February 15, 2016

Hi everyone!

So it is snowing today and we just got told we cannot drive until further notice. Luckily Elder McDonald, Mellen and McDonald came up to sleep over for Pday! So without even knowing we got all together for what might turn into a few snow days.. You never know with these Marylanders and their snow haha

Happy late Valentines Day to you all too! It was sure low key compare to what is normally expected at home.. I wore a pink tie to church and that was about it haha. But yes I got your package and it was great!! Thanks for all the love from home! And I loved the bear hug card.

Sadly we didn't get in contact with the family from Jamaica. They have had on/off contact with missionaries for a reason, they are super sketchy to contact. So who knows what will happen to that all. Also... Yes!! It has been so cold this week!! Wow the wind here just cuts you in half!

This week was pretty good. A few highlights I will hit..

A few miscellaneous things like having to go get the oil changed in my car was annoying. Also we went to help move these members and no one from the Ward showed up except the Elders Quorum President! Luckily it was just a 1 bedroom apartment. 

Saturday was by far the highlight of the week. Every second Saturday the mission had a time slot at the temple for our recent converts to come and do baptisms. So we went with a man named Bob who has been a convert for about 9 months! He's just the greatest and a solid recent convert. He even brought his own family names! I was asked to help do confirmations and I love getting to serve in the temple. It was so cool to see all these missionaries walk in to the room with their recent converts and all of them would just be so happy! 

Sunday was a shock to the system as the reorganized the Bishopric! The Ward mission leader was called into the bishopric so we are currently Ward Mission Leader-Less. So we will see who will get called and what will all happen. 

Sorry for the not great email this week! I'll try to do some crazy stuff next week and have a good email next week haha. I'm going to go adventure into the snow so I gotta run. I love you all lots and miss you tons!!

Love,

Austin 

 Oh major PS. I forgot to mention on Friday I got talked into another pepper at Sister 

Mayes. I can't decide if I'm just getting use to it or stupid. Or both haha!  

Anyways Coombs was there to get a pair of pants sewed by her and it was his 

first time so he had to do a pepper. They convinced us that we had to 

do a "Posterity Pepper". So Coombs, Me, and Schank all had to do one together. 

And this one was my hottest one yet!!!  So enjoy this picture of us dying and enduring together.. 

Granddad, Dad and Baby Boy

I found a real nice Under Armor Maryland Shirt!

February 8, 2016

Hey everyone!

Well this week was one of those grind it out weeks. Nothing too special to talk about until the end of the month. It's weeks like this I don't think people really think about/appreciate about missions. It's just the work of trying to find people to teach and just the hard stuff about the mission. The beginning of the week was pretty discouraging but as always the Lord doesn't let us (especially his missionaries) get too low. So we ended on a high note.

First off my email hasn't been working with my iPad this week (I guess it's a problem some other missionaries have been having as well) I feel like a greenie emailing from this church computer. So that's been annoying.

This new transfer, transfer #5!!, started on Wednesday (with no transfer meeting *tear).  I kinda knew I would stay to finish training Elder Schank though. I'm trying really hard to love the area all the time but it's a tough one. I know I'm suppose to be here for a reason and there are still awesome times like getting closer and closer with Ismael and Lucie. Plus other success we have. But it's still been tough here.

You had asked earlier about the Ward and I never gave and answer. This Ward is an interesting one. They use to be a super solid Ward, but have lost a lot of pillar families to the Ward in the past 6 months I guess. So they like to think of themselves as a super solid Ward but they really aren't. They are struggling. 

This past week we were on a split with the HP Group leader and he was talking all about ideas he had to re energize the wards missionary efforts and I was stoked. I had some ideas I've been hesitant to bring up that he loved and wanted to get going. So jump ahead to Sunday morning in Ward Council the HP leader brings up the missionary efforts. Then all of the other WC members start talking about how they think the Ward is a great missionary Ward and doing just fine. Overall I hope we can help them see there is room for us to improve and be innovative.  My last interview with President MacPherson he encouraged me to be an innovative missionary. He shared Helaman 3:7-10 and talked about how the Nephites had to be innovative and entrepreneurial by building with cement. He told me that the doctrine I would teach doesn't change. But the way I teach and most things I did as a missionary was up to me. He told me to be the best entrepreneurial missionary I could be. So of course you know that's right up my alley so I was all about that and way excited. 

We did have a great end to our week with us last night finding a family to start teaching. They have had on/off communication to missionaries since coming here from Jamaica two years ago. But the Mom got referred by a friend to us agin and we found them. They have continued reading the Book of Mormon and I hope I don't jinx myself saying this, but they seem pretty solid! They even were asking about baptism so we made sure to meet with them soon (like tonight soon haha). So we added 7 investigators from the family, only hard thing is we have to find them a ride to church so hopefully the Ward steps up on helping us out on this one! But the Lord really does answer prayers, as I said I was really starting to get discouraged earlier in the week with us having practically no one in our teaching pool. It was a great tender mercy from the Lord.

Another side note from the week on Friday I hit my 6 month mark! Crazy!!!! So I did the ceremonial burning of a tie which I'll try to send the video of that! I know you'll be wondering.. No I didn't burn one of my ties. I found a gross ugly old one in our apartment and burned that.

I hope you all have great weeks!! I love you lots and miss you tons!

Love
Austin

I'm off to go play some football on the mall today for P-Day 

February 1, 2016

Hi all!!

Well it was an interesting recovery week after the big snow! Since theses East Coasters don't know how to deal with snow it turned into another half week for us.. So here's what happened. 

Monday we tried to metro out of the city to our car. After navigating a metro that was only running like every 40 min (usually like every 10) and get to our metro stop. Trudge through some knee deep snow with a backpack on a suitcase in my arms only to find out that the church parking lot isn't plowed. We call the zone leaders and find out it won't be plowed for the rest of the day. So we turn around and metro back to Capitol Hill.. But it's okay because it was a great ending to my birthday! We made my cake and had a great time. Plus one more Risk game to end the night haha 

So we wake up Tuesday and go back through the process to get out our car.. Only to find out it still ISNT PLOWED!! Ahhhh!! So we get told it was suppose to be plowed the day before and if not it for sure would be that day. Because we assumed it would be plowed that day we camp out in the East-West Chapel and start to make calls and do all we can to get our week ironed out for once we get there. Then we start to watch every church video we can get on our iPad, next thing we know it's 5:30 and getting dark.. So we have to figure out where we are sleeping so we call up the Traveling Trainers and they bail us out. Since they live down the street they come pick us up and run up to Laurel so we can get out suits since we had our mission temple trip the next morning. So we get back and sleep the night at their apartment. 

Wednesday we wake up and go to the temple. It was amazing as always! Plus the streak has been extended!! McDonald and me right next to each other to keep the streak alive! So we make our traditional lunch stop at Wheaton Mall and go back to see if the car has finally been plowed out... FINALLY! 6 days after snow has fallen it has finally been plowed!!! So we got back to work as much as we can.

Sadly the rest of the week isn't much to talk about. It was one of the slowest weeks of my mission, work wise. Since the federal government and all the schools were still closed all week everyone just seemed to be shut in and not want to be bothered.

In the only other big news this week is we got transfer call out on Saturday night! For the first time in my entire mission so far... Nothing changed! I'm staying in the same area with the same companion! Crazy to think I've always had something change on a transfer, so it's kinda nice to just keep plugging along with what I have going. I hope I leave after this transfer but life is good, we are just gonna keep working!

Hope you all have a great week! Love you lots and miss you tons!!

Love,

Austin 

The pictures are of us at the East-West Chapel waiting for the parking lot to get plowed. The heat wasn't on all the way since it was during the week. And our feet were freezing from trudging around in the snow, but luckily we found a space heater haha