Letter 3/30/2015

Week one of Stonewall has been so great! I love it here and I love this work.

So I got all settled in this last week and we started off strong. Thursday we got a few new investigators. Stonewall is way nicer than East Hattiesburg, so it felt kind of different but it was good. We tracted into a few people and taught them a little bit about the Book of Mormon. One lady specifically was an older lady name Brooks. She had a son that died a few years ago and didn't know if she ever would see him again. I shared my testimony about the Plan of Salvation and invited her to read a pamphlet about the Plan. She promised to read it and we are gonna follow-up with her and see how she feels about it. Later that night, we went on splits with Bro Larsen. A nice, young guy from Utah. He is an optometrist and is a super great guy. We went to see a few people on his home teaching. Some of the people on his route hadn't been taught in forever, so hopefully they hadn't moved. We came to one and yep, they had moved. We offered to come in and share a message with them though, and they accepted. They also accepted to read the Book of Mormon and have us come back again, hopefully it goes well when we follow-up!

Friday was interviews alll day! We didn't leave the Shreveport building until after 9 that night. It was good to talk with President though. He does so much for us and truly is a blessing. You can't find a better mission president! He is great, I am going to be sad when he leaves in July :(

Satruday we taught our investigator with a baptismal date. He has a lot of things to work through before he gets baptized but he has the desire to get baptized still and knows that he can make it. We showed up and Elder Meyer already knew that he had relapsed... Yep he fell back into his old ways, but he remember the repentance process and was starting it again. He truly understood what he did wrong and wanted to change. We taught him about Plan of Salvation and recommitted him. I pray that he can get over his struggles and work towards baptism. We also got to teach our recent convert, Landon. Elder Meyer baptized him a few weeks before I got here. Super nice guy, 15 and full of the spirit. We taught him about the priesthood and helped him understand the breakdown of priesthood leadership. It was a great lesson and great day!

Now to Sunday! What a fabulous day! We woke up early to head to Ward council. We got picked up by Bro. Culpepper. He is a retired fireman and super southern and funny! At ward council I met a few people. Bishop Kabaland, he is a retired army guy and super motivated and willing to help us in missionary work. Bro Adams, our Ward mission leader is on top of it. He is a great guy and he even lived in Boise for a few years. He loves it there and even has some Boise State stuff! Sis Bibbit, she is like the grandma of the missionaries I guess! She was super nice, and she even gave me this book that her brother wrote about Moroni and Mormon. Pretty cool! Before Sacrament meeting I met a lot of people, I can't remember all of them but they were all so nice to me and I made sure to say hi to everyone :) I got up and bore my testimony and introduced myself to everyone as well. It was a great testimony meeting, full of the spirit. 

After church we went over to the Elliot's house for dinner. They are a super nice family, and they seemed to like me. Bro Elliot and I were laughing and getting along pretty well. They are both from around here and are sweet people. There younger daughter, Sariah, loved my magic tricks. She is 6 years old and she had to show me how she learned to ride her bike! Such a cute little girl! And then they have a younger son that loves to run around and have fun outside. Speaking of outside, it was super hot and tons of bugs are coming out now. You should see the size of some of these bugs! Crazy!

Last night we went over to help Bro Glass move some things out of his house. The back of his house caught on fire and they are rebuilding and painting everything. So we helped him get some clothes out and other things. He is a middle aged guy and super funny! We had some fun joking around with each other :) 

I am so excited to serve here in Stonewall, serve with Elder Meyer and I am also excited for General Conference. The ward is so great already, they made me so welcome and felt truly loved! Easter is also coming up, I hope we are all preparing ourselves to be spiritually fed as we listen to our Prophet and Apostles. It is a blessing to have them today and have the fullness of the everlasting gospel. The church is true! Thanks for all the support, prayers and love. I am truly blessed! Thanks y'all, have a blessed day! 

Love,

Elder Mason Rankin :)

Pictures 3/30/2015

Elder Meyers and I

Living room

Kitchen

Bedroom

My 2nd city!

I am transferring to a new city! I will let you know my address as soon as possible.

I will be in Stonewall, Louisiana, It is a small town south of Shreveport, Louisiana

Address Update:
Elder Mason Rankin
9137 Mansfield Rd. Apt. 44
Shreveport, LA 71119

Letter 3/23/2015

Hey y'all,

What a crazy, fun, exciting and hardworking week! It was good end to my time in Hattiesburg :)

Monday we had Zone P-day. We got together and play little games against other districts to see which district was the champions! Our district did pretty, overall it was a fun time seeing everyone. I even got a little medal because I won one of the events. That night we went over to the Brock's home for some delicious Pork Ribs!! Mmm mmm! Afterwards, we went out with Bro. Brock to see one of his families. This man we met with hasn't let him in for years, that night... We got in and gave him a great spiritual thought! :) Miracles and blessings!

Tuesday we went out again with Bro Brock and saw the rest of his families and some of our investigators. We really were trying to focus on inviting everyone to see Elder David A Bednar. We made it to like 7 different people and either gave them a spiritual thought or a whole lesson! That night we had correlation and I got my first hint that I might be leaving Hattiesburg. President Humphrey's, from the mission presidency, came to our correlation meeting to evaluate how our meetings were going and the missionaries. He told us after that he was very impressed with our ward of missionaries. I guess a lot of missionaries are slacking lately and he was very happy to see us working hard. Then, he expressed to us that they might close one of the Hattiesburg Elders area and combine them into one. Still, I wasn't sure that I was leaving but it could happen!

Wednesday Bro Brock went out with us again. Truly a blessing to us. Bro. Brock helps us out so much! We invited Gary Gordon, a few more of our investigators and we actually got in the door of a way less-active family in our ward! They are named the Arroyo family. It was great to talk to them because they are a part member family. The husband is a member but isn't too interested and his wife isn't a member. They actually seemed way interested and loved the simple message that we left with them. She could get baptized in the future. They even said that they wanted us to come over for dinner soon!

Thursday was full of just service from that morning to night. We helped the sieverts family a lot. Burningham and Lesuma helped paint the inside of the house, while Corbin and I went outside and did some yard work. It was a beautiful day, I got a little sunburnt even :)

Friday we had Bishop Storehouse early that morning. Little did I know that it was my last time. One of the ladies there, from the Purvis ward, asked if we could come set up some tents for her in the Hattiesburg Zoo. Her Girl scouts and some other troops were spending the night there for a little even thing. We of course said yes, and even got to walk around the zoo. It is a small zoo, but it was cool to see all the animals! The alligator was sooooo cool! I then got the call from President.. "Elder Rankin.. you are heading to stonewall. LA." It is bittersweet to leave Hattiiesburg but I am excited to head out :)

Saturday and Sunday were spiritual highs!! Saturday we got to go to the Priesthood session that was in the afternoon. We were so close to Elder David A Bednar! During the session, he didn't give a talk though. He asked that we ask him questions and he would answer them. It was crazy how I would think of a question, and even though he didn't specifically answer it. The Holy Ghost helped me know the answer for myself. Even the Saturday night session. He is such a great man! The spirit and happiness he brings is amazing. I know with my whole heart that he an apostle of the lord. He only opened his scriptures once, but the rest of time he just quoted them from memory. Truly amazing!

Sunday we got the new stake presidency.. Bishop Holm is now President Holm! After only serving as a bishop for a little over a year, he is now the stake president. What a great man. Elder Bednar gave a great talk and taught us a lot. Over the whole weekend, he came back to something over and over again. Are we agents or are we objects? Something that acts for ourselves or something that needs to be acted upon? We know how each of us can better ourselves, but it is upon ourselves to act. Through the strength of our savior, we can do things that no ordinary man could do by himself. Last night I had my last dinner with the Hinton's. I am going to be sad not to see them but I am truly grateful for them. They were my family/ my home away from home. We also got to see Gary Gordon. We had a great lesson with him! We answered all of his questions and helped him continue to progress. I pray that he gets baptized soon and learns the truth about the Book of Mormon.

Yes, I am leaving Hattiesburg! I am sad to say goodbye to Elder Lesuma, my new companion will be Elder Myers. He has been out for a while. I am excited to meet him and I am excited to serve in Stonewall. I have heard lots of good things. I just hate packing, I don't realize how much stuff I have and how little room I have ;) hahaha! I head out early tomorrow morning and probably won't get there until late. At least I get to see a lot of Elder's and Sister's that I know while passing through T-point. Hattiesburg will always be home though, I truly loved serving here and getting to know the people here. I have come a long way in only 6 months, my testimony continues to grow and my light is getting brighter and brighter. I pray that each of us strive to shine our own "Light" and continue forward in faith. The church is true, and I love y'all so much! Have a great week y'all!

Love,

Elder Mason Rankin :)

Pictures 3/23/2015

Only in the south!

Glad we were at a safe distance.

Flamingos

University of Southern Mississippi

Eagles!

My home away from home!

The Hinton family will be missed!

I will miss the weekly lunch at the Pastry Garden and good people there!

Letter 3/16/2015

Hey y'all!

This last week has been fun and hard work! I will try to hit as many of my highlights as possible :)

So last Monday I talked about how we got to give our investigator, Gary Gordon, a priesthood blessing. Well late Monday night, I get a call from Gary and he is so happy on the other line. He wasn't even supposed to be released until Wednesday and was at home, still not fully recovered but feeling so much better. He said that as soon as we gave him the blessing he started feeling better. He started bearing his testimony over the phone knowing that we represent the lord, that Jesus is real and God knows him personally. I responded with my testimony and "Gary, I think the lord is telling you something." Gary has been investigating the church for 3 years now but never gotten close to baptism. He is still stuck on his old church. Hopefully this experience helps him know that we truly have the restored priesthood and Gary even responded to me saying, "Yes, Elder Rankin, I think he is too."

Tuesday was Zone Conference! Another fabulous time together as a zone, being spiritually fed. We practiced a few different teaching situations, talked a lot on the blessings of being obedient and the power of have the spirit with us. President related sin and disobedience to a shot of anesthetic. A few drops of it can numb your whole arm. Someone could literally cut off your arm and you would still be smiling and wouldn't even know. That relates to us when we aren't keeping the commandments. Over time, we may not even realize the effect disobedience gives. One day we will realize it and a chunk of us will be missing. We also won the cleanest car award so that was pretty sweet! It was great to feel the spirit through the whole day and enjoy the time we had together. 

Wednesday we took one of the youth out with us and went tracting. We were having no luck for about an hour. We came across a house and an older lady walked out to her garbage can to dump some trash. Elder Lesuma had passed their house and just kept on walking. I was about to pass as well seeing that she looked busy, but I stopped immediately in my tracks and asked her if we could share a message with her. She invited us in where we met her husband and a couple of their grandchildren. I went around and introduced myself and went up to one of the grandchildren and asked "What is your name little man?" He said "Little man." Jokingly I played along. I thought he was joking with me but later I found out that they really nicknamed him "little man!" We taught their family about the Book of Mormon and invited them to read it and pray about it. Talk to everyone, don't pass up any opportunities.

Friday was awesome! We came back to teach that family we taught on Wednesday. They are the Crosby family. They read the chapter we left them with and enjoyed it a lot. "Little man" remembered everything that he read! It was so awesome. He was a smart little kid. He told us about how Jesus came down from heaven to talk to the people. It was pretty awesome and it even got better. We taught them the full Restoration and told them about where the Book of Mormon came from. They really liked it and we plan on teaching them again! Hopefully we can get them to church soon, I know they are kind of stuck on their baptist church. That night we went to Sis Woodard's house! She is great. She fed us krab cakes, and potato wedges and shrimp and gave us lemon meringue pie for dessert! So good! She is always so nice to us, she is my grandma away from home. :)

Sunday was also a highlight for me. We talked a lot about a mighty change of heart and how we can repent to come closer to our Savior. At times, we may think that the call to repentance is chastisement and just mean. But if we truly understand it, we learn that it is an act of love. Prophet's, apostle's, bishop's, mission president's, leaders and even parents. They love us and know the blessing from it. We also learn that a person can have 'clean hands' but still have an 'impure heart'. Through the Atonement of Christ we can fully be cleansed and have a mighty change of heart. As it says in Alma 5:14, "Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" It even talks about it in Mosiah 5:2. Once we have this mighty change in our hearts, we will cease to do evil and strive to do good continually.

What a great week and what great blessings we have received. I pray that we continue to find more and new people to teach. For the worth of souls is great in the sight of God and I really hope we find some new people to help come closer to Christ. Thanks for all your love and support. I know this church is TRUE! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

Elder Mason Rankin :)

Picture 3/16/2015

Ready for St. Patrick's day!

Letter 3/9/2015

Hey y'all!

So this last Tuesday, I got a call from Sis Woodard asking me to give a blessing to one of the Sister's investigators. I guess Sis Woodard had become good friends with this lady and she was suffering from 2 kidney stones and just had gotten done passing one. Elder Lesuma and I went over and gave her a great blessing. We were able to teach her a little bit about the Priesthood and the power that is behind it. The spirit just took over as I began the blessing, so thankful for the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood.

Just and update on our investigator Jeanette. We were supposed to meet this week but she got in contact with us before our appointment and told us that she was too bust right now to meet with us. She doesn't want us to stop teaching her though, just won't be able to teach her for a couple of weeks. I guess she is dealing with some legal stuff with her son. She said she would still read though, so that is good!

Wednesday we went to get a haircut for Lesuma in the deep ghetto. JD, the cook at Pastry Garden, took us to where he gets his haircut. We were able to teach tons of lessons to people. The view of these guys there were way crazy and we were able to clear up things and invite the spirit into somewhere where the spirit probably never is. JD said that the guys there respected us though, one guy was about to roll a blunt but stopped and the other guy said to take that outside. I even got to play some pool with one the guys I taught, it was pretty fun.  They thought I was chill though, they couldn't get over how tall I was. I went outside for a sec to take a phone call and you would never guess what I found... A pile of fried chicken bones! hahaha I love the south :)

Friday we had Bishop Storehouse, it went pretty smoothly because a ton of people showed up! I even got a box of thin mints out of it too. One of the ladies that runs it, knows me pretty well now and said I could have one for free :) score! Later that day, we traveled on bikes to our far south area. We got in contact with one of our less-active which is good! I also got to chat with a few of the kids playing basketball in the street. The oldest one was 22 and the youngest was 13. I asked if they had a minute to listen to a message about Jesus Christ but they didn't want to hear anything. Then, I challenged the oldest one to a game of PIG and said if I won, I got to teach them a lesson. The confident kid, of course said yes. How could a black kid from the ghetto, lose to a white guy from Idaho? Well ladies and gents, I won!! Hahaha they couldn't believe it! So we taught them a short message and promised to come back next week for a rematch :)

Saturday stunk so much... we had so many people planned to go visit and no one answered! Literally no one answered! The only good thing was that we got a really good bike ride in. We biked all over our area and helped Lesuma understand our area better. Oh! I guess we saw one guy that day. It was one of our old investigators, back when Franklin was here. His name is Amigo! He is from Samoa so of course I had to take Lesuma to go see him. He welcomed us right in and I think Lesuma might be able to help him better than Franklin and I could. We will see what happens.

Sunday was good! There weren't very many people that came, but there were some good talks! We also found out that David A Bednar is coming to our stake conference in 2 weeks. I am so excited! He is one of my favorite apostles :) 

Last night we got a call from one of our investigators, Gary Gordon. He has been in the hospital since last Thursday because he got bit by something and his legs were infected and swollen and he couldn't walk. So I offered to come and give him a blessing. So today before emailing, we went over to the hospital and gave him a Priesthood blessing. It went really well and he even expressed to us how much faith he had in our blessing. I hope he recovers soon so we can continue to teach him. He told us he still wanted to hear about the Plan of Salvation.

Overall, it was a good week! I look forward to this next week, we have some good plans ahead of us. Hattiesburg is treating me well, still loving it here. Zone Conference is tomorrow so that should be fun! The weather is starting to get warmer, hopefully it doesn't continue to rain like last week. I hope y'all know Jesus Christ and have a relationship with him. I know I do, and I am blessed. My blessing are endless, I am truly grateful to be serving a mission. We talked to Bishop for like 2 hours yesterday and he gave me some great advice. I know this church is true and I know that God is real, if you want to know for yourself. Simply ask, I know he will answer. His answers may come in many different ways, but it will come. Be ready to listen. Have a great week ya'll, I miss and love y'all so much!

Keep on smiling!

Love,

Elder Mason Rankin :)

Letter 3/2/2015

This was a shorter week because of interviews on Monday and stuff but honestly it was a good, hard-working one.

One thing that we have been working on is taking members out with us to see people and be apart of lessons. It has been pretty hard lately because everyone in our ward is really old and won't go out with us or they are young college couples that are too busy between work and school. So finally I found someone to come out with us. He is a youth in our ward that is preparing to serve a mission. He came out with us, we tracted with him and visited a lot of people. It helped a lot to have his extra testimony and help him fellowship people. We had one particular investigator that is his age, we are going to try and get them together and maybe they will hit it off. Hopefully this week!

Thursday was my favorite day by far. Tons of lesson and lots of people talked with us! My favorite lessons were 2 of our many. Gary Gordon was our first one. Gary is a man that has investigated the church before, will talk with missionaries and stuff but won't keep any commitments. They call him an "eternal investigator." Elder Franklin and I were never able to meet with him because of how busy he was but Elder Lesuma drove by his house and saw him out front. We went to see a potential that lives close to him but he didn't answer so we decided to walk over to Gary. On the way there, I get a call from Gary! Telling us to come over. We talked with him and got him to start reading the Book of Mormon again. Despite the 10 cats he had, luckily my allergies didn't kick in and it didn't seem to bother me too much. He promised me that he would come to church again before I leave Hattiesburg. Gary's wife committed suicide 3 years ago, we gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told him that we would come back next time and talk about it. I think that the plan of salvation could really bless him and help him realize that he can be with his wife forever. At the end of the lesson, he asked me to give him a blessing. As soon as I began, the spirit took over. After the blessing, Gary got up and gave me a hug he said that he could feel it again. The same feeling that the missionaries brought before. The Holy Spirit is amazing!

That night we taught Britney Carr. She has been an investigator for a while and wants to be baptized but has had lots of things standing in the way. She has a divorce she is trying to finalize and she lives in a trailor with her boyfriends dad, a less- active in our ward. We taught her and the family, the Plan of Salvation. The spirit was instantly invited into that home. It testified to each of them personally. At the end of the lesson, we committed her to another baptismal date of April 25th. Hopefully by then, her divorce is finalized with her ex- husband. Just a great day! Full of the spirit and reaffirming my testimony that the church is true. 

The weekend started getting crazy that night. At about 4 am, I heard the lock on the apartment door unlock. The only other people with keys to our apartment is the West Hattiesburg Elder's, but why would they be at our apartment this early, plus we have the car? I got up and got ready to punch some one in the face. My bedroom door opened and I was about to tackle the figure when I realized it was Elder Corbin panting. He had ridden his bike 20 minutes to our pad in the freezing cold because Elder Burningham was reallly sick and had been throwing up since 11 the night before. We took him to the hospital and got him some medicine and things. He got let out around 10:30 that morning with a serious case of the flu. Kind of scary, he was in some serious pain. He feels way better now, glad I didn't get any of that.

Sunday was good as always with fast and testimony meeting. Britney came to church with her boyfriend Forest Shoemake and they brought the baby. It was great to have them there. I really hope that her divorce goes through and she can be baptized! That would be so great :)

Another week has flown by. Slow for some, fast for others. I learned a lot this week, and also had a great time working hard and following the direction of the spirit. I valued prayer a lot this week. Many times I found myself on my knees this week, praying with my whole heart. The power of prayer is amazing. It brings peace. I hope y'all had a good week and that this next one bring y'all lots of joy. Daily prayer bring blessings and the spirit into your life, I pray that each of you use prayer daily and see the blessings it can bring. Speaking openly and honestly with our Heavenly Father. The church is true, the atonement is real and the savior lives. Love and miss y'all! :)

Keep on smiling!

Love,

Elder Mason Rankin :)