Email Questions: 19 September 2011

What do you do with your ham radios?

They are sitting on my dresser =) I'll probably start keeping them in the truck for emergencies. The mission president, his wife, and the Branch President here in Whitehorse all like that I have my license and even more that I have radios. President Little (branch pres.) wanted some people to get training to get their amateur radio licenses as part of their emergency plan. So I have a lot of potential to help in emergencies and emergency training. It's cool =)

What did you forget to pack that you really miss?

My pillow and air purifier. Also I wish I would have brought a CD case for all my CD's. They don't really fit in the glove box =/

What are your thoughts about the weather, do you like it or hate it?

I LOVE IT! It's been very sunny and warm lately, about 15-20 Celsius. Everything is Celsius and kilometers here. It's pretty cool. It's starting to get more cloudy and cold, but I'm fine with that too. Love you Eric =)

Have you received the packages yet? If not, let us know when you do.

Yes. Which ones have you sent? I got the Paul Cardall box and voice recorder box. That's it so far I think. If you gave me a checklist that would probably work better cause I'm so busy during the week they my mind goes everywhere during e-mails, haha

Does your cell phone have Internet access?

Ya, but we can't use it cause it's not part of our plan. If there is wireless access the wi-fi works though.

What is the best day for Lorielle to submit her papers to minimize how long to wait for her call? Mon because calls go out Wed right?

Calls are assigned on Thursday or Friday so Monday would be too late for the Wednesday of that week, but ya Wednesdays are the days they arrive and Tuesday they get sent normally. So I would say as soon as you can. If it was sent today it might arrive on Wednesday next week.

Has the mission president given you any ideas about using the ham radios in the future?

Not yet, other than be prepared for an emergency.

Have you given any family history classes to the public yet? If so, how did they go?

Nope.

What are the tally marks on the chalkboard where ER has 6 and EJ has 4? I presume that is you and Elder Johnson.

Book of Mormon Baseball and Object Lesson Diagram

We played Book of Mormon baseball. He would flip through the pages, I would say stop, I would pick which page left or right, he would give me the verse range for that page, I would pick a verse, he would read it, and then I would guess the book and chapter. We did that back and forth. 1 point for the book and 1 point for the chapter. I won =). Ya, ER was Elder Record and EJ was Elder Johnson.

What was the palm tree about on the chalkboard above and to the right of the tally marks?

Elder Johnson can't draw trees so it looks like a palm tree =). He told us that when resolving concerns with investigators we need to chop at the roots or trunk of the concern instead of the branches. If you chop at the branches or try to resolve concerns that branch off the main concern, you'll be doing that forever. We need to follow the spirit and get to the heart of their concern.

What are the mission rules regarding use of your cell phone? texting, Internet access, etc?

We don't use the internet. I used an LDS app to get things like the scriptures, preach my gospel, churches general handbook of instructions, etc. We are kind of piloting texting in the mission. As far as I know we are the only missionaries that can text. It's nice if the other elders are in a lesson and can't talk right then.

Have you had any occasions were you were going to speak with an investigator and were not sure what to say before hand and the Spirit prompted you what to say in that very moment?

Oh ya. We go over in our lessons the principles we want to teach and such in this format.

FU: (follow up)

T: (teach)

C: (commit)

Then we go to the lesson and pray for guidance. We get the feel for what the investigator needs then teach them according to their need. Sometimes it is completely different from what we planned to teach if they need something else. A lot of times I'm just used to changing things up, we just do it. The spirit uses us even when we don't realize it as long as we are prepared as much as we can be. David Bednar gave a talk about this in the MTC. He also shared this story about him (Story about Elder Bednar in the June 2009 Liahona article by President Boyd K. Packer titled “The 20-Mark Note”). The fundamentals of preach my gospel go over this really well, like teaching people not lessons and the how to begin the teaching portion. But ya, most of the time I don't realize it until afterward that I was given what to say (in fact, I think that's the only way it's happened so far).