Ch-ch-ch-changes...

His new companion, Elder N, 

who was trading ties with another elder at the time

Buenos!!

It's been a crazy week here! At the start of the week, we were on exchanges with the other elders in our district when we got a call from President saying that Elder B was being emergency-transferred. It's kinda sad, we only got to serve together for three weeks, but I guess the Lord needs him elsewhere. He is off to serve in the Cumberland Gap ward, which is where the corner of Virginia meets up with Tennessee and Kentucky. So, we got him all packed up, said goodbye, and then headed to Knoxville on Thursday to get switched up. My new companion is Elder N! He is from Idaho Falls, played rugby in high school, and he has only been on his mission for about three weeks! So yes, I'll be serving with yet another greenie, and hopefully finish training him. This will be greenie number 4!

Elder Nielsen and I have hit the ground running. This week we met with a lady named D. She was a referral from a recent convert in Asheville, and she already had a copy of the Book of Mormon that she was reading! We also got to meet D's daughter, B, and her grandson, N, and all three of them are really interested in learning about the church. They had something come up this week that prevented them from coming to church, but they really want to come next week. We are excited about them; they have a ton of potential.

This week we also had a day of service for a little town in our area, Unicoi. We worked with the parks and rec department on a few projects around town. We ended up laying a ton of mulch and gravel at one of the local parks. It was a great community event. There were about 80 volunteers and 17 of them were non-members, so it gave us a fun chance to serve alongside other people not of our faith. Our bishop actually ended up on the news for a little bit; they asked him about the church's program, Just Serve, so that was pretty cool. It was a fun opportunity, and a great chance to serve!

My ponderizer this week is Proverbs 21:23, "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." This week I've been thinking about language, and how much power there is in the words we use. Words spoken in the spirit of anger and ill-will can cause contention and heartache. But, our words can also do a great deal of good. We can lift one another, and if we are in tune, our words can invite the spirit to touch the lives of others. As the hymn reads, "Let us oft speak kind words to each other." I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Goodbye Elder B

District pictures

¡Feliz Día de Pascua!

He found Oregon St and Utah St!

Buenos!

We had a pretty good week here in Watauga. This week was all about trying to share the church's Prince of Peace initiative in preparation for Easter. One success that came out of it was that we met this guy named T. He let us in to share the Easter video, and then afterward opened up about how he has all these questions about the Bible/Christianity. We got to teach him a little about the Book of Mormon, and he was super excited to read it! He's got a lot of potential, so we're excited to keep teaching him hopefully. This week we also had interviews with President, which always just seem to come at the right time. It's always great to be able to counsel with him. Then, the next day was Zone Meeting up in Kingsport, so that was fun!

On Saturday we attended the baptism for L, who just turned 8. His mom asked us to teach him the lessons before he got baptized, so we've been teaching him for a little bit, just kind of doing it as service. It was awesome to see him get baptized though! Afterwards, we got roped in to helping with the Primary Easter activity. The kids went ham on the Easter-egg hunt (I'll try to send a video). Then Sunday was  Easter, whoo! After church, we had dinner with some members, the B's, and they're awesome. Bro. B is so hilarious, and loves having fun with the missionaries. We got fed plenty of ham and potatoes, so I was satisfied. It was a fun time.

My ponderizer this week is Alma 11:40, "And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else." On Easter, we celebrate the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His resurrection guarantees victory over physical death for all of God's children, and His atonement allows us to overcome sin, if we are obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel He taught. How grateful I am for that. I know that Jesus is the living Christ, that he is the only source of lasting peace in our world, and that by relying on Him, we can prepare ourselves to return to the presence of God one day. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

He found a Mitchell family on Utah St.

Elder B napping on the way home from Kingsport

Say "Idiosyncrasy" in Spanish

The view in Unicoi 

Buenos!

It's been a pretty good week here in the Watauga ward. We have been going hard with the church's Easter initiative, Prince of Peace. We've been dishing out cards left and right and trying to show the new video with everyone! We've done some other fun things as well. Every Tuesday, as service, we get together with the other missionaries in Johnson City and some other members and go sing to old people in nursing homes. We mostly just sing little tunes like “This Little Light of Mine”, or “She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain”, or “Amazing Grace”, etc. It's a lot of fun. We also sing the UT fight song "Rocky Top," so it's been fun getting to learn the words to that.

Our area also covers two little towns south of Johnson City, Unicoi and Erwin, and so on Saturday we went down and did a lot of work there. Two of our top investigators live in Erwin. One is C, who is an older lady who is trying to work towards being re-baptized after leaving the church a long time ago. She has been doing a great job with keeping all her commitments, and came to church yesterday, so she's doing really good. The other is M, who committed to be baptized at the end of April, but we're not sure if she'll be ready by then. She wasn't at church this week, but hopefully she'll come next week.

Also this Sunday, I got to do a little translating! So.much.fun...Goodness, translating is so hard, but it's good. There is one Spanish brother in the ward, Hno. U. They just started a temple-prep class, and so the teacher invited me to come in and sit with Hno. U and translate for him. It was going pretty well until the teacher used the word "idiosyncrasy." He looked at me and said, "Try to say that in Spanish!" We had a good laugh about it. I'm excited to be able to help Hno. U though. Hopefully he'll continue to make progress, and be able to go to the temple soon!

My ponderizer this week is John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Jesus Christ truly is the Prince of Peace. It is only through Him that our world can find lasting peace, and His Gospel is the only lasting solution to our problems. The same is true for each of us individually. Christ can calm our troubled souls and give us the assurance that we need to overcome the challenges in our lives. As the hymn reads, "Sweet is the Peace the Gospel Brings." I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Week 1 in Watauga

Last week's concert with David Archuleta

Buenos!

Greetings from Johnson City! Transfers were this week, and I am excited to be in my new area, the Watauga ward. My new companion is Elder B. He is from St. George, Utah, is the 7th out of 8 kids, 18 years old, and is one of the biggest goofballs ever. He has been out on his mission for about 6 months. He loves doing just about anything, and is thinking about becoming a cop someday. He is also the first English companion that I've had, so it'll be interesting to see how things will work out this transfer.

The first few days in Watauga have been a little slow. After my first day here, we realized that we had gone over our monthly allotment of miles on our car, so for the next few days, we were "grounded." We've had to travel completely on foot, which has been fun, but tiring. Let's just say I've become really familiar with everything that's within a two-mile radius of our apartment. It has definitely made me appreciate having the car more. We were definitely thankful when the new month rolled around.

Of course, the best part of this week was conference! It was amazing, as always. I can't really pick out my favorite talk, but there were a lot of things that stuck out to me. I liked how Russell M. Nelson taught that there is nothing easy about becoming a powerful disciple, but it is faith in Christ that propels us to do things we would not normally do. I also loved Ronald A. Rasband's counsel to act on the first promptings that we receive from the Holy Ghost. I was also particularly grateful for David A. Bednar's talk about mission reassignments. I've struggled to understand why I was originally called to the Nashville mission, but it brought a lot of peace to me knowing that the call to serve is more important than the place. As long as we follow Christ, we "cannot go amiss."

My ponderizer this week is 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." Our prophets have spoken to us this weekend. They have given us our "scripture" for the next 6 months. Let us heed their counsel, so that we may become perfect men and women of God, furnished unto good works. I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

PS Most of these pictures are from last week because he forgot to send them:

At the concert, they had a "family reunion" 

with all the greenies he has trained

R receiving the Aaronic priesthood 

on his last Sunday in Lenoir City

Saying goodbye to Br. E, the ward mission leader 

and "Crazy Johnny" who they work out with sometimes

Saying goodbye to another long time investigator

At transfers he met up with Elders R & M,

who he served with in Dalton

With his new companion, Elder B