Bible Bash...!

First off, Happy Memorial Day to all those who have given their lives so that we could live in such an amazing country with the freedoms that we have. Not going to lie, this week flew by even faster than the last, but it was enjoyable (for the most part).

Monday, we played speedball in the morning and then went grocery shopping. A member insisted on paying for our groceries once again, so I've actually managed to save quite a bit of money, on my mission card lol. That night we met this guy named Taylor, he wasn't interested, but he was super nice, and we talked to him on his porch for like 45 minutes. Over time, he will be ready!

Tuesday, we went to Costa Vida for lunch, and again a member insisted on paying. Later that day we found someone new to teach, named Angel. He's 15 and he recently moved from California. Apparently, he's been talking to the missionaries in California, and already knows like everything about the gospel. He told us a story about the day he learned about Joseph Smith, he had a dream that night that he saw Joseph Smith go into the woods and pray. It was super crazy, and he's a solid investigator. He came with us to the young men's activity at the church that night, and we committed him to be baptized on the 17th!

Wednesday, we had our regular district meeting, and after the meeting we had our interviews with president Jaggi. It went super good, and I gained a lot from it! He's such a great Mission President, and always has something good to say.

Thursday, we went back to Hill Air Force base, and did more service at the thrift shop. Later that day, we tried to do some more finding, but didn't have any luck.

Friday, we did our normal huddle and weekly planning. Later in the day we taught Angel another lesson on the plan of salvation. He seemed to really understand it. Then, we had a lesson with our recent convert, Kaiden, about temples!

Saturday was so crazy I can't even express. I'll try to keep this to the point, but oh man I was so mad haha. Early in the day we went to a baptism of somebody that my companion used to teach. Later, we had another lesson with Angel, but his mom sat in this time. Fun fact, his mom doesn't speak any English, so we have the lesson in Spanish. When I say we, I mean my companion, because I don't speak Spanish. I kind of just sat there and had him translate for me. Now here’s the crazy part about the day. We got a call from an inactive member to come over and talk with him, so we thought sure! Him and his wife are return missionaries, but don't believe the church is true anymore. He brought us downstairs, and insisted on us answering his questions about the Book of Mormon. He has been reading and studying it, just to disprove it. We proved him wrong on so many different levels! Yet, he was so prideful, that he just wasn't receptive to our answers. He just wanted to bash, so we left. We get people like this a lot in Utah, but usually they don't go as far as he did.

Sunday was a good day, just went to church and the visited a few members and got some referrals. We had dinner with our Stake President, and his whole family is just so great.

Sorry it was super long, if you still read these I love you! Haha, anyway hope everyone has a good week back home. Oh yeah, and thanks mom and dad for the package! Picture included 😀 love yall!

Elder Greer
Utah Ogden Mission
648 West 700 North
Clearfield, Utah

Care package!

Another One!

It has been such an amazing week here! So many things happened, so this email will probably be long, but I promise, whoever reads this, you will enjoy it! Haha, but anyway, I'll go ahead and give the run down as usual.

Monday was a really fun day, we went to speedball in the morning, then after that we went to fat cats to bowl with a bunch of missionaries for free and play pool.

Tuesday, we taught Kaiden the last lesson he needed to be baptized. We brought a deacon his age to the lesson, so that he could be fellowshipped into the ward. It went really well, and he was super excited to be baptized.

Wednesday was a crazy day to say the least... After district meeting, we went to some church in Ogden to help feed the homeless. While there, there was this one man about 30 years old, that would NOT stop following me. He kept trying to hug me, and mess with my hair. When I told him he can't hug me anymore, he got mad and tried picking me up a bunch of times. He's way bigger than me, so I couldn't do anything about it. My companion tried saving me, but he couldn't. The guy had some sort of disability, but I was getting so mad and uncomfortable. He later got kicked out, finally. Then, more craziness happens! This old lady there randomly passed out on the floor, and everyone was freaking out. They called the ambulance and everything. Was a very odd service... We finished the night good though, got to grill out with all the youth in the 6th ward!

Thursday, we went to do some more service on Hill Air Force base at the thrift shop. Later that night, we got Kaiden interviewed for his baptism, so he is ready to go!

Friday, we had our regular huddle and weekly planning. The rest of the day, we did some finding, because we are running out of people to teach. We once again had no luck... So, we're praying. That night, we helped someone move a fridge out of their house, and when they took us home they bought us Burger King! It was super good, because we had a small dinner that night. The members here are so nice!

Saturday was the best day of it all! Kaiden got baptized!! It was the most spiritual baptism I have ever been to. Everyone was crying. Kaiden’s best friend Austin, gave a talk on baptism, and he got super emotional, so that led to everyone else crying. When they were changing, I did the 4-minute restoration message for all the non-members there, I think it went pretty well. After the baptism, there was a bunch of food, and we played a little basketball in the gym.

Sunday, I got to confirm Kaiden a member of the church in sacrament meeting! It was a lot less nerve racking the 2nd time around, and it was a really good day. His whole family was there, and sacrament meeting was packed! Later that night, we taught Jayla and Nesha again.

That’s my update for this week. Hope all is going well at home! Miss you all, have a good week.

Elder Greer
Utah Ogden Mission
648 West 700 North
Clearfield, Utah

Kaiden's Baptism!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to every mother/wife back home! Hope you all enjoyed it. It's been another great week here, minus a couple things haha. But anyway, here have been the highlights from each day this week. 

Monday, we sat inside most of the day because my companion was being transferred to Plain City. At 4 we went to one of our senior couple’s house for a grill out/party. It was really fun, but sad because it was our last activity all together, because most of the people in my district were being transferred. 

Later, we taught Jayla and Nesha about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. 

Tuesday was transfer day, so Elder Siedschlag headed to Plain City and I got a new companion, Elder Dantas, and he is also from Brazil! So far we get along really well, and he's a great missionary. Later that day they moved us out of our area from Clinton to Clearfield. So, we literally have to bike 20 minutes to our area every single day, and it’s so inconvenient. We're trying to find somewhere else to live in our area, but so far no luck. That night we had a lesson with this 13-year-old named Kaiden. He's been going to church with his friend, and he's set to be baptized on the 20th! He's progressing a lot, and his dad, who isn't a member, is letting him get baptized.

Wednesday, we had district/zone meeting. We went shopping afterward because we had no groceries, and while we were there some lady gave us money. It happens quite a bit here apparently. Around 7 we went to the youth activity in the 6th ward, and learned about gardening and roasted some smores. My companion had smores for the first time, and he loved it hahaha. 

Thursday, we did some service at the thrift shop on Hill Air Force base, then later had a lesson with Kaiden again. Not too much happened that day. 

Friday, we had our weekly huddle meeting with the Jackson's, then when we got home, we did some weekly planning. That night we had dinner at the Hardymans, and had some more smores afterward! 

Saturday, we tried do to some more finding because we just don't have very many people to teach. We went door to door and visited some names we had on our list, but no luck. After that, we had a good lesson with our recent convert, Bill. So, the member we live with has a doll in the basement in our study room, and it's super creepy. Sometimes we'll wake up, and the doll is slightly moved. I'm almost positive it's my companion, but he says it's me. So, I attached the picture of me imitating the face of the doll. 

Sunday, I got to Skype home to my family! It was super short and flew by so fast, but it was good to be able to see their faces and talk to them again. Other than that, church was good and we got fed pretty well. 

If anyone ever has questions or comments just shoot me an email, I need more of them! Love you all, have a good week. 

Elder Greer

Utah Ogden Mission  648 West 700 North  Clearfield, Utah

Creepy Doll!

Skype Screenshots!

Officially 2 Months!

So today, May 8th, officially marks my 2-month mark! Only 22 months left! Not too much happened this week, or maybe a lot happened, and I just don't remember. I'm already getting to that point in the mission lol. 

Monday, we had a mission 5k run, which is pretty fun, except the fact that all us missionaries that were in the front, took a wrong turn and ended up running 5 miles instead of 5k. Other than that, it was a good day. 

I can't remember a single thing we did on Tuesday, so probably just the regular stuff. 

Wednesday, we has our zone/district meetings, then the rest of the day was like Tuesday. 

Thursday, was actually one of my favorite days so far on my mission. I went on exchanges with our zone leader, Elder Hutchison, in Riverdale, while his companion came here to Clinton. Elder Hutchison and I work so well together and we're so similar, I just wish I could permanently be his companion! We found so many people, that the Lord totally prepared for us to meet them. We found 4 people that are willing to meet with the missionaries again, and we committed 2 of them to baptism. One of them was a 70-year-old black man, that was Catholic. I approached him, testified of the Book of Mormon and gave a short lesson on the restoration, and for the first time in my mission, asked him if he would be baptized when he found out that the things I told him were true. He said he would, and oh man, I can't tell you how good that felt. Later, while we were walking, a chocolate lab came up to us, and just wanted some love. He was just a puppy, and didn't have a collar, so we went around door to door, until we found the owner. So, it was a really solid day! 

Friday, we had our huddle meeting, to correlate the work with the missionaries in our stake. After, we visited an inactive family, the Greer's, and invited them to church. We kinda connected. since we have the same last name, but they didn't want to come to church at all. The daughter kind of wants to, but won't go if the parents don't. So that's a bummer. 

Saturday, we had a day of service with the entire zone in West point. We split up into groups of 3 companionships, and just went around to houses and did yard work, painting, and some other things. After, the stake fed us lunch, and we just met a lot of different people. After that, I went on exchanges with Elder Sitisap, who's just another missionary in our stake. While in his area, I met a Simonsen family, who just so happens to be Robb Simonsen’s brother and his family! Small world! Biking was really hard this day, because the wind was stronger than I've ever seen. It felt like a hurricane out there! 

Sunday, was a regular day, except after church we just went to visit a bunch of families, so that my companion can say bye. He's being transferred to Plain City on Tuesday! I'll tell you all more about transfers, and my new companion, next week when I know more. 

That's all I got from this week, hope everyone back home is doing well! I get to Skype home next week for Mother’s Day and I'm super excited! Talk to you all next week. 

Love, 

Elder Greer

Utah Ogden Mission  923 West 2225 North  Clinton, Utah

Found and Returned Lost Dog

Discovered how easy instant potatoes are....Ate all of them!

Baptism!

It's been another eventful and exciting week! I've noticed that the better the week's I've been having, the quicker they go by, so this week was fast, haha. 

Monday, we went to basketball in the morning and President Jaggi was there! For his age, he's actually really good, so it was pretty fun. From there, did our shopping, and got out haircuts. After dinner, my companion and I went on exchanges, he went to our lesson with Jayla and Nesha (progressing but still no baptism date), and I went to a family home evening at President Jaggi's with our recent convert, Bill. It was a really good meeting, the Jaggi's are such inspired people, and I just love hearing them talk. 

Not much happened on Tuesday. We had to be at the mission office at 7am for new missionary training, which lasted until like 2pm. It was mostly common sense, but it was good because they fed us a great lunch, and I got to see all the sisters that I came into the mission with! I'll attach the picture of us to this email. 

Wednesday, we visited Vicky Morgan in the morning, because she said she missed us coming over all the time. We already finished the new member lessons with her, but her husband is still having troubles coming back to church, so we'll be visiting them until he's active! After, we had district meeting, and the rest of the day was normal. 

Thursday, we had some more service here at our landlords house, digging out cement blocks in the ground that used to be a foundation for a shed type thing. The entire district came over for that. Later that night, we went to visit Duane, who's inactive. We had a super powerful lesson with him, and he said he would go to church Sunday! 

Friday, we had our weekly huddle meeting at the Jackson's. After our meeting, we got a call from a lady in one of our wards saying that she really wanted us to come by and give her a Priesthood blessing. She was recently in a car accident, and hasn't been healing the way she thought she would. We were able to comfort her and give her that blessing. Later we went to the Habitat for Humanity and did some service for them. 

Saturday, we had a baptism for Denver! He's 8 years old, and we've been teaching him ever since I got here. His dad isn't a member of the church, and his mom is less active. It was a great baptisimal service, and there were a lot of non-member family members there. My companion baptized him, and while they were getting dressed, I gave a 5-minute restoration presentation for the people there. It went pretty well, and the dad seems to be changing a little bit, so we're hoping he will want to be baptized as well. 

Sunday, was a pretty regular Sunday, but I got to do something I've never done before. I got to confirm Denver a member of the Church and give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting! His mom cried afterwards, and told me how great I did. I had told her that I was nervous, because it was new for me too, and she thanked me for doing it. Around 4, we had another lesson with Jayla and Nesha. 

I wrote this email and it was even longer than last weeks, so I went through it and took out everything that I thought no one would care about haha. I might say this every week, but I can really see myself progressing as I teach and follow the direction of the spirit. It truly is amazing how we can receive the Holy Ghost as a constant companion to always help us, as long as we are obeying Gods commandments to the best of our ability. 

Hope everyone has a great week, and feel free to email me! Love you all, talk to you later!

Utah Ogden Mission
923 West 2225 North
Clinton, Utah

Elder Greer

Almost 2 Months?

It's been another crazy, but at the same time, good week here in Clinton! I feel like a lot has happened, so this may be pretty long, but I'll sum up as much as I can! 

Monday, we went hiking at Antelope Island. It was super beautiful there, but there were so many bugs it was way too much to handle. It's in the middle of the Salt Lake, so they are literally everywhere. I got some cool pictures though! After that, just the regular p day shenanigans. Later that night some crazy stuff happened with the missionaries that we live with, and President came over to our place. Long story short, they got emergency transferred because they're pretty disobedient missionaries. They were cool guys, but weren't doing what they were supposed too, so now my companion and I have the place to ourselves!

Tuesday, I had a mandatory family history training in Ogden in the morning, but we also had a lesson with our recent convert Vicky, so my companion and I went on exchanges. I went to the training and my companion went with a member for the lesson. While my companion was going down to Layton, Vicky had to cancel the lesson for some reason, and right after, my companion got a call from Vanessa. She was in the hospital  and needed to be picked up, and my companion just so happen to be right next to the hospital. He was able to take her home snd comfort her. She's been going through crazy stuff and we've been praying for her so hard, but she just doesn't seem to be progressing anymore. Later we met with Jayla and Neesha, who are progressing like crazy. I'm pretty sure they read the Book of Mormon more than us missionaries. At our lesson, they showed up with notes taken from every verse that that they read. It's such a bummer their parents won't let them get baptized yet...

Wednesday, we had our regular district meetings, and then the rest of the day we just did our regular thing, visiting less actives, correlating with members. 

Thursday, we had zone conference! We got to hear from the zone leaders, the assistants to the president, and from Sister and President Jaggi! Their trainings were all good. Sister Jaggi's was all about the Book of Mormon and how it can answer many of life's questions. President Jaggi's was on setting goals and making plans! Later that day we visited this guy named Duane, he's been inactive for about 4 years. He recently got a divorce and seems like he's going through depression of some sort. We had a really good lesson with him, and invited him to come back to church with us, and he said he would next week! So we'll see if he follows through.

Friday, we had our regular huddle meeting with the other missionaries at the Jackson's home. Then later, we had weekly planning. Then something awesome happened, right before we went in at night, we decided to knock on one more door, thinking it was an inactive's house. This guy named Anthony answered the door, he's a non-member that had just moved in. He has some drug addictions, so we told him about how the church can help him. We have a lesson with him tonight, so I'll tell you all next week how that goes!

Saturday, I got to attend Jarek's viewing and funeral. It was extremely sad, but it was good to be able to say my goodbyes, and feel of the spirit that was there. I got to see his parents, and just tell them how sorry I was. I also saw some elders that served back in Jacksonville, so that was good that they went. Later in the day, we just did the regular thing, and I had to prepare my talk still. 

Sunday, I spoke in sacrament meeting in the 6th ward. I spoke for about 10 minutes on Elder Rasband's talk about the Holy Ghost from this last conference. It went well I think, but the sister that spoke before me spoke on the same talk haha. It was okay, because we emphasized different parts of the talk. Later, we had a family home evening at the Jackson's home, Jayla and Neesha both came! It was really good. 

Once again, props to anyone who reads all of this. Hope you all have a good week and I'll email again next week! Love you all! 

Elder Greer

Utah Ogden Mission

923 West 2225 North 

Clinton, Utah

Happy Easter!

Happy late Easter to all my family and friends back home! Hope everyone enjoyed it and remembered exactly what the meaning of it is. So, I haven't written in my journal the past 2 weeks and days are starting to blend together so I don't really have much this week, but I'll list the highlights I remember, like always. 

Last Monday, we played basketball in the morning like usual with all the other missionaries up in Ogden. Later in the day my companion and I went on some exchanges because we wanted to do different things. He went with some elders he's good friends with in our stake, and I went with Elder Allen and Alberts. We went to their area in West Haven to a member’s house to play pool, ping pong, play games, and just socialize. The family is really cool, totally reminds me of my family and how our house was always open to the missionaries to hang out on p-day. 

Tuesday, we had a lesson with 2 sister investigators, Jayla and Nisha Lowder. They're 15 and 13, and are totally ready and willing to get baptized. They have strong testimonies already, and read the Book of Mormon every day. The only problem is, their parents won't let them get baptized yet. They're both inactive members, and are okay with us teaching them, but for some reason don't want them to get baptized. So, we're praying hard that their hearts will be softened. 

Wednesday, we had our regular zone and district meetings, the focus was on planning. Definitely something my companion and I should work on lol. Later, we just had a few lessons with people, and had a few visits with members to correlate the work. Wednesday night my Mission President called me and told me some very sad news. My really good friend, Jarek Sonognini, had passed away in a car accident. I was in such terrible shock and couldn't believe it. He was honestly a really cool, funny, and chill guy. My first thought was to pray for his family, that they may be comforted in knowing that they will see him again. I didn't get much sleep that night at all, thinking of all the great memories of Jarek, and reflected on a scripture we read that week in John, Chapter 3, verses 16 and 17:

    16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

    17 - For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Because the Savior sacrificed himself for us, we will be saved.  I know that without a doubt in my mind.

Thursday, we didn't leave our apartment until dinner because I was still in shock and just couldn't do anything. I had troubles focusing so we decided it'd be better to just study. 

Friday, we did some service at the Habitat for Humanity. It was a super sketchy place, that looked like it had been through the zombie apocalypse. We just carried some things out to the dump, and went through the whole place for metal. It wasn't that bad, but it was definitely something different. I took a picture on another Elder’s tablet so if he emails it to me, I'll add it to this email.

Saturday, we had a recent convert lesson with Vicky who was just baptized. It went pretty well, her main concern right now is whether or not her husband will go to church with her. We had a few members there with us, and they comforted her in knowing that he will go when he can, and that the Ward is always there for her. Later in the day, we helped a family load their moving truck, because they are moving to Centerville. I've come to really enjoy service, so we were pretty stoked about the opportunity we had to help. 

That brings us to the best day of the week! Sunday was great for so many different reasons. First of all, it was my first regular Sunday in over a month! With the small sacrament meetings in the MTC, then General Conference, then Stake Conference, it was nice to finally sit and listen to members talk. We cover 3 wards, all in the same building, so we're at church from 9-4. It sounds worse than it is, it was still really awesome. Later in the evening we went over to the Johnson family's home for dinner. The best part about it, we had my favorite meal! Ham, potatoes, salad, and for dessert, apple pie! It was really good, just not as good as Grandma's cooking haha. The apple pie was pretty good too, but I still love my dad's amazing homemade pies. At 9, one of our investigators called us, and wanted us to come by because she's had a hard day. Her name is Vanessa, and she's been struggling super hard recently. I'll save you from the details, but she basically doesn't think her life is worth it. So, we shared a message and a video, and reminded her of the power of the Atonement. We weren't able to stay long because of Curfew, but she was happy we came over. 

I think I'm finally starting to adjust to the mission life, but at times I still feel like a deer caught in headlights. The people here in Clinton are truly amazing though. Having dinner appointments with a family every night is awesome because I get to meet someone new every time. That has been my week, props to anyone who actually reads these still. Hope you all have an amazing week, looking forward to hearing from you!

Love,

Elder Greer
Utah Ogden Mission
923 West 2225 North
Clinton, Utah

Habitat for Humanity Cleanup