New Assignment, No Sleep

Hello everybody! This week on Tuesday, we got a text from President Beesley that said to meet with him. So I went and talked to him and he called me to be the next assistant to the president. So I've been busy, crazy the whole week. It's actually been super fun because we got to be a part of transfers. The transfers were basically already done. The two assistants will be going home this transfer, so they needed to call two new ones. Anyway, they were already doing the transfers, and they got everything figured out where they wanted everybody to go. So, then we came in and reviewed it with them. We gave some of our suggestions and changed a couple of minor things. Then we took it to the temple, and thought about it, and prayed about it, and then we came out and discussed any changes we thought we needed to make. There were a couple. We then prayed about each missionary, for their new area and asked the Lord to bless them. So it was pretty cool. It was a really neat experience.

I prayed pretty hard for the Lord to strengthen me because of the lack of sleep I get sometimes.  But my lack of sleep is nothing compared to President Beesley.  He one of the most humble, patient, forgiving, diligent, and kind people I know.  I'm so happy to be able to serve around President Beesley.

I think this mission is one of the worst as far as logistics; as far as moving people around. It is just so big and so much needs to happen. In other areas of the United States, the seventies are only there for one day, but here they usually extend their time to three days, but usually that's not even enough. That is really cool because I get to be here as an assistant when Elder Zwick comes. That will be fun. I'm excited about that. So anyway, with logistics, we have been working really hard on those. I had to spend a couple of late nights. So, I'm super tired. But, it's super fun and happiness, because I get to be around President Beesley all the time.

Elder Record, Brother Swensen and Elder Terry

My companions are awesome, and I'm going to miss them. It was kind of fun because I got to call them and give them their logistics.

I got introduced to a couple of people in my new area. I'm going to be covering the Brayton and Rabbit Creek Wards, the two southern most wards in the Anchorage Stake. I went to a couple of lessons with Elder Duvall and Elder Durfee. When I was in one of the lessons, this guy had kind of been lingering and wanted to finish reading the Book of Mormon before he got baptized. Then we were talking with him, and for the first time in a year since his motorcycle accident he's going to be able to go back to work. However it won't be until September before he actually goes back. So he said he wants to be baptized before then. He is going to be baptized on May 11^th. We were really excited about that. It will be one of the first things that happens when I get into the new area. We met some good people, and it seems like there are a lot of people prepared that I will get to work with.

Our investigator that I talked about last time got married, and he is going to get baptized this Thursday. He asked me to baptize him.

Life is hectic, and it will continue to be hectic because we are going to go today – I don't really get a P-day, but I'll get to email. I will then be helping with the new missionaries coming in – their orientation and everything like that. So I will probably have a few late nights until about Wednesday. But, I get to sleep in until 7:30am because we are staying up late because it's crazy and busy and the work just needs to get done.

This has been a weird winter. It has snowed really late. It's cloudy and bright outside. I can see... well I guess I can't see the sun, but it can see the brightness of the sun, but I can't see the sun. It's a beautiful morning. I sing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” every time I leave the family history center on Wednesdays... and every time I leave district meeting. Anyway, good bye. I love you everybody. Have a great week.

Love, Elder Record

Breakup!

Good morning everybody. This is a beautiful, sunny day today, and it's 36 degrees. Elder Terry is sitting next to me in the driver's seat. The leaves are still not on the trees because there is still a lot of snow, but it's all melting. I think break up is finally here! Yeah!! Breakup is like it's own season here, where all the snow and ice break up and melt because there is so much of it. It's pretty dirty right now. They don't spray the roads with salt because it's too cold. Salt is apparently just not good enough, but they spray the roads with gravel so you have grip on the snow. So you are usually driving on snow all winter, which is why everybody gets winter tires. All missionaries get studded tires. There is still lots of snow in the snow banks on the side of the roads, but the roads are clear – for the most part. They are kind of wet too.

This week has been kind of busy. Not only have we been covering the two areas, but we also had to do some major cleaning. We ended up going on exchanges with one of the missionaries up here in our zone because he was sick, and caught a neural virus. You basically end up throwing up out of the blue with no warning – maybe like three seconds warning. Luckily this missionary was in the shower at the time, so he was able to make it to the toilet in those three seconds. But, 90% of the kids at Chugiak High School caught it. So they closed the high school down for a little bit. I also heard that 60% of Diamond High School caught it. There were kids throwing up in the middle of class and throwing up everywhere. This missionary also threw up everywhere in the morning – well probably just the toilet. So apparently a lot of people are getting sick, but this is Anchorage. It tends to happen. I have never been more sick than I have been in Anchorage (haha).

But, it's beautiful!, except for the roads. The mountains I'm looking at are snowy and white and wonderful. The ocean is very pretty. I've been taking a couple pictures there. We are actually going to be hiking Flat Top today most likely, which will be a neat experience. Hopefully it's not too cold, but I'm well suited for that.

Besides all the cleaning and craziness, one of our investigators is planning on getting baptized this weekend. He is going to get married after 4 yours. So that's pretty exciting. That will be the third marriage I have been a part of on my mission. He is going to get married on Wednesday. It's exciting. It is always kind of tough leading up to the baptism, but we will keep encouraging them to do their best and to have faith. He is a really awesome guy, and he knows the Book of Mormon is true. He knows the gospel is true.

We have been using family history a little bit. There are a couple of people who we offered to help with their family history. So we are working on that, and it's pretty exciting. It makes it a lot easier to get on good terms with the person using family history. It makes it easier to lead into talking about families and the plan of salvation and the gospel. So life is good, life is busy. I'm having fun in Anchorage. I actually wouldn't mind if I stayed here for the rest of my mission, but we'll find out in a week.

Holly duckies! My ducky video is too big. I was going to send it, but it's just too big. I will have to get it to everybody eventually. Lots of duckies here at the Anchorage library.

I think that is probably it for the highlights. It is really fun being a zone leader because people are always struggling, and we get to be the people that help them with their struggles. It's fun – good service.

Love, Elder Record

Minimal Update

Elder Record only responded to our emails without giving us a formal update. He is still working in a trio with Elder McMillian and Elder Terry. They are covering two areas. Elder Record likes it because he gets to focus on people who want to hear the gospel and progress. More next week.

Life is Good!

Hola, mi familia. Today is snowy and cloudy and cold; it's thirteen degrees. Just a couple of days ago, actually yesterday, it was sunny and warm; it was like 25 degrees. It was warm because it was sunny. The weather is kind of weird, but that's because it is break up. It's kind of coming on and off like a light switch. Soon all this will be melted, and safer to drive on. We will just have to be careful because we already got our winter tires switched off. Luckily we are in a truck and have four-wheel drive. So that's a benefit, and Elder Terry is a master driver.

This week has been very fun because we had the opportunity to go around like crazy (haha). We are covering two wards right now. We have been going back and forth, doing things. That has been occupying us a lot.

One of our investigators is going to have us over for dinner. That is exciting. I guess that shows we are growing on him (haha). This guy seems to be progressing more and more. They have so much junk around them though. He is an honest, humble seeker of truth it seems, but all these distractions are getting in the way. We are hoping to help them feel the Spirit and get an environment where he can feel the Spirit.

We had one of our investigators just get done with five years of recovery from slipping on the stairs and breaking a bunch of stuff and tumbling down the stairs. She just got over that, and she just barely got in a car accident, and hurt her neck a little bit. We are going to go see her soon and see how she's doing. So, pray for her.

General Conference was also really good. I think my favorite talk with Richard G. Scott. I think he only gave one talk. He talked about technology and using technology and how it can be a protection to us if we use it right. You know you always think if you use it right it can be a tool, or you know if you're not careful it can be bad; it can be a temptation. I like how he mentioned with all the good that you can put on those devices now, especially because of the things the Church has put out, it can be a protection to you if you use it right. It can help you “keep virtue garnishing your thoughts.” I was impressed by that. I also loved so much how they talked about families and strengthening families, and family relationships and enduring to the end. It was like answers to prayers every single session. It was just amazing. It was so good.

Another talk that I really liked was Elder Holland's. That kind of pierced me right where I needed it. He kind of hit my concerns right on the head. Yeah, it was awesome; I felt the Spirit. Because I felt the Spirit there in the meeting, I knew what they said was true. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. I know the apostles are as well. I know they are called of God, and they lead and guide us, and help us to do what's right. That is pretty cool when you think about it, that we have the opportunity to have apostles and prophets on the earth. Not too many people got that opportunity in the earth's history, but we do, and we can take advantage of it, if we will listen to them. I was grateful for the opportunity to listen to them.

I kept remembering the statement that President Monson made at the beginning to be alert and pay attention. So, there was one time when I was about to fall asleep (I think it was during President Eyring's talk), but I remembered that. I was kind of prompted I guess to stay away, so I stayed awake during his talk. I ended up getting some personal revelation that was really neat, that I would not have gotten if I had fallen asleep (haha). So, I was thankful for that (haha).

I am grateful for the chance to be in Alaska because it's awesome. I am happy that Lorielle is doing so well on her mission. I'm just happy to see all the things happening – like in conference they talked a lot about missionary work and how the Lord is hastening His work. In our mission alone we have not received that many missionaries. We might receive like five or ten more, but the work is almost double. There are so many more baptisms happening. In our zone this last month, there were more people baptized in our zone in March than almost the entire year of 2012. That is pretty amazing to see.

Anyway, things are just awesome. Life it good and happy! We are in a trio right now. It is super fun. I love trios. I know Lorielle has been in trios like forever. Transfers are coming up in three weeks. I'll have to ask Lorielle how many times she has trained – or I guess I should say Sister Record. Anyway, she just seems like she's doing awesome. People here are awesome. I love teaching the gospel. Bye!

Love, Elder Record

Ukraine Temple Dedication Touches Investigator

Good morning everybody. I've got this really fun video of Elder Terry feeding some duckies with a big bag of bread. I will have to email it. We watched it after district meeting. It's pretty funny. There are like 5,000 ducks, and that was at the library.

I am on exchanges with Elder McMillian. It's been pretty fun. We've been together for a couple of days because he's not feeling too well and I had my gum surgery. So, it helps me to not smile as much, I guess (haha). We have been in O'Malley ward, having a blast, and working hard. We met this cool guy, [Name withheld], whose from Ukraine. We were able to show him that Mormon message of the temple dedication in Kyiv, Ukraine. He really liked that and the festivities. He was excited because it was his culture and the culture of the countries around him. 

We plan on getting him on conference in the near future to listen to it in Ukrainian, in this own language. It will probably help them better understand the principles of the Gospel than if we were teaching them in English. That's exciting, and he even came to Church when his back was hurting him really bad.

There was this one lady who was going to invite this old man to church, and he needed a listening device. So we got the listening device ready. Turns out he didn't come, but [Name withheld] came. He has pretty bad hearing too, so we just happened to have his listening device. We handed it to him, and he used it. It seemed to go really well. It was kind of a mini-miracle.

We taught some Easter messages to people. We have been playing basketball in the mornings so we are in shape and awake in the morning for studies more than normal. It's been beautiful! It's beautiful right now. A couple of days ago it was cloudy and dull. There was one day that it was foggy and cloudy and rainy and sunny all in the same day; and it snowed! I have some more big meetings coming up next week. That will be fun. We went tracting a lot this week. The people were so nice.

Love, Elder Record

A drawing, in the works, of the Savior by Elder Terry

Northern Lights as seen out my back window.

My super awesome, double gold printed,
factory mess-up, study Book of Mormon =)
It's got character.