" It's an exciting time in Richfield! " (1/12/2015)

So I'm a year down "officially" - although i still haven't burned my shirt :P 

This past week was insane!! So we put our brothers and sisters on date for baptism - we got to meet John Bytheway - Elder Holland will be at our stake conference this week - Elder Bednar will be at the Manti stake conference next week - ANDDDDDDD I'm a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It can't get any better :D

so here's the update!

We had a baptism Saturday for Larry Kennin, and have 2 scheduled for the 24th. Jodi Shannon is a single mom who was friendshipped my a widow in the Sigurd ward. She went to church and loved the spirit, and we met with her after sacrament and taught the Restoration. After praying for her date, we extended the invitation to be baptized and she accepted after we answered some questions. We feel really great about her. Second is Bailey Chestnut. She started going to church a little over 2 months ago off and on because she had to get rides with her uncle but attends mutual on Tuesdays every week. We started meeting with her mum and brother with the lessons and now they too feel a desire to learn more. We extended the invitation for her to be baptized on the 24th and her mum agreed it would be a good date and late February for her brother. We have an hispanic family of 5, last name Delagado, on date for the 31st. We are really pushing for meeting 3 times a week to solidify their testimony. They hold the Book of Mormon to be true but the dad feels he needs to learn everything first. We are using the progress record so he can track his own progress as suggested in PMG. Then we have Damian and Miriam Bagay on date for the 14th of February. Miriam had a bap date but then felt she wanted to wait for her husband so we have been working on his steadiness in spiritual CPR. It's an exciting time to be in Richfield! 

Attached are some pictures of the week :)

Love and miss you!

"Our Savior lives...He is very aware of all of us - personally. May we use His atonement daily. His yoke is easy, and His burden light.

Believe it or not it's a new year! Woot! (cue fireworks)

Kay well it's not too exciting...as a matter of fact, not much is done to celebrate it around these here parts of utah. Quiet evening with a movie at a member's home with pizza. It was neat!

So i've really come to despise the holidays as a missionary - ain't nobody home to visit! haha see my utahan come out there? and when they are home, too busy with family that came in for the holidays! Grrrrr -_-" #DaStruggleIzReal

Although this past week picked up a bit more...we planned to see people better and were able to hit standards. Really neat! So we started teaching these peruvians and they are so golden! They return to Peru the 8th of this month to be baptized with their families :) how neat, huh?

Also, yesterday we met sister Jodi. Her friend has been inviting her out to church forever! so she finally came and we had a lesson with her after sacrament meeting. Said she felt the spirit and she knows it's true. We gave her a baptismal date at the end of this month and she accepted.

Miracles are happening :D I know it's because of the consecration and devotion we gave all this transfer. As I reflected on 2014, I really had gratitude in my heart. Blessings galore! Heavenly Father takes such great care for us. I felt I never really thanked him enough. I committed myself to saying a gratitude prayer every day. Probably did this before but i'm doing it again. I invite each of you to kneel every day, and just Thank Heavenly Father for the things he gave you that day. I miss and Love you all. 

Our Savior lives...He is very aware of all of us - personally. May we use His atonement daily. His yoke is easy, and His burden light.

"what can I learn from this that I can use to help others" We are the Lord's instruments...we are His hands " (12/15/2014)

So a quick update cuz we are running out of time, so i'll just tell a quick story!!

So in the year before I left on my mish, my car's starter failed me :( I know my family remembers this because it drove me nuts. Anywho, at the time I really questioned the typical "why me?" Why if I was doing all the right things did it need to happen to me. Arrogant, right? Like, chill. haha Anywho, me trying to save money, I didn't jump quickly to take it to a mechanic - so I told my pops that we can work on replacing it ourselves with my brother in law Ernie. As we began the journey, we all got a  little frustrated. It was either remove the manifold through the top, or drop the exhaust catback from below to get the new starter in. After heavy research and countless hours of labor, we were not able to get it done -_- haha so even more frustrated, we push-started it and I took it to the local autozone to get it replaced. (there's a funny side story including billy about this too which i'll tell later) Annoyed at last I was able to get it all fixed. What I didn't understand however, is what that experience would do for me in the time to come - or should I say, what it would do for those I would serve in the future. About 8 pm last night we visited RC family Elias. As we shared a message and some time, they shared concern about how their vehicle had suddenly died and they were stumped on what to do. In this economy, we aren't too quick to take it to the shop and spend all this time figuring out how much it would cost. The moment brother Elias spoke the situation, this moment in my life flashed back into my head, and without hesitation I said I could fix it. We woke up and went to bro. elias' this morning at 6. We went out, and began running tests. Everything had power but it wouldn't turn over. Clanking noise in the coils of the starter menat it was bad or it wasn't receiving enough power. Gave it a push start and disconnected the battery to test the alternator and it passed so we went with the starter. I removed the manifold and took it to autozone to test. FAILED. Told bro. elias the part, and we brought it back and put it back on. Replaced the manifold packing, sealed it up and VROOM! What an amazing experience! My exhausting and irritating moment in life was just preparation for me to help one of my brothers in  afuture time. What a blessing and a testimony. Let's change our attitude in terms of how we take tribulations and afflictions. Instead of "why me" - let's ask "what can I learn from this that I can use to help others" We are the Lord's instruments...we are His hands. I love and miss you!

btw, I'm getting transferred to Richfield! Woot!