Staying in Cookeville Again

Sleeping again!

Buenos!

First off, we got transfer info this week. Elder C and I are staying the same! This will be our third transfer together, and we are pretty pumped. We are hoping to see some miracles this transfer and we really want to see some progression with the work here. Other transfer news, every other companionship in our district is getting changed, so we will have lots of new faces.

This week started out really well, but kind of died off near the end. Tuesday was great (which is rare, usually Tuesday stinks for some reason). We were able to talk to an English potential, E. We had an incredible Restoration lesson with her, she was feeling the spirit, and even asked us where the church was and what time we met, and committed to come to church! She has a lot of potential. That night we had a member come out with us and we were able to teach 3 lessons, one of which was with C, who we met last week! It was super cool! He read the pamphlet!!! What?! An investigator actually kept a commitment! You know what that means? Progressing investigator! After not having one the whole time that we've been here, it was pretty exciting. Plus, C absolutely loved, loved the pamphlet, and really wanted to come to church! We were super stoked!

On Wednesday we had the last district meeting of this transfer, so we took pics, and then Sparta, Jamestown, and Crossville had to drink a potion that consisted of coconut milk, peanut butter, cinnamon, hot sauce, and pickled beets. It was pretty nasty. Elder P struggled to put it down and almost threw up a couple times. That night, we had another member come out and we got in with another English investigator, G. We read Alma 7 with him, and then he had a lot of great questions about prophets, and our member did a great job helping us answer them. We were able to commit him to come to church as well! What?! It was Wednesday and we had three people committed to come to church.

Well, Thursday rolled by, Friday went, Saturday came. We got transfer info and that was about it. We had three days in a row with little to no success at all. But, we were still excited to have our three people at church. Well, Sunday came...but no investigators did. All three were no go's. So, instead of ending the week with three progressing investigators, we were back down to zero. Plus, we weren't able to teach anyone on Sunday either. Our tracting has been really struggling this week too. So, the week started good, but the rest of it stunk. But, we are hoping for a bounce-back week this week to start next transfer off strong.

This week my ponderizer is 1st Corinthians 1:17 which says, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect." I like this verse, but I don't totally understand it yet, so I'll be thinking about it a lot this week. But, this verse points out that it is our role to preach the gospel by the spirit, not with our own wisdom. We give people the opportunity to exercise their agency, and they choose whether or not to accept our message. If baptisms come from that, so be it. Our role is simply to invite. Anyways, hope y’all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Their district

Maybe Elder P after drinking the potion

Random selfie

Their mission president is Kyle Anderson :)

Locked Out

The Tin Man, 

which is one of Elder Mitchell's nicknames

Buenos!

Well, another week has gone by in Cookeville. This week was pretty standard, nothing super crazy. The weather has been a little nuts though. We've been having thunderstorms on and off, so it will rain really hard, then the sun will come back out and it'll be 85 degrees and super humid. It's great haha. It cooled off toward the end of the week. When we woke up on Sunday it was like 36 degrees. Also this week there were some areas (mostly in Kentucky) that got hit with tornadoes. Crazy.

We had a pretty good day in Monterey on Tuesday. We spent the majority of the day there. We weren't able to get in with some of the people from last week, but we did have another lesson with an old potential, M. He had a lot of questions about why Mormon isn't mentioned in the Bible. We kept explaining it to him, but he just wasn't getting it. Hopefully he'll gain a better understanding from reading the BofM. We found lots of new potentials, so the teaching pool continues to grow in Monterey.

On Wednesday we had the first district meeting with our new district members, Sparta and Crossville. Then, we went and worked hard that whole afternoon, but we couldn't get anything, which stunk. But, we had a member come out with us that evening, and we were able to teach a member present lesson, plus we got in with a less active family, the Gs, which was great. Now, in our zone, there is a goal to get one member present, one less active, and one other lesson a day. During our whole time in Cookeville, Elder C and I have only reached that goal twice. So, here we were, sitting with the member present, and the less active, but no other lesson! The member dropped us back at our place around 8:00, and we just started thinking of who we could go see. So, we went to this cluster of potentials and started trying people. Nobody home. Around 8:35, we tried this duplex that we thought might be Hispanic. We knocked on the first door, and they didn't answer, but then the other neighbor answered because he thought we were knocking on his door. Well, this guy that answered, C, had had contact with missionaries before in Mexico, and in Nashville, and he wanted to know more! So, we were able to teach him more about the Restoration, and he agreed to a soft baptism invite. Whoo!

Thursday was fun. We were trying a potential, so we parked the car, walked to the potential, they didn't have time right then, so we went back to the car. That was when we realized that Elder C had accidentally locked the keys inside the car...yup. So, we had to call the vehicle coordinator, and he had to drive an hour and a half from Nashville to come unlock us. Needless to say, he was not pleased with us haha. The rest of the week was pretty boring. Transfers are coming up though, we'll get calls on Saturday, so we're a little antsy for that. We'll see what happens!

My ponderizing scripture this week is 1st Timothy 1:12 which says, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." I love this short, powerful verse. As missionaries, we have been counted faithful to be put into the ministry. But, we can't do this without the Lord's help. Though him, and especially through the enabling power of the Atonement, we can do all things. Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Waiting to get the car unlocked

Some more sleeping pics

¡Feliz cumpleaños! ¡Feliz día de la madre!

¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Buenos!

Hope y’all enjoyed Mother's day. It was great to Skype home! We had a pretty good week here. It started with exchanges with Jamestown on Tuesday. Elder C went up to Jamestown and I ran the Spanish area in Cookeville with Elder S. It is always fun/nerve-racking to run a Spanish area by yourself, but it was a good experience. During the exchange, we taught 4 lessons, which really set the tone for our week. Those lessons early in the week catapulted us to a week of 22 other lessons, 16 of which came from tracting. It was the most lessons that I'd ever taught in a week, so that was exciting.

We definitely saw some tender mercies on Thursday. The afternoon was not so good. We had three set appointments, and two members scheduled to come out with us. We were pretty stoked. But, both members had to cancel, and all three appointments fell through. Bummer. Then, we weren't able to find or teach anyone during our power-hour, so that stunk. After dinner, we bounced to Monterey to work for the night. The first few people we tried weren't home, so we just figured it was going to be one of those lame days where nothing goes right. But, then we went to this trailer park, and the whole day turned around. The first people that we talked to let us right in. It was a young family. The parents are H and F. H seemed really interested, and the spirit was definitely there while we taught the Restoration. We've been praying to find a family to teach and baptize, so who knows? Then, the next 3 doors we knocked we found three new potential investigators! Lastly, to wrap up we went back to a potential that we'd tried earlier, and she was home this time! So, we had a solid lesson with her too! After not teaching anyone all day, we taught 5 lessons in just over an hour. God is good! We were dancing down the street back to our car, we were pumped.

Friday night was my last night as a teenager, so we had to do something crazy. So, we had a contest to see who could eat a bag of popcorn the fastest without using our hands. It was fun. Elder C just barely beat me out haha. On Saturday, I turned 20 years old! Wow! Crazy! I done spent 2 decades on this earth. On Saturday we worked hard and had another 5 lesson day. At night, we made a little cake and blew out candles and all that jazz. Then Sunday, we had our normal seven hours of church. After that we had dinner with our ward mission leader, and then we skyped! Pretty fun week!

My ponderizer this week is from Alma 37:44-45 which says, "For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss...the words of Christ, if we follow their course, [shall] carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise." The words of Christ will lead us to where we want to go, especially the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon, I love teaching people about the Book of Mormon. I know that when we read the scriptures, there is a power in them. We will gain power to resist temptation, power to become more like Christ. God prepared the Book of Mormon for our day, and I'm so glad for my testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. I testify that more blessings than we can imagine come from reading the scriptures,especially the Book of Mormon. I hope y’all/youinses have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

It was great to Skype on Mother's day!

Their popcorn eating contest for Elder Mitchell's 20th birthday

Due to the stake getting split, they had a mini-transfer 

to make new zones aligned with the new stakes.

This is their new district.

The Good, The Bad, and the Full Stomachs

"I stand at the door and knock..."

Buenos!

We had a pretty good week here! Monday and Tuesday were pretty standard. We had a great afternoon in Monterey on Wednesday where we taught 3 lessons. It was pretty sweet. Then, on Thursday we had Zone Conference with the Murfreesboro and Madison zones in Smyrna! Driving through my old area brought back lots of memories. We had a great conference, with trainings by President and Sister Andersen, the AP's, and various members of the office staff. I really enjoyed President's training about the "spiritual sandwich." He basically broke down the Restoration, but he really pointed out how much we need to emphasize the spirit in our teaching. When we practiced it, I noticed a profound difference. We do the Restoration day in and day out, but when we really taught about the spirit, and emphasized it, there was a different feel to it. Elder C and I are really excited to apply it to our teaching. After conference, we stopped by Better Days BBQ in Smyrna for dinner. Best pulled pork out there. So good. Mmm.

Zone Conference

This week, one of the members of our ward, Sis. F, opened up her new restaurant: "A Taste of the Philippines." It was really good!! Plus, Sis. F usually feeds us every Saturday, so we'll be back.

On Sunday, we had lunch with Bro. T, where we each had three hamburgers, fries, and a giant desert which consisted of a brownie, with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge, with whipped cream on top. It was really good, but it feels like I've done nothing but eat food for the last few days.

Sunday we also had a special Stake conference in McMinnville where they divided the stake into the McMinnville stake and the new Cookeville stake! It was pretty exciting! We saw two new stake presidencies organized, and there were great testimonies born. We also got to hear from Elder Meredith, the area 70, and Elder Kopischke of the 70. Elder Kopischke said that any stake could be divided within one generation if we would just strengthen our families. He also talked about how one of the best ways to strengthen family relationships is through service. He also talked about the conversion of his parents. It was a great talk, and a great conference.

Elder Kopischke

My ponderizer this week is Alma 37:8 que dice, "And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, andconvinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls." The scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, were preserved for us, for our day. We have had many chances this week to bear powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is where the converting power is at. The Book of Mormon will bring people to salvation. I love the Book of Mormon, and I know it's true!! If the Book of Mormon is not part of your scripture study, make it a part of it! Anyways, hope y’all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

At Zone Conference

Pres. Anderson is between the three towers!

Better Days BBQ

Looks pretty yummy!

I think he ate too much :)

Another p-day visit to Cummins Falls!