Week 61. Summer is over

 This last week was kinda a blur but one thing I can say for certain is that summer is gone and the season of dry weather is over. Sad.  Anywho, here's what I do remember:

Zone Conference - Was so good. First we talked about God's love, then the main idea of being a disciple and how it doesn't matter your current talents or belief because as long as you're willing to follow, He will make up for the rest. Then we finished with feeling the joy from the Gospel and sharing it with everyone. I've felt that joy and it's amazing. I hope you all have felt that before and feel it again. 

Friday - we had a lot of good visits on Friday but the funniest was at dinner with the Lochridges. They just happened to have the same interests as Harmon so they just went off and talked about all things canyoneering and fishing and I just happily ate and listened. Chili spaghetti is pretty good. 

Trunk or Treat - it was also a potluck and had some kid games so it was pretty fun. We helped set up and saw some new faces show up so that was cool

America > Canada - Sunday night we were invited to the Smith's and so after talking, eating, and a spiritual thought we played a card game. It was Taco, Puck, Maple, Syrup, Canoe. The Canadian version of Taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza. So it weirded me out because I was used to the normal version but I still ended up winning anyways, so get wrecked Canada. 

Spiritual thought - just sharing a cool thought I heard in church. The group was asked to raise their hands if they were Christian. Everyone did. Then if they were a disciple. Less hands, probably because they were unsure or comparing themselves to the 12 Apostles. But he didn't ask if they were Apostles but disciples. Someone who is striving to become and follow Jesus Christ. Not someone who just believes, but acts in a way to show their belief. One of my favorite invitations in the scriptures is Jesus saying come unto me.

I hope you take that invitation everyday and try because I know the joy that comes from it. 

Love ya all

Week 60. Resilient with the Lord

 That's the title of my talk, it was pretty good, just like my week. Here are the highlights:

James - so we met with the man from the Church of God and we studied about his beliefs and we asked him some questions. Some of his answers were interesting and it was amazing the amount of verses he had memorized. Sadly we weren't able to share our belief so we gave him a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation and a Book of Mormon to read about for when we see him tomorrow. So I'll give y’all an update next week. 

District Council - Harmon taught this one. We read Alma 36 and talked about repentance and the blessings, but the coolest thing was when we did the role play. I was paired with Elder Murray and he acted like the investigator with the problem that he kept messing up and didn't think the Atonement or repentance applied to him anymore. And that was something I struggled with a long time and sometimes my doubts return. But I was able to testify and I felt the Spirit and it was a super awesome spiritual experience for me. 

And everyone was watching so that was kinda awkward  

Dynel - Super cool. We saw her on Friday and had a good chat, she told us how her son in law started to ask her questions on our religion (probably because we keep stopping by) so she answered him and it was super cool hearing that from her. So then we invited her to church again and told her I was talking. She gave us the same answer as usual, but then she actually showed up! It was so great seeing her there. After sacrament meeting we introduced her to another member and instead of leaving like she had planned, she stayed and talked for a whole hour. It was so good. Please pray that she'll make it next week!

Sunday + Talk - so the morning of we get a call that one of the speakers canceled and so my comp got 3 hours to write a talk. I had known for a week but procrastinated and wrote it in 5 hours the night before. That being said, I think it was the best talk I've ever given. 

Spiritual thought: I was thinking about what to put here and I remembered that I just wrote a talk so if you'd like to be spiritually fed I'll attach that. 

I love y’all, sorry for the late email

Harmon went fishing and the sky was cool

Week 59. Baptism Week

 Hey, here's another awesome week:

Basketball - we have basketball at our church on Tuesdays to help find people and so we played and I missed almost every single basket I tried to shoot, but my companion knew me so well that he'd always be right where the ball went and put it back in. We won 5 games doing that. 

Eddie - in our last lesson with him before his baptism he asked what the next step was because he didn't want baptism to be the end of his journey closer to God. It was so cool. We talked about temples and he's super excited to go!

Amy - met with her twice this week, focused on temples and helped her feel confident enough to get an interview to go and she did! Super excited for her. 

Dynel - we had a long talk with Dynel again and it was really good. And all over the place, but it is super cool to see the impact we've had just by coming and talking. Really hoping she will come to church next week. Please pray for her. 

Eddie's Baptism - there's always one problem on baptism day, today the lights weren't working but luckily we got that figured out. So many people showed up to support and watch and it was pretty awesome. Keri Smith gave the baptism talk, it was awesome. In it she talked about service and gave an example of me and my comp serving her family by lifting heavy concrete even though we were skinny. Everyone laughed. 

Then Eddie got baptized and it was the coolest thing ever. You could definitely feel the Spirit. 

I gave the Holy Ghost talk and then Eddie bore his testimony and that was amazing to hear moments after he was baptized. Really awesome day. 

Sunday - the best day this week. So much stuff happened, Eddie received the Holy Ghost, we got 2 dinners, I had an awesome study session and a lot more. One I want to share was our lesson with Kevin. 

He's deaf and mute and almost ready to be baptized. It's hard sometimes to know how much he comprehends what we teach him. That day we taught him the word of wisdom and he understood all of it. He even asked if his inhaler was okay.  It was super cool and just a really neat blessing that we were able to see his comprehension and faith. 

Pumpkin - p day was super fun and to cap it off a member bought pumpkins for my whole district and we got to carve them. It was then I realized that I took pumpkin carving way more seriously than everyone else. It was super fun

Spiritual Thought - what good is light if it is hidden? What if we did all the work of cleaning out a pumpkin, put the candle inside, and that was it. It would just be a waste. So we do a little bit more and carve the pumpkin, letting that light shine forth. 

Hope y'all are having a great fall and letting your light shine forth. I love y'all. Have a great week. 

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Week 58. This week was crazy good. And just crazy

 Hey Everyone, hope you've enjoyed your week just as much as I have. And have been rereading those conference talks because they are fire. Anywho, here's my week:

 P day Today - went to Mt. Baker again and hiked Table Top, a lot less than last time, but it was so fun because we got to throw huge rocks down a cliff face.  So fun. Here's a link for videos

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0Q7oUQ6karSZnjeYwwgtJpRMWZk1Ki7a9pQpw9uu25GZJAtfSeDxrnqBcsX7xRKxbl&id=100000030104383

Adam - is this dude one of our friends brought to the basketball night we have and he had questions about what we believe and everything. It was super cool and he was genuine so hopefully we can see him again this week. 

New District - so now we got Everson, Lynden and Laurel in my district. In kinda doesn't make sense with the distance but it'll be fun. After district council, we went to lunch at Little Caesars and tried using a gift card but it wasn't working, so the dude just gave us 2 free pizzas. It was super nice. 

James - we met this dude while knocking and he's got some different beliefs. He asked us what our message was today (meaning he's talked with missionaries before) we talked about the Restoration of the Gospel and he asked me for a scripture in the Bible about the Gospel of Christ. That made me super confused. I thought he was going to Bible Bash me, but literally the whole Bible has the Gospel of Christ, so now I had no clue. But me being me, blanked and shared Matt 5:12 about Christ calling us to be perfect and I said that's the goal of the Gospel of Christ. Then this man went off and shared a ton of random scriptures based on the names of God, The Son, and the Holy Ghost. And how even though they are all the same person their names expire and we need to know the new name. Jehovah was BC, Jesus Christ was AD to now, and now we must learn the Holy Ghost's name or we can't be saved. It was so odd. Now he's texting us and wants to teach us his thing. I'll let you know what happens next week. 

Connor - he's a recent convert that received the aaronic priesthood this week so that was super cool. 

Eddie - we met with him Friday and went over the baptismal interview questions and he was kinda nervous then the next day he got interviewed and he realized it was just fine. He's so ready, it's awesome. 

Kevin - saw him Saturday night and screwed in some light bulbs for him because I didn't need a ladder. Then I asked him how he's seen his belief grow and he's doing so much better and finally recognizing the change in his life. Cool story: he prayed the other day for more work opportunities and got a call asking if he could do this large project for someone and he knew that was an answer to his prayer. Super cool.

Amy - we walked into church and saw her. Which is crazy because she has ghosted us for the last 3 weeks and hasn't been to church since she was baptized, and before that it was covid, so... But she came and enjoyed it and was invited to relief society. So hopefully this is a lasting change. 

Dukes - awesome Family. Decided to feed us dinner the day of. Super good, super funny. Their son decided to build a random fire so we went out and talked around it, I almost did a front flip on their tramp, and despite eating way more than my companion, we weighed ourselves with their scale and I weigh a pound less and he's 4 inches shorter than me

Spiritual Thought - an excerpt from Elder Renlunds talk:

"The scriptures form the first element of this framework for personal revelation. Feasting on the words of Christ, as found in the scriptures, stimulates personal revelation. Elder Robert D. Hales said: “When we want to speak to God, we pray. And when we want Him to speak to us, we search the scriptures.”

Sometimes getting into the habit of studying can be hard, but the reward is a personal conversation with a Being who loves you and wants to help you. He's given us so many resources to hear His Word. I want to Invite all of you to increase your study, no matter where you are on that scale, start doing it, switch things up, or make it more meaningful. I promise that as you make that time to listen to God that you will find what you need. And I think it's important to note that I said need, not want. Please don't shut down an answer just because it wasn't delivered or answered in the way you expected. 

I love you all and I hope you can have a stellar week.

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Week 57. FIRE WEEK × General Conference

 Hey y'all, it's been a great week. Hope you enjoy reading about it

Eddie - taught him the plan of salvation and it was pretty good. He had never before thought much of the afterlife but now that we've talked he says it's been helping him put things into perspective and make different choices. 

Then we saw him again Sunday morning, we watched Conference with him and a member and talked afterwards. He took lots of notes and it was super great. Cool story: when he had first started to come and wanted to join, he'd heard a rumor that we don't drink coffee. So he just quit. We hadn't even talked about it yet, so that was super cool. 

Eisert - he's our ward mission leader and is one of the coolest guys ever. We go over and talk about missionary work and he asks us how we are doing and just have normal conversations. It's super nice. But this week we had this idea to pass out and post general conference flyers. So he made one and with his industrial printer, and printed out 120 flyers. We passed some out to our district, but didn't know about some flyer ban so... yeah. Super cool tho. 

Edaleens - it's this ice cream place that is super popular up here. We were there late one night and started talking to this old guy. Turns out he was the dude who started Edaleens and my companion roasted him. It was so funny and the guy, Ed, laughed too. Super funny

Lois - She finally returned from her trip and Harmon met her for the first time. He could see her potential and how much she enjoyed the Gospel of Christ but had never really thought about baptism. So we read 2 Nephi 31 and talked about it. She is super willing but a little unsure about the commitment. We invited her to watch general conference and told her she would find her answer. Pray for her. 

General Conference - so I made a ton of food. Muddy buddies, tres leches, cornbread, jello pretzel salad, and apple crisp. We got a projector set up and had a great time Saturday watching with the district, heard lots of talks that I loved, and ate way too much sugar. It was great!

Kevin - We saw him Sunday night and had a good lesson with him. Shared A Child's Prayer and asked him if he was able to build a relationship with God yet. He still feels like God hasn't answered his prayers yet and feels like God would send him a sign already. I asked him why he thinks we keep showing up. 

He did a double take. He said he was going to think about it. 

Alana - she came and watched the evening session with us and went to BWs afterwards. Super fun. But the cool part is that I gave her a paper for notes and she took some. We went over Sunday night and talked about it and she wrote: "act in faith, willingly." So we asked if she would act in faith and say a sincere prayer. She's doing that today so we'll see how it goes. 

Transfers - I was so happy to find out I am staying in Blaine with Harmon. The only thing to note is that they are changing district lines so I will sadly not be seeing some of my favorite Elders. But life will go on.  

Spiritual Thought - small acts of kindness go a long way. It helps people feel happy, it helps God be happy, and it helps you to become more like the Savior. All from one small act. A wave, smile, picking up trash, opening the door, letting someone merge in front of you. There are lots of things, all pretty simple, we just have to put forth the effort and it can bless three people, including you.

God loves you and sent His Son. Jesus loves you and died for your sins. Holy Ghost loves you and gives you comfort. I love you and tell you about my week. 

I hope you show love back by showing kindness to those around you. Good luck and have a great week!

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