Last Day of February

Everything here is going well. We were able to have our baptism on Saturday. Everything went well with it. He was baptized and confirmed at the baptism. The story I told y'all a few weeks ago about the kids who's dad went apostate and wouldn't let them get baptized is still not over. We sent him a copy of the baptism record on Thursday and received a call from him on Saturday saying that he sent a consent form on Tuesday to the Bishop. So we cleared that hurdle. But the thing is, is that he wants to be at the baptism and the family doesn't want him to, so now we have to wait until they let down their pride. It's kind of funny how they're the ones holding him back from being baptized now. Other than that nothing new has happened. We've been doing everything we can to find new investigators lately. We've found a few spanish people. But they're pretty prideful. And they really love their virgin of Guadalupe. So we haven't been able to get them away from that. So that's always fun. But the work keeps going on. Something I've noticed and seen a lot is pride. I've seen how big of a stubling block it is for everyone. It's what keeps missionaries from reaching their potential. It's what keeps investigators from giving up their past ways. It's what keeps inactive and less active members from coming back to the church. It's what keeps active members complacent with where they're at and reaching their potential. It's so sad to see all the effects that pride has on people. But it's a universal sin and as the scriptures say, either you can humble yourself or God will humble you. It's a pretty scary thought of having God humble me, so I'm working on humbling myself. There was a referral we received a few weeks ago and we finally contacted him on Monday. This guy had been married and now divorced to a member of the church, and used to receive home teachers. But he never got baptized. So we went by him and started talking to him. And he seemed pretty focused on finding out who sent us. He thought it was one of his friends he talks to a lot. But we assured him it wasn't and told him who sent us. And he was surprised and said he hadn't talked to him for a while. We come to find out that earlier in the week, or last week he was diagnosed with cancer. And so we were talking with him and told him it wasn't a coincidence that we showed up that day. And we talked to him for a while he was trying to find out how the answer would feel and all that. He was kind of shut down to it the whole time. Then before we left we offered to give him a blessing. He agreed. We gave him one and after that his countenance changed and he was more receptive to us. So we're planning on visiting him again this week to see how he's doing. It was pretty sweet.

What a Week!

Things here are great. On Valentines day last week we treated ourselves to Tucano's. It's a Brazilian steak place. It was a pretty good day. It's been a good week though. We had a baptism on Saturday of a 15-year-old kid named Dylan. He's the brother of the girl we baptized a few weeks ago. It went great, everything went smoothly. And yesterday we had the baptism of Maddy and Chloe, the 2 girls we've been working with in Randolph. So we spent all of Sunday up in Randolph and Woodruff. We went to a PEC meeting up there and for the first half hour we talked about how the girls basketball team won state in the 1A division. So that was fun talking about sports for a long time... not really. But the baptism was amazing. I think every baptism should be like this one. We had everything set up in the Relief Society room for the baptism. A few minutes before it was scheduled to start we had to switch it to the chapel because there were so many people there. The older girl, Maddy, was so nervous about it all so it was fun watching her be stressed out about it. But everything went smoothly with it as well. The only thing we had to do as missionaries was bear our testimonies. They're such a great family. So we were able to have 3 baptisms this weekend. We've truly been blessed. Follow up on the miracle from last week about the kids whose dad wouldn't let them get baptized. They had their visit and we wrote up a consent form, but he wouldn't sign it because it wasn't the official one from the church. So we're working on getting that done, and hopefully getting it to him as soon as we can. And the other girl we've been working with, Kayla, is struggling. She knows it's true and has felt the Spirit in the lessons, but I think she's afraid of the answer she'll get. But she's keeping most of the commitments, other than praying to know if the things we've taught are true and praying to know if she should get baptized. So that's a little tough, but the Young womens president is helping us out so much. She's answering her questions, encouraging her, and helping her out. So we're hoping to see a miracle with that. This weekend we have a kid preparing to be baptized and confirmed as well. And we're hoping that the other kids dad will let them get baptized this week. So when I write home next week I'll be telling y'all about the two baptisms we had. The work is going along great. I love it. I love this gospel and I know it's true. I know this is the work of the Lord. I love y'all, miss y'all, and pray for y'all. I hope y'all have a great week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines day!

Anyways things here are going great. Right now we're down in the valley at the Gateway mall. One of the missionaries has to take a driving test so we had to come down here. I definitely don't miss it too much. I love it out in Coalville. The work is going well. As y'all saw we had a leadership training. So those were a fun couple of days. This weekend I think I've been the most tired and most exhausted in my whole mission. So there's this kid we're working with that's wanted to be baptized for a few years. But his parents are divorced and the dad won't give him permission to get baptized. So we felt like this weekend there was going to be something different. So we went over on Wednesday and had a lesson and the Spirit was really strong. We promised him that if he talked to his dad at the supervised visit it would be different than last time. So we went by Saturday to pump him up and they said the car broke down and they weren't going to go. So we felt a little discourgaed but had him call his dad right there. He called and the dad didn't answer. So we had him call at 6 p.m. The whole time I'm praying my heart out. I think it was one of the most sincere prayers I've prayed during these couple of days. We called them and they said they talked to the dad and he said no. So we figured out all our options and thought about what we could do. Then we called the assistants and President Winn. One of them told us to call the dad, and the other told us not to. So we were kind of confused and kept praying Saturday night. Then Sunday we were seeking revelation in sacrament meeting. We felt like we should call the dad. So we went to a janitors closet and prayed. The Spirit was strong again. We gave him a call and talked and he agreed to talk to the kids about baptism on the next visit and would consider signing the consent form. So it was a pretty big miracle. The baptism we were planning for this past weekend got moved back to this weekend. So we'll be having 3 baptisms this weekend. I'm excited for them. They should be good. I think that's about all that's going on here. Just working hard trying to help everyone come closer to Christ. It's the best thing in the whole world. I love it. And I love learning new things about the gospel everyday.

Happy Birthday, Stacy!

GOOD MORNING! And Happy Birthday to Stacy!


Around here it got pretty cold earlier on in the week. On Tuesday we started off in Evanston, and there were strong winds and it with the wind chill it was around -30 degrees. So we started exchanges and my companion stayed there, I went back to Coalville. It wasn't as bad here. While we were driving it was around 0 degrees. Then we went up to Evanston the next day to end exchanges and the car said it was -18 degrees. So it's been a lot of fun. While we were making our visits on Tuesday, we'd heat the car up right before we got out, ran from the car to the door, then ran back to the car. It was freezing. Monday night, we were able to put those two girls, Maddie and Chloe, on date for baptism and confirmation for the 19th. We were talking to them and committed them to be baptized and they said alright. They said they were nervous/scared about it. So I told them to pray and ask God if it's what he wants them to do and Maddie, the older one, said "I already know the answer." It was amazing. It's actually her birthday today. She's the same age as Stacy. So right now we have 4 people preparing to be baptized and confirmed. All of them are solid and prepared. We have a goal for 5 during this month. We were in a council and theygave us the assignment to give a training to all the leaders of the mission on helping people get married. So we've been preparing that a little bit. We'll be giving it either tomorrow or Wednesday. It'll be good. Our zone is doing great compared to the other zones in the mission. All the zones in the valley (6 of them) all have three districts and around 24 missionaries, we have two districts and there are 16 of us. For the amount of people on date to be baptized and confirmed we have the third most right now. So we're pushing forward. We have over 30 people. I love this work.

Friday night there was a big rivalry game here in town between North Summit and South Summit. North Summit is in Coalville, and South Summit is somewhere in the south mission. So we don't like South Summit because they're in the south mission. But we made plans and they all fell through. So we went out to visit some of the members. But nobody was home. Everybody was at the basketball game. So we called up President Winn and got his permission to go to the game, because we wanted to get some referrals. So we went and talked to the people working the concession stands, and then caught people leaving the game when it was over. It turned out to be pretty productive. Everyone was excited to see us and it got our faces out in the community. We were also able to receive 5 or 6 referrals and set up dinner and correlate with a ward mission leader. All in about 30 minutes. It was great. Well that's about all I can think about going on right now. I just love being in this work and being able to see the changes in the lives of those we're teaching. There's no greater thing to do than proclaim the gospel. As I've been out here my love and understanding for the gospel has gone way up. And I know as y'all continue to study the scriptures, individually and as a family, your love and understanding of it will increase as well.

Almost a Record...

Things here are going well. The month is ending and we have the final baptism count in. We had a goal for 24 baptisms, and a final count of 21. So we came up 3 short of the goal and the record. We're going to be working on it again in February. We have a goal of 31 baptisms. So it should be pretty good. We currently have 30 people on date for baptism. It'll be pretty close. As a companionship we have a goal for 5 baptisms, with 3 people currently on date. We have 2 more that we're hoping to put on tonight. The 2 sisters out in Randolph. The work here is slowing down some, but we're still managing to stay busy. Right now we're still working with some Peruvians that are pretty humble. They're great guys. We were in a lesson with them and some JW's walked in. We were just smiling and talking, they felt awkward and uncomfortable. It was great. We're still working with the brother of the girl that we baptized a few weeks ago. He'll be getting baptized on the 12th. Then on the 19th we have a girl from Randolph. We'll be meeting with her for the 2nd time tonight. Her mom is LA, but supportive of it. And then on the 26th we have a baptism for a boy name Hyrum Yates. He's here on Thursdays and every other weekend. He's ready right now, they just have to wait for grandma. Yesterday was stake conference here. We got up and gave our testimonies. I got up and saw 700 people looking back at me, plus whatever people were at the other building receiving the broadcast. It was a fun time. We ate lunch afterwards with a part member family and one of the high councilmen. We had steak and shrimp. I didn't have anything to complain about. We had transfers last Wednesday. Elder Salisbury left and Elder Byrd came in. He's been out for about a year and is from Boonville, Mississippi. Things are going good. I received my acceptance into BYU this week. So I will be able to go back there. I was pretty worried about it. But it looks like they'll accept me back after I'm done. I haven't messed up too much. Well I'm excited for this upcoming month of February, and can't believe it's already here. Time is flying by, and I'm loving it. I'm kind of scared to go back, but it's part of life.

Zone Visits

Everything here is going great. We had a baptism on Saturday that went well. It was for a 13-year-old girl that has been going to church for a couple of years. It was good. Our trip out to Rock Springs and Green River went well too. It was kind of a long drive, and not the best drive. Wyoming isn't the best looking part of the U.S. Rock Springs isn't too big of a city. Most of the cities in Wyoming have less than 15,000 people. The work is going great in our area. We are working with a family in Randolph. The dad is less active and he has two daughters that haven't been baptized yet. That's the one that I talked to y'all about last week. With the girl that asked the bishop about baptism. The baptism that we were supposed to have next weekend got pushed back. The parents pushed it back to February 26th because the grandma couldn't make time in her schedule for a baptism. So we're going to keep working with him. Another person we are working with is a Peruvian sheepherder name Anibal. He came to church on Sunday. He's very humble and loves to read. So he's excited about reading the Book of Mormon. Things for the zone are looking great. Not as good as we were hoping, but we're still going to beat the record for baptisms in the zone for a month. So that will be exciting. The work is continuing to go forth. On Sunday we gave talks. They were for about 20 minutes. I talked about making Christ a foundation in our lives. And in another sacrament meeting I translated it all for Anibal into spanish using the transmitter. It was a lot of fun. Well that's about it going on right now.

Happy Tuesday!

Good morning!


Well yesterday we couldn't really e-mail because everywhere was shut down for MLK day. So we get to e-mail today.

As for things here, they are still going well. We had a baptism on Saturday which went great. And this Saturday we'll be having another baptism. So we're staying pretty busy. We don't have a baptism for the week after this Saturday though. Not until the 26th of February. So we're going to be working hard to get some more baptisms before then. We should be able to. We're working with a few potentials in Randolph, Utah and a few more here in Coalville. So we'll see what happens there. The work in the area is kind of slowing down a little bit. We're struggling to find new investigators and more people to work with. It's a low populated stake with a lot of members. There's some of the members that are less active or inactive, and not too many non members. We're working with one right now who's going through a divorce and is looking for a church that'll be good for her kids. She has 3 kids, and is working 3 jobs, and going through a custody battle. So she has a lot of stress right now. But she seems somewhat receptive to the gospel. So we're going to be working more with her. Then last night we were in Randolph and teaching this family. The dad is less active and he has two daughters that aren't members. The younger daughter has talked to the bishop to see what she has to do to get baptized. So hopefully we can help her with that a little bit. On Thursday we're going to be going up to Rock Springs and Green River to work a little bit with the missionaries there. It'll be a good trip. I can't believe how fast the past transfer has gone by! Transfers are in a week. It's hard to think that I'll only have 3 more left after this one. This Sunday we spoke in one of the wards here. I planned a talk about prayer and it's importance. But later felt that's not what I needed to talk on and changed it to the Atonement. I think it went alright. With all these talks I've been giving on my mission, they're becoming a lot easier. But I still get nervous every time.