One of the more interesting ways to do missionary work.

This has been another great week! We have had a lot of fun and a lot of success with the returning members in our ward. As far as our investigators go they all bailed on us this week but we still feel successful because we were able to stop by and help a lot of our members. 

One of my favorite stories of the week was when we had just gotten out of a meeting and we went to stop by a very inactive member of the church. We stop by and visit him and his wife every once in a while and we always offer to help him out around his house. He is an elderly man and there are plenty of things that he could use some help with. He has never taken us up on our offer. This one time though, as we stop by in our white shirts and ties he says that he has a quick project for us to help him with. The word 'quick' reassured us that we would be able to get it done with no problem in our shirts and ties. We get out back where his 'quick' project is and there are two huge slabs of concrete that used to be steps down from his house that he wanted moved. We are talking 6'x6'x2' slabs of solid concrete. TWO of them! There was no way that were were moving them how they were because they were probably 1000 lbs each, so we asked him if he had a sledge hammer... For the next 1.5 hours we swung a sledge hammer at concrete to break it apart into movable pieces. Remember that this entire time we are in our white shirts and ties and just to make it a little bit more fun Mother Nature decided to have it be 102 degrees out that day. We were sweating like pigs. So gross, but we got it done and he was amazed that we were able to break them apart and move them. He didn't have too much faith in our ability to accomplish what he had asked us to do. I think he was trying to give us a job that he thought was impossible but we made it happen! He was very pleased with the work that we did. I am really happy that we got to help him and that we were able to swing a sledge hammer. Takes me back to the good old days of splitting wood! Which reminds me that I never split that wood for the Wolfe Family... I owe them 2 hours of wood splitting I think. I feel very accomplished after helping them out in their yard. Unfortunately I only got one video and no photos. The video is only of my companion too, and he makes it look easy in the video but trust me it was not very easy. Most of the time it would take about five or more hits to get the concrete to split. Ill send the video so I don't sound crazy.

We also had a really good meeting with a less active newly wed couple. They are super cool! We had a family home evening with them on Monday last week and it was fantastic! We shared a message and played a lot of board games with them. We talked and really got to know one another. They are super cool because thy are real with us. They expect us to be ourselves and they are themselves with us as well which makes everything so much better. When nobody is sheltering themselves behind walls then everyone is a lot more comfortable around each other. We had a great night and I lost Apples to Apples by a long shot. Wasn't even close to being competition for the winner. We taught a lesson about how sacrifice brings forth blessings and we got into a really good discussion about why they are not coming to church and we learned that they know the church is true and they know it is what they need but the reason they come is because there is nobody in the ward that they can relate to. Our ward is relatively 'old' people or families with little children. There honestly nobody in our ward that is in the same situation that they are in. Newly married without kids. So I can understand how they would feel like the ward wasn't a very good fit for them. I am not sure what direction we should head in with them but we are counting on the spirit to guide us and help us to do what we need to do!

We also have an investigator right now who has been meeting with missionaries for the past year. He is not technically in our ward but we have been asked to work with him for a specific reason. He has a strong testimony of the church and knows that he needs to join but he has a phobia of people touching him. And its not just some thing where you are scared of a spider, it is an actual medical condition that I don't know what it is called. But he wrestles with missionaries to help him get over his fear. He has to take a drug right now that essentially makes him 'high' so that he can tolerate people touching him. He wants to be baptized but he doesn't want to be 'high' while he is doing it so the wrestling is a therapeutic way for him to be able to get used to people touching him and he slowly works his way off of the drug while wrestling and it will prepare him to be baptized. A lot of details and pieces that go into play that I don't understand but our mission president asked us to help him out on Saturday mornings so we started this past Saturday wrestling him. I am not a wrestler but I did my best to hold my own against him. What really happened was we would wrestle until he made me tap and then we would go again and again and again. It was fun and I got a really good workout. One of the more interesting ways to do missionary work. But we do it early in the morning so it does not take away from our prime Saturday proselyting time.

As you said I haven't really had FIVE areas, but I have had amazing areas my whole mission.

My area that I was most excited to go to when I got the transfer call was the ASL Branch in Fremont. I was so happy and ecstatic and bouncing off of walls at that transfer meeting. I loved serving in that program because of the wide range of coverage that we had. We could go anywhere and do anything across the entire mission! I was able to travel and visit places that most missionaries don't get to do because it would be disobedient. I was able to go to San Francisco, Oakland, Concord, Fairfield, Monterrey, and Santa Cruz, all while living in Fremont. How lucky we were! And we were doing missionary work in all of those places! I got to travel and see the whole mission even though I haven't served across the whole mission.

I Loved Stanford a ton because of the atmosphere that was there. There is something about serving in an area with only people that are young and single and are doing exactly what you would be doing if you weren't a missionary. Which means that we were doing all those normal things but with the mindset of missionary work rather than the mindset of getting married. It was such a cool experience and unlike any other area in the mission. I cannot compare it to any of my other wards because it is so unique. 

Los Gatos ward has been such an incredible ward to finish in! I absolutely love the people here and because I have gone through a companion each transfer here the ward loves me because I have been consistent. There is so much knowledge and experience here in this ward and I have gotten so much great advice from very successful people for the rest of my life here. It has been the best place to start the adjustment to the real world again. I love this ward so much and am so glad that I get to finish here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I served in three other areas on my mission at the very beginning but I can't think of anything that really sticks out as a learning experience. I feel like all the transition at the beginning of my mission from Spanish in Greenfield to English in Irvington and then a quick change to Central Park was all preparing me for the rest of my mission where I just stayed in one place for a really long time. That's all that comes to mind. Besides training my son Elder Freeman. I loved that transfer. He is such a stud and he taught me so much and has turned out to be such a great missionary. He was already a great missionary the day he started his mission. He is now serving as a zone leader up in Menlo Park where I previously served as a zone leader.

I love you all! That is time and I have wrote a lot. Have another great week!

Until Next Time,

                Elder Maxwell

All of the hard work is paying off.

This week has been amazing!!! All of the hard work is paying off. We have been trying and trying and trying, and now it is time for success! It may have something to do with all the students returning to college this past week.  This past Tuesday we hosted a free lunch for all of the students on campus at our institute building. So it was our job to go out and invite them all to come and join us for a free lunch. I can testify right now that there is no easier way to talk to someone than when you are offering them free food. Nobody brushed us off. Everyone was kind even if they couldn't make it to the lunch. We had some really cool experiences with people. I was going out with Elder Masima to talk with people and we weren't having much luck inviting anyone in. It was hot and we were tired so we decided to go and stand in the shade. So we stood there and as we were standing there the first two guys to see us waved to us, so we went and talked to them and they decided that free lunch sounded great. We walked with them into the institute building where there were six more missionaries. We showed them where the food was and snuck out while they were filling their plates. We wanted to go back out and find more people! Right as we left the building we saw a brother (darker skinned like Masima) walking away. I told Masima he needed to call out to him. So he called out, "Brother! Yous eaten?" He was a little confused but he asked him again if he had eaten and he said no so we brought him in to the free lunch. Same thing as before, we snuck out while he was getting food and left him in the hands of the other missionaries. We found a couple more people doing this and once there was a good number of non members inside we went in got food and started making friends. There were 13 non member friends in there on Tuesday. Almost all of them said they would be back tomorrow! So cool! The hope is that eventually this will lead them to taking an institute class or meeting up with us missionaries. Give people free food and they will hear you out for a minute or two an that's all you need to let them see that there is something special here. 

We also had a lot of success in Los Gatos ward this week. We have been trying relentlessly to get this less active newly wed couple to let us in to visit them but have tried in vain for the longest time. Until Friday night! We stopped in Friday night and they were both home. They welcomed us in and initially they only had ten minutes for us but we stayed for probably two hours just talking with them and it was amazing! We got to know them well enough and they invited us over for dinner tonight! So we are going to go have a FHE with them. Games, food, and a message. It is great! We are making huge strides with them even if it just means they are friends with missionaries. 

I have gotten the feeling that with such a little amount of time left that the remainder of my mission is going to be spent finding people that will join the church after I leave. Although I am convinced that there is at least one more individual that need me to play some sort of influence in their conversion process. Because of that there is not an option to slow down or kick the bucket of being a full time missionary early. Fight to the end. It's not worth it to give up. 

My five favorite mission companions huh... This is super painful, so hard to do

Now I won't put them in any specific order. This is just a random list of five great companions.

First, Elder Kirby. He taught me a lot about what it means to be a good leader. The way that he showed genuine love for each and every member of the zone is something that I have taken with me and will continue to practice for the rest of my life. 

Second, Elder Jensen. Can I say he was great because he taught me how to be patient? He was a super fun companion because of the crazy things he would do. Or the crazy bad luck that he had. So many good memories with him and a lot of laughs. He is the companion that taught me not to get hung up on the little things. 

Third, Elder Olenslager. My first companion. Taught me what being a missionary is all about. How to work hard. What we teach was always on my mind with him. I really learned the gospel basics from Preach My Gospel with him. He definitely set the course of my entire mission.

Fourth, Elder Reid. He was the first companion that I had that understood what it means to work had and have fun at the same time. We never had any arguments and got along really well because we were both super happy to be working hard and having fun with the Stanford YSA.

Fifth, Elder Hamilton. He was a ton of fun but also caused a lot of stress. Being his companion was a huge learning experience. I learned how to forget about myself and focus on helping others. He taught me a lot through his struggles. I really learned how to reach out. 

I could probably do one of those for all 17 of my companions but it would take way too long so there it is. 

This week has been full of blessings. Never doubt that God will provide as we are diligent and do our best to do his work. In his own time he will provide. He always has and he always will. I know that is true. Keep pressing forward. 

 

Have a great week! Have fun starting school but not too much fun! I love you all!!! I am excited to be getting home 7 hours earlier! 1030 was way too late!!!

Love, Elder Maxwell

Don't delay or doubt!

Abraham Lincoln once said, "Pray like it is up to God, and work like it is up to you."

 

This week has been awesome!!! First things first, just to make a clarification, I have not been Elder Wolfes companion before but I was his zone leader at the beginning of his mission. He is 14 months out now and I am very glad that he is my companion! We are having so much fun together! We work super hard but at the same time he lets us have a ton of fun! And the members are loving it!!! 

 

First example is a ward BBQ that we had this past Saturday. It was a BBQ to kick off the beginning of the school year and the end of summer. And let me just put this out there, the Los Gatos Ward can put on a mean BBQ! It was awesome! From a bounce house to ribs! This BBQ had it all! And because my companion is down with having fun while working hard we were able to be super friendly and just be there and have a good time with all of the people that came. We probably had close to 200 people there and only 15 non members and a good number of less active members. The ward council was talking about how to get the percentage of non members higher for future events because the non members that were there absolutely loved it! Everyone had such a great time!!!! We talked to every single person that was there and it was a great way for my new companion to get to know the ward quickly and start to build that relationship of trust for himself. It was such a good night! There was also someone in the ward called as the event photographer. Her job was to blend in with everyone and just be part of the fun but she also had a super nice camera and took lots of pictures throughout the BBQ. The best pictures are always the ones you don't know are being taken!!! There are some good shots of us missionaries. One of us looking like we are teaching someone but really we are talking with the stake president. Hahaha, another of a group of four of us right after the whole thing got cleaned up. And finally, my favorites, the ones of me and the mob of little girls in the ward playing "duck duck goose." They all loved it and I got so many compliments from parents the next day at church about how all their daughters were talking about how cool it will be to be a missionary. The parents loved it just as much as the kids! It was a great BBQ and we had a really really great time. As a missionary you really come to appreciate ward parties especially when the members realize they are the coolest events to invite people to. I don't know any of my friends that don't want free ribs. I love how members are willing to just reach out to people they don't know and become their friend. We don't have to wait for parties or BBQs to reach out to people though! It could be anyone that God wants us to reach out to. We just have to be willing to open our mouths! 

 

 

Another cool part of the week was being able to go over to a members home and help them with their yard work. While we were there the neighbor came out and was talking with us so we offered to rake her yard as well. She had recently got a plate put in her wrist so yard work had become a difficult task for her. She was greatly appreciative of our help. It was a small this to do but it was cool seeing how God placed us where we could help someone out even if it was simple. And it was awesome because I love doing yard work so it was a, win, win, win, win, win, situation. Everyone won! So good.

One last highlight of the week was a hike that I went on this morning. We went to Morgan hill and hiked a hill called El Torro. It was a fun hike. We didn't have a huge group of people so it was nice and personal. I love nature! I love hiking! I love friends! I love beautiful views! I love steep dirt hills! I love digital cameras! I love sunrises! I love perfect weather! I have nothing to complain about. It was a good morning and it's going to be another great day and a great week! I am so excited for this last transfer now! It is going to be amazing!!!!

My mission is the second best thing that has ever happened to me! Right behind being born into this family! This is a great work that we are a part of! Don't delay or doubt! Get out there and help our fellow brothers and sisters. I love you all so much! Have a great week!!!

Love,

 Elder Maxwell

The week of the final beginning‏

New Companion - Elder Wolfe

Old Companion - Elder Schnell

This has been a fast week! A lot has happened but at the same time a  lot of it is not interesting enough to make a good email so I will  keep to the more interesting topics of the week. Which leads us in to  the most prevalent news around town! I have officially begun my last  transfer as a missionary. Which means there will only be seven more of  these emails! That's pretty crazy. I can't believe I am down to the  end of these two years! It has been good! I have learned some things  along the way. The challenges that I have faced were not easy. Some of  my companions have been a great learning experience, to put it nicely.  And it all comes down to this. One more transfer that is just like all  the others. The feeling I expected is not here. Can you believe it!?  This transfer is feeling just like the other 16!!!

 But on to the details that everyone wants to hear about. I have  received my final companion. He has been out for 14 months. He is from  Apison Tennessee. He is awesome! He can read with his eyes closed! He  can do push-ups without his hands! He can sing hymns with his nose  plugged. You could say he is a man of many talents. I served with him  before, he was in Menlo Park for my first transfer in Saratoga. He is called Elder Wolfe.

 I was also recalled as a zone leader for my last transfer. I am not sure if I am happy or sad about that yet. I found out today at the  meeting so it was definitely sprung on me pretty quick. I really  enjoyed not having leadership responsibilities for these past couple  of transfers but I guess it is time to buckle down and be a good  example of finishing strong for all those around me. I am excited to  do exchanges again!!! I missed doing exchanges whenever I want.

 I am not sure what else to write about! I am excited and happy to come  home! I have missed everyone a ton! I am nervous as well. It is going  to be different. I am so glad that I made the choice to serve. It has  blessed me a ton! I am so happy out here doing the work and being in  California. I couldn't imagine being in a better place. I know that  what I am doing is right. I know that this gospel changes people! I  know that being the son of a bishop is no different than being a  normal member of the church. We are all held to the same standards.  The bishop, the primary teachers, the home teacher. We are all the  same. We are all just doing our best and as long as we do everything  that we can the Lord will bless us and take care of us. He will lift  us as we fall. We all have the opportunity to lift others as we are  doing what we need to do and in the process we will be lifted as well.  This church is a church of love and outreach. Come in and partake of  the incredible blessings that our Heavenly Father has in store for us.

 I love you all and hope that you all get lots of blessings this week!

 Love, Elder Maxwell

I can only imagine how our Heavenly Father feels

This week has been good. We have been really busy! We went back up into Menlo park zone for a baptism of one of elder Schnells past investigators.  It was cool going back to Menlo park. My son, Elder Freeman, is serving up there now. It is always good to see him and see how he is progressing in the mission. He is a stellar missionary. I highly doubt very much of that is because of my extensive rigorous training for his first six weeks. It is good to see that the style of missionary that I am has been reflected in the style of missionary he has become. It is cool knowing that your influence has been taken in and reflected in someone else. I believe this is similar to when a parent sees a child becoming like them. I can only imagine how our Heavenly Father feels as we make the right choices and do what He would have us do and as we continue to learn and grow through our experiences we are becoming more like Him and that has to make Him very happy. It makes so much sense that a Father would want his child to become like Him and then reach their fullest potential. Our Heavenly Father does not want us to fall short. He wants us to succeed in everything we do. I imagine He has such a hard time stopping Himself from reaching out and stopping us from making bad choices. 

 

This week is already freaking me out. I am realizing now that this week I find out if this is my last area or not. (It better be my last area or I will have some words to share with my mission president!) I also find out if I get to train again or not. I asked president in my interview this week to let me train or to give me a new missionary. We will see what he does. I am hoping for training and staying here. I love this area and couldn't see myself finishing anywhere else for seven weeks. I find out on Thursday if I am training and I find out Saturday if I'm staying.  Pray for me!!!

Love you all! Have a great week!!!

Love Elder Maxwell 

Another week closer to freezing!

 Another week down, another week closer to freezing! I am so excited to come home!!!!! Now let me explain myself. I can't wait to see all of you! I miss all of you a ton and knowing that I am close to seeing everyone makes me excited!!! But I am not "trunky," I am still 100% focused on the work. I have things that I need to accomplish before I can finish this mission so I am working hard so that when the time comes I can return home instead of having to extend and miss the 7 day overlap. That would not be good. I don't think that will be a problem though so Mom, you can stop holding your breath now! :) 

That is exciting news about Jonathan getting his project approved and underway. If it's not all finished by the time I get home you can count me in for long hard hours of heavy labor! Ill even drag my feet to make the hours longer ;) I love projects like that so good choice Jonathan. I am guessing you will try to bust it out and get it done before the cold comes in. Which from the sounds of it has already started to happen for you all. If if helps you feel any better the weather out here is still perfect! I cant complain about a thing! I know we are in a drought and all but I am really enjoying all this sunny dry weather. Rain is a very inconvenient type of weather for missionaries! I don't know how i am supposed to do the whole adjustment coming home. Adjusting here was easy. I would do it over and over and over again! 

 

Before we go any further I want to tell you all about Angelo's Baptism!!!! It was amazing! Everything came together perfectly! It all started Friday with making the program for his baptism. Our ward mission leader would usually do it but he had just moved to Florida and the new one wasn't called until yesterday! So we were all on our own. I personally hate it when the Baptism programs look lame because they are just on a plain white piece of paper with words, so I decided to take it up a level with these programs. I knew I had missionary budget issues so I had to be conservative. We went to OfficeMax because I decided the thing that makes a good program is the paper it is printed on! We found some sweet metallic silver paper for just $5! It was on sale. I bought it and then headed over to the church to use a computer to start typing up the program. 30 minutes later the programs were printing and then I was cutting them and then, BAM! The best programs for a Baptism ever, had been made. Ill have to send a picture so you can all enjoy them as much as I do. Lots of people mentioned at the baptism that its little things like these programs that make a Baptism special for someone. Our mission presidents wife said, "the programs look like a wedding invitation, and that's a good thing!" Over all the set up went smoothly and before we knew it the time of 10:00am had arrived on Saturday morning. Nobody was there besides Angelo and us... We figured singles ward/mormon standard time. We gave it ten minutes and the room was packed. Including a few of Angelo's non-member friends and his family! The Baptism went smoothly and everyone really had a great time. There was a simple talk given on baptism and the Holy Ghost and then Angelo was Baptized! We shared a video of Jesus being Baptized while he was changing and we had the opportunity to share our testimonies about the reality of Our Living Savior! The spirit was strong and everyone had water falling out of their eyes. We then sang There is Sunshine in My Soul Today to fill the rest of the time before he got out. Once he was back a girl from the ward sang Teach Me To Walk In The Light. It was AMAZING!!!! She had such an incredible voice! The spirit once again hit everyone like Thor's hammer and then the baptism was over. I think one of the greatest moments of all was after the baptism when Angelo's mother who just two days before had seen his copy of the Book of Mormon and accused him of worshiping the devil, grabbed her own copy of the Book of Mormon and said. "I need this so I can read what its all about." How cool it that! The spirit is real! It can change hearts! I know that in the course of that baptismal service Angelo's mothers heart was softened and that she had felt the spirit and it prompted her to want to learn about this good feeling she had. I hope and pray that eventually she will decide to follow her sons example and the example of Jesus Christ and enter into the waters of baptism. It would change her families life forever!!! 

As far as the rest of the week nothing nearly as amazing happened. We met with a couple of members of our ward and helped them with some of the things they have been struggling with. We also meet fairly often with a young man named Mark. We have been seeing him every Saturday since I have been here and this past week we were helping him prepare a talk because he was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. We show up and he was excited for us to write his talk for him. I looked at him and said, "No way, you are writing this talk. We are here for moral support!" We coached him through the basics of giving a good talk and we told him that he had to speak about things he was passionate about. He concluded that he only was passionate about two things. One, he really liked being around missionaries. Two, he is a huge Oakland raiders fan. We conjured up a talk that combined an experience he has at a Raiders game and a missionary experience. He ended up giving a really good talk! And the best part is we only had to coach him along. He basically did it all himself. We had him compare his experience with Daniel and the Lions Den. Everyone loved it and his closing line of his talk was the best! He said, "...and the real miracle of it all, is that the Raiders actually won! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Hahaha, I loved it. He did a great job. Everyone loves it when a youth speaker gives a great talk. It helps everyone realize that you don't have to understand everything to have a testimony about something. Simplicity is often the source of hope. As we back ourselves up to the basics it is often when we learn the most. I am really grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve a mission because I have learned so much from teaching the basics.

 

Well I think that is it. The week has been accounted for. I am loving it and working hard! Ill keep you all in my prayers! Have a fantastic week and stay warm!

Love, Elder Maxwell

Stuck making just 20 year old decisions

It has been a good week. We have been busy out and about doing man
things. 21 years of age requires a certain amount of responsible
choices. Such as buying a house, getting a credit score and getting a
wife. I guess I can't really do any of those three things right now.
That just means that I will be stuck making just 20 year old decisions
until I get home. The wo's of being an adult. Life just gets more and
more challenging. So many responsibilities. Bills to pay, the whole
shebang. Over all I would say being 21 feels exactly like I always
imagined! Did you know that when you turn 21 all the red words that
say "under 21" on your license magically disappear?!?! It was amazing.
What a moment. In all honesty its just like every other birthday,
nothing really feels different.

I love that conversation. I had this image of me running through the
airport juking out my siblings as if we were playing a game of rugby.
Everyone is trying to tackle me in a big hug but I'm too quick! I juke
left, spin right, slide under the legs and then BAM!!! I run into that
glass wall because I couldn't see it and I fall straight to the floor.
Then everyone dog piles on me just like we were the Crood family.
Hahaha, but of course it will be more elegant than that. Most likely
just like that scene out of Psych where the FBI guy jumps out of the
truck in his bulletproof vest and throws back his hair in the
sunlight. Puts on his sunglasses and does the swag walk all the way
over to everyone at which point Jonathan would say cut and give me
some suggestions on how to be a little more swanky and then would tell
me to do it again from the top. Whatever situation it ends up being I
am sure it will end with Mom getting the first hug.

 I think it is not a coincidence that all the missionaries spoke in
sacrament meeting there because all the missionaries in our Ward here
also spoke. I can attest to what you have said. The spirit was so
strong!!! In our testimony meeting I don't think it was the
missionaries that brought in the spirit so powerfully, I believe the
missionaries set the stage for the members to come in and really share
the truth. To really share what the spirit is telling them to share.
It was a really cool testimony meeting and I learned a lot from it. I
do hope that your experience was exactly the same, or maybe it is
slightly different coming from the viewpoint of a member rather than a
missionary.

We were able to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today. It was really
cool. I personally think that the aquarium in Boston was better but it
was cool to be at this one because of all the focus on the Jellyfish
and the sea otters. Sea otters are so cute! Absolutely amazing! So so
so cool. I still think that the jellyfish were my favorite though.
Jellyfish are living art. They are Gods creation that is there to
beautify the earth. So amazing!!! I love Jellyfish so I bought a
jellyfish shirt! Woo hoo! I hope it shrinks in the wash because the
small still looks huge. I need it to fit!!! Gotta be looking good. I
am 21 after all. We also got to see some divers doing maintenance.

Well as for our week that's about all that has been going on. Hope you
all are doing well. Sorry this is being sent so late. It was typed
earlier but this is the soonest it could get sent. Love you all!!!

Elder Maxwell