Letter #33 5/13/13 Toe Infection!!

Ok SO. This week. Has been pretty fantastic :) We've seen a lot happen!! But some bad things happened too. Haha Ok. Tuesday we had interviews with the President so it was awesome to meet and talk with him one on one. He's really awesome! He's really nice. He's a little intimidating, but not really. Mostly you can tell he really cares about us missionaries and he really just wants us to progress. So that was nice :) 

During the interview my toe was hurting. I didn't think much of it. But when we came home for the night I took my socks and shoes off and I my toe was REALLY swollen. And it hurt a lot. I attached some pictures, but just a heads up they're kind of gross :) haha. Especially the one with the needle. BUT that wasn't very fun. 

The next day, wednesday, I woke up pretty sick. I'm not sure what it was, I just felt sick and anytime I got up to do something I got really tired really fast. So I spent most of the day on the couch and Elder Stauffer worked on putting people into his GPS and other stuff like that. I'm pretty sure that it was some bug that Elder Stauffer brought with him. He hasn't felt well since he's been here, and I think he has a bug. But I got over it after that one day so that's nice. My toe was still hurting though, so I called the mission doctor about it and I told him I thought it was an ingrown toe nail, because it was swollen and it hurt from pressure. So he told me to soak it 4 times a day in warm water. Started doing that. 

Wednesday Night we taught some good lessons to our progressing investigators. So that was nice :) 

Thursday. Not much to say here. My toe hurt like all day. So we were either out teaching a lesson or back at the apartment because I could barely walk. We also talked to a member in the ward, and she got kind of worried about it and told us we needed to see a doctor about it. So we called the mission doctor again and he said that I could go see a doctor. We made that call around 9:30PM though, so we decided to go the next morning. 

Friday. We left to the Doctor's office around 7AM. Got in and checked in around 8. So, doctor comes in and looks at my toe and says he's going to numb my toe and then cut open the wound and let the puss out and check out what's on the inside. Sticks me THREE times with the numbing stuff (Yes Kaiti, 3 needle pokes :p) then procedes to slice the side of my toe by the nail to look inside. He cuts it open. There is NOT an ingrown toe nail. It's just an infection. The doctor was really surprised that not very much puss came out. But he prescribed me some generic antibiotic and in 48 hours I would be better. 

So here I am monday, and my toe feels a lot better :) It's not completely healed. But better. Much much better. :D But there's that story. :)

Other fun events. Saturday... I went to the TEMPLE!!! Elder Stauffer had some converts from his first area that were getting sealed, and we had the opportunity to go and watch it!! The sealing ceremony was INCREDIBLE!!! So sweet... And then the kids were able to come in and get sealed to their parents!! That was probably the best part. It was SOO neat to see everything we talk about as missionaries happen right in front of us. Families are everything, and they were just eternalized. It was amazing :)

In other news on Saturday... B was baptized!! [B is the grandmother of A, Kameron's first baptism in Southport, NC.  B and A visited us in Utah several months ago and we became good friends.  Patrick, Melanie and Kaitlin flew to North Carolina to attend her baptism.  Patrick baptized her, Melanie spoke at the baptism and Kaitlin played a piano solo.] It is awesome that you were in Southport and able to see everybody!!  And, like Dad said, It's pretty neat to see the direct results of missionary efforts down the line. It seems like it usually takes a couple years before that happens. But this didn't take long at all :) It was awesome!! But yeah, Congrats to B:) 

Other news!! Mother's Day Phone Call :) Man this letter is LONG. haha But Yeah! Mothers day. Awesome :) I loved hearing you all! It was weird having you only like 70 miles away, but it was awesome at the same time!! Haha I was at a member's house so I had to contain myself a little bit more after the phone call, but I still cried for a minute or two. It's hard getting off the phone. It really is. I know I can email you every week and write letters, but it's almost like you aren't real. And then the phone call makes it really and makes it SOO HARD. Gah. Haha. But I love the phone call :) 7 month until the next one!! It won't be so bad. Say Hello to Thailand for me on my birthday :p haha that will be fun though...

Ok, spiritual thought. Today I read in Deuteronomy 32:49-50. I have a new quote for us :) And it's spiritual. and funny at the same time. In these scriptures, The Lord commands Moses to go up to a Mountain and die. SO. Kaiti, whenever you tell me to go die in a hole. You can switch it to go die in  a mountain, and say that it's scripture. :) It's almost a nice thing, because it's like telling someone that they're so spiritual, almost like a prophet! Ok, that's slightly blasphemous. But still funny. Elder Stauffer and I have decided we're going to start telling others to go die in mountains. It's great :) 

On a more spiritual note... I've also been reading Mosiah 2:41. Which is a lot nicer and encourages people to be better :) So just to paraphrase and quote it, Consider on the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments. They will be raised to a state of NEVER ENDING HAPPINESS. Now, I don't know about you all, but never ending happiness sounds pretty good to me. And I don't think there's a lot I wouldn't do to achieve it. And the promise is pretty simple. Keep the Commandments equals never ending happiness. So, in the words of Brother Jackson here in Jacksonville. To his wife. "JUST DO AS YOU'RE TOLD!" We should all just do as we're told and we'll make it to a place of never ending happiness. Done. :)

Well yeah. I think that's enough for now... I've had more to write than usual. Hopefully you all had wonderful weeks and enjoyed yourselves. Know how much I love and Miss you :) It's weird that I only talked to you like 12 hours ago. CRAZY. But, it happens. I LOVE YOU!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kilbourne

Letter #32 5/6/13 Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

Hello Family!!

 

This week has been AWESOME!!! We didn't teach as many lessons as last week, but the lessons we had were really good!!

 

I think I mentioned C, but in any case we set a baptismal date for him! They coordinated with family, and they'll all be flying in for his baptism on May 25th!! That's so soon! Like, 2 weeks away! Crazy!! But we're really excited!!

 

We had to drop one of our investigators with baptismal dates. His name was J and he is going to be out of town in Arizona for the next two months. Haha it's pretty crazy... But we'll pick him up as an investigator when he comes back in July :)

 

Brother C is SOLID!! When we come for lessons he basically tells us to pretend that he doesn't know anything. So we teach the lesson as if he is completely fresh. So we do. And afterward he told us that he read through the homework. Twice. Hahaha I love having solid investigators. He is ready :) He really is!! I can't wait for June!! IT'S GOING TO BE AMAZING!!!!

 

Elder Stauffer is AWESOME!!! He is funny. He feels kind of sick in the mornings... And I think I know why. He complains because I snore. And I think my snoring keeps him awake. And because he can't fall asleep, he feels sick. So this week we bought ear plugs for him. He feels much better in the mornings. :) haha!! But now I throw things at him before we fall asleep and he can't hear it coming. It's awesome. :) He's sarcastic too!! So we have sarcasm fights. They're really fun :) He's also really hard worker and obedient. I'm starting to worry if President is nervous about me. I've had 2 good companions in a row. Not that I'm complaining, I love it!! Just saying ;) haha!

 

I'm so excited for Sunday!! Mother's day is going to be better than my Birthday!! Really!!! I'm so excited!!! I xan't wait to talk to you all!! Granted, I don't know what I'll say. We'll probably just talk and that will be nice :) I like hearing voices. I think I'll start using the voice recorder more :) I haven't sent many pictures lately. I'll work on that... Videos are good though. i'm glad you liked my videos :)

 

Spiritual thought.... Well. yesterday we taught a lesson on the restoration of the true church in Gospel Principles. The lesson was more focused on qualities of the original church, and then qualities of the restored church. Here were the qualities. 1) Revelation. 2) Authority. 3) Principles and Ordinances of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and Receiving the Holy Ghost. 4) Organization of Prophets, Apostles, Etc. 5) Spiritual Gifts. Now, we can see that the current restored church of Jesus Christ has EVERY SINGLE ONE of these qualities. Impressive right? And if you think about it, how could the true church not have these qualities? I don't understand how people can believe a church that doesn't belive in Revelation. I could understand, TO AN EXTENT, Authority. I don't understand how people can SOLELY belive that faith alone will save. That doesn't make sense! It doesn't!! Perhaps I'm just ranting in this thought, but what I'm saying is that this is the true church for a reason. The best part about being on a mission is being asked, "How do you know it's true?" Because we get asked that enough that we have to figure that out. I would challenge anyone who doesn't know why this church is true to find out. While receiving a witness of the Book of Mormon is good, find a way to communicate your knowledge to someone else where they too can understand why you believe this church. So, My challnege this week is to figure out what your testimony is :) Should be easy enough. have a fun time with it!!

 

Well I've said enough. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day :) And if not make it a good day. We can choose to be happy. I firmly believe that. So if you aren't happy, make the choice to be happy :) Do something important today!! And yeah. Just smile. Smiling is good :)

 

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

 

Letter #31 4/29/13 Its A New Day!

Hello Family!!!

Well I'm here in North Carolina. Jacksonville to be specific with my NEW companion. ELDER STAUFFER!!!! Elder Stauffer is from Orem, Utah. He worked at Tucano's Brazillian Grille for a while. He's really sarcastic. (Clearly we get along).  He's number 6 of 8. He and his siblings played a lot of board games (Again, We get along). He really likes movies (Again, We get along). He's really obedient. He's great :) I love him! He's my best friend!!

Ok so for stories this week... Friday we biked 25 miles and talked to like 50 people I swear. But we had like 3 lessons from people just letting us in and talking to us. That was really neat! :)

Wednesday we met with brother C, who I mentioned last week, and set a baptismal date for June 1st!! He is SUPER SOLID!!! He is set! He's been slowly prepared over the past 2 years for this point, and we're really excited for him!! Really :)

Spiritual thought... Everyone is a member missionary!! We had a dinner with a family yesterday, and before we could even bring anything up they were telling us about people they were trying to fellowship and invite to church. How there were people at work that they talked to. It was SO amazing, as missionaries, to hear about this! To know that people were actively working with their friends. We've run into that a lot since I 've been here in Jacksonville, and I think Jacksonville is SO successful because of the emphasis people put on inviting their friends to church here. SO my invitation this week is to evaluate yourself, and see where you can improve your efforts as a member missionary. Every action counts. Promise! And you will feel SOO much happier if you look for opportunities to share the gospel! On top of that, you will be able to see the blessings of the gospel in your life!!

Well I'm clocking out this week!! I love you all!! Do work!! :) BE HAPPY!!! Please. It's the best :D really! And it's a choice!! It really is. So choose to be happy :)

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kilbourne

Letter #30 4/22/2013 Goodbye Elder Bentley :(

Hey Family!!!

How are ya'll doing this week?? I've had a pretty great one :) But I left out some details and miracles from last week, so I'll try to include those!! Ok so Last Monday (Two weeks ago) We had dinner with the C family. She's an active member, he is not a member. He is SUPER funny. he had a very similar sense of humor to Elder Bentley and me. It was awesome. He builds motorcycles for a living, and as such he has one of those HUGE redneck beards. Haha it is AWESOME!! But we were talking at dinner, and at some point general conference came up and Elder Bentley and I were talking about how fantastic of a talk Elder Holland gave. Then he says back "Psh.. Elder Holland... Everyone knows the best Apostle is Uchtdorf!" Basically, it blew our minds that he actually knew who the apostles were. We kept talking, and he starts bringing up references from talks President Uchtdorf gave like 2 years ago. It was awesome!! So at the end of dinner, we asked him "So, would you be interested in taking the lessons?" To which he responds, "I thought that's why we had you over for dinner!" Basically, super awesome miracle finding a super elect investigator!! We're PUMPED!!! But, he was busy for the next two weeks, so we set up a lesson with him tomorrow, April 23rd. We're very excited :)

Next miracle was last monday. We were finishing up our preparation day  when we get a text around 4:30 from the J family asking if we had dinner that night. I didn't know who the Js were, so we told them we didn't and they told us the would pick us up around 6. So we get over, and have dinner with them, and it's one of those easy dinners where it's really easy to talk and they're funny and we all get along really well!! As the dinner progresses, He brings up that they haven't been to church in a while. He says the they converted in Arizona about 5 years ago and had an awesome experience there. A year or two later they moved to Utah. Which is the mormon capital, so again they had a very good experience with the church. Then, in October of 2011, they moved out here to North Carolina. They were expecting to again have a really good experience with the LDS church. They didn't expect that things would be a little different. They told us they hadn't seen their home teachers since they had lived here, and how different it was. She also had some health problems that came up, that made it a little more difficult to make it. They didn't blame the church. They acknowledged that they knew that they had control over their decisions, but that they didn't expect it to be as difficult as it was. BUT. What they asked us over for dinner for was because they wanted to get active again. When they lived in Arizona and Utah, they were ON FIRE with the gospel. And they knew that they still had a fire burning, even if it wasn't as big. He said they watched a lot of conference, and recommended that they watch Elder Holland's talk. We thought it would fit perfectly with them. In any case, we're really excited for this family :) Then, yesterday, they were at church!! Which is the first time i've seen them there since I've been here in Jacksonville. Basically this whole experience increased my understanding of the importance of Home Teaching. That that one small act shows how interested and loved that family or person is. I know at home I SERIOUSLY failed in my responsibility as a Home Teacher. That mostly happened because I simply didn't understand, but I still should have done it. Home Teaching is SO valuable. The families you teach NEED the monthly message. And it's not even just the message. It's the responsibility of checking on them, and meeting their needs. They need to have someone they can rely on. It is VITAL!! So if you aren't Home Teaching, START!! :)

Ok, so I think everyone knows... But Transfers are tomorrow!! And Elder Bentley is leaving :( So I will be getting a new companion. I will find out who he is tomorrow. Its sad to say goodbye to him though!! I'm seriously going to miss him. We've had a ton of fun together! It's been great!! Elder Bentley knows where he is going though. He is going to be starting new in an area. I think I already explained it, but it's called whitewashing when a companionship is transferred into an area together. So he will be whitewashing an area in Raleigh as senior companion. Good for him!! He's really excited to serve in the city! He's been in country areas his entire mission, so he's excited to see what the city is like!! I wish him the best!! :)

Ok so a report on this week... It's been decent haha It seems like EVERY investigator we have got sick or something else at the EXACT same time haha so we didn't too many lessons this week... But we made a TON of appoitments for next week! My new companion isn't going to know what to do with all the appointments we have! He's going to think Jacksonville is easy!! And it is :) Haha! Or it seems like it at least. In any case, next week will be better for sure :) We're excited!!

One last thing!! Ok so I've talked about it before, but here's an update on Southport!! A's Grandma has moved her baptismal date to May 11th!! And she has asked my Dad to baptize her, and for kaiti to play a special musical number!! That's super exciting!!! What's really funny is that on May 12th I get to call home, and my family will be in Southport! My first area in my mission, and only like 50 miles away from my current location! That is WEIRD!!! But all exciting :) I'm stoked to see where everything ends up!!! I hope it all works out :)

Well I'm running out of time :) I hope you all are doing well!! I hope you're smiling, and having fun, and making the most of your life!! If not, Start!! :) I hope everyone has a wonderful week!! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kilbourne

Letter #29 4/15/13 Hurrah for Israel!!

Hey, Family!!

It's been an awesome week!! Conference was GREAT!!!  People were definitely jealous of our shirts :)  I'll try to send a picture later.

It's been a little wet here, but it really hasn't been bad.  We got poured on last week, but we had a good time about it.  We're good at having good attitudes :)  We figure you can't change it, so enjoy it.  So we biked through all the giant puddles and stuff haha!  It's great.  I'm expecting it to get worse here, though.  It's been warming up... It's been like 70's and I think it hit the 80's this week.  Super hot. No fun haha  I am going to DIE out here!!  Elder Bentley has told me horror stories about having a temperature of 117 and 100% humidity.  The elders actually got quarantined that day :)  But still, that's HOT!!  We'll see how I hold up :)

Ok, so recently we've been teaching this excommunicated member of the church here in Jacksonville. This guy LOVES LOVES LOVES us. Absolutely loves us. He's is the nicest guy, and he really respects the church. But he has TONS of hang ups over the church. So whenever we go over to his house, all three of us go into the discussion knowing that it's basically going to be a sugar coated bashing session.  It's actually really interesting. I feel like I'm debating with my 15 year old self. A lot of what he brings up and points out is something I thought of when I was 15. And this guy is like 50 years old. haha  It kind of shows what a high level of spirituality our youth are being raised in :)  Unfortunately, today will probably be our last visit, unless he is able to move past some of his issues.

That's awesome about Devin Criddle's mission call.  West Virginia!  When does he enter the MTC?  He'll find out, the Lord knows exactly where we need to be.  We don't get to choose where we serve. haha  I wish more people understood that, though.  Since I've been out I've seen how good and bad elders are called to EVERY mission. 

So, to answer Dad's question, what is the source for "Hurrah for Israel"?  I know there's a story about how Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball were like SUPER sick and were called on missions. After a couple months they were strong enough to leave their beds and depart on the mission. They both got into a carriage, and when they were at like the edge of hearing, they stopped the wagon and yelled three times "Hurrah Hurrah Hurrah for Israel!!" I read that story in a talk given by Tad. R. Calliste called "Being a Consecrated Missionary".  This is an excellent talk.  It really sets a standard for missionaries. 

Your scripture this week... Ok.  So I remember a long time ago reading a talk by Elder Holland called "Place No More for the Enemy of my Soul." I remember reading it, and I don't think I got anything out of it. haha. Sorry :) I would probably get more out of it if I read it again now... But, like all of Elder Holland's talks, that is a scripture. So, happy hunting :) I found that scripture like a week or two ago. And I love it. Absolutely love it. That scripture, in combination with a few others that I've found, have really helped me lose my desire to sin. Another one that has helped me is Helaman 7:16? I can't remember the scripture, but I'm pretty sure it's Helaman 7. In any case, the scripture says something like "why should you give way to the enticing of him who desires your destruction?" Again, not exact phrasing. That's a paraphrase. But when I read it, it hit me. Why do I give way to disobedience, or sin, or anything else? It takes me back to something Elder Pieper told us when he came in January-- "What doctrine don't I understand?" I like the difference between what doctrine don't I know, and what I don't understand. I can know that I shouldn't do something, or that I SHOULD do something. But until I actually do it, or my behavior changes, I haven't actually understood :) It's like that quote by Boyd K. Packer, "True doctrine understood changes attitudes and behaviors." I absolutely believe that!! But yeah, happy hunting on the scripture :) 

I love you! I hope you've had a wonderful week!! I hope Dad has found friends to do things with while Mom, Kaiti, and Parker have been out of commission! haha But yeah, Have a great week :) !!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #28 4/08/2013 General Conference!!

Hello Family!!

How has everyone's week been? Mine has been pretty fantastic :) Probably one of the best weeks of my LIFE!!! We had V's baptism this week!! It was a really nice service!! Because of conference though she hasn't been confirmed yet. She'll be confirmed this Sunday, so there is like a 12 day period between her baptism and confirmation. Crazy!! But we taught them again this week, and we picked up her step-dad as a new investigator! He is Catholic, and he seems pretty committed to that. But it also sounds like he has very similar beliefs to ours. We're sure he will desire to be baptized :) We're super excited for this family!!!

I would also like to announce that we have NOT had any bike troubles this week!! WOO!!! It sure was nice :) Granted... We also got the car this week... But we still didn't have any issues!! haha 

This Tuesday we have something called Activity Zone Conference. It's where all the missionaries from 3 zones come together and have a 3 hour conference, then go and play like frisbee and other sports for the other 3 hours. To show our district unity all the Elders from our district are all getting matching shirts! I think I sent a picture home of it, but it says "Christ Lives In Me" on it. It's hilarious. But we're putting our last names on the back, and some numbers. So it's almost like a jersey. It's fantastic :D So we've sort of had like a 4 day weekend with Conference weekend, Preparation day today, then activity conference tomorrow!

Something I've realized here in Jacksonville is just how important that unity is. People can sense when companions don't get along. And when they don't get along, it's SO much harder to invite the spirit. No matter how true the words you're teaching are, if you're stressed or angry, you are not in a position or environment to teach effectively.

 

Also, Elder Bentley would like me to reassure you that we are working hard. He worries sometimes that because we have a lot of fun, that people assume we're disobedient. It's interesting how that happens... It seems like people often mistake frowns and depression for reverence. More and more this transfer I've seen how untrue that is. It's important to love the people we teach. It's what internalizes what we teach. It kind of goes back to actions speak louder than words. I think Elder Bentley and I are good at loving the people we teach. I hope I can maintain this love and happiness with my next companion :) My goal is going to be to love him. To make him my best friend, just as Elder Bentley has made me his best friend. It's important!!

 And.... CONFERENCE WEEKEND!!! It has been so wonderful to hear these men speak. I had several questions going into the conference, and like everyone else they were all answered one way or another. Granted, some I had to stretch to answer them, but about half of them were honestly directly answered by a specific talk. It was crazy!!! Elder Holland probably gave my favorite talk. I LOVED how he showed how important believing is. That we are ALL here to walk by faith. It makes me want to re-evaluate my testimony and find where it is weak. Find the doctrines that I only believe, and then find the doctrines that I KNOW. I'll do that for a study this week and let you know how it goes :)

Okay, so for those who don't know, we missionaries are now allowed to email friends. As such, my mom forwards emails from my cousins and close friends, and I've sent out a lot of emails to my high school and college friends :) Each one who has messaged me back has mentioned how their priorities have changed, and how the mission has changed their life. They also mention how happy they are to be servants of the Lord!! It's so wonderful to be a part of this modern day army. To be a soldier in this eternal war of both Good and Evil, and in the modern Information War. Like my friends, I too have seen a change in my life. I have a new found sense of direction and purpose. I know why I am here, and what I want to be. I also take comfort in knowing that I have the tools necessary to get me there :) One of those tools is a modern prophet, who just spoke in conference!! I hope all that read this know how blessed we really are. I'm not just saying that. Can you imagine believing that when we die, that we're just gone? Can you imagine not knowing why bad things happen? Not knowing how to feel happy and fulfilled? Not having a standard by which to make decisions and choices? It's such a blessing!! It really makes life easy. I just thought everyone should know :)

I don't have a scripture for you... Just a note to my Dad: Thank you for being a wonderful Priesthood leader in the home. Thank you for showing me how to raise a family in righteousness. Thank you for putting an emphasis on the gospel, on education, and for allowing me agency to make my own decisions. Thanks Dad :) I love you. I'm proud of you!! I read Elder Bentley your letters and I laugh and tell him all the stories we have together. They're awesome :) I've been really lucky... I've truly been blessed. It's hard to ask for a better life than the one I've had :) And I know that it's almost entirely because of how both you and Mom raised us together as a family. So thank you :)  

Well! Here's to another fantastic week!! Life is what you make it. I truly believe that. I also know that working with a smile changes your perspective on life. Smiling just makes everything better for some reason. So everyone should smile more :) 

I love you all!! I wish you all the best :) have a wonderful week!! 

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kilbourne

Letter #27 4/01/2013 Baptism!!

Hello Family!!! 

Alright so this week has been FANTASTIC!!! We had 5 people come to sacrament meeting!! It was awesome!!! We were so excited!!! But the highlight of the week was DEFINITELY S's Baptism!! S is a 13 year old boy who was getting taught when I first got here. But he was ready, and he was baptized on Saturday!! Our bishop performed the baptism, I gave a talk on baptism, and Elder Bentley gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. After my talk, a stake councilman came up to me and told me that was the best talk on baptism he's ever heard. One of the counselors in our Bishopric told me the same thing! Then, after the baptismal service was over, the councilman's wife came up to me and told me the same thing!! I'm not being prideful, I don't think I'm better than anyone else. But compliments are nice, and I'm glad I was able to give a good message for the occasion :) 

So that was pretty awesome. Something that's different about teaching younger children compared to older people is that you keep things REALLY simple. And we try to do a LOT more object lessons to help explain and keep them interested. Looking back now though, it would probably be good to use object lessons in ALL our lessons. It keeps people interested!! We would just need to be careful to not be overbearing, or act like their dumb. That's the importance of teaching people not lessons :) 

On a different note... The downer this week has been yet MORE bike troubles. It's actually become really funny. We've had 5 flats this week, and Elder Bentley's bike is basically busted because of his crank arm. When he bikes it's almost like he's galloping like a Horse. It's really funny :) Maybe Rachel would like the bike... ;) hehe But I bought several new tubes this week to fix my tires, and Elder Bentley is ordering the crankarms so we're hoping we're at the end of our trials. 

SO on to more good news, we have a baptism coming up tomorrow!! We're super excited!!! Her name is V. She is also 13. She's SUPER shy, so we've had a small amount of trouble getting to know her, but she's excited for baptism and we're excited for her!! Elder Bentley will be baptizing her, but because of Conference Weekend, she won't be confirmed a member until April 14th. I'll be giving her the Holy GHost :) We're Super Excited!!!!

Ok, so the spiritual thought this week is on patience. Elder Bentley and I have, out of necessity, had a lot of patience this week. Whether it be lessons cancelling, people not fulfilling commitments, or all the bike trouble. We've just had to be patient. And the best example of patience I can think of in the Book of Mormon is Pahoran when he responds to Moroni. This passage is found in Alma 59-61. So if you feel you need patience, read these chapters and see what you can change about your attitude in the face of trials, as well as how you interact with others. We all have room for improvement :)

Well i'm out of time!! I hope everyone is excited for General Conference this weekend!! We sure are!!! I love and miss you all!! Have a wonderful week!! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #26 3/25/2013 Cheribum and a Flaming Sword!

Hello Family!! 

Alright it's been a pretty awesome week!! Sort of. haha we've had a lot of fun... And we've taught some great lessons!! But we've had a lot of lessons fall through. We had 5 lessons scheduled on Tuesday, all confirmed the night before. And every single one of them fell through. It was pretty crazy. once the 4th one fell through, we actually just thought it was funny. Kind of a big joke. But it all worked out :) We hit the Standards of Excellence, so that's pretty neat. The standards of excellence are statistics that we as missionaries should be striving for our areas. Each standard of excellence is set by the Mission President for each individual mission. Our standards for excellence are 1 baptism for every companionship every month. 3 investigators with a baptismal date per week. 3 investigators at sacrament meeting every week. 5 lessons with a member present every week. 3 new investigators found every week. and 3 lessons taught to recent converts or less actives every week. The only standard that we didn't hit this week was New Investigators. We haven't found any new investigators lately because we've been stinking busy!! We have lessons scheduled constantly, and when we aren't doing lessons we're doing service or something else like that. Our days are PACKED!! But after the baptisms we have this week, we'll have much more time to go find people :) 

Ok, so... As missionaries we can still have fun. So we have fun while we serve :) There's this lady in our ward that has bunch of trees she didnt' want anymore, along with GIANT bushes of thorns that she wanted cleared out. Recently I purchased a Gerber Gator Machete, and clearly it made sense that a machete would be the best tool to clear these out. So we did :) We spent like 3 hours this week hacking away at vines and sawing through trees to help her clear up the yard. Basically it's been pretty awesome to actually have a use for the machete haha

Here's the next part to the story... We have time from 9:30 til 10:30 to do what we want. So lately we play fruit ninja with the machete. We'll get a bag of baby carrots and toss them to each other on the back deck and slice them in half. It's pretty awesome!! :D Well another thing we found this week is that hand sanitizer is flamable... So we thought we would be brilliant and combine the machete awesomeness with the hand sanitizer to make a flaming sword. Basically, we're freaking awesome. :D hahaha we took a couple pictures, and showed them to another missionary in the area. His first response is that what we're doing is in the bible, "cherubim and the flaming sword." Hence the subject line for this week :) I have attached a picture to show it to y'all. Yes, you can be jealous of how much fun we have as missionaries, while still being obedient :) 

So something else.... We've been having a RIDICULOUS amount of bike trouble lately. Elder Bentley's bike crankshaft fell off his bike, so we've been borrowing someone elses. Well he broke that crank shaft too, so now we're trying to share 3 bikes between 4 elders haha it's interesting... But I think I've had like 3 flat tires this week. It's been pretty crazy. It seems like every time we've tried to go out the door this week, we've found another problem with our bikes. Today was no exception. We were getting ready to leave to the church to write home, when once again I found a flat tire. It's crazy!! I'll probably get a new tube because this one has like 3 patches on it now. No fun, but hey it happens. We take it with a smile, and that's all you can really do :) 

So... That's the gist of the week I think. Service. Flaming swords. Bike problems. Teaching appointments. And setting up 2 baptisms in the coming week. We're pretty excited. Pretty DANG excited. :D 

Spiritual Thought-- okay, here's a chase for everyone!! "Go ye therefore, and teach"  It's a pretty well known scripture, but I really like it!! I think it's straight forward too, so I don't need to explain too much. GO, and TEACH. That's the gist. We can all strive to go out and teach others about our religion. Even those who have access, might just be waiting for someone to ask if they're interested. So this week take a look around, and see if there is someone you can Go and Teach about the gospel. :D 

I hope everyone is having a splendid week and is looking forward to COnference in two weeks!! I sure am!! :D I love you all!! Keep working hard!! Stay Strong!! HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #25 3/18/13 Do the Basics!!

Hello!!

It's been a great week here in Jacksonville!! Elder Bentley and I are still rock solid. We've starting doing a lot of "contracts." These contracts are basically deals that we make with each other. Then we put them down on paper and sign them. They're usually very frivolous, but with a good idea behind them. So... One of these contracts is to help and encourage us to maintain our diets and exercise. Both of our goals are to reach 185 by April 9th. If one person does, and the other doesn't, the loser pays 25 dollars. If we both lose, we have to give our favorite ties away to members. If we both win... I can't remember what happens then. But they're awesome contracts. We have ROCK SOLID unity. For real!! We're super good friends. :D He's promised to be my wingman when we're both home from the mission. Awesome :)

As per the work here. We haven't been doing a lot of finding... We've been slacking off on that part, because we have a lot of investigators right now. So some of our baptismal dates were postponed. S is now getting baptized March 30th along with V. S is rock solid, and can't wait to be baptized! :) V is quiet, but she's excited as well!! Our bishop will baptize S, Elder Bentley will baptize V, and I'm going to be giving her the Holy Ghost! Next in line is C. He would be baptized really soon, but he has family coming up from Texas so we're happy to wait :) We're expecting his baptism around the end of April to accommodate for his family! The next baptism we have is R. R was found about a year ago, and has been working toward baptism for probably 3 months now. They're a super awesome family! They love having the missionaries over, they've developed a gospel library, they have religious pictures ALL over the home. It's really awesome to see it all :) Brother R is expecting to be able to pay off the fines and everything by May, so we're planning on having his baptism then! 

All in all Jacksonville is just easy and awesome. Tomorrow we're supposed to have our Deep Clean day, where we spend a ton of time cleaning our apartment. So, we have intentionally not set up appointments for tomorrow. Unfortunately if people call and ask us to come over, we aren't going to say no. SO without ANY effort whatsoever to set up lessons, we have 5 appointments tomorrow. Our day is booked. And we didn't even try!! It's pretty ridiculous haha 

We really do need to find though. It's been a little difficult because Elder Bentley's bike broke recently so we haven't been able to get out as easily. Luckily his part should be coming around the middle of the week, so we're hoping we can be back to full functionality then :) I know once we get back out on the bikes, we'll be finding like crazy!!!

Another fun thing... WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!!! :D Friday the 15th we were able to go the temple again!! I haven't been since my last time in the MTC which was like September. It was so wonderful... I was so glad for the opportunity to go. It's impressive how spiritually drained you can be by not going to the temple!! But I feel my cup has been filled once more. I feel so bad for missionaries that don't have access the the temple!! That would be so hard... But I'll count my blessings while I have them :)

Umm... Not much else to say. I'm super excited for conference, but that's in like 3 weeks so I have to wait a while. I'm just excited :) I'm happy, I'm working hard. I dunno, not exceptionally exciting, but I like it :)

Spiritual thought-- DO THE BASICS!! Read your scriptures. Pray daily. And remember your baptismal covenants as you partake of the Sacrament. It's crazy how easy it is to let go of the basics... Don't let it happen!! They're the foundation. They're awesome :)

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!!

Love, Elder Kilbourne

Letter #24 3/11/13 Six Months- perspective of what matters!

Hello Family!!!

This week as been pretty uneventful... Well, sort of. Elder Bentley's bike broke when we were like 3 miles from home, so we called the other Elders to come and save us. That was interesting!! We've finalized our plans for our baptism on the 20th!! So that's pretty great. 

Ok, the Baptism on the 20th is for a kid named S. He's 13, and he was already being taught when I transferred in. However, his dad, who is not a member, wanted him to wait about a month before he set a date to be baptized. So, the month mark has passed and we're all set to go!! His dad is a non-member, but his dad's girlfriend IS a mormon, and has two twin daughters who are 8 who are going to be baptized soon as well.  He really wants to be baptized and he's really excited for it :)

Other upcoming baptisms: We have one on the 27th with a girl we found. The first week we were here we found a less active woman from the Island of Palau. She has a 13 year old daughter named V that she wants to be baptized. We've been working with her, and she's solid for the 27th! :) Her dad is a catholic, but as far as we've heard he is ok with her being baptized.

Then on the 30th we have an 11 year old boy named C getting baptized. Elder Bentley was working with his mother, who is less active, when he was here about a year ago. When we got called to the area, we checked in on them and asked her if we could teach C the lessons, and she said that would be fine! Since then she has been returning to activitity!! Up until like 3 weeks ago she hadn't been to church in over 15 years, pretty crazy right? But he's solid. C is super open, which is nice. He loves baseball, which Elder Bentley did at home, and he also loves Call of Duty, so we both have ways to connect with him. It's pretty great :) 

So as far as the baptisms go, i think we're doing pretty dang well :) 

Alright so TOMORROW is very special day for me!! It's my 6 month mark!!! Which honestly doesn't mean a whole lot. It's really more of the point where you realize the mission does in fact have an end. It's weird to think I've been out for a fourth of my mission!! It doesn't feel like it's been that long. Luckily I've had a very good experience since I've been out :) I feel like I've changed. I hope I've changed!!! I think one of the most significant changes I've had is perspective of what matters. I think before my mission I didn't really have a goal of who I wanted to be, or where I wanted to be in life. I think a big reason for that was knowing that I was going to serve a mission and that I would likely change and make decisions while on the mission. Which I have. But since I've been out I've noticed little things that can be fine tuned. I've given more attention to what I want to accomplish as a person. I've also noticed moderation in all things. I feel like I have a purpose, and I know where I'm going. One of the greatest things I've learned on the mission is how to be a better member of the gospel. There is so much that we as members can do to help the work!! I've realized the value and importance of Home and Visiting teaching. Also, the importance of being an example to those around us and reaching out to everyone!! The gospel is super easy to share if we incorporate it :) 

Ummm... Not much else to say. No drug busts this week. No bumper bikes where I got owned by the pavement... We've actually been relatively safe haha Investigators are progressing well. We didn't have as many as we wanted at Sacrament Meeting, but we're going to work on that this week. All in all I think no news is good news this week. Things are awesome as ever here :)

I love you all!! I hope Kaiti had an AWESOME birthday and I hope she loves her new laptop!! (I'm totally jealous!!)  I hope everyone stays safe!! Have a wonderful week everyone!!! :)

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #23 3/4/13 Jegas, Baby!

Ok I don't have much to say this week. We've had awesome numbers!! And stake Conference!! Which was awesome because Southport is in our Stake!! Woo!!! So I was able to see a lot of people!!! It was great :) I also saw none other than A!!!! Ok so background on this... I don't know if everyone knows this already, but A went to Utah like a week ago and spent the weekend at our home!! Well when I saw A she had a giant black boot on her leg... Because she broke her leg snowboarding at home!! I thought that was crazy. ALSO I guess her grandma was SUPER impressed with the church when she came to Utah!  

[We took A and her grandma to Temple Square and saw Music and the Spoken Word.  We had Family Home Evening.  While she was here we answered lots of questions and she read the entire book, "Believing Christ" by Stephen Robinson.  When she returned home A gave her a Book of Mormon and she has an appointment with the missionaries tomorrow!]

Ok so to answer some questions... There is not a church on the marine base here in Jacksonville. There is one off base, not too far from the base, but it isn't on base. The Marine Base is Camp Lejeune and basically EVERYONE in the ward is a marine or was a marine haha it's pretty crazy. We go on base very regularly to have dinner with members and stuff, but most of our proselyting work is done off base because it is illegal to proselyte on base. Which is why working with members is so invaluable. If people invite us on base to teach them, we can go. So members are awesome :) 

Marine home towns... Well it's basically everywhere haha There are people from EVERYWHERE here. So we try to find Utah plates as often as we can :) Haha Investigator backgrounds... Well all the baptisms that we have lined up come from part-member families. So the mom or dad is not a member, but the other spouse is. So.. Having a background with the LDS faith ALWAYS helps. if that helps? Beyond that I haven't really looked for correlation...

Elder Bentley tells everyone-- "Hi!!"

Ok this letter is super short this week... Sorry :( It'll be longer next week, promise!! Oh, transfers are next tuesday. So it's possible one of us is transferred but I don't think it's likely. I really don't have much to say. I'll have a good story for you next week :) And if I don't, I'll make one. Haha 

I love you all!! Have a great week!!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love Elder Kilbourne

Letter #22 2/25/13 Another Awesome Week!!

Hello Family!!

Another FANTASTIC week in Jacksonville!! Well. Not quite as fantastic numbers wise. We had a lot of appointments fall through, but we still hit the standards of excellence :) We have three investigators right now with Baptismal dates, and we're setting another one this week. Of those four people, three are ridiculously solid!! We're expecting 3 Baptisms here in March, and probably several in April. We're so excited to see this work progressing so well!!! Jacksonville is AWESOME!!! And it's pretty nice being here with Elder Bentley!!! We get along SUPER well!! We both work hard. We're both obedient. But we both know how to have fun!! We get along too well. Like, really. It's been amazing. He has a very similar sense of humor, so we're ALWAYS sarcastic, but nobody ever gets offended. We yell at each other in a funny way. Like, you know how at home we yell at each other when someone does something, but we don't do it because we're mad, just because we're funny? Yeah, it's that sort of a relationship. We make fun of each other all the time. We beat each other up. But we're ridiculously tight. Like, it's all just fun. You know what I mean? It's kind of how our home relationship is :) haha! I love it!! The only problem is eventually I'll have a new companions and I'Il be comparing them to Elder Bentley the rest of the mission!! Here's a funny story.... Ok so we ride our bikes a lot because we have the car every other week. So we usually bike probably 10-15 miles everyday, which isn't that bad. It's not amazing, but we enjoy. Anyway, whenever we get bored we play a game... We call it bumper bikes. Yes, it's exactly as stupid and dangerous as it sounds haha while we're biking we'll lean over and kind of swerve into the other person. We don't hit hard, it's usually just a hit and run sort of a thing. VERY entertaining, especially when we swerve and almost fall. hahah WELL as you can imagine you can only play this game so long before someone inevitable falls off their bike. Well that happened. Haha We played the game... And I lost. :) I swerved to hit him, and he biked forward, my tire caught on the back side of his bike, and I lost control and fell. I have a couple big scrapes on my knee, and it chewed up a pair of my pants... But it was so funny!!! My only regrets are the pants got hurt and I didn't get a video of it!! Super depressing. Still funny though :) But that shows you a little bit about our relationship ;) haha

I've been taking a lot more videos and pictures lately!! You'll have to let me know when to send that home. I haven't received the other MicroSD card yet so I'll probably send this one when I get that one back. Oh by the way, I have some things I need to buy... Hopefully you're ok with me using the credit card today!

I know I had some other stories, but I can't remember them AT ALL right now. Kind of lame :p Oh well. OH yesterday I traded a Tie with Elder Black. the tie I got has DOLPHINS on it!! I'm super pumped about it. Like, the other Elders probably think I'm a retard because I'm so excited I have a tie with dolphins on it, but I don't care because I have a tie with dolphins on it :) bahaha

OHHHHH I did remember something!!! Ok so this week we were at a less active member's house and we're teaching her husband. But one of her kids had one of those cheapo Walmart guitars and so I asked if I could tune it for her and play it. So I did, and we ended up singing "Hey Soul Sister" by train. Basically member trust went through the roof, I had a fun time playing the guitar, and Elder Bentley thinks I'm a rockstar. 

On a similar note, I told Elder Bentley I play the Ukelele too and he said I need to get that sent out to me. I don't know how easy it would be for you to do that, but would you send me my Uke? :) Pretty please? :) And maybe a page or two with some hymns or something so i can relearn real quick how to play? haha We decided that we can come up with ways to incorporate song into our lessons.... Not really, that was more of a joke. But it would be an AWESOME stress reliever to have that with me :) Just let me know in your next letter if that's feasible or not! It would be awesome! :) Thanks in advance!!

I'm running out of things. Things are flying by SUPER fast!!! in like 2 weeks i'll hit my 6 month mark!! THAT"S CRAZY!!! I honestly don't feel like I"ve been out that long. I'm loving it so far though :) For real! It's been the best experience of my life!!! I'm so glad I chose to come out. I've honestly had so much fun, and I've really learned and grown a ton from being out here!!! It's seriously amazing :) I love it!!!

Weeeeelp. I'm out of things to say. I hope everyone is having a SPLENDID monday. I know I sure am :) It started off a bit rough with a Crossfit workout that was so hard I threw up, but now I"m good :) and today is ONLY going to get better!!! WHOOO hahaha If you can't tell I'm ridiculously happy right now ;) haha!! 

I love you family!!! Stay happy!!! OH Spiritual thought-- Do something out of your comfort zone this week. Bring a plate of cookies to a neighbor you don't know, or invite them to dinner. That's how missionary work starts!! So get to know your neighbors a little better this week. TAKE THE CHALLENGE!! And be happy :) 

I Love you!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #21 2/18/13 Best Day Ever!!

Hello Family!!

Hope you are ALL having a FANTASTIC time at the Cabin. Not going to lie, i'm pretty jealous :) But i'll get over it. Jacksonville is doing GREAT!!! WE HAD SNOW THIS WEEK!!! Pretty much amazing. Fortunately, nothing shut down. Usually, if there's even a snowflake the entire base shuts down, but the roads were dry so everything went on as usual :) 

We've seen incredible success here in Jacksonville, compared to Southport. I swear every person we talk to has an interest in learning more. The members here are incredible! When we take them to lessons, they're pulling out scriptures and readily participating in lessons. It's phenomenal!! We've set up a ton of lessons, we've set VERY solid baptismal dates with a few of them. The work here in Jacksonville is progressing VERY quickly!!!

Mom-- For your talk. Something I did to help me prepare? I don't know. I can't think of a whole lot. I don't know that I really prepared all that much for my mission.. Well. No. I take that back. I learned how to have a good attitude. That is KEY to really anything, is learning how to have a good attitude. Another thing I did was I left everything behind. The mission call specifically states "you will also be expected to devote all your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs." One thing I said frequently before I left was that I wasn't ready, but I was willing. And I was! I actually chose to go on a mission. I would be devoted. I accomplished everything I needed to before my mission, and came out ready to have an "eye single to the glory of God."  "No man can serve two Masters", and I chose the Lord. I think those were two things that really helped me prepare. As per what I wish I would've done to prepare... Role plays and getting out of my comfort zone. To this day I STILL hesitate to knock on a door or talk to somebody. It's just naturally scary. Role plays help you get used to that. It's practice that actually helps. Here's an example-- You can watch basketball all day long to learn how to play, but it isn't until you start shooting and missing that you actually figure out the mechanics. The mission is very similar. You can hear stories about how missionaries talk and teach, but until you actually practice teaching, you don't get better. I wish I had had more practice teaching the doctrines of the church, and practice bringing up the church in everyday conversation. It isn't easy :) 

Hopefully that helps :)

On to the best day I have had on my mission... 

Ok so the day was Saturday. We started our day with studies as usual. Then we finished some planning we needed to do. Again, nothing special. After lunch, we went out to an area to spend an hour in the area contacting before we had a lesson. We talked to two people, super nice and hopefully develop an interest. They were good contacts :) Then for the lesson we watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" with the family. This man is ready to be baptized, he just has to pay some probation fees and he'll be good to go. Super good experience with the family, they loved the movie :) After the movie we went to another investigators home. I hadn't met him yet, but he had recently had his leg amputated due to Diabetes. Apparently North Carolina is like the diabetes capital of the world. For anyone reading-- DO NOT GET DIABETES. It looks terrible... Anyone, this guy has a pet wolf. Yes, Kaiti, You read that correctly. A full-bred PET WOLF. Crazy right? Her name is Tasha, and she is SUPER sweet. She's beautiful! I'll try to get a picture next time we see him :) But that was a good time spent with our investigator. 

Our next appointment was with a less active part member family. We had dinner at their home. Nothing special, but we spent like the whole time talking with them. They have a three year old boy who is SUPER funny. He already has a sarcastic sense of humor, it's hilarious. He'll like mimic them and everything, super funny. The Dad, who is a member asked about evolution and I was able to respond using my new information from dad. Thanks for that by the way :) Which led us into a conversation with the Mom, who is not a member. She comes to church when He does. She basically said that she knew it was true, but that her family was catholic and she didn't know how they would react. So we sort of coaxed her into taking the lessons again, and seeing where it goes. Basically, she's prime. She knows it's true. We're just going to teach, and I can tell she's ready. It was just a great experience and Elder Bentley and I are super stoked about it :) :)

Then, in the middle of Dinner, we noticed it was SNOWING!!! SO EXCITING!! So we went out for a second, then came back in. After dinner, we drove to the Church and had a snowball fight with the other elders here in Jacksonville. We were freezing cold, but none of us had seen snow in like a year and we knew we probably wouldn't see it again until we got home, so we just kept playing. We made snow angels, tackled each other and wiped our faces in the snow. Basically just had a super fun time playing in the snow. Made us all so happy :D :D :D Then we went home and planned. BUT IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER. Like seriously. It made me SOOO happy to be a missionary. Gah. Just so happy :) I still have that feeling!! I"M SO HAPPY TO BE HERE!!! like, for real. Best experience ever. EVERYBODY should go on a mission. They'll love it. :)

Ok I want to answer your questions:

1) Elder Bentley... I love this kid. Seriously. He's awesome haha he's super funny and we get along super well. He doesn't like tension, he's very friendly, he's 21. During his teenage years he was pretty inactive. He didn't go to church like at all. But then like 3 months before he got his mission call he got really active again. Neat story :) 

It's been like two weeks since we've been together and we haven't fought once. It's awesome!! It makes me so happy haha WE have like small fights, but they're playful. Like, I throw a snowball at him and he whitewashes me. No bitterness, no malice. Just fun :) and we both know it, so we get along very very well. He's very willing to work hard. The companionship is honestly completely even. The idea of a senior companion isn't even thought of. We both just work equally and do equal the work, and have equal say in what we do. It's great. I swear it's like the dream companionship, and it scares me because I doubt I'll have another companionship this great. But I'll definitely enjoy it while it lasts :) If there's anything else you want to know, just tell me. I'll try to answer those questions :)

2) Bike and Car. Yes, we still have a car. However, we trade it off every other week with the other Elders here. So, last week we had the car. This week we're biking everywhere. Which might not be very fun, because it is FREEZING down here right now. haha but we try to bike more. I know I've been biking more since I've been here than I did in Southport. But, we also drive a lot too. So... I don't really know. We've killed our miles this month. We have like 120 left. For the rest of the month. Yeah... NO bueno. 

3) It depends on the week when your letters come.. I got your February 4th letter on February 14th. I think that may have been delayed due to the Blockade from transfers, but I would say it usually takes between 7-10 days for letters to get here. P.S. your letter couldn't have been more perfectly timed with the Evolution stuff. Basically the DAY AFTER I received the letter, someone we were talking to asked about evolution and the church, and I was able to pull all these references and stuff about how the church doesn't have a specific stance, how some lean both ways, there are examples and evidence for both ways, and the church stands by basic doctrine and leaves science to science. I felt like an expert ;) haha so thanks for that!!

Scripture for the day-- "for this purpose have I come"   Happy hunting!! :)

I love you all family!! have a great time!!! I love you!!! :)

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #20 2/11/13 J-Vegas!!

Hello Family!!

 

Alright.  Well, first of all I had my first transfer!!! I'm now in Jacksonville 3rd ward, with Elder Bentley! Jacksonville is a military base with a focus on marines. EVERYONE here is a marine. Like, really. It's pretty crazy. VERY different from Southport, but I still love it :) The missionaries here refer to it as J-Vegas. Not entirely sure why yet. It might be because there are tattoo parlors and that sort of stuff everywhere, but we tend to overlook that :) Our area is actually still large, even though it's a ward. We cover half of Jacksonville, Hubert, and Swansboro. The members are amazing!! I love them already. Super great miracle-- Last night a lady made homemade Cafe Rio!! She didn't even know it was my favorite!! I WAS SO HAPPY!!! :D So far we have had a meal EVERY night with members. Again, very different from Southport. We have a ton of members, so we aren't having to budget how much we use them for exchanges. We have like 7 ward missionaries, and we've already had like 2 ward mission meetings so everything is very, very organized. Military might go hand in hand with missionary work :)

Here's a miracle this week. So, Tuesday night (the night I was transferred here) we had a meeting at the church. Well, maybe it was Wednesday. I can't remember but it doesn't really matter. ANYWAY we were biking home in the dark. My policy about biking is if we see ANYONE and we don't have a commitment to keep, we talk to them. So we saw this couple, and stopped and talked to them. These were seriously like the first people I'd contacted while here in Jacksonville. We started talking with them, asking them questions and what not, and they mention that their brother was a member and he was living with them. Awesome right? They said we could stop by the next morning and talk to him. So we did, stopped by at 10:30. Knocked, nobody answered. Rang the doorbell, nobody answered. THEN I remembered something else I was working on. I have a goal to say a prayer with my companion everytime we knock on a door. It's just really nice to have that added focus. I just like it. Well, we said a really quick prayer, knocked ONE more time, and right as we knocked someone opened the door. It was the member we were referred to. We started talking to him. He's an islander from Palaw (sounds like Plow) or something. Not quite sure. Anyway, while we were talking to him his sister pulls up in the car. We find out SHE is a member as well. They moved in about a month ago. We start talking with the sister too, and she said that she has a 13 year old daughter who isn't baptized, and she would like her to be baptized. We said we would love to, set up a time to meet with her, and invited them all to church. And both the sister and daughter came to church on Sunday, and we set a baptismal date for March 27!! Woo!!! SUPER MIRACLE!!! And it happened in less than a week!! CRAZY!!! Haha!!

 

On another note, here is some stuff about Elder Bentley. First of all, we get along perfectly fine. We have very similar senses of humor (sarcastic).  We're both willing to work hard.  We both want to be obedient.  We listen to each other. It's just like the PERFECT companionship I swear. haha Anyway, Elder Bentley is from Mount Pleasant, Utah. He loves baseball. His favorite team is the San Franciso Giants. He played baseball for a year at Snow College before coming on his mission. He has a girlfriend at home, and they basically are engaged. I think they have a date for next February or something. The letters are pretty dang disgusting. Haha but they make me laugh. Elder Bentley has been on his mission about 16 months, so he's farther in his mission than either of my previous companions. BUT here's the crazy thing. Elder Bentley has served in Jacksonville 3rd ward before. This was the first area in his mission, and he came back. OH another thing I need to tell you, we white washed this area. That means that both the elders that were previously in the Jacksonville 3rd ward transferred this past transfer. We're both new to the area. In a sense--since Elder Bentley served here a year ago. Anyway, that's crazy. Like, that NEVER happens. Nobody goes back to a previous area!! But I'm sure glad he did. So we've been SUPER busy trying to figure some things out. The previous elders left really good notes to help us out and get us situated, but I can tell that this is just going to be an amazing area. :)

 

So with that said, this past week Elder Bentley and I have gone and seen several of the contacts that he used to know, and was working with. We stopped by like 4 Less-Actives homes, and ALL of them came to church yesterday!!! This place is SERIOUSLY taking off!! It's incredible!!! Oh man I'm SOOOO happy to be here!!! :D Crazy stuff.

 

I'm not sure what more to say, so I'll just throw some random stuff out. There are two sets of elders in Jacksonville. One covers the 2nd ward, and we cover the 3rd ward. There is also a set of sisters that cover both wards. We don't live in the same apartment as the other elders, but we live very close to them and are in constant communication with both the elders and the sisters. District unity is THROUGH THE ROOF. haha  We're all super fun. :) Elder Bentley says that Jacksonville is the 2nd highest baptizing area in the mission or something. I don't know how much I believe that. And not that it really matters. There's work to be done everywhere. It doesn't have to be a baptism :p haha The people are very different from Southport. Southport had a LOT of older, retired baptists and catholics. So everyone was really nice to you, but nobody was interested in hearing more. Here, people are little bit rougher. But they're honest, and you can tell that a lot of them are looking for something and are willing to change. It's great!! Absolutely wonderful!! :) The marine base here is called Camp Lejeune. I think. There might be like 3 camps or something, but we specifically cover Camp Lejeune. The only way to get on base is to either ride with a marine living on base, or go and sign up for a day permit. It's basically like getting a new drivers license at the DMV, except only for one day. We try to get rides with the members as much as possible so that it is easier. When you pull up to the gate, there are like 4 Marines with assault rifles waiting to check your clearance. Pretty crazy stuff!! haha There's also some sort of artillery thing that the miliary shoots pretty frequently. We live several miles away from the base, but when they shoot it we can hear it and even feel a small shake (VERY SMALL, but you can still feel it). It's pretty neat. Hopefully nobody goes to war soon because if they do I can guarantee I would not be in the safest location! haha

 

Well that's really all I can think of about the area right now... If you have anymore questions I would love to answer them :) Just send them to me, and I'll try to answer them!!

 

Spiritual thought!! I was reading this morning and I found a passage. "Perfect love casteth out all fear".  For those who play my game, it shouldn't be too hard to find. But I love the reference!! If we have a perfect love of the Gospel, we don't fear to share it. If we have a perfect love for the Savior, we don't sin. If we have perfect love and charity toward our fellow men, we don't fear to share the gospel with them and help and serve them. The passage rings true!! So, my challenge this week is to try a little harder to have a little bit more perfect love towards somebody. I can promise it will bless your life!! :)

 

I love you all!! I hope you are all doing well!! Have a wonderful week. Know I'll be praying for you!!! :)

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

 

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

 

Letter #19 2/4/13 Transfer!!

Hello, friends and family!

I'm being transferred! In any case, I don't know where I'm being transferred, I just know that as of tomorrow I will no longer be in Southport. Next week I'll tell you where I am, and who my companion is :)

I'm sad to leave. I've really loved Southport.. Everyone is so amazing!! But I'm interested to meet more people in North Carolina. I know it's time to move on.  Speaking of Southport though, I have a question for you... A[Kam's first baptism] told me she is going to be in Utah later in February. She wanted to know if she could spend a night or two at our house? I told her that it likely wouldn't be a problem, but I wanted to check with you first. Would she be able to stay at our house?

Your Scripture this week-- "I never knew you"  I know there are two references to this phrase.  See if you can find them both :)

I hope you have a fantastic week!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

 

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

 

Letter #18 1/28/13 January Slump

Hello Family!!

 

Alright, so nothing exciting this week. We had like NO lessons. I swear. We set up like 15 appointments (well more like 11) and only 3 actually made it. haha so it's been rough. People have been sick, haven't called us back, have been out of town... The list goes on. But it happens. We'll just hope for a better turnout next week, and be as effective as we can if it doesn't!! Good attitudes tend to make the situation better.

 

I guess there are two or three things I liked this week.

 

First- I had an exchange with Elder Blackwell this week up in Whiteville. We both gave each other blessings, which was surprisingly  beneficial. I'm not usually one to ask for a blessing, but he asked for one so I thought I would have him give me one too. To be honest, I've never had much faith in blessings of counsel. I figured anything I needed to hear I could receive through prayer. I found out this week though that a blessing can answer those prayers in a VERY direct way. SO. If you ever need comfort or counsel, don't hesistate to ask for a blessing! The priesthood is for ALL to grow closer to christ :)

 

Second- We had a fireside yesterday with our Mission President! He was just visiting Shallote, but he gave a Youth Fireside on how the Youth can all prepare to be missionaries. It was a great fireside!

 

Third- We were called short notice by a member of our branch to go and give a blessing to one of his friends. I don't know much about him, but he looked like he was in a lot of pain when we arrived. We helped give the blessing, and immediately after you could see a difference. He was still hurting. I think he had cancer and was suffering from the radiation. He told us that the doctors gave him 3 months to live. But this was a special experience to me.  After the blessing we were just talking with the people there, and the man we gave a blessing to starting to throw up. Immediately, the member of our branch got up and wet a towell to help clean him off. It was such a touching example of love to me... Something I wish I could emulate. As I thought about that experience though, I thought about the people in my life that have done, or would do, that exact same thing for me. It made me want to improve myself more, to love others more.

 

Welll... That's about I all I have to put forth today :) My scripture chase-- Take a pick between 3--

1) "Art thou greater than he?"

2) "Oh that I were an angel"

3) "I am a son of God, in similitude of His Only Begotten" (I need to check the phrasing on this one, but it's easy so you'll likely be able to find it)

 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!! Sounds like ya'll should avoid the ice... Nasty stuff!! i'll try to enjoy the 50-60 degree weather here for you :) haha!! I love you all!!

 

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

 

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #17 1/22/13 Drug Bust!!

Hello Family!!

Southport is doing fantastic!! our investigators are slowly but steadily progressing. I have a great story for this week though :) Hopefully Mom doesn't get to freaked out. Anyway... Ok so last tuesday, the 15th, we were biking down a road in our area contacting some former investigators, some potential investigators, and some less active members. We make an effort to talk to EVERYONE we see. So, true to our standard, we saw a man back in his shed and we got off our bikes and went to go talk to him. He was pretty nice, but the conversation quickly went into beliefs about Christ and Baptism. He told us he very much believed in Jesus Christ. His personal beliefs were that Christ suffered for ALL of our sins, past present, and future. (which is 100% correct) but stated that the way we partake in the Atonement is just by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior. Which, again, is a partial truth. His definition of acceptance though was just a statement. "I accept Jesus as my savior" sort of an idea. he told us about his mafiosa uncle who killed several people in his life, but when he was on his deathbed "accepted Jesus as his savior by the smoke in his hair." So, it didn't matter who we were or what we did, as long as we accepted him, we made it to heaven. So, me being me, I asked him "if you killed us right now, would that be covered by Christ's Atonement?"    So.... He goes to his car, pulls out a pistol and starts waving it around saying "I could kill you right now, and if I truly repented I would still make it into heaven." In any case, I was super uncomfortable that he was waving a gun around. Elder Thornton wasn't fazed. He said afterward the gravity of the situation didn't hit him. Haha crazy. But we kept talking, he was stuck in his ways and he wasn't going to change. We gave him a Mormon.Org card and went to our next appointment.

But that's not all. :D

That sunday, so like 5 days later, our Branch Mission Leader comes up to us and asks if we were tracting down the road we met that guy on. We said yeah. He asked if we talked to a man working in his shed. Again, we said yes. Here's more background to the story... So the man we were talking to was being tracked by our Branch mission leader and his team. Our branch mission leader works for the Drug Enforcement Agency. When we biked up and started talking to him, one of his agents said "Heads up, we got two guys in suits in the yard." our branch mission leader then got one of his agents to take him around to see who the "suits" were. Which, of course, was just us missionaries :) haha. Anyway, he told us that the guy we talked to had a tracker on his car, that one person in that house we stopped at was arrested for drug trafficking THAT NIGHT that we were talking to him, and that three living there more were stopped on the border of Georgia and were busted for drug trafficking. Elder Thornton and I were in the middle of a drug bust!!! hahaha!!! But yeah. Pretty funny story right? :)

Well that's my exciting story for the week. I'll try to have another one ready for next week ;) 

Ok, here's another great story.

 We had a Mission Tour or whatever this week, so we got to hear from a General Authority on thursday!!! We heard from Elder Piper! I'm not as lucky as Josh, to hear from Elder Holland twice in two months ;) haha! That's crazy!! But It was still an amazing experience!! These men are so great!! So much wisdom. They're not afraid to tell it how it is either!! 

One thing that stuck with me was this. He said that the BASIC doctrine of everything could be considered Moses 1:39- "For behold this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." if you think about ANYTHING that the church stands for or believes, it goes back to that doctrine. GOD LOVES US. That's why he does everything. That's why the Savior performed the Atonement. That's why we repent, are baptized, and receive the holy ghost. That's why we have families. That's why we have the chance to live with him again. It's fantastic!! 

Another thing that stuck with me was this-- Anytime either I or someone I'm working with isn't obedient, I need to ask this question-- "What doctrine don't I understand?" Notice, it isn't what doctrine don't i KNOW, but what doctrine don't I UNDERSTAND? When we truly understand Doctrine, we incorporate it. It goes back to Elder Packer's quote "True Doctrine understood changes behavior. A study of doctrine will change behavior faster than a study of behavior will change behavior." SO my challenge this week is to look at something you have wanted to change about yourself, or look at something you aren't being obedient about. THEN, look at the doctrine behind it. I can promise that if you do so, you will have a stronger desire to change, and the Lord will be more willing to lend you his strength and assist you in your efforts to change. I promise it!!!

Well. It's been a pretty eventful week :) I hope you are all doing well! I love you!!! Keep up the good work!!! Improve yourselves!!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne