Staying in Gainesville

Hi!

 

Transfer calls came last night.  Elder Grant is moving on after 6 weeks with me and I will be staying in the Gainesville 2nd Ward for another two transfers to train a new missionary.  I've never spent more than 4.5 months (3 transfer cycles) in a single area before and have reached that here, so I was dead certain I was going to move.  Now that the anticipation of moving is gone, I'm not sure how I'm going to adapt to being in a single area/ward for 7.5 months (5 transfers). Hopefully, I don't get complacent, but it will definitely put a new spin to the work -- we've already visited all of the people in the area book and will have to get creative with finding. President also released me as a zone leader and called me to be the district leader over the most struggling district in the zone.  Yikes.  This will be an adventure for sure.

 

Thankfully, we have some great people to work with now!  After 6 weeks of absolutely nothing happening, Elder Grant and I had dropped all of the people we were working with just two and a half weeks ago.  Now we are blessed with several families, two college students, a single mom, a high school student, and a part member and have one solid baptism scheduled for early October.  Haha, that's probably why President chose to keep me here to train - give the new elder some good experiences to start his mission strong.

 

Interestingly enough, one of my favorite things has been ministering to people in hospitals lately.  There has been a hospital in each of my last four areas and I've really come to enjoy receiving phone calls to visit people there.  Elder Grant and I have had a couple of opportunities to be at both Shands Hospital and North Florida Hospital here in Gainesville this week. Health problems are pretty tragic, but it seems those situations can soften hearts and help people realize what is really important in life - family and God.
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#moments-that-matter-most

 

So when did Gabe get old enough to go on dates?  (weird)  Lol, he's probably driving too?  The Howell family is forever on the Manti history books with the sheer number of races that were won in that county by our family.  Congrats on a race well run and ending the legacy strong!  It sounds like the extended family is doing well with a flood of engagements, marriages, and job offers.  It sounds like Matt would really enjoy a job that takes him back to Germany so frequently.  I was also glad to hear that Alecia is singing with the institute choir.  That was one of my favorite stress relievers outside of dancing when I was there in Logan.

 

I received several letters today from friends in Logan, so here's a warm and hearty shout-out to Jon, Kristen, Amy, Becky, and even Kariann Nielson in Rexburg!  I'm not sure if I'll be able to write replies today, but hopefully I'll have letters coming back to you in the next few weeks!

Much Love!

 

Elder M.