Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Sisters Use Radio Gig to Get Message Out!

I have been glad to see that a few missionaries are on the ball out there in their local communities using media like radio to get the message out. Hermana Elisa Urban down in the Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission has become a local celebrity preaching and singing:

The radio show went well again. We talked about families. and Juan Carlos is expecting us every Wednesday now. He is really great. I am going to make him cookies or something and give him a Book of Mormon. I hope to find some people from this.

YES!! So we had this little radio gig. SO fun! We were really nervous but it turned out really well. He didn´t interview us or anything. We just explained the Restoration and how God loves us! And we also sang a song “Divina Luz.” He invited us back. Now the sister missionaries in Monte have a little radio show!

It really is easy to get a few minutes on a radio station to talk about what you are doing in your local community as missionaries. I wish more missionaries would take advantage of the benefits of using their local radio stations. You can drop by the station and speak to the DJs or the station manager. Speaking once or twice on the radio will help local listeners get to know about you and be able to recognize you when you are walking or biking down the street. Feel free to give out your phone number or email when you talk on the radio. If you keep you time down to around five minutes most radio stations will let you on early in the morning before the news. Mission presidents and local church leaders should also do more in promoting activities and information about what is happening also. If you are too shy to speak you can fax or mail in events or information like Elder Jeffrey Brown has recently been assigned to Santa Maria you can contact him at such and such a number if you are interested in meeting him. These sisters are actually preaching the gospel through word and song.

California Anaheim Mission

Mission Website(s)

LDS Mission Network (Joshua E. Menke)

Facebook California Anaheim Mission (Aaron Shojinaga)

Blog(s)

Elder Soren Barker 2009-2011

Elder Josh Brown 2010-2012

Elder Shane Curtis 2008-2010

Elder Ben Fredrichson 2008-2010

Elder Kade Park 2010-2012

Elder Aaron James Phillips 2009-2011

Elder Andy Dennison Porter 2009-2011

Robert C LeCheminant

Wikipedia--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California (California Anaheim Mission - The California South Mission was renamed the California Anaheim Mission on June 20, 1974.)

Articles

"New Mission Presidents," (former missionary David G. Wade called as president California Oakland Mission) Church News [Saturday, 24 January 2009].

"Turkey dinners for the needy," (Anaheim missionaries serve 10,000 free dinners) Church News [Saturday, 8 December 2007].

"Obituaries," (Lois Gene Brown Livingston, 83, who served with her husband, Lewis S. Livingston, when he presided over the California Anaheim Mission from 1978-1981, died March 4, 2006, in Salt Lake City.) Church News [Saturday, 11 March 2006].

Shanna Butler, Adam C. Olson, and Roger Terry, “Preaching His Gospel,” (quotes mission president R. Gene Moffitt) Ensign, Sep 2005, 24–29

Shanna Butler, Adam C. Olson, and Roger Terry, “Preaching His Gospel,” (quotes mission president R. Gene Moffitt) Liahona, Sep 2005, 10

"New Mission Presidents," (former missionary John Jared Wadsworth called as president Nevada Las Vegas Mission) Church News [Saturday, 15 January 2005].

John L. Hart, "Fellowship--Inviting Souls to the Savior: When members reach out with love, new converts likely to remain active," (quotes mission president R. Gene Moffitt) Church News [Saturday, 20 December 2003].

"Members join community in mourning," Church News [Saturday, 3 August 2002].

"New visitors center directors," (Ralph Paul Ashton former first counselor mission presidency California Anaheim Mission) Church News [Saturday, 20 October 2001].

Don L. Searle, “Spain: Exploring Horizons of Faith,” (Elder Jorge Parra) Liahona, May 2000, 36

Don L. Searle, “Spain: Exploring Horizons of Faith,” (Elder Jorge Parra) Ensign, Apr 1999, 32–38

“Thirteen New Missions Created,” ( The California Long Beach Mission is created from a division of the California Los Angeles, California Arcadia, and California Anaheim Missions.) Ensign, Apr. 1998, 76

"New Mission Presidents," (former missionary Kirk Thomas Waldron president Kenya Nairobi Mission) Church News [Saturday, 7 February 1998].

'New missions created; total now 331," (Three missions--the Los Angeles, Arcadia and Anaheim missions - will be divided to create the California Long Beach Mission.) Church News [Saturday, 10 January 1998].

"`Bring in solid converts; help them remain'," (Gordon B. Hinckley addresses missionaries) Church News [Saturday, 15 March 1997].

"How to make the transition easier both physically and emotionally when moving to a new area," (Elder Nathaniel V. Greenwood) Church News [Saturday, 12 August 1995].

Laura Mayo Bangerter, “Institute of Highest Learning,” (Elder Rick Daniel) New Era, Sep 1993, 20

“FYI: For Your Information,” (Three Missionaries--Lloyd Smyth) New Era, Apr 1985, 40

Gerry Avant, "Called to Sing: Tabernacle Choir are Musicians who have a Mission," (Elder Phillip T. Hall extended to teach Valentina Gorevaia) Church News [Saturday, 2 October 1993].

Giles H. Florence Jr., “City of Angels,” (For example, the California Anaheim Mission, which serves the three million people of Orange County, claims to have the largest concentration of Vietnamese people outside Vietnam) Ensign, Sep 1992, 35–37

"4 sets of missionaries from one ward," (Jacquie Newman) Church News [Saturday, 6 April 1991].

“Feedback--Disappointed ,” (Elder J. D. Lee) New Era, Feb 1990, 3

Richard M. Romney, “RMs at QB,” (Elder Steve Lindsley) New Era, Jan 1987, 15

“Preach to the Living, Redeem the Dead, President Benson Urges,” (Later that day, President Benson spoke to 177 missionaries from the California Anaheim Mission.) Ensign, Nov. 1986, 98–99

“Feedback--Breaking Free,” (Elder Thomas D. Ball) New Era, Apr 1985, 3

“Mirthright,” (quotes a joke by President Lewis Livingston) Ensign, Dec 1980, 27

“General Authorities Assigned to U.S., Canada,” (Area California South Council of the Twelve Adviser Elder Howard W. Hunter General Authority Supervisor Elder Robert D. Hales) Ensign, July 1975, 74–75

“Pavilion Successful at Expo ’74,” Ensign, Jan. 1975, 76

“Missions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” (California South Mission) New Era, Jun 1973, 18

Stories

LDS Mission Network

Laury Livsey, “A Day in the Life of a Missionary,” (Elder Tim Paventy and Elder Brian Burton) New Era, Jun 2000, 60

"Missionary moments: Blessings unfold," Church News [Saturday, 14 August 1993].

Linda Orvis, “‘I Just Couldn’t Throw This Family into the Trash’,” Ensign, Oct. 1991, 25–26

Judy Fletcher, “The Lord’s Instrument,” New Era, Aug 1991, 30

Dion B. Galbraith, "On the bright side," (Elder Dal Wiscombe and Elder Dion B. Galbraith) Church News [Saturday, 10 September 1988].

Missionary Letters: Business Mostly...Duibuqi

Monday, March 30, 2009 7:26 PM

I don't even feel like writing this week because I can't stop coughing so we'll see what I can pump out in a couple minutes, or if maybe I stop coughing for a little while. It's pretty awful. I'm scared to eat because I cough so hard I gag, and if I eat I'll probably let go of my food. So there's a nice visual there for you all. The MTC is germ infested. It's not even cool in any way at all. I was sick at home before I came...got over it...came and was sick like week 2-4...and now since last week, 10, to whenever it goes away I'm sick. Except this time it's worse. What's with my awful immune system these days? I lived in the Idaho cold for 3 winters and never got this sick once. Life just doesn't make sense. It could be due to the fact that we've been reporting that the heat in our room is broken for awhile and whenever we call the guy he's never in his office and nobody has come and fixed it for us yet? And our room is 50-55 degrees at night. I wake up freezing under the like 4 blankets I've been sleeping with like 15-20 times a night. Haha. So really I blame that for my sickness, but my teacher Brother Simpson was sick sore throat, etc last week, and a few of our boys got a SLIGHT cold, so maybe my body caught that and took an extreme reaction.

This week was good, oh yeah, I bought a tape recorder too because I got a blessing from one of my teachers and we recorded it. I have 6 tapes, if you guys want to buy a tape recorder, I could send a tape home, what do you think? Let me know, it wasn't too expensive here in the bookstore, so it's probably even cheaper in real life. It's the tape recorder that takes the smaller tapes. Send me a Dear Elder if you want me to send a tape home. Which reminds me, mom did you take notes on my setting apart blessing by any chance? If you did can you send them to me, because I dont have notes on that and i'd like to see them. Even though I'm sending all my MTC letters home this week. Haha, but I guess I'll maybe send the rest to gigi and gen next week if i don't have room for the letters I get this week. Um there is a postal service thing in Provo that's free and you just write your families number on the package and stuff, and they call and say it's at the provo post office. I'm going to try to run into Amanda Nelson and give her my box, but in case I don't can I get people's phone numbers? I don't remember any in my head except mom's.

Which by the way reminds me another point of business, I thought people just called their parents at the airport because they could and that it wasn't necessarily allowed so I wasn't going to, but our mission president told us this week that we could, so I know it must be allowed if he told us we could. So yeah, I need peoples phone numbers and also people to pick up the phone next tuesday. I'll probably call the 1110 number first. I'll call you when we are in Los Angeles because we'll be in Salt Lake at like 6am, which is 8am your time and not too bad, but we don't have as long as a wait there, so I figure it will be better to make the call during our 3 hour layover in LA. From LA we go straight to Taipei, so it's not too bad of a flight. Just long. And strict regulations. I'm thinking I'm going to get my suitcases to both be 50 lbs and the carry on to be 15 like they let us. I'll have to send a lot of things to you girls in Provo to make this possible. So look for that. Sorry most of this is business but your last week in the MTC you have to take care of business. Haha. I packed necessities today and my suitcases are 51 and 53 lbs, which means i need to figure out 4 lbs I don't need. so I might even send myself a package to Taipei of like my tampons, but whatever I do, our airline is RIDICULOUS and charges 150 dollars for going over. I could send a package for like 20. So that's why i'm figuring it all out now. I'll have time to write next week too, it will be my last day in the mtc and it will be busy.

I actually only have 8 minutes left now so lets see if i can think of something interesting to write for the last little bit...this week was really good. Since general conference is next week, our schedule is a little thrown off. We only get to see our teachers 4 more times each. That makes me really sad because I really love my teachers and they are a huge resource for me. I'm going to be sad not only to not have that resource, but they are both amazing people as well and I'll miss them. That's what I've already discovered I don't love about the mission, but its a good opportunity at the same time. You meet so many people and you learn to love them. And then before you know it your time with them is over and you have to move on, and the saddest part is you'll probably never see or talk to a majority of them again, even though it felt like you went through a lot with them, and usually in the real world, people you go through that much with, are your friends for a long time since you stuck so much out together. But it's nice because you get to love and know so many people and you learn that it's what's inside a person. You can get along with anyone if you look for what's inside, at the part of that person that chose with their agency the same thing you did. It's funny how even though we know that as LDS's, we have a tendency to forget, to look at what annoys us instead of what we have in common. I know it took me a long time to love my teachers like I do. I only wish I could go back and change the days I didn't see how amazing they were, I could have gotten so much more out of the MTC than I did. But the thing is you can't go back and you can't spend forever wishing you did, so I have one week left to suck up whatever people have to teach me and learn whatever I can in this last couple days...and then I'm off to a new part of my mission. It's an exciting life. It's an emotional roller coaster. But it's worth it. You don't have to take an entire mission to realize that.

Oh and by the way, I'm going to be a baptizing missionary. Buahaha. I'll talk about our devotionals lately another time, but yeah, they keep telling us every missionary should be a baptizing missionary...so that's what I'm going to be. I'm bold. You all know that's a strength of mine :) so watch out Taiwanese people, you don't even know what's coming.

:P

Fu Jiemei.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Invitation Sunday: Kennewick Washington Mission Technique

Sister Sarah Ricker who is serving in a new ward the Candy Mountain Ward in the Kennewick Washington Mission shares a missionary technique called Invitation Sunday that drew in 33 visitors a couple of Sundays ago:

what else, we had like 33 visitors at church on Sunday, between our two wards. it was invitation Sunday, which means, across the whole mission, all the members were encouraged to reach out and invite their friends to come and see what our church services are like. i know what you’re thinking “visitors are always invited” and yes of course they are. but, it always helps to have a focus and a concerted effort. we pushed it hard. we even had the mayor come. it was great. my hope now is that they felt the Spirit that was there and have a desire to come back and feel it again. the talks were all centered around Jesus Christ all that He did for us, our Heavenly Father’s plan for us, the Book of Mormon, and of course, Jesus Christ and all that He continues to do for us. i was especially impressed with the youth, they really reached out and invited their friends.

When I was a missionary in the Toronto Canada Mission we did something similar as we would flood an area with a zone of missionaries and have them knock on doors inviting people to an open house or some other special church program. We would pass out flyers or small cards with the date and place and time. It can be a very effective technique when missionaries concentrate on inviting people in their areas out.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Outreach Services Missionaries: Wild Mountain Abroad (Blog of the Month)

What couple missionaries end up doing on a mission isn't always as mundane as what regular proselyting missionaries do. I came across a very fun mission assignment that a few senior couples are performing in the Copenhagen Denmark Mission and a few other European missions. I had never heard of a Outreach Services Missionary before I ran across the Wild Mountain Abroad blog that Belva and Carl Wilberg write. I especially like the idea and commend the mission president Douglas J. Olauson for his innovative style.

Sister Belva and Carl Wilberg play games with single adults as their missionary assignment. If you want to stay young and work with young adults many who are returned missionaries there are couple missionary assignments as game players in Europe available. The average cost of serving in Copenhagen is about $2,300 per month. They sell gas by the liter so it is nearly $10 a gallon. In all the major cities the mission president has outreach services missionaries assigned. They work at creating a fun place for members and non-members to gather and fellowship together. They organize activities and occasionally teach a class or two and sometimes even assist the regular missionaries.

Every weekday this Senior Outreach Missionary couple, leave their apartment at about 2:15 in the afternoon, and go to the Outreach Center for young single adults (18-30). There are many events everyday in the Center. The Elders and Sister missionaries teach the gospel to investigators. There is a pool table, a foos ball table, ping pong, a computer room, a kitchen for all kinds of treats, and small meals. The couple help out look out for the young adults and missionaries.

Missionaries use the centers to teach missionary discussions. It works out also with the older couple acting as chaperons so it doesn't matter if elders teach women or sisters teach men. A cool technique that is used in Copenhagen is guitar playing as a missionaries sometimes perform to warm up an investigator.

Sister Melva Wilberg likes what is being done in Copenhagen and wants the same program in Odense, a 1,000 year old town where she is serving: "This is Sister Lijenquist (a Sister Missionary) who used her BYU Spanish to teach a young Portugese boy- Danish. There are many quitars among us. There is one in every center and the Elders often bring their guitars with them. We're thinking about finding someone to teach guitar lesson here at our center. These centers are full of activities and great young adult leaders."

Sister Wilberg continues:

Every Tuesday, Elder Wilberg and I finish preparing a meal here for our Young Single Adults who come for Family Home Evening. Many of them come directly from school or work on their bikes or the bus and have not had time to go home before this event. We have a lot to learn about Danish spices, sauces, and where to find one valuable can of cream of chicken soup. Campbell's soup has not come to Denmark. I had forgotten how many times I use chicken broth, cream of mushroom soup, and other soups as a base for my recipes. How can you have "chicken delight" without Campbell's soup. We have made spaghetti, that doesn't taste like spaghetti,
taco soup that isn't spiced like taco soup, Saucy chicken with mayonnaise, cream of something soup (from the frozen section) on rice- that didn't resemble the original recipe. I have burned pizza, serve carrots soaked in water (everyone serves carrots in icy water here- they are very crisp), introduced rice crispie treats to a whole group of new "Danish Rice Crispie treat fans". Thank Heavens for marshmallows.

This is our Outreach Center. It has a new name. From now on it will be called the "Center for Young Adults." (or at least until they decide to change the name again). We gather down those stairs near the green sign.

I am redoing that sign with our new name and pictures that will invite people to come in to see what we are doing here. We go up and down those stairs almost every day with two lap top computers, our scriptures, every paper or notebook that we might need during our time here. We often bring treats, popcorn, always carrots, cucumbers, apples, and food for a meal every Tuesday for family night with the hungry Young Single Adults.

We have long conversations with people who drop by. We have planning meetings, guitar sessions, and have become acquainted with some of the nicest people that we have ever met here. I hope that we will be able to help the Center to grow. I would also like to find a little niche here to start a class of some kind. I love to teach. Maybe there is a Beginners Book of Mormon Class that needs to be started, or a "What to say to an Empty Journal" class that someone needs. Maybe I can find someone who would like to create family trees on Photo Shop or write their own life history. Does anyone want to come to Denmark to learn something new? We'll be ready for you.

I visited Copenhagen not too long ago and was surprised that so many people spoke English. You can actually get by without speaking Danish and most of them speak English since it is taught in the schools since the fourth grade. I am thinking if I don't go to the West Indies on a senior couples' mission I might want to consider going to a historic country like Denmark and hang out with some young adults. I probably could get by with a minimum of Danish. Check out the Wilberg's blog since the pictures are exceptionally well done and give you a feel for serving a similar type mission.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Domestic Violence Can Be Deadly or Being in the Right Place at the Wrong Time

I have really enjoyed reading the blog of the Arizona Phoenix Mission President Paul Beck and his wife. I have learned a few new techniques been uplifted by the fun pictures and read some very interesting things good and bad. For the most part it is a standard mission president's blog but every now and then a little something unusual happens. This event didn't make the Church News or any newspaper that I know of.

I guess serving in a hot desert like Phoenix can really rile up some people. I remember growing up in North Las Vegas which has a similar kind of terrain. We outdid Detroit for several years with our drive by shootings. I guess murder can happen anywhere. Police say that the number one perpetrator of murder is someone close to you and usually involves domestic violence. As a missionary I remember seeing a few investigators in arguments with their spouse or children and once or twice come to blows. Even missionaries know the gospel can really change lives. I remember how we worked with a former drug addict who had a marvelous transformation in this life where he went from having his wife almost divorce him to being born-again.

No matter how an investigator dies it has to be difficult for a missionary to see death at a young age. I remember the first time I encountered death was right before my mission when a kid I played on the soccer team dove off a rock at Lake Mead and broke his neck and died. I took it hard since you never suspect as a teenager that people near your age could die at any time.

A couple of sisters in November 2008 had a rather traumatic experience that didn't end as happily as my investigator's experience and happened while they were there:

In the Right place at the Wrong time....but they are well

Sister's Walker and Matthews had an experience they will probably never forget on their mission. They were teaching a discussion to a lady in her home where there was a domestic violence accident and someone was killed. It was a long day for them as they were questioned by police, since they were in the house when it happened. We brought them to the mission home where they got a late meal and a place to stay for the night. They were pretty shaken from the incident. We never found out what happened but we emergency transferred them the next day. These are the bears that they were given by the police that they clung to for comfort.

I definitely think this investigator knew she needed the gospel and was involved in a life changing event. No one can really predict what will happen and missionaries from time to time encounter danger situations I'm convinced none of them could predict this happening.

I am glad it turned out no one else lost their life and the sisters were preserved. I wonder if anyone thought to do the temple work for this investigator since she might very well have joined the church had she not met such an untimely demise. I wonder what the affect was on the sisters? How did the woman die? Was she electrocuted? Was she murdered? Have they had to testify against the guilty party or testify at an inquest? Did they have to have psychological counseling? My son and I saw a man die once in front us on the highway. We really have never gotten over it. It must be hard to adjust on a mission when something like this happens. It could also have made them stronger as you have to really think about the frailty of life when you see someone die. Also it is a cautionary tale of what can happen in a family situation when people don't live the gospel. It would be interesting if the mission president or his wife were to give us an update on what happened after.

Differing Levels of Being a Preach My Gospel Missionary: Possible Source of Mission Hierarchy

I think an interesting certification process being done in the Arizona Phoenix Mission makes a good discussion for today's blog. By examining it I am not calling in to question what is being done in a specific mission under inspiration, however, I am examining it in light of barriers to learning that some like myself experienced on a mission in the past and would if called in the future. Maybe for this mission at this specific time with the learning style of the learners it is an effective method. I don't know if it is transferable to other places nor if it comes from higher up.

I have often wondered the rationale of leaders for establishing ways of selecting people for positions. I was taught while working on a doctorate degree in education that it is basic human nature that someone will end up on top i.e. using marbles instead of money as source of barter. Even in learning we give respect to those who have advanced degrees or doctorates as being intellectually superior. I recently came across a mission that awards a missionary's mastery of the Preach My Gospel manual as being a way to separate the men from the boys. There are level 1, level 2, level 3, level 4, and level 5 Preach My Gospel Missionaries.

I don't fault the mission president since we come from a highly competitive society in the United States. In some countries they don't measure achievement with standardized tests like we do but have a more collaborative approach. I don't want to get in to the merits of both systems since there are pluses and minuses to each. In learning how to do a technical process the update method is considered superior. In an analytical process when you delve in to self-actualization and philosophical dimensions there is evidence for the Bloom Taxonomy. I only read the briefest of accounts so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say he is acting under inspiration and probably he does both in his approach.

When I was a missionary you had to know your Rainbow Discussions one hundred percent word perfect or you would have languished as a junior companion for your whole mission. I was very happy when they went to a more open form of learning where you could literally keep them open which took a lot of pressure off of missionaries. With the newer Preach My Gospel program missionaries now learn key concepts and can hit the mission on the fly. I was impressed that the leaders discovered that the Spirit was a better way to go with a simpler degree of memorization that concentrated on the first principles or basic principles of the gospel. It is not always clear that mastery of content means that a person can intuitively use what they know in real life applications.

I came across a mission that rewards missionaries for their level of proficiency in knowing the Preach My Gospel manual. In the Arizona Phoenix Mission they have five levels of proficiency. I am not sure of the requirements but I would have to assume it has to do with scripture mastery and rote memorization of the manual. If you have the ability to learn I think it is probably a way to get missionaries to continue to immerse themselves in the manual.

President Paul Beck writes:

In the mission we give our missionaries an opportunity to increase their knowledge of the scriptures and Preach My Gospel (an inspired study guide on how to preach the gospel). We have 5 different levels of recognition they receive on their path to being a Gospel certified missionary. We have had an increase of missionaries who are pushing themselves to receive their recognition. Three have reached level 5.

I think it is a very hard certification when only three missionaries can achieve the highest level. I think there must be something about achieving it and I am sure missionaries must be proud to receive their certificates at the various levels. What about those who can't? What must they feel?

I think all three of my daughters who have served missions would have had little problem getting to the top levels. I on the other hand would have probably gotten only the first or second level. I suspect that certification is tied to callings in the mission and I would have probably been a junior companion or maybe at best a co-companion since now it is more politically correct to make an elder or sister out over a certain period of time a co-companion so as not to demoralize them for the rest of their lives like I was.

I am sure since only three have been awarded the highest level there must be many at the 3, and 4 level who hold leadership positions. I wonder if there are any at the level 1 or level 2 that are district leaders, zone leaders, or assistants to the president.

I read the mission president's description of his calling where he says where much is given much is required. I feel for his particular mission this is probably an inspired program. As an adult educator who realizes though that a few will have learning challenges and even with a doctorate today I would still flunk out on rote memorization that a few elders and sisters will inevitably be at the bottom of the certification chain like me. In a few years when I go on a couple's mission I will check to make sure I don't serve in a mission where I would feel less than one of the best. Otherwise I will have to suck up my pride and admit kids a third my age are just plain intellectually superior which just might be the case.