Aaron's Thanksgiving Email

Dear Family,

 

It's great to hear from you and from the sounds of it, it was a great thanksgiving!! we heard from bro jolly that it was beautiful down there, in the 70's and warm as can be! To answer your questions mom, Thanksgiving was great! we ate at the Southworth's, they are a younger couple and newer to the ward and Sis. Southworth had her sisters in town so Bro Southworth was glad to balance it out by having us there haha. The food was delicious! We had the usual: turkey (which was cooked in the crock-pot and was very tasty!), stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green been casserole, with a plethera of pies for dessert! Thank goodness Elder Tueller and I run every morning haha thanks for the heads up as well, i'll be sure not to open that package until Christmas:) That's also great that you were able to get all of your sub for santa done as well! I'm sure those families will be forever grateful for the Christlike love that you and others are showing towards them this incredible time of year! and let Shai know happy late birthday from me! I have something for her but i haven't put in the mail yet. . . sorry! and i'm sure that you've heard from your missionaries but as of yesterday there is a wonderful new page on mormon.org, it's mormon.org/christmas. This has been in the works for a while and is a wonderful new addition to the site, advertising will begin shortly and super advertising will begin in a few weeks, through you-tube, and other social media networks, but the reason why i'm telling you this is to invite you to check it out! It's a wonderful page that is all about the Savior and has videos, free music downloads and many others! also, in the next week or so, the e-card feature will be available, to which i invite all who read this to go to mormon.org/christmas and send an e-card to a friend, a co-worker, a family member who may be stuggling or just needs a little boost and reminder of what Christmas is really all about, will you do that? I promise that as we spread the spirit of Christ, hearts will change and this work will continue to roll forth. Also, i encourage you all to link it to your social media network of choice, it's super easy! and those who visit it can have the opportunity to request a christmas message, purely about the Savior delivered by none other than, the missionaries! hooray! but, that's my schpeal of the week haha

 

Onto updates!

Holy smokes!! This past week, especially the past few days have super humbling. We've witnessed so many miracles and there are so many tender mercies spread upon this work and this area that it's been absolutely incredible to take part in this. I'll start with Sunday, Bro Jolly attended as usual this week after his trip to st george with to see his in-laws. Jeff, a less-active that we are working with was also able to attend and Shawn, our investigator Linda's fiance came to church as well! Now Shawn lives up in Vista, which is out of our mission, but he's been returning to activity and meeting with missionaries every week at his home and when he came down he came to church and attended with us and is present when we teach Linda (who sadly has been sick the past couple of weeks:( but keep her in your prayers please!) by the way speaking of prayers, i want to thank each and every one of you for keeping these people in your prayers, i know that it is by those prayers of faith offered on behalf of these individuals that these miracles were able to happen, so thank you all so very much! anyways, back to Sunday! Bro Jolly approaches us after Gospel Principles and we start talking about his trip to st george and he says to us, "so we're shooting for somewhere around mid-january for my baptism, i'm going to have my father in law come down and baptize me" . . . it's not a matter of if nor when anymore, they are planning it and he is very excited for his baptism! but that's not all! Elder Tueller and I were walking to see someone just a little later that day and we recieve a text from him that reads, "how about jan 5?" Elder Tueller and i looked at each other and on a busy road both of us exclaimed "YES!!" at the top of our lungs. I'm sure a few people turned and looked but we honestly could not contain our excitement. So we called to schedule the builing for the 5 and it's reserved all day!! so we let bro jolly know and he replies "how about the 12th?" so we make another phone call and we heard back today that we officially have the building reserved for the 12th! they are just planning in advance to coordinate with Sis Jolly's parents to come down from st george. And in our lesson with him yesterday he is so excited that this is set, that he can see the goal and he can work towards it, we were also able to have Bro Renshaw with us, who is a recent convert of 6 months that will be recieving the Melchizedek Priesthood come January and he was able to answer many of Bro Jolly's questions and things to expect and so forth. We also talked about how there will be the opposition in these coming weeks in preparation for his baptism that will try to get him to feel uncertain, unready- we testified of the goodness of our Heavenly Father and those feelings do not come from Him, and he truly can pray to recieve strength to conquer those feelings and that Heavenly Father will help him be ready for that day. What an incredible blessing and super humbling experience it is to be able to be a part of his life and for he to be a part of mine, he's an incredible person and has made some big steps in his life! I love this work, what a blessing it is, i know that is is His work.

 

oh....and i'm out of time haha wow that flew by! well, i want each and every one of you to know that I know that Christ lives and loves each and every one of us and that as we as fellow brothers and sisters reach out to those in need this Christmas season in small simple acts of kindness and charity that His love will be spread abroad to fill the earth, of this i testify.

I love each of you very much and mom, thank you for your thoughts as well, it makes me think of Hugh B Brown's story of the Currant bush, He is the gardner here, and He knows what's best for each of us. until next time, stay safe in the snow!! it's hard waking up and shoveling off all this sunshine!:P (as elder tueller would say)haha i love you!

love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Zone Conference

Aaron's email November 13, 2012

Hello Family!

 

It's great to hear from you! i heard about he storm! it's winter time now right? It's starting to get cold here too. . . low 60's, i have to be honest, i'm freezing haha i'm totally acclimatized here and i'm trying to keep warm haha but thank you for the pictures everyone! it's great to see you all and holy smokes Nolie is HUGE and Lincoln's growing like a weed too! I hope all is going well, i apologize in advance, this email will probably be shorter than most, due to limited time, so i will just give some quick updates!

 

we were able to teach Bro Jolly and help him with the Book of Mormon, he still knows he's going to get baptized, it's more a matter of when at this point, so we're striving to help him gain a solid foundation and testimony and help him see that we don't know everything, nor will we, when we feel the spirit, the best thing we can do is act, and show our Father in Heaven we are willing to do what He asks.

 

We also began teaching Corina, she was taught by missionaries about two years ago, and thanks to the invitation of her neighbor and Del Cerro Ward member, sis McDermott, she's taking the lessons again and i have to say how amazing it is to have members invite their friends, because Corina is active in the lessons, and when she has questions she turns to her friend and sis McDermott's testimony is incredible and is exactly what she needs and wow, it's amazing and super humbling, the Lord is hastening His work and He needs all hands on deck! We are so grateful for sis mcdermott and her willingness to share her beliefs and her testimony with others.

 

Yesterday Elder Tueller and I had the incredible opportunity to have President Clayton come out with us for a morning/afternoon. He joined our companionship study at 9:00 am and was with us until about 4 pm, what an incredible experience that was to have one on one teaching time with our Mission President! i was so honored and humbled by the experience, and it was a blast too! He taught with us when we had our lesson with Corina and for our next morning appointments as well, he is such a kind, loving, insightful, humble man- I am truly lucky to be able to serve with him. it was neat, during lunch we got a call from Sis Brown in the ward and we set an appointment for right after lunch. We told this to our mission president and he said "great, let's do it, tell me about this sister" and as we were pondering what we might teach all of us looked up and thought of Sariah in the Book of Mormon, as a mother, she had to endure so much, she went through adversity leaving everything behind, doubt whether or not her children would return from Jerusalem, and she also witnessed wayward children. Just think how many prayers were offered by Sariah, a loving mother, in behalf of her sons, Laman and Lemuel. It's not that her prayers were not heard, for think of all the incredible experiences that those two had in their lives, but to know that the Lord does have a plan for all of us and we still have our agency, His ways are higher than our ways and He knows what's best for His purposes. Sometimes we may not know the answer to our "why" questions until after this mortal life, but as we put our trust in Him and His plan, we can continue to Hope, to have faith and look forward and upward!

 

Well family i love you all so very much and i hope you all have a wonderful week and dad and mom, any experiences you'd like to share from praying? How have you felt? I know that as we all work together to build His kingdom, we are participating in the best work, that which is of most worth to us in this life and in the eternities; proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all. What a wonderful gift and blessing! This work is true and it is Hastening! come january we'll be receiving about 70 more missionaries here to San Diego! I know Christ lives and love us, He is always there and always will be and will answer our prayers!

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's Election Day email. 11/6/12

Dear Family,

 

It's so great to hear from you! Thank you so much for your insights and encouragement and prayers and also thank you dad for sharing with me your testimony and that story about great grandma lloyd, those stories are incredible and i love to hear them! This truly is the Lord's work and those "happenings" were for a reason, definitely not coincidence! and i didn't know shai made it into SUU's program! that's awesome! i wanted to ask dad, how was that family of 5 were found? and those who attended your class, are they new investigators, visitors? How goes the work in your ward? do you have a "rescue list"? that each auxillary has roughly 5 individuals or families that they are striving to fellowship and help progress in the Gospel? and also dad, any experiences with your date that you'd like to share? and mom i know that as you continue to speak and open your mouth to those around you it will be filled and those opportunities are there, if we seek them.

 

Updates for the week!

 

I'm starting big, update on Bro Jolly!! This one floored me for about a night! it was incredible! so the past little while, Bro Jolly has wanted to attend a baptismal service and we've invited him but our schedules just couldn't match up whether because of vacation, in-laws in town, but this past saturday everything aligned and he was able to attend the baptism of a YSA, Hashem and this was the first baptism he had ever attended so Elder Tueller and I were giving him the overview of what the service would be like and let me tell you, it was an incredible baptismal service! The spirit was so strong! and Hashem's story is amazing! He sacrificed so much for the Gospel! after the service ended we were talking with Bro Jolly and we asked "how do you feel right now?" (question from Heaven) and his response came as such, "well, one way i can describe it is like this: my brother graduated highschool the year before i did and it was like watching him graduate, knowing that i would be in his shoes soon enough, that i was next" he felt the spirit, he felt the promptings and he knows what he's learning is true, he knows that he will be in Hashem's shoes! how incredible is that? and to top that off, on sunday our gospel principles teacher gave him a special assignment to read moroni 7 the week before and this was his report and he said "you know i read it several times but when i attended the baptism on saturday i understood, everything in here talks about those basic principles that the sisters talked about; faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost and endure to the end" elder tueller and i looked at each other and both had the look of "he gets it!!" wow what miracles!!

 

Linda also was able to make it to church this week as well and we were able to share with her the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ with her fiance, who is returning to activity. Linda has some wonderful questions and she said she really enjoyed church, which was fast and testimony sunday. her fiance shawn got up and bore his testimony and it was powerful! and she participated in Gospel Principles and asked questions and commented and is looking forward to reading the manual for that as well! She is also hoping to get her two daughters involved in church as well!

 

We also had a good lesson with Geoff this week, i know that he needs the Gospel and he needs the Savior now more than ever, i know it's what will help him the most and we will be going over to a members apartment right neat his tomorrow for our lesson and watching a couple of conference talks and having dinner with them as well.

 

Noah was pretty busy this week, but we're still in communication with him and he's still reading and praying and we're setting something up for next week, please keep them in your prayers!

 

I want to thank you again for your prayers, they are felt and i want you all to know that i know that this gospel is true, i know that it has been restored from a loving Heavenly Father through the Prophet Joseph Smith, i know that the gospel is the only thing that will save the world from the calamity of it's own self-destruction and i also know that "we do not preach and teach in order to 'bring people into the church' or to increase the membership of the church. we do not preach and teach just to persuede people to live better lives. .. . we invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the Celestial Kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this" -Dallin H. Oaks. Of this i testify and know that every time we talk to someone about the gospel or invite them we are leading them one step closer to the Celestial Kingdom, One step closer to life back in God's presence forever with their families. This is His work and Christ lives!

I love each and every one of you and hope you have a great week! good luck with PTC's mom!!

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's mail October 30, 2012

Dear Family,

 

It's great to hear from you!! and for starters, Mal is going to be an INCREDIBLE missionary, and i know that there are people in Fort Worth who's lives will be changed by her sincere heartfelt testimony of this Gospel and I'm very excited for her!! an to answer some of your questions dad, i played alright, had some decend drives and putts but you know that's my weakness is my short game but everything inside of 5 feet goes in right? "look and shoot" as you would say. Mission Trails is an 18 hole course with two very different 9's, the fron is very hilly and interesting while the back is very open and flatter than the front. i was two shots behind Elder Dehlin after our 18 and we all played pretty decent and yes, we all had a blast!:) oh and the clubs we borrowed from some members in the Del Cerro ward, and not too shabby, i played with an older set of taylormade burners and Elder Tueller was playing with titillest. thanks for the info on your project1 i hope and pray that it continues to go well! i know that as you continue to pray and seek those opportunities for the 1st, which is approaching, that it will be placed in your path, whether at the store, or on a walk around the block, i promise that if you will open your mouth it will be filled and i promise you as well mom, that as you continue to do everything that you can in your efforts to share the gospel, Heaven Father will bless you with miracles in your life, of that i can testify! it also sounds like the McDougal's funeral was a solemn but not sorrowful occasion, i had the opportunity to meet him and i do know how wonderful he is, just in my few interactions with him he radiated with the spirit and he was filled with the Joy that this gospel brings and it truly affected everyone around him, it made others happy as well. i think i have their address, i should be getting a letter off to them in the next little while.

 

Quick question/story, so i've always been left eye dominate and my right eye has not been able to see very far distances, but more recently just trying to see street signs with just my right eye, my version of a lay man's eye test, it's really difficult trying to see the street signs, and when we were in our apartment for the past few days i've conducted some more and just with the calendar on our wall i'm unable to make out what month it is haha so i was wondering 1-if i should possibly get an eye test and 2-if it so happens that i may need some correction, do we have eye insurance? because if not, i promise you i can still see and i will just get tested later.

 

alrighty time for the updates of the week!!

this past week was an awesome one! we saw so many miracles and had so many wonderful experiences, we were just able to somehow (when i really know it was not just 'somehow' but by the spirit) able to be in the right places at just the right times. OH! to follow up, Mike did not end up keep our appointment for friday but we did get his number and he is willing to reschedule!

 

We had a stellar lesson with Noah last week, he is doing so well! he continues to love reading the Book of Mormon and asked us "if there are any specific stories, or passages that  you feel might benefit me, what might those be?" never before have i had someone ask me such an inspired, thought provoking question, the feeling became very solemn as we listened to the promptings of the spirit and came to the story of King Lamoni's father as an example that before he knew what the gospel had to offer, he, in fear of his life was willing to give half his kingdom. when he started to learn the Gospel and the wonderful gift that it is and he changed, he was willing to give everything, even all his sins to know God and receive eternal life. we asked Noah what stood out and sacrifice stood out to him, that he was willing to give everything for it and we related this to his family, to whom he would sacrifice anything for and he knows and understands the sacrifices that he'll make for the Gospel but he is willing to make them. What a miracle and blessing!

 

We also had a great lesson with Bro. Jolly about the Book of Mormon last night, all about the "why" of the Book of Mormon and we were able to testify that it truly is the keystone of our religion, everything either stands or it falls with the Book of Mormon and we come to know it's true, by how we feel. He is excited to read from its pages and he feels like he's on the right path and sees the changes, but maybe not from our point of view, because in the time that we've been teaching him, he's made leaps and bounds! He loves gospel principles, and is going to start attending elders quorum as well, please keep he and Noah in your prayers this week!

 

we also started teaching Linda, who met with missionaries over a year and a half ago, but life got in the way and she became "busy" and when we came to her door she said to us "you know, it's interesting that you should show up at my door just now" because both Elder Tueller and I had recieved the prompting we needed to see her. she then explained to us how her day went and as such on a normal day she would not be home right when she was, and we just happend to knock right when she was thinking about the church. i testify there are no coincidences! She asked us some wonderful questions and we were able to teach her the Restoration of the Gospel and by answering some questions some parts of the Plan of Salvation, she invited us back this friday to continue to teach the Gospel- amazing miracle!

 

We also  started to teach Geoff, now Geoff has been through a lot in the past couple months and some good friends, who are member's of our ward, pointed him out to us and he invited us in and we were able to teach and testify of the Plan of Salvation and of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how he can know that things have happened for a reason, he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and committed to read Alma 7 and we'll be going back on thursday, what miracles!

 

 I know that this is the Lord's work, i know that He lives and He love us and knows each and every one of us and knows our needs and can and will help us through as we rely on Him and His Atoning sacrifice for us. This Gospel is true and was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and we have a living prophet, Presiden Thomas S. Monson whom i also sustain and follow. I love each and every one of you and hope you have an incredible week, please share your experiences with sharing the gospel!

love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

 

dad-that's great to hear about your family as well it's good to hear they are doing well and still progressing! who else is doing well in the ward?

Picture comparison from 1st and 2nd companionship

Aaron's email 10/23/12

Dear Family,

 

I hope all is going well for you, i didn't hear from you this morning so i am assuming you all are super busy and that's great!! a little side note for dad, Elder Tueller, Dehlin, and Hill and I will be playing 18 holes today at Mission Trails Golf Course :) first 18, and i'm looking forward to it! that's why you'll see a withdrawl on my account, it's for today, and we are very excited!! We had interviews with our mission president this week and that went well! Hope things at home are well and that the project is going well, and oh, a sister in my district is from Midway, so she was wondering where abouts your project is out there? and i hope your class is behaving today as well! I guess i'll just get right into updates for the week! By the way Elder Tueller is feeling much better!! Oh dad! i wanted to follow up with you and your goals, any cool experiences you would like to share, and are you praying daily for those opportunities? and your baptism as well, how were they found? how are they doing now? are you in charge of the New Member Lessons? and for all, does anyone else have their date they would like to share?

 

I will start with Noah,

Holy smokes family! It is such an incredible, humbling experience to teach and be a part of Noah's life! He is such an amazing person! When we followed up with his reading in the Book of Mormon he had read just about 10 chapters! and he said "i was a little distracted when i was reading so i'm not sure if i got fully what the Lord wanted to teach me, so i plan on going back over those and really focusing on them" wow!! and he testified to us of the changes and the power that the Book of Mormon has brought into his life, in his own words he said to us "if you would have asked me 3 months ago if there was a God, i'd tell you no way, about a month ago, i'd tell you there was a chance, but since meeting with you and reading the Book of Mormon, i'll tell you i know without a doubt that God is real" what an incredibly humbling thing to hear, and to know that truly is the power that is in the Book of Mormon. That did not come from Elder Tueller nor myself, it came from the Spirit to Noah, by his desires and his acting on those desires. We had a really good conversation with Noah about the Word of Wisdom and some of his concerns and my companion testified of the Temple and testified to that conference talk of "would you sell your soul for a nickel?" but in different terms. Noah's family has seriously noticed a difference in his life, his brother Miley called his wife Allie (a less-active member) and asked her "what's with this Nephi stuff? is he really serious about the church?" Miley being a convert himself is now speaking to his brother everyday about the church. Noah has started to post passages of scripture that stand out to him on facebook and he is helping his friend in Oklahoma back to the Gospel, back to the path that leads to eternal life, what an incredible man! and Allie also testified that we came into their lives at "just the right time" and we know that there are no such thing as coincidences, and they know that as well and what an amazing family they are! We'll be seeing them again this wednesday and so i'll keep you posted!

 

On to Tom!

Tom was taught by missionaries over a year and a half ago, and Elder Brown and i stopped by to see how he was doing to start teaching him the gospel once again, we had our first lesson with him, then transferrs happened, and Elder Tueller and I went by with Bro Coleman from the ward for our next appointment and when we began Tom said "i know i had a reading assignment and i've got to tell you, i looked everywhere for that Book of Mormon that i said i had in the house but i couldn't find it! so wednesday i went to the church building a knocked but no one was there, so i tried again today a little before you came and no one was there either, so i wasn't able to read that passage you left me" we all looked at one another in shock and asked "Tom, you went to the church building looking for a Book of Mormon??" to which he replied "well yes, i thought that would be the place to get one, if any" and i pulled a copy out of my backpack and said "well, Tom, here ya go" and he looked at me and smiled and said "why thank you" and after our lesson we invited him to church and he accepted and we promised there would be people there this time haha and there were and he made it to church this week! what an incredible experience!! Miracles have happened this week!

 

last night was a cool experience too, a reaffirmation to "follow a prompting without delay" as we learn from Pres Monson. it was later in the evening and i had the thought to drive by a part-member family's home to see if there were any signs of life, when i parked off on the side of the road i looked at the clock and said within myself "it's 8:30, is it too late?" to which i received the strongest feeling of "go to that door!" and i said "Elder, we gotta go" haha so we went and were able to speak with Mike, he is not a member of our church but he has met with missionaries before and he said life just got busy and after getting to know him and talking a little bit, we set an appointment for this friday at 7, i'll follow up! what a blessing the gift of the Holy Ghost is, i know that Heavenly Father knows his children and He will let us know! of this i so testify!

 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's Email 10/16/2012

Dear Family,

 

Dad you sly dog you!!! getting the name of my ward mission leader!! haha it was great when he handed me a bag with socks, candy and a letter in it haha what a surprise! bro newton asked me "do you know Richard Cook?
" haha i said, "yes. . . why?" and then he proceeds to hand me a bag full of goodies. I do think it's great that everyone wants to see me but we all have to be obedient out here so that the blessings from the Lord will not be hindered. as for the shoes? they are toast haha, the Bostonians from Costco are no more, i had to retire them, but my ecco's are still in great condition so I'll be alright:) So news about the transfer!! I have my new companion, Elder Tueller, who i served with in PQ and in transfer meeting President Clayton said "Elder Tueller stand up, your new companion and the new zone leader is Elder Lloyd and your area will be Del Cerro" what a surprise that was! I am super humbled once again with this opportunity to serve in the San Diego East Zone and to go with that, we now have a car in Del Cerro, a serious blessing! Now we are able to see everyone in the outskirts of our area that Elder brown and i were not able to reach on our bikes. Sad news, the day that Elder Tueller and i became companions, he started not to feel too well, he woke up the next morning with a sore throat, and body aches, we checked out his throat, and sure enough, red with white and yellow spots. . . strep. So the past week has been one of rest, i gotta tell ya my apartment has never been cleaner haha probably because i've gotten just a tad stir crazy haha but we were still able to see a few people and teach a few lessons this week so that was great! yes, he is on antibiotics so all is well:) congrats on the baptism!! they sound like a great family! and a wonderful addition to the ward family! yes, it can be very difficult for Recent Converts, they are beginning a new life, and new language, new culture and new everything so keep them strong! so my updates are few but they are miracles!

 

Karen sadly flew back to Oregon this weekend, but we were able to have two lessons with her this past week and reading with her from the Book of Mormon has been treat! When we first started reading with her it was hard for her to understand what she was reading (new language) but as the week went by she became more fluid in her pronounciation, she comprehended and connected more with what she was reading, she began to feel that what she was reading was true, what an incredible journey she has started! How blessed i am and was to be able to help her begin that journey with a few simple steps and a few simple tools that will help her to keep on that path that will lead to eternal life. She prayed at the end of every lesson and when we asked about her individual prayers she said "they are an incredible experience, i feel so good when i pray" my hope and prayer is that we will be able to get her connected with the Church up in Oregon.

 

Noah, we had an appointment on friday and when we followed up with reading he said to us "ever since you guys left last time i just had to pick up the book" he read through 1 nephi 4 and, he shared with us a few scriptures that stood out to him, he said that he posted some on facebook because they meant so much to him. He was also able to call his brother, who was baptized at age 18 and hear his story and about how he came to know how that the church was true, and much like Noah, it all started with the Book of Mormon. we were able to teach the Restoration of the Gospel and he invited us back for this friday and when we invited him to continue reading he paused, he looked Elder Tueller and I in the eye and said "of course, of course i will" i honestly got the chills the spirit was so strong, and he said he's had incredible experiences so far so why wouldn't he keep reading? what a blessing it is to be able to be a part of this the Lord's work, i know He lives and i know its true!

 

well that's it for this week, so it's nothing too exciting or lengthy, but hopefully i will stay healthy this week! haha don't worry i wash my hands like crazy! i love you all so much and i hope you have a fantastic week! I'll keep you all and keep ash in prayers as well.

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Oct 9, 2012 picture "Need new shoes"

Looks like the "Super Glue" in the background isn't working!

Aaron's email October 9, 2012

Hello  Family!!

 

Holy smokes General Conference was amazing!!! and it's probably a good thing that i wasn't able to see Austin, for that is against the rules haha but that's exciting that they are down here!! I definitely know the missionary age change is truly inspired because i truly felt it when he spoke, i felt the spirit confirm what our beloved prophet spoke by inspiration. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet on the earth today. I loved his talk as well, all about prayer and feeling and recongnizing the Holy Ghost. and we must "never postpone a prompting" -that's what i loved! we all have had those promptings in our lives and He is speaking to us to help and bless the lives of others. He knows what's best. oh and about the District, that's a mini series that BYUtv made and we as missionaries use clips from their teaching called The District 2 for our training out here in the field. They all were home before i left on my mission but i did have the opportunity to meet Elder Moreno in the MTC, they are all fantastic missionaries and we learn a lot from their examples. that's a funny story about Nolie, i'm sorry but that's great that she's talking and that she loves papa haha oh what a cute little girl.

 

So dad has set his date for sharing and preparing someone to hear the Gospel, i know that as you continue to pray daily and pray with that faith that that person will be brought into your life, you will have those promptings of the spirit to "go help that person" or "i should talk to this person" all those "thougts" come from the spirit. He tells us in our minds and in our hearts and He will help you in your efforts. Has anyone else set a date? i know that as your pray for inspiration for a date, Heavenly Father will help you and when you've set that date, to act! As we've learned we have to observe then serve, we have to do something right? put our shoulders to the wheel!

 

Updates!

We got to watch the sunday morning session at the Jolly's and Bro. Jolly is doing really well, he loved conference and love Elder Holland's talk, he really connected with it and we had a lesson with him after the session and invited him to be baptized and we were able to get his concern about baptism and we'll continue to work with him and help him to overcome those concerns. But i do know that he's feeling the spirit each and every day of his life and that God's hand is in his life and i hope and pray that he'll be able to overcome his concerns.

 

Karen is doing well too! she's been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and each time she prays she says that she feels really good, and we read 3 nephi 11 with her and talked about why we are to be baptized and the blessings that come from it and she is praying to know if baptism before she leaves san diego is right, we're doing everything we can to get her stoked to take these habits that we're introducing and tools that she's been given to take back to Oregon and continue learning in the Gospel.

 

Oh! so a few weeks ago, we were given a list of Relief Society Sisters that our RS pres gave to us that she did not know, and we were able to stop by one sister Etherton, and this was the 3rd time we'd stopped by and she was home! she opened the door and said "hey elders come on in, meet my husband" and we talked to her husband that half his family is LDS, and he accepted the invitation to take the lessons and we're going by on friday! and guess what? he loves to golf! yes!! haha but he is an incredible man.

 

Ah so it's transfer day tomorrow and we found that Elder Brown is getting transferred tomorrow so i will be getting a new companion tomorrow so sorry this is so short but he's got to get everything packed and prepared! i hope you all know how much i love you and care about you! i'll keep you in my prayers!

love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's email October 2, 2012

Dear Family,

 

So!! First off, i guess i should start off with an apology for probably causing you a mini hear attack!! i promise that i'll never forget your birthday ever again mom, this experience solidified that!! haha ok i'll tell you the story. last week for preparation today elder brown and i went golfing with elder hill and elder dehlin at Admiral Baker, a navy golf course in our area and it was great fun!! But, at the 8th hole i had to drive one into the weeds. . .and so i went looking for it and as i was venturing into the wilderness of san diego's tropical weeds, i found my ball! it was a miracle! so as i went and grabed for my ball. . . STAB! the fron of a palm tree stuck my index finger! (not those soft palm leaves you think of, this was a short, fat, prickly palm) and as i went to pull the fron out of my finger. . . it broke! so i had a palm needle stuck in my finger and i tried to get it out but it wouldn't budge!! so i played out the round and finished with 9 fingers and then i had President clayton take a look at it and he tried to unearth the "foriegn body" with a 21 gauge needle and tweezers and he couldn't get it, he found it was too deep so we had to go to the urgent care. which is where the phone call came in. . . again i apologize, but the doctor took a look at it, injected a local numbing solution, and according to elder brown "went to town on my finger" digging and tweezing and prying and finally. . . he got it! i forgot to take pictures but it was pretty big! and then he cleaned it out and put me on some anti-biotics for skin and nail infection. so there you have it, and who says golfing isn't a dangerous sport?? haha well that's the adventure of the week now i'll get to some updates for you!

 

first follow up time! has anyone picked a date yet?? i hope so and i hope and pray that you call down the powers of heaven for help in your efforts to share the gospel with someone that He has placed in your life.

 

updates!! really quick! Bro Jolly is doing really well! He is excited for conference and we'll be going over to his house for the sunday sessions. We had a lesson with him last night, and OH! he wore a tie to church on sunday, which was a first so the ward was shocked! but our lesson we had planned to talk about the word of wisdom, but as we were talking and asking questions, we found out that he needed to go over the power of prayer, and he expressed to us that he feels like he needs to pray more, and to get into the habit so we taught and testified and it was super awesome! Then we went immediately over to the fjellstead's to have a lesson with their granddaughter Karen and we read from the Book of Mormon with her and i have to say, the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon are the word of God. Even though Karen did not fully understand what we read with her, she was reminded of an experience that she had when she saw God's hand in her life and she was taught by the spirit, and like 2 ne 31:3, our heavenly father will teach us to our understanding, what an incredible experience!! We were also able to see Matt and Ashley this week on exchanges as well, and we helped start them on the Book of Mormon and get them reading. This week has been full of incredible experiences and miracles, what a blessing it is to serve here in the del cerro ward with elder Brown. Sorry i'm out of time but i hope you all know how much i love you and hope you have an incredible week!!

until next time,

love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's email September 25, 2012

dearest family,

 

It's so wonderful to hear from you! I will admit i am very excited, yet a tad fill with jealous rage (sarcasm;) ) that Adam will be heading out to the Ryder Cup tomorrow, that will be an incredible experience! Mom, i hope that you will continue to become healthy and strong and i keep you in my prayers every day! Dad, i havent' heard from ya in a while but i'm assuming that's because work is booming, so that's great! well i have quite a few humbling and incredible experiences to share with you this week, but mom, perhaps when you send your next package, (which there's no rush!!) could i possibly have some socks sent out? both church socks and white socks for excersize? again i emphasize, no rush haha

 

well, time for some updates!!

 

I'll start off with Jordan. On sunday morning about 9:30 am we recieve a phone call from a bro. mamode, a recent convert of about 3 years and he tells us "Elders, my niece is turning 12 and has been asking about church, so i figured i would take her to her ward because she lives close to the church building, she has been with me before and recently has been wanting to get involved more and more, and by the way i would like to have her get baptized". . . holy smokes!! again, another one of these experiences when my legs turn to jello and i have just enough strength to pick my jaw up off the ground we said "sure bro, mamode, we'll be waiting for you and we look forward to getting to know jordan as well". sure enough, they came to church on sunday and she stayed for all 3 hours and she had a good experience! We were able to stop by yesterday and meet her family, her mother and father are not too interested in the gospel at this point in their lives, but they are completely supportive of their daughter and her decisions. We hope to have them involved with the lessons at their neighbors home (because jordan is really good friends with their kids, the Lapu'aho's). and THEN we were walking back to our apartment and our YW president pulls up and asks "elders, i forgot to get Jordan's info on sunday, do you know if she'd like to start coming to activities and so we gave her their info and then this morning we get a text from Bro. mamode saying "elders thanks for following up with my sister, Jordan is excited to go to the activity tomorrow, and please send my thanks to your YW president as well" WHAT A MIRACLE!!!! i am so incredibly lucky to be a  part of this work! i am humbled each and every day by what happens.

 

Now on to Bro. Jolly, we were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation last week and again the spirit was super strong and he's been listening to truman g madsen cd's on the prophets and loves it, he loves the history, he loves everything about the gospel, he feels like everything that has happened to him in his life has prepared him to be where he is right now. flash forward to sunday, we start talking to him after Gospel Principles and he says "now i'll talk to you two about this when we get together, but for the past little while i've been having these dreams. . .(what went through my mind was this is either really good, or really bad). . .dreams where i'm just trying to get home, and for whatever reason, something always gets in my way and i can't get home and back to my family"--i think it goes without saying that we definitely know what we will talking about with bro. jolly this week. MIRACLE!

 

and now for Karen. We've been trying to work with the Fjellstead's in our ward because their granddaughter karen is with them for just a few more weeks while she's interning with her grandfather. She is not yet a member of the church and we had set up to share a FHE with them last night. We got a call from sis fjellstead telling us a little more about karen and her situation and elder brown and i came together and changed our plans, we wanted to help Karen get to know who God is, and that He loves her and has a plan for her. We were able to watch "my new life" a wonderful and powerful mormon message with their family and began to talk about expeirences that we've had that testify to us that there is a God, that He is real, and Elder Brown bore powerful witness of how he came to know, along with her grandparents and i was able to share my story and testimony only to come to find out that karen is adopted too and that sis fjellstead was unable to have children as well and adopted 4 of her own. Karen felt that she's been having all these expereiences and has had too many to not know that God is real and that she is here for a reason, she accepted the invitation to learn more about the restored gospel and also a copy of the Book of mormon with our testimonies written in it. Elder brown was also able to share with her "footprints in the sand" to find our that karen has a key chain with it on her keys. I testify that there are no coincidences in this life, that God does have an individual plan for each and every one of His children because He loves them, and everything truly does happen for a reason.

 

also, some less-actives that we are working with are doing well, jeff who we're seeing tonight and patricia-who's been away from the chruch for over 50 years are both coming back and staying for all three hours as well! So humbling and i am learning so much and it is such a blessing to be able to serve among so many wonderful people, i am so blessed. I also had the opportunity to speak this past sunday in the Del Cerro ward, it was a wonderful experience!

 

I hope you all know how much i love you and care about you! has anyone set a date yet? just following up! i know that when that date is set, that Heaven Father has experiences set up just for you that you can help someone come unto Christ. I hope you all have a wonderful week and i know that Christ lives and that He is our Savior, when we only see one set of footprints in the sand it's because He is carrying us. Until next time.

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's email September 18, 2012

Dear Family,

It's great to hear from you and the adventures that you all are having! I did get the package, thank you so much mom i really appreciate it! I was wondering. . . could i possibly have a couple extra bucks put on my card? i have need to buy some new inner tubes for bicycle repairs haha just a flat and probably one for good measure, and no need to worry, i have not crashed, but am loving the bike and am staying safe and always wearing a helmet i promise!! Dad's talk was awesome and i got a lot from it and thank you for your thought this week as well, i definitely every single day remember those words and strive to do "one more thing" each day. I am sorry if this letter is shorter than usual, the computer that i am using is exceptionall slow and it takes a while to catch up to my tying haha anways. . .

 

Updates!

We have seen and partaken of so many miracles this past week and it has been so humbling and so incredible to be in this portion of the Lord's vineyard. We started to teach the Seiftan family, we found them by helping them move a couch a couple weeks ago and we've been able to teach them the Restoration of the Gospel and the Plan of Salvation. I have to tell you, what an incredible experience it was to teach the Restoration of the Gospel. At first Bro Seiftan-as i will refer to him as- was leaning back, arms folded in his chair, we couldn't really tell if he was listening or not, we tried to involve him but he continued to stay as he was. As we began telling them about Joseph smith and the First Vision, Bro seiftan began to perk up, began to lean forward, eyes wide, ears open, and nodding, listening, and responding. He wasexcited and as we left he said "i'm going to do what you said, i'm going to take it to God to find out". They are a wonderful family and have had some incredible things happen in their lives that have testified to them that God is real and that He lives. Sis seiftan especially. What a humbling experience!

Bro Jolly is doing super well!! Holy smokes i cannot even express in words how humbling it is to be a part of his life and to just be with him and the changes that he is making and the path that he is on in his life. He was in St. George for the week visiting his in-laws and his father in-law gave him a cd with truman g madsen about the prophets of he church and he said in his 6 hour drive he was able to listen to quite a few, the first 5!! he loves learning about the historyof the Chruch and we were able to teach the Plan of Salvation and he just understands, he relates the things we talk about to his work and likens the teachings in his daily life, what an incredible man and family! as we were driving home, he said to us "when my sons are of age, they are definitely serving missions" amazing!! miracles!

WE were able to teach Eymard and MJ at the Temple on saturday and took them on a tour and they accepted the invitation to take the missionary lessons!! believe it or not, they are our downstairs neighbors!

Jeff-a less active we are working with now has agreed to take the lessons, and is seeking his testimony and he was challenged and committed to prepare to go to the Temple, our Elders Quorum president came with us (w were on splits) and Jeff made it to church as well!

Patricia- another less-active that came back to church after 50 years of inactivity!!

 

This is the Lord's work and His glory, i am so blessed to serve here, i love this work and these people and this ward and i love you allso much!! i'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers and  i hope and pray that you all have missionary experiences! Let me know about your dates!!

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's email 9/11/12

Dear Family,

 

It's great to hear from you!! I am loving my new area! it's a blast! and in my last area i was a zone leader and now i have the opportunity to serve as a disrict leader again, it's a lot of responsibility but i know that the Lord will help me fulfill this calling to which He has called me. That's great that you had the missioanries over for dinner! i'm sure they loved pizza too mom no worries! some people are just pickier than others haha (in reference to the tomatoes). The members here in Del Cerro feed us well too and Elder Brown and I are in an apartment here at the lowest point in our area, so everything is literally uphill haha but it's a nice apartment and we have awesome neighbors and a great landlord, it's a small complex, only about 10 units so everybody pretty well knows everybody and we're able to share messages with them every so often so it's a great! and Elder Brown and I will be playing 9 holes with Elder Dehlin (his dad works for the Utah section of the PGA) and his companion Elder Hill at Admiral Baker, a golf course in our area. Thank you for sending the backpack! hopefully i get it today!! I can't take credit for the card, you can thank a sister in PQ1 for that:) but i hope you like it! i'l do some quick updates then it's on to mom's memory for her follow up birthday letter!

 

Updates!!

Well first i guess would be follow up, has anyone picked a date yet?? or read the talk i gave the link to? I would definitely encourage each of you to read it and to prayerfully set that date and share it so that others can help you achieve your goals, especially the full-time missionaries, because we want nothing more than to help and see others succeed in their efforts to share the gospel with others!! That brings us happiness too!

Our lesson with Bro. Jolly last week went SUPER awesome, the spirit was so strong and as soon as we got in the car with Bro. Jolly, he stared to talk about the lesson from last sunday in gospel principles about agency and he said that the past few days, all he's been able to do was relate his work and his life to that lesson and it's been on his mind a lot. He was also given a copy of the gospel principles book and he started to read it on his own and as he read, he went through the questions that are asked within each chapter and answered them for himself and then went back and read the section and then compared his original answer with what he had just learned, he blazed through 5 chapters in 2 days, how awesome is that?? We were abl to teach and testify about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and leave him with the pamphlet which also has questions that you can answer in the back:) He told us that he felt like everything in his life had prepared him to be where he is right now and on the path that he is on, he does want to get baptized, but he's wanting to have a foundation, he does know that it will come bit by bit, line upon line, but his desire is there and it is real as is his intent, what a blessing to be a part of this work!

There was a Mission President's fireside in PQ sunday night that we attended with our neighbors whom we are introducing to the gospel and I had the opportunity and priveledge to sing with Sister Hudson and Elder Wallentine an arrangement of "Jesus Savior Pilot Me" by the LowerLights and Elder Perry accompanied on the guitar, it was fun:) I was able to sing with two incredible singers so i consider that a great blessing! We were also able to give Amar, our downstairs neighbor a blessing last night because we weren't too far from home and it was toward the end of the night and Elder Brown said, "hey let's go see if Amar is home" and when he answered the door he wasn't looking too well and said he was about to go to bed, he's been sick all day. To which my companion offered him a blessing and we were able to teach him about the priesthood and blessings and Elder Brown gave an incredible blessing and afterwards he said to us "wow thanks guys i feel better already" how amazing!! What a blessing it is to be a part of this work, His work!

 

Ok! on to Mom's memory!!

 

I do know that there are many memories that you and i have together mother, from folding laundry to all the support and love that you've shown me through everything. I don't know if i've shared this with you but i wanted to talk about something that has been incredibly meaningful to me in my life, something that you have done every day of my life that has helped me to remember my divine sonship and potential. Each and every day i recall waking up getting ready for school (in various grades) and going to eat breakfast and when i would come back up to the kitchen there would be a lunch all ready to go and the "stand a little taller" daily book by President Hinkley. Each morning we would open it up to the page that coincided with the day's date and read the thought of the day- i learned much from those, but what i wish to highlight on were the words that you said after we had a morning prayer and right before i walked out the door to face the day. I'm sure you are well aware, but those few words entered into my heart and gave me courage and strength throughout the day, they reminded me that i was and am a son of a Heavenly Father, that i am a part of a family that can be foreve, that i am your son as well. Those words? "Remember who you are and what you stand for"- each and every day when walking through the halls of middle school, high school, even college, those words echoed in my mind and in my heart and though there were many things going on around me, those words reminded me to stand tall and "be an exaple of the believers" to "let my light shine" and love one another as Jesus loves me--because i am a son of God, I am your son, and now when i think of those words just before i walk outside each day i take a deep breath and think to myself "now i'm ready, let's go!" I want you to know how much i love you mom, you mean the world to me and i will forever be grateful for your love and your example and your daily guidance and counsel.

Love, your son,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Recent Baptism

Aaron's email September 4, 2012

Dear Family,

 

Drum roll!!..........my new area is!! The Del Cerro ward in the San Diego East Stake!! We are right across the freeway from SDSU and the Chargers football stadium is just barely outside my area! This is my first biking/walking area so thank goodness for Elder Hansen and I going on runs in the morning!! haha but i do know that this is where the Lord needs me to be at this timemy companion Elder Brown. A little about him, he grew up in Northern Cal. but eventually moved to Utah for High School and he ended up being at SUU at the same time that i was there! He played for SUU's footall team and i ushered at the games, small world eh?? But he is awesome, he's a great missionary and i have a lot to learn from him as well! so question, do you remember in the MTC how i sent the smaller backpack home?? Would it be possible to send that back out here?? being on foot and biking i need something a little more travel friendly and compact, so will you please send that to me when you can?:) thank you i love you!!! Also here in the Del Cerro ward i have given the wonderful opportunity to serve as District Leader, this is a big responsibility and a tad nerve racking, but i know that those whom the Lord calls, He qualifies! OH and a little bit about the geography of my new area, it's SUPER hilly haha we live in the lowest part of the ward and to get anywhere we have to go UP, but it's fun and i'm sure it will be great for me:)

 

Updates!!

Kai, the picture that i sent with last weeks letter, i heard from Elder Hansen that he was in fact confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this past sunday!! how awesome is that?? Kai is such a stud!! It was honestly such a blessing to be a part of his life at this time and i know that he will do great things in life, especially with the Gospel as a part of his daily life, he will see miracles. He's already a really smart kid, and i definitely look forward to seeing his growth in the Gospel.

Del Cerro update!

This past week was so awesome! It's so much fun getting to learn a new area and the people here are amazing as well! It's like a new start, yes there is certainly a learning curve, but i know that i'll get this down day by day, line upon line:) but this past week has been a whirlwind of incredible mracles and opportunities! Elder Brown and I were able to help a young couple move a couch into their appartment (which there are a TON of complex's in our area) and when we were finished she asked "do you have a church local here? do you also have a card that we can have the location? my husband and i are looking for a church to go to" another one of those "hold on a minute while i pick my jaw off the floor" miracles!! but we calmly responded "why yes we do, here's our card and our church services start at 10 am" to which they are planning on coming this sunday and we offered to share more about the Gospel and about Christ and they said that would be great. Super miracles!!

in the Del Cerro ward there are a few "dry mormons" as many people refer to them who are active in the chuch, but without ordinances and a couple of them, one of which being Bro. Jolly, had been attending sacramet meeting for some time (sound familiar?? sounds like Phil from PQ to me!) and he was invited by the missionaries to attend the gospel principles class for the first time. Our lesson was ch 4 "the freedom to choose" and after class he went up to Elder Brown and said "that was great, we'd love to have you over on tuesday, i'm excited to learn more" (can you IMAGINE how many times i've have to pick my jaw off the floor this week?? it's been innumerable!!) so we are going over tonight to have our first lesson with him and his family (btw he comes from a part-member family). I hope and pray that all will go well! and then there's Bro. Lung, another active without ordinances member and we stopped by sunday evening to their home to introduce "the new missionary to the ward" and we were able to set up an appointment for friday evening for Bro. Lung to start taking the lessons as well! how incredible! i know this would not be possible without the wonderful members o the ward being so welcoming and providing that fellowship for these individuals and also my companion Elder Brown, who had simply asked the question to these brothers if they would like to learn more about the gospel and take the missionary lessons. It has truly been a week of miracles that is for certain!! I am looking forward to serving here in the Del Cerro ward among so many wonderful members and those who are not yet members and also to serve with Elder Brown.

 

Dad i wanted to follow up and see how the work is going in your ward? i was reminded because we street contacted a gentleman yesterday who used to live in sandy, and we started talking about geographics of the area and he asked "do you know where the Candlestick apartments are there?" can you believe it?? he wasn't interested right now, but we invited him to church and it was just one of those reminders to me that i am where i need to be right now. But i wanted to comment on the work for just a moment, i do know that there are ups and downs in the work or as you put it, "the dog days" haha but i do know and can testify that we as full-time missionaries succeed best when we are a team with the ward. When everyone is on board to find those who are prepared to recieve the gospel. Because you as the full-time members of the ward can reach those who we as full-time missionaries cannot, we cannot go into a business and talk to co-workers about how our weekends were and share our testimonies of what our church teaches, yes we do talk to people who members may not normally associate with, but together, united as one, is when the work really explodes and moves forward so quickly! That's why i'm following up every week and continuing to encourage you to "pick a day" and follow the inspired counsel of Elder Ballard to prayerfully pick a day that you will have some one prepared to receive the gospel and to share it with the missionaries because we want to help. We want to see you succeed in your missionary efforts, yes there may be some experiences like unto Abinadi, but know that your efforts do not go to waste, your testimonies are and will and can effect the souls of many. I do and can promise you that the work will pick up as we work together and seek and call down the powers of Heaven in this His work. But i do hope and pray that the work is going well an that things pick up for you and for your missionaries dad. I know they will:)

 

Mom, how is the recovery going?? i hpe well and that you are able to walk better! i love you!!

 

I want you all to know how much i love you and love this work, i know that it is His work and that there are thos prepared and ready to recieve His word, sometimes, like we've expereinced, all we have to do is ask. i know that Christ lives and loves each of us, we are all brothers and sisters and This is the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ onece more upon the earth. Until next time, i'll keep you in my thoughts nd prayers.

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's email 8/14/12

Dear Family,

 

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!  i do realize i'm a day late and a dollar short, but i had no way of telling you sooner so i hope you can accepts my apology and my congradulations as well:) it sounds like things are well with the family and that you had an enjoyable birthday and it definitely sounds like work is keeping you quite busy nowadays as well! that's great! i hope the parade of homes goes well for you too! How did the month of perfection go for you dad? i didn't hear how it turned out. i'm sorry things are slowing down in the work around your parts, it may be like you said "the dog days of summer" and i love what a member in PQ 1 said last sunday "you'll never get stronger if you only push against marshmallows"- in order to learn and become strongs we have to work and push against something that will push back right? something cool to think about, "a good plan executed violently right now is worth more than a hundred great plans put off until next week" food for thought:) and mom, that's great to hear that you are walking! great news! i hope school goes well and that you are continuing your therapy and following all of the great counsel you've recieved to help you in your recovery, LOVE YOU!

have you all created your mormon.org profiles yet? i know dad has! just following up!

UPDATES!
We had THE most awesome lesson last night with Cheyenne!! it was so cool and the spirit was super strong!! This week we were able to teach at our Young Women's president's house and Cheyenne has been reading and praying and is through 1 nephi 15, she reads about a chapter each day. As, for her baptism, she is praying for a specific day in the month of September but hasn't quite set the day, she has a few in mind, but she's going to keep praying. So! our lesson was the plan of salvation and we dove into the scriptures with that one, it was great! Our Young Women's pres, also brought a less-active yw with her to participate and be there for the lesson and her son, Taylor had some friends over and they were able to come right at the end of our lesson for the a story about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You may recall the conference talk that mentioned Big Tom and little Jim, well that story was made into a story book called "He took the lickin' for me" - and during that story was when the spirit rushed in and was super powerful and our YW pres bore powerful testimony after we finished reading and Taylor's friends asked us questions and we were able to teach them as well! what an incredible night it was!

Kai is doing well! He's such a little stud! He's only 9 and he seems to soak every part of the Gospel up and remember almost everything! His baptism is coming up here next satruday the 25th!

and miracle! you may remember me mentioning Korena a few months ago? the super-fan of David Archuletta? Well she experienced a tradgedy in her family and we lost contact with her for quite some time, until we were at dinner with a member who lives near her and she said "elders i have something for you to take over to Korena, David's new CD is out, and i have a 20% off coupon to deseret book, so after dinner you can take it over to her, i've been emailing her this past week, she's expecting you" and we went right over and Korena is doing well, she seems to be in better spirits and we will be getting together with her next week, because she left town this week as the last week of summer vacation. We are looking forward to that!

Jen is doing well, she left town as well this past week for the weekend until today and we were able to give her the updated version of the Gospel Library app (it's so amazing that it reads to you now!) and she loved that aspect because they were going for a LONG drive and she said she would love to listen to the scriptures!

Did i tell you about Elder Ballard's fireside? i believe i did, but did i mention that i sang at it? haha not a solo but with 4 elders and 4 sisters we sang an arrangement of Joseph Smith's first prayer, it was really a great song and i enjoyed the opportunity to sing that wonderful song.

 

Well family i love you so much and hope you have an amazing week!! i'll continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers! Thank you so much for all your support and love and know that i know that Christ lives! He is our Savior, that he did take our lickin' for us and he asks that all we do is accept him and love him forever and show the evidence of our love through living His Gospel. I know that as we do, it leads to eternal life in His presence. Until next time.

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Pictures August 2012

Aarons email August 7, 2012

Dear Family,

 

It's great to hear from you as always!! thank you for sharing your thought on Patriarchal blessings mom, it's incredible as well because a Recent Convert in PQ and also Samantha, so 2 RC's and two members who were working with that will be getting sealed at the end of this month are recieving their patriarchal blessings this week! i do love mine and i definitely love reading it and the inspired words that it contains, it truly is chapters from the book that our life could be, if we keep the commandments and stay the course, and how incredible it is that it is eternal, just as life is eternal, we will have our blessings forever, what an amazing gift!! Ok, i may have forgot to mention in the craziness of last weeks email during interviews that the PQ zone has a phrase for the month of Aug, and the phrase is "Heat 'em up!"- now i understand that this may make absolutely no sense to you, but in PMG on p.176 there is a quote about the Spirit and the importance of the spirit in this work. My companion worked in stables amongst cows when he was back in Canada and he had to get cows from the "tub" into the truck and he couldn't do it without his "hot shot" or his cattle prod. So he was "heating them up" to get them to the truck. We as missionaries need the spirit, or else we cannot do a thing, we cannot help our investigators progress towards baptism if we are trying to push them, coerce them but if we are teaching by the spirit, "heating them up" because the spirit can also cause a "burning in the bosom" they will desire to progress because the spirit has made it manifest to them and to their hearts. We have a goal for the month of Aug of 6 baptisms and so far, we have 6 baptims scheduled for the month! we hope an pray that all goes well and that the spirit continues to work in the lives of these wonderful children of God and that they are abel to progress toward their baptisms.

 

Updates!! We had THE most awesome lesson with Cheyenne last night! She's the young woman who went to girls camp, had an amazing time and came into church last sunday with a brand new cuad with her name on it and said "i want to get baptized", we were teaching Cheyenne about the Restoration of the Gospel at the Walton's home and incredibly enough, the Walton's have a son on a mission and his trainer, who just got back from his mission on wednesday was over for dinner and was able to help teach and testify of the restored gospel and while teaching, he shared a story of a young woman who he had taught who had also went to girls camp (mind you at this point in the lesson he had NO idea that Cheyenne had done the same) and how she felt the spirit and she wanted to get baptized and as she read from the Book of Mormon she felt really good about it and asked her mom and her mom said no to her, then she asked the missionaries and they told her to pray and to ask again. This young woman did and she began to read the Book of Mormon to her mother and she said yes. The spirit was so strong as he was telling this story becaue it is almost identical to Cheyenne's (save her mother is supporting her in this journey) and we were able to read from Joseph Smith History and how it was Joseph's first time ever praying vocally and how God does truly hear and answer our prayers, how powerful it was! We asked Cheyenne about how she felt about her baptism coming up, and she feels like Aug 25th is too soon, so we talked about it and what she feels would be appropriate and she said mid-september. so we invited her to pray specifically about the Book of Mormon and for a specific day when she feels she can be ready by in the month of September. We encouraged her to "obtain from God that knowledge which man cannot give" and we'll be seeing her on sunday! Brother Walton sealed the lesson with his testimony of the Restored Gospel and how much God loves her and how much he wants to answer our prayers, if we but ask, it was awesome!

Kai is also on track for the 25th of Aug, he's got grandpa and great grandpa flying out for his baptism and we were able to teach him about the law of tithing and we used candy as an example and he had ten peices and how when we pay our tithing, it's like giving one peice back and we asked "it's pretty easy isn't it kai?" and he replied "oh yea it is, look at how much i still have" amazing, this 9 year old is so great and he loves reading about Jesus Christ and the stories of his life. we also had a cool experience with Sis Cheung a RC in PQ3, we got a call from her requesting some pamphlets and such and we thought it was for her husband, phil, but when we arrived we heard her say "maricella, would you like to meet the Elders?" and her house keeper came around the corner and we were able to share our testimonies and testify of the gospel and how it can bless her and her family. Maricella had been asking Sister Cheung questions all day about the Church and when we asked where maricella lived she said the neighborhood and Elder Hansen said "i know exactly where that is, i served in your neighborhood for a little while, do you know. . ." and he started naming individuals and she knew them! He told her where the church building was and we gave her the number for the missionaries in her area and we got another call an hour after we left from sis cheung and she quoted maricella saying "this is wonderful, i've been looking for a church, and now there's one right by my home, my whole family needs to learn about this" how incredible is that?? Sister Cheung had been planning on going to the beach that day, and it didnt' work out, and maricella ended up coming later that day (which she normally doesn't do) and had she not, we would not have been able to meet her, miracles happen every day and sis cheugn had been praying for opportunities to share the Gospel, and she was certainly "ready to give and answer to those that ask for  a reason of the hope that is in [her]" 1 Peter 3:15. amazing things are happening up here in PQ and i am so honored and humbled to be able to participate in this the Lord's work, i know that it is His work, and we are all His children, He knows our needs. I know that Joseph Smith saw who he saw, that through him, the Church was restored and the priesthood back upon the earth to be able to perform the ordinances necessary for salvation. Christ lives! He is our Savior.

 

I hope that each and every one of you know how much i love you and i hope that you too are praying for opportunities to share the gospel, because as you've read, will be given to us if we ask and if we seek the spirit, we too can "heat 'em up" this month. i hope you all have an amazing week and that you all are staying happy and healthy!

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Aaron's email July 10, 2012

Dear Family,

First i want to say Happy Birthday to Adam!! 28! that's awesome! Thank you for your example to me over the years and especially while i have been on my mission, your influence and reach extends farther than you can imagine and you are affecting many of the lives of those here in San Diego as well brother, i love you. Congratulations to mom for making it back home safe, that truly is an answer to prayers and I am so grateful for jon owens and his help and grateful that mom is doing well and that she has full help and support from the family, Dad, your talk was absolutely incredible! i'm curious to know, how many of your ward stood up? and to answer your quesiton about social media, we are not allowed on facebook, but we spend one hour a week on mormon.org familiarizing ourselves with the site so we can help others navigate and i too have created my own mormon.org profile, i just checked yours out and i learned some things i didn't know about you dad, thank you for sharing your story for the world to see and i encourage our whole family to create their own profiles and invite others to see them and to explore mormon.org. i know that pretty soon, there will be pass-along cards with QR codes that will send our friends, colleagues and accquiantences directly to our profiles, what a wonderful tool technology is and how it truly is and can be a force for good in helping this the work of the Lord move forward.

 

As for the work here in PQ, things are going well, each and every day the Lord stretched out His hand and pours out blessings that we do not have room enough to recieve them. This past sunday, a semi-active member in PQ1, Carrie brought her friend Cassie to church, we spoke with Carrie and wanted to set up an appointment to teach her and her family (she has 3 little girls and her husband comes with her to church every so often and is nice, but isn't quite ready to accept the gospel yet), and she told us to give her a call on monday to work something out and we spoke again when she was walking into Relief Society, that's when we were introduced to Cassie. I'll fast-forward a bit to later that evening, we got a phone call from Carrie saying that Cassie was going to be at her home monday afternoon around 4:15 and she wanted us to be there because Cassie really enjoyed church and wanted to come back next week, so our lesson was going to be then. We went over yesterday to teach her and the lesson went well, Cassie truly did enjoy services and plans to come back next week, we were able to learn a little bit more about Cassie and teach briefly about the Restoration of the Gospel and she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and committed to read it and said "i'm excited to read it" what a miracle! and then in PQ3 i think i've mentioned Tom before, he is the husband of Melinda (a returned to activity member) and he just got out the army after serving in the Marines and the Army for over 12 years serving many deployments. Tom has been attending chruch with his wife Melinda since January (attending all 3 hours for the past 4 weeks as well) and we have had a couple of talks with Tom about how he feels about the church and his concerns, he said to us "i've got to work out a few things before i get baptized" and we were able to have a heart to heart with him a couple weeks ago with our ward mission leader Bro. Barnett and this week after Elders Quorum Tom approached me and said "i'd like to set up an appointment for next sunday, i know this may come as a shock, but i've been really thinking and praying and things have fell into place and i feel like i'm ready to take the next step", amazing!! we are looking forwar to getting together with Tom next sunday and i'll report of his progress next week. We also had a lesson scheduled with Jen and Todd ( a part-member family) at our EQ president's home and they were about to cancel when we picked up and took the lesson to them, we were able to read in 3 Nephi 27:19-20 and focus on "washing our garments in His blood" and what it takes, we talked about what it would be like and it's not easy, it's the old school way of washing and when we do everything that He invites us to do accept Him, we have the Holy Ghost as the ultimate "stain remover". Their goal is to work towards the Temple and they are taking the first steps that they need to take to get there.

I'm short on time but i want to comment on the Holy Ghost and how in so many cases we receive promptings NOT to do things for our protection, the Holy Ghost also prompts us to do things that we are not comfortable with doing but as we follow those promptings and get uncomfortable, we have the spirits full help in helping others recieve this gospel and come unto Christ-it can save lives. "the what informs, while the why transforms" may we each focus of the why of the gospel and apply it in our lives is my prayer. i know Christ lives and loves us and this is His work, we are His hands.

"Dare to be a Mormon

Dare to stand alone,

Dare to have a purpose firm,

Dare to make it known"

may we each dare to make it know this week in our interactions with others. I love you dearly, until next time!

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

July 2012 Pictures

Email from Aaron July 3, 2012

Dear Family,

 

It is comforting to know that you are doing well mom and i hope and pray that the rehab continues to go well and that is very exciting that you will be going home in just a couple of days, i will continue to pray for you, i know that the Lord is with you and will round about you to bear you up in times of need, the power of God is only a prayer away. All we have to do is ask. Thank you so much for the package as well, my companion and many other missioanries have enjoyed the treats, and i very much love the new shirts:) thank you so much. Keep doing everything that you are supposed to, in the Book of Mormon the Lord tells us that "inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments ye shall prosper in the land", think of it in the context of the doctors as well, because He's given us these intelligent men that know how to help us heal and become well and inasmuch as ye shall give heed to their words and their counsels (do what they say rehab wise) ye shall prosper (become healthy and your recovery will come so much quicker than you could have every imagined) and you are definitely not alone in this mom, I know that our Savior will strengthen you daily, you are yoked with Christ through this (Matthew 11:28-30). as you continue to read from the words of Christ, you will be strengthened. I think back to my own experience of rehab when i had surgery on my thumb, the doctor gave me those rehabilitation excersizes to do every day and he promised that if i would do them every day, i might not get full motion back, but the loss of movement would decrease significantly if i did those excersizes. You know what? i didn't do them as often as i should have, they hurt, i couldn't ever "find the time" because it was my sophomore year and you've seen my range of motion, i've lost about 50 to 60% because i did not follow the doctors orders exactly as he perscribed. It's very much like unto the Gospel and even in times of trial, we have the promise that as we stay close to the spirit, as we read and pray daily and are able to partake of the sacrament and as we rely on the Atonement of our Savior we indeed can become perfect, even as He is perfect, only through His grace and mercy. as we do as the Lord has perscribed, it will lead to Eternal Life.

 

Quick miracles and update on the work here in PQ! Mary was able to attend church with us this weekend! her flight attendant schedule has been pretty busy, she's worked almost every weekend since we started teaching her, but this past sunday she had off and she was able to attend! It was fast and testimony meeting and she did say she enjoyed it and we were able to have a lesson with her yesterday as well! We were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon and give her the context and then teach, Mary said she liked that because it helped her when we "drew the outline first, and then went through and added all the color", she's very expressive and open and will tell us when she doesn't understand something so we are able to teach and help her understand. She has told us that she does enjoy reading the Book of Mormon and loves listening to it on her iphone (the gospel library app, amazing thing technology) and now that she understands the context of the Book of Mormon and how it can bring her her closer to Christ, she has a strong desire to read and pray. Helen is doing well, we were able to see her and get back in contact with her and will hopefully getting together with her this week. We took James and one of his friends to the Mormon Batallion this past week as well, what a great experience that was, i love the Mormon Batallion and the spirit that is there. Those men and women truly sacrificed so much for the Gospel and for the freedom of worship that we enjoy in this country.

 

Oh! two incredible miracles!! so, saturday we were able to help a less-active member move and were able to meet and get to them a little bit before they head off to Escondito, and later that day, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time pulling into our apartment complex and seeing a U-haul being unloaded. So. being in the moving-mode from earlier that day, we jumped out and started unloading (keep in mind we were in our white shirts and ties at this point in the day, it was awesome.) and just a few mintues into the move, the woman who was moving in asked "where do come from? Who do you represent?" to which we replied "the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints" and she looked at us with a puzzled look, and then we quickly said "or the Mormons". we still got the same puzzled look with a reply of "i have no idea about that church, but i'd like to learn more" Amazing, we were able to get to know Courtney (that's the woman who asked) and her husband Tim just a little bit better through the move and towards the end, a couple of members from the YSA branch saw us moving and jumped out also and started helping and Courtney later said "everyone in this community is so nice!" we offered to share our message with them and we will be going back this week, to begin sharing the Restored Gospel with them, MIRACLES!!! someone who has no idea who mormons are? the Lord truly does place people in our paths every day, sometimes we just have follow those gentle nudges to go and do something or say something. AND last night we got a call from a member who told us about her new neighbor that had just pulled in with his u-haul from Alabama and didn't have a work party to help him unload so this morning we jetted on over to see what we could do.(we also recruited our district leader and his companion to help out), it turned out that he needed some extra hands so we were able to help him get all unloaded in what seemed like no time at all, even though he had the biggest truck that you can rent from u-haul. His name is VU, and he told us "wow, you are really sent from above here" to which we offered to share our message to he and his family as well and he accepted so we will be stopping by his home as well! I know that when members of the church team up with the missioanries, miracles happen, when we pray daily for missionary experiences, the Lord places them in our paths and He is preparing people the recieve His Gospel, this is His work. He lives! this i know and of this i so testify.

guess what? i finally sent some pictures!! yahoo!! most are of Herbert's baptism just a while ago, and the other person that i am with there is Herbie, his son and Pam, his wife. What an incredible day that was and how strong the spirit was at that sacred ordinance.

 

I will definitely keep Ash in my prayers and hopefully i will have some time today to get a letter off to her. I love you all so very much, thank you for your support and  kind words and i hope and pray that you all have an incredible week! Mom, be carefull and rely on His strength to make it through.

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Email from Aaron June 6, 2012

Dear Family,

 

It's great to hear from you! it sounds like great things are happening in your life and in the lives of those whom you associate with! I know that sometimes in life we are in circumstances taht we cannot control, for this i would recommend reading Elder Bednar's article in the Ensign about "the enabling power of the atonement". We may not be able to change our circumstances, but we can pray for ourselves to be able to adapt, to call down the powers of heaven in our own lives and be able to access that power that can truly change us. Just like i once heard "when you change the way you look at things, then things around you change" :) that was told to me by a very wise mother, and sometimes i know that it's hard to change the way we see our circumstances, but He can help us to be able to do more than simply "grin and bear it". Dad, it was so wonderful to hear about your experience at your meeting the other day, it sounds like to me that your testimony of the Rescue was strengthened an hundred fold, and that you understand the wide impact of a friendly hand outstretched to others. It also sounds like you have an incredible ward mission organization and a solid team of missionaries and i know that they each have their individual talents to contribute and you will see miracles, i can promise you that. I look forward to hearing about all the wonderful things that begin to happen in the Midvale ward! and Steve sounds like an incredible person, all of these individuals will be able to help the ward mission and help the kingdom to be built in your ward. I'm glad you also got to meet the Leavitt's and i did get the package, and thank you very much! it was all a treat and my companion thanks you as well:) sis, Leavitt showed me a picture that she took in st.george and you two are in incredible shape! Holy smokes, going to the gym every day at 5 looks like great things are happening! I have got to catch up to you two:) will i be getting those shirts anytime soon? haha no rush, i'm just curious.

 

This past week has been one of incredible learning and personal realization and (hopefully) growth. We have seen incredible things happen within the wards and OH! today we found out about transfers and Elder Hansen and i will be sticking around in PQ for 6 more weeks:) what an incredible blessing it is to be here and to serve among these people. We feel that big things are coming, that change is happening, and that we must too change ourselves if we are to excellerate and keep the momentum going here in PQ. I have learned much from hearing the story of Peter told by President Clayton and he showed us a clip of Elder Holland as well. i may touch on this but know that the reference is John 21-and the lesson learned was we must never go back, we must feed His sheep. This past sunday we were able to see both Phil and Tom at all 3 hours of church again and this week in Gospel Principles, Sister Griffin, one of our ward missionaries, invited both Phil and Tom to help teach a portion of the lesson of the "church of Jesus Christ in former times" and the sections that they were given were perfect for them! they taught the exact portion of the lesson that was needed for them, Phil taught us about Revelation and Tom taught us the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a miracle! We are keeping Phil and Tom in our prayers that their hearts will be softened and they will recieve answers that they seek. We also had an incredible experience just last night actually, we had a lesson with Ryan McGirr, we have been unable to meet with him for a while but recently have reconnected with one another. Ryan had his laptop open and we invited him to go to mormon.org to watch a profile video about basketball, because he is a huge fan. We were able to teach Ryan using this amazing tool, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he asked us questions about the Gospel and about the Holy Ghost, to which we went directly to that section and used scriptures to expound a little more about the Holy Ghost. We were also able to direct him to the chat bar which is incredible and we invited him to read through the page on the Restoration of the Gospel and we'll follow up with him next week. He even had questions about Latter-day Saint services, and there's a page for that, even a worship with us video that the church has created, what an amazing tool that we have right at our fingertips! truly the gospel is reaching every kindred, tongue and people and "millions shall know brother Joseph again". This week we also were able to have a lesson with Mary, we were on exchanges so i was with Elder Smith, our District Leader here in PQ. Mary's schedule is such right now that she works every single weekend on call as a flight attendant so we never know when she'll be able to attend church, we continue to keep her in our prayers as well. This morning Elder Smith, departed from San Diego at about 8:30, after two years of faithful service, this incredible missionary has gone home, he has made a profound impact upon my life, he has provided an incredible example towards me as a missionary and as a person. Elder Smith exudes Christlike Love to everyone he comes in contact with and is the most humble person i have ever met in my life, he taught me many lessons, and many through his example, the words unspoken had a great impact. He will be missed, but his service is not over, he will always be a missionary.

 

Well family i love you all so dearly and hope this week brings amazing miracles and wonderful experiences! thank you all so much for your love and support and know that i love each and every one of you and know that i know that Christ lives, He loves us, and if we love Him, we will feed His sheep. Of this i testify.

 

Love,

Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd