Trials of the Mission

Wow. That's all I can say about this week. My mission president's wife called me on Sunday and told me to call my mother. That's never a good thing. My mother informed me that a dear friend of ours had past away unexpectedly. I was lost for words. I was at a member's home at the time, and so I was not going to allow myself to cry with them there. I have too much pride, I know that's not a good thing to have, but I'm glad I did in this instance. I had to change the subject and talk about something else with her to get my mind away from my friend. By far the hardest thing I have dealt with on my mission thus far. This man was my parent's age, and he was family to me.

We have many investigators right now, but few came to church on Sunday. We did everything we could to make sure they could go, to feel the spirit there and have a wonderful experience. Things were already a struggle, now with the death of my friend, the days have been longer and harder. I know where my friend is at and what he is doing, and that gives me comfort. I try really hard to not show the sorrow my heart feels at this time, and I think everyone is buying my cover-up. Again, I'm a prideful person, I'm working on it.

I really have nothing else to report on, life as a missionary goes on. I am just trying to keep a smile on my face and focus on the work the Lord has for me to do, I won't let this tragedy get me down. I'll take it and run! I will make my friend proud, I will become the man, husband, and father that he and my loved ones want me to become. I know that I am nothing, but with the Savior I can become everything and more.

Elder Scotty



**Here are the words Scotty sent to be read at the funeral of Cliff Aalona:

It's never a good thing when the mission president's wife calls you and tells you to call your mother. When my mother told me that everyone in the family was fine, my heart was lifted somewhat. When she said Cliff had passed away, to be completely honest, it felt as if a member of my family had died. Being at a church member's house at the time, it took everything in me to control my tears. Cliff is one of my dearest friends. I always enjoyed talking with the adults at church and at parties more than I did people my age, and Cliff was at the top of that list. Him and I would always go to the Lakes football games together. When I was going through chemotherapy, some of the happiest times of that ordeal for me was when Cliff would call me and say, "Hey! Wanna go to the game tonight?" I had actually been thinking this past week of the high school games, and knowing it was playoff time, thought, "That would be fun to go with my Dad and Cliff to the game and then go to some buffet afterward!" How we loved our buffets!

I do not want to repeat anything that has been or will be said. When I was pondering that night of what my mother had told me and the tears were rolling down my face, my mind turned to my Savior Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mormon, we read in Alma chapter 7 verses 11 and 12, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

I am mourning the lost of my friend, but because of my Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, I will see him again. Because of my Savior I have a brightness of hope that someday I will be able to hug Cliff and tell him what an impact he had on my life. I wish I had more time with him, I wish I could have said goodbye to him, but I know Cliff will be with me the rest of my life helping me and my family. I love you Cliff. I will not let you down, I will become the man that I know you would want me to become. Aloha my dear friend. Until we meet again, aloha.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

pic #1 - the temple a few weeks back on p-day, so pretty! Salt Lake City, heck of a town

pic #2 - I, Elder Warczak, was awarded this for being the cleanest missionary in the month of October. No one cleans better than me, no one!

pic #3 - One morning a few of us Elders went and pressed apples for our wonderful friends, Brother and Sister Smith. A sweet old couple that does a lot for us. This contraption is a good 100 years old

pic #4 - I was in the kitchen with Sister Smith straining and canning all the juice (I would stay in the kitchen wouldn't I, I'm such a girl!) I totally know how to can things now, so when I get home, if any moms need some assistance...I'm your guy.

Dear family and friends,

I have to be honest, I thought this transfer was going to be a long one. Same area, same companion, it all just sounded so blah to me. Well, this past week blew UP with blessings. We have two people on date for baptism this month, and by the end of the week we should have another 2, 3, maybe even 4 people! I won't tell all of the stories yet, I'd hate to type all these wonderful things about these people we have met, and then next week write saying, "Yeah, about that....false alarm." So I will contain my excitement and unleash it next time, if that's the case.

The snow is here, and it has been pretty cold walking around at night. I could bundle up with all my sweet missionary gear, but I hate walking into a home and having to take it all off and then putting all back on. The jacket and some gloves will do it for me. And when it gets colder I'll rock the scarf, cause that's the kind of missionary I am.

Utah losing last week really put a damper on the work for a day or two. Everyone we talked to was uninterested, and each person we asked what was a trial in their life right now, the answer was always to this effect; "My (beep) Utes blew it, that's what!" Yay for BYU though, too bad NO cougars live here in West Valley. Either you're a Ute, or a Mexican!

My companion is turning around. He is trying a lot more and together we are seeing the results of being obedient and diligent missionaries.

My zone leaders gave me the calling of "the voice" of the zone. When a companionship puts someone on date for baptism, they call me and then I send out a mass voice message to the zone, informing them of another investigator set for baptism. But of course I don't just "call" everyone, no no no, I'm Scotty Warczak, I do everything big. I rewrite songs and scenes from movies and they are AWESOME! So far I have done songs to the theme song from beauty and the beast, N'SYNC "dirty pop", Backstreetboys "I want it that way", and my movie scenes have included Talladegga Nights and Hot Rod. Our zone is doing well, our zone leaders called the rest of the zone leaders in the mission out, and promised that no one would beat Granger zone this month. Our goal is 37 baptisms, I think we will be able to do it. My district is on fire, everyone has people on date for baptism. The other district is struggling, but I pray that they will get their acts together. We shall see.

That is the update for this week, I hope in the next week or two I will be able to tell you of more people solid for baptism. I'm pumped, this is what it's all about. President Winn told our companionship to "destroy it" this transfer, and that's exactly what we're doing. I love this work, I love the people around me, and I love the Lord.

Love,

Elder Scotty

Elder Warczak is Alive

My deepest apologies for not writing last week. Indeed I was unable to get to the local computer lab to do so, not having a car is becoming a burden. Well, today is transfer day, and guess what!?!?! Elder Warczak is now serving in...the granger stake. Yup, I'm STAYING here in West Valley with Elder Burkard another transfer! A six month area, whoah. I thought I would be upset to be here another six weeks, but when I found out I thought, "Well, I love the members here. Thanksgiving will be amazing because I will know which houses to go to and which to avoid (some people's idea of food is...interesting, to say the least). I don't have to make nice with a new companion. And we have some new investigators that I believe will be getting baptized, so now I won't miss out on those." So all in all, I am happy. I know the Lord wants me here another six weeks for a reason. Perhaps He needs me to step up or learn something here before I can move on. Whatever it is, I am making sure to do everything I can. I love this stake, and I want to go out with a bang. Next transfer I am 99% sure I will be leaving, I don't believe President Winn would keep me in one area longer than six months, unless I was in a leadership position or in a program like the Tongan or Swahili programs that covers the entire valley.

The past two weeks have been incredible. The Salt Lake Valley had their regional conference two Sundays ago. It was held in the conference center, and all 71 stakes in the valley were able to watch. Granger stake was one of eleven invited to attend it live, so Elder Burkard and I sat down in front, the seventh row! Elder Evans of the presidency of the seventy spoke, along with the church primary president, Elder Nelson of the twelve apostles, and President Uchtdorf. I was so close to them I didn't have to watch the giant screens to see them. Amazing. They talked on missionary work, how we need more missionaries, and better quality of missionaries! It made me happy to know that I was on a mission doing my best to serve.

Later that week, we had a mission tour, where a general authority of the church comes and speaks to all the missionaries in the Salt Lake mission. Elder Evans, the same one that spoke at regional conference, was assigned to speak to us. We were trained by him for six hours! We all got to meet him and shake his hand. I learned so much, I have seven pages of notes!

I feel like winter will fly by. With Thanksgiving coming up and then on to Christmas, these months will flash right before my eyes, and then onto Spring! I am pumped to listen to Christmas music, it's the greatest. The music rule is we can listen to any song that is in the church hymn book, so I'll be getting all kinds of Christmas music by various artist. Hey, N'SYNC has a Christmas album, they sing hymns on there, right!?!? Hahaha I know, I'm a funny guy! I look forward most to the lights at Temple Square. What a wonderful spirit at the temple during Christmas. I hope we can take many investigators there to experience it.

Thanks to everyone that sends me cards and letters updating me on home life and what's going on. It really means a lot to me to receive a letter of encouragement from my friends. Keep 'em coming!

Love,

Elder Scotty

Blessings for the Warczaks

Well well well, it seems that my missionary service is paying off for the rest of the family:

Steph wins 10,000 big ones (I feel like a should get a share of that, after all me being a missionary helped you win that! Haha) Mom gets her wallet and check book back, Dad gets this new position at work, my goodness! I guess Todd and Court have their blessings coming soon, can't wait to hear about them**. The days are getting beautiful here, the sky is blue yet it's still chilly outside, love it! The work is going well, we have two people on date for baptism on November 6th. Both are pretty solid, so I have faith both will go through with baptism, they both know the message we share is true.

My companion and I still get along, but it's getting a little tough to fully get a long with him. For instance, we taught this lesson, and it didn't go all too well. My companion would explain a principle and our investigator would be confused on it. I would then go over what my companion said and make sure the investigator understood it. I had to do this twice. Walking out we both agreed that lesson could have gone better, my companion then stated that I shouldn't go backwards in the lesson and say the same thing he just said, it confuses the investigator even more. Now inside I thought, "Don't put this on me, I had to do that because you did a terrible job explaining the principles of the lesson you taught and our investigator was confused!" But, remaining calm I simply said I felt things were not completely understood, and so before moving on I just wanted to make sure our investigator understood fully what was being said to him. Golly, it was a frustrating afternoon, I've only been out almost 5 months, but I already know the lessons and material sooo much better than he does. It's ok, I still love my companion, great kid, very nice, he'll get it together.

Transfers are in two weeks, I am hoping I get transferred. I am ready for a change, but will do my best if I am to stay here in West Valley. This past week a lot of people have called us seeking help. More often than not, it's help with financial things. A few occasions it was things like, "I need a pillow and blanket for the night, I have nothing. I need a blessing, can you come give one to me?" "I just need someone to talk to, I'm really lonely." At times I allowed myself to be frustrated by these things, saying to myself, "We're the missionaries, this is not our job..." but it dawned on me, this is EXACTLY my job! So often missionaries, including myself, get wrapped up in the idea that we are only to teach, that is our duty. Our duty is to build up the church, strengthen the members, bring others the true gospel, and remind those who already know of the restored gospel how wonderful it is and the blessings that come from being active in the church. We are to be like Christ, who, "went about doing good." It really humbled me to know that people, in time of need, think to call the missionaries. No matter how far off the path they have gone, when they hit rock bottom and need someone to turn to, they call the missionaries. We usually can't help them out too much, but we can point them in the right direction and get them in contact with the right people. I love serving people, I love the feeling I get when someone says "thank you" to me. That's the thing I want most out of my mission, charity for my fellow man. Christ-like love for everyone I meet in life, regardless of who they are, what they look like, or what they have done. So I guess staying another transfer in West Valley wouldn't be the end of the world, that would just mean the Lord still has people here that I need to help, and I guess I'll be nicer to my companion, even if I want to strangle him sometimes :)

Take care,

Elder Scotty

**Editor's note - Stephanie won 10K in Bravo's Top Chef Sweepstakes. Mama Warczak had her wallet stolen at church, but the entire contents were later found at a nearby park (minus $15), and Papa John is now a Community Liaison Officer. Woot.

**Did you notice he said "golly"?? haha, Elder Scotty is so funny to me.

Hey Hey

Hello to my family and friends,

As far as the work goes, things are picking up. We have a new investigator this week, and we are meeting with a few potentials today and tomorrow. Nothing too to exciting, but with President Packer's conference talk we have had a ton of run ins with the anti-mormon and gay communities. Those conversations always bring a smile to my face as we walk away from those people :) And of course a lot of drive-by yells out the window at us like "YOU "BEEP"ing MORMONS!, I"M GAY YAAAAYYY!, STOP HATING US!" It's entertaining.

Yesterday was zone conference, it was wonderful. We were trained on how to use the Book of Mormon more effectively, and how to get our investigators to read from it. The Book of Mormon combined with the spirit is our most powerful conversion tool. If our investigators gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, then they will know that Jesus is the Christ or if they already believe in him their faith in him will grow tremendously, they will know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and they will know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. Many people have tried to prove to me why Joseph Smith is a fraud, they have no idea. (Steph, if you could include a link to Hugh B. Brown's talk "Profile of a Prophet" right here, that would be excellent!) **Sure thing, little brother. HERE it is.** Utah is still a struggle, it doesn't get any easier, but at least the weather is getting cooler!

Right now both of the zone leaders do not have driving privileges. We have in each car in the mission this thing called "tiwi". It's a small white box that's hooked up to the car engine, and when you speed or drive too aggressively it beeps at you and records that violation. The mission office has those records and if you have too many violations, it's no more car for you, at least for 45 days, after that if you lose privileges again, you never drive again on the mission. So right now the rest of us in the zone are going on exchanges with them a lot so that someone can always drive one of them around in their area, which is very large. So right now I kind of have a car...but not really! Hahaha.

The transfer ends November 3rd. I'm secretly hoping I get transferred. If I stay that's fine, I won't be that bummed, but this area I am in is very small, and with the the end of this transfer I will have been here 4 1/2 months, I'm ready for a change. I am hoping we will have some people on date for baptism by next week, it's been a while since we have had a baptism, that needs to change. Health-wise I am doing great, Elder Burkard and I continue to work out every morning and I am trying my best to eat healthy. Time is still flying by, October is already half way over, winter will be here before I know it! It's exciting to be a missionary, and I feel my testimony of the restored gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ growing everyday.

Elder Scotty

Handsome Elder Scotty

Photos from Todd & Jocelyn. Lucky ducks got to see Elder Scotty at conference. They've also been able to take him to a couple doctor appointments. This sister is jealous!

We're all still waiting for his luscious locks to grow back. Hopefully they get here in time for him to start dating 1 years and 8 months from now. (1/6th of the way home!)

Conference Weekend, Baby!

The picture is of some service we did for a member this past week. Elder Burkard and I stacked ALL of that hay, the other two elders came at the very end and helped out. My body was destroyed by it!

So I imagine you all want to hear about conference and how that was. Being a missionary here in Salt Lake, conference seemed to have much more meaning to me. We attended Saturday afternoon, but gave our tickets away for Sunday morning. We watched all the other sessions in the Joseph Smith building in the varsity theater. Comfy chairs, leg room, less crowded, and a big screen to watch...it's the best place to watch! I saw many friends from BYU. During one of the sessions in the theater I sat in front of a few boys from my ward last year and their "girlfriends?" and that was quite a surprise. Other people here and there, but the best surprise was seeing my friend Corey Wozniak from freshmen year! I saw my old scoutmaster, Rick Hjelm, who's now in the stake presidency back home in Lakewood, I truly love seeing and hearing from my Lakewood people! I also saw my younger sister Courtney and my brother Todd with his wife Jocelyn and their son. How nice it is to have family all around me!

My two favorite talks were from Saturday morning. Elder Holland and Christofferson really impressed me. With Elder Holland's talk, I was reminded that many people are sacrificing for me to be on a mission, and that many prayers are coming my way. I shouldn't waste any time that I am given to serve, and I need to be grateful for all the blessings and opportunities I have while serving my mission. From Elder Christofferson's address, I took away the steps I need to take to really devote my life to serving the Lord, and consecrate my life to him. I will be working on his 5 points the remainder of my mission and life.

Conference was much needed. I feel re-motivated and excited about missionary work. Our week is going to be a good one! Last night we had our marriage for Marcus and Annie, the couple that got their marriage license a while back with that service missionary we brought from the office. It was a small gathering of friends and family at the church with the bishop, it was wonderful. Marcus is set on getting baptized too, he wants to have an eternal family and be sealed to his family in the temple! Tonight we are meeting with a woman who has come to church the past 4 weeks in one of our wards. She wants to meet with us now and has said she has thought about baptism alot and feels she is ready to learn more and take that step. Elder Burkard and I received an email this week. Our mission president wants every companionship to achieve the "standard of excellence" for their key indicator goals every week. 1-3-5-8-3 (1 baptism and confirmation, 3 people on date for baptism, 5 investigators to church, 8 lessons taught with a member of the church present, and 3 new investigators) Crazy intense to achieve, but if President Winn says it's possible, I'll do it! President Winn told us in the email that we are two of the best missionaries, and we need to be hitting those numbers. I definitely do not want to let my president down, not after I promised him I would be the best missionary in the mission, no no no, not gonna do it! Hopefully I will be able to report in the next week or so that we have met the mark and our on track to keep those numbers weekly!

Today is a very gloomy day. Grey, cloudy, rain....and I am loving it! Perfect Washington fall weather and I couldn't be happier! Keep the faith everyone, much love.

Elder Scotty