Dec. 30, 2013

It was good to talk with you on Christmas day.  It was much needed.  This week ended weird.  Saturday evening the zone leaders came and talked to us and told us that we are loosing the trust of the members here in the ward.  I'm not sure what we have done to have to have them loose our trust.  The zone leaders told us to continue to work hard and to work with the members.  It has been slow lately because of the Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we have still been trying to find those who are wanting to hear what we have to say.  Hopefully we will be able to fix the problem soon.  We will be attending the temple next week so that will be a good time to seek for extra guidance in how to regain the trust of the members.

I don't have a whole lot to say since I told you most everything on Christmas day.

I love you.

Love,
Scott

December 23, 2013

This week has been ok.  The beginning of the week was great.  My companion and I had a great time last couple of days that we were together.  Wednesday we had transfers.  I went with an elder up to Leavenworth, which is a cool little town that is kind of like a German town.  There are lots of lights and cool little shops to look at.  I got my new companion Wednesday night and things kind of went down from there.  He's been our for 3 transfers.  I don't think he realizes that I'm here to help him.  We don't talk.  I've tried to have a conversation with him but not much get talked about, so I'm not sure what to do.
As for our investigators, we haven't been able to really meet with any of them.  For the most part we just do whatever to find new people to teach.
I did find out that the family that is housing us are trying to find us a new place to live.  The missionaries were only suppose to be stay here for about 6 months and it's been a year now, so it looks like we may be moving soon.
I finally got over my illness and neither of my companions got sick so that's good.
It has warmed up a bit so we aren't freezing all the time.  It did snow the other day while we were out so it did get a little chilly.
Our ward mission leader told us that we can Skype from his house on Christmas so I think we will try and do that again.

That's about my week.  I love you and look forward to talking to you Wednesday

Love,
Scott

Dec. 16, 2013

Well this week has been a busy one.  We had a Zone meeting Tuesday which was interesting.  During our Zone meeting we were going over our goals for the zone and while we were setting a goal for baptism, the zone got into a stand off which lasted about an hour.  Our mission goal for the month of December was to have 65 baptisms for the whole mission.  The goal for the zone was 15 (which I think is pretty reasonable).  The zone leaders wanted to change the goal to something a little higher.  Some people got talking and they came up with 40 people for our zone alone.  The sisters and the some elders were all for it.  Then one of the zone leaders asked me what I thought about the goal and I told them that I thought 40 was too high.  The past couple of months we have only hit the teens.  So I asked them if they are going to just baptize less active members.  I told them about a lady I ran into who the missionaries pushed her to be baptized and now she is less active and won't come to church because she doesn't believe it's true.  So I told them 20 would be a more realistic number.  Some of the sisters went off saying that we didn't have enough faith and that if we test our faith then we will see miracles and we could reach our goal of 40.  Then one of the zone leaders asked my companion what he thought.  He was on the same page as I was.  He did mention that we could have all the faith in the world but it is still up to Heavenly Father as to when people join the church and that we need to make sure that it's something that the investigator wants and that they will be lifelong members.  There are too many times where he has run into less active members who joined the church because the missionaries said it was a good idea.  After while we were able to come to the agreement that 20 was a more reasonable number and could be reached.

Wednesday was a fun day.  We had our Christmas Zone Conference, where 6 zones got together and we had a musical program and then we were able to watch Monster University.  I was also able to see some elders from other areas as well.

Thursday and Friday we tried to contact people from our area book that we put together but had no luck.  By the time I got home Friday night I wasn't feeling too good.  My face was hot but the rest of my body was cold.  Saturday when I woke up I didn't feel good at all.  My throat was sore, my left ear hurt and my tonsils were red with little white flakes on them.  A couple of other elders come over and brought me some Benadryl and 7 up.  I ended up sleeping all day.  Sunday I felt a little better.  I went to church and did all the usual Sunday things.  Sunday night we got our transfer call.  My companion is getting transferred Wednesday.  Neither one of us was happy about that, but life goes on.

Today my throat and ear still hurt but not as bad as it was.  It's more of just an annoying pain.  I've been gargling salt water which helps some.

Well, that's about my week.

Love, Scott

Dec. 9, 2013

It's been rather cold here.  The high one day was 17.  One night it got down to 3.  It's suppose to snow Wednesday.  We will have to see what happens.  We have been putting on 5 layers of clothes to try and stay warm, but we still get cold!!

The work is pretty slow but we are trying to find people to teach.  We aren't having much success there.  We just need to find something that works. 

Transfer calls are Saturday which means that transfers are next week.  My companion and I are hoping that we both get to stay.  We will have to see what happens.  I'm hoping to spend Christmas here.

Rhett and Paul, from Pasco, came up to see me, Elder Tubbs and Elder Greenwell.  We had lunch together then walked around and talked for a little while.  We did help the Lutheran Church down the street hang up some lights in their church.

We are meeting with the Methodist family tomorrow night.  We plan on showing them the "Prophet of the Restoration" DVD.  We will see how that goes.

Saturday we ate lunch at Red Robin and I was able to see the score of the OU/OSU game.  That was pretty cool.

Dec. 2, 2013

This week was a tough one.  All of our investigators went out of town so we ended up walking around on the streets trying to find people to talk to.

We did have lesson with the Methodist family that we are teaching.  We discussed who God was.  They believe in the trinity.  That was interesting having them explain it me.  To me they made it sound like God is an alien.  I brought up the scripture in Acts 7:55-56 where Stephen gets stoned and he sees God and Jesus right before he dies.  I had them explain they scripture to me and they said that it was like an apple.  So it made no sense to me.  We will have to see what happens.  We do have another appointment with them.  We are hoping we can stop by and talk to them before our next appointment.

For Thanksgiving we had lunch with our host family, then for dinner we had Ramen soup.  The rest of the time we walked around town but no one was out.

I did send a package home today with some things that I don't need right now, like my long sleeve shirts and some jackets that have been given to me.  I also sent home a binder of letters that have been sent to me and journal full of notes that I have taken.

It's good to hear that Kristian almost has his papers filled out.  Zane has been asking how he is doing.  I'll have to let him know.

I hope all is well at home. 

I love you.

Love,
Scott

November 25, 2013

Not much happened this week.  Last night we had a lesson with some people who are Methodist.  They mainly had questions about things we believe in. The meeting went pretty good.  They told us that we are welcome over anytime and would like to have us over again.  We are going to try and set something up with them again.

We had a lesson with an investigator whose dad practices polygamy.  He has 2 moms.  He mentioned that he doesn't want to be apart of what his dad is doing and wants to know what the main stream Mormons believe.  I think there is a real good chance that he will be baptized.

Sunday we found out that one of our less active members passed away Friday night from pneumonia.  We went and visited him just the day before.  Also one of the Deacons in the ward broke his neck while snow boarding Saturday morning.  He has feeling in all his limbs.  It could take up to 2 years to fully recover.

It is really cold here.  We wear our thermals all the time and we our still cold.  I'll think I'm going to get a couple of sweaters to wear and hope that that will help me stay warm.

That's about all for this week.

I love you.
Love,
Scott

November 19, 2013

Things are going pretty good here.  I am feeling better but a couple of days later my companion got sick.  Needless to say last week was very long.

Yesterday we had training with a member of the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy.  The training was on how to teach more simply and gave us list of 4 things that our investigators to know.  They are;
1. That God and Jesus both appeared to Joseph Smith
2. The Book of Mormon is the word of God
3. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and
4. The Priesthood has been restored

Hopefully we will be able to use what was talk and be able to teach more simply.

We were able to meet with Larry last week but Justin was busy.  Larry told us that Justin had a dream that he was a member of the Church.  Justin also hasn't been reading like we would like him to and he hasn't been able to come to church yet, so we will have to see what we can do to help him.

My workouts are getting harder because it's getting cold.  The other day we did go for a bike ride up a canyon that is by our apartment.  It was all up hill.  We did find a trail to ride, there were a lot of switchbacks and was looking out over the valley.  I realized how out of shape I am.  I'll have to work on that.

The members are feeding us pretty good.  I am trying to cut back on what I eat at dinner and it's working pretty well.  As of right now we don't have an appointment for Thanksgiving but I think that will change before long.

I do have another package I will be sending home soon.  I'll be sending home a couple of jackets and some long sleeve shirts that I don't need right now.  I will also be sending home another binder full of letters.

That is pretty much my week.

I love you.

Love,
Scott

Nov. 11, 2013

The family history library was open today so we went there to email today.

This week went by fast.  Wednesday was transfers and Elder Smith got transferred.  I got my knew companion Wednesday night.  Him and I get along really well.  Thursday Elder Layden unpacked.  Friday we went and saw a couple of investigators and some less active members so they could meet Elder Layden.  Saturday we cleaned a 2 mile stretch of the highway.  When we got home my stomach started hurting.  I laid down to rest.  I felt awful.  Our ward mission leader told me to just stay home Sunday and rest, so that is what we did.  We stay in Sunday and didn't do anything.  I am feeling a lot better.

That's about my week.

Love,
Scott


Here is the fish that Elder Smith caught.  The bottom picture is what it has looked like here the passed couple of days.

Nov. 4, 2013

This week for me was alright.

We meet with one of our investigators twice the week.   Things went pretty good. Although he uses marijuana. He says it's for medical purposes. We are going to have to find out if he has a prescription for it not and weather or not his is using it for just medical purposes or not, which could be hard to prove.
Friday we we're suppose to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, but one of them had his 4 bottom front teeth knocked out playing soccer last Monday.  Needless to say he is on a liquid diet for the next  month of so.  The dentist also told him to not eat any apples for a year or he may loose his teeth.  He also cannot workout for the rest of his mission.
Tuesday we had a mini exchange with the Zone Leaders. Elder Davis, the one who got his teeth knocked out, went with me to a dinner appointment. The family that we had the dinner appointment with made Elder Davis a smoothie for dinner.

Elder Smith decided to catch a couple of fish that we swimming around the canal. Elder Smith caught 4 fish and out them in a mason jar. They all died the next morning. He went and got more but they died that night. I guess he's just not suppose to have fish.

We did receive the transfer call Saturday night. I will be staying in Wenatchee. Elder Smith is being transferred to Kennewick. Elder Smith was kind of freaked out about it. He said he felt like needed to do something but didn't know what. I just told him to go to bed.

That's about my week. I love you and appreciate all you do for me.

Love ,
Scott

Oct. 28, 2013

Last week was kind of a crazy one.  

Elder Smith and I went there for lunch one day at a place called Dizzy D's. They have this burger called the 18 wheeler.  It has 9 1/4 lb patties, 3 onion rings, 3 eggs and 3 tomato slices.  If you can eat the burger in 18 minutes, the burger is free and you get your picture on the wall.  Elder Smith decided to take the challenge to eat the 18 wheeler.  Elder Smith was able to eat the 18 wheeler burger in 11 minutes!! That was crazy.  Needless to say he had a hard time walking the rest of the day.  

We did service for a lady that wanted her windows trimmed.  On our way to her place (we were in our service clothes) there was a lady that had told us that her prayers were answered and that Mormon missionaries don't have to wear suit and ties any more.  She also asked us if we could do some service work for her.  We told her that we were unable to help her at that time because we were on our way to help someone but that we could come by Friday and help. 

We got a phone call from someone that we tracted into.  He asked if we could help him build a patio in his backyard Saturday.  We told him that we couldn't because we had a meeting to attend.  We did mention that we would see if we could find someone who could help him.  We ended up calling the Elders Quorum President and told him the situation.  He said that he would find some people to help him.  So that was good.

We also went tracting with the spanish speaking Elders this week.  While I was out tracting, we came across someone who has been excommunicated from the church.  This person is convinced that the Mormons are out to take over the world and when you get old and can't think for yourself the church will come and buy all that you own.  That was an interesting person.  Another house that we came to we were able to see inside the house through the screen door and saw that this house had a cow head mounted on the wall.  That kind of creeped us out a little.  We had an interesting time tracting that day.

A couple of our investigators that we are teaching remind me of Kimie, whom I taught while I was in Pasco.  They just agree with everything that we say or ask them.  That's a little frustrating.

That's about it for the week.

I love you.

Love, Scott

P.S.  Elder Smith sleep walks.  One night he fell asleep while writing in his journal.  I finally turned the lights out when a few minutes later he got up and went to the window and opened the curtains.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said that he was waiting for someone.  They were coming to pick him up so they can go hang out.

Also the pedal striped out on my bike again.  I think I'm done with the bike.  I don't think it's worth fixing again.

Elder Smith after eating the 18 wheeler

Oct. 21, 2013

Hey,
Things are going good.  Things are getting better.  Although I did have to take my bike to the shop again.  I stripped out the pedal again.  They told me that I will need a new crank shaft for that.  That will be about $65.  It should be done by Wednesday or Thursday.

I still think that I will be transferred this next transfer.  I'll just have to wait and see what happens.  This Friday we will be heading down to Kennewick.  Elder Ballard will be speaking to us.  I'm excited to see and hear Elder Ballard.

I sent you a letter today.  Most of what happened I put in there so I won't repeat too much.  I'll also be sending some things home.  Mostly shirts that I don't need.  I'm also going to send home my iPod so you can put some more music on it.

Sorry there is not much in this email.  Like I said I mailed a letter home today that has most of what happened this week in it.

I love you.

Scott

P.S.  I did go to Saddle Rock today.  Here are some pictures that I took while I was there and one from when we went to the temple.

Oct. 14, 2013

This week was alright.  We had a lot of meetings and did a lot of traveling.  We had a zone meeting Tuesday.  Wednesday we made a trip to the temple.  The temple was awesome.  Thursday we painted a  house for Habitat for Humanity.  I also got my bike back from the bike shop.  It's good to have it back.  Friday we had our weekly planning meeting.  It's been kind of a weird week.  I'm glad it's over.  Next week won't be as bad.

We received a call from the Mission President letting us know that on Oct. 26 Elder Ballard will be here along with an Area Authority and a member of the 70.  We will be heading to to Kennewick the night before so we do not have to get up so early.

The training is coming along.  It can be challenging at times.  I think my companion is hard on himself somethings.

I do have a strong feeling that I will get transferred out of Wenatchee in a couple of weeks.  We will see what happens.

Well, that's my week in a nut shell.

I love you.

Love,
Scott

Oct. 7, 2013

When I got the call from Pres. Ware asking if I would train a greenie, I was pretty nervous.  I figure I must be doing something right in order to get this tall order.  I just have to take it one day at a time.

This week week had a trainer/trainee meeting in Moses Lake, which is about 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive.  In the meeting they told us what to expect and gave us some pointers.  They also told us to focus on the 12 week program.  Pres. Ware took everyone who was training with him and opened it up for discussion.  We discussed how we think the best way to train.  Basically we are to use the principles found in "Preach My Gospel".  Elder Smith and I have been working on those each day.

This week we will be making the 3 hour trip to Kennewick to attend the temple.  I'm looking forward to that.  Then on Oct. 26, one of the General Authorities is coming to speak to us.  I am so pumped for that.

My bike has a flat tire.  I fixed that.  Then I noticed that where the pedal screws are for the crank shaft has been stripped out and the derailer needed to be worked on.  I ended up taking the bike to the bike shop.  They later told me that the derailer was missing a part and would have to order it, so I would be without a bike for about a week.  Later that evening while at a dinner appointment, somehow the family we were having dinner with had heard that I my  bike was in the shop, so they are letting me borrow one of their bikes until mine gets fixed.  What a great blessing.  (I've already got my shoelace stuck.  I guess I'm going to have to get new shoe laces.  Oh, and I've already wore a hole in the crotch a pair of pants that I bought while in Pasco.)

Elder Smith and I have started to go through our area book to look for potential investigators (tracting is frowned upon and we are to only go if there is nothing else to do).  We started going through our list and contacting the people.  One house we came to the person who we had listed in the area book doesn't live there anymore,  but they people that do said that we could share our message with them.  We ended up teaching her the restoration and she also wants to come to church Sunday.  We were able to find another person who let us in.  Having people let us into their homes and give them lessons don't happen very often, but that night it happened twice.  That was pretty cool.

We do have one investigator that is preparing for baptism.  That is exciting.

That's about it.  

I love you.

Love,

Scott

Oh, I heard from a missionary that is in Vancouver that Oscar is planning on going on a mission!! (Oscar was one that we baptized while I was serving in Vancouver).

I was able to watch all of the sessions of conference.  There were some really good talks given.

Sept. 30, 2013

Before I left Pasco I went and say good bye to the members and those that I have worked with while I was there.  I saw Max.  When I told him that I was leaving he seemed pretty sad.  He said that he would miss me.  He also got a little choked up and teary eyed before I left.  He also told me that I better come back and see him after my mission.  I guess he enjoyed having me around.

I also saw TJ, he was in the YSA, he likes his personal space and is not one to give out hugs at all.  The only missionaries that he has given a hug to was the one that baptized him, so when I went to tell him bye, he told me that I could pick out a tie to have (he doesn't do that very often).  Before I left his place he gave me a bro hug, which surprised me.  That made me feel like an awesome missionary.  I guess the members in Pasco really enjoyed having me.

Wenatchee is pretty, it's also chilly.  There is snow on the mountains to the north so it makes it difficult to bike around.  It will take some time getting use the area.   My first couple of days have been a little frustrating.  I'm still trying to figure out the area.  There is great member support though and they are excited about missionary work.
 My companion if Elder Smith and is from Orem, Utah.  He plays the piano and has traveled the world playing in concerts.

That's about my week.

Love,
Scott

Sept. 23, 2013

This week has been pretty good.  It went really fast.  We didn't have a baptism this weekend and we were not able to meet with Alex.  We did try and stop by but he was never home and when we would call him he would never answer our calls.  Last week I mentioned that that we were seeing miracles.  I was referring to Alex, him telling us that he wanted to be baptized, which was pretty awesome.  We just have to get with him and that hasn't been easy.

Saturday, the mission president called and asked if I would except a training calling in a new zone.  I am being transferred to Wenatchee.  I will have to figure out the area and train a new greenie.  It should be an exciting adventure.  At least I had some experience with training so that will be helpful.  Wenatchee is a walking area, but I have found a bike already.  I got it from and Elder.  He told me that I could have it if I could fix it, so that's what I did this morning and I've almost got it fixed.  This elder said that he got it from a mission junk garage.  You can beat a free bike.  I've also been told that Wenatchee is a very mountainous area and it gets really cold in the winter.  It can get around 10 degrees.  THAT is cold.

When I told the members of the YSA branch that I was getting transferred some were pretty sad.  They told me they wished I could stay longer and they felt that my time in Pasco was too short.  After the meetings in the YSA branch, we had a missionary meeting and one of the sisters that we have worked with a lot walked in the room and said that she can't believe that I am being transferred, we work so well together.

Well, I love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

Sept.16, 2013

Things have been going pretty good.  We had a baptism Saturday which was exciting.  We are seeing miracles happen here!  This week we got a referral from some Elders in the zone.  We contacted them and set up an appointment for Friday.  We had an appointment before our referral appointment which went longer than we excepted so we sent  him a text to him to let him know that we were running late but would be there soon.  He texted back and said that he had read the "Mormon" book and didn't want that in his life right now.  We still wanted to meet with him and see if we could answer any questions that he may have.  He told us that he was fine where he was in his life and didn't want to meet with us.  That was a little disappointment.  We just told ourselves that now may not have been the time for him to hear what we had to say.

We texted another investigator that we have been working with to see if he could make it to the baptism we had on Saturday.  He asked us if he could be baptized.  We have set up to teach him the 1st lesson tonight.  Hopefully things will work out with him.

I have learned to clean up more.  You wouldn't believe how clean I keep things.  You wouldn't believe it if you saw how clean things are in the apartment then they were in my room at home.

That's about my for this week.

Love,
Scott

Here's pictures of my baptisms the past 2 weeks.

Sept. 4, 2013

This week was pretty good.  We had our usual meetings and went and made some visits.

Thursday evening we tried to visit some possible investigators and they were either not home or were not able to meet with us at that time.  Since none of them were available we decided that we would see if we could meet with some former investigators.  We still had no luck.  No one was home.  We decided to take the long way back to our car and see if we could find some people to talk to.  While we were on our way to the car we saw a couple of members of the YSA branch.  We went and talked to them for a while.  We set up an appointment to see them the next day.  While we were talking to them a lady walked by and asked us if we were Mormon missionaries.  We said we were.  She said that she had almost joined the church but couldn't give up smoking and caffeine.  We told her that we could meet with her if she wanted us to but she said that she was moving in about 3 days.  While we were talking to her she told us about some of the things that had happened to her including being hit by an 18 wheeler.  While talking to her we felt impressed to give her a blessing.  She said that she would like that.  The member we were with offered his apartment as a place to go to give her a blessing.  We went up to his apartment and shared with her a message about pressing through hard times, then Elder Greenwell gave her a blessing.  It was a powerful blessing.  The spirit was strong and she was crying by the end of it.  I was close to tears as well.  She thanked us for the message and said that that was just what she needed.

On Friday we had an appointment that went pretty well.  We talked about baptism and how getting married  will bless them.  We also showed them a video, which he mentioned was very powerful.

Saturday we had another baptism, which was awesome.  He bore his testimony after his baptism on Saturday and then again on Sunday during Sacrament meeting.    That was pretty cool.

We didn't really do anything for Labor day.  We played volleyball and basketball and had FHE

August 26, 2013

This week was pretty good.  Kimie was baptized and confirmed a member of the church!!!  We did a recap with Kimie this past week just to make sure she understood everything.  All was good and she was baptized!!
We did find a new investigator this week.  We were looking through our area book when we came across this name and decided to go and check it out.  We were able to answer some of his questions but then all he wanted to do was argue so we told him we needed to go because we had another appointment.
We were able to meet with Danny.  He wants to be baptized Sunday.  We met with him after church Sunday and will meet with him again this week.  Everything looks good for him getting baptized this week.
I am still working out in the mornings.  In fact I've had a couple of the members ask me if I'm losing weight.  My hard work is paying off.

That's about it for this week.

Love,
Scott

August 19, 2013

This week has been a crazy one.  Monday, Elder Walker went to the mission home so I got paired up with 2 other missionaries and all of us stayed in my apartment.  It was a challenge trying to juggle both of our areas.  Tuesday we went and visited some less active members which was fun.  There was a guy that needed up with his 76 step side Chevy. (All that work we did on Heather's truck paid off).  Also on Tuesday we started helping the Simpsons pack.  I will miss seeing her at church.  We also were able to meet with Kimie and showed her the Restoration video and taught her the law of tithing.  I think she had a hard time grasping that.  We did our best to explain it to her though.
 Wednesday we finished helping the Simpsons pack, when we were done she asked if I could give her a blessing, so I did.  It was pretty awesome.  Wednesday evening I got my new companion, Elder Greenwell.  He has only been out for 1 transfer so I will finish up his training.  Hopefully I will do okay.
Thursday was a busy day.  We went to teach an investigator named Tony.  This was the 2nd time we had met with him, I asked him if he remembered anything from the last time we meet, but he didn't remember much.  We recapped on what we had taught him before.  He remembered some but not much.  We taught him the Plan of Salvation, which went okay.  Before we left we had asked him to say the closing prayer, but said that he didn't know how or what to say, so we explained to him how to pray, but still didn't want to so I said the pray and asked him to keep trying.  Later that day evening we had a lesson with with a new investigator and a less active member.  We taught them at the institute building.  Elder Greenwell taught the lesson, not sure if it was his first time to teach a lesson, he rushed through a few things so we had to go back and explain some things, but Elder Greenwell did a good job.
We have a couple of investigators that are on date to be baptized which is real exciting.
That's about it for this week.  I love you.

Love,
Scott

August 12, 2013

I do feel a little older but not too much.  I had a pretty good birthday.  We had a lot a church yesterday and a few appointments.  Sister Simpson had us over for dinner.  She made me a cake, which was nice of her.  She also got me a camo hat, a knife and hair clippers.  I will have to attempt to cut my own hair again.
This week was pretty good.  We did the usual.  We met with Kimie and we will meet with her again tomorrow night.  We will teach her the law of tithing and keeping the Sabbath day holy.  Saturday the Spanish elders were had a baptism, we thought it would be good idea to take Kimie so she can see how long she would be under water.  We got everything lined up and got her a ride, but her ride forgot and showed up.  She got there a minuted too late.  Oh well.
We had a zone meeting Thursday.  It was pretty good.  After the meeting some of the members invited us over for lunch.  They fed us steak, potatoes and corn.  While we were there the conversation somehow changed to the sisters chasing chickens.  The sisters asked if we could them catch some of the chickens for one of their investigators.  After we got done chasing them we put them back in their coop.  The husband said that if we want a duck to eat we can catch them.  We were able to catch them and then we used them as duck guns and acted like we were shooting each other.  It was pretty fun.  My duck ended up pooping on me. =(.
That was my week.  It was pretty interesting.
I did find out that my new companion has only been out for one transfer so I will finish his training.  I hope I do a good job.

I love you.

Love,
Scott

August 5, 2013

This week has been pretty good.  I've been trying to keep my companion motivated by going and seeing people and tracting.  We've also been doing some service work as well.
We were able to meet with Kimie this week.  It's hard to keep her focused and keep her on the topic of what we are teaching her.  Our Branch President even has a hard time keeping her focused.  She has cats at her place and they seem to distract her so we changed locations of where we teach her and she still some how changes the subject and talks about her cats.  It's a little frustrating.  She is however still scheduled to be baptized on the 24th of August.  As for Johnny, we haven't heard from him in a couple of weeks.
On Friday we were over at Sis. Simpson's house digging a trench for her sprinkler system.  She invited us for dinner that night, after dinner she said that we could make smores.  We went back over there for dinner that evening.  After dinner we built a fire in her front yard to make the smores.  After about 15 minutes the fire department and an ambulance showed up.  The fireman walks up to us and asks if everything is fine because someone had called and reported that there was a fire.  They told us it was a legal fire since we were using it to cook.  We offered them a smore while they filled out the paperwork.  That made for an interesting evening.
I did go golfing this morning.  That was pretty fun.  I did better than the last time I went.
Take pictures of Heather when she gets her wisdom teeth pulled.  I would like to see them.

That's about all for now.

I love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

July 29, 2013

This week was a pretty good week.  On Tuesday we helped a sister clean her yard and her garage.  Tuesday night we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders.  Our zone leader is ver direct and to the point so it was interesting to be with him.  All he talked about was the scriptures.  We stopped by less active members during the day on Wednesday.  Wednesday night when we were to exchange back he told that I was a good missionary and that he could see a lot of potential in me.  That made me feel good.
On Thursday we had zone conference which took up most of the day.  We got trained on revelation through church attendance and how to get investigators into the church buildings.  Witch that helped a lot of people.  That night for dinner we had an appointment with a part member family.  One of the family members was feeling sick so they asked for a blessing and I was able to give her a blessing.  Then on Friday we got asked by member of the YSA ward to help him move.  While we were waiting around we got a call from the bishop and was asked if we could stop by and give a blessing to a less active member.  She was going in for back surgery.  When we got there she had asked me to give her a blessing.  I don't think I've ever given so many blessings before in one week so that was kind of cool.  Later that day we helped a member of the YSA ward move on Friday night.
We were able to meet with Kimie and put her back on target to be baptized.  If all goes according to plan she will be baptized on August 24.
They had some boat races on the river close to where we live and could hear them.  We wanted to go and watch the races but decided that we probably shouldn't go.

That's about all for this week.

Love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

July 22, 2013

Not too much going on this week.  We were able to get in touch with Kimie and she was able to make it to church.  We got a new investigator this week.  He has met with the missonaires the past 2 years and has only missed church 4 times in 2 years!!  We have met with him and have him on date to be baptized on August 3
My new companion in from NM.  He goes home August 13 so he is super trunky.  Some times I have to give hime an extra push to get out and do some missionary work.
We helped some members clean out their garage this week.
That's about all for this week. 

I love you.

Love,
Scott

July 15, 2013

This week was pretty good but the weekend was interesting.
We went on exchanges Friday night with the Zone Leaders.  The elder that I was with goes home in a month and is really trunckie.  He's really into baseball and talked about playing for BYU.  He wanted to see Max so I took him over to see him and then tried to go and see some other people but no one was home.
Saturday we got up and went for a run and when we got back we were getting ready for our study time when his companion called and said there was a problem and they needed to take care of it.  So our exchanges ended early.  When Elder Tubbs got back we went over to see Max, he had us help him organize his garage.  While we were over there we got a phone call from the Zone Leaders asking us if we could take a missionary for a couple of days (apparently there were some missionaries that got in trouble).  We told the Zone Leader that we take one of the missionaries.  After getting off the phone we told Max that we would have to leave soon to pick up the other missionary that would be staying with us for the next couple of days.  Max told us to come back around 6 and he would feed us dinner.
When we pick up the other missionary, he told us that he and his previous companion watched a couple of movies when the members that they were staying with were out of town.  We also found out that there will be a transfer tomorrow.  Elder Tubbs and the other elder are both getting transferred tomorrow and I will be getting a new companion.  So it's been an interesting week.

Our next transfer will be in 4 week and there will be 38 new missionaries!!

Our baptism that we have scheduled for the 20th has been postponed since we have not been able to meet with her for the last couple of weeks.  Hopefully we will be able to meet with her soon.

We were able to go to the Columbia River Temple last week.  It's a little bigger than OKC Temple.

I was also able to give a 4 year old a blessing for a part member family.

That's about it for now.

I love you.

Love,
Scott

July 1, 2013

This week has been a  pretty good one.  No new investigators, but was able to meet with an investigator.

I haven't met the new mission president yet, but I think I will be able to meet him on July 4.  I'm kind of excited about getting a knew mission president, but will miss Pres. and Sister Greer.

Saturday we got invited to Chase's house, the singer of that band I was telling you about.  We were able to watch a rehearsal.  It was fun to watch the other members of the band rehearse and goof around.  They sounded good.  It was a cool experience.

Last night we had a really good fireside for less active members and investigators.  We had converts share their stories of being baptized and what they went through.  Although we didn't have any less active members or investigators show up.  That was kind of disappointing.

I've lost about about 10 lbs.  which I'm excited about.  I'm just trying to eat healthier.  Although this week has been hard as far as eating healthy.  We've had members take us to IHOP twice this week and pizza brought to us one night since we didn't have a dinner appointment.

My suits are holding up.  Although I have one that still has a tear in the side.  I don't think I can fix it.  I haven't had time to take it to a seamstress.

We did go and see a less active member this week.  We usually call before we go, but this time we decided that we would just show up.  When we get to his house we knock on the door.  It opens it a crack and sees that it's us at the door.  He invites us in, so my companion and I walk in  and we see the less active member walk into the other room and he was butt naked.  My companion and I just look at each other like, "What is going on?"  When he comes back in the room, this time with clothes on, he sits down like nothing happened. That is one experience I will never forget.

You would be shocked at how clean our apartment is.  It's like something happened.  I don't have clothes laying on everywhere.  I make my bed more.  I even fold my clothes and put them away.  You would be impressed.

Hope you have a good week.

I love you.

Love,
Scott

June 24, 2013

This week was an interesting one.  We had transfers this week and my companion and I are staying so we will be in the Washington Kennewick Mission.  My district got split again.  There are 4 elders in my district.  There were 3 new sisters that were transferred into our zone.  That makes 7 in my zone.  5 of them live in the same apartment complex as my companion and I do.

This week I finished the "Miracle of Forgiveness", which I enjoyed reading, and I'm now reading "Our Search for Happiness".

This week we stopped by a less active member.  He likes to have the missionaries over.  Max really likes to fish.  Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.  I thought it was bad when Dad, Mike, and I went fishing but he is much worse.  He's told us stories about having the boat trailer run over his foot and the guy he fishes with, both of them falling out of the boat.  He also mentioned that his fishing buddy can mess up a free lunch as well.
Max was going to take us out for lunch one day last week, but he ended up canceling on us because he had a date.  He calls a couple of days later and he wants to take us out to dinner that night, it just happened that we didn't have a dinner appointment that night.  Max tells us to be at his house at 5 for hamburgers.   We go about our day and we are doing are service at Sister Simpsons (which is building  an outdoor pot -a- potty),  5 O'clock rolls around and we don't have time to change so we just head over to Max's house.  After about 5 minutes of us getting there he tells us to get in his truck, he needs to make a quick stop before we get something to eat.  Next thing Elder Tubbs and I know we are driving across the bridge (the river is the boundary for our zone).  We tell Max that we are out of our zone and need to go back.  Max says that it won't be for long.  Max keeps driving and next thing we know he pulls up to a Chinese restaurant and tell us this is where we are eating.  After trying to explain to Max that we are not suppose to be on this side of the river he admitted that he was planning on taking us here all along.  The whole time Max is laughing at us and telling us that it won't be much longer.
While were were eating Max was telling me that I was big enough to be a line backer at a small college and that I could get through school playing football.  I tell him thanks and get up to go to the restroom.  While I'm drying my hands a small hispanic guy walks in with his shoulders up thinking he's all big and bad until he sees me in my boots and jeans, then he drops his shoulders and hurries to the stall.  When I walk out I tell Elder Tubbs and Max what happened and Max just dies laughing.

I watched the leadership training broadcast and recognized Pres. Bowman.  I had a couple of people ask if I knew him.

This week we also put one of our investigators on date to be baptized on July 20.  We need to finish teaching her the commandments and the rest of lesson 4 then she should be good to go.

That's been the highlight of my week.

I love you and hope you're doing well.

Love,
Scott

June 17, 2013

This morning we got up early and played a round of gold with the lead singer of Good Night Argent, Chase Thompson, which was pretty cool.  He used his wives clubs which were pink.  It was pretty funny.  We later and played basketball and had FHE with the YSA and lunch with a family in one of the wards that I cover.  Today has been a busy one and we still need to go shopping.  My last area the members bought our food, this area we buy our own food.  As a result I've done a lot better budgeting my money.  In this area we don't live with members, we have our own apartment.

We received our transfer call on Saturday, both my companion and I will be staying in this area.  So I will be staying the Washington Kennewick Mission.  The mission will go into Canada.  There is one ward that is in Canada, so maybe I'll get to serve there.  We are also taking in part of the Spokane Mission.  The next transfer will be on my birthday.  It hard to believe that time is going so fast.  It's hard to believe that I've been out for almost 6 months.  It make my mission seem really short.

I've been really watching what I've been eating and not eating as much and try not to eat after 8 pm.  Last week I lost 2 lbs, but this last week I've lost 5lbs.  I've been running on the treadmill.  I've done 8 miles in an hour and do about 2.5 miles in 20 minutes.  I'm not starving myself.  Just watching what I'm eating.

Zane emailed me and said that we should both go to BYU I and room together, which is kind of funny because I was already thinking about going there when I get off my mission.  I've been thinking that when I get home I could work for the summer and save money to pay for my schooling and try and go in the fall.

I love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

June 10, 2013

So far this week has been a good week.  Pasco is nice.  It's a desert.  It doesn't rain much here and the sun is always out.  There are a few mountains off in the distance but there are hills everywhere.  My area is a little slow as far as missionary work goes.  We did get a new investigator in the YSA branch that I'm in.  One of the investigators that we are teaching is reading the Book of Mormon.  He reads it every morning and says that the thing in the Book of Mormon is true.  He also enjoys coming to church.  Earlier in the week I was able to give a member of the YSA branch, who is going through a rough time a blessing.

I went on exchanges this week.  While on exchanges I helped a guy move into his apartment.  One of the friends of this guy that we helped moved had strayed away from the church and has now come back and has gone through the temple.  He is now planning his wedding and getting married in the temple.  By his example he has showed his friend how much the gospel can change peoples lives.

Do you remember Elder Jenks?  He served in our ward about 5 years ago.  I saw him in the YSA branch.  He asked me if I was from OKC 3rd.  I told him yes.  Then he said that he thought I looked familiar.  He remembers the family.  That was cool to see someone who served their mission back home.

We are still doing service work.  We helped a member who is less active rock the back of a waterfall that she had built.  She feeds us every Monday for dinner.  I've told her some stories about the family and now she would like to meet you someday.

Sounds like you have been doing a lot of tornado clean up.  Most people, when they find out I'm from Oklahoma, ask me why we don't move.  I tell them because Oklahoma is home and you can always rebuild.  I also mention that we don't usually have huge tornados like the ones  on May 20 and May 30.

I hope you have a good week.

I love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

June 3, 2013

Sounds like you had a crazy week.
This week was alright.  We didn't do much teaching.  We did a lot of service though.  We helped a sister in our ward rock the back of a water fall.  She had another set of missionaries help her build it.  While we were there we were able to share a few messages with her.  I told her about the storms back home and that last week you went to church in your jeans and t-shirts then went down to help with the tornado cleanup.  She said that really means a lot to her.  It tell her a lot about the kind of family I have and how the church is so willing to help those in need.  She wanted me to tell you that she was proud of ya'll for doing that.

This morning my companion went to the doctor.  He also gets a lot of headaches.

I did go on exchanges with the zone leaders, which was pretty cool.  They are spanish speaking elder and since I don't know any spanish, all I did was sit there and act like I knew what was going on.

I want to be able to fit back into my size 34 jeans by the end of my mission.  I've started running again. Are there any tips you can help me with?

Love,
Elder Poling

May 28, 2013

This week was pretty good.  My new areas are great.  I'm in Pasco which is about 20 minutes from Kennewick.  I get along with my companion.

I saw the pictures from the tornado damage that you sent.  There was a lot of damage.  I must have been weird going to church in your jeans and t-shirts.

The lead singer of a band called Goodnight Argent lives in this area.  He's a member and had us come over t met him on Thursday.  On Saturday we helped him paint his recording studio.  He told us we could come and watch his band do a rehearsal when they get done with a couple of shows this week, so that should be exciting.

I don't have a lot to write about this week.  Hopefully next week.

Have a good week.  I love you.

May 20, 2013

I had exchanges this past week.  They went pretty good.  I went on exchanges with my district leader.  He came to my area, Brush Prairie and Hockinson.  We stayed pretty busy.

We had a lesson this morning.  It went pretty good.  We taught them the Word of Wisdom.  They said they would live by it.

I finally got your package you sent.  It took 2 weeks to get here!!

I saw Mike and Dads pictures from their fishing trip.  I can't believe they caught over 200 fish.  I bet Skip enjoyed fishing that day.

I got the transfer call Saturday and I'll be going to Pasco.  I've heard that it's a really good ward to be in and it's a high baptizing area.  I've also heard good things about the elders serving there.

I've been able to fit most of my stuff in my suitcases so far.  I think I will be able to get the rest of it in.  I started packing last night.  I didn't realize how much stuff I had.

I can't remember if I told you Happy Mother's Day, last week, but Happy Mother's Day.  Your are the best mom anyone could ask for.  I love you and miss you.  Hope you have a good week.

Love,
Elder Poling

May 6, 2013

I got a letter from Sister Hickey's primary class.  They said that they miss me.  Sister Hickey mentioned that Jacob was crying one day in primary and no one could figure out why.  She asked him what was wrong and he said that he misses his Scott.

I finished the Book of Mormon and I'm now reading the New Testament.  I'm in the Book of Mark.  When I'm finished reading the New Testament I will either read the Book of Mormon again or the Doctrine and Covenants.    Not sure which one yet.

The weather here has been beautiful but some complain that it's hot and it only 80.

We had a real cook experience Saturday.  It's too long to type.  I'll have to tell you about when I call home Sunday.

There is a lot that I want to tell you but my time is short.  I will tell you when I call you Sunday.  I look forward to talking to you then.

I love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

April 29, 2013

It sounds like you've had a busy week, with everything you had going on Saturday and the half marathon.  If you start training in a couple of months you might be able to do it faster next year.  Don't train too hard.

My running is going ok.  I don't really time my runs.  I can tell that I'm less tired.  I think I put on about 5 pounds so nothing too much.  Not eating as much at dinner appointments is a good idea, but sometimes the food is just so good.

This Friday one of the families is going to feed us some of her rabbits.  I'm kind of excited for that.  She also said that we can come over and help her butcher her chickens when they are ready.  I thing we are going to have some fun with that.

I'm not a fan of the rain.  It does rain everyday.  The only way people say they can deal with it is by the summers and they say 75 is hot.  They don't like to stand in the sun on a nice sunny day.  I find that to be funny.  I think 75 is real nice.

I do enjoy doing service, especially the hard stuff.  This week we scooped poop and split wood.  We will be doing that again this week.  We will be helping another companionship in our district split wood for a less active member.  I'm excited about that.  We've also helped out another less active member clean out their flower beds and clean up their yard.

One day this past week while on exchanges we were out tracting and no one was answering the door so my companion I was with had the idea to pray, so we stopped to say a short prayer.  After our prayer we continued tracting and the next 7 or 8 houses answered the door so that was cool to see how little prayers work.

Elder Crane was able to give me a haircut.  The last time I had it cut was 2 months ago.  I should be good for a while.

I love you,

Love,
Elder Poling

April 22, 2013

This week was alright.  I seem to get stressed towards the end of the day when I get tired and my companion wants to go way out in the boonies and find an old farmer.  It has paid off though.  We have found 5 new investigators this week.  Two are 7th Day Adventist (there are a lot of them here) and the others just go to  a non denominal church.

The part member family we tracted into came to church yesterday but only stayed for Sacrament meeting.  They did say they enjoyed it and want to come again next week.  We also had another investigator at church this week.  She made some friends after church.  She also said that she wants to come back.

We had a lesson with a guy that we have been teaching, we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, lesson 3 in Preach My Gospel.  He took the lesson really well.  We put him on date to be baptized but then he called us during the week to tell us that we are moving to fast for him and that he wanted more time to think about it.  I found out that his cats have a thing for me.  We teach him outside and while we  were teaching him a cat keeps trying to crawl up my leg and was getting pretty close to my crotch.  I think I have a few claw marks up and down my leg from the cat.  =(.

I have exchanges this week with a greenie.  I think I have found some service that I can go and do with him.  The family we had dinner with last night said they could use some help splitting some wood.  I've been wanting to do that for a while now.

Elder Burgess and I have decided to get up and go for a run in the mornings 3 times a week.  We only run for about a mile.  I can tell that I am out of shape.  I've been able to run farther without stopping and having to breathe real hard, so maybe I will be able to loose some weight.

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

I love you,

Elder Poling

April 15, 2013

The beginning of the week was easy.  It took Elder Wolfgramm a while to pack so I just laid around and talked to him while he packed.  We went to a couple of people in the area so he could goodbye to them.  Wednesday I got my new companion.  He's from Samoa.  He's a real hard worker.  He's also a little OCD about somethings.  He likes to have things organized.  He has even organized my things.

Our investigator that was almost baptized they are remodeling their house so we are kind of waiting for them to get enough done so they feel comfortable with us teaching them in their home.  The other investigator is way cool and very open to listening to us.  I've offered service to both.  To help with the remodel  and to help work on the others car and shine his 66 Mustang.

We did put another investigator on target for a date of May 11 for baptism.  He does need to quit smoking and some other Word of Wisdom problems he has.  He will work with him.

Love,
Elder Poling

April 8, 2013

This week seemed longer than usual for some reason.  I'm not sure why.  We did some service with another companionship one day and we split wood with a maul by hand.  That was real fun but it also takes a lot out of you.  I think we split 10 or so huge stumps that were probably 4-5 feet across.  That took a lot of work.  We then went and did usual missionary stuff the rest of the day. It was hard because we were both so tired from chopping wood.  We scooped poop on Friday and then went and helped the people cut down a few trees.  All we had to cut down the trees were a machete and an ax.  I used the ax.  My back is so sore and my hands are all torn up and have huge blisters from all the swinging that we did.  I've never had my hands be so sore like this before.  When I go and shake peoples hands it would hurt.

We were able to watch all the sessions of conference.  It made Saturday go by pretty quick.  Sunday seemed longer than usual.  Our dinner appointment fell through Sunday.  The family we had the appointment with ended up going to Salt Lake for conference, so we did eat much yesterday.

We did do some tracting yesterday after conference.  It poured on us.  It rained so hard that I go wet through my rain jacket.  I'm going to have to spray some water proofing on it.  We were SOAKED.

We got our transfer call yesterday.  I'm staying here but my companion will be transferred.  My new companion that I will get Wednesday is from Samoa.

They will not split the area yet, so we will really have to try and push for some kind of work in the ward that struggles.

I love you.

Love,
Elder Poing

Most days in WA

April 1, 2013

Happy Easter to you.

Sunday was pretty good.  We had a couple of real good talks in both wards about the Atonement.  The best one was from the family we are staying with.  He talked about how our existence is like a 3 act play.  He talked about how well we all did in act 1 (premortal life).  We are now in act 2.  We don't remember act 1 but we know it was good.  He also talked about how well we do in this life will determine how well act 3 or Heaven will be for us and that we are setting the stage for what is to come.

We had dinner with our host family.  They fed us steaks, which I got to grill.  We also had rolls and baked potatoes.

While we were on our temple trip, the family that took us invited us over for the evening, so we went there with another companionship.  I got to hear how well the Thunder are doing.  When we left to go back to our car (the other companionship drive), my companion realized that he didn't have his keys and that he had left them at the members house.  They live about 20 minutes from where we parked our car.  It was an interesting night.

The temple was great.  I didn't realize how big the Portland Temple was.  They say it is a medium size time.  I guess all temples are huge compared to the OKC Temple.  It was a neat experience.  My zone all went to the temple except one companionship because one of the elders had food poisoning from eating at Red Robbin.  He is doing much better.

We did find one new investigator while we were out tracting.  He was impressed at how far we had walked and wanted to hear our message so he said we came come back.  We did find out that most of his friends are members and thinks very highly of them.

Love,
Elder Poling

March 25, 2013

This week was ok after the weather decided what it was going to do.  We did find a new investigator.  Next transfer we will be getting sister missionaries and therefore will be splitting the area.  Hopefully things will start looking up.

My suits are holding up pretty good.  No tears in them.  One of my shirts however, has a pocket that got torn a little, so I keep that one as a back up.

We didn't get told off this week, which was good.  We did go on exchanges and I had the DL come into our area while my companion went with the DL's companion.  I did find out that the DL can be annoying at times.  He is ready to go home and leaves in a couple of weeks.

We haven't been able to get any return appointments with our part member families which is kind of frustrating and leaves us a lot of time to tract and contact people from the area book.  If our investigators would keep their appointments we would be really busy.

I'm really excited about going to the Portland Temple tomorrow.  I'll send you some pictures next week.

I love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

March 18, 2013

This week has been pretty good.  We found a new investigator while tracting.  While we were tracting we were asked if we were LDS.  The lady that asked us if we are LDS her husband is a member but is less active.  She said they were going to attend church but didn't know anyone so they didn't go.  We went back later that night and found out that she was going to be baptized at one point but her parents didn't allow it.  Her husband does have a Word of Wisdom problem though and he is willing to change and come back.  While tracting the same day we ran into a guy who is selling his Harley.  He let us sit on his bike and have our picture taken.  He wasn't interested in listening to us then but wants us to come back later and talk to him.

We had a weird dinner appointment last week.  After dinner we went to have a spiritual message with them before we left.  I started the message when both parents left then the oldest daughter got up and left so we were just left with the 2 youngest kids.  After we left there we had an appointment with a lady that we have been meeting with for the past month.  She has a hard time with just about everything we teach her and with keeping commitments.  She did talk to the Bishop yesterday before church and things went well.  She is more willing to keep commitments and said that she is ready to make changes in her life.

We did scoop poop again last week but this time it was for service.  We also went and worked out with a 20 year old.  He is thinking about serving a mission but he's a little hesitant about it.

I'll have to let everyone know that Heather can shoot a gun.  One guy here told me to have all Heather's friends write him.

Well I love you.

Elder Poling

March 11, 2013

This week was very interesting.  Monday we had an appointment set with a part member family but they called and cancelled on us.  Tuesday, we went tracting and gave out a couple Books of Mormon. While tracting we found a guy that is very anti.  He told us that we are children of the Devil and that we believe in a different Jesus and that our Jesus is of the Devil and that there is a veil between us and him so that our evil spirit could get in him and destroy his sole.  On Wednesday, we taught our new member a new member discussion.  He remembered a lot of what we taught him about the restoration the 1st lesson we gave when we started teaching him, which made it easy to teach him on Wednesday.  Thursday, we did service with another companionship in a small town called Yacolt.  The guy that we helped was ranked 3rd in the world of arm wrestling at one time.  He had us restack his firewood that had fallen over in his yard.  That took most of the afternoon.  He fed us after we were done and then we went to a dinner appointment .  We were so full from having 2 dinners.  Friday, we did another service project for at a less active members house.  We cleaned the sky lights on her roof and then went and scooped more horse poop.  Saturday, we did another service project for another part member family.  We trimmed some trees in her front yard and got to feed her goats.  We also found a new investigator while tracting.  Sunday we taught him the 1st lesson.  He wouldn't let us in his house to teach him.  I think he maybe on some drugs.  It was kind of weird.
This evening we are planning on going back up to Yacolt to do some more service.  There maybe more dinner and a bonfire.

I'm getting known for always wearing my work boots for service projects, hikes or to the gym on p-days. I guess no one has done that before.
It sounds like the stake is really trying to get the youth involved in indexing which is good.  That means more work to do in the temples.  Speaking of temples, I will be going to the Portland temple of the 26 and to the distribution center.  I'm looking forward to that.

I love you.
Love,
Elder Poling

March 4, 2013

Things have been going good.  We have an appointment tonight with a  family.  It is really hard to get a  hold of them.

Our new member is doing great.  He received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday.  That was pretty cool.  His roommates are members so he has a good support system and some of his best friends are on missions.  The bishop had a chat with him about serving a mission, so he is thinking about that.

The guy in the hospital is still in the hospital.  He is doing alright and still wanting to come back to church.  His girlfriend also wants to take the lessons.

We find most of our investigators through member referrals.  One of the investigators that we have is not in our area so we will have to refer him to the right missionaries.  He is a great kid.  We taught him the first lesson.  It went really well.  He didn't have any questions and was very receptive to the  teachings.

We got to do a lot of service this week.  We split wood and scooped poop out of horse stalls which wasn't too bad.  I actually enjoyed it.  Getting out of a suit and tie and getting back to working hard and getting dirty.  I was a nice change.

I almost feed the deer that come out in the back yard today.  I think a few more attempts and I will be able to do it, but that is just on p-days between loads of laundry and cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen.

There are times when the days are short and weeks are even shorter, but then there are times when the day are long, and it makes the time go by slow.  But when I stop and think about it is not that long and it will fly by.

I love you.

Love,
Elder Poling

Feb. 25, 2013

Last week we had exchanges with the District Leader on Tuesday.  I went to their house and go to see a little more of the district.  We did some tracting then went to an appointment where we taught a gut the Word of Wisdom.  He liked the things we taught but he couldn't figure out why weed was bad if it's legal now.  We talked to him about it on a spiritual level and how it keeps us away from Heavenly Father.  We told him to pray about it and if he receives the answer that it is bad for you then he wouldn't use it anymore.

I also had exchanges with the Zone Leaders.  I went with Elder Metz.  We taught a guy and he is ready to be baptized but he's sacred to leave his church.  He asked for a blessing.  I anointed him and Elder Metz sealed it and gave him a blessing.

My companion and I gave a blessing to someone who is having knee surgery.  He is less active and wants to come back to church and his girlfriend wants to take the lessons.  My companion is patient.  He is a big city guy.  He can't walk by a mirror without looking at himself for 5 minutes.  Some missionaries say that him and I are polar opposites but we manage.

We had zone conference and was able to meet other missionaries.  They had a break out part session of conference, you were able to ask the mission president any questions that you had.  One of the question Pres. Greer was going to use me as an example but he forgot my name which was pretty funny.  We just laughed it off.

Last week p-day was a blast.  Angle's Rest wasn't too bad of a hike, not like Timpanogos.  It was very pretty and when we got to the top you could see for a long way.  It did take a while to get there but it was well worth it.

The baptism went really well.  He had me baptize him!  The night before I kept waking up and I would run through it in my head a couple of times before I could go back to sleep.

We still have yet to get with the part-member family.  The ward is trying really hard to get with them.

I do cover 2 ward and we go to both every Sunday.  We rotate between ward councils though.  I get 6-7 hours of church each week.

I think I will get to do some carpentry for a guy that we will begin teaching.  He already knows about the church.

I heard Saturday that my mission will be split.  I'm sure that will happen when we get a new mission president.  I have a feeling that I won't get to see the east side of the Kennewick Mission.  I think I will end up in the Vancouver Mission.

Love,
Elder Poling