September 8, 2015

Dear Family and Friends, 

Thank you for your emails this week. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has gone through these feelings of not knowing what to do after my mission. I really want the best education possible and I know the U has an absolutely wonderful medical program. I have had opportunities to go over and go into the hospital which is really awesome here. I think though the biggest reason for me wanting to stay here is this... I found my setting apart blessing that Mel wrote down for me, and in it it says that my love for these people will sink deep into my heart, and boy they sure have. I really have come to love this place and these people. I have seen how just like dad said, that God is hinting to me certain places and people I need to pursue in my future when I return to visit. I've noticed small but strong impressions that I've been praying about. And yes mom there is a rivalry between BYU and the U but it is very dumb. BYU fans think the U fans are devil worshipers and the U fans thinks that BYU fans are "holier than thou" people. When really they are both very fine establishments and both have wonderful programs. Like I said, and like dad stated, my future career can and will have a huge effect on my abilities to serve in church callings, to serve my family and also to serve others in this world. I want to serve and give of my time, talents and abilities, but I know I will need a good education to pursue those things, especially in the medical field. I want to work hard to achieve those goals in my life. I want to support a family without worry, and give freely of my substance to those around me. I know I can make a difference in the world if I have the help of the Lord. I will continue to seek what I am to do after my mission, I would just please ask for your help and support, because I will go where the Lord needs me, because after a mission the prophets have told us to do two things, get married and get an education. I want both of those and I have faith that God will direct me if I am doing what He asks me and strive to pursue my righteous desires. I love you and am so thankful for a loving family. I need to go pack now. I am moving across the street to the Bennion, and Bennion West stake, yeah that means I'll be covering 16 wards. :( at is a lot. And I am going to be the senior companion there as well. I am saying my goodbyes here and will miss this place a lot.

Love Elder Patterson 

Ireland right after her baptism

Her family

The Brinkerhoffs (an awesome family who I'd like to visit sometime)

We made our own plan of salvation cutouts

Craig Myrick, we've been helping him overcome addiction, and have seen a huge change in his life, it's wonderful to see the atonement work in our lives 

Brother Bell, a wonderful help to us in our Stake mission leadership

The Jameson family, they are awesome

Brother Clive Romney (our Ward mission leader) in his recording studio

September 1, 2015

Dear Family and Friends

So yeah let me first answer all your questions...

I would like to tell you my plans for my future that I am looking into. So obviously I am not spending much time looking into school and all this stuff but it comes up in basically every conversation we have with people. They ask:

•What's your name?

•Where are you from?

•How long have you been out?

•What are your plans when you get home?

When I get asked these things I don't have to think very hard about the first 3 questions, but the last one I have been researching in my mind and prayers. I didn't want to go to school here or live here when I first came out on my mission. That is why my new found love of this place and aspiration to enroll here is startling me. However, I have been praying and searching through my experiences these last few months and I know that God is somehow guiding me. First of all everyone I talk to speaks very highly of the University of Utah and its wonderful medical program. They even have the hospital there on campus. The area over by the school is awesome! I have been given opportunities to be in the hospitals on the East side there on the campus to give blessings and I like the area. Even though I am in BYU territory, I have not met very many fans of them. Everyone love the U. I taught a family who gave me a red Utah shirt, and many other experiences, both small and big. Someone who used to work on the top floor of the JS memorial building in the restaurants offered to get me a job when I come back as a waiter making 16-20$ an hour! I have also been offered a job working at one of the ski resorts, and so on. I read my setting apart blessing that Mel wrote down for me, and one of the last things it said is that the people I serve here will sink deep into my heart. That is happening everyday and I really want to continue to serve them and spend time with them after my mission, especially if I desire to go to school here. I don't know what it takes to go to school out of the country though. I hear that LDS business college offers free tuition for a set amount of time for those who serve missions here? Anyways, that is all happening in the back of my mind as I notice small and simple things that God places in my path that lead me to believe that I should consider coming to school here. However the other night when I was praying before bed, I thought about how much I love my family. I miss you all so very much. I cried a lot as I remembered the blessings that each of my siblings and parents have been in my life. I want to continue to be in your lives and to bless you with my service to you but I want to come to school here and start my life and pursue my goals. I am really feeling torn about this. But I have another year before I need to really worry about it. 

So Elder Dawson and I have been having a lot of success here in this area. We have put 5 people in the last 4 days on date to be reactivated, and we will be having a baptism on Saturday, and we found 2 new investigators. We have a lesson every hour in the evening 7 days a week. We are struggling now to get everyone fit into our schedule. It is kind of a good problem. My Patriarchal Blessing and the blessings I have received since from my mission presidents and others have been coming to pass! It is so wonderful to see God's hand in my life and how He softly directs us toward bigger and better things. When one door closes, God opens a window. 

I don't remember if I told you but the Locke's met us last Monday and took us out to eat for dinner. We ate at Leatherby's which is THE ice-cream heaven. WOW! I just got a small banana split and I almost puked it was so much ice-cream! It was HUGE! and we shared a bunch of frys that I dipped in my ice-cream. It was so good, but it was even better to see them again. Ever since I first met them I felt right at home with them. They are like my home away from home. I have grown to love them so much while I served them and their family. I look forward to future plans and memories in store with that wonderful family. 

We went to Clive Romney's home today for an hour. He is one of our Ward Mission Leaders in the Crosspointe Ward and he is the man who wrote "Scripture Power" in the children's songbook. He is a very famous musician and a wonderful man. He gave me an hour and we recored one of my songs I wrote on my mission about the Savior. It is not my best , but it is really good for one take. Mom and Dad, I am so grateful you helped me develop my talents to a point that I can bless and inspire people here. I am not great but I can invite the Spirit into a home in such a different and powerful way with music. I love music and and thankful for the lessons you provided me. 

Love Elder Patterson 

We also ate dinner this week with a guy who collected old cars! Check these out! 

Ireland Meyer, we have been teaching her the last month and she is being baptized this weekend. She is the most prepared 9 year old I have ever met. She has great support from her parents. Her dad is not a member and her mom is returning to church and we are working with her as well. We took them to Temple Square this last weekend! It was great! 

August 12, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow this week went by! It just goes faster and faster! It doesn't help that today is Wednesday and it is our Pday. I am so messed up because of our schedule. Next week Pday is on Tuesday because we are having a Mission Tour again which is basically a big Zone Conference but with general authorities. Elder Ringwood and Elder Keetch are coming this time. Last year was Elder Arnold. President Palmer, our new Mission President is a really great man! I love him so much. I had an opportunity to talk with him this week and he helped me immensely with some things I was struggling with. He took such a weight off my shoulders. He is an inspired man and the way he handles himself and the work he is asked to do inspires me greatly. He is a great example to me of a righteous Priesthood bearer, just like all the other amazing examples given to me throughout my life, such as my father and brother and brothers in law. You all have blessed me so much in everything that you've done. The thing with missionary work is that it is so easy to be average. But "average is the enemy of excellence" said Elder Pearson this last General Conference in his talk entitled, "Stay by the Tree." I would give that a read again if you don't remember it. It is a great talk. AHH I love Conference talks now! I listen to them more than I listen to my church music! I would be listening to one right now if I weren't using my iPad to email. But back to the main topic; I just had found myself becoming complacent and being a little to relaxed when it came to certain mission rules which led to a frightening reality of who I was becoming. It is so easy to cheat ourselves by not being fully consecrated to the Lord's work. By not giving all you have and placing our fears, worries, pride, future pursuits, laziness on the alter of sacrifice, we will never be the tools that God needs to further His work and perform miracles. Average is the enemy of excellence. I love that. I remember a quote in my grade 12 Social Studies teacher's room that said, "Once you lick the lollipop of mediocrity, you'll suck forever." That has stuck with me because he has also helped me reach above and beyond what I thought my capabilities were. 

This week has been better though. I know where I am going in this stake, I know many more people and we are now teaching 2 new people who will be baptized on the 5th of September, and we are teaching a few new returning members. We have a lot of support in this Stake and I think they are beginning to realize that we are here to work, because our ward mission leaders are doing a lot more for us than before and our Stake mission leaders are helping us a lot with pushing this work forward by helping us get a member to every lesson so we can fellowship these wonderful people into these wards. This stake is pretty old though in a few ways. The buildings here are really funky looking and have a bunch of locked doors that require keys (in our last area we had little FOB keys that you just had to hold up to a little black box on the door and then it would open) and there are a lot of established families here that are a lot older in most cases. Our last area had a lot of youth and a ginormous primary that they couldn't fit onto the stage for primary presentations. A lot of our work comes from the apartments and condos in our area, which we have several. We have probably over 1000 apartments from different complexes in our areas. We also have a Walmart and many other stores which is great because then we don't have to get permission to go to places because they are all in our area. But yeah there is always work to do here. 

Yesterday we did some service for a new returning member family named the Rasbands. They have a huge yard and we spent a good chunk of our afternoon helping them. From all the time and service I gave in the Copperhill 5th ward, I really know how to landscape, I trenched and laid pipe and glued sprinkler systems twice a week this whole summer. So when the Rasbands told us they need some sprinkler heads moved and some trenches dug for another zone they were going to put in my eyes lit up and I went straight to work. I should've been Ryan's apprentice at Classic because I have now come to learn how to do a lot with sprinklers. I am sore though. It takes it out of you working all day in the heat and then afterwards changing into church clothes and biking 20 miles. I can't wait to come back here and serve in a different capacity than I can right now, and I will be able to take my bike on some of the mountain trails over here. I also finally got around to getting some thorn proof inner tubes. Gosh this place is riddled with things to pop tires. There seems to never be enough broken bottles and glass on the roads and these thorns here suck so much! I got some crazy thick tubes that have been working great so far. 

That is all I have for this week! I do love you guys so much and look forward in a few transfers to skype you again. There is some things I am studying here that i can share with you if i finish on my mission. So if anyone happens to need to drive down to conference or for any other reason please let me know because we could exchange some things again. 

Thank you for all the pictures and the update on your lives! Have a great week! :)

Love Elder Patterson 

Service us and the Spanish Sisters did for an elderly lady in our ward. We cleaned here entire huge yard of weeds. 

Ireland Meyer and her family (Ireland is the cutest 9 year old ever! She has the strongest testimony I've ever seen!)

August 5, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad,

So this has been a stressful week. Let me tell you what happened.  So we cleaned up our apartment from top to bottom and stayed up late and got up early to gather records and update our area book, and we cleaned our apartment really well because no Elders would be returning there. We went to our transfer meeting and then two Elders came up to us at the end and slapped a wad of keys in our hands gave us an old crappy phone, told us we had two lesson that night and walked away. So we spent some time waiting in the mission offices so we can find out what to do with our keys and phone, and we still had no idea where we were going. So we found out that we had to personally give our phone and keys to the sisters who had already left the building so we made a trip back home and then packed our stuff into Brother Bakers' truck. We then headed over to Taylorsville UT. We found our place and opened the door to the most disgusting apartment I have seen so far on my mission. I should've taken pictures but I was so mad at the Elders who left it this way. They left so much of their crap everywhere, the place looked like it hadn't been cleaned ever, there was a thick layer of dust and nasties all over the floors and the carpet, our coffee table was broken, there was a disassembled bike in our front room that had left tons of grease stains on the carpet, I cannot even continue describing it. We had to clean for 5 hours that Tuesday and we took out 6 full garbage bags of their crap that we had to just throw away. All the white boards they had here they wrote on with permanent marker so we had to throw those things away too. Oh boy and our area book had nothing in it. we logged into our area and it was completely blank. Many of our recent converts and investigators are children, many of which did not have an address or phone number to find them. We had two people with a baptism date and we had wrong addresses for them and spent all day everyday riding our bike around and finding all these people, to which we had absolutely no success. We had nothing to go off of. I was so frustrated and still am. Our area is pretty cool, but way different than our last area. There is a major highway that runs through our area and there is a Walmart and many other stores and food places. We have a cool little river that also runs through some of our neighborhoods with cool trails and awesome scenery. There are a lot of older people here in this stake. We are managing well though and have biked so much that we know the area quite well now. We cover 6 wards and a care center branch. It is hard to keep track of all these people though. I am so glad that I got to spend my time in the 5th ward for the time when we were so concentrated in our work with only a couple wards. They are all so close to me now and I have really good relationships with them! 

So today we went to a couple of stores, I got really into apple sauce lately which is kind of funny and weird. I bought a lot of those little GoGo resealable applesauces that you see babies munching on. But I am a man and still enjoy them! Anyways, moving on. I finally went to Taylors Bike Shop where I bought my bike and bought a bike pump, a new light and two thorn-proof inner tubes. I made myself a Casadilla for lunch and we are just going to chill around our apartment this Pday because we have no where to go and its raining. 

It is so easy to see why Elder Dawson and I were moved here together, because this place was a mess and needs to have a fresh start. The Elders here baptized way to many kids that will never come to church, they often call them "kiddy dunks" and they make me so frustrated. way to many of the recent converts that we contacted this week told us they didn't even know why they were baptized, and didn't remember a single thing about the church, and their family is all inactive and not supporting these kids coming to church. They just have been making a lot of less actives. We have put to an end a lot of wasted time and things they used to do here. They were not very obedient and still are not. There is no accountability that comes from the missionaries of the other mission and it drives me crazy. I am so glad I was with President Swain in the West mission, its a night and day difference between the two groups of missionaries, and that is why a lot of us "West missionaries" are in the other areas now. We biked 126 km's this week. It is so much easier here though because there are not as many hills here. 

This last week was hard though because of all this new stuff and people and all the responsibility we've been given, but it was a hard week because I found myself thinking of home and school and the future a lot. It seems that time slows down and things get harder the more I think on those things. While I have been here I have been guided to people and places that are formulating my future, many of which things I had not wanted before in my life which leads me to believe I could be guidance from the Holy Ghost. All these things about my future are righteous desires but are I am being pulled and guided contrary to my normal plans of action. I hope you can understand my thought process about these things, especially when I do come home because these plans may seem new to you but I have been thinking and pondering them for quite some time and asking God if they are right. 

I love you all! Here are some pictures! 

Love Elder Patterson 

Us and Brother Baker

Brother Baker made us a Strawberry Pie! So Good!

I am stuck in a desert for two years!! And I'm loving it!

A big overpass that cuts our area in half

The Slack Family

Our new apartment after we cleaned it

July 28, 2015, Transfers

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry, but this week will be a short email. I am sorry for being so late. It has been a ridiculously busy. Here is the news, so Elder Dawson and I are staying together but we are both leaving the stake and will be serving in the Bennion East Stake in Taylorsville. The sister missionaries will now cover our wards we are now covering. The place we are living in will not house missionaries anymore so we have been super busy today packing and getting things ready. We have been saying a lot of goodbyes as well. I cried a lot today to say the least. I have spent 6 months in the 5th ward and have come to love them so much! We had a scripture study class going strong with less actives going frequently, we had mini missions with the priests and soon leaving elders, and we had many people we were teaching. Many of these members have made their way deep into my heart, especially the Locke family of which I talk so much about. I have been blessed to have stayed in the 5th ward for so long and I know the Locke family had a great deal to do with it. I even wrote them a song about how they and their home are like a home away from home for me because I can feel the Spirit so strongly there with them and they treat me so good and take care of me. I have loved every second getting to know them and serving them. I even pruned their tree in their yard! Haha I can't wait to come back and visit them, along with many others. I also gain a deeper love of this place each day and my hopes to come to school here are increasing. I know there is a lot for me that this place can offer! And it would be so neat to be this close to people I have worked with on my mission. Well we are moving in the morning and I have no idea where we are going and where we will be staying and we know absolutely nothing about our new area. It will be super fun! :) thank you for your emails today. Today was good though. I made a lot of really good memories today and took some pictures this weekend with people here. I love you all so much! 

Love Elder Patterson 

The Locke family on Last Pday (left to right: Sister Pam Locke, Hannah, Lisa, me, Brother James Locke)

 The Gubler family, these are their girls we love to spend time with when we have dinner

 Sean Campbell, I've been with him from the first lesson and to now where he is reactivated into the church, what a blessing it is to see such a change of heart

We played Volleyball and had a water fight today with our 9th Ward mission leader and their neighbors who are all from inactive families, this is some of the Daley family. It is so hard to see such valiant young men and young women who have to go to church by themselves without the support of their parents. We have been teaching a lot of people like that in our area. Those numbers don't count but I know and can feel they make a difference so I will continue to look for those opportunities to inspire and bless the lives of these people as long as I am here. I will miss this stake so much. 

July 20, 2015, 24 hours in a Day!

Dear Family and Friends,

I feel like I am at the point in my mission already where it is more scary and weird to think about coming home than anything else. I often find myself saying "when I get home..." but I can only say that now because I am still far enough away from home that it doesn't bother me. This Stake that I am in feels more like home now. I am closer to these people in this Stake than I have been to the people in my Stake back home because I am serving them and the Spirit can seal friendships faster and stronger than anything else. I am very anxious for transfers next week because I have come to love these people with all my heart and there are so many new opportunities each day to serve and get to know new people who so easily make their way into my heart. I know I have been blessed with a capacity to love others in quiet, unnoticeable  ways and I have sought out those opportunities while I am here, and my charity grows each day by doing these small simple things. I have written a few anonymous letters to some of the people we're working with or members who have just been on my mind lately and who need encouragement.  In them I share a few scriptures, along with my honest insight into their lives and examples that they are to me, then I sign the letter "Sincerely, your friend." We sat with these two sisters on Sunday in the 9th Ward to whom I had given the night before one of those letters. They are such dedicated and strong spirits, for they are the only two in their family who go to church, their parents are in-active and want nothing to do with the church. It breaks my heart to see so many wonderful saints struggling here, stuck in their circumstances, and in my capacity as a missionary I can't help them, so as a quiet and anonymous friend I try to uplift, encourage, inspire and bless their lives. While we sat in church I noticed these two sisters pull my note out during the meeting and read it. It brought tears to their eyes and they quietly were trying to find out who it was, they went around asking people but they couldn't find out who, as I just sat there quietly beside them. The more I serve without recognition, the more I love these people and don't want to leave. Our numbers have dropped a lot and these people in this stake are struggling a lot, and my heart aches for them, I want to serve here forever. That is some of my greatest reason for returning here very soon after my mission. There is a great work happening here, but my ways are not the Lord's and His will for this area and this people are better than mine. I have grown so much in these last few months. I am very excited and enthusiastic about the work and I absolutely love teaching now! I've seen much of my Patriarchal Blessing come to pass here in this area. I have been so blessed to have been here this long and to gain such relationships as I have. I have really come to love these people and I can't describe it or stop talking about it! It will be a very sad day when I have to leave though, because eventually I will have to. My talking and social skills have grown a lot as well, and I just seem to have an instant love for people as I meet them. 

Elder Dawson, my companion is from Gilmore, Texas, and has a decent accent. He is a very patient and humble man. He has gone through a lot of trials in his life that would cause me to waver a lot, but he has remained strong in the church and is now serving a mission, which he has been out for almost 6 months on. He makes serving very easy, for he and I are obedient and work hard together. He is amazing at guitar as well! He was home schooled and spent all of his free time playing guitar in his room. He loves Brad Paisley and can play a lot of his stuff. 

Also I bought some stuff to make cookies and I made a couple of plates for some families in our wards. I made a sweet, three tiered box that attaches to my bike. I bought a small carrying thing on the back of my bike which just sit above the back tire. I strapped this box on the bike and we went and delivered these cookies. That was fun! Oh and we got little odometers for our bikes so I know how long I ride for, how far, and how fast! So this week We travelled over 97 Kilometers and my max speed was 47.7 Km/h. Its so awesome! Seriously I think my legs have grown a little, because we've been biking like that for 5 weeks now. 

We all have 24 hours in a day, if you use that time wisely or not doesn't change the hours in a day. We meet many people who say they are too busy, that their schedule is too crazy and that they just don't have the time. What I want to say to that is something Mom would often tell me, and that is just 'Bologna!!!" We all have the same time to serve those around us and to ultimately serve God, so why is it that some have ample time to give of themselves and others don't? It all depends on where their heart is, where their priorities lie, and what sign they wish to show their Heavenly Father. For a long time I was the one who came up with excuses, who "didn't" have time, I was very selfish and wasted a lot of my time on youthful, diminished and selfish goals and pursuits. I could've served more wholly in my callings and served those around me, especially my family. I want you all to know that I am working right now; that I am serving and giving everything I have been given, including my time, talents and other resources, to bless the wonderful sons and daughters of God here in this valley. I am working and becoming more of a man of God, who will sacrifice a lot more for you when I return home because I have come to love you all more since I've been gone. Your voices ring throughout my mind and heart everyday and I am often reminded of your kind and heavenly gestures of love towards me in the past. I love you all so very much and am blessed to have come to your family to be blessed by your friendship and time. I don't know what I would've done without you all. You have shaped me into the man I am today by your examples that I try to emulate. Please don't take for granted the blessing of time your Heavenly Father has given you. Please use every waking and free moment to serve, both in small and large means, for you never know how much of an impact you can have for good in someone else's life, so why take the chance not to be that blessing in someone's life? I promise you that the time you make in your 24 hours to serve others will change your heart, your mind, your will, and your life. Charity is the pure love of Christ, and without it we are nothing, so please learn from my bad example and serve now while it is yet easy, for we can all do more. :) 

Love Elder Patterson 

My three-tiered Cookie transporting box 

 This is Matt Roy who was just baptized before I got here and we are working with him every week, he is awesome! His son photo-bombed the picture.

Arianna and Andy Cook from my first area! Remember the Cooks? 

Pictures

Here are some pictures of Rob throughout the first few months of his mission. He sent some of these photos home and I thought it would be good to share some of them on here. The sure show Rob's fun loving spirit and the hard work that he is doing on his mission. We are grateful for his example of service to the Lord.

 Rob showing off his muscles in his new All Blacks jersey from New Zealand

He was so happy to get snow. His companion thought he was crazy, but Rob was glad to have snow.

 Rob thought it was funny that people had their sprinklers on even though it was raining

That's all for now. I will post more as I get them from Rob.