Visit with Mission President

Well, if I could remember what happened this week I guess I would tell you, but one thing I am sure of is that it has been nuts.  More solving marriage problems and finding out who wants to get baptized.  Also seeing how the other dupla puts together a wedding.  That was interesting.  Their wedding was a more for the branch to see and know about. Ours on the other hand, was more of a secret.  Also, just crazy nonsense in the house and general discontent about the way I handle this leadership position.  Thank you for your ideas at the start of your letter, Mom, they really help.  Sometimes I am confused if I am doing the things I need to be because I receive a lot of heat from my district, but I get a lot of encouragement from my leaders, so I think I am doing what's right.  My week has been good and I am excited for transfers, not because I think I will be leaving, but more to see what changes happen in the house.  I do feel I have a little bit more time here before I go somewhere else.  The zone leaders told me to help my district stay focused because towards the end of a transfer everyone slows down in the work and sometimes there is only three weeks of work realistically done in a transfer.  Pres. Kretly has already voiced his opinion on this and the reason why.  He said most missionaries believe they will get transferred so they slow down because the work they do will not be for their benefit.  He brought in the principle of charity, as in: we need to work hard until the end so that the next missionary that gets in doesn't have to do so much work or at least has an area up and running when he gets there.  It's a principle that could really help out the entire mission, but the problem is getting all the missionaries to realize it.  It basically means that you spend three weeks working for yourself and the next three working for someone else.  Not only that, but other missionaries will know what kind of a missionary you were when they get there and then more people will be excited to work with you.  

On the other side of things, Elder Poyfair and I will probably have different companions next transfer and for me that is sad.  First, because I don't think I have ever had a better companion on the mission and also because I receive a lot of help from him.  We were sitting talking about some of the stuff he might encounter with other missionaries and what advice I had and how to help.  It was an interesting conversation on just people in general.  I won't write it here because it was too long but maybe a little later. 

Oh, and also we had an interview with President Kretly this past week which was weird because he never usually does that so it was a surprise.  One of the most interesting things he said was not in the interview but when he was taking us home in his car (that was really nice).  He said, "Elders, in this mission there are no bad areas, only bad missionaries."  That made me stop and think, "Wow!  What a thing to say."  I mean, you hope there aren't bad missionaries, but you have to think, why would an area suffer, not because the people don't accept the word (we get that everyday, in areas around the world and they still progress) but because a missionary will hear a rumor about an area and based on that information decide not to work as hard, which is basically what I was told before I got into T3.  That it was a bad area.  But low and behold, a little work and we made this area sing.  I guess I shouldn't say "we", but more along the lines of the Lord made this area sing when we were willing to get to work.  Is it sad to hear a mission president say something like that?  Yes.  Does the truth hurt?  Yes.  Should he have taken it back?  No.  It's true!  Now I am not saying there are a lot of bad missionaries, but just a few can hold back so many.  We work in two's and that means if we have four, that's eight people that aren't able to work to their full potential.  That may not seem like a lot, but when you only have 40 companionships in a mission, that is a quarter of your work force that is out of good working order, not to mention sicknesses and injuries that are just a common result.  When you mix in all the other things that happen out here, it's pretty much half your work force.  I assume what is the same out here in the mission flied is generally the same back in the church at home.  It reminds me of what Ballard talked about two conferences ago, you know the talk about the honey bees.  If I can only contribute one twelve of one table spoon, then I need twelve others to help me out.  If we are going to get the honey pot we are looking for (4 stakes by 2015), it's got to start here and with everyone working to get there.  I am looking for solutions not excuses. 

Sorry for the vent fest.  This is something I want and I feel as though certain things are standing in my way that I can't do anything about.  It's frustrating because I know if others could see what is trying to be accomplished or at least understand, there would probably be a little bit more help on all sides and not just one.  I guess what I am asking here is how do you get others motivated to a cause?  Something I want to study this week, something to maybe help out my leadership here in T3 and something that might help the mission as a whole.

I am going to get off my soap box now.  I am so happy that you guys were able to get away and go to Florida.  That is awesome!  Yes, I am a little jealous, but no worries.  I have been in tropical weather for the last year or so and it's great.  Lots of rain this week and it actually got kinda cold, which is weird.  Other than that, life is good.

I can't wait to hear about the Halloween stuff and see pictures.

I love you guys and hope your having fun,  Elder Proksch

Marriage by Candlelight

Oh, my holy cow!

You guys would not believe the week I have had. Let's start a little earlier in the week when I had a division with Elder Brandao.  He's one of our zone leaders. We went to go pick him up in Matola (the nicest, richest area in Mozambique) and leave Elder Poyfair with his companion Elder Williams.  Elder Brandao is from Cape Verde.  On a chappa jammed full of drunk people back to T3 we talked about some difficulties we had been having with our branch president. Let's start into that. First of all, our branch president seemed to have his own agenda with our investigators. He wanted to get them to leave their family and cut all ties with them so that they could follow God and be married and baptized.  That's cool with me, but not while we can still do something to satisfy the family and still keep family ties and be friends with everyone.  There is no need to start a fire in a coal mill.  He just wanted them to knuckle up and make a decision, when on the other side we were trying to do something that the family would be happy with.  That is throw a party later, after they get married, to satisfy the family.  I think our branch president forgot that our purpose as missionaries is to help others come unto Christ and that we can't do that if we are tearing a family apart. So we had a meeting with him last week (and I didn't want to tell you guys about this until I found out how it went) and we sat there for 2 agonizing hours while he grilled this poor family on making the right decision and telling us we couldn't do what we wanted to do with their family. He even told them to wait and get baptized later, even if it's much later.  I sat there with Elder Poyfair and when we heard that, I pulled out my scriptures and read him Alma 34: 33-35.  It's a little long, but it was worth it.  I will save you the rest of the details. We called our Zone Leaders right in front of him and had him talk to them about how we couldn't do this.  Long story short, he got on board pretty fast after he talked to our ZL's.  That was ridiculous.

I spent some time with Elder Brandao explaining these things and he was giving me tips.  We also did about 40 contacts in one day.  It was nuts, but I learned a ton from him.  Just on leadership, alone, it was an education on what I need to be doing.  A lot of things on obedience.  Needless to say I talked to my district about a few things that were out of order and I have a few more unfriendly friends in the house (they swear I  am ruining their lives). So it's not all sunshine and daisies being district leader, except when you get a family baptized and married !!!!!!!!  It was awesome!  The night we were going over to their house it was raining and we had to walk in the rain to get over there and then when we arrived their power was out, so they were married by candle light.  I know!  Right?  How cool is that!!!!!  The whole time we were walking over there with President and a few members, I was thinking, "We are doing this no matter what.  This needs to happen because they are getting in that water tomorrow."  It was really cool to see. This, of course, happened after Elder Brandao went back to Matola and I was with Elder Poyfair again.  I kid you not, those prayers that you guys have offered, I think I used every single one of them that night just hoping and praying that it would go through.  At the end of the ceremony everyone went home to go to bed and the next morning it was still raining as we grabbed everyone to go to Matola to get them baptized.  It was crazy and we ended up having to ride the last bit of the trip in the bed of a truck to get to the chapel.  There was just no way we were going to be late or miss this opportunity for them.  The baptism was simple, and the Spirit was there. I baptized Antonio (he's really tall) and Elder Poyfair baptized Ines (his wife).  He also baptized their little girl of 8 years, her name is Fatusha.  She is funny.  To top it off, we had not had water for a good two days and we smelled a little funny, but it was worth it. So everyone got baptized.  I have some pictures that I want to send you guys.  I just don't know if the internet will support it.  They were married  on Friday, baptized on Saturday and because we FINALLY GOT CONFERENCE, they will be confirmed next week during Sacrament meeting. 

Conference was awesome except for the fact that they misprinted the Sunday morning and afternoon, so we have two Saturdays and no Sunday meeting.  Super annoying, but we did get everything else. You guys were right, this conference was really personal and really good.  I have never received so much instruction from one like this and I am excited to get the magazine to read it because I want to go through each and every talk. So I am excited for that.

 I appreciate your experience with the Primary children, Mom.  I think that is awesome and no, they don't have the Boy Scout program here, but it would really help.

  

 I am also excited about the phone call, but for crying out loud... its October!!!  You guys are trunkier than I am.  It's okay, I miss you guys too and can't wait to eat Taco Bell and  eat a whole bunch of other things that they don't have over here and do all sorts of other crazy stuff. Sorry if there's no pictures.  The internet wouldn't let me do it, but I will try next time at a different internet place.

I love you guys 

Keep up the missionary work out there and I will do the same.

Love, Elder Proksch

Truth

Leadership is Tricky

Wow!  That talk about Elder Hollings just gave me chills.  It's funny because I saw him in Heathrow before he went back into India and we had the opportunity to talk a little bit about how he was doing.  I am assuming he is home by now because he said he was hitting his year mark when I ran into him.  Thanks for the spiritually uplifting message.  I still haven't heard Conference yet, but now I can't wait!

This week was a doosie!  Marriage is coming up for our first couple this next week and Satan is working hard to stop it.  It's a little ridiculous, but nothing we can't handle with the help of our leaders.  It's something I want to tell you guys about after it's all done because it's a story.  Suffice it to say that they are getting married and baptized this week.  Super excited!  I am trying to think of highlights this week as far as things that have happened, but it has really been pretty normal.  The district is getting better and we are starting to put fires out and things are running smoother.  Leadership is tricky.  You have to get the right combination of everything and the most important thing is service.  It's like a trade off.  If you don't serve them, they won't listen to you and if you don't show a good example, you get burned.  The consequence for failure is very high.  It's like the district depends on if I am a good leader or not (which I guess makes sense, right?).  Something that I am learning as well... if you know what to do, do what you know.  You will become what the Lord needs of you or more simply put, if you know the Gospel is true, be true to the Gospel.  Like in section 121 of D&C when we undertake to cover our sins we don't have any priesthood power and the heavens withdraw themselves.  I just never realized how literal that was.

Also, on the topic of literal fulfillment of scriptures, I had an experience last night.  We were trying to help get one of our families back on board to get married because they experienced some trouble and some outside influence that wasn't helping.  Towards the end, I bore my testimony in a way I hadn't usually done so in the past.  Randomly, the thought came into my head that I needed to bear testimony about the Savior and his atoning sacrifice.  I didn't feel like it applied in that particular situation, but trusting that it was a prompting, I bore my testimony about the atonement, trying to pass some kind of understanding on about what exactly they were doing (getting married), get out of this sin that they were in.  To me, it just felt like any other testimony, but I later found out that night with my companion that something else had happened.  When he related what he felt in that particular moment... immediately after I finished my testimony, our investigator began to bear his small and simple testimony and the Spirit was strong.  It was simple and sweet but the feeling stayed long after he finished saying what was on his mind.  When we left and finally got back to the house, Elder Poyfair told asked me, "Did you feel that while you were testifying to them?"  I said, "Feel what?"  He said, "When you testified to them back there in that last lesson, did you feel the Spirit?  It was one of the strongest feelings of the Spirit I have felt on my whole mission!"  This made me stop because I thought about my patriarchal blessing that I had read a few days a go and a specific part that talks about my testimony of the Savior.  I wont put it on here, but you can read it.  I was impressed to read that part to my companion and he said, "Wow!  That is a literal fulfillment of your patriarchal blessing."  After that, I got a good feeling from the Spirit.  It was cool, it was like the Spirit was saying "Tadaaaaaaa!!!!" Something that I will remember for a while.  I learned a few things from that.  First, you can't will the spirit into a lesson or into your words to make people understand because I just felt like those were regular words that I was saying, but it was the Spirit that carried it into their hearts like it says in 2 Nephi 33:1  "And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost, the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men."  So the meaning and the result only happens on the end sometimes and the Holy Ghost can openly testify through you when you are doing what you know or you are being true to the true church.   Like Nephi says... you don't have to be mighty in speaking or good at a language in order for the Spirit to testify to what you are saying.  You just have to be humble and invite it to do the speaking for you.  The Spirit will only speak through you if your intention is to give understanding and not gratify your own pride to appear as though you have skill in speaking.  Humility is a requirement.   What I am saying makes a lot more sense if you read the patriarchal blessing. 

With the package stuff, yes, I was referring to shampoo, not deodorant.   Also, pictures and everyone's pants sizes in centimeters because I wanted to get you guys all Kapulana pajama pants.  I will work on it later, but I need to get them now if that's going to happen.   Also, I want to know if you guys want anything in specific from here so I can plan now (I can't get any spears and shields, sorry Alex). 

That's about it though.   Oh, and also you can send the college info and if you need to set up an account, go ahead and do so. 

Well, I love y'all!

Elder Proksch

Getting to the Top of the Hill

It's that time of year again when all the missionaries get the Conference itch and it doesn't go away until you see it or read it.  It literally comes on like a fever and you sometimes get rashes.  Ha ha ha!  Totally kidding, but I do really want to see it.  It get's to us just a little slower here.

So this week started off with opening up a marriage process!!!!!!  Woooooo hooooooo!  We are so excited for this couple.  The blessings that are going to happen in their lives are going to be unreal!  It was a good start to a great week and the rest of the day was just jammed pack, so I needed another p-day after our p-day.  I think that is exciting that you guys are reading my companion's family blog as well.  He will be excited to hear that.  Then we went to zone conference and oh boy, was it a good one. Aside from talking about the fastest way to get sent home (say you have suicidal thoughts, which I don't have), it was pretty good.  The psych was a little bit more than I cared to pay attention to, but now I know who is bipolar and who has OCD in my house.  Good to know.  I think President Kretly did an awesome job, like always lifting our vision.  I am pretty sure we get a ten thousand dollar Franklin Covey presentation every zone conference.  You pretty much leave there feeling like you are going to baptize the world.  It's great.  So some of the things that they focused on right from the beginning was the amount of time we have put into getting ready to become missionaries.  I didn't really connect with that too much because I kinda just decided to be a missionary two or three years before and I wasn't constantly looking forward to it like a huge goal, but still, it got me thinking about others and what they do to become ready and how much it must mean to them.  Then Sister Kretly said something that really kinda hit me.  She said that the general authorities or a member of the seventies had been visiting  the surrounding Africa area and they noticed a pattern in a certain question that a lot of missionaries had. basically what it was, "When will the work I do be enough, when do I get to the top of the hill, when do I get to feel like I am making and adequate difference?"  She turned the question on us to see what we would say.  Some said it was never over, you are never done even after your two years.  Some said just do your best and don't worry about it.  I thought that it was when you had confirmation from the Spirit that your work was done in that specific area.  Whatever the answer may be, I think it was an important one.  I think it will help me work with the end in mind.  I think a lot about what kind of work I am doing and if it is acceptable to the Lord, because only He and I know if I am doing the work to the best of my abilities.  Also, I think a lot about if I am the missionary I think you guys tell everyone I am.  I know complex questions that I shouldn't really worry about, but I think about these things and I don't want to go out and come back in vain like the quote by Brigham Young, when he talks about missionaries.  So I thought about that pretty hard.  I think I had a spiritual micro burst at the end of zone conference, because I was feeling a little held back by the time I had and the ability to manage it, with the things that's asked of us.  President Kretly, by the end of this year, wants to split 7-8 branches so we can be on track for making 4 stakes in 2015. I know, big talk!  But it was a plan he introduced to his leaders and they had to introduce it to the twelve.  That's all I am going to say about it because there's a lot of in between stuff.  The jist of it is, that we need to be doing a lot more work that we are doing now and I am feeling like most of the heavy lifting is only being done by a few and the rest aren't doing what they can.  So I thought instead of complaining about something, I should try and fix what I could. I thought back to the 500 mile bike ride and how I worked alongside this boy named Jacob and by the end of the ride he was able push himself, by himself, or at least have the motivation to do so. I don't know if I am making any sense, but I think that's what I can do to help this mission grow faster, that is by lifting others.  By myself I can not do the work of 4 missionaries, but if they are doing their best and so am I, that's 5 missionary groups focused on a goal that can help and change the mission for the better. I think I know generally how to be effective at this work and sometimes while you're out here it takes someone else to show you what to do to open the eyes of your understanding and that's what happened with the zone leaders and I.  They showed up and showed me how so I could teach the rest of my district. I will help them be successful on there missions by serving them.  Anyways, there is a lot of other stuff I would like to write here about zone conference, but I will wait till I have time to review it.

This week was great and we had an experience that was actually pretty cool.  There is this investigator and his name is Mussa, his wife is Reid's age and they live together in a house and they want to get married and baptized.  It's cool to see them with a desire like that and follow the commandments.  Anyway, randomly last week she disappeared and when we asked Mussa where she went he said he didn't know because she left her phone.  We then found out from his mom who lives with him (she is very old and needs to be taken care of) and she said Rosa (that's her name) one of her sisters came by and took her to their house.  So long story short, she was staying there so she could look after he family until her mom came back from South Africa.  It ended up being about a week and Mussa was feeling pretty down because he had not seen his wife or their baby boy since he left and had not heard anything as well.  So then during the week, we stopped by to see how he was doing and it turned out that she still had not received a Book of Mormon and so we decided that we could stop by and give her one.  Then Elder Poyfair had the great idea to stick a note in it from Mussa to Rosa, seeing as how they couldn't communicate.  It was a great opportunity for him to send a secret message (sound like a love story?).  The next day we decide to give the book to her and it was Sunday night.  I had been fasting that we could help our investigators progress since it's kinda hard to teach someone when they are not at their own house.  We had planned to stop by Mussas house first and then go to Rosa's house after that.  We stopped at Mussas house and asked him to get the note.  He had not written it yet and went inside to go and write the letter.  Well, as it turns out, while we were waiting for him, guess who shows up out of nowhere??   It's Rosa with their baby.  I was like, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt??!  (insert Despicable Me minion)  I was just blown away and then Mussa came out with a huge smile on his face.  We sat down and gave a short lesson and then we left.  I told Rosa to ask where Mussa put the note as we left, but something cool happened there.  The prayer I gave was answered, none the less, right in front of my face.  It was like when Cuzco from the Emperor's New Groove comes out of the door and says, "BOOM BABY!!!!"  I was like, "Oh my gosh!  That worked!!!"  That was amazing.  Now I know that all prayers aren't answered like that but that one was pretty direct.  A testimony to me that God is still a God of miracles.  So, in a very big nut shell, that was my week.

That's all.  Sorry this letter is so long, lot's of stuff this week!  Hope you all are well!

Love Elder Proksch 

Getting Inside a Missionary's Head

So this week was nuts again and I know I wont be able to fit all the blessings in this week.  So I will just state the facts.  First of all, today we opened up a marriage process for a couple, meaning pretty much their baptism is in the bag (that was fun).  Second, the marriage seems to be mended between Oscar and Claudia. Easily my favorite family I have ever taught.  I am going to really miss these guys if I have to leave here in the next 9 months (which I will have to do).  We had a spiritual lesson to end all spiritual lessons. Oscar was having trouble expressing what he was experiencing and Claudia couldn't get the smile off her face.  The changes they are seeing are things that they have been waiting for quite a while.  Their papers are on the way and I am really excited to see them get into the water.  Our third couple is moving along at warp speed and we are struggling to keep up with them (this is a good thing).  Also, yesterday was raining, which usually spells disaster for numbers and people that show up at church, but all of our couples plus a new one showed up.  I can't even imagine what will happen this week.  We do have zone conference tomorrow and I am excited.  President said we have a church psychologist coming in and the office elders said he's a little weird.  You know, some guy worried about what's going on inside our heads.  I guess he heard about how crazy my companion and I can be.  President told us to keep an open mind about the things he will say to us tomorrow and I am excited to see how that goes.  It's zone conference... what could possibly go wrong?? ha ha ha ha. 

If I could, I would like to write part of this letter to Kyle:

I want to express some gratitude for the work that he is doing up in Russia and probably like to say that the mind set here in Africa as opposed to Russia is a little different.  Down here they believe that if you don't go to a church, that you will go to hell... which is great for us because we get a lot of respect, but it's also bad because they think all churches lead to the same place.  It's kind of like Kyle said, even though they are super close to the truth, they are the hardest to get there.  It's intensely frustrating, but I won't pretend to know how it is in Russia.  In fact, that's the mission I wanted before I got my call.  I wanted to go to Russia really bad, and I still do.  I think I would be trying to hide the truth if I said that your situation isn't like some of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, something I am sure you have already thought of.  For instance, Abinadi, Mormon, Moroni, Samuel, Nephi, and Jacob.  You have a tough job calling repentance to those who don't want to hear it and maybe finding a few who do.  I had a feeling that maybe that mission would be like that and the fact that you were sent there tells me something about what the Lord knows about you.  He knows you're not weak.  He knows that you will do your job when nobody is looking and He also knows He can depend on you.  I also think about that plaque they have in the MTC that President David O. McKay saw in Ireland that says, "What e´er thou art, act well thy part."  All the signs on that place are numbers and in any given direction they all add up to 18,  whether you're a 2 or a 9, you all add up to the same end and if you were a different number then it wouldn't work. Some times you got to be the best six you can be so someone else can be an eight.  The work wouldn't be complete without you, though.  Think of it this way, the Savior had to be a perfect ten so that the apostles together could be eights and add up to eighteen.  Therefore, completing the work for the great apostasy and later for the wonderful restoration of the fullness of the gospel.  I guess the trick here is that realizing your calling is to be put into somewhere not as fruitful and prepare the ground so that the sower can plant seeds and then someone else can harvest it (see the parable of the sower).  It's a hard job and the Lord only chooses his best to get the job done.  He also knows who he can count on to be loyal to the cause they signed up for.  He knows He doesn't have to remind these workers to do what is necessary because their only desire is that of the Fathers´.  Here's a scripture as well... try  Helaman 10 on for size and see if you can relate some similarities between you and them.  I especially like verses 4 and 5.  I wouldn't trade my mission for the world, but I do know why He sent you there and I mean every word of it.  Some people have talents that everyone can see.  Others work quietly to make theirs known and others give of their ability freely and receive their reward at the end of the long journey.  I'd like to bear my testimony that I know this work is true and that this gospel is that rock of salvation that Nephi talked about.  From the experiences that you have had on your mission, you have fortified yourself there and I can't wait to talk to you face to face after the mission.  The anticipation is killing me! (I also want to here what Russian sounds like)  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sorry that was kind of long.  I think I will answer your questions here.

Yes, the spiders are ginormous here and I will try to take more pictures of them...ha ha!  Ask Dad about spiders in Australia and it's about the same.

Primary programs in Sacrament meetings are a negative, Ghost Rider.  They are still trying to get good leadership into other auxiliaries so they can get a stake up and running.  We are under construction, but the kids do get juice and cookies when they come to church.  Most leave the house without getting much to eat.

I do share your worry about the Armed Forces and it's also something I have to pray about.  I think I might be able to stay in school until his term is over.  I know at least a bachelor's degree is about four years of schooling, so if it's in the planning, I think I can skirt his presidency a little.  I have a strong desire to serve my country. 

Anyway, I think that's it for this week.  I love you all!  Keep working hard.  Oh, and congratulations Elder Blake on a job well done.  I am sure the Lord is extremely pleased with your work.  Now is when the real work begins.

***Elder Proksch's companion Elder Poyfair wrote to his family:  "2 hours ago Elder Proksch and I became the first missionaries in over a year to open up a marriage process from T3!  Anyways, Sunday the attendance at church was 85 and 15 of them were our investigators. So they really came out strong!  I’m having so much fun out here! There is a lot of work to do, but I love it. My companion and I get along great. We are both goofballs, and neither of us really know 100% what we are doing but we are figuring it out!  I can't even describe how awesome it feels helping these people. And yes, there are things to complain about, like coming home at night after a long

day in the hot sun and having to eat cold oatmeal, write in your journal by candlelight, and sleep in your sweatiness because there is no power or water, but it's the funnest thing ever and there is no where else I would rather be."

Lots of love, 

Elder Proksch