Transfer Doctrine

Monday- We played basketball and a lot of it. We got haircuts after dinner. 

Tuesday- We did service for this one guy and his yard was a mess. He had a bunch of scrap metal and stuff all over. It took 5 hours with 6 missionaries to clean it all up. After that we had a lesson with an investigator which went well

Wednesday-

Thursday- We had weekly planning. After weekly planning we went and ate dinner at one of the coolest members houses in our ward. We then got a member and went and taught one of our recent converts. After that lesson the member took us our with him to do some of his home teaching we went to two families in our ward. That was awesome.

Friday- We had district meeting and then we went on exchanges with Elder B and H. It was awesome. I went with Elder Ba (district leader). We found two new investigators. WE taught two lessons and had some super funny experiences. It was an awesome day.

Saturday- We went out and tracted in the morning and then we came back at one and ate lunch. Then we ended the exchange. We after that had to take Elder J bike to a shop to get it fixed because he crashed on exchanges and broke it. So that was fun. That took forever. We also got transfer calls in the morning. Elder J and I are staying. We had 6 missionaries in the ward. They took out the sisters area and gave it to us. So we now cover double the area. We are splitting the area with the zone leaders in our ward. We are now getting a car also so that will be exciting. 

Sunday- We went to church and then after church one of our zone leaders got called to be an assistant to the president so he left to go to Bakersfield to the mission office. So we are in a trio with the other zone leader until transfers on Tuesday. We after church went and gave a blessing to a super less active lady who called us during church. After that we went and taught one of their less actives in their areas. Then we had to do a bunch of zone stuff with him. It was fun.

​before

​after service

I hope you all have a good week

Love,

Elder Loertscher

Quick Turn Around

Last week was hard only having one lesson but we killed it this week. 

Monday- We played softball for our zone activity that was so much fun. 

Tuesday- We got a referral on Sunday so we went in the morning to go visit her. We had an awesome lesson with her. We set her with a baptism date and she is so excited to learn more. It felt so good to get a new investigator right at the beginning of the week. The rest of the day we spent contacting potentials. A lot of them have moved. 

Wednesday- We met with one of our less active members. We had a lesson with one of our investigators and 25 minutes before the lesson the member cancelled. So we decided that we would just make a little hand out for her to do. So we wrote down a Christ like attribute activity and a couple of questions. On Sunday she told us she really loved the activity. 

Thursday- We had weekly planning and then a recent convert took us out to a buffet for dinner. He is Tongan. Man could he eat. I felt bad only eating 3 1/2 plates. He ate 7 and his wife told him to stop. He told us a funny story. When his family will go to dinner his dad will just grab the whole tray of whatever and bring it back to the table for family to eat. He said they spend like 3 hours eating at a buffet. After dinner we went out with a high priest in the ward and we went and did his home teaching with him because we didn't have any lessons. We went to a less active ladies house. 

Friday- 7 MONTH MARK! We had zone meeting which went really well. We talked about Faith and Miracles. After the meeting we went to  another buffet for lunch. A bunch of missionaries we went with tried baby octopus. After lunch we had exchanges. We went with the district leader. The day went really well. We went into their area. We taught a bunch of less actives. 

Saturday- We went and did a big service project for a lady in our ward. We did a bunch of yard work. After the service we went and had lunch and then finished our exchange. After dinner we tried to meet with some potentials but they were not interested.

Sunday- We were at the church almost all day. We had ward council in the morning. Then we had church. After church we met as missionaries in the Ana Verde ward. Then we went to dinner. It was the best dinner I have had on my mission yet. The members were so funny. 

Monday- Today we are getting haircuts. I have never been so excited. I need one so bad. 

This week i had a personal study on the topic of Trials and why we go through them

Mosiah Ch. 23 v. 21 

Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people;yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.

D&C 98 v 12

 For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith.

D&C 136 v 31 

My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.

D&C 98 v 1, 2, and 3 

Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks;

Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament—the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.

Mosiah 24 v 13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

Helaman 12 v 3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.

What I learned from all of those scriptures is that the lord gives us trials and puts us through a lot so we can prove to him our faith in him. We need to prove that we are worthy to enter into the Celestial kingdom. Now we must bear with patience our afflictions. The saviors help us on its way. The atonement is an amazing purifier, cleanser, and healing process. Have faith that all will be well and the Lord will ease your burdens. I love the verse in D&C talking about how our prayers are heard in heaven and I can testify that they are. God is our loving heavenly father and cares about us so much. We need to always remember him and stay true to the covenants we have entered into. I love you all so much. Have a great week. If there is anything I can do for you from California let me know. I would love to be of assistance.  

With Much Love,

Elder Loertscher

The Ups and Downs of the Mission

Monday- We had a awesome pday. We played basketball for 6 1/2 hours. I was so dead after.

Tuesday- We had 2 lessons planned and they fell through. So we went out tracting and had little success. It was a long day

Wednesday- We had our 3 month interview with our mission president and his wife. We had a lesson planned and it fell through also. Super upsetting. We helped a member carry a medical bed out of a window and into a truck. That was interesting. 

Thursday- We had weekly planning and then a lesson with one of our investigators once again fell through. So many people cancelled on us this week it was soooooo frustrating. 

Friday- We had district meeting and then we FINALLY had a lesson with one of our investigators. It was awesome. That was the most exciting part of our day.

Saturday- We went and contacted some referrals we got which sounded super promising and both of them were bogus. After that we helped out investigator clean his apartment. It was so interesting. His apartment lets just say could have been on the show hoarders. I will share a little of that experience with you. So there was a bunch of random things everywhere. By his bed there was this game stop bag and on it there was spoons with dried coffee(need to address the w.o.w problems) so it stuck to the bag. Also on this bag was his retainer with teeth on it. It fell on the floor and I had to pick it up. It was one of the nastiest things I have ever had to do because the retainer wasn't well taken care of. 

Sunday- Fast Sunday was super rough. My hunger was through the roof but after church we went to a members house and had one of the best meals I have had on mission so far. Or it may just have been the fact I was super hungry and would have eaten anything at that time but it was still super good. 

Monday- Today we are going to play softball as our zone activity. so that should be super fun. 

This whole week it has been raining like crazy so being on a bike and being soaked actually made the week a little better we always got a good laugh. It was super funny this week we were biking down the road and elder j went onto the wet grass and crashed and totally almost hit this guy. He ate it so hard. His face was covered in grass it was so funny. We are playing this game of karma right now where ironically after the other person crashes a few days later the other crashes.  So it was the case. I on the way to dinner was showing elder j this street. I turned to look down the street and hit this parked car. My bike got caught under it and I ripped a hole in my white shirt. It was so funny. He couldnt stop laughing. I dont know if I like this game but it keeps us on our toes. 

Now for something spiritual to end it. 

I would encourage you all to read D&C 88:63. I have really grown to love this scripture. "draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you. Seek me diligently and ye shall find me" When we draw near unto the savior his atoning sacrifice is infinite and will lift us high and make all of our burdens easier. If you dont have a close relationship with the savior or arent as close ass you would like to be I would encourage you to gain that relationship to level you want. Also when we draw near unto the savior we will desire to be more like him and we will in doing so gain all of his attributes. I would like to close with asking you all a question to ponder. 

Are all of us converted to the gospel? Are we learning to live the gospel path each day? 

Lastly

What are the true desires of our hearts?? 

I love you all and hope you have a great week

Love,

Elder Loertscher

Continuing to try and find new investigators!!!

This week was awesome.

Monday- We played basketball and then we went back to our apartment and took pday naps. First time my whole mission. It was the best. We slept from like 1-4 and then got up to go to dinner with our bishop. 

Tuesday- We got a referral from our zone leaders so we went to the referral and he is so golden. We taught him the restoration and asked him to pray. We invited him to be baptized and in his prayer he said "please bless that I may prepare myself for my baptism" we were so excited after that lesson. 

Wednesday- We had two lessons with two different investigators. We tried to get members to both of them but we didn't have one at either. Super sad but the lessons were awesome. We taught the plan of salvation and repentance in the other one. 

Thursday- we did our weekly planning then we had to bike 30 minutes uphill to our dinner. It was so rough. It is a great workout though. My companion and i always do the harder rides to get to places so we can get sweet thigh muscles ;) "builds character" is what Elder J always says. 

Friday- We had district meeting and we gave the training. The assistants were there so ElderJ got a little nervous but afterwards the assistants said they loved it. The training was on diligence and we got people to focus more on being diligent. One of the AP's came up and said I am pretty diligent but you made me come up with a lot of ways I can become more diligent. It was funny.

Friday- We helped this lady in our apartment complex move from one building to a newer unit. That took up alot of our day but it was fun to help her

Saturday- We were supposed to meet with our new investigator again but he canceled on us. So we went out contacting some potentials and didn't have to much success. Found out a lot of them moved which was nice. We had coordination that night with our ward mission leader which went well

Sunday- We had ward conference. The stake presidency taught us and it was awesome I learned so much. After church we had to bike to dinner and it was raining pretty hard. So that was fun. We got soaking wet which is always fun. We were good sports about it though. We made it fun.

Monday- This morning we finally got to burn stuff. I hit 6 months on the 6th of this month so I burned a tie. That was fun. 

It was a great week. I heard there is snow where some of you are at so I hope you enjoy that. Have a great week. 

​We are burning stuff. Ties- 6 months Shirts- 12 months Ties,shirt,pants- 18 months. We all hit landmarks this month. so we had to burn things.