"Small and Simple Things"

Hello everybody!

        This week has been quite the week! Honestly so much has happened that I can't remember. Racking my brain right now... I'm struggling too hard to do this right now so I'm doing going to list the best parts of the week. 

• District meeting on Tuesday was really, really good. The missionaries in our district are so close together. 
• We got an oil change and tire rotation on Saturday. It was supposed to take an hour. It ended up taking 3. So Elder Hibbert and I sat outside on a bench and studied and talked about the gospel. It was beautiful, windy, and cool. And we were reading scriptures. The Gospel+Florida autumn = heaven. 
• We had a lesson with the Khandakar family! They're from India and are the coolest people ever. We got them a Book of Mormon in Bengali and they love it! Because of their amazing upbringing in Indian culture, they always force us to eat food when we're over, even if we adamantly say, "we just ate dinner and aren't hungry."
• Some of our investigators fed us boiled peanuts and it was the best thing on earth.
• A lady we did service for last week called us out of the blue at 9:40 Thursday night, asking if we could come answer some of her questions about God and religion. We went over the next day and had an amazing discussion with her - we'll be able to keep meeting with her and she will be able to come to church in a few weeks.

+ many more things. I'm grateful for how all of the small and simple things add up. There's a scripture that I love from the Book of Mormon - it teaches us that "by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass." That's true for everything. Music, athletics, the gospel, living a happy life. I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the "small and simple things" that just make me look back and say, "This was a great week." Hence, this weeks poem is "Small and Simple Things". Sounds like the next Taylor Swift album or something, but whatever. 

A smile over here,

A laugh over there,  

A bite of chocolate,

A breath of fresh air.

The singing of birds,

The bright autumn sky,

The rustling of wind,

The sun way up high.

Your stoplight turns green,

Your bed has been made,

Your shower was hot,

Your car's in the shade.

A dozen small things,

That slip through our day.

Now could there be more?

Let's look, if we may.

A home full of love,

A roof overhead,

Some food we can eat,

Pillows on our bed.

A million small things,

We have and let go,

Now turning to God,

Our thanks we may show.

Love you all! Have a wonderful week!

                                 

This is a picture of our wonderful district.

Hurricane Irma - view from Gainesville

Hello Everybody!

       This week was absolutely fantastic. Like WOW I love being a
missionary! The hurricane came through and gave us so many wonderful
service opportunities. We've been helping and uplifting people all
week and it's been great. Many miracles and people we wouldn't have
been able to see or meet with had Hurricane Irma not knocked some
trees down.  

        Jennifer, for example. Members in a local congregation told us
about this lady who loves missionaries and has met with us before, but
not in Gainesville. A tree fell down in her backyard and she needs
help. We went over and were able to clean up a good deal of the tree.
We talked to her at the end and she was crying in gratitude for us
coming to help. As a missionary, we know what we are doing is right. I
now know that I have a testimony of the gospel that's strong enough
that I would happily keep working if I didn't see any success and
nobody listened or even talked to us. But seeing Jennifer cry and be
so grateful for our service really made an impact on me - we are
making a difference in people's lives. All of us are. It's really hard
to see that sometimes, but it's true.

         Many have asked  what the hurricane was like. We
were in our apartment Sunday afternoon - Tuesday morning. Saturday
it seemed like a constant rain storm, just a drizzle.  On Sunday there
were occasional gusts of wind, and rain.  Sunday morning at  9:42 AM (I
checked), there was a big gust of wind, and then suddenly our power
goes out. We pulled out flashlights and kept studying, as a diligent
missionary would. The wind picked up throughout the day until it was
just LOUD all night long. Our apartment was totally fine, but then Monday 
morning we walked around the area to see how everything looked.

This face sums up how I felt out biking during the hurricane.

          There's a retention pond in our complex - very deep and very
big. There's a parking lot right next to it. The pond was overflowing
and all the cars next to it were chest deep in water. It only drained
a few days ago. Many of the roads nearby us were impassable because of
flooding. Lots of trees had fallen down, but not much damage to houses
- mostly just on power lines, in the middle of the street, ya know,
the typical places for a tree to fall.

When you're biking to a teaching appointment and realize that you'll
have to find another way to get there. A regular occurrence this week.

Out biking...

Only in Florida... These things were more common than stop signs. (Maybe not quite.... that might be hyperbole.)

Florida sunsets are beautiful! The picture doesn't do it justice.
 It literally looked like the sky was on fire. 

          That was about it, though. It wasn't as bad as we thought it
would be. All the missionaries and members are totally safe. We will
have service to do for another few weeks, but we are getting back to
our normal routine. In my free time I memorized John 17    (10/10, would
definitely recommend.) I decided that week that memorizing verses is
too hard, because I can never remember where they are, so memorizing
chapters is much more straightforward. Working on the Sermon on the
Mount right now...

When God sends you a message through Panda Express.
Not an expected answer to my prayers, but hey, it works!
(Fortune cookie wisdom:  "Be willing to admit you may be wrong. You're only human.")

         Well I'm just blabbering on at this point so goodbye! I
actually took some pictures this week, so enjoy those. I hope you all
have a great week, and know that I love you all! :)


-Elder McMullin

Pre-Hurricane Irma post

Hello Everybody! 

     

  Well it seems like only five days ago that I email y'all! Oh wait... it was... 

Anyway, our preparation day was changed to today because we will be inside all day next Monday due to Hurricane Irma! That fun little storm! So you get to hear from me even earlier! 

      It's been crazy - it's felt pretty apocalyptic. Cars backed up like a parking lot in traffic. People yelling and swarming the gas pumps to fill up on gas. (It's completely out in Gainesville). There hasn't been water on the shelves in Gainesville for a few days. People are boarding up their windows with plywood. It's just crazy! None of it has made me nervous, but it's just crazy! It's honestly like something from the Hunger Games, where there's a tiny little bit of food and everybody from a starving, poor district. Like holy cow! I'm trying to describe it in words. There's an atmosphere here outside, on the roads, talking to people. If I wasn't a missionary, and I didn't have the gospel, I'd be SUPER scared. We've been super optimistic, though. We listen to the Spirit, not negativity! We've done everything we can to uplift the district and keep them focused on our purpose instead of being scared or becoming ineffective. 

      

   The hurricane has made me really focus on others, though. It's been really interesting to monitor how I feel now compared to Hurricane Matthew last year. I'm always thinking about companionships in our district - if they have enough food, water, gas, where they're at, are they doing ok? Are they staying focused? Do they feel like we're here for them? Etc.

      Anyway, the storm has been quite a fuss around here. Honestly it's pretty pesky for us. As of right now, it's not exactly working with us to help people build their faith. Everybody is pretty focused on "ooh, the route of the hurricane changed" or "there was just a new shipment of gas at this gas station!" or "water is back in stock at Walmart, let's go!" We've had some great opportunities to do service and have been blessed in that way. We're incredibly excited for the many service opportunities in the coming weeks! We know that people will be humble and teachable, and that there will be a lot of people who needed this little change in their life to recognize that they are missing something. 

Visited Wal-mart pre-storm with my district today.

Here is a picture of what the shelves in all the stores here look like

Here is a picture of what all of the stores and homes here look like...

    This week has reminded me of two beautiful scriptures that apply well to storms and hurricanes.  This is from the prophet Helaman. "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless woe, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

      

     Then, these words from Jesus Christ. "if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

         

I know that these words are true, and that exciting times like this come our way for a reason. So Elder Butterfield and I can stand here in Gainesville, with the eye of Hurricane Irma coming right our way in t-minus two days, and say, with Caleb of the Old Testament, "Give me this mountain." Maybe that's a little dramatic, but it really is the upbeat attitude we have. We're excited for all of the opportunities that our loving God gives us, and here's one of them, right at our front door!

        This week's poem is called "Give me this mountain." Background to the story of Caleb - he was with Moses and the children of Israel after they crossed the sea and we're going to the promised land. When they came to the land the Lord promised hey would have, they found it inhabited by people. Caleb was excited and welcomed the challenge of defeating them and living there, but the other people lacked faith. So after them all wandering around for many years, the Lord allowed them to return and gave gem another chance at showing faith by taking over this land. It was inhabited by the sons of Anak, who are described as "giants." At this point, Caleb is now 85 years old. This is where, at the prospect of risking everything to take the land, Caleb says to God "give me this mountain." There's some backstory for ya. It's a pretty epic story, honestly, so you should go and read it. (Find the story in the Old Testament, or just click on these chapters:  Numbers 13 , Numbers 14 and Joshua 14.)

A hurricane's coming,

Many are running,

God's truths they are shunning,

Give us this mountain. 

We go boldly forward,

The storm's coming shoreward,

We're still preaching God's word,

Give us this mountain.

A smile on our face,

Upheld by God's grace,

To man's aid we race,

Give us this mountain. 

                      -Elder McMullin

Sharing "The Music of the Gospel"

Hello all!

Due to last weeks wonderfully wordy letter, this weeks entry will be sublimely simple.

We've been doing all that we can to involve members in sharing the gospel with others. Elder Butterfield and I are in this congregation here in Gainesville where about 150 people attend. There are about 400 on the records, so many don't come for health reasons or otherwise. There's also another set of missionaries in our congregation - some wonderful Sister missionaries. 

Now, with so many people to visit, and with the thought that we're to preach the gospel to "every creature", "all nations", and "every tongue and kindred", as Christ says, that's a daunting task for a couple teenagers! In fact, it's impossible without the help of members. So we've been doing everything we can to involve the members in sharing the gospel with their friends. Something really fun we are doing now is having people take out their smartphones during our dinner appointments, scroll through their list of friends of Facebook, and then pick somebody who they feel could use a gospel message. Then they go to mormon.org and pick out a little video or something they want to share with this friend, and just send it right there. Missionary work! 

  I'm blessed with lots of opportunities to play viola here. Our organist has a PhD in Organ Performance and is a phenomenal musician, and we're going to be performing together in sacrament meeting in two weeks. We'll also be doing a gospel music fireside within the next month or two. I'm pretty surprised that I can still play viola. Would my college professor be appalled at my technique? Yeah, probably. But I thank God that I'm still able to play well despite the absence of practice. 

There's a great video online that's produced by the church - it's called "The Music of the Gospel." It's really powerful and I love it. Everybody reading this should look it up right now if you haven't already seen it! That's an invitation. Nope, nope, don't just move on now that I'm inviting you to do something - open up a new tab and look it up right now please.  (click HERE)  I think it's about 4 minutes long. You can probably spare that. Thank you :)

Anyway, I love you all so much! Have a great, great week!

Encircled by Fire... not just burning rice.

Hello everybody!!!

This week we have had many many miracles that have come from being diligent. What is the Lord's definition of diligent, you might ask? Great question! Preach my Gospel, our missionary guide, defines diligence as "steady, confident effort in doing the Lord's work." So we've worked REALLY hard this week and we knew that we'd see miracles. And we did!

For example, last night it was raining. Not the drenching, hammering thunderstorm rain that usually comes, but a nice, constant Seattle drizzle that lasted all night. So we were biking and had a ways to go, so off we went. On the way, we saw a four car pileup on the side of the road - no police there, it had just happened - and asked how we could help. Then we notice that some of the people standing off in the grass, waiting, are members of our congregation - a father and his two teenage kids. We go and talk to them for a little while, and his teenage daughter asks for a blessing from the whiplash she got. So we give her a blessing, see if there's anything we can do, then go on our way.

THEN we go and stop by a less active member who we have never met before. She's not home, so we knock on her neighbors door with the hope that they can tell us if this member still lives there. A nice lady answers the door, Tasha, and we start talking. She has a constant smile and has a light in her eyes that we noticed from the second we started talking to her. We taught her and set a time to come back. It was a really Spirit filled lesson! The only downside? We talked for so long that her rice, which was on the stovetop, overflowed and it burned. That's 7 people whose food I've accidentally ruined by talking to them on their doorstep (yup, I'm counting.) Sorry! But hey, if you have to choose between a bowl of rice and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, hopefully you'd choose the latter...

We also had a BIG zone conference where some church leaders came and spoke. One of them talked about how, when the missionaries were teaching him before he was baptized as a teenager, they taught with power and authority. He said that it felt like they were "encircled by fire", as the Book of Mormon puts it. I love that visual! Just imagining the heat and power of fire all around us white we're teaching. The fire of our teaching burning in the heart of the people we're talking to. I want that so badly! So this week I'll write a poem called "Praying for Fire". Pretty good, eh? 

"Praying for Fire"

His eyebrows go up,

His glasses come off. 

He's stroking his beard,

He's starting to scoff. 

We're teaching of Christ,

We share what we know,

His doubts and concerns,

Are starting to show.

"Now how do I know,

What you've said is true?"

His questions are raised,

And they are not few.

We've said all we can,

There's no more to teach,

We've taught to his mind,

His heart we must reach.

We open our mouths,

This time he is awed. 

We see who he is,

A child of God.

The room fills with fire,

More real than not. 

This peace and this joy,

Is what we have sought. 

His eyes have teared up,

He looks at the sky. 

Words fall from his lips,

"May I be baptized?"

The power of God,

Is love, peace, and joy. 

In praises of God,

Our tongues we employ.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week - for those that are going back to school and getting ready for college, I wish you luck and that everything will go well. Enjoy the beautiful fall!

Elder McMullin

Gainsville Zone, with Sister and Elder Nielson of the Seventy, Elder and Sister Godoy of the Seventy at our conference this past week.  (Elder McMullin is back row middle.)