Some times in life we realize that we are completely wrong. This is a lesson learned multiple times. Especially as a missionary and dealing with stubborn companions. But the best part is having a companion that understands the process of growth and the building of ones character. Elder Barr and I have had some really good fights lately. Sorry to say that I almost lost my patient with him. Luckily though he had the phone so I couldnt call President and ask for an Emergency Transfer(ET). We worked through it and kinda fixed the problems. The thing I realized is that I expect too much from others sometimes. I am able to perform to a level that he cannot in some areas. He is able to perform to a level incomparable to me as well. So I cannot expect him to be a morning AND evening person as I fully am. Sure people get tired. Since I usually do not, its difficult for to understand why he does. But the Good Lord has opened my eyes due to my prayers and helped me see that his best is his best. It may not be my best but its his best. Thats all the Lord requires and thats all I can require as well.
In better news, a man that I found and taught in Ahoskie named Ralph Hewitt is getting the plunge on December 13th! We found him almost a year ago come January. How incredible is that? That is right before transfers too so if we get an investigator, we can go! What a marvelous blessing it would be to see him get baptized. A man that I knew as a greenie, getting baptized while im still out here in my prime of my mission! The Lord knows me and that I wanted to see him baptized. I sure am. There are reasons why he is getting baptized now and not earlier. The current missionaries told me and I respect that. But he still said that he loved listening and learning from us. Also the friendships that he developed. I too am grateful for that.
Well its 35 degrees and Elder Malone is loving every moment! It actually "snowed" yesterday too! Like 12 flakes but hey, 12 is better than, what is it yall have? like 80 degrees. Oh yeah go East Coast!
We met an amazinly prepared lady on sat evening. Her name is Sheri and she loves the Lord. She has seen way more than I ever thought someone could and she still has faith that its part of a plan for her. Plus, she is looking forward with faith for the next trial to come! We invited her to Enrichment last night and she was soo ready to go! But her car was not quite fixed so she had to cancel. We could have gotten her a ride but when we went by to have her follow us, she was gone. :( Super Sad day. but we did get the Aguiar girls to go. The mom and her daughter. they had a nice time. The daughter in general found good friends and wants to come back! So hopefully she can get involved in mutual.
I love the church. get em once and they are as good as gold!
God Bless us all.
Elder Malone
p.s. yes even Obama
Countdown Clock
Make your own Countdown Clocks
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Ok so it's really Chesapeake....
Howdy do?
Well things are going here in good ol Virginia. OK so its not really in Deep Creek. There is an actual place called Deep Creek. But its in Chesapeake. Our area covers both Chesapeake and Portsmouth (pronounced port-smith) don't ask me why. but either way its a good little area. the people are great. they will either talk to you or close the door so normal for VA i think. The members are really really helping out alot not just with meals, actually that is the slowest part of it all. but they are more than willing to go on exchanges and have us over for a AMI. they are all working with families to bring into their home for us to teach. so that is good news there.
We actually had a really neat experience with a family named the Jackson's. There are about 5 people total. 2 adults, 5yr old twin girls and a baby named Eleazar. so only two people up for baptism but in 3 years Brother Jackson can baptize his own kids! they don't have a date yet but they did come to the last session of conference. the mom was kinda preoccupied some with the kids. but they all fell asleep! so they got the watch it. with that talk on marriage, brother Jackson was on the edge of his seat with eyes wide open! not even blinking. i watched him. it was incredible! plus he said afterwards that it gave him a lot to ponder and think about..."meditate on" so that's good. we are going over for a brunch on Thursday... tomorrow. we hope to answer their questions they are having. he has done some pretty good study with both the BOM and Bible. so good news there.
Lewis did not come to conference so he doesn't have a baptismal date anymore. but he is not moving to Newport News like i thought he was so we can still teach him. he is looking for a place to stay and he is having a hard time. he is getting kicked out of his apt suddenly because of his crazy ex. so we are doing our best to stay with him. he said he wanted to call us a few nights back but thought midnight was too late. he really needed to talk to someone. he also felt like he should read his BOM but felt like he was too frustrated to focus. so he just talked his problems out to a tree off his back patio. :) he is a trip. We are also teaching a bunch of people. nothing too solid with them so I wont report on them just yet. but your prayers and the prayers of these members are helping. thank you soo much.
Today we are headed off to Neptune Beach to play some football. now that Oct conference has happened, we can go to the beach. which also means coats back on full time unless it gets over 70 degrees. but its alright. i think i have climatized because i don't sweat all the time like i use to. and being in a car is nicer with the coat.
Its interesting though to see how peoples idea of religion runs. they all think that a prophet is any person moved by the Spirit. and once we say no, they get offended because half their family is "prophets" so its soft treading grounds there. but we do just fine. they also don't like the idea of having someone tell them what to do and think. they believe its a personal thing with God that we supposed to have. we tell them it is very personal with God, but He has called a man on this earth. then they bring up how mans is corruptible. that's why they follow God. its a mess. but we are slowly but surely helping the chosen find the right path. i know we are. its amazing how the Lord works. taking both Elders out and putting in two fresh ones. it helps us because we are probably tracting where they just tracted. and sure enough we find people. miracles happen daily.
Elder Barr is a great guy. he tries my patience 24/7 but its a resistance work out. the Lord sees how far He can push me. until i crack. and so far, 1 year later I'm still not cracking. I KNOW that if He really wanted to, He COULD make me crack. but i don't think He will. at least not now. i can see my last transfer out here, Him doing something like that. Just to show me my final point. He will get a kick out of it and I will too. I love the Lord. we have a pretty good relationship.
Just for y'alls info-mation. in exactly 1 year and 1 days from now, i will be at the temple in Washington and then going back to the mission home to meet whoever wants to meet me there. crazy huh? who would have thought that this is really my mission? and its half over! it's really odd but I'm loving it just the same. haha i don't know if reality has really actually set in yet that it is my mission. once i go home it will seem so surreal that i actually did serve one. and that my mission stories are happening now. its just crazy to me. well thanks for the prayers and love and support.
love to all y'all,
Love Elder Malone
Well things are going here in good ol Virginia. OK so its not really in Deep Creek. There is an actual place called Deep Creek. But its in Chesapeake. Our area covers both Chesapeake and Portsmouth (pronounced port-smith) don't ask me why. but either way its a good little area. the people are great. they will either talk to you or close the door so normal for VA i think. The members are really really helping out alot not just with meals, actually that is the slowest part of it all. but they are more than willing to go on exchanges and have us over for a AMI. they are all working with families to bring into their home for us to teach. so that is good news there.
We actually had a really neat experience with a family named the Jackson's. There are about 5 people total. 2 adults, 5yr old twin girls and a baby named Eleazar. so only two people up for baptism but in 3 years Brother Jackson can baptize his own kids! they don't have a date yet but they did come to the last session of conference. the mom was kinda preoccupied some with the kids. but they all fell asleep! so they got the watch it. with that talk on marriage, brother Jackson was on the edge of his seat with eyes wide open! not even blinking. i watched him. it was incredible! plus he said afterwards that it gave him a lot to ponder and think about..."meditate on" so that's good. we are going over for a brunch on Thursday... tomorrow. we hope to answer their questions they are having. he has done some pretty good study with both the BOM and Bible. so good news there.
Lewis did not come to conference so he doesn't have a baptismal date anymore. but he is not moving to Newport News like i thought he was so we can still teach him. he is looking for a place to stay and he is having a hard time. he is getting kicked out of his apt suddenly because of his crazy ex. so we are doing our best to stay with him. he said he wanted to call us a few nights back but thought midnight was too late. he really needed to talk to someone. he also felt like he should read his BOM but felt like he was too frustrated to focus. so he just talked his problems out to a tree off his back patio. :) he is a trip. We are also teaching a bunch of people. nothing too solid with them so I wont report on them just yet. but your prayers and the prayers of these members are helping. thank you soo much.
Today we are headed off to Neptune Beach to play some football. now that Oct conference has happened, we can go to the beach. which also means coats back on full time unless it gets over 70 degrees. but its alright. i think i have climatized because i don't sweat all the time like i use to. and being in a car is nicer with the coat.
Its interesting though to see how peoples idea of religion runs. they all think that a prophet is any person moved by the Spirit. and once we say no, they get offended because half their family is "prophets" so its soft treading grounds there. but we do just fine. they also don't like the idea of having someone tell them what to do and think. they believe its a personal thing with God that we supposed to have. we tell them it is very personal with God, but He has called a man on this earth. then they bring up how mans is corruptible. that's why they follow God. its a mess. but we are slowly but surely helping the chosen find the right path. i know we are. its amazing how the Lord works. taking both Elders out and putting in two fresh ones. it helps us because we are probably tracting where they just tracted. and sure enough we find people. miracles happen daily.
Elder Barr is a great guy. he tries my patience 24/7 but its a resistance work out. the Lord sees how far He can push me. until i crack. and so far, 1 year later I'm still not cracking. I KNOW that if He really wanted to, He COULD make me crack. but i don't think He will. at least not now. i can see my last transfer out here, Him doing something like that. Just to show me my final point. He will get a kick out of it and I will too. I love the Lord. we have a pretty good relationship.
Just for y'alls info-mation. in exactly 1 year and 1 days from now, i will be at the temple in Washington and then going back to the mission home to meet whoever wants to meet me there. crazy huh? who would have thought that this is really my mission? and its half over! it's really odd but I'm loving it just the same. haha i don't know if reality has really actually set in yet that it is my mission. once i go home it will seem so surreal that i actually did serve one. and that my mission stories are happening now. its just crazy to me. well thanks for the prayers and love and support.
love to all y'all,
Love Elder Malone
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Shamrock Garden? TRANSFERRED!!!!
Well here is the big news. They are "shotgunning" Glen Allen meaning everyone will die. :( ...No it means that they are pulling all missionaries out and putting brand new ones in. should be fun. it helps to mix things up and get some new blood in there. two people who don't know the area go in without a bias or anything. it seems to be really beneficial. I am going down to Deep Creek,VA which is in the same area as Portsmouth,VA. i believe I'll be in a car too but I'm not quite sure yet. I have driven through it and been to the building there. It's a nice area. i hope it will prove to be beneficial. I'm actually getting shotgunned in to it. So me and Elder Barr, my new comp will have to learn everything from scratch but it should be a fun time.
Also I'm not a DL anymore which I'm OK with... too much time spent on other things. i would rather focus more on the work and the area. not so much calling people and helping them. Don't get me wrong. i love helping others. but i kinda feel like lately I'm slipping in helping others instead of myself. "he that loseth his life shall gain it" right? well "the Lord helps those who help themselves" so it's time to help myself i guess. Elder Holley is going to Newport News so pretty close to me which is good because he is driving me up the wall! So its sad that I'm leaving but I'm excited to go to the promised land!
oh my new address if y'all care to write is :
1306 Shamrock Garden Ct.
Deep Creek, VA 23323
yeah kinda fruity but hey I'm Irish so no worries.
Not too much to say really. Things have kinda been dying to be honest. A lot of our investigators have been avoiding us. even though we have been finding a TON of new ones it's sad that the old ones were soo close. Tom and Lisa have disappeared. and Anne is still struggling with her arm but she said the nicest things about me. she is a sweet old cranky lady. she knows it too. :)
Well as far as the mission goes, there are going to be some sister TAs. but no Elder TAs (yet) i hope they bust them out soon. its been almost a year since it ended. but actually President is changing things up a lot. i haven't heard about it before it so its intense. the Assistants are working in their own area and not the office. they will work with trainers and greenies for a few days when they first get in and then let them loose in their own areas. so like tomorrow, Thursday, the trainers and greenies go to somewhere i don't know where. but on Friday and sat, they will be with the assistants and learn all about PMG. just get it hammered into them. and then come Sunday they will all turn back to their areas and finish the transfer there. A lot of people who were ZLs or Dl are getting "demoted" but its all good. it gives more people a chance at leadership. and luckily you cant mess up too much in mission leadership. unless your an asst or president. but that's about all for right now. any questions?
sorry its short and not informative. i am sick right now which stinks. i have a temp and probably a sinus infection or something. i don't know but it sucketh. so I'm going to go to a local pharmacy and get something called bucklies.which is actually a cure for the common cold developed by a Canadian pharmacist. so go figure. the slogan is, tastes terrible, works great. so I'm all kinds of excited about this. :)
tell people i said hi and let me know about stuff.
Love,
Elder Malone
Also I'm not a DL anymore which I'm OK with... too much time spent on other things. i would rather focus more on the work and the area. not so much calling people and helping them. Don't get me wrong. i love helping others. but i kinda feel like lately I'm slipping in helping others instead of myself. "he that loseth his life shall gain it" right? well "the Lord helps those who help themselves" so it's time to help myself i guess. Elder Holley is going to Newport News so pretty close to me which is good because he is driving me up the wall! So its sad that I'm leaving but I'm excited to go to the promised land!
oh my new address if y'all care to write is :
1306 Shamrock Garden Ct.
Deep Creek, VA 23323
yeah kinda fruity but hey I'm Irish so no worries.
Not too much to say really. Things have kinda been dying to be honest. A lot of our investigators have been avoiding us. even though we have been finding a TON of new ones it's sad that the old ones were soo close. Tom and Lisa have disappeared. and Anne is still struggling with her arm but she said the nicest things about me. she is a sweet old cranky lady. she knows it too. :)
Well as far as the mission goes, there are going to be some sister TAs. but no Elder TAs (yet) i hope they bust them out soon. its been almost a year since it ended. but actually President is changing things up a lot. i haven't heard about it before it so its intense. the Assistants are working in their own area and not the office. they will work with trainers and greenies for a few days when they first get in and then let them loose in their own areas. so like tomorrow, Thursday, the trainers and greenies go to somewhere i don't know where. but on Friday and sat, they will be with the assistants and learn all about PMG. just get it hammered into them. and then come Sunday they will all turn back to their areas and finish the transfer there. A lot of people who were ZLs or Dl are getting "demoted" but its all good. it gives more people a chance at leadership. and luckily you cant mess up too much in mission leadership. unless your an asst or president. but that's about all for right now. any questions?
sorry its short and not informative. i am sick right now which stinks. i have a temp and probably a sinus infection or something. i don't know but it sucketh. so I'm going to go to a local pharmacy and get something called bucklies.which is actually a cure for the common cold developed by a Canadian pharmacist. so go figure. the slogan is, tastes terrible, works great. so I'm all kinds of excited about this. :)
tell people i said hi and let me know about stuff.
Love,
Elder Malone
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
missionaries only fly twice... to and from home.
well i did attempt to fly a third time. and the Lord chastened me for doing so...here is the plunge of incredibleness.
So...we were riding on Monday morning to go to an appt with a guy named Mike. nice guy by the way. and while we were riding, i did something I always do..naturally i took my hands off the handle bars. i pulled out my little pocket map and started to look and see if we had missed the street or not. while i was biking, my bike drifted to the side of the street causing me to come too close to the curb. well in my efforts to get back on to the asphalt, my tire decided that instead of hopping over the curb and continuing onward, it wanted to twist around and stop right in its place. so of course it won. and next thing i know, im soaring over the bars with map in hand. my legs didnt make it over the bars so i took the bars with me, landing on them and then carried them with my legs as my momentum pulled me to a stop about 8 feet later. it..was..epic! i loved it! well, looking back now, at the time, it hurt somethin' awful. i laid there not sure which part hurt the most just knowing that there was alot on my right side that hurt. luckily, my face is ok. *phew* life goes on in the dating scene. ;) but...my shoulder got a good rub on the ground, and my elbow as well. my leg hurt really bad, so when i got up to walk, we went over to the 7-11, (thank heaven) to check said pain in leg. on checking i came to the conclusion that the tear in my garments and blood on them could mean something. i wasnt quite sure what but hoping for the worst, i look and noticed that, huh...is that my tissue? why by golly it is! that cant be good. who do i need to call to tell? so sure enough, on the inside of my right leg, there was a nice gash. still not quite sure what from because my brake handle is probabaly what i landed on and its not sharp! maybe thats why it hurt so bad... a deep blunt wound. ugh. so i got it stitched up and went home to rest for a little bit. but we got bored so we walked over to some members homes and tried to talk with them but there were kinda busy... so...nothing really exciting happened on monday. but everyone has been really nice about it! i get calls from my district almost at every meal to see how i am. we have a car now for a few days because i dont want to irritate the stitches and pull them on a bike. its nice. i miss cars sometimes. but sure enough, we get a car now when its like 75. last week it was like 90. where was my car then?! HUH?
so nothing really new. just some new wounds but hey, it was about time right?
OH OH OH! news! so..they called an emergency ZLC today. its a zone leader council. so im not going. BUT! why would they call one "emergency"? they have one coming up in about 2 weeks. i personally think two things.
1. Charlottesville is becoming its own stake, meaning a new zone will be opening. so thats big news! a city making its own stake. Richmond is covered by 3! (well, there are only about 5 actually covering the city limits, but because it goes over to the south side, there are two different wards down there that take the cake on that.) but it means that the church is growing out here! so that could be the cause of much rejoicing among the believers.
2. when i came out last year it was the end of a program called the TA program. Training Assistant. where about 1 missionary goes to a different area each week to help train missionareis on PMG and misionary work. just to help get the mission to become a preach my gospel mission. and there is a rumor among the zls that President might be bringing that back in! i really hope so for two reasons.
a. I really really want to be a TA. you have to know misionary work really well, not to mention PMG. BUT what a blessing! plus, its different every week, talk about trust, and ever since i came out i wanted to be one. more than an AP or ZL.
b. i never had one, so i would like to have one if they start it back up.
so i dont really know about it, whether its happeneing or not, but transfer calls are on tuesday so we shall know then right? :) pray family. pray for success!
i hope all is well with yall. i'll definitely keep yall in my prayers as always. thanks for the $upport and love. it helps alot.
Love
Elder Malone
p.s. Autumn is on Monday! everyone pray that it will last forever this time. jut cancel out winter and keep autumn! hooray for autumn!
So...we were riding on Monday morning to go to an appt with a guy named Mike. nice guy by the way. and while we were riding, i did something I always do..naturally i took my hands off the handle bars. i pulled out my little pocket map and started to look and see if we had missed the street or not. while i was biking, my bike drifted to the side of the street causing me to come too close to the curb. well in my efforts to get back on to the asphalt, my tire decided that instead of hopping over the curb and continuing onward, it wanted to twist around and stop right in its place. so of course it won. and next thing i know, im soaring over the bars with map in hand. my legs didnt make it over the bars so i took the bars with me, landing on them and then carried them with my legs as my momentum pulled me to a stop about 8 feet later. it..was..epic! i loved it! well, looking back now, at the time, it hurt somethin' awful. i laid there not sure which part hurt the most just knowing that there was alot on my right side that hurt. luckily, my face is ok. *phew* life goes on in the dating scene. ;) but...my shoulder got a good rub on the ground, and my elbow as well. my leg hurt really bad, so when i got up to walk, we went over to the 7-11, (thank heaven) to check said pain in leg. on checking i came to the conclusion that the tear in my garments and blood on them could mean something. i wasnt quite sure what but hoping for the worst, i look and noticed that, huh...is that my tissue? why by golly it is! that cant be good. who do i need to call to tell? so sure enough, on the inside of my right leg, there was a nice gash. still not quite sure what from because my brake handle is probabaly what i landed on and its not sharp! maybe thats why it hurt so bad... a deep blunt wound. ugh. so i got it stitched up and went home to rest for a little bit. but we got bored so we walked over to some members homes and tried to talk with them but there were kinda busy... so...nothing really exciting happened on monday. but everyone has been really nice about it! i get calls from my district almost at every meal to see how i am. we have a car now for a few days because i dont want to irritate the stitches and pull them on a bike. its nice. i miss cars sometimes. but sure enough, we get a car now when its like 75. last week it was like 90. where was my car then?! HUH?
so nothing really new. just some new wounds but hey, it was about time right?
OH OH OH! news! so..they called an emergency ZLC today. its a zone leader council. so im not going. BUT! why would they call one "emergency"? they have one coming up in about 2 weeks. i personally think two things.
1. Charlottesville is becoming its own stake, meaning a new zone will be opening. so thats big news! a city making its own stake. Richmond is covered by 3! (well, there are only about 5 actually covering the city limits, but because it goes over to the south side, there are two different wards down there that take the cake on that.) but it means that the church is growing out here! so that could be the cause of much rejoicing among the believers.
2. when i came out last year it was the end of a program called the TA program. Training Assistant. where about 1 missionary goes to a different area each week to help train missionareis on PMG and misionary work. just to help get the mission to become a preach my gospel mission. and there is a rumor among the zls that President might be bringing that back in! i really hope so for two reasons.
a. I really really want to be a TA. you have to know misionary work really well, not to mention PMG. BUT what a blessing! plus, its different every week, talk about trust, and ever since i came out i wanted to be one. more than an AP or ZL.
b. i never had one, so i would like to have one if they start it back up.
so i dont really know about it, whether its happeneing or not, but transfer calls are on tuesday so we shall know then right? :) pray family. pray for success!
i hope all is well with yall. i'll definitely keep yall in my prayers as always. thanks for the $upport and love. it helps alot.
Love
Elder Malone
p.s. Autumn is on Monday! everyone pray that it will last forever this time. jut cancel out winter and keep autumn! hooray for autumn!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Miracles and more Miracle!
Well...thoughts. nothing is coming to mind. oh miracle time! OK so i guess in he umbilical cord, there are supposed to be two main vessels right? well, this ward missionary who is really cool and super great guy, his wife is pregnant. and she was having problems with it. apparently there was only 1 main vessel which causes problems with the baby or for her. serious problems. so they asked for a blessing the other day. and after email last week, we stopped off at a Kroger to shop and she was outside! so we talked and it turns out that she had a Dr's appt that morning and she had 3 vessels! so I'm guessing that's really good because she was really excited about it! so talk about a miracle. i was really glad for her. they are a great great family. they fed us liver once. :) at our request. good stuff.
Well...Aaron, my friend who i feel like i was sent here to find. he is moving this weekend, so our last appt with him is tonight! we are going to talk about the plan and basically just do whatever we can to help him get settled on the right foot. so when the church comes looking for him where ever he goes, he will be ready. he is really cool. he doesn't know quite where he is going in life but does hope to open an orphanage i believe. something like that. its really neat. great guy.
Elder Holley is doing well. surprisingly because I'm training him. he picks up on things really well. somethings a little too well. so i watch my actions because i don't want to be a hypocrite. :( its good though. somethings i don't tell him, he picks up by example.(not mine of course :) but I'm glad. its good to know that he is learning from me. the assistants say he is a good kid so i hope its true. they don't usually lie, unless it comes to cell phones, miles and exchanges.
Speaking of miracles and assistants! last Thursday we went on an exchange with the assistants. finally because they said they would a year ago! two completely different elders promised it to me. but these ones are still good. they really taught me a lot. and elder Hancock and i met an extremely prepared lady. her name is Kim. she is a YSA so she is not our gator, but still! i got to meet her and find her. we sang to her on her doorstep and she really liked it. then we talked about things with her and she really really liked the church. she was so excited that we set her for baptism on her doorstep! its incredible. she is just the sweetest (and the cutest) lady ever. it was a such a blessing to see how the Lord kept us there for that long of a time. we went to see a less active and he wasn't there. so just talking with everyone we could, and asking for referrals, we stayed on one street for almost 3 hours. which was just long enough. because as we were walking back to the truck, we stopped to talk to one last person who was not interested at all, but it bought us just 60 secs longer. Kim pulled up as we were talking to him. so when we stopped, we ran over to hr house and knocked on her door. it was an amazing blessing! I'm soooo grateful the Lord counted me as one worthy to find her. doing what we were supposed to do, the Lord helped us find the elect. I love Him.
Love
Elder Malone
p.s. pray for hurricane Josephine and Ike to be good ones!
Well...Aaron, my friend who i feel like i was sent here to find. he is moving this weekend, so our last appt with him is tonight! we are going to talk about the plan and basically just do whatever we can to help him get settled on the right foot. so when the church comes looking for him where ever he goes, he will be ready. he is really cool. he doesn't know quite where he is going in life but does hope to open an orphanage i believe. something like that. its really neat. great guy.
Elder Holley is doing well. surprisingly because I'm training him. he picks up on things really well. somethings a little too well. so i watch my actions because i don't want to be a hypocrite. :( its good though. somethings i don't tell him, he picks up by example.(not mine of course :) but I'm glad. its good to know that he is learning from me. the assistants say he is a good kid so i hope its true. they don't usually lie, unless it comes to cell phones, miles and exchanges.
Speaking of miracles and assistants! last Thursday we went on an exchange with the assistants. finally because they said they would a year ago! two completely different elders promised it to me. but these ones are still good. they really taught me a lot. and elder Hancock and i met an extremely prepared lady. her name is Kim. she is a YSA so she is not our gator, but still! i got to meet her and find her. we sang to her on her doorstep and she really liked it. then we talked about things with her and she really really liked the church. she was so excited that we set her for baptism on her doorstep! its incredible. she is just the sweetest (and the cutest) lady ever. it was a such a blessing to see how the Lord kept us there for that long of a time. we went to see a less active and he wasn't there. so just talking with everyone we could, and asking for referrals, we stayed on one street for almost 3 hours. which was just long enough. because as we were walking back to the truck, we stopped to talk to one last person who was not interested at all, but it bought us just 60 secs longer. Kim pulled up as we were talking to him. so when we stopped, we ran over to hr house and knocked on her door. it was an amazing blessing! I'm soooo grateful the Lord counted me as one worthy to find her. doing what we were supposed to do, the Lord helped us find the elect. I love Him.
Love
Elder Malone
p.s. pray for hurricane Josephine and Ike to be good ones!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Letters of words forgotten
That's a pretty epic title huh? yeah i love writing. Well here is something interesting. I finally retired a pair of shoes. Oh they were bad. I will have to mail out pictures to y'all sometime. they had holes and everything. Multiple holes in each shoe. So i thought it was time to get rid of them. so we did. and now I'm using my other pair which are fast disappearing as well. not too many dress shoes can hold up to a bike or even tracting. so as a wish list to start i would ask for new shoes. Dr Martens are a good idea. they are comfy and good soled. i think its a good investment for that instead of a bunch of $30 shoes every time. Dr Martens are cheap(er), and they last! there is a member who has been home almost 10 years and he still has his. they are not really worn too much from his mission. he offered them to me but they are too big. :( too bad huh? so yeah no rush but those would be nice.
Elder Holley is from Sandy, Ut where there is no sand. and he has 2 siblings. he plans on going into medicine and goes to byu. he is a really funny kid and he has a good testimony. its difficult training just because I'm not too good at laying down the law one might say. i figure he knows whats right and he is an adult so if he chooses to brush his teeth at 1030 then its his deal. he has plenty of time to brush before. so i don't hound him about it. it causes contention or at least it can. but i feel it is my duty to say a little something. so i do but not too much. its almost physically impossible for me to get out the words to tell him no.
Aaron, the guy i told y'all I'm here to find is amazing! we don't really teach him because he teaches us. he knows tons and tons about the bible and the history also. the ONLY thing keeping him caught up from joining is the sabbath day changing from sat to sun. so we are going to talk about the priesthood to him and see what he says then. because he claims that Christ didn't even have that authority to change it so why should man? its tough but he will join one day. but as we were leaving though, he said that he has been feeling for a few weeks now that he needs to "be in my life" for some reason. he cant explain it and why but he asked for my AZ information. so i gave it to him. but it was really awesome that he feels like that too. i was wondering what's going on with him. but the interesting thing is that he is planning on moving on Sept 13th. and transfers are a week afterward. so good timing huh? i met him my first transfer here and we are both leaving around the same time. proof enough for me!
i love this gospel with all my soul. I may not understand it all but the truth is constantly made manifest unto my by little things the Lord does. I had an incredible study the other day in which I learned that I need to trust the Lord more. All learned from D&C 19:23. talking of meekness. i need to trust him more and forget about other things. just like in 3 Nephi 13 :26-35 or something like that. "consider the lilies" let us all trust in the Lord is my prayer this evening. Love to all y'all.
Elder Malone
p.s. today is my 11th!
Elder Holley is from Sandy, Ut where there is no sand. and he has 2 siblings. he plans on going into medicine and goes to byu. he is a really funny kid and he has a good testimony. its difficult training just because I'm not too good at laying down the law one might say. i figure he knows whats right and he is an adult so if he chooses to brush his teeth at 1030 then its his deal. he has plenty of time to brush before. so i don't hound him about it. it causes contention or at least it can. but i feel it is my duty to say a little something. so i do but not too much. its almost physically impossible for me to get out the words to tell him no.
Aaron, the guy i told y'all I'm here to find is amazing! we don't really teach him because he teaches us. he knows tons and tons about the bible and the history also. the ONLY thing keeping him caught up from joining is the sabbath day changing from sat to sun. so we are going to talk about the priesthood to him and see what he says then. because he claims that Christ didn't even have that authority to change it so why should man? its tough but he will join one day. but as we were leaving though, he said that he has been feeling for a few weeks now that he needs to "be in my life" for some reason. he cant explain it and why but he asked for my AZ information. so i gave it to him. but it was really awesome that he feels like that too. i was wondering what's going on with him. but the interesting thing is that he is planning on moving on Sept 13th. and transfers are a week afterward. so good timing huh? i met him my first transfer here and we are both leaving around the same time. proof enough for me!
i love this gospel with all my soul. I may not understand it all but the truth is constantly made manifest unto my by little things the Lord does. I had an incredible study the other day in which I learned that I need to trust the Lord more. All learned from D&C 19:23. talking of meekness. i need to trust him more and forget about other things. just like in 3 Nephi 13 :26-35 or something like that. "consider the lilies" let us all trust in the Lord is my prayer this evening. Love to all y'all.
Elder Malone
p.s. today is my 11th!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Thank you for using your cell phones outside of the library
Its a sign i just looked up at and saw. I think it really speaks true to our day and age, dont you?
Well here is the BIG news about transfers. The one thing I was always really hesitant about is coming true. So we are in and planning last night and I was thinking about getting the calls. Because when you get called to leadership its from the assistants. When its training a greenie or special assignment its from the President. Sooo... i was wondering who got calls and what they were for and sure enough, our phone starts to ring. Oh! well who could it possibly be? Well son of a vondruke if it isnt the President on the other line! Wow president, wasnt expecting to hear from you today! what can I do you fer? Well elder malone, the Lord has chosen you(duh)...to train a new missionary in your area. Meaning Glen Allen. So needless to say i was terrified. The Spirit just poured over me when he said that though and I just really felt strongly like its what im supposed to do! kinda funny though because the one thing I never really had an inclination to do is now my deepest desire! I really really want to train this new Elder now. I dont know his name or anything about him. What happens is that tomorrow, we all meet at the building at 10am and get some training. Then...we go into this room and the president tells us who our new greenies are! The best part is that elder shock and elder hatch. two guys i came out with are training as well! Its mine and elder shocks first but elder hatchs second. Elder clegg, another i came out with has trained twice now too! So its pretty awesome. I really love it. I feel really calm and excited to meet him and get started! The best is that it will keep me on my toes and keep me going. Plus all the greenies coming out have been really awesome lately so good news there. but yeah..im a dad! woo-hoo!
On a sadder note, I heard about Russia invading Georgia (the country not the state). so it made me wonder, what happens to the missionaries in Russia? because i heard that they closed it down for missionaries. No more allowed in. so what happened to Andrew? does anyone know? could someone find out please? thanks a ton!
Well things have been going alright here in good ol Glen Allen. Lots of new people to teach. we are still working with Anne the hair lady. she is still working on it all but she is going back to physical therapy so she can get better. and she still promises to come to church. she is great lady. i love her to death...Also a cool family named the Watsons. Tom, Lisa and jesse. They are great as well. We had a super sweet lesson with them. The spirit was amazingly strong and all too! but not even 2 mins after we shared the First Vision, their son woke up and ruined the whole thing! But they really wanted to meet again and they even bore testimony about Joseph Smith. saying how its amazing that a boy that young saw God! i know right?! We havent been able to meet because of stupid adversity BUT tonights appointment will go through! fingers crossed and knocking on wood....we also are working with a family named the Johnsons to get their less-active family to church again. The johnsons are on fire with converts! Their son a year ago and Akua (his girlfriend) in may. So with this new family they have a boy who is 15 and unordained and a 9 yearold not baptized. So it falls to the missionaries hands and so myself and "elder greenie" will have a good challenge ahead of us! I am really looking forward to it though.
The Lord is really blessing us with people to teach not to mention keeping me here in Glen Allen is a super big blessing. Its like the best place in town. Seriously, this is a place i want to take y'all after my mission if y'all still want to come pick me up. I would love to have y'all come! and meet these fine people. well not much else to say really. Just sooper dooper excited to train now! Wish me luck and pictures will be coming soon!
Love Elder Malone
p.s. helaman 4:20-26 the Lords church needs to be built on obedience, other wise it WILL fall. that goes for all of us too!
Well here is the BIG news about transfers. The one thing I was always really hesitant about is coming true. So we are in and planning last night and I was thinking about getting the calls. Because when you get called to leadership its from the assistants. When its training a greenie or special assignment its from the President. Sooo... i was wondering who got calls and what they were for and sure enough, our phone starts to ring. Oh! well who could it possibly be? Well son of a vondruke if it isnt the President on the other line! Wow president, wasnt expecting to hear from you today! what can I do you fer? Well elder malone, the Lord has chosen you(duh)...to train a new missionary in your area. Meaning Glen Allen. So needless to say i was terrified. The Spirit just poured over me when he said that though and I just really felt strongly like its what im supposed to do! kinda funny though because the one thing I never really had an inclination to do is now my deepest desire! I really really want to train this new Elder now. I dont know his name or anything about him. What happens is that tomorrow, we all meet at the building at 10am and get some training. Then...we go into this room and the president tells us who our new greenies are! The best part is that elder shock and elder hatch. two guys i came out with are training as well! Its mine and elder shocks first but elder hatchs second. Elder clegg, another i came out with has trained twice now too! So its pretty awesome. I really love it. I feel really calm and excited to meet him and get started! The best is that it will keep me on my toes and keep me going. Plus all the greenies coming out have been really awesome lately so good news there. but yeah..im a dad! woo-hoo!
On a sadder note, I heard about Russia invading Georgia (the country not the state). so it made me wonder, what happens to the missionaries in Russia? because i heard that they closed it down for missionaries. No more allowed in. so what happened to Andrew? does anyone know? could someone find out please? thanks a ton!
Well things have been going alright here in good ol Glen Allen. Lots of new people to teach. we are still working with Anne the hair lady. she is still working on it all but she is going back to physical therapy so she can get better. and she still promises to come to church. she is great lady. i love her to death...Also a cool family named the Watsons. Tom, Lisa and jesse. They are great as well. We had a super sweet lesson with them. The spirit was amazingly strong and all too! but not even 2 mins after we shared the First Vision, their son woke up and ruined the whole thing! But they really wanted to meet again and they even bore testimony about Joseph Smith. saying how its amazing that a boy that young saw God! i know right?! We havent been able to meet because of stupid adversity BUT tonights appointment will go through! fingers crossed and knocking on wood....we also are working with a family named the Johnsons to get their less-active family to church again. The johnsons are on fire with converts! Their son a year ago and Akua (his girlfriend) in may. So with this new family they have a boy who is 15 and unordained and a 9 yearold not baptized. So it falls to the missionaries hands and so myself and "elder greenie" will have a good challenge ahead of us! I am really looking forward to it though.
The Lord is really blessing us with people to teach not to mention keeping me here in Glen Allen is a super big blessing. Its like the best place in town. Seriously, this is a place i want to take y'all after my mission if y'all still want to come pick me up. I would love to have y'all come! and meet these fine people. well not much else to say really. Just sooper dooper excited to train now! Wish me luck and pictures will be coming soon!
Love Elder Malone
p.s. helaman 4:20-26 the Lords church needs to be built on obedience, other wise it WILL fall. that goes for all of us too!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Flaming Pandas!
Hello all,
Well this week has been aamzing! Suprisingly, my birthday was on the lower end of the week. Not that it was bad at all. But there were so many other things that happened that were waaay better. for instance, please read more...
-Well there is a really awesome member in the ward who has a gf. She just got baptized a few months ago and her mom doesnt know about it. Her mom is very against the church. :( So she has to keep it on the hush hush. So you can imagine, being only baptized for a few months, not going to church, or being able to really read the scriptures like she wants. its a terrribly sad day. Well this member calls asking if we will give her a spiritual message over the phone. so we pray and call her. And she was doing well until we talked church. and she got sad saying she needs a boost. so using the scripture I found that day in D&C 78:17-19 and a letter I had just gotten from a friend that day, she felt the spirit soo strongly that she actually started to cry. she said it was exactly what she needed! How amazing is that! that what i had studied and recieved that day helped her in the way she needed. I know that it wasnt just happenstance. tis the work of the Lord. I know that is true. I see things like that all the time. Almost too much to count...like her for example.
-Also, this amazing guy we found back in april. His name is aaron and he reminds me soo much of Randy Hatch. he is the coolest guy ever. and I really really feel like i was sent here to teach him. We lost contact for a while and it made me really sad because I just KNEW that he is supposed to be taught. Well we didnt push it too much, but his name was bugging me all weekend and I didnt say anything though to Elder Meyers. Well after church, he asks if we should stop by aarons. So I said yeah! and we did. you would never believe the meeting we had. The spirit was super strong. he really wants to know! He has a lot of questions so we are really having to prepare for this guy, but I KNOW that it will bring him closer to Christ. whether throught the church or not. the feeling I have about him is just too overwhelming to go unnoticed. and elder meyers really likes him too. So we finally got a return appoinment with him and are going to teach him sunday. so keep your fingers crossed. (or your arms). but im soo excited to help him learn about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. what a blessing.
-Real quick too. I may have mentioned this one day, but we found a family who had been taught by missionaries in another mission. They moved in to where we tracted and we found them on the "fourth watch". they are awesome. well we couldnt get a hold of them for a while. and this new family just moved in 2 houses down! the investigator family had prayed for friends and that day, the new member family shows up at their door and talks to them. its amazing the friendship they have kindled. these members are so hardcore. they are working and meeting with all their neighbors to try to build friendships to later intorduce them to the church. what better members to move next to a previous investigator than these ones?! Blessed.
- Well one final note. I know that NO ONE will believe me, but I have in fact....STOPPED BITING MY FINGER NAILS! in all seriousness and honesty. I just up and quit one day. they are super long. and nice looking too. i tried to take a picture. so ill try to send it. and you can try to see it. but I am dead serious. I never thought it would come. but it has happened!
thanks for all yall do. i hope to hear from yall soon.
love, peace, chicken grease,
Elder Malone
Well this week has been aamzing! Suprisingly, my birthday was on the lower end of the week. Not that it was bad at all. But there were so many other things that happened that were waaay better. for instance, please read more...
-Well there is a really awesome member in the ward who has a gf. She just got baptized a few months ago and her mom doesnt know about it. Her mom is very against the church. :( So she has to keep it on the hush hush. So you can imagine, being only baptized for a few months, not going to church, or being able to really read the scriptures like she wants. its a terrribly sad day. Well this member calls asking if we will give her a spiritual message over the phone. so we pray and call her. And she was doing well until we talked church. and she got sad saying she needs a boost. so using the scripture I found that day in D&C 78:17-19 and a letter I had just gotten from a friend that day, she felt the spirit soo strongly that she actually started to cry. she said it was exactly what she needed! How amazing is that! that what i had studied and recieved that day helped her in the way she needed. I know that it wasnt just happenstance. tis the work of the Lord. I know that is true. I see things like that all the time. Almost too much to count...like her for example.
-Also, this amazing guy we found back in april. His name is aaron and he reminds me soo much of Randy Hatch. he is the coolest guy ever. and I really really feel like i was sent here to teach him. We lost contact for a while and it made me really sad because I just KNEW that he is supposed to be taught. Well we didnt push it too much, but his name was bugging me all weekend and I didnt say anything though to Elder Meyers. Well after church, he asks if we should stop by aarons. So I said yeah! and we did. you would never believe the meeting we had. The spirit was super strong. he really wants to know! He has a lot of questions so we are really having to prepare for this guy, but I KNOW that it will bring him closer to Christ. whether throught the church or not. the feeling I have about him is just too overwhelming to go unnoticed. and elder meyers really likes him too. So we finally got a return appoinment with him and are going to teach him sunday. so keep your fingers crossed. (or your arms). but im soo excited to help him learn about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. what a blessing.
-Real quick too. I may have mentioned this one day, but we found a family who had been taught by missionaries in another mission. They moved in to where we tracted and we found them on the "fourth watch". they are awesome. well we couldnt get a hold of them for a while. and this new family just moved in 2 houses down! the investigator family had prayed for friends and that day, the new member family shows up at their door and talks to them. its amazing the friendship they have kindled. these members are so hardcore. they are working and meeting with all their neighbors to try to build friendships to later intorduce them to the church. what better members to move next to a previous investigator than these ones?! Blessed.
- Well one final note. I know that NO ONE will believe me, but I have in fact....STOPPED BITING MY FINGER NAILS! in all seriousness and honesty. I just up and quit one day. they are super long. and nice looking too. i tried to take a picture. so ill try to send it. and you can try to see it. but I am dead serious. I never thought it would come. but it has happened!
thanks for all yall do. i hope to hear from yall soon.
love, peace, chicken grease,
Elder Malone
Monday, July 7, 2008
Lot's of news!
Well dear people some really cool things have happened this week:
-We set Anne, the old lady with the hair problem for baptism. Aug 2 I think. Its more of a tentative date to get her thinking about it. She has to come to church 4 times before she can be dunked. But she has 4 weeks now to come to church. we did tell her we have sisters to do her hair and she said maybe."its too early for them to come over." early meaning 830ish. but they would do it. so she just needs to make that step for herself. but all we need is one week and she will be coming forever.
-We set another girl named Tiffany for baptism too! July19. she is awesome. she is only 12 too. and she has a strong testimony. just the cutest little girl ever and really nice. she gives us flowers when we go over there. and she asked me to do her confirmation too! that was an unexpected honor. Im really excited for her to baptized.
-Transfers came in. I am still in Glen Allen with Elder Meyers as a DL. good news. I love this place. and there is about 3 people who could be baptized this next transfers not including the two mentioned above. lots of work and lots of time but lots of blessings. But thats not what im doing it for though. not trying to sound all noble or anything. But i do it because i want to. beacuse it brings people joy and I love seeing their eyes light up for us. or hearing an investigator pray for the first time. as hard as it may be. its from the heart and very spiritual. its amazing!
-Well another miracle is this less active lady named Carrie Owens. she hasnt been to church in 14 years! and after some work with her, she came to the first two meetings last sunday! it was awesome. she fit in really nicely. and in class, she mentioned us as her push and thanked us. she said that elder malone is very persuasive. :) i hope its good. am I really though?
-Not to mention we met a guy who is into Scientology. if you ever get to meet one of those people please do. they are awesome! really really crazy to believe such things but nice people. I dont want to put down thier beliefs but its interesting talking to them. ill leave it at that.
-Well I wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful letters. It's been great hearing from yall. sorry if its taken a while to write back. no worry though. keep em coming. I love hearing from y'all. and i am going to do better at writing my week for y'all too. I think it would really help to talk about that to keep focused. too much outside distractions come in through emails. and plus it can be kinda homesick sometimes. so please try to include uplifting things and spiritual experiences. its so important to keep focused. and President said that it would help to write more in my emails and to recieve things that are uplifting. as much as i love hearing about things. my main focus is out here. so please in the nicest of ways, keep the daily events to a minimum. thanks so much!
love to all yall,
Elder Malone
p.s. friday is watermelon day. so eat up. i know i am.
-We set Anne, the old lady with the hair problem for baptism. Aug 2 I think. Its more of a tentative date to get her thinking about it. She has to come to church 4 times before she can be dunked. But she has 4 weeks now to come to church. we did tell her we have sisters to do her hair and she said maybe."its too early for them to come over." early meaning 830ish. but they would do it. so she just needs to make that step for herself. but all we need is one week and she will be coming forever.
-We set another girl named Tiffany for baptism too! July19. she is awesome. she is only 12 too. and she has a strong testimony. just the cutest little girl ever and really nice. she gives us flowers when we go over there. and she asked me to do her confirmation too! that was an unexpected honor. Im really excited for her to baptized.
-Transfers came in. I am still in Glen Allen with Elder Meyers as a DL. good news. I love this place. and there is about 3 people who could be baptized this next transfers not including the two mentioned above. lots of work and lots of time but lots of blessings. But thats not what im doing it for though. not trying to sound all noble or anything. But i do it because i want to. beacuse it brings people joy and I love seeing their eyes light up for us. or hearing an investigator pray for the first time. as hard as it may be. its from the heart and very spiritual. its amazing!
-Well another miracle is this less active lady named Carrie Owens. she hasnt been to church in 14 years! and after some work with her, she came to the first two meetings last sunday! it was awesome. she fit in really nicely. and in class, she mentioned us as her push and thanked us. she said that elder malone is very persuasive. :) i hope its good. am I really though?
-Not to mention we met a guy who is into Scientology. if you ever get to meet one of those people please do. they are awesome! really really crazy to believe such things but nice people. I dont want to put down thier beliefs but its interesting talking to them. ill leave it at that.
-Well I wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful letters. It's been great hearing from yall. sorry if its taken a while to write back. no worry though. keep em coming. I love hearing from y'all. and i am going to do better at writing my week for y'all too. I think it would really help to talk about that to keep focused. too much outside distractions come in through emails. and plus it can be kinda homesick sometimes. so please try to include uplifting things and spiritual experiences. its so important to keep focused. and President said that it would help to write more in my emails and to recieve things that are uplifting. as much as i love hearing about things. my main focus is out here. so please in the nicest of ways, keep the daily events to a minimum. thanks so much!
love to all yall,
Elder Malone
p.s. friday is watermelon day. so eat up. i know i am.
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