Week 58

Any week i can sit down for hours at a time and listen to a Prophet and Apostles is a good week...
It was almost too good! Haha

This week has been special. Full of up's and down's as usual!

We have FINALLY found a investigator who is ready to be baptized!! :) And it feels so unbelievably good!! We taught a part member family and the spirit was so strong! The dad of the family(who's a member) was just recently re-activated into the church! He really wanted to watch the Restoration DVD with his family so we brought it over and it was straight up powerful! I love it so much. I had yet another undeniable witness to what happened in the sacred grove was true! The wife(who's not a member) was touched by the spirit. It was wonderful and she accepted the invitation to be baptized! We asked the Dad to pray for us before we left and he offered the most heartfelt prayer in the world. He said this.. "Heavenly Father, if you could, i would just love it if you softened my wife's heart. I want to have an eternal family more than anything in the world, and i know that you can help that happen." Everyone in the room was crying and it was great.

The spirit was so strong. I think my favorite part of my mission has been kneeling down with people in prayer and listening to them give Him everything they have.. There are certain things that only God can provide. And the only way he will provide them is through earnest and truthful asking, in the form of a prayer. Me and my companion were so excited when we walked out of the house! Haha as my companion put it.. "my insides are jumping!! Hahah! it was great.

Conference was great! We watched the Saturday morning session at the church! And Saturday afternoon we watched it at the Cox Family Home! I love that family too much!! :) They are my other family here in Iowa!

In the Priesthood session Elder Uchtdorf said something that hit me so hard. He said something along the lines of.. Rather than waiting to see if something bad is going to happen, let us go forth now, and prevent bad things from happening!! I loved that. We all know that the world is spiraling down faster and faster! So now its our job to go and do something about it. Grab as many people as you can and bring them to the safe side, let people know and understand that there is much more that life has to offer through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I'm sitting here and this guy 2 computers away from me is getting SO frustrated because he is trying to sell something on E-Bay and something is not working. He's getting mad and frustrated and slamming his fists on the counter. He is arguing with the person on the other end of the phone and cursing. His is acting like his whole life is crumbling this very second because his pay-pal account has been lost and he can't sell what he needs to on e-bay. We tried to help but he wasn't to fond of that idea. I just keep telling myself that this man is so lost.. If only he had the gospel. I learned from this general conference that nothing else matters in this world besides the gospel. Not tragedy is to tragic, no loss is to big, no pain is to bad to change the fact that the gospel is all that matters in this life. And i'm so grateful that i've learned that.

I'm sorry i'm just rambling now.. But i've gotta go! i hope you all enjoyed your week! :)

I love my emails from my 2 little ladies Berklee and Sayler! I miss you both so much!!

Bro Harris from Fayette! Thank you for the news about Benjamin!! That is SO awesome!! :)
Thanks for the emails Mom and Dad! I love reading them each week!!

Love Elder Russell