Peoria Week 5 *December 23, 2013

Hello hello.
So this is really cool and I thought I should just let you all know
that I am emailing you right now from my iPad sitting in my apartment
on the couch. Pretty neat huh? No more having to ride to the library
and having to deal with all that. I never thought that I would get to
do this on a mission so I am pretty stoked about it. Not to mention my
keyboard skills are not very great but I sure can type real fast on a
smaller key board with only my thumbs haha I guess that a bad thing
but it is what this generation has to deal with so I might as well
make the most of it right?

This was the week before Christmas so it was really cool to be able to
share the wonderful messages of Christ to people who would not
normally have accepted us to come in. I know that this time of year
peoples hearts a bit softer so they are more receptive to the spirit
that the gospel can bring to their lives. Most of the year they are in
just too big of a rush and don't see a need for the wonderful
blessings that come from having a knowledge of the truth. But that's
what we as missionaries get to go out and proclaim right? That is why
I am so stoked to get to be here at this time. Not only because the
work is hastening and members are now starting to be everyday
missionaries but because we get to see the wonderful fruits of our
labors. Please promise me that you will all work very hard at keeping
Christ in your thoughts and in your minds all year long and not just
at this time of the year. It will be tough to do but I know you can do
it!

I love you all so much and wish you the best of wishing this day!

Elder Cole Safford

Our casitas all decorated for Christmas

Me and Santa Haha

Having a little fun

Peoria Week 4 *December 16, 2013

Hey hey hey. How is everyone doing today? 

This week has been just absolutely wonderful! For the main reason it was my birthday. That is really weird to think that I am already 19 years old! It seems like a year ago that I was turning 18. Crazy how fast time flies by. On the bright side I am in the last year of my "teen" years. That will be something to look forward to. Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! It really meant a lot to me. One tradition we have in our family is to put up handmade signs all over the house for peoples birthdays. Well I thought that I would miss out on that this year with me being gone and all, but as great as my family is they sent my companion a secret package that had all these signs and posters and things in it. He woke up a few minutes early and put them all up around the apartment. As I woke up he started to record me. At first I didn't even recognize that anything was done. But slowly I looked around and saw all these signs. I had no idea what was going on and I was trying to figure out exactly how this could have happened. The video is pretty great! You can totally see me piece it together in my foggy 6:30 AM brain. It meant so much to have all those signs. You really don't realize how great things are until they are gone. But in my case they were not actually gone... Make sense? 

I was able to go to the Mesa temple with my mission this week as well. What an amazing and powerful experience that was. The entire room was filled with just missionaries. I know that the Lord was pleased with all of us and I could really feel his presence there. Members of the wards we serve in provided family names that they needed to get done. How great would it be to have 250 of your personal family names done in one day? I know that we were the answers to someone's prayers and I was happy to get to do that. When we got into the Celestial room we got to give a hug to our mission president and his wife. She does so much for us and I was so excited to hug her and tell her how much it all means to me. It was a tender mercy of the Lord for sure.

This past week we have really been looking for opportunities to share Christmas messages with people. Christ is a pretty common belief among people so this non threatening message is a great way to break down some of the barriers that people automatically put up when they see white shirts and ties. I know that we are planting seeds in people that future missionaries will come along and harvest. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and all that he did and continues to do for me and my life.

I just want to publicly give a shout out to my parents and to my sisters for their love and support on my birthday. They always know how to put a smile on my face and make me feel like 2 million dollars. They are they best family and friends that I could ever ask for.

Every transfer the District leader goes on an "exchange" for the day. Either you go to his area and then his companion comes to your area with your companion or the other way around. I got to go to his area with his newer companion that has been out for about 2 months. He has been having a tough time with missing home and was thinking about leaving the mission field. I have been through something similar even though I have never thought about coming home, so I felt a need to help him. I absolutely love this elder to death and he has so much to offer the people here in Arizona. We get along very well and I was able to help him see the blessings that will and have come to his life already. I know that he will make the right choice. It just went to show me that I can bless peoples lives even if they are members of this church or even missionaries. I know that this is a great gift from my Father in Heaven and I intend on using it to the best of my abilities. 

I love you all and wish you a very Happy Christmas!

Elder Cole Safford

December Birthdays

At the Temple with Brother and Sister Taylor and Elder Zaugg

Peoria Week 3 *December 9, 2013

Hello Friends & Family,

This week has been nothing but a bunch of fun. I don't know why but for some reason people are so much more receptive to the message of Jesus Christ this time of the year. It must have something to do with Christmas but I thought that was only about presents and chocolate oranges.... Maybe i'm wrong. But seriously we have trying to get in contact with certain families for so long and all of a sudden their doors are swinging wide open and they are welcoming us in. It is such a beautiful thing. We have been sharing "Christmas messages" which are really only messages surrounding Jesus Christ but at this time of the year it is a lot less forward if we just call them Christmas messages. One of my favorite verses that I have come across in my study of Christ is Luke 2:10. As a missionary we get to do that all year long. Everyday we get to share those good tidings of great joy. Each Sunday we should be remembering the Savior and all that He did for us. We don't only have to do it around Christmas and Easter. It makes me so happy to be able to call myself a representative of Jesus Christ each and everyday. There are no words to describe the love that I have for Christ and all that He did for me personally. Think about how excited those angles were that ministered to the shepherds. Those went off singing "Glory to God". They knew the blessing that He was going to be to the world and how much we were going to need Him in our lives. Don't ever forget just what He did. Thinking of Him this season is a good thing but the best thing you could do is think of Him and Thank Him all year long. It doesn't matter if you are Mormon or Christian or Catholic. Jesus Christ died and suffered for YOU. Don't you think he would like a little thank you every once in a little while?

As we go around sharing these messages about the Savior we also offer to do service where ever it is available. We got to help a family move their entire house out into a trailer by ourselves. Just Elder Zaugg and I. The husband has had over 16 knee surgeries so he was not really much help. We moved like 4 huge dressers and t.v. units and a full couch and basically anything else that goes into rooms down these crazy crooked stairs. It was rad, The wife kept cringing and freaking out thinking that we were going to drop her stuff. No she didn't think we would get hurt.. just her things. I also had the great opportunity to put Christmas Lights on a 20 foot tall cactus. Yes that is right. people in Arizona decorate the cacti in their front yards. I even took one for the team and got stabbed in the knee by like 9 thorns. Needless to say that I felt like a stud and then went home and cried as I slowly pulled them out of my knee.

The weather here has been absolutely insane. It's like 32 degrees in the morning with a high of about 55 degrees. Who knew that it would ever get that cold in Arizona? Cause I most certainly did not. Thank goodness for my family for sending me a sweet jacket. Literally saved my life. It makes me miss the days when it was 120 degrees and I was dying of heat exhaustion. It does however make it feel more like Christmas so that is a plus.

This week we have had to give two different investigators over to other wards because they don't live in our ward boundaries.We taught both of them all the way up until the actual baptism and then just like that they were gone. It's okay though because the work is still moving forward and I am still helping to bring people closer to Christ. There will never be any sadness in my heart after having to give them up. I just love to teach. I don't care who it is. As long as I get to teach them I will be satisfied. This work is so real and so wonderful. Don't ever underestimate your testimonies and the power that they have. Share them and they will touch the lives of those that hear them. I guarantee it.

Well I love you all so much and cannot wait to see what this week holds in store for me. Keep up the faith and never lose the ground that you already do have. Just have hope for a brighter future to help you get through the struggles that you have today.

Elder Cole Safford

Me vs. Giant Cactus

Victory

Oh happy day...night

Peoria week 2 *December 2, 2013

Hello people,

What an exciting week this has been! We have been doing a ton of work here in my new area and the members are really starting to get a hang of the whole concept of member missionary work. Every week we have at least 2 lessons in church all about missionary work and how to do it. They even have created an entire class all about the book "the power of everyday missionaries". It is so crazy to be apart of this great work at this great time. I know that I have been called to Arizona now for a reason. I know that I was called here to see the work of the Lord take off and to be with the missionaries around me and the members in this area. I know that if we all just open our mouths and proclaim the gospel truths that we know, we can work miracles in peoples lives. Trust the Lord and put your faith in Him. If you pray for specific chances to have missionary opportunities they will come. I know this because I have tried it. You do not need to be a missionary to allow the spirit to prompt you and your actions. The better you recognize those promptings the more the Lord will give them to you.

This week we had Thanksgiving. I mean I know all of you that are reading this did as well but I still had it and it was great. We went over to a family in the ward named the Snow's and we had a huge fantastic Thanksgiving dinner and party. They invited a bunch of non member friends and we were able to just talk and mingle and share a little about the gospel without things getting too weird. I even got to see pictures of my family because sister Snow is now friends with my mother! Its amazing! I cannot believe that I got to see them on that family holiday. It made the whole day. After that dinner we got to go to another dinner and another dinner and then a dessert at the mission presidents house while we put up Christmas lights and their tree. Needless to say that I did not have to eat food for like 2 days after. But its all good because I have not had any Thanksgiving leftover dinner since, Thank gosh.

I have come to the realization that missionary work is not all about just teaching investigators and baptizing them. But you can do so much more by opening up to the members of the ward and to less active families and to people that just need some service done for them. It is remarkable how satisfying it can be to just help people see that we are normal people who are willing to give up our time to help them. I love serving people now. Christmas lights are a major one that we got to do this week. It is weird how the Lord can soften your heart and help you to see the blessings that come from serving people. I did not like to do service at all before my mission and now I love it. We got to go to a baptism for two 8 year olds in our ward because the families invited non member friends. While we were there a lady walks in and asks to talk with us. She was sobbing and said that she was driving by and saw the church and just knew that she needed to come inside to get a blessing of comfort. She was a less active of about 30 years and was having family issues. I was so thankful for the opportunity I had to be worthy enough to give that blessing to her. I know the Lord put us at that baptism for that specific reason.

I have really come to find out just how judgmental I used to be. I used to not give people the time of day depending on what they looked like or what they acted like. Since meeting tons of people on my mission I have come to realize just how off my initial thoughts on a person were and most of the time still are. It is so great to get to know someone and have them trust you enough to just completely open up to you and allow the spirit to guide you in what to say to them. The spirit knows everyone perfectly. It knows what we all need and exactly how we need to receive it.

I know that I still have a long way to come as far as my progression both spiritually and physically, but this week I have been able to see just how far I have come. It is a huge blessing and I hope I can just keep building and getting closer to the person the Lord needs me to be.

Until next week,

Elder Cole Safford

Peoria week 1 *November 25, 2013

Hey there,

This week has been a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions. On Wednesday night we got a call from President Taylor and he said that there was some situation in and area and he needed me to pack up my things and be ready to go in the morning. I was okay with leaving because I know that this is what the Lord needs me to do and he trusts me enough to do it. But at the same time I was super bummed to have to leave all the families that I have grown so close to love. I was able to call three of them and let them know how much they meant to me but it was really surprisingly hard to do. It is true that you don't know what you have until it is gone. That's how it was for me and the area I served in. I didn't realize just how much the people meant to me until i had to leave them all without even saying goodbye. The other thing was my companion Elder Clay. Even though he bugged the crud out of me sometimes I really had come to appreciate all he did and all he was. It was hard to say goodbye to him after knowing him for just two weeks. But all is well and I know that this is the way it is supposed to be.

My new companion is Elder Zaugg (its like dog with a Z) and he has been out for just 5 months. He has been in this area for only two weeks so it is pretty difficult to get around because he has little to no idea of where people live. Thank goodness for our new iPads with maps on them haha He is a great elder and really works hard. Our area is quite large and has a big hill right smack dab in the middle of it so anytime we want to go to the other side of the area, which is like five times a day, we have to ride up and down this hill. Pardon my french but they have named the hill "hell hill". I personally don't think its all that bad but its pretty funny to see Elder Zaugg struggle up it every time. I am excited to be in this new ward though. There are so many rich people here it is insane! Every house we go into is like a mansion! I honestly don't know how these people have so much money. The ward is very missionary minded and working hard to move the work of the Lord forward. A little side note is that this is the same ward that President and Sister Taylor are in. Yes my mission president and his wife are in the ward that I am serving in! Kinda freaked me out at first but I am semi okay with it now.

My new house is pretty rad. It is actually a casita behind a members home. I am only the fourth missionary to stay in it so it's all nice and new. The town is very nice so we just leave our bikes out front on the patio and leave the door unlocked 24/7. Much different from my last area hahah Its great though. The members that live at the house are semi active and semi not so we don't really interact all too much. They are kind though so that's a plus.

Funny story about this week. It started to rain on Thursday which was the first day that I got to this new area and it didn't stop raining until Sunday morning! The rain was not the bad thing. The bad thing was that I didn't have a single sweater or jacket to wear. Since I was transfered so suddenly the jacket my parents sent to the mission office is now waiting for me to pick it up in my old area! They need to shuffle some things around and I should get it within the next week. but it's okay because one of the members went out

and bought me a sweater. Super nice of them. On top of it being wet it is just about 50 degrees here. Kinda different from 120 degrees!

I really do love the mission and do love the people in this new area already. The saints everywhere you go will open up their arms and embrace the missionaries so I feel right at home already. I will do ever thing in my power to push the work forward here and help others to come unto Christ. Don't ever forget to simply pray to your Father in Heaven because he can help you with whatever you need. I have gained a much stronger testimony of prayer this past week. well I love you all so much. Keep moving forward.

Me and my new companion Elder Zaugg

Until next week,

Elder Cole Safford

Glendale week 14 *November 18, 2013

Hola! (thats spanish for hello)

The weeks are going by and I am finally feeling like I am getting the hang of things. I feel a lot more comfortable with the teaching and I find joy now in talking with complete strangers. I think that I like talking with strangers for the experiences that I normally have and not exactly for the purpose of inviting them to Christ so I need to still work a bit on that. As far as the teaching is going, I think I have found my stride. It all flows so easily and it is a lot of fun to see people light up when they feel the spirit and know that what you are testifying is true. The gospel is amazing I tell you. People think that it is so complex and hard to understand, but in all reality, once you find out that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God then all other things fall into place. It truly is the keystone of our religion. Read it. It will change your life. I have come to the realization of that over the past couple of months and I cannot wait to keep learning for the rest of my life.

This week was a bit unusual because for the first time we actually taught a bunch of lessons. I know that may sound bad but it is true. I finally have been able to do what I came to Arizona to do and that is to teach the Restored Gospel to anyone that will listen. People here are funny. The most common thing that I find is people want to be blunt and straight with you but they still beat around the bush or go into third person mode and say "well thats not what others think". I still know that they just want to say that they dont believe what I am teaching but they are just too scared so it is pretty funny. I get a good chuckle out of it. For the most part the people that we continually teach are interested but when the time comes to commit to coming to church or being baptized they pull back. We are still trying to figure out how to come around that obstacle, but it is still good to teach people and plant those seeds of truth and a little bit of knowledge.

Life has been going real swell here in AZ. The weather is just absolutly great and the ward members are just full of support. There has never been a dull day in the whole time that I have been here. I am laughing everyday and making memories that will last a lifetime. It is pretty funny because everytime we go to someones house they always without fail ask how long we each have been out. I am excited to say 4 months but Elder Clay just says "a little over a year". He will not accept that he is coming to an end of his mission. I always bring up the fact that he has only six months left snd he gets pretty mad. Its quite funny.

Rad story time. Laying in bed a couple of mornings ago we hear a knock at the front door. We are not expecting anyone because its 6:30 in the morning. We grab some clothes and rush to the front to door to see who is disturbing our peace at this hour. We open the door and there is no one there. Then all of a sudden a man comes around the corner. He introduces himself. His name is Matt. He then says and I quote "I need the Holy Ghost." Yes thats what this man says at 6:30 in the morning. We were so shocked. I think it must have shown on our faces  because he then starts to give us his phone number and information and tells us to give him a call and set up a teaching appointment. So the day goes on and we give him a call later that night. He says he wants to meet on Sunday at the church. Really?! Okay!! Then he call us back no more then 2 minutes later and asks what time church was at. We tell him and he said he would be there! WHAT!? I automatically thought he was messing with us! But come Sunday morning here walks in Matt at 8:30. He is fantastic. Wants us to teach him and I am thinking he wants to be baptized but we dont know yet. Pretty crazy right?

Well that is all for this week folks. I love you all and appreciate each and every one of you. Keep the faith and keep moving forward. There is more to this life if you just go out and find it. Be adventurous.

My new companion Elder Clay

Look what we got!!

Yup. Just like home!

Love,

Elder Cole Christopher Safford

Glendale week 13 *November 12 2013

Hello there,

This week has been full of changes because it was transfer week. Since I was being trained last time transfers rolled around I did not have to worry at all about getting a new companion or figuring out if I was going to move areas. Going into Wednesday I knew that I was going to stay in the area but I also knew that I was going to get a new companion. Yikes! I was so nervous because I didn't know what to expect or who I would get. The meeting started and President Taylor started to call off peoples names and their new companions. The time came to hear my New companions name and it is Elder Nathan Clay.

Elder Clay is from Axton, Virgina and he is 21. He has been out for almost 18 months now so he has a little better of an understanding of how he likes to do missionary work. He has his head on straight and works really hard. He has his faults and things that he is continually trying to work on but for the most part we get along pretty well. He talks about 100 times more then my last companion so at times it is pretty annoying to be around him but he knows the doctrine and how to present it to people we come in contact with. He is a full blown country hick with a super thick accent and everything. It is so funny to hear him talk with people and them try to understand what he is trying to say. I know that the Lord has put us together for a reason and that I need to learn somthing from him so I try to listen and absorb all I can. This companionship is going to try me and is going to push me to the limits but it will be a great learning experience and a great adventure.

I have been working really hard in this area to help it take off and it is finally starting to show signs of doing just that. I have been able to teach a lot more people and help those I come in contact with build their understanding of God and the role he should play in their lives. I know this gospel is there for everyone and I know that there are people here that need it in their lives I just have to go out and find them. The spirit is contstantly putting thoughts in my head of where to go and when I actually listen to them the experience is amazing. I have been tried and tested and I know that the spirit in me has grown from actually listening to its promptings. At times I feel like I am all alone in this work and that God is not there to help me just when I need him the most. But I need to remember the teacher is always quiet durning the test and if I push forward with faith the blessings will be that much greater.

One day while we were walking down the street a group of Native Americans yelled at us to come over and "preach" to them. So naturally we rode on over and started to talk to them about the gospel. They were all drunk as skunks and didnt really have an interest in anything that we had to say. One lady told me that she was Catholic. I said that that was great and she quickly rebuked me saying that it wasn't. I asked nicely if she didnt like to be Catholic and she yelled at me face to face about how much she loved being Catholic. I was so confused and didnt know what to say hahaha She asked me to pray for her so thats what we did. Right there in the middle of the road. Stood in a circle holding hands with drunk indians praying for them. It was quite an adventure!

I know this gospel is true and that the Lord really does know each of us and answers our prayers. I love this mission and all the people I talk to... even the drunk indians.

Thank you for the love and support.

Until next week,

Elder Cole Safford