Duty to God

Hello Everyone!!  This week was pretty normal. I've really started to settle into Carroll this week. It's crazy how time moves on the mission. Quincy already feels like a distant memory, one to be remembered with fondness, but distant nonetheless. I see that as a tender mercy. Mark Twain once said , "comparison is the thief of joy". That is definitely true of comparing areas, and so I count it a blessing to feel distant from Quincy, despite the love I have for that place.  That's my deep thought for the day.  Tuesday  was one of those great days full of work, when everything just goes great! We met with Randy that morning and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Word of Wisdom. He's super prepared, and is totally gonna get baptized in February.  We were also able to meet some less actives, and they were super awesome and accepting, and one of them, Brother Johnston, agreed to come help us with some lessons this week! Love that.  ...

Hello Y'all!  Well, it finally happened. I've been transferred. Carroll is about as far from Quincy that they could send me. I've been called as District leader, which is crazy to me. I have no clue what I'm doing, but whateves. Elder Hutchings blew everyone away though, and is also turnaround training!!! His boy's name is Elder Fuller. That makes three people trained in Quincy in a row. Super crazy.  Anyway, this week was awesome and crazy! (Also full of pictures.) Monday  night, Elder Olsen and I were able to have a lesson with Jeri (first time in forever!) in the Bair's home. It was super powerful, and I really hope that it got her back on track for baptism. From the sound of it, she's since started reading the Book of Mormon every day. Super exciting.  Tuesday  was transfer calls! That's always an adventure! Turns out I was the only one leaving our district down there. So we spent the day packing and visiting everyone. We had dinner ...

Hello Friends and Family!  This week has been awesome! I've never been so ready and happy to have a week to do nothing but work! Usually it's nice to have something big to look forward to, but it was nice to have missionary work as the only focus again. I've loved that.  Tuesday  was a weird day though. We had so many lessons planned, and referrals to visit, and we were pumped. But before we even left the house, almost everyone cancelled on us. Everyone else didn't answer. So we knocked in the cold all day. By all rights, I should've been miserable. For some reason though, I was abnormally happy. God is very merciful. I've come to realize that joy is a gift from God, and I was definitely blessed with that gift this week. It's amazing.  Wednesday  and  Thursday  were pretty average. The cool part was the member work that happened. We've really been picking up our game in that area, and the blessings that we've seen from that are remarkabl...

Hello everybody!  ​I hope your week as been as great as mine has been, but hopefully yours has been warmer. ​;P  Now that the holidays are all finished, people are finally starting to listen to us again! It's awesome! But also due to the end on the holidays, there's not a lot of unique things to say about this week. I'll do my best though.  Last Tuesday we did a lot of finding. It was ridiculously cold though, so not a lot of people listened to us. But at the end of the day, we turned onto a random road for no real reason, and there was only two houses on the whole road. We knocked on the first one, and she wouldn't even open the door. I was pretty frustrated. The other house looked much less promising, plus it was about time for dinner. I was ready to just go. But as we walked past, we made eye contact with the man inside. So we kinda had to knock. His name was Ralph, and he was very kind, but not interested. We talked with him for a little bit (just abou...

HAPPY 2K18 BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!!  I can't believe it's actually here! Looking back, I can honestly say that 2017 was the best year of my life. Looking forward, I cannot wait to see the incredible experiences 2018 has in store for me. This is an exciting time.  This week has been amazing! Last wednesday night we were able to teach Linda the Stop Smoking Workshop. There were four missionaries there, Sister Fesler, and Rachel and Kevin! It was a powerful lesson, and that power has really carried over into her life this week. She has not smoked since. It's amazing. When we rely on our Saviors promises, miracles do happen. I know that to be true. His Atonement is the most powerful force in any of our lives. All we must do is trust in Him and not in our weak flesh.  Thursday  we went on exchanges with Hannibal. We took them up to some small towns on the edge of the mission and knocked in the ridiculous cold. It was a good time though. Every time I've gone to...