Email #77 - The Power of the Spirit

February 26, 2018

Huntsville, Alabama

Dear Family - I hope your week was as good as mine because it was
an incredible week! We were definitely watched over in the work.  
This week we were able to visit with a Part Member Family and we
taught them the Restoration. The McMahon Family is awesome!
They have an unbaptized daughter and we have started to teach her.  
We had an amazing visit with them the other night and the family
was so attentive to the lesson. We brought our High Priest Group
Leader with us and we asked him to share a little about how he
has been blessed by following the prophet.  As he shared everyone
was so dialed in and it was such an amazing lesson. The Spirit was
strong and they committed to read the Book of Mormon everyday
and to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  
After visiting with them we had an appointment with an investigator
named Annie. We shared the Restoration with her as well and she
loved it. We got a text from her yesterday saying that she had
some questions she has had while reading.  It was really cool to
be able to answer her questions about the Book of Mormon. It is
amazing to see the Spirit testify of the truthfulness of our
message to those we meet. Those were two great appointments
that night.

We are teaching a woman named Meleah as well. The previous
elders found her but we haven't been able to get a hold of her
until the last few weeks. This week we went over to her house
to review the Restoration and had a great visit with her.  The
next day we also read the scriptures over the phone with her.  
She was just soaking everything in. Saturday we were able to
teach the Plan of Salvation to her with a priest in the Byrd
Springs Ward here. We asked him to testify of the truthfulness
of the Plan that God has for us and as he shared his simple
and powerful testimony, it really helped Meleah see how it
has blessed his life. It was an amazing visit. As Elder Damaso
and I were planning on Saturday night about who could sit
with Meleah at church, we both thought of one sister in
particular. We weren't able to talk to this member because
they came in late.  Elder Damaso and I had to be on the
stand because we spoke in church so as we were sitting on
the stand we prayed that Meleah would show up.   Then we
saw Meleah walk in at the same time as the sister we had
hoped Meleah would meet.  They sat down together and
were both so attentive. It was amazing.  We hadn't had an
opportunity to ask her to sit with Meleah but the Lord put
them in the right spot at the right time and this member was
ready to act. It was amazing. It really was an answer to
prayer. It truly was an amazing experience. We are going
to read the scriptures over the phone with Meleah at a
member’s house this evening.  We also have an
appointment with her on Saturday at a member’s house
so the members are really helping out with the work.
It's amazing.

I also got word this morning that Roberto (who was
investigating the church while I was in Birmingham)
was baptized on Saturday.  It's been a very spiritual
week. It has felt like the blessings of the Lord continue
to unfold in His work. I know this is His work and He
leads and guides it. I love you all and I hope you have
a great week! You're in my prayers! and don't forget...
ROLL TIDE!

Strength and Honor

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

Elder Noah Featherstone

Fillin' up the bikes... hahahahahahah

 Alabama at it's finest!

Once again Alabama at it's finest.

We went out to eat with an old investigator from the Huntsville Spanish Branch as well! That was a great time!

And again...Alabama at its finest!

Email 76 - In a Fog

February 20, 2018

Huntsville, Alabama

Family! How are you all? It's been great to hear from you. I hope all is well.
Everything has been going really well here in Huntsville. We've been
working super hard and it's just been a riot! We've enjoyed it a lot!

This week Elder Damaso has been a little out of it. He hasn't been 
feeling very well.  Elder Damaso and I were visiting an investigator 
and we had planned to review the Restoration a little bit and talk 
about Prayer. As I started up the lesson and then turned it over to 
Elder Damaso, I looked over at him he was staring off in the 
distance having no idea what was happening. So I kept teaching, 
after another 2 minutes I came back to him and same thing. The 
whole entire lesson goes by and Elder Damaso is still out of it.  
As we finished I turned to him and said, "do you remember 
anything that happened in there?" he responded, "not a thing..." 
We both laughed. Hopefully he will feel better soon.

This week we drove out to Scottsboro Alabama to do a
baptismal interview and that was super good.  We had Zone
Conference and it was great. Most of the conference was
about technology coming to the mission. We will be getting
our phones in about 3 weeks so that's going to be a huge
change for me. I'm going to be moving away from a paper
area book and planner so that's going to be super weird...
I don't know how much I'm going to like it but it'll be a good
change. We have a mission goal that in the year of 2018
we are going to have 300 baptisms across the mission.
So having smartphones is how we are going to get that!
We are super excited! #300 #theprophecy

This week we had two exchanges and we were in
Birmingham for one of them. The other was here in
Huntsville. As we were out contacting, I felt like we
should go see a member that lived a few blocks away.
She is a recent convert that has both legs amputated.
She basically lives in her wheelchair. She is pretty
elderly. As we knocked on her door, we heard
someone very quietly say, "Come in." As we very
gently opened the door she was laying on the floor
and couldn't lift herself back into her wheelchair.
We jumped in and got her back in her wheelchair.
It was another testimony of listening to the
promptings of the Spirit. The spirit will give us
quiet promptings and we have to be ready to hear
them.

Thank you for all you do and the great support
you are to me. Y'all are in my prayers. Have a great week!

Strength and Honor

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

Email #75 - Biking the Town

February 12, 2018

Huntsville, Alabama

Heyyyyooooooo! How are you all doing?! It's crazy hearing about all the stuff going on!
I'm still trying to get the fact that Brian and Kelsey are in Australia in my head... and now
Mom in Belize. Wow! I just think about it and then I'm like wait..."They can't really be in
Australia and Belize." So I'm still working on it but it's a work in progress! haha! Well this
week was a good one. We had a really cool experience the other night.

Elder Damaso and I got White Washed into Huntsville -  the previous elders passed by
us at Transfers and gave us the keys to the car and the apartment and said, "Oh yeah,
you have to take the car in to the shop in about a week." This week was the week that
the car was in the shop.  Last Monday we were biking out to see a few investigators
and after we got there we locked up our bikes to a light pole in the apartment complex.
We went to see 4 investigators that we had been teaching and one that we had an
appointment with. After we had seen everyone, and all of them cancelled, we had a
back up plan to go to a neighboring apartment complex to see another investigator.
I turned to Elder Damaso and asked if he wanted to bike over there or just walk.
He said, "Ehh. Let's just walk. So we walked about 100 yards and I had this prompting
to go back and get our bikes and bike there. So I turned to him and said, "We should
take our bikes." He said "Why?" and I said, "I don't know." So we turned back and
started walking back to our bikes and right as we were passing a potential investigators
door named Chloe, she opened up and said, "Hey! Can y'all come visit with me and my
family for a minute and say a prayer?" I looked at Elder Damaso just speechless.
He said, "Yeah sure!" Okay.

So backstory, When Elder Andersen was here visiting the mission, he mentioned that
we should only share the message of the Restoration with those who are truly listening.  
Chloe had told us previously that she didn't want to hear about the Book of Mormon
so we offered to share a message from the Bible. She was busy so we told her we
would come back another day and she said that that would be great.

Back to the story. We went in and shared a message from the New Testament with
her. As we finished, she just kind of sat back and she said, "What else do you have
to share with me?" We then taught her about the Book of Mormon and she accepted
it and wanted to hear more. It was such a cool experience about how when we use
the Bible and the Book of Mormon together we can deepen our testimonies of the Savior.

I wanted to share this message with you because of the strength that the Book of
Mormon and the Bible together have. They testify of the divinity of our Savior
Jesus Christ and the reality of His great atoning sacrifice. With the Bible and the
Book of Mormon used together, we can come to know our Savior more fully.
We can deepen our testimonies of the reality of Him. I know that when we use
them together, we can have a relationship with our Savior that we haven't seen
before. I know He lives. I know this gospel is true. I know that our Prophet
Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God. I know that the message of the
Restoration that we share is true.

I hope you all have a great week and can see the miracles of the Lord in your
own lives. I love you all! You're in my prayers! and don't forget.... #ROLLTIDE

Strength and Honor

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

Elder Noah Featherstone

FEATHERSTONE LN! LETS GOOOOO!!!!

One thing about Alabama that you didn't know. Alexander Shunnarah is everywhere.... 

So here is a picture of two of his billboards right next to each other! ha!

Elder Damaso beat me in miniature pool the other night.....

Email #74 - The Lord's Hand in the Work

February 5, 2018

Huntsville, Alabama

Family! How have you all been?! This week has been fantastic. It's really been amazing.  I want to share an experience with you that happened this week.

First off, we were out trying to see an investigator that we had an appointment with but it fell through. I looked over and saw another man that was struggling finding something in his car.  We went over and struck up a conversation with him and we taught him about the Plan of Salvation and he loved it! It was a great lesson. As we finished he said, "That would be so cool to see my family again." It was another faith building experience of talking to everyone in our way.  There are so many people that are ready to hear this gospel. We just have to open our mouths.

Well that's probably about it for the week. It's been a long week but a good one.  We've been doing a lot of knocking doors and a lot of finding.

Love you all! Have a great week!

--

Strength and Honor

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

-Elder Noah Featherstone