Rhode Island week 66

Rhode Island Bridge

Rhode Island District Bowling

Service

Rhode Island Beach

Rhode Island Exchanges with Elder Stokes

Kelly- Rhode Island

Rhode Island District Bowling & Cards

Week 66 Jan 20th 2020
     Monday was actually a pretty fun P-day, it was spent with the District. After I woke up I was able to call home and talk to the family (Mom, Dad, little Sister) that's always fun to do. My little sister was able to go to the Temple for baptisms for the dead, for the first time and she loved it! She wants to go more often and I am so happy for her! After that we went to the store and then made our way up to Narragansett, we got in their car then we went to Kingston bowl. It was pretty fun we were with the sisters as well. (Sister Stratford, Sister Duesett, Elder Burrows, Elder Stokes and of course Elder Johnson and I). In the first game I got my personal record of 76, I am not that good but I wrestled for that same reason. In the second game I almost got a Turkey. In the last frame I got two Strikes, it was so dang cool! We then went our to lunch and Panera bread. After Panera bread we went to the Narragansett Chapel to play spike ball.  It’s basically a mix between 4 square and volley ball. It's pretty fun. We then went to the apartment club house and played a game of pool then a the card game Scum. To end the night we came back to our area and had a lesson with Noel and Luara. It went really well and we were able to share the restoration lesson! Slowly but surely we are building their Faith!
     Tuesday, per usual every Tuesday after we got ready we made our way up to the Salvation Army for service. It's always fun to go because of the workers/volunteers. There ended up being a lot of meat we needed to get into the freezers. This tine we had to use the 2 extra (backup) freezers. It was a lot of fun trying to pack it all in. Last week Gina (a worker) said that they have a lot of extra light bulbs. I ended up asking if we could have a few for our apartment. She gave us a whole box! Luckily we only took 2 rows of them, but still it ended up being around 100 light bulbs. When we got back home we changed and made a couple calls then went to the library to meet up with Brother Card. With him we went over "Look not Behind thee" and helped with a personal mission plan. He has a lot of great ideas and is truly missionary minded. After visiting with Brother Card we made a couple calls to set up appointments. We then went over to the Jones home for dinner. They told us if we ever need dinner just give them a call and they will help us out. They ordered us some Pizza from Dominos, after dinner we went to the Chapel for Book of Mormon class. If it gets any bigger we will need a bigger room! We want that to happen, that would be so awesome. After our Book of Mormon class, some of the youth were playing some basketball in the gym so we joined in and had a lot of fun.
     Wednesday was pretty plain and simple but we kept busy. We had studies and lunch then we made our way to the library to update area notes. We then went to visit Roseanna and we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She gave us lunch and it was Marshallese food, it was pretty good. We went back to the library to finish up area notes then went to visit with James.  We had Brother Evan's join us for the lesson on the Word of Wisdom, he was pretty much okay with it and just had a few questions so he can better understand it. We then went out to dinner with the Stuart family. We had Home made chicken noodle soup and home made rolls, it was really nice to have a real home made meal from scratch. After we drove up to the Warwick Chapel and Elder Johnson had an interview for Baptism that he had to do. It was pretty quick and we then made our way to the Elders apt. We waited for them to get back and then we started our exchange. I came back to Newport with Elder Stokes and Elder Johnson stayed in Narragansett with Elder Burrows. When we got back it turns out Elder Stokes still had the Narragansett keys... we tried to save miles but I guess we will have to go back in the morning.
     Well Thursday morning after we got ready we drove up to Narragansett and gave them their keys then drove back down to our apt. When we got back we had breakfast and studies. After we had studies we went to McDonalds and had lunch then made our way up to Tiverton. We had our first appointment get pushed back an hour so we did a couple of stop byes and we checked out an antique shop. I got a couple cool coins, one being a 1943 steel penny and the other a unique 50cent piece. We then had our lesson with a less active member. We watched the first vision and talked about praying to know for himself the truth. We once again did some stop byes up until dinner. We ate with the Harkers and we were able to share the “Look not behind thee” video and help them make a family mission plan. When we asked if there was anything we could do we were asked to bare our testimonies on the Book Of Mormon. It was not what I was expecting but it was a really cool experience to do so. Earlier today as well we were able to hit a beach and it truly was peaceful. After dinner we made our way back to Middletown and had a lesson with Emilce a less active member, we watched 1 Nephi 3-5. She really did enjoy that and we plan on meeting her next week as well! To end the night we stopped by someone who Elder Stokes taught when he served here in Newport. (I replaced him) it was different but he was happy to talk to them.
     Friday morning after Elder Stokes and I got ready for the day we made our way up to Narragansett. He then got changed and we all made our way up to the Warwick Chapel for District Council. I had todays training and it was on setting realistic goals. I used a metaphor of baking a cake and using that to go through a process to set goals, that we can better achieve, It was pretty fun. After I did have to clean up and that took a little longer then expected but that's okay. For lunch we went to Wendy's as usual then back to the Elders apt. We then came straight home had enough time to change then head over to see James. Brother Evan's joined us once again. Today we talked about Temples and with that we watched the Rome Italy Temple walkthrough. When we asked him what his thoughts were he responded with "when I am baptized I want to go so I can come closer to God", and that was pretty dang cool to hear! After that awesome lesson we came home for dinner then made our way to the Navy Base for FHE. Turns out Elder Johnsons pass has expired so he got "vetted" aka background checked. When we got in and up to the room where all the sailors were we played a few games then we eventually came home.
     Saturday we kept pretty busy. In the morning we had our studies. We then took our laundry over to Brother Stabley’s then came home for lunch and then weekly planning. After that we drove up to Tiverton and tried to go to the library to hang up a flyer for the Book of Mormon Class we have. They closed early so unfortunately we didn’t get to do that. We then made our way to the Mcormicks for dinner and our message. We watched the video in their downstairs theater and it was pretty dang cool! They set some awesome goals for their family mission plan! When we went outside after our lesson it was Snowing so that was pretty cool! We did stop-byes on the way back to Newport for our final lesson with Lloyd. When we crossed back over the bridge there was much less snow. For our lesson with Lloyd we talked about Nephi 8 about the Tree of Life. When we got back to our apt I had to make a snow angel, that was fun too!
     Sunday morning as we got ready and made our way to Church, and as we got outside all the snow was gone and it was pretty warm. Before Church started we met with Brother Jones and we had a small coordination then eventually Sacrament started. We had two really good talks, first one by Sister Sykes on the Book of Mormon and the second one by Sister Mello on helping others see there potential. Sunday School we talked about Nephi 8 the Lehi’s dream with the Tree of Life. It was pretty cool, we heard lots of feedback from a lot of the members. When we finally got home we ate lunch, relaxed a little bit. I wasn’t feeling to hot so we stayed at home and then had studies and ate dinner at home. Afterwards we made a few stop byes then went to Brother and Sister Jones home. While there he made us a snack and we helped make a list of members we (missionaries) have talked to in the past that have a new number or address and we will have the Ward Clerk update it soon! When we got back to the apt the Narragansett Elders were there... Elder Stokes forgot his toothbrush, tooth paste and his retainers while he was here on exchanges. All in all a busy but good week.

                      Alma 39:14

     "14 Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you."

     As we go through life, the only things we take with us with is our knowledge. This is one reasons why I have chosen to put money I have earned to go on cruises and trips with my family. I will always honor and cherish them, and I will be able to take those with me after this life. In a world so focused on here and now, the newest phone, the nicest car. In all reality that doesn’t matter. Let us all try to make things that are pure and wonderful in this world and make those memories to hold and Cherish. I love you all so much and thank you for the memories we have made together. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.