Greetings from Ohio

Dear Friends & Family,

                                         It has been a pretty challenging week this week. Elder Metcalf and I have been very busy and sleep has been dismal. We hosted a few training meetings for new missionaries and spoke at several Zone Development meetings this week and it has me down right fatigued so hopefully I will get some much needed rest on my P-Day today (fingers crossed). Perhaps most challenging right now seems to be a 'dual with the devil' I am in the midst of right now; we have been teaching two families that have been progressing and doing great. One of which is a referral from a brother in our Stake Presidency; the other was the family of the little girl who had prayed us to her house that I mentioned a few weeks back. The little girl's family dropped us this week and didn't explain why and the other family canceled our appointment today because of anti information they have come across. The member who referred them called last night and explained that the reason they didn't come to church was because of this anti they had heard. He went on to explain some of the specifics of what they had heard and I grew silently frustrated and saddened; it is still carrying into to day a bit. I am in no way frustrated with them, but with the same anti that I have been getting hit with since my first area and even before my mission. It is particularly hard because we don't understand all of the dealings of the Lord. There are things that we flat out don't have answers for which can be troubling at times. It is particularly saddening when you see families and individuals who are humble and full of light one meeting and cold and contentious the next after hearing certain things. We have an appointment with this particular family on Thursday which I am assuming will be a sink or swim type of lesson; so please keep us in your prayers. We still have good things happening right now with a few part member families who have been lead to within the last month. I assume it is only my natural man that gets frustrated and saddened; we had just work so hard to have people like this to teach. Nonetheless we are still very blessed with the people we do have left. The Lord has assured me over and over that all flesh is in His hands and that all we need to do is rely upon him. Elder Metcalf is a good example to me; I am ready to go to war; he's ready to bust out the scriptures. I am just looking forward to the promise that brand new week brings. We don't have much time to dwell on hard things anyways; between juggling our responsibilities to the mission and the stewardship of our area our minds stay well occupied. Thank you all for your constant prayers and words of encouragement. All will be well! I apologize if this letter is a bit somber; but a mission is spiritual warfare. Like Paul says,we are not here to fight flesh and blood, just spiritual wickedness in high and low places; and even though ol' scratch has knocked me down a few times I'll stand firm and give God all the thanks and praises. I love you all!

                                                                                                                       Love, Elder Prince

Elder Prince and Elder Golden- Blessings Throughout Generations

Greetings from Ohio

Dearest Friends and Family,

                                               Another great week has passed here in the Ohio. This week was transfer/arrival week where we say good bye to the old and say hello to the new. I love picking up the new missionaries and seeing their shocked faces; it feels good to be the first real warm hello and smile that they get when they arrive in the Ohio. The first thing I tell them as we drive to the Mission home is that they are on sacred ground and we are lucky to be wearing shoes on it. Arrival orientation was alot of fun. I was the only one who had been through the whole rodeo so I knew I had to stay focused all night, the whole thing went great and the missionaries had a great entrance to the field. The next day we all piled into the van and went to Kirtland. No offense to me friends serving elsewhere but what other group of missionaries get to start their missions in the Kirltnad temple; the place where missionary work started when Moses restored the keys of gathering Israel. It is amazing to be able to go through the temple and feel the spirit of place. After the tour in the morning we take all the missionaries to the Stake Center and we introduce them to their trainers and then we announce where all of the missionaries being transferred are going; it is a really exciting meeting. I am so proud of my former trainee, Elder Crosalnd who will be training a new missionary this transfer. I can't believe how far he has come since his first day; I love him with all my heart.

 

                                              Last night the mission hosted our monthly recent convert fireside in Kirtland and David and Danielle two of our recent converts spoke. They did a magnificent job and then President expounded to us the doctrine behind prayer. President Vellinga has such a gift for following the spirit as he teaches. He is very soft spoken but yet his presence is demanding. He is very sincere but yet jovial; a true joy to listen to. After the meeting I was in the foyer speaking to David and Danielle and I felt inspired to ask them if they were trying to have any children? They replied that they were and said that the both felt a confirmation from the spirit that all would be well in their hopes of raising a family. I asked them what they would name their son if they had one, I was going to suggest "Isaac" as it means 'laughfter' in Hebrew just then they said "Should we tell him?". They then said if we had a son we would either name Brandon or Benjamin after Elder Metcalf and I, man I wanted to cry when they said that. I thought I'd share that because I thought it was pretty cool.

                                             Life is going great. Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support; they make all the difference. I can't believe how fast my mission is going before my eyes. I don't want it to end. Well, I must get going but I would have you all know that I love you. I would have you all know that I know happiness comes in the service of others. I know that the Father and the Son live and love us!

                                                                                                                                                         Love, Elder Prince

They who seek shall find!

Dearest Friends and Family,

 

I want to tell you all that today I feel like Peter. There is a story in which Peter had been out fishing all night and as the scriptures say the Lord came to him and asked him to cast in his nets a final time. The men had been fishing all night had had taken nothing and yet humbly they trusted the Lord and cast in their nets for a final draught. A miracle follows and the men ave nets so full of fish they can hardly pull the net in without it bursting open. Peter then remarks to his Master, "Depart from me O Lord, for I am a sinful man!". Peter didn't feel worthy to have witnessed such a miracle. He didn't understand why he was so blessed to see such great and marvelous things as he saw. I feel like Peter. I wish you could all follow me and see the miracles that I see everyday. I hardly feel worthy to live in this wretched flesh and am constantly filled with wonder as to why I have been so privileged as to see such marvelous workmanship of the Lord. He is constantly watching over His sheep here. I am never alone.

Our nets have all but burst this week. The Lord is blessing Elder Metcalf and I so much right now. My companion and I have committed to each other that we will talk to everyone. Literally everyone. We have not let a living soul pass by us in over 3 weeks. In doing so we also promised each other that we would be more persistent. The thought really hit us both that if this is the Lord's true church, and we are the Lord's truly ordained Elders, armed with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Priesthood than why shouldn't we do all we can to call upon heaven and work miracles? We have been much more persistent than any other time in our lives. We plead with people and bare sincere testimony at any chance we get. Early this week as we were leaving a member dinner we saw some people across the street and started to talk with them./ They were in no way interested and probably couldn't wait until we got off of their porch, but before we left them we asked the woman if she knew anyone in the area who could use a message about Jesus Christ ( We also have committed to asking EVERYONE for referrals. The woman cocked back her head, looked up at the sky and thought deeply about who we could share with. A slight pause and then she said "Why don't you try the people on the cornering the white house. They are new and don't know anyone". We didn't have time that might so we decided to come back the next day. The next evening we went to the white house on the corner. A woman answered the knock at the door and we told her who we were, "I know" she said "I am a member, and I believe it, I juts don't go". We couldn't believe it. Suddenly all of these children start congregating around the door way; there was 8 of them! The woman invited us in and began to explain how they were less active. She pointed to her daughter and said "She is 8 and she needs to be taught and baptized". Then the husband came in and explained to us that the Elders taught him about a year ago but that he just couldn't give up his cigarettes. Elder Metcalf couldn't believe that the non-member referral just happened to be the only house in the whole area where a part member family (that we were totally unaware of) lived. They agreed to have us over again and we had a great lesson a few days later. The kids were very obedient and loved learning. The husband and wife started to hold hands as we sang "Love at Home" with them. It was a great blessing.

On Saturday I was on exchanges in my area with my good friend and Zone Leader Elder Hollingsworth. It was the hottest day of the year and we went tracting from 10 AM to 2:30. In one door we knocked there was a Mother and an 11 year old daughter named Nicole and Madison. After some conversation I asked Alison the 11 year old if we could sing her a song. We sang "I am a Child of God". As we sang the spirit was really strong and the mother began to cry as she explained how she had grown up in church and had strayed and that she wanted to badly for her kids to have the same great upbringing she had. We promised her that we could help bring her family the peace that she was longing for and after talking a little more she agreed to have us back today. We had a lesson with them this afternoon and focused on families the whole time. It was such a fun lesson and peace was felt through out. We arranged another time to meet, had a closing prayer and headed back for the car. Just as we made it to the front yard Madison came around the corner and said "Elder Prince! Elder Prince!" I stopped and waited for her to catch up with us, "before you go, I wanted you to know that a few weeks ago I was praying that God would help my family find the right church and I just wanted to thank you because I feel like you guys are an answer to my prayer". I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of this 11 year olds mouth. I replied "Madison, you are amazing, thank you so much. Want me to tell you something? We have been praying to find you too! and I know that Heavenly Father heard your prayers and sent us!" . I asked her if she would do me a favor and she agreed. I said "Do you have a journal?", she nodded yes, "Go and write down what you prayed for and everything you just told us and anything else you want to tell your Heavenly Father and then go and show your Mom. Will you do that?" She agreed and gave us a big smile. It was probably one of the most tender moments of my whole life. All throughout the lesson I kept looking at her and feeling such love in my heart for her. She looked like an 11 year old Miley, I just wanted to take her home with me and tell her how amazing she was. We are going back to see that family in a few days and I cant sat enough about how excited I am!

For the sake of not writing too much I will say that we were sent to two other amazing families this week. All together we have so many people to teach I can hardly believe it. Between laboring for our area and our mission we are busy from sun up to sun down. I just lay on the floor after planning at night and I can hardly get up. We didn't even stop to go to the grocery store this week haha, we were eating famine style; a bunch of instant oat meals and water! These are days truly never to be forgotten. I feel like God is fully in the driver seatright now and we are flying. I know this gospel is true. I have surrendered to it and I have never been happier. Christ has my heart, might, mind and soul. I love you all and I pray that you wil be blessed!

 

Love, Elder Prince

Halfway

Dearest Friends and Family,

 

What a great week it has been here in the Ohio! President Sorensen left on Thursday and his departure was emotional for me. I had no clue how much he had rubbed off on me until now. Thursday was his final day in the field and we got to some spend some precious time with him. President Sorensen put his whole soul into the Ohio, in a way he is a leader that you cannot replace. We went to one final dinner with he and Sister Sorensen and got a chance to tell them how much our mission has meant to us and let them know that we truly do love them for all they did to help us. We met President Sorensen at the mission office to meet our new mission President, President Vellinga. It was an emotional experience giving President our final goodbyes. It hit me how much he truly trusted me and expected of me. President Vellinga has a goodness in his eyes and was so happy to finally meet his first set of missionaries. He kept repeating over and over "You two look great!". Sister Vellinga immediately came up and hugged me, it'd been a while since a female had given me a hug, she squeezed as tight as she could and said " That was from your Mom!". She is great! This week has been a blast helping President Vellinga get his feet under him. It has been such an amazing opportunity! I never ever dreamed one day I'd be training a mission President, the Lord certainly has a sense of humor. This week we have been hosting a mission tour for the Vellingas to meet all the zones in the mission. During the second day of tours President Vellinga impromptu asked me to get up and tell all the missionaries what my mother means to me? Wow... he knows my soft spot. It was an honor to share what my mother means to me. I told them I understood her love before I understood God's love in this life. A mother's love brings remembrance of the pre-existence. I told them how my mother taught me to pray, taught me to listen and that I owed who I am to her. The whole theme was what it meant to have love at home and how we were supposed to help our brothers and sisters here in Ohio have love at home; a love only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring. This week has changed my life. I have reflected oer and over again on the lessons that President Sorensen taught me, he has been my biggest role model in my year away in the Ohio. I am grateful for what President Vellinga has all ready taught me. The first thing I observed about President Vellinga is his pure humility. It has been an honor answering all of his questions this week and showing him how the mission is ran. His first night with us he asked me if I would give him a blessing. I also never dreamed one day I'd be giving my mission President a blessing. It was a sacred experience I will always remember. We are all in this thing together out here in the Ohio. The work of the Lord is going to go forward in an unprecedented way! We are all hand in hand in doing this great work! The Lord calls the weak and simple like myself and he qualifies us for the work. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I know that I walk with Him everyday. The Lord is my Shepherd!

Love Always, Elder Prince