Heart, Might, Mind, & Strength : Week 9 in Arizona... I Think?

Talofa everyone!

I hope your week has been wonderful and full of adventures. I heard Rexburg had it's first day of snow this last week! Arizona is still pretty toasty. I can tell that it wants to be down in the 80's (where I want it to be) but we're suppose to get solid 90's this week. So here's my week...

This week was about as normal as a missionary's week can be. On Tuesday, I got to go to my second Zone Conference. I loved it and the food was so good. They had an entire table dedicated for the desserts and I'm sure they put it together just for me. I took so many pieces of cake home with me. The purpose of this Zone Conference was to train us on using Facebook to find investigators. I can be as creative as I want when using Facebook (within mission rules). I can post thoughts, quotes, use messenger, and "the sky's the limits" -President Robinson.

Wednesday we got a new and improved version of the old area book app. It's called area book 2.0 and there are a lot of changes. I wasn't too attached to the old version of the app because I'm a new missionary anyways, but a lot of the older iPad missionaries hated the change.

So Elder Kuewa and I have been working on putting together a "Stewart Ward Blitz" for a while now and it finally happened on Saturday. A blitz is basically where we get all the missionaries in the zone together and go out with the members to knock doors. This one was very successful because we all had a secret weapon-- an invitation to the ward Halloween party. I took a picture of it to show you. I've heard it's quite the extravagant event and there will be great opportunities for missionary work.

I have one more story to tell before I share a quick spiritual thought. This morning at 5:00 AM, my Zone Leaders woke us up and we all drove out to Camelback Mountain, again. I promised myself last week that I wouldn't attempt that hike again and on the way up I remembered why. When I finally reached the top, I felt on top of the world! It was worth it. My favorite part was when I met Carol. She's 90-years old and she told me she had been hiking Camelback everyday for the last 20 years... phew!

I'm very excited for the upcoming week! Our first baptism is coming up on Saturday. Her name is Jordynn and she is the brightest, kindest, and sweetest 18-year old in AZ. She has been meeting with the missionaries for a while and is ready to join the church. Today, we've been working on putting the program together and we texted her asking who she would like to perform the baptism. Her answer was "I've decided on Elder DeGraw." My heart leaped with joy! It was completely unexpected. I'm very blessed and honored to be able to say that this wonderful girl is my first baptism. I'll be sure to take pictures!

I'll end with a thought on the importance of attending church on the Sabbath. As I prepared this last week to teach an investigator this topic, I asked myself why I go to church. I've been a member all my life and so it's always felt mandatory. I've realized that it's blessed my life in more ways then I can count. Sundays are my favorite days. It is a day I can rest from the world and recharge. As we go to church, we give our day to the Lord and to those around us. In turn, we also receive the blessings Heavenly Fathers prepared for us.

I hope this week you all stay safe! I pray for you and hope you find success. Let me know if there's anything you need or anything else you would like for me to include in my emails.

Stay safe and be brave.