SLC WEEK 16

 Hola todos!

Once again a great week as always. But this one was definitely better than the last! Because we had a lot of progress happen with a family we are teaching who are all YSA age! And also because it was the best holiday of the year on Saturday!!

CHRISTMAS I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas time and enjoyed this holiday season. This was the first Christmas away from family, but it was still a lot of fun! We had a Christmas devotional with our mission president and after my zone was able to go out and eat for free at La Garnacha (a really good Mexican food restaurant) If you haven't been there before I highly recommend it, its one of my favorites. Then we all got together and had a party with the Spanish Zones and had a great Christmas!

We put our friend Daniela on date to be baptized! She has been meeting with us for about a month and she will be baptized before the end of this transfer! It was really cool to see her from having a small interest in learning more about the church and holding on to her personal beliefs to having a strong desire to be baptized and has really became more humble and ready to take this step! So watch out for the upcoming emails

We are blessed to have a bdubs in our mission because every Tuesday and Thursday is double wings. We took our friend Elias who was baptized about 3 weeks ago and talked with him a little bit. You can see the absolute change in his face and he looks a lot happier now than when we first met him before his baptism. He went from being a thief and stealing 38 cars in one night to wanting to change for good and help out as many people as he can. Right before his baptism Satan really tried hard to get a grasp on him and stop him from taking that step, but he endured and was baptized. Since his baptism his boss has given him a free car, one of his new friends offered him a job, and little things have fell right into place for him. He is overall a happier person now and I'm grateful I was able to witness the great change of heart and help him along his journey.

But SLC is great I'm really grateful to be called here and there are so many people who are willing and ready to accept the gospel. Also I have an awesome companion Elder Atilano and I hope we stay together for another transfer. But I hope you all had a merry Christmas and have a Happy new year!

Love,

Elder Randall

SLC WEEK 15

 Oye!

This week was great once again. Every week we see people change their lives and come closer to our Savior. Speaking of our Savior it's almost Christmas and it's an important time to remember our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I hope you all have a merry Christmas this week and grow closer to our Savior by thinking of others and sharing the light of Christ!

Elder Boone left us for Tina this last Thursday so now it's just me and Elder Atilano in a duo. Elder Boone taught me a lot and he is a really great missionary and friend. I hope all goes well for him in Argentina. We also visited a few people and families that we have helped and it was cool that he had the opportunity to see them one last time.

We had a ward Christmas dinner and had a great turnout of nonmembers. We were able to start teaching a few people from there. We had a program of some traditional dances and the ward choir sang which really brought the spirit. And then we got to eat this smackin meal. It was this chicken thing that was kinda like a tamale but yummier haha. They also had a DJ and our nonmember friends had a bunch of fun. But a lot of them that went still didn't go to church this week rip. But we are working on finding more elect people to start teaching so hopefully some fruits come soon

We also took our friend Daniela to Temple Square. We only had time to go to the Joseph Smith History center and we watched the First Vision video they had there. It always brings the spirit really strong and it really helped start to grow her testimony of the gospel. Also on the train ride back Elder Atilano fell asleep haha

The snow is cold and I'm still not quite used to it. But it's not even bad yet. Arizona has Utah beat for the winters that's for sure

But week 15 is done and I'm still enjoying every bit of Utah. It's a lot of fun and I have a great companion. The people in our area are awesome and I have had many experiences throughout my mission that are incredible. But I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

Love,

Elder Randall

SLC WEEK 14

Hola! 

This week was pretty sick. And a ton of cool things happened this week so I'll try to keep it kinda short.

So to start off we had another baptism yesterday. Our friend Caleb has been here from Venezuela for about 4 months and is a super awesome guy. We met him about a month ago on a Saturday and the next day he came to church and bore his testimony on the first Sunday of the month. He is absolutely golden and he has a strong testimony of the restored gospel. I'm glad to be a part of his teaching and helping him take that step of faith. That is our 3rd baptism week in a row which is absolutely awesome. I'm so grateful for my companions and their diligence. 

We also got to go to the Draper temple to do baptisms with Elias who was baptized last Sunday. His face was so funny because he was just shocked the whole time about how beautiful and white everything was haha. But he said he felt the Spirit super strong which was cool.

We also got to hear from the apostle Elder Christofferson. Elder Gale of the seventy and President Bonnie Cordan were also there. So we were able to shake their hands and ask them questions. It was a really cool experience and I know they are called from God for our day. 

Also we took Caleb with our ward to illuminaria. Which is a huge Christmas light hike show thingy at Thanksgiving Point and it was absolutely insane. It's outside our mission too so I was able to see the other side of the point of the mountain for once haha. But there are these cool statues of Jesus and stories from the Bible and a statue of the first vision and it really brought the spirit which is sick. But we spent like 2 hours walking through the whole thing so it's definitely worth it to go and see if you're up here in Utah.

So far these past 2 transfers have been awesome. Elder Boone is leaving this Thursday for Argentina and we are goin to miss him. I'm sure this trio will be one of my favorites of my whole mission. We have done a lot of good things and I'm goin to miss this companionship.

But overall SLC is awesome. Just chilling here. Literally though it's freezing and just started to snow but it's alright. The work is awesome and I'm glad I get to see so many change their lives and start following the light of Christ. 

Love,

Elder Randall

SLC WEEK 13

 HOLA!

This week was once again awesome! We saw tons of miracles throughout the week and overall was pretty good!

So to start of on Monday for Pday we went to the suspension bridge and it was cool to get out of the main city area and overlook the valley. And then later that night we had a literal master magician come and do magic and a message. His name was Brother Loveland and did the craziest things with the cards. I wish I had videos to show you, but he also gave a super powerful testimony on the Atonement and how Christ is truly our Savior and only through Him we are saved. So we had an awesome pday we are staying together as a companionship and we supposed to stay in the same house. Which is nice because we don't have to move and we love our house.

But then the next day was the worst. Because we got a call saying you're moving literally right down the street so we had to pack up all our stuff and our old house was super nice because we had a gym. So we were kinda mad about that but it was ok. We packed up and moved and turns out the house was left disgusting by the previous missionaries. So we literally spent all day on Tuesday cleaning and the past missionaries had to come help us clean it out. But that place was nasty. But now that it's clean and we have the huge place to ourselves, it's super nice. But the picture attached is just all garbage that we picked up off the floor.

We drove by this park in Draper that was all decorated for Christmas. So we stopped and one of the trees looks like the tree of life which was super cool. So we got a few nice pictures with it.

One night we really felt to visit Eduardo (the one who wasn't baptized this last week) its hard to keep Latinos straight because they all have the same names haha. But we visited him and his dad and they work at Dunford the pastry company. They told us their situation on how they literally are called by number and are treated terribly at work. They work everyday all day and have one day off per week. They are absolutely grinding, but they have terrible work conditions at their job right now. We left them with a priesthood blessing of peace and comfort and they started to feel a little better. So keep them in your prayers that they may be able to find a new job so they can come to church soon. 

Then our friend Elias was baptized. He is such a cool guy and has a super cool conversion story. He is going to be able to help a lot of people by sharing his testimony and I know God has prepared him and has a plan for him. He went from stealing 38 cars in one night to being baptized this past Saturday. He is a really good guy and wants to help people the best he can. The other cool thing is he asked our Stake President to baptize him. President Bradshaw only talked to him twice at activities and said invite me to your baptism I want to see it. And that really left a mark on Elias and helped him take this step of faith. Be kind to everyone because you never know when someone needs to hear something and a small conversation can go a long way.

I know this work is of God. I have seen so many lives change and people acting and walking in faith. I know it is only through the grace of God we are saved. I see miracles everyday and I know He is in the details of everyone's lives. We just have to look for His hand everyday and you can see it too. SLC is the BEST mission and I am loving every moment of it!

Love,

Elder Randall