The Field is White...

Hermano G, R, Elder C, Elder Mitchell, Elder J

Buenos!!!

This week was awesome! Biggest news from this week is that R was baptized!!! It has definitely been a long time coming, he's been investigating the church for a long time, and he finally made the decision. He had told us that last week he would let us know on Wednesday if he was going to go through with it or not. Well, come Wednesday, we go to meet with him, and he still wasn't sure. After a super spiritual lesson with him, we invited him to pray on his own, and to let us know that night. Well, about 10:25 we got the call saying he was going to do it! It was a crazy next couple of days to get everything ready, but it worked out, and on Saturday, he was baptized! We got great support from the branch, and had a great turnout, and even President Griffin came to the baptism. Then yesterday, we all got to stand in the circle as R was confirmed a member of the church. It has just been awesome to see the progression that he has made and how far he has come. He's awesome!

This upcoming week, we'll get to do it all over again. G is ready for baptism now, so this week we'll be getting ready for that. We are also working with a great pool of investigators right now, and we can definitely see the Lord pouring out his spirit in our area. Especially now that the members are getting more involved, we are definitely beginning to see a hastening of the work.

The sad news from this week is that Elder C is being emergency-transferred. Due to some people going home, President had to mix up some companionships. Elder C is off to serve in Cleveland, TN, and he'll actually be serving with my old comp from Dalton, Elder J! We're pretty sad to see him go, but the Lord needs him somewhere else. In the meantime, Elder J and I will be holding it down here in Lenoir City.

My ponderizer this week is D&C 100:4 which says, "Therefore, I, the Lord, have suffered you to come unto this place; for thus it was expedient in me for the salvation of souls." I know that the Lord puts us in specific areas, with specific companions, with specific people to teach and to save. So wherever the Lord has you, just remember that the Lord has you there for the salvation of souls. I'm thankful for the chance I have to be serving in Lenoir City, and that the Lord has suffered me to come into this place, for the salvation of souls. I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

With Br. S who baptized R and Branch Pres. T

With the three ZLs, one of the APs who previously taught R, the

sister missionaries from the branch and Mission Pres. Griffin and his wife

Saying goodbye to Elder C

One last workout with Crazy Johnny for Elder C

Elder C saying goodbye to Crazy Johnny and Br. E

A Poor Man's Breakfast

He found Portland (Avenue)

Buenos!

Well, we had an awesome week! It's been full of ups and downs, but the work here was amazing this week! Our investigators are doing great. R has made a ton of progress. This week we went over the questions for the baptismal interview, and he only had slight concerns with Thomas S. Monson and the Word of Wisdom. In our next lesson, we covered those, and now he is solid. We asked him if he really wanted to be baptized (his target date is this Saturday) and he said he'd let us know for sure on Wednesday. So, we'll see what happens this week!

G is also getting super close to baptism. We've had a lot of good lessons with him this week, and we were able to knock out most of the commandments. We are hoping he'll get baptized before the end of the month. There are great things happening here! We are still working with G's mom, MJ. She has a lot more concerns to work through, especially with the Word of Wisdom, so her progress has been a little slower, but she seems determined to work hard to give up smoking. We also got back in touch with J this week and he is back to keeping all his commitments, so we're excited to see what happens with him going forward.

Story time: So, we sometimes work out with this guy Bro. H, aka "Crazy Johnny." Well, his deal is that at the end of every workout he singles someone out to earn the "poor man's breakfast." Basically, if you can survive all of his crazy intense exercises, Johnny takes you to breakfast at this grocery store, Food City. It's just bacon, eggs, and a biscuit, but it's actually pretty darn good. Well, this week it was my turn to earn the breakfast. I survived and earned it, but not before Johnny wrecked every muscle in my body haha. Then, as we were in line to order food, I ended up going and puking in the Food City bathroom. Let's just say it was an experience I'll never forget haha.

My ponderizer this week is 2 Timothy 1:7 which says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." There are a lot of things to be afraid of as a missionary. It's not easy to go out and talk to strangers about Jesus Christ. But, fear is Satan's tool, and his alone. God does not give us fear, but if we ask in faith he will bless us with power. We can overcome our fears as we ask the Lord for His enabling power. I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

The terrific trio

Their "snow"

Making taquitos with Hermano G

Pictures from around Lenoir City

Hace Frio! (It's Cold!)

It got pretty cold last weekend,

but then warmed right up!

Buenos!

It was another good week here in Lenoir City. Good, but cold. We got a little bit of snow this week. On Friday it started with just a little bit of snow, but we actually got quite a bit on Saturday. We ended up grounding our car for most of the day, especially since LC is so hilly, we didn't want to be sliding on all the steep uphills and downhills. Even though most of the roads were clear, they ended up canceling church on Sunday. Things are supposed to heat up this week though, so I'm looking forward to that.

Wednesday was transfers, and Elder C and I welcomed our new greenie, Elder J! He is from Perry, UT near Brigham City. He is 18, just graduated high school this last year, and is planning to go to Utah State to study engineering after this mission. He grew up on a farm, so he loves being outside, just working with his hands. He loves telling stories and jokes, and he is really good at it haha. We're super excited to have him!

We had a pretty good week with our top investigators. R is finally showing some real progress. We finally figured out that he didn't really understand the need for priesthood authority, so we were able to address that this week, and it went really well! We also finally got back in touch with MJ, and we had a good lesson with her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Also (for Elder J's first lesson) we saw J, and talked with him about faith/repentance, and how he needs to have faith in himself--faith he can change. They are all doing well right now; we are just hoping to find some more solid people to add to our teaching pool.

My ponderizer this week is 1 Nephi 9:6, "But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen." God knows everything. He knows our struggles, our weaknesses, our challenges, and our desires. Even if things appear difficult, God will prepare a way for us to accomplish great works. I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Another Year, another Greenie...

Some much needed Mexican food, after a team-up 

with the one Spanish member in their branch

Buenos!!

2017!!! Well, it's another year. And, with a new year, it's the start of a new transfer this week. Transfer news: Elder C and I will be trio-training a brand new missionary!! It definitely came as a surprise; we had absolutely zero warning from President. This will also be my third trainee since switching to the Knoxville mission. It was kind of crazy getting the news, but Elder C and I are excited!

This week we were able to meet with most of our top people. We had some good lessons with J. We've been taking things really slow with him, just trying to make sure he understands everything. We also had some good lessons with R. He knows he wants to be baptized, but right now he still just doesn't feel ready. This week we weren't able to meet with MJ, but we were able to teach G the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson. He is progressing really well, and right now doesn't have any concerns, so we're excited about him. Now we just have to get his mom on board.

On Friday night we got a call from the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency asking us if we would both give 20-minute talks on Sunday....haha...sure. Even though we didn't have much time to prepare, it still turned out well. Elder C based his remarks on the talk on "What Lack I Yet?" by Larry R. Lawrence of the 70. It was a great theme for New Years. I based my talk on Dallin H. Oak's talk, "Sharing the Restored Gospel." I tried to focus on member missionary work. Elder Oaks talks about three things we can all do, regardless of our circumstances. 1) Pray for the desire to share the gospel. 2) Keep the commandments ourselves. 3) Pray for inspiration about what we can do personally to spread the gospel. I know that if each member will do these things, it will bring miracles in their ward/branch.

My ponderizer this week is Matthew 19:20, "The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Sometimes each one of us needs to ask ourselves, "What lack I yet? What is keeping me from progressing spiritually?" If we ask ourselves these questions with real intent, the Holy Ghost will give us customized, personal counsel on how we can improve. I hope y'all have a great week, and a great new year! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

District pictures