CHALMETTE CHRONICLES: CHAPTER TWELVE: The end of an era and the start of a beginning

Well, it happened.

I bet you're all ever so contemplative over what has happened to the ever so quirky Elder Boyd. Well, it has been a suspenseful week for all. Truly the cliff-hangers have been monumental. Through test and trial, we have had our fair BUT WE HAVE NOT DESPAIRED- because we're here to serve a righteous cause, truth gives us the strength to bear. I knew going into this week that things would be crazy, but above it all, I knew that whatsoever the Lord had planned for me, I was willing to do because I know that through him I can do all things. So, with that willingness in mind... and comfort in the Lord's perfect timing.. without further ado... ladies and gentleman.. boys and girls... Jews and Gentiles.. is the suspense killing you, yet? It sure killed me. 

Anyways...

I'M STAYING IN CHALMETTE. (But for some reason, my family already knew that and the surprise wasn't as...exhilirating for them)

Yes, I am a survivor, keep on surviving. Hallelujah, the Lord answers prayers. I've actually grown quite fond of this place surprisingly, so I'm super stoked to spend another transfer ministering In Chalmette. So, all the fancy details and whatnot. My new companion will be Elder Carter, and this will be his first time in New Orleans, so now I will have to be the strong one and help him acclimate. Imagine that? Big city anxiety Boyd is now taking the reins as the instructor of, "Surviving New Orleans: For Dummies." I am super stoked to be with Elder Carter. I hear he is quite the hilarious muchacho. We're also getting a new quadship- Elder Stoddard is headed to Downtown, and Elder Hernandez will be staying with a new companion who is ANOTHER NATIVE Spanish speaker. And get this... One of the sisters in our District is now training a native Spanish sister.. so there will be three fluent Spanish speakers in the District. I am learning Spanish Y'all. Oh and, Elder Orison is getting shipped off to Oakdale to be a boss over there, and there's one more thing...

I'm going to be the new District Leader! 

Yup- for some reason someone decided to trust this feisty ginger with leadership- but I couldn't be more excited. Fresh out of training, and I follow in my father's footsteps as I assume the lofty position. I really look forward to taking a leadership role and helping these other Elder and Sisters fulfill their missionary commission. Stay tuned for updates on how FREAKING AWESOME OUR DISTRICT MEETINGS ARE GONNA BE. 

I'm going to miss Elder Orison, he has truly been a fantastic trainer. I've learned so much form him and know he'll change the world wherever he goes.

Okay, enough about transfers, this week was a DOOZY and it looks like the title will so I present, with an ever so illustrious introduction, CHALMETTE CHRONICLES: CHAPTER TWELVE:

So, like I said, so much happened this week, I am just gonna word vomit for a good minute and hope the Spirit conveys how epic and awesome our adventures this past week were. 

We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders this past week in Tulane- which was pretty stinking awesome! I saw the more, "luxurious" side of New Orleans as Elder Teare and I took on the world. We met some wacko's let me tell ya. I have never been in such a diverse area where quite frankly, no one person is like the other. One minute we're talking to a Hindi priest who is trying to teach us to levitate through the good word of God, and then the next a man on a unicycle is asking me to pet his stuffed lemur while I hold his baseball bat. I can seriously say with all of the energy of my heart- New Orleans is a weird place. But with that exact same energy... I love it here. This is my holy land. This is the place where I have felt closest to Christ. And if it takes the courage to break up a drug deal to share a message about Christ, or to hold a stuffed lemur to acquire that courage and change- willingly, I will obey. So yeah, that was exciting.

We also had a BAPTISM THIS WEEK, HOLLAH AT YA ELDER. One of the Spanish investigators, D., decided to enter the waters of baptism this past week. If you think baptisms are cool when you're at home, imagine what they're like on a mission? They're basically the most sliced of bread. It was so cool to see the result of so many months of work put into his conversion. He rocks around in a wheelchair and so it took THREE people to baptize him! It was an incredible trial of faith on his part, but I am so grateful to have witnessed such a feat and to call D. a brother in the fold. I was privileged to play the piano at such a prestigious event. For some reason, people think I play? Well, I guess I'll be playing a lot more on my mission after the eventful day. ALSO, I got to participate in D.'s confirmation! Isn't it so cool that when the prayer is uttered we say, "receive the Holy Ghost?" It's an invitation to accept his companionship. And one you'll never regret, I can promise you that. I felt the Spirit so strong as he attended church and shared his testimony. Missionary work WORKS my friends. May we all live worthy enough to find the elect we are destined to find. 

We had a pretty cool experience ourselves as English Elders this past week. So, recently, we haven't had much success in the commitment category.. or return appointments.. or in investigators actually wanting to learn more.. but this past week the Lord visited us in our afflictions. After District Meeting we randomly started driving around and decided to do some tracting in the area we ended up in.. No rhyme or reason to it, we just drove until we felt like this was the place we should be. Well, we knocked on a few doors- no luck. We were about ready to turn back when we felt the impression to knock on one more door.. a door with pillars. I mean, it looked like the Parthenon, who wouldn't wanna knock on that? So with faith in our tool belt, we clapped our knuckles on the door. Immediately, she opened up. We did our usual introduction, and she right away invited us in. She had a special glow about her, I just KNEW there was something special about this one. Well, we proceeded to teach her about our Church and get this...

Turns out, she has just gotten done with an abusive relationship. She has a one-year-old daughter whom she wants to endow with good morals. She's been Catholic her entire life but she's been looking for a change. And she's been trying to find peace... lasting peace.. in a way that can console her and her daughter consistently in hard times. BOOM, HOW ELECT IS THAT?? So, naturally, with the people down here... we almost didn't believe her.. like, are you joking? You actually care about our message and are perfectly inquisitive about everything we teach? Dreams do come true. And the more we talked about the church, the more she loved it.. the more involved she wanted to become. One thing leads to another, and then suddenly I was putting her on date for Baptism (of course, being guided by the Spirit..). She even said such golden quotes as.., "you know when something just feels.. right? That's this." and.. "I just feel an overwhelming and indescribable peace right now... I just know this Church is true.." We set up a follow-up appointment with her, and she wasn't home.. but I have a feeling that if we're diligent, this Gospel can really bless her life. This experience was a real strength to my testimony.. the Lord really does know us. He knows how we react to the circumstances he gives us and trusts us to follow the promptings we are given. There are people out there.. real people.. who can just benefit so much from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.. in this case she truly was, "hid from the truth because she knew not where to find it." This church is true. I can feel it. And those seeking it can too. I hope y'all know that this church and its fruits provide peace unparalleled. Don't believe me? Read the Book of Mormon, ask Heavenly Father, they'll tell ya. Yes indeed, this church is true. 

Well, in other news, we really strengthened member relations this past week. We had like.. for one.. a normal sit down dinner with the Farrells this week. (Yes, the Farrells become even more awesome AND THEY EVEN GOT ME DAIRY FREE ICE CREAM? LIKE WHAT? HEAVEN SENT? I THINK YES.) It felt a bit odd to actually go through the missionary dinner routine... I was asked about my family... imagine that [inside family joke]? And apparently, it was the Super Bowl this past week? Huh, who knew. We also ate a lot of hot dogs with Brother Landers this past week as I helped him replace his dishwasher. BOOM, acquiring new skills all over the place. Serving a mission will bless your entire life. Never will I ever take an automatic washer of dishes for granted again.  

But yeah, it was a pretty incredible week! 

I also DROVE ON THE LOUISIANA ROADS FOR THE FIRST TIME ON EXCHANGES WITH ELDER HERNANDEZ AND BY SOME MIRACLE WE ARE ALIVE. But basically it looks like an earthquake just wrecked every road down here, so beware if you ever traverse the streets of New Orleans. 

Well y'all, that was a pretty exciting week! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers! I love you all so much and I sincerely pray that you're all reaping in the blessings of reading the Book of Mormon daily. Do it, I promise it will change your life. ELDER BOYD GUARANTEE! Alright, have a great week y'all! I LOVE Y'ALL.

With the utmost appreciation and love for you wonderful souls,

Elder Boyd

For his dad...

CHALMETTE CHRONICLES: CHAPTER ELEVEN

The most y'all of all y'alls to all of y'all,

Hey Y'all. Although this week was a bit of a shorter one, WE STILL ABSOLUTELY SLAYED IT DOWN HERE IN THE BODACIOUS BAYOU. Our mission is being propelled like a fighter jet into the technological age, and it's almost a culture shock to not hold title to a flip phone. Yes, that's right ladies and gentleman, boys and girls- MISSIONARIES ARE GETTING AN UPGRADE. In the wise words of Elder Costa.." you're like Ammon and Alma, except you have more training and better resources.. so you're better." So yeah, basically we're like cockroaches with jetpacks.. just when you think we couldn't get more invincible.. WE ARE. And on that lovely note.. WELCOME TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION OF YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD (maybe not so much in Louisiana) EDITION OF THE CHALMETTE CHRONICLES!

So, we had a technology "party" of sorts this last week, where we congregated as a group of giddy missionaries to receive video counsel from Elder Bednar about this technological advancement. This is such a cool age Y'all- and to think, we as spirit children were preserved for this dispensation, at THIS time- it's gotta make ya think- maybe we are here for a reason? Well, THINK NO MORE- CAUSE YA ARE. Each of us has been specifically chosen to live in one of the hardest times of the world because we are some of His strongest disciples! At the end of one of the training videos, Elder Bednar uttered, "do you realize how much trust the Lord has in you?" I mean, golly Y'all, if the Lord trusts young adult emissaries with smartphones.. do ya think he trusts his other disciples with a great work and calling? I know that we are individually called to accomplish his eternal purposes, and I just pray that we all live worthy enough to fulfill our sacred responsibility! Anyways, the smartphones are the bomb.com. 

Who would've thought having COMPLETE access to the Gospel library would be such a freaking incredible blessing? Yes, that's right... who needs YouTube when you have the FULLNESS OF THE GOSPEL? Needless to say, I think my priorities on the mission have changed... I find great joy in watching the Restoration videos... I'd recommend them to anyone looking for a good time. PG Guaranteed. And free of ads- what more could you ask for? So, yeah, basically I'm hecka pumped to use technology to further the work of the Lord. 

We now have our entire area book on a mobile device and can use the app itself to track down people who received lessons TWO YEARS AGO- no joke, we tried it out. I felt prompted to open up the investigator map.. and we found this lady near us who was taught a bit in Nov. 2015- So we literally went up to her door, asked for her name, and turn s out- she's interested again! How cool is that? We have NEVER met her before.. but because we knew her name, we were able to contact her and set up an appointment... The missionary life is changing Y'all... If you've received lessons from a missionary in the past.. Watch out- cause we're coming, and we know your name, and we have technology.. :) 

We also adventured to the end of the world this past week! One of the members out here, Brother Landers (the guy I roasted in the poem off) felt the impression that we needed to venture out to the local fishing village to build the branch in the area- so what did we do? We acted on the prompting and drove to the end of the world... Surprisingly, it was in our area? Which I still am yet to believe... We drove for an hour at least and stumbled upon this utopia of fisherman with the most stereotypical Louisiana mustaches and overalls I ever did see. Brother Landers told us.. "you don't mess with the people out here... If ya do they'll cut you up, put ya in a crab pot, and you'll be gone in a month... SO never... I repeat NEVER say... Your mother eats oysters." 

We quite frankly emulated the gospel philosophy of "finding the one." We drove until we couldn't drive no more.. and found this rinky dinky old bait shop- surprise, surprise, the owner was interested in our message, and we even got a picture with him! So yes, sometimes in our ministry, we must drive for hours on end and brave the feisty fisherman, to find a hill-billy named Cleatus. It was quite the magnificent time. Brother Landers even played his harmonica for us (while driving, mind you) and we sang a little ditty (see attached video..). 

This week was all in all a great time to strengthen member relationships. We aren't necessarily the most popular Elders in the branch- mostly because we don't speak Spanish... I told one of the members that we DID, however, speak Sarcasm, and she was less than enthused. But this past week we really made some ground in winning over these Chalmette hearts... IN FACT, HERE'S A GNARLY EXPERIENCE:

I've been searching for what I had to contribute in this area, and this week, EUREKA, I found it... We have been working with this less active couple for the past few months or so... they were sealed, baptized, and actually teachers in Sunday School- but sadly, went inactive for over a year. Well, they loved the missionaries- and how can you resist this Irish charm? Elder Orison and I were the first companionships to see them in almost two years. Well- we talked with them.. and taught them.. and called them.. and we were probably the most clingy couple to that debonair duo, but we were persistent! Well, they didn't come to church the last three times we invited them.. so we decided not to meddle with their agency- BUT THEY BOTH CAME TO CHURCH THIS LAST SUNDAY, AND NOW I KNOW EXACTLY HOW GOD FEELS WHEN WE OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS. I have a deeper appreciation for our Heavenly Father and his patience for each of us.  God knows that if we do what he asks, we'll be happier.. it saddens him when we don't allow ourselves to be happy. A little perspective goes a long way- I am so blessed to be in a position and environment where my spiritual eyes are more open. "Everything essential is invisible to the natural eyes."

Well, that about sums up the highlights of the week! Next time I email, I'll know whether I'm transferred or not... so pray for Elder Boyd! Also, the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission is absorbing the Jackson Mississippi mission in July- and there are GREAT things ahead for this great apostolic work! 

Basically, I'm just pumped for the future of this church. I love the prophets and apostles, I love this restored Gospel, I love the Book of Mormon, and I just know with all of my heart, mind, and soul that it is ALL SO TRUE!! Give the missionaries a chance. What's the worst that could happen? Everlasting happiness? Eternal perspective? Seriously, there is no harm in this Gospel. Ever since living it, I have never had a bad day- sure, some days were harder than others- but thinking about it, not a single one has been bad... because I know that the day prepared me for eternity and that amidst it all, it was all necessary to my mortal sojourn. This Gospel creates good days. Live it. Love it. 

I love you all so much- thank you once again for your thoughts and prayers, it all means so much! For those of you who aren't reading the Book of Mormon, please do it. Once again, you will be guaranteed to have a more abundant life- and if you aren't, you aren't reading it for its intended purpose. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH I KNOW THIS CHURCH IS TRUE AND I HOPE Y'ALL KNOW IT TOO!

With great amounts of appreciation for your wonderful and worthy souls,

Elder Boyd 

**NOTE:  Jeremy never sends explanations of/with his pictures.  Most of the time his pictures are self-explanatory as they go along with what he's done that week.  Today; however, I'm not sure the reason or meaning of these pictures.  Also, he states above that we should watch the video, yet he didn't send one??

CHALMETTE CHRONICLES: CHAPTER TEN: A once in a lifetime opportunity.

The utmost Salutations to you awesome homo sapiens,

Y'all, this week has been monumental. Like, even cooler than the Chalmette monument (see this post): and I was the official (manly) security guard in charge of protecting that thing from crazed tourists, so you better bet I thought it was awesome- but this week was even more awesome. Yes, indeed, Elder Claudio R.M. Costa came to the mission, and needless to say, it was so freaking fantastic, I don't think I could curmudgeon a worthy adjective- so I'll leave it at that... Hopefully, I'll be able to relay the awesomeness in the OFFICIAL FIRST DECADE OF THE CHALMETTE CHRONICLES- CHAPTER TEN- hollah! 

Okay, so before I absolutely explode with excitement over the fact that a GENERAL AUTHORITY came to the mission- for those of you who aren't aware, a general authority is a divinely appointed leader of the church who goes around the world and blesses the lives of everyone they come in contact with- I'll give y'all a quick rundown of some highlights in the week that really paled in comparison to the BRAZILIAN LEGEND: ELDER COSTA:

So, Louisiana is trying to be difficult this year. This past week we had a "freeze warning" and as a result, we lost all contact with H2O in our apartment for two days. Yes, we were stinky- and yes we DID realize it. Apparently, Louisiana gets cold too? I had no idea. I assumed I was called to serve in the hill-billy Saharan desert for all I knew- but NO, this desert was on ice this last week- and not in the cool, "Disney on Ice" way either. Anyways, the Lord has a reason for everything, so I greatly benefited from the surplus amount of study time we were blessed with as a result of the second Ice Age.

Remember like, the first week I was here when we balled up with some kids on the side of the road? Yeah, Elder Baller (aka Elder Boyd) was at it again. We went to see this potential investigator after the freeze, and he told us he didn't vibe the whole- "religion thing" so, defeated, we walked somberly to our car... when suddenly.. out of the corner of my eye... I saw these two boys, breaking ankles, taking names, and balling hard... so naturally, I looked at Elder Orision and said, "ball contacting?" Ball contacting. We galloped our way over there, HOPING TO GOODNESS THEY WOULD ASK US TO PLAY, and lo and behold the Lord works in mysterious ways and they challenged us to a 2 on 2. Of course, to these guys, we were these lanky white guys, in white shirts, just goofing our way around the block.. but oh boy were they rudely awakened when Elder Baller hit the scene. Now, don't get me wrong, they had mad handles.. slicing and dicing.. if we were on a court, they would've inevitably crushed us... but this was street ball.. and the entire pace of the game changed when yes, Elder Boyd did indeed, DUNK ON 'EM. Once again, the Lord works in mysterious ways. You should've seen the look on his face, "white boy got hops?" It was awesome. Their names were Xyron and Xavier, and we're basically best friends now. They even said, they'd definitely learn about Jesus from someone who could dunk. This older gentleman walked out and asked us what was going on.. when we explained the situation he told us, "I  like this.." and proceeded to give us exactly $31.00 to go buy Big Macs.. he even asked what faith we were from and said, "Oh, Mormons?" Pretty sure one day he'll get baptized on account that he remembers those white boys who just BALLED HARD. So yeah, that was awesome. 

And finally, Elder Orision and I just got down and dirty on some hard work this week, and the Lord mercifully blessed us with 11 new investigators which were a blessing for sure. We tract every day out here, and I know the Lord sees our efforts and has rewarded us accordingly. We met some really cool people this past week and I am so excited to teach them about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

NOW ON TO THE MEAT OF THE WEEK:

Elder Costa: man, myth, and legend. Let me tell ya, I didn't know what to expect from my first General Authority Zone Conference, but I can tell you it wasn't the spiritual feast we were given. The SECOND he walked into the room to take a picture with all of us, the spiritual temperature just skyrocketed. I immediately felt my testimony astronomically strengthen: this is the Lord's church on the Earth in these last days, and this is one of his many faithful servants. I am one of them. It was just truly incredible. The theme of the conference was the Book of Mormon and how we can use it to help our investigators gain a personal testimony about it- in preparation we have been reading the Book of Mormon as a mission in a sort of, "90 Day Challenge" and fervently studying Preach My Gospel: Chapter Five- truly a riveting experience. President and Sister Varner spoke about the Book of Mormon and how, "it is the tool of the Restoration" and," we are modern-day Book of Mormon heroes" which was absolutely lovely to hear- and then Elder Costa took the stand. he's been a General Authority for over 21 years, a Mission President for 3 and a half years, is the assistant director of the missionary department of the church, and was a convert when he was 29 years old. He has the most hilarious broken English and continuously asked us for English translations throughout the conference. He is HILARIOUS. A CLASSIC COMEDIAN I TELL YOU. One of the things he said about being old is, " Two things happen- 1.) You start forgetting things.. and 2.) I can't remember.." He also said about technology... "I don't wanna die by using my cell phone crossing the street. I want to go out in style! I'm going to go to Cedar City, on the highest slope, mind you... I've never skied before.. and go out with a bang. That way, I can be the cool guy up in heaven!" He was so funny! He kept us anxiously engaged throughout the whole day... Some spiritual stuff he added- I cannot say it all, for there was so much goodness, but if you'd like to receive a vicarious Costa experience, meet up with me after the mission and we'll have an epic chat- was, "do your best to never give up. be what you are expected to be. you are in God's army." He told us that focus is everything, and then when we are focused on our purpose, we will change lives. He also blew our minds as missionaries when he talked about ways that we can increase our baptisms.. using church time to get referrals from members. So, all you members out there, hook the missionaries up with some converts, eh? If you don't trust them with your friends.. why not? The Lord trusts missionaries with his work and his glory.. the apostles trust us to fulfill God's purposes and accomplish his goals.. so if he trusts them, why not you? Something Sister Costa said, side note: she is straight spit fire- like one minute, she's the most adorable grandma, and then the next minute you are re-evaluating your every life's decision and are humbled like a truck from her fiery admonitions- is that "this is serious. there is no time to play with the priesthood and our callings. its time to grow up, and fast. we are no longer boys and girls- get mature, and get to work." BOOM- straight fire. So yeah, basically stuff like that, for four hours, made for a cornucopia of spiritual goodness, so good I can only say a small part of what I feel. And just when he concluded his remarks, and told us there was a special spirit in this mission, JUST when I thought it couldn't get any better.. it did.

President Varner took the pulpit after Elder Costa, and surprised us by saying that now it was time for "go home testimonies" and interviews... interviews? What, President? We already had our interviews with you. But no, he wasn't talking about President interviews.. interviews with Elder Costa.. and in a moment when time seemed to slow, and everything around me came to a halt... he called my name: "Elder Boyd." I had been chosen. WHAT? When I shook Elder Costa's hand that morning I had a special feeling come over me... and now I know exactly what that feeling was... I was gonna be interviewed by a General Authority of the Church. 

So, he whisked me off to the high council room.. and I literally walked, his arm around my shoulder, as we sat down and talked about life. It was the most humbling experience. For some reason, I was chosen, but God knew that it was exactly what I needed. Some things that Elder Costa said to me, really exemplified what I needed to hear... As we sat down he said, "I perceive the Spirit is telling me that you are going to make a great difference in this world.. in this mission.. in this life. You are doing great things, and still unknown to you at this time are the great things that God has planned for you. He trusts you. He loves you. He is proud of you." So yeah, I'll leave it at that, and keep sacred things sacred, but wow- I have never felt so spiritually touched or moved... I felt like he was truly God's messenger just relaying the father's message... that's exactly how he feels about each of us. You don't need a General Authority to tell you that you are doing good things.. You are- God knows it, and I hope you do too. A once in a lifetime experience- happened to me? Elder Boyd? We hugged and went about our day.. and I can say with all sincerity of heart that Elder Costa definitely has a special place in my heart. 

So yeah, HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A WEEK, HUH? Our mission is also propelling into smartphone mode, and I am incredibly excited to use technology to further the work of the Lord. I don't really know what else to say- Elder Costa just kinda blew my mind this week. SOOOO, I hope y'all have the best week ever and know how loved you are! ELDER BOYD LOVES YOU, AND YOU ARE NEVER ALONE- ANGELS ABOVE US ARE SILENT NOTES TAKING, AND JESUS CHRIST KNOWS YOU PERFECTLY. So remember that next time you're feeling down- Christ did the unfathomable.. for you. Yes, you. Never forget how special you are. LOTS OF LOUISIANA LOVIN Y'ALL.

With the utmost sincerity from a truly blown mind,

Elder Boyd

Pictures from last week...

Companions (Elder Boyd and Elder Orison)...

Someone Got a New Missionary Tool...

Other Missionaries...

Sights, Art, and Graffiti

Got Mardi Gras?

Weather, Sunsets, and Misc

New Friend?