The best Christmas of my life!

I hope you all had a great Christmas week! I know I sure did! Everything was perfect! Christmas as a missionary is just the best. 

Monday- We had a good P day. Oh man, we played dodge ball and I just got wailed on. Ha, I guess everyone did though. That game is a little bit more painful when you're playing with a bunch of 20 year old guys who are forced to be polite to proper all week while people slam the door in their face. Blasting someone in the face with a dodge ball just makes you feel better. As long as you're not the one getting blasted anyway. For the rest of our evening we made our rounds and shared Christmas messages to a list of people that the Bishop gave us. 

Tuesday- Santa came early this year and gave me an extra special present. I woke up sick as a dog today. It had been going around the District and I thought I was in the clear, but I guess it caught up to me. I knew it was a bad idea to finish Elder Wood's French Dip sandwich. So yeah I felt pretty cruddy today. It probably didn't help that we did a whole bunch of service today either. We finished the Charlilton’s floor, moved a giant sectional couch into a member’s basement and then helped the Halls get ready for their Christmas party that they invited us to. But hey, we got it all taken care of! We had a lesson with an investigator named Dave but honestly I was so far gone by then that I could tell you how it went. 

Wednesday- We had a great appointment with Denitra in the morning. I still felt super sick so that sucked, but besides for that it was a good day. Denitra has been really sick lately too apparently. She's doing well though. Starting in the new year we move to 9 o'clock church, and she'll be able to start coming to church with her work schedule. 

Thursday- Merry Christmas Eve! I felt a little bit better today. Still not good, but better. A member family took us out to an all you can eat pizza place for lunch. It was there big extended family so there were a million little kids running all over the place like a family reunion should be.  And thus begins the two day feast. For dinner we joined another family reunion feast. I dare say there was an even bigger collection of screaming kids at this one. It was fun though! Oh man, the food was so good too! It was great to meet all the different families too! A good half of the people at the get togethers that we went to on Christmas and Christmas Eve weren't members, so don't worry, we weren't just eating. We were doing missionary work too! After dinner we made our rounds and dropped off little Christmas cards and what not to the members of the ward. It was fun!

Friday- Yay! Christmas! What a great day! I dare say that this was the best Christmas of my life! That’s  pretty big because I've had some pretty awesome Christmases! Elder Robinson and I did our morning studies and opened our packages and then took off to The Horrocks's house for Breakfast and skyping. Oh and thank you so so much to everyone who sent me cards and packages and all sorts of great stuff. You're all the best! I felt so loved and cared for! Anyway, breakfast was awesome. Elder Robinson Helped make Crepes! There was bacon and eggnog and hash browns and eggs and all sorts of breakfast glory! Oh man, I love breakfast. Skyping was awesome too! I even got to see my brother Brycen! He's in Scotland on his mission right now so we all got to three-way skype together! It’s so nuts to see him as a missionary! He's just like me! It’s weird to see someone else in an Elder Cluster name tag. I know he's giving it a good name though! My first Christmas was definitely a lot harder than my second so I feel for him. Seeing my family was great! Knowing that I'm going to see them in a couple weeks made saying goodbye pretty easy. After Skyping we went to the Halls house for a giant Christmas lunch! We had the ham and turkey and potatoes and the whole nine yards. It’s crazy how different each Christmas party was. Really everyone was doing the same thing, just getting together with a whole lot of people and a whole lot of food but each family is just so different. It was great though. We got to join in on their white elephant! I got a digital picture frame to display my mission pictures and Elder Robinson got a Holiday scratcher! He won Twenty Bucks! (This party had far fewer members than the other, which almost made it that much more fun. I know the word of wisdom frowns upon it, but a little alcohol at a family reunion sure spices thing up! Finally we made it to dinner number one. The Stocks, an older couple in the ward, invited over a non member couple and a super awesome recent convert. We chose not to eat too much this time around but it was great to meet their friends! We talked a lot about the different church history sites around the area, and some of how the church started. Next we went to dinner number two. This one might have been my favorite of the day. Not because of the food but the night was just so.. Christmasy! We all talked about different mission stories and then sang Christmas songs and shared a message about receiving the gift of Christ and then turning around and finding a gift within yourself to give back to God. It was great! Then last but not least we went to dinner number three at Denitra's. Oh man, that one might have been the best food of the day. She barbecued up a whole bunch of ribs and all sorts of great meat and we had baked beans and green beans and Mmmm! At first I told her I was way too full to eat anymore which was a very true statement but I went forward with faith and tried to eat just one more time and I'm sure glad I did. Food aside we got to meet her oldest son. Apparently he had met with missionaries quite a bit in the past and said he would be interested in meeting with them again so we passed the referral back on down to Raytown. Wow, that is a long explanation of my day. I hope you all made it through. That about sums it up though. After that we went home and slipped into a food coma. 

Saturday- Phew, this is a long email! I'll wrap it up soon, I promise!  We had one more appointment with Denitra and it went fantastic! It’s been hard to meet with her before this week, but we talked about setting up a regular twice a week meeting schedule. We taught about tithing and fast offerings today and guess what! She's on date to be baptized! Wooo! January 16th! It'll be my last Saturday of the mission! What a perfect way to wrap things up!

Sunday- We did Church stuff and stuff. We taught the gospel principles class on exaltation. By now I'm mostly feeling better. It all moved into my sinuses so I'm ridiculously congested but besides that I'm feeling well. 

Welp, Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a happy new years eve! This is my very last 2015 entry. Talk to you all next year! 

Love, Elder Cluster 

Sent from Zion 

Merry Christmas Week/

Hey Everyone! I hope you're all having a very Merry Christmas season! Four more days! It’s been a good week. Thanks for tuning in! 

Our cute little Christmas tree

Monday- After P day we had a good appointment with a former investigator named Mary. She is a great lady and has met with missionaries a lot in the past. She's become good friends with a member in the ward so we brought him with us. Mary wanted to talk about the "Geological Proof" of the Book of Mormon. Our team up knew a couple cool interesting facts but I guess what it came down to in the end is the fact the proof can't build faith. Cool stuff to talk about but not what it’s going to take. She's doesn't have that real intent to know right now but maybe someday it will come.

Tuesday- We put more work into the Charelton’s house.... Yikes!  We did finish the living room though. That’s looking really good. 

We are learning all kinds of home improvement skills.

Wednesday- District meet went well! Since they took the sisters out of our district its kinda small now. We did some great tracting today too! We found this Huge indoor apartment complex that’s perfect for winter Tracting! If they don’t answer you can just waddle a few steps over and you're to the next door! No freezing rain, no sketchy pitch black nights (which comes by like six o’clock now) just lots of people to talk to! We had some appointments fall through in the evening but the Elder Quorum were getting together to go caroling and take cookies to some members in the ward so we joined in. It was fun! I love Christmas!

Thursday- We went on team ups again with Jeremy Guthrie again! What a stud! I love that guy. We visited a part member family that he home teaches. Oh I forgot to mention that we went to his house on Pday and his wife gave us and another set of missionaries haircuts. We look great, but it gets even better than that! So I guess people just give brother Guthrie free clothes all the time with like business logos on it and what not, so he can advertise for them. He was going to take a big box of it to a thrift store but he ended up hooking us up instead. There’s a lot of good stuff in there and it’s all brand new! 

Thank you Brother Guthrie

Friday- The ward Christmas party was great! The food was awesome, all the little skits and performances and what not were fun. It was just a great experience all around! Jesse made it. He has cerebral palsy so we had to help him eat. Taking care of him has been such a great experience. It makes you appreciate all the blessing that we have in our life that we take for granted. 

Saturday- We taught a new investigator named Ashley! It went really well! People are just more open to listening this time of year. It’s too bad it’s almost over!

Sunday- I'm not going to lie, church was kind of a disappointment this week. We had five people tell us that they were going to be at church this week and we didn't even get one! I mean come on! I guess that’s how missionary work goes though. At least dinner was good though. Ha, I think food is always my fall back positive comment when everything falls through. But regardless, we had Kansas City Barbecue Ribs! It was Fantastic! 

Well, that’s all I have for this week! Have a very Merry Christmas! I love you all!

A beautiful week in Zion.

Hey Everyone! I hope you all had as good of week as I did! It's been a warm beautiful week in Zion!

Monday- P day was fun. We went back down to the shopping outlet Legends again! That free southern food at the member’s restaurant is just the best stuff you could ever eat! That and we needed to go repent of some impulse shopping and make some returns. We also met a really cool guy named Taylor. He was house-sitting for a member that we went to visit, so we ended up talking to him instead. He made a lot of friends who are returned missionaries through being a pest control salesmen. He doesn't live in the ward so we won’t be able to teach him, but hopefully we'll be able to get some of his info from the members to send missionaries his way. If nothing else it was cool to learn about being a pest control salesman. Sounds like there’s good money in that!

Tuesday- So remember a week or so ago when I talked about ripping out a
members carpet so they could get it replaced? They decided that they want to fill it in with vinyl tiling and that they wanted us to do it so... We did.. Or we tried at least. It was a much bigger project than we anticipated and elder Robinson and I aren't exactly professionals. We'll let you know how it turns out when we finish. Later that night we went to the Horrocks house to make Gingerbread houses! It turns out I am a natural architect. It was a lot of fun!

Wednesday- We got transfer calls!!! Elder Robinson and I are staying in
Parkville together for another six weeks! Looks like this is where I'll be dying! Since it was the last day before the transfer the zone all got together in Leavenworth to have lunch and say goodbyes! It was fun! Goodbyes always suck though. Elder Stallings, my zone leader and mtc buddy got transferred into independence. That’s alright though; I'll see him soon though. Besides for that we've mostly just been working hard. We've gotten so much tracting in this week! I love it. I know they say it’s not the smartest way to work but I love just getting out there and working.

Thursday- So there was a set of sisters serving up in Leavenworth who just got taken out of the area and the car got left behind. Guess who got moved back up to full time car! We got a ride up to Leavenworth and drove back down with a car all of our own! Man, having a car is just so helpful! No more long sweaty bike rides for me!

Friday- We worked a little bit more on the Chareltons floor again. Besides for that, a lot of things fell through and we did a lot more tracting. Tracting is good though. We found a new potential investigator named Andrea.

Saturday- We did missionary work! It’s been kind of a slower harder week to be honest. But that’s okay because all of our hard work paid off on Sunday

Sunday! - It rained a whole lot today. It was also Stake conference! It was good to see some of the members that I met when I was serving up in this Stake way back when. So a return appointment with Andrea and her family was tonight. It went so well! I don’t know if I have ever met anyone so prepared in my whole mission! We have another return appointment Wednesday, then they are coming to the ward Christmas party on Friday, and then to Church on Sunday! It’s going to be great! We are so blessed to be trusted with such a prepared family.

Well thanks for tuning in! Hope you have a great week! Talk to you next week!


~Love Elder Cluster

Departing Testimony Time?

Hey everyone! It sounds like people like the day by day more than the miracle thing, so I guess I'll be going back to just talking about everyday for the next six weeks. Here we go!

Monday- We had a great p day as usual. We went down to Legends! It’s this big open air mall down in Kansas City. It's only like a fifteen minute drive for us. It was a lot of fun. We went and ate for free at this restaurant down there that a member owns. It’s called "The Jazz." Its super good southern food. I had a shrimp "Poboy." It was like a sandwich filled with the best shrimp I ever did taste!

Tuesday- Today was the All mission Christmas conference! It was fantastic! So many great missionaries! It’s like the ultimate missionary get-together! Oh man.. It was the weirdest thing ever. So they always have the missionaries who will be going home soon get up and bare their "departing testimony." I was convinced that I would be baring mine the next time we get together or something but then they called my name! You stand up there and see the past two years flash before your eyes. It was good. It Kinda trunks you out though. The whole conference was really bitter sweet. It was so great to see all of the missionaries I've grown to love, but it was so sad to think that this was the last time I'll see a lot of them. All the same it got me super pumped for Christmas. Christmas is the best as a missionary!

Wednesday- We went and Helped Brother Horrocks finish cutting down the trees that we started helping him with last week. Did I mention that last week? I think I did. Either way we cut down some big trees and moved a whole lot of logs. We also had a great lesson with an investigator named Dave. We taught the plan of salvation. The Plan of Salvation is always the best. We just have so many answers through the restored gospel that other religions don't, and the Plan of Salvation shows that so well.

Thursday- It was a pretty standard day of procaliting. We did a good Chunk of tracting, and found a couple new potential investigators. We helped the Charlton’s move a drier into the basement. They have a business selling Kilts and Scottish stuff and what not; so to say thank you they totally hooked us up with Free Kilts! Now I just need to get my bagpipes back and I'll be ready to fly out and pick Brycen up from Scotland! We had a nice lesson with our investigator Jessie. He's doing great as always and still coming to church every week.

Friday- Hmmm... looking back on the week we had a lot fall through. It was a good week all the same though. We did another good chunk of tracting in the afternoon and had a great evening on team ups with Brother Rainey.

Saturday- We Finally met up with Denitra again. I'm not going to lie, for a little while I was thinking we were losing her, but that’s not it at all. It turns out the temp service has been working her crazy hours. She's been working ten to twelve hours a day seven days a week! It’s mostly just been a crazy busy time in her life right now, but she's doing her best. Things are going to slow down for her after Christmas, and then she'll be able to start coming to church more regularly and what not. Elder Robinson and I made ourselves the best steaks ever created by missionaries! It was beautiful! That meat was the best investment I ever did make.

Sunday- Church was fantastic. Best fast and testimony meeting that I've been to in a long time! Between the commute and the fact that church doesn’t start until one o'clock for our ward I feel like church takes up just about our whole day. We met a new really cool potential later that night too! He worked summer sales with a bunch of return missionaries, and even visited one in Utah for a couple days. He made those summer sales sound like a pretty good deal too. I mean I have eight months of nothing before I start school back up and making ten to thirty grand sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

Anyway, it’s been a really good week. Lots of little testimony builders and lots of little miracles that I couldn't mention but just know that your prayers help! Hope you all have a great week, and I'll hear from ya next p day! Love ya all!

Love Elder Cluster

Thanksgiving in Parkville

Hey everybody! Hope you had a great week and a happy Thanksgiving! I was getting kinda bored with writing my big emails in the "Miracle" format, so I'll just do the day by day this week. Hope ya enjoy it!!

Monday- P day is always good. We spent most of it with Elder Walker and Elder Call, and I completely ran out of money like a week ago so that’s been interesting. Turns out that if you spend forty bucks on steak you run out of money faster than you would think. That’s okay though, totally worth it. Anyway, P-day with Elder Walker was great, just like the good old days!

Tuesday- We had Interviews with President Vest! Man, I just love interviews. They just get you pumped to go baptize the world. That and My dear district leader, Elder Walker, let me give a small training in the district meeting portion of interviews which was fun. It’s been a little while since the last time I gave one of those. We had a super solid night of work after dinner too. We met with a new investigator named Danny. His Grandpa is a less active member of the church and Danny had a couple questions about what we believe. It went really well. I'm looking forward to meeting with him a little bit more.

Wednesday- Today was a wonderful day of service! First we helped a member cut down a bunch of huge trees. Missionaries aren't allowed to know how to use a chainsaw, so we mostly just hauled out a lot of logs. It was fun though,and good exercise. It’s nice to get out of a shirt and tie now and again and break a sweat. We were on team-ups later that night with a new member who just moved into the ward. We had some extra time after our appointments so we went back to his place and helped him move some furniture from his garage into his house. It was a lot of work! I think it was a spiritual prompting to sleep through exercises that morning.

Thursday- Happy Thanksgiving!!! Thanksgiving has always been one of my most favorite days of the year! It’s just fantastic! There’s really nothing better. Families get together to all eat a whole bunch of food, and be happy, and talk about everything they're grateful for. We were well taken care of today too! First we had lunch with Sister Hall’s extended family. The Halls are so cool. Before we left I was talking to Sister Hall’s father in law and he asked what we do during our day time hours. When I explained that we were full time missionaries he was like, "Oh okay, I work at this bank and I was going to offer you a job." I totally could have gotten a job at some fancy investment banking place! Ha, I was almost tempted to take it. Saving money by day…and saving souls by night. Dinner was fantastic too! Next we ate at the McCarters, and then we finished off the night by going to another family’s house for an absurd amount of pie! What a great holiday! It really doesn’t get any better!

Brother McCarter in a food coma

Friday- The day finally came! The day when Elder Walker and I were reunited! We went on exchanges and Elder Walker came up to Parkville. We had Thanksgiving leftovers for Lunch and Dinner, so that alone would have made it a great day! Elder Walker and I did a whole lot of tracting. It wouldn't have been so bad but it was thirty degrees and raining. Yeah raining, not snowing. We get freezing rain out here, it’s horrible! As soon as the rain lands, it freezes so everything is just coated in ice. Ha, If it wasn't so fun it would have been miserable. We found a lot of good potentials too.

Saturday- We had an awesome appointment with a new investigator named Israel last Saturday night. He is one of the most solid investigators I have ever met. A couple days earlier we were tacting along, and he flagged us down and pretty much set his own return appointment. He met with missionaries when he was a kid down in Mexico but hasn't really had any contact with the church since. He was super open to everything we shared, and promised to read the book of Mormon and pray about it. Ha, his wife was kind of standoffish at the beginning because she thought we were Jehovah Wittiness, but as soon as she found out we were LDS she perked up and said that when she was younger the missionaries were where she lived and they would take her and of her friends to church with them, and that she even got baptized. His wife is already a member!!! Anyway, it was a great lesson. We are meeting with him again tomorrow night so hopefully this one goes as well as the first.

Sunday- Another great Sabbath day! 

Well Thanks for tuning in! Hope you all have a great week, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Love, Elder Cluster

PS feel free to write :)

Elder Austin Cluster

9226 NW 60th street
Parkville, MO. 64152

Let it Go!

MIRACLE 11/23/15

M- It was a long week, and it was a cold week but it was a good week. We didn't have the car but we had a lot of help from members, especially from Jeremy Guthrie! He is the coolest guy ever! He came out on team ups with us three times this week!

Jeremy Guthrie 

I- We didn't get meet with a couple of our investigators but we had a really good appointment with Denitra this week. We read 3Nephi 11, and talked about how she can know she's ready to be baptized. We invited her to be baptized on December 12th if she receives her answer.

R- I absolutely love going to church as a missionary. It has come to be the highlight of my week. To be able to look around and be surrounded by members who love and support you, and to see the people that you've worked so hard to bring closer to Christ sitting right next to them. It's then that you come to see all the fruits of your labor.

A- The area is doing well. It was hard to get from place to place without a car, but it all worked out for the best. Ha, this area makes me trunky to have a wife and cute little kids. There's a medical school nearby, so there's a whole bunch of young families who have one or two young kids.

C- Elder Robinson is a stud. We've done a whole lot of service this week and it was right up his ally. From ripping out carpet to grouting tile to moving heavy stuff he's a professional at all of it!

L- Having a member to work with is a lot better than trying to do missionary work on our own. We would have had some long cold nights of walking if it wasn't for the support from the Ward.

E- I love you all! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

MIRACLE 10/16/15

M- I'm doing well! Life is good as always out here! The weather has been perfect! Like mid sixties we're half way through November! 

I- We got a new investigator this week! His name is Shane. He is doing great! He was a referral from our bishop. He knows members of the church well, but doesn't really know anything about the church. He really wants to build a relationship with God, and he's seen the great example that the members of the church have set for him. We invited him to be baptized when he finds out the church is true, and he agreed! He even made it to church yesterday. 

R- You remember and gain much more revelation if you take time to write it down. There's lots of little orange boxes throughout preach my gospel that have study activities that ask you to read this passage, or look at this picture, or this or that, and then write about it and answer questions in a study journal. Throughout most of my mission I've just skipped over them, but recently I've taken the time use them and it's made a world of difference in my studies. If God ever gives you revelation, write it down! 

A- The area is great. One thing that I've notice though that isn't so great is the fact that there are like zero sidewalks in the whole city. We got put on a car rotation so we'll be on bikes this week, and I hear it'll be cold and rainy, but we'll see. 

C- Elder Robinson is doing great. We've had good bonding time as we've cooked our bountiful collect of meats together. He's a really good cook and we bought a bunch of good seasonings and what not to make it even better! 

L- Recently we've been memorizing scriptures for the 42 doctrinal points that we teach as missionaries. It's been great to have so many verses to use just right off the top of your head. How's everyone doing with their "Ponderizing"? 

E- When all of our expensive meat came, it came in a big foam cooler with dry ice in it to keep it cool! Needless to say we had a lot of fun with the dry ice! In case any of you have ever wondered, dry ice eggnog isn't half bad! I love you all! Hope you have a great week! 

~Elder Cluster 

Meat, Parades, and Boxers!

What a deal! We couldn't help ourselves :) 

M- Life is great as always! This week is going to be even better though! We are going to eat like kings! So Elder Robinson and I got a coupon in the mail this week. It was just such a good deal we couldn't pass it up! We may or may not have spent like 80 dollars on steak this week. It was meant to only be fifty, but then shipping was like seventeen and then the guy said we qualified for a special deal on lasagna so we had to get that too!

I- Our investigators are doing well. I have to admit, the work isn't quite as hot as I thought it was but that's okay, it's still going well. We had a really good lesson with Denitra this week. Her dad just passed away, so she's going through some pretty hard times, and she could use prayers. She made it to church though. It was the primary program so it was fantastic!

R- The spirit always guides you to say what needs to be said. Whether you're in a teaching appointment, a correlation meeting, or just sitting back at the apartment with your companion. When you are confirmed you are promised to have the Holy Ghost to always be with you. I think that we often forget what that really means. The Holy Ghost can guide you in any situation you could ever find yourself in

A- The area is great. I love the Ward. Jeremy Guthrie is in our ward! He is one of the pitchers for the Kansas City Royals! Oh man, that’s something exciting I haven’t mentioned in my emails yet! The Royals won the World Series! It was the first time since 1985! The whole city has been revolving around baseball for the past month! It has been so great! Jeremy Guthrie is the coolest guy you could ever meet too! He loves going out with the missionaries, and with the World Series just ending he's going to have extra time to help us!

C- Elder Robinson is such a stud! He's doing great! He is also a great cook!!!!

L- I learned that my emails get a lot shorter if I wait to the last minute to write them.

E- There was a giant parade for the Royals downtown on Tuesday. 800,000 people showed up for it! That is sooo many people! Also one of the families we visit has a pet Possum living under the porch! 

 World Series champs parade through downtown Kansas City 

~ Love Elder ClusterPS. My Grandma made me an awesome pillowcase using all my old boxers (An Elder Cluster tradition)  I was so excited to get it this week! Thank you Grandma!  Oh, and with it came a lovely poem my mom and dad wrote. Ha!

The Boxercase

Once you had a friendship of the most intimate kind,

Colorful, crazy boxers that blessed your sweet behind.

  

I know your boxers made you happy, I know they made you glad,

And now that you wear garments, you’re feeling kind of sad.

  

To show you that we love you, to show you that we care,

We have this special gift for you, made from your underwear.

  

You might think it’s distasteful, you might think its unkind,
To have to rest your weary head, where once sat your behind.

So when you’re feeling troubled, or when you’re feeling blue,

Hold your pillow close to you, and know that WE LOVE YOU!

Transferred!!

Hey Everyone! It's been a great week! I've got a whole lot to say and not much time to say it!

M- I got transferred! Gaaa! Didn't see that coming! They whitewashed Redbridge and put in Elder Amosa, a new missionary. Apparently President likes training people there, starting them off right in the refiner’s fire. I'm doing well out here though! I'm serving in the Parkville Ward in the Platte City stake. I've made a full circle! Atchison is just up yonder. I think I might have to cut up there one of these P-days. I am really looking forward to serving here. I'm going to make it the best twelve weeks of my life! (That is until I marry a honey, being married is going to be the best!) 

I- We have a couple good investigators up here. I won't take time to talk about everyone today but I will take time to talk about two. The first is Jesse James Fleig! He's a really cool guy! He's our neighbor in the apartment across the street. He has some physical disabilities so he's in an electric wheelchair and has trouble communicating but he has an awesome testimony and he loves coming to church. The other investigator is Denitra Thomas. She's been meeting with the missionaries for a couple weeks and she's doing really well. We had a family home evening lesson with her at a member’s home last night. We talked about fasting. The spirit was really strong. We're meeting with her again tomorrow. 

R- You know what? I had a nice long conversation with Sister Moore the day before I left Redbridge. She was the member we were living with. She said that it seemed like there had been a weight on my shoulders for the past couple weeks and I didn't seem happy. And you know what? She was right, and well that just won't do! One of my favorite things about myself is how happy and easygoing I try to be, and I wasn't being either of those things. Missions are simple. You go out and you work your hardest, and then you go to bed knowing that you did you best, and if you did do your best, you can go to bed happy. I'm going to strive to stay happy out here! 

A- The area is doing great. I feel like I have been in more homes in the past four days than I have in the past four weeks. 

C- My new companion's name is Elder Robinson. He is a great missionary! He's from Logan and he has been out on his mission for two transfers. He was trained by a great missionary, so he knows what to do! He's a great teacher and he's hilarious! It's been a really fun couple of days with him. 

L- I just finished reading the Book of Mormon yesterday. I started reading it November 13th of last year so it almost took half of my mission! I really wasn't moving through it too fast. I only read a chapter a day. It made for a great way to open up my studies. Reading that slow gave me a lot of chance to highlight and underline and pick it apart! After I finished yesterday I prayed to God to know if it was true. I can testify to you that it is. It truly is packed full of revelation and pure doctrine. I know that anyone who reads it will get that same answer too!

E- My new address is 

9226 NW 60th street

Parkville, Mo. 64152

Please please please feel free to write or email as much as you'd like. I love you! 

Elder Austin Cluster