August 25, 2014
Hi All!
Thanks for the advice
(about college). I think that sounds good to start in January. I was just
thinking the other day as well how most people my age have finished the 4 years
and are probably starting on a career now or very soon. And I’m 2 years behind!
Things here are going
well. It’s heating up a little again but no too bad, just the low 80's this
week. This past week has been pretty slow once again. It’s sad to say but
members are slowing down on the feeding and investigators are a little bit more
hesitant to meet with us. Although I only have about 2 weeks till transfers
come. I’m hoping to head back to Pembroke, Va. I e-mailed President Salisbury
today and requested it. Now, if he honors it or not time will tell. I do know
President Pitt always to those into consideration when making decisions because
he saw that the Lord can work through us to give revelation too. So we will
see.
This week we only taught
3 lessons. It was a long week. We taught Katy once and she had made a mistake
again, so we spent the time telling her how she can fix it and not do it again.
She needs to get off that street. It’s one of the worst in the area. It is full
of nothing but drugs, so that’s obviously not the best influence on her. She
plans on meeting with the bishop again on Sunday.
Also we had a ward BBQ
last Saturday and Exchanges so it was a great time to have some time spent with
other people. Kinda recharges me for this week! I know we may potentially go on
another 4 exchanges before the transfer ends in 2 weeks, 2 with one area, and
once more with the other set, and one with the zone leaders.
But not too much else is
really happening just chugging along. Yes, it was me who requested more music
cause out music rule changed a little bit from only things that can be sung in
conference and sacrament meeting to anything that can be played at a church
activity (excluding church dances of course), and any arrangement of a hymn. So
I was wondering if you could send a USB or a couple CD's with some country/
bluegrass styled hymns on them. And maybe a couple banjo songs, those are
always entertaining!
Anyway that’s about it!
Love you all!
Elder Latimer
P.S Something cool. I was readying about the ten
virgins and the oil in their lamps while waiting for the bridegroom, and how
the 5 foolish asked for oil, and the other 5 said no. I wondered why they
couldn’t give it to them, and how that relates to us? And as I was reading this
morning in D&C 45, I read:
25 But they shall
be gathered again; but they shall remain until the times of
the Gentiles be fulfilled.
26 And in that day shall be heard of wars and
rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts
shall failthem, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his
coming until the end of the earth.
27 And the love of men shall wax cold,
and iniquity shall abound.
28 And when the times of the Gentiles is come in,
a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it
shall be the fulness of my gospel;
29 But they receive it not; for they perceive not the
light, and they turn their hearts from me because of
the precepts of men.
30 And in that generation shall the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled.
31 And there shall be men standing in that generation, that
shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a
desolating sickness shall cover the land.
32 But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall
not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and
curse God and die.
And noticed how it said,
" But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall
not be moved" and how we will all be gathered in New Jerusalem as it
continues to talk about. I then continued and read.
35 "And I said unto them: Be not troubled,
for, when all these things shall come to pass, ye may know that the promises
which have been made unto you shall be fulfilled."
56 And at that day, when I shall come in
my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the
ten virgins.
57 For they that are wise and have received the truth, and
have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily
I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but
shall abide the day.
58 And the earth shall be given unto them for
an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and
their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation.
59 For the Lord shall be in their midst, and
his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and
their lawgiver.
After reading all that i
thought about when the Lord said, " ye may know that the promises
which have been made unto you shall be fulfilled."
And then came to my mind
the covenants we make in the temple and the promises that we receive from that.
And how we must be worthy to be in the presence of the Lord and in Zion. That’s
one of the "requirements" I guess you could say that we need to meet
that we cannot give to others -- the covenants we make in the temple. I thought
how the oil could represent Temple Recommends because we need those in order to
make those covenants and we cannot give our recommends to others who are not
prepared. If they wait too long to go "buy more oil" or to become
worthy to receive their temple recommends, they may be too late and not
have their "oil" in time for the coming of our Savior.
I hope that makes sense
the way I explained it. It makes a little more sense in my head, but I thought
that was kind of a cool correlation.
Love you all!
September 2, 2014
Hi
Everyone!
This week was ok. We
just did the same old same old, and I tried not to go crazy once again. Oh well,
I guess I’m learning more patience! I think I have told you I usually just
sacrifice things I enjoy or think and go along with my companion so that there
is no contention, and that is still what I’m doing and luckily there is a week
to transfers.
Anyway, there was a
family of 6 who was investigating the church in Princeton, WV who moved to
Beckley we helped them move in and they are sweet! They have 4 who are
over 8 and we hope to go to their place soon and begin teaching them. Appointments
are nice cause it’s kinda like a break. Also, Katy is doing well she is now
going to 3 different church activities a week, and the addiction recovery
program, the institute class the ward puts on, and church. Every day other than
that we visit her, sometimes just for like 5 min to keep her on her toes. She
is doing well and making progress.
But we haven’t had a lot
happen, nobody really sees us anymore... so it makes time seem a lot longer,
although the good news is the last 2 transfers will be great because it can
only go up hill! so I’ll enjoy it no
matter what!
And fall is right around
the corner, leaves are starting to change! It’s nice its getting cold a lot
sooner than normal. I’m done with the hot! People have said the news is saying
in the next week or 2 there will be a cold streak where people will probably
want to wear some jackets! Good news for me!
Glad to know the Hawks
play Thursday. I’ll make sure to wear my lucky tie again! I still remember the
MNF game with the hail mary catch for the win. Good times! Glad I’ll be home
for post season. Could you send a course catalog? I’ll ask President about it
but it would be nice. I don’t know if you can talk to councilors for me about
classes I should take and what specific major I would need to declare to start
working to be a physical therapist. If you could that would be nice.
Love you all!
Elder Latimer
September 10, 2014
Hi
Everyone!
So about the pictures,
yes, a member took them. She is big into photography and figured we would go
get some taken because I knew you all would like me to do that! It wasn’t too
bad except that it was like 85 degrees in a black suit!
And for transfers I will
be going to Winfield, WV and staying the same stake. But it’ll be nice because
I get a new companion, Elder Law. He is kinda quiet but seems like a nice kid. And
I’ll be a District Leader there, so that’ll be interesting. It’s only 4 in the
district Elder Law and me and 2 sisters.
But the cool thing is I will be going to the Taeys Valley ward, where a family
I loved, the Satres, who were in Pennsboro, had moved into that ward. So I’m
excited to see them on Sunday!
And from what I can see
on the GPS it’s a small town, which I have come to love a lot more than the big
city. For Halloween it’ll be nice because it’s gonna be mellow. I was afraid of
going to Morgantown University (WVU) where its football season and Halloween,
not to mention that it was voted the number 1 party school in the U.S.
And I imagine that will
be my last area before I return home. From what I hear the ward is pretty
sweet! And it’s gonna be different having sisters in the ward and district. I’ve
only been around sisters for 3 transfers my mission.
Any advice for me of
ways to lead effectively? Because I don’t wanna be the guy who everyone hates because
I’m the party pooper, but at the same time I wanna balance having a good time
but still giving and receiving respect. I did notice through sports, and other
things, to get respect you give it. So that may be a route I take. Anyway it
should be a good time, and not too hard since there is only one other
companionship and they are the Sister Training Leaders. It’s a new thing the
mission has done. They teach at Zone meetings and go on exchanges with other
sisters so they have that opportunity. So they shouldn’t be a problem -- although
sisters in this mission are notorious for poaching! But we should be all right!
Nothing super exciting
has been happening here, just looking forward to transfers, and just getting
through the awkward goodbyes because people tell me how much they will miss me
etc... And you know me, I’m just not very emotional so I feel bad because I
just want to say, "Later," but I have to try to be sincere.
The weather her has been
nice. It’s been mid 70's this week and supposed to continue getting cooler. I
love the fall it’s the best time of year. Not too hot not too cold and it’s
football season. I still get hit with nostalgia when we go out in the morning
when it’s sunny, crisp air and leaves on the ground. Reminds me of football
season waking up early for 2-a-days and games when I played Pee-wee football
after staying the night at Zach’s. I wish I could play again. Maybe if I can
put on another 50 pounds of muscle? But I don’t see that happening, but I sure
will try!
I really hope there are
some football buffs in this ward. The only one here is less-active, and we see
him once a week, and most the visit consists of getting caught up the football
world! Glad I’ll be back for post-season and won’t miss the first ever college
football playoffs! And the Seahawks repeat! (Knock on wood)
Love you all!
Elder Latimer
September 15, 2014
Hi All!
Things here are good,
and it’s another small town, and Im enjoying it. And yes, the Satres did have
us over last night and it was a blast! They are a fun family, and Ally keeps it
interesting. She always calls the missionaries here Reeses or cupcake. It’s
pretty funny. And every now and then we get a "Hubba Hubba" and she
moves her eye-brows up and down!
My new mailing address
is 749 Winfield Ave #3, Winfield, Wv 25213. My new companion is Elder Law, he
is a cool guy. A little more quiet but that’s all right.
And the ward here is
great! It has a much bigger youth program and a lot of young families, as
opposed to most the wards and branches here where everyone is old or inactive.
Also we play basketball every Saturday morning, so that’s a nice change because
I haven’t played basketball for 7 1/2 months! The Satres will have us over to
go fishing sometime too cause they live right on a river so that’ll be fun.
As for the work here, it
is kind of non-existent, so we will be working on that. Pretty much gonna start
from scratch but that’s all right. The fall is starting to come here as well. It’s
been getting in the 40's at night and low 70's during the day. Every now and
then the high is in the 60's. I’m so done with the hot!
And thanks for the
advice (on leadership). I’ll be sure to try and implement it! Especially
teaching doctrine. I listened to a talk by Elder Eyring a couple months ago
called “The Power of Teaching Doctrine” and loved it! It made sense and I’ve
loved using that ever since especially because some missionaries are like non-denominational
preachers. It kills me. They never teach anything all they tell people is
"Its ok, Jesus loves you." It drove me nuts, so I felt bad sometimes because
I’d come down pretty hard on some people to make up for the impression of,
"It’s ok you did these things as long as you are sorry"
That’s too bad about the
hawks. Sis. Satre told me about it. Oh and their whole family is big into
fantasy football! They talked about it the whole night. It killed me! But I
will be home for about 4 or 5 regular season games! But at least it’s not like
college where one loss pretty much puts you out of the running for the national
championship.
And hopefully that win
can put UW back into the top 25 again. It would be nice to have a top 25 finish
this year!
I’m excited for the “Meet
the Mormons” movie. I think President Salisbury is planning on letting the
missionaries go and watch it. That would be a nice change of pace!
Other than that not much
is happening here. The only 2 investigators we have are drunk literally every day,
oh well. And it’s weird cause this is a pretty small place but there are a ton
of super nice houses here! A missionary who served here before was telling me
this is where all the people who work in the hospital and law offices live so
they don’t have to live in Charleston, because Charleston is kinda a nasty
place in some parts. I’m not complaining that all the people have jobs, cars,
and can read! It’s nice to have responsible people to work with, although
sometimes people who are well off are not as inclined to listen to the message
we have to share.
Anyway that’s about it!
Love you all!
Elder Latimer
P.S Can you all
send my watch? Because I don’t wanna keep buying a new watch every month. I’ll
be careful, I promise :)
Love
You!
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