Christmas + Baptism = 😊

This week was great. Christmas was fun, but the highlight of the week has to be Mark's baptism. We also had some other cool things happen that made this week amazing.

This Christmas was super low key. I woke up and made some pancakes, opened my package, then called my family. Then we went to dinner for a few hours and studied and that was pretty much our whole day. Dinner with the Bendoskis was really fun. There were eleven people there, including two investigators and a recent convert. We all had a good time and got some really good food. It's crazy that both Christmases on my mission are over. This year has gone so quick looking back.

Saturday was the best day of the week though. We have been asked to always have one person we're teaching with a baptismal date, that's the standard we are trying to reach. We have had one on date for the past month, but he got baptized Saturday so we weren't going to have one any more. But we had a really cool miracle on Saturday. We started teaching a lady named Natasha last week, and we had our second lesson with her on Saturday morning. We read 2 Nephi 31 with her and talked about baptism. She wants to be baptized! We set a date for her and she seems like she really wants to make sure it happens. She is pretty much all ready now even with only having had a few of the lessons. She loves the Book of Mormon and believes the things we teach. That was our miracle for the week.

Saturday evening was Mark's baptism. It went really well and it was super peaceful. We could all feel the spirit throughout the service. He even bore his testimony at the end and teared up a little. The brother who baptized him is recently coming back to church and this was his first time participating in a baptism. It was a great experience for everyone. And to celebrate we got philly cheese steak sandwiches which just made it even better. 

Last week I mentioned that I was going to make Mark a funny tie, and I did. He said specifically that he did not want a tie for Christmas because he doesn't do white shirts and ties. So I made him one. I got a really funny unicorn fabric from Joann's and made it into a tie. He got a kick out of it, and what made it even better is that he wore it to church on Sunday with a pink shirt. It was hilarious. I never thought I'd see him with a tie. I put a few pictures in the email so y'all can take a look. 

I hope all of you had a good Christmas. I'll talk to you all next week. I put in a lot of pictures this week, enjoy! 

Our family is expanding

"We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions abroad, when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies at home. When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it. THAT IS WHY LONG, LONG AGO, A BABE WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM."

~ Frank William Boreham


Twenty-one years ago a similar announcement was made to my parents, announcing the future arrival of their first grandchild pictured above. And more than two millennia ago, angels proclaimed the birth of another special baby to the world.

Babies have a way of making the world a better, shinier, more peaceful place.

Just like she made grandparents out of my parents, she's going to do the same for us. Doesn't Grandma and Grandpa look good on us? We couldn't be more happier.


The day we brought Kiersten home and laid her on our bed, I gazed down at her and then looked at Tyler and then back at her. I couldn't believe those people at the hospital just let us leave with this package in tow. I mean a "person's a person no matter how small," and this was a very small person. 

I felt very much out of my element. To think that my Heavenly Father had entrusted me to care for one of his very own and that I was to do my best in ensuring she became the person He needed her to be. That was a bit overwhelming. But God knew just what he was doing in sending her to us. She has been the perfect child to come first to our family and I know that this little baby coming to hers and Jason's family will the perfect child for them.

Those two are about the embark on one of the most humbling, terrifying, fun adventures of a lifetime.

We can't wait to meet you little one.

We got leaked April General Conference News

We got leaked April General Conference News

It's been 10 days since our last p-day, and a lot of things have happened. It was a really good week. We got to do a ton of service, which is always great. We also had Elder Vinson from the presidency of the quorum of the seventy come to both our stake conference and to our zone conference. And, as you would expect, it was amazing. Lastly we finally had the baptism for Cameron and Aidric on Saturday.

This week we did about 7 hours of service. We did some yard work on Thursday for the Bendoski's and had a big pancake breakfast with them. Then on Saturday we built a huge pen to ride horses in at the Taylor's ranch. It took about 4 hours, and I was the designated post-hole digger. I got a real good workout in and had a lot of fun at the same time. We finished the whole thing, which we hadn't planned to do. There's a picture of us and the finished thing attached to the email. 

On to the more important news, though. Elder Vinson and his wife came and visited our mission. They had a lot of good things to say and we all learned a lot from their words. I got to sit 5 feet away from him while he spoke to us for over an hour. At the end of it we had a Q&A with him and someone asked him if he had any info about the mysterious April conference. And he had a couple things, but nothing too crazy. We found out that Elder Tai is speaking, and we also found out that for the first time, speakers will be given a specific topic to speak about instead of thinking of their own topic. That's all we found out, but maybe you guys will find it interesting. 

Even with that, the highlight of our week had to be Cameron and Aidric's baptism. They are the children of two recently returning members that we have been working with for about 6 months. They have had a few baptismal dates that kept getting pushed back. This week everything felt right and it went really smoothly. I think it was the perfect time for them to get baptized. Many ward members showed up to support them, and they both were very happy and energetic about it. We had also texted our mission president the night before to tell him about it, and then he decided to show up, which was a very nice surprise. That was a very happy day for us and for them. 

    

I think that's about it for the week. We have some cool things coming up the next few weeks though that we are excited for. We should be having a baptism on the 28th and on January 11th, as well as lots of fun Christmas celebrations and such. December is turning into a great month, especially with the wonderful weather here. I just thought I'd rub that in to any of you Utah folks reading this. 

- The Elder Leary

Christmasy Week

This was a fun week. We had a lot of different Christmas activities throughout the week. We also had some good lessons with our investigators. Nothing too crazy happened, but still a really good week.

The most fun part of the week was probably on Monday when I got to play an actual tennis match with a member from one of the wards nearby. I haven't played a serious match since I came on the mission. It was so much fun and I ended up winning. I guess I still got it. 😊

We also had a Christmas devotional as a mission this week on Thursday. That was fun. We had a whole bunch of musical numbers and testimonies, plus we got Chick-Fil-A catered which really made it great. Our ward Christmas party was also this week on Friday. I always enjoy being able to spend time with the ward in informal settings, and we were able to meet lots of new people. Plus they had all the nursery kids dressed up in fluffy sheep costumes for their nativity play, so how could you not like that? 

Then yesterday at church I got asked last second to be in the choir for two musical numbers. I didn't see anyone plugging their ears during it so I guess it went OK. I also gave a five minute talk about Christmas and Jesus. That was actually really fun. I was able to reflect on past Christmases and what they meant to me. I talked about how great it is as a missionary to not have all the distractions that come with Christmas, and only focus on Christ. I also talked about the amazing gift of Christ and all the things he gives to each of us. 

This week was very Christmasy (that's probably not a word) and this upcoming week will also be Christmasy. Christmas isn't the only thing I'm excited for this week, though. Mark is getting baptized on Saturday. He passed his interview and we got the whole thing planned. He is super excited for it and we are too. He said he doesn't do white shirts and ties, and he was worried he had to wear one to his baptism. I told him he didn't, but I think I might find the funniest fabric I can today at JoAnn's and make it into a tie as a funny baptism gift for him. If I do I'll send a picture next week. 

This week we also started teaching a lady named Natasha. She had been to church in the past in Virginia. We taught her the restoration and talked about the Book of Mormon. She loved it. She also mentioned that she wants to be baptized. Fortunately that is something we can help her with! She also made it to church yesterday, so she is pretty solid.

That's about it for the week. Merry Christmas guys! Try to remember the greatest gift we've been given and not drown him out with all the other fun things going on.

Love, Elder Larry (as everyone calls me that doesn't know me)

Yes it is Friday

So maybe some of you are wondering why I'm emailing on a Friday, or maybe you guys don't really notice things like that. But our p-day got moved from next Monday to today because we have a meeting with a general authority then. So after today I will have to go 10 days without a p-day. Wish me luck.

Since I just wrote an email a few days ago, there's not a lot to report. We did have a really good lesson with John yesterday, though. We taught him the plan of salvation, which is usually a lot of new information that people aren't familiar with, but John is super close to the spirit and had already learned almost everything we taught him. He told us he had always believed in a premortal life, that he agreed that the fall of Adam and Eve was a positive thing, and he knew there were three levels of heaven. He said he would tell people this and they'd call him crazy. He knows that the Lord has been preparing him for the gospel for a long time. He is praying about getting baptized on January 11th, so we will see if he has gotten an answer yet when we meet next Tuesday. Sometimes it is amazing how the Lord is planning ten moves ahead and he makes things work out for you. 
    
Spiritual Spiel:) 

This week I was studying Mosiah and it seems that verses from Mosiah keep being exactly what the people we talk to need. I think I have shared like five different verses from Mosiah 2, 3, and 4 this week. This one is one of my favorites from those chapters. 

Mosiah 4:11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

There are some cool promises in there. They come from simply remembering God and Jesus Christ. Remember to remember Him this Christmas season.

-Elder Erik Leary, 2019

Grandma Leary

Grandma Leary has been gone just over a year. Kind of crazy how time flies.

This picture has been my computer background for a year. One of our favorite things to do every year was to go rake her leaves. This was the last time we ever got to do that. I certainly didn't think it would be the last when I took the photo.

She was such a fixture in our lives, coming out to our home every month. Often she would sit with my kids at the piano and try to teach them her methods. She loved to do puzzles and talk. Often we would pick her up and drive her to family functions.

Oh, we miss her.

Conditioning

Within a week I was able to hang with all my siblings from Reed in the Phoenix area to Natalie in Logan and all the others in between.

I haven't seen Reed in forever and haven't been to their "new" house they moved into 5 years ago. So when Nate qualified to race in Phoenix at the Nike Regional invitational, I was so there even if it meant an 11 hour drive each way in one weekend. Kiersten and Jason quickly jumped on board. Tyler slowly came around to the idea and we made it a fun family vacation (Ash and Alex no longer had a choice).

Nate and his running buddies decided they really wanted to qualify as a team to go to the Nike National race in Oregon. That meant winning at this regional race.

They came close taking 8th place out of about 30 teams. However, the most exciting part was when our number one runner took 2nd overall. The excitement was palpable as history was in the making. He was headed to Oregon (and took 9th overall there).

Photo courtesy of Stansbury Stallions XC Facebook page

On my 11-hour journey home, I was reflecting on the success of this team. I'm impressed with the coaches who devote a considerable amount of time to running with and training these kids. They run year round in rain, snow, sunshine, heat, cold, early mornings, late nights. They were prepared and ready. Their bodies were conditioned with intense training: the hills, the repeats, the sprints, the workouts. Their minds were conditioned with inspiring, motivational coaches who believed in them and helped them to believe in themselves.

The idea of such conditioning is that they will be prepared for whatever comes their way. It would make them stronger and faster. With such conditioning Nate shaved minutes off his race time from the time he was a freshman to his senior year. On the contrast, I am a fair weather runner. I run when I want to run, in weather I prefer, and I run as slow or as fast as I care too. I am in no way conditioned to race at the level of these boys.

Conditioning on a spiritual level is very much the same. There comes a point in our life where we need to figure out for ourselves what we believe and who we will place that belief in. Are we going to condition ourselves to be our own savior, a human with such limiting power and knowledge to control really anything? Or are we going to condition ourselves to rely on a higher power other than ourselves, someone who is omniscient and omnipotent? As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my parents began that conditioning process of building my faith when I was very young by teaching me about Jesus Christ through the scriptures, family home evening, church attendance, their examples. It's up to me now to continue that conditioning process to ensure my spiritual muscles are toned and ready. I have had some hard trials. The first big one was a daughter born with cancer. Throughout the many doctor visits and tests, I just felt peace and calmness. When everything else was out of my control, that's when all my years of spiritual conditioning kicked in. I had prepared for this moment. My faith in God definitely gave me the assurance that everything would be okay. And it is. Our cancer survivor is the one in the middle.

In any sport, a coach will tell you that you will have greater success if you can get the athlete to buy into their regime, their coaching philosophies. Same with the Savior. He can better prepare us for life's critical moments if we are willing to put in the work. He will help us succeed and be ready to perform in those big moments. The Savior is the ultimate coach and guide. When he asks me to show up, I will do so . . . consistently and diligently every day in order to condition myself to be ready and prepared for whatever lies around the corner.

* * * * * * *

These are the days of . . . 
*LOTS of snow. The storm that lingered for days over Thanksgiving, dropped a total of 19 inches on our doorstep. Had we been in school, it would have most likely been a snow day.

Snow day last January for comparison.

Erik likes to compare all the snow he's getting too.


*Ash got to have a sleepover with her friend Anna and help make mounds and pounds of chocolates. Since sleepovers are nonexistent at our house, this one exception was the highlight of her life.

Samuel Leary?

Transfer calls were this week. We are both staying another in Sanford, making this my third transfer with Elder DeMoux.

This week was a good week. We had a lesson with a guy named John and will probably set a baptismal date with him tomorrow. We also had a great Thanksgiving and I got to go on exchanges with Elder Harris this week. You also may be asking yourself why my name is Samuel Leary now. The answer is I have no clue and I can't fix it.

So, John. John is pretty cool. He met with missionaries five years ago and had like one lesson, then they stopped teaching him. We decided to stop by and see if he still lived there and if he wanted to meet again. He said he remembered the missionaries and wanted to meet again, he also loves the Book of Mormon. We went by for our return appointment and he said he was busy and to try again the next week. This is super common and usually it means they aren't interested. Anyway, we try by the next week and he is there and tells us to come in and share the word with him.

We ended up teaching the entire restoration lesson to him right then. He agreed with all of it and said the reason he was nondenominational was because he sees bits of truth in all religion, but he has always been searching for the fulness. We told him that God has given us a way to test if this is the truth through the Book of Mormon. He has when he comes to know it is true he would love to be baptized. He already pretty much knows it is true though. So we finna give him a baptismal date this week.

On Thanksgiving we got to go to a turkey bowl with the whole stake. There were 11 missionaries and about 30 other guys from the wards. It was so much fun. We also had an amazing dinner, naturally, and I got to call home. It was a really good Thanksgiving considering I wasn't with my family.

I also got to go on a really fun exchange on Saturday. Elder Harris is just finishing his training. It is fun being with new missionaries and helping them learn new ways to do missionary work and talking about things that have changed since I left home.

That's about it for my week. We have been sharing the new christ child video with everyone from the ward, and it is amazing. I encourage all of you to watch it, share it, and sign up to do Light The World. Light The World makes it super easy to do missionary work. They provide a lot of simple, natural ways to share part of the gospel with others. Also, when you get another email from me on Friday, don't think that I'm being disobedient. Our P-day for next week has been pushed forward to this Friday. 

Lots of service

One of my favorite parts of being a missionary is doing service. Believe it or not, wearing a white shirt and a tie every day eventually gets pretty old. It is super nice to be able to put on some jeans and a t-shirt and do some work. That's what this week was. We also had some really good lessons that I'll talk about.

We did service for five different people this week. It was fantastic. On Thursday we did yard work for a member of the ward and his wife fed us breakfast and mango smoothies. It was great. We also did service at the Rescue Outreach Mission, a homeless shelter we volunteer at every week. Then Friday we helped move a family out of the ward, which took a few hours because it was a very sudden move that wasn't very organized. It went well though, the ward helped a lot and it was pretty fun working with all the guys from the ward. Then Saturday we mowed one of our investigator's lawns, and afterward did some yard work for another nonmember.

It was a nice break from all the normal missionary things. We still did have some cool missionary things though.

The first is that we had a great lesson with Amber, the smart senior in high school that we're working with. We had a lesson at Bishop's house with his daughter and Amber. It went really well because we didn't have all the distractions that come with Amber's house. We were able to answer a lot of her questions and teach a lot. She also has been coming to church every week. We may bring up baptism at our next lesson. Wish us luck!

Cameron is also scheduled to get baptized this Saturday. He passed his interview this week, which is great and shows he's made a lot of progress, because he did not pass his last one. He is super ready. The problem is that the parents told us yesterday that they aren't sure he is ready and they want to move it back. He wants to be baptized and is totally ready by the church's standards, so we will see if we can work it out with the parents this week. Again, wish us luck. I may have a baptism this weekend.

Here's some other things that happened this week. We got to go to the funeral of one of our friends here who passed away suddenly, which was very sad, but the family is doing well. I also had to eat some food that had a cockroach on it. I brushed it off and kept eating because I'm not scared of a little cockroach. It was gross though.

I think that's it for my week. I hope I didn't gross you out too much there at the end. Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry, no pictures this week.