Rain and Raking Leaves Makes a Good Combination!

Happy Monday!

So this week has been a exciting one we have done a lot of service this week and had many opportunities to help others this week. So we had this really cool thing happen to us last week at the mall we met Santa and it turns out he is LDS too. He secretly lives in Boise Idaho during the summer and hides in the east town mall in Madison during the holidays. He quoted D&C 193 to us about a man coming from the north dressed in red and white. And then promised us that we would be getting someone to teach in the next 5 weeks as a gift for Christmas. So I am excited for the next few weeks. Also today Elder Bisgler's family emailed him and told him he should be getting is visa here real soon. So I am probably going to be getting a new companion here soon and I am excited. So back to the service we did, Saturday morning we decided to play basketball with the other missionaries in Sun Prairie and some members and had a good time. We went over to a members house to rake leaves and we had planned on it taking only about an hour or two at max but sadly we were mistaken. It took us 5 hours because we had to load them into her car and then she would take them to the dump. On top of all this it was misting the entire time we were doing this so the leaves were sticking all over the place and causing it to take longer. But on the bright side she was talking us up to her neighbors so we may stop by in a week or too and see if they need any service or if they would like to hear our message. Well I have to go and I will talk with you next week.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Robert Pike

Sun Prairie

Hello all,

Well this week has been pretty fun. Saying goodbye to the great people in Janesville and then getting to meet all the members here in Sun Prairie. It was awesome to meet an investigator/member this week. He got baptized and you could see the spirit just radiate from him after he was baptized and confirmed. I have had a awesome time getting to know the people in Janesville and for the opportunity to serve in Sun Prairie. I am excited for the the work to really progress here. I am also excited for the snow, so you all may know it is snowing today. Well I have a lot of work to go and do, I need to get my companion a Visa to Brazil, we need to find more people to teach, convert them to Jesus Christ. Well I love you all have a great week.

 

Love you all,

Elder Robert Pike

I am going, going, going gone!

Hey all,

This week has been a weird one we have done a lot of work and a lot of service and guess what our numbers reflected it. However I am truly grateful for the opportunities this week to serve the members here this week and build their faith in the missionaries and in Jesus Christ. This week and the past 7 weeks have gone by way too fast here in Janesville and unfortunately I am leaving for Sun Prairie this Wednesday, I am excited for the opportunity to go and help them grow stronger in their faith in Jesus Christ. I can't wait to meet the members and to get them excited and motivated about missionary work. I can't believe that I have been out for 7 and 1/2 month already it only feels like yesterday I left for my mission. I  can tell that I have grown so much and I am excited for the 16 and 1/2 months left I can't wait to share what I have felt with my friends and family. Well I love you all and have a great week.

-- 

Elder Robert Pike

GOALS!!!!!

Hola mi amigos,

Well this week has been a good one.  Our mission at the beginning of this year set a goal for 300 baptisms and we are getting pretty close to achieving it as of Saturday we have had a total of 245. Which is the closest our mission has been in YEARS to achieving its goal. So being inspired of these goals our district came together and set a goal that can be achieved by November 23rd and our goal is a high, for our mission, 13 baptisms in 3 areas among 3 now 4 going to be 5 sets of missionaries. Now to tell you about my cool experience that happened on Tuesday night, so I was wondering and praying on what can I do to help the ward. So this ward is doing a 40 day fast for missionary work that ends in the end of November and leads up to a nativity festival, so I was impressed to set a goal for the ward that has to do about missionary work and that goal is crazy but extremely achievable it is 30 baptisms before then end of the year. The Janesville ward hasn't seen 30 baptisms in 1 year let alone 2.5 months but the lord has assured me that this number is what the ward can achieve and that we, members and missionaries, need to work hard! So now my challenge to you all is to set a goal and make plans for the Lord to hasten the work, to pray for the missionaries and for missionary opportunities, and act on the promptings that the Lord provides. I know this week I really haven't talked about what I did but all I can truly say I have done this week is, I have become an Tool (my version of instrument) in shaping the Milwaukee Wisconsin Mission.

 

 

Love you all,

Elder Robert Pike

The Last Two Weeks

The last two weeks have been crazy, a lot of stuff has happened and then again it feels like I am going nowhere. So I will give kinda a brief  letter about last week and then this week. So two weeks ago today we had some fun playing basketball with the other Elders here it was a ton of fun. Then Tuesday was district meeting and we were able to focus on teaching the guy who came up to us on the street the week before. Wednesday we had a few appointments with people and were able to have a great time with a less active family. Thursday we thought Catilino and shared with him some chapters out of the Book of Mormon and he was stoked about his baptism. Friday we went out to Clinton and thought the Diez family and they were really receptive to the restoration and now we just have to get him to church. Saturday and Sunday were Conference I got SO MUCH out of it for everyone's information I wrote 20 pages of notes and yes my hand still hurts.

Last week was good but really slow for some reason. Monday we had a couple appointments that fell through unfortunately. Tuesday we had ZTM in Madison we talked a lot about faith it was awesome to be thought by the elders that were there. Wednesday and Thursday we had a lot of time to go and talk with a bunch of people. We had the opportunity to teach 4 lessons both on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday thru Sunday we talked with quite a few people but they all seamed to be Catholic or Jehovah Whiteness and didn't like us very much.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Robert Pike

WOW THIS WEEK!!!!

This has been a fun and exciting week. We had the opportunity to be called to repentance by a member of the quorum of the 70. And to have a great blessing be bestowed upon my companion and I. So I think I'll start off with Monday we went and played some basketball with the English elders here in Janesville and had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner with a family in the ward who we would later in the week help move a piano. Tuesday we met a less active member who was awesome and he knows his stuff and wants to come to church but he also wants to have his wife with him and she isn't a member but she is slightly interested in what we have to say. Wednesday we did a lot of finding both in Spanish and English with very little success so we tried to find some more productive things to do and we couldn't come up with much. Thursday we were called to repentance because Elder Perkins didn't feel the spirit at out meeting like he did in the past two meetings he had. It was awesome he truly spoke from the spirit and what was most amazing was the revelation I received on how to truly impact the areas I will serve in. We also had an awesome experience with our baptismal date Catilino we (Elder Crisanto) read out of the Book of Mormon with him and he really wants to be baptized and he truly feels the spirit when he reads. Friday we were able to talk with a bunch of people and set up appointments with them.  It was funny so the family we had dinner with on Monday called us up and asked if we could help move a piano for them, well she had it all set up but forgot to make sure the owner of the piano would be there so we moved it picking it up to Saturday. Well Saturday the day of just the most awesome experience I have had on my mission to date. We were going to see a few less actives and this guy pulled over off his motorcycle and came up to us and asked us to pray for him and we talked with him and gave him a Book of Mormon. He talked with us for a half hour and he told us he just found Jesus 9 months ago and was looking for a christian church to bring his family too. Unfortunately we were not able to set up an appointment with him but he did give us his address and said to come and talk with him and we are planning on seeing him tomorrow. Sunday was awesome we had dinner with this part member family and they are awesome the mother and one daughter is a member and the dad is very supportive and has read the Book of Mormon but didn't feel like it applies to him but he is willing to read it again and give it another shot. 

I am stoked for General Conference this week and can't wait to hear and receive revaluation from all who talk this weekend. I would like to challenge everyone to just watch one full session and I promise you will feel the spirit and it will help you out this week.

Love you all

 

Elder Robert Pike

Janesville...I'm not in Vegas anymore or maybe I am

Hola. Como estas?

So this week has been fun! We had a few surprises this week. Monday we did some normal p-day stuff then got a referral for a guy who is having some bad luck and we saw him and he seams really interested. Tuesday we saw a bunch of people and we had a lesson with one of the now Janesville English investigators that went really well. Wednesday was normal transfers day and we got a surprise at 7 in the morning that another elder was going to be with us for the day. So it kinda blew our plans out of the water. Thursday we met with our baptismal date and had a great lesson reading the Book of Mormon.  Friday we had some chaos of trying to split the English work here because we are getting sisters here next transfer.  We had a great lesson with a family that is wanting to be baptized. Saturday we kinda didn't do a lot of work but we were able to talk to a few people who are interested in the church. Sunday was odd we went to church and had a great time but afterwords we went to the English elders apartment and talked a lot about the area and how we are going to split it. We had dinner at the bishops and talked a little about ourselves.

This week is promising to be a good one we have a member of the 70's coming on Thursday so next weeks letter will be interesting.

 

Love you all.

--

Elder Robert Pike