God is All-Knowing 1/25/2016

This past week was great. Elder Dale and I were on bikes the entire week and we will be this week as well. Biking isn't the hard part, it is the biking in the rain that is the hard part! When it rains we get soaked! I am sure that no one wants to let two drenched young men into their homes... I know I sure wouldn't Haha! But besides that, it was a great week and it was so nice because each night this week we had a ward member come with us to appointments so they were able to drive us around. One cool thing that happened yesterday is Elder Dale and I ran into a young man who was visiting from Utah and we took him out knocking on doors with us. It was great to see his desire to serve a mission grow as we were with him. It was also very nice to hear all of the great things going on back home in Utah and to be able to relate with him because he lives so close to where I grew up. 

So I thought I would share an amazing miracle that happened this week. While Elder Glassford, (Spanish Elder) and I were on exchanges for a couple of hours, we were knocking at an apartment complex. When we knocked on a door, Elder Glassford asked this guy if he wanted to come closer to Christ by being baptized… The guy proceeded to say, "This is crazy! Just a week and a half ago I was living in California and was going to be baptized but I had to move out here." So then we told him that God has a plan for him and that we were holding a baptism on the 31st. After hearing this he immediately told us he would like to be baptized then. It was so cool to see that God had prepared someone for us that had already been meeting with the missionaries! 

Well I hope you all enjoy the week and I would like to let you all know that I know that God is a God of miracles and that if we stop to look, we will notice his hand in each of our lives. 

With love,

Elder Bullough

First Week in a New Area 1/19/2016

So, at first I was a little nervous about coming to my new area, Parkland, because right when I arrived the apartment was a mess. But after a little time of cleaning we were able to clean up all of the junk lying around. It was a relief to hear that we would have the car for the week. During my first day Elder Dale, my new companion, took me around the area and showed me all the things I would need to know. Parkland is a little city in Tacoma and is full of diversity! We have a college campus in our area that we are able to go and talk to students to share the gospel with them. We also have many different nationalities that we are teaching. For instance, there are people that are from Kenya, Samoa, Korea and many other different countries. My first day in the area we met a lady from Kenya named D. who is going through some rough trials in her life and so we began to teach her that day. One of the things that I love is the ward. The members are so nice and tell us that their door is always open to the missionaries... so we often go and grab some quick snacks when we are in the area hahah! 

This week on Sunday I was able to go back to Lakewood for a baptism! N.'s children, J. and K., were getting baptized that day with their aunt R. who happens to be in my new ward. It was very great to see them all again and to see their dad come and support them. I know that before long their dad will be able to join them as well and want to be baptized. It is so great to see the change that has taken place in that family. The gospel truly does change lives! And it all starts with a humble heart and a desire to learn. 

Well, I will post the pictures below. I hope that you all have a great week. Scripture of the week is Alma 5:14.

—Elder Bullough

Alma 5:14
"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

Baptism Day for N.'s children K. & J.

Elder Bullough with K. & J. on their Baptism Day

Elder Bullough & his new companion Elder Dale

ET 1/11/2016

So this week was crazy and just got a whole lot crazier today! First off we were not able to have a baptism because A. who has been working toward baptism was called into work for the Army. So I guess we couldn't really argue with that but we are excited for next week because we have three people planning to be baptized on the 17th. N.'s two youngest kids, K. and J., have decided to get baptized with their aunt on that day! It is so exciting to see that family and how much they all have changed! So on top of three people being baptized this weekend miracles happen almost daily.

Elder Lee and I were together for the majority of the week while the other two were doing exchanges with some of the people in our zone. So Elder Lee and I, "two greenies," had to take over the area. Well with much prayer we were able to be successful and bless many people’s lives. I learned that we have to pray if we want God to bless us, I also learned that we don't always receive the answer that we want. God answers our prayers to benefit our needs and He does it in His own perfect timing. The coolest miracle is when Elder Lee and I were trying to plan last minute for a member that we would go see and teach how to do missionary work. Well I didn't know all of the members and the paperwork hadn't been kept well because there are so many move outs in the ward. So we prayed for God to prepare a member that we could see. After almost all of our options were out it seemed like we would just have to alter our plans, just then I received a phone call... it was the H. family from the ward. So we scheduled a time to see them and it turns out we were blessed even more than I could imagine... we got to eat pie and ice-cream with them!!! The cool part is that not only did God prepare a family for us but they ended up contacting us! Miracles follow faith!

Now for the CRAZY part of today: So we were all expecting or just guessing that I would be "ET'd" which means emergency transferred, because there is a boy going home tomorrow that came out with me. Well the call came today that I would be sent to the area of the Parkland ward to serve for the next while. I will be companions with Elder Dale and we will share the ward with the sister missionaries. I am excited for the change and I am sure that it will bring many new changes that I will have to adjust to... for one I will be on a bike all day. My legs will be SUPER STRONG! Anyway I am sure it will be a great experience and there will be many people that I will have a chance to influence in the Parkland area. Only down part is I have about two hours to pack all of my stuff and have it ready to go in the morning!

Lastly, I hope you all have a great week. The scripture that I am "ponderizing" this week is D&C 88:63. I would invite you all to do the same. If you don't have a Doctrine and Covenants, go ask the missionaries and they would be glad to give you one! Anyway, love you all!

Elder Bullough

D&C 88:63
"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."


The following photos were all posted on the WA-TAC mission blog at calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com

P-Day Fun: 

(Elder Bullough is not in the above picture, it just shows what everyone did for fun on their P-day)

Missionaries Singing at a Care Center:

Happy New Year! 1/4/2016

Well first off, it’s the NEW YEAR!! Crazy!! Time really flies and it is amazing to look back a year ago and realize where I am now. I hope that you all were able to have a wonderful New Year’s Eve and enjoyed all of the parties and staying up late! Funny thing about being a missionary, New Year’s Eve is completely opposite, we go to bed as early as we can rather than staying up late! It was great to get the extra sleep. 

So in mission lingo, I just began my "blackout year" which means that I won't see my family or friends from home for a whole year! That seems so long... but all of the missionaries say it goes by fast. This new year I have thought a lot about new year’s resolutions because we are constantly setting goals on our mission. So I have a goal to work out every morning for at least 30 minutes and to eat less chocolate... the last part is going to be hard for me. And a more spiritual goal I have is to memorize a scripture a week! So far I am on track!

Funny story and I wish I would have taken a picture! But since I didn't just try to imagine this in your heads. So yesterday was fast Sunday. For those of you who don't know, fasting is when you don't eat food or drink for a period of time. Well I was starving at four and went to the Swanson's to eat and stop my fast. But I soon realized this might be a challenge for me because she had cooked bacon wrapped chicken with Saracha sauce glazed over it. And on the other plate was a ton of jalapeno poppers! For those of you who know me, know that I do not do well with spicy food!!! So I said a prayer in my heart that I would be able to eat and be filled, but also that I would be able to bear the HOT sauce!! Well I wisely stayed away from the pieces of chicken with the ghost pepper but I did eat plenty of other spicy food at that meal. Surprisingly, with enough milk I was able to eat enough food to be full. And even more miraculously I was doing a lot better than most of my companions who were eating it. I am sure that my prayer was answered and now know why I was not called to Mexico to serve hahah!

Lastly, this week was great. We had a zone conference and learned so much about member missionary work and how important it is. If there are roughly 15 million members and each of them helps a friend or family member they know come to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, then the amount of members in the church will double in one year. I know that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ and that it does bless people’s lives. And because I know this I would invite you all to help others know this as well. I heard a great story last night of how a member in Mossyrock, Washington was able to do missionary work. They would invite family and friends to their family home evening and have fun doing an activity in the beginning, and then they would let the missionaries share a ten minute lesson. This was a great way that others were more open to hearing the gospel and it brought many new members to the church. And this was as easy as inviting friends and family over to have fun on a Monday night! I hope this story can inspire you all as much as it inspired me.

Hope you all have a great new year! 

Love you all,

Elder Bullough

     Hey look it snowed!! I found out that I miss the snow haha! We might have had a couple of quick snowball fights...

Zone Conference on New Year's Eve 2015: