Josh's Journey

Tuesday was Christmas Eve. In the morning we went to a senior center and visited some people there. Later, in the afternoon, we went back and played blackjack for a while (not for money of course). Then we visited W and her mom for a while. Later, we went a member's house and wrapped our presents and ding dong ditched people with them which was a blast before coming back and stuffing ourselves with homemade taquitos which were delicious. Later we played pictionary, throw the ring on the reindeer, and hot potato where the consequence for losing was getting an accessory to wear. I got second in that. Christmas!! We opened presents! Thanks to everyone who sent me a card or anything else! After we played monopoly with another set of elders before going to a members (the same one as yesterday) and having some amazing homemade tamales. Then we went to another members and played games with them till we had a district activity where we played "Bang" for a couple hours. ...

Tuesday morning we went to a senior center and helped the people there do some exercises. Then we had a meeting with the senior couple over lunch. We taught them the restoration so they can have an idea of how to do it. After that, we went and shared the Christmas message with people. Then we had a lesson with D where we talked about commandments. After, we went and played volleyball. Wednesday we went to a different senior center and made puzzles and played go fish. We shared the Christmas message with the B family and contacted a bunch of people. My nose started bleeding right before we had a meeting with one of our bishops. In the evening we were freezing and needed to go to the bathroom so we went to a grocery store and went to the bathroom before buying ice cream. Thursday we ran into the 2 cutest dogs I've ever seen and it was funny because they were behind a fence that was so short that when they stood up on their hind legs, they were a foot over it but they were...

Tuesday morning we went to the senior center again and set up more Christmas decorations. There was glitter everywhere which was awful (glitter is of the devil). Afterwards, a senior couple picked us up and we had a correlation meeting with them over lunch. I realized that the guy that told the cheese-it story last week looks a lot like Woody from Psych. They look very similar and they are both hilarious. We then had a lesson with D about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After that, we went and played volleyball which was a blast. On Wednesday we went to the mission office and rehearsed our musical presentation for zone conference. That took up most of the day. That evening we had another Christmas Party and I sat on Santa's lap. Zone Conference! We were at the mission office for zone conference from 8am to 4pm. It was intense. Elder Funk of the 70 and his wife were there. President Call said something that stuck out to me. He said that the consequence of serving God is rece...

On Tuesday we did service for a guy who had a stroke recently. We put a bunch of old stuff in their truck so they can take it to the DI. They had a machete that they said I could have but I forgot it when we left :(. Later we had a lesson with F, M, I, and L about the plan of salvation. After we had a lesson with R about the birth of Jesus. After that we went to the G's and had some cider and black forest cake. Wednesday was transfers. We went to the mission office so Elder W could pick up his new greenie. I got picked up by my new companion Elder S and we went to my new area in Roy. We went to our apartment and I unpacked a little before we went to set up for a baptism for a kid named B. It went smoothly. After we went to a rehearsal for a ward Christmas party. After we went to dinner and had an amazing quiche with garlic zucchini.  Thursday we did lots of service. We helped a guys start to build a shelf then later we went to a senior center and set up Christmas decora...

Tuesday we had District Council and we had a discussion about how to study effectively. After that, we went to the bike shop to pick up my bike but it wasn't fixed even though they told me it would be done on monday :(. We then had one of the most Utah Missionary Problem moments imaginable. We went to Panda Express because we had way too much food money and we got our food and someone came and paid for us without telling us. It was like you've go to be kidding me. Later we had a discussion after dinner with a family that started off talking about the Restoration and ended up talking about how we can do everything God commands. One of the new changes in the handbook is that we have longer messages after dinner. The longer discussions definitely gives the Spirit a chance to give people the messages they need. We had a lesson with R where we read about the story of Alma the Younger's conversion. Wednesday morning my nose was bleeding a ton which was reminiscent of my c...

Tuesday morning we had district council and afterwards we gave Elder C a blessing. He has Bronchitis and aint nobody got time for that. After lunch we went and helped set up the Gs Christmas lights. we also got a Christmas tree from a member who got a new one and didn't want theirs anymore. Wednesday we went to the food pantry and sorted food for a while. Then we ate and watched more the Face to Face with Elder Gong. We had the Stake Youth Activity that we have been working on for a while. We talked about things that we wish we knew before our missions and then answered a bunch of their questions. That was a lot of fun and some people said they really appreciated the things we said. Elder C's Bronchitis turned into Pneumonia and so Elder G went with me to a lesson with a girl named Gracie while Elder W stayed with Elder C. We talked about who Jesus Christ is and about why he is so important to all of us. After dinner we talked about the Restoration with the family ...

Tuesday morning we had a meeting with our district. President McConkie came and talked about the importance of sharing the Restoration which was awesome. After, we did service in this lady's backyard. We later had a lesson with L and some of his recent convert relatives where we talked about the restoration and the miracle that was the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. After that, there was a relief society event going on and we dropped in for a little bit. While we were getting hot chocolate, a lady came up to us and she told us that she worked in the missionary department and we had a good conversation with her about the recent changes and missionary work in Utah. Wednesday I failed to write much in my journal so this is what I have. In the morning we went to the food bank. Another pair of Elders showed up that weren't supposed to be there so they got booted out by the boss there which was pretty funny. After that they had some steak that they couldn't give out...