Trials Make Us Stronger

Hey everyone,

I don't have a ton to report this week. I'm staying in Savage Mill, but Elder Teske is getting transferred out to the west side of the mission. My new companion is Elder Mitchell, who if you remember, was in my district both transfers I was in Susquehanna, which will be very interesting. 

Now, about Trials. This transfer has probably been the hardest for me, health-wise. My foot was feeling really good, especially the last half of the week, but Elder Teske picked up the cold that's been going around the district, and possibly the zone, on Tuesday. 

So we had exchanges on Tuesday, which was awesome. I went to CYSA with Elder Mendez and it went great, he's a really solid missionary even though this is his first transfer. We talked to a lot of people, there was one lady who pulled up right as we knocked on her door. As we were walking down her steps, I could tell that she didn't really want to talk to us, but when do we let that stop us. So I walked up to her and started talking to her about her truck. Totally random, I could tell that I caught her off guard, but she slowly opened up about how she and her husband used to love to go camping and we talked a bit about the importance of families. She didn't end up being very interested, but we both walked away with a smile on our faces and some new information about each other's religious beliefs. 

By Wednesday afternoon, Elder Teske's cold had gotten pretty bad, Thursday morning he felt a little better, but by Thursday night, it had spread to me, and he had gotten worse again. So Friday and Saturday, we were both miserable. We're feeling better now, just congested. But the time I've had while my body hasn't been cooperating has been an amazing opportunity to study and learn more about the gospel, as well as giving plenty of time to meditate on my own progress, and how best I can utilize the final 10 months before I leave the mission field.

I think that's about all I have for this week, Love you all.

Elder Howell

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