Another week comes and goes in the blink of an eye. This was a long week for Elder Allen and I, we had a lot of things fall through due to two broken bikes (not mine) and bus trips that took up multiple hours of our day. Bus contacting doesn't really work so it was a lot of proselyting time lost. The whole week wasn't bad though, we had plenty of really good things happen and the work is going forward even if it’s not at the rate that we are both hoping and praying for.

Some quick funny stories for you: On Thursday we went out with a high priest to visit some less actives that had had no contact with the church in a long time. After we visited with these people we went over to his house where he gave us 50 pounds of bread. He is a farmer so he got the bread from a bakery that was throwing out the surplus (he uses the bread for his cattle). 50 pounds of bread goes a long way, even for two hungry Elders. We still have the large bag in our kitchen, and we eat two slices for every meal and we do nothing but snack on bread, I haven't been hungry since Thursday! On Friday morning we got a call from an older couple in the ward. They got an extra shipment of Nutrisystem meals so they called us wondering if we wanted the whole box. We agreed and went over to their house later in the day with the Hmong Elders. We took the box to our place and split it in half. So not only do we have a ton of bread to eat but we also have a few diet meals (I guess I need to lose weight). We are eating like kings, one loaf at a time.

Diet food in a bag - no comment.

On Friday, after a disappointing morning, Elder Allen and I got off the bus and we were heading back to our apartment for lunch. It was while the bus was pulling into the bus station that a thought occurred to me. Here is the thought: As Missionaries in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Mission, we have what is called the Standard of Excellence. I'm not sure if they do this in other missions but for us the Standard of Excellence is what each companionship if aiming to achieve each week. Our Mission Standard of Excellence is to have one baptism a month for each area, three investigators with a baptismal date, three investigators at church each week, and three new investigators found each week. With the lack of success that we had been experiencing throughout the week my thoughts were on how we can avoid another week like this. Then I thought about the members and it hit me. The Members of the Church should have a Standard of Excellence! I continued to think about it and this is what I came up with and Elder Allen "approves this message".

The Standard of Excellence for a Member Missionary:

1) Hand out 1 pass-along card each week with either the missionary’s phone number or the member’s phone number

2) Hand out 1 Book of Mormon each month with both the missionaries phone number and the members phone number as well as a hand written testimony

3) 1 person or family introduced to the missionaries and meeting with the missionaries every three months, that's four individuals/families a year (read Elder Ballard's April General Conference Talk)

4) Pray every day for missionary opportunities, AND for the missionaries by name serving in your Ward or Branch, AND for the missionaries "top 3" investigators and families by name (remember: specific prayers get specific results)

5) Read Preach My Gospel AND the scriptures everyday

6) Go on splits with the missionaries once a month

I cannot even begin to imagine how much more success there would be if every member put in an honest effort to achieve these goals. There would be less of a need to tract. and it would make for stronger converts and stronger members all around because testimonies would be shared. "Testimonies shared are testimonies made stronger" - loose quote of President Monson, Preach My Gospel.

The great success that Elder Allen and I are having is with our investigator M___. M___ was found by street contacting the day before I arrived in Appleton. We have been teaching him ever since. M___ has a very good knowledge of the Bible and he loves to read, so he reads the Book of Mormon a lot. At our first lesson, we extended the invitation for M___ to be baptized on July 19th. He agreed, since then everything else has been amazing. M___ is already finished with 2 Nephi, and he came to Church for the first time on Sunday. He shared with us the spirit that he has felt as he has read the Book of Mormon. He recently told us that he knows that the Book of Mormon testifies of the Savior Jesus Christ and he has compared it to the Bible and finds both of them to be in complete harmony with each other. M___ has also had the opportunity to pray about Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson being prophets of God. M___ said to us that if the book is true then Joseph Smith must be God's Prophet. Not only are we excited for M___'s baptism but he himself is excited to be baptized by telling us that "no matter how hard it is going to be to quit smoking and coffee, I will do it because I feel that I have found the truth." M___ is an amazing man, and a great example of faith. He knows that he can count on the Lord when he is doing the right thing. He has shared with us a few of his childhood stories that demonstrate the faith that he has and how he has come to strengthen it. M___ is a smart reader; I can honestly say that I am impressed with how much he has gotten out of the Book of Mormon for this being his first time reading the book. He shares with us the story line in great detail during lessons and pulls out doctrinal truths that have taken me years to find. No wonder he has developed a testimony of the book, he reads it and sincerely prays about it, he understands it.

Speaking about Prayer, I will be giving a talk next week in Sacrament meeting about receiving answers to prayer.

Scripture for the week: Alma 13:12

Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.

Thank you for your prayers and love, and tell me what you think of the Member Missionary Standard of Excellence.

Love,

Elder Luymes

L-R: E. Allen from Saratoga Springs, UT; E. Cutshaw from W. Virginia;
E. Lor from Fresno, CA.  The latter 2 are Hmong Elders.

A member gifted us Christmas lights on Sunday
so we jazzed up the pad.