gladys knight

January 30, 2012

Hola. I am tired. But that's ok, spreading the gospel is worth it! I don't know if I've talked much about it, but we haven't had much of a winter out here in Michigan. It's still freezing and there's snow and ice everywhere, but compared to last year and what a MI winter is usually like, this year has been super bueno. It's already February and it's only snowed a handful of times.

We had a pretty good week. We went on exchanges with the assistants which was fun, they're in our district, so it was a good opportunity to talk about things going on in the district, the zone, and the mission. and we also went on exchanges with the district leader and his companion. and our district leader is elder hoffman, who was just an assistant and was my first district leader/follow up trainer. so it was good getting to go with him on an exchange. he's the man. he goes home next week actually. i'm getting far enough into the mission where it seems like everyone around me is dropping like flies. it gives me goosebumps.

but anyways, things are good as always. some big news actually, there's a gladys knight fireside going on in march. it's a pretty big deal. she comes with her family and her choir (Saints Unified Voices choir, they've won a grammy i'm told). she does these firesides around the country with the choir and each time it's huge. it's put together by the first presidency and the mission department, and the mission and the stakes are starting to get the ball rolling on spreading the word and organizing things. they want us to emphasize that it's not a concert, but it's a missionary fireside. it's mostly gospel singing, but it's main focus is gladys knight and her family bearing their testimonies of the restored gospel and how they joined the church and pushing the non-members to meet with the missionaries. so we're trying to figure out how to encourage as many members/investigators as we can to come and bring non-member friends. there's 6 performances. 2 on a friday down in detroit in one of our church buildings, and 2 on saturday and 2 on sunday at the bloomfield stake center. anyone who comes gets to request if they want the missionaries to come to their home and drop off a bag that has 1 Book of Mormon, 1 Restoration DVD, and 1 cd of the choir. so our job is to spread the word to the people we're working with and pump up the members to invite their friends! i don't think i know any of gladys knight's music, but from what i hear it will still be pretty cool. and either way it will be priceless opportunity to spread the love that comes from spreading the gospel. i'm not a brigham young or a heber c kimball, i'm no alma or amulek, but i do have a love for the gospel, and that love really does motivate me to share it with others out here. and even when i'm not the one sharing it, i just get pumped to hear about people coming closer to christ. he really is the only way to real, lasting happiness. if we're not happy about something, anything, we can do something to come closer to Christ. it can be as simple as saying a prayer in that moment, or picking up a good habit like reading our scriptures everyday if we're not already. and no matter who we are, there's always something we can do, so there's always a chance for more happiness. and without a doubt, i know that's true.

this is the true church of christ, and the book of mormon is the word of God. these things are the keys to our happiness.

love you guys, have a great week.