It's Halloween! - October 28, 2013

Another week in the life of a missionary...

 

It seems as though I can't find a balance of spiritual things and what is actually going on in my missionary work. Last week, I got on my soapbox a little bit, but this week, I hope to give an update that lets everyone know exactly what I have been doing in Story City.

 

As a missionary, we often go on exchanges. The "Missionary Handbook" describes the what and the why for companion exchanges.

COMPANION EXCHANGES
Normally at least once every transfer cycle, a district leader works with each elder in his district. 

Companion exchanges are conducted by leaders to train missionaries. ... Companion exchanges should be planned in advance and should normally last 24 hours. The leader may bring the other missionary to his own area or work in the other missionary’s area. Usually the leader’s companion and the other missionary’s companion work in the other proselyting area. During the companion exchange, the leader should take part in as many phases of missionary work as possible, including finding, teaching, companionship study, language study (as appropriate), and daily planning.

He should review and discuss the missionary’s area book and daily planner. The leader teaches by example. In a spirit of love, he gives the missionary specific, direct, constructive feedback on what he does well and how he can improve. He helps the missionary understand and apply principles from Preach My Gospel, and he gives leadership training.

At the end of the exchange he reviews with the missionary what has happened and what has been learned during the exchange. He helps the missionary set goals and make plans. The leader reports on the exchange in his weekly letter to the mission president. 

   -- Missionary Handbook, pp. 63-65 

So I go on at least an exchange per week with the other Elders in my district. It is fun to work with my companion as well as see miracles and the teaching styles of other missionaries.

 

As for other happenings, I am coming closer to Christ and my Father in Heaven continually, and striving to help others do the same. Nothing super exciting or monumental has happened recently, so I am going about, trying to find people to teach, help the members become missionary minded, and reactivate less-active members. The weather is chilly, but the truth must go forward. It's interesting, I have had a dream just about every night for the last 5 months. I am not used to dreaming that much, but they all have something to do with good old missionary work! :)

 

That's the Story in Story City,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

D&C 6:34, 36

  Doubt Not, Fear Not.

Iowa's beginning to Fall - October 21, 2013

I'm only joking... Iowa is staying where it is. But it is starting to get cold.

 

A sister who will be departing on her mission in the next couple of weeks to the Arizona Mesa Mission spoke in church yesterday. She spoke of two of the inevitable things about the Plan of Salvation, falling and Christ's love. It was a fantastic talk with great insights. A few insights from her talk:

• "Falling is an imperfect state."
• "We must live our lives standing."
• "Christ's love will never be against us. It will always be for us."
• "Don't be stuck in a state of denial."

Repentance is the key to getting back up after we fall. As President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in the Priesthood session of the October 2013 General Conference:

"When I was young, falling and getting up seemed to be one and the same motion. Over the years, however, I have come to the unsettling conclusion that the laws of physics have changed—and not to my advantage.
Not long ago I was skiing with my 12-year-old grandson. We were enjoying our time together when I hit an icy spot and ended up making a glorious crash landing on a steep slope.
I tried every trick to stand up, but I couldn’t—I had fallen, and I couldn’t get up.
I felt fine physically, but my ego was a bit bruised. So I made sure that my helmet and goggles were in place, since I much preferred that other skiers not recognize me. I could imagine myself sitting there helplessly as they skied by elegantly, shouting a cheery, “Hello, Brother Uchtdorf!”
I began to wonder what it would take to rescue me. That was when my grandson came to my side. I told him what had happened, but he didn’t seem very interested in my explanations of why I couldn’t get up. He looked me in the eyes, reached out, took my hand, and in a firm tone said, “Opa, you can do it now!”
Instantly, I stood.
I am still shaking my head over this. What had seemed impossible only a moment before immediately became a reality because a 12-year-old boy reached out to me and said, “You can do it now!” To me, it was an infusion of confidence, enthusiasm, and strength.Brethren, there may be times in our lives when rising up and continuing on may seem beyond our own ability. That day on a snow-covered slope, I learned something. Even when we think we cannot rise up, there is still hope. And sometimes we just need someone to look us in the eyes, take our hand, and say, “You can do it now!”"

Sometimes we need the love of others to fully repent. Preach My Gospel says "repentance includes forming a fresh view of God, ourselves, and the world." To form a fresh view of hope, enthusiasm, and love. A fresh view includes forgiving ourselves and others. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve said in his talk "Remember Lot's Wife," "The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future."

I love you all, may we get up and never look back. Look forward with an eye of faith, hope, charity and love, and to be built by commandment.

 

Love, 

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

D&C 6:34, 36

  Doubt Not, Fear Not.

Still in Story City... - October 14, 2013

I am still in Story City for another 6 weeks!

 

It came as a shock at first, but I think I oughta stop thinking about what I want to do or where I want to go and to say willingly to God "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord."

 

It took me a little time to be ok with me being in Story City still. Initially, I was not excited at all for staying in Story City. But I now see, just 5 days after transfers, that it was necessary for me to stay here.

Reason #1. Our Zone split on transfers, but our district stayed the same So I am able to help our zone leaders have some constancy. One of the Zone Leaders is new to the area, but in our district he is only 1 of 3 new missionaries to the area, 9/12 of our district stayed the same. And we have no brand-new missionaries in our district for the first time in 4 months, they all have at least 6 weeks experience now.

 

Reason #2. One of the missionaries in our district had some pretty severe anti-Mormon material thrown at him twice in one day and he was really shaken up. I was able to help him and provide support. That was the day of transfers, so if I had been transferred, I wouldn't have been there to help.

 

Reason #3. A less-active member came back for the first time in years to church yesterday and I was the only person she knew as we visited her a couple of months ago.

 

Reason #4. Elder Newhouse and I found a lady from the Philippines back in June, and we taught her and she is a new investigator!

So needless to say, God kept me in Story City for these 3 reasons, and I hope to find many more!

 

The Book of Mormon holds all the answers we need in life. It is the tool to bring all to Christ. Nephi tells us why he and the other prophets in the Book of Mormon wrote the words they wrote:

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

 

And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.

 

For, for this end was the a law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.

 

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

-2 Nephi 25:23-26

I add my voice to Nephi's and "I labor diligently to [preach], to persuade [God's] children, [...] to believe in Christ."

 

Love, 

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

D&C 6:34, 36

  Doubt Not, Fear Not.

General Conference Round 3 - October 7, 2013

Here we are into fall!

 

Well, General Conference was incredible as usual! I would say even more so than usual. Or at least I gleaned more personal touches than I usually do. I changed my approach with my note taking a bit, and I feel, at least as of now, that I was able to receive more complete revelation from my Father in Heaven.

 

I don't know for sure yet, but it looks like I will be in Story City with Elder Fiso for another 6 weeks.

 

Always look to the Lord and His servants. Serve him by home and visiting teaching and sharing the gospel with everyone you meet! Listen to conference. Read it again! Read the Book of Mormon daily and find new ways you can "liken" the scriptures to your life. Stay excited!

 

I want to apologize, for I want to describe many things and how things are going. The problem is, whenever I get to the computer, my brain shuts down and I am not able to share what has been impressed upon my mind. This is a two-edged sword for I simply cannot express all my thoughts and feelings with this short amount of time when I do remember. I really would like to, but I want to bear my apologies to all who tune in weekly to this email. Know that I am doing well, seeing miracles, and loving serving the Lord. It comes with its challenges, but the blessings outweigh the hard times.

 

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

D&C 6:34, 36

  Doubt Not, Fear Not.

Bennett's Baptism - September 30, 2013

Come and See

 

Aurian and Vincent were baptized Saturday! It was an incredible ordinance! Brother Bennett was ordained a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood on the 22nd and he was able to baptize his children on Saturday. Elder Newhouse was able to get a ride from a member in his current area west of Des Moines to see them baptized. It was great to see him and to witness the first baptism he has seen from his efforts.

 

Sorry time cut me short again! I just want to say so much but I have so little time!

 

The attached picture is from the baptism. From left to right, the adults are Sister Bennett, Brother Bennett, Sister England, Me, Elder Newhouse, and Sister Paul. Dalen is the child not in white, he is another of Brother Bennett's children who moved in with them this last week. He is 8 and wants to be baptized! Aurian is the child in the middle and Vincent is the one on the right. Beautiful time!

 

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

Some New Investigators - September 23, 2013

Another week down...

 

Good things are happening in Story City! We found 3 new investigators this week! One is a man who works overnights for the Postal Service and the other two are Hispanic men who don't speak English. We had a less-active member translate for us yesterday and he is going to have us over for dinner in the next week or two.

 

Aurian and Vincent Bennett are going to be baptized this Saturday! The Sisters who have been working with them since they moved down to Ames were setting up the program, and they told me Aurian asked me to give the talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost, to be a witness for her baptism, and to be in the circle for her confirmation! It is going to be an exciting weekend. Elder Newhouse is going to try to come with his current companion and see his first baptism. And it will be Sister Paul's first baptism too. Super exciting times ahead!

 

We are doing lots of work with the less-actives here and it is turning out to be good, as one came yesterday and is officially reactivated! The blessings of full-time missionary service are many! But none better than seeing others come unto Christ. It is just a bonus the change that is wrought in me.

 

Love from the place of Stories,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

Church - September 16, 2013

Church is the best!

 

I am sorry my letter this week is short, but it is because I had to respond to emails from family. So it is a good week when you get so many letters that it is hard to get the general letter off to the presses.

 

All 4 missionaries serving in the Story City Branch spoke in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. Elder Fiso, my companion, spoke on Preach My Gospel and the Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel. Elder Theriault, the trainee in Iowa Falls, spoke on the Book of Mormon and bearing testimony to non-members. Elder Morgensen, the trainer in Iowa Falls, spoke on the importance of having a friend in the gospel and strengthening those who already are members. Then I boldly spoke on the necessity of home teaching, and focused around my favorite quote in Preach My Gospel: 

“Missionary work is but home teaching to those who are not now members of the Church, and home teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members” (Improvement Era, Dec. 1964, 1078).

- President Harold B. Lee

Home and Visiting Teaching are the backbone of the church. They are as necessary to our salvation as missionary work is. Without doing missionary work, we are not helping God fulfil his purpose of "bring[ing] to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). If we are not helping God, we are not helping ourselves. And if we are not caring and helping God's other children, why would God help us? Just a question to think about.

 

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

Another Week - September 9, 2013

Salutations!

 

It was a good week! Not much to report, but it was a good week. We had 4 less-active members at church that we have been working with. Elder Fiso makes the BEST brownies from scratch.

 

My studies have mainly been in the Book of Mormon recently. With a continual focus on "commandments", "remember", and things relating to the heart.

 

Sorry for the lame email this week, but time ran out! I love you all and hope all goes well!

Loves from Story City,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

The Marvellous Work of the Lord - September 3, 2013

Incredible blessings this week in Story City! I will just start from the beginning.

 

Monday: We drove up to Iowa Falls after emailing to do final preparations for the area before the Iowa Falls Elders got here on Thursday. Brent Peters, this nice 70-year-old man whom we were referred to took us out to Pizza Ranch for the 2nd time for the buffet! (Pizza Ranch is a good quality pizza buffet.) He met the last two missionaries to serve in Iowa Falls last year and he grew an admiration for them. When we first taught him about a month ago he said he usually doesn't let strangers in his home, but because he knew these two missionaries, he let us in. He has lots of questions. We hope we will see him at church soon! We also drove down to Gilbert to meet with the Bennett's and we reviewed the Baptismal Interview Questions with Aurian and Vincent and they are pretty good to go. They have pretty much moved them now, so we are going to have the Sisters finish teaching them and see that they are baptized.

 

Tuesday: We met with Erika at the Danielson's and the Swalla's gave us dessert because they wanted to say a final farewell to Elder Newhouse. A wonderful family in the branch, the Billings', had us over to their home for the second week in a row. Last week they invited both the families of the recent converts in the branch and one came, we taught a great lesson that I will say more about later... Tuesday they had us over to their home with two of their non-member friends. It was a mother and her son. 6 weeks ago, the Billings sent off their son to serve as a missionary in Paraguay. It is their first missionary and so they always talk about him and they miss him very much. Kaiden (their son) was a mentor for the son of their non-member friends. We taught an object lesson on faith and talked about faith. I read Alma 36:3 and we discussed faith without throwing too much "Mormon" in there at the request of the Billings. We left them with a Finding Faith in Christ DVD which they were super excited to receive. It was really neat to see them that excited!

 

Wednesday: Elder Newhouse's last Preparation Day in Story City. We cleaned up, he packed, and we went down to Ames. We played basketball with our district and I would have to say it was two of the best games I have played since I've been a missionary. The teams initially seemed very one-sided, but everyone played well. I bought an awesome messenger bag that I am now using as backpacks aren't allowed. We had a very powerful lesson with a less-active member named Brother Fritz about prayer in which he shared a very special experience with us.

 

Thursday: Transfer Day! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to Iowa City to transfer meeting for lack of room on the transfer van, so I spent the day with Elder Claridge and Elder Hollan in Ames. We had a good round of studies, lunch at Subway, then we helped the Bennett's with their trailer. Then we taught a lesson and went to the Stake Center so I could get my new companion! His name is Elder Fiso. He is from Las Vegas, NV (my 2nd companion from Vegas). We came into the mission field at the same time believe it or not! So now 5/12 missionaries from my group that came to Iowa about one year ago serve in the Ames Zone. Crazy! He is 5'7" and is 160 lbs. Officially my shortest companion. He's your height Dad! :P The missionaries now serving in Iowa Falls are Elder Morgensen from Tooele, UT and Elder Theriault from Bonney Lake, WA. We got a new sister in the district as well and her name is Sister Muirbrook and she is from Spanish Fork, UT. In the evening, Elder Fiso and I went to try some potentials on the NW corner of Story City. As we were walking home, we walked down one street, and I felt like we should walk by the home of a member of our Branch Presidency. So we turned and walked that way. As we were walking along the street, this member was walking towards his home. We stopped and talked for a bit when he asked us what we were doing for dinner. We told him our plan was to go home and make something ourselves. He asked us if he could take us out to dinner. We obliged. He took us to the locally-owned Mexican restaurant in town. It was incredible because the first thing this member talked about when I met him my first weekend in Story City is that no matter what is done or how many members are on the books, the average sacrament meeting attendance was always the same. It seemed he didn't particularly like the missionaries or have much hope for the missionary work here when we first met him. It was a miracle!

 

Friday: It was a great day where we planned for the week and the transfer. We taught a lesson to one of the older, active families in the Branch. He is the one who served as a missionary under Mission President Thomas S. Monson!

 

Saturday: Brother Fritz invited us to his home for dinner and he also invited his friend who is a less-active member because he was offended by some of the members in the branch. We listened to his reasons and then we invited him to come to church and see if it was any different than when he stopped coming at the end of last year. We also had the first district meeting of the transfer which was the "Get To Know You" District Meeting, so after discussing baptismal goals and other things, we had a good time with a fun activity.

 

Sunday: Probably about the best Sacrament Meeting I have been to since I have been in Story City. The Spirit was very strong as members bore their testimonies of missionary work and their love for those in the branch. The member of the branch presidency who bought us dinner Thursday expressed he has been having a hard time the last couple weeks with his testimony, but he keeps pushing through even when times are tough. He even thanked the missionaries for helping with his son's roofing project. Elders Morgensen, Theriaultl, and Fiso bore their testimonies and helped the branch get to know them better. At our request, Sister Billings bore testimony of her experience of inviting her friends to dinner. It was wonderful what she said and the Spirit she brought. A sister who is leaving to serve a mission in November bore testimony of an experience she had on a road trip to Seattle, WA. Brother Billings bore his testimony about how the commitment we left with him at a dinner a couple of weeks ago has helped him gain revelation from the scriptures and how he found a lot of things that he needed to keep working on. Our Stake President was there and bore testimony how we are either wondering why things are happening or we are realizing why they are happening. It was an incredible meeting! And the less-active member we invited came! It was wonderful.

 

Miracles happen each and every day of our lives. Whether it be a simple tender mercy from the Lord or an incredible experience, as we obey they commandments of God, we will see Him in the details of our lives.

 

I love you all,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

Another Transfer - August 26, 2013

One year ago this last week I entered the mission field! How fast time flies!

We got transfer calls Saturday night! Elder Newhouse is getting transferred. He is going to go break in a new missionary, like I was his breaker. There is a slim chance he could go to my old area in Des Moines, because when I left there, of the two missionaries that replaced Elder Hess and I, one was a trainer and one was brand new. Boy would that be crazy! I am sad to see him go as we have truly seen miracles in our companionship and that we got along so well. I will continue to serve as the district leader over the missionaries in the Story City Branch and both the Ames 1st and 2nd wards. I will be getting a new companion Thursday, we'll see who it ends up being. They are also adding a pair of Elders to the Iowa Falls area, which is half of our branch, so we don't have to worry about up there anymore as they will be in good hands.

Yesterday we got a new Branch Mission Leader! He and his wife recently sent their youngest child off to college and uprooted from Arizona for their first time coming to the Midwest. They are super solid in the gospel and he is super excited to serve in the branch and give the missionary work a nice boost. When they were going to move, they prayed that they would be led to where they were needed. They were led to the Story City Branch and great things will happen with them here! We coordinated with him yesterday and he is dynamite! The Lord put him here at this time to help him give the missionary work in the Story City Branch another boost as we get the Iowa Falls Elders this week.

Aurian and Vincent Bennett are going to get baptized on September 7th due to Brother Bennett's work schedule on the 31st and they are also moving that day. We are still excited to see them be baptized and it sounds like Brother Bennett and Becky are getting married this Thursday by our Branch President! So we are super excited for that!

All the missionaries in my district and I have a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon before Halloween gets here. Each of us have a Book of Mormon and we each prayed about something to study as we read through it. We've all got sharpie pens that we are using and we are each using one of the copies of the Book of Mormon that we have for proselyting purposes. I am marking each time it says remember or when it gives shalls or uses the word command/commandment. Other missionaries are studying topics such as faith, charity, and repentance.

We started this last Friday, and Halloween is 70 days away. Joseph Smith translated almost the entire Book of Mormon in 65 days, with a few days of translating while his wife was the scribe (a reliable source). So we are working to read it as fast as he translated it. I invite you to join us in this challenging, timely read of the Book of Mormon. Select a topic, and go at it! Most importantly, whether you already have a copy of the Book of Mormon or not, is to take Moroni's Promise to heart and to pray about the Book of Mormon, once you are finished, and pray to know if it's true.

The Introduction of the Book of Mormon says it best:

"We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)

"Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah."

I intend to gain a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon as I read it. I know it is true, but we must always be applying the gospel into our lives. Conversion is a lifelong process, and I intend to follow the Savior's counsel to Peter "when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32). I intend to follow it for life. For when the Savior asks me "Zachary, do you love me?" I can confidently respond, "Savior, I love thee." (see The First Great Commandment by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland).

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ