I'm Back

August 28, 2017

Sorry again for no email last week. I was a bum and just did not manage my time very well last P-day.

Helping set up for a clothing exchange

Elder Kelly, Elder Christensen

 Last Saturday we went to an appointment and when we knocked on the door a teenager opened it and informed us that the man we were looking for wasn't home at the moment. After trying to teach him with little success we asked if he knew anybody in the area that we could possibly go teach. He said, "Well here comes Sam... "He loves Jesus". Sam (20 yrs old) was walking down the street with some head phones in. We went up to him and introduced ourselves. He seemed genuinely excited and happy to talk to us. He informed us that he was talking to one of his friends from Independence via FB. His friend is a member of the church and told him that he was going to send two Mormon missionaries over to give him a Book of Mormon. We told him that the Lord must of beat his friend to it.  We asked if we could sit down and proceeded to share the restoration. He seemed pretty excited about everything we had to say and at the end he accepted the baptismal invitation for Sep 9th.  He was really excited about the idea of the Book of Mormon and kept thanking us for teaching him about it. Apparently before he had met us but after talking with his friend he had started listing to the audio of the Book of Mormon on YouTube.  He came to church the next day and really seemed to enjoy it. He told us he loved the family vibe that he felt there. We were able to meet with him once this last week and he was going to go try the YSA this week but ended up not being able to make it. 

New ties and awkward selfies

Sunday night we went to try a referral for a woman named Jo Barrow. We went by and she invited us in but she did not have an adult male there to join us so we told her we would make some calls to see if there was someone that would be able to come over quickly. One of the graduated priests came over as fast as he could and we sat down to teach. Jo has a daughter who married a member and ended up joining later. They live in Idaho. She also has granddaughters who are attending BYU schools. So to say the least she knows about the church and has heard of several parts of the doctrine. As we taught we quickly found out that she had raised her kids Christian and had done the best she could to teach them correctly. Her husband has passed on so as we taught about the priesthood we explained the temple sealing. When we asked if she would like to be sealed to her husband for time and all eternity she told us, "well of course!" We then extended the baptismal invitation and she said she would be baptized when Heavenly Father tells her that it is true. It also just so happened to be her 81st birthday. We are hoping that our visit was an answer to prayer for her family in Idaho.

Unfortunately our second appointment fell through because she had a really big migraine she couldn't kick that day. Hopefully things move forward there.

This week was also really good. For one we got to see the full Solar Eclipse which was sweet. We had a bunch of clouds but they parted for about and hour and half just so we could see the full eclipse.The eclipse has been the rave for a few weeks it seemed. Our mission president switch our P-Day to Tuesday so that we could be out side the day of the eclipse and talk to people. My companion and I started praying when we found out about the p-day switch that the sky's would be clear so people would be out to watch it and we could talk to them. The morning of it rained way hard and then about 40 minutes before it cleared up and we saw the eclipse perfectly and then within about 40 minutes after it was cloudy and rainy. Heavenly Father is always listening. It was cloudy in a lot of other places too. So we seriously were blessed! We were able to look at the full eclipse without classes for about 60 seconds. It was pretty glorious. It made me feel a little emotional actually. I don't know how people don't believe in a supreme creator.  A sign of the times too with the sun being darkened. 

We also found out that we will be have an all mission conference with Elder D. Todd Christofferson on September 9th! That will make for 3 apostle visits in my mission thus far. We are pumped.

I can't remember if I told you about this or not but every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month we are having a "Youth Missionary Force" meeting. Basically an hour before mutual we have a district meeting with the youth and role play sharing the gospel with friends, set goals, etc. this week we had 17 youth show up and it was way fun! It has made me and Elder Christensen think a little bit outside of the box which has been really fun. Also the youth in this ward are great. They have really good comments and know how to have fun. 

I had some revelation this week. I realized the ability that we have has mortals to excel in what we are diligent in is unbelievable. All Satan has to do is make us not care about anything. Then we won't really do much and end up just coasting. No growth, no achievement. Nada. Zip. 

I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be successful in our efforts to become like Him and in developing our skills as humans.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and if we will yoke ourselves with him we will find success in becoming as He is. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Well I love you guys!!! 

Elder Kelly

Beautiful Sunset