Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Elder May - May Email



In reading Elder May’s May Report, I was instantly tired.  LOL – it really was a jam-packed month full of wonderful experiences.  We are truly blessed to have Elder May serving as a full-time missionary and we are grateful for the example he is to our family as well as those around him.  We love him and we are oh, so proud of him!

Hi everyone! This was a super happy month with a ton of events going on. First off, my brother came home from his mission, Dayton and I were able to go to the temple with my parents and my brother, we had our mission conference, I got to see one of my best friends get married and sealed to his new wife, do baptisms with my aunt and cousin, go to Elder Ferrell’s homecoming talk, go to a new leadership council at the Pugmire’s, and become an uncle as my first nephew had been born. 

My brother, Hayden, came home from the Tampa Florida Mission on May 2, after serving an honorable 24 months of a full-time proselyting mission. We were able to see and pick him up from the airport. He’s my best friend and he’s part of my family so I have him for eternal life. When he came home, he told me that he was excited to see Save the Family and go to the temple with Dayton and I and see all of the things that I’ve been doing. 

Only 2 days after, Hayden wanted to go to the temple with Dayton and I and my parents. It was such a great session. My parents were asked to be the witness couple so Dayton, Hayden and I sat together with my mom and dad an aisle in front of us. It was so much fun and Dayton was so happy. Him and I have been able to actually work together too. There are times when the men sit and shut their eyes in the session and I can look at Dayton and say “Go to Sleep” and he will blink and then point his head down and just sit motionless while him and I shut our eyes and then when it’s over, he will go back to being active and happy. Him and I do all of the different things together, it keeps him calm and he’s then more included in the sessions. When we got to the celestial room, I gave Dayton to my brother Hayden and a stake president walked up to me and asked me about Dayton and how things work between the two of us. I told him that he does way more than anything I could ever do. 

Less than a week later on May 7, I got this note about it from Sister Hayward:
“Hi, Elder May. I know you are enjoying your brother. You must be so happy to have him home! My best friend is Melissa Eaves. She was my best friend in high school and has continued to be so. She lives in Queen Creek. She sent me this text yesterday morning after she went to her stake meeting. She is the stake really society president over there. But I wanted to share with you. I love you for what you do. Thank you. 

Sis Eaves’ text to Sis. Hayward read:  President Becker, the first counselor in our stake presidency, shared the opening spiritual thought at our meeting this morning.  He was in the temple on Friday and ended up in a session with Elder Hayward and his companions.  President Becker was so touched throughout the entire session as he observed the careful and loving service provided to Dayton by his companion. He then watched in the celestial room the companion rolled Dayton in his wheelchair to face him in another chair.  President Becker said the companion took Dayton by both hands and looked him right in the eyes.  He said he could see him quietly talking with him.  President Becker was moved to tears.  Finally, he approached the companion and Dayton and said hello.  He asked the companion to share with him how this act of ministering/servicing has blessed both him and Dayton.  The companion got a huge smile on his face and declared that he had learned to communicate with Dayton.  He said, most would say that Dayton does not communicate, but he does!  I have learned so much from Dayton, he is my friend that alone has changed my life.  The companion felt that he was served much more by Dayton than he had ever served Dayton.  You can imagine me through this whole story.😭😭😭 Powerful!!!  How many more unheard stories are there like this?  Sherene, your efforts to assist Dayton in his missionary service are great!  You are being blessed and Dayton is not only enlarging his capacities through his service, but enlarging others as well.💗💗💗 Please share this with him and tell him to keep up the great work. Love you forever!!!!!😘

After reading this, I was so moved and I was able to feel the spirit, and I could feel Dayton from so far away. His family is the coolest. He is the oldest of six kids and all of them just absolutely love him. His mom gets him all dressed for his mission and takes full care of him and all of his needs while also taking care of his 4 other sisters and 1 brother. His dad, as soon as he is done with work, immediately comes home and takes care of Dayton so that she can help the other kids and they are just the best team with their 6 kids and their outlook on life is just the best. All of the kids just talk to him and hug him and always try to keep him close in their lives. They invite him to all of their events and they always make sure to bring cotton candy to him! I’m so glad that I have gotten to know each and every one of them and how excited they are when they see me. The best feeling is when Sister Hayward tells me that the youngest one, Talya, asks her mom when Elder May is going to come over again. 

I invited my parents and my brother, Hayden, to our mission conference on May 5. They absolutely loved going and they’ve told me that they want to go more of them. We were able to listen to Elder Haws’s testimony as he was able to remind me how awesome a service mission really is and the life skills that you can learn from a service mission. Elder Haws is pretty great too. He was kind of like my trainer when I first started. He wasn’t in my zone nor was he my companion. We knew each other as he trained me on how to help Dayton. He is so selfless and kind and he’s just hilarious and non-judgmental of anyone. He is a true missionary of God and a true celestial spirit. He taught me so much about how much of an impact there is that can come from a service mission. I will be forever grateful for him and his service to me. 

I was able to sit in the sealing room as I watched my friend for over 10 years, Connor Young, get married and sealed to his wife, now Michaela Young. She is kind and hilarious, and is a perfect match for him. I was able to watch and listen to the sealing room coordinator as he spoke to them about so many different things about the gospel that I had never even thought of. That’s what so awesome about the gospel. Right when you think that you know everything, you listen to someone else and their perspective, and your mind gets opened so much more about the gospel and how true it really is. Even the littlest of pieces have the biggest impact sometimes. 

On the same day, Hayden and I were also able to perform baptisms for the dead with my aunt and my cousin, Chloe. Baptisms for the dead is an ordinance that takes place in the temple, where people can go and be baptized and confirmed again, except this time it’s for those that have died without receiving those ordinances so that if they want to accept the gospel, they have that option because we did their baptism on earth for them. It was interesting because Hayden baptized me first and then they had us switch and I baptized him for his names too. Then, when Hayden was done, I was about to follow but they asked me if I could stay and baptized a few more people. This was only my second time ever baptizing someone else so I was a little nervous just baptizing other people but they were very nice and if I messed up, they were happy to do it again until I got it right. 

Also, a crazy coincidence! Right before Hayden and I began with Chloe, we saw Dayton’s sister, Kresenya performing baptisms before us. I was 95% sure it was her but when they called her “Sister Hayward,” I just knew it. She was just there with a group of friends but it was so awesome to see the Hayward’s in any section of the temple, whenever I go there. 

Elder Ferrell got released on April 15. His mission homecoming talk wasn’t until May 13.  I was grateful I was able to attend. Not only was he giving his homecoming talk, but his younger sister, Alyssa, was giving her farewell talk as she was going to her mission at the Ecuador Guayaquil Mission. Not only that, but his youngest sister, Makenna, was the youth speaker and his youngest brother, Johnathon, was passing the sacrament. It was a whole Ferrell occasion! Elder Ferrell had his own pew set up, then they realized that his microphone wasn’t working, so Alyssa being selfless for her brother, set up a music stand for her elbow and she held a wired microphone up in the air for Elder Ferrell to speak. She sat there and had the microphone in her hand for about 20 minutes. She never complained and she never moved and just let Taylor speak the whole time, without interruption. What an example of Christ! Not only did she help by holding the microphone, but she also did it without complaint and just let Taylor speak about his mission and not brag about her service later. I think that is a problem that we all often have. I think we start the service with a good intention, but as we go and perform the service, we seem to complain about how hard the service is. Then, after we are done, it seems like we go and brag about the awesome service that we did. It was so awesome to see her doing this and doing none of those things as someone who truly loves, unconditionally. 

This was my favorite leadership council so far. It was the first one that was only like a month or less before the previous council. This one was my favorite because instead of listening to everyone giving lessons, this was an actual discussion where everyone could talk about what was going good and what was going bad for their districts and zones and the weaknesses of some districts were the strengths of other districts. Being able to collaborate like that and being able to leave, full of energy and ready to start again with my district with completely new ideas was so awesome. Plus, it was casual dress which was almost the best part of the whole thing!

Finally, my nephew was born. His name is Jaxson Hunter May. He was born on May 24, at 8:23pm. He was 20 inches tall and was 8 lbs and 9 1/2 oz. He is absolutely perfect. I knew that I was so excited to be an uncle but I was not prepared for the amount of love that I have for him. Every time he is here, and I get to hold him, it’s almost like time just stops. He will begin to cry and as I talk to him, it’s almost like he can listen and he starts to just settle down and be still as he hears my voice. It’s so wonderful to be an uncle. I’m so grateful for Jaxson and everyone that prayed for him to get here. All of the work for him was definitely worth it as he is just perfect. 

This was a fun month for sure. There were a lot of events to go over and I’m so grateful for everything that I was able to be a part of and enjoy. I love my family and I love Dayton and the Hayward’s. I love all of my friends from my mission. Elder Taylor Ferrell, Elder Brett Zollinger, Elder Michael Tassainer, Elder Wesley Atkin, Elder Larence Lott, Elder Mike Hepfinger, Elder Andrew Haws, Elder Dayton Hayward. They have all been so kind and helpful to me. They have each helped me grow and gain a little piece of each of them to help me be who I am today. I love my mission at Save the Family and the staff that have been able to teach me so much, especially teamwork and gratitude. Yes, one person can get a lot of work done, but when a team of people come together for a common goal, the work that can be done is increased exponentially. I am so grateful that my mission was extended to August 22, otherwise it would be over right now. I’m so excited for June and what the Lord has in store for me.

All my love – Elder May