Sept 16th 2013

Well it has been weird to think that I am almost done with my mission. Where did the time go? During times of your mission you might not think it is going by fast but when you are at the end it's like it was a blur. I feel like there was soo much that happened that I don't even remember everything anymore. It's crazy. It's like I was abducted by aliens for 2 years. Sometimes I think, did I change enough? Did I become who the Savior wanted me to be? Did I give it my all and will I leave with no regrets?
Lots of times in my mission I have felt that fear that I wasn't working hard enough, that I wasn't a good missionary that I didn't change. A few nights ago I finally came to the realization that I had changed, that I became a better person. That I'm still not perfect but that I am better. I feel like I am more at peace to know that I did what I was sent here to do. And that it was different than what I expected it to be.
Heavenly Fathers ways are much higher than our ways. He understands our needs even when we think our needs are something else. Fear is a tactic that Satan uses to stop you in your tracks. To focus on yourself and not on the welfare of other people.
When I was thinking about if I had changed a few nights ago I realized that I really have. At the beginning of my mission there were things that I would tell companions or whoever that I wasn't willing to do. I thought my way was better, or more efficient. That I knew what I was talking about.
I see a lot of the new missionaries that are coming in and being and acting the same way I was when I started. Thinking that some things were so funny. Or that this was the right way to do that. It didn't click in my head that I was the same way when I was there. That's when I realized that I changed. Alot. I am SO greatful for the atonement and how it allows us to change and become better people. I am greatful that Heavenly Father changed me these past two years. I wish that I could stay here and continue to become a better person, but I now know that it is time for me to go.
It's like in the Plan of Salvation when we were in the Pre-Earth life and we wanted to progress. But in order for us to do so we needed to come here to gain a body. We needed to take the next step. That's what I need to do now. I need to continue to progress, but by taking that next step.

Aug 12th 2013

Hey Mom,

So Transfer calls came and I am being transferred to Eugene 5th ward. It is really weird because I am serving in an area that we were in ALL the time but now I just cover the family ward. So this is probably going to be my weirdest transfer. 

So things have been going pretty good. Our baptism that was going to happen this last week was postponed to the 25 which will actually be better for Lauren. It is a huge bummer that I wont be able to work in the YSA anymore but luckily I will be able to go to all of their baptisms. So that will be good. 

This week was a good final week in the YSA. Got lots of work done. Had some awesome lessons with Lauren and Nate. Had a great meeting at the mission home. Walked like crazy all over Eugene on exchanges.

I'm excited to work like crazy this next transfer. We will be walking a lot because we dont have a car. With the new age change we have been getting a huge increase in missionaries so they are doubling up wards. So now I will be sharing the ward with a set of sisters.

I'm not sure who my new companion will be. I will be picking him up on Wednesday. Tomorrow I have two meetings I have to go to. One goes from12:30 to 4 and the other goes from 4 to 9. Then on Wednesday we have more meetings from about 9 to 7 or so. So pray that I get through it. 

August 5th 2013

Hey Mom,

Sorry for my last letter being lame. Things are going great here! This last week was awesome. We had exchanges with the assistants to the president on Tuesday and it was really good. It was a good exchange.

 

We also taught this white guy that converted to Muslim and we asked him about his conversion story. Turns out he was selling cocaine in a back room of a lingerie party and there was a Muslim guy that he was selling to who started teaching him and eventually converted him. Pretty interesting. He lives in a pretty weird part of Eugene. He also got into a debate with this guy that was on something as to whether God was a man or a woman. And when we had the lesson he wanted us to just sit on the sidewalk and talk with him. 

Other highlights of the week were we got into the spanish missionaries apartment and took all their fans because they would leave them on all day.

We also had dinner with this weird druggie less active in his apartment. When we came in it was really small and smelt like pot. He is an artist so he had paintings everywhere and one that he was working on in the middle of the room. It was pretty cool and very colorful. He also had some "herbs" next to it that probably made him think that it was waaay more vivid.

We had a really long day on Sunday but it was great! we had stake correlation with the Stake President, his crew, and President Young his councilor P Lowary and our district leaders. It was pretty crazy. President Barnes and President Young didn't see eye to eye on some things. It was weird too because President started telling them about some of the transfers going on in the stake. A few of the wards are going to be doubled up with Elders and Sisters. Salt Lake asked President if he felt like this mission could be a 50% sisters mission. So that might be happening soon. So I might be getting transferred a week from today. I'm not sure though. President hasn't told us which one is being moved. But I kinda want to stay.

After our stake correlation we had ward council and church. The YSA here has really good fast and testimony meetings. We had about 17 people that gave their testimonies. We had to people that came to Church. Lauren, who is getting baptized this Sunday, and Ryan. Then after Church we had a lesson with Lauren that was really good. She went to a Baptism with us on Saturday and now she is really excited for hers. She is VERY prepared. After Lauren's lesson we taught Ryan. He stayed for all of church and in our lesson we walked in and said "I'm ready to be Baptized." Turns out he was praying the night before for an answer to all these different questions and at church he got all his answers. He said that he was really surprised that he got his answers so quick.

Then after our lesson with him we taught a less active who wants to get back in to things. So it was a great day Sunday. 

So that's about it for this week!

 

July 29th 2013

Hey mom!

Thanks for the email. Things have been pretty good. We have been teaching this girl named Lauren that is super awesome! she will be baptized on the11th of August. We spent 3 different days learning about family history this week. We went on exchanges this week with Cottage grove 1st missionaries that was pretty good. We worked them pretty hard which was great.

We had a Hootenanny on Saturday that was really small but it was good.

July 22nd 2013

Hey mom,

Thanks for the email

Things are doing pretty good here. President Young had an idea for us to do a "trek" where we are going from Eugene to Salt Lake through tracting hours. So the mission together will be tracting 800 hours for the 800 miles it takes to get from here to salt lake. So that will be pretty fun.

So we are trying to figure out how we can use family search as more of a finding tool so last tuesday and this tuesday we are going to the family history center and learning how to do more of it. I logged on to my account and there is your parents dad and that's it. So I have no idea what I am doing.

We also have been doing service for this crazy lady that calls us all the time. We managed to pack a trailer load of stuff in to a 5x5 storage unit. This is her 4th unit that is now full of random junk.

We went on exchanges and I was with Elder Michelsen down in Creswell for a day. We helped this other lady by clearing her yard of blackberry bushes. It was pretty intense. My legs got scraped up a bit because the info didnt get down the line that we were going to be doing that so I had to manage with shorts.

Well thats about all the exciting things that have been happening this week!

July 15th 2013

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the email. Things are going pretty slow here in the YSA but we did pick up some awesome investigators. That is something that I do love about serving here. You may have a difficult time finding people but the people you meet are usually crazy prepared. We are teaching a girl named Lauren who is awesome! We talked to her on the street and set up a time to meet with her. This week we had our lesson and she wants to be baptized on the 11th of August.

As for other highlights for the week. We did a service project with the YSA at a saint Vincent de Paul car lot washing cars and there was an awesome van that I totally want. It's one of those vans that people usually live out of under a bridge. This week we had our mission leadership council meeting at the mission home to go over what we were suppose to talk about during zone training meeting. We were suppose to focus mostly on how to improve our finding so Elder Henrie and I made a park the the church gym so we could work on talking to people in the park. We wanted to present a theme that we could focus on so we decided on "Find em' Hook em' ". So what we did is an object lesson where i hooked an old tie and was behind a little wall we made that was suppose to be the lake. Then Elder Henrie was the Fisherman who was suppose to reel the fish in. So I acted like a fish while he chased me around the gym and then brought me in. And we talked about how it applies to missionary work. It was pretty fun and made our zone think that we were completely crazy but it was good. The look on their faces was priceless.

Other Highlight was we are teaching another kid named Nate who called us because some missionaries gave him a card with our phone number on it and he said he felt like he was being pulled toward the LDS church. He was telling us about some of his experiences and it is pretty awesome.

We also had to help move some crazy old ladies stuff around her storage unit that was completely packed with stuff. Turns out it was only 1 of 3 storage units that she has been renting for about 20 years and was full of tons of crap that was for the most part broken.

Elder Henrie went on 3 way exchanges with Veneta and Eugene Spanish missionaries. I  went with Spanish and had a pretty slow exchange. They had a Branch party to celebrate pioneer day and it was pretty fun. I don't speak any spanish so I just chilled and ate mexican food while I watched little spanish kids go to town on a pinata. Then the branch president said he had some advice to give me and then said "All you can do is all you can do. But all you can do is enough." 

Well thats about it for this week. There are tons of crazy hippies in town because of the Oregon County fair.   

July 8th 2013

Hey Mom!

Sounds like the 4th of July was a blast back home. For us it sounded like a war zone mixed with drunk party kids running around screaming. Kids here do use any opportunity to have a party. I think a lot of the party was actually happening the 3rd right after class got out.

So last Monday was transfers so we actually had to keep 2 other missionaries with us until tuesday night. It was a ton of fun because Elder Gowen has served in this ward before so he was able to tell us about people they were working with. For FHE we went on a hike to Spencer's Butte which was pretty cool. Then when we were getting ready to go to bed it was sooo insanely hot and humid that we couldnt sleep. Then someone decided to shoot off some mortars every 20 minutes outside of our apartment.

The 4th was mellow for us  because we did "soft proselyting" throughout the mission. so we had an appointment and walked around talking to people then did some service. we had to be in our apartment by 7 so it was really boring. we ended up turning our apartment in to a racket ball room. it was pretty fun. 

Thats basically all that has been happening this week!

Baptizing the World!

July 1st 2013

Hey Mom, 

Thanks for the email. Sounds like lots of fun things are going on back home.

Today was transfers and both Elder Henrie and I are staying here. It's pretty cool actually to be in Eugene during transfers because we can go t o the transfer spot and see everyone move around. This week has been really slow but we are trying to get things picked up. We did have a baptism though! Madison got baptized and it went pretty good. He is really excited about the Gospel. So Yesterday at Church we were in a correlation with our ward mission leader after ward council and President and Sister Young dropped by. President pulled Elder Henrie and I in to a room and told Elder Henrie that his grandpa just passed away. He was 93 and Elder Henrie was really close to him but he took it pretty well. That is about everything that has happened this week. 

Future Bishopric

June 17th 2013

Hey mom!

Thanks for the email and pictures. I didn't get your letter yet but hopefully I will soon. I did order my glasses but I didn't get them yet. they should be coming in on Thursday or Friday. Things are crazy here in Eugene. Everyone is leaving for summer. Tons of Graduations have been going on the past few days and today. Right now its a little weird because all the college kids families are in town for their graduations. So now you see old people playing beer pong too with their kids. That or you see the kids try and cover up what they usually do on a nightly basis. Tracting hasn't been too productive here because anyone that shows a little bit of interest is leaving to go home to China or India or wherever. It's weird with the kids moving because there is just a ton of junk everywhere. dumpsters are overflowing and tons of left over furniture just chillin on the front lawns. All the insides of college apartments are now out on the front lawn. And lets just say you see some interesting stuff. So we are now teaching 3 people that are staying here for the summer. kinda. Mike is leaving soon so that will be really lame. They are having a Sisters transfer this coming monday and we are kinda hoping that the YSA sisters both get moved because there isn't enough work to keep both sets going.

This week was zone conference which was great! its awesome not having to travel forever to get to it. And I got to see the Brookings Elders and see how everything was going. So that's basically what has been going on here in Eugene. 

June 10th 2013

Hi mom,

Things are going well here in Eugene. Everything is crazy because of finals this week. So all the kids are going nuts. Because our apartment is right next to campus we hear it all night! This kid up the road had a barmitsfah (i have no idea how to spell that) but he was having one for fun. He invited us to it. really he is just a stoner kid who isn't religious at all but wanted to have one for the dance party afterward. But he brought in a translator so he could do the reading for 2 hours from the tora.

Other things that are going on this week. We hiked a mountain for a meeting with our mission president. It was pretty cool but I thought I was going to die because we took the short insanely steep way up. We had a zone meeting that we had to teach this week that was 3 hours long so we made a awesome tower out of tables and Elder Henrie climbed it as we talked about rising to greater heights. My allergies have been destroying me too which hasn't been fun at all. I cant wear my contacts at all so I am sporting my super ghetto glasses. Last night Elder Henrie and I had to present something on behalf of our zone in front of the stake high council and ward mission leaders for the stake and my contacts were going nuts. My eyes were watering the entire time. 

Elder Henrie got food poisoning so I chilled by the window and watched all the people walk by after I did a ton of paperwork mumbo jumbo. There were about 7 people that went by digging in our neighbors trash for cans. One guy comes by every morning around 7 am.

We are working with a recent convert who is in love with my little pony but is also a crazy knife fighter. he quizes us now every time we go over on the main 6. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie pie, Flutter shy, Rainbow dash, and Twilight sparkle. He is going to a convention in washington for it which is ridiculous. anyways thats about if for this week.

Racquetball in Eugene

June 3rd 2013

Hi Mom,

So things have been pretty good here in Eugene. We are starting to get use to the area and that pace of missionary work. It's still pretty crazy being here though. I feel like we have more curve balls thrown at us being in Eugene because we are so close to the mission office. We went on 2 different exchanges this week with Cottage Grove missionaries and some Eugene Spanish elders which was pretty good. They cut everyone's miles so we have to drive a lot less. So we have been trying out the bus. It's pretty fun though. So when I was on exchanges with spanish we got a phone call saying that a visa waiter had just got his visa and was flying out monday. So we had to pick him up because he would be with spanish till monday. Dropping everything and picking him up changed up our entire day so we ended up walking about 2 and a half hours to try and visit someone who wasn't there. we were able to take a bus that saved us some walking time to get back to our apartment. It was pretty fun to stay at their apartment though because we were in a trio for the day and they had the Chinese Elders staying with them. Elder Kwok is from Hong Kong and Richards is from Sandy. They were both super cool and Richards won The Price is Right. 

Yesterday was Stake conference for us and we had 2 visiting seventies which was awesome. Elder Erickson and Elder Schweitzer. They gave great talks and we had 3 different meetings with them. Then Yesterday we had an entire day full of tracting planned and as we were walking out the door to start we got a call saying that we needed to get an Elder who was going home within the next few days due to medical. So we had Elder Hill with us for a Sunday. But we just dropped him off at the mission office this morning.

The people here in Eugene are crazy! It's kinda like a huge dirty Ashland. This girl we are teaching came to our meeting at the institute wearing a white wig a dog collar and a halloween mickey mouse hat. Oh Eugene. And there are quite a few drunk homeless people sleeping all over the place.

So school is about to get out so the parties are really going to start up. We were knocking on this apartment complex and there was a party going on in the apartment across the small courtyard from where we were that seemed pretty crazy. This guy came up in a pirate costume with a ton on boose and knocked on the door. Elder Henrie looked at him and said "why are you dressed up in a pirate costume?" as soon as he said that the guy answered the door in the same pirate costume and said "Welcome to the house of gay pirates!" Pretty interesting life here. The sun has finally been coming out so out with the lawn chairs and beer pong tables. The first time I was ever offered to do a keg stand happened last week. I don't think the party life is for me. And I could never live in Eugene. Especially because my allergies are killing me! Even though I'm taking Zyrtec I feel like I'm going to die! 

This morning we played racket ball with the 1st councilor in our mission presidency. It was a lot of fun and was pretty crazy. I will try and send a picture!

Love Ya!

-Elder Berg  

May 28th 2013

Sorry Mom,

Yesterday was Memorial Day so I couldn't email due to the library being closed. So we are allowed to take some time today to send a quick email home. So Eugene is Crazy. My companion is awesome. The YSA work is like being a new missionary again because of how different it is. People really don't want to talk religion so that makes it difficult. Eugene is filled with a ton of Crazy people. The first day I was here I talked to a guy named Hill Billie Duck. But I like seeing the crazies because it makes things interesting. A lot of people here are not very respectful of religion which is sad to see. But there are people that really are those that have been looking for the Gospel.

So my first week here has been a huge adjustment. We have YSA Elders, YSA Sisters, Chinese Elders, and family ward sisters who all cover the campus. But we also cover all of the YSA in the surrounding 3 stakes.

Being on the Campus and surrounding area is weird. It's different to see the college life outside of Utah. There are tons of Sororities and Fraternities around campus that are huge. Night time seems to be the time to party, play beer pong, throw frisbees at beer bottles, or bean bag toss when you are super drunk. Or get crazy high. It's a peculiar lifestyle. And honestly it's pretty gross. Yeah. But my companion is awesome! Elder Henrie is from New Mexico and is super chill. We are really trying to see what we can do to get the work going here in Eugene. So we met with President and Sister Young to talk about the work and how we can improve.

 So on Memorial Day we went to a place called hometown buffet for lunch. Which was a terrible mistake. I ate 4 plates of food, then went back to some missionaries' apartment and spent the next few hours vomiting. I was throwing up until this afternoon. But I'm doing pretty good now. Still feel sick but not bad.     

May 20th 2013

Sorry I am emailing later then usual. I am now in Eugene over the YSA ward. My companions are coming in together but he doesn't show up until 8:45 so Elder Black and I are chilling here at the University of Oregon until he gets here. We are the new zone leaders over the Eugene zone. We have 14 elders and 6 sisters. I have been told that all we basically do is hang out on campus and talk to people. And we travel throughout Eugene and surrounding areas to teach the young single adults.

I wasn't really excited to get this assignment but after hearing about it I think it will be a lot of fun. It will be a HUGE change from Brookings. I'm pretty bummed to leave there but I guess I'm suppose to be here. We had some awesome people in Brookings that I didn't want to leave. Especially Jeff and Molly who were the greatest ever! They were who I have been praying to meet for the past 20 months so I was pretty dang sad to leave. In my last weeks email I told President about them and the experience we had. When I got the transfer call president asked if I would allow him to share my email in a fireside Saturday night. Then on Sunday morning he called and said he wanted to meet them within the next month. When I got to Eugene he said that on Sunday he shared my experience in a Stake conference. I didn't have the opportunity to really say goodbye to them because they were gone or tied up with things on Saturday and Sunday so that was a huge bummer. But all I can do is pray that Elder Davis and His companion Elder Argyle will take care of them. They have both only been out 3 months but I have faith in Davis. He is a good missionary.

But on a positive note Lori got baptized the Saturday before I left. She wanted to before one of us got transferred we could be there. Her and Jeff were suppose to get married but they couldn't because of a money issue so Jeff moved out so she could make her date. We had 7 Investigators there which was awesome! Elder Davis Baptized her and I confirmed her. I wish I could have stayed but I know President is inspired and this is where he needs me to be. But if he changes his mind at all I will be there in a heart beat! Best area of my mission.

Oh and before I forget we had another awesome miracle happen that was CRAZY! We were doing our new missionary training in the morning time on Tuesday when we got a phone call from an unknown number. I answered the phone and it was a lady that we gave a Book of Mormon to probably 3 or more weeks ago named Shelia. She said that she had been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon we gave her a few weeks ago and she believes it came from the Lord. She asked if we could meet with her to go over some questions she had and if she could get some more books. So we set up to meet with her 2 hours later at the church.

Shelia had gotten back a few years ago from Jerusalem after studying the Bible for 7 years at a Bible college. She seems to know pretty good Hebrew and studies A LOT. She had read up to 3 Nephi 21 and had over 30 questions written down that she wanted to go over. They were pretty in depth so we only got to go over 2 of them but we gave her Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. She went home and get straight in to D&C. I was completely blown away at what had happened with her. She said that when she reads the Book of Mormon she says that it is congruent with the Bible and answers a lot of questions that she had. When we answered a few of her questions she said: "Oh now that makes so much more sense!" She was just blown away with the things we were sharing with her and asked us why she didn't know about any of this sooner. Elder Davis and Argyle will be meeting with her I think this week. She is so eager to learn more. 

That's about it for this week. I will try and send pictures maybe later if a get a chance.

May 6th 2013

Hey mom,

So I'm not exactly sure but I think I know who you are talking about. which is weird because I don't think I ever gave him your contact information. weird.

So this week was pretty mellow. It was super hot here for a few days which was nice but at the same time wasn't very fun to walk around in. We had a little miracle happen. When we left the apartment on Thursday it was super hot so I said to Elder Davis I hope we run in to the ice cream truck today. Then we went to teach Chris and Katie. Then we were on our way to another appointment and I said something along the lines of that I wanted to find the ice cream truck so we could get some ice cream. As soon as I said that the ice cream man came around the corner pulled over and said that he sees us walking around a lot and wanted to treat us to some free ice cream. ICE CREAM MIRACLE! It was pretty great. Then we later ran in to this kinda crazy drunk guy named woody.

So we have had some pretty good lessons this week. One of our investigators finished the Book of Mormon and probably half of the book Our Heritage. They want to have a BBQ before one of us leaves on may 20th. They are really nice but they just want to learn about the church for the sake of learning. But they love for us to come and visit them. Last time we were there they gave us some smoked salmon that they caught that was pretty dang good.

We tracted in to a guy named Ivan who is Hispanic and he is pretty excited about the Book of Mormon and Christ visiting the Americas.

Lori is still getting baptized on the 18th which is great! Her Fiancee and her were planning on getting married on June 1st but she really wants to get baptized before one of us goes. So they are going to have bishop marry them in his office so she can get baptized Then they are having a formal wedding on the 1st of June. 

So that's it for this week! Looking forward to talking to everyone on mothers day!

Apr 29th, 2013

Hey mom! thanks for the email. Things are going pretty good here in Brookings. Yesterday we had Lori show up with her son Christian as well as another lady we are working with named Katie and her 4 kids. So that was great!

So there aren't too many highlights for this last week. We did have an awesome lesson with Seth and Cassandra this last week. We were going to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they had some questions that took the lesson down a different path. They had some questions about the Plan of Salvation and our pre-earth life and life after this. So we were explaining a little about it and that our families can be sealed forever. So we started talking about eternal marriage and the Temple. At first they weren't terribly happy hearing about eternal marriage because they thought that when you were married here on earth that you were stuck forever even after divorce. So they thought that they were sealed still to their previous spouses still. So we had to explain that they weren't and that marriage isn't eternal until we go the the temple and are sealed for eternity. That we aren't sealed unless we do that. After we explained that they had a sigh of relief and then started giving each other high fives. Then they started talking about how they should maybe get sealed together and to their kids. Cassandra had one of the Salt Lake City temple pass along cards and said "I want to get sealed here!" then Seth said "Yeah I wanna get sealed in Hogwarts!" So we talked to them about what steps need to be taken in order to do so and that the first step is to pray and think about what we have taught them. Then to be Baptized by someone that holds that proper Priesthood authority. They are awesome! 

So that is the highlight for the week!  

Apr 22nd 2013

Hey mom! 

Thanks for the emails. So first in response to your questions in the interview President had a little more structure where he had a few questions that he asks everyone when in interviews. Then we just talked about the area and possibilities of what is going to happen after I leave here. He asked some questions about former areas I have worked in and former companions. He told me that I seem to do better in remote areas and I told him I would rather be in smaller towns over big towns. So he said that when I get transferred he will probably put me in a smaller isolated community. I think partly because I enjoy it more and because he can trust me in not doing something stupid and disobedient. The only downside is he also said that he may put me out somewhere with someone that struggles with obedience in the middle of no where. Because they wont have any option of doing something disobedient with me. Or I will double transfer train another place like Brookings. But I dunno we will see what happens. Transfers are on May 20th so one of us will be leaving on that day. I'm not 100% sure but I think that I will be leaving because this is Elder Davis' first area. Going back to interviews yes we interview with Sister Young when your companion is with President.

So this week was okay. We had some pretty good highs and lows. Last P-day a member in the ward took us golfing at the golf course he manages which was awesome! Then we came back went tracting and had our dinner late because it was going to be dropped off to us. I started feeling really sick and puked for the first time on the mission! I was sitting on the tub the first time I puked which turns out not to be a good idea because I got vomit up my nose which burns! Then the pizza was dropped off so all I could smell was puke and pizza. Then I puked again. But I woke up the next morning and felt great! 

We met some awesome people this week through tracting. A family let us in and we were able to teach them the Plan of Salvation. The husband is an excommunicated Jehovah's witness and I will say they are incredibly harsh on those that they excommunicate. But we have another lesson with them this week. We also tracted in to another lady who had accepted a baptismal date which is awesome! And we had a really spiritual lesson a lady named Heather which was awesome!

When we were tracting on Saturday, we were at an intersection when a guy pulled over  behind us, opened his door, and puked. It was pretty funny. Then we did service for 4 hours for this guy that we tracted in to. it was pretty cool. anyways that's about it for this week! love ya!

Elder Berg

Apr 16th, 2013

Hey mom! thanks for the email. Things are going pretty good here in Brookings. Yesterday we had Lori show up with her son Christian as well as another lady we are working with named Katie and her 4 kids. So that was great!

So there aren't too many highlights for this last week. We did have an awesome lesson with Seth and Cassandra this last week. We were going to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they had some questions that took the lesson down a different path. They had some questions about the Plan of Salvation and our pre-earth life and life after this. So we were explaining a little about it and that our families can be sealed forever. So we started talking about eternal marriage and the Temple. At first they weren't terribly happy hearing about eternal marriage because they thought that when you were married here on earth that you were stuck forever even after divorce. So they thought that they were sealed still to their previous spouses still. So we had to explain that they weren't and that marriage isn't eternal until we go the the temple and are sealed for eternity. That we aren't sealed unless we do that. After we explained that they had a sigh of relief and then started giving each other high fives. Then they started talking about how they should maybe get sealed together and to their kids. Cassandra had one of the Salt Lake City temple pass along cards and said "I want to get sealed here!" then Seth said "Yeah I wanna get sealed in Hogwarts!" So we talked to them about what steps need to be taken in order to do so and that the first step is to pray and think about what we have taught them. Then to be Baptized by someone that holds that proper Priesthood authority. They are awesome! 

So that is the highlight for the week!