Transfers

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a good week!

Things have been heating up here in sunny St. George. So transfers are tomorrow and we know what's happening. Elder Wood is gone. He is going to be heading up to Gunnison and I am staying here. My new companion is going to be Elder Vann! I am excited for this next transfer!

Our new mission president also comes in next week so that is super exciting! As far as miracles this week, we have seen too many of them to count. 

I would like to share my experience with my Book of Mormon study. I made it a personal goal to read the entire Book of Mormon in the month of June. I finished it yesterday. I decided to take Moroni's challenge again and ask Heavenly Father if the book is true. 

I testify, yet again, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that anyone who truly studies this book and opens their heart to its message may receive this same confirmation. This work is the best work I have ever done, and I would not trade it for anything in the world. 

In the word's of our Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson when speaking of the Book of Mormon compared to jewels and all worldly wealth, "Honestly, which is of greater worth to you?" I know that, for me, the Book of Mormon is worth more than all sums of money. That is why, not only do I not get paid to be out here telling people about it, but my family and I pay a total of $10,000 to do it. I am grateful for all the sacrifices that have been made for me to be here and for this great Book to go forth. 

I hope you all have a great week. I will talk to you all next week.

I would also like to give a shout out to my brother, Josh Francis, who leaves for the MTC tomorrow and is going to be serving in the Texas Fort Worth Mission Spanish speaking. I love him and am so proud of this decision which he has made. You'll do great out there brother.

Love,

Elder Francis

Pictures:

We saw this super small praying mantis so I somehow got it to climb on my thumb and we got a cool picture.

The Book of Mormon

Howdy everyone!!! Just so you all know, transfers are next week and so my p-day will be on Tuesday.

This week has gone by so fast and I also hit my 10 month mark!!! It's crazy how fast it has gone. 

This month, I have been reading the Book of Mormon trying to finish it in just a month. It has been incredibly fun to read through it this fast, but I am also receiving so much revelation! It definitely shows that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I would like to share a little bit from my studies this week. 

I was reading in Alma chapter 8 where Alma, after having much success as a missionary, goes to the city of Ammonihah and the people spit on him and kick him out of the city. As Alma is walking along "being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul" an Angel appears to him and says, "Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God."

This scripture hit me very powerfully. Though I have not had to suffer nearly as much tribulation as Alma, or as many missionaries, there are always times of discouragement and disappointment on your mission. Though things may not be going your way, and you may be wading through your own furnace of afflictions, remember what this angel said. When we are keeping the commandments, we have "great cause to rejoice." No matter what is going on or how fierce your storm in life is, we all can find some reason to rejoice. 

I apologize for the long email this week, but I also wanted to share a story about a girl named Summer. A few weeks ago, as we were doing our weekly planning, we felt a prompting to head out to the edge of our area and contact a former investigator. We followed the prompting eventhough it was over 100 degrees outside. As we got to this door and knocked, no one answered. Though we were confused, we did not give up there but talked to some people who had just been talking outside. They told us about a young girl named Summer who was not a member of the church. 

We knocked on the door, met her, and set up a return appointment. Yesterday, we had our first lesson with her. In the lesson, she basically taught us the restoration and then said she wanted to be baptized. What is crazy to think about, is that we would never have even known this girl existed had we not followed the spirit. I know that Heavenly Father prepared this girl for us to be able to help and he guided us to her at the moment she was ready to receive us. 

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Francis

Pictures:

We made some sugar cookies to give to one of our investigators.

This is our new mission president who will be coming in at the beginning of July.

Zion National Park

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a fantastic week! I appologize for my crappy email last week, we did not have a lot of time because we went to Zion National Park with a member family! It was so much fun and I have decided that I am definitly going to go there again sometime after my mission.

Not a lot happened this week. We have been spending quite a bit of time trying to find more people to teach. So far, it has yielded no fruit, but we have seen so many miracles. I would like to share one of them. 

It was near the end of a long day and we were doing some of our weekly planning. After doing about 1/3 of our planning, I felt as though something was wrong. I was confused and so I was about to pray and ask when I felt that, though what we were doing was good, it was not where we needed to be. I jumped right up and told my companion that we needed to head out to the edge of our area and talk to some leadership in one of our wards. My companion was confused because the temperature was about 95 outside and we were in the middle of planning, but I was already up and leaving so he had no choice but to follow.

As we ride down to the edge of our area, we tried to contact some of the people we had planned. None of them answered. I was confused because I knew that the Lord had led us to this area and so I wasn't ready to give up quite yet. I saw of group of people talking and so we went up and just started talking to them. They were all members, one of which was less active. As we got talking to him, he told us about his neighbor who had her sister living there and she was not a member. We decided we had nothing else to do, so we stopped by. This girls name is Summer. As we got talking to her, she said that she was really interested in having us come by and teach her. I don't yet know if this will lead to anything, but I know that the Lord is directing this work.

Other than the cool miracles, we had our interviews with our mission president. This is possibly the last time I will see President Smith on the mission, maybe ever. It was very bitter sweet.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Francis

Zone Conference

Hello everyone!!!

Things are continuing to be really good here in Washington!! The weather has been below 90° which is unusual. I think the Lord is just looking out for Elder Wood and I who are walking hahaha. We are still struggling to find more people to teach, but everything else is going really good. 

A few cool things happened this week. We had Zone Conference and I think it was a mission president's last one. When he and his wife got up to bear their testimonies, we all felt the spirit so strong. I know that they truly love us and I know that our new mission President coming in at the end of the month will love us as well.

Other than that, I went on an exchange with Elder Beazel and we took a fun picture. That's pretty much all that happened this week.

We are going to Zion National Park today so I'll have a bit more to talk about next week!

I hope you all have a great week!

Love

Elder Francis

Baluut!!

This week has been a great week!!!

Not much really happened, but we did get a great dinner this week where they fed us Balute (pronounced beh-loo). It is a Filipino meal where they fertilize a duck egg and then cook it kind of like a boiled egg. It is an interesting meal, and I took pictures and videos so all of you can experience it with me hahaha! 

This week I read a great scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that hit me pretty hard. It is in D&C section 105. A little background: Jackson County Missouri, the place where the Lord told the Saints to gather for Zion, has faced much persecution and most of the saints have been driven out. In Secton 103, the Lord told the saints to form an army battalion later called Zion's camp. These 200 men, after marching almost 1000 miles from Ohio to Missouri, recieved revelation in section 105 telling them that they should stop the March and go back. Many men did not like this, but the Lord told them this to help ease that:

"19 I have heard their prayers, and will accept their offering; and it is expedient in me that they should be brought thus far for a trial of their faith."

That is the context of the scripture, but it hit me very powerfully. Elder Wood and I have been working hard and praying even harder that we will be able to find the elect for Heavenly Father. This scripture seemed to me to be an answer to our prayers. Heavenly Father has accepted the work which we have given Him and he has consecrated it for our good. 

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!                                                            

Love,

Elder Francis

9 months already!?!?

Yep, if I was a sister, this would be my halfway point. With that in mind, I hit 9 months last week and I can't believe it! It doesn't even feel like I have been out that long, though I'm sure if you asked my mom she would say it has been an eternity hahaha.

This week was also transfers week, neither Elder Wood nor I got transfered! We are staying in Washington, together, and on bikes for another transfer! And no, I am not really that excited about the bike part but I'm staying optimistic.

I want to share a scripture from Ether 12, "6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

I share this scripture because of the living proof we have of the principal. Last transfer, it seemed like everything was falling apart. Elder Wood and I were praying and working so hard trying to get things going, but everything kept falling through. We fasted, prayed, and knocked more non-member doors than you would think there are down here in Utah hahaha. We felt as though we were being tested, that our faith was being tried.

This week, being the start of this new transfer, has been amazing! It seems as though all of our hard work is paying off and we are able to run into all the people we have been trying to contact. The Lord is showering down a multitude of blessings upon us, and I know that it is, at least in part, due to our continual faith during our trials.

I don't have any pictures this week, but I do want to tell you all something. Don't give up. As Christ says to Joseph Smith in his furnace of afflictions, "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." (D&C 121) 

Fortunately, none of us have to go through the amount of adversity and afflictions that Joseph Smith had to, but our trials, in light of our own circumstances and lives, can be just as serious and in as much need of divine help. I invite all of you to, when you are suffering your own few steps on that way to Calvary, to turn to him who walked the whole path even Jesus Christ. I have done so and I know that he can help.

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Francis

Wait, the transfers almost over?!

That's right everyone. My first transfer with Elder Wood is almost at its end. It has been an amazing transfer full of miracles and growth on both of our parts. We have no idea whether we will stay together another transfer or get moved to a different area. We find that out tomorrow.

I want to talk to you about my experiences this transfer. We are on bikes which has increased my health quite substantially. Because we are on bikes, every day is physically demanding and I have truly learned the meaning of working hard and being diligent. Elder Wood and I have worked incredibly hard knocking doors, making contacts, teaching people, and just trying our hardest. 

What I want to talk about is discouragement and how it has no place in this work. Though we have worked very hard, prayed and fasted often, and been the most efficient we can be, our numbers continue to spiral downward into an all-time low. Many a missionary believes in the saying that "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles" but I am worried they do not truly understand what that means. I know I didn't. 

We have the tendency to think that it means we will convert everyone. We will be a star missionary with the best numbers in the mission and the most "success". This is not true at all, and it is something I have been learning my entire mission so far. Our blessings do not always come in a physical or temporal manifestation. Looking back on the start of my mission however, I can see how those blessings have brought me to where I am. I have been able to grow exponentially spiritually and I attribute that to the ability to repent as well as my sincere desire to be obedient and diligent.

Does this mean I am perfect? Yes. Hahaha just kidding!! I am very far from perfect. There is and will always be only one perfect person.

Other than that thought, I just wanted to give a Mother's day shout-out to my mom. I'm sure most of you reading this can claim to having the best mom in the world, but my mom is the most perfect person I know in this world. No one has shown me more Christlike, unconditional, unwavering love. Even when I am far away, I can feel her love through many wonderful memories and experiences. I pray often that my future family can have a mother as great as mine was to me. I ascribe any success I have in my life to her who truly deserves that credit, my mother. Thank you mom for everything you do.

I hope you all have a great week! Sorry for the long one this week.

Love,

Elder Francis

Pictures:

We had a baptism this Saturday for Braxtyn. Even when everything else seemed to be falling apart, there was light in that moment.

I found an albino Ladybug!