Email from Elder Lofthouse 7/15/2013

I still can't believe how much happens and how much changes from week to week.  I can never write about everything that happens in one week, and I don't even know if the things I include will even matter next week.  We'll probably be focusing on different people, doing different things, etc.

This week I had the best zone meeting I've ever been in.  Usually we all complain about how long they take and how we don't really get much out of them anyway.  Well our zone leaders are completely inspired as are many other missionaries in our zone and we all learned so much.  Or maybe it was just me.  But it was so uplifting and then President Gelwix stopped by towards the end and he talked to us about Priesthood power.

One of the things we talked about in zone meeting was Elder Anderson's talk from last conference, "It's a Miracle".  He said, "I promise you, as you pray to know with whom to speak [about the gospel], names and faces will come into your mind.  Words to speak will be given in the very moment you need them. Opportunities will open to you.  Faith will overcome doubt, and the Lord will bless you with your very own miracles."  Pay attention to those first two words.  "I promise," spoken by an Apostle in General Conference.  That is a promise you can trust.  We knelt down as a zone, Elder Castaneda, one of our zone leaders, offered a prayer, and then we stayed on our knees for about 2 minutes and just listened and felt the Spirit.  Names and faces came to our minds.  We do this in members' homes.  The only time that it hasn't worked was when the phone rang right after the prayer and we didn't have quiet time to just sit and think.  

I promise you that Elder Nelson's promise will be fulfilled.  If you are willing to accept whatever answer the Lord gives you, when you pray sincerely and with faith to know who to share the gospel with, you will see faces and names, and by the power of the Holy Ghost and the right to revelation that you have, you can also know HOW to share it with them.  The Lord is hastening His work!  Elder Perry said in a meeting with the Mission Presidents of this area of the world (so I heard this from President Gelwix) that that hastening is NOT the increase in the number of missionaries nor the increased focus on missionary work.  The hastening refers to the second coming.  When we say the work is hastening, we mean the Second Coming is hastening.  It is soon!  I know it!  This is the time to prepare to meet God, and this is the time for us to help others to do the same.  Be bold, but be loving as you reach out to our brothers and sisters.  Don't lose sight of how amazing this work is!  You are a part of it, a vital part, whether you are a full-time missionary or not.  Pray for missionary opportunities, pray to know how to share the gospel and who to share it with, and just serve everyone around you with love, no matter what.  

I love you all!  I wish I could adequately express my thoughts and feelings on this subject through an e-mail and with the short time I have.  I know that this church is true and that these are the latter-days.  I know that Heavenly Father loves us, that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that this work is their work, not ours.  It will move forward unhindered until it fills the whole earth, no matter what, but we can help speed that process up.  We are here to prepare the earth for the Second Coming!  Don't falter!  Don't give up!  There are great things to come!

Love,

Elder Lofthouse   

Email from Elder Lofthouse 7/8/2013

Elder Morales, Elder Hernandez, and Elder Lofthouse

Well, this week was really interesting.  Oh, and surprise!  I'm e-mailing on Monday now, because in my new area we have a Family History Center.  But my new area isn't Tulare.  I got moved a few minutes north of Fresno, to Madera.  Which is an interesting story.

Fist of all, I did get to go to Elder Hernandez's farewell.  I'll send some pictures.  I got to see a bunch of members from Atwater, including D!  She's doing so great!  She's a primary teacher now, and she got a spiritual confirmation that she needs to serve a mission and is planning on doing so in a year and a half.  Woohoo!!  

I got up the next morning and finished packing the few little things I had left to pack.  I got a call from the zone leaders.  They asked about the farewell, how it was, and then asked if President or the Assistants had talked to me before we left.  I said no.  Then they told me that I was going up to Madera to be with Elder Crawford instead of going to Tulare and that I would be getting a ride with Elder Peltzer and Elder Morales (who are training) to a stake center in Fresno, where I'd get a ride the rest of the way.  A few minutes later the assistants called and said, "Actually we need you to camp out at the mission office.  We have an unexpected missionary coming in, and a few transportation things to work out, and we still aren't quite sure who's going to be who's companion.  Elder Crawford will be there too."  

So, Elder Crawford and I got to hang out at the Mission Office all day and watch all the new missionaries come in and do there paperwork and things like we did on our first day.  But we were super bored just sitting there for hours and hours, because President and the assistants were too busy to talk to us.  Finally, at about 5:30 they decided that we were going up to Madera together.  Why couldn't they have just stuck with that decision in the morning?  Oh well.  We still got to teach two lessons that day, and one of them was one of the most memorable lessons I'll ever have.  Lets just say that the person we were teaching drinks quite a bit.

Anyway, I love my new area.  We have six missionaries in our all-Spanish ward!  And the ward here is so great!!  The members are so focused on other people and are so willing to help out.  It's no wonder they've been growing so much and they have six missionaries now.  They just opened up a new area last transfer and our goal is to get yet another set of missionaries in the ward.  And guess who opened up that new area?  Sister Poston!  Yet again, we're in the same district!  And it is so much fun to have dinner with six missionaries every day.  This is going to be a great transfer!

My companion is Elder Crawford.  He's from Virginia, played lacrosse, went to BYU-Idaho, and is just awesome.  He's 6' 4" and I feel super short next to him.  He works really hard, wants to be obedient, and he is a lot of fun to be with.  

One more interesting experience:  Our most promising investigator was named R.  He really wanted to get baptized, and all we really needed to do was get approval from the bishop to baptize him.  Because he was living with a woman, but they weren't a couple, she was basically his caretaker (he had diabetes, was missing a leg, and had other health problems) and President said we could go ahead and baptize him if the bishop was okay with it, because they weren't really breaking the law of chastity.  Well, we got a call Friday morning that Roman was in the hospital.  We borrowed the sisters' car and drove over there to see him.  We got into ICU, and he wasn't looking too good.  He had a lot of machines hooked up to him and he wasn't responding to anything.  We said a prayer (because we were pretty sure they would have gotten super mad at us if we'd tried to put our hands on his head) and left.  Our first stop afterward was at his roommate/caretaker's house, Er.  She had just barely gotten off the phone with the hospital.  They said that his brain was dead and that all that was keeping him alive was life support and that his doctor from Fresno was coming up to confer with the doctor at the hospital and pretty much just make the decision to pull the machines.  It was super sad.  He didn't have any family, just E.  She said that the best part of his day was when the missionaries would come over and his greatest desire was to get baptized before he died.  She now wants to get baptized too, because she knows that's what he would have wanted, and so we've started teaching her.  It was a really interesting day.

Oh, and the 4th of July was fun!  We weren't allowed to be out after 6:30 unless we were with an investigator or member, and we could stay out late, but had to be in bed by 10:30.  We went to a member's house, ate hamburgers and hotdogs and watched fireworks.  I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures.  Sorry.

All in all, it was a pretty crazy week.  A  lot of things happened.  And my e-mail is already so long, but I wanted to share a thought real quick.  I was reading in Mormon 2 today.  In verse 18, Mormon says that "A continual scene of wickedness and abominations has been before min e eyes ever since I have been sufficient to behold the ways of man."  In verse 15 he says, "I saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually."  That was in 345 A.D.  In that year the Nephites were already clearly pretty wicked and "thousands of them [had been] hewn down in open rebellion against their God."  In verses 21 and 22, the Lamanites again come upon them and Mormon knows that they are on the verge of destruction.  But they fortify the city of Shem, "that perhaps we might save them from destruction."  Well, guess what?

They did.

The Nephites had been so wicked at that time, that Mormon had been forbidden to preach repentance to them.  10 years after the above victory, God calls Mormon to finally cry repentance unto the people (Mormon 3:2).  And it wasn't for another 30 years after that that the Nephites were finally destroyed.  To me, this shows just how much God wants His children to repent.  He waited and waited and waited and gave them chance after chance after chance, even after Mormon judged them passed the day of grace, God gave them another 40 years.  Only Satan will ever tell you that it's too late for you to repent.  Heavenly Father wants you back.  He's patient and loving. Don't be afraid to turn to Him and find forgiveness.  

I love you all!

Elder Lofthouse

Email from Elder Lofthouse 7/2/13

Transfer calls came on Saturday.   Elder Morales is going to train here in Lindsay!  I'm moving to the next town over, Tulare, with Elder Hancock, so we'll still be in the same district.  It is kind of sad to leave an area after only 6 weeks though. 

Following the usual pattern, since my e-mail last week was long, this one will probably be pretty short.  We've been teaching with members quite a bit this week, which has been great.  There might only be a few strong members here, but they sure are willing to help.  I'm going to miss working with them.

Hopefully I'll be going to Fresno tonight to go to Elder Hernandez's farewell.  The rule is that you have to have an investigator going and have member transportation.  Well, last night, thanks to Elder Morales, we've found both.  M's mom is going to come with us and one of Elder Hernandez's converts (the only person he ever baptized from knocking doors) and his family.  Hopefully it goes through!  I love that Elder and can't wait to see him again!

Church was really full on Sunday.  It was kind of weird, because several of the active families were on vacation and we only had two investigators there.  The rest were either visitors who'd just happened to be in the area that morning, less actives who were coming to church for the first time in months, and one lady who just moved here from Idaho.  It was great to see all those less-actives come out and to see both the English and Spanish sacrament meetings filled up!

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Email from Elder Lofthouse 6/25/13

t's a great day to be a Mormon missionary!

 

Isn't this a wonderful church?  Don't we have wonderful leaders?  If you didn't get a chance to watch the broadcast on Sunday, go to lds.org right now and watch it.  I'll talk more about that later in my e-mail.  Transfer calls are on Saturday!  I can't believe it's almost been 6 weeks already.  And the reason I'm e-mailing slightly earlier today is because we're going on exchanges this afternoon.  Woohoo! 

 

We've had ups and downs this week.  Ever since I got here to Lindsay, we've struggled getting people to church.  We invite everyone to go to church, we remind them, we teach the importance of it, we go to their houses the morning of and half an hour before church they'll say that they are coming.  And then they never show up!  It's frustrating.  For that reason, we lost 3 baptismal dates.  One of the reasons that one investigator didn't come was because his step-dad asked us to never talk to his son again.  It makes me so sad when people won't even give us a chance to talk to them!  They already assume they know what we're all about and they close the door.

 

We did have 9 lessons with a member present though, which is huge, huge, huge improvement over the past few weeks.  We have wonderful ward missionaries, and a wonderful ward mission leader.  They are so anxious to help out, and we've finally started really using them.  I hope we can soon get the entire ward as excited about missionary work as they are.  The ward has been struggling here with people going inactive and moving out.  We need some growth.  On Sunday in Sacrament Meeting, I said a prayer, played the piano, and gave a talk.  Part of that is because there's a Spanish meeting and an English meeting.  I prayed in the English one, and spoke and played in the Spanish one.  We need more members who can do those things!   And the broadcast on Sunday, "The Work of Salvation" got me so excited about making that happen.

 

If you didn't get to watch that inspiring seminar, I strongly urge you to go online and watch it at lds.org.  The MTC choir was HUGE!!  There are more than 70,000 full-time missionaries right now.  I can't remember the number, but they called more than 120 new Mission Presidents this year, more than ever before.  And there are going to be some changes coming in how missionary work is done to adapt to this changing world.  But what was mostly emphasized in that seminar was member missionary work.  Elder Nelson said that the members should be heading the work and that the full-time missionaries are there to assist them.  Not the other way around!  In an ideal situation, the members should be giving the missionaries so many names to go see, that there is no time for tracting.  I mentioned last week about the Essentialist training that we received from Greg Mckeown.  We need to focus on what is most essential.  And what is?  Why are we here?  We are at war!  How much of your time is spent focused on bringing salvation to your brothers and sisters?

 

Read Alma 60:7-8, 22-23 and think about how that applies to ourselves.  Once again I say, WE ARE AT WAR!  So often we are told that we have the gospel because we were among the Noble and Great Ones in the pre-mortal world.  President Gelwix often talks about how when it was detrmined that we would have the gospel in the last dispensation our friends begged us to bring it to them in mortality.  "But what if you say no, that you're not interested?"  "Then try again!"  "What if you still don't want to listen?"  "Then try again!!"  No one is going to mad at you for trying to share the gospel with them.  On the contrary, I'm sure that they will thank you forever.  And in this day, we have so many ways to share the gospel, even from our own home.  Facebook, blogs, e-mail, etc.  All those things are going to be approved for missionaries to use, because the Brethren realize that God does not cause things to be invented without reason.  They are to move His work forward.  There are thousands and thousands of our brothers and sisters who are prepared to be baptized this very day!  The Apostles have said so.  They might be your neighbor or they might be your internet friend who lives in another part of the country.  Reach out in love and you will change lives.  Follow the Spirit.  He knows what they need.  The missionaries need your help!  They cannot find all these people on their own!  Pray for opportunites to bring people to salvation.  Maybe they're already members and just less active.  But as you desire to help other people, God will of course give you opportunites.  

 

I love you all so much!  We are so blessed to be members of this church.  I know that it is Christ's church.  I know that the Book of Mormon is His word.  I know that this work is His work, and that He wants us to participate.  I know that He never leaves us helpless, and that when we are trying our best the Lord will not let us fail (which Elder Anderson taught on Sunday).  

 

Go forth with faith!

Elder Lofthouse 

 

Email from Elder Lofthouse 6/18/13

I can't believe how quickly the weeks go by!  And they all blur together, so it's sometimes difficult to remember what has happened.

 

We had an amazing conference in Fresno on Friday.  Greg McKeown gave us a training on Essentalism.  If you don't know who he is, you can probably look him up and find out more.  He's from England, served a mission in Toronto, graduated from BYU and Stanford, and is a powerful speaker, let me tell you.  I can't do the conference justice in an e-mail, but it was basically about cutting out all the non-essential things in our lives, though they may be good.  As we progress in life, we first prune all the bad things out of our life.  But we're not done there.  Then we must prune the good, and then the better, until we are only left with the best.  Applying this concept to missionary work, it might be a good thing to visit another person across town when an appointment comes through, but maybe it would be better to knock some doors or street contact in the area you're in.  For missionaries, our essential purpose is to baptize, to bring people to the gate.  We can't do that unless we are finding and teaching.  Anything that does not help us to acheive that is something we need to consider letting go of.  This principle has application all throughout life.  It's already started changing mine.

 

The main point he made at the very end of the conference was that we must give our lives to the Lord.  Completely, totally, and fully.  We will never regret the day we choose to do that.  When we decide that we will do whatever God asks of us, that opens the way for Him to show us how He works miracles.  We must give up every desire, hope, fear, dream, or weakness that we have, the good things as well as the bad, and let them be replaced by what God wants for us.  This is something that has been repeated to me throughout my mission, and I am understanding more and more every time what it truly means to consecrate yourself to the Lord.  It's hard, and it takes a ton of mental effort, but when you really make up your mind to do it, it really makes life so much easier. 

 

Well, I don't have much more time.  I have plenty I could write about, but I guess I'll have to leave it for another day.  I know that God lives and that He loves us.  WE have nothing to be afraid of if we put our trust in HIm.  D&C 68:6; 98:1; and 38:15,30 are all great scriptures about that.  Listen to that inner voice you have inside of you.  You all know what God wants from you.  Each of us have a unique mission, a unique purpose, that only we can fulfill.  Ask yourself moment to moment what it is that God wants you to do NOW.  Don't worry about the past or future.  Focus on what God needs from you in this moment, don't fight it, and put your trust in Him.  I promise that you will see miracles.

 

I love you all!!  Oh and just F.Y.I., I just found out that D has been called to be an Activity Days leader.  How exciting is that!  I love this work!

 

Love,

Elder Lofthouse 

Email from Elder Lofthouse 6/11/13

I love hot weather!  It's a million times better than cold.  I'm not sure why I like sweating so much, but it's great!  I know for a fact that it was at least 110 on Saturday and I'm sure it heated up more after I saw that sign (it was only about 2:30pm).  It's cooled down since then (it's probably only in the 90's now) but I'm sure it will heat up again in the coming weeks and months.  Woohoo!!  And it's so humid here.  I love it!

 

M was baptized on Saturday.  And he went to scout camp this week and is going to youth conference on Friday.  He's going to be such a great member!  Hopefully his family will be following soon. 

 

We had Zone Conference on Friday.  As always, it was great.  We talked about how we were foreordained to be missionaries here, had a wonderful presentation by a senior missionary/institute teacher, Elder Brinley, on gospel dispensations and the Priesthood (it was super deep), improving communication skills, and working better with members.  Elder Brinley talked about how every other gospel dispensation was pretty miserable and ended in failure (except for Enoch's).  Some prophets went 50 years without a convert!  How did they keep going?  God showed them our day, the dispensation of the fullness of times, and that gave the strength to keep going and know that one day it would all be worth it, one day their descendants would have the fullness of the gospel, one day righteousness would finally and completely prevail.  That is the day we live in!  This time, there will be no apostasy.  This time, the gospel will go to ALL the earth.  This time, all blessings that were ever possible to receive in mortality are here for us to partake of.  This time, Christ will come in power and glory!  Isn't that wonderful? 

 

So quit sitting around!  Help make it happen!  There are thousands and thousands of people who are prepared and ready to be baptized today (both President Eyering and Elder Scott have said that about separate stakes here in my mission)!  This is God's work and He will labor with us.  But first, we have to labor.  We have to open our mouths.  If you are prepared to share the gospel, your mouth will be filled with the right words to say.  We have the unique privilege of building the Kingdom of God here on the earth.  Isn't that amazing?

 

Anyway, I'm just so grateful to have been born into this church.  I'm so grateful for the love and support of my family and friends.  I'm so happy that I get to be a missionary in this day and age!  Read D&C 45:62.  Great things are coming!  Are you ready?

 

I love you all so much!  Keep pressing forward!

 

Love,

Elder Lofthouse  

Email from Elder Lofthouse 6/5/13 (with pictures!)

Hello everyone!  Yet another week has gone by.  What did you do with
it?  Are you closer to God now than you were a week ago?  I hope so.
I've learned so much in this last week.  And we have Zone Conference
on Friday and I know that I'm going to learn so much more there!
Nothing compares to the mission.  I'm so thankful that I am here!

We have a baptism this Saturday.  His name is M.  He is 14 and
really good friends with two of our members.  Oh, I think I already
told you that last week.  His Grandma is actually a member and though
his mom isn't, she has read the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and
Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and she loved going to mutual
when she was younger.  I'm not sure why she wasn't baptized, but I'm
sure she will be here in the future.  We just need to work on her
husband (M's step-dad) first.  He's really friendly, and he just
switched churches not too long ago, so hopefully we can get him to try
ours out before he gets to strong in his.
A lot of our investigators here are youth.  The branch in Atwater
didn't really have any youth in it, so it's really different.  We have
a great ward here, and I'm starting to learn a lot about how to work
with members.  It really is the best way to find people.  Don't be
afraid to share the gospel with people you know!

I know that this church is true.  I know that there is a reason the
leaders of the church keep saying that the Lord is hastening His work.
 He is.  Take Elder Nelson's counsel and "catch the wave!"  Prepare to
serve a mission.  Invite others to "come and see."  Study the many
talks from this last conference that were about missionary work.  Pray
for missionary opportunities.  Pray for specific people to be prepared
to receive the gospel.  Pray to know who is ready for you to share the
gospel with them.  "The Lord puts prepared people in the way of His
prepared servants who want to share His gospel." -Elder Henry B.
Eyering.  I know that is true.  If you have "treasure[d] up
continually the words of life" and you want to share the gospel with
someone, of course God will put someone in your path!  Don't be afraid
to open you mouth and, with love, testify of the blessings the gospel
brings.  Be bold, but don't be overbearing.  If your motivation is to
help other people, not to gain personal recognition or even just to do
your duty, I promise that you will find success.

I love you all!  Keep pressing forward!

Love,
Elder Lofthouse

The four of us who lived in the apartment in Atwater for four months.

The habanero I ate

My last district (the best district ever!!) including Sister Postonn who
you may recognize from my MTC district.