Transfers, I'm sad that I'm moving from Lehi Stake.

 Dec 30, 2013
 It was so great to see you all on Christmas! It was really great to talk and hear how everyone is doing. I loved how it really felt just like it used to. A little different of course but family is family and I cherish that! Thank you for caring so much about me. You are all looking pretty good too, I'm glad I got my haircut right before or else you would have seen a rather rebellious looking Elder. Thank you for all of the presents! You really spoiled me haha. You did great with the ties, and I also got a nice paisley from the T. The pajamas and sweaters fit great. And I put the jump rope to use, my legs are dead. Like I've been limping for three days dead haha. I really appreciate them.

The rest of the day was great. We went back to the apartment for a little while and then we got to go see N.. and his family. We played games and ate dinner. It was really nice. But the best part was when we gave N.. his present. I gave him my scripture case that I came out with, that little black one, because he got scriptures when he was baptized. We also each gave him two ties and got him some marking pencils. That scripture case is pretty beat up but it was so cool to see his reaction. He exclaimed, "BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!!" And his parents were really grateful. They were like, "This was a real life missionaries case!" It didn't even matter how beat up it was. It was super awesome and one of my favorite parts of Christmas day. 

This week was pretty slow but it was good. On Monday we got together as a Zone and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" like I said, that was fun. There are a lot of wealthy Mormons near us so we were treated with a huge home theater and unlimited snacks and drinks. We are seriously so spoiled here haha. That night we went over to D's house and picked oranges. It was super fun, he's so funny. After we picked the oranges we made some fresh juice with a juicer that he has. As we juiced them we got to talk to him about the Gilbert Temple open house. The mission trained us on how to simply teach people about the temple and it's importance. As we taught about baptisms for the dead he asked us, "Should we get that done for Sue?" It was awesome. After we taught him about it he made us go to his next door neighbors, the Th (members) and set up the date that they will be taking him to the open house. So awesome.

Christmas Eve was really slow. In the morning we helped a non member named R move some metal. He's an artist and we've been helping him a lot. He has softened to us a ton. That's probably the biggest thing that this area has taught me. Serving is a great way to testify. People feel the Spirit of Christ when you serve them, I know it. On Saturday this past week we were in our service clothes from 8 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon doing 3 different service projects. I love it! And what better way to spend Christmas Eve?? We spent all night with the N, they're super awesome.

On Thursday we had our last District Meeting this transfer. It was good though, I'm going to miss this District but I'm excited for some change. After District Meeting we went to lunch and the Sisters bought us all Subway!!! It was really cool.

Well... On Saturday we got transfer news. And, as expected, I will be leaving Lehi. Elder T.. is staying and he will be getting Elder G... Who was actually just companions with Elder B...!! Haha. He's an awesome Elder and I know that he was called to be with Elder T... for a reason. They'll do great. As for me... I'm headed to the Toro Zone to be a Zone Leader with Elder C.... I'm a little nervous but I'm actually super excited. I will finally be in a car (I took my driving test today and passed.  Driving for the first time after a year wasn't as bad as I thought. I will be the designated driver.)  I get to be junior companion!!  Elder C... goes home in 3 months so I will most likely be his last companion. In missionary terms, I will probably kill him. I'm taking over for Elder K.. who just became the AP.

Another fun fact. The Elder that just got released as AP, Elder A, is going to be in my Zone! As my District Leader. I'm really excited for that because he will be able to teach me a lot. He's an awesome missionary. And he's from New Zealand so that's pretty cool.

I'll be needing your prayers!! A lot. I'm sad that I'm moving from the Lehi Stake. We didn't have a ton of work but I sure learned a lot here. I went and told D about it on Saturday and he told me that I succeeded. He just got called as a Ward Missionary, nailed it. And we stopped by the Th's, they told me some really nice things too. I'll always remember my days in Lehi.

Love you lots. Have a happy New Year!! 

District

A member sent to us Christmas Day.

I had just barely cut my hair.

 Loved seeing my Famiiiily!

Some things never change!

We were trained on how to teach people about the Gilbert Temple open house.

Dec 23, 2013
This email won't be quite up to my recent novel status but that's just
because... I will see you in two days! So I need to save some words
for then too! That sure looks like a lot of snow, we don't have quite
that much down here. I'm glad you got the tie safely, I also received
your packages and the envelope. I'm super spoiled. Our Christmas tree
has plenty of presents under it. So thank you!! I've received a few
letters from the Ward, I will make sure to use those Thank you's you
sent me. Also, be ready to Skype at high noon.

We had Zone Conference this week. It was really good, we were trained
on how to teach people about the Gilbert Temple open house and we have
these invitations to hand out. We aren't aloud to go to the open house
with our investigators but President said he is trying to work out a
day that the whole mission can go and go through the open house! So
I'm praying for that.

D is doing good. I didn't get to teach him because I was on am
exchange with Elder B. He is my Zone leader. He is super awesome,
I love him a lot. He taught me a lot and we got to go to the Christmas
Lights at the temple! They're so awesome. I will be sure to send some
pictures soon. And then on Friday we got to go to the lights again
with J. He is a Recent Convert, baptized back in August. He
recently had a stroke (within the last year) and he is way cool.

Another cool thing. We started teaching T!!  T is a foreign
exchange student from Brazil that lives with our Bishop. We were over
there eating dinner and he agreed to let us teach him! He's about 6
foot 5. He comes to church every once and a while and every time he
comes I talk about basketball with him so he loves me haha. I don't
know how we would be able to get it figured out in order to get him
baptized but we will figure that out later. But for now he agreed to
read and pray about the Book of Mormon! Oh yeah, and he is 17.
Miracles.

We also encountered a very drunk man named T. We went to eat lunch
with To who is returning from being a Less Active alcoholic for the
past 40 years. He is awesome. Anyways T was there when we showed up
and he was really so drunk. And To decided it would be funny to
leave us outside with him while he cooked lunch. Well soon enough T
started yelling at me about how I had no idea how hard it was to kill
a man. He called me a donkey, but in a lot ruder way. The hardest
part, which probably shouldn't have hurt me as much as it did, was I
tried to testify of the Savior and how he understands To and that's
when he got the meanest. I stepped back and felt very sorry for myself.
I was confused. I felt like a promise had been broken, I had testified
and it didn't help anything. Obviously this man was in no way prepared
or even able to feel the Spirit, but regardless I was pretty hurt. So
I stepped back, let him talk to Elder T and said a little
prayer. Some time passed and he turned to me and asked, "Young man, do
you really believe that? In God." I answered yes. And he thanked me.
It was weird because right after that he went right back to his vulgar
drunken self. But God knew I needed that, He really does care.

Well, have a Merry Christmas Eve and tell everyone I say hello! I will
see you in two days at noon.

Love, Elder Alexander

Sent from my iPad

Merry Christmas Eve!

I'm seriously jumping for joy.

Dec 16, 2013
First off! I just got some pretty exciting news in an email from

President. I'm seriously jumping for joy. On January 11th (which as
you know is my birthday) none other than..... Jeffery R. Holland is
coming to town!! Whaaaaaat!?!? And it gets better, he will be speaking
to our mission, as well as the Gilbert and Scottsdale missions!! How
blessed are we?? And I might get to see a couple of my wayward

brothers in the Scottsdale mission! Happy Birthday to me.

This week was awesome, everything didn't go quite as planned but it was

still good. M missed our appointment.... He text us and said he
had to go out of town, it was a total bummer but we are still praying
for him and are going by tonight. But we did find a new guy to teach!
His name is D. We went to teach one of the members in our ward's
Less Active daughter and she brought her boyfriend! He took a Book of
Mormon and said he would read it. We will be eating dinner with him

and his family this Thursday but I will be on an exchange out of the area

so I won't be able to be there but that's ok, Elder T can handle
himself.

On Monday we went bowling. It was sweeeet. I've still got it. I

owned those lanes haha. But I remained humble somehow. The best part
is that we didn't have time to change so we went in our full
Proselyting attire! Those were the most righteous games I've ever
bowled.

The Temple Excursion was on Tuesday. I always love going to the temple
and getting a recharge. I feel overwhelmed to have a temple so close,
I know I need it. That recharge once a transfer really keeps me going.

It was also really cool to meet with President in the Temple chapel

 all dressed in white, the Spirit in there was indescribable.

On Wednesday was the Christmas Activity. I got to see everybody! Elder
B, I also saw Elder K, he's actually going home at the
end if this transfer which is crazy. The only companions I will have
left in the mission will be my sons!! The Activity was really fun. We
had a steak lunch, they cooked steak for all of us. It was sweet. Then
we did the service project which was putting together these bags of
food for this organization called "AZ Brain Food". They provide over
the weekend meals for kids that get the free lunch at school who
otherwise wouldn't get any food at home. It was really fun. Then we
had a little bell concert and then a music devotional by Freddy Ashby
and Clyde Bodden. It was a definite success!!

I went on an exchange with Elder S who is being trained by Elder
B on Friday. It was fun, he just got his iPad so he was pretty
excited. The best part was that a Lutheran couple that loves
missionaries took us to Outback for lunch! I know when to plan my
exchanges haha.

We also saw D this week .Remember he is the one who lost his wife Sue due 

to cancer a little bit ago. He is doing pretty good. We stopped by on
Wednesday night after the Activity.  The house was dark so we

 decided to peek around the side because the gate was open.

When we looked back we saw the lights on in his big work shed out back
so we headed back. As we talked to him and caught up a little he
expressed feelings of loneliness and then there was another knock.
He's a really sarcastic guy, even when he's mourning and said, "what,
did you bring back up?" Haha, it was in fact Bishop Dana. He had a
plate of cookies and walked us to the front yard where the youth of
the Ward were on a hay ride and sang us some carols. They left and
then D's next door neighbor Sister Thoreson moseyed on over.
Earlier President talked about how our life is a giant masterpiece and
God is the painter. If you look real close as He is painting it looks
really random, you can't understand the beauty. But when you step back
you come to see the masterpiece and the necessity of each stroke. D
has come a long way. He is seeing The Lord in his life. As we went to
leave he thanked us for talking and said it really helped. He then
turned to us and said, "Ya know, I never leave this gate unlocked. And

I don't think it was a coincidence." I know it wasn't"!  God is in the

slightest details of our lives. He truly cares.

The Christmas Season is still a blast. I love it so much! We are going
to be well taken care of come Christmas. Thank you for giving me your
Skype name, I will give you a definite time to plan on next Monday. I
can't wait to see you all! 

 I love you.

Love, Elder Alexander

Sent from my iPad

I felt the Spirit approve my efforts, that's a good feeling.

Dec 9, 2013
I'm glad you liked that last email, I put my whole heart and soul into it. I'm glad you got the picture of me and Elder B and our masterpiece. There are a couple of stories connected with that picture that I will start out with.

First: The Ward Christmas Party. That is why we decorated that tree. I was on an exchange with Elder B, I brought him into my area for the day. (Elder B is in my District and was trained by Elder Ault.) We went to the church building to do our online Proselyting for the day (Facebook) when we were spotted by the Relief Society. And they put us to work haha. We set everything up and then we returned to our house for lunch. We planned on meeting up with Elder T and Elder S, Elder B's companion, at 1 at the church building. We do weekly planning on Fridays at the church building. When we went back to meet them we were approached by a lady that asked us for the time, I told her. I then asked he if she needed any help (she looked pretty haggard) and she told me that she saw the sign about dinner (The Ward Party) at 6 and was going to stick around. I gave her a Book of Mormon and told her to read it while she waited! Her name was D. I got her some water from the drinking fountain and let her do some reading. When I checked up on her again she had read a little bit and had more questions about what we do as a church and we were able to answer. Eventually the party came around and we were able to give her a tour of the building and dinner! I'm not sure what will come of it but I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to serve her. I know I won't always see the fruit of my efforts but I felt the Spirit approve my efforts, that's a good feeling.

The Ward Party was a huge success, we had it set up so that you had to do a tour of the building before you got dinner haha. It was sweet, we had close to 40 nonmembers there. Christmas Miracle.

Story #2: (It's kind of a subplot to the previous story.) Sanhedrin. As I said, the Relief Society put us to work. The first order of business to take care of: (From Sister S) Rid her trunk of the two stray cats that had taken refuge there. We gladly accepted and to our surprise found two little kitty's!! One was really mean but the other loved us. So we named him Sanhedrin. (I later named his brother Teancum.) We took some extra time to have a little picture shoot with our little friends and then continued on our work. But the kitty's kept causing trouble. Whenever anyone would go in or out of the church they would make a mad dash for the building. They made it in the chapel once and we had to go corral them out. But when we went back for lunch Sanhedrin followed us! And then he sat there and meowed at the door... The whole time. When it came time for us to return to the church Sanhedrin gladly followed. No questions asked. And he actually kept Dolores company while she waited which was nice.

When the party rolled around we were given the assignment as greeters but with Sanhedrin and Teancum lurking about that quickly turned into Kitty Patrol. Regardless, it was a good night with lots of cute kitty pictures to follow. P.S. Sanhedrin is what the high council in Jerusalem was called at the time of Christ.

So cool that Silver Rush is in full swing once again! I actually thought about how it had been two years a little bit ago and had a mini heart attack. Whatever, growing up won't bring us down. Another thought came to me the other day... When I return from my mission I will have had 5 out of the last 6 Christmas Seasons of my life in basically full service mode. With my 3 years of Silver Rush, my selfish post-high school-pre-mission, and then my 2 years on my mission. How blessed am I!! I'm serious, the Spirit that is felt while spending so much time serving is incredible! I'm so grateful for it.

We did get our Christmas tree and the Christmas season is in full swing. We already have people inviting us over for Christmas and Christmas Eve, which is a huge blessing! Also this next week we get to go to the temple as well as have a Christmas Activity with the whole mission on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure that it's some sort of service project and I can't wait. It'll be fun to be with everyone in the mission. A family reunion! I'm glad to hear Elyse and Dal will be there, I'm not sure on the exact time yet but it'll be in the early afternoon. Probably sometime between 12 and 2. 

Bro B is still coming along. He came to the Ward party but he missed church. I'm going to have to get on him. But he's doing great, he had us help do service for his nonmember neighbor. So awesome. I really want him to be called as our assistant Ward mission leader. I'm going to see what I can do!

We met with J on Monday, he didn't have a lot of time so it was short but he will be back in town this weekend and we're going to get him to the Ward party hopefully. And we want to get him over to the Christmas Lights as the temple as well. That'd be sweeeeeeet!!

We also found someone new!! His name is M. A few weeks ago we met him because one his neighbors told us to go introduce ourselves to him. He was hard to catch and we caught him once before Thanksgiving and he told us to come by after. That whole next week we still couldn't catch him. It was 830 on Saturday night, we were right by our house, I was freezing (the nights are cold now, especially on bike), and quite honestly ready to go home. But I got the feeling we needed to give M a try. So we did, and he was there!!! Hallelujah! We were able to talk to him and give him another Book of Mormon (his sister stole the other one we gave him) and we are going back this Thursday. And he also told us he couldn't go to church yesterday but he can make it this coming Sunday! Christmas Miracles.

 I love the Christmas season on my mission, it's so incredible! 

I've been studying the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law with Brother B lately. I've come to realize that the rules we have as missionaries are what we need to do, and that's the letter. But the spirit of the law focuses more on who we are and not so much what we do. That was e higher law that Christ brought. They already knew not to kill and he came and taught them to not be angry and you, by default, won't kill. I love the principle of obedience and the evidence I've seen on my mission that miracles follow a fine mix of faith and obedience.

 But I hope you are all having a great Christmas Season!! I know I am! Things are swell in Lehi. I <3 you.

Love, Elder Alexander

Sent from my iPad

These are the kittens trying to get in. Sanhedrin and Teancum. So cute.

Our Christmas Tree. And Elder T eating breakfast.

    Me and a cactus for Christmas 

On a simple day in Bethlehem a child was born.

Dec 2, 2013
I had a pretty good week this week! For one I was swarmed with love

from back home and I have you to thank for that! I received my
Thanksgiving package on Wednesday and I just wanted to say how
thankful I am for the family I have been blessed with. Thank you for
the support and love that you show me! You make Thanksgiving easy on
me. :)
Speaking of Thanksgiving, mine went pretty goooood! I didn't over
indulge but I definitely had my fair share of turkey. We ate with one
family at 130 and another at 5. Along with a pancake breakfast! At 5

we ate with a recent convert Nathan and his family. It's been really good to see Nathan grow!

I love that kid so much. I got him to try all of his vegetables and stuff that his parents 

wanted him to eat and he despises haha. You would have though we were trying to kill him

 with the way he reacted. But he ended up having a good laugh and we're still friends.

 But it really is amazing how the Spirit feels on the mission. Everything truly is in a new light.

 I see it all differently and I'm so grateful!  We weren't allowed to stop by anyone unexpected 

so we got to enjoy our time with them. It was a major blessing! We also got to play 

football with all the missionaries in our Zone as well. Just so you know I haven't 

missed a step, MVP til I die.

Our investigator S passed away about a week ago. We have been
teaching her and her husband D since we got here. She has had
cancer for over a year and it really had hrs own. We've been going by
and Sharing messages of peace with them. The last time we went by she
asked us to tell her the story of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream
Coat, I give credit to the fact that I was surrounded by that musical
my whole life that I was able to fulfill her wish. D has never
really been interested and has despised organized religion most of his
life. But we're really good friends with him. And he asked us to speak
at S funeral. It was this past Saturday and they held it at our
church building, D and S are really good friends with the whole
Ward. There were a lot of nonmembers there. We were supposed to speak
about the Plan of Salvation, I started off and talked  about the pain
and sorrow we face in this life but the ultimate peace that comes from
the Savior. I focused it mainly in John 16:33, which has become one of
my favorite scriptures. The Savior promises us that we will have
trials. It's a definite. But He already overcame that and we are
promised to overcome it if we merely "come unto" Him. Elder T
talked about the Spirit World and the 3 Kingdoms to an audience of non
members, he rocked it.

I received my 12 days of Christmas package. I love you so much. I'm

spoiled. So far I have opened socks and pens, both of which I was in
dire need of. So thank you. I also set up my decorations. I will send
pictures. Me and Elder  are going to go in on a little tree
today we decided. But I love my personal one with all of my pictures!

On a very happy note. WE FOUND J. We were totally stumped one
night and had nothing to do when we stopped by a member and they
mentioned him. (God works through others.) So we darted overt here and
he was home!!! He was all over the place. Cali, Oklahoma, Louisiana,
Washington... You name it! And he's leaving again on the 4th but w're
going by tonight and we are so excited! Keep him in your prayers.
D came to church yesterday! He's so funny, he sat behind us in
church and kept writing me notes of his infinite wisdom. He had me
study D&C 10:43 this week where God mentions how His "wisdom" is
greater than the "cunning" of the Devil. What's the difference? Wisdom
is obtained through experience, which the Devil will never have! He
relies on his cunning in order to deceive but it's so awesome that we
can obtain wisdom and he can't. We can be so much stronger than him
because we are gaining experience. I don't know... It blew my mind.

Speaking of goats. Have they had any babies??? I was just thinking

about that, what's going on in the Alexander Animal Kingdom??                                                                       

I'm so excited to be serving The Lord during this fantastic Christmas season!!

The Spirit is already so much stronger and I feel that The Lord is going to be there 

to help us as we are testifying to others. This morning I took my personal study to

prepare myself to share the Christmas message in such a way as to spark interest 

in the restoration of the gospel. I of course read the story from Luke chapter 2 and

was lead to other places in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Probably my favorite

thing I found and realized and think I might use a lot is in Alma 37:6-7. On a simple day

in Bethlehem a child was born, on a simple day in Palmyra a young boy prayed.

Two extremely simple acts that both led to incredible things. Because of those small and

simple means we can all obtain salvation! Amazing. I'm so excited for the Spirit of Christ

 to be let loose! 

Love, Elder Alexander

Sent from my iPad

Merry Christmas to everyone. Let's all remember what Christmas is truly about.

Just finishing up decorating the Tree for our Ward Christmas Party.

His path is so much easier than any other.

Nov 26, 2013
I'm still blown away by the fact that Jordan is home already.
Absolutely blown away. I'm glad Adam and Jen got to go! They're doing
so awesome. I'm really proud of them. Jen has some really awesome
questions about the Book of Mormon and I can tell she really wants
to understand.
As far as teaching goes.... J is still MIA. His house has been
dormant for a few weeks now. We have members keeping an eye on it for
us haha. As for C. She's super nice but super busy and either
really doesn't know her schedule or purposefully tells us to come by
every time she is working. Either way we haven't had the opportunity
to teach her lately.
This week, nearly everyday we helped Bro B build a shed. Bro B
is the most active less active member I've ever met. He is really
awesome, and has become probably our best friend in the area. The cool
thing is, and the reason we've gone over everyday, is that he has an
awesome relationship with his neighbors. Everybody loves him! So in
turn the more we hang out and help him the more people love us! And
now he is giving us ideas to become friends with his neighbors. It has
been awesome. He was supposed to come to church yesterday but he
bailed on us. But we'll get him soon! He has a really strong spiritual gift, 
he can find details in the scriptures that might slip by me. One is in
1 Nephi. In chapter 2 vs 16 Nephi describes himself as "extremely young" 
and then you go to chapter 4 vs 32 and he calls himself a man. Bro B
 had me study what made him a man. What I found is that for the first time Nephi
gained a testimony of the things his father had been teaching.
Immediately afterwards he was called on to fulfill a mission at the
Lord's cal. Through trial and tribulation Nephi became a man in a very
short time. It's really amazing to see what The Lord can do with his
servants. I know He is building us everyday in order to prepare us for
His "wise purposes".
I too am grateful for the gospel. I have recently come to understand a
lot more. It's incredible that as we build faith in Christ we
naturally repent. And God blesses us. His path is so much easier than
any other.
I love you!

Love, Elder Alexander
Sent from my iPad

There will be Mas Del Spiritu De JesuChristo en el mundo. ( More of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the world)

Nov 18, 2013

We had some pretty good experiences this week. By way of update we
weren't able to meet with C... She canceled but we did talk to her
and she is super nice. She went to a weekend long party on the res
though so she missed church... But we'll get her! Unfortunately the
barbecue had to get moved so we're thinking about doing it mid
December so we'll see! But we have a Ward Christmas party on the 6th
of December that we are inviting everyone to!

 The area is still about the same. I'm super lost at what to do. We've visited formers

 and referrals and all sorts of things. Nothing. So we're just visiting members now. 

We pick a small portion and get all the addresses and go see them, talking

 to anyone on the streets which unfortunately isn't enough. 

A pretty good experience that I had this week is that Elder
T and me had the opportunity to participate in setting a missionary

apart. His name is A and he is headed to Utacha, New York. He has

been helping us out a lot since we got in the area and we became
pretty good friends! I've sent out quite a few missionaries out here
so I think I have a small taste of what you went through haha. But it
was a strong Spirit that filled the room when we set him apart. It's
amazing to feel the Spirit while participating in different
ordinances, I feel as if it is unique in each one.

It was an incredible experience to be able to teach Jen. This technology thing is so incredible.

 The fact that she is prepared right now. She really wants to know and I know she will,

 but not comfortable with meeting with missionaries and I just happen to be sent to one 

of the first missions rolling this out. The Lord works in very incredible ways.

I also got to Skype Jen. What? So crazy. Jayce is HUGE. And he
disturbed the lessons a little bit but I can forgive him for that. And
Jen said he thinks I'm taking him to Disney Land for Christmas... Poor

guy haha. It was funny... The first thing she said was,"your hair is so long!" 

And it is... So long. I look like a fool but I finally found a member that 

will be fixing that for me today! Phew...

As for Transfer News.......I will be staying here with Elder T  

for another transfer. So Lehi will be my Christmas area!! Woo. I'm
pretty stoked. I'm just praying we see plenty of Christmas miracles,
we know that there will be Mas Del Spiritu De JesuChristo en el mundo.
(More of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the world.) That's my version
of Spanish. But unfortunately Elder Ault will be leaving me :( I'm
pretty bummed but it will be good for him, he's going to be a District
Leader! And guess what! He is going to serve in my first area! Crazy
crazy. I am excited for him but I will sure miss unleashing Riverton on
these streets.

I'm restarting the Book of Mormon with Jen, we plan on being to 2
Nephi by the end of this week. It has been a really good study. I'm
going through with all of the missionary lessons in mind and marking
scriptures according to which lesson they apply to, it has taught me a
lot.

Well. Pray for the angels that are working with the people in our
area! I know that they're softening the hearts we just aren't looking
in the right places so we can use all the prayers we can get! 

I love you!

Love Elder Alexander
Sent from my iPad

Some chickens we encountered on a walk. Just doing chicken stuff.

The mission happy is a total different happy!

Nov 11, 2013

Well, I'll start off with a story. On Friday I was on an exchange with
our zone leader Elder Owens, It was a day like any other, we woke up did

 some kind of exercises, and had our study for the day.

 At 10 o'clock we went to go to the church to do some Facebook.

 As we walked outside we encountered a lady on a horse,
which isn't uncommon out here in Lehi. She asked us if we could
distract the stray dog that was following her so that it didn't go and
kill her neighbors chickens, we of course offered our help. But things
went bad quick. As we tried to keep the dog distracted as she trotted
down the road we were quickly outsmarted. This dog, which we found out
was from the Indian reservation, took advantage of a passing car and
sprinted to the other side of the road and after the horse. We
defeatedly watched as the dog made his way towards the horse but the
horse was on the same side of the road as us. In his attempts to reach
the horse in crossing the street the dog got hit by a truck.... And
then kept running!! But that's not all, mere seconds later a ferocious
German Shepherd comes out of nowhere and attacked. The dog was still
recovering from getting hit by a truck while simultaneously being
attacked by a German Shepherd but amazingly it escaped and dived into
the bushes. And that is the last that we saw of it. Mind you this all
happened in about 45 seconds, me and Elder Owens are still pretty
blown away by it but I think will get over it.

Other than that this week was pretty uneventful. It's still nearly 

 impossible to find people but we are striving! J--- has officially

disappeared... But we're still keeping hope that he'll show up again.
We should be meeting with C----- on Wednesday and hopefully get her to
church on Sunday. When I was on exchanges with Elder Owens we tried
this thing where we just rolled up to people on the bikes and said,
"Hey, do you want to go to a barbecue??" Their reactions were
priceless and they'd just laugh. And it worked! If you offer somebody
free food they'll listen. So we have some potentials that I'm going to
be calling this week for all the info on the barbecue. We're praying
for miracles with that!!

On Saturday the Lehi 1st Ward had a Round Up that we helped with. It
was basically a rodeo without animals haha. Just a bunch of country
folk with a rodeo arena haha. I loved it, the people here are so
awesome, they're willing to help us all the time they just have some
pretty stubborn neighbors! But we know there are angels preparing the
hearts everyday!

They also asked us to talk in Sacrament meeting Saturday night so we

 talked about the Word of Wisdom. I talked about how the

Commandments are here to help us fly. I used the analogy of the kite
flying in the air. If you didn't know how a kite worked you would
think that the boy was holding the kite back but you come to find out

that without that rope grounding it the kite would fall. I know that

the Word of Wisdom protects us, the Spirit will give us ultimate peace
and happiness. I love in John 14:27 how The Lord tells us that His
peace is so much greater than the peace the things of the world bring

and I know that is what helps us fly!

I know what you mean, the mission happy is a total different happy. 

At times I look back at certain situations and try to figure out why I was so happy haha.

But it really is incredible.

Transfer news is this week, crazy how fast this went by. By the way
we've already been invited to about 12 places for Thanksgiving dinner
haha, totally covered. We've been invited to Thanksgiving breakfast,
Thanksgiving lunch, and Thanksgiving dinner. I love you all!

Love, Elder Alexander
Sent from my iPad

It's such an incredible experience when you feel Heavenly Father work through you.

Nov 4, 2013
Hallo,

Another week another dollar. First lets talk about the work. Remember the days of Apache Junction? Where we were teaching all the time? People were popping up all over the place? Well, this week was on the opposite side of the scale. We were trying so hard, meeting with members, contacting referrals, doing everything we thought we should. We talked to J but he wasn't able to meet with us at all. We're going back on Friday, he's still interested but he's just busy. But we won't give in!!! Hoorah! We discovered on Saturday that our area has APARTMENTS. And I love apartments. Yesterday evening after dinner and a short meeting with the ward missionaries we headed over there on foot. At first we were contacting former investigators. And well... no one answered. Well one lady did but she couldn't hear us very well and ended up saying that she didn't like missionaries and closing the door... Next we met a man walking his dog. Here's roughly how it went:

Us: How are you doing tonight?

Man: Good.

Us: What's your dogs name?

Man: I don't know I just stole it.

Us: Why'd you do that?

Man: It was just sitting there.

Us: Ok... (Still not sure if he was kidding or not.) What's your name.

Man: "Harold." Why would I tell you my real name, I'm a thief.

The conversation continued basically the same. He offered to sell us pot, we declined. All of what he spoke was so crazy that it might just be true. Either way I was able to give him a Book of Mormon. He's not interested but he took it so hopefully someday something comes form it!

This week was by far the hardest week of my mission as far as teaching goes. When it came to Sunday night guess how many lessons we had taught to non members? A big ol whopping 0. Yep... Absolutely none. And I was so discouraged. It was 8 and we tried one last house before we started walking home (we decided to walk because our area is so small.) Anyways we went to contact a referral in the apartments at that point. His name is M and the Spanish Elders sent us his way. When we stopped by the door was open so we awkwardly walked up... M wasn't there. But C was! C is a nice lady that grew up on the Indian Reservation. She's an Apache Indian. She invited us in and we were able to teach her about the Restoration of the gospel. She took a Book of Mormon, said the closing prayer, and accepted a return appointment. MIRACLES!! Fasting pays off. Cha ching. It was amazing. Thank you for your prayers and fasting! The area isn't exploding yet but it will get there. 

Halloween was fun. Breaking news, guess what happened.... They gave us iPads..... Everyone in our mission now has their own iPad min. It's crazy!!! Basically the church is developing a program for us to use. We're transferring all of the information from our Area Books onto our iPads. That way when a missionary goes to a new area all you do is download the Area Book and it's all there. But here's the catch. We have to go back about 10 years and enter absolutely EVERYTHING that has been recorded in our area. It's going to take forever. But the Lord truly is hastening his work. We go down to the church everyday and get on our iPads. We're on facebook... It's crazy. The transition is discouraging but once this gets rolling it'll be amazing. We just got an email from the assistants as I wrote this very email and we can use our iPads to email... This is so weird haha. But hey, I know it's inspired. We have all the conference talks from here to Timbuktu on there. All the Ensigns, it's incredible. Pray for me, I don't know what I'm doing!!!

As for District Leader responsibilities I went on an exchange with Elder Bennett (Elder Ault's companion) this week and it was real good. He's the youngest missionary in the mission. He just turned 18 in July but he's a good kid. Him and Elder Ault are the exact same haha. Exchanges are fun.

The family sounds like it's booming!!! Holy wow. Tell all of them congratulations! Elyse and Dal better get goin...

I had the opportunity to confer the Priesthood on Nathan yesterday. It was so sweet, it's such an incredible experience when you feel Heavenly Father work through you. He truly recognizes our righteous desires and He wants to bless us. The power of the priesthood is real and it is on the earth!

Well Family I love you. I had the chance to bear testimony this week in both of our wards and it was great. I love this gospel and the Atonement. I love how simply the Spirit works and the subtle promptings it gives us. I know that the Spirit is going across the land and preparing people. Hearts are being changed. When we open our mouths to spread the gospel we are assisted by angelic messengers. They lift us up, they carry our testimonies.

Love, Elder Alexander

This is me at the ward Halloween Party. The suit I am wearing, Goodwill special. Notice my undignified tie that I got at 360 Thrift for 50 cents. Perfect for Halloween. Notice the man standing next to me. That is Billy, he is a convert. Last of all notice the iPad in my left hand.   Happy Halloween!

God knows what we need, even when we expect something different.

Oct 28, 2013
Another week passed us by. And this one was tough.. The new area is proving more challenging than expected. Sometimes I think we have too many members haha. But I know that's not the case, I'm really grateful for them all. We were able to teach J again this week and it went pretty well. The Elder's Quorum President came with us and we taught the whole message of the Restoration. He told us he's a man of science... But that's ok!! As long as he learns to overcome the natural man and yield to the enticing of the Spirit. He did say that if he gets an answer from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true that he will get baptized so I'm praying for him!!

We have another couple that we're teaching. D and S. They've been investigating for years... But S is about to pass from this mortal life. She has cancer and she isn't doing good at all. Her husband D is not at peace with that at all, he's never really been interested in joining the church but I feel like this experience is changing him. It's going to take time and I think he might be bitter towards God for quite some time but we continue to invite the Spirit into their home the best we can.

Elder Tueller is doing fantastic. I went on my exchange with Elder Ault this week and it was a hoot. He taught me a lot too. We were able to teach a few lessons to some Recent Converts and the Spirit was really strong, he's a great missionary. It was also fun to tell people that we went to high school together haha, they got a kick out of that. 

Not a lot happened this week... It was a pretty tough one just because it's really testing my patience. To go from teaching 4 or 5 lessons a day to less than that for the whole week has hit my ego pretty hard. But when I realize that it's not my work but His my spirits are raised. As long as I'm doing absolutely everything I can He will make up the rest. I'm so excited for fast Sunday!!! Fasting has always been hard for me. But I feel like that's what it's supposed to be. When we obtain a blessing from Our Father it requires something of our soul, it requires sacrifice. Quite honestly this area has been a total answer to my prayers. Out in AJ there were times that I felt I was too focused on the numbers, that I was losing focus on the people. But out here there aren't as many numbers to focus on haha. But I'm grateful for it. God knows what we need, even when we expect something different.
Facebook is going pretty good. Sometimes I get a little lost haha but I feel like it is definitely inspired. The work is moving forward leaps and bounds and I know that the Lord is behind it.

I know that this church is true. The strength it gives me is incredible, and I'm grateful for it.I love the Book of Mormon, I plan on finishing it this week. It's so true. The Book of Ether amazes me. It is spitting image of what is happening. And it's amazing to see that the Nephites had that record but we still see their fate. It's so true that people have a hard time learning. But God is so merciful. He never gives up. 

Oooo, I know Christmas is forever away. (Not really. Is it really almost November??) But I have a request. Before Christmas Eve I need you to send me Mr. Kruger's Christmas. Please and Thank you. :)

I love you!! 

Love, Elder Alexander

We have the road map to success, we just need to start walking!

Oct 21, 2013
Howdy,

Well. Another week come and gone, and it was pretty great. I'm loving the new area and the different opportunities and opportunities it has already brought me. I'll have you know that we had our first housing inspection this week and we passed so I believe that I am cleaning up quite nicely. You raised me well! It's kind of like with training... Something I have learned and that President taught us is that a lot of the time we won't immediately see the fruit of our labors in training (or raising children). For example Elder Bartlett is doing awesome. He learned things that I didn't even know I was teaching and it took my absence for him to apply them. So rest assured my dear mother :)

Well Bill and Nathan were baptized. It was awesome. The mission has a new kick with doing the PMG layout for the baptism, which doesn't include the welcome to the ward by the mission. We applied it, and it worked!! It was incredible. The Spirit was so strong. Did I tell you what happened to Bill? Well, Bill met Trish. Trish was a member and introduced him to the church. They were super in love and got married. 10 days later Trish suddenly passed away. He bore his testimony of the Plan of Salvation at the baptism and it was super powerful. My good friend Nathan was really shy so he just got up and told everybody he's reading the Book of Mormon. Haha he's great.

We saw another miracle this week, and it really proved to me the power of our wards. Our wards are so powerful and well knitted together, I love them a lot. The members have already strengthened my testimony of the gospel! There is a new family that moved in. These people really keep track of the neighborhood, which is pretty easy with the amount of members in such a small area. Anyways last Thursday we went and introduced ourselves to Julius and Mel with Bishop. They were very friendly. We went back this past Wednesday and Julius was very welcoming and asked us to come back Friday. We did. When we went back he was trimming some trees so we taught the first lesson over some yard work, he accepted the Book of Mormon. BUT it ends up our Bishop owns a tree trimming business. SO our Ward Mission Leader (who was with us for the lesson) asked him if we could bring the young men by sometime and help him clean up the yard. (The yard's pretty big.) Julius agreed to eat. The next morning just around a fourth of the ward was going to work on Julius' yard. IT WAS AMAZING!! And I could really tell that Julius felt the Spirit, it was a great example of service for me. 

But it doesn't stop there!! Julius and Mel came to church yesterday!!! The ward has been incredible, it's awesome because this is the first solid investigator this ward has had for some time. They've rallied and it's made our job so much easier. We're going over to see Julius tomorrow so keep him in your prayers! 

I am so excited for the opportunity to communicate with Jen and many others over facebook. It was a huge blessing to hear her testimony of God is already growing and bubbling inside of her. It's such a good experience! It truly shows how the Lord is Hastening His Work and He has given us everything on this Earth to fulfill His purposes!  To answer your question about facebook, I do the same thing on there that I do the rest of the time. Invite everyone to come unto Christ. But now my reach is a little bit longer. I still have all the friends from back home but I don't just catch up with them. I continue to focus on my assigned area but now I can reach out to everyone I know. Keep contact with Recent Converts and everything, it's pretty great! As long is it's fulfilling my purpose I can do it.

I talked about you my parents in my gospel principles class yesterday. We were talking about parents and their role. I talked about the balance that you have and the unified method of raising me. Thank you!! I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up <3

I love you so much!! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and the simplicity it brings to our lives. There is a lot going on but we have the road map to success. The path back to Our Father in Heaven is right before us, we just need to start walking!! I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God as is Thomas S. Monson. Most importantly I know that Christ is Our Savior. He loves us and cares about us. Our righteous desires matter to Him. 

Con Amor,

Elder Alexander

The field is white and there is more than one way to thrust a sickle.

Oct 14, 2013

So I guess I'll answer your questions first.

Address: I believe it's 2039 N Horne. Guess what. We live in a house. Not in a house with a member but we have our very own house. Can you believe it?? It's pretty sweet, my new area is all farm like so we live on a members property in our own house.

Companion: My companion is good ol Elder Tueller (Tooler). He just graduated from High School, and he's a really good kid.

Transfer: Packing proved to be quite the feat. But I guess that is expected when you obtain a new pair of shoes, 2 new suits, and about 30 ties from the last time you packed... :/

Herman: Herman moved back to Florida this past Saturday. We had a great farewell, I'll include a picture for you. I should be sending him an email next week. (I forgot it at the apartment today, but I'll get it soon.) He told me that he was grateful for me, and he told me that he wished that he had a son like me. That was awesome. He still has a lot of questions but I know if we continue to pray for him he will be baptized soon.

My new area is in the Lehi Stake. We cover the Monument and Lehi 1st Wards. I came from the land of less teeth and more tattoos...... To the land of less sneakers and more cowboy boots? Less gasoline and more hay? It's pretty country. It's so country that behind the church building (which is about a 3 minute walk from our house and is super old) there is a rodeo pit/arena/thing. Haha I love it. TONS of members. I think there are more than my first area even. Everyone has lived here forever and they basically know all there neighbors. We live up on McKellips and Horne. We live in the Norther Western corner of the mission. Just north of us is the Reservation which is in the Scottsdale Mission. I'm the closest to the temple and the mission office that I have ever been. It's about a 20 minute bike ride to both. Which is really nice, we're at the Family History Center across from the temple emailing right now.

I loved conference so much. I can't wait to get all of them in the Ensign, I wish I didn't have to wait!!! Oh well though. I believe there is a reason that faith, patience, and the principle of enduring stood out to me in Conference. Out in AJ me and Elder Bartlett got to the point where we were teaching just under 30 lessons a week and finding multiple people each week. Now in this area a good week is to teach 5 lessons and to find a couple a people a month. But I'm so excited!! The members are great. What we're going to do is go in and let Elder Tueller practice teaching them the lessons. Just so they know that we're there to teach. We want to get to know them but our major role is to teach. 

We have 2 investigators. Bill and Nathan. Nathan is 13 and his parents are members. Just moved in from Georgia, his step father is a member and just got active and his mother is a Recent Convert of about a year. About half an hour into the area. Elder Tueller got to set a baptism date with him. Bill married a members sister. And she passed away about 10 days later. But him and Nathan are going to get baptized on October 19th!! We're so excited and we're really hoping that it will get the members going. Because after that we're going to be investigator less so we'll need some help!

I"m so excited for this new opportunity! The new area rules. Super different, but super exciting. I love the gospel and I love how it touches peoples lives. Even though our area is small and packed with members, I know that there are people that are prepared. That are ready to accept the gospel. Thank you for your prayers and everything. The weather is great down here. Seriously perfect.

 Fun Facts:

I just saw two sisters from each of my first two areas. Sister Ortiz and Sister Gillespie, so that's fun.

Elder Ault is in fact in my district!!! I'm going to be on an exchange with him tomorrow, letting the Riverton loose the Mesa. I'm excited. I'm also going to be doing my first baptism interview tomorrow so pray for me! And first district meeting so I could use a lot of prayers.

Also sometime this week I will be taking over my facebook. Yep, they just released it in the mission so I'll be on there for an hour a day. You can stay friends with me and I can stay friends with everyone.  As far as communication on facebook, if by chance I get to talk to someone back home and start teaching them on facebook I could send you a message on there for help in following up or getting them to church or something. Other than that our communication about packages and how things are going and all that will take place over email on P Day. 

Thank you for the scripture box, it's going great. I have close to 10 scriptures down pretty good. It's great. I really appreciate it. 

I'm grateful to be here, this mission is incredible. I love it to death. The Lord is hastening his work. The field is white and there is more than one way to thrust a sickle. Have a good week! Love you.

Love, Elder Alexander

Our humble abode.

This is a little place made to break horses. It resides right behind our home. There has been a horse out there lately that I befriended. Until the picture I included of him. I didn't realize that he was pooping and it really damaged our relationship...

Farewell Herman.