Te'o to the End! & Heisinger's Baptism!

Elder Te'o to the End!

From Ethan: Mon, Feb 16, 2015 11:42 am

      Transfer calls this week and I really had a feeling I was going to leave Burley but alas I will be staying here with Elder Te'o yet another transfer! He will leave home in April so I am with him until his “death” on the mission :) Pretty sweet cause we get along super well and are seeing lots of success in our area. Staying with him till the end might mean I will be here another 3 months on top of the 6 I have already been here. Looks like Burley Unity will be the area I will serve the longest in.

       I have some sweet news! Ron and Shirley Hiesinger are being baptized this Saturday Feb. 21st at 4:00pm. I am super excited for them. They are two golden good people :) They have really come to gain strong testimonies in the Restored Gospel and renewed faith in Jesus Christ. They have embraced the ward as their family and it's really awesome to see how happy they are now compared to 6 months ago. I love that aspect of the gospel, how much happiness it brings into people's lives and how much joy it brings! I know for myself, I am way more upbeat whenever I am choosing the right and following the Lord. Ron and Shirley have that desire to follow the Lord and that is why they are getting baptized! I will have the honor of confirming them as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as giving them the Gift of the Holy Ghost on the day after their baptism. What a blessing!!

        I am super excited for the next couple of months. First of all the weather has been amazing here and we will start to do more yard work for people and giving service all the time! Secondly, the work here is awesome and I truly love the people here in the Burley Unity area. We are looking forward to Taggert Patterson, the adopted 13 year old boy from China, being baptized in the upcoming weeks as well as a couple of younger boys who have recently come back to church with their families. All is good in Burley Idaho :)

- Your friend, brother, son, fellow adventurer, first mate and missionary,

      Elder Ethan Howard

Heisinger's Baptism!

From Ethan: Mon, Feb 23, 2015 10:44 am

      This week was awesome because Ron and Shirley Heisinger were baptized! The story of how they received the gospel in their lives is a pure testimony to me of how our Heavenly Father has a hand in all things as it says in 2 Nephi 2:24, "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things."    

      Ron and Shirley Heisinger, in their seventies, have lived in Burley, ID just three years. Both from Oregon originally, they were married there about ten years ago. When they moved into the Unity 1st ward boundaries, it just happened to be right next to a field where Neil Thomas, our ward mission leader, farms. Over a couple years they started talking over the fence like Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor and Wilson on the show Home Improvement. After those couple of years Brother Thomas kept getting impressions that he should approach Ron and Shirley about the gospel. However he kept putting it off and putting it off until one day about six months ago Ron told him that he was having hip surgery and Shirley needed some help around the house. Finally it clicked in Bother Thomas' mind! He asked if the missionaries could come and help her out by cleaning the yard, mowing the lawn and various other miscellaneous jobs. They accepted! To add a point of interest, Bother Thomas didn't invite them to church off the bat but he took the opportunity to help us fulfill our calling by simply giving service. Well the time came for Ron's surgery. We got to have fun doing house work and getting to know Shirley! (Thank you mom and dad for teaching me how to do some good house work).

        When Ron was in the hospital he got to know his therapist, Andrea Farfan, quite well. Andrea is a member of the church in town and at the time she was pregnant. Being far from family, Ron asked Andrea if they could be "adopted grandparents" to the new baby and the other kids. Having a good relationship, Andrea accepted and they became like family. When they had Christmas together and other fun times, they started noticing something a little different about the Farfan family and their happiness.

         After we helped Ron and Shirley for a couple weeks, we invited them to hear the lessons. During the space of a couple months of teaching lessons and the Heisingers affiliating with the Farfans, I guess the Spirit touched them because they gained a desire to find out if the church was true. They have attended church for four months and have read most of the Book of Mormon. Through diligent prayer and reading they gained testimonies that this church was true! It is really awesome to notice how the Lord placed us, Brother Thomas and the Farfan family in Ron and Shirley lives at different times and in different places to help them learn about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter--day Saints. Funny enough we didn't even know about the Farfan family, much less meet them until just a month before Ron and Shirley got baptized. Coincidence?! I think not.

          On a different note, Elder Te'o and I got to cook for a family instead of them cooking for us! We fried Salmon in a secret receipe :) I really love all the families in our area! Sundays are my favorite day because we get to visit and spend time with some awesome families. I am lucky enough to be serving in the USA so I can visit all these people for the rest of my life with ease! I'm just a lucky guy to be serving in such a great place. Sorry to all my friends in crazy places like Chile, Australia or Madagascar, but Twin Falls Idaho is the best mission in the world!

Love, Elder Howard! 

Testimony of True Faith

From: Mon, Feb 9, 2015 2:03 pm

Well everyone, the big news is that Seth Graham was baptized!!! Man over the last 6 months or so Seth has become a real man. He has become such a humble young man who really does whatever he can to be closer the Lord. He was baptized Sat. Feb 7th at 6:30. Seth being baptized wasn't the best part, it was the testimony he shared afterwards. He was smiling so big it was hard for him to start talking! Seth shared with us some very powerful things. He boldly testified that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each and every one of us,  that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and if anyone were to read it with real intent would find out  it is true. He knows it is and shared his conviction that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is Christ's church upon the earth today. Man it was powerful! I could feel the Holy Spirit there bustin' everyone's hearts softer and softer.

Also our Musical Fireside went swell!! Boy oh boy, I did not know how much planning has to go into a fireside until this one. But with all the planning it was well worth it! We had about 150 people in attendance with 5 musical numbers. 

1. Savior Redeemer of My Soul (Elder Howard & Elder Te'o)

2. I Know That My Redeemer Lives/I Feel My Saviors Love (Amber and Levi Heward)

3. How Can I Be? (Morgan Heward, Nicole Heward, Elder Howard & Elder Te'o)

4. My All is Thine (Nikki Worthington & Jill Brown)

5. Joseph Smith's First Prayer/Come Thou Fount (Elder Howard & Elder Te'o)

Sadly we didn't record them because of the program being in the chapel and other things but man let me tell you it was one spiritual fireside!! After each song the participants each bore their testimonies and shared something they felt inspired to share. Throughout the whole night tears of joy were shared and the spirit was felt. I was super blessed to be able to be a part of such a great program and great musical talents shared. 

All in all the week was super awesome! Today we are just going to bowl and hang out with all the missionaries in Burley. I have definitely come to love Burley and all the people here. Even though it is a small town (8,000 roughly) it packs a huge punch of love and charity :) Love you all!

-Elder Ethan Howard

Pictures: Seth in the black t-shirt to the right of me with some of his young single adult ward friends and me rockin’ a new hairdo.

New Things I Learn Every Day

From Ethan: Mon, Feb 2, 2015 at 12:34 PM

Holy Cow everyone, I could write a book about the amazing things that happened this week!!! Too bad I only have a short amount of time to fill you in... Anyway some super awesome, successful, battle changing events happened this week! First of all, we had a very awesome lesson with Seth Graham in which he taught me multiple things. We discussed the Gospel of Jesus Christ along with the Plan of Salvation using a cool little drawing that I came up with depicting our journey through life. (I hope you can understand the drawing without too much explanation. See photo below.)  Seth understood everything and added this thought, "Heaven is our Home."  Seth has been using this phrase as his motto since the beginning of the year. He explained that since we are all God's children, then Heaven is our real home and all we have to do is make our way back into his presence. He has come so far in the six months I have known him.  Seth committed and is ready to be baptized this Saturday, Feb. 7th! He closed our meeting with a prayer and in it said something I have overlooked too many times. Seth thanked our Heavenly Father for giving us another day and an opportunity to progress. WOW! That hit me like a brick wall because I have recently neglected to be thankful for that.  For as many things I think I have taught Seth, he has taught me just that same.

Second great event was with the Hiesingers! Ron and Shirley Hiesinger are two super people :) They have embraced this gospel with all their hearts and slowly, through much prayer and dedication, have gained outstanding testimonies. We had a lesson with them directly about baptism and they agreed to be baptized before the end of the month! Them accepting baptism wasn't even the greatest part about our meeting, it was their testimonies that they shared with us. Both Ron and Shirley have felt the Holy Ghost bear witness to them that this church is true and it is the right course for them. They also mention that Heavenly Father has a grand plan for each of us and that He puts certain people in our paths to help us. Little to our knowledge Ron and Shirley had come into contact with an amazing family over the holidays whom they have pretty much adopted into their family. Joe and Andrea Farfan family live in town and out of the kindness of their hearts have let Ron and Shirley be the "grandparents" of their children. They are members of the church who didn't know that Ron and Shirley were investigating the church! Through their example and the guidance of the Holy Ghost, Ron and Shirley have gained testimonies of their own :) It's such an amazing thing to witness how our Heavenly Father has a hand in all things.

Elder Te'o and I have been having the most wonderful time here in Burley Unity area. At the Mission Conference with Elder M. Russell Ballard a lot of elders came up to Elder Te'o and I and asked us how Burley Unity area was going. They seemed to have a preconceived notion that the area was "Deader than Dead." Yet we shared with them all the success we are having here and how much fun we are having. I believe that there is no such thing as a dead area, only dead missionaries. True some areas may not show much success on the outside but we wouldn't be here if the Lord didn't want us here. We have so many wonderful people in this area and success everyday!

I know that the work I am doing is for the Lord and it is the best thing I can do with my life! Please help the missionaries in your area and help the work progress forward! Love you all :)

-Elder Ethan Howard

A Visit from Elder M. Russell Ballard

From Ethan: Mon, Jan 26, 2015 12:05 pm

Surprise! Our mission was visited by a living day Apostle! We took a trip to Twin Falls for a mission conference on Saturday to hear from Elder M Russell Ballard. Boy, he was a lot shorter than I thought, but spiritually powerful none the less! Accompanying Elder Ballard were Elder Nash and Elder Allen of the Seventy.

      To start off the conference Elder Nash asked us two questions, "Why do we wear the missionary name tag?" and "If Christ were hear in Twin Falls, what would he be doing right now?" He then turned to 3 Nephi chapter 11 and gave a short training. From what the scriptures tell us, Christ would be doing the same thing we are just way more effectively. Inviting people to come unto Him, believe in Him, and be baptized in His name. That was a great boost in faith for us knowing that we as missionaries of the Lord Jesus Christ are doing the very same thing He would do if He were here.

      Elder Ballard then gave us a discourse on how our power in teaching comes from faith and an underlying knowledge of the gospel. He gave us counsel to "Everyday wake up on time and enthused about the work you are going to do today, bring that enthusiasm into your studies." This strengthens my testimony that knowledge of the scriptures will help us effectively share the gospel with others. If we take the example of Apollos in the Acts, if we learn from the Holy Ghost in our studies "the way of God more perfectly", then we will be able to "mightily convince [people]...shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ." (see Acts 18:24-28). Elder Ballard gave us oodles of great council in which I'll sum up with these statements. 

• In order to put off the natural man, we must lose ourselves in the service of others.
  
• Christ is as close as we'll allow Him to be.
• We are representatives of Jesus Christ. We do what He would do and say what He would say. This includes what and how we teach as well as our attitude and appearance.

    It was a great Mission conference and fun of seeing all the elders and sisters in the mission.  We are still seeing success here in Burley. Slowly but surely people are making their hearts open to believing in Christ fully and being baptized in His name. Ron Heisinger told us this week that he has been able to see how Heavenly Father has put certain people in his path and in his life to bring he and Shirley to the point that they are at right now. They simply love church and all the activities that are going on, they love reading the Book of Mormon and are in Alma chapter 18, and they are preparing to be baptized here in February. I could not find such great people anywhere else in the world!

    We are just about done getting all the plans for our Musical fireside ready and are super excited about it! For all those who see this in Southern Idaho YOU are invited! Feb. 8th at 7:00 pm here in Burley at the Unity church building. 275 S. 250 E Burley, ID 83318. It'll be a blast with cookies and lemonade. :)

Well that's it from here! I am hoping to record the musical numbers at the fireside to share on YouTube but we'll see what happens. TAKE LUCK!

-Elder Howard 

He is Proud of you

From Ethan: Mon, Jan 19, 2015 12:37 pm

Hello friends and family!  It has been another great week in Burley Idaho :) Because it is Martin Luther King Jr. day, the library is closed.  We are at the Family History Center here in Burley with limited time. So here is one lesson that sticks out from last week which I would like to share with you.

The same family that had us over to Skype this Christmas (The Morgans) brought a good friend and her two sons to church with them yesterday. Theresa Zemke and her two sons, Zay and Xander, also had lunch with us after church. Theresa grew up in Utah.  A member of the church her whole life but as she grew up she faded away from activity. She is a massage therapist.  The Morgans were one of her first clients.  After a couple years they began to be just like family. Well, fast forward a couple years to yesterday and Theresa and her two sons are in church! When Zay walked out the church to their car all he could say was, "Wow I had such a good time and I feel so good!"  We were able to teach them about the Love of our Father in Heaven and how He blesses us as we follow Him and our Savior Jesus Christ. I got to bear my testimony to Theresa that God was proud of her for taking the steps leading back to Him. She and her sons have a great desire to follow the Lord and I know that when anybody comes to that point in their life that our Father in Heaven is SO proud of them and has a smile because of their choices and actions :)

We are having great success with the people we love such as the Millspaughs, Hiesingers and Wattersons. They were all at church yesterday and are feeling the spirit in our lessons and while reading the scriptures. It's that love of God workin'!

-Elder Howard

This Darn Thing Called Agency

From Ethan: Mon, Jan 12, 2015 11:56 am

Well to my immense dismay there were a lot of disappointments this week. Things that Elder Te'o and I worked towards and prayed about just didn't happen the way we wanted them to. Key appointments with certain people, people coming to church and Ramiro's baptism, all didn't happen this week. WHAT A BUMMER! In these moments I always have a little "beat up" session with myself, thinking of all the things I could have done better. It's sad but I need to look at them as moments to improve.  Also I have a firm testimony of The Lord being in charge of everything and that everything happens for a reason.  One of my all time favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 2:24 "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things."  Although our Father in Heaven cannot take away our agency, He has a plan for us to return to Him.  Perhaps all the disappointments that occurred this week are all part of a more grandiose plan that I am not aware of. That's probably the case and I have faith that it is!

With all the disappointments there were still some good things that happened! One man is accomplishing some great goals. Seth Graham is becoming a real saint! He made some New Year’s goals to participate more in the Young Single Adult ward to make his testimony more solid before baptism. So far he has come to church and all the other activities in the past two weeks. Last night we were able to sit with him at a Worldwide Devotional given by Randell L. Ridd, Second Councilor in the Young Men General Presidency. He gave an awesome talk about living with purpose and having real intent. He mentioned reading the Book of Mormon not just to finish it, but to really find out if it is true. He also mentioned working towards fulfilling your job to the best of your ability and not simply working towards higher positions. It was great for me to hear and I think also Seth gained a lot from it.

Elder Te'o and I are in the final stages of planning our Musical Fireside for Feb. 8th at 7pm here in our Unity building. Our focus is for people to feel the Spirit and the love of God. Once that happens then a testimony and a foundation of faith can be rooted in our hearts.  Four other people will be sharing their talents and testimonies, too.  It'll be a great night!  We're looking forward to it :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Sent from Ethan: Mon, Dec 29, 2014 12:00 pm

Hello and Merry late Christmas to all! I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as I did here in Burley. The last couple weeks I had been hoping and praying that we would have some snow for Christmas day and Hallelujah my prayers were answered with about 6 inches of snow on Christmas Eve :)  Burley is in a massive valley between two mountain ranges, so the landscape is very flat and the wind is terrible. Snow drifts were covering the roads and instead of the snow falling to the ground it was flying horizontal! But it is snow none the less so I am ecstatic!

Christmas Eve we spent most of the day stopping in people's houses to share a little thought about Jesus Christ. Perfect, right?  In the evening when we went to a Mexican Fiesta! Wow there was a lot of authentic food, Grandpa Farfan is straight from Mexico.  In the white elephant gift exchange I got stuck with Sardines and crackers.. Whooo! We went to bed and woke up to a White Christmas, yeah!! I got to video chat with my family Christmas morning and see my little nieces and nephew growing up fast. The rest of the day was filled with fun, food and games. Pretty great Christmas and I could definitely feel all the love from friends and family :)

We had a neat experience this Friday with the Smith family. Howard and Jolene Smith are heirs to some really neat historical artifacts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are in the care of the Legion Sword of the Prophet Joseph Smith, The Noble Family Bible, locks of hair from Joseph and Hyrum Smith and a Musket owned by Joseph Bates Noble dating back to 1812! The stories of these artifacts are way too long to put on here so see the link! http://keeperoftheprophetssword.net/. Seriously at first I was like "wow.. cool... it's a sword" but the more we talked about it and finally when I saw it in person I was amazed at the spirit around this thing! It's equivalent to a sword carried and owned by Moses! Both were great Prophets of the Lord and it was really cool hearing the history of these artifacts and learning history that I didn't know.  

With the New Year upon us a lot of goal setting and planning is happening in the next few weeks that will be preparation for a great year. Holy Smokes I can't believe it's almost 2015! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

-Elder Howard (ehoward@myldsmail.net)