Crash & Burn, For now

 (Sister Putnam)

Hey everyone

So last Monday was fun, we hung out with the district. Our district leader really seemed to be having a tough time and being hard on himself so we decided to heart attack the elders' door. Well, while we were on our way there, the elders flipping called us for some reason I dont remember why. So we were on the phone with them on the way and being like "we gotta go bye" and them getting heart attacked right afterwards world be super sus and ruin the anonymity so we stayed on the phone with them super quietly while we put the stuff on their door (we could hear them through the door and on our phone it was trippy) and then we knocked and ran, and they were on the phone with us still and were like "oh theres a knock at the door" and we actually managed to not get caught putting stuff at their door while we were on the phone with them lol.

We did our last district council outside cause it was sunny. I got sunburned as a result lol.

We had conference with our district! Conference with other missionaries is so fun!! Also, reba and shae watched the morning session of general conference and reba seemed to really love it. She watched all the sessions actually. But she dropped us afterwards, and that's really upsetting, since she seemed so receptive.

Also transfers are coming and I'm transferring and idk who my new companion is going to be, and I'm terrified so pray for me please!!

Also I made conference memes!

 (Elder Slade)

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

Hey yall! Hope you had a great Easter! It was a great weekend. We got to hear from our leaders and prophets during general conference. One of the great messages I loved was President Nelson's message about how as we have faith in Christ, we can move the mountains in our lives. More than anything I just felt the spirit confirming how God loves us all, and out of that love he gives us prophets to guide us.

Other than that great spiritual highlight, a cool experience happened this week with someone we are teaching named Isaac. The day before our lesson on Wednesday, we texted him asking him if he had any friends that wanted to join us. He never texted back, but we showed up, and he had brighten 3 of his friends for us to teach! They had lots of questions, and we bore testimony of God's love, and we should be meeting again this week! God is good and keeps blessing us.

Love you all!

1. Our apartment watching conference together

2. Saw Johnathan in the mall today. He was a man that was being taught in my last district!

3. Zone picture

S5 E3: Conference and Crawfish (Again)

 (Elder Cummings)

That's right, I had the pleasure of another Crawfish Boil!! Man I love them so much. It's the beginning of Crawfish season here and one of the members had a fresh catch and had us over. These little guys we're HUGE! They said because of covid last year there weren't nearly as many boils as usual so some of the crawfish got growing nice and big.

Other than that, someone we're teaching straight up cooked up some Ribeye steaks for us this week🤣. We couldn't tell you why, but he did and he is so awesome. I've never been able to gain weight before but I wouldn't be surprised if I could put on some poundage while I'm here in Alec.

The Lord has been plopping people into our lap recently It's been crazy. We drove out to the boonies to visit a member one day and we finally get there and talk for a bit, walk around her property(absolutely beautiful by the way) , and then go sit on the porch to share a message when she turns to her electrician working on her house and is like "Greg(not his real name), take a break and come listen to these boys' message about Jesus". Greg doesn't really know what to do but knows he likes Jesus so agrees. What's crazy is we had planned this lesson for Sister Williams and her young grandkids who were gonna be there, but they weren't...it seemed like just out of no where they had to leave, each kid to something else. For some reason we both felt to keep the lesson the same.

 So we start talking about testimonies and read about nurturing that testimony with patience, faith and diligence from Alma 32. We then do our little Round Robin technique Elder Roderick and I do where everyone goes around and bears their testimony about something they've learned. It just happened that we ended with Greg's testimony. He bore the purest, simplest, sweetest testimony of how God is in his life. He's a recovering heroine addict, mentioned a ton of different miracles that led him here and just expressed deeply his desire to put God's will over his own. God has a plan for Greg and Greg is ready to follow it!!

God is invested in our lives. He has invested in our lives. He has given his Only Begotten to suffer and die so we can rejoice and live.

"He lives to grant me rich supply.

He lives to guide me with his eye.

He lives to comfort me when faint.

He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives to calm my troubled heart.

He lives all blessings to impart.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

“I know that my Redeemer lives!” "

(I Know That My Redeemer Lives)

Elder Cummings

Photos:

-John, the beast that cooked us Ribeye

-some tank pics. This tank just sits in front of a middle school

-some good ol crawfish, that was my third bin

-us showing off our green thumbs

A baptism and some service!

 (Elder Slade)

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

This week was a good week! On Saturday we had a baptism for a kid we are teaching named Landon! He is a great kid! It's been amazing to see his testimony increase just in the past 2 or 3 weeks. He has a firm belief in Jesus Christ and God, and it was a wonderful spiritual experience for everyone as he was getting baptized. The spirit filled the room, and it was made witness that what Landon was doing was pleasing to God.

This week we also did some fun service. We did a food thing for Salvation Army one day. During that I lifted a huge bag of potatoes, and it started dripping moldy potato juice everywhere. It was nasty, and I smelled like potatoes for the rest of the day! We also helped work at a covid vaccination clinic. We helped hand out forms and direct them where to go. At the end, they said they had some extra vaccinations, and so we got our first round of vaccinations. Pretty sweet!

Love you all! Looking forward to general conference this weekend. Hope you get a chance to watch it.

Pictures:

1. Landon on his Baptism day!

2. Salvation army service

3. Our apartment after an intense workout (some of us are also wearing the shirts we got at the vaccination clinic)

4. Thought this was the most useless sign I've ever seen.

S5 E2: Spidey and Sewage

 (Elder Cummings)

你們好! 希望大家都好

So we wake up, get beefy, and go help someone move. Then we drive 30 minutes to the middle of the woods to help someone with their plumbing. We've never done any plumbing. Next thing I know I'm army crawling through feces and mud underneath their house in a t shirt and shorts trying to cinch some hot water pipes. I almost lost my breakfast but I did gain their respect.

Later that day we run over to the mall in our area to go see someone we're teaching doing his day job as Spiderman. I'd tell you his name but I don't want y'all to know his secret identity...

I was studying a sermon by President Monson titled, "Your Personal Influence". In it he says, "There is one responsibility that no one can evade, that is the effect of one's personal influence". We are all responsible for the example we set for others. Be aware of your influence, be aware of how you affect other people's lives, for better and for worse. I think of Paul's counsel "be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."(1 Tim 4:12) and then the Savior's commandment, "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matt 5:16). Do things in a way that invites others to come unto Christ and you will find that you are closer to Him than you've ever been.

Elder Cummings

Pics!

-some spidey selfie

-pic of me washed up after sewer swimming,we forgot to take a picture before I cleaned up outside

-Louisana boys being Louisiana boys

Baptism!

 (Elder Petersen)

Hello Everyone!

So this week has been great, just this last Saturday we had a baptism! Her name is Khloe, she is an 11 year old girl who loves gravity falls. It was an amazing experience to be able to help teach her and to watch as she learned about Jesus Christ. We were able to teach her and watch as the light of Jesus Christ started to shine not only within her eyes but in the eyes of her mom as well who is a returning member. This last week also hosted the opportunity to be able to watch the lamb of God production that just came out in theaters, that movie was amazing to see. Later that week Utah lowered the eligible age to be able to receive the Covid vaccine to 16 and above. So we were able after we heard the news to schedule an appointment to get the first of two of our Covid shots that Friday. I was fine after I received the shot, but Elder Quiton my companion the next day was practically comatose because of being hit by not only the shot but also because allergy season arrived. Other than those not much else happened this week. Have a great week y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Petersen

Bible Studies!

 (Sister Putnam)

Hey, everyone!

This week has been amazing!! We had two bible studies with Reba, and Shae, her twin sister, joined.  Rebas kids also joined and we taught them how Jesus loves children. Reba's son, Hunter, although he was a bit shy, seemed very into it. We asked him how it made him feel to know that Jesus loves him, and he said it made him feel happy. Reba and Shae said it made them feel important and cared for. I told them that they can keep having this feeling when they pray and ask God to help them feel this feeling. After the lesson, we got a voice message from Reba, and it was Hunter asking if we could do this more often, saying it was fun! So that's pretty exciting!!

Weve also been doing lots of garden work service and that's been great!

On Friday during the mission devotional they announced that we as missionaries will be able to get the vaccine soon, so that's exciting!

Okay, so one thing weve been struggling with in this area is scheduling lessons with members. Why? Well, most of the members won't text us back, and that's what makes it difficult. I guess I'm saying this because I just want to let all of you who are super on top of it with getting back to the missionaries, that the missionaries seriously appreciate you SO much!!

Alright, love all of you!

Sister Alyssa Putnam