10/24/2020 1 Month as a missionary

This month has flown by! It's crazy to think that even through everything I've had to endure that I am still here and still a missionary. Here is a journal entry I've been keeping on my laptop...

Monday October 21st

"I made a schedule for each day of the week for my seminary services so that my days aren't so slow. And it has helped me feel better about my service opportunity and has uplifted the experiences I have had this week. I hopped in 3 different classes this week and have had the pleasure of baring my testimony in each class. I love that the teachers here at the seminary let me participate in class, because I too am still learning truths I didn’t know before or maybe didn’t have an understanding of. And that has helped me become more aware of what I can do to better prepare myself for those future opportunities to be more confident in my knowledge of the gospel."

I also had an experience on Tuesday to go out of my comfort zone and reach out to a student who was sitting on the steps leading to the seminary building. I saw he was alone, and paused for a little bit and was just going to just keep walking to my car. When I had the impression to walk over and see if he needed any help. Eventually I found myself kinda just hovering next to him. He looked up at me and said, “sup man?” and my response was, “oh hi… are you ok?" He said he was "fine," but I could tell something was bothering him. So I gave him a pass along card with my mission scripture on it. (Mosiah 23:10) and I just said, "I hope you have a great afternoon today." Then he smiled and took the card. I have realized that just by doing something small can have a huge impact on someone.

Tuesday and Wednesday started out pretty rough for me, because of the disabilities I have, it's a struggle to get out of bed and want to serve some days, but I can also choose between a good attitude or I can decide to be in a gloomy, depressed mood for the day. I also haven't been sleeping very well, which has been a problem for my mood.

Thursday was and in between day, I woke up and was really tired for the whole morning. i ended up falling asleep in my office chair for about 45 minutes, but when i woke up i was totally fine, and ready to go back to serving and not sleeping. haha

The DI was a struggle to go to on Friday, I was feeling very overwhelmed because the elder I've been serving with at the DI is now home from his mission. Friday was his last day. Anyway I asked La Rae who is in charge of our area and she has helped me so much! She is also in my ward and is a very kind, and loving person! I am so glad to have someone I can talk and ask questions to who will understand and help me.

I have also been playing lots of pickleball, basketball, and golf because my dad got me my own custom and fitted golf clubs!! so I'm super excited about that. I hope you all have a great week, and stay safe!

-Elder Hayden Munk

Mission Pictures

 

Don't ever doubt yourself, instead rely on the Lord and He help get you through hard times 10/17/2020

Monday, I went to seminary, but nothing to report about. After I got home from seminary my uncle texted me to see if I wanted to play pickleball on his court in his backyard. so we went there, but it was a little too late in the day because at the end of playing we all could barely see the ball even with the court lights on. haha good times.

Tuesday, was the same kind of a deal. I went to seminary, played pickleball after and had fun with my family. 

Then came Tuesday night I only got 4 hours of sleep that night and I was late to seminary because I slept past my alarm because I was sooo tired after only getting to sleep for the last 4 hours of the night. And that threw my whole schedule off course, I had a rough morning, I was anxious, overwhelmed, and felt rushed. I ended up rearranging my office a little which gave me a new set up and took my mind off of the bad stuff to focus on the NOW and not the PAST or FUTURE. I was just in my office reorganizing. :)

Wednesday, I actually had to take the day off from my services because I was so tired, I slept in until like 11am, I didn't feel well at all. I got some chores done around the house when I was able to, I listened to my scriptures on my phone while I was doing my chores, so that was a good thing. I studied my missionary handbook, as well as writing in my journal. Also I got the opportunity to help at the bountiful temple grounds ripping out the old flowers in the atrium. We did this as a mission and afterwards we went to a little spot of grass and had donuts and milk, and elder fletcher bore his testimony to all of us, this will be his last month as a missionary. I am so happy for him!

Thursday was a hard day for me too. There was no school which means no seminary, because there are no students and I didn't have much to do. so again, my schedule was thrown off by that.

Friday, I was at the DI, but I was feeling really anxious and kind of "down." I wasn't sure I could make it for my whole service and I was doubting I could even make it to lunch without giving up and asking to leave. So I texted my mom to ask her for some help. she texted me and asked, "have you said a prayer?" then it hit me, i can always turn to the lord for help and answers. and i can do all things through Him. so i said a prayer and asked for the strength and capability to make it to 2:30pm. 

On my lunch break, I went to my aunt's house and had a sandwich, and that little bit of a break helped me a lot. I was with family and my younger cousins, which is always fun! Then the thought came back to my mind,  I really don't think I can make it back after lunch, I don't know if I can keep serving without having a meltdown in the middle of it. so I said a prayer for comfort and the spirit to be with me as I served the lord and the wonderful people at the DI. and I actually made it through all of my service hours I had committed to. I also went to the park with my cousins and had a ton of fun there. I did some parkour and backflips on the playground. haha soooo much fun!

I know that the power of prayer is real. and that it takes faith to have that prayer answered. I know that this is the right thing for me and I love serving the lord as well as the others around me. I know that if you turn to the Lord and pour out your heart to Him that he will help you with any trials, temptations, questions, anything at all. and it will be answered according to your faith, meaning you should not just pray and then sit and wait for something to happen, you must go throughout your day with faith that the prayer will be answered. Thank you to everyone who has been there for me! Thank you! I know this to be true in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Week 2 and some pictures 10/11/2020

Hello everyone, I hope you have all had a great week! This week was a really good week for me! I have learned a lot by studying my scriptures and listening to the recent general conference talks again. I have also had such a great 2 weeks so far!!

Monday morning was a little bit of an "off morning." i went to bed around 9:45pm and couldn't sleep very well, i only got around 4 hours of sleep. i had woken up about 6 times throughout the night and each time it was harder to fall back asleep. Anyway, that made me like 15-20 minutes late to the seminary building. I was really upset with myself because I couldn't fall asleep and didn't wake up on time. Knowing that I was going to be late and that I was really frustrated with myself. I then remembered in a meeting I had with my mission leaders Elder and Sister Terry on Sunday in between the morning and afternoon sessions of general conference, we talked about being resilient, and being able to bounce back in a positive way to the negative things we might say about ourselves, as well as coping with change and ways to help deal with stress as a missionary. I thought about that meeting when I was in my office that morning and just said a prayer to help me to think of more positive things I can do instead of focusing on the negatives.

Tuesday was a really slow day for me, I had lots of free time to study the scriptures and listen to conference talks. I also had some hymns playing from my laptop in the background while I was studying so that I could feel the spirit more during my studies. I also have been handing out pass along cards with little notes/scriptures I feel that they might need.

Wednesday was another really slow day at the seminary building, not much extra stuff I needed to do other than the basics. During my exercise for the day, I went to play pickleball with my dad, but I had left to go play around 2:30pm and he was gonna meet me at the park at 3:30pm. Because I like to play basketball for at least an hour before or after we play pickleball. and then 2 guys were going to play pickleball, and i usually see them there, but the rest of their group didn't show up, so i asked if they wanted to play 2 vs 1 and they agreed to both play against me. out of the 5 games to 11 we played, I won 2 games. Then when my dad got to the park we played 3 games of doubles and that was really fun!

Thursday when I woke up, I was not feeling well at all. i felt like my body was just hit by a car or something. So I called in sick for seminary, and I honestly didn't think I was going to get any better unless I just rested for the day. anyway when woke up to get ready for the day, it was 10:45am and went downstairs to take my meds and some advil and when I got to the bottom of the stairs i just had this feeling of determination that i had a service to provide and I do not want to miss the rest of the day.  So I took my meds and Advil, got dressed for the day, and headed up to the seminary building around lunch time. 

After lunch I was walking back to my little office when one of the seminary teachers came out of his classroom to ask if he had introduced me to the class he was teaching and I said, "I don't know, probably." and he was like , "no, i'm going to have you tell the class about what you do here as a missionary." I was surprised to find out I had not been introduced to this class, I then continued to explain what I do at the seminary building and when I finished... Brother Mason, the seminary teacher, asked me to bare

my testimony to the class. So I did. I could feel the spirit so strongly as I testified of what I know to be true and what I believe is true when I finished baring my testimony I felt really good! And I am so glad that Brother Mason had invited me to share what I know with the class.

Friday was a really good day at the DI, I got up, got dressed, said my prayers and left at 7:30am. When I got to the DI, I went to my station (electronics) and started to work, pricing things and stocking shelves before the store opens to customers. Then after about 1 hour I noticed I was caught up with all of the electronics that came in from the 3 day quarantined items. I had no idea what to do on my own at that point, I usually had another service missionary there to help me, but he didn't show up that day. So I started to become very anxious and I texted my mom for help on what to do. she said to go ask a manager what i do now. When I was walking back to my station from the break room I was saying a silent prayer that the one other person in electronics would be there... not only was he there he also was talking to our boss/manager over our area. and after a second glance I remembered that she is our ward and that I could ask questions to her without being nervous or anxious. That was a blessing for me.

Today I went and played some flag football with my uncle and some of his buddies. That was super fun for me to get my cleats, gloves, and juke moves out again! haha!!! After that I went straight to helping my dad with a sprinkler repair, so I put my mission badge on and was ready to serve. I was helping my dad get some shovels and pipe and a couple smaller tools, when an elderly lady was walking down the road. I was inspired to wave and smile. and when i did she took out her earbuds rushed towards me and exclaimed, "You're a missionary!" i said, yes i am a service missionary, im helping my dad repair some sprinkler heads for his friend.'' She then proceeded to tell me how grateful she was for the missionaries of the church, and how I was doing a great job with my services. 

my after service activities have been doing chores, exercising, prayer and scripture study... as well as watching the tv show Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is my favorite tv show ever! 

picture 1: Me in my office at the seminary building

picture 2: My dog Champ and I on the back patio in a hammock

picture 3: my hands after a sprinkler repair

picture 4: My official mission badge  

10/4/2020 Week 1 and General Conference

Hello everyone! This week was a really good week for me. First I got some pass along cards from my mom for my services at the BHS seminary building and I wrote little notes like, "have a great day today," on the back of the cards. and then I said a prayer to help me be inspired to know what students would need the messages. From Monday to Thursday I handed out 8 cards, which was more than I thought because I'm not a very social person especially when I'm approaching someone who I don't know. Anyway, when I handed the cards out to the 8 students, I felt so outgoing and comfortable to talk to them. I know that the spirit was helping me when I handed the pass along cards.

On Tuesday, I got an official name plate for my office at the seminary. it says Elder Munk and it's super cool that the seminary teachers do that kind of stuff for me, it makes me even more happy to be there each day.

On Wednesday it was a very slow day and I had already sanitized the bathrooms and exterior doors, propped the doors open so the students dotn have to touch them, and I had cleaned all the desks for the teachers who were about to teach 1st period. and so when i was finished with those things i went into my office and decided i would set a timer on my phone to listen to the book of morkmon starting in 1 nephi. I set my timer for every 30 minutes. I would listen up to 3 chapters, do my other cleaning services, then go back and listen to another 3 chapters.

Thursday was really fun, I hopped in a classroom to participate in every period of the day for a different teacher every time. And that was really fun! I love to do that because it reminds me of when I was in high school and when I didn't understand a lot of what was being taught, so I try to help the younger students by answering questions in a way that I would have understood it.

I loved the first talk by M. Russell Ballard, he talked about praying always and keeping a prayer in your hearts and to pray for your enemies even when it feels hard to do that. I know that prayer is a way to communicate to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that they love and know each and every one of us individually. i hope you all have a great day and week! :)

- Elder Munk