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