Hola!
Sooooo on Friday, May 22nd we had a mission conference!
Since I came out Jan 22nd, that was exactly 16 months! Super crazy... Elder
Nielson of the Seventy and Brother Kelly Mills of the Missionary Department
taught us for 4 hours how to use technology well. It was actually pretty
awesome. They described Elder Russell M Nelson's input on why they are giving
us iPads: to inoculate us! (he was a cardiologist & heart surgeon by
profession) They are giving us enough technology so that we can learn how to
use it effectively for the rest of our lives. The alternative is to keep us
quarantined from technology and be exposed to it in potentially lethal
quantities after the mission. For that purpose, we got two booklets on being
safe while using technology and doing missionary work in the digital age. The
biggest thing I think most people (including myself) struggle with in using
technology is doing so without a purpose. It recommends, "Turn on your
device only after your intention is clear." That is a great idea! And when
you catch yourself not doing anything on the device, get off!
Shortly after the conference we had another meeting and were
all given an iPad mini 2 (except those going home within a month didn't and
those going home before December got a loaner church-owned one). So I have an
iPad now! While we will continue to respond on Monday, We can now check our
email whenever we have internet access! It's pretty fancy!
Moving on... Missionary work!
We had a series of miracles this week that built up into a
really awesome miracle!! Let's begin... on Tuesday while driving to a
missionary meeting at 11am, we called up this really nice family - the Turners
- to see if they could have us for dinner that night. On the phone, Sister
Turner said she felt prompted to call us and see if we had dinner plans that
night in her morning prayer! Pretty sweet! Then when we got to the church
building, the carpets were being cleaned. Since Elder Proffit had served in
that area before, he called up a SUPER nice lady to borrow her house for the
meeting - and she said yes! :) It was ironically one of the most productive
ones we have had. I should have realized that all the carpets were being
cleaned that day... but we drove over to a different church building for a
lesson with Kellen only to realize the carpets were being cleaned there too!
Since I had talked to the Turners that morning about eating dinner with them
and we were close to their house, I called them last second to teach Kellen at
their house. Fortunately, they agreed and we taught him a really awesome lesson
on some commandments. At the end of the lesson, Kellen selected the next day
(Wednesday) to meet up again. The Turners again opened up their house, so we
set up the appointment with him for 230pm and texted our other investigator Jen
setting her with 330pm also at the Turners.
In the afternoon on Wednesday, I realized I had not
submitted Loveland's service hours to the mission office as I was planning to
on Monday or Tuesday. Shortly before Kellen's appointment, we went to the
Family History Center in Loveland to submit them. A fairly recent convert
(within 3 years) from the ward, Chris, was indexing records there. That was the
first time he ever had indexed records before. He was free (and the internet
went down while we were there) and came with us to both Kellen's and Jen's
appointment. We again taught Kellen a great lesson about other commandments; He
even asked us about tithing so that he could start right away! Fortunately, he
was able to stay for Jen's appointment too. When Jen arrived we had a bunch of
people there! Chris, Kellen, the Turners, and us two missionaries. WOW. It
couldn't have been much better. After getting to know Jen a bit (she grew up in
Southeast Idaho as a non-mormon meaning she was nearly the only non-mormon in
her school), Chris shared with Jen some of the incorrect things he was taught
about the church. It turns out Jen was told by her mom, "Never talk to
people like that (pointing to Mormon missionaries in a white shirt and
tie)!" and lots of other unhelpful things. Kellen shared some of the
things he was taught growing up and his experiences in the last week receiving
an answer to his prayer. In this half-hour lesson, she found out that it was OK
and common to have been taught negative and untrue things about the church.
Though she grew up with tons of Mormons, before meeting with us in January she
had NEVER talked to missionaries. This month, she has become comfortable enough
with us to meet without her friends at people's houses who she has never met!
It is amazing to see her growth. That night she texted us saying how helpful
that meeting was, "Both to hear [Chris and Kellen] talk about their
thoughts, feelings, and everything was extremely helpful." :) It is
wonderful to have that response!
As you can tell from that somewhat brief recounting, there
was a series of events that led up to that lesson with Jen, Kellen, Chris, and
the Turners. If it weren't for the carpet cleaning, we wouldn't have taught a
lesson at the Turner's home on Tuesday or Wednesday. If it weren't for Kellen
saying, "ya tomorrow would be great" he couldn't have helped Jen. If
it weren't for Chris indexing at the family history center or me forgetting to
submit the service hours, he wouldn't have come with us. Additionally, the
reason Chris came that specific day to do indexing is a long story in of itself
spanning months. But, it can be backed up even more than that! How everything
worked out was DEFINITELY a miracle! It is so AMAZING to look in our lives and
see how "random" people are placed in it and "random"
events happen that lead to "random" coincidences. When you look back,
you can see that those events must have been orchestrated in order to work out
perfectly.
Closing comments... Kellen is VERY excited to be baptized
this weekend. We are super pumped for him! :) I have continued to have great
study sessions, so much so that on exchanges this week, the missionary I was
with decided to have better ones! I was reading that morning in 4 Nephi. The
day before I read verse 3: "And they had all things common among them;
therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made
free, and partakers of the heavenly gift." I wondered, "Can we be
truly free without having everything in common?" because socialism hasn't
proven super effective... That morning, in rephrasing and pondering that
question, I found the answer! It was in the verse right before, verse 2:
"And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all
converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and
Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every
man did deal justly one with another." With those two verses together, we
have the formula for freedom!! Step 1: "The people were all converted to
the Lord." Step 2: "There were no contentions and disputations"
Step 3: "They had all things in common" Step 4: "They were all
made free." Later in 4 Nephi, after over 100 years of peace, happiness,
and prosperity, pride comes in. People became less converted to the Lord, had
contentions, classes were formed, and the society wasn't free anymore. The
coolest part to me is that these scriptures reiterate the simple truth: the
Gospel is the solution. As we choose to TRULY live the Gospel (Develop Faith in
Christ, Repent, are Baptized, Receive the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End)
and help others do the same, we will begin to experience true peace, happiness,
and joy in our lives and for the eternities. When we as a people choose to Love
God and Love our Neighbor (in that order), the world will be SUPER AWESOME (for
reals).
Have the best week of your life!! :)
Sincerely,
Elder Jeff Campbell
CO Fort Collins Mission
500 Hillspire Dr
Windsor, CO 80550
