This transfer has been one of the fastest of my entire mission. I think it is because of the busier I get the faster it goes. I cant believe that I have already spent 4.5 months in Mobile, it seems like I spent 3 times that time in Fox Run. I had a really good district meeting this week, I feel like teaching has been my biggest struggle as a district leader but it has come around a lot! I'm getting comfortable with it.

    This week I feel like there wasn't a lot that went on. We had quite a few of our investigators drop, one that was really had to drop was Scott Chandler, he's the same one I sang to. All of our lessons with him went off topic and he started to become contentious so we had to make a decision to drop him, the teaching experience wasn't for nothing though. We strengthened his faith and got him to pray which he hasn't done in over 2 years. I also learned more how to love someone that tries to not like me or my beliefs haha. We taught a pastor that we OYM'd a couple weeks back and he fed us lunch. I honestly was a little nervous about it because I didn't want to get bashed but he didn't do any of that stuff. We taught the restoration and he asked us questions about the bible verses we used. I knew he would question us and i knew i might not know all of the answers to had to say a little prayer and that helped a bit, I was able to answer everything to his satisfaction. On Saturday I had an exchange with one of the areas in our ward that has always had a hard time and was able to help the missionary and the area a little bit, plus we made beignets (look it up). Having tradeoffs once a week makes time just fly! We did service for the Red Cross this week and played basketball with the doles. We have 2 weeks until Elder Ballard comes and next week we find out about transfers. It just blows my mind how its all going by so fast...

Sorry there isn't much to say about this week, its just been slow as far as things happening.

   As i was calling one of the areas in the district I was talking to a missionaries about members in our wards and he said something that I really liked. People view themselves "active" but don't understands what it means to be active. There is to be active in the church and to be active in the gospel. In order to count yourselves as active you must be active in both, going to church and living the teachings in your own lives. It reminds me of a scripture in DC 18:15-16. Your own soul counts as "saving one soul," to be active you must do the second part and bring others to the gospel as well, we cant do it without yah. Love and miss y'all! all is well.

Elder welch

 I cannot believe that it has been 8 months since I've left. I was thinking about the day that i entered the MTC which I don't like to do very often because I don't like to but it juts amazed me that it has been 8 months since that time, my year mark is just around the corner! This week was about normal speed so that is good but we had a lot of things happen! First off we had our zone conference on Tuesday with president Smith and the AP's, we get them about every 3 transfers. We talked about mission unity, church tours, and family history work, the same thing that we talked about in zone training but reemphasized. We also found out that our mission is having transfers on Thursdays now. After that I had a tradeoff with Lucedale but I stayed in mobile with Elder Garn this time. We got to teach a few people which Ill talk about later in the email. As we were trading back the next day I was driving to Wilmer, Alabama to meet in the middle and we cant have the phone while we drive so he was holding onto that, as we traded back and were just pulling into mobile we realize that Elder Garn still had the phone! We had to go over to the zone leaders apartment to make arrangements to get it back, that was eventful.

   As far as our investigators go we only really have one to really talk about and that is Scott Chandler. He is kind of hard to teach because he likes to oppose everything even though we can prove him the scriptures oppose what he says but that doesn't matter much because he has progressed so much. One lesson we had with him was a church tour, we thought we'd try it out since president is really pushing for us to do them. We went through the church and it all was going alright and as we were showing him a picture in the primary room I got a prompting to sing to him. I was really scared and honestly didn't really like that prompting so I shook it off. As we entered into the room that had the baptismal font I knew that this room would be the one that he needed the most. We were talking for about 2 minutes when I just stopped and got up and told elder clayton to follow me to get the primary hymn book, I flip to "I feel my saviors love" and  explained to him about the baptism by fire and that this is what my baptism reminds me of. I sang the song as I was shaking like a leaf(we had 3 members there too so I had an audience). The spirit was really strong and them we had a testimony meeting there for Scott.  Patrick Baldwin was one of the members present and said he really needed it just as much as Scott. Scott prayed twice and hasn't said a prayer for 2 years so that was HUGE progression for him.

   Mardi Gras is going on and will be going on for the next 2 weeks so that makes the work slow down a bit but its all good. We are half way through the transfer and this will probably be mine and elder Claytons last transfer together but who knows! I love the kid. As for a spiritual thought this week I want to talk about the power of a fast. I heard about everyone in Elko fasting for moisture and how that helped but I want to talk more on an individual basis. Fasting helps us overcome problems that we need added strength for or for extra forgiveness. As you weaken and overcome your carnal desires your spirit will grow. I have seen this happen so much in my life. I feel like I should talk a little on repentance too. Don't procrastinate it! The savior will forgive if we are willing to be forgiven. Love and miss y'all!

All is well

Elder Welch

 What a fast week! This is a scary time because the slow days of my mission are gone and it just keeps going faster and faster! I always thought that as I was out longer and longer on my mission that it would get easier.  This week has been so hard for me. I have felt the inadequacies that every missionary feels and needs to learn from. Like I’ve said in previous letters, He makes our situations uncomfortable to get our attention...and He has mine now! I did have an eventful week this week though! We started out on Tuesday when we had our zone training. We learned about being unified, setting firm appointments, and doctrine on family history.  It says that people that have already been converted in the Spirit world are prompting their loved ones down here to do their work for them. We had an opportunity to teach it to Scott Chandler too! We taught the plan of salvation with ordinances that we can give to others (his wife died two years ago). I have never felt the Spirit so strong in a lesson my whole mission. I actually started tearing up. The lesson made a huge difference in him. He has gone from not praying for two years to having faith again and he said he has prayed so it is only a matter of time with him!

   On Thursday I had to go to Lucedale, Mississippi.  I had to do a baptismal interview for a lady.  That was a lot of fun even though we didn’t get back until about 9:30. On Friday Elder Clayton and I had an hour of free time so we had time to go out and tract. Elder Clayton felt prompted to go to a certain street in the area we were in and we started going. The first door we went to we met a lady named Yolanda. Common name down here. We taught her about the book of Mormon and half the restoration, she cut us off because she said she had to pee really bad ha-ha, we got a return appointment with her. We then were walking back to our car after a few houses that we knocked and ran into a man named Kyle. He is active in his ministry and a really smart guy and he invited us back to eat lunch in 2 weeks and a lesson, hopefully that goes well. On Saturday I had my tradeoff with the zone leaders and I went with Elder Hadden and went to their area. I love that guy! He has been out about 20 months and is an awesome teacher.  I learned a LOT from that tradeoff. I am also feeling a lot better.

   This week as I have been having a hard one and have seen it in my studies I wanted to touch on Ether 12:27 and Alma 7:12. He listens if we just humble ourselves. Don’t wait like me until you get humbled by the Lord, do it on your own and it works out a lot better! He's there for us and always will be.

Love and miss ya’ll!

All is well

Elder Welch

 This week has been the most bipolar of my mission as far as the south goes. On Monday president emailed/texted everyone in the mission saying that there was some arctic freeze that was coming down from the north and to prepare for snow and that just blew everyone's minds because it hasn't snowed here in 15 years, lucky Elder Welch got the snow...it never leaves me! On Tuesday we made it out safety to district meeting in Semmes and most of us made it home safely. Lucedale did get trapped and had to spend the night at Semmes for 2 nights...lucky ducks! I had a tradeoff that day with the new missionary in the area from the MTC and I have felt bad for this missionary because he is white washing an area his first transfer out(2 new elders in one area). All they do is tract and don't have a lot of members in their area to work with. He loved being able to work(once we got ok'd to go out and drive) in an area that has been set up with a lot of members in it but he is a great missionary from Rexburg Idaho. He actually knows Lesly Hayes(the girl that i met at the Manti pageant a few years back). With it being so cold and wet I did get pretty sick this week, I'm still not over it. I never did stay inside because it would have driven me crazy but I have had a few sleepless nights from headaches and not being able to breathe, it is getting better i just cant speak very well.

   We got two new investigators this week. One of them was a referral we received from Idaho which president smith relayed to elder clayton and I. His name is Scott Chandler and he is a tough cookie to crack! He says he has lost all of his faith(which is false, we can never lose all of our faith or else we wouldn't get out of bed in the morning), he lost his job a few years ago, and his wife died a few years ago. We want to teach him the plan of salvation with family history but haven't been able to keep his lessons on track enough to do so. Our other investigator we received from HQ and his name is Earl. The cool story about this one is when we put his address into the GPS we realized that he lived at the same house as a former investigator that we tracted into, at first we thought that we were getting pranked but it turned out to be an awesome contact! It was his older brother, we taught him about the Book of Mormon and got a return appointment with him tonight.

   So as far as it being a bipolar week as far as mobile goes it was snowing at the beginning of the week, 70 on Friday, and raining yesterday, all seasons in one week. I got sick from the cold/wet weather and it started out with a sore throat, then I got stuffed up, and then my throat got a little swollen, and now i just cant talk very well. I am almost all better except for the whole not being able to talk thing. I woke up a lot in the middle of the night this week with a headache and stuffed up too. We had a leadership broadcast on Saturday with L. Tom Perry presiding with 4 other 70 being there, it was broadcast for the southeast and it was amazing. it talked about the roll of the ward counsel and how they can better work with missionaries. L. Tom Perry has so much energy, he will never die..I Love it!

    This week I had really good studies and I feel like i grew a lot and I want to share one thing I found. I was studying in Mosiah 17:2 This is right after Abinadi preaches against King Noah and his priests and this is what it says." But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken, for he knew concerning the iniquity which Abinadi had testified against them." We can apply this to ourselves especially as missionaries. We go out and teach hundreds of people juts like Abinadi was preaching to Noah and his many priests and as far as Abinadi knew he was just testifying against them but the only reason he was there and died was because one person had to be converted(who ended up being a prophet). We teach hundreds and at times we only convert 1 out of hundreds but we were sent to do one thing. It kind of reminds me of the song by Rascal Flatts "Bless the Broken Road"  I know that it is about a girl but we can apply that as well haha.  We can liken it to our callings, you are the only person on the face of the planet that has your calling in that designated area and you are called for one reason or another.  I love and miss y'all! All is well!

Elder Welch

   Weeks are starting to turn into days and days into weeks, the saying is true! This week just seemed to fly by! We had our district meeting on Tuesday and I taught on how to get our investigators to church and ways we can "combat" the normal excuse people give. We then played ultimate frisbee for our district activity. Wednesday(transfers) came and there were only 3 people in the entire zone that left, sometimes with being the outskirts of the mission we fee like we get forgotten sometimes haha. 

  Anyway...we had one of the Elders come with us all day until his new companion came in and that was pretty fun to have a trio for a day. We did a lot of tracting that day because of appointments that fell through. On Thursday we were so busy! We were in the middle of our personal study when one of our members called us and asked if we could help him with service so we did. We raked leaves and Elder Clayton and I decided he got the cheapest labor in town, he picked up two bums and us! He did give them some money so it was a good way for them to get it rather than begging. Right after we were done with that we got a phone call from the zone leaders say we were moving into an apartment in 3 hours and needed to pack and deep clean our apartment so that was a crazy time but it was pretty fun too. our new apartment is nice but a little bit smaller. if anyone needs the new address ask my ma!

 Oh just a fun fact for you. Remember how we were banned from a certain area in our area because of the guy threatening us? yah we live in his same apartment complex, right across from him, I guess that didn't last too long! He hasn't given us any problems. We were able to get 3 new investigators this week because of the sisters referrals. One of them is a couple, the Chester's. they were mainly interested in seeing what this missionary work is all about and thought it was weird/cool that young men took out so much time to do this, so we explained missionary work which lead to a lot of gospel related conversations, we ended up teaching the restoration and she is very excited about it, he will take a little more work! Our other investigators name is Jerry Vandyke, he is 38 and has been through a lot in his life. When we walked into his house there was like a smog of cigarette smoke. We taught him the restoration and set a baptismal date for March 1. On Saturday we had a district meeting counsel for our zone and there they gave us some information and told us we had to call each companionship in the district twice a week, I have SO many calls I have to do but just do it one step at a time and it'll be all good!

   This week I wanted to share something that hit me pretty dang hard! We were reading it with a less active, it is 1 Nephi 20:9-11

"Nevertheless, for my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off.

10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

11 For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another."  The context of the chapter doesn't really matter. I really liked how Christ says that because the name that he has he wont do something to make him look bad. We have taken upon us our fathers name, our own name, and Christ's name when we were baptized. He then continues to say that those who are going through hard times are chosen and that we should be thankful. i remember when my dad would tell me in sports when the coach is picking on you its a good thing and he knows you can improve, Christ is the coach here! Love and miss y'all and hope all is well!

Elder Welch

 Well as you know it has been another transfer that has come and gone. I am moving into my 6th transfer and I cant even believe it, time has just flown not only on my mission but especially here in Mobile! 

 This will be my third transfer with Elder Clayton, he will be hitting 6 months here in mobile, that is a long time to be in one area but he is handling it like a champ. This week has been one where it looked like it was going to be really good but things just fell through! Appointments falling through is a normal thing but all of them in one week is pretty crazy. We did have one lesson with our use to be investigator, the same one that said he liked one of the sisters serving in the area (both of them got transferred out by the way). We talked to him about the importance of the Book of Mormon and then I felt we needed to leave so I hurried up and wrapped the lesson up. That same night we got a texted from him cussing us out and threatening to kill us because he wanted to take Sister Onkst out to dinner before she left and she asked me and I said no, somehow he found out that I was the DL which should have never happened. Anyway we told the zone leaders and they told president so we aren't allowed to go into that part of our area anymore so we had to drop him...crazy stuff goes down in Mobile y'all! 

There are Elders that are replacing the sisters so we now have an all elder district and zone, last one in the mission! We had another lesson with an investigators we usually don't get to see that often which was really nice, he is on probation so we cant baptize him until 2016 but we still like to keep in touch. We are starting to focus a lot of less actives in the zone because the new zone goal for 2014 is to have 40% of the less actives reactivated by the end of the year, we have done pretty well with that here in Mobile recently so we are excited about that goal. Something crazy that happened this Friday happened at basketball. We have it weekly and less actives and nonmembers come to it but this particular week it was one less active and all the rest nonmembers. One of the nonmembers and the less active started getting into it and we were about 2 seconds away from a fight until Elder clayton and I pulled the plug and told everyone to go home, we had to talk to them about it and if it happens again basketball will be done for good.

 What a crazy week, not crazy because it was so busy but because it was so slow, I never thought it was possible for so many people not to answer the door. Opposition in all things and we have those times to enjoy the good and to learn. Heavenly Father makes our situations uncomfortable to get out attention and he needed Elder Clayton's and my attention this week for some reason. Learn what we can and go on with faith! With this week being slow there is not much to write about but I do have a few things.

    On Tuesday we went out to Semmes and I taught district meeting which I felt went well and then I had a tradeoff with Elder Lovell, he is missionary that came out with my trainer; Elder Foster; and is night blind and has 20/200 vision, so what we see from 200 feet away he can see from 20. It was really cool to see how he runs his life and how much of a blessing it is just simply to have sight. He is walking faith though, he trusts anything you say because he depends on you to know where to go. This week I hit my 7 month mark and along with that a lot of missionaries hit a "wall" where it is hard to press on but it is gone and it honestly wasn't even that bad, time is just flying and I am loving it!

    We didn't see any of our investigators this week but we did meet with our recent convert Patrick! He broke his arm last week and I was able to give him a blessing with that, he looked like he was in a lot of pain but he is still doing awesome! On Saturday he went to get his priesthood interview and then went to a YSA dance, he said he enjoyed it! On Sunday he received the priesthood and is now a priest. I am so proud of him and honestly i just miss teaching him, not many people don't get to teach someone like him in their mission. Elder Clayton and I went to the CES devotional last night and it was just amazing! If those of you reading this haven't watched it, watch it, make time! 

I love the gospel, I love my mission, I love the Savior, and I love this work. I was reading in 2 Nephi 28:25 the other day and my heart dropped but it doesn't apply to this so I will still say it. All is Well! Love and miss y'all

Elder Welch

 I cannot believe 2013 is already over, half of 2013 spent here in the mission field has just flown by! I have a lot of my thoughts that I want to explain in this letter from this past week so the information on what has actually happened will be slim. This past week we went out with Pat once and then he left out of town, we got a text from him Thursday that said "are medicated drugs against the word of wisdom?" A little confused but figured he was just asking it because he is studying pharmacy I said no. The very next text we receive from him he explains that he was in Tampa and his cousins were teaching him to play hockey and he broke his wrist, he was on some pretty heavy drugs but is back in town today and is doing well!  

  A problem that the area we are in right now has is getting investigators to progress, we have a ton of them but none of them seem to want to do what we ask them to, we've tried everything. Elder Clayton and I have fasted about it and have seen the Lord strengthen our investigators just over the past 24 hours, its been a district problem too but I will explain that a little later in the letter.  A few funny stories from the week is we were filling up with gas and Elder Clayton and I were just coming out to the gas station and this guy stops us out of the door and says "do y'all have something you want to tell me" We were caught off guard but that it was awesome. We tell him a little something and then he tells us his friends need to hear it so at this point Elder Clayton and I are pumped but then this happens...he all of a sudden goes quiet and then looks to us and says "do you hear that?" we say no then he said "that's a cry." By this time Elder Clayton and I are kind of weirded out but decide to go to his apartment anyway. Right as we are pulling out of the driveway I look at him and he slaps himself! I was so confused...we teach him about the Book of Mormon and as you can tell he was super high on who knows what...not going back there! Another thing that happened is we were tracting and oyming (street contacting) and stopped to talk to a random guy, he invited us in which never happens so once again we were stoked! We found out that he had read the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price and basically held us captive and bashed us for who knows how long...probably 30 minutes...he said he was going to convert us.

        Like I said this week has been really really hard for me. Not really as far as the work goes but more of spiritually and emotionally for me. I have been overwhelmed with being a district leader for a few reasons. I have exactly 1/2 of the zone in my district and I think its the biggest district in the mission but I'm not sure of that part but anyways I'm super super busy with that. Like I said progressing investigators have been a problem in not only our area but in the whole district so I have been trying to know what to teach for district meeting, I don't have the answers for progressing investigators! I have had such a strong testimonies of leaders and how the Lord qualifies them, even a simple little young district leader. I have fasted and prayed on it and I pray district meeting will go great tomorrow! I have found a lot of peace in a few things I've studies on this week. One scripture that came to mind as I was teaching an investigator was in James where it says "draw near unto me, and I will draw near unto you" We know god is a just god and will keep his side of the promise so all we have to do is draw near unto him, how do we do that? john 14:15. i love what my mom sent me that said "because I am grateful, I will be good." Another one is about the golden rule "One should treat others as one would like others to treat them." I believe that is divine as well. If you do well to god, keep his commandments, and "treat him well", he will treat you well. In thinking of the investigators we have and them not progressing and really just the southern state of mind that all churches are of god I want to share what I have thought about. A lot of Mormons get a bad wrap for saying we know our church is true, I don't understand why it is so foreign to other churches, why would anyone go to a church that they don't think is the only true church? I know my church is true and I'm going to give everyone some advice that is searching for truth, Mormon or non-Mormon. Its fine if you don't believe the Mormon church to be true, but if you don't think yours is either you might want to start looking, seriously. Christ not only set up a gospel but he also set up a church. James 1:5 Love and miss y'all. all is well!

Elder Welch

Elder Welch:

Below is my (lengthy) personal account of my conversion story. I actually typed it out before for a talk I gave at a YSA fireside earlier this year and added a lot to it for you. It's longer in the part before I met you two because I figure you don't know all those details. Good luck writing your homecoming talk when you get home, but don't forget you got a couple more weeks in AL to help spread the gospel.


Try and go to an ice cream parlor called Milky-Moos in Troy before you head out. They have some pretty interesting flavors and it's all homemade. They used to make a cinnamon roll sundae that was really good at the one in Enterprise. I enjoyed Dothan 1st Ward this morning. Elder Thompson sort of helped point me to the right rooms to go to.


School starts tomorrow, and I go year round now. It's all going well though. Email me if you have any more questions for your talk. I realized I'm only one story and provided you with way too much info. Don't be afraid to cut a lot of it out.


Good luck finishing up the mission and have a safe trip home to NV.


Pat Baldwin
pgb0001@auburn.edu
(251)-648-5697

It was August when I first chatted with missionaries online. It was a pair of sisters on the online chat thing, and I was asking questions about what the Church believes about life after death. We had been talking in school about communicating with people near the end of life and were looking at different views on the subject based on life experiences/religious affiliation. The sisters were not native English speakers and we had difficulty understanding one another. They passed me off to a pair of American guys who wanted to Skype or something to "better answer my questions". I hesitated because my whole goal was to give as little info about myself as possible, but agreed to give them a junk gmail address I never use so they could video conference with me on google.



They answered some of my questions the first meeting and asked if we could meet again in a couple days. I said no. Now the original sisters and the elders were emailing that gmail address at least once a week with some Mormon Message or an invitation to meet with me again (I'm still on some Listserv in the Provo MTC and get an email from random sister missionaries every now and then). After a couple weeks, one of missionaries messaged and asked if they could call to share a message. I thought they were kind of pushy, but let them call as they shared a brief message about eternal families and the temple.



They finally answered some of the questions I initially asked during the first call (long after our essay/test on subject in school was over), but said they were out of time and would have to call back later to give me rest of story. I had no intention of joining the church and refused every challenge they gave for me to read the Book of Mormon, but we did read from it during their lesson.  The next call was weird. One of the elders finished his mission and had gone home, so there was a guy I hadn't met before. They began the lesson asking me what I'd do if I knew the Book of Mormon was true. I said I'd probably join the church, but I wasn't interested in changing religions and didn't think it was true.



Then they "challenged" me to read the Book of Mormon and prepare for Baptism the weekend after Thanksgiving. I thought they were crazy and did not want to speak with them anymore. I asked that they quit emailing me and that we end the chat. They said they understood, but wanted to know if they could send me a Book of Mormon. I was just interested in getting rid of them and said sure they could send me one. They took down my address and said they'd send it. Looking back I don't know why I was so willing to give my address but afraid to give my email address or phone number. I guess I just wanted them gone.



Here is where you and Elder Clayton come into the story. I thought they'd mail it to me, but after a week, I figured they forgot to send it. Then I came home from school one day to a pass along card in door with your names and phone number on it. I immediately realized what had happened. I was afraid you'd keep coming back until you met me and I did not want to be caught randomly at an inconvenient time. I also felt bad that yall may have driven from far away to only find an empty apartment. I called either the night after you left it or the next night and set up the first appointment.



I liked the first lesson and how you two weren't nearly as pushy as that one "new" elder I met on the last video conference. It's also way different to meet a pair of elders in person. Most converts I've spoken to share a real respect for what you guys do leaving for two years and all that. (I forgot for awhile but eventually emailed the elders and sisters i chatted with online that I was baptized)



I think you know the rest of the story for the most part. I offered the two of you iced tea every visit until the Word of Wisdom lesson finally came up. I basically asked Carson if he knew any polygamists the one visit he came. I genuflected the first time I went to sacrament meeting. I sat through all of Brother Booth's long stories that weren't related to the lessons at all. Most importantly, though, I began reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon each day after our second visit. ( I now know how rare it is for investigators to even read one chapter and what Elder Clayton meant when he called me "golden")



I'd love to say there was a specific chapter or story in the Book of Mormon that was the spark that let me know it was true, but I do not really have one. I struggled to know the truthfulness but kept reading and meeting with you guys because I felt religion was missing from my life especially after a fairly religious upbringing until my parents split. (I don't know if I ever told you two that I met with a Catholic priest once while I was taking the lessons) I struggled with modern prophecy a decent amount and the need for a restoration through Joseph Smith.



I got my answer late one night after reading 2 Nephi 30/31 I think ( you two had told me to pay special attention to that section ). It went over the importance of baptism and conversion like I had been learning in the lessons. I prayed afterwards in bed and that's when I knew what I had been reading all this time was true. I quit asking some of the questions that were keeping me from embracing the gospel (what would my friends and family think/will people think I'm going to hell/I don't want people to think I'm in a cult/can I really quit tea and alcohol forever/can i see myself living the perfect Mormon lifestyle). I had already gone to a sacrament meeting by this point and was also surprised by how normal the church service seemed. I agreed to be baptized around Christmas and before you two's next transfer.



It's almost 1.5 years later (Baptized 12/28/2013) and I do not really have any regrets. Doing baptisms for the dead with the youth next Saturday in Birmingham and currently counseler in EQ.



The End