Music and Miracles!

So, this letter is going to be a little bit different because instead of going day by day, I'm just going to share some amazing experiences we have had this week! Then, if anyone has any questions or comments you can email me and I will email back!

So, I'll start off with the miracle we experienced on Saturday! After doing our morning studies and getting ready for the day, we began to bike to our area around 10:15 or so (also still a 25-minute bike ride). While we were biking, we got a text on our phone about a referral, saying that someone named Brayden requested a Book of Mormon. Normally when you get a referral, it gives you all the details in your area book on your tablet, so we were planning on stopping at the church for WIFI, so we can have all the information on it. However, my companion and I were both impressed to just go straight to the referral, instead of waiting. We were kind of confused, because we didn't think a 10-minute stop to view the information would be a problem, but we listened to the prompting anyway. When we got there, Brayden’s older sister answered, and told us that he was sleeping and told us to come back after 12. So, we decided that we would come back after we went to lunch.

Here's a little back story on Brayden's family: When I first arrived in the mission field, 3 months ago, my last companion, Elder Siedschlag and I, had already knocked on their door because we knew that they are an inactive family with 3 unbaptized kids. The father answered, and basically told us that he didn't want his kids getting baptized anytime soon, and did so in not the most polite way. After that had happened, we were sure that we were never gonna knock there again.

Once we had sat down for lunch, and were gonna view the information of the referral, we realized that it was a ghost referral from over 750 DAYS AGO. So, based on the fact that the system somehow messed up, and still sent us a text, and the previous visit I had with their family, we decided that there was no way we would have still visited that family if we viewed the referral before visiting them. So, we thought, why would God send us there anyway? We found out later when we went back. The family was all outside when we got there, because they had just got home, so we talked with them a little bit, and got to know the family. We mentioned the fact that we had a message saying someone in the home wanted a Book of Mormon. They said that no one there sent that request, and that they weren't interested in coming back. We asked the father if anyone of his family might be interested in coming to church, and right as we said that, 2 of his kids, Brayden(9) and his brother(11), raised their hands and said that they were interested. The dad then said "well, if they want to be taught and baptized, that's fine with me" and the kids were super excited! We were so amazed at the divine power of the holy ghost, prompting us to go there in the first place, because otherwise we would have never found these kids!

My mission has brought me some of the greatest joys ever in my life, and experiences I have like these, just make it so much better every single day. I KNOW that God lives, and he loves and cares for every single one of us. He is always preparing the way for his sons and daughters to return to living with him again one day, just as we saw from this experience.

One more quick miracle, for whoever is still reading this! Saturday night our district decided to do a little musical fireside in a park, here in Clinton, and told members to invite all their friends. So, we had a really good time singing different hymns and songs, and had a really good turnout! Later that night, the sisters in our district invited a lady and her 5 kids, who were not members, to be baptized and they accepted! They felt the spirit through the power of music!

All in all, it was a great week, and it strengthened my testimony tremendously! I know this is the restored gospel here upon the earth and we have a living prophet today!

Thank you all for the love and support, hope you all have a great week!

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

District Leaders!!

Hey everyone!

First off, Happy Father's day to all the amazing fathers, and father figures, out there! Not only my own father, but I owe it to many of you guys for encouraging me and helping me get on a mission! The mission is tough at times, but I'm starting to see why people say it's the best 2 years of their lives. This week has been pretty crazy! Transfers are this week, and as you can see from the title...  My companion and I were just called as District Leaders in our district! I'm super nervous, because I have only been out 3 months, but if there is anything I have learned on my mission this far, it's that the Lord will strengthen anyone who seeks it diligently. Here's how the week went!

Monday was just the casual p-day. Speedball, and hung out.

Tuesday was an AMAZING day! I went on exchanges with the zone leader, Elder Hutchison (he's a boss), and we went to the temple with our recent convert Bill! It was his second time going, and the temple is always just such a wonderful place to be.

Wednesday, we helped some non-members move some stuff out of their storage into the moving truck at 6 in the morning. They're moving to Ohio, and don't know anyone, because they are military, so they really needed help. It took us a while, and we still didn't finish!

Thursday morning, we helped them move again. This time we brought a few more missionaries, since they have SO much stuff. We were able to finish it off, and they bought us lunch afterward! The rest of the day we did some tracting, and had a lesson with a less-active member.

Friday, we had our correlation meeting, then we did our weekly planning. Later in the day, we met a young married couple, Wyatt and Adrian. Wyatt is a less active member, and his wife is not a member. We had a good little discussion, and they didn't seem interested in coming back, but they said we can drop by whenever.

Saturday, we were outside ALL day, trying to find people to teach, because we need to keep busy! We've been praying hard for miracles all week, and so far, nothing has happened, so we will be patient and keep praying! At night, we had a really powerful meeting with a return missionary, on how to be successful, not just on the mission, but in life. It was really good.

Sunday was a MIRACLE! Went to church like every Sunday, then later in the day we visited the NG's. Sister NG has a friend living with her now from California, and she received all the lessons from the missionaries there, but never got baptized. So, she agreed to having us come back later this week and teach her more! Then Sunday night, we visited Wyatt and Adrian again, and just asked if we can come in and share a quick message. After sharing about the plan of salvation, the spirit was so strong in there, and we knew they could feel it. They were super responsive to questions, and they were asking questions of their own. We invited Adrian to be baptized when she came to know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ, restored upon the earth, and she said she would! And we even told her that her husband could baptize her, and she seemed very excited! So, we need to keep praying for them that they will have softened hearts!

I appreciate all the love and support from everyone! Hope you all have a good week! Love you!

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

Elder Dantas Forgot some clothes at District meeting

Arriving at dinner appointment

3 Months!

So, this week marks my 3-month mark of being a missionary, but I still have 1 more week of my training, but time is starting to roll faster it feels like! This week wasn't nothing special, but I'll give y’all the rundown.

Last Monday we basically just hung out all day, and played some board games, and had some really good food. That night, we had a family home evening at one of the mission presidents councilor’s house, and it was pretty good!

I can't remember a thing we did Tuesday... I'm pretty sure we just tried finding all day and had no luck!

Wednesday, we had district meeting as usual. Later that day, we had a lesson with Angel, who is progressing really well. Last minute, his mom wanted to join in on the lesson, so my companion gave it in Spanish and then translated for me. At the end of the lesson, she told us that she wants to have the Spanish missionaries come teach her! Just last week she wasn't interested and now she is! So, we're co-teaching them now with the Spanish missionaries, and they will both be going to the Spanish ward, since we don't want to split them up.

Thursday was like Tuesday... Honestly can't remember. I promise I'll start writing these things down, so this doesn't happen again!

Friday was great! We had a mission tour with Elder Hamula of the general authority seventy! He had a really good training about faith, and answered a lot of our questions. He said that faith starts, and leads to more knowledge. I can't explain it, but it made a lot of sense to me and I know I need to apply it to my ministries!

Saturday, we did some service at a retirement center, and it was pretty fun talking to the elderly! That night we had a ward BBQ and some non-members came! It was really fun and there was some good food. We also played spikeball and football!

Sunday was just normal church, not too much happened in the evening.

Thank you everyone for the prayers and support! Hope you all have a good week! Love y'all!

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

Elder Greer making an appearance at his brother's wedding :)

Trashcan and Finding

Hey everyone! Not too much happened this week. Haven't found any new investigators, and have had to drop Quinton, so as far as the work goes, we need a miracle to happen.

Monday, we played speedball, and afterward I almost passed out, because I was so dehydrated. So the rest of the night, I rested and just tried getting my strength back.

Tuesday, we had no appointments so we were outside trying to find people to teach all day. Wasn't very successful sadly.

Wednesday, we had district meeting. Later in the day, my companion and I were biking, and I witnessed one of the funniest things in my life. I had just turned around to check on my companion, and I just see him ride his bike straight into a huge trash can. He was staring right at it, and still hit it :). The trash can fell over, and everything inside it fell out. He fell straight on his face, and as he was getting up, the first thing he said to me was, "Elder, I'm not even sure what just happened" with his helmet on the side of his head :). He hurt his leg a little, and busted his bike. He said he thinks he was either day dreaming, or he passed out, but I seriously couldn't stop laughing for a good 10 minutes.

Thursday, we had service at Hill Air Force base thrift shop again. After that we tried going to get my companions bike fixed, but they were closed.

Friday, we had our weekly huddle, and afterward we finally got Elder Dantas' bike fixed. That night, we had a lesson with Angel, our progressing investigator. We taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and read from the book of Mormon with him, since he has trouble understanding some of it. While we were biking home, we met a super sketchy guy that talked to us for 20 minutes about demons and ghosts. He was nice, but I think he was super confused lol. Some of the stuff he said was contradicting.

Saturday was SO LONG. Like Tuesday, we were just out finding all day, and it was 90 degrees. I always thought Florida was hot, but dry heat burns man... I might have just gotten used to humidity in Florida, plus wearing church clothes all summer doesn't make it much better.

Sunday, we went to church! After church, we tried finding AGAIN and had no luck. Although we met a less active, named Brian, who was super nice and didn't mind us teaching his kids as long as they are interested. They weren't home, so were going to try and visit them again later.

The church recently put out a new Mormon message, called the music of the gospel. It's a super good video and I suggest all to watch it! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju8S2vswhjY)

I hope everyone has a good week this week! Also, since my brother gets married this Friday, congrats to him and Kelsey! So sad I can't make it, but I’m so happy for you two. Love you all!

**Apologies for no pictures this week, I'll be sure to take more for next week!

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

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!