September 29

Michigan's been well. I've been able to run the past few mornings without having to wear sweets. It's not as warm as summer, and I know it'll cool off even more soon.

I had a trade off with the Dewitt Elders. We gave a blessing to an investigator who had a heart attack and was in the hospital in Lansing. Then after a while of trying to find our was back, we had a lesson with a couple who should be baptized very soon. They are so awesome, they told us how they can see how much the gospel has blessed them in their lives already. They don't argue as much, and the husband told us how he's not getting into fights with people anymore. It was great to hear that.

There's a family that lives really close to our apartment who we've been visiting. We've been helping them put up some insulation & cleaning out the old insulation. Their house is old, like over 100 years old.

We also help an other family move a lot of stuff out of their house. The father was really appreciative, he gave us their leftover lasagna.

Our teaching pool has diminished. Some of our investigators are more interested in the churches welfare. Others aren't keeping commitments. We need to do a lot of finding. My companion has told me he hasn't seen much of any success tracting, and I can see why. Most of his approaches are route presentation. Hopefully we can work together on that. I'm trying to ask more questions at the door.

Last night we're driving home down a long road with tall grass on each side, going 55, & we see a family of deer come running out of the brush. I lay my foot on the brake, missed the first deer, but hit the second one. It was totally fine, It ran off into the grass with the rest of the family. There was no scrapes on the car, but there was a dent just behind the light, like someone threw a football directly at it. I sure if I braked a lot harder & sooner I wouldn't have hit it. I am glad there only little damage.

I just listened to the talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf from the womens session. I think it applies to Missionaries too. We shouldn't treat those we visit as anther checkmark. I think the people we visit we need to build a relationship with, and be their friend.

Take care, Love You!

-Elder Candland 

P.S. At our Zone Training this Thursday we get to watch Meet the Mormons. I'm pretty excited. It'll bee the best movie I've seen in over a year! :)

September 22

If I wasn't before, I'm now officially in my early 20's! ...That's crazy

Sounds like the wedding was great. I'm ok with not going, I'm happy enough seeing the pictures.

Elder Peterson's older bro got married this week too. He married a girl named Makenzi. What a coincidence. His brother's name isn't Adam, but his middle name is Michel. We found that kinda funny.

Thanks for the Package! That was a great start to my day. That green tie looks great!

We went to a members home to shovel a truck load of wood chips into their backyard. We stayed there for 3 hours. We helped them out a lot. They would've taken at least twice as long without our help.

Wednesday we attended a funeral for a cat. We got to dig the hole for it.

Nothing really exciting really.

I've been running every morning while I still can. It's cooling off out here and I don't think Elder Peterson is going to stay very warm watching me do laps across the field.

I forgot to mention that Elder Peterson's the district leader here. He keeps asking me "Wanna switch places?" My response is usually "No, I'm ok, but thanks."

Also, He's served with Elder Palmer & Elder Raun (He's the one from the mtc that got us those squirrel suit pj's)

Hope everyone is doing well, I'll talk some more next week.

Love,

Elder Candland

BTW our address is 1155 N. Chipman Apt. 11. I think I sent you the wrong house # at first.

September 15

I got my new companion, Elder Peterson. He's pretty cool, pretty laid back. He's a transfer older than me, he's from South Jordan Utah, & he loves baseball & cars. (He has an aston martin shaped flash-drive that lights up)

It's been another usual week. It is getting colder though. I've heard that it's snowing in some state(s)! Crazy. They say we'll get some on the 27th. The winter this year is supposed to be even worse. (or better, depending on how you want to look at it) I guess if I'm going to experience the winters here I might as well go all out. (I'm going to need a more insulated coat & some gloves)

Right now it's only a little cold. Enough that I should wear a sweater, and sweats in the morning. That the day before it cooled off I was sweating. Weird.

Steve, the guy downstairs in our apartment, says he wants to start coming to are church. We like Steve, he's pretty cool.

We did a little demolition Thursday. That was fun. We got to destroy a 400 lb bed frame with hammers.

Not much happened this week.
Sorry I haven't told you about anything I want for my birthday. I kept forgetting to send something. Hopefully you had some ideas.

Love you!
-Elder Candland

1. Owosso

2. Alley opening

3. Walking into alley

September 8

I'm with the zone leaders right now. I'm in Lansing. Since Elder Kofoed went to go to the temple that left me alone. So I'm in a library with a couple other Elder in the same boat.
Today we went to the Stake center & played some Bball with a lot of other missionaries. It was fun to talk to all of them.

The baptism went well. This guy really seems to have found a new home, and is glad to come into the church.

Friday was crazy. We had some hot weather all day, then in the evening we got hit with a storm! There was rain & lightning. The weather out east is so bipolar.
Also that night we found a frog in our apartment. He started climbing up the window. I think the storm drove him up, or something. We released him back into the wild (a bush outside our apartment).

Usually things slow down when someone gets transferred out, but it seems like things are picking up here.
Two of our recent converts are taking temple prep classes, & I know one of them has been a member for a year now.
One of our investigators recently got married, & has told us that he's not so busy now & his wife is showing interest.
Also the husband of a part member family told us last night, that he's ready for baptism.

It's pretty cool how things are now. I still have not met Elder Peterson (my new comp) but talking with a few more Elders I got a little more information about him.

This week we did roofing again, this time it was on a wobbly cover for a parking spot.

Funny story, Elder Kofoed & I go into a theater to use the bathroom. Elder Kofoed was listening to the people at the snack bar. They called their manager and asked if he had sent a health inspector in or something. She said a couple of professionally dressed men came in. Then the manager asked if they were wearing white shirts & ties. Then he told her it's just missionaries, nothing to worry about.

I'll talk to you next week & let you know how Elder Peterson is.

Love,
Elder Candland

P.S. Last night I found a Ninjorman outside my apartment window. So I got a quick picture of him before he vanished.

1. Friendly Visit

2. Baptism

 

3. Ninjorman

September 1

I had my 1st official zone conference with President Jacobsen Friday. Elder Kofoed gave his departing testimony, it was good testimony. (You can tell how nervous he is by how serious he is:)

Story Time:
After zone conference we parked our car next to a members home, and looked over the GPS to find where we should knock before dinner. We felt we should go finding at a certain block. This town is aways from Owosso so we aren't here often. As we were finding, I felt confident that there was someone here that is prepared. Across the street we saw a gathering, one person invited us to come over, they were having a Bible study in there home. This would be an opportunity to tell these people who we are, so we accepted his offer. Inside, I waited for a chance to speak, I told the person in charge that we couldn't stay long, but we were wondering if we could say a few words, and he was just fine with that. I started off by telling everyone how we love to see people gather and learn more of Christ. Then I told them we are missionaries from our church, and we share another testament of Jesus Christ. If they wanted to learn more, I told them they could take a mormon.org card, and I left a stack on a desk next to me. After that I bore my testimony of Christ, and Elder Kofoed did the same.
The members we were going to have dinner with had a son in that Bible study; who hung with the wrong crowd, got into anti, and left the church. He asked us if he could commit us to something, then he got into a disagreement with Elder Kofoed about faith vs. works. With all these people here watching this, I tried to defuse the situation by explaining to him and others that got involved that we aren't there to change their views, or to have them see the way we do, but that we're there to invite them to learn more.

I felt good with the way things were left. Later Elder Kofoed told me that he was about to say something that would convince this guy, but he couldn't put it into words, he said, "Maybe the spirit was restraining me."

At dinner, we were talking with the member (we didn't tell him about what happened) and told us a story on his mission. His companion wasn't listening to the investigators concerns much and kept pressing baptism. He prayed that this would stop, and sure enough his prayer was answered when the investigator expressed his thoughts, which here the same as this members'.
On multiple occasions I would pray that things would go ok, while Elder Kofoed would try proving a point to some person we were talking to. Tonight I didn't pray while he was talking with this members son, but it seemed like my prayers I had in past experiences were answered.
We read an Ensign article with the members which talked about how prayers are answered in ways or in times we don't expect.
The End

Wow, that was long. Anyway, last week we re-shingled a couple roofs. And this week is the last week of the Transfer, which means Elder Kofoed is going home really soon.
President Jacobsen is starting a thing with missionaries, where he's letting them go through the Detroit temple before they go home. Hopefully that'll keep running by the time I'm done.

Also, we're having a Baptism this Saturday for an Investigator that has been taught for a while. He came to church the last 2 Sundays so he's eligible as long as he passes the interview. Which I'm sure he will.

Sounds like everything's going good. Hopefully the beginning of this school year goes good for everyone.

Love,
Elder Candland

I Got Pictures Today!

1. Mantis (we saw this before we came into the church today)

2. Little guy (this was outside our apartment one night)

3. Owosso co.

4. Elder Sinsel is a goof, the Elder I went on trade offs with. He drew this fantasy on an American Eagle bag.

August 25

This week I finally got to have a chat with the new President. He's fun. While I was waiting to be interviewed I look out in the hall and see him tackle an Elder. It's I lot different from what I'm used to, but it's pretty amusing. We had a good talk. He asked me the basic questions of, how long I've been out, about my family, why I came out, & so on.

Unfortunately Interviews went longer than any of us anticipated. He interviewed 2 districts, & the district I'm in has to be the largest district I've been in ( 5 Elders, & 8 Sisters). This is also his first time, so it's no surprise.

I did get to see Elder Marley while I was there. He was so excited to see me, as soon as he saw I was there he jumped out of his seat and gave me a big hug. This is first time he's worked outside of Saginaw. We had a good long talk.

After that we had trade offs. We pretty much door knocked, & spent the rest of the evening at their new ward mission leaders home. He got set apart while we were there. During correlation I tried to make myself useful & pitch in every now & then, but there really wasn't much I could say about the area since I'm not serving there.

However I did make myself useful at a single sister's home. We mowed her lawn & trimmed the edges.

One night when we had dinner, the family showed us a video of their son who is 2 months into his mission in England. I guess in his mission he can send a video mail home each month. He seems like a good Elder with a good sense of humor.

Great news, someone we're teaching is ready for baptism & has accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 6th! He came to church yesterday, he just needs to come again next week! The lesson we had with him went so well. We had a member come, & he had some great input, & created a friendship with him. We're so excited for him, he's the best. He takes notes during our visits & remembers a lot of stuff we taught.

Next Sunday I'll be teaching gospel principles. I'm teaching tithing. I got an idea for a visual from another missionary that I want to use in this lesson. You give the person 10 pieces of candy & then ask "Since I've given you 10 pieces, is it alright if I have 1?" And when they give you one you dump the whole bag of candy on them & explain that that's like how tithing is. I haven't told anybody I'm doing this yet, I want to keep it secret. :)

One more thing, if you want missionaries to be super full after dinner feed them tons of watermelon.

Ok, that's probably enough. I'll talk to you next week. :)

Love,
Elder Candland

August 18

Trade offs went well. I got to know Elder Sinsel & Elder Thomas who came off the plane with me. They're both a couple of goofy elders. We walked all day, we did not have a car or bikes. It's been a while since I've walked that long. We got back a bit early so that night in the apartment Elder Thomas asked me to take part in making a slender video. (Shaini or Lars will know what that is)

We taught a new Investigator this week. She is looking for a job & a good place to start would be at church where there are people can help her with that. We didn't see her come, but she does show some interest.

We had a funeral for a man who is the son of a lady in the ward. They were living together so for her it was a big loss for her. She seems to be taking it well, we still plan to visit her during the week.

Ward conference was yesterday. I got to see our stake presidency. They seem great, the president, from what he said, seems like a great guy. We also had a potluck afterward. I'm trying to eat healthier so I had tons of the veggie dishes and no desserts.

Though that the night before an old lady in the ward took us out to eat at a Louisiana style restaurant. It wasn't super health-conscious, but I really enjoyed it. I got barbecue chicken with white bbq sauce & hush puppies.

Things are going by pretty slowly, not much more excitement. We're already 1/2 way through the transfer, wont be long before Elder Kofoed leaves.

I forgot my camera cord again. Sorry.

You have a wonderful week, I'll talk to you later.

Love,
Elder Candland

August 11

I'm getting used to being in Owosso.

Michigan has a lot of city blocks that have been around since the early 1900's. Some of them have been converted to shopping outlets. Today Elder Kofoed and I went to one of those shopping places, which is now a shoe store. It wasn't anything special, just a little fun to look at. Honestly though, I had more fun shopping at a thrift store today.

Elder Kofoed hates it when I bring up how much time he has before he goes home. I just mentioned how fast this month is already going by. He pressed his lips together and just stared at me.

This week has been as average as any other week. Did some service, visited less actives, taught some people, and knocked some doors.

We did do service for a lady who has a son on a mission, who has a visa waiting to go to Brasil. She asked me if there's any advice I had for her son. I mentioned that Adam went to Brasil. I didn't have much to tell her, but you can let me know if you can think of anything.

Tonight we're going on trade offs with the district leader. I'm going to Williamston, it's close by Lansing. I'm excited to work there. They companionship is a Trio so I'm excited to get to be in a trio again for a little bit.

Sorry I have not taken pictures for a while. I should have something next week though. We want to get some companionship pictures in some cool spot here.
Also I forgot my camera cord, so sorry this is all you're getting this week.

I hope you enjoy this next week.
Love ya!

Elder Candland

August 4

I'm liking Owosso, it's a bit bigger than Cadillac, which I like.

There was an Elder who just finished his two years in MI, and had his parents come pick him up. They drove around the places he served. I got to see him at our ward mission leaders home while we were there. Then we saw them again at another member's home that evening. I didn't know him very well, I just saw him at a few meetings, but it was cool to see him with his parents.

The Bishop here is a boss. He had one evening he took us to do some rounds visiting people. He did the same thing after church, and he also gave us a ride to a service project this Saturday. There's a reason why he's President Hess' favorite Bishop.

The service project was re-roofing a home that needed it bad. Elder Kofoed helped out on the roof while I helped clean up the debris that they threw down.

Our ward mission leader is also a great guy. Today he went around with us to do our shopping since we don't have a car today. He'll also be feeding us Lasagna tonight.

A couple days ago one of the members locked her keys in her car, so we helped her brake into her car with a wire hanger. (Elder Kofoed did most of the work, he must some experience :)

One of the family's I met asked me to draw them a picture of a car as soon as I told that I like drawing. They were impressed with my work so then they asked if I could draw them a compiled picture of a few of the family members with their grandmother who passed away. I'm still working on it. Right now I mostly just have the outlines, I've done a lot of erasing, I'd hate to make any mistakes.

I have not gone to the temple yet. I wont be able to go until someone I know gets baptized and goes to the Detroit temple.

I don't have any pictures of Owosso yet, so you'll just have to make do with some pictures of my last week in Cadillac.
There was a recent convert that we played disc golf with, so 2 of the pictures are from that.

I'm doing well, Elder Kofoed and I are getting along pretty well. The apartment is spacious compared to the one in Cadillac, so that's really nice. (Plus the members feed us more than once or twice a week.)

It's good to hear that you all had fun this past week, I hope you get to keep enjoying this last little bit of summer.
Love,
Elder Candland


New Address:
1115 North Chipman Street apt.#11
Owossow, Michigan 48867

Cadillac

Elder Mitchell

Bro. Baker