Western Hills Ohio!

New Address  5311 Lees Crossing #2 Cincinnati, OH 45211

I have been transferred to Western Hills OHIO!!!! I can't believe I am back in Ohio. I love it here and it has been a crazy week. I am back with my old companion Elder Barnett and I am also with an Elder Stoddard. I was called to be an Assistant to President Porter. When I got here we were working with a lady named Heather she got baptized on Sunday! She brought up a couple concerns on Friday but we were able to help her overcome them and her husband who is also a recent convert was able to baptize her! Such a great baptism. We are working with a couple other families right now and things are looking great. I am excited for Christmas, it will be awesome. I love the Western Hills ward. I met some of them on the Christmas party on Saturday and then most of them on Sunday. I am going to love it here, I already do. This week we will be going on a exchanges and we have a couple Christmas Conferences. I am excited for them.  Things are looking great and I am happy to be back in Cincinnati. I have seen miracles everyday and I love seeing the hand of the Lord in His work. You just have to look for it, cause its always there. Thanks for all the help and support, you are amazing.

"Take pride in how far you've come.  

Have faith in how far you can go."

Leaving Kentucky!

I am leaving Kentucky!!!! I cannot believe it. I have been here 7 and a half months and I have had the time of my life!!! It has been so much fun and I have grown so much. I love the people here and I am going to miss it. I am excited for my new area and my new companion. I will find out tomorrow morning where I will be and who I will be with. I have loved serving with Elder Mower, I only got to be with him for 6 weeks but it was a blast. This week was super fun! Our mission president came up with a new idea called Cookies and Carrols. Along with the He is the Gift Initiative... our mission president wants us to go around with the members and go caroling to their neighbors and bring them cookies! So we went on Saturday with the Hymas family and we had the time of our lives, I loved every second of it. We were able to watch He is the Gift with one of the families and we just had a great time spreading Christmas cheer. Caroling is the greatest and people love it. I am not the best singer but I try, and I actually joined the ward choir last week! I am super excited to keep caroling wherever I go! Christmas time is the best. So we are still working with KC and Megan. KC is doing good, he had a loved one pass away this past week and we were able to help him overcome and help him have a hope for the future. He is such a good guy and I am going to miss him. Megan is doing good, she is reading in the Book of Mormon and she read 1 Nephi 8 and had some questions about the symbolism. We told her to keep reading and she did! She read 3 or 4 chapters that night and she wrote down what each thing symbolized. It was awesome. I am excited to hear about them and their progression. It has been a great time in Kentucky and I am really going to miss this place but I will go wherever the Lord needs me to go. Love you all and I hope you all remember the true meaning of Christmas, check out the video He is the Gift, it is a super powerful shot clip but it has strengthened my faith in Christ and I know it will do the same for you!!

Haylie Hymas right before we went caroling!

Bounteous blessing!

This week was AWESOME!!!! We had such a great week full of food and miracles! Thursday morning we played in the ward Turkey Bowl! I have been looking forward to the Turkey Bowl ever since I got here because we have an athletic ward. And it lived up to the hype! We had 2 games going on at once and it was the greatest! It was freezing cold but I still had the time of my life! We had a couple investigators show up as well and that was solid. Then after the football game we visited a couple members and they all fed us! I had so much turkey it was crazy! We had a lesson with George and his family at night and they fed us a whole Thanksgiving meal as well, it was so much food my comp couldn't hold it down at night and threw up back at the apartment hahaha, it was pretty funny. It was a great time to reflect on the bounteous blessings the Lord has provided in my life. I think about the simple things that bring true happiness. That is my family, the scriptures, prayer, church, and the relationships I have developed while serving out here in Kentucky. I am truly grateful for all these things, they have brought me peace and joy in life. So We are teaching a guy named KC that we were able to find through a recent convert. He is the coolest, I love him to death, he has had a rough life and has been down the wrong path but he is doing everything he can do to get back on the right path where God wants him to be. He came to church and liked it, he is meeting with us and he is keeping his commitments. I am super excited for him. We are still working with Malik... he is doing good, we are actually going to start teaching his mother soon, we are excited for that, we are getting the whole family involved! We are teaching George and his family. They are doing great! They told us that they will be reading in the Book of Mormon every night before they go to bed. That is one of the first thing they mentioned to Elder Mower and I before we got started with a lesson. So we are excited for them and their progression! So yes, life is good here in the Promised Land, our apartment is all decorated for Christmas, we got a tree, stockings, and even a candle that smells like the Christmas season! We are super excited. Yall should check out He is the Gift on Christmas.mormon.org. it is a super short clip but it really brings the spirit in our lives and reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas! I am excited for this coming week! Thanks for all your prayers and all your support!!!

Lynch Family

Hill Family

Bjarnson Family

Receiving Hyrums highlight video!

Turkey Bowl!

Give Thanks!

We are working with a kid named Malik now, he has investigated the church

before but hasn't been too interested. He had a change of heart and he is doing
awesome! He is making changes in his life and he is understanding how the
Gospel of Jesus Christ can bless him. He is 17 years old and has lived a rough
life but he is so kind and he has such a good heart. We are also working with
George and his family still.We had such an amazing lesson with them
yesterday! The spirit was so strong and we were able to talk about how the
Gospel of Jesus Christ blessed families. George really opened up to us and
same with his wife and kids. There was just a big ball of love in the room as
we taught, it was so awesome. George and everyone else in the room felt the
love and felt the spirit. George was even able to point it out. He told us that he
usually doesn't let people like us or the Jehovah Witness in his house
but for some reason this time he did and he has felt a difference in his life
since we started coming over. It truly is a miracle. This work is real. I don't
know if I really believed that at the beginning of my mission... but I have a sure
testimony that the spirit is the difference. The spirit is what brings families closer
together, the spirit is what brings feelings of love, peace, and comfort in the home.
I know that is true. It made me think of my family at home. Summer Hannah
Hanks, Lincoln Hanks (Heber), Spencer Stanley, Mom, Dad, and Hyrum
Hugo!!! I am so blessed to have the family that I have and I love them and I
don't know where I would be without them. We are put in families to learn and
to grow and my parents have really help me do just that! I am grateful for all
your prayers and all your support. I am grateful to be here in Kentucky at this
time. I am grateful for all the relationships I have developed while serving in
this area. But during this Thanksgiving season I am truly grateful for my
family and I know that probably sounds like a common missionary answer
but I am truly grateful for them, they mean the world to me. In this season
of thanks.... give thanks for all that the Lord has blessed you with and
I promise you will start to see more of the Lord's hand in your life.

Ghanaian Family in our ward. 

inches of snow!

We woke up this morning with like three inches of snow on the ground!!  We were super excited! I love the snow and I cant wait to work in the snow.  We were blessed with the opportunity to hear from Elder Anderson (of the seventy).  8 zones got together at the Montgomery building (my last area!) and we got to hear from President Porter and Elder Anderson.  He talked about the difference between head, heart, and soul knowledge. To get things in our head you can study, memorize, and understand the things. But to move things to the heart... the spirit has to do that. So as missionaries we teach to the head but as we invite the spirit through testimony, song, or personal experience, that's when it becomes real. Once the investigator acts on the invitation we leave with them, that's when it reaches the soul and they have a soul knowledge. I know that to be true! I have seen it time and time again with investigators. It was a great meeting and I received answers to questions I had. This work is real! The spirit does the conversion and it has been such a blessing being a instrument in the Lord's hands. We are still working with George and his family and they are doing great, they are reading in the Book of Mormon and they are truly searching. It has been such a blessing to teach them. They are the coolest family and we have a great time with them every time we go over. We saw so many miracles and we were able to witness two baptisms in our zone. One lady was 74 years old and she could barely walk. They had to put a shower chair in the font to baptize her.  The Lord really is preparing more and more people and the elect are being found. Life is good here in the Promised Land!!! Thanks for all your prayers and support!!!

Beanies a member made us!

first snow fall!

Find and Teach!

We saw so many miracles this week. First off.....we were at Matt's house reading out of the Book of Mormon with him and we asked him what was really holding him back and he told us well... the Law of Chastity, we need to get married. The spirit was strong and he said lets do it! So a member drove us over to Wal-Mart, he picked up a ring and we were stoked! Like no way is this actually happening! Then he said alright lets go over to her work and I am going to do it!!!! So we drove over to her work and we walk inside and started down the hallway when we see her. Braden... Jenni's son (4 years old) starts talking to her mom and pulls out the box with a ring in it and Matt gets on one knee and asks for her hand in marriage!!!!!! It was crazy!!!! They are awesome and they are getting married and then baptized!! They have not set a date quite yet. They have to work a couple things out first but they are making the right steps and it is super cool to see. We also were able to find and teach a family this week, George and his wonderful family! We found him outside smoking and we started talking about what we do... he told us about his family and he invited us back. We went back later in the week and taught his family, it was the coolest! They are so awesome and they are having us over for dinner tonight, I am excited! We get to hear from an Area 70 this week, I am excited for that. I am loving life and I am pumped for this next week. Thanks for all your prayers and all your support.

"Chosen by God to serve him below,

 To ev'ry land and people we'll go,

Standing for truth with fervent accord, 

Teaching his holy word."

Direction & Guidance!

This week was solid! I got a new companion! Elder Mower from Idaho, he is sick, I love him! We get along super well. He plays football and bball as well. The Lord has really blessed me with good companions my whole mission, I am grateful for that! I learn so much from every companion. I got him on Tuesday and we got right to work, we found a lot of new people to teach and things are looking awesome for the month of November! We are still working with Matt and Jenni, Matt is doing awesome and he is still working on quitting smoking but he is doing a great job and its coming along fine! We found a lady named Amber and she came to church yesterday with a friend and she loved it and told us she would be back next week. She really wants direction and guidance in her life... she has a big decision to make coming up and she isn't sure which way to go. I know that the Lord will give her direction in guidance in her life. We have a loving Heavenly Father and he is willing to answer any questions we have. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to find joy and peace in this life and he will always be there for us. I know that because I have seen it, especially since I have been out on my mission. The Lord puts certain people and certain situations in your life for a reason. This work is for real and I love representing the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been such a blessing! I am stoked for another week here in the Land of Promise. Thanks for all your prayers and all your support, I really appreciate it. love you all!!!

This is Halloween night with my best friends, my comp is the one in the middle with the soccer ball in his lap!!!