6 June 2011

haha, ok, if you really really want to send us some shoes, you can.  My comp said a 12,  because he has pairs of shoes ranging from 11 up to 13, so a 12 would be a safe bet.  I think a 10 1/2 would probably be good.  That's what all my other shoes are.  

  Yes, I got my trunky papers.  I had to give my departing testimony at zone meeting on friday, and so I was already depressed because of that.  And then we get home and I look in the mailbox, and there they are.  I opened them up at the table, and I was going to read the letter out loud to Elder Giesick, but I got as far as "Dear Elder Cam" and then I started crying.  It was horrible.  Like, one of the most depressing days of my mission.  talk about a double whammy!

    So yeah, last week was better. I was able to sign up for 3 classes, because I don't know which ones I need apart from these 3, and I'm going to test straight out of the spanish.  So we'll see how it goes.  My first semester back might be a really weird schedule, but we'll see.  

   We're starting service at the Portsmouth Animal Shelter on Thursday.  We're way excited.  We get these sweet t-shirts.  It's gonna be way fun.  One of the options for service is "CAT TLC"-  Cuddling with cats, playing with them, brushing them, etc.  It should be sweet.  We'll see about how much we do with dogs, because 60% of the dogs there are Pitbull/pit mixes.  So....

    Well, if I were to go to Europe, I would LOVE to go through Spain.  That would be SWEET!  But Italy would be legit also!  

    So Elder Giesick is having some acid reflux problems, so we had to go in today so he could do a berrium swallow and get x-rayed, and then on Wednesday he's going to get scoped through the mouth and scoped in the other place too.  Kind of funny.  We laugh about it alot.   We got to do service for a family last night.  As we were walking out the door, the wife says "Hey, we have something for you to do.  WE need you to pull a branch down."  There was a MASSIVE branch from one of their trees that was caught in the other branches due to the storm, so we lassoed it with an extension cable and took it down.  Tonight we're going over to chop it up for them.  

   Apparently I've been hearing about all these weather phenomenon lately.  Like, what's going on?  I hear about everything so late because hispanics don't listen to the news.  I didn't even hear about the Rapture prediction until the night it was supposed to happen.  It's crazy.  I'm SOOOO out of the loop.

   I started making smoothies last week for breakfast and it is delicious!  Best idea ever!  I can make a better smoothie than Jamba Juice!  It's great!  you should try it for sure!  

  Well, I think that's all I got.  Take care and I'll see you soon!  Loves

  Elder Campbell

31 May 2011

So those little orange things are called chicharron(there are like, 8 different things called chicharron), it's pretty much just a fried wheat pasta kind of and they pour hot sauce on it and eat it.  They're alright, I definitely don't ever have cravings for them though.

   So the correlation for those verses.  So, when we fall into sin and iniquity, we get to the point where the spirit ceases to strive with us(or abandons us).  Christ never had the spirit abandon him in his entire life, until he was atoning for our sins.  In those moments, he had to feel what it was like to be completely alone, have the presence of his Father withdraw from him, and know how we felt when we mess up and are alone.  And he even asked "Why hast thou forsaken me?"  Just kind of cool to think about, helped me understand the atonement a little more and appreciate it.

    This last week was horrible.  Probably the worst week of my mission!  Due to my companion going to richmond, I was in Suffolk adn we had to go between Suffolk and Chesapeake all week, adn I got sick and had to stay home one day, and it was just ridiculous.  I'll tell you more about it when I get home.  

     Yeah, I'm signing up for classes today.  I've had quite the time getting ahold of the info I need to be able to do it.  Lots of "We can't give that info out over the phone" and "You need to call this place to get that."  Frustrating, but I've finally got everything.  So I'll be doing that today.  I hope it was a good letter from President.  I can't believe that tomorrow is June.  I should be getting my trunky papers thursday.  That will be a sad day.  But good news!  On the 20th, we're all going to see Mo Tab at the scope arena in Norfolk.  That should be fun!

  Umm, last tuesday was the worst storm I've ever seen in my life!  And we were in the middle of it! The tree outside of our apartment got split in half.  It was crazy!  A tornado actually touched down about 5 miles away from our apartment!  It was nuts.  But we survived, so it's alright.

  Anywho, love you all, I'm going to go sign up for classes.  Take care!

       Elder Campbell

23 May 2011

3 Weeks 1 day and 14 hrs and my sweet sunshine will be home!!! 
 Hi all-
So yeah.  If you could check that (UNR sign up info) as soon as possible and call me or text me, I would appreciate it.  I also have permission to go online to sign up for classes, so the sooner I get that started, the better.
    This week has been pretty cool.  I got to sit in on one of our recent convert's patriarchal blessings yesterday.  That was really cool because he's somebody that I found down here while I was in VA Beach, and then to come back and he's a member and getting his blessing, it was really cool.  He's doing really well right now.  In other news, the other RC here just had some girl move in with him.  He met her last week and they're already shacked up.  It's really sad and he's really falling away right now.  We've got an investigator pool now, so that's nice.  Finding has been hard, but we're trying new ways and trying to not get discouraged.  

   I had a SUPER SWEET study today!  I was reading in Mosiah Chap 1 and in verse 5 it talks about how the brass plates were what saved Lehi's family from dwindling in unbelief.  It says how those that didn't read the scriptures didn't have that faith and ended up being the lamanites.  So I started thinking about all thepeople we meet everyday who say "Yeah, you need to read the bible."  yet they don't do it at all.  And look at the quality of their life?  Look at how they spend their time?  They're just like lamanites.  I don't want that to sound judgemental or racist or anything, but it's true.  Reading the scriptures gives you a purpose in life adn helps you know where you're going, and gives you the faith to get there.  It was pretty cool.  Then I read Mosiah 1:13, and cross referenced it with 2 Nephi 26:11 and Matthew 27:47.  read those and see what they have in common.  It's way cool.  Complete testimony builder of the atonement.  

   Yeah, I had heard that Kurt moved to Boston.  Don't know how long ago.  

     Well, I don't really know what else to tell you.  Think that's all I got.  I'm sure I'll think of something else once I get off, but oh well.

 Love you all.  Take care

     Elder Campbell

16 May 2011

Well hello. So this week has been insane.  Yesterday in particular.  So Erenia, the awesome lady who was supposed to get baptized.  Well, she's avoiding us.  Way sad.  But we found this guy Jose Luis Torres last saturday.  We talked to him and invited him to church and he was like "Yeah!  I'll be there!"  well, he ended up getting called into work, so he couldn't come.  So we taught him 2 times this week and he really enjoyed it.  The church that he was going to in Mexico also believes in a restauration, that God and Christ appeared to this guy, and that they restored the church through him.   Way weird, right?  But he has seen a lot of things that aren't right with that church.  So yesterday, he shows up 10 minutes early for church.  He's sitting there enjoying the prelude music.  Then in Gospel Principles, we teach priesthood organization and we did a demonstration with car keys representing priesthood keys.   He understood it really well!  He loved it!  So then in 3rd hour, we just did a question and answer session and he goes "So how are your baptisms here?"  Luckily, we have a returned missionary in class who just got home 2 weeks ago, and he was in the pilot mission that did Church tours in spanish.  So he takes them to the baptismal font and starts explaining about baptism and afterwards, Jose Luis goes "Ok, well I ask because I want to get baptized."  It was super legit!  Then he asked about marriage and we explained temple marriage, and then he asked about if the church was all over the world.  It was awesome.  

   So then, we're teaching these 2 guys that live with a member, and neither one of them knows how to read.  We  had no idea what to teach them, because everything we did, they didn't care about.  So we asked them if they wanted to learn how to read, and the one shoots up in his chair and says "I DO!!!!!!!!!!"  So we promised him that if he read the book of Mormon 10-15 minutes every day, he'd learn to read by the end of it.  it was way cool.  Then we almost got in a bash with a 10 year old (I'll have to tell you about that one later!)  Then we had a former investigator who was going to get baptized find us and tell us that she wants to start taking the lessons again and that she was testifying to her downstairs friend about us and so now her friend wants to learn also!  It was so cool!  And all of this happened yesterday! It was crazy!

    So yeah, things are going well.  Didn't get a transfer call last night, so Elder Giesick and I are staying the same.  I'm glad, I think we weork well together.  We've been trying to find new ways to find, and we're going to set up an horchata stand outside some hispanic apartments :) haha We also are thinking about going to laundromats on saturdays because that's when all the hispanics do their laundry.  

  So that's about it this week.  Oh, I also bought a new razor.  Mine had the same head and blades for like, 4 years now, and it was just hacking my face up.  So when I got to wal-mart, a nicer cordles razor was like, 8 bucks more than replacement heads, so I went for it.  But now I look more nicer as a representative of the Lord! haha

   i've had some SUPER COOL studies lately.  My studies were just kind of dying out lately, but over the past 3 or 4 days, I've had some of the best studies of my life.  I'm way excited.

   So any news about UNR?  Have they been able to get my password or anything?  President Perry said I could go online and do my class sign up if I need, I'd just need to know what website to go onto.  I think I could probably figure out my password I imagine, but I don't even know what to do to sign up for classes.  If somebody (like you :) could find out WHAT classes are needed (like, what general classes there are that I need to take and what website to go to) I could prob ably remember or figure out how to do it.  So.  That would be awesome.

    Love you all.  Take care and have a great week.

         Elder campbell

9 May 2011

This was the day after our mothers day phone call, so there wasn't much to say. 




Yeah, I don't really know what else to say.  Haha  Hope you have a great week and take care :)

 Elder Campbell

2 May 2011

Holy cow, she is super hairy.  That's cool!  Congratulations Mal!  She is a little fatty.  Looks kind of like a miniaturized version of me :) hahaha  dang hispanic food.

   I think I'm going to take a semester off and work when I get home, figure out what I'm doing.  I feel like there's some big changes in my life plan coming up when I get home, so we'll see... haha

    So tonight we're driving down to Elizabeth City, North Carolina to look for hispanics down there and see if maybe we can't get that place opened to spanish missionaries.
  We should be having a baptism next week at 7 oclock, so I don't know what time you all get out of church.  Hopefully it doesn't interfere with calls, but if it does, I just want you to know, I'd choose the baptism.  No offense.  It doesn't mean I don't love you.  It just means taht I'll see you in 8 weeks!  hahahah  Erenia, from Nicaragua, she's getting baptized next week.  Her boyfriend is moving out of the house, so she'll be obeying the law of chastity.  It was sweet how it all worked out.  

   We're still struggling to find solid investigators, but I think I'm finally figuring out what PMG is talking about in finding.  We've been working on just going straight into our message on door steps and teaching people by bearing testimony and it's working out pretty well.  We had some guy that was not interested on his door step, and I just go "we share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, that was restored through a prophet in these last days.  The evidence of that is found here in the Book of Mormon, and you can know about it."  And he just looked at us and then started talking about his beliefs and doubts and things.  It was way solid.  So Preach My Gospel really is inspired.  Who knew?

   My comp is doing good, his spanish is sloooooooooooowly improving :) haha  He had a really rough weekend.  His parents sent him a big envelope with all the letters and pictures that he had sent them throughout his entire mission, and they wrote a letter that said "Don't call on Mother's Day or Christmas.  We don't want to hear anything about you."  And that was it.  It was real rough.  Even worse was that it was on his birthday, so I'm taking him out to lunch today to celebrate.  Hope you don't mind.  

  So elder beckman.  Let's just say that for awhile, he was one of the most disobedient missionaries I had ever heard of.  He's really shaped up these last 2 transfers though.  It was incredible to see.  

   Umm, otehr than that, I don't really know what to say. It's been a good week.  Pretty tough, but that's how it's supposed to be.

   hope you're all feeling better and that you're sharing the gospel

       Elder Campbell

25 April 2011

Wow, so what happened to the house?  I was looking at those pictures, and I thought "Who's house are they in?"  That's weird.  Haha

  As for the easter box, they actually arrived in good condition.  The robin's eggs and reeses eggs were a little spread out in the box, but they all end up in the same place right?  haha I let my comp open the box, figured he'd enjoy it, and he sees the basket full of snickers and looks at me and goes "I love your family!!!".  He was way excited.  So thank you all very much for that, I think it really helped him.  He really enjoyed the card as well.  

    As for bodily injuries, I'm pretty sure I permanently jacked up my right thumb, and I might  have damaged my right ankle, not to mention my shin splints that never seem to go away.  My thumb and ankle both got jacked up in Charlottesville, I can't bend my thumb all the way, but it still works, so no complaints here.  My ankle seems to get better, but it doesn't stretch right in the morning when I wake up, but once again, it still works.  Shin splints seem to be going away.  I've been wrapping with an ace bandage and then I bought two calf support wraps, which seem to help a lot. We'll see today, we're playing ultimate frisbee for District P-Day.  We're also going crabbing in the chesapeake bay.  I'll take some pictures :)

   So in our ward yesterday, they did an easter "cantata" which I had never heard of before, but it was WAY good.  This one member, brother Owen, did a solo, and MAN that guy can sing!  It was incredible.  He sounds like an opera singer with this great baritone voice! Way powerful.

   So yeah, this last week was pretty good.  We've found 9 new investigators in the past 2 weeks, not all of them have been very solid though.  But we've also gotten 6 referrals in the past 2 weeks, so that's nice.  Things are looking up, but its wayyyyy hard to teach a lesson almost completely by yourself.  My companion tries real hard, but he still can't help out a ton due to his spanish, but he's improving a lot.  Yesterday in PEC, our bishop did something a little out of the norm.  He usually tears the missionaries apart for any little thing he can, but yesterday he says "Elders, we're thankful for all that you do.  I want to apologize for the lack of effort from this ward though.  We're really not doing much to help you find new investigators, which is our job as members.  We're going to change that."  It was pretty cool.  As for the set a date program, there's something that I've noticed with members.  A lot of times, we think "which of my friends could I invite?" and then we can't think of anybody, so we assume it has to be somebody new.  But here's a trick-  pull out your phone and open your contacts.  Scroll through them and look for someone that you WANT to share the gospel with.  That's who the Lord will help you with.  Do the sisters teach you HOW to find people?  Or are they just asking you to DO it?  Maybe you could suggest to them that they teach you HOW to invite people and maybe even do some roleplays for a family home evening or something?  I don't know, just a thought.  

    Well, things are good here.  I can't believe I hit 22 months yesterday.  My companion said yesterday "Elder, you've only got your MTC time left!  9 weeks!"  hit me like a ton of bricks.  

   Well, I love you all, will keep you in my prayers.  Take care and find people to teach!

         Elder Campbell