October 26, 2015

We had Leadership Exchanges this week. It is when we swap with missionaries across the mission instead of just within the District or Zone. We found two new investigators, and by that I mean for the other Elders area that I was in. Micky and Shaylee. They are awesome. Micky wasn't sure if God existed but he prayed at the end of the lesson which is a huge thing. Shaylee believed in a God and has gone to different churches with her friends, including ours, but has never really studied Him.

We also have a baptism coming up in the District. She has been through a lot as she has made the decision to be baptized. She got kicked out and disowned by her parents. Quit collage so she could pick up a full time job so she can live and has had a few other hurdles to get over. She and her boyfriend were having problems. But when she had finally made the decision to be baptized and work with him she said it was a whole lot easier than she thought it would be. 1 Nephi 3:7 at work!! I love it when the scriptures can be applied to our lives.

We also taught Marisa and Ryan about the Word of Wisdom, which I thought would be difficult to share and have them accept the invitation to give up coffee, tea and alcohol. They had made a few comments before we taught this lesson about how they liked the flavor of beer and wine and when we go over they almost always have a bottle of tea in the front room. But all that day I was praying that Heavenly Father would soften their hearts to accept this commandment and to strengthen mine and Elder Farnsworths to say what He wanted us to say. Well when we got to the hard part of inviting them they readily accepted. I was almost stunned. ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE!

We helped re-roof a house which was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. Mostly because we just put the new roofing onto of the old. I really liked it!

Well this next week is going to be awesome! I want to hear one time this week that a scripture applied to a time in your life. YES I WANT YOU TO EMAIL ME. jacob.mccallson@myldsmail.net just click it and write. I made it easy. These times happen all the time you just have to have your eyes open and your heart more open.

Love you all,

Elder McCallson

October 19, 2015

This week was good. We were packed with service. Elder Farnsworth is a big bike guy and there is this second chance exchange place that asked for our help to fix/repair the bikes so they could donate them to Bikes for Boise or something like that. So we now have an ongoing service project. It is fun because I get to learn how to fix my problems on my bike.

We also helped a family split wood. For 6 hours. Funny enough though only my right hand thumb hurts. Where as the other elders that helped said they hurt all over. We all walked away with minimal injury. One got hit in a bad place by a piece of wood that was on the splitter that jumped off. I dropped a hundred or so lb stump on my toe. It is good I think  I don't think it is broken.

Other than that this week kind of just slipped by. I was surprised when Sunday came around.

Love,

Elder McCallson

October 12, 2015

This week was awesome!!

Josh was Baptized!! Pic further down. The ward has been working with and on him for the last three years when his mom was baptized. He finally decided it was time for him to make this covenant.

We also found two new investigators Micah and Heydn (no i did not misspell his name). They are 9 and 12 and their dad was baptized a little over a year ago and have been attending church with him but have never really had an interest in being baptized.

Something I have noticed in just this last month or so is that the youth of the world are searching for God. It has been interesting as most of our investigators are youth. I guess after the strict years of religion pushing then with the generation of step off we are hitting a generation who wants the love that only Heavenly Father can provide.

My testimony is that there is some things that only God can provide and that only parents can come close to, insert a word that is stronger than copy, in the lives of the children of men. We are just like children when it comes to our problems. I have see a few kids that kick and scream when they don't get what they want so they turn to things that make them more unhappy and others that take it patiently until they either get their way or figure ways that work just as well. That is what I think Christ was saying when he told us to be like a child. We just get caught up often in the heat of the moment and through a temper tantrum and blame the only being in the universe that cares more about our happiness than his own.

When times are going rough remember one that some one has it worse than you but two there is always a Father in Heaven to turn to instead of the things of the world that bring only temporary happiness then greater anger, sadness, frustration, etc. 

Josh's Baptism

October 5, 2015

This week was fantastic. With General Conference and the service we got to do it just flew by. This was the last week of the transfer. Elder Farnsworth and I are still together for at least one more. It is crazy because most of the missionaries I know are going home now. My trainer just went home.

I think one of the hardest things is when people ask how long have you been out, or how long do you have left. I don't really want to think about it. It makes me a little sad. I have been out for over a year already and I am still learning so much. I don't want it to end.

This conference was awesome!! I just sat and listened as they spoke. It was amazing to me to have very little distractions and just listen intently on what they were speaking. One of my favorite parts was Elder Holland's talk about mothers. Before you do anything bad think of your mother (Butchered that quote). Really though that has been one of my biggest motivators to do what is right. It has helped get me to where I am now.

I know that our experience here on earth is only a fraction of what our Heavenly Father feels for us but I know that He is even more saddened because we move ourselves from Him.

But through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ we can come to our Father in Heaven. I really think that that was one of the biggest things talked about in General Conference. 

SO IF YOU DIDN'T WATCH IT GO TO LDS.ORG AND WATCH IT!!

I love you all,

Elder McCallson

September 28, 2015

This week was a little slow. We had this list that we have been working through to see if anyone is interested in us sharing our message at their house. So far no one has really been enthusiastic about us coming back, but we have found a few people that missionaries have stopped by in the past and said we could come back. They just follow that up with "I'm, [insert religion here]."

Anyway, we are excited for General Conference this Saturday and Sunday!! Most of our investigators have said that they would watch it, they also said that we could come and watch it with them so that we can explain things that they don't understand. We has Marisa and Ryan come to church and the first time was when we got a new Bishop on a fast Sunday then they came this last week which was the Primary Program and the next week is General Conference then we will be back at a fast Sunday again. They are just not able to see how a regular Sacrament Meeting is like. Anyways Ryan grew up with no real religious background so we are building up his faith that there is a God. He has always believed that there was a higher power but never really had something to hold on to. So we had a great opportunity, to compare to the scriptures, like Ammon and King Lamoni. He is always thinking and pondering what we say and then asks questions. His wife, Marisa grew up Catholic but left when it seemed to her to be all about the money. She has asked some of the deeper questions like infant baptism and what a high priest is. They are awesome!!

Josh is one of the other really moving investigators. He has a baptismal date for the 10th of October. We could really use your prayers to keep him on track. His mom is a convert of about 2 years and his dad is a less active member. His sister Grace just turned 8 and wants to be baptized and so we are teaching both of them. It has been awesome to see the difference from those who really haven't had a religious background to those that have been going for the last 3 years and just never decided to be baptized.

Other than that not much else has happened.

LOVE,

ELDER McCALLSON

District in September 2015

September 21, 2015

We had a blast this week. It started off pretty tough though. I had this horrible runny nose which is still persisting today. I have gotten up a few times just writing this email to blow my nose. On Monday we had a Zone P-day and played Mario Cart Balloons where we tied three balloons around our ankles and tried to kill eachother... I mean pop the other missionaries balloons. I had a killer headache and so I had this other missionary hand me like 3 ibpros and 2 advils. I think they may have been trying to kill me.

We also were able to hid from all the others that we had made two cheesecakes that morning. Elder Farnsworth made a Peanut Butter Oreo cheesecake and I made a Chocolate Marble Cheesecake with Strawberry filling and Chocolate fudge on the top.

Tuesday we took them to our District meeting where we also had our mission president, President Winder, and his wife there to have interviews with us. Needless to say they really enjoyed it. So did we and our District. Later that night we taught some investigators that a member had been working with for the past 4 months or so and they agreed to be baptized. Now we just have to set a date.

On Wednesday we had a new missionary training meeting for Elder Farnsworth. They gave us some really great ideas on how we can better do street contacting which we have turned into tracting. Well contacting names that missionaries left behind. The reason I say names is because they had two full sheets of names and addresses with no information. So that is a bit annoying. But hey we have had a great time getting the door approach down.

Later in the week we had a non-member give us casserol, a European squash, some apples, and some baked potatoes. It was great. I am not sure how interested they are in hearing the message we have to share but they do love the missionaries. I have found that there are really two kinds of people up here. Those who hate missionaries (not just LDS ones but any), and those who think it is really neat that we are out here serving the Lord. There might be a small minority of people who really don't care what we are doing.

Other than that we really didn't have much else happen this week.

Love,

Elder McCallson

Rainbow

Another Beautiful Sky

September 14, 2015

This week was awesome! I am not sure what to write about though. We had an opportunity to go to the Temple this week. That always makes things better. We also set a baptismal date with a 14 year old boy that has just been hesitating to get baptized for the last 3 years. 

We also have been working on getting our investigators to church. That has been one of the greatest problems I have run into on my mission. JUST COME TO CHURCH!

One of the greatest miracles I have had on my mission is to come to truly understand my relationship with my Father in Heaven. All the doctrine and speculation aside, I have found that Heavenly Father is constantly reaching out to us to bring us back into His light. As I have tried to go closer a wider and wider chasm seems to appear. The more I try to change to become like Christ the farther I feel at times. As missionaries we teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. Well, I have already been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. But what of Faith and Repentance and Enduring? I always though the I had good faith, knowing that it could always be stronger, but until I had to put it to the test to defend the Church and Christ from others; my faith has increased so much. Now repentance. First repentance isn't a bad thing, nor is it always because you sin. If you take the work repentance it means to change from who you are to who God wants you to be. That has been a great struggle for me. I would have never said that I was a very prideful person, but as I have been trying to give my whole heart and soul to God; I have really come to see how much work I have to do. I guess that is also what it means to Endure. My thing is that I don't want to just Endure I want to Endure Well. To go from I am doing this or that because I have to, to I am a disciple of Jesus Christ because I want to be. I have found that that is the best change that anyone here on earth can make. I can honestly say that since I have been out I have changed on many things. I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us as His children. We are of Noble Birth. Nothing is impossible with the Lord.

I love you all!

Elder McCallson

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, YUM!

Elder Farnsworth and Me

Elder Farnsworth and PB Cup Cheesecake