It Has Been So Hot We Decided to Sport the Possibility of ProselytingIn Shorts!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you had a great week!

This week zoomed by like always! We were busy busy busy. We have so many people to talk to and meet. We were given a list of people to meet in the ward and so we began. We met a lady named Elaine. She is a non member that recently lost her Mother. Her mother was raised LDS and left the church when she married Elaine's father. About 20 years later Elaine's mother had a dream. In her dream, her deceased father came to her and said "you need to go back to church" So after that she became activity in church for the rest of her life. I thought that was a cool story. So Elaine told us this and we told her that she can be with her family forever, that they can be sealed in a Temple of our Lord. You could see that that sparked an interest in her. She said "I won't join your church but you can came back anytime and talk to me about it."That was a cool experience to find Elaine. The week before we were walking by her house and felt the need to go knock her door even though we did not know who lived there. So I took the second stop at her house as a sign that God wants us to teach her! Southeastern Idaho is very unique. It has a LOT of Mormons and it has a lot of less active Mormons. So we meet many people that want to came back to church but have not gone for years. One of these guys is Craig. Craig has been letting us come over and teach him. The other day we were stressing the importance of scripture study. He said he does not read much because it is confusing. So we read 2 Nephi 2 with him. He was confused but we broke things down for him! We invited him to read the rest of that chapter and we would follow up with him the following day (Sunday). We will get back to Craig in a second. Yesterday we gave talks in the Rockland Ward. The population signs says there are 295 people there but the average attendance is 400. HAHA it was huge! The chapel was full the over flow was full and the gym was full! HA but it was a great experience.  Now back to Craig. Sunday night we asked him if he had read the chapter. He said, "You know what, I did. And I feel good." We talked about how the scriptures strengthen us against trials. He said that he has been in a funk for the past 3 years and He felt that the daily scripture study will help him get out of it! It was awesome to hear! 

Well I hope you have a great week!

I love all of you!

Love,

Elder Rush

It has been so hot here we decided to sport the possibility of proselyting in shorts!

Goofy Elder Rush and Elder Price! They make me smile!

This is what happens when you tract in Idaho!

(We ate half of it before the picture was taken!)

I received this email from Elder Price's sweet mom. Burst my buttons with joy!

"Your son is literally God sent to our family and to Austin.  We were told by MANY people he was the best missionary in the whole mission and that he was hand picked for my son. I would love to share his whole story.  Call or text when you have time. :)"

So this mama called Elder Price's sweet mom Allison. She told me Elder Price had been called on a mission to Ohio 5 years prior. Because of anxiety, depression and other things, he ended up not going. 4 years later, he decided he needed to serve a mission, so he started the process again. They had him do lots of extra things in order to put his papers in. The missionary department had his papers for a very long 6 months. The family kind of figured by this time he would not receive a call. Their Stake President then called them in to meet with him. They were told about the Trial Missionary Program where Elder Price would serve for 3 months as a missionary in the Idaho Pocatello Mission. If after that time his trainer and the Mission President gave the ok, he could get a call to a different mission and go to the MTC for training. So his parents dropped him off at the IPM mission home with no training, for his new adventure. Needless to say, Elder Price was nervous that he wouldn't know how to do what he was suppose to without any training. While there, he was told by the assistants to the President and the others that his companion was the best. That's where my Elder Rush comes into the story. All my boy wanted to do was train missionaries. He had the privilege of training another Trial Missionary for 6 weeks a year ago, and loved every minute with Elder Duff. When he was asked to train his last 6 weeks in the mission, he was thrilled to say the least!

Elder Price's mom said she knows her boy was sent to the IPM when he was so my boy could help him. That Mitchell was hand picked for her boy. Oh how that made this mama's heart sing and her eyes drip!

I'm so thankfull for the many touching experiences I have had through the service of my amazing Elder Rush. His whole life he has been such a strength, but these last almost 2 years have blessed my life in ways I can never express! I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that trusted me enough to send me my angel boy! I'm one blessed mama!

Hello Everyone!

Hope you had a great week!

The beginning of another new area! 

This is my new address!

485 Lincoln St #4, American Falls, ID 83211

American Falls is a nice small town 5,000 people.

Elder Price is super awesome. He is learning so fast. Being able to train a missionary is really fun it makes me want to be a teacher! 

We cover the American Falls 1st, 3rd and Rockland wards. 

Rockland has 295 people in it.

We have been busy this week with setting up the area and extra hours of study.

Cool experience #1 We were trying to find people that were out walking around, but funny thing is no one was outside. We probably saw 1 person. So Elder Price and I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to put someone we could talk to in our path. We continued on our walk and around a corner,  TO out surprise there was a single mother named Mira and her two little daughters sitting on their porch. We started to talk to her and we shared a message about Jesus Christ. She told us that she is waiting to start a job but has been stuck in her house with no money to go anywhere and nothing to do other than sit around and wait for the call. She expressed her gratitude to us for talking to her. She said she gets depressed and losses motivation when she is waiting around at home. The sister missionaries will hopefully be able to go over there and help her. I love the feeling of gratitude I get from service. I love that Heavenly Father allows us to participate in His work!

Elder Price was a great example of relying on God to overcome a weakness. We had a pop up lesson with a family. We walked by their house and felt the need to knock, so we did. They let us in and we asked if we could share a message since Elder Price has been a missionary for 5 days. They agreed and Elder Price just took over. With the limited experience he has had, you can tell he was being led by the Spirit. This family was touched and you could see it as he testified of Gospel Principles and shared personal experiences. It was a testimony to me that God walks with us and carries us through our trials. 

One last comment. Many people in Idaho have misconceptions and misunderstandings about what we as Mormons believe. We run into many accusations about believing this or believing that. These run-ins have helped me know the truth of this great work even more. It helps me learn and know the doctrine better. Most importantly it helps me to be more patient and kind. I know God loves all of His Children and I know that is why HE send His Son Jesus Christ.

JOHN 3:16-17

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

I love you all!

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Rush

Elder Price and Elder Rush at the Pioneer Day celebration in American Falls. Love our missionaries!

Look at those smiling faces!💗

Teaching a lesson at The Jensen's home.

Brother Jensen called me and told me what a fabulous missionary our Elder Rush is. He said he wished he was going to be a teacher because of the way he is helping train Elder Price. it made this mama's heart sing!

I'm Getting Transfered, 15 Companions and 10 areas!

Hello Everyone!

Hope you had a great week!

So I am getting transferred Again. For the Last Time...In Idaho

15 Companions. 10 Areas. I will be training a missionary for 6 weeks in American Falls.

Well I know the time will go fast this last 6 weeks and I want to do my best to remember everything that I have learned. This week something that stuck out to me was the importance of remembering the tender mercies the Lord blesses us with. Elder Eyring gave a great talk on that!

Everything just seems to blend together now. The days, what we do, who we see. SO looking back on the day and seeing the miracles that happened helps me be more grateful. 

Cool story about the Jones.

We went to visit the Rowes. We were told they were not interested in talking to us but thought we'd go anyway. We talked to Brother Rowe who is a member of the Church but has not been for years. He told us that in the last few weeks he has been having feelings and thoughts about going back to church. First off, that was a lesson that you cannot give up on people. WE never know when they will change. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the role it plays in helping our families be together forever. He agreed to have us back and to meet his family. As we walked away, heading back to our car, we decided to keep going not sure why and ended up stopping to talk to an older couple. They were the Jones members of the ward we had not met before. Brother Jones suffers from Dementia and cannot be left alone and his wife has been very stressed with all that is going on. She needed 20 minutes to go run an errand she really need to get done. So she asked if we could talk to her husband while she left. We agreed. For 20 minutes  Brother Jones told us about his life. He had some pretty cool stories to tell. Sister Jones comes back and she is a little teary eyed. She told us that just an hour earlier she really needed help and prayed that God would send someone her way to help her. Then we showed up! It is pretty cool when God lets you know that you were someone's answer to prayer. WE are all important to God and he has in store a wonderful magnificence personal plan for each of us. 

I hope you have a great week

Love,

Elder Rush

Elder Rush and Elder Ramirez dropping Elder Mann off at the mission home. He's on his way home!

4th of July!

Hello!

Hope you had a great week!
And a great Independence Day!

Thursday we went on exchanges with the Assistants. I was with Elder Bradfield in the Pocatello North Stake. 

HIGHLIGHT! We had sushi for lunch! 

That night, the real highlight, we had a lesson with a man named Eric. He is struggling with PTSD and has turned to alcohol to deal with it. He wants to quit and overcome his addiction but is struggling. So we brought Ralph who facilitates an Addiction Recovery Program meeting in Pocatello. It was quit a touching with similar things and it help Eric open up. Ralph testified very plainly about how much God loves Eric and he knows that because Heavenly Father sent Jesus Christ to suffer for everything for us! President Packer said really well,"He by choice accepted the penalty in behalf of all mankind for the sum total of all wickedness and depravity; for brutality, immorality, perversion, and corruption; for addiction; for the killings and torture and terror—for all of it that ever had been or all that ever would be enacted upon this earth. In so choosing He faced the awesome power of the evil one, who was not confined to flesh nor subject to mortal pain. That was Gethsemane!"

Ralph's testimony really seemed to touch Eric and he became teary eyed. That moment was another moment when I understood how much Christ loves me. 

Another moment this week was with Hannah. She is a member from Florida that stopped going to church years ago.  Her life has been in chaos the last 2 years. She came to Idaho for a new start and to get away from a bad marriage. Coming here was a wake up call she said. The two weeks she has been here she has gone to church both weeks. She said that she has felt so much love in the past two weeks that she cannot contain it all. She knows that Heavenly Father has directed her back to the path she needs to be on and she knows that God loves her and always will even through her mistakes. 

This picture she said is how she felt!

Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Rush

Elder Rush's 4th of July attire!

Elder Ramirez and Elder Rush Love our Patriotic missionaries!

4th of July with the Stoddards. Elder R and Elder R look like aliens with their light up glasses.

Roasting Starbursts! Elder Rush was sooooo happy!

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you have a great week! 

Our week went by super fast again! 

Not much to report this week. 

We have been contacting so many people, we have been given over 100 names of people that the ward members want us to visit! BUSY BUSY BUSY!

An eye opening experience from the week. We met a lady who use to believe in God now she does not. She explained that God (Children Stop Reading this) is like a certain character Santa, where it is a nice inspiring, uplifting belief. But that is all it is. So to her it is just a story :(  It just makes me sad that people don't believe!

 2 And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.

 3 And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth morewitnesses, and he proveth all his words.

 4 Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.

Anyway, have a great week! Love you!

Love,

Elder Rush

"When you face adversity, you can be led to ask many questions. Some serve a useful purpose; others do not. To ask, Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer this, now? What have I done to cause this? will lead you into blind alleys. It really does no good to ask questions that reflect opposition to the will of God. Rather ask, What am I to do? What am I to learn from this experience? What am I to change? Whom am I to help? How can I remember my many blessings in times of trial? Willing sacrifice of deeply held personal desires in favor of the will of God is very hard to do. Yet, when you pray with real conviction, “Please let me know Thy will” and “May Thy will be done,” you are in the strongest position to receive the maximum help from your loving Father."

Haircut day! Thank you my Idaho Angel friend, Janette Woolley for taking care of our missionaries!

On Exchanges with Elder Roberts.

Elder Rush, Roberts and Brother Hall.

We found a cat in a basket!

Saying goodbye to Elders Dalling and Banez who are now in the new Idaho Idaho Falls Mission.

We Seem to be Really Good at Making People Cry!

Hello Everyone!!!

I hope you had a great week! Our week flew by, we were really busy! 

I really have two cool stories to share this week.

1. Julia

2. Dani

1. Julia was the lady from last week that we found that was looking for church to go to. This week we gave her a tour of the church, she came to church and we had another lesson with the bishop. Saturday when we gave her a church tour she showed what with a shower cap on. She explained that she was conditioning her hair for church the next day. It was pretty funny! Anyway as we walked around the church she said she felt something different, felt peace and comfort. We went into the chapel and discussed the importance of the sacrament. Julia expressed to us how she felt the need to be at church and partake of the sacrament. It was a spiritual experience. Sunday morning we were waiting for her to show up at church. She came but 10 minutes late. After sacrament meeting she ran home to take some medicine. We waited for her again but no show. Finally at the beginning of the third hour she came back and went to Relief Society by herself. We were really excited to see her. After church Elder Ramirez, myself and Julia met with Bishop Mayer. Bishop tried to get to know Julia and in the process she just opened up to him about the trails of her life. A few months ago her husband just got up and left after 18 years. She told us how she felt so alone, depressed and began to isolate herself. She lost all her friends and her family won't talk to her. During the process she was crying, and told us that we showed up and she knew it was an answer to prayers. Since then she has not felt alone. Going to church for her was really hard, all these things kept trying to stop her from coming. She said " I know that Satan is trying to stop me from being here. I will be here every week."  She expressed how grateful she was to be here. It was awesome! 

2. Dani was another lady that had been though a lot of tribulation in her life. She stopped going to church for a long time but felt she needed to go back. She was mad at God for a long time. We talked to her about how much God loves her and that she is a child of our Heavenly Father. She started to cry (we seem to be really good at making people cry) and told us how bad she wants to know that God cares for her. It was a good reminder to me that God's love brings peace and happiness to our lives.

And lastly from my studies this week, I ran into a few profound scriptures. Very Simple and to the point.

Luke 5:26-27

 27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt         of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.
 28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of                   publicans and of others that sat down with them.

So Levi, other wise know as Matthew was invited to follow the Savior just like we are. I love what Matthew does 3 simple steps. He Left ALL, Rose UP, and Followed HIM. We can do that to in 3 steps. We have to decide today to do that when the time comes. I also love what Matthew does right after Christ invites him to follow. Matthew serves Christ. A part of following Christ is service! Anyway I love it!

Hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Rush

Selfies with Sister Stoddard's phone! So blessed to have Dan and Barbie Stoddard, Aka mom and dad, take care of my boy!

Breakfast with mom and Dad Stoddard, our Idaho Angel friends!

Elder D Todd Christofferson

Hello Everyone! 

This week was nice. Transfer week always seems super long when you are transferred! 

We cover 4 wards in the Pocatello North Stake. We live at 5265 Kymball Dr
Chubbuck, Idaho 83202 with the Merrils. Holy cow they are an awesome family. They spoil us so much and are a great example of love and service. We are so lucky to be living in their home! Elder Ramirez is a fantastic missionary. I am excited to see what happens in these next 3 months!

We spend most of the last few days contacting ward members and meeting the people the Sister Missionaries were teaching. One experience that was pretty neat. We were teaching a man named Don. He has been taught by missionaries for a long time. He was outside cleaning his yard so we helped him. As we served he opened up and asked us questions about the Priesthood and why we have it. We had a good discussion with him. The best part was after that. We were leaving to head to another appointment and a lady was walking into her house. We asked her how she was and she said okay. She went into her house and we headed to our appointment. We felt the need to go to see her. a strong impression to go back so we did. Turns out she was looking for a church to go to and has been wanting to meet with missionaries for a while so now we are meeting with her! It was pretty cool! 

And on Saturday Elder D Todd Christofferson held a meeting for all the missionaries. It was super cool to meet an Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ. I learned some really good stuff! 1. God qualifies the people he calls. 2. The importance of understanding. So often we are quick to judge. Quick to assume something that is not correct. Quick to be offended. I learned the importance of taking a step back and trying to see the situation from their eyes or understand why someone would say the things they say. I think it is something that we all know but often forget. I hope to be better at understanding this week.

Well I hope you have a great week!

Love you!

Love,

Elder Rush

Our MTC group at the meeting with Elder Christofferson.

Last picture in Montpelier with the Jensens!

A happy surprise from my nephew Jonathan!

"Hey Aunt Laura,  I hope that you are doing well.  I just got this picture from an Elder whom I served in Norway with and thought that you'd enjoy it! Mitchell is in "Elder" Marley's ward right now.  I thought this was great!

Love you!"

I'm Getting Transfered!

Hello Everyone! 

Hope you had a great week!

I am getting transferred. 

Our week was fun! With school just getting out and Memorial day weekend, no one was really home. So we went about the town of Montpelier and found a 30 pound cat. It was quite the cat.  

I went on exchanges on Tuesday with Elder Harrs. We met each other for the first time 15 months ago and tomorrow he goes home. Crazy how time flies! Elder Johnson and I headed down to Cokeville for a lesson with a new investigator family. They were sitting at their dining room table waiting for us and guess what...they had a giant plate of cookies just for us. No wonder the average weight gain in our mission is 40 pounds! We talked about diets, ironic right? We discussed the idea that we only know a diet works if you try it and do it consistently. It's the same with following Jesus Christ. You never know until you try.  We had a lesson with Amber the next morning. On her path back to activity in the Church it has been awesome to see her change. In the 3 weeks that we have met with her, her countenance has become lighter and you can see the increase in happiness. The happiness that God blesses us with is real! Thursday, Friday and Saturday we did a lot of service. We moved two families out of their homes, we planted a garden and cleaned up a lawn. We had a lesson on the Sabbath Day and I realized how important it is to keep it holy. Life gets hard but God gives us tools to deal with it. To keep us strengthened against temptation and the world we can go to church and partake of the sacrament.

Doctrine and Covenants 59

 9 "And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;"

We had the opportunity to meet with Bettie again. We talked about the tree of life and the desire we can have to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others! 

1 Nephi 8:10-12

 "10 And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.

 11 And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.

 12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit."

It was great to see her open up to us and express her desires for her family to be happy! 

Friday we had to pack to move out of the Vilts for a week and we found out that I am getting transferred. I will be going back to Pocatello with Elder Ramirez in the Pocatello North Stake! 

This has been my 4th area that I was only in for 1 transfer. I already miss Montpelier. I have been telling people that I will be back for the Star Valley Temple open house in September! So prepare for a road trip!

Since Sunday was Fast and Testimony Meeting, I was able to bear my testimony twice! I was contemplating obedience and Jesus Christ's life during the sacrament. I thought it is so much easier to not go to church, to not pray, and to not believe in God but it is so much more rewarding when we do. I thought of it as a bank account. When we are breaking the commandments a lot of the time it is because we want fun now, we want pleasure now. Like a checking account we may get paid then we go and buy a large screen tv or a new boat because we want to enjoy it now! Unfortunatley, the money will run out and we have to pay the consequences. In 2 Corinthians 4:18 we read "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 

Eternal blessings cannot be seen. The blessings that obedience brings are not always evident but they are there. As we are obedient we put more in our savings account and enjoy the blessings a lot longer!

Anyway, I also thought about a mission. We spend so much time forgetting ourselves that we learn so much more about ourselves.That is what I think Christ is talking about in Mark 8:35.

 "35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it"

The more I learn about myself the more I learn that I am full of weaknesses and truly nothing. I know I have things that hold me up from serving God perfectly and I want to serve Him perfectly. I want to rid myself of all my shortcomings and trials then I came across another scripture from 2 Corinthians 12:9

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

I LOVE the whole scripture but I want to focus on the last sentence! I realized I should be happy with my weaknesses because when I know I overcome them, it is not me that does it but the power of Christ. I, Elder Rush, another person of the 7 billion on Earth get to experience the power of Christ in my life because HE wants to help me and love me enough and everyone of us to sacrifice His own life for me. So I could experience God's love for me. So I could feel the eternal joy that leads me to be better, to keep the commandments, and to share the gospel everyday. I know with out a shadow of a doubt that God lives and sent His Beloved Son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and make up for our weaknesses, pains and sufferings! I love them and I know they love me!

I hope you have a great week! Keep reading the scriptures and praying everyday!

Love,

Elder Rush

P.s. I have been studying a lot about Pride and President Ezra Taft Benson's talk " Beware of Pride" has opened my eyes! I invite you all to read it. It is helping me become a better person.

Elder Rush and Brother Sorter. 

Brother Sorter called me and wanted me to know that he has worked with missionaries for 60 years. He said in all those years he has not found a better missionary who exemplifies Christ then our Elder Rush. He wanted to adopt him😂! So proud of my boy! It made this mamas heart sing!

On the way to Geneve

Dear Children of God!

Dear Children of God!

I hope you had a great week!

Ours was quite interesting! 

We spent Monday in Garden City, Utah. Elder Beck, our district leader, was getting emergency transferred back to Pocatello because of a bunch changes to do with the new mission! We said good bye to him. Tuesday we went to Cokeville. Now everyone makes the joke that Cokeville is 99% mormon do there is no need for missionaries there. Well ya the town is probably 99% LDS BUT does need missionaries. I have learned in this area that people, even myself, give up on sharing the gospel with people because they have lived here forever. However, there is always, always people that need the hope that comes from Christ even if you have tried to share it before. So we went around Cokeville and you will never guess what we found a new investigator family that wants to learn more! It was pretty exciting. We went to Pocatello the next day for a Zone Conference. At this zone conference Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the Quorum of the Seventy visited! It was quite the experience. It was also great to see half the mission again! Some of my favorite quotes!

"Great Missionaries have great vision.” 

I think that applies to the rest of life as well. We need to have a vision of our eternal goal!

"Our great goal of life is to develop righteous desires"

What stuck out to me the most was the discussion on covenants. A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and a person or group of people. God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey those conditions. 

D&C 82:10 " I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."

Covenants bring us power in our lives. As we keep our covenants we receive the blessings God wants to give us!

Anyway I have many thoughts in my brain. We were out contacting people and we knocked on a door. A lady opened and said she was busy all the time. Pretty much we don't want you to come over. Elder Johnson and I took the chance to declare the truth to her in just a few minutes. As she felt of the spirit and applied what we shared with her in her life, she became pretty emotional. She was beginning to once again feel the love of God! I wish everyone could feel that! She invited us back! MIRACLES!!

We gave talks in the Cokeville 2nd ward, two weeks in a row. I had the opportunity to be the last speaker, so I had 30 minutes both weeks and spoke the whole time. I only cried a little bit. I spoke on worthiness this week. Since Star Valley Wyoming is getting a temple soon! I shared some quotes from Elder Scott's talk The Power of Righteousness. 

"Continually bless your life with the power of righteousness. It builds confidence. It engenders trust. It yields enduring, worthy achievement. To be righteous is to seek intently to be obedient to the commandments of God. It is to be clean in thought and act. It is to be honest and just. Righteousness is shown more in acts than in words. A righteous life requires discipline. Discipline is that characteristic which will give you the strength to avoid giving up what you want most in life for something you think you want now. It is a friend, not a harsh taskmaster that makes life miserable. Discipline is easier to acquire when it is rooted in faith in Jesus Christ, when it is nourished by an understanding of His teachings and plan of happiness."

"By making choices consistent with eternal truth, you will develop righteous character and increasing strength to resist temptation. You are assured of the help of God in fulfilling your worthy decisions. You qualify to be led by the Spirit, to choose the correct path. It will warn you of temptations you might not otherwise recognize. The correct decisions you now make will help you prepare to be sealed in the temple to a worthy companion and to form and nurture your own eternal family. All who qualify for those blessings will, in the Lord’s due time, have them here or in the next life."

I hope you all have a fantastic week! 

I am working on Declaring truth so this is not only my testimony but truth.

God lives

He loves each one of us.

He has restored the truth through the Prophet Joseph Smith 

The Book of Mormon is evidence of that truth!

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Rush

P.s. You should read 1 Nephi 13 this week in the Book of Mormon.

Elder Rush and Elder Johnson found back roads from Dingle to Pegram.

Cool Experience from Cokeville!

Hello Everyone,

Hope you had a great week!!!

Cool experience from Cokeville. We had a ton of referrals to contact but people were never home when we went over. We asked God to provide us with an opportunity to meet all these people and guess what they were all home! When we got there they were either sitting outside or pulling into their driveways. I know God leads and guides us as we seek his help. One lady told us she was too busy to talk to us because her dog was in the sink. She was giving it a bath! hahahah That night we stopped by a house to meet a lady named Margaret. She has been a mormon her whole life but never practiced. At her house we learned the importance of testifying. She invited us in to meet her 13 cats! LOTS OF CATS! As we talked to her about Jesus Christ, we realized she had never read the Book of Mormon. She keep telling us all she wants to do in life is follow God and learn about Jesus Christ. So we offered her a chance to read another testament of Jesus Christ (The Book of Mormon) and learn more about Him. She told us no because the book was write in todays times not in Christ's time and before, and normal people wrote it not prophets of God. We cannot prove the divine origin of the Book of Mormon to anyone, they have to read it and ask God if it is His and He will let them know. They have to take it on faith but we can bear testimony of its truth. Faith is kindled by hearing the testimony of those who have faith. We explained to her that the Book of Mormon was written 600 years before Christ's birth and 400 years after. We testified of prophets called of God directed to write His word. We showed her scriptures that spoke of what we told her. A few moments later she said " Wow, I need to read this." It was a really cool experience to see the Holy Ghost bear testimony to someone's heart and change their countenance.

We gave talks again this week. This time in the Pegram Branch. They meet in a church building but it is super small. The chapel had 5 benches to sit on. Way different. 

Sunday we were walking around Montpelier to find people. We met the Hackey family and Sister Hackey told us she did not really want to talk to us. However her husband came to the door and asked for a priesthood blessing. We gave him a blessing and after, his wife's countenance changed. They invited us back! It was really cool! 

Anyway! I hope you have a great week! 

Love and miss you a lot!

Love,

Elder Rush

A visit from The Stoddards. Elder Rush's other mama and dad.

I love Elder Rush's and Elder Johnson's ties!😂

Ribs for dinner! They left clean!

An e-mail conversation with my boy

I am good! Sorry I took so long to email. We helped someone brand calves this morning!

   Oh fun! Were you ok doing that with your tender heart?

Ya I did not help. I know I do not want to be a farmer or rancher when I grow up. We were in Liberty on the way to Preston. I am doing better now. President Hancock called on tuesday and we talked about me being sick. Brother Sorter called him and told him I was not looking well. So I went to the doctors and got a blood test. Guess what! I fainted when I got my blood taken! hahah! Anyways when I talked to President, he said do you want to train because I need another zone leader. That made me feel better. I felt some relief when he said that. I like Montpelier but I do not like small towns very much. I guess I am not use to them. I miss lots of people.

    I knew you wouldn't be able to brand them!

    Oh my dear, my boy😂😂, how are you going to go to medical school?

    Did they find anything out with your blood?

Well my doctor who is also our bishop said he faints when he watches his blood drawn so...but I have been thinking a lot lately about Dentistry or Optometry or Radiology or Oncology! So we will see. They took four samples they had two checked. So far all is normal!

Love you mom!!!! Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Rush