A White Christmas!! 12/26/2016

This past week was a blast and too fast!! It is so crazy to think that this is my last Christmas on the mission! I have definitely loved Christmas out here and it has become my favorite day out here! This Christmas we saw a ton of miracles!! We also got our transfer calls this past Saturday: Elder Lund and I are going to be staying here in Gig Harbor together and our boys got their visas and are headed down to Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow at like 2 in the morning!? It is going to definitely be weird just having two of us in the companionship now, but I am super excited that both Elder Lund and I are staying in the area. 

Christmas Miracles-

First, this past week we got a call from a member saying that her friend, A, wanted to meet with us. So we called A and set up a time to meet with her that day. It was one of the most Spirit-filled lessons that I have been in. Anyway long story short, A has been friends with the Hamilton family for years and has always seen the support that the church has given her and loved how close that we are as members. After talking for a minute, A asked us how she could be a part of this and that at age 70 she is looking for something more in life and wants to be a part of something bigger than her. We explained that the way to become a part of the church is through baptism, and she readily accepted! A is excited for her baptism this week on the 30th. While we were talking, A told us how she had gone to God in prayer one night asking what she needed to do and why she is still here. She told us that she got her answer that she needed to call up her old friend and ask to talk to the missionaries. --Wow! As you can assume I was so impressed! Keep her in your prayers and hope all goes well this week for the baptism!

Second, last night after eating dinner we went to the Van Duker's Christmas party. They are a member of our ward and had invited us to come over for some dessert. At the party they had invited their friends from Ukraine to join. They are not members of our church but are very interested in it and even came to church earlier that day. Of course, with missionaries present, we got to talking about the church and shared the message of the Restoration. Keep in mind that they spoke very little English and we would translate through the Van Duker's son who went to Ukraine on his mission. It was definitely one of my most memorable lessons because even though we had a language barrier between us we could feel the Spirit very strongly! We are planning on meeting with them throughout this next week and hope to help them learn more about the gospel. My favorite part of the lesson was when we invited V, the father, to say the closing prayer for us and he accepted! We knelt down and he offered the prayer for us and many whom he had just met that night. That takes some courage! 

Here are some pics for ya!

Elder Bullough & Elder Lund with Christmas packages that President &
Sister Blatter delivered from the missionaries' families back home.

Missionaries participating in the Nativity at the bishop's home on Christmas Eve:

Elder Bullough played the part of King Herod

 

Elder Bullough on Christmas morning!

Elder Bullough and Elder Lund on Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!! 12/19/2016

As many of you know, this is my second Christmas on the mission, and I am loving it! However it has been much colder than last year. I definitely forgot how great Christmas was last year! I love that people are open to hear the message around this time of year! And people just seem to be a lot more cheerful. Guess it's just the Christmas Spirit. 

This week was great and we are still working with some great people. We did service for C who we are teaching. She has a super long driveway so we just dug out some trenches so that the water could run off. It was pretty muddy but super fun! We also taught some great lessons this week and had a couple people come to church so that was awesome! 

Well I will keep it short this week but have a Merry Christmas and remember our Savior! 

#LightTheWorld

With love,
Elder Bullough

Elder Bullough & Elder Lund with their Christmas packages from their families back home

Sweater Weather!! 12/12/2016

I am loving this winter, it is definitely colder than last year but I definitely am having a blast!! This past week we had our Zone Conference which was a lot of fun and we were able to learn a ton! Here is a picture of our zone all dressed up for the Christmas picture:

Another thing that was great this week is we have been teaching a lot of people because of a new method we have been trying... we have called it the "30 second restoration." At each door we go to we try to share a 30 second restoration and hit the important parts. We have been able to see a great increase in people's interest as we have done this. I love it because it allows us to share our message, and more importantly, it allows for the Spirit to testify of our message in those brief seconds. 

Lastly, we went and did service this week and spent a few hours chopping wood in the snow and moving it to a lady in our ward who only uses a fireplace for heat right now while her heater is out-of-use. It was a ton of fun for us and I am sure it has been a blessing for them during this cold winter season. 

Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Love you all and have a great week!

-Elder Bullough

Pictures from calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com

It's Snowing Blessings! 12/5/2016

Today we woke up to it snowing!! It didn't snow too much, but covered the ground for a little while. It has since melted... not quite like Utah snow haha. Anyway this week was great and snowed not only literally but also spiritually as we witnessed many miracles:

Yesterday was definitely the highlight of the week!! My companions and I made it a goal to get 5 people at church that we have been working with, which is a pretty high goal for this area. Throughout the week we focused on committing everyone we could to coming to church, and then we kept in contact throughout the week so that we could make sure that they were coming. Then on Sunday we fasted to hit our goal and have 5 people at church. Well church came and blessings just fell right out of the sky... 5 people came to church!! And in some cases the people that came were totally a surprise! We hit our goal! For those who are returned missionaries you will understand our excitement. Anyway, the highlight of the week was in the second ward during Sacrament meeting. We have been working with C over the past couple of weeks. On this past Tuesday, Elder Lund and Elder Killian went over to give C and her family a turkey and some canned food for the holidays. While they were there they met with Z, C's mother that lives with them. She was so excited to meet them and heard such great things that she accepted the food and a Book of Mormon. Fast forward to Sunday, Elder Sanchez and I are sitting in the very back of the meeting when we see C and her mom walk in, we were so excited to see them we almost jumped out of our seats! Then they joined us in Sunday school and loved it. At the end Z asked us this question: "How do you become a Mormon?" Elder Lund and I were with her at the time and had to refrain from jumping too hysterically but managed to calmly tell her all about baptism and asked her if she would like to be baptized. She told us that she had been thinking about it and wants to learn more. We are going over Tuesday and can't wait to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach them more about baptism.

Well that's all for this week, hope that you all have a great week!

Love you all.

P.S. Our district is going caroling tonight so that should be super fun!! haha

Mission Leadership Conference

(Pictures from calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com)

Elder Bullough & Elder Lund

Thanksgiving!! 11/28/2016

This week was awesome and we had a great Thanksgiving. To be honest it was kind of a blur because it went by so fast but I will share a few highlights. 

On Tuesday we went to new missionary meeting so that was fun. We learned a lot about how to be good trainers and help out the new missionaries.

Thursday was probably the highlight of the week because it was Thanksgiving! We went to the Davis family first and ate a Thanksgiving dinner with their family. It was way sweet because they have a homemade apple-cider maker. We all got to grind up the apples for the juice, it was way FUN! After eating with the Davis's we went and visited a few other families until the end of the night and ate dessert with each of them. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year! 

Last but not least we knocked into a lady and were able to give her a Book of Mormon. She mentioned that she has always been closed off but because we explained to her that it goes hand in hand with the Bible that opened her eyes up and she was inspired to read it.

Then we also had a girl who had been interested in the church awhile ago—who we felt prompted just to invite to church for some reason— accept our invitation to come to church. She mentioned that she was glad that we reached out to her again and she loved coming to church but hadn't in a while. The cool thing is that she has gone to girls' camps before and loves the church and is really good friends with a lot of the youth.

Well that's it for this week, hope that you all have a great week!

Thanksgiving at the Davis home:

Homemade Apple Cider Maker

Thanksgiving in Gig Harbor!! 11/21/2016

This past week was my first week in Gig Harbor! It has been a blast! Gig Harbor is very different from Tacoma and is quite a bit more rich. I mean each house has like 3 garages!! I mean, what do you even do with three garages!? Haha. But there are definitely some perks to being here:

1. The house we live in is a fairly good sized house and has a way great view of the harbor!

2. The members are super awesome!

3. The area is beautiful!

4. My companions are da best!

There is my list of things to be grateful for this season haha.

I had no idea last Tuesday that Elder Lund and I would be in a companionship of 4 and would be training two new missionaries straight from the MTC! It has been a blast so far. Their names are Elder Killian and Elder Sanchez. They are actually just up here temporarily because they are waiting for their visas to go to the Trinidad Tobago Mission. Training two missionaries in a completely new area has been quite a change up for me, but it has been fun. The best part about it is that we get twice as much work done because we can split up. Last week Elder Killian and I went and knocked a street that we felt prompted to go to. While we were knocking we got a call from one of our members who just recently got back from his mission and he wanted to come knock with us. He soon met up with us and knocked into a lady who had just moved in and asked if we could help her move things for her. She agreed and let us move some heavy furniture and boxes to her basement. Then, as we got talking, she agreed to let us share our message with her about the church. It was great and all of us felt the Spirit. Then the next day, which was Sunday, she came out to church with us! It was definitely a testimony to me that being in the right place at the right time and being able to serve can help open people's hearts! 

Well I hope that you all have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!!

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." D&C 78:19

New Missionaries meet their Trainers:

Elder Sanchez and Elder Killian 

Elder Sanchez, Elder Lund, Elder Bullough, & Elder Killian

Elders Killian, and Lee

Elders Sanchez, Me, Lund and Hansen

 New Missionary Training:  

(Pictures from calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com)

13 Months!! 11/14/2016

This last week went pretty well. The missionary work was pretty good and we were able to teach a lot of great lessons. We met with T earlier in the week and it was so nice to be able to share the Plan of Salvation with her. We talked for at least an hour and laughed about the gospel and went back and forth just cracking jokes. It was so funny when we brought up the part about "what our purpose is here on Earth." She said something like, "You think you could have shown up and told me that fifty years ago..." The truth is so many of us wonder that at different points in our lives. It was reassuring to be able to tell her that we all have a purpose here and that God has a plan for all of us. No matter what we have gone through or what trials we face in life we are going to make it because there is a "plan" for us. Earlier that week I was able to read a scripture in Alma that sums up, pretty much, what this life is really all about:

Alma 12:24  "And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead."

What this means is that no matter what trials we go through in life or what things are given to us we are here to prepare to meet God and to help others prepare for that day as well. Each of us has been given different trials in this life but we can take hope in the Savior's words: "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Elder Masey and I were able to bear testimony to T that she does have a purpose here and that even though she has been diagnosed with cancer, she can still have serenity in this life knowing that she has a purpose here.

On a different note, this last week we got our transfer calls and I am now going to be leaving Tacoma and going to the Gig Harbor Zone with Elder Lund. I am excited for this new change and I have been told that it is a very beautiful area. However, it is supposed to be a pretty rich area so I am sure that is one thing that I will have to get used to. Transfers is on Tuesday so I will have a lot of packing to do before then. Here are a couple pics that I took over the week!

Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Bullough

Elder Bullough & Elder Masey

Pictures from calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com (11/13/2016 post)

Tacoma North Zone Meeting

Tacoma North Zone Meeting

Another Week! 11/7/2016

This last week went pretty great. Elder Masey and I had a great Halloween. We were able to go to a party with our zone that night and play games and watch the movie the "Best Two Years!" If you have not yet seen that movie I would highly recommend it! It is a way funny!

Elder Masey and I had a lot of work that we did for the mission last week such as on Tuesday we opened up a new apartment for missionaries to move in, then on Thursday we went up to Bremerton to get an apartment ready for some senior missionaries moving in. While doing all of this we were pretty busy balancing the time for proselyting as well. 

This week was great for missionary work! Earlier in the week we ended up finding L late at night as we were out street contacting at night. What started out as a pretty closed-ended conversation that we were having ended up in us being able to talk about baptism and also the "baptism of fire" or in other words-- the Spirit. L mentioned that he wanted this change in his life and that he had been baptized by water before but feels as if something is still missing, so he told us to come back the next night so now we are teaching him! Then we went back to B and his family and it was sweet because we took a member, Brother Bostic, with us and the lesson went awesome! At the end of the lesson B said the prayer and we were able to see that he is sincerely seeking. We are looking forward to keep working with him and his family and hope to meet with them this week. Then at church, T came with her friend Sister Kelso. It was impressive that she came because she has been diagnosed with cancer for over a year now and lately it has been causing her pain. Midway through the meeting the pain became too much so she was taken to the hospital which just happens to be right across the street from the church. Later that evening, we went with Sister Pickering from the ward to visit her. T is now doing a lot better and feeling more stable, both Elder Masey and I are looking forward to teaching her again this next week!

Well, there is the update for the week and I hope that you all have a great week!
With love,
Elder Bullough

Elder Masey & Elder Bullough

Happy Halloween!! 10/31/2016

It is crazy to think that it is already Halloween again! Last year, the first week I spent out in the mission field was on Halloween. And now it is already that time again!

Anyway, this week was pretty good. Elder Masey and I did a lot of knocking to try and find people to teach. Last week we had a lot of people drop us because they weren't interested anymore, so by Sunday we were back at ground zero. I am sure that they will have another chance to run into the missionaries down the road. I was reminded this week, after being let go by many that we were teaching, that missionary work doesn't work according to my timing. But I take hope in the verse:

"Oh how great the plan of our God!" -2 Nephi 9

God really does watch over all of his children and he will provide many chances for all of us to fully accept his gospel. Going into Sunday it seemed as if everyone had dropped off, Elder Masey and I didn't have anyone that we were teaching to come to church. After sacrament meeting both of us decided to talk to all of the new faces that we didn't recognize seeing if we could find someone that was there for the first time. Turns out that we ended up talking to a lady named T who had just recently moved in with one of the members of our church and they had been reading the Book of Mormon together. T told us that it was her first time at church and that she had been considering baptism. Immediately Elder Masey and I scheduled her baptism date for next week and introduced her to the other women in the ward. We are looking forward to teaching her the lessons this week and hoping that all can go as planned for her baptism this upcoming weekend!

Love you all and hope that you have a great week! And Happy Halloween!!

—Elder Bullough

Found a New Family! 10/24/2016

This week went pretty sweet! Recently the missionary work has been harder to find people that are interested in our message. Due to whatever reason—the days getting darker, the rain coming back, or who knows what—the missionary work has just seemed to be slower. Elder Masey and I knocked with our zone leaders to hope to find more people to teach in our area. As I was knocking with Elder Anderson we went to this place that I had chosen to knock, full of newer apartments, and started knocking. We got to almost the end of the apartment complex and found a guy named B. He wasn't really sure who we were but said that we could come back the following night. So the next day Elder Masey and I went to visit him. To our surprise, he remembered and let us in. Then we stood in his living room and shared our message with him, his wife and their three little kids. As we talked, they told us that they were looking for a church but were put off by all of the money that organized religion makes. We were able to answer some of their questions and afterward they, especially B, were excited to come to church and learn more! I am so grateful for the Lord leading me to that family to teach. One of my favorite scriptures in the New Testament is:

Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

The Lord did answer my prayer to find someone to teach that night.

Well, love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Here are some pictures of the beautiful fall weather: