June 23, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine

Hola!

What a fun week this has been! It was soooooo busy!

So, we had to do the 4 hour drive down to Manchester for the court case. The court case made me frustrated, but at least it’s all over now. I thought about writing out my big story and complaint, but decided no one wants to hear that kind of negativity, so I’ll summarize by saying that I’m fine and it won’t go on my record or anything, I learned a lot about court and people, and the church only paid part of what the guy wanted. 👍

The rest of the week was awesome though! Being back in Exeter for a few days while we waited for transfers was AWESOME! I love the people there. :)

It was sad to see Elder Lockwood go, but I’m excited to see what he does. He’s down in Lawrence speaking Spanish now and I know he’ll do super well!

We then headed back up to Ellsworth, and I have 2 new companions! Elder Anderson (from Springville Utah, been out for 18 months) and Elder Sika (from Missouri, been out 15 months). We helped out with the Bucksport Bay Festival this weekend and had a great time! It was great getting to serve there, and we also had a booth where we did the Book of Mormon experience.

Sunday we celebrated Pioneer Day as "Ellsward" and all dressed up like pioneers for church!

Ward lunch after church

It’s been such a busy week, so I’m excited to see all our people again now!

Y’all need Jesus. Prayer works.
Love,
Elder Branch

May 28, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine

Hey friends!

This week was nice! We got to see lots of those were teaching. Lots of them are still in between making the changes in their life they need, but they are coming along. We also got back in contact with lots of others.

Church we had lots of people planned as usual, but we just had A. and K. again. P. had to work, J. didn’t make it, and lots of those who are less active who’ve been returning had other things come up. Oh well, better luck next week. Church was especially good this week. I read the sacrament prayers and was reminded of how merciful the Lord is to us. Sometimes when someone we’re teaching cancels and appointment, just doesn’t show up for an appointment, or doesn’t do what we asked and invited them to, it makes me frustrated. I always get over it quickly, but in the moment it’s easy to think maybe we should just give up on them and help someone else. Of course there are times where we have to if they don’t have real intent, but even those who are seeking truth with a real desire make mistakes. I thought about how each week we probably do a billion things that make God sad for us, and more than anything he just wishes we would obey. He never gives up on us, and that gives me strength to not give up on anyone we’re helping as well as long as they continue to strive.

We had exchanges with Machias Elders which was good, we both went to their area. I got to teach an awesome family who will really be blessed by the gospel. Later in the day, we found a new man for them to teach who was a photographer as well as artist. He showed me lots of his sketches which I loved! He is from France as well which was really cool, I loved his accent! He has grown a nice Mainer beard though so he fits right in.

Yesterday we set up a booth in Bar Harbor and did the Book of Mormon experiment with people! We invited them to read a page of the religious text, high-lighting how many times Deity is referred to. We also invited them to mark anything they like from it. We met some great people and had a blast! We got several people’s information, and had about 40 people read pages! It was interesting to see how some people had great comprehension, while others had amazing pages with testaments of Jesus Christ, but didn’t open their hearts or understand any of it! It will be exciting to have more people read as the summer progresses.

Book of Mormon experiment...

Today we were able to hike in Acadia with the Rockland elders which is always a good time!

Hope you all have a great day,
Love,
Elder Branch :)

Book of Mormon experiment

Cool art at Frenchman's

Random past Mission President bought us massive cookies - how nice was that!

Pre-zone conference hike in the morning with Elder Donn

Finished