Sweater Weather

Buenos!

Greetings from Lenoir City! Yup, I'm now in the Loudon Branch, which covers two small cities, Loudon and Lenoir City. We share the area with a pair of sisters, so they cover Loudon, and we cover Lenoir City. The new area is great; it reminds me a lot of my first area in Smyrna. It's a pretty small town, but there's a good number of Hispanics here, so that's good. One of the things I noticed right off the bat is that it's way colder here! Down in Georgia it was still in the 70's and 80's, but I've had to break out the sweaters this week. My new companion is Elder C! He's only been out for a few weeks, but he's ready to work hard! He is 18, right out of high school, and he is from Modesto, CA. He played water polo in high school, and wants to study nursing after the mission.

Well, for my last few days in Dalton, we put in some good work and said good bye to lots of members. On Tuesday night, the T family took us out to dinner, and I tried cow tongue! It was a little squishy, but good. Then, we shipped out Wednesday morning to Lenoir City! These first few days we've just been trying to figure out the area. We don't really have any investigators at this point, so we are basically starting from scratch. So, this week we did a lot of finding, mixed in with trying to meet a lot of Less-actives. One success from this week was our visit with a less-active family, the R family. We got to teach them, as well as Sis. R's boyfriend, R (who isn't a member). Then, they were all able to make it to church the next day! It was great!

My ponderizer this week is Romans 8:16-18 which says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Sometimes we receive different trials in our lives, new assignments, different challenges. But, we are joint-heirs with Christ if we hold out faithful. If we will endure the hard times, God promises us unimaginable blessings. I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Last Dinner in Dalton 

with the T family

The third from the left is the cow tongue!

Goodbye Bishop T

Last Sunset in Dalton

With his new companion Elder C

His new district

In Lenoir City

The Times They are A-Changin'

Buenos!

Well, just as quickly as our trio started, our trio is coming to an end this week. But, this time, I'll be moving! We got a call Sunday morning informing us that I am being emergency-transferred to Loudon, TN!! I'm a little sad to be leaving Dalton so abruptly, but I'm excited to see what's in store in Loudon. My new area is just a little southwest of Knoxville, and it's only about 15 minutes away from the mission home. My new companion will be Elder C! I don't know much about him, other than that he is really new to the mission field, he's only been out for about 4 weeks. So, we will be re-opening the area in Loudon, and I also will finish training him. It should be exciting! I'm so glad for the chance to serve in Dalton, I loved it here. But, I'm excited to see what happens next in Loudon!

This week was a good one. We were able to teach a lot of people,  but there were three lessons from this week that stood out. One was with a former investigator that we recontacted, R. He wasn't that interested in the past, but he is really looking for the truth now. We had a great lesson with him about baptism, and he committed to be baptized in December! We also had a great visit with K. She recently quit her job so that she could come to church on Sundays, and lately her boss has been offering her different things to try to come back. But, K has been showing so much faith, and she told us that there was no way that she'd be working on Sundays. It was such a huge step for her and she finally came to church this week, so that was awesome! Lastly, we had an amazing visit with a new investigator, L. We were going through the Restoration with her, and the spirit was incredible throughout the whole lesson. Then, when we shared the first vision, the spirit was so powerful! I think it was the most powerful experience that I've had with sharing the first vision, and L committed to be baptized! Whoo!

The other crazy thing from this week was that we got a new bishopric! They released bishop Torres after 7 years, and they called one of the counselors of the stake presidency as the new bishop! We got to hear great testimonies and it was a very spiritual meeting. To top it off, our regular pianist was working, and nobody else in the ward plays, so I was asked to play piano during sacrament meeting! Haha, I only played the melody, but it turned out alright.

My ponderizer this week is Mosiah 8:18 which says, "Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings." This last week was a great example of how we can exercise faith to see miracles. This week we kinda got off to a slow start, and we weren't sure if we were gonna be able to meet any of our weekly goals. But, with faith, and a big weekend push, we were able to hit nearly all of our goals, it was awesome. I know that the Lord blessed us with other miracles this week too. Once again, I'm sad to leave Dalton, but I'm also excited to see the miracles that'll come in Loudon! I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell

A couple weeks ago, they helped at a water station

for a local half-marathon.

He said it was really cold!

Last p-day was Halloween, so that night they hung out as a

district, carved pumpkins and played games

The end of the terrific trio!

Saying goodbye to Dalton

In the Mouth of Two or Three Witnesses

Missionary work at the fair

Buenos!!

Well, if you weren't able to guess from the title, we're in a trio now! Our new companion is Elder R!! His last companion just went home due to health reasons, so Elder R was emergency-transferred down here to Dalton, and we are so excited to have him with us! A little bio on our new comp: He is from Phoenix, AZ, although his family is from El Salvador (so, he's a native Spanish speaker, which is awesome), and he's been out for 18 months now, which means he's the only companion I've had who's been out longer than a year. The other cool thing is that Elder R was one of the missionaries in the Cookeville Zone when we transferred over from the Nashville mission to Knoxville, so I already know him pretty well! We will be in a trio for the next couple weeks until the transfer ends, and we are super excited!

This week was a doozy. We were crazy busy, but we were able to get a ton of things done. We started off the week with Zone Meeting/Interviews with President Griffin, which was awesome. I always love the trainings we get from President, and during our interview, he told me some things which were exactly what I need to hear at that time. The rest of the week, we were just grinding, and we were able to get in with a lot of our investigators, and we also found a lot of new people. On Wednesday, we had a Trunk or Treat at the church, and our investigator H came with his whole family! It was awesome. On Friday, the fair was in town, so, what do the missionaries do? Go OYMing of course! We went in with a giant stack of pass-along-cards, and we didn't leave until we handed them all out. It was super fun!

Being in a trio has definitely added a new dynamic to our companionship. But, it's awesome because we can get so much more done if we have members going on splits with us. For example, Thursday night is our shepherding night and we had three members come to the church, so we were able to go on a three way split! Elder R was able to go see some less-actives, and meanwhile, I was able to go see one of our top people, D. We had a great lesson with her about eternal families, and it was like a light clicked in her head. Even with all the times she's been at church, with all the lessons she's had, it was like she never understood that families can be eternal! It was so awesome, and she was super excited. While that was going on, Elder M was able to go see one of our investigators, E. The members that we brought were absolutely perfect for her, the lesson was amazing, and E accepted a baptism date for the 26th of November! Whoo! It was an awesome night, and we are looking forward to all the great things that we can accomplish as a trio.

My ponderizer this week is 2nd Timothy 2:21-22 which says, "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." This week I've been re-studying Christlike attributes, and I thought that this scripture went great with that. As we flee from sin, and develop Christ's qualities, we will be purged from our sins, we will be vessels of the spirit, and we will be instruments in the Lord's hands to bring about his wonders. I hope y'all have an awesome week! Happy Halloween! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell 

More from the fair

Zone conference

A random Coke machine at a park

Planning meeting claims more victims!

Always Remember Him

He got me a present for my birthday :)

Buenos!

It was another solid week here in Dalton, lots of up and downs. We weren't able to meet with a lot of our top investigators this week, but the biggest success this week was with less-actives. This week we were able to visit with 12 less-active families, which was over double our original goal for the week! Another great thing from this week was the member help. This week we either had lessons in member's homes, or members coming out with us every day this week! The turnaround over the last month with the members here has been incredible. There are so many good things happening here, especially now that the members are getting more involved.

One of the highlights this week was our lesson with B. We have been teaching B for the last couple weeks, but unfortunately he'll be leaving Dalton this week. He's made some poor choices in his life, but they have really humbled him. The gospel truly is changing this guy. When we first met him, he was so distraught and down on life, but now his whole countenance has changed since we've been teaching him. He has more peace in his life, he is happier, and he has kept every commitment that we've left him. This week we finished teaching him about the plan of Salvation, and it really helped him to have a sense of hope for the future. The most incredible part was B's prayer at the end. I think it was the most beautiful, simple, humble prayer I've ever heard, as B pled with Heavenly Father for forgiveness, the spirit filled the room. It was incredible. We will have one more lesson with him this week, and that'll be it, it'll be hard to say goodbye, but I'm glad I got to see the atonement work in this man's life, and I know one day B will get baptized.

My ponderizer this week is 2nd Corinthians 5:15 which says, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." This week as we met with our less actives, we really wanted to make sure they understood the importance of Christ's atonement and the Sacrament. When we are baptized, we make a covenant to always remember Christ and to keep his commandments. Elder Bednar taught us last March that as members of the church we have "representative agency" which means we don't really have freedom to choose any more, all of our choices should follow Christ. That's why we need the Sacrament every week. If we are going to follow Christ, we need to have that renewal of the spirit in our lives every week. There's a great video by Elder Holland called "Always remember Him" and I invite you all to go watch it! Then go share it with someone else! Hope y'all have a great week.

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Here's the link to the video

Always Remember Him

The Man, The Myth, The Lemon

Buenos!

Well, we had a pretty good week here in Dalton, it was really productive. We were able to meet with the majority of our top investigators, which was great! This week we also did a lot of contacting, trying to get back in touch with old investigators, and we had a lot of success with it. One of the big successes was that we got back in touch with A, who was progressing at one point, but then just completely dropped off the map. This week we re-shared the Restoration with him, and he still is super interested and wants to come to church next week!

One of the bitter-sweet moments of this week was Sacrament meeting. It was awesome for two reasons 1) we have been working for a while now with a less-active family, the M's, and after a lot of poking and prodding, they finally came to church yesterday! It was so awesome to see them walk in to Sacrament meeting, we were super happy for them. 2) Remember A and her husband E? We met her at like 8:55 at night, they knew the bishop's family, and they came to General Conference. Well, we were able to meet with them this week, and they came to church too! Now, the disappointing part of yesterday was that even though we had A and E at church, we should've had way more investigators there. There were two people we met with on Saturday that both told us that they would be there for sure. Then, there was another one that texted us Sunday morning an hour before church, said he was coming...and then didn't show. I thought, well, what was the difference between the people that came and those that didn't? The answer: members.

Dear members of the church, you honestly do not understand how powerful you are and how necessary it is for you to be involved in missionary work. This week, we had a member with us, the man, the myth, the Lemon: Hermano Lemon. Guess which two families we visited that night with him? The M's, and A and E. Having a member with us for those lessons was critical, and there was a powerful spirit in those lessons, in large part of Hermano Lemon's testimony backing up our teaching. The other part of this is the fellowship. After church, we had dinner with Bishop Torres and his family, they invited A and E, and we had a great lesson with them and now they are both progressing. This week we learned a powerful lesson: even if we do all we can, if we work and work and work, we might see some success. But, if we want to hasten the work, we have to have members get involved.

My ponderizer this week is Alma 56:44, 46 which says, "Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle? For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus." I cannot stress enough how important members are to this work. We saw that this week. It's not just enough for one army (the missionaries), the members have to be involved. So, if you haven't gone out with your local missionaries in a while, go! Invite your non-member friends over for dinner, and invite the missionaries too! Find ways to help this great work move along! Therefore what say ye, members of the church, will ye also go up to battle? I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell 

Last week at the aquarium

At Ruby Falls, an underground waterfall,

with his district

Movie Night!

Helping their bishop clean out his trailer

at the local landfill

Buenos!

I don't have much time to write today, we went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga for P-day today, so we've been busy all day. But, we had a pretty good week here in Dalton. This week, we were able to meet with E a couple times. He decided that he wanted to drop his baptism date. He still wants to keep learning, and eventually be baptized, but he was feeling a little bit of pressure about it, so he just wants to keep learning before he makes a decision. We also met with H this week, had a good lesson, and he told us that he knows the Book of Mormon is the word of God! Now we just have to get him to come to church, but he's doing really well!

Highlight of the week was definitely our ward activity on Saturday. We had a movie night at the church, and we watched "Meet the Mormons." Our members did a great job, helping organize things, bringing food, but most importantly inviting their friends! We had a lot of less actives and non-members in the church, and it was a super fun night!

Other thing from this week is transfers. There are a lot of changes happening throughout the mission, and there's a giant group of missionaries coming in, so there's a ton of missionaries training as well. Elder M and I are both staying here in Dalton, and most of our district is staying the same, but, our district leader Elder P is off to go be a zone leader in Asheville. So, I got called as the new district leader. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

My ponderizer this week comes from Words of Mormon 1:7, "And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will." We don't know all things; we don't know why everything happens. But, if we are in tune, the Lord will work through us to carry out His plans and purposes. I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Mitchell

Movie night

More from the landfill

Hangin' out in Dalton

Visit to the Tennessee Aquarium--more pics to come!

Bro, Can We Bounce?

Buenos!

I hope you all had a great week, and that you enjoyed Conference! I thought Conference was great, but I'll get to that in a minute. First off, this week, I hit my 14-Month mark, and that was really weird. I'm beginning to feel like one of those old missionaries, especially since after this incoming transfer next week, a third of our mission will be greenies, so that'll be fun. Anyways, the work was a little hard this week. We faced some opposition and had nearly every appointment fall through, but we still worked as hard as we could, and we still had a lot of positives this week.

Although, we weren't able to see most of our main investigators this week, we were able to get in with D. We have seen a big change in her over the last few weeks. In the past when we would commit her to do things, she'd say things like, "Well, I'll try," or, "Yeah, I guess if I can." Things have turned around with her. She reads from the Book of Mormon, she prays, and now when we invite her to things, she always responds with her classic phrase, "Primeramente Dios." (God first). This Sunday D came to General Conference, and brought the rest of her family too, so that was awesome!

Despite our challenges this week, we saw a little miracle. It was late at night, and we had just gone to back-to-back missed appointments. We still wanted to salvage something out of the night, so we started trying a bunch of potentials in the area. As we did so, we felt that we weren't in the right area, so we prayed again, and felt that we needed to go try these two potentials in a part of town that I'd never been to before. Well, it was dark out, and we got lost on the way there, but we made it, and it was one of the most sketchy neighborhoods I've seen. We tried both potentials, but neither was home. Now, at this point, it was 8:55, and we needed to get home, but we decided to try one more house. We knocked, and as we waited for the door to answer, Elder M noticed a doll staring at us through the window, so that freaked us out haha. Elder M said, "I don't know if I'm feeling this house anymore, Bro, can we bounce?" Well, then the door opened, so we were stuck. We met this nice, older lady named A. We introduced ourselves, talked about what we did as missionaries, and she said she'd be interested in learning more. Then, she told us that she knew our bishop, Obispo Torres, and that she'd actually been to our church before! Well, we invited her to attend General Conference, and she came with her husband! We are really hoping we can keep working with her, she could be solid.

My ponderizer this week is Jarom 1:7 which says, "And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle. But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance." This weekend we have had the incredible opportunity to hear from the prophets and apostles of the church. I loved this conference, I didn't have a favorite talk, but I loved lots of different parts from every talk. We have received marvelous counsel, and now it is up to us to apply the things that we have learned. As we do so, we will find the power to "sweep away" the challenges and temptations that beset us. How grateful I am for leaders who are inspired by God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that through him the Church of Jesus Christ was restored in its fullness with prophets and apostles, and that Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet today! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Mitchell