Transfers

Hey everyone, It is crazy seeing all of the pictures of you in Borneo! It is really cool seeing all of the pictures of Survivor Island. It's crazy! A big shout out to Maddie on her 15th birthday. Happy birthday. I also want to give another shout out to Dad because I can't believe that I forgot his birthday! Hope it was a great 31st birthday!!!!! :D

Well, as you can see, the title is Transfers. Well, transfers are happening tomorrow! Elder Cook is leaving! He will be transferring to central Logan. He will be serving in one of the Spanish wards over there. My last area will be part of his area, just that he will be teaching all Spanish people over there. It will be interesting. 

I, on the other hand, will be staying in Smithfield. YAY!!!!!! I am so glad to be staying here. There are some really good things going on here! :)  I will be getting Elder Ankney. I have no idea who he is. All I know is that he has been out six months and is from Virginia Beach, Virginia (isn't that where Uncle Clay is from??).

It will be very interesting to see how everything will go this transfer. Rumors are always interesting. It seems like when the mission split is getting closer, there are more rumors floating around. Guess what, President Hiers (my mission president) pulled a huge April Fools joke on the mission by sending out a fake roster, freaking out a lot of people. It was hilarious seeing all of the people's reactions when they found out the truth. 

This next couple months is gonna be crazy!!!

Anyways, on to the good stuff! Shy is doing awesome. Last Sunday, Elder Cook and I had dinner with her and her fellowshipper's family. It was awesome! The last half was amazing. We talked a lot about testimony-building events and the Spirit was amazing! I think it was meant to happen because I could tell that Shy's testimony is growing because of hearing all of these experiences.

After the dinner, we got to teach her about the Restoration and we asked her a bunch of questions about the Restoration. I was really surprised about her knowing her stuff! It was really cool to be able to see her grow a lot and to see her come to this point. She has progressed a lot! I am very excited to keep working with her and see her grow more! :) 

Elder Cook and I were able to witness a miracle happen. We were getting a little disappointed with Isaac (the person that was going to be baptized on April 11) because he dropped off the map. He doesn't want to do anything with the church and we have no idea what happened! 

But, we decided to keep working hard and we found a family that is amazing. The parents are not married. The father grew up as a member but fell away from the church at age 18. He has limited knowledge of the gospel. The mother is a convert and was baptized at age 22. They have three daughters. One is 17, one is 12 and last one is 9. Everyone but the nine years old daughter, Vivian, has been baptized. Vivian expressed to her parents that she really wants to be baptized. 

We found them through a referral from a family. We went over there and we taught them a lesson. They loved it and Vivian accepted a baptismal date of April 25th. We invited them to come to church last Sunday and guess what?! They were there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are a great family and so ready to progress in the Gospel. I am so excited to start teaching a family. I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching families. I taught some really amazing families on my mission and those families make up most of the great memories I had on my mission, like the Robert Hall and his family, the Cefalo family, the Jackson family, the Loftus family and a bunch of other families. I am so happy right now. Everything is going great.

I am loving life. I am loving my time as a missionary. I love being able to share the gospel with everyone! The gospel is true and it allows us to learn about our purpose here in life. We all need to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in order to find true happiness. I am so excited for General Conference. This will be my last General Conference on my mission. As a result, the mission gave me a ticket for General Conference that works for a Plaza seat! I will be sitting very very close to the podium and it will be a very exciting experience! I will be attending the Sunday Morning session! I am super stoked for it.

Listen to General Conference!!!!! :) Love you all so much! I am so grateful for all of your great emails. I really enjoy reading them and keep on doing great! Good luck on the move and hope everything works out! I am excited for this great transfer!!!! :) Love you all soo much!!! Love, Elder McGrath