Man this week has been an amazing week!! Being able to talk to the family was definitely the Highlight! I only shed a couple of tears so that was pretty good haha. I am glad that all of you had a great Christmas! It was a super special one for me being able to spend it out here on the mission. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ! Because of him we can have happiness and hope in this life and I am so grateful for that.

So on Christmas we went to the Israelsens family. That was super fun. There were 4 other families there as well and that was super fun because they were all really young families and it was super fun being with them all day. After I got done calling, I went down stairs and I heard one of the little kids yell, "He is coming!!" I was kind of confused but as I turned the corner I saw that about 10 people were waiting for me with some pretty intense nerf guns! I tried to hide behind this little kid that was about 3 years old but he wasn't the best shield... I got shot pretty good haha. It was pretty funny. After we played ping pong on this tiny table with tiny paddles. We had a tournament and in the first round I beat this Japanese lady so I was feeling pretty good. But in the next round I lost to Brother Israesen... I was sticking with him pretty well but halfway through he turned his hat around backwards... And I didn't stand a chance after that haha.

On Saturday we were able to teach the whole entire Clark family!! It was so awesome. Lamont, Sonja and Lester were all there. It made a huge difference teaching with Lester there. We talked about baptism and they said that whatever they did, they wanted to make sure that they did it as a family! That was really cool because Elder Taylor and I were going to invite them to do everything as a family. I ended up giving them the Book of Mormon that you sent me with all of your testimonies written in it. It was so cool because I was able to testify of how the Gospel has blessed our family so much! And they will be able to read your testimonies as well and I know that they will be able to feel of the spirit as they do so. 

So on Sunday we got a text from our mission President asking if he could meet with us before church. When we met with him he told us that I was going to be transferred out of the area when Elder Taylor goes home next week. That was super surprising news. I thought I was  going to be here for a lot longer since this is my first area. I am going to miss all the people that I have been able to meet. This part of Pittsburgh has really felt like home to me. They are going to be closing down our apartment so this next week we will have to be preparing it to be given back to the land lord. So that will be a huge project. My last week I wish I could be teaching instead of cleaning an apartment and getting rid of all the furniture and everything. But I know that it will all work out. 

The hard part for me is leaving my investigators. The missionaries that are replacing us are going to be working in the mission office all of the time and they won't even be living in our area. So I guess the sisters will be teaching them. I just hope that everything works out and nothing stops them from progressing. The Clark family and Craig are really coming a long right now and they have that desire to find the truth. But I read a scripture in D&C a while ago that I keep turning back to. It is D&C 123:17. that scripture has really helped me out and I know if that I have the faith, it will all work out.

I am so grateful for the mission. I KNOW that this church is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he loves each of us more then we could ever imagine. I have been thinking about how Jesus Christ was chosen in the Pre-Earth life to be our savior. He was chosen and he said he would give ALL of the glory to the Father. If he didn't get any glory, or fame then why did he do it? Why did he choose to come to earth and choose to suffer more then we could imagine and eventually die for us? It was all because Jesus Christ is our brother and he loves us. That is why he did what he did. I hope that all of us will stive to be more kind and show that love to others. I am so grateful for the examples that you all are!

Elder May

Hey everyone!

Can you believe that Christmas is this week!? I am really excited to be able to call home and talk to you! It is definitely weird having Christmas out here. I have really been able to focus so much more about Jesus Christ this year and that is something that I am super grateful for! I will probably keep this email shorter since i will be talking to you in a couple of days :)

Well this week has been super awesome! We have been so blessed out here and even though we are walking everywhere, we still are able to teach and meet the people that the Lord has prepared for us to meet. On Tuesday we went and knocked on the door of a family that we had helped move in a couple of months ago. Chi Chi answered the door and she let us in. We were able to show her he is the Gift and she loved it. We asked her when we could come back and she said on Thursday. Before we left she started talking about the Book of Mormon we had left her after we had helped mover her family in. She said that she loved it and that it was super powerful. I am way excited to go teach her again.

On Saturday Elder Taylor and I and the Sister Missionaries went caroling to a care center. It was a super special experience. Some of the people there started crying as we asked if we could sing a carol to them. It was cool to see and feel of the love that the Savior has for them. I was able to talk with so many of them and get to know them and they are so cool. One lady was saying that she knew me from Highschool or something. I'm guessing probably not since there is probably like a 70 year difference between us. But I didn't tell her that haha. I just had a good conversation with her on how she knew me. It was one of the coolest experiences that I have had and It definitely made this Christmas extra special.

Well I hope that you all will have an amazing Christmas and always remember why we celebrate it. Jesus Christ is truly the greatest gift of all. I know that because Heavenly Father loved us enough, we are able to feel of the happiness and peace and hope that can only come through the Atonemnet of Jesus Christ. Have a Merry CHRISTmas everybody.

Elder May

This has been a great week out here in Pittsburgh! I am not getting transferred either! I am going to be with Elder Taylor until he leaves in 3 weeks. I don't know what will happen then, but that doesn't matter. I am so grateful I get to stay in this awesome ward for christmas!  I think that the Lord is holding off on the snow until we get our car back haha. Well that's what I like to think at least! Today it is like 50 degrees! I'm not even wearing a jacket or anything! It has been awesome! And even when it is cold, we are walking up hills the size of Everest so we keep warm that way!

On Tuesday we walked to see our investigators that lived the furthest away. Once we got up there, we knocked on their doors, and they weren't home. It is hard because they never answer the phone so we have to try to catch them at home, and we don't have the best of luck. But it is okay, I know that if we  have the faith, it doesn't matter, all will work out. A huge miracle occurred! As we were waking back from one of our investigators house, we saw Neicey again! She is the one who came to the Halloween Party and loved everything about the church but we could never get in contact with her again. It was so crazy running into her because she was super far away form her house as well. She was so happy to see us and she kept saying how Whenever she is going through a hard time, we just seem to show up. We were able to pray with her and she said that she wanted us to keep in touch. That was a huge miracle and even though we weren't able to see any of our investigators, we were out there for a reason. It was awesome! And the miracles just kept coming after that. Before we began the long trek home to complete our 14 mile journey, we found a soda machine that sold soda's for 50 cents! I couldn't believe it! So many miracles haha.

On Thursday we were able to teach Sonja again! It was another awesome, spiritual lesson. We read 3 Nephi 11 with her and the spirit was awesome. We invited her and her family to be baptized. She said that she would pray about it and see. I want to be able to teach there whole family. We can never get them all there at the same time is the only problem. I know that they are prepared and teaching them as a family is what is going to help them progress. We will have to figure something out there! 

On Friday we were walking and we saw a former investigator that we have talked to a couple of times, changing his breaks. So we asked if we could help. It was pretty fun I thought changing breaks again. He was changing the back breaks though and that was a little tricky. But we figured it out after a while and he was super grateful for the help. He had been working on them for 4 days and he said that he wouldn't have been able to do it without our help. So far I have changed a ladies tire, and helped change breaks. So obviously all of my car problems back home were just preparing me for the mission! It was so funny, last week we were on a team up with a member and his car wouldn't start. It felt just like the good old ddays. The best part was that his door didn't open from the outside, so I had to reach over and open it for him, Just like my car. I loved it! So many good memories!

On Sunday we had a Stake Christmas Concert. Elder Taylor and I went up to sing the one song we knew, but after that everyone else stayed up and they started singing  a bunch of songs that we had never even heard before. So we kind of just stood up there and pretended like we knew what we were doing. It was pretty fun.

Well I just want all of you to know that I am loving it out here so much. I know everyone says this, but I love the people so much. I love everything about Pittsburgh and I know that this is where I am supposed to be serving. So if I don't come home in a couple of years, It is because I love it out here to much haha. Just kidding mom I'll come home!  But I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Nothing has brought me as much comfort and peace and happiness and hope as the knowledge of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and his church. I love you all. Have a great week.

Elder May

 

Elder Taylor and Elder May

Elder May holding a dead raccoon

Missionaries in the area

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone had a great week. So is there no snow yet in Utah either? It is crazy how late it is in the year and the weather that we are having. But I am grateful for it since Elder Taylor and I are really getting our walk on without the good old car.

This week has been pretty hard and it has required a lot of change on our part. We have to walk everywhere and our apartment isn't even in our area so we have to walk three miles to even get into our area. So we can't really go home during the day unless we get a ride from a member. We had to tie garbage sacks on out bags one day because we didn't have enough room for everything we needed to carry. But it has been kind of fun. We get to talk to a lot more people this way. I know that so many blessings can come from this experience if we just have the faith.

We had Zone conference on Tuesday which was pretty cool. We learned so much and we even got mentioned in the vehicle safety section! Now like everyone knows that we got in a wreck. Elder Taylor gave his departing testimony. I am really going to miss him when he leaves. I don't even know if I will be his companion after this week. But we will see how things turn out.

On Wednesday we walked about 9 miles to one of our area's and back. We were able to teach a Less Active member and then after we taught he asked if he could go on a team-up with us. That was awesome. So we taught him and then took him to teach someone else. That was a huge blessing right there! After we had gift cards to Olive Garden so we went to eat there and the Manager even gave us dessert for free! That day was just so full of miracles haha!

Friday was tough... We walked a total of 12 miles and it was raining the whole entire day. We were so exhausted by the end of the day, but that is a good thing as a missionary. The hard thing was that we walked all the way out there to see Amy and Craig and neither of them were home. So after that we had to just walk back. It was really dissapointing. We had such awesome lessons with both Amy and Craig and we haven't even been able to see them since. It is hard because I want to see them so badly and without a car we have to walk like 2 hours just to knock on there door whether or not they are even home. We will have to figure out something. I know the Lord has prepared both of them and it is hard not being able to see them. That night after we walked 11 miles, we were going to be late for a team up we had so we had to run from our apartment to the church in the rain and with all of our bags. So it was a pretty exhausting day.

Saturday we were so excited because we were going to teach the Clark Family who is Lamont, Lester, and Sonja. They are so cool and the other week we had the most spiritual restoration lesson with them. But we haven't been able to see them since either. They keep cancelling because work comes up, but they keep coming to church. It is so weird having them come to church and then not being able to teach them. We need to see them this week so that we can invite them to be baptized!!

I was reading in Ether 12 a couple of days ago and it talked about going through the trial of our faith. That really helped me this week because it has been pretty challenging, but i know that I just need to have faith in the Lord and work as hard as I possibly can and all will work out. I also like in chapter 12 how it talks about all the amazing things that happened because of their faith that they had. I know that we can do miracles according to our faith and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are with us every single step of the way. I know if I can work hard and be the missionary Heavelny Father wants me to be, we will be blessed. Have a great week

Elder May

Badminton Thursdays live on!

Just a lonely vagabond

Hey Everyone!! 

I hope that everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving, and didn't miss me too much! Well I have like zero minutes to write. Apparently we are getting picked up really soon!

So Thanksgiving was great! We played football in the morning and  then we had dinner at the Rossignoli's house! We actually ended up playing Badminton in there living room! That was really fun! 

On Saturday we got in a car wreck! We are both fine, are car isn't too good though. So we have to walk every where now. Which isn't to bad but our apartment isn't even in our area. We have to walk an hour to get into our area. So we have to tie plastic sacks onto our bags because so we can hold everything thing we need to get through the day. It is actually kind of funny. I will send you a picture when I can.

I know that this week will be a challenge but I know that it can also be one of the best weeks as well. We will have to have lots of faith and work harder then we ever have before. And I know that the Lord will provide a way. Oh by the way, I wasn't driving. 

Sunday was amazing! Lester and Sonja came to church and we weren't even able to see them this week with the whole car situation! I am so grateful for everything the Lord does for us.

I hope that everyone has a great week! Sorry for the short email!

Elder May