GREENIE FIRE...

If there's one thing hotter than blue fire, that would be Greenie Fire!  My new companion is Elder Larson and he is awesome!  We have not even been together a week yet and we already have three new investigators and we have put someone on date for baptism! 

Elder Larson is a cross between Ryan and Blake rolled into one.  It's so funny, and we are always laughing at each other and making fun of each other and pulling out scripture quotes and white handbook quotes on each other.  Elder Larson has been out only a month longer than I have and he's the District Leader. He's an awesome District Leader. 

I have an odometer on my bike as well as a pedometer and I'm going to add up the total miles I do whether I'm riding or walking. 

I went and got my eye checked and it turns out I have a FRECKLE on my eye!  Ha Ha!

My companion and I are working on talking to everyone we meet.  We got majorly rained on a few days ago.  It was so bad I actually had to change my shirt.  We rode up 8th Street, whoa....that was NOT fun.  The whole time I was telling Elder Larson I was fat and he was yelling at me to shut up and pedal harder.  Hahahaha!

I bought a package of Oreos and Elder Larson ate alllllll of them!!!  I didn't get any.  He's buying me Oreos today.  :)

I really love your letters and emails.  Thanks!

May 18, 2010

I can't believe my fourth month is starting up soon.  I will be in the Bellevue 2nd Ward for the next six weeks and I get to ride my bike!  Elder Torres taught me how to do Hindu push ups and Hindu squats and handstand push ups!  Elder Torres does those for a work out every morning and his arms are HUGE!!!!

I need short sleeve shirts--it feels like Florida here.  WOOOOW is it humid.  And I think I'm getting a little bit of a tan, too.  I'm all alone up here because all the companions I've served with went home.  I saw Elder Cook one last time before he left for home.  He had on a NEW TIE!  I mean the guy has three racks of ties already!  Did he really need a new one?

MY THIRD TRANSFER!!

May 18, 2010
Transfers begin...oh, man it's crazy stuff!  Everything is whizzing by so don't blink!!  I got hit in the eyeball with a basketball and the mission president and my mama :) want me to get it looked at. 

I've had an awesome week--learning new things every day.  Right now I'm focusing my learning on listening to the promptings of the Spirit.  I had an experience where I felt prompted (but thought it was my own crazy answer) but it turns out it really WAS the right answer.  I kicked myself to sleep for a few days, but I'm learning!

MOTHER's DAY PHONE CALL

Well, I got to call home yesterday  and that was really nice.  It wasn't nearly as emotional as I thought it would be which was a double bonus!  It was really cool to hear from my family and I can't wait to call again at Christmas!

We've been teaching Pauline about the Apostasy and how the authority was taken from the earth.  I explained to her how the Apostles were like the foundation to a building and how if you take away that foundation, everything else collapses.  After I explained that, I said, "After the apostasy, or the foundation of the gospel was removed, people tried to put the principles back up on their own without the Apostles, they tried to reform the gospel.  This is where all those great men came together and did the best they could with the doctrines they had; but because there wasn't a foundation to work with or the proper authority from God.  The best they could do was not the fulness of the Gospel.  This is where Joseph Smith comes in.  Not only was he called of God to be a prophet, he RESTORED that foundation that was ripped away when the apostles were killed."

Then I bore probably the strongest testimony about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith since I've been out of the MTC.  What a great experience.

UPDATE FOR THIS WEEK - April 19, 2010

Boy, this area is tough.  This lady wanted me to read some anti-Mormon material about the choices the early apostles made.  She just knew the book would convert me.  I told her it's not the leaders I'm converted to, but rather to God and Jesus Christ.  She didn't have much to say after that.

Elder Ball and I are trying to commit a 13 year old girl to come to Church.  We spoke with her about keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  We made sundaes and we put chocolate syrup and whipped cream on it and gave it to her mom.  Then we made another sundae and put salad dressing and bar-b-que sauce on it and gave it to the 13 year old girl.  She was so disappointed and asked why we would do that.  We told he all of those things are good, but they don't belong on sundaes.  We then taught her that buying something on Sunday, ruined the "sundae" she gave to the Lord.

I was studying the Book of Mormon and studying from the chapters in Moroni about infant baptism.  It lead to this HUGE trail of personal revelation  that took me through the Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, the New Testament, and back to the Book of Mormon.  IT WAS AWESOME!  One question lead to thousands of ideas and answers.  In the end I came away with one answer:  "Baptism, is used without authority, and if used to just go through the motions, without the right intent, can lead to condemnation."  Moroni was talking about how infant baptism was an abomination to God because everyone has to have the agency to follow Christ and infants don't have a clue what is happening when you baptise them.

I have had a lot of people ask me why I'm out here on my mission.  I tell them 1) it's what the Lord wants me to do, and 2) I would not want to be anywhere else no matter how much I miss the things back home.  I miss you guys tons.  Thanks for everything you've done to help me get here, whether it be physical, emotional or spiritual.

FIRST TRANSFER!!

Transferred over to Bellevue.  My new companion is Elder Ball from Utah.  We WERE on bikes until Elder Ball got his bike stolen.  Yesterday we walked 8.5 miles and my legs were dead by the time we got home.  Tons of cool experiences out here, lots of friendly people where I'm serving.  No one has called me a Satan worshipper yet, though I hear Tyler Perkins is getting the brunt of it....sorry, buddy.

Everything is going great.  It's been pretty warm the past few days, but it's raining today.  When it rains, it's either sprinkles or it rains so hard that the rain bounces 4 feet off the ground so even if you have an umbrella you're going to get wet.  I just need to walk around with a blue tarp over my head.  (ha!ha!)

I have to give a talk in Church this Sunday.  The ward has already picked on me for helping with the Sacrament and saying the closing prayer at Church.  I better get out of here before they call me as the new Bishop!