Christmas Cheer from East Cleveland

Dearest Family and Friends,

                                                 I am excited to write you all today! It has been a wonderful week! We have enjoyed the Christmas spirit that is all around and are having more success in finding people to teach. I found out last night that I will bet staying yet another transfer in East Cleveland which will be my 6th in the area (two separate tenures) and my 7th in the same apartment. If you could see where I live you would see that this place has so much personality. We live right next to a big towns square where you can find all walks of life and everyone knows our name and who we are. I have grown to love all the people in my surroundings here. This is also a fun time of year because everyone seems to be a little more infused with peace on earth and good will towards men. I am a bit saddened however because of the news that Elder Mo'Unga will be leaving. He has been so much fun to work with. It is funny because he says I have been a big brother to him and I think he has been a big brother to me (literally and figuratively). He has been here in the inner city of Cleveland since he arrived here in May so it will be nice for him to venture out and have the experience of serving in new places. I hope he has success wherever he goes. I will miss his protection from danger perhaps most of all.

 

                                                  The beginning of a new transfer is always exciting to me. It is always a time of re-commitment, greater faith and new friends. I will be meeting my new companion tomorrow and we will be getting right to work.

 

                                                I am excited for this coming week. I look forward to see who the Lord will have me serve with. I am excited to continue my labor for the Lord. I love this work. I can't wait to meet all those who I haven't met yet. I can't wait to teach them about the glad tidings that Gabriel spoke of. I am realizing more and more that this experience of serving in the inner city of Cleveland has far reaching effects into the days where I don't where a name tag. My work is cut out for me here. If anything is to be truly accomplished it must come from faith. I love the Lord with all my heart. I wish I could fully show you all my heart that you might know how much I love Him. I wish I could persuade those who are lost to come unto him. These things are truly the state of my heart.

 

                                                 Thank you all for your collective prayers and thoughts this Christmas season. I am far from alone and am surrounded by many whom I love and consider family. I appreciate all of your cards and letters. Please know of my love for you. I hope you all have a great week!                             

                                                                                 Love, Elder Prince

Happy December

Dearest Family and Friends,

                                               I am sitting here trying to remember what happened this week; it is all a blur at this point. I would have to say the highlight was the specialized training that we received from Salt Lake. We had church educators here all week who had all of the leaders assemble for training. To be honest it was like boot camp mixed with Sunday school. This one brother in particular was a mission President in San Diego ad now does missionary instruction for the church; this guy ripped our hearts out. Our mission President said we all looked like a bunch of scared dogs. I loved it though. I love straight forward talk when it comes to the gospel. Way too much false doctrine is spread when we speak light and fluffy as missionaries. People will understand the love and the joy of the gospel only as they feel motivated enough to try the doctrine. We learned alot of great things and we will also need to make a few course correction in our mission. This guy was taking cultural standards we had here and flipping them on their head. Pretty funny/intense.

 

                                              We also had our Christmas party on Saturday and we had over 100 people show up, 30 more than expected and way more than a traditional sacrament meeting. The idea that more people will show up for free food than to worship God honestly does sadden me a bit, but the ward did a great job in making the whole party about Christ.

 

                                               Elder Mo'Unga and I have been blessed with some great people to teach this week; thank you for all of your prayers. We are teaching a couple in their 80's right now and its going great. The husband has been protecting Joseph Smith to his kids; it has been pretty impressive. We also have been able to re-connect with some former investigator and our YSA investigator, Sydale is also doing great!

 

                                              I wish I could tell you more but we are flying fast today. I love you all and hope that you are doing well this Christmas season!

                                                                               Love, Elder Prince

Much Love from East Cleveland

Dearest Family and Friends;

                                                It has been yet another great week to be a missionary.  Our teach pool has dwindled down considerably which can be discouraging if you let it. This area seems to challenge me more than any where else I have served. This area also happens to be the place where I have spent more time than anywhere else. The culture of the inner city is a hard one for the seeds of testimony to flourish. The Lord has been teaching me perseverance and patience perhaps more than anything. We did have a young man we tracted into come to church yesterday which was great. His name is Sydale and he is from the inner city. He is very humble and is looking to improve his life so we are looking forward to continuing to meet with him. We also had a man from Nigeria call us yesterday and referred himself. He said he met with the Elders in Africa and has been looking for them ever since he came to the states and last week some Elders on the street gave him our number so that would sure be exciting if we can start teaching him.

 

                                               I have to tell you all the miracle of the week. Friday night as we were planning we felt impressed and madepreparations to teach one of our less-active members about the law of Chastity. The next morning we went and taught him. As the lesson began it was one of those times on my mission where you feel like the spirit grabs your tongue and you say exactly what is needed. This man began to humbly and vulnerably explain how he is struggling with an addiction to pornography and how he feels that God has repeatedly trying to reach him and help him stop. We expressed to him how grateful we were for his forthrightness and humility. We then went on to explain the scriptures onto him and testify of the atonement. After some discussion we asked the man if he would show his faith in Jesus Christ by gettinga black Hefty garbage sack and gathering all of the pornography in his house to surrender over to us. Without hesitation he rose and left alone in his living room and gathered all the materials he possessed and placed them all in the black garbage sack. Upon surrendering the sack to us we asked him, "How do you think your Heavenly Father feels about this decision?" He said "he is probably very proud". The spirit was so strong and I was touched by this mans humility. We assured him that he had won a battle that day. The sack was then placed in its rightful place; the dumpster.

 

                                              I am always touched when anyone will take a step of faith. I am touched by honesty. I am touched when the spiritual man inside gets an upper hand on the natural man on the outside. I am grateful for the Lord who empowers His children and whispers engorgement and healing into their hearts. I pray that whatever our sins may be that we might not value them more than the Atonement of our Lord. I hope that no sin ever becomes more precious to us than eternal life. I hope that we all might surrender our weapons of rebellion. Elder Mo;Unga have resolved to look for the small and simple miracles that happen every day and they are happening. I know that the Lord still heals.

 

                                             Thank you all for your prayers and support. I can feel you from all these miles away.

                                                                                      Love, Elder Prince

18 Month Report!

Dearest Family and Friends;

                                               I apologize in advance if this is brief. It is such a special time to be on a mission right now. I love the Holiday season in the field; all people seem to be a little friendlier. We are hoping to undertake a lot of work in the area right now if everything continues to go the way it is. We have had a few setbacks in the last few weeks with the loss of many investigators; including Ali & Mohsen who we have not heard from in a week. President had cleared them for baptism and the next day we never heard from them again; it has been hard on our hearts. I am realizing more and more however that 'real growth' is the most important thing. Like President Hinckley said, there is no point in doing missionary work if we cannot retain the fruit of our labor so the fact that we haven't heard from them when they were doing so well hurts a lot less because they aren't doing this after they had been baptized.

                                             The work with the members is beginning to pick up as well. The ward here is a labyrinth of gospel conversions and backgrounds. It is such an odd mixture; young Caucasian student families mixed in with a hand full of African-American native Clevelanders. It is of sad report that I tell you there could be much better unity between the two and we are seeing as part of a much more grand accomplishment of what could happen here with missionary work that the two groups have to have more love and unity in our ward body or the body will continue in its shrinking trend. I never thought that it would be my job as a missionary to go and cry for unity amongst members. We have been very loving but also very candid in our lessons with them in the last two weeks and I have found it most interesting to find that they put up no contest to our cry for unity; they acknowledge it and accept that there needs to be more love of Christ. We have been inviting them to do simple things to increase unity and missionary work including having a family over for dinner that they norm ally wouldn’t or sitting by someone in church that they normally wouldn't sit by. I feel that the Lord has been directing Elder Mo'Unga in a most interesting way this last month. He has been guiding us to so many less active members that haven't had contact with the church in years who are now ready to come back. Three that hadn’t been at all in a year were all at church on Sunday and all were happy to be there. This last year there has been 5 convert baptisms in this ward and all 5 are less active; I have felt so strongly that something needs to change within the ward before the Lord will bless us with any more sheep to feed. My only worry is that I won’t be here long enough to see this unfold, but I trust in due time that the ward will be more unified and the Native Cleveland families will build up the church body again. I have tried to keep negative things about people or places I serve out of my reports home but that is what we are dealing with right now. The Lord has stated that "if ye are not one, ye are not mine". Despite the challenges we are facing we do recognize the Lord is helping us so much and the members here truly do have so much love within them. The next step is helping them all see a vision of what could become here if we do missionary work and what will become if we don't.

                                         This is the Lords work. He has given us the commission to participate with him in the building of His kingdom. I pray that we may all examine our commitment to live like the Savior and "feed His sheep" if we truly love Him. I pray that we may not only live in a spirit of thanks and giving at this time of year but that this may be the hallmark of our lives and the way of our daily walk. I know that God lives and that he will support us in our practical and our seemingly impossible challenges. I am humbled to bear the title of servant for the Lord Jesus Christ!

                                                                                Love, Elder Prince

Happy November

Dearest Friends and Family,

                                               Interesting week this week! Hurricane Sandy apparently was 900 miles wide and we got a good three day storm out of her. Monday night we were advised to stay in our apartments and wait out the storm. We had brand new family of 8 moving into the ward that need help transporting items out of storage unit about 30 minutes away so we received permission from President to go and help them move. It was an epic event moving these people in the middle of this storm; sideways wind. I was laughing as I thought of Forrest Gump in describing all the different types of rain in Vietnam; we were experiencing the freezing cold kind that hurts when it hits your face. We were successful helping them but there were windows breaking everywhere, trees laying on the road and ALL of the lights were out in the city. Street lights and all! In consequence of the storm the lights in our apartment went out which included our heating and hot water. It was pretty fun to live camper style with the Elders for a few days as we waited out the storm but after a while you go stir crazy if you can't go out and teach. The most trying thing about this week had to be the ice cold; pierce your soul like a dagger water that we had to shower with in the morning. I am sure Travis is reading this somewhere rolling his eyes considering we pretty much got three days of what it is like to serve in a South America mission; none the less, cold showers are cold showers. When we finally resumed work and were able to leave, Elder Mo'Unga and I walked down our hallway out the front door of our building both looking at each other saying "This feel so good to be a missionary again!".

 

                                               All continues to go well in East Cleveland. We are really trying to get the ball rolling with our less-actives; their indifference can be saddening at times. Ali & Mohsen are continuing to do great; both attended church this week. We had a great meeting with they and President. We taught them the Doctrine of  Christ and they both grew in their desire to make covenants with the Lord. I don't have words enough to say how special these two young men are. They are pure, bright, humble and full of desire to follow the Master. We hope to have the green light from President on their baptism ion the coming month.

 

                                              Also, we received word last night that Elder Mo'Unga and I will be staying together another transfer. I am so excited to be with him. He is a great example and he is here for all the right reasons. We both had the opportunity to teach the YSA family home evening last night. I love working with the Young Adult Branch. We had a great time with them. We conducted several activities with them to help  them truly view one another as children of God. We even did a demonstration in which they were required to stare into a partners eyes for three straight minutes and try to see that person as God sees them. It was a very powerful demonstration and it was so interesting to here their responses and to listen to them describe what they saw in each other. We taught from the Hymn Book and the scriptures. The whole night was very memorable.

  

                                               Well, I best be going. I love you all. Thank you for your goodness. I don't endorse any political candidates; but God bless America today! Voting is agency at it's best! Have a great week! Love, Elder Prince

7 Month Report

Dearest Friends and Family,

                                                 I am glad to report to you that thanks to the Lord things are going great in East Cleveland! Marilyn and her son came to church yesterday in the family ward and Ali & Mohsen continue to come to the Young Single Adult Branch. I am not sure if I failed to mention that we cover both the family ward (Cleveland 3rd) and the Cleveland Young Single Adult Branch. It is so much fun; I even enjoy the 6 hours of church every Sunday! We have had some great experiences this week. We took Mairlyn and her 10 year old son, Bryan on a tour with the Sister missionaries of Historic Kirtland and the spirit was great. Elder Mo'Unga went in to the tour fasting that Marilyn would have a spiritual experience. The night before and the morning of the tour I had had a prayer in my heart that I would be able to bear sincere testimony to her of Christ and that her heart would be open to receive it. The tour was going pretty well but she acts a bit strange when she feels the spirit; it is as if she is embarrassed so she either laughs or tries to make a joke. She kept doing this and the opportunity for the spirit to really settle in kept being postponed. Then we went into the school of the prophets at the Whitney store and and the Sisters began to read accounts of the Father and the son appearing in vision in that very room. As we read the accounts the tone changed again and the spirit began to settle. Just then I felt prompted to bear testimony to her and as I did I saw it hit her as her countenance changed and she began to cry. Following my testimony, Elder Mo'Unga came in and sealed the deal with the most powerful testimony I had heard him bear in our time together. The sisters then asked her if she would like us to leave and allow for her to stay in the room and lay her weaknesses before the Lord; she agreed and stayed. She later re-joined us and the rest of the tour was powerful and Marilyns testimony of the Restored gospel grew alot. The Historical sites here are so powerful in helping us with our investigators and the Sisters do an excellent job.

 

                      Ali and Mohsen continue to do so well! They are so excited to get baptized and they are both truly developing a love and  a personal relationship with the Savior. They are the most humble people I have taught yet on my mission. On Tuesday night, President is going to pick us all up from downtown Cleveland and drive us up to Madison, Ohio to witness a baptism and afterwards he is going to interview them again to be certain that they are ready to take this step in their lives. I never thought in all my life I would be helping people of Islam come unto Christ; it truly is a scared opportunity to introduce them to the "Only true and Living God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent (John 17:3)".

 

                    Last night I had a life changing experience. Elder Mo'Unga and I traveled to the Cleveland Clinic to administer a blessing to a woman being treated there. Earlier in the day her daughter had come to church and explained to us that she was in town all the way from San Fransisco to be a support to her mother and was wondering if we wouldn't mind coming by and administering the sacrament and offering her a blessing. When we arrived she had us sit down and take off our Jackets. She was of Tongan descent so she and Elder Mo'Unga hit it off right away. I sat in front of her bed and felt impressed to really focus in on her and listen to her story. She explained that she had been diagnosed with cancer and that she had just recovered from a surgery that removed cancer from another part of her body. She then explained how sudden this news had come and how hard it had been on her. She kept saying "I just wish I had more time". She explained that despite her age for the last 10 years she had been pursuing a PhD and that she had gone off to school. She said that she had fallen into bad habits and consequently gained alot of weight.  She also explained that she had been less-active in the church for years despite all three of her children being faithful members. She then went on to express how selfish she had been with her time and choices. She explained that she wished she had the time to do the things that matter most; Spend time with her grand kids, let her loved ones know the she loves them, and  align her life to the will of the Lord. Finally she explained that this whole experience had caused her to truly reflect upon her faith in God. "I Know that they are there; I believe in Jesus Christ" she said. I thought it was very telling of human nature that when the reality of death looks us in the eye we quickly revert back to the things that matter most; faith and family. I then asked her if I could share a few words with her before we gave her the blessing; she agreed. I said first to her "I want you to know the power with which we will give you this blessing is real. The Father and the Son are real, and this church truly is the restored Church of Jesus Christ" she nodded her head and acknowledged that she knew all three to be true and went on to explain of a time when she was little that she felt that a priesthood blessing had saved her life. I then said " I don't know what you believe the most important day you have ever lived is, but I want to share with you what I feel the most important day of your life is". I continued, "Many people think it is special calendar events like Christmas or birthdays, some may say it was the day they finish college, the day they were married or the day their child was born". I said "I think these are all important days but I do not think that they are the most important". I told her that "the spirit has whispered to me that the most important day of our lives is today". As soon as I said this I could tell that the spirit hit her. When you realize that time is an un-renewable resource and the true purpose of your existence comes into penetrating focus, the things that matter most appear right in front of you; Love of God and fellow man. I then told her "Death is a season that we all pass through just like the trees outside and we never know when it will happen to us. I could die tomorrow, thus the things we do today and the decisions we right now make this the most important day of our lives. I don't know how long you will live but I feel moved by the spirit to promise you that you will have sufficient time to let your loved ones know that you truly love them and enough time to align your life to the will of God through repentance and prayer". We then offered her a blessing and spirit filled the small hospital room. When the blessing was over she hugged Elder Mo'Unga and I, and kissing us on the cheek told us that she loved us.

 

        I learned so much from this experience last night. I learned that the superficial things of life fade from our worldly eyes within a matter of seconds when we are truly faced with the dilemma of death. I learned that once a child of God is truly faced to view the backdrop of despair and doubt they will find solace in their true identity as His child and their priorities are quickly aligned back to faith and family. Above all I learned again for myself that today is the most important day; love of God and all men is truly the pursuit of our lives and every honest person just wants to have time to love others. My hope that is that we do not forget our purpose and our identity but that we remember why we truly are here. I pray that my family and friends may know that the way to salvation only comes through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his atonement and by obedience to his gospel. I pray this woman may have time enough to find solace in the Lord and share her peace with her family. I pray that I may continue to be led to those who are prepared to receive this glad message; that we are eternal, that we ware children of God and that there is a way to be together forever. So while the day is still today, I will repent, for the day is far too spent. I love you all and I know that our Redeemer lives!                                       

                                                                                                               Love, Elder Prince

Inner City Love

Dearest Friends and Family,

                                               So great to be with you this week! So much to say in so little time so I hope you can get a glimpse of how things are going out here in East Cleveland. First we have to start with the few days leading up to conference. Elder Mo'Unga and I have been telling so many people to come and listen to a prophets voice I felt like Armageddon was coming! We were telling everyone when they could come down to the chapel and listens to the Lord's mouthpiece; it was so much fun. And I wish to recount to you our best practice of the week:

 

                                                In our apartment we have a supply closet in which we have all of our pass along cards, brochures, books, etc. In this closet we have several Book of Mormons in various languages and before we headed out the door we felt impressed to grab our only copy of a Pharsi (Persian) Book of Mormon. Not sure why; just remembered seeing it and felt impressed to pack it along with us. About mid-way through the day while contacting on a busy street by Case Western University we stopped at a bus stop and began talking to a middle-eastern man. His name is Mohsen; he is from Iran and is a student at Cleveland State University; here in America for an opportunity to gain an education and build a life for himself.  We began telling him about the Lord Jesus Christ and what he can do for us in our lives if we will come unto him. He was interested and just after we had swapped information and we were ready do go our separate ways we remembered that Book of Mormon we had felt impressed to bring with us earlier. We pulled it out, handed it too him and you should have seen the look on his face. He acted as though manna from heaven had just fallen into his hands and said humbly "This is a gift from God; that is my language!". We then looked him square in the eyes and told him we did not know why we grabbed that Book this morning but now we knew. We bore testimony right there on the street that that book would help him come unto Christ. After some later communication he committed to come to priesthood session later that week. He surely came on Saturday with his friend Ali (Also from Iran here for school). They loved the entire broadcast and asked many questions. After the broadcast ended the whole chapel cleared and we were left alone with them. We began to ask them how they felt. The went on to try their best to describe the spirit as best they could The said they had never felt this way before and that they felt so good. We again began to testify to them and told them we knew they were lead to us by the hand of the Lord. We then committed them to read the Book of Mormon that night and pray to know if it was indeed true. Despite how very excited we were for them we still realized there were many hurdles to overcome being that there are many rules in our mission about teaching people with a Muslim background. We called President Vellinga and relayed to him the circumstances of our findi9ng and teaching these two humble young men. He told us that we would have to schedule an appointment as soon as possible in which he would interview them with a series of question s to determine whether or not we should proceed with the teaching. Needless to say, we were on our knees that all would be well. The next day we met with Ali, Mohsen, and President. It very well may have been one of the most spiritual meetings I have ever been a part of. You should've heard these two young men explain why they were here. The spoke of the oppression of the government in Iran and the practices of control that they exercise by way of Islamic beliefs. They said that they had desired to become Christian for some three years now and that they had to attend Church underground in Iran to just learn about Christ. They said they would be arrested or put to death upon converting to Christianity if found out. For that reason they did not convert to any church and had been anxious to join one since coming to the states so 2 months ago. They went on to explain how grateful they were to be in America and to enjoy their new found freedoms. They also expressed that they intended to stay and that all they desired to do was follow Christ. They said that they knew we had been lead to them and that they were thirsty to hear more. We again committed them to pray to know the truth fullness of the Book of Mormon. Last night we met again and followed up on our invitation. They explained to us that together they had prayed for some 25 minutes and that after doing so sincerely and humbly they were filled with a warmth. They said they thought it was strange that they felt such a warmth because their apartment was cold; they said they had to open the windows! Mind you all, we had never described to them how the Spirit is often described as to be a "burning in the bosom". They then said "after reading the pamphlet you gave us we realized that we were feeling the Holy Ghost". Listening to these two describe their experience was incredible; we were all touched. They are some of the humblest and perhaps most intelligent people I have taught on my mission; the Lord has been hearing their prayers. I truly believe that they will both become members of this church in the very near future. Thank goodness the Holy Ghost told us to grab that Book!

 

                                              In parting I want to echo the words of my family and friends on their mission who have expressed their love of General Conference. I felt the spirit so strongly all though out. I hope that we may not be complacent in our belief about God. I hope that we will be wise and keep the commandments. I pray that we will follow our Leaders and in so doing follow Christ. I know that this church is true. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

With Love from Ohio

Dearest Family and Friends,

Another great week has passed here in Ohio. I am learning so much right now. Elder Mo'Unga and I have had an excellent week together and we can hardly believe we have been together nearly a month! This weekend was Stake Conference in Kirtland. I love going to Kirtland for any reason especially to gather with the Saints. It is so inspiring to me to think that 180 years ago we were all gathered bearing testimony and here we are on the same ground with the same conviction! Ali and Mohsen came along to Stake Conference and again were touched by the spirit. These two young men are so eager to be baptized; it has been hard having to delay their baptismal date and deny their enthusiasm having to first handle the protocol of the church in working with Muslims; it all has it's good reason it is just hard because they so desire to enter the fold and helping them do so is our entire livelihood Nonetheless, the Lord is very mindful of these two great guys and I know that all will be well! We are also working with a great lady named Marilyn; she is an African-American, single mother of three.She is so fun and always trying to poke fun at Elder Mo'Unga and I. We have been helping her gain a testimony and this week she said that she knew for a fact that the Lord was helping her. She has been giving up smoking and it has been inspiring to watch her. Every time we meet with her she has more light. We are praying all will go well.

Things in East Cleveland are great. The weather is about to take a turn; I have been mentally preparing myself as best I can for an entire winter on foot. It is so dang cold out here; there is no other way to put it. Also It is an interesting place to be right now with the Presidential election. There are more Obama signs in my area than their are grains of sand on the beach; it is crazy. Everyday we have people asking us what we think about the whole thing; I always just tell them I am going to be voting for Jesus Christ this election and in all elections forevermore; it is pretty funny. Not that I have lost my patriotic side, but I am more concerned with not knowing what the Celtics have done this off season than I am who will be the next President of our country; I probably should reconsider my priorities sometime soon. Things are going great. I have a smile on my face and my winter gear makes me look like I am part of the Mafia. Pray for me.

I hope that you all have a great week this week and know that our Redeemer lives!

 

 Love, Elder Prince

With Love from East Cleveland

Dearest Family and Friends!

 

Great to be with you today! Things here in East Cleveland are going great. I love this area because you can have experiences here that you can't get any where else in the mission. I love talking with people from all over the globe and testifying of the Saviour to them. They are from all over; from Iran to China, to Turkey and India. This area is laden with children of God from all over the earth. As far as the work we had our most successful week yet! We had two investigators come to church in the family ward and Ali and Mohsen are still doing well in the Young Single Adult Branch. We had some powerful lessons with them this week and they are still very excited about the gospel. W are hoping that President Vellinga will approve for us to set baptismal dates with them soon! We have been all over the map this week and our members have been extremely kind to give of their time and resources to help us travel around. I think it built their faith to see some investigators come to church!

Autumn is the greatest season in Ohio. The trees here are beautiful as the foliage changes color. Everyday it seems to get a little colder and the impending winter has me a bit antsy as Elder Mo'Unga and I will be on foot all winter long. East Cleveland is a biking area right next to the lake, so will get plenty of snow and plenty of wind. We don't have a car to warm up our hands and feet from time to time but luckily for us the Spirit of God is likened unto a fire burning! Of a truth it saddens me that this is my last winter in this place that I love. Every season here now is my last and I don't think I have fully accepted that this will all end one day. I have built my life around Ohio, all the thoughts and feelings of my heart are here. Going home will be like building a house, putting all of your heart into it and then up and leaving. Only to hold its image in your heart and mind. I often wonder how the saints felt as they walked away from Kirtland and looked back the temple only to experience the same in Nauvoo. Ultimately everything God blesses us with in this life will only be a memory; but the relationships we hold are eternal. This is why the deepest cries of my heart are that myself, my family and my friends live in righteousness. What we are becoming everyday has eternal consequence. Upon reading these words in my study this morning my thoughts were turned to all of my family, friends and those I have taught:

14)...and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness. 15) And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God.
16) And assuredly, as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still;
- 2 Nephi 9: 14-16
   
I testify that these words are true. I pray that we may follow Christ and know true joy. I pray that when the days comes that we have this perfect recollection it may be full of the beautiful memories that we have made together. Ohio means everything to me. One of my favorite Mother Theresa quotes goes as follows: "What you may spend your whole life building, others may ruin in a night; build anyways". I pray that none of my labors may be in vain here. And that what we are building may last forever. I feel it my sacred honor to build Kirtland again. Righteousness is the plea of our Father. May we chose him this week is my prayer. Jesus is the Christ and the Redeemer of us all. In his name, amen.

Love, Elder Prince

Best Mission in the World...

Brandon says this is the reason why he is serving in the best mission in the world... :)

 

Inner City Love

Dearest Friends and Family,

So great to be with you this week! So much to say in so little time so I hope you can get a glimpse of how things are going out here in East Cleveland. First we have to start with the few days leading up to conference. Elder Mo'Unga and I have been telling so many people to come and listen to a prophets voice I felt like Armageddon was coming! We were telling everyone when they could come down to the chapel and listens to the Lord's mouthpiece; it was so much fun. And I wish to recount to you our best practice of the week:

In our apartment we have a supply closet in which we have all of our pass along cards, brochures, books, etc. In this closet we have several Book of Mormons in various languages and before we headed out the door we felt impressed to grab our only copy of a Pharsi (Persian) Book of Mormon. Not sure why; just remembered seeing it and felt impressed to pack it along with us. About mid-way through the day while contacting on a busy street by Case Western University we stopped at a bus stop and began talking to a middle-eastern man. His name is Mohsen; he is from Iran and is a student at Cleveland State University; here in America for an opportunity to gain an education and build a life for himself. We began telling him about the Lord Jesus Christ and what he can do for us in our lives if we will come unto him. He was interested and just after we had swapped information and we were ready do go our separate ways we remembered that Book of Mormon we had felt impressed to bring with us earlier. We pulled it out, handed it too him and you should have seen the look on his face. He acted as though manna from heaven had just fallen into his hands and said humbly "This is a gift from God; that is my language!". We then looked him square in the eyes and told him we did not know why we grabbed that Book this morning but now we knew. We bore testimony right there on the street that that book would help him come unto Christ. After some later communication he committed to come to priesthood session later that week. He surely came on Saturday with his friend Ali (Also from Iran here for school). They loved the entire broadcast and asked many questions. After the broadcast ended the whole chapel cleared and we were left alone with them. We began to ask them how they felt. The went on to try their best to describe the spirit as best they could The said they had never felt this way before and that they felt so good. We again began to testify to them and told them we knew they were lead to us by the hand of the Lord. We then committed them to read the Book of Mormon that night and pray to know if it was indeed true. Despite how very excited we were for them we still realized there were many hurdles to overcome being that there are many rules in our mission about teaching people with a Muslim background. We called President Vellinga and relayed to him the circumstances of our findi9ng and teaching these two humble young men. He told us that we would have to schedule an appointment as soon as possible in which he would interview them with a series of question s to determine whether or not we should proceed with the teaching. Needless to say, we were on our knees that all would be well. The next day we met with Ali, Mohsen, and President. It very well may have been one of the most spiritual meetings I have ever been a part of. You should've heard these two young men explain why they were here. The spoke of the oppression of the government in Iran and the practices of control that they exercise by way of Islamic beliefs. They said that they had desired to become Christian for some three years now and that they had to attend Church underground in Iran to just learn about Christ. They said they would be arrested or put to death upon converting to Christianity if found out. For that reason they did not convert to any church and had been anxious to join one since coming to the states so 2 months ago. They went on to explain how grateful they were to be in America and to enjoy their new found freedoms. They also expressed that they intended to stay and that all they desired to do was follow Christ. They said that they knew we had been lead to them and that they were thirsty to hear more. We again committed them to pray to know the truth fullness of the Book of Mormon. Last night we met again and followed up on our invitation. They explained to us that together they had prayed for some 25 minutes and that after doing so sincerely and humbly they were filled with a warmth. They said they thought it was strange that they felt such a warmth because their apartment was cold; they said they had to open the windows! Mind you all, we had never described to them how the Spirit is often described as to be a "burning in the bosom". They then said "after reading the pamphlet you gave us we realized that we were feeling the Holy Ghost". Listening to these two describe their experience was incredible; we were all touched. They are some of the humblest and perhaps most intelligent people I have taught on my mission; the Lord has been hearing their prayers. I truly believe that they will both become members of this church in the very near future. Thank goodness the Holy Ghost told us to grab that Book!

In parting I want to echo the words of my family and friends on their mission who have expressed their love of General Conference. I felt the spirit so strongly all though out. I hope that we may not be complacent in our belief about God. I hope that we will be wise and keep the commandments. I pray that we will follow our Leaders and in so doing follow Christ. I know that this church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Back Home

Dearest Friends and Family,

                                                    Where do I start? The transition back to the field has been great. Wednesday I got my new companion; Elder Sione Mo'Unga from Orem Utah. Elder Mo'Unga is the man; he is a big Tongan and with a teddy bear’s heart. These last few days we have been out contacting in the streets for hours and we are loving it! He is great with the people out here and has a very natural way of treating them that draws them to our message.

                                                   I can't tell you how happy I was to return to this ward and all the members treat me like their son or their little brother! They were texting me and saying welcome back! We went to a ward BBQ on Saturday and I got to mingle with all of them again for the first time since I left a year ago and they were all so happy and excited. At the BBQ I asked the Bishop if we could speak in Sacrament soon and he said, "How soon can you be ready". To make a long story short we spoke in sacrament the next day and it went so well. I love speaking to the ward wherever I go because it lets the members see that you really are about your Father's business. The talks went great and by the end of church our meal calendar had filled right up!

I am so excited to be working amongst these people again. I feel like I left home and now I'm back! We have been out visiting many of the people I used to teach and two of them showed up for church yesterday! I was so happy to see them! My companion has asked me to help him with his gospel knowledge/teaching as it is he has only been out for 4 months; and despite my infant knowledge I committed to him I would help him in any way that I could. He is so humble and appreciative and we have hit it off right from the start. We have committed that we are going to work our hardest and not let any opportunity pass us by. We have been out on the streets a lot these last few days and not letting a soul pass by us without trying to share our message; it is so fun to have all of this time to try and find prepared hearts.

We have a long ways to go to get this ward excited about missionary work. We are very few in numbers and very undermanned in our callings and should technically be called a branch. But I think these first few days have been a great start of a foundation and a culture that we want to establish here. Members last night were telling us how appreciative they were that we were actually coming into their homes to teach them something and helping them feel the spirit. As happy as I was with the compliment I was a little disappointed wondering to myself "Isn’t that what missionaries are supposed to do every time?". here is a lot that needs to be corrected with how the area has been ran these last few months but I've already gotten the apartment clean and the area book all put together and updated. The other Elders we live with are our Zone Leaders and they are both brand new in their assignment so I am happy to be there for them in any way they need me. I love being in this position; being able to take the things I have learned over the last half year and be able to bless others’ lives and effectively help them come unto the Savior. I am so grateful that the Lord has been so mindful of me and has blessed me with people to teach and responsibilities to fill. The atonement has set me free in my life and I know that the Lord is now fully able to use me as an instrument in his hands. I am excited to fill my new assignment and be an example. I never realized how much I loved President Vellinga until I hugged him goodbye at the transfer meeting. He told me how grateful he was for my help and how much he loved me; he is such a good man. He told me that one of the test of a true leader is the example they will set when they climb off the peak of the mountain and walk with the knowledge of the great view. I knew what he meant and my goal is to be the most humble follower of my leaders that I can be; that I might be a blessing to them and show them how to return humbly to any assignment in the mission. The Lord has placed me in the right place at the right time and my heart is full of thanks! I hope to be telling you about some investigators soon! I love you all! He Lives! Love, Elder Prince

Elder Prince and Elder Metcalf

Bran and Elder Metcalf last week

I'm Coming Home

Dearest Family and Friends,

                                           What a week it has been out in the field. I have learned a valuable lesson out in the field that come transfer week nothing is final until it is final. After further contemplation from President Vellinga I will not be heading to Warren, OH to the Ashtabula district. I was a bit sad about this because I thought it would be a great opportunity to visit my recent converts from time to time but a few missionaries who were supposed to come from the MTC now can't make it and our whole board changed. All of my sadness fleeted however when President told me about the next slot that was available to me, my birth place; EAST CLEVELAND! Granted nothing is final yet but as of now that is where I am set to go this coming Wednesday. East Cleveland if you don't remember is where I spent the first 4 1/2 months of my mission. It is a very interesting part of Cleveland. It is about 94% African-American and about 40% of the people live beneath the poverty line. It was hard to see all of the boarded off homes and all of the homeless people. The economy has been driving people out of the city for the last 20 years; sometimes entire streets are like ghost towns. To be honest it was truly the refiners fire for me; it humbled me and grew me right up. It is not a pleasing sight to the eyes but this area has a special place in my heart forever. I have missed the inner city and all the people there so I am pretty ecstatic at the thought I could be back out stomping the same streets I started on; I've got my fingers crossed!

 

                                          This weekend was such a great weekend. Friday night we went over to Williams apartment to review the entire teaching record with him and to check his understadning of everything we had taught; this kid is so sharp! It was good to see that he had a firm understanding of all of the principles that we had taught him and then we explained to him that all of that was the "what" and we wanted to talk tonight about the "why" of the gospel. As President Uchtdorf says: "The 'what' informs, while the 'why' transforms". We had a testimony meeting with him there in his hotel and we all went in a circle bearing our witness of the restoration of the gospel and of the Saviour. His testimony was pure, humble and true; we all just wanted to cry. The next morning was Williams baptism. Earlier in the week we had made invitations and sent them to all of the active members of the ward to come and attend the service.  As a result we had an amazing attendance. It has been neat to see very important people become so invested in William. President Vellinga offered our opening prayer and our Stake President, President Titera offered the closing prayer; they both have had William in their home for lessons with us and have truly come to love him. This ward has blown me away with their charity and concern for William. Many brought gifts and cards and every one had a warm smile and a hug. Friday night he had asked me to baptize him and I told him I would be honored. You should've seen this kid all dressed in white the next morning. Before we entered the font we knelt in secret prayer in the changing room and thanked the Lord for all he had done for us. I have never felt the spirit so strongly baptizing someone. After he came up out the water we just sat and hugged each other. I felt the spirit so strongly and warmly, it felt as though the font was going to burst into flames! Everybody at the service just sat in reverent silence and one little girl close to the water said simply and quietly " Aw, perfect...". William is such a great young man. He has the heart of a Lion and the spirit is so strong with him. I have never seen someone more sincerely prepared to make this covenant with the Lord; he has come so far!

 

                                          This weekend was also Stake Conference. Both sessions were excellent. David and Danielle; our converts from June had the opportunity to speak and bear their testimony; they did a great job. I told the members that this was my last time with them and I truly was overwhelmed as I came to realize how much I have grown to love them. Last night I went around after the conference was over and got to give hugs and shed some tears with some of my favorite people on this planet. I will miss the North Olmsted ward so much. I have never been in an area as long as this one and I have never had so much support and praise from the members as I have had here. Nothing gets the ball rolling like having members that are enthused for the work; I know baptisms will continue to happen here.

 

                                         I am going to miss my good friend Elder Metcalf. I have learned so many life lessons from him. We have spent nearly a quarter of our missions together and have had some amazing experiences. I am so excited for him to continue to serve in this capacity and to bless the loves of the missionaries here.

       

                                         Well my brothers and sisters, I know that the Lord lives. I am so grateful to belong to the only true and living church on the earth. I pray that my faith my continue to grow and that the Lord might be able to work miracles through my companions and I. I pray that we might sell ourselves to him and not hold onto our sins. I pray that we might not have any sin that seems like a prized possession to us. I know that if our hands are holding firmly to the atonement we can hold onto nothing else. I know that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. If our eyes are fixed upon him we will not sink into the sea of doubt and despair and his invitation to all is simply to "come". I love you all and pray that we all might come unto Him in small way this week!

                                                                                                                                                         Love, Elder Prince

Times are Changing...

Dearest Family & Friends,

                                        Great to be with you this week. I apologize having not written in two weeks; the last two P-Days we had half of our mission together for a mission P-Day where we all got together to play games and have competitions; it was pretty epic. Not to mention the events were held in Hiram Ohio where the prophet Joseph Smith first saw the three kingdoms of heaven; it is also the same home he was dragged from in the night when he was tarred and feathered. It is always an honor to go the John Johnson farm and feel the sacred spirit there.

 

                                     Things for me are about to change quite a bit. I am being released from my assignment as assistant to the President and being transferred on the 26th to serve as a district leader in Warren, Ohio. I am going back to the Ashtabula District where I was for three months where I trained Elder Crosland so I will be able to go on exchanges to the area of the mission that has the biggest part of my heart; Ashtabula. Speaking of Elder Crosland, he was called to be a Zone Leader next transfer. I am really proud of him; he has come a long way and he is a very obedient missionary. He also just finished training Elder Chapman from Salt Lake City and Elder Chapman will be training a new missionary next transfer so in others words my "mission posterity" is growing like rabbits right now. I will be a "great grandfather" next transfer! Like anybody cares but I am proud of these Elders and how hard working they are.

 

                                        It is going to be bittersweet leaving this ward. I have been here longer than any other place on my mission. I feel like I have established more relationships and friendships in this area than any other place I have worked. Sunday morning we got a call at 6:30 AM and were asked if we could talk in sacrament which we happily accepted. I got to talk on how preparing for conference has blessed my life and share my testimony of how I came to know President Monson was truly a prophet; it felt good to give them my testimony for the last time although none of them I will be leaving on a good note however as William Garret is going to be baptized this Saturday! I have seen this man apply the atonement in a most touching way. The ward has been nothing short of unbelievable. They are all rallying around this young man. William is very bright and sincere. He has such a love of the gospel all ready. He has been so humble and accepting of the commitments that we leave him. Yesterday we took him up to Kirltand for a tour and it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission. First we watch "Joseph Smith;The Prophet of the Restoration" with him in Newel K. Whitney's home. It was just us, William and a brother from our ward. The Sisters giving the tour did an amazing job at pointing out the spirit. Next we went into the Whitney store into the school of the prophets and had a mini testimony meeting. We all talked about the Fathers love and read accounts of the early bretheren who had seen the Father and the Son in vision in that very same room. William said he felt the spirit from the time we stepped foot in Kirltand. Truly days never to be forgotten.

 

                                          This week is also going to be alot of fun as we have Elder Perkins of the 70 coming to tour the mission. He is planning on interviewing Elder Metcalf and I on Wednesday night. I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Elder Nash last year and of course Elder Golden when he visited,  so I look forward very much to feeling the strong spirit of these men and learning from their council. We are hosting him for two big conferences on Thursday and Friday and then Saturday we have the baptism. It is going to be busy weekend. Well my friends thank you all for you love and support. Know that things here are well. I am busier than ever but enjoying every second!

                                                                                                                        "The church is true, the book is blue and in the end, we win!"- Cleon Skousen

                                                                                                                                        Love you all,

                                                                                                                                                          Elder Prince

On the Road in Ohio

Dearest Family and Friends,

 

What a great week it has been. I have been traveling all over Northern Ohio. Monday night I slept on a couch in Perrysburg; Tuesday I slept on the floor Canton; Wednesday on the couch in Shaker Heights; Thursday in my bed in Rocky River and finally Friday night I was given a bed to sleep in on the road as I stayed in Garfield Heights Ohio. This week we hosted Zone Conference where we had several hours each day to train the missionaries. We we able to instruct about 80 % of the mission; we have one more conference on Wednesday out in Youngstown. I love traveling across this state and looking out on the beautiful countryside and the trip over to Youngstown this week is my favorite drive in the mission; Ohio is utterly beautiful. Instructing the missionaries this week has been a real fun time. We have had some powerfully moving meetings; one in particular in Kirtland was so strong in the spirit; come testimony time we were all weeping like children; it's the best!

This week we have also had the privilege of continuing our teaching of William. I can say enough about how special this young man is. We had three lessons with him this week and each one has been so special. Saturday night as I was praying for him I had the very distinct impression to tell him to go and meet the Bishop and to introduce himself for a second time in Priesthood meeting. So towards the end of sacrament I said " I have two things that will really help you today, will you do them?"; in true William fashion he said yes. I instructed him to go up by himself as soon as the prayer was over and go and introduce himself to the Bishop. He B-Lined it up to the front after the prayer and was able to get a meeting with the Bishop scheduled for after church. He took my advice again to re-introduce himself in Priesthood meeting as he did last week but with more confidence and a louder voice and I told him to share his feelings about what is going on in his life. I told him that one of the beauties of the Priesthood is that when you join the church you now have brothers all over this planet and that if they see that you are good and that you sincerely want their fellowship, they will all break their backs for you. You got up right when they asked for visitors and shared again who he was and how he felt about his investigating; he did such a great job! When the meeting was over their were brothers sticking to him like glue, it was the coolest thing to watch. He has been struggling to find employment and one of the brothers got him an interview with the owner of a restaurant that he knew about an hour after church ended and also gave him his bike so that he could make the 15 minute ride to work. Because of his troubles in the past William had really been struggling to find work and would begin to tear up as he explained all of the places he had interviewed to work at that had denied him once they found out about his past. The Stake President also said that he would love to have William over for dinner and a lesson tonight at his home; I just can't say enough about how good our ward is and how powerful their love has been to William. After his interview for work yesterday he came to lunch at one of the members home and we had a lesson with him on the core fundamentals of the church; faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. The lesson was powerful and the member that we brought with us really reached out to him in testimony; again, we were all crying like children. We then gave him a priesthood blessing for his smoking habit. The spirit was so strong as we hugged at the conclusion of the blessing. I am so excited for this young man. We are seeing real change work in him as he accesses the atonement. His baptismal date is on the 22nd of September so be sure to keep a prayer in your heart for him.

I have never been happier than I am now. I truly know Christ lives. I know that he is guiding me and helping find His children who are seeking him. I pray that we may all find him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love, Elder Prince

Hi From Ohio

Dearest Friends and Family,

                                          I am so happy to write you all today! Congratulations to Justin and Missy on the arrival of there new son (give or take a couple of hours)! I am so excited to meet my new friend in the coming months! Mortality is just a miracle. God's love is behind every good thing. The Father would have us come to the realization that we are totally dependant on him for all of our needs; though we must work to provide lets not kid ourselves who the "Fount of Every Blessing'" is! King Benjamin says that he grants unto us our very breath; I can't begin to consider how many things he provides without our even asking. I am grateful that my brother knows how it feels to have a new born child who is totally dependant on him; and one who he is anxious to bless; your example means alot! Good luck!

 

                                         It has been another great week here in the Ohio. This week is our transfer and arrival week which means that my companion and I are going to be doing a lot of running around. It is a pretty fun week welcoming in all of the new Elders and Sisters. It is also good to say goodbye to our old mission friends. It is always fun to be with them on their last night and listen to them reminisce. I can't imagine leaving this place, it is going to be torture. It will come quickly however, I think this coming transfer may be my last as an assistant making 6 months in whole. I can't believe how fast these last 4 1/2 months have gone; it will be good to get a break from this assignment eventually, though I will miss it alot. I think President will have me train again in the coming months which has me giddy. Elder Crosland, the missionary that I trained almost a year ago is now training a missionary, so I have a "grandson" in the mission!; and they are baptizing and doing great! The friends you come to have a on a mission are second to none; they are one of the greatest blessings of serving. Speaking of blessings of serving a mission; Elder Metcalf and I reorganized our apartment to make more space fro our morning workout and we had a big patch of open space in our living room; as we finished moving this around I told him "now all we need is a bench press". So.. Later that day we were helping our former Ward Mission Leader move somethings out of his house and he offered us a brand new Golds Gym bench press and work out station. I couldn't believe it! The members of our ward are amazing! We are about half way through the 40 Day fast right now and things are going great! The members are really unified and experiences many great blessings.

 

                                      My goal has been to make our area a model for other missionaries and we have done so much to organize ourselves and be effective. We drew out districts in our ward on a map, found all of the people who live in them and then assigned our ward missionaries to all of the areas to begin visiting and fellowshipping less active members. The whole plan has been working great and they are becoming one of our greatest sources for seeking referrals and finding new people to teach. My companion and I have also simplified our reporting process a great deal; a process that used to take around 3 to 4 hours now takes around an hour. My hope is that we can simplify all of our administration work and future AP's can focus alot more on being examples in proselyting and tutoring missionaries on exchanges; both of which we will have more time to do. It is hard to do so much work and feel like you are giving your all and not baptizing. I have told Elder Metcalf that this has been one of the greatest 6 weeks of my life aside from the fact that  we didn't baptize. I think that this coming month is going to be one full of many more rich blessings and I hope that the members may see fruits of their 40 Day fast efforts. It is exciting to slowly light a fire in your area and to win the confidence of the members. So keep us in your prayers that we may find those whom the Lord has prepared!

 

                                     Well my friends, I love you all. Things here in the Ohio are going great! Life is a miracle; we can't control the length of it but we can control it's width and depth. Many miracles lay ahead of us if we will but be humble, have vision and trust in the Lord. Thank you for all you do!

Love, Elder Prince