!!!! He's super cool, and his wife is too, they're great missionaries here, and he really takes after his Grandpa. 

 

One other thing to mention before we get to the biggest news of the week would be Tyrek (pronounced like derek). He's super cool, he teaches 9th grade English, and he's super religious, but he's searching for the truth. He has a lot of deep, meaningful questions, and he seems to really understand where we're coming from. But we had a great meeting with him, and he has committed to read and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true, however... he's 25. We thought he was closer to 30 or 31. Buuuuut this means that we have to pass him over to the university branch missionaries. So that's kind of a bummer, but it's OK! He's super solid and he'll be Baptized soon enough.

OK. Big news of the week! Sabrina was baptized!!!!!!!!! SUPER cool! It was a great experience! So let's go through the story! First, we had to go a few hours before so that we could fill the font, no big deal, right? Well... the plug was broken, there wasn't a good seal around the edge and it was losing water really fast. So, we were frantically trying to figure out how we could fix this in time for the Baptism, when Brother Macniel came around and said he could fix it!!!!! HUGE blessing there! He came in, figured out how to do it, and then ran to ACE to get what he needed, came back and got it fixed just in time. We were able to fill the font perfectly, and nobody really knew except us. So that's good. 

But the Baptism itself was awesome! Right after she came up (first try by the way) she just stood there, trying to keep her composure, the spirit was so strong, and she was definitely feeling it. As the people kind of moseyed on back into the relief society room, I got to give a lesson from one of the pamphlets that we use! So that was fun, Elder Goodsell and Sabrina were changing while I gave the lesson, and it went fairly well!

Then on Sunday I had the privilege of Confirming Sabrina a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was really cool, very spiritual experience as well.

Her husband, Adrick is also investigating the church, and is getting reeeaaallly close to baptism. He has just a few more hang ups that he's just not quite sure about, but he's doing real well and we're sure that he'll be baptized within a few weeks.

 

But that about catches you all up! So I'll send a few pictures maybe, and then go on my merry way!

Love you all so much, and don't forget the key 3! 

1. Pray to Heavenly Father

2. Read your scriptures

3. Go to church!

I promise that if you do these 3 simple things consistently, the Lord will shower his blessings upon you, and you will have a much greater measure of the spirit than you've ever had before.

 

Love ya!

Elder DeFreese

 

1. Me, Sabrina, Elder Goodsell

2. Beautiful Manhattan :)

3. Me trying to do some service.

(we were cutting branches and trimming the trees and stuff)

4. Elder Holbrook and I  :)

 

 

 

Manhappenin'!!!

June 16, 2014

HOLY MOSES!!!!! This past week has been absolutely crazy!!!!!!

So to start, I'm now in Manhattan Kansas, where K-State (home of the wild cats) is! But we'll talk about that in a minute. Lots to cover today and not too much time.

First off, one of the Zone Leaders here is Elder Johsnon! The same one who came into the mission field with me! So we've been having lots of fun reminiscing about the good old MTC days! Also, my companion is Elder Goodsell, he's from Rexburg Idaho! He's like 4 inches taller than me or something, it's awesome! I feel so small! Haha, but we are having a lot of fun, we watched a lot of the same tv shows, movies, some of the same video games. We don't really have sports in common at all though, he used to do cross country, and that's about it. But it's cool, at least he likes to be active! We work together really well too, we're able to have fun while we're out working, and things are just going really great out here!

One big thing to talk about as well, is that we are having a baptism this week! Her name is Sabrina, apparently Elder Goodsell and his previous companion found them when they came to a dinner appointment early, and decided to knock some doors before they went to dinner. They found Sabrina! SUPER solid, she is coming to church, and living all of the commandments right away! She is married and has a couple kids, and her husband should be getting baptized in the next week or two. Really excited about that! 

So another couple things to update you on why I love the crap out of this place, 1 big reason is that I have a QUEEN SIZE BED!!!!!! Whaaaaa?!? I'm so stinkin' happy! It's great, I'm loving it! Also, I found a suit here that fits me perfectly! (Pictures will be sent in the next few minutes) I was just roaming around the apartment and found this closet full of stuff! Another thing that I found was a coat that fits really well too! (This is significant because my coat was stolen out of the church in Wichita a few months ago)

ANOTHER reason why I love this place is..... TACO JOHNS!!!!!!!!!!!!! They just got it like 2 weeks ago, and it's in our area! (OK it's like, a block outside of our ward boundaries, but I have permission to go when I want, because I'm that cool) Hahaha, but I'm super happy about that, I haven't had a Taco Johns close by since I was in Concordia, so it's been a loooooooooong time! Actually, on Transfer day we had to run some errands for the other missionaries and didn't end up getting to the apartment until like 7 ish, so on the way we stopped at Taco Johns! Super happy about that, it was the best, like always!

OK, Last thing. SUPER cool! On Friday we were out tracting and we ended up knocking on the door of the Quarterback for K-State! Pretty cool! We talked to him a bit, shared a brief message about the Restoration, and gave him a Book of Mormon! The only problem is that he's really busy with school and football, so we weren't able to get a return appointment, but he was super nice and we'll definitely be seeing him again! 

But that about updates you all, please write me letters! Haven't gotten any letters in a while...

Love you!

Elder DeFreese

P.S. When was the last time you invited someone to church? Think about it..... then think, "Should I invite someone else as well?" Answer: YES! Always!

Please invite someone to church this week, if you haven't seen the "Because of Him" video, watch it. Search that on Mormon.org and then share it with others. Share your testimony, then invite them to church. The impression that you leave on your friends and family will last FOREVER. Make sure it's a good one.

 

1. Taco Johns!!!!!

2. Elder Goodsell and I!

3. The Favres before I left :(

4. Sister Deeba Kimmel, awesome lady!

 

 

 

 

The Dream Team!!!!!

June 9, 2014

So this past week was ridiculously hectic and crazy!

First off, on Tuesday we had an appointment with 2 new investigators, Anthony and Barbara (who they call Barbie....) and taught them half of the Restoration. It went great! He is concerned whenever he hears a church say that they are the only true church, so we explained to him that while we do claim that, we do not put any other churches down, for there is truth everywhere! We obviously went into more detail than that, and helped him to understand, but I don't want to explain it all again, so I won't.

 

Then on Wednesday we were out working hard all day, biking like crazy, talking to everyone about Jesus..... and we finally decided to go get dinner at Subway. While we were there, 2 crazy things happened: First - Elder Dickson's bike almost got stolen, but the guy who was going to steal it just felt that it was wrong and walked away saying, "Nah, I can't do it" (we found out because a little black kid came running in and told us) And second - Elder Kempter (our ZL) gave us a call and told us that his companion was getting transferred and he would be with us for the remainder of the transfer!!!!!! Whaaaaat?!?!?!

So we had to bike over to our members home, get a ride real quick over to the church, and pick him up!

 

To add to the craziness, I had already planned an exchange for the next day! So, I went with Elder Stum to his area, and Elder Knight went with Elder Dickson and Elder Kempter to work in 2 areas! It was craaaaaazy! But we all got some good work done, and had fun doing it!

 

So this past week has been awesome, Elder Kempter and I work really well together, and we have a lot of fun while still working hard. It's the bomb.

 

Funny experience from Sunday, I'm just hangin' out after the Sacrament, and Bishop gets up and says, "So we don't really have a program today... so I'm going to ask Elder DeFreese to get up and share a message with us"  uhhhhhhhhh....... what? Hahahaha, I joked a bit with him on the way up, got everyone laughing, and then when I got up there I shared some thoughts about Eternal Families and missionary work. I don't know how it went really, but I did manage to take up about 10 minutes! So that was good, right? Haha, it was fun though, I love talking about the gospel.

 

And now, we've got some more big news! I'm being transferred out to Manhattan, Kansas! I'm going to be a DL there, and serve with a missionary I've never met! My Zone Leaders are going to be Elder Johnson (Went to the MTC at the same time) and Elder Holbrook (Super awesome missionary) So I'm really excited for this transfer and super sad as well, I love/loved Harrison Park. And I'm going to miss the crap out of these people!

 

But that about catches you up! Love you all! Talk to you soon!

 

Elder DeFreese

 

1. My District

 

2. Elder Stum and I

 

 

3. It's a top hat!

 

 

THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 2, 2014

Soo..... really the only reason for that subject line is because there was a reaaal good thunder storm last night! It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I love the crap out of those storms. Elder Dickson however, reeeaaallly doesn't. So that was kinda funny for me :)

So this past week was pretty good, my exchange with Elder Eyre was alright, we didn't have a whole lot of time to work because we weren't able to start working until like 4 ish and our exchange ended right after studies the following morning. But it's all good, we had a fun time!

So I guess we'll start with the sad news. While Elder Eyre and I were on exchanges we had a teaching appointment with Richard, he's on date for the 24th of this month. Our member got to talking about some deeeeeep doctrine and stuff, that really wasn't necessary or anything. And now Richard has to think about what we've taught him. He hasn't gotten back to us since then....

But it's all good! We'll find another one!!

So this past week we spent a lot of time going out and trying to visit all of the Less Actives who are in the ward, we saw a good portion of them, and most of them were real nice to us! So that was good, we taught a lot and hopefully strengthened their faith and helped them have a desire to come back to church.

On Saturday we actually spent pretty much all day going out to the far edges of our boundaries, trying to visit the people who never see anybody. It went fairly well! We were in the car a lot, but we saw some people and I think we did some good.

Overall it was a very standard week for us, so this week is going to be much better!

One experience that I would like to share is with Brother Gubler. We have met with him twice now, super less active member from SLC, and he has never had a real testimony of the church. He's also getting married to a woman he met here in Kansas! Super nice people, really cool. But we shared a message about praying with faith, and invited/committed them both to read and truly pray about the Book of Mormon, and they accepted the challenge! It was a very spiritual experience, and we're going to follow up this week.

That about catches you up though! Love you all! Talk to you soon!

Elder DeFreese

 

1. Eh...... it's not what you think!

 

2. Going to Oz apparently

 

 

Are you kidding me?!??!

May 27, 2014

So, this past week was a bit crazy!

On Tuesday we had an appointment with a new Investigator of ours, Richard. At first we planned on having a lesson with him in a members home, but then the ZL's challenged everyone in the zone to have a church tour, first one gets bonus miles! So, naturally, we wanted to grab hold of those miles! So we had the church tour, and throughout the whole thing Richard was asking GREAT questions! And when we asked him a question, his answers were equally great! For example, we invited him to be baptized, which he accepted, then we set a date (june 24th) and then he asked us, "What should I expect when I become a member of the church?" Whaaaaaat????!?!? GOLDEN! We're meeting with him again tonight, it's gonna be great!

On Wednesday, we had interviews with President Bell! It was great, him and I talked a lot about the air force base here, exercise, all that good stuff. It was a great chance to sit down and just talk with him. Super nice. Love that man!

On Thursday, Elder Dickson had a dental appointment, so we went there, waited in line for a good half hour to an hour, come to find out that his insurance wouldn't cover the visit because he had been to the dentist 4 or 5 months ago. They only cover every 6 months. So that was a fun waste of time! Haha, it's all good though, he got another appointment set up, so it'll get taken care of soon enough.

Friday was a loooooooooooooong day. A few weeks ago, while I was preppin' to go to bed, I brushed my teeth and put in my retainers. As I put in the bottom one, it chipped, and broke! Soooooooooo I waited for a little while before I told my mommy, and she told me to get it taken care of. So I finally talked to the mission nurse here and she set me up to go to an orthodontist! However, their office was/is in McPherson Kansas, which is a good hour to an hour and a half drive. Depending on traffic/weather and such. So we head out at about 9:30, get there at about 11. I start filling out the paper work and.... crap! Don't know my Dad's Social Security number! Gotta call him! But wait, to be obedient, I have to call President first! Hope he answers!!!!!! Luckily, he answered really quickly, gave me the green light, and I called my pops to get the info and such. Waited until about 11:40 or so, finally admitted into my little cubicle type of thing. The doctor finally gets in there and tells me that I should probably get a new bottom retainer made, and the top one is wearing down pretty good as well. Tells me that most people need to get a new retainer made once every 3 to 5 years... what?! That's stupid! Nah, it's all good. Stuff wears down and breaks. So anyways, I had them make a top and bottom one so that they can both be worn down equally. Here's the part that was looooooooooooong, it takes about an hour and a half to make them. So how the crap do we kill an hour and a half in an area that's waaaaaaaaaay outside of ours, and we have no money? We ended up going to lunch at Wendy's, then our windshield wiper blade broke, so we had to go and get some new blades! Gotta go to wal mart! Anyways, with all the laziness that a missionary can muster, we made those 2 things last about an hour. So we decided to just go back and wait! Unfortunately, the retainers weren't done yet, no biggy. So we waited, and waited.... and waited. FINALLY 2 hours after they started making them, they were ready! So they had me try them on and make sure they fit right. They fit real well, the dentist/doctor/whatever he wants to be called wanted to see me before we left. So we wended up leaving at about 3 ish. Got back to our apartment at like 4:20 or so, and all of our appointments for the rest of the night had cancelled! Yay!!!!!

It's ok though, it was a good day.

Yesterday for P-Day we had a lot of fun, we had a Zone Olympics! Smash Ball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc. Lots of fun!

Then we had a BBQ at a members home, and then FHE at another members home! It was good!

And now we're to today! Today we had a District meeting which I taught everyone on Questions and Listening, and how we are to use them both effectively to help the investigators teach themselves. Because we as missionaries can teach the crap out of these people, but it doesn't mean much unless they are able to help teach themselves.

But I think it went pretty good!

Now I'm on exchanges with Elder Eyre, one of our ZL's here. We haven't had a chance to get out and work yet because of Lunch and e-mails and such, but we're about to get out of here and do something!

Buuuut that about catches you up! This was a real long e-mail, huh?

Please make sure you all are doing your part to help build up the Lords Kingdom! Invite someone to church, share your testimony, do something! Love ya!

Elder DeFreese

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

May 19, 2014

Hi everyone! And welcome to another edition of "Elder DeFreese and his wanderings through the Kansas Wasteland"

Hahahahahaha, it's not a wasteland! It's awesome!!!!!!!

Anyways, apparently today is May 19th, which happens to be the date of my sisters Birthday!!! Ha, she's old......

No but seriously though, my sister is the bomb, she grew up in a home with all boys, and she held her own! I can remember many a time when brotherly quarrels would escalate, and she would be the one to come in and play the role of mediator. It was great having her in the home. I'll always miss that. Love ya sis!

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... yuck. Gotta get all that love off me.

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ahhhh, that's better!

So this week was pretty great! We got a lot of work done, visiting Less Actives and meeting new people as well! We spent most of the week trying to find new investigators though, and this past week was a bit difficult to do so. We were only able to find 1 person who wanted us to come back at a specific time, a few others who were kind of interested but not really, and then the rest was just a bunch of people who "weren't interested"

BUT it's all good! I have a solid testimony in hard work, and the blessings will come! Back when I was in Concordia Kansas, Elder Kempter and I worked our butts off for 3 months knocking door after door after door, with next to nothing to show for it, until finally, and very suddenly, we had 4 baptisms!!?!??! It was awesome!!!!!!!!! So I know that the blessings are just waiting for us, we just need to keep working hard and being obedient, and it'll come. So I'm not worried at all, because I know that our next blessing could very well be waiting just behind that next door.

So this past week we had a specialized training on Tuesday, and it was a training that was focused primarily on finding! How great is that? Haha, it was cool. We learned a lot about how we can be "Fearless Finders" and what it takes to be a Fearless Finder. We also went through an activity where there were some missionaries who acted as the spirit, some who were potential investigators behind a door who HAD to be really really mean. I was elected to be one of the really really mean people, and it was terrible but awesome at the same time. It was really rough trying to tear down every single missionary that had to knock on my door. But it was a great learning experience because at the last door there was a person who was ready to listen and learn about the gospel! The spirit was there in between doors trying to pep the missionaries up and keep them going, and it was awesome. Learned a lot for sure.

On Saturday I got to go on exchanges with Elder Knight, another Elder in my district. It was great! We went to his area (Glen Hills) and worked all day! We had a bit of service in the morning helping to build a fence, and then we went out to knock some doors! We talked with a lot of people and we tried to do some Garage Sale Finding! It was great, we had a lot of fun and we worked real hard too!

I think that about does it for this week though, I challenge each of you to seek earnestly and pray for a missionary opportunity this week, then, instead of waiting on the Lord to give you one, go out and try to find one! I know that He'll show you the way, He has promised us that He will!

Love you all, talk to you soon!

Elder DeFreese

 

1. DRAGON!!!!!!!!!

 

2. Elder Knight and I

 

3. Screensaver...?