WONDERful week for the missionaries October 13, 2014

From Arkansas:

Finding is just finding. Nothing comes of it, but it's what we got to do. We talk to everyone and none are interested. Just planting the seeds. K is fine. He hasn't texted us back yet. Don't really know what is going on. You can pray for G. She is 59 years old and has ALS, or in other terms, Lou Gherig's disease (don't know how to spell it). She has had it for 12 years. She can't use her arms at all and the muscles in her face are shutting down, so she struggles talking, too. She can still walk. Her husband left her because she was "too much" and her kids are getting paid to help her, because they don't want a mom like that. It's really sad. We go and read the Book of Mormon with her for an hour or so. We are teaching her through the Book of Mormon. Every time we have to leave, she tells us to pray fast and go so she can keep reading. How sweet is that? She's pretty awesome. Funny story: We were with the Smiths and we were driving home from the church from General Conference. Elder Smith wasn't feeling very good and I wasn't super paying attention, but he changed lanes and I thought we were going to die. My life flashed before my eyes and I was like: "Aww, well I be darned. I better get on that repentance train quick, or else people will have to do all my temple work for me again." Which I know they won't, but it was definitely a wake up call for me.

We watched "Meet the Mormons". Have you seen it yet? It's pretty good. The beginning is funny. I liked the missionary mom. What got me was when she was telling her story "Just hold on. You're almost there. Just hold on". You'll understand when you see it. Bring tissues. You will probably cry.  Saturday, we read with G, and she's loving it. When we read with her last, we left her on 1 Nephi 4. When we got there, she was on 1 Nephi 11. Sweet, right? She is loving it a lot. She said there are pretty amazing stories in it and that she felt good when she read it. :) 

I've been studying in the bible about Samuel, King Saul, and David. I finished 1 Samuel today. It is so crazy how King Saul tried to kill David so many times, even after David said he wouldn't kill Saul. I also loved how Jonathan comforted David all the time. He kept him safe and loved him like a brother. He supported him. In the last two chapters of 1 Samuel, some crazy stuff happens. Saul and his three sons are killed and stuff, and David kills a whole nation in day, but I did find a verse interesting. In 1 Samuel 30:6, all the people are mourning because the city was taken captive. Even Davids two wives were taken. But the people wanted to kill David because he was being hopeful. He was being hopeful in the Lord because he knew the Lord would help him. I just thought it was crazy how quick people want to tear others down. That's what I learned this week. That's all I got. I love you so much and can't wait for next week! :)

From Florida:
Thanks for the email! The work is going along great. We picked up a few new people this week, we started working with D, T, and T. D has been taught by missionaries in New York for two years and never even went to church, we met her at a McDonald's and we taught her our purpose, we said that we want to be her friends and help her, but that we are only a part of the church and that the church and gospel offers many more blessings that the church does not provide. She got it and I feel good about teaching her, she understands now that our purpose is not to be "best buds" but to help her be baptized. T is a single mother that we ran into, her son is friends with a lot of the young women in our Ward and they sent us to see him, but we met his mom. Apparently missionaries that go to McDonalds a lot have been talking to her about the church for months and she has never taken any discussions. She welcomed us right in and we started teaching her. McDonald's is famous for the Golden Arches, but I guess now it will be for golden investigators! T is a referral from members in another Ward, she works at Denny's and some members had her for a waitress and they had a good experience with her
and invited her to meet with us. She was very excited to meet with us when we came over, we are going to see her again this afternoon. She works Sunday's which could end up being a problem, but she is awesome!
    Elder P and I are still getting along great and I love the area. I absolutely love the area and Elder P, we are getting along great and are seeing success. We do our best to follow impressions and are seeing miracles.
     I read a talk this morning that I think will help you with your problem! It is by President Monson in the October 2012 conference called "Consider the Blessings". Get out of your comfort zone too, outside of your comfort zone is the miracle zone!
    I read a conference talk everyday as well as my scriptures, I also read a really good message about Gods timing that helped me with the concerns I have about the future. It's by Elder Dallin H Oaks called
"Timing". It's in the October 2003 Liahona.

From Georgia:

No we did not eat the snake we looked for it but we could not find it.

Something I have noticed about my dyslexia is that if I am reading the scriptures it really isn't as hard to read. I see that as a true blessing. But if I read something that is not the scriptures it is much much harder than you would think. I had to read in Elders quorum and I couldn't really get a single word right. I tried for a couple of seconds and kept getting corrected so I just said, "pass" and didn't talk the rest of the meeting. 

I actually do have some people you could pray for. 

1. F. He is a cop down here and as we were contacting he saw us and called us over. "O thank goodness your here I have been praying for y'all to come, What one of you has a sandwich for me?" He is such a funny guy. As we got talking he actually did know that it was not just an accident that we met him and that he would really like to talk with us again. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would like to call us this week.

2. T and her family. We walked into her that same night as F. She is a 17 year old and she let us in to talk. We told her about the Book of Mormon and she said she would read it. We also told her about the anti's and that there is a lot out there. She asked us what she will hear from all the anti's and we told her that a lot of people say we have many wives. She then looked over at her dad who wasn't part of the lesson and asked if that was true. He said yes that people believe that about "US". I paused for a second because he said US. He is actually a member of the church. He hasn't been back for many many years and he never asked for his records to be moved. WOW

3. L and N. We ran into them the next night. We had a very good lesson with them and they said that they know that something has been missing from their life and this may be it. 

I had an amazing experience with giving C a blessing. He is a less active member. He has had a lot of health problems and a bunch of depression and guilt. So he asked me if I would give him a blessing. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life. My whole body felt like it was on fire and I felt like lava was being pored through my veins. It didn't hurt though it felt amazing. WOW. I want to have that feeling again so badly. Maybe I will have that spiritual witness again some day.

WONDER how #3 survived September

R is the same one reference in #2's letters. What are the chances of two brothers meeting the same man while serving their missions in 2 different states?

This week was a good week 

Well we have been teaching R and it seemed that he was really liking it but yesterday he told us that he felt that Mormonism isn't for him. But the funny thing is is that I don't feel that bad about it. We asked if we could meet with him one more time just to try and clear things up and he said yes. I don't understand how he can feel its not for him if he hasn't even tried it. He said that it would be okay for you to send him your testimony.

I hope that next week i will be able to get him back. Please pray for him to feel the spirit and that I will know what to say. 

Well here is the scary part of my letter this week with tender mercy's. I had the possibility of dying 3 times this week but came out alive. The first story is that me and Elder S went to bed that night. When we got out of bed the next morning we went out into the hall and it smelt like smoke. We didn't think much of it because we have some drug users upstairs so we went to the Sisters to get our stuff out of their car. Much to our surprise when we were talking to the Sisters they asked us what we thought about the three fire trucks that were outside that night. Down at the other end of our building a fire had started. Luckily there was a water line in the wall that broke and put out the fire. Elder S and I being as tired as we were had slept through the whole thing. The next thing was when we where at the G's helping them with their house. Brother and Sister G were outside with us just talking when a lightning storm started. Me and Elder S thought it was the coolest because it just kept going and going. Then lightning struck at the other side of the yard and shook the whole house. That was way cool too. I was leaning against the metal trailer at the time. And then last night it rained so hard that we got a flood warning. That was cool. We went out and watched the rain. This is just part of all the crazy stuff that happens in our mission. we will try and be safe but we are boys.

       It is going so good here in Georgia. It is supposed to be getting colder but for now its still 10000. That's so cool that you sent a letter to R. he is actually having a lot of struggles and he said that he thinks the church isn't for him. I don't feel sad though. He said he would like to meet with us one more time so that we can clear things up with him. Please pray for that talk.

        The Sisters are Sister T and Sister M. They are actually next door neighbors from Utah. Sister T is actually dying this transfer here. (That means she is going home) They live in the apartment right across the street from us so we see them probably every other day. We use their car to go give blessings and to go get food. They also take our suits to church for us so that we don't have to bike in our suits.

     Thank you for the scriptures you are sending. they make me very happy each time you send them. I love the scriptures very much. I am actually trying to read the bible right now. I made a bet with a man in a chess game that I would read the bible if I lost so I am getting a head start just in case.

     I will try and be safe but I am my fathers son.

Thank you for your email this week and the insight you got from the story of the tree of life. At the moment I am reading the New Testament so that I know what's up with all the crazy people here.

This week has been a really good week. Our numbers always seem really low when we send them in but our spirits are really high. The reasons for our numbers being low is because of all the service we do. It has been a true answer to our prayers. We have had a hard time with members wanting to help us so we prayed that we would find opportunities to help them except us. OUR WEEKS ARE FULL. The ward has dumped so much stuff on us that we are doing service all the time. It is crazy how much we have helped the ward and stuff like that. Maybe we should of asked in our prayers that the ward would just like us instead of having to do all this work. haha

My chess match went very good. I won against JL and so he now has to read D&C. The reason we had him read D&C is because he thinks that the true church was destroyed when the government said no polygamy. He thinks the government is now running the church and that the real church ran up to Canada where polygamy is allowed. Weirdo. So hopefully by having him read the D&C he will realize the truth. Next chess game I will tell him that he has to be baptized. NOT REALLY 

We haven't been able to meet with R in about a month. I worry about him a lot and I hope that we can meet with him soon. I had an amazing experience teaching an atheist yesterday. He is a professor in English at a college down here. He also has been all over the world studying religion and has tried out many different kinds of religion. The reason he can't believe any of them, or the reason he thinks the bible can't be true is because it has been translated so many times. That was when I got the smart idea to ask him if he has also read the Book of Mormon. He told us no because he thought it had also been translated many times the wrong way. I then told him that it is a direct translation from a set of plates and that it was the most correct book. He said if we gave him the book he will read it. YA!

Well it has been a really good week this week and I am loving my mission down here in Georgia. I am working hard and feeling the love of the ward a lot more than when I first got here.

Well I would like to say things are going real good down here in the south. But sad to say it has been really hard. R won't meet with us. 

Alright so the hard parts of this week. first of all we had a stressful week with ______

Next I would like to be mad at M, a recent convert. The thing that makes me mad about her is she calls us everyday asking if we can come over and help her but we can't do that. We are busy doing the Lord's work. We can come over every once in a while but for now she says she needs us. 

Next R won't meet with us. Why would God put me here if I can't meet with R who loved #2 (my brother) to death??

And last we have the saddest part of my mission. We were tracting and a lady stopped us to talk with her. we started talking with her and she just wanted to prove we were wrong. We tried everything we could to try and help her see but she wouldn't. What made it so sad for me was that she was my sister, my Heavenly sister and she knew what I was saying was true but she still said no. As we spoke to her we would have people honk at us as they drove by. Kids coming home from school would stop and try and prove us wrong. People would stop their cars asking if the girl was okay talking with us. People would yell at us from their cars saying we only want people to come to our church but we won't go to their church. At that moment I felt all alone in the world and I knew that Elder S felt the same. I could feel the devil laughing at us and speaking in my mind... "you lose she is mine. I won I won hahaha." At that moment that I felt at my lowest point;  knowing there was nothing I could do or say all I could do was take it. I was filled with the power of God and I testified with all my heart that I knew the Book of Mormon was true. She still did not budge but I knew she knew that she was wrong.

Because of this week and that experience I am waging an all out war against Satan. He may have won the battle but the war is not over. I will be on the Lords side and he is with me and if I have to be alone to be on His side in this world, so be it.

I  know this church is true and that Jesus Christ lives. I know the Book of Mormon is  true and I know God loves us all. I know that Satan is a real being and I know that he will lose.

THIS IS A LETTER I RECEIVED REGARDING #3

My name is M G from Albany, GA. I am writing to let you know that our family is grateful to you for sharing your son with us. We as a family are inspired by his willingness to serve and spiritual strength that he possess. I as a mother know that those characteristics are developed by a loving role model. He is an awesome individual and missionary.

My husband has enjoyed working with him and has said many times that #3 and his companion are what our ward needs to bring back the member / missionary relationship. We believe that it takes special missionaries to do that here in Albany and your son is one of those.

He has a strong testimony and loves The Lord. He is such a special blessing to our family.

We know he is a greenie but we are impressed with his confidence and strength behind the gospel message that he shares. He definitely carries himself in a manner that would make is parents proud.

Thank you for raising a young man who does what is right and is just before The Lord.

WONDER how #2 survived September

Playing catch up.

     I have had experiences on my mission where we were able to discern someone's need and teach to it. People don't usually tell you what is going on, they might give you little things, but that's just the tip of the iceberg and their real major concerns are still concealed. I had a lesson with T like that. We had to ask inspired questions and pay attention to the promptings of the spirit, and we also left plenty of silence in between statements and questions to allow the spirit to speak. She was concerned about not being able to give her whole self to the gospel and she didn't tell us that concern after we had already taught about it. The spirit was prompting us through that lesson.

     Stuff like that happens fairly often. There was a recent convert that I had a hunch he was smoking, and I ended up being right and we had a great heart to heart with him.

    Everyone has a dog out here, especially in Belleview, everyone with have 3 or 4 big dogs up there! It was really annoying when we were knocking doors because then all 4 dogs would rush the door and jump on it and try to break it down to get to us, and the owner would just shout "I can't get to the door" and we'd move on to the next house. It was obnoxious, I have realized that I don't like most big dogs, at least the ones out here because they aren't trained well. I don't mind if Buddy (our family shitzu) jumps up on my leg or on my lap, but big dogs out here do that and they HURT! 

     I can't believe how old the kids are getting! I'm not going to recognize them when I get home and they will all be so OLD. Bleck! The kids are already starting school again too, time goes by fast! At the end of this school year is when I get home I've realized, that makes it seem like I don't have long left! Just one school year doesn't seem long at all! Looking back on school it seems like each year just flew by. It would be cool if they got some of the teachers I've had, hopefully I left a good reputation, I was a punk in school, but most teachers seemed to like me because of it. I've thought a bit about being a teacher, I think I could be a good teacher, the only problem is that I don't want to be one. at least not right now. I still have no clue what I want to do with my life after my mission and that makes me anxious sometimes, my future after my mission is in the unknown zone, which is kinda scary.

    That is soooo cool that #3 is teaching R!!!! He has been a friend of mine for the last 7 months or so! He was a librarian at the library we go to everyday and we helped with a few service projects at the library, ran the library 5k, etc. We helped another librarian move to Atlanta Georgia, and then a couple months later, R asked us if we could help him move to Albany! We helped him move everything out, he had another guy there, but he just sat around most of the time, so he really appreciated our help, we helped him for about 7 hours. Before he left I gave him one of the book of Mormons you guys sent me about a year ago with my testimony in it. Also we gave him a restoration pamphlet and encouraged him to investigate the church. We also set up missionaries to help him move in and from what I have heard they rolled out the red carpet for him! I'm so excited that #3 will be teaching him, I told Rabout him and that he might meet him. Small world!!!!

    T is taking a break because her sister from new York is in town, hopefully we will continue working with her this weekend. She has concerns with the word of wisdom as well which I think she is apprehensive about. We will keep working with her.

    I'm doing well!  I'm stressed about the future like I mentioned before, but I'm ok, let me know if you have any ideas that could help. I love you tons and tons and hope to hear from you again soon!

     This week was a really good week, Elder D and I have finally gotten in a groove together and have some good unity, we are friends and we are enjoying the work we have to do each day. I've been sick with the summer cold that has been going around, I got  a blessing and they blessed me that I would be well and be able to perform all the things I needed to do. I was dying after that still, being sick is not fun, but we were still able to get work done that we needed to, I took a couple hour nap on Saturday, but that was it.

     We haven't been able to see T, but we have been in touch. Her family found out she was interested in the church and told her that they don't want her to join and told her a bunch of anti information. She still answers our texts sometimes and I think she is still reading and praying, I hope we can meet with her soon and help her. She has not shut the door yet, but there is a big obstacle she has to get over now. We pray for her and do as much as we can, so all we can do is just hope for the best!

     This week has been a really fun week, Elder D and I decided to get creative this week finding new investigators because I don't want to tract and tracting isn't usually very effective. We went to the gas station by our house, locked up our bikes and then we walked around the station while people were filling up and we had the window washing things in our hands and asked people if we could wash their windows! It actually worked really well! Peoples guards aren't up as much at the gas station and almost half the people let us wash their windows, and at some point they would ask why we were washing peoples windows for free and that's when we would introduce them to the gospel. We contacted 30 people in less than an hour! We would have done more but we ran out of cards! tracting you usually get 5-10 people an hour, and none of them usually show potential, but we got some good potential investigators out of it. We also went to stores, Office Depot, Home Depot, and Lowes and talked to people while they were shopping, it was really hard at first, but we eventually figured it out. The best way to do it is to either try to start a conversation about something they are shopping for, or start off by saying, "hey I know this is weird to come up to you while you are ____ , but..." and then go on to invite them to learn more about the gospel. We have found some nice people shopping and they gave us their numbers to have further follow up with them! Talking to everyone is a lot better than tracting! and I really enjoy it, because then we have a bunch of funny stories to tell about what we did to contact people.

     Yesterday at church a member said that they needed to go out on exchanges with us more often because I'm leaving soon and I've been here for 9 months. I didn't think that was so great. After that all the members came and said goodbye and that they'd miss me and stuff :p I don't even know if I am going next transfer, and next transfer isn't for another month anyways. I think the ward must really want to see a new face, because they keep telling me goodbye!!! Chances are I will be transferred, but I don't want to plan leaving, I'd rather just let myself pretend I'm staying here forever so I can "act upon this land as for years" or whatever that scripture says.

     Elder D is adjusting really well, he has started talking to people and opening up, being himself, etc. I remember I really struggled with that at the beginning of my mission to, so I'm really glad that he has figured it out. He is a good companion and good teacher, he also has a real love for the work which is great!

      Things are going well, thanks for all the prayers and letters! I love you and pray for you everyday, stay awesome and don't ever change!!!!

     Today is District P-day, so I don't have a whole ton of time to e-mail. I hope you are enjoying your labor day! T is still struggling. We did touch base with her earlier this week, but nothing seems to have changed. We want to get her husband involved in the gospel and I think that would make everything better, but her husband is totally against any sort of religion at this point. We haven't taught anyone we met at the gas station yet, but the most solid potential we found doesn't live in our area, hopefully the other missionaries are teaching him. Everyone at church yesterday said "oh, you're still here?" It was kind of funny, I think the ward is ready for a new face :)

       The work is going well here and we are finding a lot of success with the members. We have finally got member exchanges going and it has been a great help to us. We go out with a member of the ward almost every night and teach lessons to investigators or less-actives. The ward trusts us a lot and sees that we are working hard and that we are doing our best in this work and I think that's been a great thing. It kinda makes me sad that I will most likely be leaving soon, It will be hard to say goodbye, I really like it here, I never thought I would, but I really do, it only took 7 and 1/2 months :p

     Something I have been thinking about a lot this week is about small and simple things. I read Alma 37 this week and I've been thinking about all the great blessings and promises that Alma gives to his son Helaman, just for reading the scriptures! It seems like such a small thing so it is really easy to put off or not do. But there are so many blessings that come from scripture study that we really need. I love reading the scriptures. They are great for me.

     Its great to hear that things are going well at home and that members of the ward continue to reach out and help us. I've learned to accept help on my mission, its not bad to let other people help and I've learned that. I love to serve other people, but we also must allow others to serve us.

    One last thought. I've found great blessings from doing service for Elder D everyday, I think he is still dealing with a lot of stress and stuff because he is new and things at home that are worrying him. The other day I cleaned his bike, he was in the other room and didn't know, and I didn't tell him. He didn't say anything about it, so I'm 99.9% sure he did not notice. At first I was kind of sad he didn't notice, but then I felt the spirit really strongly confirming to me that I had done the right thing and that Heavenly Father knows what I did, and that's enough. I really like doing service when people don't know that I did it, I think the spirit is strongest when Heavenly Father is the only one that knows what we did. There are scriptures that talk about "your father who seeth in secret shall reward you openly" or something like that. It is definitely true.

    I hope you all have a great day! I love you tons and tons! 

     We had a great district p-day, we went to a sushi place for lunch and I had legit sushi for the first time ever! I didn't really like it though, I liked the cooked stuff, but the raw stuff was kinda hard to choke down so I didn't like it :p after sushi we went to the indoor soccer place I have been to a couple other times, it was really fun! I miss playing sports.

     We have pretty much dropped most of our investigators, they are not answering or returning our calls and texts and we can't get in touch with them by stopping in, so its safe to say that they aren't ready. We are dropping them in hopes that they can continue being prepared and someday later they can be taught again and baptized. I think that T will join the church someday, but her husband definitely needs to be softened up a bit more and she could be more prepared, I hope that they will be baptized someday, T was a great investigator, I think it was pretty much her husband and family that held her back.

       Something I have been learning a lot about this week is humility and meekness, Its been a tough week, I never should have prayed for help developing those attributes! Jk, I think that it is a blessing to go through humbling experiences that help us to become more christlike. I read a talk by Elder Ulisses soares from the October 2013 conference called "be meek and lowly of heart". It really touched me and gave me a strong desire to change. you know better than anyone that my pride gets in the way a lot, and this time I have on my mission is probably the best opportunity I will ever have to change so that's something that I've been working on, I study about it all the time and I also pray for it. I find when I do those things, its on my mind and then when I start acting prideful or self-righteous I'm able to catch myself better, I still struggle, but I will improve day by day. I just need to work hard and be patient with myself, I won't magically become humble overnight, I wish it was that easy, but its really not. as Ive been thinking about this it so happens that I read Alma 60 and 61 this morning. Those chapters are when Moroni totally rips on Pahoran for being a terrible person and was very bold and very powerful in the language he used. Pahorans reaction to me is inspiring, he didn't get angry or get offended, he saw that Moroni was only wanting to protect his people and fight for the right and respected and even complimented him on that. Pahoran didn't get angry or fling back and moroni a letter chewing him out for getting angry at him, he was meek and humble, he was more concerned about the problem than he was about who was more right.

    anyways, I love you tons and tons! Take care and tell everyone how much I love them!

     It is still as hot as heck :) haha, things don't start cooling down here until the end of October. But I am finishing up my last summer which I'm really excited about it doesn't start getting hot again until June and that's when I go home! Ha! No more summer for me after another month! :) 

   Next transfer is the 23rd, I am getting transferred, president told me :\ I don't know how I feel about it, I really love the people here, but at the same time I knows that it is time for me to move on. I have started saying goodbye to and taking pictures with members, it makes me feel sad, but it also makes me feel happy that there are a lot of people here that are going to miss me, I had a lot of members give me some heartfelt goodbyes, I still will see them next week too though. 

     These last two transfers have been difficult for me, I have learned a lot though. As you know well, #3 and I were constantly arguing for most of our lives. I don't remember being friends really until after I came home from college. This was my fault, I don't really know why I had such harsh feelings towards him, I don't remember anything he did that made me so mad, but I remember my reactions, and I feel really bad about it. I feel like I truly understand now the weight of that sin of hating #3. It has taken 15 months of mission time, but I think I get it now. It took me being in a place where I could know what it felt like to be hated unconditionally by someone who is supposed to love me. I have learned a lot about forgiveness and love too. #3 continually put himself out there and reached out to show love towards me, but I either returned cruelty in return or decided not to be grateful, but he never stopped. I had long given up and decided that I didn't really care to have a good relationship with my brother, but he never did, he never gave up. I am learning that now. I'm grateful for trials, and the way they humble us, and wake us up to a greater sense of purpose and duty. We rely more on The Lord when we go through trials, and we receive greater strength. I have learned not to give up, never ever ever. Not on yourself, not on other people, not on God, never. As long as you keep trying it will turn out alright. If you fall down or fail 50 times, you have to get up and try again 51 times. I will never again give up.

    I have found strength beyond my own as I have sought to love and forgive, to be meek and humble, and not give up on people. I still struggle a lot with those things I just said, but I feel I have improved. I really hope I don't sound prideful as I am talking about all this. I am by no means a saint, I still struggle a lot and often, but I am doing better than I was. I feel more prepared to be a better father, husband, brother, uncle, and son than what I was before. I can see why people often say that missions are kind of like the MTC's for life. I'm learning a lot of great and important things here and I'm grateful for all the opportunities to learn and grow here.
      Thank you so much for your unconditional love for me and your prayers and letters and such you send my way. They are felt, and needed. I hope I don't sound over dramatic or weird in this letter, this has been what has been on my mind for the last week. I love you tons and tons. Please don't think that I'm struggling or depressed or anything because of what I wrote. I promise I am doing well, happiness and sadness aren't just things that happen to you, I am still doing fine and finding happiness. Thanks for all your help. Take care! Don't ever change!

   It has been a really tough week. It has been super stressful, a lot of tears, a lot of prayer, a lot of scripture study. I have learned a lot this week and it has been a really good learning experience. Official transfers are Tuesday, I am getting transferred, but only to Ocoee north, so I will be in the same Ward, just a different area and companion. I live about 5 miles from the temple now which is really nice.

     I am at the church across the street from the temple now with a whole bunch of missionaries, we are doing basketball and tie trades, board games and so forth. I'm excited for a new transfer and a fresh start. Time still is going really fast and I'm loving the missionary work. We were tracting and we found a family of four yesterday and that's super exciting! It was fun working with Elder N, he is Japanese and has been out for 21 months, we did great work together because we are both experienced and know what we are doing. My companion starting Tuesday will be Elder P, he has been out for 3 months, but I have met him and talked to him a bunch the last few days, since we are in the same Ward and I like him. 

    Just one more though I want to add at the end. I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness this week. I have felt many times this week that even with all the really tough things going on that I just need to let it all go. I can't hold on to any hard feelings or negativity, I've seen it destroy too many people. I read the thing you sent me about a pocketful of rocks. I have started keeping a tally of all the nice things that people do for me and it is really helping me to be a more positive and happy person. Thank you for sending it to me about a million months ago. Have a great day! I love you tons!!

     Yeah, last week was one of the hardest weeks of my life, but i've learned that hard times pass in time :) This week has been a really good week. I do feel at peace with things, and I feel like everything that happened was all part of Gods plan and it worked out. So I don't remember if I told you, but my new companion is Elder P, he is from midway Utah, he has been out for 3 months and is awesome! I really enjoy him and we do good work together. He seems to really have a grasp of his purpose and knows what he is doing, which is great because I am new to the area and have no idea what I'm doing!!! :)

     The Ocoee ward is awesome, and it is totally different from anywhere I have ever served before. They are all crazy!!! I love it. I will tell you more about where I serve if you promise not to freak out. Promise? ok, I serve in the "hood". I don't want you to think I'm in danger because I'm really not. Its just sketchy. It is really weird for me, I'm used to happy valley Utah. The people here are really humble, they are all struggling temporally and spiritually and they want help. people turn us down as much as they do in other areas, the only problem is that they don't keep commitments because they are not in a consistent situation.

      We do have some really solid investigators though. There is a Haitian man named K that has a baptism set up for November, he is ready, but he wants to get divorced first, he was abused by his wife and they have been separated for years. He comes to church every week and is awesome! we also are teaching J, she is 23 or so and she was dropped for a while, but she texted last Monday and told us she was ready and wanted to be baptized, she is coming to church too, the main concern with her is that she is hard to get a hold of, so she is hard to set up appts with. We are teaching a Haitian family, a member just teaches them since we don't speak Haitian, so its kinda like a missionary present lesson. The son knows English though, so I taught him while the member and Elder P taught the rest of the family. They are not coming to church because of work, so you can pray for that! They are the St. P family.

     I am super excited for conference! I read conference talks all the time, it will be nice to have some fresh talks to read and go over. One of my favorite ones I have read many times is "be meek and lowly in heart" by Ulisses Soares. I love the talk because that is something that I really want to work on is becoming more meek and lowly in heart. Its not an easy lesson :p I've been learning a lot of hard lessons out here in the mission field, but I am grateful for them.

    I love you tons and tons and think about you all and pray for you all. I hope that all will go well for you and for #1 and #3 take care!

WONDER how #1 survived the month of September

Sorry folks, I am playing catch up here. Blogging is new to me and a bit overwhelming.

So, K is going to Syria...for a year...at least. We won't be teaching him now, unfortunately. :( Finding is a bit of a struggle. We can talk to every person we see that day, but none are interested. They don't have a desire for the gospel or they are super anti. I feel like it's a lack of faith on my part. I am trying to repent of that, but it's hard when that's the norm. You talk to someone and you set up an appointment and everything, but then they aren't at the appointment. Turns out they didn't want to say no and hurt our feelings. Whatever. There is always one out there who will listen, and at least I'm planting the seed, right? 

So...that is an awesome tender mercy. I'm glad you shared it with me. That's so cool that you were able to see the hand of the Lord in your life. My tender mercy is getting to email you today. Literally. When we were on the list to go to the temple, I asked Amy  to tell you that I might not email, and I really thought I wasn't going to get to, but now I do! I was stressing a little bit that I wouldn't get to email you.

 I also got a call today from a Sister that is going home. She was in charge of musical numbers and since she's leaving, I am now in charge. Hmmmm....this is going to be fun. Now I can call people and make them nervous. Bwa-ha-ha!!! JK. We'll see what happens. 

The temple was pretty sweet today. We had a lot of fun. I was able to talk to some missionaries I haven't seen in a while, and just relax and not worry about anything. I sorta worried, but not too much. I was wondering if that was you. It felt different at the temple today and all I could think about is you. :) I love you so much mom, and you are just great! Thanks for being an awesome friend and helper through your daughters crazy life. You are such a strength and example to me. I was thinking at the temple today that this is what we'll get to do to get into the Celestial Kingdom. I want to be able to go to the temple every week when I get home so that I can be prepared to enter Heavenly Father's presence. This is the time to prepare to meet God, right? Just a thought. Sorry it's so short. It's just a quick one today. Love you so much!

It's been pretty chilly lately. Hopefully it stays that way for bike week! It would be quite lovely ;) It's going okay with just one companion. We have a lot more room in the bedroom now, I'll tell you that much. ;) I did get your package. At first I couldn't figure out what holiday is on the 18th, but then it clicked: HUMP DAY. Hey! Mike, mike, mike, mike, mike! Guess what day it is!?? Guess what day it is!!!???? ....hump day.... HUMP DAY!!!!!! YEAH!!!!! That is exactly what went through my head. Yep. It's crazy that I'm already half way! Dang! It goes so fast. The days feel like weeks, the weeks feel like months, the months feel like days.

My week hasn't been too bad. Monday we went to the temple as you know. It was pretty good. :) Tuesday, we just said good bye to everyone, because Sister B was leaving. She's in Bartlett now, which is the same city as the temple, lucky dog! Wednesday was transfers, so we were getting that stuff done, and then the G's son was baptized, so that was pretty cool, too. It wasn't set up all the way, so we asked a bunch of missionaries at transfers to help us out. It was the missionary baptism, no joke. It was awesome though. I really like the G's. Thursday we visited in-actives. Not a lot happened that day. We did have dinner with the G__'s. They are great! Sister G cooks really good food. For desert we had fruit with dip. Her dip is divine! It's 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla. It's pretty awesome. I could eat that all by it self. Just sayin'. Friday was just weekly planning. It was pretty boring, per usual. Saturday was pretty sweet. We are working with a part-member family. The boys name is D and he's 11 years old. We went over with the goal of setting a baptism date and we had him pick. Do you want to know what day he chose? SEPTEMBER 20TH!! We have a week to teach him all the lessons! It's crazy! But it can be done, don't you worry. Then it was Stake Conference this weekend, so we had all those meetings to go to. We also taught D again yesterday. It was lesson 3, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the law of Chastity. It was super easy. We got this down. His baptism is still on. And then we walked four miles to go and see a member because we don't have any more miles to use. :p Oh well. It will be okay. We are teaching D again tonight the Plan of Salvation and Enduring to the End. This will be fun. :) His little sister, N age 7, fights for attention, so I have her help me and I promise her a sticker at the end if she promises to sit by me the whole time and to be quiet. It works.

My week has been okay.  Satan has been working so hard on me. I've discovered the problem in my companionship, though. It's me. Isn't it always? I know it's not all me, but I feel like it is. Please don't be too worried about me, mom. I'm just trying to get my thoughts out. I talk to Sister S and Sister H on a regular basis, but I don't know what I need to do to fix it any more.

Sorry for that. But I'm hoping you can help me. I don't know who to turn to besides Heavenly Father. 

I love you so much mom! Keep the faith!

I was reading in the book of John today in the New Testament. Can I just say that I love the book of John so much? John 1:5 "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehendeth it not. John 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." Christ is that light, and even though there are those days where there is so much darkness I do not comprehend the light, I can at least have that faith, that BELIEF that it will be there again soon. I love you so much and can't wait to hear from you and see you again on Christmas day. I will count that as my most favorite Christmas gift ever. 

Thanks for the recipe :). Cooking at the senior center is just a service we do. Plus it's an excuse to wear pants ;). We do it every week on Wednesdays. That's  just what we do, and we will continue doing it while I'm here because it's great and I have missed it immensely :). It's in Maumelle and we cook from 20-40 ish people. It's not too bad. :)

My Hump Day was pretty sweet! Just your package was the fun. But I loved it. :) I had a lot of fun with my camel. He sleeps next to me. Just a piece from home. I am enjoying the carmels as well. They are SOOOO good. :) Thanks for your letter, btw. I'm responding snail mail as well. :) Still no one to teach. Hopefully soon? It's been a struggling couple of weeks. 

So lucky you got to go to all those different temples! I'm so jealous!! I imagine it from a distance. :) I have started reading Genesis/Moses and the Book of Mormon. Cain is a VERY wicked man! Holy Cow! So glad I did not live at that time! Then again, this time is even worse, so maybe I want to? JK! Your "un-anniversary" sounds like it was a bunch of fun ;). Every one here wants to meet you guys because they think you guys are hilarious and awesome. So now you know every here loves you guys, even though they have never met you. ;)

Monday, we had a lesson with D. It was pretty good. His sister was a bit distracting, but we made it through. Tuesday was pretty good. We had a member go out with us. It was AWESOME! Everything worked out well so she wants to come out with us again. :) Wednesday was insane. We were running all over the place because every one needed us. And then we went over to the G's for a little FHE thing. It was a lot of fun! :) Thursday was my hump day. Nothing super exciting happened. Everything fell through and communication issues happened.  I got to eat rocky road ice cream at the S's and I showed them the Hump day commercial. They sing it ALL the time now. ;) Friday we taught D two lessons in a row and had him ready for Saturdays baptism. Saturday. The day of the baptism. It was crazy. Brace yourselves for this Saturday craziness. We went every where with Sister S. We were finding less-actives and stuff and then we had milk shakes. They were SOOOO good! As we were eating them, Brother L called (mission leader) and said he couldn't fill up the font and wondered if we could. One problem: we didn't have a car. How do we find someone last minute? Sister S thankfully saves the day and says she can take us, but first we have a dinner appointment we need to go to. So. We get to the dinner appointment and the food is all good, EXCEPT they were serving peas. :p I  very graciously passed them up. They put weird stuff with it AND it was cold AND they were canned, so yup. I didn't want any. In the middle of all of us eating and talking, the member, very pointedly looks at me and says (a little offended):  "You didn't take any peas." I very clearly state: "I actually do not like peas. So that's why I didn't take any." and I keep eating. The member is (no joke) staring me down at the table. OH CRAP! So.....I take some....a very small portion, mind you. Well, the member says: "Are you going to eat them?" Very pointedly staring me down, daring me to not eat them and see what happens. I say: "Of course I'll eat them! See??" and I eat ALL of them. They did not taste good. You can now applaud your daughter for eating weird, canned peas. I didn't even throw-up! Thank goodness! That would have made it so much worse! Now, onto the baptism. It's all lovely and filled up. It's very nice and the spirit is present.  Sunday was normal. That's all I got. It's time for us to go. We have to go get some groceries and then I can sleep. YAY!! Love you so much.

WONDER how the missionaries are doing this week 10/6/2014

From #1

I definitely still do have bad days, but I'm getting there. We are keeping mostly busy. It's a lot of finding. No one is listening. There's gotta be somebody, right? I'm so jealous you got to go to the temple! I was supposed to go for Sister T departing temple trip and Sister R was going to be there, but now I'm not going because there's too many missionaries leaving. :( Oh well. Another time then. 

My favorite talks were Lynn G. Robbins and Chi Hong (Sam) Wong. I missed some because we were at the church and the church doesn't get good reception. :( I liked Chi Hong (Sam) Wong's because Sister R was one of those friends. She did every thing in her power to make sure I was okay and getting better. It expressed my feelings perfectly, so I sent it to her. I liked Lynn G. Robbins because it helped me make sure I was facing the right way. :)

Monday, was nothing. It was pretty chill. Tuesday we had a lesson with a lady names S. We are trying to help her understand why we come over. She's still not getting it. We are going to see her this week. It's a do or die. Hopefully it's a do. We also had dinner at the J's. It was great. I love the J's so much! Wednesday we helped set up for a bike rally. It was crazy! We had to use rope to make circles and all kinds of stuff. The member almost made us ride bikes, but I was not in a bike skirt, so there was no way I was doing that! Thursday, we were finding less actives and what not, and we helped a lady clean her house because it was going to be inspected. She did something to her back a while ago and so if she's not careful, she will be paralyzed. Funny story about her though, she's 71 and she has a stuffed purple rabbit and Ernie that she sleeps with. Also, instead of cleaning and dejunking, she either hides everything beneath her comforter on her bed and SLEEPS ON IT, or she puts it in a bag and puts it in her car for a while. What the heck? It was crazy. To make it even better, though, she offered her phone to us to call our family and friends! She was like: "No body will ever know." We said that it's against the rules and that the Lord will know. You want to guess what she said? She said:  "Well, God told me that it was okay." She's crazy. So we just said thanks and that we will see her at church. :) Friday was normal. But we did have a miracle. You remember K? The one that's in the National Guard? Well.........(drum roll please)..........HE"S HERE! Something happened with his health, so he couldn't leave, so he's here and we can start teaching him again!!!!! YAY!! I'm so happy! Pray for him, and us, that we can teach him and that he will know that what we are teaching him is true. Saturday was General Conference. It was pretty fun. We talked to some people and everything. Sunday was General Conference as well. People do things weird here in the south. On Sunday morning, members come to watch the morning session at the church and then go home. I'm just like, watch it at home! It's a bit strange, but whatever. We watched the afternoon session at the G's. It was a lot of fun. We played bingo and such. It was pretty cool. We had fajitas for dinner, which were delicious and then I went to bed at 10:00 because I was ready for bed. That was my week.

I've been studying the bible this week. I just finished Exodus this morning. The story of Moses is awesome. It made me want to watch The Ten Commandments. So let it be written, so let it be done! I also read 1 Nephi 17 today. I liked verse 47 because that is how we has missionaries feel! We are working tirelessly and relentlessly for these people and some just don't listen! That's all I have for this week. It's time to go. Love you bunches! Can't wait for next week!

From #2

   Thank you for your letter! This week has been good, some of our investigators are struggling, but we are seeing miracles with other investigators. 3 of our investigators that said they would come to conference didn't come, but 3 did, so things are progressing. There are a lot of great people that we are teaching here, but the three that didn't come to conference don't seem to have a complete grasp of our message yet or they wouldn't struggle to keep commitments as much as they do. We are teaching a family of 4, one of them is a baby and so I guess we aren't really teaching her, but there is a mom, dad, teenager, and a baby. They are Hattian, but we have help from the members to teach them and communicate with them. They actually asked to be baptized a couple days ago, but they need to come to church one more time and we need to teach them the commandments. They came to conference and watched it in Creole in another room. They loved it! they asked if president Monson had a TV show they could watch, they believe that he is a prophet. We are seeing them this week and will try to set a baptism date with them for the end of this month. I'm really excited about them!

     I can't believe its already October, time is going by faster than ever. I'm having a lot of fun and really enjoying working here in Ocoee with Elder P. Today was bike week, we share the car with the other elders in the ward, Elder N and Elder B. It was nice being on bike again, I like biking, it helps us to talk to a ton of people, there are some really nice people we met that we are excited to meet with. We will have the car again next week so we will be able to visit more less actives and people we already have the addresses from from past weeks, I think it works out well because it is hard to make it to appointments on time when we are on bikes, but its harder to contact and find people when we have the car. I've been thinking a lot about the future again this week, I still don't know whats going to happen, so I don't know why I worry about it like I do. There were a lot of talks I really liked that helped. Things will work out, as long as I follow the prophets guidance and look upwards for help I will be able to be alright, I'm not worried about it much now.

I liked:

Jorg Klebingat: he was very bold and direct, that was really cool

Lynn Robbins: Which way do we face? I am too much worried about what other people think of me.

I liked the talk about personal ministering, I don't have my notes with me, so I don't remember the names of the people who talked about stuff.

I liked the talk about the guy reading his patriarchal blessing and changing his life plans a lot, he was Spanish. But I got it in English I thought that helped a lot with my worry

Conference is great at the chapel, it helps me stay focused and not fall asleep, plus its more conducive to the spirit I think. I love General conference, it seems like the sessions are getting better and better each year.

     I love you tons and tons, keep praying for me! I hope all continues to go well for you.

From #3 (get ready to laugh)

Well another week has come and past and what a wonderfully hard week it has been. A lot of hard things have happened this week but that's okay. If it isn't hard I must not be working hard. There are still a lot of problems in the Albany ward but it is getting so much better. The funnest service project we have had this week was helping Sister M with yard work. We were cutting down her hedge when all of the sudden we all jumped back because we saw a Diamond head snake. It was a blessing none of us got bit. But what happened next I will always remember. Elder S and I picked up two sticks and held the snake down as T ran into the house. We waited thinking he was going to get a knife but the next thing we know we have a shot gun barrel in between both of us and with a loud bang the snake was no more.

Although taking the hedge down was hard work this was not the hardest service we did this week. I know it may seem silly and pretty dumb but the hardest thing this week was programming a universal remote to a persons TV. Stop laughing. The reason it was so hard was because the instructions made no sense . It told me to push buttons that weren't even on the remote and I was just super confused. I eventually got it but it still took me about 15 min.

We had almost all our investigators drop us this week and we dropped one ourselves. All the people dropped us, told us that they already had a church and that they were good where they where at. The one we dropped actually was from ____________church. I don't know what you know about their church, but their church writes anti against us. In fact their the church that says the most against our church down here. We where invited to go to their church and if we did she would come to ours but every time we prayed to see if we should go we had the feeling that we should not. When we told her this, her response actually made me laugh. She told us that she would pray for our souls but didn't know how much good it would do. I thought it was funny and told her thank you and that we would do the same for her. After that we have tried to break contact but she will send us scriptures now and again that pretty much say that we are damned. I think its really funny and me and Elder S have to laugh at it a bit before we can go back to whatever we are doing.

I loved listening to Conference i got so much out of it. Probably my favorite talk was the talk given on living up to the blessings of our patriarchal blessing. I also really liked Elder Bednars talk on why we convert. The whole time he was giving his talk i was thinking about C. I don't know if you remember their family but I have been emailing him from the beginning of my mission, trying to get him to read the Book of Mormon. 

It has truly been a wonderful week here in Albany and I am loving it here. I love you so much and I pray for you and the family all the time.

I WONDER if I will ever finish the laundry

 I WONDER if I will ever finish the laundry.

I have been going through old pictures and labeling them. I found this one I took in 2006.
I think at the time I was doing 20 loads of laundry a week.

I remember going visiting teaching with my mom, as her companion, when I was 12 years old. We went to visit a sister down the street. Sister Jenkins had 7 children, I also grew up in a family of 7 children. Mom and Sister Jenkins were having a grand time visiting and catching up before they got into the lesson. Sister Jenkins started to chuckle and asked if she could share a nightmare she had had the night before. Of course we were curious to hear about a nightmare that causes chuckles.
She then related to us that in her nightmare, the pile of dirty laundry that usually remained down in the basement, was slowly growing and finding its’ way up the stairs.  She dreamt that it had grown and crept into her bedroom, and strangled her in her sleep. Mom and Sister Jenkins were both laughing hysterically. As I 12 year old, I did not see what was so funny, or frightening.  (Moms are so weird.)
Fast forward 25 years and 7 children later, and I understand the fear and humor that comes with laundry.
I used to fantasize that someday I would finish the laundry, all of it would finally be done. I have since learned that laundry, like many household chores will never be done.  You may have worked all day to wash and dry everything in the house, but the minute you put your pajamas on and get into bed, there are 9 more dirty outfits waiting to be washed the next day.
I think Heavenly Father uses the simple everyday parts of life, to teach us eternal principles.
Here are some quotes from General Conference that illustrate my point:

"Most often gaining a testimony is not a task of a minute, an hour, or a day. It is not once and done. The process of gathering spiritual light is the quest of a lifetime." Dieter F Uchtdorf

“Fathers [and Mothers], yours is an eternal calling from which you are never released. Callings in the Church, as important as they are, by their very nature are only for a period of time, and then an appropriate release takes place. But a father’s [and mother’s] calling is eternal, and its importance transcends time. It is a calling for both time and eternity.” Ezra Taft Benson

“We need revelation from God. And we will need not just one revelation in a time of stress, but we need a constantly renewed stream. We need not just one flash of light and comfort, but we need the continuing blessing of communication with God.” President Henry B Eyring

Instead of feeling discouraged by the jobs that never get done, I am going to look for the eternal lessons that can bless my life.