having a great week (week94)

This week has been great. The weather has started getting warmer and it is so much more enjoyable. As long as we don't have humid days here it's nothing I can't handle.The wind is still going but, it seems like it is going to be dying down soon. This past week we also had a thunderstorm. I think it was the first one I've seen here on my mission. We heard from the members that the storm took out power over in Idaho. Luckily nothing bad happened here in Quincy. In Quincy the wind is more dangerous than the thunderstorms. The wind this past week knocked over some trees in the other elder's area and they helped clean it up.

Our investigators are doing great. One of the young women we are working with has a baptismal date set for May 20th. She is really working towards it and has a strong desire to do what is right. She asks some of the best questions and has been reading and praying every night. She came to church this past Sunday for her third time and was able to stay all three hours. It may have gotten her a little confused but, I think that is going to lead to her having a desire to know more and better understand the gospel. The ward has been helping quite a bit with teaching. We had our ward mission leader to a lesson with us Saturday and he really helped put everything into a real life perspective for her. I have seen that it really is true that the youth are so much more prepared to receive this gospel. It also helps a bit that we can better relate to them since we are the same age. A lot of the people we have been finding are younger. They are more open to talk to us and are curious to learn more. We have noticed that most of them know about Christ and what he did but, don't really know why it was necessary. That usually gives us a great opportunity to teach and help them apply Christ and his atonement to their lives. I love when we have that opportunity. I've also noticed that many of the youth are great at fellowshiping their friends. We have one of the laurels working with another investigator of ours and she really works to make sure that she is learning and understanding. She even called her friend and invited her to the church to have a lesson with us. Member missionary work is amazing.

Quincy has been great and I love this place. We decided that this transfer we are going to take all our p-day time and explore the area and do the fun things the place has to offer. We got bored of p-day in Ephrata.

We are looking forward to another great week and I hope all y'all have a great week too. 

Con amor,

Elder Boren

letter to Mom, some of it is a repeat from above

Mom,

Our investigators are doing great. One of the young women we are working with has a baptismal date set for May 20th. She is really working towards it and has a strong desire to do what is right. She asks some of the best questions and has been reading and praying every night. She came to church this past Sunday for her third time and was able to stay all three hours. It may have gotten her a little confused but, I think that is going to lead to her having a desire to know more and better understand the gospel. The ward has been helping quite a bit with teaching. We had our ward mission leader to a lesson with us Saturday and he really helped put everything into a real life perspective for her. I don't hear too much from other recent converts but, I do hope to get into better contact with them once I get home. Letters are just a bit of a hassle. Quincy has been great and I love this place. We decided that this transfer we are going to take all our p-day time and explore the area and do the fun things the place has to offer. We got bored of p-day in Ephrata. I'm not to sure if it will be my last area. I want it to but we will see when the next transfer comes around. Either Elder Klossner or I will probably leave after this one. I think the area I've enjoyed the most is a choice between Royal Camp and Sunnyside. I'd have to say Sunnyside because I had more opportunities to interact with other missionaries and there were so many great members there. The weather has started getting warmer and It is so much more enjoyable. As long as we don't have humid days here it's nothing I can't handle. There will defiantly be things that I miss about Washington. Like all the fresh produce. 

I'll make sure to talk to him about it. I'll even include it in my email to him this week. I think our next interview is Wednesday the 24th.  (Mission President to give him an all clear for BYU so I can sign him up for his class for fall semester)

It's good to hear that you are finding out what has been messing with Riley's stomach. I'd imagine that having chipotle all the time wouldn't be good for you. I think he'll do fine not being able to eat spicy for for a while. If he is better when I get home I can make him a big batch of some homemade salsa.  (3rd son had stomach issue's thinking it is ulcers as for now)

Does our stake have a YSA branch or do they all just go to the one in Allen? I have to agree that reading scriptures really does help us focus on God and truly trust in him. 

That must have been a cool experience for the sister. Last year Elder Sanchez tried to let the member family know without me knowing but, I over heard him when he told them.  (about celebrating and surprising missionaries on their birthday's.

Why did they have a buyback on the jetta?  (VW scandal that our car was involved in)

I did get the Easter package. Sorry that I forgot to mention that. 

Love you,

Elder Boren

(week 93) week into transfers

Another transfer has started and we are almost a week in. It is crazy to see how fast time flies. This past week was great. We have still been doing quite a bit of service and that is always a great time.

So on Tuesday we took some time to go and help a WW2 vet with his yard. He needed some holes dug and we got that taken care of for him. We went back again on Saturday and watered his yard for him. We'll see what other things he'll have for us to do in the next coming weeks. On Thursday we went to the local Habitat for Humanity and had a good time helping moving things around for them. There are some really cool things you can find in a thrift shop and it's never really anything expensive. 

This past week we have been able to have some really great meals with the members here in Quincy. On Saturday one of the members finished building their brick pizza oven and they invited us over of the inaugural pizza. It had to be some of the best pizza I've had. The member cooking them is also a chef so that added to the greatness of the food. We have also been blessed recently with lots of opportunities to have lunch with the members. That always makes it easier for us. 

We have also been working a bit with the members and it has been turning out rather well. We have an investigator that is laurel age and her member friend has been helping out a lot in fellowshiping her. She was able to bring her to the mutual activity this past week and they really enjoyed it. It was glow in the dark volleyball and we were able to be at the activity to support our investigators. Our other investigator came and was able to spend some time with her member friends. We have found that the younger people are very prepared if they are open to listen to us. They ask great questions and have been pretty honest and upfront with us. It makes things a lot better. It also helps when the investigators have a member friend that can reach out to them and invite them to activities. We take a good amount of time trying to find people our investigators know. Lucky for us the members in the area are rather well known. Our bishop has also been pushing for us to get referrals from the members. In this last ward council as we were finishing up with our report the bishop asked everyone to think of people to refer to us and then he gave us the name of a friend of his that we could try by. Missionary work is so much better like this. 

We look forward to another great week and I hope everyone else enjoys their week as well. 

Love y'all,

Elder Boren

This happens to be my only picture for the week. We went to a members house and played basketball for our last p-day. Elder Bown made a shot from where I was standing to take this picture. Dude Perfect. 

Transfer week (week 92)

So this past Saturday we got our transfer calls and Elder Klossner and I are going to be staying together for another transfer here in Quincy. Elder Davis one of our flat mates is going to be transferred to the Selah area. This is his first time getting transferred. We are looking forward to some more great fun this transfer and lots more people to teach the gospel to.

This past week was great. We had plenty of opportunities to go and provide service for people. One Tuesday we went to the food bank and the the assisted living place. Then Wednesday we went to go work on pulling a stump out of the ground. Thursday we went to habitat 4 humanity and helped a member build a chicken coup. On Friday we finished the chicken coup and on Saturday we went and helped a non-member with cleaning up their yard. And it looks like we might have even more opportunities for service this upcoming week. I love being able to do service for people especially when I get to work with my hands. 

We have been having a great time working with our investigators and they are progressing really well. We make sure to keep in good contact with them and really make sure the understand the purpose of everything we share with them and everything we commit them to do. Most people will not keep their commitment if the don't see why they should. We have taken a good amount of time when we first meet these people to set expectations and help them see that it will take effort on their part. We also make an effort to invite them to be baptized in the first lesson so they can see where all of this is leading. We have seen that it has had a great outcome. 

We had a great Sunday and we had two investigators at church. One of them even brought a friend with them. It was great being able to have them there. It would have been great if they could have stayed for the classes but, I'm sure they had a great time and really felt the spirit. After Church the Relief Society had us translate for a meeting they had on visiting teaching. They had a great lunch there and we got to have some of it. Recently we have been getting fed really well. We have somehow ended up with lunch a lot of days this past week. 

We are looking forward to having another great week and I hope you do too.

Love Y'all,

Elder Boren

                                               After we had dug the stump out of the ground.

                                                              the tree stump

                                             

 Going down to the Colombia river. That little bit of land by the cliffs is where we golfed

Orchards by the golf course 

                    The course was surrounded by construction but, we still had a good time

                                                  Elder Davis found himself in the rough

                                               Elder Bown chipping onto the green

Beginning our round of golf. I'd add pictures of me but, those are on the other elder's cameras.

week 91

We have had a pretty good week here in Quincy. The weather has been getting a lot warmer and we have been more consistent with having sunny days. The wind is still a bit strong and we have still been having some pretty cloudy days. Thankfully we had a very sunny weekend. I can't wait until it starts really warming up.

We have been keeping pretty busy here in Quincy. We have been working with one of the members here and her friend. It has been a great experience so far as we have been teaching her. The member is also really good at helping with missionary work. We have the lessons at her house and she has been taking time to make sure that there is another man in the house so we can teach. Working with the members is great fun and We are trying to find more ways to get involved with them. Missionary work is just so much more effective when we work with the members and we are able to teach their friends. Most people are willing to talk to the missionaries when introduced by their friends rather than having the missionaries knock on their door. 

We have been able to quite a bit of walking in our area. We have decided to let the other Elders have the car more frequent. It gives us time to talk to some of the people we see as we go places. It also gives us the chance for a few more adventures. One of those being us trying to find a short cut from one neighborhood to a little trailer park on a country road. We crossed a little canal and though that we just needed to walk over a little hill and we'd be there. We were wrong and it turned out that the hill we were climbing was the main canal for the area. So we had to walk down a bit before we got to a bridge we could cross. Thankfully it was still faster than taking the usual way to get there. 

Elder Bown and I had a great exchange this Thursday. We went out to a little town called Sunland that one of the members told us that we should try. It wasn't what we expected and turned out that only a third of the house were owned by regular residents. The other percentage is people who come during the summer for vacation. Later that day we got to visit the Williamsons and talk to them about Easter. We had another member and his son with us to help fellowship the the Williamson boys. 

Today for our p-day we have some great plans. We are going to go golfing close to the river. We had some members that lent us some clubs and Elder Bown was able to buy some lefty clubs at the thrift shop. Then one of the members is going to get us into the Gorge amphitheater for a tour. We also plan on doing some other sightseeing around the area. We have discovered that Quincy is more of a tourist attraction than we though. 

I hope everyone has a great week. I know we are going to.

Con amor,

Elder Boren

One exchanges with Elder Bown we went down to one of the towns on the Columbia river. Turns out it isn't much more than a vacation community. 

                                                        A cool river side tennis court

                                                               Leaving Sunland