Updates

This post is a combination of a couple of recent letters:


Dear Mom, Well, transfer calls came. Elder Olsen is leaving to finish training a missionary in Bourbonnais. I'm staying here, and I'm going to be co-senior companion with Elder Johnson. He's been serving in the Peoria stake as well, in a little town named Princeton. I really enjoyed serving with Elder Olsen. We learned a lot from each other. I had to step things up as a companion to him. When he was scared to talk to people, I talked to every person we saw until he finally chimed in. I had to lead out with planning at points because what was supposed to be accomplished was not materializing. Even though he was the "senior companion," I tried to help him rise to the occasion. I could have tried to do everything on my own, but I knew that if we weren't equally yoked, the Spirit could not accompany us. We finally resolved to be unity in the cause of truth, in declaring the gospel to all who we encounter, and in the faith that there are hundreds and even thousands of people in our area who are waiting to hear the message of the restored gospel. Once we made that decision, the miracles have come rushing forth. We're still helping one woman continue to progress toward baptism, but where we've found much of our success is in bus contacting. With the winter months beginning, we need ways to find new investigators different than tracting. The bus is one of our better options.  And I did receive the package with the wool socks (Grandma/Grandpa). Thank you for watching out for me. It's a blessing I could never thank you enough for.  

Turkey say was pretty enjoyable. Two families combined for Thanksgiving because both of their families live far away. One of the families was from Louisiana so we had a mix of Southern style and traditional American thanksgiving foods. Really spicy turkey. And then two others families combined and we went over there for dessert. All in all a pretty good Thanksgiving. Nothing like Thanksgiving at home, but good all the same. I can't wait to go to Wyoming when I come home. Hope everyone knows that I love them. Tell Jack that we have at least five people who want to be baptized! Tell Isabelle that I haven't received a response from her! But, I still love her.
Well my new companion is Elder Johnson from Las Vegas. He's only been out five months, but we're got to see a lot of success together. We put someone on date to be baptized on the 13th, so we've got to make sure that she keeps progressing. But she's so ready. She just needs to take a leap of faith, and realize that she probably won't receive answers to all of her questions. Our Ward just split in September, so now there are three wards meeting in this building: Bloomington 1, Bloomington 2, and Normal. As you know, the bishop is awesome. He bought all of our groceries on Tuesday, again.  Other than that, same old amazing missionary work stuff. Just being continually converted to the gospel through prayer and the Book of Mormon and prayer. It's the only worthwhile way to live life! Love Ya!