Recognize the Lord's hand!

This week was great! It is getting colder and colder, the humid cold is a lot different then the dry cold in Utah. I usually wear my PJs under my pants which keeps me nice and warm! But this week was sweet. We had a chili cook off and a trunk or treat on Saturday. It was really fun, there was a lot of good chili and a lot of good desserts, they even made some homemade ice cream! We invited everyone to that, all our investigators, less active members, anyone we came in contact with. A couple hours before the cook off we thought it would be a good idea to stop by a family that we have only talked to once before... we invited them and they showed up! It was awesome, the ward did a great job of making them feel welcome, it was a great activity. The missionaries were the costume judges and we had fun doing that. We have a great opportunity tonight to carve pumpkins with our investigator Dustin! I am super excited. The Lord's hand is in every aspect of our work and the more faith we put in him the more blessing we receive and recognize. We had some amazing experiences last week and it is because we put our faith in the Lord. I am looking forward to another amazing week here in West Chester. Thanks for all your prayers and support. Love you all!

"Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand."        Thomas Carlyle

Service!

Another great week in West Chester! Tuesday some elders moved in to our one bedroom apartment, it is fun, we are having a good time. So we finally got some elders in the district, exciting news! This week we helped a guy put up siding on his house, we helped someone move, and we helped a member dig up her yard, so it was a good week of service. We are still teaching Tim and things are going well. We have a chili cook off this Saturday in the ward and I am super excited for that, its going to be really fun. It is COLD in Ohio, the wind goes right through you, its crazy. Especially on bikes! I was not expecting this kind of weather, it is definitely getting colder and colder. Its all good though. I am learning and growing so much everyday, I love being here in West Chester, there is no where else in the world I would rather be then here serving the Lord.

"We cannot make others do the right things.  We can only show them by our example what "doing the right things" looks like.                            

"The sistrict"

New Elders!

Testimony builder!

We had an interesting week. We are working with a couple of investigators right now and we are having fun. Yesterday we were in an apartment complex and some big white dude started yelling at us, telling us to leave and saying there is no God.... We stood our ground and kept moving on. There is a God. We did not just appear on earth. We have a Heavenly Father and he loves each one of us. Everything around us denotes that there is a God. We are put in families, we have the ability to think and to choose, and we have a beautiful world to live in. After that experience we kept walking around and he kept yelling. Pretty soon he went inside. Then we were about to leave and a couple people came up to us and apologized for his actions. Then a couple more people came and apologized and said that this usually does not happen. There was about 7 of us talking in a circle and they all had our backs, it was awesome. Then we told them what we do and we got there names and numbers, so we will go visit them soon. It was a really cool experience and a testimony builder. I love serving the Lord and I love bearing my testimony. I am excited for another week. I got the transfer call today and Elder Shirtz and I will be staying another transfer here in West Chester! I am excited for that. Love you all, thanks for all the help and support!

Conference Weekend!

Conference weekend was amazing! A member put it best when she told us... "General Conference is like the Super Bowl to missionaries." that is so true. I have been super excited all week and there were so many amazing talks. One of my favorite talks was Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  During the Sunday morning session. He said "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." It was such and amazing talk. And that is so true. Sometimes we focus on the things we doubt or things we don't know. We need to focus on what we do know and work from there. Do not let doubt take over. "If you are tempted to give up, stay a little bit longer." It was an inspired talk. Another great talk was Edward Dube... He spoke on not looking back. Look forward with faith, there is always work to be done. Faith is always looking to the future. The Lord looks on where you are willing to go, not where you have been or what you have done. Keep on moving forward and serve the Lord. We watched most of conference at our ward mission leaders house which was pretty fun. They didn't make abelskebers but that's OK we had some delicious lasagna. I missed going to priesthood with grandpa and dad at Bear Lake. That is a memory I will cherish forever.  Conference was great, it takes a whole different meaning when you are out here in the field. There were many talks on missionary work and I am excited to see the work hasten. The time is now! We had another great week in West Chester, we are working super hard and relying on the Lord with everything that we do. It is getting colder and colder as the days go on, we are on bikes so hopefully it doesn't snow too soon. And if it does... oh well, it will be super fun. Love you all, thanks for all your support. 

"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% what we decide to do about it."                         Thomas Edison                                                                                   

                                               

Happiness!

Another great week in Ohio! We ran into some very interesting people.... We ran into 3 German people and we were actually able to teach one. It was funny because at the doorstep we were talking, I recognized her accent and I asked her about it. Then I said oh yeah I am German too... Then we talked about Germany for a while.  I asked her to say Koln or whatever that town is she sounded German and I thought it was pretty funny, I started laughing after she said it cause Grandpa would always try to teach me but I never got it down. She was a very sweet lady and we had a good lesson with her. Then a couple days later we ran into a guy from England. I told him my brother was there right now. We started talking and we asked him what makes him happy. He said nothing. We asked him again... nothing makes you happy? He replied yes, there is nothing in this world that makes me happy. Then we asked him about his family... he said they are more of a burden then a blessing. Then we asked him what he thought the purpose in life is.... he said nothing. It was very sad. The guy was very nice to us he just had a bad view of life. We talked to him about God and how he wants us to be happy. He nicely said good bye and went inside. This was a testimony builder... it really made me step back and view life and the gospel. God sent us here to be happy, and that is why he created the plan for us. Yes, at times life gets hard but there are so many things in this world that can bring us happiness. The Gospel of Jesus Christ does just that. It brings happiness to everyone that embraces it. God has blessed us with so many things in this life and we sometimes need to look at things a different way. The gospel is true and this church is true. Love you all, thank you so much for all your prayers and support.