April 21

Tuesday it snowed. Not much, but it snowed. This has been a record winter here in Michigan. But the good news is it was hot enough Sunday for Elder Davis & I to break a sweat walking.

We've eaten so much this week.

We had another french toast eating contest, and Elder Marley won again. He ate 20 pieces of french toast. He was not proud of it. I was 7 short of his record, & I could not eat any more.

There one morning I actually felt like I was going to throw up I've had so much food this week. Fortunately for Elder Davis & I, we've been running every morning this week, so we're staying pretty active.

We were at Wendy's for lunch one day. We were in line ordering our food next to this old couple. Elder Davis orders a value burger & fri. And while Elder Davis was waiting for his burger, the old guy took one of his fries when no one was looking! Elder Davis sits down next to me with this look on his face & says, "That old guy totally just took one of my fries!"

That same day we were walking down the street and we pass this guy who has his hand stretched out and says, "Don't talk." We were thinking, dang it! we're gonna get mugged. Then he asks for a pamphlet, so I take a Plan of Salvation pamphlet out of my bag and was about to hand it to him, but I remembered that I had a slip from the post office in one of the pamphlets, so I'm thumbing through it to make sure it's not in that one, & he took it right out of my hand! The slip wasn't in that pamphlet so I'm good.

One of our potential investigators invited us over for Easter during lunch. She had some of her kids, and great gran kids over. I don't think she was really up to talking about the gospel. We tried showing the message on Mormon.org, we thought it would be great for Easter, but we only had a few people watch it. All they said was, "That was pretty well put together." Oh well. We did have a chance to talk to a lot of her family about missionary work, and to kinda just show that our church isn't all that weird. It was a nice experience.

Last night we were only able to talk to about 4 people while tracting, but out of those 4 we had 2 that wanted to talk to us more about the church.

The first guy we talked to said we could definitely come back and talk to him, and seemed excited about it too! He seems like a nice guy with a nice family, and we didn't have to talk to him long to convince him. It'll be cool talking to him later this week.

As we were walking back to our apartment this guy runs over to us and asks if we had time he could interview us. He's doing a project in school and he asks us questions about what our name is, and how old we are, and then he asks us how much a human is worth. Then he asks us if a human is worth another human. At first we weren't exactly sure how to answer that, but we pretty much said that God is not a respecter of persons. Come to find out he's a senior in high school. But he seems like a pretty nice guy, he gave us a ride back to the apartments in his Jeep. We'll be meeting with him Sunday.

It's been a exciting week. I hope you all enjoyed this Easter week.

Love,

Elder Candland

April 14

This week we had interviews this week with President Hess.. Our last Interviews with him! He leaves home in July :( I'm going to miss him. It was great to have some one on one time with him. He gave me a lot of good pointers. Praying for Love & Charity is one thing he encouraged me to do.

We also had trade offs this week. I went with Elder Rhodes to his area. We pick up a potential investigator by playing ball with them! (I filmed it.) It was Elder Rhodes dream to do that. He was pretty excited to do that :)

There was that one lady I told you about who does nails in her home. We finally taught her this week. The lesson went well. When we started I asked her who God was to her. She said God is Eratang. I was like, "Huh?" She repeated herself, "To me, God is Erra-Taang!" I realized she was really saying Everything. The other Elder's & I really love the way people talk here.

We had a great experience with one of our investigators this week. We invited him to have dinner over at one of the members. He's a pretty quiet guy, but the member sister was good at getting people to talk. I saw him open up a little, we saw him smile for the first time! He also talked about his experience in the military. He spent a year in Iraq. He said he saw some crazy things happen. It's another world out there. On the way back to his house the member asked if he would like a tour of the church. So we gave him a tour of the church that night too! He's a great investigator, hopefully we keep seeing progress with him.

2 nights ago we had a storm. It was dumping rain and there was thunder & lightning. The lightning was so bright it lit up the entire room, and we had one time where the walls of the apartment shake the thunder was so loud. It was nuts.

Elder Davis got a package from him for his year mark. (He's been out exactly a year now.) And he got silly string in his package, so he chased me around the apartment with it. He's a goof.

Sunday we had an area of 70 that came to church, along with President Hess, and the Stake Presidency. They all gave great talks during sacrament meeting, and it was great to have their input during ward counsel.

It's been a great week, it's good to hear from all of you, & I hope you all have a good week.

Love,

Elder Candland

April 7

We have a new family to teach. I met them on trade off's, when Elder Marley & I were door knocking. They're currently looking for a church to go to, so it was great timing for us. This past week we were able to meet with them twice & they've been enjoyed the first 2 lessons. It is new to them, so it'll take time before they fully embrace the gospel.

Unfortunately even though we invited plenty of people, no one came to General Conference. Besides that it was great. I would love to have General Conference to listen to while we're driving.

We went to one of our investigators that lives a ways out. They had all their friends over, we didn't have time to share anything with them, but before we left our investigator who we gave a book of Mormon to said "They need a book, they need a book, & they need a book." Elder Davis & I weren't sure what to say. We only get like 5 Book of Mormon's a month. I think we'll try getting people a book who will actually read it.

We finally had correlation with our new ward mission leader. He's great, it was a great correlation. He's a retired member and former Bishop. He has a great spirit about him.

Honestly not much else has happened this week. Sorry.

Everything's doing good, we're all doing good.

Hope You all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Candland

March 31

This P-day we played basketball in the hood. The 4 of us played against one of our investigators and his Bros. It was a lot of fun for the other Elders, they put up a good fight against each other. I wasn't much help.

We were finally able to meet with that one girl who had depression. We talked about the plan of salvation. I think the people she's associated with has made a big impact on her. She says she really likes us because we're nice & good to talk to. I hope in the future we'll see some progress with her, and we'll try our best to get her to come to church.

We biked this week. It's been a while since I have.  You'd think that biking in Michigan is no problem since it's so flat, but Elder Davis & I die when we have to go over any hills, combined with when we travel a long way. Especially when one of us gets stuck with the dumpy bike that keeps loosing its chain.

Elder Davis is pretty funny. We would ride through some puddles, and there was one particular puddle that was pretty deep, about up past your ankles. He let out a yelp when his bike went under, he also slowed down a lot.

FINALY, I discovered that Michigan does have smoothie places. Elder Davis and I got some at Tropical Smoothie Café. We stopped by when we picked the car up from the body shop & gave it to the Sisters. Don't worry, Elder Davis & I didn't do anything, there were some Elders that tried scraping the ice off with a scraper & scratched the paint.

Fortunately we don't have to worry about ice anymore. It looks like things are starting to warm up.

Testimony meeting was great. We had people that were leaving bear their testimonies. And in fact we had people lined up to bear their testimonies. We had plenty of kids bear testimony, and a recent convert bear a powerful testimony. A less active member also bore his testimony, and thanked one of the members for not giving up on him. It was awesome.

I can't think of much else that happened.

I hope you're all doing well, and enjoy the next week

Love,

Elder Candland

(Sorry the Library computer is dumb. No pictures this week.)

March 24

Before I talk about the week, Elder Davis just told me a story about when he was in 4th grade. He found a collared lizard in the bushes, so he kept it as a pet. Well one night he left it outside, and it frosted over. So he frantically took the lizard inside and tried to warm him up. He put him in the microwave. After only 2 seconds his tail came off, so he opened the microwave immediately and took him out. Then his dad told him to bury it. It was still breathing a little bit, so he buried everything except its head. His dad thought the whole thing was kinda funny, but his mom didn't because she had to clean the microwave. And guess what Elder Davis learned that day in school? Microwaves cook food from the inside out. His classmates teased him, and he cried for years about it. I wasn't sure if you'd think that's funny, I did.

Anyway

So this week. Well this transfer everyone in our district is staying! We all work pretty well together, and I don't think anyone wants to leave.

 

The MMA fighter I told you about had a match the night before we met him. When I got a good look at his face, it was pretty beat up, and he had hyper-extended his elbow. Good thing for him he fights only every few months.

We have a new investigator. She told us to come back to her house later, so we did, & we taught her the restoration. She liked the whole lesson, and since we first talked to her she wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon. She told us she was getting goosebumps when talking with us, and talking about reading the book. She should be a great investigator.

We finally set up an appoint to visit the girl who has depression and called us back after we first talked to her. We're seeing her this Thu. We're excited for that lesson.

Another person we'll probably teach is a mom that does nails in her home. She's a potential investigator that we decided to go see if she was home. She was, & she was doing her sisters nails with an electric filer. It was a lot of nail dust over her work space. We had a good talk with her. She let us know she admires us & the work we do, and she wants to talk with us again. I was joking & asked if she would do my nails too. She told me I wouldn't be the first guy that asked her. :)

One other person we met invited us in, and asked us about why we believe in the Godhead. We shared Matthew 3:16-17; Jeremiah1:5 & Job38:4-8 to show that that there was a pre-earth life, to explain that we were all spirits before we were born, including Christ. In the end we didn't convince her, but I really wanted to show her the talk "The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent" by Jeffery R. Holland. He explains why we believe in the Godhead much better.

Our investigator that has been coming to church and playing basketball went to a stake basketball game, and of course our ward won.

One family here knows how to feed us! They always make tons of food. They made enchiladas, salad, two lemonade cream pies, and 7 gallons of fruit salad! (No exaggeration) They make sure we're happy.

Stake priesthood meeting was yesterday was last night, and the Elder's were told to go. It was good, it was pretty motivational. The stake president gave us principles to pray, read scriptures, love your wife & kids, be set & ready, and be goofy :) He also talked about track. It was great!

 I have a ton of pictures to send!

1. Me & My companion

2. The Saginaw Elders

 

 

3. Saginaw 1

 

 

I love you all, I hope everyone has a great week ahead.

-Elder Candland

 

March 18

The snow's slowly melting away. I'm guessing it'll be gone by next month. Spring isn't really springing here. It's more slithering & slowly making it's way.

We had our 1/2 mission training Thu. They're always great. I got to see my old companions there which was great.

That guy that plays basketball came to church again this week, he got to hear someone speak about how she was taught by the missionaries and baptized with her family. She's leaving to go on a mission and she bore a great testimony. And the lessons we had for the rest of church felt like they were directed toward him. He even raised his hand several times during class and answered questions. It was a great Sunday for him to come. We even had lunch served in the church building afterward.

There was another person we met in the hood this week. We saw him shooting some hoops outside his house when we talked to him. He's only 15 and he told us how he had a past, but now he's completely changed his life. He told us he's working towards being a minister when he gets out of high school.

We met lady that invited us inside and talk to her and her mom. They aren't interested in learning from us, but they are happy to talk to us and give us something to eat. Before we left they gave us 2 loafs of apple cinnamon bread, 2 bags of skittles, & 4 packs of gummy bears! oh, and a McDonald's gift card! Old ladies are the best. The bread was really good to, it was made without yeast, just baking soda.

It's been a pretty average week. Not much more to report on.

Hope you guys enjoyed your week!

Love,

Elder Candland

March 10

This week has been a good week for Elder Davis & I.

We picked up some sweet people to teach from the hood. And they all are prepared, and are willing to do the things we commit them to do.

One thing that's a big deal for me is that one of the people we found came to church! That's the first time that's happened to me! He's awesome, he loves playing basketball. He is planning to do church basketball. Even better :) That's already given him the opportunity to talk to some of the members about it & start building a relationship with them. He's very interested in the lessons & so far everything else there is to offer.

There's 2 other people we're teaching.

One of them has shown the most commitment than anyone else. She's already had 7 lessons with us, in the past 2 weeks, and has probably finished reading the Book of Mormon at this point. When we found her she was feeling a little lost, and wanted to have a good church to go to. She's just about ready to be baptized! The only problem is that she hasn't come to church yet, because she has some anxiety. She couldn't sleep one night because she was got a little too worked up about it. Fortunately we gave her a tour of the church, so at least she's familiar with the place. One of these days I'm sure we can help her come.

One other guy we taught has told us he has been pondering his purpose in life, and about religion. He's a pretty chill guy, easy to teach. So far we've only taught one lesson.

We also have 3 other people we found in that area who we could potentially teach.

Our Bishop is awesome! In ward council we were discussing the dinner calendar when he says "Now hold on, lets back up." Then boldly and lovingly told everyone that he had asked earlier about having people for the missionaries to teach. It was quiet until the conversation changed to the dinner calendar. He told everyone that they needed to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and ask their friends if they wanted to learn more about the church. Elder Rhodes told us afterward in his mind he was saying "Ohhhh!" All of us agree that he's an awesome Bishop.

So last week I talked about Ebonics. Well during our companionship study Elder Davis says "lets study chapter 7." Then read, "This  section describes principles to help you study and learn the language more effectively." Both of us started laughing. Then he turns to me and says, "Ask your companion to listen to your pronunciation and help you improve." :) Elder Davis is a funny guy.

Elder Marley is at his 5th week being out. I got to go on trade offs with him. From what I've seen he's a great missionary. He knew what his purpose as a missionary is before he left, and he's a hard worker.

I'm loving this place the longer I stay here. I doubt I'll leave any time soon, but I'm sure I'll miss it.

It's good hearing from you, I hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Candland

March 3

We found some new people to teach across the Saginaw river over on the east side. (the hood)

One lady we've taught since we first knocked on her door. She clearly understands everything we talk about, and she's almost always home, so it's really easy to teach her. We gave her a church tour and she said it felt homey. She's still not sure if she's ready for baptism, but we're sure she'll get there.

We also met some 22 yr old guy who invited us in. We didn't have a lot of time to talk to him, but he's interested in learning more about the book of Mormon, and he wants to play Church Basketball. He did say he wants to go to a church that's not boring. Hopefully we can help him look past that, and think more about it's importance.

We met some lady in an apartment, before we knocked on her door we heard her singing kinda hysterically, I guess that's how she prays. She dominated most of our conversation, & our conversation went on for a little over 2 hours. She repeated herself a lot, she just phrased  things a little different. She talked about her faith and beliefs mostly. She told us she's always open to hear about anything that has to do with Christ, so we'll see if we can teach her next time we visit.

One awesome miracle we had.  I don't know if you remember the girl I talked about 2 weeks ago who gave us a call. Anyway, after Elder Davis & I had did some serious praying that she'd call us back. she gave us a call Saturday. She thanked us for the uplifting things we said, and because of it she felt not so depressed that night. She wants us to come over, and is going to call us back when she has a good time set up

 We helped the MMA fighter move out of his house. He's actually the #1 Am-mature Professional MMA fighter in Michigan. We plan to visit him this week. He's a former investigator, who was very close to baptism. I hope we can stick with them & get them baptized soon enough.

 I don't know if you've herd Ebonics, but a lot of people speak it here. people say "Grr" instead of "Girl," "Ax" instead of "Ask," "Finna," instead of "going to." Like someone would say "I finna go to the grocery store." It's supposed to be short for "Fixn' to go &..." We also hear a lot of people say "I'm strait." Which means "I'm down."

Also people in Michigan like to make most of the things they say plural. Someone's told us, "You's guy's has a good day." Most of the time it's with stores, people say "Wallmart's" or "Meijer's." We joke about it all the time.

One of our less active converts is leaving to Mississippi today (so he says) so we visited him last night. One of the people that lives with him was pretty high that night. He kept reminding us he loves me. He would ask us "Who was the first person to live on the earth." I'd answer "Adam & Eve." "That's right." Later he says Jesus was the first person to live on the earth, then he asks me "Who was the first person." "Adam & Eve." again I said. He responded "Yeah." Elder Davis & I kept smiling at each other.

We ended our visit with a prayer, and everyone home gathered & help hands with us. One of the older lady's there would talk through the prayer, she would say "mm-hmm.. that's right.. thank you.. thank you Jesus." Then when we were done she gave me a hug & kissed me on the cheek :( My coat didn't smell to good when we left that house, or my hands after shaking everyone's hand.

That's my week.

I hope everyone's doing well. I look forward to hearing from you each week.

 

Love,
Elder Candland

 

1.Saginaw-Love

2. Building artist

3. Saginawesome