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 

Broke Into An Apartment?

Ups and downs this week, that is for sure. Preparation day was so fun! We went to Saginaw to ball up. We usually are not supposed to leave our area, but our zone leader Elder Houskeeper said it was alright so on we went haha. It was only 20 minutes away so nothing too brutal. We then decided to grab some Texas Roadhouse at 3 o'clock. It was delicious. I had left overs and of course got the Pulled Pork Dinner! I felt like I should splurge, I even got a blue crush lemonade. That night we had FHE at Bro Rases. Bro Rase's girlfriend, Heather made us all Jesus shirts. She is a "saved" Christian. She is so nice and we love her. Currently we are meeting with her and trying to talk to her about this restored gospel. She is really stuck because she only thinks The Bible is all we need. Partially true lol. 

We literally saw God's hand in this work on Wednesday. We were driving back home from a teaching appointment. We see these two guys on the side of the road with their car hood up, I felt prompted to pull over so I did. It was Tyson and Jaime. They are both childhood friends and Tysons car just randomly shut down. Elder Hanson went all auto-tech mode on me. Fun fact about Elder Hanson, he did multiple classes in high school about auto tech engineering. His goal in life is to own his very own auto shop. We (he) worked on this vehicle with Tyson for about an hour. About half way through I asked if we could unite in a prayer and ask God for strength to guide Elder Hanson to figure out the problem. After an hour and a half of work, we decided to call it quits and push it to a parking spot. Tyson threw it in neutral as we pushed the car into a safe place to park. Right after we pushed it 50 feet, Tyson decided to try to start his vehicle one more time. IT LITERALLY RAN LIKE NOTHING WAS WRONG. Elder Hanson rehearsed everything in his head and he has no idea how that car magically began to work again. This was the hand of God. Right when it started, Jaime looked over at me and said,"I am DEFINITELY coming to church on Sunday." What a sweet miracle witness as a missionary. We have yet to be in contact since that occurrence, BUT their testimonies about how God is mindful of everyone increased tremendously. 

The weather in Michigan is finally getting to me. On Wednesday the high was 50 degrees and all the snow melted. It was so amazing to go preaching by the way. The following morning it was 20 degrees and it felt like 6. What is this place? It was pouring rain on Wednesday and snowing on Thursday. I love Chandler Arizona. 

We decided to go door knocking this week. It was pretty gnarly. We knocked into a lady that was apart of the Community of Christ church and believed in The Book of Mormon. Turns out that it is actually a branch off of our religion and is an RLDS church. I would have never thought that I would knock into someone's home that believed in the Book of Mormon and now be interested in our message. Since mother was so generous in sending me two books about Church History and Joseph Smith I actually discovered where this strange ladies church began. As you all know Joseph Smith was martyred and Brigham Young was appointed next prophet. A lot of early saints that were not open in traveling to the Great Salt Lake Valley stayed back. Some early saints thought that Brigham Young should not be a prophet, one of those men was James Strang. James Strang convinced maybe people that Joseph Smith secretly gave him the authority to be the prophet. He resettled in Wisconsin and formed the Community of Christ. He swayed the hearts of many and there are now over 250,000 members of this church worldwide.

Our friend Tyler, the man who was struggling with same-sex attraction decided to end discussions with us. He came to the conclusion that "[He] will never not be gay." We promised him that he would have the most joy in his life if he was a worthy endowed Melchizedek Priesthood holder. That's where God wanted him. He is not ready. We asked if he believed in God and he said no. Our job as missionaries was a success. He felt the spirit, we taught him about God's love, and what Jesus Christ did for him. He wasn't fully prepared yet. 

When I heard this news, my heart rejoiced! A man by the name of Patrick Brennan who the Lord led me to on Facebook just made his first covenant with God on Saturday! He was baptized into a ward in Houston Texas. We had a couple of lessons with him via Facebook messenger before we sent him off. I reached out to him to ask why he decided to be baptized. He replied back to me,"His guidance. I  knew that I would be baptized again, properly." I could've gone into tears. My effort is not wasted. The Spirit was very strong when I had the chance on Saturday to watch his baptism. I love how Jesus Christ is the center of this work. I would not and could not of found Patrick without Him. 

Sister Klopf called us during the middle of the week to tell us a funny story about Evelyn. Evelyn is the 6 year old who always runs and jumps on me everytime I see her. She was talking to her family and she was like,"I am so sad Elder Clouse is already gone." Her family was like he hasn't left just yet. She then replied, "he has been my favorite missionary ever…. (delayed dramatic effect) to KICK!" Their whole family started laughing. I will miss that amazing family. You have to love Evy, she is just the best. 

While we were driving home on Thursday night from the church we got a call from the Assistants. They were traveling through Bay City and a snow storm hit, they were giving directions to just spend the night at our place. It was a hype phone call we received. Elder Kibbey, who is one of the assistants who served in Bay City for 6 months and I get along really well. Since he hasn't been in Bay City the past year he was excited. From the time he was here until now we got a brand new apartment. He was curious if we could go see the old apartment to show all of us how run down it was. Side note: the apartment complex we live in is kind of jank. You can card anyone's door with literally a piece of paper. I don't know why I'm telling you all this story, but I want to have it for memories and another testimony that elders are not the brightest when put together. We decided we were going to card the old apartment door to see how bad it was. From the knowledge I had, no one moved into that apartment from the time I carded that door 4 months ago. Elder Elliott and I checked it every now and then for some reason. I quietly go up to apartment 308 and card the door. Right as we open the door a cat with food is on the ground and all you hear is "meow." All of us elders RAN. It turns out that someone moved into that apartment and we just broke in. Who knew I would just get smarter as the mission goes on. It was nice to live with other elders for a night, we had so much fun. Lights were out at 10:30, but we were talking until like 12:30 am. It was rough the next day haha. 

Our apartment inspection was this week. We passed again with flying colors. The senior couple that does it is Brother and Sister Deibel who live in the Saginaw ward. He told us that he looks forward to coming into this apartment because it is so clean. He said we rank sometimes higher than the sisters. Brother Deibel is always impressed when he comes by. As I was chatting with him, he began talking about his son's mission. He was like he spoke some asian language, I was then like was it Laotian? He immediately was like YES. He went on to talk about how his son served in the Freno California mission speaking Laotian from 1992-1994. If I'm not mistaken, that is very close to the time frame dad served in that mission! Isn't that insane. His name was Mike Deibel, he lives in Saginaw with his five kids. My mind was blown. I hope dad knows him or this story will not be as cool. 

My talk on Sunday about obedience and sacrifice was a success. Phew. I believe some of you watched it and so that's cool how we can do that nowadays. After church we had a linger longer, meaning just a potluck lunch. It was very good. That was my fourth linger longer in Bay City, I'm basically a member! 

I have to talk about this. On Sunday we went over to the Klopf home so they could all write in my missionary goodbye journal. After we left, I read them and I have to quote you what Samuel Klopf wrote," Because you are leaving I send you with a fairwell...I say goodbye to send you with a message, here it is. Elder Clouse you are one of my favorite elders ever. Your veary funny and veary awsome. I love your choice in ties, shoes, and belts. Your veary kind and cool, someday I would love to be a awsome misionary like you." My heart is so full. I am writing him a personal letter before I leave. He makes me so happy.

This next week will be so busy. As you can tell my week was pretty solid. I have been grinding missionary work and on the Lord's errand. I love Jesus Christ and I love you all! Message me in Facebook #FindTime4Me 

Elder Clouse On Snapchat

 It was on the chiller ends of preparation days this week. We got our stuff done and for our laundry we sat at a members home for three hours. Sister Waibel was kind enough to allow us to use her washer and dryer for our clothes. We were there from 10-1. Afterward we grabbed lunch with the sisters and I got sushi for the first time. The California roll was disappointing, but the fried sushi roll was pretty fire. No worries, I got a photo. We also went sledding with them. At night it was our FHE night. No non member friends showed up so we ended up watching the restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith movie. I am loving it!

Tuesday was a grind. We did not see much success, but we remained diligent. It was one of those days where you are just pressing forward exhaustingly waiting for miracles to occur. It wasn't a part of the Lord's timing that day. 

Wednesday was zone conference. Oh my, it was spectacular. It was the most spiritually uplifting one of my mission. The APs dropped a fire training about repentance, followed by amazing counsel given by President Heap. The Spirit chastised, uplifted, and edified me during this three hour period. I was so on fire to get to work. We drove straight to a place to knock on doors after zone conference and got to work. I love gathering together as missionaries. Such a powerful moment. 

Thursday we had some funny things occur. First of all we spent three hours moving a members storage unit into a run down trailer home. No one from the ward showed up so it was just Elder Hanson and I. We got our hands dirty and got to work. I was exhausted afterwards. After we got cleaned up, we had a funny moment door knocking. We are trying to hunt down our recent converts Deborah and Tom Davis. We have not been in contact with them for about a week. We go knock on their door three times and no answer. I then went for the handle and it was unlocked. I opened the door to peek in and I saw one of the brothers named Shawn bolt to the back of the room. I closed the door immediately and we were on our way. For all we know Tom and Deborah could be dead. The following day we go knock on their door again. This time right when I knock you hear the door go *click* and it got locked haha. They better watch out for Elder Clouse, he will peek in your home lol. 

The last thing I want to add was that we found out through an inactive member that someone was found murdered in Bay City Thursday morning. It was about three miles from our apartment. Pretty crazy how that happened. This world do be insane. 

I have to tell you about my delicious breakfast I have every morning. After I do my morning workout (yeah, you read that right), I whip up a yummy breakfast. I usually have peanut butter oatmeal with half a banana, sautéed potatoes with vegetables, and a strawberry banana smoothie. This could bite me in the butt when I gain some wait down the road, but at least I'm not my companion who is drinking milkshakes for breakfast haha!

I found out something on Sunday that I find so funny. We sat in with the youth today during the priests' quorum. They ask me, "Elder Clouse, why do you message so many people and my friends on Facebook?" My reply was because I am grinding. They then said,"People are posting on their snap stories that a missionary named Luke keeps messaging them on Facebook." All of us just started laughing. I am not even on snap chat, but yet it still comes around. #LordsErrand

I haven't shared a spiritual thought in awhile. A quote by President Eyring states," The test a loving God has set before us is not to see if we can endure difficulty. It is to see if we can endure it well. We pass the test by showing that we remembered Him and the commandments He gave us." Trials do suck, I have had many and I would not take them back. It is easy to say you would turn to God in your trials, but when they come that sometimes doesn't happen. How can you prepare spiritually for your trials?

I love you all. Next Sunday I am speaking at 8 o'clock your time. Watch out for the zoom link. Grateful I have the privilege to communicate with you all every week. Message me through messenger! I love and miss you. #FindTime4Me 9

No Place I Would Rather Be

 Preparation day was one for the books. Elders Nelson and Davis drove over to be with us all day. They showed up to out apartment around 9. I made them French toast for breakfast and then we were on out way to go sledding. It was so fun. The elders we serve around are hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in such a long time, maybe it's because I'm not around Brooklyn (don't get cocky now). I was on the verge of tears. Thankfully, no one was injured. We then went walking around the Saginaw River for about an hour. We started breaking up the ice and we almost slipped in. Just guys being dudes. Grateful for having elders in my district. 

Monday night we had a FHE night. It was in the Martinez home. I have touched on this family a little bit, but they are just amazing. Grandpa Martinez brought out all his instruments and I am now beginning to learn how to play the accordion. No worries I got some more photos of me holding it with Brother Martinez. One fun fact about Bro Martinez is that he loves taking photos on his IPad. I grabbed his IPad and took some selfies. I then proceeded to take a selfie with him and make it his lock screen photo. I don't think he could change it if he tried. I guess I'm stuck on his lock screen forever haha!

As you all know we had a pretty slower week. Tuesday was a rise! We began teaching 5 new people. One day. We exercised faith, worked until 9, and saw miracles. You can't be sleeping on Bay City. It will never be a slow area if you put forth the effort. Call Bay City penny stocks because we are rising and falling all the time. 

Wednesday and Thursday were shoveling days. Michigan as you all know is very bipolar when it comes to the weather. After the snow all melted on Tuesday, it dumped 6 inches of snow on Wednesday. Lots of people were in need of shoveling. Elder Hanson and I shoveled for about a total of 5 hours over these two days. It was so fun. I am grateful that we had these unplanned opportunities. It was chilly, but it mixed things up so it was really enjoyable. 

Friday was District Leader exchanges. It was weird because I've never been on these since I have never had elders in my district. I went to Midland with Elder Davis. Elder Davis and I get along extremely well. We have a very close sense of humor and it was such an amazing day. We did a lot of door knocking and saw no success. At least Elder Davis made it more bearable. Door knocking and I are still not on good terms. I find it so pointless sometimes, but I know that is just Satan talking. 

Friday night we had a really cool miracle. We get a call from an unknown number coming from Texas. We answer it and it turns out to be an inactive Bay City Ward member who wants to become a worthy priesthood holder again. His name is Brother Blackhurst. He said,"Since I began with missionaries, I think it is necessary to start back up with them." Such a cool experience and how we didn't do absolutely anything to see this miracle. This was God's hand. 

Our area is beginning to pick up again. We put someone on date for baptism so that's cool. We also began teaching a handful of new people and lots of inactives. I worry about if we need to find time to fill our schedule and then the Lord just opens up the heavens as we put forth all our effort. I found so much joy in the work this week. I am grateful I am a missionary right now. No place I'd rather be. 

I received a call from Brother Idalski last night and he asked me to speak or "give a farewell talk" on February 20th. It will be at the usual time, but I will get the zoom link so you all can watch if you want. It will be at 8 am your time, 10 am my time. I am excited to speak. I love being in this ward. 

By the way, my address can now receive mail. I actually never told you all. It got fixed about three weeks ago haha. If you need to mail me something, our mailbox works now! ;)))

My emails are getting shorter, I just feel there isn't too much to inform you on. The work is a grind and is so rewarding. When I return home I will not regret anything I did because I am giving it my all. 

Not too much went on this week. It was a fun one and it flew by. Days are long, but weeks are fast. Only one month left in Bay City. My homeland :((. Please message me today! I have nothing really to do. As always #FindTime4Me.