The Fresh Air of the Gospel

The hardest part of writing a weekly email is the subject line...

Jumping right in with

Monday:

We had quite an eventful preparation day! We went to the house of a family that lives in the Albion ward. We had dinner with them and they told us we could come over and make rings out of quarters. 

So we did that...

Just Put It On Like That 

The Lord of The Rings 

It was really fun, we also got to play in their game room for a bit, turns out I'm really not good at pool. Should've used the blue cube chalk thing, probably would have done better.

After that we went to the HAUNTED MANSIONS OF ALBION. You may have seen it on Ghost Adventures before. It's pretty scary. Mainly because it is filled with a maze of scary props and actors.

New Comp 

I was at the front of the group through the first building, at least until we got into the second room and the guy who let us in (whom we lost track of) grabbed my arm and tried to pull me into a closet! I'm not even going to lie; it scared the crap out of me. It was really cool in general though; it is amazing how much stuff they were able to put into those buildings. They sat vacant for a long time and there is a lot of graffiti in there. Some of it caught our attention and we had to take pictures with it.

I am a Child of God

Jesus Saves

Most of the buildings were pretty scary, even though we only had two people in there trying to scare us. We then went into Comish Hall, the building that has no props or decorations; it's just spooky and apparently haunted. I thought it was a really interesting building, and considered moving in until someone pointed out that it was the middle of the day, night is much worse.

Sooo, missionaries aren't moving in anytime soon...

New Crib 

 It was probably one of the most fun preparation days I have had so far though.

Sp00py Declo District 

THE REST OF THE WEEK: Was marked primarily by our inability to see or breathe. The smoke in the air was so thick that we couldn't see any of the mountains or hills in our area. Everyone had a sore throat and it wasn't very fun.

Not Clean Air

Thankfully, on Sunday, we woke up to clear skies and clean air! It is amazing the things you take for granted.

Clean Air

Also, on Friday we went on exchanges. I went to Malta with Elder Snow. It was a typical day of contacting people (still in the smoke) but we also did service in a dairy with two Peruvians they are trying to teach. 

Milkin' it 

It is 100% not a job for me, we helped for about 2 hours, but they run 12 hour shifts! Each time the cows came in, we had to clean off their udders and hook them up. However, the cows decide that the best time to relieve themselves is when walking into the milking room, so they do that and it splatters everywhere. When this happens the workers just hose it off a bit and keep going (after all, they have 10 hours to go). I understand why they are making these robotic dairies now.

Well, that is pretty much all I have for this week. Change is coming soon, and I'm excited to see how it all turns out. The work presses on!

Also, our district set a CRAZY monthly goal for baptisms this month. It turns out that it really was an inspired goal, and the naysayers were proven wrong. Our 3 companionship district had 9 baptisms this month, exactly what we set our goal as at the beginning of the month. Miracles happen!

Love all of you! Enjoy breathing! 

-Elder Hazeslip

Q & A

1. Do you need anything? 

Not yet! Winter is coming though! 

2. Do you have any questions for me? 

Could you send me the Wikipedia article about Quarks? Elder Blashill had questions and I couldn't explain them very well.

3. What did you learn this week? 

I was reading Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. It is really REALLY good. Highly recommend it. It takes a while to get into, and I have honestly been skipping around. One of the coolest things it talked about was Jesus's total control over nature. Anyway, here is what I'm talking about.

Then He arose; and out through the darkness of that fearsome night, into the roaring wind, over the storm lashed sea, went the voice of the Lord as He “rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” Turning to the disciples, He asked in tones of gentle yet unmistakable reproof: “Where is your faith?” and “How is it that ye have no faith?” Gratitude for rescue from what but a moment before had seemed impending death was superseded by amazement and fear. “What manner of man is this,” they asked one of another, “that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Among the recorded miracles of Christ, none has elicited greater diversity in comment and in attempt at elucidation than has this marvelous instance of control over the forces of nature. Science ventures no explanation. The Lord of earth, air, and sea spoke and was obeyed. He it was who, amidst the black chaos of creation’s earliest stages, had commanded with immediate effect—Let there be light; Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters; Let the dry land appear—and, as He had decreed, so it was. The dominion of the Creator over the created is real and absolute. A small part of that dominion has been committed to man as the offspring of God, tabernacled in the very image of his divine Father. But man exercises that delegated control through secondary agencies, and by means of complicated mechanism. Man’s power over the objects to his own devising is limited. It is according to the curse evoked by Adam’s fall, which came through transgression, that by the strain of his muscles, by the sweat of his brow, and by stress of his mind, shall he achieve. His word of command is but a sound-wave in air, except as it is followed by labor. Through the Spirit that emanates from the very Person of Deity, and which pervades all space, the command of God is immediately operative.

Not man alone, but also the earth and all the elemental forces pertaining thereto came under the Adamic curse; and as the soil no longer brought forth only good and useful fruits, but gave of its substance to nurture thorns and thistles, so the several forces of nature ceased to be obedient to man as agents subject to his direct control. What we call natural forces—heat, light, electricity, chemical affinity—are but a few of the manifestations of eternal energy through which the Creator’s purposes are subserved; and these few, man is able to direct and utilize only through mechanical contrivance and physical adjustment. But the earth shall yet be “renewed and receive its paradisaical glory”; then soil, water, air, and the forces acting upon them, shall directly respond to the command of glorified man, as now they obey the word of the Creator.

4. Best day this week?

Wow, umm. Probably Friday. I was on exchanges in Malta with Elder Snow. We met a lot of cool people. We helped milk in a dairy for about 2 hours (messy job, I’m in favor of robots.) and we had dinner with J. S.'s family. His wife was looking at me for a while and then said "Has anyone ever told you that you look like one of the L.s."

As a matter of fact, I HAVE heard that before! Lol.

5. Best meal this week? 

The Mexican restaurant one family took us too was pretty good. But we had lunch with the M's on Sunday and G cooks a really good steak and chicken. S also made some really good Macaroni and Cheese, so I'll have to go with the M's lunch. 

6. What made you laugh this week?

Lots of things, but one that stuck out is kind of a "you had to be there thing" We were in District Council and Elder Royal said, "Ok, now we are going to go Counter-Clockwise" Elder Silva looked around at everyone with a typical confused expression, then pointed to his watch, which was digital. Pretty sure only three of us saw it but it got me good.

7. What challenged you this week? 

The smoke has been HORRIBLE. You couldn't see to the end of the lane by our house. They were cancelling football games because of it. And it lasted a few days. Sunday, however, it all just went away. THAT was a miracle!

8. Best quote you read or heard this week?

President Nelson's Special Witness video that was released, not quite a quote, but the entire thing is powerful. He is a prophet of God.

9. Are you sleeping good? 

Yep! I surprisingly slept worse at the Malta Elders house on exchanges. They have tempur-pedics, but it was really cold and I only had one blanket.

10. What do you do/eat most often for LUNCH? 

J gets these frozen meals delivered to his door. He doesn't have room in his fridge for all of them and prefers to eat whatever he shoots outside most days so he gives a lot them to us. They are easy to make and that is what we eat for lunch. Other than that we eat at The Little Classroom after district meetings.

Love you!