July 27, 2015: "I did NOT want to Bike!"

Friends and family what is up!!!

 What a great miracle filled week we had here in Olympia. It was a busy and tiring week and I'm glad we got the car this week because my legs are jello from biking so much! But I'm grateful we did bike because if we would have gotten rides to the places we needed to go we wouldn't have been able to talk to the people we did and stop by the people we did as well. So at the beginning of this transfer I was sorta bummed honestly because after this transfer I will have been here 7 1/2 months haha so pretty much my whole mission to this point( besides the month in Ocoee). So, I felt as if there was nothing left for me to do in this area other than to show Elder Oxborrow around. However, God showed me otherwise hahaha. It's funny how we think we know best sometimes. Even when we KNOW God knows everything we still assume our knowledge and our judgments are better. But this week I decided to stop feeling like there was nothing left for me and to work like I had just arrived here. So me and elder Oxborrow set a lot of awesome goals. The thing about setting goals is, when you set specific ones, and you involve the Lord in those goals, Heavenly Father sees that you are serious about reaching them. He  knows that you aren't just setting goals just to reach those goals and brag or just to set goals and not reach them, he knows you are setting goals to help others come closer to his son Jesus Christ. And so we set a goal to find a family of 4. Not sure why we felt 4 but we did.  So, we prayed each day for Heavenly Father to give us the strength and the courage to go out and find a family of 4.  We set this goal Friday of the week before last week during weekly planning. Then on Tuesday after that, we were biking to an appointment on the edge of  our border, probably a good 10 mile bike ride so 20 total. For some reason we just could not find a ride over there. Members were busy and I was getting frustrated because I did not want to bike. Like at all hahaha. But then I heard a voice and I'm sure now it was God, the voice said "you need to bike today". So I turned to Elder Cowan ( we were on exchanges) and I said "well looks like we're biking". So we set out on this bike ride and after a few awesome contacts with people on our way which is why I thought we needed to bike, we turned a corner onto a main road half way to our destination and in front of us coming toward us was a family. A mom and her 3 kids. A family of 4. When I saw them I knew why we had to bike. We stopped and we talked to them. The mom said they had seen missionaries before in Puerto Rico. They were in a hurry so we got their number and she said we could stop by next week in the morning. After that short and brief contact with a family a 4 I knew why we had to bike, and I saw how setting goals can make all the difference. As  we biked out to our appointment at the edge of our area we got poured on. But let me tellyou, it was the best bike ride I have ever went on. We were soaked to the bone but we were happier than ever haha. After the lesson we had with a recent convert. I had the impression to stop by a potential investigator in the area her name is "Pat". I wasn't sure why but we headed over and we knocked on her door and she snarled back " who is it"? and we said missionaries and then she said " oh WAIT!,  Hold on let me put some pants on" hahaha and so she opened the door ( with pants on) and she had the biggest smile on her face. Long story short we taught her for about 45 minutes and she loved every minute and every word of it. She said she had been praying for help because she was going through a lot and she knew that God sent us to her and we knew it as well. We went back a few days later and had a lesson with her and she loved it again and she is so solid. She came tochurch on Sunday as well and loved it. So the moral of the story is if we would have gotten a ride to this lesson on the edge of our border I'm convinced we wouldn't have met our family of 4 and we wouldn't have met "Pat". I'm so grateful that there is a plan for all things and all people. God loves us and is watching over each and every one of us and even though we might think we know best. We need to take a step back and let the lord humble us. Because the moment you think you are humble, you've lost it. Being humble does not take a fewexperiences, being truly humble does not happen just from going on a mission. We must continue to try and let the lord humble us because we cannot humble ourselves. I love you all so much.  I'm so grateful for my mission and the miracles I have seen. Also we went to the temple this week!! It was our last temple trip for this year! I have some awesome pics from that as well! The Orlando temple is so awesome. Also, tomorrow will be cut short because we have a lesson with another new investigator at 4pm here so PDay will be a little shorter tomorrow! Love you all email me please! Write me!

 

Elder Armijo

 

 Elder DeMille and Elder Armijo at the Orlando Temple

Olympia District Temple Day

July 20, 2015........"So pray for me brother I need redemption I'm just a man, a man on a mission".

Well another week down, and down is a good word to describe it because
it was a rough one. My new comp is Elder Oxborrow. He's from Spanish
Fork and he's really a good guy. I'm excited to serve with him I know
we will baptize together. I say it was a rough week because everything
changed so fast in like a day haha. I was with Elder P for a while so
for some reason I thought I'd be with him my whole mission. Then I
get a new comp and it hit me in the face that I won't be serving
around the same people for my whole mission. I'm the only one left in
my zone that was here when I got to the mission, everyone else has
been transferred out since then. So I guess for me it was like
starting all over again lol. And I got pretty sad and upset and
started thinking about home and blah blah. So I did the only thing I
know how to do when times get crappy. I got on me knees and I asked
Heavenly Father to give me the strength to push through this "hard
time" and to focus on my task at hand. Now, I didn't feel relief right
away. Actually, after the prayer I was more sad than before. But as the
week went on I started to see the tender mercies of the Lord and my
sadness started to leave and I started to get back to my normal rhythm
and my normal thoughts. When I say started to, I mean I didn't feel
a relief of answer to my prayers until late Saturday night when I was
laying in bed watching Mormon messages on my iPad. And I watched like
30 of them and then I finally watched one I had watched many times
before. It's called good things to come by Elder Holland. And in this
video he tells a story about some struggles a family had as they were
trying to cross the country, and there was a quote that hit me and as
soon as I heard I knew my father in heaven was looking out for me.
Elder Holland said " Some blessings come soon, some come late, and
some don't come till heaven, but for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end, trust God and
believe in good things to come ". And after I heard that I had a
reassurance that no matter what happens back home, and no matter how
hard it is here, there's hope and happiness ahead as long as we
embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I guess you could say this week
was a selfish week for me since I did the exact opposite of forgetting
myself and going to work. Honestly, I'm grateful I had this week
and I'm grateful for my trial because now I know how I don't want my
mission to be like. I know now what I must do when I start feeling
discouraged or depressed. I know that God answers prayers and he knows
us. I have seen it so many times and I know without a doubt that this
is the true church. So those of you going on missions get ready for
hard times, get ready for Satan to try to bring you down, but get
ready to win, because as long as you have the Lord on your side he
cannot and will not win. It might seem like he is winning but I
promise you as you trust in the Lord and put your faith in him, he
will always cast out that wanna be Satan. And that goes for not just
missionaries my everyone in general. Love you guys. Stay Gucci and
also just a little advice: don't tailgate into apartment complexes
when there's a sign that says not to. The gate bar will come down and
won't stop and it will hit your car and break and then you will have
to end up paying 115$ bucks for it. Lesson learned the hard way. And
also congrats to my boy Chandler for getting his call to Zambia. So
sick man love ya! FOM is still the best mission though 🏼. And also
to my cousin hunter can't be alive he already gave his farewell talk!
That's crazy how fast time goes haha. Good luck guys love you all.

Elder Armijo

​​
Pic:  "The Cat"

July 13, 2015 "I dropped my iPad and it shattered"

Another week down! Man they go by faster and faster. This week
was pretty mediocre. We're just focusing a lot of time on finding new
people to teach. We have had to drop a lot of people that weren't
progressing so we're pretty much starting from scratch. So, I
guess the big news is transfers is on Tuesday and Elder P will be
getting transferred and I am staying in Olympia.....again Hahahaha. I
love this ward and area though so it would be hard if it wasn't such a
great ward and area. And also elder P is going to be a Zone leader! So
that's pretty exciting!
 But on the bright side, I dropped my iPad yesterday and the screen shattered lol so much
for these cases they gave us haha. Anyway, that's such a first world
problem Hahahaha. Sometimes I wish we just had our scriptures and
pamphlets and didn't have to worry about these iPads. But then I
realize, Nahh iPads are sick lolol. So not much to report this week
except we got into contact with "N". It was really sad. She just
wasn't ready to commit and felt like she was disappointing us and God
so she avoided us. She relapsed and she was actually really high when
we got to see her so we aren't sure what she said was true but we will
be visiting her once a week to help her with a addiction recovery
program. It was a scary lesson. Elder P just didn't feel right and I
didn't feel the spirit. It's crazy how much power Satan has over us.
That's why we have to stay strong in this gospel and never waver in
our faith no matter what the world does or how it changes. Love you
all sorry for a short email I have some pics to make up for it!.

July 6, 2015......Ether 12 "Pure Gold of a Chapter"

Ahh another week down. And let me say how grateful I am that I was
called to serve in the greatest country on the earth. Despite all of
the faults we have as a nation this is still the greatest country
because I can walk down these streets of Orlando and teach people
about Jesus and no one will tell me to stop or that I can't do that. I
hope that this stays this way for a long long time. Happy 4th everyone
and I hope you all had an awesome time celebrating. I know we did .
I took a few pics so stay tuned. And mom thanks for the American flag
ties I got alot of compliments ha ha. So the Bishop of the Windermere
ward which is the ward we share the building with, we are close with
the that Bishop because he and his family are Tongan and elder P is
related to them somehow lol, but that Bishops son just got his mission
call and he is going to be serving in the Santiago North Mission!! Now
I know there's a lot of missions in Chile so I get them confused but
I'm pretty sure that where Curt is right? Correct me if I'm wrong. But
yeah he reports in early October so hopefully Curt will train him cuz
he's a big Tongan kid that's a boss haha.

This week was.......a little disappointing. We haven't gotten in
contact with "N" again and so we aren't sure what happened or if
the baptism is going to happen anymore. I mention this a lot in emails
but this is the hardest thing about missionary work by far. Seeing
people accept this gospel and then for who knows what reason turn
their backs on the truth right as they are going to make that step and
be baptized. Satan has more power than we give him credit for. I've
seen so many people fall away from the church as members and so many
people progress and then out of nowhere just turn away because of an
outside force that Satan throws at them. I've never hurt more for
someone else before and I don't think I ever will nor will I ever get
used to the feeling of thinking that I could have done something
better or more to stop this from happening. I know that may not be the
case, but it's how I feel because this happens so much.  So I've
been praying. I've been on my knees and I've been fasting and asking
God to just help us out and let us know why things aren't working out.
 So on Sunday as I opened my fast, praying for that same thing , I was
doing my normal studies and I was reading in Ether 12 which if you
don't know is Pure Gold of a chapter. And when Moroni starts to speak
the very first verse says " And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat
concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is
things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not
because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of
your faith." And so I took this as my answer to my prayer. I realized
that I had begun to rely on myself to help people progress and not the
lord and when that happens, he whips you into shape haha. So I'm not
sure if things will get better with "N", maybe it's not her time.
But I do know that the lord keeps his promise and only after our
trials do we receive a witness or a blessing. So trials have come now
I'm just waiting for the witness part . But my point in sharing
this is to share the witness that I have received and that is that God
answers our prayers and he hears us. He knows us and knows what we
need. It might be hard to accept at first, but there is a plan, and we
may not know all of it but we can take comfort in knowing that at
least there is a plan, for everything and everyone. It took me a while
to realize that, but now I know and I am at peace with a lot of things
thanks to the Atonement and the knowledge I have gained. I've been
here 7 months now and unrealistic is the word I like to use to
describe how fast time is going. I feel as though I've been here a
week or two. This next week is transfers so we will see what happens.
Our zone will be changing a lot as well as our mission haha. We are
expected to get like 40 or so new missionaries within the next two
transfers so there will be a lot of new faces and a lot of
missionaries who's 2 years or 18 months are up. But I'm excited to see
if I stay in Olympia or if I get transferred! I love you all! And
shout out to my brother Chandler for deciding to serve. You will enjoy
your mission slot more because you made the choice and no one else
made it for you. I'm excited to see where you are called! Any other
mission Is second to the FOM . Just be grateful for wherever you get
called. There's a reason for it young blood!

Elder Armijo

So here are some pics from this last week
1: Our Flag Ties
2: sunset before the fireworks and the sick view from a members condo
3: selfie with a firework
4: selfie
 5: and district pday today!

June 29, 2015...."You def have to have fun or you will go crazy"

Hello friends and family! Another week down! I can't believe June is
already over!! I literally remember thinking that it would never end
lol that was on the 1st. Haha time flies when you are working and
having fun. Notice I put work first ✊🏻. But you def have to have fun
or you will go crazy. But yeah to be honest this week was full of let
downs. Our baptism fell through and is now on the 11th. But we're
happy it is still happening! And we lost a few people we were teaching
due to personal reasons they had. We still taught a lot but it stinks
seeing people turn away from what I know to be so awesome and true.
But bad days and weeks will come so I know that this next week will be
full of miracles because only after the trial of our faith do we see
blessings. I saw an article about some missionaries who were in a bad
flood or rain storm and they like saved some families? Such a sweet
story and an experience for those elders. The Lord will provide
strength at the right times and when we need it most. Missionaries are
called of God to be in places where he needs them. And yes I heard
about the same sex Marriage ruling.  I have little to say about this other than we know what's right and we are to be the examples. Use this as a missionary opportunity to explain the Family Proclamation when people ask what your opinion is. We have been warned for many many many years through prophets and apostles, the Lord knew, he always does. 

 So this week is the 4th of July and we will be going to a members condo that over looks a huge lake and is over looking universal and Disney parks so we will watch fireworks there from the parks. We are on week 5 of the transfer so we only have a week and a half left before transfers. Me and Elder P have been together for 3 transfers. Such a long time with one person lol
but it's been such a party man. I'm kinda scared cuz idk if I can get
a better comp than my boy P haha. But I'll take whoever the Lord puts
me with and make him my homie too. I've been district leader comp my
whole mission now it will be weird to do something different.  I hope I get transferred but then again I don't want to leave Olympia. But we will see what happens. I hope you all had an awesome week and continue to be happy. And please please try not to get into arguments over this same sex marriage ruling. The doctrine will never change so don't let it bother you! Just go on with your
lives! Love you all! Stay Gucci!

Elder Armijo

Here are some pics from this past week lol
1. Secret service or missionary? #MERICA
2&3. Some sweet pics on me and my stallion
4. Getting some love from my old friend meaty