First baptisms and trying to be exactly obedient

Happy P-day everyone! Yesterday was awesome! Steve and Colleen were baptized yesterday at 5 and it went amazing. And I was able to baptize both of them! The spirit was awesome and they were both super super happy. The water was pretty cold but other than that they loved it and they had a different spirit to them. We spent the week visiting them every single day and having lessons and making sure they were ready for baptism. We met them on September 14 and on January 26th they were baptized! It was a lot of hard work but it definitely paid off.

  Oh and Gabriel, our recent convert, is doing great. He got the Aaronic priesthood yesterday and he got a calling to be the assistant scout master. He is also planning on going to the temple next month with the ward. I wish I could go with him but when he goes through the temple in a year I will be able to go with him. I can tell, we are going to be great friends forever.

  Not a whole lot of other things happened this week. Elder Kaegi and I are doing pretty good. I sometimes get after him a lot cuz he doesn't wash his dishes or make his bed haha but I want to be exactly Obedient! This area we are in is awesome and the Lord is blessing it sooooooo much. Lot of good thing happening here.

  We went to the church at like 830 this morning and played B ball until like noon. Super tired and sore right now but it was awesome. Elder Kaegi is a beast at B ball. 6 foot 6 and he can block everyone super easy.

  Well theres not really anything else to write about from this week. I'm loving my mission a ton and my testimony is stronger than ever! Miss you all and I will see you soon because time is flying!

Love y'all

baptism coming up!

Hey everyone!

This past week has been another great one! We found 6 new people to teach and we had a ton of lessons. Super great week. Steve and Coleen are set to be Baptized this Sunday and they have asked me to Baptize them! I'm excited to finally use my white pants and tie! 2 nights ago we were at a members house for dinner and the other 2 missionaries in our ward were there too. After dinner we had an appointment with Steve and Coleen. So the 2 other missionaries gave us a ride and decided to stay for the appointment because their other one cancelled. We ended up having a testimony meeting that night and the spirit was amazing. Both Steve and Coleen bore their testimonies and I honestly have never smiled so big. 4 1/2 months ago they had no idea about the church, they didn't know about Joseph Smith, and they didn't know that The Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints was the true church. But now, after many miles of bike riding to their house, and after many lessons, they have a testimony of this Church being true. They know it because the Holy Ghost told them. We didn't do the converting, the spirit did. We were simply the instruments that the Lord used. Thats what missionary work is. Being an instrument in the Lords hands so that he can bring the spirit into someones home and teach them the Gospel. I am SO grateful that I am on a mission. The happiness in indescribable. 

  The weather here is bipolar. Yesterday was so warm that we were in our short sleeves and it was still pretty toasty. And now today we woke up and looked outside and its a blizzard. Super cold and snow everywhere. Weird. But I love the snow. Oh and for the past few days there has been a water contamination warning for this area. Apparently there was a big spill farther up the Ohio river, and it has reached this area and is coming into the water supply. Sweeeeet... Didn't think I would be dealing with this in America. haha. But they said it would be gone in a few days.

 

Oh and random note, we will hopefully be getting iPad minis around June or July. Each missionary gets one and they get to take it home after their mission. They will have everything on them. Planner, area book, church websites, etc. Its going to make teaching sooooooo nice.

  So overall this week has been amazing! I'm coming up on 6 months and I can't believe it. I miss you all and Love you all soooo much!

Elder Eastin 

Obedience = Baptisms

Hello everyone!

This past week has been amazing! I got my new companion. His name is Elder Kaegi, from Oregon, and he's 6 ft 6in.... Crap hes tall. Makes me feel short. He's been out 1 transfer longer than me but I'm the senior companion haha. His last area was downtown Louisville. So of course hes been to the Louisville Slugger museum and he bought a bat there. Super jealous. I want one super bad. Anyways, hes a great missionary and a good worker.

  K so like I said, this week was the best week ever! We met Steve and Coleen on September 16th, and this past week they both made the decision to be Baptized on the 26th!!! I have been praying and praying and praying that the lord would soften Coleens heart so that she would be Baptized. And these past 2 weeks our lessons have been filled with the spirit. And they both said that they know God is telling them to be Baptized. And it looks like I get to finally break out the white pants and white tie cuz both of them want me to Baptize them! 

 So the reason I titled the email Obedience=Baptisms is because it is so true. This past week I really buckled down hard on being exactly obedient. And that is why this was one of the best weeks I've had on my mission. Exact Obedience is key to missionary work, and unfortunately a lot of missionaries don't realize that. The Lord can't bless us and give us the spirit when we aren't being obedient. Obedience brings blessings, Exact Obedience brings miracles. Steve has wanted to be Baptized for a while but Coleen just didn't see the reason why she needed to be and she was pretty set with her decision to not be Baptized. But seeing Coleen change her mind and deciding to be Baptized is truly a miracle to me. We also have another Baptism the following sunday (February 4th), his name is Donnie Phelps. He doing pretty good also. 

  I'm loving my mission like crazy. And I can't imagine the day I have to leave it because its going to be like leaving home again. But I still have plenty of time! I sure miss and Love you all like crazy! This church is true, theres no doubt in mind about that.

Elder Eastin

P.S-this picture was from our drive to Louisville for the Xmas party

It's a bit nippy here

Hello Everybody!

K well its super cold today. 2 days ago they were saying this storm would be here saturday night and we would get 4-8 inches of snow during the night. So naturally every church in the area cancelled, except ours of course! But then that morning I looked outside and there wasnt any snow and it was raining. Lame sauce. Oh and side note, we have been with Elder Stohle since thursday cuz his companion, Elder Evans, is the new assistant to the President. So we have been at his appartment and we've had a car for the past 4 days! Its been awesome! Oh and I am not being transferred. Elder Crook is going to Berea Kentucky. I will be getting my new companion tomorrow! President Woodbury said he is putting me with a good young missionary and we will get along great. So Im pretty excited about that. So Im here for at least another 6 weeks. Maybe longer! Anyways so back to the storm. Sunday it was just raining all day. We had 1 appoinment and the rest of the day we drove around to our investigators and members because Elder Crook wanted to say bye to them. Then last night the real storm hit. As soon as it started snowing and blowing all of the schools cancelled for today. We were eating at Steve and Coleens house and they had the news on and every school in the area was closed. Its so funny. They get an inch of snow and schools close. But its not the snow thats the bad part of this storm, its the cold and the wind. The high is 1 and the wind chill in supposed to be -30. So yeah I guess the schools had a pretty good reason to cancel. President Woodbury told all the missionaries to just stay inside all day today and tonight. So we are just hanging out at the club house all day today Emailing, playing pool, and working out. Gonna be a great day haha.

 K so The best thing that happened this week was that we set a Baptism date with Steve! Coleen still doesn't want to be Baptized yet but she will support Steve. He gave up coffee and tea, which is awesome and amazing, and he will be Baptized on the 18th! Gonna be sooooo awesome!

    I have honestly gotten to the point where I LOVE being on a mission. Being a part of this great work has brought such great joy to me. I've just gotten to the point where I'm just....Happy. All the time. I don't have to wait to be happy until we have an awesome lesson or find a new invesstigator, I can just be happy all the time. Im happy that I get to serve the Lord. Im happy that I get to work every day. Im happy that I can bring the gosple to people. Im happy that I have a family back home supporting me. I'm just happy.  My Dad always told me, you choose to be happy, no one else can make you happy but you can choose to be happy. And that is so true. We expect the things around us in the world to make us happy. But its our families that bring happiness and the Gosple. True happiness comes from those things and serving the lord. You want to be happy? Serve others and the Lord. 

  So don't be too worried about me, Im doing great! I love being a missionary. And I don't get enough time to do this but Ill work my hardest with the time I have!

I love and Miss you all!

Elder Eastin

Happy New Year!

Hey there everybody! 

I hope you all had a great Christmas! I have to say, this was one of the best ones I've ever had. Yeah it did suck to be away from family during the holidays but we had a lot of great experiences and we were with a lot of great people. Christmas eve we ate at a members house. Bro. Kiggins is known for feeding missionaries a ton of food. He just kept piling food on my plate and I was trying to get through it. I had finally finished desert, which was a piece of pie, and I was sitting there and just looking at everyone elses food was making me sick cuz I was sooooo full. So to make a long story short I asked to go to the bathroom and then I puked my guts out haha it sucked. Bro. Kiggins was so happy that he make me throw up. And then after dinner we went and played basketball for like 3 hours. It was super great.

  So we have been teaching Steve and Coleen for almost 4 months now. And we have stared to have a lot of progress with Steve. Coleen just doesn't get the "one true church" concept and she said she has been baptized 3 times and doesn't need it again. And also her niece doesn't like us and we think she is the biggest reason why Collen isn't progressing. But Steve on the other hand is doing great. He always is wanting to come to church and 2 nights ago at the end of our lesson he turned to me and said that if he's still feeling good about all of this next sundayhe will go ahead and be Baptized! Coleen didn't hear him say that so we will see how she responds to that when we go over there tomorrow.

  A lot of fun and awesome stuff happened this week but its so hard to remember it all. I just wish you all could be here! Transfers are next week and we find out our fate this saturday. Elder Crook is probably going to be transferred out. He's been an awesome companion but I think we are just both ready for a change. 4 1/2 months with the same person is a long time haha. But we will see!

  Well thats all I can think about right now so I hope you all have a great New Year!

Love and Miss you all!

Elder Eastin