Dear Family,
Anyway, Amy is going to be jealous of this next part. I got a free shirt :) We went and helped a group called Habitat for Humanities, they build homes for people and the labor is all voluntary. So we went and helped on Saturday. It was really great, we got the ground ready for sod and then laid the sod, and also painted one of the houses. It was nice to do some work like that.
No, I’m not getting transferred which I’m fine with cause I really love the people in Valdosta and the ward is just great. Time is just flying by, Last week on Wednesday was my 100-day mark of being set apart as a missionary. Really crazy how fast time has gone.
And I did receive your package and thank you for that. For Thanksgiving we are going to a family's house that we have been working with lately, it's going to be interesting because they are having ribs and chicken and that stuff. It'll be cool though. That family really loves us too. They treat us like family and always call us their "white" brothers and the mom Sabrina says that I now have a nappy haired black sister. They are a great family.
Sorry this is so short but I spent a lot of time emailing Eric. And nothing really cool or interesting really happened this week except for the service which I loved.
That's awesome that Amy gave a talk in sacrament I bet she did a great job. Sacrament was really good for me too. They talked about being thankful as well. Sister Lehman talked
about the five kernels of corn that the pilgrim would have on their plates and what it meant and I really liked it and she shared some really cool stories about it too. Yeah, it's pretty crazy that our
country has slid such a long ways from when the founding fathers did what they were doing to where we are now in regards to God. Very sad actually.
You all have a wonderful Thanksgiving too. I wish I could be there to celebrate it with you but that's just has to wait for two years. I love you and I know what I’m doing right now is where I’m suppose to be. I too am grateful for this chance I have to serve a mission. I am learning a lot about myself and my testimony. And I’m excited to see how far I will have come from the time I started my mission to the time I’ve finished. Take care and keep following God.
Love Elder Klingler
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
11-14-11
Dear Everyone,
My week was pretty great. The teachings are going pretty good. Sadly we found out this past week that King James just got put on probation for a year and so we have to push his baptism back until he is off of that. Part of that "restitution" process. He took a plea deal to help get his girlfriend out of jail and that said part is that he is innocent. Well that's what he says and I have every reason to believe him. On a happier note though, a guy named Ryan Jones, whom we have never before seen or heard of, came to church yesterday and is not a member. He investigated the church earlier but got deployed for the war. He is already in the book of Helaman and has a lot of questions that we will be answering. He seems like a pretty awesome guy and I'm excited to help him get to know God better.
I have no idea what I want for Christmas. I will think about it in the coming week long and hard and then I'll let ya know :) It's weird that Christmas is just around that corner.
Yeah, transfers are one the 23rd of this month. And as for how long companionship's stay together I have no idea. I think they are suppose to stay together for a couple of transfers and shouldn't be moved that often but they are getting a lot of new missionaries in the field and they need a lot of trainers so I'm thinking that I'll be in a new companionship next transfer but I honestly have no idea. I'm pretty sure there will be no snow in Valdosta. It is way to hot here. The other day I was sweating bullets, definitely not November weather. For Sunday school we go to the gospel principles class for the new members of the church and for investigators, it's pretty great. Which reminds me of a cool spiritual experience that I was able to be a part of.
Story Time:
Yesterday after church we were in this huge apartment complex for a lesson that Elder Nielson had planned for with a guy named Jackson. We thought for sure that he would be there cause he seems pretty solid but sadly he wasn't. In this complex is a member of the church named Sister Monroe. So we decided to go and knock on her door to see how she's been doing and to hopefully talk to her parents cause they aren't members. Anyway her parents weren't there but we talked to her for a bit and after a while of talking we got on the subject of prayer. She then went on a told us how right before we knocked on her door she just got done praying and asking if this was indeed the church that she was suppose to be apart of. Because she goes to church and takes her kids with her they don't get to spend any time with their grandpa cause he takes off to work right before the kids come home from school and Sundays are the only days that he could spend with the grand kids but they go to church so they don't get to have the relationship that she would like with him. But anyway so she was asking if this was where she should be and right when she closed we knocked on her door. Pretty awesome. I wish I could say that we felt a huge prompting to go over to her place but we didn't. Just our planned lesson fell through. Still pretty neat story and now I can say that I was apart of one of those cool stories :D
We are only assigned to one ward, so yeah I've made some great friends and I absolutely love the people in the ward. They are all so caring and wanting to do all they can to help the work move forward. There is a kid named Terrel Harris that is 19 and he is super cool. I just talked to him on Sunday about Oblivion: Sky rim and he told me of how amazingly epic it is. Part of me wishes this was my last area and not my first so that way i wouldn't have to wait so long after leaving the area to continue the friendship I have with the ward especially with Terrel ha ha. But I'll just have to get his email address and keep it for two years and hope he doesn't forget me :P
The Book of Mormon reading is going amazing! I absolutely love this sacred book. I'm in two places right now in my reading. I'm reading it in my personal study and am in Alma chapter 55 or somewhere around there and I love it. And then I'm reading it for a half hour or so right before bed because President Jensen has issued a challenge to all the missionaries to finish the Book of Mormon from start to finish by the end of the year and for that I'm in Alma 23 or so and just read about Ammon converting King Lamoni and Aaron is just about to teach the king of all the Laminates. Pretty exciting stuff.
This mission is a great experience for me and I'm loving being out here. I have had strong experiences that keeps letting my know that God lives, this is His church, and that he really does answer the prayers we ask for. I love you and I'll see you in a couple years.
Love Elder Klingler
My week was pretty great. The teachings are going pretty good. Sadly we found out this past week that King James just got put on probation for a year and so we have to push his baptism back until he is off of that. Part of that "restitution" process. He took a plea deal to help get his girlfriend out of jail and that said part is that he is innocent. Well that's what he says and I have every reason to believe him. On a happier note though, a guy named Ryan Jones, whom we have never before seen or heard of, came to church yesterday and is not a member. He investigated the church earlier but got deployed for the war. He is already in the book of Helaman and has a lot of questions that we will be answering. He seems like a pretty awesome guy and I'm excited to help him get to know God better.
I have no idea what I want for Christmas. I will think about it in the coming week long and hard and then I'll let ya know :) It's weird that Christmas is just around that corner.
Yeah, transfers are one the 23rd of this month. And as for how long companionship's stay together I have no idea. I think they are suppose to stay together for a couple of transfers and shouldn't be moved that often but they are getting a lot of new missionaries in the field and they need a lot of trainers so I'm thinking that I'll be in a new companionship next transfer but I honestly have no idea. I'm pretty sure there will be no snow in Valdosta. It is way to hot here. The other day I was sweating bullets, definitely not November weather. For Sunday school we go to the gospel principles class for the new members of the church and for investigators, it's pretty great. Which reminds me of a cool spiritual experience that I was able to be a part of.
Story Time:
Yesterday after church we were in this huge apartment complex for a lesson that Elder Nielson had planned for with a guy named Jackson. We thought for sure that he would be there cause he seems pretty solid but sadly he wasn't. In this complex is a member of the church named Sister Monroe. So we decided to go and knock on her door to see how she's been doing and to hopefully talk to her parents cause they aren't members. Anyway her parents weren't there but we talked to her for a bit and after a while of talking we got on the subject of prayer. She then went on a told us how right before we knocked on her door she just got done praying and asking if this was indeed the church that she was suppose to be apart of. Because she goes to church and takes her kids with her they don't get to spend any time with their grandpa cause he takes off to work right before the kids come home from school and Sundays are the only days that he could spend with the grand kids but they go to church so they don't get to have the relationship that she would like with him. But anyway so she was asking if this was where she should be and right when she closed we knocked on her door. Pretty awesome. I wish I could say that we felt a huge prompting to go over to her place but we didn't. Just our planned lesson fell through. Still pretty neat story and now I can say that I was apart of one of those cool stories :D
We are only assigned to one ward, so yeah I've made some great friends and I absolutely love the people in the ward. They are all so caring and wanting to do all they can to help the work move forward. There is a kid named Terrel Harris that is 19 and he is super cool. I just talked to him on Sunday about Oblivion: Sky rim and he told me of how amazingly epic it is. Part of me wishes this was my last area and not my first so that way i wouldn't have to wait so long after leaving the area to continue the friendship I have with the ward especially with Terrel ha ha. But I'll just have to get his email address and keep it for two years and hope he doesn't forget me :P
The Book of Mormon reading is going amazing! I absolutely love this sacred book. I'm in two places right now in my reading. I'm reading it in my personal study and am in Alma chapter 55 or somewhere around there and I love it. And then I'm reading it for a half hour or so right before bed because President Jensen has issued a challenge to all the missionaries to finish the Book of Mormon from start to finish by the end of the year and for that I'm in Alma 23 or so and just read about Ammon converting King Lamoni and Aaron is just about to teach the king of all the Laminates. Pretty exciting stuff.
This mission is a great experience for me and I'm loving being out here. I have had strong experiences that keeps letting my know that God lives, this is His church, and that he really does answer the prayers we ask for. I love you and I'll see you in a couple years.
Love Elder Klingler
Friday, November 11, 2011
11-7-11
Dear Everyone,
I am doing really well. And I'm glad to hear that you all or "all y'all" (as the people down here would say... ha ha) are doing great. It seems like Nate is always having back problems. I think we should just put him down... ha ha just kidding. And of coarse Zadok throat is hurting him. He can't be the one that doesn't have the undivided attention of mother. Wow, that is pretty neat for the Whitings. The Philippines, that's exciting. I'm super sad I missed Jay becoming an elder but I'm so happy that he has been ordained one and that he is making that progress in life. Please send me those pictures. I've gotta see my buddy as an Elder.
The baptism of Conner Chase went great. I talked about the Holy Ghost a little bit and he only had to get dunked once. He was confirmed a member yesterday I think he would've preferred to have it done next Sunday cause his mom wasn't there cause she had to work and she wasn't sure if she would get next Sunday off either so she told us to just go with it on Sunday so we did. There was also 2 baby blessings on Sunday and one of the babies cried into the microphone the entire time. Kind of funny but it was a short blessing so it wasn't so unbearable ha ha. King James is doing alright. A lot of problems have been sprouting up in his life and he hasn't come to church the past two weeks cause of that but he is living the Word of Wisdom and wants to improve is life. So I know that God will help him out with those things that are coming up.
I am extremely happy for Amy and Russell, congratulations! Tell mom to take you both out to eat, her treat! ha ha. And Isaac, that's why we are here. To learn how to improve ha ha.
Well based on past traditions this evening for Family Night I'm assuming you are going to talk about Conference and your favorite talk so I would like to participate and share we you mine. I really liked President Monson's talk Sunday Morning session titled "Stand in Holy Places" He says, Communication with our Father in Heaven - Including our prayers to Him and His inspiration to us - is necessary in order for us to weather the storms and trials of life. He goes on to say "Although the world has changed, the laws of God remain constant. They have not changed, they will not change. The 10 commandments are commandments not suggestions. they are every bit requisite (or required) today as they were when God gave them to the children of Israel." Our code of conduct is definitive; it is not negotiable and our Father in Heaven is the same yesterday today, and forever God is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity." What a comfort that is to me. Knowing that I don't have to worry about if what God commands us to do today will be the same commandment tomorrow. It's just great. President Monson continues his address saying "In this world where nearly everything seems to be changing, His constancy is something on which we can rely an anchor to which we can hold fast and be safe. It may appear at times that those out in the world are having much more fun that you are. Some of you may feel restricted by the code of conduct to which we in the church adhere there is nothing which can bring more joy into our lives or more peace to our souls than the spirit which can come as we follow the savior and keep the commandments. It is essential that we reject anything that does not conform to our standards, refusing in the process to surrender that which we desire most: eternal life in the kingdom of God.The works of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." What a great promise. He goes on to tell a story about how he came to know about the power of prayer when he was only 12, because of time I wont talk about his story but I will share one of my own, and how I know that God will always answer your prayer no matter how silly or ridiculous it seems to anyone else. I remember one time I was on top of our old rickety shed playing with my tech deck. I took it apart cause I wanted to change a wheel and one of the pieces fell out off my lap and rolled down the shed. It was a very important piece and I couldn't continue playing with my toy with out it. I searched for some time for it and then I decided to pray. I don't remember how old I was, I couldn't of been very old, maybe like 8-10 or something but I knew that I could pray for help. So I knelt down on top of the shed and asked for help in finding my toy. As soon as I said amen I looked up and the sun hit the wheel just right that is sparkled and I was able to continue playing it was a great experience and one I will never forget. Russell and I had an experience like that not too long ago either. Ask him about it. It's a good one. But I know that God can and will answer our prayers. I've known that for a very long time and that experience was the first one of many that just continue to strengthen my testimony. Anyway, President MonsonValdosta preaching the gospel to those that want to hear it. I'm thankful to all those that have helped me make this choice and i am eternally indebted to you. You know who you are and know that I love all of you. Till next week.
Love Elder Klingler
I am doing really well. And I'm glad to hear that you all or "all y'all" (as the people down here would say... ha ha) are doing great. It seems like Nate is always having back problems. I think we should just put him down... ha ha just kidding. And of coarse Zadok throat is hurting him. He can't be the one that doesn't have the undivided attention of mother. Wow, that is pretty neat for the Whitings. The Philippines, that's exciting. I'm super sad I missed Jay becoming an elder but I'm so happy that he has been ordained one and that he is making that progress in life. Please send me those pictures. I've gotta see my buddy as an Elder.
The baptism of Conner Chase went great. I talked about the Holy Ghost a little bit and he only had to get dunked once. He was confirmed a member yesterday I think he would've preferred to have it done next Sunday cause his mom wasn't there cause she had to work and she wasn't sure if she would get next Sunday off either so she told us to just go with it on Sunday so we did. There was also 2 baby blessings on Sunday and one of the babies cried into the microphone the entire time. Kind of funny but it was a short blessing so it wasn't so unbearable ha ha. King James is doing alright. A lot of problems have been sprouting up in his life and he hasn't come to church the past two weeks cause of that but he is living the Word of Wisdom and wants to improve is life. So I know that God will help him out with those things that are coming up.
I am extremely happy for Amy and Russell, congratulations! Tell mom to take you both out to eat, her treat! ha ha. And Isaac, that's why we are here. To learn how to improve ha ha.
Well based on past traditions this evening for Family Night I'm assuming you are going to talk about Conference and your favorite talk so I would like to participate and share we you mine. I really liked President Monson's talk Sunday Morning session titled "Stand in Holy Places" He says, Communication with our Father in Heaven - Including our prayers to Him and His inspiration to us - is necessary in order for us to weather the storms and trials of life. He goes on to say "Although the world has changed, the laws of God remain constant. They have not changed, they will not change. The 10 commandments are commandments not suggestions. they are every bit requisite (or required) today as they were when God gave them to the children of Israel." Our code of conduct is definitive; it is not negotiable and our Father in Heaven is the same yesterday today, and forever God is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity." What a comfort that is to me. Knowing that I don't have to worry about if what God commands us to do today will be the same commandment tomorrow. It's just great. President Monson continues his address saying "In this world where nearly everything seems to be changing, His constancy is something on which we can rely an anchor to which we can hold fast and be safe. It may appear at times that those out in the world are having much more fun that you are. Some of you may feel restricted by the code of conduct to which we in the church adhere there is nothing which can bring more joy into our lives or more peace to our souls than the spirit which can come as we follow the savior and keep the commandments. It is essential that we reject anything that does not conform to our standards, refusing in the process to surrender that which we desire most: eternal life in the kingdom of God.The works of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." What a great promise. He goes on to tell a story about how he came to know about the power of prayer when he was only 12, because of time I wont talk about his story but I will share one of my own, and how I know that God will always answer your prayer no matter how silly or ridiculous it seems to anyone else. I remember one time I was on top of our old rickety shed playing with my tech deck. I took it apart cause I wanted to change a wheel and one of the pieces fell out off my lap and rolled down the shed. It was a very important piece and I couldn't continue playing with my toy with out it. I searched for some time for it and then I decided to pray. I don't remember how old I was, I couldn't of been very old, maybe like 8-10 or something but I knew that I could pray for help. So I knelt down on top of the shed and asked for help in finding my toy. As soon as I said amen I looked up and the sun hit the wheel just right that is sparkled and I was able to continue playing it was a great experience and one I will never forget. Russell and I had an experience like that not too long ago either. Ask him about it. It's a good one. But I know that God can and will answer our prayers. I've known that for a very long time and that experience was the first one of many that just continue to strengthen my testimony. Anyway, President MonsonValdosta preaching the gospel to those that want to hear it. I'm thankful to all those that have helped me make this choice and i am eternally indebted to you. You know who you are and know that I love all of you. Till next week.
Love Elder Klingler
Saturday, November 5, 2011
10-31-11
Dear Everyone,
Happy Halloween to you too! I thought as a treat for you and everyone that reads this I will tell an appropriate story for today festivities.
The other day Elder Nielson and I went through our Area Book and pulled out a couple of people the missionaries before us had contacted and then dropped for whatever reason. We pulled out this guy and decided to go to his house and see if he was interested in hearing more. It was a little after eight and quite dark at this time but we knocked on his door and waited patiently. I saw someone peek through the blinds on the window and I waved. Shortly after a guy opens the door and we notice that he is holding something in his hand. After a closer inspection we realize that it was a gun. Not a little pistol or anything but like an assault rifle type gun. Quite intense. He was just holding it casually in his hand and then one of his friends come running to the door and pushes him away and comes outside to talk to us a little bit.
Pretty great story huh. It's a true story too. Honestly though, I didn't see the gun. I was too busy looking up at all the stars and what not. But the guy said that he thought we were going to rob them. I think that's a little crazy. Cause if we were going to rob them, I don’t think we would've knocked, or have been dressed in such nice clothes. Anyway, there is a nice Halloween story for you.
Congratulations to Jay! That's awesome that he is going to be an Elder! I'm so proud of him and the decisions he is making in his life. I wish I could be there to witness that but I’ll be there in spirit.
Wasn't Zadok a werewolf last year too? And I think the year before that . . . ha ha. Anyway that's neat. I guess if you find a costume you like why change huh.
Three months, that's crazy. Time is just going by fast. I've gotta step it up a notch in my work cause before I know it I’ll be home and my time to completely serve the Lord will be gone. Not that I’m not working hard right now, it's just that I’m not the missionary I want to be yet.
I will write to the ward hopefully today if I have time but next week if not.
We have a baptism on Saturday for a 11-year-old kid named Conner Chase. His mom is a recently reactivated member and he wanted to be baptized before we even started working with him. He lives with his dad which is out of our bounds and only goes to his moms over the weekends so it's been difficult to teach him everything cause we were only able to see him Sundays after church and Wednesdays before scouts but we did it. He was so nervous that he was going to fail the interview but after he came out he just looked so relieved and happy that he passed. James Howard (King James as I call him) called us this week and said that he will be getting baptized November 19th, he conversed with God and he felt like that is what he needs to do. We already committed him to that date but he said he wasn't sure. But now he is and I’m really excited for him. We talked to his mom on Friday I think it was and she was just so happy that we found him cause he has changed so much. We told her that she can have that change of life too and we would love to talk with her. She said she is busy but she is going to get the Restoration movie from King James and sit down and watch it. So hopefully we will get to teach her soon.
Well my time is running short, so I will bid you all farewell for the week. I love you all tons and I know that if we do what we are suppose to and with the right attitude God will bless us and make this life as awesome as it can be.
Love Elder Klingler
Happy Halloween to you too! I thought as a treat for you and everyone that reads this I will tell an appropriate story for today festivities.
The other day Elder Nielson and I went through our Area Book and pulled out a couple of people the missionaries before us had contacted and then dropped for whatever reason. We pulled out this guy and decided to go to his house and see if he was interested in hearing more. It was a little after eight and quite dark at this time but we knocked on his door and waited patiently. I saw someone peek through the blinds on the window and I waved. Shortly after a guy opens the door and we notice that he is holding something in his hand. After a closer inspection we realize that it was a gun. Not a little pistol or anything but like an assault rifle type gun. Quite intense. He was just holding it casually in his hand and then one of his friends come running to the door and pushes him away and comes outside to talk to us a little bit.
Pretty great story huh. It's a true story too. Honestly though, I didn't see the gun. I was too busy looking up at all the stars and what not. But the guy said that he thought we were going to rob them. I think that's a little crazy. Cause if we were going to rob them, I don’t think we would've knocked, or have been dressed in such nice clothes. Anyway, there is a nice Halloween story for you.
Congratulations to Jay! That's awesome that he is going to be an Elder! I'm so proud of him and the decisions he is making in his life. I wish I could be there to witness that but I’ll be there in spirit.
Wasn't Zadok a werewolf last year too? And I think the year before that . . . ha ha. Anyway that's neat. I guess if you find a costume you like why change huh.
Three months, that's crazy. Time is just going by fast. I've gotta step it up a notch in my work cause before I know it I’ll be home and my time to completely serve the Lord will be gone. Not that I’m not working hard right now, it's just that I’m not the missionary I want to be yet.
I will write to the ward hopefully today if I have time but next week if not.
We have a baptism on Saturday for a 11-year-old kid named Conner Chase. His mom is a recently reactivated member and he wanted to be baptized before we even started working with him. He lives with his dad which is out of our bounds and only goes to his moms over the weekends so it's been difficult to teach him everything cause we were only able to see him Sundays after church and Wednesdays before scouts but we did it. He was so nervous that he was going to fail the interview but after he came out he just looked so relieved and happy that he passed. James Howard (King James as I call him) called us this week and said that he will be getting baptized November 19th, he conversed with God and he felt like that is what he needs to do. We already committed him to that date but he said he wasn't sure. But now he is and I’m really excited for him. We talked to his mom on Friday I think it was and she was just so happy that we found him cause he has changed so much. We told her that she can have that change of life too and we would love to talk with her. She said she is busy but she is going to get the Restoration movie from King James and sit down and watch it. So hopefully we will get to teach her soon.
Well my time is running short, so I will bid you all farewell for the week. I love you all tons and I know that if we do what we are suppose to and with the right attitude God will bless us and make this life as awesome as it can be.
Love Elder Klingler
10-24-11
Hello Everyone,
We are teaching this guy named James Howard and his girlfriend Keisha. They both accepted to be baptized November 19th so that's exciting. Hopefully it'll work out. But this James fellow, I call him King James, not to his face cause he's Brother Howard but he is a giant! He makes me feel tiny. It's such a great feeling! ha ha. I think he is about a head taller than me and he probably weighs around 300 lbs. He is a great individual though and he is just great to talk to. Right now he is trying to gain custody of his one year old name Samej (James backwards, pretty epic) it's pronounced Se-ma-jay. Other than that nothing too interesting in the teaching pool. Oh so the other day, this story is just crazy, I never thought I would've done this ever in my life, anyway, the other day we were down in the south side of town going by a former investigator that other missionaries were teaching and on the way back we saw Brother Fillmore on the side of the road picking up pecans. Pecans are like currency to these people. I swear everyone spends their afternoons picking up pecans. Anyway so we pulled over to talk to him and see if we could set up a time when we could come by and talk with him. He was recently baptized about a year ago or so and hasn't been very active and was thinking about going back to his old church and we haven't been able to get in touch with him cause he works every chance he gets. But we helped him pick up pecans for about a half hour. It was interesting work. I got distracted about halfway through helping though cause I saw a huge ant hill and so I watched the ants work and I fed them some broken pecans. But yeah, never thought I would've ever spent a half hour on the side of the road picking up pecans’ ha ha.
Yesterday was the primary program for my ward and they did a really good job. The bishop had a primary kid say the opening prayer in sacrament and it was just super great. In his prayer he asked that everyone would stay alive until they died. I chuckled to myself and I’m sure if I was home with Eric by my side I would've completely lost it. But I held my composer because I’m a missionary. At the end of the program the Bishop said some remarks and he said something that I never really thought about. He said "Heavenly Father is all powerful and all knowing and he could havechosen any name or title to go by. But of everything imaginable he chose to go by the title of 'Father'" It just hit me super hard. Being a father is an extremely important role and has such a huge effect. Just something I thought I would share with you and anyone else reading this delightful message from me.
It's pretty neat to hear how Elder Nielson and I just walk into peoples lives at the exact moment they needed us. It's cool how our Heavenly Father works like that.
Well I think that is all that I wanted to say for this week. And if it isn't, it'll have to wait for next week cause my mind has run out of things to write. I love you tons family, and am so thankful for the privilege given to me to be a missionary for my Father in Heaven and to be able to go out and same some souls. Keep smiling and moving forward. The church is true and I know it.
Love Elder Klingler
We are teaching this guy named James Howard and his girlfriend Keisha. They both accepted to be baptized November 19th so that's exciting. Hopefully it'll work out. But this James fellow, I call him King James, not to his face cause he's Brother Howard but he is a giant! He makes me feel tiny. It's such a great feeling! ha ha. I think he is about a head taller than me and he probably weighs around 300 lbs. He is a great individual though and he is just great to talk to. Right now he is trying to gain custody of his one year old name Samej (James backwards, pretty epic) it's pronounced Se-ma-jay. Other than that nothing too interesting in the teaching pool. Oh so the other day, this story is just crazy, I never thought I would've done this ever in my life, anyway, the other day we were down in the south side of town going by a former investigator that other missionaries were teaching and on the way back we saw Brother Fillmore on the side of the road picking up pecans. Pecans are like currency to these people. I swear everyone spends their afternoons picking up pecans. Anyway so we pulled over to talk to him and see if we could set up a time when we could come by and talk with him. He was recently baptized about a year ago or so and hasn't been very active and was thinking about going back to his old church and we haven't been able to get in touch with him cause he works every chance he gets. But we helped him pick up pecans for about a half hour. It was interesting work. I got distracted about halfway through helping though cause I saw a huge ant hill and so I watched the ants work and I fed them some broken pecans. But yeah, never thought I would've ever spent a half hour on the side of the road picking up pecans’ ha ha.
Yesterday was the primary program for my ward and they did a really good job. The bishop had a primary kid say the opening prayer in sacrament and it was just super great. In his prayer he asked that everyone would stay alive until they died. I chuckled to myself and I’m sure if I was home with Eric by my side I would've completely lost it. But I held my composer because I’m a missionary. At the end of the program the Bishop said some remarks and he said something that I never really thought about. He said "Heavenly Father is all powerful and all knowing and he could havechosen any name or title to go by. But of everything imaginable he chose to go by the title of 'Father'" It just hit me super hard. Being a father is an extremely important role and has such a huge effect. Just something I thought I would share with you and anyone else reading this delightful message from me.
It's pretty neat to hear how Elder Nielson and I just walk into peoples lives at the exact moment they needed us. It's cool how our Heavenly Father works like that.
Well I think that is all that I wanted to say for this week. And if it isn't, it'll have to wait for next week cause my mind has run out of things to write. I love you tons family, and am so thankful for the privilege given to me to be a missionary for my Father in Heaven and to be able to go out and same some souls. Keep smiling and moving forward. The church is true and I know it.
Love Elder Klingler
10-17-11
Hello Everyone,
On Sunday a member of the Bishopric spoke about faith and the talk was really good. He talked about the parable of the Talents and likened it to faith instead of talents. It put on a whole new meaning of the parable for me when he did that. Really great. And we had a lesson on Tithing and the teacher shared an incredible experience he and his wife had when they first got married and how they had to make a choice between paying tithing and buying groceries. The spirit was really strong and I've made the decision to always pay my tithing first and not worry about whether I have the money for the other things.
The past couple of weeks Elder Nielson and I have been working with a couple of brothers named Demetrius, Anthony, and Antwon. We've had only a couple of lessons with Antwon cause he is still in school, but Demetrius and Anthony are super excited to hear about the gospel. We met them as we were just walking down the street one day and they were sitting on their porch talking. We went up to them and started talking about God and the restoration and they were really receptive. Later on we found out that right before we walked into them they were talking about how they needed to start going to church and changing their life around. Demetrius usually works on Sundays but a couple of days before we met them he asked his boss if he could get Sundays off so he could go to church. Pretty crazy how all of that happened BEFORE we even knew of their existence. But Demetrius and Anthony want to get baptized but sadly Anthony is going to have to wait for his probation to be done before he can get baptized. We haven't told him that yet but we will when we talk about the principles of the gospel especially the repentance part.
Well I can't really think of anything else that you would like to know. But how has the family been? How is everyone doing with their school work? Hopefully no one is procrastinating . . . haha who am I kidding, that's what we do :P What I should be asking is hopefully everyone is effectively procrastinating, and doing well in their school work.
I love you all, and am indeed grateful for the good example you have been and am thankful that I was able to have you in my life. May God bless you always, and may you always stand in holy places and be a good example and a light to everyone.
Love,
Elder Matt Klingler
On Sunday a member of the Bishopric spoke about faith and the talk was really good. He talked about the parable of the Talents and likened it to faith instead of talents. It put on a whole new meaning of the parable for me when he did that. Really great. And we had a lesson on Tithing and the teacher shared an incredible experience he and his wife had when they first got married and how they had to make a choice between paying tithing and buying groceries. The spirit was really strong and I've made the decision to always pay my tithing first and not worry about whether I have the money for the other things.
The past couple of weeks Elder Nielson and I have been working with a couple of brothers named Demetrius, Anthony, and Antwon. We've had only a couple of lessons with Antwon cause he is still in school, but Demetrius and Anthony are super excited to hear about the gospel. We met them as we were just walking down the street one day and they were sitting on their porch talking. We went up to them and started talking about God and the restoration and they were really receptive. Later on we found out that right before we walked into them they were talking about how they needed to start going to church and changing their life around. Demetrius usually works on Sundays but a couple of days before we met them he asked his boss if he could get Sundays off so he could go to church. Pretty crazy how all of that happened BEFORE we even knew of their existence. But Demetrius and Anthony want to get baptized but sadly Anthony is going to have to wait for his probation to be done before he can get baptized. We haven't told him that yet but we will when we talk about the principles of the gospel especially the repentance part.
Well I can't really think of anything else that you would like to know. But how has the family been? How is everyone doing with their school work? Hopefully no one is procrastinating . . . haha who am I kidding, that's what we do :P What I should be asking is hopefully everyone is effectively procrastinating, and doing well in their school work.
I love you all, and am indeed grateful for the good example you have been and am thankful that I was able to have you in my life. May God bless you always, and may you always stand in holy places and be a good example and a light to everyone.
Love,
Elder Matt Klingler
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