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