A miracle was unfolding before me!

My family! This one is going to have to be a shaw-tee one too, as Austin would say. We've got a zone pday planned in Ardmore, and then a STM soo it's a busy busy day today!  Haven't been able to read Ty's email the past two weeks, but I know he's probably baptizing nations over there in CO!  Next week though, next week. What happenin though!  Goodness I love y'all! 

Mom sounds like you're teaching and testifying!  Thanks for you letter, it was a soft, humble rebuke for me.  We've had an incredible week this past week, probably the best yet since I've been here, annnnnnd I've failed at recording these important events in my journal.  However, I will repent!  Thank goodness for the beauty of the atonement.  We had temple conference this past week, and man! I LOVE THE TEMPLE!  

My understanding of the importance of sharing the gospel expanded as well, because it's so so so so so soooooo important that we allow EVERYONE the opportunity to be able to have the chance to return to live with their Father in Heaven too! I know the temple is a house of revelation, and as we make it a part of our lives, be it weekly, monthly, or whatever routine works, I know that we'll be able to make the course corrections necessary to bring our lives in harmony with God's will. As that happens, the blessings follow. I think of temple blessing as super blessings. 

Anyways, I gotta tell you about last night! President Walkenhorst set a goal for our mission of 100 baptisms in the month of August. The mission average has been 25 a month, so this is a big big stretch and act of faith.  Elder Lott and I really wanted to contribute, but the requirements were tough, if we wanted to have someone baptized this month.  We have no one on date, and we've invited all of our investigators but they all have concerns or issues that need more time to resolve.  Last night we were trying a potential investigator, named R.  We've been trying to reach him for a few weeks now.  We finally got to talk with him again, and after a bit of small talk he started breaking down and told us of a nasty divorces he recently went through, and how he knows he needs to get back into church.  He asked us "How do I join your church?"  It took us back a bit but we told him about baptism and then he said "I never felt right about my baptism.  I was sprinkled with water as a child.  Christ was baptized with water, he got dunked.  Do you do it that way?"   I couldn't believe what I was hearing!  A miracle was unfolding before me!  

We taught about priesthood authority and commited him to be baptized on Aug 31, and he said yes!  He then asked, "Can I tithe in your church?  I use to tithe and I know that God blesses you when you do."   Later on he also said, "Can I help in your church too? I want to serve, I love helping others."  So we explained callings and also tithing briefly.  Haha it was awesome!!  He's 1 of the 100, for sure.  We meet with him next Wed.  I know the Lord provides when you act in faith.  As you believe in the promises of God, whether it comes from Him, by revelation, or from His servants, the prophet and the apostles, and act, God will always reward that step of faith.  That belief of mine is slowly turning into a knowledge, because I've seen it time and time again.  I love you, and thank you for your prayers and support! I can feel them! 

Love, Elder Traasdahl

And the Blessings Came Raining Down

Well gosh dang this one is going to have to be short. We've got a lot planned today and we need to get down to Ardmore. Our truck was in the shop for 5 days so we were able to save up some miles! Dad, Austin, you two are studs for tackling that beast of a pump downstairs! Such are the blessings of a mission. I don't have to worry about such issues. Hehe. Bdog! I might just call you michael phelps!  Mom I appreciate all your help and advice about the migraine issue. I've taken some adequate notes and I'll apply and let you know next week how it went! 

Well to sum this past week up we've had a stellar week. We were able to have a member or two come out with us every day this last week and the blessings came raining down!  We had a really good lesson with one of our new investigators, named H. She goes to a Biker Church in town. As we talked she mentioned how she feels like "something is missing" and it's not quite meeting her spiritual needs.  It was cool, she was asking the perfect questions!  

Another person we met with this week lives down in Waurika. Her name is T. I think I might've mentioned her before?  She was the referral from the member.  We dropped in and talked with her.  She was the one who had her boyfriend die because he drowned in the Waurika lake, and she was asking us all the "why" questions, and was demanding answers.  We both were standing there, thinking of what to say, and at one moment she said "Speak to me!  Say something!"  So we did, and what came out was our testimonies of the Savior and His atonement, and the healing power of the atonement. It was really a moment.  Definitely one of those moments I'll always remember from my mission. 

Another awesome miracle that's happening in our area is that the momentum is picking up in the Duncan ward for missionary work!  It's being talked about more and more and the leadership is getting on board so it's awesome!! It's not happening all at once, but it's happening slowly but surely. Sorry this was such a short one, but I'm on a time crunch! See D&C 75:2-5.  Found it this week and it has awesome blessings promised for those who share the gospel. Check it! Well I love you and always keep you in my prayers!

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

What can I do to get you more excited about missionary work?

Eyyyyooo what's happenin!  I've got to start this out with sayin heck yeah Dad!!  Triathlete baby!  I know you said you want both of us to join you next year, but hows about we just let Tyler join you for that???  Haha sike I'm just messin.  I'm gonna be chubby and I'll need a way to get back in shape next October so challenge accepted!  I may pop a lung or two from breathing so hard and Austin will have to chalk me up as another patient he saw come rollin in those doors of the ER but that's okay!  It was for a good cause right? Hey congratulations Braden!! That's sweet to hear you won that championship AGAIN!!!  Don't worry though, I'll take you on in the Knight's pool one of these days to see what you've really got!  Haha. 

Shout out to Brother Denler and Brother Davis!  I'm sure they've got their hands full the young mens and their callings but tell em to keep on giving those awesome lessons on Sunday and to whip em in shape during all the camp outs and such!  I still remember the lesson where Bro. Denler was teaching on ways to invite the spirit and he talked about how singing was one of em and then he started to sing I Am a Child of God right there!  There was no way anyone in that room could deny the spirit that they felt.  

Mom and Dad it's great to hear that you're still visiting with the Elders.  I've got to be short about this but this week was an inspiring week for myself.  I got to interview with President Walkenhorst, and it was awesome!  His first question to me was "Elder Traasdahl, what can I do to get you more excited about missionary work?"  I was kinda shocked at first that he asked me that, because I thought I was doing pretty good, so I laughed off the question and he said again "Seriously, what can I do to get you more excited about missionary work?"  We then talked for the next half hour and it was a great convo but I came away from that knowing I gotta step up my game!  Btw he ended it with, "I'm not saying you're not excited about missionary work, but I'm expecting more from my leaders."

We also had an exchange with the AP's this week and I was in our area with Elder Hanes and let me tell you what, I took a good beating there too!  Haha the Lord's expectations are rising here for our mission, and it's starting with the leaders.  So I've been sufficiently humbled and expectations have been set.  I'm excited though because I know I can do it!  On Tuesday I got a pretty good migrane, took me out for the last half hour of the night. 

We were updating potentials and our area book when we got a phone call from a member who used to live in our ward.  A friend of hers just had a boyfriend that died and she had had interactions with missionaries before but never was interested.  A tragic event later, with an invitation by a member, this friend was willing to have us stop by! So we have plans to see her this Wednesday.  Thanks for all your support and love, I feel it each and every day! LOVE YOU!!

Elder Traasdahl

I'm Still Alive...

DUNCAN, OK

Well check you out fam! Y'all are just one amazing bunch!! I'm glad to hear that you were able to go to the temple with Tod and Lexee Mom and Dad. Wish I coulda been there. And Mom did I hear you say 24th Anniversary!!!!!! My goodness!! CHECK IT! Before you can blink and say whipper snapper it's gonna be 50 and then eternity & there you go! Congrats though, that's awesome.  And I would say going to the temple would be a great place to celebrate! A date night to Charlestons wouldn't hurt too... Man, all I remember about that place was their dinner rolls and the honey butter. And B-dog! Jeez I knew you were gettting old but 7th grade! Gosh dang. That's exciting... 

This week has been good, better than last week.  We've had some good success with the less active members of our ward, and we were also able to get in touch with many of the potential investigators that we've been trying to see for a while now. This week we've got some good appointments set up with them so I'm excited!  It definitely was a faith builder for me that as we hope for the best and give people the benefit of the doubt the Lord provides!  Every single situation where we contacted our potentials it was one of those situations where we showed up at just the right time and the events leading up to it (forgetting something, or stopping by someone else first, or taking a different route than usual for no reason at all {well yes for a reason the spirit!}) put us in the path of them to show up at the same time!  Haha I have no idea if that made any sense at all but suffice it to say, miracles happened this week, and I witnessed them! 

We were able to teach a woman named D., and that was a neat lesson.  She had met with missionaries in the past, only a time or two though.  This time we were able to set some expectations and get more of her background.  We had a member with us, he's a junior in highschool, and he was able to bear his testimony about how the gospel has blessed his life and his family's life.  It was really neat to see how his testimony affected her more than anything that we really said. She was struck by how young he was, and how he spoke with such conviction and with the Spirit!  It was super cool.  It's another evidence as to why members are so so so important in this work!  Because yeah she enjoyed all that we had to say, but she was floored most by our member's simple but powerful testimony. 

I'm sure you're wondering what the subject of the email is about though. Let me tell ya. We were going to try some former investigators that we dropped, and their dog was out in the front yard barking at us. It was on a leash, and I've seen the dog before, it's seen me, so I pulled the Cesar Chavez "Be the dominant one and don't show fear."  So I didn't and walked right past it!  Well the dog walked around me and it went out of my sight. The other two missionaries ( I was on splits with them, E. Lott was with our WML) were behind me a ways just stayed back because they were scared.  Well I'm about to knock on the door when it goes quiet for a split second and then all of a sudden I feel teeth on my calve!! THE FETCHIN DOG HAD THE NERVES TO BITE ME!! Btw it was like a pit bull size dog, not sure what type of dog though. I yanked my calve away and backed up and walked off, about ready to throw down!  Well the dog backed up too and I had a chance to evaluate the damage.  No blood was drawn, so that was good. Just some skin was taken off.  It didn't look that bad but it hurt like heck. Few days later it turned all black and blue and purple.  I'm still alive though! So all's well that ends well. However, I do re-affirm my statement. Dogs are of the devil. At least while you're a missionary. 

Haha well I love you guys, thanks for the the package of Rx's mom that you sent! Let me know if I can do anything for ya. I pray for you each and every night! My partings words of wisdom come from King Benjamin. Mosiah 4:9-10. Came across it in my studies this morning. That man was a stud!

Love,

Elder Traasdahl

Summer 2013

Summer 2013

Remember the storms last month?  Here's what the sky looked like on one of those days...

If you need it, this is a really good reminder to Stop drinking Dr. Pepper.

At least this guy is cuter than the turantula in last weeks post...
But still...

Looks like the missionaries need help filling in the blanks..

'I didn't come on a mission to stay the same person.'

How y'all doin?!  Sounds like life is good!  Glad to hear you had a fun 4th.  We had an ok week here.  M. got sick so she was in the hospital for a few days and we weren't able to meet with her.  Things are better now so we have that church tour set up for Thurs.  We've been hittin the road and doing a lot of finding, trying to increase our pool of investigators, and we've got a few solid potentials that we've been trying but can never catch home.  Some live down in Waurika and we're making a trip down there later on this week so that's kind of a one shot one kill dealio.  It's 30 miles out and we don't have the miles to go there often.  

We met with President Walkenhorst at our MLC and also had a mission tour with him this past weekend, and I love the man!  Haha he's such an awesome guy.  You can totally tell that he's from California.  He was talking to us in MLC and said at least 20 times "we had this dynomite elder" or "this investigator was dynomite!" or simply "dynomite!"  It was pretty funny.  He uses a lot of lingo from the 80's also, that's been different trying to get used to. He's more laid back that President Taylor, but still has the same, if not higher expectations. It's an interesting combination.  Our mission average is 25 baptisms a month (which is much much better than what it used to be before President Taylor got here).  At our mission tour President Walkenhorst basically said, in over an hour of training, that that's not good enough! With the amount of missionaries we have in our mission and the cooperation we're going to have with members, it needs to be much higher. He said in the future we're going to set a goal, so we'll see where that goes. 

Elder Lott and I are staying together another transfer.  Ha this will be my first comp that I'll be with for 2 transfers, and it'll be a learning experience for me that's for sure.  I'm excited for it though.  I didn't come on a mission to stay the same person. I expect myself to change for the better.  If i'm not changing I'm not applying the doctrine of Christ!  I would like to say thank you too for your prayers on my behalf.  I have felt them this past week.  I have been able to talk to people and put myself in situations that I wouldn't have been able to before.  I OYM'ed a man while riding our bikes, and he was on his bike riding behind us!  Haha it was pretty funny.  I thought of it as a "Tyler" style of missionary work.  

I studied a few weeks ago about fear, because that was an issue for me that arose again, and a few things all came together that I never was able to share.  In the bible dictionary it has a neat definition of fear, which I'm paraphrasing, but it basically says that fear is not an instinct or feeling that's natural for a son or daughter of God.  I took a lot of comfort in that personally.  As a son of God, I need not fear because that's not an emotion that's fit for who I am.  I'm above that, so to speak.  With that said it's a battle that I fight with faith, but I took comfort in that knowledge.  Also in church a few weeks back we were talking about the pre- existance,  annnnnd how we had the choice to follow Heavenly Father and Christ or Satan. Someone in the class spoke up and said "I think that those who chose to follow Satan didn't choose to follow him because they didn't understand the Plan of Salvation, they chose to follow him because they were afraid of failure."  I had never thought of it that way!  And it really stuck out to me.  And it made sense too.  When we chose to follow Christ, we had no guarantee we'd return back to live with them again.  However we had the faith to make that step. Those that didn't were filled with fear.  So whenever we're afraid to make a decision because we're afraid of failure, think on that!  We already made one of the greatest leaps of faith any man or woman ever could've made.  I'm slowly getting a tincy wincy bit of an understanding of how faith can be applied, and it's through how we live our lives.  Again, thank you for your prayers, I love you for it, and please let me know if I can ever do anything for you!  Continue to read your scriptures and say your prayers!  Love you!

Elder Traasdahl

Waiting to see the Fruits of our Labor

Ohhh boy what a week! ... Where to start... Well big news first.  Obvious too.  President Taylor is home, and President and Sister Walkenhorst are here!  Haven't had the opportunity to meet them yet, but we have texted them! haha but we do get to meet them this Wednesday because we're going to the city for an MLC.  I'm really looking forward to meeting them.  I'm hoping that I'll be one of the lucky ones that gets to be interviewed by him this MLC, rather than having to wait till next month.  I'll let you know next week though what happens!  

Other than that I hate to say it but we're still waiting to see the fruit of our labors here. We're pluggin and chuggin along, working with the ward members and really trying to apply what was learned in the broadcast last week and implement it within our ward here. Our WML is on board, he's just got to watch it first. We're revamping our Ward Mission Plan and then we're gonna get all our leadership and auxillaries on board!  Elder Lott and I are still finding through our own efforts, and I aint gonna lie, it's harder than I thought it'd be to get back on that horse!  Haha so if you wouldn't mind, when you do pray for me, pray that I'll be able to turn my desires into action, and open my dang mouth.  Cause when I do I have no problems.  Not in a boasting way, but the promised is fulfilled that if we open our mouths they'll be filled with what to say.  I don't know, I'm just having issues with opening my mouth.  Instead of never, I'm at like a 50/50 now.  So I'm doing better!  But I still have room to improve.  The other day though we were at Wal Mart, buying bike slime (I hate bikes btw, 20$ down the drain from flats, ended up buying a new tire) and the wal mart cashier asked us why we were dressed up the way we were.  Open door baby!  Walked right into it too.  Kinda ticked off the people waiting in line behind us but oh well.  Still waiting for that girl to get back to us too.  And no the guy from last week hasn't called us yet. It's ok though, all in the Lord's time!  

We met with M. again this week. We asked her if she's been praying about what we've been teaching her and the Book of Mormon.  She said yes and left it at that.  I had the thought to pry a little farther so I asked how she felt as she prayed.  And she said that she felt that Heavenly Father has taken away all of her fear, doubt, and anxieties about what she's heard and seen in the past and has replaced it with peace, so she feels like she's found the truth! You could definitely feel the spirit as she spoke and it was just awesome! We're having a church tour with her this week and we're going to invite her commit to a date in August, so we'll see how it goes! Well my times about up, this clock's tickin on me.  Next week I share an insight I had this week in my studies because it was some good stuff.  Love y'all!!!!!! Keep on going out with the missionaries!!!

Love, 

Elder Traasdahl

Elder Traasdahl said these guys are all over the place in Duncan.

When they drive down the road, they justs get squished under the tires.

Ick.

To see a video Elder Traasdahl mentioned last regarding member missionary work:  CLICK HERE