Week 39

Hello everyone back home,

I am here in the wonderful Hermiston Public Library to tell you that I am going to be training next transfer! Elder Christiansen is getting shipped out to be a District Leader in Richland and I'm staying here in Hermiston. It won't be easy, but with the Lord all things are possible. I'm excited and honored that I have been trusted to train a brand new missionary. I have an exciting time ahead of me, and please pray for me in light of this great responsibility I have been given.

Other than that, things have been going really smoothly. We had an entire family of five at church this past Sunday and they absolutely loved it! They hope to start coming more often. Also, there have been some good things happening with the other people we're teaching. Jocilyn is telling people she can't help people out with anything on Sunday because she's gonna be coming to church. Billy and Mariah are opening up to us more and are really starting to trust us. Even their roommate that is of another religion is opening up to us. We're also gonna be teaching a couple people who formerly looked into the church. Great things are happening here.

I've also been working on memorizing lots and lots of scriptures, like the good old ones from seminary (totally should have memorized them long ago, sorry all my seminary teachers!) Increasing our knowledge of the scriptures allows us to gain a greater knowledge and testimony of God and Jesus Christ. We have this declaration from the Prophet Joseph Smith himself, "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

Draw nearer to God, read the Book of Mormon and other works of scripture today to know of the goodness of God and his great mercies.

Thank you for the support and prayers.

Elder Rexinger

"Some light climbing" Dallin says, in proselytizing clothes. Typical Dallin

Week 38

Hello Family and Friends, 

This week has been pretty good. We found 5 new people to teach. It's been fun. We had a Zone Blitz. Myself and Elder Christiansen had Elder Bell, one of our Zone leaders tag along, and it was good. We had some great quality Gospel conversations that night. We also jogged the whole time rather than walk. We were in the mood for some finding and nothing was gonna keep us from talking to EVERYONE. We even knocked on car windows and talked to people like that. We ran into a witch, a woman who claimed she was a witch. She talked about how us Christians had burned a lot of her kind in the past. Yeah, she was crazy, so we left that place in a hurry. Super interesting, super funny. This world is full of all kinds I guess. We have a lot of people we're going to teach this week, Jons family tomorrow, Shanna tomorrow, Leroy on Wednesday, etc. We have a busy schedule ahead of us. I love it.

I've been trying to study about patience and charity from Preach my Gospel recently. With my current predicament with my truncky companion, I found Alma 36:27. It reads, "And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from all bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me." 

Turn to the Lord in your afflictions and he will raise you higher than you could ever lift yourself.

Thank you for all the prayers and support.

Elder Rexinger

Week 37

Dear Family and Friends,

This is a weird email because it hasn't been a full week (last week), so not a whole lot has happened besides General Conference, which was awesome.

This week has been full of heartbreaks honestly. We've had to stop teaching several people because they just haven't been contacted in forever! We haven't been able to contact them, so we're not entirely sure if they're avoiding us. Missionaries will try to contact them again in the future I'm sure. Until then, we're looking to teach repentance and baptize converts.

Speaking of that, we've been making some tremendous headway in the way of member missionary work. The Jons family is doing fantastic. We have the Weimer family helping us out with them a lot. Brother Weimer has been coming to lessons with us and one of the sons, Erich Jons, is good friends with Dylan Weimer. It's just a good situation all together.

Other than that, I'm good. My foot doesn't bug me at all. My little sister’s birthday was on the 4th. Happy Birthday Elise.

There's gonna be a temple in Yuba City and I'm pumped for that.

General Conference was the best. If you haven't watched it yet, do it. Conference is a great way to strengthen and guide us. Watching it has truly strengthened my testimony that President Russell M. Nelson is a true prophet of God. The true Church of Jesus Christ was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. Russell M. Nelson is the Lords Prophet in this era of the world.

I love you all. Thank you for the prayers and support.

Elder Rexinger

More pics from the Zone Conf get together.

Missionary photo bomb!

Week 36

Sure enough, there were some technical difficulties last week with writing and sending Dallin’s e-mail on his phone. Here is his letter from last week.

Dear Family and Friends,

We were at the temple today, so our Pday got moved. Apparently, there was a mixup with the temple scheduling. We were initially planning on going to the temple October 17th rather than today, but the Yakima mission apparently booked that exact day as well. A little scrambling and our session was moved to today. Hence, the lack of warning about me not emailing on Monday this week. It was a little unexpected. But, it was awesome as the temple always is. We had our Zone Conference last Friday and it was amazing. It lasted 8 1/2 hours. Dang these meetings are long, but they're good.

We taught a lot of people. We taught Tai, Billy and Mariah, as well as Tiffany and Jocilyn.  We also did a lot of service, and we lit a bonfire! It was so cool. It's burn month in Hermiston, so we're helping get rid of all the extra wood and stuff that has been there for years.

I was thinking about just life in general and how it can be kinda tough sometimes (we're teaching a lot of poorer people) and my thoughts were brought to Psalm 119 verse 105. It reads, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." When we turn to the Lord, he guides us and helps us throughout our lives.”

The important part is to continually turn to him. The more often we reach out to him, the easier it will become to recognize His hand in your life helping to guide you.

The Gospel is true. Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Elder Rexinger

Dallin along with Pres. and Sis. White at the Zone Conf.