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! :)

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.

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

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