All,I hope you’ve all had a good week! This was a great week up here! We’ve seen so many good things happen. Just within the last two weeks we’ve had about six less-active members come out of nowhere who want to start meeting with us and coming back to church! It’s so amazing to see people come back into the fold. I love that. Something that’s really struck me lately is how often we can be forgiven. Always. No matter what we’ve done, there is help and healing through the Atonement. One of our recent contacts has been through the ringer with mistakes. Chastity, word of wisdom, you name it. Yet, she’s realizing that she’s still loved and that she can obtain forgiveness. The church is true!This last Sunday Skyler received the priesthood! He asked me to perform the ordinance, which was really neat! It was my first time doing that. He was also my first confirmation! It’s great to see how excited he is and how well he’s receiving everything. It’s also great to see the ward welcome him in and fellowship him. For instance, just this morning we talked to him on the phone about an issue he’s having. His roommates have been fighting with him ever since he got baptized. Their lifestyle choices don’t align with the church, so now they think that Skyler is judging them and that his behavior towards them has changed (it hasn’t). It’s really been stressing him out and he’s been wanting to move. We informed the Elders Quorum President of the situation and he told us he’d look for available housing and get back to us. When we heard from him next, he told us that he had not only found a temporary place for Skyler, but that it was with three other members of the ward, and that he had arranged it so that Skyler would be moving in this evening! Talk about mobilizing. It also helps that our Elders Quorum President is stellar. Skyler is so happy and grateful. I think this act will be defining for him in the long run. He’ll look back on his early experience with the church and remember when the ward really reached out and took him in when he was struggling. You know who can’t do those kinds of things? Missionaries. Members are essential. Get on it!Travis is doing really well. He’s moving steadily toward October 25th for his baptism. Since he works for ten days and is only off for four we’ve got to be really efficient with our appointments. We text him and assign him things to read between our lessons and he studies them diligently! He’s excited and he feels like he understands what he reads in the scriptures and that he’s definitely seeing answers to his prayers. Hopefully there aren’t any last-minute roadblocks with him. Pray for him!The weather got nice again, so we’re doing great. Winter is looming in the distance and it’s just a little bit terrifying. Thankfully, I’ll have a car for the bulk of winter, so I’m already doing better than last year. Sheesh.Thank you all for reading! Keep it up. The church is true. God loves each of us no matter what! Honestly. There’s nothing that will get Him to stop loving us. All he wants us to do is love Him and love each other! Easier said than done, but so worth it. Love is the bottom line!Keep the faith,Elder Eli
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