Week 19: 3 Nephi 27:13-14

Hello everyone, something I have been thinking about is how much of a blessing the scriptures are.  There's a reason why we stress so much that we need to read the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  It's because there is true power in reading the scriptures and abiding by their precepts.

1 Nephi 15:24 "And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction."

2 Nephi 32:3 "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."

Elder Poulsen

Week 18: Francisco's Flan

Hey y'all.  Happy 4th!  I'm blessed to be serving in the best country in the world!

This week went by pretty darn fast.  It's hard for me to recall a lot of what went on because the days are starting to blend together.  The weather is getting hotter, its getting more humid, and the lightning has been pretty awesome.

We had a few things happen this week worth mentioning.  We've been working with the members a lot this week.  Doing service for them, asking for referrals, eating dinner.  Apopka has a pretty stubborn non-member population but the members are so awesome!  Every day we get closer and closer with them.  It's a blessing to be in this ward.

The sad part about the work is that, the white people are mean and don't want to talk to us, the black people are all heavy Baptists, and we don't speak Spanish to accommodate the large Hispanic population.  It's moving forward slowly.

Thursday night, we met with Francisco and he gave us this flan that he made.  It was the best flan I've ever had.  Not even kidding it was so good.  Elder Correia and I talked about it for like an hour.

We met with Bill again on Sunday.  He's fixing to get out of his halfway house in the next week or two, so we probably won't be able to keep meeting with him for much longer, but he's been reading the Book of Mormon with us and wants to meet missionaries where he lives.  He's been one of my favorite investigators.  He's so attentive and kind.  I wish I could just hangout with him.  He loves to fish and I want to fish with him and listen to all his stories.

Today we went fishing at sister Zych's house.  I didn't catch anything, but we met her son Steve.  He's so awesome.  Talked a lot about the lake and the sweet spots.  He hooked us up with some live action frogs and it was really fun.  I have a good feeling about next week.  They are an awesome family.  Steve's daughter isn't baptized and he wants her to listen to the discussions.  We picked up a new gator on a P-Day.  Pretty cool.

Anyway, sorry it's not a fantastically interesting email.  I find myself waiting for those moments that are either life changing or really cool to share, but I've realized that it's all about the small and simple things.  That's what it's been like so far.

Love y'all,

Elder Poulsen

Eli just chillin

View from our apartment

A sister missionary in my district took this.

I mod podged a picture of our 

President on a popsocket.

Week 18: 1 Nephi 13:17-20

Seeing as Wednesday is the 4th of July, here's a few scriptures that talk about the Revolutionary War.  We are so blessed to live in this great country and have the freedom to worship how we please.  We are blessed to have the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  They are the word of God and have been brought to pass for our joy.  I love y'all.  Stay sweet.

Elder Poulsen

Week 17: There's gold at the end of the trash tunnel.

Hey y'all, sorry it's been a bit of a different P-day.  We don't have as many miles this month so we didn't go up to the chapel in Eustis like we normally do.  We've been cleaning a lot of our apartment and attempted to fish, which i caught nothing.

This week wasn't that great, but I'm not as discouraged as I feel I should be.  Between Tuesday and Saturday, we had appointments fall through left and right, doors slammed in our faces, and members not answer texts or phone calls.  It honestly felt like no one wanted to see us.

However, there were a few tender mercies throughout the week.  We were getting new tires on our car, and we walked over to Long John Silver's to get some food.  There was a worker outside taking his break and said "Ah, salesmen."  We talked to him for a little bit.  He was confused because he didn't know Latter-day Saints and Mormons were the same thing.  He is religious and everything he was saying lined up perfectly with what we believe.  We gave him our number and told him to call us sometime.

Thursday was Zone Conference.  It was a good meeting and after it concluded, I talked with Elder Pili who I had gone on an exchange with last transfer.  While we were up there, we knocked on the door of a guy named Richard.  He was super cool and the contact went pretty normal (if they actually talk to us).  He said we could come by another time to teach him.  Well, I went back to Apopka, and it's been a while.  Elder Pili told me that Richard is on date for baptism.  I was overjoyed.  We probably laughed from joy for a straight 2 minutes.

Sunday, we scheduled to go see a referral we got from the Elders in Ocoee.  His name is Bill, and we found out he lives in a halfway house for former prisoners.  He told us he had done 20 years in the state prison and 5 years in the federal prison.  He talked a lot about stuff he had seen, and man it was pretty intense.  Bill is a really nice guy.  He has changed his life a lot and is getting back on track.  I could write all day about our interaction with him, man he's awesome, but it was refreshing to meet with someone who wanted to talk with us.  He has so much promise and I'm really excited to see him again.

It wasn't a fantastic week, but I didn't really let it get to me, but Saturday I was done.  I was sick of people not being reliable, not helping us, and not being respectful enough to just tell us they weren't interested.  Meeting Bill on Sunday helped a bit, but I was still frustrated.  We had accounting last night with our district leader.  For those that don't know what that is, your district leader calls every Sunday night to ask how your week went, how they can help, and what you want to accomplish this next week.  Elder Pennock is our district leader.  He's from San Diego, he's a convert to the church, and is one of the most consecrated missionaries I know.  We talked about our not so great week and he had some wise words for us that stuck with me.  He said "Missionary work is a lot like surfing.  You're out there in the water for a while, getting thrashed around, catching nothing.  But once you get past the garbage break, you get in that sweet spot, and then you get a perfect 5 second ride, and you feel like you're in heaven."  I tried my best to recount that, and given, I don't know anything about surfing, but I've gone enough to know what he's talking about.  He said that our endurance will bless us.  Then he said something to recap it "Elders, push through the basura, there's gold at the end of the trash tunnel."  I really needed to hear that.

3 Nephi 27:6 "And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day."

I hope y'all have a great week.

Elder Poulsen

Week 17: Mosiah 24:15

I want to talk about the above scripture.  This scripture talks about submitting cheerfully.  That's something we need to be mindful of.  When we submit cheerfully to the will of the Lord and endure with patience, not only will we blessed but we will be happy.  It's so hard to do, but if we pray for patience, God will give it to us.

Mosiah 24:15 "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord"

Elder Poulsen

Week 16: Why I served a mission.

I haven't caught any fish in three weeks.  Basura.

Tuesday, we went tracting in the south eastern part of our area.  We didn't have any success knocking, but we ran into a few people.  We saw a lady who was opening her car door in her driveway.  We went over and asked her a few questions.  Her name is Rachel and she immediately asked if we were Johavahs Witnesses.  Everyone asks that.  We told her that we were something completely different.  She told us that she had a friend who is a member of our church and she was really interested in learning about what we believe.  Right after that contact, we got in the car and started to drive away when a shirtless guy named Kenny ran into the street in front of our car.  We got out and he asked us for a Book of Mormon.  He said that he had some legal trouble in the past and wanted to get his life back on track.  Isn't it awesome how the Lord work?  Later that night, we had dinner with the Armendariz family.  They are so humble.  They told us that we can come over whenever we don't have a dinner scheduled.  Sister Armendariz doesn't speak much English but Brother Armendariz asked us if we could dedicate his home.  He asked me if I would perform the dedication and it was a humbling experience to have.  I love that family.  That is something I find myself saying to Elder Correia after every interaction.

Wednesday, we had exchanges.  I went up to Eustis with Elder McFadden and Elder McKee.  We did service for the night for a guy who lost his keys in a big brush pile.  We spent hours taking brush off the pile and burning it.  It was so hot I was probably sweating more than I ever have.

On Friday, there were a couple of cool experiences.  We decided to stop by a lady named Sister Zych.  We had never met her and we honestly have no idea why we  chose her specifically.  We rang the door bell and waited for a while.  Normally, we'd leave because it was too long for someone to still be coming to the door, but my companion and I kept standing there when she answered.  She told us that she was really overwhelmed.  Her husband had passed away a few months ago and her yard was overgrown.  She had no one to help her and we told her we'd be more than happy to help.  It was such a miracle because I know that God prompted us to go see her.  She said "This is an answer to my prayers, I had no idea who to reach out to."  We then went over to a less-active member's house.  He's been meeting with us for a while and has some things he needs to work through.  We read the Book of Mormon with him and invite him to do things that will help him.  This particular time, we felt like we should read Moroni 7 with him and invite him to pray more.  He responded so well, more than he usually does.  He told us that he really needed to hear that.  It was a day of miracles.

Saturday, went to do service at Sister Zych's house.  Her yard is huge and is on a lake front.  I got to ride one of those big John Deer mowers.  It was actually pretty fun.  We got a lot done and she was emotional and grateful.  I told myself while I was on the mower, it was super loud and I saw Sister Zych smiling and tearing up, "This is why I served a mission."  I was so grateful that we were able to help her.  It was the highlight of my week.  That night we went to have dinner with the Gonzalez family.  They moved in 6 months ago and are fairly young.  He's a convert from Peru and she's from Hawaii.  We had a great conversation and found out they will be blessing their 3 month old baby on July 1st.  Diego asked us if we'd be in the circle to bless the baby and that was an exciting thing to be asked.  After dinner I said to Elder Correia that they are already one of my favorite families.

All in all, it was a good week and I was blessed to help a few people.  Joy comes from putting your own desires away and helping others.

Have a great week.

Elder Poulsen

 

The keys are in there somewhere.

 

The Burg

Leesburg Zone

Week 16: 1 John 4:18

This week, I've been thinking about the trials we go through.  We go through a lot of hard times, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves in those hard times.  There is a lot to love about life, and even when we are going through hell, we can still see the sunshine.  We need to pray more and ask for help in our struggles.  We need to try our best to have hope.  Hope is a wonderful thing.  When we do these thing, we can be happy during times of hardship.

Mosiah 24:13-14 "And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

Elder Poulsen