As you can see by the email title, we now have a new mission
president! I will talk about that later. So I have had such a great
week in Scarsdale New York, there has been a lot of crazy miracles and
wonderful experiences that have happened. I've been feeling the hand
of the Lord in the work we are putting forth.
This last Thursday we did weekly planning and we did that so quickly
and we made a VGPA (Vision, Goals, Plans, Accountable)
for this transfer. We put our vision for this area,
the goals we have, the plans for each goal and who we are accountable
to. We have a goal of 100 hours of tracting this transfer and we have
been doing great in our efforts. We got a call from brother Darger in
our ward who does public affairs and stuff and he invited as many
missionaries to come to this other church gathering thing on Sunday.
We told him we would come. We were excited about that.
Friday we had a lesson with a recent convert who was doing yard work
with his shirt off when we pulled up and it caught me off guard but it
was a great lesson, he had questions about testimony and just some
questions that we were able to answer. We had a lot of time to tract
and found some potentials. We had a dinner with this recent convert
Jessica. She cooks really good food and she caters. It was super great
to be able to see the members of this ward and how active they are. Oh
we played volleyball with investigators and recent converts and I
actually had fun. I don't usually like volleyball but I actually enjoy
playing it now.
Saturday we were able to help the Morgan's be prepared to move, we
were in the basement of the mission home sweeping all the dirt,
spiders and webs off of the walls and vacuuming them up. It was weird
to not see president in proselyting clothes, he was just in jeans and
a polo and he was cleaning just as we were. It was so sad to help them
clean the place so they can leave. We had a lesson with an
eternalgator so an investigator who has been investigating for a
while. We went hard to get him to church because he hasn't been to
church since he started investigating 2 years ago.
Sunday was great, this ward shrinks a lot during the summer so we are
able to help in anyway possible. It's weird to have such a small ward
here but that's our job. We need to fill the seats with families.
That's our goal. We went to sacrament and to gospel principals and
then we left church to go to that gathering at this African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church. It was for the killing of some people in
Charleston recently. It was weird because we sat there and they were
yelling and saying some inspiring words. There is a big difference
between our church and their church. I feel the spirit so strongly
when I go to church each week but at this church we went to I didn't
feel the spirit at all. We had this huge social thing where we sat
with people who don't share the same beliefs with us and we talk.
People were really excited to see us on our missions and they asked us
a bunch of questions! It was a super cool missionary opportunity, and
they chose a scripture from the Book of Mormon for everyone to analyze
and to figure out what it means.
Monday was district meeting, it was great and the spirit was strong in
that room. Elder Essler and Sister Gardner from the MTC are in my
district and it's cool to see how much we have grown from the
beginning. We tracted and got a lot of lessons on Monday and found a
lot of new people who are ready to hear this message so hopefully we
will be able to get things rolling with them.
Tuesdays (yesterday) was such a crazy day. President and Sister Smith
and their family came and introduced themselves. They have 3 kids a 15
and 13 year girl, and an 11 year old boy. They all spoke to us and I
could just feel the spirit from them all, President and Sister Smith
are young! It's crazy but it's what the Lord wants. We all were able
to have that confirmation yesterday when we heard them spoke. They
will be coming to our ward so we will get to know them well. I got a
picture with President and Sister Smith. They invited us over for
dinner, with the APs, the Sisters and us. We had pizza but we had to
leave for a lesson. We showed them that we are busy missionaries and
we want them to know how hard we do work. Our lesson was with an
investigator named Edgardo who was getting ready to drop us but we
were able to share that because of him video. We shared it and Elder
Smith told him to open his Book of Mormon to a random page and read
the first verse he sees. He did it and he felt the spirit and it
answered questions he was having. We testified so much. I felt the
spirit guiding every word I said. I am so grateful for that experience
and I love this area. It's one of those experiences that you will
always remember for the rest of your life.
I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the
true church of Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of
God and as we follow the teachings of Christ our lives will improve.
The Book of Mormon answers questions. I know that we can pray and ask
our Heavenly Father any question that we have and he WILL answer it. I
know what I am doing is where the lord needs me. Sorry I wrote so
much. I love you all and I hope everything and everyone is doing well.
Love,
Elder Casper
Dad!
Scarsdale is so great, we have been seeing so many miracles in this
area and I'm truly seeing the Lords hands in our work and in my
teaching as well. My companion is really cool, he is really great
companion and we have fun. His name is Elder Steven Smith and he comes
from a small town in California named Julian which is in San Diego
county. I like him more or less, there are something's that bug me but
they are small and not a big deal. We do get along though so that's
good. I love him and he is truly a great guy.
The baseball game is going to be so great, it starts at 6 here so at 3
in California. You will just see a bunch of people in white shirts and
ties. It's going to be great and a lot of fun! We will be getting to
kingsbridge in the Bronx at 5, so an hour before it starts and I'm
hoping we will be able to get a free hat! I haven't bought one and I'm
really not planning on it because they are so expensive.
Oh yeah I forget that Fourth of July is this weekend, as a missionary
you don't really remember that it's a holiday you just knock doors
anyways. It makes people mad, I remember in newtown this one veteran
we knocked into and he cussed us out and told us our religion is a
myth and we just thanked him for his service.. He wasn't too happy but
we just smiled and waved. And of course left because he didn't seem
too happy. Anyways it was mainly my companion who did that. I was
pretty terrified.
That's cool how the ward and the missionaries are helping with the
float. It's pretty cool to get the name of the church out there
because people need to know who we are. It's pretty much everyday that
someone tells us that they have never heard of our church. That's our
job, to put the name of the church out there.
Haha I hope you will
keep that car though because I love it and it is a great car.
Yay! I'm moving up in the world, well on the board! it's weird to
think how long I've been out. Elder Reyne told me he comes home in
November of this year which means I will have a year by then. And I
can't believe that everyone comes home like a year before me.
Still writing everyday in my journal and I'm so glad I am. I have
pictures to send as well!
The mission office is in our area so we can go there and get mail
whenever we want to. My ward is the Westchester 1st Ward and it covers
white plains, Scarsdale, east Chester, tuckahoe, and a little bit of
Bronxville. And little towns inside the boundaries. The cool thing
about this area is president and Sister Smith are in our Ward! We are
there missionaries! I have a car, we drive in the upstate version of
the city!
Love you! You mean so much to me, and so does mom! You have done so
many great things for me in my life and I can never repay you for any
of it. I just hope I will be able to grow up to be as great of a man
as you dad. Mom has helped me so much in my life and I can't wait to
show her that when I get home and move on in life. I'll get to the
other email!
Elder Casper
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