Heavenly Mother Madonna

Elder Bennett, William, and I

Hey Fam,

Here are a couple of new ones for you:

Q: Where is Engagement Ohio? 

A: Between Dayton & Marion

Did you know that if you are not LDS that you belong to a Non-Prophet organization? 

I figured if I started off with a bad joke or two then the rest of the letter wont seem so bad! Anyways, here is how my week went:

We got to go to the Indianapolis temple with William to do baptisms. It was such a cool experience to be able to again go with a recent convert to the temple for the first time and watch as they feel the spirit and how they react when they go in the temple. He was able to be baptized for 5 family file names and then be confirmed for the same 5, what a good kid. The other crazy thing that happened was that I saw Taylor Rowley at the temple as well!  We went to high school together, the odds of that happening are crazy because I am in the only area in the mission that is closest to Indianapolis than any of the other surrounding temples. She just happened to be going to that temple with her recent convert on the same day. it's a small world when you are Mormon. 

Oh and something else crazy is that I hit my 6 month left mark last week... where has the time gone?? 

Here are some of the crazy quotes that I have heard this week either over the phone with an investigator or in a lesson:

"Heavenly Mother is Madonna,”  "I am going to be re-incarnated as a mermaid and then marry a dragon,” "God sent me here to buy some guns and protect the world in the apocalypse,” " I can telepathically communicate with my husband,” “well he is my boyfriend right now but he doesn’t know that he is gonna be my husband and he comes from canada to pick me up everynight in the dream world" 

These are just a few of the awe inspiring quotes that I have heard this week and the others probably shouldn’t be shared over email. But My personal favorite is that Heavenly Mother is Madonna, needless to say it was an eventful week. 

Yesterday another crazy thing happened... we got a call from a former investigator’s mom who is currently out of the country on a trip. While she has been out there her daughter has had some mental health issues and the only number she could think of or find that knew her daughter in this area was some how our number. So she called and told us that her daughter wouldn’t answer her calls after their first conversation, where she had said some crazy things and threatened to kill herself, so she was worried sick and asked if we could get someone out there to help her. So we called the police and luckily we still had her address in the area book and gave them the address and explained the situation and they called us this morning to let us know that she is now at the hospital safe and sound. I am glad that her mom called us though because I don’t know how she could have gotten the help she needs otherwise. 

The other changes from this week are that the Brethren came out and have made some changes to missionary work!! They have changed our daily schedule up so that we have more freedom and agency to choose how and when to study in the mornings and changed the nightly schedule so that we can get more sleep if it is needed. They have also made it so that preparation day will now start at 8 am instead of 10 am. They got rid of a bunch of the key indicators that we used to keep track of and now only have 4 main indicators. There were some big changes there for us old timers that are so used to a regimented schedule but I am actually really excited about these new changes and I think that they will be really good for us as missionaries. They also gave some awesome training on becoming better teachers and working with the wards, which goes along with what we have been doing in this ward. We presented a plan to the ward mission leader that involves helping the ward council to get on track/ board with the ward mission process and having a member of the mission presidency to come down and do some training because none of them have received it yet. So he is meeting with the bishop to talk about it and to set up a time where we, him, and the bishop can meet together and discuss it and how he would like us to be involved with it and to help the ward. I am really excited about it because the bishop is a really good guy who is new to the calling but has a strong desire to magnify his calling. I think and feel that it will be a big help to the ward and the missionary work here. 

We had a really great lesson with the Sterchek family last week and this week. We are bringing bishop with us to teach them. I am really excited to be able to work with them, they are an awesome family and have a real desire to come back to the fold and to stick with it. We weren’t able to meet with Allen due to him being ill but he said that he has been reading while he has been sick and is excited to meet next. We dropped out investigator David because he wasn’t progressing but he did share with us that we were able to help him get out of a suicidal stage in life that he had been in previous to us meeting with him. He now sees more of a purpose to life and is going to take some time to figure out the things going on in his life. Cody and Fred the young men we have been teaching are also doing really well and will hopefully be able to come to church this week.  Fred is getting his license and doesn’t have to rely on someone to get him to church that isn’t reliable. It has been pretty cool to watch Fred progress in the last month from only slightly interested, to keeping all of the commitments that we leave him and excited about meeting. So the work is moving forward down here in Lima Ohio, even if it is a little bit at a time. 

Something exciting for next week... I get to see Doug and Jessica tomorrow when I head up to Kirtland for a meeting. I am stoked to see them again :)

Well my mind is blank right now and I am drawing a blank on what else happened so I guess that is all that needs to be said! I know that this church is true, I know that the Apostles and Prophets were called of God and that God sees the bigger picture and guides the leaders to give us the direction needed to get through life and our perspectives of the little picture that we see here on earth. The scriptures are guides for helping us to better follow God and develop Christlike attributes that will in the long run truly bless us in this life and help us to have the spirit with us and to be happy. I know that as we seek the will of God through the small and simple things that we will have those little confirmations that help us to continue to know that this is the right thing for us... Building up that foundation one brick at a time. I am grateful to be a missionary and to be serving where I am serving at this time. I love you all! I hope you have a great week and tune in again next week for more updates and quotes from Lima Ohio! 

With love, 

Elder Frandsen