My shoes are holier than thou!

Hey everyone!  It's freezing here!  We had a gorgeous week last week, which we used to do a lot of service.  We raked a lot of leaves, did a lot of yard work and helped the B. family dig up potatoes!  Now it's cold and rainy.  There are three crazy storms heading our way, which are supposed to combine into one mammoth storm.  One from the north, one from the south, and one from the east [Hurricane Sandy].  "That'll be fun!"  Snow this week is the rumor. :)

J. contacted us this week and scheduled an appointment for yesterday, then had to cancel.  She promised to call today, once she has her work schedule for the week.  She has so much faith and is so intelligent and spunky -- I REALLY want to teach her!

Things are definitely getting political here in Ohio.  Historically, a presidential candidate has never won an election without winning Ohio -- swing state to the max.  It's interesting to see the signs on people's lawns.  We saw a lawn with 5 Romney signs on it the other day.  We contacted a referral and had to park in front of a neighboring house with 8 Obama signs/memorabilia, and the car we parked behind had 8 billion Obama bumper stickers on it.  The Obama-car family happened to come out of their house just as we got out of our car.  They were obviously not happy to see us!  As we passed I smiled politely, and the father muttered some unkind things under his breath, but loudly enough that we could hear.  Oh the unexpected "maturity" of grown men and women! :)

The massive increase of missionaries and Romney running for president seem like omens to me.  The Church isn't going to stop being in the public eye whether Romney becomes President or not.  Heavenly Father needs more missionaries out there because people are going to have questions!  Just look at Elder Nelson's talk from conference!

I had a cool insight during studies the other day.  I've been studying faith because in every interview I've had with President, he has emphasized faith.  In 3 Nehi 7:18 it says that it was "not possible that they could disbelieve his [Nephi's] words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister unto him daily."  How awesome!  That is the top rung of the faith ladder, in my opinion.  Nephi's faith was so great that the people could not disbelieve him.  The bottom rung would be along the lines of seeking miracles and having faith that they're from God, but not having enough faith to increase/improve and grow our faith any further.  I'm going to create my own "Faith Ladder" to help myself see where I am in my progress and to figure out how I can grow my faith even more.

On my one-year mark [October 19] I threw away my first pair of mission shoes.  They were so holy!  Tracting will do that to ya.  Elders traditionally burn a tie on their one-year mark, but I figured Dad would be proud of me for being SAFE and avoiding fire.

The cows and chickens are going to the dickens!

Hello everyone!  I've officially been a missionary for an entire year!  Full-time missionary, that is.  We are all missionaries and this past week as been a testimony of that for me.  Our ward relief society president accompanied us to a lesson and said the perfect things.  Go members!

We had a great specialized training this last week in Reynoldsburg.  Let's just say that the Assistants look quite fetching in hula skirts, and that President and Sister Nilsen are superstars!  We learned so much!  The assistants focused on fishing with nets -- not spears.  (Hence the hula skirts; Elder M. was Chief Mac Attack and Elder S. was O'Wise Steggy Weggy.  I love missionaries!  They have so much fun!)  President and Sister Nilsen had just returned from a mission presidents' seminar in Kirtland, so they were on fire!  So good.  It helped to fill our spiritual well, which gets depleted sometimes.

We are going through a trial of faith at the moment.  We've been finding like crazy for the past few weeks but haven't found a lot of new investigators.  We know that, as long as we keep working hard and smart, just as President promised at specialized training, the Lord will be able to accomplish his will and help us find his children who are prepared.  He will even lead them to us if that's what it takes.  So we'll just keep pushing through!

We got a lot of referrals this week -- some from members and some from nonmembers.  We're still trying to contact them all.  I wish everyone was just waiting at home for us to knock on their doors and teach them the gospel!  The truth is that some people are, and those are the ones we need to find -- people who are willing to be committed to the gospel and the Savior.  We'll keep finding!

T., C. ad H. are coming along.  We were able to teach them the Plan of Salvation and it went so well.  Here is something I would like people's input on, especially those who joined the Church at an older age: How were you able to wrap your head around the idea of "one true church?"  A lot of people just can't understand that concept.  I just doesn't register.  We're looking for bold but non-abrasive ways to explain.  If you have any ideas, send me a letter!  We need your help!

"Why cry about bad weather . . . enjoy it!"

It's been so cold here that I started singing that song to myself the other day, and Sister R. started singing along!  She's seen that movie [In Search of the Castaways]!  I have never met another person who's seen it!

The transfer angel passed us by, so we're both still here!  Yay!  L. was confirmed yesterday and will be getting the priesthood next Sunday.  He is soooo happy!  He's fitting in really well and everybody loves him.  We had a great week.

It all started with exchanges with Sister K. [former companion in Powell/Lewis Center].  If was fun being her companion again -- I could see how much I have grown since we were last together 4-1/2 months ago.  I'm positive that trainers grow much more than do trainees!  We did a LOT of tracting because we are working on finding new investigators.  It was just like old times . . . except not in Powell.  We were able to talk to a lot of people!  It was great.

We had a great lesson with B. this week.  We've taught him the Restoration quite a few times and it hasn't sunk in yet, so we finally tried something new (hopefully it was inspired)!  What does he like?  FOOTBALL.  So when we got there, we told him we wanted to talk about football and walked through an analogy with him.  God is the head coach, the prophet is the QB and we are all players on the team, striving for eternal life.  Play book = Book of Mormon and Bible.  He really liked it!  The whole time we were teaching, if anybody got off-topic he got back on AND he set up the return appointment himself!  I'm glad he enjoyed it, and the whole family committed to watch a conference talk.  Awesome!

"I'm getting tired! He says go faster!" [Muppet Treasure Island]

Muppet Treasure Island is one of Sister R.'s favorite movies -- also Support Your Local Sheriff!  She's seen a lot of the good old ones.  Recently a member challenged my level of movie culture, saying that I "couldn't have seen the original Arsenic and Old Lace with Gary Grant."  Psshh --  I set that right!  It doesn't get better than Cary Grant.  Sister R. hasn't seen Muppets from Space, though; that will be remedied soon upon my arrival back home.  Which will be in like 20 years, because I'm definitely not approaching my year mark or anything . . . weird!"

L. was baptized on Friday!  I will send pictures!  It was a wonderful baptism.  Very small, but that was good because he asked me to speak.  I don't like talking in front of people -- I'm shy!  I've gotten used to teaching one-on-one and really enjoy it, but public speaking . . . !  L. will be confirmed this Sunday and he'll receive the priesthood as well.  He's finished the Book of Mormon for the SECOND time!  His favorite BoM prophets are Captain Moroni and Alma the younger.

Conference was amazing!  We had four investigators attend, as well as a less active member.  I'm excited for the conference Ensign to come out.  Favorite addresses:  Elder Ballard -- loved the bee analogy; Elder Bednar -- parable of the Ten Virgins as an illustration of testimony vs. conversion; Pres Uchtdorf -- life is not a race, it's a journey; Elder Holland -- I'm always inspired by his loving rebukes and his knowledge and understanding of the New Testament; Elder Nelson -- has such confidence in us missionaries!  I hope we can help all those people who start asking us for help.

I could tell that a lot of the addresses were directed toward nonmembers.  I wonder how many nonmembers watched or listened and felt the Spirit?

Huge news about changing the age requirement for full-time missionaries!  That is going to be awesome.  I think that more sisters will serve.  I think the announcement is another sign of the Last Days.  The rising generation is going to need to be stronger than ever in order to be parents in the falling world's immorality and chaos.  As a missionary currently serving, it's interesting to think that the sisters coming in can be 19!  But that's the age of our mini-missionaries, so it's not too weird!

Transfers are this week and I'm pretty sure Sister R. will be leaving.  I hope I get another rock-awesome companion!

We go on exchanges today -- my former companion, Sister K., will be coming here!  It should be AWESOME!

We watched Testaments with Jo. and S. this week and it was awesome -- especially for S.  She made the comment that she's heard people say that Jesus died for us, but that she'd never understood that he actually DIED for us.  It touched J. as well.  She loved how the father went to rescue his son, even though he didn't know if the son had chosen right.

We were able to teach Ja. part of the Restoration between sessions on Saturday.  The lesson went really well.  She told us that she'd had an argument with a coworker about us being Christian.  She told the coworker that we are definitely Christian because MOTAB has a Christmas album. :)

Saturday it was super cold and got dark earlier than usual; I was tempted to work on records in our apartment instead of tracting.  Once it's dark, people get upset about us knocking on their door.  Instead I said, "We're finding a new investigator!" and we went knocking at an apartment complex.  We found T. and her son C.  T. is so full of faith that she didn't even question Joseph Smith's story.  She is also excited about living prophets.  We're teaching her the Plan of Salvation per her request TODAY!  Awesome!

Travel Size for Your Convenience

Hello everyone!  I have a new companion!  Her name is Sister R. and she is super hilarious and sooooo fun!  It's actually kind of funny because I saw her at the Crew game a few weeks ago and asked her how long she had left.  She told me and I said, "Oh good!  We still have time to be companions then, yes?"  We spent six months or so in the same exchange group but were never able to exchange with each other, so it's been a running joke that we weren't meant to be together.  Now here we are, testing fate!

We found a new investigator named J.  So cool!  She was a member referral; we contacted her last week and she set up a return appointment for this week.  When we got to her house, she had mini muffins, vegetables, fruit and drinks all ready for us!  She is a sweet lady and is searching for peace, comfort and a feeling of belonging -- basically the Spirit in her life.  Anyways, we're excited.  She great and she loved talking to us.  We're going to teach her the Restoration tomorrow.

We helped at the Coshocton Fair and sat in a booth, talking to people.  We found a cool guy named M. who wanted to know what we believe from the source, not from the media.  Yay!

Wasn't the RS broadcast amazing?  I just want to listen to it over and over again!

Love you all!