We all have something different!

This week has been really good. But the highlight was the family I talked about a couple emails back. We were just walking through an apartment complex and they needed help moving in so we helped them. Well it turned out to be that the father is a member and had been praying to get back to church somehow. Well we had been trying for about 2 weeks to get a hold of them and could never catch them home. Well one night we knocked on the door and found the daughter home! I asked if we could come back the next day when her dad was home and she said we could. 

Arizona sunset 

Batting cages for dinner 

Well I got busy picking people up and running around for transfers and had to cancel the lesson. A couple days later we went to stop by and see if they were home and as we were walking to his apartment we saw him. He told us we could come in but just really quickly because it was his lunch break and he only had 15 minutes. We were expecting and planning on just getting to know him a little bit and set up a time to actually sit down and have a lesson. Well he invited his family in which consists of his wife and her 18 year old daughter. We started to get to know them for about 2 minutes and then the daughter said she had some Mormon friends and wanted to ask some question. She said "who is Joseph Smith and what is he all about?" Man it was a perfect set up. We taught the Restoration and explained why Joseph Smith is important. She thought it was really cool and made sense. Then at the end when we invited her to pray about the Book of Mormon and about Joseph Smith, she was more than excited to do it. She said "I haven't been baptized yet and really want to find a church that I like so I can be baptized into it". It was like a perfect first lesson. 

So we ended up setting up a lesson 2 days later and going by. We taught the Plan of Salvation to them and they thought it all made sense. Where we came from, why we are here, where we going. They loved that God had a plan for each one of them. The spirit was really strong and at the end of the lesson the mom said that she really likes us and she was talking to her daughter about us. They both agreed they saw something different in us than in anyone else they have talked to, they said we were really happy and could see something different in us. They said they saw something in our eyes or something. We testified of the truth of our message and couldn't help but testify of the happiness that each one of them could have. 

I always thought that people said that about other missionaries or other people. People and missionaries that actually do have something different. A better understanding of the gospel or a better out look at life or just something different. I never in a million year thought that some one would look at me and tell me they see something different in me. Something different in my eyes. I soon realized that we all have something different. We have truth and understanding. We know Gods plan and how we can find happiness. Its experiences like these that have a lasting conversion in your life. 

Stand up inside and be all in!

This week was pretty dang good! We have found a couple of new people and are hoping to start teaching them. Hopefully we can get some people on date this next week too! Our closest baptism should be around the end of April. Still trying to work on a day they don't work. 

We got to go to the Phoenix temple too! 

We have been finding some sweet tender mercies though. We were watching Conference with a less active family and the nonmember dad came down and watched a whole session with us. He usually just sits in his room and I've only talked to him once. It was pretty cool and he really liked it. There has been a couple times this week we have been knocking on doors trying to find people in our record that don't live here anymore but the people there say we can come back. There has been a lot of success this week. Small and big. Hopefully we can get things rollin. 

Conference was super good for me and for all of our investigators. I was sitting there just thinking that it was the perfect talk for some of our investigators. But I loved the talk about "standing up inside and being all in". Man I loved that talk. A lot of time we just kind go through life doing what we need to to stay afloat but not really trying to progress. It hit home for me. He reason I love it is because you can apply it to any hobby you have. Wrestling, biking, rock climbing, or even painting. If you aren't all in the result is not gonna come out to what you want it to be. Sometimes it takes awhile to get fully into it but it worth and we all need to. We need to immerse ourselves in the gospel and immerse ourselves in good habits and good standards. It's only after we do this that we find the true happiness. 

Joshua 24:15

15 ​And if it seem evil unto you to serve the ​​Lord​​, ​​​choose​ you ​​​this day​ whom ye will ​​​serve​; whether the gods which your fathers served that ​were​ on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my ​​​house​, we will ​​​serve​ the ​​Lord​​.

Morning workouts, zone frisbee 

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Second Chances

This week has been so crazy! It's been a really good week and we had some really good lessons and some really cool miracles. But Friday morning my companion went home. He talked with Salt Lake and his family and they decided it was best for him just to go home and start school and start training for football. It was pretty crazy. I miss him. He was a really good person and taught me a lot. Hopefully things work out for him back home and that it's all part of the Lords plan. I got a missionary from a neighboring Ward for at least another week. Transfers are next Tuesday. 

 The work is going pretty slow. We have a couple of really solid people but other than that the work is going a little slow. So we were out working at a slow time during the day we were just walking through some apartment complexes and we saw some people moving. We decided to help and afterwards he said he was a member. It took us both a little off guard because he was covered in tattoos. He said he was just barley moving down here and all the way here he was praying and thinking about how he could get back involved with the gospel. He had been in and out of prison for awhile and just really messed up but wanted fix his life. Next thing you know we are standing right in front of him. We are going by this week.

It's crazy how the Lord always answers prayers but what's cooler is he always gives us second chances. The Lord is all about second chances. This guy has been in some pretty low places in his life and all he wants to do now is make the gospel a part of his life and the Lord is all in. The Lord will always patiently wait for us to come back to him. He will always give us our choices and I'm sure some of them are so hard for Him to watch but he always will let us make our own choices. If it means we are going to need a second chance Heavenly Father is ok with that. Every one needs second chances. That's why our loving Heavenly Father sent His Son to atone for each of us. To give us those second chances that we all need. I'm so grateful for the atonement that was preformed so long ago but is so personal to each of us. The opportunity we have to make mistakes and learn from them. The love He has for each of us is almost overwhelming to think about at times. I stand all amazed.

Alec's mom talking:  I think Elder Lange is pretty sad about his companion going home! 

He wants to help us grow

Hey everyone! This week looked pretty promising. We had some really good appointments with some people. One of them was with a Part Member Family. They are super awesome. They are newly weds and are like 23 and 22. We get along with them pretty well. The husband is the Less Active one and she is investigating. We had a super good lesson on baptism and why she thinks she needs to get baptized. Its something the both of them have been talking about for awhile. He wants to baptize her so we have to get him ready at the same time. Their biggest struggle is paying tithing. They are load for being early 20 newly weds though. Hes got a nice brand new, tricked out mustang and shes got a mini coop. They live in a super nice house about  bought like a $2000 Bulldog. So our lesson was based on baptism and what they need to do to get there. It was really good and then they both came to church! It was awesome. Im super stoked for them. We saw quite a few little miracles this week. 

We got a couple of other people that want to start taking the lessons and be baptized. Im sure its gonna be super good teaching them this week. We are going to try and put some of them on date this week. Its been rough to get started but its all starting to pay off. 

Most times we face trials in our life is not because of consequences of bad things we have done, but because the Lord looks at us and sees a strength we cant see in ourselves and he wants to help us grow. 

These pictures are from a hike I went on in Payson a few weeks ago

I'm grateful to be a Mormon!

This week has been pretty good! Although this next week is all supposed to be up in the 90s. I'm not ready for that. It's already been pretty hot down here. Super weird because everywhere else still has snow. 

We met a couple of really cool people this week. One guy we were just out visiting a house trying to find someone else. His name is Gino. We knocked on his door and out came a huge Hispanic around the side of the house. It was around 9 at night and pretty late. He was really cool though. He asked who we were and we said Mormons and he kind of took a couple steps back. "Wow man you guys like worship sheep and stuff". I kind of laughed and told him that wasn't what we did. We told him we believe in Jesus Christ and then we became his best friend. He kind of told us about his upbringing. He said he had felt a lot of weight in his life due to sins. We explained how he could get those sins taken away from Jesus Christ's atonement. He grew up Christian and still didn't know that. He literally was mind blown about how that could happen. I'm excited to see him this week and start teaching him. 

It's crazy that even the most basic beliefs in our church can bring so much happiness. I'm so grateful for the knowledge we have. Even the smallest and simple truths. I know that this church is true. And so now that I know, I'm trying to share that with as many people as I can. I found truth and happiness in this church and so it's only fair to share it with others! I'm grateful to be a Mormon! 

I've never been so happy in my entire life!

This week was pretty darn slow. Not a whole lot went on this week. I'm mean we did missionary work and visited some less actives but no really cool experiences. We've been trying to meet with some people I taught while I was here. It's kinda cool to see the people drop off and think they don't really need the gospel and then realize something went missing in their lives. 

Well one night we were walking through an apartment complex and somehow my comp and I started talking about how we become happy and what makes us happy. We talked about sports and dates and food and more food haha but it clicked that I've never been so happy in my entire life. I thought it was kind of crazy. The things that make me happy was all left at home for two years and I've never been happier in my life. Just kind of reminisced in the car on our way home about how much happiness the gospel has brought me. There's no better feeling than the feeling that God appreciates your choices and what you are doing. I've experienced it a couple times before I left but so much more since I've been on my mission. I think it's all because I've had the chance to live the gospel more fully. "And moreover, I would desire that you should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments". Never have I been a happier person :)

I'm back in the Valley!

This week has been pretty good. It's not feeling too hot in the valley yet. It feels pretty good actually. Almost exactly like the mountains right now. Elder Kaufusi is good. He's a poly and wants me to gain as much weight as I can while I'm with him. I've already gained 7 pounds in this first week. This guy is just constantly eating. He is really good though. We get along. He is from Tonga and has lived in he US for about 5 years. Salt Lake City. 

The area is still the same as I remember it. The members are all super nice and even nicer because my comp. for some reason people just love Polynesians. Hey are so lucky. White boys work their butts off and nothing happens and then a poly comes around and they are like "Ooo, want to come in and talk". It's so dumb how much people love them for no reason haha. It's alright though because I'm his comp. 

So we had a Stake Conference yesterday and it was really good. Our Stake President talked about a meeting he went to with tall the Stake Presidents in AZ. There were some apostles there and they opened it up to a Q and A. Well our Stake President had a question that had been on his mind for a couple of months that he thought he would ask. He asked Elder Ballard and Elder Rasband "Our Stake has 3200 members and 2500 are less active, for the past seven years I've been Stake President we have had President Monsons invitation to rescue on the forefront of our minds and there seems to be not real change. What can we do differently?" They had him turn to a scripture and read it. It was 3 Nephi 18:32 "Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them." Wow what a powerful scripture. The apostles and a couple of general authorities told them to just keep ministering. Not matter what, not matter how hard it seems. 

At first when I got the call to get transferred down here I was pretty mad. This was my least favorite area. I felt like I worked my butt off last time I was here and didn't see any of my work pay off. I thought it was almost worthless down here. But as I've come back and listened to the talk I've had a new out look. I wanted to see my work pay off. I wanted to see others lives change and become better. But it doesn't really matter. We are here to minister. A lot of times in life we are not going to see the success of our work. We might not see the lives we've touched. We might not see if we got our children on the right path. We might not even see if our work is paying off in our own lives but sooner or later we will see he fruits of our labors. The atonement works if we are using it. Whether we see it or not. I'm so grateful to be ministering as a full time servant of the Lord. I hope all of you stay on the straight and narrow path and minister no matter what, even when you can't see he success behind the work. 

Y Nation (Were pretty sure Elder Lange wore this sweatshirt in honor of BYU beating the #1 team in the nation; Gonzaga this week!)