Not in Peoria Anymore... July 9, 2018

July 15, 2018

Hello Friends and Family! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer!

Transfers happened! Elder Fuller has taken off to Dubuque, and I stayed! My new comp is Elder Hebbert, fresh out of the Peoria stake! In case you missed it, the Chicago West Mission was dissolved, and the Peoria Stake is now a part of our mission. It's craziness. Our mission cultures are VERY different. For example, they could listen to pretty much any music they wanted to, we have about 80 approved songs. They didn't let Elders and Sisters have p-day together, and in the last 10 months Elder Hebbert has only had 1 district lunch. I've had more than 40. It's been fun to see all the differences. It feels a little like training again.

Anyway that all aside. This week has been SOOO long, SOOO fun, SOOO exhausting, and SOOO worth it! I love being a missionary!

We had an exchange with Centerville this Monday before Transfer calls. Usually that Monday is super stressful, and I have some difficulty staying productive. To remedy that, we did the Lemonade stand again, and I just went wild. Y'all better honk for Jesus every chance you get! Video attached.

As y'all know, it was also Independence Day this Wednesday, which conveniently lined up with our zone super p-day.... Muahahaha. We all met in Des Moines at 9am, had breakfast as a zone, played ball, then we all went and had lunch with one of our members in Waukee, played volleyball and had a genuine good time. It was a great day, sad though to see the end of all our squads... Elder Fuller, Sister Langston, Sister Harmon, and I got pretty tight this transfer. We're all probably going to the same school though, so you best believe we're partying it up post-mish.

Then it was transfers! Back to Des Moines! We said our goodbyes, and then I went on exchanges with Elder Clayson and Elder Brown. Shoutout to Elder Clayson for buying us all Chick-fil-a! Then we came back to pick up the new guys, and to say goodbye to the inordinate number of my friends who went home. It was especially sad to say goodbye to Elder McCain and Elder May. They both had a ridiculously large impact on my life and mission. In a very poetic fashion, I actually got my driving privileges back the last day of their missions. Take that Elder May. I don't suggest anyone take a year long break from driving, it's weird for the first little while. Super happy though!

Since then, we've been hitting the pavement a lot! The weather has been AMAZING, so we've been knocking out the wazoo. It's been fantastic. The last little while, I've been allowing myself to be less than diligent, but thanks to some great missionaries in my district (Elders Steed and Clark) I've quit being a pushover and have been working hard. I can testify that effort is equal to happiness. Obedience is truly its own reward. Try it out! It works!

Sunday was awesome! A member brought his friend to church, and we were able to have a bit of a lesson with him and make him a new investigator. We're excited to keep teaching him!

That's this week in a nutshell! I'm sure I forgot something, but I hope you can feel the joy I have in missionary work. It's the greatest!

I love you all! Hope you have a stellar week!

Here's a ton a pictures! Have fun!