January 23, 2017

Georgetown is awesome! Elder Allred is awesome! Life is awesome! Being a missionary is awesome! It helps that we just got out of a lesson where we felt the spirit super strong... That helps everything to be awesome. So there ya go if you want things to be awesome-go teach the Gospel!

Okay. So it turns out that last week's email didn't go through so I will try and make up for it today! We really had a great week so that should be easy! 

So week 1 when we got here we went and visited some less actives and recent converts in the area to try and meet some people and as well to try and help them to work towards coming back and while in pursuit of this we knocked on the door of a neighbor of one of the less actives. (So keep in mind that this is at night, dark, and absolutely pounding rain down.) He answers the door and we talk for about 10 minutes and he invites us back. Super nice guy but pretty standard except for the fact that he described himself as "a Buddhist Christian" haha he was so cool though! So this was our lesson this morning. We went back and felt like we should teach him about the Plan of Salvation and wow. James is a spiritual man. He believes all the same things we do and he has been to many churches but isn't able to follow them exactly because, for instance, he doesn't believe that the Bible has all the answers. The Bible, he looks as more of a tool to guide him but eventually he will have to feel the direction come from within and the feelings that God gives him... We were like um, yeah. That is good. Hahaha

We have found several people that have literally asked us to come back. "Please come back and teach me so I can learn more and be happier." "Please come back, I want to have a solid foundational church and get baptized there and my family too." We are excited to be here and to see that we are just the vessels. D&C 88:73 says I will hasten my work in it's time. He will hasten it, not us. If we work a little harder and push a little more we aren't going to hasten it. Our job is simply to be connected to him and allow him to draw us to where those who are prepared are going to be. We are doing His work. And what a blessing to do so. 

I would send pictures but we are at a Library and they don't have an adapter so... that's too bad.

So much love and prayers are going home for you!

Elder Mark Howland

Mud story:

So I have a new companion Elder Allred who was literally on day 1 in the mission field and we are in a new area out in the middle of nowhere in and it is so funny because we have no idea anything about the area so we have to do a lot of u turns. The maps are all wierd and finding places is hard. So we go off the road one night last week and try to turn around when about 5 feet after we left the road our car stops. I was like that isn't good. 

So we tried to keep going and our tires were just spinning because of all the mud. So I tell Elder Allred to get out and start pushing because I have my nice shoes on and you better believe I would be out there barefoot before I was going to have them get muddy! So he goes out and pushes and nothing. 

So there is some gravel behind us that he goes and puts under the front tires and that doesn't work either. Now at this point I'm enjoying life because I'm in the warm car and I have the camera out documenting it all and he is out in the cold haha So I tell him to push the gravel under the tires more to give it more traction which he does and he is like "You better be in there praying and not just taking pictures of me doing all the work!" (At which point I put the camera away and start to say a prayer) And what do you know? We pull out! Slowly but inch by inch we did it, we got out! And Elder Allred goes to get back in the car and he has like 2 inches of mud caked on his brand new mission shoes! But on the bright side? My shoes looked great! ;)

Lucky him, he gets to share an awesome story for the first week of his mission! :)