Transfer Week 2/29/2016

Well, this past Sunday was great news! J. was able to be confirmed a member of the Church and also receive the Holy Ghost. He is doing a great job at being a member missionary and invited all of his family and friends to come out and see his confirmation. We also were able to have a family we have been teaching attend church. They are a Cambodian family and the parents are members. Their daughter E. is currently choosing to be baptized on March 12th! It was great to hear that news from them yesterday because Elder Dale and I have been working a lot with them in reactivating their family.

Starting out with some bad news followed by some great news.  So both Elder Dale and I got sick throughout the week which made proselyting tough when we didn't feel well. But luckily, I was able to get better the next day and went knocking with Elder Nelson while Elder Dale stayed back with Elder Solorzano. When Elder Nelson and I came to a house that looked abandoned, we knocked on the door... then we knocked again. Nothing. As we were about to leave, we peered around the corner to see a young man heading to the truck. We began to talk to him and found out he is LDS and had been going to the ward with his uncle who lived an hour away. Then, as we continued to talk to him, I had the thought to ask him if he had been baptized. He replied that he hadn't. Elder Nelson and I then taught him about baptism and asked if he would come out to our ward and be baptized. He said yes! The only downer to this story is that he is moving in less than a week and so we are going to do all that we can to prepare him by then. But the importance of this story is that there are people that are ready to be baptized and make that first step toward Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. 

Saturday was transfer calls and Elder Dale and I were worried that one of us would be moved out of the area of Parkland. Lately, this area has been so blessed and we have found many people that are ready to change their lives and come closer to Christ. So on Saturday, we received a call that both of us would be staying! Elder Dale and I were excited to hear the news and know that there are a lot of people for us to bring to the waters of baptism in the area of Parkland. 

One thing that I learned this week is that God doesn't always answer our prayers the way that we want, but He always answers!

Well, I hope that you all had a great week and are enjoying the sunshine as much as I am!

With love,

Elder Bullough

Lakewood Member/Missionary Meeting 2/25/2016:

Another Great Week! 2/22/2016

This week was great! Elder Dale and I were able to have a baptism for J. This baptism was quite the experience and full of miracles along the way. The first time Elder Dale and I met J. he was outside with his pit bull smoking a cigarette and did not look amused to see us. As we talked with him he told us we could come back the next day, but then we were interrupted because his dog ran after some kids across the road and he had to run after it. So the next day Elder Dale and I decided to go back and see him. Before knocking on the door we said a prayer and asked God to provide a way for us to meet with him. Well after knocking two times on the door we concluded that he wasn't home... just then I leaned over to Elder Dale and told him, jokingly, "God keeps his promises"... just then a blue BMW rounded the corner and pulled in the drive way! We were shocked at the timing! J. then got out of the car and told us that he was looking for change in his life. So we invited him to the church activity that the ward was having that evening. And sure enough, he came! J. was so determined to change his life around that he trusted us and kept every commitment we extended. He came to church that week, helped clean the church the day before, and also read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon every day. By doing this he was able to build his faith. He was also able to face and overcome all of the temptations that the adversary sent. I know that it was only through God that J. was able to overcome all of his trials and change so rapidly in his life. Just as it says in the book of Matthew, "Through God all things are possible." He truly was an example to us of the light that this gospel brings into our lives. J. has started teaching his roommates when they have questions and even asked us to give him cards to pass out. 

Another wonderful thing that happened this week is that this lady, M., who just moved from Alabama called us and asked us to come pray for her. So Elder Dale and I went over and offered her a prayer and asked if we could share a message with her. She said yes, so we began to teach her. This lesson was definitely directed by the Spirit and we were able to bring a smile to her face that seemed to have been lost for some time. Then she came to church and was able to meet some new friends in the ward who sat by her and answered her many questions. It was great to see the ward working so well with M. and truly reaching out to her. After the meeting she committed to be baptized this next Sunday! M. is truly one who is prepared and knows much gospel and the bible. She told us that before we came she had been praying that the Lord would bring her someone to help her through this hard time. And sure enough He answered her prayer! 

I want you all to know that this is a work of miracles and that each time we pray our prayers are answered. As it directs in the Bible we must ask, and then we will receive. However one thing that took me time to realize is that God doesn't always answer in the time or even the way that we want, but He does answer.

Well I hope that you all have a great week. I have had a great time so far and the weather here is getting much better. It is supposed to be sunny all week long! By the way for those who have not seen a sunny Washington day, it is absolutely beautiful and almost makes the rain worth it haha.

P.S. For any of those who are wondering, last week in the whole commotion of the lady that jumped off of the building, neither of us were hurt. 

With Love,

Elder Bullough

Baptism Pictures:

Elder Bullough, J., & Elder Dale

Elder Bullough, L., J., Elder Dale

Elder Bullough, L.T., and the Sister Missionaries (who worked with L.T.)

Pictures from the "Why I Believe Missionary Music Fireside"

What a Week!?! 2/16/2016

So where do I start... This past week was crazy and full of adventure! So first off, on Wednesday, Elder Dale and I were excited when a lady we had met called and mentioned that she wanted to meet with us that morning. So after biking all the way to her apartment we see her standing out on the back balcony of her two story apartment. She saw us and told us to come over. So we put our bikes aside and went over to talk with her. Keep in mind we were standing below her on the grass while she begins to climb over the balcony and exclaim that she is going to jump down and how we are going to catch her!! We immediately told her not to jump because we knew she could get hurt. So while Elder Dale went and got help from the manager I was left to keep her from jumping while she was sitting on the edge. When Elder Dale arrived back we continued to wait for help to arrive and kept talking to her and trying to distract her from the idea of jumping. To fill you all in at this point --- that morning she had taken some drug that caused her to react like this. So we knew that our chances of her not jumping were slim. Well in about 30 minutes a police officer arrived and stood by us to see what the problem was. It was about that moment that the maintenance man had gone up into the apartment to try and bring her in... right as he opened the door she saw him and JUMPED!! Those next seconds seemed to go by in slow motion because each of us watched as she jumped and I soon realized that she had jumped right in my direction and was coming towards me!?! So I had to decide between two choices... step out of the way, or try to catch her and break her fall. So in that instance I guess I decided to catch her, and with my attempt I was able to break her fall. Then the police officer took over and got a hold of the situation. But I guess you could say that the highlight of my week was catching a falling lady from a two story apartment! I mean how many missionaries does that happen to hahah!?! 

Oh and fun fact, the TV show "Cops" was first filmed in the city of Lakewood, Washington. I guess I now know why they chose this place to film. Haha!

But on a more spiritual note Elder Dale and I have helped J. our investigator continue to progress and are hoping to have his baptism this week! It is amazing to see the light and the change that it can bring others’ lives. It is so cool because he has been sharing the gospel with his roommates and has been an example for them. 

Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week and I will post some pictures I took throughout the week. 

With love, 

Elder Bullough

Pictures from golfing yesterday with our ward mission leader:

Elder Dale, Elder Bordelon, Brother Price, Me

The Gift of Tongues & Technology 2/8/2016

So this past week was great! Elder Dale and I saw many blessings come from working hard and staying diligent. We were able to visit with D., the lady who came to the baptism last week. We taught her about how God has a plan for all of us, known as the Plan of Salvation. She was able to understand and we all felt the spirit very strong as we talked and answered the questions she had. Throughout the week we were able to teach two of the families that we had been working with and teach in a way that allowed even the children to understand. And then we were able to see J. and his friends and taught each of them about the Book of Mormon and how important it is. We challenged each of them to read Alma 32 and it turns out that after we left they started reading it together!! J. then committed to be baptized on February 21st! Then, to top off the week, almost all of them and more were able to make it to church on Sunday! Both Elder Dale and I knew that it was important that they all come out to church so that they could feel the Spirit themselves, and make friends with the members. After fasting and praying we were filled with joy when we saw them walk in. 

So now to explain my subject line... "The Gift of Tongues and Technology." The title has both a funny and a very spiritual experience behind it. Weeks back when I was with Elder Lee we knocked on a door... and a Hispanic lady, E., opened. Soon I found out that she had just moved from Mexico and doesn't speak English at all. With all of the broken Spanish I knew and her phone I was able to set up a time that the Spanish missionaries could go back and see her. I remember turning to Elder Lee and saying to him that for some reason I just had a feeling that I knew she was going to get baptized. We both kind of laughed and moved on. Well come to find out, that week she went to church, then the next and so on. Before we knew it she had finished the discussions and was getting baptized! Both Elder Lee and I were privileged to go and see E. get baptized yesterday and reflected on the night we both knocked on her door. Even though I wasn't able to understand what was being said at the baptism I felt the spirit very strongly and knew that she felt it too. It was a testimony to me that the Spirit truly does bring the message to the hearts of the people and I am only the instrument in God's hands. 

Well I will post the picture of her baptism on the bottom. Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Bullough

E.'s Baptism

A Week of Miracles 2/1/2016

This week has been great!! Elder Dale and I have had many miracles this week. We had a meeting this week and we both felt that we needed to pray more throughout the day. One thing that I have learned this week is that blessings come from praying! Early in the week we found Jesus, (pronounced Haysus) hahaha, that told us we could come back the next day. So we biked back the next day and decided to say a prayer before we knocked on his door. At the door we knocked twice and nothing... but I had a thought come to my mind -- "God keeps his promises," so jokingly as we were leaving I told Elder Dale that God keeps his promises and that Jesus would probably pull in the driveway any minute. Well not more that three seconds later we see a blue car pull in! I was totally blown away when I saw Jesus step out of the car! God had answered our prayer! After talking with him for awhile we were able to teach him and find out that he was truly prepared and was seeking a major change in his life and told us he wanted to come to church. Jesus came to the church party that we had that night, and enjoyed playing basketball with the church ball team and best of all, he came to church on Sunday! He later mentioned that day that he had not been this happy in a long time and that he can't stop smiling! 

Early on Sunday, Elder Dale and I decided to fast for our investigators to make it to church. Due to not scheduling a ride to church beforehand we had a priest drop us off an hour early. We wondered what we would do for an hour while we waited but shortly after a man walked in and told us he had been looking for a church so we showed him around and were able to get him to stay for the meeting. He really enjoyed it and we are seeing him this week so that we can start teaching him! I know that we were there an hour early for that reason and that it was an answer to our prayer and fasting. 

Later that day the Summit ward was having a baptism and Elder Dale and I had prayed to find someone to take to the baptism. While we were knocking on doors we knocked into this lady named
D. and were able to answer a lot of her questions and teach her more about the Church. We found out that she truly has been searching for the truth. As we were teaching her she told us that she had been pondering a question lately and wanted to know the answer to why she needed to be baptized. We were shocked! Through using the scriptures we were able to answer her question but we could tell she still didn't seem to have her answer so Elder Dale invited her to the baptism. With only thirty minutes notice to get ready she told us she would make it, and sure enough she did! It was great to know that God had answered our prayer and also answered her prayers.

I truly do know that God is a loving Heavenly Father and that he wants to bless us all and answer our questions. I also know that in order for Him to do so we have to ASK! "Ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you." Well I hope that you all have enjoyed this past week as much as I have, and I wish you all the best!

With Love,

Elder Bullough

Here is like a once in a lifetime sunny day in Washington!

Here is the track that I ran on this morning.

Elder Bullough sent an email to one set of his grandparents and wrote this in the letter:

"Both of my areas have had Senior missionaries serving in them and they have been such great help to us. In fact today Elder and Sister Harward went back to Utah. They were so great to Elder Dale and I and they were like my mission grandparents in a way. They would always welcome us in and feed us ice cream!"

Here is a picture of Josh with Elder & Sister Harward: