This Week Flew By So Fast!

August 22, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

This week flew by so fast! We had some good times going out to our area so that was good. It was also a big plus that the weather is starting to get a little nicer now. I'm not a fan of anything above 100 degrees hah. So that's been good.

This week we had a mission leadership training and it went really well. It's always good to see all the missionaries from all over. We have had a bunch of solid missionaries finish their missions so there a lot of younger elders and sisters leading the mission. In the training we we went over all of the responsibilities of district leaders, sister training leaders, and zone leaders. It's always good to get a little refresher and to make sure we are all on the same page. We also talked a lot about the importance of accountability. I definitely learned a lot in preparing for it and it will be cool to see the direction it takes us.

This week we met with a girl named Amy. Her mom was baptized last year and they just recently moved to our ward. Amy is fifteen and she has such a strong desire to learn and know where God would have her go. We stopped by Friday night and talked a lot about how they could strengthen their relationships with God and Christ. We left them with a commitment to read and pray as a family. Amy also accepted a baptismal date for the 10th of September! We are super excited to keep working with her to help her reach that goal.

We also met with another family that recently just started coming to church in our ward. The mom is named Misty and she has been a member for a while but just started coming back because of some things that have happened in her life. Her daughter, Sydney hasn't really had a connection with the church yet but is very curious to see what it is all about. So is her husband Matt. They had us over for pizza the other day and a lesson afterwards. It's so cool when you show up to a lesson and the people are actually excited that you are there and have been waiting for you. It hardly ever happens so it's pretty sweet. We sat down and got to know a little bit more about their family. Sydney was pretty anxious because it was all new to her so we were able to help her to know that she wasn't expected to remember everything we said but just to remember how she felt. As we went through the lesson we felt the spirit so strong and they did too. We taught the restoration in a way that I hadn't really done before. We ended the lesson by asking them if they would be baptized. Sydney said yes and Matt said that once he receives a confirmation he would. We left their house feeling on top of the world. I love their family so much! Elder Schenk and I can't wait to go back this week. We are hoping she will accept a date in September as well.

We had a ward luau on Saturday night. It was pretty sweet to look in the corner and see an entire table filled of people that Heavenly Father has allowed us to bring into the church. Katherine and her kids were there along with Megan and Ron. Diana, Jack, and Beverly were sitting over there too. They have all become really close friends so it's pretty cool to see.

Just a heads up, this next week Facebook will be going live in our mission so if you see me on Facebook that is why. I won't be communicating or anything with people back home but it will be a tool that we will be using here. It's pretty crazy that I have really just hoped that I would dodge Facebook for my entire mission, but I am so excited for it. We are giving a training to the mission leadership council this week and I have really receive a confirmation that it's going to bless our mission so much. It's also going to bless each of the missionaries. A lot of the reason we have iPads and now Facebook is to teach the missionaries how to use technology wisely and how we can develop habits that will not only bless us out here but also when we get home. I'm super excited to learn and grow from this. So that's just a heads up.

Well I love you all! Hope you each have a great week!

Elder Gammell