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