Pretty Sweet Miracle for the WEEK!

Pretty sweet miracle for the week; my comp and I have been track ting up a storm.   We live eat and BREATHE track ting ha-ha (hopefully it is low in fat) HA!   And we have been finding sooooo many people to teach!  We are narrowing our work down to sifting the wheat from the tares; finding the ones that are interested rather than trying to be nice.   So while tracking all night we found this guy that basically tells us that he doesn’t need anything but a bible.  And as we were talking on his doorstep he says, “one second I want to show you something.”   He comes out with 3 HUGE books translating Hebrew into English and cross references and the meaning of words and passages. When I saw these readings of his I have never felt so bad for someone.   When he reads the bible in order for him to logically understand something he thinks all of the information is in those three books that were written by some guy that fell away from the Catholic Church and made his own church up. And whenever he has questions about something he asks his pastor!!!! PEOPLE DISREGARD THAT THEY CAN RECIEVE ANSWERS FROM HEAVENLY FATHER!!!!!!!!!!! Instead they rely on whatever their pastor says without questioning him.  Any who, so his name is Matthew and by the time we were wrapping up the lesson I asked him if he would proceed with reading the book of Mormon and ask God if it is worth reading and if the book were true, he said to me that all he needs is his bible and his pastors books. And he said he won’t read the Book of Mormon because he does not have enough time to read every book from every different religion. So I said ok valid point here are some pamphlets it is an easy read we will stop by next Friday to see what you think. so we left and a day later we get a call from him (we didn’t even know he had our number) He had TONS of questions so we wrote his questions down and said we will answer them when we see him on Friday :) (One of his questions was if his wife has to wear a dress Sunday for church) SO HE IS COMING TO CHURCH!!!  Keep Matthew in your prayers so that his heart may be softened to hear and receive our message on Friday!!

LOVE ELDER MEITLER

I've got a companion who likes to work!!

Hello!!! Mama :)

So there is a tailor in our ward so she asked if I had anything that needed tailoring so she is just going to do it.   I figure it will save time and money on all of our parts. And FINALLY I get a companion that likes to work.   HALLELUJIA!!!!!   We are working sooo hard and he agrees about time effectiveness with me.   So we get a lot done!   So since the current ward I am in is not providing referrals we are tracting every day from 5 to 9 (those are the best hours to tract because everyone is home from work)   Oh, so with more tracting comes lot of new stories.   So I knocked on this door and big African American comes to the door and  I reach my hand out to shake his hand (I introduced myself) and he looked at my hand as if I had some kind of disease and told us to get off his property ha-ha!  (Gotta love Virginia.)   Oh and the next door down we knock at this door and a lady comes to the door and says, quote "sorry I am not interested I just moved in and I do not like the church I am currently going to so I am searching for the true church to attend,"  then she slammed the door ha-ha......... countless rejections this week but we had two people ask for book of Mormons and one of them said, “ I really wish I had a religion I could nurture my kids in!!!”   So we are going to stop by this week and teach her.   Oh and funniest story of all so me and my comp were sitting at our apartment figuring out who we could visit when I felt we needed to just start walking towards a less active lady’s house so as we were walking on the side of the road a guy pulls up in his small white Honda and says, “Are you evangelists?”  I thought he was a member so I laughed and said yes.   He said, “Hop in my car and I will take you where you need to go.”   So we ended up driving to his house and we taught him the restoration, it was way sweet and he loved it.   But the catch is that it was his last day home because he is going off to college now so we are going to give his info to the missionaries in his area.   He said it was cool if we did so.   Oh and Elder Whipple says that he is distantly related somehow Whipple Heating and Air ha-ha!!

LOVE ELDER MEITLER

I love the area, investigators, members and ward mission leader!!!

MOM!!!!!!

We are eating with members although we have cut back at eating at members to twice a week. And we schedule it as early as we can generally 4 o clock so we can tract 5-9.  In fact we had a dinner at a family last night and they were so quiet!!!!! It is almost like they killed someone and were trying to hide it from us, they were so awkward!!    Oh well, after we had dinner we tracted into this lady that let us in and we talked about the plan of salvation it was way sweet she is going to read and pray about the book of Mormon :)   Oh then about 3 hours later an African American family lets us in and we taught about the Book of Mormon but then they called their pastor and put him on speaker to list off bible references why men on earth are not allowed to receive revelations and that we cannot receive answers to our prayers. It is so sad that people honestly think that God is not our loving Heavenly Father. It really isn’t a hard concept to grasp. Millions of people around the world rely on everything that their pastor/minister says in fact when the preacher was on speaker the spirit was instantly driven out of the room.   But we felt prompted to talk about temples and after that the spirit was able to subside and the mood changed from attacking us to asking us sincere questions.   We are returning this week and are going to watch the stone cutter or some other movie about temples ha-ha :) OH PS I got a new companion!!!! His name is Elder Whipple who was born and raised in Orem Utah :)  He is way sweet!! He loves to work!!! :) :) :) I finally don’t have to drag any more companions to work :) We are getting a lot done this transfer in Garrison Ville :) So ya elder Odenwalder got transferred out of his area and I am staying in Garrison Ville.   I love it here :) the investigators, members etc.   Everyone is great :) The ward mission leader is sooo helpful and very enthusiastic about his calling as a ward mission leader :) well I love you all thank you for the letters :) love

ELDER MEITLER

I have never been so physically, mentally, and spiritually fit in my life!!!!!

HI MOM :)

Ok so its 131 Mathew Court  Garrison Ville, Virginia.   Transfers are next Thursday so it might change.   Ok so to answer your questions, I do not have a set number of hours that we tract a day. But I guess on average 1-2 hours a day. But when my companion left the area and I was in charge of the area I tracted for 7 hours.   On a normal day I am lucky to pass out 3 Book of Mormons.  To answer 6 it varies day to day but on average we have about 2 investigator lessons a day but we visit different members every day to give them the (six step program) that’s what our ward mission leader has asked us to do. And actually funny you ask ... no I have still have never given a blessing.   My companions always want to give the blessing so I just anoint the oil.   And yes I know exactly what you mean when you feel you need to bear your testimony!   I have been extremely careful to follow the promptings I receive.   And yes I received your shirts thank you soooooo much I love them :) ha-ha funny story…….. my pants are 3 sizes to big now and my belt is too big.   So I had to get pants from the DI in Burlington.   None of my pants fit anymore.   HAHA so I answered all of your questions… my turn.  How is the ward doing?   How is Sadie???   Dad, you Sarah, Marianne, what are you planning on doing for the remainder of the summer?  Does dad like his job?

Yes I am doing pretty good in fact I am doing amazing!! I love it here although I don’t like the humidity ha-ha. I am learning more than I can handle!   And my testimony has grown so much. I am sorry I do not have much to share this week because every one has been out of town. This week has been a stretch for me.   After all of my hard work and reading the scriptures daily, 2 solid investigators dropped us. And we got bashed several times this week. But at the same time, it was an extremely productive week in my studies I felt the spirit so strong during my personal studies in the mornings this past week and I have learned so much!! I have never been so physically, mentally, and spiritually fit in my life!!!!!

With much love ELDER MEITLER

Service softens investigators hearts.

Hello MOM

Ha-ha so NO I do not want to write letters ha-ha I prefer emailing.   And my emails are just as long as my letters........ I will try to make them longer. We are just teaching the same people and nothing unusual has happened, we have just been teaching a TON.   Although I can say that our part member family (the Reyes family) is really progressing.   I did a TON of service at their house this week.   They painted their windows so they needed their windows cleaned (post construction work) and then they bought a pool in the same week!!! If god didn't have a hand in this than I have no clue who did.   What are the chances that they bought the same pool that we have AND window cleaning........ It was definitely meant to be to soften hearts they were so grateful for my help. So regarding the Reyes family, me and my companion have been working hard so we can teach their son Eric and the dad Hosa.   Most of the "movement" is happening with this family.   Hosa is keeping commitments now and Eric is more open to hear of the messages we have to offer.  Sorry my messages have been so short lately it’s just that I am still in the same area and we have all the same investigators we tract a ton but have not been having any luck since Jay and Sonia although we did find an Indian guy yesterday named Santoosh who is interested in our religion so we are returning next Sunday to teach lesson 1.  And yes, me and my companion are getting along great he has really helped me grasp the concept of thinking before I speak.   It is quite interesting how each companion helps me notice my problems so I can improve myself.   I can’t believe you are going to be a relief society teacher that is way sweet.   What are you going to teach about next week? Does dad have a calling?  Oh and how does it feel to be out of school!!   Feels good to have a break? Oh and this summer are you planning on building the family room when dad gets a job?  oh and I don’t think you should set up the pool ha-ha if I were you I would just get the family a pass to the rec center so you don’t have to be responsible for cleaning the pool everyday ha-ha because we all know what is going to happen now that I am not at the house :D

It's the little things that get people interested!

Yes I have had a way sweet week. And yes I am doing just fine so no worries: P ok so to answer your questions yes the member meals have been slowing down a little but it’s all good we have money to eat and get subway gift cards and stuff from members.    And to answer your other question about missionary work in the ward ok well I am a strong believer in that it is too bad though for everyone in Utah because all of our neighbors are already members  BUT EVERYONE can do missionary work.   It really is the little things that get people interested, even small chat with a co- worker about your religion or give them a plate of cookies to show them you care about them. Missionary work is not just tracking.  It’s a way of life.   As we constantly strive to have missionary moments the Lord will provide but we have to be in tune for those golden moments and opportunities. Oh and that is soooooo cool that you got your voice back it is too bad I am in Virginia so I don’t have the chance to see you and Sarah and dad competing to see who has the better voice ha-ha!!!!   Oh, Jay and Sonia were next door neighbors with Mormons they were not referred to us, we tracted into them. That shows even your next door neighbor might be interested. NEVER ASSUME THAT SOMEONE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE.   But Jay and Sonia let us in because of the kindness and charity her neighbor showed for them.   Oh so update on me and my comp we are getting along great I have learned though to be more "careful" with my words so as you can probably guess he was a good 3rd companion for me to get so I could learn to think before I say...      The ward is great but I am hoping to get transferred out: P   I know that seems way bad but I really don’t want to live in a basement anymore and I would love to have a stove so I could cook some eggs or something in the morning so I am pretty sure I am leaving Oakton but we will see I LOVE the people and LOVE the ward and never want to leave but I have a feeling I am leaving and sherwani is leading the area.   Ha-ha just my prediction.   oh and that is soooo cool dad is learning how to cook sushi!! i LOVE sushi!!! So hopefully he keeps that up so when I return we can have a sushi smorgasbord. Ha-ha well I love you all!

ELDER MEITLER

New Companion!

Elder Meitler practicing the discussions to a captivating investigator!!!  Or does he think he's found his princess????

 Steven in front of the Washington D.C. temple.

 Look at all of those Book of Mormons he has to give away!!  "Oh, I'll just study the scriptures and sit on them!!!"  (jk)

Elder Meitler and his new companion Elder Sherwani on P-day!!

(a short email from Steve)

 Oh, and the crafts I pick up out here keep me sane haha when I am stressed when pday comes around, just sitting down and doing something with my hands while waiting for my laundry to finish clears my mind :P no worries though it NEVER interferes with the work.  Ok, so for the current update on me........... I have a brand new companion :)!!!!!!! His name is Elder Sherwani (his mom was born in Afganistan, his Dad is from Iran) and Elder Sherwani was born in Pakistan.   He lived there until he was 12 then moved to the US in Virginia (kinda ironic) because now he is serving his mission in Virginia. So he is a convert and has been for 2 years and it is pretty sweet. He is a very easy going guy.  Elder Sherwani is WA"AAAAY different than Elder Peterson. That is pretty much all I can say about that. My letter is short this week because I am sending my memory card home and it has TONS of pictures and videos!!! So enjoy. I love you all and love hearing from you :)