Week 62: Elder Zilles is Leaving Vermont

Well Hello Family,

Scripture of the week: John 21:14-17

Sorry if i seem kind of disconnected this email, i have caught a wicked nasty cold, and it is pretty much just rocking my world, gotta love it! 

Elder Q, and Elder Davis with Alix @ her Baptism

Ok so i wont keep you all on the edge of your seats for too long. Elder Zilles is leaving Essex. Head to manchester tomorrow morning bright and early. So next week when i get on i will have to tell you where i am! The one thing i do know is i am leaving Vermont. Yea still not sure how i feel about that one, but the lord needs me somewhere else so i will do what he asks of me. Im really not looking forward to leaving my Essex ward. But i didnt want to leave lyndon or newport either, so each area becomes your home. Sister poll made me my "last Breakfast" this morning, man im gonna miss the polls something fierce, You would think transfers would get easier after 14 months, but im here to tell you that they do not get easier, in fact they probably just get harder. Telling everyone goodbye just sucks. These people just become my life, and it feels like i am just leaving my life behind! If i could find a way to take some of them with me i would. Brian, the polls, the bennetts and the brissons, and grandpa seay. But sadly i cant make that happen. It is such an amazing blessig to get to meet all of these special people, each one of them has helped me to shape my life and become the man i am. Sometimes i just sit back and think "ok which of these people did i know in the pre earth life" I am pretty sure that i knew most of these special people before! 

On to the baptism... What a special day it was. Alix is just awesome! Elder Davis baptized her and i confirmed her. That was the first confirmation ive ever done, and it was a really neat experience. The priesthood is an amazing thing. 

the lord has blessed us so much here the past 3 transfers. 

Sounds like all is well on the home front. The weather hit 45 this week here, so that was a really nice break. maybe spring will finally be here by the first of june or so, no promises though! Ah man im pretty jealous you got to clip the heifers, i cant wait to pick up a pair of clippers to clip a cow!

I was studying this week, and took some time to just sit back and think about all of the blessings i have seen in the past 14 months. While doing so it became very evident to me that we all need to take more time just to contemplate on the blessings we have been given in our lives. So often we get moving around so fast and don't even notice all that our heavenly father has done for us. Please take at least 5 minutes this week and just think about the blessings you have seen in the past 14 months. Just like the hymn says "count your many blessings".

Even our trials can be blessings. Brigham young once said about joseph smith that had he not gone though the trials in his life, it would have taken him 1000 years to reach what he did in his short life time. 

Sure do love all of you guys! The church is true. The Atonement is so real and is such an amazing gift, dont forget to utilize it in your lives. The power of prayer is amazing, and is very under used, pray fervently night and day and as a representative of Jesus Christ i PROMISE you that you will see a difference in your life. 

Love you

Elder Zilles

Week 61: Our Very BEST will always be good enough

Hola Mi familia, 

John 15:5, Philipians 4:13

I apologize for this email being a day late. We were supposed to have zone conference last thursday, but do to a snow storm it was moved to yesterday. Probably a good thing too, because thursday and friday combined we got 14 inches of snow here in Essex. Supposedly they got almost 6 inches more than that down in Manchester. 

Well it sounds like life on the home front has been pretty fantastic. Im sure Jax man gave a wonderful talk. A mission is the best thing for anyones life. They always say the best two years of your life, but really its the best two years for your life! I think about it often, think who would i be without my mission? I would be no body, and that is not who our heavenly father wants me to be. Thats not to say that people who dont go are no body, im just saying that for me personally i dont know where i would be without my mission. Im so grateful for the time ive had, and even more grateful for the time i have left. 

Im sorry for all the mud youve had back home, but i must admit i have been so happy to hear of all of the moisture youve been getting! Elder Poll updates me daily on the amount of moisture in Cache Valley. 

Part of the Crew @ Zone Conference

Im gonna talk about zone conference alot today, but first i have to tell you about a cool experience we had with one of our investigators! So we were supposed to meet with her friday, but because of the snow the car was grounded, so that fell through, well sunday she said "hey wanna have a lesson during 3rd hour?", so we did that! One of the goals elder davis and i set was to be wicked bold about everything this week. so that is exactly what we did! First you have to realize she (the investigator)  has been learning for more than two years and has never even come close to having a baptismal date... well not any more! she has a date set for april 10th, i am sure i will be long gone by then, but its still just really cool to get to set the date with her. 

Other than that we pretty much just shoveled snow all week. 

Now for zone conference... As i told you before president decided to do the training on the talk we used for our zone training a few months ago the title is the "4th missionary". So this talk goes over the four types of missionaries there are in the field. To make a long story short ill just tell you that the 4th type is where you want to be, to define the 4th type we will just say that he is the most christlike of the four. Really the biggest thing this talk does is help you see that the choices you make on your mission will not only effect your mission, but they will literally shape what the rest of eternity will look like for you! 

We started off by talking about the part of our missions that are already past and gone. As i was sitting there, i realized that i would not change a single thing from the last 14 months of my mission. It has really just been so incredible. sure i could have done better at times, but i have grown from every single experience i have had, and that is what its all about! The challenges i have faced are making me who heavenly father wants me to be, and i am so grateful for that in my life! 

We also talked alot about how our VERY BEST will always be good enough for our heavenly father. That doesnt just apply to missionaries, that applies to each one of you as well. Never forget that the very best you can do is goon enough for our father in heaven.

Lots of Snow at the Joseph Smith Memorial

Ah man we talked about so much amazing stuff i could never get it all into an email, so i hope these few tidbits uplift you all just a little bit. I will end the zone conference portion with a quote from President Stoker "At the sacrament we can look back and repent, and then look forward and move forward" Dont dwell on the mistakes of your past. 

So you asked about elder Wells and Lund. Elder Lund is from my mtc group, and elder wells, i dont really know how we got to be such good freinds. He was here in essex with elder simkins before me, and i dunno we are just super tight. Kinda just like one of those things that friends are friends no matter how long youve known them. Im so blessed to have made so many new friends on my mission. 

Well family, we are going bowling with our district today so i gotta run. Yes we are wearing our plaid pants.

Sure do love ya 

Hold to the rod

Elder Zilles 

PS read hymn 266 4th vs

 Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;

The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.

Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;

His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

a

Week 60: Miracles happen when you work hard

Hey Family, 

This weeks blog brought to you courtesy of Ashton M. 

Is it really week 60 already? I swear it was just yesterday that you were all making a big deal about it being week 50! time flies flies flies! 

Scripture of the week: D&C 58:2-4

"Tebow" in his Plaid pants

Hmmm so what happened this week? Let me see looking back into the files of my mind... 

So as i said last week Elder Davis got wicked sick, and we were supposed to go to manchester for meetings.. Well about an hour before we were supposed to leave i had to decide for him that he was too sick to go. He was gonna still try to go, but there was no way i was sitting in an 18 passenger van for 3 hours with him throwing up the whole time. So we went and got the Burlington Elders and they stayed and babysat him 

for monday and tuesday.

 Elder Poll took me to meet the van in montpelier and then we started our journey to manchester! Im not gonna lie i got pretty comfortable not having a companion for a while. Technically didnt have a companion, but i chose my own comps once we got to the meeting. Elder Wells, Elder Lund and i made ourselves into a trio. We tried to convince president that he should let us stay in the trio for the rest of the transfer but he wasnt gonna go for that. Had a great time partying with elder wells though, we have decided that heavenly father is way to smart to ever have us be companions. We get along far to well. But we did make some pretty awesome party plans for when we get home. 

The meeting was really good. I would say it is one of the better ones i have been too. We now have a new temple attendance policy, and im telling you all before i even tell the zone. (waiting to tell them on thursday at zone conference) So the policy before as you know was that we couldnt go at all until the day before we leave the mission. Well now we get to go once every 6 months. If we are serving within 2 hours of boston we get to go. So no one serving in vermont gets to go, but no worries im not going to be here for a whole lot longer! 

So my back has been pretty rough for the past few weeks. And sometimes when my back gets bad i tend to start to get really down on things. I felt very strongly that i needed to have President give me a blessing on tuesday so i did. And can i just say it was probably the top moment of my mission thus far. It was the most amazing blessing. I think i probably learned more about myself and my life than i did in my patriarchal blessing. It was just really amazing to get to share that moment with President Stoker. I love that man. Love President Wilkey, but i can honestly say that i am now closer with President Stoker than i ever was with President Wilkey. He is such an amazing man, and i am so blessed to be able to work with him! Of course i dont know exactly what is going to happen in two weeks with transfers, but president made it pretty clear that my life is going to get a bit more crazy here soon with this new transfer. Hes got something up his sleeve! Guess we will see what happens! 

So our investigators... everyone has pretty much fallen off the face of the earth! Its kind of a bum deal. But its all good because our one sister is so solid and is gonna be baptized the 22nd. Her interview is tomorrow so that is awesome! we are also going to start teaching her boy friend tonight, so maybe something awesome will come of that! 

We were doing some service at the salvation army this week and we found some plaid pants. Yup you heard correctly plaid pants. we couldnt help but buy them. we each got two pair so we turned one pair into cut off shorts. Pictures to follow. 

Technically we have 12 people in our teaching pool right now! Dont see them all frequently, but its still pretty cool. When i got here we had 2 investigators! The lord makes miracles happen when you work hard. 

Sure do love you guys.

Hold to the rod 

Tonernation

Week 59: there is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness

Hello Family, 

Scripture of the week: D&C 43:34

So when i heard seattle won i just started chanting "Utah State Hey Aggies All the Way"! That is so cool that they ripped manning up so bad! i dont know what it is, but i just have never been a manning fan. I dont know if i have ever heard of a super bowl that was that much of a blow out, its crazy. 

So the weather wasnt too bad this week, didnt get lower than 20 all week, so it was a relief for sure! But when i thought of that line, it was so cold that i had a brain freeze! YUp Still not a huge fan of the cold, but the snow is a necessity. Elder Poll told us that the utah farm bureau had a state wide fast for moisture, so i joined in on that. 

 This week i can honestly say that Elder Davis and I have become friends. We are no longer just professional acquaintances! He came out with Elder Vanderholm, so they go home in September! elder Davis, Elder vanderholm, and Elder Wells all go home then! Elder Wells is one of my good mission buddies we are trying to find a way to be comps some time. 

So this week we were only able to meet with two of our investigators. Both lessons were awesome though. 

One came to church yesterday and she loved it! The ward did such a great job of fellow shipping her! She was even invited over to a superbowl party, it was neat. we went to the same superbowl party and sat in the kitchen and ate cheese cake! But last night we had an awesome lesson with her. She is so solid and is all set to be baptized feb 22. That is the last day of the transfer so we will get her baptized just in time for me to get transferred! 

We are headed down to manchester this afternoon for out meeting! itll be a good time, other than the fact that elder davis is sicker than a dog! 

Sounds like stake conference was great! ours was supposed to be next week but for some reason it was moved to june! 

I am anxious to hear more details about josh man, it sounds like it is literally a miracle he is alive. The lord protects his missionaries! 

We still dont have any of that technology stuff, but in all honesty i hope it comes the transfer i go home so that i dont have to deal with it. I will love technology when i am home and at school, but for now im 100% of without it! 

Well i guess i better go buy some food so we have something to eat when we get back from manchester love you guys

Hold to the rod

Elder Toner

"there is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness"

Week 58: Living Prophet on the Earth Today!

Hey my dear family,

Scripture of the week: D&C 18:10-16, Moroni 9:6

So i dont know why, but i woke up in a pretty poopy mood today. But when i got on my email that all changed very rapidly. I saw that i had an email from sister Gregory, so i opened it to read the happiest most wonderful thing i have ever read in my entire life. The Gregory family will be sealed in the temple for time and eternity on april 12! She said they invited you, so you probably already know all of this, but i just had to tell you because i am so ecstatic about it right now!

Its people like Brother Gregory who make this work worth it! I just think back to my first week in the mission, Bro Gregory was one of the first people i met in vermont. we were at the church shoveling snow and he came and introduced himself. Ah man i dont think i make any sense right now but i dont even care i am just so excited for the Gregs! Ah man i miss them it seems like forever since i have see them! I might have to convince them to come visit me here in Essex before i get shipped out of Vermont.

So not a whole lot happened here in Essex this week. I think the whole state of Vermont has just caught the "winter blues". the good news is we have been able to help our zone avoid them thus far. Can you believe January is pretty well over? 

I was on exchange in Burlington this week, now that is an interesting city! It is a walking area, so they either walk or take the bus. For the first time in my life i rode the bus, and im here to tell you that if you want to meet some of the Cream of the crop you should ride the bus! Ive never seen so many interesting people. We found an iphone on the sidewalk so we went and knocked on the house right next to it and it was a "pot house" When they opened the door, man the smell of that mary jane just filled the air. It stunk so bad! 

So you remember last transfer when Elder Davis and i did our first Zone training... well president liked it so much, that he is using the whole thing in zone conference in two weeks. So this morning he called and asked us if next week at leadership meeting if we would do a training about it to all of the zone leaders. Its gonna be a pretty special opportunity. 

Oh so this week, we were teaching this older man, he is legally blind and pretty much deaf. So we were teaching him about prophets, and by teaching him i mean yelling to him! Everything has to be said so stinkin loudly! But out of no where he turns to me and goes "so how do i know that YOU are a prophet?" It took a second for it to register what he had said but once i realized i was like "no no no, im not a prophet i was called by a prophet" then elder davis asked him what he would do if there were a living prophet on the earth and he said" I would get up and i would go out side and shout hallelujah and then i would follow him, i wouldnt even grab my coat"! Funny old man!

Well family i sure do love you! 

Hold to the Rod

Elder Toner 

Week 57: Armies of Heaven in Defense of Abraham's Seed

Hey fam,

Wow sounds like everything back home is really going well. So i am sorry but this email will probably be a bit short, im running a bit behind. 

To start off i want to share a quote with you from Elder Holland "in the gospel of jesus christ, you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. when disappointment and discouragement strike and they will you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven in defense of Abrahams seed". 

So i gave a sister in the ward a blessing yesterday and it got me thinking of that quote. she is going through some really tough physical times right now, and so it was just really neat to get to give her a blessing. 

Sounds like church was amazing yesterday in the linrose ward. It was fantastic here in the essex ward as well. Well at least parts of it were... Brian passed the sacrament for the first time! it was a really special experience to be blessed to watch it!

I am extremely happy to still be hanging out in vermont! i fear this will be the last transfer here though! I have said that before though, so we will just have to wait and see what happens! until then i will just be working my butt off here so that there are no regrets in my dear beloved vermont! 

Before i forget. how is everyone doing with the book of mormon challenge? I got a picture of ashty and it looks like she is doing well with it! so how are all of you doing with it? 

The work here is going well! things were kind of slow this week cause of the snow! But all in all it was really a good week. I cant really think of much else note worthy to say! 

Sure do love you guys though! 

Have a fantastic week! Dont ever let a day go by that you dont thank heavenly father for all he has given our family... we are so blessed! 

Hold to the rod

Elder Zilles

Week 56: Vermont for LIFE

Dear Family,

The church is true the book is blue!

The District

From a handwritten letter this week: "Of course  i don't know for sure, but I have that sick feeling that my time in vermont is coming to an end, i have come to the conclusion that IF i get transferred I will walk in to transfer meeting with a title of liberty that says "Vermont for Life", ah yes, Vermont the place where my testimony has become the real deal" 

Well Saturday night as Elder Davis and i sat at our desk awaiting a phone call (i was certain i would be leaving) we just sat and waited and then all of the sudden the phone rang, and immediately my heart went into pound mode. Elder Guthrie one of the assistants was on the other line and he informed us that neither of us would be leaving vermont. So no worries i get to stay in Zion, the land of joseph for at least 6 more weeks. But just because im not leaving does not mean this transfer will be short on change. When we were down at our meeting on tuesday we were informed that the montpelier zone would be getting split in half. our zone was the only zone that was not yet split in the mission, so yup that meant we traveled more than any other zone leaders. So yup there is now a montpelier west and a montpelier east zone. We are the zone leaders of the west zone, I was hoping we would get lyndon and newport in our zone, but it doesnt appear that is going to happen, but that could change, because we havent even officially been told who will be in our zone.

So you know how last week i told you how the lord will provide in his own way if we work really hard? Well he came through once again this week. Friday morning we got a text from some missionaries in The Boston mission with a referral for us. Her name is Alix and she is 21. They had set a date with her to be baptized, but then she moved here to essex. So by this time elder davis and i are ecstatic. We called her right away and set up an appointment with her for sunday night. So last night we went and taught her for the first time and set a baptismal date with her. Alix will be baptized on february 22. what a good start to a new transfer eh?

So once again i leave my testimony that the lord will provide for us.

Yesterday at church we had the blessing of conferring Brian a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. It was pretty much one of the coolest things ever. So cool to see the people we love progress in the gospel. Im glad you like the candle. not only is it pine... its VERMONT PINE. It is his hihgest selling scent, and it actually surprisingly doesnt give me a headache like most candles.

Speaking of Brian i earned a new nick name this week... It has been 40 the past few days so the ice on the driveways got a little bit soft. Brians drive way still had 3 inches of ice on it from the ice storm the other week. Well elder davis, elder poll, mike brisson, and myself went over and we decided we were gonna get his driveway clear down to the pavement. I went and i grabbed a sledge hammer and just went to work. We cleared the whole drive way in and hour. Brian and Mike now call me sledge. I also decided that will just be my new workout.

Maybe the coolest news i recieved this week is about Elder Vanderholm. He has been in newport almost 8 months now so he is being transferred but is going to be a district leader some where. I am so excited for him. He will do great work where ever he goes.

Also the bennetts are finally home so now we have people willing to come teach with us. I was so happy to see them at church yesterday.

So for the last two weeks i have not bought any food, cause i thought i was leaving so i wanted to save all of my money for my new area. So i have just been living off what was left in the apartment (not much). So im pretty excited to go buy real food today.

 Well i sure do love ya

Elder Zilles

Hold to the rod

"Imma vermonna"