Hello Everyone,

So this past week was busy but man was it fun!  So on Tuesday there was a big district leader training that took place in Farmington, NM! So we had the opportunity to ride up there I rode with another elder named Elder Collins!  He is a district leader in FT. Wingate!  It was a fun ride up there and we stayed the night on Monday night!  Tuesday we went to the meeting they really trained us on the things that new district leaders need to know!  Such as how to do a baptismal interview or how to hold district meetings!  It was funny I remember a part of the meeting where President Batt asked us to raise our hands if we have conducted at least 5 baptismal interviews there were quite a few that raised their hands then he asked how many of us conducted at least 10 the hands slowly started to go down!  Then he asked what about 20 haha me and my buddy Elder Craig were the only ones who still had our hands up!  It was crazy that is when I kind of realized how old I was getting out here! haha  It is really weird to be the older missionary now because my whole mission I have always felt like I was way younger than everyone else but now it’s changed!  Anyway,   this past week was a great week!  We had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Tohatchi Elders!  I went with Elder Gray and Elder Sparks went with Elder Kuns!  Elder Gray and I had a great day, we double worked sheep springs so we had a lot of work to do!  I noticed on my exchanges that Elder Gray is a great teacher!  Elder Sparks and Elder Kuns had a miracle happen to them as well!  A couple of weeks ago me and Elder Sparks were out tracting and we were walking back to the truck which was just a couple miles back up the hill!  Anyway we came across this guy who was parked in his truck waiting for his daughter to get off the bus.  We stopped and talked to him.  He seemed very standoffish at the time so we just gave him a pass along card and went on our way!  Well, as it turns out Elder Sparks and Elder Kuns were out tracting near that area and they found that same guy!  They began talking with him outside and they had a good conversation for about 45 minutes!  The guy soon mentioned that his son had passed away just a week ago!  What a miracle in meeting the same guy and how prepared he was to receive the message just a few weeks later!  He ended up telling us he was baptized but hasn’t been to church since then.  So he is a member, he just hasn’t been for a while!  It’s the simple miracles like this that keep us moving as missionaries knowing that there are people out there ready to receive the message!  I hope you all have a great week, take care and be safe!  

So this past week was really good!  Last thursday we had a contest at district meeting I told the distrct that if they got a total of 40  people talked to that week that I would cook a big district lunch for them so, they ended up doubling that number and we ended up getting 82 in just one short week it was awesome I set the goal of 40 because I knew that they could totally reach it but they just blew me away when we got 82 so I was very proud of the work that they did this week! Our sacrament meeting attendance has been going up quite a bit lately and it has been really cool to see! That is one thing that I have really been seeing on my mission is the sacrament meeting when there are people coming to church that is when the branch is really doing good and when the work is really picking up!  We have this thing every Wednesday, its called branch night and the Relief Society always have an activity and the Young Women do but the men that night will go out and visit people in the branch that may be struggling or who may just need a visit!  Me and Elder Sparks usually split up when that happens so I either go with the Elders Quorum president or i go with the branch mission leader!  Those Wednesday night visits have been amazing its been so cool to see the reactivation that it can do!  I trully do have a testimony of home teaching now!  When you really go into members home and show them you care don't just fake it but truelly show them you care they will feel the love you have for them and it can make an impact in there conversion!  I'm loving sheep springs everything here is going great!  Have a great week!

So this past week we had a great one! We woke up one morning to about 3 to 4 inches of snow which doesn't seem like much compared to back home but down here it was a lot!  So that day we had a lot of fun in it!  The Tohatchi Elders said that they needed a lot of help that day with service so we went down there I guess we were supposed to insulate this guys house!  But it ended up falling through and we ended up chopping wood that day!  We got a little bored and being the young men we still are, broke out into a snowball fight haha it was fun then it led to us a building a big huge giant snow man!  It was a fun day!  Just before the snow hit we had the opportunity to help someone take down their shade house!  A shade house is a shed looking thing, that they build to have somewhere to keep cool in the summer time!  They always cook and eat inside the shade houses!  Anyway in the middle of taking the old shade house apart and getting ready to rebuild it back up I was hammering a log out and all up the sudden one of the big beams snapped and the entire shade house was falling right towards me I had to do a tuck and roll to get out of the way but I made it out safely lets just say I am running low on the number of lives I still have on my mission haha It was a fun project and I loved doing that!  I really enjoy stuff like that being able to use a nail and a hammer and build stuff!  Anyway later in the week me and Elder Sparks got a call from a lady in the branch and she needed help, helping her dog deliver puppies, so of course she calls the missionaries haha so we went over to help man that was nasty it was a little dog that had bread with a bigger dog so there was only one puppy and man that thing was hard to get outta there!  haha The things we do on our missions!  That was nasty though!  Anyway later in the week me and Elder Sparks had the chance to do some tracting so we went out and we did a lot of walking down this long dirt road knocking on a lot of doors we finally knocked on this one door and met a lady named Sophia we got talking with her and come to find out she told us that her mom had had a heart attack and had passed away 3 days earlier it was crazy to hear that!  We shared a scripture in the Book of Mormon and assured her that her mom was taken care of and in a good place!  We left her with the Book of Mormon and a chapter to read!  It is amazing to see how the Lord prepares people for us each day and how if we listen to the promptings close enough we will find them!  All in all it was a great week!

So this week was great!  We really were able to visit a whole lot of people!  We also chopped a lot of wood this week haha and when you do that it makes out for a great week!  I have to laugh everyday we wake up I get to hear Elder Sparks tell me how sore he is!  Its only funny because I was once in his shoes I remember coming out and having to chop wood and the next day getting out of bed and feeling really sore in your shoulders and back! Helping people just gives you a good feeling inside!  Anyway this week we had a meeting in Gallup and we had the whole zone get together!  I love getting together with the other missionaries and seeing friends I haven't seen for so long!  I got to see my goodtime MTC buddy Elder Peck I sure like that kid and I can't wait for our fishing trip here in about 6 months!  On Saturday me and Elder Sparks had the chance to go and do some wood hauling with some members here in Sheep Springs!  We had the chance to go up to the mountain with them!  It is so beautiful up there!  I really love going up there!  We were able to find a new investigator this week that I really think looks promising!  Sometimes finding new investigators can be a real test of faith!  Sometimes after knocking and knocking on doors and after only finding less actives its hard to continue to look for the non members, but when you have the faith it really works out in the end!  I have come to realize it doesn't matter whether they are members or not they both need this gospel in their lives and we are the ones that can help them get there!  Sheep springs is great I'm loving it here and i cant ask for anything more!

So this past week I had the chance to pick up my new companion who I will be training his name is Elder Cody Sparks and he is from Montpelier, ID haha I try not to give him a hard time about going to Bear Lake High School but sometimes it just comes out!  haha He threw one of his pens at me the other day and he totally missed by like ten feet and I remember saying "what school did you go too?" haha it was pretty funny haha but anyway he is a great kid!  I remember praying for an Idaho elder and someone who could chop a lot of wood and that is exactly what I got haha I am so happy to be able to be with Elder Sparks!  We had a great week this last week I really put him to the test we chopped a lot of wood!  We are both very very sore haha I can’t even imagine how he feels for this being his first time chopping wood for this long!  Anyway we had a great week together we were able to go out and visit a lot of people and introduce Elder Sparks to them!  We are really hoping to get the people in this area to come back to church we are teaching a lot of members here who read the scriptures and pray but just really struggle with making it to church on Sunday so we are really focusing on that!  Sheep Springs is going great I am really starting to love the area and love the people in it!  I hope everybody has a great week!