"How has grace changed you?"

"How has grace changed you?" - June 25, 2018

June 27, 2018

Wow. We all expected this week to be the longest week of the transfer. It turned out to be insanely fast. I cannot believe it is pday again.

Last Monday was pretty great. We had a district pday in Osceola, which was great. It's hard to everyone to be alone on pday, so it was nice to have have people to see.

Then we drove to Waukee to stay the night with the Walnut Hills elders. That was a good time.

Tuesday was Zone Conference! Definitely one of the greatest ones of my mission. They just keep getting better! This one was particularly unique though, because the people who were as old as I am now when I started my mission all gave their departing testimonies. To see all these people who I've gotten so tight with over the past year share their thoughts and feelings about their missions, was a very bittersweet experience. With the exception of Elder Fuller, every missionary from my original Quincy squad will have gone home this transfer. It's unreal.

Wednesday through Friday was pretty boring. A lot of people have dropped us recently, so we are just trying to find more people to teach... We just didn't find any this week.

That's okay though, we've been trying, and we're having a good time while we're at it!

Saturday was more finding, and getting ready for next week's district meeting. We have two exchanges before district meeting, so I wasn't gonna have time next week, so I got o plan for it super early. I've learned so much about revelation from district meeting planning! Revelation is real folks. I'd encourage you all to try to deepen your understanding of that eternal principle.

Sunday was hard, but also so wonderful! Sunday is show time, as a missionary, and especially as a leader, it is really hard to report zeroes. We were hoping and praying for a miracle. As sacrament meeting started, no one was there. I kinda fell into a rut. I was pretty sad for most of church. Thank goodness for the wonderful mercy of God! He never leaves us wanting.

One of the Stake Presidency, President Arzani, came to the branch. He's an incredible man. I respect him a lot. While we were in Priesthood meeting, he shared something that really struck me. We were talking about grace and about how our efforts factor into that. Are we saved by grace? How does it work? To the first question he replied that yes, we are saved by grace! He then asked another question, the title of this email, "How has grace changed you?"

Wow.

That was exactly what I needed to hear right then. How has the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ impacted our lives? It didn't really matter what my numbers were, what mattered more was that I did my part, and that Christ is changing me. His grace is what helps me to become something more as a result of perceived failure. I love my Savior. He has taught me so much about Himself and His role in my life while I've been in Lenox. I love being a missionary!

I'm sorry for the lack of poetry lately. I lost my notebook... So yeah.

I do have a ton of pictures this time though!

That's all for now! Transfers are on the 5th, so send any mail to the mission office till then!