Another awesome week in Tremonton

Hey guys, It was awesome reading your emails once again. It snowed in Tremonton a good 1 1/2 inches! A lot of members told us earlier this week that we should bundle up for the week because there should be a big snow storm that should put a good 5-7 inches of snow on the ground. The funny thing is that it happened but it was in other areas. It was in the high 30s most of the week! It was awesome! :) When Elder Barnes and I go out to go to the gym at 5:45 AM, we don't even wear a jacket, in January. It's not even that cold anyways! :)

It was an awesome week in the Utah Ogden mission! Elder Barnes and I got to raise our number of baptismal dates from 3 to 5 in a week! We have been working really hard to bring this area to the point where baptisms happen regularly. It's a blast and makes time go by super fast! The best way to serve a mission is to work. When it gets hard, it's so easy to go to the church and waste our time facebooking. But the reality of that is that it makes time go by so slow. 

Here is the day by day updates because a lot of people told me that they really enjoy that because it gives them insight of what a mission is like. I'm not going to lie: the past five months have been the most challenging but most rewarding five months of my life. I rejoice in my decision to serve the Lord every day!

Day 1 (Tuesday, January 7) - It was my fifth month mark. At that day, I couldn't believe my mind that I have already served the Lord for five whole months! It was awesome.

Elder Barnes and I got to go to Logan and do some shopping. Shock. Yeah, I know! ;) I got a sick suit for only 25 bucks at the DI! It was sick! It fits me perfect, I don't have to get it tailored! :)

That night, we got to teach the Misrasi family! We did the 10 commandments with hands. When we teach the 10 commandments using hands to help remember, they retain the knowledge they have learned so much better. 

Day 2 (Wednesday, January 8) - Elder Barnes and I got to go to District Meeting and we received some awesome training. My DL, Elder Wilkey (He is from Manchester, England.), gave us training on how to teach using the scriptures. We applied his training to our teaching and I have definitely seen blessings come out because of it.

Elder Barnes and I got to go see Robert Hall last Wednesday and it was awesome! Beforehand, we had NO idea what to teach but we decided to see where he is at at the moment so we decided to do a mock baptismal interview with him. He nailed each questions and he explained the things so well! To be honest, with some parts, he blew my mind with how he simplified. It definitely helped me become a better missionary after that. It also felt good because I knew that he was understanding what we were teaching him! It felt super good! Because of that mock interview, he was able to solidify himself for his baptism on February 8th. 

Day 3 (Thursday, January 9) - Elder Barnes and I got to go see Kevin. He was talking to us about all of the churches that he wants to explore and how he wants to stay on the strait and narrow path. To be quite honest, I was getting sick of how he was complaining about the strait and narrow path so I decided to share a couple scriptures with him. The first one was Matthew 7:13-14. It talks a little about the strait and narrow path then I had him read 2 Nephi 31:17-18. I remember his reaction after reading those scripture. He said that he knows that he needs to get baptized. He also told us that he needs to truly repent. Elder Barnes asked him if he set a goal to get baptized and he said no. After that, we talked about goals and how it helps us overcome trials and get the blessings. I told him that we will set a goal for his baptism and that was to be on February 15th. He accepted and told us that he will definitely work towards baptism. The Spirit was so strong in there and it was an awesome lesson.

Day 4 (Friday, January 10) - Elder Barnes and I got to do WML visits (where we go out and visit people with the Ward Mission Leader) with the Thatcher-Penrose 1st WML, Brother Roberts! To be honest, we only visited one family and spent two hours getting to know them. We couldn't share a spiritual thought because we had to get going. It was a waste of time BUT we got a return appointment so it wasn't all that bad. :)

The Tremonton Stake has been really bad lately so the DL decided to do a District Blitz in the area. It's basically where all of the district get together and we go out tracting so we can get referrals. It really helps the area because we get so many referrals! It was a blast!

Day 5 (Saturday, January 11) - Elder Barnes and I got to see Kevin and he fed us pizza for lunch. It was so good! We got to teach him the Iron Rod and we read from the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi 8. It was a great lesson because he said that he felt that chapter was for him. I am so glad that he is progressing! For the rest of that day, we visited a lot of the Stake auxiliaries and got a ton of referrals. 

Day 6 (Sunday, January 12) - We got to go to a ton of sacrament meetings! It was awesome! I loved every single second of it!

After that, we got to teach a couple new investigators. The first was Dylan. He was invited by his priests quorum to take the lessons because he is not baptized. He accepted so we had the entire Priest quorum, including leaders, as well as Dylan at a lesson. We got to teach him the Restoration. It was an awesome lesson! I highly enjoyed teaching them!

After that, we got to teach a guy named Ryan Kendrick. His stepbrother was a recently returned missionary (he returned last month from the Texas Dallas mission) and he referred Ryan to us. Ryan grew up rLDS (reformed LDS) so he knows pretty much what we're teaching him. We did the 5 Essentials with him and found out that he has been reading the Book of Mormon for quite a while now. He talked like 75% of the time. He knows his stuff. We committed him to baptism on February 1st and that is definitely happening. His LA wife wants to go to the temple and she is so happy that he committed. After the lesson, Elder Barnes said that it was the best lesson he has ever taught on his mission so far (he's been out 21 months.). 

Day 7 (Monday, January 13) - Yesterday was a really slow day. We were trying to contact all of the referrals we got and most of them didn't even answer the doors. :( We also tried contacting some of the ward auxiliaries because we had time and guess what. They didn't answer the doors too. It was a long day but it was fun because Elder Barnes and I were joking around a lot. 

It was a fantastic week in the Utah Ogden mission. I love being a missionary! Have a great week and stay strong! Love, Elder McGrath