November 3, 2014

Dearest All

I really don't know where to begin today, we had so many miracles, so to begin we (really Heavenly Father) achieved the Standard of Excellence! something that this area has not seen in years, This ward is incredibly missionary oriented and really I am amazed that the success which has taken  both us and the mission leadership by total surprise, after this week we are looking forward to two Baptisms this month, 

-Debra on November 30th

-Andrew on November 22nd

Both of these are new dates as of this week and were quite unexpected, more about them in a moment and really If someone asked me how, we have had such success from almost nothing happening last week and no baptisms for over a year to this week and having higher Key Indicators than we did in Parkersburg, I would say..."Work hard...Party equally as hard" "live it and love it"  I think a lot of missionaries would say that must have been a lot of work and really it was easy, we just have fun as we go, talk to everyone and the spirit does the rest. 

Welcome to Prestonsburg this is the Marque that the ward building has, because it is right off of a major four lane hwy through the mountain...you can't miss it.

 Ward Trunk or Treat

 Okay so the guy in the blue button up shirt, not wearing a costume is Andrew, he has been dating sister S, who is a member (the woman dressed as the Pirate)...Andrew is formally a Jehova's Witness (although he was never officially baptized a JW) and he came along with Sister S to stake Conference last week (since she is the choir director), a few days later he asked to meet with the missionaries and yesterday set a date for baptism, it was incredible this lesson was so powerful, as he found what he has been looking for. "I have wanted for so long to be Baptized and have a family" - Andrew.  Sis. S..."the spirit was radiating!" it was nothing short of amazing. by the way, Andrew is also a Veteran and 6' 6" I think what makes this so meaningful is to see the spirit bring this strong, smart and huge man, to tearful joyful eyes, radiating joy...if you were to ask me what makes missionary work the best work in the world...this is why...we didn't find this man, heavenly Father found him and just let us sit and watched while the spirit taught.

 all the kids and us in the ward, ...so in case you were wondering, I am going for an Elsa Costume...Elder Cluff and I just got some fabric from wal-mart and make some capes and there we have it in combination with my "frozen" tie, as Anya H called it back in Parkersburg...notice there is also a little girl dressed as Anna right in-front of me...I just about died she was so cute...I can't wait to have my own kids and dress them up as my favorite Disney characters hehe;) (because that is totally how it works, haha)

 ah how did this one get in there...haha what being a district Leader has it's perks, right elder Cluff;).

 Oh Yea, I almost Forgot, Elder Renlund (of the Seventy) was in the mission this week  and we had a mission conference and were able to hear him and his wife speak, I will be sending hope a few of my thoughts and notes from this meeting, it was so neat to hear from a general authority in such a small setting. and since Elder Price, Elder Carter and I were all in the north half of mission we were all at the same meeting, just after our 6 month mark, for those of you who don't know we were all in the MTC together....well boys 6 months down, hump day here we come.

 Elder Cluff and I riding back from Elder Renlund, we stopped for Slurpeeies in Charleston...Elder Cluff is a bit of a Slurpee enthusiast 

 So in-case you were wondering what we did no Halloween, we again had a blast, but when all the chaos of Halloween ensued, we left town and headed into the mountains and to Dewey Dam in Jenny Wiley State Park...this is my Samuel the Lamanite impression...standing on the edge of the dam.

 We also took a few laps around the lake...google, earth Jenny Wiley state park, it is gorgeous.