Thankful that you trust me enough, and that the Lord trusts me enough

February 21, 2012

Wow! This has been an awesome week. A lot of good stuff has happened that I will have to tell you about.

Both Elder Owens and Elder Snyder are being transferred. Elder Snyder was transferred two days early though. Elder Neeley, one of the assistants is going home, so they chose a new assistant. Usually they put the new assistant in the area a few days prior to transfers. Elder Snyder is in the new assistants old area until transfers. Then he will be told where he is going. I am sad that they are leaving. I feel very attached to them now.

The interesting thing is that we had a conference call with the zone leaders to here the transfer information last night. We heard that Elder Owens was being transferred, but then they called back after the call to tell me that the assistants for got to tell them that I am training again. There are six missionaries coming into the mission: three English and three Creole. I am training one and Elder Koleber is training another. It went so well when I was training Elder Shipley, but Elder Shipley took the initiative so soon after getting in the mission that within a few weeks he was working side by side with me. I hope that this training experience will be as good. I know that Heavenly Father will help me and support me, because he has done it so much before and he has never let me down.

Elder Chandler is going home this week, as well as Elder Anderson. Two of my companions from the first year of the mission are going home! That is so weird. I don't like it, because I have been thinking about this day for a long time. When they left, that would me that I would only have 3 transfers (4 1/2 months) left on the mission. I am glad that I am training though. That is a great way to end the mission. I don't know how long I will be in the area. I hope they keep me in Cypress Creek for the rest of the mission. The chances are high of that since I am training, and they usually keep a missionary with his trainer for 2-3 transfers.

We got some amazing new investigators: Joanne and Shawn! We were going to an appointment with Brother Preston, and the people we were seeing weren't home. As we were leaving, someone opened the door and said "What are you doing? who are you?" We told them that we were representatives of Jesus Christ. She told us, "Then come on in." We went in and blessed the home of Joanne and Shawn Hawes and the spirit was so strong. They identified the good feeling and they have sense agreed to go to church and read the Book of Mormon cover to cover. We were led to them, and they were led to us. There is no possible way they could have known we were outside. The window is covered by a huge plant. God prepares amazing families to receive his Gospel. The elect with "hear [His] voice and harden not their hearts."

We also have an amazing family that is named the Vaughn Family and they are very open. They have agreed to read the Book of Mormon and they understand that our purpose is to help them be baptized. We will hopefully give them a date tonight, and give the Hawes family a date tomorrow night.

I know that the Gospel is true and that God prepares the hearts of people to hear his message. This area is being prepared so much and I am so grateful that I can have a part in it with the new missionary that I will be training.

Yes I got the Valentines package. I love you very much and I am glad you all keep on thinking about me.

Well, I need to go now. I love you all. Bye!

Love,

Elder Seamons

Letter to the President:

Hi President! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to train. I Loved the last time I was given that opportunity. Training a new missionary is one of the greatest things you can ever do on a mission. I am so thankful that you trust me enough, and that the Lord trusts me enough to handle the responsibility.

We have many new investigators emerging that have an extremely high likelihood of getting baptized in March. We are very excited!

I am making a plan on how to best lead and guide the new missionary that I am training. He will have a blast. I hope that it will go as well if not better than what happened with Elder Shipley.

Bye President! I love you! I will talk to you at transfer meetings!

Love,

Elder Seamons

"That was a wonderful experience I will never forget."

February 12, 2012

Hi Mom, Dad, and Everyone else!

We have been working a ton on finding less active members. The ward has been helping a lot too. The Relief Society did something called the "Lost Sheep" program, which was based on Luke 15. All the sisters were given several named of less-active sisters in the ward and they went and tracked down just about all of them. It is so awesome. Plus both Elder's Quorum and Relief Society gave out all of the visiting and home teaching assignments. It is great to see the members go out and reach out to this people. We will have the privilege of going out with the members to help bring these members back. The branch started out with 56 people attending sacrament meeting and it has been around 70 within the recent weeks. With these members coming to church, it will increase. These members are so kind and nice to everyone. They have helped us so much.

The Hawkshaw's came out with us twice and they took us to a German restaurant (Sister Hawkshaw is German, but she has a thick British accent because she lived in England for so long), and to La Granja. They have powerful testimonies of the church. It took Brother Hawkshaw 9 years after they met the missionaries to finally accept the Restored Gospel, but he did and he got baptized. he has now been a member for 25 years.

We had a Valentine's Day party at the church. It was so well done. They had a beef sirloin with rolls that were delicious, velvet cake, a chocolate fountain, a variety of fruits, marshmallows, as well as other things. We had three people who weren't members come: Brother Schoelzel (His wife is a member), George Walker (his wife is a member. That happens a lot in this branch), and Isabel (Brother Christiansen's girlfriend who is from Brazil. She speaks Portuguese and Spanish. She looks like she is in her mid-30's I had a long conversation with her.)

Brother Schoelzel is from Hamburg, Germany. He loves his family. He believes in God and Jesus Christ, but really doesn't see the need for religion in his life. He is very serious and really not a person that easily recognized the spirit. But he is starting to get more friends in the branch. He doesn't have any friends apart from his family.

One thing that I have been thinking about is that I haven't been as effective lately as a missionary. We aren't getting as much done, and sometimes I feel like I have been digressing a little bit. But I will work on that. I need to be more diligent. I haven't been doing language study lately and my creole hasn't been as good lately. I will change that.

I need to go. I will talk to you more next week. Bye.

Love,

Elder Seamons

Hello President!

This week hasn't been as good as it could have been in terms of work with non-members. We have been doing well with less actives. We have several part-member families that we are working with or are about to work with. It will be really good.

We need to use our time more effectively. The more effectively we use our time, the greater influence we will have on other people, and the more self-satisfied and full of the spirit we will feel.

We are going to get 12 harvest blessings this week. We need to find more people and touch them with the Spirit of the Lord. I feel like I haven't been sharing the light I have within me enough, and because of that, it isn't as strong as it used to be.

We were looking for Valerie Ortiz, a unknown member of the church who was thought to be less active, but we couldn't find her house, plus it was a bunch of buildings with numbered doors, and the branch list didn't have a door number for her. We were about to leave and Brother Hepler, the member out with us on an exchange told us to stop and we looked around and we saw one open door with light coming out. It was at night time. We went over there, and it was her. She has been trying to find the church for a while and she was planning on going to church the day before, but she couldn't find the address. She was so grateful and happy that she found it. In the following visit with her, she cried and told us how sad she felt that she couldn't go to church and she told us that she has been going through a really hard time. As we and the member with us followed the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we were able to help her feel the power of the atonement through helping her come to church and partake of the Sacrament. She has now been to two weeks of Church in a row and an activity and she is in full activity. That was a wonderful experience I will never forget.

Thanks President! I love you!

Love,

Elder Seamons

"I know that God knows how we feel and he wants us back"

February 6, 2012

Hi everyone!

I don't have a lot of time today to write. We have been out looking at apartments with the senior missionaries: the Sommerfeldt's and the Collin's. They have helped us out so much. The came to our apartment this morning to get us a new case of Books of Mormon and they helped us with a few other things. The lease for this apartment expires at the end of March, and we need to live within our area, because we bike a while to get into our area. It has gotten a lot easier though.

Our numbers were very low this week, but that's okay. We learned several ways how to make the work go much better. We have to schedule everything a lot better since we are on bike.

We found a ton of less-actives. It was awesome. We visited many of them and figured out their situations and interest levels in coming back.

I don't know if we told you this story about last Sunday, but we had the most amazing thing happen when Brother Hepler came out with us on Sunday. Brother Hepler bore his testimony on the experience yesterday.

We were looking up a woman named Valerie Ortiz, we went around the block since the road we wanted to get on was only one way. We looked at the spot where the address should have been and we saw two buildings. I decided to start knocking doors on one, while the other elders checked to see what address it was. When I knocked I could see the TV on inside and a woman walked past and never answered the door. We couldn't see the address on the other building. We decided to leave and as we were getting in the car, Brother Hepler looked back and saw a door that was open, that wasn't open before. Out of the door came a beam of light. We went up and knocked on the doorframe. A woman walked over and I told her, "We are looking for someone named Valerie Ortiz. Is that you." She looked amazed at us and told us that she was Valerie. We looked above on the face of the building and we noticed the number 205, but the 5 had fallen off. She told us that she has been trying so hard to find the church and get there but the relief society president. She thanked us and she was so happy that we found her. We got her correct address and her phone number, neither of which we had before. We told her we would find a ride for her so she could get to church. a few days later we stopped by again with Brother Hawkshaw and she told us that she wanted to call us, but she didn't want to bother us. She said that she was going through a hard time and that she missed being able to go to church and she started to cry. She is from Puerto Rico and she joined the church 5 years ago in New Jersey. She moved to Florida 2 years ago, and she moved into the area in September. She hasn't been to church in a while. She has undergone two foot surgeries, and she has a limp. She has a 7 year old son, who will be turning 8 soon. She was so happy to see us again. She came to church this Sunday and she was so happy. Everyone felt the spirit so strong. It touched Valerie, Brother Hepler, the other members, the other elders, and me. I will never forget that experience. I know that God knows how we feel and he wants us back. He will send help to all those who ask for it.

Well, I need to write President quickly. I love you so much!

Love,

Elder Seamons

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Hi President

We have had a great week. Our numbers weren't the best, but we are learning how to help our investigators, less-active members, and active members feel the power of the atonement and gain a greater desire to access it.

I was reading in revelations about the War in Heaven between Satan and his followers and Christ and his Followers. In the account it said that they were victorious through "the blood of the Lamb and the power of their testimonies." [Revelations 12:4-13] I know that through Christ's atonement and our powerful testimonies of it, we will help our investigators feel the power of our message.

Thanks President! I love you! I will write you next week!

Love,

Elder Seamons

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior

January 30, 2012

Hi Everyone! We have had a really good week.

There are several elderly couples who are going to be attending the branch for 3-4 months because they are "snow birds." One of them, the Hawkshaw's, came out with us this week.They are from England. I don't remember what part. He is a music writer and used to be in a rock band. He has worked with Jared Hess (Nacho libre and Napoleon Dynamite, Elton John, Led Zeplin). He has done some pretty cool stuff. His name is Alan Hawkshaw. Look him up.

We also went out with Brother Hepler, and we had an amazing experience trying to look up a less active member. We were looking for Valerie Ortiz, but we couldn't find her house, plus it was a bunch of buildings with numbered doors, and the branch list didn't have a door number for her. We were about to leave and brother Hepler told us to stop and we looked around and we saw one open door with light coming out. It was at night time. we went over there, and it was her. She has been trying to find the church for a while and she was planning on going to church yesterday (we met her last night) but she couldn't find the address. She was so grateful and happy that she found it. She actually lives a walking distance from brother Hepler and he said that he could probably give her a ride and he would ask his wife about it, since she doesn't have transportation.

Also, we have a media refferal named Jona Van Wershin from Germany and she really wants to read the book of Mormon. But she doesn't want to sit down with us. She wants to do her own study. She did say she will stop by the church one sunday. We hope to meet her.

We also had a walk in three weeks ago named Jason Wach. He is a man who was born a Jew and even lived in Israel for several years. He speaks Hebrew, English, and Spanish. His wife is a catholic woman from Colombia. He has a hard time forgiving people, because he very much dislikes the Judaism and the culture of the middle east. He feels that he has been taught hatred and that Americans have an inborn desire to kill jews. He also feels that Judaism is based strongly on the fact that they believe that they are the chosen race and that they are God's elect people and no one else. He was disowned by his family because he left Judaism and he even wrote a book entitled, "Leaving Judaism" that he published. He said that there are good things about the Jewish religion and that he was making it sound worse than it was, but he really is searching for the truth. He is looking into the church very hard. He has agreed to sit with us and read the Book of Mormon. He invited us over to dinner at his accounting office and we ate at Pollo Tropical there with him. He said that it is hard to believe that Jesus is the Messiah because he was taught that that is not true. He said that they even kicked you out of class if you so much as mentioned Jesus Christ. He is a great guy and we have been praying that he will be able to let go of his anger and be able to find the healing power to help him move on and find peace.

We also went to Chick-fil-a again this week.

We also ran into Magda, a Haitian woman who promised she would come to church, but has been super busy lately. She was really excited to see us and she said that she was planning on coming to church a week ago, but she got called into work.

  

[This is in response to Kent asking Eric about having English speaking companions and whether he is teaching Haitians or English speakers.]

For the first two weeks, It was about 80% of the time. Now we are teaching more English Speakers. We are teaching one woman name Aneceli who is from Mexico. She is super nice. She doesn't speak any English. She is looking to have God more in her life and she has agreed to read the Book of Mormon, but her husband doesn't like religion and doesn't want to hear anything about God. She has us come over in the morning when her husband isn't home. We really need to talk to him about the whole thing.

We also are teaching a girl named Aisha. her real name is Melissa, but her sister took the name since she doesn't like her name, and Melissa started going by Aisha. We found her because we contacted Brea, a 22 year old girl who works at Winn Dixie. She wasn't home for the return appointment, so we went to a neighbor, Stephanie, and harvested her home. Stephanie didn't end up living there. It was her brother's home. We went to Stephanie's home and her sister, Aisha, was there instead of her, so we taught her. We ended up meeting Brea and leaving a blessing on her home, and she loved it. It is amazing how God allows are plans to go differently than we wanted them to so that we can find those who are prepared. Aisha now has a baptismal date for February 18th.

I know that the message I am teaching is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and even though I am far from being perfect and I still have a lot of problems to work through, I am being chastened, refined, and blessed so that I can get to the point that I need to be at.

I love you all! Bye!

Love,

Elder Seamons

This is my e-mail to president!

Hi President! I loved the trainings this week on how we focus on the
atonement and on the ordinances and how they help our investigators
access the atonement. I really puts the restoration of the gospel into
perspective. It helps our investigators understand priesthood authority
so much better. I really am beginning to understand how to teach the
atonement and our message. There are times on the mission that I have
been so focused on the Apostasy, Restoration, Joseph Smith, Book of
Mormon, that I missed the reason why all of those are important. It is
Jesus Christ. I love the scriptures that say we should preach nothing
except faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and repentance. It is so much
more powerful. Also, we have been focusing on the sacrament in our
teaching of why our investigators should come to church and it has
been working really well.

Our investigators need to know that our message isn't just another
form of "Daily Bread," it is the only way for them to fully access the
atonement and they need what we have. For Sabastian to Key West, only
160 people hold the key to the atonement for them. Until they realize
that, no amount of teaching will do them any good.

This week I learned a lot

January 23, 2012

Hello Everyone!

This week I learned a lot. The week wasn't nearly as productive as last week. I think that I have been worrying too much about outward results. Just because we don't teach as many people or we don't have
as many people come to church, doesn't mean we were a failure as missionaries. I always worry about that. I think that the most important thing is that we have ourselves prepared, God will provide
and he will help us find those people that are ready, and they will progress at their own pace.

Clair was doing really well this week until yesterday. She read up to Mormon in the Book of Mormon in just one week. She read a lot of Doctrine and Covenants and she finished Genesis in the Bible. And she also knew that all of those Books were the word of God. She said that there was no way that Joseph Smith could have written that book when he was 21 years old (without it being true). It would just be too hard to get all of it to match up with what the bible says without messing up.

But then Sister Maurer and Sister Isaacs went to her house on Sunday to pick her up and she went over and told them that She felt that the church was not for her and that she had that overall feeling the whole time (which definitely wasn't true).

We are wondering if her new roommates who moved in with her were giving her pressure, especially about trying to quit smoking. We were wondering if we pushed her too hard. We told her to break her
cigarettes on the spot and to pray on the spot as well and we pushed both issues. I am not sure. Whatever the case is, we will need to sit down and have a chat with her. It is really sad, because she knows it is true and she has such a strong testimony. She has just had a hard time with Paying tithing on her low budget and quitting smoking.

My companion's names are Elder Owens and Elder Snyder. Elder Owens is from Buhl, Idaho and Elder Snyder is from Syracuse, Utah. Elder Snyder has a sense of humor and is more laid back, but he still has a sense of humor. It has been difficult getting used to all three of us doing missionary work together. Having three people is really different, especially for an extended period of time.

President Boggess invited several couples who came down for the winter to participate in our branch. They are going to take us out two to three days a week for five or so hours. So that will help. Plus we
have other members who can help us out.

We don't have any seriously progressing investigators right now. We are just trying to establish a pattern of success for the companionship now.

I have to go. We need to take the bus back to the apartment and we might miss it if we don't leave soon.

Bye!

Love,

Elder Seamons

 Hi President! I loved the e-mail you sent out today. It explains so simply our purpose, and it explains clearly the reason for inviting people to take part of the ordinances of the Gospel.

One thing I have noticed about myself is that sometimes I can get so caught up on key indicators and baptisms that I don't do my best job as a missionary and I miss the whole point of why we do missionary work. Reading this e-mail helped remind me about that.

What I have learned is that the power of my testimony is the best tool that I can use to help people accept the restored gospel. Instead of just trying to force people to accept something, I can show them how it would help them through my testimony. I just need to trust that the spirit will truly testify to these people and help them understand the message that I am sharing.

We didn't have as productive as a week as usual. But we will prepare better to make it a better week.

Thank you President! I love you! I will write you next week.

Love,

Elder Seamons