Hey everyone! It's been a great week.
On Monday, for Elder Schilling's last lesson with Mitch, we watched the restoration video which is really great. Mitch really loved it and felt the spirit a lot.
On Monday, for Elder Schilling's last lesson with Mitch, we watched the restoration video which is really great. Mitch really loved it and felt the spirit a lot.
Elder Shillings last time at Monica's
On Tuesday, we went to the sand creek apartment and helped them pack up for transfer meeting. I had to be at the stake center at 1:00 for a meeting with the new missionaries and trainers. There were only 5 new elders to choose from, and there were 2 spanish elders and 1 visa waiting elder, so really, I only had to choose between 2 elders. President Rehm announces that the new missionary would be "serving in the Fountain Stake (check), in Elder LaRose's district (check!), with Elder LaRose!! So my new companion will be Elder Hawkins from Portland, Oregon! I am so excited and ready to go and do work with Elder Hawkins. He sounds like an awesome guy and we have a lot of the same interests.
Elder Hawkins and I at transfer meeting
After the meeting and after taking everyone's luggage out of our car, we loaded in Elder Hawkins stuff and got ready to leave. We dropped off his stuff at the apartment and then went straight to our appointments. We first had a lesson with the Keys, who are the elders quorum president and the relief society president. Dinner was with the Merkling family and he is the ward clerk. Our last Lesson that night was with the Krings. Then we had to go to the store to get these new missionaries some food. Elder Dugger, who used to be in Sand Creek, was moved out of that biking area because he was having some respiratory problems. So they moved Elder Stark over there to finish training Elder Villaneda. Elder Stark came out with me and is super awesome. I'm glad he's in my district. So we took them to Walmart and bought some groceries.
Wednesday was really fun. So to tell you a little more about Elder Hawkins, he really loves to work on cars, play sports, and be outdoors. He is the oldest in his family by a minute to his twin brother. He also has two younger twin brothers and then a younger sister as well. He played football and baseball in high school and got some baseball scholarships to be a pitcher and a 2nd baseman for the University of Oregon!! But what amazes me about him is that he turned those scholarships down so that he could serve a mission. Before we were made companions, I had been praying for a companion that would be well prepared and have a strong desire to do missionary work and I am so happy that I got one. The first thing that we did today was go out and visit a group of less active members and find more people to teach. One time, we walked up to a house and could see the lady through the window. When we knocked, she got up and went to the door and locked it and then went back to her place haha. Oh well... We were able to set up a lesson with a less active member and she is really promising. She really wants to get back to church and everything. Later we had an active member lesson with the Larsons and and practiced teaching the restoration. Our first coordination meeting, Brother Springer couldn't make it, so we met with Brother Munn. After that we played volleyball with the ward and got Elder Hawkins meeting all of the people.
Thursday, following our studies, I had to get on a conference call for all of the new District Leaders. I was also asked to give a short 4 minute talk on exchanges during that too. The conference lasted an hour and really helped me become more comfortable with being a District Leader. We went and taught 2 less active members today. The first was Brother Brown, who talks so much that we decided to prepare subjects instead of lessons to teach. The next lesson was with Brother Whitmer. His wife who was not a member died a couple of years ago and he has been wanting to become temple worthy so that he can go there for his wife. We taught him about the blessings of the temple and encouraged him on his path to the temple. That night, we had 2 lessons with active members, the Johnsons and the Robins.
On Friday, we had my first district meeting as a district leader and it went really well! My district now consists of Elder Hawkins and I, Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda, and the Zone Leaders Elder Reimer and Elder Smith. We did out accountability, where we bring the names of those we've been working with to the district to discuss and provide insight. Then I have a lesson for the remaining amount of time. I had everyone read and bear their testimonies of the scriptures that they chose to put on their missionary plaques. After the meeting, the sand creek elders came with us to lunch and the library, where we printed off a couple of talks. We went and saw Phyllis King and took Mitch with us again! We taught her about our heavenly family and she really enjoyed it. After that, we had a less active lesson with Sister Christian and taught a practice lesson on the restoration. We must have for a good job because she was in tears and the end. We set a return appointment with her and are encouraging her to come to church and to share the good news of the gospel with everyone she can. That night Brother Munn came and took us to the Taylor's home, where we taught John about marriage and missionary work. John says that he wants to be a soldier when he grows up and so we read to him the part in Ephesians where it talks about putting on the armor of God. After the lesson, Sister Taylor said that she felt impressed to ask for a blessing of comfort. I have the blessing and Elder Hawkins and Brother Munn stepped in. It was really awesome because right before we went over to the Taylor's, Elder Hawkins and I were talking about how important and cool blessings are. That night, we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Elder Hawkins went to 18th ward with Elder Smith and Elder Reimer stayed with me in 3rd ward.
On Saturday, pretty much the whole day was open without any appointments. So for 3 straight hours, Elder Reimer and I went tracting. A new approach that we have been using while tracting is using a survey to get people talking about their religious beliefs. The survey questions are:
1.) Is a close, strong family important to you?
2.) Should churches provide better programs for families and youth?
3.) Do you believe in God?
4.) Do you believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God?
5.) Have you ever asked yourself questions like "Why am I here on earth?" and "Where will I go after I die?" Do you think there are answers to those questions?
6.) Do you believe the bible to be the word of God or just a history book? If you knew there was another book of scripture written by prophets that testifies of Jesus Christ, would you read it?
7.) Do you pray?
8.) If so, do you feel that God hears and answers prayers?
9.) How do you cope with a crisis in your life?
10.) Would you like to be happier than you are now? What would make you happier?
These questions were super effective with getting us good gospel discussions with people. We were able to teach two people a lesson and leave them with a word of prayer right there on their doorstep. We left the 2 people copies of the Book of Mormon to read and told them to call us any time they had questions about the book. One of the ladies we taught said, "I'll take the Book of Mormon, but I probably won't rea..... yeah.... you know... I will read it." Right there, the Holy Ghost testified to her of the magnificence and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She went from not going to read it, to softening her heart and being willing to read. I am so glad that the Spirit touched her heart and hope that she will act on this prompting. After we finished tracting, we went to Paul Mitchell hair school in downtown Colorado Springs, where missionaries get free haircuts. I had a guy named Daniel cut my hair and he did a really good job! At dinner, we switched back with Elder Hawkins and Elder Smith.
Thursday, following our studies, I had to get on a conference call for all of the new District Leaders. I was also asked to give a short 4 minute talk on exchanges during that too. The conference lasted an hour and really helped me become more comfortable with being a District Leader. We went and taught 2 less active members today. The first was Brother Brown, who talks so much that we decided to prepare subjects instead of lessons to teach. The next lesson was with Brother Whitmer. His wife who was not a member died a couple of years ago and he has been wanting to become temple worthy so that he can go there for his wife. We taught him about the blessings of the temple and encouraged him on his path to the temple. That night, we had 2 lessons with active members, the Johnsons and the Robins.
On Friday, we had my first district meeting as a district leader and it went really well! My district now consists of Elder Hawkins and I, Elder Stark and Elder Villaneda, and the Zone Leaders Elder Reimer and Elder Smith. We did out accountability, where we bring the names of those we've been working with to the district to discuss and provide insight. Then I have a lesson for the remaining amount of time. I had everyone read and bear their testimonies of the scriptures that they chose to put on their missionary plaques. After the meeting, the sand creek elders came with us to lunch and the library, where we printed off a couple of talks. We went and saw Phyllis King and took Mitch with us again! We taught her about our heavenly family and she really enjoyed it. After that, we had a less active lesson with Sister Christian and taught a practice lesson on the restoration. We must have for a good job because she was in tears and the end. We set a return appointment with her and are encouraging her to come to church and to share the good news of the gospel with everyone she can. That night Brother Munn came and took us to the Taylor's home, where we taught John about marriage and missionary work. John says that he wants to be a soldier when he grows up and so we read to him the part in Ephesians where it talks about putting on the armor of God. After the lesson, Sister Taylor said that she felt impressed to ask for a blessing of comfort. I have the blessing and Elder Hawkins and Brother Munn stepped in. It was really awesome because right before we went over to the Taylor's, Elder Hawkins and I were talking about how important and cool blessings are. That night, we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Elder Hawkins went to 18th ward with Elder Smith and Elder Reimer stayed with me in 3rd ward.
On Saturday, pretty much the whole day was open without any appointments. So for 3 straight hours, Elder Reimer and I went tracting. A new approach that we have been using while tracting is using a survey to get people talking about their religious beliefs. The survey questions are:
1.) Is a close, strong family important to you?
2.) Should churches provide better programs for families and youth?
3.) Do you believe in God?
4.) Do you believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God?
5.) Have you ever asked yourself questions like "Why am I here on earth?" and "Where will I go after I die?" Do you think there are answers to those questions?
6.) Do you believe the bible to be the word of God or just a history book? If you knew there was another book of scripture written by prophets that testifies of Jesus Christ, would you read it?
7.) Do you pray?
8.) If so, do you feel that God hears and answers prayers?
9.) How do you cope with a crisis in your life?
10.) Would you like to be happier than you are now? What would make you happier?
These questions were super effective with getting us good gospel discussions with people. We were able to teach two people a lesson and leave them with a word of prayer right there on their doorstep. We left the 2 people copies of the Book of Mormon to read and told them to call us any time they had questions about the book. One of the ladies we taught said, "I'll take the Book of Mormon, but I probably won't rea..... yeah.... you know... I will read it." Right there, the Holy Ghost testified to her of the magnificence and truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She went from not going to read it, to softening her heart and being willing to read. I am so glad that the Spirit touched her heart and hope that she will act on this prompting. After we finished tracting, we went to Paul Mitchell hair school in downtown Colorado Springs, where missionaries get free haircuts. I had a guy named Daniel cut my hair and he did a really good job! At dinner, we switched back with Elder Hawkins and Elder Smith.
New haircut and scarf
On Sunday, we had good meetings with the ward leadership and introduced a lot of people to Elder Hawkins! Church went well and as we walked back to our apartment, we were heckled by some passer-bys which is always a treat.
Well I am looking forward to the next few moths with Elder Hawkins and the Colorado Springs 3rd ward!! Love you all and thank you so much.
Elder Kyler LaRose.
Well I am looking forward to the next few moths with Elder Hawkins and the Colorado Springs 3rd ward!! Love you all and thank you so much.
Elder Kyler LaRose.
2605 Serendipity Circle E APT #251
Colorado Springs, CO
80917
MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS (use if close to Transfer time):
4090 Center Park Drive Ste 4
Colorado Springs, CO 80916
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