Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Message From Brock!

We enjoyed our phone call from Brock on Christmas day.  He loves the work and the people in Bend.  He and Elder Lyon will start the new year off with a baptism on January 1st!  It's amazing to see how much he's grown as a man and as a missionary.

Elder Bird and the Bend District pose for a Christmas card photo
taken in the mountains near Bend.

Here's another view from their "photo shoot."  Notice the nice
"ride."  Elder Lyon and Brock drive this truck as zone leaders to
get them around in the higher elevations.  You can see the beautiful
landscape which Brock gets to wake up to every morning!



     Brock sent us a Christmas card with a challenge for our family.  It could really be a goal for all us a members of the church this holiday season:
     I hope all is well!  I love you all and wish you the best of the holiday season.  You guys are a blessing and I am so grateful for all that each of you do!
     My challenge this Christmas season comes from 3Nephi 12:14-16, the first thing that Christ taught to the Nephites when he appeared in America.
     Our testimony is a gift.  It comes from the Spirit.  My challenge to you all is to bare your testimony to a non-member this holiday season.  That is the greatest gift you can give.  If you have faith, then you have no fear.  Faith and fear cannot co-exist!  :)  There will be blessings that come from this challenge.  So pray and be led by the Spirit to that person who will hear your testimony. 
     I love you and I'm so grateful for you all.
     Merry Christmas,
    Love, Brock

Monday, December 12, 2011

Meet The New Members!

     Back on Thanksgiving weekend, Elder Bird and Elder Lyon had the wonderful experience of taking part in the baptisms of several people they've been teaching.  Brock says he has a deep love for these families who have embraced the Gospel.  Here they are:


The Baker family.  Thomas and Romey were baptized on Saturday
November 26th.

Elder Lyon and Elder Bird with Branson Wiley, who was
also baptized on Saturday.

And Jodi Bohons was baptized the next day, on Sunday November
26th  right after church. 

       Brock described the incredible weekend:
    After lunch we filled the font and got everything ready.  Typed up the programs and printed them and set everything up.  We had the baptism for Thomas and Romey Baker at 4pm and then we had Branson Wiley's an hour later.  It was crazy, but the kind of crazy you would want to have everyday!    
     Sunday we had church and another baptism! Jodi Bohon's and it was awesome!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Brock To Stay In Bend!


Elder Lyon and Elder Bird at University of Oregon's
football stadium.  They will continue to lead the Bend zone
for at least another 6 weeks.

     We were happy to see that Brock will stay in Bend for awhile longer.  He has really enjoyed the area and the Lord has blessed him and Elder Lyon with great success.  They had five baptisms last Saturday, November 26, 2011.  We will share his pictures and comments from that memorable day in our next post. (Soon!)
     In the meantime here are a few thoughts from Brock:

    Glad Thanksgiving was good! Mine was too!  We woke up and went down to Redmond for a big turkey bowl, which was fun.


     It's nice to know Brock and the elders had a nice break to celebrate Thanksgiving and to have a  traditional meal.  He sent us a nice note:
     I am truly grateful for the Lord's love and the support from the ward.  Mostly you and mom!  I have the greatest love for you guys in my heart and soul.  There is nothing that can replace the blessing my Heavenly Father has given me, and and that is you two! :)  I love you guys so much!
     Brock



    


Brock and some of the Elders in his zone take a break during
their Turkey Bowl game on Thanksgiving day.


Sunday, November 20, 2011

P-Young Is My Home Boy!

Elder Lyon and Elder Bird with Marc and Jessica.
They were baptized November 5, 2011!
     Tuesday we were pretty crazy booked with appointments, not to mention our car was in the shop so we got to bike all around Bend.  We went and talked  to people for a few hours just on the streets. We also had a few appointments including Marc and Jessica who got baptized this last weekend!  Later we went to the Bean's house, an older couple in our ward and the sweetest people ever.  We put up their Christmas lights and ate dinner with them.  Then we had our evening appointments with Jim Jensen and later with Mikey,  Abby and Alondra!


     Wednesday we went and talked to people all morning until about one o'clock and then had a correlation meeting with our district leaders because we were heading to Eugene the next day! We went to the Bakers for a lesson with Melissa, Romie, and Thomas. We set a date with them to get baptized on the 29th of this month and they are excited for it. The lesson was really good and spiritual.  The kids absolutlely love us.  Haha!  The little six year old girl's name is Birdy!  Haha! We thought that was funny! Really random though.  Then we had dinner and President came up for our stake correlation, which went really well.  He payed me a huge compliment in front of the stake president by saying that the whole reason the work has changed and is doing better was because of me.  I thought I have nothing to do with what the Lord wants in this area!  The missionaries just have the desire to help people!  Elder Lyon and I then split and went with two different members of the ward to teach Jan and I went with Brother Carlson to teach Terry and Kelly!  The lesson was super good!  We gave them blessings and they were both crying and Kelly asked, "When can I get baptized.  I was like, sweet!  The Spirit was so strong. 


     Thursday we had a special meeting with President about what we can do to help the church experience real growth. It was pretty amazing I must say! Then we had some finding hours where we just searched for families.  It went alright though everyone was really rude that day.  After lunch we had a lesson with Jodi which was awesome.  We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and baptism and then showed her around the church.  We went into the baptismal font and and she just broke down and was asked, "What do I need to do to be baptized and become a member of the church?"  So we told her! She is awesome! :) After Jodi we had a lesson with Michelle and talked about the Plan of Salvation.  She had some questions and we explained it to her and she said it totally made sense! :)
President Young surrounded by zone leaders wearing
their P-Young t-shirts.  Notice Sister Young is
wearing one too!


      After Michelle's lesson we drove to Eugene and spent the night at the assistants place. We came up with the idea to make some shirts with President's face which says, "P-Young is my home boy." We were up at 5 to go get stuff ready for zone leader council with the assistants!  We did that and then started ZLC at 7am and went to 12.  We took a break and toured the U of O football stadium and basketball arena.  It  was crazy.  They have underwater tredmills, super nice lifting equipment, flat screens in their own locker, just crazy! They have a Nike equipment place in the locker room where they go and tell them what they want or need.  It's literally a Foot Locker and they get all shoes, shorts and anything Nike for free! even stuff that hasn't been released yet! They never have to wear the same socks twice.  They get a new pair everyday! After all that craziness we had lunch and finished ZLC.
Elder Bird and his zone leader buddies standing on the field
at the University of Oregon stadium.  (Go Ducks!)

Zone leaders with President and Sister Young
on the steps of the impressive Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.


     Saturday we had a few lessons with the Wakemans and Jodi along with a new guy, Scott.  Then we got everything ready for the baptism, had our correlation with the AP's.  Then it was time for the baptism.  It was awesome to see Marc and Jessica become members of the church.


     Sunday we had PEC and then church, which was awesome.  All of our investigators came!. We had a few lessons after church with Jon , the Bakers, and Emily's mom. It was really good!  We finished the day with a conference call with the president. 

P.S  Brock had an opportunity to go to a Dixie State--Western Oregon football game with the president, since his son plays for Dixie.  But Brock opted not to go:  "I told President it would be fun and way cool to do that, but we had some lessons with our investigators and it was more important that I go to those."

Love,
Brock

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Makin' It Through The Maze!

What an awesome view!  This is Bend as seen from Elder Bird's balcony!

It's P-day and I just barely came off the mountain to e-mail you (after mountain biking). I am still covered in dirt!     
Elder Bird and Elder Hill on a P-day mountain bike ride in
the mountains near Bend.
      
      My week has been really crazy!  Super busy meeting with all our investigators.  Friday we had our ward Halloween party which was fun for all of our investigators.  All the kids did their "Trunker Treat." They were all cute and dressed up. 
       
      Jodi Bohon came to the "Trunker Treat." She is so ready to be baptized.  We taught her the Plan of Salvation on Friday and went really well.  Jon also came and we have met with him  throughout the week to answer his questions.  His date is set for the 19th of November. He is really stoked.  The Millers are doing really well.  They are get baptized this weekend. It's so awesome to see a family really come together and see the change in their lives as they attend church and have that unity they haven't had before! They are really excited.  
    
     The Wakemans are doing really well.  They love having us over to teach them and their boys, who are real hoot, haha! The mom really opened up to us and  let everything out, but the Gospel has been really good for her since she knows it's helping her with what's she going through. It's been good to help her in any way we can because they are a really cool family!



Elders Bird, Lyon and Hill with investigator Mikey
and another friend identified as Pimentel at the corn maze.
     Saturday, we went to a corn maze with the singles branch.  Michelle and Charlie Bot came and are doing well.  Michelle just got home from Hawaii so she has been busy!  So we did that in the morning and then we had a correlation meeting with the AP's about our work and how it's progressing.  The zone is doing really well, better than it had been doing in the past!  Later that night our singles ward did a haunted house. It actually wasn't bad, haha, kinda funny but, hey they tried!  We met with Terry and Kelly Johnson who are getting baptized on the 19th. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it was really well.  They loved it and are ready to move forward!  After that we met with the Orsillos and it went well too. We will set a date with them this next week!

     Sunday we had a lesson with Abby, Mikey, and Alondra!  They are doing really well and plan to move to Sandy around the same time I get home! :) haha! That will be cool!

Here's an added photo of Elder Bird and his last companion Elder Jensen who was
just transferred to be one of President Young's assistants.  Brock
says he and Elder Jensen developed a special bond as
zone leaders and hated to see him leave Bend.


Love you hope all is well!
Love, Brock

Monday, October 31, 2011

Patience Pays!


Thought we'd show this shot taken last month (September 2011)
with Elder Bird and Elder Hill inside an old Indian cave on a
mountain near Bend.  There's a dusting of snow in the
background and Brock said it was "freezing!"  The weather
there is similiar to Utah's.
Thanks to the Lord, the work is going very well in Bend with as many as 12 people ready for baptism.  In this letter, Brock says some of the people who have committed for baptism have taken the lessons numerous times over many years.  You never know when that seed will sprout and grow!
Tuesday we had a lesson with Courtney, then I dropped Elder Jensen off in Redmond and picked up Elder Harrison to be with me for the night.  We went out and did some finding and talked to people, then we had dinner at our bishop's house and holy cow it was pretty bomb!  I ate a ton! :) Haha! Then we played ball with some people. It was good to run around and talk to people and get to know them better.  After ball we had a lesson with Jon and it went well.  He told us he wants to get baptized and knows its true so he will enter the waters of baptism November 5th!  I am really stoked!



Wednesday we had a lesson with Emily and talked about her auditioning for Disney.  She didn't make it but it was a good experience for her.  We told her everything happens for a reason, to help us learn and grow in this life, because if it didn't, how would we grow? Somtimes Heavenly Father puts us in positions to grow and to teach us, so that we can continue to be prepared for our future, and to know how to overcome things! :)  Afterwards, I picked up Elder Lyon from Redmond and we jetted over to set up Christmas lights for a part member family.  It was pretty fun. I have some cool pics I will e-mail you.  We left in the middle of hanging lights to teach Marc and Jessica.  They also told us they are ready to get baptized. I am so proud of them.  They have taken the lessons like 8 times! 7 times is the average for people to put everything together.  Their date is also the 5th of  November! :)  The lesson went really well and then we jetted back to finish the Christmas lights and eat dinner with the familiy.  Later that night we had a lesson with Terry and her son Kelly.  We read with them and taught them how the Spirit works.  We invited Kelly to be baptized on the 17th of November with his mom. He accepted! :)  They are really stoked and looking forward to it. They have been seeing missionaries for 6 years now! :) I am glad I get to be a part of it! :)


Thursday we had district meeting, lunch, and correlation.  We taught the Wakemans about baptism and reading. She had some concerns about all the negative publicity with the church. We told her as you search for your answer Satan will do everything he can to mislead that answer. He knows what church is true and he will do everything he can to keep you from it. That's why there are so many negative things said about the church.  I asked her when was the last time she heard anything bad about any other church? "Not really", she said.  It's usually the LDS church!" What it really comes down to is your real intent and desire to find an answer. If the Lord sees your desire is there you will receieve it. Right now we have their date set for the 17th of November.  Kay, Micheal, and Matthew! They're awesome.  I love just helping the boys out and getting to know them. They are amazing kids!


After dinner we had a lesson with the Orsillos, a new family we're teaching. They are evolutionists, but they told us after the lesson that they had really felt the Spirit and that they were going to read and pray.  That was awesome, because that's all we ask people to do! :) They even came to church and loved it! :) It was good for them because they are going through a rough time.  Their parents just got divorced. A single mom and three kids, all of them are in high school.


Friday we did our weekly planning, had lunch and then hit the streets to find people.  It went alright.  Later we had dinner with the Sessions.  Really cool family!  Then we had a lesson with Mikey and Abby, read with them and then had another lesson with Jon. He is so smart.  I think I benefit more from him than he does from me! haha! :)

Saturday we talked to people all day, door to door stuff, but didn't see much from it but hey, it was fun talking to people.  That evening we had a lesson with Marc and Jessica.  We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was really good.  Elder Lyon and I teach well together.  We also went and read with the Valles family.  It was real great!


Sunday I had to drive down for Redmond's stake confrence and meet President Young.  After the meeting we discussed a few thing President needed me to do.  We didn't get back up to Bend until 3-ish so we grilled up some burgers and went to work. We had a lesson with Marc and  Jessica, planned their baptism and a few other things. We read, had dinner and went to the Bakers for a lesson.  Two of the boys are goining to be baptized. The mom is a member and the dad is not.  They are a really cool family.  The dad is actually a pro golfer, so that's pretty nuts.  After the Bakers we went to the Valles and read with them again, and to answer their questions. 


I love you dad!  Hope all is well.
Love, Brock! :)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Elders Go Through "Hail"!

Elder Bird had his camera rolling to capture this impressive hail storm not long after he arrived in Bend last August (2011).  His companion, Elder Hill was at the wheel as the quarter sized hail pelted their car.



Sunday, October 23, 2011

Busy, Busy In Bend!

     President Young has kept us pretty busy!  Last Tuesday we had zone leader council which was really good.  We talked about lifting people, helping missionaries reach the higher ground, such as setting goals and achieving them, and having the real intent and desire to reach our goals and doing everything we can to achieve them.

     Wednesday we had a lot of appointments.  We did some service and then went to the Wakeman's house and set dates with Kay, Micheal, and Matthew for October 29th!  It was awesome!  We taught them the Plan of Salvation and and the Spirit was really strong.  We are meeting with them tomorrow.  I love those kids!  They are so smart.  Later we had a lesson with Terry Johnson who has been investigating the church for 6 years.  We went on splits so I went with brother Marsh and we taught the Restoration.  After the First vision I extended her date for November 17th and she accepted!  She said she knows it's true and is super excited.  It was a very powerful lesson. We're eating with her tomorrow night at Brother Marsh's house! :)


Elders Jensen and Bird display their MAV, missionary
assault vehicle.  Actually it's a 16 passenger van
used for transfers.
     Thursday we had district meeting down in Redmond.  We are driving the 16 passenger transfer van so we took everyone from Bend with us to save on miles.  Afterwards we had a lesson with Jon Olala who is getting baptized next week .  He is amazing. We had another lesson with Jim Jensen, a recent convert and then the Valles family who we baptized a month ago! It was a super busy day but was good and we got a lot done!


     Friday we got this referral.  Her name is Jodi Bohon.  A crazy story.  I was praying about a street we could tract and the name Georgia came to mind. It turns out Jodi lived on that street.  So I was like that''s crazy.  So we went over and taught her.  She is getting baptized on the 29th of this month! She had been listening to the Mormon Channel and got the prompting to get on Mormon. org and check it out.  We had another lesson with the Wakemans, read with them, and did a family home evening which was really good.  We also stopped by the Valles family to read with them!  It was a way good day.  Oh yeah, we also met with Charlie and extended a date to him for November 17th.   It's going crazy the workwe have going on! :) Man, Charlie is a way sick kid!  He has a lot of questions but we're able to answer them!


     Saturday we did some service in the morning.  We ate lunch and then had correlation with the APs!  We had a lessson with Courtney who is doing really well.  We had another lesson with Jodi and she had read 15 chapters in the Book of Mormon which is way cool. She was just telling us how she prayed and knows it's true!  She is now trying to get work off on sundays! :) Later that evening we had dinner with the Wakemans and it was really fun.  We played with the kids.  They're really awesome.  Kay told us we're the closest thing to fathers they have! :) Afterwards, we went to the Vallesand did a family home evening with them! :)


Elder Jensen, Elder Paul E. Koelliker of the Seventy,
President Young and Elder Bird.
     Sunday, we went to church, drove to Eugene to meet with Elder Koeliker to talk about work in the zone with other zone leaders.  It was really good.  We spent the night at the AP's place!


     Monday we spent all day at zone conference and discussed the power of prayer and how we can help people pray to recieve answers, to help them understand the Spirit and receieve that guidance for themselves.  After zone conference we sat down personally with President Youngf and Elder Koeliker and discussed things we learned which we'll apply to the zone!


     All in all we got back at 11:30 last night, and now it's P-day.  We played football and soccer with the zone. It was pretty fun! :)


     I will probably be in Eugene all next week doing transfers but I will let you know!  I have no time to breathe, but it's good!


     I love you and hope all is well!
    Love, Brock

Monday, October 3, 2011

Shining Shoes In The Bend Zone!

 
Elder Bird watches these bikers zip by during a race through downtown Bend.
(September 2011)


Brock says Bend might well be his favorite area so far and he really loves his companion, Elder Jensen.  Here's what Elder Bird has to say this week:

Elder Jensen and I teach really well together and have had a lot of strong spiritual lessons!  Everytime we teach we are reassured the Gospel is true, and it is!  Honestly we had really spiritual experiences with Michelle. Everytime we teach her things fall into place and is totally led by the Spirit.

My week has been crazy as usual. Tuesday we went out and did some tracting and met some pretty interesting people.  It's fun because we meet new people and hear their beliefs.  Later we had another lesson with Michelle.  She needs a lot of help in her life.  She related some of the experiences from her journal.  I wanted to cry because I felt really bad for her.  Our lesson went really well and she told us she could feel the Spirit.

Wednesday we did a ton of finding all day and had a lesson with Terry Johnson. Elder Jensen just got to know her and and we read from the Book of Mormon and she told us, "Honestly, I don't know how anyone wouldn't believe this book!  I know it's from God!"  Elder Jensen and I were like, oh yeah! 


Thursday we had our combined meeting which was way good!  We focused on Christ and what He did for us. It honestly was really good! :) Elder Jensen and I interviewed each missionary in the zone individually and shined their shoes for them!   We also had yet another lesson with Michelle, which was really good.  She asked us some indepth questions and we answered them in a way she could understand.  She told us, "That totally makes sense."Again I have to say Elder Jensen and I just teach really well together. 

Friday we had our weekly planning and then had dinner with the Valles family I baptized.  We had a lesson with them and read together.


Saturday we mowed our lawn and then had a lesson with Emily.  She's a recent convert and we're teaching her mom now! :) We had a conference call with the AP's and later attended correlation with the singles branch.


Sunday we had church and three random people we hadnt seen just show up out of the blue.  It was crazy good! :)  After church we ate lunch and had an appoitment with one of the guys who came to church.  His name is Jon, pronounced (yawn).  He is a really cool guy!

Today (p-day) we woke up, studied, worked out, ran and now we're e-mailing. That's about it!


Love you, Dad.  God be with you 'til we meet again!


Love,
Brock

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

New Companion and a Non Stop Schedule!


A recent gathering at the mission home.  (L-R back row, Elder Christensen, (behind poster) Brock, and Elder Kirkham.  In the front, (L-R) Elder Johnson, about to be "baptized" and Elder Jensen, "the baptizer,"Brock's new companion from Provo, Utah.

Elder Jensen is my new comp!  We get along great! We're like best friends and all we do is have fun and work! :) He played high school football and is from Provo.
My week has been pretty busy,  I can tell you that for sure!  Tuesday I was with Elder Hepworth.  We went out and just did work like crazy!  We had a ton of stuff to do especially me with all the transfers!  I was out in La Pine working on missionary apartments and moving things around in our new truck! Then we had to jet back down to Bend for a few appointments with Jim who is a recent convert and another appointment with Mikey who got baptized last weekend! Later, we played basketball with a few members and some potential investigators, which was way fun! Then we changed back into our missionary attire and went to another appointment with Terry Johnson and her son Kelly.  They are awesome! She has been reading daily from the Book of Mormon and knows it's true.  We will set a date with her this week along with her son. They're awesome people! :)
Wednesday we got up worked out and did our studies. We headed out and found a lot of people who were interested and we have some return appointments with them this week.  I will let you know how they go. Then we met up with Marc and his wife Jessica.  Marc was super stoked because he went to the Duck's game that weekend.  (He is a huge Ducks fan!) That night we had dinner with Butch Roberts and his fam. He is a super cool guy and I love him to death! I also had correlation with the stake president here and then we were booked with lesssons for the night!


Thursday, finally Elder Jensen and I were reunited haha! We picked him up in Redmond that morning, came back, unpacked , had our planning session and then hit the pavement for work! We had a ton goin' on!  The  AP's came up and worked with us in our area and then we went with them to do a few things for the missionaries in La Pine.  The AP's stayed the night which was fun!

Friday we had district meeting and then our correlation meeting then we cleaned up the area books, inspected cars and did a few other mandatory things for the president.  We had a few lessons with Courtney and Emily Eberhart.  Emily's parents aren't members but are now investigating because of Emily's example and they're able to see that pure light in her life! We had a really good lesson!  That night we had our conference call with President, and the AP's were still at our place to stay the night again.  It was crazy!
Saturday we had a really good and productive day.  We cleaned out Abby, Mikey, and Alondra's garage! After we finished we came home, showered and then got to work!  We had splits with some people in the singles branch and did some finding.  It was pretty chill!  We had tons of cool things happen.  We taught a lot of our recent converts and visited several part member families.  Things are really going well.  We found the Baker familly and they're feeding us tomorrow.  They all want to be baptized so it will be cool!
Sunday we spent the day in Salem! Haha, we drove 3 hours to Salem for a baptism so Elder Jensen could baptize this guy named Tony! President and the assistants were there so it was cool to see everyone! :) Then we bounced back to Bend and went to some lessons with Brother Marsh, who is thee coolest guy ever! He played linebacker at OSU and is just a gaint! He and his wife are both converts and we had some bomb lessons! One was with Michelle who is a nanny and we really had an awesome lesson with her and another lesson with the Valles family!


Love,
Your son! :)

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Shoulder Surgery Photos!

     Last May (2011) Brock underwent shoulder surgery in Klamath Falls to repair a previous football injury.  Both the surgery and recovery went incredibly well.  Brock finally sent us photos of his stitches and when he was in a sling.



The small incisions and stitches from the orthoscopic surgery.  Brock
had four calcium screws drilled into his shoulder to tighten and secure the injured ligaments.


Elder Bird wore a sling for six weeks, which didn't seem to get in the way
of his busy missionary schedule.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Oregon Eugene Mission Zone Leaders


Brock with President and Sister Young and 20 other zone leaders at the mission home. (September 2011)
     Brock just sent us this shot from a recent zone leaders' conference in Eugene. He says the schedule is crazy, organizing transfers, finding apartments for senior missionaries, doing splits, and covering his own area.  He says he's thankful for the experience and the blessings.  More to come.... 

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Burning Calories, Blowing Tires in Bend!

Elder Bird soaking up the scenery in Bend.
     Tuesday of this week, I had an exchange with Elder Newman a recently released AP and a really cool kid!  We had a ton of fun! We handed out 500 mormon. org cards in an hour! :) Haha!  We burned 800 calories in that hour.  No joke, his watch told us so! :) It was a good day.   We taught Charlie.  He is really cool and we go biking with him He is getting baptized!  He's just praying about the date right now. We had our lesson at the park and it started raining and thundering but we just had fun with it.  We had dinner at Mikey's house.  He gets baptized this Sunday! :)   And boy is he awesome.  We're gonna play ball with him tomorrow! :)



     Wednesday was a day full of finding and teaching. We handed out a ton of fliers because we're having an open house this weekend at the church so we have really been pushing for that.  We had a planning meeting for it.  We also taught Courtney and Lauren that day!  Courtney is a "super hippie" haha ,and is kinda crazy, but she is absorbing the Gospel.  It's awesome to see the change in her life as she has been reading and praying and coming to church.  We also taught Mikey. He is so funny, as well as his sister Alondra.  They are the coolest family.


     Thursday we had weekly planing and talked about a ton of people we're working with, went over a few things for the open house, and we also had to plan for lessons were teaching at zone confrence. It was super long and exhausting so it was nice when we were done to get out and work hard and just talk to people. Yes, I love just talking to people. It's really the best!  We met a few intersting people.  We had prayed for someone who needed help and then went to the park. There was a lady there who said she had cancer and was in the middle of an ordeal where she was stranded.  She said she saw us and just really wanted to be taught. So we sat down and had a lesson with her about the Book of Mormon.  She said when she gets back home she wants to go to church.  So we got her name and number and referred her to the missionaries out in Missiouri.  That was a cool experience just to see Heavenly Father's hand bring us together at that park.  Then we hurried over to a lesson with Jim Jensen where we read with him, discussed a few things and just had a really good spiritual lesson. That man's life has changed so much since we have met him! :) Unbelievable! You look at him now and he is just glowing.  After his lesson we had sports night with the young single adults.  That was fun. We were there for about 30 minutes and played indoor soccer at a place which a member owns. We actually ate dinner with them last Monday! :) Man we had some good meals this last week.  Steak twice and ribs twice! :) ooh buddy! :)  Well, we had to leave the single adults because we have our call in confrenece every Thursday night at 9.  All the zone leaders, AP's and president link up over the phones and talk about things! :) Pretty cool. 


     Friday we had zone conference all day from 10 to 6.  It was way spiritual!  Elder Golden, a general authority, came and talked to us! We learned a lot of things that we can take back to our areas. President apologized for the long conference, hah, and told us from now on we're gonna play some kind of sport before or after zone conference.  After that we had dinner at Brother Carlson's house.  This guy is old and super funny!  He reminds me of my grandpa! It was a good dinner and we talked about a lot of things.  He is just really an awesome guy! He and his wife have served tons of missions! They were last in Africa.


     Saturday I was with Elder Goode and we handed out 300 fliers with the Mountain View elders downtown and just enjoyed talking to people.  We found a few new investigators.  One girl named Kiki.  She was pretty cool and we'll meet with her Thursday. We then split and had another lesson with Mikey out in his backyard and read out of the Book of Mormon! :) Good stuff! :) We also met with Reed and headed over to Marc and Jessica Miller's. We just talked about some questions they had, and she asked for a blessing because she had never had one and since she was starting a new job so she really wanted one.  I gave her one and it was a super spiritual experience. She was crying. She and her and husband are now getting baptized shortly.  I am so happy for them! :)

     Sunday we had stake confrence!  President Young talked and so did Elder Golden!  It was really good.  We had a few lessons and planned Mikey's baptism.  So everything was pretty good.


    And today, P-day, I went mountain biking and blew my tire out! So it's in the shop! haha! :)






     I love you and want to let you know I do have a testimony of this Gospel!  I am very thankful for it and how it has changed my life. My Heavenly Father loves me and he loves you.  I have great love for our Savior, for if it weren't for Him I wouldn't have the comfort of knowing that I can return to live with Him. My Savior saved my life and we as members and missionaries owe Him everything!  I challenge all of us to strenthen our faith, for faith preceeeds the miracle!  I love you!

Love,
Your son! :)



Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Elder Bird Just Transferred To Bend!

Brock arrived in Bend, Oregon on Tuesday, July 26th.  He had only been in Eugene barely 6 weeks, but President Young said he was needed in Bend and called him to serve as the zone leader there.  Bend is an incredibly beautiful nestled at the base of the Cascade Mountains.  Brock says he's looking forward to diligently serving the Lord and His people in Bend.  Check out Bend in this YouTube video:

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Hippies and Clown Hair!


Elder Brock Bird


     Tuesday I went on exchanges with Elder Nelson.  We taught a 16 year old girl named Victoria Quesenbery.  Really cool.  She got baptized this week!  She was kind of nervous about everything so we just sat and talked with her and made sure baptism is what she wanted and she knew it was right! So obviously the lesson went pretty well.  Other than that, we just did some tracting and ran into some hippies! Haha!  I am so used to hippies they don't even stick out anymore. My life! One guy I thought legit had clown hair,but turned out, nope, it was real!
     Wednesday we taught Robin, a way sick guy.  We have worked with him for awhile.  He is turning his balcony into a ship! Haha!  It's for plays and theater type stuff.  We talked to him a little about the Plan of Salvation.  He said it totally made sense to him and that he was surprised how much he over thought it, but in reality it's so simple and not as complex as he made it out to be.  That was cool!  We also taught Haylee Odle.  She is a member and her husband isn't.  A really cute family!  Their little boy loves us.  He is really funny.  We just talked and got to know the husband.  We haven't really talked to him too much before but he really likes us and we have another appointment to see them again tomorrow, so it will be fun.  We also met up with Roy and his wife.  Roy has been reading and has really just opened up to the Gospel.  When we first started teaching him he didn't really believe in God but now he knows there is one for sure!  He said he knew deep down He was there all along.  "I just didn't open my heart to it because I was too stubborn," he said.   I asked him, "So why are you moving now?" Haha!  Unfortunately that was our last visit with them.  They moved to Utah, Cotton Wood Heights area this weekend!
President and Sister Young
     Thursday, boy was it a long day!  We had interviews with President Young from 8 to 5!  My interview went well.  I felt good when he talked about how impressed he was with me as a missionary, how I get people to open up, members or non members and how organized I am with running things in my district.  He is a really cool, very sincere guy!  We have a lot in common!
     Friday we had correlation and I had to prepare a talk for a fireside for the Eugene Stake! President asked me to go with him and talk.  Haha! Lucky me!  But it was fun!  I enjoyed it, but that was on Sunday!   In the meantime, we had a lesson with Qin Beavens from China.  We finished talking about baptism and the Holy Ghost.  She was funny, but it was a good lesson.  She is really loving the church, so it's been good.  We also helped the Leavits move.  They're the family whose kids I read stories to.  They left Friday.  We helped them finish packing the truck and they were off.  I'm gonna miss them! They are headed to Sandy, so who knows I might see them again! :)
Monica Bruin, a very
close friend who passed
away in June 2010.
     Saturday we went to Carolina's! She is an older woman who has brain cancer and she broke her leg so she can't do anything in her yard.  We went over there, taught her a lesson and then went to work!  It reminded me of when Monica (Bruin)would sit in her front yard in her wheel chair and watch me work in her yard! :)  It brought back some bittersweet memories.  I really miss her! I actually carry her funeral pamphlet around in my suit jacket along with a picture of the family :) We did that then hit the streets.  It was busy.  Afterwards we correlated with our ward mission leader.
     Sunday we had church plus several meetings.  We ate, tracted, visited people, and then I went to that fireside. Pretty interesting! I talked to the young single adults and the youth, a good experience! All in all that's my week!


Well dad, I love you. Hope all is well!
Love,
Your son!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Baptism And Getting The Saints Excited!

Pre-mission photo.  Brock is fast approaching
his one year mark!
     My week was alright! Very busy, and very stressful! Obviously the 4th we just chilled inside and kicked it!  Tuesday we did some finding and then we went on exchanges from Tuesday night to Wednesday night with my buddy Elder Johnson, the one who came out with me.  We had some pretty crazy times! Haha! Did a lot of finding but it was fun.
     Thursday we had a lot of work and visited some less actives.  One guy, named George and another guy named Rich.  George is this crazy old guy who wreaks of smoke and just throws out profanities, but it's kind of funny.  Rich is this old guy who is really sweet but he had a stroke awhile back and has just been recovering.  We're preparing him to receive the priesthood, so that's pretty cool.  We also visited Steve our recent convert.  He is struggling.  He moved out of his house and is getting his foot amputated, so it's been hard on him.  We just went over and talked with him and tried to help him but other than that we did some finding and went through the unbaptized childrens' list.  I also had correlation with the zone leaders that day to figure out some things for the zone and district.  It was pretty cool!  Elder Knight thought it was 7/11 and started tripping,  but in reality that was today and I still didn't get my free Slurpee! haha! Iam an idiot! Oh well!
     Friday we had district meeting.  It went pretty well.  I think we got some things figured out. After that we had lunch at Taco Bell! 
     We did some finding, just cruised around talking to people.  Some girl asked me for my number and to see if I wanted to go to a party with her at the U of O.  I just laughed and said,  Sorry, I am a missionary and I have a girlfriend!"  Everyone else laughed and started making fun of me!. 
     After lunch and our district "finding" we went back to our areas and worked there.  We had an appointment with Qin  Beavens, the one from China! It was a really good lesson.  She actually started to cry and said, "I know it's true!  I know it is!"  It was really cool and super peaceful! I just wanted to cry for her and her husband.  It was really cool!  Later we played some ping pong with them, and yes I freaking suck!
Elder Ryan Bruin (left) now serves in Argentina.  Brock
and Ryan grew up together.  Jake Roper (right) also serves
in Argentina but in a different mission.
Her son looks exactly how Ryan Bruin did when he was 5! haha! So funny! He's a little runt just like him too in every way possible! After that we went to our ward mission leader's house to finish our laundry.  We talked about things and what he did on his mission .:)  It was cool!
     Saturday we had a baptism! Her name is Marcy Shram.  I guess it technically wasn't our baptism but it was in our ward so we had put it all together.  The sisters actually taught her, but it was a good baptism! I don't know Marcy very well,  but I was happy for her.  We then had lunch and went to work!  We went through our ward list and are starting to visit families and kind of build the ward up to help them become more unified.  We don't fieel that everyone knows each other very well and that they're on their own, so we're just trying to bring the ward closer together.  We want to get to know the families too because we don't know many of them and noone seems to sign up for dinners. Haha! We did meet with a bunch of cool families, like the Hess's, Ferriers, and  Hendricksons!  We will visit more this week!
     We also had a lesson with Kathleen Wagner a single mother with 6 kids!   They're really cool and a super nice family!  Their kids are crazy for sure! Haha!  They were playing games with us and were all crazy and wild, except the one year old.  She would just sit in front of me, wave and just smile!  It was super cute.  But three of the kids want to get baptized so it will be really cool.  I am excited for them! :)
     Sunday we obviously had church as well as stake correlation!  Since I'm the DL I discussed the work with the stake presidency and it went very well!  President Young was there!  He's a super cool guy and I love him to death! It went well and president pulled me aside and told me I did a great job.
     We did some finding and had dinner with my favorite family the Leavitts!  Their daughter is the one who tucked me into bed and sang to me, haha! :) We had fun over there! Unfortunatly they are moving on friday to Sandy! My favorite family here moves to my home town! Haha! Great! Oh well!
     I love you dad!  I know you guys love me and want what's best for me.  I love you guys, I do! I am grateful for everything you have done for me. You guys are a blessing!


I love you!
Stay safe!


Love, Elder Bird


Monday, July 4, 2011

Elder Bird Transferred to Eugene!

     Brock was transferred to Eugene from Klamath Falls on June 14th!  Here's his first letter, once he arrived in his new area:

I really like Eugene and my comp!  His name is Elder Ivie.  I have served around him before.  He goes home in 7 weeks so that's not cool!  I am still the DL, and yes this is president's last week here. President Young comes in next week and President Macdonald will hand the Youngs the keys and take off!       

Fast forward to Tuesday,  June 28th.  The Macdonalds leave Oregon
for their home in Utah County.  I (Ron) actually saw the Macdonalds
the next day on I-15 near Salt Lake.  What are the chances
of that?!
     My week was pretty interesting!  I transferred Tuesday night, so we drove to Medford and we stayed the night with Elders Mcmakin and Perkins, guys I know and have served around so it was fun!
    Wednesday morning we left at 9:30 to go to the trasnfer spot to head up to Eugene!  It was a pretty long drive, like 3-and-a-half hours!  But it was good to talk to all my buddies that I came out with on the van.
Biking is huge in Eugene.  Brock says there's
a bike shop on every corner.  Photo: "WeBikeEugene" 
     I got to my area about 2-ish and then just unpacked and went to dinner.  My allergies are off the wall here.  Eugene is so pollinated! My eyes were swollen shut!
     Thursday we hopped on the bikes and went crazy with work!  It's nice being in an area where people walk around! 
     We visited several people we're teaching.  Shelly and Angelina are ready for baptism!  Shelly just needs to get divorced and then re-married.  And Angelina is just waiting to get baptized with her mom.  Shelly's dad Steve is a recent convert for like a month.  Really cool old guy, but it's sad he has gangrene in his feet and kidney failure so he might have to get his feet cut off and then the kidney transplant.  But the guy is a trooper!  He goes fishing everyday!
     We visited Ann and Rob!  They also have dates. They are a cute young family. Then we just did some finding!
    Friday we had district meeting.  The whole zone gets together and does all their D-meetings at once! Kinda cool!  We just set expectations and goals.  It was a good meeting and we got to meet some of the new guys.  Afterwards we went to Mucho Gusto, a Mexican restaurant.
  Pretty cool and pretty good! Then when district meeting and everything was done we had correlation with the zone leaders! Really long! After that I had a baptismal interview with a 9 year old, Mckyle Arthur, a really cool kid, really shy and has Ashbergers but he was really cute.  By the time we were done with that it was like 5:30 so we went back home for dinner and then we visited a few people and then it was time for bed! Haha!
     Saturday we were booked.   We went to our ward mission leader's house.  He is Brother Baird, a super cool guy, 28 years old and married.   Just a really refreshing and solid guy!  We talked with him for awhile about the work and then ate luch with Elder Trayden Johnson and his comp.  Then we did some finding, taught Steve, Shelly and Angelina and visited George,  this old crazy less active guy. He was super funny and he really likes me! 
     Sunday we went to church and then visited some people and had dinner with the Leavitts. Super cool family! They have three young kids, a 2 year old daughter, a 6 year old daughter and a 4 year old boy.  They were so cute after dinner. They all ran up to me holding books and wanted me to read to them.  So they all sat on my lap and I read to them!  The 2-year-old looked at me when I was done reading and said, "Elder, I love you!"  Then she said she'd be right back and came with another book.  It was cute! :)  I loved it!  After about an hour of reading to the kids we shared a message and got back to work!
     I am grateful for the support, love and passion you have for me!  I couldn't do this without you guys! :)


Love,
Elder Bird!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Pitbulls, Drunks and Great Lessons!

     Things are going well here!  Work's been good and that's what matters to me.  I do want to thank you for everything you guys do for me, and the love and support you give me! It means a lot! :)  My shoulder is great and I should be out of the sling this week!  I have full range of motion and I am very mobile, so the shoulder is fantastic! :)



My week:


     Tuesday we had a lot going on.  We taught a lot and did a bunch of finding!  We ran into a crazy drunk guy who was saying there were demons everywhere!  He was just trippin' out.  Aside from that, we taught the Fergosos and had a "family lesson" with them, kind of like a family home evening.  They were super excited for church and everything and it was just all around a good lesson.  We went through the ward list and visited a bunch of less active members!  Some were interested and said we could come back, but most of them just kind of didn't want anything to do with it.  But hey, gotta still love them!


This is an LDS chapel in Klamath Falls with
the Articles of Faith on the front of the building. 
    From Tuesday to Wednesday night I went on exchanges with 5th ward missionaries and we had some fun! I was with Elder Stewart!  He came into my area and we visited with Annie Cervantez.  It was really good to see her again!  She has been struggling a bit just because of her health issues.  She is the one who has had surgery on like everything. But she is doing better and is up and about now.  She is unable to come to church so we worked out a deal where we can go over and give her the sacrament and teach her a lesson Sundays! :)  She was super excited and is ready for baptism!  We also went and visited Morgan Lamprech and his family.  He is the 12 year old who had a date but just didn't want to do anything.  He stopped going to school.  For me it looked like he had totally changed his life around and is now going to school, listening to his mom and is wanting to take the missionary discussions again!  So it was an over all good experience with him!


     Thursday we went on exchanges with Brother Ravoir!.  He is a really cool guy!  He has this little Honda Prelude that he bought for 500 dollars and oh my heck it was ridiculous!  We were crammed in the car!  But it was funny.  We went and visited the Zumwalt family, a part member family and taught them about the sacrament.  We tweaked the lesson so their younger kids could understand and they just absolutely loved it!  It was pretty sick!  We also stopped by to see several other people and visited with them.  One of them was a girl named Amanda Dahl.  She is a member and lives with six girls and we got to talk to her a lot about religion.  It was just a good discussion and we are going to start teaching her roommate Kristy, so it was pretty chill!


     Friday, we had district meeting.  It was a really good one!  We just had an open discussion on a lot of things.  Everyone loved it and got a lot out of it for their areas and investigators, so I was happy to be a part of that and help the other guys out!  

     Friday night I exchanged with Third Ward and I went into their area with Elder Barker, a really cool kid!   We helped some people move! Haha!  I moved the bare minumum, haha, due to my shoulder but we were there from 8 to 2:30!  We took lunch for about thirty minutes and then we headed off to a great lesson with a less active member in their ward on prayer and what it can do for us! We helped resolve some of her concerns! But she had these pitbulls and they were thee absolute fattest things I have ever seen and for some reason they were attracted to me!   While I was teaching the oldest, fattest one came out of nowhere and had just taken a drink of water out of its dish.  It decided to wipe his mouth all over me!  I literally had the whole left side of my pants drenched in nastiness of a dog! Haha!  I guess just one of those things! 

     Sunday we had 6 investigators at church! 

     I  hope all is well!  I miss you guys and hope you are doing well!  I can't believe Abbie's sophomore year is over.  That's nuts! Love you guys a lot!


Love,
Elder Bird!





Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Work Goes On, One Arm And All!


Brock isn't in this photo, but this is a cool shot of the Salem
Zone missionaries with OEM (Oregon Eugene Mission) carved
in the sandy beach.  Brock happens to be in the Klamath Falls zone, the most
remote zone in the mission, so he's nowhere near any beach, at least for now.

     I went to the doctor's and got my stitches taken out.  That was a relief due to them snagging on my shirt every second of my life! Haha!  But now that is not a factor.

     We went out and worked the usual standing on the street talking to people.  We did have a few appointments but they all managed to fall through! ( I hate it when that happens!)  It's been like 75 -80 all week so it definitely makes things nice!  Wednesday we hung out with the 5th Ward, got our phone fixed and then just went and visited a ton of people.  I came back and iced my shoulder and took my meds and just passed out!  For some reason I must have slept on it wrong and it just destroyed it! Haha!  That wasn't very pleasant, let me tell you! :)

     Thursday, as you know, we had interviews with the president. He told me 50/50 that I will be transferred, but more on the side of getting transferred.  I might have to stay here for my shoulder. After interviews we went on splits with the elders in our ward!  I went with Brother Phair and Elder Roberts went with Brother Bassard.  We visted a lot of people.  One family we're teaching is the Fegosos.  They are doing alright but they keep promising us they will come to church but they never do.  They are super funny though about the excuses they make.  Hah!  We'll keep working with them.

     We also saw the Zumwolt family.  They actually showed up to church this Sunday and loved it! He is a really cool guy.  He was in the Air Force and they have two young kids. The dad, Josh is a member. His wife is not.  He just wants to go back to church and see if it can help their family, which we know it will.  

      Yet another family is the Rohabackers.  They are a less active family but since we have been teaching them they have come to church and are very active now! They do love church it really has helped them with their struggles.  They are in a lot better shape than when we found them! :)



     Saturday we taught the Dockeries.  They are going through a tough time right now.  Bill's sister just went to jail and his wife's best friend is now in the hospital so we just pretty much told them if they need anything to give us a call and that we would be there!

     Later we went and retaught the Fergosos The Restoration and just talked about baptism.  They set their baptism date for the 28th of June!  It will be cool and and an awesome experience for them!


     Saturday night we ate at the Browns.  He makes the best food I kid you not! He really does! I hope to be as good as him one day! :) Haha !  Then we had correlation with our ward mission leader Brother Phillips! Sunday we were at church and had dinner with the Potters.  They are a really cute family. Their daughter and son are like 5 and 4 and they are just super cute and sooo talkative! :)

Love,
Elder Bird

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The One Armed Elder!

     Elder Bird is now in a sling following his shoulder surgery.  He's down to just one arm for at least a month.  Here's what he had to say about it in his last email:

Brock with President and Sister Macdonald.  Their mission comes
to an end in July.  Sister Macdonald has kept tabs on Brock's
recovery and the President will have dinner with Elder Bird on
May 18th.  (2011)

     Shoulder is doing the best it can for right now, I guess.   Just icing and doing my part.  As for missionary work this last week I haven't been able to do much.   I got dropped off at a member's house to basically sleep and recover the first couple of days, while Elder Roberts went out and did the work!  Our investigators have been coming along, some quicker than others.  The Fergosos (family) did not make it to church this last week so I was  kind of  bumbed.



     I will be sure to send an SD card with photos soon!  (Yeah.  We'd like to see some "sling shots" of Brock.)
     Love,
     Elder Bird!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Brock Has Surgery. So Far, So Good.

     Brock had surgery on his hurt shoulder on Tuesday, May 10th (2011).  According to Sister Macdonald the surgery went extremely well and Brock was sent "home" to his apartment with his companion Elder Roberts.  Several hours after the operation Elder Roberts reported that Brock was still "loopy" from the anesthesia.  Sister Macdonald will give Brock permission to call us once he's feeling better.  He should be in a sling for 4 to 5 weeks and undergo physical therapy for 12 weeks or more.
Brock and Mom moments before entering the MTC.

      Meanwhile it was great to talk with Brock on Mother's Day.  He was able to talk for a few minutes with each member of the family which included his sisters Jaron and Abbie, brother-in-law Matt, Grandma Bryson, and mom and dad.  He says everything is going fine, although he says there are ups and downs to missionary life.  The following day (P-Day) he told us in an email, "THANKS FOR TALKING TO ME YESTERDAY!  IT WAS AWESOME!"  Brock said P-Day was crazy because he was running around trying to get things done while he still had two arms! In a day or two he will pick up where he left off.  He says they have six people with baptism dates, so he's excited about that.