Still growing and learning

I continue to be intimidated by the mantle that has been placed upon me, meaning that of a district leader. However, I'm not about to shrink from my responsibilities nor slacken my pace. As with any assignment in the Church, those whom the Lord calls are also qualified. This has given me comfort as I've reflected on it over the past week, and I recognize that such a call brings tremendous responsibility to do my absolute best so that the work in Cincinnati can reach its full potential. Not that this is the first time I've been asked to give my best effort. :) I like something that President George Albert Smith said that Pres. Monson has often quoted:

"It is your duty first of all to learn what the Lord wants and then by the power and strength of His holy Priesthood to magnify your calling in the presence of your fellows in such a way that the people will be glad to follow you."

I believe this is true not only of the missionaries in the district, but also of the Cincinnati Ward, our investigators, and really ALL the people in this area. The most powerful message we can send is the in the way we live. Our district also encompasses the elders serving in Norwood, who have been on their missions for 7 and 3 months, respectively. My companion has been out for about 4 months, so I feel like a really old man!

However, it is a great opportunity to train and motivate younger missionaries, and I kind of feel like an MTC teacher. That'd be cool if I got a chance to do that, but first I'd have to get in to BYU. That's a while off yet, but it would be a cool experience. I've had a few companions who also served as district leaders, and I've discovered in just a week that they were right about two things: You spend a lot of time on the phone, and you have more paperwork to do as well! Not a whole lot of paperwork, but more than before. Oh well, doesn't bother me too much.

We are seeing great progress particularly from Michelle Baker. She has been drug-free for a week now, came to Church yesterday (despite the adversary's attacks), and set her own baptismal date for June 26th, which is the day after her birthday. Likewise, Shawntae has been fighting the temptation to smoke as well as dealing with some health issues, but she and her family came to Church yesterday and she was glad that they did. She had to watch a few of her nieces and nephews over the weekend and was very tired when we talked to her on Saturday night. However, she was able to get up early and get everyone ready for Church on time. It's an exciting thing for me to watch people we teach make important decisions on their own, and thus discover the promised blessings. We are also pushing ahead with our transfer emphasis on finding through the members, and a few of our families are actively working to invite people to be taught.

One of them is Bishop Tensmeyer and his family. Their son, Bob has a "girlfriend" who will graduate this year and who spends a lot of time at the Tensmeyer's home. Well, last Sunday we set up an appointment with the bishop's family to talk about their family mission plan, since effective member-missionary work starts with the bishop. We went over and were introduced to Bob's friend, whose name is Mel. I hope I got the spelling right, and it could be a nickname too. Anyway, we watched as Sis. Tensmeyer perfectly invited Mel to take the lessons from us before she would leave for Penn State later that year. WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO ROLE-PLAY WITH THEM, THEY JUST DID IT!!! Man, faith sure goes a long way!! So we returned the following night on FHE and taught the first lesson, and we are going back tonight for the second. Once again, it's an exciting thing as well to see the members put their trust in the Lord and invite people to hear the restored gospel.....especially when we as missionaries hadn't even talked to them about it yet! So, all in all things are going real well right now!

I was very surprised to read about your phone call from Bro. Brooks from the ward here. They are a really cool family and willing to help us with whatever it is we need. We told them likewise! He served his mission in Salt Lake City several years ago and they were allowed to get on LDS.org, and he had compiled a huge list of talks that he loaned to me to look through. I came up with a list of talks that I'd like him to make copies of for me, and he was more than happy to do so. I've read like every Ensign in our apartment repeatedly, and so it was good to get something new for a change. :) We also came in contact with a less-active named Chris a few weeks ago that waved at us from his back porch while we were walking past. We went over and found out that he was a member, and he wants to come to the fireside next week and is planning on bringing his non-member brother! I can't tell you how excited I am for the fireside next week and the harvest that I am sure is going to result! Wow, I'm using a lot of exclamation points in this letter!

I'm grateful to hear of the many spiritual experiences you are having, it is a definite highlight in the week and a good way opportunity to see the Lord answering my prayers in your behalf.

I hope and pray that you may continue to see evidence of the Lord's tender mercies each and every day, and that you will be a light to those around you! Have a great week!

New Companion, New Calling

I'm healthy, happy, and still trying to move the work forward in Cincinnati! I am now serving with Elder Kirk from Shelley, ID who has been out for 4 1/2 months now. He previously served right across the river in Northern Kentucky and is excited to be in Cincy now. I'm grateful to be serving with him, and I can tell he is a good missionary, anxious to get out there and serve the Lord's children. We are on the verge of accomplishing a lot of really good things here, but it will take faith from us, the people we teach, and also the ward members. With that last thought in mind, I was pleased to see that the focus for district meetings this transfer is on working with members to find people to teach.

I definitely feel that the member work could be improved drastically here, and we have already started coordinating to teach the Book of Mormon class together with the Norwood elders. I was extremely surprised and humbled this Sunday by the call to be a district leader. Such an assignment brings plenty of responsibility and especially accountability to the Lord, Pres. Robbins, and the zone leaders. I know the Lord will make me capable of doing His will and helping this district become one in unity and purpose, but only if I'm striving to do that for myself. Zone Conference last week was absolutely incredible, the mission leaders did a fantastic job of getting that put together. I felt the Spirit strongly during all those testimonies that were shared, and it didn't hurt that we had some good food as well.

Since the whole mission was there, we were doing a lot of group pictures of past districts and missionaries we came out with. For me, that meant like 17 other elders for a picture! A bunch of missionaries were taking lots of pictures of us, and most of them were asking if we were a zone or something. They were pretty shocked when they found we all came to the mission at the same time!! It's just crazy to think that I'll be home in 4 1/2 months, but don't worry.....I won't become "trunky," in the sense that I won't become lazy and slothful in the work. As for the part about thinking of you guys, that's an everyday thing. :) Heck, if I didn't think about you, you could call President Robbins and tell him to keep me here past my departure date!

My heart is full as I read about all the many tender mercies of the Lord towards you; it really is incredible how much the Lord cares for the families of His missionaries. Among the many lessons I've learned in the mission field, the one that has come to mind frequently during the last week is that of agency. It is a grand, eternal principle which has given me a lot of comfort, especially when people we're teaching have made a choice contrary to that of the Lord's commandments. Well, being the "quote-hunter" that I am, I came across a great one from Elder Oaks:

"Some of our most important plans cannot be brought to pass without the agency and actions of others. A missionary cannot baptize five persons this month without the agency and action of five other persons. A missionary can plan and work and do all within his or her power, but the desired result will depend upon the additional agency and action of others. Consequently, a missionary's goals ought to be based upon the missionary's personal agency and action, not upon the agency or action of others."

That statement pretty much sums up all my feelings right now, and one that helps me to press forward inspite of other people's choices, especially because my happiness does not and should not depend upon the decisions of other people. Not to say that I will become indifferent to these children of Heavenly Father, but rather that I will feel sorrow when they choose not to repent, as it states within Preach My Gospel. Some of our investigators have definite potential to be baptized within the next transfer or two, and if that is the Lord's will, I sure hope I'm around to see it happen. Also, I think that we are allowed to attend the Gladys Knight fireside next month, as long as we have investigators going. That's something I'm really looking forward to, so hopefully we are able to go. We have a few investigators who are committed to going, and we're going to try and invite anyone we can throughout this week. Onward, ever onward! Send my congrats to "Elder" Wilbur and his family on his mission call! New Jersey, huh? That'll be cool! Thank you for faith, support, and prayers for me. I feel it everyday! Have a great week!

Sun-up in Cincinnati

Good morning from downtown Cincinnati! We're at the library down here today because we are going to see the sights in and around Cincinnati! I'm pretty excited, and I will take plenty of pictures too. Glad you enjoyed the ones I sent last week! We've been downtown a couple times when people were headed to a Reds game, and boy was it tempting for me to follow them and maybe try and sneak in. Thankfully I didn't, but I'm still hopeful that I can go to a game before the mission is over. There are people who stand around holding signs that say, "I need tickets," and I think it would be funny if I held one of those and took a picture with a really forlorn look on my face!

Thank you for your heartfelt and informative e-mails this morning!! It sounds like a lot is going on in everyone's lives, both spiritually and temporally speaking. I suppose that the same could be said for here, although there isn't much in the way of temporal things. That is crazy that Jordan gets home in 12 days and that Donovan is about to get his mission call. I'd laugh if he got called to Norway like Cameron and Jordan did. Heck, I'd probably fall over if he was sent here!!!! Not a high chance of that, but it's got as good of a chance as all the other missions.

Pres. Robbins sent us all some notes from a talk by Pres. Benson about member-missionary work, and so of course I took the time to write them down in my planner. They now join the billions of other notes I have on the subject of member-missionary work! Speaking of which, we were successful in reaching the goal I set of 3 FMP set-up/follow-ups per week. They all went extremely well, and one of the families was able to successfully follow-up on their friends' reading of the Book of Mormon, and received a positive response! I don't know what it is, but I just get really excited when I see people applying the things we teach and then seeing it work out, whether they are members or investigators. This past week was probably our most productive of the transfer so far, as we taught 23 lessons (high quality too) and found 4 new investigators. The Lord has also blessed us with several referrals to visit, so we certainly aren't lacking in things to do right now.

We set a new baptismal date with Shawntae for May 15th (significant date, isn't it?) to give her something to work towards. She had digressed a bit after her original date fell through, so we felt we needed to do that so she has extra motivation. Michelle Baker has good and bad days, meaning the days she uses crack cocaine and the days she doesn't. She really wants to overcome this and is supposed to start treatment on the 15th. We gave her a flier for the fireside in May, and she posted it on the bulletin board in her apartment complex and wrote her phone number on it in case anyone else is interested. Non-member missionary work, now THAT'S what I'm talking about!

Oh yes, I suppose I'd better expound on what I said about a fireside in May. Well, on May 6th, the Saints Unified Voices choir, under the direction of Gladys Knight, will be at our stake center to give two evening "performances" for anyone within the tri-stake area and whoever else wants to show up. It isn't a concert, but they are asking us to refer to it as a fireside instead. We will be able to go to that as long as we have investigators there, and we know of at least 5 people that have already committed to it! I'm rather excited for it! This choir has performed in other places in the States and the result has been a whole lot of referrals for the missionaries. That's what I like to hear!! Man, first the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert last June, and now this!

All in all, things are moving along rather smoothly here in Cincinnati. We'll see how this week plays out. We're having our Zone Conference tomorrow rather than next transfer, and this time the WHOLE mission will be there! That is going to be really good, I just know it! Aren't they all? I really love this area!! I know I say it every week because it's true!!! I believe we are on the verge of seeing a lot more success, if we will only do those things we've been asked to do. I look forward to seeing what other valuable pieces of knowledge that the Lord is waiting to give to us, and I hope that He is doing likewise for each of you. Have another great week!

" If at this moment each one of you were asked to state in one sentence the most distinguishing feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what would be your answer? My answer would be divine authority by direct revelation."- Pres. David O. McKay

200 lbs. of happy

We had another fantastic Zone Conference this past Wednesday. The instruction we were given focused on working with members(my favorite!) and helping them invite their friends to hear about the restored gospel. Lucky for us, this is a very missionary-minded ward! In addition to the excellent trainings given, we also were informed that on the last Tuesday before transfers, we're going to have one big Zone Conference with the entire mission!! I'm really looking forward to that! It also occurred to me when I got here that I have now officially served in all 4 zones within this mission. Interesting, isn't it? And I've been in a different zone every time I've gotten transferred, which thankfully hasn't been that often. :) 

I've been studying the Old Testament lately, and I mentioned that to Pres. Robbins at Zone Conference and he sent me selected chapters to make it more interesting. It should also make my study more effective because obviously there are things in those selected chapters that need to be found and then applied. We are safe and sound in our nice, new apartment. The assistants, the office elders, and the Cincy zone leaders helped us move on Friday, and we were able to get it done much faster as a result. 

This past week was all right in terms of teaching. We only had 13 lessons, but they were good ones! However, we need to reach 20 every week because that is the mission standard and we aren't about to lower the bar here in Cincinnati. We have more than enough potentials as well as referrals that need worked on. In fact, I'm training on contacting and teaching referrals in district meeting tomorrow, and it's a very important subject. In other good news, Shawntae and her 10 year old son, Jameill will be getting baptized this coming Saturday at 5 P.M. Initially, it was also going to include her daughter Jameisha (age 12) and another son named Jaquell (age 8). However, Jameisha wants to be baptized on her own, so that should be within the next couple of weeks. As for Jaquell, Shawntae wants to give him a little more time to get a grasp on the gospel. He's close, but we'll teach him more for a few extra weeks. No big deal. Better to be ready than rushed, right? 

Along with Shawntae's family, we were able to finally get Michelle to Church yesterday! It was her first time there since she last investigated the Church over 30 years ago, and she certainly seemed to enjoy it. Currently, she's working on overcoming a drug addiction, but at our last follow-up, she'd been clean for about a week! Any progress is good progress, no matter how long it takes. Our goals for this week will be to turn our potentials and referrals into new investigators, reach 20 lessons, and work on Family Mission Plans....and of course, make final preparations for Shawntae and Jameill's baptism. It's pretty neat to come into an area and have progressing investigators! I know I haven't had much to do with it, but I know if I put my best foot forward that I can eventually make a difference to the people here. We have plenty of support from the members, and the people in general are pretty nice; AND they recognize us as Mormons rather than Jehovah's Witnesses. That's an important difference to distinguish, isn't it? 

Well, the work goes on in Cincinnati! I hope to send some pictures home next week, and don't worry I haven't gotten fat or anything. :) I did weigh myself a few weeks ago and I came in at an even 200 pounds. So I guess I've gained SOME weight since I've been out, but I'm nowhere even close to the Pillsbury Doughboy. Anyway, hope everyone is healthy and happy back home. It's now officially Spring!! That was a long, miserable winter out here. However, no matter what's it like outside, we're gonna be out in it! Hope you all have another great week!!!! 

New world, new wonderful

Wow, lots of questions for me to answer! In terms of our area, we cover all of downtown as well as the west side including Price Hill, and the suburbs as far north as Kenwood just outside of Norwood, which has missionaries there. So basically, it's a pretty good sized area to cover! And without the busses, we'd be doomed, especially considering they took our car away just before I got here because the Norwood Spanish elders needed it because one of them was injured. I don't mind the busses, though, and in fact one of our goals this week is to talk to at least one person whenever we get on the bus. That can be challenging, but it's a fun challenge. 

Things here in Cincy are moving along great! Just working on getting my feet wet, which has proved true not only in the sense of learning the area, but also literally so with all the rain the past few days. It hasn't slowed the work down though! As I said last week, we have a quadruple baptism planned for March 27th; a 31 year old black woman named Shawntae along with her 3 oldest kids. She has 7 kids in all, and none of them are older than 11! They have a lot of support from the ward members, which is great to see! I've only been here for a week, but I already like this ward a lot! I've even met a few people who are related to other members that I've known in past areas, so that's been cool talking with them. They were surprised yesterday when I told them that I have always been a diehard Reds fan, probably because I live out West! :) It would be the coolest thing if I got to go to a Reds game before I went home. Our ward mission leader, Bro. Martin, whose family lives up in Wilmington, pretty much works for the Reds, and he said he would work on getting me to a game that falls on Monday, for obvious reasons. 

This has been a fun area to learn about, the history of the Church here is very rich and the members here are proud of that fact. They do a great job of getting us involved in things, and so the least we can do is return the favor. Obviously, they are our best means for successful missionary work and we need to take advantage. By the way, it's the only ward that we cover, but it takes in the same amount of area that we work in. A lot of the members work for Proctor and Gamble or the Reds or Kroger (the local grocery place, they are everywhere) or some other company, and so of course they have lots of money but they are still very humble. Well, this ought to be an eventful week, with Zone Conference on Wednesday and moving into a new place on Friday! Sheesh, we'll have like half the mission there to help us move! Only a slight exaggeration, we'll really have 7; but hey, many hands make light work, right?

It's in a good location near several stores and what-not, plus no bus stop is more than 5 minutes away which is nice. We live in a nice place right now, but it takes 10 minutes to get to a bus stop, so this will save us time and energy. I think I answered all the questions, but I'm sure there are more to come. :) Sounds like ward conference was spiritual. Pres. Cooper and Bis. Hoopes are both great men, wish I had been there to listen to them. Well, by the next ward conference, I should be! And good luck on your upcoming talk, I'm confident you will say what the Lord wants said. Hope everyone in the family is doing well!! I'm grateful to have this privilege of serving in such a promising area (again) where the Church is doing really well! Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers in my behalf! Have another great week!

Transferred!

Dear Family,

Well, I finally made it to a library so I can e-mail you all! Here's the OTHER good news: I'M IN CINCINNATI!!!!!!!! Mom's prediction was right, and my long ago prediction made at the age of 6 has ALSO been fulfilled!! My new companion is Elder Loveland from Cambridge, ID. He's been out for around a year, so it's good to be with someone who has some experience under their belt. Whew! That's about the only word I can think of to sum up transfers!  From what Elder Loveland has told me, there is a lot going on here, which ought to be expected since it's a big town with tons of people who need the gospel. We also pretty much have to rely on the bus to get around here, but I think it will be fun. Before I forget, we are moving into a new apartment sometime next week, so it would probably be better to send any mail to the mission address until I can get you the new one. We have a family here (well, 4 of them that is) who are scheduled for baptism on March 26th, I believe. You can imagine I was pretty stoked to find THAT out! I also have heard that our zone leaders are going to try and get tickets to the Reds Opening Day game, which falls on preparation day!!!! YEAH, I THINK IT'S AN UNDERSTATEMENT TO SAY I'M REALLY STOKED TO BE IN CINCINNATI!! I'm also confident that Elder Rush and his new companion will be able to continue what was done in Hazard, and my prayers are with them. The people there are great, and I know the Lord blessed us abundantly because we had faith in His promises. It is quite a contrast, though, going from a mountainous country town to the population center of this mission. Obviously, with an area this size and this kind of population, it will take some getting used to.

Wow, so many new things and plenty of new experiences that are sure to come! I know that as we exercise faith and believe that there are prepared individuals and families out there ready to be baptized and go through the temple, the Lord will grant it unto us. Faith is the key! I'm not really experiencing a culture shock going from Hazard to Cincinnati, but I will say that it is definitely a different world. I'm looking forward to seeking the Lord's will as to what He would have us accomplish this transfer, and am also excited for  General Conference!! It doesn't hurt that we get to take our suit jackets off next month either. :) 

Well, I'm not sure what I else there is to add at this point, except that our new apartment has a blacktop basketball court out back, so you know where I'll be during exercises and downtime!! Yeah, that's kind of a random thing to close a letter with, but you know how I am. :) I hope that Ellie is feeling better and that Cal isn't tormenting her too much. Regardless, I love 'em! And I think it's a great idea for Kenz to go to Mexico!! Kudos to that one! I hope Dad is having luck with his new job, and that Mom is continuing to sell her merchandise successfully! Your stories, faith, and testimonies are awe-inspiring every time I read them! Thank you for praying for and supporting me every minute of every day. I can feel that strength coming to me!! Hope you all have another wonderful and spiritual week!                                                                         

Love,

Elder Isaac Livingston

Donkey Kong vs. Missionaries

Let's see, how can I best start this e-mail? Well, I'll just say that I'm grateful we elders always pray for the Lord's protection before leaving our apartment, as well as you and many other people. Yesterday it was even more appreciated. Too bad that those prayers of safety DIDN'T include our car. Yep, you've guessed it! Yet another car wreck, I guess it's my curse on the mission. We were headed to Church, and our building is located at the top of a hill. We were about 1/3 of the way up when the road starts to bend slightly, traveling about 20 MPH, when a solid patch of ice which was practically invisible sent our car drifting hard to the left....and off the side of the mountain. Luckily, there were trees. LOTS of trees. And a fairly good sized one finally stopped the front of our car about 15 feet down from the ledge where the road was. Also, the airbags didn't deploy, there was no broken glass, neither of us were thrown through the windshield, and the car didn't catch on fire and explode. In fact, we made it out of that wreck without so much as a scratch. All I can say again is thanks for your prayers! The front of our car looks like Donkey Kong took his giant hammer and smashed it. Funny, the darn car still runs!! I have mixed emotions about the whole ordeal, trying to maintain a positive attitude while at the same time realizing that the loss of our car really hampers the work in Hazard. So, you can imagine how well I slept last night. I believe this is the 5th accident that I have been involved in on my mission; most of them small, but a couple, including this one, quite scary. In both of those cases, the hand of the Lord has reached down and delivered us. Unfortunately, that didn't include our vehicle this time. I guess all that I can say is that apparently driving 20 MPH up a hill in wet and supposedly icy conditions isn't slow enough. Lesson learned! I'll be glad to get back to the other side of the mission where the roads are actually normal. :)

All those "hazards" (no pun intended) aside, the work IN Hazard is actually going quite well. I say this primarily because we have 2 new investigators who were introduced to us by members! And, as is the case with just about any member referral, they are both solid. One is William Baker, whom I alluded to a few weeks ago. We had a lesson yesterday in his car with Sis. Causey (his fellowshipper) and Pres. Phillips. The reason we were in his car was because it was cold outside, and we didn't want to drive up the hill to our Church building. This lesson took place right after our accident at the bottom of the hill. Well, I guess the Lord had set that one up, didn't He? Anyway, the Spirit was there as we all bore testimony of the Book of Mormon, which he's been reading regularly, and of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph. I'm thankful that the Lord was able to calm my anxiety enough to be able to teach and testify without a weak or stuttering voice, since such an ordeal like we had would certainly be grounds for extreme nervousness. Our other new investigator is Debbie Combs, a good friend and neighbor of Sis. Wilma Creech, a recent convert. Debbie's mother passed away a couple months ago and she was seeking answers as well as peace. Coincidentally, her mother had been in the Hazard Nursing Home as a roommate to Sis. Billie Phillips, an older member who we visit often. In fact, we gave her mother a blessing just a few days before she died. So, I guess now it's come full circle and we have another appointment with her this week. We were able to answer her questions using the Book of Mormon, and she said at the end of the lesson that she felt more peaceful than she ever has since her mother died.

So, Liz is getting married!? That's really weird when your friends start tying the knot, so to speak. Makes me feel rather old from time to time, but I know I'm not old at all. Glad to hear that Cal is really enjoying Cub Scouts, those were good ol' days that I really miss. Boy, that'll be weird knowing Ellie will be in Kindergarten! Wasn't Caleb just there!? WOW!! So many new things happening, but I have no regrets about being out here to serve the Lord. It's clear that He has wrought mighty changes within all of us in the time I've been away, and pray that it may continue for the better. It has been both a blessing and a learning experience to serve here in Hazard; I have been lucky to teach and get to know some really great people. I look forward to my next assignment with anticipation, as I'm pretty sure this is my last week here. Nonetheless, I still plan on making this week as Spirit-filled as any other. Hope your week holds similar experiences!

Love,
Elder Isaac Livingston
P.S. Pray that we get a new car SOON! This area is kinda large..... :)