March 27, 2017

The work keeps moving along! It snowed three times this week, but it the snow never stuck around for more than a day, so it wasn't bad. We were able to set Brayden and Bailee with a baptismal date for the 8th of April. Their family is having a few struggles right now with finding a new place to live. The place that they’re living right now isn't exactly what I would call ideal. There isn't much insulation and whenever they use heaters too much the breakers fail and the power cuts out. Hopefully they find a new place soon. We were able to set Donovan with a date for the 13th of May. He even got up to bear his testimony yesterday! Of course the first time he got up he got about 5 feet away from the podium and chickened out and sat back down in the pews, but he worked up the nerve to get up and share a story about how he fell from a 2nd story window when he was 5 and he didn't get hurt. That guy's a brave little boy, I don't think I ever had the guts to do that when I was ten. And his mom wasn't even there (she brings him to church but doesn't stay herself, we're working on that).

 More cool things that happened this week, I saw the state prison that has about as many inmates as Ely has people. We went to Garrison and gave out 13 copies of the Book of Mormon for members to read and mark up for their friends. So yeah! It's been a good week!

Remember to always build your foundation on the rock of Christ. If you do, you cannot fall

Helaman 5:12

Stay righteous Y'all!

I don't have time to write captions, so good luck figuring out what the pictures are!

March 20, 2017

This was a great week. Elder Davis and I are working hard and seeing lots of miracles. My favorite one that happened this week, we received a referral from our bishop for this 60 year old man that was walking from Wendover to Ely. If you know anything about eastern Nevada Geography, Wendover is about 120 miles from Ely. The guy's name is Michael, and he got about 43 miles before a trucker picked him up, (who happened to be a member of the church). The trucker called our bishop and got him the help he needed. To make matters worse, there was a nasty storm and Michael didn't have a jacket. As he and the trucker drove down they talked about the church and Michael got really interested and said he would come! We met with him and arranged for someone to bring him to church, but when they got there he had decided to walk to church instead (What's a mile and a half compared to 43 miles?) It is definitely a miracle that he was able to survive the snowstorm in the middle of nowhere, an even bigger miracle that he got picked up, and an even bigger miracle that the guy who picked him up was a missionary minded member!

I know that miracles will happen as long as we have the faith that is required. And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever. Moroni 10:7

Remember, there is no greater work than missionary work, and no work has bigger rewards than missionary work. God is ready and willing to give us these opportunities to share what we know to be true. All we have to do is be willing to open our mouths.  For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. D+C 100:6

We'll see what miracles happen this week.

March 6, 2017

I've got to say the hardest adjustment I've had on my mission definitely is to the weather. I'm used to a winter that goes from late November to the end of March, but Nevada winters are way different than Minnesota winters. They go anywhere from December to April with little bits of spring sprinkled throughout it. I'm used to once it starts to warm up I don't need to wear a sweater anymore. There is a snow pile outside our apartment, it was almost gone, twice! And then it dumped snow again. We had temperatures in the 50s! And then snow comes to ruin the party... oh well...

Life is good out here. We found a couple new investigators in the form of unbaptized kids who are excited to start taking the lessons. One of them, whose name is Donovan, came to a baptism that happened on Saturday. He's a wild 10 year old, but he wants to be baptized, we just need to get Mom more excited about it, she'll come around eventually. They always do...

The Church is true, the book is Blue, Just ask Jesus He's a Mormon Too!

Stay Righteous Y'all!

-Bi-polar winter

-I found a note from one of my former companions who used to be in this area!

-Oh deers

February 27, 2017

What's up everybody! I wish I had my camera but I forgot it, it's been snowing little Dippin' Dots like snow for a while now, I guess you'll just have to take my word for it. We set up a lot of appointments and then had a lot of appointments drop on us, this week, but hey, that's missionary work. With the schedule change set for about a month now I've been able to do more than an hour of personal study, we plan at 8 and then have personal study from 8:30 to 10:00. I love that so much, because I've found that before the schedule change 1 hour of studies wasn't enough, I would be right in the middle of a good thought and then BOOM, time for companion study. I hope I have that problem back home. But anyway, I've found I am able to feel the spirit a lot more clearly now than before. I love studying the scriptures, I know it will help each of us to recognize the spirit more in our lives.

The biggest miracle we had this week was Jairus, one of our investigators, was at his Dad's house for most of this week, even though it was his mom's week. His dad is a less active, who has just recently made a goal to get to the temple, and his mom is a nonmember. It was a happy surprise when we showed up to work with Frank (his dad) and then he was there! we introduced the Kelllys to the Stop smoking program, a program that is guaranteed to work if you follow all 15 steps exactly over a week. we hope to start them on it soon.

Other than this life is great! The work is moving, we're finding more part-member families to work with it seems like every day. I'm so grateful that I'm able to be out here serving the Lord, I see His hand in this work every day, for truly it is his work. We are blessed to be a part of it.

Stay righteous Y'all!

p.s. don't die

February 20, 2017

Hello everyone! This week was a little slower due to elder Davis and I getting strep throat from our zone leaders. so we recovered from that. Elder Davis had it way worse than I did so once we got on antibiotics I was good to go, But elder Davis was out of it. 

Well, we both survived transfers, so it looks like elder Davis and I will be having another 6 week party, I'm really glad we stayed together, we've been getting along very well and I truly have learned a lot from him, and we have seen tons of miracles together. We'll see what the next 6 weeks brings!

Tana, the pineapple we found last week has been going through some tough times. she broke her back at work this week, and her son's fiance' broke off their engagement all this last week. We can tell that Satan definitely doesn't want her to investigate the church. But the opposition she's facing also gives us hope, It tells me that she is a very powerful spirit and will do a lot of damage to the adversary's kingdom. I know she will be able to push through it. 

Then on Sunday some guy kinda bore his testimony rather than saying the closing prayer. It really caught me off guard... oh well, one of those things that just proves people are crazy here!

Stay righteous y'all!

Here's a pictue of a HUGE mining truck from far away. it's in a little town called Ruth about 5 miles from Ely. We saw a semi carrying the wheels for these bad boys today, they were easily 12 feet tall, JUST the wheels. 

February 13, 2017

Man what a week! Miracles happening left and right! First, The Jakubisins got baptized! I've absolutely loved working with them! During gospel principles on Sunday we had a fantastic lesson with sister Jakubisin about the importance of eternal families she teared up at lest 3 times during it. They have progressed so much since I've came here, I'm so happy I was able to work with them up to this point. And I'm even more grateful that I can see a huge change of heart in both brother and sister Jakubisin. The Gospel truly does change lives! We've been talking with Brother and sister Jakubisin a lot about going to the temple, and now that their kids have been baptized, the next step is to be sealed together for time and all eternity. Neither of them have been to the temple yet, but they are sure excited to go! 

​Another Miracle we had this week. Last night we had a lesson with this super prepared person. Her name is Tana. She has been going through some challenges that are really making her question her faith. But instead of doubting, she's asking us to teach her! She is what we call a pineapple, a 7, a golden contact, or whatever you want to call it. We got a text from our bishop saying "here's someone who wants to meet with you, her name is Tana" That's it, we didn't know why, but she is super golden. We taught her the restoration and committed her to be baptized and she accepted! There are truly prepared people/Pineapples/7's/or Golden Investigators all around us. I know that everyone reading this knows AT LEAST 1 person who is like this. But the only thing holding them back is that they just don't know where to find the truth. That's our job to invite them. If your afraid of losing a friend if you invite them to learn more, imagine what amazing friends you'll be if they accept and are baptized.

 

D&C 18:15  And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

Isn't that worth the risk? You should "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you" 1 Peter 3:15

Stay righteous Y'all!

February 6, 2017

Hello again! I'm having fun chilling out here in Ely. I'm starting to really love it here. The people are awesome, and there are many humble people here who are trying to improve their lives. Drugs are a major problem here. It seems that everyone here has either used drugs, had a family member who used/uses drugs, or has a friend who used/uses drugs. Ely being a small town, drugs are one of the plagues that this town has. The church has a big presence here, with only 4,000 or so people there are 3 wards, and about half the Ely Stake is in Ely. Easily a third of the people here are LDS. Not all of them active. So we have a lot of ground to cover. President Fullmer said that back when Ely was a young town, people came from Utah to hide from the church, so many people here have some Relatives or ancestors that were part of the church. So there is a lot of work to be done.

There are a couple big things that happened this week. First, Elder Davis and I went to Utah! I can Finally say that I've served my mission in Utah. Don't worry, we didn't leave mission boundaries (although we took a wrong turn and almost went to the Las Vegas west mission... But we didn't!) We cover the Garrison Branch which is about .1 miles into Utah. It's really funny because elder Davis is from cedar city, which is about 3 hours closer than Reno.

The other Big things that happened... The Jakubisins passed their baptismal interviews! They’re getting baptized on Saturday!!! And another part member family we are working with, The Kelly's, we were able to set with a baptismal date for March 18th! They're all progressing and are ready to make this change in their lives! It's been a super exciting week!

That's about it for this week,

Stay righteous Y'all!