My Patriarchal Blessing....

Hello in the cabin. I haven't written in so long because I hate doing this with all my heart and soul. It only takes a couple minutes but I honestly dont care. Due to my cost benefit analysis I have come to the conclusion that writing a weekly email is not necessary for me. Alot has happened since I have last written tho. I am still in the hazelwood south area. I'm runnin it back a 3rd time with my 6'7 companion from cali. In all honesty tho I love him to death even if we don't always agree. I have a feeling this will be our best transfer yet. In fact when we found out we were both staying I looked at him and promised it would be. Happiness is a choice. There is always a choice and it's up to you. We never even got in a yelling match or anything but some companion inventories are multiple hours long. It is cool tho because we can both say the other is mental without raising voices our getting tempers flared. I had a private call with president and when I came out, I told him I was getting emergency transferred and he actually got really sad. I told him I was joking obviously but it made me feel good to know that he would have missed me. I gotta give credit where credit is due. He doesn't hold anything back and neither do I. He takes corrective criticism well. We also teach very well together now. Like I've said hazelwood is so busy I have become 10x the teacher i was in rantoul and he was a huge part of that. He told me that if I wasn't the missionary I wanted to to be, or thought I should be, just put in the work to change an you will. I took that to heart. Pray like it's all on God but work like it is all on you and He shall multiply your efforts. A couple weeks ago I got my patriarchal blessing. Yes I got it on my mission. I also didn't even know that was possible. I didn't want one till I knew I was 100% committed to the gospel and my blessing was practically the final nail in the coffin. I am 100% committed now. It took like a month and a half to get it all set up because my mission president and stake patriarch had never done a missionary before. The day finally comes and I show up at the patriarch's house. He had my comp stay up stairs in the living room while he and his wife took me down into this chamber of secrets lookin room. We talked about what the blessing is, and how it is directly from God. While he gave me the blessing I immediately felt the spirit so strong and I was crying the whole time haha. I truly could feel the love God had for me, and my desire to be as worthy as possible increase many fold. It was such a cool experience because I got it when I knew I was ready, and I got it on my mission from a random patriarch. Who else can say that?? The blessing was long and he told me that it was a very powerful blessing and he hadn't given one like that in a long time. My blessing truly is wonderful I read it like once a week. Still no news on Mexico unfortunately. My ward building is shared with 2 other wards one of which is s Spanish branch. I know no spanish but my heart yearns to be in mexico. Everytime I listen to spanish or talk to the members my desire to be in mexico grows more and more. This is the last time you'll hear from me till I hit 18 months..... J/K....maybe....

2nd Baptism - Charles

I had a pretty interesting week, to start off I have a funny story. So one of the zone leaders I live with got transferred to guess where???? My old zone.  I really like that guy and I'll probably never see him again. Anyway because of that I was in a trio for like 5 days till we got a new zl. We were covering both areas and we were at a lesson in person, at one of the zls's investigators and I'm looking out the window and i see this challenger just fly right into the concrete blocks that were blocking the street. There was a super loud bang, and his front fender just starts flipping across the yard. Tons of smoke started coming up. This black man with a dew rag on in a wife beater gets out and I can see him digging around inside the car. He gets out goes to the other side and digs around some more. He emerges with his phone, charger, speaker, backpack and a bunch of other various items and just starts running down the street. He was probably on his phone and just crashed right into the most obvious thing, the most out in the open thing in the world, then gets out and just leaves his challenger. 

That was probably the craziest thing I've seen in person. It was even funnier because I was in the middle of a lesson telling the first vision. I was looking at this lady, testifying and all this is taking place and I keep looking out the window haha. I was trying so hard not to laugh. Believe it or not I'm actually glad I have to wear masks sometimes because if you're laughing, or it smells bad and you're making a face, the mask just covers it up for you so i guess the masks are a blessing in disguise.............

..........I baptized Charles on Saturday. I haven't talked much about him but just like Jason I connected really well with him. Friday night we came to his house and elder Brady and I both shared our simple testimonies and the spirit was so strong. Charles started tearing up and it was just the perfect night before the baptism experience we wanted for Charles. On the way out though, I saw 2 beer cans right on top of his trash can. When we got out side my companion asked me if I saw them and I was like yeah we gotta go back and talk with him.  So we go back and I asked him 4x times if he drank the beer and he said no every-time, and that they were his friends. I testified of repentance and how I've seen the great blessings of it in my own life and said we just wanted his baptism to be an amazing experience for him, and it would only be that way if he did it worthily. He said he didn't drink it again and it didn't seem like he was lying so we went through with the baptism the next day. Baptizing Charles was a cool experience. I was way less nervous and the water wasn't only 11 inches deep this time. Unfortunately, when we got to the church at 7 to fill up the font, there was already people there in another ward filling up the font. They said they had a baptism at 10 am too and that their's  takes priority because it was an 8 year old girl who was going into surgery in 2 weeks, so in case she died she needed to be baptized.  We called everyone and told them it got rescheduled to 12. Both our speakers canceled and a bunch of people said they couldn't come anymore, it was a bit of a mess, but everything turned out ok in the end......

God Won't Bless Us Against Our Will......

Hello it's your fellow brother, I hope you are all doing well.......we've got someone on date to be baptized this Saturday. Before I got here he wasn't on date and wasn't really progressing. Once again I add my little testimony to those of the prophets, where ever you are on the mission you are meant to be there, that doesn't mean I'm not going to be disappointed about not being in Mexico, however I do know that there are people here that I can help.......

.......being here in Hazelwood has made my teaching abilities grow exponentially. When I got here I was really bad at teaching and that being the case, it made me go through a forced evolution to become a better missionary. When you realize something is wrong you can either Choose to change, or you can Choose not too. That's what's so good about the gospel. God loves us and wants to bless us, but he isn't going to bless us against our will, he will not force us follow him. We have been given agency to choose to follow Him. It is that simple. You are either choosing to try your best to follow God's commandments or you are not. You always have a choice. For me it is never the easiest or funnest path, but I know that if I follow God's commandments, in the end I will be eternally more happy than if I didn't. If you don't believe that, it is ok cause I didn't for awhile. That is where faith comes in. If you don't have the desire, then pray for the desire, then put in the work and as you work your faith will grow, and that desire will come. It is up to you an no one else. You always have a choice........

.......there was a hurt dog wondering around our apartment complex one night. It was super skinny and looked like it had been hit by a car. We fed it a couple hot dogs and then it scampered off. In the morning it was still out side so my companion let him into our apartment, and it ended up spending the whole day there. We called the pound to come get it but they said they didn't know when they would be able to send someone to pick it up so we made a post on a facebook hazelwood community page, and this lady came and got the dog. Just as she pulled away this black man drove in and parked right next to us. He was coming in hot so I had to hop out of the way of his car. He rolled the window down and asked if we were the Mormons and we said yeah. Then he started getting all mad and said we were racist and all this stuff and got out of his car. He started yelling and walking closer and puffing out his chest like he was about to square up so then I started preparing my self to throw hands. I remember thinking "dang I'm about to get sent home for fighting this dude!.... but he started laughing and it turned out he was a member that used to live in hazelwood and he was just messing with us. As we were talking a lady was walking past and he asked if she had 2 minutes. He shared his testimony and it got spiritual real quick and she said she would be down to meet with us. That's how easy it is to share the gospel. Just talk to everyone. It is easy for me to say that now tho since I am on a mission.  We will have to see how I do when I go home. 

Also we did some service picking dead plants and weeds from flower beds at the temple. That's all I've got for today. PRAISE GOD IN THE NAME OF OUR REDEEMER, OUR BROTHER, OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AMEN!!!!!

Am I better than Who I was Last Week?

Hello, what's up? I finally got transferred from Rantoul.....I am currently in Hazelwood Missouri........the work here is much better and we are Lots more busy. We found more new people (meaning we taught them at least one principle and set up a return appointment) in the last 4 days of me being here, than I did the last 2 transfers in Rantoul.......you can say it's all on the missionary, but it's not, the area you are in does matter and now I can finally say that cause I've been through a very tough area, and now I'm in the best.

......my new companion is 6'7 and from what I have seen is a pretty chill guy then again we have only been together 4 days...........he is only 1 transfer ahead of me, but i feel like he is around 3 ahead because of how good he is at teaching the lessons. Rantoul definitely stunted my growth as a missionary cause you aren't teaching between 2-5 people a day like you are here.......I feel like God sent me here to help me get back on the grind because I was definitely getting complacent sitting around doing nothing in Rantoul. Rantoul is the farthest and smallest branch in the mission so hardly anyone knows where it is. I am however thankful of my time there, and for the people I met and the experiences I gained.....

....I had a cool spiritual experience this week while we were raking leaving and then bagging them up for someone. The leaves were all in huge piles and my companion and i were bagging them all up. I had left my gloves in rantoul and it had started to rain so my hands and knees were getting all muddy and disgusting, but the leaves weren't going to bag themselves, so I was gettin it done......the rain picked up and I was getting pretty wet and muddy at this point and i started to think of all the things i could be doing other than bagging up leaves for someone I that didn't even know in Missouri. Before I could start getting mad tho a thought came into my mind that basically said "who else is doing this right now" after the thought the spirit hit me so hard reafirming why I am here, and that this is a once in a life time opportunity.  I started to choke up and the pain in my back left for a moment and I became super glad I was doing that service in the rain with no gloves.......I love experiences like these because they are super rare for me, so when they happen I am very grateful. 

I know this church is true. I know I am doing the Lords work. I know that I am not perfect, but neither is anyone else.

A question to ask is not "am i better than him" but "am i better than who I was last week?"

When improving, focus on yourself and stick to the grind God knows and sees what you're doing. 

4th Transfer in Rantoul

Hello....got transfer news and I am staying in Rantoul again, this will be my 4th transfer. I'll have spent 1/4 of my mission in Rantoul. I'll admit my spirits have been shaken......anyway today is p-day obviously because of transfers.

Here are a few photos....for this week.

I'm here because I know the church is true, nothing will change that. God bless you all adios

The Sword of Truth.

Hello! what's up? I didn't write last week because I had a pretty busy p-day.......

......after we taught John the law of chastity he hasn't responded to us in like 3 weeks, but he does post on Facebook every day.......the last 2 weeks we have just been doing lessons with our members to try and help them grow their small branch that hasn't had much growth since the air force base closed in 1990......the problem is there is only 8 or 9 active people so the world is all on them and they got a little burnt out over the past 10 years,  kinda difficult to get things done.....many here are either divorced or disabled so our members call every day to get their mail and salt their steps, and we take the sacrament to 3 or 5 sisters each sunday.

....Jason is finally getting the priesthood next Sunday after being baptized November 14th.  We will finally have in person church again!!!!!!.........I am excited for Jason because, elders quorum made a ministering list that will get him some responsibility.......we have mission conference this Wednesday, I'll probably be leaving once this transfer ends.  I'm happy for that......I am thankful for the time I've had here, and I have learned so much, but I'm ready. It's only been 3 transfers but it feels like it's been a year......here are some sweet pics that I took after district service in Danville......the guy in the pic next to me is this super cool man we met at the food pantry, he volunteers there.....he came all dressed up last time because he said we inspired him to stop looking like a bum. He asks a lot of questions about the church and church history. He is not willing to be taught, but maybe we are planting seeds with him. He has so many amazing stories he tells us that are probably all fake, but it makes the 3 hours we volunteer at the food pantry go by fast.

....still no news on Mexico, adios!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"And Nothing Shall Offend them".....

Hello what's up,  didn't write last week because honestly I didn't want to. I'm out of training and my trainer is finally gone.....off to ghana!! My new companion is a great guy, he's really good at voice imitation but he can only do cartoon characters like Disney movies and stuff......he hasn't seen any Harry Potter, star wars, Jason Bourne, or james bond or anything so he is kind of limited. He grew up in idaho his whole life working at his dads cow milk farm who took over the business from his dad who took it over from his dad. He got up at 5 everyday and milked all the cows for 5 hours then milked them all again like 12 hours later.....sounds horrible to me but he's going back to do all that again. The crazy thing is, is that he doesn't even get paid....His high school graduating class was around 40 people. so you can see he kind of lived in a little Idaho bubble. He's an awesome guy tho, and he knows the gospel and lessons so well. The good thing about him is that he thinks of all the stuff I don't. So when we are planning a lesson he has lots of good ideas.

....we had a super spiritual lesson with this guy that left the church a couple years ago. The main thing that I've seen that can bring the spirit into a lesson is when you get personal and share personal experiences. The spirit was so strong and I know he felt it as well. If I have enough time here I'm positive my companion and I can be instruments in the Lords hands and bring him back to the fold........theres this talk I'm eventually going to try and get him to watch.....it was given by elder bednar in 2006 called "and nothing shall offend them"......its really good and it basically says "are you really going to let who or whatever push you away from the church and the blessings of following Jesus Christ"???.....the answer we should all have is no.  I want Gary to realize that because that's why he left the church, his old bishop was apparently super rude to him......anyway check out the talk.  the church is perfect, but the people aren't, and no one is or will be in this life...

....saw my parents and sister because they were driving back from Utah so that was a cool treat. Feels like I just saw them a couple days ago because we talk or facetime each p-day......aside from everything written not to much is happening in little old Rantoul. we are grinding Facebook and the area book to find a "new" meaning a new person to teach, but that is slow going at the moment......hope you're all doing good.  

I still haven't heard anything about going to Mexico but I know it's open, so we will just have to wait.....alright adios!