Elder Feidler!
Graham,
We got it!!
Thanks for the BBQ gift card. I guess I didn't understand in your last email
that you were mailing the $50 card to us. I checked their locations and
there are some in Houston and one in League City
Movember is the month
for growing mustaches! Here is a picture of mine.
I got the phone booth outside, stood up and Chelle & I painted it.
Tonight Zack and I
went to a fireside in Friendswood about next summer's youth Nauvoo trip. Maddie
and Chelle (with Myka) stayed for a baptism.
This week was a
productive one. Work is coming along. Friday I spent several hours at my boss,
Kirt's house, wall mounting and setting up his LG flat screen TV. He gave me
the old one which I mounted in the garage. It is a dinosaur.
Myka is crawling like
crazy and trying to put everything in her mouth from electric cords to shoes.
You can always tell where she's been from the giant string of drool left
behind. She is a happy baby!
Maddie went to her
first Stake dance Saturday night and danced three slow song and lots of fast.
She had an ok time. I think she was very nervous about dancing with the boys.
Some of the other kids said it wasn't the best dance they had been to. She has
been staying after school, practicing for the school play.
Zack has a birthday
coming up this Thursday!! He will be 16 - WOW! He is still trying to get in
driving hours for his license. I look forward to his being able to drive
himself to seminary ASAP! He is doing better in school this year, bringing home
As and Bs.
Not sure if you will
get this message on Monday since it is Veteran's day and the library might not
be open.
We sure miss and love
you! We are very proud of you. How many people can say they up and
moved to another state at the direction of the Prophet? You can! I hope your
investigators are progressing. A week ago was fast Sunday and I fasted that
you would be successful. I know you will be blessed in this new area as
well as you paved the way in the last area for people who will eventually be
baptized.
Have a great
week! Love,
Dad
Graham:
Dear Family!
It has been very busy in the Mill Creek ward. Last week we
got 5 referrals and now we have two progressing investigators with more on the
way! Today we just got a letter from our mission president with some new
details on electronics in our mission. Attached is President Bonham's letter.
Myka is moving like crazy! Wish I could be there to see her grow up. I got the
camera in the mail last week. I can't figure out how to use it as a GPS though.
haha The phone booth is looking great! Not sure how great that mustache is
looking. In Mom's email it said Maddie loved the dance! Anyways, since it is
Tuesday instead of Monday we don't have as long of time to email but I love and
miss ya'll! All is well here.
Elder Graham Feidler
President Bonham
Dear Elders and Sisters: I've posted
the letter below (in better formatting) to wembaptizes. I invite all of you to
read it for some news, updates, and instructions. If you like, you can print it
now and read it after library time. We love you! Make it a great day!
President Bonham
November 10, 2013
To our much beloved missionaries of the Washington Everett Mission:
In the last two weeks, Sister Bonham and I have received additional training from a group of General Authorities. As a part of this training, we have learned about some changes we need to make and been given notice of some things that will be happening. You will like some of them; others will try your faith a little bit. I encourage you to do your best to like all of them. Why? Because I believe that God will bless us for “submitting cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.” (see Mosiah 24:15) One of the key themes to the instruction we received is to help missionaries become more self-reliant—as Mission President and wife we are to “hand out more fishing poles and give away fewer fish,” so you may find that we refer you to the process on page 6 of the Missionary Handbook more or ask you what your plan is to resolve a particular matter. This is not because we love you less, but because we love you enough to help you become stronger.
Much of what follows is simply a reminder for most of you. A few will find that they need to make some bigger change. If you are doing all right on one of the following, then check it off in your mind (or literally if you choose to print this letter) and move along feeling good. Don’t let the encouragement to improve in the ways that you can increase your level of stress beyond what is healthy. Remember what Sister Carmen (our Area Medical Advisor’s wife) taught our Mission Leader Council a couple of transfers ago: if we have no stress, we are not motivated to do anything, with enough stress we are motivated to go out and work hard, but with too much stress we are paralyzed and disabled, so we should have enough but not too much. If you are following the mission schedule, keeping the rules, praying for increased faith, and loving your companion and those you teach, you are doing the right things—and you will see the blessings coming. Learn principles, use good judgment. So, here is some of the news:
1. Our missionary meeting on November 23rd will be just for our mission. Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Schwitzer of the Seventy will be teaching us. What a blessing! Most of you know Elder Bednar’s background as an educator and Church leader. Elder Schwitzer has been a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy since 2009 and has a background as a physician and healthcare administrator. He was a mission president inRussia
2. The all-mission temple trips that have been done in the Washington Everett Mission in the past will be discontinued. Our leaders have strongly encouraged me to focus our efforts on the living while leaving the work in the temples to those that are not full-time missionaries. The temple remains a wonderful place and performing work that helps others and reminds us of our own covenants is a blessing—we just may have to wait until after our missions before receiving that blessing. However, in many instances I will be able to give you permission to attend the “own endowment” or sealing session in theSeattle Temple
3. Remember that we wear regular missionary clothes on preparation day, with limited exceptions (see Missionary Handbook, page 19). The Lord blesses us when we do not push the boundaries of this instruction.
4. I’m asking all missionaries to exercise regularly (see Missionary Handbook, page 14), but I’d like you to reexamine the circumstances of how you are doing this. If you are going to some place outside your apartment to exercise (such as a local gym club), evaluate the environment there to see if it is a good place for missionaries. If there is worldly music, blaring TV screens, people dressed in immodest workout clothes, etc., that is not where you should be (see Missionary Handbook, page 25). In addition, the cost may be prohibitive for some or they may not have a goal of growing bigger muscles or losing weight while a missionary—be respectful of your companion’s desires. You can fit in some good exercise around the apartment with some stretching, push-ups, planks, jumping jacks, sit-ups (calisthenics), etc. If you think you can’t get a good work out without a gym, try jumping rope for 15 minutes. If you have any shared walls, floors, or ceilings with others, be sure that you move your exercise efforts to somewhere that won’t bother them. Consider rotating a variety of exercises to stay in good overall shape: Monday, calisthenics; Tuesday, tennis; Wednesday, 1:1 basketball; Thursday, bikes; Friday weights (homemade milk bottle weights are OK); Saturday, running; etc.
5. eProselyting testing is going on now in a few missions. 30 missions are authorized to be in the groups to test two kinds of eProselyting—one to use social media for an hour a day to reach out to others using Facebook and similar media; the other to use iPad minis as their area book, maps, video player, etc. Some missions are testing each type now. The whole group of 30 is not yet rolling. I learned last week that the Washington Everett Mission is not in the 30 missions testing these new methods (sorry, folks, the list was made even before I arrived). After the testing (timeframe unknown), a report of the effect will go to the First Presidency and they will evaluate whether the increased expense, risk, and distraction is worth the increase (we hope for one) in sharing the gospel and bringing others to Christ. If so, then eProselyting will be rolled out to additional missions. So for now we just keep doing our best using available materials. However, there are things that wards, members, and investigators may do (one idea next up).
6. Let’s suggest that some investigators invite a group of their friends to their baptisms using Facebook or other social media. This would require that we have them committed to their baptisms and interviewed several days before their actual baptismal date so that we can give them time to have others attend. We can help them make a list and invite people the old-fashioned way too—just think how we’d add new investigators if we could get everyone that is baptized to invite 20 people who aren’t members to their baptisms! Ward Mission Leaders will want to be involved in this effort since we can’t directly help out with Facebook.
7. Elders, watch haircuts and sideburns—sometimes I see elders that are a week overdue. See Missionary Handbook, page 11.
8. For any kind of medical services you receive, you should get permission from Sister Bonham first, unless there is a serious emergency (in which case start getting the treatment as soon as you can and call Sister Bonham as soon as possible). Your family insurance applies first, and then for mission-related issues, Missionary Medical is a secondary potential payer. You should always make your own $10 co-pay from personal funds.
9. Family) will be teaching everyone about their role in the Hastening of the Work and encouraging them to help with finding, but we will not rely on others to fill our planners with people to teach—we will welcome their help, of course, but we will “make our own sunshine” and find people to teach all day, every day! We will be grateful for everything that members bring us as time goes on.è Home teacher è Quorum è Ward è Stake è Seventies è Twelve èThe Church through its usual leadership structure (First Presidency
10. How to write the “Letter to the Mission President” each week: (a) please DO write this weekly letter, (b) please DO complete the key indicator and goals for each week, (c) please do write a couple of paragraphs telling me about your health, your testimony, your companion relationship, your top investigators, and any concerns, (d) please DO include miracles you see or breakthroughs in your spiritual understanding or great new missionary ideas you are finding to be successful, but I don’t need detailed updates on each investigator. Confidential comments may be included in these letters, but be mindful that we plan to print them out and give you a copy at the end of your mission, so you might want to separate sensitive items from your regular letters. Some of you have wondered if Sister Bonham sees the letters since I often sign for her too—the answer is that she does not see them, but I include her in the “we love you” because she is part of the “we” and she does love you. Since I will generally not respond to these letters (the Director of the Missionary Department told us they were designed to be a one-way report to me, not a general correspondence), don’t typically ask questions that you want answered in these emailed letters. You can get questions answered using the process in the last paragraph on page 6 of the Missionary Handbook.
11. All bicycles need to have working lights and reflectors that can be seen from front, back, and each side. See Missionary Handbook, page 47. We want you safely visible!
12. Be diligent about using the planning and goal-setting process. Keep the goals in your daily planner up to date. Sister Bonham and I want to start looking at your planners when we meet you. We want you to show us how you are using this tool to help you achieve your goals and, ultimately, your missionary purpose. See pages 144-151 of Preach My Gospel and Missionary Handbook, page 15.
13. Make good use of the Church-prepared pamphlets rather than other analogies or illustrations that may have unintended consequences. Don’t use object lessons where the demonstration is so flamboyant that it steals attention away from the importance of the principle (flames, breaking glass). Be a Preach My Gospel teacher.
14. Develop high expectations of yourself, your companion, the work, and your fellow missionaries. We all have to work together to increase the faith and faithfulness of our mission and thus qualify ourselves for success and blessings. We will talk more about these high expectations, but if you’d like to do some study, look at Romans 8:16-17; D&C 76:50-69; Articles of Faith 13; and 3 Nephi 12:48. This does not mean we are competing or comparing, just reaching for our own potential and ongoing improvement.
15. We need to make these sacrifices that will bring forth the blessings of heaven (see “Praise to the Man,” Hymns, page 27, written by W.W. Phelps). The Lord calls on us to make sacrifices of good things in order to receive better things. That, of course, means that we are really making no sacrifice at all in the long run. While we are called to sacrifice many otherwise good things while we serve as missionaries, we don’t need to make up “extra” sacrifices to please the Lord (e.g. please don’t get up earlier than 6:00 a.m. on a regular basis; don’t plan to fast extra times most months, don’t skip out on desserts Sister Bonham makes if you get the chance to eat them, etc.).
16. We need to increase our faith in Jesus Christ and grow in the power inherent in that faith. In General Conference in 2009, Elder Kevin W. Pearson reminded us of the teachings of an apostle: “Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: ‘Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God’s laws the greater will be the endowment of faith.’” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], page 264.) Share faith-promoting experiences. Testify to one another of gospel truths every day.
17. For those of you called to teach in a language different from your native language, use your mission language all the time—as much as you can—in prayers, in studying, when talking with your companion, around the apartment, in the ward/branch, and so on. Even if someone speaks to you in your native language, if you know that the person can understand your mission language, reply to them that way (unless it is uncomfortable with an investigator). Ask Church members to help you practice and learn. More practice will make for more facility with the mission language. Keep working on it all the time. The Lord will bless and help you in language learning!
18. Don’t forget how young we are when you are thinking of our efforts to progress and grow as fast as we can, but don’t let how young we are show when members, investigators, and the public are watching us. See Missionary Handbook, last paragraph starting on page 3.
19. That is all for today, but I anticipate some additional things coming within the next month or so—I guess one of the things we have to get good at is adapting to change. Remember that Heavenly Father, the First Presidency, the Quorum of the 12 (these last two on Thursdays around lunchtime in the temple in SLC especially), the Bonhams, family, friends, members, investigators and even Church members around the world love you and pray for you and the people you teach
President Bonham
November 10, 2013
To our much beloved missionaries of the Washington Everett Mission:
In the last two weeks, Sister Bonham and I have received additional training from a group of General Authorities. As a part of this training, we have learned about some changes we need to make and been given notice of some things that will be happening. You will like some of them; others will try your faith a little bit. I encourage you to do your best to like all of them. Why? Because I believe that God will bless us for “submitting cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.” (see Mosiah 24:15) One of the key themes to the instruction we received is to help missionaries become more self-reliant—as Mission President and wife we are to “hand out more fishing poles and give away fewer fish,” so you may find that we refer you to the process on page 6 of the Missionary Handbook more or ask you what your plan is to resolve a particular matter. This is not because we love you less, but because we love you enough to help you become stronger.
Much of what follows is simply a reminder for most of you. A few will find that they need to make some bigger change. If you are doing all right on one of the following, then check it off in your mind (or literally if you choose to print this letter) and move along feeling good. Don’t let the encouragement to improve in the ways that you can increase your level of stress beyond what is healthy. Remember what Sister Carmen (our Area Medical Advisor’s wife) taught our Mission Leader Council a couple of transfers ago: if we have no stress, we are not motivated to do anything, with enough stress we are motivated to go out and work hard, but with too much stress we are paralyzed and disabled, so we should have enough but not too much. If you are following the mission schedule, keeping the rules, praying for increased faith, and loving your companion and those you teach, you are doing the right things—and you will see the blessings coming. Learn principles, use good judgment. So, here is some of the news:
1. Our missionary meeting on November 23rd will be just for our mission. Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Schwitzer of the Seventy will be teaching us. What a blessing! Most of you know Elder Bednar’s background as an educator and Church leader. Elder Schwitzer has been a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy since 2009 and has a background as a physician and healthcare administrator. He was a mission president in
2. The all-mission temple trips that have been done in the Washington Everett Mission in the past will be discontinued. Our leaders have strongly encouraged me to focus our efforts on the living while leaving the work in the temples to those that are not full-time missionaries. The temple remains a wonderful place and performing work that helps others and reminds us of our own covenants is a blessing—we just may have to wait until after our missions before receiving that blessing. However, in many instances I will be able to give you permission to attend the “own endowment” or sealing session in the
3. Remember that we wear regular missionary clothes on preparation day, with limited exceptions (see Missionary Handbook, page 19). The Lord blesses us when we do not push the boundaries of this instruction.
4. I’m asking all missionaries to exercise regularly (see Missionary Handbook, page 14), but I’d like you to reexamine the circumstances of how you are doing this. If you are going to some place outside your apartment to exercise (such as a local gym club), evaluate the environment there to see if it is a good place for missionaries. If there is worldly music, blaring TV screens, people dressed in immodest workout clothes, etc., that is not where you should be (see Missionary Handbook, page 25). In addition, the cost may be prohibitive for some or they may not have a goal of growing bigger muscles or losing weight while a missionary—be respectful of your companion’s desires. You can fit in some good exercise around the apartment with some stretching, push-ups, planks, jumping jacks, sit-ups (calisthenics), etc. If you think you can’t get a good work out without a gym, try jumping rope for 15 minutes. If you have any shared walls, floors, or ceilings with others, be sure that you move your exercise efforts to somewhere that won’t bother them. Consider rotating a variety of exercises to stay in good overall shape: Monday, calisthenics; Tuesday, tennis; Wednesday, 1:1 basketball; Thursday, bikes; Friday weights (homemade milk bottle weights are OK); Saturday, running; etc.
5. eProselyting testing is going on now in a few missions. 30 missions are authorized to be in the groups to test two kinds of eProselyting—one to use social media for an hour a day to reach out to others using Facebook and similar media; the other to use iPad minis as their area book, maps, video player, etc. Some missions are testing each type now. The whole group of 30 is not yet rolling. I learned last week that the Washington Everett Mission is not in the 30 missions testing these new methods (sorry, folks, the list was made even before I arrived). After the testing (timeframe unknown), a report of the effect will go to the First Presidency and they will evaluate whether the increased expense, risk, and distraction is worth the increase (we hope for one) in sharing the gospel and bringing others to Christ. If so, then eProselyting will be rolled out to additional missions. So for now we just keep doing our best using available materials. However, there are things that wards, members, and investigators may do (one idea next up).
6. Let’s suggest that some investigators invite a group of their friends to their baptisms using Facebook or other social media. This would require that we have them committed to their baptisms and interviewed several days before their actual baptismal date so that we can give them time to have others attend. We can help them make a list and invite people the old-fashioned way too—just think how we’d add new investigators if we could get everyone that is baptized to invite 20 people who aren’t members to their baptisms! Ward Mission Leaders will want to be involved in this effort since we can’t directly help out with Facebook.
7. Elders, watch haircuts and sideburns—sometimes I see elders that are a week overdue. See Missionary Handbook, page 11.
8. For any kind of medical services you receive, you should get permission from Sister Bonham first, unless there is a serious emergency (in which case start getting the treatment as soon as you can and call Sister Bonham as soon as possible). Your family insurance applies first, and then for mission-related issues, Missionary Medical is a secondary potential payer. You should always make your own $10 co-pay from personal funds.
9. Family) will be teaching everyone about their role in the Hastening of the Work and encouraging them to help with finding, but we will not rely on others to fill our planners with people to teach—we will welcome their help, of course, but we will “make our own sunshine” and find people to teach all day, every day! We will be grateful for everything that members bring us as time goes on.è Home teacher è Quorum è Ward è Stake è Seventies è Twelve èThe Church through its usual leadership structure (First Presidency
10. How to write the “Letter to the Mission President” each week: (a) please DO write this weekly letter, (b) please DO complete the key indicator and goals for each week, (c) please do write a couple of paragraphs telling me about your health, your testimony, your companion relationship, your top investigators, and any concerns, (d) please DO include miracles you see or breakthroughs in your spiritual understanding or great new missionary ideas you are finding to be successful, but I don’t need detailed updates on each investigator. Confidential comments may be included in these letters, but be mindful that we plan to print them out and give you a copy at the end of your mission, so you might want to separate sensitive items from your regular letters. Some of you have wondered if Sister Bonham sees the letters since I often sign for her too—the answer is that she does not see them, but I include her in the “we love you” because she is part of the “we” and she does love you. Since I will generally not respond to these letters (the Director of the Missionary Department told us they were designed to be a one-way report to me, not a general correspondence), don’t typically ask questions that you want answered in these emailed letters. You can get questions answered using the process in the last paragraph on page 6 of the Missionary Handbook.
11. All bicycles need to have working lights and reflectors that can be seen from front, back, and each side. See Missionary Handbook, page 47. We want you safely visible!
12. Be diligent about using the planning and goal-setting process. Keep the goals in your daily planner up to date. Sister Bonham and I want to start looking at your planners when we meet you. We want you to show us how you are using this tool to help you achieve your goals and, ultimately, your missionary purpose. See pages 144-151 of Preach My Gospel and Missionary Handbook, page 15.
13. Make good use of the Church-prepared pamphlets rather than other analogies or illustrations that may have unintended consequences. Don’t use object lessons where the demonstration is so flamboyant that it steals attention away from the importance of the principle (flames, breaking glass). Be a Preach My Gospel teacher.
14. Develop high expectations of yourself, your companion, the work, and your fellow missionaries. We all have to work together to increase the faith and faithfulness of our mission and thus qualify ourselves for success and blessings. We will talk more about these high expectations, but if you’d like to do some study, look at Romans 8:16-17; D&C 76:50-69; Articles of Faith 13; and 3 Nephi 12:48. This does not mean we are competing or comparing, just reaching for our own potential and ongoing improvement.
15. We need to make these sacrifices that will bring forth the blessings of heaven (see “Praise to the Man,” Hymns, page 27, written by W.W. Phelps). The Lord calls on us to make sacrifices of good things in order to receive better things. That, of course, means that we are really making no sacrifice at all in the long run. While we are called to sacrifice many otherwise good things while we serve as missionaries, we don’t need to make up “extra” sacrifices to please the Lord (e.g. please don’t get up earlier than 6:00 a.m. on a regular basis; don’t plan to fast extra times most months, don’t skip out on desserts Sister Bonham makes if you get the chance to eat them, etc.).
16. We need to increase our faith in Jesus Christ and grow in the power inherent in that faith. In General Conference in 2009, Elder Kevin W. Pearson reminded us of the teachings of an apostle: “Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: ‘Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God’s laws the greater will be the endowment of faith.’” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], page 264.) Share faith-promoting experiences. Testify to one another of gospel truths every day.
17. For those of you called to teach in a language different from your native language, use your mission language all the time—as much as you can—in prayers, in studying, when talking with your companion, around the apartment, in the ward/branch, and so on. Even if someone speaks to you in your native language, if you know that the person can understand your mission language, reply to them that way (unless it is uncomfortable with an investigator). Ask Church members to help you practice and learn. More practice will make for more facility with the mission language. Keep working on it all the time. The Lord will bless and help you in language learning!
18. Don’t forget how young we are when you are thinking of our efforts to progress and grow as fast as we can, but don’t let how young we are show when members, investigators, and the public are watching us. See Missionary Handbook, last paragraph starting on page 3.
19. That is all for today, but I anticipate some additional things coming within the next month or so—I guess one of the things we have to get good at is adapting to change. Remember that Heavenly Father, the First Presidency, the Quorum of the 12 (these last two on Thursdays around lunchtime in the temple in SLC especially), the Bonhams, family, friends, members, investigators and even Church members around the world love you and pray for you and the people you teach
Dad:
Wish I was ice skating! Have fun. We are supposed to get
cold tonight. Down in the 30's.
I think we will send the old GPS if it will work. I have it
charging right now
Luv Dad
Graham:
A pic of Silverlake by my apartments.
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