Email Letter - November 28, 2011

Hey everyone. It was a good week this week. Getting ahold of people was tough because of the holiday but that happens. I'm sure it'll be similar when Christmas time rolls around.

Let me tell you about how my Thanksgiving went, because it was a blast. Our morning started at 6 am, when we went to the Stake center to play soccer, we do that every Tuesday and Thursday. I'm starting to get good now and can compete with some of the better people when it comes to footwork and the such, which is really nice! We played that until just before 8, when we went outside to start our football. The weather was perfect! It was raining, kind of, it was really more of a super light mist, which was just the right amount to keep us cool. Every missionary in the zone, totaling 24, was there and it was great. A couple good runs, 6 for 6 on catches and 2 TDs, so it went really well for me. We stopped playing football around 10 and went back into the stake center and played dodge ball and a form of kickball we call 5 base for about an hour and a half. Dinner was at 1 with the Stake President and his family. That was good. Everything was there but the ham. But we had that at our second dinner, which was with an investigator - John, and his family. After that we went to the Tafua's where we had our third dinner and where I emailed you. To finish off we went to another missionaries' apartment and played monopoly until our curfew. A busy and full day, it was great.

The week was kind of slow, like I said because of the holiday. But was still very good. We weren't able to meet with anyone we are teaching sadly, they were all sick or out of town. Some good new though, Dan had his interview with the bishop for Melchezidek priesthood this last week, he's very excited about that and should be getting sustained in stake conference on the 11th. It'll be good for him to be able bless his family further.

That's about all the news for this week, I don't have any fun stories about casting out devils, healing the sick, or raising the dead as I travel abroad in the service of the Lord. Have a great week!

---Elder King

3rd Nephi 5:13

The FOG:

Email Letter - Thanksgiving!

Hey everyone, I hope your holiday was great! Don't worry the rules are not being broken, it is a p-day. I just wanted to tell you all my day was great, the people here, member and not, took great care of me and Elder Thueson. I love you all! Have a great day!

---Elder King
3rd Nephi 5:13

Email Letter - November 21, 2011

So, I have some fun stories to share with you this week. But first, we got transfer calls the other night, and there's been a big shake up! My son and I are shot gunning (also known as whitewashing) Penn Valley ward, Elder Garner's first ward, in Auburn! It'll be so good. I'm pretty excited, but also very, very nervous. JUST KIDDING! President wouldn't do that to me. I like Auburn a lot though, we were there a few weeks ago for a zone conference, and I like the fact that it has hills. I would like to serve there at some point.

So good story, I was on an exchange with my friend Elder Rakuita in the Sutter Buttes ward last week and we had such a fun day. We started off by teaching English and American History for the citizenship test to a bunch of East Indian people. The funny part of that is Elder Rakuita, an elder from Fiji and not a citizen and was the primary teacher of the lesson because I didn't know what to do. A Fijian teaching a bunch of East Indians about the U.S. Funniest thing I've ever seen.

Much of the day was menial work, door knocking and the such. But we finished off with this great adventure! We went to see this lady, Brenda. Well, Brenda has had a demon haunting her the last couple of days apparently, and it has one ear, a huge wart, two horns, and the eyes of her mother. What a crazy thing! We found out why this demon was bugging her, this lady was praying to, and kissing a picture of, King Tut! AND IT WAS SPEAKING BACK TO HER! So what did we do? We cast the demon back to Hell where it belongs, and took the book, and burned it. It was pretty much the greatest. I love going out with Elder Rakuita, because it's always a fun story, and a great journal entry!

The work hasn't changed much, we weren't able to meet with two of our investigators this week which was frustrating but it happens. Our little one, Hayley, we are extending a date to tomorrow night, and so we our planning on December with her. It'll be so good.

That's all for this week family. I love you all!


---Elder King
3rd Nephi 5:13

Email Letter - November 14, 2011

This week has been a great week! We picked up another new gator named Hayley. She is nine, the daughter of a less-active who is coming back, and she wants to be baptized so she can make Jesus happy. Isn't that so great? She's really shy, but pretty funny. She was telling us jokes before our lesson this week, as she gets to know us better we think she'll open up more.

As for the things with our other investigators, we have two that are really close to baptism. If you remember Yvette, she told us the other day that she knows the church is the true church but just wants to hear everything we have to teach before she commits to a date, a little frustrating but all we have left is the commandments and we'll be taking care of that this week and next. I'll keep you updated there. Dustin, the "you rock God" kid is progressing as well. We started teaching the actual lessons with him yesterday and things are going good. The way the work is progressing is impressive. That's what happens when both companions work as hard as they can. We knocked about 300 doors this week, which isn't much, but the success that comes from knocking doors is small. Of those 300, 0 asked us to come back or were interested at all. It's okay though, the Lord is blessing us for doing what we're supposed to be.

Yesterday, both Elder Thueson and I were privileged to speak in Sacrament meeting. I wish I was more comfortable speaking in front of people, and that I didn't get so nervous when I was up there. The topic didn't help either. Elder Thueson spoke on the Restoration, focusing on Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. He did very good. I was asked to speak on the Atonement, and how we can apply it into our lives and the effect of doing so. Pressure much? The Atonement is never an easy topic to speak on. Even though it is the most fundamental doctrine of the religion, it is also the least understood of any of them. I think it went well overall, I did my best to make a clear path throughout the talk and what I was speaking about. It was good. I'll attach a file copy of the talk so you guys can see it. Of course I didn't follow it exactly, there are a few more scriptures that I used and quotes from prophets and the such that aren't in this version  because I added them in during the talk.

Anyway, that's all for this week. I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

---Elder King
3rd Nephi 5:13

Email Letter - November 7, 2011

Hi everybody! Everything went really well this week and it was all good, except for the weather. Seeing as how I hate the cold and the rain here is freezing, and I'm biking in it, it's no fun. I love the rain, but not as a missionary. I am enjoying today's sunshine though.

So this week we had interview with President Weston. It was so great, I love the guy. He truly is an inspired man, saying exactly what I needed to hear. It's always good to know your leaders are completely capable and trust them. That's an important thing for each of us I think. One of the things he said was "As talented as you are, and as good as you are, look heavenward." What a simple thing for us to live by, especially as missionaries.

So lately we've been working with the less-actives of the ward trying to find people to teach while also trying to get them back to church and that work is finally starting to pay off! One of the less-actives, Israel, invited a non-member friend to our lesson last night and we started teaching him as well! Fun story about this kid, Dustin is his name, and the end of the prayer we got him to say, he said "You rock God, you rock Jesus. Amen" It was so great. Thuey and I could not stop laughing after. It was hilarious. We'll start teaching more about reverence next time.

As for things with everyone else the work is moving along. We should have some good things happening here soon. It's all picking up as we work harder and open our mouths more and more.

That's all for this week family and friends. Have a wonderful week and stay excellent!


---Elder King
3rd Nephi 5:13