Zone meetings, NGI's, and Sharon Jones

Hey family! 

Elder Williams and Matthew

This past week has flown! It's crazy how I hit a year this week. It's been a good one and it's going to be interesting to see if I've changed very much. I'm going to be reading a few journal entries from the beginning of my mission and see where I'm at. This next year I will be video logging each month on my camera so that when I'm done with my mission I will hopefully and about 12 25 min videos of me talking about people and I will see how far I have come. 

This past week we had our zone meeting with our really young zone. Everyone that we train are below 8 months except the APs. Elder Williams and I are so excited for this next transfer. We have a lot of obedient and hard working elders and sisters. Something new that we have been pushing is called and NGI. An NGI is a new statistic that we came up with that is a new investigator invite. Where we invite our new investigator to baptism on the first lesson so that we will be covering all the aspects of the work. Inviting to baptism, teaching lessons, finding, and setting the expectation in one statistic. It's pretty awesome we think. Hopefully it will work out. 

I had the opportunity to train the zone on our identity. I pulled some scriptures firm doctrine and covenants 138 about how there were noble and great ones before we came to earth and that we received our first lessons so that we could bring salvation to those of the world. It's really interesting because a cross refernce was made to Abraham 3 where it talks about how there were noble and great ones and that God stood among us and said, "these will I make rulers..." And that he saw that we were good. That reminded me of the earths creations and that when everything was the way God wanted it says that they is was so or good. God thinks the world of us. He loves us and knows us all so well. I know this because imagine the war in heaven and how a third of the host of heaven was cast out. God prepared all of those children as much as he prepared us and to see them rebel and us fighting for God really must have meant something. I know it did. 

Right now we are teaching Sharon jones. JJ and lavaughnda jones mother. She is eating the gospel up. She is on date for the 21st of February and wants her son to baptize her as well. It's been incredible to think that about a month ago Jj and LaVaughnda were just baptized and 3-4 months ago they were on their driveway smoking and drinking. The gospel changes our desires and sanctifies even the most troubled or dirty soul. I know that this is true and that it is because of our savior Jesus Christ. That through the Book of Mormon we can know almost all the mysteries of God. That he speaks today just as he did a couple thousand years ago. I love you and hope the next week is full of fun. Have a great week.

E. Archibald

Being a Zone Leader

Just to answer the questions you asked. Before I do that I just want to say that I always read your letters. If I didn't get one I would kind of be a little down because it's nice to get an update on everything awesome in the family. 

The holidays make it harder to do missionary work. People are usually open but it gets to cold to teach on doorsteps so that's kind of a downer but people are always receptive to the gospel message but it just depends on how in tune to the spirit you are and how good of a missionary you are. 

Being a zone leader is a lot of fun. We get to have stewardship over a group of missionaries about 16-24 missionaries. We a responsible to follow up with the district leaders so that they are empowering the districts or their people because the district leaders are more involved with the individual missionaries. We also get to go to a meeting which is called MLC which is a meeting for the leadership of the mission where we receive instruction on what our zones need and what to train them on. It's a lot of fun. We do a number of things that really put me out of my comfort zone but it's good because I learn so much. We also go in leadership exchanges with all the missionaries throughout the stake to help them with their work and how to be more efficient. It's an awesome opportunity. I love it. 

And I also love your letters.

Any other questions?

E. Archibald

Raph Garza and Janathan Bourlan Feeling Your Prayers

Hello family! 

 

It was great to see all of your smiling faces this last week! It's crazy to see how many of you have changed and get so big as well. Thanks for being the most awesome family out there. Couldn't do it without you all!

 

This week has been great! The weekend before Christmas we had a baptism for Raph Garza. We have been teaching him for about 4 1/2 months now and it's been an awesome journey. I've really seen the change within him as he got to this amazing stage of his life. That's really what is the most incredible thing we can experience in this life. Becoming better or rising up. That time when we can look back and see how much we have changed is such a blessing. Or it can be. That's why it is so important to make the correct decisions because we are always changing, always going in one direction and if we aren't going forward, we are going backward.

 

Sorry for the delayed message from the previous week. Time just always gets its way with me. There is never enough it seems. But this week is transfer week. My companion Elder Aguirre is going to the north stake with one of our good friends Elder Brasher. They are going to be zone-leaders up there and they are going to do great! Luckily I get to stay in the best zone in the mission! Ya buddy! I'm getting an Elder named Elder Williams. He is going home soon (like two to three transfers soon) so I might be in this area for a few months buts that's fine with me because I love the YSA. I get to work with peers and the work is a lot more fun. I've learned a ton while I've been here and am pumped to continue on the learning train. 

 

We have been experiences some pretty cool things this past week. We are meeting with Jonathan Bourlan and he is a good guy. One of those guys that are really sincere and could benefit a ton from the gospel. We were able to commit him to baptism this past week for the 14th of February. Please pray for our investigators! Have miracles ceased? Nay, they have not. 

 

Thank you for all of your support so far and prayers. I can feel them. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but there was this time when I was writing in my journal a week or two ago. And randomly I felt like someone was praying about me or for me. It is something hard to explain but I could just feel it and I can't explain how appreciative I am of that. I've been learning a lot which means I had learning experiences and because of those prayers I've become better and risen up a little higher each time. 

The love is real. 

The support is real. 

God is real. 

I love it! 

 

Special shoutout to Makayla! It was great to see you over the break! I hope basketball gets better and your team sees some more success even if it's not shown in wins. Enjoy high school when you can. It comes and goes and then your almost 21 and you are scared of what's next. Make the best of what you've got in front of you. Looking back is bitter like a pillar of salt. Haha you got me? 

Love you family! 

E. Archibald

The Elect are prepared and waiting

Hey family!

This past week has been incredible! We have recently fasted as a mission, with the wards included, for baptisms. That we might be able to find the elect and baptized 100 people this month. Its been incredible to see all the miracles that are coming as we all put our faith into one large bucket that is dispensed out to the area of this mission. People are finding their way to the truth! That is exactly what it is. Plain truth that makes complete sense. That is what JJ and LaVaughnda said the last time we met with them for a lesson.

"The truth that was brought back by Joseph Smith completes and perfects everything. There is so much more in the Mormon church than any other church. All the other churches compared to the truth is like a snack compared to a thanksgiving dinner." It truly has been incredible to see their progression as they continue to learn more. Ever since the beginning of meeting with JJ and LaVaughnda I've been impressed with how much they knew. They are well versed in the bible and have a strong relationship with God. I think there is a word for that..... ELECT!! It's been amazing.

Saturday morning the alarm goes off. And Boom! I'm out of bed ready to take on the world. The thought that was going through my head was, " we have an exciting day ahead of us and it's got to be perfect!" All day Elder Aguirre and I prepared everything. Made sure everything was set up and the font was filled. Funny thing about that actually. When we were filling the font we had to get a huge pot from the kitchen and fill it will hot water to fill the font. So we were carrying this huge bucket of water down the hallways to the font because it wasn't going to be filled in time. Luckily that ended up working out and the everything was ready.

The service started out great and the talk was even better. Then it was time for the baptism and as we stood up the nerves kind of set in but it wasn't really nerves. It was excitement. As we approached the doors you could just feel the Spirit growing stronger and stronger. Elder Aguirre stepped into the font first and then JJ followed. Elder Aguirre raised his hand and the prayer was uttered. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Where for a split second I could feel the love that our Heavenly Father has for these two children of His. I've been with them as they overcame challenges and prepared themselves. All this hard work, I felt like I could feel their relief, or how everything that they had done was worth every second. Now it was my turn to go down. I went down into the font and looked at the crowd, smiled, then guided LaVaughnda down. As she was walking across to get into position she looked at her son Henry. As I thought about it she really is doing this not only for her but for her children. To give her son more than what she has. To give him that opportunity of enjoying this light and love that she felt there at that moment. She grabbed my arm, I uttered the prayer and it was done. At this moment of my mission I had not felt the Spirit so strong until that moment.

Miracles are continuing to happen around the world. Hearing from Cody Savage and other amazing missionary friends I can tell that the Lord is hastening His work. It's evident. I've never seen such prepared missionaries coming into the mission as I do now. I know that this is the Lord's work and that miracles do happen. That everything happens for a reason. I know that God loves us and is watching over us continually. I know that it is by putting the teaching of Jesus Christ to the test that we can know of these things. Not only does it bring purpose to our lives but peace and happiness. Moroni 10:32-33

Shoutout to my Main woman Brynn! Thanks for the delicious candy and the awesome tie. Its the best one i have! Thank you! You are having a boy this time! I am betting money on it! Sorry for kicking off the thing on your knee all those years ago and ruining your dress. Haha classic

I will be skyping at 11am our time so i think that is 12 for you guys? see you soon!

JJ, LaVaughnda and Josh The Gospel is Amazing!

Hey!

This past week has been great! We were able to have our Christmas party with the whole mission and it was awesome. I was able to see a lot of my old companions and the one elder from my MTC district. It's pretty funny because it's only Elder Peterson and I that will depart. I don't want to think about that though!

The work is going great in the YSA and Cascade Park wards! We have been working with JJ and LaVaughnda pretty much all this week as we prepared them for their baptism interview this weekend. It's been incredible to see their faith as they accept to live commandments and make commitments and change. They literally radiate the spirit. With every family there is one elect person that accepts the message because they have been prepared and that is JJ. Everything we taught him rang true and he can't put down the material we give him. He continues to amaze us with his faith. His wife Lavaughnda is also incredible! She knows that this is what will be the best thing for her family. She knows she needs it for her son and he little family.

The gospel it truly amazing. Everything about it just continues to blow my mind. Currently I am studying a lot of the general conference talks and one that we have been asked to study is why do we serve. It's been interesting to ponder on the reasoning behind why I serve. In the talk it mentions how we all serve for various reasons and he lists them from a lesser to a greater reason. The first is for an earthly reward, second, a good companionship or go co workers, third, fear of punishment, fourth, loyalty, fifth, hope for an eternal reward, and fifth is the pure love of Christ or charity. This really helps me to determine why I serve and or how I need to change. As we work our way to true discipleship the why behind our service works its way past any type of reward and is directly a result of our love for other individuals. 

Just today we had this awesome experience with our investigator Josh. He has been taught everything and is still stuggling on the faith side of things. He is so smart so it is hard for him. The last time we went over we left him with president uchtdorfs talk on receiving a testimony of truth and light and it was perfect! Josh loved the analogies that he used to describe the way we receive spiritual light. We keyed in on how we must be using the right tools to receive the answers we are looking for. With that in mind our member, Bro Brown, talked a little bit about how he had this question for about a year and he never quite figured it out until one day when boom! Everything makes complete sense. He then looked back and could see that he slowly had been prepared to receive this answer. I love that because that is how God works. He answers us according to our understanding until we can receive the complete truth. (2 Nephi 31:3) and as we continue to be diligent and show our desire to know God, he will continue to show us things until what once seemed hazy or dim becomes clear and apparent (D&C 50:24).

I know that this is true and that this is the work of the lord. It's incredible to see how many peoples live change for the sake of the gospel as they come to an understanding of who they really are. Everything that seems unobtainable is lost when we are indulged into the gospel. 

Love you guys!

E. Archibald 

  Elder Matthew Archibald

13608 NE 72nd St
Unit B 14

Vancouver, WA  98682

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.