E-mail 12/26/2016

I've heard this rumor that it's supposed to be winter, but all I see is spring what with this 60 degree weather.

Tuesday, not a whole lot happened that day, we walked around town talking with people, I got a haircut, and we went to go see people.

Wednesday, Elder Hendricks woke up not feeling too good, but we still went out talking and he was doing ok, but when we got home he took a "short" nap and woke up feeling a little better. Then it was time for dinner and we were happily making waffles when we got a phone call from President Brough. I answered the phone and talked with him for a minute, him being his normal happy self, then he told me that our district leaders companion was returning home due to medical reasons and our district leader, Elder Permann, would need a companion for a few day. He asked if we wouldn't mind being a trio, well we had nothing against it so we agreed. We then went back to eating our waffles. After dinner we went to an older couples home and played Phase 10 with them, then went home to great our guests. We had four other missionaries spending the night, one of which is my favorite Samoan, Elder Matealu! And we stayed up late talking, but I made sure that I was in bed before midnight because I was the designated driver.

Thursday, was a cold frosty day and we were all out the door by 7:30 going to New Albany IN, for the mission Christmas conference! It was a blast, unfortunately my camera didn't have the charge I thought it did so I was only able to get recordings of a couple of the activities, so I will have to get the others from those that did record it. Afterwards we packed up Elder Permann with us and made a few quick stops before we went home because we were in Elder Matealu's old area and made it home safe with only a few non-lethal incidents.

Friday, we went around talking with people then went and saw some of the older members that hadn't been feeling too well lately and visited with then for a little while. Played card again then packed up and went to Jasper (Elder Permann's area) and taught a lesson that night to one of his investigators who is getting baptized this coming Saturday.

Saturday, we went to a members home and played some foosball/air hockey/table tennis with them and some other members of their ward for an hour. Then went to another members home to teach the young man from the night before. After lunch we went to the town square and started walking around talking with people and as we were starting there was this ice cream place that looked good (remember, it's like 55 degrees outside) and as we were passing, this lady stuck her head out the door and said "Hey Elders! Could I buy you some ice cream?" You know me, I won't turn down ice cream, so we went in and as we were getting some she was asking us questions about where we were from and stuff (she is a member that's new to the area) and she found out the Elder Permann was from the same town her grandparents were from and all that fun stuff and we ended up talking with her and her friends for about 20 minutes or so. Then later as we were talking with people, there was one lady that I talked to that told me she was "churched out" then she explained. She told us that she use to be apart of this church where, I can't remember his name but he was the purple Kool-Aid guy, so that was an interesting experience. Then that evening we went back to the members home that we first went to and had dinner with them and played Mexican train ride with them. At first I was keeping a strong lead but by the end I feel hard to fourth of seven. Oh well.

Sunday we went to church in Jasper and they had a nice little program. Then went home packed our stuff and came back to Tell City and called home, I know I had a great time and everyone loved seeing this beautiful mug of mine! We then quickly went to one family's Christmas dinner, but unfortunately we had to eat and dash, then went up the teach a lesson that went really well. I didn't think we would make it there because a huge fog cloud came rolling in and it was really hard to see especially in backwoods roads. On the way home we decided it would be best if Elder Hendricks drove because he is a much more experienced driver and it was a good thing too because as soon as I got in the car I started feeling nauseous, and it just got worse the more we drove, so it was a really good thing I didn't drive. On the plus side I didn't lose my stomach, so that was good.

Well, that was my exciting week, let's see what this one has in store.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 12/19/2016

The south is really really weird, this week we have had freezing weather, then it wanted to have a summer thunderstorm one day then back to freezing temperatures. Next, I think their definition of a drought is different then ours. For the past two or three months they've said we've been in a drought, but the Ohio River has risen at least 10 feet. The Ohio River! It's a half a mile across! Has risen 10 feet! That's a lot of water! Anyway this was my week.

Tuesday, we made the last few cookies we needed to take around and we've seen everyone we intended to but one. We were planning to see them today but a family emergency came up and we had to reschedule with them again. But as we were driving to someone else's home that lived outside of town, I was reminded why I like taller vehicles. I really like the Nesson Altima that we get to drive, but it makes it easier for people to high beam us, and they don't get the hint when I tap the brakes. But we made it to our destination safely and delivered the cookies.

Wednesday, we had interviews with President and his wife, and I think I hit a personal record for longest interviews. This was the first time I actually had a conversation with them as we talked, it was nice. After we got home, we walked around a bit, talking with people, then tried by a few but no one was really home.

Thursday, we did our weekly planning, walked around talking with people, drove out to see if we could get in with a family, but unfortunately we were unable to. So we drove back and helped the Reeds fill the bags for Saturday, and this was the first time I've ever seen more stuff be put in the adult bags then in the kids' bags.

Friday, we were going around doing our normal rounds, trying by different people, then went over to the church to set up, and boy was that stressful. We got everything set up as far as we could, then got out of the way, waiting for one of the sisters to tell us what they wanted moved next, we were just sitting there joking back and forth, when the sister in charge called at as, asking why we weren't doing anything, so we told her exactly why. We had moved everything that had been asked of us to that point and didn't want to get in trouble for moving something we weren't supposed to. So she gave us a job, filling the last couple bags with things (we ran out of a few things the day before), and not two minutes later another sister walked into the room we were in and got after us for doing that when there was heavy things that needed to be moved in the main room. We just couldn't win that night, but it was finally all done.

Saturday, was a very interesting day, this whole week the temperature has been averaging around 20 degrees with a 10 degree or less wind chill. But today we had a high of 63 with scattered rain showers. So the Christmas party is at 5, but around 3 the rain started picking up and the severe weather sirens went off. We're thinking that this could be bad especially since there was a tornado watch warning on the weather app. But it started calming down and we went to the church to practice for the play with the primary. It was the birth of the Savior from the perspective of the Book of Mormon, I was Samuel the Lamanite of course, and Elder Hendricks was Nephi. As we were sitting there Sister Reed started handing out music sheets, and we gave a formal protest on that, ok it wasn't formal at all, but we weren't going to be singing. The storm did pick back up with vengeance, other then that, the evening went by really well and there was lots of good food.

Sunday, the temperature dropped back down to the 20's and the night before the branch president said there is a chance that church would be canceled if the roads were too bad, but the Lord provided a miracle. Even after all the rain we had, the roads were dry except for a few small ice spots, so we were able to have church. Afterwards we decided to walk around a bit just to show everyone how crazy we were, nay, we wanted to see if anyone was outside that we could talk to/ help out, but most people wisely stayed inside. Then that evening we went to see the family from last week, the Mitchell's, and after they feed us lasagna (mmm! so good) we shared with them the plan of salvation and she really liked it. The spirit was there and she appears as if she really wants to except it, but is still too nervous about the whole thing, but she asks really good questions. Afterwards when we were setting up a return appointment, I mentioned how next Sunday was Christmas and we figured they would not want to meet that day, but after they looked over their schedule, they asked us if we were busy that night, well we went so next week we will be teaching them on Christmas day!

Well, that was my fun, exciting, and freezing week.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 12/12/2016

It got really cold, really fast over here, I! Don't! Like! It!

Monday, we were asked to help set up the Christmas tree at the church. I forgot what it was like to decorate with women, everything had to be done a certain way, and they told us they didn't want it to look like it was just slapped on. Giving my grin, I replied, that's exactly what's happening. Everyone got a good laugh. Well luckily for us we had to get going because there were things we had to get done.

Tuesday, we started our master plan, our plan to get in with less actives. One word; Cookies! We have made SO many cookies, but it's working. We have gotten in with so many people, never underestimate the power of cookies. Well we also had a Christmas card, an invitation to the branch Christmas party, and a Light the World card. For dinner a member invited us over and boy, that place was hard to find. They live out in the woods down a long driveway and their house isn't even visible from the road, but they have a very beautiful cabin that they built. They fed us pulled pork sandwiches, but instead of pork it was venison and it was good! After dinner, they had mentioned that they were having trouble getting their phones to connect to their cars so we offered to do it for them. It took us under a minute to get hers all set up, but after 20-30 minutes with his, we finally gave up because we had to get home.

Wednesday, we baked a ton of cookies and took them around to people and even got into one home that we've been trying the whole time I've been here. They were really friendly and the wife even said that we were lucky to catch them because she's not normally home at that time of the week. They even gave us some potato soup and said we could come back.

Thursday we were getting ready to go to Zone meeting when Elder Reed called us and said that a member had had a heart attack and wanted a blessing, so we dash over but just barely missed her. They were flying her over to Evansville, so we were going there anyway and headed over. Well somehow we beet the helicopter to the hospital and waited with the family, and waited and waited and waited. Finally the helicopter showed up and took her right into surgery. After another 30 or so minutes they finished and we were able to give her the blessing. Then we left and finally made it to the last 10 minutes of Zone meeting. Afterwards the Reeds took us out for lunch then we went home.

Friday, we made and delivered more cookies. Later we had coordination.

Saturday, we went to the church and filled up the font for a little girl getting baptized, so we did that and helped out with it. Then that evening we went over to some members that we had lost contact with, so we went up there and gave them their cookies. She apologized for not getting back with us being a very busy time. Well they also feed us "Poor mans stew" and it was really good. Then we helped them bring in their Christmas tree and asked him when his brother would be home (he lives next door with his family) and they said to try by the next night.

Sunday, it was interesting with quite a few people missing, being sick, but we still had a decent crowd. After church Sister Reed asked us to pick out our costumes for the Christmas party program, and immediately I saw what I wanted, I grabbed a long peace of material, throw it over my shoulder and put the belt around my waist and wala! (I will be Samuel the Lamanite. We are doing were it will be from both the Book of Mormon and the Bible.) Well that evening we went to the brothers house and took them cookies, and this was my first time meeting him. They were really nice, and after they sent the kids out of the room, told us that she would like us to teach her, so we got really excited, and taught her some right then. We set up a return appointment and they said they would even feed us! Who ever said that cookies were on the dark side was sadly mistaken.

 

Funniest thing I saw this week, someone quoting a TV show.

"How do you know He was the Flash?"

"He was SO nice. He was either a superhero or a Mormon."

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

Rome Indiana, population 36, how many living things we saw, a goat and a rooster.

 

E-mail 12/05/2016

Greetings, it's cold here, but probably not as cold as wherever it is that you're reading this.

Tuesday, started off interesting, it was transfers and my new companion was coming down from Robinson Illinois. The plan was for the Reeds to drive us to the top of the area and we were going to meet up with them, pick up Elder Hendricks and his ride was going to take Elder Long the rest of the way to Louisville, then the Reeds take us back down to Tell City. It was a great plan, the best plan (he he he), that is until they tell us that they are running an hour behind, so the Reeds decided to just take us to Louisville and pick up Elder Hendricks there. I was just fine with that, I was able to see some missionaries that I hadn't seen in awhile. On the way back, they feed us breakfast at Wendy's, then when we got home we spent the rest of that day and the next doing a deep clean, because the apartment needed it badly.

Wednesday, see above paragraph. We also went to a members home to plan more of the Christmas party.

Thursday, we did a lot of walking, and walking, aaaaand walking. Then I started introducing Elder Hendricks to members.

Friday was a repeat of Thursday, plus district meeting.

Saturday, we were doing some more walking and decided to head to the church, and we got there just after the Reeds. They were there to clean the church, so we did what we needed to do then helped them out. Later we had stopped by the Relief Society Presidents home and talked with her for a little bit. She had asked us to go visit someone else, so we headed over there and start walking around the area trying to find the members home, but that's wasn't working, so as we were stepping off the road for a car that was coming behind us and to make a call to someone who would know, the car stopped beside us and it was the Reeds! Turns out, they were just by the members home and showed us were it was. Then the last thing for the day, we went to Bro. Zellers home and had coordination and introduced Elder Hendricks.

Sunday was good, tons of people gave there testimonies and everyone was excited to meet Elder Hendricks. After church when everyone else had left, Elder Hendricks suggested I practice the piano, so I sat down and started playing. He made the comment that he wished he knew how to play the piano, so we found a hymns made easy, and I showed him were to start and how to read the notes and for the next hour and a half he practiced. That evening, I thought that the Christmas Devotional was at 6 my time so we went to the church, and turned on the TV that was already set up, and it showed that there was still an hour before it started, so Elder Hendricks practiced for half an hour then I practiced for half an hour. Then we watched the Devotional.

A little bit about Elder Hendricks: He is from Bountiful Utah, he is the middle of five kids, he has been out for a little over a year, and we have had two similar companions. I replaced him when I went to Newburgh with Elder Crystal, and then he and Elder Painter were MTC companions. He is the first missionary that I knew before I became companions with him and we are both nerdy in similar and different ways so we have lots to talk about. I am excited for this transfer.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

This sword is Bro. Embrey's, it's a replica of
Gandalf's sword from Lord of the Rings.

This sword is Bro. Embrey's, it's a replica of 

Gandalf's sword has while signing books.

This is a 5 car passenger train that is next to 

a flood wall next to the Ohio River.

 

 

 

 

This is the Embreys, they are the ones we are 

planning the Christmas Pparty with. 

And that is there grandson, 

his dad is the one on the stairs.

 

 

 

Me and Elder Hendricks on our first P-Day.

Our district

E-mail 11/28/2016

After everything I've had to eat these last 5 days, I think I've gained 5 pounds, but it will probably be gone by Wednesday.

Thursday, started off interesting, Elder Long had missed placed some important papers so we spent most of the morning looking for them. He tore the bedroom apart while I looked everywhere else. Well, after we moved everything we could think of, he finally just gave up and laid on the floor, looked to his right, and they were sitting right there, right were we were walking, so that made him happy. Later we went to a members home to have Thanksgiving Dinner, it was great. So around here there are about three family groups that are members of the church, one group is completely inactive, and the other two groups are all across the board when it comes to activity in the church. Anyway so the member we went to is the Relief Society President and she was hosting a lot of family, around 50 I think. We got to talk with a lot of inactive members and nonmembers we had never met before, though most of them have talked with missionaries before, and from what I can tell, we made a good impression. One of the nonmember husbands, as a joke because of the huge grin on his face, sat close to us with his cup of coffee and told us that there was some fresh coffee over there, so I said thank you for telling us, then he asked if we wanted any, and I declined, we all got a good chuckle out of it. Well Elder Long started to get a migraine so we had to leave and as I was saying goodbye to the guy who joked about the coffee, he said, “leaving so soon?” So I told him that Elder Long was getting a headache, but with a concerned look he asked, “Was it the coffee thing?” Chuckling I told him it wasn't that at all, we knew it was all in good humor.

After Elder Long felt better, we spent the rest of the day at another members home.

Friday, we had district meeting and Elder and Sister Reed normally take us but their family had come in for Thanksgiving so they weren't able to take us. We had set up with someone else to take us, but that morning we weren't able to get a hold of him so we looked at the miles we had left and figured we had enough to get there and back with a little left over. A little late, but we made it up there, then afterwards we started an exchange with the zone leaders. I went to Newburgh which was great, I got to see some members that I knew, and most of them recognized me, though they couldn't remember my name without looking at the name tag. We had dinner with a family from Peru and even though it was Thanksgiving leftovers, it was still great.

Saturday, the member that was supposed to take us to district meeting the day before had brought the other two to Newburgh, and he felt really bad for forgetting so he took us out to lunch at Jimmy Johns.

Sunday, there weren't that many people at church when it started, but by the time the opening prayer and song were over the chapel was almost full. In Sunday school, we had over 20 people in class, it was great. We even had one family come that for as long as I've been here only the wife has come, but it was her, her husband, their son that lives with them and two of their kids from Utah were there along with a daughter in-law and their two kids. From what the branch president told us later, the husband is planning on coming to full activity in the church.

All of this made for a really good week.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

Front row: Sister Mcknight, Hermana Spencer, Sister 

(Sorry, I can't remember her name), Sister Barker, 

Hermana Corona, Sister Bogardus, Hermana Milligan, Member.
Back row: Elder Sorensen, Elder Permann, Elder Patten (ZL), 

Elder Long Elder Riphenburg (ZL), Elder Durrant

 

E-mail 11/21/2016

"Weather Announcement: You enjoyed that warm weather? Well, it's gone now. Time to pull out your sweaters, coats, wool socks, and everything else. Unless you're one of "those" people who like the cold, well, good for you, I'm going to stay warm.

Tuesday, we had dinner with an active family who's four boys make up half the primary. Well needless to say, they were hyper, and as always I felt right at home.

Wednesday, us and the Reeds went to the Sunday School President's home because him and his wife, and all of us are in charge of the Branch Christmas Party, and it will be interesting with the ideas that were thrown around.

Thursday, I cant remember what happened that day.

Friday, was a very interesting day. First, never let your companion talk you into procrastinating washing the car when you're supposed to, because you wake up the morning of a meeting with a dirty car. So we drove to Evansville for Zone Conference, and I accidentally missed our turn and ended up driving down a 10 mile gravel road, so our already dirty car got a lot more durty. So we tried to go by a car wash before we went to the church, well every car wash we tried was closed so we just went to the church with a really dirty car. Yeah that's never happening again. Zone Conference was awesome. President Brough first shared this year's Christmas initiative, and we got the pass along cards to go with it started this Friday. Then He talked about the "Doctrine of Expectation", that was very informative. After that, the Stake President talked to us about "A partnership with the Lord" and shared scriptures from Exodus and Moses. For lunch, they fed us rice and meatballs, it was interesting. Back to the meeting. President then gave us another training on making sure someone is truly converted, and how the baptismal interview questions are based off of D&C 20:37. Last, the zone leaders gave a training on how to introduce the Book of Mormon. After the meeting, we started an exchange and headed back to Tell City. On the way there a member texted us asking if we had dinner plans, of course we said no, so he told us that he would pick us up. He took us to a buffet for the sole purpose that I could try frog legs, another check off of my bucket list, they're pretty good, like fishy chicken.

Saturday, I was excited because I would finally be able to ride my bike for the first time I've been in Tell City, but I couldn't find my helmet. After not touching it for months, it just disappeared. So we just walked around, and I even put a sweater on because it was chilly. Then we ended the exchange, a member brought us some groceries, and we saw a few more people.

Sunday, we had the primary program, and it was so sweet seeing the 7 or 8 children doing their parts. After church Elder Reed, Elder Long and I went to a sisters home to give her a blessing. We then had our studies and lunch, and I wasn't feeling too good, so I laid my head on my desk and just rested. Elder Long was convinced that I was asleep, so he tried to scare me with an alarm clock and video me jumping, but what he doesn't know is that I could hear him walking around, and that alarm clocks don't make me jump. So as he was laughing at me for "falling asleep" on my desk, I was inwardly laughing at him because the joke was on him.

Love y'all

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

Wanted to wish everyone a 

Happy Thanksgiving from Tell City Indiana!

E-mail 11/14/2016

"News announcement! After the heated election, as of November 9th, the residents of Tell City Indiana are moving on with there life's, satisfied that it's finally over."

Well, speaking of Tuesday, we had interviews with President, but before he gave the training for district meeting and when he stood up, he told us that he hadn't prepared anything, just that he was praying really hard that the Lord would guide him, and so every district got a different training. For us he talked about how we need to make sure people are living the commitments we gave them BEFORE we move on to the next lesson, and he shared a quote from one of the area seventy, "The surest way to prevent an investigator from progressing is to teach a follow-up lesson when they haven't kept one or more commitment." The Reeds provided an amazing lunch for everyone, then we started an exchange and Elder Permann, our DL, came to Tell City with me. We spent most of the day walking around talking with people, and we both decided that we have spent too long just driving around because we were really tired by the end of the day.

Wednesday, we ended the exchange and we had our BML's son drive us to the rendezvous and picked up Elder Long, and he took us out to lunch afterwards. Then that evening we went to one of the family's that live twenty minutes away, and it was awesome. Beforehand we had messaged them over Facebook asking if we could come by and they said sure, we'll even feed you. So that was sweet! It's fun being over there because they have some younger kids, so naturally they are a little rowdy when we come over. When the parents apologized, I told them that this was my natural environment. Now I don't know how well my companion was handling it, I just know he was encouraging them to target me.

Thursday, I don't fully remember what happened Thursday.

Friday, we texted our BML to see if we were going to be cutting this week, and he told us, no cutting, we are fixing our water pump (their water comes from a well under their property). They had had no water for a week, so we helped them get their water back on.

Saturday, I don't remember what happened Saturday.

Sunday, we had a member from the stake high council come and speak, he lives in the Newburgh Ward so I had been to his house a couple of times. Well after church a member had invited us to his home, and when we got there we shared a video about the Plan of Salvation and shared some points about it, then asked him for his thoughts and two hours and twenty minutes later we walked out the door. He is a talker, and he doesn't really have people to talk to, so when he gets a chance he doesn't let it slip by. He did share his conversion story with us and talked about how years ago the missionaries knocked on his door and shared a Book of Mormon with him. Then thirty years later he picked it up and read it in three days, two months later he was baptized. So he told us, with conviction, when ever we give someone a Book of Mormon and they don't get rid of it, we are saving their souls, it my take thirty years, but it will be worth it.

Well that was my week.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 11/07/2016

Good morning/afternoon/evening/why are you still up? I thought I'd cover whatever time you are reading this? :)

Tuesday, we had received a referral the previous week, but we couldn't find the address on any map, so we tried the area that we thought it might be, but still couldn't find it, oh well. That evening, we decided to visit some less actives that live in the far reaches of our area, and got there shortly after they had gotten home and they welcomed us in. The mom had started working on making dinner, so we just sat there listening to the kids tell us stories, and we ended up help them with some of their homework, it was a lot of fun.

Nothing much happened Wednesday or Thursday.

Friday, we had Zone Meeting, and the last thing that was talked about was the mission culture, and the three things people want us to focus on is Be accountable to God, Be Christlike, Being Spirit Driven. Afterwards, we went to our BML's house to help him cut down more trees. We didn't use any fire this time, but we did have an adventure. The person with the chainsaw (it wasn't me) was cutting the two largest trees in our path, and he got the first one down easily enough. Then when he was cutting the second one, he didn't notice that the tree was leaning the opposite way that he had cut it and the saw got stuck with less then a quarter of an inch of wood connecting the base to the rest of the tree. We tried to push it to get the saw out, we tried cutting with other tools, but nothing was working well/safe enough, so after about 45min of this we finally just tied a rope to the tree and their car and pulled it over just fine. After all of that, we were all tied and it was getting dark, so we went in, they fed us, then we had coordination.

Saturday, we tried to find a less active in the farthest part of our area, but weren't able to find it (I found it later on the map), but the drive was fun.

Sunday, Church was good, people bore powerful testimony on the plan of salvation, temple work, and missionary work, then in Sunday School we talked about the gathering of Israel.

That's it for me this week.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

This is a screen shot of the video my old comp. sent me of Seth.

Best part of Halloween is November 1st! Super cheap candy!

E-mail 10/31/2016

Another week down, and another on it's way.

Monday, we swung by the church, the church was right next door to the court house  and the jail, and there were cop cars all over with their lights on, so we did what we needed to then quickly left. Afterwards, we went to a members shop to wash our car and he told us what he heard had happened, there was a scare, but it was all over by the time we went by.

I can't remember what happened Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thursday, we helped our Branch Missionary Leader cut down some more trees and stuff, and I have decided that if I ever plant anything extremely thorny, that it will be in a spot I never plan to change. Well afterwards we had coordination and we finished planning for the Fireside on Sunday.

Friday, we had district meeting, and I didn't have to drive because the Reeds had their car back and they always give us rides to meetings, which I am extremely grateful for.

Saturday, we were stopping by some less actives, when an active member called and asked if we could meet them at Walmart, so we did and they gave us a baked chicken and some other food. This is the second time they have done this for us, they are amazing! Well as we were putting the food in the car Elder Long said "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Bro. Zellers (our BML) texted us, and asked if we could go to his fathers farm to help his son, (his son is the one that owns the shop) and we have to be there in 25 minutes." So we dashed home to put the food in the fridge, and put service clothes on, we got back in the car and we just barely made it on time. When we got there all we ended up doing was riding in the back of his friend's little Mazda truck as he showed us around the farm and woods. They have some really nice land and I really wish I had my camera, but alas no pictures, next time I will.

Sunday, President and Sister Brough came to Tell City and spoke in sacrament meeting, and participated in the rest of church.Then we had a "linger longer" and there was a lot of really good food. Afterwards, the Reeds had different plans for the Broughs in between church and the fireside, but they all fell through. Sister Reed was apologizing to Sister Brough, but Sister Brough said "That's ok, we just wanted to drive around and take pictures of the trees." So that all worked out. At the fireside, we were planning on around 10 or so people coming to this excluding the missionaries and the Zellers, but we ended up having twenty-five people show up, it was great! And President is an amazing speaker, he shared stories of when he was in the air force and how standing firm in his standers helped him and made it so others respected him for it. He shared one story of when he was in the Philippines, on an off day, he walked up to a group of friends and asked where they were going to go that day, and one of them said "Where we're going you can't come, and even if you wanted to come I wouldn't let you, because I know what your standards are and I'm the last person that want to see you lower them." 

It was a great fireside.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 10/24/2016

Beware! I am driving full time now, all beware!

So Thursday evening I made the pumpkin spice cookies for district meeting, and boy I forgot how sticky the dough was! And then I made the mistake of taking all of them to district meeting the next day, they were devoured.

Well, the district has stayed the same, except for our new district leader, Elder Permann has come in. Later that Friday, we were going to help our branch mission leader, Brother Zellers, some more, but it got canceled last minute, so we just went about our day doing our normal thing.

Saturday, we did go over to Bro. Zellers and got some more done, and burned some more underbrush, but everything's still damp so after a minute or two, it goes out, but it's still clearing it out. Oh and apparently there's a tradition in this mission that at 18 months, you burn a pair of slacks, well I wasn't planning on doing it, but I had a badly stained pair and we were burning stuff anyway, so I got video on my camera of us burning them, and will send it when I can. Well afterwards we had coordination, and finally settled on a plan for when President and Sister Brough come this next Sunday.

Sunday was good, one of the speakers was a member of the high council, and he finished of his talk with a Christmas story, and even though we're still in October, it was a great story. Well that evening, we had nothing else planned, and it was too late to drop in on people, but not late enough to go in, so we went to the church so I could practice my piano. Holly would be ashamed of how rusty I'll gotten, but the muscle memory is still there.

So we found out today that instead of having zone conference and interviews switching off every transfer, we will have both every transfer, so that will make life a little bit more interesting.

Love y'all!
Elder Durrant
Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 10/17/2016

Wow! What a week!

Wednesday evening, we started an exchange and I stayed in my area, so I got to practice my driving.
(Reply - As of tomorrow, I will be the designated driver, so I will get a ton of practice the next six weeks, that's when my complain will be going home, and he is counting down the days.)

Thursday, we ended up spending most of the day working with our Branch mission leader clearing out trees and bushes again, and I found out that vines grow much bigger out here. Anyway, it was a lot of fun to do all that physical labor, and by the time we were done, we had about a quarter of it done, but the next part doesn't look like it will be to bad.
(Reply - So to give you a visual, there's his house, then the road, then the land we are clearing out, then the Ohio river. They are just clearing the view, and they used to keep it under control, but then they moved for a couple of years, and have some catching up to do.)

Friday we had district meeting, and the Zone Leaders came. Afterwards we went to district lunch to a pizza buffet. They didn't have a large variety, but what they did have was good.

Saturday, was a very eventful, first we got up at 4 in the morning and was out the door by 4:45, and we drove an hour to English Indiana. The first part of the trip wasn't too bad, mainly highways, but then we got into the backwoods of Indiana and it was foggy, so it was dark, foggy, and we were tired. We were able to find the Elders trailer without anything going wrong, thank goodness. They were finishing getting ready (they are in a different time zone, so their 6:30 is our 5:30), then we had a member drive all four of us to Crestwood Kentucky, where we had a Mission Conference with the entire mission. The guests were Elder Gillenwater of the Seventy, Elder Uceda of the Seventy (he spoke in General conference), and Elder Stevenson of the Twelve!!! It was awesome! We all got to shake their hands, and we told them our name, where we are from, and how long we have been out.  It took about 45min to get through everyone. Well, President & Sister Brough spoke for a few minutes. President spoke on exercising faith and Sister Brough spoke on obedience. Elder Uceda gave his testimony on the divine calling of the First Presidency and The Twelve, then taught us about our calling. We are not out here to baptize people, We are out here to baptize converts. He had us read Matthew 28:19 and the Greek translation of the word "teach" means to "make disciples" or in other words, "make Christians". 

Last, Elder Stevenson spoke, first he talked on how great our calling is, then how President Brough holds the key of this work for this area, next about obedience and how it brings freedom. He then talked to everyone, but mainly those going home in the next couple of days, about how we should look to President and Sister Brough as examples of what we should look for in an eternal companion, and how we should be.

He continued on talking about inspiration, and finding our "Cornelius" (Acts 10). Last he talked about how we always need to leave a blessing when we extend a commitment. He gave the example of D&C 4, imagine if all the Lord said was "7: Ask, and knock, Amen." That is not very inspiring, but instead he said "7: Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen."

Last, he spoke on teaching with the spirit, He knows everything, don't cut him out. He said, quote "That would be like having Elder Holland with you and not letting him speak in the lesson, you just don't do that! It would be more of, opening prayer, then Ok Elder Holland take it way." 

Well at the very end, when they were leaving the room, Elder Stevenson said "Good luck y'all." And I'm thinking to myself "Yes! An Apostle said y'all!"

It was an amazing time. Afterwards the member took us back to the Elders' trailer and we had lunch there. Anyway I thought the day couldn't get anymore interesting, on are way back to Tell City, we missed a turn so we were fallowing the GPS to take us back around, and as we came around a curve, this car was coming towards us, down the center of the road, and we almost went into the ditch avoiding him.  He had the audacity to honk at us, anyway, we finally got turned around and as we were heading back, that car from before came barreling down the road and stopped us, and he started yelling at us " Were you the ones who were speeding back there?!" We weren't speeding, so we told him No, then he ask where we had JUST came from, so we point behind, and he drove that way really fast. We then slowly drove away, then as soon as he was out of sight, we got out of there. We both felt like it was best not to get in an argument about it with him.

And the last thing I did to top the day off with is that I picked up a toad that could fit in the palm of my hand.

Sunday, church was good, one of the speakers didn't come, so I volunteered to give the other talk.  I used a different talk that I had given a year ago, so it worked out, and there were even a few people that said it helped them out. God is good, God is great!

Well that's my week for you!

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

The is the KFC/taco bell from google maps. 

This was it last Tuesday. 

This was it last Tuesday. 

E-mail 10/10/2016

Dear reader, I have run out of clever ways to start my letters, I do apologize. ;)

Well the same old happened Monday through Wednesday, so I'll start there.

Wednesday evening, We started an exchange and I went up to Jasper, Indiana with our district leader, and since he is in his last transfer I got to drive. Quick note on that, several months ago, President Brough made a new rule, when you are on your last transfer you are not allowed to drive. This came because missionaries, right before they would go home, would do stupid things with the car, like going 100 mph, and things like that. Okay, back to my week.

Thursday, was a busy day, we taught several lessons, to investigators, active members, and less active members, it was a fun day. And I'm not as bad at driving as I thought I would be for doing very little of it for the past eighteen months, I just need to work on my parallel parking. I also learned that if the shifter is in the center console, you need to keep a close eye on it, because if you're at a stop and while you're not looking, the passenger might shift it into neutral. Let's just say I smacked him in the chest.

Friday, we had Zone Meeting, and it was good, and it was nice being able to see everyone from my old district. Well we ended the exchange, and the Reeds, who were our ride, took us out to lunch afterwards, they are so good to us.

Saturday, we spent a good chunk of the day helping our branch mission leader and his son as they were clearing out trees and shrubs, and that is a lot of fun, except that there were massive thorn bushes and thorny vines everywhere! Well we were making some good progress, but then their chainsaw dulled and they couldn't find their tool to sharpen it. So we decided to burn, yes burn, the thorn bushes, and the dead stuff underneath. No Mom, I did not start any fires, I just made sure they didn't get out of hand, and yes all you pyro's, I did get video. So we worked on that until dark, and we will be helping them again later this week.

Sunday, church was good. We saw some of our regular Sunday people, and we set up for a Relief Society Activity.

So that's my week, hope y'all have a good one

Love,

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 10/03/2016

Still Alive! For the most part anyway.

So I have been sick all week, and it has been afoul. I felt it coming on Monday evening, but we were still able to see people. Then Tuesday was ruff, but we still tried to get things done, but Wednesday through Friday we got nothing done, I think we left the house once that whole time. We did get to go fishing, when I didn't feel like death, but I don't catch anything.

Saturday and Sunday were great, I love General Conference! And for the priesthood session, the Elders Quorum brought pizza and things for root beer floats, that was good.

Well that is the sum of my week, I hope everyone else's week went better then mine.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 09/26/2016

Well, again this has been a slow week, but this is what I have for you.

Tuesday, we had dinner with some members and it was really great. They had gotten a pizza from the store and loaded it with toppings.

Wednesday, we had zone conference, it was great, President Brough talked about faith, and we read from Alma 32, what was really funny that as he was talking about a seed growing, he said that when a plant brakes the surface it makes a poofing sound, and as everyone was laughing he said "Prove me wrong." Well all of zone conference was good and memorable.

Thursday we went around visiting members.

Friday we did our service at the gas station. Afterwards he showed us how he made the food, and know after seeing how he make his hamburgers that he gives us, I'm not so sure I want to go back... Oh well.

Saturday, we had coordination, and what we talked about setting up for a fireside that President and Sister Brough will be coming to, that's exciting.

Sunday, we thought our meeting was at 8 so we got to church a half an hour sooner than usual, oh well.

Oh, at zone conference, I was handed a $50 visa gift card, because several months ago, the pare of pants that I tour when I crashed, I had given them to a member who was visiting the area to fix, well she wasn't able to before she left, so she gave them to a friend in the other ward, and I never saw them again. So that second member felt guilty (I think because she lost them, but I don't know) gave me the gift card for a pair of pants that I got from the D. I. Works for me!

That's my week

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 09/19/2016

Hi everyone! Sorry but this will be a really short letter.

So, not a whole lot happened this week. Elder Long hasn't been feeling well.

Tuesday and Wednesday, just a lot of trying people, with no success.

Thursday, we stayed home all day because Elder Long was feeling really sick.

Friday, He was feeling better, and we were able to teach some of our investigators. I was excited for that. We also had district meeting that day.

Saturday, we helped out at the gas station, and we were able too share more with him. He is way more fascinated by the structure of missionary work, then by our message.

Sunday, Elder Long wasn't feeling good again, but we still went to church, and about 20 minutes before church started the Branch President told us that the missionary that I replaced was supposed to speak that day and asked us if we would be willing to each give one. So we each gave a 10-15 minute talk, and the first thing I said was "Before my mission, one of the best pieces of advice I received was to always have a talk ready just in case something like this happens." Everyone thought that was funny, and I gave a talk that I had give about a year ago. Well later, part way through Sunday school, Elder Long leaned over and told me he wasn't feeling good, so we went home and he spent the rest of the day resting.

Well that is my week. Hope this next one is a good one for everyone.

Love

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 09/12/2016

Good morning y'all!

Well Tuesday and Wednesday was the same thing of trying by people, and trying to get in contact with our investigators.

Thursday, we and our weekly planning, and in the evening we had coordination, and I finally got to meet the branch mission leader. He has been on vacation or working since I got here. He told me I looked like a member of a family he knows in Utah that owns the piano store off of I-15. Well after the meeting he had his wife come down and he introduced me to her, changing my last name to the other family, and she just looks at him and says "No his not." Then tell me to show her my name tag well he's trying to convince her that I look like them, and she just pops his bubble by saying I don't. So that was a funny experience, and of course they both asked me if I was related to George Durrant. One of these years I will find out how we are connected, but until then I get to do mental face palms every time.

Friday we had district meeting, and I don't remember if I told you last week, but there was a big change, there are three companionship of Sisters/Hermana's, one of which is a threeship, then there's our district leader and his companion, the seiner couple, and elder Long and I, then the assistance showed up, so there were a lot of people at district meeting.

Saturday, we helped the guy at the gas station, and we got some much needed rain and boy did it come down, but it didn't last very long.

Sunday, we had stake conference, the very first one I've been able to go to on my mission, because I've ether gotten transferred right before, or my companion has been sick. So it was great. I was able to see a lot of people from the Newburgh ward, President and Sister Brough were there, and Elder Gillenwater of the seventy, who was just sustained this past General conference and lives in the stake. Then a member of the presidency of the seventy was going to come, but he got sick right before and wasn't able to come. All in all, it was a good day.

Love y'all!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 08/29/2016

Tuesday, we had interviews! It's always great talking with President and Sister Brough. Then we went on an exchange were Elder Husted (the district leader) came with me to my area, so I was in charged of a place I was only in for a week and a half, yippee... but it went pretty good. We went to one of the small towns near by, and I mean small, like under 400 people small. Well we tried by some former's and found some people to teach. And at one point we went to the ONLY gas station in town to use the bathroom, and while Elder Husted was in there, I started talking with the owner, he really likes missionaries, and said that where ever he goes in the US or Canada, he runs into missionaries. As we were talking, I thought about how he probably knows everyone in town, so I asked him if he knew of any opportunity to serve in the town, and he said that he could use some help, so we set up a time to go back the next day.

Wednesday, we went back to the gas station and learned how to stock shelves and stuff. Then he gave us free food, and as we were eating, he sat down with us and asked us questions about being a missionary. We were able to share the Book of Mormon with him and he said he would read it. We have set up with him to come back every so often to help out and follow up on his reading. He also told us to come by any time for food, so that's a good extra to it.

Thursday, we saw some of our investigators, potentials, and the resent convert.

Friday, we had an exchange with the zone leaders, and I went with Elder Smith to Newburgh, ya! Well, for undisclosed reasons, I drove us back, and this was my first time having to drive an hour from point A to point B, but it wasn't bad at all. Well, we ended up spending the whole time, trying by people who weren't home and talking with some others.

Saturday, we drove back to end the exchange, then I introduced Elder Long to our friend at the gas station. We helped out, got free lunch, and talked to him a bit about the Book of Mormon.

Sunday, the senior missionaries gave talks, and the subject was about the gospel of Jesus Christ, specifically repentance. Then the rest of the day was our regular routine.

Love y'all
Elder Durrant
Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

Elder Long and I

A cantaloupe someone gave us

E-mail 08/22/2016

This has been my first full week in Tell City.

So on Monday, the Branch has a family home evening at someone's house, so we went to that. Then we went to a recent converts house and had a family home evening with her and her husband. They're an older couple that we like to go over a couple times week. When we do, we have a lesson, then after the lesson we play a game called Euchre, I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

Well, Tuesday through Saturday was the same, trying by people and finding people to teach. We had district meeting on Thursday, and we had a member take us out to dinner on Friday, so that was fun.

Sunday was a repeat of last week, meeting before church, church, go home, have lunch, study, go back to the church for an Institute class that the senior couple put on and asked us to attend. Then that evening went to a members home to have a lesson.

Sorry for the short letter, but not a whole lot happened.

Love y'all

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

E-mail 06/06/2016

Monday; So like I said last week, we were out of power and had to spend part of our morning getting that taken care of, and ended up leaving the maintenance man to work on it. We then went through our day doing our thing, and crashed two BBQs that people there had the crazy idea to invite four missionaries over. Hahaha!

When we got home that night, we still had no power (headbanging), so since it was late, we just spent the night at some other elders apartment.

Tuesday; It worked out that we spent the night with the other elders, because we started an exchange that we had planned on doing anyway. I spent the day with Elder Conlin, and we spent the day teaching less actives, then had dinner at a active members home, then went to the church to take care of some things. We ended up trying to help the Hermana's teach a recent convert how to pronounce some of the words in the sacrament prayer, so that was interesting.

Wednesday; Was a very busy day. First we had district lunch, we went to Chili's (not my idea, but the food was good) and sang happy birthday to Elder Crystal. We then went to the church for district meeting and interviews with President Brough. I love interviews, they really care so much about each one of us and President is so inspired. Well as we were starting our district meeting, President came in and called Elder Crystal in for his interview, and told me I was temporarily the district leader and to keep things going. At first I was like "sweet! I'm in charge." The next moment I was like "Wait... I don't know what I'm doing!" So we finished what we were doing, and then with a huge prayer in my heart, we had a pretty good discussion on goals, and accountability. Thank you Dad & Mom for all you taught me about that, even though I wasn't the best at living it. Then we went and had dinner with a member.

Thursday; We had a bit of a slower day. We did some service in the morning, for a family that's moving in, and the parents are both college professors, so every time we did or said something smart, she would go, "college credits." I thought to myself, "At this rate, I'll finish college before I get off my mission!" We then saw one or two less actives.

Friday; Us and the zone leaders had lunch with Grandma Robinson at a pizza place that was really good. Then had a lesson with a less active family that we have been working on since I've been here, and we are slowly making progress. The four of us had dinner at a member's house that lives way out there, which was about a half hour drive away. They were really funny, and their son had a friend there. Those two reminded me so much of Adam and Allan, just not as violent.

Saturday; We did our weekly planning, and while we were in there it rained so we thought we were in the clear, because when we went out, it was clearing up, so we went out and we got absolutely soaked. When we got home and I took off my shoes, there was literally standing water in them. Well we got dried off and changed, then got picked up for the lesson we had for the two kids that are getting baptized.

Sunday; After church we went over the interview questions with the two kids, and they are looking good. And that evening we had dinner with a family and got a ride in his C63S Mercedes! It was awesome!

Elder Durrant

Great Kentucky Louisville Mission

Us at district lunch

Lunch with Grandma Robinson 
and the blue eyed moose