Quincy Week 3 (Mission Week 42)

Hey everyone! Another week gone. We are already halfway through this transfer. It will be February next week. Crazy! This week was fun. We had some interesting contacts and a couple of lessons. Here's how the week went!

Monday

We spent most of the day at the Dolezals house playing board games and Sister Dolezal had a lot of food for us while we were there. Later in the day we went to the church and played games with some of the youth.

Tuesday

District council took up a big chunk of our day again. From 8am-4pm is usually taken up by travel and the meeting. After we got back from Susanville we went to the church and did family history with Larry. He is really excited to get his family history done so that is something that we are helping him with while teaching him. We also created a poster for the gym on Thursday nights because our Elders quorum president was worried about things getting out of hand while playing g basketball so we made a poster stated the rules of being in the church while playing. I'll send a picture of it.

Wednesday

We did some walking around Quincy in the morning contacting people and saying hi to everyone on the street. While we were out Bill and Larry rolled up in their truck asking us to help move a washing machine and dryer into the house so we walked over there and did that with them. During the afternoon we went to Greenville and did some work there. I mentioned Brenda Roberts last week who was an online referral and our first lesson went well and she was excited for us to come back for our return appointment which was at 3pm. Well things are not as easy as they seem because when we arrived she was a completely different person and shew us out the door. I'll explain more of what she did in the lesson review later in the email.

After that fiasco we went over the Brittany's and talked with her. We did some more contacting and then headed back down to Quincy for an Elders Quorum meeting.

Thursday

We held our weekly planning session in the morning and then had lunch. After lunch we were going to do more family history with Larry but he wasn't able to so we just street contacted for awhile. We talked with Ray and Roderick at the library for a little bit. We had dinner with the Dolezals and then we went to basketball. 4 new people from Facebook were there!! One of them was 6'9 so that was awesome haha

Friday

We helped out with the Food bank loading stuff off the truck and then separated everything onto shelves. We actually ran into Larry at the food bank so that was great! After the food bank we went over to our friend Carol's house and shoveled the snow off her driveway. She gave us a bag of goodies that said Thanks to the Mormon boys haha. We had a good impromptu lesson with Larry in the afternoon. We then went out contacting people and we met a guy named Chad. He was drunk on his porch and yelled out to us that we could preach to him haha. So that's what we did. He was so drunk and he could barely read but he was communicating with us and we were talking about God. After we left Chad we got a call from some Elders in Colorado who said that 2 people added them on Facebook that wanted to get in contact with the missionaries. We were pretty excited but they both only speak Spanish so we went over to our Ward Mission Leaders house because he is Puerta Rican. Long story short they only wanted to get into contact with the Church because one of them was stranded in Quincy and wanted the church to pay for a plane ticket for him to go to New York. Oh well. Its a funny story though haha.

Saturday

It was a lowkey day. We helped the Dolezals lay flooring in their house for a good chunk of the day. It was pretty fun. After that we went over to Bills house and talked to him and Larry for a bit. We then had dinner and a mission correlation meeting with our Ward mission leader Carlos

Sunday

We finally made it out to the Greenville Branch for church. It was pretty nice. The few members that are there are really welcoming and you could feel the love from them. It was a group about the size of the Hemphill branch back in the Longview Stake. After church we did a lot of contacting and checking in on some people who have had previous contact with missionaries as well as less active members around Greenville. It was really nice driving out there. Its the countryside and we got some nice scenic pics as we were driving. In the evening we had our return appointment with Chad and he was still drunk haha. We ended off the night with talking to the Grandalls (an older couple in our ward).

Lesson Reviews

Brenda

Welp she is no longer interested. Completely different person than who we encountered a couple of days ago. She met us at the door and said she's going to stick with Christianity and gave us back the Book of Mormon and pamphlet that we gave her. We asked why she didn't want us over and she responded "my family" and slammed the door. We think either someone told her some false doctrine or she found it herself but she dropped us pretty harshly.

Brittany

We shared the "Songs Sung and Unsung" to Brittany and her kids and testified that Christ can help us during our bad times and that He is the source of strength when we have none.

Larry

He had a question on what is the highest position we can hold in the church which led us to talk about priesthood to prophets. That lead us in the the Restoration because we needed to talk about why the Priesthood had to be restored. He asked why there are so many churches that lead to the same thing but people say they are wrong so that lead us to talk about how Joseph Smith had the same question and we talked about his story and why the Church believes that we are THE Church of Jesus Christ.

Chad

He was outside his porch and yelled over at us while we were walking by and told us to come inside and preach to him. He was pretty drunk as well haha. He asked about Joseph Smith so we talked about who he was and what he did and gave him a Resto pamphlet. We're not sure how much he will remember because of how drunk he was but he said that we can come back Sunday night. We went back Sunday night and he was still drunk as can be. He asked us what our favorite verses were so we shared them and we talked about Jesus haha. He gave us a book out of the "Chad library" which was just some Bible lessons Book and we gave him one out if our library which was the Book of Mormon. Pretty sure he got the better end of the deal.

Well that's about it from this week. This next week is a eventful one because it's loaded with Zone Conference and 2 exchanges. I won't be in Quincy for most of the week so next email won't have much progress but oh well. I love you guys!!!

Have a great week

Elder Proctor

Quincy Week 2 (Mission Week 41)

What's up guys!!! I've made it through my second week in Quincy and its been a good one. Im starting to know everyone and getting accustomed to the area so that's nice. The members here are awesome too. It's hard to believe that we're are already halfway through January. One thing is that it has rained all week so the days have been cold and wet. Here's how my week went.

Monday

We just hung out at the apartment and played some card games with the Portola elders. Gotta say it was a pretty lackluster pday haha. In the evening we had a lesson with Maddy and then we went to deliver a birthday cake to one of our friends with Carlos (the ward mission leader)

Tuesday

We had district council in Susanville which is an hour and a half away. The weather was pretty bad so it took us MUCH longer to get there because our plans got changed. District council had to be cut short because we were so late. It was nice to meet the other elders in my district though. We went to Walmart and then headed home. It was snowing A TON on the way back to Quincy. The only other thing we were able to do was have dinner with the Dolezals. 

Wednesday

We went up to do work in the Greenville branch. We did service for a lady named Joy and it was cold and rainy the whole time. We got pretty muddy and had to go to the church to wash off. Afterwards we had a lesson with Brittany and hit a couple of contacts. We ended the day off with driving to Reno because I had a doctor's appointment Thursday morning.

Thursday

I had my doctors appointment and then we drove back to Quincy. We had a lesson fall through and then we did our weekly planning session. I also started a Thursday night basketball here and holy cow it turned out so well. I had thought that I wouldn't be able to do it here but boy was I wrong. One of the youth got a lot of his friends who play basketball for the school to come and we had a couple of people from Facebook to come as well. We played some good ball and they all loved it and will bring more people this next week!! I'm super excited for Thursdays again haha

Friday

We went over to the Dolezals house for service and helped them move some things around. We had an over the phone Bible study lesson with Sydney. We hit a couple of contacts and then had dinner and a lesson with two of our friends, Larry and Bill, and our ward mission leader Carlos. It took up the whole evening but it was quite productive. 

Saturday

We had a busy day Saturday! We were inviting people to our ward game night and we hit a total of 17 contacts and 8 of them answered. I'll take 50% any day haha. Some of them were longer than others and more productive but I'm glad we saw some success. We also had another dinner at our ward mission leaders house with one of our friends Ray. We helped cook and we had a lesson with Ray afterwards. We ended the night with the ward game night which was really fun.

Sunday

4 of our friends came to church!!!! Maddy, Larry, Ray, and another Larry were there. We were pretty happy. Its so nice when people actually follow through with the invites we extend. We also had a ward potluck afterwards and they all stayed and met some people as well! Afterwards we went to the Family History Center and did some more family history with Larry. We also had a lesson with a new person named Brenda! She was a random online referral that wants to be taught!! We had dinner and then hit come more contacts and that ended the day.

Lesson Reviews

Maddy (10 year old)

The lesson went well. We taught the 10 commandments. Maddy is picking up everything and she even shared some of her knowledge with her friends! She wants to come to church and said if her mom doesn't take her then her grandma could.

Brittany and children

We shared a "Jesus" video as her little boy calls it. We talked about how God wants to bless us. We also shared the last part of the talk "What is true?" by President Nelson and talked about how we find out what is true.

Sydney (mom with younger kids)

We read from John 13-16 and discussed what we learned from the chapters. We also invited her to come to church on Sunday and to the game night on Saturday.

Bill and Larry

We had dinner will Bill and Larry and then we got Larry's FamilySearch account started and did alot of family history with him putting it in. We taught why our church is so big into family history which is because of temple work. We talked about temples and explained a basis of what they are and what we do in them.

Ray

We had a good lesson with Ray and he was very involved. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson by reading 3 Nephi 27: 13-21. We testified that his life will be better when he lives the Gospel and he said he has felt a difference when he goes to our church because it feels like home. He struggles to keep commitments though because when we invited him to church he was making excuse as to why he might not go but we can overcome that.

Brenda

We walked in without really having a plan and we were just trying to meet her and see what her needs are and she said that she wants to start reading the word of God and to be taught so that was nice. We went over the Plan of Salvation and some basic Restoration stuff. It was a bit all over the place but she loved us being over and she wants us to come back! We invited her to read the title page/introduction of the Book of Mormon and we will talk about it and the Restoration on Wednesday!

Well I guess I have nothing else to say haha. I'm hoping this upcoming week is as good as this last one. I love you guys!!!

Have a great week

Elder Proctor

Quincy Week 1 (Mission Week 40)

Hey guys! Super late email haha. We'll I've made it to Quincy, CA! It reminds me alot of back home because there are trees everywhere and it has been raining a lot. I think I'm really gonna like it here. There have been a couple of people that have expressed to me that they want to have a basketball night which has gotten me really excited because I have started Thursday night basketball in each area! I had previously thought that I wasn't gonna be able to start one here but it looks like I am! Also one of the families in the ward are really into disc golf!!!!! I talked to Brother Dolezal for an hour geeking about all his discs and just talking about disc golf. The town is a bit small and they are having some trouble in the ward with people moving to get out of California  My area also covers Greenville, CA which is a town that got completely decimated by the Dixie Fire in 2021. It was eerie being there because it looks like a ghost town but it used to be thriving. Anyways here is a short weekly recap!!

Monday

It was my last Winnemucca pday with the Zone which was pretty fun. I started packing and getting ready to get transferred.

Tuesday

The whole day consisted of saying goodbye to members and investigators as well as packing. I'll miss the people in the Winnemucca 2nd ward very much but I know I'll see them again when I visit after the mission. We picked up Elder Burtons new companion (Elder Jarvis) and were in a temporary trio for the night.

Wednesday (Goodbye Winnemucca)

The transfer van arrived at 9:30am to pick me up so all the Winnemucca elders gathered at the church to send Elder Webb and I off. It was pretty fun in the transfer van because it's just elders and sisters on a road trip to Reno haha. We stopped and got something to eat (which apparently we aren't supposed to do whoops) and arrived to the mission office 2 hours late . I met Elder Haufe and then we made the trek to Quincy. We attended a meeting immediately and then went to my new place to unpack.

Thursday

We had to drive back to Reno to do some blood work because of my "stroke" that the neurologist wanted me to do. That took alot of the day and then when we got back to Quincy I went and got an EKG done. The whole day was taken doing medical stuff. We had dinner with the Dolezals and that's where I talked disc golf the whole time haha. After dinner we hit some contacts.

Friday

We helped unload a truck full of food then went over to the food pantry to unload. We walked A TON this day. We walked to all of our contacts and it turned out to be a grand total of 17 miles (27700 steps on my watch!). Boy were my legs sore haha. I loved it though. We also had an over the phone lesson with Sidney Piper. President Dunn also held a missionwide Zoom meeting where he announced the new mission president that will come in July. His name is President Saxton. I will have him for 9 months of my mission

Saturday

We went to the Dolezals and helped them clean up their yard. After that we helped a weekly planning session. We did somemore walking and then had dinner with our ward mission leader (Carlos) and had a mission correlation meeting. Carlos is very passionate about the work so it's nice to see someone so interested in what we are doing and wanting to help.

Sunday

I went to the Quincy Ward for the first time which I loved. It's quite small because of all the people moving out but the members that are still there a great. I bore my testimony and introduced myself during sacrament meeting. After church we went to one of our investigators house he is renovating and he gave us a house tour. His name is Bill. We then went to Greenville to do some work in the Greenville branch. This is the town I mentioned that got destroyed. What we were doing was seeing what houses in our area book got burned. Crazy right. We had a great dinner and then went over to the Gonzales family (less active) and had a great talk with them. 

All in on the first couple of days in Quincy were good and I'm looking forward to growing more accustomed to the area and people here. Please keep praying for me as I am out here and I'll talk to yall next week! I love yall!!!!

Have a great week

Elder Proctor

Winnemucca Week 18 (Mission Week 39)

Hey everyone! Here again I am saying that another transfer has passed. My transfer news is............. I'm leaving Winnemucca and getting transferred to Quincy, CA!! I'll be forever grateful for all the memories I've made in the Winnemucca 2nd Ward and the missionaries I served around. Time really does go by quick. I'm also 9 months out now and heading into my 3rd area. I'll most likely hit my year mark in Quincy which is so surreal. Anyways here's how the week went

Tuesday

We had district council and ate at a sushi and ramen place after which was fun. The rest of the day was filled with walking and contacting. We were much more prayerful in our efforts this day and it really did help. Prayer works people!! We also had a lesson with a new kid named Tobias.

Wednesday

We chopped wood at the Jones' house. We did quite a bit of contacting and had another Book of Mormon read with Stacy and Tracy. We also passed out Thank You Cards for the people who got us Christmas gifts.

Thursday

We ate breakfast with the Southwicks and did service for them afterwards. We held our weekly planning session and then I went to my last Winnemucca Thursday night basketball. I'm glad that I've been able to start this in both of my areas and I hope to do the same in Quincy.

Friday

We spent the day contacting non active members and trying to get ahold of some of our investigators. We had a lesson with Bryan that went well. We had a great dinner with Bishop and his visiting family. We were going to play another board game with Jordan but he wasn't able to.

Saturday

We went to the 7th Day Adventist church service. It was a cool experience to see what they believed in and how they worshipped. They were only about 15 people in total. We went because a lady we are talking to is a member there. She was sick so she couldn't be there but her son was there. The congregation was really nice and appreciated us attending. We even got to stay for their fellowship lunch! It was cool to see how even know they don't have the full truth they still have some of it. The rest of the day consisted of contacting some referrals that Bishop had for us. Also it was New Years Eve so we hung out with the other elders in the evening after the day was done.

Sunday

I went to my last church meeting in the Winnemucca 2nd Ward and I bore my testimony on how the Gospel blesses families. Although we hadn't gotten transfer news quite yet, people had a feeling that I would be leaving so I said some "goodbyes" there as well. After church was a bit slower because we both weren't feeling that great but we still tried to go and work. We found out that one of our investigators is not interested anymore because of some false doctrine his pastor instilled into him. We contacted the Johnson family who are less active members. We ended the day of by gathering at the church for transfer news.

Lesson Reviews

Tobias

We talked about a lot of stuff and just answered some of his questions. Really wasn't a lesson but just talking about some aspects of the church. We went in kinda preachy but realized that he needed someone to talk to and empathize with him so we just talked about his trials and overcoming them. He is a great kid with a desire to get rid of some bad habits.

Bryan

Long lesson because Bryan likes to talk but we talked about God and the Gospel the whole time. We got halfway into the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then went into some of the Restoration. He has been baptized before so we will have to go over proper authority. He says that the Book of Mormon makes sense so that's good. His daughter Brooke sat in on the lesson.

Well that's about it from this week. My adrenaline was pumping the whole week because of transfers so it's nice to know where I'm going and I can have a peace of mind. Well wish me luck on my first couple of days in Quincy. You'll hear about it in my next email!! I love y'all!

Have a great week

Elder Proctor