Yes I am staying. I am not sure how long I will stay. This transfer and then maybe one more. Recently, Assistants have been staying for 3 transfers. But we will see. Elder Oswald is being transferred over the mountains to Smith Rock in Redmond. Elder Patterson and I will join back together, and Elder Greenwood will stay in the 2nd ward. He will move into the apartments next to ours though. There will be two other missionaries coming to live with us in our apartment. So Newberg will have 6 missionaries in total! 

 

It seems like just yesterday that we talked! We have only had four days since my last email, but it has been a pretty busy four days. Friday and Saturday were busy with doing transfer things to prepare for the upcoming transfer tomorrow. Saturday was a late night of making transfer calls, but it went well and everyone knows where they are going! There is a lot of movement happening in the mission this transfer. We are continuing to increase in numbers with missionaries coming in. I really believe that the Lord continues to send more and more missionaries here in part because there is a lot of work to be done, but also because of how well of a job President and Sister Tateoka are doing. They are really teaching obedience and focus on our purpose, and it is really amazing to see how much the missionaries are all growing here in the mission.  

The highlight of the weekend was on Saturday. Brock and Karly were baptized! It was a really special experience for all involved. Their dad has been waiting for this day for a while, as has some of their extended family. It was really cool to be a part of and witness him baptize them. The confirmation on Sunday was really special as well. The Spirit was very evident as we listened to the blessing that was given. I am grateful to have been able to help in this situation. Elder Oswald and I really didn't do anything. They were prepared and ready the entire time, we were simply blessed with the opportunity to help them take the necessary steps to be fully ready. It was cool to be a part of! 

I am grateful for the Book of Mormon. I recently started over with the focus of looking for faith unto repentance. It is amazing to see the examples of faith that are demonstrated so often in the Book of Mormon. I am grateful for all that we can learn from these inspired teachings and writings. It always amazes me to look and see the way that Nephi and Lehi respond to adversity, versus Laman and Lemuel. Right after Lehi and his family have been traveling for days in the wilderness, shortly after leaving all that they owned behind, the first thing that he does as they make their camp is he prays to give thanks to God. At the same time, Laman and Lemuel are murmuring. We can choose to be happy and choose to look to God! We can choose to be grateful for our trials or we can choose to let them drag us down to misery. 

Here are a bunch of pictures! Some of us from the baptism, some from playing ping-pong today, and one from yesterday with who used to be Elder Mounteer! Chase now. He went home a couple of transfers ago. He was an assistant here in the mission for a long time. He did a lot for the mission and I'm really grateful for his example! He was the one who actually picked me up from the airport and then I helped to take him to the airport back in August.