Insights to Life as an "AP"

    Our schedule has been pretty sporadic. It changes day to day, so it’s hard to plan out really in advance. 

The first day, for example, we trained the new missionaries and their trainers, dropped off a set of keys to missionaries who had left them, helped some sisters with a bike that was falling off their car, cleaned up the church building, proselyted for an hour then filled out a report for the stake presidents. 

AP's Elder Masino and Elder McMullin

Elder Masino training new missionaries

Elder McMullin and Elder Masino role-playing during new missionary training.

    Thursday we went to campus all afternoon with the YSA missionaries to show them how to find people to teach on a college campus. That night we had three hours to proselyte. 

    Friday we went on an exchange - I went with zone leader Whittle to their area and we had a good day.

     Saturday was a pretty normal day. We met with President and changed all the contacts in his phone because transfers happened. He has been in Orlando at a conference, and he told us all about it. He made us lunch after, then we went out for the day. 

     It’s super weird to spend so much time at the mission home with President in “casual” situations. Just having lunch together, etc. He’s a very real person! But he acts the same conducting zone conference as he does in the little mission office where we meet with us. He’s really funny! We played racquetball with him Saturday and then again this morning - there is an indoor court at our apartment complex.

    On Sunday night, we had a meeting with him from 8-9 where we basically presented what we think would be good train on in mission leadership conference this Wednesday - chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel on Finding. I think that a lot of being an assistant is counseling - especially with president. Helping him to see things from the missionary’s eyes and helping to demonstrate how to effectively carry out his plans for the mission. 

     I enjoy it! I feel a little spoiled. We eat with President several times a week, he is really kind and casual, but also 100% himself and dignified, while he’s around us, our schedule isn’t as strict because we have to prepare trainings and things, and we spend a lot of time helping missionaries out with basically anything they need. 

     The hardest thing has been figuring out how I can serve the missionaries in the mission. I’ve never had such a strong desire to minister to others and build them up- I want it SO BADLY. It’s hard, though, when given a new assignment - it’s like being moved from being a nursery teacher to an elders quorum president. How do you build up the people in your elders quorum?  But hey it’s literally been 5 days, so I’m still figuring it out. Time is flying by - it’s insane. Here’s a picture of our monthly schedule - what our transfer looks like.

    So... busy busy busy! Elder Masino and I don’t have another full day proselyting together until May 17th because of interviews, MLC (Mission Leadership Conference), zone conferences, and tradeoffs. We are blessed in the short amount of time we do have to work, though. Yesterday, for example, we had church, studies, preparing our training for MLC, dinner with a member, and our meeting with president.

      We had 20 minutes to go out and find new people to teach.  We go to an apartment complex, see a girl walking her dog, and Elder Masino and I just look at each other and say, “She’s the one.” We talk to her, have a lesson there on the spot, and will be teaching her again on Wednesday.   God certainly magnifies the time that we have to use, even though it’s not much! 

Here's a picture of Elder Masino and I this morning.

   Yes,  we cook our own food - we really don’t spent any time at the mission office. We go there to use the computer to prepare trainings, we pick things up that need dropped off, we help with things once in a while, but we don’t go there much. The senior couples handle finances, apartments, vehicles, technology, etc. from there. We don’t interact with them too much, but we do stop by the mission office every other day because of things we need to pick up or drop off something. 

I love you mom! I’m really happy. I’m really excited and eager. My mind is 100% focused on the work and focused on others. I’ve been dreaming about PMG (the manual "Preach My Gospel")  for the last 4 nights haha. I will get home and I think my mind will explode because I won’t know what to think about. I feel like I’m understanding now what it means to have power and authority as a missionary.

Love,

Elder McMullin

People Finding the Elders in Lake City

Hello everybody!

        It’s been quite the blessing of the week here in the Sunshine State! Not as much sunshine this week as some weeks before - there was a huge thunderstorm on Tuesday and then again yesterday. I’d forgotten what Florida rain, lightning, and thunder are like since last summer! I love the rain because that just means that everybody is inside - what a perfect time to visit people in their homes!

If there’s one day of this last week that stands out, it would be Wednesday. Such a crazy day! We had a tradeoff with some of the elders in our district until 2:00, then Elder Jenkins and I were back together and drove back to our house to pick up some things before we went out for the day. We got a text from some other missionaries, telling us about a man who wanted us to go and visit him to help his family life the gospel more. We go see him, sit in his warm, small home, and talk about the blessings of the gospel to families. He was very grateful and asked us to come by again in a few days. His two middle school aged kids came home from school and they sat, cross legged on the floor, and listened intently as we talked. Such a good family, and so ready for the gospel!

So, we are on cloud nine (finding somebody who wants to change and learn is the BEST feeling on earth), and bike back to our house because we need more copies of the Book of Mormon. As we’re about to leave, a guy drives past in a beat up old white sedan, and as he passes, yells “Elders!!” We wave, thinking that it’s a member, but then he flips the car in reverse and backs up. We meet him in the middle of the road and talk with him for a second - he has met with missionaries in the past and asked us to come by that night to talk.

So, 6:00 PM comes around and we go to his place. He felt like he had a lack of direction in his life, so we taught how the gospel will “point us in a straight course to eternal bliss”, as the Book of Mormon helps us see. He was really grateful and also asked us to come by later.

We felt like we could bike 80 miles an hour, we were so excited! It built my testimony that God prepares people to change - we didn’t do anything to find any of these people, but they all found us.

I’m being transferred to serve in Jacksonville with Elder Masino, who I’ve served around a lot before! I’m really excited to be able to finish my mission there. 

The last picture of our district before most of these missionaries break up and head to other parts of the mission. Transfers and change is always sad, but also really exciting as we look forward with hope.

Elder Berg and I! I respect him I a lot - he’s hands down one of the most kind, caring, patient people I’ve ever met.

Us and “Peanut”. One of our investigators has a lot of dogs, and this is just one. Actually, all of the people we teach have a lot of dogs...

Brother Waters and Kirky. We’ve been meeting with them for the last three months and I love them.

All of us missionaries + Missy! She received her patriarchal blessing on Sunday and let us come to be with her - a really special experience!

Lake City life, lots of pictures

Hello Everybody!

This week has been a blessed one. We spent a lot of time biking this week! You will see that highlighted in Elder Jenkins’ face and my face. Very red... It’s been really fun though to be able to bike in such beautiful Florida weather. It just builds my testimony that God is there, that he loves us, and that he cares! It will be hard going back to Wisconsin when two years is up. Florida has my heart.

But the people here are even more amazing. One person we are teaching right now is Jerry. He has had a pretty rough past and a crazy life. His wife is a member of the church and they have an ADORABLE one year old redhead son. He has come to church for the past few weeks and it makes my day to see his face light up when he’s at church. He, like many other people here in Lake City, is naturally just filled with charity. He spends hours helping his older neighbors and making sure they’re safe and ok. We stopped by one hot day, and he made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, gave us ice cream and bottled water, and sent us on our, now much merrier, way.

General Conference - a biannual church broadcast was this last weekend. The new prophet, President Nelson, gave an amazing talk about revelation. (Read it or watch it here) It’s something that I feel really strongly about! We are entitled to have God speak to us, usually through feelings like love, joy, and peace. What a blessing to be able to learn from Him, in times we need him most.

  Here are pictures from this week:

Trade-offs:  Elder Jenson and I! He’s amazing, has an incredible sense of humor, loves the Book of Mormon, and can connect with anybody.

There are a lot of goats here in Lake City. Some of them are even in yards or fences. 

Yes, we were being 100% safe taking this picture.

Here’s us + the sisters in our ward. In the sun at 7 at night. I’m not actually that sunburnt, the sun just makes it look like that. The Robinsons, a member family, fed on us Easter. They are really loving and hospitable! They’re really Christlike people.

Us and sister smith! A recent convert. Such a Christlike lady.

Zone preparation day! Lots of frisbee, lots of baseball, it was a fun day. I love our district - so good. Transfers are in a week, and I think that the district will get shaken up. I’m pretty sure I’ll finish my mission here... we will see. 

        What else this week - oh, karate! It was really good - we mostly did a strength and endurance workout that left us sore the next morning. We practiced basic punches, and will be doing lots more tomorrow morning. The Sisters were exhausted but said they’ll still come. It was so fun!!!

       We are going to try to work up to the certification test thing that you need to take before you get your first belt. Apparently it takes about an hour, so we will have to get up extra early that morning. The lady who does it, Sister Lindboe, is like a drill sergeant. We started out with jumping jacks, and she said, in her commanding voice, “Everybody count with me! 1...1...1...1...1...1...” Then we realized that she wasn’t moving on from one until every person in the room was counting with her. So we did! “2...3...3...4....5...5...5...” It was fun. I love Sister Lindboe - we are trying hard to get them back to church. 

Love you all! I hope you have an amazing week.