November 17, 2014 - A Cold Snap and New Investigators

November 17, 2014

A Cold Snap and New Investigators

Hey everyone!

It is starting to get super cold here in Virginia. The past couple days it has been around 40 degrees during the day and by 7 or 8 p.m., when we are still teaching and proselyting, it drops down into the 20’s. I've heard a bunch of people say that this is going to be a super cold winter.  I don't know if I'm ready for that.

This week Elder Remund hit his 6 months until he returns home mark, but here we call it "6 months to sexy" because it’s the 6 months when you need to get it shape physically so that you are in good shape when you get home.  This week I have been pushing Elder Remund super hard in our workouts when we are running and at the zone leaders benching. This "6 months to sexy" thing seems kind of silly to me. I figure why not just do "24 months to sexy” by staying in shape the whole time." It is pretty hard to stay in shape here, because we are served so much food when we eat dinner at member’s homes.  It is considered an insult if you don't eat everything they put in front of you. It is pretty humbling though because these families are pretty poor, yet they still give us so much food to eat when we come over.

We had a slower week in terms of lessons. Our whole district has kind of hit a wall this week because none of our investigators have been progressing. So Elder Remund and I have been hoping that we can find some more investigators to teach. We were able to meet up with Elias again this week.  We had him set for a baptismal date in the first weeks I was here but we had to drop him because our appointments kept falling though because he was super busy at work. He told us that we had come at the perfect time to teach his family cause he and his wife were going to separate. She plans to leave with their kids so hopefully we will be able to help them out.

We also met up with Ramon and Belkis. They had been investigators of the hermanas in our district earlier in the year but they weren't progressing.  Belkis wanted to get baptized, but her husband Ramon didn't really want to hear from the missionaries, so the hermanas had to drop them. We just happened to drop by their house and Belkis told us that she had been hoping that we would come by since her husband was now more receptive to listening to the discussions. We asked the hermanas if we could pick them up as our investigators and they consented. I'm super excited because we’ve got a lesson scheduled for tonight with them. Belkis knows the church is true and wants to be baptized, so Elder Remund and I just need to work on Ramon.

A transfer is scheduled for next week, which means I will probably get a new companion because my 12 week training is complete.  This means that I am not considered a "greenie" any more. I'm hoping I get to stay in the area, but I guess I'll see.

Hope everyone has a good week!

-Elder Cannon

Me in front of the Bay in Yorktown, Virginia

November 10, 2014- My First Baptism

November 10, 2014- My First Baptism

Hey Family and Friends,

This past week was an amazing week! The biggest thing that happened this week was Jeff's baptism!!

Jeff is just such a great guy and it’s such a testimony builder to see how much he changed since I first met him at the beginning of September. When I showed up, he had already been taught many of the bigger lessons such as: Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Jesus Christ, Word of Wisdom, and Temples. However, he wasn't really progressing. He didn't really want to agree to a baptismal date because he felt like he wasn't ready as he wasn't quite sure yet if he wanted to be baptized and he had a major addiction to drinking and smoking. In my second or third lesson with him, we talked about the Book of Mormon because he wasn't sure if he had a testimony of the Book of Mormon.

All new missionaries in my mission get extra training for 12 weeks. One of the things I also had to do as part of the training was to challenge someone to pray about the book of Mormon. Elder Remund and I felt that instead of challenging him to do it sometime after we left, we decided that we would ask him in the lesson to do it right then.  We had so much faith that Jeff would receive an answer right away. So halfway through the lesson I asked him if he would pray right then to know if the Book of Mormon was true. Jeff was kind of iffy and didn't really want to do it, but after both Elder Remund and I promised him that he would receive an answer, he consented to do it. The spirit was super strong when he prayed and he received an answer that it was true.

At the end of the lesson I also asked him, "Jeff will you follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" He took a couple seconds to respond and then he said he would. After that lesson we continued to help him get ready for baptism.  At first it was really difficult for him to stop his Word of Wisdom problems, but his desire to be baptized continued to grow stronger. Finally he was able to completely stop drinking and smoking. We met with Jeff a few nights before his baptism and his testimony was so strong. It was so amazing to see his strong desire to be baptized. And then Saturday, November 8th came around and Jeff was baptized!

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to confirm Jeff at church. Elder Remund and I met with him last night to talk to him about his baptism and he said about his baptism, "You know the feeling when you are outside in your yard working super hard and you get super sweaty and dirty, and then you go inside and take a long nice hot shower and wash all that dirt and sweat off? Well, that's what I felt at my baptism"

Before my mission, I had heard the saying many times that "there are people waiting for you out there." Jeff has been an example to me that this is true. That first night I met Jeff, my first night in the field, Jeff told me that there was something different about me than anyone he had met before. He told me that he never opened up to strangers until he had gotten to know them, but he was able to open up to me from day one because he said I had a glow about me. Elder Remund has told me many times that he thinks that Jeff and I just clicked and because of that, Jeff changed from a non progressing investigator to being baptized. 

It is super exciting because Jeff and Yomara, Jeff's wife, are super excited about getting married in the temple in a year from now. It’s a little disappointing that I will not be able to go because the closest temple is in Washington D.C. which is outside my mission.  I will still be on my mission so I can't leave to witness the marriage anyway. I am so excited for them and their sons Willie and Mikey who will be sealed to them as well. It has been one of the most amazing moments of my life to see Jeff change his life for the better. My testimony has been strengthened about the actuality of the atonement of Jesus Christ and that this really is the Church of Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for this opportunity to be a representative of Jesus Christ and help bring people closer to their Heavenly Father.

The scripture in D&C is so true that says:

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"

Hope everyone has an amazing week

-Elder Cannon

Me and Jeff on his baptism day

November 3, 2014- Zone Exchange and an Upcoming Baptism

November 3, 2014

Zone Exchange and an Upcoming Baptism

Hey family and friends!!!!

This past week has been an amazing week!!

On Monday night, we had a family home evening night with our entire Spanish Branch at the house of President Hamilton, the stake president. It went super well!

On Tuesday, Elder Remund went over into the Zone leader's area for the day while Elder Terril, another of our zone leaders, came down here to work with me. Elder Terril is an English Speaking missionary so that meant that I was going to do all the talking because he doesn’t speak Spanish. We had some tracting planned and a few scheduled lessons later in the night. At the first home where we tracted, it was really hard for me to have a complete conversation with the woman of the house in Spanish. Normally I'm used to having Elder Remund step in to clarify something I was saying but since Elder Terril was there instead, I was on my own. Notwithstanding, I managed to schedule an appointment with her later in the week. As we began knocking on more and more doors throughout the day, it got easier for me to converse with the Latinos and they could actually understand with me. I had a 15-minute conversation with a gentleman and his wife in front of their home and I was able to give them a book of Mormon and commit them to read it. It was pretty funny because during the entire time we were tracting, Elder Terril basically just stood there and watched me talk because he had no idea what any of the conversation was about. After each conversation he asked me what we talked about.

Elder Terril is an amazing missionary. It’s no surprise to me that he is a zone leader. Whenever we ran into someone who spoke English while we were tracting, which happened a lot, he would be able to pull out scriptures based on what they were saying.  He was really good at getting people to open up and be friendly when at the beginning they weren't.

At 5 p.m. we had a lesson with Jeff which went super well and which was lucky for Elder Terril because that lesson was in English.  Afterwards we had dinner with the Ojeda family. The dinner with the Ojeda’s ended up being pretty awkward though. After we taught them a short lesson after dinner, Brother Ojeda asked us some questions about Joseph Smith and polygamy that he had seen on the news.  He and his family have been converts for about 5 years.   Our discussion ended up focusing on polygamy.  Our answers to their questions didn't really seem to help Brother and Sister Ojeda feel better about what they had seen on TV. We really tried to focus our answer about having faith and relying on their testimony. 

Later that evening, we had an appointment with Edwin and Miriam. I had been a little worried about this appointment since this was going to be our only scheduled appointment in the day that would be only in Spanish. But it ended up going super well.  I taught them the importance of having Noche de Hogar, Family Home Evening, and I committed them to have it.

On Wednesday, we ate lunch at Abuelita's home.  This week ended up being a tender mercy because she didn't have enough time to make the soup so we just had the rice, beans, and chicken. I actually got to enjoy eating this part of the meal for once because normally I'm super full after eating the big bowl of soup that is usually served first. So for once, I left Abuelita's home feeling contently full and not feeling sick because I was too full.

There is a nasty cold that has been passing around our branch this past week, and I ended up getting it.  Thursday just ended up being a sick day and I slept most of the day because I felt really sick.  I am feeling a little better now but I am still sick.

All the missionaries in our mission got Halloween night off after 6 p.m. because President Baker didn't want us to tract or be outside during trick or treating.  Elder Remund and I went to the zone leaders' apartment and we ate pizza, played Apples to Apples and then carved a pumpkin.  It was super fun!

On Saturday we had the social media split!! Some members of our ward walked around with us the whole day and took pictures and videos of us doing missionary work.  Later, they posted the pictures on Facebook and Twitter and used the same hashtag that the Book of Mormon musical used so that when people look that up, pictures of missionaries from all over the mission will pop up. The members of our ward had been very excited about it ever since it was announced. We had some of the young men in our ward take pictures during our study hour.  This worked out great because we were able to have a really good discussion about the Atonement after our personal study time. We also had a great service opportunity where we got to help unload items for the Bishop's Storehouse and then we helped sort the items for the individuals who needed them and helped these people put the items in their car.  All in all, I think the social media split was extremely effective in our branch!

Jeff had his interview for baptism on Saturday with one of the Zone leaders and he passed!! He is going to be baptized this Saturday Nov 8!!! He has asked me to confirm him and give him the Holy Ghost on Sunday. Elder Remund and I are super excited for him!!!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Cannon

Our Ward at Stake President's home for FHE

Playing Apples to Apples with Zone leaders on Halloween night

At the beach with Elder Remund

Sunrise at the beach on transfer day with Zone leaders

October 27, 2014- Lots of Food and the Ward Party

October 27, 2014- Lots of Food and the Ward Party

Hey family and friends!!!

This week has been a slower week for my companion and me. We had 9 member present appointments fall through this week because when we arrived for the appointment the investigator wasn't there. Many of our investigators are starting to become a little shaky so this next week we are going to try to find more investigators.

Every month we are allotted a certain amount of miles on our car. Elder Remund and I have been really low on miles so we couldn't go very far on p-day. On Monday during p-day, our Zone leaders and Elder Remund and I decided to go thrift store shopping. In one of the stores, we found matching wise man oil containers. One of them is white and the other looks like a guy from India. Elder Remund bought the Indian guy and named him Dom and the Zone leaders bought the white guy and named him Tom.  Both of us have our little wise man sitting on top of our stoves in our apartment. Now for the story behind the statues,  a month ago Elder Remund and I were tracting on a street and trying to talk to everyone. This was an Indian guy that we talked to whose name was Dom and he had the classic Indian accent. Well, he said he wasn't interested by saying, "same god, different religion." As he walked away, he said, "May Dom bless you." We were thinking, “What??” because his name is Dom. Well since then, that is a phrase that we like to joke about.  When we told our Zone leaders about it they thought it was pretty funny.  When we were shopping in the thrift store and we saw the Indian oil container, it reminded us of the experience. 

The Latinos here really like Chinese buffets, especially single Latino men.  Elder Remund have been taken to Chinese buffets for dinner twice this week.

On Wednesday, we had interviews with President Baker. Every few months the missionaries here have interviews with the Mission President. This was my first time having an interview with him since I came in the first day. It went pretty well!

There is a sweet little Ecuadorian woman in the ward who invites us over once a week for lunch.  My first lunch experience at her home in early September was an interesting one. She first served us a drink called Quaker, an oatmeal and pineapple drink.  Elder Remund told me the key for Quaker is to drink it really slowly because as soon as you finish drinking the Quaker she says, "Tome mas Quaker." which means, “Drink more Quaker." She gets really offended if you tell her that you don’t want any more. I don't know how I got away with only having to drink only one large mug of Quaker. She kept asking me if I didn't like her Quaker because I was drinking slow, and I just responded that I was a slow drinker but that the Quaker was good and she seemed pretty content with that. Then she served us a big bowl of soup filled with chicken, vegetables and two boiled eggs floating in it. The soup was actually pretty good except for the boiled eggs. I don't know what she did with those boiled eggs but they weren't good at all. Once I finished the Quaker drink and the large bowl of soup I was stuffed.  We were then served a huge plate filled with rice, beans, chicken, and plantains.  It was such a struggle to finish all the food. I barely made it. I was basically stuffed for the rest of the day.  That evening our ward mission leader took us out to dinner at a steak house.  I think that I ended up gaining 10 pounds that day.

One week we got to take the food home with us because of a new mission rule that says that we aren't allowed to teach anyone or even be on the doorstep for an extended period of time with a member of the opposite sex.  In the past we would just sit on Abuelita's porch to eat but since we couldn’t do that anymore, that day I was saved from having to stuff my face. #tendermercy   Since that week, the sister has rescheduled our time to meet her for lunch to coincide with when her son is there.  As a result, we have switched our time with the Hermanas. We now eat at noon and the Hermanas eat at 1 p.m. So taking the food home with us was just a one-time thing.

As I said, the sister who feeds us lunch once a week gives us a lot of food to eat.  We try hard to eat what she gives us because she is very offended if we don’t.  It is a struggle sometimes.  This week she served us something different than the norm- we had breakfast for lunch!  There still was a ton of food. She made a huge waffle covered with strawberries and whipped cream, fries and potato patties, eggs and hot chocolate. I was super full after I ate. 

I love to eat pupusas, an amazing Salvadorian food that consists of handmade tortilla that is rolled up into a flat ball shape with space inside for the beans and cheese. My companion loves pupusas too, actually all the Spanish missionaries here do. Elder Remund and I are lucky enough to be able to eat pupusas almost every week at Edwin and Miriam’s home, a couple from El Salvador who are getting married December 20 and baptized in early January. Elder Remund and I decided to make pupusas with the zone leaders during one of our lunch hours, and man they were amazing. They weren't as good as Edwin and Miriam’s, but they were still really good.

On Saturday, the Bishop of the Gloucester Virginia ward invited the Spanish Branch to come to his home for a ward party. Elder Remund and I asked President Baker if we would be allowed to go and he said Yes!! He said that all 6 missionaries in our district could attend.  Gloucester is completely out of our zone and missionaries rarely get permission to leave their zone for a party, so it was really cool!

All the Latinos in our branch met at the church and then we caravanned up there.  The Bishop owns a huge property. He had a huge open field for us to park in, and we had to walk down a road through the forest to get to his house. His house is huge and he had a huge backyard located in the middle of the forest. There were a ton of people there and a lot of food. After dinner they had a trunk or treat and a huge bonfire. Apparently the bishop and his family build a large bonfire every year.  They spend the whole year cutting and stacking a huge stack of wood to burn.

There was some confusion about our investigator Jeff. His sister in law told us that he had been cigarette free but apparently he had a cigarette last Sunday.  When we went to see him on Tuesday he said had been cigarette free since Monday, so we had to move his baptism to from November 1^st to November 8th. Hopefully he will be able to be baptized then.   We continue to encourage him and I will continue to keep everyone updated on his baptism date. Hopefully, he will be strong!!

Tomorrow, I am going on an exchange with the zone leaders. Elder Remund is leaving to go to the zone leaders area and Elder Geddis and Elder Terril are coming to our area to work with me. Elder Terril is an English-speaking missionary, so that means I will be the only Spanish-speaking missionary during the exchange. Basically, I will be the only one teaching the lessons and talking to the Latinos.   Hopefully, my Spanish can hold up. I'm pretty excited though because it will be a good learning experience.  I'm excited because this experience will force me to talk to Latinos a lot. I already know my Spanish is pretty good, I just can't wait to see how good.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Love Elder Cannon

Pupusas 

Me in front of the bonfire at the ward party

Missionaries that attended the ward party

Quaker and Chicken, Vegetable and Egg Soup

Beans, Chicken, Rice and Plaintains