Everything is bursting with spring here.  The birds are singing their hearts out.  The trees are blooming and getting leaves.  It rains so hard it just pounds on the roof.  The fields are getting so green. The tulips on the town square have been happily blooming.  And best of all:  Jesus Is Risen!

The week after transfers is always funny.  I got a call from the Carthage Elders saying there was only 2 spoons and a knife in their apartment.  And only one mug, no cups.  Also, there's no pots to cook in, just two  burned up frying pans.  And only 2 plates.  I always wonder what the missionaries did in there before.  Well, that same day an Elder was in the office who used to be in that apartment.  So we asked him, "Do you remember if there were any cups in Carthage?"  He says, "I don't remember ever seeing a cup."  He says this in his cute Marshallese accent.  Then we asked him if there were any utensils.  He says, "yes, I think there were two spoons."  Then we say,"How did you live like that?"  He says, "Well, you use a spoon and then you wash it."  

We always enjoy taking the missionaries to the airport.  It's fun to hear their stories.  We took one this week.  This is his story:  He's from Virginia.  He was 19 years old.  He was working at a restaurant as a manager.  His parents moved to a different town but he decided to stay with his job.  He says all the workers at the restaurant acted happy on the job because they were supposed to, but when not working they were unhappy and even miserable.  One girl at work was always happy.  He asked a co-worker what was the deal with that girl that's always happy.  His co-worker said, "She's a Mormon.  They believe weird things.  Stay away from her."  He didn't know what "Mormon" meant. He thought it might be some disease (ADHD?) kind of thing.  Eventually she left and went to BYU Idaho to school, got a mission call, and came back to Virginia to work at the restaurant again until she left on her mission.  At that point he talked to her and she invited him to listen to the missionaries and he never looked back.  He had to leave all of his friends because he wanted really bad to keep the commandments.  Since he didn't have any friends, he went out with the missionaries whenever he wasn't working, even if it was all day long.  His parents aren't members and it was a little hard for them, but he soon went to BYU Idaho.  Then he got a mission call and his parents about died when they saw how little contact they would be able to have with him, but it all worked out.  He finished his mission here just a little bit early so that he could spend a few days at home and then get right back into school.  He didn't want to stay home all summer because he doesn't want to lose all the progress he's made and he wants to keep the commandments. You can guess what kind of a missionary he's been.  As for his co-worker who told him to stay away from the Mormon girl:  when he saw how much the church changed this young man's life, he started taking the missionary lessons too.  He joined the church last year.

I think, wow!  He's amazing.  He's doing everything he can to make sure he doesn't slip and fall into temptation.  Great example!  He says one thing he's learned on his mission is how to talk about what he believes without causing contention.  He's excited about that because it will help with his family relationships.  He loves them so much!

Zone conferences were this past week.  People from Salt Lake were here to put new Tiwis in all of the cars and to inspect the cars.  All missionaries have to arrive with a spotless clean car, park every other car, and pop the hood.   Thursday I drove the mission van home from the church after getting a new tiwi.  It kept yelling at me while I was still in the parking lot.  CHECK YOUR SPEED!   CHECK YOUR SPEED!  I was barely even moving.  But it worked fine once I got out of the parking lot. Our vehicle coordinator is really sick so we went to all of the zone conferences in order for Chris to help with the car inventory.  It was a lot of work.  Zone conference was very inspiring and motivating.

Happy Easter Everyone!  The Church is True!