Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope everyone's Christmas was awesome and that you enjoyed being around your families! It was awesome out here getting to skype with my family and to see all of them again. They are the best! We also enjoyed a nice 60 degree weather day as well. This week was awesome. We went caroling at some more senior centers the first couple days of the week. It is really heartwarming to see how much us coming and taking the time to be there means to them. I have noticed how much happier I am when I have taken the time to stop thinking about myself and focus on the needs of others. We were able to teach Dan and Peg this week. He is going through so many emotional challenges right now. They both are some of the most generous and Christlike people I have met before. We taught about repentance and how through baptism and through the savior we can be made completely clean once more. We can be new creatures through Christ. I love testifying of that because I have truly seen that in my own life and I know it to be true. We invited them to be baptized and they said that they would. I love being a missionary and I love this work. Above all else I love the Savior. I am grateful for Christmas and the time we have to remember him. I know he lives and he can offer, repair, and heal what no one else can. Have a great week everyone!

Hey,

Yeah I got your package yesterday I think! Do you know how hard it is to wait until Christmas to open everything?? I almost did but I figured your mom senses would have gone off if I did open them early haha. Is the air abuzz with Christmas spirit over there? Parker and I will be switching spots next Christmas! That is pretty weird to think about. Things are going great out here. We went caroling in downtown Pittsburgh this week! That was really cool. We sang on the trains, at the ice skating rink with the mega tree and we also went to a lot of nursing homes. That is one of my favorite things to do. It means the whole world to them for someone to come and spend some time with them. So Lindsey is coming out east huh? Well she is going to love it! Hopefully Sherie will be able to handle it haha. How is Alex doing these days? So for Skype we can do it on our iPads so we can really do it anytime. My companions family is trying to do it around 2:00 our time so if that works we can try then. Since we have iPads I am allowed to check my emails throughout the week, just not respond, so just let me know if that works, love you! I will talk to you in 4 days!

Can I just say how awesome the weather has been out here!! It hit 70 degrees a couple of times this week! We were driving with the windows rolled down and everything! It is weird preparing for Christmas when it is this kind of weather but we will take it! This week Elder Wilkins and I set a goal of listening to promptings and then acting on them. On Tuesday night a couple of our plans fell through so we were looking through some of our back up plans to see who we should go see. We both felt like we needed to go stop by an investigator that we haven't been able to get in contact with for quite some time. When we got to her house we saw a lady down the street sitting on her porch so we decided to go and talk to her. We showed her the new Christmas video and she really liked it! She said to come over again so we could see her again! After that conversation it was 8:40 and we still hadn't tried the investigator we had planned to go and see. It was getting late and we had a little bit of a drive back but we felt like we needed to try her! When we knocked on her door she was happy to see us. She said she has been praying and us coming over was an answer to her prayers. She had been going through some pretty hard times and she said she felt so much better when we came over. We set up an appointment with her for the next day and she told us that we better make sure to be there haha. That is one of the greatest feelings as a missionary. I love when you and your companion feel prompted to do something and when you act on that prompting you understand why! I know God loves every single one of us. If we can humble ourselves and turn our will over to His, we will be able live our lives to the fullest and accomplish all the things he has in store for us. I love Alma 5:14 "Have you received his image in your countenance?" When people look at us do they see a light? As we strive to do the best we can and humble ourselves, we can truly receive his image in our countenances and others will recognize that. Thank you for all he support!

Like always this was another great week here in Pittsburgh! The best part has been the weather! It looks like we are going to be having a 67 degree weather day coming up here! I am definitely complaining. The longer that we can go with warm weather the better haha.

On Monday my companion and I got to play tennis! It was super fun! There is a court really close to our house so we were able to go and play as long as we wanted. I had to use a pink racket but it had some serious power haha.

We were able to teach a lot of our investigators again this week! Alex ( the one from the Congo) was able to make it to church on Sunday. We got him a Swahili Book of Mormon and he said that he is going to share it with his whole family. He is awesome! As we were walking down the street we met a lady and began talking to her. Apparently she had missionaries come by in the past and she wanted us to come by and see her again! We set up a time and then she asked us what our favorite kind of cookie was. She told us when we came by on Thursday she would have 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies cooked up for us!!! That is a lot of cookies, maybe we can find someone to share them with! The only problem is when people think that Elders made the food, they tend not to eat it haha!

I was thinking a lot this week about the Holy Ghost and how we are promised that we may Always have his spirit to be with us. As missionaries we pray for the spirit all the time in everything that we do. But I was thinking, how often do I actually stop and take the time to listen to the still, small, subtle promptings that do come from the spirit... And I don't think it is very much. Sometimes I feel like I am not receiving guidance from the spirit, but am I actually taking the time to try and listen? We are all promised that we may have His spirit to be with us, maybe we just need to take sometime to listen to it! Thank you for all the support. Try not to freeze out there! Maybe I will pull out the short sleeve shirts again for this week!

Elder May

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We had an awesome turkey bowl and I got to have thanksgiving with the same family that I did last year! This was such an awesome week! Awesome things are happening over here in Pittsburgh! The ward is still awesome and we have been blessed to teach people this week who are ready to come to Christ. There is a man in our ward named Brother Tarr and he moved to America from Liberia. He has been bringing one of his friends to church named Alex who is from the Congo. He doesn't speak too much English but we can understand him pretty well and he understands us for the most part. But we were able to teach him and Brother Tarr came with us. Brother Tarr was able to explain things to him that really helped him understand. As we were talking about the apostasy he talked about how in Africa there were so many churches that were trying to tell him that they were right. He explained how he just wanted to know which church was true! Well we could definitely answer that question for him! He agreed to be baptized as well! It was awesome. We also were able to go teach a less active couple. She has been wanting to come to church for a little bit now but he has been really resentful towards the church. We saw them this week and invited them to church and they came on Sunday! After church they were talking to everyone and we're having a good time, they even said that they would come next week! Being a missionary is awesome and I love it! Thank you for all the support!

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a great week! This week has honestly probably been the best week of my mission! I was able to get my new companion this week. His name is Elder Wilkins and he has a whole week under his belt now haha. He is such a solid missionary already and I am excited for this chance to serve with him, I know I will learn a lot from him. He is from Saratoga Springs. It has been so amazing being able to come back to my first area and see the people in this ward who I love so much! Especially because you never know when, or if ever, you will get the chance to see them again. It has truly been a special blessing of my mission. We were able to see a lot of people this week and some former investigators that Elder Taylor and I were able to teach. One of them was the Clark family. They are some of the most loving Christ like people I have ever met. We had an awesome lesson on the atonement of Christ and how he is a source of light in the dark world we live. I love testifying of Christ and all that he has done for us. After one lesson we had with an investigator we went to get in the car and it wasn't working right. The check engine light was on and it had no power when we would try to get up the hills out here. So we pulled over and checked under the hood for anything but we couldn't see anything wrong with it. Elder Wilkins suggested that we pray. So he said a prayer and we went on our way. We went to teach someone else and when we got back in the car the check engine light was gone and it was running perfectly. It was so cool and very humbling. That was Elder Wilkins first idea of what we should do and we were able to see a miracle happen because of it. To end off the week we had a stake priesthood meeting. It was a stake meeting so that meant some people from Wheeling were going to be there as well! Tons of people from Wheeling were there as well including Josh, one of the people we were able to teach when we were there. He has gone to the temple, received his patriarchal blessing and is working on getting the Melchizedek priesthood! What makes a mission special is the people you meet and the way that they change your life. It was a blessing to see all these people who have made my mission what it is. I am eternally grateful for the people I have met and for my mission. I have never been more truly happy in my life then I have been this last year. Thank you for all that you do. Have a great week everyone.
Elder May

Man what a crazy week!! I have been in York, PA for about 6 months now! On Saturday I got a call from President Johnson that I would be getting transferred. The awesome part is that I am going back to Pittsburgh serving in the 6th ward. That is the same area that I spent the first 3 months of my mission now I get to go back!! I am so excited about it. I was just thinking the other day that I hoped I would get to serve there again at some point of my mission! The funny thing is I will be spending both of my Thanksgivings and Christmas in the same area. I am so grateful to be serving there again and I can't wait to go and serve the Lord with everything that I have.

This week was great. We were able to see a lot and teach a lot of people. The biggest blessing of this area has been the Grove family and Brother Hollinger. None of them have been to church in years, but they all have recently started coming back to church. It makes everything so worth it when you see the people you love choose to follow the Savior and to renew their covenants with Him. As they do so I have noticed a different light about them that wasn't there before. They are so much happier and optimistic about the things in their life. It is such a testimony builder to me of the truthfulness of this Gospel. I think of Matthew 7:20, "Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them."

I know that this church and Christ's Gospel is true. I know because of the happiness that I feel as I do my best to do as the Savior would do and live and serve the way he expects. And it has been amazing to see as a missionary that no matter what you have done, there is a way for anyone to come back and to feel of that love and joy again. Thank you for all the support out here. Pittsburgh here I come.

Elder May

Hey everyone!

It was an awesome week here in York! This week we had a couple of days that got into the mid 70's! I couldn't believe that it was November with such warm weather. Hopefully that means we are in for a mild winter. I wouldn't mind that haha. We had an awesome lesson with Eman and David this week. They are a young family from Egypt. They have 3 kids who are triplets! That's pretty cool. I’ve never seen triplets before. They are an awesome family who want to grow closer to Jesus Christ and we are able to go in and have an awesome lesson about his atonement and that peace that we are able to feel because of that. I don't know what it is but we have a knack for finding all the Egyptians out here. They are very sincere and I am excited to teach them. On Friday and Saturday we had meetings all day long in Harrisburg. There were about 20 missionaries there, and in between our meetings all the missionaries would go to downtown Harrisburg and talk to people. It was so fun and super cool to see all these missionaries going out there and finding people to teach. The missionaries in the Harrisburg area are probably super grateful for all the new people that they have to teach ha ha. On Sunday the Grove family came to church again. It is so awesome seeing that family come to church together. We were sitting behind them and I was filled with so much happiness seeing their family there together, and you could see the happiness that they had as well. I love being a missionary. I love seeing others come unto Christ and feel peace and comfort they haven't felt in a long time. The church is true and I know that we are led by a prophet of God today. Thank you for all of the support.

Hey Everyone!! Well it is officially getting cold out here, I even had to pull the wool socks this week! Pennsylvania is so beautiful this time of year though. We were able to go on a hike last week and I think we caught the leaves in their prime. I am so grateful to be here, I definitely know that Pennsylvania is where I need to be at this time.

This week was great! On Tuesday was our ward Halloween Party. Our investigator Domonic was there and he brought his Grandma and his Cousin as well! They really enjoyed themselves so that was great. It was fun seeing all the kids in their costumes and how proud  they we're of them haha. Towards the end all of the Elsa's, which there were a lot of, got on he stage and sang "Let it go". It was pretty funny, especially when all the little boys got up with them and started singing louder than all of the girls.

We talked to a lady named Eman Saed this week. She just recently moved here from Egypt with her family. I don't know what it is but, we just have a knack for finding all of the Egyptians out here. We only have so many Arabic Book of Mormons haha. But she wants is to come over and to teach her family, we are excited, it is going to be awesome. This Sunday a less active lady named Julia Grove that missionaries have been working with forever came to church!! I was so happy to see her there a long with her Sister. That is what makes everything worth it as a missionary. Just one person accepting what you teach brings so much joy. I don't care how many people reject as long as we can help just that one person. 

I found a quote his week that I really love. It is by David O. McKay and it says:

What is the crowning glory of man in this earth so far as his individual achievement is concerned? It is character--character developed through obedience to the laws of life as revealed through the gospel of Jesus Christ, who came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Man’s chief concern in life should not be the acquiring of gold, or of fame, or of material possessions. It should not be the development of physical prowess, nor of intellectual strength, but his aim, the highest in life, should be the development of a Christ-like character. 

I love that quote. Is that what we are striving for and becoming through our actions? I love the Savior and I know that he has made it possible for us to be like him. We will have a light about us that people will notice and want to be around. We will start to think about others over ourselves and we will find that we are truly happy and at peace. I know that is true. Thank you for all that you guys do. 

Elder May                                                                      

This was an awesome week! I had the opportunity to go on an exchange in an area where they use bikes! Believe it or not that was the first time I have ridden a bike in over a year! I was a little bit rusty at first but before long I was doing back flips off all the jumps we went on! Okay maybe I didn't do any back flips, and there weren't any jumps there in the city but it was super fun anyway. We had the opportunity to do some more service with our investigator Fran. She is one of my favorite people! She always has these hats picked out for us to wear every time we go over there to do some yard work. This time we mowed her lawn and we also had Sister Rosengrant come with us to help meet Fran and to fellowship her. It's been cool to see how our relationship has grown with her as we have been doing service with her. I know that Service truly softens hearts and hopefully Fran will decide to start taking the lessons from us again. We had a really cool experience this week! We were teaching an investigator named Nicole a while back. She was super cool and she said that she would be baptized. Well after that we weren't able to get in contact with her again. We tried stopping by a couple of times with no success. One time we went there and some guy slammed the door in our faces. So I figured that was the last we would see of her. But Elder Mills one night felt prompted to try and see her again. I thought he was crazy because we got the door slammed in our face last time but we went and tried again anyway. Well we got there and she was home! She had been in New Jersey or something for a month so that is why we weren't able to see her. We asked her how her Book of Mormon reading had been going and she said that she hadn't been able to read it. But that was because her husband had taken it on a road trip to Maine to read. She told us a spiritual experience she had while reading it and how she was willing to learn and that her husband was open as well. I am grateful that Elder Mills was willing to listen to the prompting that he received. We would not have had the awesome experience we did if he hadn't listened. I have a testimony that we are put in companionships for a reason, I am definitely grateful for all of my companions. I have seriously lucked out, all of my companions have been awesome! I am grateful to be out here. I know that this work is true and that Christ is the one leading and guiding it. I am truly grateful for the Savior. I am grateful for the true peace and joy that I feel through him. I am grateful for hope. That is one of my favorite words. I know that even I can have this hope through Him. Thank you for all that you do and for the support.
Elder May

Elder Mills, Fran, Elder May

Elder May

Python Skin

Hey everyone!! This has been another great week! On Monday we got to play tennis which was super fun. I thought I even played pretty well! It helped that the people I was playing against had never played tennis before haha. 

The highlight of this week was probably our lesson with the Grove family. Usually the lessons are really distracted and are hard to keep on track. But this lesson ended up going well and everyone was focused. We all felt the spirit very strongly was we talked about Christ being the light in our lives. The Groves haven't been to church in years and Sunday they we at church!! They were probably weirded out when they saw me because as soon as they walked in I had the biggest smile on my face. I don't care, I was so happy haha.

We also we able to go see Bernice again this week. She had some questions on whether or not President Monson was a prophet so we showed her one of his talks from General Conference. She started crying during and she said she didn't know how to say how she felt. She said that she felt that he was a prophet of God. It was awesome! She has been progressing very well.

Well I am very grateful to be a missionary. I have never regretted being out here. Something that I have been thinking about a lot lately is my relationship with the Savior. I am learning more and more that my relationship with him is more important than anything else. In the moments out here when I have felt discouraged or alone, I have had some of the most intimate and personal experiences on my knees. I know the Savior lives. I have felt it over and over again. I hope to know him more personally throughout my mission and the rest of my life. Thank you for all the support.

This week was awesome. We had a lot of meetings this week with Stake conference going on and everything. We had an awesome lesson with Bernice though. She really wanted to watch general conference but she was really sick so she couldn't make it. We showed her President Monson's talk from priesthood session. Afterwards she was crying and she said she knew that he was called of God. She said that she would pray to know for sure if he is a prophet. I am so grateful to have a prophet on the earth today. It truly shows his love for us. Thank you for all that you guys do!

So how awesome was General Conference!?? I loved it so much and I was able to learn so much. And can I say how much Elder Holland made me miss my mom! Man she is the best and I can't wait to see her again. Even though I have gotten really good at cooking my hot dogs in the microwave I can't wait for one of her meals again. I really love her :) I am grateful for prophets and apostles that lead and guide us. I felt so strongly that these men are called of God and I sustain them with all of my heart. This week was great! We were doing service for Fran, the one with the donkeys, and she said that she was looking through some her husband’s old stuff and she found out that he was baptized a member of the church a year or two before they got married and never told her. He had pictures of his baptism, his priesthood ordination certificate and everything! She loved her husband so much and now she is thinking about being baptized. It was so cool to see how the Lord waits until people are prepared. We have been doing service for her for a long time and she was ready that day. She watched general conference and everything. I am grateful for the gospel truths that we have of eternal families and I know as we teach her about that the Holy Ghost will touch her heart and she will know it is true. We also had a very humbling experience this week. We were doing service for one of our investigators and she found out that she had stage 6 cirrhosis of the liver... She doesn't drink or anything like that, it is just failing on her. She is not qualified for a transplant because she has had cancer in the past. She told us that she doesn't know what is going to happen in her life now. She told us she was grateful that she got to meet us and that we made a difference in her life. How do you respond to that? What do you tell someone to comfort them when they are going through that kind of pain? We testified of Christ and his infinite love, atonement and sacrifice. That is the source of all hope no matter what anyone is going through. It made me realize how important of a job we are called to do. We are Jesus Christ’s representatives to lift up the broken hearted and to comfort others the way he would. I know how inadequate we are to do this work but he will strengthen us and use us because he loves his children. This gospel is true and is an unfailing source of hope to everyone. Look around you, who can the savior bless by using you. I know the lord can use us to make a difference in someone else's life. I have seen it and am so grateful for this experience. Thank you for all the support you give to me! Have a great week!

P.S. The missionaries went to the trampoline park today, it was awesome! I even
learned how to do a backflip! Next step, doing one on the ground, I
will keep you informed haha.

Missionaries at the trampoline park

Hey everyone! This week has been great! Last Monday we played a lot of basketball which was nice to do that again. Afterwards we went to Chipotle and one of our investigators, Kimberly, was working there. She hooked us up with some free burritos and drinks! That's when you know that they are truly prepared to hear the Gospel haha Tuesday we were able to do a lot of service. We helped a member load up a trailer with a lot of the stuff he had and then afterwards we want and helped Mari do some yard work. She had us trimming raspberry bushes. These things hadn't been trimmed in years so they were monsters. To get everything we had to climb into the middle of them. And apparently raspberry bushes have thorns haha. Lesson learned, don't wear shorts and a short sleeved shirt to trim raspberry bushes. But I know that service is really an awesome way to soften somebody's heart. We taught her the restoration afterward and she was super open and receptive. Hopefully she will read and pray about the Book of Mormon.

A highlight of this week was going to see Bernice. When we went to see her, her whole countenance had changed. She told us she was sick of feeling the way that she felt and that she was ready to do whatever it took to finally be truly happy. That is a huge step for Bernice. She said she was done with Satan trying to try to tell her not to do what we were asking her to, she wanted to be choosing for herself. So we invited her to a baptism the Spanish branch was having on Saturday. Well Saturday rolled around and she came! Even thought the whole thing was in Spanish, I am really starting to think I need to learn Spanish, she said she felt the spirit so strongly and afterwards she told us we better have a ride for her to get to church! These are such huge steps for Bernice and I hope that she continues with this same determination. We also did some service for Fran again. We mowed her lawn and did some yard work and while we were pulling weeds together, she told me that she was looking through some old papers from her husband who died over a year ago and she found out that he had been a member of this church and that he had never told her. She said that she was thinking about joining the church now! It is so amazing how the Savior will lead people to certain things in their lives when they are ready for it. I hope that she does get baptized because I know of the happiness that it will bring to her in this life. I can see how happy she would be as she is in the temple getting sealed to her husband. That is what this Gospel is about. It is about having true joy and happiness in this life. That is one of the purposes of our Heavenly Father. For us to be as happy as we can in this life and in eternity. I am grateful for a savior that makes it all possible. Thank you for all of your support and I hope you have a great week!

Berniece's Son

Hey everyone! This week was a great week! On Monday we went to the York County fairs 250th anniversary. It was really cool and really fun. They had this petting zoo thing where you could come and see pigs and cows and horses. Everyone thought it was super cool, but I just remembered chasing them out of my yard all the time haha. I guess I wasn't as into them as everyone else was haha. We had the Patterson  family invite us over for dinner along with one of their neighbors who is a non-member. We had a great dinner with him and talked about family history. All this talk about family history made me wish that I actually knew how to do it haha. We had an awesome message about Christ from reading scriptures in the Book of Mormon. You could tell that it hit him. He has been coming to the Family History center to do his work now so that is awesome.

On Wednesday I was on an exchange with Elder Garduno who is a Spanish missionary. We spent the day teaching in all Spanish. I am still waiting for my 8th grade spanish to kick in.... I actually told someone "Si" in a lesson and I realized that was the extent of my Spanish knowledge haha. It was always awkward when someone knows you don't speak Spanish so they look at you and start saying things about you. Apparently one lady thought I looked like a little baby and just started talking about that haha. 

On Friday we had Elder Stanfill from the Seventy come and talk to us. He is an amazing man and is truly called of God. But he talked about how the Savior suffered for each of us as individuals. It wasn't just a blanket atonement. It was a personal, individual atonement. He not only suffered for our sins so that we can be forgiven, which I am eternally grateful for, but he suffered our pains, sicknesses, sadness, disappointments, everything, individually! He knows us perfectly because he felt everything. And I believe that we all were there with the Savior, that we each had our own personal moment with him while he was suffering for us. I am so grateful for him and to be able to serve him. I am grateful that I can be happy because of him and I have never been more happy in my life. Thank you for all of the support! Life is truly good.

                                         

Elder May

Hey everyone! This has been such a good week! I hit my one year mark this week!! I can't believe it. One year down and one year to go! Also We picked up a new investigator this week named Tim. He is so cool and so prepared. He was sitting on his porch and so we decided to go talk to him. When we were talking to him he was like ,"So, do you guys believe that there are prophets on the earth today, not very many people believe that anymore."

Well he didn't know how good of a question that was and we were more than happy to answer haha. He really opened up to us. He is excited to come to church and to hear what we have to teach him. I love this work, Heavenly Father is so involved in all that we do.

So we had a pretty embarrassing experience this week. We were out walking and this super nice lady started talking to us. She was super cool so Elder Mills and I were all excited to start telling her about the restoration and what we do as missionaries. As we started talking to her about what we do she said that she was already a member of the church.... I was hoping that it was for a different ward but nope, she has been at church every single week I have been there. I told her that she got our hopes up, we were getting ready to baptize her and everything haha. But she gave us an apple and water so it was pretty cool.

We had a really humbling experience this week. We went to go see one of our investigators with a member but I guess she forgot and she was asleep. We were standing out by our car deciding who would should go see when her daughter came walking home. We asked if we could show her a video real quick and she was okay with it. We showed her a Mormon message and after she just broke down. She has had a drug problem and she had gone to jail for it in the past and tonight she was being really tempted to do it again. She said that as she was making the decision and trying to resist the temptation when she saw us standing there it was an answer to her prayers. If she would have relapsed she would have had her kids taken away and gone back to jail. I was just thinking about the impact we might of just had on this family. What if we hadn't been there? I don't think we know how much of an impact we can have on people’s lives out here. I know that it is not us but the spirit of God that they are able to feel as we testify of Christ. I know that God is in charge out here and he will guide us to where we need to be. I am humbled that I am out here and able to be a part of this work. Thank you for all of the support. 

Elder May

This week has been great! Life is going great in York Pennsylvania. We have been teaching a new investigator named Nicole! She is super cool. We talked to her on her porch and taught her the restoration. We gave her a Book of Mormon and the next time we went over she had actually
read out of it!! She had some really good questions and we were able to answer those for her. The best part was that she agreed to be baptized! I am so grateful to be apart of this work where we are able to see all these happen. Thursday as we were planning we had the impression that we needed to
go by and see one of the active families in our ward. As we went to see them the next day they expressed how grateful they were to have us over and that we showed up right when they needed it. We talked to them for a little bit and they invited us over for dinner. So a couple of hours later went over for dinner and one of their really good friends , who is also one of our investigators was also there. We hadn't been able to see him for a really long time so it was awesome to have him there. After dinner we had a lesson on the Book of Mormon. It was so great to have a family there who had seen the blessings of this gospel in their lives be able to to testify to Barry of its truthfulness. I am grateful for the testimonies that we have all been blessed with. It is what we are able to hold onto when those hard times come. I love in Helaman 5 how many times it says the word remember. Satan tries to get us to forget the spiritual experiences that we have had. But if we remember those moments when the Holy Ghost has born testimony to us of truth, that is something that we cannot deny. I love being a missionary and I love Pennsylvania, even though I haven't stopped sweating all summer Haha. Thank you for all of the support that you give.

Well this has been a crazy week here. Elder Liston got transferred and now I am serving here with Elder Mills. He is super awesome. He is from Bakersfield, CA. He has been out for 8 months now. He is super energetic and a great missionary so I am excited to be serving with him.

We picked up a new investigator named Nicole this week. She was sitting on her porch so we went and talked to her. She is super cool and really open to what he have to teach. She said in made so much sense that God would still talk to his children and still call prophets for us today. She was super excited to read the Book of Mormon and we will be seeing her again this week. We have been able have so many experiences of being able to see Heavenly Father put people in our path to talk to. I have seen that if stop and actually look we can see so many moments where Heavenly Father is a part of our lives. No matter how big or small it may be. I was grateful for this when Thursday rolled around... 

So Thursday was probably one of the craziest days of my mission. So we have had a clogged drain in our kitchen for a while now and we have tried everything to get it out. We finally thought we had it fixed when we got a snake and pulled out a huge glob of gross stuff. But we tried doing the dishes right after and it was still clogged. Well while we were studying we hear this gurgling noise coming from the sink. We were pretty sure that sinks didn't make that sound so we went in to check it out. When we looked in the sink was filling up with with dark brown moldy water(we had no water running in the house)!! It stopped right at the top of the sink so Elder Mills and I started scooping out the water with cups, dumped it in buckets and then we would dump it outside. We were making really good progress but then it came back with a vengeance. Water started filling up the sink at a rapid pace. Elder Mills and I were scooping as fast as we could, but it was all in vain. The water filled up over the sink and poured all over our kitchen floor. So our land lord called a plumber and now it is all good. Later on Elder Mills ripped two pairs of pants and a dog peed on my shoe. But the awesome thing was throughout the day we met a couple people who were prepared to be taught at this time. Miracles happen every day, even on our worst ones. He is a part of everything we do and loves us more then we could ever know. I am grateful for the hope that I have and will always have because of the love of Jesus Christ. I know He lives. Have a great week everyone, and if your sink gurgles on you, grab the biggest bucket you can find.

So transfers is this week and I will be staying here in York but Elder Liston will be leaving.... I am going to miss him so much. He has been one of the best examples to me and one of the best friends I have had! He is going to do great things wherever he ends up!

This week has been an awesome one to end this transfer on. Monday we went golfing and that was so fun to be able to go again. We actually did pretty good! We almost got par one time haha. 

We got a new investigator this week named Joanna. She is from Greece and is super cool. We had breakfast with her and we talked about what we believed and gave her a Book of Mormon. She was super excited to read it and even kept on hugging it! I am excited to meet with her again and see if she has been reading and praying about it. 

We also met with Domonic again this week. He came to church last sunday so we were talking to him about the experience that he had. He said it was awesome! He said, "You know that warm peaceful feeling that you guys always talk about? Well I felt that at church for the very first time in my life!" That was so cool and he it great to see that he is feeling the spirit and now he knows what it feels like so he can continue to look for that as he reads and prays about the Book of Mormon.

It is so cool to God playing apart in his life as he is trying to grow closer to him. The mission has really testified to me of God's love. It is always there for us even if we don't feel we deserve it. I know greater happiness awaits us as we fully embrace this Gospel and act on the things that we know to be true. It isn't enough to believe, we need to be motivated by Christ and all that he has done for us. To have our greatest desire to be to live with him someday and to help bring as many people as we can. Have a great week everyone! 

Elder May

Hey Everyone!

This has been another great week out here in York. I am loving it out here with Elder Liston. He is such a great companion, I am definitely grateful to be serving with him. We were able to do a lot of service this week. On Friday we helped Mari with some more yard work. She has had some pretty difficult health problems this past year and she has been receiving citations from the city for her yard so she has had to be out working in the sun with her health problems. Elder Liston and I saw her out working one day and we asked if we could help. It has been awesome as we have been helping her out how much we have gotten to know her. We have a special relationship with her and I know that is because of service. As we were talking to her we ended up figuring out that she thought we were Jehova's Witnesses. We told her that we were actually Mormon and her response was so funny. She was like, "Oh what a relief, just your everyday Mormon's." Haha I have never gotten that response from someone when they have found out that we were Mormon's! But we gave her a Book of Mormon to read and she is super open to reading it. We had an awesome training on the Book of Mormon this week and it has reaffirmed my testimony of it. I know that it is true and that it is the word of God, and that all who read it will come to know of it's truth if they read with a sincere heart and real intent. That is so reassuring to know that whoever does those things will receive an answer. I am grateful for the power of the Book of Mormon. So many blessings will come as we read from it's pages. We will feel closer to Christ and we will feel of the peace and hope that come from a knowledge of his Atonement. Thank you for all of the support!

Elder May

Hey Everyone! Every week out here is awesome but this week was especially awesome. So it started out by being able to go to the D.C Temple! One of the people that Elder Hoyt and I were able to teach in Wheeling got baptized. His name is Jasper and he is such a great example to me. Jasper moved to Maryland while we were teaching him and after that I thought that would be the last I heard of him. But after I got transferred I got a call from the Elder's in Wheeling saying that Jasper had called them because he wanted to let Elder Hoyt and I know that after he had moved he had gotten baptized!! I called Jasper and he said that he was doing great and that he was the most happy he had been before. He said that he was planning on going to the temple that upcoming week! So we called our mission president and he said that Elder Liston and I would be able to go with him as long as we got a member to take us!!

Meeting at the temple was so amazing. I saw him walking over to us and he looked like a different person. He seemed so much happier and at peace, he had a different light about him and I know that was the Holy Ghost. Going to the temple is amazing, but going with someone that we had been able to teach and who was going for the very first time was different. I was so overcome with gratitude in the temple. The last time I had seen Jasper he had some concerns about this church and now I was sitting next to him in the temple! That was a miracle to me. It was also a testimony to me of how much Christ is apart of this work that we do and how much he loves us personally, how much he loved Jasper personally and how happy he was to have Jasper making the covenants he needed to return to live with him again. I learn more and more every day how much this life isn't about us. It is about turning away from ourselves and looking to help our Fathers children, and that is when we feel the most joy, peace and fulfillment in our lives.

After the temple the day just kept on getting better! We stopped at this place called HipHop Chicken. While we were there I ran into someone who I thought looked familiar... It was Elder Spence Lawrence!! Just kidding it wasn't an accident that we were both there haha. On the way home from the temple I would be going through his mission so we both talked to our mission president's and they said it would be okay if we got some lunch together! It was so great getting to talk to him again. I never thought I would be able to see one of my best friends while I was out on my mission. It was great talking to him about everything! I think the coolest part was that we both didn't skip a beat when we saw each other, it was just like old times, but at the same time we both have changed a lot for the better. While we were eating Spencer started talking to a lady about the church and asked if some missionaries would be able to go over and teach her sometime. I really look up to him and it was cool to see that my friends and I were out doing the same thing no matter where we are in the world. That right now our whole purpose was to invite others to come unto Christ. I am so grateful for all of them and the examples they are to me.

The week ended with a trip down to Pittsburgh for some meetings. We had a great time and received some awesome training about the Book of Mormon. I strengthened my conviction and desire to share it with everyone. After the training we were able to go on a hike for the rest of  the night! On Sunday I was able to give a talk and I never thought I would say this, but I wished I had more time up there haha. I love the mission and I love being out here. This has been the best times of my life and I am grateful for all that I have learned. Have a great week, thank you for all the support!

Elder May and his good friend Elder Lawrence

Elder May and Jasper

Elder May and Elder Liston