Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Last Email before Elder Durfee Returns!!!:)
Elder Durfee and his tough companion!
Dear Mom, Title “My Last Email”
 |
| Add caption |
Well I’m glad to hear Ryan made it safely home. I only have a few day left! Yesterday we gave service on the church ranch. It is harder for us to do things because we can’t ride the horses or quads. We cleaned up around one of the farm houses. The branches on the trees had fallen down and lots of dead branches still clung to the trees. We pilled everything up inside the old 5 room chicken pen to be burned later this winter. We also fixed a windmill and rescued a baby calf and caught a lizard.
Well it is hard getting everything in order to go home. I have washed my clothes for the last time out here. We emptied the fridge of all its extra contents that needed to be thrown away since Elder Nonu left. The hardest part of it all is we have to spend time writing President Ely our “Trunky Papers”. I have spent all morning writing up a letter about my mission, my testimony, my goals for the next 6 months, the next 3 years and the next ten years and what I like about my family. If you want to make a missionary to think about home just have him write a letter about it. Wednesday we have a work day and a meeting with our ward mission leader. Thursday we have district meeting. Friday we are going down to the temple. Saturday we have our last work day. Sunday we get up go to church then drive down to the mission home. Spend the night and get interviewed by president. Monday go out for breakfast and then head to the air port. Then I will see you!
Well for work we have been trying very hard to help Prepare Derek for baptism. His girlfriend does not want to get married. We had dinner last night with them. Their children love us and they want their parents to get married. It just goes to show you that it is important to get married then have kids. It causes problems the other way around. Derek came to church with the three year old twins. I sat by him and tried to entertain them. I was really tired after church.
We cleaned basement for service. It was really dirty. There home looked almost as bad as some of the homes that grandpa had renters in. we cleaned most of it but have another appointment with them Saturday to finish the job. I am really glad you made me clean my room. Thanks for that. It is really disgusting when you put food, dog poop, shoes, clothes, books, trash, homework, movies and everything else on the floor instead of where it should go. Charlene came to church! It was stake conference and we watched a movie of it being broadcasted from Cheyenne.
We almost ran out of miles again this month. We made it to the church building and had to park the car. We only had one mile left to drive and our house was three miles away. A nice member gave us a ride home. The next day we walked to church because we could not find a ride. Having a car is really nice.
Well mom I hope you have a wonderful week and the family remembers its Mothers Day on Sunday. I will call you then. Love,
Elder Durfee
4-25-11
Dear Mom,
Ryan comes home on Friday!!! No way that’s wonderful and totally unfair... I wish I could be there to see him. I guess I’ll just be that last one off the boat. J Would you tell him hi for me and congratulations?
I hope you are well and healthy. This last week was a long haul but I made it threw. I have to say that I am thou rally exhausted. All I want to do today is sleep. The members that we live with took us to one of the old Cabalas ware houses and let us look around. It was way cool. It was three stories tall and filled with all sorts of animals. Yes they are stuffed but it was really cool. I sent some pictures
Well this last week we drove all over the place. We were planning last Saturday night and were having difficulty planning what we should be doing (this usually means we are working in the wrong area or in the wrong place). We decided to go east of town and visit everyone in each small town we visited. We were way out of a small town called Chappell and when we came across a house with no numbers but it was the only on the street. We knocked and found out the person had moved to town three years ago. We tried to find her in town with no success. The only active family in the town was able to help give us directions (it is a really small town). The members warned us that the husband was anti-Mormon but should be nice to us but to call if we get into trouble. When we found the house, they let us in and were very nice. The wife still claimed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as her religion. The husband was not anti-Mormon but really opinionated. We had a great conversation about the gospel and the apostasy, in the end they invited us to come back and see them. I am grateful that we were able to find that sister and her husband. They probably have not had the missionaries visit in several years. Just think if we had not headed the prompting of the Spirit as we planned the night before, the family would not have been found.
We met with Derek. He is very busy preparing to move his family and everything else. His Fiancé is having second thoughts about marriage and the baptism has been postponed until they get married. I don’t think I will be here for the baptism. He has been reading from the scriptures and been marking them with different colors. He told us that he believe the Book of Mormon is true. He has not smoked nor drank coffee. I fasted for him this last Sunday.
Brother Swires was in the hospital this last week. We did not get to meet with the family but we stopped by and got a chance to “mourn with those that mourn”. We mostly just listened and let them know that we cared about them.
That's all that I have time for, thank you for your prayers Mom. I love you!
Elder Durfee
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
4-11-11
Dear Mom,
Greetings! I think I get to call home on Mother’s day. I leave for the mission office at 10 am. Can I call before then?
It was a great week. I got to drive to Cheyenne, teach several people for the first time and we made some good progress with an investigator.
First off we lost contact with Derek on Tuesday and we did not see him until Saturday. He was not answering phone calls and his car was not there. We thought he decided that he did not want to get baptized and left. Apparently his Fiancé got really sick and had to be flown to Scottsbluff. She is home now and back at work. Derek looked really tired.
Let’s see… we talked with Brother . about where he wants his family with the church. He told us he would like to see them get baptized. We invited him to think about baptizing them himself and told him what it will take to have a baptism. They have to come to church for at least three times and we only have barely three left. They will have to be baptized after we leave the area. Hopefully the next missionaries will take good care of them.
We taught a young 9 year old boy. His family wants him to be baptized but he has difficulty understanding someone talking to him. As much as we would like to baptize him we don’t think he is accountable and are planning on postponing the baptism until he is older.
We have been trying to set a good example for the ward this last week. We tracted lots (the weather has been beautiful, I think I actually got a slight sun burn. Well my skin started to turn slightly pink.) It was great. Short sleeves have been wonderful. We also had a slush storm. Small ice cubes the size of sand poured down from the sky. We were caught in it unprepared and had to retreat back to the car. I also lost my name tag and had to put on a spare.
Thanks for your prayers. I do feel them. I wish I could be there for the Easter Pageant. Break a leg! Love Elder Durfee
4-10-11
Dear Mom,
I got the package!!! The Oranges lasted this time. I ate them already. Yummy! Thanks for thinking of me.
This last week was an eventful one. I went on exchanges with Elder Mena. It was great we had a good time visiting people and found an older couple who let us teach them the Restoration. We invited them to read and pray about it.
Well we taught Derek the law of tithing, law of chastity and the word of wisdom. We are making arrangements for Derek and Atinot to get married. They are still trying to pick a date for the wedding. The ward has been great to want to help. Derek has been following the word of wisdom for a week now. No smoking or coffee. He came to church this last week and enjoyed it. He volunteered to help with the cleaning the building. He told us some great stories of how he is becoming more Christ like. The gospel is already changing him.
We taught the B. grandchildren Branden and DeAngela. We came by in two visits and taught the Plan of Salvation. We used pictures and tried very hard to teach simply so they would understand. We reviewed as we taught the lesson and then in the end the children were able to teach it back to us. They are great. They did not come to church for some reason we do not know yet. They do not have a date yet. We brought the home teachers to the appointment.
We taught the S. family the Restoration and invited them to read and pray. Sister H. came with us and was a good friend to sister S.. Hopefully she will open up more with another sister to talk to rather them a brother. Some of the girls really are excited about the gospel and some of them don’t really care. It is interesting to see the difference in their testimonies.
We have been inviting our members to go on to Mormon.org and make a profile to share their testimony. It has been fun. You should try it.
My companions name is Elder Henson. He’s from Oregon. We bolth received out trunky papers. I will be coming home May 9th. For some reason they are flying me to the Salt Lake City air port, them to Arizona. I leav at 11:41 am for salt lake and arrive at 1:15 pm. Then I get on the Delta Air Lines at 1:55pm and arrive in phoenix at 2:35pm. I hope you have a great week mom. I loved getting the letter from Dayson. Tell him it and will reply soon.
Love Elder Durfee
4-3-11
Dear Mom,
The plants were in buckets of soil. They had a worm garden and their own compost.
Thanks for the package. It was great. The caramel popcorn was very good. Ps the oranges froze. Fruit does not survive the trip to Nebraska.
We hit record highs this last week with 80 degrees. It felt wonderful. Between sessions on Saturday Elder Henson and I laid in the grass behind the church. It felt wonderful to sit and enjoy the sun. The temperature dropped on Sunday, We had snow.
I am doing very good. We were supper blessed this last week. We taught Derek about the restoration and talked about baptism. He was asking us what he needed to do to feel the spirit in his life. To have peace. We left him with a commitment to read Alma 36 and to pray every day. He called us the next day asking for more to read. He read the chapter three times and memorized one of the verses. He loved it and marked his favorite parts. We gave him Alma 34 and confirmed our appointment for Friday. Friday we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited him to be baptized on April 30th. He accepted and we gave him ether 12 to read. Before we left, we spoke with him and his girlfriend Atinot and invited them to think about marriage. Derek’s sister (who is a member) told Derek that he needed to quit smoking to be baptized. He called us Friday night and told us he was looking for an excuse to stop smoking. He stopped smoking and coffee on Saturday and came to a session of general conference. After we met with him and laid out all that needs to happen for his baptism on April 30th. He asked if he needed to be married to be baptized (yes!) and we discussed how it could all happen. He went home that night and proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes. They have not set a date yet but we have an appointment on Wednesday to discuss and set this all up. It has been a rather exciting week. Derek was home sick with a fever on Sunday and missed general conference. I have been praying for him. Saton is working hard to keep him from joining the church. He told us that one of the people he knows found out he is investigating the church and started giving him a hard time about a living prophet. Derek told him that it makes sense for god to call Prophets today and stood up for the church. It was neat to hear Derek bare his testimony. During general conference Saturday afternoon I felt like all the speakers were inspired to speak straight to Derek. It was amazing feeling. They were truly inspired.
We taught the swires family the plan of salvation. The family had many questions and the spirit was very strong. Brother Swires was great in helping explain the gospel to his children. He may be less-active but he sure has a strong testimony.
Well the work goes forth. Thanks for all you do. I have a new found favorite scripture this week. 2 Nephi 33:6. Love you mom, Elder Durfee
Sunday, April 3, 2011
3-27-11 Happy Birthday Elder!
Dear Mom,
I have enclosed a picture of the Durfee family. They fed us dinner this last Saturday. We are related threw Edmond Durfee. I believe they come through Jabeze. He had a big Durfee Book made by some relative that I don’t know and Brother Durfee said I could look threw it a bit. Which descendants do we come through?
The car has a CD player. I actually took the music on the shuffle you sent me and put it on CD so we could listen to it in the car.
We had a family in our ward called on a service mission to watch over the maintenance of our building. That is neat that dad is in charge of making sure the building is safe. He will do a great job.
Thanks for the package. I have not yet received it yet but I will look forward to it.
Right now I am in Cheyenne Wyoming. Elder Nonu’s two years have expired and he is on his way to the mission home. I am staying here with our new Zone leader and former AP Elder Solomone. He’s great. I have had a blast asking him all types of questions and learning from him. My new missionary companion will be arriving later today. His name is Elder Henson. Does that name sound familiar? He’s my MTC companion. We will have a great time together.
We have had snow on and off this last week. It is not very much but enough to make driving dangerous. We also have had an amazing amount of fog. It is everywhere. The member we live with made a Birthday/ good bye cake for Elder Nonu and me. It was very nice of her.
Dad we had district meeting in a missile silo that some members own. It was a learning experience to see how big it all is. A family in the ward has turned it into an ultimate preparedness home. Have you seen the movie, “Blast from the Past”? Their home reminded me of this movie. I have enclosed some pictures.
Well I love you all thanks for thinking of me, Love Elder Durfee
Ps we found a young ten year old girl that wants to get baptized!
3-21-11 PS
We have a Durfee Family in the ward. Turns out we are related to them, small world.
Here is a story I forget to send:
I gave my first Building tour this last week. We took the S-- and showed them around. We even showed them the baptismal font and took them on the stand and showed them the chapel. It was really good and the girls asked lots of questions. Afterwards we took them to the kitchen and had ice cream. Bishop happened to be there and met the family.
3-20-11
Dear Family,
Greetings, this has been a great week for me. I received three pictures from you. did you send an email too? If so I did not get it.
As you can see by the pictures we have some highlights of wonderful Nebraska. It snowed one day (it rained this morning), another day we found a tractor parked in someone’s driveway, and we feasted on cheese balls!! It has been a great week. Elder Nonu used his temple trip this week. It was great fun. The family we went down with were good missionaries and talked to a few people about the gospel.
This last week we tried talking with several families in the ward about inviting their friends to hear the gospel. There was a good spirit as we invited them to find people to share the gospel with.
Well transfers are this week. We will be driving down to Cheyenne (100 miles) on Sunday morning to drop Elder Nonu off. His two years are expiring. I wonder who my new companion will be. I think it might be a missionary I came out with.
I hope you all have a great week.
Joycelyn I have enjoyed the socks you sent me for Christmas. Thanks!
I Love you all, Elder Durfee
Ps yes mom I received the Valentines package. The cookies were great.
PSS thanks for the pictures. I almost don’t recognize Alden. Unless it’s not him… then I don’t know who he is.
Friday, March 11, 2011
3/6/11
Dear Mom,
It is good to hear from you. It has been a very crazy last few days. I have sent a letter! Sorry to take so long. Somehow we just get busy. We are having a snow storm right now. It is predicted to be the biggest of the year with 10-18 inches of snow. It has only snowed 2-3 inches but it has stopped. All the talk and excitement might have been for nothing.
We had a spectacular day this last week. But we will talk about it. We drove 100 miles to Cheyenne on p-day to play games with the other elders. They watched church movies and talked. Very boring not worth the drive but I had fun. That night I stayed with the zone leaders for exchanges and the other elders drove home. Tuesday was exchanges. Wednesday was zone conference in Laramie. We drove home and bunkered down in Kimball, a small town of 3000 people. Thursday we got up and started tracting we set a goal to give out five Book of Mormons and if we did, we would go out for ice cream. We gave out 7 by the end of the day it was a miracle. Friday was weekly planning and Saturday we visited lots of people and found some potential with some less-actives. Sunday we had church and visited lots more people.
Wanda told us that she does not want to meet anymore. It was hard to see her say that to us. We are not sure what happened but she feels God has told her to stay with the community of Christ church. I don’t really think she has received an answer but someone said some mean things about us.
This was our week I hope all is going well. Love,
Elder Durfee
It is good to hear from you. It has been a very crazy last few days. I have sent a letter! Sorry to take so long. Somehow we just get busy. We are having a snow storm right now. It is predicted to be the biggest of the year with 10-18 inches of snow. It has only snowed 2-3 inches but it has stopped. All the talk and excitement might have been for nothing.
We had a spectacular day this last week. But we will talk about it. We drove 100 miles to Cheyenne on p-day to play games with the other elders. They watched church movies and talked. Very boring not worth the drive but I had fun. That night I stayed with the zone leaders for exchanges and the other elders drove home. Tuesday was exchanges. Wednesday was zone conference in Laramie. We drove home and bunkered down in Kimball, a small town of 3000 people. Thursday we got up and started tracting we set a goal to give out five Book of Mormons and if we did, we would go out for ice cream. We gave out 7 by the end of the day it was a miracle. Friday was weekly planning and Saturday we visited lots of people and found some potential with some less-actives. Sunday we had church and visited lots more people.
Wanda told us that she does not want to meet anymore. It was hard to see her say that to us. We are not sure what happened but she feels God has told her to stay with the community of Christ church. I don’t really think she has received an answer but someone said some mean things about us.
This was our week I hope all is going well. Love,
Elder Durfee
Monday, February 28, 2011
2/28/11
Dear Mom,
I don't know what the missions rules are for picking up missionaries and driving them home are. If you called the office they would tell you. If you picked me up all we would do is drive the whole time. I would love to see you at the mission home and introduce you to president and sister Ely but the drive would be long. I think we would have just as much fun if I flew and then we would not have to drive 13 hours.
This last week elder Nonu and I had fun. If you have a map, we traveled from Sidney to a city called Kimball. It is actually the second largest in our area. Along the way we stopped in other small towns to tract and try and visit people. We gave out one Book of Mormon and several pamphlets. We also found some people who lived way out there. One man had actually passed away almost a year ago and no one new. I felt sad to think that the ward is so large that people fall threw the cracks.
We traveled to (45 miles) Kimball worked there then received a call that our zone conference in Wyoming is canceled because of a snow storm. We got permission to stay with some members in Kimball and worked out there for a few days. We found a part member family that let us come teach them. We invited the dad to prepare himself to baptize his wife.
We also found a family is Sidney, the Swires the husband is a member and the wife and three kids are not. We taught them about prayer and invite the family to pray as a family every day. At the end of the lesson we invited brother Swires to say the closing prayer. We all knelt down as a family. It was amazing the spirit was so strong. Everyone participated even the kids. I know they felt the spirit. Pray that they have the faith to pray.
Today we are going to be traveling down to Cheyenne. We are going to be meeting up with the Scottsbluff Elders and driving down with them to save miles so we can be with the other elders for at least one P-day.
Love Elder Durfee
PS tell dad thanks for the scripture. This scripture stood out to me, 1 Nephi 1:20. “I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord.” I thought it was profound that Nephi felt that the things that happened to him and his family were “tender mercies” whereas Laman and Lemuel did “Murmur” (1 Nephi 2:12).
PSS happy Birthday Katie good luck driving.
I don't know what the missions rules are for picking up missionaries and driving them home are. If you called the office they would tell you. If you picked me up all we would do is drive the whole time. I would love to see you at the mission home and introduce you to president and sister Ely but the drive would be long. I think we would have just as much fun if I flew and then we would not have to drive 13 hours.
This last week elder Nonu and I had fun. If you have a map, we traveled from Sidney to a city called Kimball. It is actually the second largest in our area. Along the way we stopped in other small towns to tract and try and visit people. We gave out one Book of Mormon and several pamphlets. We also found some people who lived way out there. One man had actually passed away almost a year ago and no one new. I felt sad to think that the ward is so large that people fall threw the cracks.
We traveled to (45 miles) Kimball worked there then received a call that our zone conference in Wyoming is canceled because of a snow storm. We got permission to stay with some members in Kimball and worked out there for a few days. We found a part member family that let us come teach them. We invited the dad to prepare himself to baptize his wife.
We also found a family is Sidney, the Swires the husband is a member and the wife and three kids are not. We taught them about prayer and invite the family to pray as a family every day. At the end of the lesson we invited brother Swires to say the closing prayer. We all knelt down as a family. It was amazing the spirit was so strong. Everyone participated even the kids. I know they felt the spirit. Pray that they have the faith to pray.
Today we are going to be traveling down to Cheyenne. We are going to be meeting up with the Scottsbluff Elders and driving down with them to save miles so we can be with the other elders for at least one P-day.
Love Elder Durfee
PS tell dad thanks for the scripture. This scripture stood out to me, 1 Nephi 1:20. “I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord.” I thought it was profound that Nephi felt that the things that happened to him and his family were “tender mercies” whereas Laman and Lemuel did “Murmur” (1 Nephi 2:12).
PSS happy Birthday Katie good luck driving.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
2-20-11
Dear Mom,
Thanks for the letter. Business first, I received word that the office wants to know which airport I will fly home too. I told them the phoenix airport can’t remember the name. If this is not right would you call the office and let them know. I really did not have time to think much about it. I was greatly disgruntled by the call and am still suffering in shock at receiving it. Hope you understand.
This last week went great. We made It all the way up to Sidney Nebraska. We are almost the most northern part of the mission. The ward we cover is about 5,000 miles square. We have one of the church ranches in part of our ward. We have members that drive an hour and a half to get to church on Sunday. There is a family who I knew in the Cash la Puder ward that moved up here to work on the ranch. It’s a small world. The area is called a traveling area because they send missionaries up her for 3 months and off for three months. There is so much to be done. Plus we drive a lot if we go to different towns.
A highlight of the week is we taught a family the plan of salvation today. At the end of the lesson he said, “Well, could you guys come back?” it was very exciting. We are also teaching a sister who has come to church for about a month already before we got here and our ward mission leader had an appointment with her our first week. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and the restoration the first week we met her. She is wonderful and has ready a huge chunk of the Book of Mormon already. She had friends invite her to come to “the Church of Christ” she came a few Sundays and then realized we were “Mormon”. Now she is meeting with us and prayed in our last lesson if she should join the church. The members have really reached out and fellowshipped her. It has made all the difference.
Elder Nonu is my new companion. He’s great. Goes home 6 weeks before me but we flew out together. He learned English on his mission. We have too much fun together. Well thanks for the letters. I have sent some pictures. I can get really cold here. It was -40 before I got here with the wind chill. It has been in the 60 – 70 this last week beautiful. We had two days were the wind blew amazingly hard. I thought we should have a very big storm at how windy it was but nope just windy. I thought trees should have blown over. It reminded me of when the wind blows constantly the trees are stronger and can withstand the big storms. But when the wind does not blow and then the storm comes the trees are blown over. I learned to not complain when the wind blows.
Mom I love you , Elder Durfee
Scripture of the week, 1 Nephi 16:28-29
Thanks for the letter. Business first, I received word that the office wants to know which airport I will fly home too. I told them the phoenix airport can’t remember the name. If this is not right would you call the office and let them know. I really did not have time to think much about it. I was greatly disgruntled by the call and am still suffering in shock at receiving it. Hope you understand.
This last week went great. We made It all the way up to Sidney Nebraska. We are almost the most northern part of the mission. The ward we cover is about 5,000 miles square. We have one of the church ranches in part of our ward. We have members that drive an hour and a half to get to church on Sunday. There is a family who I knew in the Cash la Puder ward that moved up here to work on the ranch. It’s a small world. The area is called a traveling area because they send missionaries up her for 3 months and off for three months. There is so much to be done. Plus we drive a lot if we go to different towns.
A highlight of the week is we taught a family the plan of salvation today. At the end of the lesson he said, “Well, could you guys come back?” it was very exciting. We are also teaching a sister who has come to church for about a month already before we got here and our ward mission leader had an appointment with her our first week. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and the restoration the first week we met her. She is wonderful and has ready a huge chunk of the Book of Mormon already. She had friends invite her to come to “the Church of Christ” she came a few Sundays and then realized we were “Mormon”. Now she is meeting with us and prayed in our last lesson if she should join the church. The members have really reached out and fellowshipped her. It has made all the difference.
Elder Nonu is my new companion. He’s great. Goes home 6 weeks before me but we flew out together. He learned English on his mission. We have too much fun together. Well thanks for the letters. I have sent some pictures. I can get really cold here. It was -40 before I got here with the wind chill. It has been in the 60 – 70 this last week beautiful. We had two days were the wind blew amazingly hard. I thought we should have a very big storm at how windy it was but nope just windy. I thought trees should have blown over. It reminded me of when the wind blows constantly the trees are stronger and can withstand the big storms. But when the wind does not blow and then the storm comes the trees are blown over. I learned to not complain when the wind blows.
Mom I love you , Elder Durfee
Scripture of the week, 1 Nephi 16:28-29
Friday, February 18, 2011
2-14-11
Dear Joycelyn,
It’s great to hear from you. Sorry to hear about the break up. Way to follow the spirit. Would you tell dad for me that I have not written anyone in a long time, it has been very crazy on Mondays.
I just received word that I am being transferred. President called me as a traveling elder and we are going to either Nebraska or Wyoming. I’m not 100 % which state I will be in but I will be driving the car for about 4 hrs today to get there and have to drop off and pick up my companion along the way.
All my stuff is packed and ready to go. It is hard to leave Brighton. I have really enjoyed it very much. I know one of the elders who will be taking my place. The new place that I will be at is several hours away from anyone else and my new companion goes home this transfer. Elder Isaksen is off to Boulder. He’s excited.
Well happy Valentines Day. I hope you find a new car soon. Tell the family hello for me.
Love Elder Durfee
It’s great to hear from you. Sorry to hear about the break up. Way to follow the spirit. Would you tell dad for me that I have not written anyone in a long time, it has been very crazy on Mondays.
I just received word that I am being transferred. President called me as a traveling elder and we are going to either Nebraska or Wyoming. I’m not 100 % which state I will be in but I will be driving the car for about 4 hrs today to get there and have to drop off and pick up my companion along the way.
All my stuff is packed and ready to go. It is hard to leave Brighton. I have really enjoyed it very much. I know one of the elders who will be taking my place. The new place that I will be at is several hours away from anyone else and my new companion goes home this transfer. Elder Isaksen is off to Boulder. He’s excited.
Well happy Valentines Day. I hope you find a new car soon. Tell the family hello for me.
Love Elder Durfee
Thursday, February 10, 2011
2-8-11
Dear Mom,
I am glad you are feeling better. I submitted aunt Nancy names to the temple this week on Saturday.
It has been a great week. Elder Isaksen has been senior companion all week and did a great job. This week we only had 5 days to do missionary work because we had exchanges and went to the temple.
We started by teaching a less-active sister and her none-baptized daughter Patricia and Shian. We taught the first lesson and invited both of them to read from the book of Mormon and pray about it.
We taught a less-active for the first time Tom Thompson we invited him to read from the scriptures. During the lesson we asked about why he had joined the church and how he came to know it was true.
We taught Lesha and Clint again. The dad, Scott sat in on the lesson. They were sup post to come to church but did not make it and are planning on coming next week. They have some concern we invited them to read every day till church.
We taught another Johnson family in the ward. This family is trying to become active in the church and get the dad baptized. The wife asked us to work with her husband and help him get baptized. She said she wants to go to the temple as a family. We taught of reading the scriptures as a family and they accepted the invitation to read every day. We gave the father a blessing. He was very sick that night. We ended giving each member a blessing. I could feel the power of the blessings. We told the family that it is their time to act.
We taught sister McNeese about how God will help us keep the commandments. For some reason she did not make it to church. We stopped by but she was not home.
We also taught the brother Arellin about reading the scriptures. Sister Arellin was asleep when we came by so we had a great lesson about testimony and coming to know for ourselves. We felt like he needed some testimony building and when we spoke with him he told us that he has never seen his prayers answered before. We talked about it and invited him to look for the prompting of the spirit as he reads every day. They have a date for their son to be blessed in church.
Fort Lupton invited us to teach a referral and the Lightfoot family. The referral went great. We taught the first lesson and found out that her father might be interested in hearing the lessons in Spanish. We have a return appointment and the Spanish elders will be coming. The Lightfoot family is really not progressing but we taught about reading with them. The mom is not really interested and thinks she’s atheist. We have another appointment.
We taught the Bunt family. They have read, prayed and we taught and committed them to come to church. They came this last Sunday and sat in our investigator class. It has been great to see and hear the stories and hear their testimonies as they have continued to act.
We taught De Herarra. We have been talking with him about reading. He has not read and we talked about the blessings with him. Hopefully he will read.
We taught the Roseman family again. We have given them Sunday school study guides and invited them to church. They are excited to read. We brought the home teacher to the appointment.
We also taught a focus family the Chaney’s we taught the restoration and invited them to read every day as a family. The mom likes to talk a lot … Elder Isaksen asked a good question and helped the dad open up some. We noticed at church that the dad sat in the lobby for Elders Quorum. We invited him to come join us but he turned us down. He needs some friends.
It was a great week. We tried to see Matthew but his dad has been very busy at work and his mom has been sick again.
This is all I have time love you mom,
Elder Durfee
Ps we have been working on a teaching pattern. Our teaching has improved a lot. We teach equally and do lots of testifying and our questions are improving.
Pss we drove past a church and their sign said “Prevent truth decay, brush up on the Bible”
I am glad you are feeling better. I submitted aunt Nancy names to the temple this week on Saturday.
It has been a great week. Elder Isaksen has been senior companion all week and did a great job. This week we only had 5 days to do missionary work because we had exchanges and went to the temple.
We started by teaching a less-active sister and her none-baptized daughter Patricia and Shian. We taught the first lesson and invited both of them to read from the book of Mormon and pray about it.
We taught a less-active for the first time Tom Thompson we invited him to read from the scriptures. During the lesson we asked about why he had joined the church and how he came to know it was true.
We taught Lesha and Clint again. The dad, Scott sat in on the lesson. They were sup post to come to church but did not make it and are planning on coming next week. They have some concern we invited them to read every day till church.
We taught another Johnson family in the ward. This family is trying to become active in the church and get the dad baptized. The wife asked us to work with her husband and help him get baptized. She said she wants to go to the temple as a family. We taught of reading the scriptures as a family and they accepted the invitation to read every day. We gave the father a blessing. He was very sick that night. We ended giving each member a blessing. I could feel the power of the blessings. We told the family that it is their time to act.
We taught sister McNeese about how God will help us keep the commandments. For some reason she did not make it to church. We stopped by but she was not home.
We also taught the brother Arellin about reading the scriptures. Sister Arellin was asleep when we came by so we had a great lesson about testimony and coming to know for ourselves. We felt like he needed some testimony building and when we spoke with him he told us that he has never seen his prayers answered before. We talked about it and invited him to look for the prompting of the spirit as he reads every day. They have a date for their son to be blessed in church.
Fort Lupton invited us to teach a referral and the Lightfoot family. The referral went great. We taught the first lesson and found out that her father might be interested in hearing the lessons in Spanish. We have a return appointment and the Spanish elders will be coming. The Lightfoot family is really not progressing but we taught about reading with them. The mom is not really interested and thinks she’s atheist. We have another appointment.
We taught the Bunt family. They have read, prayed and we taught and committed them to come to church. They came this last Sunday and sat in our investigator class. It has been great to see and hear the stories and hear their testimonies as they have continued to act.
We taught De Herarra. We have been talking with him about reading. He has not read and we talked about the blessings with him. Hopefully he will read.
We taught the Roseman family again. We have given them Sunday school study guides and invited them to church. They are excited to read. We brought the home teacher to the appointment.
We also taught a focus family the Chaney’s we taught the restoration and invited them to read every day as a family. The mom likes to talk a lot … Elder Isaksen asked a good question and helped the dad open up some. We noticed at church that the dad sat in the lobby for Elders Quorum. We invited him to come join us but he turned us down. He needs some friends.
It was a great week. We tried to see Matthew but his dad has been very busy at work and his mom has been sick again.
This is all I have time love you mom,
Elder Durfee
Ps we have been working on a teaching pattern. Our teaching has improved a lot. We teach equally and do lots of testifying and our questions are improving.
Pss we drove past a church and their sign said “Prevent truth decay, brush up on the Bible”
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
2-2-11
Dear Mom,
It is good to hear from you, I’m glad aunt Nancy has been getting some rest. I will continue to pray for her.
Elder Isaksen and I got hair cuts today. Mine is really short again. I won’t send you pictures so you don’t have to look at it. It will grow out in a few weeks.
We have been blessed with people to teach this week. We found a young couple and taught them the restoration. We also street contacted a kid coming home from school and taught him the restoration on the side of the road. I hope his mom will let him take the lessons.
Thanks to elder Isaksen wanting to go tracting a lot we found a family. The Mom and her son are really taking the lessons. There names are Lesha and Clint. We taught them twice this week and invited them to church but they did not come. Lesha told us that her son had asked if they were going to join the church. She said that she was not sure. It has been fun teaching them.
It is exciting serving on the Lords side. I found a great scripture this past week. D&C 84:62. We have been inviting families to write their testimony in Book of Mormons so they could “send forth” their testimonies. It has been a great week.
Love Elder Durfee
It is good to hear from you, I’m glad aunt Nancy has been getting some rest. I will continue to pray for her.
Elder Isaksen and I got hair cuts today. Mine is really short again. I won’t send you pictures so you don’t have to look at it. It will grow out in a few weeks.
We have been blessed with people to teach this week. We found a young couple and taught them the restoration. We also street contacted a kid coming home from school and taught him the restoration on the side of the road. I hope his mom will let him take the lessons.
Thanks to elder Isaksen wanting to go tracting a lot we found a family. The Mom and her son are really taking the lessons. There names are Lesha and Clint. We taught them twice this week and invited them to church but they did not come. Lesha told us that her son had asked if they were going to join the church. She said that she was not sure. It has been fun teaching them.
It is exciting serving on the Lords side. I found a great scripture this past week. D&C 84:62. We have been inviting families to write their testimony in Book of Mormons so they could “send forth” their testimonies. It has been a great week.
Love Elder Durfee
Thursday, January 13, 2011
1-11-11
Dear Family,
The work is going forth. Elder Isaksen and I had a great time this last week. He speaks very well for his second language. He is a classical Pianist and very talented. He has perfect pitch. Elder Isaksen has 6 kids in his family. His brothers have served missions and he is the second to youngest in his family. I have attached a picture. He is very funny. He reminds me of Elder Mason Bennett.
Well for the work this week, we had an appointment with a less-active sister, her name is Kerry. She joined the church a few years ago but in the last 4-5 months she has not gone to church at all. We followed up on her scripture reading that we had invited her to do at our last appointment. She had read and had learned so many things that she did not know before. An example would be that she thought that the book of Mormon came on a gold plate, one gold tablet not a whole book. She was very excited and showed us all the things she had marked and learned. I learned the importance of following up on commitments. We taught Kerry about prayer and committed her to pray daily. Elder Isaksen was great because he changed his scripture to something that fit better with Kerry’s needs. It was a great lesson. We told her that Heavenly Father loved her and wanted to hear from her. She committed to pray and continue to read. She was very grateful that we had come over and after the lesson, she gave one of the most heart felt prayers I have ever heard.
We taught the Bute family for the first time. They have been less-active for about a year. We taught them the importance of scripture study. With more zeal then I expected they agreed to read from the scriptures every day till our next appointment.
We had a miracle tracting. It was 8 pm and very dark. Our appointment had fallen threw and Elder Isaksen suggested we go tracting. I was hesitant to tract so late but with a determination to let him learn just how angry people get late night we went right ahead and knocked a bunch of doors. That street had some of the nicest people I have ever met. We had two people set up an appointment with us to hear the restoration. I have been humbled.
Elder Isaksen’s first real lesson with an investigation we had a lesson to transition Hazel to the YSA ward. We had her elders and us teaching her. She committed to be baptized on the 29th. Told us she had been thinking about it since the baptism. She told us that she believes the Book of Mormon is true. It was cool.
We also taught a sister who has been a member for 8 years. Patricia has been less-active for who knows how long. We knocked on her door several weeks ago. She started getting teary eyed when she was speaking with us. She said that whenever she needed some help someone always shows up. We set up a return appointment and left rather quickly. We came back at the appointed time and the husband told us that she was asleep but that she really wanted to talk with us. We dropped by this last week and set up another appointment. At the appointment, we taught her about reading the scripture and she agreed to read daily. She has a lot of family problems right now and is feeling a lot of stress with it. We started talking about the blessing they do have and enjoy right now. Patricia told us that after we had met the very first day she started crying after we had left. She committed to come to church on Sunday.
Family it was a great week thanks for your prayers. I am sorry to hear About Aunt Nancy. I hope she gets better soon. Yeah for dad and work!
I love you have a great week,
Elder Durfee
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
