Elder Daniel Johnson of the seventy spoke to us (week 48)

We had ourselves such an amazing week. We were blessed to have Daniel L. Johnson of the quorum of the 70 visit our mission. The time while we were not having meeting and conferences we were able to go out and enjoy the work. 

Elder Johnson shared a lot of things with us that are really going to help us in this work. On Thursday we had a conference for all the Spanish speaking missionaries up in Wenatchee. I was great as he answered questions and addressed concerns in relation to working with the Latin American culture. One thing that really stood out is how in the Latin American culture they act more based on feelings than logic. His advice to us was to testify often so they can feel of the spirit and feel that the things we are sharing with them are true. Here are some other random notes from the Spanish conference; Be direct in commitments, Be a good listener, Teach them to look for miracles, Set the example. One other thing that he emphasized is the fact that missionaries are HARVESTERS and not sowers. Our purpose is to find those that are prepared and help them make and keep commitments. His analogy was that of a tomato farmer. The farmer can go in the field and yell/encourage the unripe tomatoes as much as he wants but it will not change the fact that they are not ready. His time is better spent searching for those tomatoes that are ripe and ready to be picked. We as missionaries need to do the same thing. We need to look for those that are prepared and give those that are not more time so they can one day be found prepared and be harvested. It's not hat we should completely ignore those that are not prepared but rather that we should not force them to do something they are not ready to do. He brought our attention to the fact that so many times people a forced and coaxed into making the baptismal covenant when they are not properly prepared. Many times this results in people being baptized into inactivity and as Elder Bednar says "You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost". When they are not prepared it is like baptizing a bag of sand since they do not truly understand its purpose. This whole idea is emphasized in Doctrine and Covenants 4: "4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul". After that conference I can now say I know what that scripture means when it says we are to thrust in our sickle. 

Another topic he covered in the Southern Zone conference is how we need to practice receiving answers from the Lord and repenting so we can teach our investigators more effectively about the process. He told us of how it is very important for the youth to learn how to use the atonement and how to repent before the mission. He told us of how many missionaries get to the field and find that they don't know how to repent and how it would be so much better if they learned before hand because it will give them the experience they would be able to share with their investigators.

Sorry most of my email this week is filled with things I learned from conference. I just wanted to share the great insights and I hope you can gain something from what I have shared. I hope all is going well back home. Enjoy the summer break!

With love,

Elder Boren

week 47

We had ourselves another pretty good week here in Sunnyside. It is pretty sunny and hot here. Just the other day it hit 100 here. It was a pretty tiring day. We were fasting and I happened to be wearing a long sleeve shirt since I wasn't feeling like changing shirts after church. Then the other elders borrowed the car from us and we had a two hour block between three and five where we had to walk. So they dropped us off at one of the trailer parks in our area where we were hoping to contact a pretty golden referral. Sadly he wasn't there when we went to stop by. So we started a thirty minute walk over to  another trailer park which is about a mile and a half away. It was exhausting and we were both pretty thirsty by the end. We didn't get to talk to the person we planned on seeing there in the second trailer park ,but we did find and talk to two people with some really good potential. Another positive is that our exhaustion made dinner all the better. We had homemade tacos with one of the families in the branch here. (Not the "Tacos" they sell at taco bell or that we made at home. These are the real deal.)

Since the branch is so small most of the families will feed us just about twice a week. It's cool because we get to know the families a little more. However it would be nice to get to know more families and not feel like a burden on the families that feed us frequently. 

Elder Steadman and I have been developing a plan to improve our use of the finding tools we have over this transfer. At the beginning of our planners we have a list of activities that we can use to find people. Some examples being; Hold a fireside, Publish an article in the newspaper or organize a bible study class. We are excited to try a bunch of different finding activities and find those that are being prepared. We will see how they go and keep you updated on the outcomes. A lot of them are also in preach my gospel under finding if you want to look through them. 

This week we also had zone training meeting over in Yakima (almost and hour drive from Sunnyside). The training was all centered around becoming a representative of Jesus Christ rather than just a messenger. People are always watching us and we want them to see us as representatives of Christ and not just the messengers of his gospel. 

This upcoming week we have the opportunity to hear from Daniel L. Johnson of the 70. He is going to be speaking to all the Spanish missionaries on Thursday and we will have a normal southern zone conference on Friday. It is going to be a great experience as we learn how we can better work with those in our area. At the Spanish conference he is going to teach us how we can work to overcome the challenges that come with working with the Spanish culture. I'm excited to see what great things we can learn from him. 

I'm not sure what exactly everyone around here does during the summer but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. Yes it is getting hot. But it's not humid so I think I'll make it through.  I hope it hasn't gotten too hot back home. Enjoy the summer break.

With love,

Elder Boren

transferred to Sunnyside (week 46)

Transfers have come and now I am here in Sunnyside. My new companion is Elder Steadman. He is from Orem, Utah. I have been out just a transfer longer than he has. We are also living with Elder Baker and Elder Buchanan. The area is pretty awesome we split Sunnyside with the elders we live with and we just work in Spanish. We have a car in our area and the others elders use it every Wednesday and Saturday. It is going to be an awesome transfer working here in this area. 

So Wednesday night we got here and had dinner with one of the members. Then we got back to the apartment and started looking through the area book so we could figure out our area and decide where to go and who to see. I think we have somewhat of an idea of the investigators in our area. We haven't been able to see very many of them yet ,but we are working on that. Thursday was a bit of driving around the area to figure out where people live and knocking on the doors of their houses. Not very many of them happened to be home yet but we found out from a few of them the better times to stop by. We also got to visit with the Acosta family who just got baptized about three weeks ago. The head of the household isn't a member yet but he has the potential to it soon. 

Saturday morning is when everyone in the house started to feel crummy. The only exceptions being me and Elder Buchanan at the time. So we left our companions at the house and went to the store to get them something before heading out to work our areas. While in the store Elder Buchanan dropped a liter of soda and it exploded and slid across five aisles. That combined with a trash bag ripping on him as he took out the trash started a pretty fun day for him. At about three he started to feel crummy as well so we headed in and spent the night at the apartment. It was a good time to get to know everyone and listen to some good talks. Got to listen to the conversion story of Glenn Beck. 

On Wednesday when we got here I was asked to give a talk in sacrament so thats what I did on Sunday. Luckily everyone was feeling well enough to accompany me to church. I gave my talk on the Sabbath day and then after sacrament meeting Elder Baker and Elder Steadman headed to the apartment because they were once again not feeling well. Then after Elder Buchanan and I finished church we went back and Elder Baker and Elder Buchanan were able to got out while Elder Steadman and I stayed in. We stayed in for the night again which made for a fun weekend of sickness. 

The warm weather is getting here although it's nothing in comparison to Texas heat. Hopefully it doesn't get as hot as Texas. 

We are looking forward to another great week and hopefully no one gets sick. I hope all is well back home and everyone is enjoying the beginning for summer break. 

This is our address here in Sunnyside:

418 S 13th St #9

Sunnyside WA, 98944

Love you,

Elder Boren

Transfer week (week 45)

As you probably know this week is transfer week. Elder Sanchez is going to be staying here in Royal and going to be companions with Elder Etter. I'm getting doubled into Sunnyside with Elder Steadman. It has been a great three months here in Royal but it looks like it's time for me to work in another area of the mission. It is going to be fun getting doubled in again.

We have had ourselves a great week here on the Royal Slope. Some thing awesome that happened last week on p-day is that I saw Elaine (Our recent convert in Othello 3rd) at walmart. I got to talk to her for a little and saw that she is doing very well and has gotten full custody of her kids. It is so great having tender mercies like that. The rest of the day was really good and we were able to see a few investigators that night.

This past week I went on two different exchanges. The first one was with Elder Shugart in Othello and the other was with Elder Medina in Royal. Going on exchanges with Elder Shugart to Othello was great. I got to be in my first area and see people I haven't seen in a while. One of those being Hermano Serna. I also got to see one of the less active members that we were working with in Othello. They are starting to work with him to go to the temple! So cool to hear how the different members are progressing. I also got to know Elder Shugart a little more and even cooler is that he just got called to be assistant to the president. He is such a great missionary and it will be fun to see him in that new role. I also got to learn more about helping current investigators become progressing investigators. We have to do those things that will show them that we really care and help them understand why they need to be keeping commitments. When I whet on exchanges with Elder Medina it was actually my birthday. It was a little different having a birthday on the mission but it was still enjoyable. We got to visit Anastacio and talk with him about the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Saturday we of course got our transfer calls and the news that came with it. We were also able to visit with one of Anastacio's sons. It was a little stressful as he was drunk and being very stern. I discovered comfort as I focused on the fact that he is a child of God and that he has so much potential to change for the better. He isn't interested right now but he gave us permission to work with the rest of his family. We hope that he will see their example and want to follow. We were also able to get to know them more yesterday while we had carne asada at their house. We went with president cortez, Anastacio's member son, and his family. It was great as most of the conversation was centered on missionary work.

I am looking forward to a great week and another great transfer. One thing I was wondering if you could do for me is get pocket sized children's hymnbook. I hope all is well back home.

with love,

Elder Boren

I went on exchanges with Elder Shugart in Othello and got to see hermano Serna. Going on exchanges in old areas if fun.

Some members made me a cherry cheesecake. 

All the cherries are almost ready for harvest.

All my ties at the end of this transfer.

The highlight of this week was the baptism (week 44)

The highlight of this past week would have to be Marino's baptism. We were also able to have some great meetings during the week. 

So we are going to start out with some of the cool miracles that we got to see this week. One that stood out to me was something that happened after we tried by some potentials in Royal camp and decided to try one last door. As we walked over to the house we watched as they piled into the car and left the house. So seeing as there was no one home we decided to know the house next door since we had never talked to them. We knocked on the door and it turns out to be a really prepared former investigator. She invited us to come over later the week and when we did she told us of how she wanted to get baptised but has problems that stand in her way. We are looking to work with her and the man she lives with. We have been able to see how the Lord works in leading us to those who have been prepared and it has been a great experience. Oh and another cool thing is that Marino and his dad happen to know the lady we found. We are going to use this as an opportunity to help strengthen Marino's testimony as well as support this next investigator. 

Last Wednesday we had interviews with President Lewis. It is always great being able to sit down with him and Sister Lewis. This time sister Lewis taught us about the importance of keeping a journal and how it plays a key role in turning the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children. So that she said that I liked is how we can relate to the knowledge we collect to a library. When we die all that knowledge is lost and a library burns down. The only way to preserve that knowledge and those experiences is by writing them down. It's also important to write down the true feelings that we have and even include little details that we think are insignificant. We also had a really good district council on Thursday. We talked about teaching towards commitments and how they play a role in us becoming better teachers. If we teach to commitments they become committed to themselves and more committed to the Lord. We need to have the commitment as the lesson and the doctrines and principles as the way to teach that commitment. 

So on Saturday Marino got baptised. It was a great time although we were worried when the time came around for his baptism and no one was showing up. But everyone ended up being their and it was great. He was able to have his dad baptise him which was great for the two of them. Then on Sunday he was confirmed and also received the priesthood so he can go to a youth temple trip this Saturday. Yesterday we went with him and some other members of the branch to the stake priesthood meeting. He enjoyed it and told us that there were lots of pearls to take out of the talks. We spent most of our time translating the talks for the members of the branch that don't understand English. 

Something else that happened this weekend is that we were able to attend a funeral. It was for a family member of non-members who the branch president offered to hold a memorial service for. I was asked to sing for the musical number and lead the music while Elder Sanchez played the piano. I didn't have much time to prepare since we were told about it the night before. I think it went well nonetheless. 

A scripture that stood out to me this week was 4th Nephi 1:15-16 

   "15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

   "16 And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God."

I like this scripture because it talks of how because of their love of God there ceased to be contention and they became some of the happiest people. We need to have that same love of God as well as avoid the things listed as causing contention. 

We have another great week ahead of us and the last full week of the transfer. Hopefully we are able to find more people that are being prepared and bring them into the fold. I hope all is well back home.

With love,

Elder Boren

Marino's Baptism! His dad was able to baptise him.

Baptism this Saturday (week 43)

We had ourselves a pretty good past week. We got to see one of the youth open up their call, we had an awesome Zone Training Meeting, and we had a great Sabbath day.

To begin the Spanish branch is going to be sending off their first missionary. It is a pretty big thing for them. He is going to be serving in the Portugal Lisbon mission. He is pretty excited although he was hoping to be called somewhere in the states. He has been asking us a bunch of questions making sure he knows everything about missionary work. We are hoping to have some more chances to take him out with us so he can experience missionary work for himself.  

Our Zone Training Meeting was this past Saturday. The meeting was focused on becoming better disciples of Christ and how we can prepare to teach in a way that others understand. In the mission there has been a bit of focus on us filling our wells with knowledge so the spirit can draw on it. Something that I though of during the training was what is the point of filling the well if we don't maintain that well. We can strengthen our well and make it easier for the spirit to draw on the wealth of knowledge their by practicing what we learn and making the application in our lives. If we don't maintain the well it become hard and sometimes nearly impossible for the spirit to draw on the knowledge we have their. So part of becoming better teachers is practicing and strengthening our well. When we do that we can be better tools in the hands of the Lord and the spirit can work better through us. 

 We have been working with the investigator that is going to be baptized this Saturday and trying to make as much contact with him as possible. He is an amazing young man and love to learn about the gospel. Finding him and being able to teach him has been one of the many miracles we have been blessed with. We have some more things to teach him and make sure he is understanding it all. Anastacio who got baptized a few weeks ago just got the priesthood and is hopefully going to be able to go with the branch to do baptisms for the dead this Friday. 

We have ourselves another great week ahead of us and more people to teach and help find the blessings the gospel brings. I hope all is well back home.

Love you all,

Elder Boren

Short letter to me (Mom)

Mother,

It was great being able to see and talk to you as well. I am having a great time here on my mission. I didn't expect the time to be going by so fast though. The harvest is really cool. Last fall when the apple harvest was winding to a close everyone we talked to offered us a bag of apples. And I'm guessing that It might be something similar with all the different things they harvest here.  Many of the members here tell me of how they have heard of Texas being a big agriculture place but just like you all I've seen grown is corn. 

We are really looking forward to the baptism. It's going to be great. We did a bit of tracting but not as much as we did last week. We get most referrals if any from the members. There are a couple members in the branch that want us to talk to everyone they know. We just have to find the ones that are prepared. The investigators we have really seen progressing are those that are from the members and member involvement. 

They had brunch during church? Did the boys do well on their cooking? 

The weather has been pretty good. It's dry so it's easy to get away from the heat. We get wind a bunch. I'm still wearing long sleeves because it tends to drop in temperature and get windier at night. 

Love you,

Elder Boren

                                             Want some asparagus? Yes it is very tall asparagus.

                                                     Sadly we got a flat tire on our car

                                         Elder Sanchez had to take a selfie before fixing the tire.

                                                 Zone picture as we gather around the fire.

                                     Listening to the scriptures as they are read to us by sister McArthur

We made sopes for dinner one night. They are the home made tortilla like things.

The importance of prayer (week 42)

We had a really great past week. Lots of new stuff I was able to learn and study. We were also able to go to the Temple which was a great trip filled with the spirit. The past week went by so fast. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was at the Temple. 

Recently as part of our Daily planning at night Elder Sanchez and I have been writing down the miracles we see during the day. It has helped a lot in seeing the hand of the lord in the work. Sometime it can be a little hard to notice those little thing we are blessed with. When we do we are more grateful and the lord is more willing to bless us with greater things. One of those miracles was one we experienced on the way to a lesson with an investigator. We had wanted to bring our neighbor who is a member to the lesson but he wasn't home. So we decided to just head to the investigators house and have the lesson any way. When we got their the same member we wanted to bring was already there and we were able to have the lesson as we originally planned with the two of them. It shows how the lord works through the spirit to help his work along. 

Thursday we had our district council and this time we discussed the importance of making sure the investigator knows what we are talking about. One reason this is so important is because no one if going to believe the restoration or the gospel if the don't understand it for themselves first. We can help them gain that understanding by teaching simply and asking inspired questions. We then got to do some role-plays on teaching in a way to help an investigator understand. The one thing that stuck out to me during the role-plays was that we need to ask questions so we can see if they are understanding and if they aren't we need to adjust so they can understand. Thursday I also went on exchanges with Elder Walimaa. It was great as we focused on teaching the restoration simply during OYMs. We have to give everyone the opportunity to hear the message of the restoration and we need to do that by teaching the restoration very simply to everyone we meet. 

We have been able to find some really great people that are prepared to receive the gospel and we have been able to talk to even more people who are still in that preparation. I'm looking forward to the opportunities we are going to have this upcoming week to teach those people. The Lord is going to continue to bless us as we continue to diligently search for those that are prepared even though it feels like we have knocked every door in our area. We have been working to follow up with all our potentials and knocking every door that hasn't opened up to us yet. 

This past week I have been looking more at the importance of prayer and more ways to look at the restoration. I like an article for the ensign that talks about the pattern of prayer. It gives examples from the scriptures on how an effective prayer should include five things. Those things are; Finding a private place, Kneeling to pray, Offering a vocal prayer, Expressing your gratitude, and Praying for others. As I try to implement those things into my prayers I have found that it makes my prayers a whole lot better and more effective. I am able to better focus my thoughts and I don't get side tracked by other thoughts. My favorite examples on the pattern of prayer is of Enos when he cries unto the lord and in Alma 34:17-28 when Amulek is teaching. Also with some more study on the restoration I have begun to notice how the church of Christ has been restored many times and we are taking part in the final restoration of the gospel. The people were given prophets and then then would reject those prophets and fall into a period of apostasy. Then Heavenly Father would again reveal his gospel through a prophets and this cycle continued and Heavenly Father sent his own son to establish the church an again restore the gospel. But we know that he too was rejected and again people fell into apostasy. We know that Heavenly Father has again called a prophet to lead and guide the church and his gospel has been restored to it's fullness. The restoration is amazing and there is so much we can learn from it. I am looking forward to another great week and an amazing month. The gospel is amazing!

We are looking forward to another great week. We have Zone Training meeting this Saturday and the Mothers day follows that Sunday. Another fun this is that Elder Sanchez and I have been asked to speak in sacrament meeting in the Branch. We get to speak on the importance of the Sabbath day. This is going to be a great month here! I hope all continues to be well back home.

Love you all!

Elder Boren