Full of Adventures and Awesome Experiences!

What a busy busy busy week! It has been full of adventures and awesome experiences.

​So much has happened that I am not sure what to write about so I am going to just start typing away and hopefully something meaningful comes out! To start off, I am so jealous that Emma gets to know who made her mission assignment! That is so awesome! I showed the pictures to my companions and they were both going crazy, like that's complete nuts! It is really cool. Now Emma can say she has been in one of Elder Oaks Facebook posts! Not many people can say that. I am really excited to find out when and where Emma will be going. I thought that maybe since we were emailing so late this week that even with the holiday and all that she would have her call by now but I guess I will just have to wait until next week. Now that I have seen those pictures I keep having Argentina come to mind... Who knows!? Elder Oaks does ;p

We had quite the adventure on P-day this week. Because of the holiday we knew the library would be closed so we planned on emailing on Tuesday so we knew we had the whole day to do fun Memorial Day things. We had been up in the Santa Cruz mountains earlier last week and we had come across a really cool looking trail that was closed to cars but was open to bikes, horses, hikes and so on. So Sunday night I am laying in bed and doing the whole I am not tired enough to just pass out yet so I will talk with my companion. I asked what he wanted to do tomorrow for Memorial Day. he had nothing in mind. I said, "Do you want to bike the trail we found earlier?"​ He said yes. Honestly it was the most emotionless exchange of words I have ever had. I didn't know if we were both excited about it or dreading it or just didn't care at all. The next morning we woke up and we both had emotion again. We were pumped about the bike ride. Elder Hamilton who was hearing it for the first time at this point wasn't quite as excited as we were but was still down for having a good time with us. He also is a more logical thinker than we are. He said, "Elders, we only have one mountain bike." I instantly knew the solution to our problem. Our ward mission leader had two very nice mountain bikes in his garage and we called him up and asked if we could borrow them he said we could, he said they were about a year old and we would be the first ones to put some miles on them. So myself and Elder Hamilton did our mountain biking on $2,000 mountain bikes. That was probably more terrifying that actually mountain biking. The constant worry of possibly hurting one of the beautiful bikes. SO now on to the good part. As we are biking I stop to get some pictures and my companions continue on. After a couple minutes of trying to get some good pictures I get back on my bike and start to head off to catch up. As I round the first turn the trail turns into a steep downhill. I was trying to catch up so I decide to go down the hill at a good speed. On the hill the were these dip/bump combos where water had ran across the hill at one point. I hit the first one at a pretty good speed and I was worried that I was going to die, but my very good mountain bike took the bump very well and sent me into the air. I got about a second of air time and then was back on the ground biking again. Right after the first "jump" was a second and I hit it again, going a little bit faster that the first one. I was flying through the air like a champ! I hit the third jump the same way. Then, like you have all seen coming, I hit the fourth jump. I was so high! If there were people around they may have mistaken me for superman. I was flying through the sky as if I was on that plane home! :) haha, just kidding. All was going well on the fourth and final jump until the landing. I landed right on a sizable rock with my front tire. Now mountain bikes are built to go over rocks but this one was pretty big. It threw the front of my bike off to the left but I was ready for it so I moved my weight and was able to regain my balance and right as I was about to regain control of my bike, there was another rock. This time there was nothing I could do. It threw the front of my bike off to the left again and I flew over the front right of my handle bars at about 25mph. This is when everything slowed down and I remember flying through the air head first thinking, I really don't want to land on my face. I spun my body in the air so I landed on the ground on the right side of my back. I slid for about 10' on the rocks and then came to a stop. It all happened so quickly that the first thought through my head when it was all finished was, I just destroyed a $2,000 mountain bike. I jumped up and walked back up the hill to the bike. I stand it back up and begin looking for broken parts. The miracle, everything was fine. The bike didn't even have a scratch. On the other had there is me at this point. I felt all the pain start to run across my back and that warm wet feeling of blood. Both of my companions were still up ahead so I decided that this was no time to stop so I got back on my bike and started off again. Putting all the pain in the back of my mind. It only took about a minute from there to catch them and that when I had them examine my wounds. They weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were! Whew. I was able to finish the ride and I haven't been slowed down by them at all this week! BLESSINGS!!!! The true miracle is what I discovered at the end of the ride. When I took off my helmet. The entire back of my helmet was shattered as if someone had thrown a rock at a window. I realized that if I hadn't been wearing that helmet that would have been my skull, shattered open on the rocks of the Santa Cruz mountains. That's very gruesome... All said and done, we had an awesome trip, everyone came out of it alive, and we got some sweet pictures! Ill send them your way!

Last story I have time for is what happened on Wednesday. We had mission wide iPad training. We got together with the entire mission and Elder Evans of the 70 cam and spoke to us about how technology is here for us to become the disciples that God needs us to be. He said that missionary work is not what they are trying to change. They don't give missions iPads to try and make them better at doing missionary work. They give missions iPads to help missionaries become better disciples of Christ. I loved that. There was a lot of talk about having moral discipline when using technology. The only 100% effective safeguard is yourself. Moral discipline is when you exercise your agency to do what is right because it is right, even when it is hard. I have learned so much about being in the world but not of the world over the past few days, it has been very amazing. The second best part about this meeting was that I saw Dana! Well, Elder Forsgren. He is doing great. He loves, loves, loves his companion Elder Call but he is experiencing what I like to call area trunky. All new missionaries go through it before they get to their first new area. He is so accustom to his area that nothing seems new anymore so he is looking for some change. Eventually you realize on a mission that no matter where you go it is the same work. The part of a mission where you are a missionary is when you are in the living room of someones home feeling the spirit with someone and that is exactly the same all around the world. No matter where you are called. That's not 100% accurate but it is true. Being a missionary isn't about sight seeing! I have some pictures of us at the meeting I will send as well.

I also took some before my haircut pictures! Did someone say Albert Einstein? Throw back to fourth grade! hahaha, it was definitely time for a cut!

I love you all! Have some fun out there! Hopefully next week I will be emailing you from my ipad!

Best of wishes,Elder Maxwell

Don't count the days! Make the days count!

Don't count the days! Make the days count!

    What a great week! Time is running short! Where has it all gone? I feel like it was just the other day that we started this transfer and got put into the trio and now we are nearing the end of the transfer! I have no idea what is going to happen! I want to stay here until the end of my mission but when you are in a trio everything is super unpredictable! I am nervous that President is going to pull me out and put me somewhere else because this coming transfer we are losing English elders and there are going to be a lot of needs around the mission so English trios are not likely to stay! AAAHHH! I just want to finish up here!​

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   We saw a lot of incredible things happen here this past week! As I said last week we set a goal to visit everyone in the ward! Well lets just say that was a very large goal and we fell short a little... We got to about 25 out of 300... So we are extending our goal to the end of this week as well, and probably next week and the week after that, and maybe even a couple more after that :) Good thing is that we are staying extremely motivated and whenever we don't know what to do, we know what to do! We have had a lot of really good visits with the members and we always feel productive sitting down with them and talking with them. Even if it is really quick! ​I was talking to our ward mission leader yesterday and he phrased what we are doing in a very unique way, I loved it so I am going to share it! He said "If you have a stampede of cats you don't have to worry, it's a stampede of cattle that has power. They all run together and in the same direction. That's what makes them dangerous! We need to stop herding cats and get our Ward membership to run together at the same time in the same direction!" -Rich Thawley 

    That is exactly what our goal is with our ward. To unite everyone and get them all going! We realize that it is a very time sensitive. We have to get a lot of members going at the same time because if there is too much of a gap between getting members fired up there is never a build up of momentum! We are using the idea of spiritual entrepreneurship to help motivate everyone. Basically we are running our ward mission as if it is a small business and we are trying to make it into an empire! That takes individual participation from everyone! Then as a group, as a team, we will accomplish incredible things!

   We also had a miracle this week! We got a call Tuesday night from a member that was feeding us on Thursday and she said that she had invited a couple to join us for dinner and the wife was not a member but she wanted to talk with us about her baptism! We have never met with her before but as we talked on Thursday we set a baptism date for May 30th! She was ready! She has bee in our ward for about a month and hearing all the testimonies about Max's baptism helped her realize that she needed to join the church. He husband has been a faithful member for a long time and she has been faithfully attending with him for a long time! She is prepared and an awesome lady. I am honored to be able to have met her. One of the miracles from our visits to the members of the ward. We have been inviting all the members as we visit them to pray for us so that as we are out doing the work we can find those that are prepared and ready to be baptized. Miracles work! Mormon 9:19-21

  The work here is amazing! I love my companions and I love this ward! The church is true! Don't doubt it! I have seen the blessings of the gospel in so many lives! I have also seen the change it has wrought in my own life. I am so glad I chose to serve. I will forever be a better person because of the lessons I have learned on my mission. ONWARD FOREVER! BACKWARD NEVER!

 

   Pictures... Myself and one of my roommates! Elder Crawford! The other picture is the most amazing dessert I have had on my mission. That right there is an apple pie rose... How cool is that! It was very gourmet and also very delicious! So cool!

I love you all a ton! Have a super good super fun week! Happy day!

Elder Maxwell

I love my mission!

Hej familj! дравейте семейство! Hello family!

     It was so good being able to see everyone! It was weird after the call ended because the rest of the day the thought kept going through my head that the next time I see everyone will be in person! It was a little distracting but I was able to work through it and am all better now! We started visiting the ward last night and only one person wasn't home so we are off to a great start! We have been encouraged by our mission president to take responsibility for finding people. Yes it is the members work to find people and yes as missionaries we are supposed to be professional teachers but we also need to be professional finders so we can aid and assist the members all around us. So when we visit members we have been sharing a message about our efforts in finding new people to teach. We are sharing one of my favorite scriptures in Mormon 9:21 in talks about praying for things and the promise that God will answer our prayers! So not only are we trying to visit all of the people in the ward but at the same time we are striving to get everyone to join together and pray for US! We are inviting everyone to pray for the missionaries so we can find people to teach. As we all know if we want our prayers to be answered we need to take action. Faith and works!

   We are really excited for the effect that our efforts may be able to have on everyone here in the ward! Hopefully we are able to meet everyone and help everyone know that we are here to serve them and help them in any way that we can. Someone in this ward is bound to have some service for us to do or have someone that they have been working with that we can meet and help come unto Christ! So those are our plans for this week and we hope that our efforts are not in vain! I love this ward! They are all so kind and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to serve all of them!

   This past week that we had was pretty uneventful honestly. We didn't do very much as far as incredible experiences goes. This past Saturday evening was Mormon prom for all of the youth in our stake and six other stakes! 350 youth came to our chapel on Saturday night for the dance! WOW! Max and Allen were going to it and neither of them knew how to dance so I promised them that I would teach them how to dance before Mormon Prom came around, so on Thursday night we went over to Max's house and after having a lesson about the priesthood which he will be receiving this coming Sunday, I taught them how to slow dance with a girl. No I did not touch any girls. I made them shadow all my movements as they danced with their mothers! The Moms loved it. It was slightly ironic because it ended up being us elder giving two 17 year old young men dating advice in front of their mothers and then one of them brought up the point that we were the only guys in the room that couldn't actually date! Haha, it was really fun but we gave them some really good advice. The report that we got about the Prom was all positive! They had a great time and their dates loved it! Oh, and the best part is that Max asked Allen when they were going to start their mission papers! Max is planning on going on a mission! How cool is that! He has been a member for not even a week at that point and he was already planning on serving! Second best part was his mom was completely supportive! She was talking about different experiences he was going to have if he went to different places! It was really cool, and a very good feeling.

I love my mission! I am super excited for life after the mission but I am living up this mission life while I still have it! What a blessed way to be able to live for two years! 100% service to God! I love it. Doing this is never easy but every part of it is worth it and everything about it changes an individual! I am having so much fun... Changing!

Love you all!

Elder Maxwell

Just have to last three more transfers...

 I am really excited to be able to Skype home for the last time! Whoah! thats crazy!!!! The time has really just flown by!

​ Like I said, We will be calling around 1:15 our time so that is 4:15 in NY! Be ready with that gigantic computer screen! I am really excited to see everyone again. Hopefully nobody has grown up too much.​

 

The Baptism was absolutely incredible! It was packed which made it awesome (over 100 people came!) The entire program went smoothly without any flaws! The person who baptized him was his friend. In the picture of all of us guys from left to right it goes. E. Harral, Myself, Max, Allen, E. Hamilton, E. Faux. Then in the other baptism picture it is Max and his family. Sister, Mom, Max, Grandma and Grandpa. Then there is Max and I. And then a picture of our companionship! We have had a great week! The spirit at the service was so strong. I am so glad that Max invited so many friends to come because I know they all felt something. I know Max's sister felt something as well. I am expecting she will be wanting to learn more eventually. So many people were kind to her and she felt so welcomed at the baptism and at church on Sunday. Max's mom and sister have only come to church once for his confirmation. But that is still enough to feel the spirit and be hungry for more! I know they will both want to be returning at some point. It is a little confusing with Max's mom but I wont get into all that. They are an incredible family and I love them all so much! I would do anything for them. Its as if they are part of my own family. I also reached out to all of the previous converts on my mission and they are all doing so well! I am so happy that I have had the chance to meet so many incredible people on my mission. The relationships I have made will last forever! I love all of these people so much! I have fallen in love with the Los Gatos ward and am so happy that I am serving here. I hope I finish my mission in this ward. Just have to last three more transfers after this one to be able to stay. Three chances that they will move me. The odds are in my favor!
 

Our companionship is doing really well. It is crazy! But we are all doing well. I am glad that we are all companions. We are a good match. We are working well together. Just like Elder Taylor was, we are not robo-missionaries. We let our personalities shine! That's one of the best parts about having a companionship where we are all in the last quarter of our missions, we all understand that people love having interactions with real people not fake people. We are a solid team and we are hitting this work out of the park!
 

Short on time but we are going to talk on Sunday! Love you all!
 

Elder Maxwell

I have two new companions

    Just to clarify last week a little bit. Our transfer did come a week early. Our mission president has a mission president meeting that he had this past weekend so transfers had to get moved a week early, which means this next transfer is now seven weeks long to put us back on our six week average. It's confusing but really it is quite the thought out system.

    I have two new companions, Elder Harral and Elder Hamilton. I have served with both of them in past zones so I know both of them pretty well. We are a fun group and have already been able to get a lot of work done together! Elder Hamilton has a really easy time getting in with all the members, just like myself. We match up really well with our personalities. Both very outgoing and friendly. Elder Harral is our spiritual powerhouse that keeps us all in line - for the most part :) Elder Hamilton has been out for 21 months and will be on a plane back to Arizona in 12 weeks. Elder Harral will also be on a plane pretty quickly here he will follow six weeks after Elder Hamilton and will be heading back home to Highland Utah. Then I follow six weeks after him and will be on a plane back to Rochester New York! This is generally the time of a mission where missionaries experience what we call being "trunky". Essentially it means they are ready to pack the trunks and head home. If I am honest, there is quite a bit of trunky talk going on in our companionship but we are not letting it get in the way of us doing missionary work :)

     As for some things about my companions, Elder Harral did what he likes to call, "Combat Simulation" before his mission. He would go out in the woods and help swat teams and police forces train and practice as if they were in actual combat situations. Pretty cool job. He is super intelligent, he came out on his mission straight from High School but still has two years of college under his belt somehow. He is a little farther ahead then I am to put it lightly. Elder Hamilton sold drugs before his mission. That's how he made all his money. (Cashier at a pharmacy!) He is a ton of fun! He has been a member of the church for the past three years and is absolutely changing the course of his life by coming out here on a mission. This Friday he can officially say that he has been a missionary for the church longer than he has been just a normal member of the church. That's pretty cool. At the end of his mission the majority of his time as a member will have been spent on a mission. He LOVES airplanes and knows how to fly them! He lives in the same mission boundaries where Jessica Beatty will be serving her mission so they may end up crossing paths at some point but who knows, the church is very large in that part of the world.

    As far as the work goes, everything is going very well. Everything is set for the baptism on Friday. I am really excited for him. He is really excited for himself, it's really cool to see him so set on joining the church. He has so much conviction! He stood up during priesthood opening exercises yesterday and invited the entire priesthood body to his baptism. He is so incorporated into the ward. It's as if he is already a member. I can't wait to see him change people! He is going to bless so many lives. This is the first convert on my mission that I truly feel like is going to serve a mission and do the same thing I am doing and that is a pretty cool feeling! I will be sure to take a lot of pictures so everyone can get to see him and his family.

   I know it can be hard at times to push everyone around you to be more active in doing missionary work. For some strange reason everyone dreads it! Keep doing your best. From the sounds of it you are doing everything that I would want a ward missionary to be doing. One thing that is really helpful for missionaries is having things that we can invite members to invite people to. One thing that I would love is if a ward missionary was to inform me of who would be speaking in two weeks in sacrament meeting and I would make it a point to go and visit those members in advance and ask them to invite their friends and coworkers to hear them speak in church. I would role play it with them and would follow up with them the Thursday before they spoke. It is honestly one of the least threatening things you can invite someone to. "Hey, I am going to be speaking in my church in a week and if you are free I would love to have you come and support me!" Who would be offended by that? Absolutely nobody! Just an idea. Keep me informed on how it is all going. Maybe it is just because I am a missionary but I am very interested to hear how everything goes!

   I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week! Hopefully it continues to warm up and stops being so cold! 

Love, Elder Maxwell

I can't stop smiling all the time.

  What a week! I feel like I am on vacation! You said the word warmer so I assume that gives me permission to talk about the incredible weather we have had this week. It has been nothing short of miraculous! I can't even use words to describe to all of you how beautiful it has been. It is such a good feeling being able to walk outside in my missionary proselytizing clothes and feel the beautiful rays of sunshine hitting my skin. I will say that I am not very happy with the whole not being able to avoid getting tan lines thing but I guess that just comes with the job. I truly believe that energy and happiness are directly connected to sunshine. I can't stop smiling all the time. People are going to start thinking that I am crazy! 

   We started today off with a 5 mile hike up in the Santa Cruz mountains. We hiked a trail called Castle Rock. The best part was that Castle Rock is also a place where people go rock climbing! I may or may not have been able to stop myself from climbing - just a little bit. Nothing dangerous, just a little bit of bouldering. It was so nice to be outside and enjoying the incredible beauty of the forest! A miracle happened in association with this hike. I have been trying to plan really cool p-Day activities for the zone and for the past four weeks I haven't been able to get the entire zone to show up to anything. I guess this morning I found an activity that everyone wanted to be a part of! The entire zone woke up at 6 am so that they could come on the hike at 7! Miracle! Literally! The feat that I thought was impossible. My favorite part of the hike was when I stopped the entire zone in the middle of the forest we were completely alone and I asked everyone to be silent and look around them. They all paused for a moment and were able to take in the incredible beauty of the forest. The birds were singing and the light was trying its best to break through the canopy. I then played the song Joseph Smiths First Prayer and told everyone that this is what the sacred grove looks like and feels like. We all shared our testimonies about Joseph Smith and we all talked about the importance of him being called as a prophet and beginning the restoration of the Gospel. It was a very spiritual experience for all of us and it was really cool how we were able to recreate the same spirit that resides in the Sacred Grove. I actually felt as though we were in Palmyra. It was a really cool experience and all of the missionaries gave very good feedback on how they loved it!

  We also got to teach Max again this week. He is doing really well. We taught him about a couple of the commandments and he loved it all. It really doesn't matter what we teach him because he is so prepared no matter what he is asked to do he will do it because he knows that it is what God wants him to be doing. He knows this is the true church. One of my favorite quotes from Max is, "I really wanted to join the church before but now that I know it is true I want everyone to join!" Max is going to be an incredible missionary. I am so excited to see all of the people that he touches with his sincere spirit. He came to church yesterday in a brand new suit with a haircut. He was looking good and he was so happy to be able to finally make it to an actual sacrament meeting. Due to General Conference and then Stake Conference he has been unable to go to our ward. The excitement about his baptism is spreading like a wildfire. No matter where I go in the stake people have heard about his baptism and are very excited for it. His baptism is a week from this Friday and he is already prepared for it. He could be baptized today and he would be fine with it!

   Transfers are this week as well. We are having a lot of change in our zone this week. My companion is leaving so I will be getting a new companion on Tuesday (tomorrow morning). NO idea where he will be going or who I will be getting! The excitement, stress, and suspense of transfers! YAY! 

   That's about it for the week! Busy and full of fun! I love serving! I can't even explain how much I enjoy being out here. I thought there was no life after Stanford but I survived and I am loving Los Gatos/Saratoga. 

Stay safe and have another amazing week! You are all awesome! Have fun. Love one another! DO something crazy for me and give Emma a huge hug for me on Friday when she gets home! OH, that reminds me, I know quite a few Tongans that are going to BYU Provo now and I was thinking about sending them to protect my sister but I guess I can call them off. Those are some big guys. I wouldn't mess with anyone they were protecting. :)

I love you all! 

Elder Maxwell

DO NOT fall asleep when you are sitting next to your bishop!

  Wow, you have stayed in Utah for quite some time. I am amazed that those college kids were okay with their mom shadowing them ;p Just kidding, I am sure they were very happy to have you around. Even Jonathan missed you! Whoah! He is growing up into a real young man! I miss you too. Two years is a long, short time. if you know what I mean. It goes by so fast but it seems to take forever! It is kind of crazy to think that in six months I will be on a plane. Weird. It's getting close. Only four more transfers, probably one more area and three more companions. My mission you could say is far from normal. 

   My companion is great! He is a fireball of a missionary. He is always in tune with what God wants him to be doing and he is always lifting me and inspiring me to be a better missionary. I am glad that he is my companion, we have a lot of fun together. We have been super busy and have been working hard but this past week I feel like I have nothing to share. I feel like I missed everything that happened this week. As the Zone leaders we go on exchanges a lot and I left our area twice this week to go and be in other missionaries area and those just happened to be the days that all the productive and fruitful work happened. I am glad that the missionaries that came into our area with my companion got lit up and inspired to go back to their areas and work hard!

  We also had stake conference this past week and on the Saturday evening session I was sitting right next to Bishop Lovelady and I will admit I was exhausted. I may have dosed off for a minute in that hot chapel and Bishop took a picture of me and showed me at the end of the meeting. He joked around and said he was going to send it home to you. I told him he could and it would just prove how hard I was working :) I was talking with the Karrens later and Brother Karren, who is in the Stake presidency, asked me if I was tired and told me that he had seen a picture of me. Then he asked if I fell asleep during his talk and luckily I had been awake for his and was able to tell him what he had talked about. I hope they don't think I am a bad missionary because of this. They seemed to be pretty fun with it so I think it should all go over well. However the lesson has been learned, DO NOT fall asleep when you are sitting next to your bishop! Especially when he knows your parents! Just kidding, you shouldn't fall asleep at all but if you are exhausted fall asleep somewhere a little more secret :)

   I have been studying recently about a marvelous work and a wonder. I have had some very good insights and have concluded that the marvelous work is the restoration and missionary work. That part was easy. The coolest connection I made was that the wonder of it all is how it reveals the mysteries of the eternities and gives us an eternal understanding. It reminded me of the saying, "A missionary is a person that leaves their family temporarily so that others can be together forever!" That is the wonder of this work. Families CAN be together forever and I am so grateful that I get to spend so much time with the people that I absolutely love! I can't even imagine what my life would be like if I didn't have that understanding. As a missionary I am truly blessed because I get to bring a message of hope and Joy to people every single day. "How great will be your Joy if you bring many unto me!" I love serving as a missionary. I love the people that I have met and the lives that have become part of my life and will change me forever. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and will always be there to take care of me and help me when times are hard. I am so grateful for this gospel and how it has helped me become the best person I can become. I love my family more that anything in this world and I would do whatever it takes to make them happy. The atonement is real. It has changed my life forever and I will never be able to repay my Savior for what he has done for me. This is the true church. Don't doubt, the Spirit has confirmed it so move forward with faith. Put your trust in God and let him mold us into the incredible beings that our potential holds. We all have so much to create and to offer. Let it be unlocked!

I love you all! I am so happy that I get to call you Brother and Sister, Mother and Father!

Until next Monday,

     Elder Maxwell