Elder Noah Hoskins Hanson West Virginia Charleston Mission : Week 9 - October 5, 2016

Wow! What a week! Okay, so first off let me just start off by saying sorry for not emailing on Monday! We had transfers this week and whenever we have a transfer week, our Pdays are on Wednesday! So my bad for not letting you guys know ahead of time lolllz! My Companion and I will be staying in Gallipolis, Ohio. But WOW! This week was great! I mean it had its ups and downs but so does every week haha! And can we talk about the fact that General Conference is freaking bae? Like I fetching love General Conference! Okay so I'll talk about what happened this week now lol.

Again, General Conference is the best!! The messages that were shared, I know for a fact, came straight from God! I know now more than ever that Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet on the earth today! And that his 12 Apostles are apostles of the Lord! I felt the Spirit so strong during all of it and I now have a greater love and appreciation for General Conference! One of my favorite talks was Elder D. Todd Christofferson's because he talked about how Christ's love can help us reach our full potential. He said, "As we choose to accept, instead of resist, the help of our Redeemer, he can help us and lift us up to the full potential that we have." Each of us has a specific purpose in this life. If we put our faith in Jesus Christ's unconditional love and His Infinite Atonement, he will help us find our specific purpose! I know that to be true! Ah man! I love conference!

Okay so I got some good news/bad news about D---. The bad news is we had to push her baptismal date to November 12th instead of October 29th. She had a family emergency and had to spend the $50 she had raised so far for her marriage license. Sooo they need more time to raise the $60. But the good news is that she is COMMITTED to November 12th! She said, "I WILL be baptized on that date! Oh my goodness! She has a lot of faith! But guys, the adversary is literally doing everything in his power to make sure she doesn't get baptized. Please please please pray for her! She's so ready for baptism it's not even funny!

So this week we had dinner with a less active members as we do once a month. After dinner we had a lesson with them about General Conference and let me tell you. The Spirit completely took control of that lesson because we talked about General Conference for a few minutes. Then literally the rest of the time we talked about missionary work and then they expressed their gratitude for us and what we do as missionaries. The Husband even said, "The reason I invite you guys over and give you my absolute best is because I treat it like Jesus Christ Himself is coming over to eat with us." Wow. I had never been so humbled in my entire life! The Spirit was so strong during that lesson and his wife even set up an appointment with us to come back and talk to her which she hasn't done with any other set of missionaries before! So WAHOO! So hyped!

Not much else is new with the rest of our investigators like B---, D---, The M--- Family, etc. Other than the fact that they are all progressing towards baptism! We are going to try and get them on date this week because we believe that they're ready! I'll let you know next week how things go :)

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK: WHITE CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

Okay so for those of you who don't know, my Mission President has asked all the missionaries of this mission to read 8.5 pages out of the Book of Mormon a day starting from the very beginning (the title page)! He testified to us that if we did this, it would unite us all as a mission and that we would gain a stronger love and testimony of the Book of Mormon. So I challenge all of you to do the same! Take some time to read 8.5 pages a day from the Book of Mormon starting TODAY! If we do this continually until the very end of the Book of Mormon, we will finish it in 2.5 months! Just in time for a WHITE Christmas! I promise that as you do this, we will, not only be united as followers of Christ, but we will grow closer with the Lord as well!

FUNNY MOMENT:

Okay so remember last week when I told you about how I naired my right leg? Lol. Well you bet your apple-bottom jeans I naired my other leg while on exchanges! I just couldn't handle it. But I had some trouble this time doing so. So here's what happened- I put it on my leg and the bottle of nair (little did I know) said not to keep it on longer than 10 minutes. So, naturally, I left it on for 20 minutes!! Why didn't anyone tell me that Nair BURNS? Like what the actual? Now my left leg is a little red at the moment but it's silky smooth. Hopefully it heals! Looollz!

Anyway, truly thank you all for your amazing love and support! Remember that God loves all of you so much and so do I :) hope you all have an amazing week! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true!

Mosiah 24: 14

- Elder Hanson