Week 49 - A member of the 70 spoke, Elder Wright.

Wow. This is the last week of the transfer. What the crap? Next week I'll write home on Tuesday ya'll!

Last week was crazy! Probably one of the most sleepless weeks of my mission. Most days I was up at 5 or earlier (3:50). Pretty nuts. Good thing the church is true!!

Nothing beats the AZ sunsets. #nofilter 

It started with a temple trip to the Gila Valley. It was awesome. Our session was at 8am, so it was an early morning for us. But man, I wish we could go more. The temple is always so motivating. 

The Gila Valley temple right before our session.

Our Zone (minus the Sisters) right after the temple trip.

I bought a CTR ring. It should be here in a week or two. Woot.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER SMITH!

Elder Mariluch. Stud. We came out together yo.

One of the things Elder Smith and I have been doing is going through our ward list (massive) and visiting all of the more less active people on it. Still aren't done. But one night we came across Sister Stock...who's been a member for a good solid 35 years or so now and works on weekends. Her husband also died a few years ago when she stopped coming to church. That we taught her about the sacrament. Although she's a member, she has very little knowledge of the sacrament and the BOM. Definitely not her fault! She said it was a miracle we caught her that night because of her chaotic schedule. INSPIRATION. That was the second time we were told that that day. Earlier a guy named William said that too. Up by our investigator's place "Lois" there's almost nothing. So after scouting out the remainder houses, we came across William -  an SDA and who was really nice. Not interested at all, but also said it was a miracle to see him at that time. Hopefully something we talked about sparked something for opportunities down the road. "Just spittin' fack yo."

One of our invests. "Aaron" is a member's boyfriend. Both of them have 3 kids together but are still married to someone else and it's a pretty frustrating situation for them. He had a BD up until yesterday, but hopefully with a wing (fasting) and a prayer, the good man above will direct them. That night teaching about the law of Chastity, the prompting came to me to promise him and his wife, that if they both take time out of their crazy lives every night, to read from the BOM TOGETHER and to pray afterwards and to ask for help, that the good man above will bless them with what is needed to get through everything. Those spiritual promises usually just come out of our mouths. Awesome. Just awesome.

At Aaron and Lanney's house doing some service to help them out with their front yard.

Our Saturday we were supposed to go up to Phoenix....well we did! Although we weren't allowed to take pictures off the bus so not a whole lot of pictures from it. But Elder Holland....was called to another assignment....so he wasn't there :(. A member of the 70 spoke, Elder Wright, and it was awesome of course. Took a lot of notes. While up their we sat with the Phoenix and Tempe missions. I saw some buds from High School! Elder Derek Ford and I had a good chat.

Two referrals were sent to us this past week, and both seem to be SOLID! One of them came to church and we're having an FHE with her tonight! Her name is Loretta and was referred over from Hawaii. Now she's out here in Sierra Vista (for some reason..). There's a lot of good feelings about her progression so we'll see what happens. The other one is also solid since she's "looking for a church." PERFECT. She was sick, along with everyone else in SV, and we'll be seeing her this week. We found Cynthia 10 mins before curfew which goes to show that working pays off.

 Do you see SV? It's the purple area right spack down to the border. AWE YEAH.

Tonight and tomorrow I'll be on an exchange in Douglas. Their backyard is less than a mile from the border. Time to brush up on some Spanish. Crap. Should be good! Our whole zone will be doing an exchange for the mission wide "The Day" where we focus on one specific thing. Should be good as we're doing a mini mission with someone down there. So a member will be acting like a missionary for a day with us! Soowoo!

This Wednesday will my first Zone Meeting to train in. Should be good. Although there's a lot of things to cover for our zone. Reverence, unity, and a lot of things, we're hoping it will be led by the spirit!

At Zone Training while Sister Killpack was training. My comp's the one laying down. Awesome training.

"Sometimes our gifts appear as weaknesses." - President Killpack the man himself!

1Nephi17:13 " And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." 

Next week this Zone could be quite different, but I've learned to love people more and to look for strengths even when your stubborn self may make you more blind to them.

A room divided. 

This past week really helped me notice the true support that's there. Just want to thank everyone for your prayers, awesome letters (still waiting for some tards to write me!) and for the care that's there.

Love you all. LET'S GO!

Almost to the hump...CAN'T BELIEVE IT. Feels like I was just in Demnation.

-Elder Dallin Hales