Final Email from Elder Lofthouse 11/17/14 Here We Go!

Wow.  Two years just flew by.  I can't believe that I'm coming to this point.  I always knew it would come, but it still seems so far away.  

I had the privilege of bearing a departing testimony at our stake fireside last night.  I love my Hispanic brothers and sisters!  I am so thankful for the opportunity I was given to serve them.  I had many members come up to me last night to thank me and I felt so much love from them.  I'm so grateful for Facebook!  I will certainly be  keeping in contact with all of them.  What a blessing!

I know that this is God's work.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that through Him we can change and become like He is.  I know God has a plna for us and that as we strive to be our best, all of His promises will be fulfilled.  Again, I am so grateful for the privilege I've had of serving.  I know that this is just the beginning.  I have a whole life to fill with service, with growth, with blessings.  I'm excited!

I love you all and will see many of you soon!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 11/10/14 Here we go!

Well, here goes.  Last full week.  Last week was a good one.  The only down side is we had no lessons with members present.  However, the Priesthood was called to repentance by our ward mission leader and the high priest group leader and we several people signed up to go out with us this week and a couple more who said they were going to look at their schedules.  The ward really is very willing to help out we just have never been able to find a super effective way to coordinate our efforts and our schedules.  

Saturday night we finally got to see an investigator we hadn't seen for several weeks, J.  He was discouraged and frustrated because he recognizes he's not living right, he fears what will happen if he were to die right now, and when he shares that with his friends and family and in a way calls them to repentance they just laugh at him.  He also said he gets frustrated because people see the Mormons as a different religion, "like they worship another God.  But it's the same God!  They just have another side to it."  He says he wants to make changes in his life but he feels no support from anyone.  We encouraged him, promised our support and God's, and he accepted to get married and baptized by December 13th.  He came to church the next day and we have a return appointment tomorrow.  I think he's finally hit the point where he is ready to do whatever it takes to get right with God.  I'm excited for him!

V has been telling everyone about his baptism in two weeks.  He didn't make it to church because he got called into work, but it sounds like he has every intention of making it to that baptismal date.  We just need to follow up on smoking every day and make sure he stays strong.  

I wanted to share some of my feelings about family history for a moment.  Last week we took some time to be on family search and I found three names to do temple work for.  Just like that!  When was the last time you were on familysearch?  We had a training on it last week.  A few months ago there would be changes all the time but recently those have slowed down.  It's about as good as it's going to get.  And trust me, it's good!  Now-a-days you can do so much just from your computer.  You can search records, index (they're adding 1.7 million names a day) and don't assume that because you looked before and didn't find anything that you wont' find anything now.  Italy recently asked the church to photograph all of their records.  That's 200 million names.  200 million people who are waiting for their work to be done.  200 MILLION!!  So get on familysearch, ask your family history consultant what you can do, and go do some work of salvation!  We're finding more veery day.  

This is going to be a good week.  Good things are going to happen.  Hope you all have a great one as well!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 11/3/14 Sprinting to the End

Hello family and friends!

This is suddenly becoming very real.  I got my flight plans this week, the schedule for my last day in the field, and various instructions for things I need to take care of.  I just had my last fast and testimony meeting as a full-time missionary.  I'm running out of time!  

We had a fun ward Halloween activity on Thursday.  There was a carne asada cook-off (it was fantastic!), games for the kids, a cakewalk, a hay ride, a costume contest and then a trunk-or-treat (we left before that part though).  On Friday we had to be in our apartments by 6.  Then it poured!!  I think it rained all that night.  It was so great.  California really needs the rain.  

We had a wonderful elderly couple come to church yesterday. Their names are F and C. I was very surprised when they committed to come because they had recently expressed to us that they aren't going to change religions and C doesn't even go to mass anymore because she has trouble walking. But they came! Sadly the only other person who came was A. V and his family didn't come, but we had a great lesson with them on Tuesday. His wife and daughter said that they will also eventually get baptized, just not this month. She loved church last week, especially a special musical number the missionaries sang (Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning). 

We found out yesterday that we're getting the car taken away tomorrow.  Some sister missionaries need it.  But it's all good because I'm definitely not going to be gaining any weight the next couple weeks!
I'd like to share part of my testimony:
I have made a lot of mistakes, not only on my mission but throughout my life. Often I am very tempted to dwell on those mistakes and weaknesses. I feel frustrated that I'm still not perfect, that I still have many of the same character faults, weaknesses and temptations that I have always struggled with. But I know this: What matters is not how many times we fall but how many times we rise up. I can start right here where I'm at and do better today. Why?
Because Jesus Christ suffered and died for me. he suffered the consequences of my poor choices so that i could try again. Because of Him we are free to choose life and liberty or captivity and death. While there is breath left in me I can and will choose to serve him THIS day. I don't need to worry about yesterday or tomorrow. THIS day I choose to serve Him.
I know that I am weak. But I know God is my Father. I know His Beloved son died for me. I know that by the power of the Holy Ghost. I know by that same spirit that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that through the Prophet Joseph Smith God began to restore His church and gospel to the earth. I know that as we strive to live that gospel, as we come unto Christ, through faith, repentance, covenants, receiving the Spirit and enduring to the end, weak things will be made strong by Him.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/27/14 Serve!

V came to church yesterday with his wife and daughter!! He is super excited about his baptismal date on the 22nd. They had to leave right after but he said that they will stay all three hours next week. We are going to see himTuesday or Wednesday this week. 
Sadly, no one else came to church including recent converts. It was a strange day. Oh, except for one very special sister, P. She's 84 and hasn't been to church for a few months because she's always feeling sick. But she had lost something important and couldn't find it and she told Heavenly Father in a prayer that she would go to church five times if she could find it. And right after that she did! So she's been making a real effort to be able to come. She's so awesome!
We've been really struggling at getting members to lessons with investigators and finding new investigators. Our ward mission leader should be coming with us to visit V this week and we're going to try and find a member to come out with us each day this week. We're also going to make finding time more of a priority in our planning. 
I feel ready for these last three weeks. It's time for a sprint to the finish. I don't want to have any regrets my last day.

I would just like to testify of the principle of repentance.  I also went to share my thoughts on 3 Nephi 11:30-41.  The doctrine of Christ is simple.  Those who have faith in Him, repent, are baptized,  receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end will be saved.  They will receive eternal life.  What is eternal life?  "That they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  What does it mean to know them? "That they all may beone; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us" (John 17:21).  The goal is to be completely united with our Father and His Son and then to be united with each other.  To become of one heart and one mind.  Only then will Zion be established (see Moses 7:18).  How is that accomplished?  I believe it is in losing our lives in service.  When we seek to serve others to glorify our Father, we become more like Him and we help others to get closer to him as well.  
So go out and serve someone!  Do good!  Be good.  Let go of your will and seek His.  You will see miracles.  I promise.
I love you all!  I hope you have a wonderful week.
Love,
Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/1314 Going Strong!

A got baptized yesterday! It was really good. I can see her serving a mission one day. I love that family. C reset her baptismal date. She wants to shoot for November 16. I think the fact that I'm leaving will help her do everything she can to get her situation worked out so she can get baptized before that. Her boyfriend has been bringing a lot of opposition into her life but for the most part it only seems to be strengthening her resolve. 

We had a good lesson last night with V's wife. Apparently he's been going to his AA classes every day and doesn't get back until nine. Except Thursdays! So we should be seeing him then. In our lesson with N (his wife), we reviewed the importance of the Book of Mormon and read Moroni 10:3-5 with her. She opened up to us and shared all her doubts about how she finds it confusing because it's difficult to leave the Catholic church but believes it's possible that the truth is in this one. She said that all she wants is for her family to be united. She's the only one that goes to Catholic church. She said that if V will commit to our church, going every Sunday and such, that she will follow. We want to talk with them on Thursday about eternal families and being able to be sealed together in the temple.

At random moments it hits me that this is it. This is the end stretch. And maybe I'm crazy, but I've been praying for God to give me experiences to help me grow and progress, "mountains to climb" if you will. They've been coming, I feel like I'm seeing more of my weaknesses than ever, but recognizing that God is just answering my prayers gives me strength to face those trials and weaknesses with determination to rely on the enabling power of Jesus Christ to overcome them. I've noticed that when I struggle most is when I start focusing more on myself. When I'm doing really well it's because I'm focused on the people we're teaching, members, my companion, and other missionaries.

Tomorrow we are going to be having a conference with Elder Nielson from the quorum of the seventy.  He asked us to read a couple talks by Elder Bednar beforehand about the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I love this topic.  If you can I strongly suggest reading "Bear up their burdens with ease" and "The enabling power of the atonement" both by Elder Bednar.  I know that the Atonement is not just for cleansing us from sin, but strengthening us to bear up our burdens, overcome our weaknesses, and become better disciples of Christ.  

I love you all!  Hope you have a great week!

Love,
Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 10/6/14 The Beginning of the End

Wednesday marks the beginning of my last transfer.   I feel very confident as I move into these last six weeks. Sunday morning I woke up and the thought came to me, "Last transfer. Don't mourn. Don't stress. Just give." I felt so much peace and I know that as I focus on simply giving, I will finish with no regrets. 

I LOVED general conference! It's always such a great experience. And we were blessed to have three investigators who were able to see at least one session each. I'm sure it was a great experience for them as well. One of the main things I got out of it is that life is a process of continual revelation and progression. We are here to prepare and it's okay if there are still many promises left in my patriarchal blessings left to be fulfilled and I still have weaknesses to work on and so much left to accomplish. If I had it all done in the next couple years, what would I do the rest of my life?? 

On Friday we got to watch the upcoming movie, "Meet the Mormons."  I strongly encourage everyone to see it this weekend.  It is so great and it will really soften and open the hearts of many, many people who see it around the country.  It's going to be showing here in Visalia and the members have high hopes that it has a lot of success.

A is excited about her baptism on Saturday. She downloaded the gospel library app on her ipad so she can read the friend, the other picture books the church has (she finished the Book of Mormon Stories), and listen to primary songs. She's so great! I think she's really going to be a support to her mom.

As for our other investigators they haven't been making a ton of progress, though C did watch some of conference at a member's house. We're going to follow up with her today to see how she liked it and we're really hoping we can find a ride to the missionary farewell tomorrow so we can show her the temple. I think our focus this week is going to be dropping investigators that aren't progressing and finding new ones (through members ideally). 

Elder Mora is doing really great. It's been such a blessings to see his growing conversion to the gospel. He gave a powerful training on the difference between testimony and conversion in district meeting last week and I know it was powerful because he's experiencing it. A week or two ago he started having really effective studies and now he absolutely loves it, whereas before his mission he didn't read the scriptures very much. He's a good planner, has a powerful testimony, is great at talking with people and I know he's going to do such a great job on his mission. I'm very blessed to have him as my companion.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.  Review often the conference talks we heard this week because they truly are modern revelation.  

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/29/14

Hello!

We had a lesson with our recent convert, I, this week and her 9 year-old daughter, A. A had told us about a month ago that she wanted to finish reading the picture Book of Mormon before getting baptized. Her grandma and her aunt had also been telling her that she wasn't old enough to make that kind of a decision. Elder Mora bore a very powerful testimony to her and she commited to get baptized Oct. 11th. The next lesson, we invited the primary president to come with us. She was fantastic and she took Arleth with her to the women's conference the next day. A (and I), C, T and A all came to church yesterday. We have a lot of potential for the month of October.

I'm super excited for General conference. We're really trying to get all our investigators to understand the importance of it so that they will come. Two weeks after conference we're having a temple trip for recent converts and the goal is for each of them to take a family name to get baptized for. I'm really excited and I think there will be a lot of success. I'm really hoping Connie can get baptized the 11th so she can got on the 18th.

Sorry for the short email this week.  I hope you are all doing well!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/22/14 So Much to Do!

Hello!

Time is just flying by. There is so much to do!! Sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed. But I know what God wants me to do and I know that as I focus on that and just seek to spend every minute the way He wants me to spend it, everything will fall into place. 

Monday night we met with C. She didn't make it to church because she didn't have gas and when we stopped by to make sure she didn't need a ride she had just gotten in the shower. Her daughter said that she would be driving herself. Woops! Anyway, in our lesson, we asked if she had had the chance to ask God what He wanted her to do. She said yes and that she had been thinking about September 20th because that was the date we had asked her to pray about several weeks ago. She said she didn't think she'd have everything taken care of by the 20th but that next month would be the month. She committed to be baptized by October 25th (earlier if at all possible). She's just waiting to get a new job so she can live on her own income and kick out the man she's living with. Pray that she'll get a new job soon!

We actually didn't have any investigators at church on Sunday, the first time in awhile. A lot of things fell through. We're going to be really making that a focus this week. Coming to church is one of the hardest things for investigators to do. I also believe it's something that the adversary tries extra hard to interfere with because it's only once a week. So he just has to try really hard one morning and the rest of the week he's won. Our job is to do everything in our power to prevent every possible obstacle.

Well, here comes another week. Again, there is just so much to do. I love never feeling like I don't know what to do next. There's always something. This is such a great area. I have a great companion. These last two months will be great!

In our letter this week, President gave some insightful comments from the Book of Mormon.  I'd like to share:

"Well as I began the Book of Mormon again, inspired to do so, it popped out at me again. "And my father dwelt in a tent." Did you ever wonder why Mormon, the Prophet editor, was inspired to put that in there? Of what significance could that possibly have for us other than telling us their living accommodations which we really already knew based on their description of what they took? I think the answer has significance for us. Go back to the very first verse - "I Nephi, having been born of 'goodly' parents...". Goodly is so much more than "nice people". In this sense it means or points to the rest of the verse - "therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father...". Clearly, Lehi was a man of substantial means and high education. Much of this is supported by the account of Nephi and his brothers returning for the Brass Plates and using the "gold and silver, and all manner of riches" in an attempt to obtain the plates. What really is being made clear here is that Lehi was a man of substantial wealth and the fact that he "dwelt in a tent" indicates what he was willing to do and give up to follow the Lord. I think it teaches us something powerful about discipleship."

I think we've all made fun of that verse before, saying that it's our favorite.  I really do believe though that every verse in the Book of Mormon is inspired and their for a reason.  Sometimes you really have to search and ponder to know why, but when you find out how powerful it is!

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/15/14 So Much to Do!

Hello everyone!

Numbers were kind of low this week because of the various activities we had this week (Work of Salvation, Trainer/Trainee meeting, picking up mini-missionaries in Hanford, working in the Vineyard, and a Ward activity). But C told us that she no longer has doubts and she knows she's going to get baptized. However, she didn't show up at church, and she still is working on getting the faith to do whatever it takes to start living law of chastity so she can get baptized. If she kicks her boyfriend out, she wont' have enough money to pay the rent until she finds a new job. We're going to stop by today to find out what happened yesterday. T and A met with bishop on Sunday, and we'll be meeting with them tomorrow after zone conference to see how it went and to help T feel more confident about accepting a baptismal date. I have hope that this week will see a lot of success.

To explain the various activities this week:  On Tuesday night, the stake president and other stake representatives and our ward council went out with us to visit investigators and less-actives.  Me and my companion didn't have much success and Elder Mora only had one lesson.  But Elder Cruz got to go out with Bishop AND the Stake President and it sounds like they had some really great lessons.  On Wednesday we went up to Fresno to have a meeting for all the trainers and trainees where we had different trainings.  On Friday we went to the Hanford stake to pick up some youth who were set apart as missionaries for 2 days.  Our companion actually didn't show up which was sad.  The next morning we went to the vineyard to roll up the raisins and then that night we had a ward activity to celebrate the independence of Latin America.  There were a lot of cool cultural dances and great Mexican food.

Vl and his family also didn't show up to church even though they said 45 minutes before it started that they were coming. We're hoping to see them today as well. Setting baptismal dates and helping investigators come to church will be a focus this week.

Funny story from this week: I accidentally asked out a sister missionary.  You'd think after 22 months I'd have Spanish down, but while we were setting up for our Ward Activity on Saturday I made an embarrassing mistake. We needed tape to hang up some signs and one of the sister missionaries had it. So I went up to her and said, "Quiero cita. I mean tape! Cinta! Quiero cinta!" Cinta is "tape."  Cita is "appointment" or "date." Woops... She either didn't notice or just let it go though which was nice. 

To help me finish my mission strong I decided to fast yesterday and start the purification challenge. I want so much to see miracles with Elder Mora over the next 2 months and for that we need the Spirit, so I'm doing everything I can to get that Spirit. I'm really glad I was given the opportunity to train because it's really helping me to stay focused and keep striving to improve.

I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/8/14 Time's Flying!

Hello!

On one of our first days together a couple weeks ago, after yet another rejection from someone, my companion stated very simply, "Missionary work is hard!" It sure is. A lot of our investigators didn't show up to church yesterday and we now only have one baptismal date and it's not very solid. But we found a lot of new people this week and I think that as we focus on the Doctrine of Christ and helping these people to accept a baptismal commitment we'll be able to see baptisms in the weeks to come. 

C has been experiencing a lot of opposition. People in her family have been telling her lots of things about Joseph Smith and the church and she told us that she almost asked us not to come by anymore just to give her a little relief. We had a good lesson with her, but I'm a little worried that she didn't show up to church on Sunday. We have an appointment with her tonight. 

Right after that lesson with C we had a lesson with Vand his family. V sounds like he has developed a very strong testimony of the Restoration. His wife still has doubts, but the rest of his family seem to really like the church too. So, I'm not sure why they didn't come to church on Sunday. Hopefully we'll figure that out this week.

I'm excited for the future of this mission because I feel it will only have more and more success. I feel that way about the church as a whole. A lot of great things are starting to happen and I can't wait to see what happens in the next decade. I'm SO excited for General Conference (as always). We're going to make an effort to get investigators to watch it in members' homes this time because I've never had much success with that in the past. 

I can't believe how quickly time is passing. I'm already down to 10 weeks. I still have so much left to do! One of my personal goals coming out on my mission was to be able to talk more with people. I've gotten a lot better at talking to people I don't know, and Elder Mora has told me that me talking with him will help him not get homesick so I've been trying to push myself and I've started improving in my ability to just keep talking with him. I'm really glad he's my companion because I feel that not only will I help him, but he's going to help me reach the fullest potential I can before I go home. We're hitting these last 10 weeks hard!

I love you all, and hope you are doing well!  

Have a great week!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 9/1/14 New Companion!

This has been a really long week. It feels like a month ago that Elder Herrera was my companion.  Wednesday I went up to Fresno with Elder Kane (my new district leader) to go pick up our new companions.  We went to the temple, had some trainings and then went and worked in an area in Fresno that night.  The next morning we got assigned to our new companions.  Mine is named Elder Mora, he's from Arkansas, but was born in Mexico.  He moved to the states when he was two so he speaks perfect English and great Spanish.  He got baptized a year and a half ago and is the only member in his family.  

I love Elder Mora! He is so diligent and has such good desires. He wants to talk with everyone and being a convert of only a year and a half what he wants out of a mission is a super strong testimony. He acknowledges that he has doubts at times, but his faith and hope is that in two years he will be able to say that he KNOWS this is true and will have a solid, firm testimony. I am absolutely certain that he will get there. Like most missionaries he doesn't like to role-play, but you wouldn't know it because he's so willing to do it. He asks great questions and based on his teaching, someone who didn't know him would probably guess he's been out quite some time. He is going to be a fantastic missionary.

I am quickly learning that I will not be a perfect trainer, that I'll make mistakes, but that that's okay as long as I am trying to follow the Spirit and serve my companion. My most embarrassing mistake this week was when I miscalculated our miles and we ended up going 15 over our limit. I honestly felt so stupid and I stressed about it for awhile, but Elder Mora helped me to let it go, not worry about it and just focus on continuing to work. I'm really thankful he's my companion.

We got up at 4 in the morning on Saturday to go to the vineyard and pick grapes.  Surprisingly I wasn't that tired and it was a lot of fun.  We had thirty or forty people from our ward show up and we got our assignment done pretty quick.  We have a great ward!

We're hoping to get T and A married and baptized this weekend.  They've been to church nine times now.  We're going to be seeing them tonight and we're going to get everything taken care of so we can make certain it happens this Saturday.  C's been coming to church, I wants to start doing Family Home Evening, most of our recent converts are doing great, and I just feel so blessed to be in Farmersville.

It's resting more and more heavily on my mind how little time I have left. I feel more and more of a sense of urgency every day. I just want to become everything I can be and accomplish everything I possibly can while I'm here. There is so much to do and so much to learn. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I was given to serve a mission.

I hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Lofthouse