Getting warmer....

Hello everyone!

First off, I have to say that we had our first taste of sun and warmth this week!  Wahoo!!!!  It made me so happy to think that we are turning the corner of winter away from the cold and into the warm.  I'm pretty excited.

This week we were able to do a lot of coordinating and working with the ward and members.  We put on a quick little "Day in the life of a missionary" skit for a stake Primary activity, helped with a missionary prep Mutual for the priests in one ward, got to meet with leaders in the wards, etc., etc.  We had a leadership training last week where the focus was on teaching us how we can "knit ourselves deeper into the fabric of the ward" (Elder Boyd K. Packer) and it's super exciting to be able to apply that!

Another fun experience was teaching a 10-year old investigator.  We talked a bunch about families, and wow did I remember how much I love my own family!!!!  Family is the best thing on the face of the earth!  I'm so grateful for all of you and how you support me.  Anyways, I really like teaching kids like Cody because you can just make it super fun and exciting.  Haha, I mean to say you really have to keep it fun and exciting to keep them interested, and the side-effect of that is that I have a lot of fun and excitement teaching!  :P  

We also had another baptism in my last area!!! Wahoo!!! Jasmine, a 12-year old, got baptized, and I would attach a picture except I forgot to take one. :(  Mostly because I got there a little late ... even though I was the one she asked to baptize her .... haha you live and learn from your mistakes, right?  What was cool about Jasmine was that we had tried to contact her for a while, but it was super sporadic and we really didn't get too far.  I really felt strongly like I needed to get her involved with the Young Women, and it took a few tries and a few weeks before we were successful, but we finally introduced her to a girl from the ward that lived down the street and that made the difference!  She started coming to Mutual and church, and then my old companion was able to keep teaching her.  Just a testimony to me of working with members of the ward in missionary work!

Now time for my spiritual rantings and ravings.  Man, it's incredible how much you can learn from life.  And how much of that learning is nothing more than learning the same things over.... and over. .... and over .... and ... haha my story is in order:

I was really thinking about who the Lord wanted me to be, what kind of missionary He wants me to be, how He wants me to act, etc., etc.  I decided to pray about that this week since I really wanted answers and it seemed like I hadn't found much in the past.  So I did just that - prayed, thought, and studied.  I remember having such thoughts during the week like "If I can just get the answer of who I need to be, I can move forward with such determination and conviction!"

Enter Sunday.  Revelation does come at church, by the way. :)  I did get my answer, but it was much different than I thought.  As usual, right?  What the Lord taught me (again...) is that this life is meant to be an experience of working and struggling to find out what I should do and who I should be!  He's not going to give me all the answers right away because he's not trying to make me into an awesome puppet, he's trying to build my character step by step.  Basically, he told me to just keep going and trying, and that I would learn little by little who I need to be.  There is a really great talk by Elder Scott in this month's Ensign about character building in his article "Living a Life of Peace, Joy, and Purpose."  So many amazing points.  Anyways, any of you who know me probably can see how this is the same thing that I've learned before coming up again, but hey, I guess I just needed the reminder!

Awright, time to go.  We're going hiking today, so wahoo!  And it snowed this morning, so we'll build snowmen at the top!  Yay!

Men are that they might have joy.  Go find some joy today, eh? =D

--Elder Usevitch

The Inversion still looms....

Hello everyone!

The weather here has been cloudy and gloomy for a while now.  One of these days the inversion will clear, but as far as today, the sky is ... gray.  Like it was yesterday.  And the day before.  And the day before.

The highlight of the week was another baptism in my last area!  With one on the way for next week as well!  Wahoo!  I'll attach a picture at the end, but let me take some time and tell you about Dan.

Dan is a man who ... well I have to say I kinda agreed with one of the missionaries who bore his testimony at the baptism.  In his words, he said that the first time he met Dan, he thought he was crazy.  I have the liberty to say that in an email because Dan laughs and agrees with us when we talk about it.  All the first part of teaching him, I thought that we were not getting anywhere with him, and going over wasn't really worth it.  Haha oh impatient me.... how foolish I was.  But in the moment, when all he did was argue and you couldn't get in a single word edgewise and really there weren't any answers to the questions he brought up, it was hard to see anything happened.

I started to change, however, the longer I met with him.  I learned more of where he was coming from and who he was.  This was a man who was born in the middle of tribulation.  He has gone through more than anyone I know to this day.  As I started to understand this, I was blown away at how far he has already come.  I remember one night that he drove us home and opened up to us more than he had before, and I was humbled at what he was going through.  It was at that point that I realized that Dan was a man to look up to, no matter what anyone else thought or said.

After that experience, my love for Dan just grew more and more.  I was also able to see him change little by little, which brought me such great joy!  I knew then that I just needed to be patient, and I would see great things come to pass.  And they did!  He is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and that is a great miracle.  He has made a complete 180 with his life, and I know that he will continue on the path of following Christ.  I have learned so much from him, and we have shared some crazy times together.  We were laughing about a bunch of those at the baptism.  Memories I won't forget!

From Dan, I learned what it means to be a father - he would do anything for his son.  I learned what it means to serve others - he sacrifices so much to help other people!  I learned what it means to always be welcoming and hospitable, even when you don't necessarily like or agree with other people. ;)  Most of all, I learned what it means to stick up for what you believe in and to always be a defender of the faith at all costs.

There's the mission fur ya!  You learn, others learn, you help, others help, and the world is a better place because of it.  We are all together doing the Lord's work and bringing His gospel to the world, and boy is it work!  And boy is it hard!  And wow is it rewarding, even when we fail to recognize the blessings that come.  I love it, and I'm learning to love it more and more as the days go on.

Thanks for all your help and prayers!  I love you!

--Elder Usevitch

P.S.  I have found a scripture that describes me perfectly.  Please take the time to set up a camera and have someone record you reading it.  Then compile all the responses and put them on a DVD that I can watch later. :)  It's Isaiah 28:20.

As the Dews from Heaven

Dear family and friends,

And so the new transfer begins!  Turns out that one of the wards we covered was given to a brand new companionship in the stake, and we picked up a ward that some other sisters had been covering, so we still have two wards but now we start the process of getting to know people and names again.  Hooray!  With all the new missionaries and stuff, we had a bunch of coordinating and getting supplies and calls and texts and stuff to handle, but it all worked out and we are well on our way!  There is a lot of potential in our new ward that we are super excited to tap into, so let the teaching begin!

Also, random comment, we had dinner with a family where the wife served a mission in Poland.  I showed her our Polish spelling of our name, Jusiewicz, and she said that it's pronounced "You-shu-vitch", so our Anglicized Usevitch spelling is actually pretty good.  Apparently 'J' makes the 'y' sound, and 'si' is the 'sh' sound, so that was super cool to hear.  She might actually be able to get in contact with a family history center in Poland so hmm..... We'll see.  It would be cool to figure out some more of our ancestry there!

One of my favorite teaching experiences of the week was with one family where the wife is LDS and the husband is not.  We had met with them a few times before, but we didn't really know their concerns or thoughts about the gospel.  So we said a prayer before we went in and asked the Lord to help us to be able to find out more of what they were thinking and feeling so we could help them better.  We go into the lesson and about 10 mins in, the lesson basically was laid aside as they opened up and just shared with us about themselves, their past, their desires, etc.  I was blown away!  The Lord heard our prayer and DEFINITELY answered it better than I could have ever imagined!  I am so grateful for that!

Shorter letter today, but I have to share that I can testify that revelation is real!  This week I had so much come to me, it was insane.  I always like to write down the things that come, but I found myself this week so overloaded with ideas that I haven't gotten them all fully down.  I just have notes here and there and hopefully I will get time to record them here soon.  The Lord has been so kind to send all this my way, and I am excited to take this and go out and fail in applying it.  Er, rather I am excited to go out and do my best to apply it with the knowledge that I will most likely not succeed perfectly but I will still learn and grow more from the experience!  Simple changes of perspective and attitude do so much, right? ;)

Anyways, sometimes I wish I had more time to share, but I will leave you to ponder for yourself the quote that started a bunch of my thoughts.  It's from Elder Dube of the Seventy - "In the sight of the Lord, it is not so much what we have done or where we have been but much more where we are willing to go."  So to tickle your fancy, here's something that I thought of from this - It is ok to love someone for who they were yesterday, it is better to love them for who they are today, but it is best to love them for who they may become and treat them right now as if they already were.  That is how God does it.  That is how He views us!  That explains so much of how He can act the way He does towards all His children.

Love you all!  Have a great week.  I'll be praying for you.

--Elder Usevitch

For the next 6 weeks...

I will be staying in the same area with Elder Lehmuller!  Woot woot!  It will be good to carry on the work that we have been doing for the past while.  We are getting 25 new missionaries tomorrow, creating 11 areas, and the total number of missionaries will now be 194.  As far as the zone goes, we are getting two new areas and splitting one of the districts to have 3 districts now, covering 2 stakes - Boise Central and Boise West.  Cray-zay!

Now that that's over, Hello everyone!  How's it going? :)

This week went pretty well!  The whole mission is still in kinda upheaval with so many missionaries coming and areas splitting and others moving and etc, etc.  Building time!  It's good to see so many missionaries coming in and moving the work forward.  On we go to victory with saturating the Boise area with missionaries!  It's kinda funny to go to Wal-mart and see probably 8 or more companionships all shopping at the same time.  Probably more.  We passed someone last week and heard them say "Holy cow, they're taking over the store!"  Watch out, world!  The gospel's coming through!

We got some new people to start teaching, hooray!  Just about everyone we are teaching are in some sort of a part-member family, and everyone has had some interaction with the church at some point.  It's fun to be able to teach them all and show them how this gospel will really bless their lives!  Sometimes it is hard to not just yell out to the world "Why don't you understand?? This is so awesome, and if you will just try it out, it will change your life forever!"  Patience is a huge key, and I am definitely learning more of it. :)

Cool miracle of the week came when we went to go see one guy Ken that we had talked to before, but he wasn't there.  I really didn't know what to do next, and our list of ideas of what to do was dwindling, but we decided to go walk up the street to contact another family.  They weren't home either, but we saw Ken drive by as we were going, and then as we went back, I realized that there were people outside of another family's house that we had tried a bunch of times before to go by with no success.  So we got to meet them, and we have an appointment to go back next week.  And we got to talk to Ken.  Super cool!  It's amazing how the Lord can make good things happen out of our meager efforts to do good.

The lesson for me this week was on attitude.  We gave the lesson in gospel principles about work, and one of the points was that we need to have a good attitude towards the work we have to do.  The whole lesson was a good reminder to me that yes, work is hard, and yes, there are going to be times that are just terrible and everything goes wrong, but even so I need to have a good attitude towards the work we do. 

This morning I thought about Adam, who was cast out of the amazing garden of Eden to have to work hard to grow his own food.  I bet there were times when he got down and depressed, times that he just hated doing so much work and seeing such little success, and times when he thought that if he had just done something differently, he could have stayed in the garden.  However, when he was taught about the gospel and the plan of salvation, that perspective caused him to cry, "Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy." (Moses 5:10)  We can find joy, too!  And the hard times, the times of trial, the times we make mistakes can all be used to help us to find more joy, IF we choose to let them do so.  That IF is the hard part.  So, I will definitely be working on how I can improve my attitude this week.  Super hard, but super worth it.

Quote of the week before I go:  "You can act your way into a new way of thinking faster than you can think your way into a new way of acting."   Don't know who said it, but I love it.

Love you all!  Have a fantastic week!

--Elder Usevitch

Happy New Year!!!

2014!!!!! Crazy!!!!

I just realized a few days ago that it really is 2014, and that just blows my mind.  Has it been that long?  Am I really that old? :P

It was kind of a slower week as far as missionary work goes, but rich in spiritual growth and learning.  I am excited to be working on some great goals for this year to help myself improve!  I love times like this where you can re-evaluate and recommit to what you are working towards.

The first amazing experience for the week was going on exchanges with Elder Nelson, my former trainer and now AP.  That man is a rock star for sure!  Such a diligent missionary and I was blown away again by his example of talking to everyone, teaching, finding, planning, etc.  He is such a hard worker.  We had a great time New Year's Eve together - we had to be in an hour early, so that gave us some more time to do a few more things and just talk and catch up.  Then the next day we went out to their area around BSU and downtown and talked to a bunch of people.  Super fun!

Then, I had another exchange later on in the week with Elder Williams, another great missionary from Mississippi.  He is such a happy person, and it really lifted my spirits so much!  I was impressed with how positive and loving he was towards everyone.  Just a blast. 

The next day I was reading Pres. Uchtdorf's conference talk from Priesthood session.  He talks about a time skiing when he fell down and couldn't get up by himself.  His grandson came over, took his hand, and said "Opa, you can do it now!" upon which, all of a sudden, he stood.  He then says:

"Brethren, there may be times in our lives when rising up and continuing on may seem beyond our own ability. That day on a snow-covered slope, I learned something. Even when we think we cannot rise up, there is still hope. And sometimes we just need someone to look us in the eyes, take our hand, and say, “You can do it now!”

All I can say is that I can testify of that principle.  I got my own taste of a "You can do it now!" this week!  I am so grateful for good examples and friends around me who can lift me when I am down and help me continue on my way.

What an opportunity this is to be able to serve a mission for the Lord!  I am so grateful for this experience, and I am trying to remember what a blessing it is more and more every day.  I love being able to teach others about the gospel of Jesus Christ!  I love being able to see them make changes in their lives!  I love seeing the joy that it gives them.  I know that this is Christ's church, and that He is at its head!  I know that we have prophets and apostles on the earth today, and I am so grateful for their guidance and leadership!  I know of the power of the Atonement in helping us change and become better.  It's a long process, a hard process, but so worth it.  I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and more than that, I know He loves each and every one of you.  What an empowering thing to feel!  He knows us, cares about us, and loves us every minute of every day of our lives.  It's a blessing to be able to be conveying that message to the world.

Have a FANTASTIC week!

--Elder Usevitch

PS.  The picture depicts a "Day in the life of an Idaho Boise Missionary."  We go into this discount bread shop to get some stuff.  First off, it's cheaper than normal, second, we find out that if we spend $10, we get a free item.  So we get a bunch of bread, go to the checkout, and an employee hands us two more loaves of gingerbread bread, no charge.  Then we find out that the lady in front of us paid $10 for our purchase.  And we get a free item for having a purchase over $10.  All in all, all that bread cost us .... $2.43.  Tender mercies. :)