Transfer 2 Week6

Hello everyone!

This week has been super crazy! I was in a Trio with the Zone Leaders, but on Friday one of them went home....so it's just been me and the other one this week and we have had some crazy busy days! #temporaryZoneLeader! It was all just a big blur! not even sad about what I've learned from this experience! 

I have been assigned to train a new missionary this next transfer! What a wonderful opportunity this is going to be, I am a little bit nervous about this, but I know that the Lord qualifies us for the callings we receive. I feel like it will be a great growing experience, and I will probably learn more from this than my Companion will. 

Recognizing the small miracles in this life lead to greater things to come. If we don't appreciate the small things, how can we expect to receive the big things? Our investigator Sam came to church yesterday! We tracted into Sam a while back. He yelled "hey! are you Mormon Missionaries?" He told us yesterday that he felt drawn to us that day for some reason, and then he finished by saying that he knew it was the Holy Ghost. He feels drawn to the Book of Mormon, and loves coming to church. This is a text book experience, one I didn't even think was a real thing. But this is just proof that the Lord prepares people for us. He is earnestly working with us to get us to that next level of our spiritual maturity. 

I have been going HAM on this punching bag lately. It is part of my morning work out, I find it relieves a lot of stress, and also it tones the arms...it's an awesome gift from a ward member that works for Title....except for when I can't move my arms the next day....eh....whateve....

I hope you all have a good and safe week!

Keep the Faith!

  

The Stress Reliever

The Monkey and the boxing Gloves

Some Words of inspiration given to his mama who is struggling right now!

-- 

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

Week 5, Transfer 2

Hello!

This week has been super rough. My comp went home on Thursday, that was pretty hard to see. But the Lord works in mysterious ways. I'm in a Trio with Elder Turner and Elder Verkler (the Zone Leaders). It has been a good time! They are working me hard, and I feel like I'm growing spiritually from that. We are covering the whole area of Paola by ourselves until my new companion comes in at transfers. This area is huge and is usually covered by two companionship's. Paul didn't end up getting baptized on Saturday. He is having some problems understanding the doctrine and won't progress. He has been lying to us about not smoking, and he isn't reading or praying. We are going to have the "Drop Talk" with him tonight. Not too much happened this week, just a lot of foot work, we are trying to build up our investigator pool again. Not much has been done, but I feel like the spirit is more abundantly in my life. 

Keep the Faith!

-- 

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

Editors note: This was extremely hard on Jared to have his Trainer and Comp go home.  It's always sad when Elders are sent home. But, like Jared said, things happen for a reason.  We love them anyway.  The Savior wouldn't turn us away, and neither should we.. Please, leave the Judging up to the ones that have the authority to do so! #Lovemymissionaries

Week 4 Transfer 2

I had an amazing week! 

We had our Zone Conference this week, a General Authority Elder Renlund came and gave us some very inspired training's. After the training was over, for some reason and I don't think I will ever know why he did this. He pulled me aside, and we talked for a minute. He asked me how my home life was, how my parents were, and if my family was in good health. He then asked how I received the conformation to serve a mission and the steps I took to get here. I told him beginning to end about the miracle I had before entering the mission field, the battles I fought to get here, I expressed the desire I had to work, and to be in the Lords service. I told him that my head nor heart was at home right now, but that I had turned it over to the Lord. He hugged me, and told me that he felt impressed to pull me aside, and that I had answered the questions that were burrowed deep into his heart. What those questions were, I have no idea. But I do know this, my heavenly father is watching over me, he knows my struggles and trials, he knows the difficult paths that we can sometimes find ourselves in. Elder Renlund concluded by telling me that he is proud of me, and on behalf of the brethren, Thank you for choosing to serve, he advised that when I write home that I should tell my Mom and Dad Thank you for giving up a great son for 2 years. A great son? I have never felt that I was a great person, until this man told me and confirmed to me that I was, I CAN do hard things.. I walked away from that meeting somehow uplifted, and edified. I felt more pure, and I couldn't help but recognize the divine power of the Holy Ghost with me. My Heavenly Father was again reaching out to me, with love and compassion, he knew my desires, but he also knew what I needed to do to fulfill those desires. I can honestly say that God still inspires men today, and I sustain these brethren to the office that they hold. The Lords work out here has a purpose. That, I can Testify.

 Paul is doing an outstanding job at keeping his commitments. He is expected to be baptized this Saturday at 1pm. He also invited his friend to take the discussions and we have a meeting with her tonight. Miracles were made

 So, as you know our investigator Paul has been struggling with the Word of Wisdom. On Thursday we had an awesome lesson with him, he had kept his commitments of not smoking and had set his own goals to execute his ultimate goal of being baptized. This was a miracle, Paul never had this intent before. The next lesson we had with him was just as amazing and we found a great fellowship for him. As we were leaving the parking lot we saw in the passenger seat of his car a carton of cigarettes. This devastated me, I felt so disappointed, my heart broke, and my soul filled with anguish and pain for Paul. In no instance did I want the glory of his baptism upon myself to get gain, but that I knew Paul would be happy, and that he will eventually receive salvation for his soul. I couldn't help but remember the Savior, and his grief and sorrow for me, when I mess up. I caught a glimpse of the feelings he might feel when I mess up and give into temptation. I was reminded of the outcome of my own personal actions. And that they disappoint my Heavenly Father. The only difference is that I can be forgiven every time I have  real intent to repent and move on. And perhaps, for Paul it might be the case also. Later we found out that the Cigarettes didn't belong to him, but to a friend. Confirming that this was a lesson that I needed to receive. 

On Thursday we stopped by this less active members house because she was in need of a blessing, she has many health problems, and suffers from a brain default. After the blessing she said "for a second or two I couldn't help but feel relief from the pain I have been feeling lately, and my thoughts were no longer distracted, and I felt the Lord with me." That was an awesome experience. The priesthood really did help this Woman, It is a real power given from god, for the blessing of his children. It is my testimony that God lives, that he loves his children, and that he wants us to follow his Son, Jesus Christ. As we do this, we cannot fail. 

I love this work, I love these people, and I love my God. 

Have a great week!

-- 

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission


I want everyone to know this... Jared IS a GREAT son! He has been my rock.  I don't know of very many 18-20 year olds that are willing to help support a family.  He sacrificed so much for me and Kylee.  Cody did as well.  If they never do anything again, they have earned their spot in the celestial kingdom.  I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent them to me.  I am so blessed to have all of my kids.  What wonderful examples they are to me.. When I grow up, I want to be just like them!

Week 3, Transfer 2

Hello!

This week has been pretty crazy! I got yelled at by this 15 year old girl, so that was pretty great! It was Tammie's daughter. (Background Story) So, Tammie grew up with the "Forced" style of religion, meaning she had to believe in something or her parents would beat it into her, she didn't really have much of an option. But that's not how missionaries work. We invite, they commit, we follow up. There's no forcing involved, no arm twisting, none of that. It's a simple invitation and they choose whether to accept it or not. She likes our religion but won't join because her daughter hasn't heard the discussions yet. So we show up for an appointment, and the air is just thick with contention, not 100 percent sure what was talked about before we got there, but it didn't sound pleasant. We start asking her questions about her beliefs, kind of getting a familiar background, and she just starts getting way short with us, and super sassy (15? yeah) And her mom just starts prying to get her to talk to us. We kind of explained that we aren't here to tear down anybody's beliefs, we are just here to help build on them, She just gets up and leaves the room, I was a little relieved when that happened because I was not going to make it seem like we were forcing her to do anything. We just directed the discussion towards Tammie. She had some super great questions about our church, she loved the answers we gave her, the spirit was there, it was solid. But then Tammie starts talking about her daughter, and how she's worried about raising her...We gave her some advice on what it was like when we were her age, and basically told her not to be forceful, but to invite, and let her decide. After like 10 minutes of this, her daughter just busts out of her room, and I wish I could tell you that she said "I WANT TO BE BAPTIZED" but, it was a not so positive outcome....yay....she starts freaking out on us and her mom, and I literally felt the spirit exit the room, and my companion told me I went white as a sheet...it was super weird, and also sad, we just kind of ended things right there because there was no way we were bringing that one back. 

Anyway that was the highlight of my week, not too much happened! We had to push Paul back another week for his baptism. He is a goofy guy! I love Paul! ( The Dude legitimately thinks he's a cat) When we told him that Coffee was against the Word of Wisdom he said "oh man! how am I supposed to get my morning friskies". He also hisses at people when he doesn't like them. Which made church yesterday an event! I have never tried so hard to hold back laughter, but alas, I succeeded. 

On a spiritual note I couldn't help but think of the wonderful Atonement of the savior this week. Elder Holland puts it perfectly "Conversion is not easy, because salvation is not a cheap experience." We love to say that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, and we are! But that means that we might have to walk some of the path that he walked, or feet just a little of the pain that he felt, or shed one of the tears of sorrow that he shed, I'm not saying that we should experience anything that Christ experienced, that's just sac-religious. But I believe that we can't bear any lasting testimony of the atonement, if we've never understood what it was like for him , If we come to the truth, an understanding of the price that has been paid, we will find that the atonement will carry us, perhaps even more so than it will our investigators.When I get discouraged, or rejected, I remember that I have every reason to stand tall, I am standing shoulder to shoulder with the best life this world has ever know, the only true and best missionary that has ever walked this earth, and for a moment or two, I can realize what it was like for him. I just want to leave you my testimony that I know our savior lives, that his grace is sufficient, and that he is pulling for each and every one of us, he is not waiting at the finish line to give us our ending report, but he is with us every step of the way, he is our advocate, the prince of peace. I know that true repentance opens the door to a better understanding of the nature of God, and his son Jesus Christ. I feel close to my savior, because I feel the majesty of his atonement in my life. Always striving to be better, to do better, to love more, to give more, and to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength. I love this gospel, and I love Gods children. When your soul aches for others, and you desire that they have salvation, you are "called to the work". 
 I thought about that 15 year old girl and If Kylee would have talked to you that way she would have bigger problems than back problems. Her head would be on backwards. The thing is, teenagers out here are pressed to find religion. So many different sects out here, religion is a hot thing. Also, these kids have better sex lives than a porn star, and get super wasted every weekend. They barely wear any clothes, and if they are members of the church it won't be for long. Kids are getting worse, and are constantly up to no good. We will be walking down the street and they will just yell things at us. It is part of the work, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Things will get better momma. I am pulling for you, Just remember to start your day off with prayer, kneeling prayer no matter who sees you do it, and If you can, squeeze in that chapter a day. You will find it changing you little by little, as you strive to live what you learn from daily scripture study. It might be hard at first. But it will bless your life. Also, maybe you and Ashley, and Kylee can do a chapter on Mondays! Love you momma! 

I love you all and I hope things are going well back home! 


-- 
-Elder Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission

Missouri is a beautiful place

I shined my shoes way good this week #bandkid.

Can I just say how lucky I am to be this kids mom? I knew when he was born that his mission would be great! He is by far my most stubborn child, yet when he calls me Momma, he has my heart! I am so blessed that he is mine! And knowing that he literally went through the refiners fire makes it mean so much more.  #Blessings #Atonement. thank you Heavenly Father for letting me borrow him.

Transfer 2

Hello!

This week has been super long. We have been working with Paul a lot this week, he is on dunk date for the 28th of March. Paul is super addicted to smoking though, but we have given him our all and he has really made a good turn around. We picked up another former investigator, her name is Tammie. She was raised Baptist, she said that her only hang up was the priesthood, and her daughter not understanding our religion. But! We met with her and helped her understand the role of the priesthood and exactly how it came to be. She really seemed to understand it and liked the feelings that she had, she believes the Book of Mormon is true, she is just waiting for God to tell her that she needs to be baptized again, this seems to be a common problem with people out here, they just expect the Lord to confirm it, but they never ask the simple question: "is it true?" (you can't know if you don't ask). We helped her a lot and I really think she is going to make it. She gave the closing prayer and it was a special moment, she said that she really likes our church and she asked for help to know if it's true or not. 

Yesterday we got super stomped with snow! They canceled church! I was super sad because I really wanted to take the sacrament, I was looking forward to it. I never realized the importance it makes in my life until that moment. I decided to pray, and ask God if he would help us get to a ward that isn't closed somehow...The zone leaders called like 5 minutes later and asked if we wanted to go to the Olathe Ward. I had never experienced a prayer being answered that fast in my life. I grew a bigger testimony of prayer, and an even bigger testimony of the sacrament. That is why we attend church. OH! And when we were leaving for church the sliding door didn't shut all the way, so when we got home we were kind of kicking back and then this random bird flies out of Elder Dastrups closet....it was super legit! It tried to fly out the screen door but faced itself on the glass (probably has exceedingly great brain damage), we thought we killed it but it started flying around the apartment like mad....seriously....we actually thought about putting it on a leash and keeping it as a pet...but we let it fly out the door instead. 

We got approved for I-pads coming May 7th. Super pumped for that, it is going to help with finding people to teach!

That's all that really happened this week, I feel close to the Lord every day. 

Hope all is Well.

We got hammered this week...Lots of Snow and cold.

That's what missionary work is all about. And whenever I am tempted to give myself a rest after finishing some hard task in his service, and my body begs for rest. I just cry out "Remember him" The Savior is the perfect example of this. His labors in mortality were finished...but he entered the spirit world determined to finish his glorious work of saving souls....

The Pet Bird

Missouri Snow

More Snow!

The Missouri Sunset

Transfer 2, week 1

Transfer week is super crazy. I am still in Paola with Elder Dastrup. We lost one of our Zone Leaders, and our District Leader. Even though it didn't really impact me directly it still sucks to adjust to their way of doing things. It's definitely inspired though. I have learned a lot already from the new guys. We had a really cool week though, we were able to teach our investigator Paul. We are trying to help him quit smoking, it has really tested my patience, but I have been able to see it his way. He is doing really well, he had set his own goal to be Baptized on the 7th of March, but he couldn't come to churchSunday because his friend tried to end his own life, so we will have to push it back until the 14th, No big deal it just helps become more solid. 

Osawatomie is literally the worst place in the U.S. no joke (Americas Top Meth Sales), I have never seen so many drug dealers and crazy people in my life. We helped someone move from Osa the other day, they weren't members, just neighbors of a member. I couldn't believe how run down that house was, I could hardly be inside without wanting to toss my cookies. But, the people really appreciated our help, and we were able to get them our number and a Mormon.org card. Hopefully they call us. I never realized how humble the circumstances are of some people. I really just want to give them a big hug, and tell them it's okay. Which is weird because I wasn't a fan of the whole lovey dovey garbage before I left. The Lord has taught me how to love people. Elder Greenburg learned a valuable lesson so far.   

I have enjoyed being able to lead in the lessons this week, and I am excited to continue throughout this transfer. My door approaches are getting a lot better. The other day in companionship study, we took each point and really tore it apart, and then came up with a good way to teach them simply. It has helped me be more confident when teaching others. When I am challenged by someone who has a lot of questions on a subject, I make it my personal goal to study and get as much knowledge as I can on the subject. It has really helped me grow in my knowledge. 

When we were tracting the other day in Paola we came to this guys door and he said he has met with missionaries before. But was offended at the fact that we believed that there was an apostasy, and that we believed that Joseph Smith could hold up Christ's church better than Christ himself. Obviously that was completely false doctrine that he heard, (probably anti garbage) anyway, we were able to clear up the confusion as we told him the bible verses and other evidence that we have (Amos 8:11, 2 Nephi 13). He was very interested that we had bible verses to back it up. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon, and invited him to read and pray about it. We also gave him the link to a documentary called "A new day for the Book of Mormon" he was a crazy history fanatic and we thought he would really like that video. Hopefully he reads and prays, It would be sweet to start teaching him again. 

It has been crazy cold out here lately. I can feel it straight to the bone! Nothing I put on my body blocks it out. It just cuts straight through. I can't wait for Tornado season though! I am stoked! I guess Paola hasn't seen a Tornado for 3 years now. So, it's possible we will see one. Not even sad about that! I didn't know that the sky turns green! That's flippin sweet!

Anyway! This week has been great, I have learned a lot on my mission thus far. It kinda scares me to think that i'm an adult living on my own. Yes, the kid that once lit his butt on fire, and has done many other extremely stupid things, is living on his own. If that doesn't scare you, nothing will.

Take care, Keep the Faith, Remember who you are, Love ya'll   

-- 

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

The pink Tie, is one that I (momma) picked out.. it takes a real man to wear pink!

 I Tried on momma's pink tie

Jared was invited to a 7 year olds birthday party!

I sure do miss this kids face!

YAY! Elder Dastrup and I got super sick this week! Being sick on the mission has never made me feel so wasteful in my life! Such a giant waste of space! This week was super slow because we couldn't get out, our Zone Leaders made us stay home. But, I am fine now so I am pumped to get working! It is my 6th week in the field so that means I get to start leading discussions, super pumped about that! I like to view teaching as a team effort. Missionaries, Investigator, The Lord, all striving to achieve 1 goal. Helping them come closer to Jesus Christ through the restored gospel. When this occurs it shows the Gator that we really do strive to help them see salvation, and that we really do care. It isn't about getting the baptism so that you can show it off to everyone, but to really show them that this is their salvation that's on the line, and that through the Doctrines of Christ they can see celestial glory. As we sit down with these investigators we can strategist with them what we need to do to accomplish this goal, what are road blocks that might occur? What are some hang ups? From that point we can set goals and make plans to help them achieve them. This is something that has been drawing on my mins all week, and I can't wait to use it. I really think it will help us with teaching, and showing investigators what real intent is all bout.  It's super sick! Anyway, I don't have much to write about this week.  

Here is a picture of me bumming around apartment.

Hope all is well!

-- 

-Elder Greenburg

Missouri Independence Mission

 Being Sick Brings about Missionary Probs! And sexy boots obviously

He is super Glad I sent him his boots!