Week 68: Hank Smith and Prayer!

 

*IF YOU DON"T READ ANY OF THIS EMAIL, AT LEAST READ THE LAST QUESTIONS AT THE BOTTOM PLEASE! IT WILL BE WORTH IT! *

Hey Everyone! Holy smokes we had a fantastic week! We had a real fun snow storm blow through which made the work somewhat interesting at times. It's all good though, it's finally warming up!

Here is a quick run through of this week:

Monday was kind of a brick. ( Brick is a missionary slang term for saying "that sucks", or "dang it") We were going to have a district activity, but the incoming snow storm made us cancel our plans. It was all good, we made the most of the day!

Tuesday was tragic because we had a cancel a training visit with the Hilliard elders. To make up for the lost time and good times we decided to edit a video I filmed in December. The elder who was supposed to edit the video and post it went home, so I just decided to take matters into my own hands. It is done now and will be going up on our Facebook page. Go like and follow it, it is Columbus Ohio Christians. After that we did some contacting and set up a couple member lessons which is a fat blessing.

Wednesday we had our district council in the morning which went really good! I definitely learned a lot about prayer and the spirit chastised me about my current level of prayer. After that we just went about our normal stuff which is always contacting and having lessons with the members. Other than that, it was a fairly average day.

Thursday we had to cancel another training visit because of the weather. It sucked, but we had just another average day for us. Just nonstop contacting to try and schedule lessons with people.

Friday we had a really fun and busy training visit with the assistants. I was with Elder Muhlstein for the day and we put the work in. We tried making a video with them, but we ran out of time. We were just too busy calling people and teaching lessons! At the end of the day we sat down and just talked with the assistants for a while. It was a really good time to spend with those goons!

Saturday was absolutely incredible! We had a good morning with a couple lessons with members. After lunch we commenced pretty much our second training visit with President. We invited him to come with us for our lesson with Belinda and Derrick. More on their lesson will be in the miracle of the week.

Sunday was a super awesome day overall. We had a super awesome day at church with both wards. We got to talk to a lot of the members which is always a good thing. After church we had a lesson with a member and did some contacting to end off the night.

Funny moment of the week:

Oh man, this isn't so funny as it is awesome. We got to have Hank Smith as our devotional speaker on Sunday night. He talked with us about how to recognize and feel the spirit and then how to follow the spirit. It was definitely very insightful and I got a lot out of it.

Miracle of the week:

Holy cow! Our lesson with Belinda and Derrick went so good! President is such a powerful teacher, it felt like we were with the 19 year old Elder Horgesheimer in Germany. We spent a lot of time answering questions and explaining the Book of Mormon. But more than anything we got to know them and showed them deep love. It was super funny because they didn't want us to leave. It was miraculous to see the incredible connection we were able to make with them.

*HERE'S THE IMPORTANT STUFF*

Here's the questions that were asked to me about prayer that caused me deep introspection. I want to pose those same questions to all of you:

1. Why are you praying? Are you doing it because you have to, or because it's just something that we should do? Or are you praying because you want to communicate with your Father in Heaven?

2. Who are you talking to in your prayers? Are you praying to be heard of those who are around you or to your companion? Are you praying to the food you are blessing or the bed you are going to sleep on? Or are you praying to be heard of your loving Father in Heaven?

3. Are you giving God the love and respect He deserves? Do you treat prayer with reverence as our way to talk with God?

4. When you pray, are you willing to carry out whatever command that God gives you? Do you have the faith and courage to act upon the revelation God gives you?

5. Do you prepare to approach the throne of God? Do you just rush into prayer and start praying? Or do you stop and give yourself time to focus and prepare to approach His throne and talk with Him.

The last thing we were invited to do was to when we are done praying to not just get up and move on, but rather to wait. Wait as long as it takes to receive an answer to your importuning. Don't rush the revelations of the Lord or forget about what you are asking Him for. Always think about those things that you are asking God for. 

This training changed the way I pray and it was definitely for the better. I want to invite you all to ask yourself these questions and apply the things that the spirit teaches you. I love you all and I hope that this helps!

Love, 

Elder Bohn

Week 67: Anything for the Hype!

 

Hey everybody! This has been one heck of a week. We've been running around like crazy with interviews and a lot of training visits. We got a lot of work done and had a good ole time with everything!

Here's a quick run through of this week:

Monday was a wild day from start to end. We got together with our district and started filming our video we're making as a district. After that we had a district activity which was super awesome. We had a good ole time!

Tuesday we had interviews with President which is always super hype! We sat in district councils for about... all day long. It's all good though, they were super awesome! After that we had a couple lessons and we did a bunch of contacting.

Wednesday was so much fun! We went on training visits with the Spanish elders and we had a good time. I spent the day with Elder Moore and we had a bunch of lessons with people and did a lot of contacting. We also made a video to try and pump up the zone and it was LIT! The video will literally be the funny moment of the week. Those elders are so much fun, we're super excited to be with them again later in the transfer.

Thursday we went on yet another training visit. I spent the day with Elder Whitehead and we had a super awesome day. We had a lot of free time so we ended up doing more Facebook work than I like to do (I'm usually sick of Facebook after 30 minutes). But it'll buff! We had a video call lesson with some dude in Africa so that was fun. After that we had a lesson with a Turkish dude in person which was hype. He was a very interesting dude. He literally asked us to share a scripture and then he left. Oh well!

Friday was a crazy busy day. We ran around all over the place and had a bunch of lessons. The members here are just way too awesome! Other than lessons and contacting, there isn't too much else to report.

Saturday we were on another training visit, this time with Marble Cliff elders. I spent the day with Elder Clifford and we had a good time. Again, we had a pretty open day so we spent a lot of time contacting members to set up lessons. We also, sadly, spent a lot of time working on Facebook. It was a really productive day so we can't complain! These elders are just way too cool!

Sunday was a crazy busy and wild day. We had in person church for both wards which was awesome. We got to talk to a lot of the members and build good connections. After that we had a couple meetings and then we did it. We did it. We ate the lil' Nitro gummy bears. Those things were HOT! Oh man, I was doing pretty good for most of it but I thought Elder Wayas and Sister Paterakis were going to die! I guess the fact that we lived is the miracle of the week.

Miracle of the week:

But for reals, we have definitely seen miracles in the fact that some people are actually texting us back now. It was super difficult last week because everyone was just ghosting us. Hopefully we can pick up our teaching pool!

Funny moment of the week:

Literally this video is the funnest thing I've ever been a part of! You gotta watch it!

Love, 

Elder Bohn

Week 66: Missionary Abduction?

 

Hey everybody! I'm going to be honest, this was just an average regular missionary week. There wasn't anything too awesome or spectacular that happened, but I'll try to make this worth the read!

Here's a quick run through of this week:

Monday was pretty awesome. We went down to Easton mall with a bunch of the elders and had a good time there. Afterwards we had a District activity with one of the districts in the zone and it was lit! We played some basketball, then some whack card games.

Tuesday was absolutely spectacular! We had zone conference in the morning and the spirit was definitely strong there. We learned a lot about having a soft heart and being willing to change. Afterwards we did a lot of contacting to set up lessons. This in turn provided a lot of rejection and ignoring. Don't worry, we're not crying, they are.

Wednesday we had training visits with the other OSU elders and I was with Elder Jeppson for the day. He is a total hoot! We did a lot of walking around campus followed by some lessons and contacting. We also worked on a sweet video for the missionaries. I'll put a picture down below because words can't do it justice.

Thursday we went on training visits with the Greenfield elders and I was with Elder Jones (there's like 4 in the mission). We had a super awesome day full of lessons and put in some good work.

Friday we had a fairly busy day running around having super awesome lessons with a lot of the members here. We walked around campus a little bit and nearly froze to death, but we got subway so it all evened out.

Saturday was awesome! We started off the day with a 4 mile run at 7AM with President and a couple other missionaries. It was 4° outside and the pathway was still very icy. At least it kept us alert! After that we had an incredible lesson with a friend of the Horgesheimer's that they wanted us to reach out to. More on their lesson will be included in the miracle of the week. After that we did a bunch of contacting and set up a bunch of lessons.

Sunday was a fairly average mission Sunday. We had both ward meetings in person which was awesome. The members actually shared testimonies which was awesome, not just ramblings about random things. Afterwards we had a couple meetings and worked on a video we are making for the zone page!

Miracle of the week:

So the people we are teaching are Bellinda and Derrick. Long story short, they met some members a while ago and they became good friends. Those friends talked with Sister Horgesheimer about referring them to the missionaries and they wanted Elder Wayas and I to work with them. So we had the opportunity to meet them this week and have an incredible discussion. We pretty much played question and doctrinal whack-a-mole with them. They absorbed and seemed to accept everything we talked about and they wanted to read the Book of Mormon to find out more. We have another appointment with them in a couple weeks and President wants to join us for it so it's going to be awesome!

Funny moment of the week:

Long story short, we are making a video for the missionaries and we needed them to be excited. And nothing is more exciting than making an action movie trailer. Pretty much we made a video of me getting kidnapped and interrogated and my companion comes and rescues me. Just look at the picture and it will give you a good taste. Hopefully we finish the video soon.

Love,

Elder Bohn

Week 65: Presidential Visits!

Here's a super quick run through of the week:

Monday was a wild day! We did our shopping in the morning and organized the apartment because it was long overdue. After that we went to the institute building and played some pool and ping pong for a little bit. Then things got wild when President came to our apartment for training visits. He has been wanting to go on exchanges with all the zone leaders and he scheduled to do ours on P day. It was pretty awesome! We did comp study and had some sweet lessons for the afternoon. After that he took us to Applebee's for dinner and we didn't get back until 10:25. It was a wild day that flew by way too fast.

Tuesday was a really fun day for the most part. We had MLC (mission leadership council) in the morning for 4 hours. We had some awesome discussions and got a lot done! After that we went to a member's house and helped him work on his truck for a little bit. It was pretty sweet, we just shared mission stories and had a good time!

Wednesday was a pretty slow day for the most part. We had district council in the morning which was super sweet and the spirit was strong! After that we did a bunch of contacting and set up a couple lessons with some peeps. Other than that there wasn't anything too extraordinary.

Thursday was super sweet! We spent the day getting ready for our Zone zoom call at 8pm. We do weekly Kahoots with the zone about doctrinal mastery and then have a mini devotional. Other than that we had a couple lessons and contacted a bunch more people.

Friday we had our weekly Friday morning training meeting with the mission and it went smoothly. After that we just had another average kind of day.

Saturday was wild from the start. We went on a 4 mile morning run with President. I nearly died because I'm out of shape. After that was over we went on training visits with the Elders in Riverside. I was with Elder Clarke for the day and we had a good day of contacting and filming videos.

Sunday we had in person church for YSA which was hype. After that we had a bunch of awesome lessons with some members and had a super awesome devotional with the mission that night.

Miracle of the week:

That devotional we had on Sunday really opened my eyes to being more spiritually minded and focused. I learned of new ways to add more power to my authority. 

Funny moment of the week:

We had donut burgers for lunch one day. Need I say more?

Love, 

Elder Bohn

Week 64: OSU, Baby!

Here's a quick run through of the week:

Monday was my last day in the blessed land of Y-Town. We ended up just having a big ole party, going thrift shopping, and getting some Wendys!

Tuesday was the day of transfers and it went by really fast. We got everyone in and out in record time! My new companion is Elder Wayas and he is one energetic dude! We had a couple lessons that night and called it a day!

Wednesday was just filled with lessons and contacting so it was pretty awesome. Nothing too crazy really happened so it's all good. I totally forgot it was my birthday. Apparently my birthday package took a tour around Ohio for a few extra days and arrived in Youngstown after I had already left. Mom felt really bad that I didn't have a package, so she found a local Missionary Mom who is in my area. She was kind enough to bring me some pastries and a frisbee. Missionary Moms are like the Mafia!

Thursday we went around and toured OSU and talked to a couple people so it was awesome. That night we did a whole bunch of contacting and set up a bunch of lessons. 

Friday was more or less the exact same as the day before. More lessons and even more contacting so it was fun.

Saturday we made a fun video for the zone to get them pumped up for missionary work and our zone focus. It was pretty fun! Other than that, more contacting. 

Sunday we had in person church so it was crazy! We talked with a lot of members and everyone was so happy to see each other. We had a couple meetings and more lessons at the end of the day to wrap things up.

Miracle of the week:

Definitely a fat miracle would be having an awesome companion who is super energetic and excited for the work!

Funny moment of the week:

We saw some crazy hobo dude yelling at people on the street corner. He seemed super friendly; it took a lot of convincing to not give him a restoration pamphlet. Oh well, maybe next time!

Love, 

Elder Bohn

Week 63: The End of Y-Town

 

Hey everybody! Sorry for not getting my weekly sent in for the past month. Things have been pretty chaotic for us with transfers and everything else. But to put things shortly, I am being transferred down to OSU with Elder Wayas and I am excited. 

Here's a quick run through of week because honestly, I can't remember much from 3 weeks ago:

This was a pretty average week honestly. We had a bunch of lessons and did a whole bunch of contacting. Nothing too crazy stood out but it's whatever though. Hope this is somewhat of a good description of the week!

Miracle of the week:

We managed to get into contact with some people that have been ignoring us so it was awesome seeing fruits of our labors.

Funny moment of the week:

We took pictures by some 8ft tall statues of corn. I thought I was in Nebraska for a minute. Nope, only in Ohio.

Love, 

Elder Bohn