A Winkle in Time

So this is last weeks email, sorry it's so late. We didn't have time to finish up emails last week, so I finished it up today for you. Love you guys!

Top of the Morning!

This week was kind of crazy. But we'll get to that in a second.

So on Monday we got to see Nathaniel again! We read some more of the Book of Mormon with him. He's doing really well, and is showing a lot of commitment. Something that's really neat about being a missionary, is that you get to see the gospel changing peoples lives. And you really see how others value the gospel. Nathaniel for instance, grew up in the church, but lost his way. He wasn't active very much growing up, and made some poor choices in life. Because of some of these choices, he's faced some rough challenges. Eventually, he felt the spirit again, and knew what he needed to do. Now he's really trying to get his life back on track. He's been humbled a lot, and realized that he needs Heavenly Father in his life again. He's been taking the steps needed to return, and his life has improved. Not that all of his trials were taken away, but you can see that he feels the spirit again in his life, and he loves it. He's doing everything that he can to have the spirit with him, and it's so cool to see!

On Tuesday we had a pretty cool day! We got to go and help Sister Davidsen with her lawn again. We brought Conner Yee along with us, a priest in the Chaparral ward. I must say, we could open up a lawn care service because that grass looked DANG GOOD!! Just saying. Then we got to share a message with her, and she gave us some cookies. Bless. After that we had a great dinner with the Peppingers! They're a senior couple that serve in the mission office, and I LOVE THEM!!! They're the sweetest couple ever, and they're basically my mission grandparents. We had an absolutely lovely meal with them. And then we headed down to Queensland to meet George, a referral that Jason (a guy in our ward) gave us. We met him at the retirement home, and then went and knocked on their door. George and his wife invited us in, and we sat down and had a nice chat with them. They're an awesome couple. We talked about all sorts of things, and then the topic turned to the gospel and missionary work (funny how that happens :) ). Well apparently his wife had met with missionaries before, and knew a lot about the church. Then she started telling us about her trip down to Palmyra, NY. Like what? I've been a member my whole life and I've never been there, and this lady whose not a member begins to tell us about how she went down to visit the sacred grove where Joseph Smith had the first vision. She said that there was definitely a different feeling while she was there, and that it was one of the most sacred places she's ever felt that she's been. Talk about prepared! So we talked to her about that, and about the Book of Mormon, and invited them to read it. We're planning on visiting them soon to follow up! After we saw them, we ran to our next appointment with Sister Pawluk. That was cool too. We got to sit down and just go through the Book of Mormon with her and talk about some of the questions that she had. We were able to clear up a lot of her concerns. It's so cool to see her reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. I know that as she reads that in faith, with real intent, that she'll be able to get her answer that it's true. 

On Wednesday we were on exchanges. I was with Elder Manarii, an awesome missionary from Tahiti! We had a blast! We had lunch with the Choys, an awesome family in the ward, and got to do some service for them. It was great! Then we got to make a family mission plan with them and talk about their missionary work which was really cool. They're a super missionary minded family, and it was neat to see them talk about some of the names of people that wanted to help. After that we did a lot of stop bye's and tracting in both Queensland and Chaparral, and then headed to dinner. After we got out of dinner, it was about 7:45 or so, and we got a call from President. He told me that I was being transferred the next morning. So the rest of the night was spent packing. It was a long night. And then the next morning I went to say goodbye to Ben at 8, and headed over to the mission home to meet my new companion. I'm now serving in the Woodbine ward and my companion is Elder Lee! I'm super excited for this new area, but also sad to leave my old one. I met a lot of amazing people, and had some great experiences. 

On Friday we got to go to the meeting for new Trainers and give some training. It was an awesome meeting full of the spirit, and anxious missionaries. We did some planning for pretty much the rest of the day, and then had a lesson that evening with our investigators. We're teaching a part member family right now. Akbar, the dad, is muslim (kinda) and has had a lot of contact with missionaries. I think he's warming up to the gospel more and more. It's really neat to hear him pray in the name of Jesus Christ though! I actually got to meet this family a month or two ago on exchanges, so that was cool! Our focus right now is on Akbar's kids, Paris and Leslie. They're younger, but super smart kids! They've been through a lot of the discussions, so we're just focusing on reading the Book of Mormon with them and finishing up the last few lessons. They're super cool and I'm sure you'll hear more about them in the coming weeks!

On Saturday we helped with a move for this guy who was super nice, but kinda crazy. He taught us a lot about conspiracy theories, so that was cool. then we did stop bye's for most of the day. 

Sunday was an interesting day. We had our regular church meetings and I got to meet the ward. It's seems like an awesome ward, and I'm super excited to get to know the members! After our church meetings we actually went to the Chaparral ward. So I was signed up to sing in Sacrament meeting, and fully expected to still be in that area on Sunday. But I guess the Lord had other plans haha. However, I was able to get permission from president Miles to go because it's close to my new area! So I got to say goodbye to a lot of members there, and was still able to do the musical number. And Sister Shigahiro came! She's not a member, and neither is anyone in her family, so it was really cool to see her there. That night we had dinner with President and Sister Miles! They're seriously so great. I love them more and more the more time I'm around them. 

So spiritual thought of the week!

Here's a quote by some random person:

How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great
Don't know who said that, but it's pretty good advice! Just think of how Christ lived his life. He definitely walked with the broken, and helped those in need. That's how we need to live. 

 Love you guys and hope everyone had a great week! 

Pictures: My exchange with Elder Manarii, Saying goodbye to Elder Winkle, Saying goodbye to Ben, and Dinner with the Peppingers!​