Be One

Saying goodbye to Elder B

Buenos!

It's been another solid week here in Johnson City! This week was transfers, so we said goodbye to Elder B, and welcomed Elder H! Elder H is from Pleasant Grove, UT, has been on his mission for almost 11 months, and loves soccer. He is an absolute stud when it comes to missionary work, and we are already working really well in our new trio. It was also great to see everyone at transfers. I realized this would be my last transfer meeting, and it would be the last time I see a lot of people. I got to say goodbye to a few of my old greenie's, as well as Elder C, who finished his mission this last week. It's just kinda crazy that time is winding down. Also this week, President Griffin will be returning home, and our new mission president will arrive! We are excited to have President Pickett get here, even if I'll only know him for two weeks haha.

This week we were able to start the new member lessons with E (who was baptized last week). We were also able to get her into the family history center this week to start doing some research on her family. We had one of the ward consultants there with us, and E was able to learn a ton about her ancestors, and she was so excited! She is set up to go back again this week too, so hopefully she'll be able to find some names for the temple soon! Also, E invited her brother, B, to come to church with her this week, and he actually came and stayed for all three hours. Hopefully we'll be able to start teaching B a little more, and it is great to see that E already wants to share the gospel with everyone. She is doing great right now!

One of the other new investigators that we are trying to work with right now is a lady named Z. We tracted into her a couple weeks ago, and noticed her yard was super overgrown. We volunteered to come mow her lawn, and she actually let us come back and do it! At first she wasn't too interested in our message, but she agreed to listen to a lesson after we finished her lawn. So last week, we were able to teach her about the Restoration, and this week we were able to go back and read from the Book of Mormon with her. She has a lot of potential to progress, so we are hoping things work out with her! Other than that, we have been working really hard, finding a lot of new investigators. The work is going pretty good here in JC!

My ponderizer this week is D&C 38:27 which says, "I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine." This week I read an interesting quote that said, "Our mortal lives are a constant struggle between choosing oneness with God or oneness with the world." Towards the end of his ministry, Christ prayed that His disciples would learn to be one, even as He and His Father were one. What does it mean to be One? It means to align our will with the Father's. It means to live the gospel that Christ taught. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, we have the chance to repent every day and root out the natural man inside of us, becoming new creatures in Christ. When we can learn to follow our Father's will, we too can become one with God and His son Jesus Christ. I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

On their last n;ight with Elder B,

they celebrated with a special dessert at a member's house

A layer of cookie dough, then a layer of Oreos and Reeses,

followed by more cookie dough, topped with ice cream!

Saying goodbye to Elder C,

who finished his mission this week

At his last transfer meeting, saying goodbye

to two of the elders he trained

With the new trio, including Elder H