Privilege!

This week has been crazy! We had transfers on Tuesday! I got a new companion! Elder Carter! He is from Morgan Utah and he is the coolest. After transfers we had two specialized trainings which was a lot of fun. We are still teaching Terrah and we had a super good lesson with her at the church, it was awesome and the spirit was strong. Craig and Mariah are doing great and we are going to go to the temple with them soon. Same thing with Randall and Heather! Raegan is getting baptized tonight! JoJo an 8 year old that I taught in West Chester about a year ago got baptized last week, she asked me to baptize her and that was a privelage! We are seeing the hand of the Lord in our work everyday and it is such a blessing. We have zone conference all week this week and we are preparing for the greatest 6 months in the history of Cincinnati! We are setting a baptism goal till June and we are letting all the missionaries know tomorrow what it is! I love you, thanks for all the help and support. This week is going to be the greatest!

"This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."
                                                                                    Alma 34:32

Teaching and Testifying!

This week was amazing!!! It started off Monday with a super powerful baptism of Craig and Marriah! They are the coolest family ever, I love them to death. Their daughter Raegan will be getting baptized this Saturday! I was also asked by a 8 year old if i could baptize her this Saturday, she is the coolest and we are really good friends, I am excited. This week will just be a blast. The Lord has really been blessing us and I have been seeing His hand in His work now more then ever! It has been raining quite a bit here in Cincinnati and we are getting what they call freezing rain... it touches the ground and turns to ice, its pretty crazy! This past week we went around with President and did role plays with all the missionaries. We are finishing the rest of the mission this week. We will be in Fort Wayne and Muncie this week! Both my companions go home next week and I'll be getting a new companion which I am excited for. Time has been flying by. We are super busy and we are having the time of our lives. Life is good! We taught a lady yesterday... she has very little but she is happy with what she has. It was so awesome to be with her. She has no furniture and so we all sat on the kids little chairs. I was just thinking about it yesterday. I am teaching a lady in Cincinnati about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and asked her as a representative of Jesus Christ to change her life, so that she can be happier. I am with a member of the church that I have met maybe once before and we are teaching and testifying. What is better then that! I just love it, it really hit me how awesome this really is... to be serving the Lord and doing His work at this time in Ohio. Church is true, read your scriptures, say your prayers, you will be blessed! Thanks for all you do!

I have changed!

Life is good here in CINCY!! We had a week full of miracles. We have been teaching Craig and Marriah. A totally awesome solid family. They have been investigating the church for about 4 years now. The second day I came to this area we went over and had a sweet lesson. It had been a couple months since the missionaries had stopped by because of conflicting schedules and things like that, anyways, we stopped by had a great lesson and invited him to be baptized, in December. We went over a couple more times and he told us he wants to be baptized on January 18th and his wife will do the same. SO that was the plan. We have been having really good lessons with them and one day we got a text from him informing us that he wants to be baptized on the 5th of January at 6:30!!!!! Thats TODAY!!! We have a baptism today and we are super excited. Their family is so awesome and I cannot wait to see them enter into the waters of baptism. After 4 years of the Lord preparing them, they are now making that life changing decision to be baptized! What a blessing! I am so blessed to be here at this time with the people that I am with. I know that God has put me here to effect lives through the teaching of the Gospel and also so others can bless my life and in the process change who I am. I have been doing a lot of reflecting this past week and it was such a blessing to look back on the year. I have seen the hand of the Lord in His work and I have changed because of Him. That is what the gospel is all about, its about change. It has not happened in an instant or in a day but I have changed as a person all around and its because of the Lord Jesus Christ. A recent convert in our ward had a very powerful testimony yesterday in which he said... you want proof. I have lived it, i have felt it. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen. That is the truth. I know that these things are true because of I have lived it, I have seen the blessings. I have felt it and I know its true. I love sharing it with others! I would advise you to do the same, you will be happier. Love you all, thanks for all your prayers and support.

Ping Pong!

This week was amazing! Christmas eve we spent with our Bishop and then Christmas Day we visited a lot of families and we had a ton of fun. It was so good to talk to my family, I miss and love you! Saturday was one of the best days ever. It started off in the morning. We were invited to the classic Ohio Cincinnati Mission Ping Pong tournament in the morning, single elimination match. We played at the Porters and my first match up was against Westly Porter. Took him down. The next match up was against Nathan Porter. The first game I slid by beating him only by 2 points. The second game I took control and beat him. The next match was the championship game and I was playing against the defending champion Kevin (recent convert in the Western Hills Ward). And he was super good... he beat me... but it was still fun. I took second place and had a great time. So it was good to get back on the tables, it has been a while. The rest of the day was even better though. Sembiana and Mechel got baptized!!!! It was awesome and it was so good to see those kids enter into a covenant with our Heavenly Father. The baptism was awesome and the next day the confirmation went great. At sacrament meeting our recent convert Heather gave the opening prayer. She was super nervous but she did a great job, she has only been a member for 2 weeks and she is doing so awesome. It amazing how the Lord is preparing people and it is amazing how the Lord is blessing us. We are working with the Briggs family now and they are doing well and should be baptized soon! Miracles are happening every single day and it is such a blessing to be a part of this work at this time. Thanks again for all your prayers and all your support!!!

Always remember!

Merry Christmas everybody! It has been a crazy week here! On Tuesday we had a Christmas Conference in Montgomery, then that night we went on exchanges in Fort Wayne Indiana, then we had Christmas Conference in Muncie Indiana! My old area! I visited a couple of my favorite people while I was there, it was the coolest. I love that place with all my heart, its been about 18 months since i have been there! On Friday and Saturday we worked with Molly and Kevin, they are recent converts in the ward. We also worked with Randall and Heather. She was confirmed a member of the church on Sunday. During Priesthood, Randall bore an amazing testimony about how his baptism has changed his whole life!  Randall is a recent convert of about 3 months and his wife (Heather) was baptized last week. We have been seeing them and things are going great. We have also been working with Mckel and Sarbarina. They will be getting baptized this Saturday!  I am loving life and we are staying super busy! I am excited for Christmas, we will be spending time with the Porters and a couple other members in our ward.  Always remember the true meaning of Christmas and share that with others, there is no greater joy. You will be happier!!! I love you, thanks for all the prayers and all the support! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas!

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!