Elder Kevin Pearson

Elder Kevin Pearson

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Transfer on Monday?

July 11, 2011

Earlier in the day when Elder Pearson was emailing home, I caught him on-line and was able to get a few questions answered.
One of the things I asked him was if he needed any extra money in his account. I wondered if transfers would happen while we were gone. He said he should be staying in Rotherwood for another 5 - 6 weeks, so he should be fine.
Later in the day, I was at the credit union and decided to transfer some money in his account anyway.
In the evening, we were up the canyon, but I got a phone call. It was his new mission president, Pres. Irion. He said he was on his way to pick up our son. He informed me that he needed to transfer him to Knoxville. He said he had called Elder Pearson around 3 or 4 that afternoon and asked if he'd be willing to pack his bags. Pres. Irion said he answered in the affirmative and said he'd be ready in a few hours. I told Pres. Irion that he'd probably have a lot of stuff - because he hadn't sent any of his winter stuff home yet: boots, coat, sweaters, etc. He joked that maybe he should have brought the bigger car!
Apparently they were doing some rearranging and needed Elder Pearson to be a zone leader in Knoxville.
Pres. Irion also mentioned that as he and his wife have been traveling around the mission meeting all of the Elders and sisters, one question they have been asking is, "Who in the mission do they admire or look up to?" He said, "Quite often your son's name has been mentioned."
(We don't want Kevin to get a big head though - so don't mention this to him! We'll keep it on the down low until he gets home?)
We wish him well in Knoxville...although I'm sure it was a hard transfer, since he has been in Rotherwood/Kingsport area since January and has come to love so many good people there. And he loved serving with Elder Struthers!! Sorry he didn't get the chance to say good bye to anyone there. Can't wait to hear his account of the day next Monday!
Elder Pearson's mom

TKM plantin chickens and Fixin to shout!

July 11, 2011

Hey-oh Family!!! Whats been happening back in the area of (801)? I'm going to try and send that recorder home before you leave so be lookin for it in the mail =P

Things here have been going great! To start off the week, Elder Struthers and I had a meeting with Bishop. We really wanted to find out what we could do to help him and the ward right now. We especially wanted to get "The Rescue" that President M has been focused on up and going more. The meeting went really good. Bishop told us that he wants us to just keep pumping them up and a couple other cool ideas. I think we are really starting to have his trust in missionaries again! =D

A couple cool things that happened this week... Struthers and I were able to teach the 5yr olds this Sunday about missionary work! haha I love little kids, they've got the best jokes and facial expressions lol. We asked them how old they had to be to go on missions? "15" one shouted.. close, how old do you think we are? "umm..14.. i think?" haha we actually go when were 19........ Their eyes got so wide and their mouths dropped and said "woww"... you should have seen their faces when we told them that girls have to be 21 =D

Other cool thing that happened this week was that we had our 1st interviews with President and Sister Irion. They got lost on their way down to our church building so they were running a little late. President Irion steps out of the car and looks down at his shirt to see that he forgot both of his badges. He looks back up at us and states "shh.. I'm in the witness protection program, I needed to hide my identity today" He cracks jokes left and right and you can really tell that he has a love for each of the missionaries. I'm really excited to keep working with them and getting to know them a little better.

Another cool thing that happened this week has been working with John and Dennis. Each of them had quit smoking and working to be baptized on the 9th of July.

John had never made it more than a day the last 6 months that I've been here. But while he prayed that he would be able to quit, I really felt that this time was different. Him and Dennis both were able to be baptized together!!! During our interview with them, we asked a really cool question..." I know that you both have tried to quit in the past, what was different about this time? what made it different?"

John said.." When I prayed and really decided that I was going to do it, the desire to smoke completely left me. I do not have a desire to smoke again. thanks to the Lord"

Dennis told us "I have tried everything. Patches, gum, cold turkey and different tactics, and none of them worked.. But this time I fasted and Prayed... I didn't think that I could go that long without food, and I didn't know if it would make that big of a difference. But i know it worked."

The Talleys have become some of my closest friends here in Rotherwood. I cant even share how cool it was to see John be able to make this step. I know that his Father in heaven is proud. I know that this is going to be the biggest blessing for him and his family so far in their lives. I cant wait to see their family go to the temple. There is no greater happiness than this. As missionaries we leave our families for two years to help other families be eternal.

After Church Victoria rounded up me, Struthers, Bo, and bishop and pulled us into the bishops office. She asked for a blessing and told us that she was going to quit smoking tonight and be baptized next week. As we laid our hands upon her head, I felt the spirit lead and guide Bishop as he gave her such a sweet and tender blessing. Its going to be hard, but i know that the Lord will provide a way. He did not send us to earth to fail. He wants us to enjoy all the blessings that he has in store for us. I know that he answers prays and that he is closer to us than we can imagine. I know that the Gospel and Church is true.

Keep smilin and being you =D

Love Elder Pearson..

and write back too =P

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Happy 5th of July!

Lost a toenail! nasty!

Elder Struthers, Bro. Burgin and Elder Pearson

Cleaning out the car without getting distracted - not so much!

The trick is Sometimes ya gotta step on peoples shoes,

without messin up their shoeshine...

Hahaha Hey-oh How is everyone doing!? hope everyone had an amazing HAPPY 4th OF JULY!! =D

Up here they got a ton of sweet fireworks! One guy tried to give us a couple roman candles and it was so hard to say no. But pretty much this whole last week has been a firework show, each night everyone shoots the really big ones in the air for a couple of hours. maybe i'll have to see if I can bring any of those home when the time come haha.

Well this week Strut and I had a chance to go and meet President and Sister Irion for Zone Leader Council. (I dont think its quite hit me that the Griffins are gone yet. They had to leave without really getting to say goodbye to anyone.) The Irions are a ton of fun though and I already am loving them. In a couple of ways, Sister Irion reminds me of Sister Griffin, But I'm not really sure how. President Irion was a convert at age 21 and he and Sister Irion have never had a chance to serve a mission (or be in the south) lol. They laughed about it and said that they were really hoping that the last mission president was a real slacker, So that when they came in they wouldn't seem so bad. Then they had a chance to meet and talk with the Griffins and found that that wasn't the case. President Irion continued.. "So I'm going to ask that you learn to have a couple things with us..1st is Patience.. and 2nd Forgiveness.. and 3rd... more patience" haha

They are both feeling a little nervous I think but i know that they will be awesome. President Irion loves cracking little jokes everywhere. Afterwards they had fun showing us pictures of the Family and where in the world everyone is. They have one daughter serving a mission now too.

A little bit later this week we were over seeing John and Victoria to see how they were doing. We talked about how baptism is our first covenant and that the reason we take the sacrament is to renew that covenant. The spirit was really strong and after words, John said one of the most since our prayers that i've heard him pray, Asking his Father in Heaven to help him quit smoking so that he could be baptized. =D So far he has gone 3 days without and thats farther than ever before!!! Dennis is also doing great and should be baptized on this saturday as well =D

Well thats all for now. write me soon =-p

Love Elder Pearson

Friday, July 1, 2011

June 30, 2011 New Mission President













Pres. Griffen, Elder Pearson, Sis. Griffen
Pres. and Sis. Irion


The Great Tennessee Knoxville Mission has been gearing up to receive a new Mission President.
Elder Pearson is sad to say good bye to Pres. and Sis. Griffen. I asked him a week or so ago what were some things he will remember most about them and what they have taught him.
His reply..."I don't really know if I could put into words what they have done for me and what they have taught me. The word that best drescribes them is "Christ-like". President and Sis. Griffen have shown me an example of Christ-like lives that I want to pattern my life after and what I want my marriage to be like too. They are so humble in doing what the Lords' will is for them. They have consecrated their lives to do those things that please the Father.
They really do become like our parents away from home. They have taught me what it really means to be a disciple of Christ and to be led and guided by Him day be day. I look up to them in so many ways." Saying good bye will be hard.
However, Elder Pearson is looking forward to getting to know and work with the new mission president, Pres. and Sis. Irion.
I actually had the privilege of visiting with them the other night. Around 10:10 pm I recieved a phone call from Pres. and Sis. Irion as they made thier way from Utah to Tennessee. They were just driving through Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry. They were trying to get a hold of as many of their missionaries families as they drove to Knoxville. They wanted to introduce themselves and get to know the missionaries and asked us to tell them a little about Elder Pearson. (I found it a little challenging because I haven't really known "Elder Pearson", I'm more familiar with the 19 year old we dropped off at the curb 15 months ago.) I told them he is our "eternal optimist" and that in all of his letters, he'd never been real discouraged, homesick, or down - he loves his mission and is excited to be out in the mission field serving the great people of Tennessee and the Lord. Pres. Irion handed the phone over to his wife so he wouldn't get them lost, so I was able to visit with both of them. They asked about his siblings. I mentioned he had some great companions and that he had been a wonderful, faithful letter writing. We have appreciated how he has shared his mission with us. We'd been able to make connections with people he has taught and with his companions and their families.
They mentioned they were apprehensive about replacing the Griffens, but I assured them that they will do a wonderful job - they will do their best and the Lord will do the rest.
Pres. Irion asked what I'd like for them to tell Elder Pearson when they saw him the next day - "just that we love him!"
This was so sweet of them to call and I was so reassured that the TKM is in great hands, as are all of the Lord's missionaries! We are grateful to the Griffens and the Irions for their love, service and sacrifices!
love, The Pearson family

When Elder Pearson was emailing on Monday I asked if they were all gathering for one big farewell/homecoming or how saying good bye and welcoming the new president and his wife works. He replied: " I heard a rumor that we all get to go and see them. But I talked with Prez last night for a little bit and it doesn't sound like we will. I think the 1st week that the Irions get here they will just go around to all the areas and have interviews to get to know everyone."

DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN!?!?!



So last Tuesday night, we were on a team up with one of the members in our ward. The Weather started to get really nasty, and it looked like we might have another tornado. We watched the clouds start to swirl around as the wind and the rain picked up. It was about 9:00 so we headed home and started to check up on some of the other areas to make sure that they were ok. About a half hour later, as we were sitting in our apartment, We heard these girls out side screaming. (It sounded like they were just playing in the rain and that they were screaming louder because the storm picked up...) Then the screams turned into bloody murder.... Elder Struthers and I looked outside towards the parking lot to see what the girls were screaming about.... one of the girls was under a car with her foot caught up in the tire rod. (We were like, "did that girl just get run over?") then the car started to ream its engine and run over her more!?!?! Elder Struthers and I ran back inside, "should we call the cops!?" then Struthers ran outside and started going towards the car, yelling "HEY IS EVERYTHING OK!?" Meanwhile I threw on my shoes, grabbed the phone and My pepper spray, We both ran out there as the car kept running over this girl on the ground and the other girl banging on the car window trying to make the driver stop. The Guy in the car saw us coming, took off and ran her over one more time on the way out!?! us and another neighbor asked the girls what happened? Do you know who that was?

The girls got off the ground kinda flipping out/ really scared and said " He was my best friend, He was just coming to get some money that we owed him, please please dont call the cops!"....(WHAT KIND OF BEST FRIEND RUNS YOU OVER WITH A CAR!?!?! ... TALK ABOUT TIME FOR SOME NEW FRIENDS.... All in favor, please manifest by the raise of the right hand.) The girls leg was all twisted and popped out of place and bleeding. We tried to calm them down but then the two girls jumped in their car and started to drive off because they said "I have I curfew, My parents will kill me if i dont get home!"

(GIRL- SHUT YOURE MOUTH! YOU JUST GOT RAN OVER BY A CAR!?!?)

And that is why we obey and live the Word of wisdom. =D Crazy way to start off the week eh?

But things did start to get more spiritual and happy later this week. We went over to see Brandi and Ray a couple times this week. (Brandi was baptized about a month ago and Ray is her Boyfriend that has been looking into the church) As we went over there we had a feeling to talk about the Doctrine of Christ. As we talked about how important it is to be baptized by water and by fire, we invited Ray to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be Baptized by someone holding the authority of God.... This past Saturday Ray was baptized a member of Christ's church!!!

It was a pretty interesting baptism. Ray is very scared of water. Ray also cant use one of his legs, and has to use a cane instead. So right as we were going into the water, I felt Ray stiffin up and almost try to get out of it. He gripped onto my arm as if his life depended on it haha. After a min or two, He was so happy that he made that decision. hahaha =D

One of the other things that was kinda cool was that we had been searching for justin this week because he still has been MIA and he still doesnt have the Holy Ghost. As we were driving around, I got a feeling to just go fill up with gas at this specific gas station. The funny thing was that it was a gas station that we wouldnt usually go too. As we pulled up, and started to fill up on gas, we got the phone out to try and make some phone calls to try and find out who knew where Justin was. Right as we did, Guess what?... A truck pulls up next to us and Justin is in the bed of the truck! He yells "PEARSON MAN!?! WHATS HAPPENIN?" haha we talked to him for a while and he told us that he wanted to come and get confirmed tomorrow but didn't know how to get a hold of us. (The Lord is so close to this work and its so cool to see how much he really cares! If we are obedient and our heart is in the right place, he will lead us to be right where we need to be at the right time.) Sadly justins friend woke up late and didn't bring him to church... :( ......NEXT WEEK!

Other good news? THE TALLEYS HAVE COME TO CHURCH AGAIN!!! two weeks in a row! and John is working to be baptized this saturday with his friend Dennis. there are so many blessing right now its so cool!

One other thing that had been on my mind for a while was the story of Christ and Peter walking on water. At the end of this week, Brad (one of my favorite member here) kinda had something that changed his life. His x- wife passed away from an over dose. which made it so he could have his kids with him full time. Its was of course still something hard for him, and we wanted to go over and see how he was doing. We started to talk about that story of Peter and Christ. Peter was able to walk on the water, BECAUSE he had his faith focused on the Savior. But as soon as he took his focus off of the Savior, He sunk.... All because his focused switched... We talked about how at the beginning, Peter knew that the waves (or the storms of life) were still there. THe Savior did make the waves go away, or make them any smaller. But all while Peter focused his view on the Savior, he was fine. He was able to make it through the storm. But like Peter, If we take our focus off of our Lord, we will sink into the storms of life.

Its not that Peter doubted that Jesus was the Christ, or that he could not make it through. But that he decided to focus on the problem instead of the solution.

We know the Christ is the way, the truth and the life. and that if we will look to him and focus our lives on him, we can make it through anything.

I know that this is true. I know that My Savior is there and that he wants to help us in any time of need. We have the gospel before us and all we have to do is immerse ourselves into it. We can know how, and be permitted to walk back to the presence of our Heavenly Home, if we just follow his will. I love each of you. and hope to hear from everyone of you soon! =D

Love Elder Pearson