Dahh West Side Update (for real this time)

Dahh West Side Update (for real this time)  

Temple Trip with dah Boys

Well some sad news... President Just called to let us know that The whole Jerusalem thing just isn’t going to work out and that God would like for Elder Allen and I to remain in Cleveland. So I guess ill tell you how my week went...

Well it was pretty cool, On Wednesday we got in contact with this woman named Heather that is super prepared and a whole bunch of "coincidences" happened that led her to us. So there we were and she told us her life story basically and she has had quite the life (typically inner city) but she has completely flipped her life around in the last two years and now wants nothing more then to do what God wants her to do (not so typical inner city). So we had an awesome restoration lesson and met with her two days later and had an awesome Plan of Salvation lesson. She told us of how her mom found out that she was meeting with missionaries and within the two days, since we had met, her mom threatened to disown her. She said she had prayed about it and when she read the testimony of Joseph Smith she knew it was all true and that this is what she wanted. We set a baptismal date right there and the next day (Sunday morning) she was at church and she loved every minute of it. This just proves that no matter how lost someone may seem, when they put their trust in God to lead them to something better, he will do it. So there was one of the big miracles of the week here in West Cleveland.

Another awesome/crazy thing that happened is that we set a Giant baptismal date/goal for Charisse and all her family for June 18th. There are a total of 12 people that are all included in that. So now we have split the family into 3 groups. When we go over to teach I teach the children over the age of 12 and Elder Allen teaches the children between 8-12 and then once a week we meet with all of them together and share a message. The first time that we split off into groups I met with the teenagers and taught the restoration. It was one of my favorite lessons that I have ever taught. The spirit was there super strong and about half way through one of the boys stopped and said "Can you feel that too or is it just me, but I feel happy inside and its something I have never felt before?" and I was able to help them recognize the Holy Ghost teaching and telling them that these things are true. It was really cool. Also Charrise wants Elder Allen and I to be in their family portrait that they are going to have put on the wall. I guess we will see how that goes this week. 

Willy Hollyfield made it another Sunday without smoking and he actually came out teaching with us. It was pretty funny because we went to visit some less active members and Willy (a non member) was calling them to repentance and saying that he will be at their house next Sunday to give them a ride to church. It was definitely a High light of the week. 

Another highlight is that Elder Allen and I were able to go to the temple with The assistants. The temple is definitely a place where we can still be in the world but not of the world. That was a very needed trip. 

Well, I know that there were other great things that happened that I would love to tell you all about but I am starting to have a hard time remembering what happened 20 minutes ago... It is crazy how fast time goes. 

Jacob 6:12

The Church is true and the Book is blue! 

Until next week,

Elder Frandsen

Changes

April 25, 2016

Hi

Exciting news... My mission call was reassigned this week and I am heading out to Jerusalem with Elder Allen Next week and My mission has been extended another 2 years. 

We are really busy packing and getting ready so I dont have a lot of time to say much about it but I will call you in the airport before we get on the plane. 

with much love

Elder Frandsen

A Good Week in the Neighbor"Hood"

Hey Y'all!

What is Round on the ends and HI in the middle...

oHIo

ANYWAYS,... here is how the week went:

1.  We met with our Progressing investigator Willy who we have been teaching for a month now and he has quickly become one of my favorite people hat I have had the opportunity to teach. He is a former alcoholic and was formerly homeless but has made some really big changes in his life in the last 5 years or so. His wife is a member and they have been coming to church together for a while. He had a problem with Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon for a while but a couple weeks ago he said that he did what he was supposed to and prayed about it and received his answer. He knows that it is true and really wants to be baptized but he has the problem of smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day. So during our lesson we taught him about priesthood blessings and faith and he said that he wanted a blessing, on Sunday, to be able to not smoke and be able to quit slowly, but surely. So we gave him a blessing and we followed up with him on Sunday and yesterday and he said he was able to make it the whole day without smoking and he felt 100x better... So when we met with him last night again to follow up he said that he had only had a half a pack that day and all of a sudden the cigarettes have just started to taste bad to him and he is slowly losing the desire and crave to smoke. So we are going to follow up with him again today, but he is determined and he thinks that by this coming Sunday he will be done smoking and never look back. 

This is Polo and I.

2. We meet with a less active Spanish speaking member named Polo, once or twice a week,  he has had a drinking problem for a while now and it is the only thing keeping him back from going to church and baptizing his daughter. He surprised us this week when he told us that from our previous visit to that one he had quit his job and checked himself into a recovery program and is now 15 days free from drinking. We left with him the talk from conference about fathers and he said he watched it 3 times he liked it so much and he is determined to be a good parent for his daughter now and he came to church on Sunday as well. God will help us when we are willing to try and do our part in overcoming addictions and this is true with Polo. 

3. Sherry our investigator that we picked up a month ago has come to church every week since and is on fire right now. We are working with her to quit smoking (I swear everyone we find to teach smokes) and in the last week she has cut her usage back in half, which is really awesome. So if anyone has any tips on how to quit smoking please let me know.

4. Charisse and her family came to church this week! It was super crazy and hectic setting up the rides and all and we never thought that it would happen but she and her 4 of her kids were able to make it, it was super awesome. During gospel principles Charisse was talking about how she has been meeting with us for a little while and she then started to cry, which took me by total surprise,  she said that in the last month she has seen a change in her family as they have listened to the message of the gospel and about how much happier they are. She said that she knows God sent Elder Allen and me there and that we are pretty much members of the family now too. This was probably one of my favorite experiences from my mission. It is nice to know that what we are doing is helping someone. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a tool in the Lord’s hand to help others come unto him and experience the joy of finding their relationship with him. 

5. Since it is transfers this week and Elder Wray who was the district leader is being transferred, we didn’t have a  District Leader.  President called me  yesterday to tell me that I am going to be the new District Leader. It really took me by surprise, ha-ha, I guess it’ll be okay. I am going to miss being a normal missionary who only has to worry about the people he is teaching and all that. But now, I have to try to run a couple meetings a week at the same time. 

6. Well this week was awesome. We saw lots of success and we had 11 people that we are teaching at church on Sunday, it was the craziest day of my life. But the ward did awesome in fellowshipping all of them. 

The church is true and the book is blue. Hope you all have a great week! 

and remember-

Antes de tu cases mira lo que haces.

Exodus 14:14

Until next week,

Elder Frandsen

Let it snow, a night with the Osmond's

Hey Y'all.

A great start to Spring here in Cleveland. 

This week Ohio couldn’t make up its mind about what season it is and decided to dump almost a foot of snow on us throughout the weekend. Luckily Elder Allen and I still have that temporary car from his surgery so we weren’t stuck outside in it. But it is almost worse being on the roads because everyone in Cleveland seems to forget how to drive when it snows... and they don’t plow the streets... it feels almost like rainbow road on Mario cart, lol. 

Here are some highlights from the week. 

1. Last night there was a fireside at The Historic Kirtland sites and David Osmond performed at it, and It was super awesome. We took a returning member with us and he was super stoked about it and it helped him out a lot. 

David Osmond

David Osmond with all the Elders.
(I got to see Elder Watkins again :) )

2. At the fireside I ran into Brother Slamone ( a less active I had been working with in Perry) he came to the event with his wife and it was probably one of the greatest moments of my mission. When I started talking to him I could tell that he looked different. He looked happier or something but as we got to talking he told me of how he had made the decision to return to church and his wife thanked me for not giving up on him. He has gone to church now for two weeks in a row. I love that family and It makes me so happy to see the change in them. I am forever grateful that I had the opportunity to be a tool for the spirit to touch his heart and for him get that desire to go back to church. It was awesome. 

3. We taught 36 lessons this week and set 3 more baptismal dates and we had 5 investigators at church. I have never been so excited to go to bed each night as I was this week. This is exhausting but it is all worth it. 

4. Elder Allen and I were almost overtaken by three large pitbulls as we were tracking in the sketchier part of town but we made it to the side walk right before the dogs ran out of leash, hahaha. It was possibly one of the scariest but funniest things, mostly because I was watching Elder Allen wobble to the sidewalk in front of me the whole time. 

Charrise and co. (this is only half of the family that we are teaching)
They consider us part of their family now and they all gather 
around for when the "Elders" come.  I love these guys. 

5. Elder Allen and I are teaching half of the Spanish ward members English now during our less effective proselting time and it is super awesome getting to know these people. They are some of the nicest, most sincere people I have ever met. 

6. Cleveland is awesome. 

Well, I have now been out for over 250 days, I opened my mission call up one year ago from tomorrow. I could not have imagined even remotely close that this is where I would be at and this is what I would be doing before I opened that call. This past year has flown by and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world, serving around any other people, or doing any other thing. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and what he did for us, I am grateful for the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father. 

The church is true and the book is blue. Until next week,

Elder Frandsen

Appendicitis, Hospitals, Hair cuts, and Conference.

Dear Friends and Family,                                                   

Well this was another strange week here in the city of Cleveland... Here is how it went down.

Monday Crew

​Elder Allen and I sitting in the hospital room waiting for
 the diagnosis to come back... He's a trooper.

Picture of Ole Elder Allen the next day after surgery...Good times.

Tuesday: Elder Allen and I both started out the morning not feeling so great and so we just assumed that it was the food we had eaten the night before but I was feeling fine after I had showered but Elder Allen was not. So we didn’t think too much of it and thought it was just something that would pass soon. We went to district meeting and did all the usual missionary things and came back and went to study Spanish at the library (a 20 minute walk). We walked back and Elder Allen finally said he needed to take a break because his stomach was hurting pretty bad and earlier he had forgotten to mention the fact that the pain was on his lower right abdomen. So, when he finally told me that It hit me that he could possibly have appendicitis so we called missionary medical and they told us we needed to go to the hospital. So us, not having a car and all, made the 20 minute walk to the bus station, taught a couple lessons to the people sitting at the bus stop, hopped on the bus and got off and walked into the Emergency room and within an hour he was being prepped for surgery, after the ultrasound came back positive for appendicitis. So within two hours of calling missionary medical he was in surgery, lol. I spent the night with the Assistants while he was in recovery and ended up spending most of the next day in the hospital waiting for him to get discharged. I am grateful that we were able to catch the problem before it became really serious.

​Just chillin in the hospital for the day...

Wednesday: Spent most the day in the hospital until Elder Allen was discharged and the good news that came from all of this is that now we finally have a car!! Ha-ha it only took one serious surgery to finally get one but we have one. So we drove back to the apartment and Elder Allen was still pretty loopy but I had promised him earlier in the week that he could cut my hair because I had cut his plus I felt bad for the kid because he had had a rough 24 hours. So n, the next thing I know my loopy companion is standing next to me with the shaver and is cutting my hair... at least hair grows back right? Missions are fun.

​(I let Elder Allen cut my hair the night after his surgery
while he was still a little loopy)
 But I got to see Elder Ogle this week at a Mission
 leadership training meeting. Miss this guy. 

Thursday: President Brown didn’t want us going stir crazy just sitting in the apartment and there was a training meeting so he invited us to it and Elder Allen pretty much slept the whole time but I was able to sit in on the meeting.  I learned a lot of awesome things and ways to be a better teacher and conduit for the spirit to be able to teach and touch the hearts of investigators. Also, I was able to see Elder Watkins and Ogle so that was a bonus. 

Friday: Elder Allen was a trooper and agreed to go to some lessons because we had a car and pretty much he just sat there trying to stay awake while the painkillers kicked in as I taught the lessons. I am grateful that he is a good guy and willing to continue to work even when he doesn’t have to. 

Saturday-Sunday: Conference was awesome as always. I am really grateful for our inspired leaders and for all of the awesome direction and guidance that was given to us. I don’t think too many people realize just how lucky we are to have a Prophet and Apostles that give us direction and guidance from the Lord. I truly am so grateful to have the gospel in my life. 

Time keeps on flying by and each week goes by faster than the previous. I pray that I will be able to make the most of the time that I have left. I know that this church is true and I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father and elder Brother in Jesus Christ that cares for us and wants the best for us. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can find healing, comfort, and love. Alma 7:11-13. The church is true and the book is blue.

Love y'all!

Until next week,

Elder Frandsen