This is what happens in 120+ heat!!!

This week was off to a hot start. It was SOO hot this week. It was like 120+ every day this week. Im pretty sure we were all over the news. There has only been 3 hotter days in the history of Arizona. So we were driving on the freeway and we got in this huge traffic jam and then our car started to drop RPMs and then died. We started freaking out because we didnt want to have to push the car out of the mess especially in the heat. Well we started it again and it died again. We truned off the AC and it started running better. We had the windows down because if we didnt we probably would of died. The wind coming in was so hot it hurt when it hit your skin. Also every one had their car running around us which made it even hotter. It felt like it was burning you. Anyway we finally got our car off the freeway after it died about 6 times and then let it cool off and we had to drive it about 5 miles to a shop to see what was wrong with it. That was the hottest 5 miles of my life. You are literally sweating from everywhere. We also have leather seats so it doesnt help in with the sun. They couldnt find out what was wrong with it. They think it was just something to do with the heat. 

 But we did have a pretty good week. We had an investigator finally set a solid date! She is getting baptized on the 15th. She already started inviting family to it and they are going to announce it in church on Sunday. We are starting to plan everything out for it. She is pretty awesome. Im excited for her and her husband. They are 22 and 23 and he is a member. They are super cool and they feel like family. The work is going pretty good. 

Also we got transfer news last night and Im staying! Its gonna be good to stay here and see some work come though. Elder Lemley will be my longest companion I've had. We get along though so its all good. Cant wait to see what miracles the Lord has for us! The Lord is willing to bless us all and give us mighty miracles. We just have to have faith it will happen. 

This was a story I came across this week. The amazing story of Charles Blondin, a famous French tightrope walker, is a wonderful illustration of what true faith is.  Blondin's greatest fame came on June 30, 1859, when he became the first person to cross a tightrope stretched 11,000 feet (over a quarter of a mile) across the mighty Niagara Falls. People from both Canada and America came from miles away to see this great feat.Blondin understood the appeal of the morbid to the masses, and reveled when gamblers began to take bets on whether he would plunge to a watery death. (Most of the smart money said yes.) On the morning of June 30, 1859, about 25,000 thrill-seekers arrived by train and steamer and dispersed on the American or Canadian side of the falls, the latter said to have the better view.He walked across, 160 feet above the falls, several times... each time with a different daring feat - once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and blindfolded. One time he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet in the middle of the rope! A large crowd gathered and the buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the river bank. The crowd “Oohed and Aahed!” as Blondin carefully walked across - one dangerous step after another - pushing a wheelbarrow holding a sack of potatoes.Then a one point, he asked for the participation of a volunteer. Upon reaching the other side, the crowd's applause was louder than the roar of the falls! Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" The crowd enthusiastically yelled, "Yes! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!" "Okay," said Blondin, "Who wants to get into the wheelbarrow." As far as the Blondin story goes, no one did at the time! This unique story illustrates a real life picture of what faith actually is. The crowd watched these daring feats. They said they believed. But... their actions proved they truly did not believe. Similarly, it is one thing for us to say we believe in God. However, it's true faith when we believe God and put our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s one thing to believe a man can walk across by himself. It’s another thing to believe he could safely carry you across. But it’s something else entirely to get into the wheelbarrow yourself.

It’s not enough to believe that Christ theoretically could save you. Until you “get in the wheelbarrow” and trust all to him, you are not saved.   2 Nephi 26: "Christ works miracles among men according to their faith"

Elder Lemley and Edler Lange

Our cars temperature this week (look at the middle number!)

A cat at a members house we ate at this week. haha

Is there enough evidence to prove you're a Mormon?

It's been a pretty good week! We got two referrals that were super solid this week. One said he would be baptized if the missionaries showed up at his house. We called the member that sent the referral and she said he was her best friend. They have been joking about coming to church, taking missionary lessons and getting baptized for a long time but recently he asked her why she  hasn't sent missionaries by his house. She thought it was a joke and kind of played it off but he was like no I'm serious, if you send the missionaries by I will get baptized. It's gonna be a good lesson with him this week. We are pretty excited.

The other was a referral that was sent by some missionaries in Mesa. They said the missionaries stopped to fix their bike tires at a gas station and he asked if they needed any help. Well they got to talking and he said the only reason he didn't get baptized is because he wasn't married. We went over last night to his house and this car comes flying in behind us. A guy comes running out and was jumping in the car and I stopped him and said Hey are you Tito? He said no but the guy driving is and we gotta go. Well they took off and then turned around. Tito rolled down his window and said Hey I wanna meet with you guys. Gave us his number and said call me. Then took off. They both seem pretty solid. I'm excited to see what happens

This week I've been thinking a lot of what it kinda takes to be a Mormon. I realized it's a lot of hard work. We have to draw this line once we are baptized and not cross it again. We have this limit we have to set. Commandments we have to follow to keep us safe and happy. It takes a lot of work. I was thinking about how people know we are Mormon. For us as missionaries it easy. We have white shirts, ties, name tags and are always with a companion. But what about life not as a missionary. How can people tell we are on the other side of the line? There is a quote from Elder Holland that says "If you were convicted of being a Latter-Day Saint, would there be enough evidence to prove you're a Mormon?" Gave me some food for thought. I hope can have people look at me and say "Man I bet he's a true disciple of Christ, he's gotta be Mormon. I hope to live my life to reflect Heavenly Fathers will.

If you always do what you've always done...

We had a pretty good week. We trying to focus on finding more investigators and getting the ones we have to church. Its been kinda difficult but we have seen some things pay off. We have gotten a couple referrals on our iPads and they said the only reason they havent been baptized is because they werent married and they want the missionaries to stop by. Just a bunch of awesome things like that. We are hopefully going to find quite a few people this week that are pretty solid. 

We had a couple people this week that were pretty cool. We stopped by to give this guy a Book of Mormon that he requested and we had contacted him before. He said he didnt have much time but was home for a bit so we could drop the book off. Well we sat out side his door talking to him for about an hour. He had tons of questions. They were all really good questions too. He is studying to be a minister right now.

Eating at Zuppas

We had a pretty slow week but I guess that's just life. You have your ups and downs. Your highs and lows. But its all part of the plan we are meant to fall just to get back up and learn from it. If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got. Its all about learning and moving on. We all have hard parts of our lives but if we look forward with faith and hope, its only bound to get better. Im so grateful the the Plan of Salvation and the sense of purpose it gives us but Im even more grateful for the the central part of the Plan. The atonement was preformed so we all could get up and move forward from every single one of our falls. Its all about eternal progression. 

Cooked cookies in our car during church!

                                                                                                                                                                                   

        

Becoming a Disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ

This week has been really good. We are expecting to have someone interviewed for baptism this Saturday if everything works out! I'm super excited they are super awesome. The husband is a member and wants to baptize her so he is meeting with bishop his week to see what he needs to do to baptize her.  They should be good to go.

This transfer our zone is focusing on becoming a Disciple of Jesus Christ. I've been studying a bunch of talks and scriptures. Some things I learned this week is that it takes time and practice to become a Disciple of Jesus Christ. Like it says I'm Alma, you have to start with a seed and nurture it. Let it grow and keep doing what it takes to make it grow big. The Disciples inhe New Testament didn't just grow over night to become the Apostles but grew over time and learn from Jesus. In our life I think we expect too much of ourselves. There was an experience of someone reaching out to heir friend saying they needed advice. They felt like they were lacking in spiritual things and felt like they were losing their testimony. Their friend gave them a few things to do each night. The friend responded about a week later telling his friend that it wasn't working. He explained to his friend that it wasn't going to work in one quick week, but that it needed some time. Anything good takes time, practice and discipline. We don't expect to wake up in the morning being an all star in basketball or a pro golfer. Why would we expect the same with spiritual matters. For us to become Disciples of Jesus Christ we have to keep working and slowly growing our individual seeds. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said "Brothers and sisters, we have to stay with it. We don’t acquire eternal life in a sprint--this is a race of endurance. We have to apply and reapply the divine gospel principles. Day after day we need to make them part of our normal life." Keep pushing a keeping striving to become a Disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the best investment you can make in this life! 

32nd floor of a high rise in Central Phoenix

Caught a little squirrel

We had some appointments the day of our zone Conference so the top one is us with the Phoenix zone. The bottom one is us in our own zone. We made it for lunch afterwards but didn't have suits haha. Also I got to see Elder Bell again!

Picture texts are the best!

"Thank you for lending us your son for two years.  He is awesome!!"