Elder Patrick F. Gilchrist's Mission Blog

April 11th 07 - Lizards and Snakes? Oh My!

2007-04-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Well things are going pretty good down here. transfers is today but im not getting transfered. so ill be up in st.johns for at least another 6 week.Elder Jasper came to town for EK and denise's wedding and baptism on saturday. it was so good ot see him! i miss that guy so much. hes doing
well back home though! ive found out that 2 of my good friends got their mission calls! Luiza in brentwood ward got her call to the Ukraine. which is freaking awesome. im so appy forher! shes such a rocking ! and my buddy from EFY got his call to Slovenia/Croatia how sweet is that!

I am glad to hear that everything with dad is going well! i sure look up to you both so much and appriciate the support that u give me! my prayers are with the whole family! im excited for Ryan and Marcs new babies! it'll be sweet! send me lots of pics! we are teaching quite a bit.. but weve baptized most of our contacts so we have to start finding more people to teach. im looking forward to it. i love finding people that are ready to hear the gospel! Easter weekend was kinda diffrent not being at home doig the annual easter thing. i actually forgot it was easter until i got to church. opps. but alot of people non members and less actives came to church so hopefully that will help us find people to teach! hopefully things ipick up this week!

I am learning lots. we caught a lizard and a snake this week! that was pretty awesome! more little things to entertain us! haha well i love you and hope all is well!

Love Elder Patrick F Gilchrist

Elder P Gilchrist's Eldest Brothers is a SLACKER!

2007-04-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

Apolgizes to those of you kind enough to share in Pat's mission by reading this blog and writting commmenta to him. I have few excuses for taking so long to update this site... I am in the middle of finals, we have a baby coming in less than one month and I am old!

Here is a letter from Pat April 4th... Enjoy and write him comments or a letter:)

Sincerly - Older brothers for the support of little brothers carrying on the name!

p.s. ask Elder PFG about the pics:)

" Things out here are going pretty well. General Conference was AMAZING eh? freak i love hearing those men, to think that the Apostles >and the Prophet is what sets are church apart from the others.. and those to things classify our church as the one true church of Christ. According to the scriptures Eph 2:19-20 we have all 3 of those things in our church... therfore we have the true church of Christ! i love sharing that with people. because its true and they cant deny that! show me a church with all those things... i didn't think you could either! haha well this week we are focusing on OYMing (Open Your Mouth) Elder Ballard of the 12 said that if missionaries will OYM 10 more people a day then they normally do in regular prosilyting activities that the success will go up 2X. what a promise! so we are doing it! and focusing on that this week! thats 70 more people a week who you are talking with. that increases the chances of teaching someone 10 fold! you would be stupid to not listen to a apostle of God... they have direct knowledge that will only benifit you if you listen and then act accordingly!

Same with the mission pres... he had to send a missionary home last week. Because they broke the rules! he hasn't done that for almost 3 years! what a tragic event to end a missionaries mission because of disobedience!stupid guy! the bar is raised we need to be better than ever because satan is trying harder to intice people down the wrong path! but we got
his number and we know how to fight against it! no matter what people hear they cant deny your testimony! i love sharing a solid testimony with people..because you can see it hit their hearts and touch them! DANG i love being a missionary!

Well we had to move Warrens baptism back till this weekend! but ill be baptizing him on saturday then we have EK and denise baptisms ans wedding later that day! every missionary in our zone is invited! Ek is the coolest guy! im so happy that hes making this step in being baptized! what a stud!i love the people here. and im doing my best to not let little things
frustrate me and distract me from the most important work on the earth! gotta love hard work! being obedient just makes you feel good! i love knowing that u tried your best all day in every situation! the lord is willing to bless those who follow him in exactness!

Well i miss you all! and hope everyone is doing well! my prayers are with you all! God Bless!
Love Elder Patrick F Gilchrist

Epistle - February 21 2007

2007-03-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Things are going so awesome. Elder Japser goes home in like 5 days! INSANE! I'm happy for him. hes been a good missionary! I've learned a lot from him which is important. i want to share a experience that happened this week. so Sunday we were going around seeing people and i remembered that we were invited to go to a fireside at the downtown chapel. but we didn't plan on it. but i had the feeling that we should go so we headed down there. and sure enough as we walked in(the fireside was over ) as people were eating refreshments etc. we noticed a guy 22yrs old talking to the bishop so we headed over cause we didn't recognize him. turns out he saw all the cars and thought he would see what was going on in the church so late at night. hes not a member, and is Mexican but speaks pretty good English. so we gave him some things to read and planned to meet with him the next day to have a lesson.

The following day we met at a members home. and taught him the 1st lesson about the restoration. now he speaks pretty good English but he doesn't understand quite as much. so we had to speak plainly and simply. as we spoke he told us how he left his home in Mexico when he was 11 because his dad or someone was trying to sell him.. and he knew that was bogus so he moved away by himself. so now as a 22 yr old he has no family.. doesn't know who his parents are.. doesn't even know when his birthday is. he moved to new york and made up his own name Roger Alexander. and has had a rough life, working just to survive living on the streets etc. and he some how came here.. but the amazing thing is that even though he had no religion in his life he prayed a lot... he prayed and asked how come there is all this bad things going on in the world and why Jesus doesn't just come down and stop it.. or at least take him up to heaven so he wouldn't have to deal with it. CRAZY EH? he asked to die... because of the garbage that is going on.. he is such a sweet man. and the lesson that we taught him was amazing... the spirit was SO strong we were all brought to tears. he is as we say GOLDEN. we talked about how were glad to have him here and that God placed him here to receive the gospel. he knows that's true! he'll be baptized soon for sure. i just love how God prepares people to hear the gospel. amazing!

Well last Saturday we had 2 baptisms they went great , I spoke at both of them, and then during the time when the people are changing out of their wet clothes we (missionaries) share a short 1st lesson with everyone who is there. and there was more than 5 non members in attendance.. so we'll see if anything comes from that. the stat is that if some one attends a baptism, 90% of the time they will attend their own also! Sweet eh! you have to bring them to where the spirit is, as we are told! it really works! This weekend we have 3 baptisms planned.. 2 will go through for sure and i have been asked to confirm one of the investigators. i am so excited for her to be baptized.. she has really changed and has made the commitments, she is wonderful! her name is Dollie her and her 2 kids are the funnest bunch to visit!

The other one that isn't so sure is a man named Robert. he lives 45 mins away from town all by him self but as long as he has stopped chewing tobacco he will be baptized on Saturday, and he has asked me to baptize him! i am STOKED! i cant wait! Get this. his uncle lives in Arbor Lake. like 5 minutes away from Moms house! ha ha insane! small world!(and he played hockey back in the day and played against the team that was in the movie Miracle! he knows tons of the people from that team in the movie , which is based on a true story) hes a way cool guy. when i asked him who he wanted to baptize him he said "You, one hockey player to another) Ryan will love that! I'm excited for him!

Well St.johns is sure fun. people here love us and we are working hard. dealing with 5 wards can be stressful but its nice also to have lots of help. if these baptisms go through on sat we will have accomplished our goal of 6 baptisms this transfer. and also next transfer is looking to be just as successful if not more! I'm So excited to be in the land of milk and honey! (Pres Buttars calls St. Johns that) Well were going to go hunting for Elk Horns that have dropped of the elk for P-day with 2 other missionaries! should be great!
God bless and Be missionaries!
Elder Patrick F Gilchrist

Pictures from the Field - February 07

2007-03-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

Pictures from the MTC

2007-03-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

MTC

Last Day of February 2007

2007-03-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007

Well its Wednesday and later today my new comp will be getting into town. i am in Eager which is 30 mins away from St.Johns serving with a another missionary until my new comp comes up from the Valley. so were both anxiously awaiting the arrival of them both. I'm still serving in St Johns probably for another 3 possible 4.5 months. and i love it! next transfer its looking like we will have 10 baptisms! PARTY! I'm thinking a lot about my new comp . but i have faith that Pres Buttars will send me a good one! fingers crossed though!

Well this week was a interesting one.. had some ups and downs... we traveled out of town to teach Robert and on the way back while i was driving (to get used to the area) we took a little detour in a dried up river bottom... note to everyone DONT try that! we got stuck in the sand.. for 3 HOURS!! digging us out with a window scrapper and sticks.. finally we had to
hike to the road and flag down a man to tow us out.. it was So funny! good life lesson. wont do that again. luckily it was during our travel and lunch time so we didn't waste more than about 20 mins actual proselyting time. it was SO funny!

We had a lot of good lessons this week too. but most importantly 2 baptisms! and i got to confirm Dollie a member on Sunday! it was So sweet! also a investigator who was up until this point kinda flaky has really turned around. she came to Dollies baptism and there i invited her to be baptized, and we set a date for her! I'm Way excited! she is starting to take it seriously now! also the fiance of the other lady we baptized on Saturday asked me to baptize him next month. so its looking like we'll have 2 or 3 baptisms on St. Patty's Day Ironic?? haha I'm looking forward to it!

Things have been interesting with Elder Jasper going home. we've been visiting people and saying goodbye for the past few days which really is hard. because it makes me think about home and things.. which isn't his fault but is hard when all u do all day is be around people who talk about home and future plans etc. so its hard to stay focused but its understandable because of the situation. but hes gone now so back to work! the work is going well! i love it! I'm dang excited about the transfer though! cant wait to get my comp and Do So much good work!

well i gotta fly. Love you all!

Happy Valentines from Elder G.

2007-02-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Well everything out here is going pretty well. Elder Jasper and I are going to accomplish our goal of 6 baptisms this transfer! im so pumped! the Zone is looking like were going to
break the all time zone record of 29 baptisms in one transfer. and there is only18 missionaries in the zone! which is prety good. i went on exchanges alot this week. since elder jasper is DL he has to go on exchanges with every companionship (except for the sisters) once a transfer.. so i get
tossed around. but 2 day ago he went to a diffrent area and i stayed in St Johns and we pretty much the senior comp for a day it was bombing! im getting prettty comfortable with the area and i know my way around and lots of the people which i was worried that i wouldn't learn
before he left. hes getting excited to go home.. althought he isn't to trunky... everyone else keeps talking about it to him... which is distracting for him.. but i cant expect him to not think about it or anything.. cause come on.. hes going HOME! haha

oh this one girl that had abaptismal date but then flaked on us... she called us and wanted
to have a lesson! which was awesome.. and shes taking seminary in highschool witha ll the members which will help her tons.. but the best part was that she invited her friend to the lesson as well. her friend. Adriana is a senior in highschool also her mom is a strong roman
catholic and her dad is a strong Jew.. so u can imagine how crappy that is just on its own... and now she wants to learn about our church... hope that doesn't destroy the family.. YIKES. but i gotta tell you about why she wanted to learn more... she had a dream one night that she was scared or something.. and she was running for saftey to the catholic church but as soon as she got to the door. she got pulled back and she couldn't get n.... so she ran to the jewish temple.. and same thing.. at the door she couldn't get in..THEN.(this is the sweet part) she ran towards the mormon temple and of course.. she was let in.. and right then she woke up... and was filled with the spirit that told her to learn more about the church and that the church had answers to
questions that shes been having for a long time. she told us that she doesn't feel like she has ever felt the spirit in the catholic church.. it was an amazing experience to teach her.. we'll meet with her again. im so excited!

One of our investigators went to the ER yesterday.. her blood sugar dropped alot i guess and she passed out and had a seizure... but shes fine now.. shes having her baptismal interview today so its all good. Erika our other investiagtor lives out of town like 20 mins and it takes most of the time on a dirt road to her house.. and yesterday the ZL were here to do interviews for her to be baptized.. and we had to go out to her house. BUT it was snowing so the dirt was MUD.. and when we finally got there the tires were covered in mud.. we were in a 4wheel drive truck and we were slipping all over teh road. then we had to walk 100 feet to her house cause her fence was locked.. and by the time we got to her house our shoes weighed like 5 pounds each.. they were COVERED in mud. it was halarious! haha a little fun part of the day. the ZLs slept over last night so we brought the matresses in the living room and watched movies (of course approved church movies) and had food etc! it was pretty fun. we also had dinner with a YM and YM presidents they are married. and some kids from the ward.. and after we shared a
first lesson with them it went well. we were able to talk to the 2 guys who were there about going on missions. kinda told them how fun it can actually be.. and how rewarding it is.. hopefully it will help them to pray about going on a mission.. and taking it seriously.. what a blessing it is to be able to share the gospel with people 24/7. ya its alot of work but ive never been happier.

Well i best be going..tell everyone i say hi. tell jon i would die for some kethcup or dill
pickle chips.. mabye just packed into a ziploc so it wouldn't be a huge package! haha! God Bless Canadian Food! Have a great week! MUah God Bless
Love Elder Patrick F Gilchrist
Happy V day for everyone XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX (those hugs are only for
males.(cant hug girls) and kisses are only kisses on the cheeks) hehe
;)

Welcome to Pat's (aka Elder G's) Blog

2007-02-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

So... I thought Patrick might like having his own website... I will post e-mails/letters he sends and pictures and anything else he wants or that I want for that matter. We will keep it mission related so if anyone has an news on the Arizona Tempe Mission pass it on.

Below is an e-mail he sent today... so enjoy. Also Patrick of course wants mail so here is his first ( and surely not last) request...

" 7 Feb 2007 10:41 AM yo marc! the ldsmail isn''''t working so ill just blog you. nice couch. and hey if u would start me a blog that would be sweet! everything is going awesome the work is going great! i love it out here! seeing people listen when we teach is amazing.. u can see in their eyes that they know its true.. just makes it all worth it! i pray so hard for my investigators.. its crazy.. i finally understand how heart wrenching it is waiting for a investigator to come to church. i get to baptize an investigator on the 24th.. my first baptism! EVER! I'm PUMPED!i keep reciting the prayer in my head so i don't mess up! haha tell everyone to email me at pgilchrist@myldsmail.net i check it every Wednesday! oh and dear elder.com the thing that Jon uses is AWESOME cause the letters come in the mail to me... but free of charge for you! and i don't have till wed every week to read em! so USE that and tell everyone else too! well i gtg god bless i love you tons and take care or Brooke Aden and the baby for me! i love you guys! "