Week 45-Christmas!

Hello Family!! It was so good to talk to you guys on Christmas! Haha.. That was CRAZY to hear all the little kids all grown up! Haha..

We had such a fun P-Day yesterday.. Ha the library was closed so we couldn't email, but we played Ultimate Frisbee with 3 families in the Ward here and it was a blast!! I love this new area.. Some of the nicest people ever and i already have so many new friends!

Our investigator is doing really well! We have a baptismal date of Jan 14th, so that will be a special day for her. Her wedding is on Saturday and they've asked us to help out with that so that should be fun too! Hah.

Anyways.. I know i talked to you a lot on the phone but i have a few experiences that i TOTALLY forgot to tell you about!
We were on ex-changes with the assistants in Des Moines and the coolest thing ever happened! We were knocking doors in a apartment building and we came to this guys door and we began to talk to him about the Gospel.. He began to explain to us how he and 3 other friends had just been in a car accident about 2 weeks ago. He was driving, and he and 2 friends walked away spotless, but one of their friends was killed. He has had a really hard time dealing with this and has been very depressed.. We read in alma Ch 40 with him and all he could say was i am beginning to feel happy! I am beginning to feel happy again! We were all in tears, and it was a wonderful experience. It made me especially grateful for the Book of Mormon.

I love being a missionary! Its the best.. Sorry this letter is pretty weak.. Next week will be better!
Thank you Grandma Russell for the card and book!! :)
And thanks everyone else who sent me stuff for Christmas!

Love Elder Russell

Week 44

Merry Christmas from Ankeny Iowa!!

I'm in a new area of the mission and i'm more excited than ever! Haha i went from a small branch of about 50 active members to the biggest ward in Iowa!! Yesterday was a little over-whelming meeting so many new people! But i LOVED it. I love the small town's and all that Fayette had to offer, but i'll have to admit, it is nice to have a Wal-Mart closer than a 45 minute drive! Haha.. -

Ankeny is a right outisde Des Moines to the North. Its a really neat place

My new companion's name is Elder Harris!! He is the MAN!! He is from American Fork! I'm so happy to have a companion that i can relate to and get along really well with! We will do some great work here in Ankeny! We are already teaching and testifying like its goin out of style..! Haha! I love it and i'm really excited!

Mom and Dad and Family! Thanks for sending those 2 boxes!! :) That made me SO happy! I'll look forward to opening them on Christmas! We will be spending Christmas day with a family here in the ward. We're gonna head over early in the morning to watch all the little kids open their presents! I'm so excited..! I was afraid i was going to miss that the most! But now i don"t have too! Haha!

I am so grateful for this time of year and the time which we have to remember this great gift which we have all recieved. As a missionary, Christmas is exciting. Perhaps more than ever! We have been thinking of creative idea's to get everyone in the spirit of christmas, and to make this Christmas a memorable one! And so far it has been a blast! We have wrapped a few copies of the Book of Mormon and given them to our friends! We have been singing Christmas Hymns to people, and we have been doing everything we can to give everything we have to someone else this Christmas. And its been so memorable.

This Gospel has taught me that watching someone else receive a gift, and giving of myself, is far better than all the presents in the world. Opening presents gives us immediate gratification, but giving of ourselves to others this Christmas gives us an eternal perspective, and the true spirit of Christ in our Christmas. I now know, that this is what Christmas is all about! I hope everyone will give of themselves this Christmas and remember how lucky we have been to receive the amazing gifts that we have.

I love you all so much! I'm so excited to talk to you all on Sunday! Its gonna be a blast! We talked about it last night and we think we're going to call around 5 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon Iowa time. Which means 4 or 5 o'clock Utah time. In the afternoon, not in the morning! Hahha! We have permission to call Christmas Eve for 5 minutes or so as well just to make sure that works for you. So i'll call then either on the house phone or cell phone if your not home! If i can remember them.. Ha i'm pretty sure i can. LOVE YOU ALL! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thanks for the Christmas cards and letters that i have got from everyone too! They mean a lot to me!

Love Elder Russell

Week 43

Hello!!

We have had a awesome but very sad week.. I HATE HATE HATE saying goodbye to people that i love. Its too hard.

And we have so many people that we are teaching right now and it makes me sad to leave them all and not see them thru to the finish, but as long as they make it there i will be just as happy!:)

Anyways.. I'm sorry i don't have much time today.. I've got to clean and pack but i wanted to tell you guys about a cool story that happened. One of our Branch members who's very musically talented put on a Christmas Concert in a town called Elkader IA. A town that has never been receptive to missionaries or Mormons in General. There is a HUGE Lutheran church and i'm pretty sure 99% of the whole town goes there. Anyways.. We went to her show and it was AWESOME! The spirit was so strong. She did such an amazing job.. And at the end of the concert she said, "if you want to learn more about Jesus Christ 2 of my best friends from my church will be handing out free card's and DVD's. It was so funny to see their faces coming down the stairs as they put 2 and 2 together and realizing that she was Mormon.. One guy was like.. "she was a mormon? wow i didn't know mormons could do that!" It was hilarious. At any rate.. We talked to a ton of people about the church and got a lot of things straight! People were actually saying sorry for being mean to us in the past! It was a cool experience.

Anyways.. I have been able to spend A LOT of time with members, non members, and friends who are learning about the church this week, and one night while i was saying my prayers, i was overwhelmed with the spirit of gratitude for this wonderful Gospel. I am SO grateful for the gospel and allowing me to meet all these wonderful people. It has been an experience of a lifetime, and i feel like I'm forever in debt to my Heavenly Father for letting me be here. I love my mission!

Being a missionary, especially this time of year is awesome! People's hearts are a little softer, and Christ is in everyone's minds. I love this gospel so much. Its truly amazing. I love you all and i've gotta go now.

Mom and Grandma Wright! Thanks for the Christmas Card! :) I loved them!

Lexee thanks for the little package that i can't open yet.. You have no idea how tempted i am to rip it open! Its gonna be a long 10 days! haha..

Michelle!!! :) thanks for those scriptures! They are great and i miss you! I hope you and the family have a good Christmas! Tell everyone i say hello!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love Elder Russell

Week 42

Hello Family!

This week has been a wonderful week, but filled with more up's and down's that I've ever had on my mission.


This last October General Conference something very strong that stuck out to me was the fact that 5 out of the 15 apostles and prophets spoke to the youth and how hard times lay ahead for this chosen generation. When i noticed this, i told myself that i would spend extra time with the youth on Sundays and during the week and hopefully get them excited to be missionaries and future families of the covenant. I want to tell you about an experience that i had this week that left me more devastated and heart broken than i have ever been in my life.
There is a young lady in our branch who found the church and with no family support, joined about a year ago. I knew that we had to get her very active in church activities and such to keep her going because her church attendance was already drifting away. To make a really long story a little shorter, one night we got a call from this girl and she said that as she's gone to church these last few months she hasn't felt the spirit, she feels like she doesn't belong and wants to leave the church. We talked for about 30 or so minutes and the phone conversation left me on my knee's, in tears, begging that she wouldn't leave. I thought about her future family and how it would be so hard to raise a family without the gospel. I thought about all the happiness and blessings that were going to be very hard for her to find without the church. But she still chose to leave, and we couldn't do a thing about it. I was devastated.
All in all, this was a testimony builder to me that the Prophet and his Apostles know whats going on in this crazy world. Satan works so hard on people at a young age and it makes me so sick and gives me a unbelievably strong desire to do all that i can to destroy him and his kingdom. I was sad to see her walk away from the greatest thing that ever happened in her life, but she made a choice and now all we could do as a branch was pray, fast, and continue to be there for her when she needs it.

Despite the downs of the week, i wanna talk about some good and fun things that happened!

This last week we had the opportunity to teach 2 new families who are so awesome!! Haha. One lady went out to Utah to buy a horse and got introduced to the church out there. She came back and we had the chance to teach her about the Gospel. She LOVED it. She was so curious as to why the bible never spoke about how families can be together forever. We told her that plain and precious parts have been taken away from the Bible and Lord has been merciful to us in giving us the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson she said "the hole that has been in in my heart since i had my first child was beginning to be filled!" It was an awesome experience. It made me especially grateful for what I've learned growing up.

Us and the Manchester missionaries decided one night on ex-changes that we were going to go caroling!! Haha. It was a blast! :) We sang Christmas hymns and gave people Joy to the World DVD's. I love this time of year.

As i was watching the Christmas Devotional last night from the 1st Presidency, i had an over-whelming feeling come over me. I was SO grateful to associate myself with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So many happy people, an amazing choir, and some of the most Christ like men on this earth. I have come to the conclusion that we will NEVER understand how truly lucky we are to be members of this church.

I'm leaving this area really soon here and I'm very very sad. I've gained so many new friends here, and we have so many people still in the process of learning about the church and i want to stay and watch them progress in the Gospel. But the Lord needs me elsewhere. I love this gospel and the stability it provides me with. I know that it's true. And nobody can ever take that away from me!

I love you all so much! Thanks for everything that you do and the support you give me. It would be hard without it.
Thannk you for the Christmas tree Momma!! :) haha i loved it!

Love Elder Russell

Week 41

Haha Hello Family!!

What a good Thanksgiving week that I had. We got to play in the Branch Turkey Bowl out here and that was a blast to play football! This year it was different not being with family, but it was spent with the Jolley family and they are now to me, family. They have ALL become my good friends and i am going to miss them.

What better time of year to think about what you are truly thankful for in life than Thanksgiving week. I took a minute to think and write down what i was thankful for and here are some of the things that i came up with.
I'm thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I'm thankful for parents that KNEW the church is true.
I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters and all the examples they set.
I'm grateful for my church leaders and friends and the example they have been.
I'm thankful for the role that God plays in my life and for His son Jesus Christ.

The list goes on and on.. But as i was making this list a quote popped into my head that says "the only debt is a debt of gratitude."

To these things listed above, i am truly in debt to forever for. I would be absolutely no where in life without these blessings, and words cannot describe how grateful i am for these things.

With the missionary side of the work, it has been slow because every single one of our investigators was out of town! Ha it was brutal. But we still had some very spiritual experiences which is awesome. Haha i want to tell you about the COOLEST thing that happened!

So the De'vore family invited us to go with them to get their Christmas tree for the year. We went to this HUGE tree farm that had over 2,000 Christmas tree's row by row lined up for everyone to come chop it down and get their tree for the year. There were a ton of people and a ton of families walking around and me and Isabel De'vore who's 7 years old starting playing tag and running through the Christmas tree's. And soon enough kids were asking if they could tag with us. And within 20 minutes or so we had probably 20 kids darting through Christmas tree's playing tag with us! It was SOOO much fun. i'll never forget it. While i was playing my companion kinda just looked at me like i was a idiot. But hey i had a really good time. Ha and the best part was that these kids were running back to their parents and saying "the mormon missionaries are awesome!!" SO FUN!

Haha i'm out of time today.I'm sorry this email isn't very good. Ill write more next week!
Mom if you could send me some Thermals that would be awesome. Its getting to be FREEZING out here. Ha i'm not excited for winter.
Dad thanks for the email and Lexee thanks for the pictures!! Looks like you guys had a great thanksgiving!

Love Elder Russell

Week 40

Hello Family!

It ceases to amaze me how many awesome experiences a missionary can have in one week. I love it!!

Ha we just got done playing basketball and i jammed one of my fingers and its beginning to look like a sausage! And typing isn't very fun.

Me and Elder Wilson have been working so hard this last week and it payed off!! We had a good amount of our investigators attend church and we set a few dates for people to be baptized! They are finally starting to keep commitments, and its the best! We've been patient.. And the Lord is now blessing us! We have also found 2 more people that have been SOO prepared to receive the gospel. I don't think there is a better feeling in the world when you are guided by the spirit to find those who are ready!

Ha i want to tell you about a CRAZY but awesome experience that we had and that i'll never forget... So we received a referral from church headquarters and it was for a less-active member..We called and set us a lesson and the night of the appointment we went to the address where she lived and it looked like a big apartment building.. We walked in and were looking at the people and all around and we realized that something was not right.. The lady at the front desk was like you must be here for so and so.. Let me go grab her for you! Then she said "if anyone tries to bug you just tell them to go to their rooms." At this point i was like what?? And then i looked to my left and saw a sign that said "Prairie View Mental Hospital." We sat down and soon enough a couple people were trying to take our backpacks and our name-tags and it was a mess. And FINALLY this guy came out of the room and stopped them and made them give our stuff back. It was crazy. We had no idea what to do.
Ha then the Lady brought back the girl we were supposed to meet with and she had Schizophrenia. We began teaching her and all the sudden after 15 minutes or so we had 15 or 20 people who lived in the Hospital listening to us! It was cool. The hospital workers said that that was the most calm those people had ever been. And that they had never sat down for more than 2 minutes at a time let alone for a 30 or45 minute lesson! They invited us to come back each week. So hopefully some good will come from that!

On Thursday.. We had a member of the quorum of the 70 tour our mission! And it was an awesome experience. He taught us all about covenants and about our calling. It was incredible how strong the spirit was. I have never felt it like that before. It made me have a whole new desire to keep the covenants i made when i was baptized and in the temple and so on..

Anyways.. Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a privilege, and i don't think that we will ever understand how truly lucky that we are to to have the fullness of the Gospel. It gives us not only the desire, but the ability to wake up tomorrow, a better person than we were today! It comes down to 2 things for me. The Gospel that we teach is first a gospel of Logic. Meaning that it just makes sense. And second, its a Gospel of Hope like its talked about in the 13th Article of Faith. I love the church and i love how its blessed my life! It means the world to me, and i can't ever see myself without it. Its now more apart of me that i ever could have hoped for! The "sacrifice" of going on a mission isn't so much of a sacrifice anymore. Because the blessings i am receiving and will receive in the future are far better than anything i'd ever have to sacrifice.

I love you family and thank you for all the emails! They mean a lot and i love hearing how the family is doing on both sides! And remember the words of Paul "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Have a good Thanksgiving week! I'm excited! Haha.. We will be at the Jolleys house Mom! The guy that you met that one time! I'm excited!

Dad thanks for the email! I am going to start to read Psalms and Proverbs more often! They have good stuff!
Mom Thanks for the Card! :) I loved it! Haha!
Grandma and Jake Shaw thanks for the email!!! I loved it! Keep em coming!
Thanks for the Pictures court! :) Behr looks like he's growing! And i'm very excited to see Parks! Haha..

Love Elder Russell!

Week 39

Hello Family and Friends! Wow.. What a week it has been.. I love sitting here and looking back at the experiences that i want to share with you..! Gives me a minute to just relax and think! Haha.. And i have learned to appreciate those moments more than i ever thought i would!

Anyways.. Some great things have happened and some not so great things have happened, but that's ok because thats life! Just as soon as our investigators start to get really excited about the church.. Someone(usually a family member or friend of theirs) tears it down. And we spend time building there testimony back up and addressing there concerns. But a really cool thing was said by one of our investigators. He said.."you know what.. this is between me and God. And i'm not going to listen to anyone anymore besides him!!" Ha it was very cool to hear and i have a feeling that he will be baptized soon.

We also had another awesome experience with some investigators.. They are 7th Day Adventists and they are VERY engrained in there faith. But they took on the challenge to search out our church and find out if the Book of Mormon was true. 7th day Adventists don't believe that the spirit and the body separate after death. And we were showing them scriptures in the Bible and they were twisting and turning these verses and turning them into things that they weren't. So i finally just said. "we take the Bible for what it is and for what it says. Anyone can change it to make it sound however they want. But when it says something, we believe it, and when it contradicts itself, we have the Book of Mormon to teach us real truth." I felt the spirit so strongly when i said this.. And so did they. We are teaching them again tonight and i'm very excited.

Haha.. So funny story.. Our mission rule towards the music we can listen to has just changed. We can only listen to Mormon Tab Choir now instead of LDS artists. Me and my companion read that at the exact same time in the weekly Presidents email, and we just looked at each other, and he threw his fists in the air and yelled.. "NO!!!!!" Haha people were staring at him and it was SOO funny. I'm excited tho.. It'll be a good rule to follow. So mom, i'll probably be sending some of the CD's that i have home.

I have a cool story that i want to share with you guys.. We often walk into places with large groups of people, and we get some pretty funny looks, or people will point, or it will get quiet.. And that used to drive me CRAZY! People judging me for the way i'm dressed and the nametag that i wear. They don't even know me as a person but yet they are so shut down to me because of who and what i represent. For a while i would avoid big groups of people like that because it bugged me so bad. But on Saturday night, we got approval to go to a high school play that a less-active member would be participating in. We showed up right as the play was starting, and they had not opened the doors. We walked in and it was the usual thing, people were staring, and a few pointed at us, and i felt like a deer in the headlights. Just as i was about to pretend to dig something out of my backpack a scripture popped into my head that has changed my life forever!

" For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;" For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

These scriptures ran through my mind as clear as day and i looked up and smiled, and in my mind i said.. "I am not ashamed." I felt so happy and i learned a valuable lesson.

Thank you for the emails and dad i'm glad that you like the Field of Dreams shirt! And mom thanks for the email too! I'm glad things are going well. And you can send that little Christmas tree here to Fayette if you'd like! We need some decorations! Ha i'm used to decorations being up the night of Halloween! :) Hah i miss that! and yes Peter liked his shirt!

I love you family! your the greatest!

Love Elder Russell

Week 38

Hello My Family!

This week has been a good, exciting, disappointing, new, fun, not so fun, and crazy week! But nonetheless its been amazing, because each day out here my love for the Savior grows and i know that God is always the same, and that he loves me. I've also learned that if we get down or disappointed that Satan wins twice! And we dont want that! Haha..

This last Friday, we had a jam packed day planned with new investigators and investigators that we were going to set dates with, and members coming to the lessons and it was going to be good.. But as each lesson came around we got calls telling us something had happened and that they would have to re-schedule! Ha.. It was frustrating to say the least.. But the Lord needed us elsewhere and we met some really good people and have some new potential investigators.. So that was good.

Anyways.. Like i said last week we have so many people that are SO close to finding out for themselves that its true. And i've been fasting and praying so hard to see success in this area before i leave. I;m very excited to see what the Lord has in store for me and Elder Wilson.

We had Stake Conference this weekend in Iowa and we got a new stake president! He had been serving for 11 years as the Stake President and you could see how sad he really was to leave his calling. He gave his last talk and he talked about serving with your whole heart and he was proud to say that he gave his all his 10 years.. He admitted that he wasn't perfect but he worked hard. It made me think about my mission and how its only 2 years.. There was a greater desire to work hard and have no regrets at the end of my mission, and to be able to say that "i gave my all" at the end of my 2 years.

I was also reading in Alma 11, 12, 13, 14 this morning for study.. And i decided that NOTHING that we are asked to do as missionaries is too hard. In these chapters Alma and Amulek are amazing missionaries. Then they are bound with chords and brought before the chief judge. People are falsely accusing them and they are beaten and spit upon for days..! And the people who believed what Alma and Amulek were burned at the stake and murdered.Reading these chapters kind of made me feel very lucky. And i think i will look at my challenges a little differently. Because at least im not being held captive and being beaten. i'm a very lucky person to have this gospel!!

I love you family! I'm out of time.
Dad the Ephesians and the D&C 121, 22, 23 was awesome!! I used that a lot.Thank you!


LOve elder russell

Week 37

Hello Family!

We got a busy day today so i dont have much time.. Sorry. Its Transfer week and i'll be staying here in Fayette for 1 more transfer. So that means that i'll be leaving here December 15th. Which SUCKS!! haha i'm leaving right before Christmas.. But thats alright.. I'll be ok. But if you are going to send Christmas things make sure you send them to the Mission Office. 8515 Douglas Ave #19 Urbandale IA, 50322 And make sure you send them ONLY through the post office. Because thats the only way they can forward it to me. If not ill get it 6 weeks after Christmas.

Anyways.. We have SOO many people that are so close to knowing for themselves that the Book of Mormon is true.. Its so awesome and this weekend we have some GREAT lessons lined up in members homes and stuff. I'm very excited and i think that we could have a very successful week. The lesson that we had with the family that we've found got postponed.. But we are teaching them Friday! I have been praying harder than i've ever prayed for that lesson to go well. So I'm very excited. I have committed to work harder this last transfer in Fayette than i have ever worked in my entire life. So i'm excited to see the blessings that will come our way.

Dad, we always use a lot of scriptures from Ephesians so that was cool, and also i LOVE to share the story of Joseph Smith when he is in Liberty Jail when he says "oh god where art thou? and where is thy Pavilion that covereth thy hiding place" then the voice of the Lord says " my son peace be unto thy soul, thine adversities and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment, and if thou endure it well God shall exalt thee on high" haha I dont have my scriptures with me so thats probably not exact word for word.. but those have become some of my FAVORITE scriptures of all times! Thank you! Please keep sending stuff. I use them in my District Meetings all the time!

Anyways.. Things are going great. I cant believe Halloween has come and gone already! Its so crazy to think about last Halloween! With my best Budds up at Utah State! Haha. So fun! I LOVE YOU GUYS!! pretty funny!

We were passing out candy to the trick or treaters on Monday night and we attached mormon.org cards and other pass along cards to the candy! It was pretty funny!

Grandma Russell!! Thanks so much for the package! That was so fun. We have had more fun with those Angry Bird stuffed animals than i think you ever imagined! Haha thank you so much :) and Mom i got your package with the utah stuff in it for Peter and i!! Thank you so much! And Peter is not the guy you met. His name is Bryan. He's an awesome guy too! Haha!
I love you all. Thanks for everything. I've gotta go now! Bye till Monday!

Love Elder Russell

Week 36

Haha Hello Family!!

This week was great. I love being a missionary!

I want to start off with an AWESOME story!! So me and Elder Parkinson, the guy who was in the MTC with me, who's serving in Manchester which is like 45 minutes southeast of Fayette, were on ex-changes and we got to teach a whole Presbyterian Church, of like 40 or so people!! Haha it was one of the coolest experiences of my life!

They were spending some time learning about different religions and they invited us to teach them about our church! So we taught them the Restoration of the Gospel and people were firing soo many questions at us! It was so cool. And it was starting to make sense to a lot of people! Haha we had a good discussion for about a hour or so.. And the Pastor of the church was ready to get us out of there!! He was like "ok people, times up! Lets say a closing prayer" but people just kept asking questions and wanting to learn more. Haha and when we told the congregation about how we don't have a paid ministry, he just about lost it! It was soooo funny! I loved it soo much! Me and Elder Parkinson are gonna be best budds for a long time! Haha..

We also are teaching a Family tonight!! Which is going to be awesome! I have been searching for a family forever and still not been able to find one.. But im hoping and praying this is the one! :) They are the Erickson family and they are very nice! I hope we bring the spirit to their home tonight!

We are still teaching Francine! Which is great! She's soo funny. She has soo many questions. She has a notebook that she writes her questions in and all the ones she's asked us so far and its like 3 and 1/2 pages long! So funny. I love it!

We were knocking doors last night in a town called tiny town called Clermont. And every single person we ran into was not being very nice to say the least.. Haha we knocked on this door and this one lady said "I'm a Lutheran and I don't have time for your silly religion. Get off my property." At this point in the night.. My tolerance for these people was very low. Haha and so i kindly replied "oh so i guess that's how the Lutheran church teaches you how to treat people... " And she just looked at me with the funniest look on her face ever. And she took a pamphlet and let us talk to her for a couple minutes! It was hilarious! Me and Elder Wilson walked away and when she shut the door behind us we looked at each other and quietly laughed! haha it was great. Dad it reminded me of your comment of how the majority of Americans call themselves Christian but only about 25% are active in there faith! It was pretty interesting!

I wanted to tell you guys about a scripture that hit me very hard this last week. Its in Matt 24:14. The Apostles are asking Jesus Christ about signs of the 2nd coming.. And he talks about diseases and sicknesses, and then he talks about people will lie and deceive and things like that.. But then he says that the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven will be preached to all the world. And it hit me so strongly, that I am anxiously engaged in the work that The Savior himself so boldly prophesied of before his 2nd coming. It brought so much peace to my heart. I've never felt anything like it before.

For P-Day today we get to go down to Dyersville Iowa which is in Manchester missionaries area! I'm very excited for that! Field of Dreams baby!! :) I've been wanting to go there for a long time!

Anyways i love you all Family! Thanks for all the support!

Mom i have a favor to ask of you.. will you pleeeaase send me a University of Utah sweatshirt of some kind? Large!
And also Peter is moving to Davenport this week and i wanted to get him a University of Utah shirt! But you cant find those around here.. So i was wondering if you could send me a shirt for him too.. He's taken us golfing like 3 times and paid for us.. So i figured its the least i could do! He's probably size XL.. And send it to the house here in Fayette ASAP!! :) Thanks so much!

I love you fam! Thanks for everything!

Ill talk to you next week!

Love Elder Russell

Week 35

Hello Fam! Good to talk to you again!
Mom thank you for the emails! I appreciate it! :)
These past few weeks have been so up and down but so great! So many learning experiences and also spiritual ones too!

We've been working with a few new people and its been fun. But its sometimes so hard when i think i am explaining things soo clearly.. But they just dont understand. But its ok! They'll get it! Haha
We have been working with Craig now for a while. And we cant commit him to live the Law of Chastity. He doesnt think that he will ever get married again and he cant agree to that. But he loves church and i think that a HUGE change is taking place inside Craig. Its really cool to watch him not swear.. And sing in sacrament meeting.. And all that good stuff! He's a great guy and he's coming around!

We have also been working with a young couple who are 7th day adventists! And we were showing them scriptures in the bible and they were really suprised to see some of the things that we believe to be right out of the Bible! It was pretty cool! They invited us back for dinner and another lesson Sunday(yesterday) but there baby got sick so we're going over on Thursday night now! Im really excited!

We are also teaching a lady named Francine. She's great. She has just about a billion questions for us everytime we meet up, but thats good! It means that she's searching for the truth! We had a really good lesson with her after church about the Plan of Salvation and she is beginning to understand! So thats good! Things are looking up for her! Im excited!

Well.. The week ended with the Baptism of Doris Miller! She is sooo awesome, and we have become such good friends! She asked me to baptize her and that was an experience ill never forget. She was soo happy when she came out of the water. She began to cry and was at a loss for words! Then we asked her to bear her testimony afterwards and she just couldnt speak! She was so filled with the spirit and all she could say was thank you thank you over and over again!

And also.. The Branch here in Fayette made an awesome missionary effort, and rented out a theatre and played the movie 17 Miracles! And we got it approved to go! It was SOO amazing! I had no idea about all those miracles that took place crossing the plains! Thats amazing and the church is soo true! I love it! There were a ton of non members and it was great for everyone to see. The churches efforts are paying off and things are definately changing! Its great to watch it take place!

Haha so cool story.. Extreme Makeover Home Edition was in our area this last week!! They were re-doing a farm house in a city called West Union. And its going to be on in January! We tried to get on it.. But they said we'd have to take off the white shirts and nametags and we said no thanks!! haha and walked away. The house they built is pretty sweet tho! And the family is definately very deserving!

Mom and Dad i loved your card! It was great! haha i laughed pretty hard when i got it! So thank you! I needed that! haha! :)

Mom i'm glad you got to meet Momma Stone! She's great! haha.. She takes goood care of me and i love her! I knew you guys would be good friends!

Im sorry to hear about the things that are going on in the family... But i couldn't realize what they would be like if we didn't have the church! So im grateful for that! Just remember that the scriptures really do bring true happiness. And in the words of our Prophet, "the atonement of Jesus Christ can raise any hands, that hopelessly hang down." I know that the church is true.. And that we go through our trials for very specific reasons. God loves us so much.

I have got to get going now! Im thankful for all that you do for me! Ill hope to hear from you all next week!

Love Elder Russell

week 34

Wow.. What a special week and weekend! We are so lucky to have a Prophet and apostles who love and teach us. I was able to watch all sessions of conference and it was great! Also.. Dorris watched the sessions with us. All 4 of them and she LOVED them!! She said so many of the talks just hit her straight in the heart and afterwards.. she "just wants to be a better person." We explained that thats what the spirit does. It uplifts and encourages us to do good! She is eternally grateful for God allowing us to meet with her and teach her about the church. She already has such a strong testimony.

Elder Eyring's talk in Priesthood meeting hit me to the core. Towards the end of his talk, he talked about working so hard that you can hardly keep your head lifted when you get a moment to sit. I feel like i have been working hard.. But that made me want to take it to a whole new level. And we already have been! Last night we visited a 77 year old lady(very stubborn) who has been devout, practicing catholic her whole life. She told us that she wasn't interested, and a few other things.. haha And then i said to her " would you leave something as important as your salvation for question? If i were you i would do everything i could to make sure that my soul was secure and ready for the kingdom of God." Then i bore my testimony and when i was finished her mouth was open and she invited us in to teach her more. It was amazing! She said that she would read and pray about the book of mormon and if she came to know it was true she'd be baptized.. ha but she doesn't think that's going to happen. But we left it in God's hands and that's all we can do.

We also have been able to teach Craig Murray. Haha.. He has had a pretty rough life and has spent some time in prison. And he has the mouth of s sailor! hahah!! oh man.. So we've been teaching him about the change of heart that takes place when you come to know that the church is true.. And also how we will have no desire to do evil when we realize the effect it has on the world! And we are seeing, slowly but surely, a change taking place in Craig. Its pretty cool! And we are going to try and set a date for him to be baptized on tonight! it'll be pretty fun :)

Ha so me and Elder Wilson are getting along great. Its SOOOOOO goood to have a companion that is willing to work and be obedient. It changes the whole spirit of things. He snores pretty loud at night.. And supposedly... I do too. So each night after comp prayer we get folded socks and put em by our bed's so if we cant sleep because the other one is snoring we throw the socks at each other to stop them from snoring. Its so funny. I got drilled right in the face last night with a pair of socks and i woke up kind of angry.. But then i just started to laugh. It was like 3 in the morning and we were laughing so hard. I love it. We wake up with socks all around us.

One of my favorite things about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it makes the little small things, seem so special and amazing. When we come to realize that God created everything and everyone, everything and everyone becomes so interesting and so new and exciting simply because God played a part in it. And then i came across a quote that was in the book that Steve Chapman gave me and it said.. "There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people." and that was pretty cool.

I'm figuring things out about life that i never even knew existed before my mission. I'm trying so hard to live a good and worthy life so i can have the Holy Ghost with me at all times. And the mysteries of God are being planted so deeply in my heart that there is nobody who could tell me this work isn't true. I love the church and its teaching, and its structure. It's true!!

Thank you Mom and Dad for the emails! They mean a lot! Dad i always use and learn something in your emails that i need to tell someone this upcoming week! So thank you for them! It means a lot. I love you all and thank you for all the support you show me! Mom thank you so much for the package! it was great and ill send you a picture of my decorated study desk! haha its pretty sweet!! I gotta go now! Things are great. Im not sick anymore and we're workin hard!

love Elder Russell

Week 33

Hi Fam!

Wow.. I've got some news for you! THings are going great out here and my new companions name is Elder Wilson. He is from Lehi Utah and he is fresh out tha MTC. haha. Its so funny.. Its bringing back old memories thats for sure..

Anyways.. We have had an awesome week and things are going great!

I told you a little bit about Dorris last week. We have been able to teach her 2 times this week and things could not be going any better. We set a baptismal date with her for Oct 16th and she accepted. The lessons we have are so jammed packed with the spirit its unbelievable! She's definately been prepared by the Lord! And we are becoming to be way good friends! Haha we're always joking around and i feel like she is my grandma out here in Iowa! So fun!!

We had one lesson with Dorris at a members home who's name is Trudy Fuhriman. She has one of the strongest testimonies i've ever heard, and her son Peter has become my real good friend too! They both did an awesome job in the lesson and they have become Dorris's good friend as well! Things are workin out for us right now and i'm loving it!

Anyways.. In the little college town that we are in right now.. They're are 32 different nationalities that go to the college. We have been talking to some Pakistan people.. Haha and also some people from France, Germany, Russia, and all over europe! I always ask them why they chose to come to Fayette IA of all places, for college. And they almost always say they didn't care where they went to school as long as they came to the USA! It made me realize how lucky we are! Pretty sweet..

I've got sick these last few days. With a cold or somethin.. ITs not fun. Haha pray for me.

I've gotta go now. We challenged Peter to a basketball game and we gotta go kick his but! Haha just kidding he's really good. But still..

i love you fam! Thanks for everything. Keep being safe. And remember. Dont do anything i wouldnt do. haha just kidding.

loveyoulongtime

Love, Elder Russell

Week 32

Such a solid week.. So much to tell you.. And so little time.

First off last Friday we went to Nauvoo! And it was great. I love being in the temple. There is no better place. And then after the temple we decided to go to Carthage Jail!! And that was unbelievable! Such an amazing spirit. They play this tape and i envisioned in my mind the mob running up the stairs and the shots fired, and then Joseph jumping out the window and it felt so real!! SO amazing. Loved it! and Dad yes angel moroni is facing west on the Nauvoo temple. and on all the others its facing east. And a temple worker told me that one of the many reasons they did it is because they wanted angel moroni to watch over and protect them on their journey west! Pretty sweet!

Next off.. IM A DADDY!! haha.. So in our mission and probably a lot of others.. When you train a new missionary you become a dad. Haha.. So Elder Ferrin was my dad, and tomorrow im gettin my first boy! Pretty exciting! Our district is a district of 4 missionaries.. And elder Parkinson, the guy who was in the MTC with me, my real good friend, is also training! haha so its gonna be us and the new missionaries and i have been called as the district leader as well. Pretty exciting stuff.

Next off.. The baptisms of Lexy and Marilyn went AWESOME! such a special spirit. i love when hard work pays off. Thats truly missionary work! I also love using the priesthood. Nothing better.

Also.. We found a very solid investigator! Her name is Dorris Miller and she's a 62 year old woman! She is so awesome! And has just searching for the truth! She said back when she was in Colorado, she would see the missionaries and kind of just hide, or not answer the door, and what everyone usually does. But when we found her she said that something was telling her that we had the truth that she was looking for! I was blown away when she told us that.

She told us a little about her and how she has had a really rough life. Her husband is very rude to her and she goes into diabetic coma's everyonce in a while! One time she went into a coma and layed on her kitchen floor,dying, and her husband just walked over her and went to the car races in town. My heart just dropped for her and i felt so bad. I told her that she could find happiness with our message and we also gave her a priesthood blessing and she loved that. She said she felt so good inside. So that was an awesome experience! We talked about baptism and she "well of course!!" haha! Its great to be a tool in the Lords hands! So much happiness can come from it!

I feel like i have more to tell you, but i left my planner at home. Haha.. Thats always a bummer. We played basketball with some branch members this morning for some excersize and that was great. Me and this guy named Peter Thompson here in the branch have become really good friends! And we bring out the best in eachother when it comes to sports! haha!

Anyways.. of to transfer meeting tomorrow morning! im pretty excited! change is a good thing on the mission i have decided. and im definately reaady for a new companion! haha.

I love you all. thanks for the emails and prayers! you all mean so much to me

Love elder russell

Week 31

another epic week has gone by! and i love it!!!

Haha.. But i have noticed lately that i am so tired.. All the time. I guess that's just the life of a missionary!

Also.. I have been a master chef lately.. Haha.. we have awesome breakfasts, and when members dont feed us we have way good dinners. I was SO sick of microwave pizza and top ramen and toast.. So i decided to put an end to that! I love it. Its so fun!

Haha random thought.. I have had some CRAZY dreams this week.. With people in them that i haven't thought about since i left! So funny. I wake up in the middle of the night and i just start laughing. Soo weird.

Anyways.. things are going great out here on the mission.
Yesterday at church we gave a lesson in our Gospel Principles class about Charity. It was an AWESOME lesson and our investigator Jennifer was in tears! SHe is so awesome. And has such a soft heart.

Anyways.. Talexis(lexy) and Marilyn are going to be baptized this upcoming Sunday after church! They are so excited!! Haha they have become pretty good friends because of the church and they have a countdown going on and all that good stuff! There is something about teaching younger kids the gospel that is SO hard.. But SOO rewarding. At any rate.. They are very excited and Lexy wants me to baptize her! So that will be a special experience for the both of us!

Anyways.. I have been studying Christ life a LOT lately... I've been reading things in Jesus the Christ and the other day i read the Sermon on the Mount! And that is awesome! I've read it before but something clicked this time i read it. When it says "that the mourner shall be comforted because he shall see the divine purpose in his grief" that hit me so strongly! And it made me realize that challenges really are here to make us strong. And one day we will fully realize that!

I think that I am enjoying my mission so much because i finally feel like i'm doing exactly what i'm supposed to be doing. Before... Life was good. But there were a lot of things that i was missing out on! Im grateful for this time that i have to serve. Life is good...

Anyways.. Things are going great.. And transfers are coming up here pretty soon. We got permission to go to Nauvoo again! Haha so we're going this Friday with some members here in Fayette! Im really excited. I love the temple!

Things are going good.. And im keepin very busy.

I love you all!!

Love Elder Russell

Week 30

Wow.. This week has been.. Especially Delicious.. Hahaha Nacho!!

The weather is finally cooling down and i LOVE it! :) Haha.. not excited for winter tho.

Anyways.. We had a ton of awesome things happen this week!

First off we have a few new investigators! One's name is Sara Flores. She is a single mom of 3 kids and we found her by knockin doors! Which is pretty rare in these parts of the mission. We taught her the first lesson and she LOVED it. She is anxious to learn more and read and pray! So I really hope all goes well with her. She has been prepared!

I've told you all about Jennifer before... We've been teachin her for a while now! She can't be baptized just yet, but she wants her daughter Marilyn to be baptized and that is prettty awesome!! So we set a date with her and things are going great!

The miracle of the week took place on Sunday. We've been workin with this Less-Active member, and his name is Jack Rainer. For some reason missionaries in the past had given up on him because sometimes he wouldn't answer the door, or avoid them, and all that.. So we met with him last week and he told us that he was just about done with everything.. And he was going to give up because he always felt so depressed and so angry and had said that church wasn't doing anything for him. So we told him to come to church and we told him that he would find his answer and that God would prove to him that He does love him. So come Sunday morning, Jack shows up to church and he's being his usual quiet self. Then during the priesthood meeting he said that something over took him.. And that he felt so happy.The lesson was on "finding peace within" and it was absolutely perfect for him. He said he felt like the world had been lifted off his shoulders and he was soo happy! He's a totally different guy! He wants to come to every lesson we teach now with us and he also wants to bring all his friends! haha! it was soo SWEET! Im happy the Lord delivered the promise that we made Jack!

I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary! It's so awesome and so life changing. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Love, Elder Russell

Week 29

What a week!!

Haha.. Its been an awesome week and i don't even kno where to start!!

I guess i'll start with the funny story..

So Iowa used to be world famous for Pheasant hunting.. And its not anymore because farmers have destroyed the land that they live on! So.. There is a guy in our neighborhood,(who reminds me a lot of Steve Erwin/Bear Grylls by the way..) who owns a bunch of land and is trying to get pheasants to come back and populate his land! And there cant be any trees on the land. So he asked if we would help him go chop down tree's with him so we said that we would! The next day we went over and he told us what to do and we went into this field and we were chopped down tree's! We were going along and all of the sudden i saw something black start running towards me!! Haha.. And Steve Grylls saw it too and he was like "TAKE COVER!! ITS A SKUNK!!" so we all three took off back towards the car! It was Hilarious. We were tripping over each other, all so terrified to get sprayed by the skunk, and laughing so hard. Good times.. And then..
We got out of the field and Steve Grylls was like "hold still Elder Russell, dont move" And there was a spider, that was honestly as big as my hand right on my chest!!! I freaked out and then he caught it and took it home! hahha funniest day of my life.

On a spiritual note..
The Lord has blessed us with 2 baptisms this past week!! :) They were the first baptism's here in Fayette in over a year!
Shacari and Tyson Losee were baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! It was an AWESOME baptismal service. I had the opportunity to baptize Tyson! And also to confirm Shacari.. And that was very very special! That family has come such a long way since the first time that we met with them! And they all have such a strong and special spirit now!! For the baptismal service, i had asked Shawnda(T&S's mom) to say the closing prayer. Her prayer was sooo awesome. She kept saying thank you for the angels that you have sent us to get us back on the right path, and to teach us, and to be our new friends in this gospel. Then she said mine, and Elder Girvin's names.. And i realized that the angels that she was talking about, were us! That blew me out of the water, and i just started crying.
I looked back at my mission and specifically the times where i asked myself why i'm out here.. And i promised myself that i would NEVER think that again. Because now its more clear that it has ever been. I am out here to bring people the blessings that God has in store for them! And there is nothing better!

The college here is in full force, and we have some new investigators that are 19 and 20 year olds! Which is pretty cool. I like teaching kids that are my own age. I feel like i can relate to them much easier! One of their names, is Nick Acoba. He is from Hawaii and has had a small past with missionaries in Hawaii. He is an awesome kid and we are going to try and arrange a trip down to Nauvoo with him! That would be SWEET! He knows the Book of Mormon is true and its already helped him in his time away from his family!

Anyways.. I'm lovin being a missionary! Its a blast! And a life changing experience! The gospel is so unbelievably true! And i know it!

Thank you for the emails! Dad, those scriptures in Kings are pretty sweet! And i will definitely use them! Along with the other ones!

LOVE ELDER RUSSELL

Week 28

Yoyoyo Fam! Whats up?


This week has been a blast!

A mission is definitely an emotional roller coaster.. And sometimes its hard for me to remember that people have their agency! Haha..

Anyways.. We went to that Amish Haystack dinner again.. and this time it wasn't too bad! We didn't get as many weird looks.. And the whole place didn't break into quiet whispers.. "the Mormons are here" hahah! It made me happy.

Anyways.. We have had some very solid lesson's this week. We seem to rely much more on the spirit to tell us what to do and we can see a huge difference in the lessons and in the people we teach!

We had a lesson with Jennifer and she expressed a desire to be baptized. She says that she knows its true and she wants a good path for her and her 2 youngest kids. But.. Unfortunately some things have to happen first before she can get baptized. She's living with her boyfriend.. And they have to get married!! But before that she has to divorce the guy that she's still "legally" married too! Haha.. You can only imagine how crazy it was committing her to get married.. And then baptized! But the spirit told her that its something that she needs to do and she has already started the process. They say that divorce takes 90 days to file and complete. So it will be a while! But i know that the Lord will help in this process and help us get this worked out!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to help people. We are trying to align people's lives with the Savior's teaching so they can be blessed! Its pretty cool!

We have run into a lot of people that wanted to argue about religion with us. And instead of trying to reasonably show them scriptures.. We ask them one question.. We ask them if they would be willing to read the Book of Mormon with real intent and an open heart. And if they say yes that's great(which never happens).. But if they say no.. We tell them sorry but we have people who are! Its been awesome!

Thanks for the emails! I love you all! Things are going great and we are so close with so many people! I know that the Lord will bless us! I pray for you all!

Love Elder Russell

Week 27

Thiss week was SWEET ! So many blessings coming our way.. And i'm so grateful for it!

The past 3 weeks have been good.. But hard because our investigators have not been keeping commitments! But this week was different...
Last week i fasted for the investigators that we have to keep commitments and yesterday we had 7 investigators at church!! That was unbelievable!! I'm pretty sure that's never happened here in Fayette! Haha.. They Lord blesses us for sacrificing on his and others behalf! It was amazing! And as a bonus.. The talks that were given in sacrament meeting were perfect for our investigators! What a good day..

We had a lot of opportunities to use the priesthood this week as well.. A lot of blessings of comfort and counsel.. And also of healing! I love using the priesthood! Its the most powerful tool that God has put on this earth.. And it amazes me that we have it! A less-active member lost 3 family members in the same week.. Due to car accidents and drugs! He was soo depressed and had mentioned a few times how he thought life wasn't worth really living anymore! I offered to give him a blessing and he accepted. The spirit was so unbelievably strong in that little room we were in.. And he wouldn't stop saying thank you and gave me and my companion like 3 hugs each! Haha it was an awesome experience!

Hahha.. So we had a REALLY funny experience this week as well. There is a member here.. Her name is Joanna.. And her family really doesn't like the church.. Or anything about it. They needed some extra hands around their farm and so we offered our service. We were milking cows and livin the farm life.. Haha it was a really fun couple hours! We were laughin, telling stories, and we got to talk about the gospel a little bit too! The family really warmed up to us too! It was fun to get to know them and they said that we could come back sometime and help aagain! Haha.. So that was awesome service and the member, Joanna, was so grateful.. She said thats the first time that her mom or dad had even talked to the missionaries without a bad attitude.

Haha.. So at least once or twice a week we get come crazy people telling us things that they think about our church.. We had this older guy come up to us and start telling us that in the spires of the SLC temple we have missles and any day now we are going to launch them off and destroy the whole world! We tried to take it seriously and explain to him... But i just started laughing SOO hard and i let my companion do the explaining! He was still pretty convinced that we were going to take over the whole world.. Haha..

This weekend in Fayette county.. It was Watermelon Days.. Kind of like Draper Days back at home. We went contacting around the city block and tried to meet some new people. Haha and some people were just absolutely disgusted with us. They would give us the dirtiest looks and tell us to basically.. Get out of town. We decided to take one more lap around the block.. And all of the sudden this college kid comes yellin... "Elders, Elders!" Haha.. it was the weirdest thing in the world.
He was from Hawaii and he had talked to the missionaries from Hawaii and wants to meet with us! So we are going to meet with him tonight! And hopefully some good will come from that!

On P-Day last week.. We got to go to this place called Backbone State Park.. It was pretty fun. Really pretty place! Northeast Iowa is pretty sweet. I really do love it here and im really glad that i am here! Today we are going mountain biking with a less active member who loves to mountain bike! Im so excited! It should be a lot of fun. Although.. The so called "mountains" here aren't very mountainous.. ha!

Yesterday we got to go out to a place called Lansing IA. Its about 1 and 1/2 hours away from the church.. But its still in our area. Its a AWESOME town right next to the Mississippi river! So pretty there. We visited the families that live there and we had really awesome visits. They never come to church because its so far of a drive.. But they are really cool people and i was glad that we got to meet them. One of the families had a really nice house.. And a sweet barn with these horse's called Fresians. They are 40,000$ horses and they had 6 of them! It made me want to have a horse when im older.. Hha..!

This week has been one of the most spiritually uplifting weeks i've had in a while! Its so different here than it was in my last area.. But we are finding the people that are ready to accept the gospel. Its been a process, and the Lord has tested me. And i am now beginning to feel his blessings! And they are great. I love the church and this opportunity i have to serve! Its pretty sweet. Nothin like it really!

Shacari and Tyson are ready to be baptized.. We are going to talk about it this upcoming week. We are excited to finally get them going and ready!
Jennifer and her daughter Marilyn loved church.. And we are going to work out a day for them as well. Things are going great. I'm loving the life of a missionary..

Thank you family and friends for the support! I love you all!

Kash what was the name of the missionary that met me on the ski lift?

Love elder russell

Week 26

Hey Family! I'm sorry.. Today i don't have much time.. But this last week has been a good one!

This Sunday we had a new investigator at church! Her name is Lexi Cichey! She is awesome and was introduced to the gospel by her neighbor who is a solid member!
We taught her and extended a invitation to be baptized and she's accepted! Pretty cool! We will continue to work with her and get her ready!

For our other investigators.. Tyson and Shacari's mom decided not to come to church this week for the 2nd week in a row.. And that was really frustrating! We are going to have a lesson with them sometime this week.. That will probably be a little more serious! So that will be good. Jennifer was in Arkansas this last weekend! She actually just called us told us that she made it back safely and that she wants us to come bowling with her and her family this Wednesday! So that will be really fun! Im looking forward to that!

We have so many people that we are teaching that are so close to truly understanding the gospel! I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for these people! This week could be a very successful one!

If there is one thing that i have learned this week is.. It would be that to get people interested in the Gospel.. You have to find common ground! And the bible is NOT common ground!! Ha ha every time someone try's to talk with us about the bible.. It does no good! So many mis-understood scriptures.. So me and my companion decided to only talk about the Book of Mormon. No matter what the circumstance! And it turned out to be really cool! People get a taste of what the Book of Mormon is really like and how it clears things up! We've given out quite a few copies this last week and i think some good will come from that!

Anyways.. I've gotta go! Im glad to hear your doing well! Thanks for the updates!

LOVEYOULONGTIMEFAMILYANDFRIENDS!

Sorry i dont have much time this week! Ill email more next week!

Love Elder Russell

Week 25

Hey Fam!
This week has been a good one!

Yesterday.. Sunday.. Was a rather disappointing day tho.. We had 4 investigators lined up to come to church who seemed pretty solid and none of them showed up to church.. It was brutal! As a missionary, church without investigators is so hard!! So hopefully in these coming weeks it wont happen again!

On Wednesday i had an opportunity to do ex-changes with a missionary that was in the MTC with me named elder Parkinson. I love that guy.. He's from Mapelton! Ex-changes were soo fun and we had a good ole time. We'll be friends forever and i hope that we get to serve together sometime!

We had a lesson with Jennifer and it was SWEET! We asked her how her Book of Mormon reading and praying was going and she's is plowing through the Book and praying about it too! She says she feels so peaceful when she reads it. She also said that "for the first time prayer wasn't awkward!" She actually felt like she was talking to somebody instead of herself!! When she said that the spirit was so strong! It was an awesome experience! Its amazing how helping somebody come to know their Savior strengthens your knowledge and testimony that he is in fact, really there!

When i was on ex-changes with elder Parkinson.. We had an opportunity to teach about 25 people(members and non-members) the Doctrine of Christ! It was awesome! We had a few non members ask for a Book of Mormon and hopefully we will get some new people to teach from that! The only time i had ever taught that many people before was at a baptism.. I was pretty scared but it turned out to be an awesome experience. I relied on the spirit pretty strongly there and i'm glad that God helped us out! hahaha

Anyways.. Unfortunately.. Because of some crazy things that were going on in the apartments that we live in.. We are moving this week! We are renting out a small little house here in town and that will be kinda fun to have something new..

Well thats it for this week! Thanks for bein a great family and support system! I love you all..

Some members are taking us golfing today.. And im really excited about that! it should be fun!
I love you all! Tomorrow is my 6 month mark! woot woot! pretty crazy

Love Elder Russell

Mom.. Send the package to:
111 Washington St.
Fayette IA, 52142.

Its best for YOU(only family) to send stuff there! If you send it to the mission home, make sure it is only sent through the united states post office! Because if not, they cant forward it to me and it'll be sitting there for a while before i get it!

Week 24

Hello my Fam!
This week has been a funny one.. Haha..

So on Tuesday night.. We went to this thing called the Haystack dinner with 2 couples that are members. Its a dinner that the Amish people throw for a fundraiser for their schools.. They usually serve around 500 to 600 people in one night. So as we're walkin in to this building where the food is.. these little Amish 3-6 year olds are just staring at us.. And some are running away and hiding behind cars and trash cans. I was like man.. This is crazy!! Who do they think we are?? Haha.. Then we walked in through the doors of the building and people started staring at us. I felt like i was in one of those old movies where the bad guy walks into the store and everyone runs away and it gets really quiet. Seriously It was crazy! People got really quiet and we heard people whispering.. "the mormons are here" Haha like we couldnt hear!!! I dont think that i have ever felt so out of place! Haha.. It was soo funny tho... We got our food and sat in a corner all by ourselves and had a good time! The Amish make thee best homeade ice cream and pie i've ever had! haha.. Definately an experience ill never forget.

Anyways.. We are teaching a lady named Jennifer. She lives in a town way outside of where we are called Arlington. She has had such a rough upbringing and a rough past and says thats its hard for her to believe that God really does love her. We began teaching her the Doctrine Of Christ and explained that when we follow the 5 steps that are outlined in the doctrine, God will prove to us that he loves us. The spirit bore strong testimony to her and she is beginning to have faith. And thats the first step. We talked to her about repentance and how it can remove guilt and help her feel happy, which is God's way of showing his love for us. She is on her way to a better life! Its awesome! She is beginning to be so happy!

Haha.. So me and my companion Elder Girvin are out of miles in our car.. And we needed to help a less active member is Oelwein who was going through a rough time. So we had the brilliant idea of biking 15 miles out to Oelwein in 95 degree.. that feels like 103. with no water.. Haha.. And it was rough!! I was prayin that someone would stop and give us a ride! But instead people were just passing by and some of them would laugh.. Or pretend to pull over.. Then speed off real quick leaving a cloud of exhaust for us to suck in! This area of Iowa is VERY different than any other area.. Haha.. People are so lost. And are so far from the truth! Its crazy! Im probably making it sound worse that it really was too.. But its definately different than anything i've ever experienced.

But the cool thing is.. Is that never once did i get discouraged or was afraid.. Never once did i ask myself "what am i doing out here" like i might have in the past. And i know its because i have been praying for strength to deal with any situation that comes at me! The Lord has granted me that strength and i began to feel sorrow for those people who passed us by and laughed. We have something that would be of such great benefit to them!! And they are so blind! One day they will realize..

But we made it to Oelwein.. And i was so grateful that we did. Because the less active member was having a very hard time and having some serious doubts about the church and we worked out her concerns and questions and she came to church the next sunday and had a great time. She says now that she understands what the gospel is about!!

Bein a missionary is somethin else.. Its truly an experience of a life time! And im grateful i get to have this opportunity to serve! Thank you family for all that you do! I love and miss you all! Sounds like the summer has been a good one! :)

Mom or Lexee. What is BJ's address to his house in Mid-Way? I wanna send them letters.

Lexee. Thank you for the pictures!! So fun to see. I love Zanders hair cut! HAHA!

Dad and Mom! I enjoyed reading your talks!! They sounded great! Thanks

SEND ME SOME PRINTED PICTURES SO I CAN HAVE THEM WITH ME!

Love you all!!

Elder Russell

Week 23

Hello everyone from Iowa!

Haha.. I have been very lucky thus far in the summer and haven't had to deal with any extreme heat or humidity.. But it has been BRUTAL these last few days! It up to 97 degrees with 100% humidity! Its unbelievable! Haha.. I dont think that i have stopped sweating for the last 3 days!
First off.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEXEE AND GRANDMA!! Haha.. and I think Zach too! Cant remember.. Sorry! And yes mom.. I got your package and thank you!! That was the first piece of mail i've had in a while!! So thank you..
And congrats to Jed and Court! I've got a new nephew!! haha! Love it!

Anyways.. Well.. Unfortunately Shacari and Tyson didnt get baptized this week.. But there mom just wants to wait a few weeks so they understand a little more. Which is totally understandable! So in the next few weeks we will hopefully get them baptized! We went up there on Tuesday.. And had a lesson on obedience! It went well.. Its so cool to see the change in people, even young kids, when you teach them about the gospel. I think that is my favorite part of teaching. Seeing the change that comes from the gospel. I love seeing and realizing how i've changed as a person too as i've become a missionary! Its pretty cool stuff!

Anyways.. We had a chance to go see the worlds smallest church that happens to be in our area.. Pretty sweet! I sent a postcard to you guys and another friend.. So im glad to hear that you got them! :)

Anyways.. I had another AWESOME experience down in Nauvoo! We got to go to the pageant on Friday night! It was great. The struggle and the trials that the saints went through is soo amazing! And i am so grateful for them and all their sacrafices that they made for us.. I feel like i am in debt to them forever!!

Haha on Saturday a good friend was traveling to St. Louis and stopped by and took us to dinner!! BRANDON TYNDALL! Haha.. It was so good to see that guy! I loved it.. Thanks Brando!! Love you man!!

Im sorry this week's email is so short!! I forgot my planner at the apartment.. And i cant really remember other thiings i wanted to write about! I had a lot of spiritual experiences but ill just have to tie them into next week's email! I love you all and miss you too! I love bein a missionary! Its great!

Love Elder Russell

Week 20, 21, 22

Week 22
Whats up Fam! Another week gone by.. It blows my mind. Anyways.. This week has been full of adventures and spiritual experiences and im excited to tell you about em!

We decided to go to Arlington and visit the only member there in town who is actually a less active member. We visited her with one of our ward missionaries who's name is Joanna and who has been a convert for a little over a year. We began to talk to her, the less active member, and get to know her and soon enough we had found out that she has given up literally everything to be apart of the church. Her job, her finance, her family, her kids, and everrything. They all abandoned her when she joined the church 13 years ago. She said she feels alone everyday and she wants to go back to her family who does all sorts of bad things! So we shared scriptures with her and the spirit began to grow. We gave her a priesthood blessing and that went great as well. The spirit was strong. Then my companion remembered a video that was shown in a zone conference a couple months back..

Its called "God's Chissel" by the skit guys. You can find it on Youtube.. This video talks about how in the book of Ephesians it says we are God's workmanship.. In essence His masterpiece. God has individually created us and we all have potential to be like him. If we humble ourselves and let him chisel away unwanted attributes that comes sin and the world.. Many great and amazing things are in store for us. I encourage you all to go on youtube and watch this video. It is amazing!! Its amazing enough that our mission president has approved it for us as missionaries to watch with members and investigators!

After we watched this video.. The spirit of the Lord had blown us away and we were all in tears.. We are God's children.. But also his masterpiece. He knows us and loves us and wants whats best for us. She went to church yesterday and it was great. She says that she knows why she is being put through these trials and she is going to rely on the church and God to help her out now instead of herself.


I have some really good news...! Shakari and Tyson Losee are going to be baptized on Sunday after church! I'm very excited! Shawnda(their mom) is finding so much happiness in the church and she feels like her life is turning around for the better. She knows the Lord has blessing in store for her when she is obedient to His commandments and she is excited for everything that's in store for her. This week will be a good week!

Hahaha so after one of our lessons with Shawnda and the kids.. We went out to the tramp and played some tramp basketball. I felt like my brothers Jed and BJ because i was playin these kids that were half my age in basketball and was thinkin i was pretty cool.. Then at the end of the game i felt even more like Jed and BJ because i had lost the game.. Haha i know what if feels like now my brothers! Love you guys!
hahah..

So one last cool experience.. Yesterday, Sunday, we headed up to a town called Decorah. Its about a 1 and 1/2 hour drive from where we live and there are A LOT of people up there who cant make it to church because they don't have the means to transport themselves. So we held a little sacrament meeting for them up there.. It was so much fun. We met in a little garage and there was about 15 people there and I had the opportunity to conduct the meeting! I felt like a Bishop!! hahaha!! Then me and my comp took turns blessing and passing the sacrament and also each gave a talk. I loved it. The people were so appreciative that they had the chance to take the sacrament. We will probably do this once every month or 2 so i am excited to keep doing it!

The people here are great. i love getting to know new people and new faces. The country up here is amazing!
I love this church and i'm so thankful for it and the chance i have to share it. I'm thankful to my family and friends too!
You all mean so much to me!

Week 21

Wow!! I have got a whole bunch of news to share with you all this week!

Starting with.. Last Wednesday!! We got to go to Nauvoo with Ross and Skyler.. And we're just walking down the street and all of the sudden the next thing i see is Riley Evans and his brothers and dad!! hahah it caught me soo off guard!! we talked for a few minutes.. and it was good to see my boy bubbs! hahha love you man!

Next.. I am in Fayette Iowa now! Haha.. And let me tell you its the smallest town ever...! But our area is HUGE! We basically have the northeastern corner of iowa to cover. All the way to the Minnesota and Wisconsin boarders! Its a sweet area and the country back here is amazing! So green.. And pretty! We drive on dirt roads everywhere and i love it! Its way different than Muscatine.. But its definately a great place! EVERYONE here is either Catholic, Lutheran, or Amish! haha.. We have had a few run in's with the Amish people.. Its pretty interesting! And mom i would have told you this last time i emailed but i didnt even know! haha they tell you the day of where you are going!

My companions name is Elder Girvin!! He's a cool guy.. He's from Weiser Idaho and he has grown up on a farm his whole life so this is like home for him.

I want to tell you guys a little about the Branch here in Fayette. People here travel up to 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to church and the people are great! Such strong testimonies! We have about 50 active members! Its pretty fun because i will get to know everyone pretty well! The whole Branch is basically made up of converts.. And i really enjoyed last Sunday!

Anyways.. When i got here.. There wasnt much work going on so we spent the majority of the days finding people to teach.. And it was rough! Haha.. We usually spend a whole day in a different town finding people.. then come back to sleep. I was getting dissapointed for a while.. Because NOBODY will listen to us! But i know the Lord has blessings in store for me here in this area, and im excited to find out what they are no matter how hard i have to search for them!

We got a refferral from church headquarters the other day and it was for a woman named Shawnda Losee. She is a awesome lady and was baptized when she was younger but fell away from the church.. We went up and visited her in Ridgeway IA, which is about an hour drive away.. And the lesson went great. She wants to get back into church and get her kids baptized. We are going up later today to teach her family the Restoration. I love that lesson. It brings in the spirit so strongly! She might be moving to Utah in a couple weeks or so.. So we'll see what happens! haha..

I love being a missionary! Its the best! I hope you all had a goood 4th of July! Mine went well! It was P-Day and we spent the day at a members farm! It was really fun..

I love you momma! Thanks for the email! I hope you get a chance to meet with Sis Stone this week! She is so great.. haa!

Hope all is well with Kleen Kans! You guys are the best!

Love Elder Russell

Week 20

Hello Family!! :)

This week has been the greatest but roughest week of my mission.

On Saturday.. We get our transfer calls! And i honestly thought i was going to stay here in Muscatine for 6 more weeks! But to my suprise... President called and said i was being transferred! I've spent the last few days saying goodbye to my new friends here in Muscatine.. And its been rough..! I said goodbye to Mary Hadassah and family that was so hard for me to do! I've become such good friends with them... And i really didnt want to have to say goodbye! Karsyn and Bella, the 6 and 4 year old girls wouldn't let me go! I started to cry and so did they and it was just a big mess.. Saying goodbye to people is so hard! It was like leaving home again!! I will say my last goodbye's tonight to all the members at Mutual activities! Its gonna be rough!

Anyways.. Sad news about Hadassah.. Once again.. Something happened and she couldnt get baptized!! Ugh.. I have tried so hard these last 4 and 1/2 months.. But the poor girl always has something weighing her down and unfortunately its not her decision, its her parents, and things just didnt work out! But i still love her with all my heart and we'll be friends forever!

Last saturday.. Was a very very special day!! Skyler Ketelsen was baptized!! And it was a wonderful service! Elder Clarke baptized him and everything went perfectly! I had the opportunity to speak about baptism at the service and i told myself that i would write down a few quotes.. And a bullet point or 2 but i was going to be totally guided and directed by the spirit! I stood up.. And started talking.. And i dont really remember what i said.. But i felt great inside. And others told me they did too after i spoke. I am so grateful for the spirit and what it can do for us! it is truly amazing!

Haha.. Oh man.. I have got to tell you guys a way funny story! So we have this investigator and her name is Lenora! And i mean this in the nicest way possible when i say she's a little crazy! She has claimed that i am her favorite missionary that she's ever had visit her in the last 10 years and all this stuff and when we went to say goodbye to her she had written a song for me! It was the funniest visit i've ever had! And then as a going away present she gave me a "lock of her hair"!! hahahah oh man.. i am really going to miss the people here in Muscatine! I have memories in this area that i will NEVER forget!

Anyways.. Today is a very special day because today.. I get to go to Nauvoo again! :) We asked president if we could go and take our 2 newest converts, Ross and Skyler, to do baptisms for the dead and he said we could go! :) im so excited! i love Nauvoo. Its a wonderful place and the spirit is so strong! In the baptismal font area.. They have a stain glass picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ and when you see it you get the chills. ITs one of the most amazing places to be in the world! So many amazing things happened right there in that town!

On a spiritual note.. I want to talk to you about the power of prayer.. This week.. Has been SO hard for me saying goodbye and everything.. I have prayed soo hard, everyday, that the Lord would ease my mind, and help this pit in my stomache go away! And as i am writing you i feel that everything will be ok.. And that my new area.. Wherever it may be.. Will be great! My testimony to you all is that God hears and answers every single prayer we give. He loves and wants whats best for us. It is truly up to us if we are going to be worthy and ready to recieve those blessings he has in store for us! And thats what people dont understand.. People will always tell us they dont believe in God because they prayed and didnt recieve help or get an answer.. But further down the conversation we figure that they were doing things that wouldnt let the spirit be in their lives!! We must be worthy, ready, and willing to recieve whatever answer that comes our way!

I love this Church.. And i love the Book of Mormon.. I know its true with all my heart! It couldnt be more true to me if God came down and told me that himself. It brings me so much peace and happiness. I love you all very much! Read the Book of Mormon everyday!! It will change your life as it has mine!

I love you all

Elder Russell