working with the williams family (week 84)

Our week has gone by really well. Thankfully we haven't gotten any more snow. IT has all been melting and now we have pools of water where a lot of the snow used to be. It makes it fun when I go to park the car. Half the time I end up putting Elder Wright in a puddle. The other half I put his door pretty close to a wall of snow. Any the lucky few times I park in a spot where there are no hazards. The winter weather in not for me. I just looked at the weather for our week here and we have two full days of sunshine! What a blessing.

We have been having a great time here in Quincy. This little town is a bunch of fun and I'm glad I get to serve here. It makes me realize how much I really like living in a small town. It is so much more fun although it does mean having to take a drive to get to the store. I'd tell you a little about Quincy but, I haven't learned all that much about the town. I will however share some random facts that I do know. The city of Quincy is about 70% Hispanic. Thats quite the ratio. It means we have more people to practice our Spanish with. Honestly that is all I can think on terms of facts about this place. 

Something we love to do here is have lunch at Time Out Pizza on Fridays. It is owned by members and we can eat there free once a week. We usually go and get the buffet. All you can eat pizza is always welcomed. It also makes it easier for lunch of Fridays since our lunch time is now 30 minutes instead of an hour. Which brings me to talking about how the new schedule has been going for us. Usually in the morning we get up at 6:30 as usual and then we have breakfast. Then we do our planning for the day at 7 and then go to the church to work out in the gym. There is a bit more room to run around in the gym than there is in our little apartment. Then we come back and I usually get ready for the day and start my personal study around 8:30. Then after I study I make sure everything is ready and take some time to relax. We don't really have a regular time for doing companionship and language studies. Those usually fall into a place where it best fits with what we want to do that day. So far the new schedule has been great and we are really enjoying it.

Elder Wright and I have made some goals to improve the use of our time and how we work with the members and so far it has been great. We wanted to make sure that dinner was more focused and was made so the time after dinner was more effective. Although It can be hard at times when dinner lives way out in the middle of the country. Elder Wright and I want to start working more with the members and help them do missionary work. I had just read through the Susan Fulcher papers again and it sparked a desire in me to do those same things here in Quincy. For those of you that haven't heard of that study it just shows a bunch of things a sister missionary did to work with the members in her area and the results that came of it. The members here are perfect for it and I know that we will be able to find more people to teach through them. I looking forward to implementing it and working with the members.

I hope everyone has a great week. I know we are. We have Zone Conference and it is going to be a blast. 

Love Y'all

-Elder Boren

P.S I think I have a copy of the Susan Fulcher case in my binders I brought home from my mission in Mexico. 

                                A lady we talked to Valentines day gave us boxes of chocolate

We had some killer omelettes for dinner on valentines day

We played some Rumicube while we waited for our laundry.

THe snow doesn't want to stop (week 83)

We have had just a great week here in good old Quincy. It snowed a bit more this past week but, it looks like it might all be melting. Thankfully the forecast doesn't call for snow this week. I'm gone with all that white stuff. And soon it will be gone since its been in the high 30's recently.

So this past Saturday we had our Zone Training Meeting and we went over the changes to the missionary schedule. So these are the changes. On p-day we have from 6:30 - 8 to pray, get ready for the day, plan for 30 minutes and personal study for 30 minutes. Then from 8 - 6 we have our p-day. and from 6 - 9 we go out and do missionary work. from 9 - 10:30 we have time to write in our journals and get ready for bed. No more nightly planning. Our week day schedule is like this. from 6:30 - 10 we have time to exercise (30 min), eat breakfast, shower, plan (30 min), personal study (60 min), and do whatever else we need done to be ready for the day. They ask that at 10 we be out and proselyting for at least an hour. from 10 - 5 we need to also do companionship study (30-60 min) have lunch (30 min) and language study (30-60 min). They give us the freedom to do those things at any time during those hours. At 5 we have dinner and from 6 - 9 we do missionary work. Then just like p-day we have 9 - 10:30 to write in our journals and get ready for bed. Today is our first day with this new schedule and it has gone rather well. I'll have to keep you up-dated next week after a week in the new schedule. 

We have had just a great week here in Quincy. I love this place and sadly the time seems to being flying by pretty fast. It is crazy to think that I have already been here for a week and a half. We have been working on finding some new people and we are finding them. We haven't found as many as we would hope but, we still have more work to do. I'm still learning the area and who some of the people are but, I don't think it will be much longer before I have a good handle on the area. Thankfully they use the grid system here in Quincy. 

We are working with the Williamson family and they are doing great. They have such a great desire to draw closer to Christ and make the choice that will allow them to find more happiness. Their kids are a bunch of fun although we are trying to find more ways to help them progress even more. I'm sure we will find something here soon. This week we are also expecting to be able to get a hard date on when they can be baptized. 

President Lewis shared this great quote from Neil L. Andersen that I love.

“Some might say that baptisms are not determined by the missionary because it is a moral choice that every investigator must make. There is truth in that statement, but there is also truth in this one: There is a power that can cause things to happen that need to happen. There is a spiritual force that can stir a mortal soul toward the spiritual, motivating deeper study into the Book of Mormon and more prayer with real intent. Faith is a power, and it can cause things to happen that need to happen. It can cause a soul who is good but dormant to awaken to God.” 

 I agree with that whole heatedly. We sure can't force anyone's agency but, we sure can have faith that things will happen. And faith is what makes miracles. So as we have faith that the lord will lead us to people, lead us in how to teach them, and that they will be ready to be baptized it will happen.

I hope everyone has a great week. I know we are going to work our best to make this a great week. Espero que puedan sentir el espiritu muy fuerte y que puedan actuar en los susurros. 

Con Amor,

Elder Boren

After doing some service at the food bank a member ask for some help at a huge ware house. This is elder Davis and Hermano Barajas. 

               Look at all of them working to open the big bay door. I hope they didn't need help.

This is the home where the mission has the Christmas gathering for the northern half. We had dinner with them this past week.

                                                       The snow didn't want to stop

We had dinner with some members and we ate on the table as part of their tradition. And their table is the same as our back home before we painted it. (Sorry its sideways)

We organized our supply closet this morning

Look at all the apples. That Elder Wright up front and Elder Bown behind.

getting around Quincy (week 82)

 I got a picture with Elder Palacios at the transfersite in Quincy. He is Ender Endertons new companion.

                                                 Elder Bown is my translating partner

So here in Quincy I get to translate sacrament meeting every week. This is our station. It was fun

My new Companion Elder Wright

Now I'm down in Quincy. It has been a great change and even a little bit of a change in weather. When I got down here on Wednesday most of the the snow and ice was starting to be pretty much done. But to my disappointment we got a lot of snow dumped on us. It snowed Thursday night, a good chunk of Friday, a little Saturday and all of Sunday. Now there is somewhere from 4 to 12 inches. (I think 12 might be exaggerated) So We cover the west half of Quincy and our area includes just about all the boonies around the town. I hope to find some work out there since it reminds me so much of Royal. We share a car with the Elders covering the East half, Elder Bown and Elder Davis. We usually get the car since we cover a lot more ground. We also cover a little town called George. (George Washington!) My Companion is Elder Wright from North Carolina. He has been out just two transfers. (Three if you include the MTC) He is great fun and we are going to have a blast together. He loves learning languages and hopes to be a translator some day. 

I haven't gotten to meet everyone yet but, that is still a work in progress. It might end up being a little difficult since Elder Bown and I sit in a translating room during sacrament meeting on Sundays. That is always fun and we get to practice our Spanish. Since this past Sunday was fast and testimony Sunday the two of us just switched off every other testimony. It was fun and I enjoy getting to use my Spanish. I also got to translate all of Elders Quorum. That was a little more crazy since it was just me translating the whole hour or so. We get to translate so much since there isn't a Spanish unit here and the Spanish speaking members just got to all the meetings with the English speaking members.

 So far I'm loving Quincy. I love the member and I look forward to getting to know them a little better. I know that I am going to have a great time serving in this area. It may not be a very big city but, I sure there is plenty to do especially if we were able to find so much success in Royal Camp. What is cool to have found out is that Royal isn't actually all that far. We had dinner with a member that lives about ten minutes from the church in Royal. Turns out that some of the members aren't really sure where the ward boundaries are. 

One family that we are teaching here is the Williamson Family. They are great and have a desire to be baptized. We just taught them the importance of tithing and fasting and they understood it rather well. This upcoming week we are planning on talking about temples and eternal marriage. Soon we will be finding out a good time for a baptismal goal with them. We are hoping for late February or Early March. I'm thankful I get to work with such a great family. I look forward to the many more people we are going to be able to meet and teach and all the blessings we will be able to see.

I hope everyone has a great upcoming week. 

Con Amor,

Elder Boren

moving to Quincy, WA (week 81)

Transfer week is coming up and we had just a wonderful week fun of conferences and broadcasts that gave us an opportunity to learn so much. Thankfully the tempature is going up and all the frozen snow is melting. 

Well this week has been full of crazy news. So I'll start with sharing all of that. So the big thing is the changes in the policies there are making in all the missions of the church. So first of all the are limiting the key indicators we report to just five. We report baptized and confirmed, investigators that go to church, investigators with a baptismal date, and new investigators. It has been a great change and helped us focus more on those indicators that will really help us know how we can better help people progress. The other change has to do with our schedule. So far they haven't made any changes but, we know that they are going to be moving daily planning to the morning and when we get home at 9 we get to get ready for bed right away and write in our journals. Then if we are able to and want we can go to bed at 9:30 or we can use our time and go to bed at the usual time of 10:30. Its going to be crazy and we are going to find out more the next Zone Training Meeting. 

This past week we had Zone Conference and there was so much we had to learn. Here is a quick run down of the training we had; Our Desires and Our Actions, Finding, Building Member Trust, Being Anxiously Engaged, Effective Planning, Consecration, Better Companionship unity, Using the Scriptures, Asking for Referrals, and The Standards of Excellence. There was so much to learn and it was lots of fun being able to see familiar faces. President Lewis shared some great quotes on the importance of our desires. One of the being a quote from Elder D. Todd Christofferson. "God will not act to make us something we do not choose by our actions to become. Truly He loves us, and because He loves us, He neither compels nor abandons us. Rather He helps and guides us. Indeed, the real manifestation of God’s love is His commandments". I don't know if I shared this before but, President Lewis gave a wonderful talk on desires at a BYU devotional. Here is the link if I haven't shared it: The Thoughts of Our Hearts or Why Do We Do What We Do? 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and enjoys the weather. Keep being awesome! 

Con Amor,

Elder Boren

Here is what everyone is waiting for, transfer calls. So this upcoming Wednesday I'm going to be transferred to Quincy West and I'm going to be companions with Elder Wright. He came in with Elder Enderton so I will be greenie busting him. I am also going to be released as district leader and get to focus on the missionary work. Elder Enderton will be receiving Elder Palacios, who came in with Elder Bergman. 

Mom,

I did get some news. I hope you got the email. I think my favorite area so far has been Sunnyside and my favorite companion so far is Elder Sanchez. He is such a great missionary and a goofy one as well. The cold isn't bugging me that much. It has been starting to warm up. We will see how it is over in Quincy. 

Love you too,

Elder Boren

                         A little blurry but, this is me at watching the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. 

                   Four of us that are going to be transferred out of the Spanish ward here in Wenatchee. 

                     Elder Quast and Elder Enderton at the Missionary Broadcast we saw Wednesday. 

                                              Welcome to Zone Conference Elder Sanchez.

 A member dropped off a whole box of oranges for us to enjoy. The is also two bundles of bananas he gave us. 

                                                      Setting up for Zone Conference. 

Lost my name badge (week 80)

We have had a great week here in Wenacthee. It was a little disappointing loosing my name tag but, it gave me a reason to order some new ones. And now I get to be elder Aguirre for a couple weeks until I get mine. It has also been great as the weather has gotten warmer and the snow has started to melt. The only down side to all the snow melting is that it make for a lot of slush and lot of big puddles. It has meant that my shoes have gotten pretty wet some days. This past week we also went to Olive Garden for Elder Aguirre's birthday. That was a fun time since we were able to go as a district. 

This past week zone conference was cancelled and is going to be tomorrow instead. Because it got moved we had to have district council this past week. It was a little bit of a surprise for me since our district does district council on Tuesday and we got the news on Monday.  Thankfully I was able to take some time Monday evening and Tuesday morning to make some preparations to guide the district in learning. It was great as we looked at how Ammon teaches in Alma chapter 18. There is so much he does to help King Lamoni understand and it helps us as missionaries see how we can apply the teaching skills taught in Preach My Gospel. We were also able to do some great role plays to help up apply those same principles to our teaching. 

This week we are going to be having zone conference on Tuesday and the worldwide missionary broadcast on Wednesday. We will also be having transfer calls on Saturday. That is all going to make for a quick and busy week. We'll see what changes this week brings us. I hope that all y'all enjoy your week as well. 

Con Amor,

Elder Boren

So this past week I lost my name tag for my coats. So now I'm going to be Elder Aguirre until my new ones get here. 

A bit cold in Wenatchee (week 79)

We have had such a great week. It was a bit cold but, we were able to overcome that with a few more layers to keep us warm. Thankfully it looks like it's going to be warming up in the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to a warmer Wenatchee. This week our highs are going to be getting into the high 30's and the lows are only in the 20's. Maybe all the snow will melt as it starts getting warmer. 

 This past week we have been doing a lot of tracting. We have found some cool people as one usually does but, sadly not all of them are ready for the gospel. It is a great way to share the gospel and helps people get to know who we are. Not too many of them lead to progressing investigators but, we try to be persistent so they have a better opportunity to receive the blessings of the gospel. I know that as we continue to do so we will be guided to those that have been prepared to keep commitments and receive the restored gospel. I'm so thankful for this opportunity I have to share the gospel with other people. It may be a little rough and hard at times but, it is all worth it. 

This week we are going to be having zone conference and I am looking forward to the things we will be able to learn. We will also be able to see all the missionaries from the Omak zone when they come down. I hope everyone else has a great week and enjoys what ever the weather brings. 

Love Y'all

Elder Boren

                                                                   Making Sopa's

A lot of snow on the ground with more coming (week 78)

So we have had a great week here in Wenatchee. There is a lot more snow on the ground but, I think I'm going to be able to power through it. We got a good 6 inches this past weekend and the word is that we are going to get even more as the week goes on. Its crazy but, we are walking missionaries so I doesn't affect us as much as those with cars. Hopefully it doesn't get too cold either. The forecast says Friday it is going to drop to -9 but, I'm hoping it doesn't. 

This week we were able to find some really great people. We have two new on-dates; Sergio for February 4th and Miguel for February 11th. We are excited for the opportunity to teach them and help them draw closer to the savior. They both have a desire to improve and are willing to commit. We are still waiting for a chance to see how they are doing on their commitments. 

This weekend we had a great zone training meeting. We learned about motivation, using time wisely, having effective lessons with members, constantly finding and better upkeep with our area books. Elder Enderton and I also got to give a final training on being faithful disciples of Christ. We wrapped up the training we were given in the meeting and focused on how we need to have love for others and how love is how we become true disciples of Christ. That needs to become our motivator and when it does we are able to follow Jesus Christ more fully. We are hoping that it helped out the zone and that everyone was able to learn from what we shared. 

So some cool things that are going to be happening in our mission coming up. February 25th we are going to have a worldwide missionary broadcast like the one we had last year. I'm looking forward to the things we will be able to learn from the leaders of our church and also to see what focus they give us for this year. In the week of March 20thour mission is going to be visited by Elder Juan A Uceda of the quorum of the 70 (He gave the Inca bridge talk on prayer). That is super exciting and we will be able to learn from on of the general authorities and he will be able to give us advice on how we can improve the progression on missionary work in our mission. There are some great things to look forward to. Also this week we have district council on Tuesday and interviews with president on Thursday. 

I hope that everyone has a great week! Keep being awesome!

Love Y'all,

Elder Boren