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