Week 10 in Loveland, CO

Hi Everyone!!

I think I'm at the point in my mission where you can get lulled to security. I have lost my initial enthusiasm (how long can that last anyway?) and am starting to get re-engaged at a higher level to missionary work. I was feeling super burnt out recently because of changes that happened 2 months ago to our mission in Fort Collins that we no longer get together as groups of missionaries on our Preparation Day to hang out and play. I neglected to go out of my way to refuel myself with fun mini days off of having fun so I felt like I did the same thing everyday and felt stuck. Hopefully this is making sense.

Week 9 in Loveland, CO

It is definitely an adventure to be a missionary! It is exciting. You really can never predict exactly how investigators will respond to your message!

I don't know why it hit me this time, but I was sharing a message based on the scripture I included in the email last week (Mosiah 4:17-22 and more after that) and discussed the idea of service. When asking for ideas or thoughts about what I had shared, the wife mentioned something about asking the question, "who can I serve? What can I do today for someone? Who can I reach out to and help? What can I do for my companion today to help him?" I had been struggling with daily prayers for a while because I wasn't really praying for anything that I could actually receive and answer for and do something. I was more praying in thanksgiving and for God to help people change. But in that conversation I learned (and am working to implement) clear specific prayers that I can act on in service of others. It really has helped me already just thinking about it because sometimes I feel like doing things that will annoy/frustrate people in authority - like a mission president or zone leader or whatever. But that question has helped me remember that they are people like me that have a lot on their plate. Trying to think of what I can do to help them or my bishop or etc has done a lot to help me remember we are on the same team and work together better.

Week 8, Another Loveland Colorado Transfer

Hi everyone!! I hope this letter finds you well!

I'm blessed! It is funny, I heard a lot of sarcastic "good luck" remarks to me when I told people who my companion was going to be. I was a little nervous that it would be a harder experience than ideal. However, he is pretty awesome! I'm glad that I have been focusing more recently on being more and more obedient to the mission rules because he is very obedient and noticeably dislikes anything that looks like disobedience. Overall, I'm excited for this transfer with Elder Clark. If this week was any indication, then we will be continuing with the positive trend that I finished last transfer on. So, I'm excited to be his companion and serving the people in the Bison Ridge Ward boundaries in Loveland, CO.

The 4th Transfer Begins!

Hi Everyone! I hope this finds you well and that you are all doing awesome! :)

Transfers are tomorrow! This is the first one thus far I haven't had the opportunity to see where everyone in the mission is going since I am not living with the zone leaders, so I don't know that much except for the zone I am in. I think it is a pretty weird transfer... Because I am staying and my companion is leaving. He is becoming a new district leader, training a new missionary for the first time, being swept in to a new area, and is in a bike area. But the weirdest thing is that he is just moving 5 miles away! He is staying in the same District and will be my District Leader. I think that is weird since there are about 80 places he could have been put across northern Colorado and small parts of Wyoming and Nebraska, but he was put just down the street. He kinda prayed to Heavenly Father to ask for this because he is now in the most inconvenient position to receive his visa to go to Brazil. We figured that he would only get his visa when he is in a leadership position in a bike area with a new missionary. It would be very inconvenient to have to adjust the mission for that. So maybe he will get it in the next month or two!

I'm kinda saddened that he won't be my companion.

Transfer 3 Pictures

Some of the best pictures of my 3rd Transfer serving in the Bison Ridge Ward of the Loveland, CO Stake.

Pretty much every day there is an epic Colorado sunset like this. Even though my camera is not the best, it still looks amazing!

Week 6 in Loveland, CO

Don't have much time today...

I wanted to share 2 brief things. (ok, 2 became 3).

First, we finally had the opportunity to meet an investigator! She has attended church for a month or two, but we never were able to sit down with her. And, she is doing great! We taught her the lesson of the Restoration of the Gospel yesterday and invited her to truly read and pray to know that it is true. She texted us later that day to tell us that she read Alma 32 (as we left it with her to read) and felt like it really applied to her! Awesome! We are going to meet with her tomorrow morning. She is definitely seeking to know the truth. It is AWESOME to meet people like that. Most of the issues with the other investigators we are teaching is a lack of desire to know for themselves right now. I am privileged to be working with her to grow and change. It is funny that we have put in a lot more effort in finding than I had before and the most promising current investigator is our only referral. Haha. Maybe there is a lesson in there!