It’s pretty incredible how focusing on others almost entirely for two years helped me to find myself and who I really am.

Well this is the last one. I can’t believe this day is here. Words can’t accurately describe the changes I’ve been through, experiences I’ve had and how much I love the people here but I’ll try my best. Looking back at the beginning of my mission I was a person who was very focused on myself and making myself happy. I thought I was happy but looking back I felt a lot of emptiness in my life. Two years later a lot has changed. I’m still very much the same person as before my mission in a lot of ways but I have changed so much. It’s pretty incredible how focusing on others almost entirely for two years helped me to find myself and who I really am. My relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is so much stronger and I have so much confidence in them. I know they help me to overcome my weaknesses and flaws. I’m so thankful that Jesus Christ loves me enough to let me be a part of His work despite all my many struggles. I can’t begin to explain how thankful I am and how much I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him I am nothing. I’m so thankful fo the chance I had to serve in all 6 of the different areas I served in and with the 11 different companions that I had. I’ve learned so much from all of them and from all the amazing people I’ve been blessed to work with and get to know. To wrap up I just want to end with my testimony. I know that we all have a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and is aware of us and our needs. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and through Him we can overcome any weaknesses we have or pain we are experiencing. I know that both the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and we still have prophets on the earth today. I know through the Atonement of Christ our families can be together forever. I don’t know much but I do know that. Thanks for all of your prayers, emails, letters and support in all aspects over the last two years. I’m excited to start the next chapter in my life and to see where my relationship with Christ goes. Love you and can’t wait to see you all soon!

We were all sent here at this specific time to be a part of each other’s life’s for specific reasons and I think that is so cool.

Well my last week of my mission is here. Sometimes it is really hard to believe but other times I can really feel my window of time closing. This week was a very interesting week. I was able to visit a lot of people I’ve worked with in the past and say goodbye and it meant so much to me to hear them share how much I meant to them. It really got me reflecting on a couple of different things. One, about all the people I’ve been blessed to meet throughout my life who I feel like I’ve been given the opportunity to help in some way. It was really humbling to have God kind of show me how He has used me over the course of my life to help people. It also made me reflect on opportunities that I’ve wasted or have been too scared to speak up or act and maybe missed a chance to make someone’s day or help them to feel God’s love for them. That was also very humbling to sort of sit back and look at how far I still need to come. The third thing that I reflected on were all the people who have helped me in my life. Friends, family, teammates, neighbors, and even random strangers. From the smallest of things to the biggest of things. Again that was very humbling to see not only do I need God but I also need hundreds of people to help me become who I want to be and who God wants me to be. I thought that was a really cool message that was reinforced to me this week. We were all sent here at this specific time to be a part of each other’s life’s for specific reasons and I think that is so cool. One of the most important lessons I have learned over the entirety of my mission is how well God truly knows us and how much He truly loves us. Of all the things God could care about and focus on, He focuses on and cares about all of us individually. He knows each of our circumstances and needs and is going to helps us through them. I know without a doubt that that is true. Well only one more email after this one until I’m home! Until next week!

Last gallon of milk- this one expires after I’m home

I can’t believe it but I’m down to only two weeks left! It’s kinda scary to think about but also really exciting. Elder Whittaker and I had a really good week. God was really good to us. On Monday night, we were headed home and came across the aftermath of a really really bad car accident. We decided to get out and see if we could help because it literally happened maybe 20-30 seconds before we got there. A kid ran a red light and t-boned a car on the driver side. The lady who got hit was in pretty bad shape and her husband was pretty frantic and so there wasn’t a whole lot we could do but we offered to give a blessing and so they had us wait at the scene and then we met them at the ER to give them both a blessing. It was a really cool experience because we didn’t know these people at all. But God led us there so we could help and thankfully He was watching over them because they should have been worse of then they were. I also have been really praying for some more people to teach. Our teaching pool has shrunk considerably and I really want to be able to finish strong and keep teaching. So we had dinner with this family whose daughter’s boyfriend came and he is interested in meeting with us. His name is Simon and way cool and so we are going to start working with him so that was a huge answer to my prayer. Unfortunately he will be going to Mexico for two weeks and won’t be back until after I’m home so I won’t get to but it was still a huge blessing. I got to speak in one of our wards this week and talked about strengthening our conversion to Christ. I have come to realize the more I have focused on others the more I’ve become converted to Christ which really makes sense if you think about it. When Christ was here everything he did was for others, never himself. I strive everyday to be more like my Savior. Thanks for all your prayers! I hope everyone has a great week!

Some other highlights were Saturday we got to do service basically all day.

 Well this was a short 4 day week so my email will be a little bit shorter this week. But those 4 days were crazy busy! We had Zone Conference on Thursday which means I’m now officially done with Zone Conferences. I’m really going to miss those meetings meeting together and being able to learn from a bunch of different missionaries. I also got to meet our new mission President, President McBeth. He seems like
a really awesome guy who is really close to God. I wish I had more time to get to know him but that’s part of it. At your last Zone Conference all the missionaries going home get to give their “departing testimony.” I got to do that and that was a pretty crazy experience. I still remember my first Zone Conference and thinking
that I was never going home and now all of a sudden it is here. It was really cool to be able to reflect on my mission and think about how good God is and share my testimony on how I’ve gotten closer to God.
Some other highlights were Saturday we got to do service basically all day. Some random guy we met a few days earlier said he was moving and would need some help and so we helped him almost all day. It was
really hot but I’m going to miss being able to do things like that all the time. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue serving people when I get home. We also started teaching a new family, the Woods! They just
moved here from Vegas and are a super cool family. We were able just get to know them a little bit better and they want us to help them straighten their relationship with Christ so I’m looking forward to
working with them over the next few weeks. I hope everyone had a good 4th of July and has a good week!

I have found that the happiest people I’ve taught and met over the last 2 years are those who let Christ into their life the most.

Another week in the books! We had a really awesome week. It was a longer week because our Pday got moved to the 4th but it still went by so fast. First off, Elaina got baptized last Friday and it was so awesome. It was very easy to tell that she was happy and excited about the decision she made. She has changed so much over the course of the last few weeks that we have been meeting with her. There is just a different light about her and she is so much happier. I have found
that the happiest people I’ve taught and met over the last 2 years are those who let Christ into their life the most. That’s something I’m still trying to work on but I feel much happier than I did when I left. We also got to go to the temple with Jenn who got baptized about
a month ago. It was really cool to go with her since it was her first time and to experience that with her and her boyfriend, Nathan. I love going to the temple so much. I also got to go to the temple on Saturday as well. I have some family that live really close to where
I’m serving and so I’ve seen them a couple of times. One of my cousins is about to leave on his two year mission to Samoa the week after I get home. Something we do before our missions is to go through the temple and receive what we call an endowment. It’s an awesome experience and really we just learn more about what God’s plan for us is. Well on Saturday my cousin was receiving his endowment and I got to go with him as well as some other cousins and my aunt and uncle and it was a really special experience. Now that I’m at the end I can
really look back and see why God has sent me to the west side of Salt Lake City, Utah. At first I wasn’t sure at all why I was sent here and how I would be able to help others but God has helped me so much and
I’ve been blessed with so many amazing opportunities to serve and bless the lives of other people and I’m so grateful for that. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and has a great week!

I am so thankful that I’ve gotten to learn from both of them.

Another week in the books! Pretty nuts. This week went by so fast. It seemed like everyday we had only two or three things on our schedule but they took basically all day so it made the week go by really fast. We got to do some service this week which is always nice. Elder Whittaker and I and some other guys helped this older lady dig a ditch. She runs a small farm all by herself and she is about 75 years old. It was pretty cool to be able to help her out with something that will make her life easier. We also got to help out at a camp for 11 year old boys who are involved in Boy Scouts. We got to teach them about missions and what it is that we do and how they can help people get closer to Jesus Christ. It was also a really awesome experience to get to try to influence the lives of those 11 year old boys. One of the wards we cover had a neighborhood fish fry so that was pretty awesome to go to. They had some halibut, salmon, and rockfish from Alaska and it was so good. We of course had some really good lessons this week as well. The one that stood out to me the most this week was with this couple named Steve and Crystal. They actually cancelled our scheduled lesson but called us at about 9:30 on Sunday night and asked if we could come over and give them a blessing. 9:30 is past our curfew but we couldn’t tell them no and we couldn’t find anyone else and so we went and briefly visited with them and read from the scriptures and then gave them each a blessing of comfort. It was really cool to be able to do that and to tell them things that obviously touched them. I could really feel the Lord helping me to know what to say to bring peace into their lives. God is so good. This week is the last week that I’ll have President and Sister Palmer as my mission president and wife. I’m definitely really sad about that but I am so thankful that I’ve gotten to learn from both of them. I’m also excited to learn my last 4 weeks or so from my new mission president and wife, President and Sister McBeth. What’s cool is nothing really changes. We keep doing the same things and go out and work hard everyday. Here is to another good week!

I know that God loves all of His children no matter what color they are, where they are from, or what they are doing in life.

Transfer calls came this week and so I found out I will be finishing out my mission in the same area with the same companion, Elder Whittaker. I’m super excited to keep serving with him and to be able to continue working with the people we have been working with. This was a pretty awesome week. We had two baptisms this past weekend, Sydney and Jon. Sydney is a 10 year old girl who we have been working with for a while. Her baptism was so awesome. Most of her family isn’t super religious except for her mom so it was cool to see them come and support her. I could tell that they were touched by the spirit that was present there. Jon is in our young single adult ward and he is just awesome. He is in his mid-20’s and has really changed his life so much in the past year. A year ago he was addicted to drugs and alcohol and now he is free from both of those addictions and has found Christ in his life. It was such a blessing to be able to be apart of both of their baptisms and conversion processes. I know that God loves all of His children no matter what color they are, where they are from, or what they are doing in life. I wanted to share something briefly from what I studied this week. I was studying about the correlation between faith and repentance. And so I was reading about a guy named Enos in the scriptures and wanted to share a few of those verses. It says: 

“4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.”

I thought that was really cool. Enos prayed and prayed and repented and wanted to be forgiven of his sins. Although that was necessary and important that’s not why he was forgiven. It was because of the faith that he has in Christ. The action of repentance is a way of showing our faith but if we just pray and ask God to forgive us without any meaning behind it or without believing He will forgive us, He can’t forgive us. It is so crucial that we develop our faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us. I know that’s true. I hope y’all have an awesome week!

Something that has really been on my mind a lot lately is how well God knows us and our needs.

Somehow it is the the last week of another transfer. I have interviews with my mission president tomorrow so maybe he will give me some hints about where I might be next transfer but if not I’ll get the call on Saturday! I’m excited to see what this next transfer has in store for me. This week was a good week. We got to go to the Jordan River Temple Open House one last time before they dedicate it which was pretty special. We went with Tucker and his family. Tucker also came to church on Sunday for the first time and he was really excited about being there. We went to the church beef ranch and fixed fences for several hours and that was cool. So it was a good week. Something that has really been on my mind a lot lately is how well God knows us and our needs. I know that God is aware of us. Sometimes we need someone to reach out to us when we are going through a hard time and sometimes we are the ones who need to reach out to help someone else. We don’t know what people are going through. We don’t know where their mind is at. But God does and He loves all of us and so he will help us know to reach out and what to say to someone if they are struggling. Sometimes bad things happen. That’s life. We should never let the bad things that go on in our life define us. Every challenge we face or obstacle that comes our way can be used to propel us to new heights. I know for me it is natural to act tough and like I’m doing well even if sometimes things aren’t good at all. We can’t be afraid to be weak. Recognizing our weaknesses will only help us defeat them. Mental health is important and should be treated just as seriously, if not more, as our physical health. And speaking from personal experience as someone who has battled depression at times and has definitely battled a lack of self-esteem, I know the best way to overcome that is to ask God for help, as well as some close friends and family. God made you to be you and you are good enough. If you’re good enough for God you should be good enough for yourself.

If you feel prompted to reach out to someone or stop and talk to a stranger, do it! It can make the biggest difference in someone’s day and often times their life.

This week went by really fast even though it was a bit of a longer week because our Pday got moved to today instead of yesterday. It was a good week though! The work is really picking up. We had some pretty cool miracles. Last Sunday, our landlord asked us if we could teach her Sunday school class while they were out of town. We were teaching about the importance of having a testimony and how to gain a testimony. The lesson went pretty well but the miracle that came from that lesson was so cool. There was a girl there who had just recently started coming to church but felt really nervous being there because she felt like her testimony wasn’t strong enough. So the lesson was perfect for her. She approached us afterwards and asked if we could start meeting with her and so we had our first lesson with her on Thursday and she told us she wants to get baptized so it was just overall a really cool experience. God is so good. Another cool miracle also happened on Thursday. We were trying to come up with something to do for the last 30 minutes of our night and we felt like we should go to the institute building, which is just a building where they have religious classes and activities for college aged kids. So we went and were just walking around and I felt a really strong prompting to stop and talk to this kid. There were a bunch of high schoolers there playing ping pong and pool but he was just standing outside the room by himself and so I went up and introduced myself and started talking to him. After about 10 minutes of talking to him it was very obvious he was struggling and just needed to talk to someone and God blessed me with the opportunity to be the one to talk to him. If you feel prompted to reach out to someone or stop and talk to a stranger, do it! It can make the biggest difference in someone’s day and often times their life. God uses us to help strengthen and uplift all His children. Pretty cool if you think about it. I know God loves us and is going to help us overcome our trials if we let him and we can be a source of hope and happiness if we follow those promptings we receive. It’s pretty weird to think I only have 8 weeks left. This has been my life for the past two years but I’m excited to come home and I’m excited to finish strong! Until next week!

We had a wonderful dinner and a discussion about the ways that our prayers can affect the lives of others.

I received this email this week:

Hi There - we have always loved having the missionaries over for dinner, but until our own daughter went on her mission, we never realized how important hearing any little details about their missionary life is. So we asked them for your emails, and took a picture for you!

We had a wonderful dinner and a discussion about the ways that our prayers can affect the lives of others.

Thank you for raising such wonderful young men, and especially for the sacrifice of sending them to serve the Lord for two years.

Have a great day!

The Willsons 

God has helped me so much to help me become a better follower of Christ and there really isn’t a better feeling than that.

This week was crazy busy. On Tuesday on the elders in our mission got to go to the Jordan River Temple and help set up chairs for the dedication that was on Sunday. It was a pretty awesome experience and surprisingly fun. It was really good to see some of my mission friends and spend some time with them and it is always awesome to spend some time in the temple and feel the spirit there. We had a couple of really awesome lessons this week as well. We are teaching a girl in the YSA Ward named Jen and she will be getting baptized this weekend which will be pretty special. In our lesson this week we talked a lot about humility and changing our heart. There is a scripture that we read that I love so much that I want to share. It says, “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” That scripture has helped me so much throughout my mission. I am constantly trying to pray and ask for God to help me change my heart so I can better follow Him in my life. God has helped me so much to help me become a better follower of Christ and there really isn’t a better feeling than that. I know that through the atoning love and power of Christ we can really do all things. We can change. We can come back from anything. I know that’s true without a doubt.

It reminds me of Indiana a lot so it feels a little bit like home.

I hope everyone had a happy Mother’s Day! It was really nice to be able to talk to my family and it’s crazy to think that was my last Skype of my mission. I am so happy to be back in Tooele. It is so much fun serving out here. It reminds me of Indiana a lot so it feels a little bit like home. I love serving with Elder Whittaker. It is super nice to have a companion who has a strong desire to work hard and so we got a ton of stuff done this week! We are teaching some really cool people right now and I’m excited to keep serving and working here. Our area is also huge! Our area covers from north to south about 40 miles so we do a decent amount of driving. Most of the area in the middle is just sagebrush and desert. There is a tiny town called Faust literally in the middle of nowhere that has a total of three houses in it and funny enough we are teaching one of the families so we get to drive there every week. About 5 miles south of Faust is a little town called Vernon that we also cover and we got to go down there for dinner twice this week. The church owns a ranch down there and so at the end of the month we are hoping to get to go down and help work on the ranch which will be so much fun. We also cover a Young Single Adult Ward so this is my third area of my mission covering YSA. I love getting to teach people my age and just see them make such big life choices to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in their life. We have three people we are teaching right now that should be getting baptized soon so I’m super excited to continue working with them. Tomorrow all of the elders in our mission get to go work at the Jordan River Temple so that should be a cool experience. Besides that I don’t have too much else to share for this week. Again I’m really excited to keep serving and working hard with Elder Whittaker here and to see what comes from it!

We never know what all people are going through and we can’t control their decisions but we can control how we react to how they treat us.

It’s May and the end of another transfer. This transfer went by so fast. I loved serving with Elder Shermer and serving in Kearns but I’m getting transferred back out to Tooele County! I’m super excited. My new companion’s name is Elder Whittaker. He has been out for almost as long as I have been so it’ll be fun to serve with someone experienced. He also loves to workout so I will be getting my butt back into shape. He wakes up at 5 everyday to go to the gym so it’ll be good for me to get to workout religiously again. This week went by so fast it was hard to come up with some of the best parts. I had my last few lessons with some of the people we have been working with. It was good to visit with everyone last time before I leave. In some of our discussions with people this week as well as a training we had at district meeting, charity seemed to come up a lot. The scriptures define charity as the pure love of Christ. The scriptures also teach us that charity is the most important trait that anyone can have and I agree completely. There is so much hate in this world but I believe that there is still more good and more love in the world and we can all make a difference by being charitable and kind to all those around us. I’ve found that to not always be so easy, especially when people are rude to me. But the more I read the scriptures the more I wanna be kind to everyone, even those who wrong me. We never know what all people are going through and we can’t control their decisions but we can control how we react to how they treat us. Love will always beat hate we just need to do our part to help make this world a better place. I only have two more transfers left and I hope to make these the best two yet! 

Every challenge we face or obstacle that comes our way can be used to propel us to new heights.

Somehow it is the the last week of another transfer. I have interviews with my mission president tomorrow so maybe he will give me some hints about where I might be next transfer but if not I’ll get the call on Saturday! I’m excited to see what this next transfer has in store for me. This week was a good week. We got to go to the Jordan River Temple Open House one last time before they dedicate it which was pretty special. We went with Tucker and his family. Tucker also came to church on Sunday for the first time and he was really excited about being there. So it was a good week. Something that has really been on my mind a lot lately is how well God knows us and our needs. I know that God is aware of us. Sometimes we need someone to reach out to us when we are going through a hard time and sometimes we are the ones who need to reach out to help someone else. We don’t know what people are going through. We don’t know where their mind is at. But God does and He loves all of us and so he will help us know to reach out and what to say to someone if they are struggling. Sometimes bad things happen. That’s life. We should never let the bad things that go on in our life define us. Every challenge we face or obstacle that comes our way can be used to propel us to new heights. I know for me it is natural to act tough and like I’m doing well even if sometimes things aren’t good at all. We can’t be afraid to be weak. Recognizing our weaknesses will only help us defeat them. Mental health is important and should be treated just as seriously, if not more, as our physical health. And speaking from personal experience as someone who has battled depression at times and has definitely battled a lack of self-esteem, I know the best way to overcome that is to ask God for help, as well as some close friends and family. God made you to be you and you are good enough. If you’re good enough for God you should be good enough for yourself.

I love seeing the joy the knowledge of Jesus Christ can bring to someone.

This week flew by. Unfortunately we had a lot of lessons and appointments cancel but that’s all good! It’s part of it. Khoen did get baptized this week and it was awesome. I have loved getting to teach Khoen and to get to know him the last couple of months and he has definitely come pretty far. Elder O’Neal also got to come back for the baptism so it was really good to see him again. It’s always cool to see old companions and to catch back up. But the spirit was super strong at Khoen’s baptism and he was so happy when he came up out of the water. I love seeing the joy the knowledge of Jesus Christ can bring to someone. It’s easily the most fulfilling part of a mission. The other day, a memory came up on Facebook which was exactly the two year mark from when I opened my mission call. That was a pretty surreal moment. Thinking back to how daunting going away from home for two years seemed but it has totally been worth it. It’s a pretty weird feeling to be getting closer and closer to finishing. I have learned so much and have grown so much as well. I’m so thankful for all the experiences I’ve been blessed to have these past 21 months. It is so hard to put into words all I have learned and how I’ve changed but I love who God is shaping me to be. Definitely have a long way to go but that’s okay. I’ve always been really hard on myself but I know God loves us and he doesn’t expect anything more of us than our best. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He just wants us to try. Coming to terms with that has been hard but it has definitely helped me to be happier. I hope everyone has a good week!

In order for there to be no limits we must have no excuses. That’s something I desperately want to get better at.

This past week was a very good week for Elder Shermer and I. We are getting more used to teaching with each other and working together so our lessons are going better and better each day. This week we had a pretty special opportunity to go to the Jordan River Temple Open House (a Mormon Temple out here close to where I am serving). The temple needed some remodeling done and so because of that it needs to be rededicated. Whenever a Temple is finished being remodeled or being built they have an open house so anyone and everyone can come in and walk through it before it gets dedicated. It’s really cool. So we went twice this week with a couple different people we are teaching to walk through and look at all the rooms and the paintings and it was just a neat experience. Temples are buildings where people of my faith go to get closer to God and to seek for guidance. We also go there to learn more about our purpose here on earth and about our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love temples and I am so grateful for them. We also had Zone Conference this week and it was probably my favorite one I have had for my mission. I learned a lot. I only have two zone conferences left until i come home which is just so crazy to think about. Something cool that I learned this week that I wanted to share was something that I realized while studying about Easter. I feel that most of the time whenever something goes wrong or we do something we shouldn’t the first thing we do is come up with an excuse as to why it wasn’t our fault. It’s natural and I am very, very guilty of that. But I realized that the grace and love of Jesus Christ has no limits. Christ can heal us from any emotional or physical pain, He can forgive any sin, big or small. But in order for us to be able to access that limitless love we have to humble ourselves and get rid of all excuses. In order for there to be no limits we must have no excuses. That’s something I desperately want to get better at. Thanks for all your prayers!

There is never room for hate but there is always room for love.

Colton ran into this friend who was visiting from Brazil at General Conference! Elder Gonzaga served his mission here in Indiana and come to our home many times.

This week was my last Easter and General Conference as a missionary. Pretty crazy to think about how long I’ve been on my mission. It was a pretty special weekend. Elder Shermer and I had tickets to two sessions of conference on Saturday. I always love getting to go to Conference and feel the special spirit there. On Saturday morning I got to stand and sustain President Nelson as the new prophet of our church which was a pretty amazing experience. I have never felt anything as powerful as that in my whole life. It was pretty overwhelming. Probably the biggest theme from the speakers from conference that I noticed was love. They talked a lot about love and how important it is that we love those around us. The world seems to get crazier and crazier and if you don’t pay attention to anything except the news you would think that there is no hope for anything good in this world. But I can testify that the love of Christ is still very much alive in the world and that there is more good than bad. There is never room for hate but there is always room for love. Even when people were showing hate towards Jesus Christ, He responded with love. We need to respond to the hate and the evil in this world with love. Love will always defeat hate. Good will always defeat evil. And Jesus Christ will always win. I don’t think any message could be more appropriate this Easter season than that. Until next week!

With it being Easter this week I just want to invite you to think about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for you and maybe think about something you could sacrifice for Him.

Well it’s the end of another transfer. We got transfer calls on Saturday and found out that I will be staying in Kearns another transfer. Elder O’Neal is getting transferred to Taylorsville so I’m getting a new companion, Elder Shermer. I’ve served around him before so I know him a little bit and he has been on his mission for almost as long as me. I’m excited to stay here another transfer and to continue working with some of the people we are teaching right now. We had some pretty awesome lessons this week. We were able to go to Temple Square three times this week which was awesome. We taught a lot of lessons about how important families are and I’m so thankful for the family I have and being raised knowing what I know. I’m so thankful for my parents and all they do and have done for me. I’m so thankful for my sisters and they joy they bring into my life. My family definitely isn’t perfect but I’m so thankful for them and I know I would be lost without them. And I’m so thankful for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for all of us so we can be with our families after this life. With it being Easter this week I just want to invite you to think about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for you and maybe think about something you could sacrifice for Him. That’s something that I’ll be thinking about this weekend. I love my Savior and I’m so thankful for the greatest gift we could have, the ability to be forgiven of our sins. I’m excited for this next transfer, only 3 more left and 4 months left! I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!

I’m so thankful for all the people in my life who have been good role models and have had positive impacts on my life.

Somehow we are already to the last week of another transfer. I can’t believe how fast time seems to be going by. Already halfway through the month of March as well. The weather has been absolutely crazy this last week. Monday and Tuesday it was beautiful and about 65 degrees and then on Wednesday it got cold and rained all day and then while Elder O’Neal were out knocking doors it started to hail really bad and so we decided to try and get inside but we were almost a 20 minute walk away from the closest church building and even farther from our apartment so we got soaked. And then it snowed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Utah weather is pretty crazy. But it was a great week. We had some really awesome lessons. The one that stood out the most was with a boy named Khoen. He is 9 years old and really wants to get baptized and at first his parents were really friendly but didn’t really want us to teach them. But this past Friday at the end of the lesson his mom asked us to stick behind and she started asking us a ton of questions about what she had been reading in her scriptures. It was so cool. We had no idea that she had started reading her scriptures but it was a really cool experience. There have been countless experiences that I’ve had on my mission where my actions have influenced other people and I haven’t really realized it. Serving my mission has definitely taught me how important it is to be kind to people and to not be afraid to stand up for what you believe in. It makes a big difference in your life as well as in others around you. We never really realize how much impact we can have on other people. I’m so thankful for all the people in my life who have been good role models and have had positive impacts on my life. Again it just testifies to me that God knows us and is aware of us and our needs at all times. Hope everyone has another great week!

He then invited me to pray and ask if God was really there and if He loved me and so I did. The answer came so strong and so powerfully and that moment really changed my life.

This week went by so fast. It seemed like I blinked and it was over but it was again a pretty good week. We had some really good lessons this week but nothing from our lessons really stood out to me to share this week. However, Elder O’Neal and I were asked to speak in church this past Sunday and I wanted to share part of what I spoke on. So I was asked to speak about the importance of teaching the truths of eternity. Kind of a weird thing to speak on but the more I thought about it the more I just kept coming back to a few main things that we believe in and I want to share two of them. The first is that God is real and He loves us and the second is that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and He suffered and died for us. I know without a doubt that both of those statements are true. As I was reflecting on these statements it made me think of the moment where I came to know that God loved me. It was the summer right before we moved up to Goshen and I was really struggling with a lot of things at the time. I was really weak. I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to take on everything I was going through at the time by myself and I needed help. I went to EFY in Texas that summer and my counselor came up to me while I was trying to read the scriptures and we started talking and I opened up to him a little about some of the things I was going through at the time. He asked me if I knew if God loved me and I said I don’t know. He then invited me to pray and ask if God was really there and if He loved me and so I did. The answer came so strong and so powerfully and that moment really changed my life. Knowing that God is there and cares about me and is apart of my life makes me want to be better and helps me to have hope for the future. I know God lives and that He loves us. I know he is a part of our everyday lives. So if you haven’t prayed and asked God if he loves you, I wanna invite you to do that. And even if you have sometimes it is nice to have some reassurance. Hope y’all have a great week! Thanks for your prayers!