I promised a couple people that I'd write a weekly this time so this will cover the past 2 weeks. Sorry for any typos, my phone has been silly thanks to maas360 (agency remover app on phones). We do have transfer this Thursday, but our mission president procrastinates his part in deciding where missionaries will go, so we won't get any news till Wednesday evening.
Monday, August 2, 2021
August 02, 2021
Monday, July 12, 2021
July 12, 2021
Caught in the middle of a shootout
This week was another crazy one! We had zone conference, a walk through downtown, and exchanges with zone leaders.
Monday, July 5, 2021
July 05, 2021
Held at gunpoint
I dont think I mentioned, but I'm right downtown in Minneapolis where all the shootings and violence is happening, which is really exciting for me. It's good to be in a ward, but I still miss Kasson a lot. I know I'm here for a reason, but I feel I was taken out of Kasson too soon. I'm happy to be in a city though.
Monday, June 28, 2021
June 28, 2021
I got taken out of Kasson after only 6 weeks (1 transfer) and now I'm right in the middle of all the chaotic protests happening in Minneapolis. I'm in an area called Uptown. The ward here is awesome!! The members are really excited to work with us and very eager to do missionary work themselves. Hopefully we get some covid restrictions loosened so we can at least go in to members homes. We are being fed now and then which is very nice, it helps us feel cared about by members and want to help them.
Monday, June 7, 2021
June 07, 2021
What a good week!! I got some exciting news too
The best thing about being a missionary is getting to know and serving people.
As a missionary, i have learned that Jesus Christ will come to each of us in each of our circumstances. His grace does not require anything, because the full price of justice was met with each drop of blood from every pore of Jesus Christ. One thing i have learned is during his moments of unimaginable pain, He turned outward and focused on each of us. He has never left anyone behind and he never will. He walks with us down every dark road we wander down. There is nothing, other than the unpardonable sin, that will keep us from the reach of His Atoning sacrifice which he made out of love for each of us. His love is personal. His grace is priceless. His arms are waiting to embrace us when we turn to Him. He loves us all and has given us the ultimate example of love and charity, long suffering and forgiveness. He is everything, because without Him, we are absolutely nothing. Jesus Christ gave His life so that each of us can have ours.
My mission has helped me to repent, which enabled me to turn and face Him and to know Him. Because i know Jesus Christ, i know of the power in His Atonement, and i am forever indebted to Him.
Monday, May 31, 2021
May 31, 2021
Nothing really happened this week. We had exchanges with our zone leaders and that was good. I gave a talk about reverence on Sunday. This week was tough, and I'll be honest, right now I'm just reminding myself that I have about 7 months left and then I'm done. There's a little light at the end of the tunnel. This Thursday I get my 2nd vaccination. We are all really hoping that'll lift restrictions. I'm excited for this transfer to end in 24 days.
Monday, May 24, 2021
May 24, 2021
This past week was a good one!
Wednesday we had a zone conference with Elder Wong and he's just all over the place. It was good, I didn't get a whole lot from it because it was basically to tell us that we suck at baptizing people. I didnt respond too well to his way of "encouraging" us to get more numbers. Thursday was a day of nothing. Friday, my last companion and I got permission to go to our last area for the funeral of the young woman we were teaching and that was a special experience. Her spirit was there and filled the room with love. I'm really thankful to have been able to attend. Saturday we spent the whole day doing service. We helped move a family into our branch and they're a super cool family. 2 of their kids are actually starting the mtc within the next few months. We did some yard work for another family and that was super fun, I loved being with that family. No pictures from this weekMonday, May 17, 2021
May 17, 2021
Boy oh boy... what a week.
we shared a single washer and dryer with a whole apartment building and I found a little surprise in my last load of whites... I'll just simply say ladies underwear haha. I won't put a picture of it, but something for me to laugh about hahahaMonday, May 10, 2021
May 10, 2021
Hello everyone! It has been a few months since my last "weekly" email.
Monday, March 15, 2021
March 15, 2021
I realized just this week that I'm actually back on my mission... buuuuut it's been good. Last Monday I got to play with some cows, I let a few suck my fingers and that's an experience.
Monday, March 8, 2021
March 08, 2021
Not a lot to say this week, just trying to stay happy and positive.
Yesterday my companion and I taught Bill a few more principles before church and then he got up to bare his testimony and he announced to everyone that he's getting baptized this Saturday. Then he went on to testify of priesthood power and shared the experience he had when my comp and I gave him a blessing of healing. We saw him stand up and we were on the edge of our seats just trying to contain our excitement because we both just wanted to get up and cheer him on and stuff haha.
Other than him, we were canceled on all week which makes things super difficult so this week was tough. I've just been telling myself that there's always something good in every day. And I also remind myself that this is still 10× better than the time I had with my first companion in Italy, and if I could get through 2 transfers with that guy, I can do anything.
Anyway, thats all I got. I hope y'all had and have a good week
Monday, March 1, 2021
March 1, 2021
This week was a ride
i heard there's a statistic for my mission that the average weight gain for elders is like 40lbs, which is not good.Monday, February 22, 2021
February 22, 2021
Ehi bulla, tu sai chi sei ;) magari puoi tradurre per la famiglia!! Vi voglio un mondo di bene. Siete sempre nell mio cuore. Magari possiamo parlare insieme! Mi piacerebbe molto!!
This mission is super different from Italy. There are sooooooooooo many more rules and if you know me, I don't like rules, but something I think is super cool is i was asking to develop obedience and here I am so I've got some character development ahead of me. Every companionship has a car. It's also so strange to be teaching the gospel in English. But actually having the spirit while teaching makes it easy to teach.
My companion is Elder Downey from Rexburg. He's been out for 6 months and was expecting a brand new missionary so he was surprised to get a missionary thats been out 13 months. We are definitely learning a lot from each other and in the most positive way possible. He's like 6'8" so it's nice to feel small. He's an awesome teacher and we've been teaching really well together already and it's only been a couple days, so I know the spirit is with our companionship.
Idk where the heck I am other than the name of the town. I'm in Winona, MN and it's an interesting town. The branch here is super nice. We got a meal my first night and it was super strange as a missionary bc in Italy id get a meal maybe 2 times a week?? Maybe. Sunday we got 4 meals which was insane to me. Like I'd never have dreamed of that in Italy haha. My comp and I got asked to give talks Saturday night and we both gave really good talks. Most of the members are really friendly and open to the missionaries. We have a guy with a set baptism date which is insane. And then we have a few other people that reached out to us which is incredible! Facebook is lowkey a drag, but it's all we got so we're making the best of it. The hardest part about being here is prolly gonna be learning to love the sister missionaries here. Thats about it for the few days I've been here.
My comp asked me why I chose to come back to my mission. I'll be honest, I haven't really felt the spirit in a long time and I had some experiences while at home that helped me eventually feel the constant companionship of the spirit, which good gretchen it feels INCREDIBLE. Because of that, I was able to actually feel the love of God which is so so real and extremely personal for all of us. That's one of many joys of this life. At least for me. Having that feeling makes me want to be close to him, but to also share that. I decided to come back to my mission to 1) become a man and a man true to my words and to my God and 2) help at least 1 person to find the path and feel the consuming light in their heart that Christ offers all of us. I know Christ has a love for each of us, and I mean it's a more personal love than we will ever be able to comprehend. I know God and Christ are both waiting for us to walk with them. When we make it a priority to have the spirit, God and Christ become our teammates and there is nothing more powerful and the light of Christ, feeling the love of God, and feeling the Spirit will push us to achieve salvation and develop ourselves into the divine sons and daughters that we all are.
I love you all and id love to hear from you!! I could always use prayers to stay obedient and loving















