November 21, 2016 -- There's "Snow" Way It's This Cold

Saturday started out a warm Fall day but as the night progressed it stared getting colder and colder. Sun turned to rain, rain turned to snow and that meant it was time to put on the winter coats. The snow is sticking around so it looks like we're in for a chilly winter.  Otherwise, it's been a week just like any other.

Last night Elder Rasband and I had an amazing lesson with Louie. Elders have been meeting with Louie for just about a year. He is a great guy who knows a lot about the Bible and was very religious in the past. He has had a rough life in the past but is doing very well with his family now. Due to some past experiences, he questions God's authority.  That makes it pretty hard to teach since the first point we teach is God is our loving heavenly father. Everything builds on this simple but important truth. Sometimes our lessons get a little heated because of how passionate he is about his views. He doesn't do it to Bible bash with us but he is a very passionate guy. At our lesson last night, we decided to go around and say some things we are thankful for before we started our lesson. That instantly invited the Spirit and set the tone for the whole lesson. We read some of the Book of Mormon with Louie and bore our testimonies of the forgiving power of Jesus Christ. Louie stayed calm throughout the whole thing and we could see his heart soften. I know that having a thankful attitude is one of the best ways to invite the Spirit.

The sky is blue... kinda... the Church is true and life is good.  Have a great thanksgiving!! 

 

Love, Elder Carlile

November 14, 2016 -- Sound the Trump!!!

Sound the "Trump"... at least that's what everyone's been talking about since he's now our new president. This week has been Crazy with a capital "C"!! I was so ready to hit the hay last night. My brain was not working and teaching was a struggle.  Doing better today though.  It's been getting a lot cooler which means... sweater season as well as leaf raking season!

So one of the things I'm super grateful for this week is Marie coming to the Book of Mormon class we do every Wednesday night in the Elmira ward.  While she was there, she asked a question about  repentance and the whole class helped answer that one. When we missionaries go teach her, we meet on her porch and things get a little hectic.  We can loose control of the situation easily. That's why it's so great she came to the Book of Mormon class.

On Friday, Elder Steven E. Snow spoke to us for mission conference.  It was in Liverpool just north of Syracuse.  Elder Snow's wife spoke about the importance of hymns in our worship on Sundays. He spoke on recognizing the Spirit in our work as missionaries. Overall, he spoke on very simple stuff but it was still nice to hear the words of a Seventy. He said that our mission is doing very well and that we should keep up the good work. He is a very kind man with a good spirit about him. When we were shaking the hands of President and Sister Rogers and Elder and Sister Snow, President told me to tell Elder Snow that I was President Rogers favorite 7 foot missionary. It's a little joke we have. When I shook Elder Snow's hand I delivered the message and he got a good chuckle out of it. I was pumped to see all the mission buds and reconnect with them. 

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

 

Elder Carlile

 

Fall Is Beautiful

Leaf "Raking"

 

November 7, 2016 -- Another Week, Another Wonder

Another week another wonder... more just me wondering what in the world went on this week. In a nut shell this week included leaf raking, teaching, exchanges, talking with some peeps about the Gospel, getting a bit of a cold, Stake Conference, and last but not least some good laughs here and there.

So we have been teaching Margaret for a little while but we have been meeting with her less because she wants to be in "her hole" most of the time.  But on Friday, Elder Rasband and I were out working in the afternoon and I had a feeling that we should go see her. We went over and sure enough she was having a good day. She gladly invited us in and, as usual, we sat and had a good lesson. That was neat. It was nice to have that feeling that you are in the right place at the right time. Now Margaret totally knows that the Book of Mormon is true and so the next step for her is getting ready for baptism. Elder Rasband and I knew that, but, after that lesson, I really think Margaret came to know that as well.

 

Yesterday we had Stake Conference in Owego. Elder Dunigan, who is the area authority, came and spoke. He is an excellent speaker and very involved with the congregation. He randomly calls on people in the congregation to come up and participate. Elder Rasband and I went and sang in the choir so that meant that we had to stay alert or at least look like we were... it was good though. I got to see a bunch of the Binghampton ward members!! It's always comforting to see people from your past area. It's weird to think that it has been almost a year since I was there.

I really love the words of Nephi when he says, "I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in him forever." As we trust in the Lord, he will give us what it is that we need and what others need. That is super useful as a missionary as we are focusing on the needs of our investigators. Our trust with our Father in Heaven goes two ways though. We trust him and do his work and in turn He trusts us with more promptings as we act on the ones he already gave us. I know who I trust and I will try my best to serve him forever.

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

Elder Carlile

 

"Swinging" Service in Elmira
 

 

October 31, 2016 -- Trick Or Treat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! I hope you all have your costumes ready. I sure do..... I'm going out as a missionary, but if I was going to dress up out of the norm then I would dress up as slender man. I actually did dress up as him the other night but that was just to scare the living daylights out of another missionary. BTW it totally worked but that's another story for another time!! 

In the spirit of Halloween, our ward had a trunk or treat on Friday and Marie and her kids came. We have been teaching Marie and her family for about a month now. The ward was super friendly, kind, and welcoming to her. Her two boys loved it as well.  Her little 7 year old was running around talking to all the kids and sharing his candy with them as well. Elder Rasband and I grabbed some BK crowns while we were getting some dinner so that we would have some costume. We called ourselves the kingsmen as a little joke. Some people got a good kick out of that.

We haven't been meeting with Margaret as much this week. She is struggling with some depression. We still stay in contact with her but she has better days than others. We fasted with her yesterday for it. I am grateful for this gospel and how, because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, our burdens do not have to be carried alone.

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

 

Have a great week, Elder Carlile

 

Slender Man

The Kingsmen

 

October 17, 2016 -- Things Aren't Going to Change For Once

This week has been a pretty typical week in Elmira. Something good to know is that, for the first time in nine months, I will not be getting a new companion. I'm pretty excited for things not to change. It is a rare thing for me. You know what they say, the only thing consistent in life is change. The other Elders in the ward will not be changing as well so another six weeks with the crew.

We have been teaching Marie for the past couple of weeks and that's been great. Marie's mom, Pam, has started to sit in on our lessons and is becoming more and more interested. At first, when we went over to see Marie, Pam would avoid us like the plague. But one night, Pam came back from walking the dog and sat in on our lesson on the porch. It was awesome because Marie helped us teach her about the Restoration. She has now accepted a Book of Mormon and started reading it. That's the best thing she could be doing. Nothing can match the converting power of the Book of Mormon!

Elder Rasband and I had an appointment fall through this past week right before dinner. We had half an hour so we said a prayer to ask the Lord to take us where he needed his missionaries. Then we drove to a random street, parked the car and got out.  Before I even had a chance to get my bag out of the back seat, this guy yelled to Elder Rasband and I, "So you're the new Elders in town." We had parked right in front of this guy's house. He was out working on his car so we went up and got to know him a bit better. His name is Brady, he is a machine fixer, the Elders used to stop by and  meet with him, and he believes that he is going to Hell. He is blunt and down to earth, but was very polite to us. We talked for a bit longer but then had to go.  We are going to stop by this week some time.

We do a lot of service in Elmira. On Wednesdays, we go to Catholic Charities.  Thursdays we go to the public library and Fridays we go to a food bank.  We also have other service opportunities that pop up. Each is for two hours. We are encouraged to try and do 5 to 10 hours of service a week because President Rogers wants us to serve around great people that already have the light of Christ glowing in their lives. We were at a dinner at the Farnsworth's this past week when Brother Farnsworth told us a neat experience he had. He volunteers at the library once a week as well and he was telling us how one of the librarians started asking about what missionaries do and why we come on missions. That was cool to hear. I guess you never know how your example affects others. 

We haven't been able to meet with Margaret this week because she has been sick, but the ward members missed her at church.  That's a good sign. The fall is still beautiful as usual and the weather is still cooling down.

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

Elder Carlile

 

A Serious Group
 

 

October 10, 2016 -- This Week Went By "Fast"

Things are going really well here in Elmira. The temp continues to drop and the leaves continue to change. It's amazing to stop and just enjoy the beauty of it all. Elder Rasband and I are doing really well together. I know it was meant to be that he was called to be my trainee and I was called to be his trainer.

One morning, Elder Rasband and I were doing our companion studying when, all of the sudden, he looked over in the kitchen and said, "Elder, I think we have a mouse problem." We grabbed our broom and machete and cornered it in the closet but sadly that crafty mouse got away.  So then we resorted to Plan B. . .lure him out with cookies and then trap him with a box hanging on the chandelier with some floss while we weekly planned. That didn't work either, he was too smart for that.  So we resorted to plan C. . .going to the store and getting a mouse trap. With some trial and error we finally got him and now we are mouse free (hopefully), but we put out another trap just in case. 

Elder Rasband and I went to return and report in Utica this week. It's a meeting they do for all the new trainees one month after they come on their mission to make sure they are doing alright. We went and picked up the Ithaca sisters ( Sisters Blomquist and Jones) and then headed to the Mission home and met up with President and Sister Rogers and all the other missionaries. The next day, we went and had the meeting. It was good! I got to see Elder and Sister Lee. They gave me an update on how things are going in Oneida. It was reassuring to hear that some of the people I taught when I was there are still being taught and progressing towards baptism. We had Utica's famous dish, Chicken Riggies, for lunch as well as garlic knots. Let's just say it was delicious.
 

Margaret is doing really well. She has been struggling with smoking most of her life but has wanted to overcome it as she has learned more about the gospel. We had a great lesson on fasting this week and committed her to fast to overcome smoking. She was totally for it and so on Sunday she fasted. We fasted with her as well. We just got a text from her informing us that she is now smoke free and does not have the desire to smoke anymore. When Elder Rasband and I read the text we freaked out and started doing our celebration dance. Fasting has never been one of my favorite things in the world but time and time again I have seen the miracles that come from fasting. As we make a sacrifice to the Lord of something as temporal as food, he magnifies our efforts. Reading that text made every second of hunger that we felt worth it. If you think about it, fasting is such a small thing for the Lord to ask for what we get in return. I know that miracles happen when we turn things over to the Lord. 

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

See ya peeps next week,

 

Elder Carlile

 

Elmira Sunset

Return and Report

 

October 3, 2016 -- The Best Season in New York

Again a busy week. Big surprise there. The leaves are turning blood red, orange orange, and mild yellow. The temp continues to drop continually and everyone in upstate knows what that means..... apple season. Apple fritter donuts, apple cider, and just plain apples. You can just smell fall in the air and life seems blissful when you take a moment to enjoy all the fall aromas. But even sweeter than all the apples in season was General Conference. I guess this wonderful season in New York and Conference have more in common than I thought. They even talked about the "FALL" in conference as well. 

I really enjoyed all the talks in Conference this time around. As always, I was able to find specific direct council to me in the talks that were given. So far, my favorite talk was given by R Todd Christofferson. Apparently his name was changed to R Todd in the sustaining of the leaders of the Church. The talks seemed to be centered on simple doctrines of the Church -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Plan of the Salvation, and the Restoration. For priesthood session, our ward did pie and ice cream before the session and then enjoyed Conference with a full tummy. I think that's the way they should do priesthood session from now on. Can I have my pie and ice cream and watch conference too... Yes, definitely!

Margaret continues to come closer to Christ as she acts on the commitments we have left her. This past week she stopped smoking. We went over the day she stopped and she had been baking all day. She told us that she had to be doing something with her hands all day since it was her first day off smoking. She fed us some of the treats that she had made as we had our lesson, and let me just say, tasting the fruits of her striving to keep the word of wisdom never tasted so good.

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

Keep on keepin on,

Elder Carlile

 

Beginning of Fall in Elmira