TRANSFERS

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone has had a fantastic week, I definitely have. We had some awesome miracles and it's been the coolest. 

First things first, we got transfer news this week! It's crazy to me that I've been out in the field for 6 weeks already. I will hit my 3 month mark this week and that's just insane.  It feels like it's been 10 years since the MTC but also feels like I've been here for only like 5 days, it's a weird feeling. But anyways, back to transfers.  Elder Marcum and I will be staying in the Canyon Road YSA!  But......we will be getting another companion so I will now be in a trio!  His name is Elder Lui and he's a super cool guy.  Also....we will also be serving in the Pacific Ward, which is a ward made up of Tongans, Samoans, and people from pretty much any other Pacific Island.  I'm so excited!  All the other missionaries in the mission are so jealous because this is apparently like the ideal situation, so I'm stoked to be here. The Pacific Ward actually has been the AP area for almost two years and now it's not, so it's crazy that they're putting us there.  But yeah, this transfer is going to be a great one, I'm super super excited. 

We had an awesome miracle this week!  Actually, it started last week, but we didn't see it as a miracle until this week. So last week, we were trying to find someone who had been taught by missionaries before and we went to this apartment and knocked on the door.  This man, who was probably in his 50's, opens the door so we were like, "Aw man not the YSA we were looking for."  He was covered in tattoos and seemed kind of like a rough guy, but then we were talking to him and he told us he was a convert to the Church, and the person we were looking for was his less-active daughter's boyfriend!  We were super excited about it so we got the contact information and set up a lesson with both of them. We went over and met with them and Hailey, the daughter, said "it's been a long time since I've been to church.  I want to start coming back."  Then her boyfriend, Derek, was like "if you want to get closer to God, you have to do more than go to church."  Keep in mind that this guy is not a member. But yeah, it was just so cool, we had a solid lesson and talked about prayer and how God really does answer us. The spirit was really strong and it just went super well.  After the lesson we said, "Hey we have an activity for college aged people tonight, we're doing a trivia night, do you want to come?" And they said yes, and totally came!  It was so awesome, they said they loved it.  Next week they'll probably come to church, so keep them in your prayers! 

I'm realizing that all of my emails have begun to have the same exact format every week.  I'll try to change it up next week.  It's easier when I have time to sit at a computer and just crank out an email, but P-days are crazy so I can't do that unfortunately.  Hopefully my emails aren't starting to bore people, if you have ideas for me to spice it up, shoot me an email and I'll see if I want to use it. 

Okay,  I had another cool scripture realization this week. Well, it wasn't really a realization, but some cool insight. I was reading in Alma 34, a fantastic chapter, and I read verses 26 and 27. They say "26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. 

27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you."

I really like these verses a lot, they're a great reminder to us. Sometimes it's hard to remember God and Jesus Christ in all that we do because life is busy. But I know that if we pray often and pour out our hearts to God, he will hear us and grant us with what we need. And when we aren't saying a real prayer, we can keep a prayer in our heart, which will help us stay focused on our Savior each and every day. I just really like these verses and I think we can all apply them really well to our lives. 

One more quick story. On Saturday we went and played soccer with a bunch of YSA people at a park. It's super fun and we always have a great time. However, on Saturday, I was playing defender and one of my teammates was trying to clear the ball and get it to the other side of the field.  He was probably 5 feet away from me and he just launched the ball and it would have gone really far... if it hadn't smashed me right in the face.  He just drilled my nose and the right side of my face so hard, I thought my nose was broken.  Thankfully there was no damage and the pain subsided after a few minutes.  It must have looked pretty awesome though, I wish someone had gotten it on video. 

Unfortunately I am all out of time for today. I hope everyone has a fantastic week. If you need help or want an answer for something, just pray. I know God will hear your prayers and help you receive the things you need. Love and miss all of you!

Elder Spangler