Week 48

 January 3, 2021

Good Morning everyone!

What a crazy, wild week I had. There was a lot of changes to our plans, we had exchanges, saw crazy miracles and I think I have covid

On Monday Night the AP's drove up from Lansing to go on exchanges with us. They showed up in the middle of our lesson with Dillon and they had an Elder named Elder Simmons who is leaving my zone. So we had 5 of us in his lesson. It was funny. Of course, both of the AP's were a little sick when they showed up and they had an overnight exchange with us. I ended up getting sick... but we had a great time with them! In the morning we played basketball at the church and we got to spend most of the day with them before they made the trip home. I had a great time with Elder Hunter and we had a good time getting to know each other. He is such a good guy and I learned a lot from him! We had a new missionary training meeting and Elder Hunter asked me to share a few things with the new missionaries and their trainers. It was so fun! I got to see Elder Clouse and his trainee there haha!

The next day after exchanges with the Assistants, we woke up early to go on exchanges with Sault Saint Marie. We drove 2.5 hours to a different place called Cheboygan to attend the District Council. Elder Anderson and I had to get up at 5:15 to make the drive (of course we had to get McDonald's for breakfast!) We had a really great time with my MTC companion Elder Chytraus and Elder Marsh! I got to go with Elder Chytrauys and we had a great time. After his District Council, he and I stayed there because one of the sister's in their District had a friend that needed a Priesthood blessing. He said that he had been feeling darkness lately and all this crazy stuff. Elder Chytraus gave him a blessing and the Sisters called us after and said that he was very different after the blessing and that they could tell the darkness had left. It was pretty cool. 

Elder Chytraus and I spent that day doing a lot of Preaching by the Way. I always look back and laugh at some of the situations we are in as missionaries. We pulled up a person on Area Book that they hadn't talked to in a long time and went to the address. It was this super sketchy motel and everyone there was not very interested in us. We knocked on some doors down the street and we found the Soo Elders a new friend! I am very grateful for Elder Anderson, I have learned so much from him about talking to everyone and door knocking. We had a few really cool conversations with people. It was so fun to spend the day with those awesome Elders and to be with Elder Chytrauys again! Going over the Mackinac Bridge (the bridge that connects Michigan to the Upper Peninsula) was breathtaking on the way back home. There was this crazy sunset and the lake is starting to freeze over. 

We were supposed to have ANOTHER exchange with some Elders in Alpena but on Thursday night I started feeling sick. Everyone we talk to up here is sick or has been exposed I swear.

This week we had New Years Eve and New Years. I was feeling pretty sick on both days and spent the entire day doing Facebook finding and laying on the couch. It sucked, but I am grateful that we have technology and I could still be efficient when we are required to be inside. I have not felt good, and today I am starting to feel better which is good. I literally think I might have Covid and everyone else in the Apartment is not feeling so hot either. In fact, a lot of the Mission is in quarantine or tested positive. It is kind of nuts! It kind of went from 0 to 100! Pray for us all that we can heal quickly so we can return to helping these people come closer to Christ!

Thursday evening was supposed to be one of the last days we could work in our area so we knew we HAD to find some people to be baptized that night or it wasn't going to happen. At the beginning of the transfer (if you remember) we had set some crazy goals as a companionship. Some of those goals were to have three baptisms this transfer and so far we only had one person preparing for Baptism. We prayed mightily, and then went out at 6 to find some people ready to be baptized. Literally 2 minutes later, we were driving down the street that connects our apartment to the main road and we saw a woman walking up the road. Elder Anderson pulled over and said "Hey! Would you be interested in attending a Baptism on January 8th?" (Just so you all know we did not yet have a person scheduled to be Baptized on January 8th) and she said yes! And then she was like "I want to be re-saved, can I do that?" We said "Sure!" So now Nicole is going to be baptized. It turns out that she has three kids who live with her that are over 15. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Later that night we knocked on a guy we had talked to earlier and I felt like I needed to invite him to be Baptized. His name is Luke, and he said his wife may want to be baptized as well. 

It is impossible in an email to accurately portray all the crazy things that happen everyday as a missionary or the way that I feel about being a full-time missionary. I don't think I did a very good job this week explaining all the incredible things that happened. But I just want to say that the Lord is pouring blessings and miracles upon Traverse City. Traverse City is seeing things that, to be honest, haven't been seen here before. Throughout the entire zone you can feel It is different up here. What I have learned so far this transfer is that when we rely on the Lord and really put Faith in him, we can see things happen in the lives of others that need to happen. Miracles will happen if we turn to him. I can literally promise and guarantee you that if you rely on the Lord and EXPECT miracles to happen by believing they can happen, THEY WILL!

I love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Elliott