Requiem

This is it. I never thought this day would come, and more often than not a small part of me wished it never would. I’ve thought a lot about what kind of message I should share in this last letter. It would take too long to recap my mission, so I won’t do that. I’ve learned so many things I can’t possibly fit it all into one email, so I won’t do that. I have more regrets than I care to admit, and I’ve seen more blessings and miracles than I could possible record, so I won’t go over those. The stories I have to share are better told in person, so if you want to hear those than you’ll have to find a time to ask me about them face to face. I’ve shared my testimony on just about every subject I can think of. I know what I know to be true and nothing I ever experience will change that. The most important thing I feel I can testify of at this time is the reality of our Savior Jesus Christ. The only way we can return to live with our Father in Heaven is through His son Jesus Christ. He has commanded us to exercise faith in Him, repent of our sins, and be baptized in His name by someone holding the proper authority. That authority is found only in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There aren’t any exceptions. These things are required for us to receive eternal life, whether we accept them in this life or the next. It’s not eloquent, lengthy, or really even unique, but that’s the most important message any of us can hear and something we all need to come to understand.


I hope I’ve been able to have at least a small influence in your lives. Thanks for putting up with me and my often corny letters. I’m looking forward to the next time I get to talk to you, whether it’s sooner or later. I included all the info for when and where my flight lands, so feel free to be there if you’d like. If you want to keep in touch, my personal email is ethanorchard@gmail.com, or you can add me on Facebook. Reach out to me either way if you want to keep in touch. I’m sure I’ll see all of you at some point in the future, but until then keep it real. I love you all and wish you all the best.Elder Orchard

I’m Not Dead Yet

Well, it’s almost time for me to wrap things up here in Utah. I’ve got a little over a week left here, but I’m making the most of it and the Lord is making the most of me. This next week ought to be a good one, you know try and go out with a bang. I know if its anything like this last one it’ll be especially good!

We had some awesome lessons and have a ton of people progressing towards baptism. We are teaching an investigator from Japan named Emi. We taught about the plan of salvation and then talked about the need for baptism, and when we invited her to be baptized she accepted! We are meeting with her again tomorrow and will know what date she decided to choose to work towards. We also started teaching a couple from California named Raul and Jennifer. We taught them the restoration, and even though their kids were pretty rowdy I know they felt the spirit! We invited them to be baptized. Jennifer said she wants to after she learns more, and Raul was a bit more hesitant but I know he’ll accept as we teach more! We had some other awesome spirit filled lessons this week!

We’re really doing all we can to build trust and fortify our teaching pool. We had a ton of investigators at church this week, so hopefully we’ll see the fruits of our efforts. I might have to see them from a different perspective, but I’m excited nonetheless! We’ll start teaching an eleven year old girl named Sadie tonight, her family is coming back to activity and they’re so ready to start progressing even faster! I’m so glad I have these things to keep me busy or else it would be really hard to focus.

One last thing! I got my travel plans this last Tuesday. For anyone who’s interested, I’m flying home the morning of August 2nd. Between flights and layovers, I’ll be traveling most of the morning and afternoon. My plane is supposed to land around 4:45 p.m. in the Lincoln Airport. A lot of my immediate and extended will be there, so if any of you Nebraska friends are interested in going I’d love to see you too. Just send me a quick email and I’ll give you some other details. Thanks so much everyone for all the support, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Elder Orchard

Backs Against The Wall

Well, I’ve only got a few of these left. It’s been driving me crazy thinking about it, and the conflict in being really excited to finish but dreading it at the same time just outright sucks. So, I’ll keep this short so that I can get back to living in denial.

Donovan got baptized Thursday night, it was a sweet experience. I know that he’ll be the catalyst for getting his whole family to the temple. It’s still a ways out, but he’s a special kid and if anyone can do it he can. Elder Johnson and I gave talks on Sunday about miracles. They’re all around us and happen daily, we’ve just got to have the faith to see them. We’ve finally been able to get in contact and start meeting with some of our investigators. They’ve been some of the hardest people I’ve taught up to this point, but they were wonderful lessons and the spirit was present. I know they know it’s true, it’s only a matter of time before they accept. Really, it’s only a matter of time before we all have to make that choice. President Benson once said “Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand”. Ask yourself, are you ready to make that stand? I hope I am. I’m not 100% sure though, either because I’m trying to be realistic or because I’m just paranoid, but I’m doing everything I can so that when the day comes and I’m given my ultimate test of faith I’ll be able to pass with flying colors. It’s my hope and prayers that you all are doing the same. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Orchard

P.S. For those of you in or near Nebraska, you all are welcome to come to the airport for my grand entrance. I’ll include some of the finer details next week, but it’ll be probably sometime in the afternoon on Thursday, August 2nd. I’m looking forward to seeing you all there!

Donovan got dipped!

Elder ‘Aisea over here about to drop the hottest album of 2018.

The Greatest Country on Earth

God Bless America.

I was tempted to leave it at that, because its pure doctrine. But I’m sure some people actually like hearing about my week so I’ll write some more. In general, it was really long and really hot. Tuesday was decent, we had a few lessons at night. Wednesday was a glorious day. It was hot, no one was home, and we had to sit in suits in a hot chapel for a few hours for a training meeting, but that couldn’t take away from the blessing of celebrating freedom. After we got home Elder Johnson and I watched a family across the street light off fireworks for about half an hour, and then we stayed a bit and watched some of the other ones across the valley. We spent Thursday morning cleaning our apartment for inspections, and we had a few lessons that night as well. On Friday, we started the morning with weekly planning. After lunch is when the real fun started. It was one of the hottest, sunniest days of the year so far, and we figured it would be a great idea to spend the afternoon leveling dirt in the backyard of a recent convert. Don’t worry, I only got sunburned a lot. The exhaustion from that carried over into Saturday and Sunday, both of which were suuuper long. But it was a great week, and I’m constantly learning new things!

I once again had the opportunity to finish the Book of Mormon this last week. I think that was probably the fastest I’d read it. I finished it in about 5 weeks, or 45 days, give or take. I thought about trying to power through it one more time before I finish up, but I need to catch up on the Doctrine and Covenants so it probably won’t happen. Once I finish the Doctrine and Covenants, I’ll be able to say I’ve read the entire standard works. Elder Holland said something along the lines that we as a body of saints are grateful for all of God’s words, both received in the past and that we will receive in the future. I add my own witness that all of God’s word is valuable to us. There are lessons that we can learn from every book of scripture. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. It is the word of God and has the power to change our lives for the better. I am looking forward to when we are able to receive more scripture as well.

Once again, God bless America, the land that I love. Have a wonderful week and stay safe!

I almost forgot! I’m trying to figure out some scripture verses that I can “ponderize” over the last stretch of my mission, I want to try and memorize a scripture a day until I head home, and I need your help. If y’all could reply with your favorite verse or passage of scripture along with a reference that would be amazing. Thank you all so much in advance!

Elder Orchard

 

I’m in the business of making my own clothes now. Hit me up if you wanna order something.

Dirt + sweat + wind + socks = some interesting results.

According to our car, it was really really hot.

One Month!

What a fine summer day here in the Salt Lake South Mission. Except it’s super hot, so it’s not really that fine. It’s okay though, it helps build character. It’s been a bit of a rough week, but I’ve learned a lot and I’m constantly being humbled by the Holy Ghost. I guess there are still a few lessons I need to learn before I kick the bucket.

This last week was kind of busy and eventful. At some points it felt like we had five places to be at once, while at other times during the week it seemed like we wouldn’t be able to find something to do if we were given specific instructions. It was a rough one for teaching, everyone was either on their seventh vacation of the year, working three different jobs, or trying to recover from the swine flu. In other words, lots of cancelations. We did have a long zone conference on Thursday and were in church  from 8:30 to 4:00 on Sunday. Those were DEFINITELY the highlights of the week, I TOTALLY love meetings. If you haven’t picked up on the sarcasm, I’ll just sum it up by saying that most of the meetings, with the exception of the three sacraments we went to, could’ve been better summarized in an email. Haha nah, I’m kidding, they were all good and I learned a ton!

I’ve slowed down a lot in the Book of Mormon these last few weeks. I finally finished the Book of Ether, which took me way longer than it should’ve. One interesting theme of the middle chapters of Ether are the actions of the Kings and their alternating between righteous and wicked. I think there’s a lot we can take and learn from them that applies to our lives, which really strengthens my testimony that the Book of Mormon was written for our day. Two examples in particular are their polarity from a parents choices and the examples they are to others. The first one, the polarity, comes from the fact that one king might’ve been super wicked and evil, and the next in line (usually his son), might’ve been a paragon of righteousness. It doesn’t matter what our situation or upbringing is, it is our choice whether we follow our Savior’s example, live the gospel, and keep the commandments. I’ve heard lots of stories of people whose parents have shunned the gospel and even been antagonistic towards the church, but have chosen for themselves to start on and stay on the covenant path. A few of those I’ve actually met, two in particular, are still serving in the Utah Orem Mission. The second one, the example they lead to others, isn’t seen on so large a scale in our own lives but is important to remember. Often times throughout the Book of Ether, when the king was righteous the people were too, and vice versa. Our example affects others more than we know, even when we can’t see it.

Well, I am running out of time and didn’t realize it was so close to 6:00. A few other things we’ve done this week: I got to go to the Salt Lake City temple and hike the Y at BYU as part of departure activities; we moved apartments; we almost ran out of gas because the Orem Mission took our gas card and the Salt Lake South Mission hadn’t given us one yet; President and Sister Killpack finished their mission (super sad); and we got to go to the baby blessing of the son of a recent convert Elder Johnson and I baptized when we were companions last year. All were awesome experiences! I hope y’all have a great week and stay safe on the 4th of July! Light off a few fireworks in my name!

Elder Orchard

Master Chef PK doin' his thing.

Sunset from the Y trail.

The van was full, so Elder Somma and I were alienated in the back seat.

Our salamander friend we found on the trail. We named him, but I forgot what it was and I don’t want to guess wrong and offend him.

The Final Transfer

Hey there everybody, I don’t know what happened last week but for some reason I ended up not having enough time to write a blog email. Anyway, it’s been an eventful last two weeks and I have plenty of material to choose from, but I’ll probably only go into the real important things.

First off, we had a “Specialized Mission Training Meeting” this last Thursday. It took the place of our weekly district meeting and was a pretty big meeting. It was actually two meetings, the northern half of the mission went in the morning and the southern half went in the afternoon. It was a really good meeting, even though I feel it was kinda just an excuse for everyone to say bye to the Killpacks. We took pictures and had a couple trainings/talks from some of the missionaries. It was really cool to see a lot of the missionaries I knew. It was also super trippy knowing that the Killpack’s time is up as mission president and wife, and that means that my own time is running short as well. Where did the time go?

Last night we got our transfer calls. I was told I’d be moving to the Herriman and Herriman Rose Canyon stakes. With that, it’s official that I’m transitioning to the Salt Lake City South Mission. I’ll only be there for four and a half weeks, so my job is to just help the transition go as smoothly as possible. I volunteered and was told I’d be going earlier this transfer, but it is still a big pill to swallow. One of my missionary friends in California is going through kind of a similar change where she’ll be in a new mission in a week or so. Their’s is getting dissolved, whereas ours is just transitioning a few areas and companionships, so I can’t say I know exactly how it feels, but I do know that it really is a little heartbreaking to have to say goodbye. Goodbye to missionaries, previous areas, friends and former people you’ve taught. I am very fortunate with regards to the fact that I’ll be back here for school in a little over two months, so that’s nice and makes it a bit easier, but it’s still hard. However, the only constant in life is change, and I’m excited for what that change has to bring!

Well, I take that back. There are a few constants in life. Change is just the most obvious. Some of the others, although they are harder to see, are so much more impactful and meaningful. One of those is our Father in Heaven's love for us. In my opinion, President Monson puts it best: “God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.” Another constant in our life is our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his Atoning Sacrifice for us. No matter how often we sin and lose our way, we can repent and return. There’s no limit. There isn’t an upper cap that prevents us from repenting again once we’ve hit a certain number of times. It is constant and there for us whether we decide to use it or not. Like God’s love, it is simply always there. The last constant in our lives is the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Unlike the other two, this one is dependent on our worthiness and willingness to listen to His promptings. However, there is no one else who is more loyal to us in our times of need. If we can qualify for it, his companionship can be as constant as the love of God or the Atonement. I personally don’t know why you’d want to risk going without it.

There’s my input for the week. I hope I didn’t bore anyone to death. That’s usually my assumption since I don’t hear much back, but I’m sure someone will get something out of it. Next time I talk to y’all, I’ll be in a new area, and hopefully I’ll have some pictures to share. Until then, have a great week and enjoy your summers!

Elder Orchard

Strengthen our Faith in Christ

Would you look at that, its Monday again. I swear, each week goes by faster and faster. I figured I’d try and get this letter off early this week so that I can free up some time in the afternoon. Like every other week, this has been a good one. It went pretty much the same as every other one, except our Thursday meeting was extra long since it was a combined zone conference. I’m running out of things to talk about because I feel like everything I do during the week I’ve talked about at least a dozen times before. We are now over halfway into this transfer, just another testament of how fast time is flying.

The highlight of this week probably happened last night. Elder Aisea and I didn’t have anything planned in the afternoon, so we ended up at a chapel watching President Nelson’s youth fireside. I liked it so much because even though it was directed at the youth, I felt like the message was tailored specifically for me. It probably helps that I still feel like a youth half the time. I was also super excited throughout because I was expecting him to announce the opening of China for missionary work. But one of the main reason I liked it so much was because of how straightforward he was with the youth. One of the challenges he gave the youth was to break their constant reliance on social media, and his invitation to do that was to participate in a seven day social media fast. He described it as “taking a break from the fake”. The reason this struck me so much is because it rang true with a principle that I’ve been pondering a lot, which is the principle of being spiritually minded and giving up the things of the world. So many people I know, myself included, put so much weight into things that have absolutely no eternal value, and really not a whole lot of temporal value either.

One thing I’ve been trying to develop over the course of my mission and hopefully over the course of my life is the ability to have an eternal perspective of things. I think one of the biggest things that keep people from having happiness and embracing the fullness of the restored gospel is their inability to get past things that hold them up and that they think are so important right now. I promise you they aren’t going to matter in the long run. We won’t have time to think about how much we miss our coffee or cigarettes when sitting at the feet of our Savior. It won’t have seemed like such a chore to go to three hours of church on Sunday when He tells us that we have been good and faithful servants. The dirty looks or snide remarks some prideful member made won’t bother when your in the embrace of Jesus Christ. The point I’m trying to make is don’t worry about things so much. I know keeping the commandments can be hard, but when we understand that “the [commandments]...serve to strengthen [our] faith in Christ” (Alma 25:16), they don’t become such a chore.

The question we should be asking ourselves is “What am I willing to do, or not do, to know my Savior?” If you ask yourself that honestly and with the intent to act, I promise you, you will seek Him, you will know Him, and you will love Him, all because He loves us so dearly Himself.

Have a great week y’all!

Elder Orchard

Happy Memorial Day

Hey y’all! I know you were probably scared when you didn’t get an email yesterday, but its okay, there’s no need to panic. Our p-day was changed to Tuesday this week due to an opportunity to attend the temple this morning. Such a blessing! I wish I could go back more often, but unfortunately thats not my calling right now. I’m really looking forward to going whenever I want to when I come back after my mission though!

This week was pretty decent. We’ve been doing a lot of service and trying to meet with leadership as much as we can. It was really nice yesterday with it being Memorial Day since a lot of people were home. We’re still working on finding people to teach, but they’ll come along. I’ve got a good feeling about this week, I think we’re going to find a lot of success and hopefully I’ll have too much to write about next week! Something really surreal did happen this week. We had mission president interviews with President Killpack. With my departure date coming up and his departure date coming up even sooner, most of the time was spent talking about what’s going to happen this next transfer, what’s going to happen after the mission, and just stuff like that. I’ll admit, it made me a bit homesick. August will be here before I know it. But there’s work to do! Minds and hearts to prepare and ears to hear the word of the Lord!

I have to apologize, I’ve been awful at taking pictures lately. I’ve been throwing myself into the scriptures. I picked up somewhere in the middle of 1st Nephi and am trying to finish the Book of Mormon two more times before I finish my mission. On top of that, I want to try and read the last half of the Doctrine and Covenants so that I can say I’ve read the entire standard works. A part of that is due to my prideful side (which I wish I didn’t have, but I’m only human), however I just want to be able to have experience reading all of God’s word to his children. One of the foundational lessons I’ve learned is just how much I took for granted before the mission, especially the scriptures. The Book of Mormon isn’t something that I can afford to take for granted, and even though it about bores me to death reading some parts of the Bible and I have a general idea of most of the stuff in the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, they are all just as essential. Gosh I wish I had a whole lot more time to study. But guess who does...yes you don’t try to justify it. Well, those of you who aren’t missionaries, which is like half of you. All you Elders and Sisters, just do your best with the time you have. As for the rest of you that actually have time, spend some of it reading your scriptures, whether you’re LDS or not. I can’t really followup with you, so just do your best and give it a shot. Well, I’ll talk to y’all next week!

Elder Orchard

Feed My Sheep

Well guys, I don’t really know where to begin this week. It’s not like its been particularly exciting, I just feel like there’s been a lot of growth and learning, and set up for success in the future. As far as teaching goes, we’ve got a few people we’re working with. One is a lady from a polygamist background, named Cheri, and her son, Xander. They both want to be baptized, its only a matter of going through some big long interview process and making sure they’re getting to church. They’re golden! We also started meeting with these two kids named Justin and Kylie. Both of them want to be baptized and we even set at a baptism date for early July as a goal. The only problem is that neither of them are too excited to sit for the lessons and aren’t too fond of reading scriptures, saying prayers, or going to church, the small and simple things that are like the most important things anyone can do in this life. So if y’all could pray for them, anything is helpful. There’s one more woman we’re trying to teach. Her name is Dominique. She wants to meet, but is always so busy working that it’s hard to meet. But I’m optimistic!

There were other things that went on this week, namely lots of service and finding, but the thing that really stole the show this week was the Jordan River Temple Dedication on Sunday and the Youth Cultural Celebration that preceded it on Saturday. Starting with the celebration, it was just a really awesome opportunity to learn more about temples and specifically the Jordan River temple. I have to admit, I was really jealous at a lot of points because I never had the opportunity to participate in a cultural celebration like it, and I was kind of jealous of all the youth who were so talented at things I could’ve been talented at but never took the time or worked hard enough. The Spirit kept prodding me with the same response to those thoughts that was honestly really comforting, and I hesitate because I don’t want to make it seem like you don’t need to develop talents or anything, no please work hard and keep working on your talents and skills that you can use to bless the lives of others. The impression that I kept getting was this: in the end, after all is said in done and in the judgement at the last day, it isn’t going to matter what skills I did or didn’t hone or if someone was better than me at something. The salvation, exaltation, and eternal life that I receive won’t be any less glorious than anyone else’s, at least as long as I am faithful. I am just as eligible for all of the blessings of heaven because Christ’s atoning sacrifice is infinite and God is no respecter of persons. The only thing we should be worried about in this life is how faithful we are to are Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.

The next day during the temple dedication the session was really special. I won’t go into too much detail because it is a sacred ordinance, but I will say that President Eyring bore one of the most powerful testimonies I’ve ever heard of the sealing power of temple marriage and the promise of resurrection. It was all the more real when he mentioned the fact that his wife is in failing health. I won’t say that it made me cry, but I was honestly so close. Guys, the message and importance of temples is really so simple. We can be with our families forever. For those of you who have lost loved ones, I know what it’s like and I know it hurts now, but the “sting of death” is really, honestly, truly, and completely “swallowed up in Christ.” (Mosiah 16:8). I promise you that you can have greater peace and happiness through learning more about these things, so please let me know if your interested, we’ll get you set up. I’d love to hear from you, but until then peace out!

Elder Orchard

“Feed my sheep” -John 21:17

Happy Mother's Day!

Hi there friends and family, it’s good to get to talk to you all again. Well some of you. Kind of. I guess with these I’m the one doing all the talking. But anyway, its been a good and busy week, which is always nice. Transfers happened and I’m up in Riverton now. It’s a zone, but it’s also small enough that it’s only one district, so it’s been interesting getting used to that. I did my Mother’s Day call on Saturday evening since it worked better for my family, so Sunday was kind of just like every other Sunday, hour after hour of church. I did get to give a talk in one though! Well, it was more of a testimony by the time my turn came around. I was told to prepare for 12 minutes, but after two testimonies from former members of the relief society who got released, four youth speakers, a special musical number from the primary, and my companions talk, we were already over time and I didn’t want to take too much more. So yeah, another week in the books. They keep going faster and faster. It’s crazy whenever people ask me what my plans are after the mission. I’ve been able to say that I’m going to school this fall, which is still crazy to think.

So for my talk, we were asked to share about the influence that the Spirit of Motherhood has had in our lives, or something like that. While I was preparing, I decided that the spirit of motherhood, at least to me, could be summed up in three characteristics: love, nourishment, and example. All three of them are important things I saw in my own Mom growing up, both in spiritual and physical ways. I’ve also seen them in my step-mom Lisa as she’s taken on the role of mother in our family since my Mom passed away. From Lisa’s example, I also noticed that motherhood isn’t reserved to those with biological children. Motherhood, in my opinion, is determined by a desire to care for and cherish a son or daughter of God. Because of that, I am deeply grateful for all of the Mother figures in my life, both before my mission and my mission. I’ve changed and grown so much from the influence of those women in my life and I am forever indebted to them for their selfless services to me. I hope that I can at least in some small part repay them through my service to others.

That’s it for this week folks, remember to go out and hug a mother or two and make their day. Even if you don’t know them. Just make sure you get their permission first. Have a great week!

Elder Orchard

Only picture this week is a Nativity LEGO set I found in our apartment and built. Sorry guys, I’ll try to have more next week!

Shakin' Things Up

Hey there boys and girls, it’s Monday again. That means another week has come and gone, and let me tell you what, it’s been a riot. Forget the formalities, I’m just gonna jump right into the details.

First off, we started the week strong with MLC on Tuesday. It was a really long meeting and lasted from 9:00 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m., but really the only part that mattered was the first hour and a half. To be honest, I didn’t really pay that much attention to the rest afterwards. Elder Brian K. Taylor of the Seventy came and gave a training about being bold and giving both the blessings of obedience and the negative results of disobedience. He used Doctrine & Covenants 33:1 a lot and even had a real life sword to get his point across. Needless to say, he made a big impact on all of us. I just wish I would’ve heard that training 21 months ago because now I feel like I’ve been doing missionary work all wrong. We even got a sword ourselves to use in our Combined District Meeting, so we got to have a lot of fun with it.

We did a lot of service throughout the week, things like weeding a garden and building a chicken coop. We built the coop on Saturday before going to one of our ward’s Cinco De Mayo parties, which was an event you’d have to be at to truly appreciate. Not because the chips and salsa were special at all, but because of our new friend Josh. Josh was visiting his sister that lived in the ward. He’s from somewhere in the southeast United States. Josh stopped attending church a while back, and since it was a holiday, Josh had had a few drinks. After talking to him for a while about how he believes there’re more than one Savior and a pretty entertaining game of pickup basketball with members of the ward, we decided it would be best to walk Josh home. The whole way back he was giving us a pep talk about how we need to make sure and do something meaningful with our lives and how the church has truth, but not all of the truth. He was very adamant about us searching for more truth. He kept using the logic of “Do we know who killed Tupac? No, so we don’t know everything and we need to keep searching. Don’t stop flipping searching!” (Disclaimer: He didn’t actually use “flipping”, I just figured it’d be best not to use his actual words). That whole experience was an adventure, and I will cherish it forever as I continue to look for who actually killed Tupac.

To wrap it all up, we got our transfer calls on Sunday night. Sadly, I’m getting transferred out of Saratoga Springs, and out of Utah County completely. I’m heading up to Riverton, which will most likely be my last area since it’s the start of my second to last transfer. I’m pretty pumped about transfers, but a lot of other missionaries aren’t. President Killpack is shaking a lot of things up, whitewashing a lot, moving people around, and a lot of people aren’t real happy about their new companions. But oh well, life goes on and we continue serving the Lord, not ourselves. I’ve been reading a lot in the New Testament, and the early apostles, especially Peter and Paul, suffered a lot for the sake of spreading the gospel. Those two considered themselves lucky to suffer for the Lord, and while I don’t think I’m quite there yet, and I’m not really suffering that much, I still like to think that I’m getting there. I hope everyone tries to get to that point, because anything we suffer for the Lord is only a token sacrifice to Him who suffered everything for us. Think about that this week. I hope y’all are able to be a bit more Christ-like, cause I’m trying to be myself and I need some accountability buddies. That’s all I’ve got for this week, enjoy the extended edition and God bless!!

Elder Orchard

“Hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, whose word is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword” -D&C 33:1

Jordan River Temple

Hey Everybody, it’s been a good week. We went to the Jordan River Temple Open House. We did a lot of yard work. I didn’t get as burned as I thought I would, so that’s a plus. We also had exchanges with one of our district leaders. So yeah, lots of excitement this week. I’m still charging along through the New Testament, I just read all of the epistle to the Romans yesterday. Life is good. I’m really tired, so I don’t really feel like writing any more. Peace out.

Elder Orchard

Scriptures are the Words of God

Hey friends! I don’t really know how to start out this week, so just hi, I guess. Last week was full of a lot of administrative stuff, like cleaning our area book and meeting with Ward Mission Leaders. We knocked a few houses each day, but never got anywhere. But that’s okay! The best missionary work is done through the members anyway. Like with Chris! He’s still on date for the 9th of June, mostly because he’s set on getting baptized in Utah lake. It would be so much easier if he would just do it in a chapel, but he’s the one getting baptized so we let him make the decisions. Anyway, I brought him up because he’s a prime example of why member missionary work is so amazing. The number one reason behind why Chris is getting baptized is because his member neighbors and member wife have just loved him to death. Now, that’s not what is converting, that’s the Holy Ghost doing that, but he wouldn’t even have been open if he didn’t have so many wonderful examples around him. Anyway, that’s my plug for member missionary work, kudos to the Fox Hollow Ward for being a great example. So most of the week was spent doing that, except for Sunday, we taught a lot on Sunday. Granted, most of it was in church classes like Sunday school and mission prep, but still it was pretty fun. Yeah, that’s pretty much a summary of the week.

On a more spiritual note, the Book of Mormon is amazing! I had the opportunity to finish it again this week. It’s almost sad when I get into Moroni because it’s like counting down the last chapters, and when you get to chapter 10 it’s super surreal. It’s like parting with an old friend after a long journey. And then meeting right back up. Because you start the Book of Mormon again. That’s just the way it is, it might seem ridiculous reading the same book over and over again, but that’s the beauty of it. No matter how many times you read it, you learn something new. It’s still the word of God. The spirit still speaks to you as you read. Even though the revelation you receive is different each time, it’s still revelation. It is my personal belief that in time the Book of Mormon will be considered the single most influential book in human history, closely followed by the Bible, which is just as much the word of God. I just love the scriptures so much, and I just want others to feel the same way. So go read the Book of Mormon! Read the Bible! Do something to further your eternal progression. I promise you it won’t hurt you to take some time away from a screen (I say that as I’m typing this on an iPad 🤣) to read the LITERAL word of God. You’re welcome in advance.

Have a great week!

Elder Orchard

Post Zone Activity. I was a little tired.

Post Zone Activity. I was a little tired.

 Caught mid-sushi bite.

Aloha!

Well everyone, looks like its Monday again. I honestly don’t know where the weeks are going, it really seems like a blink of an eye and then its p-day again. I’ve only got about 15 more of these left, which I guess seems like a lot when I think about it, but honestly they’ll be here and gone like nothing. Anyway, now that the surreal thought of the week is out of the way, let’s get down to business!

Shon’s baptism happened this last Saturday, with the confirmation on the same day. It continues to amaze me how powerful the Holy Ghost is when we just open our hearts, and there really is nothing He can’t do. Shon’s adoptive grandma gave a short talk on the Holy Ghost and spoke about how He prompted Shon’s mom to adopt first his younger sister Camille, and then a year or so later He prompted her to adopt Shon as well. I know that what she said is true because of the light and joy this gospel has brought into Shon’s life, and the light and joy Shon has brought into the lives of his family and us as we’ve taught him. He’s truly an incredible kid, and now he’s part of an incredible gospel family.

Another really awesome part of last week was stake conference in the Israel Canyon stake, particularly the leadership and adult sessions on Saturday. Yes, I thought both sessions were wonderful and I came away spiritually fed. No, it wasn’t because in one of them we watched a scene from Moana and related it to ministering, or because the stake president did a phone survey about google reviews he’d read. Well, maybe just a little. The theme for the conference was “The Aloha Spirit”, which if you think the way I think, was a little profound, pretty ridiculous, and slightly racist for an all-white stake presidency to do. But to be honest, the message hit right home on what the stake needed and made me think a lot about what I can do to improve as a minister to others and as a good friend and neighbor in general. Moral of the story: don’t judge a book by its cover.

Everything I’ve talked about took place on Saturday and a little bit Sunday. The rest of the week was slow and kind of boring. We were stuck inside most of Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday while Elder Wood recovered from his wisdom teeth surgery. I capitalized on the time and finished reading the Old Testament (which means I finally officially graduated from seminary, Lisa!). I guess we did have zone conference on Friday, I got to conduct and we gave two 20+ minute training sessions, so that’s exciting too. But yeah, the gospel is still true. Always has been, always will be. Sometimes I don’t show it, others times I try way too hard, but I really care about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church that espouses it, and I really care about all of you as well. Thanks again for all you do, and thanks for bearing with this book I wrote today. See y’all next week!

Elder Orchard

Elder Johnson, Wood, and Me with Shon after his baptism

He was more interested in his gifts then in talking to people

In case you didn’t believe me about Moana...

We found out why one of our mini fridges stopped working

One of Shon’s baptism pictures where he looks like a G