Thanksgiving

    What an awesome week to reflect on the things we are grateful for and really just take a self evaluation of your life. There is no better time to turn your thoughts and actions towards Christ. On Tuesday we had our zone training and it was such a good meeting! Elder Butterfield and Hadden are our zone leaders and they taught about what they learned from the general authority that came to Tallee and it was just inspiring. The best part of that meeting was when the stake president came in and talked to us a little bit and gave us motivation. After the meeting we went to go to one of our investigators homes to teach him but he had to reschedule for another time, we brought Brother Booth over our high priest group leader and while we were talking to Jermaine (the investigator) he said he didn't have money to buy a thanksgiving dinner so we then went with brother booth and he bought Jermaine a full thanksgiving dinner! It was amazing. If that man does not make it to the celestial kingdom than neither will I, I love him. On thanksgiving day we got up at normal time and went to the college fields to play in our wards turkey bowl. For some reason it was really cold that morning...like 26 when we got up but 30-35 by the time we were playing, it was a lot of fun, i was captain for my team and we kicked butt! We then went over to our investigator, Scott's, house to eat our first thanksgiving dinner. It was so good and I love southern food! I ate the first collard greens that i actually liked, I even went back for seconds. We then went to our second dinners home who was a member and her husband turned into an investigator by the end of dinner. We ate so much there, she had more dessert for us that she did dinner. All in all it was a very successful thanksgiving!

    As far as our investigators go...Scott, the one we had dinner with isn'tnt progressing and I don't think he even really gets it. He was rolling his own cigarettes the whole time we were teaching him but we will have a "DTR" with him...basically tell him our purpose why we are there. Patrick is doing awesome! He just got through the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi. He said he really felt the spirit this Sunday during the testimony meeting and then in gospel principles we talked about baptism. He is gaining a testimony and is recognizing it. He told his catholic mom and she said she was ashamed of him so that was really hard but he is handling it better than i would. he will be baptized in January. At church elder clayton and I had six of our less active families come which was just a good testimony builder. Also...Auburn beat Alabama!!! The whole state was shut down that day and then the city was going crazy that night!

   This week I wanted to talk a little bit about what i said in the beginning of the letter...taking that self evaluation. I did it this week and it was humbling and really hard, I didn't feel I was doing my best, I've since then changed my attitude and I've seen the progress in the work and myself. For those that have gone on missions, are about to go on a mission, or are thinking about going on missions I have a quote for you. "A person rises to the stature he sets out for himself in the mission field"  Reflect on that and get back to that level you once were or think of what you want to become. Mission life doesn't mean we don't have the normal temptations of life because we do, we just have the spirit more to have a little more motivation to get back up. I like to think of it as a movie. When there is a huge battle scene and the hero keeps getting knocked down I am usually on the edge of my seat saying "get up, you're the only one that can win the battle" and somehow someway that hero always finds the strength to get back up. I then sit back into my seat think "that's my boy". When we have given into a little temptation and have fallen we are the hero in the story and are the only ones to save yourself from the battle we have been fighting since the beginning and when we finally find that strength to get back up Heavenly Father sits back and says "that's my boy, I knew he could do it. Be the "master of your fate"

Elder Welch