It's been a long time...

I apologize for not having written for a couple of weeks. Once a
slacker, always a slacker, am I right? J.k. the Atonement is real. So
PLEASE accept my repentance.

These last couple weeks have been filled with much introspection and
growth. That always seems to happen when you are training a new
missionary. Elder Wells is a great elder, and he's a quick learner, so
its been a blast to be his companion for these last three weeks. I'll
send some pictures of us together in another email today.

We have two people to be baptized on the 25th of July, so we're pretty
excited about that. The only problem is getting them to attend church
regularly and helping them keep the Word of Wisdom. But we have faith
that they'll be able to overcome these difficulties and be baptized
and retained. Another experience I've gained on my mission is helping
clean up after a tornado hits. Three weeks ago a tornado hit Coal
City, Illinois, which is in our stake. It tore down and damaged the
majority of the homes in this small town, and a couple of days
following the hit, all of the missionaries in the stake were called in
to help with the clean up. So we went for a few hours and helped clear
A LOT of debris.
This Saturday we went back, and the condition of the own is still
pretty rough, and we spent a lot of time clearing sidewalks and
streets of shingles and other debris, but the residents were very
appreciative of our service, which always helps me feel the Holy
Ghost.

Other than that, not a lot is going on. We knock on A LOT of doors in
this area. It's awesome. I used to loathe knocking on people's doors
because for some reason I felt like we were bothering them. I now
realize that that was just the fear of man. I now see it as an
opportunity to bear testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, of the Plan of
Salvation, and the prophetic legacy of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Bearing testimony of Joseph Smith is becoming more and more important
to me because of President Fenn. I don't know if you're aware of this,
but he and Sister Fenn finished their mission, and now we have
President and Sister Griffin (pictures will be sent). In my final
interview with President Fenn, he offered the prayer, which he never
did, and he blessed my that I would be a fearless defender of the
Prophet Joseph Smith. So I am trying to live up to the blessing which
he gave me. Love you mom.


-Elder Vincent Campbell

President and Sister Fenn

President and Sister Griffin

Hi Mom! Elder Johnson and I are doing fantastic! Obviously you saw the picture from the baptism, which must have been a surprise for you.  Well, believe it or not, it was a surprise for us as well. For a long time, we'd been discussing with Lupita when her date for baptism would be. At first she resisted a firm date, but kept saying she really wanted to be baptized. Then when Elder Johnson first came to Bloomington, we set her on date for the 13th. She reluctantly accepted the date, but was still really nervous. We invited her to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray to know if the 13th was the right day for her to be baptized. She never got back to us about the date, so we assumed that she was not going to be baptized on the 13th. But, on Thursday she texted us during a missionary meeting in Peoria, and said that she wanted to be baptized on Saturday. That's officially when we entered nervous mode. Immediately we started planning it. Every day practically, leading up to her baptism, was spent either teaching her or planning the baptismal service. Then, Saturday night, I entered a personal purgatory. She was out with her family for dinner, celebrating her niece's graduation from ISU. Some members who are really close to her were invited. She accidentally ordered iced tea. A member noticed, and texted her dad, who happens to be the bishop of our Ward. He texted us about it. Oh crap, we went. Then he texted the zone leaders, who then promptly texted us, and pretty much made us call her up and talk to her about it. The conversation went fine, we talked about the word of wisdom and how iced tea is a part of it, and she took it pretty well, but asked where she could learn more about it. Right as we hung up the phone with her, we saw that both the bishop and her main fellowshipper President Clay, who happens to be the first counselor in the stake presidency, had called us and told us not to call her because it wasn't that big of a deal. Then we found out that she texted President Clay that she felt like she didn't know enough about the church, and didn't think she could be baptized. Enter panic mode. She didn't show up to church. She wouldn't answer her phone. Enter freak out mode. We had a private conversation with all who were involved, and tried to see what happened and how we could best approach the situation. We concluded with prayer, and the bishop had the great idea to bring baptismal clothes over to her so she could try them on. It turns out that she wasn't mad or offended or anything that we thought she was. She has really bad arthritis, and somehow her knees were so inflamed that she couldn't come to church. And she fell asleep, so that's why she didn't answer her phone. It was all a big misunderstanding and the baptism happened as planned. Lupita doesn't have great mobility because of her arthritis, so both of us were with her during the baptism.  Elder Johnson said the words and President Clay confirmed her. It was so awesome to see her get over her concerns and choose baptism into this true and living church. I'll let you know when I get the packages. I love you, Mom. Thank you for your righteous example to me.

Updates

This post is a combination of a couple of recent letters:


Dear Mom, Well, transfer calls came. Elder Olsen is leaving to finish training a missionary in Bourbonnais. I'm staying here, and I'm going to be co-senior companion with Elder Johnson. He's been serving in the Peoria stake as well, in a little town named Princeton. I really enjoyed serving with Elder Olsen. We learned a lot from each other. I had to step things up as a companion to him. When he was scared to talk to people, I talked to every person we saw until he finally chimed in. I had to lead out with planning at points because what was supposed to be accomplished was not materializing. Even though he was the "senior companion," I tried to help him rise to the occasion. I could have tried to do everything on my own, but I knew that if we weren't equally yoked, the Spirit could not accompany us. We finally resolved to be unity in the cause of truth, in declaring the gospel to all who we encounter, and in the faith that there are hundreds and even thousands of people in our area who are waiting to hear the message of the restored gospel. Once we made that decision, the miracles have come rushing forth. We're still helping one woman continue to progress toward baptism, but where we've found much of our success is in bus contacting. With the winter months beginning, we need ways to find new investigators different than tracting. The bus is one of our better options.  And I did receive the package with the wool socks (Grandma/Grandpa). Thank you for watching out for me. It's a blessing I could never thank you enough for.  

Turkey say was pretty enjoyable. Two families combined for Thanksgiving because both of their families live far away. One of the families was from Louisiana so we had a mix of Southern style and traditional American thanksgiving foods. Really spicy turkey. And then two others families combined and we went over there for dessert. All in all a pretty good Thanksgiving. Nothing like Thanksgiving at home, but good all the same. I can't wait to go to Wyoming when I come home. Hope everyone knows that I love them. Tell Jack that we have at least five people who want to be baptized! Tell Isabelle that I haven't received a response from her! But, I still love her.
Well my new companion is Elder Johnson from Las Vegas. He's only been out five months, but we're got to see a lot of success together. We put someone on date to be baptized on the 13th, so we've got to make sure that she keeps progressing. But she's so ready. She just needs to take a leap of faith, and realize that she probably won't receive answers to all of her questions. Our Ward just split in September, so now there are three wards meeting in this building: Bloomington 1, Bloomington 2, and Normal. As you know, the bishop is awesome. He bought all of our groceries on Tuesday, again.  Other than that, same old amazing missionary work stuff. Just being continually converted to the gospel through prayer and the Book of Mormon and prayer. It's the only worthwhile way to live life! Love Ya!

Some updated pictures

Here are some updated pictures, including Vince and his new companion, and from the Elders' trip to Nauvoo.  The gentleman standing next to Vince is their bishop - he got up at 4:45 a.m. to take them.

Hola

Dear Mom,
You're such a blessing in my life, and I'll always be eternally grateful to you for the righteous choices you have made in your life. You've always shown me love, concern for my well being, and comfort when I've needed it. You'd do anything for me, and to have that knowledge truly blesses my life. I do miss you, but this stage in my life is too short to feel deprived. We talk every week, and the blessing of serving the people here can only change my nature for the better. I have yet to reach the point I desire to reach, but I know that through the atonement, we can all become new creatures.

Have you been reading the Book of Mormon? I just reached 3 Nephi today. I'm going to read from the Book of Mormon every day for the rest of my life. There's just no other alternative.

This week we had the car (a Chevy Cruze), so we did not engage in as much walking or catching buses as we do when we are without a vehicle. Of course, Tuesday was the temple trip at Nauvoo, which was glorious. And there's another new temple video. I swear they've come out with three within the last year. But it was great, so I can't complain. Bishop took us by Carthage as well, but we didn't tour it. I definitely want to return to those places someday and spend more time touring, like the whole city of Nauvoo, and to actually go inside the jail at Carthage.

Anyway, something exciting that has happened is...I finally had an investigator come to church! That's never happened before, but it was great. It was the primary program, and the investigator brought her nephews, and she kept talking about how they needed to be like these kids and come to church. So they stayed the whole three hours, the kids going to primary and she coming with her friends in the church. We really didn't have to do much for her. She sat with members, not us. She went to class with the members, and she mingled with members and not us. That's the way it should be, and there's no doubt that she'll be baptized.

All is well here, mother, and I'm becoming continually converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is our Savior, and only wants us to come unto Him, and join with Him. He'll support through anything. Can I give you some scriptures to study? One that I was studying yesterday really hit me. It's D&C 19:16-19. I encourage you to read it and ponder its message.

I sure love ya!

Last update from Rockwell - on to Peoria!

Greetings from Rockford, IL! Well, I'm still alive. I've not only survived six months in Illinois, but I've cherished those months. Naturally, at the beginning of the mission, the typical feelings of homesickness and inadequacy can easily prevail. You're scared of most things, particularly two things: the people whose doors you knock, and their dogs. Everyone around here seems to own only a select variety of dogs. They either have pit bulls, German shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, or chihuahuas. But, after a thousand plus doors, you begin to acclimate to the barking and gnashing of teeth. You begin to acclimate, and you begin to desire the eternal welfare of all whom you come into contact with, but your effectiveness is solely dictated by the presence of the Spirit, which you must be worthy of. We had a member of the first quorum of the Seventy tour our mission recently. He spoke of many things, but what has remained impressed upon my mind is one simple request he made: "Don't get in the way."  

Don't let your shortcomings hinder the eternal welfare of anyone. Don't allow disobedience to have a negative impact on the work of salvation. In a way, that is the course we take as members of the restored church of God. We use the atonement to put off the natural man, so that the blessings of God may be poured out upon us and our families. We try to get out of God's way, in so many words. The Lord will hasten his work. But we are his hands. So, please, support the Lord by harvesting the field which has ripened. Go out with the missionaries. Let's help each other light the way for our brothers and sisters. For we know we cannot become perfect without them. God bless all of you. I know that through Jesus Christ all things are possible. Walk as He walked, and serve others for their happiness. Be true and faithful. Therein lies joy. Onward, ever onward.

No letter yet, but...

Here are a bunch of awesome pictures I was just sent from the Elder.  Without a letter of course.