July 26, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey guys!

So first week is done with my new greenie elder Walker! He's getting a bit more accustomed to missionary life now. Lots of finding and really just trying to keep the area going. We've got a couple of awesome people we are working with right now which is great when we can see them. But that's the problem is that we only have a couple of people right now that we visit on a regular basis. So that means finding! And you know what the best part is???


IT’S 103 DEGREES!! And with Virginia humidity it feels like 107!! Is that just great for finding??..... It's so hot.... Last summer wasn't nearly this bad. Glad I don't have to go through ANOTHER one after this. Speaking of which, today is my 17 Month Mark! Not that I'm trunky or anything, it's just that's a really long time! And I'm going through a lot of my "last" things. Like I can't believe July is already almost over and it is about to be August. Then come Christmas and winter! Wow it feels like the blizzard we had was just last week, but nope that was in January.

So not much other than that. It was a pretty boring week filled a lot with finding and not much going on. Sorry that I can't write more but there isn't anything too interesting about a sweaty Elder Biehn walking around in the hot sun all day. I've had to start carrying around a little handkerchief to wipe my sweat. Not fun...

Love you guys and I'll talk to you next week!

Elder Biehn

July 18, 2016 Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey everybody!

So I forgot to mention in my last email that we had transfers coming up this past Thursday. So I've got good news and bad news. Bad news is Elder Coburn got transferred out and now I'm out of Arlington. Good news however is that I'm back in Falls Church and IM TRAINING! That's right I got my very own greenie to take care of. Well, actually, it's more like he's taking care of me! His name is Elder Walker and he is from Sandy, Utah. Another one from the factory as all the members out here in Virginia say. He already knows so much that there is hardly anything I really have to train him on. Just how to adjust to mission life in the field (because as we all know that the MTC is WAY different than the real world) and helping him to improve the way that he teaches. Other than that he's got basically all the doctrine memorized and he's good to go.

So here's a district photo we took on our last district meeting of the transfer. This was before everyone got switched around but after Elder Cottle went home, so he isn't in it  but he already had his surgery and is doing great! Just waiting on the recovery time so he can make back out to the mission field by next transfer.

From Left to Right: Hermana Bliss, Hermana Harley, Elder Thompson, Elder Coburn, and Me.

So what happened with transfers is Hermana Bliss and Elder Coburn got transferred out. Elder Thompson got his second companion and me and Hermana Harley are both training right now. (Don't worry pictures will come)

So my second day with Elder Walker was kinda a weird one for him but not really for me. The daughter of my not so recent recent convert just turn 15, and you know what that means in Hispanic culture. ¡QUINCEAÑERA! 

So that's what Elder Walker looks like. It was pretty cool! Lots of people were there and there was some great food. Not to mention it was a great chance for Elder Walker to start to meet people within the Ward.

I would say it's been a pretty eventful week. Lots of stuff happened but things are going good right now. Me and all the other Elders will be going into DC today and so more pictures to come. But isn't that an awesome first P-Day for Elder Walker?? Being able to go to DC!

Love you guys so much!  You'll hear from me next week.

Elder Biehn

July 11, 2016 Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey Everyone!

This has been a pretty good week in my opinion. It had its ups and downs, like entire day's falling through or people falling off date, but that's mission life. You gotta take the bad with the good, and I definitely think there was a lot more good that happened this week.

So to start off, we had Spanish Forum this week! All the Spanish missionaries got together to have our own Spanish specific meeting. Something cool that happened recently is that we just got a new addition to our mission. The Woodbridge area is now part of the Washington DC South Mission which gives us another Ward and 6 new missionaries. The only downside to this is that their area has bikes, so Spanish speakers aren't guaranteed a car anymore.  So hopefully I don't get transferred there any time soon. Speaking of transfers, that will be happening this Thursday. I'm 99% sure I'll be staying in Falls Church and I'll finally get a new companion to replace Elder Cottle. It's been fun with Elder Coburn and Elder Thompson but it's just so hard to take care of my area and their area at the same time. So I'll enjoy being able to split up again and be more focused.

Ok so about the day that everything literally fell through. It's pretty funny looking back on it just because of how it all crumbled down in a matter of minutes. Literally not even 10 minutes and our whole day was shot. So we were going to start off by doing a split, Me and Elder Coburn would go to a lesson in Falls Church and Elder Thompson would take a youth with him to be his companion. Well, the youth ended up having to cancel because of an issue that came up where he needed to help his mom. This is where it starts to take a nose dive. So we are scrambling trying to reorganize our lessons and we are realizing it just isn't possible because we have to drive 10 miles in 2 minutes 3 times if we want to make our lessons. It was a hard decision trying to figure out what to cancel because it was for both our areas, but eventually we decided on staying in Falls Church to do a Noche de Hogar with a member and her friends. Well, she had to postpone the lesson because she got home from work late, causing us to cancel our lesson for 8 as well. Then we come to find out her son isn't home and we can't even go inside in the first place! It was pretty ridiculous how it all went down but good news is that we were at least able to reschedule all the appointments for later days. So no big deal, just a funny story.

So the best part of the week was in fact yesterday, Sunday. I had to give a lesson during second hour all by myself because the Hermanas were busy with investigators, the ward mission leader is in Utah, and the elders were filling up the font. Yep, Baptism! But it wasn't our baptism, it was one of the kids that the hermanas were teaching. And they asked me to baptize her! It was great because I haven't been able to baptize someone ever since my first baptism with Lesly over a year ago. So I was pretty happy to be able to put on full white again. Sorry I don't have any pictures right now, the hermanas still need to send me them.

Then after the baptism we rush to have dinner with a member then we are off again to a Charla Fogonera (fireside). But this isn't any ordinary fireside, no this is the first ever Spanish Regional Fireside of Northern Virginia (aka Washington DC South Mission). It was a member specific fireside where every ward in the Washington DC South Mission was invited. It was huge! The whole chapel was packed! And the best part was I got to see all my favorite people from Little River. I couldn't believe how happy some of them were to see me! I snuck up behind one person that I worked with a lot when I was there and she started jumping because she couldn't believe I was back.  That's basically how it was like when I talked to all of my favorite people. I didn't realize how much of an impact I could have on someone's life.

Definitely a good week. The good definitely outweighs the bad in this case so I enjoyed it. So yeah I’m still going strong and I'm looking forward to this Thursday because then I get my new companion and it's back to work in Falls Church!

Love you guys and thanks for all the support!

Elder Biehn

July 4, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey guys,

This has been one hectic week to say the least. But first things first I have to let you know that Elder Cottle ended up going home during this past week. He has been really sick lately and hasn't been able to do anything. So it's not bad to be sick, it's just that he ha sheen sick like this before and very recently. I took him to the doctor and they diagnosed him with tonsillitis. So in other words he has to get his tonsils removed. We thought this would just be a quick surgery with maybe a week recovery time and boom we're back to work. Well we were wrong. Apparently it's one week of bed rest and then 2 weeks after that of not being able to eat or say hardly anything and then just being in constant pain. So after hearing this, he decided it would be best to go home ASAP. The doctor’s appointment was Tuesday, Wednesday was spent packing, and Thursday president came to pick him up at 5 in the morning. I admit I was pretty sad to see him leave because we had been getting along so well and getting work done in our area, but God has other plans for him right now. For example, now he will be able to see his brother’s wedding! He can also get fixed up so that way he isn't sick all the time. Then he'll come back in August better than ever and ready to work! So I'm looking forward to that, but until then... I'm with Elder Coburn and Elder Thompson in Arlington. Yep, I'm back in my very first area and in my very first apartment. Which I am so thankful for, the other one is trash compared to this haha. But the only difference is I have to sleep on the couch since we don't have enough beds. Woohoo Trio Life!  that's the mission for you. Do what you can to make sure you can work. So I'm only going to be in a trio for two more weeks, until transfers. Then I'll get a new companion and it's back to the Falls Church apartments. So until then, trio-ing it up in Arlington! It really helps so that I can see my recent converts more frequently  Let's see, anything else?

We played soccer today as a Spanish program. Best part is that it was in the rain too!

What else....

We all got sunburnt from a zone service project we did. Spent the whole morning outside on probably one of the hottest days. And guess who forgot to pack sunscreen... This guy!

Soccer as a Spanish Program

Then I guess the last thing is that one of the hermanas that served in the Bella vista Ward about a year ago passed away in a car accident. A lot of our members here are really upset about it because she did a lot for this Ward. So I would ask if you could just keep this hermana's family and all her friends here in Bella vista in your prayers. Thanks guys

Love you all and I hope you have a great 4th of July!

Elder Biehn

Service Project

Sun burnt after a hard day of service.

July 4, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey guys,

This has been one hectic week to say the least. But first things first I have to let you know that Elder Cottle ended up going home during this past week. He has been really sick lately and hasn't been able to do anything. So it's not bad to be sick, it's just that he ha sheen sick like this before and very recently. I took him to the doctor and they diagnosed him with tonsillitis. So in other words he has to get his tonsils removed. We thought this would just be a quick surgery with maybe a week recovery time and boom we're back to work. Well we were wrong. Apparently it's one week of bed rest and then 2 weeks after that of not being able to eat or say hardly anything and then just being in constant pain. So after hearing this, he decided it would be best to go home ASAP. The doctor’s appointment was Tuesday, Wednesday was spent packing, and Thursday president came to pick him up at 5 in the morning. I admit I was pretty sad to see him leave because we had been getting along so well and getting work done in our area, but God has other plans for him right now. For example, now he will be able to see his brother’s wedding! He can also get fixed up so that way he isn't sick all the time. Then he'll come back in August better than ever and ready to work! So I'm looking forward to that, but until then... I'm with Elder Coburn and Elder Thompson in Arlington. Yep, I'm back in my very first area and in my very first apartment. Which I am so thankful for, the other one is trash compared to this haha. But the only difference is I have to sleep on the couch since we don't have enough beds. Woohoo Trio Life!  that's the mission for you. Do what you can to make sure you can work. So I'm only going to be in a trio for two more weeks, until transfers. Then I'll get a new companion and it's back to the falls church apartments. So until then, trio-ing it up in Arlington! It really helps so that I can see my recent converts more frequently  Let's see, anything else?

We played soccer today as a Spanish program. Best part is that it was in the rain too!

What else....

We all got sunburnt from a zone service project we did. Spent the whole morning outside on probably one of the hottest days. And guess who forgot to pack sunscreen... This guy!

Soccer as a Spanish Program

Then I guess the last thing is that one of the hermanas that served in the Bella vista Ward about a year ago passed away in a car accident. A lot of our members here are really upset about it because she did a lot for this Ward. So I would ask if you could just keep this hermana's family and all her friends here in Bella vista in your prayers. Thanks guys

Love you all and I hope you have a great 4th of July!

Elder Biehn

Service Project

Sun burnt after a hard day of service.

June 27, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey everybody!

Things are definitely going good. We've been doing a lot of finding and we found a couple of new investigators this past week. We've been doing so much finding because our mission set this whole past week as a finding fest week, and we set a goal as a mission to find 300 new investigators. Quite a drastic goal! That would require each companionship in the mission to find 3 new investigators, and me and Elder Cottle did it! In one night too! Just because we had a mini miracle happen. The the story starts, we were in the Aguilar’s home for a Noche de Hogar (Family Home Evening) and things were going good with them. We had our investigator there and the Aguilar family had wanted us to teach on the Plan of Salvation. So after we eat and everything we start the lesson. We don't even get 5 minutes in before a work friend of the Aguilar's walks in just to stop by. And so we start talking to her and her two daughters that she brought with her. It basically turned into a lesson on Jesus Christ and his atonement, which technically is still part of the Plan of Salvation. Now I bet you're wondering where the miracle is. Well, Rene, our investigator that lives in the same house as the Aguilar’s, mentions to us that they never come inside to talk, they normally just stay at the door. What a coincidence that they just so happen to decide to actually come in and stay for a bit while we are there. I would dare say that's not a coincidence at all! And we've got them to commit to coming to our English classes on Thursday that way we can keep in touch with them. So in one night we got 3 new investigators from one visit.

Later in the week, we're trying to do more finding but not having much success. Then, Elder Cottle gets sick... Right in the middle of our week long finding fest, so he is stuck indoors for a couple of days to recover. Luckily we have an awesome zone and lots of missionaries willing to help out. So I hire a babysitter for Elder Cottle for a couple of hours so I can go out and work. I went with an English elder for most of the time because we are neighbors and it was just convenient. But we ended up doing a ton of finding and found a lot of people. Not necessarily new investigators but still a good conversation. This missionary I was with is still fairly new but not a whole lot. He's been out for 9 months. But the cool thing was I got to show him a couple of pointers and tips for how to talk to people and getting in a good conversation. It was really cool and not only did I learn a lot about contacting people, be he learned a lot as well! Then I did exchanges with Elder Thompson so I could go help him do some finding in his area and it rocked! We were stuck driving for the longest time because we couldn't find parking anywhere! Typical Arlington. But we were able to find a good parking spot and there was even a non-lockout building there as well! Arlington is notorious for its lock out apartment complexes which means you can't get in without a key. It's a missionary’s notorious enemy and worst nightmare. But we found one that wasn't! The funny part is, we didn't even tract it. We didn't have time to because we started talking to these two mothers that were outside watching their kids play. They were super cool and invited us to come back and talk with them some more! It was sweet!

So I guess moral of the story is, miracles do happen, you just have to look for them! That's the great part about finding as a missionary. Anything good that happens is considered a miracle

Oh yeah, and I hit my 16 month mark this past Saturday  that's exciting!

Love you guys and talk to you next week!
*sorry no pictures this time. I forgot *

Elder Biehn

June 20, 2016 - Elder Biehn's Weekly Update

Hey everybody!

Another week has come and gone and its P-Day again. Things are looking good for me in my area right now. We've got a couple of people that we are able to see on a weekly basis, which is definitely progress from when I first got here. One of these people is Rene. He is our investigator that lives with a member family and we go over every week to have a Family Home Evening and teach a lesson. Anyways, we had an awesome lesson with these guys on Wednesday and not just because we could feel the spirit super strong. Just look at this picture...

That's right! We made a campfire you can't believe how happy I was to be able to build a fire again. Haha, there's the Eagle Scout in me. We wanted to head outside to eat dinner and have our lesson but since summer is starting, all the mosquitos are coming out. I just so happen to mention that smoke from a fire drives away mosquitos and they started looking around for a place to make a fire. I helped them dig a small hole in the backyard, collected some dry sticks, and before you know it we had a good size fire and we were roasting marshmallows. It was just second nature and it was sweet!

Another cool thing that happened was Saturday night, we had the Bella Vista ward anniversary party. Lots of good food and there was even a talent show! Lots of cultural dancing and singing which are awesome! Then a couple of kids playing drums and others were singing. Then comes the missionaries turn. We kinda threw it together last minute and guess what we came up with. Yep, we decided to play chubby bunny. For those of you who aren't familiar with this game, basically you shove marshmallows in your mouth until you can't say chubby bunny. Last one left wins, and let me tell you, we looked like idiots. But the ward loved it! They were dying, and the whole next day during church people kept telling us how awesome it was so definitely a win.

Love you guys and talk to you next week!

From

Elder Biehn