New Challenges!

With Kelly's transfer last week he was made zone leader and is being trained by his very first companion in the field. So he gets to serve twice and be trained twice with Elder Harrison! I asked Kelly what his duties were as a zone leader and he responded.

Well I made it to Forth Smith alright and my reunion with Elder Harrison was sweet! We got to talk about old times and things that had happened when he trained me. It is kind of a relieve to be serving with some one that I have already served with because I'm not so worried about getting to know someone new and all the awkwardness that comes with it.

This transfer is going to be a very tough transfer. I already feel the refiner's fire heating up and I can feel that there is going to be a lot of growth from this fire. The ward is sweet here and I love the people we are teaching, I haven't been able to meet with all the investigators that we are teaching but I'm way excited to teach them.

So I wrote about a family that we were teaching when I first came out and was in Springdale, the Jackmen and Landert family. They were a family of five and we had baptism date set with them while I was there but one day they randomly moved! Guess where they moved? Fort Smith! Elder Harrison found them here and half of the family is baptized now! Now he and I are teaching the rest of the family! It's a testimony to me about how God knows what He is doing and how He is going to get things done.

Last transfer was awesome with Elder Clinger. I have never worked harder and been more obedient in my life then last transfer! The last few days were tough because we said good bye to everyone we loved and were teaching. While teaching several of them the Spirit spoke through Elder Clinger and me very strongly to them. While we were at Andrews and Kristy's we taught them the importance of following the commandments and how we need to be worthy to go to the temple. This family had just lost a child before I got there and I knew that this was a huge concern for them. Elder Clinger and I gave them blessings before we left. It was a very powerful good bye lesson!

Fort Smith is a town of about 40,000 and there are only two missionaries that cover it, Elder Harrison and me. Since I have been here it has been in the hundreds everyday! Keeping hydrated is very tough here but people are nice and they give us water. And so far I have been able to us the talents that I do have to serve others, meaning I have recharged a ladies car AC and have done some fender repairs on a car that went off the road into a ditch. I miss working on cars so much! I never knew how much I loved it till I got out here.

As a zone leader we inspire and uplift the zone, which are about 25 to 30 missionaries. We teach at zone conferences and go on exchanges with the district leaders and assistants to the presidents. I guess you can say we lead by example and help other missionaries reach their potential. We also take the indicators from all the missionaries in our zone and we report them to the assistants and then they go on up the line to the president of the church. I'm sure there are something's that I have left out because I haven't quiet learned everything about what we do as zone leaders yet.

My hands have been doing great! I have cut out all pop from my diet and have cut out all other junk foods out as well and I am as fit as a fiddle. I'm pushing 202 and I have really felt the difference of eating good healthy foods. We don't have a place to work out here but we have some equipment that helps out. We have pull up bars, perfect pushups, elastic bands and a 50 pound sack of sand that we use in the mornings. If that place you got those last vitamins from has a good multi-vitamin pill I would love that, as well as some more vitamin c that would help a lot. That's good that those pants will be getting here some, I will treasure those bad boys for the rest of my mission if they just let air in!

Love your son,
Elder D. Kelly Conrad

Zone Leader

We received a letter from Kelly today with the boxes of winter stuff he sent home. He is moving to Fort Smith, AR today and is being called to be a Zone Leader. He will serve with his first trainer, Elder Harrison, who gets to train him again as a zone leader this time!

President and Sister Seal's parting moments as they are being released

The "Tie Die" Elders of Mountain Home!

Mascot for the OTM

The Unitarians!

Well I got a pretty big shock this week when I had my interview with President Seal last Friday. He told me that he was thinking about closing Mountain Home down for a little bit and taking the missionaries out of it because we aren't getting any support from members. We have worked so hard and have gotten 140 otm's every week for five weeks strait and we don't even have one baptism date! This transfer is a testimony to me about how much member support is important to missionary work. It's not that we are two hard missionaries to get along with, it's just the fact that our ward has gone apostate and is coasting till the second coming. They have gotten weary of doing good things.

Our area is being shot gunned or white washed; meaning both missionaries are being taken out at the same time and two new ones are being put in. I am going to Fort Smith, Ar and I am serving with Elder Harrison again! Man I am so pumped about it! I have a way sweet video of getting the transfer call that I will send home. Elder Clinger is going to Tulsa and will be split training a new missionary and will be a new district leader as well, what a lucky guy.

My new address is:
Elder D Kelly Conrad
300 S. 16th St
Fort Smith, Ar 72901

Everything has dropped this week, people have been calling us and cancelling appointments and we have been struggling to teach lessons, but we are still working and doing our all. We set an all time high of 165 otm's in one week for this area and I'm pretty sure that no one for a long time will be breaking that record.

This transfer has taught me so much, it has taught me to ask Heavenly Father for things and to work for what I have asked for. It has taught me not to hold anything back because if I do, so will Heavenly Father.

I did get the Dear Elder letter from Joe and it helped. The Unitarians were nice, a lot of them were people who were sick of other churches and being forced to believe a certain way without being told why. Elder Clinger and I stood up in front of 15 people and taught them for 30 minutes on Heavenly Fathers plan for us, how we are His children and how He had the earth created for us and then we went into agency and how Jesus Christ was part of the plan in helping us overcome our agency and disobedience to Heavenly Fathers commandments. After we taught them we had 30 minutes to answer questions. All of their questions were searching questions, they asked about the organization of the church, temple marriages, priesthood, blacks and the priesthood, baptism for the dead and some other little things. The Spirit was there and we answered all the questions perfectly. I could see that several of the people were more prepared than others, for example we talked to this man named Larry who was a catholic and if you know any catholic they either go to church and are way committed, or they don't go to any church because they hate churches; kind of like in-active members of our church. But anyways, Larry told us his story and how he joined the Unitarians and how he raised his kids to be Christ like. I really like him and I'm sure if we hadn't gone to that Unitarian place we would have never talked to Larry because if we had knocked on his door he would have slammed it in our faces, at least that is what he told us he would have done. I'm not going to be able to see much of the effects from teaching the Unitarians but someone will. It was amazing when talking to these people to hear about how they almost all had children, or family who had joined the church.

I don't have much else to say, this week has just been one huge lesson for Elder Clinger and I about how if we are going to have success here in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission it is going to be because we are exactly obedient to the commandments, mission rules and not holding anything back.

Love,
Elder D. Kelly Conrad

FW: Slow Miracles!

-----Original Message-----
From: Carol Ann Conrad [mailto:caconrad.ms@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 10:18 PM
To: 'caconrad.ms.kellysmission@blogger.com'
Subject: Slow Miracles!

Alright so I called it last week when I said that we were going to be seeing the miracles coming, this past week we found a way sweet family that we are going to be teaching this coming Tuesday and I cannot wait for it! Whenever I find someone new to teach I get way excited! Their names are Brandon and Teresa. Elder Clinger had OTM'd Brandon our first week together at an apartment complex when we had split up to talk to different people. At that time Brandon was moving, so we got his information, but he was kind of forgotten about. Well last Saturday we tracted out this neighborhood on the other side of town and we knocked into Brandon and his wife Teresa, they were way receptive and happy to see us! They were on their way out so we couldn't teach them right then so we set up an appointment for Tuesday! Man I am way pumped for Tuesday!

The Ward is slowly getting that wakeup call that they have needed. Last Sunday we had a high counselor come and speak to us and he gave us missionaries a huge plug! To give you a little history of this area; I have not been one exchange with a ward member here! We have assigned days and people to do them but they always cop out; there is no real sense of commitment here. Well when this high counselor talked to us he told the ward that they need to shape up and go on exchanges and to do their own missionary work! Man it was so sweet! I could feel a change in that church building when he was talking to us. I have been really praying hard that we would start getting the wards help and the Lord is slowly answering my prayers.

This week I have really been put through my paces. We talked to two very anti-Mormon people this week and met several others that wanted to warmly contend with us. After talking to these people my testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith have grown a ton! Elder Clinger and I have come to the conclusion that the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission is a European mission. I think my testimony is growing to getting me ready for the challenge that is coming up this next Sunday. Elder Clinger and I are going to a Unitarian church and we are going to teach a whole congregation about our beliefs and the Restoration, and when we are done we will be having an open floor to have questions asked. Man it is going to be the experience of a life time! So I will let you know if do any converting of whole congregations. I read today the story of Aaron converting 7 Lamanite cities after converting King Lamoni and his father, not comparing myself to Aaron or anything, but I love dreaming big.

The weather is very hot and very muggy, It's 88 degrees outside and its 90 percent humidity as well, every time I walk outside, or get out of the car I let out a little "Wow!" because I'm not used to it yet. Those shirts came just in time.

This week we got caught in a pretty nasty storm out in the middle of nowhere. We almost got to see a tornado! We saw at least 2 funnels forming; man we were so freaked out because we had nowhere to go! We hid out at a Wal-Mart that was in the town we were just outside of. I got some of it on camera, you'll have see it and hear how freaked out we were.

This weekend we will be getting transfer calls and once again I have no real clue as to whether I'm going or staying. I'll do whatever I guess and I'll love it. Mom I did get the garments and they are much appreciated, they have saved me! My companion has been telling me about this place called CTR clothing; it's like missionary mall, but its better quality and has better selections, especially on polyester ties! Hint hint

Love,
Elder D. Kelly Conrad

The Last Zone Conference!

Another tough week has gone by and I have been blessed with the ability to bear it. Mountain Home is going to have a lot of miracles and blessings poured out on it one of these days. We worked SO hard and have come to the conclusion that all we can do is work and pray.

This week was good, we had Zone Conference on Thursday and the whole thing was centered on Christ. I can't really explain it but because of the inspired leadership of President and Sister Seal I was brought closer to the Savior through the Spirit that was there. We took a little test that is found in Preach My Gospel, it's called the "Christ like Attribute test". I have really been focusing on becoming more Christ like and always remembering what he has done for me. One of the questions on the test was, "How often do you think of The Savior and what he has done for you?" When I answered this question using the 0-5 scale, 0 being the lowest and 5 being perfect like Christ, I was shocked! I had to put down a 0! Man I felt terrible after having to put that down! The thought that ran through my head was that I am His representative and I never think about what he has done for me!? I have thought about it once in a while, but I need to be thinking about it every day! So I have committed myself to ask myself that question every day before I go to bed, when I wake up and whenever I catch myself murmuring because of something that I feel is tough. Last night I tried to imagine the Second coming while trying to go to sleep. The reason I was thinking about it was because everyone we OTM on the street asks us questions about it and when we think it is coming, so having so many people asking you about it gets you thinking about it as well. But anyways when I thought about it I visualized the Savior coming down to the people in the land of Bountiful in the Book of Mormon and I just felt over whelmed with joy and happiness. Man was it sweet! I love that feeling!

After Zone Conference we said our final goodbyes to Sister Seal because we will not be seeing her till we are done serving our missions. I'm way sad about getting a new Mission President; I'm really going to miss President and Sister Seal.

A funny trial that happened after Zone Conference was that I left my back pack with everything in it at the stake house in Springfield, Mo. When I say everything I mean the Keys to our apartment and to the car. I didn't realize this until we were back home, over two hours away. So we were on bikes for a few days until we were able to get the keys over-nighted to us. Then we had a miracle when a member here called us up and said that he was going to Springfield and he would pick up my bag. Man Elder Clinger and I prayed like crazy for that miracle. Oh and by the way, Sister Bird, Elder Clinger isn't related, but he knows the family a little that you were asking about.

This transfer is probably going to be about like last transfer; tough for the first few weeks, learn a ton and work hard and then for the last few weeks see the blessings come in.

Love
Elder D. Kelly Conrad

Week of Power!

Alright, this is sweet, I'm finally getting to have a normal preparation day and I don't feel so rushed. This past week has yielded some very important and powerful lessons for me and my missionary efforts. I have successfully learned how to handle rejection. Mountain Home doesn't have as nice of a feel to it as Miami did and when we hit the doors it is hard to find anyone who is open enough to even entertain the message we have to share. I guess with all of their "quick to judge" attitudes they are doing themselves a disfavor, but here is where I am learning a huge lesson. With people who are quick to reject us, I am learning to more effective in the few precious seconds that they do listen. Parts of the lesson I have learned is in the delivery and the boldness of the message and bearing strong testimony of the Restoration. Another part of the lesson that I'm learning is that it's just as important to have a powerful OTM and be a good example while on the street and off the street. Meaning being a missionary everywhere I go. As Elder Clinger and I have talked about what we can do better so that we see more success we have come to a couple of conclusion, get 20 OTMs a day, plan 6 lessons every day, and be exactly obedient!

I have found a very powerful scripture this week that has helped me gain a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon and that it truly is a book that was translated by Joseph Smith. Its Mosiah 7:33, "But if you will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." The power and strength that this scripture came as I was trying to go to bed a few nights ago and I was reciting it over and over in my head and I was slowly able to apply the principle being taught in it into my life. It came to me as a thought, "Elder Conrad I will deliver you if you will serve me with all your mind!" Thus far on my mission I have proved that I was will to serve Him with all my might, but now He is showing me that it's time for me to serve him with all my mind. So I've committed myself to memorize a scripture a day and it has really helped me stay focused on missionary work.

It's been tough getting things going here, but things are slowly getting better, Elder Clinger and I are starting to get used to each other's teaching habits and are able to teach in unity. He's a very strong companion and has really helped me learn a lot.
The other day while we were out tracting an apartment complex we came across a lady named Kim. We started to chat with her and were kind of shut down when she told us to leave because she was having a hard time. Kim told us that she had just found out that she had cancer and that she was struggling with it. We bore testimony about Gods love for her and how the Savoir knows how to help her. It was one of the most powerful short lessons ever! While we were talking to her we got the prompting to say a prayer right there and asked Kim is she wouldn't mind. It was so powerful and we could see that Kim felt the Spirit as powerfully as we did. We got a return appointment and we are going back this week so hopefully she will remember the witness that was bore to her the other day.

That's all for now!

Love,
Elder D. Kelly Conrad