Jared Howell Mission

Hey all, I'll start with an explanation of the subject line. As I mentioned last week, I've decided to read the Old Testament. So this week I read the book of Genesis. There is so much information packed in between those lines that it would take years to explain it all. But one of my biggest take-aways was Jehovah-jireh. It is the name of the mountain that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Issac in Genesis 24. I'm not totally sure what language it is since the Hebrew version of Jehovah is Yeshuah, but it translates to English as "God will Provide." I thought it was a very beautiful, if not overly simple, phrase. I had a little bit of fun with it because I hung it on sticky notes throughout the apartment but I wouldn't tell Elder Stafford what it meant so he had to go find it for himself. Needless to say that it was very entertaining for me and I've learned so much in just a week! I can't wait to start Exodus when I get home  tonight . ...

Hey all, This week has been filled with so many cool experiences. Elder Stafford and I got to go down to Fort McHenry last Monday which was so cool!! We didn't go inside the fort because we didn't feel like paying for only being able to go in for 5 minutes but, we got to walk around and look at the bay and all the exhibits inside, which were awesome!! There's so much history in this city and most people don't even know about it.  We also had Zone Conference this past  Wednesday , which was amazing!! President Christiansen is such a wealth of knowledge that it amazes me. I can have a one minute conversation with him and I learn something new, so imagine him instructing us for over an hour!!!! He covered so much material in such a short amount of time!! Then Sister Christiansen instructed. She's so amazing too! You can just tell by looking at her that she truly loves all of us individually, President Christiansen too, so her instruction was incredible too!! Th...

This week has been incredible. I'm getting to know the city so well since we're traveling all the time. We're being kept super busy because we get so many referrals from headquarters. There are so many people here and such a wide range of people too!! It's strange to hear the whisperings about Baltimore and then really go out and experience it because it's so different. People here really respect us, they aren't aggressive towards us at all, even if they aren't interested. And it's interesting for having a reputation for going into the neighborhoods that most people won't even go close to. God really does keep his servants safe. Everyday I'm meeting new people, whether it's on the subway or walking down the street. We had a man walk up to us  on Friday  and tell us that he used to meet with the Elders up in another area and asked us how he could get back into the lessons. So we're going to call him this week and we'll see how it ...

Hello all, This week has been one of big changes all across the Board. I started  Monday  morning in a residence hall in Provo Utah and woke up  on Friday  in an apartment in downtown Baltimore. It's been a massive culture shock to say the least but I wouldn't choose anything different. The ward here is so amazing, they've really taken the phrase ward family to heart and I love it. And to top it off, the ward is made up of almost entirely converts which brings a whole new spirit into the building. There's one member that really loves the missionaries, she's actually the first one that I met. Her name is Mary and she's awesome. She gives all the missionaries nicknames when they first come into the area. Apparently my nickname was harder to come up with but she finally named me "Eyes"  on Sunday , not sure why but that's now my name, Elder "Eyes". My companion is amazing too!! His name is Elder Stafford. He would've been goi...