Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hey everyone! This past week was one of the better weeks, last transfer we spent most of our time with Autumn and John Rivera and they both got baptized, so this transfer has been a bit harder trying to find people to teach and to baptize. So… My goal for the rest of this transfer was to build a good teaching pool because Karina told us that she wasn’t going to be getting baptized anytime soon, but that she would in the next few months. So my new goal was to find some good solid investigators to teach about the gospel and who are willing and wanting to grow closer to God and feel his love more through the restoration of his church through the prophet Joseph Smith.

So this week I started calling people who have been taught in the past and also calling all of our media referrals. Media referrals are people who call into the church or get online at mormon.org to receive a free DVD or Book of Mormon. So we called them and we set up a lot of appointments and this week we found 3 solid investigators. Ones name is Tyler Gilmore, he is a great guy with a lot of good questions and he likes to read. So It should be good to see the changes in his life as he begins to read the Book of Mormon. We also found these two younger boys who are 17 and 12. Their Grandma is a former investigator of the church, she wanted us to teach her grandsons who are currently living in her home. She is such an awesome lady. So we taught these two boys the restoration of the church and we left them with a Book of Mormon. They are excited to learn and to grow together. I explained to them that they don’t have to do this alone, but they can do this together and make the changes in their lives together. They were both way excited to read and learn more together. We left them with some great things to read from the Book of Mormon. I then followed up with them the next day to make sure that they got their reading done, and of course they got it done and wanted more to read. So these two boys should be getting baptized in the next 2 months if everything goes as planned.

So I have now been in this area for almost 6 months and it is now probably my last week in this area then I will be packing up all of my stuff and going to a different area in the mission. I am excited to go to another area to meet new people and progress in another area. I will be getting my transfer call on this Saturday and I will be able to find out if I am going or staying, but I am pretty sure I am going, but at the same time you never know I could be stuck here for another 6 weeks.

Well I really don’t have much time on the computer today. We are going to go play some “Whiffle Ball” in the gym at the church. I am excited to finally do something active on my P-day. I ask that you all can keep praying for this great cause that needs to be fulfilled, that the Lords work may grow quickly so that his words may be fulfilled. I love this work and sometimes it can be hard. I like to compare it to a big beautiful Rose Patch. It is a beautiful thing but it hurts sometimes when you have to maintain it. Ha ha ha that was kinda lame but hey. I love you all I hope you all have a great week.

Love Elder Doyle

Monday, February 15, 2010

Its another week to hear about the life of Elder Doyle, I first off want to remind all of you that I love you all so much and that I miss you all like crazy, but I am at the right place in my life right now and I know that God wouldn’t want me anywhere else. I had a really good week.Something filled me with an increased love for the people here in this area where I am serving. I am kind of sad because I am going to be transferred to another area in the mission at the end of this month. I am hoping that I get to go serve in Brooklyn somewhere. I was sitting in church yesterday and I was looking around at all of the people in the ward that I have come to love so much, I am sad that I have to leave them. I began to cry a little bit, because I feel that the ward has gotten a lot better since I have been here. I am thankful for the success that I have had in this area, with two of the people that I baptized were at church yesterday.Karina Waddoups isn’t going to be getting baptized this transfer, but she will be getting baptized soon, I know that I have planted a seed in her heart and she has been nourishing it by doing her daily scripture study and attending church for the past 9 weeks in a row. I am almost out of time here so I am going to have to cut off way short this week. I am also in an internet cafĂ© with a lot of distractions.It is so weird to me that I have been out for almost 6 months I will hit my 6 month mark next week. It is crazy that time has gone by this fast. I know that time is only going to go by faster. I am going to be back home before ya’ll even know it. I am just loving the type of person that I am developing into. I feel that I am still the same person, but my desires have completely changes and my testimony has strengthened so much. I have to go now, sorry it was so short! I Love ya’ll
Elder Doyle

Friday, February 12, 2010

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

his weeks update really is going to be a small one. I don’t have a lot of time and not that much happened this week. We spent a lot of time working hard and trying to find people to teach, but not much success. It is ok though sometimes the work isn’t always easy. I also have been trying my best and so that makes it easier knowing that I did my best. Others just exercised their agency poorly and chose not to accept the message that we had to share with them. I do know that I am planting small little seeds in their hearts so that maybe next time they will listen more.
So we are teaching someone that is doing awesome though and she is going to be baptized in the near future for sure. It is Karina, I think that I talked to you all about her last week about how her husband is a member. She accepted to take to missionary lessons and we are so proud of her. She said that she would pray to know if what we are teaching her is true. It was awesome so we taught her the restoration this past week and the Spirit was so strong in her home. After the lesson her little son said that he felt the Spirit. Also her Husband testified of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. I am so excited to see what happens for this family in the future. She has a fear to pray, she has a desire to know if what we are teaching her is true, but if she receives the answer that it is true (which she will) then she knows that there is a great sacrifice that comes from that. She comes from a strong catholic family from Peru. So it is hard for her to accept it. We have planned a good lesson for her this week and she seemed excited to meet with us this upcoming week.
This week Mark Packer my “Pa” from trek is in town, but we are encouraged not to visit people that we know back from home. So I hope that you can read this Kris and understand that I just want to be obedient with exactness and that is the only thing that I can stand by is my obedience and my willingness to do this work Gods way and not mine. I don’t know why it is a rule, but I want to see him so badly, but my desire to do what is right is much stronger. I don’t know what blessings will come from this, maybe none will, but in the end I can say that I did my best by being obedient with exactness. Also something that I can truly say is that by being obedient, it makes this work so much more fun, because you have the Spirit with you a lot more than if you weren’t obedient. I am dedicating these 2 years to God and serving him, so this is what I need to do.
Also next week I might not be sending out a weekly update, I guess it is Presidents day or something like that, so the library will be closed and I would have to go to an internet lounge full of a bunch of distractions with kids screaming and swearing. It would take away from me giving a spiritual weekly update. I love all of you and this is all that I have to report for this week. Love Ya’ll!

Elder Doyle

Monday, February 1, 2010

Hey everyone!!! Again this week is going to be short, but at the same time it might be a little funny. So I will start out with the funny part first. So last week I talked about how my companion and I set some high goals for this transfer. So we got talking about how we are going to reach those goals that we have set. We had a really good talk and it got me thinking… So I asked him what he would think if I were to jump on the train and just start talking out to everyone (people do it all the time anyways trying to make money). He said if I have the courage to do that then I totally should. So I jumped on the train the next morning and I asked, “Should I do it?” He replied, “Yeah! Do it.” So I was a little nervous at first considering there are like 100 people on the train but they could all hear me if I were to talk out to everyone. So I questioned him again and asked if I should do it, he replied “if you are going to question yourself then its too late.” So then I just talked out to everyone on the train, “Brothers and Sisters, we are missionaries and we are here to help any of you who are willing to grow closer to our father in heaven by helping them learn of the fullness of the gospel. I know that this is the life for us to prepare ourselves to meet God, and we are here to help you prepare yourselves for that. We are also giving out free DVD’s about Christ. So we are going to come through the train and hand out information to any of you who want a free DVD. We are also willing to talk to you about anything that you might need help with in your life. We are not here for us we are here for you. We love you and we are here to serve you. Thank you!” So yeah that is very close to the words that I said when I jumped on the train and talked out to everyone on it. At first I was so nervous but once I opened my mouth I was comforted and I could tell who was interested and who wasn’t. It was way fun I did that 2 times on that day and I am still doing it. It is an adrenaline rush. We found 2 new investigators and that makes it so much worth it. It is crazy because when you jump on the train and start talking about Christ, there are going to be people on the train who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or people who belong to another Christian denomination. It is fun though. Ha ha ha.This week we had 2 new Elders move into our “pad” is what we call them here. So now its not so lonely there are 4 of us. It is fun, they are Spanish speaking elders so I am getting better at my Spanish, at least trying to I should say.The last thing that I want to share with each of you is about one of our investigators, her name is Karina Wadoupps. Her husband is a member and he went on a mission to the Dominican Republic. He has been inactive since 1997 and has now been coming to church since Christmas. We went and visited them after the first time we saw them at church. That was back a few days after Christmas day. So we have been visiting with them once a week because we want to build trust with them and with Karina so that she can trust us missionaries and get to know us better. They have the best family with 3 cute little kids one is 6 and one is 4, with another new born baby. Her 6 year old son is so smart and has started to read the book of Mormon everyday. They now pray together as a family every morning and night. They look forward to going to church every Sunday. So this week we told her that we are here to help her to come to the knowledge of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and to help her with any of the concerns that she may have. So we then asked her if she would be willing to allow us to teach her the lessons that she needs to know to understand the fullness of the gospel. She was more than willing to allow us to do that, she began to cry and totally opened up with us. We are so excited for her and we hope that she can be baptized within these next few weeks or so. We are always praying for her and we see a lot of good things in the future for this great family. They really are so awesome. Karina’s Husbands name is John and John has received a new calling to be a teacher in Elders quorum, He is excited for his calling and he gave an awesome lesson last week in church.This is another part of what this work is about is by helping families be eternal and forever, because that is what God wants for each of us. I know that Karina is going to be baptize and that they will be an eternal family. My faith is there and I love them so much. I know that This is going to be an eternal blessing for that family.Now I have to go sorry I am out of time and I have to close this one short, but I love and miss all of you!
Love, Elder Doyle