June 3, 2019

By the Snake River in Shelley

Praying with Elder Rich

Shelley District

Hanging with Elder Rich

Elder Trezise and Elder Brazier

Elder Trezise and Elder Smith

With Elder Rich

With Elder Smith and Bro Markham

Roomies in Shelley

 Here is Elder Trezise's letter for the week:

Hey family! So, long week. Good week. For the most part. I had exchanges with my Zone Leader, Elder Rich on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun. Our first contact of the day was a friendly aethiest guy. It went okay. But we both agreed that we should have testified of the Book of Mormon more. Less than a minute later we saw a guy moving his lawn and stopped him. We testified of the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy. He seemed really willing to learn and to read and pray. It was awesome. We had a really good day, and had some awesome contacts throughout the day. Elder Rich taught me a ton about just being genuine and sincere. He is super loving, and a great example of it. I can't wait to go on another exchange with him next transfer. 

Then on Saturday I went on an exchange with Elder Smith. It was so much fun. We talked video games as we drove around all day. Haha, that wasn't the highlight though. So we had some lessons that we were prepared for in the afternoon. Then we got to the lessons, and the people's needs had completely changed because of circumstances in their lives. We ended up having two of the most Spiritually led lessons I've ever had. We gave a lady a blessing and she started crying and said she didn't know why. Our dinner was awesome, and we had a lot of things set up in the evening. Our evening goal was to find a new person to teach. Long story short, everything fell through or went wrong. We were pretty mad. 8 o clock rolls around. We have had rejection after rejection, I got bit by a stupid crusty old dog, and we were just having a tough time. But I had a prompting to visit someone nearby. It was crazy that I had the prompting because it isn't my area. Looking back I think it is because the area is in my District now. We visited her, and had a really good conversation with her. We did everything that is required to find a new person to teach. But I like to pray whenever we find someone. So we headed to the chapel. We saw a lady in the parking lot changing her tire, and decided to see if we could help out. We talked to her about the Gospel, and she opened up about some trials. We read the scriptures with her and prayed with her. She was super excited to learn more. It was 9:03 at this point, but we went to the chapel to review the day and pray. We counted the second lady, but felt prompted to hold off on the first until their next appointment with her. We did our daily review, and Elder Smith talked about how he thought it was going to be a while before he got called into leadership. I talked to him a lot about inspiring others. 

 

Sunday rolled around, and some people didn't show up at church. But we still had a good turn out. Including one guy I had never met, who is a non member. He went up and bore his testimony. We stopped by his house in the afternoon and he is a super rough guy with a crazy background and history. We taught him and he just really wants to be the best father for his son that's on the way. It was a good lesson. That night we were in our Sunday night correlation, and we got a call around 9:15 from President. He asked to speak with me in private. He extended the call to me to be a District Leader, and asked if I was willing, worthy and ready to do so. I told him I thought there were better options out there, and he told me the Lord qualifies those He chooses, and the Lord chose me. I accepted the call. He told me to start studying my responsibilities and praying for revelation. I prayed that night to know what to do, and when I woke up, felt strongly prompted to choose a certain date to go on exchanges with one of the new missionaries coming into the District. So that was kind of cool. The thing I'm excited about is that Elder Oringdulph became a District Leader in the next District over. So he's in my zone. I was SOOOOOO happy about that. He's my favorite. And Elder Smith also got the call to be a District Leader. We are both pretty nervous. 

 

My message is a short one. It is about inspiration. I have had some pretty amazing District and Zone Leaders on my mission. And I have learned a lot from them. But if I have learned anything on my mission, it is that you HAVE to inspire those around you. And you have to compliment those you hate. Complimenting others allows them to see that despite your arguments, you still love them. I don't know where I'm going with this, haha. I just feel like it's something I have really learned. I have had some good companions, but when you're with someone 24/7 you tend to find flaws, no matter how small. And the two best ways to deal with it are to talk about what the problems are, no matter how small, and to compliment them. We are all human and have low patience. Especially me. But praying for patience and being honest, and being loving will heal any problem. And I know that with an absolute surety. I love you all. Please strive to forgive others. And all of this advice applies to yourself as well. Acknowledge your problems, compliment yourself, and forgive yourself. I love you all!

-Elder Trezise