A week of miracles...gathering our Father's sheep.

Helloooooo!

 

This week was pretty good! We were pretty busy most of the week. But it was so cool! We saw a couple miracles! So on Tuesday we were thinking of what we could do that day, and we had this "unknown" list, basically a list of people's records the ward has received, and they aren't active, so they have no idea who they are. So we decided to stop by one of them in Camarillo and her name was Ayla. She had been living there for about 6 months and we set up an appointment to meet with her the next day at the church. Aparently she got baptized about 4 years ago, then her really good friend who baptized her went on his mission almost 2 years ago, and she moved shortly after, and lost contact with the church, until we came knockin on her door. So we went to the church the next day and had a great lesson. We went over the Restoration and watched a little video with her. At the end of the lesson, we knelt down for the prayer and asked her to pray and she kinda resisted, then we kind of encouraged her a bit, and she opted to say the prayer. It was such a great prayer! The spirit touched her and she started crying a bit, and she thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to her to reach out to her. And she works usually every Sunday and she asked that she would get work off this week so she could come back to church. THEN! She got her schedule and didn't have work yesterday (: Hallelujah! So she was at church! It was her first time in a singles ward, so it was probably different for her but she enjoyed it!

 

Desiree was also at church! She is set for baptism on the 29th (: She wanted to see someone else get baptized first before her date.... but there arent' any going on... so we'll have to talk to her about that. But she is doing so good! During church yesterday, she called for Ayla and had her sit next to her during relief society. She is so great! We will be seeing her a couple times this week.

 

So yeah! Setting up the booth/table at the campus went really good! We made a couple really good contacts. For about an hour of it though I was talking to this guy named Patrick... He was bible bashin' pretty hard. Hahah it made me laugh afterwards though, because he kept saying (keep in mind he's a surfer) "Bro, I know that there are things in the Book of Mormon that contradict the Bible so it's not true" and I would keep answering him, "well, have you read it?" ...."well, no" "Have you prayed about it?" "Um.. no" "Then how do you really know if you haven't even sought it out and asked God?" Haha we repeated that at least 4 times in the conversation... but towards the end he ended up taking a Book of Mormon to read it after rejecting it multiple times. My companion was talking to his buddy for like 15 minutes... I was pretty occupied, but Elder Robison said that the guy he was talking to was getting soooo mad! He said that he could see veins popping out of his forehead! Ha It was fun (:

 

We had a really good lesson with a girl named Nichole! She is sooo funny! She was being taught by some Sisters in a family ward, but she is YSA age, so the sisters thought she would enjoy the YSA ward better. She we had a "hand-off" lesson where we and the sisters were there at a members house. She is great! She came to church yesterday and she seemed to really enjoy it!

 

But yeah I always wish I had more time to go more in depth about my week. We've got another busy week this week. Zone conference is on Wednesday so that should be great! 

 

In church yesterday we talked a lot about prayer and how it is almost always answered in a way we wouldn't expect. The teacher of sunday school told us of something cool. He said "God only has 3 answers that He gives us. 1. Yes 2. Not yet and 3. I have something better for you." And It's sooo true! Everything that happens is for our benefit whether we know it or not. I have definitely learned that so much on my mission!

 

Thank you for all your love and support! You are in my thoughts and prayers! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Teeples (: 

The district!

And this one may or may not be exaggerated a little bit.... (;

This is how OCD my companion is...(neat and tidy altoids)

 

Another Baptismal Date!!!

Hola!!!!! (:

  

This week went really good! Last Monday and Tuesday we were in meetings all day. 2 days of straight sitting! But it was great (: Such a spiritual feast. I learned sooooooo much about leadership and about how to minister to other missionaries. It's so cool to see just how much the mission prepares us for life!

 

But my zone is good! We have two districts here! It's great (: we had a zone meeting last week and we brought back the counsel that President gave to us on Monday and Tuesday! 2 of my past comps are in the zone, Elder Spencer, and  Elder Navarrete. If you remember, Elder Navarrete was the one who HATED Utah missionaries. and me, being a Utah missionary as his trainer didn't really help on my part. But I just loved him. I heard from the area seventy, Elder Garnes, that that is the best thing we can do for the unloveable missionary is to love them. I talked to him just the other day and he has changed soooooooo much. I haven't heard it from him, but his DL told me about how he respects me for the way I treated him, although he didn't appreciate it at the time.

 

Okay! So Desiree! She has progressed soooooo much this week! the week before last, she was super nervous to meet Elder Robison and I (cause we were both new) but she likes us, and on Wednesday we invited her to be baptized on March 29th and she seemed really uneasy and uncomfortable with it.... so we had a 2nd lesson with her on Friday and we were wondering how we could help her feel more comfortable with baptism, and she totally blew us away! Right when we started talking about it on Friday, she was like "I know I need to be baptized. I realized that it is something I need to do, so I'm going to do it" WHHAAAAAAAAAT?!?! Awesome! So that was awesome! She's doing sooo good. She comes to church and reads from the Book of Mormon often so it's great.

 

We had a couple lessons with some new investigators and we have return appointments with them this week! It's going to be another super busy week! But on Tuesday we are going to the local University to set up a display booth/table with one of the ward members about the church. So we should find a lot of success from that (:

  

So last night we were visiting people and we stopped by this house with a bunch of girls living there that were going to college. We taught one of them along with her boyfriend and it was a good lesson about the Restoration, so we were planning on coming back. The BF wasn't there, so we just taught her and one of her roommates. They are leaders in their local Christian church, and the roommate was very into it. Anyways, we were teaching them about the Plan of Salvation, and the spirit was strong, retestifying to my heart that it was all true. She mentioned how her grandmother passed on the night before and that she was sad, and didn't know where she was, but she knew it would be okay. So I shared the experience I had with Grandpa Teeples' passing away. I remember at his funeral I couldn't bring myself to be sad, because I knew exactly where he was. I couldn't be sad with that testimony I had. Then we promised her that she could know these things too. But sadly she wasn't open and wasn't willing to change her beliefs... She told us how she believed she won't recognize her family heaven... it made me sad but we'll keep working on them (: I love this Gospel and it truly brings me happiness!

Thank you for all your prayers and support! I love you so much! I sent a letter this week so hopefully you get it! You are in my prayers!

 

Love,

Elder Teeples (:

That was the sunrise this morning (:

Loving my new area and comp. and being SUPER busy!

Hello!

 

Okay.... so basically. Being a zone leader is suuuuupppperrr busy! This is gonna be a short email, due to that factor, plus we got to emails like 30 minutes late..... which I will explain why. Yeah. I have like 8 minutes left... ha.

 

But this week was good! My new companion Elder Robison is great! He is my 1 companion who has been out for well over a year. So it is great! He actually wants to be obedient, which makes being obedient soooooooooo much easier. He is amazing at the piano too! He plays by ear as well. He is so kind! We are both new to this area. He has been in Santa Barbara for the past 7 months. The first day we were here, we went shopping and It turns out I had $18 less than I needed for all my groceries... poop. So he paid the rest without skipping a beat. He is awesome! We get along really well.

 

So this week we spent a lot of our time coming up with zone goals, preparing a report on the missionary work for the past month for the stake presidency  (which was hard... cause we weren't even here during the past month!) and we had to collect supply orders from the whole zone... and blah. On Friday we didn't leave the apartment once cause we were so busy doing all that stuff! Sooooo crazy. But we got it all done! We presented the report yesterday, and everything is all taken care of (: We have had so many meetings and we actually have a meeting today and tomorrow that will take up most of the days. It's crazy! But it is making time fly by so fast! So that's good (: Elder Spencer and Elder Navarrete, two of my past comps are both in my zone so that is exciting. 2 cities! Camarillo and Oxnard. We email way on the west side of Oxnard and we live on the East side of Camarillo! So it is crazy. It takes like 25-30 minutes to drive here, it is also the building where we go to church. Yeah! I forgot just how quiet the YSA wards are! It was dead silent during sacrament meeting yesterday! Haha but it was way good. This ward does a "break the fast" every fast sunday, so we were excited for that. We were in the very back of the line... and when we got to the food, we were literally scraping the bottoms of pans and bowls for food hahahah it was funny (: So I had an awesome goolash of spaghetti, various types of rice, soup, and really spicy salsa. But it was good!

 

Teaching young single adults is soooooo much easier than older people. It is so much easier to connect with them! We had a couple really good lessons this week! Our main investigators are Desiree, Joseph and Max. I'll have to tell you more about them next week.

 

I am sad, because at this building, we aren't aloud to use the printer..... which is lame. I usually print out your emails and read them later, but the older gentleman watching over the family history center informed me very firmly that we aren't aloud to use the printer for personal use... oops (: So I had to speed read/skim through your emails. I got the just of it! and thank you for the pictures!

 

But yeah things are going good here. I love this place! Although I do miss Simi Valley a lot.  Camrillo/Oxnard are known to have the best weather in the world! Like quite literally. It has the most mild climate. But! On the mountains that were waaaaaaaayyyyyy far away, Elder Robison and I saw snow on top of the mountains! We couldn't believe it (: Oh he is from Montana... forgot to mention that. But yeah, this week it rained A LOT. Which is great! We needed it.

 

Thank you for all your love and support! I love and miss you all! I wish I could write more about my week! Have a wonderful week (:

Elder Teeples

Leaving Simi.....So Sad!

Hola! (:

BIG NEWS! I have been assigned to be a Zone Leader (: Crazy. I didn't see that coming, but at the same time I did? I don't know... it's crazy! I will be transferred to Camarillo/Oxnard. Such a surprise! I'm excited though (: Moving onto new things. I'm super sad to be moving though..... I love Simi Valley! The ward here is amazing. So yeah, as a ZL I will be covering the English YSA ward that covers Camarillo and Oxnard. Crazy! So there is the big news (: Elder Gray is going like 5 miles away to Thousand Oaks. he is sad to leave too! Saying good bye to this place is gonna be terrible!!!!! 

I played a special musical number in Sacrament meeting yesterday. It went really well! I played my arrangement of "Lord I would Follow Thee" and Elder Cheadle sang it. It was really good. My first musical number! So that was exciting (: 

What else happened.... Let's see.... well one of the Elders in our district had to go home due to knee problems (he crashed on his bike pretty hard core..) so his companion came with us for this week until transfers. His name is Elder Toa! He is Samoan and we had a lot of fun (: He and Elder Gray came out together. It was kind of a hectic week, cause we had to pack him up, and move him into our apartment for the week... so It was kinda crazy. But it was fun, like I said (: 

We went by and saw Ian a couple times. We just read out of the Book of Mormon to him, like before. he really understands it! It surprises me every time how he picks it up the first time we read it to him. 

Oh! We finally got to meet Jim, a less active's fiance. They are struggling a lot right now financially. Kimi, the less active, has been wanting to come back to church for a couple months now, but the devil has been working sooooo hard on her to not come to church. So many crazy things happen in her life right before the weekend. But she has a son that is leaving on a mission and his farewell was yesterday, and they both went to that and Jim loved it! He said he is totally going next week (: YEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!! I am sad that we are leaving them.... But he will start progressing. And Kimi has the cutest 2 year old daughter! Oh she's so cute! I will miss them lots. 

I think I am most sad about leaving Alana and her family. I will miss them soooooooo much! We've gotten really close to them and we love them so much. I told Sis. Hartkop to send me a FB message with her and Alana's numbers in it so I can text them right when I get home (: haha. So she might do that soon. It's hard to say good bye, but I am willing to submit to the Lord's will. He knows exactly what is best for me at this point in my life and I am not even willing to doubt that. So I guess for now I will just trust in him (: 

Rumor has it that some crazy change is happening this week in the mission.... So I'll keep you updated on that if it is true next week (: ha. 

Pres. Castro gave me a call last night to call me to be a ZL and we got to talk for a little bit. He asked me how my mission was going, and I said amazing! I love my mission. It has helped me grow so much. I know that I was sent to Cali for a specific purpose, and I wouldn't trade my experiences here for anything. Although, looking back, I wish I could have learned another language (; I know that my mission is what it is supposed to be. I love this Gospel and I love my Savior. Thank you so much for your prayers and support I love you and miss you so much! Have a wonderful week (: 

Love,

Elder Teeples (:

Alana Got Baptised! BEST DAY EVERRRRRR!

Hola! :D

Alright... first things first. Alana's baptism went sooooooooo great! Such a miracle (: Easily one of the happiest days of my mission. I loved it so much! I sent a couple pics in a separate email. She was glowing (: It was such a good service. She had a ton of her family and friends there and it went so good. A lot of people were there too. I got to be one of the witnesses when she got baptized (: and Elder Gray confirmed her and I got to stand in. It was such a great experience! Thank you for all your prayers (: It couldn't have happened with out all your help. So thank you so much! It has just been amazing seeing her progression in the Gospel. Truly a blessing (: 

I am doing very well! Thank you soooooooooooo much for the Valentines package (: It was so great. But yeah... Presidents day. I don't think I've ever realized just how many random Monday holidays there were til I started caring about the mail! It doesn't come on holidays like this..... but I guess everybody is off of school so I guess that makes them happy (: the suit pants for my grey suit are falling apart... so I'm gonna have a ward member fix them (: the ward is so good to us. They take care of us really well! 

But yeah other than that not too much happened this week. I feel bad in a way. I feel like I could have worked a lot harder this past week since Heavenly Father was blessing us with Alana being baptized... but I guess it is just something to learn from. I am going to work harder this week. 

Thank you so much for all your love and support! I love and miss you so much (: You are in my prayers! I hope all is going well at home! Have a wonderful week! 

Love,

Elder Teeples (:

Alana got baptized yesterday (: BEST DAY EVERRRRRR!

Oh... and just in case you were wondering, the little girl in the first picture is her family friends little daughter named "Heaven" She is Paul Rodriguez's kid. (Paul Rodriguez is a professional skateboarder (: )

oh... my comps bed ate him this morning (:

Botched email....doh!

Hello (: 

Okay........... So I had a whole email typed out.... then I pressed something weird on the keyboard, and it erased my whole email! It went back to the previous page and I lost it all.... so I am sorry but this will just be a summary of what it was about! 

Alana is set for baptism this Sunday at 5 pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! First baptism! wooooo! I'm so stoked and so happy for her (: Her mother and the ward have been waiting for this day for a long time now! She is so ready and so solid (: Thank you for all your prayers! We are going to work with her to see who she wants to give talks, etc. 

The Mission Leadership Conference was amazing! 4 stake presidents were there along with the area 70, Elder Garnes. it was soooo good! I felt the spirit so very strongly throughout the whole thing! I know that this work and this Gospel is true! I guess this best thing I learned from it was to smile more (: It is the easiest way to bring the spirit and drive temptation away. It shows a quiet dignity. 

Elder ----- is doing good. I feel like I have figured out why he seems to be some what "hard hearted" some times... Basically, he is holding a grudge against someone he got into a car accident with in 2012. I feel like he would understand the Atonement more if he found it in his heart to forgive this person. I don't have time to go into it more, but I continue to pray for him that he may soften his heart and let the Savior's love flow through him. I'm sure he will forgive the kid sooner or later, and I guess it is all in the Lord's time. 

Yeah, sorry I would write more but I have negative 14 minutes! I love and miss you so much! (: I will be sending a letter home for everybody! Have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Teeples (: 

This is Elder Whited and I! he's from Texas and finishes his mission in a couple weeks... our transfers are at the end of Feb. I'm gonna miss this guy! 

So this is Elder Cheadle and I... this is what we do in our free time before bed (: 

This puppy fell asleep right on my lap.... I might have shed a tear from it's cuteness (':

Alana is getting baptized on the 16th!!!

Hola (:

I am doing well! Very well! Yes, I got the package (: thank you so much! the music is amazing! I love it!!! and the jerky was really good (: If there is any more send some! I think it is soooo good! It keeps me awake during study time ;)  I get to go to a Mission Leadership Conference tomorrow with the whole missions leadership. 4 Stake Presidents will be speaking along with Prs. Castro so I am excited (: 

That's good to hear about Jaxon. He has been in my prayers! You [mom] are in my prayers school-wise as well. Hopefully it get's a little bit easier for you! My knee is doing better. The inflammation has gone down. It still aches pretty bad when leaving it in any position for a really long time. But it's alright (: It's getting better (: Thank you for the prayers! 

We had a good testimony meeting yesterday too. It's kinda funny, out here in Cali a lot of people give "travel logs" rather than testimonies... so Elder Gray and I classify each testimony but what they say. There were a few testimonies, but there were also a lot of "cry-imonies" and "thanks-imonies".... I have yet to see a "sing-imony" but I'll be looking forward to that (: 

This week we were able to see Alana this week. She said that she likes the 16th for her baptismal date!!! :D Her brother tried to see if she wanted to do it that next Saturday instead, but she said she feels better about the 16th (: we are so stoked! Please keep her in your prayers! We have been texting her scriptures every night and it has been going well. She says she understands the scriptures better when we send them to her and explain them (: 

We saw Jack this week as well. He is still going through a struggle of testimony. Please keep him in your prayers too. He needs it. We talked to him about scripture reading yesterday and being diligent with that and prayer. He said we motivated him a little bit to make sure he reads and prays every night, so that is good (: 

I went on an exchange with Elder Cheadle this week. He is awesome! He was my district leader while I was in Santa Maria and in Solvang, then he got transferred into my district, now i'm his DL (: So we got to go on an exchange and it was way fun! He is from Minnesota. Such a stud (: I went to his area and we were able to help somebody finish up moving. It always feels good to do a good deed! 

Thanks so much for all that you do and all your prayers! I now have more behind me than I do in front of me on my mission, and I feel like time is going to start picking up really fast. It is amazing just how much the Atonement has carried me this past year. I couldn't have gotten through this year without it. I'm so grateful for my mission! My testimony of the Atonement has grown so much. Before my mission I knew what the Atonement was, but I didn't really understand it and how it applied to me, because I don't feel like I have had very trying challenges in my life. I love my mission so much! I love and miss you all! Thanks again (: Have a great week!

Elder Teeples (: