Rocky Mount

So I have found out how much we bike every day! Are you ready?....... about 20 miles… everyday… haha and how do I know you may ask, well we had a car this week and let me tell you what; those missionaries that have cars full time don’t really know what missionary work is haha but I must say its been nice for just a little. And the other big news I have is that Elder Conners is leaving Rocky Mount tomorrow and I am…………drum roll………….. Still here as district leader. And o ya I'm training again… I defiantly have a little more on my plate then I have ever had but the Lord is really letting me grow, he is helping me so much and im grateful that he does this to me because it makes me even better, and helps me realize that I really have no idea what im doing… haha   but I go pick up the new missionary tomorrow and then the fun begins!

            The really big thing that happened this week was Crystal….. on Tuesday we had a very powerful lesson with her because the day before she told her dad that she wanted to join the church and he threw a bunch of anti at her and she had a lot of questions, and the lessons was all on her and what she believes and her testimony and at the end of the lesson she didn’t even bother asking us the anti-questions because she knew the church was true and the book of Mormon was the word of God, then she had her baptismal interview and did wonder full, and she said that she was getting baptized. But the next day she was texting us in the morning her favorite scriptures and things like that but then all the sudden we get a text saying that she can’t be baptized this week….. it was really sad…. Then her member friends jumped right on top of it and then we called and it turns out that she made a deal with her dad that if she came back from college in October and still wanted to do it then she could (she is 22 years old)…… and no matter what we asked or said she was very decided that this was the way it needed it to be. We later found out a big part of it was that the Dad told her if she gets baptized he was going to take her out of his will and stop helping her with college money. We have a lesson with her tonight and the members are really helping out. It is weird in a way  because it is no longer the missionary’s doing all the work and us asking for members help but its members helping their nonmember sister and doing all they can. One of the members (the one who we are having the lesson at with tonight) went thru the exactly same thing with his parents and is even the same age, religion, everything. It's so great and they are the ones inviting crystal over and getting everything ready! This ward is so great and I have no doubt that Crystal will be baptized it is just a matter of when…  I hope its when I'm still in Rocky Mount when she is.

            Also something really cool is that this week we were invited by a member to help move a non-member from one apartment to another, and all we had was a small truck and a lot of heavy stuff, but we did it and the best part was  1.)I didn’t get hurt this time haha and 2.) every time we droped off a load she would ask questions about the church and was very interested about it all then we would go get more stuff then come back and she would have even more questions, and then at the end we gave her our number and she said she wanted to have us over the next week for dinner then to learn more about Jesus Christ, the book of Mormon and prophets today. So im excited for that too!

            Well those were the big things in my week! I hope your all doing good and are safe! I love you and I hope you have a great day!

ELDER MAUGHAN        

It was great and she was so happy...

Um… today's random thought… this is getting harder every week…. Did you know that God created everything!?!.....did you know that sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest things you can eat? (And as for you people from the west a sweet potato is what you call yams)… well there you go ha ha.

              So Sunday sister Shirley was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And was given the gift of the Holy Ghost! It was great and she was so happy, I'm looking forward to having a follow up lesson with her and asking how she feels now! I just love it when new members are able to bear testimony on the power of the Holy Ghost, how different it feels and the overwhelming joy that it is in their lives.

              We had a 2 lessons this week with sister Crystal. As we talked we asked her about how she was doing and she told us that when she was at work the other day there was a person that came in and started to ask her about her religion. She started telling her about how she was becoming a Latter-day Saint and bearing her testimony about the book of Mormon and how the church is true. As we kept on visiting and teaching her the last few commandments she reset her baptismal date for next week. She said she needs to get baptized and that she really wants to. The only thing that is still sort of in the way is that she has not told her dad that she wants to be baptized. He knows that she has been meeting with us a lot but she was still worried about what he was going to think. She said that either way she is getting baptized and we just got a text this morning telling us that she is going to tell him today. Tomorrow she is having her interview.

               This all is such a testimony to me on the importance of members doing the finding and helping their friends all the time, because I know that we wouldn’t have found Sister Martin without members, and that she would not have the support system that she has had to keep her going. It has just been great!

            Now we are going to be working on finding new investigators because we are just running out of investigators as they are becoming new members… it’s a nice problem to have but I know that there is still a lot of people out there that need the gospel.

        I hope you all have a great week and that you will have fun.  Stay safe and good looking! Ha ha

ELDER MAUGHAN

Sheryl's Baptism

Well it was an interesting week; full of fun and good things, but first my random thought of the day… Did you know that it can rain without a rain cloud in the sky?  it gets so humid that the water in the air gets so heavy that it just starts to fall so therefore you have falling water when the sun is out….. we were walking during this and it was so hot as well that we couldn’t tell the differents between the rain and sweat on us…. It was gross but funny.

            This week we were able to teach Crystal one lesson and we had left a plan of salvation pamphlet and asked her to do the scripture study in the back using her bible and book of Mormon and then at the start of the lesson we asked her what she had learned and she just started teaching the plan of salvation to us, all the way to the spirit world and the kingdoms of glory and that was because she didn’t have a king James version of the bible but a new world translation version we taught and she was really excited about how much the gospel makes sense. She is still having a hard time with getting work off on Sundays but she is working on it.  And we are praying for her next week =)

            Also another great thing is that Sheryl got baptized on Sunday!!! She has been a good friend to a resent convert and really wanted to be baptized with the only thing holding her back was her fear of water. She had prayed about it and knew she needed to be baptized on the 24^th and so she was! But I felt really bad because they filled the water to the fullest it could so they could make sure that they would only need to be baptized her once but when she went under a part of her dress came up…. And I was one of the witnesses and was the one that said she had to do it again. She was really scared but the Lord helped her out and she was able to do it again! Also another great thing was that she had her  husband come to all of church and also to the baptism and you could see the spirit work in him. I don’t think it will be to long before he wants to learn more and the thing that’s great about the Rocky Mount ward is that they will just make friends right away. It has just been wonderful! 

Well those are the big things in my week! You’re all so great and I love you all so much!! I hope you have a great week and God be with you till we e-mail again...hahaha

Your friend

ELDER MAUGHAN!!

Just trust in the spirit

Well I'll started off about the lesson we had with crystal yesterday night, she didn’t come to church this Sunday because of work and as we talked about it she just kept on saying “it’s no way to keep the Sabbath day holy” and “I hate working on Sunday” so she is doing all she can to get it off. Then we followed up with her reading and she had read every day this week and she is still feeling that she needs to read and find out if its true but she said I want it to be true, and I believe that its true but I want to know. We had planned to show her The Restoration DVD but I forgot it so we were looking to see if the members whose home we are in had it, and they didn’t. They did have The Testaments so we watched that and it was really good! She said that it really helped to bring the Book Of Mormon life. The members then began to bear their testimony with her and I tell you what the spirit was so strong to the point we asked crystal what she was thinking and she started to cry and tell us how she really wants it to be true and that it feels so good (I think she knows now). By the end everyone was crying, it was a great lesson and we are teaching her again tonight at a different members home where we will be teaching the Plan of Salvation. It’s going to be great!

            The other big thing that happened this week was that I went on exchanges. I asked a lot of questions and really felt I got to know there area a lot better. It was very different to be the one asking and not the one being asked, and its just fun to have no idea what I'm doing at times and just trust in the spirit, and you know what? It works.

            Well I got to go! Take care and be safe! I love you

ELDER MAUGHAN                    

Cut hair for the rest of my life…

     Man it was a good week! I'm just now getting use to the “city” which really isn’t a city if you compare to Chicago or Phoenix but to me it’s a city and one nice thing about it is I'm no longer biking like this /\/\/\/\/\ but more like this __________________  so that is a wonderful tender mercy, and also I have come from a higher elevation so it makes it even easier.
     This week I don’t really have any funny story besides elder Conner’s tried to cut his own hair and I'm just getting ready for the day when I hear “ELDER… I need your help..” well it turns out the he was doing a #8 on top and a #2 on the sides but ended up putting a line of the two really high on his head, so after a little of laughing together about it I tried to fix it and did a good job too, so I have now decided that I'm going to forget basketball and missionary work and just cut hair for the rest of my life………. Joking ha ha.

We have 3 baptisms coming up this month and one of them is for the 31^st and it is with Crystal. She is in her 20's and was invited to hear from us by a member in their home and we have taught her 3 times and she has come to church twice (she couldn’t come yesterday because she had work and she was really sad) but she just wants to know the truth and had been reading a lot and praying as well. It was really cool how she described her answer, she said that she was praying and she didn’t get an answer that was saying “yes this is true”  but as she started to read there was no feeling that this was wrong and she just kept reading and it felt good. Then in the next lesson we invited her to be baptized on the 31^st and she got scared but as we talked she said she would and then she prayed and that scary feeling went away and it was replaced with peace. Yesterday we taught about the doctor of Christ and also about her reading and praying. It was so great it was like she had read a book with all the answers to the questions that the missionary have. As we were teaching she was talking about all this stuff and it felt almost to good to be true. The Lord has really prepared her for his gospel.

Another investigator who has been taught for a while is best friends with a resent convert of about 2 weeks is doing really well right now as we were able to find out the thing that was holding her back was that she is afraid of water...like really scared of it. As we talked she decided that she needed to put her trust in the Lord and just do it! And she is getting baptized on the 24^th =)

I am learning a lot. It does seem weird not having to call in safe every night but to be the one to have people calling me to tell me they are safe…. Its just different. Well I got to go and I hope you all stay safe and have a great week!!! Take care. Love

 ELDER MAUGHAN!!    

No longer a teenager.

     Well it’s the 5^th to day so….. HAPPY 5^TH OF JULY!!!!! Ha ha well this week has gone by very fast! And yes, I have been transferred to a place called Rocky Mount and it is a city its so crazy! There is a ward and everything!!! There is even a target and Sam’s club!! I haven’t seen those in forever!!! Its so crazy I think its really really funny how I had forgotten about most of this stuff and was just happy to have a Walmart!

     Tuesday morning when I was about to leave Roxboro to transfer meeting president calls me and asks me to be district leader. Tomorrow I have my first district meeting that I'm in charge of and I'm hoping it will be good. The focus of the meeting is on the doc of Christ. As we increase in Christ-like attributes our ability to teach with love and the spirit will increase.   

      We have a lot of people to teach here and that’s just amazing! The Lord is putting people in our path. I have a really funny story that happened yesterday and let me tell you it was scary! Ha ha OK so on the way back from shopping (on our bikes still we share a car every other week) we pass taco bell and we both decide we would like something to eat, and we go in and this lady takes our order and I think nothing of it and then sit down. I start to eat and talk with my new comp (Elder Conner's who is also cool) and then I decide I need to get a refill and I get up and this kid at a table I pass spills all over the place. The lady starts to clean it up and I say something like “oh no” and go sit back down. When I look up and she is still cleaning up and she looks at me and said,

“Why didn’t you help me clean up?”
I say “because you’re getting paid.” 
“Why do you keep on smiling at me?”
 I said “because I'm just happy.” Then she walks up and asks "Can I sit down? We say "yes" so she sits right next me and starts asking who we are? We started to talk about the gospel and the plan of salvation and invite her to church and she said she would like to go because she hasn’t been to a church in a long time. God works in strange ways.

Later that night we had an appointment and taught a very interesting lesson outside on the porch, then just as we started biking home the rain started coming down and it was pelting us in the eyes. We just kept on going until this man stops in his mini van and offers us a ride home. He was of a nondenominational religion and he was a little interested to know what we believed, as we testified, he decided that we did truly believe in Christ.

     That's it for this week. I'm so grateful that I am able to enjoy this time on my mission. It is scary to think that already halfway done.  Thanks for all the birthday wishes I know that it’s going to be a great one!!!! I love you all so much. It was been a great 20 years and I'm looking forward to many many more with all of you!!!
Well I got to go so take care and be safe!
ELDER MAUGHAN no longer a teenager =) hahahahaha      

Now I have to go home and pack!

Random thought of today:

         I don’t like it when I can see the air because of how humid it is…

        So this week has been a good one just a lot more biking and trying to find people, but there was some interesting things that happened this week. One thing is I'm leaving my Roxboro family and going some where different on Tuesday and I don’t really know what to think since I have been out for a year and this is only my second transfer. I've really enjoyed being here for 6 month and wish I could have stayed for my birthday but I know the Lord has a work for me somewhere new In North Carolina, but I just have no idea where…. Aaaaaaa haha I have really come to love this little town and small branch (my first time in a branch) and I'm hoping that I will only have two more areas in my mission because I really enjoy the fact that I have become a part of the branch and it feels like a home.

            But for my last p-day I went golfing for about 4 ½ hours (18 holes) and it was really fun. And as the morning went on I got better but I did loose a few balls and knocked down a few branches, and I tell you what there was so many water hazards, bunkers, and trees. It was nothing like dead Arizona but in the end I won (because I had the most points) but it was only by one. So maybe when I get home I'll have to invest into some extra long clubs.

           Then on Saturday we did service all day. We helped plant a garden and did lots of lawn work. I have decided that the south is smart In at least one thing, dad do you remember that old lawn mower you gave me to use? The one that just had blades and no engine? Well here you have one of two things a riding mower (there really nice because its like driving a car and you never brake a sweat) or self propelled mowers that move by them self’s and all you have to do is stand behind it and let it pull you haha. It was like magic and it was so fast, but I would never give up those memories of those long days in the yard.

            Now I have to go home and pack………. Not so fun hahaha

So that’s my week and I'll be telling you where I am next week! I hope I don’t have a car even though driving a golf cart was a lot of fun! Well I care about all of you and am so grateful for all that you do!!

            ELDER MAUGHAN!!          

well I only know like 1% of anything compared to God....

So the random idea I have to day is that biking up hills both ways in the 99 degree weather with the air so thick that it its raining without a cloud in the sky, is what life is all about haha (its really not that bad)

But this week has been full of lots of biking and not to much really happened, it was a slow week but still a lot of fun. I'm trying to think what happened but all that really comes to mind is we were invited over to this less active members home for dinner and when we got to our surprise they had made……Spaghetti!!!! Right after dinner the father just disappeared to his little “man room” to watch a movie  and we started to talk to the 25 year old daughter and she started asking us about where the churches stand on gays….. so we told her, and talked about what the bible says and she said something to the effect of “well I'm right 99% of the time and I feel that they should be able to do what they want to and even if god came down right now and told me that it was wrong I would have a hard time believing him.”

………………………………………………………..needless to say we didn’t say to much about it after that except elder butts said “well I only know like 1% of anything compared to God so that’s why I trust him” then I just had to throw in a joke and said “well God did make Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” then we just invited her to pray about it. Then they signed up to feed us on my birthday. They still don’t want to come to church…….

We also talked to a man as we walked (he walks all day every day just around down town.) This week we were talking to another man on the street that we had talked to before when this man we had walked with came up to us and said come with me to my house I have something to show you……..o and he is very southern so you all would have heard something like this jkahdskfj jklasdhfjl kkdfioeo llfncdjye da bjfdashkl home……… and what do we do? We go. His house is all run down and he invites us to sit down on the bed and he sits on a little chair with a fan blowing right at us and he pulls out 3 packs of smokes and just starts puffing away. We taught a little about the doctrine of Christ, we don’t know how much sunk in but he invited us over tomorrow for lunch and we will see how that goes….. we might invite him to go to a a fast food place with us and we will get him something to eat, but non the less its going to be way fun!

Well I got to do go I care about all of you so stay safe and strong

ELDER MAUGHAN

PS transfers are this week...           

Swimming without being in a pool

So this week was interesting there was a lot of biking and walking…and yesterday at church I looked down and it turns out one of my legs is bigger than the other… so that was kind of weird.. that’s my random thought for today haha

            O the story of the week! On Saturday we got up and went to the house we have been building and they had told us it only going to be a meeting so we came in our normal clothing (white shirt, tie dress pants and shoes) and the meeting only lasted about 10 minutes then we started shoveling rocks, which lasted for about 4 hours J o and it was about 95 plus how ever humid it was. By the time we got home (we had to bike) and cleaned up I looked at my shirt and it was really yellow, it was way funny and I was thinking of sending it home just for fun, but then I decided that might not be the best idea.

            After cleaning up we had our studies and as we where discussing each others studies we could hear a little thunder but it was still really sunny so we decide to go and try to talk to the Gaddy's whose phone number wasn’t working any more. As we left (walking) it was just drizzling but it was still to hot for our rain coats so we just brought our umbrellas, well this little drizzle turns into a really bad thunder storm, with hail and all that good stuff… Elder Butts and I were swimming without being in a pool, except for my head because of my umbrella J The thunder got really bad as this cop passes us on main street and a lightning bolt strikes right over our heads. It was so loud that Elder Butts made the commit that he thought he was dead. The cop stops and offer us a ride. We decided to keep on going to the Gaddy's even though they are both girls so we knew we wouldn’t be able to go into their house out of the rain and as we pull up (and you should have seen everyone looking out of there homes at us get out of this police car haha it was really funny) they were home but the boy friend was, so he let us in and in a little while one of them gets home and needs to go pick up her child from Durham, so we got the new number and then they give us a ride home…

Tender mercies!  I know the lord looks out for his missionaries.

This rain storm rained as much as a monsoon but a lot longer and the lightning was so crazy like it would strike really really close and just kind of hang in the air for a few seconds it was GREAT!!!

 Well I love you all and stay safe! And remember that god is good the church is true and people are crazy... haha that’s just truer every day.

P.S if you go onto mormon.org  and search “maughanstar” my profile will come up so I invite you to and check it out J

ELDER MAUGHAN                         

Welcome to my small local congregation.

Well hello again! Once again I’m sitting in the library telling about the week I just had. I am just glad to be here in air conditioning, and grateful that I was able to fix my bike this morning.  I just installed a new inner tub and man a bike does goes so much faster then walking!

This has been a good week… a little long but a good one. 

Elder Butts and I have been working hard on going through our area book (which is the book that you write about all the people you meet and what you teach so when other missionaries come into the area they have an understanding of the people. Ours was in bad shape and there was a few former investigators that where not compiled and hard to read. We have been trying to go out and contact them, so we where able to teach two lessons because of it. We will be teaching them again this week. It was really good and a lot of fun to be able to teach about them about the gospel.

 I have found my new favorite bug (I never ever thought I could have one of those) but it’s the LIGHTING BUG! There really cool and really easy to catch then they just light up... how great is that? One of the best parts is that they don’t bite, sting, infect, eat, fly into your eye or even poop on you! They just fly and light up! I think I have a few pics of them.  I didn’t see any of them all last summer maybe it was to hot for them? I don’t know but any way there everywhere now and Elder Butts (who lived in Virginia for 6 years) thinks its funny that I'm so interested in them haha good times,  good times.

            So I have a funny story to tell.. ready? OK well we had this referral for a man that wanted a book of Mormon, so we went over there (which is in the middle of no where) and talked with him and his friend that he lives with where both very interested as we shared with them the gospel and they wanted to learn more. We invited them to church the next day. Oh and by the way we taught the lesson out side because they live in a really small trailer. The next day church started and they where not there but about half way through the testimonies both of them walked in, stayed for about ten minutes and then left after inviting us over to there house that night for dinner. We went and were and ready to share more about the gospel with them, but when we got there their crazy aunt was there and she would not stop talking about random things. And in the mean time these young men are just saying things like sorry they didn’t know she was going to be there. It was really funny when she started telling us random stuff about ourselves like; she was telling Elder Butts that his mom wants him to call her and come home, and the reason that he is out here is because he got in a fight with his older brother (Elder Butts is the oldest) and that’s why he ran away and that he now needs to go home. Then she started telling me that I'm not going to go home but that I'm going to go to school to be a preacher and its going to be hard but ill make it, and then I will start a small local congregation here in north Carolina, and how I should never give a girl a hand shake or a hug because girls feeling will travel… muhahahahahaha

so you'll all be welcome to my “small local congregation.” We are going to invite these men to take the lessons at the church or at a members home, where the spirit can be to help them to make changes in there lives. J

            Now we are going to be looking for some new investigators and more people that want to know the truth. That might be a little hard since I think everyone that lives in Roxboro knows who we are but I know that there are thousands of people out there just waiting!

            Well I love you all and just remember that God is good.

The church is true and people are crazy! Haha take care and stay safe!

                        ELDER MAUGHAN!                  

truth doesn’t need to be defended

                Happy Tuesday! Yep the library was closed yesterday so we are E-mailing today J this week has been another good one and a lot of things have been going on. We were able to find two new investigators they are a mother and a daughter. They were found when I was in So Bo (South Boston) on exchanges and Elder Butts went to go find a less active  member and didn’t know which apartment it was and so he just started knocking on the doors and the older Sister Gaddy was there and invited them right in (there was a man there fixing her air conditioning so they could go in) and they set a time for the next day. When I came we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and the church and they were just so happy and had a lot of good questions.  The younger sister Gaddy is 19 with a baby girl that is 7 month old, and they both just soaked it all up and are now going to read and pray to know the truth.

              I think it’s so great that we don’t have to convince someone of the truth of the church but that they can know it for themselves if they just read and pray. Heavenly Father promises to tell them the truth! Man I just love it!

                So another story on Saturday we were planning on biking to the flea market and contacting people there and as we left the apartment Elder Butts decides that his tires are a little flat so he starts filling them up and then BBBOOOOMMM his back inner tube pops but, he has a spare and throws it on and we go on our way. Then as we get onto main street all the sudden I hear a pooffffffffffffffffffff as my back tire starts to go flat………. So we decide that we are not meant to go to the flea market. After a few more tender mercies we are able to have a lesson with a less active that has just been reactivated and we were able to find out about a few more concerns and we were able to help with that and it was great!

When I get home I'm going to be a pro at fixing my bike. I still get compliments on my bike all the time haha.

                So last Monday we went golfing well we were thinking we were going to go to the county club and play 9 holes but instead the member took us to the driving range to see if we can even play golf. He was very surprised in me haha and all I could say was me and my dad had a good time playing back home like 3 times…. And it was a lot of fun! And then this week we were going to go but there was a tournament  and we are not that good haha so we ran to the tennis court and played tennis for a little….. I miss basketball a little and a great part of basketball is that you get to play inside haha but it was a lot of fun and I'm just glad we were able to go out and do something.

                And there is a lot more stuff that happened but that is the big stuff I just want you to know that I truly know that what I'm doing is true because if it wasn’t I don’t think any of this kinda of stuff would happen and the statement of “truth doesn’t need to be defended “ is so true. I love the gospel!

                All right take care and be safe!

ELDER MAUGHAN                     

I'll Walk in the Light

Teach me to walk in the light of his love

Teach me to pray to my Father above

Teach me to know of the things that are right

Teach me, teach me to walk in the light.