Chris’ Mission–Big Rapids with Elder Gurr

I need to start doing better with my journal writing. I have been slacking big time. My greenies name is Elder Dax Gurr. We have been together for 3 days and he is a total stud. We get along very well and will do well together. He has a very strong desire to serve well and teach the gospel. He can’t wait to teach but our appointments keep falling through. But we will get it going here. It is awesome to be training again and we are doing everything right. We get up at 5:55am, go to bed before 10:30pm, and we are working hard. We have done a lot of door knocking and walking around the past 2 days but it has been very cold and unsuccessful. But I know if we stick with it that we will be blessed. I am 100% obedient and willing to give all that is required to be a successful missionary. Today has been an awesome Sabbath. We taught seminary this morning and just talked about our missions and how awesome they are. I was hoping for the spirit to just pierce the should of those young men and it did go well. But they are pretty normal teenagers. It was cool to talk about my mission and its effect on me, before and after it started. Sacrament meeting was very good. I seem to be enjoying it even more all the time. I taught the lesson in Gospel Essentials and it went great. I prepared it well and because of that, it was an awesome lesson. I talked on the atonement and it was really beneficial for me and I hope for the others in the class. I am so grateful for the atonement and its effect on my life. I love Jesus Christ so much and appreciate his love for me. The rest of the day has been good as well. Me and Elder Gurr talked a lot about the MTC and the prophets and apostles and the spirit has been with us very strong. I also studied 3 Nephi 11-15 tonight as well as Russell M. Nelsons talk at the Parliament of World Religions. He is such a stud. He was so bold in his talk but the spirit was so strong that as I read it, I knew he is a prophet called by God. I also listened to Truman G. Madsen’s talk on Joseph Smith as a lecturer and counselor. Joseph Smith is my hero. We talked a lot tonight about having the power of the Lord to speak with us. My goal is to truly have his countenance and spirit all the time when I speak his words for him. I love this work so much. Sunday, February 27

Well, I don’t know what’s going on. I am working my butt off and things just aren’t going well at all. We got dogged again today on our appointment - we still haven’t taught anyone since the arrival of Elder Gurr. After we got home this afternoon, I was totally depressed. But we headed out to do some tracting and a lady walked by us right as we got to the sidewalk and I PC’d her and she was interested. Sweet. I guess the Lord really was just testing me because as we continued to go out, the first three people we talked to, we got PC’s out of them. They were blessings from above and just totally boosted my spirits. I was feeling so down and upset but I’m ready to go again. I know the Lord is in charge and if we keep it up, he will totally bless us. I seriously just have to thrust, but have faith in the Lord. I can’t do it without him. We are being 100% obedient and working so I don’t know why we keep getting dogged. I must just be a trial of my faith (Ether 12:6) but I will pass the test. Tuesday, March 1

Well, we are passing the test. On Wednesday, we had a sweet companion inventory where we set some good goals and talked about the work. It was really good and then we went out and did the work and totally got blessed. We went out just contacting people not he street and the first 10 people weren't interested. We weren’t having any luck and it totally sucked, but we just kept going showing the Lord we would persevere and he blessed us. We had tons of success the rest of the time walking around campus and got 12 PCs. It was totally sweet. And it felt so good. We were having the best time talking with people. And we also went out today and got 5 PCs. My fear is always hard to overcome until I just do it and open my mouth. And then as soon as I have talked to a couple people, the fear is gone. I have talked to a couple people, the fear is gone. I really do enjoy it and we meet some neat people and some interesting characters. On guy, as soon as Elder Gurr started talking, said “Get out of here, you bible thumpers. We needed to be humbled. I kind of laughed it off, but Gurr was pretty upset. He just isn't used to it yet. But some of the other people ran into were way cool. We helped one guy carry a trunk across campus and into a dorm and he PC’d us after we offered to help. It was really cool. Contacting at the college is pretty fun. On Wednesday night, we also taught Terry and Jessie Jones and the Wards and both went very well. We finally got to teach a discussion. We will challenge both of them to baptism on Saturday. They are some great people. Tomorrow is Lori Spires baptism. I am really excited and she is all ready. Thursday, March 3

Today was awesome. It was Lori Spires baptism and it went very well. I got to baptize her and confirm her and I also sang a song, so I was pretty busy. And I can’t believe I went through with it and sang a solo. I almost didn’t do it, but I’m totally glad I did. It was a good experience and I actually got a lot of compliments. And the baptism nd confirmation went awesome as well. I love using the Priesthood so much. It is such a privilege and once again, I could clearly follow the promptings of the spirit as I blessed her. What a neat experience and what an awesome day. Afterwards, Lori took us and Christine and Linda and Emily out to Casey’s restaurant. What a sweet day. Friday, March 4

Today I have been out for seventeen months and what a way to celebrate. We had our Zone Conference down in Grand Rapids and it was the best one I’ve had. Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone was with us and what an amazing man. Most of the day was filled with him speaking to us and I was in awe once more of the power and spirit that he had, that all the General Authorities have. He was truly amazing and what a blessing it was to sit at his feet to receive more of the teachings of the savior from him and to feel of his spirit and to receive a blessing as a group from him. It was so neat. He taught us principles ranging from meekness to being a powerful “Challenging and Testifying Missionary”. Meekness he defines as not weak or lowly, but being “an absolute submissiveness to God”. I like that and as he talked about it, I truly desired it so much. I want to be able to say, “Not my will, but thine” each time I go through one of my own Gethsemane’s. I want to be a challenging and testifying missionary; one who has no fear because my faith is so high. And one who will boldly, with the spirit, always tell people how it is. That is a powerful missionary and I want to be that powerful. I feel like I should record all these principles in here so that I can refer back to them after. “We can be perfect in many things”. Perfect in tithing, in sacrament attendance, etc. And then we just keep adding to the list as we continue to conquer things and be perfect in them. And concerning humility, “Greatness is not in us, but through us”. Powerful. “85% of all success is due to attitude”. “Only the mediocre person is at his best.”

Elder Featherstone shard a story about how he healed a little girl and she talked about him as the “friend of the prophet”. What a beautiful thing to be called. And he shared many other stories which were awesome. He talked about David who had “a heart like unto God’s heart” who slew Goliath but later took Bathsheba and committed adultery and became a coward. I want to be a Spartan missionary - one who can work harder, sacrifice more, and serve better. And as President Kimball counseled us to “Get your lions share of baptisms”. I will do that. He also taught us that the devil can never duplicate the sweet feeling of peace. And asked that we promise this and not the “burning of the bosom”. And since the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion, we must put the pressure on it because that makes the arch (the Church) stronger. Elder Featherstone also got very deep into a lot of subjects such as eternal marriage, the celestial kingdom, our divine potential, etc. At this point, my notes began to get neglected because I was so intent on his words and the spirit was so strong. He basically took us on a tour of the Salt Lake Temple on the upper floors and talked about the different rooms, their purpose, and a little of what goes on in them. Rooms where the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve meet, the last Supper room, and the Holy of Holies. It was so neat as he talked about them. I can’t wait to go to the temple again. He talked about the top General Authorities, past and present, and shared personal experiences with them. I love those men with all my heart. He also answered many of the questions that have arisen in my heart as of late. “Seek and ye shall find.” There is no way for me to capture all his words or his spirit here in my journal. But I love Elder Featherstone and I am grateful for the time we had together. He is a great man and a chosen servant of God. After he concluded, we had a brief testimony meeting and I went first. I just had to share my feelings of my love for the gospel and for missionary work. I do love it with all my hart and I feel so privileged for the opportunity I have to be a part of it. Days like today make it so worthwhile and rewarding. My greatest desire is to serve my Father well throughout my mission and throughout my life. I will endure to the end so that one day, I can be a powerful speaker and teacher of truth. Jesus Christ lives and this is his church. Amen. Monday, March 7

The past few days have been good ones. On Tuesday, we did our laundry, got our haircuts, and worked out at Knopfs. That was fun. I benched 215, which is pretty good. Then we headed over to Midland with Sister Savard and Jeni and had an awesome time over there. We got there right at the conclusion of their Zone Conference so I got to talk with all the missionaries who I’m friends with. Elder Johanson, Erik Johnsen, Jake Smith, Biehler, Georgianna, Sisters Patton and Wakefield, and my first son Elder Dickinson. It was awesome to see all of them. I had a good time talking with everyone. I could have spent hours and I almost did - but Gary and Jane Weiss were there also and they took us out to dinner. It was the best to spend time with them. I really love that family. Then we went back to the Stake Center for the fireside, and it was excellent. Elder Featherstone did such an awesome job. I really enjoyed it. And so did Lori and Christine Spires. They were both there and he made them feel really special. So that was neat. And Lori made a trip to Lansing on Wednesday to visit the LDS bookstore. She got a few books, a CTR ring, and pictures. It is so cool to see how much they are really accepting the gospel into their lives. They are great people, but Elder Gurr thinks they are both in love with me. Which is probably true. We have done quite a bit of door knocking this week, and Wednesday we also taught a new guy who we found door knocking. He was old and couldn’t hear very well but it was good practice for Elder Gurr to teach him. We taught Terry and Jessie Jones the third discussion on Wednesday night and also got started teaching the Wards the second discussion. We are going really slow to make sure they understand the atonement and what faith is and so on. They are doing very well, however, and their attitude and ability to learn improves every time. I got a tape from Mom today. It was really nice to just have her talking to me. She told me about a lot of things. Brett Barratt was just sent home early from his mission. I guess he was taking a lot of medicine and he kind of went crazy. I feel really bad for him. I can only imagine how hard it would be to not finish my mission. I guess he went home on February 14 but was in a hospital in Utah Valley for about 3 weeks before he went home. And Pat and Dale didn’t tell anyone about it. I hope he is OK and can move forward in a righteous way. Thursday, March 10

The past few days have been very good ones. We have just been doing a lot of tracking and finding to get our teaching pool moving. It has been fairly successful. I know we will see some fruits come from it. Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference and it was very good. We attended all sessions, the Priesthood Leadership session where we learned about building zion in our areas and how to accomplish that. The rest of the conference, the theme was centered on “Hold to the Rod” and we heard many good talks about it in the adult session and General Session on Sunday. All meetings were enjoyable and I found ways in which I can improve. I also got to practice being an Executive Stake Clerk in all sessions. I counted all the people for Brother Rowell. It was pretty cool. Today we spent time at the Heards for dinner and Sister Heard is not treating Lori very well. They don't get along. I hope I can always treat people as Jesus Christ would treat them without judging them. That is very hard to do , and I do have a lot of Pride to struggle against, but I can do it with the help of Jesus Christ. If I can look past my prejudices enough to see things from others point of view; then I will be a positive influence to all those I contact and I will do as He would do. I will work on it. Sunday, March 13

P-day this Monday was pretty fun. We played some good hoop - my shot is dead on - and we also went to Knopf’s and worked out. Us and Jordan had a good time. Then we had Family Home Evening at the Rowells and played Celestial Pursuit. Of course I won, I rule that game. Elder Gurr got really sick and was either in bed of on the toilet all day on Tuesday. I felt really bad for him. He is in a lot of pain, but is getting better. Wednesday was an awesome day. We had district meeting down in Grand Rapids and it was a good one. My district is pretty sweet. We got the car finally, after 3 weeks without it and cruised back home. Elder Gurr still wasn't feeling great, but we drove over to the campus and got our 5 PCs anyway. We found some really choice people in a short time. The Lord was leading us. We got 4 and then headed back to the car but it was freezing so we stepped inside the building to warm up. We had promised ourselves we wouldn’t get back in the car until we got our 5th PC. And when we walked out, there was a guy waiting for us tying his shoe. So we talked to him and he was interested, so we walked down to this house right then and taught him the first discussion. It was awesome. Then we cruised home and Brother Smith took us out and we taught Terry and Jessie Jones the rest of the 3rd discussion. And we taught the Wards a bunch of the 2nd and 3rd discussions. It went very well with them. We talked a lot about baptism and authority and they learned a lot. We had to really hit the authority and the immersion issue because they are Catholic. But after a lot of talking by me and reading a lot of scriptures with them, I feel we were able to resolve a lot of their concerns and get them closer to a baptismal commitment. They are a great family and I love them. I hope and pray that they will see the light. I think they are getting there. Wednesday, March 16

Things have been going pretty well here. We taught a new guy on Thursday. His name is Anthony and he is very interested. He is a stud. Also on Thursday, I got my teeth cleaned at the dental hygiene school. Lori Spires is in the Dental Hygiene program so I was her patient for 4 hours. It wasn’t fun but it needed to be done. Today we taught Lori and Chris part of the first new member lesson. They are doing well. We had a great dinner at a part member family tonight and I think we made a good impression on Charlie, the nonmember. Friday, March 18

The past few days have been totally awesome. Saturday and Sunday we got some good things done. For Sunday School, I prepared a lesson about “a mighty change” and how important that is as well as how to accomplish it. It went very well except Linda Heard wasn’t there and much of what I prepared was directed at her. But it was still great for Lori and Christine. They are both doing very well, they continue to progress and grow in the gospel and I am just very pleased with how much they are applying the gospel to their lives. They are awesome and I’m so glad that I was a part of their conversion. It is so rewarding to see. Sunday we also listened to a Book of Mormon fiction story about “Samuel, Moroni’s young warrior”. It was very good, but not as good as Chris Heimerdinger stories. P-day was awesome. We played basketball for like 3 hours and it was so fun. I was unconscious again playing out of my head. We kept wining in a 2 versus 3 format. No one could stop me. We also played some soccer out on the wet field. That was also a blast to get a little reacquainted with my soccer skills. Then at night we had Family Home Evening with the Rowells and had a short lesson and then played Celestial Pursuit again. The Rowells are awesome. Tuesday was a very hectic but sweet day. We didn’t have time for lunch. We were late for our dinner appointment and late getting home because we were out visiting people so much. We had a Satellite broadcast in the morning from the MTC. We heard from Joseph B. Wirthlin, James E. Faust, Richard G. Scott, M. Russell Ballard, and David B. Haight. 5 apostles. What a meeting. I was really uplifted and I learned so much. Their main focus was on the Book of Mormon. They want us to use it more effectively and more often. There is also a new media program that they are beginning that will focus on the Book of Mormon and will also let people know that we will deliver it. I think it will be very productive and it will really help us out. After the missionary broadcast, we cruised up to Eagle Village and talked about their program using Family First video. The people there are really great and we could get some good contacts from them. Then we visited the Fry’s for a time. They are doing so well. They are just eating up the gospel. He will be the next Branch President I think. Then we had dinner the Hoerters. We home taught the Stewards with Brother Hoerter. Then we taught Anthony the 3rd discussion. He is a total stud and he is learning quickly. If he wasn’t leaving for Texas next week, we would have him baptized very soon. But hopefully he will join the church down there and bring his family with him. Tuesday, March 23

Well, I’ve been having a feeling lately about transfers and the unexpected did happen. I am being transferred over to Midland. It is a total shock because I have only had one month to train Elder Gurr. But I guess they need my leadership because I will be the Zone Leader over there. So I am pretty excited about that. I am the only Zone Leader with a normal companion. It will be a real challenge, but an awesome experience. But it is hard to leave this area. I have made some very close friends in my short time here. And I really do love the people. I feel bad about only having one month to train Elder Gurr. There is so much more I need to do to teach him, but I’m sure he will do great. And I feel that the work will continue to prosper. There are a lot of good people here that need the gospel. We visited the Wards and the Jones boys tonight and they all wanted to know i I could come back to baptize them. I sure wish I could, and maybe we can work something out. That would be so neat. But as long as they get baptized, that is all I really care about. It is hard to leave all the new converts but I feel good about the strength of their testimonies. Christine gave me a couple very nice cards and a goodbye letter to that me for my role in her life. It was very touching. And Lori also wrote me a nice letter to thank me. It is these types of things that make all the hard work so worth it. To see how much the gospel influences the lives of those who accept it and apply it. I’m so grateful to be a part of that and to see its effects. I will really miss Christine and her son Dillon as well as Lori and her son Michael. But I will see them again for sure. They are such sweet people. Well, my stay in Big Rapids was short but very productive. I will always remember the good times and the great people here. And I will definitely miss it. Wednesday, March 23