Duty to God

The subject line aptly describes this week.  Have you ever loved something so much that it literally consumes you, to the point that it hurts? Have you ever prayed for something, worked your tail off for it, and feel like it was all in vain?  That is how I've come to feel about teaching the Gospel. I honestly can say that I love it so much that it hurts. I love teaching lessons. I love to testify of Christ every single day. I especially love watching people change and feel Christ's atonement in their lives, and knowing that I played a small role in that.  But for the last five months I've seen very little of that. Scheduled lessons were rare. Ones that followed through, even rarer. My testimony was seldom acknowledged, and usually reviled against. And despite my efforts and my prayers for so long, no one seemed to accept Christ and let Him change them.  Against that backdrop, this week has been a perfect miracle. We had so many beautiful experiences ...

Hello friends.  It's been a good week. I have no time for details though. We had zone conference and did the Book of Mormon experiment at the hawkeyes game. Life is great!  I love you all! Godspeed! Elder Housholder (Editor's note: I'd say that was short! At least there were pictures! No captions though, no time for that.)

Hello my people!  Wow. This week was awesome. It's amazing to see the work of the Lord roll forth in such an intimate way. This week we saw some major changes in the church to move the work forward, but I was also able to participate in pushing the cause of Christ along in my small way, person to person, as Christ always did. It's truly incredible to be the Lords servant, and awe inspiring to see his plan unfold in miraculous ways.  Anyway! This week was super busy and super great. On Tuesday we had MLC, which is always great. President Badger gave a training on the Covenant Trail, and kept talking about the Tetons. Yup, trunky. But it was a good day. I also got to perform a musical number with Sister Harmon (shoutout to the moon goons). It turned out really well.  Then we had another full day of interviews. That was a long day, but despite my fatigue, when we went knocking for a little while that evening, the pain and exhaustion departed, and I was filled wit...

Hello friends.  It's been a good week folks. It's also been a fast one, so please pardon if there isn't a lot to be said.  For starters, it was transfers. Out of a zone of 15, only 3 people left, so it feels about the same. They also opened three new areas though, so that's a change. One of those areas is in my same ward too! Sharing a ward is definitely a new experience for me, but I'm hopeful that it will be good.  We also got the notice that our apartment is bedbug free! So we've deep cleaned, and moved back into our apartment. Life is a lot calmer now, but it's really sad that the squad is finished... It's the end of an era.  Anyway, between moving, transfers, 3 district councils, coordinating with the new Sisters, and planning out the transfer, we had very little time to work. the lazy side of me would've used that as an excuse to relax when I wasn't at a meeting or something. It's amazing though, to see the blessings th...

Hello dearest friends and family! I cannot believe that its Monday again! Y'all have no clue how fast missions go by. It's nuts.  Also, transfers are on Thursday, so please hold mail till further notice. Chances are that I'll be staying, but you never know.  Anyway!! This week was loaded with meetings, as usual. We had MLC on Tuesday, and a crazy storm knocked the power out. It was quite a site, all of us sitting in a semicircle illuminated only by emergency lights, watching people do object lessons, and all recite our purpose. No wonder people think we're a cult.  A cool experience this week. Tuesday night we had a dinner with our Ward Mission Leader, he invited his neighbor to come and hear a lesson, AND SHE AGREED!!!! Folks, you never know who is going to accept your invitation, so just invite everyone! That's how missionary work gets done.  Anyway, it was a really cool lesson, and we have high hopes for her. Please pray for Maegan!  Othe...

Hello again my dear friends! Another week has come and gone, and they just keep going faster and faster. The mission is so amazing, and it just makes me sad to think of how quickly it goes by.  This week was super exciting, and was mostly focused around Zone Conference. Elder Anderson and I were asked to give a training on "the higher law of the word of wisdom"...  For those unaware, higher law trainings are the worst. Some of the most painful moments of my mission have been sitting through higher law trainings. So, hearing our topic brought much despair for a season... But never fear, we emerged triumphant!  You see, we bought baby bottles, and discovered that it's super hard to get liquid out of the bottle, due to the size of the hole. As we pondered our training, we realized that just like the bottle restricts the liquid, disobedience to the word of wisdom limits our ability to receive the milk of the gospel, and be nourished by the blessings of the spirit....