Monday, December 30, 2013

New Years

Dad, read Matthew 16:2-3, it made me laugh.  Red sky and night, sailors delight!
 
Well, it was really really good to talk/see y'all!  I didn't see Sarah, Abby told me why but I didn't hear it, so...Hey Sarah!  Merry Christmas.  There, now I got everybody:)
 
On Christmas Eve our car broke down in the Chruch parking lot.  When we popped the hood we quickly found that our battery was corrodid (sp?) like crap.  We called the guy in charge of the cars for the misson and he told us to get a jump and go buy a new one, but we needed to be quick because the shop was gonna close real soon.  We called President Michie and asked him to jump us, but he was in a little town 100 miles away talking to some of our members, and none of our investigators were in town!  So we biked to the shop and bought the battery.  We had to use our own money since the car credit card we have doesn't work for purchases more than $100.  Then we had to bike back to the car with the 30 lbs. battery!  It was an adventure haha.  In reality, it was an answer to our prayers though cause we were really praying hard that we would have something to fill our time that day haha.  We got TONS of food from a lot of members and a few investigators though, after the car fun, so it was a pretty good day!
 
On Christmas we woke up at 6:30 and opened presents, that's the latest I've ever woken up for Christmas!!  I cherrish sleep way too much now a days to get up any earlier!  I had a really REALLY good time talking to everybody.  It's just really nice to see everyone!  I was so pumped to see Infinity too...who would of thought I'd miss a little rat like her haha.  We ate some real good food at the Michie's and hung out and played games.  I did work against the other missionaries at the Book of Mormon Trivia game we played.  I was humble about it to...hahahah.  The Michies keep real good care of me, Mom, and since you have Sister Michie's number now I think it would be really cool if you called her and thanked her.  She got a call from one of the other missionaries moms and it made her feel really good.  Just a thought though!
 
The rest of the week was Slooooww!!  The people were extremely rude, which is something I'm not used to out here in Texas!!  The members say its because they are all on a hangover...I think its true!  We talked to a lot a lot of drunk people and a lot a lot of half naked people, I don't know what is wrong with people haha.  It was a pretty fun week though, we stayed busy!  One of our investigators that we have been working with for a long time, Troy and Nichole, came to our appartment the day after Christmas and gave us some chocolates and then said "Remember, you are never away from family!".  It was really sweet.  The people here are so amazing, even when most of them are drunk and rude, there is so much good.  It's a huge honor to be trusted with the message that will bring them so much peace and joy.  I love it a lot. 
 
Thank you all so so so much for your various Christmas cards/presents/  I love hearing from ya!  I'm saving up all the money I've been getting to buy some real life cowboy boots.  We went to the Feed Store today to look at them and man...they are SO SICK!  I cant wait to rep those around town!!
 
LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!:)
 
Elder Caleb Hyrum Porter







Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas

This week, I cant remember what day it was because they all blend together, I got attacked by a real life PitBull.  It was HILARIOUS!  Elder Nelson and I were biking around, just looking for some poor, inocent people to baptize.  Things were going good, we decided to go into "Little Mexico", that is the scary part of town, we didn't care.  We were riding by the rail road tracks and we see a guy walking his dog, when we got a little closer we see the dog start running at us! The owner holding the leash got pulled down by the brute strength of the dog.  We FREAKED out.  I turned my bike around and have never biked so hard!!  I look back to see that this MONSTER of a dog was right next to me and growling like he hadn't eaten for years.  He got a hold of my pant leg and almost pulled me off my bike, to my ultimate demise.  Luckily I had an extreme boost of adrenalin and I kicked the dog in the face and biked harder than I have ever biked in my life.  I had to have been going like 50 mps hahaha.  I survived though!  Just a hole in my pants!
 
We had a Christmas party in Midland on Thursday, I remember that day.  It was a dream.  We woke up real early and drove out to McCamey to pick up those other two Elders.  Of course we had to stop at the donut shop....it was TASTE!   When we got up to Midland there were a billion other missionaries and President Augustin was dressed up like Santa.  We did a lot of random, missionary appropriate, party things, it was pretty fun!  Stu and Tom weren't there though, they are still in the upper half of the mission, so they had a different party.  I got my PACKAGE though!!!:)  I still don't know what is in it...cause it says not to open in:(  I also got a package from Sister O'Brien full of lots of little fun presents.  THANK YOU SECOND MOM!! (Sister O'Brien)  YOU ARE THE SECOND BEST! (Mom, you are the real best).  Breaks are real nice.
 
Our plans for this week are pretty sweet.  Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, we are gonna go work till 6, that is gonna be really long and hard, but I'm over it already.  Then the party starts.  We bought some sparkling grape juice and some martini glasses to drink.  AND we are planning to read from Luke 1&2 and ACT OUT THE NATIVITY!!  Just like at home:)  It is only gonna be Elder Nelson and me but...it's gonna be a DREAM!
 
On Christmas Day we are going to the Michie's house, they are the senior couple.  They are gonna make us a real good meal and have some festivities there because they miss their kids.  I'll either call or Skype or FaceTime, I'm not really sure which one yet.  I might have sister Michie text you right before I call to figure it out haha:)  I get 45 minutes to talk to Y'all (mom and dad and whoever is at their house).  I don't know what time I will call, probably between 2 and 6 Texas time...but I really have no idea.  I'm really really excited to talk to you though!!:):)
 
Thanks for your fasting and prayers on my behalf!  I really wish y'all wouldn't freak out so much, but I appreciate it.  I'm fine and dandy, and HAPPY!  Love y'all very much!  Be safe and HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  :)  P.S. Joseph Smith's birthday is today, so happy birthday big guy. 
 
Love,
The Mormon Guy

Monday, December 16, 2013

WEek

This week was pretty much the same as every week!!  Haha I know I say that every week...it's just the truth!  I've gotten into the daily grind of missionary work and most things are normal now haha.  We spend a whole lot of time finding people to teach, which means biking.  We bike around and talk to every person we see.  Yesterday we talked to 21 people...it was so nice to finally see some success with finding.  Usually we talk to two or three, but things are warming up so its getting a little bit better:)  Yesterday, while we were biking my chain was making a weird noise.  So I stopped and figured it out and fixed it, problem solved.  Not.  We stopped at an intersection waiting for a green light, when it turned green we took off, trying to accelerate as fast as we could so we didn't disrupt traffic.  Well...half way though the intersection, in the middle of the road, I hear a really weird noise and then I was all of a sudden on the ground hahahaha.  My back tire fell off WHILE I WAS RIDING IT!!  I hopped up and grabbed all the parts and sprinted across the road.  Elder Nelson and I were laughing SO HARD!  It was pretty embarrassing, but I'm over it haha.  The bike fixed up fine, I'm not sure what happend, but it was comedy GOLD!
 
The babtism went really well!!  We only ended up baptising Jennifer because Ricky didn't pass the interview for question number 4 (Kam, I think you'll probably be the only one who knows what that means haha).  He's scheduled for later in January so that is still good.  But it was way cool for Jennifer!  I got to baptize her and Elder Nelson did the confirmation on Sunday.  The other Elders in my district, Moyer and Oler, who are serving in McCamey had a baptism as well, so we got to do two in one!  Levi, thier guy, is HUGE so it took two people to baptize him haha.  It was a really spiritual experience and we even had an investigator come!  I love it when things like that happen.  The Church is true. 
 
Mom sent me a Christmas package that is the sickest thing ever.  She has a present for every day with a scripture on it.  We are supposed to read the scripture and then guess what the present is.  It is the best part of our Comp Study every day haha.  Yesterday we looked at the scripture clue and it was from D$C Section 89, which is the Word of Wisdom section.  Before reading the verse I guessed that it was tea hahaha.  It was some tasty GRAIN granola bars instead, so I was pleased:)  Thank you so so much Mom!!  Elder Nelson says thanks too:) 
 
Christmas time is a dream.  Everyone is more happy and loving and willing to hear our message that is centered in the Savior.  We spend a lot of time testifying of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and sometimes it's easy to forget the SAVIOR is the most important part!!  Christmas is a sweet time to REMEMBER!  It is all about Jesucristo!  He is our Savior and Redeemer, the Prince of Peace!  Without his help we are nothing.  Through is grace ALL MEN ARE SAVED (and judged according to our works...some information Born Again's could use) and ALL can find peace.  I love it!  God set up such a perfect plan for us to be apart of!  I love everything about it, it is amazing!  So lets spend this CHRISTmas remembering Him:)
 
I love you all so so so much and CANT WAIT to talk to you on Christmas day.  Be safe! 
 
ELDER Caleb Porter


Jennifer's baptism

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

New kid

3:41 PM (15 hours ago)
to me
Only one of my kids ended up showing up.  The other one had a last minute change and stayed in Lubbock, so its just me and Elder Nelson now!  He's a pretty cool guy, we get along really well so far.  He's from Latin Utah and just barely graduated from Northridge High School.  He loves Betos just like I did so...I doubt we'll have many problems haha.  I feel really blessed to have him as my trainee cause he works super super hard and is always willing to try and do new things. He is learning real fast and each day my job gets easier and easier.  It's a little rough when we have to teach a Spanish lesson though, since neither of us are very good or experienced haha.  We manage though!
 
Training is a lot of fun.  I really enjoy the added responsibility and the trust I get.  President Augustin said that there was only like 10 new missionaries this transfer, so it really is an honor to get to train, especially right after I finished!  The 12 week training program (the program we use to train) is the stupidest thing ever.  I don't even know why they send us to the MTC since we redo every single thing in the real life field, but its whatever.  It just means we get to have an extra hour for comp study to practice for lessons.  I've realized that as a trainer I can make up rules and Elder Nelson just automatically assumes they are mission rules...I haven't done anything with that power yet...but I willl! 
 
It was another cold cold week up here.  It didn't snow, but it rained and then froze 2 or 3 times.  No one comes outside on cold days, I don't know how they do it.  It seems to me like they have to come out sometime to get groceries or something...but it doesn't happen!  Haha oh well, we made due.  Hopefully this week is a little warmer cause we are pretty much out of investigators, only two are progressing so we need to find some new ones!!  It's super Christmasy everywhere though.  I LOVE IT!  Every house is decked out with so so so many lights...its almost as good as driving past Bastion's house in the rich neighborhood. 
 
We have two baptisms scheduled for this Saturday!  Jennifer, the JW, and Ricky, the guy who showed up to church last week.  I'm really excited for it!  Ricky has read all the way up to 3 Nephi in a week and just eats up everything we say and Jennifer knows every lesson like the back of her hand.  It is so cool to see people gain testimonies and see ther lives CHANGE!  Ricky, 4 months ago, was trash.  He practically lived on the street and was just a druggie hardcore...but things have changed so much for him and finally he will be making the best change of ALL!  BAPTISM!  I love love  love it.  Elder Nelson is a lucky guy to get two baptisms on his first week out...there are a lot of missionaries from this mission who only get like 3 baptisms total.  We got this text from Ricky this week...its hilarious..."I just had the weirdest tribulation today, I just saw Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin Mary standing right behind me."  Hahahahahahhaha.  He's a crazy crazy guy.
 
We got a call this morning at 1 AM from a less active member.  She said that her bestfriend, and one of our investigators, just got in a really really bad car accident and was in the hospital.  She wanted a blessing before they sent her up to Odessa. So we got dressed up and went into the Emergency Room and I gave her a blessing at 1 AM.  It was a really really cool experience for me.  I love that kind of service.   She's up in Odessa getting some kind of surgery right now, but they think she'll be ok.  It was sweet though.
 
That is about it!  I love you so so so much!!  Stay warm and healthy! 
Love,
~Elder Caleb
 
P.s. Mom, I didn't get the package yet, but I'm sure it will come soon.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Transfers

Thanksgiving was good!  We had original plans to eat a Spanish family named the Zambrano's, but there was gonna be heavy drinking cause their family was in town haha, so we changed to the Hinkson Family.  Brother Hinkson is from OREM UTAH!  He served his mission here in Lubbock 8 years ago and now works for border patrole.  We were excited.  On Wednesday we got called to the Hospital to give him a blessing...his apendix exploded...typical.  So we went back to the Zambrano's!  They were real nice and had a second meal for us, without cervesa. :)  It was really good food!  We ate ribs.  And E. Greenman and I made pumpkin pie...no derby pie though :(
We got transfer calls on Saturday night.  Usually we get the call after 12 AM by and AP, but our phone rang at 10 and it was from President Augustin himself.  He told me that Elder Greenman had done a fantastic job training me and that in his mind we were some of the most obedient and hard working missionaries (HECK YEAH!).  Then he asked if I would accept the opportunity to train...ME!  I just finished training myself hahaha.  Of course I said yes though.  Later when the APs called I found out that I will be training TWO brand new Elders here in Ft. Stockton (so same address).  Elder Bakus and Nelson.  I'm so pumped...and so so nervous hahah. Oh well, I know it will be good!  I'm gonna learn and grow a whole bunch!  Elder Greenman is being moved to a city called Comanche...its near Abeline.  He's been a dream of a comp.  I learn so much from him every day.  No doubt he's my favorit companion so far (duh hahahah).  So I'll miss him, but I'm already over it haha.
Some random kid showed up to church yesterday, someone that Elder Moyer and Greenman talked to before I got out here.  He said he woke up and just felt like he needed to go to church.  So we taught him during Gospel Principles and gave him a Book of Mormon.  He called us last night and asked if we could answer some questions for him...he was already in 2 Nephi haha.  We taught him again and now he's planning on being baptized this month.  I sure hope things work out!  Jennifer, that JW we started teaching in October, is progressing pretty far as well.  She wants to be baptized, but she doesn't have a testimony yet, so we're working on that.  But it is an exciting time to be here in Fort Stockton!  I'm glad I get to stay. 
I wanted to ask Dad if you would send me  some copies of pages from your missionary journal, anybody who served a mission is welcome to send some, actually.  I'm interested to see how things have changed and what kind of things you learned and did each day.  Each person and each mission and each timeframe has its own missionary experience, so I'm sure it's a lot different than me...but I'm interested to see!
I absolutly love my time here.  Each day I learn so so so much. I'm begining to find out what it means to love my neighbor and to trust in the Lord.  The more I learn and the more I apply, the happier I become and therefore the easier everything is!  I love this opportunity a lot!  I miss y'all a lot though, especially during holiday time!  Be safe and happy.  I love you so much.  Below are Elders Greenman, Oler, Moyer and Myself.  Not in that order.  Below that, the Zambrano's for Thanksgiving.





About Me

Elder Caleb Porter is currently serving in the Texas, Lubbock Mission. Read his letters and see his pictures here!