WELCOME TO ELDER TREVOR GILES' MISSIONARY BLOG!!

Newest posts are at the top! If you're checking it out for the first time, make sure to look at the older posts by clicking the link at the bottom of each page. Hope you enjoy!

July 15, 2011

We're emailing on Wednesday today. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting. Hopefully nobody has had a breakdown while waiting for this email. =P

The work is going great. Most of our investigators are moving along nicely, and a few have gotten to the point where we have to really push them to keep progressing, or just drop them. I hope it doesn't come to that. We had 8 investigators come to church last Sunday, which is a record high for the last 3 transfers. We did "church round-up" before church started, and it was crazy. We had 20 people to round up, so we were all over the place, waking people up for 11:00 church. It's great that all these people came to church, but what made me the most happy is the fact that Andrew came to church. This was his first time coming to church. He's a great guy, and I hope we can teach him quickly enough to get him baptized before the end of the transfer.

Sarah also came to church. She's currently the investigator who we have closest to baptism. She's really ready for it, but is still building up the confidence to go through with it. We're shooting for this weekend, and I'm very confident that she will be baptized on Saturday.

Rednis, the Chuukese man, is also progressing well. He understands what is taught, and loves it. He just hasn't quite made the connection between what we teach and why he needs to be baptized. The lessons are mostly just Brother Herring teaching in Chuukese, and us listening and trying to follow along based on his hand motions and diagrams. Brother Herring tells us it goes well though.

That's about all for now. I hope everyone is doing well in the sweltering heat back home. I won't tell you how pleasant it's been up here, because I don't want to make anyone jealous.

I love you all!

-Elder Giles

July 4, 2011

Hey everyone! Happy Independence Day! Sadly, we're not really doing anything special to celebrate (besides today being a P-day). We are spending the day at the Herring's house. It's pretty great. We've been playing games and such. P-day ends at 5:00, so that pretty much rules out the chance to attend any barbecues or picnics. President Weaver said we have to be in by 8:30 tonight, which is pretty early. Normally we get in between 9:15 and 9:45.

We had two baptisms last week: Meagan on Tuesday, and Seamus on Saturday. I was the impromptu pianist on Saturday, because the one who had been called didn't show up. So far I've averaged 1 baptism per week. Not too bad, eh?

One interesting thing that happened this week was a car invite (inviting while driving). We rolled down the window and asked this guy if he wanted to go take a tour of the church. He said, yes, so we parked and walked to the church with him. We quickly found out that he doesn't speak much English. He's from the island of Chuuk, and speaks Chuukese. Lucky for us, Elder Mauss knew somebody (Brother Herring, actually) who went on his mission to Chuuk. He came with us the next day, and we re-did the church tour in Chuukese. Rednis, the man we invited, came to church on Sunday, and said he wants to be baptized. Brother Herring is going to help us teach him, and he'll probably be baptized in a couple weeks.

The work is still going great. We go finding a lot, since we're always looking for new investigators.

Some of the investigators we have are progressing very slowly, which is frustrating. The Downs family doesn't seem to really take it seriously, and it's hard to get them to come to church. A man named Rudy has a similar story. His wife is a Jehovah's Witness, and she's always saying things to confuse Rudy and point out differences and things. Rudy is a very logical person. So much so that he doesn't rely on the spirit or faith at all. It's frustrating because he wants us to prove the Book of Mormon is true, and that the things we say are right, instead of just praying and trusting the answers he receives. Hopefully we can do some good things this week.

That's all for now. Thanks for all your letters, love, and prayers!

-Elder Giles

June 27, 2011

Hello again from Lacey!

It's pretty great here, and it hasn't really rained a whole lot like I was told it would. There is this thing though, that people call "The Washington Grey". Since it's usually overcast, everything is kind of shadowed in grey and doesn't have its full vibrant color. Apparently people get used to it, and are taken by surprise when the sun comes out and everything is bright and colorful.

My companions are still great, and we laugh and joke a lot. They are the zone leaders for the Lacey zone, so sometimes they do things I don't have to do, like reporting numbers and stuff. I usually take that time to eat, study, or write letters. We have a lot of fun together, and we make a lot of jokes with each other. It's pretty great.

It's really great that we have a car. It's great fun to drive up next to people who are walking on the sidewalk and invite them to come to church. Usually it doesn't yield any results, but I'm sure it will eventually if we keep doing it.

We tract a lot. At least two hours each day. It's really pretty fun, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. We ran into a lady the other day who was obviously a 'Born-Again', and she told us how we don't need to actually DO anything, as long as we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. Interesting, the ideas people get. I wonder if she reads the same Bible as we do.

Not much else to report, really. We have a baptism on Tuesday, but it's a lady who was taught and committed before I even got here. I don't think I've even met her. It's still cool though.

I've got to go now, but you all should write me letters. They're great.

Lovey-huggins,

Elder Giles

June 22, 2011

Hello from Lacey, Washington!

As great as MTC life was, it's great to be out in the mission field. It's so much more fulfilling and fun. I do miss the MTC food a little though. Not that it was great, but just that there was so much of it.

We got into the airport and met President Bowen by the baggage claim. We put all our luggage and stuff into a uhaul trailer and rode to the stake center in a big van. Once there, we got the briefing on all the safety stuff and whatnot. Talking about driving privileges and the importance of keeping good records. We then got our companions.
I guess usually they train newbies in a foursome, but they're short on missionaries or something, so most are in a threesome. I'm with the zone leaders of the Lacey zone. Lacey is the name of the city I'm currently serving in. It's only a few miles outside of Olympia. You can look it up. My companions' names are Elder Draper and Elder Mauss (pronounced moss). They are pretty cool. This is Elder Draper's last transfer, so he's almost done. It's pretty funny though... on the first night, he was talking in his sleep and teaching lessons and scheduling follow-up appointments. Luckily he didn't do that last night too. I was worried it might be a nightly occurrence.

Elder Mauss is a world-champion jump-roper. I saw a video of him doing a routine at the world championships. He's really good. He does all sorts of tricks and stuff. He aspires to eventually get Jump-roping into the olympics as one of the events at the summer games.

Tracting is great. Elder Draper and I spent a few hours at a trailer park yesterday. We met a lot of nice people, and a few crazies.

The big thing here is "church tours", which are exactly what they sound like. We show people around the inside of the building, and then ask them to be baptized while we are standing by the font. It's way cool. We've gotten two people to commit to baptism so far that way, and I've only been here two days.

Lacey is great, and I'm looking forward to these next 6 weeks. I don't know where I'll be after that, but I'm sure it will be great too.

My address is as follows:

Elder Trevor Giles

4625 45th Ave SE Apt. #M1

Lacey, WA 98503

Everyone should write me! I look forward to hearing from you.

I wish you all luck in your endeavors.

-Elder Giles

June 14, 2011

Hey Everyone!

Week 2 in the MTC was pretty good. It went by a whole lot faster than the first week did. It's hard to believe that I only have a few more days before I'm out in Washington teaching the Gospel to people who really need it. We only have two more days of normal class, and then we have in-field orientation on Friday and Saturday. I'm so excited to leave the MTC.

Elder Allen and I have been doing pretty good with our "investigators". Even though they are just acting, it's good experience to learn how to teach and to work together and listen to the Spirit. Yesterday we invited José to be baptized, and he said he would. It felt really good to have success.

In our classes we've been talking about listening to the Spirit as we teach, and it really is an amazing experience. I can feel the Spirit directing my words and my thoughts. The scripture that says "open your mouth and it shall be filled" is really true. Sometimes in our role plays, I don't know what to say, but I start talking and the words just come to me. It is quite remarkable.

The food is not as good as I thought. I think we're all getting sick of it. I can't imagine eating this food for 9+ weeks.

Our zone leaders and a few other missionaries in our zone are going to the Philipines. They are speaking Cebuano. It's a pretty cool language, and they've been here for 7 weeks, so they're pretty good at it. They teach us a few words and phrases, and we have fun with them. Maybe more fun than we should. =P

Gym is great. I look forward to it. Elder Hammer and I run on the track together, usually between 1 and 3 miles a day. Elder Hansen and I then lift weights and to the "Ab-Ripper" from P90x. It's way intense. I'm making a lot of friends here, and I'll be sad to leave them. It's amazing how well you can get to know someone in only a few weeks.

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks to all who sent me letters! They are much appreciated. The mail is a huge deal here, and those who don't get any mail are always envious of those who do.

I love you all and hope you're all doing well.

Love,

Elder Giles

First Mission Newsletter!

Greetings from the Empty Sea!
It's pretty great here. I don't think I've ever studied this much in my life. I've gotten so much out of it and I can feel my testimony strengthen daily as I teach our investigators and bear witness to them of the truth of the gospel and promise them happiness if they learn of its truth and live its teachings.
My Companion is pretty cool. His name is Elder Allen. He's from northwest Florida, and he has a pretty strong southern accent. He says y'all a lot, and it's amusing to hear him teach about Jesus Christ (pronounced Jezis Crawst). He's a really funny guy, and we're finally starting to work well together in our teaching.
Our district is so cool. Everyone has a strong testimony, and I love when we get a chance to talk about the scriptures and how they make our lives great. Last night was incredible. The Spirit that was felt was so strong, and I felt true joy in the gospel. The food is good, but I'm starting to get sick of it already. (sad, huh?)
I have a lot of fun with my companion and other roommates, Elder Hansen and Elder Roming. It's a good group. I've learned so much already, but I have so much more to learn.
I've gotta go now, but I love you all.
Love,
Elder Giles