Week 97- Dec 16

     Everything is going great down here. Transfers are tomorrow and Elder Thompson is getting transferred. We will see tomorrow night who my new companion is going to be. It is going to be really interesting to see what pans out. Tomorrow is also going to be our large mission Christmas party/devotional. It is going to be pretty cool to see everyone for the past areas. I can't believe that Christmas is so close. Time is just flying by way to fast! 

     This past week was an incredibly busy week. We had zone training meeting, a stake community event that took up a lot of time, and running around getting everything ready for transfers. 

     Zone Training meeting went really well. We only had a couple of hours to get it all put together but it turned out great. We trained on the pilot program that our mission is doing with family history. It is going to be really cool to see how everything works out. The missionaries are really excited to be doing this and they are all already seeing miracles. It is so incredible to see how the Lord knows what is going to be best. It was definitely inspired to be doing this in our mission. There are so many people who are willing to learn about their family history and to talk about it. Last night the stake presidency trained all the ward councils on the same thing we trained on. It is going to be really cool to see how as the members and missionaries work together in unity what great things will happen. The stake presidency is so excited for this and for missionary work alone. The work only goes forward when the leaders are involved and focused and that is what is happening here. 

     The stake community event is a huge deal here in Temecula. They have Choirs come from all sorts of different schools and groups to perform, they have hundreds of nativities set up, and the have a live nativity (minus the animals). It is quite the event. They transform the whole church and make it look like the middle east back in the time of Christ and they use a lot of Christmas decorations. It is a lot of work. This is the first year in a long time that they have had the missionaries involved, and boy were we involved. We helped with everything except for the take down. We were at the church all day Thursday, all day Friday and half day on Saturday. We helped set up and we also ushered during the actual event. That was really cool. Elder Thompson and I were basically the assistants to the person who was in charge of it all. We were always running around making sure things were getting done and also making sure that all the missionaries were doing okay. The missionaries definitely built trust with the stake leadership and with the members. It was a lot of fun to be able to do a good amount of manual labor.  

     The teaching has been pretty slow the past little while, but we have been doing our best to find more people to teach. We really don't have anyone so we are in full time search mode. Hopefully the pilot program helps with that. We will have to just wait and see. 

     How is everything going back home? How is the weather? I hope everything is well.

Love You!!! 

Love, Elder RINDLISBACHER 

Oh yeah, Christmas is next week. I am not sure exactly what time I will be calling but we are going to get that all set up this week and I will let you know all the details next week.

Week 102- January 27 LAST POST!!!!!

Well, it has been a fun 2 years. I can't believe that it is already over, the time has just flown by. I have learned so much it has been incredible. I had my exit interview with President Kendrick yesterday, It was really good to sit down with him and talk about life and such. I got a lot of great advice on things for after the mission. I am excited to see you all on Wednesday!!!  I Love You!! 

Love, THE Elder RINDLISBACHER

Week 101- January 20, 2014

 Everything is going great! Time is just flying right past. All the investigators are doing pretty well. I don't know if I told you, but one of our investigators is getting baptized on February 8. She is super solid it has been really cool teaching her. She has gained a strong testimony and is very willing to do everything. She is basically a member but it will be official on the 8th. We have a couple other investigators that are doing pretty well but they aren't progressing nearly as quickly as the one getting baptized on the 8th. They have a lot of concerns and questions that we have been helping them answer and resolve. The more I study to help these people I find things that are just blatantly obvious and that makes so much sense and it makes me wonder why the people that we are teaching don't want to be baptized, but I have come to know how it is not scriptures or proof that help people, but it is the spirit. 

     The Mission Leadership Council was really good. We had 2 former mission presidents who now work at the MTC as trainers there with us and they gave us some great training. President Kendrick trained us on the mission culture and how we need to improve it. (It is really cool that he is talking about this because there has been a large change in the culture over the past 6 ish months). We counseled together about things that have been lost and that need to be brought back. There is going to hopefully be a large turn around and hopefully it helps the missionaries progress. I know for me as I have continued to do all the things that we talked about it has helped me. The 2 trainers from the MTC talked about things that we as missionaries need to do better on. The first was being purpose drive and the second was using the church buildings, We were trained on a really cool way to give tours of the church buildings to help the people that we are already teaching to feel comfortable coming to church. At the end of the council I was thinking about the meeting and everything that I learned and how much I could have used this if I learned it earlier. All of the things learned if applied is going to help the work go forward a lot better, 

     

     Stake conference was Awesome. The whole weekend was about the Hastening of the Work. The priesthood leadership meeting was all about ward councils and home teaching and how important it is to be doing both of these and doing them effectively. After the leadership meeting we had dinner with the Stake Presidency and their wives, President and Sister Kendrick and all the ward mission leaders and their wives. It was really cool to be with all of them. The Saturday evening session was the best meeting of the weekend. They talked about member missionary work, the importance of doing it and ways to do it. The Spirit in the meeting was very strong. One of my favorite quotes from the meeting is, "you'd have to have a heart of stone to not feel the spirit here."  Hopefully everyone got something from the meeting and they are going to take it and act, This year the Temecula stake is going to be seeing a lot of miracles. 

    That is awesome that you went to Schifty's homecoming. That's to bad to hear that there wasn't really anyone there. That is great to hear that They are all going to the temple. I will probably be writing next week. Thanks for everything. 

Love You! 

Love, Elder RINDLISBACHER 

Week 100- January 13, 2014

Everything is going great! The work is going forward and we are seeing a lot of miracles. We have been working really had to find people to teach and to help the people that we are teaching. It has been really cool to see how many return appointments we have been setting but the problem is, is that when we go to the appointment the people are never there. But we have been continuing to follow up to see if they are there other times. I know there are a lot of people prepared to hear about the gospel, we just have to be the one to find them. 

      This past week we were able to go on exchanges with the assistants. I was down in Vista in their area. It is always a lot of fun to be with assistants to learn from them and to see how they work. It was funny because the whole time we were trying not to talk about how I go home so soon, but when we went to the office and saw president he brought it up. It is definitely a weird feeling thinking about it, but it is just part of life. Change is always good. We met a man who was a do not contact on the ward list and we were able to talk with him for about an hour. He said that he hadn't had personal contact with the church in a while. We were able to build a good relationship with him that showed him that we were there to help him and that people cared for him. They probably wont be going back over there for a while but we were able to soften his heart a little bit. 

     Saturday we did some service for an elderly couple in the ward. We cleaned out their rain gutters and cleaned the leaves off their roof. It was pretty cool. It is cool to see how by doing service you build trust. This couple is helping us with a man that wants to be baptized but his wife wont let him. They have been inviting them to activities and things like that to build a friendship with them. Like President Monson said, It is the time for missionaries and members to come together. And that is what we are seeing with this family. The work goes forward at a more rapid pace when the members are the ones that invite. When members do the inviting the people are a lot more willing. Yesterday a member family invited a family to church and we hopefully will start teaching them here pretty soon. The works is definitely going forward. 

     This upcoming weekend we are having stake conference here. It is going to be really exciting, because it is all about missionary work. The stake presidency here is super missionary minded. They are excited to help with the work, and want to get everyone else excited. The Sunday morning session is actually going to be a broadcast from the good ol Salt Lake City. It is going to be a great weekend. On this up coming Thursday we have a mission leadership council with some trainers from Salt lake. I am excited to see what they are going to be training us on. It is going to be a great meeting. 

     That is great to hear that Wyatt went to the Temple. It is about time! That is also great to hear that they set a Date. It is really weird to think that he is really getting married. That is great to hear that Austin got his patriarchal blessing. They are definitely a road map to life and they help a ton. In what ways are he and I a like? That is awesome to hear that you are going to Schiftys homecoming. You are going to let me know how it goes. 

    Thanks for Everything! I Love You!! 

Love, Elder RINDLISBACHER 

Week 99- January 6 2014

     I can't believe that it is already 2014. I remember when I opened up my mission call and it said that I would be serving until 2014. I thought that it was so far away and that it would take forever to get to it, but here we are January 6, 2014. The time has just flown by. But it has been a great 2 years. It is incredible to look back on the past and think about all the miracles that happened and to see how much I have grown. It truly has been incredible. It is such a weird feeling to think about all the things I have been able to accomplish and hopefully all the lives that I was able to touch. I was reading my patriarchal blessing this morning and I was thinking about how great it is to see the blessings from the Lord actually playing out in front of me. 3 more weeks left and I am going to push it to the end just like in a cross country race. 

     Everything is going pretty great. We are staying very busy actually doing a lot of teaching. We picked up a few new investigators this past week which was pretty awesome. We have seen a lot of miracles lately which is really cool. We have been setting up a ton of return appointments with people that we talk with on the street. It has been really weird because I have never had so many people say that we could come by and actually give us their information. It has been really good. Working with my companion is going okay it is definitely a struggle that I have to put a lot of effort into but I don't have very much longer to deal with it but I am going to try my best to make the last 3 weeks the best. 

     This past we had our Zone training meeting. It was really weird working with someone new because Elder Thompson and I worked together on 3 of them and they were my 3 best because how well we worked together. It is interesting to see how everyone has different leadership styles.  This past weeks wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best. We trained on planning and being confident in our invitations. We also introduced our baptismal goal for the first quarter of the year. We have a goal to help 85 people enter the waters of baptism. It was pretty cool because when we introduced it we wrote 85 on the glass in the Baptismal font and had white lights around it to make it shine. It was pretty cool because it was a different way to get everyone excited but the spirit was still there. I am excited to see what happens over the next 3 months, because I know its going to be good. 

     Sounds like everything is going great back home. It sounds like you had a good New Years, doing the typical party at our house. Good times. I can't believe that Christian is already 24 what an old man. Your new calling sounds pretty cool. Does that mean that you get to go camping with them? Man that is so awesome that you saw Schifty. That is good to hear that he didn't change to much. It is so weird to think that everyone is getting home. So random question, not to be truncky but do you by chance know when I am speaking in sacrament meeting? There are a few people that want to know so they can come.    

   Thank you for everything! I Love You!! 

Love, Elder RINDLISBACHER

Week 98- December 30

 It was so great to get to see and talk with you on Christmas. I can't believe I am already emailing again. the time is just flying by. But that is okay it is all part of the plan. Christmas was really good. It really is such a great holiday, especially as a missionary. It was great to be with the members and feel the Christmas spirit with them. We got a few gifts from people here in the ward which was pretty cool, but that doesn't matter at all. Thanks again for the package that you sent! 

     This week has been a great week. We have seen a ton of miracles. We have set up a ton of return appointments for this upcoming week to pick up new investigators. It has been really cool to see how receptive everyone is. Tomorrow we actually get to implement the pilot program and see how it works. We have a lesson with a potential investigator that we are going to be taking a family history consultant to to help them with their family history and hopefully start teaching about the Gospel. I am really excited to see how it goes, I will let you know next week. Friday, we had mission leadership council. It was really good, we talked about our baptism goal for next year and also a lot of house keeping items. We also were trained on being bold and confident when inviting someone to be baptized. Now that we have been trained we get to turn around and train all the missionaries in our zone on it on Thursday. That is always a lot of fun, I really enjoy giving training's. Hopefully  it goes well. This past week we have also had a young man from Murrieta spending time with us. He is on his mini mission for 6 days to see what its like. It has been a lot of fun having him around. He was only baptized 2 years ago so it has been really cool to hear his conversion and his testimony. Every night after we come in from a day of work he lays down and he crashes, it is hilarious to see how tired he is from everything that we do. It has been interesting trying to get used to a new companion. this is really going to be an interesting last transfer. I hope it goes well. 

     That is so awesome that you went to Nate's homecoming, I can't believe that he is already home. He and Brit are still getting married right? That is awesome that you don't go back to work for another week. Do you have any plans of exciting things that you are going to do? Thanks for everything mom! I Love You!! 

Love, Elder RINDLISBACHER

Week 96- December 9

Everything is going great, there are a lot of good things happening here. It is actually getting a little chilly here which I never thought would happen. We went out to our car this morning to find frost on the windows. I haven't seen frost in 2 years. It is really nice to have a change of weather I am really enjoying it.

          The meeting last week with Elder Richards was Awesome. He trained us on what the pilot program actually is. It is going to be really cool. We are going to be using family history a lot more in finding and in lessons with investigators. It is going to be really neat to see how it all works out. It is definitely inspired that our mission was chosen for this pilot. Yesterday we were walking to our car from a members home and there were 2 ladies across the street talking so we went over to invite them to this huge stake community Christmas event and then we asked if there was anything we could do for them. They then asked us if we knew where a family history center was. We told them where there was one and we are going to have the members that live next to them invite them and we are going to try what we were just trained on. It is going to be really interesting to see how this works. Elder Richards said " it all weighs on the shoulders of the leaders" so we have a big responsibility to make sure this works. We are going to be training all the missionaries on it tomorrow in our zone training meeting. It is going to be where the rubber hits the road. Hopefully it all works out. 

          This weekend the stake here is having this huge Christmas event that is a big deal. There are choirs from all over the community that will be singing, they have a live nativity, hundreds of little nativities and a live nativity. It is going to be super cool. In years past the missionaries haven't been invited, but we have been invited to be the ushers so that is going to be really cool. I am excited to see how it all turns out. Were you able to watch the Christmas devotional yesterday? It was super good, I really liked Elder Nelsons talk. If you didn't see it you should go watch it. 

          Saturday night we went to the Ward Adult Christmas party. It was a progressive dinner. It was super interesting being with all the adults, I felt so out of place but it was a great time to build relationships with them. I had never been to one of those before so it was definitely a new experience. 

          The teaching right now is pretty slow but we have a couple people that we are teaching that are ready to be baptized. One investigator we have has a boyfriend on a mission and he is actually the one that has been teaching her. Weird right? He is teaching over skype. It is really interesting to see how much missionary wok has changed since I first came out. She has a baptismal date for February so we are working with her to try to move it up, because she is ready, so we will see what happens. 

         It is crazy how much is going on here, we have been so busy it is crazy. Everyone here is seeing miracles everyday which has been awesome! The work is definitely going forward! Transfers are next Tuesday so we will find out this Saturday night what happens. I am pretty sure I will be staying because I don't have very much time, but we will see what happens. I will let you know next week. 

        Sounds like everything is going great back Home. There is nothing specific that I would like, what ever you send is great. You really don't even have to send me anything, just send the package to the other missionary. How is the weather there? has there been very much snow? Anything new and exciting? 

Thanks for everything mom! I Love You!!

Love, Elder RINDLISBACHER