"22 Pancakes, New Lyrics to a Christmas Fav, and Let the Lord help make your New Year's Resolutions."

The blog!!

This was one of the best Christmas times I've had! We had the chance to eat. Ebel skeevers...& mini pancakes... with some homemade jam.  22 of those later, we felt pretty great and full!

We even went caroling... (We made up a song to the tune of, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful!""") 

OH COME AND BE BAPTIZED

BE YE ALL CONVERTED!!!

OH COME, TO SACRAMENT FOR WAAAATER AND BREADDDDD

FAITH TO REPENTANCE, HAVE YOUR BURDENS LIFTED

OH COME UNTO THE SAVIOR OH COME UNTO THE SAVIOR 

OH COME UNTO THE SAVIOR, YOUR YOKE, WILL  BE LIGHT!!

I don't have too much time, but I do want to share a priceless lesson that explains the spirit very simply.   Doing the lord's will is so easy.   We all know what the right thing to do is in our hearts.   We all know the struggle that keeps us from feeling the pure love of Christ, and I hope that as you read over this story, your heart will be touched.   Especially with this season, that you'll be able to let your burdens go, and let the Savior rebuild you! 
We stopped by a less active member that we'd previously visited, and he invited his two little children of about 6 and 8 to join us. Before we prayed, we asked them if they'd ever listened with their heart before. They said sometimes, and that they'd listen to what it told them as we shared our message. After we prayed and followed up with their father's reading, he said that he'd not had the time to read throughout the week. We went on to help his two kids read the Book of Mormon. They read Alma 37:6 "by small and simple things, great things come to pass.”  Right after she read it, we said, "Great Job!" and gave her a high five, and then asked, “Now, how did that high five make you feel?”  She said that it made her feel really happy inside. We went on to talk to these great kids about how we can do small things every day to help people be happy.  A time that they had run five miles all by themselves, was just one step at a time. We asked them, "What do you think would happen, if you read one verse from the Book of Mormon everyday?  Just one verse?" The little girl’s face scrunched up a bit and she took some time to think about it, and said, "We'd be a happy family, and we'd come closer to Jesus.”   We asked her how her heart felt, and she said that is was, "all warm inside, and that it made her feel very happy.”  She leaned onto her dad and had such a sincere smile of peace on her face. We asked her what her heart was telling her to do, and she said, "We need to read the Book of Mormon every day and pray, so we can become more like our Savior". She promised that she would read to her brother every night, until he could read to her as well. Their father offered the closing prayer, with gratitude and tears, thanking the Lord for his family. We are so grateful for the spirit, and it's simple power, to testify to hearts of the Love of Jesus Christ.
It's so simple.   One day at a time.   If you've got a friend, who gave all for you, and all he asks is to feel his superior love and empathy and to do your best, would you do it? It gets easier and easier one scripture at a time.  Nothing can stop you except yourself, from feeling his love in your heart. Let him make your new years resolutions!  I Love you all so much!!! Have a great new year!! I'll probably be seeing you sometime in it!

Love,  Elder Langford

"Beward of Fans!" "Singing and Playing Piano at Church." & "Smiling because the Gospel is True."

Merrrrry Christmas!!!! 

Just to start things off, I want you all to know, that you should always be aware of your surroundings, especially when you're hanging up things on your wall... and there's a fan looking to hit you in the ear... I nailed it, hard enough that the whole fan stopped it's full rotation... We were in the middle of a phone call to the sister missionaries, and we were talking to them about a study on positivity. PERFECT TIMING!!!  I got to testify towards the fact that I have TWO EARS!!  so one didn't hurt as bad!!

I'm so sorry to everyone... I spent way to much time on emailing Christmas notes to people, and now, I'm out of time....  I'll be saying some of the points of this week in next week's letter as well...

Highlights of the Week:

We've seen miracles!

We've had the most humble of investigators!!

We've seen missionaries change their lives!!!

We've seen people feel the spirit, with a desire to change their lives!!!

We've been on exchanges with the assistants!!

Our bikes have been plastic wrapped by one of my sons (Missionaries)!

I FOUND A SRIRACHA SHIRT AT WAL MART! 

and......

I LOVE it when missionaries come up to my companion and me, asking, "Why are you so happy all the time?"  and we get to say with smiles ear to ear, "BECAUSE THE GOSPEL'S TRUE!!!"

Ahh... ok... few more things...

We sang "O Holy Night"  in sacrament meeting and...

I played "Angels We Have Heard on High" in sacrament meeting, (CRAZY!!)

... but the most touching thing, was when the President pulled out his guitar, and played,

"Silent Night!"........ Wow.... I still feel the chills from that incredible performance! 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!  NEVER stop reading the Book of Mormon and you'll be able to see how many times your name is meant to be in that book!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! GIVE THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING!!!
Love, Elder Langford

"Insane or in vane??, Get the roots, not just the leaves, Questions Answered, and BOGOTUS????"

Blog! 

Haha, Ohhh worst case scenario of procrastinating the time I have of writing this blog again! We have so many great stories to tell, so here goes!

Funny story, The Bishop's son said that he learned in church, to never take the Lord's name insane... Hahaha true doctrine. We need to take the Lord seriously! He's not crazy!

Also funny.  You've gotta love the south. When someone has approximately five seconds at a door when you're contacting them before they shut it, they choose to take that time to lift their shirt, rub their belly, and then say no thanks. Gotta love it.

We also had a great conference call this week with all of the district leaders! We've got four districts, and about 34 missionaries we serve, so we had a great talk on how it's best to serve them individually and helping them now with the problems they might struggle with forever. As missionary leaders, we have a really special calling to minister, and the Lord has given us a chance to not simply pluck the leaves off of the weeds of these missionary's problems and struggles in life, but has given us the power, to pull them up from the roots!

We talked a lot about how we can choose to help people for a day, or for a lifetime, and how it's interesting that the smallest acts of kindness, and a loving heart to simply ask, 'What can I do for you? (as Ammon of the Book of Mormon did),  the smallest things, take away the biggest problems!  The concept of faith in Christ is so simple and is sometimes hard to understand but makes so much sense!!  It's all about just doing it, and serving to take out the roots, not simply to chop the insignificant imperfections we all have down for them to grow back in a couple days!  Anyway, get to the core! It's not as hard as you think to change someone's life, all you have to do is want it, and God does the rest!!  So go for the roots ;)

We've also been meeting with the most humble man we've met named Mr. B.  He's so prepared! This man is 50-60, has no job, (searching hard!), and simply asked us one night, if he could have some candles to light his home.  He also called us saying that he might not be able to come to church if it rains because he wouldn't have sufficient means to walk and stay dry, (of course we got a ride for him!) He says that lately he's been having a problem with losing his memory, but it's been miraculous how the simple things that he's learned, have truly been by the spirit and no other way. The concepts he is grasping are so essential to his conversion... It's almost like his memory's so bad right now, that he's having to pull back to some pre-mortal info to catch up. He's doing great, and will be baptized in less than a month!

We also had a lesson in the Stake President's home with their neighbors, who are doing absolutely great! We had a church tour with them.  We invited them before they began, to ask any question they wanted, to write them down, and gave them the promise that their questions would be answered. As we ended, one of them prayed, thanking the Lord for the questions that were answered, and the spirit that was felt... 

Ahh time's up, but really quick, we ran into this man, who was a Baptist... Haha!  He came up with a new word, and kept screaming it at us BOGOTUS!!! He asked my companion what bogus means? He told him and then he screamed back in his face, "BOGOTUS!!  MEANS IT NEVER EXISTED!"  We followed this delightfully lost soul for a couple blocks and he asked us to get in his car.  We prayed, the Spirit said NO, and we gave him a Book of Mormon.   He smiled, walked away, stopped, and said, thanks...... for NOTHING!!  Haha, I love people!   Maybe one day he'll read a page or two, he'll change his perspective, and we'll be there to teach him when he's ready!

Well, I love you! all!!! Really a lot!! Keep on giving like the little stream!

Love, Elder Langford

Christmas Devotional, Let the Spirt do the Talking, and.....The Missionary work will never end!!!!

Blog

First off.... whoever didn't watch the Christmas devotional last night, I would invite you to REPENT!!  :D :D :D  That's one of the happiest words we have as a missionary.   I know if you watch it, your perspective on how cute little primary kids are when they're all singing together to Elder Nelson, will be magnified, and you'll be forever grateful for the particle of faith shown to go watch that delightful video!  :) It'll change your life.

ALSO....

Wow so many more things have happened this week... I LOVE being a zone leader... We had our first zone leader training meeting, and it was one of the best moments I've had on my mission so far.  Seeing these 32 missionaries, under our ministry and responsibility, was truly touching as we sang, "Dear To the Heart of the Shepherd." I truly felt my Savior's love for them.  We taught a good 20 minutes on just the simplicity of what we teach. Faith and repentance!  It relates to everything we doo! Oh whoops I did a typo... doo... I better show some faith now that I've realized my imperfections, and show forth a desire to improve so that my perspective can change! 'do'. There. Now I can feel more confident at typing, and I'll be able to have a more firm faith in the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and how I can tackle bigger words, like SUCCESSFUL, because that's how the zone conference went!

As we finished the meeting, we gave some concluding thoughts... I have never felt as much as a conduit of the spirit.  They truly were not my words, and they just kept on coming out!  It's incredible what the mixture of the 3 wanna be missionary words do when they get mixed together.  When you LOVE those you serve, you do your BEST. When you're doing your BEST out of LOVE, the SPIRIT takes over. It's a great feeling, when you have a surety of knowledge, that everything you say, is exactly what Christ would have you say... I've been so humbled this week, and I'm incredibly grateful for the many chances that I've had to change my life! Ahh time's a going quickly, but something else great happened,   We had a FANTASTIC lesson with three new investigators at the Stake President's house.  Ahh I just love how the spirit takes over! (Then right after, it gives you a slap in the face of how much better you can become).  Needless to say, I'm slapping myself back into shape this week! We also got called to give talks on Friday night for Sunday in the YSA Ward.  I don't know how to explain it, but literally again, fifteen minutes flew by on the pulpit! The spirit is the best teacher, and the more I simply get out of the way of it's teachings, the more effective of a missionary I've become. It's always been there, it just needs more and more attention!   Miracles are happening!  We're having a blast, working out hard, and praying that it snows!!

I LOVE being a missionary! The great thing is, it never has to end!  Just the name tag part. ...and the suits. ...and the shoes.  ...and the North Carolina barbecue! 
That's about it though. I love y'all so much!!  I'll talk to some of you soon on Christmas!

Love, Elder Langford

"Polite Rolls on Thanksgiving, I'm melting, I'm melting.... & A changed Heart."

Hello, 

Haha, well, I'm terrible... I didn't save too much time for this, but I'll hurry and get as much as I can out! 

 

Had a great week and a great Thanksgiving! We ate at the Walker's home, and had a wonderful meal!  I ate, (Politely) about 8 roles, and even had some pie.... Oh how the mission changes us... Then we planned for the zone, and basically did that... That was about all of our Thanksgiving Day. Wouldn't have it any other way!!

We had a fantastic week! I'll tell you about some of the miracles/stories.  

GREAT STORY: We contacted a man who came out in a towel, had a decent conversation. We handed him a mormon.org card, and he said, "Ha,oh no thanks, I'm a witch..." Hahaha oh man... Probably shouldn't shower, he may melt... Funny part was my companion and I, were both not surprised, because it was the second witch we'd both seen. Praise the south.

GREATER STORY: , I had the great opportunity to bear my testimony on Sunday.  Someone from Mebane came all the way down to say goodbye... He was an investigator, and he said, that the influence that I specifically had on him, has changed his life, and has led him to seriously consider being a member of this church. He drove 3-4 hours, just to see me... I felt so honored...  A man later in priesthood informed me that he had worked with this man for many years on a shuttle.  He said that he was a hard man to crack.... I know that it was all the spirit. It was nothing I've done! I know that the Lord puts us in places with specific people, because he loves all his children. Only a loving Father in Heaven knows how to use all of the tools perfectly; to uplift, strengthen, and bless all of his children at the same time.   Like a successful parent once said, "Killing one bird with two stones." ;) (Personal family joke)! 

Sorry time is short. This was a great week.  We've given many a blessing, and we are seeing miracles!!!

I love all y'all!! 

Love, Elder Langford  :) 

"In the Zone" in Wilmington, Unwanted Cereal Boxes Get a Home, & Coming Closer to Christ!

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Whoa... So for those of you who don't know, last Tuesday, I was transferred and here we are somehow out here in Wilmington, NC!  My new companion is Elder Mayberry from New Mexico! I know him already and love him! He's got one more transfer and is fighting to deny it ;) You'd never be able to tell though.  He's great!

I LOVE the new area, nice and chilly ;) 30 degrees at night.   Two great wards to serve in including a YSA ward.  This is going to be good, Plus, as a zone leader, a little benefit, I get to go down to Jacksonville, my first area, on exchange!  That'll be great!  I also have a car all the time now!!

It's sooo great being a zone leader! There are so many great ways that we get to reach out to these fantastic missionaries! There's so many of them! I've got some good stories!

First off, heading to the ward mission leader's house, we became engaged in a great conversation about the wondrous reality of how little we know, but how blessed we are for the knowledge we have. As I've served my mission, I've developed a firm testimony in the power of the Holy Ghost, and the specific prompting that it gives to serve as it is felt. Probably my personal favorite, was after a great lesson with the Ward Mission Leader's family, as they began to pull out cereal boxes that they didn't like and no longer wanted.... Ohhhh Hooo welcome to WILMINGTON!!

The day I got here, we went almost straight to a meeting in which we were to give a thought to the Stake President and all the bishops in the area. There was a special spirit to see so many of these bishops combined together, in the purpose of missionary work. We gave a thought on the power of love, and the power that it has to cast out all fear... Ohhhh boy. Welcome to WILMINGTON!!

I was also able to see one of the missionaries that I previously trained, who happens to be in our same district! What a blessing it is. The Lord has been so kind, and has given me so much in the last couple days.... I cannot express in words how powerful the atonement of Jesus Christ is... The more you learn, and the more you understand, the more it just begins to make sense... The roots of faith, can never be too deep. How unsearchable are the depths...  It's truly great to be a representative of Jesus Christ, to think that our job, is to make the choice people have to make, as easy as possible. Think of all that Christ has done for us, how easy he's made it for us. He's taken the road himself, he's gone through all of the hardships, and he's lived the life, so that we can have full trust in his simple gospel, to guide us towards happiness. The ONE thing that we have, is our own choice, just like our investigators out here... The second someone says 'Yes I will do that', it's our duty to help them feel just as we do.  We feel the joys and the blessings that come to us instantly as we keep the commandments of God. It's incredible! It's hard to imagine all the joy that Christ must feel as he sees us make simple steps closer and closer to him. I wish I had more time to go on!

As I mentioned, we now cover both a YSA branch and a ward.   Our bishop's on fire with what he's done for this area!  He announced over the pulpit for all the congregation to teach someone in their home... It's been great! Well, there will be much more next week! I love y'all so much and am so grateful for all y'all have done :) Till next week!
Love,  Elder Langford

 

"Extreme Lyrics, Possible Upcoming Transfer, Showing Zone Leader Love, & Road Kill!"

Hey there everybody!

So I'm still in shell shock mode from being called to be a zone leader! It's been a fantastic week though that's brought about a lot of good change:) 

Also, we're being treated today to a good squirrel and deer meat feast tonight on the way out, so can't argue with that!
One of the sweetest things one of the people we met with today said, that repentance, as she learned throughout the years, can be put simply as, "most than words". I couldn't help but look back to that song by extreme, and coordinate those words with our relationship to the Savior. "More than words, is all you have to do to make it real, then you won't have to say, that you love me, cause I already know."

Our President just sent us a little document that talks about how a writer from BYU said that faith is the ultimate principle, and that repentance is the ultimate doctrine... It's so true! If we continue to live and to try and change for the better on a day to day basis, we'll grow farther than we knew we ever could!

Transfers are in the next week.  It's a crazy thing to think about seeing this as possibly the last week here in Mebane. 

Pretty sweet dinner appointment.  We got to eat dinner with Elder Vanpelt from the best two years.  Sounds like there's a chance of a sequel coming out! What's that going to be called, "The Best Four Mission Presidents?"  Who knows, but he's got a great family, and I've got to say, he reminds me of Uncle Michael! Great family.
Nothing has been as surprising this week, as has been the fact of how I've been able to see the Lord preparing me to be a zone Leader... He's cracked the whip, and is putting me into shape! I know that as long as we can help every single missionary feel the Love that we have for them and for the Savior, that everything will fit into place, and all will be well. Love changes hearts faster than anything else I've seen in the mission. I can honestly say that anything successful that I've done on my mission or in my life, can be traced back to simply, how can this help someone else? There's love in everything that we do, deep down even sometimes! If we can just get all the Missionaries to focus on that purpose of love, and why they're doing what they're doing, then all will be well! Easier said than done, but I've got a probably good 18 weeks to get that ball a rollin!

I love y'all so much! I'm headin out now to go get some fresh road kill food!

Elder Langford

A New Calling and the Power of Love (Not the Huey Lewis kind)!!

Hey everyone,

Well, time=0, so I’ll give some good highlights!

So this past Sunday, I prayed for Humility… Haha always a great idea when you ask the person that knows it best, the problem is that he gives you exactly what  you ask for…

Yesterday morning, I had the prompting to study responsibility… I broke it down a bit and saw that it truly is "to be ready to respond, or to always have the ability to respond to whatever happens around you."  Sounds to me like faith to always do, to always respond! So during our companionship study, we got a call from President, and He asked to talked to me Privately. So I snuck outside for a second and I’m pretty sure, still debating if this was a dream or not, BUT HE CALLED ME TO BE A ZONE LEADER……. Haha! I almost asked him if he was serious… but at the same time,it’s been incredible to see how in just these last couple weeks, I’ve been striving to be more receptive to the Lord’s will, trying to do more of what he wanted and less of what I wanted… 

 I have such a firm belief in the Reality of our Savior, and his enabling power that he gives every single one of us. As we come to Him, the ultimate source of true power (love), we find the way that we are truly able to do all things. That’s going to be the path I’m going to depend on more than ever as I try to influence the lives of so many missionaries. I remember when I was becoming a district leader, that my previous trainer mentioned to me that these callings of leadership have an effect far greater than simply guiding… They are for their eternal welfare and I’ve been able to see missionaries change the course of their lives through the Great power of love. Not the Huey Lewis kind but the Christ like love that changes hearts. Ahhh time’s going to run out.  I love you all and I’m so grateful for all your prayers, letters etc.!! Thank you so much!  I’ll need them all :D

Love, Elder Langford

Sweet Old Ladies & Helping People Change!!

Hello everyone!
 I have to start out with one of the small and simple miracles that made my entire week. (Ok actually 2 things!)
1.    We were biking home after a great contact with this man, and as we
were it was raining a bit, and I was just pondering how we can really sky rocket the progression of this area  so I offered a little silent prayer on the bike. Our complex is right next to an elderly home, and as we were passing by it, I saw this old lady, in the rain,
with a walker, holding a huge black trash bag… I thought psshh… are you kidding me? So we biked up and politely confiscated her garbage from her and took it back in. I know without a doubt that it was an answer to that prayer. The feelings of gratitude and peace were overwhelming, and it was a great feeling almost like a pat on the back saying, “This
is why you’re here”.  It’s so easy for some to get caught up in the ‘thick of thin things’ as President Monson tells us, and it’s incredible how quickly our imperfect logic on how to be successful and how to do this work just melts into your heart when you put that full
effort into love for the people. I know that when Christ is the foundation for our work and all we do, that we are given just that much bigger of a perspective that he has, that everything happens for a reason, and that all of our afflictions are for our good. Someone
who truly loves us, (can’t help but think of my mom), doesn’t change the situations we go through, but shows us how we can be the change of our situations. Every single person out there has that power to change, and it’s our duty to be an example of what our change of heart has made of us. Sweet old ladies do things to you… ;)

2. My companion, who is a bit on the more of the “ I’m terrified to bear my testimony” side, was in a round about way, set up by me to promise to go up there if this little kid did (who always does). As we sat in sacrament meeting, sure enough, the little kid ran up, bore a great testimony, and sat down. I looked at Elder Campbell and he kind of chuckled saying “Ah I can’t do it, you don’t understand…” I felt a prompting to whisper back to him, “Say a prayer, he does!”  He did, went up, and bore a powerfully simple testimony. I’m so grateful for the courage that my companion has, and I couldn’t  help but notice, as we went to a family's home for dinner, his increased giddiness to share the message, to talk to the kids, and to interact more. I’ve been so blessed on my mission to not only see those whom we work with change, but many of the missionaries that I’ve worked with change. It
makes it all worth it. Every bike ride, every rainstorm, every door slammed in your face, is nothing compared to the Love that Jesus Christ places in your heart. You never know who you’re serving your mission for… you never know what effect your actions have, but One
thing I can always promise you is, that God is love, and every extra effort, benefit of the doubt, or just care and devotion that we lend to others, will change them. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but down the road when they turn to their Savior, they will remember all of those that have reached out in service to him, and be forever grateful for that love, an example you’ve shown, from the change he’s given you. I wish I had more time, and I wish I could just let you all know how much I love and appreciate every one of you. I’m nothing without my Savior, and without the love and support I’ve received from so many in the past years of my life. I hope that my dedication and sacrifice can be enough for the master’s grace.
Ahhh, gotta go! Love you all soo much :D :D
Elder Langford
PS:  Bolut? So good!!

Dr. Pepper & the Gospel, Duck Embros, and Belinda Carlisle was right!!

Hello everyone!!
OHHH gosh… I have plenty to type in not plenty of time… hopefully I
can get a good jot and tittle in before time’s up here.
First off, Elder Zwick, along with Elder Pino came to our mission, and for the first time, we had a full mission conference! They were pretty tall spiritual Giants to say the least! He talked about how as he walked out to the plane to come here, Elder Oaks told him to tell us how much they all loved and cared about each and everyone of us… PLUS, He mentioned that Elder Oaks was the one that probably called almost all of us to this mission! Holy revelation... He just kept throwing out more things that stung every one of us (I’ll just speak for all the missionaries) right to the heart… He also mentioned Elder Ballard being requested by the PROPHET to lead the prayer in the prayer role about missionary work, and he mentioned that through our trust in the Savior, the members would be able to trust us. They told us many stories, and one being the announcement  he made to us that our mission president, was the BEST one in all the world… He said he’s met with, and seen all the new mission presidents coming in, and that President Bernhisel, was the best… whoa… I couldn’t help but agree! Not that I know many, but just like the gospel, I don’t have to go lookin for better when I’ve got the best right here! I’m so blessed to serve in this area! Plus it was quite the reunion seeing every single missionary who hasn’t passed on from the mission yet at that gathering!! It was so great! They truly inspired us with their words, and Elder Pino, who was talking to us in Spanish, being translated by a missionary (oh you know he’s got a lot to write home…), asked him to step down, as he bore his powerful testimony that Christ lives, that this is His  church, and that we are hastening his work at this time, as his servants. What an honor!

We had a great dinner with  a recent convert in the ward, and we managed to snag her ladder from her to and made a great analogy about the atonement and cleaning out gutters with  a broom on her roof (oh..only teaching by the spirit!) Also, we invited her to share her testimony, as an investigator joined us for dinner. IT was so great to see how her simple testimony changed his perspective, and allowed him to also feel the great spirit that she possessed. We also got fed by Sister Kinnin and her sister. They make the most amazing Phillipino food. They also had us try an authentic Phillipino appetizer called ballot.  (See pictures in the blog)!  It is actually a fertilized duck embryo. A bit thick in the middle but not too bad!!
Ah, and, there is NO better third hour meeting at church, than talking about charity, while hearing the primary practicing behind you in the chapel, Like a song from the 80's says, "Heaven is a place on earth!!"  I’ve never felt such a strong feeling of love and a realization of purpose! In that same class, I was also led to give an analogy, which to me, has changed my life, and the way I look at Dr. Pepper…

Did you know, that there’s plum juice, in Dr. Pepper??  Pretty nasty… In fact, if someone told me to come and try a DR. pepper, advertising that it had plum juice, I Probably wouldn’t drink it! Sometimes, we look at the great gospel that our Savior has given us, and solely focus upon that plum juice, thinking how is this supposed to make me happy? How is this ever going to taste good? what kind of a crazy drink is this? The adversary works hard to try and pull reality our of proportion, having us put all our time and focus on a little bit of
plum juice, or something that doesn’t make sense to us in the gospel…If we focus on it enough then it leads us to cease drinking living
water (Dr. pepper), then we’ll never understand how good it tastes!And the great thing is, we don’t even have to know why it’s in there,
but just that it tastes delicious! As President  Uchtdorf says, doubt your doubts before you faith!  Drink it!!! Agh time’s a gone today.. I love you all sooo much!!! Can’t wait till next week to talk about everything that we’ve got planned!!
Happy Halloween!!!
Love, Elder Langford







 
 
 

New Building & week of Miracles!!

Hey everyone,

Haha!! Oh I’ve used so much time already…. Never enough emailing time!!  This was a WEEK OF MIRACLES!!!

As always! Don’t even know where to start… the excitement for the new church building in this area keeps on snowballing! (See picture on my Facebook page)! So many members are ready to drive less than a half hour to church (like we Utahans), and so many members are going to be able to make it back once it gets closer! We were meeting with the bishop, and he  said  that members will be calling us.  Needless to say, the ward’s going great, and the work is also better than ever!!

We had a spirit filled lesson a couple nights ago with two 19 yr. old boys. As we were sharing testimonies of the Book of Mormon and how it blesses us on a daily basis, he paused and said, "timeout… time to get serious…"  (gotta love that as a missionary when they take you seriously :D)  He went about telling us that he wakes up just angry, just mad every single day… that he’s never happy, and that He just doesn’t really feel God’s love or the purpose in Life. We were able to bear solemn testimony about the Love that our Father  has for him as an individual. The spirit spoke a profound statement that sparked some real food for thought…

God has the ability to give us anything that he desires, keeping in mind that his main purpose is our ultimate happiness….

Then why doesn’t he give us a nice car, when our old one
breaks down, and why doesn’t he give us all of these great temporal
blessings?  Why do all of these seemingly big things, remain unfixed or imperfect?

This guy really pondered how deep God’s love is, and how it truly doesn’t matter what our surroundings give us, what life deals us out, or even what we’ve done. God desires our TRUE joy and happiness, through allowing us to change our hearts, and see this world as he sees it, and to see the purpose (and value) of our existence as he sees it. We talked about as we truly study his word and keep his commandments, we quickly find that these are simply enablers of happiness, to wipe away the dark, flawed perspective that are logic sometimes fogs are hearts with.

As we shared this, The other person felt inspired to share an experience of how he had attempted suicide, and almost succeeded, but felt that there was a strand of hope left in his life. He said that he knew that this book was true, he knew that
this was from Jesus Christ, and this WAS a hope that could change his life. He began to ask, "can I read this even if I’m Baptist right now?" I know it’s true and want this joy in my life.”

A man who was sitting on the steps seemingly not paying attention, asked as well if he could
have a pamphlet, and began downloading and reading all the scriptures on his phone. The other boy said this was the day he was making changes. He listed all the things he’d done, that he wanted to change and stop doing. As far as we know, he has ceased a number of drugs, and is taking big steps…

I know that the atonement is real, and that if we do as King Lamoni’s father was instructed to do, that the “evil spirit rooted within our breast, will be taken out" and we shall see God as he is, Loving & caring, always!! 
Love. Elder Langford

Facebook Proselyting Miracles, Strong & Faithful Youth & The Gall of Bitterness!

Hooo boy! Time’s a tickin today…

First off I’d like to say thanks to my mom for sending the Halloween candy! Great analogy of the Savior here.  I'm not allowed to blame her for me getting sick for eating the entire Gummy Bear/Recess PB Cup bonanza, but only grateful that she sent it all :D.  So when we have those days, and make poor choices, it’s usually not his fault… but it’s ours, with the way that we spend the gifts he gives us…!

This was another week of great miracles! (as always). First off, the
facebook kick off has really started to begin now! I was able to teach
someone that we met two areas ago, with my former companion, Elder Packard, over facebook!! Oh the things you’d never think you’d do on your mission! I thought the age change was crazy…

....WHICH, it actually was! I know this, because we had a fantastic stake
conference this weekend, Presided by Elder Giddens. He said, that he
overheard Elder Nelson say in public, (so he assured us it’s doctrine),
that this revelation has been the greatest of significance, second
only to the expansion of the priesthood in the 70’s… WHOA…. It’s no
surprise that his talk was about catching the wave, because this has
been one of the biggest we’ve ever seen! Pretty crazy..

As we know however, the real miracles, are the smaller, more
personal ones that we get to see as we keep our eyes open.  We had
someone from the ward call us last night, asking for help in teaching
one of his friends about prayer… He’s the only member of his family,
and has one of the strongest testimonies I’ve felt on my mission. It
was an honor and a humbling experience to give him some help and
advice on how he could present the message to his friend. We
encouraged him to share his testimony, and the power that comes from
it. The youth today of the church that I’ve been able to see, are so
strong. I don’t think I’d be able to have had the courage to sit down and
give a missionary lesson!

The greatest thing is, that it’s not that hard! ;)  As Elder Ballard has
told us, as we truly have a deep love for the people around us, we’ll
only be naturally inclined to bear our testimonies of the Gospel, even
if it’s just by the way we live, the way we talk, or the way that we
carry ourselves. Everyone has some light to give!

Another little tidbit before I head out.  We had an impromptu lesson
with these 2 high school kids which went really well and we set up a time to
go back and see them. When we called them back, their mom answered
saying how appreciative she was for us teaching him and the immediate
difference that he was able to feel. Haha!! She also said in her
wonderful southern accent,  how he had neeever cleaned his room like that!
The gospel blesses families. Trust in your daily scripture studies and
family prayers, and there’s a great promise that the industrious,
proactive energy will burst out of your families, stretching out to
made beds, chores, and who knows what else, with smiles and vigor!
Gotta love the gospel.

Elder Campbell and myself have been invited to
the ward chili cook off party going on this weekend! We’ve got some
great plans to somehow make something that tastes kind of good
hopefully, and douse it with ghost pepper sauce, entitled “the gall of
bitterness." So that should go great as well! ;)

Just another friendly reminder to everyone to continue on with your daily

readings and prayers, because I know and promise that as you do so, that love for missionary work will naturally come out in you! You may talk to
someone about the gospel, and not even realize it until they ask you
about what it means to go the temple.

Ahhh time’s up! Love you !!!!!!!  Elder Langford

Avoiding the "Rush" Underdogs, Awesome Mebane Members, & General Conference Hangover!!

Hi everyone.  This is Kristi.  I added a few mini explanations in Jeff's blog.  My additions are bolded.    Hope you are all doing well!!

Hello everyone!! Blog time!

It’s incredible to see all the wonderful things that the Lord is giving to us on a daily basis. I think that’s a really important thing to look for in life, the every day things, and I’ve really been trying to put an increased focus on that.

Starting off with a funny story.  A few weeks ago, a lady told us that her husband probably wasn’t going to choose to be baptized. However, she was confident in her answer, when she just shrugged and said, “It’s okay, I’ll just do it when he’s dead”.  Better late than never!

Facebook has been a miracle worker for the past week… I got an email from someone that I’d taught and been around with in Morehead City.  (My second area). He would always drive us to and from our service at a museum every week, and we always had good gospel chats. He also tried to play Rush (for those of you who don't know what Rush is, it is Jeff's favorite Rock band),  a couple times… IT was pretty hard to deny "Tom Sawyer", (One of the Band Rush's Songs), but hey sacrifice is sacrifice… Through the miracle of Facebook, we were able to meet up once more!  He said that he wanted to discuss some things, possibly a little bit more offline… We talked to him a bit, and he said, that the influence that the spirit that he felt, as we had shared the gospel and worked with him, brought him closer to Christ, and he decided to commit himself to Christ by being baptized!!!.....

...in the Baptist church!  BUT, then he said that he would like to be rebaptized in our church by Elder Packard or myself sometime, and for us to make the arrangements to get down there and work it out!!  What a miracle to see that!!  I bear testimony that we are truly influences to so many people that we don’t even recognize at times… Even just the smallest, slightest contact you have with someone, can be an add-on to the spoonful of the gospel, that will surely help the spirit go down into their hearts. This Gospel is so true!  Especially after watching a wonderful General Conference, I’m here to testify to that! The words of the prophets, seers, and revelators, are very much from God, and are for our everlasting benefit! “Look up” and search for the miracles in your every day lives. :)

We actually got a random, call this morning.  We were sent over to a member’s house, who had just moved in, to bless their home, due to the fact that her husband would be working late shift every once in a while.  

Also, we had a WONDERFUL experience as we were teaching this man! Now we’ve been teaching him for a while, and he’s presented us with a lot of deep doctrinal questions concerning the book of Enoch, the Masons, and so forth… a LOT  of thing.  We’ve
just told him over time, to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and to find the truth by the answer that God gives you. So we went over, and he again pulled out a bible encyclopedia, and the
conversation raged on, but then we read in 3 Nephi 11.   We got to verses 10 and 11, and he said that he felt a chill run up down his back… He immediately went back and read the two verses, and paused…
He looked up and asked us about a verse that we’d read in the past, "something about a promise in the book about Christ"  …. :D :D :D so we turned to Moroni 10:5, and he said, "yeah that’s it!"  It was INCREDIBLE to watch as the spirit directed him to not only read that verse, but, also, to be led  back to that promise. The Lord definitely loves all his children, and in that day, I learned that we are merely conduits for this work. Our job as missionaries, is to present an environment where the spirit can testify to these people, and can lead them back to our Father in Heaven. We are not the teachers, but the guides… as we recognize that reverence for the spirit that comes from living the gospel, it changes how we do missionary work, and the love that we have for these people.

I know Christ is my Savior, that he has felt the pains of all those that we teach, and all that we have felt as well. He beckons us on a daily basis to feel more of the blessings He wants to give us. His love is deeper than we imagine. With all the power He had, He chose to come down to earth, and to give Himself a ransom for many. He didn’t want to sympathize, but empathize with us. He knows and will forever be the way. The scripture that our investigator read said, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ”. As we show forth our faith, by the ways we live, the miracles will continue to come, but more importantly, we recognize them in greater abundance. An eye full of faith, is an eye full of joy for the things to come!!

I hope everyone had a great chance to truly savor the flavor of conference this weekend! I know I definitely did! We were so blessed by so many members! We were able to go to 3 different homes to watch, each filled with a delightful spirit.

After one of the sessions, we came to the knowledge that my companion hadn’t previously known what an underdog was… So naturally we went out to the member's swing and demonstrated, fixing one of the greatest flaws of his childhood.

We also had a great miracle last night, as one of our investigators called us saying that he had met another one of our investigators at a gas station, and invited her to take the missionary lessons from him!!  (If she felt too uncomfortable with us!!)  Haha!!  He’s so great. He also offered us 100 dollars in groceries…  Though I eat in abundance at times, we couldn’t accept his too kind of an offer! We’ve been so blessed and cared for in this area.  I would just like to say thank you to all the members in this area for their efforts in aiding the missionary work! Their efforts are incredible out here!

Well, That’s all I’ve got for this week. I hope that everyone has a really long conference hangover, and feels spiritually uplifted for weeks to come!!!

I love you all! God bless you!

Elder Langford

Trees & Faith, Bringing People to Christ On and Off Line!!

Hey everyone,

Here’s the blog of the week! I just want to start off with the importance of having a firm foundation in your testimony of Christ. Everything that he asks us to do is a blessing in our lives.

I was running this morning, and I got bored, and decided to try and find a way to liken faith to a tree… IT was random at first, and it took me a little while, but a thought came to my head, that when a tree takes in water, the water doesn’t necessarily go to the leaves,but through the roots, and travels to the leaves, giving the tree it’s necessary nutrients. It knows what is most important, the roots that lie below the ground, unseen by the world. The power of the tree however, comes from the nourishment that the roots receive. How unstable would the foundation of the tree become, if all of it’s energy went into sustaining what it had made?
Without proper energy to the roots, the tree would soon fall, defeating the purpose of even receiving water in the first place. It’s important to remember, that as we seek after hidden
treasures and exercise our faith, that our ‘tree of life’ will grow and prosper.  Faith precedes the miracle! Go for fat roots, not fat leaves.  A man told me in Jacksonville once,  in his booming preacher voice, “Man,  people go into them buildings, and get FAT on the
word! They get FAT! The need to get out and EXERCISE their faith!”
Classic. Analogy of the day!

This week, we were able to see a great change in a man’s life. A less active member who came to church last week, came out to a dinner appointment, with these two sweet, wise, aged women. We talked about their conversion to the church, along with his recent coming back to church. One sister talked a great deal about love, and how that is the greatest gift that God
has given her, the ability to think of and serve others. He was definitely touched by the spirit, and has since been asking to take him back on these exchanges with us! He texted us that he’s been born of God. He really has come a long way from the first time I met him, and our next steps are going to be to help him ditch the cigarettes! ;) We’ll get there when we get there! Just goes to show that the best way that you can help anyone, is to show them love,
appreciation, and kindness.  As told by many, it doesn’t matter what you know, until they know how much you care. Opening up the heart, and truly finding the understanding of these people, is what really makes the difference. Our purpose is to give the Holy Ghost that opportunity
to knock on the door to their heart, in a way that they have to accept or deny. It is the best opportunity of happiness that we can give to anyone.

Also, as we were teaching a little girl who was about 14 years old, we asked her how Christ had helped her through her life. She went on to relate some particularly hard trials that the average 14 year old hasn’t had to endure.  We testified to her that Christ has suffered for all of our sins, and has felt all the negative feelings we’ve ever felt. She paused, and looked up and said, "Really? I didn’t know that…"
It was a great reminder of the power of this message that we share, that Jesus Is the Christ, and that He has gone down the paths of our lives. You can imagine how much walking He’s done… The hymn that comes into my head is, "‘I Stand All Amazed." Because of the paths that He’s walked, we get to be as Peter walking towards the Savior, seeing his loving call to come unto him, to live as he lived.  We need to continue to live faithful so that when the waves of the sea come with the deep water and darkness of night,  we will never drown out the faith that we
have.  Faith works!
Also, I’d like to mention the wave that our ward has caught into missionary work! In our third hour at church, we had a combined meeting, and it was incredible! It was all about missionary work, and how everyone could share it in it’s many different forms. The 2nd counselor actually
brought in a tv, and got on facebook to email someone in the class! Missionary work is all over the place now! It’s gone completely viral and the members are really picking up on it.

Speaking of viral work, I’ve also had the chance to get back on my facebook here and there to
do some online tracking.  Going page to page, I found one of our workers at the history place in Morehead city. He would take us every week to go do service at the history center. He was always hesitant for the message, but recently, he’s requested to talk to me over face book. I can’t wait to see what possibilities are opened from it!
Ahhh! the blog time is always gone before we knew it.   I love you all so much, and want you to know that I have such a powerful testimony of online/offline missionary work!!  As we put forth all we can do, our efforts are lifted higher by our savior! (2 Nephi 25:23) Have a great week! Watch general conference and stay
Awake -_-    
Love, Elder Langford

Facebook Worthy, Being in the Right place at the Right Time & Life"s Movie!!

Hey everyone,

It’s me again. GREAT WEEK this week! I actually wrote down some highlights, so hopefully I can more fully portray how great this week was, so that you can all learn by faith, as well, how great this week was.

It started off with a bang! Just a couple hours after we finished emailing in the library, we had a late night lesson with an investigator that Elder Smith and I months back had met on our bikes, gave him a card, and we didn’t really get that “come back tomorrow and baptize me” feeling. Many weeks passed by, and we

continually tried to stop by and catch him at home, as just that potential investigator in the back of our planner. Then, we finally met up with him one night, but sadly, he was heading for the shower, and since the spirit can’t dwell in filthy temples, (and he was in his towel), we rescheduled, and gave him his time. We came back Monday

night, and found out his background.  We learned that this man was indeed a man, who still skates, ski’s, runs mud runs, and works at an outdoors shop giving ski tours! He almost sounds like my dad Minus the skating. SO we shared with him the restoration, and got his background of religion, seeing how he’d tried to go to all of these different churches, and putting together with his own wisdom what his interpretation of it all was. He really related to Joseph Smith, and as we invited him to read and pray about it at the end, we asked him how he felt. He said that he felt Illuminated. We of course started saying prayers of gratitude in our heads, as we helped him to understand how those feelings were from the Holy Ghost. He agreed and said that he’d had familiar feelings as he’d gone to church in the past. He accepted a baptismal invite, and he’s now reading and praying about the Book of Mormon! We’re seeing him again tomorrow! It’s always incredible to see how the Lord prepares people, and then slowly but surely, he puts you in their path, when they’re ready, and when he thinks you’re ready (not always when we think we’re ready).  We never know when someone around us is ready to hear the Gospel, and needs that message of hope in their lives. We do know however, that as we pray for those situations to occur, that the Lord will put people in our path that are ready to receive that message.  Even if it’s just a spoonful at a time, you could take part in feeding someone the full bowl of capn’ Gospel Crunch, so never be afraid to share, because the Lord knows you’re ready, and that’s why he put you there!! He loves all his children and wants us all to take part in the salvation of our brothers and sisters. There’s a lot of them! AND WITH THAT BEING

SAID….

WE’RE ON FACEBOOK!!!!! The North Carolina Raleigh mission has been selected and chosen as one of the piloting missions for facebook online proselyting!!! We get about an hour a day to do all sorts of things that y’all get to do everyday, except we’re still preaching the gospel!!  We’ve spent the last week beginning the cleansing process of our facebooks… it’s ridiculous, and quite the long process… IT’s a

nice walk to almost every single memory you’ve had in the last couple years, but hey sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven!  With his new tool (for missionaries), we’ve basically been told,  (and very trusted with), the spirit of the law, and making sure we do things that are in tune with our purpose and the spirit of our calling. We can talk to investigators online all over the world, having members join us for lessons! We get to CHAT online! Has anyone ever done this before? It’s a breakthrough! We'll see what happens in the next couple weeks, but basically, we get to facebook a bunch of people for an hour a day, trying to spread  the effort in bringing the gospel to all of the world. We won’t be able to talk too much outside of the missionary work, but we could in the near future here, help those future missionaries such as Alex or Hollie, get on and have some missionary lessons and discussions with us online! WHOA…. They failed to mention this in the MTC… I remember when I got excited when email switched from an hour to an hour and a half -_-. 

IT’s a great honor and a trust to see that they have allowed our mission to be one of the  first to try it out, and we’re going to give a good effort to not ‘mess it up’ and see the fruits that come from doing so!  MY testimony is going viral!  Joseph Smith truly meant the gospel would penetrate all of the earth, and I know that this is just the next step in the great rolling forth of the gospel around the world. The snowball’s started to pick up speed, and the hill just got real steep! We’ll have to let you know some success stories about it next week! So soon to be future missionaries,  keep your facebook clean and ready to purge, because it stinks have to do it on your mission -_-

So.. 

Few things could top a great news like that! EXCEPT… a less active member coming to church this week after many weeks of encouragement, and many years (10-15) of inactivity! His mother passed away in a traumatic event.  He came to church this week, overcoming every fear and just stepping into the Light. IT was incredible to see him there! The ward really embraced him and he wants to continually come back! Seeing the difference this has made in his life is truly a blessing, and

a reminder that it’s never too late! We’ve told him so many times in so many ways, that it’s never too late! He wants to change his life and prepare to find a wife and ready himself for a temple marriage. It’s a humbling feeling to sit back and think how much God loves all of his children and ‘esteemeth all flesh as one.’ I know

that He loves all of us, and desires us all to continually live and take the next step of faith in our own lives, be it coming to church, forgiving someone, sharing the gosssspelllll, Going to the temple, starting on that talk, or whatever his next step is for you!   I read a scripture today that says that Christ sees the past, present, and

future, all as the present. It’s all right there in front of his face, and he’s been there. IT’s almost as if he’s not only watched every single movie of our lives, but he’s also played every, single, role.

He knows you better than you know yourself! He’s seen the outakes, and knows how you’re going to messup many times! If we strive to live by his teachings, he will surely guide us as the director, to the next scene of our lives, and help us get the most out of this Movie we’re in! because really, That’s all it is! There was a life before and

after the movie so  do your best and listen to the director!  It’ll take action but it’ll be worth it! Ahh time’s gone….. I love all y'all so much!!! Keep on keeping on, and never stop trusting in him who is mighty to save!!

(like us on facebook!! XD)

Love, Elder Langford

Mowing Lawns & the Atonement, Christmas in September & Many Mini Miracles!

Hello  everybody! 

This was a great week! We had a lot of success and hard work accomplished!

We had a nice Friday, serving a member’s non member aunt by mowing her lawn, and then running to an investigator’s house to mow his lawn as well. Somewhat of a miracle happened, and I combined it into an analogy… as we were mowing this difficult lawn, with a push mower that wasn’t working too well with the tall grass, this random lawn mowing company pulled up, saw that we were volunteers.  They told us that they’d be finishing the lawn for us!  IT was great and quite the relief to see!

In life too,  after all we do, (and all of our labor on the lawn), even if we feel our work isn’t sufficient, Christ's grace truly is, and as we give our broken heart and a contrite spirit to him, He always finishes the lawn, making all of the difference towards our small performance.  (If only we could’ve used the same people for the second lawn)!!  The second lawn was even bigger and even longer! It took us a good while to cut it down. However, their friend that was living with them was curious about the message that we share, and noticed that we had a little dvd in our car. All we had was, "Joy To the World'l but hey they watched it, and enjoyed it! We’re now teaching the people that live there!  We’ll be shifting the focus back to the restoration and touch on the Christmas section a little later…!!

Those people, though we haven’t been able to meet with them, are already part way through Alma in the Book of Mormon! They read almost everyday, and have really enjoyed it so far! We can’t wait to meet with them to share more and help them see the increased benefits and truths that come from the Book of Mormon. It just goes to show that you never know who will be placed in your path to receive the restored

gospel of Christ. You never really know and IT’s incredible to see and that's why it’s important to give your best (be an example), to everyone you meet, allowing them the full opportunity to accept the message of the gospel!

We were also teaching a less active member on his porch, and he was talking about how he never really had a testimony, how he never really cared and was baptized into the church because his parents told him to and just kind of went with the flow.  We had the great opportunity to tell him that he did in fact have a testimony, that as he kept reading and praying to find that it was true for himself, that he’d be able to

see it grow. It’s always touching to see how the spirit works with everyone in different ways. He was touched, and I know that if he reads and prays, that he’ll find that answer that he so desires. Whenever the feeling comes that we don’t have a testimony, or it feels weakened, that’s a great time to remember that you do have one, that you are a child of God, and that he truly does love and care about you. The best way to maintain truth, is to act upon it, giving great power to your words.

We also had another neat little miracle.  We were doing a little survey for our general authority (Elder Baxter), coming in November, and the computer for some reason in the library wouldn’t work, and we had to leave eventually.. As we walked out, we ran into a recent convert who had just moved into the ward, and hadn’t had his records put in yet…..

the Lord puts you where he wants you!

Also on Saturday, we were making some calls to some less active members, and one of them consequentially, was doing some mulching! So we got to head on down and do some good ol’ mulching w/ them. She completely reminded me of my mother! She was talking about how she sent her son to military school because he got bad grades… (glad I got good grades!!)  They were really nice, but sadly, didn’t feel the need to head back to church because of "this and that" and other reasons here and there… It's sad how so many people can find a reason to say no… there’s thousands of them no doubt, but the reason to say yes trumps all of them every time.  Eternal Life’s in the balance for these great people, and It’s sad how Satan  has swayed them to see things such as the sacrament as a thing of naught.  Hopefully with the new building we're getting soon, they’ll head on back along with a group of other people as well.

ALSO, we were at a dinner with some members, and they happened to

mention that there was a less active family that lived close by to us

that we should go stop by. As we were biking off from our home thatsame day, we saw them out of the corner of our eyes walking back in. We talked to them, and got a dinner appointment set-up! They were Phillipino , and boy was their food delicious! I’m converted. You never know what could happen in North Carolina.

I love you all and know that you’re continually progressing closer to Christ!  Keep up the good work! Y'all need to know that I have a firm testimony of our Savior  Jesus Christ. He is the only one that can truly bring us the aid that we need so desperately on a day to day basis. He truly cares for us, and wants us to be happier, and strives to make many opportunities for us on a daily basis. I pray that we'll act upon these many tender mercies that we have been given in our lives. There is no greater work than that of bringing people to a greater knowledge and understanding of the gospel of Christ!!  As we live the commandments, we experience happiness.

Well, that’s it for today! Hope that y’all are having a wonderful week

and that all’s going well out there!! 

Love, Elder Langford