Trunk or Treat!

I am staying another six weeks here in Kentucky!! I am super excited. We got transfer calls today and I am staying. My comp is leaving though, I have been with Elder Bloxham for 6 months and its going to be super weird without him. I am excited to see who my new comp is going to be! Tomorrow is transfer meeting and a lot of our zone will be leaving, it will be crazy. We are still teaching Matt and Jenni they are doing good. We are working with some other new investigators that we found this week and they are looking pretty solid. We had the trunk or treat on Saturday and it was super fun! We had a ton of people there and a lot of non members. I had the opportunity to cut the bishop's lawn this week and it was sweet! Brings back some memories of laboring all Saturday back at home. It is such a blessing to be serving the Lord at this time, I am loving it and I am having so much fun. The people here in Florence Kentucky have such big hearts and I am so happy I get to stay another transfer! The Lord is really blessing us and I cant wait to see who my new comp is!!!

"Smile will and often.  It makes people wonder what you're up to."

One of my favorite members of the Northern Kentucky Ward at the Trunk or Treat.

Me on a Dugati

Me & my girls at the trunk or treat!

The Temple!

Things are going great here in the Promised Land of Northern Kentucky! We are seeing miracles everyday! This past week was awesome! We went to the temple. The temple is so amazing and the spirit is so strong inside. Go to the temple with questions and you will receive answers! That is the truth, I witnessed it this past week and it works. The temple is the House of the Lord and it is always such a powerful experience. We are still teaching Matt and Jenni, they are doing good. They are so awesome and they want to make changes in their lives! We also had a funny experience with a less active we visited... we visited her one night because we were in the neighborhood. We have not met this lady before but she started talking to us and she would not stop! She went on for the longest time about her cats! It was hilarious. That's all she could talk about and while she was talking her dentures were falling out. My companion and I were nervous that they would fall right on us if she kept talking, luckily they did not. It was funny. I guess its really not that strange considering the fact that we were in a trailer park in KENTUCKY! haha I love it here though and the people here are amazing. Life is good and I am happy. We are super excited for the trunk or treat this Saturday! Much love from Florence Kentucky!!!

Eating fufu!

Temple Trip with our zone!

He felt something different!

This week was crazy! A lot of ups and downs! But to start off, Tom got baptized!!! To give you a little background... Tom came to church for the first time about 2 months ago, he is dating a member and he was a devout Baptist. The member he was dating told him that he needs to come to church, just try it out. So he did. Him and I met that first Sunday and we got along super well, it was awesome, we had a special connection. So he kept coming to church but he was still going to his Baptist church as well and didn't really want to change. The  member told him that they needed to read the Book of Mormon together... so he did just to make her happy... he was just kinda going through the motions. But then it hit him... he felt the power of the Book of Mormon. He felt something different, he felt the spirit. So he decided to meet with the missionaries and to get baptized!!! He did not live in our area but he lived in our ward. So I was able to teach him the Word of Wisdom on exchanges. I saw him at church and we talked all the time. He asked me to baptize him and it was awesome, a super powerful baptism. The spirit was so strong and everyone could feel it. The Book of Mormon is true and it really is powerful! After he was confirmed on Sunday he bore a powerful testimony. He is such a great guy and I love him!!  Our other investigators aren't doing so hot but we were able to find a lot of new people to teach last week so we are super excited for what's ahead.  I love sharing the gospel, it is the greatest and it brings me so much happiness! Do the same! Share the gospel!  I am going to the Louisville temple this Friday and I am so excited!!! Thanks for all your prayers and all your support! Love yall!!!

"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."

Tom's baptism!

The work is real!

This week was amazing! First of all... I love General Conference, it is the greatest. A member put it really well in my last area... General Conference is like the super bowl for missionaries! Its true, I was so excited all week for it! We had the blessing and the opportunity to teach Matt and Jenni, Rick, and Tom! They are all doing great. Tom is actually and investigator in the other Elders area but we were on exchanges and we taught him the Word of Wisdom, it was so powerful! Tom knows the Book of Mormon is true and he is willing to do what God wants him to do! He gave up his coffee and his tea!! It was so awesome to be part of that experience. He will be getting baptized this Saturday!!! Rick has been sick so we haven't had a chance to see him too much but he is doing good. Life is good here in the Promised Land, the people here are amazing! General Conference was amazing, I loved every second of it. I know for a fact that the Prophet and the Apostles are chosen men of God and if Christ were here and were to talk to us, he would be saying the exact same thing as we just heard at Conference. One of my favorite talks was President Uchtdorf, I always love his talks (maybe because I'm part German) but it was in the first session on Saturday. He talked about how God answers prayers and how we can know spiritual truths. To get spiritual truths, you need to use the spiritual tools that God has given us. The process of gathering spiritual light is a lifetime process! I know that to be true. The only way to know if there is a God or if Jesus really is the Christ is to use the tools such as prayer, scripture study, and church! That is how you know spiritual truth and I know that to be true! My testimony of the Restored Gospel has grown so much on my mission and I am constantly trying to strengthen it because I know that gaining a testimony of Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important thing you can do while on earth. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I know that he speaks for God himself and if we heed to the council of our leaders we will be blessed and we will not go astray. This work is real and I love it. Thanks for all your prayers and all your support!

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!