Miracles happen during exchanges

Since I missed a Christmas letter figured I should do one now.

So Christmas Eve was so fun we had dinner at a member's home with 4 other missionaries so we had a lot of fun, we made cookies played some fun games and laughed all evening! 

One thing that the Hogan family does every Christmas Eve is they eat soup out of Bread bowls and by candlelight. To remind them of the humble birth of the Savior. It was actually a very moving experience. 

Christmas day we had a regular day. plan, study but we had dinner with the hickmas(senior couple in the YSA ward) and we went to visit an assisted living home. It was super nice so many of them literally had nobody come to visit. We basically just sat there and listened to all their stories for an hour or so it was really nice.

We have had a lot of Exchanges this last week 3 in 4 days and we have another one tonight! They are exhausting but there is this weird phenomenon that miracles happen during Exchanges.

Yesterday we were On Exchanges in my old area La mesa 1st with Elder Chelius (super awesome Elder and former companion) we had a day full of finding so we started knocking doors, Elder Chelius felt that we should cross the street and knock on one particular door. 

"Knock knock"

Door opens

"Hey sorry to bother we are..."

"Oh mormons! I see you guys all the time and always wonder why you don't knock on my door come in!" 

We taught a family the restoration and had a really good experience with them, It turns out that they don't know any members of the church but whenever they go camping they seem to always have members of the church right next to them. So this really sparked interest in the church for her and her family!

About 40 mins later the same thing happened... felt to cross the street and we knock on this door and a man comes out onto his porch introduces himself and shakes our hands after about 3 mins of some discussion he invited us into his home to teach him and his daughter the restoration! 

It was really amazing! As we shared the first vision he turned to his 10-year-old daughter and said

"You see Kennedy, this experience Joseph Smith had has Changed their lives and has brought their families closer together, they do not have to be here but they chose to be. To help our family"

He said not to be surprised if we saw him at church this Sunday with his whole family.

The Lords Hand is in this Work, and the Spirit of Christ is softening hearts. We were passing out copies of the Book of Mormon like candy talking about Family History and trying new approaches that worked pretty well. 

We also did a hike with our YSA ward so I will send pictures

2020...I'm almost 20 years old super spooky 

Have a great week

Love Elder Palmer

P.s I'll be home for Christmas.

Do you really care about me?

Good stuff is happening it has been getting chilly here but it warms up to 70 in the day so it gets nice...

This week we did a booth on a college campus and it was a huge success we had a whiteboard with a question, "If you could ask God any question what would it be" and we passed out candy canes with light the world cards taped to them. It was super fun we had a lot of good discussions 

A couple of my favourite answers are,

"How you doing?" (Nobody asks God how he is doing so I will)

"How does a woman's mind work?"

"I want to be successful" (that is not a question) 

But my favourite "do you really care about me?"

Think about your own answer to the question. We even had the police come by and engage in a gospel conversation it was super fun. We even brought a YSA that has his mission call to help him prepare for the mission (he is a super shy guy) by the end he was running people down to give them pass along cards and I mean literally running people down. 

Wish people would have soft hearts year round not just during Christmas. 

Reminder about president Nelson's invitation to us all to prepare for the 200th anniversary of the first vision.

The promise of it being an unforgettable general conference rests upon our diligence. 

Also been studying Hell recently and I have learned that the bible dictionary is very useful. Basically, Hell is actually a temporary state between death and the resurrection. 

When the scriptures say "endless hell" or "eternal hell" it makes sense when it is put into the context of D&C 19:6-12 blew my mind. I hope it blows yours too! 

Love you all!

Elder Palmer

P.s I got a package in the mail and I want to open it been shaking it and I think I know what it is Haha. Don't worry about me this Christmas we will be well taken care of. 

Patanes were baptized

Good good week. We started teaching a girl named April that is a girlfriend of a returning member Nathan. And he came to church and brought his honey!🍯

They are super awesome we had a lesson on Saturday at about 3 and it went very well then as we are finishing up the temple came up and how it has Christmas lights so we decided to go to that too....that night! So we headed for the temple. And had lesson round 2 we talked about the importance of temples and ordinances that are performed inside. It went so well we made the temple a goal right there! 

The Patanes were Baptized!!! It was an super moving baptism with so many people that we had to have the service in the chapel (Samoan family flew in...) the most moving part was when Lorenzo (the father) got into the water to baptize his youngest daughter Lauren he raised his arm to the square and was not able to do the ordinance because he was overcome with emotion. He then baptized his 3 daughters and his Wife (Salvation) it will be a baptism I will always remember and I will be forever grateful that I had a small part in their conversion story. 

This is the Lords Work 

Love Elder Palmer.

I was so cold

It was so cold, it was 60 degrees and raining and I was so cold!!! We had the heat blasting always and I could not warm up. And I was wearing sweats a sweater and my jacket... nothing could warm my souls save the burning desire to play in the puddles. 

We had a busy busy week with transfers. And u feel like every miscellaneous talk come to us for some reason. 

We had two lessons set up for Wednesday with Chad a guy named cooper 1 hour apart at the church. But since chad was an hour late we taught them both together and they have polar opposite personalities so it was a very interesting lesson to say Haha a lot of questions about the old testament which kept things interesting Haha. 

for Pday today we went to the temple as a district and then we went to the Mormon battalion. we have three companionships of battalion sisters. So we decided that it would be a fun idea for us elders to give the Sisters a tour of the battalion. it is scripted but we hardly even looked at the script. the sisters said it was the most entertaining tour they have ever been on. it was a lot of fun there was a number of pictures and videos so I may send one or two your way. 

had a good friend share a scripture with me that I found to be very moving Hebrews 11:25 #Amen 

Love Elder Palmer

Lightest companionship

And my new companion is Elder Rausch from Riverton pretty awesome Elder he is also my height and weighs 130lbs so we are pretty much twins #lightestcompanionshipinthemission

Give thanks

Transfers are next week so just a heads up I will almost most definitely have no time to call or email. 

this week has blown by we finished up our last 4 of our 8 exchanges...it was a lot extremely exhausting. But it was very fun. the weather here has been interesting it was hot the last few days but now it is going to rain for two days! all of us missionaries are so excited to have some weather that isn't perfect every day... it just gets so exhausting having perfect weather every day :)

this upcoming week is going to be very busy and this Saturday I was asked to be a witness for a recent convert that is being sealed in the temple on Saturday!!! I am so blessed with ample opportunity to meet people and have a small effect on their life but they have a huge effect on my life.

The couple being sealed is the Medina family (not sure I ever talked about them) Esteban was a returning member and his wife was Evelyn who was baptized right before I got into the area (Alpine) but since I was in Alpine for six months We got very close! but I would not have guessed that they would have asked me to witness their sealing!

we should be doing a hike tomorrow with some of the YSA in the rain it will be a party (maybe too much fun) 

I am reading in Ether in the Book of Mormon right now and if you ever read it you will notice it seems very repetitive because... it is, they are righteous they get rich, they get prideful and they become wicked and then they kill each other and they never are content with what they have. then the thought occurred to me that we act in a very similar way, way more often than we would like to admit. a trial comes our way or we have a very moving experience with the spirit and then life gets good and we forget... we forget how we got there we begin to discount our experience and even divine intervention. do yourself a favor and strive every day no matter how bad or good it is to give thanks to The God that lends you each breath. and I promise you you will stay by the tree and not become ashamed of the fruit.

Love Elder Palmer

But thine be done

So we had a lot of exchanges this week and we still have 2 more we. we had 3 this last week and they were all super awesome I love Exchanges because there is so much to learn from the other missionary you are with for the day that it really gives a drive to constantly improve myself. the thing I have learned for myself since being a missionary is what separates the good missionaries from the consecrated missionaries is two things 1. their Love of God and 2. they have a relentless desire to change and become better, they are never satisfied with themselves they can always improve and be more consecrated. One Elder, in particular, was Elder Brown (he doesn't know this) but prior to our Exchange the only thing I knew about him was that he was in our mission because I had seen his name on the transfer Doc. And to boot, I had some Mis judgments of him. Jock, to cool... well we got into the Car and we instantly clicked and had the most uplifting Spiritual Exchange I have ever Had. He was a man of God and he Loved God. he shared with me (and I hope he doesn't mind) that he did not always bare his testimony because he didn't want to say something that had no meaning to him. but now that he has been out for over a year he loves nothing more than Testifying of the Redeeming power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He was a very humble Elder and he kept saying how he needed to work on his Humility...Which made me step back because I thought I was humble but the moment you think you are Humble is the Moment your Pride has gotten to you.

Okay Okay So Big Update!!!! "Alex'' responded to our texts and call.
( he is the one that called us in the middle of the night and was Yelling at our apartment from the bottom of the staircase) He was in the hospital for mental reasons and was very embarrassed by this whole episode so we drove to the hospital and sat down with him. (they took everything from us Phones, Pens keys)

expect My handy dandy Book of Mormon. So we Got to have a good heart to heart with Alex and he was So Glad that we had reached out and other Members of the Ward had reached out because He felt so Completely and Utterly alone. he is doing better now but is still in the hospital until Thursday.

We have been very blessed with many Wonderful Conversations this last week with a good amount of return appointments. Even though it is dark here at 5 and we are finding every day from 5 - 7 people are being a lot nicer than I was expecting since it has gotten dark out.

I unfortunately literally had no time to have personal study this last week and it has really worn on me. I still listen to a talk or read a page from the scriptures. The one thing I have learned though is Even as a Missionary it is so easy to become too caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you can so easily forget to get your daily spiritual sustenance. 

I LOVE THIS GOSPEL whenever I am having a bad day or an off week or sometimes even a thought to point my finger at heaven and ask why? The words of my Savior come to Mind "not my will, but thine be done"  That phrase was carried me through this mission. 

Love Elder Palmer

Ps got a picture with Carl but he refused to look at the camera haha 

Mighty to Save and Cleanse

Well got some Good news! Carl was Baptized on Sunday!!! it was an uplifting baptism and was will forever be a highlight of my mission. Carl is an Older gentleman but has been around members of the church his entire life. his personal favourite latter-day saint is "Porter Rockwell" haha he Loves him for some reason, and brings him up almost every time we stop by to visit. Carl is a very special man and we even had President Stubbs attend his baptism. Carl is hard of hearing and when I got up to give a short dissertation I told Carl one thing..."Carl I need you to do me a favor and let me know if you can not hear me" to which he responded "What???" (there was no jest in his voice) so I ended up sitting on a chair directly in front of him. I read a scripture in Alma 7:14-15 it has a few powerful words that I was keen to point out..."The Lamb of God...who is mighty to save and cleanse from all unrighteousness, and witness unto him This day by going into the water of baptism."

Those words hold so much power that The Atonement of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse from all unrighteousness. As I was able to look a man that had lived a broken life full of pain, regret and loneliness. Carl was Born into a newness of life sluffing off his old life Romans 6. 

The Patanes have officially set a baptismal day for DEC 6th!!! really looking forward to it.

Love Elder Palmer

Spooky Stories

So... I woke up last night at 4 to Elder Towne shaking me awake. He was very frazzled. (I'm a try to make a long story short) Elder Towne woke up (3:00) to his phone buzzing a call from a person we are teaching that line right next to us his balcony is across from ours... (Alex to save his name) Elder Towne declines the call and notices a plethora of texts from Alex Accusing Elder Town of many nasty things. Ex. murder...

  Elder Towne decided to go back to bed and address the problem in the morning. 

 Then Elder Towne wakes up to Somebody Screaming "Where are the Elders at!!! Grant Town get out here you.....etc. Me I'm sleeping in bed the whole time right just enjoying my self my testimony keeping me warm at night ya know. But Elder Towne comes and wakes me up in a panic. 

So we creep into the kitchen where there is a huge sliding glass door (that is open, and he is right across from us... luckily we are 2 stories up) 

Then he went off again... super spooky we have a bunch of voice mails from him that are wack. 

But during and after this whole ordeal we just felt really bad for Alex it was not his usual normal self, we suspect he was tweaked on some drugs sadly. I'll tell you the details later.

Anyways other than that we had a very busy week I got to go on Exchanges out to the imperial valley where very few english elders get to go and now I know why, everyone there speaks spanish,  everyone. Super fun Exchange with those spanish Elders flatter than flat out here and the bikes we were bringing to them from the mission office almost blew off our bike rack it was so windy so we used our handy dandy duck tape.

I was reading Mormon chapter 2 the other day and it really struck me that Mormon was watching the destruction of an entire civilization of people. How completely and utterly alone he must have felt. 

Yet he understood his purpose

Mormon2

19 And wo is me because of their wickedness; for my heart has been filled with sorrow because of their wickedness, all my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day

Mormon understood that he could not control others agency but that he could control his nature and his own personal relationship with his Father in Heaven

Also learned that Joseph Smith taught that Mormon directly translated to "More Good" (History of the Church, 5:400). pretty cool😎

Love you 

Elder Palmer

God can make something out of you

Okay so I sent a one-liner last week so, my new area covers my old area since it is YSA we cover 3 stakes and I'm in the same zone and district... same apartment complex even so not much of a change of scenery. 

  I also thought it was interesting that I attended a ysa ward for the first time on my mission. Interesting dynamics let's just say that Haha. The work is a tad slower in ysa but when you find a friend willing to listen they are super solid. We just had a baptism this last week for a man named Alfanso he is a super humble man and he took every commandment in stride he loves the Church and the Joy of the Gospel that is evident by the smiles of the people. He met missionaries 4 weeks ago. The Elders got super sick for 2 weeks so they could not teach him but Alfanso did not want to move his baptismal day so we taught him everything in basically one week every day having 30min lessons. It was so awesome and he was ready and committed to life long service. 

We spaced and didn't take any pictures... we will at the temple though. 

They need to slow down because the months will not stop flying by. 

Starting to have a little anxiety that I only have about 9 months left and I feel like I need more time. Mostly because I'm terrified of not getting everything that the Lord needs me to get done. 

I was reading in Acts 4 

13 ¶ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Good verse 😉

Peter and John fishermen, with no formal education, became (by the hand Of christ) among the most revered men of God that have ever lived. Christ can make something of you to for he is the author and finisher of our faith. 

Love Elder Palmer 

Streak Continues

The streak continues... companion number 11! I have been transferred to the Cowles mountain YSA ward with Elder Towne who goes home next transfer.

It will be a super fun transfer! But I am super sad to leave La Mesa 1st ward.

I have 0 time today literally am shopping on Friday.... love you mom.

Love Elder Palmer 

Joy

Haha so last week we had such an inspiring lesson with the Patanes the lesson just get better and better, the lesson we have with the Patanes has been the lessons that the spirit is very palpable and acknowledged by everyone. They are a family that God has meant me to teach because I have learned so much from them. And there is nothing like seeing someone's eyes when it all finally clicks and makes sense, however it is hard to explain the joy one feels when it clicks for and the entire family. They are looking at a day in November. So that family can fly in from Samoa. 

On Wednesday we had exchanges with the spanish Elders... the day was going really good until about 12:30 when we locked all our keys in the clerks office until 4:30 when somebody was able to let us in. So we just played the piano and then went tracking for a bit with no pamphlets or cards literally our name tags and our will to serve. It was tough not being able to hand stuff to people but it worked out. 

Anyways sorry for the short letter today was the last p-day of the transfer 

"When we covenant all that we are, we can become more then we are" 

Elder Gong 

Love Elder Palmer 

An Instrument in the hands of God

It has cooled off a little here the mornings have been super nice a little cool breeze but then the sun is still nice and toasty. Well, hopefully, the snowpack starts early and sticks around this year. Maybe it is the beginning of a good ski year even though the ski season is 2 months away. 

We met with Coral this week and had an awesome lesson with her. She was kinda quiet the whole time right until the end then we had an awesome discussion and cleared up her questions. She saved them all for the end even though we asked her multiple time throughout. 

This Sunday in the hustle and bustle of greeting everyone and having the people we are teaching sit with members we ended up sitting next to an older gentleman who was a convert of about 20 years. Once we sat down he insisted that we should sit somewhere else because he did not what his spirit of negativity to take away from our spirit. Well, that only meant to us that we needed to sit there Haha. And lucky for us it was the primary program so it was packed anyways. He then told us why he was so upset. We only listened to him intently and as the first hymn began he was choking back the words. I wish you could have seen how fast his countenance changed, about 30mins later his smile became contagious. He made a deliberate effort to stop us after church and thank us a million times over. Just by sitting next to him and listening God had used us to make his day. And he did go away rejoicing. 

I love being an instrument in the hands of God for good. Later that day we visited a man who has recovered from multiple addictions he had left the church at an early age because he thought that those around him were living perfect lives...something that he thought he could never live so he left for the majority of his life. Until one day a member knocked on his camper door to introduce himself. From there was spurred a recovery that has taken the remainder of this man's life. As we spoke with him and opened the scriptures with him I remembered a quote from Elder Holland that I had read earlier that day. 

"The great thing about the gospel is that we get credit for trying." 

    The dear brother was at a loss for words for the good part of a minute. 

I love this Work there is no other greater Joy and solace found than the solace found within the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Love Elder Palmer

Busy

  

Well well well this week was something else. Literally only got to do proselytizing for 2 hours. Which has actually been pretty awful, it is pretty discouraging not being able to do the grind of missionary work believe it or not. We got committed to doing so much service with a member of our stake presidency and we got to help out with the pearl harbor survivors association. They had all the pearl harbor veterans gather together for the last time. It was actually a pretty cool experience. 

  We had a pretty cool experience this morning with a lady we have been teaching for a few weeks Joanne M, so Monday we had a drop lesson where we basically told her (well we had a good member friend tell her) that she was only getting older and that she needed to be baptized soon rather than later. So we invited her to pray that night when she would like to be baptized. Well, we called her this morning to ask her how her prayer went... and her first response to us was "I'm ready! I can't do it this week but I can next week." So we are pretty excited about her!  And we have been trying to get her to commit to a day for weeks now but she kept having all these excuses. But when she realized her self that it was something she wanted to do and prayed she put every excuse aside. 

We will hopefully have an exciting this week we have a good amount of exciting lessons set up so we will see. The Patane family is planning on being baptized at the end of October sometime so that is super exciting! And I got to go to the Temple With Gary T. today to do baptisms. It was such an amazing experience. I realized just by this one baptism many of his ancestors will also accept the fullness of the gospel. truly something I will never forget. Sadly didn't get any pictures...

Sorry for a brief email I will get better, another busy day

Love Elder Palmer

"Gods army"

God's Army

This week was busy and sadly not with lessons... we had to prepare two trainings for a zone meeting and stake packet meeting, then we had to facilitate 2 service projects that involved the city of la mesa that the stake presidency dedicated to us last minute!!!! Literally 2 days before and I got really sick Friday the day of the first service project and was sick Saturday too for the zone meeting and the service for the city. I almost died🤒 and everyone was asking me where to go and what to do while I had a designated bench that I lied down on... I just told people what to do while I kinda rested. 

I'm feeling better now though!!!

And on Sunday we had many people come to church! We had a man named Martin who is a returning member who we have been working with for 4 months and after a super spirit-led lesson we had on exchanges we asked Martin when the last time he took the sacrament was...10years "so not too long ago".

We were pretty bold with him invited him to break that streak this Sunday. Well, even the legendary bishop shwalger had given up on him...until he walked in!!!

Also had a man named Alan walks

into the church who said he had been meeting with missionaries in Texas and that he was wanting to meet! The ward did a fantastic job of fellowshipping and he was invited to a come follow me study the next day that he went to and to join another group to go to Balboa park! 

La Mesa is too Good 

Sorry, I'm am out of time got to run to a lesson.

Love Elder Palmer

"Gods Army"