Following up

Alright, so I said that I would tell all y'all how my experience with Elder Peiper was last Monday. So here we go...

So, Monday was our "Mission Tour". The last mission tour that the great THSM had was with Elder Zwick in February of 2017, just before I got here. But, I was more than happy to have Elder Peiper come! 

Before he got here, my first thoughts were of wishing that I could go out and work with him. I never thought it would come true. So just before he got here, President Guthrie sent a message out to all the Zone Leaders and asked if there was any companionships who we thought would be good for Elder or Sister Peiper, or President and Sister Guthrie to come out with them. We asked if President Guthrie could come with us, since he has been trying to come out with us for so long. President Guthrie then set a time to come out with us.

The day of, President Guthrie said that Elder Peiper would come out with us instead! So elder Loveridge and I were both a little nervous, and super excited that we would be getting a General Authority to come proselyting with us.

While he was with us, he taught us to not waste the Lord's time on those children who have a hardened heart. He truly followed and lived by the Spirit to help find those "elect".

During our conference on Monday, we were taught multiple things. The teaching that stood out to me the most, which I need to work on the most, is daily goals. Elder Loveridge and I have been applying this to the best of our abilities thus far. 

Elder Peiper spoke of how the 12 Apostles have the same calling that we have, to declare the Gospel to the world, and represent the Savior. As he spoke of this, he talked about how if we want to become the missionaries that Heavenly Father knows we can be, then we must not only "begin with the end in mind", but also have plans to reach the end. 

As we start our day, we read out of the White Handbook, to help us understand the standards we are expected to keep. We then review the progress of the people we are teaching. From there, we make plans and set goals to help them become a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

As we have set daily goals and plans for the people that we have been teaching, I have seen the Spirit flow into their lives. This is something that I have always desired. And now I know how.

After we have planned for our day, we set daily goals for ourselves personally, and as a companionship. These goals that we set go along with our plans for our day, they help us stretch, and most importantly, they give us the direction needed to achieve our highest potential for the day. 

I am not the best missionary, planner, or human being, but I am the best me.

I love all of you!

-Elder J.T.Yates

A better picture of Elder Peiper and I.

The re-united trio! 

A massive (and dead) Cicada. I hate these things.

On exchanges with Elder Leary, we met these 2 little awesome kids.

A General Authority and some Elders

Due to me not taking the time to actually write, I do not have the sufficient time to get my thoughts. 

But, to write my thoughts of this week...

We had the privilege of having Elder Paul B. Peiper of the Seventy come on a mission tour yesterday! He spoke to us about how we need to exercise our faith, what a Missionary is, and what we can do to better prepare ourselves for the last days. 

Next week I will write a big email explaining my experience! I apologize for not writing. I promise I do feel bad about it. But, I love you all!

-Elder J.T. Yates

Me, Elder Peiper, Elder Loveridge

In memory of mom! Haha, gotta love that Dr. Pepper and rye chips!

The strangest yard sale advertisement

I made a burger made out of ramen!

A Secada. These things are messed up. 

Choose Faith

This week was a doozy! On Monday of last week, as we were playing sports, I sprained my ankle pretty badly. Luckily, it is doing a lot better now! But, at the time, the mission nurse told me to baby it, and rest for a few days. This is a tall order for missionaries.

On Thursday, Elder Loveridge and I led our very first Zone Conference. President Guthrie asked me to conduct the meeting, and I gladly accepted, but on the inside was terrified. For your knowledge, conducting a Zone Conference would be like conducting church on Sundays. But at a smaller level. It went pretty good, right up until the end, then I butchered it. Oh well...

Throughout this week, I have been having a lot of thoughts running through my head. Most of them were not of missionary work, and so as you can imagine, I became very distracted this week. but, there was one quote that stuck out to me. This quote came from President Dallin H. Oaks. It says...

"I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unkown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."

I say choose faith! I love this so much! When I read this, it made me reflect on what I was choosing. Faith? Or fear? At the time, I was choosing fear. Now, I can tell you with a clear conscience that I am choosing faith. I may still have fears, but I am choosing to live by faith.

I can tell you Brothers and Sisters, that living this Gospel is hard. But, that is how it is supposed to be. If it was supposed to be easy and fun, this would be EFY. This Gospel is supposed to stretch us. It is supposed to push our limits. This is the Church of Jesus Christ after all!

I love this Gospel, and I know the blessings that come from living it. I challenge each of you reading this, to right now, choose faith. Tell your loving Heavenly Father that you are choosing faith over fear. I know that as you do so, you will see a difference in your lives. You will see the powers of heaven rain down upon you! I love all y'all!

-Elder J.T.Yates

 We hit "801" on our odometer in the car. Both of us are from Utah, so it made us both happy. Haha

Elder Embody, one of the office missionaries. He is moving to Georgia with his family soon. 

I am going to miss him.

This is a super weird building that is in our area. It is some type of church, but is abandoned. And looks like it has been abandoned for a long time. Also, absolutely no one knows what it is...

The Trio Re-unites!

There's isn't much to go over this week... Except how awesome it was!!! We had so many meetings this week, so there was a lot of traveling to be done. Which wasn't bad, but a lot of time that could've been used on other things.

We had a meeting with 12 other missionaries this week, and I really enjoyed being instructed by President Guthrie and the assistants. There were a lot of take away action items that I wrote down and am now applying.

This week, I want to focus on Moroni 10:3-5. This is a scripture everyone should be familiar with. It says...

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

OH HOW I LOVE THIS!! All of our doubts, concerns, and questions can and will be resolved if we follow this wise council. I would also add my testimony and would exhort you to pray and ask of God. It is by doing these things, that you can feel the Spirit more in your life. 

I love you all! 

-Elder J.T.Yates

All 3 of us again reunited! Haha

 I found that I love taking these pictures! 

My new favorite street sign!