MISSIONARY EPISTLE FOR WEEK ENDING 12/04/16

ELDER LARRY AND SISTER BEV ELKINGTON

What a week!  We started the week offering “T” a ride to work and back a couple of days this week.  But – he works each day – not just a couple of days.  We are determined to see him succeed at his job – so we took him to work every day.  Since he had to be to work at 4:00PM most days, that was not a problem – but, he finished work between 10 and 11 PM!  That meant picking him up from his job and driving him back home to the top of Utah Hill. The round trip from our home to his work and then to his home and back is about 72 miles.  We’ve gone thru a lot of gas –which is okay.  But, getting to bed after midnight has taken its toll on us.  The bright side is, it’s a beautiful ride during the daylight – but the twisting road is not beautiful in the middle of the night.  We did see a deer run across the road and gracefully leap over the fence.

The ride to work and back has given us a lot of time to talk to “T” about the impact he can have on the youth of the Heritage Park Branch and the prospective elders who are about his age.  He seems to be excited about the possibilities.  He also had us drive him to different public agencies that offer assistance.  We were impressed at the help that is available.  However, they do not provide a car.  The Branch President said he would give “T” a car.  We are excited for that to happen so we can get out of the midnight taxi business.

There are many young adults in the Branch who were regular attenders in their youth – who now are single parents and not active in the Church.  The Branch President would like us to reach out to these members and see if we can get them back to church.  We have accepted this challenge and pray the Lord will bless us in our efforts. When Church members transgress God’s commandments they often do not feel comfortable coming to church – it drives a wedge between them and the Church, which leads to even more problems in their life.  They are cut off from the fellowship of the other members who would provide them love and support.  The Adversary is very clever in driving a wedge between us and Our Father in Heaven!

Today Shaden, one of the children we have been teaching from the Shivwits Reservation, received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a Deacon.  I was asked to perform the ordinance.  What joy to see him grow in the Gospel and willingly accept the responsibility of the priesthood to serve His Father in Heaven, his family and the other members!

We are anticipating getting back to a normal missionary schedule.  But, with the Christmas season here, we know we will be busy trying to assist in bringing light and gifts into the homes of the Native Americans.  The greatest gift they can receive is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want each of them to know they have a Father in Heaven who knows them and loves them – and that we love them!

Family - please don't try to rescue us.  We love what we are doing.  All we need is a little more sleep!

Missionary Epistle for Week Ending 11/27/2016

From

Elder and Sister Elkington

It has been two weeks since we posted an update on our missionary labors.  We have been spending time preparing our house for sale - while still serving those we have been called to serve.  We cannot justify keeping two homes any longer – it costs too much.  We have decided to stay in the St George area following our mission.  We love the Native American people and would like to be near, so we can continue to support the children we have been teaching.  Also, this climate is easier on Sister Elkington’s arthritis and the air is better for our lungs.

We helped Sister “C” by tending her daughter while she kept an appointment at court.  She has not been able to attend church the past few weeks because she has not been able to get her car registered.  The problems faced by many of these people seem overwhelming. We admire their courage in dealing with them.

We also got a phone call from “T”, who we hadn’t heard from for several weeks.  He has moved into a house near the top of Utah Hill on highway 91 and he needed a ride to Church.  We willingly complied (we also had him to our home for dinner after Church) and we also agreed to give him a ride to work a couple of days this coming week. We want to support him in his efforts to be self-supporting.  He has been living in the homeless shelter for the past few months. Now he is renting a house and has a job. He has the potential to be a leader among the Native Americans and society in general.

We spent several days visiting a number of Native American families and inviting them to the Heritage Park Branch Thanksgiving party.  A number of them attended the party – it proved to be a great fellowshipping/friendshipping tool. We plan to devote a lot of time inviting members to the Branch Christmas party scheduled for December 17.

We were also thrilled to see our family over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. We appreciate their efforts to see us and express their love.  We have truly been blessed with a wonderful family! We regret that we were not able to attend the mission homecoming when our grandson, Liam, came home from his mission last January.  It would have meant a lot to us, and hopefully to him, for us to have heard that report.

This is the time of year when our hearts are turned towards those we love. Our family, friends and those we have been called to serve.  We love them all and give thanks to Our Father in Heaven for each of them.  We are amazed at the changes in people’s lives when they commit their life to God!

We were too exhausted a week ago and thus did not file a report.  We apologize.  Please know that we still love our mission and receive great satisfaction from our service. There is no place we would rather be than on a “Member and Leader Support” Mission!

MISSIONARY EPISTLE FOR WEEK ENDING 11/7/2016

ELDER AND SISTER ELKINGTON

Sorry this report is a day later than normal.  Sunday evening we were so tired we just fell in bed without writing our epistle. We figured we would have more time and energy to write the report today (Monday). WRONG! 

We took a few days early in the week to get the yard and house ready for winter.  Then, Mel, a man who was baptized in September came back to St George from the reservation in Arizona. He arrived on Thursday and we have been running him to appointments and caring for him since then.  He is receiving medical treatments and the medication is making him very ill.  The Heritage Park Branch President arranged for him to stay in a motel in St George, but he has no transportation.  We have taken him to the grocery store for food and took him to a relative’s home to get belongings.  He bore his testimony in sacrament meeting and was sustained by the members to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained a priest.  But then he got very ill and Elder Elkington had to leave sacrament meeting to take him back to his motel.

At the start of sacrament meeting Elder Elkington received a phone message that a lady we have been fellowshipping was stopped by the police just as she got near the Church.  She said she had an outstanding, unpaid warrant and felt she would be put in jail and her car would be impounded.  She asked if we would take her 4 children to Church and then care for them.  Sister Elkington left sacrament meeting and retrieved the children.  Sister Elkington had taken children from the Shivwits Reservation to Church with one car and Elder Elkington had brought Mel, the new convert, from his motel in St George, to Church with the truck.  We didn’t know how we were going to get everyone home from Church.  Then miracle of miracles, the woman who had left the message came into sacrament meeting – the policeman saw her children walk into Church and realized the predicament the family would face if he arrested her and impounded her car.  So he told her, “Let’s just forget this even happened – but don’t drive your car until the warrant is resolved.” So she asked if one of us could drive her and her car home after Church.  She lives in Hurricane, so it was a significant trip.  Then Mel called and asked if we could give him a ride to get some food and medicine – so we did. We didn’t get home until about 7:00 PM.

Thus the reason we felt so run down on Sunday.  Then today Mel said he needed a ride to apply for a job at Deseret Industries and a ride to a doctor’s appointment.  We also ran into a predicament in taking children to the Branch FHE at Anasazi Valley.  We had committed to take the children from the Shivwits Reservation.  Then we got a call from three children we had helped teach a year ago asking if we would take them to FHE. We had to take one group and drop them off and then go get the other group.  So here we are Monday night and we are still exhausted! 

Our mission call said our mission was to provide member and leader support – we just didn’t understand the implications of that.  It has been exhausting this week, but we are doing what is needed to support some wonderful children of God – and we love them!

Note: We have driven over 200 miles since Friday!

MISSIONARY EPISTLE

WEEK ENDING 10/30/16

ELDER AND SISTER ELKINGTON

Heritage Park Branch Family Home Evening was cancelled on Monday because of the weather.  When it rains the road into Anasazi Valley can become impassable.  We were almost relieved when we received word that it was cancelled. But we had already been to Costco to buy food for FHE.  At least we got the word before we prepared the food and cooked it.  As much as we love the FHE we will be relieved when it is over for the season.  It will be good to have a p-day without preparing food for FHE!

We spent a few hours reviewing the list of residents on the Shivwits Reservation with Elders Perkins and Clark.  They are exceptional young missionaries – we enjoy working with them.  Elder Elkington took them to the Reservation to show them where people live.

We delivered banana bread and visited less active members, and then we took boys from the Reservation to scouting. Then on Friday Ethan got to go to a Cub Scout half day activity at Ivins Park.  He really enjoyed it.

Thursday was a multi zone Annual Mission Conference where we heard from Elder Michael Ringwood and his wife.  He related several incidents where he felt prompted to make decisions that turned out to impact people’s lives in a very positive way.  He said there is no doubt the Lord is directing this work.  Some explain such things by saying, “It’s just a coincidence.”  But, the complicated interaction of events that transpire cannot be explained by saying, “It’s just a coincidence”.

We have experienced in our lives events that cannot be explained any way except that the Lord was directing things.

We taught a lesson on Friday to Sister “M’s” grandchildren.  Then on Saturday we took chili and rolls to the Heritage Park Branch Halloween Party and Chili Cook Off.  Two girls we had taught a year ago came to the party. I don’t know who won the cook off, but I do know we were beat by the time Saturday evening came around!

We had to take two vehicles to Church today so Sis Elkington could pick up children for church and then take them home afterwards while Elder Elkington attended the Santa Clara Stake Missionary Coordination meeting.

We love our mission to the Native Americans and we love the people, but we do get tired.  We wish we could have done this a number of years earlier.

MISSIONARY EPISTLE 10/23/16

ELDER AND SISTER ELKNGTON

We have been blessed this week to have a daughter, Karol, with us.  Then a son Steve and his wife Melonie came for the weekend.  In addition, a grandson, Chase, came on Friday evening with three of his friends.  It was great to see all these people and visit with them.  But they had to entertain themselves a lot – we had missionary work to do!

Monday we prepared food to take to the Heritage Park Branch FHE at Anasazi Valley.  We had eight children to FHE.  Sister Elkington took the car and picked up six children from the Reservation and took them to FHE.  Monday afternoon we received a text from Kiza asking if she and her sister, Mia, could come to FHE.  They also said they needed a ride.  So Elder Elkington took his daughter, Karol,and went to Ivins  in the truck and picked up Kiza and Mia for FHE. Kiza and Mia were taught by the elders and the Elkingtons about a year ago.  They then moved to a new home and we could not find them.  We are thrilled to have them contact us.

We took a bag full of stuffed animals to the FHE and had a quiz where the children could answer a gospel question and choose a toy if they answered correctly.  FHE was a great success.

We also received a text from a recent convert who has returned to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.  He said he needed to borrow a little money for food and gas until his next payday.  We had to get educated on how to send a Moneygram.  We received the following text from him: : “Good morning to my best friends, I’m letting you know how happy I am knowing Our Heavenly Father is with me every step of my life.  Good news –I have one more therapy.  Doctor says, “Got it in the nick of time.” Anyway I’m doing better knowing that, and also if it wasn’t for the both of you I would have given up.  I love you both” and thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I’ll let you know more after my visit with the doctor today.”

We have received other texts telling us he is reading the Book of Mormon and praying.  He said he believes God is real and answers his prayers.

We visited some members during the week and left a note with one family that has been very difficult to teach/fellowship because they are seldom home together.  The note was left with a loaf of banana bread.  The note said,

“We love and appreciate your family.  We pray for you regularly. You have told us you would like to be sealed in the temple as an eternal family (including your deceased children and Nick).  This blessing can happen, but it will take effort and commitment on your part.  We want to help.  But your schedules make it difficult for us to get together so we can help/teach you.  We have stopped by on several occasions, but no one was home.

If you call us when you want us to come over, we will do so. (Our cell phone number is 801-425-3155 (If we call you, the caller ID will show as Deseret Medical)).  We will do all we can to help you achieve the blessings available through the temple.

The first step in being together as an eternal family will be baptism.  Nelson can have his baptism performed by proxy in the temple.  Your deceased daughter does not need to be baptized because The Lord has revealed that children under the age of eight are pure and need no baptism.  Don, you have been baptized, but the Church has no record of it. This can be resolved by producing a copy of a baptism certificate which will provide information about your baptism, or you can obtain letters from two people who witnessed the baptism, or you can be baptized again.  Nick would need to be taught by the missionaries and then baptized.

If you prefer being taught by the young missionaries, we will assist by introducing you to them.  Our deepest desire is for your family to obtain the blessings of the Gospel available through the steps described above.  Please let us know how we can help.

Elder and Sister Elkington”

We also left a video on the blessings of the temple.  We will check back to see if they can arrange their schedules so we can meet with them.

We met with the children on the Reservation for a lesson on Friday.  The children had expressed a desire to read from the Book of Mormon. So the lesson and reading pertained to Helaman’s stripling warriors. They appeared very interested.

President Saling brought us a book written for Native American LDS youth.  It appears to tell them what we have been trying to teach them about their heritage and the gospel.  We are excited to read the book.  We believe it can help them set and achieve goals that will change their lives for the better.

We find great joy in serving Our Father in Heaven and in conveying His love to the Native American people.

Elder Larry and Sister Bev Elkington