Baptism Bucket Brigade

Elder Bird and his companion Elder Roberts had a baptism this last weekend.

Elder Robers and Elder Bird outside their apartment complex.

 Getting the font filled took a little more work than expected and was somewhat like what you might find in a foreign country:
     So Cole's bapstism did go through! :) It was a good and funny one, that's for sure!  To start the day, we went to the bowling alley to watch Austin Fergoso, Marcus' son, from the family we met at Wallmart, receive his awards.  It was really cool!  Then we came back, ate lunch and headed out to visit some people.  Around 3 we went to the Fergoso's for a lesson, then to the Zumolts,  a part member family we're teaching.  At 6 we went to fill the font and then headed to dinner.  But the problem was we didn't have the right keys for the church or the font! So we had to call the bishop of the 3rd Ward to get the right set.  Keep in mind it takes about an hour to fill a font!  Haha!  Finally we got the right set around 6:30, and it's suppose to start at 7! haha!  Oh boys! We started using trash cans, pitchers, buckets, anything we could to fill the font quicker.  Haha! Pretty funny to see if you were there.  We all frantically running around with anything we could find filled with water!  Even to our surprise, the font was full by 7:15.   We finished on time!  All in all, it will be one to remember!! (Cole was not only baptized last week but he also got married.  Congratulations to him!)

  I'm glad you guys had a good week and Easter!  I missed you but hope all is good!  Here's my week:
Tuesday we taught people and did some finding.  We did manage to find a family at Wallmart, as I mentioned earier.   They are getting baptized now!  So cool!  The mom's name is Marci, a really sweet lady.  She invited us over for dinner on Thursday, but before we get into that, she also has a son named Austin who ireally cool.  He is 15,  a little bit nerdy, but I love the kid!  He was so excited for us to come over and hang out with him.  He was like, "Yes, I finally have some friends. I kind of felt bad for him because he is a really cool kid!  Just no one gives him a chance.  They also have a daughter named Aries who is autistic and super cute.  She is in love with Elder Roberts.  She is always hiding form him and playing peek-a-boo! :) Haha!  The dad Steve is way cool.  He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do! I talked with him a bit about fighting and things like that.


     Wednesday we taught a lot of lessons.  We visited the Dockeries are a part member family. We invited Bill the husband who isn't a member to be baptized this week! So it will be interesting.


     Thursday we met up with Brother Phair and Brother Hansen for splits.  Both are really cool guys! Brother Hansen and I went out and visited the Rohabackers, a family we reactivated.  We also went to see the two Daniels.  They are doing well.  They have a few things to work through before baptism, but it's all good.  After those few visits we went to Cole's to go over the baptismal questions with him.


     Friday we had district meeting but it didn't start on time because the zone leaders lost the keys! Haha!  We had to got to our church so we kinda hurried and the meeting didn't start 'til 12 so we got out late like 2 and had lunch and hung out with the missionaries in the district.  That evening the zone leader and I did Cole's interview!   After he passed with flying colors we planned his baptism!

     On Easter we went to church, did some finding, and came home and put a pizza in the oven.  Good stuff, but that's my week.


Love you dad! Stay safe!
Brock

Two Bird Family Missionaries

     For a couple of weeks in April, the Birds had two missionaries in the field.

Jannae with one of her little patients in Nakuru, Kenya.

  Brock in Oregon, and Jannae in Kenya!  She spent 10 days in Nakuru with an international medical team representing Operation Smile.  They treated burns, performed surgeries and changed dozens of lives.  We kept Brock updated on his mom's trip halfway around the world.  Brock says he's happy his mom is now home safe and enjoyed hearing about her experiences.  Jannae heads off on an LDS humanitarian mission for the month of August to Costa Rica and Haiti.
     In the meantime, here's what's happening with Elder Bird:

     On Wednesday we talked to these crazy drunk guys.   They couldn't even walk, let alone stand! Pretty funny!  We did not have any appointments that day so it was a day of finding.  It was good.  We did have an appointment with the bishop to plan and discuss our "Invitation Sunday.  So we went through the ward list and set up appointments with less actives, part members and investigators.:)


     Thursday was busy.  We had lessons all day and then went on splits with the bishopric.  Pretty intense.  I went out with Bishop Anderson.  Everyone in the bishopric is like way old.  Kinda funny, haha!


     Friday we taught a lot of members, less actives, part members, and investigators. We taught Cole.  He is stoked he get married Wednesday and baptized on Saturday! He is a funny guy, but I gotta love him!  He is doing really well.   thursday night

    This week I had an exchange with Elder Puertas.   Really cool kid from Provo,.  He's been out more than a year and is our zone leader.  We had a lesson with Diana, a recent convert.  It was kind of funny.  Her dog wet all over her and she had to leave!

    O conducted a district meeting this week.  Everyone enjoyed it. We all went to A&W afterwards.  Then we had a meeting with a less active,recent convert named Sister Erickson.  We talked to her and she came to church on Sunday and was very grateful that we are her new missionaries!

     Saturday we had another busy day but I loved it!  After all the splits that day and night we delivered gift baskets for Easter.  We had a little party and played some basketball with some members!


     We went to church on sSunday and just took a bit of a break while I correlated with ward mission leaders, missionaries, and AP's with our numbers for the week! :)   We taught 29 lessons with a member present.  It was intense!


Love you!
Your son Elder Bird! :)

Happy Easter Letter!

     Brock is doing very well in Klamath Falls and loving the work. He might have shoulder surgery soon so we'll let you know how that goes. Here's a portion of a handwritten letter he sent us for Easter:

Brock sent this little Easter package to us including a couple
of bunnies, one stuffed, one chocolate.  He says, "Sorry! Only
had money for one bunny.  So share!  Besides, it's the thought
that counts!"

     Hey guys! Just wanted to say I love you and Happy Easter! I miss you very much. We have a baptism this weekend (April 23rd) and we're very stoked for it. Cole is getting baptized and married the same week. Awesome!


     We also picked up a family at Walmart yesterday. We're having dinner with them tomorrow! Very spiritual experience on how we ran into them there.


     I love the Lord and love the people we find and teach. They are amazing people and they all deserve the Gospel in their lives. That's why I do this! It's for them, not for me. I have some awesome guys (elders) to hang with down here as we serve the Lord.


I love you guys so much and wish you all the best.


Love,


Your son and brother, Elder Bird.

A Minor Medical Miracle?!

     We got some good news this week from Klamath Falls.  Brock's shoulder is doing much better after many prayers and a blessing or two.  It looks like he will put off surgery for now, but at some point he'll need it, hopefully after he completes his mission.   We'll keep you updated.  In the meantime, it's been busy on the missionary front:


Families are forever!  We wanted to share this photo from his last area in Corvallis-Albany. 
Before he headed to Klamath Falls, he said goodbye to the Vaughns, a family he baptized earlier this year.

     This week has been a blur!  We taught all of our investigators:  Cole, Pauleen, Morgan, and the two Daniels. Unfortunately, Pauleen dropped us!  I totally saw it coming and wish I could have done more, but I guess it's a lesson Heavenly Father wanted me to learn!  I need to be more on top of things!  We'll still talk to her and we'll try to resolve her concerns. 

     President came to town this week and man it made things crazy.  I was doing all my normal missionary work plus the district business.  I had l15 meetings...with every bishop to discuss how the missionaries in their wards are doing.  Then I reported to president and the stake president.  It was nuts!


     Wednesday we spent most of the day finding people in the5th ward because they haven't had much success.  We picked up a few new investigators and that was good!  We went in early for the night to plan for president, the ZL's and the AP's for the following day.  So that was a lot of work! 


     Thursday we had president's training on how to teach people, not lessons.  I definately learned a few things over again that I could improve on.  That evening we went on splits and my comp Elder Roberts was very blessed because he picked up the Zumolt family.  I have not met them yet but it will be cool.  They are a part member family and are very interested and excited.  We have an appointment with them tomorrow so that will be good!


     Saturday we helped the Alston family move.  They were living in the 5th ward but are now moving into our ward so we helped them in the morning before it got to hot.  Later, we found a few new people to teach but not too promising.  We visited with Jean Erickson, a recent convert,  then headed to the Lamrecks house for a lesson.  They are struggling so we tried our best to help them out.  Just told them how coming to church, reading and praying are the small and simple things that can help so much!


     We had a great visit at the Phillips' house where we had dinner and correlated the ward's missionary work.  Sunday was a little busy and crazy!  We had extra meetings and all the good stuff!  At the Richards, we had this chicken that was to die for along with rice and a vegetable bowl that was ogh soooo amazing!  Then dessert.  We had cooked pineapple with ice cream!  Oh boy!


     I am so glad mom is doing well in Africa!  I miss her a lot!  Thanks for the updates.  Hope your week will be a good one!  I love you and hope all is well!


Love, your son.


Elder Bird!

Shoulder Surgery To Be Part Of The Missionary Experience!

     Several weeks ago Brock aggravated a football shoulder injury which has left him in a great deal of pain, so much so that he had to walk around with his hand tucked into his belt to get some relief.  It is feeling better now, but he will undergo surgery within the next couple of weeks.  Sister MacDonald tells us the surgery will take Brock out of service for only a day.  He'll wear a sling for 4 weeks and undergo rehab for up to 12 weeks.  Despite that news, the missionary work goes on.

Elder Bird with Elder Osborn, one of his missionary buddies, at a recent zone conference.

     This morning I went to the doctor about my shoulder!  I discovered that I have two tears now, one in the front and one in the back.  All my tendons are loose in my shoulder, so he would need to repair the two tears and then tighten most of my tendons in my shoulder.  The only fix is surgery.  It is doing better because I have been lifting free weights.

Through all of this, Jannae (Brock's mom) is in Kenya on a 10 day medical mission.

     As for mom that is a really cool experience and it seems like she is enjoying it.  I just hope she is safe and I am keeping her in my prayers!
     
     My week!

     Monday we had lessons from like 6 to 10.  We taught this girl named Pauleen.  She is like mid 40's, is a recovering drug addict and has been into some serious stuff..  But she has been clean for 15 years and is really close to God.  We have been teaching her all week and the lessons have gone really well. So far she has given up smoking and accepted a date to be baptized on the 16th.  She came to the church and watched conference with us for the morning session. So it was pretty cool.  She has progressed very well and has grasped the importance of Jesus Christ and His gospel principles.

     I am way tight with this kid named Garrett who we met playing basketball.  He comes and hangs out with us a bit and were going to start teaching him this week.

     Later we went to Morgan's house and taught him again.  He is having some trouble.  He is 11 years old and hasn't been going to school. We just talked to him about the importance of education!  It went really well and we also taught his older brother who is really cool and has so many questions. He is really bright and we were able to answer all his questions and you can totally see him changing for the better!

     Wednesday we had dinner with brother Phair and a single woman in the ward.  She had a friend over who is a 7th Day Adventist. We taught her and it was a good lesson.  Her name is Melody so we'll see how that goes.


     Thursday we taught Cole for a quick lesson.  We have been teaching a ton! Most of these people I am talking about we see daily along with lots of other people.  Cole is getting married on the 20th and baptized that weekend!  So that will be really cool!


     We also taught the two Daniels this week.  Really cool kids.  The one I am tight with got his wisdom teeth out.  Super funny! We watched some conference with them.


     Saturday we watched conference and Priesthood meeting was a really good one by the way!. 


     Being a leader is a lot of work but it's cool to receive revelation for district meetings!  This week I really looked at the numbers and they have been down since '08 in my area.  So I really tried to get the elders motivated.  And it worked!  We blew out all the numbers in the area this week and the district picked up 29 new investigators!  So I was stoked about that!  I am not a number's guy but numbers are important because they help keep you motivated and keep track of your work.  I am really impressed with the zone down here.  They have really turned it around and we're getting things done! Not only that I think confrence helped a lot!  It was a good motivator along with our combined district meeting. It was sweet!


     The weather here has been super nice, mid 70's and 80's all week!  I really think the weather had a lot to do with the work too.  Everyone is just glad to be out and about!


     I love you Dad!   Tell Mom I love her! 
    Love,  your son!