New Haircut

This week has been wonderful! I don't know if I mentioned it in my last blog or not, but I got my hair cut last week. I just got tired of putting it in a pony tail.

Also, one of our recent converts gave us each a little Santa figurine for Christmas. We have been working a lot in showing everyone the video "He is the Gift", and talking with them about how Christ is the very first gift of Christmas. It's true. If it weren't for Christ, we wouldn't have Christmas. And if it wasn't for Heavenly Father's love and His desire to make a way for us to return to Him, then we wouldn't have the gift of Christ and His Atonement. It's only about a week away until Christmas, and I hope each of you know and feel the love that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for you.

Baptism! (Short post.)

We had a baptism this past weekend! This man has been wanting to be baptized for 15 years, but he wanted to wait until his family was okay with it and would support him. Once they were okay with it, he made the choice to be baptized and to enter into a covenant with the Lord that he would remember Christ, take upon His name, and keep His commandments. He is so happy, and it is wonderful to see the changes he has made.

This blog is short because I'm short on time today, but I love each of you and hope all is well.

Five Months Out!

This week, I will have been out on my mission for 5 months. Time flies. I hope each of you had a marvelous Thanksgiving with lots of turkey and pie. I sure did. :)

There have been some super fantastic, amazing miracles happening in our area this weekend. Yesterday during church, we got a few text messages that really made our day. We got a message from one of our ward mission leaders that an investigator that we had been praying for months to come to church finally came to church! We were so excited, so as excited missionaries do, we gave each other a high-five. Then, we got another text message from an investigator who said that he had talked with his wife a lot over this past week, and she finally agreed to let him be baptized. He has been waiting for four years for his family to support his decision of being baptized into the church. We were so excited that we high-fived again. I should mention that this happened in between classes so we weren't being disruptive. He will be baptized this Saturday, and we couldn't be more excited for him. :) He's super excited, too.

On Thanksgiving, we had the wonderful opportunity to help a member in one of our wards make sopaipillas, which are a butternut squash fried bread. It was so much fun to make! We started by mixing the main ingredients for the flour, then we cooked the squash and added it to the flour. It was funny to watch the dough climb up the hook in the mixer and try to escape over the sides. After that, we kneaded it, then flattened it out. After it was rolled out, we cut it up into circles and other shapes with cookie-cutters. We stabbed each little circle with a fork so it wouldn't puff up when it was fried. Then we threw a few of the circles into the fryer. We would take them out when they looked cooked enough and let them dry and cool. They were super tasty!

Also this past week, the church put out a really awesome new Christmas video called "He is the Gift". If you haven't seen it, I think you should. I really like watching it because it helps remind me that the first gift of Christmas had nothing whatsoever to do with wrapping or stores or boxes. The first gift of Christmas was Christ. I am thankful for His ministry on the earth and for how He forgives me as often as I ask forgiveness (Mosiah 26:30).

I hope all of you know how much I love you and miss you. You are amazing. Don't ever forget that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

This past Wednesday was transfers, so I got a new companion. I am still in wonderful West Jordan, but I am now with Sister Johanson from Houston, TX.

There are a few cool things I learned this past week that I'd like to share with you. First, I would like to start with a talk I heard yesterday in church. The lady who was speaking started by talking about how she took her family to the frozen yogurt store and let them get all different kinds of frozen yogurt with candy and sprinkles on top. Everyone was having so much fun and had exactly what they wanted. After they left and went to run some errands, the kids started complaining about wanting to play on the coin machines at the front of the store. They put in a quarter and played the claw machine, but they didn't get any prize. They were so upset and continued to complain. The lady went on to say that she stopped and asked the family, "what is going on?!" They had planned out a fun evening with frozen yogurt and spending time together, but now everyone was unhappy and upset. She related this experience to how we sometimes have everything we have asked for, but we still complain to God that we don't have something. Why can't we just be grateful and happy with the things that we have? She gave a really good talk about this, and it made me stop and think about what I have in my life that I am thankful for.

Here is a list of a few of the things that I am grateful for. I am grateful for my family who loves and supports me no matter how crazy my decisions seem sometimes. I am grateful for my family who is always there for me and encourages me even in the midst of their own trials. I am grateful for a home ward full of deeply caring people who continue to love and visit my family even though I'm all the way out here. I am grateful for friends who have been there for me throughout the darkest times of my life, and who helped me to realize that life doesn't have to be so dark. I am grateful for all the coworkers that I have had at the Academy, and I am especially grateful for the ones who helped me to become a more patient and caring person. I am grateful for being able to serve a mission. I am grateful for the friends who continue to be my friends even though I only get to talk to them roughly every other week via e-mail or letters. I am grateful for a brother who is funny, caring, and super creative all the time, even when I am a punk to him. I am grateful for people who are selfless and would give anything just to help someone else. I am grateful for knowing that God loves my family and friends as well as me. I am grateful for silly jokes, for snow, for walking in the rain, and for sports. I know that everything God and Jesus Christ do is to help us be happier and eventually return to live with them.

This past week, my companion and I were teaching two kids about the 10 commandments. My companion had some easy to remember hand signals to help the kids learn the commandments and what they mean. After we had taught the lesson, we reviewed all 10 commandments with the kids. When we got to the 7th commandment, (Exodus 20:14) which is about not committing adultery, the kids were stuck and couldn't remember what is was. My companion, in an effort to help them remember, said, "It sounds like Adult Trees". An image came to my mind of two fully grown oak trees with faces on the bark. I immediately started laughing, and then my companion started laughing, and then everyone was laughing... it took a few minutes to get back on track with the lesson.

In my scripture study this morning, I came across a verse I would love to leave you with for this week. It says in "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.". I really like this verse because it points out that we need to BELIEVE that good things are going to happen if we follow God's laws. If we don't think that there are any blessings that come from following the commandments, then why do we follow them? Have faith that the Lord will bless you and help you.
Never give up. Never give in.

SNOW!

IT SNOWED!!!!!! I have sent a picture with this message of what my backyard looks like covered in snow. I am very happy that it snowed. :) I hope it snows a lot more in the days to come.

This past week has been really great. My companion and I learned a lot about doing things in the Lord's timing. We were so excited for some lessons we had on Tuesday, but when Tuesday came, everyone called and canceled or moved their lessons to another day. We decided that even though we were bummed out, we knew that everything happens exactly the way it is supposed to. It's interesting how much more peace I have when I don't worry about things that I don't have control over. I control my own actions, and that is all. As I was sitting in Gospel Doctrine class (Sunday school) yesterday at church, the lesson was on Individual Responsibility. I listened really close, and I began to understand that, no matter what people say or what they think about us, our salvation is between us and the Lord. There is no middleman who decides whether or not we have eternal life. Christ died and rose again so that we can be free from sin and from the bonds of death. He is our salvation. There is no person on Earth who could do for us what Christ did. So, remember that your salvation is between you and the Lord, not anyone else. There are things that will help you live the gospel of Christ, like reading your scriptures, praying, and going to church. That's what I learned yesterday.

Also this week I am very grateful to a few members who have done very selfless things for me. I greatly appreciate them. In one instance, it was very cold outside and the wind was blowing. We were leaving a member's house after dinner, and she asked if I had anything to cover my ears. I didn't, and I assured her that I would be fine. She went into her coat room and pulled out an extra headband/ear warmer. I told her that I'd be fine, and that I didn't want to take anything from her. She told me that it was extra and that she had another one that she usually wears. I was so thankful for her kindness, and I was glad to have something to keep my ears warm in the cold and wind. Another member from a different ward made me a bracelet out of para-cord and gave it to me. I am thankful for the kindness and selflessness of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that I have met so far. I am thankful to be serving here in the Salt Lake City South Mission, and I am glad that I can help people sometimes. Know that I love each of you.

Fasting and Miracles

WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEK FULL OF MIRACLES!!!!!

In every missionary meeting we have, we share the miracles that have happened the past week. This past week, though, has been so full of miracles that I don't know if there is time enough to share all of them!

Monday gave us a miracle of perfect timing. As a missionary, I do a lot of relying heavily on the Holy Ghost to direct where my companion and I go, as well as what we say when we go there. It was awesome to see that as we acted on those promptings from the Holy Ghost, we were able to show up to a door at the exact time that we were needed.

On Tuesday, we had a day full of miracles of understanding. We had some lessons where we were trying really hard in following what the Spirit prompted us to say, and when we did, the people we were teaching understood more what we were saying. Sometimes we think "we're really good at explaining this point," or "I don't need to have the Spirit guide what I say; I'm smart enough to explain this point perfectly." When we think those things as missionaries, we wind up confusing people and making things worse. When we followed the Spirit on Tuesday and didn't lean on our own talent and smarts, we were able to better help the people we were teaching.

On Wednesday, we fasted as a Zone. Since I've become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I have fasted each month on fast Sunday (the first Sunday of the month) but I have never had a testimony of fasting. In other words, I haven't been sure that it works or why I was doing it. I fasted with my zone, and I waited to see if anything would happen. It was awesome to see that fasting with faith brought about the tons of miracles this week. I know that if we follow the law of the fast, we will be blessed in the things that we truly need. I needed to see that fasting brought miracles, and that is exactly how Heavenly Father blessed me.

On Thursday, we had a really awesome lesson with a family who is of another religion. It was a miracle to go into the lesson knowing that they wanted to argue, but then to see that they were enjoying finding all of the things we have in common. I was worried that we would get off topic and start having disagreements and that we might offend them with what we say, but again the Holy Ghost helped us to know exactly what to say and what scriptures to discuss that would help them understand the basic principles of the gospel. I love when we are humble enough to "yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit" (Mosiah 3:19) and better help accomplish the work of salvation. I couldn't do this without Heavenly Father's support, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the guidance from the Holy Ghost.

On Friday, we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leader's in our zone, so one of the STL's came to my area and was companion with me for 24 hours. It was so AWESOME to see all the miracles that happened that day! We talked to literally EVERYONE we saw, and we ended up setting up appointments with nearly ALL of those people! There were so many small things that happened that we could not have foreseen or figured out on our own. I am sure that God knows each of His children and that "all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28) when we listen to Him.

I am absolutely amazed at all the miracles that have happened this week. I could talk for hours about all the wonderful things that have happened this week. There are many days of things being hard, sad, rough, and disheartening, but then there are days when I remember how great the work is that I am doing. Sometime this past weekend, I got to help a member take their bike apart, look for leaks in the tire tubes, and then put it all back together, even the gears on the chain. It was so much fun, and my hands even got a little dirty.

I promise you that as you become humble and search to find out what God would ask of you, you will be able to find joy and happiness and fulfillment in your life.

I love each and every one of you, and I truly mean that. Don't ever forget it.

Going on Splits!

HAPPY NOVEMBER!!!!!! There is SO MUCH that has been happening. I wish you all could be here and see all the things that are going on, as well as all the lovely, snow-covered mountains. It is beautiful here! The Oquirrh mountains and the Wasatch mountains are both covered in snow. It looks like really tall rocks covered in powdered sugar. Here in the valley, though, it is just starting to get cold. It rained a little yesterday, but I am super excited for snow to be on its way.

One of the highlights from this past week happened on Thursday. There was a lady who we have just started to teach, but we have been trying to figure out what member to have come with us to her lessons. My companion has been really sick with a sinus infection and bronchitis and a nasty cough, so we went on "splits" on Thursday to give her some time to rest. When missionaries go on "splits", one missionary goes with one member of the same gender, and the other missionary goes with another member of the same gender. We dropped off my companion at a member's house where she could rest and try to recuperate. Then I went with a member to teach lessons that we had previously set up. My companion and I had felt prompted to get a hold of a specific member, but we didn't really know why. The lady we are teaching has a husband who used to be in the military, and he has his fatigues laid out on a table right when you open the door. We had both completely forgotten that the member we invited to the lesson has a husband out on active duty right now. As we went in the door of the lady we are teaching, the member with me saw the military uniform. She was had an instant connection with the lady, which opened up a new friendship. As missionaries, we are so thankful for such wonderful members. Something so simple as seeing a uniform opened up a friendship that may not have evolved any other way. It was a miracle that the perfect friend just so happened to be the member we contacted to come to the lesson.

Along with that really cool experience, I had another cool experience that same day. We were still on splits, so my companion was at a member's house resting while I went to our dinner appointment with a member and their family. While the husband was finishing cooking dinner, I helped the mom clean out her vehicle. I really didn't think anything of it, but the next day when my companion and I were walking down her street, she stopped us to tell my companion how much I had helped her. I was surprised, and responded by saying, "but all I really did was sit and talk to you while you cleaned." Sometimes, that is really all that people need: just someone to talk to. It's amazing how such small things can have such a big impact on people. Never again in my life will I have an opportunity like this where I can just serve, work, help, and teach 24 hours a day seven days a week.

As of this past Sunday, I have been out on my mission for 4 months! Time flies!

"Remember, remember the fifth of November." Since this coming Wednesday is the 5th of November, I would like to leave you with a few scriptures that talk about remembering. All three of them are in the book of Mosiah, which is mostly a record of a king, named King Benjamin, who talks to the people in his kingdom about all the things that the prophets have said that will help them live better lives and eventually return to live with God:

Mosiah 4:30
Mosiah 2:41
Mosiah 5:15

I hope these scriptures will help you remember throughout the week how much I love and care about each and every one of you. Have an awesome first week of November!