January 28, 2013

This is an investigator who was baptized this past week that I taught when I was in cassequele!

No I never got that package, I am not sure what happened to it, There was not anything expensive or anything in it was there? If you ever send anything expensive try just to hide it in the package someone and just let me know so that I can find it as well:) because the packages are opened by people at the post office here, because they have to see what is in it. We have not really had any problems as far as I know of, but there is always temptation for people to steel stuff if they see it. Don’t worry about it though I do not think anything has been stolen out of anyone’s packages, but just for future reference! :)

Not really anything you can do for me . . . Really just prayers!! :) :)

Anything I can do for you ?????

Filling the Baptismal Font

(Braden) Hey man! Thank you so much for sharing what you learned about Faith! I just had a spiritual experience with that... literally right now

So the experience I had was that I read your email and I feel like you are dead on! So mom sent me a video of Preston doing a sweet lay up and I tried to open it 3 or 4 times, but the computer that I had was not able to read the video and so could not open it (this was before I read your email) I was really sad that I could not open it because I really wanted to watch it! I then read your letter and thought about Preston’s video again and I said a little prayer and asked Heavenly Father if he would allow this video to open, and in my mind I knew the computer could not open it, but I thought I have 100% confidence that the Lord can do something to the computer to open this video. I clicked on the video to open it and it started downloading and opened up within 5 to 10 seconds!! Thanks for sharing what you learned with me!! Love you Man!

Elder Tilley

Preston! I got to watch your video man!!! And let me say that was definitely a Black Man Lay up if I have every seen one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When i was watching the first time I thought you were going to do the same thing that I did to the kid on Mountain View! But yours was way cooler because you pretty much did what I did except you did it while you were in the air!!! That was so sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I watched it probably 5 or 6 times in a row!!

Bec! :)

So I just want to tell you that you are awesome!! Don’t forget who you really are! You literally are a Daughter of God!!! I know everyone says that, but really think of that! You are a LITERAL Daughter of God and you have inherently received gifts and talents that God has! Think of the potential that you really have in this life and in the next life! You are a child of the greatest most powerful being in the Universe and He really does care about you and wants the very best for you in everything that you do! Even the small things! Just like the story I told Braden I had about having faith that I could watch Preston´s video and Heavenly Father blessed me with that! Even though that was a tiny thing when it is compared to the eternities it was something that mattered to me and because that was something that mattered to me it mattered to Heavenly Father! (Remember) Braden when it was his senior year and we all prayed and fasted for him to do is very best … for his tournament that he had. (Do you remember that!) (They did not win the state championship, but I remember that so many players and parents came up to us after his last game and told us how much Braden had affected them and affected their sons in a positive way!) Maybe that is something that we can do as a family is pray and fast for you … with Basketball specifically! But also … with school and life and those kind of things! What do you think about that?! I will definitely be praying and fasting for you this Sunday!!! I love you tons!!

PS I have also been still struggling and the only thing that has really given me relief from those hard times was a study in The Book of Mormon. Not just reading though. A few times I started reading and it did not help me, but as soon as I dove into the scriptures that is when I felt so good and relieved from everything!! Something that you can try as well!! :)

…Love your favorite first oldest brother! (Or maybe I am the last oldest...either way! :)

Elder Tilley

 (Rachel) Just wanted to wish you another Happy Birthday you had on Saturday!!

Elder Tilley 

I love you tons Mom too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t worry, you don’t have to wait two years anymore!!! Just a year!!!!!!

January 21, 2013

Hey Rach! How is it going!? I hope you are doing well! Happy Birthday on Saturday!! 24 Right!! I hope that all is going well with the Pregnancy and that you are not sick too much! Love you so much!!

Elder Tilley

Thank you Dad for the letter that is exactly what I needed and I feel applies directly to me! Thank you so much for following the promptings of the Holy Ghost! Love you! Elder Tilley

Bec! Thank you for your prayers I definitely felt them! This week was a lot better and I had several spiritual experiences that helped me!

I will definitely be praying for you more this week! Just keep doing what is right and do not forget the big picture in Life… Family and the Gospel!! Love you tons Bec! Next time you see Minor Webster you can just say to him "your welcome" and say that you let Highland win that game so that he could feel good inside :) Just think you just did him a big favor! Because lets be Honest if you had wanted to you could have dropped like 30 points on them and beaten them pretty easily! :) Love you Bec and always remember the most important things in life!!

Elder Tilley

(Braden) Thank you Man for the advice! That is something that I have really struggled with is coming home and just feeling really bad because I did not follow all of the promptings that I had received that day.

Thank You!! Elder Tilley

1.) Thank you so much Mom! I really did feel your prayers and the families prayers and they really really did help me! Thank you so much!

2.)Right now we have 3-5 baptisms on the 23rd of February. We have Tchimba who is doing really well and the last lesson we had with him I asked him about his testimony because I was worried he did not have one, but then he expressed to us how since he has been coming to church and has been and since he has started reading in the Book of Mormon a little bit he has had this "revelation" that he needs to stop smoking so he said he has not smoked since! It was so awesome because we did not even know he smoked and at that point we had not taught him the word of wisdom yet! Then we have Adilson who is doing well also. He was not feeling well on Sunday, but he ended up coming to Sacrament meeting anyways! We also are teaching a lady named Marieta. She is 60 years old and her nephew is a return missionary so we got the reference from him. She is doing really well she has a testimony of these things, the hard thing for her is that she is sick and has alot of pains and so it is hard for her to remember the things we teach, but she said the first time she entered the Church she just felt so good and felt like it was the right place to be! then Marieta has a few kids that live with her (they are not her kids but they are related in some way) ones name is Lala and the other is Yeta one is 12 and the other is 8 and they are always  at church and want to be baptized really bad so if Marieta is baptized on the 23rd of February then those two girls will probably be baptized as well!

3.) Yes I got one package!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much!!! I loved the calendar with all of the comments on it!!!! That was so awesome !!!!!!!!!!!

I also loved the pen and mechanical pencil I got as well!!! I love it!! The pictures I sent are of the package I got!

4.) Yeah I do not know what happened (the bed bugs) just kind of went a way. What a huge blessing!

Mom

I was not able to get this email until today and when I read that you fasted for me, my eyes just filled with tears! Thank you so much Mom you have no idea how much you have helped me! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Mom!

Thank you so much for all that you do! This week has been alot better, it consisted of still overcoming this trial, but it was full of spiritual experiences as well. One awesome experience that I had was at Church I had marked with Adilson to pass by on Monday, but I felt the Spirit tell me to mark with him that day Sunday, but for whatever reason I didnt. Then we left Church and that same feeling continued that we needed to sit with him today, but the problem was that he lost his phone the other week so I was not able to get a hold of him to switch the day, but miraculously his Mom texted us and in the end we were able to mark for that day Sunday, which that whole experience was a Miracle in itself. So we went over and their Family was having a Family Night with a Preacher from Adison's Mom's Church so we ended up sitting a listen for alittle bit to the preacher until the family night was over and we were able to talk with Adilson. When the Preacher left Adison told us sorry because he forgot that his Moms preacher was coming over so we sat with Adilson and his Girlfriend and during the lesson I felt like I should bare my Testimony about the Book of Mormon and how much it has helped me on my mission through some of the hardest times in my life. So I did and the spirit was really strong! And I pointed out to them how they were feeling when the other preacher was here and then we were teaching! I was not trying to bash on that Preacher, but I just told them that that preacher is a good man trying to do what is right, but there is a different feeling between us and him and Adilson fully agreed and he said that he felt so much more peace and happiness and Joy when he is with us and I told him that is because this is the True Church of Christ here on the Earth and the only one with the proper authority from God!

It was a awesome lesson and the Spirit was so strong!! Thanks Mom for everything! I am doing well and a lot better and I am on the upswing I feel of this trial! Please continue to pray for me though!! Thank you everyone for your Prayers!!

Elder Tilley

January 14, 2013

This was an investigator that I taught in Cassequel that was baptized on Saturday, his name is Osvaldo.

Josh

Thanks for the letter man and the little up date! Sorry I never wished you a happy birthday! How old are you now 26!? I was going to wish you a happy birthday on Christmas, but I forgot! Sorry!  Thank you for the example that you are to me!  One day I want a family just like yours!  Love you bro!

Elder Tilley

No package yet

Yes they do (celebrate New Years)! They pretty much do what we Americans do. But I forgot to tell you what we did! We actually went to the beach again and hung out there for a few hours with President Thompson and all the Missionaries so that was a lot of fun. (That was New Years Day) New Years Eve we got permission to stay up until Midnight so we played "uno" until midnight and then went to bed! :)

I do not think anyone here knows who (Martin Luther King) is.

Writing down the goal is what always has helped me the most! I really like that quote that says something like goals not written down are only dreams and dreams only come true in fairy tails. Or something like... basically the point is that we need to write down our goals. That is something that has helped me because as soon as I write it down then I just feel a little bit more bound to it and I actually need to do it!

We are teaching several people. We have one man who’s name is tchimba (yes it is spelled right :) You pronounce it like Chimba though). He actually passed our house one day and wanted to know if he could cut our grass for some money, so we let him and when he was done he was walking away and one of the Elders called him back and started to talk with him about the gospel and he happed to live in our area. So we started to teach him and he is progressing really fast he has a baptismal date for 9th of February. Also with the other guy who I told you about on Chirstmas (Adilson). He is doing really well now. He had a period of time where he started to waiver a little bit, but he is back on track and hopeful will be baptized here in a month or two. Also we are teaching another lady named Stela. She is really awesome. She has gone to several different churches her entire life and so she has several doctrines that are planted in her mind that are not true. Almost every principle that we teach she has some kind of question or doubt or something, which is fantastic! because it shows us that she actually is understanding what we are teaching her. We just have to teach her really slowly, but I feel like she will be baptized in the end. So as of right now just one tchimba for the 9th of February, but we should have several more here in the coming week or two.

I am not sure who told Preston he was not a shooter, Preston is probably one of the best shooters out of all of us. Also basketball is not nearly as fun especially when you get older if you do not shoot and score! (I know from experience :)

Do you know if his coach told him that? Or who told him that? Who ever it was (maybe it was just himself) tell Preston not to believe it and got out shoot! Even if he wasn’t a shooter the only way you are going to learn is if you try and if you shoot during the games! Even if you miss a lot in the beginning you will only get better and better little by little and by the time he is in High school he will be a fantastic shooter!

Pres!

Hey man mom told me that you said that you were not a shooter! Who told you that!!!? Do not believe them! You can probably shooter better then anyone in the family! If you start shooting now in games you are only going to get better and better even if you miss a lot at the first, but by the time you are in High School then you will be a really good shooter! So in you next game go out there and shoot!! :) I wish I would have shot more when I was younger so that when I got to High School I was a better shooter then I was!  So go out there and shoot lights out! Even if you do not make them all or even if you do not make any! Go out there and Shoot! Love you man!!! Keep up all the great work that you are doing and work your rear end off!!! I love you so much man!!!!!

Elder Tilley

Dad and Mom,

That is fantastic Dad! All of these business opportunities that you are having! The Lord really is blessing us as a Family. If you guys could pray for me that would be great! This past week has been really hard for me especially the past few days! I feel like Satan is just really tempting me very hard and it really has been a struggle. I started to do better last night and little bit better this morning, but it really has just been a struggle with strong doubts being thrown at me and I am doing everything I can to avoid them, but it has just been a really hard mentally and spiritually. I feel like I have been doing a really good job and I have felt the Spirit alot and now I feel like the Lord is allowing Satan to have his turn with me for a time and I am still trying to overcome it! If you and the family could keep me in your prayers that would be great! Please do not worry about me, but I just wanted you to know and ask you for yours and the families prayers! Thanks!

I love you guys so much!!! I could not have asked for Better Parents! Thank You Thank You Thank You!  Love you My MOM and DAD forever!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Tilley

By the way transfers were today but both Elder Chatwin and I are staying here! Which I am excited about!!

(Braden)

Thanks man for the happy birthday wishes! Keep up the great work! By the way Tilley after the name Chelsey looks fantastic! :)

Elder Tilley

Dear Bec,

To tell you the truth I have really been struggling this week, just a lot of temptations and struggles coming my way! If you could please pray for me that would great! Thanks! Sick way to go with your game! Keep it up!

Wow iPhone already! I am not sure what to say to that...  only that Mom and Dad are getting generous :) Heck yeah we will be in The Singles Ward together! We will have to race each other to see who can get married first! :) Haha Just kidding!! But I have a better idea once we both get their I keep an eye out for the top notch guys and you can tell which girls are the top notch girls! Sound good!? Keep it up bec! I miss having one on one conversations with you! Remember that car ride from Thatcher and we just talked! That was alot of fun! I miss you bec!! and Love you so much!!

SPARKALY BUNS POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Elder Tilley