THE HOMECOMING

March 8, 2015

Josh reported on his mission on March 8, 2015.  We were supported by so many wonderful friends and family.  Josh gave a very impressive talk.  He shared some neat stories from his mission and bore strong testimony.  Even two months later, I still get comments on how impressed people were with him.  With so many new ward members, many of these people had never met Josh before.   Daniel and a friend played an “If You Could Hie to Kolob” duet.  It was amazingly beautiful and made the meeting that much more special!

After Sacrament Meeting, we gathered in the cultural hall for a meal and visiting.  In honor of Josh’s new found love of West Virginia cuisine, we served slaw dogs along with salads, fruits, vegies, chips and desserts.  Many generously contributed to the meal, which helped a lot.  I think everyone had a nice time and it was good to just visit and spend time with one another.  We are  blessed with a marvelous family and many wonderful friends.  Thank you all for your love and support!

HE'S HOME!

AT THE AIRPORT:

Dated:  February 27, 2015

The family is ready . . . 

and waiting.

The friends are ready and waiting.

Still waiting . . .

HERE HE COMES!

Yay!  He's Back!

I KNOW THAT HE LIVES

Dated: February 25, 2015

The snow hasn't stopped this week. It snowed, then rained on the same day. We probably got about a foot of snow before it started raining. Then it was very warm the next day, but at night it got to near zero. So all the thawing snow and water on the roads just froze. Earlier this week, Elder Ence and I decided to just walk around and try to find someone to talk to. In the process of doing this we were able to help two people get unstuck.

While we were walking, there was a lady out on her porch shoveling the snow. We asked her if she would like some help. She said no. We kept walking. As we got down the street we heard someone pealing out. We turned around and saw that someone was trying to leave, and they were stuck. We walked back up there and offered to push them. We pushed them out pretty easy, but after they were out we noticed they had a flat tire. They were asking us what they should do. We told them to pull off to the side of the road and we will change their tire for them. Elder Ence is a knowledgeable tire changer, and we were able to get the doughnut on pretty quick. In the process the guy was asking where we were from, and what church we were from. We told him about the church. He didn't know anything about it. His mom came out and she brought up the "7 wives" things. We cleared that misconception up for them though and asked if they would like to learn more. The guy said "since you guys helped us out, I’ll give you a shot. I want to learn more." He also said we were an answer to a prayer, and were so grateful that we were willing to walk back up the street to help them after they told us they didn't need our help.

I’ll tell you what, one thing that I have just loved about being  a missionary is being able to be a tool in the Lord’s hands to help other people. It feels really good when people tell you that you were heaven sent, or that you were an answer to a prayer.

Last week we had Zone Conference. I was able to give my departing testimony at the end of the meeting with Elder Theuson and Elder Stechnij. The three of us all shared a room in the MTC. It was a really good meeting. I’ll miss having zone conferences.

For my thought this week I would just like to share some recent thoughts I have had.

Jesus Christ is everything to this work. He is the center of it all. He can heal and help anyone who is willing to be healed or helped. He loves us so much. He has felt all of our fears, stresses, worries, concerns, temptations, afflictions, pains, troubles, etc.. He knows how we feel. He wants to be our friend, our best friend. I know that He lives. He is real. He really knows you. Because he loves and knows you he will never, ever give up on you. He will always be there. You are never alone. John 14:18 says, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." He also has promised "I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." (D&C 84:88) We have the assurance that God does not leave or flea or run when our trials and temptations come. No, if anything he probably tries to get closer, or as close as we will allow him. He is with you every step of the way. Have faith in him. Trust him. I know that HE LIVES.

See you all in a couple of days!

Love,

Elder Joshua R. Spencer

Some of their eyes fell off, but that's ok.  They still tasted great! :D

Buff Snowman

The car is covered.

Snow!

District Photo

They buried me in the snow.

See, all buried.

SOME BOYS IN SHIRTS AND TIES WERE GOING AROUND SHOVELING DRIVEWAYS

DATED:  February 19, 2015

Sorry to email so late. On Monday it snowed a ton! It was pretty much a white out. It has been snowing on and off all week. We are being as safe as possible. We have only gotten stuck once so far... hehe, its been pretty crazy.

Because of the bad roads, we decided to go and shovel people’s walks for service on our street. We would look for people who were out shoveling, and we would ask them if they wanted help. None of them would let us help. So we just went to driveways not yet shoveled and did them. As we were finishing one of them, one of the guys up the street that we had offered to help came down the street to talk to us. He told us thank you, the driveway we did was his mom’s and he was dreading coming down to do it. He said we were an answer to a prayer. Then we did a few more afterwards and yesterday after zone conference a guy came and knocked on our door. He asked us if we had shoveled his driveway. We told him we had. He said he got up that morning and was about to go out and shovel it, but noticed that it was already done. He had no idea who would have done it. So he asked some of his neighbors. They told him that "some boys in shirts and ties were going around shoveling driveways." He said he thought "it must be those boys in 303." So he came up and thanked us for doing it. The neat thing about it is that apparently other people were watching us. And the people on the street know who we are. That tells me the importance of always acting as a representative of Christ, and you never know who is watching and how our actions could impact them.

I have been learning so much. I don’t know if I can put it all in words.

I love you all. See you soon!
 
Love,

Elder Spencer