South Side

This week was full of stuff! On PDay we went to the Long's farm to fish in his pond. The sisters and a member came up with us to fish as well. I didn't do a whole lot of fishing because I was writing letters and contemplating life as the sun rose. I wish I took a picture of the majestic scene. The sun was creeping up behind the rolling hills of corn and grass. Trees were staggered here and there and the sky was so full of pinks an yellows. The lake was out in front of me and the scene reflected off the lake. I just love this planet and I marvel at Gods creation. Funny side note, as I was watching this miracle happen, A spider just caught his breakfast and it was interesting watching him spin his web and eat it.

Remember when I said that Tuesday's seem to be our power days? Well, we went ham! More than half the people we tried actually answered their door. We taught a lot and I was so tired by dinner, I just wanted to sleep. Nope. There is no sleep for this awesome work. I was so tired I fell right asleep and even missed writing in my journal. Don't worry, I prayed before I went to sleep. The work here in Paducah is really starting to roll on. Thank you all for your prayers! We have a scheduled appointment every day this next week so that is awesome!

I haven't really talked about the people out here. They are just angels, haha! I love them! One dude has a glass eye. Another person has

long finger nails. Some have the craziest hair does. Some talk so southern it is hard to understand so I have to pray for the gift of tongues while teaching. Most people have a church. And everyone has faith in Jesus Christ and loves him. We teach in trailers that have fleas and cockroaches everywhere to people in super old creepy mansions. I have multiple thoughts of "Am I actually serving a foreign mission?" It is a whole other world out here and I love it!

I didn't know there is this cool missionary reference library thing.  I found a book called "Our Heritage" and I read it.  It's a brief book about the history of the church. I absolutely loved it! I have heard about all the stories but to actually read them was the best! See, this is now what I do on my free time, read church books haha! I had this really cool thought while reading it. When we bring one soul to the church, it isn't really one soul. That person can bring their whole family to the church through family history! I really wish I did more family history before I left on my mission. I am just drawn to know how my ancestors got into the church and what was there conversion story, what they had to go through, and what their character was like. This is why Temples are so important. The only way to save our dead ancestors is to do family history work for them and bring it to the temple. I honestly wish I could have done more before my mission so my hope is that some of you will find a name and take it to the temple. They are waiting and are just as much as prepared to receive the gospel as the investigators we teach.

Besides all the hot humid air, that doesn't cool down until October, things are doing great! Thank you for all the prayers! I love you!

Elder Quiring

 

God has a Green Thumb

This week was full of ups and downs for me. I thought this missionary thing was simple. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. We recite that every morning along with the Vision of the South. It seems super simple right? It is simply hard! I know I can do hard things but down here the people believe in most of that purpose already. It is difficult to have them read the Book of Mormon an pray about it so then all that we taught them can fall into place. If they know the Book of Mormon is true, they know Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and if they know that, then God's kingdom is here on this earth today. (Last two paragraphs of the introduction) Elder Ihler and I talk about how crazy lucky we are to have been born in the one true church. Think about it, you are one in 15 million members, one in 7 billion people and in this time through out history! We are so lucky! We have the priesthood! Let's exercise that priesthood and grow in it.

This week we built some more of the deck at the Coakley's. When we finished there we went over to the Ravenberg's to mow their lawn.  They are currently out of town. While we were mowing, this old guy, Jim, who is their neighbor, came up to us and told us we were an answer to his prayer. He had been praying for someone to mow his own lawn and right as he was done praying he saw us! The Lord knows how to put people in your path. We got to talking with him and he kept wanting to pay us. We used the missionary currency and told him we couldn't accept money, but he could pay us by coming to church. He thought we were clever missionaries. He agreed but then he didn't show up to church on Sunday. This leads me to my next point ....

I have been so sad that we cannot get anyone to baptism. All the people we have spoken to have some reason not to accept the message. I have been getting pretty frustrated because I feel like we are trying so hard!  Why hasn't anyone accepted it yet? This past week there have been two things I realized that I want to remember. While I was complaining all week I missed the first time the Lord tried to help me. On Wednesday we were studying Enos for our Book of Mormon study.  The first 3 verses talk about how Enos remembered what his father said. The Lord is always working  on people to help them grow. He is the ultimate gardener. Enos was converted because his father taught him the gospel throughout his whole life. We must never give up on people. I didn't realize that because I was too frustrated. The second thought came to me on Sunday, and this one really hit me. A high council men was recounting his story about his conversion. It took him 14 years to be converted. His brother gave him a Book of Mormon and it took 14 years later for him to be effected by that gesture. All those years his brother taught him about how to feel the Holy Ghost but he never pressed it on him. He eventually had a spiritual experience with some missionaries and that was what finally clicked for him. That following Sunday he was baptized. What I learned, and what God has been trying to get through my thick skull, is that even if we are not baptizing a lot of people we are still helping the Lord grow his crop. It took that man a long time but the missionaries, combined with the placement of a Book of Mormon, had an effect on his life several years later. We just never know the effect we have on people. It is all in God's plan. We must never give up and know that one day God will have a way for them to be converted. (D&C 4:4)

This week I went fishing on Pday and I am going again tomorrow. I caught a bluegill .... those fins are sharp! I also had this random thought come to my head while I was biking. I have killed so many bugs on my mission already, do you think they will all be there when I am judged?  Hahaha!! While I was thinking this random though, a bug flew in my mouth while I was singing. I really miss the west where bugs are actually normal size, not these huge ones over here. I feel like if one of those giant black wasps stung me then I might just amputate wherever the sting was because it would hurt so bad.

Until next time! Good luck to all of you going to college! I kinda sorta know how you feel about leaving your home and family. If you ever want to chat write me an email. Also, to those of you starting school today good luck! Let me know how it all goes. Love you!

Elder Quiring

I am going to be a Father!

Don't let the subject line freak you out! In the mission, we refer to our trainer as dad and his trainer grandpa. I am the second son for Elder Ihler and my grandpa just went home. During our trainer-trainee meeting this week, President Stone got up right before we were closing the meeting and said, "I have got this impression about two times during the course of this meeting. All you 21 trainees will be trainers in your mission. Some of you will even train right out of your training." CRAZY! I was so shocked!! Training is only for 2 transfers (12 weeks). I could be a dad next transfer!!!!

I wanted to thank everyone for the birthday wishes! I will email or mail you each separately, so be watching for a note! I had a great birthday out in the mission field and met one of the coolest RCLA's yet! I will tell you about him later but again I love y'all and thank you so much for making my birthday special!

Transfer calls came in this week and it looks like I will be staying with Elder Ihler in Paducah!!   That was pretty cool! Our district is getting three Elders and one sister. The zone leaders are going to trio train. I hope they get Elder White so I can go on an Exchange with him. He will be here today! I am so stoked for him! He will love the people out here in Kentucky or Tennessee, that is cool too.

We did a lot of service hours this week.  I must say, I love it! Proselytizing is great work and all, but service takes me away from the grind and refreshes me. We built a deck for Sister Coakly's mom while it was super humid. I loved every minute of it!  I am kind of liking the humid heat better than the dry heat. I haven't really built something like a deck before so it was fun to learn how to do it all. We also helped the Fredricks lay some mulch and clean out their garage. Sister Fredrick and I had a great talk. It was so great to hear her story. I just love hearing people's stories and how they came to the church. I am so glad I choose to serve a mission so I can learn all of these life long skills! Not only that but it is a marvelous testimony builder.

So that RCLA, Tony, we learned a lot yesterday about him. He is in the hospital for some heart issues and we visited for almost 2 hours. He has had pretty high up callings in the church and loves temples. He and his family started to not attend church which led to his family dissolving. He told us this, " Once you know the truth, you will never find happiness outside the gospel." He said that with so much power and the spirit hit me like, whoa! He told us to always stay in church and do your everyday homework assignments like read the scriptures, pray, and go to church. He said if you do that then you will live with your family for eternity in happiness. I can testify that what he said is true. I have seen families dissolve and suffer from not following the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have not only seen it in Kentucky but in Montana and Utah. Satan is targeting families even stronger because he knows that's how he can make people miserable. Don't let him win. We must obey what the prophets say so we can make it to eternal bliss.

Oh, also yesterday was Bailey Ball's baptism! She is 8 years old and lives in a part member household. We hope the rest of her family to be baptized! We meet with them tonight for dinner so wish us luck! :)

That is it for this week folks, see ya next Pday!

Elder Quiring

P.S. To all my friends going off to college this week .... send me your new college addresses so I can send a letter! Good luck!!

---
From Elder Ihler

Hey everyone! So it is crazy to think that I have been out 13 months today! I keep thinking 11 months is a long ways away, but then I think about how I felt at 11 months and how fast that went by! Where does the time go!?! Haha Sorry again for the email last week being very short. This past week flew by! So Ashley Ball unfortunately fell back into some old habits and could not be baptized this past Saturday. We are continuing to work with her and her husband is being a great example to her. He gave an awesome talk on Sunday in sacrament about personal worthiness. I know that the atonement is real and no matter how many times we fall back into bad habits, Christ is still there ready to help us. That is why his sacrifice is called an "Eternal Sacrifice" Alma 34:10. No beginning and no end, his atonement in that period of time that he went through reaches out to everyone who ever has or ever will live. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and know that he cares about each and every one of us. I will now go ahead and let y'all know what this past week was like.

Monday
The Zone Leaders, Elder HInds and Elder Judd came down. Elder Hinds and I were MTC Companions. We went to an outdoors store and met a few ladies there that were pretty interested. One lady named Lesley especially loved talking to us and she had so many questions which was awesome! At the end of our P-day we got a ride down to Mayfield, Kentucky to have a sleep over with the Mayfield Elders. President approved us to stay the night there because we were going to have an early morning. We got to their apartment and they were still about a half hour away and their door was locked, but their window was unlocked so we crawled through that. Then we sat there in the dark and waited to scare them when they got back. It was pretty funny when they came in and realized something was up because they saw Elder Quiring's bag on the couch. We did nightly planning and then Elder Wadsworth and I talked for a little while before we had to go to bed at 10:30. He came out with me and he is from Idaho too.

Tuesday
We woke up bright and early. I had to sleep on the floor and luckily Elder Wadsworth had a blanket that he let me use to keep the spiders off of me. I used my church shoes for a pillow. haha come to find out, Elder Quiring had an extra pillow on the couch with him. Lol I made a pretty sick breakfast. They let me have free reign in the kitchen and so we had eggs, pancakes, sausage, and oranges. We loaded up in their Branch President's wife's truck and headed to Nashville, Tennessee for Trainer/Trainee meeting. Elder Wadsworth's companion also came out with Elder Quiring. We had a training by President Stone and had a fun meeting. Thank goodness they shortened it. When I went to it for myself and when I trained Elder Story we had to go there from 8:00 - 4:00. A few days before the meeting they emailed us and let us know it would only be from 9:00 - 1:00. Sitting that long in a suit with the humidity isn't all that fun. After we got back to Mayfield, Jacob Frederich picked us up and we went to his house to eat and then we went and taught a few lessons with him. One I would like to share is a recent convert named Humberto Hernandez. Jacob actually had the opportunity to baptize him right before his mission. Humberto is from Guatemala and he walked all the way from there to Paducah, Kentucky! It made me think of the pioneers and I am so grateful for what they did in the early days of the church. It was amazing to find out that Humberto did that to have a better life and to help his family out. It is crazy.

Wednesday
District Meeting went great and we had fun taking District Photos afterwards. Jacob Frederich came out with us again and we got free snow cones from a guy who owns the snow shack here in Paducah. He was excommunicated at 26 after marriage in the temple and everything. It was sad to hear how somebody could have such a testimony and then lose it because of worldly desires and passions. He said that he has thought about coming back but that it would be too big of a lifestyle change that he isn't willing to make. We taught a lady named Laura and when I testified about how I found out for myself that the Book of Mormon was true before my mission, the spirit was so strong for me personally. I hope she felt it too, but if anything it was awesome to have the Holy Ghost speak to me and let me know that what I was saying was true. We had an investigator show up at the church Wednesday night before Book of Mormon study to do family history! He and his cousin came and they enjoyed and appreciated the help they received.

Thursday
We did service at Sister Schneider's. Her husband and her son have medical issues and the farm over the past 12 years has really overgrown. Being down here in the humidity stuff overgrows real quick. We worked on the deck and got it almost finished. I am grateful that my dad taught me how to work and future things out. Because Brother Schneider came out and was being very particular on how the deck was built and I totally understood him and was able to make it no problem. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait to finish it. Their son has been in a wheelchair thing for about 12 years and isn't able to talk or communicate really at all. He has mainly been stuck in the house. When the deck is done they will be able to take him out there so that he can enjoy the fresh air, sunlight, and beauty :) Service makes me feel so good :) If you ever want a pick me up, go serve someone!!!

Friday
It was Elder Quring's birthday, so I made him breakfast and gave it too him to eat in his bed :) That was always a tradition in my family so I wanted to do that. It turns out it was a tradition in his family
too so it worked out great! Haha We did a lot of weekly planning which is never the funnest thing in the world but it is important to make sure where you are going for the next week. Ryan Rice took us out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant and they cooked all the food in front of us. It was sweet! We were told by the Stake Presidency that somebody in the stake was at the baptist hospital and they asked if we could go visit him. His name was Tony Jones and he really appreciated our visit. He is only 53 and has congestive heart failure or whatever you call it. He wasn't ready for this, I can tell that he is scared, but he want to change his life and become more active in church whether he gets better or not. He has a  very strong spirit and testimony.

Saturday
We helped the Frederich's out for a little while. We laid week fabric down and spread mulch and it was a ton of fun because I did that a lot back home with my dad! There were a lot of things this week that made me think of my family and how much I love them. A Recent convert in the ward has missed church the last couple weeks so we went by to see how she was doing. She said that she has been sick, she loved our visit though and said that he invited a friend to church! Member missionary work is the best.

Sunday
We went with Brother Steffen to the nursing home to pick up Danny Stark for church. Again, it is such a miracle that we found him. The ward lost track of him and because we were helping out with BINGO and introduced ourselves as the missionaries, he was found and now wants to come to church every week! Also at church the less active that missed the last couple weeks was there to teach Gospel Principles. After church we prepared for Bailey Ball's baptism. Ashley was going to get baptized on the same day but ended up not being able to like I said in the beginning. Watching her 8 year old daughter get baptized I think meant a lot to her though and will hopefully give her a boost to work towards baptism even harder and to try again. Us missionaries were asked to do the confirmation. Elder Judd performed it and Elder HInds, Elder Quiring, and I stood in. It was very powerful. During the blessing Bailey's 9 year old sister Cami was crying :) I can't wait for Ashley, the mom, to be baptized. We had dinner with the Bishop's family and then went to the hospital again to visit Tony Jones. We read a scripture with him and it meant a lot to him. 1 Nephi 22:31

We are going fishing today and hopefully we catch something!!! I love
y'all and hope all is well.

Love,

Elder Ihler

The Big One

Strapping on The Lord's pads

I really miss strapping on the pads and getting out to play some football. I didn't think I would miss it that much but I would love to hit some guys and hangout with all my buddies. However; I figure everyday I am tying my tie and putting that badge on, I feel like I am suiting up for the longest, yet biggest game of my life. We get to plan and study a lot, just like how I spent hours watching film and practicing. When it becomes game time, all of that preparation is left out on the field. I figure that I need to leave it all out on the field here as well. When we teach, I pray for the spirit because that is one thing that inspires investigators to want to read the scriptures. I have learned that we are only guides and the spirit does the converting.

I went on another exchange with week to the very northern tip of our mission, Elderato. Funny story actually .... there is Elderato and Foxcroft Elders up in Illinois.  One of the Elders had to go home for falling off a cliff! Yikes!!  He broke his leg and busted his teeth, but I think he will be fine. Anyways, they are called the Foxderato trio now so I got to teach in a trio. IT WAS SO FUN! I want to always be in a trio! The three of us went street contacting. It was the first time I have ever done that and it was pretty fun. We just walked around and talked to people. We had one lady really accept it so that was awesome!

My brother Garrett keeps wanting me to talk about the food here so I want to tell him of this really good restaurant called Steak n Shake. It reminds me of In-n-Out but I can't tell which one is better. I ordered a meat lovers hamburger and it was so delicious! It had BBQ sauce all over a hot dog and hamburger between some really tasty buns. I got a red velvet Oreo shake and it was incredible! I love those new red velvet Oreo! That same day I went on my first split. I went with brother Fredrich and Ihler went with Jacob and we both taught a lesson.  Again, it was a really neat experience. The Fredrich family is pretty much the best family. They had us over for dinner and we made home made pizza's!

This week we ran into our first bible brasher. It wasn't too bad because we knew bible bashing does nothing for the investigator. He was super set on how the seventh day is Saturday so Saturday should be the Sabbath day. It just amazes me that one little event made another called religion the Seventh Day Adventists. An update on Van ... he read the chapter encouraged him to read and he decided to read it and more! He said it really moved him and gave him peace. He really feels like all churches are amazing so we struggle with him knowing that the Church of Jesus Christ is the one and only true church with the fullness of the gospel.   Hopefully we can see him come to that conclusion soon. We actually have a baptism this Sunday for a little girl.  She is in a part member family so hopefully her baptism will help the parents get involved in this great work.

I have been doing a new thing recently in my study's and I really like it. We have an hour for personal study time and it is like my favorite hour of the day. I spend 15 minutes in the Book of Mormon, 15 minutes in Doctrine and Convents, 15 mintues on a conference talk, and 15 minutes on Preach My Gospel. After every block of 15 minutes I write down what I learned and how I will apply it. I call my notepad my personal Golden plates. The past couple of days I have really seen the priesthood play a role in people's lives. I read the talk called "Where are the Keys and Authority of the Priesthood" by Elder Stevenson. I invite you all to read it. The past two days I have given some blessings.  I felt really prepared because of my study and I felt the feelings so strongly. I gave this old man a blessing and the words just fell out of my mouth. It was pretty cool and it just feels so powerful. Yesterday we gave a blessing to a lady in the ICU. Immediately after the blessing she could move both her hands and feet which the daughter of the lady said she couldn't do before.  She just started crying. She loves the priesthood and I get teary eyed just writing about it. A friendly remind that right now is a great time to give children back to school blessings! I am so happy that we have the priesthood here on this earth so we can work miracles to Heavenly Father's children!

Peace out for this week!

Elder Quiring

Btw ... I can now solve a Rubik's cube.

 

 

From Elder Ihler ---

 

So today we went to a store and ended up talking to a lady forever and
she is now a new investigator. We have dinner with the Bishop in about
15 minutes! We gave a blessing to a lady Sunday morning and it was for
a lady who just had open heart surgery and her daughter is a member.
The daughter shared with us her conversation story and it was very
touching. I know that this gospel is true and the the priesthood is
real!!!! I love y'all and I really am so sorry that this is short.

Love,

Elder Ihler

 Exchanges with Jacob.  He just got back from his mission in Mexico!

 

Hit the Road

Hello!

I went on my first exchange with another missionary this week! We went to Calvert City with our zone leader Elder Judd. Elder Judd and I taught this guy who is coming back to the church. Our lesson was my most spiritual lesson yet! I was told two things before I went on an exchange, either miracles happen or nothing happens. I am glad to say that miracles happened!! Not only did I have a very spiritual lesson but one of their investigators is going to go to church! They were what you would call an Eternagator (An eternal investigator). It was such an awesome experience! Elder Judd is a veteran missionary!! He teaches so well!! I learned a lot from him in the two short days I got to be with him! While we were teaching, my companion and Elder Hinds had some good blessing too. They taught a woman married to a member who has been hesitant in the past, but timing was right and she has accepted to be baptized! Her baptism is scheduled for August 13th, I couldn't ask for a better birthday present! It is also rumored that I go to sleep on the best bed in the zone... It was ok but I wouldn't say the best. I also really enjoyed Elder Judd's singing this week. He loves to sing and he is actually pretty good!Ok best "doorstep scene" so far! We went tracting for our power hour and came up to a pretty nice looking house. I knock on the door (the first knock is on your salvation). Then I knocked the second time (second knock it is on them). As we were walking away the door started to open. I turned around and started to speed walk back to the door with a smile on my face. The man asked, "Are you Mormon?" Proudly I say, "yes!" Then he says, pointing his thumb down the road, "Hit the road!" And shut the door. At firstI thought it was a joke but when he shut the door I knew he was serious. I busted up with laughter! I didn't know things like that actually happen!

Update on the burrito challenge. I decided to take the challenge this week! I was so nervous getting my three large burritos together. A reminder that the challenge includes eating 3 full, big burritos in 30 minutes. I was doing pretty good until about 28 minutes into the challenge. I had a few bites left with about 2 minutes to go .... and I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was also feeling fat and full, but I was determined to complete the challenge. Elder Andrus was with us and we was cruising on the burrito challenge too. Unfortunately, Elder Andrus didn't make. He started puking ... right in front of me! I don't do well with people throwing up in front of me. I tried to keep mine down. I took a drink of water to try and clear up stomach, but it didn't work. With only two bites and 2 minutes left, my burrito came back up as well. I was able to make it to the trash can in time, but I didn't complete the challenge. It was nasty! I have to say, I am not sure how long it will be before I can eat another burrito.

I had one of those hard missionary days this week. I have been feeling like we need to do more. I got in the numbers fishing game. We had set a goal for 10 other lessons but we are up to 3. I felt like a failure because it makes us look bad to the stake. I learned, and I am still learning, that a lot of missionary work is serving everyone. While we might not have a lot of new lessons to teach, we do have a lot more service hours and ward member teaching appointments. We also had like 60% members present in our lessons. Those are some pretty amazing numbers! The member present lessons don't count toward our goals, but it humbles me to know we are here to help all people come unto the Lord, not just investigators.

This Sunday I learned a lot more about the sacrament. I read the talk "That I Might Draw all Men unto Me" by Elder Renlund. It talked about how Jesus and Heavenly Father are the ultimate giver and when people distance themselves from the giver they feel entitled. It took me a while to figure out what this means. I think the greatest examples are Laman and Lemuel. Multiple times Laman and Lemuel expect blessing without even trying. The sacrament correlates with this in that the sacrament draws us closer to Jesus Christ when we think and give thanks for Him and the Atonement. I urge you to read his talk and see what you get out of it. It would be awesome to hear all of your interpretations of it and what you learned or were inspired by. My take away is, if life was truly fair, then we would all be unclean before God. I am so glad that life is unfair and that Jesus Christ unfairly gave his life for us.

Sorry not many pictures this week.

Until next week!

Elder Quiring

Note for Elder Ihler to Mom this week ....

Hi Sister Oscarson! Elder Quiring is awesome! Thanks for raising such a great young man. He enjoys doing the work and that is a great thing. He has about 23 months left and this will be the best 2 years of his life, especially if he keeps it up. It has been a ton of fun! Right now we are enjoying a Paducah, Kentucky downpour!  Lol.


Elder Ihler