May 30, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey everyone!

So unfortunately I don't have very much to report on this week. Not a lot happened lesson wise. I think we had a total of 3 lessons this week? Yeah, so not very much. But we did have success this week despite our low numbers! So the past week, the English elders gave us a referral for someone they talked to. They said he didn't hardly speak any English so they just sent us right over to talk to the guy. No big deal, we get these all the time. But man, this guy is sweet! I don't think they realize how big of a gold mine they just gave to us! When we visited him he was totally engaged in the lesson. The second time we went by, his friend participated as well. Then we invite them to church and they said they would come (but I had my doubts because a lot of people say they will come and never do). But right before church, I give him a call and he says he still wants to! So we scramble a ride for him and both of them came! Me and Elder Pickett were ecstatic because this is one of the first new investigators we've had come to church and keep their commitments! They've been reading and came to church! It is honestly one of the best feelings ever to see some investigators you have actually listen to you and do the things you ask them to do. I could tell that they really enjoyed church and I'm thinking we could really use this to grab their attention. Sacrament meeting was awesome, the classes were perfect, and it was just a great day at church!

Another thing that is starting to work really well is the members. Me and Elder Pickett are really starting to get a good relationship with them all because we've been doing a lot of member visits this past few weeks. We even got fed every meal on Saturday! That has happened very few times on my mission! It was awesome! Here's a pic from breakfast

May 23, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey everybody!

So I've had a pretty crazy week. Well, more like only a couple of days were super crazy and the rest were pretty calm. So to start off, I already told you guys about how Marina got baptized last Sunday, well yesterday she got confirmed so now everything is all complete and she is a full fledge member now!

Anyways, on Tuesday I had an exchange with my zone leaders. One of them just so happens to be one of the English missionaries that I came out with and that I really got to know. Exchanges are so fun! Granted, he came to my area so he was stuck with all Spanish and couldn't hardly understand a thing. Plus that left me on my own for the night, but that's ok! If I can't handle a lesson on my own by this point then I need to shape up fast. But overall that was a good night.

Then the rest of the week went super slow. Not much teaching went on for me BUT there was missionary work done! Saturday was probably one of the most memorable days I have had in my mission. Saturday was the day Gerardo got to go through the temple for the first time, and I had the chance to be with him for it. That was a crazy day. So Katie and Gerardo come to pick up me and Elder Thompson. Elder Pickett couldn't go because he had just been to the temple a month earlier. So they pick us up early in the morning and we head over to the Washington, D.C. Temple. When we get there, bishop and a few other members, including his escort, are there waiting for him. So they all go in but me, Elder Thompson, and bishop wait outside in the lobby for more people. Well, in walks Elder Hernandez and so he comes with me and Elder Thompson into the Temple. Have I mentioned how much I love the Washington, D.C. Temple? It's awesome!

So we get ready and are waiting to go in. We all meet back up and go in to do the session and there is Gerardo already waiting in there, so I take a seat next to him. It was a Spanish sessions so this was my first time doing it in complete Spanish, and it was awesome! I understood all of it! I was the last of our group to get to go into the celestial room but when I got in, everyone was waiting there when I walked up. Gerardo gave me a huge hug and it was awesome to see him in that moment. So we all sit there together just enjoying the spirit. And you'll never guess who I saw in the celestial room on that day. The Navy Football Head Coach, the same one from "Meet the Mormons". So we're all flipping out like oh my gosh it really him! So of course I gotta talk to him because he's practically a celebrity for all Mormons now. So I did! I got to talk to the Navy Football Head Coach! It was cut short a little because he was an escort and the guy he was escorting walked in a little after I started talking to him. But that's ok! So we finish our session and get changed and head out! Of course it's time for pictures next!

 

May 16, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey everybody!

So to start this one off I want share a picture with all of you

 

Gerardo's sister's baptism 

May 9, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey guys!

Wow I had quite the week! A LOT happened but first off I want to say happy Mother's Day since I didn't do that in my last email. I got to talk with my family again yesterday and that was something I sorely needed. I can't believe though how fast time went in between Christmas and Mother's Day! But I loved being able to talk to my family again. And the best part is this was my third time calling home. Now I just have one more left! That's super weird! Now I just have to wait until Christmas.

Ok. Now for the stuff that made this week such an eventful one. It was pretty crazy. So I do an exchange with Elder Thompson since that's my job as district leader, I need to go on exchanges with every elder in my district. Today happened to be his turn to come to me. We exchange and then me and Elder Thompson head over to go pick up a member that agreed to come out with us for the night. That member was Gerardo, pretty much my best friend in the mission.  So it's us three in the car having a good time and our lesson cancels so we go try some potentials. We get to one house that I've tried before and had a doorstep lesson with. Well, we get there and a different lady answers the door, so I do the door approach over again. It was going pretty good, she invited us in and we started having a good-ish lesson. She really liked going off on tangents and basically explaining everything she knows about the bible when I would ask a simple question. That set some alarms off in my head, saying be careful otherwise this will become bible bashing. Well, it did. Turns out this lady was Pentecostal and they LOVE to bash.  After sharing what we could with what little time she gave us to speak, it just all went down hill once we mentioned Joseph Smith. She said, "Oh, you're Mormons" and then she went off on us. She was saying everything from Joseph Smith is a false prophet and a liar (that really made me mad) to we were going to hell for believing such things (that infuriated me). And then mind you this is all in Spanish and poor Elder Thompson is sitting there only getting bits and pieces because he's been in the mission for two weeks! So I end up just standing up and saying we need to leave and we left. 

But the night gets better! That was probably the worst part of the week but we had an awesome experience after that. We went to go try another potential that I had planned for the night, but they weren't there. Well, in zone conference that same morning I learned that God puts us somewhere for a specific reason. It may not be what we expect it to be but we gotta find it! So I normally would have just left to go try another potential, but I felt as though we needed to go knock on the apartment door right above us. So I head to that door and I just tell them "I feel like we need to knock this door." And it was funny because Gerardo leans over to Elder Thompson and says, "Get ready to see revelation at work." And it did! We found this awesome family and we had a great Restoration lesson! Even better is that there wasn't a man home but we could still go in because Gerardo was with us. It worked out perfectly! So it was a great experience for Elder Thompson, and me for that matter, because we got to see both ends of the spectrum. The people that are so hard-hearted and set in their ways, then the people that God has prepared for us to meet. 

The is Gerardo the day he opened his call.

So remember how I was talking about Gerardo? After this whole night we take him back home and drop him off. No big deal. Well, we get a call from him about 3 minutes later and he tells us he just got his call in the mail. That's right, his mission call! He opened it 3 days ago and he is going to San Jose, California! I can visit him when I get back from my mission!  He leaves in a month so I'm really going to miss him, and his sisters are going to as well. Speaking of his sisters, one of them is my recent convert and the other one is going to be baptized this Sunday! So I'm super excited for that to happen. This is definitely a tender mercy from Heavenly Father because exactly one year ago is when I started teaching her and her sister. She just couldn't be baptized because she was under 18. But now she just had her birthday and can get baptized! Coincidence?? I think not!

Oh yeah, and one of the members took us all out to lunch.  Pretty Sweet!

So overall, it was an awesome week. And next week will be even better because there will be a baptism as well!

I love you guys and I love this work! It's been going great! Talk to you next week!

From

Elder Biehn 

May 2, 2016 - Look At This!

So look who came to visit the mission!

The one and only Elder Oaks..... I didn't get to meet him but the mission sent out a video to everyone

May 2, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hello hello!

So I honestly don't have a lot to talk about his week, nothing big really happened. It was kind of a boring week. Me and Elder Pickett did a lot of tracting this week with not too much success. We got one maybe return appointment, but the rest not interested. So I'm going to have to find a more effective way of finding with this area.

I did get to go to a cool meeting specifically for District Leaders this week. It was awesome because it was basically the exact training that I needed in order to be an effective district leader and actually know what I'm doing. For example, I had my first district meeting this past Wednesday and it was a little rocky. But I'm starting to get used to it now! It feels awesome to be a leader and be able to prepare lesson specifically for my district since I'm the one that has stewardship over them. I also have a much better opportunity to get to know the members of my district and help teach them, especially the two greenies in my district. Oh! At this district leader meeting, all the district leaders in the mission were there so we took a picture!