Three Thanksgiving dinners are better than one!

Thanksgiving was great out here in Zanesville! We ate with the T., B. and G. families -- lots and lots of yummy food, that's for sure! Then we went finding at Dillon Park because it was a really nice day and we figured there would be people there. We actually made a really good contact with a lady who worked with a member in the other ward. So, there you go! You CAN contact people on a holiday! It is always great to be able to reflect on the blessings that the Lord has given to us, especially the blessing to have the Gospel in our lives and the knowledge that our families are eternal. We take this knowledge and peace for granted every day. Since being on the mission I've seen exactly what the world has done to families. Everyone needs the peace that the gospel brings. Please, take time out of your lives to ponder who of your acquaintance, member or nonmember, could use more of this peace. You can be saviors on Mount Zion!

Update on investigators:

Ma: She's working towards December 8th for baptism! We're so excited for her. She came to church yesterday and also came to a baptism in the other ward. She's in Alma right now in the Book of Mormon and she says that, "if the Bible is true than this book is true." We're very excited for her and the ward is as well!

Mi: We set a date last night with him for January 12. He said he'd work out a battle plan with the Lord in his prayers that night. I hope he will give it his all! He was in church today, and loved it!

H: Was in church yesterday and seemed to enjoy! I think she's becoming much more comfortable and is opening up a lot. She's happy that we made it through transfers. She wants us here for Christmas!

J: We found J. by 2-2-5ing an appointment that fell through with D. She's 15 and we had a return appointment on Saturday. She came to church Sunday, went to Bishop's Youth Devotional last night, and is excited for mutual on Wednesday. She is a miracle! She read everything that we asked her to read and even highlighted the things she liked...we didn't tell her to do that. She has a special interest in prophets, especially Joseph Smith. The experience with finding J. super boosted my faith that Heavenly Father uses disappointments (like the appointment that fell through with D.) to achieve His will. We would not have found J. without first trying to contact D. Heavenly Father leads all of us to those who are prepared. He knows who is in need of the gospel.

I love you all! Stay close to the Lord and listen to the promptings of the Spirit. Heavenly Father will always give us opportunities to strengthen those around us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Transfers are tomorrow!  We'll see if I stay in this area.  Hopefully so -- I would love to be here for Christmas!

We had a super good week.  Very busy!  We had a chapel tour with T. on Saturday and she loved it!  She seems stoked to come to church but wasn't able to make it on Sunday because of some unavoidable circumstances.  She needs to come to church at least three times before she can be baptized, so we will probably have to postpone her date.  She read the whole Strength of Youth pamphlet and had a lot of great questions -- it was amazing.  She is so prepared and has so much faith!

M. did come to church on Sunday, though, and LOVED it!  She was so cute.  Poor B. wanted to come with, but no dogs allowed. I really think M. is planning on being a member of our church!

We found three new investigators this week.  We also tracted near the college, hoping to talk to a lot of people our age, but we contacted more non-college-aged people than students.  No on was interested in us leaving a blessing on their house.

The mission office just called, and the news is in.  We are both staying!  The suspense is over!  I will be here for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years!  And I'm killing Sister R. -- that's a mission term for the fact that I'll be her last companion.  Anywho!  I'm glad to be staying because there are some good things happening!  Love you all!  Happy Thanksgiving!  We all have so much to be thankful for.

Bad beards forever, dude!

Hello everyone!  It's been a chilly week here!  I was sick as a dog, but I'm feeling better now. Just a really bad head cold and sinus infection.  All I have left is the cough now.

J. and L. [recent converts] both got callings on Sunday.  J. was called as the compassionate service leader.  She's really excited and already has a lot of ideas that she wants to implement.  L. was called as the priesthood pianist.  He's stoked and is loving learning the hymns.  The priesthood brethren are also very excited to have a pianist. :)  I was proud to sustain them!

T. has committed to a baptismal date of December 8.  My favorite part of our last lesson was when we asked how she'd felt while and after praying about the Book of Mormon.  She told us that she's been having scary dreams and stuff, and was afraid it was a warning.  We explained that the adversary will attempt to keep us from the truth, and that fear only comes from him.  She was awesome!  She said something like, "Pssshhh!  He's totally trying to keep me from being happy.  No way!  No way he does that to me!"  She was so serious and determined -- it was awesome.

We taught M. on Sunday evening -- the lady we found while tracting last week.  I had felt strongly that we should bring Sister S. with us, even though she doesn't like dogs.  About half way through the lesson, M. told Sister S. that she looked really familiar.  Well, long story short, Sister S. spends a lot of time at the dollar store, and M. worked there for years and years!  Instant connection . . . love it!

The pictures are of Sister R. and myself wearing the beards that T. crocheted for her sons!  They are so cool.  I told T. to look up Lo's monster shop on etsy to get some ideas for future projects. :)

When you're with a sweep, you're in glad company!

It was a good week!  I'm sorry that this will be a short one today.  I will send pictures to make up for it, though! :)

Halloween was good!  We were able to go to the Trunk or Treat for a little bit and made some good contacts.  Sister R. and I dressed up like chimney sweeps, and Brother and Sister B. dressed up like Bert and Mary Poppins!  We didn't plan it -- it was a total coincidence!

It was Sister R's birthday on Friday and the mission gave her the best present -- a mandated "no car day" -- so we spent the day walking.  Sooooo much fun!  We did some special things for her birthday, though, that set it apart from a normal mission day.

We found a new investigator while tracting the other night; her name is M.  She's Baptist but she really liked the book of Mormon.  She is also retired, so I think she'll have lots of time to read.  We have a return appointment tomorrow!  I'm really excited for her to come to church -- I know she'll just love it!