Austin's Blog...

The Last Email

2011-09-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

It is hard to believe the time is nearly over...the time has been so long and yet so short. Over the course of two years there hasn't gone a day past that I haven't remembered each of you and the love I have for you and the great love you have given me. Up to this point, it has been the most rewarding two years of my life and the hardest. But I am forever grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve the Lord by going on a mission. He has done more to bless me than I could have ever done to assist Him in His work.

Our baptism and confirmation went very well....

...I've learned from each of you that we are to love people for who they are inside, not for what they do or say. I've learned that patience and love and forgiveness are the way to hope and happiness. I've learned that endurance to the end means more than just never give up, but it means to always press forward. On my mission I have come to realize that many of the things that I naturally seem to do are not because of me, but because of how I was raised from the beginning. You and Dad are my examples, and I love you both so much. I'm thankful for who each of you are and I'm thankful to have spent this time away from you so I could realize just how important you are to me and ho much you've affected my life for good. Life isn't easy, but because of the things you have taught me, I know that there is always hope and that Heavenly Father is always there watching over us. ...I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. ...I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet and was sent forth to preach the gospel to all the earth and to prepare the world for the time we will meet our Heavenly Father again. Because of your faith, I have faith. Because of your testimonies, I have gained my own testimony. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to happiness and that because of Christ we can change and learn to be happy and live happy lives. I know that because of Jesus Christ there is always hope, and that we can reach our potentials and even surpass them. You have taught me without words how to live the gospel and to live the right way. None of us are perfect, but we're all striving to be our best. God is always with us, I know He is. I have a testimony of the power of reading the scriptures. I know that they are the word of God. I know that as I have studied the scriptures I have come to learn the greatness of God and His wonderful plan for each of us. I know that by reading the scriptures and by praying about them we will always be led back to our Heavenly Father. I know that the Book of Mormon has the power to change lives and bring us closer to God than any other book. I've learned that it is the keystone of our religion for a reason. I know that it was written for our day and inspired by God to be a testimony to all the world that He is gathering His children for the last time. I know that if we are faithful to our covenants, at the last day we will receive eternal life in the kingdom of God and that we will forever be a family. I know that eternal life is more than just a fable, but that it is a reality that we are striving to attain and which has been made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that the price of eternal life may seem hefty at times, but that every affliction and suffering and sacrifice it costs to receive such a great reward will never surpass the greatness of the joy our Heavenly Father intends to give us. I know we can make it. I know we can help others make it. I know we have been sent to the earth for a purpose and that by our faith we can help many receive the gospel. I know that there is no greater joy on earth than to bring others to a knowledge of the Savior and enable them to make and keep covenants that will bring them eternal life because of their faith in Christ. The gospel truly changes lives and truly gives happiness to all who accept and live it. I love it. I am thankful for it. I love this work. I love each of you. We are a team. We are also on the winning team, with the Savior at our head. I hope and pray that we will always remain true to the Son of God, even as He has always remained true to us. My prayer is that we will strive forever to increase our ability to live the gospel and keep the commandments of God and the He will forever remain the center of our lives. In the grand scheme of things, I realize that this life is only a blip in eternity, but it will forever affect the outcome of our eternity. But we have nothing to fear and nothing to lose, only everything to gain and we can do it. I love you so much and look forward to seeing you this very week. I leave you my final mission email and final testimony as a full time missionary, in the sacred and holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Love~
Elder Robbs

One more week to lay everything on the line!

2011-09-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

9.19.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This is the last full week of my mission and I can't even believe it. It has been the fastest and longest two full years of my life! But let me tell you, this week is going to be busier than them all! On Sunday we were blessed to have a solid 18 people at church, ranging from non-members, to less-actives and recent converts--people just kept showing up to church yesterday and it was amazing! Granted, not all of these people did we necessarily invite to come to church this week; however, we have spent time working with each of them in some form or another of the past month(s). it was a great Sunday, that is for sure. It goes to show you, as long as you love the people and treat them like people, and build them up and encourage them, eventually they will make the decision on their own to come back and be blessed. I couldn't have been happier.

Well...I've got to get going, but I want each of you to know how much I love you and appreciate you. I look forward to next week with great anticipation! But before I do, I've got one more week to lay everything on the line! I can't wait to do it!

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."
-Doctrine & Covenants 68:6

Love~
Austin

We are all important to our Heavenly Father

2011-09-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

9.13.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Home~

I'm happy to hear from each of you the past few weeks. All the letters and emails have meant a lot to me. Being able to hear about of you has uplifted me and has given me courage to work even harder these next few weeks and to finish this mission strong. I love each of you very much.

Yesterday we had the privilege of hearing from Elder Per G. Malm of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. He was a very calm and confident man. Each of us were able to shake his hand and look him in the eyes and to feel of the power that God had given him to be a special witness of Jesus Christ. He said that he was so pleased with our mission. He said that every one of us looked him squarely in the eyes and didn't try to look away from him. He said that we were worthy missionaries and that he was grateful for our faith. It strengthened my faith so much to hear those words, especially since I know I am imperfect, and in many instances fail to live up to my potential--but when he said that we were worthy missionaries, it made me know that Heavenly Father was pleased with my efforts, as well as all of our efforts.

He spoke much about life prior to birth. He asked each of us how old we were. A simple question, we thought. But he emphasized that our lives did not begin at birth, but we lived for eons of time before our lives began here on earth. "As a missionary, you may find times that you do not feel confident, or capable. But why should you fear? You were taught the gospel before you were born. You probably taught the gospel before you were born. You were chosen to come to earth at this time to preach the gospel here and now. How old you really? 607,345 years old, maybe? Who knows...but the point is, you've been around the block a few times. You ought to be confident. Never underestimate the power that is in you to fulfill what God has commanded you to do." (paraphrasing some of his thoughts and words)

It was profound to me when he said, "Do not underestimate the power that is in you." In my heart I felt it was true. We have much more power than we give ourselves credit. We hide ourselves because of our fears. But as we are obedient, Elder Malm taught, our fears will be dispersed by and replaced with our faith. We won't hide ourselves, but we'll shine and illuminate the world with the light God has given us to shine.

He also talked about the gathering of the house of Israel. He asked us if we ever knew why it was specifically called the "gathering of Israel". "Can you gather something that isn't created?" he probed. And he went further, "why is it important to know that we are gathering, not creating Israel?" "Did we not all exist with God prior to our life on earth? When was Israel first created? Who are the ones on earth with bodies now?" Boiling it down, we learned that each of us were "yes-sayers" to the Plan of Salvation once before. Every single human on earth said YES once before. He then asked, "Of what benefit is it to know that every one of us said YES before?" Think about that! Our spirits are eternal, and our spirits know the truth. If we said YES once, should we not therefore be able to say YES again? He spoke about expectations. In life we live up to expectations. We do the things that are expected of us because that is what is required to be happy and succeed. To come to earth, he taught, we were required to live up to certain expectations. to be here, living and breathing on earth, we once lived up to God's expectations of us so we could be here now! Next question, "If we know that everyone lived up to God's expectations in the pre-existence, what answer should we expect from them when we ask them to live the gospel now?" "How do we help them to recognize the knowledge they once had before?" Big questions to ponder, I would say.

Perhaps as you think about some of those things, you'll be able to be taught by the Spirit some of the things we learned yesterday and have the same experience we were able to enjoy. At least that is my hope. :)

Coming to understand our identity is such an important and powerful thing. It really changes your outlook on life and gives you great confidence to fight through every obstacle that interferes with with your life. It gives you confidence to live the gospel and to share the gospel. Since we're chosen before we were born to do what are now doing, what must we have been like before we came to earth? What must all of us have been like? :) We are all important to our Heavenly Father. If there is anything I learned yesterday, it is that.

On a different subject, our past week went well. We are continuing to work with members and non-members in our area. We helped another individual set a goal for baptism on the 24th of this month. Hopefully we can work with them to be prepared for the big day!

Please tell everyone thank you for the birthday cards and letters. It has been wonderful to hear from everyone. I'll be home soon enough to give each of you a big hug! I love you and thank you very much. :)

Have a great week everyone! I'll talk to you soon!

Love~
Austin

Golfing and a good attitude

2011-09-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

9.5.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family~

I'm glad to say that we had a pretty good week this past week. We had one of the families we've been working with be reactivated yesterday and they seem happier than ever. Little by little they are coming around and it is very rewarding to see them come together and receive a greater portion ofthe gospel in their lives.

Today we went to a stakewide activity and we had some food and whatnot, but I spent the majority of my time going around talking to everyone I knew. I wasn't too hungry so I skipped out on most of the food. I was glad to see so many familiar faces, nevertheless, there were still some names I couldn't remember, but I guess after such a long time it is to be expected that I'd forget a few names here and there.

The golf game was a lot of fun. I shot a 53, which is okay for not having played golf since I left. I only lost a couple golf balls too! We played nine holes total and afterward we went to dinner. I wanted to go golfing each day after we finished it was so much fun... but I had to put it out of my mind so I could stay concentrated. I learned quite a bit about myself as we played, however. I realized that the mechanics of a golf swing are important, but after having not played in so long and then jumping right into a game, you learn quickly that golf is much more mental than it ever was physical. My very first swing I completely missed the ball... but I smiled and laughed, then I got back up with a nice and easy swing and hit a solid drive right down the middle of the fairway. Most all of my shots were fairly solid. The biggest thing I noticed was that when I allowed my mind to push out any negative influence that tried to enter in, and only focus on the purpose of the game, and the fun it is, I played exceptionally well! I think that is how life goes... you kick out the negative thoughts, and you focus on the good and positive ones, and you'll always be successful (even if you fail).

Well, I look forward to the next couple of week. We should get a lot of work done and by the time it is all over, I think I will be about ready to drop dead, exhausted! But that is what we want... "it ain't over till it's over".

I love each of you and wish you a great week! Thank you for all the Happy Birthday's! I'll talk to you next week!

Love~
Austin

Another good week!

2011-08-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

8.29.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This past week has been a good week for me and Elder Brimhall, from the baptism of Gisele to watching the Prophet of the Restoration movie with a member family and their friend.

To speak a little about Roy and Gisele, it is amazing to me to see how much each of them have changed in the span of a few short weeks. You can see the happiness emanating from their countenances. They are much closer to each other. They are reading the Book of Mormon each day as a couple and praying morning and evening together. they both have expressed desires to serve a mission together when their daughter graduates high school and moves into college life. I am so impressed with their faith and how much it has changed them. They are literally new people. They are who they were truly meant to be all along. I love them and am grateful to be able to take some small part in being able to get to know and teach them. They said something really nice to me yesterday, they said they wanted to talk to Bishop Budge to see if they could get the ward together to set up a dinner for me near my last day and do a barbecue and some other things. I thought that was neat. Whether or not it happens, the thought alone meant a lot to me. They said they were really going to miss me when I leave and I couldn't help but want to give each of them a big hug and tell them I was never going to go...but I knew that wouldnt' be the case...it's hard to leave the people you have come to know and love so much, but sometimes you need to let go and move one and trust that the Lord will take care of the rest and that one day I'll see them all again, but in a much happier place.

Speaking with President Barry was neat. He and I both spoke about seventeen or so minutes. The youth speaker kept his nice and concise with a solid three minute talk. Actually, I though david did really well. he spoke on preparing for a mission, both the physical preparation as well as the spiritual preparation, and his testimony of missionary work. he was very well prepared to give his talk--which lined up nicely with the general theme. I talked about my own baptism, the importance of faith, the blessings of the gospel (temporal and spiritual), how the gospel was restored, the First Vision, the change that the gospel will make in those who live it, that Christ can make our weaknesses our strengths, and that the best way to share the gospel is by living it, and my testimony. Somehow it managed to come out alright! President Barry also spoke about his own baptism, his gratitude for being a full-time missionary, his gratitude for the youth who passed the sacrament, the importance of baptism and the sacrament, the covenants we make, the vastness of the missionary work of this Church, the necessity of the priesthood keys, the perfect government (not necessarily perfect people) of the Lord's kingdom on earth, the fluidity of transition among church leaders, the importance of following those who hold priesthood keys, and lastly the commandment to spread forth the gospel, which gospel will save the earth from its own self-destruction, and his testimony. It was overall a very good meeting, I thought. We even had someone who had a dream about the Church the night before show up during Sacrament meeting! He isn't in our area, but I'm sure the missionaries who teach him will be able to help him learn the gospel.

We will still be going golfing today, which should be a lot of fun. We'll also be going with one of his friends who was formerly a Stake President. We'll see how it goes tonight!

On Hurricane Irene, I'm not even sure that our area was touched by the storm. We had a little rain, bu no worse than any of the rainstorms in the past, in fact, the weather was less powerful than other storms I've seen. I was hoping to see the entire sky begin to shift around in the familiar circular motion of a hurricane; however, it didn't happen. But I guess that is okay, I'd rather not have all the consequences of a severe storm. I even began to inventory everything I owned! I might still do that anyways just because I think it's a good idea, but it takes forever! We were told to make s 72 Hour Kit as well, so I began making preparations for wilderness survival. I had some rope, a good knife, leather work gloves, water, enough food to survive, and ways to purify water. But I think Man vs. Wild is going to have to wait a little while longer for me :) haha!

I hope each of you has a wonderful week and I look forward to hearing from you nxt week. I love you and I wish all of you well. I have a final little thought on progressio and change before I go:

Jacob 5:52-52;64-66;74

52 Wherefore, let us take of the branches of these which I have planted in the nethermost parts of my vineyard, and let us graft them into the tree from whence they came; and let us pluck from the tree those branches whose fruit is most bitter, and graft in the natural branches of the tree in the stead thereof.
53 And this will I do that the tree may not perish, that, perhaps, I may preserve unto myself the roots thereof for mine own purpose.
54 And, behold, the roots of the natural branches of the tree which I planted whithersoever I would are yet alive; wherefore, that I may preserve them also for mine own purpose, I will take of the branches of this tree, and I will graft from them in unto them. Yea, I will graft in unto them the branches of their mother tree, that I may preserve the roots also unto mine own self, that when they shall be sufficiently strong perhaps they may bring forth good fruit unto me, and I may yet have glory in the fruit of my vineyard.

65 And as they begin to grow ye shall clear away the branches which bring forth bitter fruit, according to the strength of the good and the size thereorf; and ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish, and I lose the trees of my vineyard.
66 For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard.

74 And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord had preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning.

When it comes to change, sometimes it requires that you bear with your weakness as you develop your strengths. you do your best with what you can do and over time you will be able to overcome the "bad fruit" with the "good fruit". If you expect to be perfect all at once, you may risk losing all the good "branches" you've grafted in to your life and be left with nothing. However, if you are patient, and allow the graft to be established in the tree and to grow with the tree and its infirmities, over time the good branches and the good roots will overcome the wild, or evil branches, and produce good fruit forever. Or, if you allow your raw and unconditioned talents, or even attributes, to grow despite the opposition of your weakness, eventually your truest self will spring forth into perfection, bearing all the good talents and attributes and every other good thing forever.

I love you!

Love~

Austin

Going to church

2011-08-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

8.22.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This Sunday was great, we had at least eleven different people that we have been working with come to church. Not all of them were investigators, however, but whether they were a less-active member or a non-member it didn't matter, we were happy they were there! Both of the families were working with came to church and both are continuing to change and progress. Roy, on this Saturday, will be able to baptize his wife, which is such a miracle. I'm so happy how much he's grown and changed over this past month, and since I first arrived here. Our other investigator is continuing to make small changes, but they seem to be bringin him much peace. When I saw him at church it seemed like a huge burden was lifted off his shoulders. Their children loved primary. His wife, also greatly enjoyed being able to go to Relief Society. Roy's wife, Gisele, was also able to go to Relief Society for the first time, and by the end of the day she was out in the halls chatting with all the sisters in the ward having a great time. In each of their countenances you can see peace and hope and happiness radiating. Their eyes seemed to be filled with new light, new joy. It is incredible to se the changes the gospel can bring in an individual's life as they begin to apply it, but it always works--that is the beauty of Heavenly Father's plan, it never fails--so long as we are faithful to it.

Next week sould bring about a little fun for us too. We will be going golfing with one of our members on Monday. He hasn't come to church in a long time, but perhaps this will be an opportunity for us to get to know him in a place he is most comfortable, out on the golf course. I haven't touched a gold club almost basically since the time I left, so it should be interesting to see how I'll do. But I'm not too worried, I'll take it easy and make it fun. Hopefully it will go well. I'll have to let you know in two weeks since we will be golfing probably after we do emails.

This coming Sunday should also be another good day. I will be getting the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting with President Barry. I'm still working on my preparations, but I think it will be neat to have the privilege to speak with my Mission President. I know that it doesn't happen often. It probably wouldn't have happened; however, if I didn't call and ask if he would like to come and speak to our ward, but either way you look at it, I think it will be neat. it was initially going to be Elder Brimhall and I speaking together, but our bishop wanted to split us apart so we could have a missionary "speaker" more often than less often. Breaking it up like that might prove to be more effective anyways. But yes, I'm excited to get to speak with President Barry, it should be good.

I hope each of you have a good week. Good luck with the remaining house changes! I look forward to seeing the in-home renovations!

I love you!

Love~

Austin

Fleming Island to the "bitter end"

2011-08-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

8.15.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family~

This has been another busy week, but a good one at that. Our family is still progressing, and very well! They are reading the scriptures together morning and night and praying together morning and night also. They say the members of the ward feel like family to them. They are making miraculous changes and it is exciting to see. Another family that we had worked with since I've been in Fleming Island will be attending church this next Sunday too...they are a wonderful family and we will be happy to have them with us next week. I've already told both these families that when you come out to get me that we will be going over there to meet them!

Well...transfers are this week...but before I talk about transfers, I have a couple other things to say. Oddly enough, in Elder's Quorum this Sunday, we had the very same lesson (on Chastity)! I'll have to share the object lesson Brother Barrett shared with us--which was a perfect object lesson--but it also made me kind of laugh. But I did learn as he was teaching that the Law of Chastity in large part was given to protect families and also true love. The gospel was designed to strengthen relationships, and if the relationship is centered on anything other than love and service, and the Lord, it will fail; and it will fail miserably if it is centered against this commandment.

Our lesson in Relief Society last week went well. Elder Brimhall and I each spoke for about fifteen minutes. He spoke about the importance of understanding our identity in the family of God and I spoke on the joy of living the gospel pattern of life (i.e. prayer, scripture study, church attendance, service, etc...). We both centered our lesson on expanding our personal spheres of influence and getting to know more people and to share the gospel more frequently. The Relief Society sisters were very participative, so the lesson seemed to be good. I had fun with it. :)

Okay, back to the transfer board...Elder Austin B. Robbs and Elder Cole Brimhall will continue in Fleming Island. I will out to the "bitter end" here in Fleming Island, as Bishop Budge said in our P.E.C. meeting yesterday. I'm glad to stay here! It is going to be my longest area, my toughest area, but the area that I've learned and grown the most. I'm happy to serve here to the "bitter end".

I've got to get going, but I love each of you and wish you a wonderful and happy week! And I'll talk to you next week! I like Dad's quote on his email to me:

"There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results." -Ken Blanchard

How much can one accomplish in six weeks?

2011-08-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

8.8.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This week has been an eventful one indeed! We've found a couple of families and hopefully we'll be teaching them over the course of the next few weeks. One of our previous investigators, who belongs to a part member family, and who, at the request of her husband, dropped us--we are now teaching them again and she has a baptismal date for the end of this month! I'm so excited for them. Especially to see the change of heart in her husband! It is amazing to me to see what happens when people actually pray with real intent for a knowledge of this church being true--Heavenly Father answers every time, without fail. They are reading the scriptures daily and nightly and want us over at their home as frequently as possible. We've got some things going forward here in Fleming Island and it has been wonderful. Things seem to be picking up!

There was a change in bishopric in our ward this last Sunday. We now have a new bishop and the previous bishop and his family will be moving out to Utah. I'm excited because they should be close enough that we can go see them when I get home. I'm sure I'll go and visit them often.

I have to say Mom, you are way ahead of me in the scripture reading! I guess you have always been a faster reader than me! I've had to change my goal, however, I would have been able to complete the entire standard works, but I decided that I was going to refocus my studies and master the principles of Preach My Gospel before I made it home. I went and bought some paper and some page dividers, and I organized a new study journal, which includes a section for the different commitments in each lesson, a place to study the doctrines of each lesson, a place to practice teaching and to evaluate that teaching, and a section on frequently asked questions and lastly a section devoted to defining key words. It might have a few other sections but I can't remember. I will say, however, that it has really directed my thoughts and helped me to understand more fully the correct way to do missionary work. Aside from my new study method, I must say, if there is one thing I've learned above all other things on my mission, is that I love the scriptures. They contain everything I, or anyone else, will ever need to be happy in this life. And what President Eyring said about President Hinckley and Elder McConkie may happen faster than you think...as you frequent the scriptures and share and teach what you learn, the words within them become tend to become part of you. Every experience you have will draw you your thoughts to some scripture or another, but especially as you teach. I've noticed that for myself, if I spend time studying material other than the scriptures, it becomes more difficult for the power of the scriptures to remain a part of me--however, if I make sure to study the scriptures and to read them and ponder them, then it is always on my mind and I can share them with anyone. I've never learned so much in my life as I have in these past two years and I would attribute most of what I've learned to the study of scriptures and the daily application of them. In 2 Nephi 31:3 it says, "For as my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for He speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding." When I study the scriptures they stick with me because the Lord opens my mind up to the truth, because He speaks truth to me in my own language! My problems are transformed into solutions; my worries transformed into peace and joy. So many good things come from reading the scriptures, and I never would have know unless I had read them.

...this next month is going to be fiery! We've got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it!!! It is good to serve others and bring other people to the gospel :) It is a joyous work!

Whether or not I'll stay in Fleming Island, I haven't got a clue. Nevertheless, I will be sad if I am reassigned for my last transfer. I would like to finish out in this area. But if I do move, then let the games begin. I wonder just how much someone can accomplish in six weeks? Who knows--either way, I intend to find out.

I love you very much!
Love~
Austin

Things are going well...

2011-08-31T10:33:00.000-07:00

8.1.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

Things are going well out here in Florida. We just had Elder Giddens of the 6th Quorum of the Sevently come and speak to us on Saturday. He is our Area Authority. He didn't come to our mission with an agenda or anything, he simply studied and prayed, and then did his best to follow the Spirit and speak to us for a grand total of three hours. He taught us a lot about the importance of letting go of ourselves and learning to think of others. He said that as we repent daily and feel of the love of God, we would be cleanses from our inner weaknesses and have a greater desire to share the gospel. I enjoyed being able to listen to him.

I don't have a lot of time to talk about [our investigator] today, but suffice it to say, he did pray and he was a little unsure about what he felt. Innocently, he prayed for two very large miracles, that God would heal him and God would help him find someone to love. I wish he could see how wonderful of a prayer that must have been to his Heavenly Father. He may not recognize how the Spirit is influencing him and softening his heart and opening him up, but Elder Brimhall and I can see the light slowly beginning to build within him. he still fights it, but he is willing to keep trying. He is going to read a page from the Book of Mormon each day this week and pray to know the truthfulness of it each day until our next visit with him.

My wrists are okay, thankfully. My tooth looks pretty good, as well. I think President/Dr. Patch did a wonderful job (he's the Stake President of the Jacksonville South Stake).

I love each of you and I wish you a good week!

Love~
Austin

God exists

2011-08-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

7.25.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

One of our atheist friends finally decided he would exercise his faith and offer a prayer to God. He is a scientist and wants and/or needs proof in order to believe that God exists. But I don't believe that is how he really feels. he has had a rough life and many sore experiences that could easily turn a soul who doesn't know God against Him. My thoughts are that he really believes there is a God, but it is so hard for him to grasp that God has any care for him or the world around him. Mike sees the negative around himself and it turns to feed his negative thoughts and spins him in a downward spiral that is extremely hard to escape. We've been visiting with him for some time now and it seems that his heart is beginning to be softened. We came to the conclusion together that only one thing needs to happen for him to believe in Fod and that is he needs to pray. We taught him that everything we have ever taught him about God, or of God's plan, or of His love, can be confirmed by gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Death is a part of life and though from our perspective it is difficult to see that there is anything more than this life, deep in our hearts we know there has to be more than this. We taught him that life continued after his death and the gospel of Jesus Christ was the way to ulitmate happiness. He didn't want to accept what we had to say, however. He told us it takes faith to believe in something like that and he was void of faith. We responded and told him that wasn't so, for, what reason would we be in his home if there was no measure or degree of belief or faith within his soul? We affirmed to him that we knew that he wanted more in life and that if he would just consider what we have told him and allow it to work in his mind, that he would be able to feel that what we were teaching him was good. We told him he needed to look past all the things that were preventing him from having this joy, i.e. his "lack of faith" and need for "proof" and simply think about what we've said. Then we explained that all of these good things which we taught were based off of a singular thing, which thing is the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We taught him that because our message was true, that if he would do what we had asked him to do, that God would tell him by the power of the Holy Ghost that everything we have taught is correct. All he needed to do was pray. He finally consented and last night after we left, he offered perhaps one of his first prayers. We're going back to see him either tomorrow or Wednesday, but I really hope that he kept his commitment! This could be the beginning of a great miracle. :) We are really hopeful that he will do as we asked him to do and know that if he kept his commitment that he surely felt the Spirit! I'm somewhat jumping inside because I can see how much this will change his life, if he will just let it! He is a wonderful person and he just needs to know that Heavenly Father loves him and then he will be able to rest his wearied soul.

...at least none of you broke your tooth while flossing, right? Or crashed your bicycle because your pedal caught the sidewalk and knocked you over? Yeah, it has been an eventful week, along with the teaching. I was getting ready to make a turn on my bicycle when my left pedal made contact with the ground below and almost immediately smashed me into the ground near an intersection. Normally I wouldn't do this, but I put both my hands down to stop my fall and may have, to some small degree, sprained both my wrists. Oh well. At least this morning I got to drive a John Deere lawn mower...it is not every day I get to do that. I also got to use an edger to help prepare a member's yard to have sod put in place. It's been fun this last little while, haha :). I'm sure there's more to come!

I wish each of you well and hope you have a great week! I'll talk to you soon!

Love~
Austin

Elder Holland Coming to Jacksonville

2011-07-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

7.18.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This past week we did alright. We have been coming up with many plans and goals and have been doing a lot of work to accomplish what we want to do. We've got a lot to do! I don't have much time to share any stories right now, but I will be sure to next week, I promise!

Guess what?! On the 13th of August Elder Jeffrey R. Holland will be coming to speak to our mission! How cool is that! I prayed that before I went home from my mission that we would get at least one more guest speaker to come visit us, and lo and behold, Elder Holland is coming! I'm excited. Especially since his talks have always been my favorite talks. it will be great to have this opportunity to meet him. I'm also very thankful that Heavenly Father answered my prayer...I'm sure I wasn't the only one praying for a "guest speaker" to come to our mission however. But either way, I'm grateful to have Elder Holland as our guest for a couple of hours.

Tell everyone I love them and wish them well. I'm sorry for the short email, but I'm out of time...

I love each of you!

Love~
Austin

Three Pillars of Missionary Work

2011-07-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

7.11.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

I hope that each of you did indeed have a good week last week. It was a pretty good week for my new companion and I. His name is Elder Brimhall. He is from Great Falls, Montana. His dad is his Stake President, which is neat. He is a hard worker and has many great ideas for helping the work progress. We have determined our focus on the ward will be on helping them learn how to "lay hold upon every good thing" (Moroni 7:16, 19-25). The object of our work will be in helping each member and non-member alike to raise their perspective so they can see and obtain all the good things available to them. President Barry showed us an insightful chart on what he termed the "Three Pillars of Missionary Work", which teaches us how to effectively apply the teachings of the gospel to develop all the Christlike attributes we are seeking to develop while we live here on earth. If I can create a picture of the chart, I'll send it to you. I will however tell you what the "Three Pillars of Missionary Work" and life are:

1. Desire
2. Work
3. Faith

Each of the three pillars are made up by three principles of the gospel and each pillar is related and connected to the other, forming a triangular relationship. Each pillar builds and improves off of the other. Consecration makes each pillar its most efficient and effective.

1. Desire:

-Testimony
-Love of God
-Love of Others

2. Work:

-Hard
-Smart
-Focused

3. Focused

-Obedience
-No Limits
-"Thy Will"

Desire and Work are connected by the principles of setting goals and making plans. Desire and Faith are connected by the principles of fasting and prayer. Faith and Work are connected by the principle of persistence.

To show how each pillar can build off of the other I will use the example of Desire and Work. Say, for instance, that I am completely lacking in desire. One way I can build my desire is be deciding a goal of something I wish to perhaps accomplish and then by creating a plan to achieve it. If I have the goal and the plan to achieve something important to myself down on paper and then commit to achieving this goal by sticking with my plans and WORKING toward it, as I WORK and begin to see my results (i.e. I had better be measuring my progress so I can see my results) my DESIRE will steadily begin to increase.

To help with the understanding of the principles that are the foundation of each pillar, I will explain the pillar of Desire. To make Desire effective and productive, it must be founded on testimony. As an individual receives a testimony from God, he or she is able to to feel the love of God in their hearts and they will increase in that love so much that they desire to share it with others (1 Nephi 8:10-11), which is a representation of the love of God (1 Nephi 11:25). As we gain the joy of obtaining a testimony of God, and gain a love of God, and a love for others, our desire to reach out and become something great, and to help others do the same greatly increases. We then have the desire and motivation to go out and reach our worthy goals, and we have the faith necessary to obtain them.

There is much more knowledge to it, however, I'm positive as you study it out, you will find all the applications. Here is an example of the "Three Pillars..." in action (look for examples of desire, faith, and work, and the things which connect each pillar to the other, and the foundational principles that build up each pillar):

"1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man--for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord--and blessed be the name of my God for it--

2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints , sunk deep in my heart.

4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto Him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

8 And He said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.

9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my soul unto God for them.

10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.

11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto Him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.

12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith."

These are just some of the things we have been learning as a mission and also things that I have studied and learned for myself, along with my companions. I think they are special and that they are uplifting and very helpful. These teachings have really helped me to prioritize and to set my life in order. It has given me a formula for success and happiness that is easy to understand, and that is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope it makes sense and is as helpful to you as it has been to me. Either way you look at it, all of it is based on the love of God, and what we can do to be filled with more of His love, and what we can to do to share it with others.

Okay, that is a lot of information to think about! I hope it made enough sense. :)

Back to Elder Brimhall...I get along with him really well. We've had nothing but fun since we've been working together. I am positive that these last few months will be some of the happiest months of my mission. I've been through a lot out here, but every struggle is worth it. I've discovered that it isn't about how perfect I am or how well I obey all the rules, it is about who I am becoming and what attributes I am developing as I freely choose to serve God and to love Him. It is about what I learn while I serve and about who I help to learn these same things. It is about "[laying] a hold upon every good things". It is about looking for the good and letting go of the bad. I love my mission and I am so grateful to be here. It isn't easy, but it is worth it.

Don't get me wrong, I am more than excited to return home and to be with each of you again! Soon enough :) I find that when I am not working, either at lunch or other times, that is when my mind falters and I begin to miss home and wish to leave. But if I work, I can stay focused, and I can accomplish the hard thing, despite the fact that time is running short. I am learning how to endure to the end! That is for sure! But I can do it, because it is not over until it is over.

Tangents... Back again to Elder Brimhall :) he has been out on his mission for a little less than a year. His last area was near the Gainesville campus. he has two brothers and one sister. He is the second oldest. His sister is the youngest. So his family is quite similar to ours in that sense. He is a good missionary.

Elder Kiracofe is off to Gainesville. Go figure, right? His companion is Elder Maxfield, whom I served as his district leader for a time. He is with a good missionary, in a good area; I am hopeful that Elder Kiracofe will do well wherever he goes and I told him that too.

I hope you have a good week and I look forward to writing you next week!

Love~

Austin

Changing it up...

2011-07-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

7.4.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

It sounds like the flooding in Utah has been fairly exciting! We haven't had any wild floods, that I know of, but we have had a few major rainstorms...but nothing too extraordinary. I'm kind of hoping I'll be able to see a large hurricane or tornado or something fun like that before I leave Florida. We have a member who says he prays for disasters...he works for [a large insurance company's disaster clean-up program]. His wife also made the note that every career he has had up to this point he has made a living at the cost of other's pain (EMT, insurance, etc...). It was a funny discussion to say the least, haha!

Elder Kiracofe is going to be getting transferred for the first time. I think he is a little apprehensive, but at the same time he is excited to move on and to see what awaits him. I will be staying in Fleming Island and it is likely I will finish out here in this area. But it is certainly possible I could be moved my last transfer also.

I am ready for this upcoming transfer, however. I finally have an idea of what I need to do to do the right work here in Fleming Island. I have felt a loss since I have been here as to what I needed to accomplish. And it has been rough. I feel like I've been walking in circles for the last four and a half months. I've been told this quote several times since I've been here: "the definition of insanity is to do the same things over and over again while yet expecting a different result". I've been doing the same different things over and again and have been driven to insanity over and over again. It is odd how life is full of patterns that repeat themselves. I think to some degree or another the object of the game is to recognize the pattern, and then to snap out of it, and to find a better pattern, or even to improve on the good pattern you've already found. I read the other day that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a pattern of living that becomes increasingly rewarding over time. Anyhow, back to the beginning point--I've discovered that the object of the game isn't so much to take everything upon myself to find every possible investigator, but to strive to help each person center their lives in the gospel pattern of living. As a missionary, we can see where people can apply the gospel more powerfully in their lives, especially in members--I'm sure it has to do with the fact that we are around them more. Nevertheless, we are called and set apart as teachers, and we are here to lift and to teach people a better way, a happier way for living, even the way of eternal life. We are so engrossed in the gospel that to some greater degree, we can see more clearly the way God intends for us to live the gospel (not that others cannot, and not that every missionary can see it either). I'm changing my focus from "how can I find people to teach?" to "how can I help members and non-members alike to better apply the restored gospel in their lives?" This way I can spend my time focusing on giving, rather than taking. And when I say taking, I mean this: what must I do to "get" this person to listen to me so I can teach them? That is a perspective that doesn't work. It will be better to look at in the sense that I will be striving to find what I can give to help people better themselves with what they are already doing that is good. I can't "get" anybody to do anything. But I can at least give them something helpful and rewarding. If they like it, they will decide to act upon it. If not, they will turn the gift away.

Hopefully that paragraph made sense.

So the focus is "how can I help?" or "what can I give?" or even "what can I give more?" No longer is it "how can I get more (investigators, lessons, baptisms, etc...)". When the focus is on forgetting what I want to receive, but on what I'm going to give, everything else will come. I hope that this is a true concept! I'm going to give it a go either way. Do you have any thoughts or experiences that might apply to these things that you would be willing to share? (the option is open to everyone!).

I've gotta get going, but I love each of you and hope all of you are well! I wish you each a good week and will talk to you soon. :)

Love~
Austin

The testimony of the gospel is powerful and authoritative

2011-06-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

What an eventful week! A new puppy, a Happy Birthday for my favorite sister, Kendall Jane!, flooding, and the works! Happy days! I love it. :)

Yesterday we had a fun activity at the church, but by the end of the activity I absolutely broke down in tears...we watched the movie "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" with all the ward members in the Fleming Island 1st and 2nd Wards. I don't know if you've seen it or not, but if you haven't you need to get it so you can watch it. It is such a powerful movie. Watching the early saints and the life of the Prophet Joseph and their love for each other and the joy they had with one another despite their near endless afflictions kindled such love and gratitude in my heart for our family, this gospel, and the Church. Jesus Christ and His gospel truly are an invincible strength that we have opportunity to hold on to, that no matter what fire we are called to pass through in this life, we might overcome it cheerfully, with charity bursting from our souls toward all people, even toward those who have wronged us. Watching this movie helped me realize all the great blessings we have as members of this Church and made me want to share this message with everyone. I felt such a desire to listen to and obey Heavenly Father and to trust in Him and His Son in all my trials. Who knows what life will bring...but whatever it brings we will always have something to hold on to--and because of Christ, we can hold on to each other forever.

Now, if I could just keep that feeling with me all the time!

My memorizations are doing well, except for the last couple of days. They were so busy that I had to focus on other things besides my memorizations. I'll have to start again. At this point, with the rate I was going, I was memorizing a scripture a day. I've memorized Romans 8:16, Alma 7:11, 2 Nephi 25:26, and D & C 20:37--I have a list of scriptures I've got to memorize, but it is kind of fun! I'm starting to memorize just about everything I read, which is also kind of cool. :) I heard that President Monson promised that if we would memorize a single scripture a day for a year we would have a photographic memory by the end of the year! And I'm sure there are all sorts of other blessings for memorizing that many scriptures, not just having a photographic memory. But that is my eventual goal.

It was neat to hear about Eric's testimony to the people at Harmon Killibrew's funeral. The testimony of the gospel is so powerful and authoritative. It is by far the most convincing thing we have and the Spirit of God fires that witness to the very hearts of all who will open their ears and souls and listen. I think I am starting to learn that--it is when you face someone who is utterly against the gospel and the message of Jesus Christ that you feel the power of the Lord within you cause you to nearly erupt with truth and sound the gospel message right to the core of their soul. You know they can feel it. It is a fierce witness, but it is given in such great love and power that it uplifts and strengthens all who will hear it. The more you recognize the blessings, the more desirous you are to share them. I think that may well be why we made the covenant at our baptism to "always remember Christ". It is hard to "always remember" anything, let alone the Savior. It shouldn't be, but for whatever reason it is--we get so easily distracted it is amazing we can remember anything! No wonder we are commanded to read the scriptures every day and to pray always, because if we didn't we would forget quickly the Lord. I guess it is like anything, you must learn and relearn in order for it to become a part of you.

Who knows... Sorry for rambling...

I'm out of time, so I just want to tell each of you I love you and wish you a wonderful, happy, and successful week! Happy Birthday, again KJ! And Happy Birthday to you this Friday, Dad. :)

Love~
Austin

Opening Doors

2011-06-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

6.20.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This past week wasn't quite as eventful as last week; however, I did have many learning experiences-most of which led me to the understanding of the need to not only set goals and make plans, but the necessity of measuring my progress over time to see how far I've come! It is important to be able to recognize your own improvement, and your own successes, even if they are small. So my personal change for this next three week period is to keep track of my improvements and then to go back and see how much I've grown-here is the goal:

1. Memorize one scripture a day
2. Serve someone I know each day (companion, another missionary, member)
3. Serve someone I do not know each day (a non-member, a member I haven't met)

I also have some plans in place to make these goals achieveable and I have my faithful brown journal that I bought at the MTC to track my efforts. I know these are simple goals, but this will help me to learn to trust myself and also to gain some control over myself (i.e. thoughts, words, deeds, etc...), as well as to see evidence that I am growing and am changing day by day for the better, which will all serve to strengthen my personal testimony of Jesus Christ. This should be a good experience. So far I've memorized two scriptures in this person challenge: Romans 8:16 and Alma 7:11.

Romans 8:16 (Paul in a letter, is teaching the people of our relationship to God)- "The Spirit itself beareth record to our spirits, that we are the children of God."

Alma 7:11 (Alma is testifying of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ) - "And He shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people."

Now, here's the test -- I typed these from memory, so you'll have to check and see if I really did memorize scriptures. Not that these are the longest scriptures in the world, but each of them are full of meaning and truth. They are worth pondering.

Another story:
Last week Elder Kiracofe and I were visiting the home of a former investigator and instead of seeing our former investigator, her slightly younger sister answered [the door]. She is around thrity years of age and has a few children. Normally, when we show up at this particular home, the younger sister doesn't speak to us much. But for whatever reason, this time she thought it fine to take some time to talk with us. I was very surprised when she stayed at the door and allowed us to converse with her, and due to my surprise, all we spent our discussion on was about getting to know her. We spoke with her about her family, her career, to some degree or another her hopes and dreams, even a few of her worries and fears. It was encouraging that she trusted us enough to share her thoughts and feelings, especially when in the past she hardly would speak with us. Unfortunately, as Elder Kiracofe and I finally had the opportunity to start talking to her about her thoughts and feelings about church and about the message of the gospel...her boyfriend showed up.

Going backward a little bit, to give a preface of our conversation moments prior to the great interruption of our discussion with our new found friend we were speaking about her career working for the postal service over the past ten years. She wasn't a deliverer of mail, rather, she was one of the workers who loaded packages and letters into vehicles--recently she was moved into the office due to health problems and severe anxiety. This was what we were hoping to find, something that we could discuss, and then offer a bright solution through the healing power of Christ; when she shared with us about her health and her anxiety we were given the opportunity to then teach the gospel. We changed the conversation slightly and asked her if she had ever sat in with her older sister when the missionaries were teaching her. She said no, and that normally she was anti-social and felt uncomfortable talking with people she hardly knew, let alone about the sensitive subject of religion. Apparently she grew up in a church, but didn't have a very good experience, and because of it she shys away from the topic. Everything was building up for a very productive and positive discussion...and then the conversation abruptly halted...

...an otherwise good man, saw the missionaries all dressed up in their white shirts and ties, black suits pants, and polished shoes, as he pulled up in his vehicle, and saw the opportunity to contend with organized religion. "MORMONS! Have you come to preach to us?" He sardonically blurted out as he hopped out of his vehicle and walked right in front of us. As he strode past us, ready to "fight", he calmly but purposefully sat down on the bench on the front porch and put his arms behind his head, leaned back, and put his left leg on his right knee and looked up waiting for our response.

I watched him, somewhat confused by his manner and a little frustrated at the thought of our interrupted conversation with Brenda, as he marched on past us to sit upon his throne of authority, the park bench in front of the house. I looked away for a brief moment, gripped the blue covered Book of Mormon tightly with both hands, and for what seemed like an eternity, I looked at the green grass in front of me and observed the sun shining brightly and beaming down upon it. I felt the heat burning on top of me and could feel the sweat dripping off my brow. Smiling slightly, I clenched my jaw and pursed my lips together, realizing that this new conversation could go downhill quickly and breathed my last breath before my response. Still looking the other way, but gradually turning towards him, I said, "Well, we can preach to you if you'd like!" and I turned and looked him square in the eyes. Brightly and happily I began to open the conversation with the beginnings of the message of the Restoration and the testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph. I told him that our message would lead him to Jesus Christ and help him to know the way back to his Father in Heaven.

He looked at me and scoffed and said, "I know you Mormons...you believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Ha! You guys are lost! Ha Ha!" I smiled, but responded sharply and testified that if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it that God would tell him that we were teaching the truth and then I invited him to do so. "Absolutely not! I don't want anything to do with that book..." he said, disgusted with the idea. "You mean to tell me that this record was written in ancient America? You're saying that it was written by the ancestors of the Native American peoples? You say they saw Jesus Christ?! You guys are a bunch of QUACKS! Ha Ha! The Native Americans didn't believe in God. I'm a Cherokee. I know our history. They believed that America was formed by a bug who dived down to the bottom of the ocean and pulled up earth. That book can't be true if you believe it was written by the Indians!" Again, I urged him to read the Book of Mormon so he could know for himself. I told him that the Book was convincing evidence in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He looked away for a moment and then looked back and said, "You know, I don't even know if I believe in God anymore..." Then he looked back down to the ground. I shared with him that the scriptures teach us that man was created in the image of God and that He is our loving Father in Heaven and He desires our happiness and if we will but follow His Son, we can be happy. Apparently he wasn't satisfied with that response and he lashed out again toward us and began speaking irrationally and inappropriately about the nature of God. I stopped him in his speech and told him not to mock God. And then I asked him a few questions, "..., what is your purpose in asking us these questions and saying these things? Do you have a purpose behind it? Or do you merely desire to argue with us?? What is it that you really want to know? Because we both know that what you have said thus far is directed at nothing. What is it that you really need to know? What does your heart tell you? We are here for you and wish to help you and to answer your questions, so let us help!" He immediately looked away and became quiet. After a long pause, he looked off in the distance and said to us, "I guess I would like to hear about your doctrines...I've been condemned and accused so many times by preachers and pastors that I can't take it any more. It destroys my hope and makes me want to go the other way..."

Finally the door was open to his heart and we began to teach him about the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. We taught him that he can be forgiven and become clean. We taught him that eternal life can be found by gaining a testimony of Jesus Christ and living by faith and by following the example of Jesus Christ through baptism by authority and then enduring faithfully to the end. We testified to him that if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it that he could know that God sent us to teach him this message and to help him to be happy. After twenty or so minutes of discussion, he stopped us in our speech, and asked us humbly where he might get a copy of the Book of Mormon. Mine and Elder Kiracofe's hearts probably both skipped a beat. We were shocked! We then testified again of the importance of our message and of Jesus Christ and we told him that we give away copies of this Book to all who will read it and pray about it and be willing to act upon its message. He declared his interest in all sincerity, expressed a genuine desire to learn more. We gave him a copy and proceeded to teach him the steps to gaining a testimony and then invited him to be baptized upon gaining a witness from God. He said he would!!

How amazing the change of heart we saw in him! We gathered as much information about him as we could and hopefully we'll be able to teach him again and soon. We haven't seen him yet, unfortunately, but we'll keep trying. And for the other miracles which we saw, we haven't been able to follow up with any of them, YET! But we will. And I'll share with you more stories hopefully next week.

So, I've been thinking a lot about my decision to stay or to leave early from my mission (to start school) and I've made my decision. I have decided that I only get this opportunity to serve a two year full-time mission once and I intend to finish it to the end. Perhaps I''ll have to start school later, but I trust that things will work out. My heart feels good about this decision. I have much more I need to give the Lord before my mission is over and I feel I will be able to do that by September 28th....I know that this is what I need to do. I love each of you so much and all of our family and that is why I am choosing to finish my mission. So make plans to see me in September because that is when I will be returning home. I love you and I truly cannot wait to see each of you again. I have no greater desire than to be with you. I know the time will go quickly, and even before the blink of an eye, we'll be together again, and it will be as though we never left each other. This is a great cause and I ought to finish what I set out to do. I promised the Lord I would complete the mission to the last day before I left and promised Him again out here that I would stay. And I need to keep my promise to Him.

I love you and I hope each of you have a wonderful week and I look forward to hearing from you again next week!

Love~
Austin

Miracles DO happen!

2011-06-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

6.13.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This past week has indeed been a week of miracles. I have never seen so much success and so many changes of heart in such a short period of time in all my mission, let alone my life. The convincing power of the gospel is true. So this week, I do have some stories to tell, all of which have begun with a miraculous start, now we must hope they have the same miraculous finish. Here they are:

Wednesday, June 8th, around 7:00 p.m. I was on an exchange with a new missionary named Elder Haw, who is from Toronto, Canada, and we were out tracting. I decided to take us to some neighborhood I had yet to visit since I've been here in Fleming Island. We had finished almost all the houses on the street, save two, and had little result. On the second to last house, Elder Haw and I went and knocked on the door and came to find out fairly soon that nobody was home. As we turned to leave, however, a small sedan pulled up and stopped near the driveway, and the driver of the vehicle stopped and watched us as we were leaving her property and crossing to the other side of the driveway. Knowing that we ought to wait and at least attempt speaking with her, we waited, as awkward as it was, for her to pull into the driveway and park. We stood a distance enough away so it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for either of us and when she finally opened the door, I offered a quick hello. I felt I had a loss of words in the moment, so as I fumbled around for what to say to start a converstation, our "discussion" began to flat-line, and as it about died, her husband pulled up behind us.

"Great..." I silently thought in my head, "let's make it double awkward". So, rather than allowing the dialogue to finish and hoping to at least somewhat salvage something good from this contact, me and Elder Haw scooted over to the other side of the driveway and allowed the woman's husband to pull into the driveway. He was on his cell phone as he pulled into the driveway, and I watched as he and his wife eschanged glances that seemed to speak, "Yay, it's the Mormon's again!". Of course, there was no "Yay" about it, because really it has already been a long day for each of them and who wants two preachers to show up and speak to them just as they are coming home from work? Despite the busy day and the inconvenience of us being there, when the man got out of his vehicle he kindly introduced himself and asked us what we wanted. I told him we were there to teach him the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. For some reason or another the word "RESTORED" seemed to jump out at him. With a funny look on his face he asked us what that meant. As briefly as possible, and as clearly as I could muster, I told him that because God loves us and desires for us to live with Him again, He has chosen a prophet of God and restored His gospel and His kingdom, or curch, and His authority to baptize again to the earth, after having once been lost since the death of Christ and His Apostles, I shared with him that the Book of Mormon was the convincing evidence that these things are true and that anyone who would humbly read the book, study it out in their mind, and pray about it with sincerity, real intent, and faith in Christ, that God would testify the truth of it to them by the power of the Holy Ghost. And I continued by saying that those who gain this witness will know that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on earth, preperatory to the Second Coming of Christ and that those who gain this knowledge will then have to make a decision as to whether they will follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by His authority or not. Having recently been baptized, the man then asked me one of the most difficult questions a missionary has to answer, "Can I get to heaven without the Book of Mormon and the Bible alone, or do I need the Book of Mormon to get to heaven?".

I've been asked this question many times and I've never really considered answering it as flatly as I did this time, but I told him that it was necessary that he had the Book of Mormon to get to heaven. He was shocked by my statement and needed further reassurance, so he and his wife both asked about the many people who die without a chance to be baptized into this Church, if they were condemned or not. And grateful for the question, and the guidance of the Spirit, we, in his driveway, ended up teaching he and his wife doctrines and principles from the first three missionary discussions and related to him that all people have equal opportunity to either accept or reject this gospel, whether in this life or the next, and to be saved in the Kingdom of God. We taught them that the Book of Mormon was the way to gain a witness of these teachings and we invited them to read and pray. They said they would. I told them the purpose of reading the Book of Mormon was to gain a witness of its truthfulness and then to prepare to be baptized upon gaining a witness of the Holy Ghost, and then I asked them the big question: "Will you, if after having read and sincerely studied the Book of Mormon, and having sincerely, faithfully prayed about it, and having received a witness from God of its veracity because of your real intent (which means you will act upon the witness God gives you), follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by His authority?

Both of them thought about it for a minute...they looked at each other and exchanged more glances, each desiring that the other should speak...and the husband finally voiced his thoughts. He said based off of what we had told him, that if he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and gained a witness of its truthfulness from God, that he would be baptized again. Shortly after, I asked his wife if she had the same commitment and she smiled and said she would. It was amazing to feel the Spirit throughout our discussion and the way it seemed to life and build each of us as we discussed the gospel. We left each other as if we had been friends all our lives and were overjoyed to have had the opportunity to have met one another that evening. In smiles both husband and wife said they were very interested in learning more and would like us to return and follow up with them the next week. They gave us each a water bottle and thanked us for all that we do and wished us well as we parted ways.

We should be seeing them this Thursday, so pray that it goes well. :)

I want to write down some more stories, but that took me about 50 minutes to write and I have at least five more of these stories to share. Each of these miracles took place in the span of five days. It has been an amazing week. And this week will be no different. Our object is to love people enough to help them understand the message of the gospel and to explain it as clearly and boldly as possible so they might have the opportunity to actually choose between accepting or rejecting this message. Some people don't want to talk, so we don't push the issue, we'll allow them time to go on with their lives, trusting that God will give them another chance some time later; but for those who wish to talk, we'll deliver the message of the gospel as it was given to us. It really does make a difference when you are straight with people...but it makes an even bigger difference when they can tell, and know, that you do love them and sincerely desire for their welfare and to give them the gift of the gospel.

It is amazing what happens when you have "faith to believe" (Alma 37:40) that there are people who truly desire to hear the gospel and that you have been sent to teach them this message...miracles DO happen! WOW!! I never would haveg uessed that I could be a part of so many miracles in such a short time. And to see people change their hearts and minds and become willing to at least hear the word of the gospel, it is such a joy! Who knows what will happen next, but at least we did indeed help at least some people to hear and feel of this great message!

I love you and look forward to speaking with you next week. I hope each of you have a wonderful week!

Love~
Austin

Faith to Believe

2011-06-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

6.6.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

I've had a few experiences with prayer lately, which have been particularly meaningful to me. I read a scripture in Alma 37:40, which stated that the Liahona gave Nephi and his family directions if they had "faith the believe" that the spindles on the compass would point the way they should go. They still needed to be humble and obedient for it to work, but the key phrase for me was about having "faith to believe". The scriptures, in the same chapter, are later compared to the Liahona. If we have "faith to believe" they should point the way we should go, they will.

Before I continue with my experience with prayer, however, I have to share a few thoughts about having "faith to believe". I think for the greater portion of my life I have believed that having faith meant being perfect. Since I have never been perfect, many times I found it difficult to believe that God would ever work miracles in my life. Whether the miracles were wrought in sports, school, or any number of things, since I didn't feel I was perfect, I thought I was faithless, and so I was unsure that Heavenly Father would work things out for me. Yes, I have always believed that in the end everything would work out, but I never believed they could work out in the present. I thought that the now was a time for suffering, and not joy. I'm not sure where I learned that view, but somehow and for some reason I picked it up. I see now, thankfully, that it is possible to have joy in the present, and that we don't have to wait until after we're dead to be happy. We can be happy now! That is the purpose of the gospel, to help us to be truly happy! I realize that having "faith to believe" means trusting that if you will do your very best, trusting that God will answer your prayers and press forward with a "perfect brightness of hope" that God will work a miracle for you, you will see the blessings of fulfilled faith much sooner.

Back to prayer, I had a few questions I needed answered and so I exercised "faith to believe" that God would answer my prayers as I opened the scriptures and studied them. I prayed believing fully that He would answer me right then and there as I read the scriputres and I read with a sure hope that He would show me the answers in the scriptures. I asked two questions in the span of 30 minutes and found both my answers in the same chapter of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 1. Perhpas if you read it you'll discover what my answers were. :) Then on Sunday I asked another question, and I was less sure about my prayer being answered, so as I opened the scriptures thoughts like, "He's not going to answer this question, it's too specific, and too big of a question to be answered" crept into mind. But I stopped...and I threw away my fears and repeated the statement about having "faith to believe" in my head again, then I flipped open the topical guide. I found some scriptures relating to my question and turned to them. I was led to Hebrews 10 in the New Testament. I read the beginning of the chapter and I somewhat questioned the relevancy of the chapter, but I continued on anyways. I read to almost the end when I came across the verse that let me know without a doubt that Heavenly Father had heard my prayer. The scripture said, "Cast not away your confidence...for ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." I know it may be difficult to understand what that scripture meant to me, but it meant everything. God wants me to be confident in Him and to trust His plan and His will and not to throw away my faith because of my fears, but to believe Him. I can make it and I'm doing good, I just can't give up. All of us can make it if we will keep our confidence in the Lord and not throw it away because of our worries.

I love each of you and hope you have a wonderful week. This week we are going to spend much time tracting in the neighborhoods of members. I know we'll find people to teach and it is going to be a good week. I love you all!

Love~

Austin

Flipping the Light Switch

2011-05-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

...Rest, I've come to learn, is an important thing. You do everything you can, then after you've done all--you give yourself a break! It's a great thing. I wish I would have believed it was a good thing not to be so hard on myself all the time earlier in life, but I now understand that it is okay to cut myself some slack...at least once in a while. So I'm glad everyone gets to have at least a little break from life this summer.

We had a fairly productive week. We found a few new investigators this past week, all of which have committed to come to church within the next few weeks. We'll find out soon whether they'll end up keeping their commitment or not, but let's hope for the best. All of them are great people; however, some have major life struggles and need real support and comfort, so I hope we can help them in the way they need it most. I've found it difficult lately to dive directly into any of the missionary lessons. We've been spending so much time focusing on learning to get to know our investigators and their needs and to show them our love that it has been a battle to transition from a discussion of life's concerns to the doctrines and principles of the lessons. I know our investigators trust us more and that is a good thing, but I also know that there is less direction in our teaching. I'm really striving to find a balance between listening to the needs and concerns of our investigators and teaching them the lessons. TEACH PEOPLE, NOT LESSONS is our motto and it takes much effort to meet the needs of every soul we teach. Righteousness, knowledge, and charity are three things President Barry taught us we need in order to teach with the convincing power of God and also to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. I believe the more I work on these things, the easier it will become to fully help all the people we meet to come unto Christ and to receive His gospel. I love being on a mission, despite how hard it is, because I know it is helping me to become everything I need to become in order to live with Heavenly Father again. And all these lessons I'm learning about teaching people and helping people are changing and refining me and my desires, and are truly changing me more than anyone I'm helping. Why that is, I'm not sure I'll ever know...but when you give all you have, you always get more in return.

This morning in my studies, I concentrated on learning about the process of receiving personal revelation. I read part of Chapter 4 of Preach My Gospel, which is entitled "How Do I Recognize the Spirit?" and Elder Bednar's talk, "The Spirit of Revelation", then I spent time reflecting on the many ways in which I have been given knowledge and guidance from the Holy Ghost. The more I reflected on my past experiences the more I realized how much the Spirit has led me throughout my life. In so many ways and through so many varying avenues I've been directed by the Spirit to make certain decisions that have had lasting impact on my life. Some decisions I probably haven't come to understand yet how they may have affected me, but I'm positive in the future I'll know the good things that have come from following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. My focus for studies today were centered on what Elder Bednar said about a particular way in which we occasionally receive revelation, but usually very rarely--and he compared it to the way in which we associate with light each day: we walk into a dark room and flip the light switch on and immediately what was once invisible is now visible, and we can see clearly and understand perfectly what is now inside the room, even in an instant. Something to think about... :) (see Alma 32:26-43 for further insight--the seed of faith becoming a tree of everlasting life, or the process of revelation).

I've got to go now, but I want each of you to know I love you and hope you have a wonderful week this week. I look forward to hearing from you next week. :)

Love~
Austin

Life is a game of progress

2011-05-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

5.23.11
Fleming Island

Dear Family & Friends~

I am thankful to hear that things are going well back home. I'm sorry to hear that SLCC wasn't able to finally pull through, but the progress they made was exceptional. This will hopefully give them the momentum they need to go out and win it all next season. It is difficult to look much past a single season, but when planning for success, sometimes one needs to look years in the future. No worries, because life is a game of progress and as long as you're moving forward that is all that ever really mattered anyways... We don't go backwards--sometimes we fall, fail, and falter--but we always get back up and try again.

This coming transfer will be much different than the last seven and a half months of my mission. I will no longer be serving as a District Leader. I will continue with Elder Kiracofe in Fleming Island and stay in the same district; however, I will be serving as a Senior Companion instead. Honestly, it was a little sad to be released, but deep down, I know that it is the right thing. I've done a lot as a District Leader, and grown much, and helped others to grow and become better. It has been very rewarding and also at times extremely overwhelming. Nevertheless, I'm grateful to have a change of focus. All the things I've learned can now apply to a singular area. I can't wait to apply everything I've learned to this great ward. I feel as light as a feather, like a great burden has been lifted off my shoulders.

From the time I've been serving as a District Leader, I have been able to take part in seeing three of the Elders I've been serving with become District Leaders, I've seen one Elder become a Zone Leader, I've seen one become a Sister Leader, several others become Senior Companions, and a few others become trainers. it has been a major blessing to watch everyone progress and do their very best and continue upward. I may not have known what I've been doing the entire time, but I can say that I have loved these missionaries. So many of them have been so much greater than myself and I feel I've learned more from them than they have from me. Perhaps you always feel that way...but I am grateful for their examples to me. I don't think you get called to be a leader to be "in charge" of everything, but to humbly learn from everyone else all the great things they have to teach you and to love them with all your heart and to help them stay united with love one toward another. They'll learn all they need to become as you love them and give them permission to be their true selves--or even to see their true selves so that they can become all they are capable of becoming. Elder Oaks says that when you have a vision of what you can become your desire and power to act increase enormously--by sharing a true spirit of love and kindness toward others you inadvertently give them a vision of all they can become. Their hearts expand and their vision increases and their great hopes and dreams suddenly seem possible to them. By striving to look at those you serve through Heavenly Father's eyes, you can share with them what you really see in them, and who they really are to you, and to God. We can't see it in ourselves. Someone has to show us. No matter how many times I stand and stare at myself in the mirror will I ever be able to figure out my own worth. I learn my worth when I discover that God loves me and that I am His child; and so often that is learned through the selfless love and care of others. By having our existence affirmed by those who deeply love us are we lifted to our fullest and highest potentials.

We found a total of four new investigators this week, which is really good. This week we've also gone to several members homes and invited them to mightily pray to have investigators be taught in their homes within the next few weeks. To my great joy, all of them have accepted the challenge. I know it is a scary thing to ask of someone, but despite whatever apprehension they may have felt, they said yes! For all the hard times, the faith of these members have swept away the stress and pain I've felt these past many weeks because of our lack of apparent success. But the real success hasn't even been so much who we've found, it has been the growing relationship we've had with the wonderful members of the Fleming Island ward. I am so grateful for them and for all the members I've come to know on my mission. I am grateful for this Church. Life can be so hard, but there is always a home wherever you are or at whatever stage you are at in your life within the Church. Family is everywhere. How blessed we are!

I love each of you and wish you the best week ever! I love you and I'll talk to you next week.

Love~
Austin

Momentum Shifts

2011-05-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island/Orange Park

Dear Family & Friends~

I'm grateful to have been able to spend a short time this Mother's Day to speak with each of you! I was happy to hear each of your voices. Too bad time moves too quickly...but the time is near that I will see you again, so all is well.

Elder Kiracofe and I had an interesting study this morning about attitudes and its effect on the success of individuals and teams. We talked a little bit about momentum shifts in sports games and its comparison to momentum shifts in missionary work. A momentum shift, as we defined it, isn't so much a physical thing as it is a mental outlook on the final outcome of the game--whatever the "game" may be. We thought of some good questions:

-When you were at your peak performance, was the game easy or difficult to perform?

-When you were having the most fun, did you often find you were having the most success?

-When you weren't having success, yet maintained a positive outlook, did you find that later you found the success you'd initially hoped to achieve?

I'm sure there are a million other questions you could think of, but we concluded that the times we had the most fun and the times we had the most success, no matter the level of intensity or difficulty, were the times that everything felt like it came together, and whatever it was we were doing felt easy...not that we weren't working hard or anything, but we believed and hoped for greatness and we worked for it; we loved the game and accepted it for what it was--a game.

In the same sense I can look at myself; I am imperfect. I am fallen. I will come short every single time of what Heavenly Father requires of me: but that is life. I am not supposed to be perfect today. I am supposed to be grateful for the life I've been given and to enjoy it. I am to do my best to be as obedient as I possibly can to Heavenly Father's will, but if I mess up, I need to trust that He still loves me and believes in me. So I ask forgiveness and get over it! Then do better the next time. And if I fall short again, SO WHAT?!! At least I'm trying. At least I'm doing my best. That is all Heavenly Father can justly expect me to do, is my very best! And if I do that, He can give me mercy and show me grace because of His Son. If I'm persistent and faithful and BELIEVING and HAPPY and SMILING, it will all work out in the end.

Next week I'm going to try and find some stories to share with you about the people that we meet. I have a feeling this week is going to be a good week. No matter what happens, I think that we are going to take some major leaps this week as far as "momentum" is concerned. We have a great ward and great people in it. The people in the area...are good people. They have open hearts and minds and all they need is for someone like Elder Kiracofe and I, and the members of the ward, to reach out and show them that we care and that we love them. Heavenly Father will do the rest of the work. I couldn't imagine being in any other area than this one at this time. People don't mind talking and being friendly. I have met so many people who have offered me and my companion water during the heat of the day. People here are looking to serve. (Sometimes it's easier to look at the bad things--but in the end, I don't think it really matters what bad things surround us, all that matters is what we choose to do with what we've been given--whether we build, encourage, and love, despite the negative, or choose to be defeated because we cannot overcome the negativity, because we let it creep in our hearts and eat us alive! YIKES!!)

Negativity is truly like poison! It is amazing to me how much a person's attitude can affect every aspect of his or her life.

This week, just pray that each of us will be able to witness miracles--whether it be finding people to share the gospel with, success in school or sports, or work--anything. Miracles come by faith and God wants to give us miracles. So let's show Him that we wish to be a part of His team so He can give us miracles. "The miracle is that you recognized the miracle when it came." -Anonymous

I love you and I love that you listen to all my preaching as well! I hope you have a wonderful week and that everything goes well for each of you! HAPPY DAY AFTER MOTHER'S DAY!! Talk to you next week.

Love~
Austin

It's Time To Go For It!

2011-05-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island/Orange Park

Dear Family & Friends~

My mission has probably been the most strenuous experience ever! But you know what? I don't think that it even matters. Life is not easty. Life was never meant to be easy. And it most certainly is never going to be easy. I have a few short months to sprint through the finish line. I haven't known what I've been doing almost all my mission and almost none of it has made sense to me, but one thing I have learned is that it is the biggest blessing I've ever been given. I'm excited to know that I can even recognize a blessing when it comes. To think how little I knew before I decided to serve until now, it is quite amazing to consider how far I've come. This week has passed me by quickly. The speed of the mission is going by quicker and quicker and I want to fight it. I feel that these last few months are where the real test begins. This is the culmination of everything I have been trained to do...so what am I going to do? Fight or flight? There has been so much going through my mind lately...a major mix of emotions and feelings. The attempt to stay strong and overcome the gravity of defeat has been excruciating. But I am realizing more than ever that the only thing the Lord wants me to realize is this: The work of gathering is His work and He will ensure its success no matter what I do or say. My job is to have a testimony of Him and His work and then to share that testimony with others. Those who are prepared will listen and those who aren't, won't. But as long as we do our part, He will bless us. So it is time to go for it!! Whatever that entails :)

I am basically out of time again today. I wasn't able to get on the computer until almost too late...but I do have a couple of other things to say:

1. Revelations 12:11 -- we overcome the adversary through the Atonement and by the word of our testimony.

2. We gain a testimony by studying the Book of Mormon and asking Heavenly Father in the name of Christ if it is true and by asking in faith, sincerity, and real commitment. (Moroni 10:3-5)

3. We can repeat this process over and over again

I realized something the other day, and I know I've been taught it before but I didn't ever think about it, and that is...if the Book of Mormon is true and that if this is the true Church, then nothing else matters. We give our best and do our best to do everything that God has asked us to do and He will take care of ALL the rest. Everything we know hinges on our testimony of the Restoration! So what greater thing to do than be empowered by the Holy Ghost through reading and praying about the Book of Mormon!

I really wish I had more time to write, but we will talk on Sunday! I love each of you and wish you a wonderful week. Good luck my brothers with baseball and KJ with dance!

I love you!

Love~

Austin

Testify with Boldness

2011-04-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island/Orange Park

Dear Family & Friends~

I'm glad to hear your Easter weekend went well and that you were able to enjoy yourselves and also remember the good times from the past. It is kind of funny, lately I've been getting baseball and football dreams, some nightmares, others slightly less burdening, and others happier--I'm not sure why they are popping up, especially since it isn't like I'm thinking about sports, only in passing do the thoughts come. Perhaps because of spending my entire life playing sports it is difficult for my mind to forget. Who knows. I do notice that the dreams have been showing a gradual change, however, from miserable dreams to happier dreams. Maybe it is a symbol of me letting go of my negative experiences and learning to focus on the better times. I can see that as being true and my dreams aren't fully positive yet because at times I still slip into the habit of remembering the difficulties rather than the joy of it all.

Elder Kiracofe and I are getting along well. He is definitely one of the funnier companions I've had, but for the greater part, he is a very focused missionary. He didn't come to waste time! Which is good because it is nice to be around a motivated person. Interestingly enough, I've noticed that those whom I've been surrounded by are rather cheerful people. In fact, the majority of my District, and even Zone, is filled with missionaries who love to enjoy themselves, but also work hard. The overall attitude of these missionaries is pleasantly optimistic. It feels as though each of us are changing and letting go of the old and allowing the new, happier spirit into our lives. We are unifying little by little. It is powerful to see how things are gradually changing in the mission. I don't know how it works, but the Lord knows what He is doing. So does President Barry.

For Easter we went to a member's home in the other Fleming Island ward. The Kelly's are a great family. They have a couple of kids, one on a mission to South America somewhere and they have living with them another Sister in the ward and her son. They love the missionaries and it is their tradition to always have the missionaries over for ALL the holidays, if possible, especially Easter. We had a great time with them and really enjoyed their company. Also, Brook and Jonathan brought us over a dinner later that evening. I love their family too. It is amazing to see the example they are setting for their family and for the changes that are taking place in their lives. There is an aura of happiness that shines around them. You can see the peace that they feel and their faith is evident. Their son, Michael, and might I add Jonathan as well, received the Aaronic Priesthood a couple Sundays ago. Jonathan was ordained a Priest and was able to ordain his son to a Deacon. Michael passed the sacrament for the first time yesterday. He was a little apprehensive because of the large crowd that came to church, but he did a great job.

...I remembered a quote from Joseph Smith where he said we should pray like it all depends on God and then go out and work like it all depends on us. I think that is the relationship Heavenly Father is trying to build with me, to help me understand it does all depend on Him; however, whether He will work the miracle depends all on my faith and diligence: it is a team effort. In a similar sense it is like asking the other roommates to help clean up as though it entirely depended on them to keep the apartment clean, then to turn around and do every possible thing I can to help keep it clean as well--and then continually reminding them of my need for their support, as well as my continual effort in keeping the place clean. It is the process of uniting independent minds on a single purpose and goal. Seems to me kind of like a marriage of sorts...but then again, I'm not married, so I may not fully understand.

Anyways, I think Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want me to know that I can count on Them and that if I will trust in Them and do as They ask, I will always be able to rejoice.

Our "finding" is on the upswing. I am learning more effectively how to invite others to learn about the gospel. It can be difficult at times to understand how to relate with people in a powerful way that will help them to feel the truth of the gospel in merely a few seconds. God wants us to rely on the Holy Ghost to testify of His gospel and not to use many words, but to be simple and sincere in brief testimony so the Spirit can shoot straight to the heart of the individual and cause them to feel the truth. We are learning as a mission that it isn't up to us whether or not someone will become converted, but it is up to them, and whether or not they will receive the Spirit we invite. No number or combination of words, no amount of logic, nothing save the Holy Ghost can penetrate the heart in a way that would cause someone to be converted. Up to this point, I haven't understood that principle as well as I thought, and I think to a degree it is one of the reasons "finding" has always been a difficult thing for me to do, but now I am starting to see that God doesn't want me to convince them, He wants me to testify with sincerity and boldness, but simply and briefly so the Holy Ghost can convince them. In consequence of that relationship, it is so important for us to be exactly obedient so we can receive our own knowledge and testimony of the doctrine so we can also testify with greater sincerity and power. I am starting to see President Barry's game plan. He is wanting us to go out and work to convert others, but in so doing, he is helping us to become converted. Mind you, this is a gradual thing!! But it is working. :)

I love each of you and wish you a happy week and look forward to speaking with you again on Mother's Day!

Love~

Austin

Families Can Be Together Forever

2011-04-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island/Orange Park
Dear Family~

I don't have much time today and I so wish I had more...but please tell Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenni congratulations on their newest daughter. She is beautiful. Thank you for the pictures. As far as missionary work goes, I am continuing as a District Leader, but am also now a trainer of a new missionary, Elder Kiracofe. He is from Spanish Fork. A wonderful missionary and a great example: I am happy to serve with him. I hope that I can share with him everything I have learned thus far on my mission and give him a great head start to the marvelous work he has just begun. I know he will do well!

These past few weeks there are few things I have thought of more than each of you. I know the time is short that I will return home. Nevertheless, I understand there is much work left for me to do, but I do miss you and I do love you--each of you. I noticed something interesting the other day, that of all the major Church proclamations, the Living Christ and The Family: A Proclamation to the World, stand foremost. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has two great testimonies to share with the world: that Jesus is the Christ and that families can be together forever. There is no more important thing in this world than family. There is no more important thing in this world to me than my family.

I wish I had more time to write, but I am out of time today. Please know that I love you and that I am grateful beyond all things to be a part of our family. I am grateful for everything that each of you do to help bring us closer together. I am grateful for your love and your support. I want to be with each of you forever and I know that through the Savior we can.
I love all of you.
Love~
Austin

Becoming a Professional Chef and Accepting Responsibility

2011-04-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Fleming Island/Orange Park
Dear Family~
I am still going to be serving here in Fleming Island; however, Elder Chadwick is moving on. The district is being cut in half, i.e. the areas will still remain the same; however, we are losing a missionary from each companionship, and also, one of the areas is getting white-washed. It is the Orange Park 1st Ward. They might not even put Elders there this time...it might even be a senior couple, or it might be closed. I don't really know. But I'll find out tomorrow.

Our district, as far as progress with finding people to teach is going, is somewhat remaining the same. We are doing many good things with the people we are working with, but our finding efforts are slim. Our monthly focus this April from President Barry is all about becoming "Master Finders", and doing all we can to find people to teach at every opportunity we have someone to contact. I wish it were that easy. But nothing good was ever meant to be easy either.

I think it is pretty wild that I am going to have a 19 year-old brother tomorrow, another cousin in a week, and a 16 year-old brother in a few weeks. Life moves a little too swiftly for my liking...and I'm not sure why it seems to move fast when you're happy and slow when you're sad, but somehow that is always the way it works! But on another note, life moves fast when you are busy as well. However, if you are busy and you are stressed at the same time, then life seems to move extra-slow. Time is paradoxical. I don't think I'll ever understand...at least for now.

Some kind of fun news...lately I've been a professional chef. From Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Vanilla Pancakes to Tater-tot Casserole; I think I'm doing pretty good. I made some hot fudge too and it turned out great, but one thing, I accidentally bought sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk, so when the fudge cooled, that is exactly what it became: Fudge. It still tasted alright, though. I am planning on making Ginger Salmon this week, but we'll see how it goes. Oh yeah, for the first time in my life I made Mac 'n Cheese noodles. They also turned out well, but obviously they aren't too overly complicated to make. I tried flipping an omelet without a spatula once and the omelet landed halfway on the pan and halfway off...so that didn't work out too well. I also flipped a pancake a little too hard on the skillet-thing and splashed myself with hot butter! That was wonderful! :) I think I've also done a fine job of stacking up dishes and utensils in the sink and spent a few hours cleaning up after myself at times. Yikes! Cooking takes a lot of work. But it is a lot of fun too! I think in the not to distant future I am going to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch, which ought to be great. I have been making oatmeal for breakfast almost every day since the beginning of the transfer and I've tried it in many different ways. Brown sugar and maple syrup turns out to be a good combination. Adding vanilla is a little interesting too. Elder Greco, in Palatka, would add yogurt to his oatmeal--I tried it once or twice, but I'm still undecided as to whether or not I like it. Yogurt and granola is also tasty, but for me, I need to eat a lot of it to actually be filled.

Oddly enough, I have been "dying" of hunger almost continually this past month and a half. I can't seem to eat enough food, ever. Yet I weighed myself the other day and I was 188 lbs. I'm also making sure to do a workout of sorts each morning at 6:30 when I wake up. I don't know quite what is going on. Someone suggested I may be growing. That would be cool, but who knows. I don't feel like I'm growing. I just feel emaciated! (Elder McFarland, whenever he sees me has to make sure to point out how skinny I look...ugh... Nevertheless, I feel like I can move around faster, so what does it matter? I love Elder McFarland though...I think he's great!).

Back to the missionary side of things, one lesson I've learned this week, or perhaps am being prepared to learn, is the principle of accountability. Accepting full responsibility for my actions, thoughts and words, for the goals I set, and for the effort to achieve my goals is on the forefront of my mind. Rather than allow my circumstances to determine my effectiveness as a missionary, or an individual, I choose to account for all my efforts, be they good or bad. I know one day I will be held accountable for all that I say and do and become, so why not learn how to be fully accountable NOW! This way I can avoid procrastination and slothfulness. If I want to win, then I must do something about it! Of course, another lesson I am learning about the beauty of accountability, is also how humbling it can be. You have to be willing to account for EVERY action, thought, word, and be willing to ACCEPT all the consequences of what you do and who you are. Despite the pain it can cause within my own soul, I realize that by recognizing my own faults and making the necessary efforts to repay for my wrongs, I am liberated and empowered to be better and to reach my potential. The scary thing about choosing to be accountable is that the Lord will reveal to you as you pray the things you must improve, or change, or repent of--that is where the "humbled to the dust" effect comes into play. Elder Christofferson spoke of this in General Conference when he said that we need to develop the trait of accepting correction and reproof from the Lord, as well as our leaders. OUCH! Or so it seems...

"For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth...[But He chastens us] for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."--Hebrews 12:6,10-11

So as we are scalded for our wrongs and as we listen and do what the Lord asks of us, we grow and we receive the blessings of God. I have to go, but tell everyone that I love them and hope that they have a great week! Good luck with baseball, dance, and everything else...
Love~
Austin

Only as we serve do we grow...

2011-04-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

Orange Park/Fleming Island

Dear Family~

I don't have much time this afternoon to write, but hopefully what I do write will be meaningful. First off, I love our family. I love each of you and all that you do. I am grateful for the gospel and for the joy it brings to us. I am thankful that we were able to hear our Prophet speak and the Apostles. All the speakers gave me great hope and helped me realize that the glue holding all of us together is a united love for our Heavenly Father, and His Son, as well as a great love for each other. I know that the pattern of the gospel blesses families and that one day it will unite us forever in our Heavenly Father's kingdom. Wherever I go, whatever I am doing, whomever I meet, no matter the circumstances, no matter what, I know that I am a part of Heavenly Father's family and that I am His child, and that we, all of humanity, are His precious children. There is no greater hope that fills my soul than the love I receive from a kind Father in Heaven, and His Son, Jesus Christ.

General Conference was special to me, in that the entirety of the combined sessions felt as though it were a rehash of my patriarchal blessing. I felt that I could see my purpose here on earth and what lies in store for me as I exercise my faith in Christ. The Plan of Salvation was laid before me and I knew that all things are working for my good and for the good of all His children. I learned that pain and affliction is necessary for us to understand and know God, and His love for us, just as it was necessary for Jesus Christ to come to earth to suffer all things so He might understand us and have greater compassion on us. I learned that families can be together forever. I learned that love and service for others and for God, is the promise we made to Him when we were baptized. I learned that God will give me whatever knowledge I may need to accomplish my work here on earth--which work is ultimately His work, even for all who covenant to take upon them the name of Christ through baptism. I learned that temples bring joy to all people wherever they may be and that they are evidence of our testimony of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father's plan. I learned that as a priesthood holder of God, my duty is to be a missionary through and through and to be converted to the gospel that others may also be blessed.

There are essentially two options we have in this life:

We can lose our lives in the service of others, and of God, and experience joy and happiness and peace forever. OR, we can save our lives in the service of ourselves and lose out on these eternal joys.

"Only as we serve do we grow." is a quote given by the First Presidency of the Church. I liked the quote in General Conference, "as we are an answer to the prayers of others, we will often find answers to our own prayers". Last night I lost my missionary planner. I need to have it or bad things will happen... I thought maybe I left it at the Stake Center in Orange Park, but either way, I couldn't find it. I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me to find my planner before I went to bed, then trusted it would be found. I gave one more search of our vehicle before going to sleep, but to no avail. The following morning I was asked to help get something out of the vehicle on behalf of one of the other missionaries in our apartment, and I did so, though I didn't necessarily want to, but I kept silent and went and did as he asked. As I retrieved what he needed, I sat down in the passenger seat of the car and noticed how messy it was. Disgusted with the mess, and with a desire to be clean for all of us, I grabbed a plastic bag that was resting on the back seat, and assumed the work of cleaning the garbage out of the car. I crawled into the back, picking up water bottle after water bottle on the floor of the car. As I reached underneath the driver's seat to pick up another empty water bottle, my eye caught a glimpse of something between the driver's seat and the console in the middle. Sure enough, it was my planner. The gap is so tiny I wouldn't have noticed it had I not crawled into the back to pick up trash. I know that my prayer was answered this morning--and I believe it was because I decided to help.

Whatever our problems may be, and however difficult they may seem, I trust that as we forget our worries and believe in God and serve His children, all our concerns will eventually be resolved and we will one day become as He is: full of love and justice, and mercy. Our greatest blessings come as we look beyond our current afflictions and reach out to bless another in need of help and love and compassion. Service blesses not only the "helped", but it changes and inspires the "helper".

I am grateful for all of our individual and collective successes, our experiences, the journey we are on together. I think I finally understand that true joy is found in the journey, not simply the final accomplishment. We may not have many to teach now, but that is okay. We can still strive to be a blessing to every person we see, and one day, all things will work out in the end.

Tell everyone I love them and that I wish them well.

Love~

Austin

"No pain that we suffer, no trial we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God...and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we came here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven." -Orson F. Whitney

The Book of Mormon Is True

2011-03-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

3.28.11
Orange Park
(Fleming Island area)

Dear Family~

There is no greater happiness I have than being able to read the weekly email you send me. It is hard to describe the relief I feel each time I get to hear from home. I love you and appreciate you. Thank you. :)

...Elder Nelson was once asked the question as to why he lived the way he did and he said it was because he knew the Book of Mormon was true. Joseph Smith taught that the book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on the earth. Where there is truth there is power. And where there is truth, the Spirit is also. I hope [we] are able to feel of the joy and peace that the Spirit gives [us] as [we] read from the Book of Mormon. Sometimes it is difficult to recognize, but as [we] pray and ask Heavenly Father, I know [we] will know that He is there and that he is pleased with [us], and [our] faith in asking Him.

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." --John 13:35

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore, He suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto Him. And He hath risen again from the dead, that He might bring all men unto Him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is His joy in the soul that repenteth! Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with Him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" --Doctrine & Covenants 18:10-16

I love each of you and hope you have a wonderful week.
I'll talk to you next week. :)

Love~
Austin

ps. check out my profile on mormon.org! http://mormon.org/me/2N6V/Austin

2011-03-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

3.21.11

Fleming Island/Orange Park

Dear Family~

I am grateful to see that our family is doing so well. I am always amazed at how far we come each week. All of us are growing and reaching new heights daily. I thought it interesting to read about John Martinez being talked about across the the U.S. and still knowing that he is my friend. I saw a picture of he, Isi Sofele, Kenni Kaufusi, and Stanley Havili all standing together in their university uniforms--they looked to be having as much fun now as they did when they [were playing high school football]. I'm happy they are happy!

Johnathan and Michael's baptism was wonderful. They were both so happy! After coming out of the water both had grins plastered to their faces that could not be removed for the remainder of the day! In fact, at Church yesterday, though I may not have seen a continual grin on each of their faces the entire day, I could see that they were both smiling from inside--they were at peace and both felt great contentment and happiness. Brook and Jacen (3 yr. old) were also happy. It has been a great blessing to see their family come together in harmony and peace. Brook and Johnathan are determined to bring the gospel to the rest of their family...I think they simply cannot contain the joy they feel. Each time we speak with them they always tell us "thank you for bringing us the gospel." I wish I could understand the depth of their gratitude and joy. They have found a hope they didn't know they could have, or that even existed. I stand in awe as I witness the Atonement work in their lives. The power the Lord has to change the hearts of men in unfathomable. It makes me realize how unowrthy I am for all the blessings I've been given and why the Lord would allow me to come to such a place to share His gospel. I wish I could experience this power and feel the change take place in their live. Oh, how it hurts when those we speak with deny the great blessings they could have...

If only all could recognize that there is a God who lives in Heaven and He loves us...and that we are His children...His power is evident in all things and yet people turn from it and deny the truth! Why, after experiencing such great love and comfort could anyone ever go away from the joy of the gospel? The world is such a cold, dark place, but Heavenly Father is there to warm our broken hearts and help us to smile. If we could all know that Jesus Christ lived for us and died to save us from darkness, wouldn't more of us be happy? Wouldn't we all want to receive all He has given us? Why not?

Missions are hard because it causes you to suffer when you cannot help another to openly receive all that they can have. How helpless I sometimes feel when I see others walking down the streets, not knowing what to do to help them find their way in their own search for happiness.

Patience, long-suffering, and love are the only things that will ever help. President Uchtdorf, for the monthly First Presidency article in the Ensign, talked about looking for the good in ourselves and others. Everyone has something good within them...sometimes it gets covered in tar, becomes hard to see...and is painful to remove...but they are nevertheless worth loving because they too are Heavenly Father's children. There may be more darkness than light within our own souls, but God still centers His focus on the light and carefully watches over it so that it may grow brighter. I know there is much that I don't understand and perhaps may never so long as I live, but one thing I do know, that love is the only answer. And that because of Jesus we can be filled with love.

Tell everyone I love them. :) I know the time is soon that I will be home again...it is certainly different to think about...but each of you has always felt so close to me throughout my mission, though we are so far apart. When I return it will be as though I never left.

Love~
Austin

ps. I shaved my own head a couple days ago. It turned out pretty good! I also received a painful toe infection this week and discovered while at the office of the podiatrist that I had more ingrown toenail that hadn't been removed yet, to be removed. He got it out alright, without any painkillers or anything! :)

Keeping it Clean

2011-03-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

3.14.11
Orange Park, FL
(Fleming Island area)

Dear Family~

I was excited to see the pictures you sent me! It was neat to see Billy up there bringing the heat (pitching)! Whatever he wants to do, he does! There is no stopping him!

...Elder Lucas shared with me something he learned from his Seminary teacher, which is, the Book of Mormon is the only book on the face of the whole earth that reveals the very tactics and nature of Satan--that it is a book that shows us what we must do to overcome him and his relentless attacks. He is out there, and he is real, but the Book of Mormon will aid us in our journey home. Heavenly Father won't give up on us, even if we have given up on ourselves. Satan would have us believe that we cannot be helped and that we are alone. I am thankful to know that that is absolutely untrue. God is always there. Jesus has already gained victory over all things, so if we trust in Him so can we!

John and Michael will be baptized this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. I am very excited for them. Each time we enter their home, the Spirit seems to flood the room and all of us can feel Heavenly Father's presence. I am happy to be able to have been part of the process in teaching them and to see how each day brings them more joy and more light! They still have their difficulties, but they are working on them and they are doing all they can to stay united. Saturday will be a great day for them. :)

I don't have much time left, but I will say that things are going well here. I am learning to eat a healthy and balanced diet. I am avoiding all the fast food stuff I can (aside form the expenses, I like eating healthier). I think I am also becoming Mr. Clean. I have this need to clean and organize the messes around me. Oddly enough, I like the organizing and cleaning. Obviously it takes time to clean and organize, but it is worth it. I have made an inner commitment to always be clean, in every aspect of my life. First thing I want to do when I come home, is to clean up for all the messes I've made before I left home! Whether it be helping in the yard, laundry room, or anything. I'm down. See Mom, if there is anything good that ever happened from me serving a mission, it is that I have gained a desire to be clean.

Elder Chadwick is a good missionary. We get along well. He is very quiet, however. He has a wonderful heart and will also accomplish much good on his mission if he will keep working hard. I am learning that the best way to work with the quiet is to lead by example and to teach what I know, leaving to them the opportunity to decide for themselves what they will do. They do not want advice, just a good example, and they want to learn.

Tell everyone that I love them and look forward to writing back next week!

I love you~

Austin

Massive Action

2011-03-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

Orange Park, FL
(Fleming Island area)

Dear Family~

I'm glad to hear from you this week. Things are going good here in Fleming Island. This place is definitely a more affluent area than my last few. It reminds me slightly of Draper, Utah. I have seen some big houses and some very wealthy people. One thing I have learned, in order to communicate with the people here, we need to be direct, clear, and powerful; otherwise, we get shrugged off quickly.

A neat concept coming from Gerald N. Lund is that in order to have faith that is productive and powerful, it is requisite that we live our faith commensurate with the degree of our hope! If we have high hopes, and yet we do not exercise our faith so as to attain our dreams, our faith is dead and our hopes go to waste. It is similar to knowing your purpose and potential in life and failing to do all within your power to live up to it. Heartbreak and regret is what happens.

I have learned to love making goals and setting powerful, effective, and efficient plans to achieve my goals. Goals give life and purpose to hopes and dreams. Plans make the seemingly unachievable achievable. The work to achieve the dream lights a burning fire within making joy and happiness your countenance. I heard a quote the other day, and it has to do with missionaries--but is says, "Work as though you cannot fail." Sounds fun to me!

Obviously you have to make realistic and achievable goals; nevertheless, they should make you stretch and push beyond what you initially thought you were capable of doing. "Hard work reveals capacity. Smart work reveals potential."

When it comes to school, I have zero plans--yet. The idea of BYU Hawaii sounded fun, but I refuse to make any decisions until the time for me to decide is come. That time isn't yet.

I'm glad to hear your lesson worked out, Mom, despite all the stumbling blocks leading up to it! I think I am plagued with that same problem. Things tend to appear at the last moment, unexpected, unplanned, and they always seem to get in the way and make it almost impossible to do what I had hoped to do. This is why I was always late for school. This is why it is hard for me to get to bed on time. This is always the reason for me being late to anything. I think the Lord is trying to teach us the valuable lesson of being prepared. President Barry sent a letter to us today and said that the Lord has commanded us to be exceptional planners. Our focus this month is on setting goals and making plans to achieve them. He shared a story of how he planned on qualifying for the Boston Marathon in his fifties, but as the race drew near the end, he wasn't able to complete the race in time. He was an hour behind. He failed fully to prepare: i.e. when running a marathon you need proper nutrition throughout the race to succeed--he forgot about all that as he was running. So the next time, with greater fervor than before, he planned and prepared, and qualified for the Boston Marathon. This time he taped to his arm all the nutrition he would need along the race so he would be able to finish in time. Needless to say, he finished with ten minutes to go left on the clock.

The lesson I learned from that personal experience is that all of us are capable of great things, but our success depends upon our personal preparation! It is a difficult and often painful lesson to learn. But I am beginning to discover that if you start now and don't wait to make the goal and create the plan, you can go forward with faith that you can accomplish ANYTHING!

We have an extremely capable family, now it is down to setting the right goals and establishing the right plans to achieve our goals--then to take "MASSIVE ACTION" (mission motto, apparently) to transform our goals into accomplishments. I think we have the best family ever. :) I can't wait to see what we can do when we are all on the same page pursuing the same goal! Watch out! So Dad, Mom, Aaron, Billy, Kendall, let's set a meaningful, powerful goal, make effective and equally powerful plans, then take MASSIVE ACTION and achieve it! Are you excited? I am! :)

At the center of everything is the gift of charity. Love is the binding force that keeps us together and it never fails. Charity breaks down any barrier, climbs the tallest mountain, descends below the deepest valley, and overcomes all things. The power of the Atonement springs from the invincible and infinite depth of God's love for us, His children. The Savior's love for us burns brighter than the noon-day sun. The Holy Ghost matches this matchless love and is ever and always willing to be our guide along the way. I know the scriptures are true and these blessings are real. I feel the power of it growing within me daily. As I read the scriptures, I feel the Spirit. The Spirit makes me feel like I can do anything! "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philipians 4:13).

I am companions with Elder Chadwick. He graduated from Cyprus High School. This is his second transfer. He has a kind and forgiving heart. I know we will do much good together. On Friday last week we helped two of our investigators to accept baptismal dates. They were extremely prepared to receive this invitation. The Elders (Chadwick and Huntsman) did a wonderful job of helping them to be ready for our lesson that day. The Spirit brought the truth to John (the dad) and Michael (the 11 year-old son), and both were willing and committed to act on what they felt. Michael bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I was amazed at what a strong witness he has of the truth, and yet he isn't even a member. Brooke is a recently returning member and is the mother and wife of the family. Jason is their three year-old son. I can't wait to see how this will bless them. It is a special thing to watch an entire family receive the gospel and to be blessed by it. How grateful I am to be a missionary because I would have never known had I not chosen to serve.

Love you~

Austin

ps. Yes, it it weird to be in this area again. Slightly different than where I was before, but extremely similar.

pps. I love each of you, and if I could I would give each of you a hug right now, but I can't yet. Everything is going to be okay :)

Moving on is hard to do...

2011-02-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

This past week went really well. Our district led the mission in convert baptisms this past month. Patrick and Cole were both baptized and the program went perfectly. President Barry was actually able to speak at Patrick and Cole's baptism. Unfortunately, however, I have discovered that I am now on my way to my next new area. I am sad to go, especially since Palatka has come to feel like home, but oh well--when it is time to move on, it is time to move on. I knew it was coming.

From last Monday to this Monday, I have undergone a mix of emotions, from great joy to deep sorrow. I hate to have to leave because I have come to love the people here. It was a longer process for me to get used to Palatka than Lake Butler, but it has been the best time I have had on my mission. Don't get me wrong, I love Lake Butler, but as much as I grew there, I grew a lot more here. I think being called to be a District Leader is what sparked the greatest amount of growth within me and I am sure there were other things also, but I have been pushed to my limits with this assignment. I have experienced, up to this point, the greatest ups and downs in my mission here in Palatka. But having my heart wrenched in many directions and my body broken and bruised, my mind burdened with intense stress, my spirit has been refined and cultivated and now I feel more capable than ever to accomplish the purposes God has sent me to this earth to fulfill. Whatever they may be, wherever they may take place, I feel prepared to go to battle.

I will still be serving as District Leader, but somewhere else with some other companion. Elder Pelo called me today and told me I was going to go to a good area with a good companion. I'm not sure if that is what he says to everyone or not, but honestly, I'm not worried. I think every companion is a good companion and every area a good area. It is entirely dependent upon your outlook and your willingness to take on any challenge or circumstance that may or will come. Life is much happier when you choose to love everyone. :)

I was thankful to be able to spend what little time I had to serve with Elder Rasmussen, but the time has come to move on. He has been a good companion. It is interesting to note how similar the two of us are and yet how differently we respond to challenge and adversity. I learned from him the importance of being direct when directness is needed, whereas he learned from me the importance of speaking with softness when directness isn't needed. Loose cannon meets smooth sailor. I'm calm and collected, he's ready to explode. Life is great! Our personalities meshed well together and we learned much from each other. I am sad to leave him, but I am grateful for the things I've learned from him. I know he'll be fine and do well whatever happens to him.

When it comes to the people of Palatka, I have had a wonderful time getting to know each of them. I was thoroughly disappointed when I was told it was time to leave because I have made many good friends here, I don't feel ready to see them go. I told them that I would come back with each of you again, however, it is still tough to go. I felt as though I was really starting to get to know the people here and to build relationships with them, but as soon as those relationships are at the cusp of completion, the Lord calls you elsewhere. Contentment might be a reason. But I think the biggest reason is that now the area is ready for whoever comes next, and it is time for their influence. You do all you can, and when you are done you move on. I don't see myself ever forgetting the people here--hopefully we might always be friends.

I had to laugh when I heard about Aurie attempting to teach the fiery little Sunbeams (3 year-olds). I guess they weren't quiet, cute, and cuddly as she might have expected! Children are wild! One moment it is this and the next it is some other thing. Their minds are racing from one thing to the other in a continuous thirst for knowledge and growth. Coming to this earth must truly be a new experience for those who previously dwelt with Heavenly Father! I guess to a small degree I can understand why Heavenly Father will not hold his children accountable until the age of eight, so much stimulation and so little understanding of how to control their environment would make it difficult to judge a little one. Life is certainly a process of refinement. President Smith, while I was at the MTC said, "Self-mastery is the essence of godhood". That is why we are here, to learn to master ourselves in every way. Sadly, for those who do not understand, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only plan sufficient to make this happen and the gift of the Holy Ghost is the only thing that can permanently change us from a natural and fallen state, to a perfected state. From child to adult--what a transition!--and only possible through the Atonement. President Barry said that the Savior paid for our education here on earth. I thought that was an insightful statement. To me education defined means being given the opportunity to test one's abilities while at the same time having the opportunity to learn from mistakes, becoming better through the journey, not at once.

I love each of you and am excited to hear about all the fun things your are doing. Billy--a "fullet" (fullet = faux-hawk mullet...in case you were wondering)? You are crazy, you know that?! But if anyone could ever pull it off, you can. :) I hope all goes well with baseball, Aaron. Stay fired up and you'll play soon enough. Let me know how it goes, alright?! KJ, my favorite sister :) You are an amazing dancer. I love you! I hope you are well Mom and Dad. Thanks for the weekly Robbs' Report. I look forward to the next one. :)

Love~

Austin

Happy President's Day!

2011-02-21T11:54:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

I hope each of you have a wonderful President's Day as well! It was a little difficult finding a computer to use this morning, but the library happened to be open, so we are good to go. Mission life is going well. I am learning much about service as well, Mom! Surprise, surprise :) I like the idea behind, it however. When you think outside yourself, let go of your own problems, and seek to strengthen and bless the lives of others, your days are much happier and your personal burdens float away.

I was asked to give a talk in our last Zone Conference, which I thought turned out well enough. I wasn't expecting to speak, but it was a good thing I was prepared. Elder Pelo called me up to speak right after another missionary, and I happened to be in the restroom as I was assigned. Similar to being put in the game with little or no warning. I hurriedly got back to the room and prepared for action. I was happy to share my thoughts with the zone. I wasn't nervous or anything, just thankful to be a part of the show.

I've had several missionaries tell me as of late that I have exceptional writing skills. I don't know why this seems to be the case, because I wouldn't consider myself that "exceptionally" talented at writing. But it is nice to be complimented. Of course, there are others who have so graciously applauded some of the things I have written (namely you, and family, and friends)--I think whatever the case may be, I got it from you, Mom. You wrote most of my reports growing up anyways. :)

We have a possibility of two baptisms coming up this weekend. Patrick, who is eleven, and Cole, who is nine. We've been working on coming up with ways to teach them most effectively since they are so much younger than everyone else we are used to teaching. Simplicity is the beauty of Heavenly Father's plan, therefore, we have decided simplicity will be the mode of our teaching henceforth, but especially for Patrick and Cole. Elder Oaks said that to be brief and powerful is key to effective gospel teaching. In Preach My Gospel it says that true genius is to take a complex thought and to explain it so simply a child can understand, or perhaps not misunderstand. The Spirit works more powerfully in plainness, and in the Book of Mormon it says that the Lord delights in speaking in terms of plainness to His people, after the "manner of their own language".

Honing in a complex mind and using it to simplify and not complicate is, and ever has been my test. Elder McFarland pointed that out to me yesterday over the phone and he challenged me to use my ultra-concentrated mind and learn to simplify. He invited me to use thirty minutes to finish my training at District Meeting--no matter if the lesson called for longer (i.e. this coming lesson is supposed to take at least an hour and a half of training). I like the idea. Succinct. Precise. Powerful.

I think Grandpa MacKay is a good example of using few words to paint a broad picture.

Another thought:

Obedience unlocks the door to freedom. The purpose of life is to have joy. Joy requires freedom. Life is to be lived and loved. Obedience makes all such possible.

I have decided that whatever I do, I am going to always be obedient to the gospel. And in so doing, I am always going to love my life. Prayer, scripture study, service, and hard work are a few fundamentals of joyous living. Jesus Christ made it possible for us us to have joy, so joy is what I'm aiming for. My point being--Elder McArthur, one of my missionaries, has almost convinced me that I should go with him to BYU-Hawaii. I thought about it, and I like the idea. We can discuss more later. I guess the big thing is, I have always striven to choose the right, but I haven't always allowed myself to be happy. I think I want to try something new. Something I don't think I would have ever considered. Perhaps it will work and maybe it will be fun. As long as I do what I'm supposed to do, I can always find joy. :)

Mosiah 2:41

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I love each of you and wish you a wonderful week. I hope that Aaron, Billy, and Kendall are able to continue to enjoy themselves and to live happily. I pray for you, Mom and Dad, and am grateful for all you do for me. I am thankful to be your son and to be able to serve a mission. Tell everyone I love them and that I also hope they will have a great week as well.

Love~
Austin

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:16:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

I'm sorry to hear that last week's email didn't go through. That is a little frustrating, however, life continues on. This is another one of those weeks where I don't have much time to write, but I'll be as informative as possible.

Kerry's baptism went very well last week and so did his confirmation on Sunday. He is excited and happy to be a member of this Church. His friend, Larry, the one who baptized and confirmed him, is so pleased to have his long time friend as a brother in the Church. Considering Kerry's background, which I or my companion couldn't hope to fully understand or know, Brother Larry sees the massive change in Kerry's life. Kerry is full of light and joy and I am grateful to have been part of the teaching process and to watch him grow in the gospel.

Today we've played a little basketball already! I won a couple games of lightning, which was fun. I know I'm still not the best, but why not go for broke--what's the worst that could happen? I lose? I am already expected to fail, so what's the point of giving up?! Some of the missionaries are pretty good at basketball and are also very competitive, but I'll give 'em a run for their money if they aren't careful. :)

I'm excited to hear about the upcoming baseball season. Aaron off to Colorado! I can't believe it! I like this quote: "Light a match and set yourself on fire, and people from every corner of the world will come and watch." One of the High Council representatives, who is a very successful businessman shared that with us. Tell Billy good luck with his basketball and also his baseball season: Will Smith said this concerning success: "I am not the best at my job there is, there are plenty better. But put me up against the best there is, and one of two things will happen--number one, I am going to win; number two, I am going to die trying." Tell KJ to keep up the good work, even if starting from scratch is somewhat aggravating--the foundation she will lay for herself through her hard work will bless her forever.

My shoes are still in decent condition. I've tried to take care of them. There are, of course, a few minor cuts and scratches on my shoes. I guess they are kind of beat down--but they will survive the remainder of my mission if I do my best to keep them "safe".

Tell Grandma and Grandpa congratulations on their anniversary for me! 46 years is incredible! And to think, they've got eternity to go. :) Tell them I love them and am grateful to be their grandchild. I hope the new wedding ring fits perfect and is exactly what they want!

I love each of you and hope that you will all have a good week and I look forward to talking to you next week! Tell Dad good luck with his Crossfit competition! Tell him his next challenger awaits him deep in the "jungles" of Florida, and is ever-preparing for the Crossfit war he didn't realize he was getting signed up for!

Love~
Austin

Lighting fires

2011-01-31T09:30:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Part I
Dear Family~

Again, I am a little rushed for time because I will be doing some service in a half-hour, but perhaps if I don't write everything down within this time I can get on a computer elsewhere and write some more.

Things are going well here in Florida, for the most part. I feel much like a piece of metal being heated in the fire and hammered over the anvil until being shaped into the sharp sword I need to become. President Barry is continuing to light fires underneath everyone to get us more involved and more focused in the work. It is especially hard because although many of us have been out for some time, we still feel like we don't know everything we are supposed to do. What it is at least forcing me to do is to take a little more time to write down some goals and to make plans of action to go and achieve these goals. One of the big things I need to do is understand my duty more fully. So I am setting up a study plan so I can figure out what I need to do. Also, some of the basic things I don't usually study are the lessons that teach about the commandments and the laws and ordinances of the Church. Odd that I wouldn't study some of the most basic fundamentals of the gospel, I guess for the most part I've taken those things for granted, supposing perhaps I already knew them enough--but I don't. So I am also setting up a study plan so I can more fully learn the ins and outs of the commandments, laws, and ordinances of the gospel. Not just what they require we do, but the blessings that flow from them. To build faith, an individual needs to make a commitment to God that they will do something He has asked them to do, and then to follow through on that commitment. If they do, they will receive the promised rewards of keeping that commitment! Well, as important as the lessons are, they are useless without some type of faith building commitment to go along. Elder Oaks said that when we promise to God that we are going to do something beforehand, that He will bless all the greater if we follow through on our promise. So I am currently in the process of learning for myself the commandments, laws, and ordinances, and the promised blessings that go along with them and then working to build my own foundation by starting with little commitments so as to exercise my own faith. That way, when I am teaching others I can testify from experience, not just belief, that I know that each commitment kept will receive the promised blessings God says He will give.

I personally like the idea of building a foundation from the basics. I think the best thing for myself is to start small, and build my way up, rather than attempting to tackle it all at once as I usually attempt to do. I know I am becoming more focused and more confident because of it and despite the relentless pressure from the President, and other mission leaders, as well as myself, I can see how it helps. I can either make the decision to quit, and give it all up, or I can decide to attack the problem and take the matters into my own hands and accomplish all that I have set out to achieve. The poking and prodding helps, but I don't ever want to have to need that again to get myself going. I want to be able to know what I want. I want to be able to set a specific goal to achieve that desire. Then I want to make an effective and efficient plan to accomplish the goal. Then I want to take, as President Barry says, MASSIVE ACTION to achieve it! I can make course corrections as I go. It is a difficult process to master, but I like where it is taking me. No more letting my environment take control of me!! I am going to take control of IT!!

I have about five minutes left, but hopefully what I have written so far gives you some idea about the work in Palatka. We should be having a baptism this Sunday with Kerry...so that is exciting! He is in his late 50's I believe, has suffered a few strokes, but is ultra-resilient, and always seems to maintain a positive attitude. I'm happy for him and I really hope he'll be able to stay committed to his decision. I think he will. He accepted an assignment to be the ward greeter!

Anyhow, I've got to go. I think I'll send more things later today.

I love you and I'll write again as soon as I can later today!

Part 2
Hello Again~

Well, I'm back to finish what I started. Sorry about some of my jumbled sentences in the last email. I was rushing as fast as I could to get it done.

I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well and having fun. I'm glad that Aaron was able to pitch. It is tough not being able to watch him play and to see how he is doing, but I just have to pretend for now and soon enough, I'll be able to see! I'm glad to hear Billy is continuing to enjoy his high school career. It sounds like he is on top of the world...maybe he should run for SBO President? And Kendall, I am glad to hear that she had fun at her dance! Hopefully she took some pictures so I can see her wonderful outfit (80's Neon!).

I'm glad to hear you are doing well with the secretary duties of Relief Society. I am sure it is a lot of work, especially with the size of our ward. But you know how to organize and prepare things and to set things in order, so you are perfect for this calling [he's trying to encourage me because I messed up during R.S. yesterday...hahaha]. Oddly enough, in our last district meeting we talked about some of our biggest blow-ups and mistakes. It was fun to learn that we were all human and could make mistakes. Sometimes comic relief is good! Elder Oaks spent the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference in Orange Park telling stories and jokes! Of course he still taught them stuff, but if he can do it... That is my biggest weakness, knowing how to lighten up. I think that is a lot of people's biggest weakness. Perhaps Elder Oaks message wasn't solely meant to teach serious doctrinal principles, but to show the members how to enjoy themselves and be happy?

As far as weight loss goes, I'm not sure what to do other than eat some more food. I've been so busy jumping around from one thing to the next that I haven't been giving my body all the nourishment it needs. It is a good thing I am learning about the importance of building a foundation. Nutrition is a part of a solid foundation! It is also part of maintaining a good attitude and spirituality. That also might account for anxiety and unhappiness. Luckily, the drive I am starting to feel within myself is helping me to overcome wasteful negative thinking and encouraging me to think and do productive and effective and even exciting things. I'm starting to get the feeling I had a long time ago that if I set a goal, and put my mind and heart to it, I can accomplish it. Not that I ever doubted that. It was more whether or not I wanted to set the goal and accomplish something.

I love each of you and am thankful for all that you do and I am excited and fired up to begin the process of accomplishing great things, not just as an individual, but as a family! Let's do it!

Love~

Austin

If I want to be something...I have to do something

2011-01-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

I want to write much more than I have time to share. Unfortunately, I am at the library today and I have a short time limit. I was only able to briefly read the emails you sent me, but thank you so much for your thoughts of encouragement and hope.

Elder Oaks was wonderful. I was, and still am very grateful to have met him, and to have shaken his hand. What an example of fearless leadership and divine confidence. After having met two of the Lord's chosen Apostles, and having looked both of them in the eyes, and after having met others of the Quorum of the Seventy, I know that these men indeed are called of God. All you have to do is look at them to know that they are special. You can feel the power that emanates from their presence. Elder Oaks taught and spoke with power and authority and was not afraid whatsoever to hold back the thoughts the Lord put into his mind.

"Set in order the Church" were President Hinckley's words of direction to Elder Oaks many years ago and he, at least to some degree, gave us that same assignment. Establishing the Church has always been the number one priority for missionary work in these last days and that was Elder Oaks' council to us--to establish the Church.

I think I learned more by watching him than I did by listening to him.

"See one. Do one. Teach one." Watch the Apostle. Do as the Apostle does. Teach what you learned.

Not much has changed over the last week except my companion (who is Elder Rasmussen) and the fact that I want to succeed even more than ever before.

As far as fear goes, I am certainly working on eliminating doubt and fear from my diet, as well as all the other things I'm allergic to. I have lost nearly twenty pounds, if the scale we have is correct. I, at this time, weigh about 187 pounds.

Time is about out. As you can tell, I am being very brief in my sentences, so I apologize. I truly wish I could write more, but I am completely out of time. I want each of you to know that I love you and that I look forward to hearing from you again. Tell Billy congratulations on his dancing date! He was looking good! You can tell Chaleh and Madi "hello" for me as well, haha!

I guess the biggest thing I learned from Elder Oaks was this:

Decide what it is you want. Make a decision. Go all out and hold nothing back to accomplish your goal. The Lord expects action, not passive "patience". If I want to be something I have to do something. There is no mountain too tall, no obstacle too great, if I put my mind to it and give all my heart, nothing can stop me (and that goes for all). Choose the right and live life and be happy. That is all.

I love you and I will talk to you soon!

Love~

Austin

2010-12-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Family & Friends~

First things first...President Barry is cutting down on our time for emails, so my emails are going to be shorter from here on out. Secondly, our phone calls home--no longer than 40 minutes is what we've been told.

When it comes to emails, we have been asked only to write to our immediate family and no one else. For me, that is a tough one because I do get a lot of emails and I enjoy being able to write back so long as time allows, but now things are different. When it comes to letters, however, I am sure that I can write home to just about anybody, but not email.

Elder Murray is now a Zone Leader and Elder Preator is now a District Leader (now serving where Elder Murray left).

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity of interviewing someone for baptism. Her name is Elizabeth. She was baptized on Friday last week and confirmed on Sunday. The interview itself went well, but who am I kidding, interviewing someone for baptism is definitely a different experience. This week I will be doing another interview!

Elder Lucas and I have helped one of our investigators to set a baptismal date, so on the 26th of this month Kerry will be getting baptized. He even went so far as to call his friend (who recently went and took out his endowments: recent convert of a few years) and asked him to baptize him. It is great to be able to teach him and to help him progress in the gospel... He is probably in his late 50's or early to mid 60's. He had a stroke several years back, so he has difficulty walking and functioning normally, however he is very resilient and is unwilling to quit on himself. It is exciting to teach him and I can't wait for his baptism. It will be a great day for him!

...tell everyone that I love them and that I hope they are doing well. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and can't wait to call home in the coming week and a half. The work is speeding up in Palatka and we are finding more work to do than before. We are building up the trust of the ward surely but slowly. Great news however, our bishop wants us over to have dinner with him and his family next Monday. We have also had a few of the members come to us wanting for us to come to their homes to work with their less-active or part-member families. So we must be doing some things right!

Take care everyone.

I love you all.

Love~

Austin

ps. I am also allergic to wheat

pps. I do believe that we have black mold. Funny thing is, every single apartment I have been in we have spent time remodeling and cleaning the entire mess that other missionaries leave it in. Ugh...the apartments can be so disgusting sometimes that I'm afraid to walk on the carpet. This apartment is infested with cockroaches as well (but I'm not allergic to them thank goodness!). This must be paybacks for all the messes I have made growing up. Now I understand the frustration of MESS and failure to clean up after oneself!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Allergies, Ingrown Toenails, and Warts...Oh My!!!

2010-12-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family and Friends~

Well, I guess it has been a fun past few weeks! Who knows, I probably am allergic to Palatka. The doctor prescribed me Singulair to help me deal with Palatka and its air pollution/pollen/whatever else it is problem. Surprisingly, I am allergic to both cats and dogs. I am allergic to milk, peanuts, all sorts of different grasses, a couple different types of mold, and even egg whites! None of the allergies are nearly life threatening, however, all of them are somewhat of a nuisance; more especially the grasses. It explains a lot, though. I remember doing conditioning for football and baseball out in the fields, and I swear, I would run out of breath faster than anyone else! And I knew I was in the best shape!! That always drove me insane, so I would run harder so I could push through it, but of course, that didn't ever help--well, I got in better shape...but I still couldn't breathe! I thought maybe it was asthma, but I never wanted to believe that, mostly because I never wheezed. Unfortunately, out here, on occasion I will hear myself wheeze, but I'm quite sure it has nothing to do with asthma, rather it is probably allergies. Go figure. The doctor gave me a prescription for Albuterol, but I don't really want to fill it because I really don't think I have asthma--Sister Barry said I should anyways...but I don't know...

Ingrown toenails...I can't say they have been too enjoyable, but I will say that I am fairly certain I have had these ingrown toenails since before my mission. I know that I've dealt with them as I played football, but I never did anything about them....but when all was said and done, the operation itself was relatively painless and the shots taken to the left big toe weren't nearly as painful as I thought they would be. One of the doctors (i.e. one of the students watching) commented that I was taking the shots very well, better than he had seen in any other "victims"... I have a couple others that I may have to get removed. Yes, you heard right, a couple. Luckily, there was only a wart on my left foot...and it was attacked with some type of acid and all I have to do is watch over it with wart (chap)stick and it should go away. The piece of glass [in my foot] was easily removed. It was so small I was amazed that it was causing that much discomfort...

Before I continue, I keep forgetting, but will you please tell the Rowberry's thank you for the Christmas package. Also, the Relief Society sent me a package as well, so will you please announce to them my gratitude for their thoughtful gift and tell them I am grateful to have heard from them. And finally, tell the youth and the youth leaders of the ward thank you for sending me letters and treats.

On another note, I am grateful you were able to talk with Sister Barry. I love both President and Sister Barry. Both of them are so loving and thoughtful and they are a great example to me as to what person I would like to become. They see us for who we are and what we can become and they don't judge us if we're not there yet, rather encourage and inspire through loving words and a loving example. They both said in a recent mission-wide conference they consider each of us their children and I told them in a letter to President Barry that I was honored to be considered such. Over the past few weeks I've been able to talk with Sister Barry quite a few times, mostly because of my sickness and injuries, and she has been so helpful. She always wants to know what more she can do to help and never fails to follow through. President Barry is the same way. They weren't sent here to judge us, but they were sent here to love us and to love the people and to help all of us become better. I trust them both and I love them both so much. It will be sad to leave when it is time to come home because I will have enjoyed being able to serve with them a little over the last half of my mission, but I won't ever forget them. Hopefully I'll always be able to keep in contact with them.

Transfers are in, Elder Lucas and I are staying together and so are most of the elders in the district. Elder Preator is leaving and is becoming a District Leader and Elder Johnson is going somewhere else as well. But that is all. Elder Murray is leaving Mandarin and might be moved from District Leader to Zone Leader, so that would be really neat! Other than that, our zone and district is pretty much the same.

Missionary work is progressing in a better direction than before. Elder Lucas and I are finally to the point where the ward semi-trusts us. Of course there are a few who always support the missionaries...however, there is still quite a bit of mending to be done. We're working on it though, and in the end, it is all going to work out. I love serving the people here and although I'm still working on getting to know each of them, I feel like I'm developing good relationships with many of them. Hopefully before I leave the area things will be worked out. At this moment we have a few people we are somewhat teaching--more or less we're taking it nice and easy with them. We are spending a lot of time getting to know them and showing them we care so we can earn their trust and teach them at their own pace. It is a little difficult because often it is nice to have instant results, but that...we are not getting, and sometimes I get frustrated. I think my frustrations lie more in this department, however: who is going to be disappointed with me because I don't have many people to teach and those I am teaching are moving slowly? Fear and doubt--great friends. Right?! The fear of disappointing others always seems to find its way creeping up underneath my skin. I continually have to remind myself to "blast down" the negative, like Uncle Mike told me. This scripture has frequented my mind so often lately that I am surprised that I still fall in the trap as many times as I do:

"Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against Him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually. But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve Him, is inspired of God." -Moroni 7:12-13

So it comes down to figure out which voice it is that is talking to me, and then to act on the one that is inviting me to do good, and the one that tells me loving things, rather than the negative and accusing voice that loves to jump in and wreak havoc inside my mind. I guess the solution is this: work hard, be happy, love everyone, and all things will work out in due time. :)

Before I go, I want each of you to know that I love you and that I am grateful to be a part of our family. I hope all of you have a wonderful week. Tell Dad to enjoy his business vacation to China for me. :)

Love~

Austin

Experience

2010-11-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

Thanksgiving went very well. We spent our time with the Tilton and Filipi families on Thanksgiving day. The Tilton family makes up a large portion of both the wards here in Palatka...they are a wonderful family. We were able to spend lots of time getting to know them and their family last week, which was much fun. They live on some farmland off of Cracker Swamp Road (where the street name came from I'll never know!) in East Palatka. The house is under some construction and remodeling, but it was perfectly well enough to hold twenty or more relatives + missionaries. Mind you, only part of the Tilton family showed up, and so there are much more of them here in Palatka. Their family has lived here in this part of Florida for several generations--even before the Revolutionary War, I believe. They are great people and we had a good time hanging out with them. They fed us tons of food and had me give a spiritual thought in front of the whole family before the feast. It went pretty well, but I hadn't had anything to eat the entire day so I was up on the top steps speaking down, completely flushed and shaking, doing all I could to share some thoughts about gratitude and to bear my testimony of thankfulness. I made it out alive, but I wanted to fall over when I was done. Luckily, I was able to get my fill of food and it all worked out. I thought it was neat that Brother Tilton asked me to share a thought and even though I was hungry I was happy to share some things I've learned.

The Filipi family is quite a bit smaller. The dad is from Albania, the mom and her mother are from Chile, and their daughter was born in the states. They are great people and we love going over there to visit with them. They are always very friendly and welcoming. Each time we have gone over there they have made sure to feed us and to take care of us in any way that they can.

Elder McFarland and I went on a trade-off this past week as well and it was great being able to be his companion for a day once again. We were able to accomplish many things and to get ourselves more positively aligned with the way missionary work is supposed to be done: through service and love. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another," and that is our motto. He was able to go and visit some people in the area which he hadn't seen for a long time (he served here before he was my companion), and was excited to be "home", in the smallest degree of the word. It was good to spend the night being able to talk with him about all the things on my mind, especially since we already had somewhat of a background together, and it was also cool to see how both of us have grown since last January. Weird stuff, let me tell you! He'll be going home in May and he has the strongest feeling that the area he is in will be his last area--Julington Creek. It is a very rich area and the people are way different than the country folk out here in Palatka and up in Georgia. He has been a great help to me as I have served as a District Leader this last transfer and has done a good job of taking some of the burden off of my shoulders so that I can get a better understanding of what it is I am supposed to be doing.

As a District Leader, I love being able to work with other missionaries and to serve with them. As I felt before I left on my mission, that the purpose of my being sent on a mission was in a great deal to serve the missionaries I served with--namely my companions--however, now I have almost ten companions! I am grateful to be able to see how each of them serve the Lord because their example helps me to be a better missionary. As I serve them, they are really serving me. So it is great to be a leader! It is hard and it is trying, but I love to serve others and to work with others, so either way, I win. My communication skills are growing rapidly and I am becoming more effective at helping others to understand truth as it is written and spoken by the mouths of the prophets. Effective communication, from my perspective, is all about being able to relate with others--and being able to relate with others is all about sharing common experiences. No wonder Grandpa MacKay always brags about all of the experience that he has over us. ;) I can just visualize the chart that he draws with the line extending from life at birth all the way to death...myself closer to the beginning, his closer to the ending...and then the famous question and answer: what do you think is the difference between us? You got it, EXPERIENCE! And though you may be better lookin' than me, I'll always have more experience than you will!! :) He's right though, experience is important--especially the more and more I think about it. But you can ask Gramps, he can explain it better than I can [cause he's got more experience].

Do I think Elder Lucas and I will stay together another transfer...hmmm...I really do not know. It seems very likely, but then again, he has been here for quite a bit of time. If I were to place my best guess, however, I would say that he will stay. In fact, I think most everyone in our district will stay, aside from Elder Preator and Elder Johnson. They've been in their areas the longest so it is most likely that they will leave and another will replace them. Elder Lucas, because he hasn't been on his mission quite as long, and also the fact that President Barry is planning on keeping missionaries in their areas longer, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he stayed. I would be more shocked if he left than if he stayed.

About positive attitudes--I put it down as my goal to go each day and to wake up each morning, no matter how tired I am, with a positive attitude. So far, it has made a major difference in everything I do. I have more energy, I am happier, and the negative things that happen don't matter as much to me--everything is a blessing. After all, did we not come to earth to gain experience? So all experiences, good or bad, are blessings. :) I have stopped praying for knowledge, rather I have started praying for experiences so that I can understand the knowledge, so that I can bless others with my relating experiences. So far, I think it is working. People tend to understand what I am saying more clearly than ever before, but I'm still working on it--teaching doctrine for application is a little more difficult than stating truth. Either way, all is well.

Tell Aunt Val, Brittney, Macey, Noel, and Emma Happy Birthday for me! Tell Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenni congratulations preparing to have my next girl cousin! Tell Aunt Rachel thanks for her email and for the neat poems (which I am going to print out so I can study them a little further)! Tell Uncle Glen and Aunt Trisha thank you for the weekly email (which video I thought was hysterical haha)! Just tell everyone I love them and miss them and hope they had a great Thanksgiving. :)

Anyhow, I think I am all out of things to say at this moment. So, I want each of you to know that I love you and look forward to hearing from you soon. Christmas is right around the corner, so it won't be long until we get to speak (audibly to each other) again! Take care everyone!

Love~

Austin

Don't Worry...Be Happy

2010-11-22T19:43:00.000-08:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family at Home~

I am glad to hear everything is going well back home. I've discovered some interesting things about myself as I have scanned over some of my emails at about this same time last year...I was a lot more positive and motivating in the words I wrote. Time to change :) Time to be more positive and grateful for all that I have. I am in awe that it is so easy to slip into sadness and misery, and the adversary is so brilliant at helping us to quietly fall into his deep despair. Reviewing the past few weeks, perhaps months, I can see where he has tried to take advantage of me and twist my thoughts and perceptions and lead them down a path that only leads to unhappiness. Life is so much greater when we are upbeat!! Ugh... Seriously. There is absolutely no point in allowing myself to be sad, unless of course I want to allow myself to slide down a slippery slope to nowhere land. Maybe the darkest abyss sounds like a fun plan, but I don't know how I feel about it. I think I'd rather be on top of the mountain rather than at the bottom, or inside, or even below the mountain. Wow!! It is funny, we get to choose whether or not we are going to be happy! Isn't that so peculiar? WE GET TO DECIDE!!! Why not then choose to be happy? Who is stopping us? Probably ourselves. Actually, it is ourselves. How odd it is then, that we choose to allow ourselves to be unhappy.

Missionary work in the Palatka area is moving rather slowly, however, I think that I am going to put Elder Lucas and I to a much more rigorous and exciting finding program. I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would love to listen to us and to hear our message--we just need to go and find them. For a time I found myself beginning to think and to care about what others perceived of me, and because of unhappiness I didn't want to risk speaking with them. But now, I don't care. It really doesn't matter how I feel, what matters is that I'm out working hard each and every day despite each and every pain or problem I have! Injuries, sicknesses, annoyances, etc... they come and go--but if my attitude is always positive and my heart is always strong and willing to press forward, those minor things won't matter so much anymore. To "act" is much better than to be "acted upon". And to "act" out of love brings the greatest rewards. So don't be surprised when over the next few weeks you start hearing that the work in Palatka is no longer slow, but speeding up and moving and progressing forward! It is all in the attitude. :)

I did receive the clothes that you sent me and the package you sent me the other day. The clothes all fit perfectly! ...I also have some more good news, recently I have been receiving several new suits from missionaries who have gone home or otherwise aren't going to wear these certain suits any longer. I guess some of them came from the DI, but they are still very nice quality. I know that a couple of them definitely were not from the DI, however. Most of them are brown, but they vary in pattern and tone. One of them is blue, which is a nice change. The cool thing about all of these different suits is that they all fit me, just about perfectly, some even better than the ones that were tailored to fit me!

When it comes to Christmas presents, the biggest thing I am worried about--which has been impressed upon me by other missionaries who are on the downhill side of their missions--is the need to prepare and send out college applications. I really don't know where I want to go or what I want to do! Some options that I am willing to accept as of this moment--BYU, UVU, BYU-I (because of Elder McFarland, Elder Murray, and Elder Pelo haha), Utah State (because of Robbie)--I don't know how I feel about the U of U. I honestly don't know. I would like to stay close because I don't feel the need to leave the state to go to college. Wherever you and Dad feel you should have me apply, I am willing to apply. When it comes to making a final decision, then I will decide. I just need help because I have no idea what to do about it all. And the final Christmas thing I need--Christmas Eve pajamas. :) If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know as soon as I figure it all our.

As far as missionaries and their hair cuts, President Barry wants us to get a haircut once a month and it has to be long enough that we can hold a part in our hair. I guess just barely long enough is good enough. :) I did get my hair cut a little shorter this time, but I don't know that it has anything to do with the mission rules changing. A member asked me, after asking the other Elders, if I wanted a haircut, and I said yes. So I went and got it cut and told her to cut it the way she thought it would look best and so she did! It was very nice of her to do that because I didn't dare let the other missionaries do it! Nor did I dare do it myself, haha!

Oh, I did wear the purple sweats along with the McDonald's shirt the second I realized what they were. I remembered also the picture of Aaron wearing those sweats too! Tell Aaron thanks for the pictures and Billy and Kendall thanks for their letters. I will write back before the end of next week. I love each of you and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving, even if it is at some restaurant that I've never heard of!

Love~

Austin

Teamwork

2010-11-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

November 15, 2010
Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

I think that things are on the turn-around. Each of the letters/emails that were sent to me have helped me to see things from a clear perspective and to judge things correctly, and in the proper light. Out of all the things that were written, I'm going to list the things that I absolutely needed to hear:

-None of us are perfect, nor will we be as long as we live [on this earth].

-God loves each of us individually and knows us perfectly.

-The most important thing for us to do while we live on this earth is not so much to become masters of the spoken/written word, but to build and maintain a positive and loving relationship with ourselves and others.

-There is a difference between policy and doctrine: doctrine is eternal, policies are subject to change.

-Sometimes we simply need to CHILLLL!!!

-"It was a tragic irony that he made himself sick worrying about his health."

-When we love others and spend our time serving them, our own worries melt away.

-The Adversary is good at twisting our thoughts and disrupting our communication with the Spirit and that makes it hard for us to see things in the right perspective.

-Heavenly Father will always give us help if we just ask for it.

There was so much more that mattered to me as I read, but those were some of the main points that I felt tied all the letters/emails together. I am grateful to have each of you as a part of my family, because through all of your experience, I am able to make sense of myself. I always say this to everyone that asks me about my family--I tell them that they're the best! I say they're the smartest! The most loving! The most caring! The most helpful! And the most wise! Heavenly Father planned perfectly when He put us all together, because we make a very strong team. Considering all the wisdom that was sent to me, I thought of a scripture in Doctrine & Covenants Section 88 verse 122:

"Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege."

Each of us have something unique to share and the Spirit is able to work through each of us in a way that would most benefit the other. Yesterday, Elder Lucas and I spoke in sacrament meeting. It went very well, I thought. I didn't write anything down, except maybe a few ideas that popped into my mind as I listened and learned from others the things I felt that maybe they needed to hear. What it came down to, all the thoughts not only from the membership, but from all the letters/emails over the past week, including the 3-day leadership training, was the importance of teamwork. It finally dawned on me how God has set up and organized the earth: He created it so that all things could benefit from each other if they would so choose to work together. Granted, there are things to act and things to be acted upon, so it only applies to those that are able to act for themselves; but all things were created to work together for the benefit and good of all. All things, whether inanimate, organic, living, and even dead, are used and reused to build off of each other and sustain life and growth on earth. When the Lord teaches us about consecration and discipleship, he uses the world around us to show the true meaning of teamwork and that true teamwork can only exist through selfless love, or charity. Families are meant to be forever together, but that can only happen if they are willing to work together--because those who work together and build each other up, love each other. No wonder the first and greatest commandment is to love God, because when we choose to love God, we choose to love all His creations, and we choose to work with them because of that love. God is trying to get us to learn how to love!

Anyhow, those are my thoughts--which were inspired by the thoughts of others (just so I can further emphasize the importance of teamwork; but it is true, I wouldn't have thought them had in not been for each of you and all the people I'm working with out here).

Our district is doing well. I've had the opportunity to go on a few trade-offs with the Elders within our district and have been able to get to know them a little better. I'm learning a lot about the importance of listening and allowing others to speak and share their thoughts. Maybe I ask one question and then be quiet for a time...everyone needs time to pour out their heart to another, sometimes it's the only way to get relief from our burdens. Yesterday I had to resolve a small conflict within our apartment. Afterward, I sat each Elder down and interviewed them one at a time so I could learn what was bothering them. I think, for the most part, the problem has been worked out. I had a positive discussion with each of them and they both ended on a good note. I was proud of myself for working things out with the Elders. I don't think I have ever had to sit down and handle a situation like that before, nor have I ever handled a situation like that the way I did. I felt a little bit like a parent, or a coach, or even maybe a teacher...Let me just say this, although I kept a very collected attitude throughout the ordeal, that was stressful to deal with! But things are better now, so we're all good! :)

Another Elder I worked with on one of our trade-offs, we sat down and had a really long discussion together. We talked about how everything we are doing now is centered on helping the things we do now to become a lifestyle we can maintain throughout the rest of our lives. The Elder had many frustrations and disappointments he shared with me and I sat quietly and listened to him. As I listened to him talk I thought about all the things I had been learning and shared with him some of the thoughts I had. The Atonement, in all its power and splendor, was motivated by one thing, and one thing only, and that is the great love our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ have for us, and all Their creations. The purpose of missionary work is not to get other people to do the things we want them to do, but it is to show them that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and we do that as we serve them. Service, when motivated by faith in Jesus Christ, is an act of love and is also an evidence of the love of God. The pure love of God is charity and it is this charity that softens and changes hearts. The Holy Ghost can work through the heart of an individual whose heart has been changed by love. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ and we do that through our love of God and our love for all our spirit brothers and sisters. When he and I spoke about these things the Spirit entered greatly into the room and we were both comforted and edified.

Who knows where things will take us next, or even what lies ahead...all I know is that all will be well. I love each of you and wish you all a wonderful week. I look forward to hearing from "ya'll" next week. :)

Love~

Austin

Hoping For A Better World...

2010-11-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Mom, Dad, Aaron, Billy, Kendall, Family, & Friends~

Halloween went well, but I'm glad it's all over now. We didn't do anything special for the holiday, nor did President Barry allow us to spend our time watching movies. But, despite the lack of Halloween activities we did get to teach a less-active member from the ward who seems to be having all the doors that were once locked begin to open up once more--he is starting to change his life a little at at time, and Heavenly Father is responding to his every effort to do good! He met a girl, a few years younger than himself, who wants to help him change his life for the better and is willing to stick with him and work with him as he strives to become better. She isn't a member of the Church, however, she is a faithful young Baptist woman who is also doing all she can to live a good Christian life. The person we are teaching would love to see her become a member of the Church and would love to teach her the gospel, but as we spoke with him last night he wasn't exactly overly confident that he would be able to convince her to listen. So we gave him a priesthood blessing and we prayed on behalf of his new friend and he seemed much more prepared to speak with her about the Church. We spoke of the temple with him and he said it made him feel like he wanted to jump out of his skin for joy! It has been wonderful to see him change day by day as we have continued to visit with him and to see the Spirit work in his life. The light is growing within his soul and he is beginning to hope for a better world....

...I want to be who I am meant to be and I know that I cannot do that without your help and more especially without the Lord's help. Our motto in the Jacksonville Florida Mission is a scripture found in the Book of Third Nephi, chapter five, verse thirteen:

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life."

Love~

Austin

Austin's Bill of Health

2010-10-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Mom, Dad, Aaron, Billy, Kendall, Family & Friends~

Well, I guess I have a lot to report on this week. First off, I will be staying in Palatka with Elder Lucas. Secondly, I will now be serving as a District Leader in the Palatka District. I am in charge of four companionships, five including mine. We may not have the largest district in the mission, but it is certainly a larger district compared to many. Elder Zabriskie, who was with Elder Clements, who were our roommates, is leaving to another area to be a Zone Leader. He was our District Leader prior to today. Elder Greco is Elder Clements' new companion. He has been out for four and a half months, but is also twenty-six years old. He seems like a really neat person. It turns out that he actually went to Brookwood Elementary! What are the chances?! Anyhow, I think we will all get along really well inside our apartment and even district. Elder Greg Fuller made it to Florida, however, he will not be serving nearby--at least I don't think. I only had time to give him a quick wave, but he looked happy and excited to be here. I am sure he will do well (in case you can't remember, we went to Butler Middle School together!).

Transfers are different because President Barry wants the new Elders and Sisters to be able to go out and have a day of experience before transfers come around. So instead of having P-day be Monday, he moved it to Tuesday. That way, on Monday we can work and on Tuesday, our P-day, we can have transfer meeting and also give the new missionaries a chance to go shopping for groceries and other necessities. It is all about using our time efficiently. President Barry wants us to be the best and the most wise we can possibly be and he is holding us accountable to everything. I'm glad he is doing it though, because I think I am going to grow much more this coming year than I did in the past year because of his consistence and persistence with us. Main thing, despite President's reminders, he leaves it entirely up to us to decide if we will obey or not, and he works with us according to our various levels of commitment. He is certainly doing a good job of helping me to set goals and accomplish goals and to stay on top of the little things. I'm glad to have him as my mission president.

Next on the list comes a discussion on my wonderful bill of health. But let me first start with a story. Elder Zabriskie, in his wisdom and genius, remembered a trick he learned from one of his friends in school. This clever stunt; however, requires at least two Hot Tamales. Anyhow, apparently Elder Zabriskie found out that if you chew on a couple of Hot Tamale candies the burn that it causes inside your mouth will temporarily disable a gag-reflex, which would therefore make it possible to stick your fingers halfway down your throat without making you puke! Wonderful!! Of course, after showing us this little trick, Elder Zabriskie readily encouraged each of us to try! So, I tried... it worked! It was an odd experience that I don't think I'll try again soon, but it did work. Afterward, I had to take a look in the mirror just to see if anything might have happened to my throat, just in case. You never know... So I looked, and to my happy surprise, I saw two yellow globules growing on one of my lymph nodes. I'm pretty sure I haven't ever had that happen before, but I was a little uneasy about it, so I called Sister Barry to let her know I wasn't quite better yet. She sent me to the doctor's again and he decided that it was probably tonsillitis (maybe strep...) and so he set me up with a prescription of Penicillin and a daily salt-wash/mouth-wash gargle program. Exciting news...I know. As far as the blood work goes, it should be figured out by next week when I have to go in for my follow-up appointment. They are testing for allergies, anti-bodies, and other various things to see if it is allergies or bacteria that is causing my ongoing symptoms. He also gave me an inhaler because I told him at times that I felt as though I were wheezing and he said it could possibly be signs of asthma. I doubt I have asthma, but he said to try it just to see if it helps. I did it once, but it didn't make much of a difference as far as my breathing went. I'm sure it will get figured out soon enough. But back to the story, who knows if I didn't try that "experiment" with the Hot Tamales if I ever would have found out about my throat? It might have been when it was too late!! Thank goodness for that adventure. :)

Mom, I don't know what it is, but it seems like I'll never get to the end of it. From mono, to sprained ankles, to a broken back, nerve damage, shoulder damage, back to bronchitis, sinusitis, and now now tonsillitis, along with ingrown toenails that are still attempting to mess with me...who knows what's next? Whatever, I'll just continue to laugh. That is about all I can do. I can either laugh or I can cry, right?! I only wonder just how much every person goes through in a lifetime, I'm not sure I really want to know. Pain is inevitable, but to be happy is always a choice. We may never control all that befalls us in this life, but we can always control the way we view our circumstances. It is good to know that we always have a choice.

When it comes to thoughts I've been having lately, most of them center around what our mission has been focusing on this month, what they would like us to focus on for the rest of our missions, and life. Namely, the Doctrine of Christ. Simply put, these are all the teachings of the Savior. These are the eternal truths that help us to know God, the Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. These doctrines help us to know our Heavenly Father's purpose, which is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The more I have paid attention to these basic doctrines as I have read the scriptures, the more I have realized that these truths are scattered throughout all of the scriptures and more especially the Book of Mormon. A good example of the principle would be these scriptures:

"13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you--that I came into the world to do the will of my Father because my Father sent me.
14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil--
15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works." (3 Nephi 27 13-15)

"19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.
20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.
21 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.
22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of god. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved." (3 Nephi 9:19-22)

The main reason I share this is because I know that as we search these basic truths out in the scriptures, our lives will become filled with peace, our studies of the scriptures will become more meaningful, and we will be blessed with spiritual blessings and gifts from our Heavenly Father. That promise was given to us by a member of the Missionary Department and he told us the truth. Something to think about. :)

I got the package today, but I haven't been able to really look inside it yet, but I can definitely smell all the treats. I will share them with everyone else, and especially the children in the ward. I'm sure they will love all the candy. Thanks Mom :)

I hope that everyone is continuing to do well and that the school year sails a smooth course for each of you! I hope you have a Happy Halloween and that you are able to enjoy a chili dinner without me. That is, provided you have a chili dinner, haha. I love you and I'll talk to you next week.

Love~

Austin

Writing...

2010-10-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Palatka, FL

Dear Family~

I am glad that things are going well back home and that you were able to meet Albert's older brother. From what I hear, he sounds like a really cool guy.... [tell him] the young men are doing awesome [in Lake Butler] for the most part, there are a few who could use a little motivation and inspiring, but it would seem that all of them, young men and young women, however, are getting the spark of missionary work lit up inside them, so you can tell him if he writes the ward letters of his success stories, that would surely motivate them! Also, I tried sending the boxing match over the Internet, but it didn't exactly work. Maybe I'll fiddle around with it some more another time so I can get it to you...and him.

As far as missionary work goes here in Palatka, we are still struggling to find people to teach, but our Bishopric seems like they are very willing to help us with the work. Throughout the week we visited many less-active, part-member, and inactive families. we had a small amount of success and there were certainly times when we knew that we were guided by the Spirit to visit various families. Hopefully as we begin to work with the Bishopric we'll be able to have more success and even find more families who are prepared and ready to be taught the gospel. Tracting doesn't seem to be doing the trick, but we'll keep on trying anyhow. You never know just when someone in your path happens to be that individual who is prepared.

I have to say, I didn't expect to see that Billy and Kendall had grown that much in the span of one year! Holy Cow!! They probably don't realize it, but I definitely do, especially after being gone this long. They look so much older!! Tell them I said they can't keep doing that, because if they do I might not be able to recognize them when I get home! They look great though :)

On another note, I didn't expect to get an email from Grandma Mary telling me that Brittney just had her first child! What?! That was out of nowhere (mom here: we did tell him she was expecting months ago, but it must not have registered!)! It was neat to see her picture. Hopefully Brittney is doing well, it seems like it's been forever since I've heard from her. Send her congratulations from me if you can, please. :)

This email seems to be going back and forth from topic to topic, but one thing that I wanted to write about this week is something that seems to be a recurring theme in my life. It has to do with writing. I have discovered that when it comes to speaking out loud, often times it is very hard for me to express how I feel, but whenever I write, I always seem to know what to say. At times, it would feel that the closest I am to the Spirit is when I write, rather than when I speak. Whether this is true or not, I'd imagine only the Lord knows. Perhaps that is how it is for all of us. I know that when we write, at least for myself, it requires a greater amount of focus to get on paper what you are unable to express vocally. It requires fine-tuning of the mind to the heart, and aligning it with the voice of the Spirit, and as it happens words simply seem to flow. One thing I have noticed is that as I try to apply that same focus to my studies or even as I go about my day I am able to a much greater degree to hear, or rather feel, what it is the Spirit is guiding me to do. But it truly requires a sincere and concentrated mental effort to be able to be aligned with the Holy Ghost. Our minds tend to wander a million different directions seemingly every moment and so it takes a massive effort to gain control of our minds. It is almost a constant battle to see who is going to win, our sporadic thoughts or the Spirit. Writing is a good way to train ourselves to listen and to recognize the voice of the Spirit! I think I never would have guessed it, but through all the times I have studied and written letters it is clearly apparent that the Holy Ghost guides our thoughts as we place them on paper. Of course, we can only have that guidance if we humbly ask for it in prayer and live our lives the way we are supposed to, but when we do, He freely guides us in the right direction. Revelation has a smooth, free-flowing motion about it. When it comes, it ties all loose ends back together. Things make sense as the Spirit speaks to us. Even today, Uncle Mike sent me an email of something that I absolutely needed to hear and I sent him back a reference of a scripture it reminded me of, and then he sent me back an email telling me how he studied that very scripture this morning! Heavenly Father knows us personally, and works through each of us to bless the lives of all His children. I am amazed at how He works all things for our benefit, despite our lack of knowledge and understanding about the things which He has in store for us.

I don't know, perhaps that was slightly redundant, but those are the thoughts which came to my mind as I was writing. :)

Out of everything I could share right now, I feel impressed only to do one thing. And that is to share what I know. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that He is watching over each and every one of us. He knows our thoughts, our hearts, our greatest joys and our saddest moments. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to this earth and live a perfect life and to atone for our sins and sufferings so that one day, we too could return to live with our Father once again. I know that life sometimes can be more difficult than we are capable of dealing with and that through Jesus Christ's Atonement, our heavy burdens can be lifted and we can find peace. God gave us this gospel, and these truths, so that our families can be blessed, and even eternally united. He wants all of His children to return and be with Him again. I know as we trust Him, and follow the example of His Son, that one day we will return to our Heavenly Father and that He will receive us with great joy. Like Nephi, we can say, "...I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." (1 Nephi 11:17). We may not have a perfect understanding of what lies ahead of us, and it may even be scary, but the one and only thing that matters is that God loves us and He will do all withing His power to bless us as we strive day by day to prepare ourselves to live with Him again.

I love each of you and hope you have a wonderful week...that this week will be a more peaceful and hopeful week than all the other tired and difficult ones. :)

Lake Butler, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

I can't believe school has already started again. Wow. Billy, a sophomore?! Kendall, a ninth grader?! Aaron, HOW ARE YOU IN COLLEGE ALREADY?!! How strange...I would agree it is also weird that I have almost been gone for a year now and even more odd that I will be 20 two Mondays from today.

...It is kind of neat to think of the unexpected things that happen on your mission. You truly never know what is going to happen. Experience has shown me, especially these past few months, that in life it is necessary to expect the unexpected. One of the very first things that was said to me when I showed up in Lake Butler was that as I allow the Spirit to be my guide, I am setting myself up to be on one wild roller coaster ride. You could be out doing the most random of things, and all of a sudden a window of opportunity will open up that you never knew existed, and all because you were listening to the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost. Not only does the Spirit lead us to where we need to be before we even realize where we are going, but He always helps us to be provided for as we travel on our journey. Whether these provisions may actually be physical, or mental, or even spiritual. He is always giving and sharing, especially when we accept the gifts he so lovingly attempts to give us. This scripture has centered itself in my mind these past couple days:

"And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."
1 Nephi 4:6

Yesterday, just before sacrament meeting I received a phone call from one of the counselors in the Elder's Quorum Presidency and he asked me to give the lesson in class since he was going to be absent. I accepted the assignment, but unfortunately, and fortunately, we had many people come to church with us, and so I didn't get a chance to read the lesson at all. In fact, the very first time I even looked at the lesson was right as I was supposed to give the lesson. It was on Developing Talents, found in the Gospel Principles book. Honestly, as unprepared as I was, I felt 100% confident that the lesson would work out. I think by the time the lesson was finished, it ended up being one of the best I had ever been asked to teach. The Spirit led every word. I was amazed at how well it went. One of the people in the class said maybe I should be teaching every week! I thought that was pretty cool! Nevertheless, I knew it wasn't anything that I did that made the lesson so great, rather it was the fact that the Spirit was guiding our meeting. However, I will say this, I don't know that I had ever been so confident in teaching a lesson in all my life, especially in one I had not studied for. It reminds me of what Grandpa MacKay told me once, seeing as how he gets asked to teach lessons at random quite often, and always manages to pull it off--he told me that every day you prepare for giving a lesson, whether or not you are planning on teaching, and that when the time comes for you to stand in the spotlight, the words just come. Grandpa also says it is always fun to see what words are going to come out of his mouth as he goes, and I think I finally understand what he means.

We went to the temple on Saturday and were able to do a session and not just baptisms and confirmations. I was grateful to be able to go and even more grateful for the Spirit that has been with me ever since. I have come to realize that if I want to make it in this world, I am going to need to spend time at the temple throughout the rest of my life. We never did go to the bookstore, however, but the temple itself was good enough.

Elder Brown and I are working well together and I'm sure over time we'll be able to work better together...he is an awesome companion. He is fun to work with and we make sure to have a good time as we go. I'm grateful to serve with him and I'm sure we'll be good friends even after the mission.

Lake Butler is definitely a small area, however, it is large enough that I still need to wear my regular attire each day and growing a beard is most likely out of the question. The closest missionaries live about twenty minutes away, in Starke.

President Barry is quite a bit different than President Newman, but he still manages to keep in contact with us although not in person quite as often. We write him each week and he writes us back a short message each week. As far as missionary work goes, when it comes to the new rules and whatever else, President Barry expects us to be reading from our "white handbook" of missionary guidelines each day. We are to hold ourselves accountable for living up to missionary standards. Preach My Gospel is what we are to study from every morning. As we do these two things, and more especially apply what we learn, we will successfully be able to be our own "mission president's" of the area. It all goes back to that scripture I quoted earlier, our goal is to become missionaries (as well as individuals) that are led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which we should do. We take action and the Spirit points the way. We go forward and the Spirit takes care of the rest. It is a lot of fun the more you allow yourself to be led by the Spirit--if everyone only understood this, all people would do it. I still have much to learn, but I think I am finally getting a taste of what it is actually like to be a missionary who is led by the Spirit.

I love each of you and hope you have a great week and a great new school year! Good luck with work, Dad! I'll talk to you next week and until then, I'll look forward to hearing from you :)

Love~

Austin

Men Are That They Might Have Joy

2010-08-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Lake Butler, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

I'm happy to see that Isaac is up and walking around (Mom interjecting: his cousin, Isaac had a nasty fall in Yosemite National Park and spent several days in the ICU). His neck and body brace seem like a whole lot of fun to wear, but at least he is out of the hospital and doing well. I saw the picture of him playing video games and grew slightly jealous, especially because I recognized it as a game that I definitely wanted to play before I left; however, it can wait and so can I. Tell him that I wish him the best and that I'm glad to know that he is okay.

Just yesterday I finished reading JESUS THE CHRIST. I'm definitely glad that I took the time and read it rather than give up a quarter of the way through like the last time I started. As I read through it, I came to understand a little more of what it means to believe in Christ. The only way I can compare it or give an adequate idea for my thoughts is this: sometimes in a very dire situation, such as one dealing with sports where one team is down with a few minutes remaining in the game, yet they are the team who so greatly desires to win and they have a player on that team who has always come through and helped the team to gain victory. You believe in this individual and even if there are only a few seconds left in the game, you trust that this person is going to make a difference and help your team to win. You never give up on this person or their team. You have the ultimate faith that no matter what happens, they are going to come out on top. As I pondered the many events in the Savior's life, I began to see Him as the one that always came through and as one who turned every seeming loss into an incredible victory. As all odds were set against Him, He overcame the opposition and won. Through Him, nothing is impossible.

Ena is doing well and she continues with her studies and still has great desires to join the Church. We need to continue to support her and I feel that if we do she will be able to be baptized next month.

Last thing, which I have found to be somewhat odd, especially considering my exhausting last few weeks, was something I found as I was studying Preach My Gospel the other day. Going off of the scripture in 2 Nephi 2:25 where it says that "Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy", Preach My Gospel said that God said our purpose while on earth is to have joy. We are to be joyous. Our purpose here isn't to be sad, or negative, or down-trodden all the time (although we do experience these things regardless), but our purpose is to be joyous. The only way to truly be joyous is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, through Christ, we can always have joy.

Mosiah 2:41

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

Mosiah 4:11-12

"And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and His goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel."

"And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of Him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true."

I love each of you and hope you have a wonderful week! Talk to you next week :)

Love~

Austin

"Freakin' Einstein"

2010-08-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Lake Butler, FL

Dear Home~

Missionary work in Lake Butler is going good. We have quite a few people who are progressing toward baptism and a possibility of several others. It seems as though we are being led to the right places at the right times. We have a baptismal date set for the 5th of September, for a woman by the name of Ena. She absolutely loves to read the scriptures and she really enjoyed coming to church yesterday. She has a daughter and two grandchildren who are some of the others that we think may be ready for baptism, if not now, then soon. We have another individual named Marla who also is very faithful in her studying and praying and she will be baptized next transfer. It would seem that the only real work that Elder Brown and I are doing is being present during our conversations with these individuals and families. I know that the conversion process is completely out of my power, and really, the only thing I can do is continue to study and continue to work hard and to keep myself worthy of the Holy Ghost so that Heavenly Father can work through me as His messenger. I had a neat realization yesterday as I was reading JESUS THE CHRIST, I am near the end of the book, and so the chapter I was reading dealt with the Last Supper and the garden of Gethsemane. In the Savior's last prayer with His disciples, He said something that stuck out to me:

"And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." (John 17:19)

Jesus kept Himself worthy so that through Him His disciples may be blessed. I thought it was a neat example and something to take time to really ponder. It goes to show you that when you do what is right and keep Heavenly Father's commandments, He will not only bless you, but those whom you love.

I am sad to hear of Isaac's fall, but I am confident that he will be okay. Grandpa MacKay sent me a picture and it took me a few seconds to figure out who it was, but I soon realized it was my younger cousin. I am amazed that he fell so far and I am even more amazed at the fact that he is courageously fighting through the pain. To share something that I thought was very unique and special, two days ago we gave a blessing to a nine year-old girl; she suffers from epilepsy and due to the seizures she also has memory loss. As the anointing and sealing were finished, the young girl was left in tears and as she sat in the chair a few moments all of her lost memories returned and she shared them with all of us in the room. The next day when we came over to teach her grandmother (Ena) she shared with us her experience and told us what happened as I placed the consecrated oil on her head. She told us that as the oil landed on her head she found herself walking in the forest. As she was walking, two individuals came up to her and began to speak with her about her life and asked her how she was doing, and so on...She didn't tell us any more than that, but Elder Brown showed her a picture of the First Vision and asked her if these two beings looked like the ones in the picture, she said yes. How special a thing to know that she spoke with Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son as we gave her a blessing. I know that with all the prayers that are being given on behalf of Isaac, that he will be able to make it through. Heavenly Father knows each of us and so does Jesus Christ; They won't leave Isaac comfortless, but They will be with him, just as they were this young girl.

About Elder Bagley, I thought pretty much the same thing about him (from Wendy: his mom sent me an email saying how much Elder Bagley enjoyed his time with Austin). In fact, the very first day of the transfer, I wrote how I felt he and I would get along and work well together in my journal. I know he'll be successful the rest of his mission. He is a good example of someone who cares.

Tell Aaron to read the scriptures if he wants to be a "freakin' Einstein". Here is why he will become smarter as he reads the scriptures:

"He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things. The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words light and truth. And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers." (Doctrine & Covenants 93: 28,36,39)

The more light and truth you fill yourself with, the smarter you'll get. As you are obedient and keep the commandments, you gain more intelligence. The less light and truth you fill yourself with, the less intelligence you'll have. Even worse, as you are disobedient, you lose intelligence. So there is the secret to life. :) I for one, know that there is no way I could know any of the things I know were it not for the continual study of scriptures. Prayer enhances study. The things I write are things the Spirit teaches me. If I can be taught such things, so can you! I dare you to try! One more thing:

"If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether or not it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17)

So if you give it a try, you will be able to know whether or not what I am telling you is true. What do you think? Will you do it? The best part is, if you don't want anyone to know, you don't have to tell them--you can choose to do it on your own, away from everyone else. I promise you'll see a difference in the way you think, speak, and act. You'll be raised to a higher plain of thought and you'll know more than you ever did before. I love you, Bro, and I know you will be okay. You are very intelligent as it is, you just haven't realized it yet. Try this experiment and I promise you will know.

I love you all and I pray for each of you daily. Tell Grandpa Harold that I hope he is doing well and that he is in my prayers as well. Tell Isaac I am rooting for him and that he also is in my prayers. Thanks for the package, Mom...Tell Dad that if he hasn't bought me any socks that he doesn't need to worry, I went to Lake City Mall and got some UA socks for buy 1 get the other half off (mind you I just so happened to be at the mall the only week they were putting UA socks on sale--pretty cool!).

I love you and I'll talk to you soon,

Austin

Giving and Receiving Gifts

2010-08-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Lake Butler, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

The first thing I wanted to say today is a scripture that reminded me of something Grandpa MacKay always says, "He answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25). You can read the context later, if you so wish. The main reason I decided to include that in my letter is because of the many experiences which I am having that are causing my eyes to be opened, helping me to see even more things than I have seen or known before. I'm unsure what it is that is different in my life, but I feel as if knowledge is absolutely being poured down upon my head, and I'm unsure as to whether I have room enough to contain it. Heavenly Father has blessed me so much and I am very happy to know the things that I know. Life can sometimes be too difficult to bear, and even at this time it seems even so; yet, despite my troubles the burden is lightened, and I do not feel the weight of it pressing down on my shoulders. Last night as I continued my study of Jesus The Christ, I learned of the importance of giving and receiving gifts. I spent well over an hour writing down my thoughts and went to bed after midnight. However, the things which the Spirit taught me will stay with me forever. I think one of the most interesting things to think about, and perhaps one of the most important and fundamental, is the concept of giving and receiving gifts. Oddly enough, as I was reading and pondering, I learned a lesson about myself that I hadn't ever understood before, and I came to a knowledge as to why I often act and behave the way I do--and perhaps many others. Naturally, we as humans need the acceptance of others to feel at peace in this world. The happiest and most joyous of our experiences lie not within personal achievement or amassment of wealth, but rather in the relationships we build one with another. There is no replacement for a positive and loving relationship, whether it be with family or friend. Money cannot buy such things, and it never can or will. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings families together and so much of it is centered on the idea of giving and receiving gifts. The Lord, speaking to those who would inherit Telestial Glory rather than the higher glories said this:

"And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received."

How interesting it is to know that Heavenly Father is so loving indeed that He gives all His children that which they want most. We are not too different. I know, from my own experiences, that we tend to surround ourselves with those whom we feel most appreciated. Generally speaking, that is why we love our families so much--they love us for who we are and choose not to worry about what our faults and defects are, but instead choose to love unreservedly. Our friends are those too who accept us for who we are, and the more they accept us, the more effort we are willing to put into the relationship. Giving good gifts is something each of us enjoy. We love to see the smiles it can bring and the positive difference it can make in another's life. How pleasing is it to know that the person to whom you selflessly gave a portion of yourself is grateful for that portion which you gave them? The joy it brings them causes you to want to give more! I know that I am most happy when I am surrounded by those who appreciate what I have to give them, because I know that they would gladly accept me for who I am, rather than what another's selfish view might expect me to be. I find it very difficult to be near those to whom nothing is good enough, that when you share something meaningful to you (as in your gift), rather than receive, they mock or disregard. It is one of the most hurtful of experiences to give a sincere and heartfelt gift to someone you love or consider a friend and then to have them deny your gift rather than graciously accept--the ingratitude that shows itself in those who deny the gifts of others can be like a sharp sword, one that pierces even to the very center of the soul. It is so deflating and damaging that it can be often hard to recover from such experiences. For me, at this point in my life, I can compare it to those whom I teach (cut me some slack with the use of the word "whom", I know I've clearly overused it, but I can't think of any other word), when the individual is receptive and truly wants to learn, I give them more to think about and to study; when they deny or refuse to accept that which they have been given, it is impossible to give them more. no matter how great the gift may be, you cannot force someone to accept that gift. It may be hard to deal with; however, that is how life works. To them that receive, more is given, to them that refuse, nothing is given, and eventually all is taken away. How much more light does this shed upon the Savior's gift to us; the Atonement? Through Christ and His Atonement we can gain eternal life! It is the greatest gift that God could ever give any of His children, yet how many refuse the gift?! Heavenly Father truly gives all His children that which they most desire, and if that thing is not eternal life, then unfortunately, that is what they will be given. As it can be easily discerned within the scripture above, God will satisfy the needs and desires of His children by giving unto them the things which make them the most happy--and if it be less, so be it, that is what will bring some the most joy. What makes Heavenly Father happy is to see His children happy and so He will give us those things which make us happy. Again, are we not so different?

As far as missionary work goes, I am staying in Lake Butler another transfer with Elder Brown. I am glad to stay because the people in the ward are very kind and they have helped me to grow so much. One of the women in the Relief Society told us yesterday (and she specifically told me to tell you she said this Mom & Dad) that our parents should be proud of us for the young men we are and for being worthy of the calling we have and the priesthood we hold. Her name is Susan Child and I think she is related to Don Child. I thought that was very nice of her to say. I think she said what she said because after church we were asked to take part in several priesthood blessings for some of the sick members of the ward. It was a very neat and touching experience.

I love you Mom and Dad and am grateful to have you as my parents. Thank you for sending me on a mission, knowing full well how hard it would be. I have grown so much in this first year and I would never know what I know had I stayed home. Tell the rest of the family thanks for all the emails and packages, thoughts and prayers, and most of all that I love them. Tell Grandpa MacKay that the 93rd section of the Doctrine & Covenants is becoming one of my favorites as well :)

My last favorite scripture, which I have recently come across, is this:

"Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea." (Jacob 4:6)

And that goes right along with this one:

"And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things: I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not; for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6)

Can you see the pattern in these two verses? Belief leads to faith, faith to a witness of God, a spiritual witness leads to hope, and hope to greater faith. The cycle continues onward and upward. Now consider these last verses:

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:3-5)

Love you all~

Austin

Life is Always Changing...

2010-07-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lake Butler, FL

Hello Family~

This past week has been pretty eventful, to say the least. I attended another funeral (I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but about a month ago, me and a couple other missionaries were pall bearers for someone who passed away in his early fifties) this week and it was [for] a young man whom we were trying to reactivate. His name is Randy and he became a member a little over a year ago and he had to overcome some major obstacles to be baptized. Late last year he was in a car accident and had to have metal plates screwed to his chest because, I believe, it caved in during the crash--and unfortunately, the doctors put him on some medication that he had previously struggled with and things went downhill from there. We have been trying to see him and teach him ever since I came to Lake Butler and were beginning to make progress and then it all ended. Last week, same day as today, he was walking home very early in the morning, in the middle of the road, and passed out due to some cause or another and was run over by a semi-truck and killed. He was 25 years old. It is strange to see how many deaths I've been surrounded by these past few months and it's sad to have to see. Two major differences between the funerals I went to, one family had the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the other didn't. I'm sure you could imagine which parents and or relatives and friends had more trouble with the deaths. We are blessed to know what we know.

Secondly, on Sunday, just before sacrament meeting I was informed that I was to be speaking in place of the individual who had not come to church and soon after I received a phone call from one of the counselors in the Elder's Quorum letting me know that me and Elder Brown were going to be teaching the class. One thing I have discovered is that it is much easier to speak and teach when you are put on the spot. Number one, it forces you to rely on the Spirit; and number two, it lets you know the importance of preparation for the unexpected. Thankfully, I was prepared. Ironically enough, I was asked to talk on "obtaining guidance from the Holy Ghost". Figures, right? I did notice, however, that as I was speaking, my voice had a strange accent to it--not much, but enough for me to notice--perhaps I was only being expressive (wow, I'll bet you never thought it was possible), or maybe the Deep South has corrupted my voice box. I guess we'll find out soon enough. A couple things I learned from the experience is that it isn't so much what you say that matters, rather what matters is that the Spirit is present and testifying of the words which you are speaking. Funny enough, I ran across a scripture last night that I thought summed up everything I needed to learn about teaching and speaking, and even life in general:

Doctrine & Covenants 63:57-58

"And again, verily I say unto you, those who desire in their hearts, in meekness, to warn sinners to repentance, let them be ordained unto this power. For this is a day of warning, and not a day of many words. For I, the Lord, am not to be mocked in the last days."

The simplicity of the verse is very powerful in its effect. Going along with what you told me, Mom, I'm positive you can figure out what I learned from this scripture. And if you think my imagination has gone wild on me, next week I'll tell you what I learned :) All you need to do is ask the right "questions" and you'll know!

One other scripture I read yesterday that I really liked, I found it just before I was to speak in sacrament:

Jeremiah 29:13

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

If we search with all our hearts, we'll find the Lord.

I'm nearly halfway done with James E. Talmage's Jesus the Christ and I have found that it isn't as hard to understand as I previously thought. One thing is certain, however, you have to pay very close attention to the words he uses otherwise you most definitely will not understand. As I have read it, I have come to learn that the Savior is the most brilliant, inspiring leader there ever has been. I think there is a reason the scriptures teach us that it is life eternal to come to know Heavenly Father and His Son. The more you learn about Them, the more you want to become like Them.

Anyhow, some of the mission-wide changes include an allowance for member dinners (provided we are creating a family missionary plan with those we visit), a reprieve of nightly phone calls from district leaders and the freedom to become our own mission president. Granted, there are stipulations to all these things, but in general, I like the changes. The Lord wants us to learn to rely more heavily upon Him rather than any other when it comes to missionary work, and so, we will no longer be having monthly zone conferences, but quarterly; no longer are we having monthly president's interviews, but quarterly; and transfer meetings have become non-existent. We are to study, pray, and study and pray some more, and learn to be taught and guided by the Spirit in all things that we do. It is a wonderful opportunity, but our personal responsibility has greatly increased as well as our accountability. It has come the time for us to be the ones who take care of our areas (entirely), rather than our leaders. They are there to help, but only on matters of great import and nothing more. I like the idea, simply because I never liked being told what to do anyways--but even more than that, this is a great opportunity to learn and grow and become who I'm meant to become. This applies to everyone else as well--we all have a great opportunity to do what is right and to grow, or to remain the same and possibly fall even further backward. Choices...so many choices!

Before I go, Eliza asked me to respond to her question as to whether or not I missed and everyone else also:

Yes, I do miss everyone, and I think about my family all of the time. That means you included! I love each of you very much and am always thinking of ways that I can be a better example to you, my younger cousins and siblings. That is one of the most important things I think I have learned while being on a mission, that love is the greatest gift that you can ever have. Keep on smiling and doing your very best and before you know it, I'll be home again :) I love you!

Tell everyone else that I love them as well and thank them for all that they do. Tell Uncle Dave & Aunt Michelle thanks for the package they sent and that I am planning on making the brownies and scones real soon! Tell Uncle Mike thanks for his email and for the neat pictures attached! Aaron, Billy, & Kendall, I love you and hope you have a good week and I'll talk to you soon :) Bye Mom, bye Dad, I love you too!

Love~

Austin

"If It Ain't Greasy or Fried, It Ain't Good!"

2010-07-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Lake Butler, FL

Dear Family & Friends~

This past week has been a long one and despite some of the good things which have happened and the many changes which our mission is now undergoing, I can't [help] but feel slightly overwhelmed and stressed out. Sometimes life just isn't fun. I guess it always depends on how you choose to view your situation, whether it be through an optimistic lens or something else; nevertheless, it has been rough. Being a Senior companion is slightly more difficult than I imagined--mainly because the burden of making decisions rests almost solely on myself. Not that I don't get some degree of help, but it is a more trying position than normal. I guess I cannot say that I haven't been a leader before, however, it is still different than being a captain on a sports team. The main difference being that one deals with sports and the other deals with bringing Heavenly Father's children back to Him. Slightly different type of pressure. When it comes to choosing what to do, I compare it to my experiences with painting and drawing. Since I absolutely have to have what I draw or paint come out perfectly, I'll often sit there and wait until I am mentally prepared enough to begin. Then it becomes a constant game of maintaining perfection throughout the work until it is completely finished, no matter how long it takes. I'm sure you understand quite well what I am saying, Mom. Remember the essays I wrote for my English AP test? The ones that never quite got finished because time ran out?! I have learned much about making priorities, yet as far as organization is concerned, I still find the majority of my problems. Why? Because I have issues with perfectionism...and it's killing me. I'm sure there is some hidden lesson as to which I will soon learn as to why trying to be perfect is not a good idea, but I have a feeling that it is going to need to slap me in the face before I can entirely understand. One day I'll get it. However, we are commanded to be perfect, so am I contradicting myself? Who knows...only time will tell and I'm sure it will speak up soon enough. Patience is key! :)

I have been asked a few questions concerning life in Florida and so I'll do my best to answer them right now! First of all, it is extremely hot, all the time. The humidity is like a constant wet blanket that covers the immensity of all the land and so there is no escaping (except when you go inside!). The people in Florida are, for the most part, a very religious people. I cannot tell you how many times I have been out walking around, or inside of a restaurant, or grocery store, and had someone pass me by with a "Hallelujah, Brother!" or "Praise Jesus!" exclamation. It is definitely different than Utah. However, I would venture to say that although there are many differences in culture, the people I have been surrounded by are generally kind and considerate. Everyone talks to everyone and nobody is shy. Also, you better be able to eat, because they will stuff you! I have been told several times by several individuals, "If it ain't greasy, it ain't good!". Good old Southern cookin'! We eat meat with just about everything and I'm quite positive pork is the staple food. I have never had so much pork in all my life--hopefully it isn't enough to give me gout when I'm older. I've heard from quite a few people it feels a lot like broken glass stabbing into the bottom of the feet and or hands, everything being ultra-sensitive. Insects populate nearly every square inch of the ground and apparently a spider can be found every four square feet in Florida. Banana spiders are a lovely asset to some unkempt homes and they can grow to fairly large sizes (Elder Brown and I saw one about the size of a Book of Mormon). Yesterday I saw one that was about the size of my palm and I got it to walk on a shovel and I tossed it into a pond and almost immediately a fish jumped out of the water and chomped it for lunch. The other day I watched someone blast a hole through a venomous rattlesnake with their .12 gauge shotgun. Florida is a wild, hot, humid, and very green place. Trees, plants, grass as far as the eye can see. There are streams and ponds everywhere. The clouds are the biggest, puffy things I have ever seen and the sunsets here are always beautiful. That is about as much as I got for today on the wonderful environment of Florida, but hopefully it will suffice for now.

It is wild to think that everyone is going on missions right now! Tell Robbie's family hello for me and that I hope they're doing well! Same with Chase's family! How cool is this? Everyone is going on missions!!!

...I figured I'd go ahead and share my favorite scripture (as of this moment) with the teacher's quorum as well: Alma 41:15 and it reads:

"For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all."

The reason I like this scripture is for many reason, but the main being that it lets us know that what we give from ourselves is what will be returned unto us in the end. I learned that Karma is actually scriptural, haha! What you want most in this life, if you put forth your best to get it, the Lord will make sure you have it. On the other hand, if your desires are not good, and what you want are things not aligned with God's commandments, then unfortunately those are things as to which you will receive. So it gives us further insight to the Lord's teaching on keeping our eye's single to His glory rather than anything else, since if it is Him we want most, then it is Him we will receive. I'm sure as you ponder it for a little while you'll come up with more thoughts about this fun scripture. Soak it in, you'll be surprised what you learn!

Doctrine & Covenants 88:62-68

62 And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, I leave these sayings with you to ponder in your hearts, with this commandment which I give unto you, that you shall call upon me while I am near--
63 Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
64 Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you;
65 And if ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation.
66 Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness--in the wilderness, because you cannot see him--my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.
67 And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
68 Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see Him; for He will unveil His face unto you, and it shall be in His own time, and in His own way, and according to His own will.

Another neat one :)

I love you all and I'll talk to you next week!

Love~

Austin

Finding the Right Words...

2010-07-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

Lake Butler, FL

My Dear Loved Ones~

These past few weeks have been very interesting as to the things I have been learning and the experiences I have been having. We have been doing well and have been finding many people to teach. It is always nice to have people to teach, especially ones that will listen and who take part in the lesson. I won't go into all the names of the people we're teaching, since that would take a little too much time; however, they are wonderful people and we have hope for much progress in these coming weeks. One thing I have definitely learned over this short period of time is the fulfilled promise of being given what to say in the very moment that you need to speak (D&C 100:5-8, I think...) As I have studied the scriptures more and more, it would almost seem that I have an endless supply of things to say and to relate to those whom I speak. I have discovered that listening is also key when it comes to gaining trust from our investigators and in teaching the gospel. When you listen intently, and with love, you are given what to say when it needs to be said, and the words you speak by the power of the Spirit gain the trust of the individual or family you teach. Over and over this experience repeats itself and it may well be one of my favorite experiences to have!

We have been provided many member dinners lately and at each dinner we share a spiritual thought. Each time it is our turn to speak, we are directed to some scripture or another that is specific for the family we are with and the message it contains is always what needs to be given. Also, when it comes to teaching class when the assigned teacher is absent, same thing happens. One experience I had earlier this week shocked me... Elder Brown and I were teaching an older woman, whose ex-daughter-in-law is a member of the Church. Over the course of the discussion we managed to get on the subject of "why bad things happen to good people". We spoke about the constant wars in the Middle-East and how although it is a terrible thing to behold, the Lord allows such things to happen. She asked us why and we taught her about the gift of Agency. After Elder Brown shared his thoughts, I decided I would expound a little further, and so I told a story, hopefully to illustrate agency in a clear and simple way and to answer the question of the subject we were speaking. I told her that if, at this very moment in time, I wanted to change the course of my mission and life and go and get drunk at some bar or another, I very well could. I told her that after I had become drunk, if I so wished, I could get in my car and choose to drive while under the influence of alcohol. I told her that after I got in my vehicle and took off down the road, I could choose to speed; however dangerous my driving was in my current condition. I told her that there could be someone patiently waiting at a stop light a few hundred yards down the road and that they could be the most innocent and kindest person she ever knew, this person may have never done wrong in all her life. That this individual could be the most happy, bright and shining light there is around; the type of person who never fails to make your day a better one, who always leaves you smiling when they're gone. Yet, I continued, because I chose to drink and drive, my reckless behavior caused me to crash into this wonderful person as they began to travel on the green light. And that as I hit this poor girl going 80 mph, I ended her life and certainly she didn't deserve such a thing...but because I chose to do what I did, she was lost, and it was my fault, and I am the one accountable for my actions. She was innocent, yet she was taken to the Lord before her time because of me. There was nothing she could have done to stop this thing from happening, nor was there anything anyone else could have done to prevent it. Nevertheless, the Lord allowed it to happen, and now she is with Him and she is in a better place and has found peace from this troubled world. As I was sharing this story with her, I noticed about 2/3's of the way through she began to cry and began to weep sorely... As the story ended, the former daughter-in-law said that my story hit a little close to home. As it turned out, this mother had lost her daughter to a drunk driver a few years earlier...and the story I shared brought back all of the memories. I couldn't believe it! There is no way I could have ever known such a thing, but the Lord knew she needed to hear this story to help heal her heart and bring her closer to Him. The story put things into proper perspective in her eyes and now she is starting the process of healing and repair. Strangely enough, midway through the illustration I felt that I knew this thing had happened in her life, yet I felt moved to continue anyhow. So I did. We'll see where it takes us with her, but I think over time she will be ready to start anew and begin her life again by starting over with a promise to the Lord, which is baptism. I'll let you know how it goes over the next few weeks.

I'm glad to hear that all the farewells went well and that Robbie and Chase were able to deliver good talks. Robbie had been asking me several weeks prior for some advice on what to say, so I gave him a few pointers, but mainly left it up to him to pray and study so that he would be given what to say when he spoke. I can't believe it's already time for them to enter the MTC, but I'm excited for them both and I know they will have a wonderful experience if they will stick with their decision to serve. Missionary work is HARD!!! But I don't think I would ever be where I am at today, even ten or twenty years down the road, had I not decided to go on a mission. it helps you to be the person you were always meant to be, and for that, I am very grateful. I know they will share the same experiences, but in their own unique ways and times. It's good to hear that some of my friends were asking to see how I'm doing. It's always fun to see how people have changed and grown over time. Hopefully they're all doing well and I'm sure things will work out for them so long as they do the things they're supposed to do.

Until next week, have a good week and I'll talk to you soon!

Love~

Austin

2010-06-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom, Dad, Aaron (Mr. I'm done with high school, sweet!), Billy, Kendall, and Everyone~

First and foremost, I can't believe you're finally done with school, Aaron! I hope you had a wonderful night celebrating the end of homework--for a time--and the start of a new life. Soon you'll be off to college, and probably have a whole year done before I get back...crazy guy. Congratulations on making it through...and alive!

Secondly, I got a hold of Natey Boy and let me tell you he has changed a lot! His words are much softer and sweeter...you can tell the sincerity of the things he writes. Here are some of his words:

"Yesterday we were tracting and we talked to this very nice family and they were of some other different faith and they asked us 'How do you have the courage to go out and share the gospel with others?'. And when they asked us that I thought about that and I have asked myself that since I got here. I mean nothing of what I have ever done in my life. Here you talk to at least 50 or more people from tracting each day that you never met before. It's definitely the spirit. When they asked me that question I told them first before you can walk on water you need to leave the boat and have faith that you can do it. Faith leads to action and that is what gives us the courage to do what we do and never fear what may happen cause fear is the opposite of faith. They told us they admire us for what we are doing."

I thought it was pretty neat. Nathan is a good man and I know he'll continue to do well. I find it interesting so many of us are getting sent to the East coast. I believe Chase's mission is bordering my northern boundary, but I'm not sure. Either way, I think it is cool that all of us are so close together. Spencer is left to take over California on his own, but that's okay, he can do it! But be sure to tell Chase congratulations on his call and that I'll be waiting for him here on the other side of his mission! I really can't believe Chase and Robbie are going to be there [the MTC] at the same time, however, how exciting is that?!

There have been some storms since last week, yet most involve torrential downpours rather than the explosion of thunder and lightning. Nevertheless, it certainly has been raining quite a bit lately. Many of the people we have met have said the weather is out of character, but then again, I wouldn't really know. I enjoy the rain. I don't necessarily love getting wet because of the rain, but I still enjoy watching it. Sometimes it's as if the rain appears out of nowhere as though the key to the floodgates in heaven were turned and all the water dropped down upon us. I don't know why, but (random fact, literally two seconds ago my companion and I were coerced into taking a picture for the library wearing rabbit ears for the summer children's program..I swear, sometimes I just have to wonder) the rain just likes to pour out here in Lake Butler.

On Saturday I was able to go and take part in the baptism of some of my very first investigators that I met in Jacksonville. I don't know if you remember the names Brian and Erica and their two year old daughter, Patience--but they finally got married and finally they were baptized. It was such a neat thing to be a part of. Little Patience was sick and so during a break I was able to give her a blessing. That was a special experience, especially considering a few months before I had given her a blessing because she had the flu (this was in Normandy, just in case you weren't sure). After the baptism, which Elder Pelo performed, I was able to confirm Erica a member of the church. Brian was going to do his during Sacrament meeting and Erica did hers early because she might not have been able to attend church the following day because of work. Anyhow, I was glad to see them and how much they have grown over the past five or so months I'd been gone (perhaps not that many, I can't remember). We took one of the young men with us and his name is Albert Brand. He has a brother serving in the SLC South Mission, he was in West Valley area last I heard and is currently the Assistant to the President. Perhaps you'll get the chance to meet him? They've got a good family and they've been kind enough to feed us just about every week.

The ward is still taking care of us in all we do. During fast and testimony meeting one of the members got up and spoke of how thankful she was to have us in the ward, and especially to have us over at her and her husband's home and the influence we were for her young children and the sweet spirit we brought with us every time we stopped by. I thought that was really nice of her. Me and Elder Bagley have spent a lot of time trying to build up the ward and although some missionaries think we ought to be spending all of our time knocking on doors, I feel that we have been doing well to visit and do our best to take care of the ward. Within the next few weeks we should be having a couple of baptisms, both of which come from part-member homes. I'll let you know more about them next Monday, but for now let's just say they are well on their way. It is amazing to see just how much the Spirit can touch a person's life and change it for the better--if only more people were willing to listen then everyone would be able to see changes in their own lives. Too bad it isn't always the case...

Aside from being fed almost every other day, I haven't been able to cook as often as I would like, but this morning I did fix German pancakes for the Waters' family (where we do our laundry). They turned out kind of interesting, though. They still tasted fine and everyone liked them, but it came out more like a cake than anything else. The texture was very spongy. If I had to guess, and I may be totally wrong, but I think it could be there was just too much flour. Mom, I'm sure you have some thoughts :) I also made mapeline syrup and they all liked that as well, so I left them with the leftover syrup. Today, hopefully I'll be able to make another skor bar cake. I have got all the ingredients, now I just need to do it.

...I have noticed unfortunately, that my back has been killing me lately. I'm not sure why, but more often than usual I'll move around and my back will seize up and send my whole body through a wonderful shock of pain. Who knows...but I hope it will go away! Don't worry too much about it though, it isn't enough to send me to the hospital or anything, it just hurts. I have found I relate to old people much better because we can each complain about how great our backs feel together. Perhaps I can start a fun discussion with somebody and then turn around and teach them a lesson, haha.

...Other than that, I'm good. If you want to start making things again, I welcome your cooking Mom. Whatever you feel inspired to make I'm sure will be perfect. But I miss the treats you make from home :) and if I get too carried away, I can always share them with the neighbors--I guarantee they'd love them!

Tell everyone hello for me and that I hope they're doing well. Tell Grandpa Harold I hope his treatments turn out well. Also, you can tell Grandpa MacKay that I saw a recent picture of myself and it reminded me of some of the younger pictures that had been taken of him! I guess he was right, I'm doomed to grow up and look like him!!! :) hahaha!

I Love You,

Austin

Thunder, Lightning and Baking Up a Storm

2010-06-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

5.31.10

Dear Home~

It's good to hear that things are still positive and looking up, aside from all the crazy things going on in our family and the world. Tell Grandpa Harold that I hope he is doing well and that I love him. I don't have much on my mind right at this moment, or maybe it's just I have a lot on my mind and can't figure out how to focus! Who knows?

Lake Butler is doing well and things are moving right along, albeit at the pace of a snail, nevertheless, they're moving. There are many struggling youth in the ward, particularly the young men, and so, Bishop Cabral, as well as many others in the ward, are going to have us spend as much time as we can with the young men. Hopefully we can help. I can say that it's been a while since I've been in a ward where I'm around a group of young men right about my age--it's almost like being on a team again, but not quite.

Last night we had a pretty hard storm come through the area and it was a lot of fun to watch. Me and Elder Bagley tried to do our best to film lightning as it came out of the sky and every once in a while we got lucky. Elder Bagley could feel the electricity in the air, but for whatever reason, I didn't notice it as much. Maybe my body isn't as sensitive to such things as his body. It was interesting to watch the thunder clouds as the wind blew them by--for a time I thought I saw the clouds start to rotate, as if by chance to produce a nice little funnel cloud, but no such luck. They just blew on past and then rained on us. It's always fun to listen to the powerful roar of the thunder and to watch bolts of lightning light up the entire sky. More than likely it's going to storm again tonight and perhaps even the next few days, but all is well, I enjoy the view.

I made the Lehi Roller Mills brownies and shared them with some of our neighbors and they seemed to love them! I baked them just about the perfect amount of time. I had an issue as I mixed it together, unfortunately I couldn't find the automatic mixer, so I eventually had to resort to a fork...and then even my hands. The batter was very thick and stubborn. I had difficulty using anything other than the fork, but it all worked out. I bet with mint frosting, the brownies would have been perfect. Next week I'm going to make breakfast for the family who lets us do laundry at their home. I'm going to make them some German pancakes. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, they like it. :) I'm also going to make a skor bar cake again soon and either give it to another family who cooks us dinner all the time, or just share it with the other missionaries in our district, or maybe I'll just share it with whoever wants some. Our landlord was very impressed that I "know" how to cook--I still don't feel that I'm there, but I'm doing my best to introduce home to Florida. Slowly but surely Utah flavor will take over the world ;) but then again, whether we want that to happen or not is entirely another question, haha!

Anyhow, big wheels keep on rolling and the mission continues. Tune in for next weeks' adventures Monday afternoon.

Love~

Austin

2010-04-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Orange Park, FL

Hello Everyone~

Things are going pretty well so far. We have a few people who actually want us to come back and teach them! Hopefully it all goes well. We have three people to be exact. Who knows where it'll lead, but I'm sure it will turn out well.

I'm glad to hear everything is going well back home. I'm sorry to hear that Kendall just enjoyed a nice little foot surgery (which I also believe I have one, possibly two ingrown toenails, one of them not being on my big toe). I can only imagine just how much fun that must have been for her. But, Kendall is tough, and I'm willing to bet that she didn't even cry.

Before I continue with anything: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY, Mr. 15 YEARS OLD!!!!! How on earth are you 15?! You're almost driving man!... Good job on making it this far, now keep on going!

As far as missionary boot camp is going, wow, I am gonna die! At least I can say we have decided to start at 5:30 in the morning instead of 4:30, but either way, Drill Sargent Jarvis is lighting our worlds on fire. We get up, and do the workout once in the morning, and once in the evening. The workout is this: 3 sets of 20 push-ups, 2 sets of 40 flat-leg (as in legs flat on the ground) sit-ups, 1 set of 25 squat thrusts, a 2.5 mile timed run, and then another round of push-ups, sit-ups, and squat thrusts. We're doing it six times a week. Brother Jarvis, our wonderful Drill Sargent, is also planning out a diet for us, and I believe that rice and beans and other sources of high carbohydrates will be all we eat for the next little while. No sugary sweets, period. He has, however, promised that by the time he is done with us, we will both be the biggest and strongest two Elders in the mission. We'll see. But, considering the workout is soon going to increase in difficulty, I don't doubt it.

My pants are ripped along the inside seem of the pants, and that is because my legs are growing in size due to the excessive amount of biking we undertake each day. I don't know if my legs have ever been this big before, but then again, they could have and I just didn't realize it. Anyhow, my quads are 24 inches around (I got a tape measure;)). My Bi's and calves are 16 inches (which I think is probably where they have been forever, I can't remember...). I believe my chest is 45 inches around. And I can't think of any other measurements. Dad, these are for you, so that you can track my progress. I took a "before" picture so that I can tell if this workout really works "after". You'll see pictures soon enough! Ahhh, I want to keep writing, but my Drill Sargent is on my tail, and I really need to get going.

Robbie emailed me--can you tell him I'll email him back next week, please! I love you and I'll write you a letter in the mail when I get back to the apartment!

Love,

Austin

ps. good job on the baseball Aaron and Billy. I'm glad to hear you're doing well!

pps. tell everyone hello for me!!

The Making of a Horror Film...

2010-04-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Mom, Dad, Aaron, Billy, Kendall, and Everyone!

I figure this week, instead of going into the details of lessons learned, I will share some missionary stories.

We'll start with last night, just because it is fresh on my mind. We made a movie! A fun movie! Elder Rose was the star and Elder Clark and I were the bad guys. Elder Ferrin was in charge of the cameras. Before I go into details with the movie, let's go back to where it all started. A long, long time ago, way back at the beginning of this transfer--I found out that my companion, Elder Clark, loves movies. In fact, movies are pretty much his favorite thing. Just as Nathan and I would always go out and get food and watch movies together, so would Elder Clark and his friends. (On a side note: Elder Mcfarland also did this--I really liked him). One of Elder Clark's favorite movies to watch was "Batman: The Dark Knight". The Joker was his favorite character, and he loved the Joker's role so much that at one point he went online and printed off the script. He spent days practicing in the mirror so that he too could be the Joker (I guess I left out one key factor: when Elder Clark goes home, he wants to go to school, get a job, and then spend his days doing all he can to become a professional actor). Over time he finally got the hang of it, and he began to put on shows for his buddies just before he left on his mission. Needless to say, Elder Clark knows the Joker. Now that we have established the fact that Elder Clark loves movies, loves to act, and loves Batman, I can tell you the story.

Elder Clark has the soundtrack for both Batman movies, and it just so happens that we have several sets of speakers in our apartment. It also just so happens that we have a creepy attic as well. To enter the attic, it requires that you pull down the latch so that the makeshift ladder attached to to it can extend downward so that it can be climbed. The attic is filled with junk, most of which is left by past missionaries. Blankets, ties, shirts, pants, hangers, towels, boxes, and whatever else you can imagine are scattered about the attic floor. Wooden support beams are the general make-up of walls, with insulation packed carefully between. The heater, and water softener (or whatever thing it is) are found in the corners. There are lights, but they are the same thing you would find on a Christmas tree. The floor is plywood, and nails occasionally stick out here and there. This attic was apparently once the study area for missionaries, which later became known as the "tie closet"--where missionaries would donate a tie or more so that it could be used as a tie exchange for other missionaries. Eventually, the mission president declared that it was an "apostate" tradition, and that it needed to be taken down. And so it was, and therein lies the reason junk is scattered about. The attic provided the perfect place to make a nice little horror film. :)

And so the movie begins...

Elder Rose enters the apartment on a dark and stormy night and finds the power to the house is off. He tries the light switch again, but it fails to work. As he searches for the flash light he hears a noise in the corner of the room. He finally grabs the flashlight and shines it round about the small area. the light crosses the path of some unseen being which somehow miraculously disappears. Elder Rose is now in a panic, but does his best to remain calm. He walks down the hall a few feet and makes a left turn to where the ceiling latch to the attic is found. The power generator is in the attic. As he pulls down the latch and the ladder makes itself known...music begins to play...As he ascends the steps and reaches the top, the music grows intense, and suddenly his light goes out. He reaches for the attic lights, which run on another power source, but they only seem to flicker on. As the music continues to grow, as if the sound of danger lurking somewhere in the dark seemingly comes closer, Elder Rose attempts to unlatch the power generator cover, but cannot. He hears another noise in the corner, and gazes across the room. to his ultimate fright there is a body in the corner of the room, with its eyes open, seemingly staring directly at him. He panics, and does his best to escape back down the ladder, as the once lifeless body begins to creep toward him. He turns around and the beast almost has him in his grasp, and the lights go out. He makes it down the ladder just in time. Breathing heavily, and thoroughly scared, he backs into the room behind him. He hears a voice forcibly whisper, "I've been watching you!", and the light flashes on his face only to have the other monster directly behind him, knife at throat. Lights out. Movie over.

I guess you could say that is something missionaries don't normally do, but it was fun. The music was the Batman CD, in case you didn't catch what I implied earlier. I was the monster in the attic and Elder Clark was the monster on the ground floor. Elder Rose, the unfortunate victim.

Anyways, now that I've been writing this story forever, and my time is just about up, here are some last few words. Missionary work is going forward and backward constantly. Just as we find someone, we lose someone else...I think you're right about sharing a smile with everyone you meet. It leaves an impression. I've been trying to be more cheerful and friendly with everyone we meet and it seems to help. It certainly has as far as the members and neighbors go--we've been fed almost every night this transfer. It has been amazing to me to see the support of these kind individuals and families. We are definitely provided for and taken care of here in Orange Park. I know things will continue to progress over time so long as we remain diligent, and more importantly diligent with a positive attitude!

...I love you and am excited to call home in a few weeks. We'll talk soon!

Love,

Austin

P.S. Elder Clark and I are starting "basic training" at 4 o'clock in the morning with ex-military Brother Jarvis tomorrow. It's time to get in shape. Or go psycho. I'll let you know how boot camp goes next week.

I also ripped a pair of pants, but more on that later...

From Door to Door to Door...

2010-04-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

4.12.10
Dear Everyone!

I'm glad to hear things are going well back home. I don't have much time to write at this moment, but more important than writing many words, I thought I would let each of you know that I love and appreciate you. I don't have much to say, other than that this past month and a half has been extremely difficult for me. Though I refuse to give in, I still find myself brought down to the dust. The mission has been a grueling process for me. I have learned so much in such a short time, yet I still feel like I'm at the beginning of it all. The days go by quickly, as well as the weeks, but progression seems to be at a standstill. Not necessarily for myself, but for the area. We have worked hard, but have found little success. It is difficult to go door to door to door and find little, if any, who are willing to listen. I am certain that this is meant to be a trial of faith, and yet, it is something different than I am used to. To me, a trial of faith was being forced to run extra sprints for being late to practice. It was being assigned extra homework because the teacher needed the class to catch up from being behind schedule. It was all sorts of things, but never from going door to door and having continual rejection all the day long for weeks on end. I guess, in a sense, all of these are trials of faith because each of these teach a different lesson. But this one is certainly one of the most difficult I've had. Surprisingly, as difficult as it may seem, it doesn't feel that hard to bear, yet at the same time it is extremely hard to bear. My life is filled with paradoxes. One day I'll understand, but not now. Luckily, there seems to be a positive movement in the Orange Park area, and it is possible that our teaching pool will soon begin to increase. Either way, we'll continue to pray and work hard and hope that we will eventually find those who are truly prepared. Whatever is supposed to happen will happen. Anyways, we'll talk again soon!

I love each of you, and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Austin