Week #8 Letter

11-16-15
I'm sorry if my grammar or the way it sounds is bad but right now, I
am just thankful that I am safe. I know I will be getting a ton of
emails about this so if I don't respond to yours immediately, just
know I will get there eventually. To start off, it is preparation day
and we did studies, laundry, went shopping and I got a coat and
Christmas presents for the family. Then we did emails at the church
and opened a package from home with an iPod and speaker. The Spanish
elders came in and wanted to play handball with them. It is really fun
so we changed and went to the park to play it. It is basically racket
ball but with no racket and instead use your hands. Anyways, we then
had dinner, went to visit an investigator that has been out of town,
and they are still out of town, and went to teach a less active. Then
on the way home is when this gets interesting. I am safe and alright
to start off. So walking to our home we were called to by someone that
we thought came to church yesterday and we met them. But now I'm not
so sure they are the same person. So we go over to him and the first
thing he says is, " I'm smoking weed, is that ok with you?" I didn't
respond and neither did elder Reese. And he goes on to ask where is
his beads. Backstory: he gave his beads to a sister here in flushing
yesterday, Sunday, and gave them to her as an act of marriage almost.
Idk the full details but that is what I heard. He is cursing at us and
smoking weed at the same time and he tells us to call the sister and
give him his beads. She is in a whole other part of town and would
take a half hour to get there and he said he was keeping us hostage
until they bring him his beads. He then said if we don't give him his
beads, tomorrow he is going to come to the church and basically trash
the place, beat us up, and so on and so forth but in a much less
friendly way. We called the zone leaders instead of the sisters as
they lived right around the corner and they came fast thank goodness.
He leaves across the street and elder finch called the cops, told them
our location and what the dude looked like. Then he comes back as
elder finch hangs up the phone and he tells us to leave. We try to
stall a little until the cops come but we left after he threatens to
beat us up. He isn't a very big guy, my height and a little heavier
than me but there was 4 of us and I'm the smallest. But we didn't
fight thank goodness. He leaves down a street and it just happens to
be the street elder Reese and I live on. So we wait like 2 min and the
police come and we tell them the story, tell them where he went, and
what he looks like. They take off and we are told to go back, the long
route, and get a good nights rest as it is now 10:00. We were then
told that president Reynolds will be calling the sisters and that
tomorrow, we are not to go near our street, Barclay, and when we go to
the church, lock the door when you enter. We will see what tomorrow
brings us but right now, I am thankful for the zone leaders, my
setting apart blessing as it says I will have safety, and for the
spirit I felt during it. I felt pretty calm and I remembered my
blessing but I walked away from that shaking and teeth chattering when
it was 55 degrees out side and pretty warm. I'll update on the
situation tomorrow, which is in a couple sentences for you:) haha but
still feeling so blessed right now. And yes mom, I am ok and safe for
now. We are taking many precautions and not taking this situation
lightly. We joke about it to loosen up and try to forget about it but
remember the safety we received. Talk about a great story to tell!!!!
Haha
11-17-15
"Who wants to have fun?"
"I do"
"I do too"
"Now are you just saying you want to have fun or do you really want to
have fun??"
"I really want to have fun"
"I'm just saying I want to have fun"
We got a lot more info today concerning the guy from last night from
the Spanish elders and from the sisters whom the guy was looking for.
So to start off, background on the Spanish elders: the saw this guy,
name is Kio for now, yesterday in the morning. He opened up to them
and told them his life story and how he got mugged the night before,
Sunday night, and now he doesn't have a phone. So they took him to the
police station to file a report but Kio was reluctant as he sells
drugs and doesn't want to get caught so he tells them to leave and
that he wants his beads. The Spanish elders told him to come back to
the church at 3:30 and the beads will be there. Which if mom can
remember, was the time I signed off of emailing. So we didn't see him
but apparently he came to the church after we left and no one was
there. So he got mad fast and that was what started his rage last
night. But there was the Korean elders that actually had the beads and
they came in while elder Reese and I was emailing home and said, "hey
if a drug addict come in, let us know" we had no idea what they were
talking about at the time but now it makes a ton of sense. They were
going to give him the beads but Kio never showed up till no one was
there. So then the Korean sisters background in whom this all started:
They met him Sunday when he was smoking in the basement of the
church... They told him to stop and he ended up giving his prayer
beads to one of the sisters as an act of proposal in marriage. She
took them not knowing what they meant and moved on. Then last night
after the zone leaders, elder Reese and I had the confrontation with
Kio, the zone leaders called the assistant to the president and
notified them of the situation. They called president Reynolds and he
ended up calling the sisters and getting their story. He then said he
would call back after he calls Church Security Office. He called them
back and told the sister who received the beads to pack her stuff, all
of it and that he was coming to pick them up. They packed her in 30
min and he first called at 10:30 so he picked them up at 11. They
spent the night at the mission home and didn't get to sleep until 2
am. What happened at the mission home we don't know as it is very
close to us. But that is all they were allowed to tell us. Also, that
sister who packed her bags is no longer in Flushing. Her companion is
now in a trio with the other Korean sisters here. That is everything I
was notified of today and it is starting to all come together of who
this Kio guy is now. But he is causing a ton of trouble here in
Flushing. So to move on with the rest of the day today. We taught an
investigator who has learned all the lessons, has read the Book of
Mormon 3 times, attends church every Sunday, and is more active than
most members. But he doesn't want to make the commitment of baptism
till he feels he is ready. He needs to build faith. Elder Reese taught
him 3 transfers ago and since there was nothing else for him to teach,
they dropped him but still keep up to date on him. So today we met
with him and did a QnA session with him on temples and patriarchal
blessings. Really good and helped him a ton and it went straight into
how he is doing. He really opened up to us and tells us the reason
behind his waiting and everything he does. He even recognizes the
spirit in his life. He wants to love the life we live as members of
the church he says. Love him so much. Just having patience with him.
Then we ate at new world mall for dinner as we didn't have time to
make anything to make our next appointment. The next appointment was a
less active whom we never have taught yet. But we gave his wife a
blessing a few weeks ago. She is the first one we gave a blessing to
while I have been on my mission. So we taught them and he is a less
active and she is a nonmember. Working with the, as they recognize
they need the gospel in their lives and help at this time as she is
struggling. Then we went to another less active whom we have been
working with and talked about baptisms for the dead. Then we came
home. Long day and not a lot of contacting this day:) love the full
days.
11-18-15
"Low flow shower heads? I don't like the sound of that." No new info
on Kio. Not sure if we will receive more but ,aye about the sister
that left. Idk. We'll see. Anyways, we did studies and lunch then we
had deep clean. We were suppressed to do it last week but the temple
and zone training messed up the schedule. So we did it today and I
spent an hour on the bathroom. Mom would be so proud of me for
cleaning the bathroom but like I said before, I never had the desire
to clean so badly in my life that bathroom. It was so disgusting but
now it is so nice:) cleaned the rest of the apartment and went
contacting. We had a lesson at 4 and it went well. He says he will
read and pray and attend church this Sunday so we will see him then.
Then dinner and more contacting. Our less active lesson tonight
cancelled on us so we went contacting more. We went to the library
where a drunk man was. He was yelling gibberish at elder Reese and
after 20 min, he jumped down the stairs and talked to elder Reese and
had a little confrontation physically so I walk over and we leave
towards some police men that were in their cars. We go up the street
and look back and see the drunk man talking to the police. What ever
but we are having an interesting week with these flushing people. Some
crazy stuff.
11-19-15
"Nice game pretty boy" We had exchanges today and I am with Elder
Wixom from Draper!!! But before we exchanged, we went to visit an
investigator that hasn't been return our calls. She is a teen so she
had her phone taken away. We found out that she is also grounded, has
a lot of high schooler problems. So she has no time really. Then we
exchanged around 4:30 and we went to Taco Bell for dinner. Then we did
some dropped investigator look ups to see if they are interested
again. No success except for answering the door and sending us away
fast. But it rained a ton today so my brown shoes took on a new shade
of brown that was almost black. I love Elder Wixom though. He is so
talkative and engaging that it is fun to be with him.
11-20-15
"I'm on him Jerry, I'm on him like stink on a monkey!" Today we
exchanged back but before that, elder Wixom and I did studies and even
did some language study of Spanish. Fun stuff. Then we had lunch and
went knocking in College Point and Whitestone. Then we came back  and
exchanged around 4:30 and had dinner. Then we went and made calls and
prepared for correlation. We then went to correlation and went to a
members home named Sandy. He is in young men's. I learned today that I
can include names in emails but no personal info so I will talk about
who is who in later emails.
11-21-15
"Um, excuse me. But I didn't get any bread."
"You want bread?"
"Yes please"
"No soup for you! Next!"
Today was a good day. We opened the church for a member doing piano
lessons there and they bought us breakfast. Then we did studies at the
church and went contacting at the library. We then went contacting at
Murray hills and a lot of people answered their doors so we were able
to talk to some. A couple people just straight shut the door and
didn't say anything but I didn't care that much. Usually people say no
thank you or they are not interested. By others talked to us and said
they were Catholic or another sect of it but they were willing to
listen. Then we got Halal from the guy that gives us free soda and he
even took $2 off our meal. He is so nice! I love this guy! Still need
to figure out his name... Then we went to help the Spanish elders as
they were getting ready for the baptism of their investigator Vincent.
The water heater is broken so the water was 55 degrees. So they were
heating water in the kitchen from the sink and pouring that into the
font. It didn't do anything though. So the first words the came out of
Vincent's mouth when he came up out of the water were, "Wow! That
cold!!" Haha. Then we went contacting at Dunkin Doughnuts place and
then went to the apartment. Pretty good day.
11-22-15
*opens door* "Oh, um, excuse me." *laughs and closes door*
"I was in the pool! I was in the pool!"
Pretty cold day today but tomorrow will be colder. But not as cold as
Utah this week. We still are in the 50's :) Church was good today. We
had a lot of people show up to church that we are working with and a
less active named Robert came to church with his girlfriend. This is
the first time Elder Reese has seen Robert at church in the 4 months
he has been working with him. Then we went to the Carpintero's family
home and had dinner. They were the first member dinner I went to on
the mission. Always good food there. And then we came back and
contacted by Dunkin Doughnuts until 9.

Kio caused trouble with like every missionary companionship in
Flushing except like 2 companion ships. So crazy. Anyways, this week
was pretty good but now these weeks are going by really fast. This
transfer is already over. Transfer day is Tuesday. I should be staying
in Flushing as I am only half way through training. But you never
know.

This week, my ponderize scripture was Ether 12:6. What I found from it
is that Moroni needs help spreading the word to the world.
Missionaries help with that spreading faith. Then we receive no
witness till after the trial of our faith meaning we will know for our
selves the truthfulness of the gospel and the scriptures eventually
but for now, have faith. So dispute not and wait in patience until ye
receive knowledge.

So this week we have had 4 members invite us over for Thanksgiving. So
we will be stuffed all day long and it starts around 2 pm and every 2
hours we will be going to a new members house potentially. We haven't
solidified the plans but that is what we are thinking. I've probably
never ate so much food in my life as I will that day. But it will be a
wonderful day none the less.

Also, every Saturday, we see kids go to school in the regular fashion
like during the week. They are Chinese or Asian but they go to school
on Saturdays!!! Be grateful this week you don't go to school on
Saturdays.

Love you all and I am grateful for the support many of you have
provided and for the many leaders that have prepared me for this
mission. In my blessing, it said I was being prepared in ways I didn't
even know then. I can for sure testify that every single aspect of my
life, no matter what it is, has prepared me in some way for a mission.
Tennis, moving, friends, school, leaders, leadership callings,
everything. Even down to knowledge on technology and working well with
it. Everything has prepared me for it. I feel so blessed knowing that.

I love you all so much and I will see you in the next email. Bu-bye!!

-Elder Heaton