Sent to Bear Witness of that Light

Hello again! 

​Talk about a crazy week, where to begin...

​Well, Tuesday we had an exchange with the Zone Leaders, which was super fun, and Elder May and I found some incredible people! Hopefully they pan out, so far they haven't been super great at keeping appointments. We'll see. 

Then, because we had the New Trainers Meeting in Iowa City on Wednesday, we drove out to Kirksville to stay the night with Elder Fackrell and Elder Steed (who was in my MTC district) so we could drive up together the next morning. The meeting was awesome, it was so great to see the Elders from 44a again. We totally went to the food court and I FINALLY ATE CHICK-FIL-A  AGAIN!!!! Oh man, if things that addict you are against the Word of Wisdom, Strawberry Frosted Lemonades are definitely a sin. So good. 

Then we did another exchange that night in Kirksville, came back the next day, and took off to hand out Books of Mormons. There were two stakes trying to hand out as many books as we could in the last half of August, and Thursday was the last day, so we went crazy. It's amazing to see what setting goals like that can accomplish. In two weeks we were able to hand out over 1000 books, and that was only 1/6th of the mission. Talk about flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon! (@President Benson) 

Then, since it was Zone Conference on Friday, the Hannibal Elders stayed with us Thursday night. I honestly just wanted to sleep in peace for one night, but it was not to be. We had a good time though, and didn't stay up too late, considering it was Zone conference in the morning. 

THEN WE HAD ZONE CONFERENCE! Oh man, that was so awesome. It was super long, and some parts were super boring, but for the most part, I loved it! The trainings and discussions were so helpful to me. I loved it. 

Then on Saturday, we were able to attend a Baptism in the Zone Leaders area, for Brother Findlater, and it was so powerful. The spirit had almost everyone in tears by the end. I honestly cannot wait to be able to have that experience with someone who I was able to teach. I think I caught a glimpse of the great joy that comes from bringing souls to repentance. Super cool experience. 

Then we visited Neil. I don't know if I've talked about him yet, but he was super cool. He's been investigating for around four years. He came to church every week, and brings everyone he knows with him. Several of his friends have even been baptized. He was super ready to do the same, but he just couldn't shake his addiction to smoking and drinking. So he's what we call an eternigator. 

Anyway, the last three weeks he's been in the hospital, because he was totally asleep, and wouldn't wake up. Kinda scary. Anyway, we went to visit him because we'd found out that his condition was probably terminal. While we were there, we were able to talk with his sister Geri, and she is SO ready to accept our message. We taught her all about the Plan of Salvation, and she went from an emotional wreck to being at peace with what was going on. That was a miracle. 

Sadly, Neil passed away Monday night, and we're all still trying to come to terms with that, but we are still teaching Geri, and she still wants to learn, so that is definitely a tender mercy that is coming from all this. 

Anyway, that's kinda this whole week in a nutshell. I've had some requests to keep the poems featured here, so this one is about light, and being mirrors of that light, both as a church and as individuals. That was kind of a theme from this week, so I hope you all enjoy. 

​Broken Mirrors,
Shattered Glass,
Shards of truth
All filled with cracks.

Reflected Light
Into our lives,
Through Christ’s Church,
Thrived and survived.

Falling, Crashing
On the floor.
That mirror shattered,
Reflecting light no more.

God still wanted
Us to see,
The way that Jesus
Makes us free.

So made anew,
The church that’s true,
A mirror to once more,
Expand our view.

A Perfect Mirror,
Shining Glass,
Restoring light
From ages past.​

That's all for now! Enjoy!

Ralph the mouse, round two. Elder May found him in a parking lot and thought it would be fun to throw the thing at my face when I walked into my house that night. Both the mouse and Elder May were lucky to have survived the night.  (Upon further inquiry, apparently the mouse was intended for Elder McCain, but Jordan walked through first. )

​

At New Trainers Meeting with the MTC dudes

At the food court with the MTC dudes

Sin. (aka-Chick Fil A's strawberry frosted lemonade)

The Quincy Water tower.  The tallest thing this side of the Mississippi.

A low quality picture of some high quality people after eating a quart of TCBY (The country's best yogurt)

Sunset in stereotypical Iowa countryside #heartland (note from mom: maybe it's the camera, but it looks like he needs to shave!)

A memorial where the saints crossed into Quincy

Same as above, but with quotes from Pres. Hinckley.