Return with Honor

Hello family and friends!

Well the time has come. In less than 24 hours, I will be on Utah soil hugging my family! And hunting all you down so I can hug you too ;) Man the time has flown faster than my plane will at 6 tomorrow! Not to be cliché or anything. But it really has gone fast. I loved it and struggled through it and did it, and how grateful I am for it. 

I'll save most of my thoughts on the blessings of a mission for my homecoming talk (LITERALLY all of you are strongly exhorted to come, see the attached invitation), but as some simple thoughts on my mission. 

There are few things more selfish than a teenager finishing high school. It is all about them. And there is nothing more selfless than serving a mission. God commands us to go on a mission at a young age to teach us that this life isn't intended to be lived thinking about yourself. Of course, obviously, we are here to obtain salvation for ourselves, and must focus on ourselves first in that sense. But a main part of that is to help others to do the same. I have learned to think of others. That has changed me more than anything else. 

Beyond that? Life is meant to enjoyed! It took me so long to learn to enjoy being a missionary! How is that? This is a Gospel of joy! Not that it means we will be happy all the time. But our lives ought to crescendo in happiness.

I just want to express my gratitude for my mission. It has changed me. In ways perhaps that are not obvious on the outside. But I am changed. My purpose is changed. My heart is change. I can't wait to see you all! I love you all. I expect to hug you all, preferably soon :) Until then,

Let us all press on!

Elder Poulson 

FINAL GOODBYES & LAST WEEK PICS

The Final Act

Hello family and friends! Boy, has it been a week! I am amazed at how long the days felt, yet how short the week felt. It has been quite the ride! 

We had a wonderful miracle this week! Out of the blue, Hermano Arredondo texted us and asked when church starts. He showed up with his kids and informed us that he had quit was old job and was about to be interviewed for a new job that wouldn't work him on Sundays! :D Wow were we grateful for that! I was so happy!!! They are a wonderful, golden family, and should get baptized shortly with that barrier out of the way. Never lose faith in someone. Never stop praying for them. Never. (Including yourself) 

This last week is going to be full, with a temple trip, interview, and a dinner with President, a whole other number of dinners with members, and a whole lot of hard work and goodbyes. Boy am I excited. As hard as it will be to leave, I am excited to see you all!!!

I want you all to know something. If you ever feel like you aren't enough, like you are never getting better, or that you never do all you feel you should be able to, I want to promise you one thing: EVERYONE FEELS LIKE THAT. No one is going to be enough. No one is going to be perfect. At least not here. But if you are willing to turn to Christ and rely on Him, and let Him swallow your infirmities, you will be able to do all He asks, DESPITE your infirmities. They might not dissappear. But they will not hold you back. 

I love you all! You'll be getting one more email from me. I hope to see all of your faces soon! (Ps you are all invited to my homecoming, see social media for details.)

Let us all press on! 

Elder Poulson 

Un Mensaje General

Dear Family y Friends!

I want you all to know that I love you! That being said, I am failing at generals because... Excuses I guess haha :) But I'll tell you a bit here. 

Juan and Lesley left to Sinaloa for ten days. We actually marked up and tabbed a Book of Mormon with about 40 powerful scriptures and gave it to them right before we left. We called them and they were about to leave, so we bike down there about as fast as we could. We were panting at the door, but she got her book of Mormon, and it was so worth it :) They are going to read it while over there. 

We have been teaching a kid named Devin and his cousins, who se me pretty interested. We also started teaching a now nine year old in the Lopez household, hoping to reactivate the family and help her get baptized. 

We had a cool experience this week with the daughter and son in law of that lady we gave a blessing to awhile back. He is a less active member, she isn't a member. We had them read the family proclamation to the world, and she LOVED it! She said everyone needs to know those principles! I agree :) We are passing them off to the other Elders in their area, and she feels really good about it all, so we sincerely believe they will get baptized. I love them :) Plus  they always bring us food... That is a plus ;) 

I had a realization this week that seems so obvious now. To "forget yourself and go to work" does not just mean to forget your needs and wants and focus on helping others. It also means to forget your WEAKNESSES AND INSECURITIES and focus on doing what you CAN do to help others. Never throwing progression aside, we cannot do this work unless we can look past our own perceived inability to do it and simply do what we can. When we trust God to magnify us and act, that is when he can use us as instruments in His hands. Why do I tell you this? Well... What are your perceived weakness that are holding you back from being on the Lord's errand, simply because you don't feel qualified? Forget them and go to work. Minister. That change is the most inspired thing in this century. 

Love you all. Have a wonderful week :) 

Elder Poulson

Seeing Afar Off

Why Hello everybody! How are you today? I expect you all to say "good" to that ^-^ Like out loud, right now, haha :) 

Well Elder Myers and I are working hard down her in Long Beach. Same old, just trying to bring people to Christ ^-^ It is tiring work sometimes! The other day we had to run up and down a basketball court for two hours just to get an investigator to meet some members! ;) We actually found a 15 year old kid named Devin last week who is pretty great! Has a HUGE desire to learn! So we played basketball with him and some other investigators, it was fun :)

I tried a new food for the first time this week: octopus. It was... Actually really good! The investigator who made it for us just held it out and said "here try some" and I was just staring at an octopus leg. I even tested the little suction cup things, they still kinda worked! But that was a new one for me ^-^ We also had some Samoan barbecue brought to us from the guy whose mother in law we gave a blessing to, which was delicious, and in the process we got to give his wife a book of Mormon and invite them to listen to the missionaries :) She isn't a member, but really felt comforted when we blessed her. 

Juan and Lesley did not come to church :/ But we are working on it with them. We have some other people we are working with too, more on them as they begin to progress. 

Something cool I learned this week. God gives us afflictions in this life to learn, of course. But something I never thought of before is this: Without afflictions, we would never turn to God or Jesus Christ. We would never NEED to. And we would never draw closer to Them. God loves us enough to hurt us, because he wants us to choose to come unto Him and in the process reach our divine potential. Afflictions lead to happiness, no doubt about it.

Another thought... I like this phrase: We must learn to see afar off. If we want people or our situations to change, we must see afar off and have hope for the future. If we want to prevent ourselves a lot of pain, we must see afar off and make right choices now to avoid future pain. We must learn to see afar off in our afflictions, knowing that we will be so much stronger and more able to serve in the future. God's plan is a long term plan. We must learn to see afar off in order to understand it.

I don't like to be that guy, but I thought it worth mentioning that I am coming home a month from yesterday. I mention that because I hope you can all make it to my homecoming, which will be the 8th of July, I believe, at 1:00. Mark your calendars, because I love you all and want to see you as soon as I can ^-^

But until then... I'll be over here giving all I can to the Lord. Forget yourselves and go to work. Not just missionaries: everyone.

Love you all! Thanks for taking the time to read this :) Let us all press on, 

Elder Poulson

Be Happy. NOW.

Family and friends and such! Good morrow! How are you all doing this wonderful day? :D I am doing great too! Just working my way through Lakewood! It is the only life I've ever known, it feels like. 

Well, first off, Juan and Lesley did NOT come to church... But that is okay! Next week for sure! He gets home like at 4 in the morning sometimes, and church is at nine, so it is rough. Maybe we'll motivate them with breakfast again, haha :)

Gerry's wife Teresa did come to church! She has been before, but its been awhile. We aren't really sure why she came, but she loved it, so that was great! 

We also found some great people this week! A lot of it just came together. One family who is very humble due to some recent trials, another who straight up believed that God can call a prophet. So that is sort of exciting! 

Thought of the week, here we go:

We are limiting our own happiness. 

I loved an example I heard recently, which referred to Nephi's and Laman's opposite reactions to their experiences in the wilderness. Nephi talks about how great it was that God took care of them in the wilderness, guided them, made their raw meet give nutrient and be sweet, etc. Laman only talked about how they could have been in Jerusalem, they could have had their gold, it would have been better if they had died, etc. It is interesting, he said, how Nephi's focus is on what he already has, what is among them. Laman's focus is on what he doesn't have, things away from him, like Jerusalem. 

The point being, what are you focused on: what you don't have or could have or could have had, or what you have already been blessed with? It is good to work to a greater purpose and level of success. But if we aren't happy with what we have now, we will never be happy with what we have later. If we are always thinking, "when I get ____ or become ___ I'll be happy", when we finally get that thing, we likely won't be happy. We will simply rinse and repeat: "Now when I have ____ I'll be happy." And we will never realize how much you have until you look back at a ripe old age just to see how good we had it and how happy we could have been. Our last two prophets that have passed on have emphasized a similar point: enjoy life NOW. "Find Joy in the journey: NOW." "I suggest we quit focusing on the rain clouds and enjoy more fully the sunlight." Things like that. 

My invitation? Be happy. NOW. Like, right now. Not soon. Not later. Now. If you need some help, try writing in your journal or on a paper about how God has given you everything you would ever need to be content and happy with life. You will be amazed.

Well, I love you all! I'll see you sooner more than later! Til then, forget yourself and go help someone else! Nos vemos! 

Elder Poulson

These pictures were texted to us from Teresa in Elder Bry's mission.  

Love the families who feed our missionary!!  

Mexican Green Pozole

Things that Don't Change Stay the Same

Hello Family and Friends!!! Like usual ^-^

This week... It ended well! Juan and Lesley came to church! Definitely the highlight of the week! Juan and their son loved it! Lesley is still adjusting but she liked it too. I am seriously so amazed with them and their progression. We havent even taught the Word of Wisdom yet, and they are already making changes and stopping their habits of smoking and drinking! It is so wonderful. I am a witness of conversion to Christ. I love it :) 

We also got some members to meet hermana Osorio, finally! We had sort of given up on her for the time being. Hopefully the members help her reactivate :) 

By the way, shout out to my newest cousin, Rex! I am so excited to meet him! :) 

I really have forgotten how to general email. I have no idea what to write! ^-^ Ummm... California diversity is crazy. You meet the most random combination of people here. Some teenage kid tried to fight us the other day, it was kind of funny. We just kept biking :)

That reminds me of something that one of my seminary teachers taught us. When life gets hard and the rapids are rough, there is only one option: just keep paddling. Don't you stop. When you go river rafting, the only way to keep your boat straight, and therefore get through the rapid, is to keep paddling. It doesn't matter how well or powerfully, if you keep paddling, you will make it through. So, "if for a time, the harder you try the harder it seems to get, take heart: so it has been with the best people who have ever lived." - Elder Holland

In case you're wondering, my mom is the best! She sent me a whole jar full of uplifting quotes, like the one I just put! I love it! :D

Well gotta go. Forget yourself and go to work :) 

Elder Poulson

Let Us All Press On

Hello! How are all of you fine people doing? I personally had another crazy week! A lot happened. Which is a lot better than nothing happening ^-^

Where do I start? We got some awesome gift baskets from a Samoan family whose relative we gave a blessing to the other week! We got lava lavas, amongst other stuff. We ended up going by again to meet the lady. She was half awake and talking, and we got to sing her a song, which she loved. It was great :) 

We had a busy weekend. Thursday we went to zone conference, which as always was PHENOMENAL. I loved it! We talked about using Book of Mormon, family histoey work, and members in our missionary work to be more effective and powerful. It is true. Those are our main tools. We need all of you faithful members in order to get about anything done :) 

Saturday we went to a breakfast fundraiser for the young women's at Applebee's and found a super good friend of a member to teach. We then went to part of a members birthday party and found some people there that might be taught, and had a couple of them come to a mother's day activity the ward put on that night. It was quite the day! 

A little miracle of the week. We ran into a guy on Sunday at church, right as the third hour was ending, who had showed up thinking the Spanish ward started at 12. Apparently he had been taught by missionaries before, and wanted to start from the bottom learning about Christ. We taught him a lesson right then and there. Super great! He lives in another area, but that is okay. Still great. 

Juan and Lesley... Did not come to church. We don't know why yet. But we had a GREAT lesson with them this week, which included a lunch. We also set Baptismal dates with a family that has been investigating for a long time. They just need to get work of on Sundays, so we are trying to bolster their faith that God can make that miracle happen, and he can do it by the 27th of May. Their name is the Familia Arredondo :) We are praying hard for them all! 

I have been thinking. A lot. I tend to do that. Haha ^-^ I have come to a conclusion. There is absolutely no point in living life unless you lose yourself in helping others. I have found that I am not ever happy unless I forget about my own happiness. It simply doesn't happen. We are counseled as missionaries to forget ourselves and go to work. I don't believe that is a 2 year invitation: it is an invitation for a lifetime. We need to take care of ourselves: we are our own greatest creation, we determine who we will become. But none of that will be fulfilling unless who we become helps others on their path to happiness. 

Remember to love. And love first. Always. :) 

I love you all. Let us all press on ^-^

Elder Poulson

EXCITING NEWS!! Got the official flight plans

July 3rd at 10:17 am

Mother's Day!!!

The best part of Mother's Day is being able to SEE and talk to our missionary!!  This was the last of 8 skype calls with our boys over the past 3 plus years.  We are down to the last transfer and Elder Bry will be returning home.  We can't wait...the countdown is on....***JULY 3, 2018***

Forget Yourself

Hello! How are all of you fine people doing? I personally had another crazy week! A lot happened. Which is a lot better than nothing happening ^-^

Where do I start? We got some awesome gift baskets from a Samoan family whose relative we gave a blessing to the other week! We got lava lavas, amongst other stuff. We ended up going by again to meet the lady. She was half awake and talking, and we got to sing her a song, which she loved. It was great :) 

We had a busy weekend. Thursday we went to zone conference, which as always was PHENOMENAL. I loved it! We talked about using Book of Mormon, family histoey work, and members in our missionary work to be more effective and powerful. It is true. Those are our main tools. We need all of you faithful members in order to get about anything done :) 

Saturday we went to a breakfast fundraiser for the young women's at Applebee's and found a super good friend of a member to teach. We then went to part of a members birthday party and found some people there that might be taught, and had a couple of them come to a mother's day activity the ward put on that night. It was quite the day! 

A little miracle of the week. We ran into a guy on Sunday at church, right as the third hour was ending, who had showed up thinking the Spanish ward started at 12. Apparently he had been taught by missionaries before, and wanted to start from the bottom learning about Christ. We taught him a lesson right then and there. Super great! He lives in another area, but that is okay. Still great. 

Juan and Lesley... Did not come to church. We don't know why yet. But we had a GREAT lesson with them this week, which included a lunch. We also set Baptismal dates with a family that has been investigating for a long time. They just need to get work off on Sundays, so we are trying to bolster their faith that God can make that miracle happen, and he can do it by the 27th of May. Their name is the Familia Arredondo :) We are praying hard for them all! 

I have been thinking. A lot. I tend to do that. Haha ^-^ I have come to a conclusion. There is absolutely no point in living life unless you lose yourself in helping others. I have found that I am not ever happy unless I forget about my own happiness. It simply doesn't happen. We are counseled as missionaries to forget ourselves and go to work. I don't believe that is a 2 year invitation: it is an invitation for a lifetime. We need to take care of ourselves: we are our own greatest creation, we determine who we will become. But none of that will be fulfilling unless who we become helps others on their path to happiness. 

Remember to love. And love first. Always. :) 

I love you all. Let us all press on ^-^

Elder Poulson

Mountains and Valleys

Hello everybody! How are you today? I am emailing your from the highest mountain in Southern California: a little hill in the middle of the city of "little hills"! (Cerritos) I am of course making fun of Southern California. If I climb up to the roof of a tall building, squint really hard, and use my imagination, I can kind of see some mountains, but I am pretty sure that is just the other side of my Utah mountains, which is definitely NOT California ^-^ Haha no I titled my email mountains and valleys because this week was just full of ups and downs. A LOT of them. But I ended on a mountain, so I have a nice view of my life right now ^-^ You must look at yourself through Heaven's eyes. 

Now the highlight of this week is that Juan and Lesley have a baptismal date! :D If they feel the truth of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon by the 26th of May, they will be baptized on that day ^-^ Which is very exciting! However, they did not come to church or to see any baptisms this week. That is where they need help. We'll be praying for and working with them :) Members are a huge help with getting investigators to church. (Offer to help the missionaries in your ward with that. They will love you!) 

We had an interesting Saturday this week. We spent the morning using five gallon buckets to clean out 9 months worth of residue that had gathered in a member's swimming pool. The best description of said water would be a mix of sewage and pond water. One of the buckets had some holes in it, so that was just the cherry on top ^-^ Haha it was fun though! I enjoyed myself at least! We then spent the whole rest of the day moving apartments with the help of two other missionaries. It was quite the process. Poor Elder Myers got fried by the sun! Part of his neck hadn't seen the sun for years, because he was always wearing a collar, so it got charred pretty badly ^-^

After Elder Myers and I taught the Restoration at a recent baptism in the ward, a man walked up to me and asked me in Spanish, "Are you from Brazil." A bit surprised, I responded, "No, I'm from Utah." He said, "Oh. You sound like a Brazilian for some reason." I took that as a sign that my Spanish is coming along well! Haha :) 

You know, The Spirit is an interesting thing. I had an experience yesterday with following the Spirit where I felt prompted to head up to a family at the top of the area. That is quite the time commitment when you are on bikes. But we went. They weren't there. Nor could we figure out any other reason that the Lord would send us there. However all the way back to the apartment and throughout the night, I felt the peace of the Spirit testifying to me that we had made the right decision. How is that? 

I have been pondering that question, and came to this conclusion: sometimes the Spirit guides us to do something, knowing it won't work, simply to:

1. Test our faith. Will we follow the spirit the next time, no matter the result? 

2. Teach us lessons we wouldn't have learned in any other way. For example, I learned how to approach failure with optimism in that moment. 

3. One of my favorite quotes of all time: "Doing God's will without thought to the end result or consequence: that is what serving a mission is." Who are we to say what the results should be? If we are truly instruments in God's hands, we don't need to worry about the outcome. We simply do what He asks and give thanks that He is using us to do His will, even if we aren't sure of the WHY behind it. 

That doesn't just apply to missionaries. The spirit whispers to each of you every day. I promise it does. Will you have the courage to follow what it says, the perseverance to follow its guidance day after day? Who do we "fear" more: man, or God? I feel these are good questions to ask ourselves. Soul-searching questions can cause us to recognize the need for a change inside of us. Then we can repent and make that change, and progress. 

Let us all press on! Love you all :) Have a wonderful week!

Elder Poulson