Godly Man Sent to Charlotte

 Monday was the same as last week. We went out for about 30 minutes to do groceries, but other than that I just called some of you all. Even though it seems lame, I truly do look forward to that every week no doubt to call all of you.  

Tuesday we had the privilege to meet in the Lansing Stake Center and meet with Elder and Sister Bennett. Elder Bennett is a member of the 70 who covers the North American Northeast Missions. The Midland and Lansing Zone gathered in the Lansing Stake Center. There were about 70 of us. I got to see Elder Hanson and Davis which was a huge plus. Miss those good elders. When the meeting began it was about 9:40 am. The spirit flooded the room when we all sang Called to Serve. This was a spiritual high. We counseled with one another and how we can increase our effectiveness in the work. Obedience was heavily emphasized. Many got chastised by the Spirit and it was really a sweet experience. The Spirit was overflowing in this room, I am truly grateful to have received the Gift of The Holy Ghost. So many impressions and prompting I received during the time I was there. It went from 9:40 am to 3:05 pm. It was scheduled to go until 1, but we went two hours over haha. Moral of the Story is I love The Comforter. 

Thursday was the day God sent a godly man into the Charlotte Area. I went on exchanges with the zone leaders and I went with Elder Luke Tueller. This exchange was the greatest one of my mission. Thursday was the most helpful day thus far on my mission. Elder Tueller is great at what he does. He invited the Spirit and he loved me how Christ would. He gave me examples how I can help further the work here in Charlotte. He lovingly asked me to work better in certain areas. It didn't come across as rude or upfront, but so loving. We did some amazing work in Charlotte. We testified, we preached, and we found new friends to teach. I hope and pray that someday I would have the privilege to be companions with this man. He is one of the closest friends I have on this mission and I love him! He also got a pretty dank first name. I never knew how much I needed this exchange until it was over. We laughed, cried, and testified together. I will never forget the day of this sacred exchange with one of my best friends. 

Michigan weather still seems to shock me. It started off being 70 degrees and sunny this week. For the remainder of the week it was 40 degrees and windy, then on Saturday morning it showed and the high was 32 degrees that day.

We had a funny door knocking experience. We knock on this door and the door just opens. There was a screen door between us and the dog in the house came up to the screen door and started barking. We starting saying,"hello? Anyone there??" Since the door just randomly opened. After 30 seconds the door then just closed. We never saw anyone or anything move. It just shut. It was so strange, yet very funny. 

This week has had its ups and downs. Everyday and every time I am not doing missionary work, I just want to go home. I have had thoughts of calling it quits, calling President, and packing my bags. Satan really smacks me with homesickness. He's like, wouldn't it be nice to go play basketball with budday, or hang out with Brooki, or go play some pickleball with the family. Of course I agree with Satan on that one, but when I start having these feelings, I drop to my knees and plead with Father that he will bless me with the diligence to further his work. This week I worked. These two years aren't for Luke or Elder Clouse, they are set apart for Jesus Christ. This is for him, not me. I am giving him my all. I could never let my Savior down, I know my efforts are not wasted. They bless me and all of you! I love Jesus Christ so much. 

I have to mention our friend Jeffrey. He self referred himself about two weeks ago. We have been visiting with him at the hotel he is currently staying at. He loves the things we are teaching him and he's keeping all the commitments. He came to church yesterday and this man is so golden. He bore his testimony during fast and testimony meeting.  Insane. I KNOW. He also had so many comments in Elders Quorum. This man introduced himself to almost every member of the branch. He loved church so much and I even got a photo with him so you all will see that. 

This area has truly been blessed the past couple of weeks as we put forth diligent effort. We had the chance to find 6 more friends to teach on top of our 8 friends last week. The Lord provides! It's not me, it's the Spirit that works through me. God is so good yall. 

This was a shorter one since all I am doing is putting my head down and working. Elder Millward and I still have our differences and we still do not click one bit, BUT the work in Charlotte is still pressing forward. No one can stop the Lord. I love you all so so much. Please reach out to me. I would love to chat with you. I cherish the time on pday that I get to speak with each one of you. As always #FindTime4Me 

The Week Sent From God

This past preparation day was the most lame one I have had on my mission. We sat in the apartment the whole time and left for 30 minutes to get groceries. Ain't no complaints though because I got to talk to all of you so much. As I was reflecting on my day while calling mom and dad, everything seemed to weigh on me. I truly didn't know if I could handle this situation. Towards the end of my call with mom and dad, dad looks at me and says in his business mode voice,"Go get the spirit, you will never be sad if you have the spirit." He then proceeded to conclude the call and hang up. To me the call seemed so abrupt, but this was exactly what I needed. God decided to help me realize how I can handle my trials starting with Tuesday.

Tuesday was a day sent from God. I got up and did my morning routine. Headed to service with not the best attitude, I still was letting everything get to me. We arrived home and from 1-9 I decided I was going to dedicate myself to the work. We left the apartment at 1:22 pm and did not walk back in the apartment until 9:01 pm. We got rejected on every door we knocked on. I yelled across the street to talk to people who were not about our message at all. I wasn't getting the best attitude from my companion, but the one thing that changed me was that I had the spirit. I was so happy. I was exhausted, but so happy. This was the truth dad spoke so clearly to me the night prior. Nothing seemed to make me sad. The sun seemed to be shining brighter, my smile seemed to be bigger than before, nothing could have changed the mood I was in. My life is in God's hands. This is what I needed to learn. 

We are teaching two boys by the names of Christain and Noah DeLong. Noah is 9 and Christian is 12. Both of their parents are members, but their mother who has full custody of them is inactive and does not plan on returning to church. The father who is an active member wants them baptized. Tuesday night we had the chance to be over for dinner with the mother of the boys. This has never happened because the mother was against us being over. Her home is top notch. It reminded me of a home in Alpine or Highland, UT. The floor was clean, it smelled nice, granite countertop, all white kitchen, and there was dinner! So many wins. She expressed her concerns and we asked if it would be okay if we met with the boys every Sunday and Wednesday in her home so she can judge for herself if the boys are ready for baptism. She happily agreed. The boys are very fun to be around. One of the main reasons I got sent to Charlotte was to teach these boys. 

Wednesday was another one for the books. We were so busy and I was wiped. We had a district council in Holt which is 30 minutes northwest of us. Our district consists of two sets of sisters and our Zone leaders. We have a pair of sisters serving In Holt and they are Sisters Griffith and Gibson. The other sisters are serving in Portland and their names are Sisters Kitzman and Hansen. To conclude our district we have the zone leaders who are Elders Tueller and Spencer. I love Elder Tueller, he is literally so great. He would easily fit in with one of the boys.  Fun fact, he grew up with Addie Matern in Halladay, UT haha small world. Elder Tueller, if you are reading this you are sus. A very fire district if I do say so myself. In the early afternoon we had our interviews with President Heap! Mine was seriously so so good. We talked for about 45 minutes and I loved it. We addressed the concerns and worries about everything going on. He later told me,"Do not get too comfortable, have your bags ready." He then explained to me that I will probably be in Charlotte for only one transfer, maybe two max. He also gave me a handful of tips on how to handle the current situations I am in. How can you not love this man? He is a king. 

BUDDAYS BIRTHDAY! Happy birthday Weston! I had the chance to call him on Thursday for a brief second. So grateful you are in my life. I bet you loved the sun poisoning photo I posted on Facebook.

On Thursday I finally had an experience I always wanted to have. We were out door knocking on some inactives and I saw a group of high school kids playing basketball since it's so nice outside, it was about 70 degrees. I go up to them and ask if we could play with them. They happily allowed us to. We ran a game to 11 and we popped off. It was fun being with the kids and allowing them to have a good view on missionaries. They thought I was an undercover YouTube star who pranks people since I rolled up in a white shirt and tie. That's how NICE I played. They were blasting rap music and then one of the guys was like,"AYE put on some gospel music for these boys." It was really funny. As we were leaving they were all so happy we stopped by. You could hear all of them say,"WE GOT TO PLAY BALL WITH THE MISSIONARIES!" We were sweating and we did smell. We didn't hand out any pass along cards or copies of The Book of Mormon, but it was a really fun opportunity to play ball with some kids and have them view missionaries as fun normal people. 

The hardest adjustment for me coming from Bay City is the branch. It's just wilding over here. They have one speaker during Sacrament and then we end at 10:35 am so Sunday school is an hour and 20 minutes. So crazy, yet funny. Back at home we thought our congregation was small, but man I would love a Grove 1st congregation as a missionary.

Overall. This was a week sent from God. We technically started "teaching" 12 new friends, but we only recorded 8 since the other 4 are just Bible bashers who we will end up stop teaching this coming week. This week took all my energy out of me. I fell asleep some of the time during my nightly prayers. It feels amazing everyday I lay in my bed and I know that I did everything in my power to be the best missionary God wants me to be. At times it would be nice to be home, but after these two years are up, I am going to miss every second of torture, happiness, misery, and joy I feel everyday as a representative of my Savior. 

Side note that I might add: On Saturday we found out that an apostle and two members of the 70 are coming out to visit our mission in the next 5 weeks! We have the privilege to hear from Elder Bennett tomorrow, followed by an apostle a month later, and THEN Elder Bennett AGAIN! This is amazing. The Lord is so mindful of the MLM.

I love you all. I do love being a missionary. I know this is what God needs me to be doing. Message me! I will be pretty bored all day in the house. If you are new here or forgot I add all my photos to the "Photos in Michigan" album in Google Photos. If any of you want to call me, feel free! I would love to talk. As always #FindTime4Me:)). 

Week Of Changes

 Well I cannot believe my time in Bay City is over. I am very sad. For my last preparation day there we balled out with the bishop in Midland at 7 am. After that, we completed our chores which now brings us to 2 o'clock. We drove out to the Klopfs home to wrestle Joseph. Joseph Klopf is 16 years old and he recently just got back from wrestling at state. We went into their outside "barn" (it's not a bard, it's basically another garage that is heated) where they had wrestling mats. I first wrestled Samuel, who is about 11 and I just kept pushing him away until I pinned him. Now onto the real completion which was Joseph. We went about 3 full 2 minute rounds before Joseph pinned me in the last 10 seconds. I was exhausted. I was literally wheezing in that room, I didn't know that wrestling was that challenging. So much fun though, I will miss them. 

Tuesday was the day of transfers. We got up early in the morning to go eat breakfast one last time with our ward mission leader Brother Hemstreet and his girlfriend Heather. I will miss them so much. After that, I completely had everything packed and we were off. I got into the transfer cars and I headed off to Lansing where the next meet up was. This was where my new companion met up with me. His name is Elder Ethan Millward. He is from California and has been out on his mission for almost a year. He is 21 years old, and is very quiet, but I hope to work on that. We arrived in Charlotte after a 20 minute drive from Lansing.

I also found out that I am serving in a branch. For some reason I thought it was a ward. The night I arrived, I deep cleaned the place. The first thing I did was vacuum because it was all crummy in my room. After throwing away and cleaning out a handful of things, two hours later I was settled. Big plus, we have a washer and dryer!! We dipped off to the store to grab a few things before getting to work. For about 2 hours I called members of the branch to set up times to meet. I look forward to meeting such a happy group of people. 

Also, a strange thing I have to mention. For some reason the car smells like nasty fish. I left the windows down overnight, I have cleaned it, but it still smells like fish. Everytime I sit in it I cringe so hard. Any tips would be much appreciated. 

I have to talk about service. In the Charlotte district, service is literally goated. Every Tuesday and Thursday from 9-12 we serve at a helping hands food pantry with our district. We organize, sort, and bag orders for the homeless. A big plus is that we get to take whatever we want home so we basically never have to pay for groceries because they literally have everything necessary. 

For this first week I was here I mainly focused on getting to know members and the primary people they were teaching. The members here are pretty sweet. The majority of them are retired old folks, but are so fun. Charlotte I heard is also known as Chartucky because of how "hick" it is. I can agree with this because we visit a handful of homes where they live on a ranch. Some members have horses too! There is so much potential here In Charlotte with the people they are teaching. Baptisms are coming this transfer. The Lord has prepared so many people who will enter the covenant path these next couple of weeks. 

Sunday caught me off guard. The building is so tiny and only about 25 people were at church. This made me miss Bay City. There are no youth either which is a rip, but I am here for a reason. I do not know why yet. 

I really look forward to talking to you all today. My time zone had to "spring" forward so I am three hours ahead :((. I am having a rough time adjusting, so I think this first preparation day will be fun! I love you all so much. Message me when you get the chance :)) #FindTime4Me 

Farewell Bay City

Preparation day wasn't too exciting. We first began playing basketball in Midland with Bishop. No worries everyone, I went undefeated. The sisters showed up and it was the sisters plus me vs the elders and bishop. We took the dub. Pretty awesome. The rest of the day we did our chores, got breakfast, and Sister Idalski cut our hair. The rest of the day we sat in the apartment which was what needed to happen. 

I am just so grateful for Elder Davis. He has been so helpful with everything. As a trio we laugh way too much. The funniest moments of my mission have been these past two weeks with him. During lessons we have cried because of the jokes we have made. No worries, we still get work done. I am thankful for him because he has helped me out and listened to me while I'm going through some things. Best junior companion ever. 

There really isn't too much to write about this week. We have been doing the majority of the work in Midland because that is the council we received from President Heap. In Midland we are teaching a man named Jordan and he got baptized on Saturday. Jordan is 500 plus pounds so we couldn't find him a jumpsuit. We decided to call the Detroit temple and they had a 10XL jumper for him. He looked fantastic in it. The baptism went almost too smooth. There were 4 of us including him in the water. He actually barely squeezed through the door to get into the font. The baptism went amazing. He came out of the water with the biggest smile on his face. Only one attempt was necessary. I will always remember this day. 

We received our transfer calls on Friday Morning. I am traveling down to the Lansing Zone to District Lead in a city called Charlotte. This is actually the area Elder Johnson got sent to before he went home. I am the senior companion to good Ole Elder Ethan Millward. He is a couple transfers ahead of me. This area does a lot of finding and Elder Johnson came in recently and made it explode! I'm excited to reap the blessings from it. It might be a hard transfer, but it will be a great opportunity to learn!

We made a hype video for our Zone due to Jordan being baptized and Lily accepting a baptismal invitation. We created a rap to the slim shady beat. It took us a couple of tries, but we finally got it. I will make sure to add it to the photo album so you can all witness how great of a ghost writer I am. 

Sunday was so fun, yet sad. It was my last Sunday in Bay City, Michigan. It didn't really hit me until Sunday that I would never attend that ward probably again. Throughout the day we visited some members as they fed us food and said our goodbyes. The hardest one will be the Klopfs. It seems like I talk about them so much. All the little kids came up to me as I was leaving and hugged me asking me to stay. My heart. What great work I have done in Bay City. I say I will come back and I hope I fulfill that promise. 

This week has had a lot of downs and ups. I look forward to the future. I am relying on our Father in Heaven so much. I love this work and I am trying to stay as focused as I can. I love you all. Please message me if you are available. This preparation day will be very hectic with all that is going on with packing and what not. #FindTime4Me