Monday, November 25, 2013

Fourth of July and New Year's in the same area

This week in the UC...
So I found out that I am staying for my 5th transfer here! I'm not gonna lie.. I was looking forward to moving and maybe seeing something new, but I guess not yet. I get to celebrate 4th of July and New Year's in the same area! Whatever I guess. It's kinda one of those things where it is my will vs. His will and so I just gotta learn one way or another. Elder Le Sueur is also going to stay here. I think next week in Ward Council they are going to assign me a calling. haha jk...


So we got Elder Golden that came to our mission this week! It was pretty awesome! We got rebuked pretty good. Well not the whole time, I don't quite understand, since President Slaughter came in all of our numbers in the mission have gone up and overall we have improved, so I didn't really get it, but whatever I guess. He drilled us on not knowing the key indicators and stuff, like how many baptisms our mission had last year and stuff. How in the world.. Whatever. Other than that it was really good, I think he knew the doctrine and scripture references on everything. He lectured for like 3 hours in the morning and then we went to stand up and everyone talked and he rebuked us all for talking in the chapel. So of course what did everyone do after we finished the afternoon lecture? Talked in the chapel. Man did he make everyone feel worthless haha. He told us that we were supposed to be the future leaders of the church and that he was scared for the future if we acted like that.  Nothing against the guy. It really was good.

A serious side note. So we have our weekly Sunday-funday at the Zone leaders and last night we were all hanging out and one of them put in a bag of popcorn in the microwave. For how long? Yep. Toooo Long. We heard an explosion he yelled and jumped up and flipped it open only to have a mushroom cloud of smoke engulf him. Oh and the entire apartment. So it was about 35 degrees and raining outside but we had all of the windows and doors open trying to get all of the smoke out at 10pm last night. It still smells. Our clothes reek.

So early on in the week I nearly ate it for my first time. We were going down pat booker, like main street in logan and we were flying to our appoinment I cut across all the lanes of traffic and went to grab my brakes and they were like gone! Luckily they locked up at the last minute and I burned some serious rubber. It smelled awful. But It was pretty epic. Right in front of the Bike shop too man! Howard the bike guy just laughed at me pretty hard. I love that guy!

Alright.. We were going to have a big group baptism with our District this week. It was basically going to be super boss. We planned and planned this thing. As a matter of fact we skipped most of church last week to plan this thing. We were going to have 5 baptisms. Then the gates of Hell broke out. One got cold feet, one wanted to wait for another day. awesome. Finally on Wednesday night we went on splits, what happened? Elder Le Sueur went with a member and they had an incredible lesson. Me? I went with the nicest man in the world and we got chewed out! Bad. So I got to the church and took another chewing out by a the fellowshipper member for Nathan. For not doing everything her way. Now out of all the control freaks in the world i am in the top 10 percent. Fast forward 12 hours. I get an awesome phone call that morning telling me that she has called a bunch of people in the ward and rescheduled our baptism for 2 hours later so that it will be her way.. If there is anything that I could tell yall to not do this week, it would be don't schedule the missionaries baptisms for them. We really do have it taken care of. That may be the only thing we know how to do.. but we know how to do it.
In the long run we went to both baptisms and both were good. The one that we planned was way better, had some investigators there and was super inspirational. The other was scatterbrained and the talks were geared to an 8 year old girl that was getting baptized. Baptism Crashers. Nothing like it.
Nathan has been super neat to watch turn around. Life's do get changed out here! It took him 5 years to finally get baptized. Don't give up on anyone!
I do love this gospel with my whole heart. I am grateful for what I have. Happy to Thanksgiving yall. And to all A good day. Or something. That sounded so much better in my head.

Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk

Monday, November 18, 2013

Hanging with the Funks

This week in the UC....
What a week it was. Let me start kinda from the back end of the week and I will work my way forward. So this morning I got a call from Elder Hughes and he told me that Elder Dayton had to go home, because he got in a terrible bike wreck. I hope that he is doing alright, he is in a better place now.. Well not really but hey that's what they say.

Yesterday (sunday) was a dud. So we were supposed to have Nathan come and get interviewed for baptism during church. Well the problem with that was that he didn't come to church. Now I have gotten alot of excuses on my mission. What was it this time? His member fellowshippers decided that that they wanted to take the day off and go to the riverwalk. What the Heck. So that was super frustrating. Then we are trying to pull off this big joint baptism with the other Elders, and when we presented the plan in Ward council we looked like Idiots because the Zl's didn't schedule the building for us and there was a different baptism for a member. Ugh. So I called them up and told them to come over to church and we had a two hour Pow wow instead of going to the rest of church. It was good though.

I went to my First Funk Family Sealing this week! It was great! The Funks invited us I will send you a picture. I have never been to a sealing before, so it was kinda weird. The Kids SCREAMED the entire time, so bad that we couldn't even hear the sealer. Hopefully they are sealed... At least God has better hearing than I do.

I also went to a Quinciera this week. What in the world. So I started eating my food, and then thought I would be nice and went to grab some drinks for everyone at the table, when I got back I set down all the drinks and Elder Le Sueur went to town eating. I looked down and saw that the Elder Quorum President's wife was also eating.. Who's food? My food. I missed my chance to say anything and just had to sit there. Plus they did some flippin weird dances. Like with a doll. Oh another thing, they told us that there was going to be non members there! There were.. Guess what language they spoke. That's right, spanish. Way to think that one through Funk. Finding at a Mexican Birthday Party is up there right next to finding at a Funeral for the President of the school of the Deaf. Fail.

Lets see. We had exchanges this week. The Elder was from Mendon. He didn't say a word the entire exchange. I felt bad, he is a little socially awkward and so I wanted him to loosen up a bit and have some fun. So I took him down to the creek and we chucked some rocks for like 10 minutes. It's one of my favorite hobbies these days, relieves the stress... It was good til we got home and he rebuked me for wasting time and joking too much. What...? Whatever.

Bishop called us one day and told us about a referral. No joke her name is Cherry Pie. Yep. She is pretty cool we went and talked to her, hopefully going to baptize her. Not going to lie. Baptized Cherry Pie on my mission would be one of coolest stories ever.

Yeah. Let's see. I bashed a bit this week. It gets so frustrating. We are teaching this guy named Ed that is so intellectual, he knows alot, but God knows more.. He wants to prove Joseph Smith wrong. Heh, good luck!

Somedays.. life is terrible. I just get sick of it. We got transfer calls coming up and I don't know if I'm leaving. I'm pretty drained of this area, not going to lie. Ready for a new start and everything. I wonder sometimes what the Lord wants to teach me...

I'm so tired right now. Haha I think that every missionary in the world is tired all the time. I guess the Assistant to the ZL's was talking to President the other day and said that we aren't going to get facebook, Ipads, or Iphones for a really long time, because we turned it down and didn't want to be the pilot mission. So I don't think that I will see that on my mission. Kinda disappointing, but who knows that really is set doctrine right now.

We have Elder Golden coming this week from the 70. Pretty sure that we are getting rebuked. He is staying for a few days. I have no idea, just kinda has that vibe about it. Hopefully I'm wrong. I'll keep ya posted.

Nothin else really happened this week. Like I said we got some transfer calls coming up. I wanna get out, but we will see! I'm getting kinda burned out. Oh speaking of Burn out. It was freezing!! in the beginning of the week and I was so cold. I couldn't take it anymore and told the EQ president to take us to Ross, yeah went and spent a bit of money on gloves and a beanie. I don't think that my card is quite figured out yet, because it failed, but I had cash. What was the temperature the next day though? Like 90. Ridiculous. Texas weather nothing like it.

Well I guess that I have to go risk my life again pretty soon, getting in the car with the concussion sister.. what the heck... It may sound like I'm complaining alot, or that I hate my life. Reality is, I love it, just I relish in drama, or maybe there is alot of drama.. either way. That's my week!
Remember who you are and what He stands for!!!
Elder Funk

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Learning Lessons

Well.. Another week in the life of a Funk...
So not going to even pretend it was a good week. I think I may have finally cracked Elder Le Sueur. It was just bad.
First and the greatest lesson that I learned this week. Walking is good for the Sole.
So after his accident with the bike, Sister Slaughter told him that he has to stay off the bike for a bit. That makes working even more impractical than it already is. Still... We press on.. Dramatic music here.... So we walked and we walked. As a matter of fact we walked 7 miles each way on three separate occasions to try and go to appointments. Yep that's a solid two hour walk each way. Bummer.

I got so frustrated with him. He raps all the time. So I told him that if he would shut up I would turn on some country. I freakin cracked. We listened to country for like 3 days straight. I just couldn't take it anymore. During that time, we went over to a members house and she gave us this one drink, it's called something Ice. I have got it knocking doors before and it's soooo good. Like my favorite ever. So drank like half of it. Why is it so good? Oh that's because it's tea.  I can't win sometimes. I found out that I love tea on my mission and can't ever have it again. Sometimes I wonder.

So Saturday was a bad day. But learned alot. I learned the hard way that if the phone is not on when you plug it into charge then guess what? The alarm doesn't go off. Yep found that out at 8 oclock. So I jumped outta bed turned on the phone and everyone and their dog was trying to call us. I was on the phone most of the morning trying to figure stuff out with the ZL's and some members. Our appointment canceled at 10 and basically everything else fell through. Crazy day.

K so I am emailing on a laptop and it really sucks so this is gonna be a shorter email.

Cool experience.

Elder Le Sueur had his cuz call him, she wanted to come see him. Which is like the biggest no no in history of missionary work. So I was like ummm no. (Side note: I don't know why I am tempted to swear all the time. I think it's something in the water.) So it simmered down for a few days and we were at the Zl's apartment on Sunday and she called him. He took the call and they were all over him about it. Finally I got some help.. That's when Elder Chipman and I went into the back room and I just told him how hard it had been and everything. Basically bawled for like an hour. He's awesome though. I forgave him and he forgave me too I think. Back to the story. We left and the cuz was planning on meeting us at this fireside that the candy bomber from world war 2 was going to be talking in. I have been looking forward to this for forever. But I knew the only way to stay obedient was to not go. So I prayed. I finally got up the strength to tell Elder Le Sueur that we weren't going to go, he wasn't happy and was planning to go anyway, but then... He got super sick and puked his guts out an hour before we were going to go. God works in mysterious ways, but hey. I'm not complaining.

I love this gospel with all my heart. I honestly do. I love doing it, even when it sucks. So Sorry this is a short email. But know that I am praying and learning alot out here and love yall so much! Hopefully Jared does alright. This is were I have to say to all the moms.... We were totally right to take Bachelor Camps. If it hadn't been for those camps, Jared would be probably pretty miserable not knowing what to do. I'm sure he is wearing his wife beater tank top, eating some ramen noodles and whittling a stick to write in his journal with. Shoot maybe not. Maybe he's digging someone's truck outta the mud. But. I'm still going to pray for him.
(Jared is one of Paul's best friends who is serving in the Philippines at the time of Typhoon Yolanda. )
 
Love yall. Remember who you are and what He stands for!

Elder Funk

Monday, November 4, 2013

Wranglin' in Wranglers

Howdy Yall.

Well first and foremost I have to tell ya. I am truely becoming a Texas missionary. A member dropped off some sweet 70's wranglers that are 100% polyester. They are pretty dang tight. Both in the cool way and in the Nacho Libre way. I took some flack from the Zl's and the told me that I shouldn't be wearing them.. well. I needed something to match my cowboy boots. So long story short I gotta check on LDS.org for some info to make sure that I am not breaking rules...

This week was a doozy! Went by super quick. Maybe I can start from the beginning and that will help you keep up.

I had an awesome P day. It was great. I stole the book "Miracle of Forgiveness" from the shelf at home and so I decided that it would be a good time to read it! Holy cow. I have never understood the importance of Repentance before. He opened my eyes to things that I never understood. It really inspired me to do better. However I am extremely grateful that I was clean before I came out and continue to work at staying that way! Holy cow. Seriously that is the single most bold book that I have ever read in my life.

Elder Le Sueur has been doing a bit better. He studied a little bit more this week! Well sorta for the first time! I am grateful to be his companion. I am learning alot about kinda trying to lift him up and he has some good things to teach me. It's a different situation. But everyone is placed in a certain spot in a certain time for a reason. We just choose to love each other, even if that means that we don't always agree. He does like to rap every single thing that I say to him...

I had a lot of neat experiences with being prepared to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you".

The first was on Tuesday when I came across a neat scripture in Alma.

 44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the aword of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

I thought about how trusting the followers of Lehi and his family must have been when the first journeyed into the wilderness. They had never before been where they were destined to go. Surely they must have had a ton of fears and doubts. Well at least a couple of them did!

So I wrote that down in my study journal and kinda forgot about it. We went to teach Jacob Fisher, an RM but he wanted an active member lesson and so we began to teach him the restoration of the gospel. The I stopped in the middle and said "Ya know Jacob.. I want to share this with you." So I did. His reaction was different than what I thought. He teared up and the spirit was so strong. He was overwhelmed because he told us that his plans to go to BYU had fallen through and that he wasn't having any luck with life in general. He had been praying to know what he needed to do. He recieved his answer from that scripture. Yes. It is that easy. It is one of my favorite scriptures.

Next we went over to the Magana's with Brother Brashears. He had such a sweet testimony again. He is the best. I love him to death. We did our best to help them feel the spirit and to come closer to baptism... They aren't progressing super great but they are doing ok I guess.

Halloween! So we actually didn't do anything for Halloween! Well nothing different at least, we taught lessons. It was so great. We went over to the Beer's house and taught them we had a super powerful experience with Lita when she read Psalms 23. She is going to get baptized. I think that might be part of the reason that I am still here.

Nathan is gone.. He moved over to Helotis Ward. It was kinda funny because I called to pass off his info to the other Elder's and come to find out that it was an Elder I came into the field with. Love the kid to death. He has been having Neurological problems and has spasms. It has been really hard on him and they haven't been able to have alot of success over there with baptisms it sounded like. His companion was a kid I went to High School with! Elder Anthon. He was a punk back then. Well at least I though he was. I didn't believe my eyes when he was there! Such an awesome guy though. So I am grateful I got to know Nathan. He is a cool kid.

Well... Elder Le Sueur took a tumble on his bike. We were flying down a hill probably going like 20 or 25. I just like to keep up with the cars if I can.. Then I can measure it. And he tried to jump a curb. Yeah.. He ate it pretty dang hard. Not gonna lie. I turned around and saw it. I laughed a little. He was just fine, he is tough kid haha he just got up, was super embarrassed and we went off to the appointment. When we got there, we had to do some medical procedures. His pants were in shreds, and had some bad road rash, but other than that it was pretty good.

Glady's Knight concert was super sweet. I partied like it was 2014. Yep... It was really inspiring and dang that girl got some soul power! I think I may have a crush on her. Not gonna lie. One of the greatest things that I have ever seen! There was one guy that sung "Villa de la Rosa." It was the most B E A Utiful things that I have ever heard in my entire life. Hopefully we are going to get alot of refferals from it and start to pick up some new investigators.

So the best moment of the week I had to kinda babysit all day.. The ZL's dropped off their comp that they are with. He is a little disobedient but is a sweet kid. So it was just a tiring day. Not gonna lie, spend a couple hours in the apartment while they tried to fix up my bike with some sweet pedals. Didn't work. Still had go buy some but The bike guy is my BFF. So I was tired. Had no dinner appointment, but I had my lucky wranglers on. So nothing could happen. We walked by the golden Corral and lone and behold. Members "wrangled" us in. Super sweet.

So we went in and started to eat. I sat next to there 7 year old son, Austin, he and I started to get along great. We talked and talked, he wanted me to try basically everything. Everywhere that I went, he came along. So we sat down and he was eating a giant piece of friend chicken and I asked him "Austin, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Without even so much as a hesitation, he turned and replied, "A dad!" It was the single cutest thing that I had ever heard. I teared up in the middle of flippin' golden corral and said "Me too, Austin, me too." He gets it better than I do. He's 7.

So everything that I have learned, and am learning is really preparing me for that moment. To become a Dad. My kids are gonna read this and be like... Wow. So we cry all the time because of Dad!! yep. I love it all so much. The hard times, the fun times, the rewarding times. I don't ever want to look back and regret. I can't wait to be able to say this is done, because I am tired quite frankly. I know that I can make it though. I am doing the job that I am meant to do. Fulfilling my foredination. I love you and I am so grateful for all that yall do for me. I hope that you receive your blessings for being my support.

Remember who you are and what he stands for!

Elder Paul Funk