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