You're gonna miss this...

NOTE: Friends and Family, Mason will be speaking on Sunday 12/18/2016 at 9:00am

*****************************  Here is his final letter! ***********

Y'allll..... It's really here. I can't believe it.

This week was literally AMAZING! I loved it, despite all the emotions of having to go home, I enjoyed myself.The beginning of the week started with my last exchange with the Ruston Elders. I had a blast up in Ruston with Elder Crouch. We got to teach a lot of powerful lessons together, they are doing good work up there. We tried to find Karl Malone, no luck though.

Wednesday we did lots of service. We ended up going to a retirement home and spending sometime with all the ole' folk there. We sang Christmas songs to them and played bingo. It was so fun joking around this all the Grandma's! They kept asking if I had a girlfriend and told me that I could go on a date with their granddaughters.  It was so funny! Plus I beat them all in Bingo which turned out to be hilarious as they kept seeing me win. :)

Thursday was one of the most spiritual days of my entire life. Elder Arnold of the Seventy came to our zone conference and it was absolutely amazing. We got to have a mini-MLC with him and Elder Eggimann and I both got to have a personal interview with him during lunch. It was just so powerful talking to him. There is no doubt in my mind that he was called of God, such a powerful man and speaker. I think what I reflected on most while he spoke is how we can change and become better. I am going to continue to align my will with God's after my mission. I can't just stop. The spirit was so powerful that day, great highlight to the awesome week! :)

Friday we had an amazing lesson with D____, she is T___'s Aunt that live with him. We taught her the Restoration and set her with a baptismal date of Feb 24th. She felt the spirit and got a little emotional in the lesson. She said "I feel like I am shivering on the inside and I feel blessed!" It was a tender experience to witness and feel that same spirit of warmth and love. She is a young single parent of a baby girl so this Gospel is way needed for her. "Bless her heart." Like for her, it gives us all support, no matter what we are going through within this life. It is real.

There were too many highlight from the weekend... from working with members, finding new people to teach meeting with the Campbell family one more time and even a surprise at church to Angel and the Pickett Family showing up! I was smiling all weekend and I felt the spirit a lot. I am truly blessed in being able to serve here.

Just some final thoughts before I get back to packing and such...

"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." (2 Cor 13:11)

What a blessed 2+ years it has been. There have definitely been those ups and down, but I have enjoyed it. Ya know I never thought I would say "these have been the best 2 years.." but really they have been. My testimony has grown, my confidence in God has strengthened and I have become "new." I am so grateful for the mission, I am so grateful for all those I have had the blessing of serving, teaching and loving. The South has a special place in my heart. I love it. I know that my Savior lives and that the Gospel has been Restored. I know that because I have felt him and I have lived what I teach. May we each continue to be a "light to the world" this Christmas season. Farewell my Southern Family, see you soon Idahome. I love each of you and can't thank you enough for the support you have given me. Have a blessed day!

With much love and lot of hugs,
Elder Mason Rankin :)

"You're gonna miss this... you're gonna want this back... you're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.. these are some good time... so take a good look around.. you may not know it know... but you're gonna miss this..."

Try to stay dry out there

This week was wetter than most. It literally has been raining non-stop, plus it's cold. People think we are crazy going out in this weather, but we just keep on going. Earlier in the week it was late one night and all our plans fell through. So we decided to knock doors for the last 2 hours of our night because we really have been praying to find a family. It was pouring rain and still no one let us in. It was actually kind of funny because one guy said "try to stay dry out there" as he slammed the door in our face. We did find this one really nice spanish lady though. She said she would feed us whenever and knew one of our member families. So that was one success of that cold night.

Update on M_____. She no longer is progressing toward baptism, which is sad with how much we have worked with her and prayed for her. She just doesn't have the faith right now to make the commitment to baptism. One day I know she will though.

E____ is doing was awesome though! He came to the baptism of a members son this last weekend and loved it. He kept telling us how he wants to be baptized, so we are working towards that right now. We just want to teaching his family as well and make sure he is supported at home as well. We also got to watch the Christmas Devotional with him and the Jones' yesterday. It was awesome to hear the words they shared. I love this time of the year.

We also had a stellar lesson with this girl named K____ this last week. We found her a couple weeks ago but haven't been able to meet up because she has been sick. We met up with her though and talked about the Restoration. It really applied to her because she is confused and is really trying to find the path God wants her to take. So, the life of Joseph Smith really spoke to here. We invited her to be baptized at the end of our discussion and she accepted to work towards Feb 11th if she came to know that what we have taught is true. Such a cool experience! I know I will be home but we are all working together to help Heavenly Father's children.

Cool finding story... We were knocking apartment near the church (another late wet night with faith to find someone) and we were really hoping to find someone to teach. After a few doors, we came to a door of a young girl named Shelby. She is 21 and goes to ULM. As we got to talking, we introduced ourselves and told her we were both from Idaho. She thought that was pretty cool because she used to live in MERIDIAN! I was like, "What the?" and freaking out on her front step. Then I asked when she lived there, where she lived, where did she got to school... She literally lived right north of our house near Prospect Elementary, went to school at Rocky Mountain for Freshman and Sophmore year (same years I was there) and moved away after those two years! So you can imagine it was a cool experience, she thought I was pretty funny. We got to share a little with her before she had to get back to studying for finals, but we are going back this week to teach her more! So excited!

Last highlight of the week... Yesterday was my final fast Sunday in the mission so I had to bear my testimony. On top of all that, Nate Hughes showed up to surprise me and spend sometime with me before I go home! It was such an awesome surprise! :) I do feel good though, looking back on how grateful I am for my mission. I want to continue to grow even after I go home and I plan to. My emotions may be up and down with the whole thought of going home, leaving the south, the end of the Idahomiez and taking off the nametag.. but I am happy and excited for this last week to hit it hard. Thanks again for all the support that last 2+years. I will see y'all soon. Have a blessed week!

With love and big hugs,

Elder Mason Rankin :)

 

 

"Ain't no rest for the Righteous"

Another fast week, like usual. We were packed and only really got to spend half the week in our area. We still got a lot done though and saw some awesome stuff happen. The Lord's hand is in the work.

The beginning of the week was spent in El Dorado. We went up for P-day and had some fun with them. It's always a blast to reunite with Elder Ross again. Tuesday morning the Smith's (a family in El Dorado) had us over for breakfast. Fried french toast! Yep, the fry everything down here. It turned out really awesome though because one of the less-actives and his non-member cousin came. The Elders have been working with them and have had a lot of success. We had a little testimony meeting all together and there was such a sweet spirit there. As I listened and then even bore a bit of my testimony, it helped me feel uplifted.

Thanksgiving was a blast. We baked 100+ cookies and went and handed them out to families, investigators, less-actives, random people on the street, etc.. It was pretty fun! We also got fed pretty well and enjoyed some good company at the Smith's house. (A family in Monroe, not El Dorado) They made us some good "dressing", it's like the southern version of stuffing. I liked it a lot! I had a lot of reason to give thanks that day, I am truly blessed. I hope y'all had an awesome Thanksgiving too.

Friday-Saturday we were up in Jonesboro with Elder Godfrey and Nuku. I love those guys so much. We had a blast together. Friday night we made a cake for Nuku and celebrated his birthday together because it is this week. Of course we sang to him and brought out the candles. Elder Nuku is a brother, I stinkin love him! On Saturday, there was a winter festival in this small town and they had a booth in it. So it was fun going around and talking to people about the church. Probably some of the weirdest experiences just walking up to random people, stopping people and so on. But, I love it and I will miss it. Luckily I can keep doing missionary work even after I get home. It was a blast in Jonesboro though and like 2,000 people were there so it turned out great.

Last highlights and updates. M____ is doing good, still is praying about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. We really have faith in her and know she will have the faith to change and be a pioneer for her and her family. E____ is also doing awesome! Yesterday we started into some commandments and it was blast to see the Jones boys do a lot of the teaching. These young kids are so smart, it is awesome. Other than them, we are really trying to find a lot. The Holidays get people busy and they say "we don't have time." This is the time we should be thinking about him most. I love this time of the year.

As the weeks wind down, a familiar verse is brought to mind. "..let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1) There ain't no rest for the Righteous, so we continue to finish strong here. I hope y'all have a great week, thank you for all the support. Like really.. the letters mean a lot. See y'all soon.

With lots of love and thanks,

Elder Mason Rankin :)

 

 

cookie delivery

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monroe is finally getting cold. People wonder why we are on there front door when it is so cold outside. "Preaching the Gospel never stops for anything"...

This week had it's low moments, I will be real. A lot of the people we were meeting with decided to drop off this week and no matter how many times we follow-up, it never helps. That's okay though, Heavenly Father continues to teach me patience. Even at this point in my mission.

The first highlight of the week was our Zone meeting on Tuesday with President. We all got together in Monroe for a couple of hours to learn and discuss the zone. It was really awesome and I had some thoughts down memory lane. I can still remember my first zone meeting and at the end the departing missionaries had to get up and bear their testimonies. Well that was me this last Tuesday, looking back... I never thought it would come but it really has. Everyday Elder Eggimann and I have been taking a video to remember the day. #25dayzofRankin instead of 25 days of Christmas. :) It was hard to bear my testimony, but I felt a great portion of the spirit as I did so. I am so grateful for all that I have learned.

M_____ is doing awesome, we were able to meet up with her a couple times this week. We pray for her often and know this is something that can change her life for good if she will allow it. She even came to church on Sunday and stayed for all 3 hours, it was awesome! She could get baptized before I leave it's all up to her though, we choose to have joy... "men are that they MIGHT have joy."

E____ is also doing well. He doesn't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon yet, but he does want to be baptized. We were able to review the Plan of Salvation yesterday and go through the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well. It's just amazing to be in the Jones' home to teach young E____. Their young boys help us teach and they amazing me at how much they know. They remind me a lot of Keaton and Bridger. Before we left yesterday, I got down to say goodbye to them and all of them ran over to give me a hug. It was a tender moments for me, they are the best family.

Amidst the slammed doors and cold weather, there was one other highlight. I got to go on exchanges with Elder Roberts in the North Monroe area this last week. We had a blast visiting the Caaman's, talking to people and knocking doors. We had a little miracle too. It was pitch dark at the end of the night and we had knocked a bunch of doors. We had time for one more door (why is it always the last door?) and we met an amazing family. The father had grown up in the church and has family that is still active. The wife is a non-member, and they have 2 kids. What's even better? They want to get into church so they can raise their kids in a church. It was so awesome! I hope they continue to have success meeting with them, there was such a sweet spirit in their home as I offered a prayer with them.

The days are numbered, but there is still time to accomplish so much! We continue to "finish strong" here in Monroe. We are doing well! I hope y'all take an opportunity this week, as we should every week, to give thanks for all we have been given and all the Lord has done for us..."that ye live in THANKSGIVING daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." (Alma 34:38) Have a great week y'all, I am grateful for all of you... Especially my family, my Savior and my Heavenly Father.

With love and great thanks,

Elder Mason Rankinstein :)

Frozen Toes

Oh boy... this was a fast week.

Transfers finished and we hit this first week hard. On Thursday we got to go to MLC in Jackson. It was an awesome meeting, we talked about how we can help the mission improve their teaching, culture, finding, etc.. The spirit was definitely there. The best part/hardest part was probably getting called on to bear my testimony at the end. I am the only one going home from the council so it felt weird to look around and realize how young most of these missionaries are. 2 years of feelings just hit me, needless to say, there were a few tears. I recited 1 Cor 15:10 for part of my testimony, I can truly say I am who I am today because of Jesus Christ.

Update on M____.. she is doing awesome. She didn't come to church yesterday which kind of stunk but we met up with her and we read some from the Book of Mormon with her. She is still progressing, I know that as she continues to apply the things we teach, she will get baptized in the near future.

E____ is also doing awesome, we met with him yesterday and taught the Plan of Salvation. Being at the J____ house, it was crazy at moments with all the kids. But it ended up being good, it really is simple. Simple enough that a child can understand the Plan of Happiness.

One cool finding experience we had was this lady named C______. I feel like we get in some of the most awkward situations, it's kind of funny for me. We were heading to the car after trying someones apartment, when a lady came out of her apartment. I was trying to find a good way to approach her, when I noticed that her car had been hit. So I went up and asked her how it happened and then told about how one time I ran into a tree with my car. She thought it was pretty funny and said we could come back this week and meet up with her. Little blessings from the Lord..

The caption of this week is frozen toes, because this last Saturday night we had everything fall through. Like everything. We called members, potentials and literally got nothing. So we went out and knocked on doors for the evening. My initial thoughts were like, "you could stay inside, get some extra planning in, maybe drive around and waste time till the end of the night." But instead we extended our faith in hope of finding someone. A crazy guy, a few high people and a couple closed doors later... all we had were some frozen toes. It was almost the end of the night and it was way dark but we decided to try this one referral. We went by her house and what'd ya know? She was home with her family, she let us right in and we taught her. She now has a Book of Mormon and we are coming back this week to teach her more. Another little miracle with some frozen toes.

My thought for the week comes from a quote by Dallin H. Oaks.. "In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the Gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something." I think he sums it up perfectly. By extending our faith each and everyday, we are become someone better and stronger. I know this because I have seen it within my life.

Well I see y'all later, thanks for the prayers and emails. We continue to just "finish strong"...

With love,

Elder Mason Rankin :)

 

helping at the food bank

helping at the food bank

Missionary Leadership Council