"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!

I am the dwead piwate Wobewts! Der wiw be no suwvivows!

Hey fam bam!  It's been a good couple of days and I have a lot of updates for y'all!

M. got baptized this weekend!  It was a good baptism.  The Spirit was there and she even bore her testimony at the end and it was awesome!

L. is amazing -- he is already in Helaman and absolutely LOVES the Book of Mormon!  He decided on a baptism date of October 5.  We realized last night that that's conference weekend so he won't be able to be confirmed until the following Sunday, but things will work out.  All we have left to teach him is tithing!  We watched Testaments with him this past week and he loved it.  I can't wait for him to read 3 Nephi 11!

M. came to church again!  The lessons were all perfect for him.

We taught B. again this past Tuesday and it went well.  We'll be teaching him Plan of Salvation tonight.  It's going to be great!  Both of his biological parents have passed away so it's going to be big for him.

The Columbus Crew (soccer) game was Wednesday.  It was a bit slow so we went around and contacted people instead . . . members only.  We weren't allowed to proselyte at the game.  I did see a lot of people from Powell!  I even got a referral from a member, for one of his co-workers who lives here.  I was able to see many old friends -- it was great!

We heard some great news at the game.  While I was in Powell we were helping one of the youth in the ward teach his friend, D, who was later baptized.  Well, this past weekend D. baptized his mom!  How cool is that?  It's great to see the ripples spreading.

Sister S., our former mini-missionary, showed up on Saturday as a surprise and came out with us for the day.  She was able to see M. get baptized!  It was so fun to be with her again.

Sister T. and I (and the Elders) helped judge an Iron Chef competition on Thursday.  The secret ingredient was pumpkin.  There were three teams and each team made an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert.  There was some yummilicious stuff -- pumpkin dip, pumpkin soup, pumpkin tart, twice-baked potato with pumpkin, etc.  We were so full afterward!  You know the saying "Go big or go home" -- here it's just "Go home big!"

My 11-Month Mark Today!

Hello family!  I only have a few minutes today.  I will try to type quickly!  I didn't write on Monday because we have the Columbus Crew game tonight, so that made today our P-day.

Mo. is getting baptized on Saturday and we are soooo excited for her!  She has progressed so much even in the past week.  A while ago I showed her the index at the back of the Book of Mormon, and when we talked about tattoos with her this week, it turns out she'd read about "defiling bodies" in the index and figured it out by herself! She also took her tongue ring out, without us saying anything about it!  "What are you going to do with it?" I asked.  "Chuck it!" she said, and threw it in a big pile of dirt outside the house.  We clapped for her.  She is literally glowing with the Spirit. It's awesome!  Pray for her!

Mo. has been helping us teach her cousin C.  I love it when she teaches C. a principle all on her own, with no prodding from us.  She is so great.  We're glad that she's using the Atonement to better her situation and herself.  She is SO HAPPY and it makes ME happy.  I love missionary work!

L. told his parents that he's investigating the Church.  We fasted for him last week and when we met with him on Thursday, he told us it had gone so well that he was kind of surprised.  The Lord will provide a way!  He prayed about a baptismal date and decided on October 5, but that's conference so we'll have to figure out another date.  When he told us about his talk with his parents he said, "I'm so happy that they are supporting me, because I went into the conversation knowing that no matter what they said, I was going to pursue this anyway.  This feels right."  Wow.  I learn so much from all the people that we teach!  They are so much stronger and more dedicated than I am.  I need to step up!  We also taught him the Word of Wisdom on Sunday and it was wonderful.  He is ready to go!

Jo. got MARRIED last week!  And Ma. has started the process of being re-baptized.  It's going to be so cool when they are able to be sealed!

Our ward mission leader and Bishop are all pumped up about member missionary work, and priesthood session of stake conference got them even more so.  We had a wonderful correlation meeting with both of them and they came up with some great ideas!

We taught H. the Plan of Salvation and are doing a chapel tour with her this weekend.  We are sooo excited!  I love talking with her; she has so many literature-related insights.  Thanks for teaching me about that kind of stuff, Mom!  She asks great questions; this week she asked a lot about fate and predestination.

C. and L. (mother and son) are new investigators that we found through a member referral.  We're excited to see them again this Sunday!

We found Ju. while 2-2-5ing a member's home.  She first heard about the Church when a YM group went to this one restaurant after mutual, and she was so impressed with them that she asked what church they went to.  How cool is that?  She attended church for six months but then she had a stroke and can't remember when it's Sunday.  So we're going to call and remind her.  It's the least we can do, right?

G. came to our Christmas in September and we were able to give her a chapel tour!  Awesome.  She brought two friends with her, and I think one of them might actually have some potential as an investigator.

The senior missionary couple in my district is from the same home ward as the Adairs!  That was fun to discover, especially since I'd just been looking through the reunion pictures that Mom sent me.

Funny story: We were at a member's home and the mom gave her 3-year-old a bag of Raisin Bran and then left the room.  About 30 seconds later, the kid stuck his dirty little foot in the bag, moved it around a bit and then took it out again.  Then the mom came back and started chowing down on the Raisin Bran.  Sister T. and I looked at each other like . . . "Do we say anything?"  We didn't!

I'm out of time!  I love you all.  Stay safe and keep me posted what you're up to.  Thanks for your love, support and letters!

You don't even have a chin! [Phineas & Ferb]

Hello everyone!  It's been a good week out here!  Lots of great progress!  It's going to be a little short today!  I spent too long on my letter to President.  Hopefully I can get all the news out here!

M. came to the CES fireside with us on Sunday.  It was really good for him.  Elder Holland never lets you down!  Anyone who hasn't watched it needs to!  Talk about prophetic.

We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with L. last night.  The Spirit was so strong and he knows it's true.  I'll keep you posted!

Our newest investigator is a super cool lady named H.  She's an English teacher and reminds me a lot of Mom!! :)  We have a return appointment set up for next Sunday!  She was excited to read the Book of Mormon.

My Star Wars trivia came in handy with a contact this week, and I was very grateful to E. Bham for tutoring me over the years!

Thank you all for your letters of support.  They have been great!  I love hearing from you all!  Stay safe!

Car-less in Ohio

Hello everyone!  It has been a great week!  We didn't have a car for 4-1/2 days -- it was crazy!  We did a lot of walking and got rides from members, but wow . . .it's hard to cover two and a half counties on foot!  I'm much more tired than usual.  We are soooo spoiled to have a car!

J. (our recent convert) is doing well. We had dinner with her on Tuesday and she told us that the adversary has been trying to press doubts into her mind and heart.  I'm glad she's living with her mom and has that great support.  She was at church on Sunday, participating like she's been a member since birth.  She is amazing!

We taught Lo. the nature of God and prayer.  It went really well!  He is progressing so fast.  We taught Plan of Salvation as well, and he loved it!  The only problem I foresee is that he hasn't told his parents yet.  We're going to talk with him about that on Sunday.  He also played his trumpet for us, and showed us his LOTR mouthpiece.  So cool!  It has the inscription from the ring engraved on it!  I'm such a geek!  I also got to play a guitar that Sister K's dad made by hand.  It was cool!

We were able to teach Li. last night!  We taught Plan of Salvation and it went really well.  She's coming to church on Sunday and will have a chapel tour, too.  She also committed to read more of the Book of Mormon and pray about whether it's true, and the Plan as well.  We asked her if she would like to be baptized, and she said she would when she knows it's true.

A girl named H., who has a boyfriend in the next ward, has come to church four times now.  We finally got her number and will be visiting her this week!

The Columbus Crew game (Mormon Night) is coming up, and President gave us permission to call the people from our last area and invite them to come.  I got to talk to quite a few people and it was wonderful!  Most of them bought tickets to the game.  Hopefully I will be able to see them there!

Sister K. and I were helping a youth in Powell invite his friend (D.) to church, and the friend ended up going to scout camp and high adventure.  Sister K. told me last week that D. got baptized a few weeks ago!  How awesome!

We fasted as a stake for the Amish families who were recently baptized here.  It was a huge deal -- groundbreaking in Church history.  It wasn't widely publicized at the time because the families knew they would be shunned in their community.  Well, it was only a matter of time and now they are having some severe trials.  Please pray for them!