Week 39!! TRANSFERS

 Monday, November 1, 2021

Good Morning everyone!! 

I had a really exciting week this week! We did service, went to a wedding, had interviews with our Mission President, found new friends to teach, and got Transfer Calls!! I will try to share what I can. 

I will start with T-Calls. On Saturday Morning our Mission President called us and shared that I will be moving up North to Traverse City to be a Zone Leader up there! If any of you remember Elder Kofford, I will be replacing him and my new companion's name is Elder Tueller. I have met him a few times and he is a stud, we will do great work. Elder Clouse is going to be getting a guy named Elder Johnson. He wasn't thrilled at first but we've talked and he has a great attitude going into the next transfer. My next area is going to be a Branch in one of the only Districts in North America left. The Traverse City Branch! I cannot wait to meet the branch members and other missionaries up North. It will be a drastic change to my 9 months so far in the Saginaw/Bay City area. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me! 

This week we had a refreshingly busy week. We met with tons of people and Elder Clouse and I were able to find 5 new friends to teach which is amazing!! We thought we did good until the Sisters reported 17 new friends and we were like oh my... It has been a slower transfer for us but the work picked back up at the end. I had the opportunity to say goodbye to a lot of the wonderful Bay City Ward members this week and it was sad to say goodbye! I have grown to love these individuals these past 6 months and I promised many of them I would come back to visit. They asked me to come back and live here and be their Bishop . Man, I love Bay City! I have lots of pictures with members of the ward. 

Elder Reynolds was called on Thursday and told to pack his stuff and he would be leaving that night to serve in the Office. It was so sad to see him go! Over the past 8 months of serving around him, I have grown to love him. He taught me how to find where people are at and lift them where they stand. Elder Reynolds and I are VERY different people. Yet, I consider him a dear friend. But, our last exchanges are indicators of our differences haha. I wrote him a note just explaining how much fun we'd had and all that. It was like a full page. He wrote in my journal of "missionary last notes" (I have the missionaries I serve around write in my journal). Well anyways he wrote like a bland paragraph. But, knowing Elder Reynolds it meant a lot to me haha. For the past few days we have been in a Trio with Elder Eccles and it has been fun! 

A man named Daniel Bond was baptized while I was here and it has been SO cool to watch the Gospel change his life. He met a girl and they were married civilly this week. We were invited to the wedding and it was a lot of fun! Daniel is someone I will miss. He is an example to me of how the Book of Mormon can change people's lives. At the wedding I met this guy named Logan who just happened to be there and we are homies now haha. He was just chillin' with us the whole time at the wedding and it was a lot of fun. 

This week, there was a HUGE Covid outbreak in the Bay City Ward. They closed church for two weeks and the Bishop and his Wife are sick. So, for my last Sunday in Bay City we got permission to just have our own little missionary sacrament at the church and Elder Clouse and I passed the sacrament to our District. It brought me back to the Covid quarantine days! It is kind of sad that this happened because I didn't get to say goodbye to all the members. But, luckily I saw most of them this week in anticipation of getting transferred. 

Well, I guess I will just close my email and talk about interviews. We drove down to Saginaw and had interviews in the Ward I used to serve in! It was kind of fun to see that building one last time. Who knows when/if I will see it again. But, while I had interviews with President Heap I had the opportunity to share with him how much I have learned in Bay City and the fun times I have had with Elder Clouse. I shared an experience with him that I had with Elder Clouse that I want to share with you all:

On Tuesday, during one of our last companionship studies together, Elder Clouse and I watched a devotional with the apostles Elder Holland and President Ballard. President Ballard shared a thought that deeply touched me. He said in essence, "don't you dare waste a minute of this precious time you have to serve the Lord. When you are done with your service, you will be able to look back and really know you gave it all to the Lord." When I heard that I rewinded it and I said to Elder Clouse, "I hope I have taught you this Elder Clouse. But I want you to know that this is why I wake up everyday and give everything I have. That right there, is why I work as hard as I can because I want to leave it all out on the field. This work means everything to me, and at the end of my mission I want it to be perfectly clear that I gave the Lord everything I had." When I shared that thought with President Heap, I began to cry and we closed our interview with a prayer. 

 Gosh, I am so sad to leave Elder Clouse! It has been so fun serving with him. He has been such a great companion and friend these two transfers we have had together. I can't wait to see all that he does in his mission and throughout his life. These past 9 months have meant the world to me. I am a new person because of them and I can't wait to see how I can become better as I give it all the Lord in Traverse City. 

I love you all, have a good week!

Elder Elliott.