April 21, 2013 ~ I invite you to say your prayers out loud tonight!

The work continues on my friends.  Great to hear from you this week!  Mom you said in your email that the divide between the good and the bad keeps on getting ever wider and it's so true.  That's something I think we were able to witness this week.  But I'll talk about that in a second.  Braden I heard that you went on a really awesome campout!  I remember when we went to camp Geronimo.  Tyler and the rest of the troop one night decided to prank another troop and put twinkies in their shoes.  I was too scared to and kept sleeping.  I still stand by that decision :)  One of these days Austin you'll send us a play by play of the week, I just know it!

This week my testimony has grown in the importance of living the Law of Chastity.  All of the couples that we're working with towards baptism are not married currently. Each investigator this week that has a baptismal date, (minus Seth and Emily) have had some stumbling blocks in their way because of their not being married.  Eric and Michelle got in an argument this past weekend, and Eric took off to Broken Bow, OK (4 hrs away) he hasn't come back since.  Michelle plans on leaving back to LA on Wednesday if he doesn't come back today or tomorrow. When we were talking to her one of the greatest feelings she was expressing was that she felt no trust between them.  We have another investigator, Andrew, who's been with his girlfriend for 15 years, but has never married her.  He just got in a fight with her and she left him as well.  While talking with him he said the exact same thing, he felt like there was no trust.  From these few experience, and after talking about, Elder Vance and I came to the conclusion trust is one of the natural consequences that come as we're obedient to the Law of Chastity.  The feelings of doubt, deceit, fraud, and infidelity all come from the same source:  Satan and disobedience to God's commandments.

The other spiritual highlight of this week real quick has to do with a commitment that a missionary left with me while on exchanges a few days ago.  We were talking about our prayer communication and I mentioned how there are times that I struggle with organizing my thoughts and keeping my prayers on line.  He suggested that for my evening prayers, before I go to bed, I go into another room and say my prayers out loud. I've heard of that suggestion but have never done it (in front of a companion).  Well I've been doing it for the past few days and goodness gracious does it make it difference!  If you haven't done it in a while do it tonight, and if you do do it keep on doing it!  Say your prayers out loud.  It makes such a difference.  For myself it makes my communication with Heavenly Father all the more real, even tangible.  As I've been doing it I know that my prayers have been more guided by the spirit as well.  So again, I invite you to say your prayers out loud tonight!

Keep on working growing and progressing in the gospel. I love you all so very much!

Elder Traasdahl

"Easter Sunday dinner spent at our bishops home. (left to right) Elder Vance (comp) Elder Brotherson, Elder Morris, me!"

April 14, 2014~ The Gospel 101 - God is our Father, and Christ is our Savior.

My goodness!!  It sounds like everyone had such a fantastic week!  Braden I'm glad that you had such a great experience with the EVMCO concert!  We were listening to a general conference talk the other morning as we were getting ready and it was on hymns, and the speaker made the comment that music is a one of the quickest ways that we can invite the spirit into any avenue.  I believe that principle was confirmed for all of us this weekend!  Mom that's pretty neat that you were able to share your experiences with the Stewart's parents, I know that they'll have a hard time forgetting what you told them. And can I just say, man y'all are a good looking family!  You cleaned up nice in that photo you sent me mom.  It's not cool that Braden's up to Dad's shoulders but that's okay, I can still take him in a skeet shoot out ;)

Well we had another busy week.  Right now our zone is in the phase where all the new missionaries are no longer new missionaries, they're out now 6 months - 1 year, so we're all learning how to put our nose to the grind stone, dig deep, learn what we're actually made of, and overcome discouragement.  I sincerely feel one of the reasons the Lord is blessing us with success is so that we'll be able to then say "hey, elders, (or sisters) there's a reason enduring to the end is a principle of the doctrine of Christ.  If you keep on pressing forward, the Lord will have your back!"

I was on exchanges this past weekend with an elder that I went on exchanges with nearly 10 months ago in Duncan.  He was a new missionary at the time and on our first exchange I was saying to him "shoot tomorrow I hit my year mark!" and just the other day he said "Elder Traasdahl, don't you only have a few months left?"  It's incredible how fast time flies.  We had a great exchange though.  We taught a crazy LA sister that has beef with just about every principle and doctrine of the church from A-Z.  While we were talking with her though it came up that she believes Christ is a son of God like myself or any or man on earth is, and doesn't have any divinity about him.  So now we know where to start!  

God is our Father, and Christ is our Savior.  The Gospel 101.  We also had a lesson with Seth and Emily on tithing and was a great lesson.   Kristy, their grandmother, who's not a member, also participated and taught them about fast offerings too!!  It was so sweet too because she was bearing her testimony to them the whole time about the importance of paying tithes and fast offerings.  Mini miracle right there.  Br. Shinn also told Elder Ravsten, while he was down here on exchanges early on in the week that he plans on getting married to Kristy by the end of this month, so we'll see where that goes.  And last but not least Eric and Michelle!  We had breakfast with them Saturday morning at Br. Swaim's home with the other elders, and afterwards taught them the 1st half of the Plan of Salvation.  Sis. Swaim shared a really sweet testimony of their conversion to the church, and the spirit was undeniable in the room.  We took that opportunity to then set a goal for baptism for them, and they're going to work towards may 24!  They're not married either so sooner than later we'll be getting some wedding plans going!  They didn't come to church because they felt embarrassed because they didn't have anything "churchy" to wear, but we'll fix that.

Well real quick, here's a spiritual insight for the week.  Yesterday we got snagged and were asked to teach the apostasy in YW's during the 3rd hour.  It was a different experience teaching that doctrine to a group of members, after having been teaching it non-members for so long.  But what struck me yesterday after teaching it is how important it is for each of us to have a testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet.  I know this is kind of a "well duhhh" statement, but I add my witness to that statement.  If there's anywhere one is looking to start to gain or nurture their testimony of the gospel, begin by finding out if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  Something that has always struck me so odd is that most everyone we talk to recognizes that there's been an apostasy and that truth has been scattered across all the denominations.  What separates the wheat from the tares is whether or not one is willing to act in faith to find the whole truth when presented to them.  Well, I love you all, you're a special and blessed family.  Thank you for your support and prayers.  Continue to have your FHE, daily prayer and daily scripture study, it's the best protection we can get.  Love you!

Elder Traasdahl

April 7, 2014~ THERE ARE PROPHETS AND APOSTLES ON THE EARTH

Shoot howdy dang it's Monday!  Time is zipping on by folks!  Tax season is about to wind down pops, woo hoo!!  Mozeltoff.  Sounds like you've got some big plans for this weekend Mom and Braden!  I look forward to hearing how it goes next week.  Yayyyy for the new job Austin!! Well, at least getting to start it today.

 Let me tell you what, if it wasn't evident before, then after this weekend it sure is evident now, THERE ARE PROPHETS AND APOSTLES ON THE EARTH AND THEY GUIDE CHRIST'S CHURCH!!!  There were a couple themes that stood out to me.  One is that there were a large number of talks that were directed to the youth.  Heavenly Father is interested in the noble youth of the church.  He's helping them understand how they can rise to their greatest potential!  Another theme I felt like was throughout the entire was "WARNING: Oppostion ahead.  Be prepared to defend your faith."  There were so many call to action's to defend truth, to defend our faith, and to never back down.  It was awesome!  Shoot it awoke it the fighter in me as I was watching all those talks.  It was probably the first time I've ever even thought about getting a soap box and standing in the public square to shout out and declare the truth of the gospel.  The other two themes, which were closely related to each other that kept popping up to me, were Charity and Obedience. How many times did we hear the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God?  And the 2nd was like unto it?  To love our neighbor as ourself?  And then to tie in obedience, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Elder Holland's comment was so spot on "Christlike love is the greatness need we have on this planet."  Suffice it to say, general conference was incredible.

We had a fantastic week. We had two visits with Seth and Emily this week.  Our first visit with them we were able to set a baptismal date with them for the 31st of May!  So thank you so much for your prayers!!  They watched general conference as well, and Br. Shinn watched the priesthood session as well at his home, which is such a big step for him.  Eric and Michelle are doing great too.  I can't remember if this we before or after last Monday, but we had a lesson with them and taught them the restoration and they accepted the invitation to be baptized!  He has a record and will need to be interviewed by President when that time comes so we're holding off on a date for now. They both came to the last session of General Conference and loved it.  Afterwards we had a church tour with them and Eric made the comment "Man, I feel so good right now."  That's the only way he could express how he was feeling but we both knew that it was the spirit.  We testified to him that was the spirit and promised him that he'd get that good feeling each time he came to church.  The member that gave them a ride to the church building offered to have them over as well for a breakfast on Saturday morning with us, so we're really looking forward to that!

Other than that the work continues to move forward.  We have a few media referrals we have to contact this week.  There's a companionship in the zone we went on exchanges with this last week that have decided they want to be service missionaries rather than proselyting missionaries.  I've learned that there will always be a hand to help, and need to fill, and heart to comfort.  It makes sense then why the 2nd greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Well I love you all, and am so grateful for all you prayers and support!!

Moroni7:45-48

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

March 31, 2014~ This week we was a good week.

Goooooood morning Arizona!  Well my time is short this morning, we got roped into helping a companionship of sisters move into their new apartment this afternoon, so I've gotta be lickity split about this!  Why someone chose to move on p-day?  Beats me.

It was great to hear from everyone though! B dog, sounds like you're going to be the next David Archuletta atta kid!! whooo rahhh!! Really though that's great to hear that people are recognizing the talents that you've got!  Let em shine sonny let em shine!  Mom and Dad it sounds like you're busy as ever!  Isn't it great though to have something to do?  Haha and yes Mom, I've lost count how many times I've walked into a house and it has reeked to high heaven.  It's terrible too but I've started to get used to the smell of smoke as well.  That's something that I won't miss that's for sure. Austin the decals are still working great for me. I'll let you know if I ever have any other ideas for them or some orders of the same one.

This week we was a good week. It wasn't without it's bumps and bruises, but it was still a good week.  We had our zone conference and that was great.  We received some wonderful council and guidance on ways we can improve our missionary efforts and also rely on the Lord. President Walkenhorst  gave a training on the Atonement and Sister Walkenhorst  gave a training on relying on the Lord.  Her main message that hit home with a lot of missionaries was rather than pray to have our circumstances be changed for us, pray to have to capacity and ability to change our circumstances ourselves.  It really helped because it shifted the mentality of "God will do all the work" to "I'm going to do all I can, and God will strengthen me all along the way."

We received a referral this week from another companionship in the zone for a man named Eric, who has some wonderful desires and potential.  He just got out of gang life and moved from LA to here.  He's looking to change his life and wants to be baptized and pattern his life after Christ.  We visited with him once for a short while, and haven't been able to get back since, but we do have a appt set up with him for Wed, so we're excited for that!

Last night we an awesome lesson with a couple named Matt and Alli.  We visited with Matt about a month ago and taught him the restoration, and have struggle since to sit down with the both of them, until last night!  We re-taught the restoration since it was Alli's first time visiting with us.  She took to the Book of Mormon really well.  You could tell she was interested and excited to learn how reading the B.o.M could benefit her in her life.  We also put an emphasis on prophets and general conference coming up this weekend, and they committed to coming to at least 1 session of general conference!  So they're another family we're really excited for.

Another quick update, tonight we're going to the Shinn family and laying it straight with them and we're going to set a date with Seth and Emily for the 31st of May.  I know it's a ways away, but the hope there is that there's enough time in there that it'll give Br. Shinn the motivation to get married within that time so that he'll be able to receive the priesthood!  So if you could keep a prayer in your heart today for our lesson tonight that would be much appreciated :)

Last but not least, this week I've been studying a lot about humility.  Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me over and over that when things aren't going right, the only thing you can control are your own actions.  You can either act or be acted upon.  In Chp 6 of PMG, under the Humility section, it references you to Alma 32:1-16. This is where Alma and Amulek go and preach among the apostate Zoramites.  He's preaching to a multitude, who aren't listening, when a man from another group, who was poor in heart, asked, "what shall these my brethen do?" vs 6 specifically says "And now, when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he behold that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word."  I know that as we seek to humble ourselves, and allow of "afflictions" to humble us, we will be prepared to hear the word of God, which then has the power to inspire us and motivate us to take the actions necessary that can help us change our situation and control what is within our control.  There's lots more I wish to share, but the sisters are calling us and we're needed to help move now. I love you all and you're in my prayers!

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

I wasn't sure if I sent this one home or not last week, but it was from the wedding a few weeks ago as well. They asked us to do a crazy picture, and I didn't know what to do...

President Walkenhorst standing next to our stake president, President Satterwaight

March 24, 2014 ~ The sealing power of God is on the earth

The week of the break of the spring is over as we converse again electronically.  It sounds like everyone had a fun filled action packed busy busy week!  B going to the Gilbert temple with the crew doing baptisms for the dead, there you go!  I won't lie, when I saw the pic of the Venezia's outing you had it took me a good while to think of what Venezia's was and why you were sending me a picture of it, but it's all come back now so no worries.  Dad, I appreciate all the help you've been giving me with school amidst all the tax season craziness that's going on!  Mom, loved your email!  I'm looking forward to the next time I'll be able to go to watch you and Braden sing in an EVMCO concert!

To update you real quick, we've visited the Ramirez family once since last week.  We went over the restoration again, specifically the Book of Mormon.  We had our WML with us, and the lesson went fairly well.  Br. Ramirez has a lot of questions like "who is Joseph Smith?  I've never heard of him." and "Why him?" and "well why is it the man you say it is today (the prophet)?"   What's nice about it is that his questions are sincere, and not combative.  We ended the visit by bearing testimony of the importance scripture plays in finding answers to truth.  There's no doubt in my mind that anyone in that room couldn't feel the spirit by the end of the visit.

This week we were able to have two really neat experiences. One was last night. I don't know how much you watched these past Olympics, but Kate Hansen, the american Luger, (who got a

lot of air time for dancing for her warm ups?) has some family here in town so she came and had a fireside and talked about her experiences leading up to qualifying for the olympic team. She did a presentation and then afterwards she did a Q & A session.  One of the interesting things she brought up during the Q & A session was that there were some men on the luge team that were members of the church, but were no longer practicing.  She then told about multiple experiences where something happened to her, or when she felt like she needed a priesthood blessing, and knew there were men who were ordained priesthood holders, but were not worthy to exercise that priesthood.  She then described how that affected her in each of those instances and made a plea to every priesthood holder, especially the young men in the room, to remain worthy vessels.  It was a pretty powerful moment.

This week we were also able to go to through the temple with a recent convert Elder Vance worked with and then attend their sealing as well.  Put on me to have our comp study alarm go off in the sealing room as we were waiting for the bride and groom to enter :/  The temple matron right after that walked in and asked for all phones to be turned off and to remember that if we did need to communicate to whisper.  The the couple was hispanic, so the sealing was done in spanish.  Suffice it so say, I didn't understand a lick of it.  I did though grow in my testimony that the sealing power of God is on the earth, and there is no greater blessing that we could have in this life than to be sealed for time and all eternity.  We were at their wedding reception later on that evening, and while everyone was dancing there was this group of the bride's friends, 4 girls, that were together dancing, and then couples scattered across the dance floor dancing.  It was so apparent to me at that moment that we are not meant to be alone and that the challenges and trials of this life are meant to be taken on with a help meet by our side.  Haha idk, I wasn't expecting to have learned that lesson from that experience, but I was being taught it nonetheless.

Last quick thought, I've mention the Shinn family a few times in the 6 months that I've been here.  Yesterday we had a mini miracle!  Br. Shinn and Seth and Emily came to church!  Which was the first time all three of them came two times in a row. The Primary presidency in our ward is on top of it too.  They've assigned Emily an opening prayer and Seth a scripture for next Sunday, so we'll see if we can't make it three weeks in a row! Next step for them is to get Br. Shinn married so he can get them priesthood and then bam!  We'll be having ourselves a baptism in a few weeks.

I love you all so so very much! You a joy and a light in my life! Keep on strengthening your faith and building your relationship with your savior!

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

"We went to a wedding reception for a recent convert of my comp and the wedding photographer showed us how to turn our ties into bow ties. We gave her a pass a long card back."

"Sometimes a man needs to do some stress relieving. Elder Vance happened to catch that on camera last night"

March 17, 2014 ~ How the Lord works in my life

Well, one of these days I'll be able to weave a rhyme as quick and nice as the beaty boy Elder T Traasdahl to introduce my email.  I'm going to start this email with a quick little story, to show you how the Lord works in my life.  Just last week, or the week before, I was emailing Austin and telling him that I was pretty positive that I was getting transferred and set on leaving Norman.  Well, come Sunday afternoon, when the AP's called us to give transfer doctrine, Elder Ravsten opens the convo with "Well elders, only 1 missionary is leaving your zone, who do you think it is?"   Haha I knew right then and there that it wasn't going to be me.  There's a few comps in the zone that needed a change, but the one that needed it the most got it.  So our whole zone is essentially staying the same, minus 1 new sister coming in.  Haha nuts right?  We've got some charity teaching to do this next transfer.  Anyways, I have been sufficiently humbled, and have learned yet again that I am not one to tell the Lord what moves to make.

So our area is slowly picking up by small and simple measures. We're still trying to work with the members and are seeking to build their faith and confidence that yes, they can share the gospel, rather than "pray for the missionaries that they will find the elect and honest in heart."  What an incredible difference it would make if each member would pray that they would be led to the elect and honest in heart.

We found a family the other day as we were out and about. We first talked to the mother who was with her 3 little girls and baby boy in the park.  After okie talkin with her for 5 or so min we asked if we could share a 10 min message and she was willing, so we shared a little bit of the Restoration with her, and mainly focused on prophets.  We set a return appointment for the next day so we could visit with her and her husband.  When we show up for the appointment we meet the husband and he's a straight thug.  Tattoos up the ying yang and looks like he could kill you on the spot.  Haha but he's a great guy, super open and found God after his gang life.  (This is the Ramirez family by the way) We taught the whole Restoration and at the end Br. Ramirez accepted our invitation to say the closing prayer!  What's best about them is they're really willing to listen and read the B.o.M and keep the commitments we extend.  As we were leaving that first appointment we had with the whole family, before the prayer was said, we said to them, "Br. and Sis. Ramirez, we know what we have shared with you tonight is true.  We know that God knows you, he loves you, and he has prepared your family to receive this gospel."  I've never said that to someone in the first lesson but shoot howdy dang it came rolling off the tongue and it was powerful! So we're excited to work with that family.

We've got a few more appointments set up with potential investigators this next week that we're looking forward to, so next week hopefully there will be more to report!

Last thought, as we were seeking to commit a member to pray for missionary opportunities, she (in a somewhat rebellious tone) said to us "you're always trying to commit us to do things, how about we commit you do something!"  Long conversation cut short, we were committed to keep a gratitude journal, and write down 5 things we're grateful for each day at the end of the day.  I've been doing that for 3 days now, and even within the 3 days that I’ve been doing it, I can always recognize a difference in my attitude, my outlook on life, and my happiness. I know that God wants us to be happy. I've learned though that he won't force that happiness upon us.  It is a choice!  He will always respect our agency.  We can use our agency to accept the happiness and joy He is waiting to bless us with by choosing to be grateful.

Thank you thank you thank you x 1000000000 for your constant love and prayers!

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

This is the Shinn family. 

The old man with the beard is a returning LA member, the rest will be members soon!

March 10, 2014 ~ The Living Church

It feels like it's only been a few days since I talked to y'all last!!  oh wait, it has...  haha shoot howdy dang.  Well I apologize if this one is a little bit shorter.  It doesn't mean I love ya any less though.  What's new, what's new?  We had two baptisms this last weekend in the zone.  We attended one of the baptismal services for a man who's been meeting with missionaries for nearly a year now. The pianist didn't show up so guess who got to play the piano??  You guessed it, this guy!  And yes, I was kicking myself for not practicing more back home....  I wish I had become more proficient at that skill.  Because I was struggling making my way through some of the hymns. So take note B-dog, there's blessings that come as you practice!!  You may not see them immediately, but they do come!  I also recommitted myself to spend more time practicing when i get home too. :)

At the baptism the member who gave the talk on the Holy Ghost shared a unique insight.  He mentioned how Christ taught that there needs to be a true and "living church" and then asked rhetorically "what did he mean by a living church?"  He then made the analogy to our bodies.  Our bodies are made up of two parts, our spirits and our body.  When our spirit is out, what happens to our body?  It's dead.  Lifeless.  When our spirits enter our body, life is brought back into our body, be that birth, or the resurrection.  He then related that to the church, and how our church is the "living church" because we have the gift of the holy ghost.  You can go to other denominations and religions and feel the power of the Holy Ghost, because whenever Christ is taught or testified of, the spirit will be present. However, it is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that the spirit is living, because the authority is present to bestow it upon those who have taken upon themselves the name of Christ.  On a larger scale, the "body" of the church is "living" because the authority has been restored to give that gift.  It took me a little bit to completely understand what he was saying but it made sense after a while.  The member taught is as one who clearly has studied it, and I'm clearly talking about it as one who heard it.

I don't believe that I have told you about our investigator named Bobby Brown yet, have I?? He's from (I don't know how to spell it so i'll sound it out for you) Lie-beer-ee-uh :) he has a green card and is here for work.  You can hardly understand what he's saying, even though he says that English is his native language... haha but!  He's solid.  He has desires to draw closer to his God and want's to be have a sure and steadfast foundation.  He has a baptismal date for April 19th.  We had a church tour with him this Thursday and it was really neat, while we were touring the building he said "I don't want this to be the last time that I come here.  I feel good here."  He also has been reading the Book of Mormon and last we checked with him he's in 1 Nephi 14 and came across the "church of God and church of the devil" part and he mentioned that to us and said "I believe that! I believe it! You're either with God, or against him. I believe that you guys are with God."  It's been really great to meet with him. His biggest hold up right now is that he works only on the weekends, so we're trying to find ways around that right now, so that he'll be able to come to church!

I love love love love love you!! I say it or mean to say it every week, but know that you're in my prayers! D&C 42:61

Elder Traasdahl

March 5th, 2014 ~ The power of Charity plays out

 Ohhhh mmyyyy gooodness!!!  Boy oh boy.  I already know that I'm not going to be able to describe to you how intense of a week it's been, but I'm going to try.  In Doctrine and Covenants, there's a section in there where John talks about watching Christ grow spiritually, "grace by grace" (how's that for citing a reference?)  "Grace by Grace."  That would be a good umbrella statement for the week.  We had a meeting almost a week ago, on Thursday, with Br. Jarmin and Peterson.   Br. Jarmin is the President of missionary training at the MTC.  He met with all the leadership in the mission and trained us on our purpose and essentially what came from that training was our mission has been missing the mark.

The essential take away point was that our purpose as missionaries is not to teach.  Which is the common mis-conception.   Our purpose is to invite and to help.  PMG pg 1 "Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end."  Our investigators then come and receive.  Investigators can then be expanded to recent converts, less active, and active members.  So for the last week, all I've been thinking about constantly is "how can I invite and help, how can I invite and help?" rather than "what am I supposed to teach?"  My whole outlook on missionary work has changed, just in a short week, because of one training!

This week we also had an experience that has become a spiritual highlight of my mission. I came to a deeper understanding of my Savior.  Again, I know I won't do it justice, but I sure am going to try.  You ready for story?

There's two companionships in our zone that are in two areas that have struggled the entire time that I've been here.  Some missionaries have been there and have worked really hard, and have found some success.  Other missionaries have been transferred in and have said they've "worked hard" and have no fruit to show for it.  I really wanted to work on giving them the benefit of the doubt so I kept in encouraging and exhorting and trying to inspire them to diligence.  However, these last few months, you could feel that something was up.  Fast forward to this past weekend, I went on an exchange with a newly called district leader that was sent to one of the two struggling areas.  While on the exchange, the truth was revealed.  I was told that the missionaries weren't working, playing sports during proselyting hours, watching movies, sleeping over on the weekends with each other, etc.  When the exchange was over the next day, Saturday, I informed Elder V. and as I was talking about it with him I became frustrated and angry.  No leader wants to hear that people are being disobedient.

We talked for a long time on the correct way to address it.  None of the elders knew that we were aware of what was happening, except the DL.  We called President, asked his advice, and he said "don't beat around the bush! These are times that repentance needs to be cried."  So that Sunday evening we drove down to their apartments and sat down with each elder individually, 1 on 1.  Well 2 on 1.  I was really nervous.  I was praying really hard to have charity for these elders and to be able to understand why they did what they did.  My mouth was dry, hands almost sweaty, haha like I'm tellin you what... I was super nervous!   And then we sat the first missionary down and said "Elder, we've heard this this and this are going on.  Why's it happening?"  And as they responded I was filled with a love that's so hard to describe.  The best way to put it is that it was a unique, special love.  And it was different for each elder.  Because I was filled with this love I was able look past what had happened, and what they did, and see their potential for who they could become.  As they expressed their sorrow for what they did I had no desire to look down upon them but to lift them up spiritually speaking and point them to their Savior.  Thoughts came to mind which I had never thought of before on what changes they could make to better themselves, and where I stopped Elder Vance didn't miss a beat and picked it right up.  I couldn't believe how seamless we were working together.  The spirit and the love that was in the room was almost tangible.  Man I just wish you all could've been there for that.  I know that we are loved individually by our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ.  I also know that we are not only loved, but it is an infinite love.  It is a love that will fill us, motivate us, heal us, and protect us.  What a special responsibility it is to love others as we are loved.

Pictures from January or February?

Feb. 24, 2014 ~ It's ok if we have doubts and fears, only if we act in faith to overcome them!

It's a beautiful 36 degree day in the neighborhood!  One of the terrible things about Oklahoma is that it can't decide if it wants to be hot or cold!  A month ago we had 20-30 degree weather for a long time, which I got used to.  So 40 degree was warm warm warm.  This last week it stayed in the 60-70 range which was beautiful!  And today it's back to 30's, which feels like it's freezing!  I just can't seem to adjust.  Haha but hey!  It sounds like things are going well back on the frontier!  The Lord is blessing the Traasdahl family! Austin I hope you had fun on your blind date.  Even if you say "no thanks" to a second date, at least why not call it good time for the first one?  And talking about dates I hear someone went to a school dance?!?! That's right, BDOG!!!! hahaha mannnnn you're getting to old way to quick!  You're not allowed to do that!!  Mom tells me that you have teen elect coming up this week. I'm so excited for you, it'll be awesome!!  I really really enjoyed teen elect.  You learn so valuable lessons.  You go in a stud, and afterwards you walk away studLYER.  Win win right there!  Shoot Dad, your half marathon is this week! Before I know it I'm going to get an email saying that you completed the iron man!  Isn't this so cool though?  Just a few months ago we were glorying in your success in running 2-3 miles, and now you're running 11!!  The blessings of the doctrine of consistency.  It's something I've barely scratched the surface in my studies, but there's so much there to learn. And Mom, I really enjoyed hearing about your visits to the nursing home.  It reminds of the talk that President Eyering gave last GC, Bind up Their Wounds.

Well this week was super busy.  I forgot if I mentioned it or not last week, but this past Thursday we had  a mission wide District Leader Training.  Which basically turned into a meeting with all the leadership in the mission, the ZL's, STL's, and DL's, to train the DL's in their responsibilities.  It was an all day event.  Lucky ol' me and Elder Vance got assigned a training on the principles of District Meeting, and 45 min to train.  Haha as you can see, I survived.  But I'm tellin you what, (in the words of President Walkenhorst) I was as nervous as a cat on tin roof!  The only other time I've been that nervous was when I was a district leader 6 months out and president Taylor came to my district meeting.  I've been able to keep my cool through most trainings, haha but not this one!  Well, I make this point to make another.  D&C 42:14 "and the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive no the Spirit ye shall not teach."  I know that I was sustained and strengthened by the spirit, through the prayer of faith.  I know that D&C 42:14 is not just words on a page, but a law of God that we can rely upon at all times!

This week have a pretty neat thing happening as well in our mission. The president of the missionary department from the MTC is coming to evaluate our mission.  He'll be spending a day with the AP's, a day with a ZL companionship, and then on Thursday we'll have all the leaders get together and we'll receive leadership training from him and his companion that he'll bringing along. So that's something we're really looking forward to.

Quick story. We have church Sunday mornings at 9 am. We get a text from a member of the bishopbric at 8 that says "Elders.  I need a huge favor.  One of our main speakers just canceled on his talk. Can you prepare a talk on building faith and split 25 min between you?"  haha don't you love last minute talks?  So that was a fun opportunity.  The main message I felt impressed to share, regarding building faith, was that doubt and fear are our two biggest obstacles in our faith building process.  Peter walking on water towards Christ is a perfect example. (Matt 14: 22-32) It says that he was "afraid" and "doubted".  Because of his doubt and fear he faltered and sunk.  D&C 6:36 Christ teaches us "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."  

We're all going to have doubts and fears.  It comes with being fallen and having weaknesses of the flesh. Going back to the example of Peter, it's probably safe to assume that he took his sight off of Christ, and let his thoughts of doubt and fear take the stage and push out the savior.  Lesson learned?  It's ok if we have doubts and fears, only if we act in faith to overcome them!  We always need to be looking to the savior, and if we do, 1.) we'll have the capability to act in faith to overcome our doubts and fears and 2.) we'll eventually conquer our doubts and fears.

I love you lots fam, thanks for all you do. You're a strength and support to me. You're continually in my prayers. Let me know if i can do anything for you! Love you!

Elder Traasdahl

Feb. 17, 2014 ~ God knows us individually, and he will work in the very details of our lives

Heyyoooo!!!  You mentioned Mom that it's a national holiday today... is it terrible that I have no idea what holiday it is today??  haha oh well, I've gotten use to being out of the loop!  It was great to hear from everyone!  Thanks for the advice Austin, it has a lot of real life application here in the mission, and out of the mission as well.  I had a good chuckle at the motion pictures you sent along with the email.  I'm not even sure if that's what they're called but they were pictures and they were moving so that's what I'm calling them!  Mom that's some great missionary work you have going on! Even though Sheri wasn't as open and receptive as we hoped she would've been, I'll bet my bottom dollar she'll still remember the experience of going to the temple. There's no other place like it on earth. Sorry for no pictures today, I'll be sending home a small package with my memory card in it, along with a few CD's. One has x-rays on it, the other some awesome videos, and the other some talks. It's called Take Control, by Douglas Callister. His wife speaks first and then he speaks. Its AWESOME.  Annnnnd if it's not in there there you'll have to let me know, I'll send it to you…

Anyways, we've had a busy busy week!  Oh real quick funny story, then on to the good stuff.  Have I told you that Elder Vance is a healthy guy?  Well he is.  So it's sweet because he's doesn't have any issues when we try to eat healthy!  A member family in our ward is super healthy minded too, and they had us try some kale chips, which when they made it was super good.  Well we had the bright idea to try to make some on our own.... haha let me tell you what, kale is disgusting!! Ladies and gentlemen, leave it up to the professionals! Ok, back to business.

So quick story to highlight how God works. He does work by small and simple means.  In turn great things come to pass. The other elders in our ward were out walking around and talked to some people who were putting things in a U-Haul.  They asked if they could help. The couple gladly accepted the help, and as they talked the couple mentioned how not 10 minutes earlier they had said a prayer that they would get some help. (Background info: The husband's grandpa died 2 months ago, his dad died 2 weeks ago.  4 days ago, when they get back from the funeral which was out of town, their utilities are shut off and they have a notice that their home is being sold in a week and have that much time to move.)  We pick the other elders up for dinner, and tell them we'll come back to help afterwards.  We come back and meet Jessica and Josh.  They're moving to a small town outside of Tulsa.  

These two are incredibly friendly, very open people. They were asking a lot of questions about us, and why we were all dressed up. That opened the door for us to begin to talk about what we do and then we began to talk about families.  We talked for the next 20 minutes with Jessica about her relationship with God and she mentioned how she's felt like for the longest time she's been able to get close to God, but lately she hasn't, and there's something missing in her life, something she needs to do to get closer to Him.  Josh then pokes his head in and mentions how he had been praying these last few weeks to be lead and guided to the church God wants him to be at, where his family can be blessed the most.  Haha I'm telling you what Elder Vance and I looked at each other and were like "is this really happening?" We testified of the simple points of the Plan of Salvation, left them with a Book of Mormon, and committed them to have the missionaries over when they move outside of Tulsa . It's not in our mission but that's ok, we're all on the same team!  Anyways, at the end Elder Vance said "We know that if you do what the missionaries in Tulsa invite you to do, you'll have that relationship with Christ that you're seeking." They then said "Thank you so much, we know that you've been an answer to all of our prayers."

I'll probably never see them again, but that's ok.  What I'll keep from that night is the knowledge that God knows us individually, and he will work in the very details of our lives.  Very seldom will angels come down and interject. Rather he'll allow our brothers and sisters the opportunities to serve and love one another into the gospel. Thank you for serving and loving me, I have been blessed greatly by it. I love you!!!

Elder Traasdahl

Feb. 10, 2014 ~ This week was a pretty crazy week.

Gooood morning Arizona!! It was such a blessing to hear from you all!  Sounds like you're all staying as busy as ever, keeping anxiously engaged in a good cause.  Aust, I haven't gotten the package yet but I'm looking forward to seeing this decal you sent me.  I already know it's going to be the talk of the town as I start showin it off. It's the the one-up to hand carved mahogany.  Sounds like you're having a fun time with school Braden, keep it up!  Dad, you'll be proud.  There's only 2 days of the week where we wake up at 6:30... and that's Sundays and Mondays.  The rest of the days we're up at 5:50 am to either make it down to the stake center to play basketball or to the stadium to run stadiums!  I'm starting to get back into somewhat decent athletic shape.... but just somewhat.... haha. Mom, I laughed at that story you told me of telling that sister to go to the casino who doesn't come to church much.  It's all good, if I had a penny for every time I did that I could go on a spending spree at the dollar store!

This week was a pretty crazy week.  Nearly half the zone is new and got transferred in or out, however you want to look at it.  Elder Vance is a great guy.  We have a good time together.  It was a pretty stressful week, for these last few days I was having to nearly run the zone and the area by myself, since E. Vance doesn't know the area and is learning the ropes of being a zl.  I'm almost convinced he has ADD or something, haha which is great, because he's not content with sitting and stewing.  He's a go and do type of guy.  He's great at talking to people and relating with people as well, which will be a great blessing to our area and the members of our zone!

The majority of our time this week was spent meeting members and investigators, trying to get E. Vance introduced to them.  We had a good amount of people lined up to come to church on Sunday, which we were really really excited for, but no one came... It was disappointing, however it gave us greater motivation to work harder this next week and to find those who want to come and have a desire to accept the gospel in their life!

Andrew was one of those people that we had lined up to come to church.  We went by Tuesday, for E. Burr to say adios.  We stood outside in 20 degree weather with the wind blowing for for an hour.... it was cooolllldddddd... because he's having issues with his wife/girlfriend he's lived with for 15 years on and off and didn't want to be in the house.  Long conversation short, he said "If you show up Sunday morning and have a ride, I'll walk out that door with you, wife and kids with me or not, and go with you to church."  We showed up Sunday morning and he wasn't there.  Pretty disappointing but we're not going to give up!

A short little insight for the week comes from the Missionary Handbook.  We were reading it this morning and this was one of the paragraphs that we read over. "Time is one of the most precious resources Heavenly Father has given you.  The period when you are able to serve the Lord with all your time and all your efforts is extremely short.  Use it fully and wisely.  Such an opportunity is a privilege."  What a powerful statement! The period when we are able to serve the Lord with all of our efforts of course is right now for myself, as a missionary.  It is extremely short.  It has been such a privilege and continues to be.  Within the eternal scheme of things, our life on earth, our probationary state, or "this period when we are able to serve the Lord with all [our] time and all [our] efforts" is extremely short!  How we use our time and what we do with it is such an important decision God has allowed us to exercise our agency over.  It's a resource, like any other, that we are held accountable on how we use it.  That's about the beginning of all my thoughts, but I thought I'd share.  I love you all, and am so grateful for all that you do for me!  Thank you thank you!!  Keep on keepin on, and know that obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience endows us with power.  Love you!

Elder Traasdahl

February 3, 2014 ~ True doctrine, understood, changes attitude and behavior

Top 'o the mornin to ya chaps and chapesses!  Haha sounds like you've lived and loved another great week! It's great to hear that you're makin 8 mile runs dad!  The other week we went on a run for the heck of it and I surprised myself by actually handling a mile ok.  Running stadiums at OU seems to be paying off!  I'll have to work my way up to 8 though…  Braden's new nick name is BFG, big friendly giant.  We'll have to wrestle come September.   Shoot you'll probably be taller than the both Tyler and I by that time!  Mom thanks for your thoughts on the temple, and sharing that story from Aunt Megan.  Sounds like you're Mr. Entrepreneur Aust!  Delta Decal.  When B man goes on his mish you'll have your own little store next to Poppy's!  haha.

Well what a week folks, what a week. The weather has been nuts, snowin like we live in a winter wonderland. From what the members tell us it should continue to snow throughout the week. I'm getting good practice on how to drive in the snow!  We've had a close call here 'n there but we're still alive!  haha.  We had a lesson this week that I'm struggling to find a descriptive word for.  It was so neat!  But that doesn't do it justice at all, whatsoever.  I hope in past emails I've told you about the man we've been trying to work with, named Andrew, and how we first found him.  From that experience we knew he had desire for more direction in life.  Finally this week we were able to sit down with him, while he wasn't drunk, and teach him the Plan of Salvation.  He's had a suicide and a death within his immediate family, and his wife had a suicide in her family as well.  We placed the cut-outs on the floor and began teaching and he asked all the questions a missionary would want an investigator to ask.  Half way through the lesson a buddy of his came in and sat down with us.  Andrew stopped the lesson, turned to Chris, his buddy, and began to teach Chris what he had just learned!  He taught it as well as any of us did. We then got to the spirit world, jugdement, resurrection, and the kingdoms of glory.

 After we taught he said, "It makes sense. I need to do this (pointing to the Doctrine of Christ pieces) because that's what Christ teaches us to do to get back to heaven. If I do this work and show my faith then I'll go here (pointing to the Celestial Kingdom) with my family forever."  I was surprised that he had said knew he'd be there with his family forever, because not once did we mention it.  It was evidence to us that the spirit was present, and that it can teach us without us ever having to say the words.  We then talked again about the importance of living like Christ wants us to, and invited him to follow in Christ's footsteps and be baptized on Mar. 1st. He said "Man. It would be an honor. (amidst tears sniffles) I don't know why I feel like this but I feel so good all over.  I feel happy."  It was such a sacred experience to be a part of.  That night Andrew drew closer to his savior.

Elder Packard in PMG has a quote that says "True doctrine, understood, changes attitude and behavior."  I know this gospel is true, and all truth and all doctrine of the kingdom of God is found within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  As we hear, learn, understand, and apply, we'll become!  I love this gospel. It is the source of joy!

As far as transfers goes I'm staying here, and my new comp will be Elder Vance.  This will be his first transfer as a zone leader, but he's been out a transfer longer than me.  I'm really looking forward towards this next transfer. We've got a goal of 70 baptisms for the month of February, and it's going to happen!  Thanks for you constant love and support! You're the best :) Love you!

Elder Traasdahl.

Running stadiums at OU

Who ordered this weather!?

Jan. 27, 2014 ~ Through Small and Simple Means

Dun du du, another one bites the dust!  That's just how the weeks seem to go here!  Haha, K so this is real time action right here.  Over at the help desk, not 15 feet away from me, the two college students assigned there are chit chatting away about Mormons and all the "well I've heard" and "well my friend said this" "but didn't they this?" and so on.  Classic!  Did you know we can't drink caffeine?  And the people who are Mormon but don't follow our rules get shunned, like the Amish.  Haha don't worry, I'm strapped with mormon.org cards and lets just say we'll make it rain!  Clear up some of this foolishness.

Back to business.  Great to hear about all y'alls weeks!  What a blessing you were able to go to the open house (Gilbert Temple) and have it work out the way it did!  That’s neat to hear about your decal side business Aust!  And Braden!  Let me tell you what.  You're having such awesome experiences right now!  The concert this weekend you get to go to with the family will be a good one!  

This week is was really neat, we were able to see watch the Lord work in a man's life from multiple different angles.  Last Sunday we went to a lunch appt and arrived a few min. early so we knocked a few doors around the members home.  We talked to a man who has his PhD in Chemistry, Rob Thompson, if I remember right and teaches at OU.  He was great friends with the members we were about to have lunch with.  He told us he wasn't religious at all so we had a good discussion on truth and what it is, and the importance prayer plays in finding out truth.  We asked if we could come by another time to share our message but he said he no.  We told the member family, the Drayton's about our experience, and they mentioned they felt prompted for a while now to give his wife a B.o.M.  But wait, it doesn't end there!  We were at dinner a few days later with another family, the Manors.  Br. Manor in the middle of dinner said "Elders, I have a missionary story I have to share with you!"  He is working on his PhD at OU, and was at school early one morning.  He was in his office and prayed "Heavenly Father, I know you're there, but to help further assure my knowledge, give me a missionary moment today, and I promise I'll share the gospel."  He then proceeded with his day.  In the afternoon he was chit chattin with one of his professors and his professor brought up how the other day the "guys in suits" came to his door, and proceeded to hop on the band wagon and talk about all the 'different' things they believe in.  Little did he know Br. Manor was a Mormon!  So Br. Manor said, "Well guess what? I belong to that church" and began to teach!  Haha it was awesome.  Even better, his professor began to ask him all the questions he always wondered about the Mormon church. Guess who his professor was? Rob Thompson.  We couldn't believe it!  Isn't that so awesome!  God works, and he is so aware of our lives!!!  I don't know what Rob Thompson is up to now, or when he'll accept the gospel, but he's ever so closer because of the small and simple means which the Lord worked, through his servants!  I know that this is His work!  What a blessing that we get to be engaged in it, ALL OF OUR LIVES!! Thanks for you prayers and support.

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

We had a fireside with the model of Jesus for Liz Lemon Swenson, a christian painter.

I guess it's true, Tyler's Buzz and I'm Woody

We were doin some serious work on those strawberries

Some dogs we saw

Jan. 20, 2014 ~ We've been doing a lot of finding, walking around and chattin with people

My goodness, this week has flown by!  As we were driving over here, I was trying to think of what went on this week and it was pretty difficult, the weeks of this months have all blended together!  How great to hear from all of you!  Braden, sounds like you're having fun in churchball!  To answer your question, I probably play the piano once a week, at district meetings.  In other areas of mine I've played more, in church during priesthood and such.  If you're super good in some areas you'll be called to be the ward organist and play at all the zone conferences.  See what you get to look forward too! Aust, glad to hear that you love your job.  

With E. Burr going home there's been a lot of "what do you plan on doing when you get home?" conversations with members, and the one theme and piece of advice that keeps coming up from members is "whatever you choice, no matter the pay, make sure you love it."  So it looks like you're on the right track! And Dad! You're a stud!! Mom told us about your day on Saturday.  Gettin work done!  And Mom, what busy busy weeks you have!

This week we went on two exchanges, and had lessons with Gabriel and Mark, our recent converts.  Gabriel just got called to be a sunday school teacher for the 14-15 yr old class, and is getting prepared to go do baptisms for the dead within the month!  We're hoping that we'll be able to attend.  We were able to get in contact with some LA's that have been super hard to catch.  They weren't very keen on coming back to church, but we made contact nonetheless!  Remember Justin Durin, from Noble?  He got baptized my first Sunday in the mission.  He came up to me this weekend while we were at a baptism for the Noble ward and told me that he has and interview the 29th of this month with the stake president and then he submits his papers for his mission!!!  He plans on going through the temple in May as well, and asked for me to be there.  I was so stoked!! So that was a highlight of the week.  Other than that we've been doing a lot of finding, walking around and chattin with people that are out and about.  That about wraps up our week, sorry there's not more to share.  Love y'all lots! I'll be keep you in our prayers!

Elder Traasdahl

Jan. 13, 2014 - The less selfish we are with prayers....

Another week has come and gone!  Dad's now in the running to be the next Paul Bunyan!  Austin's workin up to be the next John Mayer, Mom's keeping the family in line with the green health shakes in the morning and Braden's seems to be going to be called to be one of the first missionaries to open up China with his language skills!  Can't forget Grandma-T hooking everyone up with the beenies either.  Those are neat.  That's sweet that you were able to go to that YSA shin dig Aust, it sounds like it was really good!  Alex Boye is an inspirational guy. There's going to be a fireside out here about an artist who had a model who was a LA member.  The artist was a Christian artist so the model had to portray Christ and the fireside is all about his conversion and coming to know Christ through the experience.  It's going to either be in 3 weeks or 6 weeks.  It should be pretty good. 

This week was one of those weeks where you have great spiritual experiences, and then immediately after Satan throws all he's got at you to really see what you've got! We had our specialized training meeting this week and it was all centered on the atonement and Jesus Christ.  The majority of our zone is struggling, so we were tempted to have a "let lay it on the table and talk about it" type of meeting.  We knew though that they all knew they were struggling, and felt it, so we didn't mention a word about perishing areas.  What came from it was an incredibly powerful meeting where all participated, we were taught, the spirit was present, they were taught, and everyone's faith in Christ was strengthened.  We used a video that Tyler had sent to me that had some talks on missionary work and the atonement, and that was like icing on the cake.  I have an extra copy, I'll have to send on home.  The one downside, kinda, was the President was there interviewing the zone at the time, so people were walking in and out the entire time.  It was slightly distracting, but it was for a good cause.  The best part about it however was last night, during call in summary reports.  One district that was struggling the worst, had each area affect almost each key indicator.  It was awesome to see the fruit of elders and sisters acting in faith, facing their fears, and relying upon the Lord.  

We've been meeting with the Brown family, a PM family, and it's been a struggle to get them to church.  This past week though we were able to get our bishop over and our relief society president over to their home for lessons, so that was a big success.  Now we know they'll have a greater chance of being talked about in ward council and PEC and there will be more push from the ward to help this family become active again.  These past few days Elder Burr and I have been studying a good deal on prayer.  A quick insight I gained this week came from the examples of prayer in the Book of Mormon.  Lehi had great concern for the people of Jerusalem so he prayed and then had a vision.  Alma the younger had some dissenters of the church be brought forth to be judged by him.  He didn't want to make the wrong  judgement so he prayed earnestly and received a wonderful revelation on the mercy and justice of God.  Nephi, (in Helaman) while walking along the road to his home "pondering" (or in other words, having a prayer in his heart) on the things which the Lord taught him and the wickedness of the people, has a revelation and is blessed by the Lord and receives the sealing power of the priesthood. What's the common denominator between all these prayers? They were praying on behalf of others. In turn, the Lord blessed them and they received magnificent answers to their prayers!  Now, I'm not saying if we pray for others we'll have a vision every time or hear the voice of the Lord. However, it does seem to me that the less selfish we are with our prayers, and the more we turn outward with our prayers, the greater desire we'll have to help and serve others, and love our neighbor as our self. I enjoy each week getting to hear from all of you, thanks for your love and prayers!

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

"Where's Waldo?"   

My response? middle of the court wearing blue shorts  & a red shirt.