Surprise baptism and a new companion

Hi Family!!!

What an awesome awesome week! Let me just start by saying that we kinda had a surprise baptism on Saturday and I got to baptize him haha it was awesome! The Sisters in Corbin have been teaching a man named Adam for a while like 4 weeks ago I interviewed him to be baptized but after the interview I felt impressed that we should wait and put off the baptism until the next week. So we did. Well that week the sisters found out that Adam was still smoking and chewing Tobacco... so, we reset his baptism date to the 13th. His health is super super poor and honestly we were worried that he would die before he got baptized. So last sunday he didn't come to church because he was sick but that week on Wednesday I interviewed him again and then afterword I spoke to President Brough about Adam and we both felt like he was living up to D&C 20:37 and so we decided it was time for him to be baptized. And he asked me to baptize him, so, another wonderful blessing to baptize someone again. Great week.

 

On Tuesday we drove to Louisville early in the morning to go to transfer meeting where I picked up my new son Elder Peck, who is from Pocatello IDAHO!!! And of course he is taller than me. Anyways, he is an awesome missionary and he is going to become an amazing missionary. He's humble and willing to learn and is very obedient. New missionaries are like soft clay (if they are humble) and you can shape that soft clay into an obedient, diligent hard working missionary. He's soft clay. We've had some great first experiences together and some really funny moments so I am excited for this transfer.

 

We got to go to Lexington twice this week and we will be going again on Thursday for interviews. On last on friday we went for a zone meeting, which was great and we learned a lot.  And then we went again Saturday after the baptism to go to the nativity event going on at the stake center. Its a huge program that they put on for 2 days and it goes from like 3-8 in the evening. They had a great choir and good refreshments and they had tons of different nativities set up around the church in different rooms. Lots of non-members come for that.

 

Oh on the 22nd of this month we are driving up to Louisville again for a big Christmas devotional/party thing for the whole mission. Its going to be fun. We've had to do sooo much driving this month. We are only given a certain number of miles to use each month and so with all of these meetings that we have had to go to it has eaten up everyones miles. We are given 1300 a month for our area. Pretty sure everyone is going to go over this month.

 

Oh and just for everyones information, gas is $2.19 right now. Super super cheap here. Its nuts. Costs like $25 to fill our car!

 

Love y'all!!!!!!!!

 

That nativity in this picture was carved out of a pumpkin...awesome.

The others are of the baptism.

 

Merry Christmas!!! See y'all soon on Skype!!

Quick update on transfers and 3rd son (trainee)

Hey fam!

President said we could send a quick email to update you on transfers today! So my new companion is Elder Peck and he is from Chubbuck Idaho. And of course he is taller than me! I will send pictures of the whole "mission posterity" haha

In the picture from left to right is Elder Peck, me, Elder Jensen#1 and then Elder Jensen#2 and then his greenie Elder Sorensen. (Which is my grandson!) Pretty excited to be training again!

Anyways, just wanted to give you a quick update. Love y'all so much! Have a fantastic week!

this is from September 29-

Hello!

Wow, so many great things to tell about this week! It was amazing! My explanation of the week might be a little scattered so bear with me as I try to remember everything.

So we had a goal this week to talk to more people because we are in finding mode right now haha we have a couple of great people we are teaching right now, Libby & Donielle, but we definitely need more. So, that's what we did, we talked to a lot of people and man oh man we found a lot of people to teach. This weeks totals were 14 new investigators and 20 other lessons and we had a total of 29 lessons for the week, it was amazing. We found a little family in an apartment complex and they are really nice and we had a good first lesson with them. Its a really good sign to see a new investigator waiting outside for your first return appointment. Half the time people don't remember our appointment or just don't care too much. Anyways, so they are cool and I will let you know more about them as time goes on.

Now here's the big miracle of the week:

Elder Burns and I were going to a mans apartment for a first lesson, his name is Joe Smith (go figure haha). As we are walking up to the place we see 3 people standing by a car and 2 people inside the car. So we decide to go over and talk with them. Our approach was a usual one that we do, "We're representatives of Jesus Christ and we are going around offering the Saviors peace and comfort through prayer, could we say a prayer with you?" That's a great way to start talking with people because most people down here are accustomed to praying. Anyways, we start talking with them about who we are and what we do and this lady in the car told us that as they were driving to this place, her grand-daughter had said that they all need to get baptized and join a church. And lo and behold, who shows up right after she says that? The Lords very servants!:) So right from the start they knew that we were truly put at that place at the right time just to talk with them. So, we got the address and phone number of the couple that were in the car and set up an appointment with them for sunday night (last night). Their name is Barbra and Jessi. 

K so now for the even better part! We went to our appointment with them at 7 last night. They live about 5 miles out in the country from us in a trailer. Well after looking for the address we couldn't find it so we called Jessi and he guided us there and was waiting on the porch for us and Barbra was waiting inside. Side note, their trailer is super nice and clean and they have a huge, really nice yard, not super common for out in the back hills of Kentucky. So we get inside and sit down and we just dive right in with the first lesson. Words cannot describe the spirit that was in that room last night. We taught from the bible and Book of Mormon in such clarity, and they saw that and they understood everything about the primitive church and the apostasy. When it came time for the First Vision we gave Jessi a pamphlet and had him read Joseph Smiths account and we told them to wait in silence for a little bit after he finished reading it. The room was just FILLED with the spirit as he read from the account. It was just thick and warm and powerful. We saw tears in Barbra's eyes. And after sitting in it for a moment, to let it testify of the truth of what we had just taught, we testified of the spirit being present in the room and told them that that was the Lord telling them that this was true. After that moment we committed them to be baptized on November 8th. They were very excited for it and they didn't want us to leave haha after being there for over an hour Jessi was like "Your not leaving yet are you?" haha he just loved us and we love him. They are both so special  and awesome. You wouldn't totally think that by just looking at them but they are really good people who are changing their lives from drinking and smoking. We left them with a promise from 3 Nephi 13, that their family troubles would be solved and they would be closer with their kids if they seek God first.

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Praise the Lord! (That's what a lot of people say down here haha even in our ward, oh and Amen!)

 

So, family and friends, trust the Lord with all of your hearts and keep moving forward. Satan was working on Elder Burns and I for a couple of days before that amazing lesson. I was struggling really bad for some reason, but we kept moving forward with Faith and look what happened! Never give up and never give in.

 

Mosiah 29:20 But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him. 

 

I love you all so much!

Back hills of Kentucky. nice nice house. She's a beauty!

Chicken meal from the chicken festival! It was right down the road from our house

We were out tracting and the sky looked amazing. I bought a nice new camera up in Louisville so I could take pics like these!

This is what all of the road look like driving places. They just go all over the place around the mountains and there are tons of trees.

Having a fire at our ward mission leaders house Bro. Johnson

Hanging with his horses

 

Library ride, Spiritual Meetings, Staying and training #3

Hi fam!!

Found out this weekend that I am going to be training another missionary! #3! I'm excited and nervous. Going to pick him uptomorrow up in Louisville.

This week has been awesome. So we dropped the car off to get worked on and sow e were on bikes until Thursday evening. And it was raining every single day haha had a few hors here and there that it stopped. Had some dang fun adventures. We live on the other side of a small mountain from the Library but there are no roads or trails that go up and over to it. they just go around. We rode our bikes to the top of the mountain through a neighborhood and got to the top and looked down and we could see the Library but there was no way down except to go back down the way we came and to go around. We got to the Library just in time. Just as we locked up our bikes it started to pour super hard. So after we did our hour of Mormon.org time we went outside and it was raining lightly. And so we decided to ride up to the base of the mountain as far as we could ride and then to just hike with our bikes up to the nearest road at the top. That was an adventure carrying our bikes, walking in church shoes up a steep, muddy hill. But it was worth it. Once we got to the road it was an all downhill ride to our house. So that was fun.

On Friday this week we went up to Lexington to the stake center for a meeting with Elder Kopischke of the seventy. We got to sit and talk and listen to him for 3 hours. It was so cool and spiritual. There were about 100 missionaries there and we just sat in the chapel and had a Q and A with him about different topics of missionary work. 

THEN, the very next day we drove up to Lexington again because it was stake conference this week and so Elder Parker of the seventy was here visiting the stake and we got to hear him speak that night at the leadership meeting, the Adult session and then the next day at the main meeting of stake conference. Elder Parker is from Atlanta Georgia and he's on the movie "Meet the Mormons". He is a convert to the church and joined in 1980's. Listening to him speak was almost like hearing a Baptist preacher, but the main difference was that he was teaching ALL truth about the gospel and Christ. It was soooo cool. There honestly were times during his talks that I wanted to vocally out loud yell "Amen!" or "Praise the Lord!" haha. He is a spiritual giant. Got to shake his hand and talk to him. This weekend was just a huge spiritually enlightening weekend. Received lots of revelation. 

On sunday night we went to Jessi and Barbara's at 6 and cooked dinner with them and then watched the Devotional. We cooked some good ole fried taters and sausage! They loved the devotional. Haven't smoked since Saturday, please pray for them!!

Today, we are doing lots of cleaning in our apartment and Elder Burns is packing his stuff. The day is just going to be spent saying good bye to people since Elder Burns is leaving. 

Also, we have an appointment with a Reverend this evening at 6. He was a referral and he said he just loves the truth so he wants to learn. Our dream is to convert him and also his congregation!

Not much else to say about this week! It was an awesome one! Getting super excited for Christmas!!! And also to Skype with everyone!!! Hitting 16 months soon. Scary.

Love you all!!!

"I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, and I am not what I hope to be; but, by the grace of God, I am not what I once was."

A pizza place we went to-  "Heavenly Pizza" it truly is Heavenly. Tastes dang good.

 a little building that we saw with Graffiti on it- Super cool

Part- member family that we visit

Jessi and Barbara's home- we gave them these pictures. I cut out the temple one out of an ensign and framed it for them. They also have a proclamation to the family on the wall.

Thanksgiving, Birthday, Miracles

Wow that was a really long week!!

Not saying it was a bad week, it was great, it was just a challenging week and a little stressful! It was awesome because it was thanksgiving and also I turned 20!! Feels weird to say that now. I feel so grown up all of a sudden. Where did my childhood go...? haha Anyways, Thanksgiving was awesome. Got to sleep a lot and then we went to a members down in Corbin and ate some bomb Thanksgiving dinner. That was basically the day, eat and sleep!

My birthday was fun. We did our studies as usual and then at 10 went out on our bikes and rode around for a while and talked with people and tried to make some visits. We found this HUGE hill to ride down and Elder Burns has a little computer on his bike and he got going 40 down it. It was awesome! I didn't dare go that fast on my bike haha I feel like it would break. Then at like 1:30 we went with brother Johnson up to his house to go and cut firewood for a member (who didn't prepare for winter like he should have).

But it was fun! I really enjoy splitting logs. Its a really good workout. And its nice to be out in nature. Then at like 6 Bro. J took us out to dinner at Cheddars. Which is like a really really nice Applebees. its dang good food. So that was fun! And then we finished the night out at Barbara and Jessi's! There really is nothing like serving others on your birthday. Its a great feeling. That's how almost everyday is. Serving the Lord is awesome!

Oh so Barbara finally went to the court house to look into getting her divorce and she found out that its only going to cost 170 instead of 900. So that's a miracle! And we also put them on a stop smoking plan so they can quit by the 6th of this week so they can make their baptismal date of the 27th. They are allowed only a certain number of cigarettes each day of the week and it gets less and less until Saturday and that's when they get down to zero. Please please please pray for them so that they can finally quit smoking. We gave them each a blessing so they could quit. They want to be baptized so badly!

Oh so today tomorrow and Wednesday we don't have our car:( We had to take it into the body shop to get some dents removed and it wont be done until Wednesday. So we are on bike and walking for now! Had to ride to the Library today! Hopefully by the time we leave it won't be raining!

This is the last week of this transfer! On Saturday we will be getting calls to see if one of us is leaving. Elder Burns is way more likely to leave than me but we will see. So I will let y'all know as soon as possible!

Oh and I got me a new watch for my birthday. Ill send a pic of it.

Learned a lot about prayer and how important it is! I've learned that the first thing that most likely causes people to leave the church or to become less active is that they stop praying. Our communication with Heavenly Father is spiritually vital. So, don't forget to pray!

I love you all! Happy Holidays!!

A baptism, a beautiful testimony and a package from Shannon!

Well Donielle got baptized on Saturday and was confirmed a member of the church on sunday! It was awesome. I will attach pictures of it at the end of this email. It was such an awesome experience to baptize her. It never gets old. It's amazing to have that opportunity and blessing to baptize someone! Before her baptism we asked her to write down her testimony and give it to us so we could type it up and print it out for her. We typed it up on Word and made it look really nice and then we went to Office Depot and had them print it on a nice tan piece of paper and laminate it. It looked awesome! We had it sitting on a table during her baptismal service so everyone could read it. Its a great testimony. I will copy and paste it so you can read it.

I truly believe that the Book of Mormon and the Prophets of God are real. I believe it with all my heart. I started believing in the Book of Mormon and the Prophets when I prayed to God about it, and asked him to show me a sign to tell me that it was true. He touched me with a warm feeling in my heart, and throughout my body. It was the most amazing feeling that I have ever felt in my life. I then took a huge step by reading the Book of Mormon, and praying about it throughout the day and night before I went to bed. I now live by the word of God and go to church regularly, to show my love and devotion to God and our Savior Jesus Christ, his Son. I’m also going to raise my children by the word of God, because our God is powerful, and wonderful.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

What an awesome testimony, right?

Lets see, what else happened this week. Barbara and Jessi are about the same. They still haven't gone to the court house to see about getting Barbara's divorce taken care of... So that's frustrating. 

We saw Libby last night and asked her if she even wants to get baptized, and she said yes. But we talked to her about how she isn't going to be ready for baptism if she doesn't come to church. She's getting kinda lazy on us... So we were bold, but loving, with her and I think she felt Godly sorrow, which is good. Hopefully she gets some more motivation to learn about the gospel and get baptized.

Oh so this next Monday we have to take our car into the body shop because a while before I got to this area the car got backed into twice and we finally got it approved through the church to go and get the dents fixed. But that means we won't have a car for 3 days... haha good thing I got my furry hat in the mail! I'm gonna need it to stay warm while we walk around a bunch.

Oh we got a piano in our apartment now! Some Elders had it in their apartment and didn't want it so they gave it to us. Its awesome. Ill send a pic of it.

Super excited for my birthday on Friday! I got a package in the mail from Shannon that was filled with a bunch of funny stuff and a birthday card.

Thanks Shannon! Oh also I never told y'all about the potato I got in the mail from Shannon haha. Well it got chopped in half somehow during the shipping but they put both pieces in a plastic baggy with an apology note on it! So by the time it got to me in the mail it stunk really bad! But it was really funny to get!

Also dang excited for Thanksgiving. We just have 1 invite to dinner. Which is fine and im grateful for that. The Elders over in the Beattyville branch don't have any invites to dinner cuz there are only like 2 active members in their area. Its kinda sad haha. But we get the whole day off for Thanksgiving so it will be nice to just relax and do fun stuff.

I love you all! Thanks for being such awesome family members and friends!

Back to New Albany for a Baptism!

Snowy day here in Kentucky!

Wow this last week was awesome! Do y'all remember Bill from my last area in New Albany? Well he got baptized on Friday and I got to go to the baptism!!! Since I was there when he first started investigating the church President Brough let me go to it. Bro. Johnson dorve us up to New Albany. It was a long 3 hour drive. But it was so worth it. It was super awesome to see a lot of the members in New Albany and also some of the recent converts that we baptized when iw as there! Such a great experience.

Also had zone conference on Tuesday up in Lexington. It was a super great meeting and I learned a lot of things. I wish everyone could have been to that meeting.

Yesterday was the monthly fireside up in Lexington so we rode with a missionary that just got off of her mission last week from Montana, and also with her brothers. We drove in their families excursion and it was super nice haha. The Fireside was really good and I always enjoy the testimonies of the recent converts that get up and share their stories.

 

Oh so Donielle had her baptism interview on Saturday and she passed it so she is going to be baptized this coming Saturday and she asked if I would baptize her!:) Dang excited for that! There aren't many things better in life than baptizing someone. It's a wonderful experience.

 

Jessi and Barbara came to church yesterday so that was awesome. They are going to be going to the court house today to see if they can get Barbara's divorce finalized so her and jessi can get married so then they can be baptized! If I could only have 1 thing for Christmas it would be for them to be baptized before the end of this year! 

 

Oh and at church yesterday the sister missionaries had 10 investigators at church and we 3 so we had a total of 13 people at church it was awesome. they are teaching this family that has 13 KIDS! The parents have 2 of their own and then they have just adopted the rest of them. They just keep adopting these kids that have come from drug homes or just from bad families. So the sisters are teaching them and most of them came to church yesterday! That would be a lot of baptisms! 

 

Love you all so much!!

 

First pic is of me and Bill.

Second is of both of my sons(missionaries I trained) they were both at the baptism.

Third is of me and a recent convert named Nic . I'm not sure if I mentioned a lot about him but he is really good friends with the bishop in New Albany and we started teaching him when I was there and so he got baptized like 3 weeks after we started teaching him. Him and I are like best bud's. We email each other like every week. He's 17 I think and wants to go on a mission when he graduates. So awesome!!

District meeting and triple baconator

It's crazy that another week has come and gone! Time is flying right now. The days seem to just blur together haha. This week was a good one tho! Had some close encounters with serious injury but the Lord was protecting us, I will talk about that later in the email.

On Wednesday it rained all stinkin day, we just drove around and tried to visit a bunch of people and did a little walking with our umbrellas  and talked to people on the streets. Oh and every Wednesday night at 6 we drive down to the church with bro. Johnson for coordination and they have a priesthood meeting that they have the missionaries come to.

 On Thursday we had district meeting like usual and then after we went to DQ because one of the senior couples were going home next week. I will send some pics of our group photos we took. 

After district meeting we went on exchanges with the McKee Elders. Elder Heslop came with me back to London and Elder Burns stayed in McKee. It was fun working with him. We went and cut fire wood on Friday morning with Bro. J for a member that needed it. And that evening we went to the Helms house down in Corbin for dinner. she makes the best food!

Oh! So awesome news! We have this awesome new investigator named Laura. She is a referral from a member in Nicholasville. They have been friends for like 30 years and she finally told Laura that its time for her to get baptized. So on Saturday night we drove to her house and had dinner and then we had a lesson and it went great. Set a baptismal date with her for December 13th!:) Oh and she came to church yesterday and loved it!

Barbara and Jessi sadly didn't come to church again..... They had been gone all week to her daughters hosue helping build some stuff and they said that they were way tired and Barbara has been having trouble with her Dialysis again and it keeps her awake. Donielle is still set for her baptism on the 22nd!:) way excited for that. Oh and do y'all remember Bill Lucas from my last area? Well he is getting baptized on Friday this week!!!!!! I am going to ask president if I can go. probably wont let me since I live so far away but its worth a shot.

Ate a triple baconator this week at Wendys. Big mistake. I'll send pics. Elder Burns and I just wanted to try one so we did. Don't ever get one. Way to much meat. It ruined us for the day.

We have a zone conference tomorrow up in Lexington so I am looking forward to that. They are always super inspirational and I learn a lot. Hopefully we will learn more about when we will be buying our new iPads!

Love you all!

Have a wonderful week!