Talmage Mission

Good Morning! This week has been a lot of fun. Elder Shipp and I are adjusting well together, he is a very motivated and dedicated missionary. I am grateful for his willingness to work and serve those around us. He has blessed my missionary skills and habits in a remarkable way.  One of our friends was baptized! Erik has grown up around the gospel, but never fully accepted it. I have only worked with him for two weeks, but his baptism was a powerful experience nonetheless. The night of our last lesson he asked some questions about literature that degraded the church, so that was interesting! But he had a testimony, and was blessed and protected by the Holy Ghost. I am grateful for his decision to be baptized!  We have set a couple friends up for baptism, they are progressing smoothly! One of these friends is Shelley. She grew up in Africa, and has already come to know that the Book of Mormon is true. She has a strong foundation in Jesus Christ. After a week of helping her see ...

Good Morning! It has been a blast from the past working in St. George again, especially in the Young Single Adult 1st Stake! For those who aren't aware, I spent 3 months from November to January in this same area, (already the longest I've stayed in one spot) and I'm set to be here another 5 weeks! I've reunited with so many of my friends, they feel just like family.  One thing that has impressed me is how green St. George is. Remember all that snow we got in Richfield? Turns out when that was happening, it was also raining in St. George! So now all the mountains are a beautiful combination of red rock and green plants. It was a change in scenery heading down South, but I have not been disappointed.  A brief(ish) comment about the work, and my new companion: Elder Shipp is fantastic! He is learning a lot right now, but I have never failed to be impressed! He is driven and focused, obedient and diligent. I could say more, but I will stop there. This will be an exciting t...

Good Morning! It has been a fantastic end to this transfer! I have loved every second of working in Richfield and striving to find new friends and help them make covenants with their Savior. I wouldn't want to have spent this past transfer anywhere else.  God must think one transfer in Richfield is enough (it's not) so now I'm moving again! And to top it all off, I'm going back to an old area of mine, working on-campus at Utah Tech, plus I'll also cover a Stake for the families rather than just the students. My new companion will be Elder Shipp, he sounds like an excellent missionary so I know we will do great things. I'm also excited because I'll get to see all my friends again, despite already leaving the many friends I've made in Richfield. Elder Mason is also leaving, headed to Apple Valley. So that means two new missionaries in Richfield again! We found two friends this week: CJ Nelson and Jhett Van. These are fantastic kids, they'll both probab...

Good Morning!  This week was fairly decent! It also flew by, so that means the transfer is just about over. Next week we hear who leaves and everything else! It's exciting.  I began the week by snagging Elder Dickey and dragging him to my area for a day. Not literally, it was actually really cool. We found two new friends to teach together, despite 5 hours at the Tabernacle display in Monroe! That was a straight up miracle.  Then we jumped straight to exchanges with Elder Ioane! I just stayed in Richfield to make things easier. He's a wonderful Elder, I learned a couple things from him and respect his skills a lot more. Exchanges are always a good time to understand the other missionaries, but also pass off or demonstrate skills better. I want to improve how I run exchanges, but that's a skill I'll have to continue to work on. I'll get more practice this week! It should be fun.  Spring Break for the Richfield people is next week. Turns out half our friends are out o...