The mighty change of the gospel

Hello!! This week was pretty good (: there were a lot of good things that happened!!! I got to go on an exchange with our distric leader, Elder Cheadle. He's a short, buff militarty guy. It was fun! He is pretty funny. So I got to go up to Pismo Beach on Thursday! I'll Include some pictures in another email. It was really cool! I'll also include some other pics as well.

I'm not sure if I have written about our investigator Jeaninne at all or not.. But she has come a far way. When I first met her back in March, she was so bitter towards the church. She wouldn't even talk to us... Before I got here she got a priesthood blessing, but she didn't really think much of it. Then towards the end of March, she wanted another one, and we told her we wanted to explain what a priesthood blessing was and all that stuff. So ever since then, we have been teaching her a little bit, but she hasn't been super interested. But since then, she has softened up soooooo much! It's crazy! Then last week, she came to church for her third time. She was in relief society and they were talking about eternal families, and she said she just got this feeling that she knew it was true, and since last week she has wanted to get baptized so bad! While I was up in Pismo Beach on Thursday, Elder Smith and Elder Moser (the one I went to high school with (: ) set her with the baptismal date of June 29th! I was so excited to hear that news. She is a completely different person. There is a light in her countenance that is so noticable. It's amazing what this Gospel can do! Elder Smith and I went over after church yesterday and taught her the law of chastity. That is the catch here... She is living with her boyfriend, who is a less active member. We let them know that they would either have to be married in order for Jeaninne to be baptized, or she would have to move out by that date. Ever since we told her that, she has been pretty sad... It hurt me so bad to say that and jsut see that joyfulness in her countenance leave. She looked down and she just seemed crushed. She then expressed to us that she didn't have anywhere else to go. We promised her that if she is faithful, that she would find somewhere to move by her baptism date. As of right now she is nervous, and doesn't know what to do, but her and Cliff (her boyfriend) are will to do whatever it takes for her to be baptized. Please keep her in your prayers, and pray that she will find a solution to this situation!! She needs prayers of comfort!

Leroy is still doing good!!! I exchanged a tie with him this past week. He is going on vacation, and I might be getting transferred next week... I am wearing the tie he gave me in the pictures I'll send you (: He is awesome. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet him!

Sorry this letter is a little bit shorter than usual... I spent a lot of time talking about Jeaninne (: ha.

Well, I hope all is going well at home! I love and miss you, and you are in my prayers every day and night! I hope you have a great week(:

love,

Elder Teeples

Hello! Yeah, the Zone meeting was awesome! Thank you for your prayers and support! It is greatly appreciated (: 

So Leroy ended up praying about June 8th, and he told us that it doesn't feel right... But he is thinking towards the end of July. We are going to discuss that with him a little more this week! But yeah, he is an awesome guy! He loves coming to church and to all of the ward activities and service projects. He's doing really well! He is almost half way through Alma in his reading... He's doing great!

Steve is a funny guy haha. We dropped by his house last week and he was trying to get some gophers out of his back yard, and apparently he has a ton. He was telling us how his neighbor one time got a garden hose and ran it from the exhaust pipe on his truck into the ground, and at first Steve was wondering what the heck he was doing... Then he realized he was trying to smoke out the gophers! hahahah It made us laugh so hard! We read half of the first chapter of 1Nephi with him, but didn't finish. He asks a lot of questions! Which is good (: 

Felix and Ezekiel haven't really progressed at all sadly... We are trying to work with them, but they aren't really open to the Gospel... well at least Felix isn't. But we are working on him and we are trying help them feel the spirit!

We went to go see a less active lady this week. She is an artist, and one of her friends was there who is an artist as well. and the picture attached is the profile she drew of me! She is dang good. But we talked with her a little about the Book of Mormon and she said she wanted one! So next time we see her, we are going to follow up on that with her to see how she liked it! 

We went tracting for like 3 hours on thursday. It was actually quite fun! We probably knocked on over 50 doors. And we got a new investigator for it! Her name is Sandra. She was really nice and really receptive to the message that we brought. We are going to go back and visit her this week.

It looks like Joseph is having fun in soccer! Thank you for sending off that package! I can't wait to get it (: 

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Elder Smith

Cool Tree

Our Pad

Well I hope all is going well! Thank you for all the love, prayers and support! You are in my prayers night and day! 

Love,

Elder Teeples

Building Faith is Like Building Muscle. It Doesn't Come Without Effort.

Hello! Thank you so much for the articles from LDS.org! We actually aren't allowed to go onto LDS.org... strange huh? Oh well (: I am really looking forward to studying it! Thank you so much!!!! I'm sure it will help!

So this week went really well!!! We had a Zone Meeting where the ZL's had something prepared for us. This is a rare occasion and doesn't happen often at all... but they got approval from President Castro, so we had one. It was great! It was all about casting out doubt and cultivating faith. It kind of goes hand in hand with Elder Holland's talk this past conference (Which I saw that you mentioned in the letter). It is so easy to focus on the doubts and what we don't know.. but when we cast out those doubts and truly focus on what we do know, our knowledge will definitely increase. I feel like this past little while has been hard for me, just with like a few number of things, but that is how growth occurs. I kind of like to think of it like building muscle. When we exercise, we are actually tearing the muscle down, and at the time it is painful and uncomfortable. But this is how the growth takes place. When we build ourselves back up again, we are going to be stronger than we were before, as does a muscle when it repairs itself. So that was a really cool realization this week!

Elder Smith and I asked Leroy to pray about getting baptized on June 8th. He is so ready! He was originally thinking about being baptized around the end of summer, but during that zone meeting, the whole time I could only think about Leroy, and casting out all the doubt we have with him and his situation. and June 8th was pressing on my mind. We have already invited him to be baptized on a specific date a few times, so this time we decided to have him pray about it for himself. We feel that he is in tune with the spirit enough to receive a confirmation from the Holy Ghost if it truly is the right thing to do. But he is doing great! He recently got a new job (because he got laid off... not sure if I mentioned that or not.) But he is liking his new job! The Lord is definitely blessing him.

Ezekiel and his father Felix have come to a halt sort of... Ezekiel is still reading the Book of Mormon every now and then. They both have some Word of Wisdom problems... So we are praying for them about that! And they are attending a church called the Pacific Christian Church, and his family loves it there. That's where they think they might end up going. We are really encouraging them to try out our church again, and to bring their family to see how they like it, but they are not sure. We are really working on them.

Steve is doing great! We went over and read the Intro to the Book of Mormon with him this past week. It took us an hour and a half to read it with him! We would read a paragraph, then he would have a ton of questions about it and what it said! It was great (: We found out that he only works Mon-Fri so we are going to try to get him to church! He is a really nice guy!

We talked to this guy named Peter Brinkerhoff. He said he had looked at his genealogy and one of his grandfathers far back the line came across the plains with the saints, and he was the only Brinkerhoff in the U.S. at the time. He said he has a lot of far distant relatives in SLC and all of over Utah. And I told him that was cool, because we have lived by a couple Brinkerhoff families! He was kind of skeptical about the Book of Mormon and baptisms for the dead, and a few other doctrines of our church... but he was a really nice guy! He was pretty tall, I'd say 6' 4" or 6' 5". We had a really good discussion with him yesterday at his door step.

I'm so glad I have this opportunity to be out on a mission! It really is so great! My knowledge and testimony have grown so much! And I can't wait for the growth that is still yet to come!

I hope all is well at home! You are always in my prayers! Love and miss you!

Love,

Elder Teeples

Me and Elder Smith
 

It was so good to talk to the family yesterday!

This is the Bishop, his wife and me. They are awesome! The bishop is one of the nicest guys I know!

 This is Elder Haws and I. He is awesome!  He finished his mission last week. He was such a good example for me!

Brother Chamberlain and I. He is the ward mission leader. He has one of the nicest guitars I think I've ever seen! He is a great musician. We really connect a lot! And he buys us ice cream a lot (:

Hello!  It was so good talking to you and the rest of the family yesterday! It was such a stress reliever! It made me so glad to hear everyone is doing so good! (: Oh! and I just remembered yesterday that Luke's and Nathan's (Kyle's little brother) birthday are on the same day! Pretty cool (: 

So Elder Smith is from A place called Thatcher, Idaho. It's population is about 125 spread over about 10 miles.... Not really even a town... haha (: But he is a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith! So that is really cool! It is really weird... The side view of his face looks EXACTLY like Seth, Jeff's son.... It freaks me out. He is really good at explaining things to people. He puts everything really simply so that they can understand. I'm working on being better at that!

I really like the 2 Nephi 31:20 one! I also like Mosiah 28:3. That one is good! So either one of those. Thanks so much! [Scripture for the ward plaque.]

So we are still praying to soften Leroy's wife's heart!! Leroy really wants to be baptized, and he knows the Book of Mormon is true, but his wife doesn't like the idea of tithing... and she doesn't want to sit down to talk with us, so we are just praying that something will strike her heart, and that she will realize that Leroy is going down the right path!

We ate dinner at the Christianson's home a couple nights ago. They have 4 kids and they were out of control... It kind of reminded me of home haha (: Their kids were so funny!! 

We are teaching this part member family. The Mother and her now 19 year old son were baptized a long time ago, and were never really active. She got married to a guy named Tim McPherson about a year ago, and now they have a family of them and another 15 year old daughter. We are trying to get them to come to church and to read the Book of Mormon! Reading the Book of Mormon, praying about it, and coming to church is critical for the investigators to receive this message of the restored Gospel! 

This message that we bring really is unique.... but at the same time, most of our beliefs are a lot like most other people in the world. We have had multiple people tell us something like, "I'm just waiting for you guys to tell me something that is totally untrue, or weird... but so far we believe the same thing." There are some differences in our beliefs, but for the most part, most people believe in Jesus Christ the same as us. Some people will have skewed views on what we believe, but when we tell them that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our savior and redeemer, and continue telling them about the restored Gospel, something about the message always softens their hearts... it's amazing! I know this Gospel is true, because whenever we bare testimony of it, the Holy Ghost carries our words straight to people's hearts and they can feel something different. I love it (: I'm so glad to be out here sharing this happiness with others! It is such a blessing!

Well I hope all is going well! Thank you so much for everything that you do! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you!!!!! Talk to ya next week!!! Love you!

Love,

Elder Teeples

Getting my first/second Transfer

Patricia's dad, Robert. He is 93! ( A lot of old people around here, I know..) picture is of Me, Robert, and Sister Sanborn

Our 92 year old investigator Jose. He is a Tailor!

Elder Briscoe and I

There is a studly picture of me (:

A picture of Elder Dopp, Patricia, Robert and I

My District

Hello! Things went well this week! Yes, I was able to fix my bike (: thanks so much for the money! and no.... I need to go get a bike lock today haha. They don't cost too much! Hahah I'm glad to hear Joseph had a good time ! [in Richfield w/dad] he is so funny (: I miss that kid! Glad to hear the house is coming along great!! 

Keith's coming to Cali?! That's cool!!! You'll have to have him come drop by ;) hahahah. That is awesome! Haha and yes, he will probably have to do cherries to pay for it. It wasn't too fun... Missionary work is much better (: Let me know how Luke's first game goes! I was thinking about my little league baseball years... good times (:

Hmm..... I will have to think of a good one [scripture] to put on my plaque [ward]..... What does dad have in mind?? 

And yeah Mother's day came fast!!!!!!! We are only allowed to do phone calls... So anytime during the day is good for us, what time would be good to call home?? I probably won't be able to get on here til then, so you could just have sister Webb let me know what time would work for you guys (: But if I don't hear from ya, we will just plan on calling home at like 3 (: 

And yes, things got better with Elder Dopp and I! And yes, I got the letter haha (: [dad's advise] I am doing my best to be a good example though. I am actually getting a new companion tomorrow!!!!! Today is the last day of my 2nd transfer (: I will be companions with Elder Smith. I don't know too much about him, so I will let you know what he is like next week! Leroy, one of our investigators, is taking us to transfers. Leroy is so awesome! When he comes to church, people think he is a bishop from another ward, or they think he is in the high counsel or something.... but nope! he just really wants to join the church. He loves it! But his wife isn't interested at all... and she doesn't like the idea of tithing... And Leroy doesn't want to join unless he knows he is able to pay tithing, since that is a commandment. So we are praying that his wife's heart will be softened (:

Thanks for the Stake Conference notes! that's awesome (: I'll definitely have to read them later! 

So I am going to send some stuff home today. and do you by chance know Kolby's home address? I'm gonna send him somthing too but i don't know his address haha. 

So we watched the movie "Joseph Smith: A Prophet of the Restoration" with Patricia last night. (The movie they show in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building) That movie is sooooo powerful!!!!! It is incredible what He, and the many saints went through so we could have this happiness. I hadn't seen that movie for a LONG time... and I had only seen it once, so it was really cool (: I respect Joseph Smith so much for what he did and all that he went through so we could have the fulness of the Gospel on the Earth today. I know he was called by God to do so! What an incredible man!

So on Saturday we took Ezekiel on a church tour. It was awesome! He is really sincere about finding a church for his family.  There was a baptism that morning as well, so he got to see the baptismal font being filled up, and it was awesome! We then went into the chapel and talked about the spirit. There is such an undeniable spirit in the chapel! The spirit is just so strong! We then asked him to kneel down and truly ask God for guidance on what church would be best for his family.  We then knelt down and he offered a heartfelt prayer. It was great! The spirit was so strong (: We definitely are so blessed to have the privilege of going to church once a week! The church building is radiating with the spirit! We definitely shouldn't take it for granted!

So yesterday, it was really rainy and windy... The wind blew over trees and a lot of fences. But it got up to 95 last week (: it was way hot! My farmers tan and watchline  is coming along great (: 

Well I hope things are going great back home! You guys are in my prayers every day and night! Love and miss you!

Love,

Elder Teeples 

4-29-13

Hello!

Hahah Joseph is so cute! I miss that kid sooo much! Dang. Sounds like he will have fun with that [Soccer] though!!

I bet Stake Conference was awesome!! I loved listening to President Trevort speak. He is awesome! 99?!?! [missionaries in stake] and 35 more?! Holy cow... that's nuts! The work definitely is hastening (:

So this past week we had Mission President interviews. It was so awesome!!!! Although President Castro has to interview and watch over around 225 missionaries in the mission, I feel like he knows me personally. I can really feel his love for me when he speaks to me. I gained a lot of advice and guidance from him!

The tube to my bike tire ripped yesterday (due to how old it was) and I will probably need to buy another one this week... And it is a special kind of tube, so it will be a little bit more spendy than a normal tube, but not too much. Could you just let Sister Webb know when you do that? That would be great (: We're hoofin' it as of the moment!

So this week was awesome! We taught a man named Leroy. We have been teaching him for about 3 months now. He know's the Book of Mormon is true! That Is critical! And he really wants to be baptized! But his wife doesn't agree with the idea of tithing.... So pray for her heart to be softened! Ezekiel and his dad, Felix, came to church today. We are going to go by this week to see how they liked it!

Church really is an amazing thing! I look forward to it every week! It really is such a privelage to go to the church building and feel the spirit that resides there. We can go there and listen to the soft whisperings of the spirit (: I love it! Make it a privelage to go each week!

I hope all is well (: I love and miss you!! You are always in my prayers!

Love,

Elder Teeples