Week 7

Family!! Ohh man.. I dont even know where to begin!

Lets just say this week was the best on the mission.. and one of the best in my life! hahah!!

So this week.. The community rec center here called us and asked us to coach a little kids soccer team!! Haha we called president and he ok'd it! It was so much fun! I have a team of 6th-8th graders! Boys and Girls! Elder Ferrin doesnt know to much about soccer... So he's the conditioning coach. I love working with the kids tho! we have practice on tuesday and thursday for a hour! and then games on saturdays! our first game is on saturday! haha at 9 in the morning! then we go to General conference! wow.. what a day! so much fun!

Then on Thursday morning me and Elder Ferrin taught the seminary class! It was so much fun! The youth here are such good kids! We taught D&C 130 which has some pretty deep doctrine but also some very good doctrine! ... hahaha.. but it was a fun challenge to take on! We think we did a pretty good job! :)

Anyways... On thursday.. We were out knocking doors in the afternoon... And we got a call from Delorus! The 74 year old lady who we are teaching! Her dog Candy had died and she was having the hardest time. We went over there and dug a grave for her dog and had a small little funeral service! We prayed with her and she felt comforted. We then went into her house and watched a short movie about Jesus's earthly ministry! It helped her to kno that she could be comforted through Christ and that she will be ok! I felt so bad for her tho.. She is such a sweet lady and she loved that dog very much.

Then later that night we got a call from Delorus and she invited us to a brass band concert that was being held at the high school in muscatine!! We were thrilled to go with her! It was Me elder ferrin, Delorus, Mary, and Hadessah! The Brass Band was awesome! They were actually from the Air Force Brass Band and they travel the world and play music for people!

so just to clear things up.. since i cant remember what i've told you or not told you.. Mary... Is Delorus's daughter. Mary is the mother of Hadessah(12), Preston(9), Karsyn(6) Bella (3) and Whitney (1). She also has 2 other older kids that we dont really kno! cuz they live with their dads! I feel so bad for mary! She's had such a hard life.. I feel so bad for her! She's 34 with 7 kids! and no husband! Sometimes the kids walk all over her! Bella and Karsyn are my best budds tho! So much fun to hang out with there family!

Anyways.. The climax of this week was SUNDAY!! :)

Mary, Delorus, Hadessah, and Family came to church! Along with Delorus's other grandson Luke! Who we are going to start teaching! This family means so much to me and elder ferrin! They are amazing! We just want them to be happy so badly! haha! So it was fast sunday.. and people were giving there testimonies and i was sitting next to Delorus and i said hey Delorus.. You kno you can go up there and talk right? and She said no.. im to scared! haha then i said ok if i go up will you think about it?? and she said yes.. So i went up and bore my testimony about how much happiness this gospel brings each one of us! and i sat back down and Delorus was in tears.. She said ok.. Now i have to go up cuz the Holy Spirit is gonna drag me up there if i dont.. As i watched this 74 year old tiny little lady, thats not a member, walk up the isle to bear her testimony, i was a little shocked!! I was like wow.. she's really going to go! Whats she going to say?? haha.. She was the last testimony of the meeting and if i had never known delorus before i would have thought she was a member her whole life!! She gave the most sweet and sincere testimony i've ever heard! She talked about how she's run into our church a lot of times over the years! She was actually married in the City of Carthage and learned all about Joseph Smith back when she was younger. She was so thankful for us as missionaries. She said "i can see the spirit of God coming from every pore in their bodies! They bring so much happiness into my home!" Delorus has taught me so much and i have been so blessed to learn from her and her wonderful family! Me and Elder Ferrin just have to figure out whats holding her back from being baptized! Please Pray for Delorus and Mary and her family that they will understand the importance of baptism and what it can do for them!

After the best sacrament meeting of my life i took Bella and Karsyn to Primary! They were both scared to go and almost started to cry.. But i got down on my knees and promised them that they would have fun and it would all be ok. They trusted me! They went to there classes and when i went back to pick them up at the end of church they both ran and jumped all over me and said we love church!! :) can we come back next week?? haha those little girls are awesome! It reminds me of hanging out with Berklee and Sayler and Zander.. So much fun.

Anyways! I have had such an awesome week. I will never forget it! I love being a missionary! its truly the best thing! I Love and miss you all! You all mean so much to me! Thank you for everything you do!!

Love ELder RUssell!

Week 6

Hello My Family!

Wow.. This Wednesday will mark my 1 month mark being out here in Iowa! Soooo crazy! Time fly's when your spreading the word..!

I want to start of with a quick awesome story that happened on friday night.. We met this 23 year old kid named David who lives with his aunt.. and we went over to his house to teach them. They house was seriously imbedded(dont know how to spell that) with smoke.. So crazy.. We began to teach them and they had the usual questions like "so how many wives do you have back at home?" and "do you have magic underwear on?" and all the typical questions people ask us. hahah.. We broke into the first lesson and their whole perspective about the mormon church changed! BIG TIME! they loved us.. and they want us back over.. They both said that they wouldnt be baptized or anything.. BUt they want to learn more.. so who knows.. The holy ghost can soften their hearts over time!

Another quick story.. We are teaching this lady named Lorie. She actually has had a baptismal date before but got way scared and backed out. the boyfriend she had at the time also told her a bunch of stuff that wasnt true and she believed him! But now she's got a new guy she's dating and she is proabaly going to be baptized! her mom is a convert to the church as of 7 years ago and wants her to be baptized soo badly! So be praying for lorie! :) she's a great lady!

So yesterday.. Sunday.. was a pretty tough day.. We had 7 solid investigators commit to come to church. WE had arranged rides for those who needed rides.. and everything was perfect. Me and Elder Ferrin arrived extra early to make sure everything was going to be good.. As people started filing in.. Not a single one of our investigators came!! And then on top of the 7 people.. We had 3 less active families that we thought for sure would be coming! We brought the spirit so strong into there homes and they were soo excited about coming to church but none of them showed! I was fighting back tears in sacrament meeting. I had never felt so unrewarded for such hard work. But then i realized that it is not mine and elder ferrins fault. We did everything we could to get them to come to church. And they didnt show. And thats all we can do. The spirit helped me to kno that everything would be ok if i turned around and worked just as hard the next week! :)

I love you all so much!

Love elder russell

Week 5

Fam!!

Hey sorry.. im actually really short on time! Today is a busy day for us missionaries! haha! But i want to tell you a quick few stories! MARY HADESSA AND PRESTON have a baptismal date!! April 2nd.. Inbetween sessions of general confrence! I hope everything works out for then! i loove teaching so much. thats when i feel the spirit soo strong! its the best!

Ha quick funny story real quick.. Last night me and elder ferrin were out knockin doors and it was his turn to do the talking so i leaned on the metal railing of the porch and it was definately not attached to the cement at all. hahah! i went tumbling backwards into the grass. and right as i was standing up putting the railing back in place i hear like 4 little spanish kids laughing sooo hard! haha! it was soo funny. we ended up getting in but we had to hand them over to the spanish elders in our area! anyways..

we have 5 new investigators that we are planning on teaching the first and 2nd lesson too this week! Its pretty fun going and chatting with people everyday. People have amazing stories!! Its soo interesting to me to learn about someone i dont even know and have a deep care for these people! i just watn to share the gospel with them so bad. but they dont realize taht is waht they need. Me and elder ferrin are working on ways to help them understand that. if you have any ideas let me know!

I am so sorry.. i thought i had more time! Iowa is great.. its soo flat here.. some rolling hills but definately No mountains what so ever.. the sunsets are AMAZING.. and the stars at night are pretty incredible too! I love it..! The mississippi river is soo awesome to look at!
pretty crazy that im out here on my mission... still hasnt hit me all the way! haha i love you and i'd love to get some letters sometime! miss you all.. i promise ill write more next week!

Love Elder Russell

Week 4

Hello Family!!

ahh i miss you all soo much.. But i really do love it out here..! its so new and exciting!

hahha soo i have a funny story to start out with!! every morning me and elder ferrin go outside to work out.. and he usually runs back on forth on this road while i curl up in my blanket and either sleep... or attempt to do push ups and sit ups. haha not to successful so far. but im workin on it.. BUt anyways.. its my job to remember the keys and on thursday morning i forgot.. UH OH! haha so at 6 in the morning we were locked out of our apartment! Luckily enough elder ferrin is an awesome guy and laughed it off. But anyways.. Our apartment is on the 2nd floor so i climbed up to our sliding door thinking it was unlocked and it wasnt! so we were stuck.. outside..! haha no good.. anyways.. we were looking in windows to get someones attention and we finally got this ladies attention and she though we were the craaziest people in the world. hahah! ohh man.. We still laugh about it every time it gets brought up.

Anyways.. Dad.. You'll like this story.. We were on our way to washington city.. for a meeting.. and on the way there on the side of the road there were little frozen ponds of water! and on almost every pond there was a huge Bald Eagle just sitting on the ice.. Soo awesome!! And on 1 of the ponds there were probably 5 or 6 just hanging out.. I have never seen anything like it before.. But i guess its a pretty common thing here in muscatine.

So this week spiritually was soo awesome. I mentioned that we were teaching Mary Hadessa and Preston in my last email i think.. and we got them to come to church this sunday! :) Soo awesome. There kids are craaaaazy! ohh man. haha i've notice out here in iowa kids from age 3 up literally do not listen to their parents. they do whatever they want. hahaha! its sad.. there is no discipline.. and the reason is because THERE IS NO GOSPEL IN THEIR LIVES!! its as simple as that.. haha! So when we come over its crazy at first.. but at the end of the lesson the 3 younger kids are asleep on our shoulders and the house is soo peaceful. haha! pretty cool! Ill keep you updated on them! i just love there family! soo amazing! :) the little girl named karsyn says that me and her are going to get married. she's 6. hahha!! pretty funny! we are also teaching there grandma delorus. she's 4 foot 10 inches and the funniest old lady i've ever met. ohh man! she just cracks me up! we brought over a talk on dvd and it was by president eyring! and at the end of the talk she said "it felt so good!!! He had me hypnotized under his spell! I just wanted to get up and shout!" hahahaha! ohh she's the bomb!!

i love you all mnd miss you soo much. im running out of time.. keep sending me emails and everything! its soo good to hear from you mom and dad.. :) keep sending stuff!

Dad let me know how the music number goes.. i loved bruce r mckonkies thing you sent me as well. send me all the missionary experiences you have and everything! thanks!

mom! thanks for the updates! i miss you a ton! just keep praying about what shows to enter and you'll know which ones will lead you to success! i promise!

I love you all soo much. i gotta go! talk to you next week!

Love elder Russell!