MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Everything here is going great. It's a little cold but it's all good. The new area is going great. Here's a little more information about the area. We cover a few small towns. We cover Wanship, Hoyetsville, Coalville, and Henafer along with a few other smaller ones. The people here are amazing. The members are great and help us out in the work. We haven't had to go tracting yet we just work off of referals. We're having a baptism on Saturday at 6 at night. It's for a guy named Jim Willoughby. He's so solid. He and his wife are already excited about entering into the temple in a year. It's pretty sweet. Then we have 4 more people on date for January. The Tedikas who are a young couple with 2 kids. He grew up in the church but never got baptized and the girlfriend grew up in a baptist church I believe. But they're going to get baptized on the 15th and get married on that date or before. They're still deciding on that. Then there is a girl named Katelyn that we're working with. She's 13 and her mom was inactive but is coming back to the church and she's supposed to get baptized on the 1st of next year. We're also working with some Peruvians. They're not on date yet, but I think they'll get baptized in January. It's great. We get to teach in english and spanish. They don't have a spanish branch out here so we have to translate the sacrament meetings into spanish. So good things are happening and we're just trying to keep the work going forward. It's a good time. Monday I did 24's with the missionaries in Green River. So I went all the way out there for a day. It's like a 2 hour drive from where we live. It's a lot different working here than in the valley. Everything is a lot more spread out. It takes a lot more time to get from place to place. I'm kind of tired of being in the car so much. Tomorrow we're going down to Salt Lake to pick up some Christmas packages that the office has been holding so that people don't open them up before Christmas. So we're driving down tomorrow and then delivering them on Friday. It's going to take around 5 hours to deliver them all and get back to our area. It's going to be fun.

Well as far as Christmas goes, the stake president invited us over to his house for breakfast around 10:00 in the morning. I don't know how long we'll be there for. And then, we have the baptism at 6 at night. And we'll have to fill the font up from around 2 until 6. Well that's about all I got for y'all right now. Have a great rest of the week!

Transferred to...Coalville, Utah

Well just to update y'all a little bit of what's been going on this past week... On Sunday at church Yadira came to the english ward again. I translated the whole sacrament meeting for her. It was a good ole time. Then our other investigators were progressing really fast and they should have a few baptisms coming up. As for me, Like I told y'all last week, we had transfers. And I got transferred out of the area. My new area is................. Coalville, Utah. I'm now serving in the Wyoming zone. It should be interesting. A lot different than serving in the Salt Lake Valley. We cover 1 stake, but we cover english and spanish. So it should be fun. My new companion is Elder Salisbury, he's from Cincinnati. It sounds like we have a lot of work going on in this area. Hopefully we can get double digit baptisms this transfer. And from what I've heard the members are amazing. They are all about missionary work and they love us. The stake I'm in used to be shared with another stake, but now we're there all the time. They used to only see missionaries once or twice a year, but now that they see us more they're more excited about the work. So it should be a good transfer! Right now the mission is doing pretty good. We're sitting at a little over 2200 baptisms and our goal is 2500 so we'll see how we do on that. It's definitely possible. Oh and on Monday I went to get some surgery done on some ingrown toenails. It went pretty well, and the doctor didn't charge me anything for it so that was good. Well I don't really have too much more time because we've been dealing with transfers all day and haven't got back until around 5. Well I can't really tell you about any of the investigators, because I haven't met them. But I'll have more about the work for you next week.

Testimonies of Christ

Well Everything here is going well. It's only been a few days since I've e-mailed home so there's not too much to update y'all on. Our investigators are progressing pretty well. One that we have, Yadira, went to church on Sunday with 2 of her 6 kids. Her husband is in jail, and she has a 4th grade education. And she doesn't work. So it's a pretty bad situation. But she went to church to an english ward and my companion and I translated for her during the whole sacrament meeting. So it was a pretty fun experience. While it was going on I got up and bore my testimony in spanish. Which I thought might make some people mad because it's an english ward and some english members do NOT like to hear spanish. But afterwards there were 2 or 3 people that got up and said that they had a grandson or someone else serving in spanish and it let them get a glimpse into their lives. Then the man sitting in the pew behind us got up and bore his testimony. He said that he had been listening to us translate the whole sacrament meeting and that he wished he could speak spanish to say something to her. It was a good meeting. The Spirit was strong and for the first time in a long time the testimonies were about Christ/gospel related topics and not about stories from the week and how they don't have a job.


Oh today while I was leaving the temple I saw President Fronk and Stephanie. I talked to them for a few minutes. So that was pretty good. Well I got to get going.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Well we found out that we wouldn't be e-mailing tomorrow because of Thanksgiving. The computers would all be shut down. So we're doing it today. Well We were at church on Sunday and they announced the baptism of Jali. And as they were announcing her getting baptized, from the congregation they announced that her little brother would be getting baptized as well! So now we have 2 baptisms this weekend. It should be pretty amazing. I'll be sure to get some pictures.

We've been doing a lot of tracting lately trying to find some investigators. We ran into some really nice Nepali families that like to stare at us, but they are awesome. Yesterday we had "a life threatening blizzard" and the "worst storm of the century." So what we did is we went out and tracted during the blizzard because we were supposed to be out working. It wasn't too bad. There was a lot of snow. But I didn't think it was too bad.

And last big thing that happened this week is that I was experiencing an ingrown toe nail for the past month or so. I was trying to let it grow out. But it wouldn't. So I called Sister Winn and she told me to go to the mission doctor to see if I would need to get surgery on it. SO I go and he tells me that I would just let it grow and then he looks at it and says "that goes pretty deep in there." He took out some scissors and started cutting away at my toenail until he got to the base and then he tore the ingrown part out. So I went through the surgery without any anesthetics. It was fun.

Oh and my card was compromised. My mission one. And somebody tried to charge $900 to it. So the church cancelled my card. I'm getting a new one in a few days though. It should be good! Well hope y'all have a great Thanksgiving!

Kindness from Strangers

HELLO!


Well this week I'm going to try and make it the week where I write more than I have been.

Well It's been a great week. This most exciting thing that happened to us is that we finally have somebody that is solid on date. The one I wrote to you about last week, he fell off. He's been avoiding us. But it's all good he's not elect and there are other people prepared for us to teach. But the person that is on date now is somebody we've been working with for a few weeks. Her name is Jali. Her brother is a recent convert of a few months. His testimony is still on fire and his wife is amazing too. So we asked them last Sunday if we could do a FHE with them. But they couldn't do it on Monday, so we set up an appointment on Wednesday. It turned out that Mike (her brother) and Farrah (sister-in-law) planned out a FHE. Farrah gave the lesson and talked about baptism the whole time. Then she committed Jali to be baptized on the 27th. It was so amazing. Jali said yes. Then everybody in the room and shared something they liked about each person. The Spirit was so strong. There was a lot of crying and all that good stuff. So a few days passed and she talked to her parents about it Saturday night (they're Catholic) and they were telling her it was too fast and all that and she told them she knows it's true and bore her testimony to them. We're hoping that her younger brother Mike Kevin will get baptized on that day too. He needs his parents permission first though. So we'll see about that.

The work right now is going kind of slow. We have 4 or 5 investigators right now. 2 of which could be getting baptized pretty soon. And a few we might be dropping. But we have some appointments set up for tonight that might help us add some new investigators. We'll see. But things here in the zone are going alright. We got the numbers for the week called into us Sunday night and as a zone we only had 5 people on date and 15 progressing investigators. So Elder Widenhouse and I counseled and talked about what could be the cause of it. We came up with a list of all the reasons we've seen on our missions of why people and past zones haven't baptized. We were talking about them and one stood out to me. It was that the missionaries didn't feel needed or didn't feel their self-worth. So the training we had to do was on revelation through prayer. And it's the 4th or 5th time we've been trained on this topic. So we went over it quickly and then gave the missionaries 30 minutes to ponder. We gave them some note cards. On the cards we wrote for them to write 3 questions they have for God and 3 things they are passing through right now. And on another card we wrote a letter to them about the things we liked about each of them. And had them write what they were going to do for the zone daily to contribute to it and 1 thing they could do to realize their full potential as missionaries and people. We didn't know how it would go over. We thought some of them might think it was weird or not take it seriously. But afterwards we talked to some of them and they thanked us and one of the sisters said "It's like God told y'all that I needed that at this time." It was such a great feeling to know we received revelation.

Today we went to Kohl's because I had those 3 short sleeve shirts mom sent me, and I wanted to exchange them for long sleeve ones. Because after the mission I won't need short sleeved shirts. So I went to do an exchange and of course they couldn't give us an even exchange which I thought they would've given us as missionaries. But we were at the customer service desk and I figured I could exchange 2 of the short sleeved ones and get a long sleeved one and keep one of the short ones. So I was going to do that when they said they couldn't even exchange it. And the lady next to us wouldn't let me do that. So she was like "use this 30% off coupon, and I have this that you can use" and all this other stuff. Then the total came out to be around 20 dollars for the 3 shirts. And she gave me a 20 dollar bill and looked at my companion and asked if he was getting a shirt, and he said no. So she told him to go pick one out and gave him a 20. So we were surprised. Then after it was all said and done she pulled out two 5 dollar bills and told us to go buy lunch with it. So I ended up with 3 long sleeved shirts and a short sleeved one, and 5 dollars. It was so crazy and a little embarrassing. But oh well. It was good.

Well I think that's about all I have right now. I'm going to get off and let somebody else use the computer. They only allow us to have 6 people on the computers at a time.

No Snow Yet!

Well everything here is going well. The winter snow hasn't started yet. It's started a little bit, but not too much. Probably by next week it'll be covered in snow. Oh well.. There's not really too much to report on work wise. Actually we have an investigator on date. It's a former investigator that we found that has agreed to get baptized. He's a little shaky, but he should be good. We're helping him become more solid We went last night to go see "El Salvador del Mundo" with him and a less active family we are working with. It was really good. It's a play/ musical about Christ at the conference center. He's from Mexico. The less-active family is from Puerto Rico. They are a good family. Right now we are really working on finding more people to teach. Other than that it's good. We're going by two of our investigators that are pretty close to baptism as well. So The work is going a little slow. But it will improve, no doubt about that. Everything in the zone is going alright too. Missionaries are good so there aren't any big problems. Everything is good. Well I can't think of anything else to write really. It's kind of late. I'll make sure I write more next week.

Ward Council Training

Well Everything here is going well. I stayed in the area with Elder Widenhouse. So we're still zone leaders over Millcreek Zone. There weren't too many changes with companionships in the zone. The new AP is Elder Dominguez my old companion. So that'll be fun. So no big news with transfers.

The Halloween party went well. We went to a members house that was huge. They live by the Allisons, the Butler's cousins. We carved some pumpkins and then Elder Widenhouse and I came up with some questions for a newly-wed style game and jeopardy. It was pretty fun. I'll send some pictures next week. I forgot the camera. We had a ton of food too. So I'm scared I'm getting fat. Because everybody gives us candy, and junk food, and so it's tough. I'll just have to lose all the weight after the mission.

Sunday was an eventful day. We spent from 9 AM-4 PM teaching 4 different wards how to hold ward council and what tools they can use to share the gospel. It was interesting. So I'm becoming pretty good at speaking to large groups. And good at training on how to have a proper ward council to stake presidents and other ward council members. Then when we got done teaching we went out to the parking lot to leave and somebody had busted in a window on the car. Along with another member's car. So the member called the police and we spent an extra hour there cleaning up, talking to the police and all that good stuff. OH and Friday night/Saturday morning around 4 a.m. somebody broke into the chapel and lit 2 chapels on fire. It was pretty crazy. So they had to relocate church in those 2 buildings. Investigator wise we're still working with the same problem of investigators not feeling ready to be baptized. So that's a little tough We had an appointment with the family with two kids but they had to cancel it. So we're going to be meeting with them on Friday I believe. Well I got to get going.

Boo! Happy Halloween

So the mission tour with Elder Evans went well. He's in the 1st quorum of the 70. It was kind of long. But oh well. I learned some good stuff. 

Well like I said the mission tour went well. Then everything else is going well. We're really hoping to have a baptism this weekend. We have a few people that can be baptized. They just don't think that they're ready yet. So we're helping them with that. It's tough. We had a lesson a few nights ago with this family that we found while tracting. They seem pretty nice. They're a younger couple. They have 2 kids, a 10 year old and 7 year old. And they seem pretty interested. The husband said he's been distant from God and the wife is humble and willing to listen. We have an appointment with them tonight. I'm excited to see how it goes. I think that's about all that there is going on. Saturday we are going to be celebrating Halloween as a zone. We have some good activities planned. At least we think so. Hopefully they will too. We're going to have a pumpkin carving contest and a few other games. And Sunday we get to teach some American wards about the "ward council process." For 6 hours. Straight. It should be fun. I can't believe that it's already the end of the transfer. We have them on Wednesday. So I'll be writing y'all on Thursday next week. Well that's about it for now.  Have a Happy Halloween!

Surprise!

So we have leadership meeting tomorrow. So we are e-mailing and all that good stuff today. Well it's been a pretty good week. We had 7 people show up to church. When we got into the area we had 0. So that's been amazing. We've been blessed with some pretty solid investigators. 2 of the investigators have been going to church and have been taught by missionaries in Arizona. So that was cool. Then a lot of other ones are just coming out of nowhere. It's amazing.We are hoping to give some of them a baptismal date pretty soon. I talked to one on Sunday and she said that she had received her answer about the Book of Mormon. So she should be getting baptized pretty soon. Sunday we had a musical fireside and one of our investigators told us he wants to serve a mission. He's 12 years old. The time is going by so fast. I guess it's because we don't have any time of our own. But it's all good. I'm really tired right now and can't think of anything to say. We are having a mission tour next week with Elder Evans of the Quorum of the 70. Well I got to go and that's about all I can think of right now!

Amazing Week of Miracles

Everything here is going good. We've seen some amazing miracles lately. While we were contacting some former investigators we ran into a guy drinking a beer on the porch of his apartment. We asked him if he knew any people that spoke spanish around him. He told us that the people downstairs did. So we went down and knocked the door and they invited us in. The mom told us that she is waiting to get sworn in as a citizen so that she could get married. She then said that her mom came to Utah and got baptized and she remembers the peace in the home when missionaries came over. She wants this for her family so she asked if we could baptize her kids, then her and maybe her husband when they get married. So that was amazing. Then at church on Sunday one of the members came up to us and said "I have 4 friends that want to learn more about the church. They want to meet on Thursday." So that was pretty amazing. Then we got a call during the week about a guy who came to church that wants to learn more. And he came to church on Sunday! Then 2 of our other investigators are part of a part-member family. They've been going to church and they like it and all that. They came to church. It's amazing seeing all these miracles lately. As for the zone, a lot of investigators are falling off date or getting moved back So we're coming up with something to fix that. It's all going good though. No major problems within the zone which is always appreciated. Well I think that's about all going on.

Doing Double Duty for A While

Well General Conference was great. I loved all the talks.


Things here are going good. One of our district leaders has been having health problems pretty much his whole mission, and this was his last transfer. He decided to go home early. So now I'm going to be zone leader and district leader. So I get to do double duty. I'm not looking forward to it too much, but I guess I got to do it. Oh well. I don't have much to report about our area. We only have 4 investigators. 2 are a brother and sister whose brother and sister-in-law are members. So we're going to be teaching them. Hopefully they will get baptized pretty soon. Then last night we received 4 referrals from some members so that was good. We'll see what comes from that. Well the things in the zone are going alright Everybody is getting along for the most part. No big things going on. During our training on Monday President Winn showed up and so that was a good surprise. I think that the training went well. I wasn't too worried about it at least. I think that's about all I have to update about. I'm losing a lot of sleep because of doing things, but it's all good!

Trials of a Zone Leader

Well I can't believe that General Conference is this weekend. It's my second to last one. The time is just flying by. Well everything is going well here. It's really tiring though. I've lost so much sleep since I've become zone leader. But it's all good. It's a lot more focus on other missionaries which is great.We're spending a lot of time helping other missionaries out. It's a little difficult balancing time in our area and the other missionaries areas. Last night we went into one of the Sisters area and went to a stake correlation from them to help them get some things they wanted the stake to do. So we went and did that for 2 hours. And got what we wanted. And we got the Sisters a baptism from it. And we hooked up their dish washer. So it was a great night.

Things have been crazy lately, so I don't really know what to write about. Because there is a lot. But it's all going good. We don't really have any work in our area from the last missionaries. So we're trying to pick up the work in our area and find some investigators too! It's great stuff. Other than that the new area is great. We're covering 2 spanish wards so we're using the members a lot to get the work done. Because it'd be impossible to have us do all the work in the 2 stakes and help all the other missionaries. So we're relying on the members a lot. We had Zone meeting on Monday. I think it went pretty well. It's a little bit different setting teaching a group of missionaries than a few investigators. So my teaching skills should be able to increase. Well that's about all I can think of right now. Hope y'all have a great week and enjoy conference!

Zone Leader in the MillCreek Zone

Well, the things in the district improved. Everybody was able to have a more effective week. It was great. Hopefully they can keep it up. Well as y'all know we had transfers yesterday. I finally left West Valley and now am serving in Millcreek. On Monday Elder Cannon and I were out tracting and we got a phone call from President Winn. And he called me to be a new zone leader. So I show up to the transfer building, and everybody in the mission getting transferred had a meeting in the chapel. Then we went out to the parking lot and all the zone leaders got in a circle to find out where we'd be serving and who our companions would be. They called a few for some different zones, and then they got to Millcreek zone. But the funniest part about it is that my new companion is Elder Widenhouse. So we're back serving together, just like the good ol' MTC times. It should be a pretty good transfer. I haven't really served around any of the missionaries before so it'll be good. Yesterday was pretty crazy. After transfers we ended up having to help the sisters set up some beds in their apartment, and then pick up 2 missionaries and take them to their apartment. Then we got a call from 2 other missionaries and had to give them a ride. Then we got a call from the other sisters in the zone and had to help them change apartments. So it was kind of a crazy day. We're still coming up with ideas for zone expectations and all that. It feels weird having a new area after 6 months of serving in my last stake. I feel lost, and don't know where we're going. But it's all good.

The baptism last weekend went through so that was a great feeling! To finally get someone baptized, even though the family that is thinking about baptism didn't show up. Then this Saturday we have a lady in my last area getting baptized. Someone I worked with a few months ago and then started working with her again. She said as she was in church praying about her baptism that my face showed up. So she asked me to baptize her, which I happily accepted. Hopefully we'll be able to have some baptisms in my current area now! I'm so excited for next weekend with General Conference. It's such a great chance to here the Prophet and Apostles speak. One of the biggest growths in my testimony lately has been that of Joseph Smith. He was such an amazing person.

Improving the District

Well It's crazy that this transfer is almost over. Just one more week. So next week I'll be e-mailing y'all on Thursday. The baptism didn't go through for the 9 year old girl, because she went to her dad's house for the weekend. But we set everything up for this Friday at 3:30 before she leaves for her dad's. Then on Sunday she'll be leaving her dad's an hour or 2 early to get confirmed. The branch president won't let us do a confirmation at the baptism. Kind of lame. Well that's about all going on.

We are still working with a few people. But nobody really close to getting baptized. There's this one lady who is going to church every week so maybe we'll be able to put her on date soon. Then there's also the other lady, the one who had the dream, and she's been going to church too Her son is going to be baptized on the 25th, so we're hoping to baptize her with him. And still hoping that the family will go to the baptism on Friday and desire to get baptized. Those are the three people that are progressing and getting baptized. So hopefully we will be able to start baptizing every week! I think that's about all that's really going on. Just still trying to work with improving the skills that the district has. But oh well. It's all good. Sorry that the letter is so short, but it should be a good one next week. Just some things to look forward to are: transfer information, and telling how the baptism went!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy belated birthday mom! 


Well everything here is going good. We weren't able to baptize the family this weekend. They decided not to get baptized last minute. But we will be having a baptism this weekend. A 9 year old girl whos mom is less-active. She's pretty cool. I'm excited. Hopefully the family that was going to get baptized will go to this baptism have a desire and get baptized there. Yesterday we had an amazing lesson with this investigator who has come to church for the past 2 weeks. She's never really been religious, but likes our church. So we should be putting her on date pretty soon. We got a lot of good potential. It's amazing to see all these blessings coming to us. It's not only our companionship, but the whole district I"m excited for everyone. We have like 2 or 3 people on date to get baptized on the 25th. So we're trying to keep them on date. It's pretty exciting. We're trying to stay humble and make sure that we don't get prideful. I don't know. It doesn't seem like I have much to write about this week. We're just trying to work hard and do what we're supposed to. That's about all there is to it. Hopefully I will have more stuff to write about next week!

Dreaming About a Blue Book

Well everything last week was amazing. The trainings were great. It's pretty much teaching us how to do the things they tell us to do in Preach My Gospel. It's a lot more relying on the Spirit. So it's an amazing experience. Even just doing them in role plays, the Spirit is strong and we can find out the needs of the investigators. It's sick. To answer your questions real quick, p-days are still on wednesday for now. There's been some talk of having them Monday's, but we'll see where that goes. And President Atkinson is the first counselor in the mission presidency. Anyways, the family that we've been teaching and hoping would get baptized last Saturday didn't get baptized. But they are going to be baptized this Saturday. So I'm excited for that. And then on Monday night last week we stopped by a former investigator. She had some dreams about missionaries coming by and talking to her about church, but she has been going to a Christian church for a while and really active in it. So in the dream she told them the same stuff she always told us, that "I have my own church and I don't need to change." Then she had another one talking to them again and in it they were talking to her about church, and she says "I have my own and I study out of this, and this is the only weapon I need" and she reached down to pull out a Bible but instead was holding up a blue book. The Book of Mormon. And so we're starting to teach her again, and hoping to get her baptized her pretty soon. Then with the less-active lady with the 9 year old, we stopped by her and talked to her. Elder Cannon talked to the little girl while I talked to the mom. I applied the trainings we received and by the end she was crying and telling me about how she doesn't feel worthy to pray and all that. A lot of the stuff going on in her life. So that was a pretty good experience. Before we left we kneeled down and I asked her to offer a prayer. It was amazing. We have an appointment with her tonight. I'm not going to be able to be there though because I have some exchanges. But anyways yesterday I was on exchanges and my companion followed up on some referrals, and apparently he ran into some people that are pretty interested in learning more about the gospel. So I'm stoked about seeing how those turn out. It should be a pretty good month. Then yesterday we had interviews with the President Winn. Those went pretty well. He asked all of us to think about things we need to improve. So he asked me what my 3 things were, and I told him. Then he talked to me about becoming a zone leader. So I don't know. We'll see how that goes. Well that's about all I can think about right now.

Successful Week

So turns out we get to do our e-mailing and shopping today. I can't complain, because it's better than nothing! Well, since Wednesday nothing too much has happened. Still don't have too much time to write in my journal and do personal things but it's all good. Friday afternoon I performed my first baptismal interview. So everything went pretty well with that. I got a few more of them coming up this week to do too. The family that we had been preparing to get baptized is going to be baptized this Saturday. Well, 3 of them. The 15 year old daughter wants to be a rebel. So we're going to keep working with her. But something amazing happened on Saturday. We were going and talking to some potentials/talking to people and we ran into 3 or 4 people that can get baptized in September. We met this one lady who goes to church every week, and pays tithing, and all that. Her only hold up is that she worries her relationship with her son will be affected by it. Because he's catholic, so she thinks if she gets baptized he'll get mad and won't bring the grandkids around any more. Then another lady we found is less-active and has a 9 year old daughter that wants to get baptized. She was receiving lessons from missionaries, and the missionaries stopped going by because she got sick. Then we met another lady that has 3 kids that are members. Her and her oldest son are not members. She likes the church but was baptized when she was a baby so she doesn't see a need to be re-baptized. So it was a pretty good day on Saturday. Hopefully they all are as solid as they sound. We have a few other potentials for baptism too. so it should be good.

Well everything is going well here I'm kind of excited for the meetings this week. Yeah it's from 9:00-4:45, but from what President Atkinson told me everybody has loved the mini-trainings they did as test runs. Well my training that I gave today went well. I think. So that was good. I don't know I can't think of much else. I'm loving being able to serve and help the other missionaries It's tough, but good. Well I can't think of too much more to write.

Going a Little Crazy

Everything is going good here. Just a little crazy. I don't want to use it as an excuse, but since I've been a DL it seems like I have no time. I'm up doing stuff up until 10:30. But it's all good.  Just a little taste of what it will be like with a career. Well I don't have too much time.  Sorry this is so short.

Little Trials

Everything here is still going swimmingly. I don't  know the work is going really slow for me. I'm used to having a lot of success and baptisms, and here it's not like that. We're struggling to get someone with a baptismal date. But we added 7 new investigators last week, so we should be seeing some improvements pretty soon. The greenies are still doing good. They're both solid. But it's still taking a lot out of me trying to train the both of them at the same time. It's tough because they both have their strengths and weaknesses, and so I have to help both of them on two different things at the same time. But i'm loving it still. Right now there are a few investigators that we are working with that are close to baptism. One of them is Rosalva. She seems like she knows everything we are teaching is true, but that she isn't sure that tshe wants to know it's true. So that's a little frustrating. But we think that she will get baptized in a few weeks. Just in time for me to leave. Then there are a few more families that we are working with. One of them we taught last night. They don't go to any church, and have a son that was baptized three years ago. And they seem like they are going to be some pretty good investigators. I'm just hoping that we will be able to give somebody a baptismal date pretty soon. Well I think that that is about it. I mean it's pretty much the same thing. Trying to find teach and baptize the elect. But I guess I should have been expecting a time that would be a little harder on the mission. Especially since I've had so much success. It's kind of like with the story of Job. I've been given a lot so I'm just going through a little trial right now. Hopefully my next area will have a lot of work to do.  Well I will let y'all know how everything goes with transfers this week. Hopefully I'll be able to report good things and nothing bad.

President Winn

Well everything here is going pretty well. The work is still going a little bit slow. We have a bunch of good potential investigators and we just need to be able to contact them. From there everything will be good. So, work wise there's not too much to report on. We have an investigator that is pretty close to baptism. He said that he knows the Book of Mormon and church are true, but he wants to know a little more before he gets baptized. Which is good because we've only taught a little bit of the first lesson. Then we have another investigator that we're working with. I'm pretty sure she'll be baptized in August. And then we have all those potentials that we just need to contact.

We had interviews with President Winn on Friday last week. They went pretty well. He Told me that I'm a leader of missionaries and that I need to prepare now to be a leader. Then he told me that It was coming very soon. And he wrote those same things to me in an e-mail last week. So it'll be interesting to see the things to come. I don't know. It's tough training two missionaries. It seems like it's taking a lot out of me. I don't know. It's definitely the hardest thing of the mission so far. But, I'm growing a lot from it. I'm learning a lot. I've found that the things I have to apply to them, I'll be able to apply later on in life. Well I can't really think of too much more to write about. The time is still going by really fast. It's crazy I'm down to only 10 months left. I feel like there's still a lot I have to do and learn.

Another Companion

Everything here is going well. We had our baptism on Saturday and confirmation on Sunday which was great. It was so amazing. Especially just because all the things we had to overcome because of the members. The training is going well. My kid is doing great and is a hard worker. Then last night we got a call from the Assistants last night saying we were going to get another companion that is waiting for his visa to Mexico. So now I get to train 2 people at once. It's pretty good so far. The work here is picking up a little. We're getting more and more potential families and investigators. which is always a good thing. I guess the baptism and getting another person to train has been the biggest events over the past week.

Everything with President Winn is going good. I love him. He's amazing. His wife has a blogspot. I think it's something like "mamawinnsplace.blogspot.com" something like that. You should be able to find it off of google. With the baptism we had, I worked alot with President Winn, just talking to him over the phone because the members called him. And with all that he backed us up and supported us all the way. Then I got an e-mail from him today saying that I'm a leader and to prepare now. So we will have to see what he means by that. But for sure everything is going smoothly with the transition. I think it's in part of because of President Sonne preparing us and everything and knowing that this is the Lord's will.

4th of July - New Mission President

We spent it at church from 10-4 then a correlation meeting at 4-5. Then we went out and worked for the last 3 hours of the night. But I did sneak a peek at the 4th of July show at the U.S. Capital because the members we live with were watching it. But it's my last 4th of July on the mission. So the next one I will be home. Which is a little exciting, but a little weird. It's crazy how fast the time is going by.

Well things here are going well. We had our first Zone Conference yesterday with President Winn. It was really good. The Spirit was strong and I learned some new stuff. So I'm excited to try it out. I think it will go pretty well over the next 11 months. I'm looking forward to see how the work progresses. The work in our area is picking up a little bit. We have a baptism coming up on the 17th of a lady named Julisa. She's pretty elect. She pretty much knows all the doctrine and everything. She talks about stuff we haven't even taught yet. So I'm prettty excited to be baptizing again. It should be good! We have a few other people that we want to put on date as well. So slowly, but surely, the work is picking up a little bit. Hopefully it will continue to go up! I think that this has been the most tiring transfer of the mission so far. This one and last one. But it's all part of service. If I didn't know that this work wasn't true, I wouldn't be here doing it. I don't think anybody can serve a mission and not have a testimony. There's no doubt that this church is true. It can't be made up. I've been listening to some of Jeffrey R. Hollands talks lately and they're amazing. So if y'all have spare time I'd suggest listening to some of those. http://www.byub.org/talks/.

Too Busy to Write Much

Things here are going well. We have a lot of potential investigators that should be getting baptized pretty soon. We should be putting them on date. Everything is going pretty well training. My son is kind of a typical Utah mormon. A little self-righteous, and trying to tell me how to do missionary work. but it's all good. I don't have too much time to be writing or think of much to write about. We're going to be meeting the new Mission president tomorrow. So I'm excited for that. Well I think that's about all for this week. I'll be writing more next week. I promise.

Happy Father's Day!

I had an awesome Father's Day.  I gave a 20 minute talk talking to the english members and telling them that they need to help us out more. Then I sang with the ward choir for Father's Day. It was grrreat.
Well things here are going pretty good. We had transfers yesterday. So I ended last transfer with 0 baptisms. But that won't be happening again. Monday night is when the APs call to tell people they're going to be doing something the next transfer. So Monday night rolled around and I got a call on the phone. Everyone told me I was going to be a District Leader so I was expecting that. But they started talking and said that the Lord has called me to be a trainer. So I'm training a new missionary right from the good ol' MTC. There were 4 spanish missionaries coming in, and 3 of them were native speakers and 1 American. And I'm the only American Spanish Elder training. So I assumed I'd be training one of the natives. But it turns out that I'm training the American. His name is Elder Cannon. He's from Provo. So this should be a pretty interesting transfer. A lot of growing will be going on. On the down side, nobody came to church on Sunday and I'm staying in our area. So we have a lot of work to get done this transfer. Well Right now we are still working on getting a couple married. We're trying to get her husband to agree to get married. Next week I'll be e-mailing on Thursday again because President Winn is going to be going around to our apartments and talking to us. But my interview with him isn't until July 2nd. Oh and Sunday after I gave a talk in the inglish ward the Bishop asked if we needed blessings. So we kind of said no and then he was like "alright just felt prompted to ask if y'all needed one." So we agreed to get one. And While he gave me my blessing he said that I would be protected from accusations and car wrecks and stuff like that. So that was kind of interesting. I don't know what accusations will be coming my way, but we shall see. Well that's about it I love y'all and miss y'all. I know that this church is true and that this gospel I'm sharing is blessing the lives of many. I know that as we keep the commandmants and do what Heavenly Father wants us to, we will receive blessings. And I know that Christ directs and guides his church. I know that we have a living prophet.

Slow Summer

Well things here are still going a little slow. I kind of wish things would pick up or that at least we'd get some solid investigators. Most of them are dogging us or not showin up for appointments. So I'm getting a little frustrated with that, but I guess it's part of the mission. Hopefully it's a sign of greater things to come. D&C 58:3-4 explains it pretty well. Thursday we had our last interview with President Sonne. Him and his wife came to the apartment and pretty much just said bye to us, and to support President Winn when he comes in and stuff like that. They also gave us their e-mail address and house address. But we can't talk to them until after we get back from the mission. I'll probably go visit them when I get back. Then this Sunday the Young Women’s leaders came and asked us to help them out with their class by talking about how we like to receive letters and the stuff we like to hear when we receive in our letters. So that was a little interesting. but fun I guess. We're just working hard and hoping that we can get a baptism before transfers are over. Transfers are next week. So we need a miracle. I'm thinking about buying a new Spanish triple combination. They have some Italian Leather covered ones that I'll probably get next month. They're pretty nice. Well I think that's about all that's going on. I'm still trying to get my companion to learn Spanish. It's definitely a challenge. Well that's about all.

Last Interview With President Sonne

Things are starting to get warm here which is pretty good. Well things are going decent here. I think we're going to drop most of our investigators. None of them are progressing. We got a few good ones. There's one that is ready to get baptized.  Her husband just needs to want to get married. We're working on a few more right now, so we'll see how that goes. It's kind of disappointing. I think another reason that we aren't having too much success is that it's kind of like I'm doing most of the work/teaching. So it's only one of us teaching and testifying. But we're going along little by little. I really can't think of too much to write about. We have our last interview with President Sonne tomorrow. It's going to be pretty sad, but oh well. It'll definitely be a challenge to switch over mission presidents. From what I've heard, the new mission president is pretty scared right now. So we're keeping him in our prayers. Well I think that's about all going on with me right now. I feel like I say the same thing every week, so sorry about that, I'll keep my eye open for some good stories during this week. I'll see If I can find something.

One Year Mark

Well I can't think of too much going on here. Last week I threw up for the time on the mission from eating too much. The day before I hit my year mark. We're working with a few people to be baptized. They've been coming to church and everything so hopefully they’ll have a desire to be baptized. I can't think of anything going on here. We're hoping to get 7 baptisms this transfer, so we're just trying to work hard. We're working on getting some more investigators.

It's hard to believe this time next year I'll be back home. Not that I'm trunky or anything. So who all will be there when I come back next year? Hopefully there will be some people there that I know. Only 363 days left in the mission. HA.

Sweet Deal on A 3-Piece Suit

Well things are going pretty good. It's kind of crazy that it's already been a year! Things are going pretty well with my companion. His spanish is still pretty limited. But it'll get better. We're getting along pretty well which is good. The work is a little slow in our area. We're still working on finding more people. It seems like that's what we are always doing. But oh well. Nothing new has really happened since the last time I sent y'all an e-mail. But we had our last Zone Conference with President Sonne. That was kind of sad. But I learned a lot of stuff. He told us that it wouldn't have to do with missionary work, but it would be for after the mission. I'll probably share it with y'all when I get back. There was some good stuff in there. The Spirit was so strong as he spoke. I think that's about all that's going on right now. We're getting more and more support from the english leaders which is good. They're trusting us more. Oh and I bought a new 3 piece suit today at DI for $15. So that was a pretty sweet deal.

Great Baptism

So transfers were yesterday. I stayed in the same area. My new companion is the person that my MTC companion trained. It's his second transfer. His name is Elder Blocher, he's from Indiana. He doesn't speak too much spanish so it'll be tough. I'll feel like I'm teaching by myself. But this is one of the challenges I guess. This transfer should be pretty good. We're hoping to have 7 baptisms. Which will be a challenge because it's only a 5 week transfer. President Winn is coming a week early. Then next transfer will be 7 weeks.


Well this past weekend we had the baptism of the Lopez family. It was greatt. They came in their marriage clothes got married, changed, got baptized. I'll send pictures next week. But I baptized the father and son. The Spirit was so strong. Then Sunday they got confirmed. I confirmed the son and one of the daughters. It was a good experience. They're such an amazing family. They'll probably be entering the temple in a year. I don't have too much time because we're using the library computers and they only give us like 30 minutes. I feel like I’m back in the MTC. But that's pretty much all that's going on right now. I finally got a car. So hopefully that will increase the work. Oh and the English leadership is starting to trust us which is always good. The Stake president is pleased with us so hopefully they'll support us more! Well I love y'all and miss y'all. I'll write more next week!

Happy Mother's Day! Nearly a Year Has Passed.

Well time is still going by really fast. I only have about a year left in the mission. And to put it in perspective, it's only 12 more fast Sundays. CRAZY.


Everything is still going good. We have the family preparing to be baptized still for this Saturday. They're still excited about it, so it's GREAT.  And we have transfers on Wednesday, so I'll be writing y'all on Thursday.

Baptismal Date Set!

Well Things here are going good. The family that we've been teaching has a baptismal date for the 15th of May. The parents went today to get their marriage license and are planning on getting married on the 15th as well. So I'm really excited about that. And hoping that it goes through. They're an amazing family. So I'll keep y'all updated on how that goes. I don't know, that's about all the work that we have going on in our area right now. We're still working on finding more people. It seems like a lot of people want to talk with us for help from the church. We had interviews with President Sonne yesterday. That's why I'm e-mailing y'all today. They went well. It's weird to think that I only have one more interview with him. Then we get a new mission president. Sorry I don't have much time to write. But I can't think of much more to write about.

The Work of the Lord

Before I forget, I found out what the name of the illness is that the kid has that I talked about last time. It's "Leucodistrofia", in English I think that it's Leukodystrophy.


Anyways, everything here is going well. That family that I told y'all about last week, the one that came to church and read together after one day, offered to feed us lunch on Saturday. So we went over and we set up a trip to go to Temple Square on Sunday. So Sunday we passed by their house before church to invite them to church. We talked to the dad. And he told us "well the kids said they're feeling a little pressured/ not used to the change. (Because before they didn't go to church at all). So y'all can probably come over 2 times a week like Wednesday and Saturday. We'll still go to church today but probably won't go to the temple tonight" So we kept talking to him for a little bit more, and then left to walk to church. On the walk to church the whole time I was in shock and just felt like crying. We waited in the foyer for them and they came. So we took them to their classes (they do sacrament last here). So we took everyone and the classes were going. I looked at my companion and told him we had to pray. But since all the classrooms were occupied there weren't many places to kneel down and pray. Luckily we were next to the custodial closet, so I opened the door and told him to get in. So in the custodial closet we knelt down and prayed. We prayed that their hearts would be touched while at church, and that they may continue to have a desire to learn about the church, and that they would go to the temple with us that night. So we went back to the Elders quorum. Then had Gospel Principles class (luckily the teacher there is amazing and they all liked his class/ way he teaches). And then we went to sacrament meeting. Which luckily, it was me and my companion giving the talks. I talked about how missionary work and love are inseparable. And taught the members to do missionary work through service to others and their examples. And my companion talked about our purpose as missionaries and their responsibility of member missionary work. And there was a baby blessing that day, so there were a lot more people that weren't members and a lot of people at church, just a little more pressure. But anyways after church we talked to them and they said that they would go to the temple that night. So that was good. We got to their house like 5 or 10 minutes late and they weren't there so we called. They told us "we're on our way to the temple" and so they came back and got us. We saw the statue of Christ, then we saw the presentation of "Our Heavenly Father's Plan for the Family." Then we saw the movie of Joseph Smith. They said that they loved the temple, and everything. They wouldn't stop taking pictures of them in front of the temple, and other sights. When they dropped us off at our house they all got out of the car and gave us some handshakes, and told us we could come by whenever we want and we didn't even need appointments. And the wife in relief society signed up to feed us 2 times during the week. I know that our prayers are heard and answered. I know that this is the work of the Lord.

Buenas Dias!

Well we're still working on finding new investigators. It's pretty tough. We did find a family though that seemed like they should be pretty good. We talked to the dad and he was telling us that they don't go to any church, but are looking for a church to go to. They don't want their kids to grow up and fall in to the pattern most do. Which is going to church sometimes, as a kid then growing up and never going. We've only talked to them once, but we have an appointment with them tonight. So hopefully it will be able to go well. We're still doing a lot of tracting and contacting referrals. On Sunday we went to an english ward and talked with some english bishops and the stake president. The bishops were glad to see a missionary and gave us a bunch of referrals. I guess the english ones haven't really worked too much with them. So I guess some of the members don't trust missionaries. Hopefully we'll be able to turn that around. Things with my companion are going pretty well. He's kind of a little different, but it's part of learning to get a long with different personalities. I've been pretty tired lately. I'll go to sleep and wake up at 6:25 and it doesn't feel like I've even slept. The family that I wrote bout last week, the one with the kid that's been sick is still the same. I found out the name of the sickness but I don't remember what it's called. It was something like "leo" something. Well, the weather is starting to warm up here which is nice. But right now we're getting a thunderstorm. Which reminds me of home a little bit. I think it's the first one I've seen since I've been out. I can't really think of too much more that's been going on. We don't have any baptisms coming up, but we should be able to put some people on date this week. I'm working on getting the Master Teacher award so I've been memorizing a lot of scriptures in Spanish. It's fun and gives me something to do.

Malo Lei Lei

Hola!

Well things in the new area are going pretty well. All the people that the missionaries before us had, aren't really too good. So I'm kind of having to start over here. We're doing a lot of tracting and working on finding new people to teach. We've found two families that look pretty good and then yesterday we found a guy that seems pretty solid. One of the families has a little boy who is 5, almost 6, years old. And apparently like 3 months ago he was a normal kid, but now he's having problems talking and walking, like he's lost a lot of body control. They said the doctor said it was terminal, and that of the 4 types of the disease, this is the rarest. The dad didn't really want to talk to us, but we just kept talking about the plan then he said "someone from your church told us they were going to come over and give a blessing, but he said it would be in a couple of days." So we told him we have the same authority and offered to give the blessing. So we gave it, and then they became open to talking about the gospel. It was grrrreat. Then the guy yesterday we were talking to him and he told us "I don't like those Christian churches that yell and sing, and say they start speaking of tongues, and hit people on the head and say they're healed." That kind of surprised us, but then he said something more surprising. He said "two weekends ago I was watching something, I think it was from your church, I liked the way they explained everything. It was simple and I liked what they taught." So we told him it was probably General Conference, because he said it was Saturday and Sunday two weeks ago, and that the people he listened to were the Apostles and prophet. And so we talked to him a little bit and we're going to return on Saturday. Hopefully something good can come from these people we've found.
 
My companion doesn't really know much about the area. I've been in it 6 weeks less than him and I think I know it and the investigators better. I feel like I'm training, in a white wash area. It's tough but oh well. The work here is going well, and hopefully we'll continue to find more people to teach! Oh one last story. So yesterday we went to check a referral and we knocked the door and an old lady answers and she tells us "I'm a Southern Baptist and I don't want to hear about your... I'm not even going to call it a religion because it's a cult!"" So I was trying to stay calm and I said "why would you say it's a cult?" and she started saying a bunch of stuff and then they said "but don't worry serving a mission is going to make you a successful person, the head of a company, and rich." Then her and her daughter started saying a bunch more stuff so I said "I can tell y'all have a strong faith in Christ. Keep manifesting it..." and they said "Amen. We do!" and so we started walking away when a spanish guy pulled up, the guy we were trying to contact, and so we started talking to him. Trying to see if he's interested and these crazy ladies were yelling "Adios! What don't you understand about leave! This is private property!" and then the old lady yells "Call 911! and tell them to get over here!" Which I wasn't worried about, because the police probably are mormon and wouldn't do anything to us. So we ended up not being able to talk to the spanish guy. But while the old lady was still yelling at us I offered to help with anything, cutting the grass or anything, then her countenance changed but she still hated me. So that was a fun experience.

Transfers

Happy Thursday!

Well I got transfered to another part of West Valley. Now I'm in the Granger East stake. We have one person with a baptismal date, but I'm going to see if I can change that. I'm thinking about 6 baptisms this transfer. My new companion is from Ecuador. He's kind of a quiet kid and he's been out for a few months. Everything in my life is going pretty well. Our new area is pretty big, and we don't have a car. Last night it took us about 30 minutes to walk to one of our appointments. I guess I'm pretty excited to work in this area. It's always a good thing to go to new stakes and meet new people. I can't really think of too much to write about. We're supposed to have a baptism on Saturday so hopefully that goes through. We talked to him last night and he said he was a little unsure. But I talked to him a little bit and I think he feels better about it.  That's all for now.

Stoked!

Buenasss diassss!! The weekend was GRRREAT! We had 4 baptisms. Which brings the transfer total to 7. And in the two transfers I've been here I've had 19. The whole zone together had 18, and the mission had 82 for the weekend. Then Sunday we had 9 confirmations in church. My arm was dead by the end. I baptized and confirmed the same person, so that was pretty cool.

Yesterday we had an amazing day as well. We put 2 people on date for baptism. One for the 10th, and the other for the 17th. And then we were checking past investigators the night before and felt like we should go visit one. It said they were only home on weekends, but we went anyways. It was a back up plan and the lesson we set up the night before somehow fell through. We went and she opened the door and was surprised. So then she told us a few days ago she saw some missionaries and was going to talk to them, but decided she could just go to the church building because she knew where it was at. But we showed up, so it was kind of an answer to her prayers. And she wants us to teach her sons, but I'm pretty sure she'll learn with them and her husband. So there's a potential of 4. It was great. On the weekend we saw some kids playing basketball and so we challanged them to a game of 4 on 2. We kept our suits on. And needless to say, we beat them 12-4. So that was kind of fun. I think that's about all that's been going on. We got transfers next week so I'll be e-mailing on Thursday. man this transfer has gone by so fast! It's crazy that conference is already here again. I'm Stoked.

A Quick Note

Anyways, The work here is going geat! We only had one baptism this last weekend. We were hoping for 3... But the good news is that the 2 that didn't get baptized are planning on getting baptized this weekend. So hopefully we'll have 4. Which is going to be great because there will be 12 baptisms in the stake which is pretty amazing. Hopefully the work will continue to progress. I can't really think of too much that has happened. And I don't have too much time, But I'm still seeing miracles and everything is going well. Sorry if this e-mail is kind of a let down, but I promise I will have more for y'all next week!

HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY!

Well, I had interviews with President Sonne this week and he told me "I don't know why, but God wants you to be fluent in Spanish." Then he followed it with "I don't know maybe your girl will be a spanish speaker." He's trying to get me to think about marriage. I think he's trunky. Then I talked to him about March Madness a little bit. It was a great interview.

Anyways the work in the area is going pretty well. We were able to have 2 weddings, and a baptism on Saturday. This weekend we're planning on having 2-3 baptisms. It should be grrrreat. I'm excited. Then we have 2 or 3 baptisms set up for the 27th, and then the 3rd is General Conference, and right now we're working on getting some people on date for the 10th. Which we should be able to do. There is so much work in this area it is crazy. I don't really want to leave after this transfer. But if I do, it's all good. It just means I'll have to go baptize like crazy somewhere else. But we still have 3 weeks left in this transfer. A lot of time to work.

I can't really think of any thing that's happened. Oh Sunday, I confirmed someone a member of the church for the first time. So that was an interesting thing. I think he's going to serve a mission. I hope so. Well I know this church is true and that I'm doing the best thing with my time. I've grown and learned so much. I've seen so many miracles and changes in the lives of the people that are here, it's amazing. right now I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Happy Birthday to Me!

WOOOOOOOO!!! The big 2-0. Man I spent my birthday with a CrAzY party! It started around 10:30 at night. We said a prayer. And went to bed. I think I woke up around 4:30 told myself "happy birthday" and went back to sleep. I probably had a sick birthday in my dreams. Then I celebrated by sleeping in 2 minutes until 6:25 A.M. Went to the study room and read my birthday cards and then, celebrated by running a mile. Shortly after I took a cool down shower, then ate some breakfast. A banana and a Slim-fast Shake ( I'm trying to cut the lb's before General Conference). Then I had some Personal and companion study. We made a baptismal program. During language study, my colleague in the work of Zion, Elder Hiatt, brought me a wonderful birthday surprise. He made me the best birthday card I have ever received, and some cosas to make S'mores. Subsequently, this later got us in trouble with the Zone Leaders and District Leader because it was midway through language study. But I'm alright with it. Because 1) It was Elder Hiatt. 2) It was my birthday 3) My spanish is perfect and I don't need language study 4)It was an act of love not of selfish sin. 5) I sinned in ignorance. 6) We had a lesson to help them with at 11 so they needed us to come over anyways. So I'm pretty sure that justifies it all! Then we helped him with his lesson. I had the opportunity of having 2 lessons with Elder Hiatt that day! Then our dinner appointment last night was sick. The guy offered to take us golfing whenever we want, so we'll probably go next P-day. Then to finish off the day we had a baptism and confirmation of one of our investigators. Probably the best thing to do on my birthday. Then when we returned to the apartment, we got chastised a little by the Zone Leaders about Elder Hiatt coming over. But it was all gravy, because it was my birthday. That was pretty much the highlight of the week. Oh and Sunday when we got to church the person that we baptized yesterday, asked us to give her baby a blessing to give it a name. So I figured my companion would do it because it was in spanish, but she was like "no you" so I got to bless a baby and give it a name for the first time, and the best part is, is that it was in spanish. Oh man. I went to Temple Square Monday night. The investigators we went with felt the Spirit pretty strong. The girl/wife ( who has been the hardest to convert) cried at one point. Then one of them said that they felt a little sad at the end of the Joseph Smith movie because he died. The guy that said that is getting baptized on saturday, and his sister and her boyfriend are getting married on Saturday. So this weekend should be good. 2 Weddings and 1 baptism! Well I think I've said about all that needs to be said.

The first two pictures are of the baptism. The kid in picture 2 is always dressed in slacks and converse it's sick. The next picture is the banner that we all sign.  The last picture is the of the SLC Temple that night.

Transfers

Well, we had transfers yesterday and it turns out I stayed in the area So it's pretty good I guess. I wouldn't mind seeing a little more of Salt Lake. I've been here for pretty much my whole mission. But it's all gravy. It got pretty crazy last week. The family that we helped get married ended up getting baptized on Saturday, and so did the other family where the dad came back for some reason. So we had our 5 baptisms and confirmation last weekend. It was amazing! It turned out to be a pretty good transfer. We had 12 baptisms and confirmations. Which brings my total to 25 baptisms/confirmations during the mission. Hopefully I'll be able to have this much success again next transfer. It was sad seeing all they missionaries that went home. There were some good missionaries there. But oh well. My new companion is Elder Dominguez. He's from El Salvador, but spent the last year in Jamaica Queens, New York. Pretty rough part. So we're a little different. I don't think he likes too much fun. He's pretty serious, but I'll be able to change that. The lady that we found had to go to California for a little while, so she kind of fell off date. But when she comes back we can baptize her. But I'm not too worried about it. There's so much work here. Last night we found a family that seems really receptive. We should be able to baptize a lot again this transfer. At least that's what we're hoping for. Well I think that's about all that's going on around here.

Pictures from the baptism. The family with the three little boys is the other family we baptized. Those 3 are always wearing matching outfits.

HERMANOS! HERMANOS!

The marriage turned out pretty well. We got a Samoan bishop to marry them because the english ones didn't want to/ some were out of town. And the Spanish one was working. But we got them married. We went down to the marriage license office on Thursday and got the license with them. So I got to see how that whole process works. It was great. And the two baptisms we were supposed to have last week fell through because he got called to work early. But he left early and he came back the other day. So if all goes well, we will have 5 baptisms this weekend. The other day a miracle happened. We were walking in the trailer parks the other day towards an appointment and this little girl comes running out of one of them and says "HERMANOS! HERMANOS! Mi mama quiere hablar con ustedes" Something like that. So we went to the house to see what was up. So we got to the door and their were two women standing there and we started talking. And one of them just moved here from California a few days ago. Before she went to California, She was talking to the missionaries and going to church in Mexico. When she moved to California she looked but didn't find the church. And then she came here and 4 days later found us. I have no idea how they saw us, but it's good they did. She's preparing for baptism on March 13. It was amazing. Well that's all about the work right now.

Here are pictures from the wedding we helped with. A Samoan bishop performed it.

Happy Wednesday before Valentine's Day!

I received the cards from the primary kids and the school kids. I'm going to have to say that Jaimie's card was probably the best. Especially when it said "have a happy valentine day with your wife. PS.- I hope you make your wife happy." Ha. Good stuff. I heard about the Saints winning the Super Bowl. They aren't the "Aint's" any more. I received a letter from Brother Tucker a few weeks ago saying that Josh got his mission call, Chris and Sam are 18 now, Tyler Callens and Brady are now Priests. Man it's crazy how fast time goes by. And to top it all off I'm turning 20 next month. I'm so old. I think I'm ready to enter into retirement and receive my Social Security check every month. I'll have 20 years. Man.

I guess I'll update y'all with what's going on here. On Friday night we were able to have our 2 baptisms. We baptized them and then confirmed them there because we didn't have church on Sunday. Because it was Stake conference. When one of them got confirmed the Spirit was so strong. He told us he wants to serve a mission. So that was a pretty good experience. I'll send some pictures of that. Stake conference was a fun little experience. Saturday someone from the spanish branch asked us to translate his talk for him so that he could read it in english. So we translated the talk and gave it to him. Then during the adult session of stake conference when it was him and his wife's turn to give their talk/testimony. They decided to do it in spanish so we had to get up and translate it. And my companion so unselfishly volunteered me do to the one we didn't translate. So I translated it, thought everything was good until Sunday during the General session of conference. Another couple from the ward was giving a talk so the wife went and gave hers in English. Then the husband got up and tried English but I guess got nervous. And asked for some help. So once again my companion refused to go, so I went. So I got up there, and he started speaking Spanish. For like a minute. He didn't give a chance to translate for that minute and the people in the congregation were giggling. But after that time he gave me a little more chance to translate. So later that night we had dinner with President Kendall. The secound councilor in the stake presidency, and the person we live with. But as we were talking Sister Kendall said that when I was translating her daughter-in-law said "I didn't know that spanish translated into 'all y'all.'" Man these Utahns are relentless when it comes to stuff like that. Then people always comment on "yes ma'am/sir." Man. Well the work is going good here. We have 2 more baptisms this friday. That will bring the transfer total to 9. Then we have a marriage set up for the 14th, the day of love, and then they're getting baptized on the 20th with one of their sons. So hopefully that will bring the transfer total to 12. That's what we're going for. Things are still going pretty rough with my companion. It's hard because he won't let go of his pride. He's pretty prideful and self-righteous. But I'm trying to help him. The other day in Zone meeting the Zone leaders made an announcement that if somebody has a perscription from a doctor for coffee or something against the word of wisdom that they can still get baptized. That's the instructions from President Sonne. In the middle of the meeting my companion started challenging them and saying that's wrong. And so later that night they came over and talked to him. They were saying that we're working on becoming a Zion mission so he shouldn't pull others down and not support leaders, because we're working on building each other up. Then my companion said that this is changing the Word of Wisdom and that it's a way that Satan is trying to get power over us. It's frustrating. If it isn't what he thinks is right or if it's something he doesn't want to do he throws a temper tantrum. But I'm learning A LOT of patience. Which is good I guess. I only got 2 more weeks. I can do it! Well here are some pictures. The first one is us with the 2 people we baptized. The younger one is the one that wants to serve a mission. Next is one of the guy we baptized with his family. Next is the family with both people we baptized. The last one is me with my sweet durag that Tiffany sent. It's pretty sick. with the shirt she sent me. It's pretty sick.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Well there's not much going on here. Just livin the mission life. We're going to have 2 baptisms tomorrow night. Which I'm stoked about. The goal for the transfer is 12, right now we're at 5 and if the 2 tomorrow go through we'll be at 7. At most we're hoping for 15. There's so much work to be done here it is crazy. We found this family of 4 that are really interested. The mom's brother is a member. We're hoping to get them baptized on the 20th. And we're helping a couple get married on the 14th, and hopefully baptized on the 20th. It's exciting all the work to be done here. This is a good area. That's about all I got with this area. I mean I don't really know what's interesting to hear, because it's what I do everyday. Things with my companion are going decent. I'm workin on patience. He get's mad pretty easy, and if you don't know how to handle it, things would get out of control.

So yesterday at the temple was pretty cool. We had 12 hours there. We did 2 endowment sessions, and 2 initiatory sessions. We had a devotional. President Sonne talked to us for a few minutes, and then the temple president talked to us for a few minutes, and Elder Ballard spoke to us for like half a hour. So it was pretty good. I learned a lot. It was a good experience. It was a good day.

Great Week!

Well it was another great week. It hasn't been to cold lately. I don't know, I guess I'm just used to walking around in the cold. I can't wait for it to warm up a little bit. That'll be very nice. Maybe I'll go to Wyoming in the summer time. That way it won't be too hot. It'll be AWESOME. The Nashville Tribute to Joseph Smith is a great CD. Especially The Rising, and Modern Day Sam, the Emma Smith song is pretty good too. It's crazy I've been out for 8 months now. It's going by so fast. Man. Crazy.

I didn't hear about the earthquake until a few days after it happened. I'm kind of glad I have this distance from all the bad things happening in the world. It's kind of a blessing to be cut off a little bit. I'm not totally cut off though. I know that BYU is ranked like 12th in the nation in basketball which is pretty amazing. We just finished our week of eating with the Samoan branch. That was fun. We went to Golden Corall twice, and had brisket on Sunday. it was good. Anyways, we had our 5 baptisms last weekend. Which was really good. They're a solid family. And right now we have 3 more people on date in February.

On Friday we had Zone Conference. That was really good. They talked about how to be a Zion mission. Because last year the theme was becoming Zion missionaries, and now it's about helping others to become a Zion Mission. President Sonne was talking about how there is an evil among pretty much all missions. And that is not reporting when someone does something against the rules because you don't want to be seen as a "traitor/ tattle tale." He quoted President Monson I think and said "tolerance is the mask of sin." He talked about how his brother talks about how being tolerant is "politically correct" but it's not. I was reading something about pride too, and it said that worrying about what people think about us more than what God thinks is a form of pride. And we had a training about how to pray correctly. That was interesting. Well I think that's about all going on.

Que Oonda?

Happy Martin Luthur King day!
So for transfers I got moved back to pretty much my first area. Just one stake over. So I'm still in the WVC. Hopefully next transfer I will get out of this area and maybe see more than this part of Salt Lake. It's good and there's a lot of work here, but I wouldn't mind seeing different parts of the town. But it's all good I guess. I'm living in a new apartment and working in the area, but in the same zone. The family we are living with is the Kendall's. I found out that Sister Kendall is the cousin of Brother Harris in the third ward. So that was pretty interesting. Small world. Last week on p-day we watched Forever Strong. It's pretty much the mission film. We've watched it at least 4 or 5 times since I've been here. President Sonne must really like that movie. He has us apply it to the mission life. Good stuff. This weekend we have 5 baptisms coming up. And then we have one more on date which is really exciting. We're going for 12 baptisms this transfer. We're helping a family get married too. So we're staying busy here and BAPTIZING LIKE CRAZY. The family we're going to baptize is solid. They're good. Not too much has happened this week. Elder Santos got sick so I spent a day in the apartment which was a little boring. It was like a day long personal study. So I updated the scrapbook and things like that. I think that's about all.

Another Transfer

It's pretty cold here. It's usually in the teen's or 20's. And I got transferred to a new area, but in the same zone. And I'm still without a car. It's AWESOME... Anyway quick story. One of the missionaries asked how old Clark was and I told him without thinking, "he has 6 months." I thought that's how you say it. But it's "he is 6 months old." It's because in Spanish you say "tiene 6 meses" (he has 6 months) I'm turning MEXICAN! But, the baptism went through. It was good I'll send some pictures of it. But we went to his house after the baptism and we were talking. And he asked how he could become an Elder. I explained there's a difference between the office of an Elder and a missionary Elder. And I suggested a mission. And I was so excited when he said he was thinking about serving a mission. I don't think I could of had any more joy. Actually I did when I went to say goodbye to some of my recent converts. I went to one of their houses and I told her that I don't know when I return but when I come back I want to see her active and going to church. (her husband doesn't want anything to do with missionaries, and her kids aren't interested. But she was promised her family would accept the gospel). And after I told her that she said "I'm going to be waiting." She's so solid. Oh and another one of the converts hasn't come for like 2 weeks and the same one who said she was going to be waiting asked us for her number so she could call her and see how she's doing. Man, she's going to be Relief Society President some day. I've had some other pretty good experiences lately, but there's too much to write. So we'll just have to go through the Journal when I get back to tell the stories. Because I can't really think of all of them right now. Anyways, My new companion is from Mexico and he is like 28 years old. I don't know why I keep getting all the old people for companions, but it's all good. A lot of people are trying to give me advice how to help get through the transfer, so we'll see how it goes. The new area is good though, We have 5 baptisms coming up this weekend, so we'll see how that goes. Well I gotta go.

Hola!

Anyways, I figure I should write about the week. It's only been a few days since I last wrote, so there won't be too much. Yesterday we had a ridiculous lesson. We were teaching these people and asked if they wanted us to focus more on Prophets or Christ's Earthly Ministry. They said Prophets. So after we finished the lesson they say "Why do y'all talk about prophets so much? Y'all talk about prophets but never talk about the Virgin of Guadalupe/Mary." Then they said "I think the Virgin is more important than prophets." And so I talked about how in the ten commandments it says to only worship the one true God, and the husband said "well my wife worships the Virgin" and she interrupted and said "I believe in the Virgin..." And then the Husband said "for us the most important people are God, the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Virgin." and so I corrected them and said that the trinity is God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and that they should be the 3 most important people. They kept talking about how we don't believe in the Virgin Mary and so I read from 1 Nephi 11. I was angry by then, so I said "fine. read this." Then they started talking about how in the story the Virgin says that whatever we pray to her in the name of her son we'll get. And I asked where it was in the Bible and they said "no it's in the book of the Virgin" and I said no I want to see that in the Bible. Man that was an annoying lesson. But it's all good. I don't think much else has gone on. We're going to the temple tonight, so that should be pretty fun. It's with a family we're teaching. The wife is trying to stop smoking. I think she has around 2 weeks now. We've been teaching them The Plan of Salvation. So after the lesson we asked if she had any questions. And she said that she had a dream and she saw her grand child and a bunch of other children in a white area. And so I told her that that was a way that her prayers were being answered. That what she saw was the opportunity she has to live with her family forever. All the children she saw were her posterity, and that this is what Heavenly Father wants for her and her family. Well that's about the highlights from the week. I'm starting to get sick, but I bought some NyQuil/DayQuil, and some sore throat numbing spray, and some Orange juice. So I should be getting better pretty soon. I already feel like I'm getting better!

OH I forgot I'm having a baptism this weekend! I'll write y'all about how it went and the story behind him next week because there are people waiting for computers!

Alright So the first is a picture of the Virgin Mary some investigator has in their house. I thought it was funny because there's one dead flower, a it's the flower she's looking at.  The next two are of the Temple. The last is of a billboard. Don't know why but they're everywhere. Talk about Houston. ENJOY!

Prosper Año Nuevo!

HAPPY NEW YEARSSS!!

Well I hope that y'all are recovering from your CrAzY night last night. I know I am! to sweat out all the toxins from last night we sat in a sauna for an hour. Just kidding. But seriously one of the members has a sauna in their house so me and three other missionaries went and sat in it for like an hour. It felt so good. I think we're going to be doing it again next week. Anyways, the past week has been pretty good. We're staying busy and teaching a lot of lessons. There was some contention between me and my companion but that's all cleared up.

I was teaching the Savala family, the family of 6 from Mexico, and felt like I should promise them a blessing if they went to church today. So I was thinking of what I could promise them and I had it in my head. As I began to speak the Spirit came in so strongly and I said "As a servant and representative of Jesus Christ I promise you that if you come to church this Sunday you will feel the Spirit stronger than you have ever felt it in your life and you will know that this church is true." It came out different than I planned it, but I could feel the Spirit testifying to me that it was true. So we are going to try and get them to church.

Wednesday we went to Temple Square with an investigator named Marvin. He has a baptismal date for the 9th. And that was a good experience. He's solid. We left him with the pamphlet for the first lesson and taught him about God being our heavenly father, and how the Gospel blesses family. We came back and he asked us why the Aaronic priesthood was the lesser priesthood and the Melchizedek the greater. We met him because he came to church on his own for a few weeks in a row.

We had a meeting with the Mission President and all the Spanish missionaries. He talked about how next year all of us are going to be working with the English wards and stake. So I'm excited about that. We've been trying to do that since we worked with Elder McCollum and he taught us all that. So I'll probably be with someone who didn't get that training next transfer. So that's all about that has changed. Last night we watched Monsters Vs. Aliens. It was pretty funny. Y'all should watch it. and then at 9:00 we celebrated the new years in Halifax, Canada! Because it was before our bed time and we could celebrate as a zone. It was fun. We had pots and noise. Then today like I said we went to a member's house and used their sauna. Oh and I celebrated New Years for Texas with a countdown. Today I think we're going to watch Chronicles of Narnia or something. It should be fun. Well I think that's about all. I don't have my pictures this week. But next week I'll have some for you. Hope y'all have a great day of recovering and that y'all have a great week! I love y'all and miss y'all. Hope all is well!

P.S.-y'all should get the "Joseph: A nashville tribute to the prophet. It's good.