June 16- Rum French Toast. Wait......not again!

Well I don't know what to write about this week. There has not been anything that has been new or very exciting happen. We talked to a lot of people this week and made a return appointment. But it is for the spanish sisters. It is tough, all of the investigators that we find are for different wards. All of the investigators that we are teaching, except Autumn, should be taught by other missionaries. However our ward members want us to teach them instead of the missionaries that are supposed to. They recognize that we are really good teachers,and we love that, but it puts us in an awkward position. We can continue to teach them but we can't ever help them progress and be baptized. Elder Metcalfe and I decided that we were going to fix the problem and make everything right. Now the only problem was we didn't want to offend any of the members by suddenly switching missionaries on their friends and family. We decided to bring it up to the bishop at ward council and seek his advice on how we can hand off our investigators smoothly and not get any one mad. He told us that he wants us to continue to teach them and not hand them off. So we are back a square one STILL trying to find people that WE can teach and baptize. 

Actually a funny thing happened a week or so ago. I really don't know what the deal is with my companions and rum. Somehow they just gravitate toward each other. Elder Metcalfe really wanted to make some french toast. So one day he decided to go through our kitchen to see if we had all the ingredients for his special recipe. He found bread, eggs, cinnamon and sugar, the essentials. As he finished his search, he said that they only thing he now needed was rum extract. "Rum Extract?" I responded. Then I went on and told him of my experience of Elder Wilkinson eating the rum cake. He said that it was funny, and he then told me about how his dad put real rum in their french toast. "Of course," he explained, "that when you cook it, the alcohol cooks out." Now fast forward to a few nights later when we are sitting at dinner with some members in our ward and the topic came up again. They members just so happened to have the rum extract that Elder Metcalfe was looking for. The next morning, Elder Metcalfe proudly made his fathers famous french toast. He didn't want any so he just made some for me. There is the first red flag. I took one bit, and all of the sudden I tasted alcohol. I said to my self that is funny, this doesn't have any alcohol in it. Then I asked how much of the rum extract Elder Metcalfe had used. He said that used a few drops, but he had finished the rest of the bottle that was at least 1/3 of  the way full. Not to mention the french toast was not cooked all the way. I ate four slices of french toast and could not eat any more. So Elder Metcalfe decided he would finish off the rest. He said "Wow, this tastes just as good as when my dad had made it with real rum. It is like you can taste the alcohol and everything." To make a long story short I decided I would look at the bottle and to our surprise rum extract is 35% alcohol. I was surprised. The good thing is that nothing happened to either one of us. No one got "drunk" or couldn't ride our bikes, but I just thought it was funny. I didn't think that another rum story would come up. Who knows what will happen next?

Elder Paget

May 5. Please Pray to Help Us Find a Family

Things have been going great this week. We didn't get very many lessons but things look like they are starting to pick up. Unfortunately all of our set lessons fell through. But it gave us some time to do extra contacting and find a few service opportunities. We have been seeing a lot of cool miracles lately and we hope they keep on coming.

Last week we got a referral to teach a 16 year old girl named A. We were able to teach her a little bit of the Restoration, but then had to leave because her Mom didn't want us there. We were unable to meet with her this last week for a lesson. But she was able to come to church. She loved it! She also finished the Book of Mormon in a month and is already starting to read it again. She is on Fire! You could not ask for a better investigator. Today we are cutting out P-day short to teach her the rest of the Restoration lesson with her friend Thomas, that gave her the Book of Mormon. We are supper excited!

S has been going back and forth lately. He knows that the Church would bless his life in many ways. However, he doesn't think he has received his answer to his prayers or if he can live up to our standards. Then he came to a ward BBQ that we had at our church, and got to meet and talk to more members. Now he is fired up and has regained the motivation to change and become better. He was unable to make it to church for the second straight week but will try to make it to the next one.

We also had a less active member named Veasna come to church. It is the first time she has been in a really long time. We have been meeting with her for a while now and set a goal with her and her daughters to go to the temple as a family. This has given her the motivation to come back to church. I was actually surprised that she came. We always stop by on Saturday or give her a call to remind her about church. She usually always responds that she is not feeling well or that she is busy. However this last week we stopped by and she told us that she would need a ride and that we should call her right before church. So we did and she came. It was incredible, the Bishopric and ward members were shocked. So we are planning to throw them for a whirl when she hopefully comes next week.

We have been also making a lot of progress with another less active member name J. He has been meeting with Jehovah's Witnesses lately and has kind of made his own cross between the two religions, that Elder Russell and I have now named Jeremiah's Witnesses. He has told us that if we can prove to him that Jehovah is Jesus, that he will come to church every week from that time on. We have been showing him lots of scriptures and is slowly being convince but is still not there yet. 

Elder R have a goal this week to find a family that we can start teaching. So we would like to ask all of you to pray that we can achieve our goal. We also have a goal to contact at least 20 people a day. After Elder Ballard promised us that if we contact 20 people in a day we would double the number of baptisms. To help us reach our goal we have decided we are going to start tracting to help us to find those who are ready. We would really appreciate all your prayers to help us in our efforts.

Elder Paget

April 28, Miracle Referral

Well once again another week has come and gone. This week has had it ups and downs, but overall it has been good.

 

S was supposed to baptized yesterday, but he is not quite ready yet. It all started of last Monday when he didn't show up for his baptismal interview. We wondered why he would not be able to make it. He had been on fire recently and seem all for it. Luckily we were able to set up a lesson for Thursday and see what was up. We asked him a few questions and found out that he didn't feel that he had received and answer to his prayers yet. Which is ok. He had been going really fast, and it is good to take a step back and slow down to find out for himself the gospel is true, and not take our word for it. He still wants to get baptized. I feel that he will get his answer soon and he will be baptized in the next few weeks.

 

We had a cool miracle happen this week. We got a call from the Cole Canyon Elders saying that they had a referral for us. Her name is A and she is 16. We were able to stop by on Saturday and found out that her friend had given her a Book of Mormon and that she is half way through. She also said that she knows it's true and is thinking about getting baptized. We started to teach the restoration, but we were unable to finish. But we will pick up it back up sometime this week. IT was an awesome miracle. A golden investigator that came out of no where. It came right when we needed it. will let you know what happens.

 

Elder Paget

More of Murrieta

Well this has been a great week. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write about it. But here is a quick update.

I didn't end up getting Transferred like I thought I would. I will have lots more time in Murrieta.So now I will be here for at least 2 or more transfers. Elder R is going home at the end of this transfer and it is very unlikely that they would have both of us leave at the same time. Usually only one missionary leaves so the other missionary can help the next Elder learn the area. So I will most likely stay here to help the next Elder learn the area and ward members when Elder R leaves.

We had a great mission conference! Elder Ballard, along with Elder Maynes, and Elder Saban of the seventy came a spoke to us. It was awesome. The main message they had was that if you want to baptise more people you have to talk to more people. It was incredible to be instructed by them and to feel of the great spirit that they have.

S is still going to be baptized on Sunday and we are making the final preparations for his baptism. He is so excited and we are too. He has his baptismal interview tonight. B on the on the other hand is not. He lives in the Cal Oaks ward so we had to hand him off to the Elders in that ward. Hopefully he will be baptized soon.

Sorry again it is so short.

Elder Paget

Murrieta- 3 Months and Counting

Things are going great here in Murrieta, I have had a busy week. It all started off with saying goodbye to Elder W, who has been my companion for the last 3 months, at the transfer meeting. Then picking up my new companion, Elder R. He was just serving in another part of Murrieta, and didn't go far. He is from Bountiful, Utah and went to Viewmont High School. No we didn't know each other. He was a grade older than me. However that doesn't matter any more because I know him now. We have been working hard and really focusing on new people to teach. Most of the investigators we have now are not progressing, and if they don't start soon then we will have to move on to those who are more interested and committed. We set a new baptismal date with M. He is planning on being baptized on April 13. He still has some work to do but he will be able to be ready then.

One of the crazy things that happened this week was going to transfer meeting and coming back. Brother S had arranged a van for a bunch of missionaries in Murrieta to carpool down to vista, and Brother Phillips to drive us there. When Brother P went to go pick up the van from the family we were borrowing it from they didn't know we were coming. Fortunately she found another way to get her kids home from school and allowed us to take it. Then we were also borrowing a scout trailer, to put all of the bikes in that we were to take, and there was no wiring to hook up the rear brake lights. It also didn't hook on to the ball correctly. However we had to go, or else we would be late. So we had the person with the most faith pray that we wouldn't get pulled over and that we would make it safely there. Fortunately all was well on the way down. On the way back, once again we said a prayer that we would be safe and nothing would happen to us on the way back to Murrieta. Once again the person with the most faith said it and we took off. Everything was going fine until we were a few miles away. Brother P noticed a motorcycle cop behind him with is lights on trying to pull us over. Brother P started to change lanes and pull over. Then luckily the cop pulled up to the drivers window and gave a warning to not be in the left two lanes when pulling a trailer. It was miracle that we didn't get a ticket, and that he didn't see the lights not working.

Thanks Love

Elder Paget

The Lord's Law of Finances- Feb.19th

This last week was great! Elder W and I are working very hard to try to accomplish our mission goal of 85 baptisms by the end of the first quarter. We are going out talking to everyone we can, to find those who are searching after the truth but can not find it.

 

This last Saturday we had the privilege of going to J's Baptism. It was great to see all of our hard work and all the lessons we taught her pay off. It was a great baptism that the young single adult elders put on. There was a lot of people there and the spirit was strong. I am glad I was able to be a part of the process.

 

I learned an important lesson from a Multi-millionaire about the Lords law of Finances. He said that it was his secret to success. He started of by using an example of buying a brand new Corvette. He asked Now how much does and average car cost? About $25,000. How much does a new Corvette cost? $70,000. So there is about $45,000 difference. He said what you need to do is to give away $45,000. Then the Lord will provide you with the ability to by your dream Corvette. Charity is essential. When you want more, you must show that you will give more to those in need. He went on to say that before building his $2 Million dollar house he had to give $2 Million dollars away. Not only do you need to be charitable he also said that you must be a full tithe payer and give a generous fast offering. You must put the lord first as it says in 3 Nephi 13: 33.

 

33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 

 

When we do that God knows that he can trust us and that we will not do anything contrary to his will. That is the key to opening up the windows of heaven. Once we receive such great blessings we must have gratitude. It plays an role. God will ONLY give us as much as we are grateful for. So if we show our gratitude for the things we have the Lord will bless you with more because he knows that you will be grateful for those blessings as well.

 

So the Lords Law of Finances is:

 

1. Be Charitable

2. Pay a full Tithe

3. Pay a generous Fast Offering

4. Show Gratitude

 

Do these things and I promise you that the Lord will bless you with abundance.

 

Love Elder Paget

Murietta Miracles

Well once again I never cease to be amazed as a missionary. This week was another testament that the Lord truly works in mysterious ways, he is hastening his work at his own due time, and that time is NOW. I can't even begin to tell you how blessed Elder W and I have been serving here in the Murrieta Ward. But I hope that this letter will shed some light on the Miracles that have have witnessed and experienced this week.

 

We have seen many miracles at church. Over the last few weeks 2 different people have walked into church wanting to learn more. The first lady's name was M. M's husband is a less active member of our church, and she wanted to see what our church was all about. We were able to talk with her and found out that unfortunately she didn't live in our ward boundaries. So we had to pass her off the the Cole Canyon Elders. Luckily though as soon as we were able to pass her off, the Lord blessed us by sending someone else. J came to church yesterday with her friends parents, who had been teaching her a little about the church. She had a few questions and instead of her friend and his parents answering them they felt like it would be better for us to answer them so that we would be able to start teaching her. So during Sunday School we answered her questions and taught her the Plan of Salvation. She understood it all and loved it, and says she will be back next Sunday to learn more. Luckily she was already taught about the restoration and has already started to read the Book of Mormon. She is almost half way through 1 Nephi now and is enjoying it.

 

Last week A the husband of one of our investigators, sat in on a lesson we had on the Plan of Salvation. This week he is now officially one of our investigators. He participated and sat in on when teaching him the Restoration. He is very interested now and making his way closer to the waters of baptism. We are hoping that A will be baptized on the same day as his wife C, on January 18. We have not asked him yet but will sometime this week in our next lesson. We feel that he can be ready for that date. It is pretty soon, but we think it would be great if they could be baptised on the same day, and something that they could both look forward to.

 

M was supposed to be baptized this Saturday, however he is going to be busy and he is not quite ready yet. So we are going to reschedule for January 25. We meet with him everyday to help him along the way. However, recently he has not been reading or praying so he has not received and answer about the truthfulness of the Gospel. We helped him to realize this last night and he is now committed to do it everyday up to his baptism.

 

A funny thing this week was that we were over at M's home and his Mom gave us some cake. After eating one slice, I though to my self that it tasted kind of funny, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to be rude. That is when M's mom told us that it was rum cake. but not to worry because all the alcohol was cooked out, and offered us another piece. I said I was good, but she gave me another anyway. Again I didn't want to be rude so I ate it. After finishing the second piece of cake I realized I could taste the Alcohol in it. I turned to Elder W, and he wasn't feeling good. He was feeling light headed, and couldn't really balance. He somehow got drunk off the rum cake, or rum sponge is a better way to put it. I was fine, but Elder W was hammered. So we decided to that he couldn't bike and that we needed a ride home. So M gave us a ride back. It was pretty funny I didn't know could get drunk off of rum cake but Elder W is convinced that that was the case.

 

Love Elder Paget