7th Missionary E-mail

7th Missionary Email

I've been out of the MTC for a week now!

My visa for Colombia should be ready in a month, but I am temporarily assigned to the Spanish, Provo, Utah Mission!  I love it here!  Everyone is super nice to the missionaries!  Every time I go to a store, or a restaurant random grandmas give me wads of cash!!!  Twice so far a worker behind the counter has paid for our meals!

I have been the third wheel to the Zone Leaders here!  (Elder Aguirre and Elder Hill)  I've learned a ton from them! The Mission President told me that "these guys are the best in the whole mission"!  They are super successful, and have the whole ward working with them!  I have gotten to meet tons of amazing people and teach some of the nicest people I know!  We went to do baptisms in the temple with a recently converted family. The Monroy family! It was Brother and Sister Monroys first time in the Temple and it was an amazing experience to be there with them and to talk to Brother Monroy! We've talked a lot about the gospel and we've become good friends!  He shared his conversion story with me, and told me of his struggle in the U.S. when he left his family in Peru.  The spirit was so strong in the temple as we talked!  I love how most of the Hispanics here also speak English!      

I've been speaking more Spanish and feel more comfortable teaching in the language!  I gave the opening prayer in the Sacrament meeting yesterday.  Pretty cool stuff. I've also been eating a ton of Mexican food.  We eat dinner at members houses every night!

We 3 have been blessed with a nice car!  I can't wait to have to bike everywhere and get exhausted and sweaty though!!  Haha... especially with my heavy bag!

The Missionaries in the Provo Mission get their own iPads and get to use Facebook!  You have no idea how much of a blessing and how useful these tools are!  The iPads have everything a missionary needs!  And Facebook has given us amazing missionary opportunities to teach friends from home and contact members and investigators in the area!

Today (Monday the 28th of October) is my first real pday in the real world.  This morning our district woke up at 5 and hiked to the "Y" on the mountain.  I hated waking up!!  It was pretty cool being up there, as in COLD, because I was wearing exercise shorts my legs got super itchy!  You know how you get itchy when your shower is cold and then gets hot suddenly...  If you don't know what I'm talking about, try it!  It's so fun!!

This Wednesday is Transfer day, and today everyone found out what area in the mission they are going to move to.
I'm leaving Provo on Wednesday and I'll be going to Orem, which I hear is pretty close. I'll most likely be serving with an "Elder Heyen".  He should be "training me".

I've been reading a lot from the Book of Mormon, and I'm so into it, that I get annoyed when I have to stop to do something!!  Haha!  We are so blessed with all the entertaining stories in this book!

We've been teaching members (who attend less often) that it's the little things that are the most important!  Such as praying, reading the scriptures everyday, and going to church.  My companions are really good at connecting with their wards and getting the members to reach out to nearby nonmembers.  They get tons of referrals!!

I'm enjoying it everyday here!  I take it a day at a time and It's going by so fast!  I can't believe it's been over 7 weeks!!  Crazy!  I'll have been out for 2 months in a week!

Oh yeah!!  And Brenna Lutz (a family friend since we were babies) is in my Zone!!!!  Crazy!  We have been able to talk and hangout a lot!

Love you all, Elder Zierenberg

Hey, PS:

My address here in the Provo Mission is:

Elder Rod Zierenberg
85 North 600 East
Provo, Utah 84606

Missionary Companions

Elder Edmonds and Elder Zierenberg
Standing with Samuel Smith

With My Own Eyes

This week has been pretty awesome!  My new District and Zone is really nice and I've gotten to know tons of new people.  The weather's been getting colder but the sun's been out bright these past couple of days.
        
Last Tuesday we had a special devotional and got to hear from Elder Dallin H. Oaks and his wife.  They gave amazing talks about what set are church apart from others and why our church is true.  It was awesome being able to see an Apostle of Jesus Christ with my own eyes.  I was NOT able to shake his hand afterwards, but it was still a very cool experience.

My visa still hasn't come in but I met all the other Colombian Missionaries on Tuesday, when we were called in to get our blood drawn by the Red Cross.  It was necessary for our Visas.  A driver drove all of us around the city for a long while looking for the right place.  (My old companion, Elder Rallison, was in the van as he is serving in my mission.)  We finally found the place and after we all walked in, our driver drove away.  We then found out we had no appointment... So we called using a cell phone the MTC had given us, and waited for a someone to pick us up.
      
The driver took forever and we nearly missed the last dinner.  Before the devotional that same night, I was able to schedule my blood draw for the next day.  The lady was very nice so I ate the cookies and drank the juice. I think she took a ton of blood though, cause I got lightheaded and had a headache last night.  I asked her if I lost more than would fit in the water-bottle I was holding and she said yes.
        
Elder Edmonds and I were chosen to be missionary hosts on Wednesday (10/16/13) and we helped many incoming missionaries.  I didn't expect to see so many crying moms; I almost cried as I watched the first one drive away.  I was told to be super happy and positive for the new missionaries.
      
Elders host for new Elders and Sisters host for new Sisters, but they didn't have enough Sisters, so some Elders had to host them.  The hosting missionaries meet the new missionaries at the curb and lead them and their luggage to a building.  The new missionary leaves their luggage with their host and goes through the building.  The hosting missionary then carries all the luggage by themselves to a waiting area. 
        
I felt so bad for the Sisters that were hosting, because they had to carry tons and tons of luggage a good distance away.  Sisters pack tons and tons of stuff.  So, these Sisters that were hosting them had to carry more than their weight in luggage!  Most of the time missionaries bring 3 suitcases, and you have to stack the "little" suitcase on one of the big suitcases in order to roll them with two arms.  So some other Elders and I started helping the sisters.
       
Yesterday I walked into the mail room and looked into our districts cubby, which is the size of my fist.  It was locked so I checked through the glass and saw my name upside down on a piece of paper.  (It was about my being temporarily reassigned until my visa came in.)  And just the day before, I had been thinking I was leaving the city soon.
        
I hear that Provo is the highest baptizing mission.  They say my visa should be ready in about 5 weeks more or less.  They'll let me know what happens.
           
My testimony of The Book of Mormon is growing rapidly and I want to read it all the time!  I also have been learning a lot about Resurrection.  I know that because of Christ's resurrection we will all be resurrected some day.  In first Corinthians 15 we read:
                    20. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.
                    21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
                    22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

I love this chapter because Paul writes of many important doctrines and ordinances including baptism for the dead.
          In 1st Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 29 it says:
                  29. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?  why are they then baptized for the dead?
      
Paul is saying that why would we be baptizing for the dead if there was no resurrection.  But there is resurrection, and there is baptism for the dead.  The Corinthians understood baptism for the dead, but Paul was reconfirming their Faith in the Resurrection.  No other church baptizes for the dead!  

And in verse 40 Paul writes about the Glories of the Kingdoms of Heaven, mentioning specifically the Celestial and Terrestrial glories.

                    40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another
          And in verse 41 it mentions that there are 3 glories: 
                    41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of 
the stars: for one star differeth from  another star in glory.
       
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only church to teach of these three kingdoms.  And in 2nd Corithians, chapter 12, verses 2 and 4, Paul writes more of the third Kingdom.  Very interesting stuff in the Bible!
          
I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the True Church, and that Jesus Christ reestablished his church through his prophet Joseph Smith.

Love,
Elder Zierenberg

Hey, I Got My Temporary Reassignment!

Today I got a paper in the mail and it says:

"Dear Elder Zierenberg:

          We have not received your visa to travel to Colombia.  You will be serving a temporary assignment in the Utah Provo Mission until your visa arrives.   
          Please be at the MTC Information Desk in 1M on Monday, October 21st, at 3:45 p.m. Someone from the Provo Mission will meet you there and drive you to the Mission Office.
          Please e-mail your family as soon as possible to let give them this information."


I saw Matt Brown (a young man from my ward back home who just reported to the Provo MTC yesterday--10/16/13) after I got my blood drawn and went back to the MTC (yesterday).
His class room is 2 doors down the hall from mine.

Love Elder Zierenberg

5th E-mail

Hola from Elder Zierenberg.

It’s my 4th pday (preparation day), but 5th week I think.

I had the worst headache ever last night. I was dehydrated and didn't sleep well the night before.

So my headache grew worse and worse last night. I tried to go to bed a little early, but I woke up at like 1:18 in the morning because my head hurt so intensely. I tossed and turned and cried, half-awake. I got so nauseated that I went to the bathroom to throw up. Then I walked back to my bed and tried to sleep again.  I got delusional because I wanted to go to sleep but I thought people were making me fill out pamphlets and sign papers and stuff.  When I realized that I was lying in my bed and that no one was bothering me, I thought that if I could just fall asleep that the pain would be gone. I can't remember falling asleep but I remember praying a bunch. When I woke up I felt fine. And today has been awesome! 

I still haven’t heard a word about my Visa yet.  I'm probably going to be here till Oct 22.  Pray for my Visa!!!  

I asked the Travel Office about it today.  They said they don't know, but they'll let me know when I get my flight plans.  I could leave as soon as one day after receiving them.  I'm not worried though.  I'm content with whatever happens.

Thanks for the letters, packages, and love.

   

General Conference was amazing, and definitely the best I've ever witnessed!  Some say that it's always better when you're on a mission, but I seriously think that all the talks were the best I've ever heard.  Hearing the modern Prophet and Apostles of the Lord is such a privilege.  My testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ grows everyday.

Everyone always talks about Faith, but many make it sound too confusing. It's actually a very simple concept.  Developing Faith is an easy process.

The first step of Faith is: Having the desire to know for yourself of the TRUTH of something.  You don't know if something is true until you find the truth for yourself, but you need to have the desire to know before you can find it.

Then with that motivation to find the truth for yourself, you are lead to experiment and test the truth of it.  Everyone can gain a personal testimony once they have exercised their faith and tested it out for themselves. The test is a simple one.

The Book of Mormon, like the Bible, is another testament of Jesus Christ.  It is an ancient record of prophets that lived in the Americas. Joseph Smith was lead to find it buried in the ground and was given the power to translate it.  The Book of Mormon contains many important truths.  

If you were to know that the Book of Mormon was true, then you would know that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God.  And if you knew that the Book of Mormon was true, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, then you would know that The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was the true church of Christ, fully restored in our modern day. And if you knew this, you would know that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet, and that this church is lead by Jesus Christ through his servants, the prophets. 

In Amos, chapter 3, verse 7 it says: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

Christ's Church is perfect and he has only one Church. 

In Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 5, it reads: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism"

Jesus Christ established His Church, with Apostles and Prophets, during His earthly ministry. 

In Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 19-21, it says to the saints of Christ's Church:

19) "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20) And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21) In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. 

If you know that this church is true, then you will know that God is our Heavenly Father, and that he loves each and every one of His children. (Romans chapter 8, verse 16)  You will know that God has a plan for his children, and that this life, is a chance for us to be tested and to grow and obtain our own testimonies.

All of this would be known if you knew that the Book of Mormon was true.

So how can you know if the Book of Mormon is true, you ask.

Easy.

In the Book of Mormon a prophet named Moroni, made a promise.

In his writings in Moroni chapter 9, verses 4 and 5, he says:

4) "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5) And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

If we read The Book of Mormon, or if we read from it, we can pray to know if what we read was true.  And if we really want to know with all our hearts, we will receive an answer from God through the Holy Ghost.

Joseph smith grew up in New York during a time when there was a lot of religious excitement going on.  Joseph Smith had a lot of questions when he was 14.  He wanted to know which Church was true.  He went to many churches, but knew that Christ had one true Church.  He didn't know which to join, because each Church claimed to be the One True Church.  This caused Joseph Smith much uneasiness, and he didn't know what to do; not until one day that he was reading in the Bible, James chapter 1, verse 5. Joseph read:

"If any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."  

In all his Bible reading, Joseph Smith had never read a scripture that had hit him with as much power as this scripture did at this time.  He knew he would get an answer if he prayed and asked God.  So one early spring morning Joseph Smith walked away from his house and into a private grove of trees and prayed to God to know which church he should join.

God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and told him that he should join none of them.  Although many of the churches had many good people with good intentions, none of them had the fullness of Christ's gospel, nor His Authority.  The Fullness of the Gospel had been taken when Christ and the foundation of church leaders that he had established were killed.  Many people had tried to continue Christ's church, but they didn't have His authority nor his leadership.  People within the church disagreed about doctrines and split into many groups, becoming their own churches.  As time went on, more and more churches disagreed and split, and soon there were hundreds of churches.  During this time, the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was missing from the Earth.  This time is known as the Great Apostasy, and was prophesied in the Bible.

 In the book of Amos, Chapter 8, verses 11 and 12, it says:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

And they shall wonder from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

   

And in 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2 verses 1-3, Paul says:

"Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ , and by our gathering together unto him,

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"

(Also see 2nd Timothy chapter 4, verses 3 and 4)

This "falling away" or The Great Apostasy as we call it, ended when Jesus Christ restored the Fullness of His Gospel through his Prophet Joseph Smith.

The Holy Ghost bears witness to us in our hearts and minds of the truth of things that we pray for sincerely.  And once we receive our answer we must continue to follow the Truth and commit to enduring with the Truth forever.  We can rely on that answer in hard times and doubt it not.

As President Uchtdorf said in General Conference last weekend, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your Faith."

In Doctrine and Covenants section 6, verse 21-23, it says:

21) "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I am the same that came unto mine own and mine own received me not.  I am the light which shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth not. 

22) Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.  

23) Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?" 

   

If you haven't received a witness for yourself of the truth of these things,

what are you waiting for?

The Lord is waiting for You.

I know that if you ask God and pray with a sincere heart and a true desire to know, and if you do commit yourself to following the Truth, should you receive it, you will receive an answer of its truthfulness and you will feel the confirmation of it in your heart through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Love, Elder Zierenberg

It's Me

Pday today!  Elder Edmonds and I are the only ones in our district still, and we should be till we leave.  Don't know if my visa is coming soon or not.

I finally got my shoulder bag yesterday!!!!  It's soo nice!  Thanks soo much for everything you've done for me!!!

Best way to write to me is through DearElder.Com

Love, Elder Zierenberg

I Shook Hands with Elder David S. Baxter

Hello Friends!!!

It's my 3rd week here in the Provo MTC.  It's crazy how fast (and how slow) the time has been going!

My companion and I are a two-man district still, and have been learning a lot faster because of all the one-on-one time with our teachers.  Ima spekan ahspaneesh! haha
        
I've had some really good times this week. Another district in our zone left us on Monday and Tuesday.  There is only one more district in our zone, besides my two-man district.  My companion, Elder Edmonds, is now the District leader, and I am The Senior Companion.  So he pretty much is in charge of our imaginary friends... and I'm in charge of him! HAHA!  I've made tons of friends with other districts in other zones.  People recognize me for jamming out on the piano and singing!  I sat down at the piano and decided I'd write a song again.  I met a kid who's super good at the piano, and he can improvise off of any song!!  He asked me to sing for him while he played. We are pretty good friends now.
        
The day before My District left we went to a Departure Devotional.  Tons of People were there and we were in a really good mood--we usually were.  We were told by a large man, to sit on the front row.  (He had a big mustache!)  We made our way to the front row and suddenly... there we were. There was a huge projector screen above the stage so that everyone in the large audience could see the speaker.  The screen would change from showing the speaker, to showing the audience.  Every time it showed the audience, our front-row-seated District would be on the big screen because we were the closest to the camera.  The man speaking asked people to stand as he named their missions.  After naming many missions, he still hadn't mentioned mine.  So he asked afterwards if anyone who hadn't stood yet would do so and name their assigned mission area.  I stood and was on the big screen.  It felt like I was being interviewed on TV.  It was awesome!  I remained standing as he started talking to the other standing missionaries, and they kept the camera on me! ... so I winked, raised my eyebrows, bowed and saluted and EVERYONE in the whole audience started laughing!  HAHA It was SO funny!  There was like over 700 people in there.  (I miss my district.)
          
I shook hands with Elder David S. Baxter, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.  He's awesome and gave an amazing talk last night at a devotional.  He gave me a firm handshake and talked to me for a while actually.  He has a British accent, and is a great speaker.

Elder Baxter spoke of the differences between us and the other Christians.  I took a ton of notes because it was so good.  He used great scriptures from the Bible that clarified his points.  For instance, when talking about how "Faith without Works is Dead".  He used Mathew 7:21, in which Jesus says that not everyone who calls "Lord, Lord" will be admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven, But he that Doeth The Will of My Father.  We heard a lot of great scriptures from him.
       
Elder Baxter went on to tell us his conversion story and thanked us as if we were the two missionaries that converted him!  He bore a powerful testimony and gave his witness of the truthfulness of The Book Of Mormon.  He said of it that No wicked man could have written this book, and No good man would have made it up, but that it must be from God!  He challenged everyone to read it and pray for themselves, because everyone can get an answer from God.  His talk strengthened my Testimony.

Thanks for the letters and love.  I love hearing from everyone.  Please write me.

Love, Elder Zierenberg