January 26, 2015

Hey so this week was awesome!!! So Monday Elder Carter and me had our last Preparation day together. Tuesday: we drove to Brother Caputos at 6:00 am super early! and drove to Louisville, that's a long drive from Beattyville!!! We had transfers!!! first one I'd been to since I arrived in Kentucky! Transfers are so much fun!!! I picked up a new companion! Elder Gough. and one of my Best buddies out here Elder Caskey is Training!!! i'm so excited for him! and my Trainer is now a Zone Leader in New Albany! Then we drove back home and let new companion get settled in and then we went and saw our one lady with a baptismal date and she isn't doing any of the commitments we  are leaving with her!!! Oh and we got a new Zone Leader for this Zone! Elder Trost!! I love him!! He is from Las Vegas!! Wednesday: we Got Blitzed last night from the Zone Leaders to help us get straightened out and pumped for this next transfer! And one of the Zone Leaders Elder White from Arizona he has served in Beattyville and so he took my new companion and I took Elder Trost and all four of us hit Beattyville! We had a lot of Success! Found a lot of potentials! and the new Senior Couple the Carters arrived!!!! they are from Pocatello Idaho!! they are super awesome!!! and Excited to baptize Beattyville!   Thursday: So we had District meeting and Elder Carter wanted us to drive his awesome chevy truck!! yes finally something with four wheel drive in Beattyville! but we can't drive it. so he went with us to district meeting
Sister Carter stayed to keep getting everything moved around in their house! then we traveled back home after district meeting, the zone leaders were there and each member of district had a meeting with the District and Zone leaders to discuss plans for this transfer! then we drove home and tried some of the new people we found on Wednesday. Friday: we had weekly planning for week two already!! then we went and tried this referral that we received from Elder Seymore when they blitzed us a few weeks ago, and we had to contact her at her work and when we got out and were almost around the block the owner yelled us to come back and he chewed us out for talking to his girls that way about religion cause we don't preach the right things.....? what ever. but we did get her number to set something up with her! :) then we went into the Hair Salon and contacted a referral we got the other day and she was super awesome!!! she gave us her number and address before we could even get the question out of our mouths! she knows that we were sent to her by God because she had been going through some rough times. then we took the Carters out to see some less actives and tried getting them introduced to the area. We also took them to a Part member Family Lesson. and set a Baptismal date!!! then we dropped the carters off,and went to our next appointment and set a Baptismal date with this couple!!! so That makes Four Baptismal dates!!!! Saturday: we Went and tried All of the New investigators we had picked up but most of them forgot or the spouse turned us away :(. then we took the Carter's out to see some other less actives that lived up this holler and I mean like the very end of this Holler! Then we came back into Beattyville and tired this older bed ridden Less active who can't come to church because he is strapped to an oxygen tank. Sunday: We had a Great Sunday meeting we had 18 at church! only 5 were locals of Beattyville though. Then we met with the Stake President and the Branch President after Church and Talked about the Less active and the Active with the Carter's but we had to leave early because we had appointments set. We drove all the way out to one appointment and the guy gave us a fake address :( then we tried the lady we contacted in the Hair Salon and she had just barely left for arrands in town but her mom answered door and said to meet up with her at her work. then we went and saw a less active Sonny he is a super funny guy! then we finished tracting a road with a house about every half mile. super spread out. then we went to try an appointment but like literally lost her we couldn't find her house any where!! she was gone! so then we drove back after talking with this guy that lives on that road that has been taught everything in the past but won't commit to a baptismal date! We went to the Carters and they fed us dinner! The first member meal in 7 weeks!!! it was super good! Spaghetti!!! then we went and talked with people on main street! oh and we ended up with 20 new investigators this week! thats mission record! like a once in a mission life time! and 18 other lessons and 4 baptismal dates!!! I am super excited for Beattyville this Transfer! \

Love,

 Elder Durfee 

P.S. No one can pronounce my name. 

January 20, 2015

Here is my new companion! 

He is from Illinois...  Dakota said he is Super Excited :)

January 19, 2015

so this week was super fast!!! So Monday we a pretty good day over all even though it was in Beattyville with nothing fun to do. we just sat in the apartment and slept and cleaned. Tuesday: we had a study blitz by the Zone Leaders!!! I was paired with Elder Seymore i love him!!! he's an awesome missionary! then we did a lot of walking around to try and save up our miles. then we tried some Less actives but no one would answer the door! :(  Wednesday: so today we did Mormon.org time. we get 1 hour a week to do Mormon.org time. then we went and saw this awesome investigator we have and taught a good lesson. i hope that she will keep progressing. then we went and saw a less active family and had a great discussion about the Book of Mormon! then we went and tracted a whole street. then we went and saw a member. Thursday: we did weekly Planning and then we went and tried a referal we got couldn't get into contact. then we went and saw a less active family and the lady told us to not come back because her husband hates the missionaries and the church ( he isn't a member) because i guess he got offended by some missionaries back with the last senior couple. then we went and saw this awesome Member couple! Friday: WE had Zone meeting so we got up at 5:30 and got ready and headed up to Lexington. the Zone meeting was amazing there were a lot of great trainings they had set up! then we went and ate lunch with the Mckee Elders and the Mckee senior couple. then we went and had our cars brakes changed and did some shopping seems how we don't have any stores in Beattyville. Saturday: so today we got a phone call from President Brough!!!! at 9:00 A.M. and told Elder Carter that he is going to be transfered to Chivley up on the West end of Louisville. the schetchy side so i wish him the best of luck for his last six weeks before he goes home. then we went and saw this awesome investigator and had a great talk about he Plan of Salvation seems how his mother just died last week. then we went and saw this awesome less active brothers i love the Johnsons! then we had some appointments call and cancel! :( then we went and saw this Less active who forgot about our appointment so we had to reschedule. and then we went home and had dinner at 8 and Elder Carter started packing. Sunday we went to church and then we went and saw another Less active family and had dinner with them and Elder carter told them good bye as well as the members in Beatyville. then we went and tried a few more people and then at then we went and headed for Mckee because elder gerard was gonna burn his suit for the signal of the end of 2 years. so missionaries burn a tie at 6 months which i hit at the end of this transfer! and then a shirt and 1 year and then pants at a year and a half and then a suit at the end of 2. the fire was huge he put 1 gallon of lighter fluid on it!!! with a whole bunch of wood!!!! it was so awesome then we played some games and then went to bed after making some jerky as well. well that is the end of the adventures for this week.

Sincerely,

 Elder Durfee 

January 12, 2015

So today was a very full day. so we had a  lesson Monday and we set a baptismal date!!!! it was super awesome! and the lady was in a towel that we set it with it was super weird the husband told us to walk in and so we did but it was a super great lesson! we stated our purpose boldly to try and get her more motivated and she is now wanting to progress! super excited for her! Tuesday: so today we went and had a great lesson with a lady and gave her a priesthood blessing to help her with all of the near death illnesses she has had and she is starting to progress!!! Wednesday: we got the first snow for the winter!!! it got super cold!!! but we had the Rodericks a Senior couple from Wayne County come down from the mission office and we helped them move the furniture into the Senior couples house that are going to be moving into Beattyville!! I can't wait! it's gonna be awesome with them and all the help and support we will have! then we left for McKee for district meeting at 5 after having dinner with the Rodericks because it was snowing so bad! Thursday: we had District meeting and it got down to 1 degree that night and that morning lows of 6 degrees it was crazy! and it got all the way up to 40 by 10 at night. we had a super great conversation with a less active family!!! this guy was cutting his grass with a lawn mower behind a tractor and fell off and cut his leg off!!! he is super redneck!!! learnt a lot of new words from him! haha. Friday: we tried to get into contact with some less actives and none were home or we got ignored.... then we went and taught another less active family. then we went to this family we met a couple weeks ago and had a question and answer session for 3 hours! he had a lot of questions and has had a lot for every visit! its super awesome! and she has given us some home made dill pickles and strawberry preserves and some home made string beans. They are a super awesome family. and he said to hook up with him after the mission and he will help me with lady advice for marriage hes like my dad in the mission field! I feel that this family is the reason for me coming to Beattyville! Saturday: we Drove to a members house and he wanted us to watch the Kentucky Basketball game!!! hes the Second Counsler to the Bishop ric! what?! lol Hes super awesome but a little on the crazy side but I love him he fought in the war against Iraq. Then we drove to see some less actives that don't have a car to get to church so we have to find a member that can go pick them up every other weekend because he is divorced and his ex doesn't want their kid exposed to the lds..... Sunday: now today was awesome!!! we both gave a talk in church 15 minute talk!!!! oh yeah im getting better! ;) then we had the pitch in or the pot luck after church in the church it was super good!!! a lot of Great Food!!!!!! then we went to try some investigators but no one was home!!! :(

January 5, 2015

Its already week 5/6 of this transfer!!! where has the time gone!!? So this week was super filled! so Monday: we had a lot of sitting around due to the fact there isn't a whole lot to do here in Beattyville. Tuesday: we went and got me a hair cut, cause my hair was getting way long! and the barber shop here is pretty awesome! (picture) then we walked to the top of this one (mountain) ridge, and we picked up a dog he followed us all the way up there!! When we got up there he went adventuring and then disappeared don't know what happened to him.... then we went and tracted a lot of doors. Then we went and tried some other people that weren't home. Wednesday: we went and saw some Less Actives, Then we went and Tried some formers that are no longer interested. and it was New Years eve!! so it was non Prostelyting from 6 PM. so we went to McKee elders apartment because we had district meeting Friday in McKee and we played ultimate Uno!  Thursday: we had district meeting. and then we had district lunch at Dairy Queen. then we drove home i got car sick because it a super twisty road from Beattyville to McKee. and My companion (Elder Carter) got to visit with his brother.... because his brother is getting deployed for the army to go and defend the Oasis. super scary... we gave him a blessing it was super spiritual. and his bother isn't very active and hasn't been since about age 16. Also today we were going out to find some Less actives but on our way out to see one my companion realized that he had already tried them with his last companion here and they didn't live there anymore. so we parked and he felt inspired to go and knock on this door. and so we did and it was a family, and we helped them resolve some concerns they had about the LDS faith, paligamy related, and some other issues, but at the end the lady gave us some jam and they invited us to come back to help them learn more about our religion. Friday: we weekly planned. then we went and Tracted this one Holler. it was super Redneck up in there!! and we just about got eaten by some dogs!!! super scary! but we did find some new investigators up in the holler. Then we went and tried some other people that weren't home. but we were able to sit and teach this one lady the Restoration. Saturday: since its a new month and we now have miles again!! we were able to go to the part of the area i felt we needed to be, and no one was home... but we were able to talk with some members up there that have people they want us to go and see but they were just headed out so we will have to go back some other time!! Then on the way back from Campton we went and saw this investigator but he was open at the time because he is dealing with his mother who is very sick. Sunday: we had church. and then we went and i finally met some other members that live way up in a holler. they are a really cool family!!! then we went and tried to find a referral we received the other day but apparently it was the wrong address that was sent in because the lady we talked to was super ticked, and she had a creek just before her house so we had to get out and walk it because we couldn't of got our car in there, we need a truck bad, so we started walking at her dog started barking so she came out and started yelling and so we had to really listen and she mad and she said to get the heck off of her property before she made us and we said we were looking for terri anne and she said i don't know who that is and i don't want nothing to do with her business so get the heck off of my property before i call the law on ya. so we got in the car and drove to some investigators we have and we had a great discussion about the Plan on Salvation. then we drove home. Can't wait to see what this next week brings!!! i hope we find people that are a little bit more active rather than laid back. but we will make it all work! keep looking forward and don't look back. 

Love,

 Elder Durfee 

December 29, 2014

Well this last Monday: was super sweet! we got to go to the Mission Christmas Conference!! Tuesday: We emailed home because we got home at 9 pm on Monday night because we had to drop Mount Sterling off and then go shopping in Lexington because we don't have any stores down where I am living. After Emailing we walked everywhere because we are super short on miles with us going to Louisville and back. Wednesday: We Went and tried some people but no one was home due to the fact that it was Christmas eve... So we Went to McKee for Christmas Eve because we were gonna have Christmas and Skype families at the Senior couple in McKee. so we stayed with the McKee elders there that night. Thursday: we drove from the McKee elders apartment to the Senior Couples house. We had some great food there!!! Played a lot of UNO and Ping Pong!!!! super fun! Also i got to email my family!!! I loved seeing all of their faces!! miss them so much! Friday: we had District meeting in McKee so we just stayed at the McKee elders place one more night. didn't get good sleep for those nights because i slept on a couch... but after district meeting we had district lunch and we all ordered a deep fried taco it was super good. then we drove home. i hate that right from Beattyville to any where. because i get super car sick! But once we got back we tried potentials and didn't really have any luck. i can't wait until the new month and we get new miles! being restricted to Beattyville is hard. Saturday: we weekly planning. then we walked all day trying to save miles. and tried a few people it took an hour to get everywhere and no on was home. and if they were they were sick and not open at the time. Sunday: we had church we had 15 people come!!! then we tried potentials all day. I Can't wait until we get Januaries miles and we can drive up to Campton and start tracting all of those streets that haven't been hit by any missionaries. to finally work a different part of this area, just because its too far to get to with the miles we have.

Sincerely, Elder Durfee