Nov 7, 2011

Good Morning,
This week was another great week. Yes, the weather has cooled off quite a bitWe have had lots of rain as well. Daylight savings has started so nowit's dark by five. It’s really weird but we got an extra hour ofsleep. That was nice. Yes I have the same companion. Today we will be playing sports again. It’s probably the funnest andmost relaxing thing you can do as a missionary. Last Halloween we went out and worked. This Halloween they wanted usto stay in and clean if we didn't have any appointments. We had acouple appointments and after teaching a couple lessons we went in andcleaned the rest of the time. No thought of the week but I’ll try really hard to have one next week.Sorry. We’ve just been really busy which I’m not sorry for. The busierthe better... you can never be too busy as a missionary. This week I got to curb stomp our investigators cigarettes. If youcurb stomp a person you make them bite a curb on the side of the roadand then you stomp on the back of there head with your foot. Verypainful! Well I did that with the cigarettes. He went from 2 packs aday to 3-4 cigarettes a day and now he's gone a couple days withoutthem so he can be baptized. While filling up with gas this week, a man walks up to my companionand asks him what church he was from. He then asks if he was on thestreet early this morning in which my companion replies no we were inour apartment. The man opens up his shirt and shows us his U.S.Marshall badge and says were you on the street earlier selling drugs?No, my companion replies and the man says can I see your licenseplease... you are under arrest.CRAZY!!!! The man also had a lady in his car and she had a couplebullet bandages on her body (the big ones you see in the movies.) Hethen explains he's just kidding. He’s a member of our church but is onhis way to go and arrest a couple people and asked us if we'd like tocome along. As much as we wanted to we denied. He introduced us tothe lady in the car. It was his wife. That’s some of the excitement we had this week. Thanks for the Ensign Love Elder Yeaman

Nov 14, 2011

Good Morning,


This week our zone had interviews with the mission president and I asked for, in my final
interview if I could get a blessing so that I would know what talents
and abilities I have so that I can have guidance as to what career I should look into. The thing is there's a lot of things I can do, butI'm not great at them. I can't really do much with typing or
piano for instance because my forearms start to hurt and I'm not very
fast. I like to cook but i'm not great at it. President said he'd give me a blessing when I have my final interview.
Maybe the blessing will help me so when I do take the aptitude test it
will be more effective than the one I took in high school.

Did you get my itinerary? If not I fly in at like 9:00 am or something like that.

Josh sent me an email today. Since he is in California, he might come by today and pick up my bike. I'll have to call and get permission.
This week we ate a King Palace Buffet. I ate there at the start of my
mission and that's where I ate raw and cooked clams, cooked
oysters, and craw fish for the first time. I also ate octopus this
last time.
I think I might buy myself a cd today for my birthday next week. Alex Boye's Christmas cd.

These past few months have been really hard to keep up in my journal.
We've just been super busy and there's a lot that we have needed to
do. Today I'm going to try and catch up. I'm missing about eight days
that i'll just go back and fill in. Today we will also do sports and I will give my companion
a haircut.

Thanks for all you help and support. I'll be on a little longer if you
need anything.

Elder Yeaman

October 31, 2011,

Good morning,

This week was amazing. This week was tough but it was a goodfaith-building week as well. This week he had over six of ourinvestigators loose interest. However, about 3 months ago we started teaching thisperson but her boyfriend she was living with was againsteverything. Things became pretty bad and he wouldn't let her see us.A month later she called us and said she was moving out of her boyfriend's place.Then her phone stopped working. We didn't know where shewas living and so there was almost nothing we could do. So we wroteher up on our white board so we wouldn't forget to pray for her. Weprayed for her everyday, several times a day for an entire month thatshe would be reminded by the spirit to get in contact with us. Well onSaturday, after a long hard week, with our hopes not to high becauseof the things that took place this week, we received a call from her.She’s getting settled in and wants us to start coming by and teachingher. This time she has no one to hold her back. What a blessing! TheLord is merciful, he does answer prayers, and he does love all of hischildren. We received a witness after the trial of our faith. To answer your questions; The octathon was fun and we have 6 sisters in our zone. Yes I’m staying here this transfer. Yesterday was the primary sacrament meeting and it wasy way good. We had some investigators show up to it and they really liked it.Busy week.This week we ate at a place called the Soup Plantation. It’s likeHometown Buffet but I like it a little better. I don't really have toomany updated pictures. All of my recent ones were on the card I lost.I’ve taken a couple since then but not much. I’ll try and take more. For Halloween they want us to deep clean our apartments if we don'thave any appointments. We have a couple for tonight but if they fallthrough we'll come back and clean.Elder Yeaman's quote of the week. “Your foot bone's connected to yourankle bone..."I won't for give them until they apologize, they started it, I didnothing wrong. Elder Lynn G Robbins also talked about forgiveness, andhow it's so crucial to forgive everyone regardless of what they havesaid or done. And he talked about how silly it is not to forgivesomeone until they apologize. He share with us the account of theatonement of Jesus Christ. How Jesus, at that point, had forgiveneveryone who was, is, and was to come, from sins that they had not yetcommitted. The atonement was made for everyone. We should be willingto forgive everyone. When Jesus prayed with his disciples he asked thefather to make his disciples one with his as he is with God. Can we beone with God if we are not one with our fellowmen? Can our footdisagree with ankle? No because it is apart of one body. So we cannotbe one with our fellowmen if we do not forgive. If we do not forgiveregardless of what has happened we are not apart of the body ofChrist. Love Elder Yeaman

Oct. 10, 2011

 My car will be taken in to get fixed tomorrow. Yes, I do remember Brother and Sis Tyler Moore. Yes, I received Christopher’s letter. Thanks!

I’ll fly home Dec. 13th and it'll be in the morning. My flight willmost likely leave here about 6:00am. That’s what time other missionaries normally leave.

Yeah so I bought 3 shirts and 1 hoodie. The place is called 3H's andit has the Long Beach logo on all of it's clothes. So they're more like souvenirs. I won't wear them until I get back from my mission. Today we're going to have a zone activity. It’ll be an octathalon andwe've come up with a bunch of different games and what not. The mission tour and stake conference was really good. I’ll share whatthey talked about in my quote of the week.

Elder yeaman's quote of the week: "Having love at first sight."You can't fall in or out of love. Lynn G. Robbins talked about thisand said that love isn't something we fall in and out of. Falling intosomething implies that it was an accident, something you had nocontrol over. With that, people occasionally say I don't love thisperson (spouse) anymore. Or they fell out of love. We can choose tolook past faults and love. Or look at faults and allow it to destroyour love, but it is our choice. It would be like saying I fell intohope or I fell out of charity. It doesn't work. Having hope is achoice, having charity is a choice, having love is a choice.Additionally we need to love at first sight. Love othersunconditionally. Like President Thomas S. Monsoon, you can feel hislove for all of us as he said "I love you" to many people he'snever met, just seen. We should have, love at first sight with thosewe come in contact with. Is it hard? Yes, but it's a choice.

Love, Elder Yeaman

Oct 4, 2011

Good morning,


General Conference was amazing, and the temple this morning was good.
We went to the 5:30 session. Super tired.
I crashed after and yes... quite a humbling experience.
The general authority visiting the mission this week is Elder Choi
(pronounced "chay.")
The General Authority visiting stake conference this weekend will be
Elder Lynn G. Robbins. He spoke last general conference and I believe
his talk was titled, "What manner of men and women ought ye to be".
His talk starts off with to be or not to be," and he talked about the
difference of being and doing.

You can send me the pictures, but i'll probably throw them away before
I come back. and no they won't make me trunky. The only time i've gotten
homesick was maybe once and that was the first time on my
mission I called home. I bought myself some really nice polyester ties.
That's why my card was used. So you don't need to send me any this
month. In fact, not to sound trunky, I'd prefer not to get any more
packages on my mission because i'll probably end up throwing or giving
away most of it. Not even for my birthday. Save yourself the time and
the money. If i get a package, I'll probably just write on it return
to sender or forward it back home. However I would still like a
Conference Ensign when it comes out but that's it. Thanks. I just
don't want to have to throw stuff away or send very much home.
We're going to go down to a place called "HHH" to buy some Long Beach
t-shirts and maybe a jacket today. Is that alright?
Elder Yeaman's quote of the week: "Come what may and apply it."

Explanation: Every speaker in general conference spoke for a reason.

They were prayerfully selected and then prayerfully selected a topic.
On my mission thus far I've learned a couple things to try and apply
to myself. Right before it started, I came to realize that every
speaker is leaving an invitation whether it be directly on indirectly.
They spoke to help us motivate ourselves to do something and when we
realize what the invitation was it makes it easier to fulfill it. As
we fulfill the invitation we'll be blessed and so the more invitations
we apply to our lives the better off we will be. So my invitation is
to find one if not more invitations from each talk and apply it to
your life.
Love Elder Yeaman

Sept 25, 2011

Good Morning,


Tuesday, October 4 I'll be going to the temple and October 6 we have a

general authority visiting our mission. It'll be an exciting week.

General conference, temple, zone tour with a general authority, and a

stake conference with a different general authority.

I can look it up on mormon.org when it gets published. We go once a

week for an hour to use it to try and find stuff for our

investigators.

Guess what! I crashed our car into a wall! Well actually I turned a

corner to tight and it scraped up against a wall. Big stressful

bummer! I won't be able to drive the rest of my mission. Plus it'll

take a lot of time out of our day to get it fixed. But to avoid

further damage to the car, four guys came and helped us lift the

car away from the wall instead of trying to drive it away from the

wall.

For breakfast I had a smoothie o.j., berries, bananas, granola.

Right now we're teaching a family that was married in the temple and

the husband served a mission, but are now atheist. They have a bunch

of doubts and concerns about the church but they're very kind, and

they're giving us the time to resolve their concerns. For the most

part, if people are willing to give us (missionaries in general) the

time of day, problems or concerns they have can be resolved through

the spirit.

Today we'll play some sports, probably chairball, basketball, and

maybe volleyball.

We went to Costco last week so I don't really need to go shopping this week.

For service this week we trimmed a tree with a large hornet’s nest in

It. We also washed and waxed a car.

Sorry once again no quote of the week. I'll work on one for next week.
Love Elder Yeaman

Sept 19, 2011

Good Morning,
Transfer starts tomorrow. So we'll most likely go Tuesday, October 4th or possibly the week before. I’ll be staying here and will probably finish my mission inBellflower. I won't have ever have served in a Spanish ward. But I’mokay with that. I’ve been in the areas I was supposed to be in and ifI would have been in different areas I wouldn't have met the people Imet. It’s a good thing that I learned the Spanish that I didbecause I’ve been able to contact and teach people on the street inspanish and able to get their information and hand it over to thespanish missionaries in that area. Some of them ended up being baptized. In fact this week is a baptism for a spanish family I handed over to the spanish elders. Just don't expect me to translate or talk to people in spanish. I can talk about gospel stuff and not much else and when it comes to understanding, no matter what they're talking about, I don't understand. Yes I got the ties, thanks. I really like the letter you wrote too. How come I never heard yourconversion story? Last General Conference Elder Eyring told us to to have a picture of thetemple in each room of our house. Do you have one? Another crazy stressful week. I can't remember the last time I wasn'ttired, or felt like I got enough sleep. But it's good. It’s worth it.My joy is full. More challenges and different challenges are coming myway but good always comes from it. Thanks for you love and support. Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: “Watch general conference”!Sorry no quote of the week. It’s been really crazy and we've had muchto do. Haven’t had time to come up with one.

Elder Yeaman

September 12, 2011

Good Morning Everyone, 

Yes create a mormon.org page. That will be awesome. We go on

mormon.org once a week to look up stuff for our investigators. It’s an

amazing website! There’s people on there who explain a variety of

things. Watch some video profiles and read some as well before you

make one. You can type any topic in the "search" box and it'll bring

up people who are similar to you. There’s people who share something

simple like how they came to know if it's true and other people who

share how they used to be anti or lots of other stuff. 

of the church.

I made banana bread like 2 weeks ago with butterscotch chips. It was

really good.

Food of the week: a member had made us lemonade and instead of sugar

they used salt. I don't think they realized it. It was very nasty, but

super funny.

The weather has been crazy. Up in the 110’s.  I think people have a wrong i

dea about California weather. It's only stays in the 80’s on the coast not 

everywhere. Bellflower isn't too far from the coast and it's

highest was 110 this past week. Plus it's humid. People always say oh

so this weather is nothing compared to Arizona, you’re used to it right? 

But humidity makes it feel much hotter and I never walked around Arizona 

in pants, shirt, and tie. But we have a car in our area now so that's kind of nice.

They want us to buy a flu shot and that'll coast $10. I'll just use

the money I never deposited back into my account from home.

Did I ever explain the money I spent at "Ensign book store?" I

received a really nice quad while on my mission and it was in really

nice condition and when our recent convert signed up for all of these

institute classes she needed more than just a copy of the Book of

Mormon that we hand out. So I bought a cover and gave her the quad as

well. She was super excited and said she had actually been praying

that she'd be able to save the money so she could by one. Everything

happens for a reason right?

Did you type up and post our exciting call to the police last week? :-)

Elder Yeaman's quote of the week "I can not explain what you are not

willing to understand." Explanation: the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. 

It is easy to explain yet it takes time to explain. If people will not give t

he time for one to explain, they will not understand. If they do not 

understand they make assumptions to ones belief and automatically 

assume because they do not understand it that it must be wrong. However, 

the scriptures clearly teach us to study, to seek, to

meditate. They all take time. It's a process. You can't always ask a

question and expect it to be answered clearly in one minute, let alone

5. It would be like asking someone to teach you calculus with out

understanding algebra or simple math. If you expect to understand an

entire principle in just a minute, good luck. Try to get someone who

has never heard of Jesus Christ to believe in him in 5 min. You would

need to have a little more time to explain His importance. But if you’re 

willing to put in the time and if your really willing to understand, it can be explained.

Love Elder Yeaman

Sept 5, 2011

“This is an email Michael started last week, but lost power in the middle of it. Today he emailed it.”
 
Good Morning,
 
Another crazy busy week!
 
We called the police while driving around last night. So last night
this man slammed into the car next to us, he got out, checked the
damage, told the person, yeah I wouldn't make a report, don't wory
about it. Then he got back in and took off. We were talking to the
police, following him a ways back with his license plate information
and the direction he was going when he hits car number 2. He gets out
as well as the person who was hit and says the same thing after
checking the damage. Then he takes off again. We start following him 
again and he goes into a neighborhood. The police are still on the phone, 
and at thirty miles an hour he's driving on the wrong side of the road when 
we see him hit car 3 which hits car 4. Car 3 and 4 were parked. His car and 
car 3 were totaled. The entire neighborhood came outside and he says the 
same thing and then asks people if they can help him start his car. It was 
crazy. A couple other things happened.
 
“Then Michael lost power on his computer and never finished”

8-29-11

Good morning, This week was really good as well. We are teaching this really neatfamily, and on our first visit they said they believe the Book ofMormon is true. Our new convert is doing really well. She just signed up for collageand is taking 5 institute classes! It’s crazy. I don't go to the temple until next transfer. Most likelynot until the second week. As in like 5 more weeks. I’ll let you knowbefore hand if I can remember. Plans for today, we'll probably play sports and write letters. By the way, if you are wondering why I never tell you the names of myinvestigators, it's because the first presidency sent out a lettertelling us not to mention the names in e-mails, so those names don'tget put on blogs. So if I accidentally slip, and mention a name,Please be sure to not post it. Thank you. Food of the week: we had a member feed us probably the most healthymeal I have ever eaten on my mission. and it was really good. It waslike vegetable enchiladas. He really likes to cook and knows hisstuff. No quote of the week. Sorry

 Love,
 elder Yeaman

August 15, 2011

Good morning

 I’m staying here in bellflower. My companion moved. My new companionis Elder Goodson. He’s from Virginia he came out with Elder Evans. I never received the wonder button in the mail.Yes I got your letters. This was a very stress full week. I can't think of another like it inthe mission. Let me explain. Wed we are called and asked to give atalk in church on Sunday about furthering our education. I alsoreceived a packet on things that I’ll need to go over in some meetingson Thursday. Thursday morning I have to study and come up with alesson, I spend all my studies doing that. Thursday I also had to goand give a baptismal interview in Spanish, a language I hardlyunderstand. The Lord helped me out so much. I understoodeverything I needed to and was able to say what I needed to. We thenshoot over to a lesson. We were teaching this person who had abaptismal date for the 20th of Aug, but the person in our ward who isfellowshipping her, became really good friends is going out of town foran entire month to visit family. So because this investigator wantedher at the baptism we were going to move the date to this week. Wetalk about setting it for the 14th and she accepted it. We then goback Friday to go ever a couple things and find out that on the 18ththe mom is sending her to North Dakota to a Presbyterian collage tomake sure she doesn't get baptized and she just found out. We alsofind a couple other important details. So we call our missionPresident, get permission to confirm her at the baptism (normally notallowed what so ever) start setting up the baptism. She passes theinterview she had with flying colors. On Saturday mind you I stillhave to give a 25 min talk in church, I have nothing prepared. We make a bunchof phone calls to reserve the building get everything set up. Sundaymorning, in one hour, I write my talk. It lasts 25 minutes. Afterchurch we had a couple meetings and then we shoot over to a baptismfor the Spanish elders and then grab a quick bite to eat after. Wethen find out that once her mom found out she was getting baptizedtoday she is now no longer getting sent away to North Dakota but willgo to collage here. She is baptized and shares an amazing testimony.Throughout our appointments her family has just been throwinganti-Mormon literature at her while we were there and while she wasalone. Her response to her family was "because it's true it doesn'tmatter, it's what god wants me to do." so now she's staying and cancontinue to receive help from the ward. Elder Yeaman’s food of the week. We ate with the vaili family (Samoan)this week and we had ribs, fish, clams, pork, rice, taro (it's like aSamoan potato you boil it in coconut milk though). It was crazy. Therewas like three main dishes that we ate and a bunch of other things andThen pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert. Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week. "Beat the bird"Explanation: This was used by an apostle a while back, can't remember whichone, but he explains, that if a bird lands on your head the firstthing your going to get it off. Don’t let it build a nest. Now birdsaren’t to dangerous. So lets us a hornet. The longer you let it stayThere, the more likely you are to get stung. Don’t let it build a hiveon you head. Beat it off. Get rid of it. Now when inappropriatethoughts come into you head, get them out. Don’t continue to thinkabout it because by doing so it's like letting that hornet start tobuild it's hive. You’re going to get hurt. Don’t let those thoughts stayIn your head! Think of something else singing a hymn or quoting ascipture is like putting on a hat. They won't be able to nest on yourhead if you brush it off, and they won't be able to get in while yourwearing a hat.

Love, Elder Yeaman

8/1/11

Hello, This week we called up a member to go out to an appointment with us but he couldn't because he was in Phoenix, Arizona. It was really weird talking to someone in Arizona not on Mothers Day or Christmas and who's not a family member. I asked how the weather was and they of course said hot!

By the way... there are a lot of great things at thrift stores! I know each one is different because it's all dependent on what people bring in, but I figure people have a lot of the same stuff, anyways here there are about 20 almost brand new work gloves for a dollar.  Additionally, Tupperware has a life time warranty on it. So if you find Tupperware cups or bowls at a thrift store, buy them, and when they break, find a dealer and you give it to them and you'll get brand newcups and bowels. You don't need a receipt or anything. I thought that was neat. 

No, he didn't come to church and we haven't been able to teach him. It's funny how the adversary works. People loose their jobs, are humbled and make time for God and as they decide to start listening to us and start doing the things they need to, they become so wrapped up with work and have no time left for Jesus Christ. However, we had a different investigator come to church, and four less actives. The Queen Mary was alright. We took some pictures and I had never been so close to water my entire mission. 

Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week. "We pray to our Heavenly Father, but do we pray for our Heavenly Father?  "Explanation: Why do we pray? If God already knows what we're going to pray for why should we ask? Now in the past I have taken a couple different points of views in my quote of the week on this topic, but there's a different perspective. God knows what we are going to pray for, but do we always know what we are going to pray for?  No. When we pray, and as we pray with an open mind and heart, we come to know whatour Heavenly Father wants for us. Our will starts to line up with his will. Every time I get down on my knees and pray, things that I haven’t thought about throughout the day come into my mind and I’m inspired to pray for this or that, him or her. With life going as fast as it does, In the moment, we're thinking about the moment; I need to go to the bank, I need to go to the store, I need to clean the house ect. But as we pray, we think about the past, the present, and the future, and we start see as God sees. From the beginning to the end. We can come to know why things happened the way they did Why things are happening the way they are right now, and we come to understand the overall perspective.  Prayer isn't for God, it's for us. Our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy so he gives us commandments that lead to happiness. The 5th commandment "Honor thy father and mother" will make peace and happiness in the home and help you avoid family contention. If timed allowed, I’d explain how the other commandments God has given us only bring us happiness as we follow them. But prayer does bring us to a since of peace because as we pray, we come to understand what's truly important, and we come to understand that everything is going to work out. Now mind you, you do need to put thought into your prayer, and avoid vain repetitions, because when you get into the habit of asking or saying something just to say it and don't really think about it we start to loose that spiritual sensitivity. But before you say amen at the end just think, is there anything/anyone I need to pray for. Pause. Be patient, listen. We don't pray for our Heavenly Father's sake, but for ours. Love Elder Yeaman

7-25-11

Good morning,

Yes, I get time everyday to practice Spanish. I can't speak it very

well. I pretty much just have phrases memorized about the

gospel. I don't understand when people speak to me. But I enjoy

speaking it.

We went to Costco last week  bought cooking supplies to make stuff.

Today we're going to go to the Queen Mary boat.

Don’t worry about buying me a new razor. It’s too expensive. I already

have enough straight razors to last the rest of my mission anyways.

Happy birthday Jeremy and Sherry!

At church yesterday a guy came up to us and said he was taught by

missionaries about six months ago. His dad is a minister of another

church and he felt like he couldn't join this church. He explained he

had some experiences recently and he's ready to change his life. We

have a meeting with him tonight. (That almost never happens :-)

Elder Yeaman's quote of the week "If you don't ponder you will wander"

Explanation: If you were stranded, lets say you decided to take a road

trip and your car broke down, and you didn't have "AAA." You call

someone you know (maybe your parents) and they don't answer. So you

leave a message/ text. Are you going to turn your phone off while

waiting for someone to call back? Of course not. That would be

absolutely ridiculous. Now tie that in to prayer. Sometimes we need

help, many times we turn to our father in heaven. But how

effective would prayer be if after we pray we "power off our phone."

In other words, we need to wait for that answer and continue to be in

a positive environment so that the our Heavenly Father can answer us

through the spirit. Be in an environment where you can hear the phone

ring and hear the person speaking on the other end. You know how

important that is. You know how when someone calls and your kids are

screaming in the background or you arer on the side of a busy road or a

construction sight. It’s difficult to hear the person who called you.

When waiting for answers wait in an appropriate environment. Ponder.

Love, Elder Yeaman

7/18/11

Good Morning, Happy Birthday Shane!!!

My companion is from Canada. He came out with Elder Evans almost 6 months ago.
We’ll go to Costco today.
This week I went on splits into a Spanish area. It was really neat. I

got to do everything in Spanish. We also gave the Spanish elders a

referral. We had talked to this person on bike and she said we could

come by and she would like a bible and a book of Mormon in Spanish.

Well, when we went on splits, we stopped by and she asked how long

does it take before I can get baptized and ask if we could get her a

ride to church tomorrow. She came and it was great. Now I’m back in my

normal ward and everything is going good.

Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week. "A.S.K. stands for Ask, Seek, Knock"

Explanation: The scriptures say "ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye

shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. These are all

action verbs;. ask, seek, and knock. I have always looked at them

separately but I think it takes a new meaning when you look at them

together. For example Joseph Smith, had a concern and ASKED himself

the question, which church is true. In order to receive an answer he

had to first SEEK. So he read the bible. He searched and studied until

he came across James 1:5. He found what he was looking for so he

decided to KNOCK on the doors of heaven through prayer. The

heavens were opened once again to the earth and he received and answers

to his question. The first step is to ASK: this involves asking

ourself a question. It involves having a concern so much so that

we're willing to act. Step two, SEEK: this involves looking and

studying through the scriptures for an answer. We can’t expect God to

solve our problems if we don't seek for the answer to our problems.

God won't repeat himself. An extreme example would be if you were

wondering if it was okay to worship an idol. It clearly states in

Exodus 20 that thou shalt not worship any engraven image. It’s there,

and if you study you'll find the answer (God will however testify to

you that it's true or that you should or should not do something

through the Holy Ghost.) which leads into the next step... KNOCK on

his door. Pray and ask him if this (what ever you were looking for) is

correct. (it's a good idea to pray through out this process, not

just at the end) The Lord will guide you to find answers. Praying at the end is to make sure what you have found in your studies

is what God wants. If that makes since. I had a lot of different

thougts and tried to keep them in order and I hope it's

understandable. But the main point I’m trying to get across is that

we must do all three steps.

Elder Yeaman

June 13, 2011


Dear family and friends,



Good week. Yes it was more productive. Yes I’m keeping a log of my hours for service

I had a create of eggs



I also made snicker doodles this week. I will make more bagels today



You asked about something from stake conference but I’ll use those in future quote of the weeks.



Elder yeamans quote of the week "the devil doesn't take a dead dog" (Reed Benson (son of President Benson))



after we shared a spiritual thought with a family this week they shared this quote that tied in. now that I’ve been on bike I have come to realize the work of the adversary more. The wind is blowing constantly against us, from north to south east to west. It, for some reason, changes so quickly that we're always riding against it. No joke. The wind is a big factor with how fast your able to pedal, and let me tell you it about doubles our travel time. Additionally this last week we have counted 3 green lights we have hit. The rest has been red lights. I put it to the test. I’ll pick up grass and drop it and it will be blowing the opposite direction we need to go. Then after we get there we'll need to go the other way and what do you now it's blowing against us. This isn't a complaint, but rather I rejoice in this. It adds to my testimony, that this church is true. That what I’m doing is an extraordinary work and it really irritates the adversary. He does everything he can to stop this work from progressing. If it wasn't true he wouldn't bother. The devil doesn't take a dead dog. The fact that we face trials should be something to rejoice in. the harder it gets, the harder my foundation becomes.



Our plans for today, Costco, pollo loco, disc golf, cook food, maybe write some letters I haven't written in a long time



Love elder yeaman



I’ll be on a little longer if you have any questions

Thanks

June 6, 2011


Hey everyone,



Interesting week. My companion was sick and wasn't able to eat or drink anything for three days without throwing it back up. So we had p-day on Monday, and he was sick Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Which means we were in the apartment all that time. I thought I was going to go insane. Staying inside for that long was rough. So I made a bunch of pizza crusts and froze them, made angel food cake from scratch, without a mixer, that was tough but it turned out really well. And I made bagels and that was really good. And more banana bread with flour.



Honestly, the only time I’ve gotten a little home sick was after I called home and that didn't last more than a half an hour.



Stake conference was good we had elder Kevin r Duncan from the 70 and elder hayme from the 5th quorum of the 70.



Even areas that have a car in this mission still need help when transferred. The cars we have won't fit our 2 suitcases food and bike.



That’s a really neat poem



What’s a gurney washing station what does it do



I haven't come up with a quote of the week again. If you give me a topic that might help. Sorry



it was a really short week and not much happened because my companion was sick. Sorry the letter is so short. I’ll be on for a little longer if you have any questions.

May 31, 2011

Thanks for taking care of the Costco stuff



I made banana bread last week and it turned out great I think I will make some more today. I am also going to make home-made bagels. There is a recipe for them in the cook book that Aunt Karen made.



No I got over the jamba juice real quick. I was laughing. It’s not a big deal.



You had this cd, along time ago with lds favorite speakers; one of the stories was the 1,2,and 3 pound box of chocolates. On that set of cd's there are a couple really good stories. one of them talks about carmel covered onions, and I thing the same track talks about the effect of music but one of the quotes is something like do you really think you can walk through mud and not get anything on you. It’s referring to music but it applies to everything. It tells us to just stay away completely from that stuff. If you can try and get Shane to listen to it.



I got you package thanks. It was the right memory card. Thanks for evything else in the package too.



How do I know driggs Idaho? There is an elder from there, and I’ve heard of it several times before but I can’t' remember anything about why I remember it.



We have 2 general authorities coming to stake conference next week.



No quote of the week sorry.

5-23-11

Our first week was good. Yes, he's willing to run but just can't run very fast. He started his mission at 310 and has lost 64 pounds I think last week I said he started at 280 but it was really 310.




Today I’m hoping to make banana bread!



It’s funny that you ask about that. I used the Jamb Juice and Subway gift cards two days ago. I bought one for Elder Tiatia and me. We got our Jamba Juice and we were going to take it back to our apartment. Well long story short, we're on bike, I had two sips and I go off a curb and I drop it. Those two sips were good!



Yes, we had some fun service you'll here about it the quote of the week.



Luckily the rain was while we were doing studies and it cleared up before we went out to work.



I got Kayla’s graduation invitation. That’s so crazy! She’s so old!



Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week, "Just Do It."

Explanation: There are several parts of this story to explain so I’ll start here... About a month ago we had stopped by this less active family (mom and son) and they told us they weren't interested in us stopping by. About two weeks ago we knocked in their neighborhood and found a couple potential investigators. About a week ago we stopped by with a youth member of the ward who is friends with the son and we were able to talk to the son a little bit more. He then said we could come back some time but not completely sure when. About 3 years ago, there was a time when I had to do fast offerings for 3 routes. Several boys in our ward were sick or out of town and I was going to do 3 fast offering routes before church. I was running short on time I had just finished the last person on the list and was on my way back to church when I was given a prompting to go and stop by this one person in particular one more time. I did so and nothing came of it. I was really bothered by this. Several times since then I have felt prompted to do something. I follow the prompting and nothing happens that I can see. Well, Saturday night we were biking and I had this prompting that we should go to this man whowe had knocked into earlier. It was just a thought that popped into my head and came just like the other ones had. We had stopped by this man earlier that day, we were biking to a different destination, and I was arguing with myself whether or not to do it because I thought that thought I felt had failed me so many times before. But I remember a talk give by President Uchdorf in General Conference and he talked about how we need to listen to the Holy Ghost. So we started to head towards his direction when we came across that less active family. They were pulling weeds. We got off our bikes and started helping them in our shirt and tie and were able to establish a strong relationship with them. I had forgotten that I was prompted to go there until about half way through our service and then it hit me. Those other times I was prompted were to help prepare me. It was were there to make sure I was listening, they were tests. And so all I have to say is when you feel like you have a prompting to do something and are not sure if it's from God or not, don't worry about it. Just do it.



Love, Elder Yeaman

May 16, 2001

Dear Family & Friends




Transfers are tomorrow. I’m staying here on bike with Elder Tiatia, my new companion. Elder Evans is trading places with him. Elder Tiatia was in Whittier in the Granada Ward.



No, I still have some Costco food left. Yes adding me to your Costco account would be great! But don't I have to have a picture on the card? Anyways, that would be great. It saves you so much money.



My companion still runs, but my next companion will run less. I know Elder Tiatia. He started his mission when I was in Whittier. He was a 290 pound elder, but I heard he has lost 70 pounds. He’s been on bike his entire mission.



This week we went and did some service and killed a bunch of wasps and wasp nests at someones house. That was by far the most fun t service we have done. No one was harmed. We used a broom and a fly-swatter so get them down.



Quote of the week: "God is not a God of confusion"

Explanation: Imagine going to a McDonalds and asking for a cheese burger, fries, and a coke and they respond, “We don't sell burgers or fries, We only sell chicken at this McDonalds and we have Pepsi products, not coke.” You go to another one and the same thing happens but they only sell cereal. You go to another one and they respond that this one only sells Chinese food. Each one you go to is different. It would not be as successful as it is today. It would be completely unorganized and may even fall apart.



God needs order in his church. He has organization. He doesn't leave his doctrine up in the air to be interpreted any way man wants. God has called a prophet. He has organized his church. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Ephesians 4:5 one lord one faith, one baptism.



Love Elder Yeaman

5-9-11

Dear Family and Friends,




Yes, we'll probably go play frisbee golf today.



We can’t go to Costco anymore. No one has a Costco card. The one who did was transferred last transfer. We still have food from Costco for about another week.



I did not take a picture of the big pile of weeds.



When L. Tom Perry came it was a 2 hour conference. Our mission and the Anaheim mission were invited to attend. So cool!!



No, my companion is not a big fan of running.



So that cherry candy you sent me, it’s so good! It tastes like those cough drop you used to buy and always hide. We'd find them and eat them because they were more like candy than cough drops.



So this is the part of my letter where I confess my gratitude for my mother. I was trying to think of something I could say that hasn't really been said before. Almost everyone will say they have the best mother and stuff like that but I have come to one simple conclusion... no other mother could have raised me better than the mother I’ve always had. Thanks for everything and happy mother's day!



Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "You can't have a five star fast food restaurant."

Explanation: When God works, he works perfectly. There’s no flaw in any phase of his plan. Because it's so perfect you could compare it to a five star restaurant. You go to this nice restaurant and they seat you at a table. You order your food and then wait. They might bring out bread or salad, but that's not what you’re waiting for. The key word here is wait. Now compare this to prayer. When we pray, do we pray like we're ordering at McDonald’s or pizza on the phone...Yeah I’d like some miracles with a side of blessings and a cup of joy to drink, amen. Or is it real conversation with someone who really cares for us? When we pray, do we wait for answers or are we trying to make it through the drive-through? If we want fast answers to prayers, they may be fast food quality, but if you want good quality answers you would need to wait like at a five star restaurant. God always answers prayers; it's just a matter of time.



Love Elder Yeaman

April 27, 2011

Hola,


I’ve decided when I get back I’m going to attend the Spanish ward. I haven't had many opportunities to speak it on my mission but I really want to learn it. So I’ll go to a Spanish ward so that I can be more surrounded by it and hopefully learn it.

Please don't let me know when you’re sending a package. If I don't get it, then it's a distraction and kind of a downer.

I got josh's wedding invitation. Is he going to shave his face before he gets married? Just curious. I haven't seen a picture of him for a while. He looks way different.

How’s Shane door to door thing going? Better I hope.

Elder Yeaman's quote of the week "say cheese!"

Explanation: In the year book of life there are no retakes, no re-do, no photoshop. Like the yearbook pictures for school it doesn't matter what you looked like yesterday or a year ago, it does matter, however, the way you look right then. The camera taking the picture can't make your hair look nicer than it actually is. It won't get the gunk out of your teeth or make your cloths look nice. It is all dependent on you. Did you wash your clothes earlier in the week so you have nice clothes to wear for picture day? Did you take the time to wash and do your hair or brush you teeth? If not it will show. When we get in line to take the picture there's nothing you can do. How you look at that very moment is all that maters. The only problem is we don't know when picture day is. When that final judgment will come. Are we prepared? Have we taken time apart to make sure we are spiritually prepared? We all mess up yes. But the past doesn't matter. How I looked a year ago doesn't determine the way my picture will turn out, it's what I will do now. Prepare while you have the chance and all else will be taken care of.
Love Elder Yeaman

April 11, 2011

Hey,


Wasn’t general conference great?

I had to take money out of my account to buy a new name tag. Mine completely snapped in half. Right now it's being held together with tape. I’ll put the money back into my account later.
I’m still here in Long Beach with Elder Evans. I thought we'd be staying together. We were just white-washed into the area last transfer and there's a bunch of missionaries here. So not a lot of room to move people around.
Yup we got lots of rain this week. Bike’s alright!
We went to Costco today. I bought individual frozen pizza, it came in a pack of twelve. Also bought some frozen enchiladas, cheese bagels, muffins, bananas, frozen strawberries and black berries, orange juice, cheez-its, granola bars that come in a big green box that we always used to buy. Also bought a big tub of nestle cookie dough. Bought all my stuff for a month in one week. We had to play tetras to fit in all in the fridge and freezer. The other elders saved a lot of money by going to Costco last time they went that it lasted them 2 months. Weirdest thing, I gave in and put ice in my milk this week. I was eating my cookies and the milk wasn't cold enough so I did what mom always did. Ice in the milk. I still think it's weird but there's nothing better than really cold milk.

A member who owns a chain of Pollo Loco’s and Denny’s and what not, gave us a bunch of gift cards to his restaurants. Sooo nice!
Just send everything to the mission office I’m still here.
We've been doing a lot of service recently. A lot and just for members in the area.

Elder yeaman's quote of the week: "When at first you don't succeed try and try again"

Explanation: After Lehi and his family leave Jerusalem the children are then commanded to return and get the plates. Of course the first thing Laman and Lemuel do is complain. But Nephi responds differently (read 1 Nephi 3:7) we learn that Nephi puts 100% of his trust in the Lord. But that's not the end of the story. It goes on to where they make it back to Jerusalem and when they ask for the plates their life is threatened and they flee. But wait! Did not Nephi put all of his trust in the lord? Why didn't the lord follow through? Nevertheless, Nephi devices another plan, where he again puts all of his trust in the Lord and sacrifices everything he has to trade it for the plates. But again his life is threatened and after he flees with his brothers he is then struck with a stick several times by Laman and Lemuel. Why didn't the lord provide a way that time? Nephi put in all of his trust and yet was worse off then when he started. The third time he goes in all by himself and has no idea where to go, what to do. You could say that possibly the things that were going through his mind were things such as "I am going to need to get into his house, fight off all the guards, and get the plates, then escape without anybody following me so my brothers are safe and we can make it back to my father." But the third time the Lord provides a way. He is lead safely back to his father and because of that action several other events have taken place which are recorded in the book of Mormon and it has blessed thousands of people. At times we may justify, oh the lord didn't provide a way for me to do this or that, he must not want me to do it. Or we might want to give up. The light bulb took 1256 tries (or something like that) to get it right. What would have happened if they gave up on the 1255 try? We wouldn't have the light bulb. The point is... the Lord always provides a way for righteous actions. It may not be on the first try or the 1255 try, but he will provide a way. Put your trust in Him and never give up.
Love Elder Yeaman

March 28

Dear people in the world and not of the world,


The ward is great. They’re really nice and we get fed almost every night. There was this really good quote I found and I wanted to put it in Shane’s letter but I forgot. So tell him "You've got two years to live it, and the rest of your life to remember it".

My companion has been coughing a lot since he go here. I did the same thing my fist transfer and so did a bunch of other missionaries. I think it's the pollution. But he's getting better.

Our week was good. It poured all day yesterday and we returned back to the apartment at 9:00 drenched from head to toe with a fried phone. It was fun though. We got stuck in some areas and had to bike through some really deep puddles. What we would do is when we came to a deep puddle we would try to find a way around and when we couldn't find one we would get some speed and then go through it but lift up our feet up off the pedals. After a while we were so wet that we didn't really worry about the puddles anymore. Ha-ha it's supposed to rain all this week.

I planted those strawberries in that little pot 2 weeks ago and now they're sprouting.

Today I’ll make m&m cookies and maybe crepes. There’s so many strawberry vineyards around and I heard that there the best.

Transfers are not tomorrow but next Tuesday. I have an idea of what will be happening to me but I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Yes we will be watching conference at the stake center.

My bike is doing alright. I bought another tool so that I can fix it myself, it'll cost much more money to have them fix it then to buy the tool and do it myself. It poured and poured this week.

HAY! mujer abolante peligra constante! favorite spanish phrase of the week
Elder yeaman's quote of the week. "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." Explanation: Soooo by living the higher law that was given by Jesus Christ we establish a barrier to keep us from sin. Only keeping the 10 commandments would be like standing on the edge of the cliff and when it gets a little windy we will slip into sin. But by living the higher law we build a fence. It doesn't mean we can’t sin but when we do slip, because we all will at one point or another, the fall won't be so great. The hard part of the higher law the Christ gave is loving unconditionally. It’d be pretty easy to avoid someone who has hurt us or we feel has done us wrong. But Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount to love those who hate you, pray for those who despitefully use you and to serve those who seek to do evil to you or something like that. So to tie it in with the quote... have you discovered your purpose, and have you filled your life with it. Have you shown love to others no matter what. By not fulfilling you purpose it'd be like a doctor trying apply his medical experience by flipping fries at McDonnalds. The purpose of life is a life of purpose. Fill your life with important things make you life meaningful by being some one who means something to others.
Love Elder Yeaman

March 7

Dear family and friends


I actually just finished the second full week in the area and it's good. Our apartment is nice. There were 14 missionaries that came in this transfer. Nothing too exciting today. Last p-day I made cookies.

Our new ward is great. There are four elders in the ward but the other two are in the office Mon-Fri from 10:00-4:00. There used to be no missionaries in this ward. and then they put the office elders in the ward and now they put the office elders and us in the ward. We lived with the office elders for those three days in their small beaten down apartment. No, they are not permanently increasing the number of missionaries in our mission. We're supposed to go back down to 128. The first presidency chooses how many missionaries we should have and they gave us a budget for 128 missionaries and that's where it'll stay. Right now we have 148 full time missionaries and 10 visa waiters.

Yes I got your letter thanks.

Normally I would have loved being on a bike, but this past couple of weeks there's been a couple of days where it's been raining and it's been below 40 and so we end up soaking wet and cold and then it's also been really windy because we're right by the ocean and we get the wind from there. This last week I finally saw the ocean. We ate at a members house and it was like 20 feet away. Additionally being on bike is a financial burden with all the bike tubes and patches and repairs.

Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "Blind Obedience"

Explanation: People tend to look at the lds church and think it's ridiculous how we have a modern prophet. They feel as though we put our complete trust in this mortal imperfect man. Anything that this man says, we heed his council, and willingly obey. Are we blind and is that man just a guide dog as people not of this faith may believe? No! We are not obedient because we're blind. We are not as the waters in the waves of the sea and are simply tossed to and fro. We are obedient, not because we're blind but because we can see. We have put our trust in God, not in man and we have seen the blessings that come from following this prophet that God has called. "Whether it be the voice of me or of my servants it is the same." We have seen the blessings that have come and we're obedient because we can see the blessings that will come. We know where we want to end up and we can see the path that we must take to get there. I can see and that is why I’m obedient.
That’s about all the excitement for this week.

Love elder yeaman

February 21, 2011

February 21, 2011

Hey,

I’m being transferred to Long Beach east zone and I’m in the Atherton ward. Finally on a bike. I’ve got a lot to do today, the normal p-day stuff and work on my bike and pack.

Please pray really hard that I’ll have an apartment to move into by Tuesday. They turned in applications but none have been accepted thus far my new companion and I have no place to live. Otherwise I’d give you my address. The mission office is the same building as the ward I’ll be in. So as of now that's my address.

I’ve been to the Buddhist temple more than I’ve been to the temple in LA. Ha-ha yeah I took a bunch a pictures since I’m leaving the area.

We’ve had a lot of rain. It’s rain season and I’m on bike. That ctr rain jacket I got is water resistant, not water proof. If it rains hard i'm soaked even with it on.

Did it take a lot of salt to make the egg float?

Love ya
Bye



February 28, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,

I moved into my new apartment on Friday afternoon, it's the nicest apartment in the mission! Everything we have is new. We have so many missionaries we're over capacity. 128 is our comfort and we have 148 so they had to split a lot of areas and stuff like that. My new address is 5050 something... not quite sure. But the mission office is in my ward, so it'll be easier to just send everything there. I can pick it up every Sunday and Thursday.

My companion is from Virginia. He’s from Suffolk, near Virginia Beach. His name is Elder Evans

I got my bike fixed but I just need to buy a couple more things just in case I get a flat or something like that.

Not much to report on this week.

Elder Yeaman’s Quote of the Week, "Unplug to plug in"
Explanation: The world in general requires so much of us. There’s so much to do, so many things to focus on and it's all very draining. Like anything battery operated we are going o run out of juice. The only way to recharge it is to hook up to a higher power source. But we often put other things in the way of that power source. This outlet’s for my computer, this one is for my phone, my washing machine, my TV, my radio and so on. But the simple fact is we need to unplug to plug in. We should set time aside specifically for scripture study and not let the phone ring or anything else interrupt us. As a missionary something I have seen over and over again is interruptions from the dog or phone or a knock on the door right as we're about to share the most important part of our message. That interruption drives away the spirit. When we study, if we don't unplug to plug in, just when we're going to read the most important part, the thing we need most, the spirit leaves and we never get what was waiting for us.

Love Elder Yeaman

February 15, 2011


Dear Family and Friends,

Today we went to the temple and we'll be going to the Buddhist temple and then go out for lunch.
Wow, Mikayla getting ready for college? No way, that's so weird.

I came up with a really good quote of the week and I wrote it in my planner so I wouldn't for get it but I didn't bring my planner to the Temple and we went to the family history center to e-mail on our way home so I never got a chance to pick it up.
Food of the week. We ate with the Mataele family again and we had steak and burgers and sausages and what not. Sorry it's so short.

Next week is transfers so I have the possibility of leaving this area.
Love you all, Elder Yeaman

February 7, 2011


Good week. To answer your questions from the letter you sent me... My area is 4 miles long and 3 miles wide. It’s one of the biggest areas in the mission.

Next week my p-day should be Tues. As of now we are going to the temple that day.

Yes, I got your package thank you. My favorite thing you sent was the post-its sticky notes.
Food of the week. We went to a Samoan party for dinner this week. About 40 people were there and over 200 pounds of steak. There were some chickens and rolls and potato salad and stuff. Then they sang us a song that they wrote. "God Bless the Missionaires" A guy in our ward is in a Samoan band with his family and he's the one that's about to get sealed in the temple that we've been working with for a long time.

Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week. "My God my God why hast though forsaken me?"

Explanation: I read an article in an ensign a while back and it was really good but it talked about how when Jesus was on the cross, he quoted this scripture from Psalms 22. Most people don't realize it was said before by King David when we had sinned and was trying to get his life back in order. But the article explained that God never leaves us. At time many of us feel that way. The scriptures have stated several times that though God might not be pleased with what we're doing his hand is stretched out all the day long. He’s waiting for us to reach up and grab his hand. Now Jesus Christ was the only one that was forsaken so that he could go below all. He knows how we feel and he knows how to heal our wounded souls. When we feel alone, forgotten, forsaken, the one who is always there and will heal and help us every step of the way is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Love Elder Yeaman

Jan 31, 2011


So we had a change of plans so I’m on today. We’re not going to the temple for like 2 more weeks. My companion wants to go to the temple on his birthday.

Did Shane get his mission call yet? If so where? If not will he most likely get it this week? If he does you have to seen me a letter ASAP this week. That’ll be so cool.

Yes we've been teaching all the less actives. But the real help came from the ward. President Gordon B Hinckley said that every new convert or less active needs three things. 1. A friend 2. To be taught the doctrine 3. A calling. We teach them and the lord resolves their doubts and helps the to re-recognize the happiness that this gospel brings into their lives, but the ward befriends them and that's what helps them enjoy class and coming to church and that's what keeps them coming back. after they been befriended and taught for a while is when the calling helps seal the deal or makes them feel of importance so our bishop is coming up with a few callings that won't be to overwhelming. things like the door greeter or in charge of changing the hymns up on stage before church starts or making sure all the chairs are put away or things like that.

Food of the week: One of the less active families we're teaching fed us this week. It was really good. It was chicken but I don't know how it was cooked but it was really good. We also had ribs with this different family that's no longer less active and they're being sealed wed. The 23 of Feb. in the temple as a family. They’re Samoan. That’s the day after transfers so I hope I’m still here. If I'm here we can go to the temple with them. They have three kids.

Our regular church attendance is 102 people including old people and babies and there are about 240 families in the ward, about 550 total members. Only 102 of those 550 members are active. Crazy huh.

We started up the harvest program I asked you to write up and we're seeing the fruits of our labor. Members always have people at their house when we go to eat and our teaching pool is slowly increasing. It took a while to get started but we shared it with all the active members in our ward who would allow us to and its working great. I need to update it though. There’s one more thing I need to add so I’ll send home this week something I need you to type up. Thanks.
No time for a thought today. Sorry love you all.

Elder yeaman

Jan 24, 2011


Dear Family and Friends

Good week, nothing too exciting except that there were 21 less actives back at church on Sunday. We have a couple new investigators and that's about it.

I went to the dentist. no cavities, the reason my teeth hurt is because I scrub my teeth to hard and the gums pulled back a little and opened up a sensitive part of the teeth so no I’m using this special tooth paste. I only have to use it for a month.

This week I was given a jacket from a less active family. I didn't need one or anything, but they said they had it and it didn't fit them and it probably never would. So they gave it to me. It’s really nice.
Food of the week: That less active family that gave me the jacket fed us and they made spaghetti, but the best part was the cheese cake they made from scratch. It was really good. They made one just for us so we got to take one home:-) we are being really spoiled.

Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week...don't really have one.

Spent all week preparing a talk I had to give in church about how to be "Valiant to the testimony of Jesus Christ." didn't have time to think of one.
Next week my p-day will be on Tuesday the 1st of Feb. because we're going to the temple and it's not open on Monday.
Love you all,

Father forgive them...

Jan 17, 2011


Dear Family and Friends

No big plans for today. Our mission gets together every so often and does sports but not today.

My companion is great. His strengths are that he's always striving to become better; he loves the Lord, is a hard and diligent worker, and is very verse in the New Testament.

Our new mission president is great. Not anything like President Sexton.
This Wednesday I’m going to the dentist. They accept my insurance. and I’ll pay the rest with my Wells Fargo card. Do I have enough money in my account? I might have a couple cavities.

If you haven't found a shoe horn yet, don't worry about it. I found another plastic one in the couch and it shouldn't break.

Food of the week: We got fed more samoan food this week. There’s this less-active family we found and they want to baptize their son and they have 2 sons and 2 daughters. The daughters are very skinny but one of them about 16 years of age ate twice as much as my companion and I put together. It was really good food.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week "Father forgive them, for they know what they do..."

Explanation: in Luke chapter 23 our savior Jesus the Christ pleaded to our father in heaven in behalf of those who were persecuting him saying father forgive them, for they know not what they do. For many of us today our savior pleads, "fFther forgive them, for they know what they do, but don't do anything about it." We know, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, what we are supposed to do and yet still struggle doing it. Many pick and choose what commandments they want to live. God has commanded that we share the gospel with our family, friends and neighbors. We know we're supposed to do it but still struggle sharing it. He constantly urges us to feed his sheep.

Love Elder Yeaman

We learn to do good by doing well.

January 10, 2011


Dear Mom and Family,

This week I found out where I was getting transferred and who my new companion would be.

This week we had stake conference and it started at 10. We found a couple new investigators but haven't been able to get a hold of them again.

No big plans for today.
Food of the week: We had a roast that was cooked for eight hours and it was really good. I asked what the sauce was and she said it was real easy. Cream of mushroom soup and Lipton onion stuff that dad puts on the potatoes.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: We learn to be good by doing well and as we do well we feel good and feelings and desires that are not good leave us."

Explanation: The most effective way to be happy is through doing good. Satan doesn't want us to feel good so he tries to get us to have feelings of hate or envy and such. But by doing things that are good we become full of love. If Satan tempts us to think bad thoughts or to gossip about others, the easiest way to overcome that would be through doing good things for them. Everyone we teach, we invite them to read and pray daily. Not only because we know they'll gain a testimony of the book of Mormon, but because as they do good they feel good and things that are not good leave them. We know as they read and pray daily their desires change and they feel of the love of God. I know that by reading the scriptures daily and praying always we create less space for Satan to try and squeeze his way into our lives. But if we miss a day of reading or don't pray Satan has more strength in tempting us. If investigators we teach don't read, their desire will not change as quickly or at all. They won't want to hear more about this message. But as they read they learn to be good by doing good and they recognize that as they do good desires that are not good leave them.
Love Elder Yeaman
p.s. I’m staying in my area with the same companion

The arrow of light

Jan 3, 2011


Dear Family and Friends,
We didn't do anything special for new years. I guess the most exciting thing was that we did buy some sparkling apple cider. Went to bed at 10:30 and woke up at 6:30.
The ward I’m in now starts at eleven o clock instead of nine and next week we have stake conference and a general authority is coming.

Elder’s Yeaman’s quote of the week: the arrow of light

Explanation: Yesterday in church for part of our lesson we talked about being true and we were asked how to describe true and some one brought up an arrow. A true arrow points one way. It’s not misleading at where it points. We, as Disciples of Christ need to be like that true arrow. Because we talk of Christ, preach of Christ, rejoice in Christ and etc. We need to act as Christ would act. If we are true, if we are true Christians, we will not only speak of Christ but act as Christ. We can say "oh to get to chandler high you need to go east on Knox Rd. until you hit Arizona Ave. Then go south and it'll be on the right side," but if we go north on Arizona Ave., you'll never get there. The arrow on a compass always faces one way. You can turn it all you want but the arrow will always face the same way. Now the compass itself needs to be lined up so that the n (north) matches up with the red arrow and the white arrow matched up with s (south) but if it's not lined up with the north and south, you will never bet where you need to go. or where you want to be. "We become what we want to be, by constantly being what we want to become."
Love Elder Yeaman

Do we build a house and leave it barren?

December 27, 2010


Dear Family and Friends I didn't think I’d be able to get on today, but we got permission to go to a different library and now I’m in the library in my old area in Cerritos. On Christmas we just went around and visited people. Nothing to big. I didn’t mean to be quiet on the phone it's just there wasn't much to talk to you all about. We e-mail every week and so everything that Ihave to say gets said then. Nothing big for Christmas, probably just write thank you notes to a couple people. We’re also going to go to the dollar store and buy 8 oz martinelli's sparkling cider. This week was really slow and everyone's excuse was come back after the holidays so we have a lot of people to re visit and find out if the arereally interested The shoe horn is broken. It was good while it lasted though. If you have any old ensigns like before 2000 could you send them next time you send something. The older the better! I just want to read them and the older ensigns have a lot of really good talks. Thanks! Oh you can send them book rate, which is cheaper than flat rate. It’s for books and magazines and stuff like that it just takes a little longer to get here but it's super cheep. I remember the Irwin’s now. They wave a daughter named Stephanie and the live north of Ray Rd and west of Alma School by where the Phillips used to live and I think they have or had a brown car with a rack on the roof of the car. Elder Yeaman’s food of the week. This week I ate a lot of Mexican food. Tamales and some soup stuff that's spicy and has pork in it and some other stuff but it was really good.
 
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week:
Explanation: Do we build a house and leave it barren? Do we squeeze oranges to dump the juice down the drain? Do we plant seeds in our Garden and nourish it and once it's grown not harvest the field in which we worked so hard for? Of course not. President Gordan B. Hinckley in pmg says it's useless to baptize some one into inactivity. It takes members helping the recent converts and less active members. We need to finish what we start and help others finish what thy started. If Satan never takes a break why should we? Are we not God's elect to build up the kingdom in these last days? By helping God in his vineyard he promises that we too will be able to enjoy the fruit of our labors. Love Elder Yeaman

Jesus is the reason for the season

December 20, 2010


Dear Family and Friends,

I got the package. Thank you very much for the shampoo, socks, mangos, altoids, calendar, shoe horn, and the candy. I haven't opened any of it yet, but I felt around and labeled what I thought everything was. That way when I open it I can see if I’m right! I also got a package from Nana and the Irwin’s. He should get his package today and he'll be so excited. He’s been real bummed because he hasn't gotten anything and all these other missionaries are. Thanks for doing that. He’ll really appreciate it.

The work is slow but things are coming a long.

Make sure the missionaries have a dinner appointment on Christmas. People here don't necessarily like to sign up on that day.

Landon Palmer is going to Africa!!! That’s so cool! He’s really going to like that. What dialect? Is it the same as Jordan Stewart?

Hey I’ll call home between 11-3 on Christmas. Sorry it's such a long time slot but we have some meetings that day and we'll call in between the meetings and they haven't decided during what part of the meeting we're calling home.

Hey look up the story of the “The War and Christmas of 1914" it's a great story and you can read it for Christmas. Some good ideas for stocking stuffer... go to the 99 cents store and they have some like a set of fifty individual floss tooth pick things. I never used them before but I love them. They make flossing a lot easier.
Food of the week: A member took us out to a fish restaurant. It was good. From what I’m aware, there's not any middle class fish restaurants. It’s either like a fast food cheap place or it's very expensive. Let’s just say this wasn't a fast food fish place. I got grilled red snapper and it was really good.
Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week, "Jesus is the reason for the season,"

Explanation. To kind of continue from last weeks thought. The reason we celebrate Christmas is for Christ. It shouldn't be a time of stress or sadness or gloom as Elder Uctdorf said in the first presidency Christmas devotional. No matter what happens find a reason to rejoice. There truly are so many! What will be your cause for Christmas?
Love Elder Yeaman

What is the best gift for the most important birthday?

December 13, 2010


Dear Family and Friends,



I’ll send the name and model number on the razor home in a letter this week. I called the 1-800 number on the back of the phone and it they said it was thirty dollars for just the charger. Then I found the same exact model of razor in an add for 34 dollars for the entire thing. If you can find me cheap charger for it don't worry about it. I thought it was silly how the charger was 30 dollars and for a brand new one it was 34 dollars.



For Christmas I don't need a phone card we can use the cell phones that we have. I’ll call sometime before 5:00 not completely sure though.



No, don't send an anonymous package to me. If we both get an anonymous package and then I don't get anything from my family, he'll know that it must have been my family who sent the packages because my family wouldn't have not sent me a package. Just send him an anonymous package please.



Not much to talk about this week. Last Sunday we had two people come into church and talk to bishop and said we want to learn about this church and know more about the Book of Mormon. Bishop invited us into his office and we talked to them and they invited us over to dinner so we could teach them on that following Tuesday (two days later) when we got there, they were no longer interested. They got a hold of some anti-Mormon literature and listened to our message but told us they were no longer interested. They are getting married in a couple months and had a baby on the way and were real sincere the first time we talked to them.



Elder Yeaman’s quote of the week: "What is the best gift for the most important birthday?"

Explanation: When it's someone’s birthday we normally tend to give them gifts that we believe will please them. With it being Christmas season we celebrate the birth of Christ and by so doing shouldn't we give a gift to him as well? What do you give to someone who has everything? In Mathew 25:40 it tells us as we help others we in reality are only helping our savior. Additionally, self improvement where we try to improve ourselves is pleasing to our savior and father in heaven. When giving a gift to Jesus Christ you don't necessarily need to spend money on others, but rather give up your time, talents, and abilities to help others and improve ourself spiritually. We’re receiving gifts and abilities and blessings everyday from our father in heaven because he loves us so much. So this Christmas season, no matter what you are already doing pray to see what you can give for the most important birthday of all.



Love Elder Yeaman

Our Church Has Special Features

December 6, 2010


Dear Family and Friends

This week has been great. The work is slow but miracles do happen and it's picking up. The ward has really been helping us out. The Lord has gotten 11 less-active members back to church and our goal is 30. Additionally we are now getting more referrals from the ward and it's boosting up our investigator pool.

My companion no longer needs socks, but if you bought them already I could use a couple extra pairs. Also, I have lost the cord to my electric razor. Is it possible to just buy the charger alone? I lost it a while back when I moved apartments and have been using straight razors.

There’s this cool thing that a member in our ward has and it gets rid of the purpose of a water heater. It’s just this coil thing that goes around the water pipe or something like that. And the coil stays hot and you never run out of hot water. They said it has cut down there gas bill by 2/3. I thought it was cool.

Sounds like a busy week! Congratulations on the award Shane. Is he still graduating early? What does he have left to do? Maybe you could have Jeremy and Sherry take Shane and Chris and you could watch the girls? It’ll be really neat concert. Someone has to use the tickets.

Did you watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional? It was really good we watched it at a member’s house while we ate dinner. You can watch it on the internet too.

Food of the week. We had a member invite us and an investigator over to dinner. It was great. It was such a blessing to have a member fellowship them and we were able to teach a lesson as well.

Elder Yeaman’s Quote of the Week: "Our church has special features!"

Explanation: Special features are always made to improve the item. Cars have special features such as automatic windows, cruise control, 5 cd holder stereo, buttons on the steering wheel, and even a back up camera. They all mske driving easier and more enjoyable. The church is much like that car but with a few different features. One, we won't go more into debt by having it but we will grow and prosper. Two, instead of automatic widows, we have members who are automatically willing to help. Three, instead of a 5 cd holder stereo, we will have several friends and our savior Jesus Christ to hold us up. The list goes on. Now, not every one in our church is perfect and there may be wards where it's difficult to find those special features. Additionally, there are several other churches that are willing to do the same things. But the most special feature that this church comes with is unlimited understanding. We know we lived with our father in heaven before this life. We know our purpose in life is to daily improve and have joy while doing it. We know what will happen after we die. We know the gospel has blessed our life, and we know the Book of Mormon to be true. We have continual revelation come to us from God through prayer and prophets that he has called. And the revelation that God gives us through prophets are only there to help better the quality of our lives and strengthen us. Now “don't ride in your car alone”. Offer people rides so that they too can see the special features that this church has.

Love Elder Yeaman

11/29/2010

Dear Family and Friends,


Thanks for all the presents and gifts. No bull looks way different! Why is he all grey? Grant definitely has a Yeaman baby face. Pictures did not make me home sick. I’m fine with everything.

Thanksgiving was good. There wasn't much to do on that day so we mainly just visited members.

For Christmas I would only like a shoe horn.

I forgot to think of a quote of the week so I don't have one today. Sorry

I’m staying in this area for another six weeks. I’ll be here definitely until at least the 9th of January and possibly longer.

Is there anything I can do for you for Christmas?

Love Elder Yeaman

“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Dear family and friends,


I got the letter. With the gift card I bought myself some sweat pants and a sweater and a beanie. It is getting cold in Whittier! This morning when we ran it was 40 degrees outside! Ha-ha, nothing compared to where Jacob is at though! Finding is slow. We’re working a lot with less active members trying to strengthen the ward and it's leading to referrals because the members trust us. We had no investigators at church but we did have some less active members there. It was great! The temple trip isn't till January.

Food of the week: We really don't need to buy any food this week because members have given us a bunch of leftovers and we will probably get more this week. What wonderful members we have. I’m so grateful for the charity they have shown to us.

Elder Yeaman’s thought of the week, “You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Explanation: When playing basketball if you never take a shot you never make a basket. If I shoot 100 times and only make 1 basket, statistically I have done better then if I didn't shoot at all. Or even 1 out of 1000 and so on. If, I as a missionary talk to 100 people I pass by on the street and only one allows us to come back and visit them, it is better then if I didn't talk to those 100 people in the first place. If, as members we try and share the gospel with 100 people we know and only 1 person takes the missionary lessons, it's better than not talking to anyone about it. Statistics are huge in sports. Most basketball players only make half of thier shots. They have like a 47% success rate. However, I personally would choose a 1% success rate over a 0% success rate. If there is no effort then there can be no improvement.

Have a wonderful thanksgiving!
Love Elder Yeaman.