Week #6

Dear Family and Friends,

Another great week out on the mission here in Ohio. We started off the week with a mission conference last Tuesday. At first I was not excited to go and sit through an 8 hour meeting of straight talking. Sounds terrible right? Well I was wrong! That was the greatest meeting ever! Elder Bennett came to talk to us. He came with nothing prepared. He told us he was going to go completely off of the promptings of the spirit and that is exactly what he did. Everything he said was awesome and applied to me directly. He told us to talk to EVERYONE. Before this meeting I was only talking to people that looked nice. I tried to avoid all interactions with anyone that looked mean or rough around the edges. I was honestly afraid of being rejected. Since then though, I have tried to talk to everyone. We have seen a huge increase in the amount of investigators we are teaching. It is so obvious that the more people you talk to the more investigators you will have. For whatever reason I didn't make that connection. It was a huge blessing to have elder Bennett come and teach our whole mission. 

On Wednesday, we ran into a little bit of a problem. We tried to start our car and the battery was completely dead! It was a bummer but turned out fine. We had our neighbor help us out by giving us a jump. We got into the car and saw that some foolish Elder had left a light on! Yes it was me... I am the foolish Elder. Well I learned my lesson. Also, Wednesday afternoon we had an appointment cancel on us and we couldn't find anyone to teach. We were sitting in our car trying to think of something to do when I suddenly had this sick feeling come over me. I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. It was the weirdest thing. But as soon as we got back on track of teaching the gospel, I had that feeling leave me immediately. I know that was my Father in Heaven telling me that I need to be working every minute of the day. I can be having a hard time with my companion or be mad at myself but as soon as I focus on preaching the word, I start having a great day.

Thursday and Friday were full packed full of time spent finding people to teach. We went around on our sweet mountain bikes with our stylish helmets stopping and talking to every person we saw. We picked up 3 new investigators on Friday and I think 2 on Thursday. We are working as hard as we can and seeing great results. I know that as we work as hard as we can, giving everything we can to the Lord, he will bless us with strength to press onward. 

I am so grateful for the energy and strength I have been given from Heavenly Father. Thank you all so much for your prayers. 

Love, Elder Scoresby

The first picture is of me and some other elders in my mission. The other is of a home across the street from my ward mission leader's house and yes that is a marijuana plant on his roof

Week #5

Dear Family and friends,

I hit the month mark this last Friday which was awesome! It was comforting to know that I have made it this far without being hit by a car. 

This week has been super busy and quite tiring but I have loved it so much! We are quite short on miles this month because of the trips we have been making to Cleveland for so many different conferences, so our bikes have been put to use. I have seen so many awesome blessings from using our bikes! We have so many more opportunities to teach people about our savior Jesus Christ. I am also getting back into shape which is a miracle. 

The best day of this week was definitely Friday. We did a ton of service which was so awesome and also had the chance to teach 6 different lessons! I would definitely call that a successful day! 

The best lesson we had was not planned and was actually with a man we had never met before named Orlando. He is the uncle of one of our investigators named George. As we taught George out on his porch early in the afternoon, Orlando walks up and tells us he doesn't need to hear our message because he has already found God. He didn't want to listen to anything we had to say. I realized the only way we could get to talk to him was if we asked about his personal experiences. I asked how he came to know God. He proceeded to tell us that he used to be a major drug addict. He told us he prayed and asked God to help him turn his life around. That was 10 years ago, and since then he has been clean. He has such a strong testimony of God and Jesus Christ. We shared a spiritual message with him and told him that his father in heaven loves him. After that we all felt the spirit so strongly. Orlando actually started crying super hard! After feeling that spirit and that happiness, he told us that he wants to meet with us again. I closed the lesson with a prayer and the entire time I was praying, Orlando was crying his eyes out. We went to shake his hand and then he asked if he could give us a hug!

I couldn't believe how quickly his heart softened from feeling the spirit! I saw the power of God that day and I was so happy that I could've helped him to feel of the love that God has for him. 

Orlando is just one example of how the spirit can soften hearts. I have seen this happen with each and every one of our investigators. Each lesson they seem to be happier and happier. 

I also have become happier than ever before. I am so glad that my family has helped me get to this point. My mission has been hard but I am seriously loving it so much. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. I love and miss every single one of you. Hope you all have a great week.

Love, Elder Scoresby

Akron Zone Conference

                                            Jackson and Elder Casto (Jack's favorite elder in the MTC).

                                                             Jackson's roommates in the MTC

                                                 Jackson and Elder Allen having companion study.

                                                      Jackson dead tired after a day of service.

                                                       After a day of laying sod for a member.

                                                                   Elder Scoresby under a tree.

Week #4

Dear Family and Friends,

Another successful week under the belt. As time goes on I get more and more used to mission life and having someone by my side 24/7. The lessons are so much more familiar and the spirit gets stronger and stronger as me and Elder Allen teach. He is a great trainer and is helping me learn the ropes of missionary life.

So earlier this week, on Tuesday, me and Elder Allen had an awesome miracle happen. We had just had an appointment cancel on us (happens quite often) and we didn't know what to do. Our backup plan wasn't available so we pulled over and tried to think of where we should go. I had a strong urge to say a prayer and ask our Father in Heaven where we should go. Immediately after I closed the prayer, Elder Allen knew where we should go. We went to a less active members house to hopefully share a lesson. We pulled up and got out of the car, but before we went to the door, we decided to stop and talk to a man passing by on the street. To our surprise he addressed us as Elders and knew so much about our church! He seemed to be very interested and was happy to give us his number to call him and set a return appointment. We are planning on meeting with him later this week and I will let you all know how that goes. I was so grateful for this sweet experience and to be able to see the love the Lord has for me.

Wednesday was a less exciting day. We had zone conference which was awesome and super spiritual, but Elder Allen got a migraine so we had to cancel all of our appointments we had set for later that day. I don't think I have ever been more bored in my entire life I was that night. I read scriptures, watched some bible videos and walked in circles around the apartment... It wasn't too bad but I would rather be shot rather than do that again.

Then on Thursday, we taught an awesome investigator named Issac. He has a lot of knowledge about the church from the lessons that he has already been taught but there is something holding him back from baptism and coming to church. For whatever reason, he doesn't feel very comfortable with church. But as we taught him Thursday, the spirit was so strong. He has been diligently reading the book of Mormon and has great questions about it. Issac has so much potential and I can see the love that he has for Christ and for this church. I know that once Issac comes to church he will have that desire to be baptized.

We taught another investigator Thursday named Kevin, that told us he doesn't want to be converted. He said that he is already part of another religion but isn't really active in it. So we asked him if it would be okay if we continued to teach him the lessons so that he could have a better knowledge of Christ's church before he decided anything. Luckily he said that was fine. I know that if he truly tries to learn more about the gospel and prays with a sincere heart, he will know of the truthfulness of the gospel. 

On Friday, my entire perspective of what a mission is changed. The event that altered my outlook on life was my first bike ride. Up until this point I have been driving in a car. We still have a car but we are tight on miles. We are only given a certain amount of miles we can drive in a month and it is not looking too good for this month. So we rode our bikes for probably 20 or 25 miles. I am getting used to it no thought and love being able to talk to people on the streets. I for sure have more respect for those Elders and Sisters that are in biking areas. 

One more thing. On Thursday we had the chance to help a less active member, Jerry, clean out his shed. He is an older guy that hasn't opened up too much to us before. After doing such a great job at cleaning and organizing his shed he showed another side of himself. He took us down to his basement and showed us a go kart that he built with his own two hands. He said it hasn't run since 1995 but back then it would go 100 mph!!! Probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. I will attach a pic at the bottom.

I love you all so much and am grateful for your love and support. I love my mission and know this is what my father in Heaven wants me to be doing now.

Love, Elder Scoresby

Week #3

Hello friends and family,

Wow I thought I was going on a state side mission.... I feel like I have lived in a bubble all my life haha so I guess the Mesa bubble really is a thing. The people here are super amazing and I can't believe how strong everyone's testimonies are here. There are so many members that are beyond willing to go out and teach investigators with us. There are also a lot of great people here that are not members. One that comes to mind is Ted. He is an old guy that we are going to start teaching this week. Ted is really good at helping everybody that he comes in contact with which is super cool to see. I only met him yesterday but I think he has a lot of potential and hopefully we can help him recognize the spirit. 

There are so many investigators and members and less actives that it is hard to keep them all straight haha. I keep forgetting everyone's names and their background but I am sure that I will figure it out soon. Even though I don't know their names I feel so much love for everyone we come in contact with. This week we are going to try and teach every active family in our area. I can't wait to get to know them.

In my area me and my companion, Elder Allen are blessed with a pretty red Subaru. I am glad that I don't have to ride my bike through some of the neighborhoods that we teach in... Pretty sketchy haha. Some of our investigators are not involved in great things but they always respect us. I haven't encountered the business end of a gun yet so I am off to a great start. But one thing I really love about missionary work here is that the people are always sitting on their porch. All you have to do is walk up to them and ask if they would like to hear a message and a lot of the time people are interested. Yesterday, we walked around a neighborhood talking to anyone we saw that didn't look like they wanted to hurt us. We stopped and talked to a group of kids playing basketball and gave them pictures of the temple. They were really interested so we talked to them for a little bit. These 3 kids were 13, 14, and 15. All really nice guys. After we talked to them one of these kids thought I couldn't guard him! Well he was right.... I put up a good fight but was no match for him. 

There is so much more but I forgot to bring my journal to write from so next week will be better. I love you all so much and am grateful for your love and support. 

Love, Elder Scoresby

PS my address is 3809 Tuscarawas Canton Ohio 44708 apartment #4

Week #2

Hello Family,

So I have even less time this week than I did last but that's okay because I'M GOING TO CLEVELAND!!!!!! I am taking off Tuesday morning at 3:30 in the morning! Mom and dad be ready for a call any time that day. I can call you at the airport. I am having such a great time here at the MTC and have only been homesick one night! I am loving it so much and can't wait to get to the field! My district is so great and I love them. I got everyone's letters and I love them! Sorry I haven't been able to write back, my schedule is packed! I will try and send letters this week. I can't wait to talk to you all in a few days! I've got to go and finish my laundry. Hopefully I will be able to write more next week. Love and miss you all so much! 

Love, Elder Scoresby