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! 

"I Know I'm Somebody Cause God Don't Make No Junk!" -May 31st, 2016

Hey yall! 

We had an amazing week, packed full of spectacular experiences.

First we had our last Zone Conference with President and Sister Hanks. Which is where our title for this weeks email came from! Holy cow, probably the most amazing meeting of my mission! Such a spiritual experience and massive tear jerker... It was hard knowing that this would be his last Conference! The Alabama, Birmingham mission will never be the same all thanks to President and Sister Hanks. They've changed my life and so many other lives in so many ways and i'm immensely grateful for the year that I've been able to spend with them. I'm definitely sad to say goodbye to them but i'm very excited to be here when the new President gets here and to help this mission maintain it's culture of Steadfast and hard working missionaries! I'll attach a picture of our district with President and Sister Hanks after Zone Conference. 

Also, the other main event that we were able to be a part of this week was Cameron's baptism. He's the eight year old son of Nickie who was baptized this last week, and it was an amazing night. The spirit was so strong the whole time and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I had to participate in this special step in his life. When we got out of the font, he looked at me and told me how good he felt and asked if we could go back in and do it again! They're such an amazing family. This whole experience has strengthened my testimony so much, i'm so grateful for them and everything they've taught me! Y'all have already seen a picture but i'll attach it at the end for any of you who haven't. 

Nickie also got up and bore her testimony after Cameron was confirmed a member on Sunday and It was amazing. She hates speaking in front of crowds so when we saw her walking up, we were pretty surprised! She shared a truly beautiful testimony and the spirit was so thick in the room, you could cut it with a knife. Like seriously, such an amazing weekend!

And it's only going to keep being amazing because.... drum roll please..... Elder David A. Bednar will be coming to our stake for stake conference this weekend! He'll be holding three meetings on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! So obviously, everyone is very excited for this!

Well, I think that's all I have to report on for this week! I hope each one of you has a fantastic week!

Love yall! 

This week was jam packed! Like strawberry jam... -May 23rd, 2016

Mmm strawberry jam...

(that's what you get when you can't think of a creative subject and just type whatever comes to your mind)

Haha anyways... hey everyone! 

What a week!

First, I had an experience that I thought I'd share with y'all. During this experience I learned a lot about the spirit and how it works in my life. For the past two weeks I had been praying and fasting to know what to do for this past weeks district meeting. I had studied everything I could think of and thought about it for hours, but nothing was coming. Nothing felt right. Then the night before, I had two topics come to mind that I could train on. I started studying those topics but got no where, with either one. I couldn't figure out more than just the topics! I started worrying a little, having it be the night before district meeting and having nothing. I said one last prayer that night that everything would work out the way the Lord wanted it to. I felt so much peace come over me and all of my worries left! The next morning, I was in the shower and I had a feeling of what I should do. I was a little hesitant at first but rolled with it. I realized that I had done my part and I knew that the Lord would do His part as well and take the meeting where it was meant to go. 

The meeting came and it was amazing. The spirit was there from the second we started and I'm SO grateful for that. By no doing of my own, we had some amazing discussions and were able to all learn and grow together. All I did was start a discussion and the spirit took it and ran with it. I'm so grateful for the Elders and Sisters in this district for being such fantastic missionaries and for the spirit that they carry with them. Because everyone there was in tune with the spirit we were able to have an amazing meeting and I was able to learn so much from it. 

This past week in a conference call with all the missionaries, the assistants talked about pushing to the very end and trusting in the Lord to lift us, even at the last moment. It was an amazing experience to have, that strengthened my testimony so much of that. The Lord waited until the morning of the meeting to give me an idea and then took full control of the situation. I'm so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a full time servant of the Lord and draw closer to Him everyday. There's nothing else that I would rather be doing at this time in my life. 

Anyways, that wasn't even the main blessing of the week! We also had the immense blessing to participate in Nickie's baptism on Saturday. This whole process has been the most wonderful experience! She and her family are so prepared, more than almost anyone I've met during my mission. Everything just makes sense to them and they've loved it all! Their kids are more excited for church each Sunday than any kid I've ever met in my life haha! I'm so grateful to be able to have been here for them at this time and be used by the Lord to help them make the steps to draw closer to Him. This gospel is the most amazing thing and being able to watch it change peoples lives has been remarkable.

So thank you so much to anyone who kept their family in your prayers. And please don't stop! As we know, the road to full conversion doesn't end when we enter the waters of baptism. And as missionaries, we're not just trying to get as many people in the font as we can. We want them to develop and grow their own testimony. We want them to know for themselves that this is THE true church of Christ, the same that he set up during his earthly ministry. Along with everything else that we know to be true about this Church. 

So as you can tell, this past week was pretty amazing! And this coming week is fixin' to be pretty amazing as well. So I've gotta get going! We've got work to do!

I'll include a couple pictures. One is of Nickie's baptism and the other is from our zone training a couple of weeks ago! Hope y'all enjoy:) 

Love you all so much! 

Blessings in Bessemer! -May 16th, 2016

Hey! How's everyone doing? I hope you all had a great week! 

I've had a fantastic couple of week since I've been in Bessemer! So many amazing experiences and blessings. The spirit is alive in this mission and especially in Bessemer! It a huge blessing to be here and be a part of this amazing work.

Elder Prestwich is awesome as well! He's such a fantastic missionary, and he only just came out! He has such a strong and powerful testimony and it's been amazing to be able to witness as his spirit touches people and helps them draw closer to Christ. We've been getting along very well, trying to be the best missionaries we can be, and working our hardest so that the Lord can use us to our full potential. When you see so many blessings, like we have been, it gives you so much desire to be the best you can be for the Lord so that you can be worthy of his grace and love. 

This week we had zone training, which was awesome! I also had the opportunity to go on an exchange with Elder Anderson in Jasper, Alabama! We had some awesome experiences together. I was also able to interview one of their investigators named Chase for baptism and it was such an amazing experience. It was such a blessing to be able to speak with him and hear his testimony that has developed since he's been meeting with the missionaries. To hear his conversion story and how far he's come in life to the point where he is now was a huge blessing and testimony builder. He was baptized on Saturday and I'm so happy for him and his family! And so proud of the Elders in Jasper for being such fantastic missionaries and being able to help Chase enter the waters of baptism and draw closer to Jesus Christ. 

All of our own investigators have been progressing as well! We had an amazing experience yesterday with our main family that we've been teaching. They've been trying their hardest to give up smoking to be able to fully turn to Christ and be baptized but they've been struggling. So we explained and taught them about blessings and offered them both a blessing. They both accepted and absolutely loved it. I gave a blessing to Nikki and Elder Prestwich gave one to Jeff. In both of their blessings it promised them strength to overcome their temptations and comfort to be able to make it through their trials. The spirit was very strong in the room and it was a very special experience. I'm SO very grateful for the priesthood and the immense power accompanying it. For the blessing that it has been in my life and the opportunity it gives me to help and strengthen those around me. Just another way that Heavenly Father has blessed us because He LOVES us!

Like I said, this has been an amazing couple of weeks in Bessemer and I'm so excited for this upcoming week and all it has to hold! 

I hope y'all have a great week! Love and miss each one of you! 

Ps. Here's a pic of Elder Prestwich and I for anyone who hasn't seen it already:) 

-Elder Honn

We've Been Busier Than Mustard Trying To Ketchup! -May 2nd, 2016

Hey everyone! 

Hope y'all had a great week! Cause ours has just been crazy! I hope you enjoyed the subject haha!

I'll start off with the news you're all probably waiting for! We received our transfer calls on Saturday and.... Elder Westling will be leaving....and so will Elder Honn! Yup, you read that correctly. We're both leaving Talladega and no one will be coming to replace us. The decision was made to take Elders out of Talladega and just have the Sisters for the time being. Why? We don't know but we do know that President Hanks receives revelation from our Father in heaven for this mission and that this is what the mission needs at this moment in time! 

So, a continuation of the news! Elder Westling is being sent to serve in Ensley! And I will be heading to Bessemer! The cool thing about that is we think Elder Westling will be in my district, which will be a lot of fun! 

Bessemer is south west of Birmingham and I've heard a lot of awesome things about the area. My new companion's name is Elder Prestwich and this is only his second transfer in Alabama so I'm excited to be able to help him continue to adjust to missionary life and work our hardest together! 

Anyways, this week we've been busy cleaning and preparing our house to be left, saying goodbye to everyone and trying to fit in any last minute missionary work we could do! So it's been a crazy week! 

It was also race weekend at the Talladega Speedway so that just made everything even more crazy! So many people came from all over the world to come watch these nascar races and it was really cool to be able to be here and experience the traditions and history of race weekend in Talladega! Plus we were kept safe from the craziness so that's always a plus:) 

Sorry for how short this email is going to be... but I will be talking to y'all in six days so I don't feel too bad;) haha

I"m super excited for all this week has to hold and the new experiences I'll be having with my new companion in my new area! I'll try to send a quick email in the middle of the week with my new address so until then! 

Love you guys! 

Some pictures Elder Svenson took of the racetrack and race this past weekend! We weren't allowed to go in but we went to the track and contacted people outside of the arena! It was crazy! there as some not so great things that go along with Nascar but it was still a lot of fun and we talked to a lot of people so it was great!