New Companion

           Well it was transfers and I got a new companion. his name is Elder Williams. He is from salt lake and he has been out for 6 months, I am his 3^rd companion and this is his second area. He is a really good missionary, his favorite foods are pizza and hamburgers and we have a few other things in common; we both like Star Wars and things like that. He is also a big skateboarder and snowboarder and it seems like he was pretty good back at home, so im excited for the next 6 weeks! They are are going to be great with a lot of good things coming to our area!

            As for our memorial day, went to a members home and had hot dogs then right after that we went to another members home and played basketball with a bunch of the young men. I only played the first game L  its was just a fun game. Elder Caldwell got all his things packed and ready to leave for the next day and then we went to see a few members so he could say goodbye.

            And yesterday as I was waiting for my new companion to come so I stayed in Rocky Mount and it was good to have all those memories there. It feels strange because it is not my area anymore but at the same time I still remember a lot about the area just like it was yesterday. When I got there we planned on going to see how people  we I knew were doing, and then  after looking through the area book we went out and worked.

            Well this week is going to be crazy! Getting a new companion tomorrow, having district meeting and our Mission President is going to be there with his Wife. On Friday we are going to go spend the night in Rocky Mount so that the next day we can go meet Elder Holland, it is very exciting!!

            I will let you know all about it!

I love you and I hope you all have a great week! Take care and be safe!!

ELDER MAUGHAN!!       

So Miracles Are Still Happening.

          Another great week. We have been doing a lot of personal finding which has mostly been walking around and talking to people that are put in our path. Its not as good as member work, but we are trying to work on that too. This area is a little different than most of my other areas... well actually in the fact none of my areas have been the same with the exception of the gospel and lots of biking..haha but I love it! Seriously though Roanoke Rapides is different because most of the housing here is not in the country side.

          We have found a few people this week.

We first talked to a father out on his door step which is a very popular thing to do this time of the yea. We set up a time to come teach him and then when we went the bishop came with us. At the start of the lesson we invited the mother to come in and join us. The lesson on the great Apostasy went really well, and what made it so good was the fact that the mother had to come in and out of the lesson so we were able to teach the doctrine several times. A few times we had the father teach his wife the parts that she had missed. After the lesson they both asked “so which church should we join?” and it went from there.

         It has been truly a miracle finding them for a few reasons; first they let us in... haha, second they both have very open minds, and third they are married and they have strong family values.

        The father's father is a Baptist preacher, so he was born a Baptist but later in life become a J.W. and is now an inactive Baptist again. The mother has never been very active in any church in her life.

We talked to them again a few days ago and  he told us that he had read Joseph Smith's testimony and he feels that its true! We are meeting them again today.

          To go on now about people we found this week while walking and talking there were two other men on the porch and one called us over and told us to call him to repentance because he was drinking. We did talk with him for a little and now he is interested as well.

          We also have another investigator named Ricky and he is ready to be baptized. His wife to be lives in Utah, and she is the one that introduced him to the church. He is a semi-pro bowler. As he bowls in the 280 range…. anyways we always joke with him because elder Caldwell and I tried our hand at bowling and he just teases us now about it. Its funny stuff.

          Yesterday we found out that it is Elder Holland that will be coming to our mission on June 2. I am very excited for that!

Man Jun is almost here! Crazy

            Well I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!

LOVE, ELDER MAUGHAN!!

Another Great Week

         It has been another week in the great Roanoke Rapides! Elder Caldwell and I have had a lot of laughs like we had a lesson with this former investigator and when we got to the house gate to get into the yard it was guarded by a Rottweiler/pit-bull thing that wasn’t too happy to see us! haha  After watching we realized that his collar ended at the very edge of the path, so what do we do? Well like a good missionary I take out my camera and start recording us going past the dog….. then when we got all the way through there do you know what? The people were not even home! haha This means we will have to do the same thing again soon. 

            We had a man who stopped us this last week and he asked if we were “Mormons” and goes on to tell us that he is very interested in learning what the “Mormons” believe because everyone is saying all these strange things about them. So every time someone would say a down statement about  the Mormons he would then ask “well have you ever asked a Mormon?” and no one had. Even his preacher said that we were not christen, and when he asked him if he had ever spoken to a Mormon before he also said that he had not.  So he decided that he would talk to some “Mormons” and now we have a lesson with him tonight. We are hoping that that it will go very well and we will be able to answer all the questions  he has and help him to feel the truth of our message.

            This week we found out that we will be having another member of the 12 coming to our mission the first week of June. I am really excited for that.

          It is a little strange coming into the last few months of my mission because once again it doesn’t feel like it is time to be coming home. Everyone in the ward here knows that i'm going home soon because I served in rocky mount 7 months ago. Yesterday all these people started telling me about the new movie “The Avengers” and how it was clean, a lot of action and that they recommend it when I get home... bla, bla, bla, it was funny.

            Last night we had a big dinner with a few people and one of the people was the sister that gave the talk last week, and the one I had interviewed all those months ago for baptism. It is so wonderful to see how much her testimony has grown and how the gospel has blessed her life so much. It is always just amazing to me to see what the gospel can do for.

            Yep it's great to be a missionary!

You never know what is coming...and I think that it's that unknown that makes for the best stories. Not only the funny stories but it is just wonderful to see the changes that people can make because of the gospel.

          This last week we were teaching a lady. She is a very hard working mother, that doesn’t have a lot of support from her husband. She doesn’t yet understand a lot about the church but it feels right to her. As we invited her to be baptized she got very excited. There is more to teach her and yet I love how the sprit can testify to anyone no matter who they are, if they truly want to know. i love it!

            I hope you all have a great week and enjoy all the wonderful things are going to happen. thank you so much for all the prayers. I am just grateful for all of you!!

ELDER MAUGHAN!                

Answer to Prayer

          It was a good week in RR. We have been working on trying to find less active members and former investigators. We have been able to find a few people and talk to a lot of them, but in the process I destroyed the front tire of my bike so now I have to go find a new one. At least it is not like back in my first area where I had those 4 flat tires in one week... haha crazy times!

          A few big things happened this week.

On Wednesday we got a call from the second counselor in the bishopric and he asked if I would give a 5 to 10 min talk in sacrament meeting. I said yes. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to talk about….. I had a lot of ideas and nothing seemed just right, so I decided that I would talk about the doctrine of Christ and share my testimony (since 10mins is really not a long time to talk.)

         As I was sitting on the stand right before the meeting was to start I was switched from the first speaker to the last speaker so I quickly got some more ideas written down on a little spare notecard I had with me and then

I prayed a lot.

         The first speaker, who was supposed to be the last speaker talked for a full 5 mins! Then the second speaker (who I interviewed for baptism when I was in rocky mount) gave her talk (the first one in her life) and it was really good. So do you know how much time was left to me?

Oooh about 30mins J

         As I got up there and started speaking it just came and I don’t think anyone besides Elder Caldwell, the other Speakers and the bishopric  knew that I had only prepared a 10min talk. I think that this was the best talk I have ever given.

         After I had some members talk to me and this one said “you remind me of a soft spoken Baptist Preacher” (it was a compliment) I felt that

it was a big answer to prayers and I loved how great it felt to have the spirit working through me. It was a wonderul experience and I see a lot of good things happening here in this area!!

          Next thing today I am looking forward to going to the recreation center (It is an old center and has a plastic floor) and playing basketball with some of the young men from the ward.

          I'm grateful for all of you. Thanks so much for all that you do! Have a great week and stay safe!

ELDER MAUGHAN!!       

Roanoke Rapids is the place to be!

          Well im in Roanoke Rapids! Yep its my new area, and the funny thing is that I have already been here at lot before! It is in the same district as Rocky Mount so I came on exchanges here in the past. It was funny because I know most of the members here. I also was able to see some people that I had interviewed for baptism. 

          I sort of already have found out a few reasons why i'm here and it is that the young mens program is growing really well and the way they are getting boys interested is basketball! At transfers when President Cottrell was telling me where I was going he looked at the member from RR (who is the young men’s president and also the coach of the young men who I already knew pretty well) and says “well i'm sending you a 6 foot 10 center.”

         At church all these boys were hovering all around me and I must have been asked how tall I am, and if I play basketball 1000000000000 times, it was really funny. So i'm excited to be here.

          I also had my last interview with president Cottrell since he is leaving the mission about 10 days before I am and it was really good. We reviewed a little of my mission and talked about the area and he said that he felt very strongly that this was where I needed to finish my mission, and he is excited for me to be here.

         My new companion's name is Elder Caldwell and he is from Utah and we are getting along great. We have had a good week and i'm looking forward to serving with him!

        Do you remember Elder Koplin? He is the first elder I trained those many months ago in Smithfield, it is really neat to see  that he is now district leader.

         I am sad that i'm not with the lubees anymore, but they did send me off good! Do you know what I had my last meal there? CHICKEN BRYANT!!!! (its not as good as yours dad but it was still really good!!) it was a lot of fun serving there J

          Well i'm just really excited to be here and be a part of all this. It really doesn’t feel like I only have 3 month left….. Tht is really strange to me.

          I hope you all have a great week! I'm so grateful for all of you!! Take care and be safe!!

ELDER MAUGHAN     

Leaving Pembroke

           Well…..im leaving Pembroke tomorrow L im leaving my Lumbee family but now I’ll be able to go and meet another family for my last 3 months…. Haha but yesterday was my last Sunday here.  So I have some mixed feelings about moving.

            Well this last week we had our zone activity conference and I made shirts for all the district and I will send some pictures if the computer will let me. haha It was really good I was able to see a bunch of my old companions like; E. Moore, E. Butts, E. Conners, and E. Yankton and it was a little strange to find out that they were all quoting me to each other…… it was funny, as I talked about all the things I did with them.

          We played Volleyball, Capture the flag, a relay race, and soccer (mike you would be proud of me haha). It was a lot of fun, but it only lasted for 3 hours.

            We had a few good lessons and I hope that within the next month someone will write me to tell me that some people here decided to get baptized.  I have really enjoyed my time here and almost everyone wants me to come back, so if you come with me you will be able to have a great dinner (lunch) or supper waiting! Maybe even a good pig picking haha

            Yesterday we had a adult fireside and it was a good way to say goodbye to this area, plus I got a pic with everyone J

            I don’t know about my next area yet ….. (because I don’t know how to talk to anyone that isn’t a Lumbee anymore haha) But i am sure it will be fun.

            I have to do a lot of packing today plus i'm sending some things home. yay

            I hope you have a wonderful week and talk care!

ELDER MAUGHAN!!