Week 56: October 24, 2016

Happy Happy Happy Monday!!!!!

            This past week has been awesome!!!  Elder Barnes and I have seen so many awesome miracles this past week!  We did a lot of knocking doors like we normally, and his past week we saw so much success!  We actually knocked up someone who met with missionaries from our church about a year ago and had found our card the night before and said he was going to call us the day we knocked into him.  So he felt like us knocking into him was a sign.  We felt inspired to go to his apartment complex and his building.  It was awesome to see how God answers prayers.

             Ah, one other new thing is the weather here......it isn't hot.  It actually is kinda cold in the morning and at night.  We have a high of 79 most days for the past couple days.  It has been awesome.  I don't sweat too much just standing in the sun, I love it!

           So I'm kinda out of time to email, but I hope y'all know that I love the gospel and I love my savior.  I hope y'all have a great week.  Remember the church is true and that god loves you!

ELDER GUINUP

Week 55: October 17, 2016

Happy Monday!

       It is not possible but another week has passed by.  I'm not to sure if I like it but hey that's how it works I guess.  Time flies so that's why I just need to work harder and harder while I still have time.  First off transfers are here and I'm staying in the Fort Caroline area and staying with elder Barnes so I'm excited for that.  It should be and awesome next 6weeks!

         One thing that I have realized over my mission is that there is no such thing as a bad week.  The past couple weeks have really taught me this.  They have been hard but never bad.  One thing that really been awesome this week was how many people we were able to set up for an appointment for this next week.  A lot of them were still catching up from the hurricane but we excited and glad that we stoped by to see them so a lot of them told us a specific day that we could come back.  Another awesome thing is this past week we have made a solid relation ship with a lot of our ward members and the stake president.  When we went out with them this weekend they greatly appreciated our help and our enthusiasm.  We have seen this help as we have asked some members to come o with us and now they are a little more willing because we were able to serve them and serve with them.  For me this Hurricane has been a great blessing!

       I just want all of y'all to know how much I love this gospel, so far my mission has just been incredible.  I love our savior and I want y'all to know that.  He has been everything for me, he has been the friend who has never left me.  He can be the same for all of y'all, I know he lives.  And he loves us!

Have a great week!

ELDER GUINUP

 

 

Week 54: October 10, 2016

 So first of if y'all haven't heard we had a class 3 Hurricane come through named Matthew.  So that's pretty much all I'll write about in this email since that's all that has happened this past week.  So it all started off Tuesday, we found out from random people that there was a hurricane that formed down by Cuba and Hattie.  We don't watch the news as missionaries since we are too busy so we had only heard about from other people.  Then people started to freak out more.  While it was down by Hattie is was a class 4 which I pretty big from what I've heard, (I'm no hurricane expert) and so people were kinda getting scared.  So Wednesday and Thursday was pretty much just us helping people Prepare for Hurricane Matthew.  So that was a lot of fun, we were able to help a lot of people and it was great, I love serving people.  Especially when they themselves are not capable of doing i themselves, I truly felt the love of Christ during this whole experience.

           Come Friday we were told to stay in all day because that's when the hurricane hit.  Elder Barnes and I were told to evacuate to another missionaries apartment more inland since ours was 6 miles from the coast.  So while at the other elders apartment on Friday we did our planning for the next week and then when about noon hit we lost power.  Luckily we were stocked up on water and non perishable food.  But it made the rest of the day long and boring.  The wind outside was crazy fast and there was a lot of rain.  But the apartment we were in didn't receive any damage.  There were a lot of limbs down in the complex but at was it for us.  We tried to come up with some creative games to pass the time away but it still went slow.

            Now for the past 2 days and this morning we have done nothing but service.  The hurricanes damage was mostly in fallen trees.  There were a lot of trees that fell in yards, on cars, of houses.  So we have done a lot of work all of Saturday and Sunday and this morning to help people who had severe damage.  It has made me very tired the past couple days but somehow i am still able to continue.  God has blessed us all with strength to serve and with peace of mind that all will be ok.  It has also be great to see the churches humanitarian effort first hand.  The church sent a semi truck with supplies like chainsaws, wheelbarrows, shovels, and other necessities that people need.  With many all around e affected areas wearing the Yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts it has been great to see how God has inspired church leaders with this wonderful program at assists in crises quickly.  I'm so grateful for all the blessings that God has given me, especially with safety this past week.  He has helped calm my mind and proceed us as we kept the instructions of local leaders.  I thank all those who prayer for me and for all those affected by Hurricane Matthew.  

Love y'all, have a great week!

ELDER GUINUP

Week 53: October 3, 2016

Hello y'all,

          This has been an incredible week.  Plus time is going by too quick, it felt just like yesterday I was send my Monday email.  But just got to keep moving strong.  So one of the awesome things that happened was general conference.  Where we got to hear the words of the prophet and apostles.  It was an awesome incredible experiences.  I learned so much, and really felt the spirit.  I love general conference, it was so awesome!!!!!

     For example this past Saturday we had a elders quórum BBQ before the priesthood session, we had 2 less actives come!  Both were invited by a member when we brought a member to the lesson.  It was awesome for both of them and a big eye opener for them.  We are excited to see them start coming back.  One of them committed to be at church next Sunday so that will be awesome!  The elders quórum president said, hey we need you and you need to be back in activity and that struck a chord so he is coming back.  We also had a great lesson with our investigator Nate who is awesome.  He has so many great questions about the restoration and is soaking it all in.  He read 3 nephi 11 at least 4 times before our return appointment so that he couple understand it.  And he accepted the invite to baptism, he doesn't know when yet because he has some family issues but is continuing to progress.  It was great because we had the bishop there and bishop came up with a perfect fellowshiper for Nate.  I truly have a testimony of having members at lessons.  The more I involve them the more comfortable the investigators feel, and it's so much greater when the member extends the invite.  Members are key.  As missionaries we get moved around so if we can help these people build relationships with the members who stay that will help them always have a friend there.

       I'm kinda confused why the font just changed on my as I have been writing but oh well.  Anyways I hope y'all have a great week.  I want y'all to know that I know Jesus Christ is our savior.  That he loves each and every one of us.  One thing that was talked about was that the atonement of Jesus Christ has no bounds.  No matter how deep the hurt, or big he sin through Jesus Christ we can all be clean and healed.

I hope y'all are able to remember this throughout the week!

ELDER GUINUP

Prayer emoji socks that I found for $1

6 racks of ribs cooked for us by some members.  Yummy Southern food.

Week 52: September 26, 2016

Good afternoon!!!!!

            This past week has been awesome, elder Barnes and I have seen so many awesome miracles.  First off i will say this past week has been has been hard, but has not been bad.  A lot of people have not been home this past week, or they have been sick.  So that happened, but we did see many miracles.  We had a little bit of a slower week as we are implementing some more things in the mission to help us be more effective and better at teaching lessons and finding people. As always, change takes time to figure out and get into a good grove. It is so wonderful how when we get comfortable, the Lord gives us somthing that we can work on and change to become even better! We had so many miracles this week. We have done a lot of Less Active and Inactive Member finding! We have been doing at least an hour and a half each day! That being said, we found a few people that weren't very happy to see us, but we always found someone that would let us come back and want to meet with us! We had an incredible lesson with an inactive member last night. It was kind of scary... I have been working on being bold and loving. With the Spirits help I was able to do that with this member. We brought our awesome Elders Quorum President with us. We were all bold and loving! He is going to come to the Priesthood Barbecue Social on Saturday and then the Priesthood session of conference after! It was so Great! We met wit an investigator who we met with on Thursday, he told us that he has been reading from the Book of Mormon and that he loves it!!!!! He asked us for another chapter to read and he is having us over for dinner tomorrow night!! We are having a lot of miracles happening here in this area! It is on fire! I can't wait to see what will keep happening! This next week is General Conference. I am so excited for it! It is a perfect time for us all to feel the spirit and have guidance of what the Lord wants us to do in our lives.  It is when we have the opportunity to listen to the words of the prophet and the apostles and other church leaders. I would invite and highly encourage all of you to watch it. Even if you can only catch a little bit of it. I can testify that is has helped me in my life. It is this Saturday and Sunday, you can find out the times on LDS.org.  It is one of the reasons why I am out on a mission and has helped mold me into who I am today. I know that those men and women are called of God and receive revelation and inspiration to help us. I love y'all so so much. Please watch general conference and tell me what you thought. I hope y'all have a great week!

ELDER GUINUP

The missionaries in the Jacksonville beaches area

Week 51: September 19, 2016

Happy Monday!!!!!

           That weird phenomenon for missionaries, the rest of the world dislikes Monday's and loves Friday's.  But then Missionaries love Monday since we get to write emails home, and dislike Friday's because we have our weekly planning.  Fun stuff.

            So this week has been great, we had a lot of miracles.  So we have done a lot of knocking this past week so that has been great.  I honestly love knocking doors, we meet so many awesome people when we do.  Some nice, some not as nice, and some just plain interesting.  I love southern people, they are so great.

         One really fun thing that happened this week was when I was on a companion exchange with elder Peterson.  We were abut knocking doors and had walked just over a mile away from the car when we heard this loud roaring.  We turned around and here was a wall of rain coming towards us.  I have never seen anything like it in my life.  So we got drenched.  We ran for cover but not in time.  So we ended up just walking in it.  It was so much fun but we got so wet.  Man, but it was fun!

        So that's it for this week, I'm so grateful for all the many blessings that I have received over the past year of my mission. It's crazy to think that it has been that long already but I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve and to continue to serve.  Have a great week!

ELDER GUINUP

Week 47: August 8, 2016

Happy Monday Y'all!!!!!!

            I can't believe it is Monday already again, that's so crazy that it is Monday already again.  Time just goes by too quick, but hey that's fine, just keep pressing forward.  So first off I might have resent last weeks email by accident so if I did I apologize.  

          So now on to the week, first off is the weather is crazy.  We have a tropical storm commin through possibly this week.  It's shouldn't be nothing but a lot of rain, and that will be fine since this week I will be in a car full time.  So it should be too bad, I'm actually excited.  I love rain so much, so this should be great.

            Also a big change elder Bladen my car map ion right now finishes his mission this week.  I'm excited for him, sad to see him go though.  He leaves wednessday, he is going to Utah state.  The funny thing is I don't know who my companion will be......so more to come on that front.

           This week has been an awesome week.  We were able to see many awesome miracles.  One of those being a family we met while walking through an apartment complex.  The father Ben, has a brother who is a member here in Ocala.  They had just moved here to be closer to family and were interested in learning more about the church.  It was awesome to see them desire to learn more, and the spirit working in them.  We were able to give them both a copy of the Book of Mormon and hey said they would love to read it.  They have a young 12 year old son who the mom when talking about him said that they don't push religion on him but just let him make the choice.  When their son came outside we started talking and I brought up the youth group, and mutual on Tuesday night.  He looked over at his mom and told her that he wants to go.  It was an awesome little miracle and I'm excited to continue to see them grow.

  

            Here is the scripture of the week,

2 Nephi 22:2

2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

              I love my savior and am so grateful for all he does for us!

                I hope y'all have great week and I'll talk to y'all next week, see ya!
ELDER GUINUP

Week 46: August 1, 2016

Gooood afternoon,

           This past week has been crazy all over the place, but amazing at get same time.  So first off I've had a car full time very day all day for the past 6 weeks.  This past week we received a call that we will be in a car share.  Which means we share the car with some other missionaries, so we bike half the week and then have the car the other half of the week.  So  we biked a little his past week which was good, I need to lose a little bit of the weight I've gained.  Then the other interesting change was transfers his past week.  Elder Bladen and I were going to stay together and get a new companion with us.  So we would be in a trio.  We left up to Jacksonville on Wednesday to get him, we picked him up and headed back down.  Mind you this is a 2 hour drive one way, when we got back to Ocala we got a call from the mission president saying he needed our new companion somewhere up in Jacksonville actually.  So we got back in the car and headed back up.  So, that was crazy.  We spent about 8+hours in the car Wednesday.  Fun stuff.

            Anyways the rest of the week was fast pace, I loved it though.  We knocked a lot of doors his week which was great.  People here in Ocala are really nice so we usually don't have any problems.  So that was awesome.  But the best part is some of our friends who are investigating the church who are progressing really well.  We had a couple people coming to church with us.  They are loving it so much and feel the spirit.  That is probably the best part of missionary work, seeing the spirit work on those who excessive faith and read the scriptures, prays about it, and comes to church.  We can't convert them, but the spirit can.

          Another thing that has happened this week is I haven't felt the best, my stomach has just been killing me.  Oh well, but to make up for it we had a lot of food donated to us which is great!!!  We had a lot of Mexican food donated to us as well as sandwich meat, cheese, and pork.  I love it, I have also been eating a good amount of tilapia.  I love fish, it is not as good as fresh fish from the north west but it's good.

So here is the spiritual thought for he week, this scripture comes from a revelation given to Joseph Smith, the first prophet in these latter days.

Doctrine and Covenants  112:13

13 And after their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them.

I love this because as we endure through trials and be humble and turn to he lord, he will heal us.  And that is a promise to all those who do this, I have experienced it myself and know that God can heal us.  I'm so grateful for him, and everything he does for me.

Alright that's it for now, have a great week!!!!!!

ELDER GUINUP

Here is a photos of the St. John's river up in Jacksonville

 

Week 50: September 12, 2016

This week has been incredible!!!!!!

          So I'm back in Jacksonville, I'm so excited to be here.  It has been such a blast so far.  So first off my New Companion is Elder Barnes.  He is awesome, he is from Idaho so right next to my homeland.  So that has been awesome.

          So I don't have too much time to write but here is something I want to share.  This past week we have done a lot of knocking doors.  And it has been hot and we had sweated a lot.  So during one of our hours while knocking we set a goal to meet 2 new people that we could come back and meet with.  So we prayed about it and continued knocking.  By the end of the hour we had found nobody yet.  But then at then end the last door we met an awesome lady who invited us to come back the next week.  And then just a few minutes later as we walked to our car we met another man who was really interested and we taught him out in the street for 30 minutes.  And then he invited us to come back.  Our prayers were answered!  I'm so excited to see the wonderful experiences that will come this next week!

So that's it for now!  Have a great week, I'll try to write more next week!

ELDER GUINUP

Week 49: September 5, 2016

 Happy Labor Day!

          This past week has been awesome, crazy, and everything else.  I have so much to report on but not too much time.  First up is transfers, I'm being transferred!  Guess where??  Remember I started my mission in Jax beach.  Well in that district there is the Jax beach ward and Fort Caroline Ward.  I'm being sent to Fort Caroline (which is in the east side of Jacksonville) as the district leader.  I have the opportunity to serve 7 other missionaries and help all of us grow and work together to do the lords work.  I'm super excited to go there, I know a couple of the ward members and will have the opportunity to go on trade offs in Jax beach and see a lot of my old friends.  

            Next as some of you may know there was a hurricane this past week that went up the east coast.  It didn't touch us luckily here in Ocala.  We receive a lot of wind and rain but the hurricane itself didn't cross directly over us.  So it wasn't too bad, we just received a power outage for a couple hours.  So not too bad.

          Also since I hit my year mark in a week I had he opportunity to go to the temple here in Orlando.  It is such a beautiful building and I really felt the spirit there.  It had been a while since I had gone and I had really missed it.  I'm so glad for all the wonderful blessings that come through the temple.  Especially the knowledge that through marriage in the temples families can be together forever.  I'm so grateful for that knowledge, and I know it's true because I have felt the spirit testify to me that it is.

         Alright, before I go I'll leave y'all with a little thought.  I was reading a talk by a past prophet, President Kimball, about leading like the savior.  One of the things he said really struck me, it said...Jesus Christ ran a "do as I do" program, not a "do what I say".  It really struck me that everything he ever asked us to do he did himself.  That is true leadership, I know that our savior Jesus Christ lives and loves us.  That we will truly be blessed as we follow his example.

I hope y'all have a great week, stay safe, 

ELDER GUINUP

Orlando Temple

Most of the missionaries I came out with.

Week 48: August 29, 2016

Happy happy Monday!!!!

           This past week has been awesome, we have been able to see many mighty miracles.  I will talk about some of them near get end of my email.  But to start off there are a couple big announcements, this Saturday is the transfer call.  I find out if I'm staying in Ocala or if I will be moved.  I have a feeling that I'm staying but I have no idea.  

          So one thing that I'm super excited about this coming week is I have the opportunity to go to the temple.  I'm so excited, while on our mission we get to go twice.  One at our year mark and another at the end of our two years. It is crazy that I'm already at my year mark.  It doesn't feel like it should be.  Oh man it is going by too quick.

         So here is one amazing miracle that happened this week.  This actually happened yesterday, as missionaries in Ocala we set a goal to be bold and be urgent in inviting people to be baptized.  Yesterday we met paten, we started talking to him about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He said he had grown up in a Christian church but stopped going.  Since we were being bold we asked him if he would be baptized if he came to know the message was true.  In being bold he said yes, we actually found out that he had not been baptized before.  We were able to set a baptismal date with him in November.  I'm so grateful for the spirit building us to him, and also the spirit testifying to his heart of the truth of these things.  I know the gospel is true, and that baptism is the gate to our progression to eternal life.  Baptism is not the finish line, and I'm so grateful for the gospel helping guide me to the finish line.

          Alright I hope y'all have a great week, God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

ELDER GUINUP

All the missionaries in Ocala!

Week 47: August 22, 2016

Happy happy Monday!!!!!!

          I hope y'all had an amazing week, this past week for me was amazing.  It has been crazy busy but it has been so worth while.  This week we were able to met with a lot of amazing people.  People who not only are interested in learning, but those who have a desire to grow closer to God and our savior.  One of them, Ben, is really progressing well.  He has felt the spirit as we have met with him and has really taken big steps of faith.  He is reading the bible and the Book of Mormon everyday.  He reads any pamphlets we leave with him.  The next step is for him to come to church and then get baptized.  And he really wants to, so he is taking the steps necessary to make that covenant.

          So today all he missionaries went bowling, oh man am I trash.  The first game I did decent.  I was able to get about 120ish but the second game I was just trash.  I got  88 points.  Man I got destroyed!  But it was tons of fun to get out with the other missionaries and just have some relax time.  I'll include some photos from that in this email.  Right now we are at he church playing bball, and emailing.  

         Well one thing that I don't think I have mentioned in any of my weekly emails over my mission but seriously needs to be addressed.  Apparently in Florida you have to own a dog to live here.  Well not really but it feels like everyone has a dog, and when we knock doors it feels like they bark like they have never barked before.  And sometimes that makes he owners mad.  But it's fun, I love dogs still.  Just not when they bark, when we knock doors, and it's late at night.  But hey that's life!  

       Some other awesome things that happened this week is we had a zone conference.  So all the missionaries in the Gainesville area and lake city areas got together with the mission president and talked about how we can improve and things that are going great.  One of my favorite trainings was given by Sister Lee (the mission presidents wife) she trained about how sometimes we think we are inadequate.  How sometimes we feel like we are not good enough or we compare ourselves to other people.  As one of he missionaries put it comparing our bloopers to someone's highlights.  But then sister Lee. Said somethings profound that struck me.  I think this is how she said it, How could a child of An all loving Father in Heaven not be good enough!  I know this is true, even when we feel down we have to remember that we are sons and daughters of an all knowing loving God.  I hope y'all know that, and always remember that God loves you!

Have a great week and have fun!  

ELDER GUINUP

Trio life, elder spencer the one driving, and elder hardy the one sleeping.

The Gainesville zone with President and Sister Lee

The missionaries in Ocala

Week 46: August 15, 2016

Southern delicacy boiled peanuts

A nice river in Ocala

Gooood afternoon,

           This past week has been crazy all over the place, but amazing at get same time.  So first off I've had a car full time very day all day for the past 6 weeks.  This past week we received a call that we will be in a car share.  Which means we share the car with some other missionaries, so we bike half the week and then have the car the other half of the week.  So  we biked a little his past week which was good, I need to lose a little bit of the weight I've gained.  Then the other interesting change was transfers his past week.  Elder Bladen and I were going to stay together and get a new companion with us.  So we would be in a trio.  We left up to Jacksonville on Wednesday to get him, we picked him up and headed back down.  Mind you this is a 2 hour drive one way, when we got back to Ocala we got a call from the mission president saying he needed our new companion somewhere up in Jacksonville actually.  So we got back in the car and headed back up.  So, that was crazy.  We spent about 8+hours in the car Wednesday.  Fun stuff.

            Anyways the rest of the week was fast pace, I loved it though.  We knocked a lot of doors his week which was great.  People here in Ocala are really nice so we usually don't have any problems.  So that was awesome.  But the best part is some of our friends who are investigating the church who are progressing really well.  We had a couple people coming to church with us.  They are loving it so much and feel the spirit.  That is probably the best part of missionary work, seeing the spirit work on those who excessive faith and read the scriptures, prays about it, and comes to church.  We can't convert them, but the spirit can.

          Another thing that has happened this week is I haven't felt the best, my stomach has just been killing me.  Oh well, but to make up for it we had a lot of food donated to us which is great!!!  We had a lot of Mexican food donated to us as well as sandwich meat, cheese, and pork.  I love it, I have also been eating a good amount of tilapia.  I love fish, it is not as good as fresh fish from the north west but it's good.

So here is the spiritual thought for he week, this scripture comes from a revelation given to Joseph Smith, the first prophet in these latter days.

Doctrine and Covenants  112:13

13 And after their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them.

I love this because as we endure through trials and be humble and turn to he lord, he will heal us.  And that is a promise to all those who do this, I have experienced it myself and know that God can heal us.  I'm so grateful for him, and everything he does for me.

Alright that's it for now, have a great week!!!!!!

ELDER GUINUP

Here is a photos of the St. John's river up in Jacksonville

Week 45: July 25, 2016

  Good afternoon y'all,

           This has been an incredible week, and it was so short because we were busy and saw a lot of awesome people come to church.  We had one lady came out of the blue and loved it, it was awesome!!!  We are hoping to teach her more this week and continue to see her progress.  

            So I don't have much time to write so I will make a quick summary.  So this past week we were able to give a lot of awesome service.  And this next week we have a lot signed up.

But another thing we were able to do was a lot of finding, we went out and knocked lots of doors, which was great.  We were able to meet great people and share he gospel with them.  

          But I think my favorite thing from this past week was my scripture study.  I have learned so much from the Book of Mormon this past week it has been incredible.  I'll copy one of them into this letter.

Alma 34:32

32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

I love this scripture because it points out what our purpose here on earth is, we need to prepare to meet God.  And we do this through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Through faith on him and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  I know that his is true, that as we follow the example of Jesus Christ we can prepare to meet God.  I love this gospel and know it is true.

Have a wonderful week y'all!!!!

ELDER GUINUP

Huge spiders, banana spider

Week 44: July 18, 2016

Good afternoon!!!!!

         This past week has been incredible, Elder Bladen and I have seen many miracles this week.  We met a part member family, which means one of the the people in the house is a member of our church.  So we met this husband and wife, the husband is a member.  But the wife isn't, but the great thing is she is super interested.  We shared the message of the restoration with her and she loved it.  She felt the spirit and was excited to read from the Book of Mormon and come to church.  So I'm super excited to see hew progression.  Such a great family.

           In other news Ocala has a very confused weather system.  We have had some crazy rain storms and crazy rain.  So that has been fun, got soaked fro rain and sweat.  But that's life in the Florida Jacksonville mission.  And I love it a ton.

        So I'm out of time to email but I want to leave y'all with one of my new favorite scriptures.

Alma 7:7

7 For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all--for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people.

I know that Jesus lives, I know that he is our savior and that he is our savior.  That there is nothing more important than him coming into the world and taking upon him our sins.  I love him so much because of that.  I testify that he lives, and loves us.

Have a great week, 

ELDER GUINUP

 

The Gainesville Zone

 

Week 43: July 11, 2016

Good Morning y'all,

         This has been a crazy week full of awesome experiences, Elder Bladen and I are having tons of miracles happen, as well as having tons of fun.  First off I need to comment on the weather like usual.  This week hasn't been too bad, it's getting hotter every day but I guess I've just learned to deal with it.  So it hasn't bothered me as much as it usually does.  Though this last Saturday we were walking at on some trails talking to people, and we thought it might be nice and shady trails.  Nope, none of them had tree cover so we just walked in 100 Degree and higher heat.  But then we realized we were a little behind schedule and had to be somewhere soon.  So to make up for some time we started running in our white shirt, tie and slacks.  It was fun, we had to stop by the apartment quickly to change because we were literally soaking wet.  It was a blast!

           But here I'll share a couple of the awesome miracles that have happened this week.  We have one member of the church that we have helped start coming back to church recently.  He really wanted to stop smoking though, so through a lot of prayer and fasting we have helped him.  He has been off smoking for about 2 weeks, which has been amazing!!!!  He is so great and we have an amazing relationship with him.  He is going through a lot of trials and it has been great to see him turn to Christ to help him overcome these challenges.

         I guess the last thing I want to mention is the power of prayer.  Over these past 10 months of my mission I have learned what prayer really can mean to me.  As I have gone through hard times, and the people I am teaching are going through hard times.  I have seen turning to God can improve a situation.  I've seen God step into my life and lift me.  I have also seen the continual comfort as I have prayed during the good times.   I know that God lives, and that he loves us.  He loves us so much that he sent his son, our brother Jesus Christ.  This gospel has blessed me and my family more than I can explain.  I hope that all of y'all can feel of God's love for you as well.

I hope y'all have a great week!

        

ELDER GUINUP

Week 42: July 4, 2016

Hey y'all,

       This weeks email is going to be a little short so I apologize.

        But I guess first off I happy 4th of July!!!!!!  I'm so grateful for he freedom that we all have in this wonderful country.  The freedom to worship as we will, it is something that I used to take for granted but I really appreciate it now. But My day has been great so far, a bunch of us missionaries went up to Gainesville for our pday.  It has been a blast, tons of games and a barbecue.  It has been really great.

         Welp, this week was really great.  We were able to visit so many members of church.  We were able to see many miracles, we have been able to have a lot of people come back to church.  

         This week has been pretty hot, rainy, humid, hot again.  So I guess the same as last week except a little hotter.  Oh man, well sorry but this is going to probably be the end.  So I just want to add a scripture that I read recently from the Book of Mormon that i love.

2 Nephi 22:2

2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

          Have a great week!!!!! And happy 4th!!!!!

ELDER GUINUP

Some photos of of a road in Ocala

Starbucks cups from WA state, a member in our ward
was stationed at Fort Lewis so she
showed me her cups.  I thought it was awesome.

Week 41: June 27, 2016

Good morning y'all, or what ever time of day it is when you read this,

             This has been a really awesome week with many wonderful opportunities to serve others.  We have been meeting a lot of new people so I have been able to get better at introducing my self and getting right to teaching them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. So that has been incredible and I'm loving every minute of it.

            So a lot of changes has happened this week.  Our mission president, he is he one who is over all the missionaries serving in the Florida Jacksonville area, goes home tomorrow.  Mission presidents serve for 3 years and then go back home.  So tomorrow we will have our new mission president in.  So this might bring around a lot of change, but it is exciting.  I just can't wait to meet him and continue in this wonderful work.

             So I wanted to share a acronym with y'all.  I had forgotten about but found it in some old notes, it was said by my wonderful Trainer Elder Mann who just finished his mission 2 weeks ago.  The acronym is CPR, now when you think of CPR you think it helps renew life, bring breath back.  So this is what it stands for in gospel terms, Church Prayer Reading.  These three things can bring "breath" back to us, renew us.  And I know all these things can.

            This week at church we had three people who are investigating the church show up on Sunday.  So that was exciting, and every one of them loved it.  I hope they continue to grow spiritually as they come to church and read from the scriptures.  But yesterday was just lots of fun and is always my favorite day of the week.  It just brightens the rest of the week, I feel spiritually renewed as I partake the bread and the water.  I know that Jesus died for our sins, pains, weaknesses and everything we go through.  He knows how we feel, and wants to help us.  I love him for that, and know he will always be there for me.  Through thick and thin.

Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week, I will continue to keep all of y'all in my prayers.  Please let me know if I can do anything for you, I can't be there physically, but I can try to help.  

ELDER GUINUP

 

Here is a photo of the mission president and his wife and me.  

 

Week 40: June 20, 2016

Hey y'all, hope it has been a great week for each of y'all,

        So I guess the first order of business is the weather, I guess this will be a recurring topic in my emails.  But my report for this week is that it has been great!  Ahhhhh, it has been overcast and raining.  I mean it is still humid and a little hot but not as bad as it usually is.   So I'm be, very happy!

               This week has been amazing, we had many miracles.  First off C. L., he was the one who was going to be baptized this last Saturday, is totally fine with moving his date back a week so he could be off smoking for longer.  So his baptism is this Saturday.  And he is doing great, we are meeting with him everyday this week with a member present to help make sure he is ok and to get him introduced to more members.    We don't know when's the next trip down to the temple is but we have taught him about it and he is excited to go to the temple, or as he calls it, "God's embassy".  And he is also excited to come out with us to do missionary work after his baptism.  We are just super excited to have the chance to see him grow.

        Also L. C., the less active we reactivated a couple weeks ago is starting to be a great member missionary.  He has been inviting people that live in his complex to church and to meet with us.  One of his friends came yesterday to church and he seemed to enjoy it.  Hopefully we will be able to see some progression now soon.

        But all in all this week has been amazing and I am so happy to have the opportunity to be out on my mission.  I have loved ever second of it, and will continue to love it.

I appreciate all of the support I have received from all of y'all.  

Have a great week,

         ~Elder Guinup~Florida Jacksonville Mission

Week 39: June 13, 2016

The district

#GOcala

Goooooooood Afternoon everybody!!!!

           I hope y'all had a great week, I know mine was pretty great!  Luckily I won't have to report that it is like a furnace down here this week.  The temperatures were hot but not boiling.  It only stayed in the mid to upper 90s, so that was nice.  Plus we had a little cloud cover from a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico last week.  All in all I can't complain.

           So first order of business transfers are this week.  And I know what's goin on, but he question is, do y'all have any guesses on if I stay or if I go?  Well here is the answer, are you ready???  Drum roll please..........I'm staying with Elder Bladen here in Ocala.  But here's the catch, this ward has had 3 sets of missionaries of a while.  2 sets of elders and a set of sisters.  This transfer we have 17 missionaries going home and only 11 coming out.  So some areas had to be shut down.  So crazy enough the other elders area is shut down temporarily so now Elder Bladen and I cover their area.  So we now have a lot of amazing new investigators.  And here's the big catch, because of this change and having the other elders investigators, we are having a baptism this Saturday!  It's crazy to think, luckily we know the investigator pretty well so it should be great.  I'll send pictures in next weeks letter.

           But this week has been awesome!  It's been crazy how many amazing people we met this week.  It has been incredible.  Well not to much more to report, but I once more happens I'll keep y'all posted.

         Welp, I hope y'all have a great week, and be safe!

       

         ~Elder Guinup~

Florida Jacksonville Mission

Week 38: June 6, 2016

Good afternoon!!!!!

             Well I think the best way I can start of this letter is by saying this past week has made me realize that the water cycle here is on steroids.  Now why is that you ask, well here's the reason.  The past couple weeks has been getting hot, and hotter and more like a furnace.  Possibly hot enough to relate to the furnace that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were tossed into in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.  Ok maybe not that hot, so there is hot humid heat, then because Ocala is in the middle of the state we get a lot of rain and storms from anything brewing in the Gulf of Mexico.  So it has rained a lot which is nice, the temperature cools off a little while it is raining.  But then once the rain stops, and I mean immediately it starts to evaporate back up into the sky.  In a manner to where you can literally see the evaporated water everywhere.  And then it gets to be more humid than before it rained and hotter.  So maybe I'm make too big a deal out of this but oh well.  This paragraph was fun to write so I'll leave it in the letter.

             Anyways I hope y'all had a great week this past week.  I know mine has been great!  This week elder Bladen and I were able to find and talk to a lot of new people.  So that has been really good.  One thing I've noticed down here in Ocala is for some reason people like to talk to us missionaries.  We give out a lot of pass along cards to people and so when we bike and somebody's walking we offer them one and 90% of the time they take one.  And then most of the time they talk to us for a while after we give them a card.  It's great, there are so many people here that are ready to learn more about Christ and his gospel.  And many have open minds so they don't just shut down and say they have better things to do or they are just not interested in new stuff.  But not here in Ocala, ah lots and lots of fun here, I love it a ton.

             One thing that has been awesome is we recently started doing some service at a old historical inn that has been change into housing for veterans.  We help out a lot with grounds keeping, by planting new flowers, putting down mulch, and anything they need to make it look better.  And it's a great place, it nice to be able to serve the veterans, those who already served so much for all of us.  They are always nice to us and we have great conversations with them.  So that has been a lot of fun recently.

          So I was thinking about one last thing to talk about in this email and then I thought of something.  This week I have really been thinking of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  When he took upon him our pains, sicknesses, and sin.  The power of the atonement is infinite.  So there is an equation for it, infinity=the power of the atonement, -X=our sins.  Infinity + (-X) = Infinity.  No matter how much we have sinned or if we feel like we are not worthy of gods love the power of the atonement can still help us.  This is not to say we should just sin and all will be well, we have to learn from our mistakes.  Repent, and then the equation comes into play.  I know that through Christ we can all be clean.  This knowledge has brought me so much joy.  Like the scripture in Isaiah 1:18, 

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  

I'm grateful for this gospel and what it has done for me.  I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!

         ~Elder Guinup~

Florida Jacksonville Mission

Week 37: May 30, 2016

Heyyyyyyyy howwwwws it going y'all,

      This has been a week full of miracles, this past Sunday we had 5 less active members come to church.  It was really amazing to see their face become more happy as they are filled with the spirit at church.  I'm so happy to see them change and come unto the gospel.  Ahh so amazing!!!!

         So this week we did a lot of biking because we are running out of our allotted miles for the month.  So it is good because I am starting to lose some of the weight that I have gained.  So I'm kinda excited but at the same time it is hard because it is getting hot, and more rain.  So we shall see how that goes.

     I want to put this quote from a leader of the church,

 

Few men on earth,” said Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness. … The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it. … There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modern times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men?” I testify that it is!!

What a blessing it is to have this wonderful book. May we take greater measures to teach and testify of it to these wonderful people we love so they too can stand the tests of faith in their lives. 

        I also testify that is true, I love y'all and miss y'all, have a great week.

         ~Elder Guinup~

Florida Jacksonville Mission

Week 36: May 23, 2016

Happy Monday!!!!!

       This is going to be a quick email but I  just wanted to let y'all know that I'm having a blast down here in Ocala.  We are seeing. Lot of wonderful miracles and seeing a lot of people have a desire to learn more about the gospel.  But on top of finding amazing people the weather has been weird.  There has been a lot of rain storms this week.  So I have been constantly wet his week, either from biking in the rain or sweating from the very hot heat.  Oh ya it has been fun.

        So the other things that have happened we had an amazing zone conference.  We had wonderful talks and trainings.  One of my favorite was all about the scripture in the Book of Mormon.  The book of Alana chapter 5.  It talks all about how the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I really love this chapter and I would like to invite y'all to read it.  If you don't have a Book of Mormon you can get one for free at Mormon.org.  But seriously read it it is amazing!!!!!

So I am about out of time so I want to leave you with my love and that I hope y'all had an amazing week.  I know my letters have been short.  I miss y'all and hope y'all have a great one!!!

       

         ~Elder Guinup~

Florida Jacksonville Mission

Week 35: May 15, 2016

Heeey ohhhhh,

        This week has been incredible, we were able to find 9 new people this week who want to learn more about the gospel.  It has really been rewarding to be able to see the gospel change people.  I love to just see their facial expressions change as they listen to the gospel. Ahhhh I love this gospel so much and it has changed my life so much.  

         So I apologize but my email this week will be short, I am really tired right now and can't think.  We did a lot of biking this week.  And I mean a lot, and it is getting so hot.  Summer is slowly approaching.  The other day it felt like I stepped out into a furnace.  It was crazy and I started to sweat so much.  But oh man is is summer going to be fun, I'm not used to heat so we will see how this goes,  wish me luck!

    Well I'm going to have to end my email now but I wanted to leave y'all with a quote, one of my most favorite.  Well I guess it isn't a quote but more so a saying.

     

Communication is

8% words

57% facial expressions 

35% gestures

I just love how the gospel has made me so happy and so my communication has become better with people.

I miss y'all a ton and hope y'all have a great week!

         ~Elder Guinup~

Florida Jacksonville Mission

Week 34: May 9, 2016

Good afternoon y'all, 

          This week has been a crazy blur of amazing miracles, before I go into it I'll give y'all a quick update on life her in Ocala Florida.  I got a new companion this last week, his name is elder Bladen.  He's from Utah, go figure...and has been out on his mission for about 20 months.  So he goes home soon, but one thing is he is amazing.  I have been learning so much from him in the little time we have been around each other.  And so far have had some great experiences.  

          Another thing is I got to Skype my family yesterday!!!  It was really amazing, and for those of y'all who don't know as missionaries we are able to email every Monday to friends and family.  And then twice a year we get to Skype our family, usually on Christmas and Mother's Day.  So it was really awesome to see them and be able to talk to them for a little while, and it made me realize even more why I'm out on my mission.  I'm out here because I have seen first hand what the gospel of Jesus Christ has done for my family and I.  And now I'm out here sharing this wonderful message with others, and it hits home to know that I can live with my family and father in heaven for all time and eternity because of the gospel.  And to be able to see this change occur in other people's lives is a great blessing for me.

           But I guess the big thing I wanted to talk about in this letter is about the amazing miracles we have been blessed with.  So first off as a mission we are calling may, mighty miracle may.  Because when we expect miracles and do everything in our power to keep the commandments and follow God he will bless us.  The miracles that we see might not be big or the ones that we want to see, but they are the ones that God has in store for us.  I am really grateful for our Heavenly Father and his plan for us.

I love y'all and miss y'all, have a great week.

         ~Elder Guinup~

Florida Jacksonville Mission 

Week 33: May 2, 2016

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night.  When ever your reading this,

            This week really has been wonderful, many really successful opportunities to serve people.  So that means we did a lot of service this week, around 20 hours.  Now because of that I'm super tired but it was also very rewarding.  It is interesting But it was good, we did 3 moves this week, worked out on 2 ranches, and helped at the March for babies event early in the morning.  So a lot of awesome opportunities to serve and show others the love and light of Christ.  It was funny though when we were at the March for babies there was a sonic tent set up giving out free power aid to people.  And we had the idea to ask if we could take some to all the volunteers parking cars.  They let us and we did several trips, after the main guy said wow y'all are hard workers, and then proceeded to give us job applications.  It really was a blessing to see others recognize the service, and then we were able to explain to them why we do service and it was wonderful.  Oh one more thing from the March for babies.  So there were a lot of food tents set up for the participants to go get lunch,  they each had one lunch ticket and so our job was to help the booths by collecting the tickets.  One elder and I went to help the Panda Express and we were able to have some great conversations with the workers.  But best of all was the mascot.  They had a panda mascot to get people to come over to their tent, and I got to wear it.  Oh ya I wore a panda mascot costume, it was very hot but totally worth it.  

         On top of this, the week was pretty good.  We have had some wonderful lessons with people investigating the church.  One of them is doing really well, he loves the Book of Mormon and has been reading it daily.  We hope to set a baptismal date with him.  So I'm super excited for this week.  On top of that his week my companion elder bore is going home so I am getting a new companion.  His name is elder Bladen.  All I know about him is he has been on his mission for a while and is a great elder.  So I'm super excited to be his companion, more to come next week.  

       Oh also I'm so excited that I get to talk to my family This next Sunday.  Aghhhhhhh it is going to be great!

      One thing we have been talking about in the mission as of recently we initiated mighty miracle may.  We can expect miracles when we do everything in our power to do the work of God.  As we strive to be like our savior we will see many miracles in our life.  I'm so excited to see what God has in store for us this month.  Love y'all and talk to y'all next week.

         ~Elder Guinup~

Florida Jacksonville Mission

Panda Missionary

I got to see my "Dad" Elder Mann- the missionary who trained me.