Email cincuenta y cuatro

August 28, 2017 

Last week’s email didn't end up working out, I attached too many photos and videos, and then accidentally hit send before connecting to wifi. After connecting to wifi, I tried to reload the email and send it again, but there were so many files it couldn't reload, and the email mysteriously deleted itself. This all happened at 5:59 on Monday. I got a little frustrated in the moment haha.

To summarize last week, it was a rough week. It's probably for the best that the email never sent, because it was pretty negative. The important thing is that I had a much better week this week.

I hit a low a low point after a lesson with R. Things went south pretty quickly, instead of being able to teach him the commandments, he went off on how he doesn't like fast and testimony meetings in the church. He said that a testimony is when someone sees a miracle and bears witness to it, not simply saying you know something is true. We tried to explain to him our concept of a testimony, but he wasn't buying. I got really frustrated, and almost lost my cool a couple times and started arguing with him, but in the end I decided to keep my mouth shut and just listen to him ramble on. The Spirit was gone for sure.

On the ride back, I got super discouraged. I really should know at this point where all those negative thoughts come from, and how to push them off, but I allowed myself to get frustrated. I had been a long rough week, because I knew I hadn't worked as hard as I should, and I felt like a sorry excuse for a missionary. Later that night, I told Elder Merrill that I felt like everything in my mission was going to crap (actual phrasing that I used). We had a real good chat. He told me of a time in his mission where he and his companion were struggling with obedience, and he felt completely worthless and thought of going home. Then he told me how he has been able to use the Atonement to help him get rid of his guilt and keep working hard. It was really cool.

The next day I sang I Stand All Amazed in Spanish in Sacrament Meeting. I was super nervous, my legs were shaking the whole time. All in all, not too shabby. We did have to program the electric organ to play it in a different key because I couldn't hit a lot of the notes in the original key.

At the beginning of my mission, I would have never agreed to sing in Sacrament meeting, but President Perez really wanted me to, and I really wanted to get on his good side, and I think it worked, so that alone makes it worth it. He told me I have good depth to my voice, and I responded by saying I had no idea what that meant.

Tuesday I was pretty discouraged again. We had squandered away all of Monday night by going out to eat with Randy, and I felt awful about it. I felt like I was wasting my Savior's time. I was also disappointed in myself because every single morning that week, I had fallen asleep on the couch in the morning after 6:30.

Getting up has progressively gotten harder and harder the longer I've been out. When I was a Greenie, I was actually excited to wake up. I wish I could always be my Greenie self. That kid was a stud. My time spent in Russellville was hard, but I knew that I worked my butt off, especially my 3rd transfer there. I knew that I was doing everything I could.

Anyways, all throughout District meeting, thoughts that I wasn't working hard or being obedient
enough were killing me. I talked with Elder Sotomarino after District meeting, and that helped me out. That night I called Elder Jorgensen and talked to him about it, and he gave me good advice. He told me: "You can sleep in a year, but you will never get this time back."

Dad also told me to do cardio in the morning. So this last week, we went to our apartment's fitness center. I was planning on using the bike machine, but Elder Merrill sat down on it to watch videos on his iPad, and if I've learned one thing, you don't mess with Elder Merrill in the morning. That man is the worst morning person I have ever met, worse than Erinn. He is so grumpy.

He told me: "If you do this one thing, our relationship will improve incredibly: when we wake up, don't say a word to me for the first 4 hours, and things will be fine." It has proven to work, we get along way better since I started doing that. So I have made friends with the elliptical machine. It feels super weird at first, but 15 minutes on that bad boy, and you're awake my friends.
This Saturday we met with R again. That morning I was trying to study for him, but I was exhausted and falling asleep in and out at my desk, and it was super hard to focus. Finally, I prayed super hard to know what to teach him, and I heard a still small voice whisper "Teach him about the Holy Ghost." And it dawned on me that testimonies didn't make sense to R because he didn't know who the Holy Ghost is and what he does. After a little bit of Preach My Gospel, I was prepared.

During the lesson, I explained that the Holy Ghost, unlike the Father and the Son, does not have a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit, which allows him to enter into our heart and testify of truth. When the truth is spoken, the Holy Ghost helps us to feel love, peace, and joy as a confirmation that it indeed is the truth. When this is felt, one has the desire to share this with others, so that when they do, the Spirit can testify to their hearts as well. And that is how a belief can become knowledge, as sure as if we had seen it with our own eyes, and that is how what we do in the church every first Sunday of the month truly is a testimony.

The Spirit touched R's heart and told him that what I was saying was true, and he simply said "Ok, well explained." It was such a tender mercy that I really needed.

We also found a man named G, who came up and talked to us and after we were finished there was a huge rainbow across the sky, and he said he knew it was a sign form God that he needed to talk to us. It was one of the more magical moments of my mission.

Things are good here, I can't complain. I love my mission with all my heart, and I love my Savior and all of you. Have a great week!

Email cincuenta y tres

August 14, 2017 

Well folks, I had a great week.
So I've forgotten to mention it for the last month, but Elder Jorgensen baptized I&E in Jonesboro July

14. I was sad I couldn't be there, but just like President Uchtdorf’s story of when he wasn't invited to the Madrid Spain Temple open house, it was more I important that it happened than that I was there. I have the picture attached below.

I gave myself a haircut this week, and it didn't end well, I'm almost bald now, pictures below.

I honestly don't remember a lot of what happened this week. But we did find an awesome Guatemalan couple who let us in on the spot, which was really nice, especially since it's been the same old same old of finding, talking to people, having them say they are interested but busy, and then they drop off the face of the earth. We taught them the Restoration, and they said they really want to attend church but are also very involved in the church they currently attend. Their names are O&A.

On Friday we tried to call R, but the call didn't work, it said our number had been restricted. Worried, we ran over to visit him. We knocked on the door and I saw him walked to the middle of the front room, stop, and turn around through the window. I was convinced he didn't want to meet with us any more, and I was depressed. I told Elder Merrill that all I felt like doing was going back to the apartment and crying. Elder Merrill just told me to go to work, so we left the car, and went out to find. 

We found E, starting talking to him, and he immediately let us in. He has a drinking and swearing problem, but he really wants us to come by. We will visit him tomorrow night. 

Anyways on Saturday we decided to go back to R's and knock the door. Still no answer. We knocked again. Nothing. So we decided to try calling him one more time. The whole time I was praying so hard. The phone dialed. Then R answered. I almost cried. I asked him where he was, and he said downtown Memphis. I asked him how he got there (because his car was parked out front). He said he took a helicopter. Then he opened the door. He let us in and we were able to talk with him for a bit. 

Then we got a got a call that Hermana Petty had gotten hit by a car, so we had to go help here and Hermana Keller. She was okay, just had a pretty bruised leg.

President Perez wants me to sing in Sacrament meeting next Sunday, so I will be singing Asombra Me Da, or I Stand All Amazed. I'm pretty nervous, but I absolutely love that hymn, so hopefully I'll do it justice.

Elder Merrill and I are really having fun here in Memphis. I'm so glad he's my companion, and that I get to learn from him. I'm so grateful to be here on the mission, learning and growing. I know I truly have received so many blessings and tender mercies here. I know I can do more, I can give more, I can work harder, and strive to be more obedient.

Sorry his email is a little short, I didn't have much time to email today, we went to the Memphis Zoo. Just know I'm happy to be serving my Savior. Have a great week!

Email cincuenta y dos

August 7, 2017

Hey y'all!
I had another fantastic week here in Memphis.
Our investigator R is doing well. We went with him to Best Buy because he wanted to trade in his laptop and needed a translator. He came to church yesterday but was acting kinda weird, and slept through most of the meetings haha.

Dad says lately he has been overloaded with work, and that other aspects of his life are being neglected because it is so demanding. He is confident that with divine help, he will be able to do enough to balance priorities and find time for other, very important things. It made me think how blessed I am here on the mission. I only have one thing that I can put all my focus and effort into: the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There will never be another time of my life like this. In a year, I will suddenly be faced with all sorts of demands and things that call for my attention, such as school, work, church callings, and the most stressful of all: dating.

Yesterday during fast and testimony meeting I got up and bore my testimony. It was the first time in over 6 months that I had done it in Spanish, so I was pretty nervous. The mistake I usually make is that I think so much on what I'm going say that I don't pay attention to what the people bearing their testimonies before me are saying. This time I tried to not think about what I was going to say and listen. I still got back into the old habit a bit, but I was able to listen a little better. Here's a few things I said:

At the beginning of my mission, it was super frustrating for me that the majority of the people we talked couldn't meet with us because they were working so much. I would angrily question "Why do these people work so much!? This message is so much more important than work!" (That part had the whole congregation chuckling). As I've gone through the mission, I've realized that my frustration is because I don't understand what these people's lives are like. I grew up in a family that from time to time had financial challenges, but we were never poor. I always had far more than I needed. I don't know how they feel, but the Savior does.

I've been thinking a lot about the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane. Why did He do it? Why did
He suffer for us? Was it because it was his duty, or what was expected of Him? Did He want recognition from others? No. He did it because He loved us. I likewise should not be here because it is my duty, or what is expected of me, or because I want recognition. I should serve because I love my Savior and all the precious souls He suffered and died to save.

Last night during a lesson with our investigators E&F, I decided to eat a dried chili that was on the table. It was definitely extremely hot. A couple of nibbles and 30 seconds later my face, mouth, and throat were in some serious pain. Rivers of tears exploded out of my eyes, when everyone noticed, we all laughed pretty hard for a good minute. The lesson ended up going really well, the Spirit was there, and everyone else ended up crying for a different, better reason.

I am blessed far beyond what I deserve. The mission is a wonderful opportunity to be humbled and to learn to love. I pray that I can follow the Master and His perfect example so that I can bless others lives the same way mine has been blessed.

I love y'all!

Email cincuenta y uno

July 31, 2017 

Dear family,

I hardly have any time to write today...transfer days are crazy, but I had a fantastic week.

I'm staying here in Memphis with Elder Merrill. Everyone in our district is staying. Our investigator Ricardo has a baptismal date for the 27th of August. We are super excited for him.

We helped a member move for two whole days. I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Elder Murdoch is a champ.

Lately I've been watching the Bible videos on lds.org in the morning and at night, and it's been really
awesome. Jesus truly was a master teacher. Helaman chapter 5 blows me away.

Elder Merrill's girlfriend just got engaged. He is depressed. #prayforhim The Church is still true.
I read all my emails that I sent at the beginning of my mission. I hope I'm a little more mature now than I was then.

We went to the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid again today, and went bowling inside and saw alligators.

Elder Kowal goes home tomorrow, but we made a deal last Pday that if I made a full court basketball shot, he had to get up at 6:30 every morning for a month at home. I made it. Video is below.

And...the Church is still true.

Email cincuenta: The people I love

July 24, 2017 

I think that the monumental lesson that the Lord has tried to teach me for the past 9 months is that my faith will have to be pushed to the limit before miracles happen. This week was another good lesson on that principle. But instead of talking about my week in chronological order, I want to switch things up and tell y'all about all the wonderful people I have met here that mean so much to me.

 Hermano Benítez: he grew up in Honduras and his family joined the church when he was 12. After leaving the house and living on his own, he quickly fell away. When he was 26, he moved to Memphis, where he married a non-member. 5 years ago, some missionaries found him and his family, and taught and baptized his wife and two children. He is now the First Counselor in the Branch and the Benitez family is very strong in the Gospel. They love the missionaries with all they hearts, and especially love to feed them. On Saturday they took us out to Cici's Pizza and we had such a good time.

 L: he grew up in Venezuela and eventually went to college for 10 years and became very successful.

He became fairly wealthy and decided to travel Europe, and even lived in Ireland for a short time. After an unfortunate turn of events, he found himself very poor, and so he came to America looking for work. He was walking down the street one day in Bartlett, Tennessee, when he saw a large beautiful building that was completely white. On the front, it said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Intrigued, he searched the internet, where he found Mormon.org. He requested missionaries to come by. He was baptized last February. Shortly after wards, he stopped coming to church. Then one day, he broke his leg while skateboarding, and unable to work, he was kicked out of his apartment.

The Benitez family decided to take him in. Once a rich who traveled the world, he was now poor, and confined to four walls and a bed for 8 months, but the missionaries came by to visit him again, and he started coming back to church. This week we took him to a park so he could get outside the house, and we talked to him about music and taught him some English.


Elder Sotomarino: you guys already know about him. He is from Peru, and trained me at the beginning of my mission. But man I love this kid. We are completely opposite people, but best of friends. I got to go on exchanges with him this week, and it was seriously amazing. He is such a good missionary, he is so good at talking to people. Peru will honestly always have a special place in my heart because of this kid.

D: he is 17 years old and a senior in high school. His family moved here from Venezuela a year ago, and they were all baptized 4 months ago. I got to hang out with him on Wednesday during the exchange with Elder Sotomarino because right now he is on a "mini-mission" with the East Elders. He is way cool, hilarious, and very converted to the Gospel.

Here he is wearing five suit coats

President Hansen: it took me about 5 minutes to gain a testimony that this man is called of God. We had interviews with him on Wednesday and holy cow, he helped me so much. He believes in me, and that is such a wonderful gift to have from someone. I told him and my goal is to baptize monthly for the rest of my mission and he says he believes I can do it.


R: last week, an older man named R from Columbia showed up to English class. He was super nice and very polite. On Sunday, he came to church, and so Elder Merrill and I went over and talked to him. He told us that it was a miracle from God that he had ended up at church. He said that one day he went to a store where he had never gone before just because he felt he should go there. On the front door, he saw a sign for English class, and he called the number. When he came, the sisters invited him to church.

He had attended the Catholic Church all his life but noticed that every service the same things were always taught, the prayers were the same, everything was the same. He wanted to learn something new. When he came to church, he was dressed up in a white shirt and tie. Everyone thought he was a member. He loved it. Hermano Tirado gave an incredible talk on the Plan of Salvation, and Riccardo heard things he had never heard before, and wanted to learn more. He stayed all three hours, and we set an appointment to visit him this next Wednesday. It truly built my testimony that the Lord prepares His elect.


I'm so grateful for all the wonderful people I have had the privilege of meeting here on the mission. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Last week I really felt like I was reaching a breaking point, where I couldn't go on any further. But once again, just when my faith was stretched to the very limit, then Heavenly Father blessed us with a miracle. It has built my testimony that without Him I truly am nothing. My heart is full of gratitude that He loves me enough to cut me down, so that I can become what He knows I can be.

I love all y'all. Have a wonderful week.

Email cuarenta y nueve

July 17, 2017 

Sorry folks don't have any time to email this week, but shout out to my homie Juan DeAlba for getting his mission call to Brazil!

This was a good week. We are on bikes again for the whole week because our car is in the shop. It is HOT. It's 100 degrees with 90 percent humidity. I haven't sweat so much since my football days. We worked hard this week, and things are still tough. I feel I learned to suck it up and embrace the grind, and not be afraid of hard work this week. I am happiest when I work hard, so I'm going to give it all I've got. I love y'all!

Email cuarenta y ocho

July 10, 2017

Hey y'all!
This was a good week. It started off on Tuesday with the Fourth. We went to dinner at the Tirados home and ate tamales. Then we exchanged with the Zone Leaders. I went to Little Rock with Elder Ogaard. We had a good exchange. Elder Ogaard had just met President Hansen, our new mission president, that morning. He told me about a story that President Hanson had told him, of when he was on his mission.

One day he and his companion had decided that they were going to leave the apartment and not return to the apartment until they had found a golden family. I stayed outside all day contacting, and didn't even go back to the apartment to eat. They eventually found a family in the parking lot of the store that wanted to listen to them and eventually got baptized.

So Elder Ogaard and I decided that we were going to try out the same idea. We left the apartment and went contacting all day long, talking to everyone that we could see it outside. We never managed to have a lesson but it was really fun talking to other people and it was fun to be able to get out and work.

That night Elder Ogaard asked me about my motivation to come out on a mission and to stay on the mission. I realized that a lot of my motivation to go on a mission was because of peer pressure. The night that I was set apart, I said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that I would be content if I could just bring one soul unto him. I was so made motivated my whole mission to accomplish that goal, and then last transfer I finally did it. I realize that since then I've been content with what I have already accomplished and because of that my motivation to continue serving has gone down a little bit. I realized that for the rest of my mission, I am going to need to have very specific, focused goals about what I want to accomplish on my mission.

 Thursday morning we drove back to Memphis at 5 AM in order to be there by 9 AM to meet President Hansen and Walnut Grove. President Hanson spoke for about 45 minutes. He is a very powerful man and you can tell that he lives righteously and worthy of the Spirit. He talked about how much he loves tracting, and the miracles that come from tracting. He also talked about obedience and work ethic. I am confident that he will have the mission moving in the right direction.

 We had a mini Zone Meeting right after and talked about how the mission is the refiners fire. It really inspired me to keep going through the grind, and not be afraid to work just because it's hard. One of the greatest lessons that I learned came during my studies this week. I was pondering the question why bad things happen to good people. As I thought about this I thought about Jesus Christ. He was the only perfect person to ever live. He never committed a single wrong or sin. He was perfect in every way. He was pure and Holy. And yet He suffered the greatest suffering that this world has ever known. He took upon Him the pain is the sicknesses the infirmities the suffering and the heart aches of every single person that has ever lived on the earth.

For Him it wasn't fair, but He went through it anyways because He loved us. So yes, bad things happen to good people, but the greatest of all suffered far more. His grace is sufficient to heal all wounds and heart aches, to dry all tears, and mend every broken life.

 I'm so grateful for all the priceless lessons I have learned here on the mission, and for how I have been able to come closer to the Savior. I love all y'all so much and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Email cuarenta y siete: don't eat the chicken

July 3, 2017 

Well folks this week was pretty interesting. Between three popped tires, and 3 days of food poisoning, not a whole lot was accomplished, but many lessons were learned.


Monday night we went over to Hermano Benitez's house and asked him how we can get more involved with the current Branch Mission Leader. We got some awesome advice.

 On Tuesday we had District Meeting. Elder Sotomarino is the District Leader (I have been demoted to junior comp again haha). I don't mind. There was some debate last transfer about who was going to be the new Zone Leader after Elder Sweeten left, a few people thought it was going to be me. I'm glad Elder Larrain is the new ZL, I definitely don't feel prepared for that responsibility. Elder Sotomarino instructed about the story of Alma chapter 8, of Alma preaching in Ammonihah, and related it to our ministry here.

 Alma had just come from the land of Melek, where he had baptized like crazy. Then the Lord called him to Ammonihah. I imagine he wasn't too thrilled about that transfer news. The people were very wicked and hard hearted, so Alma prayed. Verse 10  describes his prayer like this: "Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance." So this guy is just praying his heart out, and he goes out and preaches the word. And what happens? He gets cast out. They kick him out of the city. So Alma thinks "Alright that sucked, hopefully I can find somewhere else to go preach." But the Lord calls him again to Ammonihah. Alma obeys. And what happens? He meets the greatest junior companion of all time: Amulek. They preach the Gospel together, contend with the judges and lawyers, are tried, beaten, and imprisoned. With continued faith, the prison gets absolutely destroyed and those that persecuted them are slain. Zeezrom is converted, and Alma and Aumulek go and baptize like crazy in the land of Sidom. The Lord will always test our faith and our obedience before giving us success.

 On Tuesday night I made a foolish decision to eat some food an investigator gave that I had accidentally left out overnight. It passed the smell test, and tasted good still, so I thought I was fine. Well Wednesday morning I woke up with a tummy ache and I knew that that had been a terrible life decision. We were on bikes all day, so I pressed through it. My back tube exploded when I tried to clear a GIANT pot hole, so we to walked all the way back to the apartment to fix the tube. That took a big chunk out of proselyting time. We had dinner with Hermana Trejo, and I still ate the food even though I was suffering the whole time. I didn't want to offend her haha.

 Thursday morning when I woke up I knew I was going to have problems. I went right back to sleep, woke up 20 minutes later and then began the longest day of my life. It was a never ending river than ran both ways. It was so bad that Thursday night we pulled my mattress into the bathroom so I didn't have to keep walking to it. Friday morning was pretty bad too, but throughout the day I started feeling better. So much in fact, that we went out to eat, because I was starving. We had our good friend Randy take us to a BBQ spot in Midtown. Randy is a funny guy. Elder Merrill and Elder Spencer met him last transfer, and he fell in love with the missionaries. He takes us out to eat basically whenever we want. After we got back I realized I was not ok.

I woke Saturday morning still sick, and spent most of the day in the apartment, but we were finally able to get out and visit people at 4. During all this down time I had a lot of time to think to myself. I was thinking about how stressed I get sometimes because I feel such a huge responsibility as a missionary. I feel sometimes that I am never doing enough. As I thought about this I almost heard a voice say: "I only require two things of you: that you trust in me and that you love me." That brought me a ton of peace, and made my responsibility seem a little less overwhelming.

 I also watched the face to face events with David Archuleta and the Piano Guys. They were really good, but almost made me a little depressed. Their talents are so evident, they are world class. One thing I have struggled with for the past couple years is feeling like I don't have any talents. When I was a kid, I was really good at drawing and singing. I never really worked to develop them, and I eventually lost them. So what I am I good at now? I devoted so much of my life to basketball at didn't even make the team. I've decided that my talent is speaking Spanish. It's not much, and I don't even speak that good, but it's something. Heavenly Father has blessed me with the gift of tongues, and I'm not going to let another one of His gifts fall by the wayside. I'm going to try to get as good at speaking as possible.

 Understanding Spanish is another story...hopefully that will come haha. Anyways I had good week even among all the...setbacks. The Church is true, the Book is blue, DONT EAT THE CHICKEN WHATEVER YOU DO!

Email cuarenta y seis: City of Blues

June 26, 2017 

Hey y'all!
First off: I LOVE MEMPHIS! In one week I have fallen in love with this place. I don't have as much time to email today because we went mini golfing today, but I will do my best. Missionary work here
in Memphis is super fun. There is always something to because there are so many Hispanics. Elder Merrill and I are some of the only white people in our whole area! There are a ton of black people here, and the rest are Hispanic. I've gotten used to being a minority haha.

 There are lots of Hispanic stores, so we have gone finding in lots of stores, and for the most part it's been really good. It definitely takes a lot of courage walking up to someone in a grocery store and talking about the Gospel. Hispanics are very polite and will listen to you even if you can tell they are not interested.

 Elder Merrill is awesome! I love this kid! He is from Logan Utah and loves Utah State. We have a very similar sense of humor that has definitely made for some good laughs. Because of that this week has been one the best on the mission. We were talking the other night and decided if we had known each other outside the mission we would be really good friends.

 The first counselor and former Branch mission leader here is Hermano Benitez. He is from Honduras, and he is hilarious. We went over to their house Saturday night to eat with the English Elders. They made delicious tacos. I ate so many.

We don't have a pull-up bar here in our apartment, so I feel like I am getting super skinny again, so that kinda stinks. On the plus side we do have a couple weights, so I need to start working out again. On Sunday I got to see Elder Anaya and Elder Sotomarino. It was so sweet. We are all best buddies again, this is literally my dream District. Elder Sotomarino speaks really good English now, because he has served in only English areas since he left me.

Spanish has been a bit of a struggle. Because we taught mostly English speakers, and the Hispanics that we did teach weren't from Mexico, I have forgotten how to understand Mexican Spanish. We had a couple lessons where I was totally lost. Hopefully  I'll get that gift of tongues back haha.

 This week I received some pretty awesome revelation. The mission is not about baptizing, or teaching lessons, or talking to people. It is completely and entirely about loving and serving Jesus Christ. Our love for Christ is everything. If we truly love Christ, we will see others for who they truly are: precious souls that Christ died to save. We will have a desire to love and serve them because we love and serve Christ. Gotta go love y'all!

Email cuarenta y cinco: East of the Mississippi

June 19, 2017 

Hey y'all! I'm going Memphis. There's transfer news for you. My last week in Jonesboro was a good one.

We saw CW on Wednesday, and that was such a relief. He is still going strong, just working a lot. His phone broke last week so he was never able to tell us he couldn't make it to church. We had a fantastic lesson with him. We read John chapter 21 with him and talked about how after the Savior's death the Apostles assumed that life would just go back to normal so they went out to fish. We know the story.

They weren't catching anything. After going all through the night without success, a figure on the shore calls out to them and tells them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. They obey and catch so many fish that the nets begin to break as the disciples pull them in. They instantly recognize the man as Jesus and Peter bails overboard and begins to swim to the Savior. Then on shore, Jesus asks Peter three times "Lovest thou me?", each countering an affirmative answer with "Feed my sheep." Jesus was in effect saying: "Peter, 3 years ago on this same shore I commanded you to follow me. I
meant what I said. You were never meant to go back to simply being a fisherman again. I don't need fishermen, I need Apostles. I need disciples. I need servant who truly love me. Now for the second time, I'm asking you to follow me, and this time I mean forever."

We then said now that CW Jr has entered the straight and narrow way, he can't go back. He has to follow Christ, and follow Him forever. We got to visit CW Jr again on Saturday, and this time his wife, J, sat in on the lesson as well, which was a little miracle. We have heard that she isn't really receptive to missionaries from other members of the family, but she was awesome! She said that she and C have been talking about church, and that she has noticed a change in C. She wants to come to church! On Thursday we had Zone Conference, and got to say goodbye to the Wakolo's. It was super awesome, I love them so much! They are going to be living in

Sandy so Elder Jorgensen and I are both going to visit them when we are home.

We taught a family of 6 from Ecuador, it was really cool for Elder Jorgensen because his dad served his mission in Ecuador. They gave us this tomate de árbol juice that was so delicious.

Saturday President Wakolo texted us and informed us that Elder Jorgensen will be training this transfer, so I knew all day that I was headed out of Jonesboro. We both called that I was going to Memphis Spanish South. I'll be serving there with Elder Merrill, which I am super pumped about! Elder Merrill and I go way back! Also Elder Sotomarino and Elder Anaya are
serving together again and they are in my District! This transfer will be awesome. I really am going to miss Jonesboro, that place was my home. I love the Ward, I love the people, I love Jonesboro. So many people I will miss.

This morning I got to go to the temple for the first time in 8 and a half months. It was super awesome, I learned a ton and received a bunch of revelation as to how I can have more charity. Anyways I love y'all, the Church is true, the Book is blue, hello Memphis this will be cool.

Email cuarenta y cuatro

June 12, 2017 

Hey y'all! This week was a doozy for sure.

On Monday we went and taught A again. A is a college student, he and all his friends are very involved in an on campus ministry for the Church of Christ called Wolf Life. So they know a lot about the Bible, and are pretty skeptical at times. A expressed that he doesn't necessarily believe that he can trust the concept of receiving an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. We then asked him why he believes in the Bible, and he said that basically there is so much evidence to back up the Bible, that what it says actually happened. We then shared Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We then asked if he hopes that the Bible is true and that Jesus is who he says he is. His answer shocked me. He basically said no because the teachings of Christ are hard to follow. Well there's your problem buddy. If you don't even want these things to be true, God definitely isn't going to give you a spiritual confirmation that they are. Alma 32 teaches us that we have to have a desire to believe. He is also only willing to pray and ask if the Book of Mormon is true, but not willing to actually read it! It's so funny to me! No wonder he is so skeptical!

Thursday was a wake up call for me. We had District Meeting and I was not prepared for it at all, and it was very evident. I had even moved it to Thursday instead of Tuesday because I wasn't prepared but then I just procrastinated it two more days! Tuesday and Wednesday my motivation and drive had just gone down the drain. After CW's baptism Satan really stepped up his game and came after me. And that was very evident throughout the week. On Thursday Elder Jorgensen came to me after District Meeting and called me out on it. He was completely right. He said I was only giving 10% effort to the work and I was thinking too much about myself. He was not afraid to say that very frankly and boldly and thank goodness because it woke me up a little. I'm grateful he had the guts to say it.

Yesterday we got to visit I and E and holy cow! They are my favorite people ever! People from Brazil are the greatest! I always keeps commitments and reads the Book of Mormon every night. They are super funny. E is one of the funniest kids I've ever met. Sometimes our lessons with them are crazy because I'll just be playing around with E and all of a sudden we are wrestling or having a pillow fight while poor Elder Jorgensen is trying to explain Kingdoms of Glory. My Portuguese really coming along, I can now pray in almost all Portuguese with a little Spanish mixed in!

Things are going well down here, love y'all have a great week! The Church is true, the Book is blue, happy early Father's Day to my Dad who is a super cool dude!

Email cuarenta y tres: a baptism

June 5, 2017 

Alright I'll start off with the biggie: CW Jr was baptized on Saturday!

I had the honor of performing the baptism. It was such a wonderful feeling to help someone follow Christ. Everything went really well and I was so happy for him. I'll include some more details later on.

This morning we spent three hours of pday helping a member move some stuff out of some uhaul storage unit. That was rough haha. Not going to lie, I was not too enthusiastic to be doing that on Pday. But it's all good because we had a sweet week!

On Tuesday we had one of the greatest District meetings ever. We talked about gaining the little successes, such as getting up on time, starting the day off right with exercise, a good breakfast, and a good attitude, then having good studies and effective planning so that by the time we leave the apartment, we are full of the Spirit and ready to preach the Gospel.

Thursday was a super sweet day, we found some cool people, including a man named R. He is from the Dominican Republic. As we were walking up, at first I thought he was just Hispanic, then as we got closer I thought "no wait this guy's black." Elder Jorgensen started talking to him in English, and we could tell he had a Hispanic accent, so we asked him where he was from, and he said the Dominican Republic, so we then started talking to him in Spanish, because he hardly knew any English. He said "the one thing that confuses me is why there are so many churches." Elder Jorgensen and I looked at each other and then said "well let us tell ya why there are so many churches!" We than gave him a Restoration pamphlet and taught him apostasy and Restoration. He loved it, hopefully we can keep in contact with him.

The baptism on Saturday was so awesome. I couldn't take it all in. After nine months of learning, growing, and being humbled, the Lord let me experience bringing a soul unto Him. I had times on the mission where I thought that maybe I would never baptize. I know that this didn't happen because of me, all of this is because of the Lord. He prepared CW Jr to receive the Gospel, and He put us in the right place at the right time so that we could bring it to him. CW Jr is one of the most humble and kind hearted human beings I've ever met.

Yesterday during Sacrament meeting Elder Jorgensen confirmed him. It was so cool to see how happy he was. We stayed after church and talked to him until 2 as he waited to meet with Bishop R. It made me so happy to see how happy CW was! Now we just need to get the rest of his family to follow him. I've heard his wife is a tough egg, so we have some work ahead of us.

I truly am a lucky guy. I have so many blessings that Heavenly Father has given me. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings me so much happiness and peace, more than I deserve. I know that Jesus is the Christ, and He lives to bring me, and all of us home to Him!

The Church is true, the Book is blue, the Jonesboro Ward has one more brother sitting in the pews.

Email cuarenta y dos

May 29, 2017

This week was pretty awesome. We saw some tender mercies for sure, and made some good memories.

 So Monday after I finished emailing, the four of us missionaries were chilling inside the house when we hear this high pitched scream, followed by the unmistakable voice of Freddie Green yelling "It's a snake!" We ran outside and sure enough there was Freddie just a few feet away from a four foot long black snake with a white diamond pattern on its back. It was just sitting there in the grass looking at us. We didn't know what kind it was, but fearing it was poisonous, Elder Stiles-Culver grabbed a metal yard tool and chopped its head off French guillotine style and yelled "I'm killing that thing before it kills me!" The cool thing was that the body was still writhing all over the place, so I picked it up and played with it. 

Reader discretion is advised because if you are already grossed out, it gets way worse from here. Using scissors, I then cut all the way down its belly to the tail with the body still moving like crazy. We then cut open the stomach and found 3 dead birds! After gutting

everything out, the stomach, the intestines, the liver, and heart, etc, Elder Jorgensen and I worked on skinning it. After cutting the skin away from the muscle a little, I grabbed the skin, Elder Jorgensen grabbed the muscle, and we pulled away from each other. That did the trick, it was super cool actually. Elder Jorgensen then threw the meat on ice and aluminum foil, and I worked on cleaning the skin. Freddie didn't believe us when we told him what we had done with the snake, so Elder Jorgensen brought out the snake meat, and Freddie freaked out and started running away. Elder Jorgensen then chased him around the yard for a good minute with this thing in his hand. It was one of the funniest things I have seen on the mission for sure! I was dying from laughing.

 We then had our barbecue: hamburgers, hotdogs, and snake meat. The snake was actually super yummy. Elder Stiles-Culver is really good at cooking and he seasoned it. It was super tough meat, tasted a lot like turkey jerky. The hardest part about eating it were all the bones. There were so many. It was definitely a P day activity I will never forget.

That night we had dinner at the J's home. Brother and Sister J's house is in the city limits of Jonesboro, but falls in the Paragould Branch boundaries. The reason we came over is because Brother J is a Physics professor at ASU and one of his students, A, had talked to him extensively about the Gospel. While it just turns out that we met this same A a few weeks earlier when we went to his house to teach his college roommate. So Brother J invited him over for dinner with the missionaries, and we got to teach him again. It was super good missionary work by Brother J. A has a lot of doubts, he questions the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. His main issue is he doesn't believe he can trust what he feels as a spiritual confirmation from God. That lesson was way to too long. We were at their house for 3 hours. Brother and Sister J were so excited to share the Gospel with this guy that they went off on temple sealings to the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, and everything in between. Poor A, he just wanted a simple answer to a simple question. 

The Gospel is like a cake. It's super delicious, but hard take in if someone shoves it down your throat all at once. But everything turned out okay, A is still willing to meet with us. The J's are super nice people though, with only the best intentions, so I'm not too upset about it.

Tuesday for District Meeting I instructed on two topics. The first was finding in public places. Missionaries usually spend the dead hours of the day knocking doors, when people usually aren't home. So we need to get to where the people are! Not going to lie, this is a tough concept for me, talking to people in public places has always been tough for me.  You definitely get rejected a lot more. But I also know that I have been called to preach the Gospel among God's children. To do that, I have to go where they are. The second is working through members and inviting them to share the Gospel. This is so key. We are inviting families in the Ward to pray that God puts someone in their path who is prepared to receive the Gospel.

 On Thursday we headed down to Little Rock for exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I got to hang out with Elder Giles while we were there. It was good to see him again, he is doing really well! Elder Sweeten and I had fun on our exchanges, he goes home next in a couple weeks, so we had some deep conversations about the impact of the mission. 

On Saturday we went finding downtown. It was tough. There weren't as many people out as we thought there would be, it's super hard to stop people, I've found out. Usually my "go to" is "hey can I ask a quick question?" Which leads to a quick yes or no. But I know the more rejection I face, the stronger I can become as I rely on the Lord, so all is well.

 The Church is true, the Book is blue, C W Jr passed his baptismal interview!

Email cuarenta y uno: La Riada

May 22, 2017 

Hey y'all! We had a very unusual week. By unusual I mean out of the ordinary routine of things, which was both kinda nice but in some ways sad because we didn't have as much time to go out and find people to teach. 

On Tuesday we had another District Meeting, and I talked about getting outside of saying the same exact things while talking to new people. The reason for this is that the typical conversation with someone and the missionaries goes like this: Missionaries: How's it going ma'am/sir? Person: Just fine. Missionaries: That's good. Can we give you a card of Jesus Christ? Person: Sure. Missionaries: So we are just missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we share a message about Jesus Christ. Do you yourself have a faith in Christ? Person: Oh yes of course I'm a Christian. I go to Central Baptist, so I already know about Christ and everything. Then the missionaries usually try to briefly explain The Book of Mormon or The Restoration. I said that each child of God deserves to hear the Restored Gospel in a unique way that speaks to them personally and applies to their life and circumstances. We can't be missionary robots, we have to be people, where is the love in simply regurgitating the same lines to every single person? 

After District Meeting we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I was with Elder Stiles-Culver. He had a ton of back pain and could barely stand up, so I stayed with him in their apartment all day. Even though it was sad to think of all the work that wasn't getting done, I think I needed that day off. I literally slept all day. Sleep deprivation is without a doubt the biggest struggle on the mission. I think the reason RMs look so much older is because they age ten years in the span of two years from a lack of sleep. Elder Jorgensen and I have made it a goal to get to bed earlier than 10:30. 

Thursday I got to conduct my very first baptismal interview with the Sister’s investigator D. He is 13 years old and reminds me a lot of me when I was that age, except he is definitely a much better kid than I was. He likes basketball too, so I have been able to connect with him through that because I play with him on Thursday nights at the church. Right after that I interviewed the other Elder's investigator Z. He is 18 and also graduated last year. He is super awesome and so golden. When I asked him if he believed in the The Restoration he said: "Yeah, 100%." He's so solid. 

On Saturday I got to see both of them get baptized which was pretty awesome. At D's baptism I got up and bore my testimony. A ton of people came to each baptism. Before that on Saturday morning we got to go do service near Pocahontas Arkansas, where there has been a ton of flooding. We got to rip out a hardwood floor on a house with hammers and pry bars. It was hard work, but seriously so much fun. We also got to visit C W Jr and teach him about tithing and fast offerings. He was excited about it! I love C W! His faith is so strong! He is the most down to earth, humble man, and is so prepared. 

Not going to lie, this week was tough. I definitely felt a drop in my fire. The adversary is really coming at me right now because he knows we are about to baptize like crazy. The best way to punch Satan in the mouth is open my mouth and preach the Gospel, this week Satan doesn't stand a chance, because the Lord is on my side. The Church is true, the Book is blue, SATAN WATCH OUT I'M COMING FOR YOU!

x

Email cuarenta: EL COMIENZO

May 15, 2017 

Hey y'all:) This week was pretty fantastic. I'm trying to use the word fantastic more now, because of something I remembered a couple weeks ago. While I was at McKay's wedding reception, almost 4 years ago, I had the chance to talk to a couple that he taught and baptized on his mission. The husband told me that one thing that really stuck out to him about McKay as a missionary, is that whenever he asked him how he was or how he was doing, the response was always: "Fantastic!" He said he really admired his attitude because of that. I've started putting that into practice, now instead of saying "good" or "bien bien", it's always "fantastic!" or "¡fantástico!" with enthusiasm. I've definitely noticed a change in my personal morale, and I've also noticed it puts a smile on other's faces. 

The transfer started off really well. Elder Jorgensen didn't end up getting back to Jonesboro from Little Rock until 8 o'clock because of a miscommunication. The good news was the whole ride back I got to drive a brand spanking new, 2017 Chevy Malibu. This thing was NICE. Wifi, touch screen, all the bells and whistles. This thing gave Grandpa's BMW a run for it's money. Previously during the trip to Little Rock I had discovered the amazing innovation of cruise control. Having learned how to drive on a twenty year old pickup truck, and never driven a mission car on any highways or freeways, I was new to this miracle of technology. It was awesome!  How cool it is that you can just keep your hand on the steering wheel and the car does the rest! I never knew what I was missing out on! Anyways, the Malibu takes it a step further. It has lane control, and automatic brakes. When you get on the highway, you can literally take a nap, and the car will drive itself! It's kinda like having bumpers while bowling, you just swerve from one side of the lane to the other, so you look like a drunk driver. The only defect is that it wakes you up from your nap by beeping at you once the lane control kicks in :/ pretty lame right? 

Anyways, upon our arrival to Jonesboro, we had to give up this wonderful feat of engineering to the Pocahontas Elders . Sadly, it was our turn for bike week. So we called up the one man any missionary can always count on. The one man that always puts a smile on your face when you hear his voice. The one man from the Jonesboro Ward that is both active and black. None other than....FREDDIE GREEN!  Seriously love this man!  He is more dependable than oxygen, more loyal than Lassie, and more sassy than Betty White. There is none like him. 

Anyways Freddie took us over to Bishop R's house, where we introduced Bishop to Elder Jorgensen. We talked about our investigators as well as who Bishop wants us to visit. It was a good chat, after that, we went to Sonic, because I literally had not eaten all day. I ordered their foot long chili dog, a large fry, and the largest shake they had (cost about $6), and downed it. I scare myself sometimes... 

Tuesday was super awesome, we went out with B for most of the day. B is such a stud, and so prepared to go on a mission, he already has great teaching skills and knows Preach My Gospel better than I do. We taught a couple really good lessons. We visited F. I think we are going to have to drop him. We were finally so close to getting him to come to Book of Mormon class two Wednesdays ago, but apparently his Mom from Mexico called him. Anyways he hasn't been reading or praying about the Book of Mormon, two things we have talked about so many times with him. He doesn't want to be baptized until he is sure the church is true, but he isn't willing to what is necessary to gain that knowledge. We think he just likes the missionaries coming over because he's become friends with us. 

Thursday we went out with C G, our neighbor from across the street that just got back from his mission in Ghana. We went and visited two of his friends that are actually from Ghana and it was so sweet! Their accents are super awesome! L and J are their names, and they are super cool. They ended up coming to church on Sunday! 

Friday was a super slow day, but our lesson with C W Jr made up for it. We taught him lesson three: The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was so powerful. C Jr began to cry as we talked to him about bringing his family with him into the Gospel. He also came to church Sunday and will be baptized in the next two weeks! 

Getting to talk to my family yesterday was for sure a highlight. I am so lucky to have such wonderful parents and siblings, who had to put up with me for 18 years. I'm so grateful for such a faithful and loving momma.  I wish I could go back and be less of a punk and a better son to her. I'm so grateful that because of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and through sacred covenants, I will be able to be with my awesome family for all eternity! The Church is true, the Book is blue, my family is awesome Love y'all! No photos this week sorry y'all!

x

Email treinta y nueve: un sueño hecho realidad

May 8, 2017 

Hey y'all! Not too much time this week. Today is transfer day, and emailing on transfer day is super tough, but next week I'll be better. 

 I'll start off with what you're all waiting for, transfer results! I will be staying in Jonesboro, and Elder Giles will be heading to Little Rock to serve with Elder Santiago. My new companion will be none other than Elder Jorgensen!  I nearly cried tears of joy! I'm super excited!  It's kinda weird because we both talked about it last week when we went on exchanges, and how sweet it would be if he came to Jonesboro and we served together. Maybe he asked President for a favor for President Wakolo's last transfer or something. Either way, this transfer is going to be a good transfer. 

Elder Jorgensen had been the Spanish Zone Leader for my whole mission and there's a reason for that. He's an incredibly hard worker, and he loves the people. He has baptized quite a bit, which is awesome because we have 5 investigators that will be baptized between May and July. 

So Wednesday, we had a Jonesboro Zone Meeting, and talked about breaking outside the "mission traditions" such as asking people if you can give them a card of Jesus Christ, and basically saying the exact same thing for every street contact and door approach. We also talked about the importance of not dwindling in areas just knocking doors, but going where the people are to find. 

On Thursday we did service and decided to do an impromptu exchange with the Zone Leaders, so I went out teaching with Elder Stiles-Culver. We taught L, or I should say I did. Elder Stiles-Culver doesn't speak a lick of Spanish and L doesn't speak a lick of English, so he just sat there haha. On Friday we helped Sister S from the Ward with some service. A huge tree had come down in her front yard and driveway, luckily it fell perfectly and didn't damage anything. We had Brother R and Brother M bring chainsaws, and we helped them the tons of branches and logs that came from cutting the tree in sections. It was super fun and a really good workout! 

On Saturday we saw L again. We taught her the Plan of Salvation in the M's house. It took forever to get through the lesson lesson because L loves to talk and goes off on random things at every little sentence we say, but Hermano M was

really helpful. He teaches doctrine super clearly and simply, he is a master teacher. He answered a lot of L's questions. Then we went and saw C and C. C also loves to talk, so we taught them part of the Plan of Salvation and left a pamphlet with them. Their kids are super cute. 

Yesterday we just visited a ton of members. I finally checked off mission checklist item of ripping my suit pants. Don't jump on the tramp and do a flying roundhouse kick to impress a bunch of children while wearing suit pants... it was a pretty sweet roundhouse though. 

I love y'all and this Gospel brings me so much joy! The Church is true, the Book is Blue, this is TOO much effort