Change is Upon Us! -January 30th, 2017

Hey everyone! I hope y'all had a good week. The weeks continue to fly by for us, it's crazy how quickly time is going! We've had another good week. 

The Prattville trio (or the inverted oreo) is having a blast right now. We're continuing to work our hardest and seeing amazing results because of it. 

A while back we decided to get basketball up and going again. We invited a ton of people, both members and non members, and we had a great turnout! We had around twenty people show up and it was a ton of fun. The purpose behind having a basketball night is not just to get a good workout and have some fun but to mainly help people feel comfortable being in the church. It's also very useful to fellowship your investigators with members. So we're looking forward to seeing where this goes! 

We also had a worldwide missionary broadcast this past week and it was really good. They reviewed last years broadcast for a while then told us of a number of changes that are being made in our missionary lives. The main changes being 1) A couple hours extra on our Preparation day 2) We now plan in the mornings instead of at night which allows us to 3) now have the option to go to bed an hour earlier at night for extra rest. Oh yeah and the last thing is that our study schedule is a bit more flexible now. So yeah! Nothing too big but just a few changes to make our lives a little easier and help missionaries handle their days better.

We also had a pretty cool experience with Tj this past week. He decided it was time for him to be baptized to be able to have a fresh start in his life. So we figured out a date together and are working toward that day! It's been a really cool experience to be able to see this massive change in his life. It's also amazing how Heavenly Father will take the reigns and change everything so that someone can come closer to Him. We're very excited for him and looking forward to these next few weeks leading up to his baptism!

Well, that's all i've got for y'all! Love you! 

No Unhallowed Hand Can Stop this Work... Not Even Tornadoes! -January 24th, 2017

Hey everyone! 

We've had a crazy and amazing week here! 

We've had tornadoes all weekend down here in the Montgomery area. Thankfully none did too much damage and all our missionaries are safe! It's been funny because we are instructed that during the event of a tornado warning we are to get in the bath tub with our bike helmets on and a mattress covering us... We have three men living in our apartment and one bathroom. At least two of us would definitely be blown away in the event of a tornadoes if we attempted to squeeze in our five foot bathtub haha so it's a good thing we didn't have to do that! 

We saw many mighty miracles wrought in this land as we worked our hardest to proclaim the gospel to His children here! We've met some amazing people who we are very excited to work with. Including a part member couple named Jared and Lacy who love us! We were amazed that no missionaries had tried to visit them for years! He's been inactive for a long time but grew up in the church and wants us to teach his wife and answer all her questions. We're really excited to work with them! 

One of the main people that we've been working with and that I've been close to since i got to Prattville, named TJ, also ended up having his girlfriend move out due to situations and now is able to get baptized! The Lord has a plan for everyone and is leading this work! I'm so grateful to be a part of it!! He and his girlfriend, Mary, and the rest of their "family" are some of the most amazing people that I'm so grateful to know and be close to. They've both done so much for us and been the closest thing to family for me here in this area! 

Well, I hope y'all have a great week and I'll talk to you next Monday! Love you! 

The Trio Life -January 17th, 2017

Hello family and friends! 

We had yet another great week. Stayed very busy the whole time. We had transfer at the beginning of the week where we had to take some missionaries without a car to and back from Birmingham. Next we had MLC back up in Birmingham. It was a great meeting, we talked a lot about the importance of following up with commitments that we make with investigators. Which we'll be delivery to our zone tomorrow during Zone Training! 

Then after MLC we were informed that we would be put into a trio! So the next day we drove and picked up Elder Butterfield to be with us! He's a great missionary and we're really excited to have him with us! We're trying to figure out a good nickname for our companionship and haven't really come up with anything good yet. The only idea is "The Inverted Oreo" and that's obviously not the best... so if anyone has any idea, let me know;)

We had a pretty cool experience yesterday! We were able to be a part of a massive service project in Montgomery for MLK day. There was a huge group of people that got together and attacked a few different project to help clean up and area. Our group of missionaries tackled street cleanup! We all had a great time. It was amazing seeing so many faiths come together in a unity of love and kindness. All of us trying to be a little more like Christ by serving others and the city of Montgomery. I'm so grateful to be able to have opportunities like that because of this time I have in Alabama.

In other news, last week we also had like 35 people come to soccer so it was a ton of fun! 

Well, that's all I've got! I hope y'all have a lovely week. Love you! 

Pics: Dinner with the Jones family, our District for this transfer and all of us at the service project:) 

Six Months Strong! -January 9th, 2016

Hello! Another Monday... wow 

This past week was another great one! Elder Coleman and I were able to meet quite a few great new people that we're going to start working with! 

On Saturday we found out that I'm staying another transfer here in Prattville. So we're both really looking forward to all that this next six weeks has to hold! I've never stayed six months in an area so we'll see how this goes! 

This will probably be a pretty short email because I'm having a hard time thinking of things to tell y'all haha sorry...

This past week it gone pretty cold for a few days and we had the possibility of getting 2 inches of snow. Did it happen? No. The streets were still closed and the stores shelves left completely empty because everyone was freaking out haha apparently no one knows how to drive in the snow here (to the extent of leaving their cars on the highway due to an inch of snow a few years ago) so i guess it could've gotten pretty dangerous. But thankfully we're alive and apparently will be getting back into the seventies by the end of the week... crazy! I hope y'all enjoy the blizzard in Idaho;) 

Other than that I don't really have a ton to report on! We've got transfers that we'll be taking care of and mlc this week so it'll be a busy one! 

I hope y'all have a great week! Love you! 

Pic:

Our District from this past transfer! 

Never Stop Repenting! -January 3rd, 2016

Hey everyone! 

Happy New Years! I hope you all had an amazing holiday season and stayed safe as well. 

Elder Coleman and I had another great week here in Prattvllle (not a spelling mistake... that's how people here pronounce it haha) We were able to go on two exchanges this week with both the Millbrook elders and the Wetumpka elders.

Both exchanges went really well. While I was in Wetumpka, I was able to be there for their basketball night and it was a huge turnout! We had at least thirty people packed in that gym and it was a ton of fun. Felt really good to play again! 

Besides that, the rest of the week was really good! Elder Coleman and I have been doing quite a bit of finding and we've met some great people. It's been a great transfer! We'll get transfer info this weekend so we'll see if we stay together another or if someone leaves! 

Something that I wanted to talk about today comes from a handful of different meetings, trainings, and talks that I've heard this past week leading up to New Years. For as long as I can remember there had been this idea that the New Year is the time that you try to make resolutions and change for the better. Which is not a bad thing at all! I think the negative effect comes in when we think that New Years is the main/only time that we can make major changes. Which is very false.

Something that my mission has taught me is that the best way to repent is constantly. Repentance means change. So basically when we wait till New Years to make our resolution and change, we're procrastinating repentance. And that's not the best thing...

So my challenge to you, just like the title says, is to never stop repenting! Repentance is the key that God has given us to grow and become more like him. So use it! And if you need to make a New Years Resolution then I'd recommend making the resolution to never stop making resolutions haha! If that makes sense... 

I promise that our Father in Heaven will bless us if we truly humble ourselves enough to the point of realization that we NEED to constantly be repenting. And i also promise that our Heavenly Father loves each one of us enough to build us up and support us in our righteous resolutions! He makes all things possible. 

But yeah, that's pretty much all i've got for this week! I'll attach a picture of our New Years here with Brother Brother Bucannon and the Millbrook Elders. Don't worry, it's welch's;) 

Love yall!