And Charity Suffereth Long...

I got a call on Saturday night.  I'm training next transfer.  Nooooot to sure how I feel about this yet!  Of course I'm excited, because training I hear is always one of those experiences you'll never forget, but then again it's like what if I don't "raise him right"?  We'll see how it goes.  I'm staying in Burk though for another transfer.  It's back to the regular 6 week transfer.  

Oh totally random thought but Aust remember Brooke Waldie? Well her older brother, Br. Waldie (don't know his first name) is here in Texas!  He's a MVT grad and everything.  Crazy what a small world this is.  So he was part of the mega 5 couple wedding thingy.  Back to the week though.  We had a Zone Conference on Friday.  It was AWESOME.  President Taylor is AWESOME.  He gave a training on the Doctrine of Christ and how it can help us build member trust (part I of his training) and how it can help us control our thoughts (part II of his training). 

The mission is starting to focus on working through the members, and utilizing the networks they have, because we always hear that God is preparing people to receive the Gospel.  Little do we sometimes realize that it's through the light and examples of the members of the church that Heavenly Father is preparing them, rather than a knock on a door.  Cause honestly I had an epiphany the other day.  More like some awesome revelation.  How do we get people to want to have that desire to recieve the gospel?  By listening to two salesmen like men or women knocking on their door, who instantly get preconceived judgements plastered all over them? Or by talking to your neighbor, co-worker, classmate, best friend, who you trust, respect, and value their opinion?  And as we share the gospel, and let our "light shine" others will "see our good works" and that will in turn "glorify our Father which is in heaven" (Matt 5:16).  Wish I could talk more about his training but I've gotta move on. 

I had a super cool experience this week, that really strengthened my testimony of charity. So I haven't previously gone into details about it, but super long story short there's a companionships in my district that's been really struggling with working.  And one elder of the companionship has, well, quite simply, given me hell.  Haha mom you didn't read that word. But he despises leaderships up the wazoo and yeah, big time trial of charity.  He's been out a while so thinks he know everything, get the picture?  Anyways, my plan of action for this elder = love the crud out of him.  It's like hugging a porcupine.  There have been times when he'd tried to call me out on something, or get in an argument, what have you, or call me a prideful leader (which I soo wanted to start pointing out instances where I wasn't prideful, and then realized 'wait, that's prideful').   So it took a lot but I apologized to him for being prideful and told him I'm work on being a more humble servant of the Lord and that I loved him and was here to serve him in anyway that I could.  I hope that you got the picture I'm painting.  Because over and over I've tried to love this guy, and nothing changed.  Friday night, after zone conference, I texted the district to see if everyone got back safe.  This companionship just said "ya".  And then about 5 minutes later we get another text from them, and it was from this elder I've been having a hard time with.  And it was an apology.  He apologized for giving me such a hard time, and he knew that I really did care about him and that he knows he needs to do better and that he's going to work to make the changes necessary to be a better missionary.  Now I feel like a cheese ball for saying this but as I read that text I started to tear up, because in that moment my testimony of charity was strengthened 10 fold.  After I read that text Moroni 7:45 came to mind, word for word.  Shout out to Mama Traaz for having us memorize that...  "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."  I wish I could go through that scrip right now, but I'm a windbag.  I just wanted to share that with you guys. I know that our Father in Heaven loves us.  Because of that love, we in turn should love his other children.  Thank you for the love that I've felt from each and every one of you!  If there's anything that I could ever do for you, please let me know.  Till next time,

Elder Traasdahl

Valentines Day and Such

Tracting in Texas

'Our Valentines day - 

courtesy of 3 little kids younger than 7'

A sample of the weather 

Virtue is Attractive

Well. where to start. THE SKY IS FALLING!  Did you hear about the meteor falling in Russia?  Duh of course you did, you get to see the news.  Crazy though right?!  A member mentioned something about it on Sunday and when I heard about it I was like hold up, what?!   If that happened here in the US I bet we woulda shot it down or somethin. Being close to base and talking with all these military members you get to hear alot of cool/scary/big brother things about the military. Like drones.  Man. There's soooo many of them, and the things they can do too.  It's actually really cool technology, but also scary at the same time.  Anyways it's not important because it's not a missionary minded topic so I'll move on! 

On Sunday we had one of those regional stake conferences that you guys kinda had a while ago.  For us it was all of OK, TX, and NM.  President Eyering, Elder Scott, and then a guy from the 70 and the second counselor from the primary presidency spoke.  It was a really good conference.  The two heavy hitters (apostles) gave some AWESOME talks.  It was allllll about being pure.  Pure in our hearts, mind, actions, soul, etc.  They threw a beat down on Satan and his lies and deceptions about how its not important to wait till after marriage to keep yourself sexually pure, and how its ok to delve into pornography for curiosity sake.  Elder Scott also talked about the sanctity of womanhood, and man, it was awesome.  I realize it was the least applicable to me at this stage of my life right now, but one of my favorite lines of his was "young men, let the young women know that virtue is attractive.  Compliment them when they are fulfilling their role as the divine daughter of God they are."  Now don't worry, this heart right here is locked up like Fort Knox, but it was just such a good talk.  

Some updates on the work though:  Br. R., the airman, is coming along awesome!  He's still good for Mar. 2nd. We taught him yesterday on base after the sacrament service they have and we taught him the big 3: Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity and Law of Tithing and Fast Offerings.  And it went off without a hitch!  His only thing was that he enjoys his starbucks but he's willing to give that up because he really desires baptism.   We also this week found a couple, Val and Jeff, and taught them. They had a friend there too, who we didn't plan on teaching, but of course did since he was there, who's an atheist.  Val described him to be one of those atheists that are super argumentative and combatitve, so we were ready for him to come out guns blazing.  Surprisingly though, as we taught the 1st, he hardly said a word, other than when we asked him a question.  Another thing to note that struck me is that we went in there to focus on Val and Jeff, but as we were teaching the lesson, I couldn't help but have a tug or pulling feeling to want to help this atheist guy.  I could just feel Heavenly Father wanting his lost child to know that he loved him dearly.  It was a precious opportunity for me to get to be their and feel of Heavenly Father's love for him, and an even greater blessing to have the chance to bear testimony that our Heavenly Father loved this man.  I've never felt the spirit testify of a truth, other than the restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith, stronger than the truth that our Father in Heaven loves his children.  

We're also teaching our neighbor, who just moved in. She's about 21, so it's one of those situations where we're not setting even a pinky toe in that door unless we've got another person with us.  But she set a date for Mar 16th so we'll see how it goes!  I wasnt there for the lesson because I was on exchanges, so I don't have many details about it.  And that's about it!  We're still finding, still searching, and the work goes on!  I'm still as lost as ever when it comes to what or how to be a leader, haha but it seems to work out some way or another! Thank you for all you do, I love every single one of you! I pray for you each night. And I know I say that alot but I really do! LOVE YOU!!!!!

Elder Traasdahl

Timeline of Christianity

As you can see from the timeline what was once on earth was sadly lost:  The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Warms my heart to know God has restored truths and keys to the earth, and Elder Traasdahl has the opportunity to tell that good news on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 2013 (along with missionaries all over the world).   

If you're unfamiliar with it, this would be an excellent time to discover what the good news is all about.   

Lovin' Burkburnett, TX

This picture was titled, "Everything's Bigger in Texas"

(And yes, that picture made me laugh.)

And here's his District Eating at a Texas Road House...

 in Texas, of course.

A time of Healing

Howdy. How we doin?! Good to hear from everybody. Glad to hear everything's staying the same back in the good ol' AZ! Can you believe we're kinda halfway through February!? Gosh time flies by too fast.

Well I forgot my list of stories that I had been keeping up on through out the week, (no surprise there really)  sooooo I'm going to give it my best shot. Of course though I've got to start off with the best news.  We have two baptism dates this week!  We doin missionary work!  Haha.  One we set with an investigator who had had a date (before I got here) then it fell through, so we re-set one.  The other date though is with an airman named Br. Richie.  (Ha don't know his first name, since they've only got their last name on their uniform we haven't asked for his first name.)  He's got a stud fellowshipper, Br. Cook who has been off his mish less than a year, so we've got that on lock down.  We've taught him twice so far, and on the first lesson we set the date for Mar. 2nd.  Br. Richie's been through a lot in his life and he's finally found the peace that he's been looking for.  So being able to go onto Sheppard airforce base has been a real blessing for us in being able to do missionary work. 

We're still trying to work through the ward, that's just coming along slower than anticipated. When we have dinners though we have great lessons and they always give us Less Active families to go see.  We're just trying to change that from LA families to non member families!  As far as being a dstrict leader, it's interesting.  I'm learning a ton.  Serving in a leadership position is not what I envisioned it to be, that's for sure.  Becoming like Christ is I think the goal in being a leader.  Serving and loving others, especially those who are hard to love. Well, I had plenty of opportunities to do that with Tyler back home so I guess I should be good at that! haha sike just messin, he's an easy kid to love.

This past week we had a memorial service for Sis. Smith, as a mission.  It was a really tender service. It was good for the mission to get together and heal. President Taylor shared an experience that I'd like to comment on. He said after the accident, when he was down in Woodward, he went to the spot that she got hit.  1. he said he had an overwhelming impression that the ground he was standing on was sacred and hallowed ground and  2. there were pictures of the Savior scattered all around in the grass, that she had been carrying to give out to people.  The visual of that struck me.  The spot where she had been killed, the Savior was there.  Immediately my mind turned to the atonement, and what a beautiful gift it is. "It must needs be an infinite atonement."  And then I did some introspection and asked myself,  "Do I appreciate the atonement for what it truly is?  What can I do to come to understand the atonement better?"  So such is the topic of my studies this last week.  It's kinda amazing, trying to understand something that is incomprehensible.  However as our understanding does increase, our desire to share the gospel will grow.  You can thank PMG for that quote. 

Last random thought then I gotta hop off.  Mark Mabry should use his Reflections of Christ photos and make calendars with it. If not on a mass production scale, at least just one.  I want one. Haha cause right now I have an american themed calendar annnnnd I realized I should have a more Christ centered calender.  And that idea is for free. I have no patent on it. Ha aight, well I love you guys, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.  If I can ever do anything for you please let me know. Love you!!!!

Elder Traasdahl

What happened when someone asked a really good question...

Have you ever been confused and decided the only way you would get clarity was to 'ask of God'?  Well, when Joseph Smith was young he was in such a situation.  He was confused to the extreme about who to follow and what church to join.   One day after reading James 1:5 he went into a nearby grove of trees to pray without distraction -- away from his family's busy farm.   To discover the answer he received click on the link below:  

First Vision Video

A Plea for Prayers

Goodness, it's so late in the day! Not really but the elders here in Texas have their routine a little different. So I was super excited to write to you guys this week, because there are a lot of awesome things to write about. But I have to start off with some terrible news... On Friday night of this last week a sister in our mission was riding her bike back from an appointment and was hit and killed. Her name was Sis. Smith. She was training and had shotguned and opened up a new area, Woodward. Her greenie was a 19 year old sister too. We're holding a memorial service for her as a mission tomorrow moring in Moore, OK. It was such a shock though, to get that phone call from our Zone Leaders. She had served in my previous zone, and on Wednesday, at transfers, I was talking to her and all that jazz. And then two days later, gone. So I made the phone calls to the rest of my district to inform them about her death. So if you could please keep the Smith family in your prayers, and President and Sister Taylor in your prayers as well, Because I know for a mission president and wife that's a worst nightmare come true. 

But, for the good news now. Ha I love Texas. Well, it actually is really a grimey place, but the saints here are awesome. The Burkburnett ward is a military ward, and on Sunday at church you could just feel the humility in sacrament service. 80% of all the families have a father or mother who serve in the military. The members here are awesome too because they have no fear whatsoever in sharing the gospel! They bring their military buddies to church all the time. This area has some serious potential. In fact, in 2010, Burk Burnett was the highest baptizing area in the mission. Ha so of course President Taylor has told Elder Robison and I that he wants us to get it back to it's former glory. So that's the goal. And since Elder Robison goes home next transfer, I'm staying here for two transfers most likely... so here we go!!  Oh and get this. Favorite part so far. In our area is Shepherd Airforce Base. On Sunday we found out that we can go on base and attend their 2 hour services! Now we had to get clearance (just a pass that lasts for two weeks) and a military person had to get us the pass and yada yada... we got it is all that's important.  Haha but it was so awesome!! Going to church with military guys. Gosh. I know I talked about humility before, these guys were super humble. Definitely going to remeber these sacrament meetings on base for the rest of my life. 

But k you gotta check something out for me. I met a Jaymond Bodine there. He says he knows Thane! Kinfolk Thane. When I introduced myself and Elder Traasdahl his eyebrows raised and he pointed to me and he mouthed "we need to talk after". Turns out they went to school together at Heritage? And now he's in the airforce going to school for some type of mechanics. As far as the work goes here we've got nothing so far, we're building from the ground up. A.k.a Noble 2.0.  Except we're really working through the members here this time. We've got quite a bit less active families that we've decided to focus on. 

ther funny story that I thought you guys would appreciate is my first District Meeting. Ha if there was one thing that I needed, and shouldn't have forgotten, but did forget, what do you think it'd be? Yep, my notes I made for the 25 min training. I just had to laugh, because I knew something like that would happen for my first district meeting. Anyways, I love you all, thanks for all you do for me. I pray for you each night. Keep on keepin on, and never forget, the church is true.

Love,

Elder Traasdahl