Incredible Weather and Good Ol' Corn - August 12, 2013

The Weather is Perfect! *Knock on wood*

I can't remember if I told you last week, but the Bennett family is moving at the end of this month down to the Ames 2nd Ward in the Sisters area. They want their son to be baptized at the end of this month still, on the date we set 2 months ago,August 31st. Their daughter, we're hoping to help her be baptized still on that day. Even though that is the weekend they will be moving, Brother Bennett said he wanted the Branch to have a baptism. I thought that was pretty cool!

 

We had two special meetings this last week: Interviews with our Mission President, and Zone Training Meeting.

 

In Interviews, our Mission President will train for a few minutes on a subject he feels relevant to us, then he takes between 10-15 minutes to interview each of us individually. When we were in the interview with him, our companion sat with his wife and she got to know us better in a less formal setting.

 

Before he began interviewing, President Jensen told us about his expectations for us. He said "these are not worthiness interviews. You were interviewed by your Bishop's and Stake President's back home, you wrote and signed a letter to the prophet accepting his call to be a missionary. You are held to a much higher standard than the rest of the world. The world is down here (low level with his hands), the members of the church are here (level with his hands a little higher than the first), the members who have been through the temple and received their endowments (a higher level than the other two), then ordained missionaries." The missionary level is the highest. Preach My Gospel says "when you were set apart by priesthood authority, you received the right and privilege to represent the Lord. You received a ministerial certificate that verifies that authority to the world. President Spencer W. Kimball said: “The setting apart may be taken literally; it is a setting apart from sin, apart from the carnal; apart from everything which is crude, low, vicious, cheap, or vulgar; set apart from the world to a higher plane of thought and activity. The blessing is conditional upon faithful performance” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 478)" (p. 4). President Jensen voiced that he believes that as well. It was pretty neat!

 

While President and Sister Jensen were interviewing and talking with one companionship, the rest were in the Relief Society room. The Zone Leaders take this opportunity to examine our Area Books and we take looks at theirs, with any suggestions or comments on them for improvement take place. The rest of us are congregated in a room and we discuss the scriptures, do simple missionary activities or role-plays, or we just talk and get to know each other better. It was a great time to build district unity. We also went to lunch as a district afterwards, so it was a great time!

 

The second meeting is Zone Training Meeting. Early each month, Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) is held. It is a full-day of trainings and discussion that all of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders attend, and they are trained by President and Sister Jensen and the Assistants to the President. Zone Training Meeting is where they take what they learn from MLC and bring it down to each missionary on a Zone-by-Zone level. The Ames Zone (the one I am currently serving in) is pretty awesome! Usually as part of these meetings, the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders conduct role-plays in conjunction with their trainings. In this zone, they ask the missionaries who are coming to bring any investigators or less-active members or potential investigators that are able to come and be taught by missionaries. Instead of us role-playing with other missionaries, they have the investigators go sit in a room and tell them missionaries will soon be in there to teach them. The Zone Leaders have pre-assigned who is going where and who they will be teaching, pairing missionaries who are not in the same district. We have a few minutes to plan and then we are off and teaching them for 45 minutes. It is a really neat experience to teach with other missionaries you don't get to see that often. And this zone is the only one that does that... I hope it's not for long! Oh, and did I mention Brother Bennett came and was taught by 4 fantastic elders? Well he was and he really enjoyed it!

 

My studies have been focused on this district and how to better find new investigators, as that is something each companionship in our district is struggling with. The wonderful thing is, there are no lazy missionaries in our district (which is something that didn't happen before I came to Story City), and we have the faith and enthusiasm of 3 missionaries who are in their 1st transfer. The work here is about to take off!

 

My theme for the week is 2 Nephi 31:20, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." My goals for the week center around this and putting off mine imperfections and giving them to Christ the Lord.

 

"Condemn me not because of mine ^aimperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been."

   - Mormon 9:31

 

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them."

   - Ether 12:27

 

"O, remember, my son, and ^alearn ^bwisdom in thy ^cyouth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God."

   - Alma 37:35 (see also verses 36-37)

 

What better advice than from the Servants of God?

 

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

Mission: Officially 1/2 Over. :( - August 5, 2013

"It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength" -Mosiah 4:27

Time already seems to be going by faster... I hope and pray I make the most of it.

 

Even not being members of the church, others can have a great understanding of truth. Usually it is mixed in with some bits of false doctrine. Sometimes others are willing to learn something new, sometimes not. This week we had a lady tell us that it was none of our business what church she went to. It is interesting the things that Satan has done to bring in false concepts of God and the true gospel into the minds of the people of the world. We can never belittle or try to break someone else's faith, we must always build upon what they believe in. Some cases are harder to build their faith, some have very easy concerns to handle and help them form a correct vision of the truth. But we must always build their faith. President Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "You can’t, you don’t, build out of pessimism or cynicism. You look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen." In the Doctrine and Covenants, it is stated, "And the Spirit shall be given unto you ^aby the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the ^bSpirit ye shall not teach" (section 42 verse14). D&C 109:7 states "seek learning even by study and also by faith."

 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve shares his thoughts on this line of thinking:

"Almost everything I have said here has been an aid directed toward the missionary process, ultimately toward the investigator. May I close with an extended testimony about how focusing on the Atonement helps full-time and member missionaries and mission leaders.

"Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?

"You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

"Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.

"For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.

"If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,”¹⁶ then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way.

"The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

"I testify that the living God is our Eternal Father and that Jesus Christ is His living and Only Begotten Son in the flesh. I testify that this Jesus, who was slain and hanged on a tree,¹⁷ was the chief Apostle then and is the chief Apostle now, the Great High Priest, the chief cornerstone of His Church in this last and greatest of all dispensations. I testify that He lives, that the whole triumph of the gospel is that He lives, and because He does, so will we.

"On that first Resurrection Sunday, Mary Magdalene first thought she saw a gardener. Well, she did—the Gardener who cultivated Eden and who endured Gethsemane. The Gardener who gave us the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the cedars of Lebanon, the tree of life.

"I declare Him to be the Savior of the world, the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls, the Bright and Morning Star. I know that our garments can be washed white only in the blood of that Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. I know that we are lifted up unto life because He was lifted up unto death, that He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, and with His stripes we are healed. I bear witness that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, that He was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief because upon Him were laid the transgressions of us all.¹⁸

"I bear witness that He came from God as a God to bind up the brokenhearted, to dry the tears from every eye, to proclaim liberty to the captive and open the prison doors to them that are bound.¹⁹ I promise that because of your faithful response to the call to spread the gospel, He will bind up your broken hearts, dry your tears, and set you and your families free. That is my missionary promise to you and your missionary message to the world."

I add my testimony to Elder Holland's. I love you and I know that your Father in Heaven, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost love you. We are here, members of His holy church to bring others closer to Christ. May we do it out of the Pure Love of Christ, Charity, is my prayer.

 

Love from Iowa,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

It's Already Been 1 Year!!! - July 29, 2013

Greetings,

 

I can hardly believe it. I entered the MTC one year ago this Thursday. It can't be that long already! A year ago today I spoke in Sacrament Meeting and had a bunch of you over to our house. It is going by so fast. I hear that as soon as you hit the year mark the rest just goes by even faster. I believe that that is a sad reality.

 

Great week. We did about 20 hours of service, helping one member family prepare for their house to be bought, helping a couple of non-members help clean up their yards, and helping a member of our branch presidency prepare some of his house to so he can move out sooner rather than later. I feel like I was in "civilian" clothes for way too long this week!

 

Our Branch President is fantastic! He had us in his home to teach some of his friends in response to asking him "Who can we teach in your home this week?" It was a great blessing to be there. Elder Newhouse and I could have taught better, we taught too much of a lesson and not enough of teaching to their needs. So much to learn! Our Branch President was also lacking speakers for Sacrament Meeting, so he asked Elder Newhouse and I to each speak for 10 minutes on the Work of Salvation Broadcast. It was awesome! I spoke on charity and conversion and told the members we no longer tract, and Elder Newhouse recreated Elder Holland's telling of Peter and Christ's interaction from the October 2012 General Conference (http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-first-great-commandment?lang=eng). It touched some members and we are excited to see where that leads.

 

We heard about the Church of God based out of Korea and a member who lives here. They believe in Heavenly Mother and so she was really excited to speak with us. Turns out it isn't quite what we thought it was. She tried to teach us but was just very confusing, we were the first people to listen to her. We listened to her last week, so we will get to teach her this week!

 

There was a severe thunderstorm here on Monday night. We had just finished teaching a lesson at the Stake President's home and they had fed us a dinner of homemade stir fry. We were about to leave as it was about to get serious. So we stayed for an extra hour to wait out the storm. If you think you have seen a severe thunderstorm, and it wasn't in the Midwest, think again about it being severe. Wind bursts of upwards of 60 mph and lightning all around, back-to-back-to-back for an hour. With some rain. There were broken branches and bark off of trees everywhere! We spent a good 4 or 5 hours this week at least helping pick up branches, rake leaves, and mow lawns because of all of that. Crazy! Worst storm I have ever been in. Just wait for the tornados... (Just kidding Mom. Story City hasn't been hit by a tornado in a long time. *knock on wood*)

 

This week my focus has been charity. Nothing moves forward without Charity and the Spirit. So I am striving to increase those as time goes on. Study and pray for Charity, the pure love of Christ. And do your best to act on it. That is my invitation to you.

 

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

8th Transfer Down, 9 to Go... - July 22, 2013

Salutations, It's been a great week!

 

We have some new missionaries in our district. It is us up in Story City and the 8 missionaries serving in Ames. Elder Newhouse and I are the only 'normal' companionship in the district.

 

In the Ames 1st Ward, they just added a new pair of Sisters in addition to the Elders already serving there. Elder Claridge, I served around him in Des Moines for 1 transfer and have been around him since I've been up here in Story City, is training Elder Hollan, who is a 2013 Grad from Timpanogos High School in Orem, UT. Sister Hill is training Sister Browne, who I went to high school with. She is from Lindon, UT and she went to PG and Timp. I had a Business Management class taught by Mr. Carter with her our sophomore year. We weren't very good friends, but we had a few conversations. It was funny when we met at district meeting because she said I looked familiar, and asked if my first name was Zach. I told her yes and asked if her first name was Laura. It was, so there is another familiar face in the mission for me.

 

In the Ames 2nd Ward, they also added a new pair of Sisters in addition to the Elders already serving there. Elder Kilpatrick, I served around him in Des Moines for 1 transfer and have been around him since I've been up here in Story City, and Elder Barger, I served around his trainer for 2 transfers and he was my district leader for the last transfer in Story City, are our Zone Leaders. Sister England is training Sister Paul. Sister England had served in Ankenny for her whole mission until she came up here. When she was down in Ankenny and I was in Des Moines, our companionships had an odd car share for a week until they got a full-time car. It was odd because Ankenny and Des Moines are in 2 different Zones in 2 different Stakes. Ankenny is in the Ames Zone and so we served in the same zone for the last transfer and now we are serving in the same district!

 

Needless to say, there is a lot of personal connection to the missionaries in this district for me. Lots of history there. It's really neat!

 

Brother Bennett is now technically reactivated! He has been 4 of the last 5 weeks! His wife isn't sure if she wants this right now. She wasn't really looking for the truth, she is a spiritual person, and so she is having a harder time having enthusiasm for joining or getting baptized. However, her son wants to be baptized and she will let him make his own decisions. We are going to keep working with them and make sure they have the best experience possible as they continue to coming to church.

 

We were able to volunteer at the Iowa Games all day this last Saturday. The Iowa Games are pretty much a tournament/Olympics for the state of Iowa "where YOU are the athlete." Elder Newhouse and I got to keep score for half of the 8th Grade Basketball games. It was fun watching and reminiscing about my days back when I played rec basketball. It was weird watching basketball for an entire day. The last time I got close to watching that many sports was last Summer during the Summer Olympics.

 

Our area is about 1015 square miles. Lots of farmland... There are bunches of little communities spread out throughout our area. The two biggest towns are Story City and Iowa Falls. Iowa Falls is about a 45 minute drive from Story City. A long way for members to drive each week to church. We just found out that Iowa Falls will be getting a pair of full-time missionaries. Roughly half of our area will be given to them to work. It won't happen until August 29th, but we have lots of preparing to help kick start that area. It is super exciting as we aren't able to spend much time up there, but there is lots of work to be done! A few of the major churches up there have lost lots of their membership. One had a pastor that retired after serving for a few decades, and they don't like the new pastor. One has a lesbian minister. One was caught in a Des Moines prostitute ring. And everyone up there thinks the Jehovah's Witnesses are too pushy; they knock the entire town twice a year. There is lots of potential up there, it is just a matter of unlocking it in the correct way, because tracting doesn't work.

 

In the last week or so I have been pondering and thinking about my faith. I am doing my best to fulfill and magnify the calling I have been given. I have become more aware of things to correct and have had a better attitude towards correcting them. I have been more introspective in the last week and I am doing my best to let the Lord work through me. I am studying how we as missionaries can better use the Preach My Gospel fundamental "Revelation throught Prayer" in our own personal lives, to help magnify our ability in helping others understand. 2 Peter Chapter 1 really hit me when I read it in my studies yesterday. Some ways to increase my faith and develop other Christlike attributes in the process.

 

I hope you all may think about your prayers, what you are praying about, and seeking for answers from God. Doctrine & Covenants Section 6 also has great counsel about revelation; receiving answers from the Lord.

 

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

The Corn is Getting Tall... - July 15, 2013

Another Great Week in Story City!

 

We taught a FHE at a members home Monday night where we watched the mormon message "Our Eternal Life" with them and talked about how the internet and the videos the church produces can be such a good force in the world for truth. Use them!

 

Our branch has a new Branch Mission Plan!!! We are very excited. It has 3 parts.

1. Activate/introduce one person to the gospel and do all the temple work for one person. 
2. The focus families of the branch. 
3. Each quorum/auxiliary will be in charge of filling our schedule each week, one at a time.

The Young Men are in charge of it this week. We are excited for the members to get even more involved! Since the Work of Salvation Broadcast, our Branch President hasn't been able to get missionary work off his mind and he wants to do all he can to fulfill his responsibilities as the branch president. His first counselor is sending off a missionary this week to Paraguay, and their family is super awesome and supportive of missionary work as well.

 

We received a referral from a member in another ward for a less-active member that lived in ours. She told him that she was ready to come back to church. Her name is Paula. She smoked for years, and had a stroke with a couple of aneurisms and she now has trouble getting all of her thoughts and words put together. But she is coming to church next week!

 

Brother Bennett's friend had a wedding Saturday. He asked his friend if he could bring some friends, and told him his friends were mormon missionaries. His friend said it was fine, so we went to a wedding Saturday! And to Kaiden's Open House/Farwell Barbeque! Kaiden is a member of the branch here who leaves to Paraguay Wednesday for his mission. He will be going to the MTC in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  

 

From my studies this week. One definition of call is "invitation," another is "cry." In the scriptures, we read of God's servants crying repentance unto the people. As missionaries, our puprose is to "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through ... repentance" (Preach My Gospel, pg. 1). We are to invite others to repent. Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, when he visited the Iowa Des Moines Mission on May 4, 2013, told us that we are fulfilling our purpose if we "get them [people we work with] through some repentance." We all need to repent daily. As we love God and His Son, Jesus Christ, we truly want to be seen as clean in their presence always. We all sin and therefore are need to follow Alma's counsel which says "And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest" (Alma 13:13). I pray that we may all repent always.

 

Love, 

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

Independence Day - July 9, 2013

"The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." -Proverbs 16:1

This week has been another good one. Brother Bennett came to church again yesterday with his wife! He told us that when he met his wife 3 years ago, he told her that he was a Mormon, not a very good one, but that he was and he would return eventually. She was alright with that. When we knocked on his door one month ago, his wife answered the door and we asked for him. When she went back and told him that the missionaries were there, the first things that went through his head were "I guess it's time" and "church is at 10." He came yesterday, paid his tithing, and met with the branch president! He said that when we initially came that I had a conviction. That was pretty neat.

We were able to celebrate Independence Day a bit. We were up in Iowa Falls the day before and that morning. We ate at Pizza Ranch Wednesday night (it is a high-quality pizza and chicken restaurant that has buffet hours), only to find out that there was free food a block down. We found that out on Thursday... We had a curfew of 6 o'clock unless we were with a member on the 4th. The member we were thinking of was down by Des Moines that night, so we stayed in. Elder Newhouse has a card game version of "Settlers of Catan." That game is based in medieval times, how grateful I am for the independence and freedom we are able to celebrate and enjoy! We had our "4th of July Branch Picnic" on Saturday, the 6th of July. It was great as we got to know a lot of the members better! It was time well invested. We were able to speak with the Stake President for about 30 minutes at the end (he is in our branch). Even without fireworks our Independence Day celebrations were pretty good. :)

Today I had the opportunity to talk with Elder Herrin, one of my Zone Leaders who will be finishing his mission hext week. He showed me what he has learned and how to apply it and how to get closer to Christ through more effective planning. It was great and I am grateful to implement such incredible counsel.

Charity is the center of everything. I would exhort each of you to implement and study Preach My Gospel in your everyday life. It is not just for missionaries, but every person in the world. Just as the Book of Mormon is not just for members of the "Mormon" Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ

11 Months Out! - July 1, 2013

It's hard to believe it has already almost been a year!

 

One year ago I was enjoying my last fast Sunday as not a missionary. It is pretty weird to think it has been so long!

 

The Iowa Des Moines Mission is officially under new leadership as President and Sister Jensen are now here and President and Sister Jergensen have completed their service. We have a Zone Conference tomorrow with them, so I am excited to meet them and see how they are! Our mission is also one zone smaller as the Peoria Zone is now officially a part of the Illinois Chicago West Mission.

 

This week was good. Elder Newhouse turned 20 on Tuesday! Some members made cake and had ice cream, so we got that two days in a row. :)

 

I think the highlight of my week was "The Work of Salvation" broadcast. If you haven't seen it, WATCH IT!!! There are lots of different videos and other trainings found here. The Spirit is super powerful and I hope you can learn something new from the Spirit as you watch it. The part about the missionaries in Oklahoma includes my friend from BYU, Elder Byrd, as one of the missionaries working there. It was exciting seeing a bunch of familiar faces in the crowd of missionaries going out to serve!

 

For our 5th Sunday, combined Priesthood and Relief Society 3rd hour, a member of our Branch Presidency had a few clips he downloaded from the Broadcast and watched with the members. It was really neat to see them be so excited about the new things, and help bring these things to the members and get them excited as well. We are on the brink of some amazing work happening here in the Story City Branch! Missionary Work is changing! Do all you can to be a part of it! :)

 

The Bennett family came to church again this week! Brother Bennett, who has been less-active for almost 20 years, is coming back and is very excited! He participates in Sunday meetings quite a lot. You can see a renewed interest in him about the true gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants to quit smoking this week! We are hoping it all goes well!

 

Love,

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
550 Souls to Christ