The Mission of Michael McNinch
Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. Ether 12:4
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
July 23, 2012 Letter
Disclaimer** You will need tissues for this post if you have children.**
Hello Hello,
I don't quite know how to start this letter, but here it goes...This
past week has been one of the most exciting and frightening weeks of my life.
We had a lessons with a lot of wonderful people. We have met with people that
we haven't taught in a long time who are so excited to get back on track. We
have been through the most up and downs than I ever have been before. Here's a
little bit about our week:
On Tuesday we attended an all day meeting in Longview. That was
really interesting because it was my last big meeting as a missionary. It
really hasn't sunk in yet. It really seems like I just KNOW I'm getting
transferred, but President hasn't told me where yet, ya know? Anyways, the
meeting went wonderful. I got to see a lot of missionaries that I saw when they
first got into the mission field. It's weird to think that they have all been
out for a year now. I still feel like I have only been out for a year or so and
they are just fresh off of the plane. Apparently that's not true anymore.
Wednesday morning we got to go and do some service out at Brother
Thomas' ranch. Yes, this is the same ranch where I assisted in the birth of a
cow. Our task that morning was to ween the calves from their mothers. Sounds
pretty easy right? Well, let me tell you, it's definitely not as easy as it may
sound. We started off in the pasture. Brother Thomas said that he would drive
the tractor out there with some hay and the cows would follow him all the way
into the corral. Sure enough those stupid cows followed him into the corral.
So now it is our job to take them through all of these different gates and sort
them as we go. My job was to man the gate. Great. We had three guys going
around in the herd prodding the cows toward me. My job was simple. Let the big
ones go by and stop the little ones. Brother Thomas gave me this piece of water
line and said, "Okay, don't let any of the little calves go by you." I'm
thinking...umm...so you want me to stop a cow with a hose...got it. Don't ask
me why, but for some reason those cows listened to what I said when I was waving
the hose around in the air. No hose in the air= no movement of cows. Hose in
the air= cows run where you want them to. Okay...I got this. We had a ton of
fun helping Brother Thomas. The really funny thing is that he really did need
our help. We just felt like we were playing a game, sorting cows and what not,
but it meant a lot to Brother Thomas. I think that the hardest thing about
sorting all of those cattle, was trying not to step in the BIG piles of crap.
Little ones= you can still walk. Big ones= you sink.
Friday morning we went and got two of the marriage licenses taken care
of for our investigators. We got everything squared away and were so excited
for their marriages on Sunday. The other couple that needs to get married,
planned on getting married Tuesday the 24th, but there have been some recent
changes. That leads us to Saturday.
Saturday afternoon we were informed that our investigator and his
family were involved in a car accident. We were in a lesson when our Branch
President called and told us the news. He said that their vehicle had rolled
and they were all taken to the hospital. We rescheduled the rest of our
appointments for the day and went around trying to figure out which hospital
they had been taken to. We stopped by our good friend who told us that the car
had rolled twice and two children were thrown from the vehicle, and one of them
was their one month old baby. My heart sank. I had a million memories of these
children flash through my mind. We asked where they were, and our friend did
not know. We called the hospital in Idabel and found out that that is where
they had been taken. They told us that only 3 members of the family were listed
there. They wouldn't give us any information over the phone, so we rushed there
from Broken Bow. The whole way praying that the family would be alright. The
thought that two of the children were not listed with the other family members
made us extremely worried. We arrived at the hospital and were taken directly
to the ER by one of the sons in the family. Elder Sproul went to see the mother
while I went to check on one of the children. She was laid out on the
stretcher, still strapped in. I asked if she was alright and she wouldn't
respond. I asked if she was scared and her eyes welled up and she nodded her
head slightly. I promised her that everything was going to be okay. Deep down,
wondering if that was true. She was stable, no apparent broken bones or
anything, so I joined my companion across the curtain. The mother was in the
same circumstance. Her vitals were okay, though she seemed to be short of
breath. All she kept asking was, "Where's my baby?!" We went to check on dad.
Dad explained to us what had happened. We found out that there were only two
children involved in the accident. The young girl was the one whom I had just
seen and the other was the one month old. The baby had been life flighted to a
hospital in Louisiana. The Dad kept asking, "Is the baby okay?!" I didn't
have any answers. My heart felt as though it were going to burst. I felt every
pain in that man's eyes. Wondering if his child was going to be okay. His eyes
filled with tears as I told him that I did not know how the baby was. He
reached down into his pocket and pulled out a tiny white and blue sock. He
wiped his eyes with his baby's sock and then proceeded to pray. We got news
from the nurse that the little girl was going to be taken off of the stretcher
and cleared for release. About at that time we were giving blessings to both
the Father and Mother. Both were promised that their family would be safe and
heal quickly. It was a waiting game for about three hours. In that time we
found out that the Mother had a fracture in her neck and was going to be air
lifted to a hospital in Tulsa for surgery. The Father was going to be released
as soon as his CT scans came back clear. Meanwhile I was playing tic tac
toe with the little girl. Finally the Father was cleared and we received word
that the baby was in stable condition. We saw the Mother air lifted to Tulsa
and the Father released to go home with his little girl. Those were miracles in
and of themselves. Our day ended waiting to hear about the baby.
Sunday we were informed that the baby was okay, and was going to be
released today (Monday the 23rd). Wonderful news! On top of that we received a
phone call from the son in the family telling us that the Mother had already
been released from the hospital and was home. Miracles. I love this work. I
love the Lord. I love all of you.
-Elder McNinch
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
July 16, 2012 Letter
Dear...everybody,
Okay...well first...mom. So in the branch that I am in there is a
Bundy family. No, I don't think that they are related to ted. Anyways...he
grew up close to Datona. I told him that you were born in Deland and he got all
excited saying that they used to do stake activities and stuff with youth from
Deland...so I don't know if you knew him or not, but his name is Heath Bundy.
He is the first councilor in the Branch Presidency here. His relatives that
live in Florida are Tuckers, Heatons, Boyds (Mike and Matt), and Bundy's. Let
me know if you know any of them and I will be sure to inform him of yet another
crazy connection in my mission areas.
This week was really cool. We were trying really hard to get everything prepared for these next two weeks. We have 8 people getting ready to be baptized on the 28th of July, so there is a lot that we have to do to help them. That includes getting three couples married. Good news though...they all want to get married! Ah! I love when that happens! Good news number two, they are getting their marriage licenses on Friday and all getting married Sunday. So all this past week we have been reviewing all of the baptismal interview questions and making sure that there isn't anything that that would stand in the way of them being baptized on that day. I could go through and tell you about all the lessons that we had this week with all of those people, but that would take a really long time and they were mostly review lessons anyway. Spiritual, yes. Funny stories, maybe a few; but not as funny or spiritual as the things that I will write about now.
On Tuesday night we went on exchange with some Elders in our
district. I was with Elder Latham. He is an amazing Elder. He speaks Spanish
as his mission language, so when we started the exchange he said, "So is
Marshallese like Spanish at all?" I just kind of laughed and said, "I don't
know, let me know what you think after our first lesson." We went and taught
our dear friend Walter and his wife the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After the
lesson we were heading back to the truck and Elder Latham said, "Elder...that
was nothing like Spanish." Ha ha ha. After that lesson we went to go teach a
man named Mr. Guthrie. Mr. Guthrie is a little bit different than most folks.
He has a sincere desire to learn, but his desire to learn isn't in any
particular direction. We decided to start with some "middle ground" and teach
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, something that he might recognize or agree with from
the start. We decided to teach the mouse trap lesson about faith first. In the
beginning we set the mouse trap and then ask, "Now, it would probably hurt a lot
to get you fingers caught in this trap wouldn't it?" Then, at the end of the
lesson the person is asked to test their faith by touching a set mouse trap.
Well, after I asked the question in the beginning I was of course expecting the
common "yes" answer that I have received by every person that I have ever taught
this lesson to on my mission; But remember what I said about Mr. Guthrie. Just
a little bit different. So I ask, "Now, it would probably hurt a lot to get you
fingers caught in this trap wouldn't it?" Then, Mr. Guthrie says, "Ahh nahh,
that wouldn't hurt a bit, watch." as he proceeded to stick his fingers in the
mouse trap. The mouse trap did it's job, slammed right down on his hand, but
all was well with Mr. Guthrie. So essentially our lesson was ruined and we
related it to the Gospel some other way.
On Thursday we moved back in with the McDonald's. So never fear mom,
I am not sleeping on an air matress anymore. We also made ready for the baptism
of John Jacklick. We went to his house and walked him through the baptismal
service. It was really fun. I love that family, but I will talk more about
them later.
Friday we got called by one of our investigators requesting that we
come over and teach a lesson because they couldn't wait for our scheduled
appointment. I love those kind of calls. I don't think that that has ever
happened to me before in the mission. It ended up working out perfectly because
we had a less active member who just "happened" to be at their house when we
showed up too. Anyways...that lesson went really well. We did find out that
they are moving to Valliant, OK so that means that we will definitely be getting
rides to each of our lessons with them. Before we had that miracle call lesson,
we had a lesson with one of my favorite people in this area. His name is
Darren. We found Darren at a McDonald's when we stopped for lunch. Well, of a
truth, Darren found us. He is great man, with a deep southern accent. He was
telling us a story about his father and he started his story like this, "My dad
is a great man. He is a retard police officer..." I sat thinking to myself,
"Did he really just call his dad a retard police officer?" It took me a while,
but from the context of the conversation I figured out that he was saying
"retired" not "retard", and that it was just his super thick accent that I
couldn't interpret.
Saturday was amazing. We have been helping John get prepared for his
baptisms for about 2 months now. Finally, on Saturday July 14, 2012 John
Jacklick was baptized. The baptism went really smoothly. Talks were given,
songs were sung, and then he was baptized. My companion relayed to me what
happened we he and John went to change. He said that John sat on the little
bench in the restroom stall, and just cried for a couple of minutes. He felt so
happy to be clean. After they changed he came back into the service. John had
asked earlier if he could bear his testimony at the baptism. Well, he came back
and it was his time to shine. Only, our translator had left the building. He
speaks good English, but is much more comfortable with a translator. While we
had a member locate the translator he just stood at the front of the room
silently. Then his little 2 year old boy came running up to him and latched
himself to his leg, giving him an extra tight hug. He picked up his son and
held him close. His eyes filled with tears as his little boy rested his head on
his shoulder. In that moment it seemed as though the world stopped. No music,
no talks, no kids screaming, just John and his boy. It was so awesome.
Greatest moment of the week by far. John then bore his testimony about how he
knew that someday he and his family would be together forever. This is the best
work ever. Love you all.
Elder McNinch
Monday, July 9, 2012
July 9, 2012 Letter
Hello Hello,
Glad to hear that everything is okay up in the great state of
Wyoming. Stinks that y'all didn't get to have any fireworks. That's pretty
lame. Hey guess what though? Now you know how I have felt for the past two
years. Ha ha ha. No fireworks at all. Funny that Dad and Shawn mowed a lawn
this past week, because we did too; and OH MY GOODNESS, it was crazy. I'll have
to tell you about it later in this email. Other things to address: I would
really love to hear the edited version of Grandpa's "heart to heart" with
Shannon. I think that that would just make my day. The story of Patrick is
hilarious. I love that kid. "Wild cows" ha ha ha I love it. Also I would like
to let you know that I can relate with the bug bites that you have all over your
legs. I have been attacked by chiggers and mosquitoes for the past month and a
half. Isn't it just the best?!?! Also, I would like to know what inspires a
person or group of people to name their restaurant "Tootsies".
So this past week was great. Here's the updates:
Monday, July 2nd- It was my companion's birthday!!! Yay! So what did
we do? We sat in court to support one of our good friends here. We waited for
over three hours only to find out that her hearing was going to be rescheduled
for a later date. Awesome. I love the judicial system. It's my favorite. We
were supposed to play some volleyball and have a BBQ with our investigator for
my companion's birthday, but our investigator's wife ended up having a baby. So
that plan didn't really work out. Funny that the baby was born on his birthday
though. Our investigators asked us if we would like them to name the kid after
my companion and I. Like Michael Cameron Jacklick or Cameron Michael Jacklick.
Ha ha ha we didn't know what to say. We told them to name the kid whatever they
wanted to because it was THEIR baby. I really didn't want to get into the
business of naming kids and stuff yet. I think that that day is very very far
in the future. They ended up naming the boy after the mother's father. Always
a safe decision.
Tuesday July 3rd- Nothing much to report on this day. We taught a
couple of lessons, everything went according to plan. We did learn a
Marshallese game. It's the same as the "Down by the banks" game where you slap
the hand of the person next to you, but the rhyme is definitely different. It
goes something like this: Big Mac yellow big kore ba cran pa achi cola rock o
la sunday ippen la bamba and then you count 1-10. I still don't really
understand it, but hey...it's fun.
Wednesday July 4th- Elder Sproul decided to plan today so that we
could exchange with Mt. Pleasant on Thursday to conduct a baptismal interview
for them. So after planning Elder Sproul and I had a lesson with a lady named
Shirley. We had planned to watch Finding Faith in Christ with her and discuss
how we build faith in the Savior. The only problem was her sound wasn't
working. We were really pressed for time so we couldn't stop to try and fix it,
so we improvised. I knew that Elder Sproul had been in children's theater
growing up and I sure know how to act like a child, so we put our acting skills
to the test. We turned the subtitles on and read and acted out the entire 29
minutes of the movie. It was spectacular. After that lesson we went to eat
lunch at the Branch President's home. Delicious. Couldn't have asked for a
better spread of food. The rest of the day we spent teaching or proselyting.
It was great. Have you ever tried to contact someone when one of those firework
fountain things are screaming at you? It's really fun, you should try it.
Thursday July 5th- We did some service for some people in the area.
One member, one non member. We mowed the lawn of the member and then borrowed
his lawn mower to mow the lawn of the investigator. The second lawn hadn't been
mowed for months. Not at fault of the investigator. Unfortunately they do not
have a lawn mower. So my companion and I go at this yard with nothing but a
mower and a weed eater. Good gracious. The grass, weeds, and shrubs were all
taller than me. I ended up having to do a wheelie with the mower to chop all of
the grass, weeds, and such in half first, only to come back over it three of
four times, each time decreasing the angle of the wheelie to cut the lawn to
appropriate length. It was a task. Took all 4 hours of weekly service to do
it. I wish that I had took before and after shots cause it was crazy. Then
after that wonderful escapade we realized that we did not put on bug spray
before mowing. Worst thing ever. I have so many bug bites it's not even
funny. But hey, there's good news to come out of this. Our investigator didn't
get fined by the city and they now know that we love them equal to the number of
bites on our legs. Hundred fold.
Friday July 6th- Took a trip to DeQueen to teach some of our
investigators that have moved there. The lessons went very well and they are
still excited to be baptized on the 28th. After those lesson we came back to
Broken Bow and taught lessons, and contacted until the end of the night.
Saturday July 7th- We attended the marriage class taught by Branch
President with our investigators. Everything is going really well with those
lessons. The couples attending are scheduled to be married on the 20th and
baptized on the 28th. It's really exciting stuff. After the marrriage class we
went to a few lessons and tracted for a couple of hours. Our favorite part of
the day was while we were out tracting. My companion and I had knocked all
along one side of the street and then switched sides to go back down the other
side when we heard someone call out to us. My companion heard them say, "Y'all
come over here when you're done!" He then turned to me and said, "Elder!
That's awesome. We're totally going over there after this door. I asked,
"Elder? Are you serious?" He said, Uh, yeah, they just said to come over when
we were done." I said, "Oh, I thought that they said. 'Don't come over here or
I'll get my gun.' " Well...it was an interesting contact to say the least.
Don't worry we're fine.
Sunday July 8th- We met with a lot of our investigators after the pot
luck at church. The lessons went well for the most part. Kind of hard to teach
with 5 or 6 little Marshallese kids stealing the objects for your object
lesson...but it was good.
sorry...out of time.
love,
Elder McNinch
Friday, July 6, 2012
July 2, 2012 Letter
Hello...my name is still Elder McNinch,
This week sounds like it was a lot of fun for you guys. This week was
pretty good for me as well. I am happy to report that all of the biking was not
in vain. We now drive one of the four trucks that are in the mission! It is a
beautiful thing! Anyways, this past week was a little crazy. We had to move
out of the McDonald's house temporarily because they are having that family
reunion, so we are now residing at the Branch President's house. Boy oh boy do
we love it there. Sister Schwerin (Branch President's wife) is probably one of
the kindest ladies that you'll ever meet. She also loves to
share...everything. I think that I have eaten more food in the 4 days than I
did all last week. That includes all of fast Sunday as well.
Anyways...now on
to cool things that happened this week.
We were out tracting in the boonies on Wednesday when we came to this
really run down house. We saw a bunch of tv's sitting out on the front porch
and thought, "Hey, our investigator's tv just broke. I wonder if this guy is
going to give those tv's away." So we went up to talk to him. Oh goodness.
His name was Don Sylvia. He was a hoot. Turns out that he was a tv repair man
back in the day before he retired. Well, when he retired he still had a bunch
of people's tv's that he was fixing in his garage. He planned to just give them
back one by one after he had fixed them, receive his payment, and be that much
closer to being done working. Well, none of them came back to pick up their
tv's after he had fixed them. Some of them have been sitting for 10 years! He
showed us all the tv's that he had in the house and it was ridiculous. Some 20
odd televisions that he had repaired and were just sitting there. We asked what
he was going to do with all those tv's. He said, "All THESE tv's? THESE tv's
aren't the problem. It's THOSE tv's out there that are the problem." He then
took us out to two different workshops out on his property in the which were
over 200 television sets each! A sea of televisions. I'll have to take
pictures the next time that we go out there. It was ridiculous. To make a long
story short he is going to sell our investigators a tv for really cheap. Tender
mercies? I think so.
Friday I got to exchange with the zone leaders, so I was back in
Longview. It was really weird to be back in an old area. All of the members
that we went by to see remembered me, so that was pretty cool. I got to eat
dinner at CiCi's pizza which always brings back good memories from New Mexico.
Just wish that I was allowed to go in and play the arcade games like Dad and I
used to play. But alas, I am a missionary and probably shouldn't play games
that you have to kill everyone that pops out at you to win the game. My first
thought when someone pops out at me is, "They need the gospel too, right?"
Saturday we exchanged back and that is when we got the truck. Ever
since then we have been the talk of the town. We actually fit in now, it's kind
of funny. People respect us a lot more just because we drive a truck. Ha ha
ha. It almost makes me want to get boots just to see people's reaction. But
then I think to myself, "Worth it?....NAH!" Saturday was also the day that we
got to meet with Vanessa Mothersell again. She was the lady that we saw in the
hair salon that said, "Are y'all Mormon missionaries? I think that y'all have a
book I need." Well, she and her 3 children decided that it was time to get
going with the lessons again. I couldn't have been more over-joyed. As we left
the appointment the youngest of her children asked, "Umm...so when are we
getting baptized?" Ha ha ha. I love being a missionary.
Sundays always seem to be the best around here. We had 15
investigators come to church. That is the most that I have ever seen in my
entire mission. On top of that we had one of them go up and bear his testimony
of what he had been taught. He said, "I'm a little different than most people.
A bit more country than most folks. I don't understand any of them fancy
scriptural words or nothing, so don't expect me to use any of those today. I
might not be the smartest man in the world, but I know when something's right or
true. I know that what the missionaries have taught me is true. I know that
what they teach changes peoples' lives. It's changed mine forever, and I thank
them for that. I love them more than they know." As I sat there just bawling
away I remembered the quote by Brigham Young about "a man without
eloquence." It was one of those experiences that you just can't accurately
describe. At least in attempting you don't do it justice. I wish that y'all
could have been there to see him.
This week is going to be even better. John Jacklick is getting
baptized on Saturday and I just can't wait. I will have to tell y'all about it
next week. Stay safe while you are up in Wyoming. Don't let Alisha ride the
ATV. Tell Shannon that she is a poophead and I miss her. Tell all the kids
that I miss them and love them.
Tell the WHOLE family that I love and miss
them. Can't wait to talk to you next week, still as ELDER MCNINCH.
Love,
ELDER MCNINCH
Monday, June 25, 2012
June 25, 2012 Letter
Dear Freddy Mercury,
I love to ride my bicycle. Recently the mission got rearranged and we
now belong to the Longview zone. The zone now spans across more than a third of
the entire mission. It is over 300 miles from north to south. Our exchanges
monthly are now in Longview, so halfway mark is Omaha, Texas which is about 60
miles away. That means a 120 mile round trip on top of the normal amount of
miles that we would use in a day. Then the best part is doing it again the next
day to exchange back. I have said all of this to let you know that I and my
trusty companion have been riding our bikes for the past 5 days in preparation
for the miles that we will be using this Friday and Saturday. I have had two
flat tires in the past 24 hours and I have sweat more than I ever have in my
entire life. I almost want to line the inside of my shirts with sponges so at
the end of the day I can wring them out into a bucket and measure how much I
have perspired. Pretty sure that it would be in the gallons.
Other than riding our bikes, nothing too exciting has happened. We
have met a lot of interesting people as we have been riding. One lady just
yesterday stopped me and asked, "HEEEEEYYYY!!! Are you a preacher?!"
Response: "Well, no, I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I teach people what
He taught and invite them to do the things that He asks us to do." " Oh well,
I'm a preacher!" Response: "Oh that's wonderful, which church to you
preach at?" "Umm, well, I just preach to anyone who wants to talk about
Jesus." Response: " Well that's good. As representatives of Jesus Christ we
try our best to invite people to come closer to him. Would there be a time that
my friend and I would be able to sit down with you and your family and discuss
ways that we can draw nearer to the Savior?" " HEEEEYYYY!!! GUESS WHAT?!...I'm
a cop too! Did you know that?! Did you know?!" At this point in the
conversation I felt pretty good assuming that this lady was either heavily
intoxicated or was mentally unstable. Well, I guess either way she was mentally
unstable. Regardles, we gave her a card with our number on it and invited her
to check out Mormon.org. One of the many perks of riding a bicycle.
I did give a talk in sacrament meeting. That was interesting. I was
asked to give one last week, but the Branch President had made a mistake and
wanted me to give one this past Sunday instead. Well, to be frank, I forgot.
So...I gave the same talk that I had prepared the week before. People seemed to
like it, and it went well with what the speaker from the High Council said, so I
guess it was alright. Glad to report that I only broke down in tears
once.
This week is going to be really stressful. I can just feel it.
"Don't you think I feel it?!?" We have to temporarily move in with our Branch
President for two weeks because the members that we live with have family coming
to stay for a family reunion. One of the families has a 13 year old girl= no
bueno for los missioneros. So that will be a fun experience. It pretty much
means that I will be packing to come home this weekend so that I don't have to
pack my life up twice in 3 weeks. It wouldn't really make sense to pack,
unpack, and then repack everything 2 weeks later. Anyways...don't worry, not
trunky. Just hate packing. Sorry that this is a boring letter. I think that
the sun has fried my brain; and well, would you look at that, time to go back
out and ride in it some more.
Love y'all like a sunburn, it's on fire.
-Elder McNinch
PS- I have found that the most awkward tan line as a missionary is not the
one that comes from wearing collared shirts. It is in fact the tan line on your
face that comes from the straps of your helmet.
Monday, June 18, 2012
June 18, 2012 letter
Hello Hello,
HAPPY LATE FATHER'S DAY DAD! Sorry...I had no stamps...your card is
in the mail. So to answer a few of your questions first off... Lisa Lajwi, who
was going to translate our sacrament meetings for us, actually moved to Arkansas
for a while. We are trying to get missionaries over there to teach her but she
doesn't have a phone number that we can reach her at and no one has a current
address. I'll keep you posted on everything though. She is an amazing lady and
is just going through a really rough time. She'll be back soon I hope. The
move wasn't permanent. The other hospital lady is amazing. We will be seeing
her as soon as her shift changes. They are hiring another Head of Surgery so
that she won't have to be there all hours of the day. We'll see what happens
though. Hopefully something will come of it soon. She is a super nice
lady.
So...y'all are looking for a house huh? Checking any houses in Idabel
or Broken Bow, Oklahoma by chance? They got really good deals on trailors
here! Like 400 a month, rent to own, for a double wide. Pretty sweet stuff.
Anywho...so...the Wonderli's huh? That is a really large home. I don't know
that I would even feel comfortable living in a home that large. Do I even have
a room right now? I asked Kaitie if I had one and she said, "kinda?" What the
heck does that mean? I really don't care if I have a room or not...just don't
know how it could be in between a room and no room, ya know?
107!!! Holy Bible! that's crazy. At least it's not humid though.
Just the other day we were at 95 with 80% humidity. That's not funny. Speaking
of hot and humid, Florida. Glad to hear that Grandma and Grandpa are going to
be able to fly out in August. Does that mean that we are going to forgo the
whole trip to Florida? Because frankly...I really don't care if we go or not.
I would love to see Mom's whole side of the family, but if we don't have the
money, then we don't have the money. If we do go I'll just be contacting
everyone at the beach, steering clear of all of the less than clothed beautiful
daughters of our Heavenly Father, and making y'all feel awkward anyway. Just
let me know what you want to do.
This week was kind of crazy. There was a chance that I or Elder
Sproul would get moved, but thankfully we didn't. We will both be staying in
Idabel...at least for the next 6 weeks. I had to say goodbye to a lot of Elders
this transfer. It is really sad to see all of them go. I can remember the
first time that I met each one of them. Crazy crazy stuff. I don't like
it.
I would have to say that the best part of the week this week were the
baptisms of Kaios and Lina Kaios. Saturday June 16, 2012 they were both
baptized. Kaios had me baptize him and Lina had the Branch President to baptize
her. They are some of the greatest people that I have ever met. The Spirit was
very strong during the preceeding talk and the ordinances themselves, but the
sweetest Spririt came after that. Kaios asked if he could say a few words. One
of his good friends went to the front with him to translate for him. He
proceeding to bear his testimony. He testified that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God, that he was now a member of His church, and that he had been blessed more
than he deserved. He told his story of his coming to the United States from the
Marshall Islands. Talked about the struggle he has had as his family has apart
for a few years. Expressed how truly grateful he was to have even some of his
family here with him. He finished by thanking our Heavenly Father for the
blessing of being baptized, and for the peace that he felt. It was a really
moving testimony. One of the greatest I have ever heard. On top of that
wonderful Saturday afternoon came Sunday morning when Kaios and Lina were
confirmed as the newest members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints. The whole branch, one by one, came and congradulated them after the
meeting. It was beautiful. I couldn't ask for a better outcome. Couldn't
picture anything better. Well, maybe it will be better when I see the Kaios'
two daughters baptized by their father when he receives the priesthood.
The Kaios family has also invited me to go with them to the Marshall
Islands in January or February. I think that I might have to take them up on
that. If I could make a suggestion...I vote that we go there on a family trip.
Let me know what you think.
Miss y'all a ton, love y'all even more.
- Elder McNinch
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