You just have to soldier on and serve, it's about overcoming trials.

These two...no words really...

Howdy y'all!

Been another week.  Better in some aspects, but still a tough week.  We're surviving though.

Tuesday was a good district meeting.  We exchanged and I went with Elder Asay. I went to Hot Springs and it was full of service.  We helped move some furniture for a members parents.  They aren't LDS, but they were very kind! The members I think were actually from Missouri!  Super nice people!  My wrist got tore up from a cabinet, but I'm alive.  Next we went to rake leaves for the David's.  Oh how I love the David's!  I didn't have it on Tuesday, but Sister David makes the best cheesecake hands down.  After raking, we went and visited Sister Gibbs.  That was great.  We helped exercise her dog so they would sleep and not bother Sister Gibbs at night.  It was great to see her again!  She looks so much happier and upbeat now that she's fully active!

I do what I want.

Wednesday we exchanged back and as I got out of the car, I recognized something about Elder Barney (who was with Elder Miller) but couldn't tell until I got closer.  The dude was wearing my Donald Trump tie!  And as we were about to leave, he gave me back one of my watches!  So of course, I had to give him the good ole pat down to ensure he didn't thief anything else from me.  Little ruffian.  We did service at the CADC again.  Sister Crow took us out and we saw Sister Hill and found out we might be able to start teaching her son.  He is 8, so it's not a convert baptism, but she is a convert and he hasn't ever been to church, so hopefully this will help get her active again! We then drove to see Sister Jacobs, who is very fond of Elder Miller.  After visiting with her, we went out to Sister O'Neal's.  Boy is she a hoot.  She told me she is going to take and burn all of my journals at include her cause I write down all of the funny stories she tell us.  To be fair, she writes about us too, so I call it even.  She wants us to come over for dinner on Wednesday and have Elder Miller talk only, cause he's "too quiet."  It's a shame though because we are exchanging on Wednesday so I will be with Elder Barney....oh well, more pizza for us.  While there, she was telling us of how much she loved having us over and told us (without knowing of past weeks) that we should know that if we don't baptize anyone or see success, that we can know thaws uplift her weekly and that we have a profound impact on "sweet old ladies like [her]."  So that was a refreshing thing to hear with recent events.  After we left her, we tried to see the Hearns, but they weren't home.  We had ourselves some dinner and called it quits for the night.

Ray Stevens comes to mind...

Thursday was tough.  We painted the Luttrell's bedroom for a good few hours and had lunch at their place.  After that we had to rush home and change to get to an appointment, at which, we found the Bible referral we had was a 17 or so year old girl alone with her 2 siblings (no older than 7).  So needless to say, we gave them he Bible and we were quick to leave.  Sadly, though, we failed to ask when her dad was home to see if we could teach them all.  We'll probably go back next week to see how they like the Bible or something.  After that, we left to the flea market to look for people to teach and a new journal because I have filled my 2 and need a new one.  No one talked with us and we left empty handed with no journal or investigators.  We met a guy on our home teaching list at McDonald's and talked with him for a good hour or so outside on the chairs. We got to know the guy more and he got to know us and he has some service for us to do at his place soon.  It would have been a great visit, which is was, but there were some high school kids that were swearing up a storm and being super annoying right next to us.  Frankly, I was more annoyed at the fact they were spending their spring break at a McDonald's in Glenwood.  But we had a good visit and went home.

Dogs love Elder Adair.

Friday we weekly planned for FOREVER.  But we planned out some great things for next week and we hope to have a lot more success.  We went over what we need to do to find and teach because our teaching pool is non existent right now.  So lots of walking next week.  To rest our brains, we headed to Hot Springs for volleyball.  We invited so many people, but no one from Glenwood came.  So we played with the Nasili family and the Stevens and a few others.  It was great to see my seconds family again.  Oh how I missed them.

Saturday we went out to contact a bunch of formers and potential to no avail.  No was was home.  Literally not one on a Saturday.  We decided to do some finding in a trailer park we found.  Well, literally every single trailer, and I mean literally every one, was a Latino family who couldn't speak a lick of English.  I tried in my broken Spanglish to make something work, but nothing did.  We went walking after going to the church for a bit and talked to a few people, but no one was interested.  One of our potentials walked to the window, looked out and made eye contact, and walked away.  So yeah, if I could sum up the day in one sentence, it would be that.  Anyways, we ate dinner and called it a day.

And then there was this...

Sunday we had a good day at church.  Fran was baptized and confirmed.  We couldn't go due to time of baptism, but it happened.  We taught 3rd hour to the young men, and by that I mean the nonmember boyfriend of our branch presidents daughter.  He's a cool kid.  Has a Book of Mormon and agrees with just about everything we taught, which was the Atonement.  It was pretty great.  We're hoping to see him again and ask if he wants to be taught.  We went to the Robbins, came home, studied and took a walk cause we were kinda moping in self pity, but all is well.  It started to thunderstorm.  So we went back home and ate dinner.

So, in response to this past week and the trials that we had, I have just one scripture to share.

Philippians 3:13-14
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Apparently this is a gift to themselves?

Yeah the week sucked, but no sense dwelling in it.  I mean, Luke 17:32, remember Lot's wife, she looked back and became a pillar of salt.  No thanks.  All is well here.  Success in the pending future awaits me.

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

I knew this because Jeff Foxworthy.

A knight in shining armor is a man who has never had his mettle truly tested.

Howdy y'all!

I'll just start off by saying this was a very trying week.  Probably the most trying of my mission.  I'm doing better, but it was a tough one.

Monday we stayed in Glenwood and went everywhere in 2 hours and I napped the rest of the day.  We had a good dinner at sister Hawthorns and had family home evening with her and the Bershers.

Baby doggo.

Tuesday we had district meeting and lunch at the Rogers.  On our way back, we dropped by a referral from Sister Lenz, her son Kirk.  He was cool!  Has strange beliefs about the illuminati and all that type of stuff, but nevertheless, he's a firm believer in Christ and God and he invited us over the next Sunday.  We came home and studied and went to see Jerry and Sonja.  We had a great lesson on the restoration and it went beautifully. Well, on our end.  He had some questions and we answered to the best of our abilities and we ended.  We had dinner at the Luttrell's to end off the night.

Wednesday was easily one of the hardest days of the mission.  Fran dropped us to be taught by the sisters in Hot Springs and was pretty rude about it and it left Elder Miller and I dumbfounded and I will not lie, I was pretty distraught.  We were bewildered by it and I was so taken back and all we could do was sit down and wrap our heads around it.  We put our heart and soul into teaching this woman and to be so rudely dropped, it kinda made me mad.  It's just hard when you give your all and get nothing in return. We went and saw a few members with medical issues with Sister Crow to try to get our minds back in place.  Well as we were driving, Sonja texted he telling us Jerry didn't believe what we said about Joseph Smith and so that sucked.  But good thing is, she still has a testimony.  We were still super upset cause we felt like it was a great lesson.  Sister Crow took us to see Sister O'Neal after that and I'm glad she did cause Sister O'Neal and her stories and spirit always cheer me up.  So after that visit I was a little more happy.  We got pizza and went home.

Hey look, more doggos!

Thursday we saw Michael with Sister Hawthorn.  He told us he is going to be in Little Rock for the next month and he didn't agree with Joseph Smith.  So we testified and showed him the First Vision video.  He still wasn't buying it so we testified again of the Book of Mormon and how that will help us know Joseph Smith was a prophet.  He was a little better, but still not sure.  So we left and lost him as an investigator for a while.  Sister Hawthorn took us to the Caddo Cafe and ate lunch.  Afterwards, we got rear ended while backing out.  So that was great.  After it was all settled, we drove to Little Rock to get our cracked windshield replaced.  We walked to Target to pass time and I had to get new shoes cause mine are tore up.  As we walked back, we talked to a guy and gave him a Book of Mormon and he was super happy to get one.  He was homeless and had a BOM before, but he lost it in prison.  We drove home and ate to end the day.

Friday we exchanged and I went with Elder Barney.  He's dope from Gilbert, Arizona.  We were In the sticks trying to locate and contact a bunch of less and inactives.  We were able to get the information for a couple and even walked on the highway for a mile or so in search for a house.  We found it, but it was covered in no trespassing signs and had a locked gate.  So we left and will send a letter later.  We had dinner at the Pabst's home in Hot Springs Village, about 40 minutes north of Hot Springs.  They drove us back and we went to a gas station with wifi to do a tablet audit and there was a guy jamming to guitar and singing.  We enjoyed it and talked with him and got his info and invited him to church.  He accepted and was super happy to talk to us.  He told us our presence just made him happier and he felt a difference.  He sang to us and it was great.  We left and went home.  I wish I remembered songs to play, or else i would have played and we could have had a jam sesh.

Razorback sewer...seems right

Saturday we exchanged back and did service for a member in Hot Springs.  They're Tongan and super awesome.  They invited us over to dinner on the 26th so we're going to have a district P-Day and eat there next week.  We helped them build their house.  Elder Barney and I marked electrical wires to the rooms.  They took us to eat at a buffet and we came back and Elder Miller and I drove back to Glenwood.  We stayed in service clothes for a sec longer and Sonja asked if we could help take down a yard sale they had.  So we helped with that and set up another time to answer any concerns Jerry may have.  We're going over on Tuesday to do that.  They fed us burgers and we left and studied.

Sunday was good.  Church was great and the Robbins fed us.  They're the highlight of my week by far.  They're so loving and care for us as their children.  Sandy made us some sort of shredded chicken slider (I got to shred the chicken, so I'm basically the one who made the meal happen), but it was sooo good.  I don't know what was in it, but it was succulent.  They then made us milkshakes by mixing chocolate and mints chocolate chip.  It was so amazing.  Then they did this like experiment thing to figure out our love language with people?  It like falls between service, quality time, gifts, physical touch and words of affirmation.  I got quality time and physical touch.  That scared Elder Miller cause I always try to hug him and now he understands why.  We came home and studied and had a lesson with Kirk.  Just so y'all know, Bush did 9/11, illuminati rules the world, we are dead to the government and we have a secret bank account with our social security number.   Oh, and Hollywood drinks baby blood and eats kids.  Crazy stuff.  But I love the guy to pieces.  He asked for a Book of Mormon and we explained it and Jospeh Smith.  We were at his moms house for this and Sister Lenz was so awesome at explaining why we need the Book of Mormon and how it will change his life.  She bore powerful testimony and were going to be going over on Tuesday as well to teach him and hopefully a lady that lives by him.  We walked home and ended the night with dinner and a card game.

We had our ups and very low downs, but we're alive and pushing through. We lost some gems, but hopefully we can turn some new people into diamonds.  As hard as it was for me this week, I know there's better things laid up in store for us, whether it's a baptism or not, we will work for our King and give it our all.  If I can say one thing from this week, it's that it isn't over when you lose, it's over when you quit.  And someday, this pain and suffering will make sense.

D&C 121:7-8
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

Dad Edit: A knight in shining armor is a man who has never had his mettle truly tested. 

Serving a mission is hard, sometimes harder than you can imagine.  There is so much pressure to baptize and when that hasn't happened for 19 months it can be debilitating.  It doesn't help that you are constantly told how much your leader baptized and how he expects baptisms and praises everyone who has one.  It puts a lot of pressure on someone who is serving faithfully and working hard.  However, such is life.  All you can do is get up, go to work, and give it your full effort.  As a dad, I feel the pain.  He puts on a happy face for his letters, but inside he is struggling.  Please pray for him to find peace and solace.  Help him to understand the good he is doing and that it isn't all about baptisms.  It is really about planting the seeds and tending the garden. If after your time in the field is over, someone else reaps the harvest you have sown, then your job is done.  I love you Kai Bear, keep your head up and move forward in faith.

"To belittle is to be little" - Grace Baptist Church Sign

Howdy y'all! Doesn't Grace Baptist have the best signs?

Preparing dinner...

Monday we went to Hot Springs for the last time.  We were told to stay in our areas for P-Day with our companions besides the once a transfer district and Zone P-Days.

Tuesday we went to the CADC and walked around the town a lot.  No one was home, but we got in contact with the Hearns again!  They were super sick though.  We also got a hold of an inactive member, Sonja Kelly, and we started teaching her husband, Jerry!  We just answered a few of his questions and he loves us!  It was a wonderful visit!  We walked home (we didn't see Shiloh...we were in the same trailer park) and had dinner.  Brother Rubly then came over and we gave him a ride to see Sister Myrick.  We helped her put in some light bulbs and left a message and went home.

Wednesday we got to see Fran again!  We got everything sorted out to where we will teach her, but when she is baptized, she will attend the Hot Springs ward and be fellowshipped here by members and missionaries.  Anyways, we taught her the plan of salvation and she loved it!  Sister Crow was amazing with her testimony and words as well!  Fran is fasting to quit coffee and is progressing beautifully!  We visited sister Jacobs.  Since Brother Jacobs passed away last week, she's been having it rough, but she was happy with us there.  She again told us she didn't want us to leave.  We left a thought on the spirit world and offered any assistance.  We saw Sister Hill again and read with her.  Sister Crow bought us some good pizza afterwards.  We went to young men's and had a game night.  Might I say I'm a pro at charades.

These are not the droids we're looking for.

Thursday was Zone Conference. 

Friday we went out with Sister Crow again.  We went to Brother Jacobs funeral and had another wonderful lesson with Fran.  We taught the Restoration with a more interactive twist.  I did this a ton in Memphis and haven't really done it since (Shout out to Elder York). I drew a church on a piece of paper and told her to blow on it.  It of course blew away.  So I put a bible in top of it and told her to blow it again.  Didn't go no where.  So I explained that's a church without the priesthood and prophets and apostles.  Without those, it cannot be the true church.  As said in Ephesians 2:19-20 and 4:11-14.  To backup those, we go with Amos 3:7 and Hebrews 13:8 to show Gods pattern of prophets.  Anyways, we all grabbed the paper and ripped it.  After Christ and his apostles were killed or exiled, the church crumbled due to doctrines of man and loss of priesthood.  So now there's a bunch of churches with different doctrines.  We then explained the restoration and calling of Jospeh Smith and it was powerful!  She wanted to keep the paper with the church on it! Haha.  After Sister Crow again bore testimony, she brought the spirit in so much and Fran was in tears.  She asked us for a blessing for some medical issues going on.  I don't think I've given a more spirit led blessing than that.  She told us that she felt immediate relief and was so grateful.  After seeing her, we saw Sister O'Neal.  Let me tell you, besides my grandmothers, I have never met a more funny woman!  She has stories upon stories upon stories that make you laugh til you cry!  Sister Crow took us home and we got ribs and enjoyed the night in peace.

What kind of hot dog prepares itself to be eaten???

Saturday we started to weekly plan but then we got called to help Brother Rubly move some mattresses.  So we went and then ate at a place called the OK cafe and let me tell ya does it live up to its name haha.  Pretty mediocre if you ask me.  We came home and showered cause the mattresses weren't exactly...clean or house friendly.  So we got all dolled up and went to Sonja and Jerry's again.  We taught the plan of salvation and holy cow this dude is AWESOME!  He wanted us to show him some of the doctrines in the Bible and I'm so glad I have good studies cause we were able to show him in his own bible those doctrines and he was so baffled and was so interactive!  I love this guy!  He agreed with our doctrine and is so happy to have us over!  When we got done, we got some gas and felt like we should see Sister Lenz.  We went over and she was home!  She's like never home due to work and her farm so it was a miracle!  She gave us a referral for her son and she told us that she thinks that's the reason we caught her at home!  And now for the fun part.  She was asking about the apocrypha and the illuminate and aliens and I was sitting there like, I can't wait to meet her son (he was asking her about all of this).  Haha.  But he just started becoming interested in religion so it's an open door hopefully!  We're gonna try to see him tomorrow!

On the Lord's errand.

Sunday we had a good church service and afterwards we went to the Robbins and had a great discussion on love and charity and service with both the Robbins parents!  It was amazing!  We got home and I got hit by a train of tired.  I've never been so exhausted.  I laid down for 5 minutes and accidentally fell asleep for an hour and a half.  That's the longest nap I've had on my mission.  Actually, besides me being sick in November of 2016, I have only napped like twice.  So the time is catching up to me haha.  But I was able to get up and study a bit (I read an Isaiah chapter in the Book of Mormon for 5 minutes and understood it perfectly after a tiring nap, so if I ever hear someone say they don't have time for scriptures I call bs). We then went to Sister Hawthorns for dinner and she made some good pork roast! 

It was a great week with so many miracles!  So far Fran is praying over a baptismal date!  Hopefully she will feel the sprit enough to want to do it soon!  I love y'all!

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

Ruff

Ruff, Ruff

Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuff

Ah...root beer, it washes the ribs down so well.

You don't need Twitter to follow God...but He still wants the follows, am I right?

Howdy y'all!

Well, today I'm not feeling like writing too much cause It's a chore hahaha.

Anyways!  High lights of the week!

We got a referral for a lady who is super prepared!  Now, get a load of this story! Her name is Fran and here's a little story on why I've been more stressed this week than any other week in a while.

I feel like a horror movie could work here...

The Hot Springs Sisters sent us Fran cause she has been going to the Hot Springs Ward for 6 weeks now  (since the Uchtdorf and Holland visit) and cause there's a member from Hot Springs who drives her.  She told us to our faces that it is true!  Everything!  It was great!  We started asking questions and then she told us that she wants to only go to Hot Springs.  We informed her that as good as it is to fellowship with them and get to know them (she's moving to Hot Springs sometime, we don't know when), she needs to come to Glenwood because that's where the jurisdiction is.  Well she accepted to come every couple weeks, which is fair.  President said it was okay and to count her as a sacrament Meeting.  So all is dandy.  Well, we call the elders on Sunday to ask about church (President told the elders to call the member to ask to bring her to Glenwood) and apparently the member who gives her rides, absolutely refused and says she is never going to Glenwood.  We got confused and called the sisters.  Apparently, the member of our branch who is her neighbor, never invited her to church and she got offended over that (even though they talk like, daily) and so she doesn't want to come to Glenwood and how she loves Hot Springs and wants to keep going there only.  She is also under the impression that we are going to keep teaching her when she moves.  So on Tuesday, we're going to have to clear up A LOT of things.  Prayers please.

We also got to see Jessie!  We watched the restoration video and explained about faith and church and the Book of Mormon!  It went well!  He fed us pizza afterwards!

Good ol' Shiloh

We got to walk around Glenwood for a couple hours and while contacting a less active (wasn't home again), there was a dog.  We of course named him Shiloh and kept walking.  He would follow and then walk back and we didn't think much of it.  Well...this dog decided it liked us.  It followed us for a little less than a mile back home before walking and wandering away for a bit.  As Elder Miller and I talked and walked, we heard trotting and who did we see?  Yup.  Shiloh.  We felt bad cause we had led it so far away from its home!  We ran to the apartment and waited a few minutes before I looked out the window and see him...AT OUR FRONT DOOR!  We were baffled!  Elder Miller then took it upon himself to put on the pug mask he bought and run outside and bark at Shiloh.  That didn't work.  We ate dinner and thought no more.  We haven't seen Shiloh since.  Pray for the pup that he makes it home safely (Disclaimer, there was no collar on him, so we didn't steal him, hopefully, from a loving family).

That's about it for the week!  It was rather slow, but my heart has never pumped so hard.  Looking forward to a good week this week!

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

The beginnings of a good meal...

Not Shiloh

...or that?

Is there chicken in that...