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

ET.....Janesville Spanish?

Dear all,

Well this week is a crazy one so be prepared for a kinda weird letter. So Monday we played tennis with our branch mission leader again, I came so close to beating him. Tuesday was our last District meeting for the transfer, then we had an appointment with Raquel, she is awesome she knows everything is true and really wants to be baptized. Wednesday we had a lot of time to tract down some potentials and some former investigators. Thursday we did some tracting and found some people who might be interested in learning more about the gospel it was awesome. Friday we had a meeting with Hailey (member) and Jordan (Investigator boyfriend) and had an awesome lesson with them he is really close to being baptized, afterwords we got a call form a member in the branch asking to give a blessing to somebody in the hospital, which turned out to be really good. Then wonderful Saturday where we got as call at 8:30 from our mission president and he asked us to do some things for him to help out some missionaries. So he asked me to pack up all my stuff and to be ready to go to Janesville where there are some trust issues and build the faith of the members again. I think the missionary motto should be "FLEXIBLE" because I don't know if I said this but it is also a Spanish area. Sunday we had 3 investigators at church who are really progressing towards baptism which is really awesome.

So after all that I have gone through this week I am pleased to say as Nephi said  " And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of ^ahappiness" because I have been given the opportunity to serve the Lord in this new area. I am also happy for the opportunity to be able to preach this wounderfull gospel to the people of Wisconsin.

 

Love you all

Elder Robert Pike

 

Dear Friends and family, 

 

This week had been very weird and disappointing because of all the hard work we have done with very little results. But we are going to keep our efforts up and working hard. Monday as I told you last week we had a few.  We had an experience with a recently returned marine who wanted to learn more about the restoration of the church. Tuesday we played tennis with our branch mission leader. Wednesday we had a meeting with our Zone Leaders where they really stressed faith. Thursday we had the opportunity to talk with an former investigator who has been having a rough time lately. Friday we went and tried to contact some people a little ways away from Platteville. Saturday we had an awesome opportunity to go and help set up the parade here. We organized the different people in the parade so we got some cool stuff from that, then we correlated with our branch mission leader. Sunday we had the opportunity to meet with a family from the branch and help them read from the Book of Mormon. 

This weeks spiritual thought comes from a song that has been on my mind for the past week because 9/11 is this week. It is the song "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning". In this song Allen Jackson asks "where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?" and he goes on to give a few examples of what we could have been doing and throughout the song he tells us that God has given us a few gifts "Faith, Hope, and Love. And the greatest is Love." I agree exactly.  And know we need to truly love all the people around us and help them in their times of need. This is one of the biggest reasons for me to come on my mission, I wanted to be that influence in someones life that they will want to strive to help others out in hard times. 

Love You All 

 

Elder Robert Pike

Dear all, 

This week has been a long one we have been doing a lot of finding with very little success. Yesterday when we finally talked with a awesome guy who listened to the restoration lesson. Last Monday we talked with a lady who asked us to come back so she could ask us more questions because she wanted to learn more about our church. This lesson really didn't go very well but we answered all of her questions. Then Tuesday we went and visited a bunch of people and no one wanted to talk with us unfortunately, but we had dinner at the Mercel's and had a good time with them. Wednesday and Thursday we had a ton of time to do some finding with very minimal success. Friday we had a good opportunity to talk with and have dinner with the Black's. Saturday we had a great lesson with our baptismal date Nichole. We helped a family move in from Prarie du chein. They had a huge U hall and it was about 90 outside with about 40% humidity plus I spent most of the time in the oven pulling stuff out for everyone to take into the house. Then Sunday and yesterday the town was pretty desolate so we did a lot of walking and talking to people on the street. 

Well I love you all and have a great week!

 

Elder Robert Pike

Dear Everyone, 

This week was kinda crazy we played tennis with our branch mission leader and another set of missionaries that are close to us. Tuesday we had zone conference where we learned a lot about how to work better in our areas and how to pick up our attitudes. Plus we had exchanges that same day it was so much fun being with Elder Allen. Wednesday we went and had dinner with a less active and that went really good but we don't think she will be coming to church anytime soon. Thursday we went and did some service for a family in the branch, then we had an appointment with an interested investigator but we are trying to get her over some things. Friday was just perfect because we went to set up an appointment with a family and they were about to call us because they just bought a gun safe and needed it brought into their house. Saturday we set up a baptismal date with an investigator and coordinated with our mission leader. Sunday we had an appointment with a members grandson that could have went better but it was alright he said that he is willing to read the Book of Mormon so we are really hoping he does. 

 

Romans 6:8

  And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

This scripture has always made me wonder of how much power the adversary has over us. Then I am always reminded that he has as much power as we allow him to have over us. So stay strong and don't allow him to have the power to kill us physically, spiritually, or mentally. 

Love always,

 

Elder Robert Pike

Dear all,

This week was very different but it was still good. My companion and I are doing much better. This week I don't really have much to report about because a lot of what we did this week is tract with very little success. But on a non-missionary related topic I got a very special package this week, from a family that is tied for best family ever! (The Mecham's), it had some really awesome ties and a ton of candy that came at the right time to give me a good pick-me-up. And I would also like to give a big thank you to everyone for all your support and prayers I love you all so much I will share more in next weeks letter I don't really have a lot to time to email this week but next weeks will be better. 

Love Ya,

 

Elder Robert Pike

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I am out of Iron Mountain and now in Platteville. So this past Monday we helped a member move a washer and dryer from one house to the next. Then on Tuesday I finished packing then we started our long journey down to Oak Creek WI to stay the night because Elder Potter is training a new missionary. Then Wednesday came around and I started my trip to Platteville which took until 6pm. When I get here and we went out to work and tried to contact some people who weren't home then just did a lot of walking. Thursday Really sucked,  I unpacked then we planned for the week and after we basically walked the whole town because we had nothing else to do. We also did the same thing Friday. It is really bad because we have nothing going on so we are walking a lot and not having much success. Saturday we went to some towns around Platteville and visited some former investigators but they aren't really interested. We correlated with our branch mission leader and talked with him for a good amount of time about how to get the members to start doing missionary work. Sunday we had very few members at church and it was really small. 

I really need some prayers my companion are not really getting along to well. We aren't to open with each other on how everything is going so I could really use encouragement as well. So if anyone has something that could cheer me up please help out. Thank you very much and Love you

 

Elder Robert Pike