Boston Marathon Run In

 Happy Patriots' Day      

                                        

Quick shout-out to the Buckners, Mom, and Sister Schriver for mail this week. I can't write y'all back personally (at least not in any reasonable amount of time), but know that I appreciate your support, and love you all to death! You're in my thoughts and my prayers. 

Last P-Day, we actually got locked out of our apartment. So we had to go pick up dinner from a member's home, in casual clothes, and then find a rather interesting way in. (AKA have some neighbors let us in and bust in...)

I saw Bruna at interviews this last Wednesday in Belmont, which was super awesome. It's crazy to see all these people that I know, coming to the same Mission! 

On a "not Saturday or today" note, we had some pretty crazy blessings to give. One guy had been stabbed in the head, multiple times, and the Spanish Elders got there, immediately after the wife and doctors decided to pull the plug on life support. That was tough. Elder Motes and I gave a blessings to a man named Dave Smith. He had been informed that he only had 6 months to a year to live, and just wanted a blessing of comfort. He was so peaceful and calm with his death. I've honestly never seen anybody who was that calm, in the face of death. It was pretty inspiring.

This week, Elder Motes and I went on splits with Jaes Jones from the ward. He was AWESOME! Fun Fact-I went on splits with him a year ago in Cambridge. Same guy, one year later, different ward. It was really cool. I have a habit of asking members how we can improve our teaching, and he complimented me for that. I guess I asked him the same question last time, and he was thoroughly impressed. Gotta love members!

Well, this week, the primary focus will be on two days: Saturday and today. You'll see why :)

On Saturday, Elder Motes and I had a couple of hours before our first appointment, so we went to talk with a less-active recent convert youth. We played some pros ball with him, and he had a friend there. When we left, the friend was on the phone with his dad, begging to come to Church on Easter Sunday. SO SWEET! Then we went to our first appointment. However, we had to walk to get there. But we had no idea how to get to our lunch appointment. We just started walking in the general direction of the house. Somewhere along the way (we were totally lost), some random lady waved at us. We stopped to talk to her, and she let us in for soda and cookies! :) It turns out that she's a less-active member of the Spanish branch. We arranged for some service with her, and she is ready to start coming back to Church. So sweet!! And then, we ate TONS of DELICIOUS Chinese food. After that, we're waiting for a bus, and this guy walks up and starts talking to us (that never happens). Turns out, he and his cousin are investigating in West Bridgewater, but they moved to Boston recently, so they're going to be investigating here. Then, some random Haitian taxi driver gave us a free ride to the Church. No bus ride-YAY!!! After that, we had a chapel tour lined up with an investigator and her daughter. They brought 4 non-member friends to the Church, and they all had questions and some interest. And on the bus ride home, Elder Motes started talking to these random Haitians on a bus, and they're going to come do a musical number in our ward soon! And all this came in just one day!

Today was SO SWEET!!! We went to the Temple today, and I had the COOLEST experience. Long story short, I got some answers that I've been needing/looking for for about 3 weeks. From the Temple, we went straight to the Red Sox game, and scalped some tickets. We paid $70 for these tickets, but get this-they were the first row behind home plate! We got $600 tickets for $70! We were close enough to hear some banter, see the strike/ball calls, and everything! We sat by the guy who sold his tickets to the scalper, and he said that it was a miracle these seats were even available-he had at least 2 people drop out last second.

YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE ELDERS THERE ON THE FRONT ROW!!

 Then, as Elder Motes and I meandered around downtown, we ran into the Norton/Lewis clans! It actually started when Brother Lewis walked up to me and asked if I know an Elder Boone. When Sister Norton and Shydi recognized me, it was a crazy scream fest in the middle of the street. It was great to see the Nortons (Brother Norton for the 2nd time... hahaha) and to meet the Lewises. I'm excited to get home and meet all the new folks!

FROM MOM: 2 friends from my ward here in Utah were running in the Boston Marathon and look who they ran into....my son, Elder Alexander Boone. They called me and said, "guess who is standing right in front of me...???  IT'S ELDER BOONE! Do you have a message that you want me to give him?" Of course I do!! "I love you and am so proud of you!!! ". Tender mercy for this mom! —  It truly was a miracle for them to have run into him. First of all, the Lewis's have never met Alex.  They had no idea what he even looked like.  Besides the Hundreds of thousands of people there for Patriot's Day and the Marathon.  What would the chances be to find him on the streets in Boston?  The Lewis's also happened to hook up with Elder Pulsipher, Elder Boone's old companion, whom they knew from their previous ward.  I am so thankful for this wonderful blessing of friends who go the extra mile(funny pun with the marathon) to meet a servant of God.  

Anyhow, I am definitely doing GREAT!!! I am excited for the direction the work is going, and it should only get better from here. Hope this finds all of y'all doing well, and I'll catch ya on the flipside!

-"Eldah" Boone

BOSTON STRONG--HAPPY EASTER!!

We got caught in the rain and had to go for alternative ponchos. Imagine us riding the bus home with these on...

Every Saturday Otto feeds the missionaries at his home.

Happy Monday-after-Palm-Sunday, everybody!

In the spirit of trying to really prepare myself to understand Easter, I have been making a concerted effort to A) Understand the names and significance of events that occurred during Holy Week, B) Study the Atonement more in-depth, and C) Share my testimony of the Atonement as much as possible. Unfortunately, there is no "official" name for today. So I feel like kind of a noob :P

Quick thanks to Mom and Josh for letters this week! Y'all are great :) And I'm bummed to hear that Juanito (Alex's big black goldfish) has gone the way of all the earth. Of course, given that he was a goldfish, given as a white elephant gift, and lived over two years, I'd say that was success.

We haven't had any new investigators come from the Book of Mormon Musical contacting, but we're all having tons of fun with it. We are planting seeds that will hopefully come to fruition, sooner than later.

I just wanted to share a few experiences that I had this week. Most of them are pretty funny-breaks from the somewhat mundane-but they are the ones that stick out in my mind.

Elder Motes sprained his ankle pretty badly a few days ago, playing soccer. We have had to be really efficient with our activities, because his ankle just won't quite support his weight for hours at a time. We've had lots of members helping us with rides lately, so that's good. And plus, the Sisters in our district bought both of us J.P. Lick's ice cream-not a bad deal. Maybe I should sprain my ankle, too... hahaha

We have one investigator, R.P., who is going to be getting baptized in about a month (we set her date this last week!) It seems like every time we go over there, the Jehovah's Witness missionaries try to come over. (And I kid you not-they've knocked on the door when we're in a lesson, on like 8 different occasions.) We were waiting outside for Bro. V, our chaperon, and the JW's knocked on her door. R answered and being 13, couldn't really say no to them, but she was visibly uncomfortable. Then she saw us across the street and started waving. Elder Motes yelled out, "We'll be in in about 5 minutes with Brother V!" You could literally see the Jehovah's Witness missionaries give an exasperated sigh and hang their heads as they walked away. We got quite the kick out of that :)

We do service for this old folks' home, and this week, we helped with music time. One of the songs was "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," and instead of "the whole world" being in His hands, they started singing about how God has the Red Sox, the Bruins, the Celtics, and the Patriots in His hands. Especially because the Red Sox are terrible this year, and "they need some prayers." That really got all the old folks excited, and they went wild (at least as wild as you can go, while still in a wheelchair.)

Elder Motes and I got to go to Weston for a Jenny Oaks Baker concert this weekend. The musicianship was incredible! It was really good, because I got to see a member from the Cambridge 1st ward, and we had a nice chat about how things have been going since I left. I'm glad he remembered me, because it would have been awkward if he didn't... haha

On a slightly more somber note, after weekly planning at the Copley Library, we had the chance to go through the marathon memorial exhibit for a few minutes. It's funny how it sometimes takes a year for something to really sink into you. I was so close to the bombing and ensuing chase last year, but the seriousness of the events didn't really strike me in its' entirety. However, as I sat and mused about how that bombing affected me, I realized that it has changed me in more ways than I initially realized. As I saw bits of memorabilia, read supportive quotes, and saw what people did and said in the aftermath, I was touched at the kindness and support that was shown. In a time when it would have been easy to fall apart and become self-centered, the community banded together and helped each other. I feel inexplicably tied to this city and these people for so many reasons. I too, have adopted the mantra "Boston Strong." My desires to be empathetic and loving were increased, and continue to grow. There are about a million more thoughts running through my head, but to spare all of you some random, garbled meandering, I'll just cut it there.

As we all approach Easter, I hope we can more fully appreciate the Savior and His role in our lives. I know that without my testimony of Christ and His Atonement, I wouldn't be the hopeful person I am, and certainly wouldn't be on a mission. I love all of you, and hope that Easter will show all of us a glimpse of how much Jesus Christ loves all of us. Have a wonderful week!

-"Eldah" Boone

WebEx Photo Shoot

Happy General Conference

Happy Monday, everybody!

First off, I want to acknowledge the people who have sent me letters/packages recently. Though I don't have a lot of spare time to thank you all personally, I want to make sure that y'all know your support is appreciated. Thanks to Ben Hodson and Cindy Sullivan for letters and packages. Y'all are the best, and thank you so much!

This week was absolutely crazy! Elder Motes and I did a lot of work, got 11 media referrals, and had some WEIRD interactions with people on the bus. My favorite, though, was this Unitarian lady. Among other things, she said that they believe the Fall of Adam and Eve was not planned. As we walked away, Elder Motes turned to me and said, "Wait a second. You mean to tell me that the all-knowing, omniscient God of the universe, didn't see that one coming?" I almost lost it laughing in the middle of the bus station. Needless to say, "Work hard, play hard" is of more force than ever :)

We had some pretty wild food this week. During some random dinners/lunches, we ate food from Haiti, Nigeria, and Cape Verde. Plus there was Conference, and we ate SO MUCH!!! We had ribs, baked macaroni, rice/chicken/broccoli casserole, and tons of cookies. My trend of losing weight ended with a 3-pound weight gain this weekend :P

On a fairly sad note, one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Breach, had to go home this last week for surgery. This created a problem, in that we need two Zone Leaders. The Spanish Elders (our roommates) were in a trio, and Elder Stones got pulled out to Brookline to be a ZL. Our apartment dynamic is so different now, and we definitely miss the guy. But he's not too far away, and it makes reporting much more fun :) haha

Conference was absolutely incredible, and I can't say yet that I have a set favorite talk. I'm gonna need at least a week or two to look through some of the talks that I particularly enjoyed and find a "favorite." It's going to be difficult, because this Conference really was just phenomenal.

President Packard has been asking us to learn more about the Atonement through certain chapters in the Book of Mormon. He compared understanding the Atonement to climbing a rope, and explained how we need some knots in order to move onward and upward. President gave us a list of some "Knot Chapters" to read, and I have been amazed at how much I have learned. 

One thought that really struck me this week has to deal with Christ's statement, "With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (Matt. 7:2) But in our efforts not to judge, when we extend mercy to others, how is justice satisfied? In Alma 42, Alma asks, "What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice?" He answers emphatically, "I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God." Ultimately, justice-the consequences for actions-must be carried out. I turned my attention to the earlier verses in the chapter to find an explanation. "And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice." I was reminded of the basic doctrine of all Christianity: that Christ took the consequences of our negative actions on Himself, so that both justice and mercy could be satisfied. If we are to be true disciples of Christ, then perhaps in token symbolism of the Savior's sacrifice for us, in order to extend mercy to others, we may have to accept the consequences for others' actions. But as we do, we can justifiably expect to have mercy extended to us in the Final Judgement, for it is the merciful who obtain mercy. This honestly changed the way that I speak with and think of others. In addition to the instructions given at Conference, I feel an obligation to be more kind and loving and merciful to those around me. This was a significant breakthrough for me, and I really wanted to have it recorded and shared, so that I can never forget it. 

I love all of y'all, and hope things are going well on the home front! Keep on keepin' on, and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Thanks for all of your love and support. It means the world to me, and I want all of y'all to know that.

-"Eldah" Boone