mis-sion-ary (noun): someone who leaves their family for a short time so that others may live with their families for Eternity.

Monday, February 28, 2011

A COUPLE OF PICTURES


Elder Shepherd and myself
Elder Goesch and the Powers

40 DAY FAST

HEY YO!!
Thanks for the pictures, it looks like everyone was trying to be really happy and smily, but that just seems weird because it was at a funeral, everyone should have just looked extremely sad and it would have totally fit the mood better!!! That is good that all went well with the funeral and stuff, it would have been really cool to be there and be with the fam, but thats okay it looked like everyone was doing just great.
SO yesterday was sunday as you should probably know. Elder Shepard and I and the ward mission leader (who we are related to) gave a talk in sacrament meeting. So this is elder shepards second week in the mission field, so he must have been really scared and nervous to talk to a ward that he doesn't know. But his talk was 2 maybe 3 minutes, when it was supposed to be 10 to 15. We had a youth speaker that spoke longer than he did. But that is just mostly how he is right now, when we have teaching appointments, he maybe says a sentence the whole time we are there so it is really helping me to be better at teaching people because i am talking the entire time but i also wish that he would open his mouth and contribute once in a while.
Anways, We talked on missionary work the whole sacrament meeting and I was just bold with them, telling them that members are full time finders and missionaries are full time teachers, so they need to help us and give us people to teach.. Since I have been in this ward we have not received a single referral, so i was just telling them that they need to help us out. I thought that the meeting went pretty well, I was talking about having faith and overcoming our trials, I talked for a second about how someone in my family just recently passed away and how we have the knowledge of where he is going but our friends and neighbors that are not of this faith do not, so its our duty to open our mouths and to share the gospel and the news of eternal families and things like that. I just hope that the members actually start to get excited and do it, but a lot of people came up to me and told me that i did a really good job.
Other than that this week has not been all that excited, we have had a couple of potentials cancel appointments, and have some people tell us that they don't want to talk to us anymore. But We also had some good things happen as well. We set up some appointments, and we received a new potential investigator, so next week we should have two new people to teach, because right now we have basically no one to teach. This saturday brandy is going to get baptized, and after that we really don't have too many progressing investigators. We are starting a 40 day fast in the ward, and the families in the ward will be fasting for missionary work, and specific people that we are teaching in our investigator pool. HOpefully with this 40 day fast we will get new people to teach and the members will actually start to help us out.
So I heard Deron williams got traded from the jazz, i wrote more about it to derek but i just have to let you know how gay i think it is. I don't even want to watch the jazz when i get home. That is so lame.
Well I need to get going because we are going golfing and playing 18 holes, I haven't golfed in a while so this should be interesting, hopefully all is giong well with the fam, and everything. How is tennis going, what is new and exciting lately, exciting not depressing! I wrote ty davis but he still didn't write back.
Well i gotta run, I love you and will talk to you later, have a great week.!!! LOVE ELDER GNEHM

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WASN'T EXPECTING THE CALL I GOT

Hey Geyss
How is everyone doing? How is grandma doing? I hope that she still has the faith that she will be with him again. Prayer is a huge thing right now that can help Grandma and the rest of the family out right now.
How did the viewing and the funeral go?
I have to say that when Presdient Called me, I was not expecting that at all. I was expecting him to call me about the district meeting or something. But when he said your dad called me, my heart dropped, and then he told me that Grandpa passed away. I really didn't know what to think because I was out here and it almost seemed to be surreal because I couldn't really talk to any of the family or be around while it happened so it still seems weird. But as I was thinking about it, especially after hearing your email about how peacefully he passed away,, it truly was his time. The last couple of years with him not being able to move very well has been hard for him, and being able to have a ressurrected perfect body is a great gift. He is definately in a better place right now! People might not always believe that, they think that it just sounds like a nice idea to be able to be with family forever, But when we think of it, what is the point of existence if we just come to earth live and then die and then there is nothing else. I know that there is life after this and that we will stand to be judged and put in a much better place than this earth.
KEEP HELPING THE FAM!
So yeah i am a district leader and a trainer now. I am on my first exhanges today with Elder AAmodt and another elder. I had my first district meeting and I thought that it went pretty well. President Ely was playing on being there for my first district meeting but he got the wrong day so he didn't show, haha thats totally fine with me. Having a car is a lot nicer than having a bike i just decided haha. I'm probably going to get bigger but whatever, it makes missionary work go by faster and who'm i trying to impress right now anyways? My son is named Elder Shepard, he is from St george, he seems like he will be a pretty good missionary, he just needs to break out of his shy shell. In all the lessons that we have been having, i've been doing almost if not all the talking, he'll throw in his two cents but its just hard to have it all be on me. But i guess thats probaly what i was like when i first came out, i was a little scared to talk to people about the gospel because i felt like i didn't know enough. I think that it just takes some time and when he gets over it, he will do fine.
So what is going on with Derek right now? that chump needs to email me and tell me whats going on. where is the brotherly love? haha I CAN RIDE MY BIKE WITH NO HANDLEBARS NO HANDLEBARS NO HANDLEBARS. haha i'm glad thats what derek remembers me by. and hunter remembers me as slippery snake. I probably should have been less lame before my mission haha. But right now the mission is going pretty well, we have the baptism still happening on march 5th. Aaron received the priesthood last saturday and it was awesome, Brandy was so happy and excited and when he was standing in front of the ward during sacrament you could tell that he was really happy. We are finishing everything up with her program right now, i don't know who is confirming her but it would be really cool if i could.
We had zone conference yesterday and president was giving a training on getting the members involved, and he was saying that full time missionaries are here to teach not to find, its up to the members to find. So we are actually going to be speaking this sunday in sacrament about that and how we can get them more involved. President also said that if wards don't help out the missionaries by finding, then he is just going to take missionaries out of the area to leave it all up to the ward members. So i know that it is different in Utah, because their are lots of mormons, but keep looking for possible people that are ready to hear the gospel, and that you could help to share your testimonies with.
I did get your package and all the pictures thank you for sending those to me. I appreciate it. Thanks for the mangos!!! I need to be going now though, so let me know how everything goes with the funeral, know that i love you guys and i pray for you every day. Have a good week. LOVE ELDER GNEHM!

LETTER TO GRANDMA PAULINE

Grandma!
My mission President called me and gave me the news. It was really hard for me to hear, and i know that for you it is very hard as well. Something that definately helps at this hard time is to know that you will see him again. We are so lucky to know the plan of salvation and the gospel and to have that faith that he is in a better place now. I know that my parents have been trying to tell you this a lot as well as the rest of the family, but you truly need to apply for yourself right now. Heavnely Father truly loves us and he wants to give us answers to our prayers, If you pray and ask him to help comfort you and to bless you that you can know that you will see him again, i know that you can receive an answer. Grandma this may just sound like another missionary talking, but its carson..know that i love you and that i know that God love you. Its difficult but it is also a happy time to know that he will have a ressurrected and perfect body and will have immortality. I love you and if there is anything that i can do to help you please let me know, you have always been there for me. Have a good week, I love you, your grandson, ELDER GNEHM


Tuesday, February 15, 2011

I'M DISTRICT LEADER

Dear mummy haha
I want to start off by saying that I cant believe that I wrote you those letters haha I actually do kind of remember writing that first one, i think that was like a couple months ago now right? haha. haha don't be mad that you don't know how to talk about the jazz its ok. haha no i am just kidding you should seriously keep telling me about the jazz because derek doesn't send me the emails every week. cause he is a squeeg? haha random thing that my comp always says.
Ok so... heres the scoop of what is happening as of late.
So you are now another Grandmother because I have a son... haha if your not freaking out by now, i'll tell you that having a son is lingo for training a greenie missionary. My new companion is Elder Shepard, he is from St george Utah. Its pretty crazy, I was at the trainers meeting today, and i can remember just seven months ago when i was there and I was the baby. Time is seriously flying by right now. I still don't feel like I am old in the mission at all but whether i think it or not i still am. I am still in the east lake ward and the only thing different now is that i have a car. So now i am driving around in a car with my new greenie and it is pretty cool.
OK so if your not proud of me yet haha there is still more info. I am also a District leader. hahaha crazy right?! I also have the biggest district in the zone. I have 10 missionaries in it so yeah i feel a little bit inadequate right now but i know that i just need to keep being myself and love the people in my district. Elder Goesch is going to Brighton ward so he will be in my district still which will be really cool because he will still be in my D to go on exchanges with. Guess who else in in my district... Elder AAmodt is now in my district. haha. CRAZZZZY stuff huh?!
I Can assume right now that your bawling because you are so proud of me haha but don't worry i will be alright.
As far as the ward goes, Brandy Adams will be baptized by her husband on the 5th of March,he is going to get the priesthood this saturday so hopefully all will go well and we will be having a bapt in march. She is solid though, she got to go to relief society for the first time and she loved it.
So remember cameron burris and renee alvarez that i baptized back in arvada? They called me the other day and both of them had their first talk in church on Sunday. I guess cameron was saying that he had a ton of missionaries before me and none of them really did anything for him but then when i came along he said everything just clicked and I was the right missionary for him.
It was really awesome and it makes me feel way good to hear that. I am definately seeing the fruits of my labors right now. And i hope and pray that they will only continue and i will get to bless more and more lives.
I did get your package but i haven't opened it yet so thankyou for whatever is inside of it. I have to get out and get going with my greenie, we are going to dinner with a cool member and they are going to all be wearing green and all our food is going to be green haha I"M A DADDY!! and i gotta do something right?
ANWAYS, i love the mish still i love the Elders in this mission they are awesome, and I hope that i can be a good leader to them. I love you guys and hope that you have a great week, I will talk to you later. Pray for me as i do for you. HUnter is too awesome and I miss him too as i miss all you guys. BUT i am on the Lords errand and there is no place that i would rather be. TAKE CARE
LOVELDER GNEHM!