Week 99

Hey Everyone, 

Sorry for the lack of emails this past little bit. It’s been a wild ride!  

I have been transferred to Connell, WA 1st Ward for my last transfer! I was originally in Connell back in February, but I had to get emergency transferred due to my herniated disc in my back. It was sad to say goodbye to all the awesome people in Hermiston, but I'm back to finish what I started back in February in Connell. 

For those that don't know, Connell is a small town of about 5,000 people. And, half the town is a part of the prison in Connell. It's a bunch of fun. I will be spending the last 6 weeks of my mission in the boonies! I spent almost a year in a town of 20,000 people. Six weeks in a town of about 2,500 people is good for 42 days. 

Anyway, we had some good progress going on in Hermiston when I left. We might have helped Daniel move out of our area, but he promised to come to church and give up all his hold backs! Some of the stuff he committed to give up, I know God will help him out. He has some mountains to climb, but I have faith in him. 

We were also working with a woman named Pam that started to read the Book of Mormon. She was a little hesitant at first, but was starting to get over her fears before I left. The Rangel family was hard to get in contact with, but they're super cool. They were always fine with us stopping by, even super late. I have hope for them in the future. The Stubbs are funny, but a long haul to be sure.

Christmas was super-awesome this year. I don't even really remember what happened last year, but for this year we visited members and lonely people. We've were also invited by a couple of families to eat meals with them. 

Happy New Year! See you all next month! 

Thank you for the prayers and support. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Week 90?

Hello there everyone! 

Apologies for the lack of emails. I am the worst. I've just gotten worse and worse at it as time goes on. However, I'm here now. 

This week has been alright. Not too much has happened for a while in the realm of finding solid people to teach. However, this past Friday, we were able to find two new people that are part of a family that hasn't been to church for a long time. We had an initial contact with them when the mom, who's a member, sent us a text asking what time church started. We haven't seen her at church yet, but her heart is open to coming back to the Gospel. That makes it possible for us to make an impact with their family and help them come back/enter into the Gospel. 

Light the World is also coming in full swing! The brand new Nativity video called “The Christ Child” is released and is super spiritual and awesome. We've been trying to get the members excited for it and to use it as a missionary tool to invite people to watch it with them. We also invite them to a special December 22nd Sacrament meeting. It's been great getting people involved with it and getting them excited for it. 

Christmas is just around the corner and I'm so excited for it!

Thank you for the prayers and support. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Week 88

Hey Everyone, 

Sorry I didn't send an email last week. The sad truth is I started to type one up, then we got busy and I said to myself, I'll finish that later......never did get back to it. I actually forgot about it entirely. 

Transfers happened this past Wednesday and I was called as a District Leader Trainer. I'm training a new missionary while being a District Leader. It's busy and super fun at the same time. My trainee is named Elder Aubrey. He's 6 foot 2 inches and is awesome! He's really dedicated to becoming a good missionary and he's super genuine and nice.

The area is doing really good. It hasn't been touched for a while, so it's good to be back! We had a lot of contacts, lessons and member appointments. I love the members here, they're the best. 

I can't really think of anything that happened specifically this past week, but last week we baptism in the YSA. 

Well, love you all, see ya! 

Thank you for the prayers and support.

Elder Rexinger

Week 87

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been pretty good! We were able to have Stake Conference here in Hermiston, and I was able to meet another General Authority. Ever since I became a missionary, I've met quite a few. Some of those have actually been by accident. The first was Elder Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Others I have met are Elders Douglas Holmes, Devin Durrant, C. Scott Grow, Scott Whiting, Jörg Klebingat, and now J. Scott Dorius. I have a picture from when my companions and I met him and shook his hand. It was super cool. 

We were all at a baptism for a boy named Edwin that was being baptized in the Spanish Group here in Hermiston. There was a missionary there named Hermana Guymon. Elder Dorius had actually served with her dad on his mission. He stood up after Hermana Guymon had given a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost and he revealed it. It was a super spiritual moment. He spoke of her dad and how he had passed away several years ago and shared his thoughts. It was SO spiritual.

In other news, we’re going to have a baptism tomorrow at 6 pm for someone named Sierra. She's been taught for a couple months now, and all of a sudden she's just like, "get me baptized as soon as possible." We've been doing our best to accommodate her! It was last Monday that she started moving forward super fast. A week and a day later, she's getting baptized! We've been going by every single day to teach her more and more. It's been super cool. Miracles have been popping up all over the place here in the WKM!

That's basically all that's been going on this week. 

See ya next week! The Gospel is true. 

Elder Rexinger

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

Baptism service with Elder J. Scott Dorius

Week 86

This week has been a happy and a sad one! My companion Elder Woods completed his mission and went home this past Saturday. 

President and Sister Rasmussen came down to Hermiston for Interviews and at the end instead of interviewing Elder Woods they just drove up to the Tri-Cities with him. He had his final interview up there in Kennewick. 

I went with the Zone Leaders that I've been living with for the past 2+ months. I didn't have to move apartments or anything, Elder Woods just.... Left. Now we cover 3 congregations. We're super busy to be sure! It'll be like this until November 6th.

We had to get some goodbye pictures with Elder Woods before he headed out. We took a couple of good ones in front of the Hermiston Water Tower. For those not paying attention, I have been eating healthier, exercising as directed by our leaders and losing a bunch of weight. I also learned that the other Elders have been messing with me while I've been asleep! I usually fall asleep before everyone else and I am a DEEP sleeper. 

Also, there was an emergency transfer!!! A missionary was transfered from Hermiston to Pasco for medical reasons. Elder Calvin was the one that took his place her in Hermiston! If anyone remembers, Elder Calvin and I are good friends. We were in Hermiston together last time, now we're back! I just think thats funny. 

Hopefully next week I will have more teaching and missionary work to report.

Thank you for the prayers and support. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Elder Woods and I

The Hermiston Water Tower

Week 85

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been pretty eventful to be sure. We were visited by a General Authority this past Thursday for Mission Conference. His name is Elder Klepingat.  He's from Germany and he prefaced his address to us (for 6 hours) with saying how he was from Germany and that he doesn't pull punches basically. He told us to "cowboy up." That was really funny to hear from him. All I could think of was Elder Uchtdorf rebuking the tar out of us with his accent. It was pretty funny.

He taught us a ton go good stuff, including him rebuking the whole mission about exercising. He told all of us to do cardio everyday but Sunday. Thankfully, I've been doing that already.

He also taught us about using the Book of Mormon in our teaching and street contacting. He then showed a really cooly way to memorize stuff. He called in a memory palace. I've been trying it out and it is awesome.

My companion Elder Woods goes home this upcoming Saturday, just a couple of days away. It's weird to think about. He's doing really good and not even getting trunky. Even down to the last week, he's being a champ. He'll actually go up to Tri-Cities on Friday when President Rasmussen comes for interviews to Hermiston. Thursday will be our last real day, and that's the day he plans on packing. This week will be weird. I'll probably stay with another companionship we've been living with and triple with them until the end of the transfer November 6th.

Nothing crazy has been happening with our people this week. Unfortunately, no one came to church yesterday that we're currently teaching. There was however, a daughter of a less-active, part-member family, that was there with an awesome active family named the Whites. We're not sure if the daughter is a member, so we might have had a non-member at church? We also have an awesome referral in the works. A couple of youth named Abigail and Aaron have a friend that is really interested in the church. They are working introducing us to him. We have some good things going on right now, all because of the members.

That's about it for the week. Thank you for the prayers and support. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Elder Woods and I doing service and cleaning up a garage

Week 83

Hey Family and Friends, 

This is an exciting week to be sure! Last Saturday Sara was baptized! I had found and taught Sara when I was in the Hermiston Ward almost a year ago. She was unable to be baptized because of family opposition, but here we are today. She was baptized on Saturday, confirmed on Sunday. The fact I was able to be here for that happening is a huge blessing. I was able to see the beginning of her journey on the covenant path, and the day she entered onto the path. It's important to recognize and acknowledge that baptism is not the end, it's just the beginning. The temporal end goal here is the temple! There's a big emphasis to get the people we baptize to the temple as soon as possible to participate in proxy baptisms. A single week after their baptism they should have a limited use temple recommend, then they're off to the temple! 

The other baptism was Cheyenne. She's been taught for almost a year as well. Family opposition had been a big factor holding her from being baptized. Now that that's been resolved, she's been running full speed to be baptized! She has a ton of fellowship and help from the ward in her progressing towards baptism. 

The week's besides that has been pretty good. We've been hitting the streets on out bikes that we have.... well, we were. One of the tires on my bike got popped and we haven't been able to use them since then. We're gonna try and get it fixed asap. We've been talking to everyone we can on the streets. I gotta say, the people here in Hermiston are super nice. There's been like four different instances where we talk to someone and they're not interested, but they still give us food or something like that. It's really nice of them. I love it here in Hermiston. I wonder how long I'll stay here. The rest of my mission? I actually kinda hope that. Regardless of where I am though, I'll give it the best I have! 

Got some pictures from some service projects we had this week.

Thank you for the support and prayers. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Service Project

Cheat Day

Week 82

Sorry for the delay on last week's message. We are having some AT&T-related e-mail issues. Thankfully, my e-mail is through Comcast for better or worse.

Thomas

Dear Family and Friends,

There have been 3 baptisms in our area in 2 weeks. All three of those baptisms were of people I taught! Their names are Sara, Cheyenne, and Gabby. I wasn't able to attend Gabby's baptism, but I was able to get a picture from it.

It was really touching for me to be involved in the baptisms of these amazing daughters of God. Of course, all the credit goes to our Father in Heaven. I was simply a tool in His hands to help these people draw closer to Him. I am forever grateful that I was able to be there and help our Father in Heaven change the lives of these young women.

We also have some awesome news with Cheyenne's family. We believe that her baptism has served almost like a catalyst for her family to really become interested in the Gospel. It's cool to be able to experience this. The Spirit at the baptism was really strong, and to see the effect it had on the people present has been amazing. We're already seeing miracles come from it. We expect to see many more. I am excited to see what the future brings.

Love you guys, see ya. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Week 81

Hey Family and Friends,

How are you all doing? I have been doing awesome here in Herm-Town (aka Hermiston). 

We have a baptism coming up in a couple weeks and it is awesome! Cheyenne is so prepared. It has been a wonderful experience to get to know and teach her. We've gotten through all the lessons besides the commandments and the laws and ordinances. Those lessons are a bit different from the first couple. They can go fast or slow, depending on the needs of the individual. For Cheyenne, I feel like we might be able to teach all the remaining principles in one lesson. She's that prepared. 

Also, someone that I had taught here in the Hermiston Ward almost a year ago is getting baptized on the 7th. Sara is amazing, she truly is. Her only reason for not being baptized was familial opposition. However, she has since received permission to be baptized. It has been almost a year in progress. What an adventure indeed! 

We were able to have a Zone Blitz this past week. That was great, because the Assistants were able to join us for it. We were paired up with Elder Robinson. He was in the MTC with me all that time ago (19 months). It was great to be with him again. We were able to catch up on old times. 

The Gospel is true and has been restored on the earth today.

Love you all.

Elder Rexinger

Week 80

Well hello there everyone! 

Elder Rexinger here in Hermiston Oregon serving with one of my favorite companions ever! We get along super well, we teach really well together, and we're killing it! He is from Mesquite, Nevada.

Moving on to the events of the week.... This week has been jam-packed with a ton of stuff! Monday was of course preparation day. Whole lot of fun there. Tuesday was the grind. We were out talking with a ton of people. Walking around all day everyday is really good for having a ton of conversations with people. Wednesday was district council. Thursday we had to do our weekly planning because Friday we went to the temple! I love going to the temple so much. The Spirit there is seriously unrivaled. Saturday was really special for me because I was able to return to Pasco for a little bit to attend the baptism of someone I had taught during my time there. It was really awesome to be there in support of her making that decision. Sunday was eventful too! We had someone at church named Cheyenne. She wants to be baptized so bad, it's awesome. Her date for baptism has been set for September 14th. Theres a lot of people we visit and see on Sunday. We spend time with a recent convert family doing Come Follow Me study with them. We also do Come Follow Me with another family with a 9 year old recent convert. 

The week has been eventful to be sure. It flew by in an instant it felt like. When talking about time flying by, I've been on my mission for over 19 months now! That is so crazy to me! It's all becoming so much more real. My dad even got vacation time for when I get home..... It's close enough for that to happen..... It's so weird!

Anyway, that's it for this week. Thank you for the prayers and support.

Elder Rexinger

Week 79

Hello there everyone! 

This week has been awesome! I love it here in Hermiston! I'm not back in the previous ward I served in for 6 months. I am now serving in the Butte ward. There are a bunch of people I heard about from the former missionaries serving in the Butte ward, and now it's my ward!  My companion is also the best! His name is Elder Woods. 

The people here are awesome. There are a couple of people that are so prepared for baptism that it's ridiculous! Daniel and Cheyenne will be baptized in about 2 weeks. 

I'm living in a really nice apartment too, it's actually a duplex! 

Anyway, I don't really have much more than that this week. I am still getting established here in the Butte Ward. Hopefully, I'll have more for you next week.

Thanks for the prayers and support. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Week 78

Hello there friends and family, 

I have some news! I am being transferred from West Richland to Hermiston! I spent 6 months in Hermiston the last time I was there. Now, I'm heading back! These past two transfers have been weird. I've been transferred to past zones I've served in! I won't be serving in the same ward however. I will be serving in the Butte Ward. I wonder how long I'll be there? One transfer? 2? The rest of my mission? Who knows? All I know is that I'm excited! 

This week has been interesting. There hasn’t been too much going on besides the transfer information. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to teach too many people. That'll change in Hermiston though! Hermiston is my favorite. 

Anyways, love the Gospel, love you all, see ya

Elder Rexinger

West Richland District

Week 77

No e-mails from Elder Rexinger this past week. He had a lot of activities on p-day apparently. He does say they are still doing a lot of service around his area.

We look forward to getting an update tomorrow including transfer info.

Thank you for the prayers and support.

The Rexingers

West Richland District

Week 76

Hello Everyone, 

Not a whole lot happened this week unfortunately. It's been heating up a lot though! My comp and I have been in a walking area with summer, 100 degree weather. This is best enjoyed in dark pants and a button up white shirt with a tie. The missionary tan has been coming along. 

We spent a good amount of time this week doing service again. We dug another hole, this one bigger than the last. We moved a large amount of cedar wood that had been cut down in a member's backyard. We also have the opportunity to do more service tomorrow in helping move furniture and artwork in the new Stake Center here in West Richland. We really enjoy doing service here, it gives us something productive to do that helps bring us as a district closer together. Unity makes things a lot better.

Not too much happening teaching wise, besides the 8 o'clock visits we've been having. Being in the homes of members is wonderful, especially being able to teach them the missionary discussions. That brings the Spirit strongly into the home. 

Love you all! Thank you for the prayers and support.

Elder Rexinger

P-day hike with the District

 

Week 75

Hello there friends and family, 

How are ya? I know I haven't sent an email for a while. It's become harder and harder for me as time goes on. Speaking of time going on, I've been on my mission for 18 months! 75% of my mission has come and gone. It's very weird. 

This week has consisted of a LOT of service. We spent time digging holes, moving rocks, loading a truck, helping install the new organ for the new stake center here in West Richland, moved some mulch, and we did some landscaping. It's been the best! I love service!

We also took a hike this morning on Candy Mountain. We do a lot of stuff together as a district. It's great to be able to come together and go about doing good while having fun together.

Not a whole lot has happened teaching wise here. That's always tough, but it's good to look on the bright side of things and strive for a brighter future. 

I'm tired. I love you all. Thank you for the prayers and support. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger

Not sure how this happened?

Organ installation

Week 74

I am calling Elder Rexinger to repentance tomorrow when we talk for slacking on his e-mails. Sorry but at least he sent some pics over the past month I can share.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

The Rexingers

Week 73

Elder Rexinger forgot to send another e-mail last week. Here are some pics I have been collecting for such an occasion so I can at least send something out to his family/friends.

Thank you for the support and prayers.

The Rexingers

Week 72

How's it going everyone? 

This week has been a crazy one. I was transferred back to West Richland! I'm here serving in the Candy Mountain and Lakes Wards. If you remember correctly, I served in West Richland at the very beginning of my mission in the Paradise and Lakes Wards. Although I'm covering the Lakes Ward again, it's a bit different. A new ward was put into the West Richland Stake that caused a whole bunch of boundary divisions. It's crazy because a bunch of people still remember me! It feels almost like I've come back home among family and friends that I haven't seen for a while (a year!). 

I'm grateful to be back here after receiving more experience. I feel much more qualified and prepared to be in an area like this. With the area as affluent as it is, its hard to find people that are willing to listen to us through our own efforts. As a result, the only reliable, though sparse source for people to teach is through the members. We're looking forward to the effect the Area Presidency plan will have on areas like this. The goal is a lot more member involvement and far more deepened conversion.

I've always wanted to come back to the West Richland for this exact reason. I want to work the area with some of the greater insight and experience I've gained from my mission so far. I guess it's paying off already. We found 3 new people to teach from Wednesday to Sunday. That’s as many people as my entire last stay in West Richland, except that was over a span of 4 1/2 months not 5 days! The future is looking bright. The members are awesome here and are engaged in missionary work. I'm happy for the opportunity that I have been granted from the Lord. 

I love you all. The Gospel is true.

Elder Rexinger 

Dallin found a dog to play with so they are both happy.

Last Zone Conf with Pres and Sis White. They are finished and being released.

Week 71

Hello there Family and Friends, 

This week has been super good. We've had some good developments here in the Pasco 8th and 9th wards. The people we have in date are all doing pretty good. We haven't had a full-fledged lesson with them like we did last week, but we've had some good contact. We have been getting to know them more and becoming friends with them. 

Elder Dushku and I are doing so good. We get along great. We have a good amount of things in common. 

This week we actually were challenged by our District Leader, Elder Calvin, to find 4 new people to teach before Sunday evening as a district. It was Saturday evening at that time. We buckled down, prayed for someone to find to fulfill this goal from our District leader. About an hour later, we met with a less-active family that has an unbaptized son named Gabe. The family told us that she wants to be more active before Gabe gets baptized, so he wasn't basically baptized into inactivity. We let her know that it was now our responsibility to teach Gabe because he was 9, and she was actually pretty excited about it. We told her that we were there to help her and her family draw closer to Christ. We taught Gabe a few principles and talked with him about being baptized and he was so excited about it! I look forward to teaching Gabe and getting to know his family more. 

As a result of our faith, we were able to find Gabe to teach and we were actually the first companionship in our district to find a new person after the challenge was given to us. We actually ended up finding 5 people in that time span. It was awesome. I loved seeing the excitement of all of us for the work. 

It was also awesome to be reassured that this truly is the Lord's work and that He will help us move it forward when we have the faith to move forward, nothing doubting. I love being a missionary, I love it here in Pasco, and I love all of you.

See you later! Thank you for all the prayers and support.

I love you all.

Elder Rexinger

Week 70

Hello there family and friends, 

Elder Rexinger here in good old Pasco, Washington. We have had a pretty good week. I'd definitely say it's been eventful. We went from having no people on date to be baptized to having four people seriously on date for baptism.  The cool thing was they were all put on date within a day of each other! 

We had a lesson at the Bland Family home and they had 4 non-members there that we taught the restoration to. One of the non members chose to not commit to being baptized, and that's all good. Our Purpose as missionaries is to INVITE others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. The key word there is invite. Whether or not they choose to accept it or not is up to their own personal agency. It also helps doing missionary work when we look at it that way. The true success in missionary work and the invitation (whatever that may be). In 2 Nephi 2:16 we read "Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other." 

People in this world are enticed by a multitude of things on a daily basis. The same is true about the Gospel. The more we introduce it to other people in our lives, odds are that someone will accept it. If they reject your invitation does that mean it’s a failure? No, it’s not a failure. It means you're a freaking Rockstar for putting your beliefs out there. Missionary work is intimidating to be sure, but I want to testify to you all that the Gospel is true. I Testify that God loves each and every one of His Children, each and every one of us. The Gospel is here to bless our lives, both in this life and in the life to come. 

This is what Joseph Smith has stated about missionary work, commonly referred to as The Standard of Truth. He said, "The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done”. God will help us in this great undertaking and work of which we are engaged. 

I Love you all. See you later. Thank you for the prayers and support.

Elder Rexinger

Columbia River Temple