January 26, 2014

 The picture to the left is of Miriam practicing the organ. We try to go to the chapel every Saturday so she can practice.  She is getting pretty good.  She is trying to figure out the sound and stops and stuff, but I think she is awesome.
  Our week was busy as usual.  It is cold and snowy but we seem to be getting more used to it.  We went to a local art gallery with an older couple Saturday.  They are the Earnshaws and they are wonderful.  We met them at a Christmas social and he being an artist struck up a good conversation with Miriam.  They are in their 80's and have lived here for over 40 years.  They love it here, have 1/2 of their children living in New Hampshire and Maine.  Their son is the Bishop of the Bedford Ward.  Anyway, they told us that in the forty years they have lived here, this is the coldest and the most snow.  Just our luck it seems. It was a fun day and we quickly learned to love them.
   We are now preparing for Zone Conferences again.  This time President Stoker has asked us to teach a lesson the attributes of Christ from Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel.  It is nice to be asked to participate in teaching.  This will be the first time we will teach our wonderful missionaries.  We love them all so much.
   We picked up two investigator for church this morning.  A man from the Sudan who's name is Mike and a man from Haiti who's name is Ralph.  They are such interesting people.  They come from such humble circumstances.  They don't have a car as do many of the investigators.  They live with family and friends to help pay the expenses of housing.  Ralph has been to church a few times and seems to be progressing very well toward baptism.  This was Mike's first time and he told us that he really enjoyed all the meeting.
   Our Ward has had a lot of young people move in and it is really a blessing to the Ward.  The Bishop has made some changes and you can really feel the spirit in all the meetings.  It is always such a blessing to go to church on Sundays.
   The mission has a great tradition when the missionaries are going home.  They each get to come to the pulpit and answer this question.  THE GOLDEN TRUTH THAT I LEARNED WHILE ON MY MISSION THAT WILL AFFECT THE REST OF MY LIFE IS:  Elder Ward who went home two weeks ago stated that his golden truth was the value of Hard Work!  He stated: you had eternity to anticipate your mission, you'll have eternity to reflect on your mission, but you only have 2 years to live your mission!  I thought this was great.
   Our testimonies continue to grow.  We love the Lord so much.  I know that I have learned things here that I would never have learned without going on a full time mission.  For that I am grateful.