A hot chocolate party in no way is very important but God loves all of His children. He cares enough to help 26 missionaries, who are all far away from home, to have an enjoyable Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. I had an awesome weekend. I loved getting to skype my family. I only have one more Skype before I go home! Anyways we had lots of cool miracles that happened this weekend. On Thursday, we got to go caroling through parts of some neighborhoods in Tooele with some other missionaries and that was so awesome. It really helped get me into the holiday spirit. We had a very powerful lesson with a couple, Jacob and Krensa, talking about the power of prayer, scripture study, and going to church. It was a really cool lesson and the spirit was very strong. Krensa was recently baptized and has been struggling a lot and so we were able to testify to her that prayer, scripture study, and going to church are the best things to help her overcome her challenges and grow closer to Jesus Christ. On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go caroling again but this time in a nursing home. It was a really neat experience. We also had the chance to stop and visit with some of the residents who were lonely. It was a lot of fun and definitely a highlight of my Christmas weekend. I want to share a really cool miracle that happened to us as well. So for Christmas Day, all the missionaries in my zone got together for an ugly sweater Christmas party, white elephant gift exchange, and hot chocolate. So Elder Rebarchik and I went to go get the supplies for hot chocolate at Walmart and before we could even get in the door two separate people gave us $20 each. Going into it we didn’t know if we were going to have enough money to pay for all we needed so that was a huge blessing. As we were walking around getting what we needed another man came up to us and gave us $4. It was all he had in his wallet but he insisted on us taking the money. So we finish getting what we needed for the party as well as a couple of things we needed for our apartment and go to check out. In total we had been given $44. Our groceries costed $44.31. It was the coolest thing ever. It wasn’t something huge but I know that God was blessing us. A hot chocolate party in no way is very important but God loves all of His children. He cares enough to help 26 missionaries, who are all far away from home, to have an enjoyable Christmas. I know we have a Heavenly Father who loves us so much. He is interested in all aspects of our lives. He wants us to be happy. I know that’s true without a shadow of a doubt. I am so thankful for my Savior and for the chance I had to celebrate His birth and remember His life and what He has done for me. I love my Heavenly Father and I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. Again I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a have a happy New Year!

I know that God has a plan for us and through our Savior Jesus Christ we can see our loved ones again when they pass on to the next life. I’m so thankful for Christmas and the season of giving.

Well it was a long 10 days between P-days but a great 10 days as well. We had a really good week. We set up a ton of new lessons with people, most of which cancelled but it was still cool to see the Lord bless us for our hard work. I’ve learned so much lately. I have really been focusing on making my personal studies more meaningful. I’ve learned so much about Christ and His Atonement lately and it has been so cool! I’ve also really been enjoying doing the Light the World initiative. Elder Rebarchik and I have been praying for opportunities to accomplish each day’s invitation and we have been pretty good at it. One day the invitation was to mourn with those who mourn and we were really struggling with how to do that one. And so we prayed to find someone who needed us to mourn with them. About three or four days after that we felt prompted to go stop by this family and came to find out that their mother had passed away and it was such a neat opportunity to just be there for a complete stranger who needed someone. Her son, who is in his 50’s and has some special needs, was pretty distraught and we were able to really comfort him and it was a really neat experience. And then on Wednesday, I got to go on exchanges with Elder Griffin, who I’m good friends with, and we had a lesson at temple Square and it went super well! The girl he and his companion are teaching just had her grandmother pass away and we got to comfort her and let her know that she will see her again. I know that’s true. I know that God has a plan for us and through our Savior Jesus Christ we can see our loved ones again when they pass on to the next life. I’m so thankful for Christmas and the season of giving. I’m thankful for the chance I have to be a missionary serving here in Utah right now in my life. Especially during this Christmas season. I hope y’all have a Merry Christmas!

But we also got to visit with some pretty lonely people and that was a pretty cool way to spend our Sunday night.

Well another great week here in Stansbury! On Wednesday I had my ingrown toenail surgery and it went well. Pretty painful but it’s not too bad. It means that I have to wear flip flop/slides for a week or so. So my toes have officially been freezing but oh well. We were able to get a new investigator this week named Quintin so hopefully he is really interested and our lessons with him go well. Easily the best part of the week though was our meeting with Elder Ballard. Elder Ballard It was so cool. I learned so much from what he said and taught us and from what the Spirit taught me as well. I’m excited to put into effect all the things I learned this week. Elder Rebarchik and I also decided to go and visit the local nursing home and just go around and talk to some of the lonely elderly residents. We had some pretty funny run ins including a guy who told us he was looking for the ammunition to get out of the place as well as a lady who told us to look her up anytime we were in town and she would take us around town. But we also got to visit with some pretty lonely people and that was a pretty cool way to spend our Sunday night. Time is going by so fast. I have learned so much over the past 16-17 months and I’m excited to continue to learn these last 7-8 months. Jesus Christ lives and loves us all. I know that to be true. Have a good week!

I know that as we try to follow His example and look for opportunities to serve those around us this Christmas that we will have a great Christmas and our own personal relationship with Christ will increase.

It was another great and busy week here in Stansbury. Elder Rebarchik is super fun to serve with and I’m excited to serve with him for at least the next few weeks. We spent a lot of the days driving from Stansbury to West Valley and back. We had a lot of meetings there this week and so I think we did that drive 5 times this week. And this week we will have to do it a couple of more times. I had an ingrown toenail I didn’t take care of so I get to have surgery on that on Wednesday so that’ll be exciting (not). On Saturday, we get to have a Christmas Devotional for our whole mission and Elder Ballard, one of the leaders of our church, will come and speak to us. I really am super excited for that. Elder Rebarchik and I and a few other missionaries will also get to stay after to have another meeting with Elder Ballard. I’m especially excited for that. I can’t wait to learn from someone who has so much knowledge and is so close to our Heavenly Father. So the first meeting will have close to 200 people and the second will have more like 20 people. With it somehow already being December, Elder Rebarchik and I have tried our best to follow the Light the World movement that our church is putting on this month. We bought a couple of cases of water to donate to a homeless shelter one day and wrote a thank you card to a family who really takes care of us another day. I love being a missionary around this time of year because of how much we get to serve people around us. I’m so thankful for the example of Jesus Christ that I can try to follow in my own life. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves each and every one of us. I know that as we try to follow His example and look for opportunities to serve those around us this Christmas that we will have a great Christmas and our own personal relationship with Christ will increase. I know that’s true. I hope you all have a good week! 

#lighttheworld

I love this time of year because it gives us a chance to reflect on how blessed we are.

It was another great week here in Stansbury! My last Thanksgiving on the mission was awesome. Got to eat two dinners so that’s awesome. I don’t have too much to update on. I got a new companion named Elder Rebarchik. He is super cool and I already knew him from a previous area so I’m excited to serve with him. It was definitely a little sad to send Elder Smith home. He was a really good friend and I’m looking forward to staying in touch with him. I love this time of year because it gives us a chance to reflect on how blessed we are. I am thankful for soooooo much. I’m thankful for my amazing, supportive family. I’m thankful for all of the good friends I’ve made over the last 20 years. I’m thankful to live in this great country where we have the freedoms that we do. I’m thankful for the chance I’ve had to serve here in Utah for the last 16 months and I’m thankful for the next 8 months that i have ahead of me. But most of all I’m thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel that I get to try my best to live in my life. With the Christmas season some how upon us already we have the great chance to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Our Church is doing an awesome initiative of service with the #LightTheWorld campaign. I’m excited to do it again this year and will keep you updated on how it goes but I’d also like to challenge everyone else to participate in it as well. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and have a great week!

#LightTheWorld

Elder Potter

I received this text this week. I am so thankful for so many blessings and this wonderful time of year.

He suffered everything that we will ever have to go through.

My week was pretty good. My current companion is going home a week from tomorrow so this week will be very weird. We won’t get as much time proselytizing as we usually do. He has interviews with our mission president on Wednesday in West Valley and then “Trunky Temple Day” on Thursday so I’ll spend all day hanging around in West Valley. But it should still be a good week! Our baptism went really well on Saturday. Myles got baptized by Elder Smith and then I got to confirm him. It was kinda funny, I never realized how small he was until we took that picture. He looks like a 5 year old! But it was an awesome day. Our area is a lot slower right now work wise so hopefully this next few weeks it can really start to pick up. I’ve loved getting to serve with Elder Smith these last 12 weeks but I’m excited to get a new companion this next week as well. I should be staying in Stansbury one more transfer so I should be here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s! But I’ll find out for sure on Saturday. I wanna share a scripture that really stood out to me this week in my studies. It says talking about Jesus Christ, “11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.” I love this scripture. Jesus Christ loves all of us so much He was willing to die and suffer for all of us. He suffered everything that we will ever have to go through. I love Jesus Christ so much and am so thankful for His sacrifice for me. Hope everyone has a great week!

Christ has helped me through so many trials in my life, often times without even realizing it.

Well I had a pretty good week. We got a couple of new people to teach so I’m excited to continue working with them. We have another baptism this week for a 9 year old kid named Myles we are teaching so that will be really awesome. Maybe it’s just because I have only had Facebook for a month but I feel like there have been so many crazy tragedies happen in the past few months. With all the hurricanes, earthquakes, shootings there is just so much evil in the world. This past week has been filled with lots of tragedies and I know at times it can seem like there isn’t a whole lot of hope in the world. But I know that when we go through hard times that as we turn to Jesus Christ, He can help us through the hard times. I have been studying a lot in the New Testament lately and I just love to read about how many people seek out Christ. People came from all over to listen to Him speak and to witness His miracles. Although Christ isn’t on the earth today it’s so easy to seek Him out. All we have to do is turn to scripture and prayer. If we all turned to Christ to help us through our trials this world would be such a better place. I know that’s true. Christ has helped me through so many trials in my life, often times without even realizing it. Always look to Christ!