Halfway Up Hill

From last week when they had snow

Hola!

Well, we had a pretty good week here in Clarksville. I would just like to begin by mentioning that last Friday I hit my 6 month mark! It's a little crazy to think that I've been out that long. Time has honestly flown by. It's a little crazy to think that I'm 1/4 of the way through my mission. On Friday I was thinking, "Wow, I only have that three more times...huh." Crazy.

On Tuesday we had Zone Conference. We drove up to Hopkinsville, KY (yup, I got to cross the border, whoo!) and had a conference with the Hopkinsville and Paducah zones. It was pretty fun. We had trainings by President/Sister Andersen, the STL's, and the ZL's. We also heard the testimonies of missionaries going home in the next 1-2 transfers. We actually have 3 missionaries in our district who will be going home in about 3 weeks. I really enjoyed President's training about how faith, patience, and diligence are 3 pillars of missionary work. He also talked about how at 211 degrees water is hot, but at 212, it boils. He challenged us to take things up one notch, just one more degree. 

After the Zone Conference, we had the privilege to sing at an event in Elkton. We had been invited to attend a multi-faith Christian choir concert, where they had choirs from around the area come and sing praises to the Lord. So there was a Catholic choir, Methodist, Baptist (I really liked them), and then we sang. Our little missionary choir sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," and "Nearer My God to Thee." It was a pretty fun night, and it was great to see so many people with different opinions and ideas all celebrate their faith in Christ.

The English members are still feeding us real well. I have been so stuffed. I forgot to mention it but last week we had a dinner with this Samoan family, the Ts. Man. They absolutely stuffed us. Don't mess with islanders. They gave us ribs, fried chicken, rice, potatoes, everything. There was so much food! I was already full when Brother T said, "Elder, it is disrespectful in our culture if you don't eat everything." He then proceeded to put a few more ribs on my plate. After I was stuffed, they said, "Ok, hope you have room for desert." Oh my. They gave each of us a giant bowl of ice cream and a plate of lemon cake. I had finished my cake and was almost done with the ice cream when Brother T said, "Elder. I was just kidding. You don't have to eat all that." But, there were only a few more bites left, and I wasn't about to be beaten by the food. So, I finished. Then, I felt awful. To make a long story shorter, I ended up puking in their bathroom. (I still feel bad about that). Yeah, when I woke up the next morning I was still full. Don't mess with the Samoans man.

This week we had exchanges. Our district leader is in a trio right now, so he just decided to come to our area rather than having one of us pack up and go to his. So, for a couple days we got to be in a trio. It was a little weird, especially with tracting and stuff. While on exchanges, we met this cool new investigator. He is a black dude named C. Yup. Totally African-American, talks like he's from the hood, and his name is C. However, we're pretty sure his wife is Hispanic, we just haven't met her yet. C is pretty cool though. He recently moved to Tennessee and is looking for a church, and apparently he's related somehow to a member in Sango. We're hoping things will continue to go well with him.

Church on Sunday was pretty great. We attended just two wards (technically we could go to all four of the Clarksville wards). It was the first time we've had the Sacrament in about 3 weeks, due to the broadcast, and church being canceled last week. You really come to appreciate the Sacrament after not having it in a long time! This week was also my first time translating in Sacrament meeting. When the meeting started, there weren't any Spanish members there, so I thought I was off the hook. However, some hermanas came in right before the Sacrament started, so, we ended up having to translate after all. It was really nerve racking at first, but after a little bit it wasn't too bad. I'm not sure if I could've done it 3 months ago, but I'm definitely grateful for the gift of tongues.

(Man, this seems like a pretty long email). My ponderizer this week is D&C 128:22. "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free." I've been thinking a lot about diligence lately. It's easy to get discouraged and lazy in missionary work, but we need to keep pressing forward! I love how this scripture says that Christ will "enable us to redeem." I know that with the enabling power of the Atonement, anything is possible, and that if we are diligent, he will help us bring to pass this marvelous work and wonder. Alright, hope y'all have a great week! 

Love, 
Elder Mitchell

Deep in thought on the bus

This time he caught Elder W sleeping