Trying to Finish Strong!!!!

Hola como Estes! I have just received the call to be a Spanish missionary! Jk that would probably be the death of me. Although the more serving here, the more I want to leaner how! It would come in handy!  Haha 

Hello from Maricopa! This week was a good week! Had some cool miracles and fun experience this week as well! They just come and go! 

Glad you all aren't missionary minded and having people over, and going out on visits! I'm going to work you all like dogs with missionary work when I get back, so be ready! That is an interesting policy to have dinners at 5 only if you have an investigator. Do the missionary when they eat at 8 still eat with members or are they on their own.  It's an interesting idea just depends on if you have lessons in the evening but I do agree, 5 pm is probably the best time have lessons.  You will have to tell me how that goes!  How did the lesson go with the investigator at the house?

My spiritual thought for this week is what you can do to evaluate a lesson when you are out with the missionaries. Next time you make visit with the missionaries after the lesson ask these questions! 

1. what was evidence that their faith in Jesus Christ increased? (Things such as how are their prayers, attitude/interest, are they keeping commitments like reading and praying?)

 2. What is evidence that they are going to repent? (Are they keeping more serious commitments? Are they going through the repentance process with past mistakes to use the atonement?)

3 What are signs that they are working towards baptism? (Was baptism discussed? Are they on date? Do they shrug off the date or excited?)

4. What is evidence that the Holy Ghost was present or present while you aren't there (was the spirit in the lesson? Did you point it out to them? Was the spirt changing them while you weren't there?) 

5. What evidence was there that they are going to endure to the end. 

After evaluating those ask the missionaries 

6. What is keeping them from progressing? 

7. How did we seek new investigators through this visit?

I bet you will surprise the missionaries! Don't be critical of them but say hey this is what Elder Hemsley does that the mission department trained on! Haha that is how we evaluate after every lesson! You never know it could help! Maybe they already do that but it's all about the gospel! 

Back to my week haha 

Monday: we just played basketball for like a million hours. I'm actually getting better at basketball  but still not very good. But I honestly don't care what we do as along as its active and we have fun. Sleeping on pday I have come to realize is wasting valuable time! Haha that was about it for the day time. In the evening we had an FHE with a part member family and we talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we did a little activity where you take laundry detergent and it moves pepper in water to the side and is its like the atonement cleansing us! Except the experiment didn't work so that kindof stunk haha but they got the point! After our member was super excited because she really like the family we were teaching! It's cool to see members get excited and want to help and do everything they can! You have your core member missionary families in every Ward and her and her husband are two of the best! 

Tuesday: we had zone conference in Casa grand. So we took the drive down there and met up with president Toone, and the Casa grand zone! We had car checks and our car was spotless so grandpa can take a deep breather! Haha it was awesome! Elder haws and I gave a training on teaching people not just teaching lessons and it went alright. We were rushed for time and we have some very unorthodox missionaries in our zone that kindof went off on a tangent and I had to correct them in front over everybody and get back to the training, which was kindof awkward. After Sister Toone came up to me and said thank you and she was proud of me righting the shop and being willing to do that! So that made my day haha! President Toone and Soster Toone trained about family history and about mission culture, things that salt lake wants to stop. Such as transfer meeting! How we will get missionaries where they need to be without one will be confusing haha! Probably a lot of responsibility on us coming our way! I did get to see Elder Lee since he is in Casa grand! He looks great and I know he is happy because area is booming and they have a lot of work! Hopefully he has some great success! I know he will! After we had a lesson with a less active who is absolutely hilarious and energetic he just works on Sunday! He always greets new missionaries the same! He yells "welcome to the butterfield Ward my friend! Your search is over! You have arrived!" Haha love that guy!

Wednesday: we had coorelation with our Ward mission leader, we helped him with creating a Ward mission plan and setting up home visits! He just feels really overwhelmed and I feel bad because I feel like I have caused a lot of that, asking him to do a bunch of stuff and trying to teach him to much!  In the afternoon we met a really nice old lady that just moved from Missouri and we answered a few of her questions and we set up an appointment for Tuesday!  We had a lesson fall through in the evening but rescheduled it for the next day! And then went by a former investigator who seemed a lot more ready to listen and we are going by her tonight! So hopefully that goes well! We also are putting out a little fire in the zone between some zone members over a disagreement with who should teach an investigator.

Thursday: we had district meeting and it was great! Nice to just sit and listen rather than just stand and train and teach. So apparently the night before some Elders got physical over this debate on who should teach an investigator. There is an investigator going to a Ward where his fellowship is but the elders that teach him are the ones who are over where he lives but not in the Ward he is going to. So a big debate arose between the two sets of missionaries. So after district meeting we literally spent an hour and half trying to counsel missionaries that aren't getting along with their companion with house mates. Some even in Tears. Holy cow those literally drain you.  I don't know how priesthood leaders counsel like that on a daily basis! It's amazing! After we had a lesson/ shoot some hoops with our recent convert! He is so adorable! Just need to get him passing the sacrament! And in the evening we had the lesson that fell through yesterday but we had it and it went great! The man wants to be baptized but he still has a lot of things he has to take care of and gain a testimony of! He is a tattoo artist which can have some conflict haha, he can still get baptized but it just presents challenges

Friday: we had planning and had to hurry to a afternoon lesson with a guy who says he is open minded but he really isn't. It's amazing how many people just have this every church is true mentality. All churches have truth and do great things but it just makes sense do worship with the authority of God, the very person you are trying to worship! He was really cool though and said we could come back. This tiny area we do have quite a few people to teach but meeting regularly and their interest is a different story. In the evening we had a few home visits encouraging missionary work! 

Saturday: the goal was get people to the mission presidents devotional on Sunday! We tried literally everyone! Had a few maybes but we made so many visits trying to get people. Haha. Had a few lessons to which is nice because it was a reason to get in the door in the first place! We had dinner with the Family who fed us at thanks giving and is one of the best! They had slaughtered their ducks for the first time that morning and were showing us the process and stuff haha! They just have a lot of excitement with them and it's awesome! Our message we did what is called the wambat game. It's a listening game and related it to the Holy Ghost! Boy did the game confuse them! Haha after we actually had a second dinner with a less active family. So I was stuffed haha and had a home visit with a member of the stake presidency! 

Sunday: we had church only 1 investigator came so not as many as last week unfortunately! A lot of ours are out of town! After we still didn't have anybody to come to the devotional but last minute someone said yes. So we had to find rides which was crazy, well the member who fed us on Saturday came in clutch and was willing to take us. Other missionaries needed a ride to so it was hilarious to have a bunch of missionaries in the car on the way to the institute building in Mesa! It was a great devotional and a convert I actually taught before the boundaries spoke! If was a funny night in that car ride and a great spiritual high hearing from recent converts!

That was my week! seems like I managed to get a lot more typed is week! All in all it was a good week. Today marks the 19th month mark. I'm still kindof in a panic! The urgency to finish strong is there! Haha glad you all are doing well! Hopefully granddad recovers. Tell him thank you for always being willing to come to my hockey games rain or shine! It didn't seem like much at the time but Looking back it means a lot! Love you guys! Hope you have a great week! And are safe! Good luck with school and work and life!:) 

Love, 

Elder Hemsley