Make tomorrow better than today for the rest of your life.

We have transfers tomorrow and I am getting in-zone transferred again! I think I am destined to spend the rest of my mission here. At this rate I will serve in every ward in Fremont. Hopefully tomorrow I can send a quick email to let you all know where I will be serving. I didn't see it coming at all and I am sad that I have to leave the area so soon.

 

We just got three new super solid investigators and I can see them all being baptized in the next month and now I won't even be part of it! Two of them went on a Memorial Day elders quorum hike today. The ward is super excited about missionary work right now because of them, the whole ward absolutely loves us because we always have investigators at church. So much is happening right now and I am getting sent away! Aaaahhhhh! Why! But I know that God has a plan and I am needed somewhere else. I will be staying super close to Central Park though so hopefully I can be there to help whenever I am needed. It's always when things are going so good that things have to change, I don't know why that is! 

 

On another thought, I have some cool stories from this week. The first one is from yesterday. We invited one of our investigators to church but he was only able to make it to priesthood at the end of church but another guy walked into church right after sacrament meeting and we went to say hi and he said that he wanted to be at church with us so we invited him to gospel principles with us and he came right in and listened the whole time. After that, we were talking with him and trying to get to know him, because this is the first time we have ever met, and we were telling him that there was another meeting for another hour and we asked him if he would like to join us and he said yes so we took him to priesthood opening exercises and when we get in there the investigator that we invited showed up and saw the other guy that was with us and asked him what he was doing here. I found out, at that moment, that they were roommates and they didn't know that the other was going to visit the same church!  S,o now they are best friends and they both love to do anything with the church and they were asking awesome questions in priesthood and then they came to the Memorial Day breakfast that the ward put on and then they went with the ward on a hike today and we weren't even there!

 

It's so cool and they are so awesome! It is such a miracle that everything is falling into place so easily. I love it! The Lord's hand is definitely in this work. I can't imagine trying to get all of this to work out and happen so well all on my own. I am amazed! The investigators are both my best friends and they absolute are happy to do anything that we invite them to do! The church is true! I know it. 

 

Over the last transfer, I have let the atonement take me on a journey. I have changed and have become the missionary that I feel Heavenly Father would want me to be. I have felt the powerful effects of the gospel in my life and I know that I am a better person because of it! I now have such a great desire to share this same redeeming power with everyone. I know the blessings that come from it. It makes me so happy to see the change that the atonement can give to people. I love this work, I love these people so much and I love my Savior. He has given me the many chances that I need in order to become what He wants me to become. I invite all of you to do the same. Get on your knees and pour out your soul to Heavenly Father. Tell Him your wants, tell Him your needs. Then ask Him what you can do to become what He wants you to become. I can promise you, that if you do this with a desire and a willingness to change, that He will give you an answer. I love all of you and my invitation is one of change. Be perfected in Christ and walk the straight and narrow path. Do better each and every day. Make tomorrow better than today for the rest of your life. 

I love you all and I keep you in my prayers.

Elder Maxwell  

It was a really cool experience and a very hot one as well.

It has been such an amazing week. I can tell you this one thing, I wish I could skype home every week. That would be nice.

 

We had some cool experiences today and we also had a few very hot days. I believe it was Tuesday that it was about 110 outside and me and my companion were biking around to go and see someone right around 1 (the hottest time of day). On our way to see this person we are about to cross an intersection and this lady pulls right in front of us and cuts us off. She rolls down her window and asks us if we have the good word of God. My companion was the one closest to the window so he replies to her that we have the Book of Mormon. She say that will do and starts to ask us what we believe. My companion starts to reply and I cut in and say that we would love to talk but we should probably get out of the middle of the intersection. So she drives her car down the street a little and pulls over. We walk over and continue our conversation. Now keep in mind this is a large Southern Baptist lady who loves to yell out amen and hallelujah! She was definitely very religious. At one point in her conversation she was trying to convince us that she did not believe in God. We didn't fall for that trick. After about ten minutes of her and my companion going back and forth I was about to ask her why she stopped to talk to us because it felt like she was trying to convert us when she asked my companion to pull out his Bible. Then she had him read an entire chapter out of the Bible with her. Remember that this whole time we are standing out in the 110 degree sun. The entire exchange lasted an hour and then she thanked us for our time. Not really interested in learning anything but it was a great lesson out of the window of her car. We were completely dehydrated at this point so we biked to the closest member and he gave us mango ice cream and cold Italian club soda. It was a really cool experience and a very hot one as well.

 

Another great experience this week was last night. We had an "I believe" fireside where we had recent converts and returning less active members get up and share their testimony. We invited all the non-members that we could and it was a really cool fireside. After it was over we met an Indian guy with some really long name and he said that he lived close to the church and he saw a lot of people in the building so he came to see what was happening. He loved what he saw and he wants to hang out with us and teach us how to play cricket, he's super cool and he told us to call him Dan. So now Dan is another new investigator and he is young and very interested in learning more. He is so solid! What an amazing week.

I love you! Keep on being amaxing! (That means an amazing Maxwell combined)

Love, Elder Maxwell

Don't make it harder than it has to be!

It was so awesome being able to see all of you yesterday! I was honestly counting down the hours all day! You all look amazing, a little bit white, but amazing! I can't wait till I get home and get to be with all of you again. I miss you all so much! Just keep doing all the fun crazy things that our family always does! Christian will be home soon and will hang out with all of you for the summer and that will be crazy awesome! Someone should learn sign language over the next 18 months so we can have a secret way to communicate when I get home. I'm positive it's a lot easier to learn than Bulgarian or Swedish. You all rock and I wish I could call you every week because that would be super cool. 

 

My past week has been pretty awesome, we had "dropped" an investigator about three weeks ago and on Friday night I was with a member of the ward and I felt like we should swing by and see him so we did and we had a really cool visit. We didn't teach him anything or really get into any deep discussions but we talked about baseball and the Oakland A's. We talked about summer time and BBQ and then he took us into his backyard and showed us his BBQ set up and let me tell you, this set up is perfect. Mom, I am 500% positive that you would love this set up next to the pool. It was so nice. I made him promise to BBQ for me at some point and he said that he would love to. Then we set up some service that we had talked about before and now we have plans to tear out and rebuild 100ft of fence in his backyard. (That's a project that would never happen in NY!) super excited about that. We are going to get the elders quorum over there and he is suddenly going to have tons of LDS friends and then he will have to come to church to hang out with all of his friends and it will be awesome! I'll let you all know how all that turns out.

 

I got to meet another less active single lady that lives in our ward and she was so nice. We were talking to her and asking her about how she came in contact with the church and she ended up telling us her conversion story and it was really a great experience being able to sit down and talk with her. She told us about what she had learned about how the church helps her in her life and I learned a lot from her. She told us about how her life was a struggle and only bad things seemed to ever happen to her and her family. Then after learning about the church she realized that there was good hiding behind the bad the whole time. She told us that at that moment she made a choice. She said that she decided to put everything in the Lords hands and all that you can do after you have done that is pray for strength and patience. It reminded me about how The Lord is always there to help us but he doesn't take us down the pain free easy path he takes us right through everything bad, right through those mists of darkness. At times we will hit clear patches and it will be easier but it's never ever going to a walk in the park. Do not pass go, do not collect $200! You have to work for it! But The Lord is always at our side with arms ready to catch us when we are tired and ready to collapse and give up. 

 

We have the power to overcome anything and everything that Satan will put in our path! Hold tight to the iron rod! Never let go, not even for a second, don't even loosen your grip, it's never worth it! The scriptures have so many powerful promises of blessings that can change our lives forever and all we have to do is reach out and accept them. Heavenly Father loves you, He knows you and he will do everything in his power to help you on this difficult journey of life. Don't make it harder than it has to be! 

 

I love each and every one of you. I am willing to do anything I can to help anyone and I want to help because I know the difference it can make. Be strong and carry on!!! Have a fantastic week and I will hear from you all again in 7 days!

Love, Elder Maxwell

The Lord will help my hair to look good anyways, right?

Cinco de Mayo is not nearly as fun without all of you. People just don't understand what it means to go at a piñata with everything you got. I tried to get the zone to do something fun today but I don't think anyone is as excited about this holiday as I am! Although Christian sounds like he gets to celebrate a pretty legit holiday. I wish you a good time. What day does he get home? Then I'll have to stop telling people I have a brother on a mission. Just two brothers that have served. 

On to my week: 

We got our car taken this week so we are back on bikes. I am loving it, the only downside is that my styled hair always gets smashed by my helmet... But The Lord will help my hair to look good anyways, right? I was a little bit out of breath biking around the first day but now I am back to being a biking machine! 

We had a really cool experience this week with one of our investigators. We were over at his house teaching him about faith and how it helps us to know and understand everything that God has given to us. Part way through the lesson he told us about an experience that he had during the week. He told us that he was having a really hard day and he needed some fresh air so he went into his backyard to take a break from all the hustle and bustle of the world and when he got outside he looked up to the sky with a thought in his head saying, "God, why me?" Then he told us about the answer that he received. Right at that moment he said that he saw a star twinkle in the sky. He told us that he knew it was God winking at him letting him know that everything was going to be alright and that He would take care of him and help him through his challenges. I personally thought this was a little bit crazy to think that God was winking to you but the missionary side of me said to let it be because answers can come in many different ways. I learned that an answer is an answer no matter how it comes and that everyone needs to receive an answer in the way that will speak to them. It all made sense after I thought about it for a bit. I was happy for him but sad because he still didn't come to church. But all will be accomplished in the Lords time. 

We did pick up a new investigator this week. If you all remember the 1.5 hour baptism interview I had to do... We are now the ones teaching him and trying to help him get ready for baptism!  It has been another week full of blessings and amazing visits with wonderful people. 

Everyone keep on doing the amazing work that you do. I love you all and can't wait to hear all about your awesome adventures. Keep it touch! I will see most of you on Sunday!

Lots of love, 

Elder Maxwell

So that's the story of the $200 text!

I finally get some time to sit down and write home! What a week! That's all I can say!

 

I will get right to the part that everyone is waiting for... Why did I send mom a text in the middle of the week asking for $200? Well let's start at the very beginning...

 

We were doing service at the good old thrift shop, as we always do, and as I was working so hard a very kind old lady came in and asked us to help her get some donations out of her car, as lots of people do.  We kindly told her that we would love to help and proceeded out to her car. When we got to the car, all that she had to donate were four sets of old golf clubs. As missionaries do, I instantly jumped on the chance to talk about the connection that we instantly had because of the work I have done at golf courses.  After a very lovely conversation she decided that she wanted me to have one of the sets of old clubs.  I told her that I would have no use for them but she insisted, so I took them and put the set of clubs in the trunk of our car.  I planned on donating them to the store the next time we visited.  That night I was bored and I had happened to bring a ball and the putter into the apartment to help pass some of the time. You have seen how I would just putt around the house and that's what I was doing in the apartment.  But I remember a saying now, "When boys get together the smart factor goes down!" Or something like that.  I guess this never stops being true, its not something we can grow out of I guess.  Anyways, the other elders were so impressed with my putting skills that they kept challenging me to more and more crazy putts.  (Like bouncing it off walls and around corners and across the tops of tables and other stupid things like that.) Everything was going great and we were all having a lot of fun until I tried to putt a little bit to hard and the edge of the club caught the ball wrong and sent it flying into the front window... The fun instantly ended and everyone looked at me like, "What were you thinking, are you crazy?"  Cleaned up the glass that had fell and put some duct tape on the window for the night. Made some not so fun calls in the morning and found out I would be owing 200 dollars to repair the window. The words of my mother continue to ring loud and clear in my head, "No playing with balls in the house! Take it outside before you break something!" Another rule I guess you can't grow out of! Now that its all said and done, the window is repaired and everything is back to normal, it is actually pretty funny! But still bad. The new window is a lot better than the old one though. Still just a single pane window though, I thought that was weird coming from freezing cold New York. There is no such thing as insulation here in Cali!​ So that's the story of the $200 text!

 

Other things that happened this week... Well nothing else is quite as exciting as that but... We did get 4 new investigators this week and those two girls that we met at church last week are still super interested and have listened to the first two lessons now!  We have a lot more work to do this week than we had last week.  We wont have to struggle for how to fill the time this week!  That's a huge blessing and very exciting.  My companion and I did a three day challenge last week of 100% obedience to every single rule. That is a very, very difficult thing to do! Let me tell you, it is a struggle. There are so many rules and it would take me at least two years to get to a point where I could consistently be in the habit of keeping all of them.  But the blessings that we received from being obedient is so obvious!  Four new investigators in one week?!!!! That never happens!  Awesome!

 

I love you all and keep you all in my prayers. Stay strong and keep each other close. I know that you are all amazing and that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of you! He knows you, He knows your pains and struggles and trials. He will help you with anything. Just ask. I will help you with anything as well, as long as it is in my power. Take care!

 

Love,

Elder Maxwell

Let it change you!

Happy Easter right back! I hope your Easter was wonderful. I did get the package and I actually used the eggs to teach an Easter lesson at our Easter dinner. It went super well and saved me a lot of creative thinking a preparation! We have had a couple of really cool miracles this week. 

   First we were at church on Sunday (imagine that), and these two girls walk in and are asking to learn more about the church because they live down the street and want to know more about the church that is right next to their house. So we taught them a quick version of the first lesson and got there information and will meet up with them later in the week. Pretty cool how they just walked into church.

   Second we  help a lot of random people with service this week. We decided that whenever we saw someone that might need help we should  stop and help them so we did that all week and it was awesome. Random acts of service are the best! Lots of yard work and lots of sun time! It has been so nice out. 

  With the new transfer I got an all new district so its basically like starting all over again which is really annoying but easy at the same time. I love serving my fellow missionaries. They are awesome!

 I hope you all had a great week and  that all are doing well. Take care and I will have more to share next week!

Ps: Really short on time this week, Sorry! I love you all so much. The atonement will change you! Let it change you! It is wonderful.

Love, Elder Maxwell

The seeds have been planted

It has been quite the week. Transfer calls have come and for the first time absolutely nothing has changed. Kind of disappointing and definitely not as exciting as moving around or getting a new companion every six weeks. I love this ward though and my companion is a complete opposite of me but we have found a way to work out our differences and work together. He is definitely not the person I would choose to be friends with on my own, but I love him and I am excited for another six weeks of service with him.

 

We were doing service at a non-profit thrift shop this week, where all the proceeds go to breast cancer.  We just help them move furniture out onto the floor and pretty much do any grunt work that they need done. I have been serving here ever since December when I first got to Fremont and this past week while we were there the guy that we were helping wanted us to put a perfectly fine leather couch out back because it was a sectional and the other section to it was missing. I told him that he shouldn't throw it away because we could use it. He then told me that if I could get a truck to the shop in the next hour I could have it and another section that could fit with it. I got on the phone and had a member there in 20 min. He was quite impressed and asked me how I did it so fast and I had an opportunity to explain how wards work and how we are always willing to serve and help each other out. He was impressed again and gave us two matching sectional leather couches that I must say look very good in our apartment. I wish all missionary work was like that. He definitely loves missionaries at this point. The seeds have been planted for him.

 

I got to do three baptism interviews this week because I am a district leader and anyone in my district who is having a baptism has me do the interview. The first interview went really well. He was a young man, about 17 years old and he was so ready. He got baptized on Saturday at 3. The other two interviews were a husband and wife. The wife had been progressing super fast and was ready to be baptized about 2 months ago, the husband was a bit slower but he had committed to Saturday. I interview him first. Baptism interviews are supposed to be 15 min long. They are supposed to be spiritual and make them excited for their baptism. This man took 1.5 hours to interview. Our rules are that you have to go all the way through the interview questions no matter what. I asked him question by question and each time he asks me what does that mean? or What is that? AAAHAHAHAH!!!! It was the hardest hour and a half of my life. I had to teach him the entire first three lessons all on my own. He answered no to over half of the questions and the whole time I had a feeling that I needed to pass him. I didn't know why at the moment but I passed him. His wife came in right after him and her interview was in and out. She was another perfect interview. Both of them passed and they were both going to be baptized on Saturday morning.

 

After the interview I got a call from the stake president who was in a lot of the lessons while they were getting taught. He wasn't too happy with me on the phone. He was telling me that a baptism interview should never be that long and all I could do was say I'm sorry I did what I thought I should. So now its about 3:00 in the afternoon, I have the stake president mad at me. The sisters that taught them are mad at me. The zone leaders are trying to call me and find out what in the world I did, and on top of it all I passed someone who didn't even want to get baptized! But after everything settled down a little bit (we are talking 5:00 the next day) I got another call from the stake president, he apologizes and says that he was impressed with how well I handled the situation. The zone leaders call back and explain that they wouldn't even know what to do in that situation and they were impressed with how I handled it. The whole time I'm confused because last thing I knew, everyone was mad at me. Then the sisters call me and explain that the husband had chose not to get baptized Saturday because he didn't feel ready but his wife was still going to get baptized and he just needed a little more time.

 

Then the sisters where explaining how they were glad that I didn't fail him because then he was able to think about it and make the decision on his own. The wife wasn't mad because her husband had made the choice and everything was working out. What it all comes down to is that nobody lost any trust in anybody and everyone was happy at the end of the day. I am so glad that I have been called by God to do what us missionaries do, because without God's help there is no way that everything could have worked out how it did. I know that God's hand is in the work that we are doing and I know that He is watching out for me and helping me more than I could imagine. What a blessing it was to be able to be at the baptisms this weekend and feel the wonderful love and spirit of our Lord. I know that he truly does love each and every one of us.

 

Take care and help the missionaries like you are doing!

 

Love, Elder Maxwell