Easter is a great time of year (week 37)

Easter week is such an amazing time to ponder the atonement and the wonderful blessings that come from it. It also helps that we have a bunch of time to study and learn more about Christ's resurrection and his atonement. I loved being able to read through John this week and ponder the teachings of Christ. The spirit of Easter helps us understand the atonement a lot more. I hope everyone had similar experiences this past Easter week. I also hope we will all be able to continue with that spirit throughout the year and especially take time to think about the atonement before general conference this upcoming weekend. 

We started off the week really well with a great Zone Conference. The whole thing was centered on Easter week and the things Christ did during that time. As Sister Lewis pointed out it is the most important week in history. President Lewis spoke on the amazing gifts that come from Christ's atonement. The three that he emphasized were Resurrection, Redemption, and the Enabling power or strengthening power. I liked looking at the strengthening power that comes from the atonement. President Lewis shared an expert from Elder Holland's talk last April. It is so important that we realize that Christ is always there for us just like the boys brother in the story. We may try to push others away and deny help when it is offered, but Christ is always there. He doesn't leave. We may push him away or say that we may not need him, but he won't abandon us. He is there waiting for us to exercise some faith and allow him to help us. We need his help in every moment in our life. He is waiting for us and ready to help us. He loves us too much to let us fall or fail. I also loved the emphasis on the brotherly love Christ has for each of us. It is important to note that as our older brother he wants the best and will do all he can to help us in our time of need. The talk called "Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet" is great and I would highly recommend it. 

This week was a little harder but it was great because of the fact that we were able to focus on the importance of Christ's atonement. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the lord here and for this opportunity to learn so much more.

This past week I was also able to go on exchanges with Elder Call. It was a great time as it reminded us both of a few transfers ago when we were going on exchanges with each other in our previous areas. We taught a couple that is Seventh Day Adventist and we focused on revelation through prophets and the importance of prayer in our lives. They wanted us to prove to them using the bible why the Sabbath day is on Sunday but we let them know we aren't here to convince others of the truth but to invite them to pray and find the answers from our Heavenly Father. It was a great lesson and helped me see the importance of avoiding contention especially when teaching others. It also helped me see the importance of sharing the restoration and how through the Book of Mormon and prayer we can gain a testimony of these things for ourselves. 

Our investigators are doing great although we wish we could have seen them more this past week. We are going to be doing our best to see all of them and help them progress more. We also have a great opportunity to invite them to hear the words of our living prophet this weekend. I am looking forward to another great spirit filled week and lot of opportunities to learn. I hope all continues to be well back home. 

With love,

Elder Boren

Elder Sanchez getting a drink of water.

                                                     Elder Mercado's posterity.

                                           
                                          Amazing sunset we caught after leaving an investigator.

                                                Personal study time!

A terrific week (week 36)

This has just been an awesome week full of miracles. Being here on my mission is such a blessing in itself and there are so many more that come from being able to see others progress in the gospel and also being able to share the good news that the gospel brings. I love this area and I am so glad I am able to serve in the Royal slope. All the members here are great and so are all the people we have met and began teaching. 

We started off this week really well with being able to start teaching two really great people. One of them is related to one of the members in the branch and we were able to bring her to the lesson. For her the thing we are hoping to focus on is the family and all the blessings the gospel brings to our families. We are going to try and work close with the members so that they progress and continue progressing even after their baptisms. Super important to make sure that the members are involved in the conversion process. 

On Wednesday after district council we had exchanges with the district leader. I went to Mattaw with Elder Najarian and Elder Sanchez stayed here with Elder Wallama. It was a really great time as we were trying to focus on teaching simply and also teaching at every opportunity. As we did so we had a few doorstep lessons with some interesting people. Some of them being more interested than others. When we really take the time to share the gospel with others and don't melt away when they say no we can help the spirit testify to them of the things that are true. While I was on exchanges in Mattaw Elder Sanchez and Elder Wallama did a church tour that the branch invited friends to. There was an awesome family there that we began teaching Saturday. They both expressed that they have a desire to learn more and understand the doctrine. They don't have too many questions right now but the ones they do have are great. We are going to be working with the branch president with the family and help them learn the gospel and make commitments. 

We also had a really good day Sunday as we were able have two really good member present lessons. One was with one of the members sisters who has been investigating for a while and has really started to notice all the blessing and changes that have happened in her sister as well as her friends who have joined the church. She wants to be baptized and we are going to work with her so she can make that great step in her life. She has lots of support from all the members and as well from her kids who really enjoy going to church each Sunday. The other person we taught is also a long time investigator. His wife and one of his kids are members and have been trying to work with him. We helped him see all the blessings that have happened in his life and understand that many more await him when he is baptized. We think he finally understands that it is something he must do and we were able to put him on date for April. Heavenly Father has blessed us a bunch and there is so much more we can gain as we keep in his service. 

We are looking forward to another busy and enjoyable week. We get to start this week off with Zone conference in Moses lake which will be fun. Then we have some more exchanges and great people to teach. I hope all is well back home and hopefully things aren't too crazy with the new stake change. 

With Love,

Elder Boren

                                                  Study Time

                                               Elder Sanchez took this picture

                                                  Camp Royal city

                                                 They made matching ties for zone conference

Missionary work is the Best (week 35)

Missionary work is the best and it just keeps getting better. We had another really good week here in Royal Camp. This is an awesome area with amazing people!

A kid we are teaching is really progressing. Both his parents are members. One is less active and the other is a recent convert. He is only eight years old but he really understands a lot of the things we have been teaching him. The only problem is finding ways to teach the doctrines in a way that a kid is going to understand. (Especially the commandments) When we first got here he didn't want to pray and didn't really feel comfortable doing it. With help from his dad he loves saying prayers and will say them every time we have opening and closing prayer. Working with little kids is the best! They are so cool and always surprise us with the things they know. He is planning on getting baptized in April which is going to be great. I think his desire to be baptized will help his parents and also his grandparents become more involved in the church. It's a blessing being able to work with such great people. 

We had a really good district council on Wednesday. We discussed how we can better work with our members. An idea I really liked was working on turning referrals straight into member present lessons. All the members here have an excitement about missionary work and want us to talk to their friends. One way we can be more effective is by inviting them to invite their friends over for a lesson with us. It's so much better if the invitation comes from friends. Then as those investigators go through the lessons they have a friend they can turn to for any needs they have. Another way we are going to start working with the members is through the new Easter initiative. We are starting to challenge all the families we are eating with to share the Easter pass along cards. It's an easy way that the members can do missionary work and feel more comfortable with sharing the gospel. This new initiative is awesome and the videos are a great way to help others come closer to Christ. 

Working with members is really important. We are also trying to work closer with the bishop and branch president. We made cookies on Monday and then brought the two families cookies. It allowed us a chance to get to know the two families and then discuss how we can help in the area.    Working with them has helped us see how we can use our time more effectively and what we can improve on. We are trying to get the members out with us as much as we can. Especially the youth that are preparing for a mission. Having the youth out with us is the best. It helps them prepare for their own missions and know what missionary work is like. 

Yesterday we had a really great day. We had ward conference in 1st ward and there was a lot of cool things to learn. They split the three hour block into tow meetings; an extended sacrament meeting and a hour and a half Q and A panel. The panel consisted of the stake presidency, the bishop, the young women's president, and the relief society president. They had the ward members submit questions the week before and the stake president chose questions to ask the panel. They asked and answers some great questions. A lot of the meeting was geared towards the youth. They talked about the things the youth can do to prepare for a mission. The things they said are; Learn to work, Become less self centered, Gain a testimony and gain the companionship of the holy ghost. It's really important to do those things as they will help a lot in the mission field. Especially gaining a testimony. When we have a testimony we are able to teach stronger and the holy ghost is able to testify of the things we say.

We also got to teach a really awesome guy we have been trying to meet. He was a former investigator and is super prepared to receive the gospel again. He has been going through a really rough part of his life. He told us of how he has turned to the Book of Mormon for help in his trials and he reads it every day to help him. He already has a testimony of it and has felt its power in his life. He also knows lots of the members here and already has fellowship. I look forward to progressing with him. The lord really does bless us with opportunities to serve others and do this work when we really put our shoulder to the wheel. 

I hope all is well back home and everyone is enjoying the changes spring is bringing.

With Love,

Elder Boren 

                                             Received a pkg from the Beehive's from home

                                               A mouse we caught in our apartment

                                                      Banner the Beehives made for me

                                                                     My work space

Love being back in Othello (week 34)

We have just had a superb week. I'm glad to be back in the Othello area serving the wonderful people in Royal slope area. Cool fact is that our area isn't technically part of Royal city. It's actually still part of Othello. Found that out when we were trying to find out the address here. 

We had a really fun p-day last week. It has been a while since I've been able to got to a zone p-day since we were so far from the stake center when we were in Omak. It was a bunch of fun playing some soccer and other fun stuff. I also got to talk to Elder Call who was my district leader when I first got out here. Now he is my Zone leader. It was a great day getting to know more of the missionaries in our zone. We also meet this really great guy Monday Night. We were talking to an investigator and his friend out side his house and then the friend started asking us these really great gospel related questions. He covered all the lessons with his questions and the things he wanted to know. He then invited us to come over to his house the next night so we could teach him. We went over and taught him the restoration the next day and he understood it really well. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted a date. We are so blessed to be able to teach him. We invited him to church but we wasn't able to make it. We are going to get more of the branch members involved and help him progress towards his goal. 

We also had a really great Doctrine of Christ training on Wednesday. It gave me a great way to look at the simplicity of the doctrine of Christ through the teachings at the end of Second Nephi. Nephi teaches it so simply and that is the way we should teach it as well. Simply. I also love reading through it and taking note of the different times that Heavenly Father speaks in those chapters. It is so important that we pay attention to the things he says and in those chapters he tells us to follow the example of Jesus Christ. There is so much to take away from those last chapters or as Sister Lewis like to call them the Last Lectures of Nephi.

We have had a great time getting to know people in the Royal area. Most of who we work with is Spanish speaking but we are working on having a nice mix of Spanish and English investigators. I know that as we just get to work and have the right attitude we will find plenty of people ready to listen to the gospel that have been prepared. 

On Saturday we had a day full of fun Zone training and then zone service. We were first taught on the importance of a good attitude and having the right desire. Those things are super important and really help us in the mission field. The zone leaders also shared an awesome talk that was given by President Lewis as a BYU devotional in 2003. It really helps see the importance of having our hearts in tune with Heavenly Father. Here's the link; https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lewis-john-c_thoughts-hearts/ . We also got to do some service picking up trash in one of the Othello areas. There was so much trash it was amazing to see. 

We are looking forward to another great week with looks in store for us. I hope all is well back home.

With love,

Elder Boren

P.S. If possible could you get me the sheet music for that one Hallelujah song. I don't remember the actual title. I just remember it has the lyrics; "the fourth the fifth, the mighty fall and the major lift". It would be greatly appreciated between Elder Sanchez and I.

His apartment

                                                              That's one big burrito