Repost of the Church Website Article

Someone left a comment requesting the hard link for the Newsroom article the Church ran on it's website that featured Elder's Alexander and Gillett walking down a Charlotte street. The Church pretty much made it disappear and you can't even Google it to find it anymore. It's basically a ghost from the past. Not even in the Church Archives on its website anymore. However, where there's a will, there's a way. You will be able to access it still at this link, hopefully for good...

CLICK HERE

5/25/08

Hey there,

I got your e-mails lately and it is much appreciated. Even though they are like 2 or 3 paragraphs long, its WAY WAY better than nothing. So thanks for dropping me a note. It will be great to get those pictures and have some blog updates to last for quite a while. The newsletter things are great too. Anything you can send, it will be great for you to always have just to remember right there on your blog, but it’s so awesome for all of us to who read it to live vicariously that kind of awesome spiritual life you are living. So keep at it. I’ll look forward to getting the DVD soon. Did you send it to ma and pa’s or to my address? If you sent it to ma and pa’s just make sure they know to get it to me right away. Well, let’s see, what can I update you on this week? The sprinkler system is going in and the pipes are pretty much ready to connect in the yard. The curbing should be going in this week too. So things are still taking shape, just took a while to get things actually rolling. You had people all kinds of excited about your article on LDS.org. Here’s a comment from Aunt Sue on that particular post… Amazing....you remind me of your Dad when he was on his mission...except he was a little thinner...HA! I've enjoyed your Blog all this time. I am so proud of your excellent work...see you in a few months :) !!! Among others. You will get all of the comments that get dropped on there when you get home and take a look at it. Sounds like you had a great ZLC. Pretty powerful huh? So you threw down the gauntlet for the ZL’s to step up and start baptizing a little more huh? The newsletter was good. Good articles, but I’m sure that there was much more to it with the actual conference and talks given. Sounds like you have a huge loss of leaders coming up and a lot of Nubes will have to step up and show what they’ve got now too. That’s always a fun time. As much as you lose with the seasoned veterans, you always get guys hungry to prove themselves and out of their comfort zones for a while that can really rip it up and hit the bricks running. So with a little guidance, they will be awesome. Good times ahead! What’s the update on the tests? Who do I have to get after around here to get the results back on that bad boy already?

Pretty funny message your investigator left about what’s going on, Jesus, that’s what’s going on. Ha ha. So you haven’t bitten your fingernails for a while and they are growing long now? Maybe you should let your tie do the same thing and let it grow longer as well! What say you? Check this comment left on your blog by Rod’s wife: Mike, you need to get a big boy tie!!!! At least one that is a little longer. Go back to the tie tying posts. It was great to see your mug smiling out of my computer at work. Keep up the good work, and be safe!

Did I talk about the bike that Dad gave Brinlee on Mother’s day while we were down there? She loves it! I put training wheels on it for her yesterday and she couldn’t get enough of cruising around on it. She is getting pretty cruisy. We’ll have to work on actually teaching her the fundamentals and balance and stuff soon so she can really start riding it for real. We went to the lake just by our house here (stansbury lake) and fed the ducks and the carp. I think I’m going to go down there and see if I can catch me a big carp just for the fight of it. There’s bass in this lake too and I’m not sure what other kind of fish, but you can take a bass boat out on there which would be cool. Oh, the bad news is… John sold his boat. That sucks pretty bad right about now. But it was fun hanging out over there. The lake is just a block away, so that’s pretty cool. The golf course is just a block away too and I need to get out there and play it soon. But Brinlee’s friend Anna came with us and they played on the playground right there by the lake too. So that was fun for her. We had some seagulls come over to see what all the ducks commotion was about and so I started luring them in with a piece of bread in my hand. They would swoop over and hover right above my head and I could toss them a piece of bread and they’d catch it in their beaks and fly off. It was pretty cool. Suzanne and Anna were a little freaked out at the swooping and hovering gulls though. It was funny. Did I tell you too that I started running 2 miles a day? I seriously am and I’m pretty staunch about it too. I need to do 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles at night and I’d be golden. But so far all I can muster is 2 miles at night. I’ve been tracking my progress though and I’ll up it more and more as I can handle it. Hopefully by the time you get home I’ll be back in game shape for some hard core tennis, hiking, hunting, football, whatever you got!

Let’s jump to your quote of the week right now…

“A leader is someone who dreams dreams and has visions and can communicate those to others in such a way that they say “yes.”

- Michael Murray

I can’t remember what you said in a letter a week or two back, but it made me find this quote because the best leaders I know have a way of relaying their message and having everyone get on board and not only agree with what was said, but they are motivated to action and want to get out there and do it. I think it was actually your message in the newsletter for that ZLC. So I thought you might like this quote since that is the main goal of that meeting it seemed like, to motivate those ZLs to step up their game and get it done.

Well, we just got back in from hanging out at the Hills with another couple from the neighborhood. It’s kind of a cool social type neighborhood like that. Brinlee was out riding her bike again and can’t get enough of it. We talked to Dad on the phone tonight and Brinlee thanked him again for the bike and couldn’t talk enough about her riding skills. Ha ha.

So now it’s almost 11:00 PM and I better call it a night. Not sure what we’ll do for the holiday tomorrow, other than stain my deck, repot some plants, and take it easy. Maybe BBQ some stuff, we’ll see. What are you doing? Oh yeah, probably some proselyting and some AP stuff. Your days are far more structured and pre arranged. That’s nice though sometimes. I could use a little more structure honestly. While talking to pops on the phone I told him that he and Ma need to get their tests done and sent back to you right away. I don’t think you are going to get one from Stosh, maybe you will, but they are so busy with new baby that I wouldn’t expect it. And I really doubt you’ll get one from Shelby. So once you have ma’s and pa’s just correct them and send us back the results, unless you want to follow up with Stosh yourself. What else is happening out there in the missionfield? How’s the business of running a mission? Are you learning a ton from working side by side with Pres. Hobbs? Do you think you’d like to go back out in many years from now and become a mission president? Well, I’m getting sidetracked again. I better just call it quits and head to bed. It is always good hearing from you though. Thanks for the e-mail today. I’ll watch for those pics soon on the DVD. Talk to you again soon. Keep up the hard work.

Love ya,

Trav

Add your own subtitle

Here's another picture Mike sent me that didn't have any captions. So he's leaving it to us to put in our own. Click the comments link on this post and put down whatever comes to mind...

Being about his Father's business

Just a couple of shots of Mike attending to his business. They didn't come with subtitles or any help, so I'm guessing here... The Soccer Mom van full of new missionaries. I'm guessing this from the young, happy, but a little bit timid faces, and the glitter on the shoulders of the front row Elder's suit.
Elder's Alexander and Lee behind Pres. Hobbs. The mission is in good hands with this bunch!

5/18/08

Elder A,

What’s happening this week? It was good to talk to you last week. As brief as it was. I guess I’m sans letter this week though, but you’ll still get love coming from me. About the phone call anyway, Mom seems to beat herself up over the Christmas call and letting the whole family talk, and I’m not sure why. Whether you griped about it or she just felt like that went on too long, I sort of told her this, but you should know that I would have insisted on that happening even if you put up a fight last year. You have no idea how much good that did for all the youngins in the family who look up to you as an example of what they should do with their lives as they get older. To have a family member serving the Lord in that capacity is almost a rare thing in this day and age and it’s a proud moment to get to talk to them once or twice for a few minutes while they are out there for two years. I think it was priceless for Ron and Marian to get to talk to you maybe to spark some extra spark in the mission fire and for Riley to get to talk to you, may have very well been the final shove that got him to decide to be ordained an Elder and now eventually to get his papers in. Don’t you dare regret that, even if it meant bending some mission rule for a few extra minutes. If we had known about a time restriction last year, we might have structured the time limits a little differently to accommodate the tight limits on time and I would have gladly given up my spot to let those little cousins talk to you just from seeing them all light up with pride that they talked to a cousin who is serving the Lord officially they way you are. But I think we can go with the spirit of the law on this kind of thing instead of the letter of the law. They all felt your spirit and it did them a ton of good. You probably did more good there than we all may ever know.

That will be cool to have Elder Coleman come out for the mission tour and for you to tour with him and hear all that he has to say and partake of that counsel. What a cool experience. The one we got from Vaughn J. Featherstone was extremely inspirational. He is a stud.

We went to Wheeler farm yesterday with the girls and Aysnlee was all over the animals. She was talking to them, getting all excited, trying to get their attention, oinking at the pigs, etc.

What have you gotten back in the way of your tests? I sent you Grandpa’s yesterday, so you have mine and Suzanne’s and Grandpas that I know of. But not sure what Stosh, Shelli, and Ma and Pa have sent in. Let me know if I need to do any more harassing for you, even though it will be more influential if you say it. But I’ll chase down what I can too. I sent it back out recently and that’s what got Grandpa’s to come in. So everyone has it, no excuses accepted now.

That’s pretty cool that you were on the church website, as short lived as that was. I got it on your blog immediately so everyone could see it before it went to David Archuleta, the LDS kid who’s in the top two of American Idol. I also posted the other pics with it that were part of the series I guess. So that was fun for everyone to see. I’m seriously struggling with your blog here chochy. I put up what little morsels mom throws me that she gets, but throw me a bone here and send me some good stories, some more testimony, some pictures!! Anything. I’m dying on the vine here waiting for some blog fodder and everyone who checks it daily is all thirsting for more. You have a world wide avenue for sharing your testimony and cool experiences here. While your time is brief, take advantage of that. You have parents of missionaries out there that follow it, you have who knows who else reading that, let’s not squander the occasion. You don’t need to come up with some world wide message every week, just send a little more my way when you can so I can select the best and put it up there for you. It’s going to be the coolest kind of mission scrap book you can think of when you get back and want to reflect on memories, but you are going to have to send more of those memories home to fill that bad boy up. I have told you several times that my biggest regret of my mission is that I didn’t take enough pictures and closely behind that was I didn’t write in my journal more. There are a few details that I have totally forgotten because I didn’t elaborate in my journal and because I don’t have pictures of the occasion.

We got our cement pad laid in the back yard for our patio area. Now I just need to build stairs from our back deck down to the pad. Ha ha. Why that wasn’t done originally is beyond me. But it is starting to take shape back there now.

Here is your quote of the week this week…

“Self-confidence is important. Confidence in others is essential.”

- William Schreyer

This is a principle that I learned on my mission and have used it on a frequent basis in every day life here at home ever since. As I would go out into the zones and do training exchanges, the more I left the missionary I was working with full of confidence that they were going to be successful, that they would make their Zones much more successful, etc. I found that they ALWAYS did exactly that. You already know that I’m big on self fulfilling prophecy and this is a big part of that. Even now when I conduct employee performance reviews, or disciplinary meetings or anything, if I express my confidence in that person, they will always come through to live up to that level of confidence I placed in them. It’s awesome. So that is the quote I chose this week.

Well, Brinlee is way sick today, so I’m not going to church and am staying home with her today so Suzanne can go and teach the lesson. But I’ll get this sent off. I’m not sure when you collect your e-mails or if it’s sporadic. But off it goes. Write back when you can. Keep up the full charge out there. Go hard!

I’ll talk to you again soon,

Love,

Trav

Elder Alexander Gets Church Wide Publicity

It's been a while since I've put up some kind of update, but Mike has just been so busy, he doesn't write as much or send any pictures anymore. But we got this little snippet in the e-mail today saying to check him out on the church website...

You'll have to check out the Church Website website today, Elder Gillett and I are on there, so the whole world can see our ugly mugs. Its under News and events, and then newsroom, its a story about Charlotte, and it should be the first story.

Or so you don't have to drill down through the 3 or more clicks by his instruction, here is the direct link... Click Here

And after you have read the article and seen the picture, here are the rest of the pictures they took...

5/04/08

Elder A:

I just got your letter, it’s Saturday night at 10:00 PM. Wow, kind of late, but I filled out your test right away. That was just barely enough time, but I got through it and had a harder time with some questions than I thought I would, or at least should have had. Kind of embarrassing, but here is my test. And I upheld the honesty code, so don’t worry about that. I will be interested to see how we all stack up against each other. Dad might be my biggest competition. I will have Suzanne take it too, but make sure that Stosh and Shelby Lyn all take it too. Don’t let anyone weenie out. And I want to see how every one did. Not making it like a competition or anything, just showing where everyone falls to keep each other accountable on our PMG study and what not. It will serve as a good accountability tool to see where some of us may need to step up our study. Maybe that’s what you should do after you grade us, is tell us where we should focus our efforts after the scores are in. That would be useful to me. I would appreciate it anyway. So I’m excited to see the outcome here with everyone. Here is my test… Oh, and by the way, I’m putting some talking points by each one of my T or F answers just as an added explanation if needed.

Preach My Gospel Knowledge Test

Name: _____T-Ravage_________.

Read each question carefully, and then write T (true) or F (false) on the line next to the question.

1. T God speaks to His children through prophets and other ways too, but this is the main channel of communication

2. F Jesus Christ restored His church through Joseph Smith in 1820 I think it was later than 1820, so I’m saying false

3. F The baptismal commitment should only be extended after the third lesson I’m going to say it should be extended earlier

4. T We had agency in the pre-earth life this was so easy, I’m nervous it’s a trick question

5. F God the Father created the earth Jehovah and Michael specifically did this under the instruction of the Father

6. F To restore is to make changes to something in order to improve it Not necessarily to improve, but to bring back as before

7. F We must be baptized to enter into Spirit Paradise Oh boy, I’m not sure, but I think anyone but REALLY bad peeps will go to spirit paradise to await judgment and resurrection. I think you pretty much have to be like a son of perdition or close to it to go to spirit prison.

8. T The Atonement included Jesus Christ’s suffering in Gethsemane, His death on the cross, and the resurrection This rings true to me, I’m saying true and that it was the whole process of the afore mentioned.

9. F Faith requires that we ask and wait This is tricky, but I’m saying that it requires some action as well. This seems slackerish to simply ask and wait. Anyone can do that even those without faith. So I’m feeling good about my false answer here.

10. F The Aaronic Priesthood holds the authority to baptize and give the Gift of the Holy Ghost I think giving the Gift of the Holy Ghost requires Melchezedik. I feel foolish that I’m kind of shaky on this answer. But I’m sticking to it.

11. F If you are financially unstable you do not have to pay a full tithe Ha Ha, if I’m hyperglycemic can I skip fasting too, if I have a headache, can I drink a coffee? If I’m relationship challenged, can I hire out for some lovin’? this question is easy.

12. T Family History is an effective way to find This one feels tricky. But I’m sticking with T, because in NYC, we had the largest family history and genealogy research center in New York and we got referrals from there all the time and it WAS effective. So this has to be true.

13. T Enduring to the end includes partaking of the sacrament weekly Sure it does. Among a lot of other things.

14. F The Spirit will always help us in missionary work There should be a disclaimer on here… If we are worthy of it’s help. If that was meant to be in the question, then the answer is T.

15. T The Book of Mormon is the cornerstone of our religion Boo Yeah it is! It’s the cornerstone of my testimony too. I almost wonder if it means Keystone though. For some reason, I think the saying is Keystone of our religion, but I’m sticking with true, it’s true regardless of how this question is worded.

16. T Diligence means to work hard every day Among other things

17. F The gift of tongues is not needed in this day Maybe not in the sense of the term that Pentecostals and what not may refer to it

18. F Planning is a way to fill your time day to day Planning shouldn’t just fill your time. You should have a set time per day to plan, but it shouldn’t be used as a time filler. Or am I misunderstanding this question?

19. T Media referrals should be contacted within the first 48 hours I’m saying true since you want it to be as soon as possible, I think it’s a good rule of thumb, but it may not be a specific policy. I may have missed this one.

20. F Scriptures are only needed to prove points Ha ha. That’s pretty much the only time I get out my scriptures. Ha ha. Just kidding

21. F Obedience is the first law of heaven Tricky Question. I don’t know if there’s a set order to things, but it’s obviously important and necessary, I just don’t know if it’s the “first law”, so I’m playing it safe and guessing no.

22. F When investigators don’t keep commitments we should tell them we’re disappointed and invite them to repent This is a bold approach and should probably be used to some degree, but this is a little harsh. I think we are missing a step or two here, so I’m going with False.

23. F Direct questions intimidate investigators and should not be used FALSE! You should always use Direct Questions. Don’t lilly lag and pussy foot around, get bold, get direct!

24. T Follow up is essential to holding people accountable Absolutely!

25. F Once your investigator is confirmed responsibility toward them is ended Hmmm, tricky again. I know you should turn them over to member missionaries and member lessons, but you probably have a little more responsibility to them shortly after to encourage them to keep coming to church, following their commitments, sticking with the member discussions, etc. I’d say False here.

26. F Missionaries should create a ward mission plan Wards should create the ward mission plan and maintain it. Missionaries should play an active role in it however.

27. F The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the what and the how This one may bite me, but I’m thinking this is technically true, but if we are looking Literally, I think Jesus Christ Himself is the what and the how. This is a tricky one. I may miss this one too.

28. F A missionary’s success is based on whether you baptize monthly or not Not Even

29. F It is necessary to create a lesson plan to be guided by the Spirit I’m sure it helps things, but it’s not the necessary step. You can be guided by the spirit in any manner of ways and reasons.

30. T Studying Preach My Gospel daily will help you to become a successful missionary Among other things

Read and answer the following questions or fill in the blank.

1. State your missionary purpose:

2. The first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are first ________Faith______, second ______Repentance___, third _______Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins___, and fourth ______The laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost___.

3. Quote “The First Vision” Oh boy, it’s been a long time… “I saw a pillar of light, exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually, until it fell upon me… when the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, who’s brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other, this is my beloved Son, here him.” I’m not sure if you needed more, I only remember most of this part of it. And I probably left something out. I should still have that memorized verbatim.

4. What is the difference between the power of the Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost? Anyone can feel the power of the Holy Ghost, and even benefit by feeling what it can offer in confirming truth, etc. but only those who are baptized and confirmed to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost have the “Gift”.

5. The Kingdoms of Glory include, in order from top to bottom are, the __Celestial_ kingdom, the ___Terrestrial_ kingdom, and the ___Telestial_ kingdom. I need more questions like this one!

6. Why was The Fall of Adam and Eve essential to Gods plan? It was essential to get the ball rolling and get these spirits to earth with some bodies and start proving themselves with what they’d do with their agency.

7. What is a dispensation? Oh great! I just studied this a while ago and had the full text book answer. Now I don’t think I can spit it out very well again. But this is what I think… It’s a period of time when the church is on the earth and associated with the prophet that ushered in that dispensation. There are a few different dispensations that were brought about by the prophets, Adam, Noah, Moses, ummmm… Jesus, and Joseph Smith being the last dispensation since it won’t be removed from the earth again until the second coming.

8. What is an apostasy? It’s when the church (in it’s correct form) and the authority is removed from the earth. When no one else holds the keys to keep the church going in it’s true structure.

9. What is the difference between immortality and eternal life? Everyone will experience immortality simply as a result of the resurrection. You will never die again. Eternal Life is the same, but with the added benefit of living in God’s presence and experiencing all of the added benefits that come as a result thereof.

10. What is a covenant? A sacred promise and/or agreement made between you and God. When you uphold your part of the covenant, God is bound to his part of the covenant as well.

11. Moroni’s promise is found in ___Moroni 10:3-5____. More questions like these please!

12. Preach My Gospel states that a lesson includes: Oh boy! A opening prayer, some principles taught as led by the spirit, some testimony born by the missionaries, some commitments challenged toward the investigator(s) and a closing prayer, along with a follow up visit scheduled. It’s got to be close to that, I’m pretty certain.

13. Joseph Smith stated- “After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to__Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ___.”

14. What should we do to prepare to meet God? Follow the example of the savior, obey the commandments, make and keep our covenants, endure to the end.

15. In your opinion, what is the most effective way to find? Referrals

16. What should we do to prepare members for a team? I don’t even know what this means… So to guess, I think it’s probably meant to mean having a member working with a missionary or two for part or most of a day. So give them an over view of what you will do that day, give them some history on the investigators you will be teaching, help them understand their role in the discussions or lessons, help them see where they might relate to each investigator so they can use their strengths in the lessons. Pray with them, encourage them to share their testimonies, etc.

17. What does the commitment pattern include: Oh, it’s been too long… the invitation which includes a direct Will You question. A follow up date to accomplish the commitment by, and a follow up on that date to make sure the commitment was kept. Bare testimony to let them know that if the commitment is kept, here are the promised results and/or blessings.

18. Explain in your own words what baptismal language is What the?... I guess it’s using language that always points to the inevitable goal of being baptized. Using phrases and speech that let them know this is the ultimate goal and everything ties to you being baptized when all is said and done.

19. As if speaking to a child, explain what a prophet is I would play a quick impromptu game of pin the tail on the donkey with the kid(s) and tell them exactly where to walk, where to aim the tail, and when to stick it on. After the game was over, I would ask them if it was easier or harder to have me tell them where to pin the tail. Maybe even have the first round all unguided without me talking to see just how far off they would pin it. Then I would tell them it’s the same way Heavenly Father guides us to right place. If we didn’t have someone to tell us where to go, we might wander all over the place and end up in the wrong spot, way off course. But Heavenly Father uses a prophet to tell us where we are going. We are all blind folded, but with the help of the prophet who can see the target, he tells us exactly what we need to hear and where we need to go to all end up at the right place again. This is God’s pattern by using a prophet to help us find our way back.

20. What other name is given “whereby man can be saved?” No other name! only Jesus Christ alone

I got a call from Dad who said Mom just printed off the letter and they were half way through reading it when they were calling. I told them to get right on the test, that I was done and would included it in my letter back to you. But they were calling to make sure we were coming on Sunday. I told them that we aren’t even out of church till 4:00 and they said they were going to set up the call for 3:00 our time. I told them I can miss our last meeting if we needed to, but that we didn’t necessarily need to be there for the call. I mean, 40 min. is next to nothing for everyone to get a fair shake in there. But it would be nice to talk to you one last time before you come home. I kind of figure you wouldn’t want us missing our Sacrament meeting to make it to phone call night, but what can you do? I kind of hate having Sac. Meeting last in the day. Especially when we are on the late 1:00 schedule. 3:00 Sacrament meeting is tough, especially when nap time and lunch time have already been forgone to make it to the first two meetings. It’s really tough with little kids! Oh well, we’ll be on a better schedule next year. So that will be nice to talk to you next Sunday.

We got a new bedroom set with Suzanne’s bonus she got last week. So I spent most of the day putting all of that together. It’s nice. I’m kind of stoked on it. It looks pretty good. We got it on blow out sale from a store in Gardner Village for a lot cheaper than we would have spent anywhere else and it’s worth a lot more than we would have spent anywhere else, so we are pretty happy with the deal. Shelbs and I went through our concealed class on Tuesday too, so now we just wait for up to 6 weeks for those to come in the mail. It was really good. Good education, good tips, good practices, etc. I’m glad I took it. Shelli has already gone out shooting with her BF Ryan (I call him Lefty). But I’ll leave that for her to tell you about. I am waiting for my permit to come before I get my “strap” just to waive the background checks and what nots that come with that sort of purchase.

Well, I think this is good for tonight. I will sign off for now since it’s after 11:00 PM and I’m sleepy. I will finish up before or after church tomorrow. OUT

Ahhhhhhhhhight, I’m back from Church and everything else, it’s now 9:30 PM already. Where do Sundays go? Oh yeah, I guess they are already gone by the time you get out at 4:00 PM and get home to have dinner. I really don’t like this schedule. Anyway, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get Suzanne to get the quiz done before I send this since she is getting Aynslee bathed and shortly after that, to bed and then it will be really late. I’ll see if she can get it done this week and send it later on. I’m not really sure what else to go over here since not much happened since I signed out last night.

I guess you don’t need to send me a letter this week since we’ll talk next Sunday, as briefly as it may be. I’m not really sure if you want me to keep writing as much as I do. You seem so busy all the time and don’t even have time to write, I’m not sure if my letters are just taking up more time that you would use differently than reading letters from home. I can dial it back if you want, maybe write every other week or something. Let me know what you prefer.

I better get the Quote of the Week out of the way and get Brinlee to bed.

“It is not an easy task to be called out into the world, but I say to you it will purchase for those who are faithful, for those who discharge that obligation as they may be required, peace and happiness beyond all understanding, and will prepare them that, in due time, when life’s labor is complete, they will stand in the presence of their Maker, accepted of Him because of what they have done.”

- George Albert Smith

What better way to say just how blessed you will be for your efforts in the mission field. Keep up the good work.

Talk to you next week.

Love,

Trav

Letter update 5/3/08

Just a quick letter update from this week. He closes with some pretty heart felt testimony. Good to hear he is loving his mission so much. It will be tough for him to end it in a few months...

We finished up with the Zone Conferences last week, so we're all done with that stuff, but now we're going on some mad exchanges with Zone Leaders and working on Transfers and tomorrow we're teaching at the mission home fireside, which is on the first Sunday of each month, so this is number 4 for me, this time it will be on The Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The Zone Leaders have reported that 78 people will be in attendance, but its usually about half that much, so it'll probably be about 40 or so. But we stand up on the stairs down into the common room and preach from up there, but we try to make it more of a discussion, sometimes they do really well with participating, but other times we get a shy group and then you just have to work them over a little bit to get them to loosen up a bit. Hahaha, they're funny. Then Monday, we'll be heading up to Winston-Salem for an exchange till Wednesday. This last week we were in Gastonia Monday through Tuesday night, Wednesday we moved apartments, and then Thursday we went on another exchange with the Zone Leaders in Kannapolis till this morning. Thats that the Low down on the work here.

I LOVE this work, its such a time of miracles, i can't believe how much this work is guided by the Savior! My mission means so much to me, its changed me forever, I'll never be the same... This morning I was driving with the missionary i was on exchanges with and we were on the freeway getting to uptown Charlotte and as i looked at the skyline, and thought about my mission i almost started crying right there. I could feel the spirit so strong in the car, and couldn't say anything or i would have started crying, hahaha, its so incredible to me. I would just stay here forever and serve the Lord if i could. The world sucks, the gospel is the only thing i know now. My life would be wasted if i hadn't come out here to share the Gospel, it would have been all about me, but the truth of the gospel says its not about me, its about Him, the Savior, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. I never knew that or understood what it meant before. I hope you can feel the reality of the words i am writing to you. I feel as Nephi, i am not mighty in writing, but the wish of my heart is that the spirit carries it to your heart. I Love this work, I Love you, I Love the Savior.