I know the Lord is aware of us and puts people in our path to help us and for us to help them. We just have to be ready and willing to act.

Well we had a really awesome week this week. The work in the area is really starting to pick up and the Lord is truly blessing us with so many awesome people who are prepared to be taught and who want to strengthen their relationship with Christ. We have two more investigators who are going to get baptized in February! Their names are Logan and Bowen and they are two awesome kids. One is 10 and the other is 9 but they both love to read their scriptures. Ever since they started meeting with missionaries they read their scriptures every night before bed and it’s awesome to hear them talk about how much they love the scriptures especially from such a young age. We had two very similar miracles happen this week as well. So there were two different nights where we were walking around knocking doors trying to find people to teach and nobody was answering and it was pretty frustrating. It was cold and kinda miserable but we were determined to find someone. The first time, the very last door we knocked was a family we had tried before, the Wares. They let us in and we talked for a while and before we left we shared a scripture about how Christ can help us overcome trials and it led to a 30 minute conversation about Christ and about trials we have in life and it was such an awesome experience. A couple nights later, it was snowing like crazy and I had slipped and fell on ice twice and my pants were soaked and it was miserable. But again we knew there was someone who needed to talk to us and so we kept knocking and knocking. Finally the last door we knocked on answered and let us in again. Funny enough they, the Kelsey’s, are next door neighbors to the Wares. And so we had a really good 45 minute conversation with their family and set up an appointment to come back. It was a pretty awesome way to end the night. I know the Lord is aware of us and puts people in our path to help us and for us to help them. We just have to be ready and willing to act. I hope everyone has a great week! 

I feel so blessed for all the amazing people I have gotten to try and help a little and make a difference in their life. Although it isn’t me, it is Jesus Christ. Without Him, I am nothing and with Him I can do all things and I know that’s true.

We had a really productive week this week. Whenever you whitewash an area (when both missionaries in an area get transferred out and replaced by two new ones) it is a little hard to stay busy because neither of you know anyone in an area so we have been trying to stay busy and to go meet and talk to as many people as we can. We still haven’t necessarily seen a ton of results from our efforts but I know that the Lord is blessing us and the area. We had another great lesson with Tony this week and we talked with him again about where he is at in his relationship with God. He told us last week that he knows he wants to get baptized but he just doesn’t know when and so we had a good heart to heart with him and the Spirit was so strong. At the end of the lesson he told us he wants to get baptized and so it looks as if he will be getting baptized sometime in February so we are really excited for him! Another cool thing we get to do in this area is we get to teach a class called mission prep every Sunday night to high schoolers who are planning on going on a mission. The past two Sundays have been awesome getting to teach them and answer questions they have regarding a mission. And it was really cool to hear myself share some experiences I have had that led to me making the decision to go on a mission and some experiences I’ve had over the past 18 months that have made all the sacrifices I’ve made worth it. I feel so blessed for all the amazing people I have gotten to try and help a little and make a difference in their life. Although it isn’t me, it is Jesus Christ. Without Him, I am nothing and with Him I can do all things and I know that’s true. I’m excited for another week ahead of me!

So I got transferred to Kearns back in West Valley.

Sorry I didn’t send an email last week. It was such a busy day. I had to go say goodbye to a lot of people and the rest of the time was spent packing. So I got transferred to Kearns back in West Valley. I was hoping to stay on the other side of the mountain in Tooele for another few transfers but I know this is where the Lord needs me right now. I got a brand new companion straight from the MTC. His name is Elder O’Neal and he is from Georgia. I like him a lot, he is super funny, and SUPER southern. Unfortunately he was sick when he got here from the MTC and so we couldn’t go out and work as much as usual so that kind of sucked. We did have some cool experiences this week though. No one is ever home during the middle of the afternoon and so we went out and contacted and were really hoping for people to be home and every door we knocked on someone opened. It was pretty cool. That seriously never happens. And we got about 4 or 5 lessons out of it so that was really cool! All of those lessons are for this week so there weren’t too many lessons to share this week but we did have one with a guy named Tony. Tony is a really great guy who has had a pretty crazy life. Him and his wife, Cookie (yes that’s her name), have three kids and once they had their first he decided he wanted something different in his life and so he started searching for God. He has been meeting with missionaries for a while. So we met with him this week and we talked a lot about faith. He told us he wants to learn more before he moves forward with faith and so we talked about how the Lord doesn’t really work like that. What’s so cool about God is He tells or shows us enough to take the first step, but we have to take the second step relying on our faith. I know that if we do that, we will be blessed. It can be hard but it is worth it. I know my Savior lives and that He loves me and He loves you. I know it without a doubt. Hope everyone has a good week!

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