Bainbridge Island aka Narnia

This first week on Bainbridge flew by! Its insane how fast it went! Tuesday was transfer meeting which of course was powerful. We said goodbye to 9 outstanding missionaries and welcomed 28 new ones! WOW! The work is moving forth!

My new companion is great! Sister Henderson is just wonderful. I've included a picture of her with this email :)

Bainbrigde is VERY different! Coming to Bainbridge felt like walking through the wardrobe and into Narnia. The people here don't respond like people everywhere else. They are for the most part of a much higher class and so they move at their own pace and time. Its presenting a new challenge for me that I'm excited to see the countless lessons I will be taught from it. I've worked hard for the last 14 months to become a bold missionary and now I have to discover a new form of boldness. It'll be great and can only make me a better missionary. I can definitely see the perfection of God's plan when I look back and reflect on each previous transfer. Every companion and every struggle has been such a great blessing. My thoughts often go to Ether 3:5 in which the Brother of Jared teaches us that God can do many things which seem small to us but are truly great power.

"...We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks small   unto the understanding of men." Ether 3:5

I've discovered that to be true. I just want to add my testimonies to the Brother of Jared's and say how true that was. Such a small miracle such as a young 14 year old boy in the 1820s, caring enough to wonder why all the churches contradicted each other when the Bible taught "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5). What a miracle that a young teen boy with hardly any education would recognize that and seek to find an answer. That led him to study the scriptures and find James 1:5 which led him to a grove of trees where he kneeled in prayer asking to know which church to join. Such small miracles which led to an expression of great power as our loving Heavenly Father and Savior then appeared to such a humble boy. I know that as we seek to see the small miracles we too can see the great power of God. We may not have them appear to us but we can know with a surety of their love and know without a doubt that Joseph Smith truly did see them and the THROUGH him our Savior, Jesus Christ, RESTORED His gospel.

I've discovered a love for words. As I study every morning I constantly turn to my dictionary in which I look up even the most simple of words such as "through" which has many definitions including "by way of" I encourage you all to truly study out the scriptures and find the basics but truly understanding the words given. They are carefully chosen by our loving Father so we should each take care to learn them.

I love this gospel and know the truth of Joseph Smith's experience and the origin of the Book of Mormon. It truly is the word of God. 

I'm doing well but must go for today! So until next week! I love you all and be safe!

Sleep? What is sleep?

I feel like I haven't slept in ages. Physically I'm wiped out and yet somehow despite the exhaustion I always feel so spiritually revived every day. This last week was a struggle as it seemed none of our efforts yielded results. We spent 29 and 1/2 hours focusing on finding and on the surface nothing came of it. BUT there in lies the lesson of the week. We can't be looking on the surface. If we look at the week and say "well we didn't find any investigators, nobody came to church, this week was a waste." then it most assuredly was. I think that's the trap the devil tries to catch us in on a daily bases. He wants us to feel like we haven't done enough.

The lesson I learned this week is how to yield. Jesus Christ fell on His knees in agony and in the Garden of Gethsemane begged for relief but in the end He closed each prayer with, "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." What a lesson! If our Savior had looked at the surface results of everything that had led up to that moment in the Garden it would have brought nothing. He would have seen nothing but pain, agony, and hatred from His brothers and Sisters. Thank goodness He saw the bigger picture and looked below the surface and saw His purpose. Thinking about this yesterday in Sacrament I was reflecting on the week and the Atonement seeing just how many times it came into play the past 7 days. Let me tell you it was involved every single second. Without the Atonement we would be nothing.

So here's a surface view of my week. We spent 29 and 1/2 hours knocking, contacting less actives and formers, street contacting, and knocking some more. We didn't find a single person willing to learn more about this gift we share. We were threatened with the police, having dogs sicked on us, and had very condescending looks/comments sent our way. It was rough.

BUT here's the Gethsemane deep view. We are stronger for our efforts. This isn't our work, that was made clear this week. If it was we'd have found at least one solid investigator every day. This is our Savior's work. He's the one who bled from every pore, he's the one who hung on the cross and still asked Heavenly Father to forgive those who took His life, this is HIS work. From a deeper perspective I can see the strength that has and will come from the difficulties of this past week and the lessons learned. While I would love to have seen some surface results I can see last week served the purpose of preparing us for more. I'm excited to see what the future struggles and miracles bring. Especially on a deeper level.

Well my wonderful brothers and sisters sorry to cut this off but we are out of time. Just know that we are all given challenges and blessings to help us grow so that we can then reach out and help one another. It may be difficult to understand why things are happening certain ways but if you take a moment and look below the surface you'll find peace, strength, and determinations, among countless other blessings.

Until next week I pray you may feel my love for each of you and more importantly the love our Savior has for each and everyone of us. He knows us personally. Each one by name. Take care and keep faith.

Love,