10-30-17 - Enjoying Each Day

Mail:

Elder Carson Lewis Junk

Washington DC South Mission

5242 Lyngate Court

Burke, VA 22015

From: Carson Lewis Junk [mailto:carson.junk@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2017 3:17 PM
To: Kathy Junk
Subject: Enjoying each day

Hello Friends and Family! It has been another great week. I am not sure where to begin. It has been eventful and very fun. As a missionary, I have been working a lot on dropping the comparisons and focusing on the Lord's work. It has been tough but I am continuing to do my best and improve on the little things. I love Elder Miller and he is the man! He keeps me in good spirits with his punny puns. Reminds me a lot of Cole Kunzler and keeps me laughing. He's doing well and we have really grown as a companionship in the last week! We've been working hard and enjoying the work while we do it! I love Woodbridge 1st and being here in beautiful Virginia! We got some sweet news this week that Neil L. Andersen (one of the 12 apostles) will be visiting on November 11th! I am pumped to hear from him soon and am grateful for the wonderful mission I am apart of.

In other news, can't believe I am turning 19 on Saturday. As well as creeping up on my 4 month mark out as well. I swear I'm still just a little 5th grader. I mean, I might as well be. I still miss reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, and Goosebumps books. I was talking to a little kid in the ward and he told me a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book came out, and I about lost it. I question how old I am turning. Anyway, time is a weird concept and I don't feel this old at all. I hope by turning 19 this week, something will change. I hope the people on the streets won't say I look 14 anymore and at least say around 16! Time is flying by here on the mission. My dad gave me some great advice last week and simply told me to "Enjoy each day." That is what I am doing my best to do everyday. This mission life and serving the Lord for 2 years is too short NOT to enjoy each day. Each day moving forward, I plan to have a new mindset of finding the highlight of that day and laughing things off and smiling more. 

We have had a great week with investigators! Our progressing investigator, Kat Rauda is doing awesome. She is an 18 year old girl who we have been meeting with for about 4 weeks now. She loves reading The Book of Mormon and is in chapter 17 of Nephi. She retains what she reads and alway has amazing questions. She comes from a Catholic background and is still praying to know if The Book of Mormon is true. Pleas pray for her! She loves how The Book of Mormon applies to this day and age. Elder Miller and I bore powerful testimony of that and why that is so important in this world today. We love meeting with her. We also had our investigator Akiko, come to the Ward's "Fall Festival" Halloween Party on Saturday night. The ward showed amazing fellowship and she really loved being there. Elder Miller and I dressed up as some ninjas that my mom sent us outfits for! It was a lot of fun and got me in the Halloween spirit.

On Wednesday we got to go on exchanges with the Spanish Elders. Elder Richardson got to come to my area and we biked all over the area. Elder Richardson is the man. He is from Price, Utah and has been out for 6 months. We talked about Better off Dead (The Greatest movie ever) the whole time and knocked a lot of doors. As we were knocking doors, I had a horrifying experiencce. We just finished talking to a lady and walked out of the apartment when I heard, "MRRRRRRRRRRRR JUNKKKKKKK." I knew that voice. It was none other than Pastor Santos, the oompa Loompah himself driving a maintenance golf cart. He said "When are you going to answer the rest of my questions?" I about died laughing and yelled over to him, that I would send the Spanish missionaries over to his house and Elder Richardson would do just fine with him hahha. That was really funny seeing him again and it made my day. 

Our ward here in Woodbridge is awesome. The diversity is really what sets it apart and I love it. I love the members and I love my mission. Bishop Woolf gave us the statistics for people in the ward as far as where they were born/from. I thought this was really cool. Our ward represents 39 different states. It also has people from over 34 different countries in our ward. 24 of those are from different countries in Africa. I am so blessed to be in this wonderful area and learn from other members experiences and testimonies. They love the missionaries. 

I can tell you all that I would not be where I am without a mission and serving my Savior Jesus Christ. There is no other feeling like this. Growing closer to our Heavenly Father each day is such a blessing and I am thankful for being a missionary in the Washington, DC. South mission. I know that this was inspired from God and I have been chosen to serve Jesus Christ and bring others closer to Him in this area. I love and miss all of you so much, Thanks for all the prayers and support. I hope we can all learn what my dad said and continue to  Enjoy each day and find joy in the little things. I love you all and take care.

Love, 

Elder Junk 

Friday, beautiful and perfect Fall, sunny weather.  Notice tree in back and me being cool on my bike

Halloween package I got from the best Mommy out there!

Elder Richardson from Price Utah - We biked and knocked all day and talked about the movie Better off Dead

P-day at Dick's Sporting Goods - Elder Gibb and I got to hit some for free

Ward's Fall Festival - Elder Miller and I - Master Ninja Dragon Warriors - thanks to Mom for the sweet outfits

Last night when we got caught up in a huge rain and wind storm while biking back home.  Had to pose in front of this Blazer because I miss mine!

Trying to be like Andre cause I remember a picture of him on his mission posed like this on a bike

10-23-17 - The Typical Junk Move

Mail:

Elder Carson Lewis Junk

Washington DC South Mission

5242 Lyngate Court

Burke, VA 22015

 From: Carson Lewis Junk [mailto:carson.junk@myldsmail.net] 

Sent: Monday, October 23, 2017 3:01 PM
To: Kathy Junk
Subject: The Typical Junk Move

Hello everyone! It has been an exciting and emotional week. This week I have really missed everyone and thought about all of you so much! I think it is partially due to Halloween coming up and it is the first real holiday I will be experiencing out here on the mission. Nonetheless, it has been an exciting and memorable first week for Trainer Junk and Elder Miller. We have been working hard and have seen Heavenly Father's hand in all of the small blessings this last week.

First off, on Tuesday the trainers had to be at a meeting an hour early at the Centreville Stake Center. We had a great training from President Huntsman on how to train and his Top 10 list of important things to remember while doing so. We then went through the routine of calling up the brand new missionaries and having the trainer come up afterwards and give him a hug! My trainee (son) is Elder Miller! Elder Miller is the man. He's from Bountiful, Utah and has moved around a lot in his lifetime. He is easily the kindest and nicest kid out there. Truly, he has a kind and soft spirit for the people here in Woodbridge and a sensitivity to the spirit. I am thankful to have him as a trainee and I will be learning just as much if not more from him than he will from me. 

I gave Elder Miller a memorable first day he will never forget. Elder Miller's bike was coming in the mail on Wednesday so on Tuesday, we were walking around trying to get in contact with some potential investigators and knocking doors. We were working hard and having a great first night. When I got back to the apartment something horrible happened. Somewhere while walking along the highway, the keys attached to my belt had fallen off and disappeared. We were locked out of the apartment the first night and I hadn't even realized it until 9pm at the apartment door hahaha. This is what I refer to as the typical Junk move, something that happens regularly to Elder Carson Junk. I didn't know what to do so I called President and he said to spend the night at the Zone Leaders place.  That was fine by us but then we got a call from the maintenance guy over our apartment and he said he would come in clutch and let us in. Alright, great no worries.  We call The Zone Leaders and tell them not to worry to come get us and they can go to sleep. Around 10:40pm, Elder Miller and I start worrying the maintenance guy is bailing on us. We call back the missionaries and take them up on the offer to spend the night with them. But reminder, missionaries go to bed at 10:30 sooooo no missionaries were answering us and we didn't know where we were sleeping. Finally the maintenance guy got there at 10:50 and we were saved. Elder Miller was super kind and we just laughed about it. Our Christ like attribute as missionaries we are working on is "patience" so I tested his the first day as a missionary.

Training is hard but the best thing possible for me. I have been pretty homesick and under a lot of stress. It has nothing to do with my great companion.  I think I have been pretty hard on myself expecting perfection when in all reality, I still consider myself a very new missionary.  I have to do a lot better at not getting lost in comparisons and comparing my area to other missionaries. The thing I can do is continue to try my best and give it my all and not get so down on myself! Elder Miller and I are working hard. We are doing our best and talking to EVERYONE to preach the gospel as much as possible. It is truly amazing watching my companion get pumped when we see someone we can talk to. That is one thing I love on the mission, talking to people and testifying to them about the gospel. I have loved that my companion is excited to talk to people and take on the challenge himself!  The work is great. Thursday and Friday night I was so dead that right when we hit the pillow I was out. There is not much more satisfying a feeling! 

We got to teach my main man Kong who is our best friend around the area. He is always working out at the Leasing Office Gym right next to our apartment so we always go in and talk to him. We finally taught him on Saturday and bore strong testimony of The Plan of Salvation. Kong is from Cameroon and is an awesome guy. If it wasn't against the rules, we would be working out with him every morning because he said he wants to be our personal trainer. We had an awesome lesson and we look forward to teaching him more.

It has been a great week. I love all of you and am thankful for all your prayers and support. I have been focusing a lot on repetance in my studies lately. I know that faith is the first step in repentance. I would challenge you all to look at your faith and compare it to the Sons of Mosiah. Would you be able to be locked away, starved, and naked in prison and after being let out immediately start preaching the gospel and giving thanks to God? I know it would be tough but I love the story of them being let out of prison by Ammon and King Lamoni and them staying strong through their tribulations and immediately acting. 1. Faith 2. Repentance 3. Action! May we all remember to turn to our Savior through the hardest times because that’s when we need him the most. Stay Strong!

Love,

Elder Junk

Elder Miller and I heading out biking

Elder Maka'afi.  His girlfriend lives in Long Beach, CA and my main man, Elder Austin Francis who is serving there is teaching her...Small world!

Package from Dallin Smith and family and his drawing of the temple  Awesome!

Last night with Elder Roper.  African shirts given to us by Brother Ewudzie from the ward.  

Me and the main man, Kong

Waiting in the library to teach a less active - messing around while we waited

10-16-17 - Trainee-er Junk

Mail:

Elder Carson Lewis Junk

Washington DC South Mission

5242 Lyngate Court

Burke, VA 22015

Group E-mail

From: Carson Lewis Junk [mailto:carson.junk@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2017 2:07 PM
To: Kathy Junk
Subject: Trainee-er Junk

Hello everyone! It has been another amazing week. The week was kind of a blur but some big things are happenning. In some really big and shocking news, I have been assigned to train a new missionary. I finished this transfer out by being trained by Elder Roper and now I will be moving straight to training a new missionary! I go to a trainer meeting tomorrow at the Centereville Stake center and will learn the things necessary to train the new missionary! After the meeting I will find out who my companion is and we will get right to it! I am super nervous as I still consider myself very new as a missionary but I am thankful for this wonderful opportunity to be a trainer and I know it will help me grow as a missionary immensely and keep me humble. I am excited that I will be staying in the Woodbridge 1st ward. This group of missionaries consists of 16 Elders and 10 Sisters so lots of young and new missionaries are stepping up and training this transfer. I am hoping to help this new missionary grow and set him on his course to working hard and staying motivated for the rest of his mission! I am also excited to learn from my new companion and have some more "Greenie Fire" to keep my flame going out here in the mission!

This past week has been bittersweet.  We had our last district meeting with Elder Roper as our beloved District Leader. I am going to miss Elder Roper so much and am so thankful I had him as a trainer. Elder Roper truly taught me the meaning of having a loving heart for everyone, specifically for those he taught. He was very patient with me and taught me how to work hard and have fun doing it. I will never forget the times I was down on myself, feeling sad after all the rejections and people that weren't interested in the message. As a young and new missionary, it was hard. I didn't know the hardships of a mission that come along day to day. Elder Roper was there for me every step of the way building me up and strengthening my faith in Jesus Christ and this wonderful gospel. Elder Roper has an amazing spirit about him and I will never forget the things he has taught me and the methods of teaching he instilled in me as a missionary. I hope I can incorporate his wonderful spirit in the new missionary I will be training. I am thankful for his wonderful service and I know he's going to kill it as a Zone Leader over in Warrenton. I am going to miss him lots and it's a weird feeling knowing I will be getting a new companion.

We had interviews with President this week. I love having the chance to talk to President Huntsman. It was in this interview with President Huntsman that he let me know I was no longer a new missionary. Tomorrow, there will have been two big groups of missionaries that have all come after me. It feels so weird because everything is still so new to me. I love this mission and am thankful for the confidence and faith President has in me. We had a great lesson with our investigator Akiko this week. We had a lesson at Brother and Sister Michaelis's home and they offered some great spiritual insight to the lesson. Please pray for her that she can come to know the truth of the Book of Mormon.

I love and miss all of you guys so much. Thank you for all the prayers, strength, support, and e-mails. They all go such a long way and brighten my day! This mission is so amazing and I am thankful everyday that I get to serve the Lord. Always remember the the Lord and our loving Heavenly Father are always in the little things we do and are looking out for all of us. Our Savior knows what we are going through and will make our burdens light. Have a great week and talk to you soon.

Love, 

Elder Junk 

Time to retire these shoes!

Assignment to train

Look what Elder Roper found in the rain

Elder Lee, Elder Cottle, Elder Oldroyd, Elder Denning, Elder Junk, Elder Roper, Hermana Schroeppel, and Hermana Mendoza

Last District meeting with Elder Roper as District Leader

So proud of myself - I finally made chicken roll ups

10-9-2017 Change of Heart

Mail:

Elder Carson Lewis Junk

Washington DC South Mission

5242 Lyngate Court

Burke, VA 22015

From: Carson Lewis Junk [mailto:carson.junk@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, October 9, 2017 12:57 PM
To: Kathy Junk
Subject: Change of Heart

Hello good people! I've had another great and exciting week here in Woodbridge, Virginia as always! I'm Elder Junk and I'm happy to be emailing you all again today. For starters, I'd just like to say while sleeping here in the mission, I've had the weirdest dreams known to mankind. Anywhere from flashbacks to the MTC and them supposedly holding me captive to fictitious nightmares of me messing up and saying the wrong things in lessons with investigators. The mission is just taking over my dreams I guess haha. Well, it truly has been an amazing week and the work in this area is starting to pick up! I wouldn't say I'm used to the mission by any means because there is something crazy that happens every day, BUT I'm getting used to the weekly routine and constantly finding things to improve on and bettering myself. 

This week I went on 2 exchanges here in Woodbridge and led out the area! Elder Roper has had me practice leading out the area, as he is most likely being transferred. He's been here in Woodbridge for 3 transfers (4 and a half months) and the Woodbridge area as a whole for a total of 4 transfers (6 months). This Saturday we find out what will be going on for next transfer, whether I am going or staying, who will be my new companion, and all that fun stuff. I'm really hoping to stay here in Woodbridge 1st.

The first exchange I went on was Tuesday with the Spanish speaking missionary Elder Lee! Elder Lee is the man! He's a year older than me and he's from Salem Hills, Utah and has been out for one transfer! We biked all along the north side of our area and knocked a lot of doors and tracted the whole day to try and find some new investigators. Since we are both 'greenies' it was challenging but a lot of fun! I felt as if we really improved on our door to door approaches and we didn't have anyone else to lean on but each other. We also got to attend a funeral service that night for a lady who died in Elder Lee's ward. The funeral was at the church and all of the missionaries in our district were invited to sing a hymn (in Spanish) during the funeral. It was super fun being with everybody and singing the hymn. I didn't understand much of what was said at the funeral but it sounded like she was a great lady and the spirit was definitely felt there! We got hooked up with a lot of food after, it made for a great day and a fun exchange!

Thursday, Elder Oldroyd came to my area and we had a great exchange. Elder Oldroyd is a Spanish missionary as well. He is from Farmington and went to Viewmont High School (shout out to the sis Sara). He is an awesome kid and attended BYU for a semester before coming out here, and has been out for 7 months. We set a goal to find two new investigators that day as we had been struggling finding people. At the end of the day, we found two new investigators just like we had set a goal for. It just goes to show that if you set goals, work hard, and talk to everybody, then the Lord will take care of the rest. He taught me a lot about the importance of setting a daily goal and working hard to achieve that each day which ultimately pushes you to work the hardest you can. I love that kid and was thankful to go on an exchange with him!

 I had one of the best days of my mission so far on Saturday. The 8 year old girl Charlie who we had been teaching the lessons to recently got baptized! She is so awesome and such a sweet girl. Her family is so amazing. Her mom is a member but her dad isn't, so we are going to try our best and get him involved with the church now!  After the baptism we had a return appointment with a man named Larry Henderson. This guy is a solid investigator. We met him the day before just looking through some potentials in the area book and decided to knock on his door. Larry is in his 50's and is from Alabama. He was so nice and told us immediately that we could come over the next day. He invited us right to his backyard on a nice hot Saturday afternoon and we taught him the Restoration. Larry grew up Baptist his whole life but after hearing our lesson he told us we had a glow about us and he could tell this message has really benefitted our lives and has brought us happiness. We have another return appointment with him tomorrow and I am super pumped! We also got a text message from Pamela, our other investigator we passed off to the Sisters. She is doing great and is starting to take all the lessons with the Sisters, and she finally got a job. She sent us a text thanking us for the help and how the Book of Mormon and prayer has helped her through her hard times and helped her find a job! That was so awesome to hear. We finished the night meeting a Japanese woman named Akiko. Akiko is awesome and has been to church 3 times before and was introduced to the church from her cousin who is a member in LA. She expressed to us that the last 3 times she went to church there was kind of a language barrier and she didn't understand the terms. We told her we would explain everything to her simply so she could understand and get back to church! We also committed her to all of the lessons! She is awesome and told us about her experience coming from Tokyo and making it over here to Woodbridge! We got the relief society involved and are going to meet with her soon! 

It was an amazing and incredible week! After a couple of hard weeks where I was down on myself a couple of times, we have seen our work progress and things are really starting to look up! It just goes to show that as long as we continue to strive faithfully to keeping the Lord's commandments and work hard, then we are blessed for it. I appreciate all the prayers, love, and support from everyone. I really do feel them and can't thank you enough. I love this gospel so much and am so thankful to be on a mission where I can bring others unto Christ and grow spiritually. The mission is an amazing thing and there's things you can only learn by going on one. I read a great story about converting yourself and changing your heart over to the Lord in your work. I definitely think I can work on that and instead of groaning about no investigators, changing my heart and mind to the Savior and serving with a smile on my face and staying positive. I love you all and have a great week!  

Love,

Elder Junk 

Elder Oldroyd and I after our exchange Thursday

Grandkids of some recent converts

Nathaniel and Maiay - cutest kids ever

Cute Charlie at her baptism

Charlie checking how tall she is to us

Baptism Program for Charlie

10-2-2017 - Missionary Blessings

Mail:

Elder Carson Lewis Junk

Washington DC South Mission

5242 Lyngate Court

Burke, VA 22015

From: Carson Lewis Junk [mailto:carson.junk@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, October 2, 2017 2:17 PM
To: Kathy Junk
Subject: Missionary Blessings

Hello everyone! How has everyone been doing? I apologize for the long group e-mails all the time but I just have so many things I love telling everyone about. The mission is a wonderful experience and narrowing down each week into one e-mail is super hard. So... Shout out to all of you who actually make it through the long e-mails and continue on. It has been an amazing week. The Lord truly does love his missionaries. General Conference was incredible and this week was another one for the books.

I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a Spanish exchange with Elder Cottle over in the Spanish area on Tuesday. Elder Cottle is THE man! He has been out for 22 months and is from Lehi! I had one of the best studies I have ever had my whole mission with him. It was such a cool experience and he taught me so many things about The Book of Mormon. He opened my eyes and invited me to focus on one particular subject while studying The Book of Mormon. For example, one of the times reading, he focused on the Sacrament while reading The Book of Mormon and tied everything to the sacrament. He related it in ways that I had no idea possible. He invited me to think about what I need to work on most and study that specific topic in The Book of Mormon. We knelt down in prayer and I felt strongly I needed to work on repentance and study that in The Book of Mormon. Many times I find myself repenting repetitively and not sincerely.  It was such a spiritual experience for me kneeling down in prayer and receiving my answer with Elder Cottle and knowing what I need to work on. 

Elder Cottle also showed me how to better work conversation into the gospel with people who we street contact. We had a funny experience Tuesday night when we encountered a group of 6 and 7 year old's who wanted to work on their "roasts". I let them try them on me and I got responses like, "You're shoes look like they came from Walmart. Your clothes look they came from Good Will. Where'd you get you haircut the garbage man?" It was super funny and I will have to get the videos out we took of them because I was dying. Kids these days.

Wednsday, Elder Roper and I treated ourselves with the $50 we got from the man in Warrenton after our encounter with Pastor Santos last week. We went to Olive garden and had a great meal. Afterwards, we went across the street to Cheesecake Factory to get some dessert. While waiting in line, we met a member and she said she was buying us each a piece of Cheesecake. Wow, people are too good to us missionaries and I know the Lord is looking out for us.  He is blessing us with small miracles even just having things bought for us. People are so awesome!

It gets better. We had another exchange on Thursday and it was my first time leading out the area. Elder Denning came to Woodbridge with me and he is hilarious. He is from St George and is also a Spanish speaking missionary. I was excited to lead out the area, but must admit I got a little jealous when Elder Denning met a lot of Spanish Speakers in MY area ;) It was an awesome time. We were biking back and stopped at a fruit stand. This Baptist guy name "Big Beau" insisted on buying us peaches or whatever we wanted because we were "servants of God". Blessings on Blessings. I loved Big Beau and had to get a picture with him. The Lord truly does love his missionaries and I am thankful for his hand blessing us with so many nice people in the area who love us! It is all because of Him!

General Conference was absolutely amazing. It is the best thing watching General Conference as a missionary. I loved every talk and there were so many dang good ones, I couldn't choose a favorite. A reoccurring theme that I noticed was that even if we are doing our best and following God's commandments, we will still face hardships and have to endure through our trials. BUT it emphasized that the Savior will make our burdens light.  I really liked that because it said even though we will all have trials, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will help us push on. We will be much better enduring the trials WITH the gospel rather than WITHOUT. We must build our rock upon Jesus Christ and continue to stay strong in the gospel and not fall into the Worldly things, such as getting lost in comparisons and things that won't matter in the end. I loved Elder Rasband's talk about Heavenly Father being in all the little things. I promise to you all that God is in every thing we do. Without his merciful plan we would have no happiness. I love all of you and I love this Gospel. I am so thankful to be apart of this wonderful Church and be a missionary in the Washington, DC South Mission. The members and oeople look out for us so much here in Woodbridge 1st and they deserve a shoutout. 

Another group email that is super long. Sorry for that, but I love the mission and I love all of you. Hope you all have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Junk 

Me and Big Beau

Squinty Children - caught on selfie after BB - me and Elder Gibb

Me and Elder Cottle on Exchange

Last week's Ultimate Frisbee group