Emergency Room + Parties = Missionary Work????

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Family and Friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So great to hear from you again.  What a lovely week in Olean we had.  Before I start the letter mom I will answer all of your questions that thou desires from me. First off, transfers are in 5 weeks but I'm sure I'll be here in Olean!!!! Alright I will tell you what we do on p-days.  We wake up and study and we really do nothing! The closest missionaries to us are an hour away so we can't together with anyone to do anything.  Sure me and Elder Tengberg can go play frisbee or basketball but that will last about an hour and then we have nothing else to do!!!!! We go to Walmart to pick up a few things here and there but besides that we go to the church for wifi, check out some amazing videos on Mormon channel and we listen to some talks but there really isn't that much to do even if we wanted to so its pretty boring.  But we make it fun!!!!!!!! We straightened up the garage last week so we can actually put things in there hahaha!!!!!!!!!! We do laundry, get our apartment all cleaned (we do that more than physical activities) so mom you trained me well!!!!! hahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bishop "D" is soooooo funny.  He is the coolest Bishop ever!!!!!!! He makes me laugh and he's such a jokester!!!!!!!! He's the funniest old man you'll ever meet.  He's like my grandpa!!!!!!!!!! He has a shirt with an old squirrel on it that says "I'm so old I can't even remember where my nuts are!" Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't stop laughing and He tells us of all the funny stories he's had back before dinosaurs roamed the earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He really makes my mission fun and he is always checking in on us to see how we are doing.  He is really so sweet! This week we didn't have very many lessons.  We maybe had 5 at the most because there were many people not at home but we saw A LOT of less actives.  That was good to finally see who they were, what they've been up to and why they haven't been coming to church. Elder Tengberg was also giving a lesson in 3rd hour on Sunday where everyone except primary was combined and he had to prepare for that so we spent a lot of time preparing for that.

"B" actually wants to takes us out to lunch with him again this Tuesday and I am soooo pumped!!!!!!!!!!!!! My memorization with scriptures is going great.  They are now something that I use to help me get my point across and I'm doing a good job at that.  I just have to keep working hard!!!!!!!  The weather up here is nice but it is getting colder I can tell.  It still has warm days. The winters up here are AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!! I've seen pictures when Elder Lee (who Elder Tengberg replaced) was here it was a foot high from the ground!!!!!!!!!!  NO BUENO!!! So that's super unfortunate for me and I'll probably still be here during the
winter. So we have had a lot of ward parties lately and a lot of members have invited us missionaries to go.  One party was a whole youth activity and there were many kids just below me at age 17 starting up their senior year.  I finally had a peer group my age because in Olean it's a lotta old people!!! So we had a lotta fun- played volleyball- and everyone was surprised to see me playing (ya know being a missionary).  I schooled them all. ;)  I was able to gain a relationship and a trust with this kid named "M" (he plays golf).  I talked with him about the gospel.  He was listening and very polite.  I was able to teach him about missionary work and the LDS church. He's an atheist but he was open about talking about it and we left him with a card with a video on LDS.org about Jesus Christ.  He said he would watch that so that was awesome!!!!!!!!!

Then we spent all day with Brother "R" cutting wood.  This is where the emergency room comes into play.  So we were cutting wood- I was using the wood splinter, Brother "R" was using the chainsaw, his wife (who's not a member) was stacking the wood in the truck and Elder Tengberg was using the wood mull!!!! We had been there for many hours and as we were nearing the end I hear Elder Tengberg say "That's not good."  I turn around and his whole arm was covered and dripping with blood!!!   He was completely calm and Brother "R" was cracking jokes and "J" (Brother "R"'s wife) was being just like a mom.  Her mother instincts kicked in and she and I ran straight to the car for the medical kit (which we didn't have) but instead grabbed some paper towels and a cloth and bandaged him up in the most ridiculous way I've ever seen!!!!! Hahahaha A few minuets later we got back to work like nothing ever happened. So what happened?  He was cutting with the wood mull and splitting wood but he got hit.  The tool got stuck and he grabbed another one to knock it out and it was stuck pretty good so he swings and hits and a piece of shrapnel came up and got him right in the forearm.  It went DEEP!!!  After we bandaged his arm and finished working, we ate dinner.  He was perfectly fine- it didn't phase him at all!!!!! Mrs. "J" said to go to the ER and we did.  We got there around 8 and didn't leave until around midnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We waited FOR-EV-ER!!!! We had a LNP come in and actually get it out- we never even saw an actual doctor!  She was searching for the shrapnel but couldn't find it so she and actually had to open the cut more.  After about 15 min. of endless digging, she finally got the thing out and the shrapnel was bigger than the cut that Elder T had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then the next day we woke up to attend one of our investigator's wedding.  And mom guess what!?!?!?!? They asked me to play the prelude for them at their wedding!!!!!!! It was soooo cool!!!! I did really well.  Many people didn't know I played and were very impressed and complimented me.  So now the ward loves me that much more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Then that night we had the reception and the ward picnic at Bishop "D"'s house.  So we have just had a week of straight partying.  Again I ate, drank and was merry!!!!!!!!!! hahaha  But we had a lot of less actives that we had invited and visited this past week show up.  At the corn roast even "J", Brother "R's" wife, who never has attended anything church-related for the past 33 years (since Bro. R has been baptized) attended. This was her first church-related event she has ever been to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought that was sooo cool.  I talked to some people at the corn roast on my own and out of those conversations, I was able to achieve 3 potential investigators.  Even talking and inviting at a party I was able to get potentials!!!!!!   So I gained a lot of confidence from that.  At a church party, I was still able to do missionary work and that was soooooo amazing!!!!!!! I was so blessed with that opportunity and I was able to have fun and do missionary work at the same time.  So Austi (or anyone that wants to go on a mission), don't be a white-handbook-robot that has no fun.  If you are a robot your mission is going to be awful!!!!  Be obedient and hard working but be yourself all at the same time.  The Lord called Elder Cahoon to serve in the PPM not a white-handbook- robot.  Be yourself but have fun (but not too much!!!)  That has helped me make my mission more enjoyable.   This week we have an event at the church.  We are going to watch the movie Meet the Mormons!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooooooo excited for that and can't wait to see it again!!!! It's gonna be great.  I love you all so much and hope your week goes well. I miss you but I don't at the same time! hahaha Anyways, love you all!!!!!!!!!!  Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Cahoon the Baboon

Greenies Unite! 8/25/15

Hello Cahoon Clan and Friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow that is crazy that Austin already started school. It feels just like yesterday that I graduated from high school!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy that I just talk about the gospel instead of taking a test in math hahahaha!!!!!!!!!!! Tyler is starting up school too!?!?!? Well tell him I'm cheering him on.  He will be great as long as he isn't talking to Hannah!!!!!!! Hahahaha!!!!!!! Don't let Delilah get too close Ty! ;-)  Austin I love you!!!!!!!!!!! You have a great year in high school- just think, after you're finished with this year of  school, I will still have another year to go in the mission field.  It seems like a long time but it is going by so fast!!!!!! It's crazy when you're in the service of others, you lose yourself and really time too hahahaha!!!!!!! It's true though. Austin this just came to mind- even though you don't have Brother Gladden as your Seminary teacher, what your new teacher teaches is still the same truth.  And
if you have a good attitude the Lord will truly bless you!!!!!

This week we had a fantastic district meeting  Our District Leader, Elder Miller, is a really good teacher.  Our Zone Leaders were also there so that was a lot of fun!!!!! We talked about our iPads and about safeguards and how we should use technology
appropriately in a companionship!!!!!! Then after watching a super cheesy video we role played it so that was fun!!!  After that we actually did family history work.  Man do we have some awesome family history!  Speaking of Elder Miller, he said he knew a bunch of Cahoons in Canada (he's from Canada) and they have the same story of Reynolds Cahoon.  So we have some relatives in Canada!!!!!!!!

Elder Richens (my MTC companion) and I teamed up and went on exchanges. Two Greenies went on exchanges- that never happens!!!!!!!!!!!  That was soooooo much fun.  The first day we spent riding bicycles and that was a blast- that's true missionary work!!! I accomplished my goal to hand out a B.O.M. In fact I handed out 2 and that was such a confidence booster for me!!!!!  Elder Richens accomplished his goal of gaining more confidence.  We are honestly just trying to do our best!!!!! This week zoomed by and I promise next week I will have a longer letter.  It's just I can't remember all that happened honestly
hahahaha!!!!!!! See you next week love you.  Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Cahoon the Baboon

Challenge Accepted!! 8/17/15

Missionaries in Erie Zone.  Having fun after training!

Hello Cahoon family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 What an exciting time in F-town it is! I heard Cache got his mission call.  That was soooooo cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is going to be a great missionary in Brazil speaking Portuguese. It's hard enough talking about it but in another language I can't even imagine!!!! But the Lord needs him and he will rise to the challenge no doubt in my mind!!!!! It's so nice to hear from you every week mom and I appreciate you keeping me in the loop!  Wow Ty went on a date.   Don't get married Tyler-you can't be like Sampson!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep your hair long.  Don't let Delilah cut it.  That is your source of power!!!!!!!! Hahahaha:-))))) Austin played in the scrimmage?  That's awesome. I'm so proud of him!!!!!!  Keep up the good
work bud.  Do well in school be a student athlete- get big and educated at the same time!!!!!!  You can do it I know you can!!!!!!  Dad's on call? That stinks but you will be blessed Dad I know that!!!!  Mom you are starting school again how fun.  You're actually working!?!;-) jk I know you will work hard and enjoy it at the same time. I still can't pronounce what you do. hahahaha Some things never change I guess!!!! ;-))))) ohhhhh mom before I forget, could you send me my JBL speaker and charger? I got some gospel songs on the mission and in lessons it would be super helpful if it was louder.  If you could send that it would be much appreciated!!!

Sister Duncan and Elder Cahoon.  Sister Duncan
is also from Farmington.  They knew each other
before the mission.  Her sister, Britanny,
is in our ward (Farmington 5th).

This week was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! Words cannot describe the joy and news this week.  So on Wednesday, we travelled to Erie for our Zone training and that was way cool!!!!!! Sister Duncan's in my zone!!!!!!:-DDD That was so neat to see her.  She is a great sister missionary!!!!!!  We focused our training on how the Book of Mormon helps you receive revelation.  There was a lot of conversation.  There are many Elders and Sisters who know me I guess (talks gone around about how pumped I am to serve).  Many people already knew me and I didn't even know who they were!!!! Hahaha After zone training we went to Lake Erie!!!! Yea, how jealous are you mom? hahaha We were on the beach playing ultimate frisbee and me and some other Elders were just straight killing it!!!!!!!!! Don't worry mom I wore my brace and sleeve... for most of it! ;-)

On Thursday we saw Sister "C" who is afraid of water and we felt it was time to invite her to be baptized on October 3rd. Keep in mind she doesn't like to be pushed towards baptism and gets VERY uncomfortable.  We invited her that night and she said I can't give you a YES or NO.  We were bold, not overbearing, and came up with a time to ask her this Sunday for a definite answer. That was a scary lesson indeed. I'll get to her later in the letter so you can wait 'til the end. On Friday, we had a lesson with the "S" family (a part member family) and taught them the second half of the Plan of Salvation.  At the end, we also committed  "F" and "K" to be baptized on September 26th and "M" on December 5th.  We invited them and they each individually said yes!!!!!!!!! So we have 3 on date to be baptized!!!!!!!  How awesome is that??!!!!!!!:-DDDDDDDD I was so excited.  On Saturday, we went to the Palmyra Temple at 4:00 in the morning to do a 7:30 session with Bishop DuPont. wooooohoooooo!!!!!!!!!!! That was such a great experience!!!!!!!!! I even got to confirm all the recent converts and the youth and Elder Tengberg baptized them all.  It was sooooo cool!!!!!!!! Also in the temple there's a window that actually overlooks the Sacred Grove!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was beautiful!!!! Then we actually met the Temple President and his wife! Their names are.... President and Sister Cahoon!!!!!!!!!!!! How crazy is that?  We couldn't take pictures obviously but they were there in the flesh. hahaha!!!!!!!!!!! After that we went to the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah with the Elders from our district.  That was great!!!!!!!!!! At Hill Cumorah I also met a previous Elder who served in the Vancouver Washington Mission!!!!!!!!!! That day just got better and better!!!!!!!:-))))))))))))))) He was in a rush but we talked to him for a little bit. Then comes Sunday.  We had been praying for Sister "C" to receive her answer.  Well she got it... She committed to baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:-)))))))))))))) I was sooooo happy!!!!!!!!!!  She is an incredible person- truly a golden investigator! So now we have 4 with a date for baptism and more to come.  So that was our incredible week; prayers were answered, saints rejoiced and challenges were accepted!!!! A marvelous work is about to come forth!!!!!!!!!!  See ya next week love you all BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:-D

Elder Cahoon the Baboon

Be A Sniper Rifle 8/10/15

Moroni statue at the Hill Cumorah

I got another phone call from Trevor's Bishop this week!  He is so kind.  He told me that he was taking Trevor, E. Tengberg, and some recent converts to the temple this weekend.  They are going to the Palmyra Temple!!  Then they were going to the Hill Cumorah and the Sacred Grove!!  I could hardly get to sleep that night!  In Trevor's mission, the missionaries can only go to the temple if they take recent converts with them.  Trevor visited those places with our family last year but we did not go inside the temple- I am so jealous! haha
Susan


                                                                Hey family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Palmyra Temple- notice the beautiful glass on the doors.

Man your week has been busy and all at the last minute. Now I know that's not how mom works so something's going on!?!?!?😉😉 I am so glad to hear those Sundays are more family centered.  Just remember that if it invites the spirit it's a great activity!!! Austin is playing the piano WOW!! I never would've believed it if anyone else told me. I just hope you're doing it because you want to and not because you're forced to!!! It means so much more when you do something that you want to do.  You just have to find that desire to do it- that's the hard part!😉 lol!!!! Man, Alex is already home.  That's so weird. I felt like he just went out! Which means my mission is gonna fly by!!!!! :(  Nooooooooo I wanna stay out here like Alma and serve for 14 years!!!!!!!!!!! Elder Tengberg always tells me "Elder Cahoon you're never going home!" so that helps me feel better! AUSTIN YOU WENT TO A CHURCH DANCE!?!?!?  Now that I don't believe! How many times did you dance? I bet those dances stink now that I'm not there to show everyone up and impress all the ladies Hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! Austin keep it up in 2 a days.  Mom says you are doing great and you come home and mow the lawn and the Shields' too- that's awesome!

Well Mom wants me to tell you, Austin, how you can better prepare for a mission and how to teach.  Well first off there's a lot that you can't learn until you actually get out into the mission field and explaining that would confuse you terribly. But what you can do is prepare spiritually by reading your scriptures and knowing them!!! That is key because you can't go into a lesson and not share a scripture.  Scriptures are revelations given to man from God and without scriptures we wouldn't know anything!! So study your scriptures and pray!  In the mission there isn't a event that happens without a prayer.  Prayer is how we gain that relationship with Heavenly Father.  There's a quote that Brother Gladden recited a lot.  He said "if you want to talk to Heavenly Father, pray; if you want Him to talk to you, read his word!" (Scriptures).  This is the most important thing you can do to prepare for a mission. This week I've been working really hard on

1st edition copy of the Book of Mormon -
located at the Visitor's Center in Palmyra, New York

incorporating the scriptures in our lessons.  This Wednesday we went on exchanges and I was with Elder Miller and Elder Tengberg was actually with my MTC companion, Elder Richens!!!!!  We are all in the same district!!!!!!!   :) :) Anyways we start going to our lessons in Bradford and I was struggling to find a scripture to use in those lessons.  We went to see our last person for the night (he was a referral and his name was "B"). We met him for the first time, talked and  even had a lesson.  At the end, his fiancé came out and we handed her a Book of Mormon.  She said nope I don't believe in your church. I asked her if she ever was involved with the church; she said no.  Then a scripture I remembered came to my mind (Moroni 10:4) and after I read that and offered them the B.O.M. again, they accepted! So use scriptures!!!!!!!! :) :) :) Hahahaha I'm still working on that.  Using scriptures has been the hardest thing for me being out here on my mission. But if you have faith in Jesus Christ and pray and do what He asks, He will help you and He will bless you!

This week has been a lot of learning (as every week is) but this week I worked on a phrase Elder Tengberg made up for me:  it's SHUT UP and listen!  Now what that means is I'm a talker- I love to talk- but I don't leave enough room for the spirit to talk so I need to always ponder what I'm going to say.  Next, I need to listen to what the Spirit tells me to say and say it because I am the Lord's mouthpiece.  The Spirit teaches 100% of the lesson and I teach none of it! Another
phrase is- be a sniper rifle and not an AK47 when asking questions!  So don't ask questions that are all over the place or ask question after question like an interrogation but be a sniper rifle- low fire rate and precise.  Not very many questions but ones that will pierce their  hearts to their very soul and cause them to think and ponder for themselves.
Because 1 inspired question does so much more than a barrage of questions. I applied both in a lesson (also in Bradford).  We were teaching a less active, "E"- he is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!  He really has a desire to know these things are true! I remember asking him a just a few questions.  He really opened up to us about his life and the things he has done to change them. We then talked about forgiveness and a change of heart and we used the scripture 2 Nephi 2:6-8.  That really touched him and he was willing to forgive himself and that was such a neat experience!

Also President Johnson called me and Elder Tengberg specifically.  This has never happened to Elder Tengberg on the mission before until now but President Johnson called and he said the Bishop just called him and told him what a fantastic job we both were doing.  He said he gets a lot of negative calls from Bishops but he never gets positive ones so he was truly grateful.  He sincerely thanked us for our hard work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) :) :) :) :) That was so Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! Also in District meeting this was a way cool experience- we were talking about our fears.  Most everyone's was talking to people.  Elder Tengberg said, "That's not Elder Cahoon's" and then he shared an experience where he was checking his iPad while we were walking, he looks over and doesn't see me and starts looking around- I was already talking to someone about the gospel!  Every one seemed really impressed. So for a few minutes everyone was asking how I get the courage.  Even a missionary who's been out 19 months said "How do you do that!?!"   So I said, "Look at everyone like they ARE your brothers and sisters and view them as Heavenly Father does- full of love and charity.  Be bold but not overbearing.  So that is what happened this week!!!!!!!!

I love you all BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️


Elder Cahoon the Baboon

Elder Cahoona Matata 8/3/15

Trevor's Bishop has called me and told me what a wonderful missionary Trevor is, how blessed the ward is to have him serving in the Olean Ward, how prepared he is, what a wonderful personality he has, and how he is not afraid to open his mouth and speak.  The Bishop said he could tell Trevor was going to be a wonderful missionary throughout the remainder of his mission!  What a wonderful phone call to get!  The pictures are of Trevor and Bob. 

Elder Cahoona Matata here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tell Austin he is gonna loooooooove two-a-days. jk
They are not that bad. It's just a lot of work but Ausin you're a hard
worker so I believe you really will enjoy it because you rise up to a
challenge. Tyler begins Fall semester; how fun. 

My goodness where to start. Well this week has been both physically fun
and spiritually filling!!!!!! Well that family that the Painters
referred to us to teach last Monday, we met with them last week and are meeting them again today. Last week we were teaching them and one of the investigators (his name is Fred) said, "I want to get baptized." I almost sprang from my seat in joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) That was really amazing. Then all four of them (including Fred) are meeting with Bishop as well. Then
Tuesday we ate dinner at Bishop's and we were able to contact a less active that no one has been able to get ahold of for awhile so I was glad we were able to see her. Then on Wednesday we traveled to Bradford (that's about 30 min. from Olean).  There was a huge parade for the all-star football game and when we passed by, we saw the floats and the
football players. Then we had dinner at Brother Clarks. We had pizza!!!!!!!! Then we taught Sister Clark. We are working with her on getting baptized.  She is the one frightened of water and hasn't been baptized yet. Then on Thursday we had district meeting and we talked about how investigators need to be like the Anti-Nephi-Lehis and lay
down their weapons of rebellion and accept God into their lives. Then we ate at the Jamestown's apartment. The best though was Saturday.  We have this investigator who knows our church has the truth but yet attends the Lutheran church.  It was his birthday and Bob was turning 64 WE LOVE BOB!!!!!!!!! So we took Bob out for his birthday and he chose the restaurant.  Yeah Bob chose a restaurant at a huge Casino.  So basically we went to the great and spacious building!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahahahahaha Anyways we ate at a buffet.  I eat a lot more than Elder Tengberg does.  I was stuffing myself- there we even people at the buffet that were amazed by how much I was eating!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahahahahahaha I told Elder Tengberg and Bob they've never seen a Cahoon's appetite before and trust
me it's a lot.  I probably had 5 or 6 platefuls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to town! hahahaha I also did what the scriptures said not to do in 2 Nephi Chapter 28:7-8: I ate, drank and was
merry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) hahahahahahaha Bob was so happy and was so glad we took him out. I was more than happy to though!!!!!!!!  Okay that's enough of the temporal now for the spiritual....

This week was a lot of fun but we are working really hard! A typical Sunday church attendance is 70-80 people. We have had successful visits with many new investigators and less-actives.  Yesterday, we had a total of 96 people at church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) How amazing is that?????!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost everyone we committed to come to church

came!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was a great experience and miracle!  That was the highest attendance at the Olean Ward EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH
BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️


Elder Cahoon the Baboon