Week 39 in the Field

Saline County Pioneer Museum and Village entrance. Gift shop and office are both pictures and both were deserted.

So last Monday we spent our Pday with a 16 year old. We set off with him behind his house to the coolest area I've ever seen. Forests, trails, and so many beautiful things to look at. Our first stop was a frozen over pond. He was the first to go out and check it. I will admit I was pretty nervous about setting foot on that thing, but I was trusting him. Our first plan was to play hockey. Now this kid had only brought one hockey stick since that was all he had. But he also brought an aluminum baseball bat for my companion to use. I refereed the first game. Then I had a go at it.

After awhile we went sledding. Now, the area he chose to sled in had some good slopes, but they were blocked by trees. Safe to say we almost died a couple times.

Tuesday we didn't do too much other than go see one of our progressing investigators.  We also went out with one of our members to go see a couple of elderly non-member people who were nice, just not interested. They were friends of the member though, which was awesome. The member had us use our iPads to show some bible videos which was fun. They seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Wednesday we had district meeting near Foxcroft, IL -- which is near Marion, IL and even though I'm saying all this I'm sure ya'll have no clue where that is -- basically south central Illinois almost near Carbondale. It was a good meeting and we had a lot of fun.

After that we went and tried to see a ton of people in Eldorado, but with no luck. Funniest thing that happened though was when we went over to one of our female investigator's homes with a member, the two of them talked about childbirth and all the stuff she had to go through.

The member talked about some of the funnier experiences with his wife in the hospital. He gave us a lot of advice for if I ever have kids. It was hilariously awkward. The #1 piece of advice he gave was not to be distracted by watching television when your wife is going into labor.

Thursday evening was interesting. We had arranged with the sister missionaries in Foxcroft (the area neighboring us in IL that contains Marion) to meet up with one of their investigators who wanted some male role models that were missionaries for their son that was being taught.

Around 6:00pm while en route to go teach them we received a text from the zone leaders that the zone had to pack their bags and head to Nashville immediately for a mission conference that would be held on Friday. We knew about the conference but didn't know that it was to be that soon (we had planned to drive down in the morning). We were about 40 minutes from our home and in the car with the father of the kids we would be teaching. Safe to say I started driving the 4 hour trip to Nashville at about 7:30.

THAT was a trip let me tell you. I was so exhausted by the time we got to the place we would be staying that I just put down my luggage and looked for the nearest bed area. Elder Stange was kind enough to take the couch so I took the floor.

Friday was simply amazing though. One of the coolest things about being a missionary is the people you meet. In this case, we got to meet a General Authority of the Church, a Seventy named Elder Schwitzer, who told us about how the church is improving missionary work, and how we will be in the middle of all of it.

Starting now, missionaries going to an iPad-using mission will buy one essentially when they get their call. They will learn how to use it and teach with it before they even enter the MTC. Then, while at the MTC, they will receive special instruction and enhanced training with it. The process continues into the mission field where they are trained to use it even more effectively.

The result of all this? Online training is not just for the mission field, but for your online life in general. You want to talk revolutionary ideas? Take a gander here! We were blown away by the new change. It will probably be announced in General Conference or at least referenced somewhere. This is on the level of when Preach My Gospel was introduced, the Elder Schwitzer said. He shared many more things that were really, really fascinating, and I was able to take a lot of things from the meeting.

Timmy, a member in Smith Springs Ward, calls all the Tennessee elders and wishes them a good night. I took a picture with him last September. (Photo courtesy of Elder Stange)

Unfortunately, we had to make the drive back home again, but before we left I wanted to make sure I got to say hi to one of my very special friends from the Smith Springs ward. Timmy calls all the Tennessee missionaries (or at least as many as he can) every night and wishes them a good night and pleasant dreams. When I was in Hendersonville, it was very rare for him not to call. Sadly when I got taken out, no other elders were near him to visit him and say hi in person, so I made the step up. Hopefully I wasn't the only set to do so.

After that I drove the 4 hours back and once again, welcomed sleep.

Saturday not too much happened other than we had a fun dinner with a recent convert family who have an adorable 1 year old. Their baby kept climbing all over me and the parents were happy to see that she had gotten used to me. They were also impressed that she wasn't spitting on me or anything since that's usually what happens. I wish I had taken a picture or something. Next time I will.

Sunday not too much happened at all at church other than I got to meet more members of the branch. About the same number showed up again, but we had a little more this time. Maybe around 30-40. It's kinda mind blowing being in such a small branch coming from a ward that averaged 170-190.

Hopefully we will be able to grow the branch. People here are so awesome.  They just need to come to church. Elder Stange taught the lesson this time, and it was probably the smallest class size ever with only me, a member, and an investigator in attendance. We didn't have too much success teaching after church since everyone was busy or unavailable.  We will keep praying and working hard.

Other than all that this week has been a lot of fun. This upcoming week we will be very busy again, so that will be great. It's a fun adventure!

I thought we would be trading in our iPads and had to clear off all pictures, so I took very few photos during the week. I'm hoping to make that up with some pictures from Pday today at the Saline County Pioneer Village where we saw some cool things. Hope you will enjoy the pictures below.

Thank you all for writing me thus far.  I really appreciate it.

So our mission is going to be off Facebook for at least two months for further training and instruction on how to be even better missionaries. I will still send my weekly email for my mom to post on the blog.

So I will also take this time to bear my testimony.

I know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ is our real and eternal Savior. I know He died for us so that we can live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. I know that by reading the Book of Mormon, we feel even more of His love for us just as we feel when we read the Bible. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Nothing can stop me from believing these things for they have been testified unto me by the Spirit of God. Work hard, stay firm in the faith, and always remember to love one another as He has loved you.

Elder Peery

So I think this is called a threshing floor where they separated grain. There were a bunch of tools in here as well as a buggy.

A river pirate cabin. I don't think this thing was initially located in Harrisburg, but it was donated and moved there. Essentially these were used to alert fellow pirates of a ship or something coming and they would ambush it.

Threshing Floor and Blacksmith's shop from afar

1. Outside of the schoolhouse.

The poor house. This was where the museum was located, but we couldn't go inside since we didn't have a guide with us. Apparently this building used to house those who couldn't afford houses or land. The poor cemetery was located directly across the street. Kind of a sad place.

3. Very old telephone. And no it didn't work... I tried.

1. So this one is is called a block house. Now I can't remember what the description said, but basically this was used in most civilizations from the 1600's to the late 1700's. I saw a similar one in Plymouth Rock area. The shape was to discourage attackers from climbing to the roof which was the most vulnerable part.

A couple cabins. The one on the left didn't have a description but the one on the right talked about how the family who owned the cabin had lived in it for over 100 years. There was a lot of neat stuff inside it.

Looking inside a schoolhouse. This building was slightly more modern than the others and all the things inside were actual things they had used.

Week 38 in the Field: Warrior of Christ and Church Flood

Church Flood! (This is Elder Stange)

When we went to the branch building to do some planning on Friday, we were surprised to see the entire kitchen and several nearby rooms flooding with water due to a burst. Following promptings from the Spirit, we were able to help and get more help to at least stop the flow of water. 

It reminds me of the scripture from the Book of Mormon which says "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." (1 Nephi 4:6). We didn't have a clue about plumbing, but we were able to stop the flood using the help of others.

When a gigantic emergency occurs suddenly, remember to stay calm and follow the spirit. Or in better words "...be still and know that I am God." (D&C 101:16)

Okay! Email Time for the week!

So technically, I already told you about Monday through Wednesday, since I didn't shoot out an email till Thursday of this past week. So I guess that’s a good place to start off with this update. Thursday we were finally permitted to leave the house but we were not permitted to drive.

Shoveling the driveway (There was only one shovel, so I did the whole thing)

Luckily it was a nice day to walk. As we started out (literally about less than 20 feet from our house) we were contacted from a semi-drunk guy driving a beat up red car. He recognized us as Mormons, and he said "Can I preach to ya'll for a second?" We agreed. Stumbling, slurring, and stammering, this guy gave what I have nicknamed "The Sunflower Sermon".

It went something along the lines of: "Y'see we are all sunflowers planted in one huge garden, and we are all tryin' to git closer to the Sun! Now Christ, He was not just an ordinary sunflower, but he was an extraordinary one..." It went on like that. He kept wanting to give us a lift, but we felt it best not to go.

However, against my better judgment, we agreed to sit in his car since it was bitter cold. As we sat down he guzzled about half a bottle of straight Vodka and to add flavor, took a swig of some kind of Snapple drink. THEN it got scary. His voice dropped from nice drunk, to scary drunk really quick. When we asked for his number for a return appointment, he slurred the number saying "Yeah it's 6... 6... 6..."

We got out pretty quickly, said our goodbyes, and watched as he somehow carefully drove off. We walked on over to the local library laughing and messing around, but it was about to get super serious real quick later on.

That evening, we went out with a member who took us over to visit with a couple recent converts where we had an awesome meatloaf and macaroni dinner. It was fantastic--until he got a call. During the call, his face immediately changed from happy to serious. He then announced that we had to leave as soon as possible. On the way over he explained that his friend's daughter had just committed suicide about 6-9 hours previously. The father had found her and essentially was understandably in a really, really terrible state.

On the way, the member asked me to write out as many comforting scriptures as I could from the Bible to give to him. I also included some stuff from D&C 121. It was probably one of the most intense spirit in that house I have ever felt. So much sorrow, so much pain, so much anguish. I could not relate to this man, and I felt that I could not give him any words of encouragement. I have not been through this kind of situation before, and have not lost anyone so dear to me as a daughter.

How could I help? The scriptures were literally the best thing I could come up with to offer him--stuff that had helped me through depression. I prayed very hard that night that the scriptures I gave him would help. The father was in tears and in a state of shock. He had gone through so much and the member was amazing support to him. We will check by on him this upcoming week.

Friday we were finally able to drive after about 5 days of nothing. We drove over to the branch building in Eldorado and when we got inside, Elder Stange heard water running. As he went over, he noticed that the kitchen, utility closet, and relief society room were all flooded ½ an inch. We quickly went to work and started rotating pots to stop the leaking.  We also called on the members for help.

When help arrived, they turned off the water and the building wasn't damaged further. It was a miracle we had been there, but it was still a huge mess. Church ended up getting cancelled for that and even more ice yesterday.

Saturday was one of the more fun days of the week. Once more, we were told not to drive so we set out walking to McDonald's for wifi and food. (By the way we had not been able to obtain groceries at this point due to the lack of a car. Had it not been for my mother’s care package and the kindness of a few members, we would've been in trouble).

As we were doing Facebook, a guy in the booth in front of me spilled his drink. Pretty much on instinct, I got out some napkins and started helping clean up the mess amidst objections of "you don't have to do that." My actions aroused the attention of a most interesting man sitting nearby.

He pointed at me after I had finished helping and motioned me towards him. Very confused, I stood in front of him and had a most amazing conversation. First he looked at my name tag and said "Ah, well that explains it. You're a Warrior of Christ!" Now that's the coolest thing I've heard in a while. He told me who he was and said that what he is doing is telling people that God is building His church again yet not that many people know about it. He told me (and showed me) this story of how when his heart began to fail, doctors didn't expect him to live a year. His legs started to deteriorate from lack of power from the heart.

Eight years later he is still kicking and all due to prayer he says. He went on to tell me that the world needs more of people like me. I was very proud, of course. Later on he had me sit with him and we had a very interesting discussion on gifts, power, and the Godhead. He actually believed in the Godhead (Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings and not one being altogether), and was grateful to meet someone like me.

He then asked me quietly, "Do you have the power to heal?" I answered, "Yes, I have that power as God wills it." Since I do actually have that priesthood power and authority to do the work of God according to His will and Spirit.

He suddenly almost jolted back saying "Oooh! Can you feel that Spirit? I just felt your testimony! Do... Do you realize that you are glowing right now? It's been many, many years since I've witnessed true power and belief. Thank you for this experience."

He also asked me if I had any spiritual gifts, which over the years I've started to recognize. I listed a few but he was mostly interested to see if I had the gift of tongues which I don't believe I have yet. I swear this guy was a dry Mormon, and I wish he weren't a nomad cause he was really cool. He also can’t read or write so we couldn't give him a Book of Mormon. However he did wish me luck in my "quest" to bring more souls unto Christ.

We later went over to Walmart to get some USB's since missionaries are replacing our iPads this week, and had to back up all our pictures and stuff onto something. Elder Stange's card wasn't properly working, and I realized that he didn't have enough money. Defeated, he purchased the new soles for his shoes which he really needed. After he bought the soles and was in a frustrated mood, he went to the bathroom.

While he was in there I quietly purchased a new USB for him on my card and placed it in his coat. Later on as we were walking, he noticed the new USB that he hadn't had enough for. Safe to say, he was very happy and wanted to pay me back, which I wouldn't let him. It was pricy, but it was so worth it to serve my companion.

Sunday not too much happened. Church was cancelled but we did want to start transferring data onto our USB's so we went to the branch building to use the FHC (Family History Center) computers. That took a bit. We went to see a couple of families afterwards. After that, we went back home for dinner and then went over to visit a less active old lady who was happy to see us. She was watching the Oscars, so that was a big distraction for me. Elder Stange made her some dinner while I talked with her.

Other than that not much else has been happening. It's getting a little warmer out which is great. I can't wait for spring here. I'm not sure what we're going to do today but we may be going snowboarding with an investigator. I'm not sure though.

Thanks for all your love and support!

Elder Peery

So due to church being cancelled, I studied a lot more on the character of Jesus Christ. One thing I always marvel at is His determination to do whatever the Father asks. Especially in the face of temptation and adversity. Some think that the temptations of Christ ended when he was confronted and tempted by Satan, but in reality and just like in our lives today, He was tempted to the very last moments of His mortal ministry. "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." (Matthew 27:40). But He had a work to finish. And finish it He did. 

Because of His example, we too can resist the temptations of the adversary and one of the best ways we can do this is losing ourselves in the service of others. For "...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17).

Week 37 in the Field: Transfer to Eldorado, Illinois!

I posted a while ago about how much I love snow. Well these past few days we received more than we asked for which reminds me of the gospel. Heavenly Father has limitless blessings for us when we obey his commandments and follow the example of Jesus Christ.  #‎snowgoodness

Oh man, this current transfer has been something.  There are so many things to talk about, and now that my companion and I have been snowed in for the past three days (only have gone out once to get wifi for emails), I have had time to do so! I will first off explain what's been going on in the past three days.

So on Sunday (15th) we got out of church and were alerted that a gigantic storm was coming through Hendersonville, TN -- and it would hit that night. Now, when people around here talk about storms, usually they are talking about 2-3 inches of snow and that's it. So I didn't give much attention to it. 2-3 inches turned more into 7-8 as the mission essentially had us do pretty much nothing except stay in and clean Monday. That turned into Tuesday, and then even up to Wednesday. I couldn't alert anyone what was going on till Tuesday night when I was able to finally get to a source of wifi and send off a message to my parents. But now that the roads are a little safer, we've been permitted to finally get out and go to a source of wifi. So here's the week:

So Monday (9th) Elder Hansen and I went over to the stake center and messed around there. It was to be my last time playing basketball with missionaries on Pday for at least the next three months. Kind of a sad day. Later that evening we went over to the Bushong's who are a member family for dinner. It was a "make your own pizza" night which was loads of fun. Definitely something to try out again when I get back home.

Tuesday morning (10th), Bro. Pyne, the member who gave us a ride from district meeting almost 6 months previously, gave us a lift to transfer meeting. He worked for a music company and let us hear a bit of a song he had written with some of the Nashville Tribute Band members. He also told us how his kids were featured in the My Call To Serve album which was cool.

 Transfer day

He also told us stories about some of his scarier areas on his mission which was entertaining. When we got to the Franklin stake center, Elder Hansen took off to the trainer meeting since he would be training with another missionary. Bro. Pyne and I chatted with a sister missionary named Sis. Cotton who would be going home on Wednesday after completing a truly stellar 18 months.

The new Hendersonville missionaries (Elder Jorgensen is far left

and Elder Hansen far right, with the trainee in the middle)

She had served in my first area and tore it up with miracles all around as well as in Hendersonville for pretty much half of her mission with miracles there too. It was a good transfer meeting and I got to meet Elder Stange, the missionary I would be spending at least six weeks with. We were friends from the beginning. I was so grateful to have a companion who is more like me and has more of my interests.

We boarded "the Paducah bus" which was a giant van that carried the 4 sets of missionaries from the Paducah, KY stake to the stake center. Elder Stange and I sat in the row between the row of sisters (Gates and Curtis), and the zone leader with the district leader and trainee (Nez, Porter, and Dobson). The other zone leader (Van Valkenburg) rode in the front.

Kentucky border (I didn't get the Illinois border since I was driving)

Most of the time was spent talking to the sisters and the zone leader. Elder Stange fell asleep. The drive was about 2 and a half hours so not that bad. About 2/3 of the way there the sisters remembered and remarked to each other "Oh! You don't have a GPS?!"

They started worrying about it so I piped up saying "Y'know I actually haven't gotten a GPS on my mission but I was looking for one. Elder Stange said he has an old one so you can use the new one I'll buy temporarily." They were grateful, and I know that it was no coincidence that there was one quality and cheap GPS remaining in the Paducah Walmart. The Lord watches out for His missionaries and will help them when they need it. Especially when they are in the service of others. We ended up staying the night at the zone leaders apartment since the drive to Eldorado would waste miles since we would be coming back the next day for district meeting. We ended the night playing basketball at the ward building with the zone leaders and a few Paducah members and their non member friends.

Wednesday (11th) we had district meeting and it was fantastic to meet the rest of the missionaries in the district. We had a great training from Elder Nez on the importance of certain words. Instead of saying, "The gospel of Jesus Christ CAN help you..." The better word is "The gospel of Jesus Christ WILL help you..." And so on. 

After district meeting I handed off the GPS to the sisters who once again thanked me and promised that they would get their own soon from another set who had an extra one. We started on the drive to Eldorado afterwards. 

With the giant Superman in Metropolis, IL (yes it's called Metropolis)

Just across the Ohio River is a city called Metropolis. It has this gigantic Superman statue so obviously, I wanted to take a look at that. It was pretty sweet and even had its own dedicatory prayer which was funny to see. In it was the acknowledgment that the statue was not meant to be an idol for worshiping which I also chuckled at. On the base of the statue were the words "TRUTH. JUSTICE. - THE AMERICAN WAY." I thought that was brilliant. 

After looking around a bit we got back into the car and I immediately discovered the first thing that challenged the companionship: Elder Stange's sense of direction. The poor guy literally didn't have a clue where we were, even though he had been in the area for six weeks. It didn't help that he had forgotten his GPS back in Paducah (we found out about this when we got to our home). After about 30 minutes or so, I found the right road and we were back on course. 

Plains off  Route 45 in Illinois. I would say "the field is white

already to harvest," but it's actually all dead.  It's still beautiful though.

The drive on the 45 was beautiful. Rolling plains, a two lane street, and no cars around for miles for about an hour drive north. It was awesome. 

We got to the house (after being lost for another 30 minutes), and I stepped in to what would be my home for the next three months. It's kind of a cozy home. Wood walls with carpet and tiles. Certainly bigger than my past places I've been in. It was great. Except Elder Stange got sick so we had to stay inside that day.

Thursday (12th) he was still sick but we went to go see some people in the evening. We saw a less active who had a lot of health issues and was looking for a nursing home. We were able to go get her a vanilla shake which she appreciated. We also went to go see an excommunicated member who had been taking the missionary discussions and wanted to be baptized. Then we also went to go see a nice recent convert family and ended up teaching their relatives a lesson. 

Later that day I got a call from Elder Jorgensen who was one of the missionaries who replaced me in Hendersonville. He told me that Shawn Brown, the guy I had been teaching for three months and the cookie story, set his baptismal date as March 7th the night before. I was overjoyed. I'm hoping to attend the baptism in person, but I will be happy to skype in as well. After serving there for 6 months I'm hoping for some leniency from President to get approved miles for the 3 and a half hour drive to Gallatin where the baptism will take place.

Friday (13th) was... Interesting. We went over and had a good lesson with a lady.  On a lighter note I finally got to see the city of Eldorado. Or at least some of it. We went to the branch building and used the family history center computers for Facebook and planning. We also got to meet a part member family where the husband is taking the lessons. They are expected to be married in April so he will probably be baptized then if all goes well.

Saturday not too much happened other than we contacted a really talkative guy in the McDonald's. He told us all about his life essentially and unfortunately lived in Indiana area and wasn't interested in learning more. Since it was Valentine's Day not that many people opened up to us.

Sunday was brutal. Half the branch was sick, and President Place, the branch president, called to have me give a 7-10 minute talk on faith. And Elder Stange told me it was my turn to teach gospel doctrine. So yeah. That was fun. 

I talked for about 6 minutes max and that was buying time. I'm usually better at speaking to larger crowds, but due to illnesses, only 27 members were present for sacrament meeting. Some of them had to leave right after due to sickness in their families back home. I also wasn't too prepared on the talk, but I was more prepared on the lesson which had to be 40-50 minutes. In gospel doctrine I taught the principle of agency, something I've grown to have a good knowledge about. The elderly people in attendance would take the conversation off track so it was entertaining to bring it back repeatedly. They all commented that it was a good lesson and a fascinating topic. This is going to be an interesting and growing experience in this branch for sure.

President Place was very glad I stepped up and was appreciative of the short notice efforts. In opening exercises for Priesthood, there were only 7 brethren there including us missionaries and the branch president, so we all had an off topic discussion about prayer based on the Ezra Taft Benson book given by one of the elderly high priests. It was entertaining for sure. Also none of the brethren play piano so guess who's stepping in for that?

Snow-pocalypse in Harrisburg, IL out the back window at the car.

Monday (16th) as I already stated, we were snowed in. We couldn't go anywhere or do anything. After playing Risk, Monopoly, and just sleeping, I was essentially done with the day. It was really pretty boring.

Same deal for Tuesday (17th), but then I had found a snow shovel so I went to work on the driveway and sidewalks. We were able to get the car out of the driveway and obtained wifi and a dinner at the branch mission leader's home. The Russell's are a really fun family and currently have a Norwegian exchange student with them. One of their daughter's is at BYU-Idaho and the other is coming home from her mission in a few weeks. That one is attending Southern Virginia University which is just a few hours south of me. They were awesome and I can't wait to start working with them.

Finally Wednesday (18th). I was actually planning on sending out this email this day but once again we were stuck. I finished shoveling the driveway and also finished building a snowman my companion had started but never got around to finishing. He's a mini version of me. We also went to go see one of our investigators with a member driving and that was literally about it. I ended the night watching The Testaments and writing ya'll and a few others.

I think that's about it. Lots happened. As I am currently writing this, it is freezing cold in the house which for some reason is not heating up. I'm trying to be patient with the weather and the circumstances. 

Thank you all for your support and I apologize for not writing sooner. It's been a hectic and very cold week.

Elder Peery

There are many times in life where we will face trials that seem bigger than we can manage. A perfect example is found in the story of David and Goliath. Though Goliath was a huge giant and David was puny, David defeated him because the Lord was on his side. Whenever difficulties occur when you are trying to do the right thing, remember that the Lord is on your side.

  

Snow-pocalypse outside the back door

Snow-pocalypse outside the front door