A Christmas Skype with Elder Josh

We had a nice long visit with Elder Josh on Christmas day.  He seems really happy and is enjoying the work.  It sounds like he had a good Christmas.  He and several of the other Elders got together and had a big breakfast and then opened presents together.  Then they went to a member’s home and had second breakfast.  And then they were invited to two other homes, one for lunch and one for dinner.  They are being well taken care of!  Uncle Bruce has been spoiling him as well with lots of food and treats.  I am so grateful!  It was such a special treat to be able to chat with him for a little while.  We are all so proud of our Elder Josh!
- Patsy



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dated:  December 23, 2013

I was thinking of doing the subject of this email a quote from the song "I’ll be home for Christmas" but I decided not to. Thank you for all the gifts. I have not yet opened them (however, I do know that you sent me orange sticks and macadamia nut clusters) and I am super excited to open those and eat them all up. I love those things! Uncle Bruce is spoiling us here so much! He gave us 2 delicious hams and a bunch of other stuff. He gave us some sparkling cider too. I drank a whole bottle by myself. That stuff is so good! This is a great Christmas! I have pictures that I will send.

I have been so blessed this month. I ran out of money pretty quick this month because I was trying to eat different food, and I ended up spending too much early on, and then other expenses that came along really drained my money, but I have been so blessed to receive just a little bit more money and food to be taken care of for the month. Don't worry, the Lord will not let me go hungry. He never has. So he has been taking care of me.

We had specialized training this month. We did a Christmas Devotional with it too. It was neat. President Pitt talked about covenants. Something he taught us, and I never realized this is how important covenants are. Obedience without covenants won’t get you to heaven. If you keep the Sabbath Day holy but you are not under the covenant, you won’t get to return to Heavenly Father. When we are in the covenant though, and we are obedient, the Lord is able to bless us soooo much more! We don't progress until we are in the covenant. He really helped me love covenants and understand them so much more. We have something we recite every meeting. It starts by saying this "The West Virginia Charleston Mission is a Covenant Loving Mission with Covenant Keeping missionaries..." I really like that.  Love your covenants! They are a blessing.

The stake also did a Christmas Devotional. They told all the members to bring gifts for the missionaries. SO there was a big table full of stuff for us. Like socks, gloves, hats, shampoo, cotton candy, ties, and much more. It was very nice. We are being taken care of out here. The members out here love the missionaries. It is very humbling. I am so blessed to be around such great members of the church.

We learned today that Elder S. Gifford Nielsen of the 70 is coming to our mission on the 10th of January. That is going to be a sweet treat!

Well, I love you all. I hope you all have a marvelous, fabulous, extraordinary Christmas. I know I will. I am so happy to be out here helping other people have the joy that we all have. I love this work. I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is true.

Love,

Elder Josh!

Christmas Presents!

Elder Sister is excited to open his present, but I told
him not until Christmas morning.

The White Christmas Tree.  Each ring represents someone
that was baptised during our White Christmas.

The Charleston 'Zion' Zone.

WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!

Dated: December 16, 2013

Highlight of this week: WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY!!! On Saturday we went up to the ward Christmas party. They had Prime Rib and Ham and then a ton of casseroles. It was sooooo goood!!! O man, they had an au jou sauce with mushrooms and onions in it to put on the prime rib. They sent us home with the leftover, so we have like 5 pounds of meat in our fridge right now. Santa Claus came also. I went and sat on his lap, and so did all the other missionaries. Ill send pictures next week.

The other eventful things that happened this week: We had a District Meeting which was good. We talked about inviting people to be baptized and resolving concerns.

So this Christmas time I have really been trying to strengthen my Relationship with the Savior. I may have already shared this, but I am going to do it again.

In 3 Nephi Chapter 17, we have Jesus Christ visiting the Nephites in the Americas. He had just taught them, and he saw that they were all tired, so he told them go to home and prepare for him to come back the next day and teach more. The people could feel his love, and they loved him back (try to imagine yourselves in their shoes and how it would feel).

They didn't want him to leave and Jesus responded-

6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.

 7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

 8 For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is  sufficient that I should heal you.

9 And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.

The Savior is in the Healing Business. He healed all the Nephites that would come unto him. Some of the people needed help to come to him from their friends and family or others. Some were able to get their on their own. But the invitation for all was the same. "Come unto me and I will heal you." He does the same today. Each of us is Afflicted in some manner. The savior can heal all things. He had compassion on the Nephites. He just finished performing the atonement. He knows perfectly everyone one and everything they go though. He knows the pain of each person that has and will live on the earth, and he knows how to heal them. He can heal us as we come unto him. Sometimes we need help from others. I know I have had so much help from others to come closer to the savior. Let us never reject his invitation. He loves us so much that he will heal us. He knows our pain, our struggles, our temptations, and he will help us learn, grow, and overcome.

I love you all. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Love,

Elder Josh

IT'S COOL TEACHING PEOPLE ON THE BUS

Dated: December 9, 2013

So, about a week ago, on Friday November 29th, we drove to Sissionville and the transfer van broke down. We got it to the dealership, and they said that the transmission on it is broken and we will be lucky if we get the van fixed by Christmas. So Elder Udy and I have been walking around quite a bit. We got bus passes to get us to and from our area. So the bus is interesting. We found 2 potential investigators on the bus for the Zone Leaders that we live with. So that has been cool, teaching people on the bus.

On Sunday, they canceled church because of the snow (no the snow was not that bad, but people here freak out in the snow, and they don’t clear the roads as good as they do in Utah). We had already gotten up to the church by the time we were told, so we spent a few hours with Sissionville elders and went and shoveled walked for people. It was good to do. It was super wet snow.  It started to rain on us too. Weird right? Well, since all church was canceled, President Pitt got the assistants and had a bunch of the missionaries come to the mission office and we did the sacrament there. There were about 15 of us. It was a really neat experience. We then had an hour and a half discussion about Jesus Christ. It was awesome. The spirit was very strong and I felt good there. I learned so much.

I went home and studied the atonement after that, and this is a scripture that stuck out to me.

2 Nephi 1:15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

I really like that because when we all meet the savior again, He will come up and give us a hug and love us like no one else can. I know my Savior loves me. His love is perfect. Sometimes we need to let him love us though. No matter our struggles or trials, if we can remember and feel his love, his love can change us. Through his grace and mercy, he can lift us up. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we use the atonement  With what He went through for us, why would we not use the atonement? He is closer then we think.

I love you all, and I hope you all have a fantastic week. Use the atonement every day.

If you go to lds.org and type in "the atonement of Jesus Christ Hugh Nibley" read parts 1, 2, 3, 4. It really teaches about the atonement. This is something that I really liked from it.

"It was the custom for one fleeing for his life in the desert to seek protection in the tent of a great sheik, crying out, “Ana dakhiluka,” meaning “I am thy suppliant,” whereupon the host would place the hem of his robe over the guest’s shoulder and declare him under his protection. In one instance in the Book of Mormon we see Nephi fleeing from an evil enemy that is pursuing him. In great danger, he prays the Lord to give him an open road in the low way, to block his pursuers, and to make them stumble. He comes to the Lord as a suppliant: “O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies!” (2 Ne. 4:33.) In reply, according to the ancient custom, the Master would then place the hem of his robe protectively over the kneeling man’s shoulder (kafata). This puts him under the Lord’s protection from all enemies. They embrace in a close hug, as Arab chiefs still do; the Lord makes a place for him (see Alma 5:24) and invites him to sit down beside him—they are at-one."

The Lord invites us to come and be at one with Him.

Love,

Elder Spencer

P.S.  Sorry I don’t write as many personal letters to all of you, and to the grandmas. I have only like an hour to email in this area so it makes it tough. Just let people know I love them and appreciate them.

THE VAN WAS IN "LIMP HOME" MODE

Dated: December 2, 2013

So this was a decent week. We went up to Sissionville on Friday to spend some time with the missionaries there planning a lesson for church (they share a ward with us and we are teaching a member missionary work class).  After we left their apartment, we pulled out and the van made a grinding sound. We thought we were dragging something but we were not. We then pulled into the church and tried to figure out what was wrong. A wrench light was on and the manual said that the van was in "limp home" mode, meaning that it would not go out of second gear and over 2000 rpm. To make a long story short, we drove the van 16 miles on a small highway to get it to the Ford dealership to have them fix it. So we have been on foot and without a car for a while. That is a little hard when you are 8 miles from your area. Luckily the zone leaders have been able to give us a ride and the members are doing amazing at giving us rides.

Thanksgiving was great. We went over to a members home named the Seely's. Bro Seely and I have a lot of similar interests so we hit it off pretty good. That was fun.

Well, that has been my eventful week. We have very few investigators right now so we are trying to do a lot of finding. It is kind of fun to talk to random people and see what their reaction to you is. It is often very humorous.

I love being out here. I am so blessed that the Lord gave me the blessing of being able to serve in the WVCM in the latter-days.

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Spencer

Thank you everyone for the awesome Christmas Card!
It is so awesome!

Me bestowing DL of Martin on the next DL of Martin.
This is not doctrinal, it is for fun.

I free handed this pumpkin at Brianna's and Amber's
and Granny's house.

Elder Mackelprang, I love that missionary!



A Special Treat

We got to see Elder Josh last Sunday!! He, along with his good friend Elder Clark Jensen serving in Wisconsin, were asked to speak at a special Eagle Scout Court of Honor being held in our ward for one of our amazing young men.  They spoke via Skype and both gave wonderful, inspiring talks.  The spirit that they brought into the meeting was awesome and it was so fun to see Josh in action.  We get our missionaries all ready and send them off, but we don’t get to see them being a missionary.  It was so neat to see him teaching, and doing it so well.  He was also given the honor of being chosen as a Mentor for this young man receiving his Eagle.  It was a wonderful evening.  I still can’t stop smiling.
             - Patsy



I LOVE SPREADING THE GOSPEL OF REPENTANCE

Dated: November 25, 2013

I love West Charleston. This was a fun week with transfers. I had a hard time saying bye to a lot of people in Martin. Bryan, Brianna, Amber, and others. I have grown to love each of them very much. I hope the best for them and I am sad that I am not there to help them, but other missionaries that the Lord has sent there will help them. I am now serving in the west side of Charleston. We drive the Transfers Bus, a big 15 passenger van. Fun right! I live in the "Homestead." It's a nice house. I live with the Zone Leaders, Elder Brandt and Elder Stout (My old DL)It has 3 stories. It is just really nice. O man, I just love living there.  I am serving in Charleston 2nd ward. On Sunday Bruce Vest came up to me and I got to talk to him for a minute. It is neat to see him out here.

Elder Udy and I were tracting the other night, and we saw this house at the top of the hill, we decided to walk up their long, steep driveway and knock on it. We got to the door and there was a little pug dog nipping at our feet and barking at us. We  knocked on the door and the guy came to the door, harshly said "I'm cookin'!" and then slammed the door. Well, when the dog saw the door open, he decided to run in, and the guy slammed the door right on his dog! It was so funny. The door just bounced back open and there was just an awkward pause, then the guy yelled for his dog to come in. We just walked away and busted up laughing. It was sooo funny! Poor dog! It was worth the long walk up there.

So I started reading the New Testament this transfer so that I can more fully understand Jesus Christ’s life. I noticed that the 50th verse in the NT talks about repentance. Then Jesus Christ goes and talks about Repentance. Repentance is like the first major thing taught in the NT. It talks about Christ's birth and everything, but then John the Baptist says "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at had" or in other words "Be converted to Jesus Christ for the kingdom of Heaven has come!" His Church has been restored to the earth in our day. The kingdom of Heaven is here! The Savior’s call and the call of the prophets is the same today as it was in OT and NT times and BOM Times. Come unto the Savior and be converted so that He may heal us.

I love spreading the Gospel of Repentance.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Spencer

Elder Josh with Uncle Bruce


FINALLY GOING TO WEST VIRGINIA!!!

Dated:  November 20, 2013

Transfers are this week. I am getting transferred to Charleston WV. I am going to be in Charleston West. I am excited but very sad. I don’t feel ready to leave this area. There are so many people here that I really love and care about. (i.e Bryan, Brianna, and Amber, and Granny) But the Lord needs me elsewhere. My companion is going to be Elder Udy. I dont know him. I am also sad to leave some of the missionaries I serve around. I am excited for change though.

So last week we had the primary program. I LOVED IT! Amber came with her 2 kids who are 3 and 4 years old. They came to church last week and practiced with the primary for the program. I wasn't expecting them to come up to the front for the program but they did! They even got up to the pulpit and had lines to say. They got very nervous and just froze and ended up just sitting back down on the stand but still, it was cool.

Weird story, so a few nights ago, before I found out I was transferring, I had a dream that Elder Sitati of the 70 came to me and told me I was leaving. Weird.

Well that was the highlight of my week. I love serving the Lord. I love being out here on a mission. I love the Church that Christ Restored though Joseph Smith. It is true. I know IT!

Keep your heads up and remember who is on your 'team'.

Love,

Elder Spencer



BEING A MISSIONARY IS AN AMAZING THING

Dated:  November 12, 2013

So Elder Sitati of the 70 came to our mission for a mission tour this week. It was sweet! He taught us some great things. It was very simple but powerful. He taught us a lot, both in example and in doctrine. It was great! The spirit was strong and I was happy.

This week hasn't been to eventful other than Elder Sitati coming to the mission. It snowed today! UGG IT IS SO COLD!

Being a missionary is an amazing thing. It is wonderful and I love it. I was sitting in church on Sunday up at the sacrament table, and I watched as less-active members and investigators we have been working with and recent converts, were walking into the chapel. One of the most joyous feelings I have ever felt is seeing those people walk into the chapel! I LOVE IT!

Thank you everyone who sent me packages and letters. They were great! It was exciting to get those.

Cool story, so we were driving back from Charleston in WV after Elder Sitati (a member was driving us) and we decided to stop and eat at Olive Garden, so we go in and eat our food, and the waitress brings us our check. The member goes to pay for it but the waitress says, "it has already been paid for. Someone paid for your meal." Someone paid for our food! It was a huge blessing. I am so grateful for it. Being a missionary is humbling. I love this service. My purpose is to come unto Christ and invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism and other saving ordinances, Receiving and being worthy of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. That Should be all of our purpose. If that is our purpose, then we are aligned with God and we will do God’s will. What a blessing he lets us know what he wants us to do. Jesus Christ changes lives though the Gospel. I have seen it. It works, and it is true and I know it!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Spencer

WE HAVE LIKE 5 POTENTIALS!

Dated:  November 4, 2013

WASUP!

This was an alright week. It was a little slow. We are going to start volunteering in the family history center here at our Ward. I was looking in there and I found a book on the Spencer Name. I was flipping though it trying to see if any of the names were familiar. They were not. But who knows, it may be connected to our line.

We had a neat morning on Saturday. We had a referral for a house at the top of a mountain by our house, so we walked on the road to the top, all the way up there and guess what?! They weren't home.... thanks!  It was ok though because on our way down there were like 5 or 6 houses. We knocked on all of them. 3 of them took a book of Mormon and said they were interested in learning more and the other 2 said we can come back another time. It was sweet. So we have like 5 potentials that we can try that live right next to us.

A less-active we have been working with a lot had been drinking for most of his life. We have been weaning him off of it. He was in the hospital with a blood clot.  After that he stopped drinking, but he picked it up again. We went over and found out, and we asked him to give us his beer. HE DID! We took it home and dumped it out on the grass, uggg that stuff smells horrible! But we took his beer. We are really trying to help him quit.

One thing that I have been thinking about this week is the importance of "eliminating all self-defeating, faith-destroying, and atonement-denying, thoughts, words, and actions." That is something we recite every time before we leave the house. We have people out here that, when we tell them who we have been working with, or investigators we have found, they say "They will never change, they are stuck in their ways." O man that gets my blood boiling. Saying that is DENYING THE ATONEMENT! Because of the atonement, WE CAN CHANGE! It makes me sad when people don't support others because they don't think they can or will change. I wouldn't be where I was if I didn't have the support I have. I am so grateful for all my friends, family, leaders, ward members, that never gave up hope on me. People that said "yes he can change." Because people looked at me and knew I could change, I learned and felt that I could change. Change is what the gospel is all about. CHANGE is REPENTANCE. When you see people who seem so far gone, look at them the way God does. He see's they can change. He knows they can change. He is helping them change. Will you be on God’s side and support them? Never deny the atonement for anyone because without it we would all be lost. Never look at someone’s past and say because of that they will stay the same. That is the lesson I learned this week. Because of the atonement, we can all change, we don't have to be the same people we are now. We can change to become better. We can go from bad to good and from good to better. Lets help and reach out to others who are wanting to change, but don't know how and don't feel like they can. Hope is the attitude that takes you from where you are to where you can be.

I love you all very much!

Love,

Elder Spencer




GOT ONE DUNKED!

Dated:  October 28, 2013

The Baptism for Morgan was really good. We had great ward support. We had a bunch of people there. The spirit was there and I was pleased with it. Most importantly, Morgan was happy with it. She was Confirmed yesterday by her brother-in-law named... Morgan Salisbury. So Morgan confirmed Morgan.

We had a good week. I went on Exchanges down to Hazard, which was fun. We went to an Applebee's while we were there and we walked in and it smelled like smoke. UGH! It was nasty. It made the food not taste as good. They allowed smoking in there, and it was nasty. But the people in there are still children of God and they need the Gospel.

My studies this week have really led me to the Doctrine of the Resurrection and the Atonement. I have been deeply studying the Plan of Salvation. I realize the blessing it will be to have a perfect body and the reason why we need one. We need to have a resurrected body to be in God’s presence again. Christ overcame the obstacle of physical death with his resurrection. He had power over death, he didn't die when he suffered in Gethsemane because he was able to call upon his Godliness and preserve his life. A normal man would have died from the pain, but Christ, being the Only Begotten of the Father, did not die. Therefore death had no power over him, but he laid down his life voluntary, no one took it from him. He then took up his life again. Because he did this, he has overcome physical death, and we all will be reunited, body and spirit. What a blessing! He also overcame the obstacle of spiritual death. He paid the price of our sins. He took the punishment, and all he asks us to do is to be clean, and follow him by living the gospel and we will live with God again. Here are some scriptures I like.
Helaman 14:
15 For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.
 16 Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.
 17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.
 18 Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, that whosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.
 19 Therefore repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death.

And this scripture

Alma 11:
42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.
 43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
 44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is cone Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.
 45 Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption.

Ya, that is a lot of scripture, but I like it. All will be resurrected. We can know that death is NOT the end for anyone. So many people in the world need to know this.

Another thing I thought about this week is how in the spirit world the gospel is preached to the dead.

1 Peter 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (there is a JST on this verse.)

I realized more fully why there can only be ONE gospel and one way to live with God. There are so many churches that teach good things and they have part of the truth, but they don't have everything. They each teach little differences in how to be "saved." There can only be one way because God is going to judge us one way, and by one law. If he judged each of us different ways it wouldn't be Just. Everyone needs to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel. It wouldn't make sense nor would it be just if the spirits in prison didn't have that opportunity. It wouldn't be just to us or to them. There is only one way we are judged and God gives everyone an opportunity to know the law. And the way we will be judged was restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. It is the Law, and the Gospel that we learn from in the Book of Mormon and the other scriptures. I want to know how I am going to be judged so when I get to the judgement bar I don't just say "OOPS!"

I don't know why I just shared all this stuff with you all.   I hope it made sense.  It is just what I am excited about right now, so I hope you learn something from it. It has really made feel like I understand things a little more and it has helped me see how much God loves me and how much this gospel just makes sense. I love you all. Have a great week!.

Love,

Elder Spencer


This is Morgan after the baptism interview.  Elder Stavely, Elder Spencer,
Ben, Morgan, Elder MacPherson and Elder Fielding




















Elder Spencer and Elder MacPherson in the Halloween Costumes

Elder Spencer, Richard, Ben, Morgan and Elder MacPherson


"CPR" - IT SAVES LIVES!

Dated:  October 21, 2013

This has been a great week. It was a little stressful at the beginning because I had the opportunity to do a district meeting with our district and our Zone Leaders and President and Sister Pitt. Pres. Pitt was there for interviews. It was fantastic. I love being around President. He is amazing. I believe that the Lord sent me to this mission because of President Pitt. He and Sister Pitt have really impacted my whole life! The district meeting was alright. Everyone told me it was great. I hope it was. We talked about finding people and teaching simple doctrine to people so that the spirit can testify to them of the truth of what we are saying.

I went on exchanges with our Zone Leaders. They are great too. I learned a lot. Elder Fielding is the Zone Leader I went with. He has been out 9 months. Our mission is so young! I am coming up on 8 months and that makes me sad. Two years isn't enough time. I really love this work.

Elder MacPherson and I taught a lady named Terry the Stop Smoking Program. It is a 7 day program that if the people will commit to do it, they will be smoke free in 7 days. It is pretty neat.

On Saturday, We all went up to Huntington, WV for the adult session of Stake Conference. It was all about missionary work. I have been thinking about how much church and conference and other meetings are focused on missionary work. It is obviously something that we need to work on as a church, or we wouldn't be spending so much time on it. We need to think about what it means to us to hasten. The Lord has hastened his work. President Pitt says that He thinks the Savior wants to come, but things need to happen and we need to prepare the world. The world is getting nasty and it is getting worse by the hour, the Savior wants to come. Lets do our part so he will.

Something that I was thinking about this week is just how awesome Heaven is going to be. Do you have someone that you just love being in the presence of? Someone that you just love being around? Someone that you love and they love you? Now think about what it will be like to be with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ FOREVER. Think of all those that you love on the earth now that will also be there. That is where I want to be.  I want to be where my family is going to be. I want to be where my amazing friends are going to be. I want to be where President and Sister Pitt and the amazing missionaries that I serve with are going to be. I want to be where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are going to be.  I want to be where the amazing people that I love and the people I get to serve with are going to be.  I want everyone to be there. And there is only one place that can be, The Celestial Kingdom. So, everyone make it to the Celestial Kingdom because I want to be with you there. GOT IT!?!?  Good!  A good question to think about when you are tempted is "So, Where do you want to be and who do you want to be with?"

The CHURCH IS TRUE!!! This is the path, the way, the one true way back to our Father. He has told us exactly what we must do, and so lets do it with smiles on our face for we believe in Christ. "...as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people." -2 Ne. 30:7
We are a Delightsome people.

I love you all. Keep up the great work you do. Go to Church, Read, Pray. "CPR" It saves Lives.

Love,

Elder Spencer

Drywall!  (Elder Josh is at the far end holding up the drywall.)


Preparing for the Jenny Wiley Festival


Making District Calls

A Little Gift for Patsy

Dated:  October 14, 2013

Dear Elder Spencer's mom,
Your son is one of my favorite missionaries out here in the WVCM. He is currently my district leader here in Kentucky. I'm actually sitting next to him this very second! I want you to know how well of a job you have done in raising him to be an excellent servant of the Lord! I pray that you will find comfort and joy in this email. Elder Spencer is my favorite, exactly obedient, and goofy missionary! God bless :)
-Elder Mackelprang serving in Martin

IT CHANGES LIVES! IT WORKS!

Dated: October 14, 2013

This was transfers week. It was a good week. Our Ward had a Baptism from the other elders in our ward. She has a great conversion. I had the blessing of being able to confirm her yesterday at church. It was neat. She asked me to do it. I am not sure why.

My new companion is Elder Jordan MacPherson. He is from Mt. Green Utah and has been out for 16 months.  He and I are connecting really well.  I think he is going to be a big help to me.

On Friday and Saturday, we had a festival called the Jenny Willey days. We had a booth for family history and about our church. We got about 12 referrals which was really sweet! We got a bunch of free stuff too. They had a coal company there and they had a simulation of how they mine coal. So we saw that so that we could better understand the people out here and their lifestyle.

We have a less-active member that we have been working with very closely. He used to drink very heavily. 10 weeks ago he was probably drinking about 6-8 12oz beers a day. We have been working with him and last week he set the goal to only drink 1 a day. Wow that is a lot of progression. Well Elder Staveley and I were praying that he would lose the desire to drink. On Wednesday he went to he ER because his leg has been hurting him for a few days and the pain was getting worse. He called us and told us that they found a HUGE blood clot in his leg. It was about the length of his leg. Both of the doctors said that they had never seen a blood clot that big. So he was in the hospital for 5 days. I guess that since alcohol had been such a part of his system, that cutting down on it thickened his blood. So now he is home, he was released yesterday, and we went over and saw him. We asked him if he is going to drink again and he said no. He can’t. They have him on some medicine that thins his blood, and if he drinks any alcohol, it will probably kill him. So he said he is done with it. That makes me very happy. I was very worried while he was in the hospital because I love him very much. He is so amazing. He is reading and praying and coming to church, and really trying to put himself back on the path. There is a whole different spirit about him. This is what the gospel does. IT CHANGES LIVES. IT WORKS. IT IS THE TRUTH.

On Wednesday this member, before he went to the ER, took us fishing. We went to a lake and fished. I caught a 3 inch fish and then a 9 inch fish. The hook came out by the eye on both of them. I don't know why I am telling you that. I felt bad for the fish. I was thinking of using the 3 inch fish as bait and just throwing it back in on the hook and trying to catch a bigger fish with it, but I was told that I probably shouldn't do that. So I didn't. We had fun fishing though.

The work is hastening, will you hasten with it?

I love you all. Keep up the good things you are doing. Remember that God loves you no matter what.

Love,

Elder Spencer

"THE LORD WANTS YOU TO SERVE AS A DISTRICT LEADER"

Dated:  October 9, 2013

So I am staying this transfer in Martin 2 (Prestonsburg). Elder Staveley is moving to the area just above me. President Pitt called me on Sunday and told me "Elder Spencer, the Lord wants you to serve as a District Leader." So that is my new assignment. I am not training again this transfer. I am kind of happy and kind of sad about it. I have decided I like training. My new companion is Elder Mcpherson (not sure if that is spelled right) but I hope it will be a good transfer. I don’t know anything about him.

Conference was great. I loved it so much. It is just a huge spiritual time. I love it that one of our investigators watched it. She is so great! She is progressing a lot and she is really recognizing the gospel and how it can bless her.

Something I have learned this week is opposition and agency. We will all face opposition in life, and when that opposition comes, how we use our agency determines the outcome. If we make correct choices then our faith will grow from the opposition we are facing. It is so important that we use our agency to make correct choices. We do all make mistakes, and God knew this. That is why there is The Atonement.

I also did a deep study of 1 Ne. 8 and the rod of iron vision. There is so much to that vision. I think I want to make sure that every one of my investigators knows and understands that vision because it is something that you can always fall back on. I was thinking, what would happen if that vision really happened! What if we were all in a huge waste land, and there was just a big fog? We as members of the church would know what was going on because we will have read about it in the Book Of Mormon. I would run around trying to find that ROD! And I would tell all that I could to follow me and help me find it. There would be all our fellow human beings, many confused because they wouldn’t know what was going on. When I would find the rod I would tell everyone to hold on to it fast and start walking. I wouldn't let go, no matter how long I had gone. That is what we are doing in life now. We have the full truth, and it is leading us to happiness in Gods presence. There are so many people that just don’t know what is going on. They don’t know that there is a tree of life that has fruit that can make them happy. They need to know this!!!! They need to know that there is a path that leads to happiness!

I love the gospel. I love the church. I love Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father is a real person, a glorified perfect person. He is our Father. As we talk to him in prayer, we are really talking to a real person with a real body. Remember that, remember that and strive to develop a relationship with your Father. That is the most important relationship we can have, a loving relationship with our Father in Heaven. He loves us, he is and will do his part. Are we going to choose to do ours?

I love you all. Pray for a White Christmas, for those of you who know about it. The Lord is Hastening his work and We, the Latter-day saints are on the Frontlines! WOOT!  HOW EXCITING!!!

Love,

Elder Joshua R. Spencer

P.S.  Just wanted to say sorry if in my letters things are said weird or something like that. The grammar out here is way different. The accent is so cool. I hope I come home with one!

I SAW MY COMPANION'S ORGANS!!!!

Dated: September 30, 2013

So this was a good week. The best part was specialized training. President Pitt is amazing. He has influenced my life so much. He has an amazing testimony and he just radiates with love and with the spirit. I am really going to be sad when he leaves.

This week we went to the doctor for Elder Staveley. As one of the tests they did an ultra sound. I saw his organs! It was weird. I know him inside and out, better than any of my other companions. ;)

We haven't done too much this week. We had a good day on Friday. We found a new investigator and we taught our progressing investigator again. I am excited to continue to teach them.

At church on Sunday we had a big pot-luck afterwards. They do that every 5th Sunday here. It was fun and there was lots of good food. The members here are really great.

I am really excited for conference.  That is the best!

Sorry there is not much in this letter, but I am really not sure of what else to talk about. I love you all. Study and Ponder the scriptures, Pray fervently, and Go to church in an attitude of humility and prepared to take the sacrament.

Love,

Elder Spencer


LINE UPON LINE, PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT

Dated: September 23, 2013

So this was a interesting week. Elder Staveley wasn't feeling well on Friday, so we stayed in most of the day. Elder Stout and Elder Mackelprang (the other Elders serving in Martin) came over and Elder Stout stayed with Elder Staveley so that I could go out and work in our area a little bit. We went and we tracted this hollow (pronounced 'holler'). We knocked on this one door and this guy came out and was not interested in what we had to say, but then he said "Have you heard of the large forehead and the callused right hand? We said no and he was like "just a second" and then he came out with this notebook and it was full of all this writing and weird pictures. He said that we are being mind controlled and that we are cooked in our mothers womb for 8 months and it shrinks our foreheads and wipes our minds and we are all slaves and work with our right hands. Then he started laying out all this conspiracy theory and religious theory stuff from revelations. He was talking about how presidents had died and been born and showing us all these correlations of the presidents and what number of president they were. He was saying that Washington DC was the 7 headed dragon in Revelations and it was just very weird all the things that he was putting together. It was really weird. I don't know if any of that was true, but the scriptures do say that there will be secret combinations in the last days so who knows what’s going on. If anything it gave me a good laugh. O he was also saying that they control us by our hair, so he has had like all his arm and facial hair laser removed. It was weird. He told us so much stuff so fast that I can't really remember much of it. I think we as missionaries can do that sometimes. We can be so excited to tell someone about the gospel we will freak out and just dump information on them so fast that they just are confused. We leave them after the lesson confused and "wondering what was that they said about the temperature of translated beings?"-(Talk by Elder Holland) So we need to give them the information "line upon line precept upon precept." So I guess there was an application for that experience.

We have an investigator we are excited for. She seems very elect so we are looking forward to continuing to teach her.

The Church is true, and so is the Book of Mormon. Read from it every day because if you want to live with God again, you need to do that. I love you all. Keep pressing forward!

Love,

Elder Spencer

P.S.  So I found this great scripture. Man, it is a really good one. This scripture has changed my life so much! Read it! I guess I will tell you what the scripture is.  The reference is 1 Nephi 1 - Moroni 10.... Trust me, it's good.

THREE SLICES OF PIZZA AND A ROAST BEEF MEAL

Dated:  September 16, 2013

Weird title, I know, but that is something that happened this week. We finished our studies and we ate lunch, some leftover Little Caesars pizza. I had 3 slices. Right after I finished, a member called us and invited us over for lunch at a restaurant. We went and I ate a full blown roast beef meal with potatoes and peas. I was sooooooo stuffed.

Not much happened this week. Our teaching pool is very small. We have 2 investigators. Our top investigator dropped us. That same day though, we went and visited someone that the Bishopric referred us too. A less-active. We set up an appointment with him and went and visited him and his girlfriend. We talked to them and he said he wants to come back to church and take the discussions, and she wants to learn to. That was a blessing. They seem very solid. They came to Church on Sunday. They also came to the branch social we had on Friday. I’ll tell you about that in a minute. Anyway, when we came home that night, there was a box of food on our porch. One of the items was a box of fillet-minion (I don't think that is spelled right but whatever)  8 of them. O boy what a blessing. It made me very happy.

We had a branch social. It was fun. They had a big huge bouncy blow up slide. All the kids were having a lot of fun doing that. All us missionaries started sliding down it too. That was fun. There were 6 of us there because we invited the branch from Paintsville down for the social. We had many non-members and less-actives there also. It was very successful and the bishopric was very pleased with the way it turned out. I lost miserably to the ward mission leader and the first counselor in a game of horseshoe. I did do pretty well at corn hole though.

We have been working with a less-active a lot lately. We are trying to help him come back to church and get to the temple. He drinks a lot. He has such a bad liver, that the doctors said he had only 3 months to live, (and that was a month and a half ago). He was drinking between 6-8 beers a day (16oz) and now he is down to 3. This week his goal is only 2 a day. We are really trying to help him. I hope he will just do what we ask him to do.

I studied 2 Nephi 2 this week. And I learned some things. Agency is a principle of action. We choose to act. If we don't act, we are not using our agency. Satan tries to get us not to act, or make it so that we cannot do so by addictions. When we loose our ability to act, we can’t "choose liberty and eternal life..." (2 Nephi 2:27) That is why it seems to talk about the "chains of hell" a lot, because when you are chained, you can’t do your own will. So, that is why we need to rely on Jesus Christ to help us have the strength to burst the chains, and "yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit..." (Mosiah 3:19)

A scripture that I found that I really like is found in Ether 12:4. It states "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." I really like this. When we increase our belief, then our hope, and faith increase. Faith, hope, charity. They are key. What a plain and simple truth that this scripture teaching. We all can hope for a better world. No matter what trials, challenges, or obstacles, we can always hope for a better world, if we believe in Christ.

I love the Gospel, the Book of Mormon, The Temple, and My friends and Family. Keep up the great things you are all doing. Never forget that Jesus Christ is your best friend and that He died and lives again for YOU!

Love,

Elder Spencer

M R DUCKS, M R NOT!!!

Dated:  September 9, 2013

So this has been an alright week. The area is slow and we have only about 2 investigators, and neither are solid. The best thing about the week was Friday. We did Zone Meeting. We talked about faith. Our mission averages less then 30 baptisms a month, and we have double the missionaries as before. That is not good, we should be getting double the baptisms. So President Pitt was inspired to talk to us about faith. Faith is Power. If you have Faith all things are possible that are God’s will. (Moroni 7:33). We, as a mission, are all exercising faith. God asks us to sacrifice to show our faith, and what he asks us to sacrifice is our personal sins. So we are, as a mission, putting on the alter all things that we are doing that keeps us from being obedient to the rules, or from being the best missionaries we can be. We are stepping forward with faith, together to get this mission rolling. We have built up our faith, and we are going to push forward. This month the mission's goal for baptisms is 50. We are praying for it and working to get it. Because of the faith being demonstrated, miracles are happening.

So, yesterday at church, the Bishop came up to me 2 min before the meeting started and said that the high councilman that was supposed to show up wasn't going to be there. He asked me if I would be the first speaker. I told him yes. I had no idea this would happen. So I got up after the sacrament and gave a 10 minute impromptu talk. It was actually kind of fun. I had nothing to go on but the spirit and what was in my heart. So I introduced myself and told them about the family.  I shared my trek experience and talked about coming unto the savior. I told everyone about Daniel and his amazing skills at playing the cello, welding, and skiing. The bishop also had his mom get up and speak and he gave a talk.

This has been a good week. I love you all, thank you for your prayers and support. Read every day, Keep on praying, and do all you can to come unto the savior. He never leaves us, we just sometimes turn our back on him. When we do that he is always inviting us to turn around and come back to change and become better. The great thing about this life is that we can change. We don't have to be the same, we can become better. Church is the place to be every single Sunday. I love the gospel and I love my Savior Jesus Christ. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Joshua R. Spencer

CHIPS AND SALSA WERE A HUGE BLESSING

Dated:  September 3, 2013

So transfers was fun. It was fun to drive the car up from Lynchburg. I went up with some elders that I came out with so that was fun. I saw a ton of awesome missionaries that I came out with in Charleston which was a lot of fun. I also saw Aunt Deanie! That was great! I gave her a quick hug. She gave me some hugs and kisses candy and some chips and salsa which were a huge blessing. When I got to Martin 2 we had practically no food so having those was a huge blessing. After transfers we drove to Martin.

When I showed up to Martin, things were kind of crazy. We only had enough miles to get us home, so on Friday and Saturday we didn’t do much because we couldn’t get to our area. We live 6 miles away from our area so we can’t just like leave our apartment and knock doors. We went with the Martin 1 elders and did service and stuff though. Sunday was a good day. This ward is really pushing missionary work and the leadership is really onboard with hastening the work. That is a huge blessing too. We drive a 2013 Toyota Corolla too which is nice. It has like 4000 miles on it.

Sorry I didn’t email yesterday, it was labor day and none of the libraries were open.

Elder Staveley is my new companion. He has been out one transfer and I am going to finish training him.  He has a great spirit and a good testimony and some great fire. I have lots to learn from him.

I love you all! Good luck with all you do!

Love,

Elder Spencer

My Lynchburg District

Elder Thueson and I burned ties for our 6 month mark.
He was my MTC Comp, so it was cool to do the ceremony
with him.

The night before transfers.

Me and Aunt Deanie!

A Note From Patsy

On Thursday, August 29th, I got a call from Jed’s Sister, LaDonna Vest.  She said she had just seen Josh at her Stake Center there in Charleston!  He was getting ready to leave for his new assignment.  She said that he looked great and seemed really happy.  He had a lot of missionary friends there anxious to say “Hi” to him.  She sent this wonderful picture.  I couldn’t stop smiling all day.

Elder Spencer and Aunt Deanie

THE COUNTRY ROADS ARE LEADING ME TO KENTUCKY!!

Dated:   August 28, 2013

So I am getting transferred to Martin KY. This will be a quick email because I am in a huge hurry. I am sad to leave Gretna, there are some amazing members here. I have grown very close to many of them. Elder Snow and I have been able to put an investigator on date for baptism for Oct 19. She is pretty solid and I hope she does get baptized, well I hope everyone gets baptized. Her name is Shannon and she is 20. The younger people are nice to teach. I look forward to the new adventure in Martin. From what I know there are 2 areas in martin and so I am going to be in Martin 2. I don't know anything more than that. I think my new comp's name is Elder Steveley or something like that. I got everything packed and my bags are stuffed! I don't know how I got it all in. Well, I’ll email again on Monday. Love ya all!!!

Love,

Elder Spencer

Also, one of the areas in our district is becoming a walk area, so Elder De Graff and I, (an elder in my district) are going to be driving the car up to Charleston tomorrow. Long drive, and it will be my first time driving on the crazy roads in WV!!! WOOT!


Elder Sister (the bear) and I are ready to go!!


FAITH IS HUGE

Dated: August 19, 2013

Just Keep Swimming

So we had a great Zone Conference about faith this week. Faith unto repentance leads to Faith unto Power. In D&C 121:36-37 it tells us about the priesthood and what can disqualify someone who holds the priesthood from being able to use the priesthood. Well that applies to faith also. When we are clean we can exercise faith unto power. Faith is huge. And my mind was blown with the awesomeness of it on Thursday. That is what President Pitt will do to you, blow your mind with rich doctrine.

We were able to have 3 investigators come to church this week. It was great. I haven't had that many at church the whole mission yet. Our investigator, Stephanie, came to church. She is the one I gave the special Book of Mormon from the ward. I didn’t get the chance to talk to her about it though, but we have a lesson with her tonight. I am looking forward to that.

Transfers are next week so I won’t email till Thursday. There are 30 more missionaries coming in. President said that about half the mission will be under 6 months old after this next transfer. After this transfer I'll have been out for 6 months. A quarter of the way. :( It has been too fast.

We had a dinner appointment almost every night last week, that is rare also. The members have been feeding us well. It has been a good week.

At a District meeting a Sister, Sister Colman told us something.  She is leaving this next transfer, so she was giving us some of her missionary knowledge, she said "If you are ever struggling, work on developing a Christlike attribute." That is true. I have been trying to do that and it has helped me. Also, in Church the topic this month is gratitude. I add to what Sister Colman said, If you are struggling, be more grateful also. Gratitude is the attitude that will put everything back into perspective.

I love you all, thank you for everything you are all doing, whether it be serving missions, working, going to school, serving in the church or just doing anything that is good. Keep it up!

Love,

Elder Joshua R. Spencer

THANKS TO MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK

Dated:  8/12/13

"I'm Woody, Howdy Howdy Howdy"

I don't know why but that quote just popped into my head, so I decided to make that the subject. This week we had a Zone Meeting. It was really good. The spirit was very strong and I received much revelation for myself and for my area. We talked about "TAP". That probably doesn't make any sense to you, but it stands for Testify, Ask Inspired Direct Question, and Promise Blessings. It is what we do to try to help people correctly use their agency. How agency works, is people have a thought, that thought leads to a feeling, and that feeling leads to an action, and that action leads to result, which then brings another thought (Thought>feeling>action>result>thought). When we knock on a door the person on the other side decides to use their agency. If the persons thoughts are negative, that leads to a result of a door being slammed, or something like that. But the use of TAP can TAP into their thoughts and feelings and change the result. It can help them feel the spirit and help them exercise their agency properly and "choose liberty and eternal life... or to choose captivity and death." It is an interesting principle, but it does work. I don't know if that makes much sense, but that is about a 2 hour Zone Meeting slammed into a few sentences. If it doesn't just pretend like you never heard it. We can use TAP on ourselves too. When we have negative thoughts or don't want to do something we know is right, we can think of our testimony and what we know to be right. We can ask ourselves an inspired question, and we can search the scriptures and find the Lords promised blessings for us doing what we know is right.

We were able to find 3 new investigators this week thanks to Member Missionary Work. A member invited 3 people over to her home for dinner and a lesson about the restored gospel. We taught them and they all seemed interested. One of them is very prepared and already refers to our church as "our church" as if she was already a member, when she was talking to the other 2 about it. It is great. We are excited to teach her.

SO last night we came home, and a bird flew in behind us into the apartment! It took us 10 minutes to catch it and release it outside. In the midst of all the commotion our DL called and got our numbers for the week. It was so funny! Our tools for extracting this bird out of the house were a Priority-Mail Box (thanks for sending it mom), A Screen for a window, and A Nerf Sword. Don't worry, we filmed the whole thing. So I will send that home sometime. I think you will enjoy it :D

The Church is true! I have started reading "Jesus The Christ" and using it as a reference when I study, and I have been learning so much! It is great. I have started the Book of Mormon over again, so if anyone wants to race, start now. :D Love you all. Keep up enduring to the end. Feast upon the words every day. Mormon saw our day (Mormon 8:35) and He knew what we needed to know. He knew that there would be so much sin and wickedness. He knew that it would be hard to know what was truth and what was not. The Book of Mormon can help us stay safe from the evil of the adversary. And we can know the truth by putting Moroni's promise to the test. I know that to be true. God loves us so he gave us the Book of Mormon.

Love

Elder Joshua R. Spencer

This is a Victorian home.  In Cantham there are a ton of homes like this.
We knocked on this door and gave the guy a B of M.  He is reading it
and really liking it. He let us in his home and it is amazing.
You would love it Mom.  It is really neat.



LET US HELP THOSE WHO HAVE NO HOPE

Dated:  August 5, 2013

So Elder Snow and I had a decent week. We haven't been able to find any new investigators, even though we did a ton of tracting. We did run into an Apostolic Minister this week. He was very quick to let us know that we are false, teaching false doctrine, and deceiving people, and the Book of Mormon is a false book, and that we are not Christian. But he said that we don't know any better so we will be OK. He was clearly not interested. We didn't bash or anything, we just calmly told him that what he was saying wasn't true and he could learn more at mormon.org.  After we walked away, we said a prayer for him (it seemed like the right thing to do and the only way to cool off after it, because it was rather frustrating. I am sure some people can relate).  I hope to see him in the Celestial kingdom someday. I think I kind of understand to a degree what the sons of Mosiah felt like or Alma felt like when they were getting rejected and they felt sorrow for the people because their hearts were hard. The people around here are great, and so kind. There are just so many good, good people. It is kind of sad when even very kind people don’t want to learn about the gospel. There is just so much blindness and hard hardheartedness, but the elect are out there somewhere, we just need to find them.

I finished the Book of Mormon this week. Man, That book is SOOOO TRUE! I dont get how anyone could read it and deny it. Moroni's last words in chapter 10 are soo powerful. I really like the verse that says "And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity." Hope has been something that has stuck out to me this week. We all should hope to be able to return to God, to have Eternal Life. If we don't have that hope, we don't have faith, and if we don’t have faith, we don’t have charity. We need all 3. Faith, hope and charity. If we feel we have no hope, then it means we probably need to repent. "Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity. And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope." (All in chapter 10 of Moroni)

SO let us hope for eternal life, and help those who have no hope, or for some reason have lost hope. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon. I love my Savior. He is the way. He will and can help us though all things, because he has overcome all things. I know this to be true.

I love you all, I hope you are all doing well. The mission is the best thing ever. There is truly no place, or any other thing I would rather be doing than this. There is Joy surrounding and within everything, even the hard and sad times.

Love,

Elder Joshua R. Spencer


O ya, I forgot to tell you all, we went to Bible study with one of our Investigators as an effort to fellowship him and get to know more people at his church, because we run into a lot of them. It was great, everyone loved us being there. (It was a black church bible study) They sing very well. It was a unique experience. The pastor taught on Acts 15. It was interesting. He related it to how we shouldn't let little arguments keep us from coming to church. (In that story, Peter and Paul get into an argument over Mark). Our investigator now committed to come to our church one week. Yay, it worked. We also got to know a bunch of the people there, so now when we knock on their doors, they will probably let us in.

THE WORLD THAT GOD CREATED IS GREAT

Dated:  7/29/13

What a Wonderful World!

That seemed like a good title, don't know why, but isn't the world that God created just great! The people in it need some improving, but the world it's self is just so beautiful, epically here in Gretna.

We did a good amount of service this week. We helped some members with their yard, and then we helped at a Food Give away. Bingo was fun this week. There is this one resident at the nursing home, whenever we call out a number, he repeats the number in a very slow deep voice, and he is always inviting us to his room to drink a cold doctor pepper. He is awesome, anyway at the end of our last bingo I said "That's all folks" and he repeated what I said, only by doing the whole Looney Toons thing. It was super funny! There are some really great people there.

We had Interviews with President this week. Man, I love that man. He is so great! The missionaries I am serving around are great too. I saw Elder Jullian and Elder Theuson. I came out with both of them (Elder Theuson was my MTC Comp) and they are doing great. I was also able to learn from them about the other Elders I came out with and they are all doing very well. That made me happy.

God had blessed me so much. It is a blessing to be able to serve a mission. My family is a HUGE blessing to me and also my friends. Man, those are some of the best blessings I think anyone can have, a great family and great friends. Heaven is going to be awesome!

I love you all, You are in my prayers. Keep up the fantastically good things that you are doing. And read every day!

Love,

Elder Joshua R. Spencer


So Sister Stephanie Cannon sent me this bear.  For those who know what it is, I hope you enjoy. I am training him to become a missionary... :D

Helping him understand his purpose.
He got hungry so he was checking out our fridge.
I let him eat some of my pie.

I made him do his own dishes.  I am not going to
clean up after him.

He went tracting - in our house.  Man, this bear has a long way
to go, but he is great!

He slept in.  He does not like the morning routine.

Studying the scriptures.




THANKS FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY WISHES!

Dated:  July 22, 2013

So first off, thanks for all the birthday wishes. That huge card was awesome! Thanks to everyone who signed it. I love all the stuff you all sent me. The coconut pie is good too. Thanks for sending us stuff to make that. So on my birthday, we did a lot of tracting, but we were able to talk to a lot of people so it was fun. We then went to a members home for dinner and he gave me an ice cream cone with a candle in it. That was pretty awesome. On Sunday, we went to the Covingintons for dinner, and they gave me a Twinkie coated in frosting. I’ll send a picture. It was a great birthday. I'd say one of my favorites. I don't know why, but every birthday is the best birthday.

O, I ate four slaw dogs. O man, those things are just so good!

We were able to teach a few of our investigators. None of them are progressing though. They aren't keeping their commitments and it has been really difficult for them to come to church, because they all think they need to go to their church so they are all busy on Sundays.  We are trying to find the Elect, they are out there somewhere.

I am glad to still be in Gretna, I think this is going to be a great transfer, well I am going to make it that way. The Church is TRUE, the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Everything points us to Jesus Christ, and he is the way. We will all be together in Heaven someday with our Father and Jesus Christ.  Our joy will be full, and we will be with all those whom we love. Lets all stay on the path back to our Father in Heaven, and follow his son Jesus Christ who He sent to show us the way. I know that this is all true. All of my joy has come from the Gospel, and there are so many amazing people I know that are examples of righteous disciples of Jesus Christ. That is one of the greatest blessings God has given me. He has put amazing people, I consider them angels, in my path, in my life, and what a blessing that has been. In turn, I want to be a blessing to everyone that God puts me in the path of. I love this Gospel, I love this church, and I love Jesus Christ. The last 20 years have been the best years of my life! I look forward to the next 20. Lets live the GOSPEL!

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks again for all the Birthday Stuff.

Love,

Elder Joshua R. Spencer

This is the Twinkie covered in frosting - with the
only candle they had in the house.

Birthday stuff!  I forgot to put in the Hi-Chews.


Elder Snow's family sent me a gift - a tie clip.
They are so nice!

This is the pie you sent me.  YUM!

This is at a member's home on my birthday.

Thanks for the Birthday Card!