In the Hood!

 Life is all good here in the hood of Florence Kentucky! I am loving it. We had a solid week! We had the opportunity to play some ball at a park one night with our investigator! It was so fun, we balled up in our shirts and ties and the guys there didn't think much of us till we BEAT THEM! On the spiritual side of things... Matt and Jenni are doing really well. We had a church tour with them this past week and they came to church. That was awesome. Church was kind of weird though, we are still meeting at a Presbyterian Church because ours is under construction we had the reverend speak at our sacrament meeting.  It was good... just a little different. The bishop spoke after her and he did a great job! It really just strengthened my testimony of the Restored Gospel and how Christ is at the head of this church and this is how he would lead His church if he were on the earth today. The other day I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with a greenie, he is from LA.  We had a great day and  found many new investigators and had some really powerful lessons. Rick is doing good. He has a couple health problems that has kept him from meeting with us. I am going fishing today, I am pumped! Fishing the Ohio River, I am going to get a big one! Love you all, thanks for all your prayers and all you support!!!

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

Can you feel that!

Well... here in the Promised Land things are going absolutely amazing! Started off great with a lesson we had with John on Monday! His brother, Rick, has sat in on the lessons multiple times and we have invited him to read and to come to church and all that good stuff, but he never has. We invited him last week and on Monday we followed up with him and he told us he read 7 chapters of the Book of Mormon! We asked him how he felt when he read... he told us that he felt a huge difference, he has more energy, he is motivated and God has given him more strength. He told us that he knows that it is true!! It was the coolest! We told him that the feelings he felt when he read the Book of Mormon, the feelings he had after he read are feelings he can trust and that they are from God telling him that the things that he read are true. It was the coolest lesson. Before he left he gave the prayer and it was the most sincere and heartfelt prayer ever and the spirit was so strong. We just stayed on our knees and he said... can you guys feel that? haha we said yes we can! The rest of the week went amazing as well. We are having the time of our lives and we are having awesome spiritual experiences, I love it. The Lord has really blessed us and it has been so amazing to be a tool in the Lord's hands. This work is real and the spirit is the only way this work can be accomplished. Thanks for all your prayers and all your support!

Many Miracles!

So many miracles this week!!!! IT started off amazing with a great MLB baseball game... the Reds didn't win but it was so fun.  My comp and I even got on the Jumbo tron... haha we were dancing, it was so funny. I don't know how happy my mission president was but I loved it!! I got to see other missionaries and we had a blast. I also had the chance to go on exchanges with my old companion Elder Foster this week, we found some people and taught Tyreese and John, we taught John at the bishops house and it was amazing! John got baptized on Saturday!!!!!!!!  He is such a great guy and it was literally a miracle. He quit smoking and he is now a member.  We had some really powerful spiritual experiences with him and the the reason why he quit smoking... faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! He is in the book of Helaman in the Book of Mormon and he has found the power of that amazing book. So have I! The Book of Mormon is true, I know it. So many miracles are pouring down here in the Promised Land! And I have the blessing of staying another 6 weeks here!!! With Elder Bloxham!!! I am so excited! Life is good and I am happy. The Gospel is true. Love you, thanks for all your help and all your support!!!

This is Edith! Love her.

Johns baptism!

Reds game!

Reds Game!

This week has been amazing!!! We have seen God's grace on a daily basis. There is no place I would rather be at this time then Florence Kentucky, the people here are amazing. We have been teaching John and he is keeping all of his commitments, he is reading in the Book of Mormon and he has quit smoking!!! Its a miracle. He is getting baptized this week and we are super excited. He is such a great guy and he loves the Book of Mormon. We also saw Emily and Zach this week and they told us that they missed us... we haven't been over as much because we have been super busy but the cool thing is that they miss us because the spirit. We went over and had a great lesson with them, felt the spirit and they came to church. The spirit is seriously the only way you can perform miracles out here!  We also had the blessing and opportunity to have a powerful Zone Meeting. It was awesome and the spirit was super strong. Jeremy is doing great and life is good here in the Promised Land. We get to go to the Reds game tonight! Look for me on ESPN!!!! It will be sweet! I am super excited. Thanks for all your prayers and all your support!

Felt the spirit!

This week was full of miracles. First of all... Jeremy got baptized! It was truly a miracle. He is such a humble guy and he is so awesome. It was a powerful baptism. After he was baptized he just stood there for a minute and looked up.... he was looking towards heaven and he felt the spirit. After that he bore an amazing testimony. It was like a song/recited thing. It was so cool. He has MS and he has been through so much in his life and he was just able to bare strong testimony of how Christ has helped him out through all his struggles.  We are also working with an investigator John, he is such a great guy and he really wants to make changes in his life. He knows the Book of Mormon is true, he has felt the spirit! The Lord through us... is helping him quit smoking. He will stop soon, because the Lord has power to do anything. I know that to be true. The Lord hears and answers our prayers. The Lord has truly blessed us here in the Promised Land, I love doing the Lords work, it brings so much happiness and I am changed because of it. That is the coolest thing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.... we can change, we can lay our old selfish selves aside and become new. Become a new person, change, become better, become happier, and become more like our Savior. I love it, I am always working on improving and becoming better and it truly is a blessing. My companion and I talk about it all the time. We have so much fun here, we meet so many amazing people and we love them. I am doing great and i am excited for another amazing week!! I get to go to the REDS game next Monday and I am pumped!!!!!!! I cannot wait.  Look for me on ESPN!! haha love you all, thanks for all your prayers and all your support!!

Jeremy baptism

"Therefore,  O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day."

                                 

This work is true!

This week was awesome! We had so much fun! We did a lot of teaching this week. We have some awesome investigators. Jeremy is doing great and he is getting baptized this weekend, we are super excited for him. He is so awesome, he is loving the Book of Mormon and he loves church as well. We have been giving him reading assignments and he loves doing the readings, he has been prepared by the Lord and it is such a blessing to see. It has been super hot this week, very very humid. I love it though and I would say I am used to it. Oh yeah... on Monday we have a conference call with the whole mission and President Porter announced that we are all going to a Cincinnati Reds game on September 8th! I am super pumped, its going to be the funnest thing ever, I cannot wait! Elder Bloxham is a huge baseball guy so we were jumping up and down when he announced that. So we are excited. So many amazing things are happening here in Kentucky. We are finding so many people that have been prepared by the Lord, its truly amazing. We also had the chance to help a member of our ward do the ice bucket challenge, it was so funny. The Lord is truly blessing us here in the Promised Land! I am doing great and this work is true. Christ is at the head of it and I know that to be true.

Instrument in his hands!

This week was solid! Its started off super fun on Monday playing ultimate Frisbee in the rain and having a cook out with the zone, it was a blast. Then the week just flew by! Jeremy is back in town and we have been teaching him. He is so awesome, I love the guy! He is 20 years old and he is from Jamaica! We have had many spiritual experiences with him and he came to church on Sunday! We were actually in a lesson with him the other day and his friend called and he told his buddy to come down and meet us, he told him that we are the dudes to ask about the Book of Mormon and how it can change his life. It was awesome, we were able to meet his friend and teach him! We also had another awesome lesson with Zach and Emily! We taught them a Book of Mormon lesson that our mission president wants us to teach. It was a very powerful lesson, we had it at a member's home and the spirit was very strong! The Holy spirit is the only way that you find success in this work and I am realizing that more and more everyday. SO many miracles are happening everyday here in the Promised Land. We fasted yesterday and we saw miracles as we were able to reach our goals. The Lord really is at the head of this work and we are just an instrument in his hand and it is such a blessing. Fasting and prayer does work. I am super excited for another week here in Kentucky!