Well Another week has come and gone.. This is my very last January Email. What?!?? Crazy. Lets see.. So It was another one of those weeks were it is just like what in the world is going on? I wish that half of the stuff that we plan would work out, but I like just being able to fly by the seat of my pants sometimes and go a hundred miles an hour. When we are moving fast then I don't really feel the tired, but at the end of the night it is always nice because I sleep real good!
On P day last week we went up to Kyle and played some games at the stake center, it is like maybe a half hour or 45 minutes away so I had to organize this whole thing and we skipped our comp study and yeah.. Not a good choice but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do, We showed up only 15 minutes late and guess what! Turns out we were an hour early. Da gum. Things do work out if you do what you are supposed to. I guess I shoulda done comp study, but we still had some fun, we played scatterball which is like dodgeball but everyone on everyone. I totally owned until the last two people, then I got out like three times in a row. Lame, I was a first place loser.
Betty (the Nursing home lady) totally loves us and wanted to feed us that night, so we had some donuts and pizza and yeah even had a lesson in there! She loves, loves, loves the Book of Mormon and it is so exciting to see someone have such a passion for it! Now here is the bad news. Her sister got sick and so she decided that she needed to move to be closer to her. In West Texas. Not in our area!... So she moved on... That was tough because all she did was send us a text and it was kinda like a break up. But way, way worse. Everything in missionary work translates over to dating pretty well and I always like to compare it. I was thinking about re writing Preach my Gospel and call it Find My Companion. It's a work in progress. Seriously though such a bummer to lose Betty! I really hope that she can go to some missionarys that can finish off the deal. I don't think at this point there is anything stopping her, she is probably one of the most elect people I have ever taught or seen. Hopefully I make the Celestial Kingdom cut so I can see her again.
That brings us to Megen, our 19 year old golden soccer star and future baptism. She is awesome. We met with her and shared the Plan and she ate it all up. Totally loved it all. I thought it was just super neat how well she took and applied it to her life and she talked about losing loved ones and I would ask here were they are and stuff and she could tell me. So sweet. I just love when people get what I am trying to teach to them. It makes it nice. Megen wanted to have us over and cook for us one night at Texas Lutheran University, which is cool, I like to eat so we said yes of course. We had to take a member with us and so we took this High school Senior named Ricky. It felt like a glorified hang out at the Man Cave or something. SOOO AWKWARD. I have totally lost the capabibility to communicate normally with anyone. Which is a good thing, because there was some of the one of the other soccer girls that came over and was trying to talk "Normal people" talk to us, it was awkward, somehow we transitioned it to talking about the gospel and ended up teaching her a first lesson so that was nice. Worked out good. It hit me how much I had actually given myself to the work when I had that happen. I was really grateful, if it came off like I just described a date, I really didn't go on one. It was like a buissness lunch or something...
We have a neat District Leader, he told us that he didn't want to train us to be good missionarys he wanted to train us to be good people. I am totally a stong advocate of that and so we talked about Gossiping! It was cool, I really enjoyed hearing him train, I have been really blessed to have good leaders on my mission, even if we didn't always get along with them the best, They are people too so yeah.. Anyway.
Texas got hit with an ice storm where were were, well it more just froze everything. People don't know how to function when it's cold, let alone, when there is actually some ice, so they shut the entire county down for the day, and we were told to stay inside. I wasn't about to make phone calls all day long, so we did the next best thing. Play Risk. I learned a real good lesson from that game. We didn't know how to play with just two people so instead we set up four teams and each of us played two of them. It was fun, in the beginning we both developed one team that was strong and the other was weak, Elder Van Oene decided that since his other team had to be elimanted eventually, he might as well do it now. So he slowly started to kill off his other team. I on the other hand looked like I was losing and was not doing to hot. However, I kept both of my teams and we kept on going. Eventually as the game got going into the second hour I started to take over with both of my teams and beat his team that he had left, even if both of my teams were weaker than his, they were stronger together. It's pretty true in life too. That we have to strengthen our relationships together, because if one seems to be dominating the one, it will fall eventually, Jesus taught "A house divided cannot stand". It put it into real perspective for me to actually see it work like that. Other than that game, not to much happened on friday.
Then everything that probably could go wrong did on Saturday. It was a good morning, we taught a great lesson to this member's girlfriend and she is doing well! She came to church, which was sweet, and she hopefully will get baptized here sooner or later. After we did that, we went to try and see some less actives, then Megan's lesson canceled on us and were surprised because she never cancels.. So we went back out and started to find some less actives. We drove 10 or so miles out into the country and found this really nice and fancy neighborhood with the gate unlocked. We went and saw one LA but they weren't there so we moved on to the next one. There was a kid in the front yard and I asked him If his dad was Jerry, and he said Yes. I asked him if he could go get him for us and he said Yeah. The kid was basically Spencer. Maybe just a little bit younger than he is now, but exactly how I remember Spencer. The Dad came out and he came up, he didn't look happy... So I said "Hey! My name is Elder Funk! How are you doing? Are you Jerry?" I stuck out my and he ignored it and said, "What do you want?" I responded, "Well we saw your name on the Ward Roster and wanted to share a message with you and your family." He then came back to say "Get off of my property in 30 seconds or else I will shoot you." I looked him in the eye, and said "Well, Jerry, have a great day." Turned and walked away, he in turn did the same, except he ran into the house grabbed his shotgun and cocked it and everything and checked his watch, we just walked out to the car and got in pretty casually, while the dad was in the house I even had time to tell Matthew to have a good day too. Ridiculous, he pointed it at us and followed us down the street, we still had a family to see on the street so I stopped a few houses down and we went to go see them. Elder Van Oene was kinda freaking out and didn't want to. But I figured he probably only had some Bird shot in the gun anyway... So it would be like a bb gun or something from that distance. We got in the car and drove off. Whatever, I just think how unfortunate it was that his kid had to see that. Pull a gun on us, shoot us, whatever, I really don't care to much because right now is probably the best shot I have had at the Celestial Kingdom, just don't do it in front of your kid! It makes me just want to be a better dad. (Don't worry mom. We are fine.) We went to our next house and when we got up to the door, Elder Van Oene looked over at my shirt and laughed a bit and told me I had something on the back. What would that something be? That's right, Bird poop. A Bird pooped on me. I was pretty much done for the day at that point so we went over a Recent Convert's house and watched him build a swing set and I told him about the gun and the bird poop and we played catch with his kids, and pushed them on the swing. He is sweet. We stayed for a about 45 minutes and then we got picked up for dinner by a member, He drove us way out into the country and cooked us some amazing stir fry. The only problem is that it was a three hour dinner appointment, and we really had no way out... So Saturday was A hold up, A kidnapping, and A very crappy day.
Then Megan stopped talked to us! She didn't come to church and she has ignored our text and phone calls since saturday... We are still trying to figure that one out. We are on sorta that bad luck wave for right now. But I think that it is pretty entertaining and probably means that we are in for some good blessings later on!
The best thing that happened this week actually came out of this week was when Megan cancelled on us. We have a 35 year old guy named Henry that has down syndrome, I don't think that he has gone out to a lesson before with missionaries or anything, but on Sunday he came up to me after my talk, because I had talked about where Preach My Gospel came from on a random tangent that I hadn't planned to say in the talk and he said. "Elder Funk, I have been studying Preach My Gospel my best that I can, and I like it alot." I just thought that was the neatest thing, that out of all the people that would be least likely to have opportunities to share, he was doing to the most he could to prepare. I told him how neat that was that he was doing that and asked him if he would like to come out with us. He said he would. So I talked to his mom and we set up to go see Megan on Saturday, of course the lesson fell through and we couldn't get ahold of Henry to tell him that it had cancelled. I didn't want to just flake out on him so we drove over to his house and knocked on his door, his mom answered and let us in, she told us Henry was just going to eat and that she would help him get ready. She then said that he had been studying all morning to prepare for the lesson. I was kinda sad that we didn't have a lesson at that point.. Henry then came out of the Kitchen and told us how excited he was for it, I had to tell him that it fell through, but when I looked over his Preach My Gospel and Scriptures were still open on the table. I said, "Well Henry, we don't have a lesson today, but why don't you teach us?" He went over to the table and taught us all about Faith and told us about the Good seed and the Bad seed. He even told us that he wanted to find a video to show at the lesson. I was so overwhelmed at how much he had given to try and do what is right, and prepare for a lesson. Truly the Savior meant what he said, "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first in the kingdom of God."
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk
Monday, January 27, 2014
Monday, January 20, 2014
Meeting new people
Well Howdy.
Dang it was a really long week this week. A ton seemed like happened and it actually seemed to go by pretty slow, for some reason. I guess cause we had a ton of new stuff to learn and everything.
Well we found some people to teach!!! And dang they are some of the most elect that I have ever taught on my entire mission. I'll tell ya first about Betty.
So she is a nursing home and can't really do much, the Elder's before us found her somehow and she calls us "her boys" she is in her 40's or so. She has had a really rough life and stuff and is sick all the time. She is going to get out of the nursing home soon though and move in on her own. She hasn't been to church yet because the nursing home is like a mini prison and you have to sign away a kidney to get out of there for a break. Luckily everyone is born with two kidneys so I think this next week we should be able to get her to church. She has a goal to read 5 chapters in the BofM every day. And she does it. Since last week she has read all the way from 1 Nephi something to the end of 2nd Nephi. She loves the Isiah chapters, which is cool, because half of the time I still have no idea what they are talking about. She has been talking to the Jehovah's Witnesses. We call em J dubs. and they have been trying to convert her to, she asked them yesterday why their bible was missing so much info... I think that kinda offended them, it is what it is though. Then they started to tell her about life after death and Betty said "Oh that's cool! let me tell you about the 3 circles!" Then she taught them the plan of salvation. They left and I don't think they are going to come back. She is super sweet. Love her to death. She is going to buy us pizza and have us over tonight. Boo Yah
The next is a 19 year old girl named Megan. She is a star soccer player at TLU (Texas Lutheran University) and sings and is just super sweet in general. She self referred herself to us and said her dad was a less-active RM that never really talked about the church to much but she wants to learn about it. We had a lesson with her and it was sooo powerful. She was in tears, I explained repentance to her as a Scar that is left so that we remember, but that is healed so that we don't hurt. She had never thought of it quite like that and burst into tears. We commited her to baptism and she is going to be baptized sometime in early feb. Probably the 2nd of Feb, baring any unseen changes. I called to talk to her last night about her Boyfriend and she told me that they had been dating for like 14 months and were "promised to each other" Whatever that means. Why don't people just make a commitment or get out? Whatever, I won't rant about relationships right now, but anyway she said she talked to her bf and gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to take the missionary lessons, because when they have kids she thinks that this is the church that they need to raise their kids in. Yep. Megan. You are totally right. She is going to have us over to cook for us sometime, she told me about the most amazing thing that I have ever heard. It was probably one of the times that I have found the most happiness in my life. Right next to the Smoreo. She said she makes this thing that has a layer of cookie dough on bottom, covered next with a layer of double stuff oreos then a brownie layer on top. Yep. I am excited to try it.
We did alot of driving this week. I destroyed the miles, we don't really have a limit this month, or at least that is what I tell myself to justify it because they wrecked our truck. We had an appointment the other day that was out in the middle of no where, with one road in, or so we thought.... Yep, some yahoo decided to wreck right in the intersection we needed to go in. So we took the long road around. It took us like 45 minutes of driving through dirt roads at 50 miles an hour but we made it to they appointment. I don't think the suspension on the car appreciated it, but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
We pounded down on some serious food this week. I think we had like 4 double dinners and we went back to back nights to a chinese buffet. Gotta love that. I think I can hear myself getting fatter. Whatever though. There is a work out plan in the mission called "6 Months to Sexy" Luckily I have 4 months to fatness before I have to start that.
We had alot of neat chances this week to help out the ward and to get to know them. We got to talk at a baptism on saturday, which was pretty cool and then ran off to another dinner. The spirit was really strong and there was a few less active members that were there so that was neat to get to meet them. It's a neat chance to come into the ward and meet people because I have no clue who is what, or who is less active so I can just treat everyone the same. I think a couple of people have been surprised when they are treated just like an active member, because I have no clue. I hope that is a skill that I can really develop more and more, especially when I know things about people in the future.
We also got to speak in sacrament meeting, They asked us to prepare a 10 minute talk and so we did, I was thinking oh we will be talking with someone else, Nah... We had a youth speaker that talked for 5 minutes and Elder Van Oene did his 10 minute talk. And if anyone is counting in Mormon time, that leaves me, the last speaker, with like 25 minutes. Gall. So I got up there and told some gospel stories about "Learning to listen to the Spirit" First about going to the wrong house because I wanted to have a spiritual experience and getting totally rebuked, then about the seatbelt ticket, then finally about the 20 dollar miracle. That has been three of the greatest lessons that I have learned. First that promptings come when the Lord is ready to give them, not when we are ready to recieve them. Second, that we need to listen to ALL of them, whether they are ridiculous or difficult. Third, that God does inspire those around us to hear his voice and through them we will see miracles. It turned out to be a good talk I think. At least people stayed awake, because that's what they told me. I got thanked for giving an entertaining talk, Hopefully there was some spiritual lessons learned, but I really don't like the sacrament meetings that feel like a funeral.
We also joined the choir this week. The Tenor section is soooo terrible. Why is that? Because there is only one person in it. Yep that would be me, Elder Funk. The instructor gave me a ton of crap for not being loud, haha she likes me alot. I can tell.
Well that was basically the week in the life of a Funk. We worked hard, played hard, and I even wrote in my journal every day. Elder Van Oene is a good guy that does alot of good things, he is kinda strict, I think if I had to assign him a disney character it would be Sid from Ice age. Pretty innocent, does a lot of good things. Well but he is kinda army. So if and when they get to Ice age 7 "The War of the World" and sid has to be a general in the army that would be him. We get along pretty good, he doesn't get mad at me, I get frustrated with him sometimes though. He really is a sweet gentle kid that wants to do the right thing. He has a girl waiting for him, and I just try and encourage him the best I can, it sounds like their relationship is solid and yeah. He really loves her. Talks about her alot, it's cool. haha I tell everyone Taylor Swift is waiting for me now. I want to be the guy that makes her write something other than a tragic break up song.
Well I love yall!
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk
Dang it was a really long week this week. A ton seemed like happened and it actually seemed to go by pretty slow, for some reason. I guess cause we had a ton of new stuff to learn and everything.
Well we found some people to teach!!! And dang they are some of the most elect that I have ever taught on my entire mission. I'll tell ya first about Betty.
So she is a nursing home and can't really do much, the Elder's before us found her somehow and she calls us "her boys" she is in her 40's or so. She has had a really rough life and stuff and is sick all the time. She is going to get out of the nursing home soon though and move in on her own. She hasn't been to church yet because the nursing home is like a mini prison and you have to sign away a kidney to get out of there for a break. Luckily everyone is born with two kidneys so I think this next week we should be able to get her to church. She has a goal to read 5 chapters in the BofM every day. And she does it. Since last week she has read all the way from 1 Nephi something to the end of 2nd Nephi. She loves the Isiah chapters, which is cool, because half of the time I still have no idea what they are talking about. She has been talking to the Jehovah's Witnesses. We call em J dubs. and they have been trying to convert her to, she asked them yesterday why their bible was missing so much info... I think that kinda offended them, it is what it is though. Then they started to tell her about life after death and Betty said "Oh that's cool! let me tell you about the 3 circles!" Then she taught them the plan of salvation. They left and I don't think they are going to come back. She is super sweet. Love her to death. She is going to buy us pizza and have us over tonight. Boo Yah
The next is a 19 year old girl named Megan. She is a star soccer player at TLU (Texas Lutheran University) and sings and is just super sweet in general. She self referred herself to us and said her dad was a less-active RM that never really talked about the church to much but she wants to learn about it. We had a lesson with her and it was sooo powerful. She was in tears, I explained repentance to her as a Scar that is left so that we remember, but that is healed so that we don't hurt. She had never thought of it quite like that and burst into tears. We commited her to baptism and she is going to be baptized sometime in early feb. Probably the 2nd of Feb, baring any unseen changes. I called to talk to her last night about her Boyfriend and she told me that they had been dating for like 14 months and were "promised to each other" Whatever that means. Why don't people just make a commitment or get out? Whatever, I won't rant about relationships right now, but anyway she said she talked to her bf and gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to take the missionary lessons, because when they have kids she thinks that this is the church that they need to raise their kids in. Yep. Megan. You are totally right. She is going to have us over to cook for us sometime, she told me about the most amazing thing that I have ever heard. It was probably one of the times that I have found the most happiness in my life. Right next to the Smoreo. She said she makes this thing that has a layer of cookie dough on bottom, covered next with a layer of double stuff oreos then a brownie layer on top. Yep. I am excited to try it.
We did alot of driving this week. I destroyed the miles, we don't really have a limit this month, or at least that is what I tell myself to justify it because they wrecked our truck. We had an appointment the other day that was out in the middle of no where, with one road in, or so we thought.... Yep, some yahoo decided to wreck right in the intersection we needed to go in. So we took the long road around. It took us like 45 minutes of driving through dirt roads at 50 miles an hour but we made it to they appointment. I don't think the suspension on the car appreciated it, but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
We pounded down on some serious food this week. I think we had like 4 double dinners and we went back to back nights to a chinese buffet. Gotta love that. I think I can hear myself getting fatter. Whatever though. There is a work out plan in the mission called "6 Months to Sexy" Luckily I have 4 months to fatness before I have to start that.
We had alot of neat chances this week to help out the ward and to get to know them. We got to talk at a baptism on saturday, which was pretty cool and then ran off to another dinner. The spirit was really strong and there was a few less active members that were there so that was neat to get to meet them. It's a neat chance to come into the ward and meet people because I have no clue who is what, or who is less active so I can just treat everyone the same. I think a couple of people have been surprised when they are treated just like an active member, because I have no clue. I hope that is a skill that I can really develop more and more, especially when I know things about people in the future.
We also got to speak in sacrament meeting, They asked us to prepare a 10 minute talk and so we did, I was thinking oh we will be talking with someone else, Nah... We had a youth speaker that talked for 5 minutes and Elder Van Oene did his 10 minute talk. And if anyone is counting in Mormon time, that leaves me, the last speaker, with like 25 minutes. Gall. So I got up there and told some gospel stories about "Learning to listen to the Spirit" First about going to the wrong house because I wanted to have a spiritual experience and getting totally rebuked, then about the seatbelt ticket, then finally about the 20 dollar miracle. That has been three of the greatest lessons that I have learned. First that promptings come when the Lord is ready to give them, not when we are ready to recieve them. Second, that we need to listen to ALL of them, whether they are ridiculous or difficult. Third, that God does inspire those around us to hear his voice and through them we will see miracles. It turned out to be a good talk I think. At least people stayed awake, because that's what they told me. I got thanked for giving an entertaining talk, Hopefully there was some spiritual lessons learned, but I really don't like the sacrament meetings that feel like a funeral.
We also joined the choir this week. The Tenor section is soooo terrible. Why is that? Because there is only one person in it. Yep that would be me, Elder Funk. The instructor gave me a ton of crap for not being loud, haha she likes me alot. I can tell.
Well that was basically the week in the life of a Funk. We worked hard, played hard, and I even wrote in my journal every day. Elder Van Oene is a good guy that does alot of good things, he is kinda strict, I think if I had to assign him a disney character it would be Sid from Ice age. Pretty innocent, does a lot of good things. Well but he is kinda army. So if and when they get to Ice age 7 "The War of the World" and sid has to be a general in the army that would be him. We get along pretty good, he doesn't get mad at me, I get frustrated with him sometimes though. He really is a sweet gentle kid that wants to do the right thing. He has a girl waiting for him, and I just try and encourage him the best I can, it sounds like their relationship is solid and yeah. He really loves her. Talks about her alot, it's cool. haha I tell everyone Taylor Swift is waiting for me now. I want to be the guy that makes her write something other than a tragic break up song.
Well I love yall!
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk
Monday, January 13, 2014
Seguin Texas
What a whale of a week. I don't think that I will go quite in chronological order so bear with me, but I will do my best.
Well I learned a lesson this week. We shouldn't laugh at other's misfortunes... I was at my last dinner appointment in the UC on Wednesday
night and the father came home from work and told us that early in the
day he had seen some Elders that were standing out on the side of the
road because they had rear ended someone with their truck. We figured it
was the moving Elder's Truck and they were ok so it was all just pretty
funny. Well... The next morning was transfers.
So anyway transfers rolled around and we got through all of the San
Antonio Zones and I was like Heck Yeah! I'm going to Austin baby!! Then
they said they were going to announce the last district the New
Braunfels District which was really pretty close to the UC. The got all
the way to the last ones the Seguin Elders. The AP said "Alright, we got
a double in! Elder Funk and Elder Van Oene!" Yep... I suppose the
Assistants forgot to tell me that we were going to get doubled in.(doubled in means both Elders are new to the area) They
used to back in the day. It's cool. So Seguin is out in the middle of
nowhere! We are basically in the boonies. I got a picture but I forgot
to bring my camera today, so if you google it and nothing comes up, it's
not because I made up this area, it might just be that out of the
world. So we gathered our bags I hugged my precious Elder Le Sueur good
bye and headed toward the car. Oh wait. This is where the two stories
come together, that truck that the member had seen was our truck. The
Seguin Elders... Funny how the world works like that sometimes. So I
went to talk to the Assistants and the one just looked and me and said,
"Oh your the one that got doubled into Seguin?... pause... Good luck!"
That was comforting! Basically everyone wished us luck... We got a car a
couple of days later and now we have an ancient ford fusion. All the
way from 2010. I'm totally kidding, it is super sweet. I love it.
Especially on the dirt roads. I'm going to catch some air if I'm not
careful.
I'll tell you more in a sec but I guess I should wrap up the UC
before I start something new. The "Lion's Den" turned out to be more
like a petting zoo. It was one of the single most incredible experiences
of my life. We walked in and we were like super stars. Everyone that
was around us absolutely loved having us there. It was a little
different to see real Catholic students and everything, it was basically
like a seminary. We walked into class and the teacher without us
knowing had given the students a packet called "What Catholics should
know about Mormons" I was like great... So I asked him if I could have
it real quick and read it all before class started. Luckily that was a
skill that I practiced all through High School and it finally came in
handy. Who says Procrastination was never beneficial? Anyway it was
pretty accurate. It did highlight the point of us becoming Gods though,
alot. We started with the 13 Articles of Faith and taught that for a 15
minutes and then opened up to the question and answer segment. The
spirit was so incredibly strong and the students had prepared to listen.
Every single one of the 30 of them had a question for us and we
answered questions for 30 minutes or so. The kept wanting to know about
the becoming a God idea, and I told them "Well Yes! Of course that is
true. It's the best goal that we really can have, our Father wants us
all to become like him." I also taught about original sin by saying that
Dad wasn't responsible for what I do when I am here in Texas, and I am
not responsible for what he does in Utah. They didn't ask anything about
that... Probably the only thing weird was that they prayed the Lord's
prayer at the beginning and added some stuff. It was different. And some
of the girls in the back were staring at us as it was going on and I
think they could feel how awkward we felt, so they giggled the whole
time. Pretty neat experience. There was one kid in there named Mike, as
soon as he walked in I could feel something about him, and as we got
into the Q&A a bit more, he started answering the questions with the
info that we had already talked about! I really feel in my heart that
one day, he will be one that accepts the gospel. Jacob (The
Teacher) is an amazing man, and I am so grateful that I was given that
opportunity.
As the UC wrapped up, I didn't go and say all the good bye's I
thought I might, we just went to work and did the small and simple
things, because, I think that I will for sure go back there one day. I
love those people. The hardest thing leaving was that there is a man
named Wayne Breshears, he has a speech impediment, and he became one of
my best friends in the whole ward. He is a hard working guy, he works in
the oil fields and we did alot of stuff together. He took us to
breakfast alot and we always did stuff, he was the one that took me to
the temple. I love that guy to death. He called me from the Oil rig the
night before I left and said that he was thinking about transfers (Which
was weird because I never told him when it was) and wanted to say bye.
He was the epitome of humility and love.. I hope that one day I can be
like that. He really is one of my best friends out here. Such an amazing
guy. That was an amazing ward. I am so grateful for all the experiences
that I had while I was there.
So now here were are in Seguin. It is working town.
After we got doubled in we looked at the board and I don't want to say
we have nothing... But we don't really have anything either, so one way
or another we are going to have to get some stuff going here. We met the
ward mission leader luckily the night we got here. We had to go by
faith to find the church because the map they used possible was in the
truck... Anyway we found it. He is the best!! I love that guy, basically
a mix between Gary Thomas and Uncle Si from duck dynasty, the first
thing that he did when he met us, was give us both some dr. peppers and a
nice new pocket knife. Requisites to Texas missionary work. Whatever
works right?
Well the next day we had Elder Bednar come! Two
apostles, 4 members of the 70, on my mission so far! I am so blessed. He
lectured for 3 hours and did a question and answer session it was so
incredible. He answered questions that I don't even think I had before I
got there. I loved it. He is super funny, he told us not to really
quote him, he said some stuff that was mind boggling though! I will for
sure tell you all about in 11 months.
What a trip this one is going to be. The Lord has to
give us harder and harder opportunities to learn and grow, so I guess
this is another one of those! After this area I might only have one
left! AH! It all goes by so quickly. By the way my comps name is Elder
Van Oene (Una) he is from Utah too. Totally military and I am a total
goofball, so I guess we will see, we work really well together so far.
He puts up with me pretty good so I count that as a blessing.
Well that is it for now! The Zone Leaders called and
said they want us to give a training on "game-planning" for a new area.
Super. I guess we should be experts on that... First off though we need
to get a map of our area... We don't really have one of those yet...
How did those Elders do it...? The world may never know...
Oh one last side note.. I guess when you walk into a
part member's house and Glee is on the TV the first thing you shouldn't
do is to start naming the characters and talking to the member about
it. I got a lotta gay jokes going my way the rest of the night. Hey. I
like it for the songs.
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk
Monday, January 6, 2014
Last Week in the UC
Alright so I am getting transferred out of the UC! I am really, really excited. I hope that I get to go up to Austin.
It has been a long time. It went by really quickly though. I am for sure going to miss all of the people here, luckily I have made so many friendships that I am basically just another person in the ward. It is basically a missionary farewell.. Or something like that. June to January was a long time, but I am so so grateful that I got to know all of these people.
This week seemed to drag on though, I have been so sick of biking everywhere that we walk alot more now, which is slower, but hey at least it changes the pace a bit. I have gotten stuck in some ruts and it is not very cool, so hopefully I will be able to get out of those and jump into a new area. I got to talk to Elder Hughes and Elder Low last night which was awesome! They are the best, it's just funny how I thought that when we were together that I was going to never be able to get over some of the things that they do, but now it is just like they are going to be life time friends. I love those guys. It is going to be the same with Elder Le Sueur, we came a long way together, we rode some highs and dug through some lows. We fought and we made up and we did some good work here. I am leaving with alot more investigators then we first had, the Lord really was able to work so many miracles lately.
The worst thing that can happen to a missionary I am pretty sure, is having church switch from 1:30 to 8:30... Nobody wanted to get up and go to a super early church when it was freezing outside. Literally. It was like 26 degrees this morning. Now that may not sound that cold to you guys, because that is like yall's highs, but to Texans. It's unbearable. So we didn't have a single person come to church that was investigating. But we did have the one less active come that I have been working with since June!! I was super, super happy.
Nick and Jessica are doing ok. SOO much drama though, I can't believe it. We showed up and I won't go into detail I don't think it would be appropriate, but some stuff was uncovered about one of their family members and the cops had to be called. Nick is an ex-felon and we just dropped by and they told us what happened, then all the sudden the cops knocked on the door and boom Nick was outta there because he didn't want them to blame him so we were outta there, I wonder what the cops thought when a couple of guys in white shirts and ties came out. I'm pretty sure that I know most of the cops in Live Oak by now, because we like to make friends with them so they don't harrass us. Plus I get seatbelt tickets, and shot up.. Yeah. I just know them well. They are a neat family with huge problems. When people grow up how they grew up I just feel for them, they really don't have a way to get out of their situation and everything and it is so devastating. They have bigger hearts than alot of the people, but their way of life is hard when it isn't in harmony with the gospel standards.
Magana's are so sweet! They slept in so they missed church but they are going to get baptized sooner or later, Knocking has been the most effective thing on my mission which is pretty Ironic, because usually that is the least effective, but whatever works. They love the church's teachings and all of the actually gospel. The thing that they are struggling with the most is for sure the social conversion aspect of the gospel. Just making friends and being integrated into the Ward. It's not the Ward's fault at all, it's really nobodies it's one of those things that will just take some time to work out.
We had another missionary with us on Friday and we walked down to some apartments to visit a Lawrence, the guy that told us that he had been going to church for 3 years, and just a side note, I guess talking religion in the business place, even in God's Country, is a bad idea. Lawrence got in trouble when I walked in and yeah... Learned that lesson. I didn't even say anything. He dropped off the map though, He is going through a ton of stuff and I just don't even know how he is getting through it all.
Glora is doing decent. She wanted to get baptized but then she changed her mind, basically just a ton of waiting and patience. She to is going to get baptized, I just don't know when. Whoever comes into the area has a whole bunch of baptism's coming up within the next 6 months.
Another group is Kiana's fam. Brother Viens moved to Maryland today actually and so we are working on finding them some new fellowship. It will be awesome. They are also getting really close to baptism. So close. I am going to miss them for sure, I got super close with them and hope that I can stay in contact with them after the mish. It is all going to go by super quick.
I made a ton of real good friendships while I was down here, I am grateful for them all. There are some of the kids that will probably be on missions when I get home, like Jordan A. He was my favorite, because he would come to lessons with us all of the time and he knew I loved country music so he would always play it when I would get in the car. It was so great to drive down the freeway at night when it was still like 100 degrees with the windows down, listening to some country music. That is how you feel like a Texas missionary. Or you could baptize. I was so glad that I was able to meet Nathan at the right time, in the right place and see him get baptized. He will for sure be a friend that I keep for a long, long time. He means alot to me. His baptism came after months of hard, grind it out work on our part and on the part of the members.
I have been able to see the focus of the Ward switch now, they are doing misisonary work! They went from 0 referrals in the 6 months previous to me getting there to the highest in the entire stake. The spirit of Christ really blessed both me and them. We worked so well together. I think alot of the scripture when Paul says "I have planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase" Some sow and some reap. It really is true. I have been able to see both sides of the work. The sowing and the reaping.
Well I know that I did the work that I was supposed to do here, probably didn't do it all perfectly or anything but I did it!
Well I get to finish it off real good here. We are going to the "Lion's den" on Wednesday to teach the Catholics our beliefs. It should be fun. I believe that, this might be the thing I had to be here 5 transfers for. It will be tons of fun. Well have a great week, love yall!
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk
Elder Funk and Elder Lesueur
It has been a long time. It went by really quickly though. I am for sure going to miss all of the people here, luckily I have made so many friendships that I am basically just another person in the ward. It is basically a missionary farewell.. Or something like that. June to January was a long time, but I am so so grateful that I got to know all of these people.
This week seemed to drag on though, I have been so sick of biking everywhere that we walk alot more now, which is slower, but hey at least it changes the pace a bit. I have gotten stuck in some ruts and it is not very cool, so hopefully I will be able to get out of those and jump into a new area. I got to talk to Elder Hughes and Elder Low last night which was awesome! They are the best, it's just funny how I thought that when we were together that I was going to never be able to get over some of the things that they do, but now it is just like they are going to be life time friends. I love those guys. It is going to be the same with Elder Le Sueur, we came a long way together, we rode some highs and dug through some lows. We fought and we made up and we did some good work here. I am leaving with alot more investigators then we first had, the Lord really was able to work so many miracles lately.
The worst thing that can happen to a missionary I am pretty sure, is having church switch from 1:30 to 8:30... Nobody wanted to get up and go to a super early church when it was freezing outside. Literally. It was like 26 degrees this morning. Now that may not sound that cold to you guys, because that is like yall's highs, but to Texans. It's unbearable. So we didn't have a single person come to church that was investigating. But we did have the one less active come that I have been working with since June!! I was super, super happy.
Nick and Jessica are doing ok. SOO much drama though, I can't believe it. We showed up and I won't go into detail I don't think it would be appropriate, but some stuff was uncovered about one of their family members and the cops had to be called. Nick is an ex-felon and we just dropped by and they told us what happened, then all the sudden the cops knocked on the door and boom Nick was outta there because he didn't want them to blame him so we were outta there, I wonder what the cops thought when a couple of guys in white shirts and ties came out. I'm pretty sure that I know most of the cops in Live Oak by now, because we like to make friends with them so they don't harrass us. Plus I get seatbelt tickets, and shot up.. Yeah. I just know them well. They are a neat family with huge problems. When people grow up how they grew up I just feel for them, they really don't have a way to get out of their situation and everything and it is so devastating. They have bigger hearts than alot of the people, but their way of life is hard when it isn't in harmony with the gospel standards.
Magana's are so sweet! They slept in so they missed church but they are going to get baptized sooner or later, Knocking has been the most effective thing on my mission which is pretty Ironic, because usually that is the least effective, but whatever works. They love the church's teachings and all of the actually gospel. The thing that they are struggling with the most is for sure the social conversion aspect of the gospel. Just making friends and being integrated into the Ward. It's not the Ward's fault at all, it's really nobodies it's one of those things that will just take some time to work out.
We had another missionary with us on Friday and we walked down to some apartments to visit a Lawrence, the guy that told us that he had been going to church for 3 years, and just a side note, I guess talking religion in the business place, even in God's Country, is a bad idea. Lawrence got in trouble when I walked in and yeah... Learned that lesson. I didn't even say anything. He dropped off the map though, He is going through a ton of stuff and I just don't even know how he is getting through it all.
Glora is doing decent. She wanted to get baptized but then she changed her mind, basically just a ton of waiting and patience. She to is going to get baptized, I just don't know when. Whoever comes into the area has a whole bunch of baptism's coming up within the next 6 months.
Another group is Kiana's fam. Brother Viens moved to Maryland today actually and so we are working on finding them some new fellowship. It will be awesome. They are also getting really close to baptism. So close. I am going to miss them for sure, I got super close with them and hope that I can stay in contact with them after the mish. It is all going to go by super quick.
I made a ton of real good friendships while I was down here, I am grateful for them all. There are some of the kids that will probably be on missions when I get home, like Jordan A. He was my favorite, because he would come to lessons with us all of the time and he knew I loved country music so he would always play it when I would get in the car. It was so great to drive down the freeway at night when it was still like 100 degrees with the windows down, listening to some country music. That is how you feel like a Texas missionary. Or you could baptize. I was so glad that I was able to meet Nathan at the right time, in the right place and see him get baptized. He will for sure be a friend that I keep for a long, long time. He means alot to me. His baptism came after months of hard, grind it out work on our part and on the part of the members.
I have been able to see the focus of the Ward switch now, they are doing misisonary work! They went from 0 referrals in the 6 months previous to me getting there to the highest in the entire stake. The spirit of Christ really blessed both me and them. We worked so well together. I think alot of the scripture when Paul says "I have planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase" Some sow and some reap. It really is true. I have been able to see both sides of the work. The sowing and the reaping.
Well I know that I did the work that I was supposed to do here, probably didn't do it all perfectly or anything but I did it!
Well I get to finish it off real good here. We are going to the "Lion's den" on Wednesday to teach the Catholics our beliefs. It should be fun. I believe that, this might be the thing I had to be here 5 transfers for. It will be tons of fun. Well have a great week, love yall!
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Elder Funk
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Don't Duck Your Destiny
So first off this week gotta give a shout out to the Aggies! Yeah! That is sweet, I saw like one play on Thursday night because we were in downtown San Antonio. I heard they won though. Good Work!
Well this week was different because of Christmas! It was a "lazy" week as a missionary that is for sure, we really didn't do a whole lot which kinda was a bummer, we just chilled out because we weren't supposed to work on Monday through Wednesday. The Legendary 3 day P day.
Monday we went and Brother Eckhardt who is a pilot, took us to Outback steakhouse and bought us some sweet belts! They were 70 bucks! He said that we needed to look like Texas missionaries. I agree, now I just have to get some new boots to go with it. So that is probably going to be coming in somewhere down the line. We played some B Ball and yeah.. That was pretty much Monday, Then on Tuesday we walked around some stores just for fun and to see if we could find anything to buy. I bought a 6 dollar pair of sunglasses that makes me look the guy on Burn Notice. They are so sweet. We went to the Gortons and they went all out for us! They had a ham, a turkey and tons of Filipiano food. Jared will know. The loaded us up again. I had some Milkfish. I guess it is like their countries fish or something. It wasn't to bad, it just tasted like fish. It was neat though to be there because Brother Gorton invited a bunch of non members over and shared his testimony with them all and then I watched Ephriam's Rescue with them while Elder Le Sueur skyped his mom in Australia. It was sooo good. I really recomend it! It was amazing how much that reminded me of Ryan and I. The spirit was really strong and we built some solid friendships with them.
Christmas day! So we walked over to the Zl's and had a bit of a party because the Cibolo elders stayed over and we woke up and opened presents. One of the Elder's dad bought him a sniper nerf gun that shoots 100 feet. We played with that for a few hours straight and it was so fun! While everyone else was in their apartments with their families we were running the parking lot playing like kids in a candy store. I think one of the Elder's dented the roof of a car with a football... Which was bad, but hey it wasn't me at least. That night for dinner we went over to the Cullen's and had prime rib. The Dad is less active and so it was really good to be able to go spend time with them. My physic's skills are probably the best out of anyone that I know of, so after we finished eating their son was telling me that if you put water in a coke bottle and slap it really hard that the bottom would break out. The parents totally doubted our flawed logic, so we experimented! We went out he tried a few times, basically to just bruise his hand, then he gave it to me and bam. On the third time I got it. The parents were pretty surprised, well I think we all were, that was probably the highlight of the dinner, because then I shared a thought about diligence and the dad compared that into it and it worked pretty well. No matter what anybody says.. Anything is possible.
Finally on Thursday we went back to work. Well sorta. Nobody is really home right now so that has made it tough. The Funk Family has been wanting to do something with us for forever and we finally said yes. So Thursday night they took us downtown to the river walk. It was super! It is crazy worldly though. We went and had dinner at this over-priced Italian Restaurant where I got a shrimp pizza. Granted in hind site, a Shrimp pizza doesn't really sound like it has a lot of potential, but it really was pretty terrible. So after we did that they took us on a boat ride down the river walk. It was soo pretty! Ryan was totally right, I didn't think that I would get to see it on my mission but it was one of those things that I will never forget for sure. We got alot of pics but they are all on Elder Le Sueurs camera so I will get them later to ya.
Alright... So I learned a lesson the hard way this week. After the dishes pile up so bad and your comp leaves a ban soaking in the sink for a week and a half it's pretty bad to clean it all up. I don't really enjoy it. So after laboring for a solid 10 minutes to put everything in the dishwasher a thought crossed my mind.. "Hey if I want extra clean dishes the trick is to put some extra hand soap in with them, because it will be extra bubbly!" Terrible Idea. Absolutely the worst Idea I had all week. What happened was that we actually had a White Christmas in the UC kitchen. Yep. Bubbles were everywhere! That was a major project to clean up. Took me like a solid 45 minutes of just waiting for the cycle to finish and the bubbles to come out. There is no short cuts in cleaning the dishes, their really is no short cut in anything.
We talked about repentance yesterday in Church after a 20 minute sacrament meeting talk about a HAM radio or something... Whatever, not the point. And we went through all the steps and I have been able to watch our Investigator Nick go through them one at a time. He came to church again but he is going through a terrible time, his GF is kicking him out and hates that he is meeting with us. It's really to bad. But he is doing the right thing! He cleaned his house up for 10 hours, because he wanted to do the right thing and try and make it all better. He is reading everytime that he gets mad and feels like something is drawing him to God. It is so amazing to watch the spirit work with people. I know that he can help us all change and become the people that we were meant to be.
Speaking of which. One of the sweetest moments that I have ever had in my life happened this week. Elder Le Sueur just got down teaching a lesson and he turned to me as we started to bike away, and said "Elder Funk, I don't mean to brag." "What is that?" He said, "Well I feel like I have changed alot this last little bit, It feels like I have a little tree that is growing inside of me." I laughed and said "Well that's because you have!" He then turned to me and said, "I was reading a book this morning that talked about a missionary that had a tough time at the beginning of his mission, then turned it around completely and became an awesome Zone Leader, I think that is like me. The Elder talked about how his companion was one of the biggest influences in his life. You've done good work Buddy, Thank you." That moment made every single time that I wanted to strangle him worth it all. Golly. I'm crying again.
I know that the Savior is the biggest influence in our lives and that he wants us to change and to grow, I think that sometimes when we are right in the thick of things that we don't see what is really happening. No we aren't perfect, we aren't baptizing every week. We are biking hard, testifying strong, and working hard. That's the best thing that we can do. I know and testify of the power of Repentence. That is my new goal. To repent, to learn, to grow, and to change. I suppose that is always the aim, but now I can really set my sights on it and make it happen. Well I suppose the next time I email I can saw that I am coming home this year. Time goes by too fast. It really does.
Elder Funk
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
Well this week was different because of Christmas! It was a "lazy" week as a missionary that is for sure, we really didn't do a whole lot which kinda was a bummer, we just chilled out because we weren't supposed to work on Monday through Wednesday. The Legendary 3 day P day.
Monday we went and Brother Eckhardt who is a pilot, took us to Outback steakhouse and bought us some sweet belts! They were 70 bucks! He said that we needed to look like Texas missionaries. I agree, now I just have to get some new boots to go with it. So that is probably going to be coming in somewhere down the line. We played some B Ball and yeah.. That was pretty much Monday, Then on Tuesday we walked around some stores just for fun and to see if we could find anything to buy. I bought a 6 dollar pair of sunglasses that makes me look the guy on Burn Notice. They are so sweet. We went to the Gortons and they went all out for us! They had a ham, a turkey and tons of Filipiano food. Jared will know. The loaded us up again. I had some Milkfish. I guess it is like their countries fish or something. It wasn't to bad, it just tasted like fish. It was neat though to be there because Brother Gorton invited a bunch of non members over and shared his testimony with them all and then I watched Ephriam's Rescue with them while Elder Le Sueur skyped his mom in Australia. It was sooo good. I really recomend it! It was amazing how much that reminded me of Ryan and I. The spirit was really strong and we built some solid friendships with them.
Christmas day! So we walked over to the Zl's and had a bit of a party because the Cibolo elders stayed over and we woke up and opened presents. One of the Elder's dad bought him a sniper nerf gun that shoots 100 feet. We played with that for a few hours straight and it was so fun! While everyone else was in their apartments with their families we were running the parking lot playing like kids in a candy store. I think one of the Elder's dented the roof of a car with a football... Which was bad, but hey it wasn't me at least. That night for dinner we went over to the Cullen's and had prime rib. The Dad is less active and so it was really good to be able to go spend time with them. My physic's skills are probably the best out of anyone that I know of, so after we finished eating their son was telling me that if you put water in a coke bottle and slap it really hard that the bottom would break out. The parents totally doubted our flawed logic, so we experimented! We went out he tried a few times, basically to just bruise his hand, then he gave it to me and bam. On the third time I got it. The parents were pretty surprised, well I think we all were, that was probably the highlight of the dinner, because then I shared a thought about diligence and the dad compared that into it and it worked pretty well. No matter what anybody says.. Anything is possible.
Finally on Thursday we went back to work. Well sorta. Nobody is really home right now so that has made it tough. The Funk Family has been wanting to do something with us for forever and we finally said yes. So Thursday night they took us downtown to the river walk. It was super! It is crazy worldly though. We went and had dinner at this over-priced Italian Restaurant where I got a shrimp pizza. Granted in hind site, a Shrimp pizza doesn't really sound like it has a lot of potential, but it really was pretty terrible. So after we did that they took us on a boat ride down the river walk. It was soo pretty! Ryan was totally right, I didn't think that I would get to see it on my mission but it was one of those things that I will never forget for sure. We got alot of pics but they are all on Elder Le Sueurs camera so I will get them later to ya.
Alright... So I learned a lesson the hard way this week. After the dishes pile up so bad and your comp leaves a ban soaking in the sink for a week and a half it's pretty bad to clean it all up. I don't really enjoy it. So after laboring for a solid 10 minutes to put everything in the dishwasher a thought crossed my mind.. "Hey if I want extra clean dishes the trick is to put some extra hand soap in with them, because it will be extra bubbly!" Terrible Idea. Absolutely the worst Idea I had all week. What happened was that we actually had a White Christmas in the UC kitchen. Yep. Bubbles were everywhere! That was a major project to clean up. Took me like a solid 45 minutes of just waiting for the cycle to finish and the bubbles to come out. There is no short cuts in cleaning the dishes, their really is no short cut in anything.
We talked about repentance yesterday in Church after a 20 minute sacrament meeting talk about a HAM radio or something... Whatever, not the point. And we went through all the steps and I have been able to watch our Investigator Nick go through them one at a time. He came to church again but he is going through a terrible time, his GF is kicking him out and hates that he is meeting with us. It's really to bad. But he is doing the right thing! He cleaned his house up for 10 hours, because he wanted to do the right thing and try and make it all better. He is reading everytime that he gets mad and feels like something is drawing him to God. It is so amazing to watch the spirit work with people. I know that he can help us all change and become the people that we were meant to be.
Speaking of which. One of the sweetest moments that I have ever had in my life happened this week. Elder Le Sueur just got down teaching a lesson and he turned to me as we started to bike away, and said "Elder Funk, I don't mean to brag." "What is that?" He said, "Well I feel like I have changed alot this last little bit, It feels like I have a little tree that is growing inside of me." I laughed and said "Well that's because you have!" He then turned to me and said, "I was reading a book this morning that talked about a missionary that had a tough time at the beginning of his mission, then turned it around completely and became an awesome Zone Leader, I think that is like me. The Elder talked about how his companion was one of the biggest influences in his life. You've done good work Buddy, Thank you." That moment made every single time that I wanted to strangle him worth it all. Golly. I'm crying again.
I know that the Savior is the biggest influence in our lives and that he wants us to change and to grow, I think that sometimes when we are right in the thick of things that we don't see what is really happening. No we aren't perfect, we aren't baptizing every week. We are biking hard, testifying strong, and working hard. That's the best thing that we can do. I know and testify of the power of Repentence. That is my new goal. To repent, to learn, to grow, and to change. I suppose that is always the aim, but now I can really set my sights on it and make it happen. Well I suppose the next time I email I can saw that I am coming home this year. Time goes by too fast. It really does.
Elder Funk
Remember who you are and what He stands for!
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