Daniel vs Surprise Baptism!

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:21:16 -0700
From: eric.feller@myldsmail.net

You wont believe this.

On Tuesday was had a meeting scheduled with Shannon, the investigator who's daughter had passed away and we attended the funeral. She had been coming to church for a few weeks and so we tryed to set something up again. We texted her to confirm the lesson and she said, "Can we just bypass all the lessons? I have done a lot of research. I just  want to talk about baptism." So we met and she was telling us about all this research she did were she went to every anti web-site and then looked up all the church doctrine. She said the only thing she couldn't find was the process to be baptized. We didn't understand at first, because she didn't sound like she wanted to be baptized, so I was like, "... well... first you meet with the missionaries, and then..." and she cut me off and went on this tangent about the articles of faith, and then I got it. She was asking me what she had to qualify for. So I showed her the interview questions and said that you have to pass this interview. She looked over the questions and was said, "ok, I can do that."  So I asked her if she wanted to be baptized, and she said yes. Then I asked if she believed in the church and everything and she said yes. And so we put her on date for Saturday and she was baptized! It was a tottal surprise. 

But getting to the baptism was a little harder than that. We found out Tuesday evening. She also said she didn't want anyone to be there, because she's terrified of being in front of people. We also had her interview on Wednesday morning, where, thankfully, Elder Case got some of her understanding on the right track. Some people don't realize how important the commandments are, especially when they do their own homework. Then Wednesday night we told our ward about it all and they were happy, but the Ward Mission Leader was going to be out of town, so I had to get everything done for the baptism all by my self. Then, we had to move the time up because of the stake baptisms that day, and also, the Stake was getting mad at us because we planned the confirmation for Saturday because she is terrified of people, because the handbook says it has to be on Sunday at church, even in her situation and with the Mission President on my side. And then Shannon didn't get back to us about the program until the day before. So we spent all Friday night trying to find some members to help us make it. We ended up at this guys house who when we ate there for dinner, just told us all these funny stories about dumb stuff he did on his mission, who said to come over if we ever needed anything. So we got the program all set at 9 o clock the day before, but the Bishop still didn't know the time changed, because we couldn't get a hold of him all day. But we call him again at 9:30 and he tells us that the Sake President had sent him an email about how Convert Confirmations need to be in sacrament meeting because the handbook says so. So we have all this drama coming from the members! (again). But the Baptism and confirmation went off without any problems on Saturday morning... except I forgot to tell the person conducting that the time had changed... Oops. 

Lesson Learned: Don't have me do a whole baptism by myself... 

But Shannon is awesome. She has found the truth and wont let it go. She's a pretty funny person. She's super intelligent, and really stubborn. Hence why I don't even have a picture of the baptism. She didnt like meeting with the missionaries to get information, so she found it all out, and because of her already strong relationship with God she was able to discern the truth by the Holy Spirit. Which is a testimony booster of the converting power of the Gospel. 

That was most of the craziness this week. The rest of it will develop at a later time, and I'll fill you more in then. But get excited. 

Love,

The Key is too big!

Daniel vs Satan

Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 11:17:45 -0700
From: eric.feller@myldsmail.net

 

Satan has been hard at work in the Gilbert Zone this whole past week. We've had tons of problems with certain missionaries, and everyone is just kinda been down and having a hard time.  I wont go into too much detail, because its sad, but the good news is that we're pulling out of it! We've had a lot of potential pop up recently and all the problems and trials are definitely because we're on the brink of huge success. Its funny, that two of the companionships that are doing the best, are the ones struggling the most. And I've had my share of drama this week, but we'll get to that.

 

First! Sorry I didn't email last week, nothing much to report. But we've been working with this family and its been going great! They were less active, and their 4 kids are not baptized. We've been meeting with the two oldest, Colten and Sierra, and they're getting baptized on the 17th. We asked if the other two would be interested and the dad said no, but he was going to work on them, and yesterday the whole family was at church! It was awesome. It was the first time we even met the mom and two other kids. So that's going great. They're super excited, and so are we.

 

Then, on Wednesday, we were doing our weekly meetings with all our ward mission leaders. During one of the meetings I brought up how our investigator had asked why there was no one else in the Gospel Principles class and we asked if we could get some more people in there to fellowship her. And the ward mission leader just shut me down and told me that was a bad idea because when there's a lot of people they all like to talk and voice their opinions and get on tangents. I couldn't believe he shut me down like that... Especially because the teacher of that class only goes on random tangents by himself...

 

But then! In the next meeting, we had previously talked about going over the ward mission plan and trying to help the missionary efforts of his ward become more effective, and so we go in, and we talk for a second, and then I start my whole presentation, and then the High Councilor over missionary work comes in, and as soon as I mention setting specific goals, the Ward Mission Leader kind of shuts down and stops paying attention. Then something happened and he interrupted me and started off with, "I am a faithful member of the church... but this has gone too far" and then proceeds to yell at me for about ten minutes about how the Church is putting the emphasis in the wrong place, and the brethren are misguided, and he crumples up the Sample Mission Plan I gave him and throws it at me. Then he gets into how I as a missionary don't care about people, and I'm prideful and I need to get up and start working. I was completely thrown off. I couldn't believe it was happening, and I am not exaggerating about it at all. So I'm sitting there getting yelled at with my companion, and the Bro. Hale, the High Councilor is sitting right there. And then he starts in about how his ward is so doing all this stuff and I stopped him and said, "But where are the results? There are no results!" and yelled "Bull Crap!" And kept going for a few more minutes and then ended with, "You don't know what a hard mission is! You have it easy! I served in France!" and just went off about it. Then he closed with a prayer and I pick up the paper he threw at me and went to throw it away. It hit the edge of the garbage can and fell to the side, and Bro. Hale picked it up and started to unfold it and I just walked out of the room, and we biked home. I was pretty mad that night, and I told the missionaries about and the Zone Leaders were ticked! But I just went to bed. I woke up the next morning and it all kind of caught up with me and I was pretty shaken. But I got the spirit back and was good to go.

 

Pretty crazy, but it gets better. So Elder Gordon, our Zone Leader, talks to Bro. Hale the next day, and Bro. Hale had a long talk with the Ward Mission Leader and told him I was just doing my job. But Bro. Hale was interested in what I was talking about. So on Sunday, The Ward Mission Leader comes up to me and totally apologizes, and says that he wants to do things the Lords way, and asked for my forgiveness. So I have no hard feelings towards him. And! That night Elder Gordon and I go to visit Bro. Hale and talk with him about everything we've been doing to get missionary work going in our wards, how many people the members know, and how with an effective Ward Mission Plan, we can focus that effort and actually produce results. Lots of results. This is everything I've been working on since... almost my whole mission. Bro Hale ate it up and we're going to be working with him to help the Gilbert Stake follow the hand book, and become very successful. On the drive home Elder Gordon and I were talking about how big of a deal this is, and how we can see events in our whole missions preparing us for this. The things that are happening right now are inspired. Things are going to happen. And that's why Satan has been working hard on Gilbert. But we're breaking out of it now.

 

The Ward Mission Plan and everything I'm talking about is how the ward can effectively participate in member missionary work. I know I probably sound crazy, but its basically following what the Handbook says about missionary work, to help us be effective in our finding, teaching, and baptizing. Its interesting, because in an area like Gilbert, theres almost nothing that the missionaries can do to bring people into the church without the members. So this is how it has to work here.

 

Its like I'm in a movie!

 

Love,

Elder Feller.

Daniel vs Gilbert... Round Two!

From: Eric Feller <eric.feller@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Mon, Nov 21, 2011 19:06:26 GMT+00:00

Hello again from Gilbert! Right now I'm sitting in a Library I sat in 7 Months ago. I am back in the Gilbert Zone, but this time a few miles down the street in the Gilbert Stake. Last transfer they made a new area out of two areas and put an Elder who had been a Zone Leader in there to train for his last transfer. So now I'm finishing training, and I cant spell his name yet so I'll get it next week.

 

Sorry I'm a little late this morning, we just came from a funeral for the daughter of an investigator of ours that I haven't met yet. It was at Sun Valley Community Church, so now I can say I've been to another church on my mission. It was a nice service.. very interesting. Not too much to say about it. They had some songs, the pastor spoke, some family spoke. It was really nice. When we were all filing out I did shake the pastor's hand and say thanks... Only because he looked to my tag and then at me! He held a smile though, so I don't think he cared. He might not have even really noticed.

 

We had one last lesson with Ada on Tuesday before I left. It went well. She's really getting there...

 

Not much is happening here in Gilbert. I haven't even taught a lesson yet. They just made the area out of parts of two not so productive areas.. So its struggling right now. But things are looking up, as always. The stake is pretty good about focusing on missionary work. Now I just have to channel all of that into effectiveness. Sometimes I feel like I've figured out this missionary thing, but then its hard to translate that into actual output because you cant just go into a place and tell them what to do. That was a huge lesson I've learned, and I feel like that's a place where I succeeded in my last area. I waited until they trusted me, and then when the time was right, they were open and everything was implemented. So we're working.

 

I will really miss my last district. They were an awesome group of missionaries, full of excitement and enthusiasm. But they'll still do good.

 

Love,

 

Elder Feller

 

PICTURES!!

Mesa Second District: Elders, Koons, Cunningham, Netzley, Feller, Asay & Collins. Sisters, Farthing, Corbett, Baggett & Parker.

Elder Krueger and I at Transfers.

Elder Cunningham and I

The district again, except blurry. 

Daniel vs The World

Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:53:02 -0700
From: eric.feller@myldsmail.net

We did pretty bad last week so I was going crazy this week. We were able to get a lot more lessons and had a much better week. But! We got word last night that I was getting transferred again! These past six weeks have gone crazy fast! Its like every transfer goes faster! Also, Elder Cunningham is training! I think I was more excited than him because that makes me a "Mom" (You train, you're a dad, your comp trains, you're the mom) Whooo! The transfer results for my district were pretty funny too. One Sister is leaving, and one set of Elders is both leaving, (we dont know why) and he's going to be a DL. The other set of sisters is staying, and its funny because Sis. Corbett started her mission here, got transferred to Yuma, and then is back here! And the other elders are staying too, and Elder Koons started his mission in the area next to him, and 8 months later got transferred to where he's at, and now he's still there. He'll be in the same stake for over a year!

Last P-day we had a Tri-Zone BBQ at a park near our house with Tempe and Gilbert Zones. So a lot of my friends were there! It was pretty fun, but kind of cold. I almost got ran over after I tripped when we were playing football. It was super scary. I also got to hang out with Elder Lesh one last time, because he goes home tomorrow! But he's sending me a famous tie of his, named "Handicapped Hercules." Get excited to see pictures. Also when we were about to leave, I stood up on the table and said "Oh captain my captain!" It was pretty funny, I have to admit. Also, the sister from New Zealand found out that some words are bad in America, and she also found out this week that the USA doesn't like France.

But anyways. We had a crazy, two and a half hour lesson with Ada this week. Because when we went over on Thursday night, she told us she summed up all her questions to "Where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going" and wanted to answer them with the Bible and Book of Mormon to show that they were the same. After told us the questions we just stared at her for a second and I started laughing. She was confused and we asked here where she got those questions. She just came up with them! And we explained that those were common questions that the church definitely has answers for. We also explained that it asked and answered those exact questions in Preach My Gospel. So the next day we went over and had the 2.5 hour lesson where we answered the questions and explained the Restoration and priesthood authority. Her exact words when she understood it was like "this is like Lord of the Rings!!" So we're still working on it.

I've grown a lot this week, or at least recognized it. I was on exchanges with one of our Zone Leaders and I was really stressed because I didn't know where the ward mission leader lived and we were going around in circles. I felt judged and embarased, and I was letting my anxiety get the best of me. Then we find out where its at and we start going there and talk to this guy on the way. Of course, he was stupid, and I got frustrated and didn't do the best job talking to him. I tried really hard, but didn't sound confident at all. And before and after that, my zone leader was just telling me to be calm and confident, which made me more mad, so we went and met with the WML and I taught him how we can improve the missionary work in his ward, motivate the ward council, and set up a ward mission plan that will actually work. I kinda focused all my frustrations into it, so it went really well. Afterwards, my zone leader said, "now I see the true leadership of Elder Feller." Then something clicked. So I decided I needed to play my strengths more, and that all my struggles with this area were from trying to do it a way I wasn't good at. So with all that motivation, I set up a meeting with my whole district at a restaurant we go to some Saturdays that feeds us for free, and I taught them everything I knew about how to establish a successful ward, which is something I've been struggling though and working on my entire mission, and at this point, is something I can say that I understand a lot about. The entire mission is having tons of problems with getting members into missionary work, and its so important because that's where absolutely all our success comes from. But the problem is that the missionaries know just as much as the members, nothing. But now my district now understands how to do it, and we'll be doing it again at or after district meeting tomorrow.

Then, last night we talked to this lady on the street somewhere, and it was the best OYM we've had this whole transfer, and maybe the best of my mission. She genuinely listened and wanted to know what we believed. She told us about her experiences in Iraq with the national guard and about a lot of stuff. She asked good questions, and got good answers. When I offered her a Book of Mormon, I reached into my bag and I didnt have one! I already gave it away! But my companion did so we were good. haha. But she even wrote down when our appointment was for. It was really cool. Its always motivating when you talk to someone who is awesome.

That's all the interesting things for this week.

Love,

Elder Feller

Daniel vs The Cold!

Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 13:25:01 -0700
From: eric.feller@myldsmail.net

We went from busy last week to nothing this week. All our potentials are falling through and we're basically down to two investigators. One of which was dodging us all last week... But we finally got in contact and are going to set something up soon.

Its getting really cold in Arizona! Its like 60's outside right now. I had to wear a jacket last night while we were biking. I was freezing cold and then I realized that I couldn't even see my breath... So in reality it wasn't that cold... But I'm not used to that. It was 115 for too long!

We've had a lot of meetings with our ward leaders this week. We're really trying to get stuff going in the wards. Yes, again. But they've been good. We're trying to keep up the momentum to get it all rolling, and they some of them seem to be excited about getting it done. That's the most effective thing we can be doing.

Ada is still doing really well. She was sick, so she couldn't make it to church this week. But we had two good lessons with her, where we talked a lot about the questions she had and what we can do to help her get baptized. She doesnt feel like she's repented of her issues with her family, and so she doesn't feel worthy to be baptized. Plus, we have to work on her testimony of the restoration... But we're getting there.

Everything else is cruising along. Transfers are next week, so we'll see what happens.

Love,

Daniel

Getting Elder Cunningham's bike welded.

Daniel vs Being Busy

Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:38:10 -0700
From: eric.feller@myldsmail.net

We had a crazy week! Tuesday was interviews with the Mission President. It was really good. Except we didnt get home until about 5 o clock so the rest of our evening got thrown off. President Howes really amazes me at how well he knows every single missionary. In my interview he just talked about my District, each person specifically and their needs. It was crazy!

Then on Thursday we had a visiting General Authority! Elder Wilson of the second quorum on the 70 came and spoke to us. It was from 9 in the morning until about 4-5. President and Sister Howes spoke, then Elder Wright, the area 70 here, and then Sister Wilson, then Elder Wilson. Then after lunch Sister Wilson talked about the common born-again argument against the church about "grace and works", which was a very complex answer that a lot of us didn't completely get, and then Elder Wilson talked again and opened the floor to questions.

Friday we spent applying our new training from the Assistants on our weekly planning, but then I had to bike way into Mesa in my suit to do a baptismal interview for the sisters. It went really well, except in the middle of the interview the girl I was interviewing told me I had pretty eyes, so I wrapped it up quick... It is really cool to interview these people who are so ready to be baptized. Its awesome to see the excitement in them as they are preparing.

Then Saturday we had to help Amanda move, and then had a ward Halloween party at night. We sat down and were eating food next to some of our friends in the ward, and at the same table was some non-members and no one told us! She got up and left to go get food and then her friend came over and was like "that was my neighbor!" and we're like, "Why didn't you tell us!?" Remember: It is impossible for missionaries with 300+ members at any given time to know who's who. I had 1200+ members in Queen Creek. You have to tell the missionaries if you want them to talk to them!

Then on Sunday we had to go to church, hurry and hop over to another ward to try and catch some investigators that didn't show and then race back to the other building to speak in the singles ward and then we left early to go prepare for Amanda's baptism, then we had a baptism and after we had to get a ride over to another church building to interview the other sisters candidate for baptism, then we went home to take some study time so I could prepare for District Meeting, but then we couldnt because we had to go to Amanda's house to give her some church DVDs we forgot to give her.

Whew.

But the baptism was amazing! The spirit was really strong and she really felt it. Her and her son Joseph were baptized, and after he went to church yesterday, her other son Christopher wants to get baptized as well. Joseph asked me to baptize him, and that was really cool. Amanda asked the Bishop to baptize her. She jokingly said it was because she wanted to make sure it was the right authority! We explained that lots of people could do it, but she still wanted the bishop. So it was really good. It was the first baptism of my mission that came from street contacting, even though I wasn't here when they started teaching her.

Also, wait let me explain, So Elder Krueger has my number back in Queen Creek so he could call me if he had any questions, because he was so fresh and didnt know the area. He called me before and told me that Bro. Powell had told him that he wasn't really waiting to talk to his parents, but he still believed that the Catholic church had that authority, and I was devastated! I felt like I had failed! But then called me on Sunday night and said he went over and had a throw-down lesson with him about the restoration and bro powell got back to him later and said he thought about what he said and would probably get baptized this year! It took me a second to realize that there's only two months left this year and then I was supper happy!

Love,

Elder Feller

Finally Pictures! These computers at MCC are bad at pictures, but I have conquered them!

Amanda's baptism

Last day in Queen Creek

Presents for Elder Krueger

This was taped on my desk, which is across from my companions desk.

Daniel vs Time

Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:40:36 -0700
From: eric.feller@myldsmail.net

This has been a long, slow week. We hardly taught!

Ada got in a car accident early on in the week and then because of it she drank again, which she had really been trying not to do. But it worked out, we had a really good lesson with her. She talks a lot and usually we can guide it to where she works out her own problems. I pointed out at the end of the lesson that she used the phrase "I know.." 3 times in connection with her new found testimony of God and her relationship with him. She had been struggling with faith a lot and so this was a huge and amazing step! But everything is going really well now. Her faith is continually growing. Now we have her focusing on the Book of Mormon, and we're still working towards baptism.

I did my first District Training and exchanges this week! I trained on effective study and preparing to teach and Elder Netzley and I tore it up in his area for a day. It was really fun, and I definitely learned more than I was able to teach taught. But we didn't really have much time because of everything going on.

We were able to put Amanda and Joseph back on date on Sunday! Our lessons got delayed all week so we made sure we got them to church by scheduling a lesson right after. We focused on Joseph, because he's 8, making sure he understands everything so he can be baptized. He's a really smart and really good kid. He remembered pretty much everything from the Joseph Smith movie at the visitors center. So the plan is for them to be baptized next Sunday evening.

Friday morning we stopped by a garage sale advertized as and "LDS Book Sale" and I found a copy of Mormon Doctrine for a dollar! The funny thing was, our Mission Nurse showed up before I could buy it and gave me $20  to buy stuff. So I got an old D&C and some stickers of the LA Temple, and still have $17 to spare!

Really, nothing much else happened this week.

Love,

Elder Feller