When we are obedient to the commandments of God then He has no other choice than to bless us and He wants to bless us because He loves us.

This week went by so fast. We got a lot of snow this week which meant we got to spend a lot of time shoveling driveways. On Tuesday, I was on exchanges with Elder Burner and we spent all afternoon shoveling. In total I think we did either 4 or 5 driveways so that was pretty cool. I hate shoveling but I love serving others and seeing how it makes their day. Logan and Bowen also got baptized this Saturday and it was a really special day. I’ve never really seen two kids so excited to get baptized and the spirit was so strong at the service. It was pretty cool. We had Zone Conference this week as well and we talked a lot about the commandments and why God gives us commandments and why He wants us to follow them. They aren’t to restrict us in anyway. Commandments are there to bring us joy and blessings. When we are obedient to the commandments of God then He has no other choice than to bless us and He wants to bless us because He loves us. Blessings bring us happiness. In the scriptures it teaches us that “Wickedness never was happiness” and that’s so true. If you look in the world you’ll notice that most of the people who are unhappy are those who aren’t doing the things that God has asked us to do. I know that if we follow the commandments of God that our lives will be filled with joy. I’m excited to keep working hard these last 5 months to help people find the joy of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope everyone has a great week!

If you are struggling to get along with someone or love someone in your life, serve them.

Well we finally got snow this week. It has been a very mild winter with most days being in the 40s all winter and especially this past week until Sunday and Monday. We got quite a bit of snow and it is supposed to keep snowing on and off for the rest of the week. I was hoping we could just skip winter this year but it decided to just come really late. It was still a really good week though and this week should be a great week too. Logan and Bowen are both going to be getting baptized this coming Saturday and Elder O’Neal and I are both really excited about that. It has been so fun to get to teach and to get to know these kids. They both are just so excited about getting baptized and about reading their scriptures and doing their very best to follow Jesus. After being on my mission for this long and working with so many young kids, I definitely understand why Jesus in the scriptures says to become like a little child to be worthy to enter the kingdom of God. They are so humble and ready and willing to learn. Logan and Bowen are definitely great examples to me. It was a pretty typical week for the most part. We had some lessons and spent a lot of time contacting but Saturday was a really fun day. We got to play basketball in the morning with some people in our area and it was a lot of fun and then we spent the rest of the day doing service. We spent most of the afternoon helping unload a moving truck and there weren’t very many of us there to help and a lot of stuff so it took us a while. When we finished that we went and helped a guy in our area build a gardening box for his wife and we helped dig up some pretty big roots as well. And after we finished that we spent the rest of our night helping the same people from earlier in the day unload a second load in their moving truck. And this time Elder O’Neal and I were the only ones there to help. I definitely slept well that night and woke up pretty sore on Sunday. I’m so thankful for the opportunity I have to get to serve others. I love the people here so much. If you are struggling to get along with someone or love someone in your life, serve them. By serving them you will set aside your pride and your differences and be able to see them the way God sees us and it will completely change the way you look at them. I’ve got to do that for the last 19 months and it has truly changed my life and I’m so grateful for that. Until next week!

Tony got baptized on Saturday and it was such a cool thing to witness.

We got transfer calls this week and found out that Elder O’Neal and i would both be staying together another transfer so I’m super excited for that. I’ve loved getting to serve with him these past 6 weeks and look forward to the next 6 weeks. We had a pretty exciting week. Tony got baptized on Saturday and it was such a cool thing to witness. The Spirit was so strong there and it was pretty evident how excited Tony was to get baptized. I’m so happy for him and for his family. We also had some pretty cool lessons this week. For whatever reason it seemed like all of our lessons this week seemed to be on a lesson we call the Plan of Salvation. I love teaching this lesson. This lesson teaches us about our relationship with our Heavenly Father, where we were before we came to Earth, where we go after we die, and what our purpose is here on Earth. This lesson gives me so much hope. I’m so thankful for the knowledge that I have to know that I’ll be able to see my family and loved ones again even after death. We have a loving Heavenly Father so why would he make it so after our life on Earth there is nothing else? To me that just doesn’t make sense, and I know God loves us and wants all of His children to return and live with him again some day. God is going to do everything He can to help us return and live with him and that is why he sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die for us. Jesus came to help us overcome both physical and spiritual death and it is only possible through Him. I love a scripture that talks about this. It says, “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.” I’m so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for His suffering and sacrifice for me. 

I feel so blessed to have the knowledge that I have a loving Heavenly Father who was willing to send His son to die for me. That is so powerful!

Week 5 of the transfer was another great week. The Lord was so awesome towards us and we received so many miracles this week. We got 4 new investigators this week which was awesome. When we got to the area we really only had one investigator that was committed to meeting with us and learning and the more time and work we have put into this area the more we are being blessed. We are now up to 8 and have the potential of getting at least 4 more people to teach this week if our lessons don’t fall through. God is so good. First of, Tony is getting baptized this Saturday which is going to be so exciting! I’m pumped for him to take this big step in his relationship with God and it’s a big step for his family too. Hopefully all will go well with that. So I wanted to share a really cool miracle that happened this week. We had a lesson at one of our church buildings with Logan and Bowen, who are both also doing so good, and we walked out of this classroom and this guy says to us, “Hey I think you guys were looking for me.” We had no idea who it was so I was like, “ Ummmm I don’t know, what’s your name?” And so he told us his name and then it clicked. One of the families we are with said that this guy’s family would be really good for us to visit and so we had tried knocking on their door a few times and hadn’t had any luck but I know it wasn’t a coincidence that he happened to be at the same church building as us standing right outside of a classroom we happened to be teaching a lesson in. We set up a lesson with him and his family and will have our first lesson with them this week. That was a really cool miracle. We also had a great first lesson with this kid named, Kohen and I’m excited to keep working with him. He basically came to us and told us he wants to be baptized so that was also pretty cool. God is so so so good. I feel so blessed to have the knowledge that I have a loving Heavenly Father who was willing to send His son to die for me. That is so powerful! It means so much to me and I will always cherish that and hopefully allow that knowledge to lead me to do good. Also I know God is blessing me for serving because the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl! Another blessing! Here is to another good week!