February 1, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

So good news... We finally got our car back! Yay! No more being stuck inside or walking. We got it back about midway through this week. It had been taken away because our mission president felt it was too dangerous to be driving on the roads in this condition, which he wasn't wrong. There was ice everywhere and the snow banks were so high you couldn't see cars coming from around the corner. So he waited until Wednesday to give us our cars back. Which by the way, the best way to make sure Spanish missionaries can't do a thing is take away their car. Seriously! When me and Elder Justesen didn't have it, we couldn't do anything because 1. All of our investigators live at least an hour away walking, and 2. The roads were too bad that we couldn't even walk on them. So that basically shut us down until we got our car back.

THEN, we get our car back and get back to work. On Thursday, we had an awesome lesson with our family of investigators. Their name is the Quispes, I think I've already told you guys about them. Anyways, we had a great lesson with them. I was able to introduce Elder Justesen and get them aquatinted and also do the whole chit chat thing to get to know someone and also small talk at the beginning, the usual. Then we get to the lesson. So before Elder Castillo had left, we left them 3 Nefi 11 to read, however I had forgotten that we left that. My plan was to talk to them about church attendance and hopefully get onto the topic of baptism. Well, after Hno Quispe tells us he didn't read and that he wants us to read together, and I'm like "alright!" Cause if you don't know, practically the entire chapter talks about baptism. Baptism was the first principle that Jesus Christ taught when he came to the Americas. So I made sure to stress this point and I wanted them to feel that it was correct. So the way to do that is through prayer, however, I didn't know if they were going to pray about it or not, so I invited them to pray right there and then. We kneel down to pray and ask Hno Quispe to offer it. Afterwards, they didn't know what they were feeling. They compared it to the feeling of peace they had from when me and Elder Castillo gave them blessings. I seriously wanted to stand up and shout THATS THE HOLY GHOST TELLING YOU ITS TRUE!! But I didn't, I did it in a more subtle way. Either way, they felt the spirit and they enjoyed it. So now they are super close to baptism and there are just a few more things we really need to uncover in order to get them in the water. Thankfully I'm here for one more transfer and I want them to be baptized before I leave. They even went as far as to ask us if we could come by twice a week. Umm of course! They really want to learn more about the gospel and I love their enthusiasm. Why can't everybody want to know the truth like these guys?!

So that's been the highlight of my week!

Elder Biehn

January 26, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey Everybody!

So first things first, I'm alright and there have been no problems because of the storm. In case you haven't heard, there was a huge snow storm that hit the east coast the past few days, I just so happen to be right in the middle of it. My first experience ever with snow and ITS A FREAKING BLIZZARD! Don't get me wrong, I loved being able to see snow and play in it a bit but snow is terrible for missionary work. Friday was when it really hit hard and all mission vehicles were grounded at 12:00 and we weren't even allowed to leave after 5. Luckily they gave us time the day before to prepare for the storm by going to the stores to purchase supplies and food.

Speaking of which, we just had transfers this past Thursday. And I will be staying yet another transfer in Little River! That means by the end of this transfer, I will have been in this ward for 6 months! That is a crazy amount of time mission wise. That's half my mission so far, and a quarter of my total mission. Elder Castillo got transferred though, so now I have a new companion again. His name is Elder Justesen. He is from Washington, the state. So our little thing we have is "West coast, best coast!"

As for the blizzard, we were stuck inside for three days. We were SO bored! At least I had a chance to get to know Elder Justesen a bit more. Anyways, on Saturday after being inside for about an entire day, we were kind of fed up with it, so the other elders were going to help someone shovel snow. We jumped on the opportunity because they invited us to come help. Well, the storm was still going strong but you know us missionaries, we always gotta be working! Here we are after we got to her home...

January 25, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update Postponed

So once again I will be changing my P-Day to Tuesday. This is on account of the snow. We aren't allowed to drive so we can't go anywhere. So P-Day will be tomorrow because then we can drive.

January 19, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Ok so I don't have a lot of time today to write, for the same reason that I had to move my P-Day to today. And that is because I had the opportunity to go to the Washington DC Temple today! It was awesome to be able to go because one of the ward missionaries that we do a lot of work with wanted to go with us. So, this being the last week before transfers, we decided to go today.

Speaking of transfers... Transfers are this week, and I still have no idea if I am staying or leaving. However, I will be finding out tonight exactly what is going to happen. So I'll let you know next week if I stayed or left. I'm super anxious for this one because I honestly don't want to leave Little River. The members are great and there is still a ton of work I have to do.

So we also had a Charla Fogonera (fireside) this past Sunday for all new and returning members. And of course I got to see some old missionary companions and my favorite family that I taught in Bella Vista!

Sorry this one is kinda short, I'm short on time right now because we just got back from the temple. BUT I had a great experience of really feeling the spirit and understanding the savior on a more personal level. That is something I will always hold dear to me.

Ok that's it for today, love yah!
Elder Biehn

January 18, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update Postponed

Hey so I will be writing tomorrow. I'll let you know why then!

January 11, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Well, I gotta say that not much has really happened this week. The work is still going forward and me and Elder Castillo are still here in Little River. However, things are progressing pretty smoothly with the members right now. They are starting to have more interest in the missionaries and actually getting to know us. It's funny because every single missionary in this ward has been here for at least 3 months now and the members are just barely starting to remember our names. I've personally been here for 4 1/2 months now and I've gotten a pretty good relationship with most of the members in the ward.

Now, the transfer is starting to come to an end and it will be transfers once again next week. So since I have been here for 4 ½ months, that is usually about the time that things get changed around and a missionary gets transferred out. So I'm thinking I'm going to be leaving, however my mission president told me something very interesting. He said that his plan is to try to keep senior companions in an area for longer so that way they have a chance to really get to know the ward. So, whether or not that is going to happen to me, I have no idea. But now I'm really unsure if I'm going to be staying or leaving. All I know is that there is going to be a big change to my district next week. Let's just say I'm anxious to hear what's going to be happening.

Love you guys and talk to you next week!

Elder Biehn

January 4, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

First I want to wish everybody a happy new year and I hope that 2016 will be an even better year! The past week was really up and down for me. As in some days our schedule was completely packed and other days we had absolutely nothing to do. For example, Tuesday we had a scheduled trip to go to the temple with some members. There's a funny story to that, but I'll talk about it later. Wednesday we had absolutely nothing to do. All of our investigators that we normally visit had gone out of town for the holidays, even the members we couldn't get in contact with. Then Thursday comes, New Year's Eve, and we aren't allowed to be out past 6. There's another really good story to that... Friday, was the same, nobody home at all. Tried to call investigators, no one answered. Knocked doors, no one answered. And it follows this pattern for the rest of the week. Now that the holidays have ended, hopefully things begin to calm back down and people will actually be in their homes.

Now, as for those stories. The one the happened on Tuesday was pretty funny. So me and Elder Castillo are running some errands and we had to stop by the mission office to drop off a few things and pick some other stuff up, no big deal. Well, while we are there, Sister Anderson (the senior sister in charge of the front desk) gets a call from one of the missionaries. Turns out it is the Spanish Elders from Old Town, the area just east of mine. They had called asking for the office elders or the APs, but neither of them were there, however I was! So she hands the phone to me. Apparently, these guys had locked their keys in their car and were now stuck and needed help. Since me and Elder Castillo were there, we got volunteered. At this time, it's about 4 in the afternoon and it would take about 45 minutes to get to where these elders are at in Old Town. We were supposed to meet up with the members to go to the temple at around 5ish. So I'm thinking, ok we can squeeze this in. So off we go with the spare keys. It takes longer than 45 minutes because of traffic and we get to their car but we couldn't find them. They had left their car and weren't answering their phone. I decide to just unlock their car for them and hide their keys somewhere they could find them (They had locked it inside of their trunk, I left them behind their GPS). So we leave because it's 5 and we are already late. Then they call us, asking where we were at. I wanted to mess with them, so I told them we couldn't wait around all day and we had to leave. He nearly flips out, like, "What are you talking about? You can't leave! We are going to get towed! Where did you go?!" And on and on like that. Finally, after laughing a little bit and making him sweat, I told him his car was unlocked and his keys were behind their GPS. He was a little mad, and told me I nearly gave him a heart attack, but it was alright. Now we had to get to the members house and it was 5 o'clock. I was certain it was going to take hours because of traffic and it is at least a 45 min drive, but a miracle happened. There was absolutely no traffic at all, in the middle of rush hour, and we were able to get there in 20 minutes. I don't know how but I guarantee you I wasn't speeding. The Tiwi in our car makes sure of that. So we were able to get to the members house and go to the temple to see the lights.

So now onto New Year's Eve. Our rule is that we aren't allowed to be out past 6 on New Year’s because of all the parties, and drunk people, and it's just overall dangerous. So we have a zone party in one of the church buildings nearby. All the missionaries within my zone are there and we are playing volleyball, eating pizza, and we even got permission to watch a movie. Guess what movie we watched. THE BEST 2 YEARS! I was so excited to be able to watch that again and it is so much funnier now that I'm on a mission! I can relate to a lot of things! I loved being able to watch this movie with the missionaries in the zone. Then, since we had to be home by 10:30, we did our own little New Year’s countdown and had some sparkling cider. It was funny because at the end of the countdown, the elders with the cider shook up the bottle and starting spraying everywhere, just like a New Year’s party!

So the holidays were fun, but now it's time to get back to work and focusing and the gospel. Everybody is back from vacations so now we can start working with them once again.

That's all for this week!

From,
Elder Biehn