Monday, September 21, 2015

Trainer Trainee meetings and Rocky (How the Spirit works)

Hey Mom!

This past week has been alot of fun! We were able to see the new missionaries that came in this last transfer and also the missionaries that came in the transfer before that. It's so much fun to see them and watch their progress in spurts. The mission truly changes us quickly! This tuesday we had our "transferly" Doctrine of Christ and Trainer Trainee meetings. Tuesday morning started off great as we arrived at the building and beheld a marvelous sight. ALL of the carpet throughout the entire church was shredded and gone! Improvising in this situation was a must. With that slight change we ended up outside for our Doctrine of Christ meeting and it turned out nice. There were only a few minor set backs like the huge lawn mower that was going by during the training and the playground full of kids. It turned our great though. Trainer Trainee meeting turned out great as well. The relief society room was FULL of missionaries! We had a great time introducing one another and watching them interact with their new companions. Change occurs so quickly from day 1 to day 6! It's a sight to see. Overall the missionaries in the Yakima Mission are doing great!

This past week we have been able to continue working with Rocky. His progression is noticeable as well. The week before we weren't able to have to much interaction with him because of his schedule and he missed church. We weren't to worried because he is just a great guy. This week we were able to go by and visit him. I am not sure if I mentioned this in the past but he knows everything is true. He is waiting for him to feel comfortable with making that step of baptism. So we are nudging him along and he is making it there. Every time we go over and visit him the spirit is so strong. He is very receptive and wants to learn more. The other week he described his experience of fasting and how this peaceful and loving feeling came over him. He said "I don't think i received an answer but this is what I felt." Elder Smith and I took that opportunity to teach him about the spirit and how it works with us through thoughts, feelings, and impressions. "Promoting us to do good and to serve God." When we go and see Rocky it's always such a spiritually uplifting experience. We know he will be in the water sometime soon. I will let you know!

Love, 
E. Archibald

Peppermint Patties

The Things You Learn on Missions: How to Eat York Peppermint Patties!

2015-9-17 at mission home (6)When I was in high school we’d go “sparking” after dances.  It was all big talk, like we were off to do something naughty.  In reality, we’d take rolls of CERTS breath mints, go into a dark place and bite them with our back teeth.  They’d make a flash of sparked light in your mouth in the dark.  That was it.  Sparking.
Well, I’ve learned a new trick.  Elder Archibald has taught me how to eat York Peppermint Patties. We keep a stash of candies in our kitchen drawers for the missionaries.  The York patties are the favorites right now (caramels and Starburst disappear pretty fast too).
So, did you know that if you break a peppermint patty right next to your ear, you can hear it sigh??  Yep.  It makes a delightful sound that will make you smile.  Try it.  2015-9-17 at mission home (3)   2015-9-17 at mission home (4)   2015-9-17 at mission home (5)2015-9-18 Elders Smith & Archibald (1) 2015-9-17 at mission home (7)   2015-9-17 at mission home (8)  2015-9-18 Elders Smith & Archibald (3)We are getting so smart here in Yakima!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Welcoming New Missionaries-a lot of work behind the scenes

From "The Washington Yakima Mission" Blog

 

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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Monday's are CRAZY but FUN!




From "The Washington Yakima Mission" Blog
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Monday Morning Transfers

This morning after taking Elder Jarman to the airport, we had our office meeting to carefully go through the transfer plans.  There is an unbelievable amount of work that goes into an event like this week’s transfer.  We have 26 new missionaries arriving and only one leaving, so departures will be easy tonight and in the morning.  Our departing Elder Wright will board the plane the arriving missionaries come in on tomorrow morning. Then the fun and crazy times will begin.
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We have been working hard to secure housing in 12 new areas:
Yakima Central Spanish (Sisters)
Yakima 3rd Ward, Selah 2nd Ward
Selah 2nd Ward (Sisters)
Ellensburg 1st & 3rd Wards
Toppenish West 1st & 2nd Wards Spanish
Hood River Spanish (Sisters)
Wenatchee Columbia Hills Ward
Chelan 2nd Ward (Sisters)
Moses Lake 6th Ward
Moses Lake 9th Ward Spanish
Ephrata 2nd Ward
Oroville Ward
It’s not just “securing housing” –it’s building bunk beds (thank you to Elder McBean and Brother Simonian!), getting sheets, blankets and pillows, furniture, supplies, money cards, for the missionaries to put their money on, phones for each companionship, and figuring out transportation in each area.  We have some new cars being sent to the mission, but they won’t arrive for a few more weeks, so we have to figure out walking and biking areas and sharing vehicles.  In several areas we are doubling up missionaries in existing apartments or homes.  Many of our missionaries live in member homes.  There is a lot to consider with every change.


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Sister Thompson and President Lewis are reviewing new housing areas:

















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Pears picked fresh from Elder Ray Smith’s orchards:














2015-9-7 (19) Elder Thompson keeping car reports straight:








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2015-9-7 (33)Sister Thompson keeping track of landlords and finances:











Mail ready to distribute to the missionaries at the transfer meeting




New phones to charge and program:








Orientation packets for new missionaries:



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Meanwhile, back at the mission home, food prep is underway.  Tonight we’ll take Elder Wright out to dinner for his final meal and then serve breakfast in the morning. Tomorrow we’ll have a big lunch and dinner, then breakfast and lunch Wednesday morning.  We’ve been shopping and preparing delicious food.  The house smells wonderful.  You’re going to want my apple cake recipe!

Elder Wright has just arrived.  We are off to our evening activities with him!














Roselynne and time flies when your having fun

Hey Mom!
This week was awesome! Flew by. Sorry they just keep getting away from me. It's unfortunate! I think it's just the huge amount of work that has to be done! That's a good thing! This week has been loaded with meetings and preparation for this upcoming transfer. We are so excited to welcome 26 new missionaries to the Yakima Mission tomorrow! It's incredible as we plan to receive them and prepare the mission with all the new areas. You never really know how much goes on behind the scenes in a mission until you sit in the meetings with President Lewis. It's so exciting! 
This last week we had our MLC and it turned out great! The Lord blessed us with a powerful training on teaching simply. As we prepared the training we were referencing from talks and PMG trying to find what would be right. We kept coming back to our need to teach simply enough that a child could understand and act on the message. We had the bright idea to bring a 10 year old kid to MLC and have people role play in front of the whole group of missionaries to teach the value of the principle. We started the training by "ranting" about complex things. Elder Smith talked about his music mixer and the different effects it has and how it alters the music. He was a DJ, I don't know if I told you that yet. As he concluded he mentioned his speaker system and that was my cue. I "ranted" for a few minutes on sound systems and how much power was needed to get a good sound. In other words we confused them with whatever we were trying to explain. Teaching simply is often times the only way others are able to feel the spirit. Simple and clear doctrine brings simple and clear understanding. This is where the child came in. After we role played a few times on teaching the Restoration simply with our companions they then had to demonstrate by teaching Robert. It was such an incredible experience and we couldn't have had a better child participant! He had such profound answers to the missionaries questions. He was so good!
This week we have been able to work with a lady named Roselynne. She is by far the funniest investigator I have ever had! Just a joy to be around. She is originally from Alabama and is in her later years. We go over and teach her on her porch every thursday and she just makes our day. This last week we went over and shared a little about the plan of salvation before we had to leave and she loved it. She said she would work us over with questions when we came back this upcoming week. That is just a quick note about her. Hopefully I will have more time to write more next week. 
Things are going great! Elder Smith and I are doing fantastic and he is just hilarious. Life is just fun! What makes it fun? That's a good question. I'll get back to you on that.;)
Love you all!
-E. Archibald

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Missionary Leadership Council September 1

From "The Washington Yakima Mission" Blog
Today we had our second Yakima Mission MLC here at the mission home.  People often ask me how I like mission life, imagining it must be so hard.  I don’t want to make anyone feel bad, but the thought that always goes through my mind is “this is like being on the best vacation EVER!”  It’s like being on a Church Vacation.  Imagine associating with the best people you know every single day in a beautiful place, with excellent people and excellent conversations and gatherings.  We spend our time being happy with others who are happy.  We plan events and prepare food and we try hard to be nice to everyone.  What isn’t to love about this life we are living here in Yakima?? Today was another fabulous day.  We met with our 26 Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders, who traveled here from all over the mission.  They arrived this morning at about 9:30 and by 10:00 we got started.  I love it when the mission home is filled with love and goodness and excited happy missionaries.  I wish everyone could just be here to feel it.
 Then Elders Smith and Archibald did a really fun training on using simple, clear messages. They started by teaching us a very technical something about speakers and woofers and sound equipment that none of us understood.  (I think Elder Smith was a DJ in a previous life.)   We talked about Alma 13:23 and Jacob 4:13, and teaching in plain terms.  They explained, “confusion hinders conversion.”  So then we practiced teaching the Restoration lesson very simply and clearly in 30 seconds, then in 2 minutes to practice being clear and concise. Then they brought in a 10-year-old boy named Robert and had companionships practice teaching him in a way that he could understand it.  It was a wonderful training. They concluded with these points:
1.  Use simple statements of truth
2.  Adapt to their level of understanding
3. Teach doctrine, not opinion
4. Use scripture
5. Ask simple questions
6. Leave on a spiritually high note
























Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Yakima Mission zones and chocolate chip cookies

From "The Washington Yakima Mission" Blog
There are 9 Zones of missionaries in our new Yakima Mission.  Each Zone is responsible for a certain area and has 10-14 or so Elders and Sisters..  We’ve spent the last 8 days visiting these Zones all over the mission.  We’ll get to the last one next week.  We’ve been spending an entire day with each Zone, getting to know these fabulous missionaries.   While President Lewis interviews each, I get to visit with their companion and learn about their families and loved ones at home, a bit about their lives before they came, what led to their decisions to serve a mission, and anything else I can think of asking.  We visit with each for about 45 minutes, and we bring homemade cookies!  Wow, this has been an incredible week or so getting acquainted.  I am overwhelmed with the goodness of the missionaries serving here.  We could not have hand-picked a better group of young men and women.  If only each of you could hear their stories!Here are the names of the Zones in our Yakima Mission:
Yakima
Selah
Wenatchee
Moses Lake
Ephrata
Othello
The Dalles (Oregon)
Cascade (all Spanish-Speaking)
Yakima Valley (all Spanish Speaking)
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Ray Carranza

Hey mom!
Writing a letter on Wednesday kind of throws off the entire email for the following Monday haha. Sorry if this is going to be pretty short. 
 
This last Saturday we were able to see Ray Carranza enter the waters of baptism. It was an incredible walk with him as he came to learn of his true potential as a son of God relying on our savior Jesus Christ. He has such strong faith! In spite of all the lack of support from his family he still invited all of them to his baptism and they attended. It was great to see them there. You could tell he was a little nervous to have them there but it was worth it. The spirit was so strong and you couldn't help but feel it throughout the whole experience. It was an incredible weekend to be apart of. Brother Carranza is going to be a great member of the church. The incredible truths that he learned about God and himself are just seeds that will continue to grow and bear fruit. We are so excited for him! 
 
Sorry I said it was going to be quick! 
I will get you a better one next week! 
 
Love you!
E. Archibald