June 19, 2017 -- We're Just Trying To Be The Best "Angels" We Can

Good afternoon everyone!! Things have been going pretty good this past week. A lot has happened as usual. The temps were a little on the hotter side this week but nothing too bad.

 

I had a CRAZY COOL tracting experience this past week. So I was on blitz with Elder Gubler and and it was a rainy day. We were tracting in the boonies of East Greenbush, just south of Albany. I knocked on a door, the lady who answered took a look at me and then excitedly said, "Are you an angel? I hear angels are really tall!" I honestly had no idea how to respond to that so the words that ended up coming out of my mouth were, "kind of." Continuing her excitement, she invited us in out of the rain and instantly introduced us to her family. They were all very warm and friendly to us and were very interested in what we were doing.  So, naturally, we taught all of them the about the restoration of the Gospel. When we invited them to read the Book of Mormon they were more than willing to check it out. As we were talking after, the mom was telling us that she had prayed for angels to come into her life. Overall, it was neat experience. It blew me away because we really didn't have to say anything to get in her door, she just let us in because of who we are. It just goes to show you that the Lord is preparing people to accept the gospel, they just don't know where to look until two angels come knocking on their door :) 

Our Ward had a BBQ on Saturday and it was a huge success!! Two of our investigators showed up to it and had a really good time. James, our really solid investigator, came with his two high school aged sons. We had a good time playing baseball and basketball with them. Ivy came with her two daughters as well. It was a good chance to have them meet some of the ward members.

Lorelei is doing great. She is all set and ready to get baptized this Saturday!!!!! She is super excited and we are as well.

Church on Sunday was good. James, Lorelei, and Ivy were all there!!! There's not many things more exciting to missionaries then having your investigators show up to church. On top of all of that, I was one of the speakers in Sacrament Meeting. It was on a talk from this past  General Conference by L. Whitney Clayton. It was nice because when we would invite our investigators to church I would just say that I was speaking. Elder Thomas is speaking next week and so we're going to keep that up.

Oh I almost forgot! When Elder Gubler and I were on blitz we found this Snapper turtle in the middle of the road!! How crazy is that!

 

The sky is blue, the Church is true and life is good.

 

Elder Carlile

 

 

Adventures With A Snapper Turtle

 

June 12, 2017 -- Troy Is So "Lit"

This week has gone by so fast I can't even remember what happened, so I'm going to do my best here.

I'll start with the weather. The week started out rainy but by the end of the week it was hot and sunny, so there were lots of people to talk to while we were out.

Lorelei is doing great!!! She found out the coolest thing last week!! While she was on the phone with her mom, they were talking about how Lorelei is planning on becoming a Mormon and Lorelei's mom told her that she's a Mormon. Lorelei had no idea! Now her mom is going to come up for Lorelei's baptism on the 24th of June. I  can't wait to meet her.

James is still going strong but he chose to move his baptismal date to August. He wants his friend who lives in Salt Lake to be able to fly out for his baptism. She had a big part in introducing him to the church so he wants her to be there. Sadly Elder Thomas won't be here in Troy that long, but he understands.

Oh, one really cool thing. . . we are teaching this guy named David and this past week had a lesson with him. We were talking to him after and he told us that he played college football for Virginia Tech. He played D End and he is HUGE. He said he could bench 550 lb. It blew Elder Thomas' and my mind.

Well that's all folks. The sky is blue, the Church is true and life is good!

 

Elder Carlile

 

Troy, New York

Two "Cool" Dudes

 

June 5, 2017 -- Missionary Work Is Music To My Ears

Hey hey hey my peeps!! Troy has still been treating me well this past week. 

Elder Thomas and I have been teaching a lady named Lorelei. She is coming right along and has a huge desire to be baptized at the end of this month. Her story is pretty cool. She met with the missionaries a couple of years ago but, for some reason or another, she slipped through the cracks and lost contact with them. About a month and a half ago, the missionaries in Troy were riding on a bus and Lorelei came up to them and invited them to meet with her again. It's really neat to see how the Lord puts people in our path who are ready to accept the gospel. Heavenly Father really is the one controlling His work. We just need to prepare ourselves to be tools in His hands. She had a problem with smoking so, about two weeks ago, Elder Thomas and I did the 15 step step program with her. It is a program that some missionaries made in the 70's and it guarantees to crush someone's smoking habit in a week. It totally works too! So we did that program with Lorelei and now she is smoke-free and doesn't have the cravings anymore. She came to church yesterday on Fast Sunday and she absolutely loved it. Toward the end of sacrament meeting, she leaned over to me and said, "can I go up there and speak?" I said yes and explained the purpose in going up there. As soon as she got the chance, she bolted up there to bear her testimony. In my mind I was thinking, "this can either go really well or go south real fast!" Thankfully Lorelei did really well. She bore her testimony of the Word of Wisdom and the blessing of increased heath and energy. She also talked about how thankful she was to have met the missionaries again. She has been one of the most humble people I have taught on the mission!

Elder Thomas and I were out talking to people on the streets and we saw a guy across the street sitting on his steps playing the guitar. It has always been my dream to teach someone who was playing a guitar on the street, so we crossed the street and started talking to this guy about guitar. His name was Matt. He asked if one of us played and of course I said yes, so he asked if I wanted to play a song. Again I said yes and played a song. Afterward, we offered to share our message with him and he was open to hearing it. He went and grabbed us some chairs and we taught him the Restoration right there on his porch. It went really well and Matt was excited to check the Book of Mormon out that we left with him. He's such a cool open-minded guy and I can't wait to teach him again. There are a lot of those people in Troy. I'm grateful that I was able to meet Matt and have one of my biggest missionary dreams come true of teaching a guy playing a guitar! Missionary work is music to my ears!

 

Well, those are some of the cool things that happened this past week. The sky is blue, the Church is true and life is good. Have a great week everyone!

Elder Carlile

 

Troy Scenery