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

Letter #16 1/14/13 The Godhead

Hello Family!!!

 

This week has been PHENOMENAL!!! We have seen impressive growth. We have about 10 investigators in our pool, as I mentioned last week. But of those investigators, FIVE came to church this week!! It's really a miracle!!! We've been working harder with our members to get them there, and the fellowshipping is really helping. We still have a long way to go before any are close to baptism. I probably won't even be when they are, but they're all progressing very well :) It's been a great week!!

 

Ok well the focus of my letter today is going to be the godhead. I don't think I mentioned this but while we were out contacting the other day, a man came out of his house and gave us this pamphlet titled "60 questions on the Godhead". He was Pentecostal, so he believed in the trinity and everything. But we talked with him, he seemed nice enough, and set  a return appointment with him. Anyway, this pamphlet was ridiculous. Like, really. WE (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) believes that God is separate from Christ is separate from the Holy Ghost. One of the strongest evidences of this is Joseph Smith History 1:17, where he sees TWO personages. That alone seals the deal. BUT I think another powerful evidence is Matthew 3:16-17. Christ is Baptized, the Holy Ghost descends like a Dove, and a Voice, God, Speaks out of the heavens. Granted, Abinidi's analysis is absolutely INFURIATING (Mosiah 15:1-4) and if anyone can really explain that to me that would be just dandy, but we still claim that they are all separate personages. ANYWAY this pamphlet states that at christ's baptism, Christ was in all three places at the same time. He was christ, he was the Dove, and he was the voice. That makes NO sense. Haha so that happened like a week ago. I've been doing research on it, but then on Friday, i was asked to speak in church. My topic was none other than.... The Godhead!! Bahaha I thought it was funny. Anyway, I didn't have a very good talk. Not at all. I didn't have much time to prepare, and It wasn't well organized. BUT I did have a pretty dang good analogy.

 

So, back to the crazy godhead guy, he compared the Godhead to an egg. I has a shell, it has the stuff inside, but it's one egg. Little did he know, he was DEAD ON!!! Bahaha darn trinity doctine... Anyway, I really incorporated that into my talk :) I compared the godhead to a Hard-Boiled egg. The Yolk is God the Father. The White is Jesus Christ. and the Smell (everyone knows the smell) is the Holy Ghost. God the Father and Jesus Christ have tangible bodies of flesh and bone, but the Holy Ghost does not. Just as the Yolk and the White are tangible, the smell is not. One of the most significant roles of the Holy Ghost is to bear witness of both Christ and God.  Same with the smell of an egg. When you smell that sulphuric smell, you automatically look for the source, right? The smell is a testiment of the egg's existence. Because you smell it, you know it is there :) The closer you are in Harmony with God and Jesus Christ, the easier it is to recognize the Holy Ghost. Same with the egg. The closer you are to the egg, the easier it is to smell it. Here's another one-- The more hungry you are for the gospel, the more powerful will be your recognition of the gospel as well. The more hungry you are for food (imagine fast sunday) the easier it is, and the more powerful of, the smell of the egg. Oh dang, i'm out of time... Ok well my last comparison is that the only way to the yolk is through the white. There is no other way. NONE. Same with Christ and God. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ, which is the reason we pray "in the name of Jesus Christ".  Hopefully you like my analogies ;) haha!!

 

Well i'm out of time. I love you all!! I hope you're all having a fantastic week!!

 

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

 

Love, Elder Kilbourne

Letter #15 1/7/13 My Daily Schedule!

Hello Family!!

 

Ok so I thought I would share my daily schedule with you and a summary of our investigators.

 

My Daily Schedule--

 

A typical day in Southport--

Wake up at 6:15. Pray and put on our clothes

6:30- Work out at our gym. We've been benching, lifting weights. Push ups. Sit ups. Planks. Squats I'm sore basically every day :p

7- Return back to the apartment. Shower. Breakfast.

8- Personal Study

9-Companionship Study

10- Start proselyting. We try to have appointments but if we don't, we stop by Potentials, less Actives, and Formers in several places-- Oak Island, Southport, Bolivia, or Boiling Spring Lakes

12- Come back for Lunch

1- Go back out. Again, we try to fill our time with appointments. So if we have those, we'll usually go to that area and then after the appointment we'll check out potentials, less actives, and formers in the area.

5- come back for dinner

6- go back out once again. Around this time is really hard. It's dark, so you can't really go out and proselyte. So typically when we schedule an appointment it will be for now.

8- Come back to the apartment, update our area book, make phone calls

9- Plan for tomorrow

9:30- Write in my journal then go to bed.

10:30 Elder Thornton wakes me up and we have companionship prayer, personal prayer, then go to sleep. :)

 

Our Investigators--

 

K- She's the one we found back in November. She has a testimony, she wants to be baptized. The thing with her Grandparents has been resolved, the only issue now is she is living with a male roommate. It's just for money, they aren't a couple, so it isn't a violation of the Law of Chastity, but for "appearance of evil" sakes for the baptismal interview she will have to move out or find a new roommate. She isn't willing to do that because her lease is up in February, and she graduates in May. So she's only going to be living here for another 5 months so it would be difficult to find a roommate for only 5 months... So were working, but she has a great testimony :)

M- She's an older lady. She lives with her brother, who is a member. Most of her family is members. She has great faith in Jesus Christ, and has a desire to be baptized. She has one of those family edition Book of Mormons, like the one we used to read from. She has a baptismal date for the end of January, but it will probably be pushed back because she hasn't been to church yet. But She's basically set :)

L- L has been taught twice over the past two months. We see her every day, but she's too busy to have lessons. When we do finally find opportunities to teach her, though, she loves the lessons.

C- She's 14 and has been taking the lessons on and off over the past 4 years. She loves young womens, but she has a hard time getting to church.

T-- Ok so we're now teaching D's son, A, as well as D. We're hoping that if they progress together, he will progress. We had a great lesson with them yesterday. We've been doing a lot of work with A, and he's progressing really well.

Nicki-- This is Sister Cs son. We only recently picked him up as an investigator. He wants to be a deacon, his mom makes him come to church. He's 11. He's been sick over the past week or so, so we haven't been able to teach him recently. But His mom is a member, and he seems to have a desire, so we're excited for him :)

The Ls-- This was the family that just moved in. S, the grandmother, got baptized December 16th in the other ward, and they moved in about 3 days ago. We helped them move in, taught a lesson on the 5th. The mother, J, wants to be baptized. She just needs to quit smoking.  Hopefully we can help this whole family :)

Last family-- The Bs. We stopped by this family last night. They're former investigators. They were really nice! She's going to a church right now, but isn't completely sold on it. He has concerns with churches the preach, but don't live what they preach. Hopefully we can help him there :) He also has a concern with Organized churches. He worries about a prophet who directs the ENTIRE church. I think we helped resolve that concern a little bit though. They seem really nice! But we've really only just met them.

 

Sorry, I sort of spent all my time on those. Haha. But I'll tell you about my week in my letter :) Deal?

 

I love you family!! Have a wonderful week!! Pray and read!! It's amazing!! :)

 

Hurrah For Israel!!!!

 

Love, Elder Kameron Kilbourne

Letter #14 12/31/12 Happy New Year!

Hello Family!

 

Ok so I didn't write home last week because the library was closed for Christmas Eve. So I'll do my best to respond, but it might take some time!!

 

Ok, to answer Christmas questions-- We spent Christmas Eve at the Spencer's home. They're a great family, with sons ages 15, 19, and 23. The 19 year old is serving a mission in Florida right now, but the other two are great guys! We had a lot of fun :)  Half the time I would look at the clock though and think "my family is probably eating dinner right now" or "my family is probably up in the big room opening presents" But it was a wonderful christmas eve for sure!!

 

Christmas day we followed the schedule like usual, we just weren't allowed to go out and tract. We woke up, worked out, did personal and companionship studies, then we called home :) I cried for like 20 minutes after my phone call. Elder Thornton was perfectly fine. He just said bye, hung up, and was ready to work. He's crazy!! HE'S CRAZY!!

Elder Thornton... He's 6'2". He's from Grand Junction, Colorado. He graduated with a 4.0, and a 35 on the ACT. He went to a year at BYU. He wants to do Mechanical Engineering. He's not a jock, but he's a whole lot stronger than me. Basically he's a complete stud. Like, all around. He doesn't play video games, rarely watches TV, mostly reads. He didn't date a lot before his mission. He's a ridiculously hard worker. RIDICULOUSLY hard. I basically go sleep right after we get done with planning every night because I'm so tired. haha But it's good for me, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot from him :)

 

The scripture for this week is "why are ye so fearful?" The context of this scripture is really powerful, when you find it. I think it's a good question. If we have the Truth, and we know the Plan of Salvation, why are we so fearful? Find the scripture, look at the story, and you'll see that fear really has no purpose in our lives :) Fear is the opposite of Faith. SO. Something I would challenge ya'll to do this week is look at something you're scared of, i.e. sharing the gospel with a neighbor, and ask yourself Why? Then find a way to resolve the fear, and do something productive about it :) We all have fears. But if we aren't progressing past them, we aren't progressing. This gospel is a gospel of improvement. I know we can improve more when we have no fears holding us back :)

 

If you have any questions specifically about the rest of my week, or any other questions in general, shoot me an email with the questions! I'd love to answer them :)

 

I love you all!! I'm sure you had an amazing time at the Cabin!! I'm sure Matt was able to win some games now that i'm finally out of the picture :) haha! I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas season :) Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone has a happy New Year!! SET GOALS!! Change :)

 

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

 

Love, Elder Kilbourne