Elder Mason Rankin: January 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

Letter 01/26/2015

Hey y'all!

What a great week, hope y'all had a wonderful week as well!

I started the week with P-day and it was super fun because the sister's wanted to play tennis so I finally got to show off my tennis skills! Ha Ha everyone was surprised how good I was! I beat everyone, but we all had a good time.

Wednesday we headed up to the AP's to go on exchanges with them and also pick up my new son the next day. They are pretty sweet elder's, they really know how to missionary. That next morning we woke up early and went to get my son! I walked in and he just laughed for a good 2 minutes, I told him to say something, his first words to me were "My daddy big!" hahaha he so awesome, I love him! He is a rugby player and has a position on the All Black's junior team when he gets home from his mission. He has a broken nose from rugby and it causes him to snore so loud! Louder then dad :) I taught him how to make a grilled ham & cheese and he loved it! I also made BBQ chicken the other night and he loved it a lot. We were walking home and we passed a Wendy's, so obviously I had to take him in to get his first chocolate frosty ever! He loved it so much! I taught him how to say "holla", "legit" and he is teaching me fijian. I've got a little bit down, not much though! I would love to become fluent in it.

We have been tracting a lot trying to find people, but the other day while we were tracting I saw a wallet fall of the back of a car as it pulled around a corner so we went and picked it up and I found out where the owner lived. We went and returned it and they were so happy to see us! They were so happy to get their wallet back and we even got to share a short message with them. They happily took a Book of Mormon, committed to read and we will go back and check how they liked it. The Lord provides. Never would've met them if it wasn't for that wallet.

So one thing I have been working on is talking to everyone, so the other day in USM. I was able to teach a young man named Zac. He was sitting right behind Elder Lesuma and I and before we left we started talking and I was able to get his number, teach him a little and share a scripture with him and he even prayed with us in the middle of the library. Got some weird looks but, a great experience. Talking to everyone is going good, you never know who is looking for the gospel and just needs someone to tell them about it.

We found Lamar!!!!! He has been so busy the last forever but we finally caught him at his mother's house and he told us he wants to come back to church and also wants us to teach him again. I really hope we can get in contact with him this week! He realized we truly did love him and when he saw that we had been worried about him and thinking about him, he desired to come back.

Alright so all of yesterday was so good!! Sacrament meeting had some great talks, Sis Asay and Sis Huston (Boise girl) spoke in church and had some great talks. Sis Giddin's also sang, she killed it! She sounds like Gladys Knight and it always brings the spirit into any room. After that we had a great class where we learned about Our Heavenly Father. When we understand our Heavenly Father and who he is, we understand who we must become. Elder's Quorum was good as well because we talked about personal revelation. It was really good because a lot of the Elders in our ward are young married men and they talked about a lot of decisions they had to make in the past couple years where they need to ask god what to do. Decisions that I will have to make in the years to come. Then that night we went to a youth fireside that was about missionary work and it was wonderful. It rekindled my fire to work with all my heart, might, mind and strength. Seeing the youth, I remember when I was sitting in their seat, and looking how far I have come. I am so thankful I have come on a mission, I have grown so much because of it.

I had a wonderful week and a lot of good experiences. I am so excited to train Elder Lesuma, he is a great Elder and I look forward to all the experiences we will have in the future together. We are going to help so many people here in Hattiesburg and touch the lives of many. He told me I have to come visit him in Fiji after the mission! That would be so fun! I pray y'all have a good week this next week. I am doing great, I miss and love y'all. Have a blessed day!

Keep on smiling!

Elder Mason Rankin

Pictures from 1/26/2015

Lesuma and Me

silly one.

Lamar and Elder Franklin

Studying

loving Ramon noodles

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Pictures from 1/20/2015

Buffalo wild wings

New Haircut

Sister Huston (went to Centennial High in Boise,ID)

Sister Huston

Sister Huston and I

Sister Giddins and I

01/20/215

Hey y'all!

I've got lots of exciting stuff to share! This has been a good week!

So last week, Elder Adams went home to deal with some family stuff. So I became a trio with Elder Burningham and Franklin. We also got a new 2015 Toyota Corolla because we had the oldest car in the mission and it was time for them to sell it. Before Elder Adams left, we had to go to Buffalo Wild Wings last Monday night to do the Blazin challenge with him! Those are some hot wings, I was sweating after one! But I finished it, it was fun!

Last Friday we had a great dinner with the Whipple family! I love them so much! We had tacos and rice and beans. I shared the Armour of God lesson with them. Little Wes loved the little lego man and it went really well! He is seriously the cutest kid ever. It melted my heart when he gave me a hug before I left! He doesn't know any of the other Elder's names either so it's so cute when he says "bye Rankin!"

Saturday we were able to see Morris and chat with him and it was great to finally get in contact with him! He moved so he lives in 2 different places but now we have a schedule to be able to meet with him. He is just super chill and still really interested in us meeting with him, he just was busy right then. So hopefully we can meet with him again this upcoming week!

That night we had dinner at the Bremnar's house. Another awesome young, poor college couple. They were really funny to chat with and they even gave us Blue Bell Ice Cream. It is so good! For some reason I haven't heard of it since I have come here. It seems like it is the popular brand here. We shared a message on faith with them and really got to know them better. They also might have a few referrals for us, so that will be good!

Sundays are always so good! We had a great day at church and then we visited a few less-actives! We visited Aron, a less-active that we met in Wal-mart that wanted to become re-active. So we taught him the plan of salvation and it really went smoothly. You'd think that a trio would be hard but it actually went really well! Then we went to Sis Reedy's house and chatted with here. She is in pretty bad shape and can't leave the house but always has tons of grand-children there that love to listen to us. They looked at us weird at first because we are all tall white guys but by the end we had them smiling and laughing! Always a good feeling!

Yesterday was the wild day! We had interviews early that morning, I always love talking to President. He helps us all so much and does so much for this mission! Always a good time with him :) I'm one of the few Elder's that is taller then him so he always points that out and gives me the biggest hugs ever! It was also Franklin's first time teach District meeting, it went pretty well. We went to five guys for lunch, it brought me back to the one in Idaho! That night we went to this young couple's house for fhe and dinner. They are new in the ward and I asked them Sunday if we could come over for fhe and they were all for it and they even fed us pork chops and rice! Super cool and cute couple and they loved us! They thought I was pretty funny!

So last night I got a call from President at like 10 last night right before bed and he told me some interesting news... I am getting a son (when you train someone you call them your son)!! I don't know what his name is, all I know is he is coming here Wednesday and we are driving up to Jackson to pick him up and I know he is from Fiji! I can't wait to have this opportunity to train and help this young man! I am honestly so excited! Franklin will be going to Hattiesburg West with Elder Burningham and I will stay in Hattiesburg East area training!

It's been a fantastic journey so far and I can't wait to continue to progress as a missionary and help another elder become a great missionary as well! I hope everything with y'all at home is good and I want you to know that y'all are always in my prayers! Have a great week, I can't wait to tell y'all how this week goes! I miss and love y'all!

Keep on smiling! :)

-Elder Mason Rankin

Monday, January 12, 2015

Pictures 01/12/2015

Selfie

Mtn. Dew Castle

Corbin and Missionaries

Week 01/12/2015

Hey y'all!

This last week was an interesting but not a bad week at all! Earlier on in the week we had an exchange so I was with Elder Burningham for a whole day. Burningham and I have so much fun together! We started out the morning by doing service for one of their investigators named John Frisk. He was a really nice guy and really funny! Just like Grandpa pretty much. We raked some leaves and picked up some stuff and then he took us out to lunch. Five Guys Burger's and Fries! I like going there a lot because it takes me back to the one in Idaho that I always went to, plus all the fresh cut fries come from farms in Idaho :) Later on that day we did some tracting and visited a less-active named Aaron. They had run into him at Wal-mart, he wanted to come back to church and wanted the missionaries to teach him. Really funny college kid, but one of the greatest lessons I have ever taught. The spirit was so strong, it helped that I was in a companionship that didn't have any contention. Plus he committed to reading the Book of Mormon and hasn't read it in like 5 years! Later on that day we went over to the Hinton's and taught a lesson in their home. Another powerful lesson about faith, and the trials of our faith. We were able to come into a home that already had a good spirit and then make it even more powerful, leaving that family with good feelings and a smile. Definitely was a successful day!

Later on in the week we helped in a funeral for this older lady in our ward. She also has a daughter in our ward and 2 grandsons. The funeral lunch and viewing of the casket was at our building so of course we got volunteered to help set up and clean it all up. There were over 200 in the chapel and it was the first time in forever that we needed to open the overflow and set-up chairs. Then after they had the lunch and we had to come back and set up even more tables then we had up before because more people showed up for the lunch then expected. I thought we were going to run out of food, but no. People just kept showing up with more and more food and putting it on the table and of course everyone stacked their plate high. People were just bringing in 12 packs of soda in and setting them on the table because we ran out of drinks. Then this lady came in with 200 pieces of fried chicken and all this other beans and rice and noodles and stuff! Some of the best fried chicken I have ever eaten! It was such a great experience and site to see. We got to chat with tons of people and set up a lot of appointments to come and teach them! I met a ton of cool people and loved talking to each of them. We even saw one of our investigators, kia, that we haven't been able to get in contact with. She told us that they moved so we got the new address and get to go see her again! Afterwards the family helped clean up and this little girl named Nika was helping me with every chair and table. It was so cute because she just kept following me around and was attached to me. She wasn't even as tall as my leg, she had braids with beads in them and when she ran, the beads would make a noise. Seriously one of the cutest little girls ever and then when she had to leave with her family she came and said good-bye to me! So cute!!

Yesterday was also a highlight to my week. Mercedes Star, a young woman in our ward, came up to me in church and asked if I would give a blessing to her boyfriends grandfather. They aren't members so it was an awesome time to give them an opportunity to feel the spirit and see the priesthood work right in front of them. One of the greatest blessings I have ever given! The spirit instantly entered the room and allowed me to say everything that came to my heart that this man needed to hear. After I finished, Mercedes was crying, her boyfriend was watering up and I just felt so full of the spirit. This young man had felt the spirit and I knew he was feeling it then. We are going to try and talk to Mercedes and see him again because she said he is interested in learning more about our church. Such a wonderful experience, I won't forgot it. Definitely a testimony builder to the priesthood and the power of the spirit.

After the blessing, we went to the Sieverts house for dinner. We had breakfast dinner and a wonderful time with them. It's just Sis Sievert and her son Corbin so they enjoyed the company. Corbin is 17 and is heading to YCA (some military thing) so we needed to have one more dinner with him before we left! For some reason he really loves me a lot. He always wants to talk to me and tell me about all the different girlfriends he has. He is pretty funny :) I gave the spiritual thought, and I felt that he really needed it. I taught about the armor of god and even got to use the little lego man that Dad gave me for Christmas! He loved it and wants one just like it for his mission. Just a wonderful opportunity to be in their home and bring the spirit even stronger there.

Looking forward to another week here in Hattiesburg. I have come to appreciate it a lot. I have found out over the past couple weeks that it is the place to be. Every missionary wants to be here and I am in the center of it! Thank you for all the support and the wonderful letters y'all send me. A letter in the mission has the worth of gold, because it means someone is thinking about you and they haven't forgotten about you :) I hope y'all are enjoying the weather and enjoying life wherever you may be! The weather here goes hot, humid, freezing cold and then back again. I'm still loving the mission so much even though I miss y'all so much. Find the joy in the journey. Love y'all, have a great week!

Keep on smiling!

Love,

Elder Rankin :)

Monday, January 5, 2015

Pictures- 01/05/2015

New Calgary Flames Shirt from my Canadian family!

01/05/2015

Hey y'all,

This last week was a pretty good one. Our new district is pretty awesome and I am really excited for this New Year. What are your New Years resolution? A couple of mine are to do my best everyday as a missionary and just come closer to my savior, grow my relationship with him. Do you have a relationship with the Savior? I am going to start reading Jesus the Christ finally, so I am excited for that!

So instead of telling about my whole week I will just tell a few of my highlights.

The other day we met this guy named Ivan. Ivan is an older black man that has lived in the worst parts of Chicago, Detroit and LA. He moved back here to Mississippi because he was done with all the crime that was always around him. His last neighborhood had such bad crime that the police wouldn't come inside. He has been shot in a drive-by before, he has been shot 3 times, one bullet they couldn't remove so he still has it. He has been stabbed multiple times in the side and even has a big scar on his head. But this mans faith is so strong. We were able to chat with him about Jesus Christ and the effect he has on each of our lives. This man certainly has had some trials but now all he wants to do is serve his savior. He plans on coming to church with us sometimes and also said he would read the Book of Mormon without us even asking him to. So we will see how that goes! One of my favorite lesson, I can definitely tell that I am getting better and becoming more comfortable with teaching every one of our Heavenly Fathers children. I love it!

New Years was pretty dang fun, we played lots of board games with the other elders, popped some sparkling cider and counted down to the new year. I didn't know what to expect with our new District Leader, Elder Adams, but he isn't bad. He is a pretty cool guy. He is from Utah and plays football, and is just a good kid. Sister Beames also left so now Sis Huston is in my District. Sis Huston is from Boise, ID!! Isn't that cool? She rode on the plane with me and knows a lot of the same people as me. She attended Centennial High School and graduated 2 years ago. She attended BYU for a year and then decided to serve a mission. I will have to get a picture for you momma so you can see what she looks like!

The other highlight of my week was just yesterday. Elder Franklin and I got to teach the young men and it went pretty fun. They got to be investigators and they really threw some curve balls at us and challenged us. They had a good time and so did I. They aren't very many young men so we really can get to know each and every one of them. The leaders are also pretty chill, Bro Britt and Bro Asay. They like me a lot and hope that I stay in the ward for awhile! The other part of the day that was fun was we met a Methodist Pastor and we got to talk about the Book of Mormon and help him understand more about LDS people. He took a Book of Mormon and said he would read it. He also gave us translation of the New Testament that his people use. It was pretty cool to look at, they really take a lot out of the New Testament but it was a good experience to meet him and his wife. They invited us right in and gave us water and just good company. Really nice people and a beautiful home. It was a good experience.

Thank you to everyone for the support that you give to me. I seem to always be lifted right back up off my feet even on the days that I just want to collapse and fall asleep. I appreciate everything that y'all do. I also loved the Calgary Flames shirt that Aunt Audrey got me! I put it right on that night to wear. I love it!! Well I hope y'all have a great week, a great New Year and I want to hear some of y'all's goals this year! Keep on smiling! I love and miss y'all!

Love,

Elder Mason Rankin