Hey all you people!!!

Transfers were this week!!! I am staying in Richfield for at least another 6 weeks!!! My new companion... is Elder Harper my MTC companion!!!! 

Transfers were delayed because of the big snow storm that passed through Utah and so I did not get Elder Harper until Saturday. It was hard to say goodbye to Elder Lane, but I know he will be a great missionary down in Mesquite. It's funny, his companion is actually Elder Christensen who was also in my MTC district. What is also funny, my trainer, Elder Greenwood, is now companions with Elder Ash in the other half of Richfield! I am so blessed here!

Elder Harper and I were able to hit the ground running! We have had many amazing lessons as well as a lot of good times in just these two days! Elder Harper and I get along very very well Haha. We are constantly laughing and joking around with each other, but still able to get work done. It seems like my mission has just been continually building up! Though it has been very hard and there are times where I feel like I keep falling short, I am so much happier than I have ever been... and it just keeps getting better!

I was able to call my family last week and let me say, this is definitely an inspired change. It feels interesting as I had conditioned myself to only talk to my family 4 times in two years, but I know that it is inspired and from God. There are so many benefits and I know that my family is being blessed for being allowed to take a greater part in my life as a missionary. This is different for each missionary though. There is not one correct way or set amount of times you should call your family for a specific reason. Though I have never really gotten homesick and am not easily distracted by home life, there are many missionaries who would be and so I completely understand them not calling home nearly as often.

It was hard for Elder Lane to say goodbye to many of the wonderful families here, but it teaches us an important principal. The work is not done by an individual missionary but my God and the spirit. Even though many people had strong relationships with Elder Lane, the work will continue to move forward with Elder Harper and we will still have much success! I am so excited for what this transfer will bring and I hope I can share that excitement in my emails!

I hope you all have a great week!!!

Elder Francis

Picture:

One of the families we said bye to.

Communication changes

As many of you are aware, the church has come out with new changes to how missionaries can communicate with their families! This is big news for missionaries and for those who have missionaries out. Serving here in Utah I have been on the front row to much of the controversy and arguments about whether this is a good idea. Because of this, I wanted to share some of my views on it.

This church is an international church. There are many members whose families are not members and don't understand the significant sacrifice that a mission requires. Having this more open communication policy reduces that burden allowing families to continually be a part of the missionaries life and vice versa. Ontop of that, there are many missionaries who can't go out because of medical reasons that would be helped with weekly communication from home. In my personal opinion, this change has come about so that more members will feel comfortable both sending missionaries out and coming out on missions themselves. These are the great last days and the world needs as many missionaries as possible to help spread the great joy and love that we preach!

Now, being a missionary, I could see some of the down sides, such as feeling more homesick or being distracted from the work. It is situations like this when the spirit is required. The official policy change communication states as such: "In making these decisions, they should be considerate of their companions and keep in mind the purpose of their service. " The spirit is evidently neccessary in discerning how often and when you should call your family. I believe that that will be different for every missionary and that those families involved should discuss that.

In other news, we had a baptism for Ryker this last Saturday! We are so excited for him and his family and are grateful for the opportunity we had to serve them! 

There is not a whole lot of new things going on here in Richfield. Transfers are this Wednesday and we think that there will be some changes. 

I hit my 6 month mark on Friday! It's so crazy how fast time has flown. I feel like I'm still a brand new missionary just fresh out of the MTC. I feel like I have grown so much and learned so much as well! My mission has been the best decision I have made so far in my life.

I hope all of you have a great week!!!

Elder Francis

I love to see the temple

This week has been so good!

We had a baptism this Saturday for Gitanjili! I would like to share a little bit about Gitanjili's story. She has been taught by missionaries for the past 6 months. She gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon, the Church or Jesus Christ, and modern day prophets after only 3. The reason she did not get baptized is because her parents would not let her. This did not stop her.

Gitanjili came to church every week, followed every commandment, and read her scriptures daily. She told us that she prayed nearly every day and fasted asking Heavenly Father to allow her to be baptized. All Elder Lane and I could do was continue encouraging her and helping her along. To put it into perspective, if she had brought her Book of Mormon home, her parents would have ripped it up and throw it away.

Last week, we got a call from Gitanjili's mom giving her permission to be baptized! Now, there is a lesson in this story. Never give up. We are all asked to do things that feel impossible, that seem completely out of our reach and, though we may fail, we can never give up. Gitanjili did not give up after the first rejection or the second or the third or the fourth! Even after her parents said no, she came to church, read her scriptures, and prayed. Let us all, me included, be more like Gitanjili. She has now had the wonderful opportunity to taste true repentance and embrace heaven sent love because of that obedience and perseverance. 

Gitanjili's baptism went great! Elder Lane had the blessing of baptizing her and I was able to confirm her a member of the Church that following sacrament meeting. She was so prepared and deserved this so much. I couldn't be happier for her.

Other than that, we got to go to the temple with Stan today!! The Manti temple is gorgeous. It is also a live session! For those of you who do not know what that is, I encourage you to get a temple recomend and attend either the Salt Lake City Temple or the Manti temple. I got such great insight and knowledge from this temple visit and I feel rejuvenated to go and work hard!

Transfers should be next week but p-day will still be on Monday. Also, my email address is changing probably because the church is not using the terms Mormon or LDS anymore. It should be the address that I send this from. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Francis

Pic:

We learned how to quilt at the humanitarian center.

That is Elder Lane and I with Gitanjili 

That is all of us at the Manti temple today!

Onward Christian Soldier

This week has been slow, but still really good! We had zone conference this week and I learned so much! I love every opportunity I get to hear from my mission President because he is such an inspired man.

I wanted to share a scripture this week. It is in Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

As I mentioned in my email last week, my grandfather passed away. His funeral was this Friday. It was very hard not being able to be there for that, but I know that he is finally put to rest. Though my family continues to go through trials, I have learned so much and feel so blessed. My family is definitely bonding together and growing in their testimonies, and I know that it is in part to the sacrifice we have all made for me to be here.

I have also learned that, just because you are doing what's right, following the commandments, and serving the Lord, you will still have trials. I have felt my fears change into confidence and courage as I have continually relied on the Lord during these trials. 

I would love to hear from you all about how the Lord has blessed your life. I have been working extra hard to try and notice Gods hand in my life and I encourage you all to do the same.

Also, we wanted to go to the temple next week so my p-day will be on a Tuesday. I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Francis