Week 21

Well this past week was a great week. We didn't get a whole lot done seeing as between p-day and the holidays we only had like 3 days to proselyte. BUT! We were blessed to find a new investigator and we have 2 other people in the same ward that we are hoping to start working with. So my companion and I both feel like they all have potential so we are just going to keep working towards getting appointments set up with the other 2. But the new investigator we found is a 14 year old boy. He is really excited to learn more. So we taught him on Saturday and we have another appointment later this week. Best part though. He has been to church the last 4 Sundays. His mom is less active and his dad is not a member, so he doesn't really know anything about the church at all. Which is what we are for! But we are super excited to have someone that we feel like is going to be super solid. We have been working with so many less actives that I am super excited to be teaching someone who doesn't know anything. I never thought that I would say that I miss teaching, but I do.

But anywho that was our week in a nutshell. The Holidays were amazing though. It is super easy to get in any door when you want to share a Christmas message. Especially when everything we share is centered around Christ in the First place. So really everything is a Christmas message. But anywho. Until next week, I love you all

-Elder Valentine

Week 20

Well MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!

I hope this email finds you all doing well! What a great time of the year! I really love being a missionary at this time of the year. There is just something Special about it. 

We share everyday of the year the message of Jesus Christ. What better time of the year for that then the time that everyone takes to remember our saviors birth! Like I said, there is just something so special about it. How great it is we can take time to celebrate His birth and His life.

But I would ask all of you to remember the crowning event of our Saviors entire life!

The Atonement!

I want you to ponder upon that this coming week. That you all might take some time to think about the Atonement. What it is. And especially what it means to you, what it means for you, and what it means for all of us. 

Christmas is about following the example that Christ set. That of giving. Christ gave us the most magnificent gift that anyone could ever give. That of the possibility of eternal life. So at this busy time of the year, I encourage all of you to slow down for a second and ask what we can give at this time of year. And I don't mean worldly things, but those things that Christ admonished us to acquire when he said:  "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" (matthew 6: 19-20

Christ asked us to store up things that are eternal, without end. So what can we in turn give that is eternal? I invite you all to think upon these things and seek to follow the example of our Savior. Of His love. Of all that He gave us. That we can in turn give as well.

I love you all! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas

-Elder Valentine

Week 19

I am forgetting the week numbers. I am not counting I just go to the previous weeks email and add 1 to that. But anywho another week has come and gone. And here most of the snow from last week has melted. It was pretty at first.... But It isn't too hard to get around in it here. So I can't really complain. It warmed up a lot last week so that was nice. Not having to really deal with sub-zero anymore for now is nice. But we had a really good week last week. We are having some good experiences with most of the last actives we are teaching. So that is awesome. We have had a lot of them out to church consistently. But we are working on finding some non-members also. 

Time out here is just flying by. It is crazy to think that it is almost Christmas. The nice thing about being in such a small town as we are is the fact that here, christmas isn't really commercialized. We don't even have a wal-mart for like 50 miles. But people here focus a lot more on the real reason for Christmas. Which we all know is Jesus Christ. 

And how important it is for us at this time of the year to remember our savior and His Atonement. To look at his life and those things that he did for us. He gave  us everything. Without his Atonement there would be no way we could ever return. He gave that to us. So at this time of year I would like all of us to remember that he freely gave. And as we strive to walk in his footsteps and follow his example I pray that we all might be able to more freely give. Of all those things that we have been blessed with. Our time, talents, physical means, and the gift so freely given to us, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I invite all of you between now and Christmas to accept Elder Ballards challenge that he issued at conference to reach out to 1 person. Just one before christmas and see how you can bless their lives. What you all can give to that person. And I promise that it will bless your life in turn. 

I love you all. I love this Gospel and the testify that it really does bring joy, unlike anything else. 

Until next week!

-Elder Valentine

P.S.

You don't normally get to see this. It doesn't ever really snow in the desert. So enjoy the picture!

Week 18

So another Transfer has come and gone! I have been out 3 transfers so far. That is just crazy to think about. So my companion and I received our transfer call yesterday and we are both staying. Which is good. I would have hated to have gotten transferred. I have only been here 6 weeks. That would have been the pits. But last week was quite the adventure. We had some good teaching appointments. And the Zone conference we had was spectacular. So that was an awesome start to our week. The elders that took over my last area also called me to let me know about one of the investigators from back there and it was spectacular news. So that was much appreciated. 

So we saw Don at church again yesterday and had a great appointment with him last night. He is progressing well. He is taking things very seriously. So that is amazing. Every time we meet with him I just have this great joy for him. I think it is a great blessing to be able to experience that small amount of joy (small compared to what our heavenly father feels) for him. But we are going to keep working with him and do anything we can to help him. 

But as far as the adventurous week goes the weekend was a blast. Well an Arctic blast at least. Temperatures got down in the negatives at night, like -5 in Orderville and all the way down to -34 at Duck creek. Luckily we were not at Duck Creek any during that cold spell. And it also snowed. A lot. We got anywhere from 12-14 inches here in Orderville. Glendale had 18-20 and Alton had about the same as far as I heard. The snow was beautiful. But it is kinda a nuisance. It is a really dry powdery snow so it blows around a lot. (The photo is right around 5ish on Saturday night.)

But There was a lot of snow and fog. So much so that the whole valley lost cell phone reception until 6:00 Sunday night. So everyone was without cell phones for about 24 hours. But tonight we are headed up to Alton and then one of the members up there is going to take us to Duck Creek. The roads out here are meticulously maintained though. So driving around really isn't a problem. They are dry and snow free. They have plows that run continuously when it is snowing so it is easy to get around. But that was our week. I hope everyone is staying warm back home. And I love you all. Until next week.

-Elder Valentine

P.S. 

Picture number 1 is thursday night coming home from Alton at 8:04 

Week 17

So it is already week 6 of this transfer. I know I have said it like every week but I just really don't know where time is going. So anyways, This past week was a really good week. We started teaching an investigator the sisters had before we got in the area. So we are going to work with her. We had one less active member come to church that we have been working with the entire time we have been here. It was so amazing to see him there. It was Don Spencer, the man that lost his wife about 3 weeks ago. So he is working towards doing those things that he needs to do to be able to make it to the temple so he can be sealed to his wife. He seems super serious about doing those things that he needs to. But I was filled with so much joy to see him seriously acting upon those things that he knows to be true. Like I have no way to express my happiness I felt for him. I don't think I will ever be able to really understand how I come to love the people here so much. I know it is a blessing though. 

And yes once again today is Tuesday. But today is P-day. We had a very special Zone Conference yesterday. And it had to be on Monday. Elder Arnold of the quorum of the Seventy came and taught us. So we had to drive 2 and half hours to Ivins, which is on the other side of St. George from where we are so it was far, to get there. Then the Conference was from 9:30-2:30 but he took way more time then that. So we got done around 3:30 and didn't get back to our area until 8:00 that night. But we had a great training. He taught with such authority and power. I am still amazed at the authority that he taught with. I felt like it was truly after the manner of the Savior that he taught. But he talked about a lot of different things. But he was very uplifting. He told the Sisters to stop having Guilt trips and talked about planning. But it was super good. 

So for Thanksgiving we headed over to Hurricane and stayed the night Wednesday with our District Leader. We got up Thursday bright and early and went and played football with some of the members. After that we had home made cinnamon rolls at a members home. Then we went and hiked one of the washes in Hurricane, and I failed to take my camera with me so no pictures of that but it was super awesome. Then after that we went and had lunch with some other members in the area, then after that we went to another members home and ate more! :) No complaints there. So after our second lunch we went and hiked the highest peak in Hurricane, And this is the actual name and everyone out here calls it that, but it called Molly's Nipple. It is an old Cinder cone if my earth science memory serves me correctly. But we hiked up to watch the sunset. It was gorgeous. And! I took my camera that time!! So after we hiked back down we went and had dinner at another members home. So it was quite the food filled day. But we were starving after all the hiking. We were all sore the next day. But it was totally worth it. 

So that was my week in a nutshell. I quite enjoyed Thanksgiving. I love you all. 

-Elder Valentine

Week 16!

I am having such a hard time believing that it has already been 16 weeks. Or 4 months since I have been out. Time is just flying by! It is crazy. So this past week we were still really slow. We have been struggling in this area. And it isn't that there isn't any work to be done. It is just the people who are not members or not active are just hardened. It is crazy. So we have been trying to working more with less actives. And we talked to our mission president and he said to start teaching lessons to the members. Because other then them we have zero investigators. It is hard being in this area. I am doing ok overall. But I just don't know what is going to happen to this area. The missionaries that had been here before us had also been struggling. I kinda think this might be a last push for this area before they consider just closing it down for the winter. There is a lot more work in the summer. So we are just trying to find ways to stay busy. It isn't easy but so long as we are anxiously engaged the Lord knows that we are doing our best here. 

But we spoke in 2 sacraments yesterday and then taught one of the priest quorums. It is kinda sad, but that is the most teaching that we have done this whole week was yesterday. After church we had 2 appointments where we taught less actives. It is hard to believe but I really miss teaching, I never thought I would find myself saying that. But It just comes down to the truth that we have to share is so important. As we share that the Lord will bless us.

But great news as far as my last area goes! (It is amazing how you just come to love people you teach and how even when you move on you still have that love for them even when you move on.)

Billie, one of the people we were teaching in Hurricane got engaged to her boyfriend. She really wanted to get Baptized but they were living together. So they got engaged. The other Elders in that area sent me a message letting me know. So I was super excited to hear that. 

It is exciting this work that we are engaged in. Some of the greatest joy I have ever had in my life is helping others to come unto Christ and repent. I know that as we all strive to help those struggling and bring them to the Gospel we will all be blessed to also experience that same joy. It is a promise that God has made to us. And He will never lie. I love you all. And I hope every single one of us remember those things that we have to be so Grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Until next week.

-Elder Valentine

I stole some pics of Elder Valentine from his gf's facebook.  See below

Week 14

So this past week was week 2 of my 3rd transfer! That is just crazy! Time is just flying by. So this past week was an ok week. A little slow as far as lessons and teaching people. We have gotten to meet a lot of the members in the area. So we have gotten to get to know them and they have in turn been helping us. We have a decent number of appointments this week. So we hope to fill out some more of our schedule and meet some new people to teach also. We basically did service all day saturday and then spoke in evening session of stake conference here in the stake we are serving in. Not really too much to report back on overall. So this will be a short email. Hopefully there will be more to report back on next week.

One cool thing I almost forgot to mention. I met one Douglas Heaton. He served in the Canada Alberta mission back in the late 60's. Which just so happens to be the same mission as My Uncle Bobby. Turns out they were both companions almost 50 years ago. The last place I ever thought I would ever come to and be able to hear the name Lehrschall pronounced correctly would have been the tiny mountain town of Alton Utah. So cool. But anyways that is all for this week. Until next week! I love you all!

-Elder Valentine

Week 13

So this past week has been quite the adventure. I was transferred to the Kanab 2 area. Which is the 4 northern wards in the Kanab stake. So we cover Orderville 1st and 2nd wards, The Glendale ward, and the Alton ward. We got to our area on Tuesday. On our way up the mountain it began snowing and sleeting. The most north part of our area, Alton, got 6-8 inches of snow. The members here said they can get anywhere from 2-4 feet during the winter. That amount is mainly up in the Alton area. Glendale and Orderville don't really get that much snow. Which makes me glad that I am living in Orderville. So the area we cover was being covered by sister missionaries. They have had sisters for the last 18 months or so. So my companion and I are completely new to the area. We have been meeting as many members as we possibly can. Which has been a lot. Sadly most of the investigators the sisters had do not want to meet with us. Some of them have been friendly but most of them have been very uninterested. So we have pretty much had to start over from square one. Which is fine. It is like we pretty much are having to open the area. We even moved into a different house then the one the sisters where living in. So we had to deep clean that one too. It was filthy. But I guess all that cleaning at Express really prepared me to do that. So thanks Steve!

But onto my companion. His name is Elder Greene, pronounced just like the color but with another e on the end. He is from, drum roll please!, Lexington, North Carolina! Crazy I know. He has been out 9 months. So he served in the same area that entire 9 months so this is his second area. Just like it is mine. It seems we have a lot of the same interest. His goal after the mission is to become a mechanic. Kinda funny huh? 

But anywho, we have been getting out and pretty much just meeting all the members. The residents in our area don't reckon things by addresses, they use landmarks like trees and rusted cars or other peoples houses. There are pretty much like 6-8 main families and almost everyone has the same last name. There are so many Esplins, Spencers, Maxwells, Coxes, Heatons, and Roundys and I am sure some others that I can't think of right now. So you have to get peoples first names here, otherwise you have no idea who they are talking about. But when you are trying to get around they just tell you to go to this persons house then turn right and go to the second house on your left with the big tree out front. I think addresses are easier but what can I say? If it ain't broke don't fix it right?

But anyways that is all for this week. Until next week!  I love you all!

-Elder Valentine

P.S. Here are some pictures of the snow and frozen lake. When we get a lot more snow I will take some more. I think the red rock with snow is beautiful though. I took these like 2 days after it snowed.

 

 

Week 12

So this past week was the last week of my second transfer. My trainer will be going home tomorrow. So he is done. Yesterday (Sunday) I received my transfer call. I am leaving Hurricane and headed out to Kanab on Tuesday morning.  So that is what is happening this coming week. So I will report back on that next week.

This past week was a great week. We had some great lessons with our investigators. And all the investigators that we have been working with for awhile went to church yesterday! All of the ones that have been struggling finally made it out to church. It was awesome to see them there. We even have one that is getting baptized this Friday! So the area is starting to pick up. We have been having a lot more help from the wards which is awesome. They have been reaching out to those that we have been teaching. Which is amazing. So now I just have to go and get this next area going. 

 

I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to get to serve here in Hurricane though.

You always hear missionaries talk about how they have come to love the people they teach. But you never really understand it until you come out and really go through it yourself. I was sitting at an investigators house. The one that we have been working with for so long. And he just looked at us and said he didn't know how we could be so patient. That through all his struggles we never condemned him or stopped coming by, or gave up on him. And as I was just sitting there it hit me that it was because we love him and his family and we know that he can do it. That he can push through those things that he is struggling with through the Power of the Atonement. And I told him that. That it was because we love him. I almost cried as he said the closing prayer. But I am grateful that I was blessed to meet Alvin and his family. And I am grateful that I was able to meet all those people that we taught. I look forward to this next area that I am headed to. But until next week!

-Elder Valentine

P.S. As promised! pictures from Our mission conference held on Sept. 7th!!!!!

 

 

Week 11

So this past week was a pretty good week. We found another investigator and we put 2 investigators on date this past week. So November is shaping up to be a pretty good month. We are continuing to go out and find more people to teach. But since we have been going to ward councils and really focusing on spending more time in each ward we have seen them be more willing to participate and help a lot. Which is great! I love the way my companion put it when he said "we are assigned to the members, they are not assigned to us." So he said that in church yesterday. 

I almost forgot, we spoke in Sacrament yesterday in the 16th ward. It went really well. Next week we are speaking in the 5th ward. It is kinda weird how they numbered the wards because there are like 21 or 22 wards in Hurricane. And there are 2 stakes. So we cover the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 15th, 16th, 18th (branch), 19th, and the apple valley wards. So all the other wards are covered by the other elders here in Hurricane. (I just thought that was an interesting side note how they are split up).

But my companion and I are continuing to do everything that we can to get the members more excited and build them up. When it comes to working with members the expression "you can catch more flies with honey then you can with vinegar" comes to mind. When we work to build them up and uplift them rather then chastise and admonish we get better results. They are more excited and receptive to helping. Chastisement and admonishment really just causes them to shut down and not want to help. So that is something that we have been working on. So moral of the story! Help the Missionaries! I regret not having done more before my mission. When members get involved the work becomes more effective. We can help more souls have the opportunity to get back to Heavenly Father. Otherwise though things are going well. It really just takes time to build the relationships that we need with the members. And a lot of patience. But that has been the past week. Until next week. I love you all!

-Elder Valentine

Week 8

Another week has come and gone! It is hard to believe that in another 3 weeks I will be finished training. So that is pretty cool. Otherwise though, not too much happened this past week. We went to Zions again on Monday, which apparently is the last day it was open because of something going on with Federal funding, (which is something I am not supposed to discuss as a missionary, which is super difficult for me as I am sure most of you know, so I will leave it at that) but it was cool to get to go one last time.  We had a couple of unplanned service opportunities that were great. But other then that it was a slow week.  A lot of the people that we are teaching are only able to meet once a week. So when they cancel we have to go to our back up plans. Which is kind of a bummer. But! Conference was great! President Monson couldn't have said it any better when he said that this is the time for members and missionaries to work together. I have stopped calling what I do missionary work. Rather I like to think of it as the work of Salvation. I feel like a lot of the time when members call it missionary work they think of us, The missionaries, and just say well its missionary work and they are the missionaries, so it is their job not mine. Which is partly true because it is our job. But it is not just our job but the work of all the members! Missionary work, or as I like to call it The Work of Salvation, Is the work of building the Kingdom of God on the earth. Which really is the work of every single one of us that are members of the Church. But Other then that it was an ok week. This next week we are going to focus our efforts on 2 wards and try to get to know the members in those wards better so we can build their confidence in us up and try to get the work moving in those two wards. Well hopefully I will have more to report back on next week. Until then I love you all!

-Elder Valentine

Week 7

It is time for another weekly update! It seems like I was just doing this. Time is flying. But anywho. This past week was a really good week. It cooled off enough that we pulled out the bikes and hit the road. We spent Tuesday canvasing two of the wards we are in. So we knocked a good number of doors. We really just spent that time contacting less-actives. Then Wednesday we had our Temple Trip. So we got to the Temple at 9:00 and left around 1:00. The St. George Temple is beautiful. There is so much history there. But it was really special to be able to go and "escape" the outside world and be able to have that peace you only get in the temple. I definitely savored that experience. After the temple we spent the rest of the day Wednesday moving. We had to move from the apartment we were in, into a new apartment. The landlords needed the apartment for their daughter who just had her 2nd baby. So we moved into a new apartment. I can't complain. The new apartment has a much better view. I feel like my first area is spoiling me sometimes. But I am very grateful for the experiences that I am having out here. It really is a great area. I have learned a lot. For sure. Thursday we spent most of the day cleaning our old apartment and cleaning the new apartment. We had to have the old apartment cleaned by the end of the day Thursday. So we were given permission to spend our time doing that.  But we got it knocked out by about 4:00. The weekend was also great. We had a couple of lessons, not as many as we would like but they are solid investigators who sincerely want to know and have great questions. Complicated questions, but great questions. So that has been great to be able to teach them. We even have an investigator that taught a lesson in Gospel Principles yesterday. She taught about service. So she has been coming out to church for the past 3 sundays. Which is awesome. Other then that though there isn't much news. We are just trying to improve our finding and finding more people to teach. But that is how is goes. 

Until next week! 

-Elder Valentine

And here is a picture!

Week 6 update

So this past week was a wet one. I don't know if it was record rainfall here but if it wasn't it was close. We had a couple of days where it rained for awhile. It wasn't anything like home, but for here it is a lot! So much it was coming down the mountains. And when it rains excessively a couple of places just flood, there isn't really anywhere for the water to go. It is a valley after all. But that was interesting. Everyone here was really appreciative of the rain though. They need it for their farms. So it was nice. Plus when it rains here the temperature drops off. It will cool down like 20 degrees and stay fairly cool for the rest of the day. Which is nice. It dropped from the low 90's to the low to mid 70's. So we liked the cooling effect. But that was the weather. It is usually pretty sunny though. Because of the mountains around us storm systems usually blow around us a lot.

Anywho, we got out transfer calls yesterday. My companion and I are staying together. He was made the District leader for a newly created district. So it us and 3 other companionships  in our district now. Which is cool. This is his last transfer and then I will for sure be getting a new companion next transfer. But this past week was really good. We have slowly been building our teaching pool back up. We had some really good lessons with some potential investigators and we have some follow up appointments this week. We also have some pretty good referrals to track down this week. So that should keep us busy. 

We have 2 kids that we are teaching that are getting baptized this Saturday. One is 11 and the other is 9. They are brother and sister. They are super smart kids. They remember everything we teach them and actually answer questions and read and pray. It is amazing to me how simple it is to teach them. We are also teaching 2 other kids. And it is remarkable how willing they are to learn and act on the things we teach. They don't fight against anything we teach them. It is amazing to me how willing they are to learn and not reject. They don't have any prejudices or preconceived notions to hold them back. But it brought to my mind what the Savior taught "for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." We teach them so simply and they get it. That is the amazing thing about the Gospel. It is simple. We make it complicated! Almost every Sunday in church you hear people ask a question and then someone else will answer and say "the primary answers." And then they ask for something else, some other answer. Those are the only answers. They are the only ones that matter. Reading the scriptures, pondering, praying, following the commandments. Sometimes in life we have complicated hard questions, and I know for myself I thought that since the question is complicated, the answer had to be equally as complicated. NOT TRUE! We need only look to Israel during the time of Christ. They sought complicated doctrine and proscribed laws. They reveled in their complicated laws and outwardly exclaimed their "righteousness" in practicing such. And when the Savior came they turned a blind eye and a deaf ear and did something that no other nation having witnessed such miracles could have, or ever would have, done. They crucified the Only Begotten of the True and living God. They allowed their hearts to be hardened to the truth and simplicity of the teachings of the Master. They rejected him and killed him. The Savior taught simply, and his doctrine is simple. Always remember that. We make it complicated. He made it simple. It isn't hard, it might not be as easy as we would like, but it is not hard. I know that as we strive to keep those simple commandments, we will be blessed and strengthened to do ever greater things. We are built line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. There is no other way it can be. 

But until next week, I love you all and wish you all the best.

-Elder Valentine

Week 5 Exciting news!!!!!

So this past week was a great week. We almost lost some less active members we were teaching. But we are slowly building our teaching pool back up. It is taking a lot of work on our part to do that. The members are making a lot of excuses about how they only know other members or they are working on getting something going. But when i hear the same thing from the same person for 5 weeks straight I have a hard time believing them. I mean that is ok and everything but it really is remarkable the effect of having the members involved has. The strongest investigators we have had, were those referred by a member and where we have had the member participate and be a friend. I cannot over emphasize the importance of member involvement in helping the missionaries. Those people who are referred by members and taught with them and fellow shipped by them progress faster and are more likely to stay active then those that we find on our own. But it makes it so much easier when we have the help of the members. 

But we are slowly building up our teaching pool. We have had a couple of referrals from the ward mission leaders so that is nice that we have some names to track down and hopefully start teaching. It helps us so much. So that was our past week. Not too much exciting happened in Hurricane. We have had a lot of rain for this area. Where I am at had no problems, but apparently some areas around here had flooding. But nothing severe. A lot of rain here is like an inch. You can really tell it is a desert. 

I do want to say congratulations to my Brother and Sister-in-law on the birth of their newest daughter. She is adorable and I can't wait to meet her. I bet she has 2 proud bigger sisters too.

Well I said we didn't have anything exciting happen here last week in Hurricane. And that is true, but I would have been lying if i said nothing exciting happened last week. So on Saturday we had a mission conference up in Salina (that is about 3 hours north of Hurricane). And the only reason we had a mission conference is because David A. Bednar requested to come and speak to our mission. So all the missionaries down here in the greater St. George area reported to the visitors center at the St. George temple at 5:00 am and hopped on a bus. We drove up to Salina and met up with the rest of the mission and had a 3 hour conference with Elder Bednar, his wife Sister Bednar, Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and Sister Clayton. It was spectacular. Just to be able to feel the spirit there and have to opportunity to ask him questions. He got up and talked for a little bit, then turned it over for a Q&A. He started by asking us questions about the talks we were assigned to read before the mission conference. Then he allowed us to ask him questions. And he would inquire of his wife or Elder Clayton and his wife if they wanted to answer. It was an amazing experience. Afterwords we were able to shake his hand and at the very end we got a mission Picture of the entire Mission, Elder Bednar and his wife, and Elder Clayton and his wife. So when I get a copy of that I will make sure to send it along. It is not everyday you get to have an experience like that. 

Sorry I don't have any cool pictures this week. But I love you all! 

-Elder Valentine

Week 4

I know, I know, it is Tuesday, and yes I am sending out email on a day other then P-day, but its ok!

Yesterday was Labor Day so we are supposed to do it today. Because we had no way to do it yesterday. 

So this past week was a little slow as lessons go. Here in Hurricane they have what is known as Peach Days so they shut down one of the streets in town and have what I guess you could call a festival. So that was Friday, and Saturday. So The whole town just about was there. We had a few appointments those days but most people just canceled because they forgot it was Peach Days. We actually ended up going down there and getting dinner. Everyone was trying to give us free food. We were stuffed beyond belief. During the actual week we had a fair number of lessons. We have been trying to find more investigators, so we went out contacting a lot of people. We have some appointments this week that we set up last week from those contacts. So we will see how that goes.

Last Thursday we had President Center come out with us to our appointments. He had to interview my companion for his temple recommend renewal because he is going home soon. And he had to interview one of our investigators for Baptism. The investigator in question ran away from his family when he was 15 but comes from a polygamist family so he has to be interviewed by the mission president and then a general authority. So we are trying to get the ball rolling on that. When we find out more I will update you all on that. It is something that we actually see quite often here. There are quite a few people who run away and come here. 

So yesterday for Labor day we had some members invite us up to their cabin near Kolob reservoir to go fishing. Their cabin is in a private community with its own private lake. We were at an elevation of 8800 feet so we were just driving up and up and up for awhile (Hurricane is at 3400 feet) We got up to their cabin and went straight to fishing. I caught 5 rainbow trout. 3 of them were a decent size, but the other 2 were tiny so i threw 4 of them back. I had one on my line that was bigger then the rest but it ended up snapping my line and getting away. While we were fishing though a couple of Osprey and a Bald Eagle got in a fight above the lake. That was the first time i have ever seen a Bald Eagle in the Wild that close. But I will talk to you all next week. 

I love you all and will have quite the update for you all next week!!

-Elder Valentine

The Fish and I 

Week 3

So it is hard to believe that i am almost half way through my first transfer. Time just flies by. It is not even funny. We had a pretty good week overall. It was kind of tough. But the good outweighs the bad.

Last Monday we had a less active member whose son we are teaching, his son is 9 and not yet baptized, take us out into the desert just outside of Hurricane to some rock formations and the sand dunes. It was so much fun. I forgot to take my camera so I didn't get any pictures of that. Which is a bummer. But it was Gorgeous. We were high enough up that we could see all the way to St. George. Which is about 15 miles away. We could see the temple. That was to the west. To the south we could see into Arizona. So cool. I will try to get some pictures from my companion. 

So that was pretty cool. During the week we lost 4 investigators, well definitely 3 but up to 4. The first 2 was a Hispanic woman and her son. Their family is Catholic and very anti them getting baptized. So they dropped us. Then a really solid investigator we had moved back to Las Vegas. His Dad sent him up to Hurricane to stay with a member because he was getting in trouble back home and the member introduced us. We committed him to baptism but his dad wanted him to live it before he was baptized so he moved back home to start high school. So we handed him off to the elders down there. We called them and told them everything and that he was ready. So we hope and pray the best for him. Then another one of our investigators who is turning her life around turned herself in on some warrants she had and we are still trying to figure out when and if we will be able to teach her again. But last night after we got out of our last lesson for the evening at 8:00 we went out to try to contact a referral we got from a member of the stake presidency here. We couldn't find the house so we went over to the ward mission leaders house and It just so happens that a family that lives across from him that we have been trying to contact forever was actually home! So we walked over and knocked on the door and she asked us if we could come teach this Thursday. I know that because of our obedience the Lord blessed us to be able to find her and be able to teach her. We then went to the mission leaders home and his daughter actually gave us a referral which was awesome. And we got the address figured out for the home of the other referral. So we have some more work to do. The Lord definitely opens a window though when a door closes. So long as we are obedient he will open those windows and bless us. 

But the highlight of the week was Saturday and Sunday. When Paige got baptized and confirmed!!

She is an awesome young woman and has a strong testimony. She was super excited as we were. So that was awesome. But it just goes to show that although life is never easy we have to take the good with the bad. Because honestly the good always outweighs the bad. 

I love you all. And until next week!

Thats Paige and us.