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!