18 Jan 2011

Hello everybody.  How are you all this week?

 

   So, this week has been... good?  I guess.  It hasn't been bad by any means.  Just, good.  We're still struggling with investigators, but we've seen a little bit of success in the member referrals department.  My district is doing great, not thanks to me, but because they're all just such great missionaries.  Our car is filthy, not thanks to me.  The elder who had it before me was in that car for 11 months, and he wasn't the cleanest of elders.  THere are stains all over the seat and floors, so it's pretty gross. 

   Good news, we have 5 people again in the apartment.  It's much more of a party when it's 5.  And the greenie that the zone leaders are step training is actually on his way to Brazil.  He's waiting for his visa, so he's just stopped off in Virginia in the meantime.  So I've learned a little bit of portugese from him.  Just a little bit though.  In other good news, Elder Wiles and I found 2 lunchboxes and 4 ice packs in teh apartment, so we're going to start bringing dinner along with us, because I've gotta start losing weight or I'm hosed!  Lets just say it's not so good...

  Mallory-  It's funny you share that story of Michael with me.  We've been studying light a lot lately and how other people can notice it, and I was just telling my mission president about how i Didn't quite understand light, and then I read that email from you.  That's why the other people came to him.  Because he has light and they noticed it.  By living the gospel and being obedient, we gain more light, and other people notice it.  that's what they notice in him.  I just thought that was pretty cool.

   So we played basketball for 3 hours yesterday, and 4 of the missionaries there had played ball in college.  So it was way intense.  Don't worry, I didnt' get hurt.  But I definitely haven't played that hard in my entire mission.  It was wayyyyyyy fun though.  We have district meeting tomorrow, so that should be exciting.  I love district meetings.  The spirit is always so strong there.

   Ok, so I found a scripture that I think applies to all of us.

  2 Corinthians 9:6

    Read it.  Study it. Pray about it.  Apply it.

  Sound good?  Good.

    Well, I love you all, hope you have a great week 

       Elder Campbell

10 Jan 2011

Note from mom: Some weeks I want to spank him for his lack of anything to say to us! But last weeks letter makes up for todays! Totally changed my spiritual perspective last week, and I hope, forever!


Hey hello howdy.
  So yeah,  I got my suit cleaned.  I still need to get the other shipped off to Missionary Mall.  But P-Day is so short sometimes! haha
     So we got transfer calls last night.  Elder Agustin was originally told that he was going to Virginia Beach with my son, Elder Andrade-Estrada.  As soon as he got off the phone, I go "Dude, both of you are illegal.  Who's going to drive?"  To which he replied "I don't know."  So then like, 45 minutes later, the AP calls again and says "Elder Campbell, I'm going to take a mulligan with that call I made to elder Agustin."  And I told him "I know, I know."  So then he got told that he's going to Nags Head, North Carolina to work in a zebra companionship!  He's going to learn so much english!  I'm so stoked for him!  My last 2 companions have gone to Nags Head!  Weird, right?  I'm staying here, I'm getting Elder Wiles, who was already here as well.  He's so cool though, one of my favorite missionaries, and he's my missionary brother, both trained by Elder Gleave.  Weird, right?  So yeah, that's the exciting news.  Not much else from over here.  It's freezing cold, but we just got a new ward mission leader, so that's sweet!  He's way pumped to get to work!  And Sis. Vazquez in my district is training and also Elder Taylor!  So we're going to have 2 greenies in the district!  It's great!  Well, I think that's about all I got for this week.  Don't know what else to really say.  
  Oh, the lady that you added on facebook came up to me at church and sneak attacked me.  She grabbed my backpack and goes "Elder Campbell, your mom facebooked me last week."  I just kind of stared blankly at her, because I totally forgot that you told me about doing that, and she goes "I'm from Reno, born and raised.  I graduated from Wooster."  I was like, "Oh yeah, my mom told me about that!"  and she says "If you ever need anything, I got your back."  What was her name?  I totally forgot!
   Thank you so much for hooking me up with the recipe for arroz con leche and what not.  I'm going to make some this week.
 
   Umm, well, I love you all a ton and think you're the greatest.  Have a great week, and I'll talk to you soon
       Elder Campbell

3 Jan 2011

Hey hey hey, how's everyone doing?


So, this last week has been super hard, but it's all looking better. I've been thinking alot lately about these last 5 weeks here in Charlottesville. They've been I think some of the hardest of my mission. We've been talking to everyone we can and we've been trying to work hard and effectively, and on top of that, I've been taking care of my district and planning meetings. I've been way busy and I was thinking "What do I have to show for all that time? We don't have any investigators, we don't have any progressings, and we are still at square 1?" It seemed like this transfer was just a waste up until now.

I went on an exchange with Elder Barson the other day, one of the zone leaders, and we got to talking about the area, and I told him "I just keep thinking about a quote from Pres. Perry at mission conference, and it's what keeps me going everyday. Pres. Perry said 'Sometimes the Lord just wants you in Liberty Jail." I had been thinking a lot about what was going wrong and why. I felt like I was a failure. I felt like I was just working for nothing. I felt like I was in LIberty Jail. But then this morning, I had the prompting to study section 121 of Doctrine and Covenants. I was thinking, "Ok, the Lord had a purpose in putting Joseph Smith in here, to give him some of the greatest doctrine we have in the church. So why has the Lord put me in here?" and as I was reading, it seemed that all my troubles and cares just disappeared. I got to verse 29, and I was absolutely blown away.



All thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon all who have endured valiantly for the gospel of Jesus Christ.



I thought to myself "Wow, what a promise!!! Everything that God has ever done, and everything He ever will do, will be revealed and set forth upon those who endure VALIANTLY for the gospel of Jesus Christ." And then I continued reading and picked up on something new in verse 39



We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.



That little tidbit in there, 'as they suppose' really caught my attention. I realized that I, as a district leader, don't really have any authority. I have no real power in and of myself. Others may see it as that, but I have no power to act upon anything by myself. My call and the power that I have to effect any good work inside this office comes directly from the Lord. He is the one who really effects the work and makes things happen, I am just the vehicle through whcih he works. So all my worries about my district, how to help them, that will all be taken care of by the Lord. Then, it came back to me. My pride. My pride is what keeps me from using the priesthood to it's full potential. My pride and imagination, that I have some authority, just a little bit, keeps me from being all that the Lord wants me to be, and in the long run is keeping from my district help and blessings from Heaven. I don't really feel that I've exercised unrighteous dominion since I've become a district leader, but I know now that I have to constantly guard myself from that. It isn't just at the beginning. It's throughout my entire tenure in a leadership position.

So all of this combined, I got to thinking "What is my purpose in coming here to Charlottesville? What have I learned since I got here?" And I got my answer.

Since I came back to Charlottesville, I've found a faith in the Lord that I never knew that I had before. I've been praying more than I ever have in my entire life, and they are more sincer prayers than I knew I could offer. I've felt the Spirit more and been able to recognize His influence in my life, and I've felt the love of God in ways I never have before. I've learned to see the answers to my prayers, and to recognize that those answers only come from one source. I've gained a testimony of prayer and that the Lord answers prayers when He needs to, not when we ask Him to. He's always there for us wehn we humbly seek Him. And that's the key right there. Back to humility. I've had a few experiences in the past few weeks that have really humbled me, from Elder Barson asking me if I needed a blessing when I was too prideful to ask for one, to one of the sisters in my district comitting me to share the gospel with english people on their doorsteps, no matter how scary that 72 year old grandma who answers the door may be to me. I've truly seen the gospel at work in my life, and I know that it's through the gospel that I've been able to keep going, in spite of all the trials and difficulties we've been seeing lately. I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who is mindful of what I need and knows exactly how to teach us in the way that's best going to grab our attention. I'm thankful for zone leaders who are in tune with the spirit to teach me to my needs and help change my mission. And I'm thankful for parents who raised me right and set me on the right course for the rest of my life.



Hope you all have a great week, and I love you all a ton.

Elder Campbell

Skyler can make tortilla's!

27 Dec 2010

Hey, yeah, it was great talking to you all on Saturday. Can't believe how fast time goes by. Seems like just a few weeks ago that I was talking to you all on Mother's day. And now it's 7 months later! So it snowed like crazy on Saturday and all through the night, but oddly enough, it didn't stick to the streets. So we got put on lockdown in the morning and then at about 12:30 we were like "Ok, this is a joke, lets go work." But there was a total blessing in it. The Waynesboro Sisters had a baptism set up for Sunday, and when I called them on Sunday morning, everyone else had church cancelled, but when I called them they go "no, it's not really snowing here. We're still good for church and the baptism." So their guy got baptized and then right after the baptism, it started dumping up there. It was way sweet.


As for BYU info, I think I'm allowed to do that during my email time, so if you want to send me the link or whatnot, I can get that filled out. I don't think I took 24 credit hours. I think I only did like, 20 or something like that. Or maybe I did 24. I'm not sure at all. And I don't even remember the classes that I took. How sad is that? It's only been 1 year and the missionary veil has descended over me completely! haha

Oh, with the missionary mall stuff, I'll send it in and worry about that, but I don't know where to send it to! I don't have teh address or anything, so if you could send me that, I'd appreciate it. Actually, I can call sis. Henrie here and ask her to look it up for me. That would be easier. And one more thing. I lost the recipes that you sent me for Arroz Con leche and tres leches. Could you hook me up again? Thanks.

Love you mucho grande

Elder Campbell



PS- The MP3 player is SWEET! I've been listening to conference talks for 2 days straight now!

20 Dec 2010

Sooooo. This week. WEll, we got snowed in on thursday, so that sucked. ANd then yesterday, I got a combo of food poisoning/flu, so I was down for the count. I missed the christmas program at church, but that's alright. At least I'm still alive, right? Man, I can't believe Ryan Christensen is home, and Amanda Miller also! That's so nuts! I saw her in the MTC! It's insane! Oh, and in response to your last question last week mom, I am planning at just meeting you at the airport in Reno when I go home. I think it would be SWEET to just walk down the hall and you're all just standing there! That would be sweet, right?


SO we had our first district meeting on Wednesday and it went REALLY well. The 2 sisters in our district trained and did a WONDERFUL job. They've been seeing a lot of miracles lately, which is really cool. They're tearing it up right now. Our district has 9 people set for baptism! How sweet is that? I've got some of the best missionaries in the mission in my district! They make my job so easy!

SO we had a baptism on Saturday. Carlos Escobar. He's 18 and from Guatemala. He's actually from QuetzalTenango, where Andy Glenn is serving right now. And then funny story, I went on exchanges with our zone leaders on Tuesday, and I met Alex Stodmeister's trainer on his mission. Small world, right? Umm, what else is there in the news?

So as I'm sure you're all aware, I'm going to call on Saturday. Surprise surprise, right? haha I think I'll call at like, 3 our time? I don't know if that works for everyone else? ANd yes, we have a christmas eve dinner. You remember the family that I always told you about when I was here last time, the Aguilar? WEll, they invited us over for Christmas Eve and they're going to cook a whole pig for us. Just gonna slap it on the table and let us at it with some tortillas. Should be pretty fun.

Tomorrow we've got mission conference. I'm kind of excited. Last year they did a slide show of the pictures of ALL the missionaries in the mission on their first day. But I don't think they're going to this time. Too bad.

WEll, I don't think I have anything else to tell you. Hope you all have a great week.

Love you all,

Elder Campbell

13 Dec 2010

First off, no. People hardly feed us here anymore. And the problem is that our apartment is on the complete opposite side of town than the one we work in. So once we leave during the day, we don't come back to the apartment. We usually do breakfast and lunch at home, and then if we're lucky we'll have a dinner appointment. But we have only had one dinner appointment since we got here. Since we're in a spanish group, we don't get set up with appointments with the english members, and the hispanic members never feed us anymore either. So it's kind of tough. But we're making do. Loading up at lunch and then trying to keep it small at dinner. And I don't know what it is, I think it's because I've started lifting weights a lot in the morning, but at like, 3 oclock, I get WAY hungry! It's crazy. Like, I haven't felt like that since I hit puberty. It sucks.


That's way sweet about the boston story. Sounds like God has a plan in mind. He always does. Speaking of plans, the sisters in Waynesboro had a way sweet story this week. They've got this 17 year old named Cesar set for baptism. He lives with a recent convert up there. So he's having a way tough time because his family is NOT supportive. Then they found this guy last week named Eleazar and he's WAY solid. He absolutely LOVES what they're teaching him. SO they were talking with Cesar yesterday, and it turns out that Eleazar is the brother of Cesar's Mom's boyfriend. How crazy is that? They're like, surrounding the whole family with mormons! That whole family is going to get baptized! hahaha

So tomorrow I go on exchanges with the Zone leaders. They're having me work their area because I'm afraid of doing English work. I get way panicky when I talk to english people. I don't know if I told you about last week when I went with two of them to go find this less active recent convert. Turns out she works in a gynecologist office. So we just charge right into the office and the secretary goes "She'll be right out to see you. You can take a seat." SO we sit down in this gyno office for like, 15 minutes, and all these women are looking at us like "What are you doing here?" And I'm thinking "The gross thing is, I know EXACTLY what you're all doing here!" It was super awkward!

So we've visited a few people who I was teaching when I was here, Elder Agustin knows all of them. They all remember me, but the majority of them aren't interested. Kinda sad, but they weren't really that solid when I was here before, so. No biggie. I've had a few members come up to me and say "Elder Campbell, welcome back!" before they even announced that I h ad returned. SO that was pretty cool.

And speaking of losing suit jackets. I lost one of the pairs of pants to my blue suit. I actually lost that pair about a year ago. Not sure if I told you. And I'm going to need to use the warranty on my suit, because I ripped one of the pairs of pants. Right in the crotch. Don't know how. But it's way embarrassing. So if you could let me know what I need to do to get those sent back in and a new pair sent out, I'd love it.

Well, I think that's all I got for this week. Hope you're loving life. I sure am.

Talk to you all in like, 2 weeks or something. I hope I remember our phone number...

Elder Campbell