April 18, 2016 -- Spring Cleaning Is A Great Time For Service

The past week it has been warming up in Oneida. It has been getting to the 60's and 70's so more people have been out to talk to and everyone is more friendly. Elder Smith and I have been looking for new ways to find people so we were brainstorming ideas one day and we came up with this one. We decided we would go service tracting. This is where we go knocking on people's doors and offered to rake their lawns. The people seem very surprised when we tell them that we will do this for free. It really opens up the hearts of people and provides a great opportunity to strike up some good conversations.

Elder Smith and I had the opportunity to speak in church this week. He gave a wonderful talk on the history of the Bible and I was asked to speak on self improvement. I was surprised that Brother Neshimoto asked me to speak as I was getting out of his car coming back from Utica on Monday. It was a little short notice but I was glad to accept. We were coming back from playing basketball with a bunch of other missionaries by the way, so that was fun.

I'm looking forward to the pinewood derby this week. The pinewood derby here is as competitive as church ball in Utah. A member in our branch is building Elder Smith and me a car to race so that should be exciting.

The sky is blue, the church is true and life is good

Love,

Elder Carlile

 

 

April 10, 2016 -- Just Another Week in Oneida

This past week has been pretty normal for a missionary.  By normal I mean it had the good, the bad, and the ugly; but looking back on it I can definitely see the Lord's hand.

Elder Smith and I have been spending some more time finding this past week. On Friday night, we had two appointments fall through but that was alright because our backup plans never fail us!!  It was 8:10 at night and we were sitting in our car preparing to go tract, so we said a prayer asking the Lord where he would have us go so we could find one of his children who was ready to hear the true message. After the prayer, we started driving not knowing where we should go.  We then felt like we should stop in this one neighborhood.  So we got out and started tracting. The people at the first two doors were not interested, but the person at the third door invited us in to have a drink of water. We gladly accepted. We started talking about religion and Jesus Christ. The guy's name is Kevin and he is non-denominational Christian. The conversation continued to roll and he eventually said that he liked talking to us because we had good hearts. We continued talking about the stories of Jesus Christ in the Bible. My favorite thing he said was "don't try to convert me, I only do what God tells me to do"..... I'll take my chances with that. We left him with a Book of Mormon and are going to meet up with him tonight so hopefully that goes well.

The branch is doing well. We may be small in number but we are mighty in spirit. We have not been able to meet the past two weeks because of General Conference and Stake Conference.  I can't wait to meet back up with them this Sunday.  The First Councilor just asked me to speak this Sunday after we got done playing some basketball in Utica. That means Elder Smith and I will both be speaking this week.

Until next week, the sky is blue, the church is true, and life is good.

Love,
Elder Carlile

P.S. The picture is from a couple of weeks ago before the snow hit.

 

April 4, 2016 -- Spring Has Brought Me Such a Nice -- Oh Wait!

This whole week Elder Smith and I have been anticipating General Conference. To start it off right, we got up and made a huge breakfast. All day Friday I was saying "and in the mornin I'm makin waffles."  We had waffles, eggs, and a pork red pepper onion potato mix. Let's just say we had leftovers.

 

It randomly dropped 40 degrees and snowed Saturday morning, but that didn't dim Elder Smith's and my conference spirit!  We did a competition to see who could stick their legs out in the snow the longest.... Fortunately I won but we both had to run to the bathroom so we could run our feet under warm water (see picture).

General Conference was amazing. I was grateful that our prophet's stamina allowed him to share a short but powerful message about striving to be worthy for the Priesthood in all places. Some of the impressions I got from the whole thing are that the promise that the Lord will put the words in our mind in the very hour that we will need them come when we are bearing are testimonies. This was a great reminder to me that I needed to bear my testimony not only when I am teaching people but when I am tracting and street contacting. 

After conference ended on Sunday, Elder Smith and I went out to street contact people. There weren't very many people out because it was cold but we ran into this one man named Buddy... Don't worry I was thinking about the movie Elf too. Anyway I shared a brief summary of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and then testified of it. To my surprise he wanted to learn more about our message so Elder Smith and I got his contact info and set up a time to meet with him.

I know that the Lord speaks directly to us through his servants.  In fact, the Lord is always trying to speak to us. If we will look for his hand in our lives, then we will see that he never truly leaves us alone. He will answer our questions, give us strength to endure, and most importantly, bring an overwhelming scene of peace in our lives.

Until next week

Elder Carlile

 

 

March 27, 2016 -- Another "Sonny" Day for Easter

This past week has been crazy!  I can hardly remember what I was doing a week ago.  At the beginning of the week we got Elder Misustin packed to go to Endicot. That night, Berla and Steve took us to the buffet at the Turning Stone, the huge casino that in in Oneida, to say goodbye to Elder Misustin. It was weird to be in a casino as a missionary. I kinda felt like Abinadi when he said "touch me not" to the wicked people in King Noah's court in the Book of Mormon. I'm just kidding, the restaurant was not too close to the gambling parts of the casino. Overall, the food was delicious, the company was wonderful, and there was even a tree of life statue in the casino, I don't think they were thinking of  Lehi's dream when they made it but they did a pretty good job.

 

Transfers happened on Wednesday. By some coincidence,  I was able to see all of the missionaries that I have ever served around since I have been out on my mission. Some of those missionaries include Elder Skouson (my trainer), Elder Ayre (my boy), Sisters Mayer and North (basically my adopted big sisters), and so many other missionaries. It was the last time I'll probably be able to see a lot of these peeps before they go home. At transfers, I found my new companion, Elder Sonny Smith. I only put his first name in because this is the second Elder Smith in my District and it may have made my pun work at the beginning of my email.

Elder Smith is a big lovable teddy bear. He has been out for 16 months in the mission. I served around him in my last area so I already knew him a little bit. He is from Sacramento, California which means that he is my first companion that is not from Utah. He has a great attitude about working and is loving it here in Oneida.

 

Since it has been so nice outside the past couple of days, Elder Smith and I have been out OYMing people on the street. So many people are out because of the nice weather. We even had the chance to play some two on two basketball with some random people at the park. After we played a game with them they asked us who we were.  We were able to give them a card referencing the new Easter video the church put out.

 

Anyway, the sky is blue, the Church is true. and life is good!

 

Elder Carlile

 

 

Elder Sonny Smith

Tree of Life

 

March 20, 2016 -- Six Months Already

As I look back on this past week,  it's been kind of a blur. On Tuesday, I went on an exchange to Shurbern with Elder Smith. He is a new missionary that has been out for one month so far. He is from Idaho and yes, he does love his potatoes. We hit it off pretty well and had a good time over all. I brought my guitar for the exchange and, after planning, we made up some songs about missionary work. I just wish I could send the videos of the songs we made but unfortunately this email won't let me.  The attached picture will have to do. We also made brownies that night to celebrate my 6 month mark so that was nice.

Elder Misustin and I were on edge this past week waiting for transfer calls. We finally got them last night.  It had been a long day of resting in the apartment because I was dealing with a flu bug that has been going around. We found out that Elder Misustin is going to be going to Endicot  It is an area right by where I just came from in Johnson City. My new companion is gong to be Elder Sunny Smith, not the same one I went on exchanges with. He is coming form Endicot so I guess Oneida and Endicot are just flipflopping companions. I know Elder Sunny Smith from my last area so that is making things a little bit easier. I look forward to being able to take over the area.

 

The Chuch is true, the sky is blue, and life is good:)

 

Elder Carlile

 

 

March 14, 2016 -- Spring Has Brought Me Such a Nice Surprise

This past week we enjoyed a wonderful Zone conference. It was a good chance to see a bunch of mission friends and catch up with them. They served us a wonderful meal for lunch. They had pulled pork and coleslaw and a bunch of other things, but I really just remember those two. The Zone meeting was on prayer. As President was teaching us about the power of prayer the Spirit brought to remembrance my experiences with prayer and also testified of it's truthfulness to me. I know that prayer is how we connect to heaven. I have felt the love my Heavenly Father has for me the strongest as I have been on my knees praying.

 

Wednesday was crazy!! It was 74 degrees first off. I had to break out my short sleeves so I didn't break out in a sweat. Elder "Mistiness" and I had the opportunity to teach Lynn. We have been anticipating teaching her for the past two weeks. She is super busy and so she is only able to meet with us every 2 weeks. Missionaries have stopped by in the past but have never been able to meet with her. Elder Misustin and I taught her the Restoration. During the lesson she expressed a desire to find a religion for her and her family. She was brought up Catholic but doesn't like that people don't "practice what they preach" in that church. She has church hopped over the past couple of years but still has found the same thing with people that don't "practice what they preach." As we taught the Restoration to her we testified that this church is the true church. That the same simple teachings that Jesus Christ taught on the earth 2000 years ago have been restored through the proper authority today, through the prophet Joseph Smith. She showed a true desire to find truth. We told her that she could know for herself through reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. I cannot wait to meet with her again.  

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

 

Elder Carlile

March 7, 2016 -- Following the Spirit's Guidance

This past week has been has been great! Elder Misustin and I have been able to find more people to teach. We were able to teach our solid investigator Tasha twice this week. Barbra, the grandma who is a member, and Faron, Tasha's uncle who is also a member, were present in the lessons too. We taught them Ether 12;27. The Lord give all of us weakness so that we will turn to him to become strong. We didn't really know what we should teach them all before the lesson because there has been a lot of family stuff going on and it has been really stressful in their household. As we thought and prayed about what we should teach them, Elder Misustin and I thought this is what the Lord thought we should teach. As the lesson progressed the Spirit guided us on what questions we should ask and how to address them. I think that lesson is exactly what they needed to hear. I know that following the direction of the Spirit is the most crucial part of missionary work.

The weather has been bipolar this week AGAIN. We have seen some snow, rain and sunshine so far. Hopefully it will get warmer so more people are out on the streets.  Then we missionaries can talk with them.

 

This past week, we received a coupon in the mail for Blimpie's. I didn't know that Oneida had a Blimpie's so Elder Misustin and I decided to find it and try it. We found it connected to a gas station on one of the main streets. We went inside and both of us got The Blimp, because it was on the coupon. Let me just say that they pack those sandwiches with tons of meat. It was one of the best sandwiches I've had in a while. Going there brought back some good memories.

The church is true the sky is blue and life is good

 

Elder Carlile