Hello

Well Hello everyone

So I get to stay here for another 6 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And with Elder Latham too. They did a lot of changes this transfer! New AP. A ton of new zone leaders across the mission. Oh and our zone got split in half! So that's a little different!

But this last week was super good! A ton of fun! 

Last week on Monday we got to play capture the flag with the zone so that was really fun having everyone there! Which I guess is one of the last times it was everyone......

We have had a lot of fun with our district. Missionaries are the best at finding creative ways to have fun! Granted pretty much everything is fun to us! 

It's so weird being out for this long already. 

So on Friday we got to have a baptism! It was for those two kids in the picture. Yes the one on the left looks scared. He is not. he was taking when the picture was taken. I want to make that very clear. He chose to be there. Colton is the one on the left, and he's 8. Connor is the one on the right and he's 9. And then on the top left is Elder Lyman, my first comp. And Elder Latham is between us. I baptized Connor so that was really cool! Turns out fonts take about an HOUR to fill up. We spent too much time filling that up. But we had to do it. I also got an old hymn book out of it too, so that was cool. Granted it is missing about 150 songs...

So all the other Elders write about this much and that is their email home. I wonder if that is how I'll be when I get to their age in the mission.

So in sacrament meeting after we confirmed Connor and Colton, during the testimony part, their Mom got up and bore her testimony! She has been less active for years and that was the first time she has EVER born her testimony. Like whoa. That made me almost cry when she got up their and started talking! It has been so great to work with this wonderful family and be able to help them come closer in the gospel and closer to Christ.

Oh and remember how I was talking about weeds a couple emails back? WE FINALLY FINISHED THE WEEDING THE DUMB HOUSE. A MONTH. WE HAVE SPENT A MONTH HELPING THEM. Like dang. We are very glad we finished it. But because of it I have a nice little parable. So here is what I call the parable of the weeder:

Book of Miner

Chapter 1

1 And there were two young men who gave their word that they would weed a yard. They did not give much regard to the amount of weeds in that yard. But happy to serve they went to work.

2 The owners of the house gave them all the tools they could possibly need. They even gave some advice about how to go about weeding the yard. But the young men didn't listen about how to do it. And they didn't know how to properly use the tools. 

3 These two young men started off making little progress. Getting rid of little weeds compared to the amount their actually were. Ignorant of the tools they had, they pulled the weeds by hand and dug through the dirt. 

4 Days turned into weeks, and still little progress was being made. The tools were left gathering dust as the two young men still worked. Eventually they sought help from even younger men and that jump started the effort and gave them renewed energy to get the job done. 

5 As weeks were about to turn into a month, the young men turned to their friends for answers about why it wasn't going well. Why wasn't the work progressing? Why did the progress made take so much more effort than necessary.

6 Other young men who had weeded before came and showed these two young men how to use the tools they had been given. The young men who showed them the good way made the work progress at a much faster rate. 

7 The last week of weeding went by in a blur. The tools made quick work of all the weeds. The tools, properly used made all the difference. What took the two young men 3 weeks to do, was doubled in 3 days. 

8 The yard was trimmed, and the weeds were disposed of.

So that little silly thing I just wrote is kinda how it went for us and this yard. *spoilers* we were the young men. We had all the tools we needed, but we didn't know how to use them, so we didn't. Once we were shown how to use them, boy did the work speed up! The same is true for missionary work! When we come on a mission we have all these tools, like the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, and even other missionaries. They are more tools, but those are some that every single person can access. So until we know how to properly use Preach My Gospel and our scriptures to talk to people. Until we know the lessons, and how teach people instead of those lessons, our work will be tough and without much success. But as we strive to master all the tools that we have been given, the work will progress at a speed that we couldn't have imagined.

So all those who are home trying to figure out how to be ready for their mission, get familiar with the tools! Get to know preach my gospel. Get to know the scriptures. Talk to missionaries back home. Do all these things and more, and you will be all the more prepared and ready for whatever may come up in your mission.

And for everyone who is not preparing to serve a mission, or who has already served one, get to know the tools anyways!!! They are there to help convert us to the gospel. Read the missionary library. Read the scripture. Read Preach My Gospel. I don't know how many people have told me that their mission was the closest they have ever been to God. Well if you study like a missionary, then RIGHT NOW will be the Closest you have been to God. These are tools not just for missionaries, but for members and non members and missionaries alike.

If you will study those things then you WILL see your faith increase. You WILL see a change in your life. You WILL be happier. One of the Teaching points we cover is that your life will be happier because of this gospel no matter where you are now. There is always room for improvement. But it takes work. You may not be knocking on doors, or talking to people on the streets, but if you study like we do, then you will be like missionaries. I leave that promise with y'all in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

I love all y'all and each y'all

Elder Miner 

Baptism

Elder Lyman, Elder Latham, Elder Miner