March 21, 2016 TRANSFERS

Hi Everyone!

Before anything I want to say congrats to Dakota Valley Basketball!  It's so good to hear how much success they had. I'm proud of Big T for finishing strong and being a leader! I miss it so much.

Me, Stephanie and Elder Smith and her baptism

Transfers are this week on Tuesday. We got our transfer doctrine on Saturday and Elder Smith will be leaving me :( and going to the Ensign Spanish Ward in the East stake. He'll be by the Stratosphere and around that part of Vegas. He's been the funniest companion I've had
so far and it was a lot of fun to serve with him. I'm staying here and my new companion is Elder Merrill! I served around him in my last area. He is from Cardston, Alberta Canada and went to BYU for a year before his mission. He has been out for about a year and a half and is a knockdown 3-point shooter :) He will be my companion most likely for the rest of my mission, he's gunna kill me!

This week I was able to go back to my last area to the Robindale YSA Ward (AKA RobSquad) for Haley's Baptism! She is best friends with a member of our Ward named Tatiana and one time we were at Tatiana's house for dinner and we asked her if we could teach any of her friends and she's said, "yeah I'll text one right now." (That's why YSA wards are so bomb.) Anyway, Elder Thorne and I started teaching Haley and a couple days after the first lesson, Haley, her friend texted us and said she didn't want to continue to learn because she didn't like the church's
stance on gay marriage cause she had a few friends that were but thanked us anyway. A few months later she changed her mind and decided to start learning again and decided to be baptized! I'm grateful that the church and gospel are true because we don't really convince
anyone we teach, the spirit does it on it's own and we are just here as missionaries to carry out what the Spirit teaches.

Haley's Baptism Day

Ok one more cool story... Last night, Smith and I were teaching this guy named Martin. He's has an alcohol addiction and really wants to stop. We were teaching the Restoration towards the beginning of the lesson when he started telling us about his problem he got really emotional. We
talked about how God knows him personally and knows who he is. We read over that part in the pamphlet as we taught him that simple truth and it hit him really hard. He just read that sentence over and over again to himself, "God knows you personally and loves you more than you can
imagine." We asked him if he had ever heard that before and he said "no" and started to cry again. We continued talking about this truth throughout the lesson and when we were almost to the end he wanted to go back to the first page just so he could read that sentence again. It helped me be more grateful for the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the restoration we wouldn't have a full understanding of that simple, yet profound truth. God is our literal Father in Heaven-- not  just some blob floating around. He knows us perfectly and knows how to heal us through His Son's Atonement. Martin learned that last night and accepted a date to be baptized. 

This stuff is too good!

I love you all!

Elder Faldmo

They like their burro here in the North!