One hundred eighty

Oh man all ya all, I am doing a turn around! Leaving the sticks of Madison. The forests and foliage, the fantastic ward, the 10 +/- investigators, and all the comforts I've come to love around here.

Going to Hartford!!!! Aaahhhhhhhh!!!!! South Hartford. City baby. The Ghetto!! Least from the little bit that I'm hearing. Oh man, I'm nervous, but way excited too for the change. Its gonna be wild! The fun doesn't stop there though. I am being "doubled in" with another Elder, meaning the 2 Elders that are there now are both getting moved, and me and a new companion will go in fresh. No preconceived notions or whatever. Getting doubled in could mean several things I guess, but I don't want to start making too many assessments and judgments at this point. Elder Lowe I believe will be my new comp. Wild. I talked to one of the Elders who is there now (who is actually coming to Madison, kinda funny, we’re trading places sort of) and he said we have like 1 investigator. They dropped everyone recently cause no one was progressing. Bummer. So things are going to be waaaaaaaayyyy different, Waaaaayyy different. Kinda scary! This will probably be a pretty big experience for me. Who knows. Twill be what I make of it of course.

Well like I said, it will be sad to leave Madison. There are some wonderful people here. Some great examples. I've seen so many things that I want for myself one day. Good familes, strong relationships, hard workers, etc etc. Its been a blessing to have had this 6 months here. I will miss it. I'm pretty sure I'm REALLY gonna miss it after a few weeks in Hartford! Ha!

Gosh the gospel is amazing. Its the best. Ooh - also - maybe some people out there know what I"m talking about, but I got ahold of this talk called the King Follett Discourse. It is super rad. It was a talk Joseph Smith gave at a conference I believe, kinda in conjunction with this guy King Follett's funeral. Lays down some sweet doctrine about God and His nature and a bunch of other cool stuff. So have a look for that if you have a moment. I think it would have been one of the last big speeches he made, just a few months before Carthage. Guy was incredible! There is so much to learn in this world its insane! All the different languages related to scripture and all that. Very cool. I want to know it all!

I've been noticing how everything takes time. Nothing, nothing! worthwhile comes quickly. As I've started to get better at things and be more comfortable and proactive in different situations and acquire different attributes and such, I notice that its all such a huge process! Becoming better! Reaching potential! All of that. You can't just become your best one day. At least it doesn't seem that I can. I can make the choice to try a lot harder, but everything takes time! Its frustrating. But its very rewarding when one starts to see the results come around. To notice when you start doing things almost out of habbit that you've always wanted to be doing. To start seeing the fruits of your labors is just great. Especially with self improvement. And especially with others. But I seem to be seeing these things as of late. DIfferent things starting to come around after much effort. No effort is wasted I suppose. There's always something to learn, if we’re humble.

I've gotten more mail in the 6 months I've been out than Elder Haworth has gotten his whole mission, at 20 months now! Ha, I'm very lucky. Thanks for everyones great support.

Well anyway, the winds of change are blowing once again! Say good bye to everything I've become accustomed to and try something completely different. But I get to take all the knowledge with me! All the things I’ve learned. Isn't that nice.Well I'll keep everyone posted, next weeks email will probably be a fun one! We shall see. I love you all sooo much! This is the best thing I could have ever possibly done with myself. With my life.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

ELder son & brother