Elder Parlogeon, Elder Buchanan, Hank and Sarah Huxoll, and Me.
Hank Huxoll, Me, and Sarah Huxoll at their baptism.
Elder Parlogean (Buchanan's old comp and Cashin's current comp), Elder Buchanan, and Me with Hank Huxoll.
Me with some goats. The Bishop raises them and we got to go see them and play with them. They are like little puppies.Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing great and having a great week. To start off I'll just let everyone know that transfers came and both Elder Buchanan and I are staying together in Dayton. I am so happy about that. I love this area and I love working with Elder Buchanan. Some really amazing things are happening right now. Well the biggest thing to happen since I last emailed was the baptism of Hank and Sarah Huxoll. It was so great to see them make that step in their lives. They are so much happier now and they have that bright countenance about them. The light of Christ is really shining through their eyes. It’s weird because I have worked with a lot of people and whenever they get serious about the gospel and have that change of heart, you can see it in their outward appearance too. I have seen it with so many people. It truly shows that living the gospel does bring you happiness that most people do not have in their life. I have even worked with people who were happy with their life, but now are shining even brighter than before. On Sunday I was able to confirm both Hank and Sarah and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost. They both said that after they were confirmed they felt even better. They went over to a friend’s house and they were smoking and just talking bad about other people and both Hank and Sarah said that they wanted to leave, so they did. They are progressing so much right now.
Sarah's daughter, Celita, has a boyfriend. The guy is hilarious. He loves us for some reason. He calls us up because he just wants to hang out haha. He is usually over at the Huxoll's house whenever we have a lesson with them. He came to their baptism and he really felt the spirit. His eyes were all teary and later he said that it was a really great experience. That same night we talked to him about it a little more. He said that he is just so confused as to what church is best for him and which one he should go to. We taught him about the restoration right there. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said that night, instead of going home and watching "prison break" he was going to read the Book of Mormon. We are going to start teaching him this week. We haven't even really taught him yet and he said that for some reason he has less of a desire to chew tobacco. We have only briefly talked about the word of wisdom too. I'm really excited for him.
There are great miracles happening right now. There are experiences that I feel I should not write in this email, but I want to say that the priesthood power is so real. Experiences and miracles that Jesus Christ himself and his apostles performed I have seen in the small little town of Dayton. There are many people who have exercised their faith and been healed by the power of god. These people are completely converted to the gospel now. The faith precedes the miracle, but the miracle confirms ones faith.
Well we have been trying to get into teaching John Janovich this week. We usually see him a lot throughout the week and for some reason or another we just couldn't get in with him. On Thursday we go over to his house because we have an appointment with them. We knock on the door and nobody is there. We notice that there is a piece of tape on the door with the writing of "5: 15-10" We were wondering what in the heck it was. It looked like a scripture so we look up John 5: 10-15. We were expecting he was playing some joke like we would look up the scripture and it would say, "And they knocked and nobody was there" or something like that. It didn't say anything and we realized that it said 5: 15-10 not 5: 10-15. We had no clue what it meant and they weren’t home so we just left. Then on Saturday we decide to just drop by their house. The piece of tape is still on the door. We were actually able to get in with them. We are walking through their house and there is another piece of tape with the same numbers on their closet door, above their TV, and also on their wall. The whole family has been wondering what the tape and numbers mean. John wouldn't tell anyone and he said he wanted to wait until the missionaries came over. So we asked him about it and he said, "The numbers aren't a scripture, they are a date." We have been asking him about setting a baptismal date forever now. Elder Buchanan asks, "Is it a baptismal date?" John replys by, "It sure is, May 15, 2010! That’s when I want to be baptized." It was awesome. We were so happy. We have actually taught him everything and he is willing to commit to live all the commandments so he might even bump his date up earlier. Possibly next week. This man has come so far. He started reading the Book of Mormon about 2 weeks ago and he is half way done with it now. This man is amazing.
Oh P.S. I talked to Elder Cashin and he is being transferred to an area where they cover 2 singles branches and he is going to be a district leader there. I can't believe it! I'm really proud of him. He has come a long way and this will definitely be a challenge for him especially since he is afraid of girls haha. He will do great though. Just a side note for everyone
It has been a while since I have sent a scripture to everyone. I was reading through Jesus the Christ and got to this part in the New Testament. Matthew 16: 24-25. I learned so much from these two scriptures. Christ tells us that if anyone wants to follow him, they must take up their cross. Don’t we all have our own crosses that we have to carry? This life is not going to be easy, but it was never easy for our Savior. The trial that He had to face never went away, but He humbly accepted the will of our Father in Heaven and received strength to carry out His task. So it is with us. Our trials may never go away, but we can receive that strength as we accept the will of the Lord. I have seen that in my life as I have served in the Kennewick Washington Mission. I can't explain how happy I am right now. In verse 25 Christ tells us that those who lose their life for His sake shall find their own. That is so true.
Have a great week everyone. I love you all and still cannot wait until the day when we can all return together.
Love,
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