Week 24 - New Smartphones!!!!

Quote of the Week: "I'm fat, but I love being fat!" ~from a 5-year-old

Hello Friends!!

This has been a week full of new experiences and it's awesome! On Wednesday, the Idaho Nampa Mission rolled out smartphones, which has totally changed the way we're doing missionary work. As some of you may know, I'm now on Facebook, which helps us reach people who we may not be able to physically meet with. If you ever have any questions or comments about missionary work or the LDS church, please reach out to me on Facebook and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

This week, another elder and I were able to help out at a local food bank. At first, I wasn't too excited. We had made other plans, and the food bank wasn't the first place I wanted to be. But after I started to forget about myself and focused on the people I was helping, I enjoyed it so much! People were so grateful and friendly, and I thought about how this is what Jesus Christ spent basically his entire life doing. I thought about how although he lived the hardest life of anyone to ever live, he also lived the happiest one. I testify that service brings happiness.

My challenge for you this week is to serve a member of your family. It can be big or small, anonymous or not. But I know it will bring you happiness and will bring you closer as a family.

Love you all!

Elder Doyle 

When you realize you're gaining weight and need to change what you're eating​

Week 23 - Shoutout to Philly for winning the Superbowl!

Quote of the Week: "Why is the lightbulb stuck in the glass jar? Oh, someone was pounding on it with a dictionary."

For your amusement and by way of information, we vote as an apartment every Saturday night for which quote of the week makes it onto my weekly blog post.

Hola Mis Amigos!

It's been such an awesome week! Middleton is really making a space for itself in my heart. We were able to go to the temple on Wednesday as a district of missionaries, and it really hit me that we're so blessed to have a temple so close to us! And the newly built Meridian temple has been such an awesome missionary influence in this area. 

This past weekend was the Middleton Stake Conference, and we were able to be visited by Elder Sitati of the Quorum of the Seventy. He's from Kenya, which didn't even have a mission during the time that he joined the church. His conversion was due completely to the handful of members that met in the singular branch in Kenya. And now he's a member of the Quorum of the Seventy! It really was a testament to me of what a difference members can make in missionary work! 

One of our bishops is really into long-distance running. He was telling Elder Jones and I about the last long-distance race he ran: It was a 122 miles race. No sleep. It took him 37 hours. He had to use 6 different pairs of shoes. It was through the mountains of Canada, and the total elevation of all the uphill sections was over 29,000 feet, which is about the height of Mount Everest. The bishop's wife was saying that she saw him at various parts of the race, and at every point, he looked different. Sometimes he would look alert and energetic. At other times he swayed from side to side, looking like he might collapse at any moment. Their experience made me think of how each of us often hit bumps in the road in our journey back to our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we feel like we're doing great, but often we feel like we're about to collapse and won't be able to reach our destination. I'm so glad we have another runner, in fact the most perfect runner ever to live, right by our side to keep us going if we lean on Him. 

This week, I invite you to do some spiritual cardio workout. Look for other runners who may be struggling, and help them out. We all have the same final detination!

Love you all,

Elder Doyle 

Kali, the coolest 7yr old in Idaho!

Ryker, the fearless Jedi baby!

Week 22 - Crazy Week!

Quote of the Week: "Oh, I can't possibly mess this up!" (says Elder Young as his hand slips and he proceeds to shave a giant strip of hair of the side of my head)

Hi Friends!

I don't have a much time to write this week, but the mission life is going great! After I'm done emailing, I'm heading off to the Meridian temple, and I'm so pumped! Temples are such a blessing! I was able to testify to someone this week of the importance of temples and families, and the Spirit hit me like a ton of bricks! I was bawling like a baby, but it was an awesome experience, and my testimony of those wonderful blessings increased. 

Thank you all for being my family!

Sincerely,

Elder Doyle

Meridian Idaho Temple

Experiment with a new kind of necktie!

Week 21 - Another Transfer in Middleton!

Quote of the Week:

"It smells like something is burning. Yes, something is definitely burning." (it was the bacon)

Happy Transfer Day!

Today marks one transfer here in Middleton, Idaho! Throughout the day, missionaries will be traveling throughout the mission to their new areas. But not for Elder Jones and I! Since Elder Jones is being trained, we get to stay for another 6 weeks. And I'm definitely not complaining! The work is progressing so well and I feel so blessed to serve here. 

As most of you have probably heard, there have been some changes in the Church leadership in the last couple weeks due to the passing of Prophet and President Thomas S. Monson. My love for President Monson has really grown recently, and I know that he was called of God to be a prophet. I also have a firm testimony that President Nelson, and whomever else God calls, is who we need at this time. I love that God can lead His church through modern-day prophets. 

In church on Sunday, one of the members of the Stake Presidency told about an experience of his from Halloween. For his family's family home evening activity, they decided to carve pumpkins to set out on the front porch. This dad wasn't a big fan of pumpkin carving, so he sat on the couch reading emails while his kids struggled to make their pumpkin designs become a reality. His youngest daughter in particular struggled, and without the help of her dad, she felt like her pumpkin hadn't turned out very well. Later that week, the dad walked up to the front door and noticed some writing in Sharpie on the side of his youngest daughter's pumpkin on the porch. He picked it up and read the childish scrawling, "it's the best that I could do." Feeling like he had failed as a father, he apologized to both his daughter and to God. This dad testified to us on Sunday, and I echo his testimony, that we have a Father who never leaves us to do anything alone. And when we fall short (which we all do), if we can honestly say "it's the best that I could do," we have an incomprehensibly merciful Savior who picks us up when we fall short. 

This week, I invite you to watch, listen to, or read a talk from a recent modern-day prophet. Talks such as these can be found on lds.org. I've felt the Spirit so much as I've freshened up on President Monson's words for us, and I promise that the Spirit will reside more abundantly in the lives of any who learn and apply the teachings of God's servants. 

Love you all!

Elder Jack Doyle

My Wacky district from the past transfer.

Week 20 - One month in Middleton

Quote of the week: "Is this your truck Elder Jones?"

(every time any of the missionaries in this area see a truck, they ask Elder Jones if it's his)

Hola mis amigos! 

Hello from warm, sunny Middleton! The weather here is feeling more like April everyday, and I apologize to any of you East Coasters who I hear are suffering through an especially cold winter. 

This week has been really awesome! i ate pizza at least 4 times (I lost count), which gave me the opportunity to hone my pizza-devouring skills. Thursday afternoon I was able to put down 11 slices at the Italian restaurant down the street from our apartment! Elder Jones just watched in horror as I returned to the buffet line again and again. We were also able to meet a lot of new people this week, and set dates for 5 new people to be baptized! I can't explain the amount of joy I feel when people decide to change something in their lives in order to come closer to Jesus Christ! It beats pizza by a long shot!

Cool story: I was with Elder Bruce for the day on Wednesday, and we had about 20 minutes until we had to be at the Methodist church to help with the community dinner. We were driving down main street, and I suddenly had the address 211 Jasper pop into my head. I thought that was a little strange, but we had some time to spare, so Elder Bruce and I decided to stop by. We found the address, and ended up talking to an older lady there for about 15 minutes. She was super nice, and said she'd love it if we could come visit and pray with her another day. It was a great visit and we left feeling pretty content. We went to the community dinner, and at the end, the lady in charge came up to us and asked a favor: "One of the older ladies that usually comes to these dinners wasn't able to make it, so we were wondering if you two would be able to go drop some food off with her and see how she's doing. I believe her address is... 211 Jasper." Elder Bruce and I just about fainted at that point! But we were able to go visit her again and bring her a meal, and it was such a special experience! I have a strong testimony that 'coincidence' is not in God's vocabulary.

Weekly Challenge: This week, make a new friend! Go out of your way to talk to someone you haven't met before, or doing some service for a stranger. And let God lead you! 

Love you all,

Elder Doyle

 

Fun with the Irwin Family

Animal Whisperer

 

Week 19 - One week of 2018 down!

Quote of the Week:

"Wow the Peanut Butter Really Doesn't Look Good on the Wall"

Hi Friends! 

One week of 2018 down! And let me tell ya, it's been a great one! New Year's day was pretty uneventful until we topped it off with a full blown Japanese New Year's party complete with tuna cubes, sushi, and mysterious white jello (at least I hope it was jello). I should've gotten some pictures but as usual, I've been slacking as far as the camera goes. 

The work here in Middleton is really moving along! It's been tough during the holidays because everyone has been out of town and spending time with family, but things have been picking up this past week. The people are really wonderful here (be prepared to hear that for the rest of my mission)! It's amazing how much God can expand your heart when you're out doing His work and helping His children!

We ate dinner with a young couple the other day, and they told us the story of how they met, and I thought it was so cool! The husband had left the church after high school, and the wife hadn't been a member of the church at all. They were talking online, and she started to tell him about some of the issues she had been going through. Even though he hadn't been to church in years, he felt prompted to invite her to meet with a bishop, so he did. To make a long story short, the next time they chatted over Skype, she told him that she wanted him to baptize her. He ended up cleaning up his life and becoming active again in church. And now they're married, raising their kids in the gospel! It was an amazing testament to me that God often gives us promptings that we may not understand at the time. But He always has a plan and a purpose! 

There may be little promptings that God has been giving you in your own life that you may not have heeded. I know there have been in mine. This week, focus on following those promptings right away. I have a strong testimony that as we do so, we will see very real miracles in our lives. 

Love you all,

Elder Doyle 

Unusually sunny and warm in Idaho

​

We made ourselves a scrumptious brownie pizza

Week 18 - The Year of the Goat!

Happy New Year!

Man, it feels like I haven't written one of these emails since last year... I guess time really flies here on the mission. But it's been a great week! I really enjoy having these holidays happen every few days! I think the number of meals I eat in the week at least doubles, and if I had a scale in my apartment, I'm sure I would see my weight doubling as well! 

This week has been a spiritual feast as well! On Thursday, we were able to meet with a new investigator named Gus. HE IS AWESOME (excited caps, not angry caps)! He's had a rough few months, and he's been looking for a way to start fresh and find that happiness that he's been missing in his life. Well one thing that I've learned here on my mission is that God is all about fresh starts! The circumstances that allowed us to meet Gus were definitely not a coincidence, and it was a testament to me that God wants all of His children to overcome those troubles that they go through and come closer to Him. With the start of the New Year, we all have the ability to start fresh in some aspect of our lives. I invite all of you to begin anew on your path towards your Heavenly Father. I know that He will help you just as he helped Gus. I love you guys! 

Sincerely,

Elder Doyle