Last Week!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for.

Well. Here it is. This is CRAZY! This is my last week. I go home Wednesday and it's the weirdest feeling. I am pretty sad it is coming to the end. I've loved every second of my mission. I havent enjoyed every second, but I have loved it! 🤣 I wouldn't trade my mission experience for anything. I've met so many amazing people, and have had experiences that have changed my life. I've come closer to my Savior, and I love Him for everything he's done! He literally means everything to me.

This last week has definitely been a week to match my mission experience! It was filled with highs and lows. A high of having Nicole being baptized! She is the definition of prepared by the Lord. She is amazing! Their have been lows of people we are teaching rejecting our message and choosing not to be baptized. Their has been the high of finding a new person to teach named Gianna. She has some amazing potential to change her life. Their have been lows of knowing it will end soon. It's been quite the week!

Thanks for all of your support and love! I look forward to talking to you all! I'll be reporting on my mission in church Sunday morning January 30th. Their will be a reception after with food. I'll send out another email with all of the details! I'd love for you all to join if you are able! 😁

Love you all!

Pictures

1. My entire two years in Idaho, I never cooked a baked potato. So I did it for the first time! Shout out to Howard and Sue for providing the Potato.

2. A cat made me it's bed in a lesson.

3. The igloo collapsed. 😭

4-5. Nicole got baptized!!

Great Week!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

It's been another great week! Cynthia and Annabell got baptized on Saturday! It was an amazing experience, and we talked with their stepdad at the baptism, and he said he is interested in learning more! Two other people we are teaching, Grant and Nicole, are scheduled to get baptized this week. Please pray for them that everything will go smoothly for that.

I also went to the temple this week for the first time in about 23 months! It was an amazing experience. Afterwards we went to a local restaurant named Big Juds and several of us tried the Big Jud's challenge, which consists of a one pound burger with a huge bun and a case of fries which you have to finish in 30 minutes. I unfortunately was not able to finish the challenge, but it was worth the try! 🤣

The lord's really been blessing us recently! The Lord has really been directing us and strengthening us. That's one for sure of the gospel, God loves His children and will help them out!

Love you all!

Pictures (I'll have a picture for Cynthia and Annabell's baptism next week!):

1. Exchange with Elder Bluth

2. Exchange with Elder Elder Powell

One of the most amazing lessons ever

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person can hope for!

We had an amazing experience with someone we are teaching this week! We are teaching a couple from China that has had almost NO experience with Christianity. It's crazy. They have almost no understanding shout God. We taught him God's plan for him, and taught him how to pray. In the lesson we prayed first to show him how to pray, and then we asked him to say a prayer. He said his first prayer he had ever said, and it was one of th most sincere amazing prayers I've ever heard. The spirit was so strong! It was amazing!!

It has been crazy busy though combining two areas. It's been great being in a trio though. We've just been having a ton of fun, working hard and seeing miracles. Our third companion is Elder Swartz who is such a smart guy. He's fun to be around.

Love you all! Keep being amazing!

Pictures (sorry, don't have too many)

1. Just a picture waiting at the stop light for like 10 min for the train which was just sitting there.

Snow Storm!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

It's been a great week! It's been snowing for an entire week straight! It's been in the negatives as well. Pretty epic! I've been loving it, my companion Elder Auelua, from Hawaii, not as much. 🤣 The snow have made the roads pretty atrocious and I have been all together too tempted to drift everywhere. Don't fear, I have restrained myself. Mostly. 😉

The Lord has still been blessing us with many miracles. We started teaching a couple from China this week who have a lot of questions. We also started teaching a new couple named Victoria and Samuel. They are amazing! It's been amazing despite the business of the season how God has still been blessing us.

This next few weeks just got a lot busier though. Due to an emergency transfer, there will be two areas in Shelley combined. So for the next few weeks we will be covering 2 areas. It'll be exciting! I'm looking forward to this new year though. It'll be a time of change, and hope, and happiness, if we make it that way. I'd invite you to think what you can do to make that happen. For me, I will continue to build my foundation on Christ. He has brought me so much happiness in my life!

Love ya!

1-4. A few pictures from another snow cave we made today as a zone!

3. Zone activity playing a game called Secret Hitler!

Merry Christmas!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friend and family a person could hope for!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a fantastic holiday! This week was an awesome week. We spent Christmas and Christmas Eve visiting families and caroling to them. We got some people to make 60 plates of cookies for us to deliver as we carol! It was amazing!

We had some amazing Miracles this week! While we were caroling to one family with some other missionaries, they let us in and we shared a Christmas message with them. After the message, the mom said that she wanted to work towards baptism! The other Elders are now working with them. Another miracle we came as we visited a recent convert family, and they had invited one of their friends. We started teaching her as well, and she now wants to work towards baptism as well!

These were some real Tender Mercies the Lord had given us. None of which surpass the feeling of joy and peace I felt as I realized that I was able to serve my Savior Jesus Christ, during the season where we think about him the most! I truly want to give my entire life to Him! That's my gift for him, in response to all that he has done for me.

Love you all! I wish you a happy new year!

1. Some Christmas pajamas some members made for us! People are so kind here! It's overwhelming.

2-4. We made an igloo today with all of the snow we got! It was SO fun! We made a fire as well, and it gets pretty toasty in there. I'll send some more pictures next week!

A Christmas Miracle!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

It's been an awesome crazy week! Transfers happened Thursday, but two days before that, I got super sick, throwing up quite a bit. It was one of the most inconvenient times to get sick, right before transfers. My wonderful companions offered me a priesthood blessing though, and that afternoon I started feeling way better and the day after I was completely fine! It was a Christmas Miracle! 🎅🌌 It was a testimony to me, that God is very aware of us. If we turn to him, he will bless us!

The rest of the week has been great! I moved to my new area with my companion, Elder Auelua from Hawaii. It's been pretty great!  We've been walking a lot in the snow, and it's been so fun! We are looking forward to this week with Christmas. Christmas as a missionary is the best! 🎅🎉

Merry Christmas to you all! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

1-3. Different pictures together. We were in a trio for a little bit with Elder Stichart (he's a beast!) He is no longer with us, but it was awesome having him!

Christmas sweaters and transfer news

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

This week was sweet! We had some ward Christmas parties we went to and we got to wear our Christmas sweaters!! 🎄 I had been lugging that sweater across my mission for the past year (I don't know why 🤦‍♂️) but I only get to wear it once or twice a year, so I got pretty excited! We also got some aloe-infused Christmas socks. It's pretty epic!

The Rick family has slowly started coming to church. First only Wally came, and then his mom came as well, and then his little sister McKenzie came for the first time this last week. It's amazing to see how the entire family is feeling the spirit drawing them closer to Christ one by one. And that's the way Christ did it, one by one.

Transfer news this week, and I'm getting transferred. For my last transfer I will be going to Shelley with Elder Auelua and Elder Fletcher. I only have 6 weeks left!! It's crazy!! I've loved every second of it! This last transfer I'm going to devote and consecrate to the savior and give it everything. Not one ounce of energy not given to Him!

Last thought: One of the talks in church asked an interesting question that I've been pondering. The question he asked: If the next gift you gave to your family would be your last, what gift would you give them? It made me think. What gift would I give? If you have any thoughts, let me know!

Love you all!

Pictures:

1. Wearing our Christmas Sweaters.

2. My mom sent me a 12 days of Christmas package, and today was day number 1! Thanks mom! You're the best!

3. We spent a night with Elder Romig, what a beast!

Christmastime is the best!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

Another great week! The first week of December has brought the excitement of Christmas and I am so excited! Christmas music has been playing, Christmas lights are up and spirits are high! Christmas time as a missionary is literally the best because everything fits with your purpose: service, love, the focus on Christ. It's awesome!! 🎅🎁😄

We have been using SO many miracles across the mission. The Lord has really blessed us. We have 100 less missionaries than we did last year, but we are seeing more success than we were then. It's nothing we are doing, it's all the Lord and the wonderful members working here. It's fitting to be a miracle filled Christmas.

This week we committed our friend Ezra to be baptized. He is praying about it this week, so please keep that in your prayers that he may have that desire. We love him so much, and have really seen him grow these past several weeks we've been teaching him.

Pictures"

1-2. We set some Christmas lights up for Christmas. They spell out 500! That is our goal for baptisms as a mission for this year and we are SO close! One or the pictures I'm with Elder Carillo, one I'm with Elder Quigley.

3. Saying goodbye to Elder Bird.

4. Elder Clark and I in Rigby.

5. Beautiful Sunset one evening.

Thanksgiving!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

Let me tell you, being a missionary in Idaho on Thanksgiving is the way to go! We had like 3 dinners! I felt so bloated that evening! I promised I was only going to grab a little bit of food at each place, but then when I got there, it just looked too good, so I filled my plate. It was pretty great.

Miracles happened this weeks, of which I wont be able to mention all. But it is amazing to me about how when we are thankful, and truly recognize that all things that we have and are, are from God, then He blesses us even more. I've been so blessed my life, more than I deserve. God is good! He loves us and cares about us!

And now, it's officially Christmas time! The second Thanksgiving dinner ended, we were all about Christmas! 🎅 I am SO excited!!! As we jump into this Christmas season, ponder on what you can do to make this season special. What can you do to serve you family and friends and make it the most meaningful time of your life?

I love you all! I'm grateful for you. Hope you're doing well!

1. Elder Beal and I! His first and middle name are Auto and Mo.

2. Elder Strong and I! 💪He's pretty swol!

3.Elder Brown and I!

4. A snow man we made! He's a missionary snowman!

5. Elder Tasker and I! Funny story: in the middle of the afternoon he strd feeling sick, so we went to the church building, and while we were walking in, he just blacked out and collapsed! I thought he was a goner! He ended up recovering and working the entire night. What a beast!

Light the world!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

There were SO many miracles this week! Ezra came to church for this first time this week, and he loved it! He said he loved singing and wants to come again this next week! Tracy came to Church as well, and she loved it! What was great about them coming to church was that it all was all because of the members. They helped invite them, and sat by them and just loved them! Pretty amazing! Another miracle happened later that day. After a series of promptings, we found ourselves driving down the road and pulled a uturn to talk to this guy on his lunch braless outside a restaurant. We parked and started talking to him. His name was Austen and bore testimony of God's love and set up another time to teach him! It was a pretty cool miracle!

It was also zone conference week! Part of zone conference introduced the new Christmas Light The World initiative the church is doing. Jesus Christ is the light of the world! Let's try to light the world by doing what He did! Here's the link if you want to check it out! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist

Love you all! Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! 🦃

Pictures:

1. We brought Elder Dodge to the airport 5o go to Argentina.

2. Did some doordash with a Book of Mormon for a member who wanted it.

3. We went to a massage chair place that was amazing! Here's our sad face before hand.

"You guys are freaking angels!"

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

We had a great week this week! The mission is FLYING by! We had 3 exchanges this week, and it's been sweet! We saw some really cool miracles. When I was in Balckfoot with Elder Vorwaller and Elder Cox, we felt impressed to drive this one way, and we saw some people moving boxes out of a U-haul. We immediately pulled over and started helping. One of the guys immediately said, "You guys are freaking angels!" He was SO grateful, as he had some health issues and was filling overwhelmed with all of the boxes. We helped him for 40 min or so, and then he said he was interested in going to church sometime with us! He said we could stop by the next day and visit him! It was a miracle!

Meanwhile, in my area Elder Quigley and Elder Thomas were seeing miracles as well! They felt impressed to visit this one lady we hadn't visited before, and upon visiting they met her 11 year old son named Ezra. He hadn't heard about Jesus Christ before, but the mom said that he could be taught! We taught him again yesterday, and he said his first prayer, and it was SO powerful! It was amazing!!

Both these experiences taught me a powerful lesson: miracles can happen any time, as we exercise faith, are humble, and seek God's will. I know that none of these miracles are coming of us, but coming of God. It is a joy just being able to see His hand!

Love you all! Thanks for all your support!

1-2. Elder Weber and I on exchanges.

3. Elder Bowen, Karsten (a youth preparing for a mission) and I confront of a guy gutting out an elk. Pretty epic!

4-6. Elder Vorwaller, Elder Cox and I

7. Elder Knowles and I

Sunday miracles!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

We had a really cool miracle this Sunday! We had a goal to find someone new to teach this week, and we still hadn't found Sunday. Our two finding appointments fell through, and we just kept praying wexe be able to find someone new to teach. All through it, I just felt peace from God that He would make it happen. We showed up to our second to last lesson that evening, and the people we were teaching brought their younger daughter named Mackenzie! We taught about prayer, and now they are going to pray as a family! We are going back next Sunfay to teach them again!

I learned two things from this experience. 1) God answers prayers. He cares about His children and wants to bless us. 2) God cares about families. We've been slowly teaching one of the kids in this family, and God has been providing ways to teach the entire family. It's amazing to feel the love He has for this family, and all of His children.

Love you all!

1. Us with a bus full of missionaries. It was pretty fun!

2. Saying goodbye to Elder Smith, who went to his original assignment.

3. We took out Karsten out teaching with us. He is awesome!

My shoes are like my life!

 (Elder Slade)

This week was a super busy week! And next week is going to be another busy week. I love it so much though! Every day I end up being exhausted, but feels great knowing I'm doing something that's worth it. It reminds me of a quote, "My shoes are like my life, to be worn in the service of God!" And let me tell you, my shoes are being worn out! I love my mission so much!

This week we had an awesome miracle where we felt impressed to visit the mom of this one kid we are teaching. We stopped by and talked with her, and just bore testimony about how this gospel would bless their family and asked her to join us for the lessons with her son. She said yes and agreed that God could really help them! We are so excited for that family as they progress in learning about Jesus Christ!

I got a new companion this week, Elder Quigley! He is such an amazing missionary and I am so exciting to be with him! Elder Gurney is done with his mission and is pretty sad. I learned SO much from him this transfer!

Love you all!

Picture(there's only 1 😥):

1. Me and my new companion, Elder Quigley!

Nevaeh's Baptism

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

What a great week! Navaeh got baptized Saturday! It was a awesome experience! She is one of the most energetic girls I've met, and she has such attitude, but her desire to get baptized was amazing! She's been coming to church every week, and she loves it!

I have just been so excited for the work recently! This is such a fun and joyous work! Taking people who are struggling, and raising them up through the gospel of Jesus Christ! There's nothing better than this! There definitely have been some hard days, days that are challenging and stressful, but none of that compares with the ultimate joy that comes from missionary work! I love this work so much!

Love you all!

1. Elder Plank and I on exchanges! It was the first time in a while I had ridden a bike, and my butt was so sore after that day, but it was just a blast!

2. Elder Quigley and I in Rexburg! He's such a stud!

3. Elder Powell and I in Rigby. He's such a stud as well.

4. Took a picture with a man named Ian who is a recent convert. I heard a lot about this guys from my friend Elder Holmes (who's in Africa right now) who helped teach him. He is such a beast!