Singing in TACOMA! 6/26/2017

This week was super fun!! On Friday, while we were on exchanges, Elders Quinton, Lund and I went to a big event that was open to the public called "Taste of Tacoma." Literally thousands of people come each year from the city and other varying cities to see the event. While we were there we talked to just about everyone. Within 30 minutes we must have talked to like 300 people inviting them to take a tour of our church or just simply to learn about Christ!— So much fun! 

Then later that day Elder Lund switched over to be with the others and Elder Quinton and I went to knock an apartment complex when we soon found out that 90% of the people there spoke Russian. So what did we choose to do— that's right. we began to sing to them!! At almost every doorstep Elder Quinton and I would awkwardly start singing "I am a Child of God" from our hymn book hahaha!  Despite the awkwardness and my lousy voice it actually brought the Spirit! Almost instantly you could feel the mood change, hearts were softened and people were stunned that two young men were dressed in white shirts and ties and singing to them at their doorstep. Now because of the barrier between the two languages I couldn't understand much of what they said back to us, but we could tell that each person was feeling the Spirit and felt what we were feeling as we sang to them! It was a neat experience because many of them felt it so much that they began to tear up. To say the least, it was quite bold but extremely fun! For the record I am not much of a singer so it was pretty uncomfortable haha! 😂

Next big thing coming up— is this week we have our new mission president coming in— their names are the Leishman's. We are all pretty excited about it, yet sad that we will be losing President and Sister Blatter. They will be coming in on Friday so it will be a neat experience taking the mission president and his wife to the airport to go home. Usually it's the other way around haha! Other than that I really don't know what to expect, just that we will be a major help in catching the new mission president up to speed on the mission!  

Oh and lastly, we went out to IHOP today with our good friends from Gig Harbor. When Elder Lund and I served there a few months ago, we got to know the Callahans, who are members of the ward up there. They are way cool and made Gig Harbor a ton of fun! I can't think of a time that we went over and didn't just laugh the entire time!! So here is a picture of us and them at IHOP 🍮 — I think that's a pancake, but Idk...lol!

The Callahan Family with Elders Bullough, Lund, & Sutton

President & Sister Blatter with missionaries at a mini zone meeting: 

Pictures from the WATAC mission blog calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com)

Playing basketball at President Blatter's house:

Transfers! 6/19/2017

Well this week went by pretty fast! Tuesday was transfers and Elder Lund is now officially with us so we are in a trio! It is a blast and never a dull moment but it sure is different in almost every way. When knocking doors, we have three so it’s kind of a crowd haha, and then in lessons it takes a lot more concentration so that we don't stumble over each other lol. We spent most of the week getting settled from transfers and getting a lot of the mission work done and then we gave a training to the new district leaders on Friday. It was a fun experience because President had to leave the meeting early so we just took over for the last 30 minutes. Because of all that went on we didn't have as much time to proselyte, so this week we are going to be making up for it and knocking a bunch! 

Here is a scripture that I read this morning that stuck out to me:

Romans 8:16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” The reason this struck me is because never before had I read this in the light that the Holy Ghost speaks to our spirit and tells us that there is a God and that we are his children. And more so, we are not just some creation to a higher being but in reality "children" of the most high, our Heavenly Father, and He has a plan. We lived with Him before this life, we are here now to prepare to live with Him again and one day through our Savior's atonement and by baptism into His true church we will live in His presence with our families forever. I take peace in knowing that there is no greater promise!  

I hope you have a great week and a sunny one at that! :) 
— Elder Bullough

A Week of Events! 6/12/2017

C got baptized!! He was super elect! A few weeks ago the elders in Highland Hills knocked into his sister and started teaching her, when he overheard some of what was being said, so he felt prompted to go listen as well. They then referred him to us and we took him to see a baptism that day. At that point C turned to us and said, "This just feels right, it's so simple," as he was contemplating his own baptism or not. So after that we went back a few times during the week and taught him all of the lessons. Even though he's only been in the US for a little over a year his English is incredible and he was learning the lessons very rapidly. On Sunday, he was baptized and then asked for the chance to bear his testimony. It was honestly one of the most powerful testimonies that I have heard on my mission, and it was amazing to Elder Sutton and me to hear all of the answered prayers and "coincidences" that were happening behind the scenes. It was a good reminder to me of how little we as missionaries do and how much God's influence is leading the honest seeker to Christ!

Transfer calls were this last week! Elder Sutton and I made a lot of calls to the missionaries on Saturday. It was a blast to call the missionaries and hear their frightened response as we told them where they were going haha! Another interesting part about transfers is that Elder Lund is now going to be joining Elder Sutton and I and we will be in a trio for the next 9 weeks because Elder Sutton will be leaving a couple weeks early to get back to school. It will definitely be different but I'm sure it will be a blast! 

Zion's Camp was also this past week. It was definitely a success!! From passing out T-shirts to climbing on the ropes course it was a ton of fun! We also had our meeting up there and showed a video that we made of a lot of the missionaries for the Blatter's. We basically interviewed them and had all of the footage and sent the film to Elder Sutton's dad who put it all together so we could show it up at Zion's Camp. It was sweet to see it all come together! Click here if you want to check out the video!

All in all it was a great week. I'll post some pictures below for all of you, hope you enjoy!

-Elder Bullough 

 Zion's Camp:

Zion’s Camp was a success!! Elder Sutton and I have given all of the missionaries their T-shirts and hopefully we got back all of the money… we still need to count it. 😱

  C's Baptism:

Elder Sutton, C, and me

Elder Sutton, C, the Braunbergers, and me

Trip to the Seattle Temple:

Missionaries having fun:

On to a Busy Week! 6/5/2017

All is well here in Tacoma!! Last week as leaders we had a chance to go up to Zion's Camp to learn about the ropes course and get some training before we go up this year for our annual Zion's Camp with the missionaries. It is all about team bonding and learning how to be better missionaries through a hands-on experience! We are doing six events that include a trust fall, a wall that we have to climb up working together, a rope swing between two wooden platforms. (Don't worry it's on the ground so no injuries will happen. lol) We will be going up next week as the whole mission so that should be a blast!

This week felt like it was one of the weeks that I have taught most on my mission. It seemed like almost every hour we were teaching lessons, especially on Saturday, Elder Sutton and I just went from lesson to lesson. We have been blessed to be teaching so many people lately. C is one of the people that we are teaching who is super elect! Over the past two weeks he has come to a ton of events for the YSA ward and is loving it and meeting a lot of new friends! C is from the Congo and is 20 years old so Elder Sutton and I have a ton of fun with him because he is our age and we can relate.

Lastly, just an update on next week and how busy it will be:

Tonight, talk about transfers & get everything ready for Zion's Camp

Tuesday and Wednesday we will be up at Zion's Camp

Thursday is the departing missionary temple trip

Saturday we are doing transfer calls😱

And Sunday we should have a baptism!!

Should be a blast!!

Love you all and have a great week!!

Memorial Day Picnic (pictures from calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com)

 

Mission Leadership Conference at Zion's Camp(pictures from calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com)

Pictures Elder Bullough emailed in his weekly letter:

Elder Sutton playing golf in their front yard

Elder Tafua Barbecuing