Richard's Mission Address

Elder Richard Aufdermauer
Michigan Detroit Mission
33505 State St. Ste. 101
Farmington, MI 48335

Monday, November 21, 2011

#64- Back in Order

This week has been great. 

We've done a lot of referral work this week, we had 24 referrals that were not updated correctly or at all. We set out to to contact all of them this week and try to sort the wheat from the tares. We have reduced our referrals down to 12 with about 6 that we have yet to contact, and a few of them that we were already teaching. Most of these referrals date back to June and July with one all the back to February, it feels really good to have everything back in order. 


Part of Monday November 14, Friday November 18 & Saturday November 19 went to trying to contact Referrals.


Monday November 14, 2011: We switched our Preparation Day to Thursday so that we could go to the Temple with the Pickett's. Just what the above states, we used a big chunk of time to look for and try to get in contact with some referrals. We were able to contact a few of them.


Thursday November 17, 2011: We went to the Temple with the Pickett's. It was great! I love going there. Later in the evening we went to see Mary Cook (LA) the Pinto's came with us to fellowship. We had a great lesson with her on the Gospel. She opened up and we addressed some of the concerns that she has. She's not quite ready to come to church, she says, so we are giving her some time to warm up to it. 


Saturday November 19, 2011: It was a good day. We did our normal Saturday day morning routine. At 8 AM we were at the Church to play Basketball with some less actives and a few members. There were 8 total including Elder Lewis and I. That's the most we've had in a couple a weeks. It was really fun. We then went to go do service at the Church across from Danita's car wash in Detroit. That was great too, and then out to find a few more referrals. We found one, Max, he was really interesting. He records music at his house and apparently he has a song playing on the Radio. He seams to be really religious but has a lot of mixed beliefs. He is really open to having us over more, he knows that we are doing the service of God. 


Sunday November 20, 2011: We had a really cool experience last night. After we stopped by an investigator family, the appointment we had after that canceled on us. We parked the car in a nearby parking lot and took a look at our GPS. "Who should we stop by?" as we looked for a few minutes I got a feeling to go stop by Cassie, a less active that we haven't been able to get in contact for awhile. We got there and she let us come in to see her, she expressed that just moments ago she was praying, and asking for guidance, when just a few minutes later we pulled up in front of her house. It is definitely a testimony builder that God really does guide us to where we need to be.


I love you all. Hope things are going well. Hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving!


Tune in next week for more of "Richard's Mission Adventures!!!"


~Elder Richard Aufdermauer :)

Monday, November 14, 2011

#63- Good - Bad - Good

This last week has gone by pretty fast.

Like I said last week on Monday, November 7, 2011: Elder Lewis and I went to The Henry Ford museum and did the Rouge Factory Tour, it was a lot of fun.

Tuesday November 8, 2011: We saw Matt today, he is the media referral that we got a few weeks ago. He ordered a Book of Mormon. He told us that he loved Jacob 5 and that he was at Mosiah 3. Don't know how far he is now, but we'll find out this week. After seeing Matt we got our hair cut. Michelle, who works at the barber shop we went to cuts missionaries hair for free, it's really nice of her. Not much more happened the rest of the day. We stopped by a few more people.

Wednesday November 9, 2011: All day was taken up by Specialized Training. We left at 7:30 in the morning to go pick up some other missionaries and got home around 6pm, then we went out and tried to find a few people.

Thursday November 10, 2011: Cool thing today was that we had a lesson with Mary (LA) and we watched the Finding Faith in Christ DVD and after our discussion about it, she gave us a lesson about Bumble Bees. She even brought some from work to show us. It was really cool.

Friday November 11, 2011: Probably the best yet worst day of the week. We had 5 set appointments 3 cancelled on us. It's tough when an awesome day planned gets pulled apart. The other 2 were good lessons. We saw Danita, we helped her paint some more. I think we finished all the painting now. We shared some scriptures to help out with something she's struggling with. Later in the day we saw Rosy and addressed some of her concerns and things she needs help with, we also put Rosy on date for December 24. And to end the day we were blessed when Sean (Member) called us up and invited us over and as an extra bonus, he fed us. Good day turned bad turned back to good.

Nothing else from the week really stood out. Except that we got transfer calls this week and Elder Lewis and I are staying together for another 6 more weeks!

Monday, November 7, 2011

#62- Lots of Fun!

This week has been pretty slow, but for some reason it went by kinda fast.

Monday October 31, 2011: HALLOWEEN! It was pretty fun. We went bowling with the Schaefer (Mortensen & Green) and Greenfield (Whicker & Bingham) Elders. After bowling we went out to eat at Applebee's for Elder Mortensen's birthday on the 30th. Following dinner, because the Detroit areas have a curfew of 6:30 tonight they stayed with us while we went trick or treating to a few members and investigators houses, we only got 4, but it was fun.

Wednesday November 2, 2011: After our District Meeting I went on an exchange to Schaefer with Elder Green. It was pretty good, I got to be on my bike for the rest of the day and part of Thursday.

Thursday November 3, 2011: Elder Green and I went to play basketball with the Greenfield elders in the morning. While we were playing Elder Bingham came down to get the ball and elbowed Elder Green right above his eye, it split open and he started bleeding a lot. We fixed him up when we got to the apartment, it's going to leave a mark.

Saturday November 5, 2011: We went to Danita's car wash to help her out and to wash detail our van. We had apartment inspection and they check the car too, so we had a very clean apartment and a very clean car.

Sunday November 6, 2011: HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTIAN!!!! The church was all fixed up from last week so things were good. This guy came into church near the end of sacrament meeting and a member called us out to talk to him because he had a question. He was a Southern Baptist (white guy) and he asked about the curse of dark skin given to Cain and how it relates to black people. We explained that it was a curse of dark skin and not of black skin, we also gave him the account of Laman and Lemuel receiving the curse of dark skin. Definitely a common question we get.

Monday November 7, 2011: To celebrate Christian's birthday Elder Lewis and I went to The Henry Ford. Thanks to the Montierth Family who got us in for free. We went around the Museum and saw a bunch of the stuff there, unfortunately part of the car area was closed for some construction. The really cool part was going on the Rouge tour in the Factory. We got to walk around and see the assembly line and the workers working on the Ford F-150s it was really cool. Sorry you had to miss it Christian.

This week we were also able to see Malissa, and talk to the Velasquez family. Both wanted to and hoped to come to church but come Sunday none of them were able to make it. :( Hope they come next Sunday!

Also sorry I can't get the pictures of the service in Detroit or the pictures from Halloween party stuff, I guess you'll all have to wait until I find a computer in the library that will do it or just have to wait until I send a card home (I will, I still have one that I was suppose to send awhile ago, I'll get it to Christian and Molly soon).

Monday, October 31, 2011

#61- Crazy Week! Service, Appointments, and An Accident!

This week has been great and full of blessings!

Disk Golf last Monday (October 24) was really fun, the grass was wet and kind of mushy and really muddy in some spots. I actually slipped and got mud all over my left pant leg and my arm. Had a blast!

Tuesday October 25, 2011: We had a district meeting today instead of Wednesday, because we had interviews with President Holmes. After interviews, we stopped by a referral to give him the Book of Mormon that he requested, he was really interested to read it and to find out what it is about. He said that he would read it with an open mind, and he said that we can come back to talk about the Book of Mormon more with him. We were also able to get in contact with some investigators that have been hard to reach lately.

Wednesday October 26, 2011: We did a lot of service today. We helped Bruce. He moved into the ward from Utah. We helped him rip up the carpet in his house so that he could start fixing things up. We then went to Danita's house and helped her paint her living room with Greenfield Elders (Elders Whicker and Bingham). After those service projects we went an saw Malissa, she is hoping to come to church on Sunday.

Friday October 28, 2011: We helped Danita with a little more painting, it's turning out really well. We helped set up the ward Halloween party. Sister Pangelly asked us to help and we knew that she really needed it because people who were suppose to help I guess bailed out or didn't do much. The decorations were sweet! (because we did them)

Saturday October 29, 2011: We taught a few people in the morning and afternoon then at 5ish we went to the ward Halloween party. It was great. There was lots of chilli for the cook-off and there were some really good ones. Sister Pangelly asked us if we could be in charge of the beanbag and ring toss. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday October 30, 2011: Today was really interesting, probably one of the craziest days I've ever had on my mission...so far. We are just about to walk in the door of the church for the PEC meeting when Brother Hayes (ward mission leader) texts us and says "Church has been cancelled this morning." We thought, "Yeah right, he's just messing with us." We walked into the Bishop's office and they told us that there has been some water damage done in the building and that the Mother's lounge and one of the rooms to the chapel is flooded. The water came from the ceiling and ruined it. Because Dearborn Ward was cancelled we attended the Grand River Branch with the Pickett's. After church we had an appointment with a less active/part member couple. They are really kind and like to have us come by. The wife is having surgery right now on her knee and she was glad that we could come by yesterday to give some comfort and a blessing. After this appointment we were going to stop by to see some people before our next appointement. On the way, we saw a car accident. It was the car right in front of us so it was really close. The light was green so everybody was going. A lady, not paying attention, went through the red light and hit 2 cars, a car in the right lane and the car in front of us. It was definitely an experience you don't see everyday. We parked off the road a little after the light and went to see if everybody was alright, nobody got hurt so that was really good. We stayed until a police officer showed up. The appointment later that evening was good. We had dinner at Sister Manner's with the Corless family too. We got to play Air Hockey with everybody. When we got home Elder Lewis carved his pumpkin, an eye thing. And I painted Jesus on my pumpkin. I took pictures of them, but unfortunately the computer I'm on right now can't upload my camera right now so I'll email you all the pictures later this week :)

Monday, October 24, 2011

#60- Mormon.org

This week has been really good.
A few things have been picking up, and we are finding a lot of people. As far as new investigators it's been a little hard, but we have a few potentials. Most of the people that we have been finding are inactive members that have allowed us to come back to their home. It feels great when people say that we can come back because we know that the people know why we are coming and they realize that they need to get back to the straight and narrow path.

I'm going to write about the highlights of this week.

Thursday October 20, 2011: We helped a member move into the ward from Ogden, Utah. He is really interesting, nice and cool. He has more books than I have stuff. He is the son of a less active member and his sister Linda is investigating. We are hoping that he has a strong influence on them and helps them all come to church. His mother came to church with him yesterday, so that is a good note. Later that evening we stopped by someone that we didn't know, Maureen, she was baptized at 8 and became inactive a few years later when her family was broken up. I forget if it was divorce or death, but she hasn't been to church since. She is one that invited us to come back soon, she is going through some hard times. We also saw a part member family, The Kelleys. The dad is investigating and we had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation, he has a hard time comprehending things so we used Mormon.org ~ http://mormon.org/plan-of-happiness/ ~ with him. We feel like it helped out because its really simple and there are a few videos.

Friday October 21, 2011: Leola was reactivated just a few weeks ago and she is making great progress. She invited a friend to come to church with her next week and we are hoping that her friend likes the ward and wants to learn more about the gospel.

Saturday October 22, 2011: HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY GRAHAM!!! Today was super BUSY. On Saturdays we play Basketball with some less actives and investigators. It was a lot of fun, the guys that play are really cool and are trying to teach me so I can play better, and I'm getting better. We then went to Detroit to Joy Road and Hubbell Road to do some service at the Baptist Church on the corner. We help out every Saturday with the Food Drive that they put on to help people in need get some food. After that we went right across the street to the car wash that is owned by a member and we washed the van. Danita, who owns the car wash is really awesome, she takes care of the missionaries really well. She goes to the Grand River Branch where the Schaffer and Greenfield Elders go. That's our district Schaffer, Greenfield and Dearborn. All 6 of us do the service here at the church. Later in the evening we found another inactive member that said that we can come back.

This has been another week full of helping others. It really helps make us feel uplifted.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week. Elder Lewis and I are going to go play Disk Golf now! Talk to you guys next week!

Monday, October 17, 2011

#59- Service

This week has been pretty good.

We were able to get a hold of some investigators that were super busy the last few weeks. Malissa is doing alright. She has noticed a drop in her life since she hasn't been to church. She is going to be out of town on the weekends for the next 4 weeks. While she is in Arizona for a few of them she said that she is going to go to one of the wards out there, but I told her that she still needs to come to our ward a few times before she gets baptized. We are probably looking towards December.

We also saw the Velasquez family, they are doing good and have the same feeling about not coming to church. They weren't coming because their son had Football games on Sunday, they said that the season is almost over and that there are no more Sunday games. They are also looking at Baptism in December when family comes out for Christmas.

Tuesday October 11, 2011: We did some service for a member who is going to be renting out her house, she needed some stuff painted. Elder Lewis painted a door and I got to paint part of a fence. Now this fence is not a wood fence its a metal one, the links. Like the ones around parks or schools. I got to paint it with a roller (not the best on that kind of fence) and a brush. It was kinda hard to do it but I had a lot of fun. Apparently I did a lot better job then the guy who did the other half of the fence.

We saw Malissa on Wednesday October 12.

Friday October 14, 2011: Happy Birthday Molly!!! Up bright and early. We had to pick up some other missionaries because we all went to do service at the Roseville Building for a huge clothing drive. DI in Utah sent a ton of clothing to give away and we were asked to go help set up and help people as they cycled through. The experience really made me appreciate what I had. There were a lot of really poor people going through and were trying to get what they could. I was over in the men's section organizing and helping people find things they need. I was doing pants a lot of the time, and we didn't have a large variety of pants and I had to turn people down because we didn't have their size. It was a great experience to help others in need.

Saturday October 15, 2011: More service for us. We went to the Schaffer Elder's apartment and walked to the clean up site in Detroit. The Grand River Branch set it up and we showed up to clean up. This was an abandoned apartment complex covered in trash. If you want to look on Google maps to see were it was it's on Fullerton Rd. and Grandmont in Detroit. It shows how nice it was before it was left. Picture it covered in garbage. I'll send some pictures of it. We also saw the Velasquez Family today.

Sunday October 16, 2011: I got to speak in church. I think I did pretty good. People kept telling me that I did great and that they all really like it. I talked about gaining a personal testimony.

We had a pretty fun, crazy, busy week. Definitely had some awesome experiences, and helped a lot of people.

Hope you are all doing well!

Monday, October 10, 2011

#58- Story of Job

This week has been great.

Tuesday October 4, 2011: Transfer Meeting, I now have Elder Lewis! We went to dinner at the Pickett's apt, right next to ours, and did a lot of planning for this transfer. Things are looking good.

Thursday October 6, 2011: We have a new investigator, Paul. He is really awesome. He's on probation for the next 20 months, but we'll continue to work with him so that he can fix up his life. He's been to just about every religion and found faults. He's really interested in The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. He's been taught before, a while ago, and he's read the Book of Mormon twice already. It's amazing to see someone with that much desire to want to change his life.

Friday October 7, 2011: We stopped by an inactive member to see if they lived there and he invited us in. We shared a great lesson with him and he said that we could come back to see him and his wife. It feels great when people invite us back into their homes.

Saturday October 8, 2011: It was a nice day. We played some Basketball with some less actives and investigators. Did some service at a church in Detroit, across the street from Mama D's car wash. And in the evening we went to a concert thing at the Saline building. It's called The Story of Job. It was awesome. The lady who wrote it all is from the Dearborn Ward and they went to San Diego to perform it, and an LDS producer wants to produce it. So if you ever see or hear it, remember I saw it first!

Sunday October 9, 2011: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Hope it was a good one, sorry I wasn't there to party with you!