Transfer/Exchange/Fishies

Hey guys!!

A lot happened this week: I had my first exchange, we had transfers, we had some cool service opportunities, and my family got to visit!

On Tuesday I had my first exchange with my district leader, Elder Borla. It was a lot of fun, he's a really funny guy, and we got a lot done. We contacted some people about service, had four member lessons, went shopping for some things for district council, and he gave me some good advice.

On Thursday we had our first transfer, but only a few sisters changed, and we got a new zone leader. Our districts got rearranged, but just about everyone stayed in our zone. The new zone leader has really been cracking down on some things, and we could be more efficient with our work, but I feel like some of the rules they're making don't matter, and it's driving missionaries away from wanting to obey them on the one's that should matter. We'll see how it all plays out here over the next week.

We also got to go to Barr Lake on Thursday to do some service, and they had us pulling out carp since they ruin the ecosystem. We got waders on and pulled out these giant fish and chucked them in the back of a truck for a couple hours, which was so much fun. We also planted about 50 trees on Friday at a cemetery to replace one's lost from arson, and we helped out with a food drive on Saturday and then went and moved some dirt for someone in our ward. We were really struggling to find service the last couple weeks before this so it was super fun to get out and help people.

Lastly, my family came to Denver for UEA this week, and they got permission from my mission President to see me! We got to go to Ihop and hang out for a while. It was a weird feeling to have said goodbye for two years and then to see them just three and a half weeks later, but I'm so glad I got to see them.

I just want to close with my testimony; I know that Christ lives, that he suffered and died for us. I know, without a doubt, that Joseph Smith was called of God to restore His church. I know this because of the study I've been able to do in the Book of Mormon. No man could have written what is in there; it is the product of centuries of prophets' accounts of their knowledge of the Savior and their efforts to bring others to Him. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you guys, and hope you had a great week! Let me know how your lives are going!

Elder Leary 

 

COVID-19

In the beginning . . . as in last March . . . it was rare to know anyone with COVID-19. Over the past seven months, it has slithered and crept and inched itself ever so close to our family and finally struck this past week.

The day before our fall break trip, I got the dreaded Scarlet Q letter from the high school informing us that Ashlyn has been exposed to someone with COVID. She immediately knew it was her tennis partner whom she sits by in seminary.

Now what to do?

It had been eight days since that day of exposure and Ashlyn was showing no signs.

Do we go?

Do we stay home?

The decision was made to get her tested and head out.

First stop was Moab and a sunrise hike to Delicate Arch. As we came around the bend to find the arch, we also found others who had the same idea. Quite a few in fact. But you never would have known that many people were up there due to the silence. It was a very reverent few minutes as we all watched the grandeur and beauty of the morning unfold before our eyes.

In Denver we loved on our baby, hiked some more, and took our missionary Nate and his companion Elder Hales out to dinner (with permission).

Upon returning home, there was a message about Ashlyn's test. I called the next morning.

Negative. She was free to return to school.

Fast forward a few days. Kiersten informed us that her and Jason had been exposed to COVID. Jason stayed home from work for a day or two and got tested which came back negative.

Fast forward a few more days to today. Nate messaged us to say that Elder Hales had been feeling sick Monday night. They both got tested. Elder Hales's came back positive while Nate's was negative. However, Tuesday night Nate began getting little headaches which have been on and off for 5 days along with a sore throat. He's pretty sure he has COVID too.

There is nothing worse than being sick when you are away from home. I sure hope those two boys are going to be okay and that someone is taking care of them. I know they are in the Lord's hands. This is where faith steps in. When you are powerless to do something for yourself, Jesus Christ is the one with power to heal and save and make things right. I have to trust that they will be okay.

And so with that little bit of news . . . we are all lying low for a few days.

Week Numero Dos

Hey guys! This week honestly flew by faster than any week ever has. I'm worried I'll wake up tomorrow and have a month left, but I guess that's the way it goes. I am still not teaching anyone, but we've gotten a lot done.

In chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel (PMG), it says (paraphrasing here) that missionary work is most efficient and effective when people are found through members who are friends or usually become that way. Our goal as a mission is to become the best member mission in the world, so we've done a lot to get going on that. We've set up weekly 10-15 minute lessons with many of the members, and eventually we'll ask them to invite a friend to join in on these or share with them what they learned.

We spend a lot of time at our apartment planning, doing those lessons, and working to reach out through Facebook, so we decided to give out free snow cones at a park on Friday to meet people. We invited the ward, and got to know some of them, and got to talk to one man named Sahim who had a lot of questions. We aren't teaching anyone currently, since we're both new to the area and trying to set up a lot of new things, but Sahim asked for our number so we're hoping he reaches out to us soon.

We had a greenie conference on Friday during the day, and that was a lot of fun. President Blake talked about the importance of good goal setting, and there was one quote mentioned that I loved which goes, "You can serve without loving but you can't love without serving." We also had general conference which was absolutely fantastic, with a lot of focus on preparation, being good citizens, and changing our nature to be like Christ. Elder Holland made me rethink how much effort I should be giving, and I'm still not sure what continents the first two temples announced are being built on, but it was all in all amazing. We're so blessed to have a prophet on the earth today. My favorite quote was, if I wrote it down right, "I too suggest that life cannot be faith-filled and stress-free." I believe it was Elder Holland quoting Neil A. Maxwell.

I hope you all had a fantastic week, let me know if I can pray for anything for you guys! I love you all,
Elder Leary

Our second missionary has embarked

We dropped our missionary son, Nate, off at the airport to begin his missionary service.

Tyler helped him with his bags and getting to security while I made a loop through the new airport. It was surprising to Tyler how much Nate stood out. Everyone knew he was a missionary and went out of their way to help him and ask where he was headed.

I was forever grateful to a sweet soul who took several photos of the missionaries at the airport and texted them to me. I was nervous for Nate who had never been on an airplane and was having to navigate the airport by himself AND a new airport at that. I couldn't even tell him what to expect and where to head because I'd never been in this new airport myself. But Heavenly Father was aware of my concerns and sent me some relief from a total stranger.

I've included his first email below. I don't know if we will get the photos like we did with Erik. I can hope. But he's already been challenged by not having a car or a bike and he's witnessed God's hand with a little miracle that came to him and his companion.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Hey Everyone!

This week has been craziest week of my life. I flew on an airplane for the first time, which was super cool. I had the window seat and I spent half the flight just looking at the clouds right next to me. It's a super short flight to Denver (I've been reassigned to the Denver north mission), but I loved it.

The first night we had dinner at a church and President Blake and his counselors and their wives all spoke. We stayed at a hotel, and then went back the next morning for more instruction and we met our companions.

Elder Hales has been out about a year, he's from Mesa, Arizona. That first day he told me that I was in charge, and that I was supposed to lead on everything, which I was not expecting. Instead of just learning what to do, I decide what to do, and he gives suggestions. This has been challenging, because everything they taught us in the mtc was about teaching, which we haven't done a lot of. We're both new to this area so we've been trying to contact all of the people the sisters before us had contacted, and we're working on doing member lessons and setting up our Brighton Facebook page.

In other news, I live outside my area by a ways, and though I was told it was a driving mission, due to the number of reassigned missionaries here, my companionship doesn't have a car. I do not have a bike at this point either, since I didn't think I needed one. We do all our work online for the most part, but we do go to the church and other places to do service. We've been able to get rides places, but on Friday we walked 3 1/2 hours back from a service project. I've emailed my Mission President and we'll see what he thinks I should do.

A mini miracle happened on my first full day. I've decided to pick an attribute of Christ to work on each day, and I picked faith that day, and I prayed in the morning to be able to have more faith. We went to the church to create a video introducing ourselves to put on the ward Facebook page, and then walked to Walgreens so Elder Hales could get a flu shot. We got back and called for a ride, and then realized we didn't have the flash drive with the video. We looked everywhere and couldn't find it, so we prayed and asked for help. We checked everywhere again and then felt impressed to check in the rocks along the fence out by the road. We went and sure enough there was the flash drive.

I know that prayer works, and that our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us. If any of you are struggling with anything, or just got out of the habit, I'd invite you to make prayer a goal. He will answer your questions if you continually pray in faith, and you will feel his love as you do so.

With that, I found out last night that my grandpa has the coronavirus, so if you could all pray for him I would appreciate that. I love all of you and I'm excited for the work to come!

- Elder Leary

p.s. if any of you got sent this by mistake, if there's a better email to use, or don't wish to be on my email list let me know. Also if you know anyone that does want to be on the list let me know, sorry if I missed anyone.