I Testify that He Lives

Dear family,

This week we taught so many people! It was awesome! We went out with our WML a few times and taught a bunch of less-actives and part-members. We have a ton of leads and things to teach now, so planning is fun- talking about all the people and not just what roads to knock and all. We visited the S.'s kids yesterday (since they asked us to while they were gone), and we taught J., J.- the mom’s brother. He told us to come back and teach him more and teach J.'s sister H.. It was awesome-more to come on that.

General Conference was awesome! I have a list of some interesting study topics to look up and a slew of insights to add to my humble mind. It was just great! I loved every minute of it. Interesting Elder Seaver fact: This is the first conference of my life I did not fall asleep during. :)  And yes, mom- no more suit coats! :)

That's awesome that ya'll met another Southern connection. Remember how many of those we were finding after I got my call? Can you get me the Grandparents' info anyway so I can have it readily available? And yes, I joined Vitamin Shoppe out here. Ha-ha I don't know what the benefits of joining are, but I did anyway. Ha-ha. It was free, after all.

As far as school goes, yes that sounds like a plan. Whatever classes would be good for Mechanical Engineering/getting back into the swing of things. The transfer dates are July 26 and September 5. The 5th is the one I'm supposed to come home on. I doubt they'd send me home so early, and I really don't want to go home that early. So I just need to know the date of when I NEED to be home to make school. Maybe I can just tell BYU I'll be a week late and just stay ‘till the 5th? That would be preferred. Let me know soon though- President Holm needs to know so he can figure stuff out.

As far as apostasy goes, I agree. It's silly. Hebrews 6:4-6. Anyone who can leave this church cannot do it with a clear conscience. They have one of 2 concerns- testimony or commitment. Either they were never taught the doctrine so they have no reason to believe, or they have no backbone and can't commit to the doctrine they do know. Either way, if anyone ever struggles with faith, read the Book of Mormon, and pray to the Lord God Almighty with all the energy of your soul, with "a sincere heart" and "real intent" having faith, and "he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" (Moroni 10:4-5). There is no excuse for you to leave. There is no reason for you to miss out on the blessings of eternity. You cannot disprove the gospel, either. Anyone who leaves this church will have to go around, climb over, or deceitfully and pitifully crawl under the Book of Mormon, for surely no man can go through it and not know it is true. It is true. And if for any reason you feel unworthy, or you feel you are too far-gone, know that it is never too late. No man or woman who lives on this earth can descend beyond the reach of the Redeemer. Cry unto him as did Alma of old, "O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me." Dedicate yourself to him, and he will dedicate himself to you. May we all stand, as did Nephi, and say boldly and nobly, "I will give place no more for the enemy of my soul."

I testify that He lives. He is our Lord and Savoir. He came and showed us the way. He was perfect. May we all stand by Him at all times, and in all things, and in all places, even until death, for surely He stands willingly by us. In the name of our Master, Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all.

Elder Seaver

Glad to hear all is well in Zion!

Dear mom,

Glad to hear all is well in Zion!

This week we had a 2-day Leadership Training Meeting that we all 4 went to. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I noticed this week that my paradigm has shifted away from missionary work and more to learning doctrine. While learning the doctrine is good, and definitely helps me teach better, I need to get back in the swing of missionary work! I need to quit messing around with picking apart the scriptures and spend more time finding people to teach and baptize! Sheesh.

The S. came to church this week after weeks of being MIA! That was good. They are going to be out of town ‘till the 30th though…  But that's ok. We'll keep working with them. Their kids are staying at home with J.'s sister, and they asked us to stop by a few times and check on ‘em. So, we will. Ha-ha.

We've also been teaching this old mostly deaf couple named the G.. It's fun, but difficult. We just hope that our continued visits and the pamphlets will bring the Spirit enough to entice them to come to church.

I am so excited for General Conference this week! Stoked beyond belief for the awesome doctrine we're gonna learn! I love hearing our beloved Prophet and Apostles speak :) I am also glad to not have to wear my suit after that. Ha-ha

After our 2-day meeting we went to dinner- both nights, a Chinese buffet and pizza buffet. Then on Easter we got fed a huge lunch from a media referral we finally got in touch with, and dinner from a family we home teach for the ward. It was awesome. I have eaten so much! So to compensate, we started running in the mornings. It stinks while you're actively running, but you feel great after! I have so much more energy, which is kinda backwards in my mind.

Anyway, the only other thing to mention is that I will be spending a few bucks on getting a bike fixed up. A missionary, who went home, Elder Ultra, left his bike and I'm fixing it up so that I can have my own. It needs a new cassette and chain and derailleur, but that's about it. Then I'll just donate it back to the mission when I'm done with it. Oh and I got my package. Yes, we all loved it!

Well that about sums it up this week. Love ya'll!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Seaver

I Really do Love You all so Much

Dear family,

My new companion is Elder Tonge. He is a friend with Elder Thompson from back home. Small world- eh? He's a good young man from a little town in Idaho. He is a cowboy. We're having a good time.

This week was about average. We are struggling to find people to teach. It seems that everyone we find ditches us after about 3 visits max. But we're keeping our heads up and working hard.

Last night I hardly slept at all. Right as I'd be about to fall asleep I'd make a grunt sound and it'd wake me back up. Sheesh it was annoying. And I kept half-dreaming half-testifying of random false doctrines, then I'd think to myself, "is that really true?" And it'd wake me back up. And on top of that all my bones hurt for some reason, so if I got past the grunts and doctrinal expositions I'd roll over and it'd hurt and wake me up. It was just a terrible night. I'm glad today is P-day so I can just sleep it off. Ha.

The sisters I came out with went home this last week. Wow do I miss them. And wow does that make me feel old. I can't believe it.

I love being a missionary so much!

I love ya'll.

Elder Seaver

P.S. I really do love you all so much.

All Caught Up

I was out of town and got behind on posting for my missionary- so if you are a faithful reader you will want to scroll down to February 19^th and begin reading from there. 

Here is James’s email address- after you get caught up in reading the posts you will understand why this is useful information.  He'd love to hear from you.

james.seaver@myldsmail.net

FYI – James hit the 18 month mark on March 7^th, but who’s counting?

I Pray for You Every Day

Dear mom,

This week was much like last week. The S. were home and we visited with them on Thursday; set an appointment for Saturday; they were not home but left us a note; we left them a note in response saying "we'll see ya at church!"; they didn't come to church; we went to their house after; the note on the door was gone, and they weren't home. Sheesh they're hard to catch! Man... We'll keep trying though.

I am getting beastly at biking now. We were cruising last night, going fast enough to keep up with traffic at least, when Elder Stephens slipped off his bike. The chain snagged or something. He miraculously ninja'd his way into landing on his feet with nothing but a small bruise on his shin from the pedal. It was awesome! In the thrill of the moment I almost ran him over cause I was behind him. We laughed for a while, and then went to see one of his converts, E. B., for the last time. Elder Stephens is getting transferred this week.... 

I am officially released in my duties as a district leader, and Elder Thompson will be DL from now on. His companion, Elder Gemmell, will be staying another transfer. I am going to be training a new missionary again. I go down on Tuesday and will get my new trainee Wednesday. I'm excited to go to this transfer meeting though, because the sisters we came out with are going home. Sisters Chai, Robertson, Cottam, and Kloepfel. It'll be fun to say goodbye to them all. There are also a lot of my friends going home- Elders Williams, Ultra, and Harper. Elder Harper I lived with back in Aiken and he was in Florence zone one transfer when I was. Elder Ultra was a ZL when I was and we had some fun times together in ZLC. Elder Williams was an AP and a ZL I worked with a lot. I will miss all of them greatly. But now that we can email them, it'll be way easier to keep in touch! :) Oh, did I ever tell you that Elder Horne is a DL and is training now? He got his trainee last transfer. That makes me a grandpa ha-ha. Elder Cook is his name.

So we got an announcement at interviews last week. We are now allowed to email whomever we want. Don't matta no mo! Friends, family, anyone! We also got our email time extended from 45 min to 1 hour 15 min. How great is that?! So anyone may email me now and I will respond as I can. Woo hoo! :)

Well other than that, nothing really great happened this week. We're just working hard, being obedient, and loving the people. To answer, yes I'm taking pictures. I got a sweet memory card to go with the camera when I got it, so I'm all set. I'll have plenty of room for the rest of forever. And yeah, sometimes we go explore the town, but usually on P-day we just lounge around and play Uno or something. We're just too tired to spend our energy. Ha-ha.

Love you guys! I pray for you every day. Love ya!

Elder Seaver

C'est la vie - I guess

Dear mom,

This week was much like last week. We saw the S., but they went out of town again this weekend. We are meeting with them tonight though. We have been working hard and have been teaching a lot of lessons. Unfortunately 99% of our lessons end with a "thanks but no thanks." C'est la vie - I guess. 

Tomorrow we have another No More Strangers Fireside as well as interviews. We are also going in the morning to a local college and teaching a religion class for 2 or so hours. That'll be exciting! Actually, the other Elders, Thompson and Gemmell, are teaching. They were the ones asked to by the member. Elder Stephens and I are going to help with Q&A, as well as we need to leave right after to go to interviews and there won't be time for them to run around picking us up ha-ha. Anyway, that's about the extent of the week. 

As far as the package goes, if it wasn't priority mail it can't be forwarded. I'll call the office today and see if it's there. If it is they will send it to interviews tomorrow. 

I will ask President Holm tomorrow if i can email Sean or not.

Daylight Savings time didn't even make me flinch. 1 hour isn't that much at all. Besides, we stay up talking so long anyway that we hardly get sleep at all. I have learned to rely on and trust in the Lord's promise that he will renew and strengthen me so long as I keep his commandments. Go figure, the Lord keeps his promises! Who woulda guessed. 

Anyway. That's about it this week. Life is good. I love being a missionary!

Love ya!

Elder Seaver

I'm Going to Eat Tacos Today

Dear Mom,

This week was ok. We got hailed on. Our investigators all went out of town and we haven't seen them in weeks. We knocked so many doors this week. No one wants to listen. It's just one of those weeks. So that means it's just one of those emails. Nothing awesome to report. Good news though! The Gospel is still true!

Answer to your question - yes this is the same Elder Thompson.

Elder Thompson = one of my favorite people in our mission. He will be a friend forever.

We email at the library. We leave every day at 10 AM after studies just like every other day.

I am so buff. Today I upped all my workouts.

My pants I'm wearing and the jacket I'm wearing don't match right now. But even if I were wearing the right pants they still wouldn't match. Everything is so faded and hashed. I love it! It makes me feel like I'm working really hard.  Ha-ha.

I am craving tacos. I'm going to eat tacos today. Can you send me the recipe for your sweet-meat tacos mom?

Yeah I got the package. I thought I told you that already... My bad. Thanks! Yeah those new garments you sent me are basically the only ones I got left. The rest are all fraying and stuff. I just work too hard I guess! Also, dad, those shorts and that shirt are awesome! The shirt is big, but I like having a big one to work out in and to lounge around in. Plus it's awesome. The shorts are, too, but you know I like gangsta shorts, so no complaints there! Ha-ha. Thanks! I just wanted to let you know that everything I own is big now ‘cause I'm not fat anymore. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! HA. :)

I love being a missionary so much! There is nothing more exciting! I love the Savior. I am so grateful for the Gospel, and I echo the words of Enos, who said simply,

I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world.~Enos 1:26

Love ya!

Elder Seaver