What Dad was in Sunnyside (week 63)

It has been another great week here in Sunnyside. Sad to say that I'm going to be leaving and heading to another area This Wednesay, I'm going to be transferred to Mission Ridge in Wenatchee. There I'll continue to be district leader and I will be greenie busting Elder Adams. Its going to be great. I'll be living with the zone leaders up there which will be a lot of fun. Elder Bergman is going to be transferred to Yakima east with Elder Palacios. The two of them are going to finish training each other. That was a little surprising when we found out. I didn't expect to be double out of Sunnyside seeing that I was doubled into this area just three transfers ago. I know that this is going to be a good change for the area and it strengthens my testimony that the Lord has a plan for each one of us and he puts us in places so we can help the people in the time that they need help. This is going to be another wonderful transfer. 

I'm going to guess that you would like to hear my side of dad coming to Sunnyside. Here it is. So Friday night as we were getting ready for bed brother Anderson sent us a text to make sure that we were going to be at the service on Saturday. I didn't make much of the text until I found out that dad stayed the night at their house and was probably involved in asking. So Friday morning when we got to the breakfast for the service project brother weaver and the Toppenish elders kept asking me if I had gotten any news. I had no idea what they were talking about but I had a guess that it had to do with dad passing through during his trip. Then while painting the house someone finally told me that dad stayed the night and went to the football game Friday night. It hadn't gone through my head that dad would stay the night with the Andersons. I though it was a possibility he'd pass through town but not stay a whole night. Then the Andersons had us over Sunday night so they could give me my package and so the English elders could share a message with them. They said that dad is a bunch of fun and that they had a great time getting to know you. It is so cool to know that you were able to have that experience. Sunnyside is the best! 

This past week we also had an attack of maggots. I didn't get to see the full extent of it because I was in the shower when they found them all but, from what the other elders tell me there were a bunch. We took a bunch of time vacuuming and cleaning the whole apartment to make sure we got rid of them. We are pretty sure that we got them all out. At least our apartment is a lot cleaner. 

We had an awesome district council this past week. We were able to have a great discussion on what our teaching ruts are and how we can get out of them. We made chart with the teaching ruts we fall into and the ways we can get out of them. One of the biggest take-aways was that we need to search out the spirit and follow its guidance. When we do so we will be able to better teach people and we will be able to avoid teaching rote lessons. We were also able to have a great role play on finding when teaching and teaching when finding. We had two missionaries teaching an investigator and then a person would interrupt the lesson in some random way. The idea was that we need to make the most of every situation we have to talk to other people. whether in a lesson or knocking doors. We have an awesome district here and I'm sad that I have to leave them this week. 

This is going to be another great week and hopefully y'alls back home have a great week too. 

With love,

Elder Boren

                                               Last week we had carne asada as a zone for P-day.

 District picture. We were joined by the zone leaders (sitting) and Elder Palacios whose trainer went home for medical reasons. 

                                   At the service painting houses. We had a little fun while painting. 

Elder Wilson Telling us the game plan

Talking to wonderful people here in Sunnyside (week 61)

We had a pretty great week here in Sunnyside. We had training's, I went on exchanges (I've been on one every week this transfer and have two more to go), and we have been able to talk to some great people.

 So to start off we had out Zone Training meeting on Tuesday. It was great! Most of our meeting centered around our goal setting session. We were trying to come to a united decision on what our baptismal goal for the months of September and October should be. We wanted it to be a completely united decision and not just a majority vote. When it is just a majority vote we lose a bit of zone unity and not everyone feels as committed to that goal. We had some very long discussions on why we wanted one goal or another. At the end of our goal setting I felt a lot more accountable to the goal that we set. The other part of the meeting was a discussion over the importance of teaching people and not lessons. That is our focus for this month and it is pretty exciting. We didn't get too much into it due to a lack of time in the meeting ,but we were able to discuss it more in depth the next day in our district council. District council is so much fun. It's so great because it really is a council. It is a time to raise questions and share ideas that can help all of us in the missionary work. We related the Teaching people not lessons to having charity toward the people we interact with. We need to invest time into these people and show them that we really care about them. It helps gain trust and when that trust is established it becomes so much easier to teach to their needs. I am looking forward to the many more things we are going to learn about teaching people and not lessons. 

Right after Zone training meeting I went on exchanges with Elder King, one of our zone leaders. He is from Plano Tx. We got to reminisce a little on Jubilee. It was fun and we were able to practice bringing the Book of Mormon to life for people. We need to help them see that it applies to them and that they can learn something from it. We also have to show them that it means something to us. We talked to this guy and helped him see how it would be able to help him in his family life. I also got to do the same thing while teaching some other investigators later in the week with Elder Bergman. We have seen improvement and the people are actually reading. They read because they are excited to read for themselves the things that we shared with them. 

We have been meeting some really great people and because of it we have a pretty busy schedule. We always have something going on and some one to see. We are also trying to get better at how we work with the members and gain more of their trust. I also recently figured out how to do that fire and scribble disappearing trick. Maybe I'll make a video with it sometime this week. 

We have a great week ahead with an awesome Zone Conference to look forward to. Hope all is well back home.

With love,

Elder Boren

                                                                         Elder Flamm.

                  An investigator gave us a big bag of apples so I made some homemade apples sauce. 

                                     Also eggs are really cheap here so we eat eggs a bunch.

                                           Some of the Gala apples our investigator gave us. 

Zone Conference and volunteer work (week 62)

We had a great week and now it is hard to believe that Saturday we are going to be getting transfer calls. 

The highlight of the week would have to be zone conference which was on Thursday. It was so much fun being able to be around a bunch of other missionaries and see familiar faces. Zone conference makes me thing of the reuniting of Alma and the sons of Mosiah. 

"therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God." (Alma 17:2) 

Thats what it is every zone conference and basically every missionary meeting we have. We get to come together and rejoice in this gospel and the opportunity we have to share this gospel with others. We also get to share experiences that aid one another in furthering this work. This zone conference we talked about, PMG planning, working with members, finding, and effectively teaching people. We talked about what it means for some one to be converted and how we can help them reach that point. We reviewed the talk by Elder Oaks on teaching repentance and baptizing converts. It was a great meeting and it was also pretty fun. When we sang called to serve for the members that prepared our lunch, President Lewis had us do a little bit of choreography and move around while singing. 

This past week we were also able to do a bit of service. We had service at the food bank like most weeks and that was pretty fun. This time around they had me translating for those that don't speak English. On Saturday we had two service projects. The first one we helped a lady move rocks out of her yard and that wasn't too bad. Then later that day we helped with special olympics at the bowling alley. We helped cheer on and make sure they knew who was up to bowl. The people Elder Bergman and I helped out were really good. They were bowling on average 120. They are a lot better than I am. They can put some pretty good spin on the ball. 

We are continuing to teach so really awesome people and we are also working on finding some more as well. The hard part is finding them at home consistently. The people here are pretty busy working. When apple season comes to an end people will be more available. 

We are looking forward to another great week and hopefully we will be able to make the most out of last full week of the transfer. I hope all y'all have a great week too.

With love,

Elder Boren

                                               Doing service moving rocks for a lady. It was great!

                                         Starting exchanges with Elder Aguilar and Elder Nielson

                        I made some more applesauce. Just what happens when people give us tons of apples.

Improving how we talk to people (week 60)

It was a pretty good week here in Sunnyside for us. 

we have been working at improving how much we talk to people on the streets. We are trying to do a lot more of Opening our Mouths. While working on meeting more people we tracked into a girl and got to know her a little on the door step. She told us that she had just lost her great-grandmother and that a lot of her family was here for it. As we were finishing talking with her I handed her a Hallelujah pass-along card out of habit. To make it different I had the prompting that I should ask if we could watch it right there and then on her phone. We watched it and as it went for a little she said, "That's actually kind of interesting". The video applied a ton to her and her current situation. At the end of the video we got to testify of the resurrection and the many blessings that Christ has in store for us. It is super fun being able to talk to a bunch of people and share the joys we know with them. There are so many people we just pass up each day and it just takes five minutes to share a quick card with them and invite them to check it out. We usually go for more quality OYMs than that ,but I just wanted to show how easy it is. 

Elder Bergman is doing really well and working on his Spanish a bunch. He is very much in the same spot as I was when I got into the mission field. I think I may have had a little more experience that he does though. I've just got to work with him to boost his confidence in speaking the language. Time to also give him the chance to speak Spanish with all the members. He is a stellar missionary and will have Spanish mastered in no time. 

The fruit here is awesome. I've been loving all the pears people have been giving us. Asian pears are the best. We aren't very deep into apple season so not all the apples I like are being picked yet. Shouldn't be too long though. Every Sunday at church there is a box of fruit or vegetables sitting in the kitchen for people to take. 

This upcoming week we have Zone training meeting and District council. We also have exchanges with the zone leaders which will be awesome. We have some awesome stuff planned and some really cool people to stop by. Hopefully all is well back home. 

 Sorry it's a little blurry but I liked this one the most. We got hair cuts at a members house this morning and we had fun taking pictures on a swing while the others got their hair cut.

 Elder Bergman posing for a picture on the swing. Elder Hanna in the background ready to take a picture on Elder Bergman's return

                                                   Elder Flamm having a go at the swing.

                                        Elder Flamm taking a moment to think while writing letters.

An Email to his Dad........

Recently I feel like I've been a lot more confident with leading conversations, especially in Spanish. Spanish is actually a lot more comfortable to speak in when talking about the gospel. I need to find a prefect balance so I can also give Elder Bergman time to speak and practice his language skills. I can't be dominating all the lessons. Elder Sanchez didn't have to learn a language so we just jumped right into teaching people and working on his teaching skills. With Elder Bergman I'm helping him learn Spanish as well as improving his teaching skills. Elder Bergman is super ready and is going to take off as a missionary once he gets a good handle of the language. ( He is already a stellar missionary) Thankfully it doesn't feel all to different or more stressful. I've just got to keep trusting in the Lord and his plan for me.

Sounds like you had a super awesome time camping with Blaze. Mom also told me that you are going to be in California soon. Enjoy the trip.

Love you too,

Elder Boren

Baptism and miracles (week 59)

Missionary work is the greatest and I'm loving every moment I have to go and talk to people. Elder Bergman is doing great and has a desire to talk to people. 

We are keeping pretty busy here in Sunnyside. We had a really hectic past week, but filled with lots of opportunities to learn and feel the spirit. Just about everyday was filled with some sort of meeting. All the meetings gave me an opportunity to see Elder Bergman's drive to make the most of every moment we have. On Tuesdayy after everything was said and done we only had the 8 o clock hour to proselyte. So we went to an apartment complex that I had never tracted and started knocking. We quickly found that there are a lot of people in that one complex that have been prepared to receive the gospel. We met a very sincere Puerto Rican family that was very welcoming and let us talk to them. The wife is looking for truth and now we get to play a part in helping her find it. Another time where we found ourselves using the most of our time was after Roberto's baptism Saturday. Once the church was all locked up we only had 30 minutes before 9. So we decided to return to the same apartment complex and knock a few more doors. In that little space of time we got to meet some really great people and we even set up some appointments for later this week. Missionary work is amazing and it goes to show that diligence brings success and joy. 

So this past week we have also had a bunch of service opportunities. One of the more interesting service things we did was at the hospital. One of the members in the ward is the hospital Chaplin and asked us to be disaster victims for their disaster drill. Elder Bergman and I were code red meaning we were badly injured in the accident. Most of it was just sitting in a room waiting and talking to some of the other youth who helped out. We got to have lunch at the hospital which was nice.  

Roberto's baptism was awesome. We had a few investigators there and his wife even came to support him. Baptisms are the greatest because we are able to share that spirit with others teach simple doctrine to those that are unfamiliar. We are hoping to have more this transfer. We have been working on finding those elect that have been prepared to receive the gospel. There are always those that have been prepared and all they need is someone to share the gospel with them. That is why every member a missionary is so important. It makes it a whole lot easier to find those people that are ready to accept the gospel. 

I hope everyone has an awesome week. Keep being awesome y'all

With love,

Elder Boren

                                                  Roberto got baptized this weekend!

                                             Elder Bergman getting some appointments ready.

Baptisms are the best. Some investigators came which hopefully helps their progression. 

( How is it being a District leader) It means a lot more meeting and having less time at night to do things. I have to call each companionship at least 3 times a week. 

Elder Bergman is the best. We are both working each other hard and doing missionary work in every moment we can find in our busy schedule. 

New Companion from Chicago (week 58)

Well transfers came and now I am with Elder Bergman. He is straight out of the MTC and ready to get to work. He is from Chicago (Not actually Chicago, in-fact a a city called St. Charles which is close to Chicago, kinda like how I say I'm from Dallas). He doesn't know a bunch of Spanish yet ,but he is super ready to learn some more. He is just a stellar missionary and he is going to be a whole lot better once he has some more confidence in his Spanish skills. Elder Flamm's new companion is Elder Hanna. He was in Moses lake before coming here to Sunnyside. 

We were able to find an opportunity to help out our investigator ,that is getting baptized this week, by helping him install a new air conditioner. I had decided to give him a call to set up an appointment for the next day and while on the phone with him he told us how he was trying to call someone to help him install the new air conditioner so we offered to help him with it. It was a great service opportunity and it allowed us to talk more to his wife who in the past has been pretty cut off from us. She has been very grateful for the service we offered and now they both feel a little more confident is asking us to help out when they need things. Roberto is progressing a ton and is ready for his baptism this upcoming Saturday. He is excited to be following the example of Christ and to be leaving behind things like alcohol. He is hoping that soon his wife will gain that same desire and attend church with him and eventually decide to get baptized like he is. 

We have a super week ahead of us with Roberto's baptism and a bunch of great meetings. I get to go to trainer/trainee again tomorrow and then we have district council and district language study Wednesday and Thursday. All our time fills up fast and it fills up even faster having four hours of studies. It is going to be a great week. 

I hope everyone is having a great time and enjoying school getting back into session. Sorry I don't have a ton to write about this week. 

With Love,

Elder Boren

                                                      Apartment picture right before transfers.

                            Elder Flamm and Elder Hanna making use of their time at the laundry mat.

                                         Elder Bergman making use of his time at the laundry mat. 

Staying in Sunnyside and am now a District Leader as well as a trainer. (week 57)

Transfers are coming in fast Wednesdayy. So I'm just going to cut to the chase and tell you all the great changes that are up and coming. So Elder Steadman is going to be moved to Othello 2nd and 4th wards. He is also going to be training over there. I'm going to be staying here in Sunnyside and I will be receiving a greenie. I am also going to be the district leader. It's going to be new having those two assignments. We'll see how this works out for me. Hopefully well. Also Elder Dodson as I may have already told you is going to Florida and will be home for a week before going into the MTC. It is going to be a super exciting few weeks for him. An awesome transfer is ahead and it's is going to be fun. 

I thought I'd send this part as a fore runner to the rest of the email so you don't have to wait too long for the transfer information. 

Love ya'll,

Elder Boren

So now on to the Stuff that happened this past week. The investigator we have been working with named Roberto has decided to be baptized and is preparing to be baptized on the 27th. He is such a great guy and it has been amazing being able to work with him. He has a huge desire to learn more and wants to set himself on the path to the celestial kingdom. He told us that himself after we taught him the full plan of salvation and made sure he understood it all. He also came to sacrament meeting again although he made to leave early to make some food for his step-daughters birthday party. I am looking forward to being able to work with him some more this upcoming transfer. 

I think last week I talked a little about how we are working to plan more like it teaches in Preach my Gospel. If not now you know. So this past Friday we were able to start doing that and It was such a great change. Planning was actually a lot more enjoyable and I feel that I we have great plans. It took a really long time to do the planning ,but it was worth it. It makes a huge difference planning this way because it becomes planing and isn't just scheduling people into our week. 

Yesterday we got to see some of the blessings of planning things well. We had planned to teach one of the referrals we contacted a few days earlier and planned on taking one of the youth with us. The youth we took was Cole Gardner. He is going to serve in Costa Rica. He is leaving for the MTC in 9 days. So back to story. So we didn't actually know that she was going to be there ,but we felt it would be a good use of our time. So we knocked and she was there and was actually just getting home, But she let us in and let us teach. We had a great lesson and we were able to get to know her really well. She is going to read the Book of Mormon and hopefully we will be able to see her again this week. 

Well we are looking forward to a great week with lots going on. I hope all is well back home. From what it sounds everyone is having an awesome time. 

With love,

Elder Boren

                                                      Last District Picture of the transfer

 Elder Flamm making some calls to his district while Elder Steadman and Dodson Discuss something in depth. 

         Found a cool hat while doing service at a members home. Elder Steadman said it works well on me. 

I went on exchanges to Toppenish this week. It was a blast being with Elder Nielson. (Not currently in picture)