Transfer 15, Week 4, Lakes Zone, Desert Breeze Ward‏

Dear Family,

Well... First off... Guess what! 

Elder Gonzales is with Elder Till and I! His companion had to go home for medical purposes and so president put him with us! So great! We get to be 'companions' after all! 

Well, the start of this week was pretty slow. We had Zone Conference on Wednesday and Elder Till and I were assigned to do a role play on how to teach the Book of Mormon. I was stressed out (not too much) but it ended up going really well! The spirit definitely helped us out as we taught! 

Then on Friday Elder Till and I decided to clean our car out really well and organize it. We also decided to organize our room and just have a fresh start. I was thinking how great it is to the mind to just move things around and have a change. In literally 5 minutes from when that thought entered my mind I got a call informing me that Elder Gonzales will be in our companionship. He is great and I think he will be the thing that can get this ward going! Elder Gonzales has helped to break up the slump we have been in and I am sure we will be able to find more people to teach. 

This past week, while Elder Till and I were tracting, I found a new appreciation for talking to people. To try to love them and go out to find those who are ready. It prepared me well for Elder Gonzales because he is always super energetic and THAT is what we need :) 

The theme for this month is "Christlike Attributes" (chapter 6 in Preach my Gospel). Zone Conference went very well and I'm super excited about what I've learned. President Ahlander and his wife shared an experience they had with Elder Andersen when he came down this past year to our mission. He asked them if they have been sharing Sister Ahlanders fathers teachings (Elder Neal A. Maxwell). They said that they were not. He told them it would be a good idea for them to share more of his teachings with the missionaries here. So in Zone Conference we watched a talk about Hope by Elder Maxwell. This was right after he had gone through a treatment of chemo, and yet he talked about hope. It was a great lesson to me. 

Well things are going well here! We are going to start riding bikes so we can talk to more people! I'm excited to see what the upcoming weeks hold in store for work in this area! 

I love you all!

Love, 

Elder John 

"Real hope keeps us “anxiously engaged” in good causes even when these appear to be losing causes on the mortal scoreboard (see D&C 58:27). Likewise, real hope is much more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine. Hope is serene, not giddy, eager without being naive, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation which takes the form of a determination—not only to survive adversity but, moreover, to “endure … well” to the end (D&C 121:8)."- Elder Maxwell