Ya'at'teh' Everyone,
This week it has been really hot, as I'm sure you all can tell from the title. But yeah, this week not much happened. We found a few new families to teach this week so that was good. We haven't found a whole lot of new people. We were really busy all week teaching lessons and what not. We probably taught more lessons this past week than any other past week since I've been here. We were over at one of our part-member family's house and the grandma there pretty much called me out because apparently I wasn't as energetic with the lesson as I had been in previous lessons. But it was like 8 o' clock at night, and it was like in the 90's all day and I was just beat. So, idk, something I need to work on I guess. Something I have realized this week is that I get teased a lot here, but it is fun and it makes things more enjoyable.
Yesterday our Stake President's son was giving his homecoming talk, and after we went over to their house, and had dinner and stuff with them. Anyway I was all talking to Joseph, President Justice's son, and he was asking me about people that I might now that lived in Logan that served in his mission. He asked me if I knew a Kinkade Wildman. I was like, oh my gosh, yes I do, I played baseball with him and was pretty decent friends with him, I love that kid! Yeah so that was cool. They both served in New Jersey together, and they spent a lot of time around each other.
But that was about it for this week as far as I can think of. Happy Memorial Day BTW!!!
Love, Elder Takis
Monday, May 29, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Celebrate!
Here's a photo texted to Elder Takis's mom. Tiana is the happy graduate posing with Elders Huff and Takis.
Ya'at'teh
5/22/17 Email:
Sorry for this being as late as it is. We were going to come email earlier, but then we got a call to go help someone out...
Sorry for this being as late as it is. We were going to come email earlier, but then we got a call to go help someone out...
Yup, we went and helped wash a couple of German Shepherd puppies... :)
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| This is Jared with the 2 puppies after I washed them. |
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| This is Kassidy...she is adorable and quite a riot. |
Other than that, I don't have a whole lot to say. We had Zone Conference this past week, and it was good. We talked a lot about faith and belief in finding, because we are struggling with that right now, so it went well and we have a few new ideas on what to do. We can't go to Page to shop anymore, so we have to shop at Bashas', which is low in variety and high in price so we'll see how things turn out there.
But yeah that's all I got for now. I hope y'all have a good week!
Elder Takis
Happy Mother's Day!
5/15/17 Email:
Ya'at'teh Everyone!
So this week had its ups and downs. We had transfers last week and Elder Hudak went to Page... It was very sad, and yeah, it was hard for us both. But now I have a new companion, his name is Elder Huff and he came out the transfer after me. He is from West Virginia too, so I am getting a lot of companions from out East.
Anyway with that being said, not a lot happened this week, Oh and Happy Stank Day as well! Haha umm, after transfers we really didn't have a whole lot going on, but we did start to deep clean our trailer this past Saturday, and I found a dead mouse in one of the corners. As well as I found a live mouse in our bathroom, so yeah we have a mouse problem, and we are going to get that dealt with.
We have done a lot with gardens lately, especially with one of our part-member families. We help her set it up and everything and I really enjoyed that. I got kinda OCD with it but it looks really good, so hopefully it works!
Yesterday we got to Skype home with our families, and it was a really great time. I feel like my family thinks I am getting stupider but they laugh so that's a good thing, right? Umm, then we went over to Mama Billy's house and spent some time there before we had to come in. I really love that family, and I feel like they are my family as well. I want to let my mother know how much I love and miss her and that I am truly grateful that she is my mom, and for the things she has done and sacrificed for me! Same goes for all mothers out there, they truly are magnificent wonderful people, and they have the most sacred responsibility out of anyone, because they are the ones who raise Heavenly Father's children here on earth, and that takes a lot of time, sacrifice and love. So moms ,you guys are the best!
That's about all I got for this week. There aren't any pictures, so sorry about that.
Love you all, and I hope you all will do what is right!
Love Elder Takis
Ya'at'teh Everyone!
So this week had its ups and downs. We had transfers last week and Elder Hudak went to Page... It was very sad, and yeah, it was hard for us both. But now I have a new companion, his name is Elder Huff and he came out the transfer after me. He is from West Virginia too, so I am getting a lot of companions from out East.
Anyway with that being said, not a lot happened this week, Oh and Happy Stank Day as well! Haha umm, after transfers we really didn't have a whole lot going on, but we did start to deep clean our trailer this past Saturday, and I found a dead mouse in one of the corners. As well as I found a live mouse in our bathroom, so yeah we have a mouse problem, and we are going to get that dealt with.
We have done a lot with gardens lately, especially with one of our part-member families. We help her set it up and everything and I really enjoyed that. I got kinda OCD with it but it looks really good, so hopefully it works!
Yesterday we got to Skype home with our families, and it was a really great time. I feel like my family thinks I am getting stupider but they laugh so that's a good thing, right? Umm, then we went over to Mama Billy's house and spent some time there before we had to come in. I really love that family, and I feel like they are my family as well. I want to let my mother know how much I love and miss her and that I am truly grateful that she is my mom, and for the things she has done and sacrificed for me! Same goes for all mothers out there, they truly are magnificent wonderful people, and they have the most sacred responsibility out of anyone, because they are the ones who raise Heavenly Father's children here on earth, and that takes a lot of time, sacrifice and love. So moms ,you guys are the best!
That's about all I got for this week. There aren't any pictures, so sorry about that.
Love you all, and I hope you all will do what is right!
Love Elder Takis
Baptisms, Black Mesa, Flea Market, and Transfers
5/8/17 Email:
Ya'at'teh' Everyone!
So this week was definitely a memorable one. To start off we had 3 baptisms this past Saturday, for 3 girls. Their names are Ashanti, Audrey, and Evette. It was really good, because we have been working with them for a long time, and they finally made the steps and commitments to do this.
Here is a picture of everyone...
The little girl in the front, her name is Ellie, and she is one of the cutest little girls ever. Every time we go over she starts screaming, "Elders! The Elders are here!" She is hilarious, along with all of the girls. They are all really funny and I love them!
So that happened, and that was really great. Umm so Black Mesa... Last P-Day we went to Kayenta to hike Black Mesa. It was a long hot hike, that we needed a guide for. It took us 5 hours to do it, and it was ridiculously steep as well as hot. That took up all P-Day. And on Friday we went to the Flea Market. It was Elder Krauss' last time to go to one while being a missionary and it was really good. I made a couple of purchases, and it was pretty neat, I got a Michael Jordan Jersey for $50 and then I got some Texas Hold "Em ( it is a lemonade-type drink, and it is bomb!) and we actually did some service as well, helping one of our member families take down their food stand. So that was fun. The Flea Market is full of neat things that you can get for pretty cheap.
And Transfers... Elder Hudak is leaving me and going to Page, Arizona, and I am getting a new companion, Elder Huff. Things are going to be weird without Elder Hudak and Elder Krauss, but Elder Szendre and I will manage.
That is about all I have for now. No, I didn't finish the Scorpion, but I will hopefully get around to it this week. Today we are going to do some roping, and then we are going to play some baseball with Marquez hopefully, so we are going to be busy with Elder Hudak's last P-Day in Tuba City.
Love you all,
Elder Takis⚾
Ya'at'teh' Everyone!
So this week was definitely a memorable one. To start off we had 3 baptisms this past Saturday, for 3 girls. Their names are Ashanti, Audrey, and Evette. It was really good, because we have been working with them for a long time, and they finally made the steps and commitments to do this.
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| From left to right... Bishop Black, Ashanti, Audrey, Evette, Elder Hudak, Marquez, and myself. |
So that happened, and that was really great. Umm so Black Mesa... Last P-Day we went to Kayenta to hike Black Mesa. It was a long hot hike, that we needed a guide for. It took us 5 hours to do it, and it was ridiculously steep as well as hot. That took up all P-Day. And on Friday we went to the Flea Market. It was Elder Krauss' last time to go to one while being a missionary and it was really good. I made a couple of purchases, and it was pretty neat, I got a Michael Jordan Jersey for $50 and then I got some Texas Hold "Em ( it is a lemonade-type drink, and it is bomb!) and we actually did some service as well, helping one of our member families take down their food stand. So that was fun. The Flea Market is full of neat things that you can get for pretty cheap.
And Transfers... Elder Hudak is leaving me and going to Page, Arizona, and I am getting a new companion, Elder Huff. Things are going to be weird without Elder Hudak and Elder Krauss, but Elder Szendre and I will manage.
That is about all I have for now. No, I didn't finish the Scorpion, but I will hopefully get around to it this week. Today we are going to do some roping, and then we are going to play some baseball with Marquez hopefully, so we are going to be busy with Elder Hudak's last P-Day in Tuba City.
Love you all,
Elder Takis⚾
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| This is Elder Lindsay and me. He is from Brigham City, and went to Box Elder. We have worked out our differences, and now we are best buds. This was on the Black Mesa hike. |
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| And here is Black Mesa, it's the one in the back. |
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| And here is the view from the top... |
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| Here is the Texas Hold 'Em... it's actually called a Texas Twister... |
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| And here is me taking a selfie in my Jordan Jersey. Don't judge, it is one of my first selfies, and I'm not good at it. |
Spiders and Scorpions
5/1/17 Email:
Ya'at'teh' Everyone,
So this week was a pretty interesting week for the most part. The weekend was fairly slow but the middle of the week got sketchy.
We are going to be spending the day [today] in K-Town (Kayenta). It is Elder Krauss' last P-Day and we are going hiking, then playing football, and then I am going to have Elder Krauss give me a haircut hopefully, but yeah that's why this is so early. We are leaving at 8:45 this morning.
So this week we had a few spider problems... The first was on Wednesday. We were over on Hopi side teaching a less active guy, his name is Gerald, and he is in his 70's. While there we were in the middle of the message, and out of the corner of my eye I saw this decently sized black thing moving. So I looked over and there was this pretty big spider. From what I could tell, it was either a Brown Recluse or a Wolf Spider, I couldn't really tell cuz it wasn't close enough. But my companion has arachnophobia, so he can't deal with spiders. I looked over at him to see if he noticed it, and his eyes were locked on the spider. It was a big distraction for him. So I asked Gerald if he had anything I could use to kill the spider. Gerald is partially blind, and when he looked over to where the spider was, he couldn't see it, so he walked over right by it trying to look for it, then he says, "What, this brown spot?" and then proceeds to step on it. That spider made one of the loudest crunches I've ever heard from a spider getting stepped on. Then on Thursday we go over to Thomas's house for a lesson, and he tells us about a Tarantula that was on his porch. He said he swept it off the porch, and when it landed it turned around and lifted up his front legs/fangs and just stared at him. He picked it up in a dust pan and took it away but from the pictures he showed us, it was pretty big! Later that day we went over to another house, and the mom said she had just spent all night in the hospital because she was bit by a Black Widow in her sleep. I can't remember if the doctors concluded if it was either a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse but either way that is really bad. That made things difficult because her daughter is on date for baptism this Saturday, and her health physically has been awful and she has been in and out of the hospital all week, and they almost missed church yesterday, but they made it so things worked out! But yeah those are the spider stories for the week.
With the scorpion, I started to suck on the scorpion lollipop...
Ya'at'teh' Everyone,
So this week was a pretty interesting week for the most part. The weekend was fairly slow but the middle of the week got sketchy.
We are going to be spending the day [today] in K-Town (Kayenta). It is Elder Krauss' last P-Day and we are going hiking, then playing football, and then I am going to have Elder Krauss give me a haircut hopefully, but yeah that's why this is so early. We are leaving at 8:45 this morning.
So this week we had a few spider problems... The first was on Wednesday. We were over on Hopi side teaching a less active guy, his name is Gerald, and he is in his 70's. While there we were in the middle of the message, and out of the corner of my eye I saw this decently sized black thing moving. So I looked over and there was this pretty big spider. From what I could tell, it was either a Brown Recluse or a Wolf Spider, I couldn't really tell cuz it wasn't close enough. But my companion has arachnophobia, so he can't deal with spiders. I looked over at him to see if he noticed it, and his eyes were locked on the spider. It was a big distraction for him. So I asked Gerald if he had anything I could use to kill the spider. Gerald is partially blind, and when he looked over to where the spider was, he couldn't see it, so he walked over right by it trying to look for it, then he says, "What, this brown spot?" and then proceeds to step on it. That spider made one of the loudest crunches I've ever heard from a spider getting stepped on. Then on Thursday we go over to Thomas's house for a lesson, and he tells us about a Tarantula that was on his porch. He said he swept it off the porch, and when it landed it turned around and lifted up his front legs/fangs and just stared at him. He picked it up in a dust pan and took it away but from the pictures he showed us, it was pretty big! Later that day we went over to another house, and the mom said she had just spent all night in the hospital because she was bit by a Black Widow in her sleep. I can't remember if the doctors concluded if it was either a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse but either way that is really bad. That made things difficult because her daughter is on date for baptism this Saturday, and her health physically has been awful and she has been in and out of the hospital all week, and they almost missed church yesterday, but they made it so things worked out! But yeah those are the spider stories for the week.
With the scorpion, I started to suck on the scorpion lollipop...
I haven't finished it. I'm trying to get the whole scorpion out before I eat it, just to see what it's like, but I will probably finish it sometime this week. I have gotten about half of it out, it is quite weird. But oh well.
Other than that we have 3 baptisms coming up this Saturday, they are all primary age girls, so our primary is growing, and we are really excited for them! They are all really funny, and adorable, so you will get pics next week.
Spiritual thought for the week... Yesterday we had a talk by Brother Tano (love that man), and he was talking about what his bishop said to him before he decided to go on a mission. He had made it to college, and that was a big achievement for him because everyone told him growing up that he wouldn't make it to college, and he said he had things planned out and everything. Then his bishop called him in to talk about serving a mission, and Brother Tano told him about what was going on in his life with college, and his plans, and his bishop gave him one question. That question was, "Do you think you can plan better than the Lord?" I really liked that because I know that you can't plan better than the Lord! I've tried and, well, the plans I made didn't line up with His, and I paid the consequence for that, and now I am trying to go with His plan. The Lord can see so much more than we can, He knows much more than we do, and he knows what is most beneficial for us. So the Lord's plans will always be better than ours, and we need to figure out what that is for us and Just Do It. I know that to be true, and I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love you all,
Elder Takis
Yummy Bugs
4/24/17 Email:
Ya'at'teh' Everyone,
So this week has been a decent week. Nothing too spectacular happened. Probably just your average week of missionary work. We have a baptism coming up for one of our investigators, whose name is Ashanti... We have been working with her for a long long time and it was only over the past few weeks that she truly started progressing, so her baptism is on May 6th, 2017! Umm, we also found a new investigator last week, her name is Andrea.... The cool thing about her, well there are a lot of cool things, but she is actually of a different faith. I actually think I mentioned her last week, but she is super smart, and she is trying to start a daycare center here. Not only that but we left her a commitment the first time we visited her, and that was to read the Book of Mormon. Well we went and visited her this past week and she kept her commitment. Not only that but she read it side by side with the Bible, she used the footnotes, and cross referenced, and she even highlighted some things and came up with some really good questions for us! She is pretty solid, and we are hoping to see good things from her, because she is open and willing.
Now, we were at one of our other investigators' houses, who is the girlfriend to one of our members, and we went over to her house, and we actually started to make cardboard rugs! I don't have a picture of it, because I kinda did it wrong, but when I fix it I will take a picture of it, haha. But we are planning on doing a whole lot more of Native American arts and crafts stuff, so that will be fun!
The reason for the title is because one of the other families that we teach thought they would give us these suckers...
Ya'at'teh' Everyone,
So this week has been a decent week. Nothing too spectacular happened. Probably just your average week of missionary work. We have a baptism coming up for one of our investigators, whose name is Ashanti... We have been working with her for a long long time and it was only over the past few weeks that she truly started progressing, so her baptism is on May 6th, 2017! Umm, we also found a new investigator last week, her name is Andrea.... The cool thing about her, well there are a lot of cool things, but she is actually of a different faith. I actually think I mentioned her last week, but she is super smart, and she is trying to start a daycare center here. Not only that but we left her a commitment the first time we visited her, and that was to read the Book of Mormon. Well we went and visited her this past week and she kept her commitment. Not only that but she read it side by side with the Bible, she used the footnotes, and cross referenced, and she even highlighted some things and came up with some really good questions for us! She is pretty solid, and we are hoping to see good things from her, because she is open and willing.
Now, we were at one of our other investigators' houses, who is the girlfriend to one of our members, and we went over to her house, and we actually started to make cardboard rugs! I don't have a picture of it, because I kinda did it wrong, but when I fix it I will take a picture of it, haha. But we are planning on doing a whole lot more of Native American arts and crafts stuff, so that will be fun!
The reason for the title is because one of the other families that we teach thought they would give us these suckers...
Of course I had to try them, so I started with the ants.
To be honest they weren't terrible, but then again they weren't anything great. I only had that one though, but I am probably going to try the scorpion one sometime this week, so wish me luck, haha!
On Saturday we went to some baseball & softball games here. We watched the Tuba City baseball team. It wasn't the greatest for them but I enjoyed watching the game. Then Elder Hudak wanted to go watch the Chinle softball team because he knew some people on the team. Chinle Softball was really good; their defense was pretty impeccable. Their coach, Tim Sewey-Sewey is this Poly guy, and he was a really cool guy, I enjoyed meeting him. But that was about it for the week.
Love you all, and choose the right!
Elder Takis
Monday, May 8, 2017
Easter Picture
I actually have a picture now. This almost sums up our trailer. Elder Krauss got a package with an Easter basket in it and it turned into a hat. At first it was everyone's, but now they have designated that it's mine, and so I have been wearing it like every night since he got it but here it is...
Egg Colorin'/Smashin', Cow Ropin', Fry Bread Makin' Easter... Also Shout Out to Miguel...
4/17/17 Email:
Ya'at'teh" Everyone,
So this week was a really fun week. We saw a lot of good things happen. We have found a few new people to teach, and the people we have been teaching for a while are finally starting to progress.
But I'd first like to give a little shout out to Miguel. He was a really nice and fun friend, and even though he never remembered who I was, I will always remember who he was. Every Sunday at church, or every Mutual/scouting activity that I went to that he was at, he never failed to walk over and give me a hug. Since this past Sunday was Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, and what the Resurrection can do for us, I know that with all of the challenges he had to face in this life, the Resurrection is something that he will be looking forward to, and that he is in a better place now. I am grateful to him for the kindness he always showed to me, and for the impact it had on me to be a nicer person. Rest in peace, Miguel.
Now so about the title. On Saturday we went over to the Billys' and decorated eggs. That was pretty fun, and I'm pretty sure that one of my eggs topped all of my dad's eggs. So even though I wasn't home, I'm still taking the trophy home!
Sunday has to be one of the strangest, funniest Easter Sundays I've ever been to. So church didn't actually start till about 9:20. Our bishop wasn't there so everything was left to his counselor Brother Curley. It is honestly kinda hard to take anything seriously when he is in charge. But we were going through Sacrament meeting, and we made it through mine and Elder Hudak's talks. Then for the intermediate hymn we sang hymn #62, "All Creatures of our God and King." Our organist was Marquez, who is a Priest, and he doesn't really know that song very well. So he was struggling to play the song, trying not to laugh because he knows he is struggling, and on top of it the loudest person in the congregation, who can't really sing, is like 3 beats behind where the song is actually at. Elder Hudak and I like completely lost it on the stand, and we were trying to hide so nobody could see us laughing, but it was just tooo funny. That was church. Then later we went to the Billys' for an Easter Dinner/Easter Party. At the party all 4 of us Elders made the fry bread for the dinner. Elder Szendre got a little lazy and threw like all of his dough in at once, and so he made like this fry bread brick, but the rest of us took the time and made some good fry bread. I'm getting good at it. Then we had dinner, and then we did a little roping with one of the cow dummies (Idk if that's what they are called). I started getting the hang of it but then we started to play some games. One was Water Balloon Volleyball, Elder Hudak got soaked with one of the water balloons, and I almost did too, Jarrod Tee threw one at me but I had a freak reaction and it missed me. Then we did an egg toss and the egg ended up exploding on me, so I got covered in raw egg. Then after we did an egg hunt. Then we went with a couple of the Tee boys and helped them practice roping live steers on horses. So it was a really fun Easter. However I failed to get any pictures, because I was too caught up in the events, so my apologies.
But I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!
Elder Takis
Ya'at'teh" Everyone,
So this week was a really fun week. We saw a lot of good things happen. We have found a few new people to teach, and the people we have been teaching for a while are finally starting to progress.
But I'd first like to give a little shout out to Miguel. He was a really nice and fun friend, and even though he never remembered who I was, I will always remember who he was. Every Sunday at church, or every Mutual/scouting activity that I went to that he was at, he never failed to walk over and give me a hug. Since this past Sunday was Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, and what the Resurrection can do for us, I know that with all of the challenges he had to face in this life, the Resurrection is something that he will be looking forward to, and that he is in a better place now. I am grateful to him for the kindness he always showed to me, and for the impact it had on me to be a nicer person. Rest in peace, Miguel.
Now so about the title. On Saturday we went over to the Billys' and decorated eggs. That was pretty fun, and I'm pretty sure that one of my eggs topped all of my dad's eggs. So even though I wasn't home, I'm still taking the trophy home!
Sunday has to be one of the strangest, funniest Easter Sundays I've ever been to. So church didn't actually start till about 9:20. Our bishop wasn't there so everything was left to his counselor Brother Curley. It is honestly kinda hard to take anything seriously when he is in charge. But we were going through Sacrament meeting, and we made it through mine and Elder Hudak's talks. Then for the intermediate hymn we sang hymn #62, "All Creatures of our God and King." Our organist was Marquez, who is a Priest, and he doesn't really know that song very well. So he was struggling to play the song, trying not to laugh because he knows he is struggling, and on top of it the loudest person in the congregation, who can't really sing, is like 3 beats behind where the song is actually at. Elder Hudak and I like completely lost it on the stand, and we were trying to hide so nobody could see us laughing, but it was just tooo funny. That was church. Then later we went to the Billys' for an Easter Dinner/Easter Party. At the party all 4 of us Elders made the fry bread for the dinner. Elder Szendre got a little lazy and threw like all of his dough in at once, and so he made like this fry bread brick, but the rest of us took the time and made some good fry bread. I'm getting good at it. Then we had dinner, and then we did a little roping with one of the cow dummies (Idk if that's what they are called). I started getting the hang of it but then we started to play some games. One was Water Balloon Volleyball, Elder Hudak got soaked with one of the water balloons, and I almost did too, Jarrod Tee threw one at me but I had a freak reaction and it missed me. Then we did an egg toss and the egg ended up exploding on me, so I got covered in raw egg. Then after we did an egg hunt. Then we went with a couple of the Tee boys and helped them practice roping live steers on horses. So it was a really fun Easter. However I failed to get any pictures, because I was too caught up in the events, so my apologies.
But I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!
Elder Takis
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Conference After Conference
4/10/17 Email:
Ya'at'teh' Everyone!
So this week has been a pretty long but spiritual one. Last weekend we had General Conference, and this past Wednesday we had Zone Conference, and then this past Saturday-Sunday was Stake Conference.
Zone Conference was pretty fun. We were helping set up and then Elder Stevens, who is from Brigham City and was also my first zone leader, comes up to me and tells me that he wants me to win his role play. I was just like, "What are you talking about?" and he just told me that I will find out and that he wanted me to win it for him, so I told him I would do my best. Well it comes time for his role play, and it was on talking to everyone. Now for those of you who know me, you know that I am not much of a talker. So as soon as I found out what it was on I just thought, "Well, I don't think I'm winning this one." So we get through the main part of the role play, and then he started talking about doing things a little bit differently, and was like, "In honor of the past weekend that was March Madness, we thought we would do a Missionary Madness Final Four. I don't know how but I was in the Final Four. I must have done something they liked, or maybe he did that just to try and help me win, I don't know, but I was in it. I was competing with one of the sisters, though, Sister Porter. Well I lost to her, but she then had to face the winner of the other bracket which was another elder that is here in Tuba, Elder Krauss. Elder Krauss took it home for Tuba, but it was pretty fun.
For Stake Conference, we had an Area Seventy, Elder Torres, come. On Saturday, he wanted to visit some of the families here, and so both he and our Stake President, President Justice, came out with Elder Hudak and I to visit the Billys. This is the same family that has 3 of our recent converts, Tina being one of them. Tina's husband isn't a member, but has been wanting to learn more, because he sees and feels a difference in his family and in his home. So we taught The Restoration to them. It was really neat to teach with one of the General Authorities, and the Spirit was pretty strong, I could tell that it was working on Tina's husband, Delaine. Well, long story short, everything we talked about seemed to answer every question that Delaine had been having recently, and Elder Torres committed him to be baptized on April 29th!!! It was so exciting!!! Elder Torres is a very spiritual man, but he is also just a wonderful man. We got to talk to him, and get to know him quite a bit, and he taught us a lot. I love him, and am very grateful to have met him.
One thing that I would like to share in closing of this email is a story that President Uchtdorf shared in this month's Ensign...
I love this story because it is so true. In order for this gospel to make a difference in anyone's life it has to be used and applied, otherwise it will do you no good. That's why Heavenly Father gave us commandments, that is why Jesus Christ suffered the Atonement, so that it could benefit our lives and help us become something more than we ever could imagine. But we have to take action and use what they have given us, otherwise it is no good to us.
I can promise you that you will have much better lives, and a much better life hereafter, if you will only but apply the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would strongly encourage every one of you to use the things that Heavenly Father has given us, and do what He asks. It is for our benefit. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us all to succeed; that is why they have given us these things.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Just be sure to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost the first time you get the prompting, and you can't go wrong.
Elder Takis
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| Elder Hudak, center, with his previous companion, Elder Barnard, left, and his current companion, Elder Takis, right. |
Ya'at'teh' Everyone!
So this week has been a pretty long but spiritual one. Last weekend we had General Conference, and this past Wednesday we had Zone Conference, and then this past Saturday-Sunday was Stake Conference.
Zone Conference was pretty fun. We were helping set up and then Elder Stevens, who is from Brigham City and was also my first zone leader, comes up to me and tells me that he wants me to win his role play. I was just like, "What are you talking about?" and he just told me that I will find out and that he wanted me to win it for him, so I told him I would do my best. Well it comes time for his role play, and it was on talking to everyone. Now for those of you who know me, you know that I am not much of a talker. So as soon as I found out what it was on I just thought, "Well, I don't think I'm winning this one." So we get through the main part of the role play, and then he started talking about doing things a little bit differently, and was like, "In honor of the past weekend that was March Madness, we thought we would do a Missionary Madness Final Four. I don't know how but I was in the Final Four. I must have done something they liked, or maybe he did that just to try and help me win, I don't know, but I was in it. I was competing with one of the sisters, though, Sister Porter. Well I lost to her, but she then had to face the winner of the other bracket which was another elder that is here in Tuba, Elder Krauss. Elder Krauss took it home for Tuba, but it was pretty fun.
For Stake Conference, we had an Area Seventy, Elder Torres, come. On Saturday, he wanted to visit some of the families here, and so both he and our Stake President, President Justice, came out with Elder Hudak and I to visit the Billys. This is the same family that has 3 of our recent converts, Tina being one of them. Tina's husband isn't a member, but has been wanting to learn more, because he sees and feels a difference in his family and in his home. So we taught The Restoration to them. It was really neat to teach with one of the General Authorities, and the Spirit was pretty strong, I could tell that it was working on Tina's husband, Delaine. Well, long story short, everything we talked about seemed to answer every question that Delaine had been having recently, and Elder Torres committed him to be baptized on April 29th!!! It was so exciting!!! Elder Torres is a very spiritual man, but he is also just a wonderful man. We got to talk to him, and get to know him quite a bit, and he taught us a lot. I love him, and am very grateful to have met him.
One thing that I would like to share in closing of this email is a story that President Uchtdorf shared in this month's Ensign...
There is an old Jewish tale about a soap maker who did not believe in God. One day as he was walking with a rabbi, he said, “There is something I cannot understand. We have had religion for thousands of years. But everywhere you look there is evil, corruption, dishonesty, injustice, pain, hunger, and violence. It appears that religion has not improved the world at all. So I ask you, what good is it?”
The rabbi did not answer for a time but continued walking with the soap maker. Eventually they approached a playground where children, covered in dust, were playing in the dirt.
“There is something I don’t understand,” the rabbi said. “Look at those children. We have had soap for thousands of years, and yet those children are filthy. What good is soap?
The soap maker replied, “But rabbi, it isn’t fair to blame soap for these dirty children. Soap has to be used before it can accomplish its purpose.”
The rabbi smiled and said, “Exactly.”
I love this story because it is so true. In order for this gospel to make a difference in anyone's life it has to be used and applied, otherwise it will do you no good. That's why Heavenly Father gave us commandments, that is why Jesus Christ suffered the Atonement, so that it could benefit our lives and help us become something more than we ever could imagine. But we have to take action and use what they have given us, otherwise it is no good to us.
I can promise you that you will have much better lives, and a much better life hereafter, if you will only but apply the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would strongly encourage every one of you to use the things that Heavenly Father has given us, and do what He asks. It is for our benefit. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us all to succeed; that is why they have given us these things.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Just be sure to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost the first time you get the prompting, and you can't go wrong.
Elder Takis
General Conference
4/3/17 Email:
Ya'at'teh' everyone!
So I don't have a whole lot of time to write this week; we are going to Page in a few minutes again for our shopping. But I hope that everyone had the opportunity to watch General Conference it was really quite something special. It is especially great because we get to hear from our prophet, the apostles, and the other leaders of the church. They all have wonderful messages and testimonies that can help us change our lives for the better. All we have to do is hear the message and apply it. One thing that really stuck out to me, and I can't remember who gave the talk right now, but they talked about the impressions of the Spirit, and that we need to follow the prompting the first time we get it. If we do that than we will be right 9 times out of 10. That is such a great promise, I have often found myself asking myself what would've happened if I had done that earlier? Where could I be if I had done this when I was supposed to? If we do it the first time we won't find ourselves asking those questions, and we will be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, and because of that everything will turn out for our benefit. I love this gospel, and what Jesus Christ can do for us if we follow Him and live His gospel. I know that it is true, and I hope that each of you will come to that some love and knowledge, so that you may receive the blessings that Heavenly Father is ready and willing to bless us with.
Love you all,
Elder Takis
Ya'at'teh' everyone!
So I don't have a whole lot of time to write this week; we are going to Page in a few minutes again for our shopping. But I hope that everyone had the opportunity to watch General Conference it was really quite something special. It is especially great because we get to hear from our prophet, the apostles, and the other leaders of the church. They all have wonderful messages and testimonies that can help us change our lives for the better. All we have to do is hear the message and apply it. One thing that really stuck out to me, and I can't remember who gave the talk right now, but they talked about the impressions of the Spirit, and that we need to follow the prompting the first time we get it. If we do that than we will be right 9 times out of 10. That is such a great promise, I have often found myself asking myself what would've happened if I had done that earlier? Where could I be if I had done this when I was supposed to? If we do it the first time we won't find ourselves asking those questions, and we will be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, and because of that everything will turn out for our benefit. I love this gospel, and what Jesus Christ can do for us if we follow Him and live His gospel. I know that it is true, and I hope that each of you will come to that some love and knowledge, so that you may receive the blessings that Heavenly Father is ready and willing to bless us with.
Love you all,
Elder Takis
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