Email #64 - What a Week!

November 27, 2017

Montgomery, Alabama

Family! This week was complete CHAOS! Wow! I loved it! It was so darn much fun! We were just crazy crazy busy! But anyways, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I know it's late but I forgot to say that last week!

So! First off, This week for Thanksgiving we had 3 dinner appointments... I'm not complaining... but I ate sooooooo muchhhhhhh foooooddddd.... It was like way more than I should have been able to eat. I think the Lord was really helping us out here. But the food was just sooooooooo good! Man! I absolutely loved it! It was great! So it was quite the day! We had the turkey bowl in the morning and that was a ton of fun! Then we had a bunch of dinner appointments. Not a whole lot else happened that day because we had to drive up to Birmingham for the Spanish Conference for all the Spanish Missionaries the next day.

We had the Spanish Conference and it was a blast to see all the Spanish Missionaries! Since there are so many less Spanish missionaries, we are all really good friends so it was just a riot to be with all of them. It's a really tight knit group and it's a blast! It was super fun to see a lot of old companions, and good friends from the mission. During the conference, President Sainsbury talked a lot about really adapting the Spanish culture into our lives as missionaries. To find out what we can do to apply their culture into our everyday lives and have a blast doing it. So that's been on our minds a lot lately. It's a very interesting thought, but I do know that the people are a lot more willing to open up and hear our message when we are familiar and knowledgeable about their culture. So I'm excited to see what we can do here.

So as you know, Saturday was the Iron Bowl. Wow.... What a day! It's hysterical because you'll knock on some people's doors and they'll open up and say, "Hey, we're watching the game. You're welcome to come in, eat a burger and a hot dog, watch the game, but we can't talk right now. We can hang out and once the game is over I'd be happy to listen to you." Man... the southern hospitality really is a thing. They are so kind a loving but they really do love their Alabama Crimson Tide, and Auburn Tigers. It's hysterical! I love it!

Elder Oldham and I have been doing a lot of tracting and we ended up tracting into a Spanish Penecostal Preacher yesterday. ! It was super super interesting.  Elder Oldham is still getting a grasp on Spanish so I was doing most of the conversing with him, but it was a very interesting conversation to say the least. I think the one thing I learned from him is, no matter what you know, you aren't going to know everything. When a question arises that you don't know the answer to, go look and find an answer from God. He can give you the answers. We aren't ever going to know everything in this life, but we definitely can search the scriptures and rely on God for knowledge.

I love this gospel. This Thanksgiving and Christmas Season I want you all to know that I know that God lives. He has perfect gratitude for us, and he is cheering us on every step of the way through life. We have trials to help us grow and increase in knowledge. Without hard things we don't become better. He give us trials to help us grow and learn to rely on Him. I'm thankful for that. I love you all! You are in my prayers! Have a stellar week!

Also, Go search Light the World on Mormon.org and watch the Christmas Initiative for this year! Let's all get that Christmas Cheer out in the world! Let them know what we are capable of! WOOT WOOT!!! #lighttheworld

Strength and Honor

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

-Elder Noah Featherstone

Some Goats... and scenery​

"YA BIG BABY!"

More Hammock Pics

Round 2

More Alabama Scenery

Early Morning Football this week. BUT LOOK AT THE DELIVERY! Best ball I've ever thrown. ha!

Email #63 - The Message of the Restoration

November 20, 2017

Montgomery, Alabama

This week was CRAZY!  We were just go go go! So I have a really cool story and experience that happened this week.

This week we were stopping by a Less Active who we heard had a son-in-law who was interested in our message. We had a few extra minutes at the end of the night and so we decided to head over there! We stopped by and they welcomed us right in! We got to meet the whole family and we got to know them a little bit. As we were chatting, they mentioned that Charlie is interested in the message and that we share. Charlie then spoke up and asked, "I have been wanting to come closer to Jesus Christ and I heard that y'all could help me do that." Oh man... I got so psyched!!! That's like the greatest thing a missionary can ever hear!! HA! So we started right on into the Restoration. As we shared and asked him questions, he answered with sincerity, and was soaking in every word we said. He was leaned forward in his chair truly trying to understand what we were teaching. As I finished reciting the First Vision to him, he said, "I really like that." We then talked about how he can know for himself. As we asked him if he will read the Book of Mormon, he said, "I will read every single page." We then asked him to be baptized. He responded, "Yes, that is what I want." He then asked, "But how do I really know it is true? I have prayed and prayed asking for help and I don't feel like I've ever really received an answer." We then shared with him a few of our thoughts about truly coming to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Wow! We had one of the most amazing lessons with him. It's amazing how receptive someone is when they truly want to come closer to our Savior. It really is amazing. This message is true.

We had an exchange this week with the Elders that are serving in Greenville, AL. It was a blast! I'll send a few pictures of us doing some painting at Morgan Lee's house.

Also, this week we were teaching a friend named Fausto! We were talking about how to know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Elder Oldham mentioned that we need to listen to the answers that God sends our way. Fausto then said, "Entonces... Necesito esperar 30 minutos para recibir una respuesta?" Translation: So I need to way like 30 minutes to get an answer? We then explained that he doesn't need to wait 30 minutes. It was a really good lesson though! Both Fausto and Charlie both really want to become better and more like our Savior and it makes it super exciting! I'm so glad I get to be a part of this work and be able to be a representative of our Savior Jesus Christ.

This week we also were driving home from an appointment after we had picked up the other Carter Hill Elders and I yelled, "ELDER ELDER ELDER ELDER!!!" The others said, " WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT!" I said, "TURN AROUND!!!" And the pictures will explain what we saw HAHA!! I love it!

Anyways! I hope you all have a great week! Remember that God loves you, and that He is cheering you on every step of the way! I love you all! You're in my prayers!

--

Strength and Honor

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

-Elder Noah Featherstone

Exchanges with Elder Hanratty! HE IS THE MAN! SO HYSTERICAL!

Paintin' on the roof with the man himself. Elder Oldham

Selfie from the Roof! Featuring Elders Hanratty, Standifird, and Oldham

)"ELDER ELDER ELDER ELDER!!!"

Hammocking over by the famous tree we always take a picture with. 

The hammocking crew this morning in Wetumpka

The Classic Tree we always take pictures in.​

The Canadian Elder Kapcsos!

Email #62 - HEYYYOOOO!!!

November 13, 2017

Montgomery Alabama

FAMILIA! QUE PASA?!! First off, Shout out to Brian and Kelsey! I'm super super psyched to hear all about your adventures in AUSTRALIA! That'll be amazing! Y'all are in my prayers!

Soooo... this week was a great one! Elder Oldham and I have been crazy crazy busy! We've been doing a lot of knocking doors and it's been stellar! We were out trying to visit some people the other day and we didn't get any answer at the door. So we were lookin' around seeing who was in the area that we could talk to and there were three ladies standing outside a door a little ways down. We had a great conversation with them and were able to share the Book of Mormon with them. They wanted us to come back so we have another appointment with them tomorrow which should be great! I'm psyched!

This week we've been meeting tons and tons of people. It's been great! We have been biking a TON and it gets absolutely insane on the roads down here! But it's all good. Everytime my thighs start burning cause we've been biking a while I yell to Elder Oldham. "WE'RE GETTING HUGE!!!" hahaha! It's the greatest!

We had an amazing experience on Saturday! We had just the most amazing day planned. We had 6 appointments and we were just super busy. I was psyched! We went to the first appointment at 11. Nothing... Second. nothing. Third....... AHHHH Nothing... All of them fell through. COME ON! I said to Elder Oldham at about 8pm, "We gotta finish strong today!" So we decided to go to Walmart and do some Store Contacting.  We decided we were just going to show everyone in Walmart who the missionaries are! We had 30 minutes. Ready, Set, GO! As we were headed in, we looked over, and WAM! There's one of our investigators Anthony! (We had tried to see him that day but nobody answered.) He is such a STUD! We had a great chat with him! We were able to talk to a few more people too!

On Wednesday's here in good ol' Mo-Town we do some service at what we call The Animal Prison. I'll let you think about what that is;) haha! We saw some pretty cool stuff - The Panthers, Lions, Giraffe's, Elephants, etc. It's so amazing all the things that we have here on this earth. The Plan of Salvation really is God's Plan for us. It's amazing how flawless it is. This gospel is pure! I love it so much!

Can I just say again, The Book of Mormon is true! We were knocking some doors and I looked down at the Book of Mormon in my hands and I just got a smile on my face. This work is amazing. The Book of Mormon is true and has so much power.

I hope y'all finna have a great week! LES QUIERO FAMILY!!!

--

Strength and Honor

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

Elder Noah Featherstone

District Selfie with the one and only..... ELDER SULLIVAN

Montgomery Zone Conference with YA BOYZ

Post Zone Conference Selfie 

Gettin' hauled off at the Animal Prison #cleaningcrew

Elders Braaskma y Featherstone

Email #61 - An Hour of Mighty Prayer

November 6, 2017

Montgomery, Alabama

Family! It's been another quick week but definitely another great one! It's definitely one of those weeks that I can't really remember a whole lot of what happened... So I'll let you know the few things that I can remember.  So first off, this week we were doing more service for an inactive member that I've talked about a little bit. His name is Morgan Lee. He called us up and said, "Hey Missionaries, I've got a lot going on and I'm needing some help painting my house this week. Could y'all come over and help me for a little bit?" We are always jumping at service opportunities so we jumped at it and said, "Of Course!" So little did I know that I would be painting on the roof of his house! haha! It wasn't as scary as it sounds but I was painting a lot of the upper reaches of the front of his house. We are beginning to become professional painters. We also painted cupboards for a family in the ward as well this week. So it has been the Elders and their paint brushes this week.

President Sainsbury came to all the missionaries this week and told us that he wanted to have an hour of mighty prayer in the mission. On Sunday from 4-5pm we would all unite in prayer for our families, our friends, our investigators, the members, etc. It was an amazing experience. Knowing that another 180 missionaries across Alabama are praying for all those that are searching for this gospel was amazing. I was able to pray for each of you specifically and for your needs and for each of you to feel of the love the Lord has for you. It is definitely something that I hope our family can do in the future. To know and feel so close to our Father in Heaven is something that we need on a regular basis in our lives. At this point in time, if I were to share with y'all one of the most important things I've learned on my mission it has been the power of prayer. When we truly rely on the Savior, he will comfort us. He knows what we are going through and through prayer we are able to unite ourselves with Him. He loves us and desires that we reach out to Him. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of the truthfulness of this message.

Thank you all for your support and prayers in behalf of the missionaries across the world. I can't describe what a joyous experience it is to be a representative of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

You're in my prayers! Have a stellar week! Love you all!

Strength and Honor

Elder Noah Featherstone

Part of the Carter Hill District

Elders Braaksma, Ferguson, Oldham and I up in Wetumpka this morning!