New Companion!

Well, I know you already know, but I feel like this requires a second announcement: I'm Elder Pigott's companion!!! To answer your possible questions, I never said a word to our mission president about him coming, yes it was VERY weird the first few days, we do our best not to talk about home too much (haha that's probably the biggest obstacle of the situation), and yes, Elder Pigott is a great missionary. He's bold, motivated, obedient, and trying to help the people we teach come as close to the Savior as possible. And his Spanish is incredible for not having any pre-MTC experience. Almost every missionary I told about Elder Pigott said I would be his first companion, but I didn't believe it! It seemed to good to be true.

   Here's the crazy part of the story: we had some complications with our ride to transfers, and we got there about 40 minutes late. We got there and waited in the foyer while the Mission President and Assistants finished their comments in a meeting with all the missionaries coming, leaving, and being transferred to a new area. What you have to understand is that I still thought I was a long ways off from finding out which new missionary I would receive, which is usually the last thing they announce after training the "trainers" (the missionaries that will be companions with a new missionary) and the new missionaries.Then a missionary friend came out to the foyer to greet me during the closing hymn of the Transfer meeting and said, "Hey, I met the missionary you're going to train--he said you grew up together!" I asked how he knew it was my companion and he said, "There's only one Spanish Elder coming in." Long story short, I was the only spanish-speaking Elder that would be training, and he was the only spanish-speaking Elder in a group of over twenty new missionaries.

   And we had some crazy miracles when he got here! Yesterday a young girl from a family we visit (if you remember Ana from two or three weeks ago, it's her daughter) passed her baptismal interview and will be baptized this Sunday! Also, Nora, a woman the missionaries have been visiting since early this year, announced to us Friday night that she wants to be baptized!!!  

   Now, quick lesson about trusting impressions and revelation. About 4 weeks ago we were lost as to what to do with Nora. She felt confused and unable to decide between the church she grew up in and our church, even though she had a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the divine calling of Joseph Smith. She told us how she had felt the Spirit as we visited with her, and had seen a positive change in her husband. As I prayed one night over what we needed to do with her, the answer came very strongly, "Drop her." "Drop" is the term we use to describe when we no longer visit a person or focus our efforts on them. Elder Fisi'iahi agreed, so the next day we told her that we would continue to stop by occasionally to visit her recently baptized husband Alfredo, but that we would not focus our lessons and visits towards helping her prepare for baptism.
     For the next few weeks we looked back and ask each other, "Why did we give up the best investigator we had?" She stopped attending church with us and reading the scriptures, and started attending her current church weekly. We wondered if we had lost her forever. We continued to see her and share messages with both her and her husband, but she didn't seem to respond very well. Then, Friday night we came by and she told us that she had been reading the Book of Mormon and that her previous confusion was waning. She said she felt more confident that this was the right path to follow, and that she wanted to be baptized.  

    The Lord's answers do not always make sense to us immediately. Think of how Joshua was instructed to conquer Jericho, or how the Lord initially guided the Brother of Jared to build boats without means of obtaining light or air (compliments to a good friend Allison Walker for pointing that one out to me). He knows the correct way, and if we will follow His promptings, even if it seems like foolishness for a time, He will, to roughly translate a Spanish hymn, "reveal His purposes with all splendor." 

Running out of time, love you and pray for each of you!  

Elder Gaughan

And here's a picture! Elder Pigott also got some sweet ones of a storm that hit Grand Prairie the other day, but then he accidentally deleted all of his pictures...

   It's hard not to slip and call him "Kyler"! Elder Pigott still just sounds weird. Haha also, we weigh exactly the same and are exactly the same height. From the same town. I'm pretty sure he could visit my old areas and impersonate me.

P.R.O.

Last week we had a big meeting with our Mission President, and we gave us a message that has really stuck with me. He told us how he read a study of members of the church that showed the most important factor in staying an active, faithful member was "personal religious observance". In other words, personal prayer, scripture study, etc. As he continued to ponder about that, he noticed the opportunity to make an acronym: PRO, which he changed to Pray, Read, Obey. We've been sharing that with people and it's been impressed on my mind more than ever that the "Primary answers" really are the best way to increase our faith, improve our character, draw nearer to the Savior, find answers to our questions and concerns, and make it back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. 

Elder Gaughan

Another good week!

Fefe hake? (that's Tongan. I'm totally trilingual now.) (Not.) This week I want to start off with my companion. Being with Elder Fisi'iahi has been a really great experience. The more we talk the more I realize that our backgrounds are very different. Attitudes towards the gospel growing up, family culture, social circles, etc., but for that reason we've learned a lot from each other. The changes he's made since he came out on the mission are astounding and have seriously bolstered my faith that people find the power to change as they accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without going into details, he made some decisions this week that truly amazed me. 

    Life is pretty good! We had a rough week in terms of finding and teaching, but we're expecting that to improve soon. And we haven't had any problems with our bikes for almost a whole week! There's really a lot to be grateful for here. We live 8 minutes away from the church (on bike), directly behind our apartments is beautiful park, across the street is the most hispanic neighborhood in our area, AND we get to represent Jesus Christ every day. 

      We had a pretty cool experience with a woman we talked to outside a "washateria" (that's spanglish for laundry mat) the other day. She was looking for her car key, so we asked if we could help her and she accepted. After about 5 minutes of searching without success, she said she would try looking inside the laundry mat, but thanked us for helping and asked us to share our message with her. We offered to pray with her first that she would find her key, which we did. We then talked for a few more minutes about our message and wrote down her information to visit her. As we started to bike away she called out, "Look, my key!" We turned around to see her picking it up in the parking lot right in her path to the door of the laundry mat. She then said something like, "Isn't God great? Have a blessed day!" My companion and I were pretty shocked at how fast the prayer was answered. I'm telling you, God is especially willing to work miracles and make great things happen when we're trying to serve others and bring them to Christ (see Alma 17:26-39). 

       I love you! Each of you! And I'm trying to make my mission something I'll be proud to tell you about when we see each other again. Thank you so much for being there for me with your example, emails, love, and everything else. 
Elder Gaughan

Things are good!

This has been by far my most interesting transfer in terms of transportation. We've basically been playing "musical bycicles" (like musical chairs) here for the last few weeks. Thrown in there are several flat tires, broken parts, trips to Walmart and bike shops, and going on foot for several days.  For three days this last week I was on a bike that was stuck in the lowest gear (the one made for biking up Mount Everest) and a seat stuck almost as far down as it can go. Haha just picture that scene from Sherlock Holmes 2 when everyone is traveling on horses and Sherlock is on a donkey, and that'll give you a pretty good idea of what it looked like. 

   Things are good though! Really. A woman we're teaching, Ana, has been receiving the missionaries for almost a year, and has never shown very much initiative in putting what she's been taught into practice. This last week we talked to her about our temples and how families can be sealed together for all eternity, and she became much more interested. We asked her what she would be willing to do to help her family get to the temple, and she said," Whatever it takes." Two days later we came back, and she had prayed and read the scriptures on her own time (for her, that was a big step). Yesterday she came to church and for the first time stayed for all three hours. 

   Elder Fisi'iahi and I have started singing in our dinners and lessons, and it's been sweet! It's made a difference in our lessons and usually invites the Spirit stronger than what we teach does. We recently had a missionary meeting where we discussed the importance of making use of the talents the Lord has given us during our missions in order to help others come closer to Christ, and it's totally true. Like 1 Corinthians 12 teaches, God has given to each of us a function to fulfill and special abilities that we should use to build up His kingdom. And why do we sometimes have to serve alongside people who irritate us or towards whom we don't naturally gravitate? Because they have something to offer or teach us and those we serve (see verse 18). 

    One other thought. Something we've been sharing at dinners recently is Mosiah 27:14. It struck me as I was reading this scripture recently that Alma the Younger did not by any means merit a heavenly visitation. He was among the "most vilest of sinners" as described later on. It was the prayers of a loving father and community that trusted in the power of God. Our prayers for others can truly send forth angels to watch over those whom we love. Our prayers can change the eternal destination of another.

Love you!

Elder Gaughan

1. Elder Fisi'iahi and I at Family Home Evening with the Rodriguez and Salas families. 9 kids. 3 adults (and two missionaries). It was a little. crazy.

2. At another Family Home Evening with some of my favorite people in Grand Prairie: Brother Cortez, Brother Rodriguez, and the Vargas family 

3. Our district. From left to right, Sister Kirkham, Sister Gonzalez, Elder Fisi'iahi, me, Elder Lynn amd Elder McBride     

Labor Day

So... It's Labor Day. Unfortunately for us that means that libraries are closed. They gave us one hour on a member's iPad, so it's going to be very short today. Lo siento! Just know l love each of you and I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord. We're teaching a great woman named Nora that has received a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and is just having trouble giving up some of the traditions she has grown up with. As we talked about her in companionship study today we decided to share Matthew 4:18-20. When the Master calls, the only thing to do, however hard it may be and however much faith it may require, is to drop the nets we have held (perhaps for our entire life) and follow Him. 

Love you! 

Elder Gaughan

From 15 cities... to 10 square miles

Well, things are a little different here than my last area! I didn't realize it but I was literally sent to the other side of the mission--Longview (my last area) borders Louisiana and Grand Prairie borders Fortworth. And let me tell you, it is different. I'm now on a bike for the first time, and we cover a section of one city. It's still the same great work though and it's been a good week.

    I'll start off with the best part of this week. The man in this picture is Steve Valdez. You might find something about him in my emails from July and August of 2013 when my trainer and I knocked on his door and started visiting him. Yesterday I saw him receive the Melchizedek priesthood!! The last time I saw Brother Valdez, he had no intentions of being baptized and had told us that he felt that the Book of Mormon was fiction. Yesterday, hardly believing what I was seeing and hearing, I listened to him describe how after I left the area, he kept listening to the missionaries, reading the BoM, started attending church, and how he started to open his mind. After much fasting and prayer, he received the answer that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. With time, he gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and finally was baptized. He just looked so happy! And he had changed. 

   If you know someone that has turned away from God, fell off the path, or isn't open to listen at the moment, don't give up on them! Keep loving, serving, and inviting. I've also learned in a very real way that anyone who will read the scriptures, pray regularly, come to church, and earnestly seek to know if this Church is true and what they should do to follow Jesus Christ, will receive an answer. Not only that, but their hearts and minds will be softened, and they will find strength and hope. 

    My new companion is Elder Fisi'iahi. He's from central California, has only been out for 4 months, and is a great missionary. He definitely grew up in a different situation and culture, but we've been able to find things in common (for example, we both played rugby and volleyball before the mission), and are learning a lot from each other. And we get along well! He's really strong and told me he used to get into some pretty serious fights during high school, so I'm trying really hard to keep it that way. A member from Longview taught me some Tongan phrases the night before I left like "ofa lahi atu" (I love you a lot) and "fefe hake" (how are you?), which made Elder Fisi'iahi pretty excited.

    That's all the big news though! We've had the opportunity to help some really special members and investigators this week, and we're excited to see what happens. 

Ofa lahi atu!

Elder Gaughan

A Lesson from Elder Gaughan with Pictures!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a guy that we were teaching who, all of a sudden, sent us a text saying that he had issues with God and didn't want to meet with us. Well, we're pretty sure he was drinking when he sent us that, because he let us come back! He's had a lot of questions about God and why the world is so cruel, and it's amazing to see how he's put his faith and God and begun to find answers. When we explained the Plan of Salvation and God's purpose for us, he said, "You just answered a question I've had for years. Nobody has been able to give me a good response until now." He still has a long ways to go, but it's been amazing to see the hope he's found and the ways he has showed his faith. 

  Mom, you asked me about Aramis and her family. They're doing pretty well! We had a really good visit with them last week, and she explained to us her conversion story. She said that before she met the missionaries, she liked to drink on the weekends, go to dances and parties, and look for ways to distract her from a feeling of emptiness that she usually carried within. When she started learning about the gospel and living it for herself, she said those other things just fell away. That empty feeling was replaced by a peace and tranquility she had never experienced, and she no longer needed the cheap distractions she had sought before. 

   I immediately thought of a talk I recently read by President Spencer W Kimball in which he said, "Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner. This permitted him to condemn the sin without condemning the individual."   From what I've seen, that makes sense. It's the same thing that one of our investigators said when we asked him why he drinks: it's a way to forget all the bad things in his life, and numb the hurt of being separated from his family. I've never fully understood this scripture before, but in light of what I've studied and heard this week it rings very, very true: 

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

(John 4:13-14)

I know that as people strive to live the gospel, God changes their hearts and desires. Without fail, when people who are accustomed to live in the world begin praying sincerely and daily, read the scriptures, and hearken to the voice of the Spirit, they find happiness, understanding, peace, strength, forgiveness, and guidance, and they change. Of that I have no doubt. 

Also, I'm being transferred this today! We got the call Saturday night, and I'm going to an area west of central Dallas called Pioneer. The funny thing is that I'm replacing one of my old companions, Elder Trujillo, and will be with a missionary that he just finished training. My new companion is Tongan. I don't remember his name because it's very Tonganish, but I'll tell yall about him next week! Also, I'll have to get a few more pictures before I go just to show you how beautiful it is out here in Longview. 

Love you! 

Elder Gaughan

1. Dionisio Cadenas (our branch President) and I

2. The Plascencia family. This brother has a pretty cool story, I'll be sure to tell you all about him some day. 

3. Juan Castillo, Elder Ballstaedt, and I. I wrote about him a couple of weeks ago I think. We haven't been able to meet with him in two weeks, but he's a great guy and we've seen him make some good progress.