"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" -December 19th, 2016

Well, we have had great week here in Prattville, Alabama! 

...Other than a bug that has been going around that we both have been fighting...

But hey, it definitely didn't stop us!

At the beginning of this week we had a great exchange with some Elders in our zone and I was able to spend time with Elder Stuart again! It was a good day and great to be with Elder Stuart again. 

A few days later we had our mission Christmas party! We had a zone conference in the morning and learned a lot of great stuff. Then in the afternoon we had a talent show and also watched a movie! We watched Zootopia and it was awesome! haha I'll attach a picture of the prattville missionaries from the party. In the devotional we read the story of Christ's birth and sang the hymns that correlate. It really helped bring the feeling of Christmas and keep our thoughts on the true meaning of CHRISTmas. 

Then the next day was another one of those extra special Saturdays. Joy, Jannice, and Jordan were all baptized and it was perfect. There's something very tender and special when a whole family decides to be baptized together. It was a very spiritual meeting and i'm so grateful for the opportunity that I had to be a part of their whole conversion process. It's also amazing because this has all come from an amazing member in our ward who was introduced us to four people now who have been baptized. It truly shows the power that members have in missionary work! It may be in the 70's here on Christmas but i'd take this type of a White Christmas (baptism) over real snow any day! 

Well, i'm going to keep it short this week since we'll be talking in six days:) 

I hope y'all have a great week and I wish each of you and very Merry Christmas!!

Peter Has Always Been My Favorite Apostle -December 12th, 2016

Well hello everyone! 

This week was fantastic and so much was accomplished! We started the week with our Zone Training and it went really well. We really put a lot of time and effort into it and we could definitely tell that it touched the zone. It makes all of the work worth it when a missionary comes up to you and tells you that a training was meant just for them and thanks you for it.

I love the temple so much! Wow. I'm so grateful that we were able to go this week. I'm so looking forward to continually attending throughout my life and learning more and more each time I go. I hope I never take take the temple for granted and always maintain it as an utmost priority in my life. 

Thursday was a long day too! Before we went to the temple we were asked to help out with seminary. We were asked to do this little play about the resurrection of Christ, focusing on Mary and the apostles reactions. Let's just say I'm very grateful I had release time because we had to wake up at five and it killed us haha but it was a ton of fun and we also were fed breakfast so it made it worth it;) I'll attach a pic. ( I was Peter.. hence the title)

We had an exchange with the ap's (assistants to the president) and it went really well also. I was with Elder Tullis and we had some great experiences. Most of our appointments fell through so we mainly focused on finding and we met a lot of great people. Elder Tullis and I served around each other when we were first in the mission and it was great to be able to catch up and learn more from each other as we worked. It was also really good to spend time with Elder Diede again, such a spectacular missionary! 

Elder Coleman is doing very well. He's really fitting in perfectly to Prattville and things are going great here! We're really trying to work our hardest together and also having a blast while we do it. This week we're really looking forward to quite a few things! We have an exchange planned with the amazing Wetumpka elders, our mission Christmas party, and also the baptism of one of our main investigating families! Joy, Jennice, and Jordan are all planning on being baptized this week and we're so ecstatic that they've made this decision to change the direction of their lives and point them towards Christ. 

Alright, that's all I've got for y'all this week! Love you! 

Fresh Start! -December 6th, 2016

Hey y'all! We've had a pretty busy past week... 

Started the week with Elder Opare packing and getting ready to head out along with saying goodbye to the people here in Prattville. Then on Wednesday we had Transfer which is when I got Elder Coleman! He's awesome by the way. We get a long really well already. This is going to be a fantastic transfer. 

Then on Thursday is when the fun began! We headed back to Birmingham again for MLC. It was a great meeting and we learned a ton. We've still been focusing on the basics for the younger missionaries in this mission. This meeting was focused around a few things including faith and prayer. We'll be taking the information and training's that we received and presenting them at Zone Training tomorrow! A few Elder and I took a picture with President because we were all wearing green ties! I'll attach it below. 

This week we also have our Temple trip on Thursday! I'm so grateful that we're still able to attend the temple in our mission and have the spiritual uplift that it brings. 

We've also began the Christmas festivities! We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday and it was a blast. It was a night in Bethlehem theme! We've also broken out the Christmas music! AND a few weeks back I found an awesome tree in our apartment closet with lights and ornaments so we've got it set up and looking brilliant! I'll get y'all a pic. 

In other news, we've also got a family that we've been teaching that has a baptism date for the 17th if y'all could keep them in your prayers. 

One last thing that I wanted to share with y'all is our missions vision for this month. We've set a very high goal this month for baptisms. We're focusing on having every companionship in the mission baptize this month but also helping recent converts and less active members get to the temple to do baptisms for the dead! The vision is that we're going to have a "White Christmas"! So yeah, if y'all could also keep our mission in your prayers for this months goal, I'd really appreciate it! 

That's all I've got for this week! I love y'all and will talk to you again soon! 

"A Very Filling Week!" -November 29th, 2016

Hello! Wow, it feels like the weeks are flying by... People say that time flies when your having fun, so I guess if you add serving the Lord on top of that then you get the quickest two years of your life! 

This week was yet another great week! We did a Zone Training on Wednesday and it went really well! Lots of preparation but I think that the Zone had a good time and enjoyed the Trainings! I'll attach some pics of our zone from the meeting. I'll also try to attach a picture of Elder Opare and I training on being "Anti-Missionary's"! haha aka how to not being robot missionaries:)

As it was Elder Opare's last full week in the mission we tried to work our hardest and also have a ton of fun doing it and we did just that! It's been a massive blessing to be able to spend these transfers with Opare and I'm very grateful for the lifelong friendship that we've built.

As far as transfer news goes. Obviously, Elder Opare will be heading back to Utah and I will be staying here in the promised land of Prattville! My new companion will be Elder Coleman. He's a great guy who's also into style and what not so this should be a pretty great transfer! 

Oh yeah! We also had a great Thanksgiving. We spent it with three different families and ended the day with a massive food baby (as Cami would say haha)! So blessed to have such awesome ward members who love the missionaries so much! It's hard being away from y'all on holidays but it really helped being in such amazing families homes. Oh yeah, the stuffing helped too;) 

Haha anyways, I think that's all I've got for now! As always, I love each of you a ton and hope y'all have a fantastic week! 

Also, BIG SHOUT OUT!! To my beautiful little sister who's turning 17 this week. Everyone better spoil her... but not too much... don't want her going sour;) Love you tons faith! 

"It's getting cold outside, good thing the water's warm!" -November 21st, 2016

Hello again! 

I hope you all had a lovely week. We definitely did here in the promised land of Prattville! 

Like I mentioned last week, we had Zone Conference on Wednesday and it was a good meeting. Very long but good still. A change was recently made in our mission so that now we have a Zone Conference and Interviews with President once every transfer. So lots of meetings! Pretty much one every week.

Then on Thursday and Friday we were mainly taking care of administrative things and making preparations for our two baptisms on Saturday! 

Then on Saturday we had the immense privileged to witness two of our investigators make a sacred covenant with our Father in Heaven and be baptized. The first one was Tracy! We've been teaching Tracy ever since I got to Prattville and he's awesome. He's the brother of a member and lives with their family. It was amazing to see the light of Christ working on him and preparing him to be baptized. And also being able to see him work together with his sister and brother in-law to prepare and learn as many things as he could before he made that step.

The next was a 14 year old girl name Rachel. She's a friend of a part member family that we've been working with. Her whole journey was actually a pretty quick one! We would teach her every once and a while when she was in their house the all of a sudden she got a lot more serious about ti and she decided to be baptized. Two weeks later, she was! It was a fantastic experience and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we had to participate in the little way that we did. All we are is a mouthpiece for the Spirit and an instrument in the Lords hands. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be just that for these two years. 

It's starting to get pretty cold here so we made sure that the water in the font was nice and warm:) 

It was a lot of preparation but it payed off for both baptisms. It was definitely a perfect Saturday! 

This week we've got a Zone Training so we've been planning for that. It's also Thanksgiving so I hope y'all have a great day! I also hope that everyone can think about the true purpose behind this holiday and not just turkey and gravy;) 

Love you guys! 

"Deliverance is Nigh!" -November 14th, 2016

How's it going everyone?!

It's been a long week here in Prattville... It feels like last Monday was forever ago! 

This past week Elder Opare and I attended missionary leadership council up in Birmingham. Between the meeting and the driving time, it was a full day of sitting. BUT it was a great meeting and we learned a lot from President and Sister Sainsbury.

The rest of the week was spent preparing a couple of our investigators for baptism this coming weekend. We've been very blessed to be able to see some of the fruits of ours and previous missionaries labors!

This upcoming week is going to be fantastic! We have two baptisms planned for this Saturday as well as Zone Conference this Wednesday. So Elder Opare and I are really looking forward to tackling everything that this week has to hold!

Something that I wanted to share today was a training that President Hanks showed us when he was here. This past week I was asked to do a training of my own choice at a district meeting and I chose this one. I thought I'd share it with y'all as well! 

So it's called "The Parable of the Diamond; A Book of Mormon Parable" hope you enjoy it! 

     "A young man once long ago claimed he had found a large diamond in his field as he 

     was plowing. He put the stone on display to the public free of charge, and everyone 

     took sides. A psychologist showed, by citing some famous case studies, that the 

     young man was suffering from a well-known form of delusion. An historian showed 

     that other men have also claimed to have found diamonds in fields and been 

     deceived. A geologist proved that there was no diamonds in the area but only 

     quartz. The young man had been found fooled by a quartz. When asked to inspect 

     the stone itself, the geologist declined with a weary, tolerant smile and a kindly 

     shake of the head. An English professor showed that the young man in describing 

     his stone used the very same language that others had used in describing uncut 

     diamonds; he was, therefore simply speaking the common language of his time. A 

     sociologist showed that only three out of 177 florists' assistants in four major cities 

     believed the stone was genuine. A clergyman wrote a book to show that it was not 

     the young man but someone else who had found the stone.

     

     Finally an indigent jeweler named Snite pointed out that since the stone was still 

     available for examination the answer to the question of whether it was a diamond or 

     not had absolutely nothing to do with who found it, or whether the finder was 

     honest or sane, or who believed him, or whether he would know a diamond from a 

     brick, or whether diamonds had ever been found in fields, or whether people had 

     ever been fooled by quartz or glass, but was to be answered simply and solely by 

     putting the stone to certain well-known tests for diamonds. Experts on diamonds 

     were called in. Some of them declared that they could not very well jeopardize their 

     dignity and reputations by appearing to take the thing too seriously. To hide the bad 

     impression thus made, someone came out with the theory that the stone was really a 

     synthetic diamond, very skillfully made, but a fake just the same. The objection to 

     this is that the production of a good synthetic diamond 120 years ago would have 

     been an even more remarkable feat that the finding of a real one"

I really loved this Parable when I first heard it. When I first heard it, I hadn't been on my mission for very long and at this time was struggling to testify of the Book of Mormon when I knew there was a high chance of it being questioned and attacked. I found my self trying to hide the Book of Mormon behind the Bible and not introducing it as the life changing book that it is. This parable really reinforced in my mind exactly what the Book of Mormon has gone through and yet it still stands as a beacon of light and as the cornerstone of our Church. 

I love the Paragraph in the introduction of the Book of Mormon that says "Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” This paragraph really shows the true power and importance of the Book of Mormon. This paragraph and the Parable really helped me to learn to testify of the Book with confidence and power! I hope it does the same for y'all! 

Oh yeah, I should probably explain the title of this email! So yesterday morning Elder Opare said "Sunday around six is the best feeling sometimes... it's a good feeling knowing that deliverance is nigh!" (p-day) haha i thought this was pretty funny and perfectly explains how you feel at the end of a week full of hard work! 

Anyways, that's all I've got! I hope all of you have a great week. Until we meet again!

Beyond Grateful! -November 7th, 2016

Hey everyone! 

Another week in the books! 

This week was alright.  A lot of not so great things have been happening but even throughout all those tough things, we've still been able to have some great experiences. This past week there was a death in our ward of a young youth boy. It hit the ward pretty hard and we've just been trying to be as much of a support as we can. If y'all could keep his family in your prayers that would be amazing. 

I guess the adversary hasn't been happy with all the good that's been happening in Prattville so he decided to take his game to the next level. No big deal though, we did the exact same thing! Like I said earlier, even with a number of trials this past week we were still able to push through and see some amazing things happen! 

One of our investigators who we've been teaching for a while just made a big step in her progression towards baptism and it actually wasn't even anything that she did really! We've been teaching her for a while and she's loved everything we talk about. She come to church quite a few times and is amazing. The only thing stopping her from being baptized was getting her mother permission. BUT this last week, her mother decided that she's going to let her follow what she believes and be baptized! So we got her mother signature and set a date for two weeks out! We're really excited and grateful for the influence that the Holy Ghost had on her mother to allow her to do this!

I also wanted to take a moment and express gratitude. 

First, to my Father in Heaven who has given me SO much for these first twenty years of my life. I'm awestruck when I look back at my life and see how much He has been involved. Words can't describe how much gratitude I have in my heart for everything in my life. 

Especially all my amazing family and friends who do so much for me. All the love and support that I've had throughout my life and more specifically today and this past week is overwhelming and I could never explain how much it all means to me. So, thank you to everyone who sent me a card, an email, a package, anything! The support and love mean more than the world to me. 

I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Till next Monday:)

Elder Honn

Happy Halloween! -November 1st, 2016

“Mommy, everyone says I look like a werewolf.”

“Please be quiet and comb your face.”

Haha hey everyone! I thought I'd start with this funny quote in light of today. I hope you all got a good giggle out of it!

Elder Opare and I have had yet another good week in P-ville! We're trying to work our hardest together so that he can finish his mission as strongly as possible. It's pretty strange being with someone who's going home soon... it's made me realize how quickly it goes and how I need to make sure to always be giving it my 100% effort because before I know it, I'll be boarding a plane and heading out. 

This week we were able to go to quite a few areas in our zone. On Tuesday we were in Wetumpka for a District meeting. Then on Wednesday we drove all the way to Alex City to give the sisters there some media. It was a long drive but a beautiful road so it was good! 

The weather here is just playing with all of us. One day it will be chilly and perfect for a jacket then the next day it will be right back up to mid 90's... Mother nature is trying to give us all whiplash, I guess! Hopefully it starts to cool down soon. 

We had a pretty good weekend as well. We play soccer every Saturday morning with members and investigators and this week we had a great turnout! Over twenty people came so it was a ton of fun. We also had the ward trunk or treat on Friday. Elder Opare and I went as... wait for it... Salt and Pepper! haha everyone thought it was hilarious and we had to pose for quite a few pictures. I'll attach one below. We also used the things that y'all sent to decorate our trunk and we handed out candy with the sisters. I'll attach a pic of that also. It was a ton of fun! Wouldn't have been possible without the stuff from my package either so thanks a ton. 

I think that's all I've really got for this week! I hope you all have a great Halloween and a good rest of the week as well. Love y'all! 

Pics:

1. Elder Opare and I met and have started to teach Goliath! He's progressing well and really wants to be baptized. We're just trying to find a font big enough;) 

2. The Waters of Alabama! Mosiah 18:30

3. Salt and Pepper:) 

4. And our Spooky trunk! 

Cans, Cans, and More Cans! -October 24th, 2016

We meet again! Another Monday, another week of serving the Lord and the people of 'Bama.

I'm going to start by being honest and saying that I'm exhausted right now. This past week just drained me for some reason! 

We had transfers on Tuesday that we had to take some elders to and do some other random stuff to go along with everyone moving around. Everything went smoothly and we're excited for the upcoming 6 weeks. 

Ever since I've been in Prattville, we've been volunteering at an Interfaith Food Bank. I love this place and this last week we went twice to try to get some stuff done. We're working on dating and sorting around 7,000 pounds of cans! The people that work at this Food Bank are amazing. They're all so kind and loving and it's an amazing environment to be in. It's amazing when people from all different kinds of religious backgrounds can come together and work to help the less fortunate in the community. I have such a massive testimony of service and all the good it can do and I'm very grateful for all the opportunities we're given to serve as missionaries! 

As far as our investigators go, things are going well! We have a handful that are progressing very well. We're working with quite a few part member families which has brought some amazing blessings. I honestly wish I would have known the things that I know now at the beginning of my mission. I could have done so much more for the wards if I had known other forms of missionary work than just tracting. I guess that's why missions are two years though, so that we can learn and figure everything out and along the way forget about ourselves and come closer to Christ in so many ways! Missions are pretty cool. 

Not much else happened this week so that's all I've really got to report on! 

I love y'all and will talk to you more next Monday! 

Sometimes No Change is a Good Thing! -October 17th, 2016

Hey everyone! 

To start, we had transfer calls this past Saturday and got the news that Elder Opare and I will be staying together in Prattville for another transfer! Which means that I'll be Opare's last companion. We're both really excited and personally I'm very grateful for a break from all the moving and changes that have happened recently! It was getting pretty overwhelming so I'm very happy to be able to stay in Prattville and continue to build the relationships with the people in this area. 

This week we were also able to go on a couple exchanges with the elders in our zone and we all had a great time together. I got to spend time with Elder Stuart again (previous companion) and also Elder Lewis who is from Jamaica! This zone was amazing this transfer and we're really looking forward to getting to know the new missionaries that are being transferred here this week. 

We also had quite a few meetings this week so the week actually felt pretty long BUT they were good meetings and I'm grateful for all the things I was able to learn.

I wanted to share something that I found with y'all from my studies this week. I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants, section 84. I read verse 88 and it really stood out to me. I'm pretty sure I've read it before but it really popped out at me this time. 

It reads: "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

When you first read it, you would assume that it's referring to missionaries and it is. I think that it also refers to members who reach out and make missionary efforts. It's also a promise! Saying that the Lord and His angels will be with us as we do his work. It's a pretty amazing thing, that the Lord will not leave us without support, especially as we turn our arrows outward and focus on helping His children return to Him. This stood out to me because in the last days, things are going to get crazy... they already are. I think it's going to become increasingly harder for us to have the courage to share the gospel in a world that is in such darkness. I promise that as we remember this promise we will receive strength and courage as we valiantly follow Christ teachings and by doing so, share the gospel with His children. 

That's really all I've got to report on for this week! I hope y'all have another great week and I look forward to talking to you next Monday, love you!

PS I'll also attach a picture from Zone Conference with Elde Dyches. It's of the best zone in this mission; The Montgomery North Zone! 

Elder and Sister Dyches! -October 11th, 2016

Well, happy Monday everyone! I think it's Columbus day also so there's that too haha 

Wow, what a week! From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs all in one week.... 

Started off the week by being as sick as a dog for a day and a half... I'll spare all of your stomachs by leaving out the details but it was not a nice experience.

Luckily though, I was able to recover and get back to mostly normal by our special MLC on Wednesday in Birmingham! Elder and Sister Dyches are amazing and I'm very grateful for the chance that I had to spend quite a bit of time with them throughout the week. Everything they taught us was definitely inspired and powerful. I look forward to seeing how their visit helps our mission grow into a more powerful vessel for the Lord! 

Then on Friday, Elder Opare and I went back to Birmingham for a meeting with the southern half of the mission. Elder and Sister Dyches provided everyone with additional training along with President and Sister Sainsbury and it was a fantastic meeting. They focused a lot on becoming "master" teachers and also proper planning. Both of which are immensely important. 

One of my favorite parts of the meeting was actually from the testimony of a departing missionary. His name is Elder Wilson and he's an elder that I've been close to since the beginning of my mission and one that I've looked up to a lot as well. He spoke about being a "Worshipper" instead of a "Performer". I thought this was so interesting! He expounded and said that a performer is someone who puts on a show for those around him/her and a worshipper is someone who does things out of love and their knowledge of the Savior's love for them. We need to always make sure that we are trying to be Christlike for our own benefit and for our Savior, and not for those around us who may be watching. I loved this thought and hope that we can all apply it to our lives. 

Anyways, that's all I've got for this week! 

I'll talk to y'all next Monday, love you! 

Spiritual Reboot? Check! -October 3rd, 2016

Hey guys! 

What an amazing weekend. Conference is such a massive blessing! I'm so grateful for the inspired and revelatory messages that were shared. My testimony was definitely reaffirmed that we are in good hands. What a blessing it is to be able to have a Prophet of God, who receives direct revelation from on high, leading us in these crazy times. 

We were blessed to be able to spend every session in someone's home including two sessions with a few of our different investigators. It was an amazing experience to be able to see the spirit touch their hearts and help them learn more about His gospel.

We actually got stuck in a lesson on Saturday night and ended up just staying at our investigators home and watching the Priesthood session with them. The amazing thing was that President Monson spoke about the importance of the Word of Wisdom during that session and that's actually the main thing that our investigator is struggling with! It was so amazing to be able to have President Monson bare testimony of the importance of our personal health when that was exactly what our investigator needed to hear. Especially since we weren't originally going to stay there for the session but ended up having to. Definitely an Emmaus experience if you ask me. 

Personally though, one of my favorite talks was by Elder Uceda of the Seventy. I loved his story and message that seemed to combine the importance and power of both prayer and following personal promptings from the Spirit. Very powerful talk. 

Anyways, the rest of our week was good as well but to be quite honest I don't remember much of it... Everything was kind of dwarfed by conference haha! 

This week we have a member of the Seventy coming to our mission so we're all looking forward to that. We have a couple special meetings with him up in Birmingham so it's going to be a pretty busy week! 

I hope that all of you loved conference and were able to receive answers to questions and guidance in your lives. I also hope that we're all able to remember the messages taught and continuously try to apply them into our lives. 

I love y'all and I'll talk to you soon! 

pics- 

First is another episode of Alabama Automobiles. This one was spotted a few weeks ago in the parking lot of our local target... haha what a beaut! 

Second, Elder Opare caught me "smoldering" and I thought that y'all would find it entertaining since you haven't seen it for so long.. enjoy;) 

"My legs feel like they're on fire!" -September 26th, 2016

Hey everyone! What a week! 

Just like I told y'all, we started off the week strong with the temple. What an amazing experience and massive blessing! I'm so excited to attend the temple all throughout my life and draw close to Christ through that attendance. There's so much to learn and I know I'm barely even touching the tip of the iceberg. I urge everyone, if you can, to attend the temple as frequently as possible! And if you can't, make whatever changes needed to be able to enter the Lord's holy house. 

The rest of our week was great as well. We were able to spend time with the Wetumpka district and they're all such spectacular missionaries. Our zone has got to be the most solid in the mission!

Funny story from the week; So this coincides with the subject of the email! We were doing some service this week by fixing up a member's yard and I developed a new knowledge of one of God's creations... fire ants! I now know why they're called fire ants... because my legs actually felt like they were on fire haha! It was pretty crazy and I came away with quite a few beautiful red spots on my legs. Battle scars! It okay though, the ants might have won the first battle but we had our revenge with a bag of ant poison. It's absolutely amazing how hard those tiny little things can bite though! And for my worrying warrior back home (momma), I'm completely fine:) I'll attach a picture of some of the bites (ignore my forest of leg hair haha)

Sunday was a great day as well. This ward is so amazing. So many supportive and loving people, it's crazy! 

Then today we had our Zone Activity! It was kind of hard to put together so I was a little worried it wouldn't work out too well but it was actually a blast! Our whole zone had a great time and everything went smoothly. So we first had a potluck then played "flour bomb capture the flag"! It's kind of a hard game to explain but needless to say everyone got covered in flour and had a great time. I'll include a picture of the results. 

Conference is this weekend so I hope y'all enjoy that as much as I know I'm going to! 

Anyways, I didn't have a ton of time today so I'm sorry if I couldn't reply to your email but I read all of them and really appreciate the constant love and support! 

I love you guys! Till next Monday!

"It takes a village to raise a child" -September 19th, 2016

Hello again!

This past week was another good week. Throughout the months I've realized that I say that in pretty much every weekly email! I honestly think that your attitude on everything makes the biggest difference in determining if you have a good day or not. Because of past companions and leaders that I had, I was able to learn to be happy and have fun no matter what happens throughout the course of the day. I've had companions were we could have every door slammed in our face but we would still be having a blast and laughing together. I think that all of that hinges on our attitude, like I said earlier. I'm in Alabama doing the Lord's work, I have so many things to be happy about! So I'm very grateful for all the people throughout my life that taught me to be happy and be emotionally resilient. 

Our investigators here are doing really well! Specifically we're teaching a man who's wife is a member, his name is TJ. We've been struggling trying to help him believe in Jesus Christ and understand that the "higher power" he believes in is actually God. But last night Elder Opare made a pretty big break through with him. They're both very factual people and logical thinkers so Elder Opare was able to go pretty deep with a lot of things and help TJ actually understand the logical aspect behind all the things we believe. It was fantastic and the spirit was very strong. We're very excited for the things to come with TJ. 

This transfer we decided to make our culture the focus. None of you probably know this but right now 55% of our missionaries are being trained and in their first twelve weeks. So culture has been something that has been really focused on lately especially with the coming of the Sainsbury's. This whole transfer I've been thinking a lot about the saying "It takes a village to raise a child.". I realized that It's not just the trainer's responsibility to raise the new missionary with a hardworking, obedient, and loving mindset. It's the whole missions! So by first making sure that we, ourselves, are on par we can then increase our unity and culture and be a better support for the younger missionaries. Also helping them to learn how to become disciples of Jesus Christ and LOVE their missions. 

So there's a little inside into what's going on in the ABM currently! 

Nothing else really to report on except for the fact that the zone will be going to the temple this Thursday together, so we're all really looking forward to that. 

I hope y'all have a great week and tonight I'll send you a picture at dinner:) 

Back in the Pratt Pack! -September 12th, 2016

Hey everyone! 

This past week was a little hectic packing and moving everything again but I've had a great first week in Prattville and I'm very excited for this transfer (hopefully more than one) here. 

Prattville is a great area. Its a ward that has a ton of really nice families. It's also a military ward so a majority are here because of assignment. Prattville is also home to a paper mill... so about 80% of the time it smells horrible everywhere haha but i guess that doesn't stop people from living here because it's a good sized city! Quite a few stores with a pretty cool downtown area too! 

It's been great being back with Elder Opare too! More specifically, for those who are wondering, he was born and raised in the capitol of Ghana. While we've been around each other he's told me some pretty crazy stories about Africa. I don't have quite the urge to visit there anymore haha! We work very well together though and have a ton of fun while doing it. This is going to be a very fun and successful transfer. 

I wanted to share a video with y'all that I love and has really provided strength for me whenever I'm struggling with anything. It's called "Shower of Heavenly Blessings". It talks about how Heavenly Father is constantly showering us with blessings, it all just depends on if we allow ourselves to receive them through righteous living and trusting in Him. 

Here's the link: https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/shower-of-heavenly-blessings

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do. 

I know that our Father in Heaven loves us unconditionally! It's always been a keystone to my testimony. He is not a lightning bolt God nor a God of hell fire and damnation but one of compassion and kindness and LOVE. I challenge all of you to let that love change you and by doing so it will change the lives of everyone around you. 

I love all of you and as always, hope y'all have a great week! 

Again? Yup... -September 6th, 2016

Good morning Everyone! 

I thought I'd write my weekly first this morning so that mom doesn't have to stress and wait until the afternoon to find out about transfers haha:)

But first, this week has been really good! Lots of driving and lots of meetings but it was still a great week. Missionary Leadership Council went really well and it was great to see President and Sister Sainsbury and all the other missionaries again! Our Zone Training was then two days later so the day we had in between was packed with planning and preparing everything, but we got it all done and the Training went really well. The spirit was very strong and we were all able to grow together closer to our Father in Heaven. This zone is fantastic and I'm very grateful to be able to serve them! I'll attach a pic from after Zone Training. 

Something that President Sainsbury talked about in Missionary Leadership Council was the Alabama Birmingham Mission Ship. He compared our mission to a huge, powerful ship. He talked about how it's very easy for ships to obtain barnacles. You would think that barnacles aren't a big deal on such a big powerful ship but anything that adds resistance to the water and the bottom of the ships ends up slowing it down. So something that we're focusing on right now in this mission is scraping off all of those hindering barnacles. It's basically the little things, mainly rules, that we can become relaxed on at times. I know that exact obedience brings miracles so I know that by scraping off these little mission pests, we'll be able to take the ABM to new heights and we will see amazing things. 

I was thinking though and I thought that this concept can relate to all of our lives pretty well. Sometimes in life, it's very easy for us to obtain "barnacles" that slow us down from progressing toward our Father in Heaven. Little things that we may not even notice nor think that they're actually slowing us down. This could be a number of things and it's probably different for all of us but I would challenge all of you to take a look at your lives and try to discover the barnacles that are slowing us down and causing spiritual resistance. 

Anyways, switching to a different topic... Transfers! We received our call on Saturday and received the news that I will be leaving Russellville and Elder Diede will be staying. You might be asking yourself, "again?" yup... again! This is my third area in a row that I only stayed for a transfer.... BUT I WILL GO WERE HE WANTS ME TO GO! And right now, he wants me to leave Russellville and go back down to Prattville! Prattville is right next to Montgomery and is in the same district as my previous area, Clanton. While I was in Clanton I spent a bit of time there on exchanges so I actually know the area pretty well already and even quite a few of the members! I'll be serving with Elder Opare who was my Zone Leader while I was in Clanton and still hasn't left. We got pretty close so this is going to be a really fun transfer! He's also from Africa so he'll be my first foreign companion! 

My New Address will be: 100 Mcqueen Smith Rd South Apt A-6

                                              Prattville, AL 36066

Also for any of you that are keeping track, this will be my tenth companion and my sixth area... haha and just so you know, those are the types of numbers people normally have by the end of their mission. 

Well anyways, that's pretty much all I have to report for this week! I love y'all very much and hope you all have a great day and week!

Another Week of Serving the Lord! -August 29th, 2016

Happy Monday Everyone! 

I know that in real life, most people dread Mondays but interestingly enough, I've come to love Monday because I get to talk to all the people that I love! 

This past week was another good week! We spent sometime in both Florence and Booneville this week. We had some great experiences with the other missionaries. 

This coming week we've got MLC, Zone Training, and transfer calls on Saturday. So we've got a pretty packed week planned! It'll be good though. 

Fun side comment; This past week we had a competition between all the missionaries in our ward. So the sister, another set of elders and us. We had a competition to see who could have the most meal appointments aka who was loved the most by the ward;) The other elders had five, the sisters had seven, and we took the trophy with 12! It was a ton of fun buts lets just say we're very full and considering a week long fast right now;) I'm really loving this ward though and all the people in it. We're very blessed here in Russellville. 

I don't have a whole ton more to report this week so I'll probably call that good! I'll include some pics though for your viewing pleasure:) 

Love y'all!