Letter home 7/15/09

Hello family!

Things are going super well here in meadowbrook. I really love it here. lots of people to teach which i will talk about all of them in just a minute. transfers!..nothing! except that my son Elder Holley is going to be my new Zone Leader. talk about awesome. im really glad I got to see him before i die...as a missionary. not in real life.

Ok here are the main peoples:
-Kassi...she is a part member. She is really awesome. 16, she is going with the stake up to the Palmyra pageant this weekend so it will be a super big spiritual moment for her. im really excited. she keeps all of her commitments and loves meeting with us. just waiting for her glasses from NC so she can read.

-Sylvia...we are going to do service for her. When we taught her about the BOM, the spirit was really strong and she said she didnt need to pray about it to know that it was a true book. we had a hard time getting ahold of her which is nice because it taught me about dilligence and now we are cutting her grass which will soften her heart and almost guarantee a church attendance or two. :)

-Hamza...a Muslim guy. he came to church and a baptism and said he will never go to another Christian church again unless its a Mormon church! he loved it. we are teaching about the Atonement today so it will be powerful and he will be baptized soon. he is soo close to a belief in Christ. he use to be an athiest. now he believes in God! there is more but not enough time.

Things are well. im happy and myself which is nice. Elder Burningham and I get along really well. The ward trusts us pretty good and the biking is getting easier. Thanks for all the packages and cards and letters and all the support too. its really awesome!

we should have a baptism by the end of this transfer, which just started, but we are praying for it, so it will happen. i hope the pictures got there ok. im actually more lean than some of those pictures let on to be...maybe ill get some updated ones. although I think those are. I just have bigger pants. i need to get some tighter ones. but my thighs are massive from riding bikes! hope all is well in AZ!

love,
Elder Malone

letter

OK here we gooo...
Today's news is that we are spending a lot of time finding people to teach. and we
actually find people who want to hear about the gospel too! they have a desire.
it may not be too big but we are taking every chance we get and the Lord can see
it.
Today is Blame Canada Day and my companion and I are going to be eating
pereogies. (per-ro-gees) they are mashed potatoes in ravioli. its a Canadian
thing so don't ask me about it. But I am making him celebrate the 4th with me. He
is in America! he shall do it. Oh and President said I cannot light fireworks on
the 4th either. He is a mean guy. But i bought him a really nice gray and blue
argyle sweater for our BIG meeting we had last week. it was really awesome. He
loved it. He said he will wear it but not during the summer. he did put it on
for a picture though which I will be sending soon. along with 7 cds of pictures.
I hope they work actually let me try them real quick...processing processing...
The ward itself is super awesome. We are really building some good trust and
excitement. its just a matter of getting these members to talk to people! they
claim they don't have anyone around them who isn't LDS. but at their dental
schools, its half LDS so they have a point.
ok the picture CDs work! so i will be sending them home and they are for
everyone to enjoy. now granted I have not really gone through all of them so
they may be some odd ones in there and random ones. but please DO NOT delete any
of them. i will await for word that they all work, i only tried one. then I
shall delete them off my camera. thanks for the love and encouragement. Friday
is my 21 month mark. Saturday i by my first 40 oz. wooot woot.
love,
Elder Malone

Transfer to Meadowbrooke.....

I think the "e" at the end makes it look a little more formal don't you think?

Well Meadowbrook is amazing!!! I love it soo much. The joys of living in
Richmond and being so close to all my favorite missionaries plus the ward is
great! We got the nicest welcome on Sunday and lots of missionary excitement.
The bishop is just all for missionary work and it gets the members all excited
too. It truly is a very dedicated area. makes me wonder why they changed both
missionaries out and haven't baptized in a while. But that will change.

We had a zone conference yesterday, a big one too. Sister Millburn who has
been sick for almost 11 months now showed up! it was really powerful when she
spoke and gave her testimony. I haven't seen her for like 11 months too. its
really sad but she is pulling through! At zone conference they mentioned some
really neat things about using the BOM in our teaching. Like how its easier to
convince people of the truthfulness of the BOM than it is to convince them that
we have the correct interpretation of Bible scriptures. very true!

President is starting something called the "146 Days to Remember". its a BOM challenge to read through it marking 5 scriptures for 15 different topics of the gospel. then we have to memorize them. but think of how much more powerful that would be! I'm excited, mostly because I'm already in Alma in my other BOM reading and marking up my military set of scriptures I got in Norfolk. So im marking principles in one set, reading from Alma to the end in my little BOM and starting over in a brand new copy. Not to mention I don't have 146 days left! :) so it has to be done faster. but not a problem. its an awesome book. not to mention a true one.

We are starting a new program called lesson series. The First Presidency has
asked that all missionaries teach at least 20 lessons a week to all kinds of
members and nonmembers. So we go into members homes and share a POWERFUL 10 min
lesson and then pray and walk out! it really only is supposed to last about
10-15 mins so not a hard job for the member. we do it once a week for 4 weeks
straight. then supposedly by week 2 or 3, they have someone to invite into their
home where we share another 15 min lesson. powerful once more. and this time its
all conversion from here on out!

Elder Burningham is my new companion. From Cardston, Alberta. very luckily for
me he is really into fitness so we are going to look good. Plus, he is really
funny, very spiritual and we get along great. the ward is solid in doing what
needs to be done and I'm on bike in south side of Richmond, VA. What else could a
guy ask for?
Love,
Elder Malone

listen up children, it's goin' down

Dear Family,
All is well in Norfolk. Scotty Rey is getting baptized this weekend at 6 pm. We have a ward picnic that day too, so we are going to go and get people rallied up for the baptism. I made some more salsa today and my nose is burning because i rubbed my fingers over it. not a good thing to do reminder to all. We also made some pancit. Which is like the Filipino version of chow mein I guess. its pretty good. we are going to open up a Filipino restaurant. we also set a fire on the stove top. that was an adventure. elder stokes tried to take a picture but I blew it out too quick. we didn't reignite it. we aren't that dumb.

So we had a Zone Conference on Monday and it was a pretty good one. They talked all about dedicating yourself wholly to the work. Heart might mind and strength. something that I feel like I do, but not 100%. i can get up there to like the upper 80s maybe even the 90s, but not 100%. and its tough because it seems as if all the miracles and success happens when its 100%. you can give 80-90% effort in a classroom and still pass, but with God's service, its 100%. so that is my goal this week. and the weeks after, but a short range goal sounds nicer. and more accomplish-able.

Things are improving around the area too. Starting to learn more members and gain some trust with them. We hope to get things rolling this weekend as we are teaching the 5th Sunday lesson in the 3rd hour. Introducing the family mission plan and helping people start working with specific people. Its difficult. You would think that missionary work, being required of the Lord, would be made more of a priority. Which leads me to think back to a talk I was given some time ago about a lady with 3 doctorates in theology and other religious fields. She said, "do we really know what we have?" Its also been said that as you learn more about the Atonement, you learn more about why your actually out here. It is soo true too. This work is the best and only way people can be saved. Souls are brought back to God's presence by the work the WE do in OUR church. No other church has the priesthood. Its OUR mandate in this last day. To declare to all people whether they be in VA, AZ or Japan. IF you go to japan on business, declare it there too. So make that an effort, not to just pray for them, seek for them. seek and ye shall find. seek and ye shall be blessed.

love to all y'all,
Elder Malone

Letter Home 5/20/09

Well this one wont be too long today. We went to the stake center and had a big pday party with some other missionaries. Bro Knight, one of the members took us there too. He is pretty alright, for a Navy guy. You know how they go. You hear that Bro Knight! Huh? Those chili dogs really weren't that great after all! HA! Ok yes they were. I have to bike extra hard to work them off though. Oh by the way, I forgot to say, we are on bikes full-time. I think i said it, but just in case.

Well Scotty Rey, is getting baptized on the 30th. He gets more and more excited as the time goes on. He just needs to figure out his baptismal program and we should be all set. Also Haskell Corry is now officially set for June 13th. He is praying about it, but he still knows it is true so it will hold, no doubt.

Elder Stokes and I are doing alright. We go through our good times and our tough times. But we talk it over and we move on. It's not as touchy feely as it may sound. The talking over it aprt doesn't mean our voices are not raised. We both like to annoy each other. Its tough love you could say. or just, I-have-to-live-with-you-I-guess-I-can-love-you love. We shall see. Nothing really new to tell. other than things are well. everyone says I look skinnier since Deep Creek. Which was like 2 months ago. I'll take it I guess. I am eating small healthy meals, and lots of biking. It does the trick I guess. Spread the news.

It rains alot, and I love it. Especially cause I left my fender in Deep Creek, so water goes all over. But it aint bikin with out a dirty shirt. I swear no spaghetti sauce at all on my shirts in two year, but lots of dirt from rain water. very odd.
love,
Elder Malone

Norfolk 2nd Ward...

It's a good little ward. not too much excitement for missionary work though. I don't know how to explain it. It's like there is, but the members are not that interacting with the missionaries like normal. So it's something I'm trying to work on. My companion is Elder Stokes. He is an alright guy. He kinda takes over the role of SR companion for now which is fine, he knows the area better. But I still need to jump in when he plan on doing something ridiculous, like biking 2 miles to stop by a guy, then bike 1 to stop by a lady, then go back home for 3 miles for lunch. I say just pack a lunch, plan to work the area around that person and lets go. So longer days, but it pays off. The Lord helps us.

Other than that it's alright. Trying to stay dry, I'm sopping wet after a short ride, so I wear a bandanna to keep the sweat from out of my face. It works good. actually y'all will not believe this but I'm actually eating a WHOLE LOT healthier than i use to. (besides the cookie dough and snickers pie Elder Leonard made today). mostly whole-grain breads, tuna and water. I ran out of money a while back so I'm surviving off the food that no one really claimed in the apartment. I don't want to use my personal card because in the real life, there is no "fall back cash". It's tough, but paying off. My health is up and my body fat is going down. We have a scale that measures it, so with eating 6 healthy, small meals a day, and lots of exercise and water i will be lean and mean in October. yeah baby!

I'm already buff so its just the lean part. seriously, y'all know its true. so along with that, if anyone feels compelled to send me some:
-tuna/chicken in water
-brown rice
-peanut butter
-dried fruit
-almonds or other nuts( not peanuts)
-other non-perishables
that would be splendid. thanks family!

Well in the Norfolk news, its a great place. I'm definitely going to be a pilot in the Navy soon after the mission. I love love love hearing the planes fly overhead and seeing them. It's gorgeous. A TOTAL distraction but I don't care. The area is nice. a lot like Deep Creek with its rough areas and nice areas. So far so good. We are really trying to find more people to teach. You can never have too many. They were teaching a couple of people when I first got here, but they are on the slow track. we need to step them up. Oh we also have Sisters in our ward too. We live with the 1st ward Elders in their area. The 1st and 2ND ward Sisters live together in our area. They are really great Sisters too. hard working. Unfortunately they are not finding too much success. :( super sad day, but they remain faithful! I'm really hoping to help the ward not only gain trust in the missionaries but mostly in helping the sisters. Its super easy for members to love Elders, but its really hard for some to like sisters. I don't know why. They are stellar. One of the Elders in the 1st ward is Elder Leonard, one of the guys from my MTC group. So we have a good time. Oh and the sisters in the 2ND ward, our sisters, are the ones who drive "Lily" my car from Deep Creek. So they had to fix the dent in it this week. so they are walking,poor girls. It's like high 80s all week. They get rides though.

Last night I met a Muslim guy who is going to give me a Koran this week some time. He is a really neat guy. I told him all about Sri Lanka and asked about the Muslim faith. Very similar to ours...very similar. It's amazing how close they are. Their Koran is our BOM written to provide a 2ND witness to the things in the Bible. Their Mohammad is our Joseph Smith. So basically the same thing. I would encourage everyone to look more into other faiths and be familiar with them. It provides good knowledge and proper understanding of others beliefs. Especially because we want people to learn about our faith, we should do the same thing.

Well not too much left to talk about. just really working on getting pretty for October, and trying to not think about it. It's easy. Also, trying to avoid getting such a dark tan this year. too late though, in 3 days I've changed like 2 shades. Seriously it's terrible. Get me a do-rag and call me Shequan.(pronounced shay-kwan). oh yeah.

love to all y'all,
Love, Elder Malone

I'm a grandpa!

Elder Holley, my son, is training this transfer! Which makes me a grandpa! haha that makes me feel old, mission wise. But I will get a generational picture tomorrow and have to send it out. I guess he didn't turn out so bad after all huh?...odd.

I have 4 transfers left, including this one. And i am going down to Norfolk 2nd ward in the VA Beach stake. I've never served in that one before but I've been to Norfolk plenty. WE are on a bike and I'm excited. Have I mentioned how much I love biking? Well I really do. So I might need some money to get it back in working order. Actually I need 20 dollars. We HAVE to wear these ridiculous yellow reflectors and leg straps all the time... to keep cars from hitting us, (hmm...a little late?) so good news is no more cars! Bad news is, more Mormon jokes. We are known for the white shirts and black pants, and soon also the yellow bandalos. President thinks they are the greatest thing ever....He is also bald, so phooey on him. Here is my new address in case anyone really cares:

Elder Humility
6411 Crescent Way #203
Norfolk, VA 23513

Now a lesson on Norfolk. Don't get confused with the pronunciation of it with Suffolk. Suffolk= Suf-folk...Norfolk=Nor-fick. I would write the southern way to say Norfolk but that involves a bad word but it is properly said with that word in there. Perhaps if I'm feeling rebellious one day, ill say it for y'all. its ok for me, I'm a missionary, and its my mission language. I feel like this is a small transfer too. I won't be in Norfolk very long. I think the Lord is really just hopping me around to keep it fresh, and to utilize me in ways I'm needed. I have often felt that I'm here more to bless than to be blessed. A lot of my companions had things I could help them with. Maybe ill be a counselor one day. who knows.

Miracles in Farmville. Well, we had 4 to church which is nice. WE are dropping some people and picking up a few new ones. Not too many actually. But the branch just loves how hard we work. They are very impressed at our attitude on not wasting time or doing dumb things. So we got a good reputation going there. Which has brought about a greater missionary spirit. So this Sunday we are teaching some friends of a member. The best kind to get because the member will be there. So talk about a blessing. Those have a 80% rate of getting baptized I believe. So invite your friends!

I'm not excited to leave, but it feels ready. Which is odd because of Crystal, being sent here to teach her. But the Lord knows what He is doing with His Elders. And I know that President is inspired man. so...we shalljavascript:void(0) roll with the punches.

Love to all,
Elder Malone

Miracles

So first things first, we had some really neat miracles this week. Lets recount them:

1) Elder Neugubauer taught a guy named Edmond in downtown Richmond last couple of transfers. He was doing really really well, keeping all his commitments and all, but then he disappeared. So we are walking along the road around the college on Monday, and sure enough guess who we run into? Seriously! After a few weeks he turns up to be in Farmville, VA of all places. He got in a car wreck and had been struggling so he is in town for a while. We are meeting with him tonight. Really neat though how things turned out. He is excited to get back into the Book of Mormon and church. :)

2) There was someone that had met with the missionaries back in January, only once though. Nothing really came of it. Well sure enough, he called us last night and asked about church and what it as like. We told him and commited him and his girlfriend to come to church. Their names are Sidney Thompson and Austin Miller. So we are meeting with them tonight also. But what a blessing to have some random people from a few months ago just up and call for church and lessons!

3) Well I may have said this before, maybe not, but there is someone here that im
supposed to teach. It was made clearly known to Elder Clegg, when he was praying for transfers. He got the impression that I should come to Farmville to teach a lady named Crystal Burley. I had heard about her form other missionaries but didnt think much of it. Well when i got here, I looked her up and her information. We attempted contact with no success. Well one day in wal-Mart parking lot we happen to see her in her car.So I go and talk to her and find out who she is. She said she recognized the missionary tag and all. Well not too much came of it unfortunately. We contacted the member that she is very familar with and told her that we wanted her to set up an appointment with Crystal and us. (Crystal had been reading the Book of Mormon on her own). The member was a little apprehensive, so I quickly bore my testimony about how the Lord made it known that we ARE the missionaires that are meant teach her. The Spirit was strong, and she agreed that she needed to do it. That was Friday. Monday, I called her and she said that Crystal was anxious to meet with us! So we set up an appointment for tonight at 6pm. Family, friends, and family of my companion, please pray for her. We have been praying for a baptism this month. It could be her it could not be, but there IS indeed a reason why she is now ready. We need your prayers for her too. so when you read this, if you will pray for her to understand in her heart and mind the message that we are teaching her, that will do wonders. Thanks sooo much.

I love yall alot. Im not ready to come home just yet, but I will be when the time comes. I love missions. they're gooder 'n grits.
love
Elder Malone

Where in the Hades is Farmville, Va?

Well, its considered the heart of Va. So if you get a map and point to the middle, somewhat, you'll find me. I love it out here. I was uncertain as to how I would like it. we got a very unexcited response to us our first Sunday. We don't have very many members in the branch, so we are working on that. We are making sure to not waste time at members homes and to be on time. It builds trust you see. That's what we need. We are working on getting the Priesthood more involved also. We need exchanges and they need the blessings/growth.

Here is some miracles and people we are teaching:

-Bobby Carwile and Sam Elholm, have been investigating for a while now. They are a really great family. I'm excited that they are still talking with us. They plan to get married soon but they don't know when. Also they want to be baptized, so we set them for a date to help speed things up. They are praying about April 25th. They feel really good about it, they face a lot of trials but they are being blessed for their obedience. We had a powerful lesson the other day. It's funny because we felt strongly about sharing a particular lesson with them, we get there and they bear a powerful testimony of it right off. So the Spirit helps us to address their needs and it was probably one of the most Spiritual lessons. Only twice have I born a testimony that brought me to tears during a lesson. It was amazing the way the Lord used me. I was extremely humbled that night. Good things are happening there...

-Jay B, we met him walking along the road. He said he met with the missionaries before and it was mostly his GF who was interested. Well he agreed to meet again and he loves it! He was going to go to church at another church, but we committed him(after a really long, Spiritual lesson) to come with us. He did and felt everything really speak to him. He said, if this really is the truth, then I want to jump right in and just go for it. Well he is doing that because he got his confirmation. Amazing...

-We had 6 people to church last week too. Probably the most I've had my whole mission. The members are bringing friends and they love it. We are actually going bowling with some of the YSA's tonight to get to know them a little bit better before we teach them. Good way for lots of people to come together and see us as people, not just Elders.

Also our first day here we met a really neat kid at Goodwill named Brian. He is pretty interested. He is coming bowling so he will get involved more in the branch which is really good. He loves to learn, so we hope its more of a wanting to convert and not so much, I want to learn. He is tough to teach though because he stares you down and doesn't look away. So it can be tough to determine his understanding.

Well much love to all y'all. thanks for the prayers. I'm having such a great time out here. We are being blessed. I'm back up in Richmond(ish). I have some of my favorite people in this zone too, so the meetings are really great. Its such a great way to do missionary work. with those you love.

My love to all,
Elder Malone

Transferred to Farmville, VA

Well, Farmville is a pretty nice little town. Its got a lot of big town things
with a small town feel. WE live in a really nice duplex with another girl named
Andrea.(du means two, completely separate houses). So we went around and met our
neighbors and actually met some really great people to teach. one family is
kinda odd, they are into robots and what not, but the mom is really into family
history. She added 100 names to her lines within days of our last visit. Learn
from her.

We went running this morning down by the High School, really pretty day
outside. We also went to Hampden-Sydney yesterday which was really pretty too.
We just drove around the campus but it was founded in 1776 so really old
building. Very green though and very elegant. I loved it. It was like in a
forest, all hidden too because you go a few miles either way and it opens up and
becomes all dead. Its kinda magical I guess. We chopped wood for a 94 year old
member lady. It was a lot of fun. I got a couple of blisters from not chopping in
a few years but they are all better. We toured around her garage which hasn't
really been touched for about 8 years when her husband died. He restored old MG
Midgets...these tiny English speedsters. She said anyone could have it if they
will fix it up. So I thought about it. it would definitely need to be towed with
a lot of work done to it. Completely rebuilt and I know nothing about cars. But
I can figure it out. hey, free classic car, why not?

My companions are:
Elder Neugubauer- really tall,loves to work hard and keep at the
best we can be. he really inspires me to do better. Always hoping to have a good
time. ugly ties

Elder Johnson- really charitable, very humble, kinda quick to upsetness so we
have to tread carefully. looks forward to working in this area.

We have also committed ourselves to be praying for a baptism this transfer in
every pray we say. I'm not perfect but we are seeing more and more unfold as we
do so. for instance, our top guy and his fiancee are Bobby and Sam Carwile. His
kids are actually named Bobbie Jo and Robert. No joke either. (and yes I told
them). They are planning on marriage soon and baptism right after. They are very
prepared. well these southerners like to drive slow but they kick you off the
computer fast.
love to all y'all,

Elder Malone