Road Trippin Cross Bama! -June 27th, 2016

Hey y'all! 

This week has been pretty good! 

We were blessed to be able to attend the temple this week so that was probably the main highlight! I'll attach some pictures from that at the end. 

Other than that this week we've pretty much been all over the mission! So right now i'm currently serving in Clanton which is down south by Montgomery. I had an appointment up in Huntsville (where I started my mission) which is up north. So we left Clanton, drove for a couple of hours and stopped at the temple for our session. We then drove for a couple more hours to Huntsville to be there for my appointment in the morning. We then drove all the way back to Clanton from Huntsville the next day. So basically we spent a long time in the car this week...

I then went on an exchange from Friday to Saturday with Elder Bryant in Prattville. It was a great exchange! We served around each other while I was in Talladega and he was in Anniston. We got pretty close then so it was awesome to be able to spend more time together! We then got to play some soccer with a bunch of members and non members so that was a lot of fun! It was like 100 degrees and we all almost died, literally... some more than others lol but it was still a good time! 

Other than that, not a whole lot else happened worth mentioning. President Sainsbury gets here today and President Hanks leaves tomorrow so this week will be interesting! I'm very excited to meet and get to know our new President though! 

Sorry, this email is pretty bland, this next week will be better I promise! 

I hope y'all have a great week! 

Elder Honn

The Comfort This Gospel Brings -June 20th 2016

Hey guys, 

What a week! I don't think I've ever had a week like this, in my whole life... 

So as you all know, on Wednesday I was sent to a new area. I arrived in Clanton and went right to my bed... I don't know exactly what it was but I was out for all of Thursday and Friday as well. The only thing I can think of to describe it was some form of flu... BUT I'm feeling a lot better now and so is Elder Stuart. (I gave it to him pretty quickly so we were able to suffer together lol) 

Speaking of Elder Stuart, he's awesome! He's from Utah (Yes, another one from Utah) and he's a car genius! He worked in a mechanics shop with his dad and is a car addict, so we've had a lot to talk about! He's really funny as well so this transfer should be a lot of fun. 

So as far as telling you about this area, I don't know a whole lot yet! Obviously, Clanton is big into peaches and their having a peach festival this week so that should be fun! Um it's pretty small townish. Our branch has about thirty or so active members and is full of very interesting people haha! Sunday was pretty entertaining... 

Random thought but for those of you keeping track, this is my fourth area and my eighth companion. Pretty high stats for someone who hasn't even been out a year yet! 

I don't have a whole lot more to tell y'all about but to finish I wanted to bear my testimony to anyone who needs it at this time. 

I KNOW this Church is true. A commonly used phrase, especially in this church, but it is one that reigns true in my heart. The comfort and peace that it has brought me, especially this past week, has been a massive blessing. I know that death in this life isn't the end. Because Christ died for us, we all can and will live again.

Christ loves each and every one of us, endlessly and unconditionally. That's why He provided us with such a flawless plan. Our Fathers plan for us, known as the Plan of Happiness, teaches us exactly what he wants most for us; happiness! And that's exactly what His plan entails. If we but follow Him and His Son, we will be happy. We may, no will, experience trials and hard times but in the end, everything will end in peace, comfort, and happiness. I know that EVERYTHING is in His hands, He is the Supreme Creator and Ruler of this earth and I know that everything that happens, happens for a reason and is part of His plan for each one of us. I promise that, if during times of difficulty and pain, we turn to the Savior and take His always outstretched hand he will ease the burdens that have been placed upon our shoulders.

I know that because of temples, we can be sealed to our families for time and all eternity and not only that but we can give other people that opportunity as well, a long with many more opportunities. I'm so immensely grateful for the blessing that I've had to be brought up in this gospel and be raised with so many amazing influences around me. I'm very grateful for my whole family, for all being such good examples to me and always doing so much for me. I love them more than words can describe and am eternally grateful that I get to spend the eternities with them. 

I love each and every one of you very much and say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Elder Honn A.K.A. The Closer -June 13th, 2016

Howdy y'all! 

We've had quite the week here in Bessemer! 

Elder Prestwich and I had a great week! We wanted to finish out the transfer as strongly as we could and finish on a high note! We had some amazing experiences and definitely saw the Lords hand in our work this week. 

Then on Saturday we received some pretty shocking news that neither of us were expecting! Elder Prestwich and I will both be leaving! Elders are being taken out of the Bessemer area for the time being. Why? Because we have too many missionaries going home and not enough coming out, so we don't have enough missionaries in our mission to have four in one area at this point in time. 

So where will the dynamic duo be going you ask? Elder Prestwich will be going to the middle of nowhere Red Bay, Alabama which is right next to Mississippi and he's going to kill it there. Yours truly will be heading down south to Clanton which is closer to Montgomery. All I've heard about it is that it's a pretty country place (hence the first line of this email) and that they have great peaches! Elder Anderson (my trainer) also served there and told me that he got most of his mission stories from this area... So I'm excited for all it has to hold! 

It's a hard thing to do though, closing an area. Emotional hard anyways. When the ward or branch loves the missionaries so much and you are the one to tell them that they won't have Elders for the time being, there's a lot of emotions and questions that come your way. To be honest, it's been hard on the ole' heart strings! I have a love for these people that I've come to know in Bessemer and it's been sad to break the news to them and see their disappointment. It was the same if not harder with closing Talladega. But again, I know that this is what the Lord wants to happen. Even if it's a hard pill to swallow, it's all in the Lords hands

I was talking to some Elders and telling them about closing my last two areas and they called me The Closer, so there's the explanation for the title of this weeks letter! 

Anyways, I'm very excited for this week and all the new experiences I'll have and people I'll be able to meet!

I'll try to hop on sometime in the week to let y'all know my new address! 

I hope you all have a great week and I'll talk to you real soon! 

p.s. I'll include a couple pictures from this past week. The first is with Elder Littleford, who will be going home this week. Gonna miss him! And the other is of another beautiful 'Bama sunset! 

Love y'all!

Elder Honn

Elder David A. Bednar = Bessemer, Alabama's Favorite Person -June 6th, 2016

Hey everyone! 

I'm running super short on time, hence the time of which this email is being sent... So I apologize for not being able to respond to each one of you personally. BUT I couldn't go without telling y'all about the truly amazing weekend we had here in Bessemer!

Each night of the weekend we had a meeting, specifically for different groups of people i.e. Youth then adults then everyone on Sunday. Honestly, words can't even describe how amazing each meeting was. Elder Bednar was accompanied by Elder Sabin of the Seventy and they both just dropped a spiritual bomb on this stake! They both talked about some very amazing things. I'll touch on one thing from each that I personally loved.

The one thing that stuck out to me most from Elder Sabin. He was talking about marriage but it definitely applies to all aspects of life. He talked about how when, in a relationship, the members of the relationship are more focused and worried about each others happiness than their own everything always works out better and it can be "magic". Its a commonly know principle and one that we normally learn while in the service of others! But its so true and simple! It's literally the key to happiness right there! When we focus on others happiness more than our own is when we're the happiest. What mainly struck me was just how simple it truly is. He told a story about one of his friends who owns a bunch of foreign car dealerships and how one day he asked him if he was happy. He has all this success and wealth but is he truly happy? His friend responded with "no, and I don't know why!" Most people in this world aren't truly happy and some don't even know why. This gospel, with all the teachings and doctrine, bring eternal salvation and endless peace and happiness. But the key to start it all off is one of the first and great commandments that we're given. "Love thy neighbor as thyself". Bang, how to be truly happy in this life, clear and simple! 

Next, the thing from Elder Bednar that stuck out to me and almost everyone else there probably haha! He talked about agency. He said how when we make a covenant (promise) with God, we no longer have regular agency. We have a thing called "Representative Agency". So because we made a very sacred promise with our Father in Heaven, we are now representatives of Him. And because of that we already covenanted to tryto act as He and His son would act. Of course, we still have our agency no matter what, but it's just a different type of agency... if that makes sense? I probably butchered what he said but I hope it still makes sense haha! If it didn't make sense, at least it's something to think about:) The whole concept was amazing though and one that hit pretty hard! 

Well anyways, those were some of the things I got out of this amazing weekend! Other than that, our week was great! It's crazy but this week is the last week of the transfer so we'll be getting calls and finding out whats happening this Saturday, so on Monday I'll let y'all know what's happening! 

I love each one of you very much and I hope y'all have a great week!