Family and friends,
We've been doing mostly finding and working with members. We’ve been teaching quite a few less active families and we had some of them come to church this past week.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the temple dedication! Good news for us is that our mission president changed the rules so now instead of going to the temple once every six months it’s once every three months or every other transfer! How exciting!
Food of the week! I went to the store and found three bread pans for 98 cents they were aluminum so I bought two packs and made 9 loaves of Cinnamon raisin bread. It was super good and I put some in the freezer and handed a couple out. We also ate dinner last night and had the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. Probably because it had chunks of bacon in it. It was really good.
This week we sat and listened to President and Sister Bubert and Sister and Elder Zwick for 7 hours. I’ll try and get the whole story in before I run out of time... so to start off, a week earlier we were all told to pick out a principle from Preach My Gospel and that we may be chosen to share with the mission. My companion and I chose one and after we studied and worked really hard on preparing a thirty minute lesson, I really felt like we were going to be asked to share our principle. However, I decided to tell my companion there's no way we would give it. I did this because he gets really nervous when he has to talk to groups of people larger than 3 and he can't think straight for the week. We weren't told how long it needed to be but we figured it wouldn't be more than thirty minutes. So we get there and Elder Zwick shakes all of our hands and talks to each person individually. Then Elder Zwick explains how we are going to teach it, which was different than what we had planned. I run back through the notes we made and pick out a couple points. He calls on three people to share there topics and yes, we were asked to share.
If you don't remember the name you'll remember the talk, in general conference a couple years back Elder Zwick gave a talk and in it he shared a story about a boy who asked, “Do I need to lower my standers to make more friends?” That part of the story he shared with us, but I’ll have to write to you about the rest and then maybe you could type it up and send it out as the rest of my e-mail. Thanks
Elder yeaman's quote of the week. "No effort is wasted"
Explanation: This is the topic we chose and were randomly selected to share at mission conference. It’s the last page of chapter nine in Preach My Gospel. There are two stories I have to go along with it. 1- The first week in my first area we handed out a pass-a-long card to this person and invited her to call it. FYI - pass-a-long cards normally end up in the garbage and we find a lot of the ones we hand out torn up and thrown in the street. However, my last week in my first area we got a referral from headquarters (the people who answer the phone when some one calls the number on the back of a pass-a-long card) we go and stop by the house. It was the same lady and house we had left the card at. That was six months later! 2- There was this person in my last area we found who was taught before by missionaries and because they taught him, we were able to find him in the formers file and he later was baptized and just received the aaronic priesthood a couple weeks ago. The effort the first missionaries made about I year before I ran into them was not wasted, they simply planted the seed. As members we have such an influence on those around us. It may not seem like it at the time, but no effort is wasted! Just make an effort to share the gospel with those around you and you will be blessed. It may not happen immediately or in 6 months or even a year. It is worth the effort.
Love,
Elder Yeaman
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Light or dumbbell
Nov. 8, 2010
Family and friends,
Good week! It's kind of slow right now. We’ve had to drop quite a few investigators. We got an extra hour of sleep on Sunday because of daylight savings but now it's darker earlier. It’s so weird.
The weather up here is really crazy! It’s November and it's still really hot, but it just started cooling down everyone says we normally have a bunch of flooding by this time but it's only been sprinkling a little here and there.
To answer you question, transfers aren't for another three weeks, so I’ll be here for my birthday.
Food of the week. Some members made us pizza from scratch. It was good. Today I’ll be making some bread. I had to borrow some bread pans from a family so I’ll end up giving them a loaf.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: The light of Christ
Explanation: This week when I woke up in the middle of the night I went to get a drink of water and it was completely dark. I didn't want to turn the light on because I didn't want to wake up my companion or hurt my eyes. So I walked to the hallway and then to my desk very slowly to make sure I didn't step on anything. I was successful getting there, but it took me a while because I was really tired and was being very careful. On the way back I stubbed my toe on a dumb dumbbell and it hurt. A couple nights later I did the same thing but this time I flipped on the light switch really quick and back off so I could see if there was anything in my way. Once I knew the path was clear it was so much easier and faster to get to my desk with no light. Did that make sense so far?
The reason why prophets are so important is they help us see and understand the path. Once we understand it it's much easier to walk. Several people try and take there own path, and many people that I talk to think that you only need to keep the commandments. But the prophet is there to help us know what the standard is for the children of God. Once you now it, it's much easier to get to where you want to go.
Love
Elder yeaman
Family and friends,
Good week! It's kind of slow right now. We’ve had to drop quite a few investigators. We got an extra hour of sleep on Sunday because of daylight savings but now it's darker earlier. It’s so weird.
The weather up here is really crazy! It’s November and it's still really hot, but it just started cooling down everyone says we normally have a bunch of flooding by this time but it's only been sprinkling a little here and there.
To answer you question, transfers aren't for another three weeks, so I’ll be here for my birthday.
Food of the week. Some members made us pizza from scratch. It was good. Today I’ll be making some bread. I had to borrow some bread pans from a family so I’ll end up giving them a loaf.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: The light of Christ
Explanation: This week when I woke up in the middle of the night I went to get a drink of water and it was completely dark. I didn't want to turn the light on because I didn't want to wake up my companion or hurt my eyes. So I walked to the hallway and then to my desk very slowly to make sure I didn't step on anything. I was successful getting there, but it took me a while because I was really tired and was being very careful. On the way back I stubbed my toe on a dumb dumbbell and it hurt. A couple nights later I did the same thing but this time I flipped on the light switch really quick and back off so I could see if there was anything in my way. Once I knew the path was clear it was so much easier and faster to get to my desk with no light. Did that make sense so far?
The reason why prophets are so important is they help us see and understand the path. Once we understand it it's much easier to walk. Several people try and take there own path, and many people that I talk to think that you only need to keep the commandments. But the prophet is there to help us know what the standard is for the children of God. Once you now it, it's much easier to get to where you want to go.
Love
Elder yeaman
Feeding a nation with nearly nothing
October 18, 2010
Today I’m at a loss for time. My new companion is Elder Tabbutt. He's from Boise, Idaho and has been out about the same amount of time that I have.
Haven’t made it to gravity hill yet. Send a picture of the turtle.
Tomorrow we get to wake up at 3:30 am to take Elder Kendall to the airport. It’ll be a long day and I might loose my temper. I realize those days when I have a rough night sleeping, I really have to watch my attitude. Usually it's not a big deal and I can control my temper but I’ll only have a few hours to sleep tonight so we'll see how that goes.
Got to go, Elder Yeaman
October 25, 2010
Dear family and friends,
We dropped off Elder Kendall at the airport and left. My new companion is great! Good week. We have a couple promising investigators but none of them showed up at church.
Wow! That is crazy! That'll be so cool! Let me know when Shane gets his papers in.
Food of the week: We got three gift cards this week. One of them wasn't as much as we thought it was and so I had to use some money out of my account. We went to Chili’s and today we're going to Olive Garden, and we also got an In-n-Out gift card.
Today I might buy myself an early birthday present at Wal-Mart. I want to buy a basketball and a water purifier. Then I can stop buying water bottles.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week: Feeding a nation with nearly nothing.Explanation: When Jesus Christ fed the multitude he took what little food a boy had, a couple fish and loafs of bread, and blessed it and was able to not only feed but fill 5000 people. At times what we have may seem little or next to nothing. But through Jesus Christ we can affect so many people around us. Jesus takes what we have and multiplies it. He will always do this as long as we give him what we have. If we're not willing to give him all we have then he won't have enough to help those around us. But if we do give him all we have, so many people will be affected because of it and in the end; there will be more than what you started off with. Just like the story they collected everything that was left over and had several baskets left that were full. If we give what we have, it'll bless those around us and we too will be more blessed than before.
Elder Yeaman
Today I’m at a loss for time. My new companion is Elder Tabbutt. He's from Boise, Idaho and has been out about the same amount of time that I have.
Haven’t made it to gravity hill yet. Send a picture of the turtle.
Tomorrow we get to wake up at 3:30 am to take Elder Kendall to the airport. It’ll be a long day and I might loose my temper. I realize those days when I have a rough night sleeping, I really have to watch my attitude. Usually it's not a big deal and I can control my temper but I’ll only have a few hours to sleep tonight so we'll see how that goes.
Got to go, Elder Yeaman
October 25, 2010
Dear family and friends,
We dropped off Elder Kendall at the airport and left. My new companion is great! Good week. We have a couple promising investigators but none of them showed up at church.
Wow! That is crazy! That'll be so cool! Let me know when Shane gets his papers in.
Food of the week: We got three gift cards this week. One of them wasn't as much as we thought it was and so I had to use some money out of my account. We went to Chili’s and today we're going to Olive Garden, and we also got an In-n-Out gift card.
Today I might buy myself an early birthday present at Wal-Mart. I want to buy a basketball and a water purifier. Then I can stop buying water bottles.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week: Feeding a nation with nearly nothing.Explanation: When Jesus Christ fed the multitude he took what little food a boy had, a couple fish and loafs of bread, and blessed it and was able to not only feed but fill 5000 people. At times what we have may seem little or next to nothing. But through Jesus Christ we can affect so many people around us. Jesus takes what we have and multiplies it. He will always do this as long as we give him what we have. If we're not willing to give him all we have then he won't have enough to help those around us. But if we do give him all we have, so many people will be affected because of it and in the end; there will be more than what you started off with. Just like the story they collected everything that was left over and had several baskets left that were full. If we give what we have, it'll bless those around us and we too will be more blessed than before.
Elder Yeaman
Anyone Heard of Gravity Hill?
Oct 12, 2010
Mom and family,
I have p-day on Monday, in 6 days. Today we will go to rose hills and gravity hills because I’m not with my companion. He is at the temple with the president for his last week. I’m with other elders who want to go. They are on bike and I still have the car.
Foods of the week: I made a bunch of pizza dough last week and then I cooked just the crust alone and made about ten mini pizza crusts. All I have to do is put sauce and cheese on it and re-heat it for like 10 min. It's great. Also, we had an awesome meal this week. We had the most amazing steak It was super good. Then before we left he took out a bunch of groceries and some frozen steaks and gave them to us.
Yeah I got the package last Tuesday. Thank you so much.
Hey I heard there was 2 tornadoes in Arizona one of them being in Flagstaff? Cool what all happened?
The district leader goes on splits with each person in his district and the zone leader with each district leader. Some people just go on splits twice, other people go on splits 5 times
I still drive the car. My companion has a license but isn't allowed to drive because of his previous driving record.
What happened to the water turtle?
Elder yeaman's quote of the week. To be continued. Had to fill out a survey that the president sent us and have run out of time. Sorry.
Mom and family,
I have p-day on Monday, in 6 days. Today we will go to rose hills and gravity hills because I’m not with my companion. He is at the temple with the president for his last week. I’m with other elders who want to go. They are on bike and I still have the car.
Foods of the week: I made a bunch of pizza dough last week and then I cooked just the crust alone and made about ten mini pizza crusts. All I have to do is put sauce and cheese on it and re-heat it for like 10 min. It's great. Also, we had an awesome meal this week. We had the most amazing steak It was super good. Then before we left he took out a bunch of groceries and some frozen steaks and gave them to us.
Yeah I got the package last Tuesday. Thank you so much.
Hey I heard there was 2 tornadoes in Arizona one of them being in Flagstaff? Cool what all happened?
The district leader goes on splits with each person in his district and the zone leader with each district leader. Some people just go on splits twice, other people go on splits 5 times
I still drive the car. My companion has a license but isn't allowed to drive because of his previous driving record.
What happened to the water turtle?
Elder yeaman's quote of the week. To be continued. Had to fill out a survey that the president sent us and have run out of time. Sorry.
"I can ride a bike with no handle bars"
Oct. 5, 2010
Family and Friends,
I got the package. Thank you so much! I’ve already listen to the first 5 cds of Jesus the Christ. The gold fish disappeared into my belly while I was studying :-) Thanks so much.
I got the flue shot and I felt so drained and tired for like the next 3 days. It was rough but I’m better now.
This week it continued to stay hot and then yesterday all day it rained and rained and that brought the temperature down quite a bit.
Food of the week: We ate with this less active member yesterday, the one that is a lot like Ken, and she made us pot roast, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots. I thought that that was cool that I had suggested for you to make that for the missionaries. It was super good and one of the best meals on my mission thus far.
Did everyone go to Red Robin after priesthood session?
I was going to say you better not be doing what Elder Holland’s parents did for him. Thanks for everything you do for me. Yes general conference was great.
Have fun camping!
We are always looking for service opportunities and we rarely get them but recently we helped someone move and are planning on fixing a members toilet and breaking up and moving a non-members concrete.
This week I went on splits and was able to be on bike again. I loved it.
Do we still have our turtles? Water turtle and land turtle?
I never understood why you didn't allow us to go on sleep over until conference. I was always puzzled, but now it makes so much sense! Thank you so much.
Elder Yeaman quote of the week: "I can ride a bike with no handle bars"
Explanation. in 2002 Elder Hales gave a talk about when he was growing up he had a bike that had a generator on it that was hooked to a light and when he pedaled hard the light would shine bright but when he wouldn't pedal as hard the light would flicker and not be as strong. He compared it to going through life. He could be going down a hill and not have to pedal, but in consequence the light would not shine. No matter what we are going through we need to keep pedaling! If we stop pedaling, there's no light and at night we are more likely to get hit by a car. If we stop pedaling going up hill we will fall over. The light obviously is the light of Christ that's in us and when we have it we are less likely to become spiritually injured. President Uchtdorf in this conference stated that we need to slow down when we face adversity. He did not say stop when you face adversity. When riding a bike up hill it's okay to slow down. But keep that light shining. Going down hill when you’re not facing as many trails you need not stop pedaling. Always keeps your light shining by doing what is right and you will be greatly blessed.
Love, Someone else :-)
Family and Friends,
I got the package. Thank you so much! I’ve already listen to the first 5 cds of Jesus the Christ. The gold fish disappeared into my belly while I was studying :-) Thanks so much.
I got the flue shot and I felt so drained and tired for like the next 3 days. It was rough but I’m better now.
This week it continued to stay hot and then yesterday all day it rained and rained and that brought the temperature down quite a bit.
Food of the week: We ate with this less active member yesterday, the one that is a lot like Ken, and she made us pot roast, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots. I thought that that was cool that I had suggested for you to make that for the missionaries. It was super good and one of the best meals on my mission thus far.
Did everyone go to Red Robin after priesthood session?
I was going to say you better not be doing what Elder Holland’s parents did for him. Thanks for everything you do for me. Yes general conference was great.
Have fun camping!
We are always looking for service opportunities and we rarely get them but recently we helped someone move and are planning on fixing a members toilet and breaking up and moving a non-members concrete.
This week I went on splits and was able to be on bike again. I loved it.
Do we still have our turtles? Water turtle and land turtle?
I never understood why you didn't allow us to go on sleep over until conference. I was always puzzled, but now it makes so much sense! Thank you so much.
Elder Yeaman quote of the week: "I can ride a bike with no handle bars"
Explanation. in 2002 Elder Hales gave a talk about when he was growing up he had a bike that had a generator on it that was hooked to a light and when he pedaled hard the light would shine bright but when he wouldn't pedal as hard the light would flicker and not be as strong. He compared it to going through life. He could be going down a hill and not have to pedal, but in consequence the light would not shine. No matter what we are going through we need to keep pedaling! If we stop pedaling, there's no light and at night we are more likely to get hit by a car. If we stop pedaling going up hill we will fall over. The light obviously is the light of Christ that's in us and when we have it we are less likely to become spiritually injured. President Uchtdorf in this conference stated that we need to slow down when we face adversity. He did not say stop when you face adversity. When riding a bike up hill it's okay to slow down. But keep that light shining. Going down hill when you’re not facing as many trails you need not stop pedaling. Always keeps your light shining by doing what is right and you will be greatly blessed.
Love, Someone else :-)
"Ye are the light of the world"
Sept. 28, 2010
Family and friends.
Same rules for Spanish and speaking elders, however if there are two English elders together they leave the apartment at 10:00 instead of 11:00 am because they don't get a language study.
Our p-days are now being moved to Mondays. Transfers will now happen on Mondays as well. Which means I might not be able to e-mail on Monday holidays. It depends if the family history center is open.
We actually didn't go to gravity hill we had to get an oil change and it took all day. I just wish they'd let me do it instead of waiting 2 1/2 hours for it.
You can mail it to my apartment and they'll leave me a slip telling me I need to go and pick it up at the post office.
I forwarded you a letter and it pretty much just says that I need to get a flue shot and pay for it out of my own pocket. Its $25 do I have it in my account? I’m getting it today.
It was starting to get cool but this week it shot back up! It was 113 degrees yesterday. It wasn't like that ever during the summer. FYI, Whittier is the hottest part of our mission. It’s his furthest area from the beach.
Feed the missionaries twice bakes, rolls and a roast? That’s a lot of work though.
Food of the week: this week I made ginger snaps. They’re so good.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week. "Ye are the light of the world"
Explanation: Jesus Christ is equivalent to the energy source and the prophet is the light bulb, and we are mirrors. Without Jesus Christ, the prophet we have would be useless. However if there is no prophet there can be no light and if there is no light we are lost and can't share the light. God has always called and must continue to call a prophet in order for us to progress. Mirrors can share nothing without a light source. The room in which the light and the mirrors are in is compared to the world. And so this question rolls into our court. Where are we shining our light? Are we a mirror that is face down absorbing no light and giving off no light? Are we a mirror that is face up trying to shine the light straight back at the light bulb looking for recognition on our brightness? Or are we a mirror that helps other mirrors takes up the light and continue to shine. If you've ever used a mirror to try and blind somebody think of it like this. Just having the mirror there isn't going to blind them. You have to angle it just right. We members of the Church, we just can't be there. We need to share the light of Christ with those around us and we can not do that unless first we are focused on the light source. Our prophet. General conference is coming up and not only is it important take notes and think about the message but to share the message with others as well. Maybe not so much as word to word what they say, but by being an example and showing them the light of Christ that is in you. Hope you all enjoy G.C. I know I will.
Elder yeaman
Family and friends.
Same rules for Spanish and speaking elders, however if there are two English elders together they leave the apartment at 10:00 instead of 11:00 am because they don't get a language study.
Our p-days are now being moved to Mondays. Transfers will now happen on Mondays as well. Which means I might not be able to e-mail on Monday holidays. It depends if the family history center is open.
We actually didn't go to gravity hill we had to get an oil change and it took all day. I just wish they'd let me do it instead of waiting 2 1/2 hours for it.
You can mail it to my apartment and they'll leave me a slip telling me I need to go and pick it up at the post office.
I forwarded you a letter and it pretty much just says that I need to get a flue shot and pay for it out of my own pocket. Its $25 do I have it in my account? I’m getting it today.
It was starting to get cool but this week it shot back up! It was 113 degrees yesterday. It wasn't like that ever during the summer. FYI, Whittier is the hottest part of our mission. It’s his furthest area from the beach.
Feed the missionaries twice bakes, rolls and a roast? That’s a lot of work though.
Food of the week: this week I made ginger snaps. They’re so good.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week. "Ye are the light of the world"
Explanation: Jesus Christ is equivalent to the energy source and the prophet is the light bulb, and we are mirrors. Without Jesus Christ, the prophet we have would be useless. However if there is no prophet there can be no light and if there is no light we are lost and can't share the light. God has always called and must continue to call a prophet in order for us to progress. Mirrors can share nothing without a light source. The room in which the light and the mirrors are in is compared to the world. And so this question rolls into our court. Where are we shining our light? Are we a mirror that is face down absorbing no light and giving off no light? Are we a mirror that is face up trying to shine the light straight back at the light bulb looking for recognition on our brightness? Or are we a mirror that helps other mirrors takes up the light and continue to shine. If you've ever used a mirror to try and blind somebody think of it like this. Just having the mirror there isn't going to blind them. You have to angle it just right. We members of the Church, we just can't be there. We need to share the light of Christ with those around us and we can not do that unless first we are focused on the light source. Our prophet. General conference is coming up and not only is it important take notes and think about the message but to share the message with others as well. Maybe not so much as word to word what they say, but by being an example and showing them the light of Christ that is in you. Hope you all enjoy G.C. I know I will.
Elder yeaman
Simon Says
September 28, 2010
Good morning family and friends,
Food of the week: This week was the first time on my mission thus far I had in-n-out. A member took us out and I forgot how delicious it was. Also, last week at store needed to get rid of the organic milk before it expired and it was the same price of regular milk and so I bought some and it was WAY better than the other milk! They must do quite a bit to the normal milk you buy to make it not taste the same.
Today we are going to get our oil changed and then possible go to gravity hill. On gravity hill you’re supposed to be able to go half way up the hill, put the car in neutral and turn it off and keep moving up hill. Same thing with a ball. The ball will roll up hill and a skateboard as well. I don't believe it but several people have told us about it and I’m super curious.
This week, 5 minutes before church started we were asked to give a talk because some one called in sick. It was about the atonement and luckily I had the conference ensign on me as well as my scriptures and through the lords help was able to pull a 20 min talk out of thin air. I was quite relieved that it is an English ward otherwise I would have been super nervous. and would have had a loss for words.
We plan on knocking almost everyday but normally we don't plan on knocking more than one hour and many times it falls through. Which I don't see how that works with the number of investigators we have. He likes to talk and will talk about anything to anyone. I think that's how he does it.
Normally in this mission the only people who cover more than one ward are the people who cover the single's ward. Other than that there's normally 1 set of elders in each English ward and 2-3 companionship's in the Spanish wards.
We’re also going on splits later this evening.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week "Do as I’m doing, follow me"
Explanation. Before I explain, we're going to play a quick game and you have to play otherwise the explanation won't work.
Simon says touch your knees.
Simon says touch your ear.
Simon says touch your neck.
Simon says touch your nose.
Simon says touch the top of your head
Alright now here's the explanation: As we go through life our prophets and our leaders are always telling us or reminding us of the rules and guidelines that are given us to protect us in our life. It is our responsibility to heed their righteous council. It requires us to listen carefully to make sure we are not following the council that (Simon) hasn't said. Now some of you who are reading this e-mail may not have played the game. You thought you would have looked silly sitting at a computer or where ever you are touching your knees, ears, neck, nose, and the top of your head. You didn't want to be the only person following Simon. Just like people feel silly around other people and are the only ones not drinking or smoking, or swearing, or gossiping, or what ever it may be. You may feel silly but don't give in! Follow Simon’s council! Additionally, how many of you are still touching your head? Did you put your hand down because you thought the game was over? You got tired of keeping your hand on your head? Several people could have walked by and seen your hand on your head and been confused at what you’re doing. At times we may feel like our work is done. We may feel like we can put it up later when we aren't surrounded by people that may laugh or point. Please listen to Simon! He knows what he's talking about! Listen to the council our leaders give us the will help in the long run.
Love your one and only, Elder Yeaman
Good morning family and friends,
Food of the week: This week was the first time on my mission thus far I had in-n-out. A member took us out and I forgot how delicious it was. Also, last week at store needed to get rid of the organic milk before it expired and it was the same price of regular milk and so I bought some and it was WAY better than the other milk! They must do quite a bit to the normal milk you buy to make it not taste the same.
Today we are going to get our oil changed and then possible go to gravity hill. On gravity hill you’re supposed to be able to go half way up the hill, put the car in neutral and turn it off and keep moving up hill. Same thing with a ball. The ball will roll up hill and a skateboard as well. I don't believe it but several people have told us about it and I’m super curious.
This week, 5 minutes before church started we were asked to give a talk because some one called in sick. It was about the atonement and luckily I had the conference ensign on me as well as my scriptures and through the lords help was able to pull a 20 min talk out of thin air. I was quite relieved that it is an English ward otherwise I would have been super nervous. and would have had a loss for words.
We plan on knocking almost everyday but normally we don't plan on knocking more than one hour and many times it falls through. Which I don't see how that works with the number of investigators we have. He likes to talk and will talk about anything to anyone. I think that's how he does it.
Normally in this mission the only people who cover more than one ward are the people who cover the single's ward. Other than that there's normally 1 set of elders in each English ward and 2-3 companionship's in the Spanish wards.
We’re also going on splits later this evening.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week "Do as I’m doing, follow me"
Explanation. Before I explain, we're going to play a quick game and you have to play otherwise the explanation won't work.
Simon says touch your knees.
Simon says touch your ear.
Simon says touch your neck.
Simon says touch your nose.
Simon says touch the top of your head
Alright now here's the explanation: As we go through life our prophets and our leaders are always telling us or reminding us of the rules and guidelines that are given us to protect us in our life. It is our responsibility to heed their righteous council. It requires us to listen carefully to make sure we are not following the council that (Simon) hasn't said. Now some of you who are reading this e-mail may not have played the game. You thought you would have looked silly sitting at a computer or where ever you are touching your knees, ears, neck, nose, and the top of your head. You didn't want to be the only person following Simon. Just like people feel silly around other people and are the only ones not drinking or smoking, or swearing, or gossiping, or what ever it may be. You may feel silly but don't give in! Follow Simon’s council! Additionally, how many of you are still touching your head? Did you put your hand down because you thought the game was over? You got tired of keeping your hand on your head? Several people could have walked by and seen your hand on your head and been confused at what you’re doing. At times we may feel like our work is done. We may feel like we can put it up later when we aren't surrounded by people that may laugh or point. Please listen to Simon! He knows what he's talking about! Listen to the council our leaders give us the will help in the long run.
Love your one and only, Elder Yeaman
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Hundreds of Parrots
Sept. 14, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
Short notice, I found out Sunday, that this week is temple transfer and we went to the temple this morning for the 6:30am session and afterwards went to the visitors center which has been closed for 3.5 years. They just re-opened it. It’s amazing! There’s so much technology and cool things in there. I don't have enough time to explain everything. To fully experience everything in there it would take days upon days! I love going to the temple!
Each new group of missionaries we receive seem to be so much more spiritually prepared its great.
Normally you see a lot of crows flying around... however in one part of our area there's hundreds and hundreds of parrots flying around. About 5 years ago a Petco truck tipped over and the parrots got free and now there's so many of them and they're so loud, no joke! They also never fly solo. They always fly with their mate.
Food of the week: We've got a bunch of dinner appointments this week and next week and the week after that. Super exciting! This week I got to try curry (a dinner dish) I think I heard Josh say that he ate that a lot in his mission. It was very interesting. I also made lemon bunt cake last week in a normal pan and it took a lot of work but it was super good and rich.
I think I forgot to tell you, my mtc companion (Elder Jackson) and my last companion (Elder Nielsen) are now companions. I saw them at the temple this morning and also at the visitor’s center afterwards. It was a lot of fun. When I left my last area, I had a bunch of investigators and wasn't able to get a picture with them. However, a couple of them have gotten baptized. I was so happy to hear about that.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: I’d rather make pennies off something than nothing off nothing!" Explanation: Many hotels for example when business is slow will lower the prices just to fill the room so they can pay the bills. They’d rather make a little money on something than nothing on nothing. When you look back on it that what get’s you through. So if we apply this to missionary work, many of us are afraid to talk about the gospel to those around us because were afraid as soon as we tell the missionaries about it they're going to invite them to be baptized and the entire relationship will be ruined because of it. That right there is making nothing off nothing. However it's when we do the penny making work like just simply inviting someone to fhe, or a church activity that really makes the difference. Don’t really know if that makes sense but take what you can get. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to "taste that fruit which is desirable above all other fruit" by simply inviting them to something...anything. Maybe not to the missionaries right away, but to just become a little more familiar with the church.
That’s all I have to say for now.
Elder yeaman
Dear Family and Friends,
Short notice, I found out Sunday, that this week is temple transfer and we went to the temple this morning for the 6:30am session and afterwards went to the visitors center which has been closed for 3.5 years. They just re-opened it. It’s amazing! There’s so much technology and cool things in there. I don't have enough time to explain everything. To fully experience everything in there it would take days upon days! I love going to the temple!
Each new group of missionaries we receive seem to be so much more spiritually prepared its great.
Normally you see a lot of crows flying around... however in one part of our area there's hundreds and hundreds of parrots flying around. About 5 years ago a Petco truck tipped over and the parrots got free and now there's so many of them and they're so loud, no joke! They also never fly solo. They always fly with their mate.
Food of the week: We've got a bunch of dinner appointments this week and next week and the week after that. Super exciting! This week I got to try curry (a dinner dish) I think I heard Josh say that he ate that a lot in his mission. It was very interesting. I also made lemon bunt cake last week in a normal pan and it took a lot of work but it was super good and rich.
I think I forgot to tell you, my mtc companion (Elder Jackson) and my last companion (Elder Nielsen) are now companions. I saw them at the temple this morning and also at the visitor’s center afterwards. It was a lot of fun. When I left my last area, I had a bunch of investigators and wasn't able to get a picture with them. However, a couple of them have gotten baptized. I was so happy to hear about that.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: I’d rather make pennies off something than nothing off nothing!" Explanation: Many hotels for example when business is slow will lower the prices just to fill the room so they can pay the bills. They’d rather make a little money on something than nothing on nothing. When you look back on it that what get’s you through. So if we apply this to missionary work, many of us are afraid to talk about the gospel to those around us because were afraid as soon as we tell the missionaries about it they're going to invite them to be baptized and the entire relationship will be ruined because of it. That right there is making nothing off nothing. However it's when we do the penny making work like just simply inviting someone to fhe, or a church activity that really makes the difference. Don’t really know if that makes sense but take what you can get. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to "taste that fruit which is desirable above all other fruit" by simply inviting them to something...anything. Maybe not to the missionaries right away, but to just become a little more familiar with the church.
That’s all I have to say for now.
Elder yeaman
Monday, September 20, 2010
Watch Your Step
Sept. 7, 2010
Dear Family and friends,
Great week! Went on splits and was out of my area for 2 whole days in another Elder’s area. I enjoyed it. I’m not being transferred. I’ll most likely stay in this area for the next 2 transfers because I’m still with my companion, Elder Kendall, who's dying in six weeks. So I’ll kill him and then get a new companion for six more weeks in this area. That is most likely how it'll go since white washes rarely happen.
Food of the week: We didn't have any dinner appointments so one of the members went and bought $60 worth of gift cards and we ate out a few times.
No wonder we're not allowed to chew gum as missionaries! we had a baptismal service this week and everyone who was had a part in it was chewing gum. I guess this is the first time I realized how rude and tacky it looks to chew gum while you’re singing or giving a talk or prayer. ha ha ha
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: “The road of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step." President Thomas S. Monson used this quote in general conference and I thought it was so clever! I was reading in the last couple of versus in Omni or maybe it was in Jarom a while ago and it gives a great story of people who became prideful and didn't learn from their first mistake and left again into the wilderness. We need to watch our step! Learn from the mistakes we make and don't go down that same path. CTR! Follow the prophet! Do what is right! Sorry it's not a better quote, forgot to think of one this week.
Love, Elder Yeaman
Dear Family and friends,
Great week! Went on splits and was out of my area for 2 whole days in another Elder’s area. I enjoyed it. I’m not being transferred. I’ll most likely stay in this area for the next 2 transfers because I’m still with my companion, Elder Kendall, who's dying in six weeks. So I’ll kill him and then get a new companion for six more weeks in this area. That is most likely how it'll go since white washes rarely happen.
Food of the week: We didn't have any dinner appointments so one of the members went and bought $60 worth of gift cards and we ate out a few times.
No wonder we're not allowed to chew gum as missionaries! we had a baptismal service this week and everyone who was had a part in it was chewing gum. I guess this is the first time I realized how rude and tacky it looks to chew gum while you’re singing or giving a talk or prayer. ha ha ha
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: “The road of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step." President Thomas S. Monson used this quote in general conference and I thought it was so clever! I was reading in the last couple of versus in Omni or maybe it was in Jarom a while ago and it gives a great story of people who became prideful and didn't learn from their first mistake and left again into the wilderness. We need to watch our step! Learn from the mistakes we make and don't go down that same path. CTR! Follow the prophet! Do what is right! Sorry it's not a better quote, forgot to think of one this week.
Love, Elder Yeaman
Spiritual Slim Fast
August 31, 2010
Transfers are not today, but this upcoming Tuesday, in a week.
Uncle ken is no longer interested but we're stopping by Barbara (his ex-girlfriend broke up because she wants to go to the temple) she has completely turned her life around. She is a member but went inactive. Same story as Ken and Chad when it comes to her but she's done a complete 180.
Splits was fun, we did it again this week and that was exciting. I went with Elder Copeland and Elder Cline the next day and that was neat.
I still have my m&ms and mangos.
Food of the week: This week we got a gift card from a member for $20 each and so we had dinner twice at the restaurant called Lascari's it was good.
Elder Yeaman’s thought of the week, “The full proof diet! Guaranteed to loose wait or your money back!" Explanation. The reason I came up with this one is my companion only has a couple weeks left and he's trying to loose the weight that he's gained while being on his mission. He bought slim fast and was using it 3 times a day. He gained 17 pounds this week. What he found out today is that I bought protein powder and while he was in the shower I switched the containers. Meaning I took his slim fast powder out and put in protien powder and then put the slim fast in my container. He was so mad! I thought I was so funny. Just kidding I didn't really do that but I thought it would have been funny if I did. He didn't really gain 17 pounds. He has lost weight using slim fast. But what my guarantee is this. There are many things that are weighing us down. Not physically but spiritually. Things that we can defiantly go without. To loose physical weight people often tend to cut things out of there diet that they don’t' need. How many of us are spiritually tired? Out of shape? Have we exercised enough spiritually? What wasteful time gobbling things can we get rid of our unwanted, burdening spiritually weight? As you search, ponder and pray about the things we need to avoid doing to be spiritually strong, the Lord will help. He'll be our coach. Be a spiritually strong. army (of helaman).
Cool experience, I was in our area on splits with Elder Cline, an elder in our district. We had knocked for a little bit earlier that day, but were getting ready to start again after dinner. When we get out of the car, I had some things in my hand I planned on handing out if others were interested, but I still went to the trunk opened it and then thought I should grab a Spanish Book of Mormon. I was sure I had one in my backpack and so quickly just grabbed a couple pamphlets in Spanish. First door we went to was in Spanish. I was able to use the pamphlet to explain. It would have been easier if I had the Book of Mormon in Spanish. We went back out to the car to get one and she accepted and it wasn't really that big of a deal but I learned, no matter how big of an impression you get, even if it's very quick, grab it. After the lesson I realized earlier when we were knocking that I wasn't carrying anything in Spanish. I already had stuff in my hand but it was the promptings of the spirit that helped me get Spanish materials to use and it really helped in the lesson.
Elder Yeaman
Transfers are not today, but this upcoming Tuesday, in a week.
Uncle ken is no longer interested but we're stopping by Barbara (his ex-girlfriend broke up because she wants to go to the temple) she has completely turned her life around. She is a member but went inactive. Same story as Ken and Chad when it comes to her but she's done a complete 180.
Splits was fun, we did it again this week and that was exciting. I went with Elder Copeland and Elder Cline the next day and that was neat.
I still have my m&ms and mangos.
Food of the week: This week we got a gift card from a member for $20 each and so we had dinner twice at the restaurant called Lascari's it was good.
Elder Yeaman’s thought of the week, “The full proof diet! Guaranteed to loose wait or your money back!" Explanation. The reason I came up with this one is my companion only has a couple weeks left and he's trying to loose the weight that he's gained while being on his mission. He bought slim fast and was using it 3 times a day. He gained 17 pounds this week. What he found out today is that I bought protein powder and while he was in the shower I switched the containers. Meaning I took his slim fast powder out and put in protien powder and then put the slim fast in my container. He was so mad! I thought I was so funny. Just kidding I didn't really do that but I thought it would have been funny if I did. He didn't really gain 17 pounds. He has lost weight using slim fast. But what my guarantee is this. There are many things that are weighing us down. Not physically but spiritually. Things that we can defiantly go without. To loose physical weight people often tend to cut things out of there diet that they don’t' need. How many of us are spiritually tired? Out of shape? Have we exercised enough spiritually? What wasteful time gobbling things can we get rid of our unwanted, burdening spiritually weight? As you search, ponder and pray about the things we need to avoid doing to be spiritually strong, the Lord will help. He'll be our coach. Be a spiritually strong. army (of helaman).
Cool experience, I was in our area on splits with Elder Cline, an elder in our district. We had knocked for a little bit earlier that day, but were getting ready to start again after dinner. When we get out of the car, I had some things in my hand I planned on handing out if others were interested, but I still went to the trunk opened it and then thought I should grab a Spanish Book of Mormon. I was sure I had one in my backpack and so quickly just grabbed a couple pamphlets in Spanish. First door we went to was in Spanish. I was able to use the pamphlet to explain. It would have been easier if I had the Book of Mormon in Spanish. We went back out to the car to get one and she accepted and it wasn't really that big of a deal but I learned, no matter how big of an impression you get, even if it's very quick, grab it. After the lesson I realized earlier when we were knocking that I wasn't carrying anything in Spanish. I already had stuff in my hand but it was the promptings of the spirit that helped me get Spanish materials to use and it really helped in the lesson.
Elder Yeaman
Fast or Feast?
Aug. 24, 2010
Dear family and friends,
Forgot to see what kind of camera I have. I’ll try and remember next week.
This week we found an "Uncle Ken" to teach. His name is Bill. He has about 40 surf boards and also plays guitar and drums. Guess what he does for a living, air conditioning stuff. Just like Ken right? He doesn't work for a company but he hires other people to help him and tries to make money by getting other people to work for him. His favorite movie... yup you guessed it "Scooby-doo" Even better, his girlfriends name is Barbie. I thought it was Kens twin brother.
Cars running fine. Miss riding bikes.
This week I went on splits a couple of times. First I went with elder Waites (the elder who trained me who is now my zone leader) in my area the with his companion Elder Vasquez in his area and then with another elder in his area on bike. I loved being on bike. I didn't bring my bike but used one of the ones in their area. While riding the other bike I realized why my bike has a warranty... its indestructible! My bike weighs about 50 lbs heavier then everyone else's bike. The bike I borrowed for a day was a $500 bike, had disk-brakes, and was much easier to ride. It also had more gears and they switched over from gear to gear better. It’d be better to go to a bike store. Additionally if you’re riding correctly any damage done to your bike is the drivers fault and the only thing you need to worry about is it getting stolen which very hasn't happened to those who have locked up there bike. However, I had to got to target and buy a new tube because I got a flat with someone else's bike and had to pay for it we tried to patch it but there was like 40 holes in them.
Food of the week. We got a juicer this week. So today I bought ginger root, spinach, parsley, carrots, and celery so I can juice it. Yum!!
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week "Fasting on the words of Christ"
Explanation: We are often told by prophets as well as the scriptures to feast upon the words of Christ. Not to nibble on it here and there, not to put it in the freezer and wait till Thanksgiving or Christmas but to feast on the words of Christ, and to do it now. How many of us are fasting instead of feasting on the words of Christ? To put it into a better perspective. Fasting... before my mission I considered fasting to start right before I went to bed Saturday night and end right after church got out. Now its changed from 6:00pm the night before until 5:00pm the next night. Those of you who do and are able to fast. I know you’re aware of how hungry you are all through out the day. You can’t get your mind off food. You grow tired and weak the longer you go without food. It’s the same way with the words of Christ! The longer we go without it the weaker and more tired we become spiritually. When we do go without it should be something we quickly recognize. We should hunger for it. We should want to take in as much as possible. So my friends and family, please feast on the words of Christ, don't fast. Build that habit of reading so when you accidentally do go without it you quickly recognize it.
Love, Elder Yeaman
Dear family and friends,
Forgot to see what kind of camera I have. I’ll try and remember next week.
This week we found an "Uncle Ken" to teach. His name is Bill. He has about 40 surf boards and also plays guitar and drums. Guess what he does for a living, air conditioning stuff. Just like Ken right? He doesn't work for a company but he hires other people to help him and tries to make money by getting other people to work for him. His favorite movie... yup you guessed it "Scooby-doo" Even better, his girlfriends name is Barbie. I thought it was Kens twin brother.
Cars running fine. Miss riding bikes.
This week I went on splits a couple of times. First I went with elder Waites (the elder who trained me who is now my zone leader) in my area the with his companion Elder Vasquez in his area and then with another elder in his area on bike. I loved being on bike. I didn't bring my bike but used one of the ones in their area. While riding the other bike I realized why my bike has a warranty... its indestructible! My bike weighs about 50 lbs heavier then everyone else's bike. The bike I borrowed for a day was a $500 bike, had disk-brakes, and was much easier to ride. It also had more gears and they switched over from gear to gear better. It’d be better to go to a bike store. Additionally if you’re riding correctly any damage done to your bike is the drivers fault and the only thing you need to worry about is it getting stolen which very hasn't happened to those who have locked up there bike. However, I had to got to target and buy a new tube because I got a flat with someone else's bike and had to pay for it we tried to patch it but there was like 40 holes in them.
Food of the week. We got a juicer this week. So today I bought ginger root, spinach, parsley, carrots, and celery so I can juice it. Yum!!
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week "Fasting on the words of Christ"
Explanation: We are often told by prophets as well as the scriptures to feast upon the words of Christ. Not to nibble on it here and there, not to put it in the freezer and wait till Thanksgiving or Christmas but to feast on the words of Christ, and to do it now. How many of us are fasting instead of feasting on the words of Christ? To put it into a better perspective. Fasting... before my mission I considered fasting to start right before I went to bed Saturday night and end right after church got out. Now its changed from 6:00pm the night before until 5:00pm the next night. Those of you who do and are able to fast. I know you’re aware of how hungry you are all through out the day. You can’t get your mind off food. You grow tired and weak the longer you go without food. It’s the same way with the words of Christ! The longer we go without it the weaker and more tired we become spiritually. When we do go without it should be something we quickly recognize. We should hunger for it. We should want to take in as much as possible. So my friends and family, please feast on the words of Christ, don't fast. Build that habit of reading so when you accidentally do go without it you quickly recognize it.
Love, Elder Yeaman
Gated Houses
Aug. 17, 2010
Family and friends,
We got our car back yesterday. I loved being on bike. It was really tough, especially the big hills, but I enjoyed it. There are pros and cons to each one.
Food of the week: We made beans from scratch last Tuesday. and about everyday this week a made a smoothie which contained: 1 banana, 1 mango, 1 kiwi, frozen blueberries, orange juice and strawberry yogurt.
This week while knocking there was a man sitting outside his porch watching us go from door to door towards his house. My companion saw him and said "Ten dollars that man goes inside and closes the door when we get to the house before his. I replied, “No way”. As we went from door to door I continually prayed that his heart, whatever condition it was in would be soft enough to listen to the message we have to share. Each door we knocked on I was watching the man to see if he had gone inside. When we finally reached his door he invited us to sit down we talked to him a little bit and started teaching. His wife soon pulls up in the driveway and we invited her to join us. She does and as we continue to teach we discover that her husband has always turned anyone who comes to his door no matter what. He explains he's not really sure why he invited us to sit down. But I know it was because of the lord. They also don't live at that house, it's their brother's who passed away. They are there from time to time fixing up the place. He said we made it to first base and next time we see him there were welcome to try and make it second base.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "Baptism, the gate to the house of the Lord.”
Explanation: Baptism is often said to be the gates of heaven. Let’s compare it to a normal house today that has a gate in the front yard. Many houses in Cali have fences and gates around their yard. Baptism, is the gate. It is only the first step, once you get through the gates you still need to follow the path you’re on to get to the door. Just because you've been baptized doesn't mean you are home free. It’s very easy to walk around the house to the back yard, stay in the front yard or even to jump the gate from which you entered. But by staying on the path you’re on, you will make it to the door.
Love you all,
Elder Yeaman
Family and friends,
We got our car back yesterday. I loved being on bike. It was really tough, especially the big hills, but I enjoyed it. There are pros and cons to each one.
Food of the week: We made beans from scratch last Tuesday. and about everyday this week a made a smoothie which contained: 1 banana, 1 mango, 1 kiwi, frozen blueberries, orange juice and strawberry yogurt.
This week while knocking there was a man sitting outside his porch watching us go from door to door towards his house. My companion saw him and said "Ten dollars that man goes inside and closes the door when we get to the house before his. I replied, “No way”. As we went from door to door I continually prayed that his heart, whatever condition it was in would be soft enough to listen to the message we have to share. Each door we knocked on I was watching the man to see if he had gone inside. When we finally reached his door he invited us to sit down we talked to him a little bit and started teaching. His wife soon pulls up in the driveway and we invited her to join us. She does and as we continue to teach we discover that her husband has always turned anyone who comes to his door no matter what. He explains he's not really sure why he invited us to sit down. But I know it was because of the lord. They also don't live at that house, it's their brother's who passed away. They are there from time to time fixing up the place. He said we made it to first base and next time we see him there were welcome to try and make it second base.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "Baptism, the gate to the house of the Lord.”
Explanation: Baptism is often said to be the gates of heaven. Let’s compare it to a normal house today that has a gate in the front yard. Many houses in Cali have fences and gates around their yard. Baptism, is the gate. It is only the first step, once you get through the gates you still need to follow the path you’re on to get to the door. Just because you've been baptized doesn't mean you are home free. It’s very easy to walk around the house to the back yard, stay in the front yard or even to jump the gate from which you entered. But by staying on the path you’re on, you will make it to the door.
Love you all,
Elder Yeaman
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Aug 10, 2010
Family and Friends,
This week was great. Met a family who simply accepted everything we taught.
Yesterday I was on my bike all day because we had to take our car into the shop. It was great. I loved it! I just felt like I had more energy through out the day and was less tired when I woke up this morning. We’ll be on bike until Thursday or Friday. We're still in Whittier and so it's a hilly area. I loved it though. Yes we still run every morning.
Because we're on bike today, we plan to go get groceries, laundry and then stay in our apartment.
The LA temple just finished constructing their visitor’s center and the members have said it's really high-tech, like really high-tech. It would be nice to be able to go. Oh well.
Elder yeaman's quote of the week "Hand me downs; they just don't fit. "Explanation: Children develop certain genes from there parents. I inherited my father’s voice, my mother’s height, and many other wonderful abilities and talents. However, my mother new the times table and when I was born that wasn't something I was born with. My father knew how to cook but that wasn't something that I was born with either. Many things we have to learn through experience. Everyone knows how to drive a car, but that's not something you necessarily inherit from your family. In general conference there was a talk given by Elder Bednar and he talked about bearing your testimony spontaneously to your children. Like Lehi, his children didn't inherit his testimony and children today will never automatically inherit the testimony of their parents. They won't automatically inherit the desire to read from the scriptures! Just like the times table we won’t automatically learn it. However it can be learned. Elder Bednar gave us a list of three things we can do to prepare and help our children. However, won’t say what those three steps are. You’ll have to go back and read the talk. Its right before elder Holland’s talk “Room no more for the enemy of my soul”.
Love you all,
Elder Yeaman
This week was great. Met a family who simply accepted everything we taught.
Yesterday I was on my bike all day because we had to take our car into the shop. It was great. I loved it! I just felt like I had more energy through out the day and was less tired when I woke up this morning. We’ll be on bike until Thursday or Friday. We're still in Whittier and so it's a hilly area. I loved it though. Yes we still run every morning.
Because we're on bike today, we plan to go get groceries, laundry and then stay in our apartment.
The LA temple just finished constructing their visitor’s center and the members have said it's really high-tech, like really high-tech. It would be nice to be able to go. Oh well.
Elder yeaman's quote of the week "Hand me downs; they just don't fit. "Explanation: Children develop certain genes from there parents. I inherited my father’s voice, my mother’s height, and many other wonderful abilities and talents. However, my mother new the times table and when I was born that wasn't something I was born with. My father knew how to cook but that wasn't something that I was born with either. Many things we have to learn through experience. Everyone knows how to drive a car, but that's not something you necessarily inherit from your family. In general conference there was a talk given by Elder Bednar and he talked about bearing your testimony spontaneously to your children. Like Lehi, his children didn't inherit his testimony and children today will never automatically inherit the testimony of their parents. They won't automatically inherit the desire to read from the scriptures! Just like the times table we won’t automatically learn it. However it can be learned. Elder Bednar gave us a list of three things we can do to prepare and help our children. However, won’t say what those three steps are. You’ll have to go back and read the talk. Its right before elder Holland’s talk “Room no more for the enemy of my soul”.
Love you all,
Elder Yeaman
Aug 3, 2010
Crazy week! Hope you didn't send anything to the address I gave you!
Let’s start with Tuesday. Rode my bike for the first time and found out that it was not sent to me correctly assembled. Rode it and a bunch of things kept falling off and the bike fell apart. Surprisingly the pedals stayed on. Very frustrating to buy an expensive bike and not have it work. The lock they gave me has an attachment which holds it on the bike and that is broken as well. I think I would have been better off buying a bike from Wal-Mart. Also tore a pair of pants.
Wed, no longer in a trio They called me during our studies and told me I needed to re-pack all my stuff plus all the food I just bought on Tuesday. I’m was being transferred to another Elder. They had a problem with the companionship and so now I’m with one of the elders and the other elder got sent somewhere else into a different trio not the one I was in.
Thursday and today - Working on cleaning the apartment.
I was really looking forward to riding bike! But now I’m in a car. However one of the last Elders wrecked the car. So next week we will be riding bikes while it's in the shop.
The trio companionship was really fun for the day. Everyone here in the mission agrees and I was really looking forward to it.
I was excited to see what the Lord had in store for us being in a threesome. I know the Lord will bless me here as well.
Quote of the week: "A tithing of time" Explanation: Luke 18:12; genesis 14:20 say that wee need to give a tithing of all we have D&C say we need to give a tithing of our gain. However you look at it we always gain more time each se we live in one week there's something like 168 hour that week have. However for the most part we sleep and so there's about 112 hours we're awake. We’ll go ahead and round it so that 11 hours a week we should have devoted to the lord. 3 hours at church isn't enough. We need to be reading and praying and giving a tithing of our time. Everyone asks for more from us. We give more that 11 hours a week to our work more that 11 hours a week to our family. Hopefully not 11 hours to TV. When we take out a loan from the bank they ask much more from us then 10% interest I believe. Everyone uses up our time and our money hopefully we're not wasting the time that we do have. As you make time for the lord and if you are willing to give a tithe of time. The lord will help you accomplish everything you need to. 11 hours in one week seems like a lot however lets break it down. 3 hours at church brings it o 7 mutual/ home teaching/ visiting teaching will on average bring it down to 5.5 hours. Let’s say in one week we give 2 hours of service.3.5 we can read 30 min a day from scriptures and that would be it. However don't stop there! Fill your time with activities that will bring you closer to god. A tithing of ten percent is the minimal requirement. Do more;-)
Love you all,
Elder Yeaman
Let’s start with Tuesday. Rode my bike for the first time and found out that it was not sent to me correctly assembled. Rode it and a bunch of things kept falling off and the bike fell apart. Surprisingly the pedals stayed on. Very frustrating to buy an expensive bike and not have it work. The lock they gave me has an attachment which holds it on the bike and that is broken as well. I think I would have been better off buying a bike from Wal-Mart. Also tore a pair of pants.
Wed, no longer in a trio They called me during our studies and told me I needed to re-pack all my stuff plus all the food I just bought on Tuesday. I’m was being transferred to another Elder. They had a problem with the companionship and so now I’m with one of the elders and the other elder got sent somewhere else into a different trio not the one I was in.
Thursday and today - Working on cleaning the apartment.
I was really looking forward to riding bike! But now I’m in a car. However one of the last Elders wrecked the car. So next week we will be riding bikes while it's in the shop.
The trio companionship was really fun for the day. Everyone here in the mission agrees and I was really looking forward to it.
I was excited to see what the Lord had in store for us being in a threesome. I know the Lord will bless me here as well.
Quote of the week: "A tithing of time" Explanation: Luke 18:12; genesis 14:20 say that wee need to give a tithing of all we have D&C say we need to give a tithing of our gain. However you look at it we always gain more time each se we live in one week there's something like 168 hour that week have. However for the most part we sleep and so there's about 112 hours we're awake. We’ll go ahead and round it so that 11 hours a week we should have devoted to the lord. 3 hours at church isn't enough. We need to be reading and praying and giving a tithing of our time. Everyone asks for more from us. We give more that 11 hours a week to our work more that 11 hours a week to our family. Hopefully not 11 hours to TV. When we take out a loan from the bank they ask much more from us then 10% interest I believe. Everyone uses up our time and our money hopefully we're not wasting the time that we do have. As you make time for the lord and if you are willing to give a tithe of time. The lord will help you accomplish everything you need to. 11 hours in one week seems like a lot however lets break it down. 3 hours at church brings it o 7 mutual/ home teaching/ visiting teaching will on average bring it down to 5.5 hours. Let’s say in one week we give 2 hours of service.3.5 we can read 30 min a day from scriptures and that would be it. However don't stop there! Fill your time with activities that will bring you closer to god. A tithing of ten percent is the minimal requirement. Do more;-)
Love you all,
Elder Yeaman
July 5, 2010
Family and friends,
Great week! We met our new mission president and his family yesterday and everything seems like it will be great! We will miss President Sexton though. By the way did you know President Sexton is a professor at BYU-I? He’s going back to teach now that he's done with his mission.
I was going to send the memory stick home but I want to get pictures printed off first. However I need to go and buy an extension so it will fit into the computer thing at Walgreens.
I’m glad you had a great birthday party. What a crazy busy week. Hope you all had a great 4th! The 4th of July was crazy here. There were billions of fire works that were shot off. What the high schools do for a fundraiser here at the end of the year is sell fire works. They had a stand on every corner no joke and when the 4th of July came around it was dangerous to drive because there was so much firework smoke you could barely see. What was even crazier is from about 6:00pm till about 3:00am the entire place sounded like a war zone. It was really hard to talk to anybody because you had to yell really loud, half the people were drunk, and the other people were to busy playing with firework. So many people offered us fireworks and I wanted to light them off so bad but we told them we're not allowed to have them. It was fun though.
Food of the week: Last Tuesday I made a bunch of bread, and this time I let it rise! It’s amazing how much better it is when you let it rise a couple times for a couple hours! It was super good. I made plain bread, oat bread, and cinnamon raisin bread.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week: "Works without faith are dead"
Explanation: We often hear the phrase “faith with out works is dead”, which is so true and it's been explained a thousand times about how you need to act on your faith. However I’d like to focus on how work without faith is dead. It’s often easy to go and do something but not believe it's going to do you any good. With this attitude you can work hard but not get anything done. However, it's normally not to that extreme. Normally we do something within our comfort level of faith. We feel that we can do certain things with no problem because of our faith. But we're staying still. We’re not progressing in our faith and our comfort zone is limited. Lets compare it to stretching... within reason, when you go outside of your comfort zone when stretching, the next time you stretch you can stretch farther. If you can't touch your toes, stretch everyday and go as far as you can and hold it there and it'll start to hurt, but a good hurt. Within a week you'd be able to touch your toes. Next, try to go past your toes. What I’m getting at is: all too often we do things that are convenient to us that require some faith, but we're not growing from it. We’re not allowing ourselves to stretch. Just like stretching, it requires hard work constantly day by day. Going to church requires faith, but if you go to church every week it's like touching your nose for some. It doesn’t require that much faith. So how do we stretch from there? Take some one to church with you! If you feel that's stretching you too far, invite some one to church or ask the missionaries if anyone needs a ride and ask the bishop if anyone needs a ride. Paying tithing is something that hasn't always been easy for me but I was able to do it. How do we grow from that? There are people on the street with signs saying will work for food. You don't have to give them money just a loaf of bread or something. There’s ways to grow in every aspect but like stretching, we know we are stretching when we get to that uncomfortable part. If you don't know what I mean, try it now. Stretch as far as you can and you will feel when you get to that uncomfortable part. However when you stretch everyday for a week, you can now stretch just as far with out it feeling uncomfortable. Then you stretch farther. When we serve the lord, we will have to go out of our comfort level. By doing so, we will have a bigger/wider comfort level range. I leave with you this last thing. Do you feel like your stretching? Are you comfortable with where you are? If so, it's time to start stretching! If you don't know what more you can do, ask God and be prepared to be humbled.:-)
Elder Yeaman
Great week! We met our new mission president and his family yesterday and everything seems like it will be great! We will miss President Sexton though. By the way did you know President Sexton is a professor at BYU-I? He’s going back to teach now that he's done with his mission.
I was going to send the memory stick home but I want to get pictures printed off first. However I need to go and buy an extension so it will fit into the computer thing at Walgreens.
I’m glad you had a great birthday party. What a crazy busy week. Hope you all had a great 4th! The 4th of July was crazy here. There were billions of fire works that were shot off. What the high schools do for a fundraiser here at the end of the year is sell fire works. They had a stand on every corner no joke and when the 4th of July came around it was dangerous to drive because there was so much firework smoke you could barely see. What was even crazier is from about 6:00pm till about 3:00am the entire place sounded like a war zone. It was really hard to talk to anybody because you had to yell really loud, half the people were drunk, and the other people were to busy playing with firework. So many people offered us fireworks and I wanted to light them off so bad but we told them we're not allowed to have them. It was fun though.
Food of the week: Last Tuesday I made a bunch of bread, and this time I let it rise! It’s amazing how much better it is when you let it rise a couple times for a couple hours! It was super good. I made plain bread, oat bread, and cinnamon raisin bread.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week: "Works without faith are dead"
Explanation: We often hear the phrase “faith with out works is dead”, which is so true and it's been explained a thousand times about how you need to act on your faith. However I’d like to focus on how work without faith is dead. It’s often easy to go and do something but not believe it's going to do you any good. With this attitude you can work hard but not get anything done. However, it's normally not to that extreme. Normally we do something within our comfort level of faith. We feel that we can do certain things with no problem because of our faith. But we're staying still. We’re not progressing in our faith and our comfort zone is limited. Lets compare it to stretching... within reason, when you go outside of your comfort zone when stretching, the next time you stretch you can stretch farther. If you can't touch your toes, stretch everyday and go as far as you can and hold it there and it'll start to hurt, but a good hurt. Within a week you'd be able to touch your toes. Next, try to go past your toes. What I’m getting at is: all too often we do things that are convenient to us that require some faith, but we're not growing from it. We’re not allowing ourselves to stretch. Just like stretching, it requires hard work constantly day by day. Going to church requires faith, but if you go to church every week it's like touching your nose for some. It doesn’t require that much faith. So how do we stretch from there? Take some one to church with you! If you feel that's stretching you too far, invite some one to church or ask the missionaries if anyone needs a ride and ask the bishop if anyone needs a ride. Paying tithing is something that hasn't always been easy for me but I was able to do it. How do we grow from that? There are people on the street with signs saying will work for food. You don't have to give them money just a loaf of bread or something. There’s ways to grow in every aspect but like stretching, we know we are stretching when we get to that uncomfortable part. If you don't know what I mean, try it now. Stretch as far as you can and you will feel when you get to that uncomfortable part. However when you stretch everyday for a week, you can now stretch just as far with out it feeling uncomfortable. Then you stretch farther. When we serve the lord, we will have to go out of our comfort level. By doing so, we will have a bigger/wider comfort level range. I leave with you this last thing. Do you feel like your stretching? Are you comfortable with where you are? If so, it's time to start stretching! If you don't know what more you can do, ask God and be prepared to be humbled.:-)
Elder Yeaman
July 27, 2010
Family and friends,
I've been transferred. I’m now on bike with Elder Solis and Elder Yellowhorse as my companions. Yes I have two companions and we're on bike in a very hilly area. It’s very unusual that there is a trio on bike. But I’m excited. Don’t know much about the area I can't wait to get to know it. Elder Solis is from Peru and Elder Yellowhorse from Utah. We've all been out about the same time.
Plans for today are unpack! It’s weird moving apartments!
Elder Yeaman’s thought of the week: to be continued. Explanation: crazy week and once I found out I was leaving it was hard to think straight. Don’t have a good one to share yet.
Don’t know what else to right about sorry it's short. Love you all
Elder yeaman
I've been transferred. I’m now on bike with Elder Solis and Elder Yellowhorse as my companions. Yes I have two companions and we're on bike in a very hilly area. It’s very unusual that there is a trio on bike. But I’m excited. Don’t know much about the area I can't wait to get to know it. Elder Solis is from Peru and Elder Yellowhorse from Utah. We've all been out about the same time.
Plans for today are unpack! It’s weird moving apartments!
Elder Yeaman’s thought of the week: to be continued. Explanation: crazy week and once I found out I was leaving it was hard to think straight. Don’t have a good one to share yet.
Don’t know what else to right about sorry it's short. Love you all
Elder yeaman
July 13, 2010
Family and friends,
Our new mission president’s name is President Bubert. pronounced Be--oo--bert. He has a big family he brought out here with him. He and his wife want to serve 5 different missions together. I thought that was cool. He’s really nice and a lot different then President Sexton. Not in a good or bad way. They’re just different.
Long week. We worked super hard and had everything set up for a baptism. We made a bunch of phone calls and finally had the baptism program finished at 8:45 the night before. We were supposed to have the baptism the following morning. Everyone was ready for the baptism and everything was done but the person who was supposed to be baptized went missing and we haven't been able to get a hold of her. We stopped by her home and called her 1000 times but we can’t find her. Crazy week.
The bread was good and I made a bunch so I put them in bags and at the end of the week after I finished a second loaf, I went for the next one and it had mold all over it. I thought it molded pretty quickly. I guess I should have frozen the stuff I didn't eat right away. Maybe because it doesn't have a lot of preservatives in it? Today I won't be cooking. We have a zone activity which I’m so excited for. Normally I’d go out with a few other elders on p-day to go play basketball but Elder Nielsen just got back from surgery and can't do anything like that. It doesn't bother me at all, but it's just nice to go and do some type of sport. We’ll be playing dodge ball today! I miss swimming by the way. Just thought I’d throw that in there. Sometimes you just get a whiff of air that smells like pool/ocean water and it smells so good!
Food of the week: there's a member that is amazing in our ward. In his house lives him and his wife, his two daughters, one of his daughters is married and has 4 children. The house isn't super big, but every week for the past five weeks they feed all four of the missionaries in the ward. (The sisters and us). Amazing family!
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "It's the thought that counts but in reality it doesn't matter. Explanation. In general conference Elder Ballard quoted a quote from some one that said "What you do is so loud I cannot hear your words." Normally the saying, "It's the thought that counts" refers to the effort you put into your thought. Like when we make a card for mother’s day it's the effort that matters. I can think about making a card and get nothing done. It’s what you do! We live in a world today where people think about reading the Bible or Book of Mormon, think about cleaning the house, or think about how bad the government is. But thinking isn't going to get you anywhere if you don't act on it. The reason Satan is winning the hearts of so many people is because he is working so hard. He thinks about what to do to make us fall and then he acts on it. So to fight off the power of the adversary we need to think and act as well. It’s a two way battle. There's another quote I heard I don't remember where but it says something like: God's not mad at people because they do bad things, he's mad because they don't care and aren't willing to do anything about it. All God wants us to do is try our hardest and he's promised that he'll make up for the rest and he'll help us through our lives.
Love you all,
Elder yeaman
Our new mission president’s name is President Bubert. pronounced Be--oo--bert. He has a big family he brought out here with him. He and his wife want to serve 5 different missions together. I thought that was cool. He’s really nice and a lot different then President Sexton. Not in a good or bad way. They’re just different.
Long week. We worked super hard and had everything set up for a baptism. We made a bunch of phone calls and finally had the baptism program finished at 8:45 the night before. We were supposed to have the baptism the following morning. Everyone was ready for the baptism and everything was done but the person who was supposed to be baptized went missing and we haven't been able to get a hold of her. We stopped by her home and called her 1000 times but we can’t find her. Crazy week.
The bread was good and I made a bunch so I put them in bags and at the end of the week after I finished a second loaf, I went for the next one and it had mold all over it. I thought it molded pretty quickly. I guess I should have frozen the stuff I didn't eat right away. Maybe because it doesn't have a lot of preservatives in it? Today I won't be cooking. We have a zone activity which I’m so excited for. Normally I’d go out with a few other elders on p-day to go play basketball but Elder Nielsen just got back from surgery and can't do anything like that. It doesn't bother me at all, but it's just nice to go and do some type of sport. We’ll be playing dodge ball today! I miss swimming by the way. Just thought I’d throw that in there. Sometimes you just get a whiff of air that smells like pool/ocean water and it smells so good!
Food of the week: there's a member that is amazing in our ward. In his house lives him and his wife, his two daughters, one of his daughters is married and has 4 children. The house isn't super big, but every week for the past five weeks they feed all four of the missionaries in the ward. (The sisters and us). Amazing family!
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "It's the thought that counts but in reality it doesn't matter. Explanation. In general conference Elder Ballard quoted a quote from some one that said "What you do is so loud I cannot hear your words." Normally the saying, "It's the thought that counts" refers to the effort you put into your thought. Like when we make a card for mother’s day it's the effort that matters. I can think about making a card and get nothing done. It’s what you do! We live in a world today where people think about reading the Bible or Book of Mormon, think about cleaning the house, or think about how bad the government is. But thinking isn't going to get you anywhere if you don't act on it. The reason Satan is winning the hearts of so many people is because he is working so hard. He thinks about what to do to make us fall and then he acts on it. So to fight off the power of the adversary we need to think and act as well. It’s a two way battle. There's another quote I heard I don't remember where but it says something like: God's not mad at people because they do bad things, he's mad because they don't care and aren't willing to do anything about it. All God wants us to do is try our hardest and he's promised that he'll make up for the rest and he'll help us through our lives.
Love you all,
Elder yeaman
July 20, 2010
Dear family and friends,
This week is great! Very busy and we have some great investigators. There’s so many ways to come across different people and we keep finding different ways to find people. Transfers are next Tuesday so don't send anything to the apartment after Wed. I’ve been here a long time so there's a good chance that I’m leaving. But I don't feel like I am yet. My brain says I’m leaving because you normally don't stay in an area, especially your first area longer than four months. But I don't feel like I’ll be transferred completely. I’ve had thoughts to where I’ll go if I do leave but nothing to different from before.
Yes we found the missing girl who was supposed to be baptized and hopefully everything works out. She went to the hospital for a bunch of reasons and it's a long story.
The zone activity was great last week. It was so much fun. We played a bunch of different versions of dongeball everyone’s favorite was medic! Everyone left fine but this whole week everyone had sore shoulders. Mine is still sore from all the throwing we did.
Christopher! Great job with swimming! That’s so cool!
School starts Monday? That’s crazy. It feels like they just got out. Well they did just get out of school in Cali, about 2 weeks ago I think.
Nothing big planned for today
Food of the week: We went to a member for a dinner appointment and had lasagna and he also made a bunch extra and so he sent a pan of lasagna home with us! Yum
Elder Yeaman’s thought of the week: Share the oranges with those you love from off your tree" Explanation: In Preach My Gospel there's a bunch of great quotes. At the end of chapter one in Preach My Gospel there's a quote from one of the prophets who say making it back to the presence of God will depend on what we've done to share the Gospel with others. In chapter nine under working with members President Hinckley has said the ideal situation would be having members invite others to learn, having the missionaries teach them in the member’s home and have the member testify. That would be such a better use of the missionary’s time. President Hinckley said in the same chapter, that if members did invited people to listen to the Gospel. There would be many more baptisms, resent converts would stay active. Now right off the bat some people would take offence if you did invite them to read the Book of Mormon or listen to the missionaries. You don't have to do that to invite people. Depending on the person, you might or may not. In 1 Nephi chapter 8 Lehi explains about the fruit. The fruit is the love of God and is desirable above any other fruit. It will make you happy if you partake of it. Why wouldn't you want to help those around to be happy? Share the fruit! Any way you can. It will bless your life and the life of those whom you share it with. If you knew your salvation solely depended on sharing the Gospel what more would you be willing to do? Please do anything you can to help the missionaries. This week we had a member come up and offer to help out at a baptism. That’s the way it should be I was so grateful for that member and her willingness to help out. We spend so much time planning! So much! Baptisms take a long time to set up when members don't call you back right away or when many members say no. Missionaries are supposed to help the members do THEIR missionary work. However this member who offered to help us is doing her missionary work. We help them all we can but they don't need it because they're doing it. If that make sense. I guess what I mean to say it is much easier to help members do their missionary work when they want to do it as well.
Love Elder Yeaman
This week is great! Very busy and we have some great investigators. There’s so many ways to come across different people and we keep finding different ways to find people. Transfers are next Tuesday so don't send anything to the apartment after Wed. I’ve been here a long time so there's a good chance that I’m leaving. But I don't feel like I am yet. My brain says I’m leaving because you normally don't stay in an area, especially your first area longer than four months. But I don't feel like I’ll be transferred completely. I’ve had thoughts to where I’ll go if I do leave but nothing to different from before.
Yes we found the missing girl who was supposed to be baptized and hopefully everything works out. She went to the hospital for a bunch of reasons and it's a long story.
The zone activity was great last week. It was so much fun. We played a bunch of different versions of dongeball everyone’s favorite was medic! Everyone left fine but this whole week everyone had sore shoulders. Mine is still sore from all the throwing we did.
Christopher! Great job with swimming! That’s so cool!
School starts Monday? That’s crazy. It feels like they just got out. Well they did just get out of school in Cali, about 2 weeks ago I think.
Nothing big planned for today
Food of the week: We went to a member for a dinner appointment and had lasagna and he also made a bunch extra and so he sent a pan of lasagna home with us! Yum
Elder Yeaman’s thought of the week: Share the oranges with those you love from off your tree" Explanation: In Preach My Gospel there's a bunch of great quotes. At the end of chapter one in Preach My Gospel there's a quote from one of the prophets who say making it back to the presence of God will depend on what we've done to share the Gospel with others. In chapter nine under working with members President Hinckley has said the ideal situation would be having members invite others to learn, having the missionaries teach them in the member’s home and have the member testify. That would be such a better use of the missionary’s time. President Hinckley said in the same chapter, that if members did invited people to listen to the Gospel. There would be many more baptisms, resent converts would stay active. Now right off the bat some people would take offence if you did invite them to read the Book of Mormon or listen to the missionaries. You don't have to do that to invite people. Depending on the person, you might or may not. In 1 Nephi chapter 8 Lehi explains about the fruit. The fruit is the love of God and is desirable above any other fruit. It will make you happy if you partake of it. Why wouldn't you want to help those around to be happy? Share the fruit! Any way you can. It will bless your life and the life of those whom you share it with. If you knew your salvation solely depended on sharing the Gospel what more would you be willing to do? Please do anything you can to help the missionaries. This week we had a member come up and offer to help out at a baptism. That’s the way it should be I was so grateful for that member and her willingness to help out. We spend so much time planning! So much! Baptisms take a long time to set up when members don't call you back right away or when many members say no. Missionaries are supposed to help the members do THEIR missionary work. However this member who offered to help us is doing her missionary work. We help them all we can but they don't need it because they're doing it. If that make sense. I guess what I mean to say it is much easier to help members do their missionary work when they want to do it as well.
Love Elder Yeaman
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Jun 29, 2010
Dear family and friends,
This week was great. Worked hard and found some new people to teach as always. A lot of knocking and some great ideas for the future. Elder Nielsen is great. He is a hard worker and very motivated. He’s been out just as long as I have.
To get the phones straightened out took just a day. Everyone found out whose phone they had, put a sticky note on the phone and gave it to our leaders who went to the mission office and the leaders found the ones with the names of the people in their area and delivered them back to us. It was crazy though.
Good job Chris on your swimming time! That’s so good!
Wow Florida and North Carolina will be great fun! One of the sisters that I work with is from Florida. Tell Ryan and Mitch congratulations!
Thank you so much for the package! The cd's are amazing and we only listen to the Spanish cds in the car. We listen to the other cd's at the apartment. I figured you learn how to speak English by listening to what other people say so I’m going to listen to the Spanish cd's in the car over and over and over and hopefully that will help with learning Spanish. Thanks for the gushers and the fhe supplies and everything else.
Elder Yeaman's food of the week: This week the ward had a bbq and we got to go. I ate so much meat and it was so good! I had ribs, chicken, cheese burger, and a bunch of other food. It was great! I also bought bananas last week and had bananas and cheerios for breakfast everyday. So good!
Have fun in Idaho. Be safe and play with a bunch of fireworks.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week: "Leave a Lasting Impression" Explanation: I’ve been in this area for a while and I’ve knocked on a lot of doors as most missionaries do. When we talk to someone, whereever it may be, we invite them to learn and anyone they know to learn and then ask if they need help with anything. Many times when someone answers the door they do it very rudely and say anything they can to get us mad. We don't get the chance to invite them to learn but we do have enough time to simply say, "Well is there anything you need help with? We can do yard work for you or wash the dishes or paint the walls or I can even watch my companion clean your bathroom for you." Not all the time but 85% of the time their attitude is changed completely. I often think of the expression kill them with kindness. People think all we want to do is shove religion down their throat. That’s not our purpose as missionaries. We are called to serve, not called to shove religion down someone’s throat. We serve however we can, the best we can because that's what we know Jesus wants us to do. You can serve in many different ways and one of the many ways that we do serve is by helping people come closer to Christ. If they don't accept that, then there are other ways to serve them. Many times this past couple of weeks, when we have talked to people they have said "You’re Mormon aren't you? Ya I heard you guys are here to help people with things they need help with". How do they know that? Because someone, missionary or member, left a lasting impression on a person who then told other people about it as well.
Love Elder Yeaman
This week was great. Worked hard and found some new people to teach as always. A lot of knocking and some great ideas for the future. Elder Nielsen is great. He is a hard worker and very motivated. He’s been out just as long as I have.
To get the phones straightened out took just a day. Everyone found out whose phone they had, put a sticky note on the phone and gave it to our leaders who went to the mission office and the leaders found the ones with the names of the people in their area and delivered them back to us. It was crazy though.
Good job Chris on your swimming time! That’s so good!
Wow Florida and North Carolina will be great fun! One of the sisters that I work with is from Florida. Tell Ryan and Mitch congratulations!
Thank you so much for the package! The cd's are amazing and we only listen to the Spanish cds in the car. We listen to the other cd's at the apartment. I figured you learn how to speak English by listening to what other people say so I’m going to listen to the Spanish cd's in the car over and over and over and hopefully that will help with learning Spanish. Thanks for the gushers and the fhe supplies and everything else.
Elder Yeaman's food of the week: This week the ward had a bbq and we got to go. I ate so much meat and it was so good! I had ribs, chicken, cheese burger, and a bunch of other food. It was great! I also bought bananas last week and had bananas and cheerios for breakfast everyday. So good!
Have fun in Idaho. Be safe and play with a bunch of fireworks.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week: "Leave a Lasting Impression" Explanation: I’ve been in this area for a while and I’ve knocked on a lot of doors as most missionaries do. When we talk to someone, whereever it may be, we invite them to learn and anyone they know to learn and then ask if they need help with anything. Many times when someone answers the door they do it very rudely and say anything they can to get us mad. We don't get the chance to invite them to learn but we do have enough time to simply say, "Well is there anything you need help with? We can do yard work for you or wash the dishes or paint the walls or I can even watch my companion clean your bathroom for you." Not all the time but 85% of the time their attitude is changed completely. I often think of the expression kill them with kindness. People think all we want to do is shove religion down their throat. That’s not our purpose as missionaries. We are called to serve, not called to shove religion down someone’s throat. We serve however we can, the best we can because that's what we know Jesus wants us to do. You can serve in many different ways and one of the many ways that we do serve is by helping people come closer to Christ. If they don't accept that, then there are other ways to serve them. Many times this past couple of weeks, when we have talked to people they have said "You’re Mormon aren't you? Ya I heard you guys are here to help people with things they need help with". How do they know that? Because someone, missionary or member, left a lasting impression on a person who then told other people about it as well.
Love Elder Yeaman
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
June 22, 2010
Dear family and friends
This week was/is great of course. Lots of hard work and many things to look forward to. My new companion just came back from having surgery on his knee. He was medically released for 3 months. This is his is first time back out. He’s from Washington in the Washington Everest Mission.
The phones are fixed.
The new mission president comes at the beginning of July.
Food of the week: This week we went to Hometown Buffet. Which was delicious and then last night a member bought a bunch of subway sandwiches and cookies and stuff and gave them to us. So for lunch and dinner we will be having subway. Also, last week I gave into the temptation and bought nestle cookie dough. mmmmmmm. Delicious!
Elder yeaman's quote of the week "ask not receive not"
Explanation: Growing up my parent provided me with the things that most parents provide for there children: food, clothes, shelter, ect. My parents also gave me many other things that I am truly grateful for. However most of the time, when I wanted something more than what I had, I would ask for it. For instance my mother had a cooking schedule. She, for the most part, planned out what she was going to cook for the week/month. and that's what she would cook. and then, I decided I really like lasagna. so I asked for it. Now she didn't immediately make it, sometimes she would move it up on the schedule. But she had to plan for it, buy certain things at the store, and planned when she would cook it. It wasn't something I got right away. Same thing with clothes or toys. I didn't receive everything the minute I asked for it. Many times I would have to wait till my birthday or Christmas to receive something I asked for. Other times I wouldn't receive it because it wasn't something that would benefit me in any way. Pray works the same way! We need to ask God for things that we need. He won't make it happen immediately but he plans the perfect time to give it to us. He plans ways that we receive answers to our prayers and we don't always receive immediately. Sometimes we have to wait till Christmas or when God feels it is the best time to give it to us. However, we have to ask. If I didn't ask for lasagna it would have been a longer amount of time before my mom made it. God gives us some blessings hands down with out asking just like our parent give us clothes or food. But there so much more that we can have through prayer. Very rarely did my dad just walk up to me and hand me twenty dollars. I would ask him can I have 20 dollars to go to the movies he would ask if I've kept the commandments (is your room clean? yard finished? bed made? Sunday clothes ready?) and then, sometimes, and only sometime he would give me the money. Look up in the bible dictionary prayer and it says sometimes receiving something is dependant on whether we ask for it or not. God wants to give us blessings just like my dad didn't mind me asking for money, sometimes. It was all conditional on whether I asked for it or not. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. We have to do something, we have to SEEK, ASK, KNOCK and THEN God provides a way.
Elder Yeaman
This week was/is great of course. Lots of hard work and many things to look forward to. My new companion just came back from having surgery on his knee. He was medically released for 3 months. This is his is first time back out. He’s from Washington in the Washington Everest Mission.
The phones are fixed.
The new mission president comes at the beginning of July.
Food of the week: This week we went to Hometown Buffet. Which was delicious and then last night a member bought a bunch of subway sandwiches and cookies and stuff and gave them to us. So for lunch and dinner we will be having subway. Also, last week I gave into the temptation and bought nestle cookie dough. mmmmmmm. Delicious!
Elder yeaman's quote of the week "ask not receive not"
Explanation: Growing up my parent provided me with the things that most parents provide for there children: food, clothes, shelter, ect. My parents also gave me many other things that I am truly grateful for. However most of the time, when I wanted something more than what I had, I would ask for it. For instance my mother had a cooking schedule. She, for the most part, planned out what she was going to cook for the week/month. and that's what she would cook. and then, I decided I really like lasagna. so I asked for it. Now she didn't immediately make it, sometimes she would move it up on the schedule. But she had to plan for it, buy certain things at the store, and planned when she would cook it. It wasn't something I got right away. Same thing with clothes or toys. I didn't receive everything the minute I asked for it. Many times I would have to wait till my birthday or Christmas to receive something I asked for. Other times I wouldn't receive it because it wasn't something that would benefit me in any way. Pray works the same way! We need to ask God for things that we need. He won't make it happen immediately but he plans the perfect time to give it to us. He plans ways that we receive answers to our prayers and we don't always receive immediately. Sometimes we have to wait till Christmas or when God feels it is the best time to give it to us. However, we have to ask. If I didn't ask for lasagna it would have been a longer amount of time before my mom made it. God gives us some blessings hands down with out asking just like our parent give us clothes or food. But there so much more that we can have through prayer. Very rarely did my dad just walk up to me and hand me twenty dollars. I would ask him can I have 20 dollars to go to the movies he would ask if I've kept the commandments (is your room clean? yard finished? bed made? Sunday clothes ready?) and then, sometimes, and only sometime he would give me the money. Look up in the bible dictionary prayer and it says sometimes receiving something is dependant on whether we ask for it or not. God wants to give us blessings just like my dad didn't mind me asking for money, sometimes. It was all conditional on whether I asked for it or not. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. We have to do something, we have to SEEK, ASK, KNOCK and THEN God provides a way.
Elder Yeaman
June 15, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
I received the package this week. Thank you so much. Just a reminder I switched back to my old apartment. The sisters received my package and I got it a couple days later. But thank you so much and yes I would like you to send me the next conference ensign as well.
This week was good and a little strange. Right now I have no companion and I didn't have one yesterday either. To start off the story, we all received new phones on Sunday. We activated them Monday morning with our same numbers and contacts in them, However when we activated them we came to find out that everyone had someone else’s phone. (When I say someone else I mean other missionaries) So no one could contact anyone because all the phones were mixed up. Then the missionaries that I live with took Elder Rico and I to the Presidents home to drop off Elder Rico and then they left. I was with President and Rico but they said I was supposed to go with the other elders and they didn't have a way to contact them because of the phone confusion. President finally contacted the zone leaders to come and pick me up and take me back to my apartment before the other missionaries I live with left for the day. President had to leave with Elder Rico and so he told me that I would have to be alone in the house until the zone leaders came to pick me up. He left and I was alone for about 20 min. The zone leaders came and I spent the day with the other elders in there area. Since today is transfers, my companion flies in at three o clock today and I will meet him at the airport. Yes I’m still in my same area and my new companion is Elder Nielsen.
Christopher! Good job on the swim meet. You better keep practicing so when I get home we can race. I think you'll be fast enough to beat me.
Food for the week: No sadly enough I didn't go to Lee's Sandwiches this week. However, one of the members pointed it out to me and offered to take us there when he get's back from Korea. He was in the war and gets to go visit there for free. No big-time cooking just a little here and there. FYI I have only eaten top ramen once and macaroni and cheese once so far. We can take our food at transfers but I’m not transferring and so I’m good. Yes the blueberry muffin was in one piece and it's gone! Thanks. Oh and the fruity pebbles lasted half a day. Thanks. My companion and roommates thought the pears were good but if you get a chance, try them. They’re nothing compared to home canned pears. But thanks for sending them. They were good.
My favorite thing in the package was either the conference talks or the dried mangos.
This week was tough because it's hot and I saw a bunch of people swimming and I knew I would miss it but I didn't know how much. I think it's quite funny cause I just kept thinking "I couldn't get in trouble if I accidentally fell in" or “if someone would only drown, then I could jump in and save them." lol
Please try and find family home evening activity ideas and send them to me. We’ve been having family home evening with one of the families that were recently baptized and last Monday night we played DON'T EAT PETE! We’ve played quite a few other games but I’m running out of activity ideas. I think you have a filing cabinet full of them and so just a couple activities that you could do for fhe would be great. Thanks
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "The spirit of God is like a river of knowledge"
It never stops, continually flows and there's too much to take in. Through out my mission so far I have seen the gift of tongue work on many missionaries. Many have been able to pick up the language very quick. I have come to realize that the lord blesses people with the language in many different ways. For some it is given to them just like it is in the scriptures, for others they'll be put in a Spanish ward and surrounded with it. However for me I feel like I’m being blessed in a different way then many. I come to realize that as I plan on things I want to study for the week, ideas pop into my head about different ways to study and the topics I need to study, and how to study. Some of the ways I remember things are weird but they work for me and I feel as though that is how I’ve been blessed with the gift of tongues. Patinar means to skate and I remember it because when you skate fast you swing your arms fast and they look like they're hitting your legs or you're patting your legs. I have a bunch things that I’m doing to help me remember words and that's how I’ve been blessed.
Love you all, Elder yeaman
I received the package this week. Thank you so much. Just a reminder I switched back to my old apartment. The sisters received my package and I got it a couple days later. But thank you so much and yes I would like you to send me the next conference ensign as well.
This week was good and a little strange. Right now I have no companion and I didn't have one yesterday either. To start off the story, we all received new phones on Sunday. We activated them Monday morning with our same numbers and contacts in them, However when we activated them we came to find out that everyone had someone else’s phone. (When I say someone else I mean other missionaries) So no one could contact anyone because all the phones were mixed up. Then the missionaries that I live with took Elder Rico and I to the Presidents home to drop off Elder Rico and then they left. I was with President and Rico but they said I was supposed to go with the other elders and they didn't have a way to contact them because of the phone confusion. President finally contacted the zone leaders to come and pick me up and take me back to my apartment before the other missionaries I live with left for the day. President had to leave with Elder Rico and so he told me that I would have to be alone in the house until the zone leaders came to pick me up. He left and I was alone for about 20 min. The zone leaders came and I spent the day with the other elders in there area. Since today is transfers, my companion flies in at three o clock today and I will meet him at the airport. Yes I’m still in my same area and my new companion is Elder Nielsen.
Christopher! Good job on the swim meet. You better keep practicing so when I get home we can race. I think you'll be fast enough to beat me.
Food for the week: No sadly enough I didn't go to Lee's Sandwiches this week. However, one of the members pointed it out to me and offered to take us there when he get's back from Korea. He was in the war and gets to go visit there for free. No big-time cooking just a little here and there. FYI I have only eaten top ramen once and macaroni and cheese once so far. We can take our food at transfers but I’m not transferring and so I’m good. Yes the blueberry muffin was in one piece and it's gone! Thanks. Oh and the fruity pebbles lasted half a day. Thanks. My companion and roommates thought the pears were good but if you get a chance, try them. They’re nothing compared to home canned pears. But thanks for sending them. They were good.
My favorite thing in the package was either the conference talks or the dried mangos.
This week was tough because it's hot and I saw a bunch of people swimming and I knew I would miss it but I didn't know how much. I think it's quite funny cause I just kept thinking "I couldn't get in trouble if I accidentally fell in" or “if someone would only drown, then I could jump in and save them." lol
Please try and find family home evening activity ideas and send them to me. We’ve been having family home evening with one of the families that were recently baptized and last Monday night we played DON'T EAT PETE! We’ve played quite a few other games but I’m running out of activity ideas. I think you have a filing cabinet full of them and so just a couple activities that you could do for fhe would be great. Thanks
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "The spirit of God is like a river of knowledge"
It never stops, continually flows and there's too much to take in. Through out my mission so far I have seen the gift of tongue work on many missionaries. Many have been able to pick up the language very quick. I have come to realize that the lord blesses people with the language in many different ways. For some it is given to them just like it is in the scriptures, for others they'll be put in a Spanish ward and surrounded with it. However for me I feel like I’m being blessed in a different way then many. I come to realize that as I plan on things I want to study for the week, ideas pop into my head about different ways to study and the topics I need to study, and how to study. Some of the ways I remember things are weird but they work for me and I feel as though that is how I’ve been blessed with the gift of tongues. Patinar means to skate and I remember it because when you skate fast you swing your arms fast and they look like they're hitting your legs or you're patting your legs. I have a bunch things that I’m doing to help me remember words and that's how I’ve been blessed.
Love you all, Elder yeaman
June 8, 2010
Again we worked super hard to get investigators to church but they all pulled out at last minute. We were going to have 9 investigators at church we even went over with pots and pans. Their parents let us inside the house and we hit them with spoons to wake them up. They gave us permission to do that earlier in the week but they didn't think we would really do it. However they will come this week... we told them about buckets of ice water.
Food for the week: The strawberry sale is over and I didn't have cream cheese so I ate them plain but they were still good. Out of pizza now, but there is a Lee’s Sandwiches just around the corner from our apartment. I can't wait to try it. In the apartment there's a bunch of free-be food like flour and stuff that was left from the other elders and then we all buy our own food. I normally buy the most food in the first week and in bulk so I have a variety and then a little here or there so it'll last me the month.
How did they like camping? Did dad bring his buggy? Chris’s quad? One of the members in the ward owns his own business where he builds custom sand rails. He even looks like dad.
Happy birthday Mikayla!!!
At the MTC I only got a few and I don't remember what they're called. Also if you find BYU men's chorus on cd that would be awesome I miss the choral music and they have some good church songs. Don’t spend a lot of money on the cds. I was just seeing if there were any extra ones around the house or if Josh already had them and could burn me a copy. If not don't worry about it.
Congratulations on your coaching Shane! I know you'll do great. If you have any ideas about something let Denise know. She likes your input.
This week while knocking I ran into a less active member who is a mix between dad and Uncle Ken. He’s done a lot with the missionaries and I think he is hilarious. We’re going to try to get him back to church.
Transfers are not today but this upcoming Tuesday. I am 110% sure I’ll be in this same area, same apartment. This will be my fourth transfer in the same area. It’ll be hard when I do leave. By the time I’m done with this transfer I will have been in this area, Cerritos first ward, for 6 months. Crazy huh
Quote of the week: Forgot to think of one through out the week but...Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: “Cease to be idol cease to be unclean cease to find fault one with another..." when you have a relationship with someone, whether it be a father-son, brother-sister, husband-wife . . .ect, you can't base it off the faults of the other. We should be striving to see how we can improve ourselves, or how to deal with certain situations. We have visited many families where they never talk about themselves but rather what the rest of there family is doing wrong. It never a pleasant environment. Mainly, just look for the good in people and let only positive words leave your mouth. siempre! no aveces!
Till next time,
Elder Yeman, or Jayman, Ye ahman, Yoman, Yaman, (how people try to say the last name)
Food for the week: The strawberry sale is over and I didn't have cream cheese so I ate them plain but they were still good. Out of pizza now, but there is a Lee’s Sandwiches just around the corner from our apartment. I can't wait to try it. In the apartment there's a bunch of free-be food like flour and stuff that was left from the other elders and then we all buy our own food. I normally buy the most food in the first week and in bulk so I have a variety and then a little here or there so it'll last me the month.
How did they like camping? Did dad bring his buggy? Chris’s quad? One of the members in the ward owns his own business where he builds custom sand rails. He even looks like dad.
Happy birthday Mikayla!!!
At the MTC I only got a few and I don't remember what they're called. Also if you find BYU men's chorus on cd that would be awesome I miss the choral music and they have some good church songs. Don’t spend a lot of money on the cds. I was just seeing if there were any extra ones around the house or if Josh already had them and could burn me a copy. If not don't worry about it.
Congratulations on your coaching Shane! I know you'll do great. If you have any ideas about something let Denise know. She likes your input.
This week while knocking I ran into a less active member who is a mix between dad and Uncle Ken. He’s done a lot with the missionaries and I think he is hilarious. We’re going to try to get him back to church.
Transfers are not today but this upcoming Tuesday. I am 110% sure I’ll be in this same area, same apartment. This will be my fourth transfer in the same area. It’ll be hard when I do leave. By the time I’m done with this transfer I will have been in this area, Cerritos first ward, for 6 months. Crazy huh
Quote of the week: Forgot to think of one through out the week but...Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: “Cease to be idol cease to be unclean cease to find fault one with another..." when you have a relationship with someone, whether it be a father-son, brother-sister, husband-wife . . .ect, you can't base it off the faults of the other. We should be striving to see how we can improve ourselves, or how to deal with certain situations. We have visited many families where they never talk about themselves but rather what the rest of there family is doing wrong. It never a pleasant environment. Mainly, just look for the good in people and let only positive words leave your mouth. siempre! no aveces!
Till next time,
Elder Yeman, or Jayman, Ye ahman, Yoman, Yaman, (how people try to say the last name)
Monday, June 7, 2010
June 1, 2010
Family and friends, this has been a great month. We’ve worked really hard and the week flew by like no other.
To answer your question about having to be cleared. It’s a lot of work for them to get approved for baptism. One of the things like you mention is they have to go to church every week to show that they really are interested. We do have more people to teach this week so that will be good.
Food: It's strawberry season out here in Cali and you can buy them pretty cheap. Right now it's 4 lbs for four dollars! However, the oranges out here aren't that great. The store bought oranges are a joke and the ones the members give you off their tree aren't nearly as good as the tree we have in our backyard. The pizza I made was super good. I made two Hawaiian and Pepperoni. I’m still working on eating them. This week I also learned about food storage. Make sure you look up "mike sell" on you tube. He is a member of the church and has great ideas about food storage and about freeze dried food that will last you 15 years and it costs three dollars for a family meal. I don't know what all is on there but he gave a great talk so make sure you look him up.
Our talks were great. I’ll send it home because I think it looks funny just the way I had to do it. Before my mission I thought a twenty minute talk would be so hard. I had one before I left but that took forever to prepare. Now I think it's difficult to keep it under 20 minutes. I thought that was funny. You asked how many wards we cover. My companion and I only cover half of Cerritos first ward and that’s it. The sister missionaries cover the other half.
Yesterday the ward had a Memorial Day breakfast and no we couldn't go. We had to do our studies. And we knocked on a lot of doors and found people having a BBQ but we didn't have one.
We only go to the temple once every six months and we just went so I won't be going for a while. Good job on the temple work.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week "I don't need your help, my god will save me".
Explanation: Before my mission I have heard the story about how there was someone out in the middle of the ocean drowning and a lifeguard came up and and the person drowning said I don't need your help my god will save me. and then a boat comes and throws a rescue tube out but the person drowning doesn't grab it but says don't help me my god will save me and then a helicopter comes by and drops a rope down to them but once again they say don't help me, my god will save me. So this person drowns, and asks God "Why didn't you save me?" and God says" What do you mean I sent a lifeguard, a boa,t and a helicopter to you." I thought no one is that unintelligent and that would never happen. However, out here in Cali, many people say, “I believe in God and that's all I need to do to be saved. I don't need to know him, or do anything, just believe. What about the scripture faith without works is dead? It does say all will be saved but it is interpreted into all who came to earth will receive a resurrected body. It is only through grace that we're saved after we have done everything we can. So, in a way those who say "I just need to love god to be saved" are right. The scripture, if ye love me keep my commandment. And so to show that you love god keep the commandment and you will be saved. Does that make sense? I’m a slow typer so can't type everything I’d like but that's it for now.
Elder Yeaman.
To answer your question about having to be cleared. It’s a lot of work for them to get approved for baptism. One of the things like you mention is they have to go to church every week to show that they really are interested. We do have more people to teach this week so that will be good.
Food: It's strawberry season out here in Cali and you can buy them pretty cheap. Right now it's 4 lbs for four dollars! However, the oranges out here aren't that great. The store bought oranges are a joke and the ones the members give you off their tree aren't nearly as good as the tree we have in our backyard. The pizza I made was super good. I made two Hawaiian and Pepperoni. I’m still working on eating them. This week I also learned about food storage. Make sure you look up "mike sell" on you tube. He is a member of the church and has great ideas about food storage and about freeze dried food that will last you 15 years and it costs three dollars for a family meal. I don't know what all is on there but he gave a great talk so make sure you look him up.
Our talks were great. I’ll send it home because I think it looks funny just the way I had to do it. Before my mission I thought a twenty minute talk would be so hard. I had one before I left but that took forever to prepare. Now I think it's difficult to keep it under 20 minutes. I thought that was funny. You asked how many wards we cover. My companion and I only cover half of Cerritos first ward and that’s it. The sister missionaries cover the other half.
Yesterday the ward had a Memorial Day breakfast and no we couldn't go. We had to do our studies. And we knocked on a lot of doors and found people having a BBQ but we didn't have one.
We only go to the temple once every six months and we just went so I won't be going for a while. Good job on the temple work.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week "I don't need your help, my god will save me".
Explanation: Before my mission I have heard the story about how there was someone out in the middle of the ocean drowning and a lifeguard came up and and the person drowning said I don't need your help my god will save me. and then a boat comes and throws a rescue tube out but the person drowning doesn't grab it but says don't help me my god will save me and then a helicopter comes by and drops a rope down to them but once again they say don't help me, my god will save me. So this person drowns, and asks God "Why didn't you save me?" and God says" What do you mean I sent a lifeguard, a boa,t and a helicopter to you." I thought no one is that unintelligent and that would never happen. However, out here in Cali, many people say, “I believe in God and that's all I need to do to be saved. I don't need to know him, or do anything, just believe. What about the scripture faith without works is dead? It does say all will be saved but it is interpreted into all who came to earth will receive a resurrected body. It is only through grace that we're saved after we have done everything we can. So, in a way those who say "I just need to love god to be saved" are right. The scripture, if ye love me keep my commandment. And so to show that you love god keep the commandment and you will be saved. Does that make sense? I’m a slow typer so can't type everything I’d like but that's it for now.
Elder Yeaman.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
May 25, 2010
Family and Friends,
First to answer your questions, The weather here has been crazy it heated up a bunch and then it cools off and gets really windy and it is unpredictable. The apartment is getting cleaner each week. We don't have a lot of time to clean but we did this morning. I saw Alice in wonderland once when I was 8 and I thought it was the freakiest movie ever. I didn't like it at all. Good luck with your four jobs Shane, that’s awesome. So is dad baptizing her into the lds church? ?
Quote of the week " Hey Elder... How far away is that plane?"
Explanation: Towards the end of ones mission an Elder starts counting planes and asks how far away is that plane to his companion. A companion guesses and then the companion going home soon says "well for me it's about ...6 months away..." I’ve decided after a year of being out, anyone who asks me how long I’ve been out I will say a little over a year. No matter how close I get to going home. I want to be focused on the work until the last minute. I’m here. Instead of counting time, I’ll make time count. Please don't remind me how long I’ve been out no matter how close it gets.
Food of the week: Nothing too exciting but I realized a couple days ago when we had pizza with a member that it was the first time I’ve eaten pizza while in the field. You think it'd happen more often right? Maybe not. Anyways I’ve decided today I’ll make home made pizza!!!
This week we were supposed to have a couple baptisms but they're not going through. We’re teaching 3 different people who have to get permission from the first presidency to be baptized for three different reasons. and so for now we're putting them off until it goes through. Still knocking a lot.
This week Elder Rico and I have to give a talk in church referencing Quinton L Cooks talk from last November Ensign. “Stewardship- A Sacred Trust”. It’s weird because before with my talks I looked everything up on the internet. It will be weird having to write it out. I’ll send it home next Tuesday.
Love you all. Elder Yeaman
First to answer your questions, The weather here has been crazy it heated up a bunch and then it cools off and gets really windy and it is unpredictable. The apartment is getting cleaner each week. We don't have a lot of time to clean but we did this morning. I saw Alice in wonderland once when I was 8 and I thought it was the freakiest movie ever. I didn't like it at all. Good luck with your four jobs Shane, that’s awesome. So is dad baptizing her into the lds church? ?
Quote of the week " Hey Elder... How far away is that plane?"
Explanation: Towards the end of ones mission an Elder starts counting planes and asks how far away is that plane to his companion. A companion guesses and then the companion going home soon says "well for me it's about ...6 months away..." I’ve decided after a year of being out, anyone who asks me how long I’ve been out I will say a little over a year. No matter how close I get to going home. I want to be focused on the work until the last minute. I’m here. Instead of counting time, I’ll make time count. Please don't remind me how long I’ve been out no matter how close it gets.
Food of the week: Nothing too exciting but I realized a couple days ago when we had pizza with a member that it was the first time I’ve eaten pizza while in the field. You think it'd happen more often right? Maybe not. Anyways I’ve decided today I’ll make home made pizza!!!
This week we were supposed to have a couple baptisms but they're not going through. We’re teaching 3 different people who have to get permission from the first presidency to be baptized for three different reasons. and so for now we're putting them off until it goes through. Still knocking a lot.
This week Elder Rico and I have to give a talk in church referencing Quinton L Cooks talk from last November Ensign. “Stewardship- A Sacred Trust”. It’s weird because before with my talks I looked everything up on the internet. It will be weird having to write it out. I’ll send it home next Tuesday.
Love you all. Elder Yeaman
May 18, 2010
May 18, 2010
Yes it was a good week. My new apartment is G-11. It’s no longer B-2. Today I will probably clean the apartment once we're done with everything else.
Tiffany asked me about pictures but I tried to e-mail them and it didn't work can you upload them off the card I gave you and send them to her? Post them on the blog spot poor favor
The temple stuff sounds exciting.
Food of the week: This week a member made us a bunch of homemade beef jerky. It was super good. Also this week I had cereal for breakfast everyday as I normally do and I couldn't wait to run out of cereal because I bought a box of blue berry panqueque mix. So this morning I had blue berry pancakes! They were delicious.
Quote of the week: "it doesn't matter what decisions you make in life if you don't now where you want to end up."
Explanation: It is explained in “Alice in Wonderland” when Alice asked the cat "What path should I take" and the cat said "Where do you want to go" and Alice said "I don't know," then the cat said "Then it doesn't matter." If we don't decide today, tomorrow may be to late to decide where we want to go the next day. We need to have a goal in mind and work towards it constantly. If we put off trying to decide where we want to end up, we could end up in jail, or an accident of some sort that will limit our choices in the future. If I commit a crime and go to jail that limits my options of becoming a police officer. Depending on how long you're in jail it could limit your options to have a family and job opportunities.
Yes it was a good week. My new apartment is G-11. It’s no longer B-2. Today I will probably clean the apartment once we're done with everything else.
Tiffany asked me about pictures but I tried to e-mail them and it didn't work can you upload them off the card I gave you and send them to her? Post them on the blog spot poor favor
The temple stuff sounds exciting.
Food of the week: This week a member made us a bunch of homemade beef jerky. It was super good. Also this week I had cereal for breakfast everyday as I normally do and I couldn't wait to run out of cereal because I bought a box of blue berry panqueque mix. So this morning I had blue berry pancakes! They were delicious.
Quote of the week: "it doesn't matter what decisions you make in life if you don't now where you want to end up."
Explanation: It is explained in “Alice in Wonderland” when Alice asked the cat "What path should I take" and the cat said "Where do you want to go" and Alice said "I don't know," then the cat said "Then it doesn't matter." If we don't decide today, tomorrow may be to late to decide where we want to go the next day. We need to have a goal in mind and work towards it constantly. If we put off trying to decide where we want to end up, we could end up in jail, or an accident of some sort that will limit our choices in the future. If I commit a crime and go to jail that limits my options of becoming a police officer. Depending on how long you're in jail it could limit your options to have a family and job opportunities.
May 11, 2010
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week. "Where were you Sunday?"
Explanation: Many people, both members and non members that we teach or have taught just want to be loved. However often the members try to love them by asking “Why weren’t you at church”, rather than “We missed you at church” or “Glad to see you here”. At times we try to love them by wanting to know more about them so we ask questions. However, we need to welcome them first and show that we care. As members we need to be glad thet’re here and not worry why they weren't the week before. Many of them, depending on your relationship, feel like it's none of your business. Sometimes it is personal, such as had a mother pass away and don't feel comfortable talking about it. They don't want to tell you but they feel judged. We've had several people start coming back to church because they were welcomed into church with comments like," Glad you’re here," or "How are you doing," "Do you need help with anything" Welcome them and love them and make sure everything is okay with out asking questions that may make them feel like they're being interrogated. It happens more than you think.
Elder Yeaman’s food of the week: I went by an older missionary’s apartment a couple weeks ago when we were on splits and I found a bunch of useful stuff like a spinning tie rack and a George Foreman grill. So this week I cooked a bunch of cheeseburgers on it because it cooks them fast and it is good.
Called home Sunday it was good. Once again, happy you get to be my mom day. You’re so lucky:-) hope you enjoyed it.
I tried to upload photos because I figured out how but it wasn't working.
Sincerely Elder Yeaman.
Explanation: Many people, both members and non members that we teach or have taught just want to be loved. However often the members try to love them by asking “Why weren’t you at church”, rather than “We missed you at church” or “Glad to see you here”. At times we try to love them by wanting to know more about them so we ask questions. However, we need to welcome them first and show that we care. As members we need to be glad thet’re here and not worry why they weren't the week before. Many of them, depending on your relationship, feel like it's none of your business. Sometimes it is personal, such as had a mother pass away and don't feel comfortable talking about it. They don't want to tell you but they feel judged. We've had several people start coming back to church because they were welcomed into church with comments like," Glad you’re here," or "How are you doing," "Do you need help with anything" Welcome them and love them and make sure everything is okay with out asking questions that may make them feel like they're being interrogated. It happens more than you think.
Elder Yeaman’s food of the week: I went by an older missionary’s apartment a couple weeks ago when we were on splits and I found a bunch of useful stuff like a spinning tie rack and a George Foreman grill. So this week I cooked a bunch of cheeseburgers on it because it cooks them fast and it is good.
Called home Sunday it was good. Once again, happy you get to be my mom day. You’re so lucky:-) hope you enjoyed it.
I tried to upload photos because I figured out how but it wasn't working.
Sincerely Elder Yeaman.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Lord will add the eggs, sugar, vanilla
Dear Family and Friends,
This was a great week. We had a baptism Saturday and that went great! There was a lot of planning for it and it was difficult to find people to give talks or help out with it. But there ended up being over 40 people who showed up for the baptism. He was super excited throughout the whole week and then he received the Holy Ghost on Sunday and said he feels amazing and is so happy!
Don’t send a phone card I found out today from the news letter they sent out that we can use our cell phones and it said to use them before 7 pm so that it's free but I think they meant after seven. So I’ll find out and let you know when I do call. I get 40 minutes to talk. I’ll have 20 minutes to call home and twenty minutes to call Mom up at Tiffany's.
Transfers are in one week so don't send anything to my direct address after Thursday. For those who send it to my mission address it takes me three to four weeks to get it.
Nothing I really need. I’m pretty set on everything. I have more pictures and so when you're ready we can switch again. I’m getting some developed today just so I can cave a hard copy.
Food of the week: Tongans and Samoans... I think that says it all right there but for a little better explanation. Elda... eat some moe ya need ta be strong against those fiery darts look at ya you only filled your plate three times. ha ha good food.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week. "God will add the butter, sugar, vanilla, etc."
Explanation: This week we talked to a scientist in the front of his yard. He simply stated that God doesn't exist for four reasons. He then gave an example of what he meant. He said you can mix two chemicals together and have the outcome of a red liquid and no amount of prayer is going to change that red liquid to green or blue and so on. He said God can't break the rules of science. We walked away to avoid an argument and as soon as we got around the corner I felt that the Lord gave me the answer to the man's comment. I was thinking, why couldn't you give this to me 15 seconds ago. I knew the answer and it wouldn't have helped the man at all. I may need to use this answer at sometime in the future. What entered my mind was this. “Yes two chemicals may have an outcome of a red substance but prayer will affect it! The substance may be red as it is but to change it god doesn't just snap his fingers he adds to it and takes away from it until it's the way that he wants it. By adding other chemicals you can get it to be any other color you want. It's the same way with life (with the exception of the prophet Elijah in the Bible when he lit water on fire and a couple other situations). God doesn't just snap his fingers to fix our problems. Rather, God adds people to our life, puts us in other situations, allows and makes other things occur to answer our prayers. You can have salt and flour mixed together and it won't taste that great! But we can add eggs, butter, sugar, chocolate chips, vanilla and cook it and have cookies. We may be in a flour and salt state, but through prayer God will add the other ingredients so we can have a better outcome.
Love you all, Elder Yeaman
This was a great week. We had a baptism Saturday and that went great! There was a lot of planning for it and it was difficult to find people to give talks or help out with it. But there ended up being over 40 people who showed up for the baptism. He was super excited throughout the whole week and then he received the Holy Ghost on Sunday and said he feels amazing and is so happy!
Don’t send a phone card I found out today from the news letter they sent out that we can use our cell phones and it said to use them before 7 pm so that it's free but I think they meant after seven. So I’ll find out and let you know when I do call. I get 40 minutes to talk. I’ll have 20 minutes to call home and twenty minutes to call Mom up at Tiffany's.
Transfers are in one week so don't send anything to my direct address after Thursday. For those who send it to my mission address it takes me three to four weeks to get it.
Nothing I really need. I’m pretty set on everything. I have more pictures and so when you're ready we can switch again. I’m getting some developed today just so I can cave a hard copy.
Food of the week: Tongans and Samoans... I think that says it all right there but for a little better explanation. Elda... eat some moe ya need ta be strong against those fiery darts look at ya you only filled your plate three times. ha ha good food.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week. "God will add the butter, sugar, vanilla, etc."
Explanation: This week we talked to a scientist in the front of his yard. He simply stated that God doesn't exist for four reasons. He then gave an example of what he meant. He said you can mix two chemicals together and have the outcome of a red liquid and no amount of prayer is going to change that red liquid to green or blue and so on. He said God can't break the rules of science. We walked away to avoid an argument and as soon as we got around the corner I felt that the Lord gave me the answer to the man's comment. I was thinking, why couldn't you give this to me 15 seconds ago. I knew the answer and it wouldn't have helped the man at all. I may need to use this answer at sometime in the future. What entered my mind was this. “Yes two chemicals may have an outcome of a red substance but prayer will affect it! The substance may be red as it is but to change it god doesn't just snap his fingers he adds to it and takes away from it until it's the way that he wants it. By adding other chemicals you can get it to be any other color you want. It's the same way with life (with the exception of the prophet Elijah in the Bible when he lit water on fire and a couple other situations). God doesn't just snap his fingers to fix our problems. Rather, God adds people to our life, puts us in other situations, allows and makes other things occur to answer our prayers. You can have salt and flour mixed together and it won't taste that great! But we can add eggs, butter, sugar, chocolate chips, vanilla and cook it and have cookies. We may be in a flour and salt state, but through prayer God will add the other ingredients so we can have a better outcome.
Love you all, Elder Yeaman
Monday, April 26, 2010
Family and Friends,
This week has been great. We are baptizing two of our investigators this week on Saturday. It’s very exciting. We will have two separate baptisms because they don’t know each other. We have a pretty busy week and a lot of planning to do. One of Elder Rico's good traits is he speaks and Spanish and English very well. One thing I learned from him is why sister missionaries only serve an 18 month mission where as the Elders serve for two years. It is because the sisters spend as much money in 18 months that an Elder spends in two years:) He also said there's a slight possibility that the work that takes the Elders 24 months to do, the Sisters do in 18 months. I like the first one better though.
Today we went to the temple. It was great! We went to the 6:30 session and so we had to wake up at four. So for today's activity we'll be catching up on our sleep.
Food of the week: All of our dinner appointments went thru except one. It was a nice week. This week we went out to dinner a couple times. My favorite meal was Hometown Buffet. The last time I ate there was when I was eight after my baptism. Just good memories. I can’t think of anything else that was too interesting this week.
That’s about the excitement of our week. Take care
Elder yeaman
This week has been great. We are baptizing two of our investigators this week on Saturday. It’s very exciting. We will have two separate baptisms because they don’t know each other. We have a pretty busy week and a lot of planning to do. One of Elder Rico's good traits is he speaks and Spanish and English very well. One thing I learned from him is why sister missionaries only serve an 18 month mission where as the Elders serve for two years. It is because the sisters spend as much money in 18 months that an Elder spends in two years:) He also said there's a slight possibility that the work that takes the Elders 24 months to do, the Sisters do in 18 months. I like the first one better though.
Today we went to the temple. It was great! We went to the 6:30 session and so we had to wake up at four. So for today's activity we'll be catching up on our sleep.
Food of the week: All of our dinner appointments went thru except one. It was a nice week. This week we went out to dinner a couple times. My favorite meal was Hometown Buffet. The last time I ate there was when I was eight after my baptism. Just good memories. I can’t think of anything else that was too interesting this week.
That’s about the excitement of our week. Take care
Elder yeaman
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Eat at your own risk
Family and friends,
This week was good. Knocked a lot and it went by fast. We had an investigator come to church which was super exciting and he's getting baptized soon. We also received dinner appointments everyday this week. That will be nice. Today we will write a bunch of letters and maybe volleyball.
I got the Girl Scout cookies Thursday. Thank you very much! But I haven't received the memory stick. Maybe it will come today and then I will mail the other one home.
Eagle Scout stuff will finally be finished. That will be such a relief. Hasn’t Shane been done with his Eagle for about three years. Then Christopher gets to start again.
-Food of the week: I did make lasagna and a lot of it and its amazingly delicious! We’re still working on eating it. It was nice because we made it Tuesday and we had enough to double the recipe so we did and instead of cooking and every meal it was nice to just reheat it and be done. Less dishes that way as well. I also had another interesting food appointment this week. A member took us out to King Palace Buffet. by my own free will I ate everything I put on my plate which contained some of the following: craw fish, frog legs, different kinds of sushi, clams, raw clams, fried bananas, cooked oysters and a little more. I was going to try raw oysters but then I saw a warning sign that said eat at your own risk. If you become sick see doctor immediately or you will die. And I thought I’ll wait until after my mission to try raw oysters.
Elder yeaman's quote of the week: "The wicked take the truth to be hard,"
Explanation: Nephi has quoted this in the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Those who are righteous don't look at the things they are told to do better as a problem. And they don’t become angry at those who are telling them, but they rather humble themselves and avoid argument because... contention is of the devil. Take the advice you're given whether or not you are already doing the right thing and and find ways to improve. Avoid contention because it's the Spirit that teaches us and if we drive the Spirit away we can't be taught.
Elder Yeaman
This week was good. Knocked a lot and it went by fast. We had an investigator come to church which was super exciting and he's getting baptized soon. We also received dinner appointments everyday this week. That will be nice. Today we will write a bunch of letters and maybe volleyball.
I got the Girl Scout cookies Thursday. Thank you very much! But I haven't received the memory stick. Maybe it will come today and then I will mail the other one home.
Eagle Scout stuff will finally be finished. That will be such a relief. Hasn’t Shane been done with his Eagle for about three years. Then Christopher gets to start again.
-Food of the week: I did make lasagna and a lot of it and its amazingly delicious! We’re still working on eating it. It was nice because we made it Tuesday and we had enough to double the recipe so we did and instead of cooking and every meal it was nice to just reheat it and be done. Less dishes that way as well. I also had another interesting food appointment this week. A member took us out to King Palace Buffet. by my own free will I ate everything I put on my plate which contained some of the following: craw fish, frog legs, different kinds of sushi, clams, raw clams, fried bananas, cooked oysters and a little more. I was going to try raw oysters but then I saw a warning sign that said eat at your own risk. If you become sick see doctor immediately or you will die. And I thought I’ll wait until after my mission to try raw oysters.
Elder yeaman's quote of the week: "The wicked take the truth to be hard,"
Explanation: Nephi has quoted this in the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Those who are righteous don't look at the things they are told to do better as a problem. And they don’t become angry at those who are telling them, but they rather humble themselves and avoid argument because... contention is of the devil. Take the advice you're given whether or not you are already doing the right thing and and find ways to improve. Avoid contention because it's the Spirit that teaches us and if we drive the Spirit away we can't be taught.
Elder Yeaman
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Baptism by a Virgin?
Family and friends,
General conference was great! There was too much to like about it to share besides... they said it best. We worked super hard to get a couple of people there but they all fell through. I really liked priesthood session but my favorite talks were the one with the cow, and the one where mothers intentionally hurt there children to protect them. I loved all the stories because it makes it easier to remember and share with our investigators.
Yes we did go to someone’s house for Easter dinner. They had a bunch of finger foods and we ate at three, right after General Conference. They had a bunch of people over and during that time I experienced my second earthquake at 3:50. It was very cool but I heard it could be felt in Phoenix. Did you all feel it? It was supposed to be a pretty big one down in Baja California. Not sure though because everyone says something different and I can't look it up for myself.
Yes I received Benson’s pictures. Thank you. Yes, I also received your Easter package and thanks for everything, and for Aunt Karyn’s cookbook. I’m super glad I got Girl Scout cookies. Thanks.
Today I will be making lasagna! I hope it doesn't turn out like my corn experience. This week we had a can of corn in our cupboard and I thought I’d heat it up. So I opened it and put it in a bowl and poured in some milk. I thought, we always put butter in it as well but we didn't have butter. So I used cooking spray. It gets better... I heated it up and it exploded!!! Just kidding it didn't explode. So then I was about to take a bite and I thought wait! I need salt! But we only had garlic salt. So... I used it! and I really like salt so I put quite a bit on. I learned to never use cooking spray as a replacement for butter and that garlic salt, no matter how mush you like garlic, it doesn't go good on everything. But I did eat the whole can. I also decided there won't ever be any food I won't turn down on my mission unless it breaks the word of wisdom of course. How can I expect people to try reading and being open to things they’re not used to if I won't be open to new foods. So every week I will have something to say about food. Unless I forget.
This week we got to sit in on a bible study that one of our investigators had. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. But we didn't get much of a chance to teach. We have five baptism dates set.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week:
"Don’t follow the silly traditions of your fathers"
Explanation: the book of Mormon often speaks of following the silly tradition of our fathers. I never really understood it until this past week. We have a couple investigators who know the book of Mormon is true and want to get baptized but won't because they want to stay with their current religion because that's what they were born into and that what their family has been for generations. If god tells you something is true and tells you to do something, wouldn't you do it? As missionaries, all we ask people to do is read and pray about the book of Mormon to see for themselves if it is rue. We can't force it on people and we don't want people to believe us. We want them to ask for themselves and receive answer for themselves from God. They don't have to believe us but they will know of themselves. You will know if it's true by receiving one of the feelings given by the Holy Spirit as read in the bible in Galatians 5:21-22 I think. But you have to be willing to act upon your answer, meaning if it is true, you will do the things necessary to grow closer to Christ, like following the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority into Christ’s church.
Love you all,
Elder M. C. Yeaman
Funny story to add to my e-mail! The sisters in our ward are teaching the father of one of our investigators. The boy lives in our area and he's 20 The father lives in the sisters area. Anyway the father is usually drunk and they were teaching him and baptism was brought up. The sister missionaries asked what do you know about "Baptism by Immersion" and his reply was "What in the heck is Baptism by a virgin?"
General conference was great! There was too much to like about it to share besides... they said it best. We worked super hard to get a couple of people there but they all fell through. I really liked priesthood session but my favorite talks were the one with the cow, and the one where mothers intentionally hurt there children to protect them. I loved all the stories because it makes it easier to remember and share with our investigators.
Yes we did go to someone’s house for Easter dinner. They had a bunch of finger foods and we ate at three, right after General Conference. They had a bunch of people over and during that time I experienced my second earthquake at 3:50. It was very cool but I heard it could be felt in Phoenix. Did you all feel it? It was supposed to be a pretty big one down in Baja California. Not sure though because everyone says something different and I can't look it up for myself.
Yes I received Benson’s pictures. Thank you. Yes, I also received your Easter package and thanks for everything, and for Aunt Karyn’s cookbook. I’m super glad I got Girl Scout cookies. Thanks.
Today I will be making lasagna! I hope it doesn't turn out like my corn experience. This week we had a can of corn in our cupboard and I thought I’d heat it up. So I opened it and put it in a bowl and poured in some milk. I thought, we always put butter in it as well but we didn't have butter. So I used cooking spray. It gets better... I heated it up and it exploded!!! Just kidding it didn't explode. So then I was about to take a bite and I thought wait! I need salt! But we only had garlic salt. So... I used it! and I really like salt so I put quite a bit on. I learned to never use cooking spray as a replacement for butter and that garlic salt, no matter how mush you like garlic, it doesn't go good on everything. But I did eat the whole can. I also decided there won't ever be any food I won't turn down on my mission unless it breaks the word of wisdom of course. How can I expect people to try reading and being open to things they’re not used to if I won't be open to new foods. So every week I will have something to say about food. Unless I forget.
This week we got to sit in on a bible study that one of our investigators had. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. But we didn't get much of a chance to teach. We have five baptism dates set.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week:
"Don’t follow the silly traditions of your fathers"
Explanation: the book of Mormon often speaks of following the silly tradition of our fathers. I never really understood it until this past week. We have a couple investigators who know the book of Mormon is true and want to get baptized but won't because they want to stay with their current religion because that's what they were born into and that what their family has been for generations. If god tells you something is true and tells you to do something, wouldn't you do it? As missionaries, all we ask people to do is read and pray about the book of Mormon to see for themselves if it is rue. We can't force it on people and we don't want people to believe us. We want them to ask for themselves and receive answer for themselves from God. They don't have to believe us but they will know of themselves. You will know if it's true by receiving one of the feelings given by the Holy Spirit as read in the bible in Galatians 5:21-22 I think. But you have to be willing to act upon your answer, meaning if it is true, you will do the things necessary to grow closer to Christ, like following the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority into Christ’s church.
Love you all,
Elder M. C. Yeaman
Funny story to add to my e-mail! The sisters in our ward are teaching the father of one of our investigators. The boy lives in our area and he's 20 The father lives in the sisters area. Anyway the father is usually drunk and they were teaching him and baptism was brought up. The sister missionaries asked what do you know about "Baptism by Immersion" and his reply was "What in the heck is Baptism by a virgin?"
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Just Another Day in Paradise
Today we had transfers. My new companion is elder Rico. They are making major changes now and trying to fix all the kinks before the new mission president gets here. We were all bi-lingual but they changed it. I am now an English speaking missionary for the next six week. I have no more Spanish investigators because I had to hand all of them off to the Spanish missionaries. We’re getting twenty new missionaries today and only four are going home. They changed some areas and made every area have English elders and Spanish elders. My old companion elder Waite is the Spanish elder in my area and he'll be training a new missionary in the Spanish ward. He got all our Spanish investigators and all the sisters Spanish investigators and a couple of other missionaries Spanish investigators who are in our area. There’s a lot more to explain but it’s complicated. I get all of Elder Waite's and my English investigators and teach only in English no more Spanish.
-My new companion is Elder Rico and he is from Mexico learning English. We are in a new apartment but same complex because they couldn't fit six missionaries in one apartment.
-This past week we did splits again. Elder Waite is the district leader and so he had to go with the people in our district. I traded companions the night before and got to see how other missionaries run their day. Elder Waite was a great companion and it is sad to think there aren't more like him. He always obedient and seeing how the other missionaries live, work, on move on about there days is very discouraging for receiving a future companion. Please pray for the elders here to be exactly obedient and more motivated.
-We are supposed to pay for our own hair cuts out of money from back home so I bought a buzzer and cut my own hair. It turned out nice. I think doing my own haircuts will save me a lot of money.
-Last week I made cookies and they lasted a day. We've been getting a few weird dinner appointments. We had these fried breaded spicy chilies stuffed with cheese at one of them. And a couple things I have never tried before but can't remember what there called.
-Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "Excuses only satisfy those who make them."
-Explanation: Some people think that rules can be justified with reasons or good enough excuses. Rules are rules and whether your have a reason or excuse for breaking it, you still broke it. When you justify you tend to make yourself feel better but you miss out on the blessings the Lord is willing to give you.
-That was my week and I'm fine with where I'm at. I know what ever happens is for the best because it’s what the Lord wants. Love you all and take care
Elder yeaman
-My new companion is Elder Rico and he is from Mexico learning English. We are in a new apartment but same complex because they couldn't fit six missionaries in one apartment.
-This past week we did splits again. Elder Waite is the district leader and so he had to go with the people in our district. I traded companions the night before and got to see how other missionaries run their day. Elder Waite was a great companion and it is sad to think there aren't more like him. He always obedient and seeing how the other missionaries live, work, on move on about there days is very discouraging for receiving a future companion. Please pray for the elders here to be exactly obedient and more motivated.
-We are supposed to pay for our own hair cuts out of money from back home so I bought a buzzer and cut my own hair. It turned out nice. I think doing my own haircuts will save me a lot of money.
-Last week I made cookies and they lasted a day. We've been getting a few weird dinner appointments. We had these fried breaded spicy chilies stuffed with cheese at one of them. And a couple things I have never tried before but can't remember what there called.
-Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "Excuses only satisfy those who make them."
-Explanation: Some people think that rules can be justified with reasons or good enough excuses. Rules are rules and whether your have a reason or excuse for breaking it, you still broke it. When you justify you tend to make yourself feel better but you miss out on the blessings the Lord is willing to give you.
-That was my week and I'm fine with where I'm at. I know what ever happens is for the best because it’s what the Lord wants. Love you all and take care
Elder yeaman
Monday, March 22, 2010
My First Earthquake
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010
Elder Hales came and it was very cool. We got to listen to the stake president, then our mission president spoke, and then Elder Hales spoke. It was very nice. We worked so hard to get an investigator to come. We had a few people that were going to come, but on Friday one canceled and then on Saturday three canceled. That left us with one who we really wanted to come. This is the amazing guy who was about to go to jail but then got out of it and decided to turn his life around. We stopped by his house at 8:30 and woke him up and reminded him about it and he said he'd be there. He called at 9:40 and says he's just jumping in the shower and we said hurry it starts in 20 min. He thought it started at 10:30. Our normal church starts at 11:30 so it's easily mistaken. We told him to give us a call when he got there. We wouldn't be able to answer, but we would know he was there and we would know to look for him afterwards and talk to him. He never called. We called him later and he apologized. We set up a return appointment for Monday(yesterday). We were super bummed because all of our really great investigators didn't make it. After the meeting was over and we were feeling disappointed that no one we invited came, we look around and see a person that we had just met on Friday and invited to church. When we were talking to them on Friday we didn't think they was super interested or anything but we just talked and invited them to church. We didn't even expect them to come. The lord works in mysterious ways and blesses, sooner or later, those who work.
To answer your questions, I'm not as tired as I thought I would be. I've been getting more sleep here then I did at home. Plus I have a car which makes it a little easier. However this morning at four o clock I woke up to my bed shaking and then heard a loud explosion. The shaking lasted for twenty seconds. IT WAS MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE. I thought it was so cool. We couldn't figure out what the explosion was. We figured something upstairs had fallen and exploded like a fire extinguisher or a propane tank. It was just a minor shake an it felt really weird. No real damage was done that we are aware of.
Today for p-day we're having a cooking day. We're just going to cook a bunch of stuff like cookies and granola and stuff. Exciting! Normally everyone cooks for themselves. For breakfast it's normally super cheap store-brand wannabe of the sugary cereal or eggs and toast. For lunch I've had 2 bean and cheese quesadillas everyday since I've been here and haven't gotten sick of them yet. Dinner normally is a sandwich or something like that when we cook for ourselves.
This last Thursday we had exchanges and we're having them again tonight. The assistants go with the zone leaders, the zone leaders go with the district leaders and the district leaders go with their district and my companion is a district leader. Last Thursday we went with the zone leaders and tonight we're trading off with a companionship in our district. We trade companions the night before and spend a day with someone different. Elder Jackson, my mtc companion is trading spots with me. Last Thursday I went into a Spanish ward and the elder was going home in 12 days and was super ready to get home. It helped me realize what kind of missionary I want to be and I have to work super hard now to make sure I don't get trunky at the end. It was a great learning experience.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week."You can either go and take care of a cavity or let it ruin the entire tooth. The cavity would never have gotten there if you would have only brushed."
Explanation: President Hales spoke and talked about resolving family conflict. He said resolve it, don't let it canker your lives. Do what ever is necessary to resolve family problems. Families are a blessing not a burden. They are essential to God's plan. Once you've done everything you can to resolve the problem and THEY won't forgive you, don't worry about it and don't complain about it. The problem only worsens when you talk behind there back even after you've done all you can. Only speak good things about that person and continually serve them. When I was taking notes, I related it to the a cavity. You can resolve the problem (plaque) at the beginning by brushing it off (repenting, asking forgiveness, truly showing you're sorry), the longer you wait to resolve something the worse the problem gets (cavity forms), the harder the the problem becomes, and the less, those who hold the grudges, want to let go. (needs to go to dentist to fix the tooth) and it can ruin an entire relationship if you let it (the tooth). A lot of times you don't know there's a cavity until its already formed and if it's bad enough it will hurt and fixing it is a costly procedure.
Love you all. Thanks for the letter and e-mails,
Elder Michael Yeaman
Elder Hales came and it was very cool. We got to listen to the stake president, then our mission president spoke, and then Elder Hales spoke. It was very nice. We worked so hard to get an investigator to come. We had a few people that were going to come, but on Friday one canceled and then on Saturday three canceled. That left us with one who we really wanted to come. This is the amazing guy who was about to go to jail but then got out of it and decided to turn his life around. We stopped by his house at 8:30 and woke him up and reminded him about it and he said he'd be there. He called at 9:40 and says he's just jumping in the shower and we said hurry it starts in 20 min. He thought it started at 10:30. Our normal church starts at 11:30 so it's easily mistaken. We told him to give us a call when he got there. We wouldn't be able to answer, but we would know he was there and we would know to look for him afterwards and talk to him. He never called. We called him later and he apologized. We set up a return appointment for Monday(yesterday). We were super bummed because all of our really great investigators didn't make it. After the meeting was over and we were feeling disappointed that no one we invited came, we look around and see a person that we had just met on Friday and invited to church. When we were talking to them on Friday we didn't think they was super interested or anything but we just talked and invited them to church. We didn't even expect them to come. The lord works in mysterious ways and blesses, sooner or later, those who work.
To answer your questions, I'm not as tired as I thought I would be. I've been getting more sleep here then I did at home. Plus I have a car which makes it a little easier. However this morning at four o clock I woke up to my bed shaking and then heard a loud explosion. The shaking lasted for twenty seconds. IT WAS MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE. I thought it was so cool. We couldn't figure out what the explosion was. We figured something upstairs had fallen and exploded like a fire extinguisher or a propane tank. It was just a minor shake an it felt really weird. No real damage was done that we are aware of.
Today for p-day we're having a cooking day. We're just going to cook a bunch of stuff like cookies and granola and stuff. Exciting! Normally everyone cooks for themselves. For breakfast it's normally super cheap store-brand wannabe of the sugary cereal or eggs and toast. For lunch I've had 2 bean and cheese quesadillas everyday since I've been here and haven't gotten sick of them yet. Dinner normally is a sandwich or something like that when we cook for ourselves.
This last Thursday we had exchanges and we're having them again tonight. The assistants go with the zone leaders, the zone leaders go with the district leaders and the district leaders go with their district and my companion is a district leader. Last Thursday we went with the zone leaders and tonight we're trading off with a companionship in our district. We trade companions the night before and spend a day with someone different. Elder Jackson, my mtc companion is trading spots with me. Last Thursday I went into a Spanish ward and the elder was going home in 12 days and was super ready to get home. It helped me realize what kind of missionary I want to be and I have to work super hard now to make sure I don't get trunky at the end. It was a great learning experience.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week."You can either go and take care of a cavity or let it ruin the entire tooth. The cavity would never have gotten there if you would have only brushed."
Explanation: President Hales spoke and talked about resolving family conflict. He said resolve it, don't let it canker your lives. Do what ever is necessary to resolve family problems. Families are a blessing not a burden. They are essential to God's plan. Once you've done everything you can to resolve the problem and THEY won't forgive you, don't worry about it and don't complain about it. The problem only worsens when you talk behind there back even after you've done all you can. Only speak good things about that person and continually serve them. When I was taking notes, I related it to the a cavity. You can resolve the problem (plaque) at the beginning by brushing it off (repenting, asking forgiveness, truly showing you're sorry), the longer you wait to resolve something the worse the problem gets (cavity forms), the harder the the problem becomes, and the less, those who hold the grudges, want to let go. (needs to go to dentist to fix the tooth) and it can ruin an entire relationship if you let it (the tooth). A lot of times you don't know there's a cavity until its already formed and if it's bad enough it will hurt and fixing it is a costly procedure.
Love you all. Thanks for the letter and e-mails,
Elder Michael Yeaman
Monday, March 15, 2010
Marhc 9, 2010
Last p-day I went to a Buddhist temple. It was really cool. I took a lot of pictures, even one of me giving Buddha a pass-along card for a free Book of Mormon. They had thousands of Buddha statues and each one was doing something different. I even got to go inside one and all the way up to the third floor. There was a bunch of statues with peoples ashes inside of them. It was surrounded by a graveyard. There were miles and miles of dead people's tombstones.
This week was pretty cool. Taught a bunch of lessons and found a couple new people. We’ve been able to invite a lot of people to church this Sunday since Elder Hales is coming. We’ve always invited people before but now when we invite them we tell them that there are over 13 million members and 12 members were called of god to lead his church and that Elder Hales is one of the 12 apostles. We tell them that Heavenly Father has told him to come to our building and share an important message. We should have a pretty good attendance.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week.
God CAN'T give us anything he doesn't have.” Explanation: Through God we receive all things. We receive blessings from him because he has them. He gives us strength because he is strong. He gives us wisdom because he is wise. He gives us comfort because he has all the comfort in the world. Ether 12:7 isn't stating that god is weak but rather he knows how to give gifts of power and humility. God gave us families, friends, and a body because he has those. He does have a perfect body of flesh and bone. and he gave us life because he lives. He gives us love because he is love and he loves us. I know and I cannot deny that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have bodies and they do live and love us.
Love you all talk to you next week.
Elder Michael yeaman
This week was pretty cool. Taught a bunch of lessons and found a couple new people. We’ve been able to invite a lot of people to church this Sunday since Elder Hales is coming. We’ve always invited people before but now when we invite them we tell them that there are over 13 million members and 12 members were called of god to lead his church and that Elder Hales is one of the 12 apostles. We tell them that Heavenly Father has told him to come to our building and share an important message. We should have a pretty good attendance.
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week.
God CAN'T give us anything he doesn't have.” Explanation: Through God we receive all things. We receive blessings from him because he has them. He gives us strength because he is strong. He gives us wisdom because he is wise. He gives us comfort because he has all the comfort in the world. Ether 12:7 isn't stating that god is weak but rather he knows how to give gifts of power and humility. God gave us families, friends, and a body because he has those. He does have a perfect body of flesh and bone. and he gave us life because he lives. He gives us love because he is love and he loves us. I know and I cannot deny that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have bodies and they do live and love us.
Love you all talk to you next week.
Elder Michael yeaman
Monday, March 8, 2010
Don't rotate your food storage on the missionaries, Please!
Nothing really new this week. We are teaching the same people. My companion was poked in the belly a couple times by a very short man. I love teaching drunken people.lol The past ten days I’ve been spending twenty minutes a day working on re-memorizing “The family A Proclamation to the World”. I now have it memorized in English and the first paragraph in Spanish. Purdy sweet.
Today before we left to the library we started spraying for bugs. I’ll just leave it at that. -)
Michael Yeaman quote of the week: "You receive blessings for feeding the missionaries and the missionaries greatly appreciate it. However, the missionaries try but it's very difficult to appreciate it when you give them your old cans of food that expired in the 50's and they don't know about it until after they eat it and their bowels are all messed up for the next day. But thank you anyway"
Our roommates got a bunch of stuff from an elderly lady such as a can of orange juice from concentrate, cereal, beans, and tuna. One of them opened the can of orange juice with a can opener and pours him self a drink and drinks it. It smelt really bad and he said he was thirsty and started drinking it when he realized it tasted bad. We looked at the expiration date and it was super old like from the 50's. Everything she gave us was expired and the cereal she gave us had a bunch of black things crawling around in them. Everything except for two cans had expired. It was funny. I didn't eat or drink anything she gave us but our roommates did. We ended throwing the rest away. Thought I’d write something for everyone back home to laugh at.
We also had a not very likely investigator come to church. When we were first started teaching him he was going to court and thought he might be going to jail. He found out he doesn’t have to go to jail, just has to do some service. He’s a really awesome guy. Well we invited him to church and he said maybe and so we called him Sunday morning and there were no answer. Five minutes before church started he walked in. It was awesome and he loved it. He said it definitely won't be his last time coming to church. He’s really great person.
Not much else. Love you all and take care.
Elder yeaman.
Today before we left to the library we started spraying for bugs. I’ll just leave it at that. -)
Michael Yeaman quote of the week: "You receive blessings for feeding the missionaries and the missionaries greatly appreciate it. However, the missionaries try but it's very difficult to appreciate it when you give them your old cans of food that expired in the 50's and they don't know about it until after they eat it and their bowels are all messed up for the next day. But thank you anyway"
Our roommates got a bunch of stuff from an elderly lady such as a can of orange juice from concentrate, cereal, beans, and tuna. One of them opened the can of orange juice with a can opener and pours him self a drink and drinks it. It smelt really bad and he said he was thirsty and started drinking it when he realized it tasted bad. We looked at the expiration date and it was super old like from the 50's. Everything she gave us was expired and the cereal she gave us had a bunch of black things crawling around in them. Everything except for two cans had expired. It was funny. I didn't eat or drink anything she gave us but our roommates did. We ended throwing the rest away. Thought I’d write something for everyone back home to laugh at.
We also had a not very likely investigator come to church. When we were first started teaching him he was going to court and thought he might be going to jail. He found out he doesn’t have to go to jail, just has to do some service. He’s a really awesome guy. Well we invited him to church and he said maybe and so we called him Sunday morning and there were no answer. Five minutes before church started he walked in. It was awesome and he loved it. He said it definitely won't be his last time coming to church. He’s really great person.
Not much else. Love you all and take care.
Elder yeaman.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
February 23, 2010
Hey,
My week was great! Very busy and exciting! Our plans for today are
Run two miles to go get donuts (donuts every p-day at yum-yum donuts. its big here and they are pretty good), laundry, wash car, grocery shop, email, letters, basketball/ fuse ball/pool at the institute. 5:00 is dinner and we start teaching again at 6:00pm.
Yes I got you package. Thank you so much. What kind of cereal were you going to send? Everything I have is everything I needed. Thank you for the M n M's I’m eating them very slowly... I don't need anymore notebooks right now but I will probably need some in a year. I have the perfect amount so buy more before the are discontinued and then send them as I ask for them please (only like three more I think)
The baptism was great! Everything went smoothly and this week we've committed a person to be baptizes on the 20th and a couple on the 13th of March. Our amazing investigator that I told you about didn't attend church. We went by to invite him and he wasn't there. We found out Monday (yesterday) that he works on Monday. Not a problem though. So Monday we had an appointment to go and meet him and teach him the second lesson at six. We got there a little late because we had a dinner appointment He wasn’t there. We continued with the rest of the plans we had for Monday night and towards the end we were like let’s go by him one more time. (8:45ish pm) We stopped by and he apologized. He said he got stuck somewhere trying to fill out papers of some sort, (he might have been selling a car or something) I didn't fully understand that part. He said he really wanted to meet with us. In fact he invited a friend to come and listen to our lesson as well and he had made us dinner. Something with shrimp, crab, lobster, squid and octopus in it. He wanted us to come in and teach him then but we had to go. We’ve scheduled to go back Thursday and teach him. It was awesome.
No interesting dinner appointments but I think all the members know how to make meat loaf :-)
On Sunday’s I have a meeting at 8:30 and 9:00 and a Spanish ward at 9:00 as well, our ward at 11:30. We only have gone to the Spanish ward if we have a lot of Spanish investigators which we did last Sunday.
The bug is going to need a lot of work in two years. It will probably need to be painted again. I know I worked hard on it but I’d rather have someone driving it then to let it go to waste. There are sooooooo many classic cars down here. Mostly Falaris, bugs, mustangs, Chevy trucks. Let someone drive the bug.
It’s a mission rule that everyone has to run for twenty min every morning. So even if I wanted to stop I couldn't because it wouldn't be obedient.
I get on the freeway about 4-6 times a week. But I’ve learned to dive in the traffic. It’s not that bad.
If I’m in a car my entire mission, I’ll have a nice bike when I’m finished. That is if I want to pay to ship it home. I keep the bike in our apartment.
Love you all. Thanks for everything.
My week was great! Very busy and exciting! Our plans for today are
Run two miles to go get donuts (donuts every p-day at yum-yum donuts. its big here and they are pretty good), laundry, wash car, grocery shop, email, letters, basketball/ fuse ball/pool at the institute. 5:00 is dinner and we start teaching again at 6:00pm.
Yes I got you package. Thank you so much. What kind of cereal were you going to send? Everything I have is everything I needed. Thank you for the M n M's I’m eating them very slowly... I don't need anymore notebooks right now but I will probably need some in a year. I have the perfect amount so buy more before the are discontinued and then send them as I ask for them please (only like three more I think)
The baptism was great! Everything went smoothly and this week we've committed a person to be baptizes on the 20th and a couple on the 13th of March. Our amazing investigator that I told you about didn't attend church. We went by to invite him and he wasn't there. We found out Monday (yesterday) that he works on Monday. Not a problem though. So Monday we had an appointment to go and meet him and teach him the second lesson at six. We got there a little late because we had a dinner appointment He wasn’t there. We continued with the rest of the plans we had for Monday night and towards the end we were like let’s go by him one more time. (8:45ish pm) We stopped by and he apologized. He said he got stuck somewhere trying to fill out papers of some sort, (he might have been selling a car or something) I didn't fully understand that part. He said he really wanted to meet with us. In fact he invited a friend to come and listen to our lesson as well and he had made us dinner. Something with shrimp, crab, lobster, squid and octopus in it. He wanted us to come in and teach him then but we had to go. We’ve scheduled to go back Thursday and teach him. It was awesome.
No interesting dinner appointments but I think all the members know how to make meat loaf :-)
On Sunday’s I have a meeting at 8:30 and 9:00 and a Spanish ward at 9:00 as well, our ward at 11:30. We only have gone to the Spanish ward if we have a lot of Spanish investigators which we did last Sunday.
The bug is going to need a lot of work in two years. It will probably need to be painted again. I know I worked hard on it but I’d rather have someone driving it then to let it go to waste. There are sooooooo many classic cars down here. Mostly Falaris, bugs, mustangs, Chevy trucks. Let someone drive the bug.
It’s a mission rule that everyone has to run for twenty min every morning. So even if I wanted to stop I couldn't because it wouldn't be obedient.
I get on the freeway about 4-6 times a week. But I’ve learned to dive in the traffic. It’s not that bad.
If I’m in a car my entire mission, I’ll have a nice bike when I’m finished. That is if I want to pay to ship it home. I keep the bike in our apartment.
Love you all. Thanks for everything.
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