Thanks Mom video JJ and Lavanda and Raph

Hey family!
This week has been great! We have been booked with a ton of meetings.
From stake conference to zone meeting just meeting meeting meetings
haha. I think the motive for all of those meetings were for us to
realize the work is hastening. The work is truly changing and more and
more people are accepting the gospel. At times we can't really see it
because we are looking from the inside out but from the outside in...
Whew!

When I say more people are accepting it I mean it. We currently are
serving in two different wards and so we have our plates full. The
Cascade Park Ward which is a family ward is incredible! Everyone wants
us to go teach some of their friends and always have people they want
us to try by. That area has three people on date for baptism right now
as well. Two of those are Jj and Lavanda Jones. They are ex convicts and
are so spiritual. We just recently started teaching them and we
invited them to be baptized and they accepted. They are just eating up
everything we have given them and they continue to want more. It's
incredible! We were able to take them to the temple visitors center
and to tour the grounds and it worked out so well. Jj and Lavanda
couldn't help but feel the spirit consistently and the thing that
amazed me is that they recognized it. They are so knowledgeable. The
member asked Jj why Moroni was on top of the temple and he said that
he was proclaiming a message to the world that this is where "it's"
at. It was amazing. That's not all. The member was being gutsy and
asked him who performed one of the first things by proxy. Jj said
Jesus Christ. I never thought of it that way until just then and it
blew me away. At that moment I could see Jj's potential. At least a
little bit of it. Maybe God grants us little specs of that information
or little flashes of his view and it takes us back. Luckily we get to
see Jj and Lavanda tonight! It's going to be great. We are teaching
the plan of salvation.

Another cool story is of Raph Garza. He is about 20 years old and he
was on the edge of atheism. He is taking philosophy in college and he
knows that that isn't the path to go. We continued to meet with him
until he received an answer in such a weird way. He related to all of
this philosophical terms that I had no idea the meaning of but he
knows that the Book of Mormon is true and has began sharing it with
his family. His dad met with us last week and at first he was
skeptical until we described to him how everything fits into God's
scheme perfectly. If God's love is real, He wouldn't leave us here
alone. He has such a bigger plan for us. He is now reading the Book of
Mormon and meeting with us this next week.

Being a zone leader is a lot of fun but stressful at the same time.
Lots of responsibility and lots of things going on but it's good. It's
almost been a whole transfer since I've been called. Time flies when
your having fun! The cd is awesome! I'm probably going to be listening
to Christmas music for the next month straight because my companion
loves it. Haha thank you!
Love,
E. Archibald

JJ and Lavanda Jones and Ralph the philosopher

Hey mom!

 

I bet it's starting to get a little cold back there. It's starting to cool off up here as well and we are starting to wear our jackets to protect us from the cold and the rain. More the rain than the cold though. It's been raining for the past couple days. At first lightly and then heavy. I enjoy it sometimes just because we have a car. 

This past week has been incredible. We have had a few miracles in the YSA ward and the Cascade Park Ward as well. We have been asked to cover two wards because we are low on missionaries at the moment. Kind of sounds weird since we are almost at 90,000 missionaries. But this week we met with JJ and Lavanda Jones. They recent have gotten married and are looking for some direction. Luckily we stumbled upon them and started teaching them. This last time we saw them we were able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and invite them both to be baptized in the beginning of December. They accepted! They also came to church this last week as well. From what they've said they already believe what we teach them already. We're just waiting for them to realize how everything plays together. We have the opportunity to go to the temple with them this Friday. It's going to be great!

In the YSA ward we are teaching a few guys that are the same age as us and at first it was different. Now it's a lot of fun! We are teaching this guy named Ralph and he is so smart. Going to school for philosophy and has a different way of looking at things obviously. So recently we have been trying to teach him as simply as possible so that he has the correct principles understood and in his mind. In other words he likes the deep doctrine. He recently received a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. And he is now planning to be baptized on the 22nd of this month! 

The work is great and I love the new calling. We are always flying around doing something and going to meetings. But it had been great to serve. 

 

Thank you for the shoes and socks. The socks are stellar! Good upgrade mmmm. 

 

Thanks for all that you guys do! We will talk to you in a week!

E. Archibald 

With great power comes great responsibility.

Ralph Garza and new companion Elder Aguirre

Hey mom!

This last week has been extremely busy but awesome at the same time. Because we are working in the YSA ward we specifically teach guys our age. It's been great to work with them because we get a variety of lifestyles and one similarity we share is the gospel and that's where we come in. It's so exciting to see when they get the message and apply it into their busy lives. 

Right now we are working with a lot of YSAs but one specifically sticks out right now. His name is Ralph Garza. He is a Hispanic guy that has a Christian background but was anti at first. He has been taking the lessons for a while and got closer and closer to baptism until his parents talked him out of it. So last week we went over and taught him about the Tree of Life, explaining the great and spacious building and the mist of darkness that surrounds all when trying to find God's love through the scriptures. He must of understood because the next day he texted us. He had read the chapter we left him and he knew it to be true. He wants to be baptized. 

I've only been here for two weeks but things are going great! We recently had stake reports due for the stake missionary meeting and that was stressful because I did not know what to expect. Luckily my companion had done it before so it wasn't that big of a deal. The zone is doing fantastic and we are just getting started in the transfer. 

It's amazing to see how many people are open to hearing more about the gospel these days. It is another witness that you never know when people will accept the invitation to meet with the missionaries or go to an activity at the church. Extend the invitation and the worst that can happen is them saying no.

I got a package! Thank you Brynn! These oils are awesome and I was in dire need for some more. You are spoiling me! Elder Aguirre is my companion now. He is really into fitness and 'more' fitness so we get along pretty well. We lift weights every morning and I'm starting to get a skinny again. Haha it's nice but we are able to work really well together when we teach and train the zone. 

God truly does answer prayers. When we have real intent and a desire to act upon whatever he receives of with the answer. John 15:16

Love you!

E. Archibald 

This is me and Elder Burk. We had an opportunity to go on exchanges this last week. He was my second companion and it was great to catch up and preach the gospel together!

With great power comes great responsibility.

"It's All About That Book" video

Hey mom!

Sorry I have been really busy this last p day. I will write a big one next week. I do need a few things though. Sorry I feel needy haha but could you send me some insurance info on the email and through the mail? I need that ASAP. And I forgot my pin for my debit card so that is in the mail and will arrive soon. Could you email me that as well. So one more thing sorry again I was wondering if you could mail me a few things from home. My black sunglasses, and my micronized glut amine bottle that is downstairs. That's if it's still there haha. The first two are the most important. 

" Its All About That Book"  Click here the video is on youtube if you want to see it.

The video is great I know! Like I said I will write a bunch more next week. I've been preparing for multiple trainings and meetings every week. The work is amazing and The Lord is also. Thank you for all that you guys do for me you are seriously the best! Love you!

E. Archibald 

With great power comes great responsibility.

Moving Onward and Upward as Zone Leader in Clark YSA Ward

Hey mom!

The week has been crazy! You will see in the pictures this week a lot
of families and close friends in the ward. The reason for that is
that I am getting transferred to a new area. I'm going to the Clark
YSA ward as a zone leader. It's been crazy to see the escalation of my
leadership. One transfer I was a dlb or district leader buddy and then
to district leader then straight to zone leader. It's so much fun to
serve in leadership because you really get to know the missionaries
serving around you as you try to serve them and help them become
better missionaries. I've learned so much these past couple of months
and I can't wait to learn more.

It's been great serving in the Columbia Heights Ward for the past 4
and a half months. The ward here is great and had a huge impact on the
success that we saw these past few months.

At the moment we are getting our investigator Roger ready for his
baptism not this weekend but the next. He has come such a long way
from when I first met him. Now he is ready for baptism and asking me
to baptize him. I was shocked at first because we usually have the
members of the ward baptize the investigators so they have a tie into
the ward but he wants me to do it. I'm pretty excited to have the
opportunity.

This week on Wednesday I was able to see Meet the Mormons with some
other missionaries at the mission office and it was great. I really
loved the football portion and the pilot one. So many inspirational
people that are Mormons! It's great and I think that there will
continue to be more and more as we follow the advice of the prophets
and apostles by reaching our true potential.

A little bit about general conference. It was awesome! It's like a
movie marathon for me. So much inspiration just flying out of their
mouths. I particularly liked Elder Hollands talk on serving the poor
and the atonement. He always just blows it out of the water.
So I'm saying goodbye to Columbia Heights and welcoming the YSA!

Till next week!
Love,
Elder Archibald

I think this dogs name is Tishi. Such and awesome little dog that is a puffball.

Lynn Barnett & Neva Swatzel--Ghost Burger

Hey mom!

This week has been an incredible one! Lynn Barnett was actually
baptized not this last weekend but the weekend before. There is a
pretty cool story behind the whole situation. She was planning on
getting baptized about three weeks ago but ended up getting pushed
back a week because her son actually didn't know anything about it. We
called him not knowing that he didn't know and asked him if he was
planning on doing the ordinance and he called us back and was shocked
because he had no idea that his mother was even meeting with us. So we
ended up meeting with him and found out there are some negative
feelings in their relationship. So it was an interesting process of getting
everything set up. So her son actually was able to do the baptism.

And it was an awesome baptism. There were
about 60 people there and the refreshments were fantastic.

This week we met with this one woman who had been raised by members
but was never baptized and she told us this interesting story about
her life. It made me realize that as we talk to a lot of different
people, they tell us these bizarre stories that
normally a person wouldn't hear about. But when we come around they
end up telling us almost everything it seems. I think it's really the
Spirit that we are granted as we do this work that enables us to get
personal with these people that causes them to open right up to us all the time
and it's incredible.

Today I took on the challenge from Fred. I was to eat
the ghost pepper burger at Burger Bungalow. And I did it. I ate this
huge burger and a pile of fries in less than ten minutes. It was by
far the hottest burger I've ever had. I have some pictures that I will
send next week or this week i will see. But trying to play basketball
after that was a excruciating experience.

Won't be doing that again  anytime soon.
Love you all!
E. Archibald

This first picture is of an investigator Neva Swatzel. She is 91 years
old and still extremely happy and full of energy. She loves the
missionaries!

How to Survive High School

Hey mom hopefully you get this before seminary is over.

How to survive high school. Hmmm high school is an awesome place to have a lot of fun. I had a ton of fun in high school but there is a fine line between fun and dumb. Sometimes when your dumb it is fun but soon after you act dumb you look back and say what the? That was pretty dumb idk why I acted like that. This example can be used in many ways. The way I see it is, make your mind up now what you want to accomplish in high school. What do you want to get out of school? Once you have decided what that is, think of things that benefits you in the long run. I was a social bird and that benefited me very little in the field of education. I still learned stuff but I could have learned so much more! The decisions you make now will effect your future. Go to work! I almost graduated 2 years ago! That's wild.

 

A lot of the time we see that we have the luxury of repentance or spiritual blessing but we don't really strive for them like we should. It's just like Elder Dieter Uchtdorf spoke on. "Your potential, your privileges" we have unknowable potential. Through our Savior Jesus Christ we are supers of the human world. Really! We have the "opportunity" to become like God! We know this. Now act on it. 

 

Try this next time you have a hard assignment. Get your homework out and then your scriptures. Say a prayer and start doing your homework. If you come to a wall, flip open the scriptures and read a few verses with the question in mind. The answers might now be found in the text but they are in your head. The Spirit will reveal it unto you. 

 

I know that my Savior lives and that through Him we are not only cleansed from sin but able to become the best sons and daughters of God we can imagine. I know that Joseph Smith restored Christ's gospel again on the earth in its fullness. I encourage all to find our for themselves if this is true if you haven't already. It's changed my life and will continue to do so as I serve. 

 

You guys are awesome! 

PRIESTHOOD LOVE! 

E. Archibald