18 Service Projects (8/31/2020)

Ok so this week was pretty fun!  We had requests for 18 service projects!  

Tuesday we had a service project at Carmen's.  We were there for 2 hrs moving buckets full of rocks.  That was fun...haha...but she gave us some yummy bread after and it was good.  She is really so sweet she was like,  “here hold my chickens” and she just put them in our hands and we were like “ahhhhhhh ok”...true story! 

Wednesday we got up and we stacked wood for 2 hours. She was a super nice lady but we did not talk much about the gospel. She gave us lots of cookies and homemade bread. Wow! That was the best cookie I have ever had. Better than Crumbl Cookies. We are definitely going to try to get back and talk more with her! Then our next service project of the day we cut down and raked up blackberries and we worked so hard! Then we helped another lady put up a TV.  That took some time but it was super fun!!! 

So on Thursday we woke up and we went to Bernard’s.  He is a great guy we try to help. He works us super hard. He has a major snail problem so we hit a few snails like baseballs (there are so many) and well when we hit them the guts went all over us so we figured that probably wasn’t the best idea. Then we went to Steve's and helped him shovel dirt. We got to know him pretty well and it was so much fun. We had a blast and hope he will be open to more discussions. P.S. Only Bernard is a member...every one else we found on Facebook. 

On Friday we got to talk to a man who only believes in the Holy Bible  so we were excited to introduce the Book of Mormon. We had a cool discussion about the gift of tongues and other good stuff. We are excited to go back and visit with him. I found this scripture that I love to bring up when people question whether or not the Book of Mormon is the word of God:

2 Nephi 29:10-11:

10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.

11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.

Then we helped Carmen.  She cut her TV wire so I helped her rewire it. 

Saturday we went back to the family who we helped with siding last week. It was so much fun ripping the house apart! O my gosh I had a blast and they fed us ribs and potatoes. We helped another guy spread dirt in his yard and a lady pour cement. 

I love serving the people of Oregon and talking about the gospel while we work beside them. It might be nice just to have a couple of lessons where we go in and sit on a couch and teach...haha!

This was a very special scripture I found this week. It reminds us how important it is to pray each day. But not just that...it’s important to remember that not praying is what Satan wants from us, So he can draw us away from heaven and the Spirit in our lives. So get on your knees this week, pray for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and show Satan whose side you are on! 

2 Nephi 32:8 

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

Have a great week!

Elder Boyd

Service in the Rain (8/24/2020)

Wow! This week was full of adventures. We had 9 service projects this week. They just came up out of nowhere and kept us running all day. We have been working so hard and the work here is speeding up. 

We are feeling the spirit so strongly out here in our personal study and in our lessons and service.  We were helping an older lady dig a trench that she needed and it started raining so hard on us and we got all muddy and wet...thanks Oregon!  

We helped another older guy move all his items, we put up siding on a house for a girl and then we helped another lady with moving wood! It was a busy week for us and we like that people know we are here to help and share the message of Christ in their town. 

We had some great member lessons and we are studying a lot. We are trying to bring people close but there are always those people that hate up and tell us we are of the devil! Haha! But I loved reading Alma 37:37 this week:

37: Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

So each day we ask what we can do and who we can help. It’s different but it’s ok because we can change people in small and simple ways and by that God can change people’s lives! 

Training and Service Projects (Aug 17)

Hey everyone! I love you all! So this was a good week on the mission. We have had so many service opportunities and we are given so much food by people lately and we know we are so blessed. 

We are out here working hard for people in Oregon. We are actually digging trenches, we are helping move sheds and we are seen all over the place helping people with little things like that. We want people to see us getting back outside to help and serve and to recognize the guys with name tags who are always doing good.

When you can't knock on doors, how else you gonna keep your presentation skills sharp?

It is starting to get really hot here and we spend more time in our apartments than normal during this virus in Oregon. We don't have AC units and this is hot season when the humidity comes and we are right by the ocean. Ahhhh! The point I’m getting at is we are either studying at home in our chair and sweating to death or you get to go teach people and sweat to death or we are out serving and working and sweating to death! Haha! 

So yeah we are having fun following up with members since that is really all we can do right now as missionaries to get into homes for lessons. We have had a few great teaching moments and I’ll keep you all posted as they hopefully progress. 

Stay happy and share the gospel my friends! 

I'm a Dad -- to my new Greenie! (Aug 10, 2020)

Hey good morning everyone! It was a good week. I actually got called to be a trainer! 

I'm super busy with my greenie, Elder Barry. He is a great guy from North Carolina. We picked him up at the mission office on Wednesday and got right to work. 

We are working hard and we have had several lessons. We have been doing lots of service. Like helping at the food bank and serving members and other people.There are good families out here. Members are really helping us with food and helping us find new people. I have seen the hand of God in this transfer and know he is blessing us. 

The four Elders in our apartment got to go to lunch on Thursday with my parents as they were RV-ing down Oregon Coast. It was great to see them for a bit. They even took us on a grocery run and filled our kitchen with some good food! That’s an answer to prayer right there. Haha!

We are so blessed and we know we are getting blessings from prayers all around the world. Thank you for all the love and support everyone is giving and know your prayers for the missionaries are felt each day. You are all so amazing. We are grateful for every little blessing.

Lots of Service and a Baptism to Boot (August 3, 2020)

Letter from last week

So this week has been super busy! We did a lot and the days went fast. We have done a lot of service.  We mowed yards and we needed to help people with their cars...which was cool. 

We got two new people on date! I’ll keep you posted about all that. Samara was baptized this week and it was awesome. She was already on date when I got out here so I only got to meet with her a few times. I don’t know her that well but she was super excited and I can tell you it was so cool to see her smile! It was a great day. 

We are heading for a tour at the Tillamook cheese factory today and we’ve got to run now so this weekly update is going to be small but I hope everyone at home is feeling the love of Heavenly Father and always remember he loves you!

Most Recent week letter:

Hi everyone! This week was fun we had a lot to do which means A LOT of service. 

It’s great because it means we are busy making people happy!

We tore up a guys deck it was fun at first...we took out 32 boards and then he asked us to pull out every nail in each 2x6 so that was very productive...haha! Then we helped another family mow their yard. It was great but we had to cross a crazy freeway every time we had to dump the grass it was scary ahhh! Don’t worry...we missionaries are protected! ;) Then I helped a guy change his ball bearing  on his car and drive line and we are right now pulling out the drain pan gasket and we had to pull out the starter and the move the fuel line!  There was a lot that we did on this jeep Cherokee but I had so much fun helping him!

Then we helped an older couple lay down wood chips that was great because we got a lot of people to come and help. It was good to see people start to get together to help one another. 

We went out for district lunch we went to the best clam chowder place in Oregon!  We were told by so many people to go. It was so good. Oh my gosh! You have to eat there when you come out to Oregon soon.

I felt the spirit so strong this week. It is incredible here.  Here is a good scripture I found this week: Alma 43:45. With all the crazy in the world and in Portland it was a good to remember what is truly worth fighting for. I was reading 1 Nephi chapter 10 and there were a lot of good scriptures but I especially loved 6, 10, 17-18. They are really strong scriptures and you should read them. 

We have 2 newer people that we are trying to put on date next week and a new young couple so we are so excited!  We are doing our best to get in homes since we can proselyte now, but it is hard because no one is outside and it is very difficult to get in to talk to people.  Lessons have been hard to set up this week but we have stayed very busy and are always trying to keep productive and get our name out and about. We are working as hard as we can. 

I have some good news...is everyone ready? I'm going to be a DAD! Haha! Don’t panic! That is what we say when we get to train a greenie...new missionaries that come to the field.  I'm so so excited to train this new greenie.  I have no idea who he is or where he is from, but you can bet he will be a hard working missionary if I train him! 😜🤫  

I hope everyone’s week is going well and I miss all of you. Thank you to all who email me. We are really busy so a lot of times I forget or just don’t get time to email back on P-Day so I'm so sorry for that! I will try my best to do better.  

Love all of you and have a good rest of your week #elder BEEZERboyd

Reflections - the opportunity to change (July 23, 2020)

So far this week has been good. I have been trying new things since I have been back out in the field.  In fact, there is a rap guy named NF and I was thinking of his song called "Change". It really hit me and then I prayed to open to a scripture I needed to hear for the day. It was Alma 37: 35-36 and wow! 

Now for all you that know me I have been through a lot growing up. Doing some bad things and getting into drugs and stuff. I speak now because I have a feeling that I need to speak up. I get now that it is hard when you forget the spirit. I know from my life it was easier to go back to what was easy and that was getting back into drugs for easy relief, but I can promise you that if you drop to your knees and pray for strength you will have strength to keep going. Remember though, salvation is not easy. It will never be easy. It was never easy for the Lord so why would it be easy for us. 

I would like to thank all my young men’s leaders and support from my old ward and to let you know that when you think someone is never going to listen to you because they are so hard-hearted like me that somewhere down the road they will change. It took me 2 times to go on a mission to finally find the glory of God and I will say this with my full testimony that I have never felt the power of God so strong in my life. I have never felt so confident in myself. I know the Book of Mormon heals lives.  

One thing I am doing is when I know I messed up or did something stupid I will go to my knees right away and pray for repentance and the help to understand why God put me in the trial. You can take my advice and try it. Listen to some conference talks instead of your fave songs you will feel the spirit so strong. I can promise you that. We go through trials because it is the way that God wants us to learn and to help us be more humble. That is why we go through hard trials. 

Be strong my friends remember we are here on earth to prepare for the next life. We fought so hard to come to this earth to be tested and to live with the Lord again. I know I'm only 21. I have not seen much, but never let yourself believe that there is no way to find the spirit. There is always a way. There is always something in your life that you can change, that you know you need to fix but can't or don't want to. I know that if you need help I would be there to hold your hand and help you through it. There is always a way out. 

This is the scripture referenced:

Alma:

35 O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

Elder Brendon Boyd (July 20, 2020)

Hey! How is everyone doing? I’ve been studying the new Proclamation to the World: the Restoration Proclamation and it is great. Paragraphs 5 and 6 are so good. There is so much truth in these words. 

We all know the Family Proclamation to the World that came out in 1995 but this new Restoration Proclamation just barely came out in our April 2020 conference. It is such a good read and we need to study and learn it like we have studied the Family Proclamation. You will find so so much power in these words. I feel the spirit every time I read it. I get goosebumps! 

 

The people who live the gospel of Jesus Christ are the happiest people I know. The most miserable people I know are the people who don’t follow the gospel of Jesus Christ but know it's true. This is a something we discussed in my ward council and I’ve seen it and I know this is true. You will see this too if you look. We are blessed and happy when we follow Jesus Christ and his gospel! 

We are now allowed to go contact people on the street! I’m so glad. We have been super busy. Sunday we had 3 meetings and 4 lessons. We are getting back to the mission fun and the reason we are here. I'm so excited! All of your prayers are helping missionaries all around the world. Keep praying for us, we feel it!

Like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/brendan.boyd.731

 

Elder B. Boyd 

1 Nephi 22:20 
2 Nephi 19:6