Merry Christmas!

I got to see the wonderful family yesterday :) they are all good. It made my day when Mom said I looked like Dad. I really miss him. I still think about him every day. I can hear his responses in my head when I am complaining or saying something sarcastic. I don't know, it is a cool connection.

I will make it short this week, we are getting phones! So I had to buy a new Samsung smartphone this week. We are also getting a 3rd companion tomorrow! There will be an emergency transfer and somehow we were chosen to take on a struggling missionary. Wahoo. (I am not thrilled at the prospect) 

Anyway, I love the members of this ward so much. We were spoiled rotten for Christmas receiving probably 300$ in gifts. Our favorite families consist of the Ports, Folsoms, Richardsons, Burtis, and Cleggs. The Folsoms are my favorite. They are the best. He is in the stake presidency and she is an angel. They are the most saintly people I may have ever met. They love the gospel and make us feel like we are at home. They are the ones who bought me the new Fossil watch, which, go figure, matches my new shoes. Lol. Also I have the designer tie from the Burtis family. He is the ward mission leader. I feel like some sort of business executive, hahaha. I love the people here (not just because they get us stuff). We also ate prime rib two nights in a row. I know, our life is SO rough. 

On the downside we got dropped by Daidrian this week. We aren't sure why but we will hopefully be able to resolve his concern so he can get baptized. Oh well, it is up to the Lord not us. 

I am so grateful for the savior :) have a good week.

-E.Rapier

p.s. Enjoy the pictures. the one with me and the diet coke is with our bishop. He found out my love for it and bought me a huge flat. I can't remember if I told you that or not.

Merry Christmas, Elder!

Elders Huff and Rapier

Christmas morning present opening and shenanigans

Merry Christmas!!!!

"I felt really happy..."

Brothers and Sisters how is it?? I'll answer my own question - it is awesome here. 

We got transfer calls and Elder Huff and are are staying again! Another 6 weeks in Clarkston - here we go! We are both very excited. It is an answer to prayers both for us and the ward! (We had some members tell us they are praying for us to stay). It is a big blessing and we should finally see some fruits of our labors. We are looking forward to several baptisms this transfer!

We had such an awesome week and I can't wait to talk all about the miracles. Let me apologize now for anything in this letter that doesn't make sense; I'm writing from the library and the dude behind us smells so strongly like weed that I might as well be smoking a blunt. So there you have that.

This week we we able to meet again with Louise (super old lady we miraculously street contacted). She has been feeling better and almost came to church, but she woke up feeling sick! But we had such a spiritual lesson, and she said she wants to be baptized as soon as she can actually remember what we teach her. She is going strictly off how she feels when we are there. The spirit is amazing. 

The Char Fam cancelled again. BBUTTTT we found a new investigator named Ravi! He is a dentist from India and his wife is a physical therapist and they are LOADED. Anyway, we were satisfying my Diet Coke craving at a gas station and struck up a conversation with him - HE TEXTED US and set up an appointment. Wow. Turns out our favorite ward members (the Folsoms) knew him and came with us to the lesson! We have taught him twice. He converted to Christianity from Hinduism and it is so cool to see how much he loves Jesus! More to come on him.    

Daidrian, our 14-year-old investigator with zero religious background or familiarity, cancelled again this week. We stopped by last night to confirm our appointment for tomorrow, and we were talking with him. We asked if we could do anything for him and he said nope, but then he said "I just want to thank you for the opportunity that you gave me to learn about Jesus Christ." The spirit was tangible at that moment. I felt so grateful for the knowledge of a Savior and I wondered how often I take that knowledge for granted.

Last cool experience... (If you are still reading this email you must really like me. Anyway...) we were talking to a potential investigator we met who works for the member of our ward. We stopped by his trailer and were talking to him. He struggles really bad with depression and has had to miss work and stuff because of it. Before we left we just had a thought to pray with him, and so we did. afterwards he sent us a text 

It built my testimony; I am so thankful to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I just want to bear my quick witness that I know that Christ brings light into our souls. He will refine and strengthen us. I do know that He did live as a man here on earth and He now lives again as our immortal Savior. I am thankful for this season to remember Him even more! Merry Christmas :)

Love,

-E. Rapier

Finally got some snow :)

All the missionaries in Elder Rapier's district.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream & Cherry Pie - Best Mashup?

Hey Y'all,

We had a great week out here in the glory land of Clarkston :)

A lot of good news to report on...

First, the members in this ward are awesome! When they found out we may be getting transferred next week, they were like "we already have your Christmas presents." Oh my goodness, they are such good people. They take good care of us. 

We taught a part member family on Monday and they fed us cherry pie mixed with mint chocolate chip ice cream. Like all of it. We ate so much. We pulled over after we left and Elder Huff puked on the side of the road. Mind you, this was after a taco bell 5$ box AND a member's dinner. 

On Tuesday, Elder Huff woke up sick as a dog and we stayed inside all day. He described, "It's like Donald Trump and North Korea are duking it out in my stomach." That was a fun day.

We had zone conference all day Wednesday and in the evening we were able to teach Daidrian our 14 year old investigator and extend a baptismal date to him! We are really excited, and he is progressing well. 

On Thursday all 3 of our lessons canceled - that really has been the story of the past couple weeks. It's hard with the holidays. Hopefully it is better this week!

We have been reactivating this less-active guy. Turns out he had been excommunicated in the past, but he just became our most solid baptismal candidate! He comes to church every week. Only problem is he killed somebody. It was in the 70's so hopefully we can just leave that behind. Who knows.

We had a sweet ward Christmas party and 20 non members showed up! One of them is a hair stylist and so we are going to see her today for hair cuts and we will get a return appointment. 

On Saturday, 2 of our 4 lessons cancelled. We drove for the first time into the boonies of our area. We wont be doing that again. It is a waste of time. 

Three  people came to church yesterday - including the mint chocolate chip and cherry pie people!

The Char family, Stephen, Lenora and Justin, Louise, Ben, and the other Justin all cancelled this week!! Ugh. The good news is we have a ton of new appointments with other people next week! Will keep you posted :)

BTW, Please send all Christmas packages early because transfers happen December 20. Just to be safe, send things to the mission home until we know where I will be on December 20.

Washington Spokane Mission
820 S Pines Rd Suite 101
Spokane Valley, WA 99208

Thanks and LOVE YOU,

- E. Rapier

Festival of Lights (love the Christmas sweaters!!)

Four Thanksgivings

Thanksgiving was awesome. I really loved being able to eat - no kidding - 4 dinners. I was so fat.

The Char family cancelled their appointment with us this week. Stephen kind of told us he only believes some of what we are teaching him, and we found out that Dillon can't get baptized for 3 years because he in on parole. To be honest though, I am not discouraged at all. I have a lot of faith in the Lord's timing. He knows his children.

We have been teaching a lot of people and we are staying really busy. I really feel myself changing.I used to get excited to buy and have new things. But when I went shopping last week, I didn't get any of that happiness from those worldly things. I think less and less abut home everyday. Not that I don't love my family, it just isn't what God wants for me right now. I love talking to people and being a witness of Christ. I find true joy in that, that lasting happiness can come from nowhere else bedsides God.  

Are you doing Light the World? If you aren't, you should. It can be your present to me. It is such a good missionary opportunity.

Love you all!!

- E. Rapier

Quick Thoughts

I think my mission has magnified the importance of eternal families. I like in a recent general confrence talk the speaker said, "Exaltation is a family matter." Never thought of that before. But we better all get each other to that celestial kingdom. :)

Dillon is so solid. He committed to drop cigarettes cold after we taught the word of wisdom this week. We will be baptizing him in about a month!!!!! 

The Char family is so good, and they are coming to church next week. The wife is a little slower to receiving the gospel, but the husband wants the Melchizedek priesthood. Like how does he even know what that is??? 

Everyone else is on course.

- E. Rapier

Golden Week and It's Been 1 Year!

Well, somehow I have already been a missionary for a year. I think it was a time warp, I sure hope the 2nd year doesn't go as fast as this one. So for my year mark this week I burned a shirt :) Ill include a picture below.

This was probably the best week of my mission. Before I go into the multitude of miracles, I will catch y'all up on our investigtors-

Char Fam - we finally had some contact. The wife is really hardened to the gospel, but all of the kids and the father really like it. The hard thing is... our church is supposed to unite families, not divide them, haha. So we have another lesson next week.

Dillon - we met with him again this week, and he is on date for baptism in January, he is so prepared!!

Ben - we put him on date this week too! We just need help getting his stubborn Catholic wife to let him come to our church. Butttt he is doing good. he knows the Book of Mormon is true!

Steven - Had a good lesson this week, evaluated his goal to be clean of cigarettes. He isn't progressing as fast as we'd like, but it is in the Lords time! No church this week because we had the Meridian Idaho temple dedication.

Ok ok ok, now back to miracles...we had an ABSOLUTE miracle! Even better than last week's. Elder Huff and I were were in our service clothes biking up a hill to do service for a nonmember family. It would have been really easy to bike past anyone we saw; we were running late and didn't want anyone waiting on us. We saw a woman coming out of her house to check her mail. Also let me mention that this was right at the top of the biggest hill in Clarkston. I swear it is so steep and my legs were on fire and both of us were soaking with sweat. We stopped and talked to her and the first thing she said was, "I am looking for a church." I have never heard that one before. Her name is Louise and she is this sweet older woman. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and explained the restoration and set up a teaching appointment. When we got there to teach her she told us how after we left she wet inside and just couldn't stop smiling, she said it looked like we were glowing! (We had been wearing grungy, dirty service jeans and t shirts.) She loves what she read in the Book of Mormon, and when we taught her, the spirit was so strong. We are meeting with her again this week :) I have never met someone so prepared for this gospel, I can witness that I know our Heavenly Father prepares his children. He loves and knows you :)

Among other miracles, that was the highlight. Thanks for the letters and packages for my halfway point this week, I love y'all :)

-E.Rapier

The tradition of shirt burning for being on your mission for one year.

Elders Huff and Rapier

Fasting for Missionary Work

Ok, I gotta make this quick so i can be obedient and get off this computer in time.

Our whole mission fasted for baptisms last fast Sunday, which was much needed, because we have a goal of 77 before the end of the year. At the rate we are going we are going to be 20-30 short.

We also had a complete answer to our prayers this last week after fasting for missionary work. We have a wonderful recent convert family that loves to do missionary work. Last Sunday, as we were fasting for missionary work, this family walked in with a non-member friend named Dillon. We had the chance to talk to him and sat with him in our gospel doctrine class. We had a dinner with that family the next Saturday and they invited Dillon over with us. We taught him the restoration and he had already been reading the Book of Mormon. I was dumbfounded. He again attended church yesterday and we had one of our other members invite him to dinner. In short - in one week, he has attended all 3 hours of church twice, been invited to and taught at 2 different member homes and is already reading the Book of Mormon. Wow, we are truly blessed; and I have gained a testimony of the power of faith and fasting!

Highlights: STEVEN CAME TO CHURCH. I was so happy. Even though the rest of our investigators cancelled, we had it poppin' while he was there.

SLY :)

-E.Rpaier

Staying in Clarkston

Ahhhh, back at it again with transfer calls. I will be staying in Clarkston with Elder Huff! Thank heavens because I finally feel like I actually know what is going on. The good news is that we will be getting a full time car, so there will be no more biking in the freezing rain (which we did a lot of this week). I am excited to be staying here. It is a great area and we had another good week this week. 

Investigators;

Char Fam: Still the most "golden" family on the face of the planet. They have read 14 chapters of the Book of Mormon as a family in just over a week. How's your family scripture study going? They were at church yesterday and were able to meet a lot of members of the ward. They are so amazing. During the lesson we had with them, we asked them about praying about the Book of Mormon. Their  little daughter Juliana's hand shot up in the air and she said, "I know it is true." The spirit just smacked me like a sack of bricks. I could just feel the purity of this little girl and how innocent she was. Wow, it was such a special experience.

Stephan: had a great lesson and he finally committed to come to church. He texted us Sunday morning and cancelled because some sort of explosion kept him up all night. Very interesting, North Korea might be coming after all. 

Hum Fam: finally able to meet with the husband again! Had a great lesson, but they didn't show up to church :(

Jonathan: haven't been able to contact him, ughhh :(

Other than that, we have found some new investigators. We aren't sure if they are accountable or not. An 87 year old man named Howard. He has dementia or something and has the mind of a 10 year old. Anyway he started singing us a Johnny Cash song with his wife after our lesson. It was the first time I had heard Folsom Prison Blues in a long time. With his singing voice, I don't know that I would care to hear it again anytime soon. 

Ok, well, I love y'all and I am thankful for your support! Pray for a chance to make someone smile today!

-E. Rapier

p.s. Included is your local tool pic of my companion and me :)

Elder Huff and Elder Rapier

Hallowings

What is good Brothers and Sisters?? 

Another stellar week out here in Clarkston. I would like to address my living situation. I have received multiple emails about misappropriated information in regards to my current residence. (I just tried to use big words and I am not sure if they mean what I think they do) I live it 1308 15th St, zip 99004 in Clarkston, Washington. Ok, now that we have that straightened out... 

Our investigators are all doing really well - 

Char Fam: we put them on date last Monday for December 9th. They had a family catastrophe and could not come to church, but we are teaching them again later this week. 

Jonathan: weren't able to teach him again because he works a lot trying to make enough for the end of month rent he has to pay.

Hum Fam, Justin and Lenora: They were supposed to come to a baptism but instead we recieved some half baked excuse. That is frustrating but we will let you know if anything new develops. 

Stephen: good news here! We didn't get him to church, but we did get him to come to an addiction recovery meeting on Thursday. He connected really well with the group leader and we are still confident that he can get off the cigarettes. By the way, smoking is probably the nastiest thing that anyone could do. Moving on.

We were able to find several new investigators as well. We have two big focus right now 

1. Making everyone's baptismal dates firm.

2. Getting them to church.

Ya know, that's about all I got. Sure love y'all and I pray that you are all safe in your Halloween extravaganzas!

-E. Rapier

[Editor's note: "Hallowings" is what 2-year-old Steele called his favorite pair of fairy wings from the dress up box. It's become a legendary family word. And since Elder Rapier didn't send any photos this week, I think we need a picture of Steele in his fairy wings. Don't you?!?]

Steele in his "Hallowings"

Not Disappointed

Hey y'all :) an overview of this week;

 (3) more investigators 

 (8) people at church 

 (6) dates for baptisms 

Pretty hard to be disappointed in that if you ask me. We had so many blessings this week. 

We were able to find a new investigator named Jonathan who literally told us he was wondering the night before why there were so many churches and where they all come from. We taught him the restoration and he lit up like a Christmas tree. I haven't felt the spirit so strong in a lesson in a long time (despite the ever present weed stench). Anyway, we put him on date for baptism right there, and he was on his way to church when he got called into work. Next week for sure.

Char Fam: we got them to church. Boy, there are 8 of them, and they look like a regular ol' mormon family, haha. They really enjoyed the service. Afterwards, Brother Char told us he believed in the priesthood. We have a lesson with them tonight at 7:30. If you read this before then, say a prayer because we are hoping for a baptismal date. 

Hum Fam: didn't come to church. We are going to have a member come with us to the next lesson and then come next Sunday and drag them out of the house with a lasso. I am open to alternative suggestions. 

Randall: had a great lesson with him this week. We put him firmly on date for the 18th of November. We are going to need a lot of faith; he is living with a woman and needs to move out for 2 weeks before his baptism or else he won't be worthy. This doesn't leave a lot of margin for error. 

Anyway, that is just the tip of the iceberg. In the last 3 weeks we have accumulated about 18 investigators and I am sorry - I just don't have time to update you on all of them. Let it just be said that the field is white.

Thank you for all of what you do to support me, and I hope you have a great week. 

Send NBA and NFL updates, please and thanks :)

-E.Rapier :)

PS: I took a face full of gravel during a sweet wipeout on my bike this week. I got to play golf last Monday which was the best p-day of my mission so far. Will include pics. :)

Wipeout!

Geared up for the road

Oohhhh yeeaahhhh!

Off the tee

Whattup y'all :)

Alright well, it is Week 3 here in Clarkston, Washington and it has been zoomin by. I witness so many miracles on a daily basis, it isn't even funny. This week there were no shortage of them.

We are working with a couple families right now:

Hum Fam: Lenora, Justin, and their daughter Izzy. We put them on date for the last week of December. Justin is a construction worker and shot a nail through his finger this week with a nail gun, so we only met with Lenora, Izzy and their little girl Delphi. They are so prepared. They already have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and want so badly to get baptized. We just have to help Justin to gain and maintain a testimony for himself. They are doing so good at reading and praying, but I swear - every Sunday there is a different excuse. Like, literally they told us their cat got in a fight and they couldn't come. What?! Anyway, pray their cat stays out of trouble this week.

Char Fam: GOLDEN FAMILY. We found them last week. The father is a theological genius. I mean this man knows the bible inside-out, left, upside-down, and backwards. He believes in the Book of Mormon and most of the Restoration. We committed them to read Mosiah 3 and pray about if they should join our church. I see some more on dates here shortly. Also he told us he believes in the priesthood. so there's that as well.

Steven: such an awesome guy. He has been taught by missionaries for about 7 years. He also has a huge testimony of the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of the church. He just can't quit smoking or drinking coffee. We set up a plan to have him clean by the New Year. 

Randall: he is on date for next month. He has been to church 3 times and likes it. We are working with him to understand the priesthood and what the implications of it are. He doesn't understand why we want him to be baptized again. Hahah! Pray that something in his head clicks. 

We taught a lot of people this week. Elder Huff and I are doing well. We get a long super good. He is pretty funny. 

Also I was called Saturday morning to give a 25 minute talk on Sunday so I did the ol' "ro-sham-bo" and threw something together. I was incredibly flattered when a member of the ward came up and asked me to write a copy of my talk for him because he wanted to have it. That made me feel good :) 

I hope each of you are looking for ways to serve those around you. With the holidays coming up, there is so much we can do to help those around us. :) I love you all and I know God does too.

-E.Rapier :)

Mining in Clarkston

Ya know, the next time I see the missionaries who served in Clarkston before me, I am going to ask if there was a lot of mining going on when they were here. They will undoubtedly say, "no."  I will then say, "That's funny, because this place is straight GOLD." So that should tell you how well this week went. 

We showed up in this area with 2 investigators and that was it. Last week we found 5 investigators. I haven't seen so many miracles in my life. We also put 4 - I repeat FOUR - people on date for baptism. Life is GOOD. 

We found a part-member family. The non-member father is addicted to smoking and drinking coffee, but he knows the Book of Mormon is true. He set a date in a few months to be done with smoking/coffee and be baptized. With another investigator, we invited the rest of their family to join in on one of the lessons and we put the whole family on date 

Our ward is feeding a a ton and I am scared that I am going to put on all the weight I just lost. All is well here. I ran out of time. I am so sorry. 

Sure love y'all, 

-E. Rapier

Meeting Elder Huff on transfer day

Tie twins

Sharing General Conference with some ward members

Who doesn't love a good bathroom selfie?

Oh boyyyy...Transfers

Ok folks, 

Lots of big news this week. We got transfer calls. My 6-month career in Cheney is over :( I will getting transferred to Clarkston, WA. It's about 2.5 hours south of where I am right now. I am SO sad to leave Cheney. I will be sweeping into the area, meaning that there isn't a companion there waiting for me. I will also be training a new missionary... again. Hahaha. While I am very excited for this chance, I am terrified. Not only does my companion not know the area, but he also doesn't know how to be  missionary. Oh great. I could really use your prayers this week. 

Also I am broke. I run out of money early every month because the only thing worse than my budgeting skills is my singing voice. So I will attempt to survive a week with whatever food I can bring with me from this apartment. If you feel so inclined to donate to a missionary in need, please send all donations to 1308 15th St, Clarkston, WA 99403. Much obliged. [Editor's Note: Elder Rapier will be ok.] 

Pretty much my stress is paramount at this point in time. On top of all of that, I was told by my President that I am being sent into a dead area as his "last hope." That is encouraging. As much as I am stressed, I am living evidence that the Lord sustains his servants. He has held me up time and time again. 

Also, sidenote - we baptized Lexi this week. It was a good way to end my time here. 

The other good news is, Elder Brinkerhoff and I dropped a spiritual bomb on the city of Cheney. We put 5 people on date this week in just the YSA ward. That is absolutely bananas. I guess I can say I left on a high point. Let's hope Elder Brinkerhoff keeps it rolling next transfer. I witnessed miracles in the janky little city of Cheney. I am so grateful for the different missionary this city has helped me become.

I have such a strong testimony of the power of change through the atonement of Christ. Not only from bad to good, but from good to better, and better to best. I know how possible it is to change. I have also come to realize how judgments are an evidence of a lack of faith in Christ. When we believe in His atonement, then we also believe in its transforming powers; therefore, we must believe in change and progression beyond mistakes and sins of the past. I invite each of you to remove the judgments you have cast by your faith in the Atonement of Jesus. 

I love each of you. I also love this work, and I testify of its reality.

-E.Rapier

Elders Brinkerhoff and Rapier at Lexi's baptism

Da Boyz

Last Week in Cheney...Maybe...

Hey y'all. 

So solid out here in Cheney WA. This is likely my last week here. I have now been here 6 months and transfers are next week. Elder Brinkerhoff and I are getting work put in! I love this area. Covering 3 wards has us SO busy. We found 4 more investigators this week! 

Also big news - we are getting smartphones in December. Not sure how I feel about that. I like old fashioned missionary work. 

Update on our investigators: 

We went to the temple with John this week! He is so solid. He really liked it, he is really excited to do his family history and get them baptized. He went to Utah and walked around temple square and tried to convert his little brother. Lol, he kills me.

Bryan is doing good. No new news for him. 

Cesear came to church again, had a migraine, and had to go home early. He gave up coffee before we even taught the word of wisdom and was having withdrawals. Wow, blessing. 

Ed and Kristen, the family from Alaska, came to church. All of them - all 7 of them. Yeesh. Also we put them on date for baptism in November. Literally we are so blessed. This area is known for being a black hole for missionary work. The Lord is out here preparing people. I testify of that fo'sure. There is no way we could be getting this done by ourselves. 

We also had a couple less-active people we have been teaching come to church. Literally I can see the Lord's hand every day. I am so thankful for him.

Lexi is going to get baptized this Saturday! It will be a good way to leave Cheney! 

Elder Brinkerhoff and I have been trying to read 5 pages of the Book of Mormon everyday in our companionship. One huge thing I have noticed is literally how many references there are to Jesus Christ. Anyone who claims that the Book of Mormon slights Jesus Christ has not read the book. The Book must speak for itself. I invite each of you to READ IT. 

Have a good week :) I love being a missionary!

-E.Rapier

At the Spokane Temple with John the kayaker.

WE ARE ON FIRE!

Hey y'all -

It has been a lit week, hahaha. Ok, I will stop with the dad humor. For those of you who don't know, more than half of our mission is on fire! We were told to stay inside for like 2 days so we didn't get bronchitis and die.  Elder Brinkerhoff and I had too much going on, so we stayed outside anyway. 

Covering three areas led to straight miracles this week. We found 8 new investigators...WHATTT?? Yeah, I couldn't believe it. We found a family of 5 people - holy cow, they have been prepared. They live in a trailer park and moved down from Alaska like a year ago. They are Christians looking for a church. We were able to teach them the restoration, and they fed us dinner!! Man, God was looking out for us this week in a major way. 

We have a YSA investigator named Lexi who's been being taught for a long time. She finally committed to a date in 2 weeks and we will be baptizing her then. 

Blessings on blessings, we found a little mexican guy named Caesar and put him on date for next month. He begged us to be able to come to church and asked us how to pay tithing. It was awesome. 

In one week we metaphorically and spiritually speaking lit the town of Cheney on fire. I can't describe the joy I have felt from seeing the results of obedience and diligence. :) 

I wanna just talk about the process. I know the Lord works over time and I am so glad to see progress both in myself spiritually and in my growing up. I am definitely still childish but I am just glad that the Lord loves me enough to refine me. We were reading about being a true disciple on Sunday in Elder's Quorum; the process of discipleship is refining and testing. In short, it isn't easy but it is always worth it.

I love you all, work hard :)

-E.Rapier

Pacific Northwest on fire = bad air quality

This Elder is outstanding in his field

R & B SOLUTIONS

Hey Y'all! 

We had a great week here. Lots of fun stuff happening, so I will try to catch you up. 

In YSA Ward news we found out that Cierra is moving to Idaho and is leaving her fiance. So that was rough. She did some stand up comedy for us the night before she left. I was DYING. Also we met with Krissy, and she is still working towards baptism :) We have a church tour with her next week, and she will be getting work off on Sunday to come to church :))) YAY. 

We didn't find any new investigators this week in the YSA Ward. We didn't really have time, to be honest. We were running all over the place. In the 2nd Ward we found a new investigator. He believes that the Book of Mormon is true, and let us right in to teach him Saturday night. He talked A TON, so we didn't get a ton taught. But we went over the outline of the restoration and left him with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet to read for next time. 

Bryan and John are both doing good. We are going to the temple with John in a couple of weeks; he's out of town right now. Bryan is going to college and quitting his fast food job. He bore his testimony like always and he LOVES missionary work. He went into downtown with a copy of the Book of Mormon in his backpack to try to pass it out. What a champion. He really inspires me. 

In other news, I went on exchanges with the coolest zone leader ever this week. His name is Elder Bowman; he is from Kanab Utah. He taught me a lot and now I feel like there is so much to work on. I didn't take a picture, ugh, sorry. 

Anyway - about the title of the email - Elder Brinkerhoff and I have started our own company called R&B Solutions. We plan to be going global here shortly. We made a logo and everything. We are definitely weirdos. 

Now this big news for the week - we are the last missionaries standing in Cheney. We are now also covering Cheney 1st Ward Last night President called the Cheney 1st Elders and told them that he needed to close an area due to other missionaries elsewhere in the mission going home. So now we are taking over the 1st ward too. Yeesh. It should be fun :) I am always around for an adventure, so this should keep us on our toes. 

I love you. If you have a second I would love to hear from you :) 

-E.Rapier

Vision + Effort Will Win the Prize

Whattup y'all :) 

So to update you all, I am still with Elder Brinkerhoff and we are taking over the Cheney 2nd Ward as well as still handling the YSA Ward. This past couple of weeks has been super interesting, hahah. We had a lot going on. To start off, John got the priesthood on Sunday :) He was finally off of work. He asked Elder Brinkerhoff to ordain him. That was an awesome experience. He has had a few struggles with the word of wisdom but we went over it and something clicked, so he has been clean ever since. It is always the coffee, man, I swear - no one can live without it. 

Bryan is also doing good. He is so solid. He asked us for a missionary daily planner to plan out his days and be more organized. It was awesome. 

This week was slow for finding new investigators. We didn't have a ton of time to look for them because we have to spend some time in the 2nd Ward. The 2nd Ward is a pretty slow area. I am not sure why it is still open. Elder Brinkerhoff and I are trying to get it going. We found one new investigator last week and found none this week. BUTTTT, we are now teaching three less-active families from the 2nd Ward, so at least that is something. To be honest I am just still trying to figure out what exactly to do in the 2nd Ward. 

I would like to talk about how awesome the YSA Ward is for a second, I have made so many good friends with these kids. Man, I have been in this ward forever! 6 months! One of the members asked me on Sunday if I was ever going to leave, haha. I would be okay if I didn't. There are so many good people here, I really love them. However, Cheney itself is a janky little place in which I would never reside. 

Update on current investigators: they are all in YSA because the 2nd Ward is dead. 

Cierra is still on date for September 23rd and we are meeting with her tomorrow, we didn't meet with her last week because of a death in the family. 

Krissy the wiccan is doing well, she is still on date for November 1st and we are going to have a lesson in a member's house next week with her. :) 

That is about it. I was focused on vision this week. It seems that anything I have ever been good at, I always have had a vision for it - an idea of where I am going and how to get there. Visions brings motivation and success in the work you endeavor in. "Vision coupled with effort will win the prize" -Thomas S. Monson.

I love you all, especially you, momma :)

- E. Rapier

Don't know what's happening here, but the face of shame is priceless!

YSA Ward activity

Short Note

Killer week. We had a lot going on this week. Last week we participated in a water balloon fight. Due to technicalities in the rules, it was not disobedient for us to do so. So we did and it was awesome. 

We taught a girl named Cierra this last week. She agreed to a baptismal date. We found her as a potential in the area book. After that one lesson she had something come up for our next lesson and hasn't responded to any of our communications since. So that is something. 

We are taking over the Cheney 2nd ward and I am stressed out about that because I have no idea what I am doing, hahah. Oh well. 

We also put Krissy, a different investigator, on date this week. That was awesome.

Sorry this is rambly. I delayed writing this email until I was almost out of time. OOPs. Sorry mom.

John and Bryan are good :)

Still alive and kicking!

I BAPTIZED A PROFESSIONAL KAYAKER!

Whattup y'all :) 

We had a week full of miracles! To lead off, we had a baptism on Saturday for John :). He is so solid. He asked me to baptize him, I was pretty nervous but it was such a neat experience. When he came out of the water he started crying. We went into the back to change and he just kept crying. He is a professional recreational guide and he loves kayaking. He said that he had never felt a better feeling from water than in the font. It was incredible to hear his testimony. His anti-mormon parents were at the baptism, and he bore the strongest testimony I have heard in a while. It truly was a precious experience. Heavenly father is way too good to us. We had his confirmation yesterday and he got up to bear his testimony and he started quoting a general conference talk. He is a 1-day convert and already studying conference talks... wait, what? SO COOL!

We also have been working with Carly, a returning less-active and we had the chance to go with her and Bryan to the temple this week :) She moves to California tomorrow morning. It was so cool. We have been working with her since I have been here. When we started, she was no where near temple worthy. Now she is worthy in every way. I love the atonement. :) I have a huge testimony of people changing.

Our teaching pool has been on the lower end of things, and this last week we set a goal to find two new investigators. By yesterday we had only found one. We were fasting and tired and very cranky as we went out to work yesterday. I spent the day feeling rather useless, like I should have planned differently, and that I wasn't being very effective. As were were walking on the street we met Alexa. She was sitting on her porch. Turns out she met with missionaries and was almost baptized over a year ago. She wants to meet with us and get baptized, so there's that. The Lord can bring forth his work if we are willing to do our best. I know that because Elder Brinkerhoff and I were out walking miles on empty stomachs, feeling discouraged, and the Lord was able to bring forth his work - regardless of the state of his servants. We also found another new investigator going through a divorce. So we ended up finding two new investigators in about 2 hours. True miracles that I attribute to the power of fasting.

I have been working on my humility a lot lately. I can hear my family laugh out loud as they read this... I have a lot to work on. I know that humility is key to improvement and success. I have been trying to learn more from Elder Brinkerhoff even though I am "The Trainer." It is a tough pill to swallow, and a lot of the time I am not very good at it. But, as I just proved with the example above, the Lord can always work with our best efforts :) 

I love you all, have a great week :) 

-E.Rapier 

Elder Rapier with John 

Elders Rapier and Brinkerhoff at John's baptism

John is Getting Baptized!

Aye, whattup y'all :) 

Elder Brinkerhoff and I had such a killer week this week! We have already been together about 5 weeks. Time is cruisin! 

Statistically speaking, since we are in a YSA ward over a college campus, during the summer when there are no people around, we have less than half the normal chance to be baptizing people. The good news is that God really doesn't care about statistics. We are baptizing John this week, he passed his baptismal interview and has asked that I baptize him :) So that was the good news. 

Also update on Tommy, he no-showed at our appointment and hasn't gotten back to us :( 

Bryan is doing SO good, we are going to the temple with him again this week :)

The rest of our investigators are crazy; we will be finding more this week. 

Last night as we were walking in a city called Medical Lake, twenty minutes outside of Cheney. We drove out there for 2 appointments, which then cancelled, so we went to tract and visit some other people we had as backup plans. There was a kid by himself in a park. It was like 7:45 at night and we went up and talked to him. We sat right there and had a lesson. His name is Vincent and he is so prepared. I really don't even feel like I deserve half of the blessings from Heavenly Father! The bummer about Vincent... this was his last weekend off for 2 months and he works 14 hours a day 7 days a week. Being a missionary is hard, but that sounds awful. His girlfriend showed up and we taught her too. It was awesome to see them placed right there in our path. Definitely a tender mercy. 

We also met with Trey and Alyssa, two new investigators, this week. They are both awesome! We found Trey on campus and Alyssa from one of our members! The work is so good :)

This week we went back to the mission home for New Missionary Training for Elder Brinkerhoff, since he is being trained and all. During the meeting one of our assistants to the president talked about relying on the Lord in all things. I think I am guilty of going to the Lord only when I don't know something or don't want to do something. I think though how much time God spent planning our eternities of happiness. We should really follow his plan instead of ours :)

Love ya:)

-E.Rapier

A Top 5 Moment

Whattup y'all :) such a good week here in good old Cheney. This place is so whack. If there wasn't a college here it would literally be a train stop in the middle of nowhere. Also they have decided to redo all of the roads in Cheney all at once. Travel has been rough lately but we just roll the windows down and crank up the black gospel choir music... it helps. 

Ok, so Elder Brinkerhoff and I are getting along great. He is having a hard time adjusting and being away from his family, but he is a hard worker and keeps moving forward. 

I had a "Top 5" moment of my life this week. We got to go to the temple with Bryan. He did his own family history too! Elder Brinkerhoff and I were witnessing the proxy baptisms and Bryan walked down into that font and looked up at me and smiled. Every sacrifice and pain I have experienced as a missionary was beyond worth it for that two seconds. I testify of the power of Jesus Christ to change the lives of anyone who will give him the chance. I know that his atonement is and always will be enough. Our awesome bishop then took us and the whole YSA ward, like 22 of us, out to eat at a buffet. I love this ward. Being so close to all these members is awesome :) I honestly feel like the Lord put me in this wards for the members. They are TOO cool. I have made some life long friends. 

In other news, John our investigator is getting baptized in about 2 weeks, on Aug 5th. He is the ex boyfriend of a member who used to be less-active. We taught him for a little while then he wasn't having it with the word of wisdom, he dropped us and a couple weeks later he texted us out of the blue. That was about a month ago. Since then we have taught him weekly and he is progressing. He is living all the commandments and hasn't had beer in like 4 weeks :).

Crazy stat from our mission president - our mission average is 1.8 baptisms per missionary. Hopefully that gives you an idea of how tough this area is. We are so blessed, especially in this ward, to be doing as well as we are! 

We finally met with our other investigator, Tommy, again. It is like teaching a 3rd grader. He has some learning disabilities and ADHD. We definitely have to teach differently because of that. He is also on date for the 26th of August. 

Sorry for the longer emails but my mom requested more details. Anything for old Momma so she doesn't cut off my debit card ;) 

This week I thought a lot about the three pillars of conversion: Faith, Hope, and Charity. Paul talks a lot about Charity in his epistle to the Corinthians. Often we do things out of necessity, in order to obey the letter of the law. True Charity is the feeling of love behind the actions we make. [The sister missionaries are about to kick us out of the computers] Pray for charity, it is a gift from God :)

I love you :) 

-E.Rapier 

Photos: enjoy me at the temple with Bryan :) and me with the resident black member Nick who just moved.

At the temple with Bryan

With Nick from the YSA ward

Alien Subspecies... What?!

Aye y'all. I apologize for no weekly email last week, Elder Brinkerhoff and I were really busy! So my new companions name is Elder Brinkerhoff, he is from St. George, Utah! He is a big 6"4' football and rugby player. We get along really well. We have had a fun couple of weeks :) He is a very hard worker and the Lord is opening many doors for us! 

Update on Bryan: he is still doing really well, we are going to go to the temple this week with him! It has been amazing to see his faith and testimony grow and progress. He has learned and is continuing to learn so much. Like he just signed up for a bunch of community service this week because it was "the right thing to do"  :) What a guy!

John: He is still on-date for august 5th! He is doing really well and could use your prayers. He gave up beer and has been clean a couple weeks now, nothing short of a miracle! 

Tommy: Working a lot and we haven't been able to meet a whole lot, still on date though. 

We have been finding investigators through members and getting a lot of referrals from the ward. We are so blessed here. Funny story - we were out walking campus Friday night because our lesson got done early and we had 15 minutes before 9:00 pm and we were obedient and stayed out. We talked to this off-the-wall crazy guy who believes we were planted here by aliens and that we are a subspecies harvest colony that will be raided by aliens. It was dark and I can't be positive but I think he was wearing a tinfoil hat, bless that poor man's soul. Jesus suffered for him too, lol. 

Alright, so far on my mission I have loved training new missionaries the most. I feel that I am the missionary closest to what my mom thinks I am when I am training. As Elder Brinkerhoff and I have talked about what a successful missionary looks like, I have come to know my Savior more. I think it is easy for me to over look the role of the Savior as a missionary. Often I see everything he did and I think of his power and forget everything he suffered. I love the verse in Isaiah, "He is a man of sorrows acquainted with grief." Man do I testify that to be true. He has stared grief, pain, and anguish right in the face and taken them on his back. How cool is that?! I find so much comfort from the peace of my Savior. Sorry this didn't make too much sense.

I love you all, your emails letters and packages mean everything :) Thank you for the support

-E.Rapier :)

New greenie - Elder Brinkerhoff

New member discussions with Bryan

2 Yearsss & Training

Wow, two years to the day that my father passed away. I really don't know how to feel. To be honest, I think it effects me more now than it ever did before. It just has never really seemed real that he is gone. I cannot believe it has been two years. Where did the time go? I am eternally grateful for the 17  years I did have. I learned a lot from my old man. 

In mission news, I got call from President Dymock that I will be training another new missionary!! I am really excited. President told me he plays sports and he is tall. I will pick him up tomorrow. I will be staying here in Cheney YSA and Elder Case will be leaving to the boonies of Priest River, Idaho, lol. I am really excited for this. Hopefully all goes well. 

BRYANS BAPTISM: it went so well! He is such a champ. We had around 50 people show up. The spirit was really strong and it is just a confirmation of the work that we do as missionaries. I am thankful for this opportunity. A family in the ward actually bought him an engraved pair of scriptures last night. The ward loves him and he loves the ward, he even bore his testimony yesterday in church. :) I am so happy with the work.

All of our other investigators are well, John is now on date for the 5th of August. Pray that he can give up beer, that is a big one for him. All is well on the missionary front. 

In Helaman, the Gadianton robbers attempt to lay siege on the Nephite and Lamanite city. They were unable to even penetrate city due to the preparation of the Nephites and Lamanites. I think in each of our lives, we go through spiritual sieges. The enemy tries to catch us off guard. He would love nothing more than for us to be unprepared and unaware of him. We must be reading every day. We must pray every day. Without this the adversary gains power over us. Kick Satan right in the throat. Go fight win.

Love you all :))

Elders Rapier and Case with members of the YSA ward in Cheney.

#HOOPFEST

Hey y'all, 

We had a killer week this week. First off we were able to meet with Bryan 3 times. He will be baptized this Saturday at 11:30 am, I am so humbled to see his exponential progression in such a short amount of time. The Lord truly walks with each of us. This is all you need to know about Bryan is that he joked about putting a black bath-bomb in his baptism jumpsuit. I laughed very hard. 

We met with our normal less-actives this week. We met with the wiccan lady again. I don't remember if I mentioned her last week, she is mormon but she is also a wiccan. They believe some weird, border line satanic stuff. Like voodoo and witchcraft. It is kind of spooky. Anyway they said that they are going to read the book of mormon and we will keep meeting with them as long as they do. Found a few new investigators this week, but honestly Bryan was the highlight. 

The rest of our time this week was really filled, on Thursday we were able to attend the Temple. It was awesome as usual. Wednesday we had an 8 hour zone conference.

Hands down the best part of the week was HOOP FEST. For those of you who don't know, hoop fest is a 3v3 street ball tournament. It is a huge deal in Spokane. Half the city was shut down Friday and Saturday. People come from all over Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California to play. There were several hundred (at least) courts with different games going on for all ages. We went and walked around talking to people and watching basketball. It was so cool. Kevin Durant even showed up, CRAZY! I got a sweet tan and watched some good basketball.

"I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander
in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until
Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,
and work until He comes. And when He comes to get
His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My colors will be clear."

Remember who you are!

-E.Rapier

Meeting with Bryan and his girlfriend

Dreaming of #HOOPFEST