Elder Sighting 10-02-2013

"Just fed your son dinner tonight."

I got this text, and then a call from this sweet sister in Bennion.  She was fascinated by Ryan's connections to the area and we had a wonderful time talking Taylorsville.

These Utah Saints are wonderful.

Letter 10-01-2013

Utah winter already bit pretty hard earlier this week. It was only 50 degrees but we ended up wearing sweaters. It felt way cold, especially coming right after such a hot summer. I wonder how much fall we're actually going to get...

Jasmin's baptism went great! Tyler did everything perfect the first time, which is always nice. It was quaint because it was at the same time as the general relief society broadcast but I think that's how Jasmin wanted it anyways. They're awesome.

We've got a pretty good number of other people we're working with right now to fill up the teaching pool again. The Zone Leaders left a lot of work hanging when they left. We want to make sure that we don't miss anything they might have left untied as well as start our own foundation for work. We've got a couple others (Chris and Eric) with baptism dates right now. We're not sure how solid they are but we'll get them to the font at some point.

Since people have asked me about being district leader the last while... It's not really different than being a regular missionary. You don't all of a sudden baptize weekly. The people in my district's baptisms count just as much as each of ours. My first priority is still the same - baptize twice a month in my area. Once I accomplish that then I'm capable of helping the others in my district baptize twice a month. With the help from my zone leaders who are awesome, Bennion Zone is seeing a pretty good turnaround from the old "banished to Bennion" stereotype it had been given earlier in this mission's history (a phrase that I may or may not have coined...).

Thanks for all the support--

Elder Chandler

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thought: more on wills

It's kind of ridiculous that it takes a month and a half to get through Alma, then a month and a half to finish the rest of the Book of Mormon if you read at a steady pace...

In Helaman 10, Nephi gets the sealing power. The Lord gives him power to do anything because he would not "ask that which is contrary to [the Lord's] will". That's a lot of power. Definitely a lot of responsibility to -always- act in God's will. So where does Nephi turn to find the Lord's will? Does he just go around, "bossing the Lord around" so to speak in Helaman 11 as he petitions the Lord to send a famine instead of war, and then to take away the famine?

I think it's interesting he uses the scriptures to divine God's will, and acts accordingly. In Hel 11:14 Nephi quotes scripture in his prayer, and tells God why he knows that taking the famine away is His will at this time - "for thou saidst that: If this people repent I -will- spare them".

As we study the will of God as stated in the scriptures and act according to those principles we can come closer to having our will "swallowed up in the will of the Father". (Mosiah 15) I think that it's cool, anyways. Nephi son of Helaman is my favorite.

Letter 09-24-1013

Hello,

The weather is finally changing! We've got a pretty good amount of rain lately which has also cooled things down. Last P-day Elder Mintey and I went golfing with another companionship even though the winds were probably 20 mph+ but it was still way fun. (actually I think the wind makes it even more fun...) Elder Mintey raced NASCAR before his mission and so took a picture next to his "racecar" as well.

Week three of whitewashing / district leader was swell. We know the area pretty well now and can find our way around. Jasmin's baptism was pushed back a week to this Saturday because her husband Tyler (who is the competitive Pokemon battler) got worthy to baptize her but had to work an all-day shift on the 21st. She's great though - we saw her at Walmart today (she works as a manager at the customer service desk). It's funny to think she and Tyler graduated in '11, and to see a bit of what life would have been without a mission. It would have been weird.

We taught a 12 year old boy that was adopted/is a foster child/ward of the state... his parents are active and he's in a great family. We're working with him for a baptism date on October 19th - he's been worked with previously but never worked out because he has slight anger issues but lately he's been voluntarily coming to church. That's a big step for him! We picked him up as a new investigator when I was on exchanges with the Zone leaders, who had taught him in the past. They said he was doing the best they've ever seen him so we're excited.

One of the ways Utah missions are interesting is that new investigators are SO HARD to come by, but when you do pick one up almost invariably they end up getting baptized 3-4 weeks later. The polarization of people towards the church is crazy. Either they're super prepared or super anti without much in-between, which makes for some crazy stories on both ends.

Elder Chandler

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thought: for those who have been offended...

The mission is still reading the Book of Mormon together. Sometimes I don't like that they've kind of scheduled our personal study for us by giving us these reading assignments each day. Either way it's powerful.

We run into a lot of people that are turned off towards the church or offended by the "stereotype Utah Mormons" - judgmental, wont-let-kids-play-with-nonmembers, etc. All we can say is that's not what the church is all about. This week one of the scriptures in our reading was Helaman 3:33,

"...pride began to enter into the church - not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people that professed to belong to the church of God".

The church is true even if people are not always true to the church!... so we shouldn't go leaving it because of others inside of it.

Letter 09/17/2013

Everyone,

I found out earlier that the city of Bennion was actually dissolved into Taylorsville not too long ago, so the area I'm in actually is about half Taylorsville city and half Murray city (but in the Bennion Zone of the mission). Both are awesome cities, but it's kind of interesting to have the youth split into two different high schools. I know a lot of the Murray kids still though.

Lately I've been noticing that my suits and my belt is a little big. When we were at Mr Mac buying the clothes and stuff I needed for my mission, we purposely bought stuff a bit bigger thinking I would gain some on my mission here in the "heart of Zion". Apparently there's not enough Jell-o and funeral potatoes to get me yet, though. Definitely not complaining.

Our teaching pool continues to increase. We went on exchanges twice this week. Elder Reed came here (ZL) and was with me. We found a fair few people to start teaching, especially since he was just transferred out of the area not too long ago. The next day I conducted my first exchange as a DL and went over to the other half of the stake with Elder Franco which was super fun as well! And I'm sure Elder Mintey and Elder Dean had a good time as well, judging by the Domino's boxes on the table when I got back... :)

We had a mission conference on Wednesday up at Brighton. It's always nice to get out of our little boxes here in the valley and go somewhere fun as a mission. The thoughts were good... a lot about OYMing. Apparently some of the mission is struggling a lot and other parts are explosive so we want some continuity. Our district went from having 4 people on date to 9 people on date at time of writing so things are going great here at least!--

Elder Chandler

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thought: 

http://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/members-and-missionaries?lang=eng#media=

Letter 09-10-2013

Dear _,

The unthinkable actually happened... I got transferred to Taylorsville! (the zone is called Bennion but the area I cover includes parts of Taylorsville, Murray, and Bennion - mostly Taylorsville) It's crazy because the houses in my area are SO NICE. The basement we stay in gives my companion and I our own bathrooms which is awesome. The apartment actually has a nickname - The Palace. I've also already ran into Grandma Wendy's sister so I've met by great aunt and uncle who also happens to be one of our ward mission leaders. Another first is that I went to Leatherby's earlier today for the first time on my mission :) :) :)

Even though we're whitewashing the Zone Leaders left us two people on date, which is nice. One of them is a 21 year old girl that is newly married to a returning member. His name is Tyler... and he actually plays Pokemon competitively so we get along very very well! The work is a lot different than Midvale; there's a lot more stopping by members and less people just wandering/walking. We have a few nice apartment complexes to work in as well.

I really enjoy working an area like I did in Murray Parkway again with lots of youth and families. Hopefully we can get through the whitewash and by the end of the transfer have things really rolling with a solid foundation.

--Elder Chandler

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thought: whitewashing an area

My brain isn't working too well right now (I think I'm just starting to have some kind of mild bug come on...) so I'll just muse on whitewashing for a bit.

Transfers are always great because they give you a chance to literally start over. You can drop all of your bad habits, pick up good ones, and do so very easily. On the converse, you can also drop all of your good habits and pick up bad ones very easily so you move forward with caution! All in all though, as you strive to do better and better transfers give opportunities to take giant leaps forward.

Whitewashing is even more exaggerated. You have no "senior area companion" to buffer your entrance. Both the new companions must be on their 'A' game at all times for good impressions. It's a chance for, not just missionaries, but areas, to have the same benefits of a transfer. It can start over the foundation for the better, and that's what we're going for.

This foundation, especially with the members, is vitally important. It's our opportunity to have a ton of members out here, each with a heart that wants to do missionary work. One thing that has been especially important in this is working closely and in the line of the vision of the bishop. Luckily I didn't have to learn this by error because of Heidi's letters :) When you jump on board with the bishop, even when the previous missionaries haven't liked him, even if you feel at first his vision (or lack of vision) is limited, to get on board with him and move forward with the key holder.

The next step is the rest of the ward councils, then the youth in the area, then the "social butterfly" active members, and finally the Less Active/Returning Members/Recent Converts. Each step is vitally important in giving the area ability to flourish. The people here are great so it's going to be a great six weeks!

Elder Sighting 9-05-2013

Grandma Wendy got a text last night from her brother, who is serving as a Ward Mission Leader in his home ward in Bennion, Utah.  It said something like this, "We met our new missionaries tonight.  They are on fire!"

Attached was this picture of Ryan and his new companion, Elder Mintey.

Letter from President Moffat--

September 6, 2013

Elder Ryan Chandler

1918 Ben Air Drive

Taylorsville, UT 84129

re:  District Leader Calling,

Dear Elder Chandler,

I am grateful for your acceptance of the call to serve as a District leader in the Second District of the Bennion Zone beginning on September 4, 2013. As a District leader you fulfill a fundamental role in the success of the mission and of the missionaries.  

Your new responsibilities include:

·      *   Setting an example for the missionaries in your district in obedience, proselyting skills, studying the gospel, effective planning and hard work.

·       *  Carrying a full proselyting load and baptizing in your assigned area.

·         * Supervising, teaching and inspiring the missionaries in your district by serving them and strengthening their faith in Jesus Christ.

·       *   Plan and conduct regular district meetings

·        *  Conducting companionship exchanges and outlined in the Missionary Handbook pages 63-65

·       *   Interviewing baptismal candidates

·      *    Looking after the well being of missionaries in your district, especially the sisters

·         * Accounting and reporting any concerns to the zone leaders.  If the concerns are confidential, urgent or of a worthiness nature you should report them directly to me.

This is an important responsibility that the Lord will help you righteously fulfill as you humbly petition him in prayer and then become anxiously engaged.  I express my love and appreciation to you and will remember you in my prayers.

Love and Support,

President Moffat

Letter 9-10-2013

Hello,

This week is way exciting!

Elder Oliveros and I are so blessed to be able to be a part of Kissandra and Amy's baptism... this could have materialized a year ago but somehow things work out and it landed with us. The Lord again provided a way for us to baptize two people this month and reach mission standard of excellence. :)

These girls have been going to church for a very long time now while they've been at their grandparents house in west valley. None of their family is members - mom, dad, grandpa, grandma - just one uncle that's a convert. Their mom lives in some apartments in our area and has them on Friday and Saturday. We met her as she just finished moving in on my very first day in this area - May 1st. My very last Saturday in the area we're able to baptize her two girls, and they were confirmed on Sunday. Also on Sunday, a testimony by the girls' grandpa that he wants to be baptized. The missionaries in West Valley will be happy :) Kristi, the mom, needs to get a divorce from her husband that's in Mexico currently and then get married to her husband, but she'll be baptized once that happens.

Transfers came around as you can tell. I'm going to the Bennion East Stake. My new companion will be Elder Mintey. He came out with Elder Oliveros, so he's just finished his first 12 weeks... I'll also be the District Leader over there. It came as a big surprise because president ended up calling us wayyyy later than he usually does for these kind of things. Eh.

PS yes mom I'm wearing a Taylorsville High shirt in the second picture... found it at Wal-Mart and felt I needed to share in alumi pride. I just remember your stories of your football team suiting up in baby blue and yellow... ha

Anyways,

Elder Chandler

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thought: "What should I do?"

This week our mission Book of Mormon reading included Alma 32. One phrase I love comes in verse 5 when a large group of the poorer class and ask Alma and Amulek a simple question: "What shall we do?" This phrase is actually used word for word in another place in the scriptures in Acts 2:37, when another group of people speak to Peter and the Apostles on the Pentacost - "men and brethren, what shall we do?"

If this phrase is used twice, both in missionary context, it flags to me that it's an important step in hooking people to the gospel. We need to get them to ask, "What should I do?". The basic finding pattern goes like this:

1) bear testimony

2) pricked with the spirit

3) what should I do?

4) invite/commit/follow up

Now, because this is part of the finding process, it's a great tool for members to use (as finding is your responsibility in the first place!). Whenever anyone asks you any form of the question "what should I do", you can immediately respond, "Ask the missionaries! They can help you!"

People can ask this question in many forms. Elder Nelson makes a big list of them during his last two talks in general conference. If people come to you for advice on just about anything though, let it run across your mind to tell them to ask the elders instead. We'll be glad to answer any questions for sure! :) So listen for times when people ask "What should I do?" and have them get their answers from us then we'll be busy and happy and stuff.

Letter 08-27-2013

Everyone,

 

Midvale is never short of surprises. The stories from some of the other missionaries and their investigators... and the frequency of the insanity is crazy. So many people working to baptism go to jail... or move... or go back to meth... or whatever.

 

But none of our kids have gotten into any of that so we're still good :) The weather is cooling off, so there's really nothing to complain about. Finding is always a bit of a struggle with an area that covers .4 square miles - the Lord provides enough to keep us busy though. If there's one thing that's true about this mission it's that, even though we might not be busy with investigators all the time, all the investigators we do pick up get to the water. And it's a miracle every single time they do.

 

So the funny story of the week is when a 13 year old boy OYM'd us walking home from school (usually when people talk with us instead of us talking with them, it's not a good thing) and asked if we were Jehovah's Witness. We told him we were LDS. From there the convo went something like this:

"You know that God isn't real, right?"

EC - "Where'd you get that idea?"

"It's just common knowledge... there couldn't be a God."

EC - silence...

"There's no proof there's a God."

EC - "Where did life start from then?"

"You've never heard of the Big Bang Theory, have you?"

Elder Oliveros - "You mean the TV show?"

 

hahaha i thought it was funny anyways. If you were wondering how that finished up, he told us to have a bad day and walked off. We get quite a bit of "Hail Satans" and such... we even got a "White Power" yesterday?? But hey it's all part of the gig.

 

--Elder Chandler

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thought: Children of God

 

I really don't think there's a more powerful thought than the fact that we are children of God with a divine heritage. We inherited divine potential. Borrowing a bit from Elder Bednar's talk on chastity and taking a little of my own inflection: We are defined by our divine potential. What a thought! We are defined by our divine potential. Right now in the Book of Life each one of us is defined by our potential, and it's up to us to live up to that definition.

 

I wrote a little couplet-thing that I feel connected to:

I think in this life

We oft forget this thought.

The thought: in this life

We are as, "I think oft..."

 

I hope I can more often reflect on my divine heritage and potential in order to live up to and ultimately become as such.

Letter 08-20-2013

Hello,

Whether it be the heat in the past weeks or whatever, it's been really hard to find people. But the Lord always provides a way to baptize twice monthly through faith, obedience, and diligence.

The very first day I got into this area, we met a young mom that wanted her two children baptized. Because she had the kids before she was 18, her parents have legal custody of them and haven't wanted them baptized. But this last week she finally got permission from her parents! So they're being baptized on August 31st. They've been attending church in West Valley with their grandparents for a long time now, so we're able to move quickly with them. It's awesome.

Other than that we just keep going out and working. And playing frisbee and basketball on pdays.

--Elder Chandler

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thought: commitment

I recently went back to read Elder Cook's talk from this last October. I think the talk was kind of overshadowed by President Monson's preceding announcement for me... because it's very, very insightful. It attempts to tackle the apathy felt by many members towards the church, and even just to help us during those "spiritual droughts" we all sometimes fall into. In some ways I feel like Elder Cook's talk and Elder Holland's talk from that general conference attempt to address the same issue. Elder Holland's talk is beautiful to listen to and inspiring, while Elder Cook's is quainter and more logic-based. I like both.

It's not until the middle of his talk that he really gets into his meat - starting with a quote by CS Lewis. He asks us first to change our paradigm towards commitment to the gospel, to realize we're sick and need a doctor. He gives us a good process to be able to do so in Alma chapter 5. He gives us some checks to make sure we aren't doing - abuse or sexual immorality/impure thoughts.

In PMG we are told that all concerns are based in either testimony or commitment. By helping our investigators first realize(!) they need to repent ("Commitment and repentance are closely intertwined"), then go through the process of commitment we can help them more often overcome the commitment concern, which is by far the most common concern I've run into. (The investigators I've taught usually have testimonies...)

It's also helped me a lot to be able to work my way through back to that fervor pitch to want to share the gospel by following Elder Cook's suggestions instead of relying on spiritual punches from Elder Holland :)

Elder Sighting 08-18-2013

Valerie,

I was pleasantly surprised when I turned around in Sunday School today, and there was 'Elder Chandler.' I grew up in the Midvale 6th Ward and was back visiting. I had a training in SLC on Friday, and went to my old ward for church this morning. When I asked him, "Are your parents Greg and Valerie?" he didn't seem totally shocked but did ask how I knew you. When I told him I was in the Little Flock Ward it all made sense. Attached is a picture of us with his companion. It isn't super clear, but I thought you would still like to see it.

Lynnette Smith

Letter 08-13-2013

Hey,

I think I'm the most tan I've even been in my life. Not just tan but missionary tan - a beautiful white strip on my wrist from the watch and a nice white neck from a high collar. It's funny because Elder Oliveros always looks in the mirror and says "I'm so dark". Apparently just like it's cool to be tan in the USA, it's cool to be light in the Phillipines. I will say though I think my leg hairs are suffocating because they haven't been outside in shorts for 14 months now... Poor guys :(

The work is still where it was last week... all of our time spent finding. We're doing a bit of everything - LARCs, member work, personal finding, formers. It's going to come together at some point on the Lord's timeline, but right now we're still kind of struggling in the dark.

I've been reading through all of the conference ensigns in our apartment during "free time" (lunch, dinner-at-home, etc). It might also interest you mom that we spend a lunch every once in a while in the church building where I've been practicing hymns. I can play "Nearer My God to Thee" and "Come Follow Me" now, and I'm working on a couple more. Piano lessons and music theory aren't totally useless out here...

I don't know how many of you watch "The District" or know what it is, but rumor has been going around that they're making a District 3 in the Salt Lake West Mission... we just got a short clip the other day during Zone Training and it turns out Elder Joseph Isabell is in it. Kinda fun to have a college roommate become a movie star!

Also we just did the math and our area is 4/10ths of a square mile, ha.

Have a good week,

Elder Chandler

--------------------------------

thought: Beguile, yet guileless

Part of training in my last 3 transfers has been going through the 12-week training program. It basically adds an extra hour to companion study in the morning and gives us time to go through a guided program through Preach My Gospel. It's really insightful. Each week we've been coming up with a catch phrase for what we've learned that week. This weeks was the title of the thought.

There's a phrase that's always intrigued me, found in two places in the standard works that I know of. "Be wise, yet harmless" - Alma 18:22-23 and Matthew 10:16. The statement to "be wise, yet harmless" is directed straight at missionaries - Christ gives the injunction to his Apostles right before they are sent on missions, and Mormon uses it to describe Ammon during a classic missionary discussion.

(I apologize in advance for the scripture math): Alma 18:23, Alma "beguiles" King Lamoni. That's his being "wise". Therefore, "beguile, yet harmless". Matthew 10:16 footnote for harmless defines harmless as "guileless", and thus we get to: "Beguile, yet guileless". Guile = G. G = notG, which is kinda dumb because that's a completely illogical statement.

I just like the idea though that as missionaries we're supposed to be sneaky and crafty but, as long as we're doing so in love and for the right reasons, we're doing our job well, specifically dealing with committing people to do things.. It reminds me of the wording of Phillipians 4:12, counseling us to be "full and hungry, to abound and to be abased". Because of the contrasting opposites though, the idea that they are trying to get across is expressed even though it's way hard to describe in words.

Sorry this was kind of a wordy thought without a good conclusion.

Letter 08-06-2013

Hi,
Apparently this has been the hottest July in the history of the state of Utah. Wasn't it just yesterday we had the coldest January on record? Hmmmm...

August doesn't feel any cooler yet. We're still working on finding people to teach. It's seriously the most trying thing in missionary work. We taught a lot of LARCs (Less Active/Recent Convert lessons). From what we've heard, and for some reason no one is sure about exactly, apparently teaching a lot of LARCs helps you to find investigators, so we're testing it out and making sure we ask for referrals.

I personally want to make sure we don't fall into the same trap that Elder Bloomfield and I fell into in Murray Little Cottonwood when we were given the Coronas family and some others the Sisters were teaching that we weren't helping progress very well. We've got to find the balance between working with families like the Darlingtons, Ammons, and Andrews while still making sure we're finding time to, well, find.

We just finished having a massive birthday party at Brother Hobson's house for Elder Ciavardini and Elder Nuttall. It's fun seeing a fair amount of people again. Bro Hobson is so good to us Elders. He takes us shopping every week and we have lunch at his house every Saturday. He even took in Chris Floyd a couple weeks ago while we finished teaching him and baptized him. He's a returning member.

--Elder Chandler
 -------------------------------

thought: fun one-liner from the August Ensign

We get our hands on the new Ensigns whenever we have a mission conference. This time we were lucky and got it pretty early in the month. I love some of the profound statements in it. I like to try and come up with my own every once in a while. It's fun. Anyways....:

"We pray continuously for guidance, but we shouldn’t expect continuous revelation. We expect continuing revelation..."

I love how pithy the apostles are in their language.

For all I do though, it's hard to beat Elder Holland: "To those who were once with us but have retreated, preferring to pick and choose a few cultural hors d’oeuvres from the smorgasbord of the Restoration and leave the rest of the feast..."

I hope I can say things that succinctly and cool someday. Honestly, I think I could read that out loud forever and never get bored of hearing it. :)

Elder Sighting 08-06-2013

Ryan and most of his district on Temple Square.

Letter 07-30-2013

hello friends,

Two baptisms! Chris and Sherri's baptism was great, as was their confirmations. Elder Oliveros was able to do the confirmation for Chris which is awesome - his first one! President Moffat told us in the pre-training meeting we had that the most important thing we could do for the person we're training is to let them see through a baptism from start to finish. That's Sherri for Elder Oliveros! The Lord blesses us during training so much.

 Other than that we're back to finding. Hitting the streets hard with a smile woo. The district set a goal together to get a lot of baptisms this month, which is invigorating. If we can put 2 on date and baptize them in August we'll have done our part to hit the goal - hopefully though we'll be able to get one of the three (!) families (!) that we've found in the past. Teaching families is the best thing ever.

--Elder Chandler
 -------------

thought: Book of Mormon

This week in my Book of Mormon studies, the theme that keeped jumping at me was just how much I need to be using the Book of Mormon and the words of the prophets in my teaching. Between Jacob 7:10, Mosiah 1:3-7, and Mosiah 3:13, there was a ton on just how much influence the scriptures should have in our teaching.

My favorite section on this though is in Enos - verses 14, 16 and 19. The Lord makes so many promises to the Book of Mormon prophets about how the Book of Mormon will be preserved for the people living in our generation, and it's us as missionaries today (verse 16) that get to reap the benefits of their faithful prayers for their children.

It gives me some comfort to be able to lean on their prayers sometimes if I'm feeling week, and also makes me feel an even greater need to use their words in my teaching.

Letter 07-23-2013

peeps(.com),

My companion is from Bulacon.

So today I'm going to do rubric again but I'll go back to paragraphs next week.

Tomorrow is transfers - Elder Oliveros and I are staying put.

Food - We just ate at Moochie's on State and Center. It's WAY good. There's one in South Salt Lake as well if you want to avoid me (as if it's possible but do try).

Weather - is good and hot Teaching - Chris and Sherri were successfully interviewed and will be baptized this Saturday. :) Pictures of that next week.

Things are doing good! Hope all the vacations are going good.

-Elder Chandler

-----------------------

thought: helping people to salvation

I love Jacob 4. This time verse 13 struck me: "wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old."

It made me think that I need to make sure I'm teaching for understanding, that I'm manifesting things plainly, to help other people gain salvation. The scriptures/words of the prophets are our best aids in doing so.

Part of our language study is helping Elder Oliveros memorize short scriptures that he can use in teaching; it's helping me to ground myself in foundational scriptures as well.

It's interesting to me as well that the beginning of the verse talks about the Holy Ghost, -wherefore- these things are manifested plainly.

Does it get any plainer then true or false? Right or wrong?

Our "getter" method always returns a boolean value back to us. I'm finding more and more comfort in being able to ask God and get true or false answers back to direct me where I need to be or what I need to do.

Letter 07-16-2013

hey,

the weather - things are getting pretty hot again. but thats alright i survive anyways pretty well.

the food - i still haven't had green jello with carrots yet. only slightly disapointed.

the members - are cool

chris floyd - maybe you'll get to hear his story in my journal after my mission. but hes back on date and shooting for july 27th

sherri derho - she smoked last week and so her date had to be pushed back a week, but shes four days clean now and also shooting for july 27th. shes been smoking for over 40 years so it's a hard change for her

annnnnd of course the update on tammy and madi - the cop cars took madi away to a happier place than shady wasatch apartments (they don't have a name so thats what we call them). shes at her dads now permanently. stink for us but better for her

elder chandler

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thought: proof

2 Ne 11:4,5 - "God... proveth his words... my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ"

secular: ethos -> pathos -> logos

As we teach, we first help people to feel an emotional connection to the Book of Mormon, as it pertains to their needs. We then have the witnesses of our companion, members, and the prophets in the scriptures. Finally you are able to delve into the logic of the truthfulness of the church - the stats, the Book of Mormon, the miracles, the "greatness of the evidences" (Hel 5:50). I, like Jacob, love during personal study to jump into the logos, the logic, the proof of Christ, the church, and Joseph Smith (Intro BoM last paragraph).

spiritual

It's by the Book of Mormon that God has proved his words to us. I love that the word prove is used - a certainty that comes from being founded in truth. That truth comes through the Holy Ghost. When I'm in personal study, my faith has grown so much as I've noticed all of the prophecies and their fulfillment today in the Isaiah chapters; as I've felt the Holy Ghost tell me these things are true, I too have proof that I can see, touch, and read that we tell the truth, no matter how many detractors there are out there.

Letter 07-09-2013

So,

 

Funny that grandpa met President Moffat. That's what happens when they call you to your mother's home town... I wouldn't get too uptight about him talking to grandpa about going to visit, he told me the same thing my first interview, ha. He did stop by the next morning for companion study, but of course didn't tell me anything about meeting grandpa.

 

Other than that, Shery continues to press for July 20th. We're going to teach her the stop smoking program tonight. Everyone else has kind of flown under the radar... There was a couple police cars in front of Tammy and Madi's house yesterday and we know friends with alcohol have been over there lately. (Midvale woo) We're continuing developing faith to find and are trying the whole member network thing Elder Jackson and I did in Parkway again. We'll see results here soon. There's so many great people around here. Our bishops are amazing. We've gotten two new WML's lately and they're great as well. Oh yeah.

 

Yep,

Elder Chandler

 

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thought: Us and Isaiah

 

1 Ne 21/Isaiah 49. What a prophesy! Starting in verse 8, Isaiah talks of "a servant", to give a "covenant of the people". I don't know where I remember this from, probably Rel A 121, but in Hebrew 'covenant' and 'testimony' are the same word. So a servant will bring forth a testimony of a people to establish the earth, and to cause people to inherit the desolate places. The people will come from far, to be established "in the east" (In the American continent) and to sing "O mountains", to be smitten no more.

 

What strikes me though as a missionary here in the valley is verses 14 and 15 - "Zion [Salt Lake City] hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me". Right now many of the people here in Zion don't agknowledge God, or have forgotten him and the miracles that were manifest to bring their forefathers here because they were 'offended' by a bishop or whatever. Maybe some of the members feel that the Lord has forgotten them, He isn't answering their prayers while their wards dwindle in sacrament meeting attendance, even here in Zion. But, "he will show them he hath not... Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands...".

 

I love that. Especially because, hey, that's me, right there in the scriptures! One of 100 missionaries serving in a small mission in Zion, that's there to "show them he hath not" forsaken them.

 

:)

Letter 07-02-2013

Hi,

It's really cold out here. A nice 40 degrees, celsius. Somehow I haven't sunburned yet. We keep the enthusiasm up to match the temperature though.

We had a roller coaster week... so many people we're teaching, but so many of them "soft-dropped" us. They basically all said, "Come back any time, we'll share a scripture and say a prayer! But we're not ready for baptism yet. Don't get too discouraged because of me - you brought me back to God, and I'm just choosing to stay where I'm at for now. I'm still open to change my mind though!" It puts us in a very tough spot. We could teach and teach and teach and teach but only have a shot at getting them back on date and working towards baptism. So we're really praying whether to drop them or not.

That's got to be the hardest part of the mission. Deciding whether or not to drop someone. Especially when our areas are so small, we'll see the people we drop on the street and outside all. the. time. We have to trust that the Lord will put other people who are prepared in our path, and so far He has - we have a lady that is on date for July 20th that showed up from a Ward Mission Process (yes, those referrals are the best!).

And so on the work moves. I spoke on Sunday again and gave my "The Lord is Hastening His Work" talk. I love giving it. I think I'm going to save giving it as my thought though so I can use it for a certain talk after my mission.

-Elder Chandler

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thought: Prayer

I really enjoyed a recent article in the June Ensign: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/06/improving-your-personal-prayers?lang=eng

I've always been a big fan of the Bible Dictionary definition of prayer. In the article heading "Align Your Will with the Father's", he says that prayer is an alignment process. I love that. It's something that I've been realizing more and more over the last weeks. When we pray we're given an opportunity to gain a glimpse into the perspective of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, then realign our lives to be in harmony with their's.

I think it's because of this concept that Alma the Younger was able to tell Helaman, "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good, yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord that he will watch over thee in your sleep, and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God. And if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." Or something like that.

Then the promise comes in the article: "When we align our will with Heavenly Father's will, answers and spiritual power will flow more freely." And that's something I need, seeing as "prophesy" and "speak (with power)" are two of the most used missionary verbs in the Book of Mormon thus far.

Letter 6-25-2013

Hi,

So today marks one year..... Insanely fast.

The missionary fireside was fun. We had the whole mission get together to watch it (it's a max 20 minutes bike ride to the mission office from the furthest area in the mission). We discussed a little bit afterwards. I was impressed personally by how much charity matters. How our motivation should be charity. So I want to continue to work on that. The whole internet thing where we get to start using facebook and stuff will be interesting but I'll be waiting to see what the guidelines are going to be. And when it'll be rolled out for SLCC

We're continuing to shoot towards baptism with everyone so things are going forward with valiance. Other than that not much else to say. Here are some random pictures, like me shooting a basketball or a discount cake the member who went shopping with us today got written on. I don't know how he found out I'd been out a year today.

Anyways yeah things are good,

Elder Chandler

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thought: testify!

We were challenged to read through the Book of Mormon on a study schedule during personal study, looking for verses about missionary work. Which of course there's a ton. I've been keeping tabs on the verbs that missionaries do in the BoM.

It's interesting to note that, behind missionaries speaking, they testify the next most times so far. It made me think of President Monson's talk during the priesthood session of general conference. In any case I'm going to make it a point to testify more.

Fun fact is that, behind testifying, missionaries have 'fled'. So apparently lots of people get mad at us? No surprises.