WE HAD A BLIZZARD

Dated: January 27, 2014

This week, we had a blizzard. It was Saturday night. We came home for dinner and we looked outside when we were about to leave and we saw that you couldn’t see anything. It was almost a white out and it was dumping snow (Don’t worry I got a video). The roads were really bad. Elder Stout and Elder Fhelburg came home and said that they aren’t plowing or salting the roads either because of all the wrecks. So we didn’t go out. We did have a nice little snow fight though. The snow packed really well.

We drove down to Beckly for interviews with President. That was fun. Our GPS took us down a terrible small road that was all icy and a steep drop off on one side. Ya, it was a little freaky. President and Sister Pitt told us to go to the Tamrack in Beckly afterwards and see the stuff there. So we did. There was a guy there blowing glass. It was pretty cool to see.

Down in the Beckly Ward building, they had a list of names of all the people that had served missions from that ward. I saw Shane, Jason, and Devan's name on it. Also, Our Ward got cancelled yesterday because of the snow, so we went to the first ward. Bruce and LaDonna weren’t there though so that was a bummer.

We all have lots to learn here on the earth. Learning is how we progress. The Glory of God is inelegance. This week I have been studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ more in depth. It sticks out to me just how important repentance is. Repentance is change. I really like in 3 Ne. 11 how direct Christ is as he is teaching about his Gospel. There is so much confusion in the world. Luckily we have the Gospel in its fullness. We have a Prophet, and we have our families to help us through these times.

Love you all!

Love,

Elder Josh!

P.S.  Today I hit 11 months. Crazy. It is going by too fast! :(

Snow!  We put chairs in the middle of the road and posed for pictures.



It was love at first sight.






Elders Ramirez, Spencer and Simmons in front of
the New River Gorge Bridge



IT WAS A DREAM SUNDAY FOR ANY MISSIONARY


Dated: January 20, 2014

This was a good week. We found a fantastic lady named Karen who we are sharing the gospel with. I went on an exchange down to Montgomery, WV.  It is a small but interesting place. Anyway I want to tell you about this Sunday. It was a dream Sunday for any missionary.

So Karen told us that she was going to come to church, we didn’t even need to invite her. So Sunday, we were standing by the front door in the foyer waiting for her. She didn’t come and didn’t come and didn’t come. I went in during the opening song to go sit up on the stand to bless the sacrament, but Elders Simmons and Ramirez stayed out there to wait.  Anyway the sacrament hymn came up, and we were just about done singing it when the door opened and Karen and Elders Simmons and Ramirez walked in and sat down in the back. So that was exciting.  During the first talk, Sister Pitt walked in and sat down. After the meeting she came over to us and told us that President Pitt was in a coordination meeting with Elder Lancing of the 70 (He is the area 70). We talked and the ward swarmed Karen, which was great. She fits right in. They all loved her. So we went to gospel principles, Sister Pitt came to that which was great because she is a genius when it comes to doctrine. It was a great class. We gave Karen a Gospel Principles book to take home with her. After was relief society and one of the sisters in Gospel Principles came up to Karen and was going to take her to class. Sister Pitt came up to Karen also and all 3 of them went to Class. We were very excited for her because Sister Pitt is a great fellow-shipper. After church was over, Sister Pitt must have told President about our investigator. We were showing Karen around the church and had a member showing her the Family History Center, and we were about to walk into the center behind Karen, and we see Elder Lancing and President Pitt down the hall. Elder Lancing sees us and waves us over. He said "Where is your investigator that is here?  I want to meet her." So we go and introduce Karen to President Pitt and to Elder Lancing.  Karen started telling them how much she loves us and how we came into her life at the perfect time. We are all just standing there in shock at this whole thing. The funny thing is the night before Karen was tell us that she never wants us to leave or get transferred.  She asked who she needs to tell so that we stay, Well, I would say that she told the right people. Anyway it was really neat. Elder Lancing and President Pitt and Sister Pitt all loved Karen, they told us they were excited for her and that she is amazing. She really is. Man, it was a great day. 

So that was a neat day for Karen, we are excited to continue to share the gospel with her. 

Keep up the great things your are doing. Don’t worry how fast you are progressing, just make sure you are progressing.

Love,

Elder Spencer

SOMEBODY POISENED THE WATER HOLE!!

Dated:   January 13, 2014

Day 4 without a shower. So, last Friday there was a leak in a tank at a chemical plant, a chemical that they use to clean coal, and it got into the river, and got into the water system, and so all of Charleston and much of the area around Charleston has contaminated water. If it gets on you it burns and causes rashes, vomiting and sickness if you drink it. There are pictures of drain pipes in South Charleston with frozen water coming out if it, and the water is pink and blue and green and different colors. We can’t boil the water to get the chemical out, or purify it in any way. It has been an adventure. We don’t know how long this is going to last. We don’t have news either so we don’t know. It smells like black licorice. It is really amazing how much we take water for granted. We can’t wash our dishes, clothes, or ourselves. So everyone at the stores are buying baby wipes to clean themselves, and paper plates and whatnot to eat on. At least we all stink together. The chapel in church yesterday didn't smell the best either. We are surviving though. There is water around. We are doing ok.

Also this week, the mission office used the Van to take furniture down to a Sr. Couple's apartment. So they gave us a brand new car that they had just gotten that day from the dealership to use for a couple of days. It was a 2014 Nissan Frontier. When we got in to drive it, it had a little over 50 miles on it. WOW, I dont think I have ever even breathed on a car that new. We drove it for a couple days with was awesome.

We are teaching a guy named L__ right now. He had a cool experience with the Book of Mormon this week. He has had struggles with reading it because he has been having a hard time understand it and getting used to the language of it. But as he was reading it this week, he was having a hard time understanding it, and he came across a verse that said something like "if you don’t understand, it is because you ask not" and he realized that he hasn't prayed before he started reading. So he stopped, said a prayer, and started the chapter over. He said that it all made sense the second time. So pray before reading your scriptures. We have the privilege of knowing the truth. When we know truth we can exercise faith. We can have exercise our faith and repent and become clean. When we are clean we can then exercise faith unto power. Faith is power. I love the gospel. Keep on pressing forward. And say an extra gratitude prayer for your water.

Love,

Elder Josh Spencer

P.S.  Also, we know who the new mission president is going to be. President Paul Salisbury from South Salt Lake. He is young. This will be an interesting transition when it comes.

We went ice skating on P-day with people from
our Zone.

Brand New Truck!



GOALS REFLECT THE DESIRES OF OUR HEART

Dated: January 6, 2014

This week has been up and down with the weather. Thursday night, Elder Simmons and Elder Ramirez came, and we didn't have the van because the Assistants were using it to take the departing missionaries to the airport. But, that night we were walking around in the rain/snow. It was windy and very cold. We were using our umbrellas as shields and they were caked with sleet. It was crazy awesome! Friday was like a huge chore day. We got the van, and we had to get beds shuffled around in the house so we could fit all 3 of us in the bedroom. So we had a queen sized bed in there, so we moved it out, took it to the storage shed, and got 2 twin beds and moved it in. On top of that we had weekly planning, area reports, and a bunch of other things. It has been a fun week being in a trio. We have been doing good work and good things have been happening.

I am learning a lot about goal setting. I found that when I am discouraged, it is because I have nothing that I am working towards, I am not feeling like I am accomplishing anything. But, when we set a SMART goal, (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) and we work for it, we will feel we are accomplishing something. So as a district and zone we all have set weekly goals, and we are holding each other accountable. Already there is a difference. I like to look at a goal I set like this, "when I achieve this next week, will I feel good about what I have accomplished? Will it make me happy, excited, and feeling successful? Will I feel like I have learned something, and grown from this goal?" Doing that helped me set some good goals and others in the district set good goals. When we accomplish them, we will feel happy, and excited. It will start a snow ball effect and we will start achieving. One problem I do sometimes too is I will set too many goals and will overwhelm myself, and by day 2 I am no longer committed to my goals. We need to remember that progression happens second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, and so on. It doesn't matter how fast the progression as much as the fact you are progressing. The Atonement takes time to work. By careful and prayerful goal setting we will be able to love and live our covenants. Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and setting goals helps us show our desire to love God and do His will.  God has a vision of what we can become. He has goals and plans to help us achieve that vision. Vision, Goal, Plan, it's a Godly principle. Vision-Where do I want to be? Goal-What can I do to get there? Plan-what am I going to do to achieve that goal? I know that this formula works and that Goals are good. I love the gospel. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Josh!

We had a gross fridge.  This was under the drawers.



So I cleaned it up.  It was gross!!! 


At this point, it is still gross.  It is all clean now.  sorry
I do not have a picture. 



Santa told me he knew what I wanted
for Christmas, more referrals and
people to teach.




Elder Varner, Elder Thomas, Elder Udy
and me.



Don't ask why we did this, but we did. When we were
switching out beds, we set up the bed outside in the snow,
put a blanket on the bed and jumped onto the bed while
taking pictures.  (Don't worry, no beds were seriously
damaged in the making of this picture.)



Throwing snow!







TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE TRANSFERS . . .

Dated:  January 1, 2014

'Twas the night before transfers when all through the house, not a missionary was sleeping, they were all busy packing....' Ok,  that doesn't rhyme at all but, that is what tonight might be like. So, Elder Udy (my comp), Elder Brandt (ZL) and Elder Boggess are all leaving. I am staying in the Homestead and so is Elder Stout. Elder Stout's new comp is Elder Fhelberg and My new Companions are Elder Rameriez (not sure if that is how it is spelled) and Elder Simmonds. I am going to be in a Tri-panionship, aka, a Trip Ship. So there will still be 5 of us in the Homestead. It will be a little cramped, but it will work. I am figuring out how to get another bed in our room and another desk in our study room. I think it will be fun though. We got our van back last Friday. O man, it is so good to have a vehicle again! Right now the Assistants took it to carry around the new missionaries, so they gave us a car that was sitting at the mission office. So for today and tomorrow we are driving a Chevy Cruise. That is a really nice car.

So the holidays were great. Had a great Christmas, and New Years. We got up last night at 11:57 to welcome in the new year. I pulled a 'Daniel' and made the alarm on our car go off to make noise.

Elder Udy and I get the privilege of taking out 2 of the brand new missionaries tonight to work for a little bit. That should be fun.

I am excited for the changes and the new learning experience.

I love you all, and I know that Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven loves us. A good evaluation that we can give ourselves is the same one that Christ gave to Peter. "Lovest thou me?" Is what we are doing showing our love for our Savior, and Father? Our motivation for keeping the commandments should stem from the first great commandment. All Commandments can be summed up in the first 2 great commandments.

Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Josh!

Getting Christmas Breakfast Ready
Elders Brandt, Stout and Boggess gave me
me more sparkling cider.
Elder Sister's Christmas gift to keep him warm.
Our Christmas breakfast.
Our stockings from Elder Stout's mom.
This was my New Year's breakfast that I made.
We read Luke 2 before we opened our Christmas presents.
WV Snuggie Ninja! Ya, I got that for Christmas too.