Hello Family!
I'm doing great. No earthquakes of hurricanes here. Or tornadoes. There was a fire though. It was just big enough for us to roast mallows around it and have some s'mores and teach a lesson to a member family. They had us over for dinner and they were in a little trailer camp park thing near here so we had to have some s'mores. It was a good time. i've been waiting for a lightning storm out here in Iowa! I hear they are amazing and the thunder shakes your whole house. The only bit of weather we have gotten is some light rain. The skies sure are pretty though. Mom would definitely love the sunsets here! the clouds always make it look different and beautiful every night.
I had a great Sunday. we went to a city called Iowa Falls which is about 45 miles away from Story City. It is the biggest city in our area but it is so far away it's hard for us to get up there because we are only allowed so many miles a month and a lot of the people we visit are in little outlying towns. But after church we rode with a member up there and spent the day up there. It was also my first time biking on the mish since we didn't have our car. It wasn't too bad but my biking muscles have not been used in a long time. We had a meeting with all the members who live up there that night and tried to get the member missionary efforts going with full steam ahead and asked for ideas on how we could help more. We are trying to start maybe a week on week off thing between there and Story City. We will see what president has to say today about it. I'm definitely starting to connect more with the members in the branch. A lot of them are converts but there are some life long members as well.
This morning we went frolfing for our "work out." They have a course really close to our apartment so we usually play on P-Days because there isn't a whole lot else to do. We are also going to play basketball with some members later this afternoon. Usually we would go to Ames and hang out with the other elders in our district but we don't have enough miles to drive down there today.
That is so cool that you got to go through the temple with Kallie and Casey! And also that Rachael flew out for that. I can't wait until i'm closer to Nauvoo so i can go through that temple. Then i can say i've been able to do baptisms for the dead there and also a session. That is one thing we are working torward with a lot of the less active members is to try and get them ready to go through the temple again. It can be hard because it's far away. We really are blessed in utah to have the temples so close to us.
So they have us on this new program that is supposed to train the new elders so they could potentially be trainers after 12 weeks if needed. it certainly helps me dive more fully into the work. I've lead a couple of discussions already while teaching and it is such a wonderful feeling when you can tell that the spirit is touching the hearts of those you are teaching. I've spent a lot of my studies in Alma recently in chapters 16-26 ish. It talks a lot about Ammon and Aaron and their brethren and the great missionary work they are doing. It also contains the scripture that is on my missionary plaque thingy. But it has answered a lot of questions and silenced fears about missionary work and has taught me a lot about how to be a better missionary. One thing specifically i have learned from the sons of Mosiah is that if we want the spirit of prophecy and revelation and be able to teach with the spirit it requires much prayer and fasting. They studied the scriptures diligently to know the word of God. Even though they had seen an angel of heaven they still did all they could to learn more about the scriptures and become the best missionaries they could be. God really does like to stand behind us when we make promises in His name. I've seen that already in the work here.
I know that this is the true church and that it was restored through Joseph Smith. If we are diligent in seeking for truth and understanding we can have all things made known unto us that is expedient for us to know. Personal revelation is a powerful thing and we should seek for it in everything we do whether it be while reading the scriptures, praying, attending church, or even just spending time with our families.
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| Combine, front view |
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| Combine, side view |
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| Corn |
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| Endless corn fields |
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| Lots of soybeans |
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| Typical roadway |
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