Unexpected Miracle

M (me) - Hey everyone! I'm doing well! Perfect weather for bike week! I think one of the highlights of the week is Brother McMullin. He is our new Ward Mission Leader and he's super proactive and ready to go. He's going to get some good work going. Ooo, my family also sent me a package this week. That's always fun!!

I (investigator) - We met with Flower this week! I don't remember if I've mentioned her yet or not. She moved from China three years ago, and she's been in contact with the church about that long too. We had a good conversation with her, and her fellowship about the Book of Mormon and its role in conversion. It went really well.

R (revelation) - God blesses you when you put in hard work. We had an unexpected
miracle this week. We were sitting in our Gospel Principles class on Sunday, and a random nonmember walked in. He said he had a friend that invited him to come to church with her. He followed the GPS to the address that she gave him, and it led him to our church instead of hers. He figured that that meant that's where God wanted him, so he stayed for the rest of church. He loved all of it and wanted to learn more. He gave us his number and address and set up a time for us to come visit him on Wednesday. It turns out that he lives in North Kansas City, so it's way out of our area. But hey, it was a happy sunrise for the day, and I'm sure the missionaries up there will take great care of him.

A (area) - The area is up and down. More and more leads every week but nothing serious. Dustin is kinda MIA. We'll keep on trying our best though. Things will pick up soon.

C (companion) - It's been a really fast transfer with Elder Timmreck. I can't believe we've already been together for six weeks.

L (learned) - We've been studying about working with the Stake and Ward Leaders during the past twelve week. It's fitting with getting a new Ward Mission Leader this week.

E (everything) - Transfers are this Thursday! We'll see what happens!

I love you all!

Elder Austin Cluster

Independence Missouri Temple

MIRACLE 10-19-15

M (Me) - life is good. The weather has been perfect. We also went on exchanges with the zone leaders this week. That was fantastic. I was with Elder Bingham and I stayed in Redbridge. Getting help from the mission leaders is always an oasis in a desert of dry teaching pools.

I (Investigators) - We had a really brief discussion with Juno this week but that's about it. We've had a couple set appointments but they've all fell through. We have a couple more this week. Hopefully they'll go through. I'll keep you posted.

R (Revelation) - It's such a blessing to be surrounded by great missionaries. They make the long slow weeks enjoyable.

A (Area) - Dead Dead Dead. But hey, like I said, it should be getting better this week.

C (Companion) - Elder Timmreck is doing great. We've set up a couple appointments to teach members one of the missionary discussions and it's given us good opportunities to practice our teaching together.

L (Lesson learned) - In twelve week training we've been studying the importance of working with the ward mission leader, and the ward counsel. Being a missionary has given me such a greater respect for leadership in the church. They put in so much work all the time!

E (Everything) - Love you all! Don't forget to email me!

Love Elder Cluster

MIRACLE 10-12-15

M- I'm doing alright. It's been a slow week with a lot of biking. 

I- Not too much to update on investigators. We didn't really meet with anyone with week. Dustin is a little bit MIA, so it's back to trying to find. 

R- Phone work is important work too. It's easier and more effective to make five phone contacts, than to ride your bike around in circles, and maybe contact one person.

Bishop Schow and his cute family

A- One really good thing about our area is all the awesome trails. Since I’m in a high income area, there's lots of nice little parks with trails leading from park to park across our whole ward. It makes getting around on a bike a lot more fun, and a lot faster. The weather has been great out here too. The fall is awesome in the Midwest. With the good weather this time of year, it gives us a chance to contact a lot of people. 

 C- Elder Timmreck is doing well. It amazes me how much hot sauce he puts on everything! If I ate half of the things he did, I would melt my face off.

L- Don’t eat Taco Bell for lunch and then unrefrigerated yogurt and expired baked beans for dinner. It does not end well. It does not well at all. 

E- So this Sunday was something else. We were running a little late so Elder Timmreck and I quickly stepped in and sat down as the meeting began. After the announcements and what not the bishop stood up and said that today well be talking about General Conference and the importance of listening to the prophets voice, and I thought "oh that's funny, I'm speaking on that next week." Then I thought to myself "Hmm, no one is on the stand, I wonder who is speaking today?" Then I thought to myself. "Oh crap!" I leaned over to the old lady sitting next to me and ask if I could see her program and sure enough, there's my name right after the youth speaker. Mid sacrament song I go up to the bishopric on the stand and with a mix of fear and confusion ask if I'm really supposed to speak today, and brother Jones says "well you're on the program, would you be able to? So I tell him of course and go sit down on the stand just as the sacrament song ends to plan my twenty minute talk. I swear the sacrament has never been passed so fast in my life, and that youth speaker only spoke for like two minutes flat. So with all of five minutes of preparation under my belt I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. Considering the circumstances I don't think it went too bad! It was a pretty simple subject. I just quoted a couple paragraphs under "follow the prophet" in preach my gospel, read the first scripture reference it had listed and then talked about Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk for the rest of the time. It makes for a pretty easy talk when all you have to do is stand up there and talk about how great your mom is for twenty minutes. Ha, after the meeting I checked the text that the first counselor had sent me, and he totally asked me to speak on the 18th. Oh well. It all turned out alright in the end. 

Well. That's all I got for the day. Hope you have a great week. Thanks for reading!

Love, Elder Cluster

Spiritually Rejuvenated

M- I had a great week. It's gone by super fast. Between general conference and then zone conference I feel like I've been in meetings all week. It's been good though.

It’s been spiritually rejuvenating.

I- we finally have a new investigator… kind of! We had a really awesome lesson with him on Monday. His name is Dustin Shultz. We taught him the restoration and even set him on date to be baptized. He's flaked out of two appointments since then so hopefully he starts keeping commitments a little better.

R- Where to start. There has been so much revelation this week. I was honking about extending my mission but God told me not to in General Conference. I need to talk to everyone I see. What else... I need to find a wife! 

A- The area is picking up a little. We have Dustin and then we have a couple other little leads. We'll see where they go. Man, car weeks just make a world of difference. I just wish we weren't sitting inside in meetings for half the week! 

C- Elder Timmreck is doing well. I'm glad that we finally had some teaching appointments together. It's hard to learn to teach without any investigators!

L- We have prophets and apostles called of by God, to lead and guide us.

E- I love you all! Hope you enjoyed general conference. I'll take a second to talk about some of my favorite talks 

Saturday morning I really like Elder Uchtdorf's talk about not over thinking things. The gospel is simple; don't try to make it anything else. 

Saturday afternoon was probably my favorite. I really liked both Elder Hales and Elder Holland’s. I love you mom!

Sunday morning was great in general. We watched it at a member’s home and they took such great care of us. Sister Rosenthal made me the best breakfast I've ever tasted.

Sunday afternoon was great! Now every Mormon across the globe will ponderize!

Love,
Elder Cluster