June 22, 2015

We've been staying busy in Snowflake!

A week ago, we were completely packed. We had exchanges two days that week, an all day temple trip and 3 days in the valley to hear from Elder Lynn G Robbins. At that meeting, we discussed responsibility and accountability. It was true and powerful doctrine that he used to teach us. The bulk of the discussion was focused around agency, which I think is an under appreciated gift we've been given. It allows us to grow and progress through our time on earth, but we also will have outcomes that we will have to take responsibility for. We got back early Sunday morning, just in time for our 7:30 ward councils. We literally had zero time to 'take it slow'. We were rushing all week. It was a fun week though!  

This past weekend, we had another baptism! C was able to be baptized and confirmed by one of his friends who is the Elders Quorum president in that ward. It was so neat to feel the spirit and see his joyful reaction upon coming up out of the water. 

We set a family on date this week. We know the Lord's hand has been involved! The changes we've witnessed are indescribable and they have made an incredible change in their lives. A true softening of hearts from the Lord. Their date has been set for July 11.

We have been approved for the area book/planner app on our ipads. This stage takes hours to complete, and we only have 1 week to do it. We've pretty much been asked to take whatever extra time we have between studies and dinner to record the names from the area book. It will be a slow week with lots of time spent inside, but after this, we'll be able to get through things lots quicker. 

I'm just about out of time. I know the Lord is continuing to move His work forward. He has given us another tool to bless our lives with the ability to share what we know and live. He's given us great tools to move his work along for a long time! First, the Liahona was used to guide the people to where the Lord wanted them to be. Second, the Urim and Thummim have been an incredible tool to help translate the scriptures we have today. Now, we have been given technology that will bless the lives of many. The cool thing about this tool compared to others the Lord has provided, is that each of us have access to it! Use it and see the miracles happen! 

Elder Pilkington

 

 

 

June 8 and 15, 2015

We had a full week and we're looking forward to another packed week.

First, we had a baptism! I think I've told the story already, but K has been struggling to make this decision for a while. Her mom is part of another religion and her dad is a member of ours. She just turned 18 and decided to be baptized. She's the most converted 18 yr old I've met! At her baptism, we filled the entire chapel! There were over 150 people there to support her, including her mom and other siblings who aren't part of our religion and probably 20 people from her mom's side of the family. All together, we counted about 50 non members.

Throughout the week, we stayed busy with lessons and other activities. We didn't teach as many lessons as we maybe would've liked to, but the quality of each of our lessons was high. We have 2 more baptism dates that will happen this month, and 3 others that are scheduled for this month, but will most likely have to be pushed back.

I had a really neat experience with family history too! We have a temple trip this week, and in preparation for that, we took some time one day to find some names to take with us. I've always kind of felt like my family history was almost done and being taken care of by others, so I wasn't really expecting to find a whole lot. As I was searching the family lines, I came across a particular family and had a strong feeling to work on them. I assumed I needed to work on the father and spent all my time on him. I found out, when I got ready to print his ordinance form, that he was a duplicate and all his work had been done already. I still felt like I had to work to do within the family, so I went to the children and found that none of them had their work done yet! I had to find a little bit of info to be able to request their ordinance work, but now I have 5 different names to take with me to the temple!! Who knew family history was exciting.....?

I had to spend a few days in the valley for a Mission Leadership Council Thursday and Friday. We talked about ipads a little bit more. They gave us some instruction on how to most effectively use the area book and planner app and we discussed the decrease in numbers since the ipads came out. Although helpful and efficient, I think a lot of missionaries waste time on their ipads. Hopefully we can figure out how to reduce the negative and maximize the positive with our new tools.

We have a lot going on this week. Exchanges with the assistants, temple trip, and another MLC with Elder Robbins this coming weekend.

Thank you for the prayers, letters and love you send me. It helps!

Elder Pilkington

 

 

May 28, 2015

Buenas tardes!

I have set several new goals for the last two transfers of my mission.
The first one and the one that can affect you the most is my goal to
send a weekly blog email. I've been pretty bad about that over the
last several months, but I want to keep you involved more often.

We just finished another transfer. I spent the last 7 weeks in
Snowflake with Elder Rayas as the Snowflake Zone Leaders. It was a fun
transfer with lots of neat things happening, but it was a stressful
one for me. I'm glad it's over and new things are happening in the
area. I'm staying in Snowflake another 6 weeks as one of the zone
leaders in the zone. My new companion is Elder Holladay, who was
previously a district leader in the same district as me in Snowflake.
I'm part of a split zone leader companionship, which means Elder
Holladay isn't the other zone leader. He's spending this transfer as a
'zone leader in training' kind of thing.  My 'zone leader companion'
is serving about 45 minutes away in a town called Heber. I've been
told that after this transfer I'm heading to the valley again to
finish my last transfer in Spanish work.

So many neat things have happened over the last week.
1. We received our iPads! To some, it may be concerning that 85,000 of
the Lords servants are now able to use technology, and that's an
understandable concern. I see this as an incredible opportunity to
share the gospel of Jesus Christ even more during our service period
as well as a chance for us to develop positive habits with technology
that will allows us to avoid/overcome future obstacles related to
technology.

2. One of our longtime investigators announced over the pulpit on
Sunday that she's going to be baptized before she goes to college. She
is part of a family that is half LDS and half Catholic. Her mom is an
amazing lady who loves her family, those around her and the Lord. She
has been raised catholic though, which has made it difficult to do too
much teaching. After graduating seminary and being around members of
the LDS church, she decided to make the decision. We met with her on
Monday afternoon and she set a date for the 3 of June. Luckily, we've
taught all she needs to know without actually teaching in a typical
sit down lesson setting. Her interview is tonight, and she'll be
baptized in a week!

3. We also have 3 more people on date. One of them is a
15 yr old who will be baptized early in June, another who will ALSO be baptized early in June, and another who has a date for late July. We are working hard with multiple
other people who have studied the church out in their minds and have
born testimony to us that they feel it's truthfulness. Their biggest
issues are smoking for some and difficulty with commitment for the
others.

I continue to be a witness of the Lord's hand in our lives. He has
always and will always love us for who we are and is always open to
helping us grow. I'd be lying if I denied the power of the priesthood
that I've felt throughout my life. I know the Lord restored that power
and many other truths through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and those
truths continue to be the building blocks for the restored church of
Jesus Christ that we have again on the earth.

 'Doubt your doubts BEFORE you doubt your beliefs.'

Elder Pilkington

Sent from my iPad

Elders Pilk and Rayas

Elders Rayas and Pilk

Breakfast at a members house

Looking up old pictures of Dad

Getting a cow ready to be tagged

Tagging the poor cow